《War Online》 Chapter 1锛歅rologue At midnight, in one of the streets in the city of Ecrin, Willard was lying dead in a pool of blood, all alone in the silent street. In his last breath, while losing his consciousness, this young man thought, "I shouldn''t have run away from father back then. I shouldn''t have rejected the help of his thugs after his death. I shouldn''t have chased after Sierra and make Bran, my enemy. If only I had a second chance... sigh..." and he closed his eyes. After an unknown amount of time, Williard opened his eyes to see a white ceiling above him and a nice comfy bed below him. He suddenly sat up on the bed while touching himself. "Eh? No blood? I didn''t die? Was it a dream?" Williard mumbled as he checked himself. Stepping down the bed and stretching himself, he spoke to himself, "man, that was one scary dream..." Suddenly he stopped moving as he realized that it wasn''t his apartment. "Where am I? Wait a second. This is my room at Ravens Mansion. How am I back here? That means the dream wasn''t the dream but a real incident and I was saved by these thugs? Did I lose a part of my memory? Or was that just a dream while I was brought back here without me knowing by injecting some drug?" As a various number of theories popping in his mind, All of a sudden, the door was opened and a guy who is more than 6ft tall, in a black suit entered the room. "Good Morning Young master, Lord Philip is waiting for you, downstairs," the guy in a suit bowed to him and then informed his message politely with respect. "What the... Silver, you were alive? And my dad is waiting for me? Did you guys fake your deaths all along? So, dad escaped even after getting shot in the head?" asked Williard, who was confused to see a dead man appear and hearing his dead father is also alive. Silver was taken aback by his response, "what do you mean we faked our deaths, Young Master? I''m fine with perfect health and so was Lord Philip. Who would dare to try to put a bullet through Lord Philip? Are you alright?" As Silver looked at him in a worry, Williard replied, "it''s nothing. I just got a bad dream. You go first. I''ll come downstairs after freshening up and getting dressed." After Silver bowed and left while closing the door, Williard collapsed on the bed while clutching his head in confusion, "What the hell is going on here? Last night, I was shot on my way to my home from the convenience store. Now, after waking up, I don''t have blood on me." Williard hurriedly took off his shirt and checked his body to see any trace of a bullet wound. As soon as he saw his body abs, Willard immediately ran towards the dressing table and looked himself in the mirror. "This, how is this possible?" Will was shocked to see him younger and a well-built body that he had back when he was around 18-21 years old. After getting thrashed and stepped on by Bran, Will stopped exercising and maintaining his fitness. "Cool. Don''t panic, alright. Something is going on here. I need to look around first," after forcing himself to calm down, Will started rummaging his room to look for whatever clues that lead him to a clarity. After searching around, he finally found his mobile in one of the drawers. "This mobile is also the one I used more than five years ago. What''s going on here?" Will mumbled, as he opened the screen lock with his fingerprint. As soon as he saw the date and time showing on his mobile, 8:33 A.M., April 5th, 2020, Will sat down on the sofa with a shock on his face. "I woke up five years in the past, after being shot dead. Now, it all makes sense why am I here, why Silver and dad were alive. What... the... hell... How does that even make sense? Perhaps, this is all going in my head while I was in a coma after being shot or did I dream five years worth of my future while I was sleeping on my bed, last night?" After a while, Williard went downstairs while keeping saying "calm down" in his mind and saw his father and many of his thugs he was familiar with, alive and well. Will forced himself to calm down and kept his emotions in check while greeting his father, "Good Morning dad." Philip, the Mafia boss smiled in return, "come, son. Sit down here. I have something important to tell you." "What is it, Dad?" asked Will. Then, the smile on his dad''s face gone and a serious expression appeared while replying, "You are going to enroll at Leafway University instead of Ecrin University starting this summer." "I remember it now. This was the day, I fought with dad for not letting me join my chosen University and it led me to run away from home, a week later," thought Williard as he suddenly remembered one of the events that changed his life forever. "What should I do now? Forgetting whether I traveled five years to the past or this was just a memory I''m dreaming while being in a comatose or vegetative state, this was always the first thing I regretted in my future. Might as well as choose a different option this time," after thinking for a long time, Williard nodded, "I''ll do as you say, dad." Hearing his son, Philip smiled with happiness and said, "really? You will do what I say? That''s great. Come, let''s have breakfast together." After having breakfast, Will returned to his room and mumbled, "let''s see for a few days and then, will decide what to do." Two weeks later, Looking down from the balcony at the security that was almost doubled than a week ago, Williard''s face changed seriously, "it''s been two weeks and I wasn''t able to wake up in my present time no matter how much I sleep. Even if it doesn''t make sense, my heart says everything happening is real. Probably God took pity on me and sent me back in time. After all, while dying, I asked for a second chance. Maybe this is the second chance." Chapter 2锛欵ntering the game At Ravens Mansion, in the city of Yarlford, Williard was deeply thinking in his room. "First, I need to save dad. I need to find the killer before the time. According to my memories, it''ll happen a month after I joined college. That means there are three months until it''s going to happen. I remember that Storm said that there might be a betrayer in the group who pulled the trigger before those Wolf Syndicate members started the war. But there are more than a thousand thugs in the group. Who can I suspect? Let''s just say someone close to dad? I need to leave for Leafway City, seven weeks later. So, I need to find him before then. Well if I can''t find the killer within time, then I guess I''ll warn him. If he listens, then fine. If he doesn''t, then it''s his fate. And also, I need to recollect all the memories I have on War Online. I can think about it after leaving this place." Seven weeks later, as Mafia Lord Philip sending him off with sadness, Williard sat in the car without looking back. "I failed on narrowing down the possible list. I did the only thing I can do. I warned him. He promised me he''ll be careful with them. Rest is his fate. Well, at the very least, I probably won''t die this time since Leafway City is on the other continent, far away from here," Williard sighed as the car is moving towards the Airport. Sarton Street, Leafway City; "Scarlet Apartments," Will read the name of this apartment complex from the outside before going in. "This was named after my mom?" He asked Aster, his 35-year-old bodyguard, who used to be a professional assassin working for the Mafia lord but after getting injured in his legs in one of the operations, he became a branch manager for Scarlet group, which is a private security company. Aster replied, "Yes, the Mafia Lord loves his wife dearly. Her name was a part of all of his legal assets. So, coming to this complex, you can see, it consists of three ten-story apartments. We put two buildings for rent and this one is for your use. Over 17 of them are rented while the rest are empty for now. Here''s the list of tenants." Aster, who already made a file with complete details of everyone, gave the Tablet to Will. "Why are you giving this to me?" asked Will with a frown on his face. "Since Young Master is now the landlord, I thought you ought to know who your tenants are," replied Aster. Williard took the Tablet and said, "I''ll look at it later." Soon, the lift stopped at the top floor that looks a little bit different from the other. There are cameras, sensors, security locks that require fingerprints and a retina scan while the windows are made bulletproof. After settling down, Will turned on the television. Then, he saw the advertisements about War Online in all the news channels. Looking at the official website, Williard mumbled, "only three weeks left until the release. Wow, more than 10 million capsules already sold? I never noticed before but it is surely the most anticipated game. Let''s order one too. Hmm, oh, there''s an S-grade capsule too? I never knew before. So, I can only order from C to A grade capsule from the website. S-grade ones have to be ordered directly from the company, huh?" A week later, The College started but Will was sitting at his apartment and was typing all the events about the game that he remembered. As for college, since he already studied in his past, Will thought going to college is a waste of time. So, he called Aster and said, "I don''t care what you will do. I''ll only go to college to write semester examinations. As for attendance, take care of it. I don''t care how and remember no word to dad. Understood?" Aster bowed and replied, "yes, young master, consider it done. By the way, two S-grade capsules from "Summersoft" were on their way just like you ordered." "Good. Tell them to deliver one here and the other to your home," said Williard without paying much attention to him. Aster got confused, "my home?" Williard replied, "yeah, yours. Who else? You will remain as my bodyguard inside the game too." "This. Playing games at my age is..." as Aster was hesitating, not knowing how to refuse his order, Williard said, "don''t you want to experience the feeling of being an Assassin again? You probably didn''t enquire about it while following my orders. The capsule that''s on its way is to enter War Online, an upcoming VRMMO game. Your consciousness will be synchronized with the game installed in the Capsule. That means you can become an assassin once again. Don''t be pressured. This isn''t an order. I''m giving you a choice. If you don''t want to do that, then choose a bodyguard who was willing to enter the game and protect me in-game too and replace yourself with him. I''m also willing to give a double salary for that." After hearing Williard''s explanation, Aster bowed in appreciation and thanked him for giving him a chance. Two more weeks passed away in a blink of an eye. June 20th, 2020; the day, War Online is going to be released. More than 50 million people were excitedly waiting for the server to open. As the countdown hit 15 minutes, Will lie down in the capsule and closed the door. As the oxygen released, he pressed the sync button and closed his eyes. As Will opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar white and empty space. Then, a beautiful lady appeared before him and said, "welcome to Summersoft S-Grade Capsule. As a user of this special capsule, would you like to know more about it?" Williard replied, "later. Let me go to the countdown screen." The lady disappeared and a big digital countdown appeared before him. "12 minutes... 5minutes... 3minutes... 1minute... 30 seconds... 10 seconds... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... *Ding* Server is opened. Would you like to enter the game?" As he saw a virtual button before him, he pressed enter. Suddenly, the scenery around him changed and he found himself in space and below him, there was a large and beautiful blue and green planet. An Angel descended from the above and stood before him while flapping her wings. As she saw him, she spoke, "welcome to War Online. Would you like to watch the introduction or skip it?" Will immediately replied, "skip it." As she flapped her wings, the scenery around them changed and he was on the ground this time. Then, she said, "choose your race." An illustration introducing four races appeared before him. Human, Elf, Angel, Demon; Human: Race that dominates the material world except for the forests. No strengths and No weaknesses. Adaptable in all regions. Elf: Race that dominates the forests. All attributes: - Inside the forest regions- 10% increase, Outside the forest- 10% decrease. All skills against other races: - Inside the forest- 20% increase, Outside the forest- 20% decrease Angel: Race that contains divinity. Sworn enemies of demons. They can fly using their wings. All attributes: - Material world- 20% increase, Underworld- 50% decrease. All skills against Demons: - Material world- 50% increase, Underworld- 50% decrease. Demon: Race that dominates the underworld. All attributes: - Inside the underworld- 20% increase, Outside the Underworld- 20% decrease. All skills against other races: - Inside the underworld- 20% increase, Outside the Underworld- 20% decrease. Williard, who already decided what he will be choosing the class long ago, pressed the option. Chapter 3锛歊ace and Class Selection After choosing the Angel race, illustrations introducing the classes appeared before him. Vanguard, Mage, Ranger, Swordsman; Vanguard: Class that uses the shield. Reaching level 20 - Advance to Guardian or Knight. Mage: Class that uses spells. Reaching level 20 - Advance to Cleric or Wizard/Witch. Ranger: Class that uses range attacks. Reaching level 20 - Advance to Archer or Gunner. Swordsman: Class that uses melee attacks. Reaching level 20 - Advance to Blademaster or Assassin. There''s a thing that most of the people, except the Beta testers, don''t know that there are class restrictions on the three races other than humans. Angels can''t be Assassins or Blademaster. Elves can''t be Knights or Gunners. Demons can''t be either Knights, Clerics, or Gunners. In the past, many of them regretted while choosing a race and had to wipe out their character to reset and choose a different race. Coming to the hidden class, it''s an open secret that there are four hidden classes existed in the game that can be acquired from certain NPCs, who will test your abilities in their own way, although, upon changing the class, the level of your character and attributes will reset to level 1. So, as the player''s level increases, he''ll less likely to choose a hidden class. Palladin: A Healer-Tank Class. Necromancer: Class that uses dead people. Berserker: Class that uses a heavy sword and becomes stronger as their HP decreases. Summoner: Class that uses beasts as companions and fight with a weapon of their choice. Only Williard knew that the game did not just contain hidden classes but also two legend classes, Magic Swordsman and Elementalist. They can be acquired from the tombs that are hidden all over the world, although only five spots are allotted to each class. He actually found out about it only after 3 years from an interview Bran and other top players gave one day, which made Williard quit the game as it was pointless for an ant to fight a boot and he felt that he was the ant, all along. Back to the present, Williard immediately selected the Mage class. Then, the classes disappeared followed by a voice, "Class selection is complete. Please choose a name for the character." He replied, "Will." "Name is taken, please choose another," Williard got the reply from the system. "Raven" "Name taken, please choose another." After trying out a bunch of names that were taken already, Williard said, "Time Traveler." "Name is available. Please check the spelling and confirm your name." Looking at the words that appeared before him, Williard pressed confirm. "Your appearance has been synchronized. Please adjust it to your taste." He looked at the Character wearing a mage robe before him with large wings and adjusted his nose, jawline, decreased his height from 5''11" to 5''9" and also changed his body to a normal one without any muscles or abs. Then, aged it and gave it a mature look. After his character was done, he smiled while looking at his game character that completely looked like an average 24-year-old young man. "Now, no one can recognize my identity even if they wanted to." After confirming his appearance, the scenery around him once again changed and he was in space once again and before him was a globe of the planet. "Please select a continent as your birthplace. As an Angel, you cannot choose Underworld." Looking at the globe of the planet that was supposed to be several times bigger than their world, he saw there are four continents separated from each other by various seas and oceans. As he can''t choose Aynor Continent, Williard looked at the other three, North and South Zalfari, two equally continents in the west separated by a sea, and Xynnar, the largest continent that''s as big as the three of the others combined. He waved his hand and the planet rotated. Then, he pressed on Xynnar. "Xynnar Continent is confirmed. Please select the Kingdom." Then the globe disappeared and replaced by a map featuring several kingdoms. Since his first goal was to pick one of the legend classes that only have five spots each, Williard selected the Kingdom of Llyne that''s situated on the southern border of the Continent. "Llyne Kingdom is confirmed. Please select the city." Once again, the map changed to several cities inside the Kingdom. Williard then selected East Ocean City that was on the eastern border of the Kingdom and was connected to the Merton Sea. It''s the closest location to one of the legend classes that can be acquired from a tomb in one of the Islands in the sea that was hidden from the map. "East Ocean City is confirmed. You will be teleported to one of the random Angel sanctuaries around the City. Good luck." The scenery changed and he appeared in one of the sanctuaries hovering in the sky above a beginner village. The first thing he did was to mumble, "Show Character menu." Then, suddenly, a screen that was visible only to him appeared before his eyes. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: None Class: Mage Level: 1 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 1000/1000 (1200) MP: 50/50 (60) Magic attack: 100 (120) Defense: 20 (24) Attack Speed: 1 (1.2) Movement Speed: 5 (6) Flying Speed: 10 (12) Active Skills: Fireball (level 1): Throw a small fireball onto your enemy with a 110% attack. 5m range. Costs 10 MP; No cool down. Heal (level 1): Recover yourself or your ally with a 60% attack. Costs 10 MP; No cool down. Passive Skills: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gained increased by 20% in the Material world. Available Skill Points: 0 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 5 Agility: 5 Vitality: 5 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 8 Since he chose a mage, the system allotted Strength and Endurance attribute 1 point and added the remaining 8 in free points while for others, they will be allotted each differently, and for example, Vanguards have been allotted 1 point in Intelligence and Agility since they don''t depend on magic attacks and Speed. Likewise, Swordsmen have been allotted 1 point in Intelligence and Vitality since they don''t depend on the Magic attack and HP, while Rangers have been allotted 1 point in Strength, and Endurance since they don''t depend on physical Attacks and Defense. For all classes, Strength increases Physical attack. 1 point increase in Strength increases Physical attack by 20. Intelligence increases Magic attack and MP. 1 point increase in Intelligence increases Magic attack by 20 and MP by 1. Agility increases Speed. 1 point increase in Agility increases the Attack Speed by 0.2, Movement Speed by 1, and Flying Speed by 2. Endurance increases Defense. 1 point increase in Endurance increases Defense by 20. Lastly, Vitality increases HP and the recovery rate. 1 point increase in Vitality increases HP by 200. Advanced stats like critical rate and critical resist, critical damage and critical damage resist, Pierce, etc can only be increased through equipment, magic items/scrolls, etc Looking around, Williard mumbled, "There are more people than I thought. Soon, it will reduce drastically, anyway. After all, none of those hundred beta testers revealed it in forums, the upcoming nightmare flying lessons." While most of the players were excited, some players started wondering about their closed wings and the rest rushed towards the only building on this Angel''s sanctuary, the Training Hall. As the rest of the players followed them, everyone found out the doors of the Training Hall isn''t opening. They started to wonder what they should do now since they can''t get down without wings. Some fools with impatience directly ran towards the edge and jumped down to suicide themselves but immediately they were resurrected on the sanctuary much to their disappointment Not even 5 minutes since the game has begun, the forum was filled with insults especially by Angel race players. Chapter 4锛歀earning how to fly While the players of other races replied in the forums that their Training grounds are also not opened and they were hunting in the wilderness to gain levels, the furious players of Angel race didn''t cool down and send a lot of complaints to the company. Because of a lot of complaints, Summersoft notified all the players that the Training Hall can only be opened 30 minutes later. Seeing it, players of the Angel race over all the continents became even angrier as they were stuck on their sanctuaries while others leveling up but the Company was silent about that issue because it was designed that way. Several impatient players reset their character and simply changed the race and proceeded with the same class they have chosen before. Meanwhile, the ones who are eager to try out flying waited for half an hour while conversing with each other in the meantime. After half n hour, all the players received a notification, "Training Hall and Training grounds are opened. Players, please proceed towards it to receive their first Quest." Williard saw the players were rushing into the Training Hall and then, most of them were rushing out as soon as they stepped inside. As he followed them and stepped inside the building, Williard received a notification. "You received a Quest request." As he opened it, he read, "Angel Celia believes that a person who doesn''t know how to fly with their wings isn''t a true Angel. You can only learn that by risking your life. Go forth to the edge of the sanctuary and jump down to unleash your wings and start flying." Quest reward: 100EXP (+20%), 50 copper. Williard thought, "This is what I love about Angels, 20% additional EXP but this starting is more like an S-rank Quest. For humans like us, it''s very hard to try flying. This is the part where the nightmare begins." Several players began resurrecting upon failing. But since there are no penalties existed until level 20, most of the players tried again and again. Many of the other players who were trying to level up in the 1-5 leveling areas were startled as players were jumping down from the edge but failing to fly and drop dead on the ground right before them, or their prey or even on them coincidentally. Williard stood at the edge and looked at the others, who were looking like they are participating in a mass suicide. Then, he took a long breath and jumped down. A few seconds later, he resurrected on the sanctuary after failing like the rest of them. The forums again filled with a massive number of insults from players all over the world, who are facing the same situation. "This is retarded" "This race is just a waste of time" "I''m quitting this game" "I''m resetting the character and changing my race right now" "What the **** is with Angels" "Fix this **** Summersoft" etc More than 60% of the Angel race players that are like at least 3-4 million overall, used the Reset stone, a Welcome gift which resets all of the levels, skills, and attributes except their character name and the items in their inventory, and changed their race to another one, causing a slight panic among GMs of the Summersoft. Just when the GMs are discussing whether this incident would bring a bad reputation to the company, positive comments began to appear one by one in the forum. "Wow, the experience of flying is awesome" "The view from the sky is really great" "Just don''t give up and think of it as you won''t resurrect and you''ll die for real, only then, you can fly" "hahaha, those cowards who ran from the challenge and used the reset stone are going to regret while we''re flying" etc... At first, people thought that it might be the staff spouting out lies but then, as tens of thousands began to reply positively along with Rachel, a popular professional gamer of "Red Devils," the commotion died down a bit and a few players from other classes too used their Reset stone and changed their race to Angels to experience flying. Meanwhile, Williard was stubbornly trying over and over to complete the Quest even after dying more than a dozen times. While his mind says to give up and choose the other race, he kept on saying himself, "c''mon, you can do it. I can see a lot of them here got successful in their attempts. Moreover, I don''t have a choice. To get that class, either I need to be an Elf or an Angel. And without wings, I would have to wait for at least level 200-250 to get to that place safely. You can''t afford to give this one up, no matter what." As Williard closed his eyes and stretched his hands after jumping down again for the nth time, he thought, "You are an Angel. You were born with wings like birds. Your wings are like your hands. Calm down and think of them as a part of your body." A level 3 human on the ground shook his head and thought, "another fool was falling to his death," as he saw Williard falling. But to his surprise, just when Williard almost reached the ground, the wings on his back opened as he opened his eyes and glides and then flies up while receiving two notifications. "Congratulations on learning the flying skill. It was added to the skill panel." "You have completed the Quest successfully. Return to the Training Hall and report to Angel Celia and collect your reward." After gaining the flying skill, he started flying with ease and went straight to the sanctuary without fooling around like others. After landing on the sanctuary, his wings automatically closed and he started walking towards the Training Hall. After stepping inside and waited in a queue for a while, soon, his turn came up and he reported to her. As soon as she patted his shoulder and said, "Good job," while giving him a bag full of copper coins, Williard heard a notification sound followed by glowing up brightly for a fraction of seconds like others who reported before him. "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 2." As he saw the EXP bar that showed, "20/300," Willard nodded in satisfaction with a smile on his. Then, as he mumbled, "Show Character menu," a holographic screen appeared before his eyes. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: None Class: Mage Level: 2 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 1000/1000 (1200) MP: 50 (60) Attack: 100 (120) Defense: 20 (24) Attack Speed: 1 (1.2) Movement Speed: 5 (6) Flying Speed: 10 (12) Active Skills: Fireball (level 1): Throw a small fireball onto your enemy with a 110% attack. 5m range. Costs 10 MP; Heal (level 1): Recover yourself or your ally with a 60% attack. Costs 10 MP; Flying (level 1): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 10MP per minute; Passive Skills: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain raised by 20% in the Material world. Skill Points Available: 1 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 5 Agility: 5 Vitality: 5 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 13 After every level up, five attribute points are awarded for free to every player irrespective of their race or class and leave the players to their choices to develop their own unique builds. As for skill points, every player will receive a skill point for every five levels or when they gained an active skill. Gaining a skill through Skill Books won''t provide skill points though. Looking at his mana stat, Williard thought, "I can only fly for 6 minutes straight. It is nowhere enough. As the skill levels can be increased by using them frequently, I need to keep focusing on this one skill and reach the maximum level. Then, I also need to allot the points. My primary focus should be increasing my flying speed and MP. Hmm, leveling is also necessary to leave this village and to gain more free points but I also don''t want to put the free attribute points into other stats. If I play alone or in a small party, I would be forced to allot free points to Intelligence. Hmm, hiring random players also don''t work, at least, not now. After all, everyone in the starting levels is so ambitious. Wait a second. How did I forget the biggest advantage of my real-life identity? Instead of players, I can just hire thugs in real life with a fixed salary to help me level up and do all kinds of errands for me. Yes, a brilliant idea indeed. But their behavior will be troublesome though. Nah! let Aster take care of everything." Chapter 5锛欻iring Helpers Willard started to fly around all day to improve his flying skills. At first, it was exciting, but as he flew around the same places over and over, he eventually got bored and treated it as a chore instead. After continuously flying and taking a break to recover MP for 16 hours straight and leveling the skill up, he received a bunch of notifications. "Congratulations, you reached flying skill level 10. You''ve reached the maximum level." "Congratulations, you gained a new skill, Dash. You received a skill point." "Congratulations for becoming the first player in the world to achieve maximum level in Flying Skill, you are awarded a title, "I CAN FLY," please check your title for details." As he opened his stats again, he saw the Title that was equipped automatically since there is only one available at the moment. After landing in the beginner village to take rest, he clicked on it and saw, I CAN FLY - Title achieved for becoming the world''s first Angel to maximize the skill. Effects C No mana consumption while flying. Seeing the effects of the title, Williard broke out with a huge laugh causing the others around to think "Is this newbie went crazy? Better avoid him." Meanwhile, ignoring everyone else around, he checked the skills with a big smile on his face. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 2MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. CD: 180 seconds. "With this title, now, the greatest hurdle has been removed. I can travel wherever I want without any problems. Now, the next thing is to focus on Flying Speed. It seems I have also played for too long. Oh, it''s almost 9 P.M. Well, 2 days in here is 1 day on outside. So, that means, did I just play crazily for 16 hours straight? Damn, that''s awesome. And yet, for some reason, I don''t feel any fatigue. That''s an S-grade Capsule for you. Their performance is awesome, indeed. But let''s just out of here first. After all, there''s no reason to play any longer since my next step involves hiring others. Let these guys go ahead and level up and become stronger. I''ll catch up eventually." As Williard logged out without any worries, meanwhile, in Lunaris City of the Reveria Kingdom that is located in the center of Xynnar continent, far away from the Llyne Kingdom, a handsome player entered the city alone, wearing equipment that is of Bronze and Silver Quality and later, after advancing to Blademaster, he opened a bunch of notifications, he received a while ago. "Congratulations for becoming the first player to enter Lunaris City, you''re awarded 500 fame points as a reward" "Congratulations for becoming the first player in the Reverie Kingdom to advance, you''re awarded 1000 fame points as a reward" "Congratulations for becoming the first player in Xynnar Continent to advance, you''re awarded 2000 fame points as a reward" "Congratulations for becoming the first player in the world to advance, you''re awarded 5000 fame points, a title, and 2 Gold as a reward" "You advanced into Blademaster class. Stealth skill and the dual knives have been removed" "Congratulations, you''ve gained two active skills and a passive skill. Please check your skill panel" Bran alias Crimson Sun, mumbled with happiness, "With 8000 fame points, I can easily become at least a Viscount. Right now, as long as I possess enough gold, it''s easier for me to buy the land here and develop my own shops. Everything is going great for me. Soon, grandma will be able to get her treatments and I will make sure El will be able to go to a top college next year." Meanwhile, Williard who came to the real world, called Aster who didn''t pick up at first. "He might be busy," Williard shrugged it off and started to make his dinner. A while later, Aster called him back and apologized, "I was in the middle of killing troublesome brats in the game. I apologize for my actions, young master." "It''s fine. How did it feel in the game world?" as Williard asked him, Aster replied, "I''m extremely thankful for showing me a new world. Although it isn''t close to being a real Assassination, I can''t express how happy to hold these knives and kill the targets. Moreover, as long as I kill in the wilderness, I can kill everyone else. No need to worry about the police or law. I''m in your debt for a lifetime, young master." Williard then asked, "What is your level, right now? Did you reach the city and advance into Assassin already? "Uh, level 5," Aster replied embarrassedly and then said, "I became too focused on players and forgot about leveling up. But don''t worry; I can reach level 20 by tomorrow with ease." Williard then thought of telling him to reset at first but then, he thought this subordinate of him need a little bit of punishment and replied, "ok, then, I''m sleeping, right now. I''ll wake up at 5 a.m. You have eight hours more. That means, in-game, you''ll have 16 hours. By the time I woke up, I need to hear that you''ve reached level 20. Before that, teleport to the East Ocean City of Llyne Kingdom using the limited time Teleportation scroll you received as a Welcome gift. It will only remain for 24 hours before disappearing. It''s been already 18 hours in-game. Use it quickly. And also, by tomorrow, hire at least 50 people with a fixed salary. I don''t care about their background. What you do or who will you hire, I don''t care. But remember, they need to sign the contract voluntarily. All I need them to follow my command as if their life depends on it and don''t have such a thing as ambition and become selfish later. Put the fear of dad into them just in case, but only after the contract has been signed, so that they won''t think of betraying us, later. It''s best if you look for thugs who knew how to fight. After all, this isn''t some pc game. Give them a Professional gamer''s average salary and also provide each one of them 10,000 credits worth, C-grade Capsules for free. If they do their work well, tell them they will receive incentives and maybe B-grade or even A-grade Capsule in the future. I don''t need to tell you this but in case I''m reminding you. Order every one of them to choose the same birthplace as me. And tell them to level on their own until tomorrow." Aster was amazed hearing out Williard and told him that no matter what he will accomplish the task given by the young master. After putting the mobile down, Aster moved to tears with happiness, "I thought the young master was just fooling around playing games and not going to college. It seems he''s trying to build a force in the game. Even a person like me knew that this game isn''t simple. In the forum, many players are saying that this game is going to influence the real world and a few big companies are even thinking of investing it making teams. At 19 years of young age, he possesses a great intellect on how to deal with situations. I guess there''s no need to worry about our Scarlet & Vulture groups'' future, anymore. Young master would become a great Mafia Lord in the future. Ok, there''s a lot to do. I should call the office to give me the list and hire as soon as possible before 11 P.M. After that, it wouldn''t look good with the Federation police patrolling everywhere." Chapter 6锛歀eaving the Beginner village The next day, after Williard woke up at sharp 5 A.M., he immediately called Aster to ask the progress while expecting Aster might be at least level 15 by now as Willard knew that reaching level 20 isn''t that easy for a loner like him, not to mention with an additional task on his hands. He was greatly surprised when he heard that Aster was already level 21 and a total of 50 helpers are hired, although most of them are just street thugs and from small gangs, who are under the control of the Scarlet group. And the remaining 6 to 7 members are just graduated college and high school students with no proper job. After disconnecting the call, Williard spoke to himself, "I greatly underestimated Aster and Scarlet Security Company''s influence in this city. Not only he managed to level up, but he also managed to find 50 helpers and sent all of the capsules at midnight; a good subordinate, indeed. Well, dad wouldn''t put my life in anyone''s hands, after all. Speaking of which, there are only three weeks left. Should I call dad and insist to go for a vacation with him in secret during that time? It might be the only way to save him." Putting his worries aside, he entered the capsule and log in to the game. As soon as he logged in, he received a friend request from "Shadow Blade." "Oh, it''s Aster," as he accepted the friend request, he sent a voice message, "I''m sending you the coordinates. Call everyone else and tell them to gather here." A while later, the player who was standing beside him all along asked in a surprise, "Eh? You are the young master?" As he looked aside, he saw a very muscular and tall looking teenager. Williard asked him, "Are you one of the hired helpers?" The teenager enthusiastically nodded and replied while shaking his hands, "yes, thank you for offering me this job and saved me from getting kicked out by our landlord. My name is Nathan Smith. It''s a pleasure to work for the Young Master." Williard smiled while looking at this naive and simple looking teenager and shook his hand. Ten minutes later, Aster and all the fifty members gathered at the spot. As everyone thought Williard looked very ordinary, not looking like an heir of a big company like Scarlet and the scary Mafia group behind that, Aster said, "Young Master, you changed your appearance drastically. I can''t even recognize you anymore." Williard snorted, "I would be a fool to use my real appearance to leave a mark on my head so openly." Then, he looked at them and further said, "I guess every one of you here knows what your job is, right? Let me remind you just in case. In short, if I say you kill, then you will kill and if I say you die, then you die without any complaints. And don''t address me as the Young master. Address me as Boss or Leader. Understood?" As everyone nodded, Williard dismissed the thought of looking for quests and headed to a wilderness area where level 5 monsters appear. As soon as the players saw a huge group looking like ruffians from their appearances leading by a level 21 player, they instantly cleared the area even before they were being warned. Upon reaching the spot, Williard divided the group into two. One group was sent to level up together and the other group of 25 was told to gather monsters at one spot so that he can get the last hit and claim all the EXP. After reaching Level 10 Zone, Aster warned everyone else to clear the field. Those who even dared to oppose it lightly were killed off by him quickly scaring the others away. Then, the two groups switched their roles while Williard kept on leveling up while flying in the air and hitting the monsters with fireball spell using minimum effort. Six hours later, Williard, who was flying in the air above a level 20 Orc Elite Boss, conjured a Big Fireball using his Bronze grade Staff and hit it while the players are wondering how was their Boss keep on flying in the air all the time. Luckily, a critical appeared on its head and the Orc collapsed on the floor. It disappeared quickly leaving behind a bunch of equipment and coins. Meanwhile, he received two notifications. "Congratulations on reaching level 20. Head to the Village chief to receive the pass and leave the village" "Congratulations, Your Fireball skill reached level 10. The maximum level reached. Check out the skills panel to see the details." Then, he went towards the equipment that dropped and checked out the Staff that was shining. Orc Staff (+0) Level: 20 Class: Mage Grade: Silver Attack: 172-215 Critical rate: 3.2% Pierce: 7.2% After taking the staff and equipping it on his back, between the wings, Williard looked at everyone and said, "Good job, everyone. The rest of the equipment and the coins are yours. You are free now." After dismissing them, he looked at Aster, who congratulated him for reaching level 20 and gaining a Silver Weapon, and said, "You are also dismissed. I will play alone for now." As he bowed and went away, Williard looked at his stats. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Mage Level: 20 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 2290/2290 (2748) MP: 50 (60) Magic attack: 272-315 (326-378) Defense: 142 (170) Attack Speed: 1 (1.2) Movement Speed: 5 (6) Flying Speed: 10 (12) Critical rate: 3.2% Pierce: 7.2% Active Skills: Fireball (Max): Throw a small fireball onto your enemy with a 155% attack. 5m range. Costs 10 MP; No cool down. Heal (level 3): Recover yourself or your ally with a 70% attack. Costs 10 MP; No cool down. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 1MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Skill Points Available: 6 Passive skills: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain raised by 20% in the material world. Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 5 Agility: 5 Vitality: 5 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 103 After reporting to Village chief and getting a pass that''ll make him a citizen of Llyne Kingdom, Williard thought, "now, the next step is to increase my flight speed." Then, as he added all of the points into Agility, he received a bunch of notifications as the Agility reached 100 and the + symbol beside it disappeared. Williard mumbled, "Hmm, I guess I need to reach level 50 to increase the limit. Well, it doesn''t matter, anyway." Then, he opened his stats to see the changes. Everything remained the same except a few, Stats: Attack Speed: 20 (24) Movement Speed: 100 (130) Flying Speed: 200 (260) Attributes: Agility: 100 Free Attribute points: 08 Passive Skills: One with Wind: Increase Movement Speed and Flying Speed by 10%. Then, Willard flapped his wings and flew towards the East Ocean City with his new speed and landed before the entrance as flying isn''t allowed in Cities. As he entered the city, he received a notification that he is now a citizen of Llyne Kingdom''s East Ocean City. As he turned around and thinking of leaving in search of that hidden Island right away, suddenly, all the players in the world heard an announcement. "Ten players have reached level 50 all over the world. The ranking system is opened." Then, everyone received the option of hiding their name. As everyone chose their option, Williard opened the rankings with a shock on his face, "not even 48 hours passed even in this game world. Just who are those crazy monsters that reached level 50 within such little time?" Not only, was Williard, everyone else, also interested to see just who those but their hopes met with disappointment as it displayed neither world rankings nor even their Kingdom rankings. It''s just the player rankings in their City. As Williard looked at the rankings, he saw Rank 1- Flame Emperor- level 41 Rank 2- Snow Dew- level 38 Rank 3- Unnamed- level 38 Rank 4- Unnamed- level 37 Rank 5- White Tiger- level 35 Rank 6754- Time Traveler- level 20 He shrugged his shoulders and mumbled, "These rankings won''t matter once I reach my first goal. Legend Class, here I come." Chapter 7锛欵lementalist Williard started heading towards the Merton Sea, ignoring everything else. Those who saw an Angel race player was flying towards the port, they laughed off it thinking Williard as a fool who will come to his senses soon. The NPCs stationed at the port also looked at Williard from the ground curiously as he flies away. Meanwhile, there''s a ship docked at the port. On it, two NPCs stood, who was also looking at Williard. A 280 level muscular human wearing legendary grade Armor from top to bottom spoke, "Lord Raziel, that''s a level 20 adventurer of Angel race, right? Is he an idiot? There are no landing spots in the Merton Sea. A newbie like him can''t cross such a sea filled with dangerous creatures. He will soon fall in the sea and get eaten by those Sea monsters." The old man with four wings on his back, stroke his beard and replied, "Who knows. Those immortals are very mysterious people. As for that young man, he was destined to go that way. I can see that he will encounter his destiny in the sea. I wonder what it is though. Anyway, we don''t have the luxury to worry about these immortals. We have more pressing matters with the demons. We''ve taken enough rest here. Let''s leave for the Capital, right away. Young Robert is probably waiting for our report." The Muscular NPC bowed, "Yes, Lord Raziel." And the ship started to sail towards the capital city of Llyne Kingdom. A few hours later, in the middle of the Merton Sea, Williard stopped flying and looked around, "Damn, where is that hidden Island? I must have traveled for at least a thousand miles by now. So far, there''s no such Island with a volcanic shaped Mountain on it has been found. Since it''s a sea, if it''s really existed, it can be seen even from far away." Then, he opened the map and looked at the screen. "Hmm, according to my memories, it must be somewhere in this area. I forgot that the scale of this map is 1cm to 5000 km. That means it can be anywhere in this 25 million sq. km area. My top speed is 260 km/hour. I don''t need to spend anything like Mana. I don''t need to rest. I can stay safe without getting hungry or sleeping in this S-grade capsule for 60 hours before I started feeling fatigued and get logged out. So, I think I have enough time to find the Island. 14 hours later, Williard shouted in excitement, "Yes! Finally, I found it. Wait for me," as he saw a Volcano shaped mountain from very far away. Then, he changed his direction and started to fly towards the only thing he can see, the mountain. Two hours later, He neared the Island bypassing all the level 300 Sea monsters that were floating on the Sea and roaring as they smelled the presence of an Angel. As he neared the Island, he understood why that legend class player spoke that the mountain looks like a volcano. The top part of the mountain looked actually like it was destroyed by something or someone. "Maybe, it was done because of a fight between two extraordinary top-level figures, and the one who was defeated was buried here by the winner? Well, I''ll know about that once I find the tomb." He flew around the Island to see whether there is a danger of monsters. Upon seeing there''s none, Williard landed on the ground and started searching for the tomb that was supposed to be located there. A few hours later, Williard muttered in frustration, "F****** G** Dammit. I''ve searched every inch of this Island. Just where is this f****** tomb? I hope that guy didn''t lie on television to the whole world about it. It''s almost 9.P.M on the outside. Should I just go for dinner and come back tomorrow? It''s not like the tomb is going anywhere. Hmm, wait a second. How about searching above?" Williard looked up and flapped his wings immediately and he flew upwards with a top speed. One minute later, he reached the top looking at the large hole that was filled with darkness. He smiled, "so, this is why it was called a mountain that looked like a volcano. There must be a cave somewhere in that darkness. Good thing that I was a Mage. Let''s check how deep this is." Standing on the edge of the Mountain top, He immediately conjured a Big Fireball and threw it into the darkness. He began to see some surroundings around as it traveled and hit the ground. "So, it goes all the way to the bottom, then." Then, he conjured a fireball in his hand for light while flying in a spiral path to see whether there is any cave inside of it. As he reached the bottom of the Mountain, he found a narrow cave entrance just enough for one person to enter at a time. As he entered the cave, he found the cave was a lot bigger than he thought. It was as big as a dungeon. As he walked around with the Fireball in his hand, he shouted excitedly, "Yes," with happiness upon seeing a tomb placed in the middle of the cave. As he inspected the tomb, Williard received a notification. "Congratulations, you discovered the resting place of Archangel Seraph, one of the ten Demi-Gods of the world. You are awarded 1000 fame as a reward" Williard then opened the tomb and saw an old book, a ring, and a Bow along with the Skeleton. He picked up the ring and inspected it. Ring of Seraph (Sealed) Grade: Mythical Seeing the ring''s grade made his heart skipped for a second. His hands started to shake as he drew it closer towards him so that he may look at it once again. "This is a Mythical grade? I only thought it was just nonsense when many top players in forums said Mythical grade equipment does exist. If one piece existed, then others also exist. Oh, there is a Bow, here. Is it also a Mythical grade one?" As Williard inspected the Bow that he picked up from the Tomb hoping that it''s a mythical grade, he saw, Seraph''s Bow (Sealed) Grade: Legendary He was disappointed slightly as he expected a mythical bow but then became satisfied to possess a legendary Weapon. "But where is the inheritance? Is this book, probably?" After picking an old book from the Skeleton''s hands, he received a notification. "Congratulations on finding the Book of Seraph. It contains the inheritance of Archangel Seraph who is resting here. Upon consuming, your class will be changed to Elementalist, one of the two legend classes. Your level, stats, and Attributes will be reset. Skills related to your race and Mage class will be retained and the rest will be disappeared. Confirm to consume the Book of Seraph?" Looking at the notification, he thought, "Since I already chose to be a Mage, no skills will be lost except the existed passive skill that was gained through 100 points of Agility and 6 available skill points, will be destroyed. I need to spend those." Before pressing the confirm, Williard immediately opened his skills panel and then put all the six points into Basic Heal skill to not waste those 6 skill points raising it to level 9. After closing it, he pressed Confirm. The book in his hands began to glow and absorbed into him and received a bunch of notifications continuously. "Congratulations, your class changed to Elementalist. Basic skills are added. Please check your skill panel to see your new skills." "Congratulations on becoming the first player in the world to become an Elementalist. You are awarded 3000 fame points." "Congratulations on becoming the first player to acquire a legend class. You are awarded 5000 fame as a reward." Williard gasped, "9000 fame? Now, that''s a lot of fame. Hahaha, a Viscount in East Ocean City? As long as I have gold, I can have 100 soldiers at my command and no NPC in East Ocean City would dare to reject my request. My first goal is reached. Now, let''s move to my second goal, to dominate East Ocean City and occupying its seaport. Meanwhile, back in the real world, at the Summersoft HQ, one of the GMs reported to the Chairman, "Sir, a problem occurred. One of the legend classes'' spots has been taken." The Chairman of the company stood up in shock, "what? How did it happen? Did the info leak from someone in the company? No, even if the information about the legend classes is released, no one in the company knew the location, not even me. After all, the game can only be controlled by Aria, the supercomputer. It can neither be hacked nor be controlled by anyone, aside from shutting it down. Ok, tell me, who is this lucky user?" The GM replied, "His in-game name is Time Traveler." The Chairman nodded and said, "You know the rules. Every legend class users'' information is to be protected from others. Lockdown his info to level-8, so that only with security clearance level-8 have access to it. It''s not just him. Immediately, lockdown every legend class user, the moment you see. You never know who will be sold out once the big companies started investing." Chapter 8锛欳lash with the Imperial Guild Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 1 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 1000/1000 (1200) MP: 50 (60) Magic attack: 100 (120) Defense: 20 (24) Attack Speed: 1 (1.2) Movement Speed: 5 (6) Flying Speed: 10 (12) Active Skills: Fireball (Max): Throw a Big fireball onto your enemy with a 155% attack. Apply the burning effect on targets for 10 seconds with a 10% attack. 20m range. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Heal (level 9): Recover yourself or your ally with a 100% attack. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 1MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Fire Arrow (level 1): Conjure a fire arrow and shoot the enemies using your bow with a 100% attack. 35m range. Costs 5MP; No cool down. Dragon Fire (level 1): Breathe fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 150% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. Passive Skill: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain raised by 20% in the material world. The Bow of Elementalist (Max): Every arrow you fire contains elemental magic, instead of magic energy. Aura of Elementalist (Max): Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. Available Skill Points: 0 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 5 Agility: 5 Vitality: 5 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 8 Looking at his skills, Williard grinned from ear to ear, "That passive skill is such an OP skill. After all, there are only four other Elementalist users available." After checking his stats, he invested all of them into intelligence unlike before. Then, he started to fly towards the Sea monsters near the Island as a player is immune to drowning. After they started roaring again after sensing him, he moved towards a Giant Sea Shark. As he closed his wings and eyes, Williard started falling from a great height towards the Sea. Looking at its prey falling right into its mouth, the Giant Shark opened its mouth and snapped his body in half with a bite before wondering where its prey''s two halves of the dead body disappeared all of a sudden. Williard then resurrected at the temple of Angels at East Ocean City since he''s now registered as a citizen there. Looking at the time, he mumbled, "Well, it''s late. Let''s log out for dinner and sleep." ... Meanwhile, in the wilderness of Reverie Kingdom, Crimson Sun was surrounded by more than 100 players from Heavens Guild. Its guild leader, Moon Emperor looked at him arrogantly, "now, let''s see, how will you escape from here. You did a big mistake of offending me. Leave your gold grade equipment here and I''ll let you off killing once." Soon after Crimson Sun started his massacre, a group of dozen players joined him to kill the rest of them. Crimson Sun smiled at their leader, Snow Princess, "thank you for the help. As a payment, you can take all the equipment dropped." She waved her hand, "c''mon, you can take care of a bunch of those trashes alone. By the way, these are my friends, the professional gamers I told you about. We are thinking of starting a guild. Would you like to join?" As Crimson Sun hesitated, Snow Princess spoke, "once we formed our Guild, you''ll be the Vice leader with benefits like salary, incentives, etc that come with it. Your freedom won''t be restricted. As a Vice Leader, you are free to do whatever you want." He thought for a while and accepted her handshake since he does need a lot of money for his grandmother''s hospital bills and also he knew she was trustworthy and a nice girl as they are acquainted in real life. ... The next day at sharp 5 a.m. everyone was summoned by Williard at certain coordinates in the East Ocean City. As they saw him becoming level 1 again, everyone became surprised as to how did he fall back in one day. While a few thought he might have received a hidden class, others thought he might have been killed over and over to level 1. When Aster asked him about it, Williard replied, "nothing to worry about. It''s because of some stupid curse by an NPC. Anyway, forget it. Since all of you are in level 30s, today''s aim is level 30. Let''s go to the level 20-25 zone directly. Very quickly, within just an hour, Williard already reached level 22 with everyone''s help as they hunted down level 20-29 monsters and let Williard finish them and gaining all the EXP alone. Then, the group started to move towards the level 30 zone in the forest. As they neared the area, Williard saw that several players are moving away from that place. He frowned, "Aster, find out the situation." Shadow Blade stopped someone who was returning and asked him what''s going on here. The guy replied, "Members of Imperial guild occupied level 35-40 zone area. You guys also turn away and go somewhere else." As he went away, Williard frowned, "what is this Imperial guild?" Instead of Aster, the muscular teenager replied, "Boss, they are number one guild in East Ocean City. There are already more than 1000 members joined that guild." Williard snorted, "Hmpf, a mere 1000, and they are going to act this arrogant? Let''s go and see what''s they are capable of." While most of them are wondering, whether this rich brat just sending them down to hell, the group of 52 reached the level 35-40 zone, where they saw a group of six guarding the perimeter. Upon looking at this large group, one of them asked their captain, "what should we do, now? That looks like a big group." Their leader replied, "So what. We''re Imperial Guild. No one in this city dares to go against us. Stop them." The captain then shouted while pointing his sword at Williard, who was leading the team, "Stop right there. This area belongs to the Imperial Guild. Turn away and go elsewhere." Then, Williard asked, "And if we insist on moving forward?" The captain of the group frowned while looking carefully at Williard who was just a level 22 noob but was leading a group of 50. He thought the opponent might be some rich guy that he can''t afford to offend but still as a member of Imperial member, he carefully said, "One message and there would be hundreds of people here to kill you guys. So, it isn''t in your best interest to offend our guild." Then a clueless subordinate of him arrogantly said, "Yes, turn back away when we''re being nice. After all, you ants can''t challenge a boot. You''ll easily be crushed away under it." Williard calmly looked back and asked, "They are saying we''re ants and they are boot. You guys fear them?" As most of the thugs offended by that fool''s words, several of them shouted, "Let''s go, Boss, and show them who is the ant and who is the boot." Williard nodded in satisfaction, "now, that''s the spirit." Then, he looked at him coldly and said, "Aster, finish these idiots." All of a sudden, the fool who uttered those insults got his throat slit and his HP decreased by 10,492 at once as a critical was landed, shocking their leader. Then for the next 10 seconds, the blood started to ooze out and he began to lose 1000 HP every second. Chapter 9锛欳lash with number one guild part 2 Meanwhile, as the other members stupefied on the spot to see huge damage on their level-35 Guardian teammate who has a little above 20,000 HP, the captain shouted angrily, "What the hell are you doing? Do you want to be killed to level 1?" But before he completed his sentence, the other members'' throat got slit one after one by Aster who was using his Stealth skill. Huge numbers between 6000-8000 appeared on them. As a result, the other five had a little over 5000 HP left and Aster appeared in midst of them as his Stealth disappeared. Looking at the Guardian who ended up dead in 10 seconds, Williard thought and analyzed, "That''s insane damage even for an Assassin. He only has a silver weapon on him. Dual blades normally have twice an attack than the rest of the weapons. So, going by the standard, the maximum, its attack must be around 800-1000. Until level 50, all attributes are limited to 100. So, that''s 2000 more. So, the total attack is around 3000. Critical damage is normally 50% by the standard. If I take into high guardian defenses and his pierce value, the damage is a 300% one. You get one advanced skill after level 30. Is it that skill? Or did he pick up a skill book somewhere? Forget it. The stronger the skill is, the longer the cooldown time. So, he can''t use it again soon, anyway." Meanwhile, Aster dashed towards them in a zigzag motion and slashed all of them in one more attack killing every one of them with ease. Williard looked at the corpses that disappeared and left equipment and sneered, "can''t even take two of Aster''s attacks and yet, they are boasting about their strength." Then, he turned towards everyone, who was amazed at Shadow Blade''s strength, "what you all waiting for? Let''s go." They stepped inside the level 35-40 zone. As they proceeded deeper to look for level 40 Elite bosses while killing normal mobs on the way, they saw a twenty-member party fighting a Giant Leopard. Upon inspecting it, Williard saw, Grey Leopard (Boss) Grade: Heroic Level 38 HP: 343,297/1,000,000 "Leader, it seems a large party around 50 killed the 6-member party we placed at the perimeter and are approaching towards us. There is a strong level 42 Assassin player in that party" said a Gunner class player. One of the assassins in the party replied, "That''s old news. Turn around and you can see them. They are already here. Leader, I''m waiting for your orders" The Vice Guild leader of Imperial Guild, who was leading the party mumbled, "So, some foolish group thinks they can not only defy our orders but also wanted to steal our monster, huh? Party-B, you guys take care of them. Party-A will fight the boss until our Guild members arrive here." Aster who saw one of them turned his head and spotted them spoke, "Young master, they must have already known that we''re here after we wiped out the party." Williard replied, "First, add me to the party." Previously while leveling up; he didn''t do it because he had to share EXP if he was in a Party. That''s why, while the 51 of them are in a Party so that they cannot attack each other, he remained solo and raised his level very quickly. "Now, attack and kill every one of them. A thousand Credits per head," as soon as Williard ordered and offered a reward, these thugs roared in excitement since it''s a lot of amount for these financially struggling people with poor living conditions and debts. They started running towards the ten-player party who were sent to massacre their group instead. As two Assassins in the group disappeared, the rest of them instantly disappeared as they were bombarded by a collective number of Fireballs, arrows, shot bullets by the range attackers. Meanwhile, Williard flew towards the ten-player group that is fighting the Heroic Boss, along with Aster who was following him while staying hidden all the time behind the trees, bushes, etc Looking at Williard, who was arrogantly flying alone while looking down at them, Vice Guild leader Red Dragon frowned, "is he a scout? Dave, take care of him." Dave, the gunner of the party, pointed the energy blaster at him and shot once at him since he thought the other party was just a level 22 and only have a little over 4000 HP. He thought Williard will die in one or two hits. Williard flapped his wings and easily dodged the attack as he invested all the points in intelligence and Agility. After evading the attack, he picked his bow from his back with the right hand and pulled the string while pointing the bow towards the gunner. A fire arrow formed between his fingers on the bow. Dave looked at it in a shock, "What the ****" as Williard released the fire arrow while suddenly changing the direction of his bow. As Dave was stupefied by a moment after realizing that this scout''s aim was something else as he saw the Fire arrow zoomed in the air and hit the Grey Leopard''s eye. *Rawr* the boss roared in pain and anger while the blood is oozing from its eye and the burning effect was activated. A red aura generated by the boss. Red Dragon shouted, "everyone, move away, the boss went into berserk mode. That little ****" As a member was panicked, the Vice leader replied, "A Heroic boss will get into a berserk state when it gets hit in its sensitive parts like eyes. That''s why we always avoid it." And then ordered them to get away as soon as possible, but two to three members argued, "Leader, it was only 10% away. Let''s just kill it quickly. Enemies are coming." Meanwhile, Williard smirked, "these fools don''t know the scary part of the berserk state." As the boss went into a berserk state that increases its attack by 100% and squashed half of the party, Red Dragon immediately ordered, "everyone, follow me. Let''s just give them the same medicine. And kill that f****** scout, first." As Red Dragon and a few members of his team started running towards Will''s party, Williard sent a voice message in the party channel, "Imperial guild is trying to lure the monster towards you guys and take all of you out with them. Aster, your job is to take out their leader, first. Everyone else, kill the others and Rock Fist, hold monster for a while. While the Archer stayed there to kill Williard, the remaining four of them followed Red Dragon who was luring the berserk boss towards Will''s party. While the gunner was shooting at Williard who was easily dodging because of high agility and a large distance between them, Williard spoke, "do you know why you aren''t a match of me even though your level is 15 levels higher than mine?" Dave looked him furiously and thought, "We''ll see how long you can fly in the air." Williard smirked, "I bet you are thinking it''s because I have wings." He shook his index finger and then flew high a few meters. He pulled the string as his face turned serious, "it''s because my range is a lot higher than yours" and then shot a fire arrow towards him but Dave dodged easily and Williard became embarrassed as it went far away from Dave. Even if was at that spot, it wouldn''t have hit him. Dave laughed, "It seems, you should practice Archery before spouting out such line." Williard at first became furious because of embarrassment and then thought, "What he said is right, though. I should practice Archery once again. For me who came 5 years from the future, it''s been 10 years since I practiced martial arts, Archery, Shooting, and such stuff. That''s why my accuracy is far low. I should take some time free time from game and practice again." Chapter 10锛歋tealing a Heroic Boss As Willard realized his mistake, he flapped his wings and glided downwards towards Dave, moving into a 15-meter range where he was confident of the accuracy and shot the Fire arrow. Seeing the attack, Dave thought, "Seeing his level, either he only advanced recently or was killed repeatedly. The latter isn''t believable seeing his poor accuracy even though it seems like his range is higher than 30m. There''s a high chance that he might learn it from a unique skill book." As Dave concentrated on him and shot an energy beam, Williard flapped his wings and dodged the attack just in time using the active skill, "Dash" which let his flying speed increase by 300% for the next ten seconds. Dave was shocked seeing Williard suddenly flew like a flash and appeared in another place. In the next moment, his HP showing on his head decreased by 2285 that didn''t surprise him very much since he has over 25000 HP. But soon, his face turned to serious as a series of damages appeared on his head, 2267, 2382, then critical hits twice 3674, 3522. Not only that, as the burning effect activated upon hit, for the next ten seconds, 163, and 163 163 and so, total 1630 HP was further removed. After nearly 16000 HP disappeared on his enemy, Williard thought, "Damn, I guess this how a level suppression looks like. I only have 22MP left. Let''s use that skill and kill this guy first. Afterward, I need to buy normal arrows in the market. Unlike other classes, Mages don''t have basic attacks. While the cooldowns are very short and the attacks are strong, they still need to depend on Mana." Meanwhile, Dave was shocked his HP was dropped by more than 60%. As there is only one second left until the effect of dash disappears, Williard flew with his top speed and reached behind Dave. Before he turned around with his energy blaster, Williard grinned while putting his hands and bring all the fingers to thumb, "goodbye, Dave." "Dragon Fire", he breathed out the fire through his hands like blowing a trumpet. A stream of flames erupted from it and burned him decreasing his HP each second by 3232, 3457, 3143, and he was turned into ash in three seconds and then disappeared while leaving two pieces of equipment behind. Williard picked the drops and check their stats. Kruger''s Energy Blaster (+1) Level: 35 Class: Restricted to Gunner Grade: Silver Attack: 451-483 (+46) Pierce: 54 (+5) Critical rate: 5.4% (+0.5) "This will fetch for a good price once Auction opens." He stored in the inventory and he checked out the boots. Looking at it, a big smile appeared on his face as boots and bracers don''t have class restrictions. The only equipment with class restrictions are the Weapons, Armors, and also helmets which only classes like Palladin, Guardian, and Knight can wear. Kruger''s Boots (+4) Level: 35 Grade: Gold HP: 2765 (+1016) Defense: 244 (+93) Movement Speed: 5 (+2) Critical resist: 3.5% (+1.3) After storing it into his inventory, Williard turned towards the boss that was held by Rock fist, the muscular teenage boy, and saw his HP was almost depleted by 90% and the Heroic boss have only 150,000 HP remaining. As for the players, 16were killed on Will''s party while on Imperial Guild''s side everyone else including the two Assassins who hide at the beginning of the fight was also killed except the vice leader, Red Dragon, who was just a thousand HP away from being dead. Before Aster finished him off, Red Dragon spoke, "I''m honored to be killed by an expert like you." After killing him off, he looked in the sky and got worried that the young master was killed but then sighed in relief after finding his game hasn''t turned grey in the party that means he was alive. He hurriedly sent a voice message, "Young master, our job is finished here. Should I come there and help you out?" Williard replied, "I''m also done here. Kill the boss before the members of Imperial Guild arrive" and then, he flapped his wings and flew towards the Giant Grey Leopard that was massacring the members in a berserk state without caring about its HP. As he was flying towards it, he ordered in the party channel, "Range attackers, try to blind its other eye, Rock Fist, fall back and healers, all of you, focus your healing on Rock fist until he recovers fully. After recovering full, take the aggro again. And until then, all the Guardians, come forward and try to hold it off. And everyone, stop all the attacks when it falls below 10,000 and run for your life." "Yes, Boss." As they were trying to follow his orders while he was just flying in the air around it and waiting for his mana slowly recover. He looked at the Boss as his HP depleting to 100,000 75,000 50,000 25,000 15,000 10,000 As soon as Boss HP fell below 1%, a thick purple surrounded it and he shouted, "Now everyone, run, quickly." While most of them did so and moved out of the range, a few of them weren''t able to and their HP dropped to zero in a second as it swiped its claws in a wide range and increasing its attack by 300%. Williard mumbled, "no matter the level, heroic and above grade bosses are considered very dangerous when their HP down to 1%. Only an excellent Guardian or Palladin can hold them off, as for the rest" Williard left the party as everyone cleared the area, then immediately used Dash skill and flew towards it like a flash. As he neared its head, the boss sensed him and turned its head and swiped one of its claws at the same time towards him but since the ten seconds aren''t over yet, he dodged it and then immediately used the Active Skill, "Dragon Fire." He used his hands like a trumpet and breathed out fire through it from his mouth. Because of high defense, numbers like 1232, 974, 1423, etc started to appear on its head decreasing its HP slowly but Williard didn''t stop as his MP getting depleted and fell under 10. Just when the ten seconds are over, its claws appeared on his head, and as it about to touch him, its hands turned into ash and fell on his head as its HP became zero. "Congratulations, you killed the level 35 Heroic Boss, Grey Leopard. 283,648 (+20%) EXP gained." Continuous level-up notifications began to ring in his ears. Because of the 20% passive EXP bonus, Williard got more than nearly 58K additional EXP that pushed him all the way to level 31. Ignoring it, he threw all of the items dropped into his bag and flew fast away from there as he thought members of Imperial Guild will arrive soon and he wasn''t a fool to fight them on his own. Chapter 11锛欱ounty As he flew away from there, Williard checked the notifications. Aside from the level up notifications, there are other notifications. "Congratulations, you received a new skill. Please check the Skill panel for details." "38 Silvers has been added." "Congratulations, you avenged mayor son''s death. Report it to the Mayor and receive your reward." Williard was surprised to see that he completed a quest that he didn''t accept. "Hmm, the system only informs like this when it is a public quest. Then, I guess, I need to accept the quest from the bulletin board in Adventurer''s Association. Since it is a Quest, then the boss must have dropped a quest item that I need to produce as proof. Let''s see the drops, first. Williard then took out each item that was dropped from the inventory and inspected it. Leopard King''s Light Armor (+0) Level: 40 Class: Mage, Ranger, Assassin; Grade: Gold HP: 3988 Defense: 424 ???? ???? "Hmm, I need to look for Appraiser, later. Ok, next." Arthur''s Necklace (Quest item) Class: Anyone Level: 30 Grade: Silver Attack: 2.3% HP: 5.2% Description: The necklace worn by Arthur, who was the only son of Revus, the mayor of East Ocean city. Looking at the description, Williard became troubled whether it''s worth to hand it over or not because necklaces are very rare. If it was a gold grade one, Williard definitely wouldn''t hesitate to keep it but seeing it was a silver grade and he can''t even enhance it, he mumbled, "Well, let''s see the reward posted by the Mayor, first." Leopard King''s dual blades (+0) Class: Assassin Level: 40 Grade: Gold Attack: 1986 Pierce: 217 Critical rate: 8.6% Attack Speed: 3.8 Williard smiled in satisfaction, "I know that Assassin weapons have always high attack but that was some insane attack speed. Aster''s damage will be further increase once he equips this." As for the other normal Bronze equipment of other classes, I guess I''ll just give them to the party members." After seeing he leveled up 9 times after receiving that crazy amount of EXP, he thought, "now that I passed level 30, its time to create a Guild to start my next goal." Then, he voice-messaged to Aster, "the boss is killed, I''m safe. Tell everyone to gather at Bear Inn and give everyone their rewards for player killing immediately." Aster replied, "As you wish, young master." While Williard was heading towards the East Ocean city, at Imperial Guild residence, the Guild Leader looked at the twenty members of the part coldly, "so, not only you lose the boss to them but also got killed and lost equipment? You, Dave here is the worst of them all. You even lost to a level-22 noob and lost gold grade equipment and even have the nerve to say excuses that he possesses unique skills? I don''t need you, anymore. Get out of here. Red Dragon, even you also lost? Not to Boss but was done by a mere level 42 Assassin? I didn''t expect this from you. Do you know why I made you vice leader despite you being a mere 46 level player when there are many level50 players in our guild? It''s because I thought your skill is above them. But you''ve disappointed me today." Red Dragon replied, "The assassin, presumably their leader is a true expert. If we get him to our side" The Guild leader, White Tiger became furious, "you ****** trash, now you dare to advise me to pull in my enemy who dared to humiliate me? They didn''t just steal a Heroic boss, you idiot. I lost my chance of becoming a Noble. Do you have any idea how hard to get fame? Go, and kill every one of them. You all get their names those who killed you in notifications, right? Record all 52 of their names and put a bounty on them. 1000 Credits on each person getting killed once. Tell them it''ll be in effect until their level reaches 1. And as for that assassin that killed you, I''ll make it double." As Red Dragon left the place, he sighed, "I don''t understand the world of these rich people. They wound their pride in every petty little thing and burn their money. According to the game rules, each person would lose 50% EXP. They are all in mid 30 levels. That means at least 60-80,000 Credits per person. Around 4 Million Credits in total. 4 Millions, hmpf. It would simply take at least 5 Years even for someone like me to earn it with my salary. Sigh, I truly envy these rich brats who can burn their father''s money like paper." Meanwhile, Williard reached the East Ocean City and started walking towards the Bear Inn while checking his new stats after equipping all the level 30 Bronze armor, bracer, boots, and a silver bow, he got from Aster a while ago and Mayor son''s necklace inside his armor. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 31 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 7832/7832 (9805) MP: 145 (174) Attack: 2072-2116 (2486-2539) Defense: 264 (317) Attack Speed: 10 (12) Movement Speed: 50 (60) Flying Speed: 100 (120) Critical rate: 4.7% Active Skills: Fireball (Max): Throw a Big fireball onto your enemy with a 155% attack. Apply the burning effect on targets for 10 seconds with a 10% attack. 20m range. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Heal (Max): Recover yourself or your ally with a 110% attack. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 2MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Fire Arrow (level 3): Conjure a fire arrow and shoot the enemies using your bow with a 130% attack. 35m range. Costs 5MP; No cool down. Dragon Fire (level 2): Breathe fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 160% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. Freeze (level 1): Freeze the entire area around you with Ice Magic and paralyze everyone for 5 Seconds. Apply the freezing effect on the targets. Cost 10 MP; 10m range. Cooldown time: 180 Seconds. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs and legendary above grade monsters. Passive Skill: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain raised by 20% in the material world. The Bow of Elementalist (Max): Every arrow you fire contains elemental magic, instead of magic energy. Aura of Elementalist (Max): Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. Available Skill Points: 7 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 100 Agility: 50 Vitality: 23 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 0 As soon as he reached there, he saw his party was there waiting for him along with Aster while drinking drinks and occupied the first floor. He looked at them and said, "Good job, everyone. Now, hear me carefully. I''m going to start a Guild. You are all going to get joining bonus of 1000 Credits. And Aster, this five equipment were dropped by monster along with other ones. Give them to the one who needed it. It''s only a bronze grade but still level 40 ones. Might be worth until they get Silver equipment." After giving them the equipment, he gave the gold grade dual blades to Aster much to the envy of those hired thugs. "Thank you, young master," as Aster thanked him, Williard patted his shoulder and replied, "no need. I''ll always take care of those who follow me." Later, Williard and Aster went to the City Administration building that is situated at the Central Plaza, the center of the city. "Excuse me," as Williard called out to the Elf receptionist who was busy writing the reports, "yes, what do you need, adventurer?" the Elf asked him. Williard replied, "Can I have a Nobility badge?" The Elf replied without any expression, "Yes, 50 Silver per badge." Hearing the price, Aster gasped as he knew even 10 Silver is a huge amount. After all, it''s just the third day and the exchanging system didn''t open yet. In private exchanges, the average price of one silver is selling for 1,410 Credits. Then Aster asked, "Young master, should I buy the currency?" Chapter 12锛歏iscount Aster suggested buying the currency with Credits from other players as he thought Young master might not have 50 Silvers on him. But, to his surprise, Williard waved his hand and rejected the idea, "no need. The boss dropped a good amount of Silver." He pulled a pouch from inventory and gave it to her, "Here it is. 50 Silver" while thinking, "Well, now, I only have a little more than 11 Silver left. After forming guild, next, I''ll be left with nothing. It doesn''t matter. I can always get some. I don''t lack money, anyway." Then, she said, "Ok, before giving you, I need to check your citizenship and your fame. There is another requirement that one needs to have at least 1000 fame." After saying that, without waiting for confirmation, she looked at him as her green eyes turned purple and gasped. Then she became flustered for a moment and bowed a little, "I apologize for my rude actions, Lord Adventurer, please forgive me. You can have it for free if you want." Williard didn''t felt surprised seeing her actions as he knew that she must have been shocked by the amount of fame he has. While Aster got surprised by her actions, Williard replied, "it''s fine. If I take this advantage and don''t pay, you''ll have to pay instead of me. It''ll be a burden on you too. Just take it." As she bowed to Williard, much to other players'' and Aster''s surprise, clutching the badge in his hands, Williard left the building as he got a notification from the system. "Nobility Badge acquired. Press Confirm to bind it to you." Williard pressed confirm and then received another notification. "Fame is detected. Confirm to fill the badge with fame to upgrade your Social status inside the Kingdom of Llyne." Williard pressed confirm and the badge inside his hand changed from a normal plain Iron badge to Bronze badge after his fame decreased by 2000 and then changed to Silver after decreasing 6000 more and stopped after consuming 1000 more too. He received a bunch of notifications. "Congratulations, You are now a Noble of Llyne Kingdom." "Congratulations, You are now a Baron. Check your Nobility badge for details." "Congratulations, You are now a Viscount. Check your Nobility badge for details." "Congratulations on becoming the first player to become a Viscount of Llyne Kingdom. You are awarded 1000 fame, 5 Gold as a reward." "Favorability with the Mayor increased by 20." "Favorability with the King increased by 10." "Quest: The Mayor wants to meet the new Viscount. Meet the Mayor. Reward: 4,000 EXP" After confirming it, he pressed the Llyne Kingdom symbol, a lion with wings that is drawn on the Nobility badge; details appeared on a screen before him. Nobility Badge (Silver) Status: Viscount Affiliation: Llyne kingdom Description: This badge represents your Status inside the Kingdom. Effects: All NPC below your status respects you. 30% discount in all NPC shops existed in East Ocean City. You can employ 100 guards, grade of your choosing while paying them a fixed salary per week. Aster saw a huge smile on Williard''s face and thought, "I guess something good happened to the young master. That Nobility badge also changed colors. Is he a Noble now? That''s why he''s happy?" Aster doesn''t know the real reason Williard was high on clouds. It wasn''t because he became a Viscount but it''s because he received a massive amount of 5 Gold as a reward for being the first Viscount of the Kingdom. In this time where even 10 to 20 silver being treated as a high amount, 5 Gold, that is equivalent to 500 Silver or 50,000 Copper is a large amount indeed. "Aster, let''s go to the Adventurer Association building," said Williard. Then, they walked towards the building that''s on the opposite side of them in the Central Plaza area. As they stepped inside the building, Williard saw there is a long queue. He sighed and then looked at Aster, "just go and register the guild for me. Here, take this 10 Silver for registration. The guild name is Scarlet and our insignia is a Vulture. Send me a voice message if the name was taken already or if you are finished with the job. Until, then, I''ll go look for some quests. So far, I have only accepted and completed a single Quest." Keeping Aster in place of him, in the queue, Williard walked towards the bulletin board that has various public quests posted by various adventurers and NPCs who need help. As Williard touched the Mayor''s Quest that was written in the NPCs section, he received a notification. "The Mayor wants his son''s death avenged. Would you like to accept the Quest? Reward: 41,254 EXP, 20 Silvers, 1420 fame." Williard thought, "Only a fool would accept such Quest if they knew they are going to face a level-35 Heroic boss. Well, since I already completed the quest, there''s no harm in accepting it." He accepted the quest and got a notification. "You completed the Mayor''s Quest. Report to him by returning his son''s necklace and get your reward." He thought, "Let''s keep the necklace with me for now. Since I already have the quest item, I''ll just wait until I get a better necklace and will present it to the Mayor, later." Then, he saw various NPC requests and shook his head, "these are all basically worthless. Too much work and little payment. Let''s look at others." Then, he searched the players'' section and finally accepted one request as he saw the Quest description and requirement that only Angel race players can accept the request. "You accepted Team Seraphim''s request." As soon as he accepted it, within a few seconds, he got a voice message from some user named Blue Dragon. "Hello, I''m Seraphim. I got notified that you accepted the quest. With you, our party is filled. Are you available for the Quest right now?" As Williard replied, "yes," Seraphim said, "great. Come to these coordinates." After messaging him, Seraphim looked at one of his four friends and asked, "Is your friend arriving too, Drake?" Drake, a high school freshman nodded and then replied with dissatisfaction, "I don''t understand why you accepted a low-level player. What is his class, anyway?" A girl named Metatron giggled, "For someone who is still at level 34, you sound very arrogant." Drake snorted, "Hmpf, my situation is different. I changed my class to Palladin. I had to reset and start all over again or else I would have already surpassed your level by now." Seraphim replied, "Stop your quarrel over every little thing. I don''t know what his class is either. Anyway, it doesn''t matter. We only need a 10th Angel race player to challenge this dungeon. Look at the time limit. We need to complete the quest faster and can''t afford to wait, too much." After buying two sets of normal arrows for 3 Silver, 1 set of poison arrows for 10 Silver, each set containing 20 arrows, he started flying towards the mentioned coordinates after getting out of the city. He reached a small Cliff on the Barren land filled with level 50 monsters where he saw there are seven players standing on it and all of them have wings behind their backs indicating they are Angel race players like him. Chapter 13锛歅arty up with Angel race players As soon as Williard landed before the party that was waiting for him, the leader of the party welcomed him with a smile after looking at Williard''s name above his head, "Hello, I''m Seraphim." Williard replied, "Time Traveler," while everyone else was wondering why a low-level player with Bronze equipment is in the Party. After joining the party, Williard asked, "since you gathered only angels, you are trying for that racial dungeon, aren''t you? The ones only certain races can enter. I wonder why you put level 30 as a requirement. If I''m right, the starting dungeon itself a level 50 dungeon, and none of the team here is 50 yet." Seraphim replied, "Nothing to worry about. We hired a level 60 helper to carry us around." Williard was taken aback in surprise and asked, "A level 60 player? That means a top 10 player. Who is it?" Metatron replied while giggling, "You have too many questions for a level 31. Just sit down and reap the benefits." Williard frowned at first but then stood silent as he saw most of the members in the party are between level45 and 50, not to mention, the leader of the party seemed like a nice guy at first glance. He silently noted her name in his mind to judge her further before taking action as he is an extremely prideful and vengeful person in the inside. Not a one that can tolerate an insult. But, he learned his lesson not to be rash and go for vengeance for every little thing he got offended, after being stepped down like a side character over and over again by Bran so much that he had to leave the game after three years of playing in his past life. After a while, two more players landed before them. Everyone was shocked upon seeing the muscular bulky man with gold equipment from top to bottom with a large ax and a shield at his back, standing behind the teenage girl. Seraphim asked the girl with excitement, "This is your acquaintance? I never thought you would bring the best player in our city." Just then, the shining large ax landed between the girl and Seraphim, making Seraphim shivered and take a step back in a surprise and that middle-aged man spoke, "stay a distance away from my daughter." Then, he turned towards Drake and asked coldly, "So, you are Drake, my daughter''s friend?" Williard swore that he saw an illusion of him being a lot bigger like a Giant monster as he looking at Seraphim and Drake, the girl shouted, "dad, don''t embarrass me. This is why I don''t want you to come with me." "Eh? You two are father and daughter?" as Seraphim asked in surprise, the father and daughter pair started to quarrel. Meanwhile, Williard who saw their names wondered where he heard. Suddenly something clicked in his mind and he opened the East Ocean City rankings. 1. Flame Emperor- Level 72 2. Snow Dew- Level 68 3. Unnamed- Level 66 4. Unnamed- Level 65 5. White Tiger- Level 65 6. Heavenly King- Level 62 2573. Time Traveler- Level 31 Williard thought, "So, these are the current number 1 and number two rankers of East Ocean city, Flame Emperor, and Snow Dew." Then, he passed the party leader to Flame Emperor which he passed it to his daughter and commented, "I''m not interested in helping you guys out. I''m only here to protect my daughter." Ignoring him, Snow Dew said, "first of all, let me introduce myself, I''m Snow Dew. Nice to meet you guys. Now, Drake, where is the dungeon in the sky you talked about?" Seraphim replied instead of him, "The dungeon is right at the bottom of the cliff." While Snow Dew innocently asked, "Eh? There''s no dungeon in the sky?" Flame Emperor looked at Drake, "you dare lie to my daughter, you prick. I knew it was the right thing to tag along with her." He grabbed Drake''s armor and shook him furiously while he started to panic in fear. While Williard shook his head in annoyance seeing this overprotective father and everyone else was looking away as it wasn''t their problem, Seraphim calmed him down and said, "Inside the dungeon is a sky battle. Not the location of the dungeon. I got the information about it from a Beta tester. Believe me." Hearing that, Snow Dew became excited, "really? That''s cool. What are we waiting for, let''s go." The currently insignificant character among the group, Williard, sighed, and followed them as they dived to reach the bottom of the cliff. As they are reaching the bottom, Seraphim spoke, "Range attackers, throw whatever you want and clear the monsters and melee attackers, get ready to battle once we reached the bottom. Drake, Hell Flame, once we reach the bottom, both of you tank them while we attack." Flame Emperor snorted, "no need to waste too much of our time." He used Dash skill and dived even faster and jumped down picking up his ax and the shield. After landing on the ground, the monster who sensed the smell of Angels roared and before they take their action, he started swinging his ax while running around and gathered all the monsters nearby the entrance quickly before they reached the bottom. Then, he shouted, "Now, all of you attack." Everyone attacked listening to him after being amazed by how he was tanking nearly 30 monsters all alone. Williard thought, "That''s an excellent guardian. I wonder why I didn''t hear of his name before. Is it because I focused too much on Bran and only on the top players of the world? Or it might be because I chose a different kingdom back then. Who knows?" Since they stayed in the party and wiping out the common monsters in the wilderness, the one who got the final hit got half of the Monster''s EXP of around 2700 EXP and the remaining 2700 EXP got shared between the rest of the nine. Williard didn''t attack at all and got his share 300 EXP for each monster28 times and with a 20% bonus, like the rest of them, he gained a little more than 10K EXP in total raising his EXP bar from 62% to 82% directly, nearing to level 32. As soon as everyone neared the portal that is at the bottom of the cliff, they received a notification. "Congratulations on discovering the Sky Castle dungeon. +50% EXP and +100% Drop rate for the first try" Snow Dew then tried to enter the dungeon but stopped and asked Seraphim, "What difficulty should I choose?" Seraphim then replied, "Originally, we planned to try a normal mode but seeing Flame Emperor''s skills in action, I can''t help but think of Elite mode." Flame Emperor folded his hands and refused, "no way, as I''ve said, I''m only here to protect my daughter. I only helped you guys this time because it''s a waste of time but Dungeon is different. If you still want to go ahead, try all for I care." Snow Dew then said, "Ignore him. He''ll take care of the tanking. I''m starting the Elite dungeon." As she activated the portal, everyone entered the dungeon. Williard and everyone else found themselves on a large floating island with several small floating Islands everywhere around without any specific path. Chapter 14锛歋ky Castle Dungeon part 1 The Ten-Player party entered the Sky-Castle dungeon, a Level 50 racial dungeon that can only be entered by Angel race. Looking at his surroundings, Seraphim who took back the leader position said, "Okay, there are three open paths here. As we all know Normal and Elite dungeon structure is exactly the same in all types. The only difference is the strength of the mobs and the Boss monster. As for the goal, what you need to find is a portal. It''ll lead us straight to the Castle. Seven of us will go left and you two will go right. Flame Emperor won''t leave Snow Dew''s side, so, pick one between Time Traveler and Drake who are still in level 30s. Since this is Elite, we can''t cover two of them. So" Before Snow Dew replies anything, Flame Emperor pointed at Williard and said, "You, come with us. Since you are the weakest here, stick with us." As Williard silently walked towards their side much to the envy of other people since he doesn''t even have to lift a finger and get free EXP with two strongest players around, meanwhile, Flame Emperor thought, "as if I would get my daughter get close to that prick. This ordinary, silent and a weak guy is better." As Williard was following both of them, Snow Dew started a conversation, "Big brother Time Traveler, you are an Archer, right?" As Williard nodded, she said, "that means, your MP will be consumed instead of stamina, right? Then, tell us when you need to recover your mana. We will slow down a bit so that you can catch up with us." Williard replied, "It''s fine. I''m just freeloading on you guys. You can maintain your pace as you wish. I''ll try to keep up with you." Snow Dew then said, "Then better not to use Skills and waste your mana then. Oh, I can see the monster." Before he replies anything, she dashed off from there and landed on a floating Island and started shooting the eagle head monsters with the energy blasts using the Energy Cannon in her hand. Since the other seven are far away, the EXP gained was being distributed between the three of them equally as they were in a dungeon where last hit and contribution doesn''t matter. With a 70% additional bonus, Williard began to receive continuous EXP like 3362, 3421, 3534, 3186, 3332, 3467 Just after 7 monsters got killed, a level up notification rang in his ears. Two hours later, After killing a little more than a hundred monsters, Snow Dew screamed in happiness, "Yes, I leveled up once, finally." Then, she looked at Williard and asked, "Oh, you level up to 37 already?" and pouted, "It became really hard to level up even once after level 50. Especially monsters here give way too little HP while having high agility to dodge and high defense to reduce the damage. Even with a 70% bonus, I''m only getting around 2500 EXP per monster. It''s very annoying, indeed." Williard replied, "That''s because of level difference between the monsters and you is high. And also, for your information, the EXP needed will be increased twice again after level 100, you know." "Eh?" Snow Dew looked at him in a confusion. Flame Emperor explained her in place of Williard, "If you have studied closely, you would see the pattern of level up, monsters EXP of each level of each grade, Equipment of each level and grade, etc That''s why I told you to listen to my teaching and don''t focus on playing all time. Since we touched the topic already, you are now at the 69th level. For now, it''s following a pattern of 100*n*(n-1). That means 100*70*69. Now tell me how much it is." "Eh? Um" as Snow Dew became flustered and started looking up while thinking, then all of a sudden, she got a notification. "Time Traveler sent you a private message. Press Confirm to Allow." As she pressed confirm, a number appeared as a message, "483,000." She immediately looked at her father and laughed, "Hehe, I calculated it. The answer is 483,000." Flame Emperor immediately moved into tears of happiness, "my daughter is a genius. Sending you to that top school seems like working." Williard started to get annoyed while looking at this drama character but controlled his expression since the opponent is Flame Emperor. Even if he is a guardian, one to two hits are enough to finish a low level like Williard. Then, suddenly, he received a friend request from Snow Dew. Upon accepting it, he got a message, "Thanks for the help, Big Brother Time Traveler." Half n hour later, after they finished all the mobs on the right side while Williard''s EXP went from 11% to 68% and also replaced his level 30 bronze boots with level 35 Gold grade boots, the one with +4 enhanced, which was dropped after he killed Dave, a few hours earlier. Equipping it increased his HP by more than 3000, then he added all the 35 points he gained to his HP increasing 7000 more and increasing it all the way to 22K overall with his 20% stat bonus and 5.2% HP bonus added because of the necklace. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 38 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 17983/17983 (22514) MP: 145 (174) Attack: 2072-2116 (2486-2539) Defense: 523 (627) Attack Speed: 10 (12) Movement Speed: 57 (68) Flying Speed: 100 (120) Critical rate: 4.7% Critical resist: 4.8% Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 100 Agility: 50 Vitality: 58 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 0 Looking at his new stats, he thought, "first, surviving is important. I can always add attributes to Agility later." Snow Dew then said, "We''re finished here. There''s no sign of a portal. Let''s take rest for a while. I''m out of MP potions. I need to recover my MP before setting out to help them. Big Brother Time Traveler, you are flying for two hours straight. Your MP must have also reached the bottom, right? Come down and sit here, you too, Dad." As Williard effortlessly landed on the floating Island to sit down next to her, Flame Emperor snorted, "I can fly for half a day without an issue." Even though he said that Flame Emperor still landed and sat in between Williard and Snow Dew. After sitting down for like 25 minutes, Seraphim messaged in the party channel, "we found the portal. Come." She replied, "I''m recovering my mana. Still need 20 minutes." 20 minutes later, Flame Emperor and Williard followed her as she started flying towards the coordinates they received in the party channel. While Drake was looking at Williard in envy since he was still at 35 and Williard already surpassed him just by tagging along with them but then thought, "Well, he won''t be receiving equipment or currency, anyway. I might as well as think this is his payment for daring to accept the 10th person role in a level 50 dungeon." While Williard wondered why they aren''t asking Snow Dew''s help in clearing the monsters as there''s also an additional 50% bonus and in a hurry to complete the dungeon, Seraphim pointed the portal to the three of them and said, "There it is. Let''s go, everyone." Chapter 15锛歋ky Castle Dungeon part 2 Entering the portal, everyone found themselves on a large floating Island with a medium-sized Castle in front of them. Seraphim looked at the two of them and said, "We''ll be depending on you now." Snow Dew then asked, "Big Brother Seraphim, do you know anything about the Boss?" Seraphim replied, "All I know that he doesn''t have many specialties except for defending himself with the wings. So, he''s a very tough boss. Since the normal dungeon has an Elite Boss, it''ll be either an Elite boss or if our luck is worst, then a Heroic Boss will appear. Let''s go. We don''t have much time. I''ll tell the rest of the way." While the five hired players wondered what''s the meaning of they lack time, Seraphim led everyone into the castle. As they entered the Sky Castle, they found several common mobs like the ones they found outside but each one was level 54-56 but to a level-72 player like Flame Emperor, 51, 52, 55, etc all look the same. He roared and started flying, tanking all the mobs he sees while the rest of the nine bombarded them with all kinds of attacks. Clearing the entrance hall within 15 minutes, they started to proceed through the passage that was connected to the next room while Seraphim is explaining about the boss. "The boss isn''t a half-human and with eagle head like these mobs. His normal form is a complete human but will be transformed into Giant Eagle. The transformation will depend on the boss''s grade. The elite boss will change at 10% and Heroic will change at 30%. Not sure about Legendary. During the Human transformation, he attacks with an ax and defends himself with the wings. After transforming into a Monster, his abilities will increase by at least 100%. In that form, it has four abilities. One is to sweep everyone with its wings. The second is attacking a single player with its claws. Third is defending itself with wings. It has 100% DR at that time, so, it''s a waste of using Skills unless you have a skill that ignores defense. Since Pierce can only ignore a certain amount of defense, it won''t work even if you have 100%, since it only reduces defense, not damage reduction. The last one is attacking everyone with a Fire attack from its mouth. I heard that there will be pillars where we can hide for that specific attack. That''s all I know." After hearing him, Flame Emperor commented, "It seems you were well informed about this dungeon, kid." Seraphim smiled, "well, we had to pay more than 100,000 Credits for the information." Hearing the amount, several players in the group gasped except Flame Emperor and Williard, who were calm whereas Snow Dew turned her head towards Williard and asked innocently, "is that high?" Seeing her response, everyone instantly thought, "Is she rich or a dense girl?" Williard replied calmly, "Just think of it as 70 Silvers." "Oh, I see. But that''s not much, is it?" as Snow Dew replied, the five of them almost coughed out blood while thinking, "this damn rich girl" Seraphim then, bitterly smiled, "we''re college students and live on our own. I can''t afford that kind of an amount alone. Even for that, we shared that cost between the five of us. Anyway, we''re here" "****" Seraphim cursed out as soon as he saw that they didn''t end up at the Boss room but a room with four Level-56 Elite Bosses. "Guys since we''re facing Elite Bosses, which means the final boss is Heroic." Flame Emperor immediately used roar skill and attracted their aggro forcefully. Because of him, it became very easier to kill all four of them in half n hour while he lost about a third of his HP which was soon filled to the maximum with Healers and Drake''s help who is a Palladin. Then, Snow Dew suggested, "Should we rest for a while so that everyone''s skills'' cooldown time is over?" After resting for 10 minutes more, they started walking through the long passage that led them to the throne room. As stepped inside, they saw a man with large red wings and a crown on his head, sitting on a throne. Williard inspected the Boss. Jatayu (Heroic) Level: 58 HP: 2,500,000 Description: Jatayu, the ruler of the Sky castle and the king of Eagles. Looking at his HP, as Snow Dew mumbled, "Doesn''t look like much," Jatayu looked at the players and growled while picking up the ax, "immortal adventurers, how dare you invade my kingdom and kill my generals. I won''t spare any of you." As he jumped high and brandished his ax towards Snow Dew, who was standing forefront of the group, Flame Emperor who has have little more than 100,000 HP and 8,000 Defense, blocked the ax with the shield and found nearly, 10% of his HP was cut off from the attack. Looking at the high damage, even Williard gulped while thinking, "I can''t get hit by it. Even with 22K HP, it only needs two hits to finish me off. Not to mention, his transformation, there''s also berserk state. He only needs one hit to kill everyone around here. Are all Racial dungeon bosses this powerful?" As Flame Emperor roared and pushed it off with his shield a few steps back and raised his Axe and Shield, Seraphim spoke, "Black Hole, Drake, you two solely focus on healing Flame Emperor, Reed, you focus on everyone, Metatron, Time Traveler, you two Archers, take each a safe spot behind one of those pillars and shoot from there. It''ll be easy for an Archer to shoot staying in one place. Dragon King, you are with me, just focus on combos and try to cooperate with me and lastly, Notebook and Snow Dew, your two classes, Assassin and Gunner don''t need cooperation aside from a tank. Just attack however you want. Remember everyone, no attacking the eyes. Now, let''s finish this quickly, guys." Everyone followed Seraphim''s orders and started attacking the boss while Flame Emperor tanking it thoroughly. Williard pulled out one of the arrow sets from the inventory and started to practice shooting on the Boss from 25m distance. At first, in the first set, almost half of them are missed making Metatron frown and was told by her to go closer and shoot if his accuracy is lacking. But Williard didn''t listen to her and keep shooting the arrows at that range. Then, slowly his arrows began to hit Jatayu''s chest, head, legs, etc improving his accuracy at 25m range, although his damage was only a little more than 100, and that too because of his Pierce stat, which ignores 15.7% of its 2500 defense. Slowly, as time passed, Jatayu''s HP began to deplete to 1800000, 1500000, 1000000, 800000, 700000, 650000, 610000... As it decreased almost to 30%, Seraphim shouted, "Everyone, immediately run and hide behind the pillars. It''ll start with flame skill. Black Hole, Drake, and Reed focus on Flame Emperor." As it reached 30%, Jatayu roared, "I had enough of you pests." And he transformed into a Giant red-colored Eagle. Jatayu (Original form) HP: 600,000/2,000,000 Description: The ruler of the Skies. All attacks increased by 100%. Jatayu screeched loudly and breathed out Fire from its mouth towards everyone, intending to destroy the whole room. Meanwhile, as the fire stopped, Williard saw Flame Emperor standing there without losing a single HP. As Seraphim looked at him in admiration and spoke, "there it is Level 70 Guardian skill, "Invincibility." Upon reaching the maximum level, one becomes invincible for 10 seconds. He''s really awesome, isn''t he?" Everyone around can''t help but nod on his comment. Chapter 16锛歋ky Castle Dungeon part 3 Flame Emperor asked loudly, "Oi, you leader brat, what is the frequency of the attack? I can''t use this skill again for 10 more minutes." Williard thought, "What awesome? It''s just the power of level and equipment. They all have longer cooldown skills than mine. As long as I can gain both of them, I''ll be stronger than these guys. As for the technique, I just need more practice. It''s only the third day. There are still four days until the first update. That means eight days in here, Seven, since one day is already over. I have enough time to surpass them." Meanwhile, the battle against the boss resumed. As his arrows emptied, Williard started to shoot Fire arrows at the boss, which surprised Metatron as she knew that Archers'' skill attacks are energy-based like Gunners, not elemental based. At first, she thought of asking how he got that unique skill book to know whether a specific quest or boss drops it, so that, she can try her luck but then, since they were in the middle of the final boss, she thought of asking him later. Under Jatayu''s assaults, eventually, Dragon King, a blade master, and Notebook, an Assassin died as they were caught under its attacks and were revived by Black Hole and Reed. Seraphim shouted, "Damn. Why did you revive them, now? Only 200,000 HP remained. I told you to save that skill when it goes under 1% to revive Snow Dew and Flame Emperor if anything unexpected happens." Flame Emperor snorted, "I die unexpectedly under this little monster? That''s never going to happen." He raised his Axe immediately and roared. To everyone''s surprise, his HP, which is under 30% suddenly recovered to 100% in an instant. Even Williard was surprised to see a high-level Palladin skill appeared on a Guardian. As the HP of Jatayu getting further depleted to 500000, 400000, 300000, 250000, 200000 a purple aura erupted from it while everyone got a notification. "Jatayu is in the second berserk state. 300% attack increased." The Giant bird screech and hit Flame Emperor with the claw taking off more than 55,000 HP in an instant. The two healers and Palladin completely focused on healing him bringing his HP to 94,000 in a minute before it again attacked with the claw taking off another 50K+ HP from him. Flame Emperor roared and used his level 50 skill, increasing his defense by 500% for a minute and spoke, "everyone, attack with everything you''ve got." As its HP down to the last 60K, Seraphim and Dragon King died thereby decreasing the DPS of the party. Meanwhile, Drake and Reed were out of mana and their healing went down slow. But still, Flame Emperor somehow managing it by drinking HP potions and Snow Dew, the one who has highest DPS was excellent in her job as always. Seeing the Flame Emperor can die out any second since his HP losing rate is lesser than the recovery rate as one healer stopped healing because of low mana, Williard sent a private message to the leader of the party, "Seraphim, I can freeze the boss for 20 seconds but only once. Can I use it now?" Seraphim, who read the message, immediately replied, "Why didn''t you tell that sooner. Oh! only once. Okay. Fine. Don''t use the skill right now. Without me and Dragon King, the rest of you can''t do that much damage in 20 seconds. Let me think about it, first. But are you sure you can freeze it for 20 seconds exactly?" As Williard affirmed it, Seraphim mumbled, "It must some kind of scroll, a one-time use skill. Time Traveler, if you weren''t able to freeze it and we get wiped out, I swear I''ll hunt you down to level 1." Then, in a ghost form, he messaged in the party channel, "Reed and Black Hole, how much time until Revive skill cooldown is over." Black Hole asked, "4 minutes. Do you want me to use it on you, now?" Seraphim replied, "Not right now. Revive both of us when I say it. Time Traveler, you freeze the boss when it reached the last 1%, then all of you must go all-out attack." Metatron and others looked at Williard curiously and wondering, "How is it possible for Archer like him to freeze the Boss? Moreover, if he has such skill, why wait until the end, Why not sooner? Is it some kind of one-time use Scroll?" As the boss HP downed to 20K, everyone received notification as a deep red aura began to emit from the boss. "Jatayu is in the final berserk state. 500% attack increased." Trusting him, as soon as both of them are revived, Seraphim saw everyone came out as he spoke, "now." While the six players, Metatron, Snow Dew, Notebook, Seraphim, Drake and came out in the open and took the best spots in the open to use their skills, Williard immediately dashed 5 meters to the front, then raised his hand and started to conjure an Ice spell in his hand which takes 1 second to form. Just then, the bird screeched and started to breathe out fire, a cc skill. Seraphim shouted, "No" in a panic as he calculated wrong timing and forgot about this skill that didn''t appear for the past one hour. But just within a fraction of second, he was stupefied as Jatayu''s flames that are emitted from its mouth disappeared and was replaced with ice as everything around Williard for 20m was frozen. Seeing Jatayu stayed paralyzed like a statue, Seraphim then shouted, "what you are guys waiting for? Attack with everything you have. We only have 20 seconds." Initially, everyone was also surprised for a second seeing an Archer using a freeze skill. They don''t even saw level 50 above Mages doing it. Getting reminded by Seraphim, they released all of their available attacks wildly without caring for cool down or MP. 18 seconds later, Williard received notification as he sighed, "Wow, it''s been nearly 6 hours to complete this dungeon. While I leveled up great but it''s because these two high levels are with me. Well, I didn''t do much aside from playing around; still, it''s a pain to do higher level dungeons. Just leveling up in the wild with my leveling army is best. I don''t need to hear someone''s orders like now." "Jatayu is dead. 93264 EXP gained" "Congratulations, you leveled up" After 2 seconds, the Frozen floor disappeared as the time is up; it disappeared and left behind a large Treasure chest, which contains the drops. Meanwhile, the five members, Seraphim, Drake, Metatron, Notebook, and Black Hole, each of them received an additional notification. "Snake Queen Medusa''s quest has been completed. Total time took to complete the Quest: 7:53:39. Evaluation: Grade C EXP gained 1,000,000. 1-gold acquired." As for Seraphim, the leader of the party and the one, who shared the quest with them, received a follow-up Quest. "Take the Jatayu crown and give it to the Snake Queen Medusa. Reward: 40000 EXP, 1000 fame, 1 gold." As a part of the agreement, Seraphim picked two equipment of gold grade and all the Silver grade equipment from the large chest and put them in his inventory. As for the third one, a Greatsword was put for auction among the other five. While Snow Dew and Flame Emperor looked uninterested, Williard thought, "Hmm, let''s take it with me just in case. After all, my guild has just been formed." Then, he opened his mouth, "Is it compulsory to use in-game currency or I can use credits instead?" Chapter 17锛歀oot Seraphim replied, "Well, even though, the currency system isn''t opened yet, it will open sooner or later, anyway. I have no problem. Everyone must bid only in in-game currency and the winner can pay however they want. If they want to pay it in credits, then the rate will be 2000 credits per Silver, though." Everyone looked at this money-hungry prick who purposely increased by a normal 1400 to 2000 so that he can get more. Williard started bidding with 10silver. 15, 20, 30 50, 100 as it reached 2 gold, Seraphim and four of his friends started to become excited. Meanwhile, Williard and Reed were battling for the Greatsword. As Reed wasn''t backing down even after it reached 250 Silver, Williard directly spoke, "My final price is 3 gold. Pay even 10 silver more, I''ll withdraw." Reed gritted his teeth and said, "3 gold 10silver." Williard nodded, "it''s yours." Reed then looked at Seraphim, "I''ll pay 1 gold and the rest in credits." A big smile appeared on Seraphim and four of others immediately as 400000 added to Seraphim''s bank account, which was synchronized with their gaming capsule." Seraphim then took out a bunch of items like enhancement scrolls, pouches that contain Silver, Jatayu''s crown, and throw all of them into his inventory. As the treasure Chest almost emptied his face lighted up as he saw a shining bow. Taking it out, he inspected it and smiled very brightly and almost screamed in excitement, "Congratulations, Metatron." Metatron replied, "No thanks. I already had one in inventory." Hearing her rejection didn''t stop his smile. Seraphim then said, "I doubt you would say that after looking at the stats, I shared in the party channel." As Williard opened the party channel and looked at the stats, he was surprised just like everyone else. Metatron immediately screamed not even a second later, "I want it." Just when Seraphim was about to pass it to her, he suddenly stopped with a stunned expression and glanced at Williard who was looking at him calmly and slightly nodded. Seraphim then said, "I''ll give it to you while distributing it with others." As Seraphim put it inside his inventory, Flame Emperor looked at Williard before looking away. A while later, Williard left the dungeon and started returning to East Ocean City. Then, he voice messaged Shadow Blade, "I''m just out of the dungeon. Meet me at Bear Inn. Tell everyone else to come too." After reaching the city, he started walking towards the Bear Inn. In the middle of the way i.e. in the middle of the city that has more than 75,000 player population; a few people coincidentally found him as they accidentally saw his name and slowly started to follow him while maintaining their distance. As he went into Bear Inn, the group of players discussed, "are you sure you got the right guy? First, he doesn''t belong to any guilds. Second, isn''t he supposed to be level 22? You can see his level. That''s level 39. Two levels more than even you." The leader of their group replied, "C''mon if we just attack him at the same time, he''ll die easily." Meanwhile, at the 2nd floor of Bear Inn, while Aster got amazed to see Williard leveled up 8 times in a short time, Williard asked with a frown, "now, tell me the full situation." Aster replied, "Its Imperial guild leader, White Tiger. He put a bounty on all of us openly East Ocean City forum section since there isn''t any official bounty board yet. At first, there isn''t much commotion but after someone leaked that all of the bounty names belonged to the same guild, now, everyone is looking for the people with Vulture Symbol on their chests." "Oh, a 1000 Credits per kill eh? I don''t know whether I should feel honored that my name is being put for a bounty or feel disgraced that it''s only 1000. It doesn''t matter, either way. Aster, you start collecting gold. Buy as much as you can. I need at least 100 gold by the end of the day. I don''t care if you buy at 30% or 50% higher rates, understood? Since all of you can''t afford to get out of the city yet, everyone must spread out all over the city and collect the gold as much as possible, helping out Aster. By tomorrow, everyone must talk about Scarlet Guild." replied Williard. Williard joined the guild and took the Guild Leader spot while putting Aster as Vice Guild Leader and left the room. Aster immediately followed him outside, "Young master, wait for a second. I forgot to mention one thing. The company credit card that Lord Philip gave me to spend your expenses only has a limit of 50 Million. Or I should say your monthly spending expenditure was limited to 50 Million Credits. You need to hear this before I proceed to buy the currency. So far, just in the past three days. We spent 10 Million Credits for two S-grade Capsules. I hired 50 of them with 15,000 Credits per week salary and gave 20,000 Credits to each of them as a signing bonus. I paid a million as a bribe for your attendance. If I include all costs including your shopping, 20 Million has already been spent. And" Williard interrupted in annoyance, "why are you reminding this stuff? That''s your job to manage, not mine." Aster replied, "Forgive me Young master, all I''m reminding you is that to get 100 gold, we might have to spend around 16 Million to 20 Million. It''s been only half a month passed since you arrived at Leafway City. If you spend that much money now, there would be only 10 Million for the next half month. That''s what worries me. If we try to extend the limit of company credit card, I might have to answer Lord Philip and would be left with no choice but tell the entire truth. Please think about it." Williard frowned and realized that what he said is right. Because he ran away from home before and never inherited his father''s assets after his death, he only depended on the rent amount he got from Scarlet apartment''s manager anonymously, Williard thought this time he would live lavishly spending his father''s money like he wants and forgot about the limit. After thinking for a while, something clicked in his mind, "Ah, that''s right. Scarlet Apartments, how did I forget about that?" While Aster wondered what did he meant by that, Williard looked at him and said, "Didn''t you mention that you wired the rental money from Scarlet Apartments into my personal bank account in our first meet? I synced the Reiley bank account to the game that was linked to the Scarlet Security Company. What about my personal one from Federation bank, the one you have been wiring the rental money every month for the past 5 years? Apartment rent at our apartment complex is 48,000 Credits for everyone. I remembered you telling me 17 of them have been occupied. So, there must be a considerable amount, right?" Chapter 18锛欻iring a Bodyguard Aster thought for a while and calculated, "yes, there must be around 25-30 Million if we consider the interests but" Williard interrupted, "no buts, just do as I have ordered. Once step 2 is completed, we wouldn''t even need the card." As Aster wondered what''s step 2, Williard left him and started walking towards the Administration office. Meanwhile, at a Restaurant, Seraphim and five of them sat together enjoying the delicacies in the games even though their real bodies that were sleeping in Capsules don''t feel it. Metatron suddenly screamed and spilled the Ice cream she was enjoying after hearing out Seraphim, "what? Are you serious?" Seraphim replied, "You don''t believe me? See this." He immediately showed the private message he received from Williard back when he posted the stats of the bow in the party channel. "3 Million Credits, that''s equivalent to 20 gold. It''s the maximum price I''m willing to pay for the bow. Reply to me after you discuss with your friends. You only have one hour." Drake gasped, "3 Million for a bow? I didn''t know that seemingly no special ordinary guy is a rich guy. We can start a studio of our own with that money. What are you waiting for? Just sell it to him, right now." Metatron screamed attracting people''s attention, "but that''s bow was supposed to be mine." Drake replied, "C''mon, can''t you adjust with Gold equipment for now?" Metatron looked furious at him, "but that''s an epic grade bow. The first-ever one in the City, who knows, might be the only one in the entire kingdom. Just look at the attack. It''ll easily make me the Strongest Archer." Seraphim then said, "Did you forget that there are two more others in the party who knew of the bow? They might have already passed the information to their guilds and they must have been searching for us." Then, Notebook spoke, "Guys, look at the forum. Imperial guild posted an unofficial bounty on fifty-two members of Scarlet Guild." "I never heard of Scarlet Guild. Must be some no-name Guild that offended the top Guild somehow," as Metatron commented on that, Notebook showed them the screen he was watching and said, "Check whose name is in the list." "Isn''t Time Traveler, the same rich guy who offered us 3 Million?" Drake asked Seraphim. Seraphim nodded and replied, "It doesn''t have anything to do with us though. Metatron, originally, I wanted you to have this bow. Seeing the amount, I can''t help but hesitate. But still, I wanted your honest opinion on this. No matter what, I''ll stand by your decision." Metatron then replied, "say, all we need is 3 Million credits to start the studio, isn''t it? Earlier we got 400,000 Credits from one gold grade armor. Isn''t it possible to earn that much amount eventually? You should know that Epic grade equipment only has a 0.1% chance. And in that Epic bow, that''s even lower. Once I equip this bow, it''ll carry me until level 100 or even more once I enhance it. There won''t be needing another weapon for a while. I think I''ll keep it and sell my gold grade bow to someone. Not as much as 3 million but we can get at least 300K from that, right?" Seraphim nodded, "as I said, I''ll stand by your decision. If you equip it, it''s a boost for our team, either way." Meanwhile, Williard entered the City Administration building while reading the message, Seraphim sent to him, rejecting his offer. As soon she saw him, the Elf receptionist stood up from her seat and lightly bowed to him politely much to the surprise of other Elves before asking, "How do you need my assistance, Lord Time Traveler?" Williard replied, "I need to employ a Guard. Tell me the details." The Elf replied, "Lord Time Traveler, can I confirm that you indeed became a Viscount." As he took out the Silver Nobility badge, she nodded and further said, "As a Viscount of the Llyne Kingdom, you can employ a total of 100 Guards providing that a maximum of 100 levels above you. Here are the prices." There is only one type of NPC guards available right now, they are Guardians. He saw levels and their prices. Level 70 Guard''s price starts from 1 gold, Level 100 Guard''s price starts with 3 gold, and Level 130 level guard that''s available starts from 6 gold, which is 80 Silver more than he has in his inventory. Then, he looked at her and said, "I only need one guard. His attributes need to be centered on Strength and vitality. My price is 5 Gold a week. Can you please recommend a person who is fit according to my requirements?" The Elf named Milena looked at the profiles that are available while asking around other elves and fifteen minutes later, she showed him a paper. Upon touching it, he saw the Profile. Name: Remia Sylvester Level: 115 Strength: 200 Agility: 50 Vitality: 230 Endurance: 95 Knowing that she''s more than Level 110 where Equipment stats will rise very higher than below 100 and not mention, 100-200 level NPC all wear Silver grade equipment, Williard felt assured that she would be great for the job. After paying 5 gold, he took out 10 Silver from the remaining 20 Silver and gave it to her, "it might not be much, consider it as a tip for helping me out, thank you, Melina." She bowed and took the pouch containing 10 Silver enthusiastically. The only reason he did that because of her ability. Generally, normal Elves'' eyes turn from green into red when they check a certain stat. But purple eyes are rare; they can see the hidden secrets too and the Goldeneyes are rarest, nothing can be hidden from them. With this incident, Williard confirmed that she also knew about his class seeing her behavior towards him. After all, just being a Viscount won''t bring that much respect from a public servant NPC. Williard thought he can employ her later after getting a hold in the city. As Williard was waiting outside the City Administration building, he saw a Muscular 7-foot person in full Guardian Silver grade equipment stopped before him and took out the helmet revealing a woman''s face. She bowed and introduced herself, "I''m Remia Sylvester, Lord Time Traveler." Williard looked at her HP that''s around 280K and asked her, "How much is your basic attack and defense?" She replied, "My attack is 27,124, and defense is 23,442." As Williard thought, "Well, it''s less that I imagined but I guess it''ll do," Remia further said, "I can effectively work 40 hours per day and will rest for the remaining 8 hours. I have four standard Guardian skills at the maximum level. One is" Williard stopped her, "it''s alright. You don''t need to explain them to me. Your attack and defense stat alone is enough for me to trust your strength. I only have one last question before we proceed for leveling. What level normal monster can you tank the group and hunt down effectively alone?" Remia thought for a while and replied, "I guess around level 80 ones?" Williard nodded, "great then, let''s get going, right now." Chapter 19锛歀evel 40 As the post becoming famous, more and more members from the Imperial guild who formed a group began to search for Scarlet guild members. Meanwhile, a group, which was spying on Williard for a while, whispered to each other as Williard and Milena left the city. "What should we do, now?" as a person from the group spoke, the leader of that party replied, "what else? Let''s follow him. Since it seemed like he''s doing a quest that requires accompanying a level 115 NPC, then it must be something incredible with huge rewards. My intuition is telling me it''s going to be something big. When it''s the right time, we can post the matter in Guild chat, and with everyone around, even a level 100 Heroic monster with millions of HP won''t survive much less a mere NPC with 280K HP." Then one player asked, "what if it doesn''t turn out as we think?" The leaders sighed, "Then, think of it as wasting some time. A day here has 48 hours. What''re a few hours matter?" Meanwhile, after forming a party, two of them set out to the wilderness while a party was following them by maintaining a distance. "Lord Time Traveler, do you want me to remove those pests?" Williard shook his head and replied, "Nah, let''s just be on our way. I also want to see to what great lengths they''ll follow us." They proceeded to the Barren Lands, one of the two leveling zones of East Ocean City. Since all the cities are separated from a barrier, currently, each structure is like this. On the two directions of these Cities lie the beginner villages and their leveling areas 1-20. To one side, there are level 21-50 area zones and a dungeon per every ten levels and on another side, there are level 51-100 area zones, and a dungeon per each level and also three racial dungeons. The area lies this with no safe point like a city or a village is we call them, wilderness. As for East Ocean city, Sea and the port is on the east; the beginner villages and the forest of Dawn, a level 1-20 are zone, is on the south; The Forest of Dusk, a level 21-50 zone is on the west; Finally, the barren Islands a level 51-100 zone is on the north, which is almost three times larger than the Forest of Dusk." Half n hour later, they reached the Barren lands. As he mumbled, "it''s too bad that I can''t carry other people while flying our else" Remia apologized for wasting his time since he can just fly over in a few minutes. He shrugged it off, "it''s only 30 minutes. After all, we came here for my purpose." Meanwhile, as the pair were moving forward while Remia just massacring the monster that is in their way, the people who are following whispered, "Leader, it seems they are here for leveling." "Idiot, how is that possible? An NPC doesn''t help an adventurer to level up." Then, one asked, "but what if he employed them? Maybe he''s a baron, a Noble? They can employ guards, right?" The leader looked at him and asked, "So, you want to say there is someone who became a baron when our Guild Leader, White Tiger, fifth in the rankings hasn''t even become one? If you say number one ranker, Flame Emperor is a baron, I would believe but this guy it''s not even funny. NPC also can''t enter dungeons. I bet it must be some higher-level quest. Or it also might be a world boss? It''s better to stick around." But then, he was suddenly reminded by one of the members, "then, what do we do about the monsters? We are not strong to defeat them. What if we will be ambushed by them? Not only we lose our lives, but we would also lose our target, our EXP, and worst if we lose equipment." The party leader thought for a while and replied, "What you said is right. Let''s just inform in the guild chat about it. There must be a few people here, leveling up at the moment, right?" As he informed the guild like there''s a possibility that it might be a treasure chest or some quest with great rewards. This message of him developed greed in the above fifty level players'' hearts. As for Williard, he was simply walking while Remia is clearing out the monsters in one slash since all the normal monsters in level 50-55 have only around 20K HP, which was even lesser than her attack stat. As they are in a party of two, each one is getting a 50% share of EXP. Even though Williard wanted to practice Fire arrow to improve mastery as well as his Archery skills, he wasn''t getting a chance to do that as Remia was killing them like ants. So, he kept his bow on his back and thought of doing that after they reached the level 80 zone. A while later, Remia suddenly spoke as they were proceeding towards level 55-69 zone crossing a narrow passage through the two cliffs, "Lord, there''s a human following us. What should I do?" Williard frowned since he wasn''t able to detect a player for a while. He turned back but wasn''t able to see the Assassin player who hid behind one of the medium side rocks in the passage while messaging his guild leader, who is leveling with a 5-member party in level 60 dungeon just like most of the players. As Williard continued to proceed without stopping at level 55-60 area zone, level up notification rang in his ears and then received another notification. "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 40." "You reached level 40, you gained a skill point. Check the skill panel." Upon reaching level 40, Williard immediately took out the Leopard King''s light Armor he got from the level 38 Heroic Boss and equipped it. Then, after replacing his level 30 bronze Armor with the level 40 gold armor in which two of its stats still sealed since he never had the time to go to Appraiser, his HP increased more than 2500 HP. With a 25.2% bonus, his HP reached 25.5K but, Williard didn''t feel an ounce of happiness as he was staring at NPC with 300K HP before him. Feeling a little bit of low, he added all the ten free attribute points to Vitality that made his total HP crossed 28K. As he inspected his character panel, he saw, Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 40 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 22517/22517 (28191) MP: 145 (174) Attack: 2072-2116 (2486-2539) Defense: 817 (980) Attack Speed: 10 (12) Movement Speed: 57 (68) Flying Speed: 100 (120) Critical rate: 4.7% Pierce: 15.7% Critical resist: 4.8% Active Skills: Fireball (Max): Throw a Big fireball onto your enemy with a 155% attack. Apply the burning effect on targets for 10 seconds with a 10% attack. 20m range. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Heal (Max): Recover yourself or your ally with a 100% attack. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 2MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Fire Arrow (level 4): Conjure a fire arrow and shoot the enemies using your bow with a 140% attack. 35m range. Costs 5MP; No cool down. Dragon Fire (level 2): Breathe fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 160% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. Absolute Freeze (level 4): Freeze the entire area around you with Ice Magic. For 20 Seconds, everything and everyone around you would be frozen except your Allies. Apply the freezing effect on the targets. Cost 10 MP; 20m range. Cooldown time: 180 Seconds. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs, and legendary above grade monsters. Passive Skill: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain increases by 20% in the material world. The Bow of Elementalist (Max): Every arrow you fire contains elemental magic, instead of magic energy. Aura of Elementalist (Max): Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. Available Skill Points: 6 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 100 Agility: 50 Vitality: 68 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 0 Chapter 20锛歊aiger, the Horned Gorilla Soon, they crossed level 55 zone in five minutes while Williard leveled up 2 times. After reaching level 60, the normal monsters'' HP increased to 40K, which was still killed by Remia in two seconds and Williard started getting free EXP of his 50% share along with a 20% passive bonus, 6123, 6243, 6563, 5921, etc... He leveled up to 43 from 42 quickly just within 30 seconds and ten more minutes later, they crossed level 60 and level 65 zones and entered level 70 zone that was full of narrow passages, complex routes in mountains. Meanwhile, the Assassin from the Imperial guild stopped following them as he was discovered by a level 68 monster and got killed by a bunch of them. Then, he messaged White Tiger, "Guild Leader, they''ve entered level 70 zone. I was killed by monsters." White Tiger, the leader of the number one guild in East Ocean City, frowned after hearing about the information and thought, "no, he definitely wasn''t a baron. You can level up all day but if I have a level 115 Guard as NPC, the first thing I would do is to seek out my enemy and kill them. Maybe he will do it later. No, it''s a level 115. To employ such high-level NPC, one has to be at least 65 or hr might be a Viscount, that''s, of course, is impossible. Since, he was only a normal lucky member, who increased his level with Flame Emperor''s help; I doubt he can get that much fame. After all, even if he has completed the quest, he would only get 1000 fame points and there aren''t any other quests that give us fame. There''s a high chance that it''s a quest. Well, we can just interrogate him later about it." Then, he sent a message, "Ok, forget about him, and be on your way." Reading it, the level 54 assassin gritted his teeth in frustration, "I''ve wasted 50% of my EXP for nothing. Damn you, Time Traveler." Meanwhile, a level up notification rang in Williard''s ears, along with a receiving few other notifications, making him let out a laugh in excitement. "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 50." "Congratulations, you gained a skill point." "Congratulations, you gained a new skill. Please check the skill panel for details." "Attribute restrictions increased from 100 to 200" Williard then thought for a while on how to spend his 9 available skill points, in which three skill points he gained recently, two from level-ups and one from receiving a new skill. "Damn, what should I do? This skill is too tempting that I want to max it as soon as possible." Skills: Golem (level 1): Summon an earth Golem using elemental magic. It has two modes. Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 200% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies attack by 10%. Defense mode: Defend you from your enemies by blocking the enemy attacks. Increases its defense and HP by 200% and provide a defense buff, which increases you and your allies, HP and Defense by 10%. Costs 20 MP per minute; 30 meters range. Cooldown: 15 minutes Available skill points: 9 "But then again, from now onwards, I''ll only gain a single skill point for every ten levels and after level 100, everyone will gain one skill point for every 20 levels. Let''s just put it away for now. I already wasted three skill points on Freeze skill. Let''s reserve them for advanced skills and just keep on using it. After all, I have more than 100 hours of freeloading. I might as well use this time to level this up." Two hours later, in the level 70 zone, an Earth Golem, that''s twice the size of human fighting alongside Remia who was holding down the Horned Giant Gorilla while Williard was maintaining a safe distance after setting the monster as a target for the Earth Golem and observing the battle. Raiger, the Horned Gorilla (Heroic) Level: 74 HP: 73,475/7,000,000 As soon as its HP was dropped by another 15K, purple aura began to emit from the boss and Williard received a notification. "Raiger is in the final berserk state. 300% attack increased." Immediately, it stomped both Remia and Golem with its hands. As Golem immediately died since it only has same HP as Williard in attack mode, Remia blocked it easily with her shield as she activated the level 70 Skill, Invincibility, which makes her invincible for 10 seconds and slashed it with her sword five to six times continuously, after Williard paralyzed the boss with Absolute freeze skill. "Raiger, the Horned Gorilla died. You gained 1,084,231 EXP." Then, followed by it, continuous level-up notifications rang in his ears for 4 times. Meanwhile, Remia also leveled up once finally. Looking at the EXP, Williard thought, "I should have disbanded the party at the last minute and should''ve been the one to land the final hit. Then, I would have gotten more than 3M EXP at once. Damn. The Wild bosses cooldown is 24 hours and there is only one per 10 levels. Should I turn back to level 60 zone and look for the boss? Hmm, Nah, even though I leveled up 6 times, I also wasted an hour on it. Forget it. I should look for the drops, first." After reaching the pile of items dropped by the boss, he started searching for shining items, first. Then, with a smile, he inspected the equipment, which is glowing brightly. Raiger''s Heavy Armor Level: 75 Grade: Gold Class: Vanguard, Blademaster HP: 18,213 Defense: 1798 ???? ???? Raiger''s sword Level: 70 Grade: Gold Class: Vanguard, Blademaster Attack: 1654 Critical rate: 17.3% ???? ???? Raiger''s Necklace Level: 75 Grade: Silver Class: Anyone Attack: 5.6% HP: 13.4% After keeping them in the inventory, he began to throw the entire HP and mana potions, the enhancement scrolls, five Bronze grade, and two Silver grade equipment in the inventory along with the pouch containing 73 silver. Then, he threw aside all the common and Iron grade equipment, which were just a waste of space. Finally, after clearing out everything, he saw a Skill book that was hidden at the bottom of the pile and inspected it after picking it up. Roar Description: Roar like a gorilla and increase you and your allies'' abilities. Effects: Increase you and your allies'' attack and defense by 50% for 10 minutes (maximum level). It can be stacked with other similar effects. Cooldown time: 60 minutes. Class: Anyone. "What a long cool down. And I should roar like a gorilla to perform it? No thanks. Should I just throw it in the Auction or give it to Rock Fist? He''s an excellent Guardian. Hmm, how about giving it to Remia? Hmm, Nah, even though it increases the hunt for a short time, she would still leave after a week, right? What if someone employs her and use it against me in the future?" After thinking for a while, Williard just threw it into his inventory and proceeded towards level 75 zone. Just like the rest of the leveling zones, Remia was just massacring the level 75-80 mobs, killing each of them every 15 seconds in just 4-5 slashes while Williard was receiving EXP like 9334, 9286, 9335, 9324, etc Thirty minutes later, once again, a level up notification rang in Williard''s ears. "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 57." As he wondered, "at this rate, I might level up to 100 in just one day," both of them heard a loud roar of a tiger nearby. Williard frowned, "someone is battling at this zone? It must be those father and daughter pair. Only they have the guts to level up here." Then, he spoke, "Remia, let''s go and see where the noise is coming from." As they reached the place they saw a Giant pure White tiger is battling against the duo he expected. He was shocked when he inspected the monster, "how is this possible?" Kaiser, the Royal White Tiger (Mutated Elite) Level: 89 HP: 8,564,794/ 9,000,000 "How did a mutated monster came now? Wasn''t this supposed to arrive after the first update? Is it a bug? No way. The game was run and controlled by Aria, the world''s most powerful supercomputer. There''s no chance of things like that. Is something changed in this life because I snatched a legend class or had it also happened even back then? or maybe it''s a preview? I heard that sometimes Aria gives out a preview for the next update for fun. I hope that was the case." Chapter 21锛欳razy leveling speed Looking at the stats of the Elite mutated boss, Williard was shocked, not only it was because it''s a mutated monster that wasn''t supposed to arrive three days later but also because it''s a level 89 monster, that was supposed to be in level 85 zone, not in level 75 zone. At first, he thought of leaving them to their own ends but when he remembered they helped him out at the Sky Castle dungeon, Williard sighed, "fine. Let''s just help them with this and be done with it." He looked at Remia, "let''s go and help them out." As she nodded and dashed towards them, Williard followed her from behind. Meanwhile, Flame Emperor was struggling with tanking the boss alone and kept on drinking HP Potion every 10 seconds but still, even with using all the skills, he found the rate of HP depletion is greater than the recovery rate. Looking at the situation, Snow Dew started to worry about her father, even though it''s a game because, in her eyes, her father is superhuman, who was able to accomplish all the tasks. Just then, suddenly, both of them heard a roar of human from behind. The White Tiger, Casseri roared and jumped above him to their behind as a light engulfed Remia who used provoke. Since Remia is a lot stronger than Flame Emperor and a greater threat, Casseri ignored him and attacked Remia. As they wondered who is this giant tiger is attacking since they can''t see her as the White tiger is covering her. Just then, 2487, 2501, 2499, 2513, 2468, 2488, 2501, etc numbers in green color, which represents healing, appeared on Flame Emperor''s head continuously for 25 times, recovering more than 60,000 HP in 30 seconds, surprising the both of them. Snow Dew was shocked to seeing him as he appeared before them while healing Flame Emperor 5 more times, recovering him to full health, "Big Brother Time Traveler? What are?" Williard interrupted her, "let''s talk about it, later, after defeating this Giant cat. But first, disband your party and join ours." As Flame Emperor nodded and disbanded without any questions, Williard sent party requests to both of them. Seeing Remia''s level, Snow Dew was stupefied, "Eh? Level 116? I thought my dad was the highest level player. And you are already level 57? It''s only been like one and half hour since we parted away and you already leveled up 20 times?" Williard replied, "Well, it happened that way. By the way, Remia is an NPC, not a player." Meanwhile, Flame Emperor looked at him and thought, "already a noble, eh? First, that fire arrow, then, freezing the monster and now healing. This seemingly ordinary-looking player is a mysterious one for sure." Without expressing his thoughts, Flame Emperor said, "we can chat later. First, let''s help out Miss Remia and defeat the boss." While the three of them fighting the boss, Williard, once again stayed in the sidelines and chilled out while recovering his MP, which was almost depleted with healing Flame Emperor, earlier. Since an Elite mutated monster is a lot weaker than Heroic boss and only possess the same amount of HP as a Heroic Boss, it became very easy with the three of them attacking it. With combined attacks, the boss was dead within an hour. All three of them received a notification. "Casseri is dead. You gained 68,736 EXP." As Snow Dew complained, "It''s not much even with a bonus for so much of HP," Williard replied, "it isn''t a Heroic boss. So, it''s normal." Flame Emperor then said, "thank you for the help. You can take all the drops but can I have that tooth it dropped? It''s our quest item." Only then, Williard looked at the drops that have one Gold grade equipment and a book, the rest of the three is Bronze equipment along with potions and coins. After giving him the tiger tooth, Williard asked, "by the way, weren''t monsters supposed to stay in their territory and can only chase for a distance? How did a level 89 boss end here, anyway?" Flame Emperor sighed, "It isn''t much. We attacked her without knowing it just went through labor. So, when we attacked it, the cub ended up getting in the way and got killed. The next thing we know is, the elite boss'' HP suddenly increased by 10 times the amount and started chasing us all the way to this zone. Thank you for the help, again." Williard replied, "Let''s just consider us even. You helped out in the dungeon, after all." Flame Emperor patted his shoulder and said, "It seems your personality is quite different than I thought, young man. Anyway, we''ll be going." Then, he looked at Snow Dew, "let''s go." Snow Dew waved her hand with a big smile, "see you again, Big Brother Time Traveler." After they went on their way, Williard inspected at the gold grade boots. Casseri''s boots Level: 90 Class: Anyone Grade: Gold HP: 8653 Defense: 821 ???? ???? After throwing all the equipment in the inventory, aside from the common and Iron equipment, they proceeded towards level 80 zone while massacring the level 75 normal monsters along the way. After reaching level 80 zone, Williard spoke, "Remia, let''s just level up here, for today." Then, started leveling up there while killing the normal 80 monsters. Even though the normal monsters have around 80K HP, for someone like Remia, they are still like little children compared to adults." As each mob gets killed, Williard started to receive his EXP share for every 20 seconds like 12123, 12431, 11921, 12231, 11798, 11999, etc Nine hours later, "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached Level 91." With a big smile on his face, Williard saw the City rankings. East Ocean City Rankings: 1. Unnamed: Level 91 2. Flame Emperor: Level 76 3. Snow Dew: Level 73 4. Unnamed: Level 69 5. Unnamed: Level 69 6. Unnamed: Level 68 7. White Tiger: Level 68 8. Heavenly King: Level 65 9. Unnamed: Level 63 10. Unnamed: Level 63 Williard mumbled with a smile, "this is the power of having a guard above level 100. I only a few hours to become the number one rank. I guess finding the legends turned my fortune completely." Then, he looked at Remia and said, "Let''s go and look for a Heroic boss in this zone. I need good equipment." Then, after searching around all the level 80 zone, they proceeded towards level 85. Thirty minutes, inside the mountains, they stood before a small lake where he saw several Elite grade White tigers roaming around the lake. Looking at that, Williard mumbled, "I guess, this is where they encountered an Elite boss. It''s really their worst luck to face a mother tiger of all the ones they can find here. But I can''t see the Heroic boss, here. Did I leave any other place? Hmm, is it in the lake, perhaps?" Then, he said, "Remia, first, let''s clear the Elite ones, here." Since there''s a chance of mutation now, Williard didn''t take the chance and finished them carefully after luring them one by one away. Since each only has around 900K HP, it took only an hour to clear all six of them before proceeding towards the lake. Williard flapped his wings and started flying towards the center of the lake. Looking down from 35 m in the air above the lake, Williard grabbed his level 80 bronze bow and pulled the string. An arrow made of Ice started to form between his fingers. He aimed at the center of the lake and shot the arrow. Chapter 22锛欿aiser, the Giant Crocodile Williard released the arrow made of Ice magic aiming at the center of the lake. The Ice arrow upon hitting the water disappeared and 40m around the point of impact started to freeze. A few seconds later, Williard immediately flew upwards as fast as he can, when he saw the ripples on the surface of the water. A giant crocodile mouth erupted from inside of the lake and tried to bite and swallow the enemy, who disturbed its peaceful home. It slowly stepped out of the lake after Remia used to provoke skill while standing on the shore of the lake. As it stepped out, Williard slowly descended and inspected it when he reached 100m range. Kaiser (Heroic) Level: 90 HP: 10,000,000/10,000,000 Description: Kaiser, the ruler of the Black lake. While the battle is going on at the Black Lake in the level 85 zone, East Ocean City is in an uproar for a while ever since Flame Emperor got surpassed, a few hours ago. As the new first ranker''s level was just increasing without stopping, everyone began to wonder who the new king is. On the other hand, Scarlet Guild''s name also began to spread around the city as a guild as Aster and the others began to collect the gold. Meanwhile, at Imperial guild residence, White Tiger punched the wall in frustration, "damn it. That Scarlet guild, how dare they act as they please in my city? Red Dragon, double the bounty on them and send a message that if anyone dares to sell their currency to the members of Scarlet Guild, then, they will become enemies of the Imperial guild and you also started to buy their currency, instead." Imperial Guild Vice leader, Red Dragon replied, "Leader, just calm down and listen to me. We can''t afford to go all-out attack on them. Did you forget unnamed number 1 ranker? I think it might be a Time Traveler. Earlier, we got the news that a level 115 NPC is accompanying him. I think he became a baron and hired a guard to level up. If we pick a fight with them and he uses his guard to take revenge on us, then it would be a devastating blow to our guild. Judging by how they are buying, it seems like he has quite a background. If we make a move, then we will lose for sure. So, that''s why we should" *Slap* immediately, Red Dragon''s HP decreased by 1 as he was slapped by White Tiger in front of everyone, who was thoroughly enraged by his words. He growled, "you ****** trash. How dare you say, I, Lu Heibei, the heir to the Heibei Corporation will lose to that no-name trash. Did you put your brain in the refrigerator before starting the game that you started spouting out nonsense? Don''t you even know that even a Baron can only employ NPC, 50 levels above them? Before setting out to the wilderness, that guy was only a level 39 player. How the **** did you think that he employed an NPC 80 levels above him? What now, do you want to tell me that he''s now a Viscount? First, you told me that Assassin was the leader after you lost to him. Now, you''re telling me that no-name guy is the leader of Scarlet Guild and he''s the unnamed number one ranker? Even if everything you said is true, what do you mean by our guild will be devastated? Do you think 5000 members of our guild can''t handle a mere level 115 NPC? How dare you look down on me that much? I''ve had enough of you. Get out. Just get out from here. From now on, the Black Dragon will be the Vice Guild Leader." Red Dragon, who was humiliated in front of everyone, silently turned back and walked away amidst everyone gazes. As he left the guild residence, White Tiger sneered, "I expected he would at least snap at me and leave the guild in anger. What a spineless coward." Meanwhile, Red Dragon was stupefied on the spot as soon as he stepped out of the guild residence. He opened the private message from Shadow Blade and read, "It seemed like your guild leader doesn''t care much about you. It happened just as I have told you. Now, are you interested in working with me?" Red Dragon replied, "I guess you have already planted spies in my guild since you seem to know the entire conversation, then, let me tell you one thing. You can''t contend against Heibei Corporation. Everyone in the guild knew it. I bet you don''t know" "Scarlet Group, the company behind our Guild. Our young master is the heir to Scarlet Group. The same security company you are thinking about. Now, are you interested?" as soon as Aster messaged it, Red Dragon cursed out, "**** that''s one of the biggest companies in the entire Eastern Continent. Even if White Tiger will be silent, he will still get destroyed by the Scarlet guild as he already offended them. I guess the Imperial guild is already doomed the moment White Tiger posted the bounty publicly." He immediately messaged back, "when and where should we meet?" Aster smiled as he secured one more elite for the guild and then texted one more player to negotiate the terms with her. Two hours later, in the level 85 zone, as the Giant Crocodile collapsed on the shore before disappearing away and leaving behind a pile of items, Williard received a notification followed by three level-up notifications. "Kaiser is dead. You gained 3,085,124 EXP." "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 94." Williard smiled while thinking, "I did a good job, this time. Disbanding the party and landing the final hit gave me all the EXP." After forming a party with Remia again, Williard inspected the items that are dropped and sighed as he only found a silver bow instead of a gold grade one. Thinking of trying his luck with the boss in the next zone, he inspected the items. Kaiser''s Bow Level: 90 Grade: Silver Attack: 783-810 Critical rate: 26.9% Pierce: 18.5% "Sigh. Compared to that level 60 Epic bow, this is a lot worse. Let''s see the other items." Kaiser''s Bracers Level: 90 Grade: Gold HP: 9021 Defense: 997 ???? ???? Kaiser''s ring Level: 90 Grade: Gold Attack: 12.6% HP: 28.3% ???? "Now, this ring is a good one. I wonder what stat I will get when I appraised it. I hope it is speed or MP, instead of Defense. Oh! There''s a skill book." Toughness Description: Increase the toughness of your body. Effects: Increase your defense by 5%. It stacks with other similar effects. Even though it''s only 5%, as it will increase while his defense increases, Williard thought there''s no harm equipping this passive skill. Then, looking at his real-time, he mumbled, "It''s already eight o''clock in the evening. Let''s just rest for now." After choosing a safe spot in the mountains between the rocks, Williard said, "Remia, you are done for today. Tomorrow, meet me here in this same spot at 10 o''clock. From tomorrow, we''ll be hunting down the monsters from 10:00 hours to 42:00 hours. And from 42:00 hours to 02:00 hours, you''ll hunt with my allies. After that, your work will be done." As Remia began to return, Williard equipped Raiger''s necklace, Silver Bow, Casseri''s Boots, Kaiser''s Bracers, and Kaiser Ring. Then, after distributing all the attributes he gained he inspected his new stats before logging out. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 94 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 60642/66642 (98058) MP: 245 (294) Attack: 4783-4810 (6610-6647) Defense: 2262 (2827) Attack Speed: 20 (24) Movement Speed: 100 (130) Flying Speed: 200 (260) Critical rate: 26.9% Pierce: 18.5% Critical resist: 0% Available Skill points: 14 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 200 Agility: 100 Vitality: 188 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 0 Chapter 23锛歁anchong Street After inspecting his stats, Williard logged out from the game and woke up in the capsule. Getting out of the capsule, he freshened up and started making dinner. But then, stopped right in the middle of it, "ugh, I don''t feel like eating this meal. Let''s go out and eat. It''s been a while since I ate some street food." Picking his tablet, Williard mumbled, "Let''s see the recommended places in the city." After searching for a few sites, he nodded, "all sites are saying this Manchong Street is the best place in town regarding street food." Then, he immediately picked his car keys and went down to the garage to eat dinner out. Without informing Aster, Williard got out of the gate and started driving towards the downtown, which contains excellent. As soon as he crossed the gate, at Scarlet Group Leafway City''s branch, one of the receptionists immediately informed her higher up who dispatched two guards as they heard an alarm, which means, their young master''s car is going out alone since Williard scanned his ID at the gate to go out, instead of Aster''s. It also might be a prank but it doesn''t matter as Williard''s safety is their top priority. They immediately tracked him down with the GPS tracker, which was installed on his phone, tablet, laptop, car, etc Meanwhile, Williard was driving carefully, following the map, and reached the place an hour later. After parking the car away, he began to walk towards one of the most crowded streets he has ever seen in his life. "Wow, this many people and these stalls, there must be at least a hundred stalls out here." With a smile on his face, Williard made his way towards one of the food stalls that have too much crowd. What made him satisfactory is that he wasn''t in the least got a little bit of attention from the people unlike his first week in the city, when he was accompanied by at least two to four bodyguards everywhere, attracting the attention of the passerby. After buying Takoyaki, a juicy octopus fried dish, he started walking towards other food stalls while biting it, "hmm, what a great taste. Compared to that 5000 Credits Steak, this 50 credits street food is way more appetizing. Let''s check out this grilled squid." As he went to another stall, Williard asked, "excuse me, give me this one, what is it called, tie ban you yu? And this Baked Gluten too, um, Kao mia jin? Did I pronounce it right? Thank you." Eating these Eastern continent street food, a delight appeared on Williard''s face, "I should''ve listened to dad, before and enroll in Leafway university. These are extremely tasty and feels very authentic compares to those imitations back at Ecrin. Oh, let''s try that Yakitori, my favorite. I wonder how the authentic one tastes like." Waiting for 15 whole minutes before his turn came up, he took out a bite at this skewered chicken, a big smile appeared on his face as he thought, "this is the best one so far." A couple of hours later, as he always finishes the meal with Ice cream, Williard made his way towards the Ice cream stand where he saw three girls buying them. "Excuse me, two butterscotch, please." Just when he was about to give his card to pay, he took a look at the girls, in which two of them are completely identical while the other one looks similar to them but was more beautiful and slightly older. Looking at these girls who looked familiar somehow, Williard thought for a while and something suddenly clicked in his mind and he asked suddenly, "Hi, You the girls living on the 7th Floor from B-Block, right?" The sisters looked at this unfamiliar young man in a surprise, who was acting as he knew them. The girl who was standing in the middle asked with a frown on her face, "who are you? How do you know where we live?" Williard replied, "I''m Williard Ravens, I''m staying in C-Block. You can say we''re neighbors." "Eh? C-Block?" While the twins were surprised, their older sister replied seriously, "we know that no one stays in C-Block for years. Please get your information correctly if you want to flirt. Hyunjoo, Jiwon, Let''s get going." As they left leaving Williard alone, who was stupefied by her response, the Ice Cream Seller grinned while patting his shoulder, "young man, you need to learn some pickup lines if you want to chase a girl, that beautiful." "Eh? It isn''t what you think. We''re really from the same apartment complex. Anyway, do you have any new flavors, especially, any exotic fruit ones?" as Williard asked him, the Ice cream seller replied, "if you come in the morning, I would have shown you a lot more but now, I only have two. Anjeer and Dragon Fruit flavor." "Ok, give each of them, a 1L box." After paying him, Williard took the two boxes with him and walked towards the parking lot, that''s a street away from Manchong Street, he saw the three girls in a worry, standing beside their car while calling their father. Seeing their situation, Williard broke out in a laugh, "pfft, hahaha. I just remembered an Eastern Continent saying, Heavens do give people their Karma." Ignoring the eldest sister''s gaze, he threw the two Ice cream boxes in the back seat after opening his car door, and just when he''s about to step inside, he turned his head and asked, "say, do you want a ride? I''m going back to the apartment. I can drop you there." The eldest sister snorted, "No thanks. Our father is coming to pick us up. Seeing that luxurious Liger Brand Car and your clothes, anyone can tell that you don''t suit this area, at all. You are stalking us, aren''t you? Better listen to me and go away or else I will call the police." Williard''s face became dark at her response while looking at her seriously, "fine, Suit your selves. Seeing you are girls and you are staying in the same place as me, I thought of helping you out. But, misunderstanding my intentions twice isn''t something I want to tolerate. Moreover, I''ve seen a lot of beautiful girls. You aren''t that beautiful for me to waste my time and stalk you around. Good Bye." As Williard left leaving behind the eldest sister, who is fuming in anger because of the comment, Hyunjoo said, "Hyori, you are too harsh on him, you know. He might be saying the truth. Maybe he just moved in recently." At the same time, Jiwon laughed out and said, "Hyori, this is the first time I heard someone tell you aren''t beautiful," Hyori replied, "You two are still naive. I''ve seen a lot of those types of guys in my college. Next year, once you get in the college, you two should also be wary of the guys out there, especially the ones with luxury cars and playboy appearances like him. They don''t behave the same as your high school friends." Meanwhile, Williard suddenly stopped the car after getting on to the highway. He sighed, "I guess I''m too soft on girls." Then, he called Aster and took the number of Lee Sangmin from him. A while later, he drove the car straight and then, took a U-turn and went back to that place and stopping the car surprising them. "Eh? Isn''t that car" As soon as she saw the car again, Hyori immediately dialed the police, "Hello, I''m talking from Manchong Street and some guy is stalking us. Can you please help us?" As soon as Williard stepped out of the car, Hyori spoke with irritation, "you came back again? I just called the police. Leave from here while I''m being nice or else I will make a report on you, right now." Williard ignored her petty threats and dialed the number, "Hello, this is Williard Ravens. We just talked a few minutes. Yeah, it''s me. I''m giving the mobile to them." He threw his phone towards one of the twins and said, "Here, your father is on the phone. Talk to him, first." Chapter 24锛欱ubble Skill "Eh? Dad?" Hyunjoo put the mobile near her ear and talked, "Hello?" She heard a reply, "Hyunjoo, is that you?" She almost screamed in a surprise, "Dad?" Sangmin then said, "Give the phone to your big sister." As she handed over the phone to Hyori, who was also caught off guard, Hyori put the mobile near her ear before checking the number and first, confirm that it indeed was their father''s since no one can clone the numbers of Texlor, the leading telecom company in Eastern Continent. After talking for a while, she handed the mobile to Williard and apologized slowly, "I''m sorry." Williard sighed while shaking his head, opened the door and the top of the car, so that, the other two can stand or sit comfortably. As Hyori sat in the front while the twins sat in back seats, Williard started to drive. 5 minutes later, suddenly Hyori''s mobile rang and as she saw it''s from an unknown number, she carefully picked up the call. The other person spoke, "Hello, am I talking to Ms. Lee Hyori?" "yes, who are you?" " This is Ryu Minsu, a police officer from the Federation police department. Earlier we got a complaint from you about the stalking case." She hurriedly apologized to them and told them it''s a misunderstanding on her part and then glanced at Williard, who was glaring at her and apologized to him again, "sorry about that. But then, it''s partly your fault that I misunderstood" She stopped when suddenly the music began to play in the car and Williard turned towards her, "I''m sorry but I''m not in a mood to listen to your complaints. I''ve got a lot of work to do in the morning." He picked the short remote controller and gave it to the twins who are sitting in the back, "you girls enjoy the music you love and let me concentrate on driving. And also keep the seat belts tight. I''m increasing the speed as well as closing the top." Forty minutes later, the car slowly entered the Apartment complex gate as he scanned his ID. After dropping the girls, Williard made his made towards C-block cellar, where the garage is. Looking at the car behind, Hyori mumbled, "I really don''t like this Westerner." After coming to his apartment, Williard collapsed on the bed, right away, waking up at 8 o''clock. After eating breakfast, he stepped inside the capsule and logged into the game. "Welcome to War Online" As the space background faded out and replaced with familiar rocks, Williard exited the so-called safe spot and saw Remia, who leveled up to 120, was sitting on a rock, which is near the spot. As soon as she saw him, she greeted him politely, in return, he lightly apologized, "sorry about that. I lost track of time. You must have been waiting for 6 hours straight." Remia replied, "My plus point is that I have a lot of patience. Moreover, a guard shouldn''t complain. But I have to remind you that 6 hours have already been passed by. I can only work for 34 more hours today. "Williard nodded, "Yeah, I know. Let''s hurry up and start hunting in the next zone." Just when they were to move, Williard remembered something and saw Aster was online. He voice-messaged him, "report me the progress." Aster replied, "Good morning, young master. I apologize that I wasn''t able to accompany you yesterday evening, even though it''s a bodyguard''s duty to protect their master at all times. Thank goodness. I was just about to go offline and you''ve messaged me. Anyway, I just completed your task. I apologize that it took too much time to complete it. The Imperial guild started making trouble for us." After reading it, Williard sent another message, "it''s fine. I already expected it. What about the other task? Did you manage to poach the members?" Aster replied with a message, "Yes, soon, Imperial Guild will collapse but it requires the Young master to reveal himself. Unless the first ranked name isn''t revealed, our words will have no credibility." Williard then sent, "it''s not the time yet. Wait for two more days until the Server announcement. Until then, tell the boys that they are free to do whatever they want, except a few. Select 10 from the group that you think is the best and have more loyalty than fear. They will do the hunting with Remia." After instructing further orders, Williard started to move from there but suddenly stopped again after remembering it''s been 24 hours in-game since he logged out. "Remia, let''s go and kill that crocodile, again." Since the Heroic bosses in the wild have 24 hours cooldown, Kaiser was resurrected again. Unlike last time, Williard participated actively participated since he believed he was strong now, although his attack might pale in comparison with the top players who have high attacks. "Forget about the light armor, what I need the most is a gold grade bow. If only I had that epic bow it''s fine. I don''t have any enmity with them, to snatch the bow." After clearing out the White Tigers around the lake, Williard once again used the Ice Arrow to freeze 40m of the surface of the center of the lake, which disturbed its sleep. After luring it out to the shore, Remia used Provoke and started attacking it. Meanwhile, Williard stood aside at 35 m range and aimed the bow at the Giant Crocodile and shot the fire arrow, which is at level 4. As it struck the boss, damage around 5123 appeared on its head, followed by 662, 663,662, etc for ten seconds because of the burning effect. "Good, since the boss has 5000 defense. With level 4 fire arrow, my attack damage is around 9200-9300, and with 18.5 % Pierce, for every 2 seconds, I can do around 5K damage to it. So, in ten seconds, the damage I can do is around 31K. So, it''s nearly 3K DPS, huh? I guess we can finish this boss easily in one hour. 40 minutes later, "Kaiser is dead. You gained 3,085,124 EXP." "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 95." "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 96." "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 97." As he checked his EXP bar, it showed, "884,214/950,600" "Cool. It finished rather quickly. It seemed like Remia''s attack speed also increased considerably than yesterday. Hmm, let''s see the drops." Seeing the drops, he once again sighed, "Damn, what a stroke of bad luck. Neither bow nor even useful gold grade equipment. Only one piece of equipment is dropped, and that too, a heavy armor. Oh, there''s a skill book. Let''s see if this is anything good." Bubble Description: It helps you in swimming underwater. Effects: Upon using the skill, an invisible bubble will form around you, which helps you breathe and swim underwater for 6 hours (Maximum). Cooldown time: 24 hours If it was anyone else, they would have cursed out what the s*** is this skill but Williard was overjoyed instead. "Yes, now this is the skill I''m looking forward to getting. To get such skill, traveling back to the past, am I getting a protagonist halo or something? For now, it''s useless since we can''t get drown but after the first update, this skill will be a tremendous skill, which will be helpful to me. After all, with this, I can get into any depths of the Ocean, where there are treasures, lost cities, underwater NPC towns, hehehe..." Upon learning it immediately, he looked at the Skill panel. Active Skills: Fireball (Max): Throw a Big fireball onto our enemy with a 155% attack. Apply the burning effect on targets for 10 seconds with a 10% attack. 20m range. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Heal (Max): Recover yourself or your ally with a 100% attack. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 2MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Fire Arrow (level 5): Conjure a fire arrow and shoot the enemies using your bow with a 150% attack. 35m range. Costs 5MP; No cool down. Dragon Fire (level 2): Breathe fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 160% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. Absolute Freeze (level 4): Freeze the entire area around you with Ice Magic. For 20 Seconds, everything and everyone around you would be frozen except your Allies. Apply a freezing effect on the targets. Cost 10 MP; 20m range. Cooldown time: 180 Seconds. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs, and legendary above grade monsters. Golem (level 1): Summon an earth Golem using elemental magic. It has two modes. *Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 200% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies attack by 10%. *Defense mode: Defend you from your enemies by blocking the enemy attacks. Increases its defense and HP by 200% and provide a defense buff, which increases you and your allies, Max HP and Defense by 10%. *Costs 20 MP per minute; 30 meters range. Cooldown: 15 minutes. Ice Arrow (level 1): Conjure an Ice Arrow and shoot down your enemy with a 150% attack. Freeze the surroundings of 40m from the point of impact. 35m range. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs, and legendary above grade monsters. Cooldown time: 30 seconds. Bubble (level 1): Create a bubble around you to breathe and swim underwater without losing mana or stamina for 30 minutes. Cooldown: 1 day. Passive Skill: Aura of an Angel (Max): Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain increases by 20% in the material world. The bow of Elementalist (Max): Every arrow you fire contains elemental magic, instead of magic energy. Aura of Elementalist (Max): Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. Toughness (Max): Increases your Defense by 5%. One with Wind: Increase Movement Speed and Flying Speed by 10%. Available Skill points: 14 Chapter 25锛歀evel 100 Williard and Remia proceeded towards level 90 Zone, which is a simple barren land like level 50 Zone but that''s what makes them the most dangerous and the least crowded places. As one can see monsters everywhere, the monsters can also smell the players and without a large party, it is very difficult for someone to level up here. But for someone like Williard, who has a bodyguard of level 120 Guardian and has the ability to fly without losing mana, it''s a blessed land. As the first normal monster looking like a large hound but have two tusks from their mouth, with HP around 100K died, Williard received his fair share of 15,342 EXP after 30 seconds. Then, the remaining hounds lunged forward collectively to bite Remia who was alone on the ground while Williard was flying in the sky in a low altitude, just 5m above to stay out of their range and used Absolute freeze to freeze all the monsters around 20m and then, used Golem in attack mode to attack every one of them with Remia. Just after 45 minutes of effective hunting, Williard brightly glowed in the sky followed by level up notification along with receiving a bunch of other notifications as well. "Congratulations, you leveled up. You reached level 100." "You received a Skill point." "You reached the maximum level. Advance to 2 star Elementalist to receive EXP again." "Congratulations, you are the first player in East Ocean City to reach level 100. You are awarded 1000 fame and 2 gold coins as a reward." "Congratulations, you are the first player in the Llyne Kingdom to reach level 100. You are awarded 3000 fame and 5 gold coins as a reward." "Congratulations, you are the ninth player in the world to reach level 100. You are awarded 1000 fame as a reward." "Quest: East Ocean City''s Mayor wants to congratulate you, meet him. Reward: 10% discount in all the shops located in the city." "Quest: You reached the maximum level. Go to your predecessor and receive the 2 star Quest. Reward: Level limit extends to level 200." Without caring about other notifications, Williard mumbled, "Predecessor? But I inherited from a book. Let''s confirm and see what happens." As he accepted the quest, he received a notification. "Your Predecessor is dead. Inheritance Quest is removed and a new one is added." "Quest: Your Predecessor is long dead. You inherited his legacy without passing his test. His spirit is angry that his successor didn''t respect him. Visit his grave and pay your respects with an Orchid flower, a Bey leaf, and a level 100 gold grade weapon to appease his spirit and receive his blessing and an inheritance Quest to become 2* Elementalist. Reward: Level limit extends to level 200 and random stat increase." Williard thought, "What a troublesome quest. Where in the hell should I go look for Orchid flower in this game and what the hell is this Bey leaf? I never heard of it either in the real-world or in the game, even in the past. May be Mayor might have an idea about it." Then, he looked at Remia and said, "Let''s ignore these monsters and go and look for the king here." Without wasting any time, Williard started to fly while Remia started running ignoring the attacks and entered the level 95 Zone, which is also a barren land but strangely, he can see far away, there''s a building with a long wall stretching for thousands of kilometers in a wide range. "Remia, you see that building? Let''s ignore these and go there," as Williard ordered her, Remia replied, "yes, Lord Time Traveler." Previously, as he was in the need of EXP, Williard didn''t miss the chance of earning free EXP by killing the monsters, which got in their way, but now that he no longer needed it, they just ignored them and just ran towards the destination. After attacking and chasing for a while, all the hounds returned to their position and settle down. Five minutes later, as they reached the end of the wall and killed the monsters that followed them, Williard saw there are several large hounds, with two heads roaming left to right and right to left and instead of what Williard thought as a building, he saw there was a large prison cell with a large keyhole at the side. Then, he inspected them. Great Wall Description: A wall that separates East Ocean City and its wilderness and the rest of the world. An invisible barrier was cast by Archmage Solomon up on top of it. Until it is lifted, none of the outsiders can enter the region. Only an Ascended can lift the barrier placed by Archmage Solomon. "What a description. According to this description, shouldn''t the seaport also be protected by a barrier? But I safely entered the sea without any issues. Did they forget to put the barrier since there are no Cities or monsters nearby? Or did an Ascended passed by and lifted the barrier by mistake?" Krugo (Elite) Level: 99 HP: 1,100,000/1,100,000 Description: Guards of the Endre Prison. Endre Prison Description: A prison that was specifically built to imprison the most dangerous monster as well to safeguard the dungeon of Hell. "The Heroic boss will be in that prison, most likely. I guess I can get the key from these Elite ones as they are termed as Guards," after thinking for a while, Williard spoke, "Remia, let''s kill these two-headed hounds. We''ll take care of them separately. Let me know if you see any Key dropped after they died. While Remia dashed towards the left and started tanking two to three Krugos by herself, Williard flew towards the far-right and chose one monster, which was alone. First, he used Absolute freeze to paralyze a Krugo for 20 seconds, then, immediately after freezing, he summoned an Earth Golem and put it in attack mode and then attacked them with fire arrows. With Earth Golem, that has 200% attack and 10% attack buff, his level 5 fire arrow that has 150% damage, along with the Passive Skill, "Aura of Elementalist" that increases damage by 10%, he was able to take out 20% of its HP by the time 20 seconds are up. Then, he drank mana potion, which recovered 10 MP of his 80MP that was used up, with 224 remaining. Williard, then, pulled the string and conjured an Ice Arrow and shot towards the monster, which froze it up while dealing around 10,982 dmg, as a critical hit appeared on its head. Since it was just a normal freeze with no paralyzing effects like Absolute freezing Skill, Krugo was able to break it out easily within 2 seconds and started to attack the Golem. Williard then stopped attacking and started to heal the Golem, which has the same amount of HP and defense like him. As his defense is very low, damages like 4213, 4511, 3994, etc started to appear but it was easily healed by Williard with a basic Healing skill at the cost of his mana. For every 30 seconds, Williard is releasing an Ice Arrow to freeze up the monster, and the rest of the time, he was just drinking the mana potions and healing the Golem while it was attacking the Krugo. And for every 3 minutes, as the Absolute freeze cooldown time over, he once again cast it and let the Golem do its job. Like that, within just fifteen minutes, Williard was able to defeat 3 Krugos but his face was devoid of happiness after realizing, by that time, the remaining 9 were killed by Remia. Just as he expected, Remia found a key from the last guard and gave it to him. After taking half n hour rest to recover all the mana, Williard flew towards the Prison cell. He heard a growl and saw a huge three pairs of red eyes, inside the dark cell as he stopped before the bars. He raised the Key and put it inside the keyhole and turned it anti-clockwise. Chapter 26锛欳erberus As soon as he unlocked it, the gate was pushed with tremendous force from inside and Williard flew back with a huge 40313 damage on his head. As he stabilized himself with his wings and healed himself with the basic heal, a Giant three-headed hound with a large pair of red eyes stepped out of the prison. Cerberus (Heroic) Level: 100 HP: 12,000,000/12,000,000 Description: The dangerous beast, which used to be a Guardian and the ruler of the barren lands but after being corrupted by demonic energy in the War of the millennium, the beast now was imprisoned and was serving as the Guardian for the dungeon of Hell. It doesn''t recognize allies or foes and knows nothing but destruction. Looking at it, Williard smiled as the description says it''s a demonic beast. That means his damage against this beast can be increased by 50% more. As Remia used to provoke, Cerberus used its claws to attack her but only 2132 appeared on her head but it still shocked Williard as he never saw other than 1 number on her head since Guardians get 40% DR passive bonus after level 100. Coupled with her more than 23K defense, it''s almost impossible for any monster to land a normal hit on her if they don''t use their specific skill or gone berserk. Despite the monster having 10000 Defense, his level 2 Earth Golem was able to deal with damages like 14621, 13124, 20412, 13219, 19931, etc because of his race advantage. Meanwhile, he concentrated on healing Remia every few seconds so that her HP stays full while she was battling against the monster fiercely. As its HP was depleted quickly, Williard sighed in relief, "I thought this one is the strongest but it seemed like this will fall even quicker than the others. Thank goodness, it only has one skill. The bite that attacks with three of its heads successively in a second but still, it was only able to damage Remia by 50K. As long as I heal that much amount, there are no issues." Just under 30 minutes, green aura began to emit from the three-headed hound as its HP depleted by 99% and he received a notification. "Cerberus is in the final berserk state. 200% attack increase. 100% defense increase and decrease cooldown by half." Cerberus (Heroic) Level: 100 HP: 120,000/12,000,000 As soon as it reached the berserk state, it immediately used the triple bite skill on Remia and take out more than 150K HP from her. Looking at the damage, Williard became panicked, "if it hits a couple of times, even Remia would die. That shouldn''t happen. Unlike us, NPC can''t be reborn again. Dammit. I shouldn''t have used Absolute freeze, earlier. Now there are more than 2 minutes until cool down ends and this berserk state is different from others. How did I forget that? For above level 100 bosses, the berserk state will be different for each boss. I hope she would hold on 2 minutes more." 30 seconds later, Cerberus used triple bite again on Remia but this time, there''s no damage done as she used level 70 Guardian Skill, Invincibility. And both the Golem and Remia continued their assaults. Since the hound''s defense is now 20000, both of them can do damage like 3924, 4121, 4097, 3978, etc While worrying about whether they would fail to kill the boss, something clicked in his mind and mumbled, "I wonder" Looking at his MP, that is less than 50, he flew towards Cerberus and gathered his hands together, near his mouth and breathe the fire though it like blowing a trumpet, after investing 5 skill points to Dragon fire and increasing it level 7. As he began to burn it, every second, 17812, 18012, 17723, 17641, 18023, 17999 damage numbers appeared on its head and turned into ash, followed by dropping many items on the ground. Seeing it, Williard thought, "I''m really a fool for not realizing such a simple thing. Golem and I are the same. So, even if the defense is 20000, and for suppose if the golem''s attack is just 14000, instead of 24000, my attack will be blocked by 6000 defense if it hit on the exact moment. And both of our attacks are not in sync, then mine would be blocked by 20000 instead. Well, it''s very hard to perfect the timing and only an expert can do it. I should also practice this combo. This time only worked because it''s Dragon Fire, which isn''t instant damage but damage over time. Dammit! That means I wasted 5 Skill points for nothing. Even if I didn''t invest, Dragon Fire would have worked perfectly." As the boss turned to ash and left behind the items, as usual, Williard received a bunch of notifications. "Cerberus died. You received 1,894,124 EXP." "You reached the maximum limit. You cannot receive anymore EXP. Your EXP will be transferred to your party members." "Congratulations, you are the first player in East Ocean kingdom to kill the corrupted Guardian of the city, Cerberus. You are awarded 500 fame, 1 gold, and earned a title: Demon Hunter as a reward." "Congratulations, you are the first player in the Llyne Kingdom to kill a Corrupted Guardian. You are awarded 1000 fame, 3 gold, and earned an audience with the King of Llyne Kingdom as a reward." "Eh? the others before me managed to kill this boss? It''s impossible without a huge party and most of the players are around level 60s and 70s now. So, I guess they used the same method?" As he took out his Silver Nobility badge and pressed in the middle where a winged Lion was drawn on, it absorbed all the remaining 7500 fame. But still, it didn''t turn to gold yet. "1000 fame has been consumed before and 7500, now. So, there''s still 1500 fame needed to become a Count. Ok, let''s take a look at the drops. I hope I would get a bow, if not, at least a gold grade weapon." As Williard searched the pile of items, he threw away the common, Iron and Bronze equipment and then throw all the rest of them in the inventory without even looking at them, even if they are of gold grade and finally, in the bottom of the pile, he saw two glowing weapons. One is a sword and the other is a bow. "Perfect. Now, I have two gold grade weapons. I guess the luck returned to me again."He threw the sword inside his inventory after confirming that it''s a level 100 gold grade Sword and then, as he inspected the composite bow, Williard was taken aback and cursed out involuntarily, "Holy Mot*** f****** S***" Cerberus'' Bow Level: 100 Grade: Epic Class: Archer Attack: 6289-6362 Critical rate: 48.4% ???? ???? ???? He immediately replaced the Silver Bow with this Epic Bow. And then, took out a gold grade equip he threw into the inventory to take a look. Cerberus'' Helmet Level: 100 Grade: Gold Class: Vanguard, Blade Master HP: 9987 Defense: 1192 ???? ???? Williard sighed, "I didn''t get a light armor to replace the level 40 one. I guess l have to kill it again once it revives." After adding 12 attribute points into HP and crossing the 100K HP mark, he inspected his stats before setting out to the city to meet the Mayor and then, proceed to the Volcano Island, where Archangel Seraphim''s tomb is located and pay his respects. Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 100 Stats: Base (Current) HP: 63042/63042 (101,938) MP: 245 (294) Attack: 10289-10362 (14219-14320) Defense: 2262 (2827) Attack Speed: 20 (24) Movement Speed: 100 (130) Flying Speed: 200 (260) Critical rate: 48.4% Pierce: 0% Critical resist: 0% Available Skill Points: 10 Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 200 Agility: 100 Vitality: 200 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 48 Equipment: Raiger''s Necklace Level: 75 Grade: Silver Attack: 5.6% HP: 13.4% Kaiser''s ring Level: 90 Grade: Gold Attack: 12.6% HP: 28.3% ???? Cerberus'' Bow Level: 100 Grade: Epic Class: Archer Attack: 6289-6362 Critical rate: 48.4% ???? ???? ???? Leopard King''s Light Armor (+0) Level: 40 Class: Mage, Ranger, Assassin; Grade: Gold HP: 3988 Defense: 424 ???? ???? Kaiser''s Bracers Level: 90 Grade: Gold HP: 9021 Defense: 997 ???? ???? Casseri''s Boots Level: 90 Grade: Gold HP: 8653 Defense: 821 ???? ???? Chapter 27锛欵nhancing the Bow After taking all the loot dropped from the monster, Williard turned around and said, "Remia, you can leave to the East Ocean City. Take rest until I call you again, later." "Yes, Lord TimeTraveler." She bowed slightly and then started running towards the city without asking any questions. After she was gone from his sight, Williard just sat there and started contemplating his next course of action. "Hmm, the maximum level is achieved. If I remember correctly, they will open the 100-200 zone only after there are fifty level-100 players. It will take some time. I hope it will be finished before the first update. Once the time here adjusted to the real-time setting, it''ll become harder to level up as there would be only 15 hours of sunlight. Hmm, getting a night vision skill would be useful if I want to level up in the night in the future but I don''t have any information on how to acquire. Last time, I just bought it through the auction. Damn... Anyway, let''s think about those things later and think about what should I do now. For the information about those materials, I might need the Mayor''s help but I can''t go into the city right now and expose my level, yet. Nor can I let Remia help out others as it will easily expose the method of leveling. Although most of them might not afford to hire a guard, it won''t be the same for those top players and my plan of controlling the guilds will go to waste. Sigh... if only NPC can enter the dungeons... Wait a second. How the f*** did I forget about the Mask... Ugh... What''s it called again? Yes, Mask of Tranquility. If I remember correctly, it can be acquired by..." While Williard is thinking of the mask, he suddenly got a voice message from Aster. "Congratulations on becoming the number one player. Young master is really a genius to reach level-100 in so much of a short time." Williard scoffed, "that''s because you haven''t seen Remia''s in action. A 2-star Guardian is entirely different compared to 1-star. And what number one. It''s not like I reached on my own." But still, he replied with a simple message instead of a voice message, "thanks. So, what about the situation in the city?" Aster replied, "everything''s going well. Once we will recruit Flame-Emperor and Snow Dew, we can proceed with our next step. I heard that the young master did a dungeon with them. If you reveal your level, we might be able to recruit those father and daughter pair." Listening to it, Williard thought for a while before sending the message, "No, they were different. You cannot convince the Flame Emperor that easily. But, it''s fine. They don''t seem to be players with ambition. They won''t pose any threat, yet. Aster, you need to do something for me. In the city, somewhere around, there will be a smithy. Reach at least 80 favorability. When you reach it, ask him about whether he had the Mask of Tranquility. He will give you an absurd price but don''t pay for it and say you don''t have such amount. Ask him earnestly again and inform him you can do anything for him. That will make him give you a quest. Accept it and give me co-ordinates of a lonely spot in the wild. I''ll fly over there." ... Reverie Kingdom; CrimsonSun(Bran), a level-86 Blademaster was fighting against a Heroic level-85 wild boss, all alone for several hours. As the boss died, it dropped a bunch of several items. picking up a shining long-katana with a huge smile on his face, CrimsonSun mumbled, "yes, an epic grade sword. After I enhance it, my attack will increase tremendously. Hmm, what is this..." Bran saw an ancient-looking parchment that was dropped on the ground, in the midst of all the equipment. As he picked it up and inspected it curiously, he got a notification followed by a Quest on the holographic screen before him. *You received the Scroll of Eden* *Quest: Eden, one of the ten demi-gods of the world is waiting for her successor for a thousand years. Go to her tomb that is located in the cave of Eden and receive the inheritance quest to try your luck* "Inheritance Quest?" Bran was taken aback in surprise, "a hidden class? I wonder which one will it be. But, what should I do? If I change my class, my level will be dropped to 1 and all the skills I acquired and developed painstakingly will disappear. And what about this epic grade sword? But that''s a demi-god''s inheritance. When I complete it, I''ll receive strong equipment. Who knows, it might even be a legendary one. I can just sell the sword to Sierra or I can just put it in an auction when it opens. Should I risk it? What should I do?" ... After landing in a safe spot, Williard took out blue stones with a swirl pattern on them. As he placed the epic grade level-100 bow on the ground, he first took two stones and place it on the bow. Suddenly, he got confirmation. *Would you like to use two augment stones to enhance Cereberus'' Bow to +1?* Williard pressed Yes. The stones immediately disappeared into the bow and he received a notification. *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +1* Before enhancing further, Williard inspected the Bow. Cerberus'' Bow (+1) Level: 100 Grade: Epic Class: Archer Attack: 6289-6362 (+631) Critical rate: 48.4% (+4.8%) ???? ???? ???? "I have around 193 augment stones more. Let''s continue with enhancing and see how much can I enhance it." Then, he proceeds with enhancing the Bow further. After consuming 4 stones, he got a notification. *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +2* +3 required 6... +4 required 8... *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +4* Just like any other equipment, the bow''s attack stat was enhanced by 10% per each level. "Ok, now, this is an important one. The success rate is now 75% and required stones are 12. Once, it is successful, the attack will increase by 20% more and the overall critical rate will reach around 70% I guess?" As the augment stones that he put on the bow to enhance it to +5, disappeared, Williard received a notification. *Enhancement failed* "F*** how unlucky. Never mind. I still have 163 stones." Chapter 28锛歁agic Swordsman As Williard tried to enhance once again, he received a notification. *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +5* With a smile on his face, Williard inspected the Bow. Cerberus'' Bow (+5) Level: 100 Grade: Epic Class: Archer Attack: 6289-6362 (+3788) Critical rate: 48.4% (+24.3) ???? ???? ???? "Let''s continue until I ran out of those..." *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +6* *Enhancement failed* *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +7* *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +8* *Enhancement failed* *Cerberus'' Bow has been successfully enhanced to +9* As only 15 stones left, Williard sighed, "I guess, I can only go up to 9 huh. +10 needs 36 stones and the success rate only 50%. I should have at least 150 stones before even attempting again. Let''s see the current stats..." Williard inspected the weapon again. Cerberus'' Bow (+9) Level: 100 Grade: Epic Class: Archer Attack: 6289-6362 (+6312) Critical rate: 48.4% (+49.1) ???? ???? ???? "Good. With this, my basic attack will be around 16,000. With the race and necklace bonus, it''s over 21K now. Although not good as Remia, I guess, I can handle level-100 mobs easily. I just need to fly in the air and with the Golem as my partner, I won''t be needing any help again. Until Aster arrives, let''s just fool around and test my strength. ... *Congratulations, You discovered the resting place of High-Elf Eden, one of the ten-demi gods. You are awarded 1000 fame as a reward* CrimsonSun was surprised as he discovered the place too quickly. Just after he accepted the quest, he started returning towards the city as he doesn''t know the location of the cave and intended to ask the mayor. But, who knows he would get incredibly lucky as he stumbled upon a cave in level 75-80 region when he was fighting an elite mob. Indeed a world''s protagonist. Inside the dim-lit cave, as Bran walked towards the tomb, he saw a Giant Wolf, which looked like a tomb keeper opened its eyes as it sensed his presence. Six hours later, *You defeated Tomb Keeper Fenrir and successfully passed Eden''s test. You can claim the inheritance in the tomb* "Eh? This is a test? I thought I will receive an inheritance quest like in the novels where I will meet the spirit of demi-god and go to a trial in some land." As he opened the tomb, Bran saw a Book, a mythical grade sword, and a mythical grade crown. As he picked up the old book, he received a confirmation of changing to the class. Upon confirming, he received a notification. *Congratulations, your class changed to Magic swordsman. Basic skills are added* Excitedly, he inspected the two items left in the tomb. Crown of Eden (Sealed) Grade: Mythical Sword of Eden (Sealed) Grade: Mythical Bran was stunned on the spot while looking at the two items. ... Aster was standing before the blacksmith Herveus as the latter was busy with his work. Following the instructions of Williard, he completed the quests for the past six hours and raised his favorability before making a request of buying the mask. But, unexpectedly, Herveus replied, "Mask of Tranquility? Sorry, but I have already sold it to a person, yesterday. I don''t have one anymore." Just when Aster was disappointed that he wasn''t able to finish the job, Herveus suddenly asked him, "do you want to be my apprentice? As a welcome gift, I can give you the recipe to make the Mask." ... Level 90 Dungeon: Lair of Ineos. In front of a Giant spider-type monster stood Williard as he inspected it. Ineos (Heroic) Level: 90 HP: 36,000/10,000,000 As the spider queen summoned 5 level-80 Heroic grade mobs while it started to heal, Williard smirked, "sorry but you never going to get the chance to heal." "Absolute Freeze" The ice began to release from his feet and froze everything around 20meters. He flapped his wings and dashed towards 2 o''clock so that he can get a clear view of the main boss before he raised his bow towards it and conjured an arrow made of fire. "It ends now." "Fire arrow" As the fire arrow struck the frozen Ineos, a critical hit appeared and a huge number 50321 appeared on its head before it collapsed on the ground while the rest of its minions disappeared and received notifications. *Spider Queen Ineos has been slain. Received 3,85,675 experience* *You cannot level up. Become a 2* Elementalist to increase the limits* *Dungeon has been cleared.* *Congratulations, you are the first to clear the Heroic difficulty of the dungeon. You are awarded 100 fame as a reward. Would you like to announce your name?* As Williard pressed NO, the system made a citywide announcement. *Congratulations, "Unnamed" for clearing Lair of Ineos, Heroic Difficulty* ... A team comprised of ten is fighting against the final boss of level-70 Dungeon, Heroic difficulty. If one sees their levels clearly, they will realize that these ten members are extremely high level, and are between 60-75 levels with three of them are even in the top 10 of city rankings. As they finished the boss and received experience, the leader of the team received a notification. As he decided to publish the team name, the system made a city-wide announcement. *Congratulations, Team Evernight for clearing Skyral cave, Heroic difficulty* A member of the team spoke with a smile, "we did it. Now, everyone will know our guild name." Current number four rank and the leader of the team, "SupremeMaster" nodded, "yeah. I think it''s time we unmask the names in the rankings and promote our Guild. We will..." Before he finished his sentence, another city-wide announcement has been declared by the system. *Congratulations, "Unnamed" for clearing Lair of Ineos, Heroic difficulty* Everyone in the team, who was smiling in joy became silent. Evernight''s Vice-leader, Lich King who is a level-59 necromancer thought, "there''s no mention of the word team. Then, only one person? I guess it''s the first-ranked player? Did I just offend him by rejecting their invitation with an insult? I hope he won''t be the type to hold on to a grudge for every little thing. But, then again, is he really from the rumored Scarlet Guild?" Meanwhile, the leader, Supreme Master sighed while thinking, "looks like he''s strong as his ranking position. There, that young master alone is able to finish a level-90 dungeon without any help, and here I struggled very hard to finish a lower level dungeon even after taking the help of the nine members. Well, I guess, I need to do my part too." ... Summersoft HQ, Graymere City; One of the GMs hurried to the Chairman''s office and reported him the news. Hearing it, the Chairman was once again shocked, "just what is happening. Not even a week has been passed. This is the fourth player to acquire a legend class. By the way, which class is this time?" The GM replied, "Magic swordsman. With this, three of the positions are filled. Only two of them remained." Chapter 29锛歋aurons Crown Two days later, Dungeon of Hell; Hell King Sauron Hp: 12,000,000/12,000,000 Description: Sauron, one of the kings of the realm of Hell. Once a corrupted General of the ancient kingdom of Griffin. After dying in the war with the Dragon Kingdom, he was resurrected as a skeleton soldier in Hell to pay for his sins. A Giant skeleton with a crown on its head and a staff in his hand roared as it smelled the presence of an intruder. As the intruder came into its sight, it saw an equally Giant Earth Golem walking towards it with its big steps. Each step made the ground shake a little bit and stopped at 35 meters away from it. And on the top of its shoulder sat an adventurer, who was shining from top to bottom with his gold grade and epic grade equipment. It was none other than Williard, of course, who did nothing but clearing out the dungeons for the past couple of days to improve his mastery over the skills after failing to acquire the mask of tranquility. As a result, Williard was able to acquire several gold grade equipment and even five pieces of epic grade equipment of which he stored the remaining two because of the class restriction. Meanwhile, he maximized Golem skill, and Absolute Freeze while Dragon Fire is still at level-8, and Ice arrow is at level 7. Of course, he wasn''t able to improve the bubble skill as he can''t drown or swim underwater, yet. That will have to wait for the update. Sauron looked at the intruders in hate as he sensed his army has been wiped out but still, he didn''t attack as they were out of his range, which is 28 meters. This is the core advantage that an adventurer has an advantage over a mob as they can''t make the first move until its enemy enters its range, moreover so for Williard as he gets to attack the boss first while staying out of its range. Looking at the final boss, Williard stood upon the Golem''s shoulder and flapped his wings and raised his bow towards the skeleton while commanding the golem, "attack." The Golem started to take big steps and run towards the Hell king, while the latter raised his staff and it started to glow. Just then, an Ice arrow struck the staff precisely, interrupting the spell and freezing the staff as well as the entire 40 meters surface for a couple of seconds. Meanwhile, a heavy punch landed on its ribs and a critical hit appeared on its head simultaneously for both attacks and its HP was decreased by 289857 and 175185 respectively taking out a massive chunk of 460K HP in one single shot. Looking at the damage, Williard smirked, "this is the power of an Elementalist. Just one punch of Golem is enough to kill even a Guardian as long as he''s below 300K HP." Golem (Max level): Summon an earth Golem using elemental magic with a command, "Arise, Golem". It has two modes. *Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 400% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies attack by 100%. *Defense mode: Defend you from your enemies by blocking the enemy attacks. Increases its defense and HP by 400% and provide a defense buff, which increases you and your allies, Max HP and Defense by 100%. *Costs 20 MP per minute; 60 meters range. Cooldown: 15 minutes. Note: Mode cannot be changed once summoned. Golem''s attack damage is entirely dependent on Williard''s stats. 400% attack literally means it''s attack dmg is 4 times that of whatever''s current Williard''s attack stat. The same is for defense, crt.rate, or crt.dmg, etc... The only exception is HP, which is independent of Williard''s HP once it was summoned. And the buffs from the golem increases only player''s basic stats, which excludes the buffs gained from equipment or race or skills or buffs from other players (the one that isn''t in the brackets). As for the final attack damage, the stat buffs (increasing atk, def, hp, etc...) will first convert into flat numbers and then stack on each other before applying to the final stat together, and then, the skill damage will be coming into the effect with its percentage. After that, finally, the skill buffs (crt dmg, overall dmg increase, dmg reduction against enemies, etc...) will be applied to the whole while stacking upon each other before dealing with final damage upon the enemy. Back to the battle, as Sauron recovered from the frozen state very quickly, once again, he attempted to use the staff to change the environment to the Volcanic region to increase his damage and by damage reduction by 20% and then, summon his undead soldiers to attack this angel and his Giant pet. But, before he even tried to do that, Williard unleased his maximum level "Absolute Freezing" and froze the surroundings. He once again smirked, "little skeleton, for the next 50 seconds, you are at my mercy. Too bad that you won''t be able to go into any of your berserk states. Golem, attack." With the combination of continuous usage of his fire arrows and fireballs along with the Golem''s heavy punches, all of it''s 12 million HP drained very quickly as it was in the absolute frozen state, which cannot be escaped unless there''s a massive difference of level between the two parties or it gets mutated. As 50 seconds are up, it dropped a lot of materials, although only a couple of gold grade equipment while most of them are just useless silver, bronze, and Iron grade equipment, a lot of augment-stones, teleportation scrolls, and dungeon scrolls which can be used to enter a dungeon when you finished the daily five attempts. As he was throwing away all those bronze and Iron grade equipment while storing away the rest of them, Williard saw two items that brought interest to him. One scroll and a golden crown that looks very similar to a helmet that guardian wore usually. He inspected the crown first. Sauron''s Crown Level: N/A Grade: Gold Attack: 9% Additional Effect: Command over 2 undead knights, which have 50% of your stats. "Wow, the summon skill? I have seen a similar one used by Bran... but unlike him, I''m an angel. One I reach level-250, I will receive divinity that will let me become a natural predator to the undead. Buffs on me will become debuffs on them. It will be useless for me. Nah, let''s just equip it for now. 250 is far away and I have an extra two loyal slaves for free. As soon as he tried to equip it, he got a warning notification. Chapter 30锛歎pdate Announcement *It is a bound item. Do you still want to equip it?* "Oh boy, bound item? Seriously? Even though it''s a good thing that it cannot be dropped if I ever get killed but I can neither sell it nor trade it away when I don''t have any use for it. Hmm, wait a second. Why am I thinking for this long over a simple item? It''s not I like to lack money or items. Let''s just equip it and done with it. From now onwards, with Golem, and these two undead pets, I won''t need to lift my finger when I go for leveling, hehe..." As he equipped it, the system sent him a notification. *Sauron''s Crown is bound to you. Since you are an Angel and is a supposed enemy of undead and demons, the race of the undead knights has been converted to fallen angels* Williard was taken aback by the notification and a huge smile appeared on his face and he raised his fist in the air, "Yes..." He immediately concentrated as he raised his palm towards the ground and shouted the necessary command, "Arise my knights." His palm released red-color magic energy and quickly, two beings appeared in front of him, kneeling in front of him. Both of them wore white robes and have wings along with the staff. The most notable thing is that the wings are black in color, which represents their fallen status. He inspected both of them, Kallius; Race: Fallen Angel Level:100 Description: An angel, who once joined the humans and elves and rebel against the Empire of **** and became a fallen angel. Later, after betrayed by allies and executed, he turned into an undead knight and served Hell-king Sauron. Skill: Attack the enemy with a fireball with 100% atk and ignores the defense of the enemy. "Oh, a fireball. The same as my first basic skill but since it''s stats are 50% of mine. Which means, it originally attacks with 50% atk. Hmm, in the description, the name of that empire is blurred. I guess that''s not a name I was supposed to learn yet?" As they are nothing but puppets, both of them stayed silent without any talking while Williard started thinking, "by the way, I still remember Bran''s puppets have armor on them. I wonder whether I can give these two. Let''s test it." Williard, then, took out level-80 light-armor and raised it towards one of them and spoke, "Kallius, take this armor and equip it." Kallis stepped forward and took it. As he closed his eyes, the armor disappeared and appeared on him, Williard inspected his stats using his special connection towards them. A frown appeared on his face, "no change in the stats? I see... When it says 50% of my overall stats, it literally means that. I guess the armor is just for appearance. Let''s see the other one." Dromeus; Race: Fallen Angel Level: 100 Description: An angel, who once joined the humans and elves and rebel against the Empire of **** and became a fallen angel. Later, after betrayed by the allies, he turned into an undead knight and served Hell-king Sauron. Skill: Heals the user/ally with 100% atk (50% of Williard''s) "As expected, a healer. Hahaha, now that''s a good one. Now, I no longer need to worry about healing. This is an overpowered accessory for sure. All attempts are over for today. Hmm, should I use dungeon scrolls and run again. I wonder if I can get a couple of more for Aster and RockFist. Anyway, let''s see this interesting scroll. I didn''t think I would get this one at a lower level dungeon." Pet scroll Grade: Elite Description: A scroll that lets you capture a common or elite creature from the wild and use them as your battle companion. The success rate depends on the difference in the strength between the user and the creature. "I see, it''s just an elite pet scroll. It''s useless for me. I''ll give it to Aster or maybe sell it in the upcoming..." Just then, a world-wide announcement has been made by the system. *Fifty players have reached level-100 all over the world. The system will go under one-hour maintenance in five-minutes. All the activities will be resumed after a 10-minute pause time after the maintenance is finished* As the game-world went into chaos because of sudden maintenance, the system announced another news. *War Online''s first major update is on it''s in 38 hours in-game time or 19 hours real-time. please check out the official website for complete details* A smile appeared on Williard''s face as he mumbled, "it''s finally here. Now, it''s time for me to reveal myself." As he logged out from the game and exit the capsule, Williard looked at the time, "Hmm, it''s still 12:55. Might as well have some lunch in the meanwhile." After ordering some food online, he sat on the sofa and took out the tab and open the official website of Summersoft. After opening the website, he went straight to the update details. War Online''s First Major update. *The time will be changed to 1:1 ratio to the real-time. So, instead of 48 hours a day, the world of Gaia will have 24 hours with 15hours of sunlight from 04:30 hours to 19:30 hours and 9 hours of moonlight and darkness from 19:30 to 04:30 hours* *Under night time, the strength of the creatures in the wild increases by 50%* *All the cities under one kingdom will be connected. Players can migrate to other cities and register as citizens in exchange of fame* *Life Professions. Players can now change to a non-combat job like a Chef, blacksmith, Alchemist, etc...* *System Auction House. Players can sell your items in the auction set up by the system as well as bid for the items others put with in-game currency* *Monthly Auction system. Players can bid for the items put by the NPC with in-game-currency* *Currency exchange system. Players can exchange credits to an in-game currency like gold or silver and vice-versa. The rate will be decided by the system every day* *Bank system. Players can deposit the money in the bank and get interests as well as mortgage their important items in the vault in exchange for in-game currency* *Mutation. A wild creature can go under mutation at any time based on the circumstances* *Treasure chests might appear in the wild at any place and time* *NPC towns. Players can register themselves as the citizens of the towns that are under the cities without paying any amount of fame. They can also capture the towns and control as long as you meet the requirements* Chapter 31锛歊evealing the name *Buzz* Mobile is ringing. "Yes, Aster." Williard picked it up while reading the update details and confirming it with what he knows. "Young master, is it about time?" Williard smiled, "it looks like you got it. Yes, right after the maintenance is over, I''m returning to the East Ocean city. You spread the news all over the city about me." Aster then asked, "got it. By the way, does young master wishes to expand the guild?" Williard replied, "no way. Except for 52 of us, no one is allowed to join Scarlet. I''m revealing myself only for those people who are still wondering. As soon as my name is revealed in the rankings, they will contact you. If they don''t, you should contact them. Arrange a meeting at Moonlight restaurant. I''ll give them one hour. No representatives will be allowed. They must come in person. I don''t care what are busy with. Tell them those who failed to arrive won''t be considered as our allies." "Got it, Young master." Then, Williard once again asked, "by the way, how much gold have we collected so far?" Aster replied, "156 gold, sir. we have spent almost 25 million on it. There''s only 3.8 million left in your card." Williard asked, "good. And how much limit in dad''s credit card, left?" Aster replied, "33.1 million." Williard thought for a while and said, "start purchasing with dad''s card then. Use 15 million credits and buy however much you can, in the next 5-6 hours after entering the game." After disconnecting the call, Williard smiled, "before the update, once Imperial guild collapse, Scarlet will decide who will be the ruler." ... Gwangchon city; A young man of around 25 years old, who looks pretty much like an easterner, was sitting before the computer and reading the details of the upcoming update, "time is reduced by half? I guess the next one day will be complete chaos with everyone trying to level up..." *buzz* *buzz* "Hello?" "Gong Jiahao, This is Shadow Blade." "I''m waiting for your call," Jiahao replied while looking a bit tense. "So, are you ready?" Aster asked him. Jiahao a.k.a Red Dragon, former Vice leader of Imperial Guild replied, "yes, I''m done with preparations on my side but..." Aster interrupted him, "I know what you are thinking. But, don''t think of what is Young master''s plan and just focus on the job you are given. Once the maintenance is finished, all of you must leave the guild at once and proceed to Greenreed street. There, "White Walker" will receive you and invite you to their guild. After joining the guild, just don''t do anything and stay there silently without responding to any messages for the next two hours. After that, we will proceed with the annihilation of Imperial. We won''t force you to participate but you can help out with convincing your guildmates to leave the guild." "I understand," replied Jiahao as he disconnected the call. ... As the maintenance is finished, everyone entered their capsules and found themselves in an empty white space. They started waiting as the pause time is going on. Like everyone, Williard entered his S-grade capsule and logged in. *Welcome to War Online* As the pause time is over, the gameplay is resumed for everyone. Just then, the system made a world-wide announcement. *New wild zone has been opened. Since the cities are in the kingdom aren''t connected, they can enter the new level 101-200 wild zone through the portal constructed at the Great Wall* Williard, who was near to the Wall saw a Giant portal was built in the middle of the Wall, quite near to the prison that holds Cereberus. "Before advancing to 2*, there''s no use for me to go into it unless the materials I need are in there. Anyway, there are still 36 hours left until the update. I should proceed to the Mayor, first. No, wait a second. I think I should go into the wild first." Williard immediately flapped his wings and dashed towards the portal and entered it. As he found himself on the other side, he received a notification. *Congratulations, you discovered the Nefarus wild zone. You are awarded 500 fame* After he absorbed the leftover fame into the nobility that was almost filled, Williard broke out into a smile, "with this, my total fame is 16000. Now, all I need 1000 more. Once I hand over the necklace to the Mayor, I''ll finally meet one of the requirements. All that''s left to drag out the Mayor but it will have to wait until I get to meet the king." He turned around and exit the wild zone and returned to the level-100 zone and then opened the city rankings. Williard clicked on his name. Name: Unknown Level: 100 Guild: Unknown Reveal: on/off As he changed to on, his name description was changed to Time Traveler and the guild name changed to Scarlet. 1) Time Traveler- Level 100 2) Flame Emperor - Level 89 3) Snow Dew - Level 87 4) Supreme Master - Level 77 5) Unnamed - Level 76 6) White Tiger - Level 75 7) Swordmaster- Level 75 8) Heavenly King - Level 75 9) Unnamed - Level 73 10) You can''t look at me - Level 73 In War Online, there''s no separate option of revealing the name but hiding the guild name or level. Either everything can be masked with items or everything is revealed once someone inspects it except for their class and stats. Williard once again flapped his wings and proceed towards the city. ... Level 80-85 zone; White Tiger and 19 elite adventurers of Imperial guild resumed their leveling and they were looking more aggressive as they started clearing out the common grade mobs. All of a sudden, someone cried out, "Boss..." White Tiger frowned as he was interrupted by his underling, "what is it?" The underling Gunner replied, "look at the rankings. The first ranker revealed himself. You won''t believe who he is. It''s TimeTraveler. The guy who defeated Dave. He used to be the lowest level..." White Tiger frowned, "Time Traveler? The guy with an NPC. I even forgot about him after he disappeared for the past three days. I guess that NPC helped him out in leveling? Is she really a hired guard? But that needs him to be a Viscount. No, he definitely wasn''t a Viscount because it need a large amount of fame. Becoming baron might be possible if one gets lucky as it needs 2000 fame but as far as I know, Viscount needs another 6000, which means a total of 8000 fame. I guess he might have received a large amount of experience to level up that quickly. Damn, lucky fellow." ... At the same moment, several adventurers from all over the place received private messages from Aster to attend the meeting in one hour that will be held at the restaurant where they get to meet the Young master. Chapter 32锛歁ayor As Will started walking in the streets of East Ocean city, the adventurers around kept staring at him while a few others are following him as they saw his shining equipment but quickly stopped pursuing him as they saw his name and level. After all, this is the current strongest player. While Will gets all the attention towards himself, several guild leaders/vice leaders with invitations/passes in their hands were slowly making their way towards the moonlight restaurant, which was booked by Aster for the next two hours. When someone booked a high-end restaurant or a place, the system would provide temporary passes to the host so that the invited guests can enter the place while rejecting out the non-pass holders with1 a barrier. It''s just like a guild residence that only allows the guild members and rejects everyone else. ... While White Tiger was disturbed a little by the first ranked player identity as Scarlet is one of the guilds that they put a bounty on, Suddenly, everyone in the Imperial guild received a notification, *Vice-Leader Black Dragon quits the guild* "What!" As the rest of them stopped their leveling, WhiteTiger''s face became dark. He growled as he didn''t receive a message from Black Dragon, "that damn trash..." Just then, one of them spoke with a panicking voice, "leader, look at our guild? More than 2000 people left. Other than Black Dragon, I can''t see Red Dragon, Blue Dragon, Hercules, and even Dave... What the hell is going on..." All of a sudden, Imperial Guild suddenly thrown into Chaos as more than 30% left nearly at the same time. With his 536 loyal followers, Red Dragon left the guild and met the current 9th ranked White Walker to join his Westeros Guild. Black Dragon, who was already bought by Aster, the moment he became Vice-leader left with 358 members. Just like that, in one swoop, the guild was thrown into complete chaos, shocking the hell out of White Tiger. ... As Will reached the Mayor''s manor, he received a voice-message from Shadow Blade. "Young Master, the first step is done. Imperial guild''s strength is reduced by 1956 common players, 16 out of 100 elite members, and 1 Vice-leader." Will replied with a message, "good job. Now, the next step is to gather our allies. I''m looking forward to how many important people you managed to subdue..." After sending the message, Will sighed, "I''m really amazed the matter didn''t leak from even one of them when it involved 2000 players. Maybe, even they might not know the whole situation. Aster did inform that he was separating them into small divisions." A grin appeared on Will''s face as he mumbled, "I bet those people who left were still thinking that they were the only ones left." Will reached the gate and showed the nobility badge to the guards, who allowed him inside the manor. As he stepped inside, Will saw a level-1 short bald-man, wearing an apron and have a ladle in his hand as he coming out of his kitchen. Looking at the adventurer, who looks a bit confused, the Mayor smiled as he greeted, "Ah, Viscount TimeTraveler, you are finally here. Please, make yourself home. I''ll be back very quickly." As he went away to the kitchen, Will sat on the chair while thinking, "this is one unique mayor I met. Doesn''t he have chefs or something? What''s wrong with him?" After 15 minutes of waiting, the mayor returned in his normal casual attire while a maid is bringing the dishes. The Mayor smiled, "why don''t you join me for the lunch..." But, Will quickly turned down the invitation as he had far more important matters, "I''m sorry. I just had mine..." Immediately, the system sent a notification. *Favorability dropped by 5* Looking at it, Will thought, "Well, it doesn''t matter if the favorability drops from 70 to 65. I plan to kick him out of the office in the future, anyway." The Mayor hid his disappointment after a second and gave him a handshake, "anyway, I want to congratulate you on becoming a Viscount." *Quest completed. You received 4000 EXP (+20%)* *You reached the maximum level. Become a 2* Elementalist to increase the limits* As the mayor about to go for lunch and doesn''t seem like he''s in a mood to give him a quest, Will took out Arthur''s necklace and showed it to him, "um, Mr. Ravus, I wonder if this is necklace belongs to your son." Hearing the words, the mayor immediately stopped and turned around to see a Silver necklace with sapphire stones embedded in it. Then, he reached out to it and took it in his hands, "this necklace... it''s certainly my Arthur''s... where did you get it?" Will replied, "Oh, a leopard monster dropped this item after I killed it." Tears started to form in Ravus'' eyes as he caressed the necklace, "I see... my son''s death has been avenged. Thank you, Viscount Time Traveler." As the mayor handed a pouch full of silver, Will got notifications from the system. *Quest completed. You received 41254 EXP (20%), 20 Silvers, 1420 fame* *You reached the maximum level. Become a 2* Elementalist to increase the limits* *Favorability increased by 10%* "Well then, Mr. Ravus. I need to leave. please excuse me..." As Will turned around to leave, the mayor stopped him, "wait a second." "Yes?" The Mayor then said, "I wonder if you are interested to do a job for me." Will gestured, "please continue." "Recently, I received an order from his majesty to investigate the ruins of Marten. Do you know a creature named Cereberus?" Will nodded, "yes, the guardian of the city that was prisoned after corrupted by demons." The Mayor then said, "originally, I don''t want to involve you. I feel you aren''t strong enough yet but seeing that you are from Angel race and have an obvious advantage against those corrupted beings, I''m thinking you might be the man for this job. Don''t worry, you won''t be alone. Three of our elite soldiers will join you on this quest and you can take two more adventures with you. So, are you up for it? You will be rewarded quite handsomely." *Quest: The Mayor wants you to investigate the Ruins of Marten. Rewards: 2,000,000 EXP, 3 gold, one random epic grade equipment according to the class* Looking at the quest, while anyone in this situation will be taken aback in surprise seeing such generous rewards, Will, on the other hand, didn''t have much of a reaction as it isn''t much for him. He looked at the mayor and asked, "Mr. Ravus, do I need to leave for the mission, right away?" The Mayor shook his head, "not right away but I hope, you leave as soon as you can. You see... I need to report to his majesty within two weeks. Six days have been passed. So, you have one more week to go." Chapter 33锛歐illiard calls for a Meeting After knowing that he still has a week left, Will accepted the quest, "I''ll go." As Will accepted the mission, a smile appeared on Ravus'' and he nodded, "good. I''ll leave it you, then." Since the matter between them is finished, the mayor turned around to walk to the dining table again to eat his lunch but he was once again interrupted by Will, "wait for a second, Mr. Ravus. I''m actually here for one more reason." As the mayor turned around to look at him, Will asked, "I wonder if Mr. Mayor knows anything about a bey leaf and an orchid flower." The mayor lost in thoughts for a few seconds before he replied, "I know about the orchid flower. They were usually grown in the forest near the lake of Kaiser but Bey leaf? It''s just a myth." "A myth?" A frown appeared on Will''s face. The mayor nodded, "it''s just a myth from the legend of Artemis. Legend says once upon a time, our Kingdom of Lyne is used to be called as the ancient Kingdom of Artemis. It is said that people of our kingdom use the leaf as a means of ritual to pray to the founder of their clans. The spirit of the founder then grants the ritual holder, tremendous power, and makes him the leader of their clan. There are other versions of it but there are no historical pieces of evidence that Artemis kingdom once existed even though there are tons of stories about it. Anyway, you can go to the library and find more information if you are interested but honestly, it''s a waste of time in my opinion." Will didn''t comment anything and lightly bowed, "thank you for the information. I''ll take my leave." The mayor smiled and stayed there for a while as Will turned around and started to walk away. After he went away from his sight, Ravus looked at the necklace and smiled, "I guess, today, I''ll be able to eat and sleep in peace." Meanwhile, Will, who left the Mayor''s Manor, started to walk on the street. "Hmm, seems like acquiring the bey leaf is indeed difficult. Let''s check the library, later." ... While the Imperial guild was left in chaos, White Tiger was growling in madness as he didn''t receive any reply from any of his elites or his Vice-leader. He made the Crimson Moon, a level 61 Mage as his new Vice-leader, and posted a hefty bounty of 20,000 credits per kill on his deserted elite members. On the other hand, several guild leaders or Vice-leaders along with some strong rankers except for Flame Emperor and Snow Dew who refused the invitation as they weren''t interested anything except for playing. One hour later, Moonlight restaurant; As 15 members of 26 invited people arrived at the restaurant, they saw Will and two others entered the restaurant. Looking at the shining equipment on Will, greedy thoughts appeared on some of them but no one dared to show it as behind him stood Remia, a level-125 Guardian NPC. "Aster, is everyone here?" "11 of them aren''t here yet." "Forget them. We don''t have to care about it. It''s their loss." "Hello; let me introduce myself. I''m Time Traveler, the Guild leader of Scarlet. Everyone, please, take your seats." As all of them took their seats at the tables, except for Aster and Remia, who stood behind them, Will spoke, "First of all, I thank Guild leaders of Heaven, Westeros, paradise, Snow, Royal Chaos for accepting the members and helping us for joining our quest to destroy the Imperial guild. The rest of you will find out sooner or later. So, we put that matter aside and go straight to the matter without wasting time." As they nodded with a smile, a few of them were confused about the matter while others stayed silent in understanding. "So, anyway, our agenda for today''s meeting consists of two things. First, destruction of Imperial Guild, second, taking control of East Ocean City. What you have to offer is your co-operation and what will I offer is increasing your guild strength." While a lot of them frowned but stayed silent, guild leader of Evernight, asked, "And how do you plan to do that?" Will took out his silver nobility badge and showed them, "with this. As you can see, I''m already a Viscount." As soon as Williard took out the nobility badge, everyone was already taken aback in a shock as all of them knew its significance, and listening to his words, confirmed their suspicions. Looking at their expressions, Aster smiled as he was proud of his young master. Meanwhile, Will continued, "Let me tell you one of the benefits if you don''t know. I can employ 100 guards a maximum of 100 levels above me as long as I have enough gold. All of you know about the update. All cities will be connected within a kingdom. With my help, your guild''s strength will increase tremendously. With East Ocean city as our headquarters, you can open branch guilds in other cities and rule them. Eventually, we can not only develop together, but we can also control the whole kingdom. That''s my final goal." Listening to him, Vice-Guild leader of Wings, asked, "Is that really possible?" Williard smiled, "to take control of the East Ocean city, we should first suppress the Imperial guild. That''s where I come in. I''m telling you, one guard above level 100 has at least an attack stat of 25000 and maximum can even go to 100K." Hearing the number, while most of them gasped, "100K?" a couple of them, who knew it, nodded as if they knew it. "That''s the case of lower-ends. You can imagine how strong would be those higher-end guards. Now, I''m level 100. That means I can employ level 200 guards, which you can imagine to your extent." His face turned cold as he continued to speak, "With the guards I employ, we will shut down 80-100 wide zones completely. Only 16 of our guilds will be allowed to level up. Anyone, who dared to protest, will be taken care of by the guards. To enter the new wild zone, one must pass through the portal and the portal will be controlled solely by us. So, anyone who wants to level up will either leave the city or must join your guilds." Chapter 34锛歐ill hires guards for ally guilds For a few moments, silence enveloped in the restaurant as Will declared the outcome like a verdict given by an Emperor. Looking at them, as Will smiled with satisfaction, Aster continued to speak, "now, our young master will employ 180-200 level guards from the association as soon as our meeting end. If you wish to employ one or more for yourself, each one costs 10-12 gold. You can pay up 12 gold and we will help you out to hire them." "12 Gold? Don''t you think you are going overboard?" Green Lantern, Leader of Justice League Guild, stood up in anger as he continues to slander, "so in the end, you are after our money, huh? Hmpf what a scam. I will.." Before he finishes his sentence, Will interrupted with a cold tone, "just shut up and sit in the corner if you can''t even afford it." As everyone else sneered, Green Lantern''s face turned green as he takes back his seat. Meanwhile, Will continued, "we aren''t some charity organization to provide you a high-level guard for free. You are the one who buys them and employs them. I will be just a medium to do that. If you don''t want to increase your guild''s strength, it''s your problem. One hour later, we will lock down level 95-100 zone first, and then, proceed to lower levels as our number increases. so, the choice is yours. Oh, we have already reserved some for our allies. So, only 50 are left for the rest of you." As everyone stayed silent and hesitate whether to proceed or not, Evernight guild''s Vice-leader, Lich King spoke, "I''m sorry but we aren''t allies yet. I want to hire five guards but even if we are allies, at this stage, handing over more than 50 gold just like that isn''t feasible. I hope you understand my point." As many of them nodded as they support his statement, Will frowned, "Hmm, that''s also true. There can be trust issues. Then, how about this. I''ll wait at the City Administration Building for the next hour. Those who don''t have trust in us or feel like they can''t transact such an amount without a discussion with their guild members can just come to city administration building by yourself and select adventurers and then pay me up. I''ll take a 10% fee if that was the case. We''ll be professional both on our sides. Here''s a friendly reminder. The guards you are hiring will work only for a week. Now, they work for 40 hours per day and take 8 hours rest but I''m not sure what happens after the update. It might be either 20 per day or 16 hours per day. So, think carefully and come to me when you decided. Only 50 spots are left. It''s the First come, First served basis." Looking at their expressions, Will secretly smiled as he thought, "once their money is depleted, there will be no competition for me in the upcoming auction." ... Imperial Guild; As the guild elites are busy managing the chaos in the guild, White Tiger was reading a message he got from a couple of members who attended the meeting. Reading the message, he squinted, "so, the person behind everything is Time Traveler and his Scarlet guild, eh? And he wants to eradicate my guild for good? How dare he? What! He''s already a Viscount? His schemes are indeed praiseworthy but did he think I would be lying down as he cuts my throat, Hmpf. I''ll deal with those traitors later." White Tiger growled, "that mere Internet cafe owner will see the power of my Heibei corporation." White Tiger immediately called his new Vice-leader, Happy, who was his secretary in real life and ordered her, "Long jing, lower our requirements and recruit the members as more as you can. Also, send 30 gold to Green Lantern. And don''t forget to mention that he needs to return double the amount at all costs two days later as he promised or else they will know the wrath of Imperial." "That''s... Heibei, are you sure about that? We only manage to collect 55 gold overall. Agreements don''t exist in this game. If you send that much money..." As Happy was taken aback hearing about the amount, White Tiger snorted with arrogance, "after the update, I can exchange hundreds of gold with ease. Oh, after the update, put a bounty on Time Traveler. 100,000 credits per kill." Happy once again gasped hearing the amount but then, nodded silently after looking at White Tiger''s expression. ... Meanwhile, Williard read the message from Green Lantern and Lich King. "Good job. You can leave for the leveling and plan to form the groups under each guard in this one hour. I''ll send you the details of them after sorting out everything." After sending the message to both of them, Will grinned, "foolish little Tiger." as he proceeded towards the City Administration Building. Entering the building, he saw Melina, the elf receptionist, and greeted her. "Hey, Melina." Looking at him, she immediately stood up and bowed, "welcome, Lord Time Traveler. How may I help you?" At first, representatives from the ally guilds who bought the slots in advance were surprised to see the change of attitude in this cold receptionist towards Will. But, then, as they remembered that he is a Viscount, they nodded in understanding. So, as a noble, he will be respected by an NPC everywhere in the kingdom. "Melina, I''m here to hire the guards. Can you show me the prices..." A dimple appeared on her cheeks as she smiled, "sure. How many does Lord Traveler wish to hire?" Will replied as he pointed his finger to others, "they will be the ones to select. I''ll hire the guards in my name." Melina nodded, "sure. Give me a second." Looking at the prices, Lich King mumbled, "So in general, level 100 starts with 3 gold, and for every 10 levels up to level-200, one gold will increase." Then, he looked at Will and asked, "Time Traveler, I wish to hire a level 200 guard, 5 level-110 guards, 2 level-130 guards, and 2 level-150 guards." Will simply looked at her and said, "you heard him." A glow appeared in Melina''s eyes after hearing a huge transaction as she would get a 10% commission, she replied, "60 gold." As per the agreement, Lich King sent 66 gold to Williard and he paid 60 gold to Melina who in return said, "please wait for a while. They will be here soon." After an hour, to his surprise, Will was able to successfully hire a total of 76 guards of which 31 of them are in level 101-120; 12 are in-between level 121-150; 19 are in-between level 151-180; 9 are in-between 181-199, and only 5 of them hired level-200 guards. ... A grin appeared on his face as Will started to walk towards the exit openly while thousands of players were waiting outside to ambush him. "Imperial guild, your doom is near." Chapter 35锛欳ity Library- part 1 "Just from this transaction alone, I received a total of 56 gold 60 silvers as my commission. Too bad that all of the slots aren''t filled or else, I would have earned more." Then, looking at Aster, who was behind him silently, Will said, "tell the boys to collect it as soon as possible. It''s okay as long as it isn''t double the usual amount. The announcement will arrive at any time, soon. After that, everyone starts to collect madly." Even though Aster was confused about how Will knows regarding the announcement, he kept silent and nodded, "it shall be done, young master." As they exited the building and reunited with Remia, Will thought, "Anyway, time to hit the library. Even without the need to know about bey leaf, I would still need to go there before update to save the gold anyway." Thinking about the extra money he earned, Will smiled lightly and waited for an entire hour until every guard who is hired arrived and was ordered to follow a certain person''s orders, who bought the slot. After everything is sorted out with the guilds, Will reentered the Administration building and spent another 20 gold to hire four level-120 guards. After a while, as they stood before him, Will spoke, "all of you have only one objective. Kill anyone that belongs to the Imperial guild. Aster and Remia, both of you, join them. Aster, tell the boys to stop collecting the gold once there is a world-wide system announcement and you focus on the job of massacring. Remember, kill only Imperial guild members. Don''t trouble others. First, warn and then kill. It will send a clear message about who we are targetting." After giving the instructions to Aster, Will departed from there and started walking towards the city library, which is quite recognizable as it''s as big as the Mayor''s Manor. Entering the library, he went towards the librarian, who looks like a simple old man but Will knows that librarian in every city is in-fact a hidden guardian, who protects the city just in case if someone tries to capture it by force. He respectfully greeted him, "greetings elder. I would like to have a membership." Clyde, the librarian replied, "sure. Which type of membership do you want? Level 1 membership costs 50 silver per week. Level 2 membership costs 1 gold per week Level 3 membership costs 3 gold per week" "What about a VIP one?" Will smiled as he took out the silver nobility badge. Clyde looked at it and politely replied, "so, it''s Lord Viscount. It is 10 gold per week. But, as a Viscount, you can pay 7 gold per week." Will nodded and handed 7 gold coins without any care and took a rechargeable VIP pass and then asked, "does elder know where can I find the information about Bey leaf?" "Bey leaf?" Hearing the word, a frown appeared on him but then, it quickly disappeared and replied, "you can find out about them in the legend of Artemis books on the second floor and third floor." "Thank you." Will then proceeded towards the second floor while ignoring the first floor which is packed with players. Basically, the first floor contains basic information about the history while the second and third floor contains the information of some hidden secrets, which is widely useful to those who wanted to complete difficult quests. Along with the books, The second floor also contains copies of low-level skills, which can be purchased on the spot with the sufficient price while the third floor contains intermediate-level skills. As for the fourth floor, which can only be entered using the VIP pass, contained not only unspeakable secrets but also contain original copies of some high-level skills. So, once they were bought, then they disappear. That''s it. The only disadvantage here is that all skills that were bought here are bound, which means you can''t sell or trade to others. You can only learn them or discard them. Ignoring the looks of others, Will directly went to the third floor as he needs some qualitative information regarding the Bey leaf, not just history. One and half hour later, Will smiled as he closed the last book of the pile he picked out about the kingdom''s history. "So, Bey leaf is a special leaf that is produced once every thousand years to an Ablorn tree after it absorbed enough magic energy present in the atmosphere. And a great thing is that they used to be widely grown in the Forest of Marten. I guess, now I should call it Ruins of Marten? Is this what they call the protagonist''s fate of luck? They accept some random quest while looking for something else and somehow, both of them are linked coincidentally? Anyway, since that matter is finished, let''s clean out the wild zones. ... In the 90 minutes of Williard spending his time reading the books, there was chaos everywhere in the wild zones as well as the forums. With a total of 76 guardian NPCs, the 15 guilds completely occupied 70-100 level zones carrying out Will''s plan even though he originally thought of 80-100. With a tactical agreement between each of them with Aster as a mediator, with their guardian they hired, each guild occupied a certain spot for leveling. In the East ocean city''s forums, as a lot of them expressed their frustrations, the guilds simply notified as they either go to low-level zone to level up or join their guilds. Those who thought of overwhelm with numbers were simply hacked off by the NPC guards. What can they do? No matter how many people they have, a 50-60 level can''t go against a 150 level NPC. Meanwhile, as the matter spread, RedDragon, BlackDragon, Hercules, etc.. the former top elites of Imperial start to contact the other elites and members privately to join their new guilds so that they can level up. After all, because of closing down the wild zones, they cut off their path as the dungeons also existed in the wild zones too. Countless number of people getting resurrected at the resurrection point in the city Although a few angels were able to sneak in because of their flight ability, they weren''t able to level up properly and the guards were given an order to kill anyone that belongs to the guilds other than these 15 guilds and Scarlet should be killed. Because of such a rule, even Flame Emperor and Snow Dew didn''t bother to enter and went offline so that they can just move to a different city after the update as they weren''t interested in joining a guild. Meanwhile, at level-65 wild zone, 5 NPC and an Assassin stood before a hundred member team with more than 15 elites leveling up together. Looking at Aster, WhiteTiger growled, "don''t take it too far, Shadow Blade." Aster smirked, "sorry but our young master''s orders are absolute." Then, his face turned cold, "kill everyone." After a while, at resurrection point in East Ocean City, as White Tiger appeared, he roared, "Time Traveler." Chapter 36锛欳ity library part-2 City Library; Reading the message, Will smiled as he thought, "just as I planned, 15 guilds are busy with leveling and occupying the higher level wild zones. By now, all of them must have already understood the fact that they can''t win against the NPC guards. So, they only have four solutions. One is to leave their guilds and join the 15 guilds. Two is to level up in the lower levels. Three is to wait for a day until the update to change the city. The only problem is with the final solution. That is to summon the guards. I''m not sure how many Barons are there but there must be at least one. It''s the first one to enter the city. A baron can employ guards 50 levels above him and have 10 slots. If there is only one or two, it won''t be a problem but if there are like five to six and they decide to group up because of stupidity, then it might bring resistance. Even if they can achieve nothing in the end, it might give hope for the people that something can be done about that. That is something I don''t wish to see. Anyway, once the auction was announced, no one would be foolish enough to spend it on something like a guard even if their brain is damaged. Anyway, I have no work to do, right now. I might as well check the fourth floor." After placing all the books in their original places, Will started to walk towards the stairs with a red portal on the entrance. Just then, the player named Martial Scholar, who sat at the other end of the table spoke, "that''s a restricted section, bro." As Will ignored him and continued to walk towards the stairs, MartialScholar mumbled, "ignorant fool. He would know what happens when you carelessly touch a portal like that without access... What! How?" As soon as Will disappeared, He immediately went downstairs and complained to the librarian, "you told that the last floor is restricted. I just saw an adventurer went inside. Tell me, how do I get access? I told you money isn''t the problem." The librarian Elder smiled, "kid, I''m not allowed to tell you the way. All I can that it can''t be entered just with money. You have to find a way by yourself." Meanwhile, Will entered the fourth floor and realized it is very small compared to the other three. Instead of a floor, it''s more like a large bedroom with a couple of tables. "I guess the VIP section is the same in every city." "This is..." A surprised look appeared on Will as he randomly picked a skill book and inspected it. Resurrection (Max) Description: You can revive ten of your fallen comrades. CD: 1 hour. price: 300 fame Without thinking further, Will immediately bought it. *Ding. You received the skill, Resurrection. Resurrection (level 1): You can revive one of your fallen comrades. CD: 22 hours. "Hmm, now, I have 1120 fame left but I also need to fill 1000 to the badge so that it will be filled and one of the conditions to become a Count will be achieved. Hmm, since I go to Ruins of Marten, I''m guaranteed to receive fame. Let''s suppose I will receive 500 fame. Then, I have 620 fame to spend." Then, he started gathering all the skill books and spread it on the table. "Ok, So, there are a total of around 12 skill books here. Let''s see... 300% attack temporary buff at the maximum level? Wow. Eh? 2000 fame. Seriously? Forget it. 1000 fame... 800 fame... Ugh... Let''s forget about these ultra skills and look for the ones in my range." In the end, he put aside two skills and put the rest of them back in their place as they are either too expensive or required another class. *Ding. You received the skill, King''s Halo. *Ding. You received the skill, Aura of Zenon. He inspected the two newly acquired skills in the Skill panel. King''s Halo: Your pet stats will be increased by 50%. "I wonder..." Will immediately activated Sauron crown''s effect and summoned the two fallen angel subordinates and a smile appeared on his face as he saw their stats which were supposed to show 50% of Williard''s, now showing 75% of his stats. Will tightened his fit in excitement, "I knew it. Even though they are fallen angels, they were summoned by an item. So, the system would no doubt considers them as pets." After deactivating them, he looked at the other skill. Aura of Zenon (Level 1): Call the spirit of Zenon and increase your stats by 50% for five minutes. CD: 1 hour. "On maximum level, my stats will be doubled for ten minutes and cd will reduce to 30 minutes. Not a bad skill." As he took out his nobility badge and absorbed the remaining 700 fame out of 720 into it, a world-wide announcement has been made. *Ding. First System Auction will be taking place in 2 hours. Interested people can head to the Auction House. The minimum requirement to enter is 10 gold. A smile appeared on Will''s face as he heard the notification. "Now, let''s go and grab the legendary equipment." ... At level-50 zone, as the NPC guards are wiping out everyone from Imperial while Aster warning them to leave the guild, suddenly, he heard a system announcement. "It''s exactly as the Young master said. Let''s get the boys to stop collecting money." ... Imperial Guild; White Tiger was trying to controlling his anger while his real-life secretary and the fourth Vice-Guild leader, Happy was informing him of the casualties with panic on her face, "only 1352 members left. Members are leaving too fast. Only 6 Elites didn''t leave yet. There''s only one way." White Tiger asked her coldly, "tell me." Happy replied, "gather all the remaining members and tell them that we will move our base to Eldershore city. I''ve checked the conditions there. If we quickly move and develop ourselves, we can easily rule the city." WhiteTiger then asked her coldly, "so, you want me to run away?" Happy then replied, "no. Let''s say, it''s a strategic retreat. Look, this city is currently controlled by 15 guilds and there will be too much competition. Once we gain control over that city, we can easily take out Scarlet. What we need to focus now to not to lose more people from our side." WhiteTiger spoke, "no wonder you climbed up positions too fast. You are good. But, you forgot another thing. After we return to the company, send me all the details we have on those traitors. They will soon understand what kind of mistake they have done to betray. Red Dragon will be the first one to pay." *Ding* WhiteTiger immediately became alert, "what? System auction? Dammit. Longjing, do whatever you have to do. Buy the currency at double prices or even triple if you have to. I''m sending you 50 million Credits right now. Don''t waste any time." Chapter 37锛欰uction Entering the Auction House, Will glanced at others, who were appearing as if they were shadows as he received a notification that everyone received. *Ding. You entered a no-combat zone. Your abilities are restricted. Will nodded as he was familiar with the process and took his seat. Since this is a trial auction, they didn''t prepare any private booths for the players and everyone just sat together as if they were in an auditorium. Looking at the inventory, Will smiled in satisfaction as he thought, "I have 255 gold. Originally, I had 156 gold. I earned another 56 from the commission and spent 20 on guards and 7 on the library. So, Aster and others were able to collect 70 gold in this meantime? Hmm, I think I should give some incentives to the boys, later." Just then, the lights were off except for the stage, and an extremely beautiful NPC, who was designed after a popular celebrity named Wu Sujin entered with ten guards who were carrying boxes. She opened her mouth, "Hello, adventurers of the East Ocean City. This is your favorite idol, Cloud Fairy. Nice to meet you." Will thought, "That''s right, even in the game world of War Online, Idols and Actresses exist. Those jobs will be available once the life professions open and drag all the major Entertainment agencies from the real world. That entertainment business will become one of the biggest profiting business later. I should invest in them as soon as possible. I guess there''s a lot of work to do." Back to the auctioneer, CloudFairy spoke, "Welcome to the System Auction. Here are the ten items you will bid for. Without wasting any time, let''s reveal the first item. As one of the guards brought the first box to her, she opened it and took out a bottle that looks like a perfume. "This is the Healing perfume that contains 100 drops. You can inspect it for the details. The bidding starts from 10 Gold. Each Bid must not be less than 50 silver." As she placed it on a table to let everyone inspect it, Will inspected the item like everyone else. The perfume of Healing. Description: It is a perfume that lets you heal yourself or your ally with full health for every drop you used. It only contains 100 drops. Everyone gasped seeing its effects as it can restore your health to full 100 times. As everyone received a holographic picture before them stating the item and the price, immediately, a person bid it for 11gold. Meanwhile, at seat number 36, SnowDew texted to Flame Emperor, who sat at seat number 12, "Dad, I want it." CloudFairy spoke, "Seat number 12 bids for 20 gold. Anyone want to bid?" Hearing the bid directly went to 20, everyone already gave up while Williard frowned, "20? This item''s real worth only occurs when we passed 300 levels. Is it really worth it? Hmm, let''s see until 30." As Will bid it for 21 gold, CloudFairy announced with a smile, "Seat no. 18 bids for 21 gold." Before even a second passed, CloudFairy announced, "Seat no. 12 bids for 25 gold. Will bid it again at 26 gold but then Cloud Fairy announced, "Seat no.12 bids for 30 gold." Hearing the amount 30 gold, Williard no longer bid and CloudFairy announced, "30 Gold, goes once, twice... and sold. Congratulations, Seat no.12 for acquiring the Healing perfume. Let''s move on to the next item." She opened the second box and took out an ancient-looking book. "This is an ancient book that contains the legacy of the First Emperor of Llyne Kingdom. The bidding starts at 10 with every bidding must be at least 1 gold higher." Legacy of Acke Llyne. Description: It contains the legacy of the founder of Llyne Kingdom. Upon use, your class will change to the paladin and receive the memories of the First Emperor. At first, Will lost the interest to bid as he is already a legend class user but upon reading the second sentence that says about the memories, he developed an interest. Unlike the first, very few were interested in it as paladin class is the least favored hidden class because of its off-tank and off-healer class abilities. Not to mention, 10 gold for a hidden class seemed high for many people as they aren''t very rare. "11 gold" "12 gold" "13 gold" "15 gold" Will raised the amount directly to 25 gold at an instant, which brought a clear message that he wants it. Since no one wants to spend such a high amount for mere memories and a hidden class, everyone else gave up and CoudFairy announced after 10 seconds of silence, "25 gold once, twice and sold. Congratulations, Seat no.21 for acquiring the legacy of the First Emperor." Immediately, his 255 gold was reduced to 230 and the ancient book appeared in his hand, which he threw it in the inventory while thinking, "only 8 items remained." CloudFairy then opened the third box and revealed a black fruit. "This is an unnamed mysterious fruit. Upon consumption, your attack stat increases by 1000 permanently. We have a total of 10 fruits in the box. Our bidding starts at 20 gold." Looking at it, Will kept silent as he started to laugh inside looking at the antics of the system, "hahaha, what a trap. I know these briper fruits. Even though it seemed like they can increase your attack stat permanently by 10000, one can only consume once. The second one doesn''t take effect." The players, who don''t know its real effects kept on bidding aggressively. "62 gold once, twice... sold. Congratulations, Seat no.3 for acquiring the mysterious fruit." Meanwhile, on Seat no.3, WhiteTiger received five black fruits. Looking at it, he smiled coldly, "10000 permanent attack stat. I, Lu Heibei will soon become the strongest." If Will would have known the identity who bought such a trap item for such a high amount of gold, he would have rolled on the floor continuously while laughing. The auction went on... the fourth item was a level-100 epic sword with all stats unlocked, which was bought by Supreme Master for 38 gold. The fifth one is a Heroic pet scroll, which has a 100% chance to capture a Heroic pet. Even though Will was interested in and fought until 50 gold, eventually he gave up as Flame Emperor raised it to 60 gold and bought it. It also made everyone include Will wondered how much gold did Seat no.12 possess. Little did they know that the Flame Emperor already burned all the money both of them gathered from the quests, dungeons, and their famous weapon shop until now for the two items. Then, CloudFairy opened the sixth box. As soon as he looked at the symbol drawn on it, he tightened his fist while she announced, "this is an ancient tome written in a mysterious language. We haven''t identified the language. It might be one of the ancient long lost languages. It might just contain the history someone wrote or it might contain some heaven-defying secrets or even skills. The bidding starts from 20 gold." Even though Will got the feeling that his body is shaking and his heart is beating fast with excitement, he tried to stay calm and didn''t bid immediately while he kept on screaming in his mind, "that''s not a simple tome, you idiot. That''s a f****** Legend class." Chapter 38锛欰uction part 2 Looking at the Book cover that is exactly identical to that of the book he found in the tomb of Seraph, Will was completely convinced that it must definitely the legend class and was waiting until the last second. As the auction house as silent for a whole minute without anyone daring to bid it, Cloud Fairy spoke, "so, no bids? Once... Twice..." Just then, Will bid it for 21 gold but Cloud Fairy spoke, "Seat no.31 bid it for 25 gold. Any other bids?" Hearing it, Will muttered, "I knew someone will come into my way. But, it doesn''t matter. Even if I have to spend 200 gold, I will acquire it. This is priceless stuff." Will immediately bid for 26 gold. At seat no. 31, MartialScholar frowned as his bidding was beaten, "someone is bidding for this. It''s the guy who bought that paladin hidden class. Let''s check how far he can go..." Then, he raised the bid to 30 gold. Will stayed silent until CloudFairy spoke after 10 seconds of silence, "30gold once..." Then, he raised the bid to 31 gold. CloudFairy announced, "Seat no.18 bid for 31 gold. Any other bids?" As direct voice communication was cut off and players can''t speak out, MartialScholar just silently thought to himself, "Hmm, I forgot that the item he bought earlier has the memories of the first emperor. So, I can safely say that he was interested in the history of this game like me. Let''s bid one more time and see his reaction." As the bid was once again raised to 35 gold, Will frowned, "this guy seems like testing my bottom price? Let''s see how would you react to this." Instead of raising it by 1 gold while waiting until the end, Will directly raised it by 15 more gold to show his bottom price. With a smile on her face, Cloud Fairy announced, "Seat no.18 bids for 50 gold." As he raised the price by 15 gold directly, MartialScholar nodded, "I see, so he is indirectly saying that 50 is his final price, eh. Well, I don''t even have that much amount on me to think of raising it further, anyway." After ten seconds of silence, CloudFairy announced, "50 gold once, twice... sold. Congratulations Seat no.18 for acquiring the mysterious tome." As 50 gold got deducted automatically, the book appeared on his hand, and immediately, he received a notification from the system. *Ding. Congratulations on finding the tome of Michael. Upon consuming, your class will change to Elementalist and become the successor of Archangel Michael. *Ding. You are already the successor of Seraph. You cannot use it. "Yes, it is a legend class. Let''s just save it for the future. Maybe, I can give it to Aster or someone or I can just sell it for a huge price, later." After throwing it in the inventory, Will concentrated on the auction as CloudFairy, the auctioneer added a new rule in order to make things more lively and increase the competition. The new rule states that the difference between the two bids must not cross 5 gold. After stating the rule, she took out the 7th item. It''s a blue stone with a swirl pattern on it that looks identical to an augment stone. The only difference was the size. It''s bigger than the usual augment tone and is at least the size of her fist. She spoke, "as a lot of you can recognize it, this stone is indeed an augment stone, which is used to enhance the equipment. The only difference is that you can directly enhance a piece of equipment to +15 by 100% chance with this large augment stone. The bidding starts at 20 gold." Chaos ensued in the auction house as players started bidding it crazily one after another. It started from 21 gold and eventually ended at 53 gold, which was once again won by SupremeMaster while Will never bid for it as he didn''t have any use. The auction continued with CloudFairy taking out the 8th item, which is a level-120 Epic grade dual daggers made by a Grandmaster. Naturally, all of the stats are unlocked. In the end, after fighting out with Will for a while, SwiftKiller, who is the leader of RoyalChaos won it by spending 70 gold. "Damn it. I didn''t think these guilds have this much amount of money to spend. I really underestimated them. Sigh... can''t do anything about it. I purely collected by buying from others while they have hundreds of members pooled in the money together. Doesn''t matter. I still have 180 gold. It is enough for the last two." With a smile on her face, CloudFace introduced the 9th item as the box was brought before her, "now, there are only two items left in the auction. Like before, these last two are the best of the two. Here we go." As she took out one more book, which honestly looks like a modern-day artbook for elementary students. "Behold. This is the Book of Destiny. It contains only 10 pages. But, you can store you or your allies'' skills inside of it whenever you have time. You can use it without any consumption of things like mana or stamina nor it has cool down. But, it is only one-time use. After using the skill, the page becomes empty and you can refill it later." Looking at it, Will wanted to scream, "my book of destiny" but since it is useless and out of character, he just mumbled with a shocking look on his face, "I can''t believe Book of Destiny appeared at this stage before me. I still remember buying it before from some guy for 10 million credits after 2 years into the game. Even though it''s value was now 60-70 gold, after two years, it will be equivalent to 10000 gold or perhaps more. I guess it was really a destiny." Because the high-level skills of their classes all have long cooldowns, everyone sought this one but the competition once again died out once it crossed 50 gold and only two players remained. Seat no.18, that is Will and Seat no.1, who didn''t participate in the auction until now, a female player named LittleSeven. Unknown to them, she was the unnamed fifth ranker and also one of the guild leaders who refused Will''s invitation. Will, who decided to get it at all costs, once again raised the bid by 5 gold. CloudFairy announced, "Seat no.18 bids for 55gold. Any other bids?" LittleSeven, who was also determined to get it raised it 60. As the bid reached 60, a frown appeared on Will''s face and he began to think, "If I put aside 100 gold aside for the last item, which was bound to be legendary equipment, I can spend 80 gold on this." As CloudFairy started announcing, "60 gold once, twice..." she stopped and then spoke, "Seat no.18 bids the item for 65 gold. Any other bids?" Upon hearing it, LittleSeven''s face gotten dark, "If he raised it one more time, I''m done for." After she raised it to 70 gold, Will immediately raised it to 75 gold upon which she became silent as she was out of money while everyone else was amazed to see the wealth of Seat no.18. After all, he spent 150 gold on three items. But, then, they also felt relief that he won''t be able to participate in the bidding of the final item. As 75 more gold disappeared from his account leaving with only 105 gold 60 silver, Will looked at the book and smiled as he threw it in the inventory. CloudFairy, who looks like she was extremely pleased with this auction because of large transactions spoke as she opened the last box, "Adventurers, this is the last item of the auction and is no doubt the best item in your eyes. Behold..." As soon as he saw the item, Will, who was anticipating the last item to be best was greatly disappointed unlike the rest of them who were excited for the same reason. CloudFairy smiled as she introduced the item, "as you can see, this is a level 1 legendary grade Armor with all stats unlocked and is a unique growth type equipment. It depends on the level of the wearer. If a level-1 wears it, then, it is a level-1 armor and if a level-200 wears it, then, it becomes a level-200 armor." Meanwhile, upon hearing her explanation, Will scoffed, "yeah, right. But all growth type equipment has two obvious faults. One is that you can''t enhance them more than +10. And all growth type equip are bound items. Although it is a good thing that they can''t be dropped, once you equip it, it can''t be sold or traded. I would have tried for it even if it'' a weapon but even if it''s legendary grade equipment, ultimately, it''s still an armor. Let''s forget it. With the remaining 100 gold, let''s buy the land to construct the stores so that I can have other sources to earn gold. Chapter 39: Buying the plots Soon, the auction completed with Swallow Phoenix, who is an unnamed 9th ranker and one of the guild leaders who rejected Will''s invitation, winning the first legendary armor for an outstanding amount of 92 gold. As Will exited the auction house, he saw Aster and the five NPC guards waiting for him as he ordered. "Aster, what''s the progress?" Aster replied with excitement, "Young master, so far, we have acquired 236 gold grade equipment and 378 Silver grade equipment." Upon hearing the amount, Will was taken aback, "that many? How? The imperial guild shouldn''t have that many members left, right?" Aster replied, "that''s because we killed the same person more than once. Some people are foolish to try again with huge numbers while some tried to level-up in the lower zones. Some high-level players belong to none of the guilds who tried to ambush us with a huge 200 member army but all were massacred instead. I think they might belong to those 11 guilds who rejected our invitation to the meeting. And, as for the guild, according to our spies, White Tiger decided to shift to another city after the update. A few of them didn''t agree and some left because of our killing. By the way, a lot of people are complaining of harassment against us in the forum." Will waved his hand, forget it. No gaming company takes it seriously. It''s not like we went against rules or morals. Everything will be calmed down in time. Anyway, since Imperial is pretty much out of the picture, the first place is empty. There will be a lot of competition. But, the only thing we need to focus on is whether there is any chance of ambush against us from the allies?" Aster shook his head with a smile, "there''s no chance. Even if there is, it will happen a week later. They aren''t fools. They can understand that all the guardians are under the young master''s control." Will grinned, "I guess so." Then, he suddenly stopped walking, "Ah, that''s right. I almost forgot." Aster asked, "what is it, Young Master?" Will replied, "you need to buy shares of Heibei Corporation. Contact HQ and convince dad if necessary. So, research about their company''s potential." Aster was taken aback, "Heibei? White Tiger''s company? Why do we need to buy it? If you order it, within a week, our Scarlet Company can destroy it for good. All it needs a few threats to the internal staff." Will shook his head, "No. You see, even though I hate potential troubles, I''m not a bad guy. So, instead of destroying his company over little feud, we might as well as become the biggest shareholder and control his movements even in the real world. We shouldn''t destroy him but he should understand that we can destroy him at any time we want whether it''s the game or the real world. That way, he''ll forget of thinking trouble and even become our puppet in this game world. You get more satisfaction to make your enemy kneel rather than to kill them. Until then, let him think I''m an owner of a small internet cafe." Upon hearing his plan, Aster let out tears of happiness in his mind and thought, "if Lord Phillip hears it, he will be happy." Aster then bowed to Will, "it shall be done, Young Master." Then, Will once again gave an order, "tell everyone that they can either take rest or they can level up with the guardians. Give the equipment to the boys how you fit it. Remia, you stay with me." After giving all the needed instructions, Will and Remia changed his directions and made his way towards the City Administration building. Looking at him again, Milena bowed and greeted with a smile just like always, "Welcome Lord Time Traveler. Do you wish to employ more guards?" Will shook his head, "no, I''m not here for that. I''m here to buy lands." Milena nodded, "sure" and she took a city map out of nowhere and projected it. "The grey plots are 10 gold and tax is 1 gold per week. There are 63 available. The green plots are 30 gold and tax is 3 gold per week if you buy the land or you can rent the store for 5 gold per week. There are 11 empty plots available and 16 stores available. The red ones aren''t available for sale. You can only rent the stores for 10 gold per week. Only 9 are available. Will glanced at the map again and thought, "Hmm, honestly, red ones are great as they are in the core areas but the stores are too expensive to maintain. Flame Emperor''s weapon store is also located here. Green ones are optimal. They are a bit distance away from the center of the city but they have a nice flow of residents and players. Grey ones are a bit farther away from the center but they are empty plots and have potential growth. So, I can construct anything I want as long as I have enough gold. Hmm, if I have a large capital, I can make an entire shopping district here but a low population." After thinking for a while, Will spoke, "I wish to buy all of these 15 plots." "As you are a Vicount, you get a 30% discount over purchases in the city. So, it will be 105 gold." Will handed over the remaining 105 gold to Milena while she handed him a stack of deeds for the lands with an excited expression as she was about to get her commission. "Good, I bought 15 out of the 63 available grey plots. Now, all I need to wait until the update is over for the currency exchange and buy the gold to develop a shopping district and also buy more lands if possible. I also need to hire experts to implement it so that I can get a maximum profit from the stores." After settling with everything, Will looked at the friend list and saw the daughter and father pair are still online. He sent a message to Snow Dew, "Hello." "Hello, Big Brother Time Traveler. It''s been a while." Will smiled and send, "are both of you free, right now?" "Of course, we are just lazing around in the store since dad said that we aren''t allowed to go to level up. Those big guilds are bullies." Reading the message, Will can''t help but felt a little bit guilty as the master behind this bullying but still grinned as if he can imagine SnowDew was puffing her cheeks while she was complaining. Will then sent a message, "say, do you want to do a high-level quest?" "High-level quest?" Will then sent, "not sure how big it is. But, the quest is in the new wild zone." "New wild zone? Seriously? Let''s go. I''m in." As Will grinned, "this little girl is very simple," he suddenly received a message from Flame Emperor, "let''s meet." After a while, at LittleSnow''s weapon store, while Remia was standing outside, Time Traveler sat before Snow Dew and Flame Emperor. Looking at the helmet, Snow Dew asked curiously, "Big Brother TimeTraveler, aren''t you an Archer? How come you have a helmet?" Will immediately unequipped Sauron''s crown and let them see his face as he replied, "no, it''s an accessory I got from level-100 dungeon." While SnowDew was impressed as accessories are very rare, FlameEmperor squinted his eyes and then asked, "now, come to the matter." Will immediately shared the quest to both of them as he can bring to more with him. Looking him in the eyes, Will asked, "there will be even three elite guards to join us in this quest. Now, are you interested?" Chapter 40: Ruins of Marten part-1 Will a.k.a. TimeTraveler, SnowDew, Flame Emperor, level-126 Remia, a level-151 NPC Healer, a level-153 NPC Guardian, and a level-156 NPC Blademaster were walking together as the three NPCs don''t have wings and can''t fly. As they were progressing to higher-level zones, no one from the 15 guilds dared to stop them after looking at Time Traveler''s name and also their solid line up. They reached the Great Wall and proceed to pass through the portal ignoring everything. As they continued to walk in the new zone, Will and the other two were glancing around to look at the mobs while the NPCs were just massacring them. Looking at them gaining free exp and him getting none, Will sighed as he simply started to walk. ... One hour later, in the deeper region of the forest, they saw a piece of land that was devoid of normal soil and was filled with black soil and have a few ruined structures and statues along with a huge dead tree with no leaves. As soon as Will stepped on the soil with everyone else, he and the other two received two notifications. *Congratulations, you found the Ruins of Marten. You received 167 fame. As three of them are in a party, 500 fame reward is also distributed between the three. *You received the curse of Aerona. 20% stats reduced. "What!" All three of them panicked and Will jumped back in reflex and saw his stats were normal again. "Don''t worry. It looks like a temporary one." After checking it themselves, SnowDew and FlameEmperor sighed in relief and they proceed to walk further. As a part of the quest, Will inspected one of the broken statues, which is far away from the rest and has broken pillars around it too indicating that it might be a special statue. Statue of Life. Description: The statue belongs to the goddess of life, who is worshipped by the bey tribe, who used to live here. Looking at the description, Will mumbled, "Bey Tribe? I guess Bey leaf''s name came from them?" Then, he inspected the tree. Ablorn Tree Description: A special tree that absorbs magic energy from the surroundings and produces a special leaf once every millennium. "F***. Now, this tree is dead. Where should I get the bey leaf now?" Just then, Remia shouted, "Lord TimeTraveler, look at this." The Healer NPC, Hiro, who was near her walked towards her and looked at the ruined structure before her. As Will made his way, Hiro spoke, "there''s a way here." Upon hearing him, everyone stopped their inspections and went there. Flame Emperor knelt and looked at it carefully and asked uncertainly, "this structure is actually, a passage to the underground, right?" The BladeMaster NPC, Valdis nodded, "you are right. If I''m right. The underground might be the place where the bey tribe used to live in. After all, even back then, the outside here in the deep jungle isn''t safe because of the monsters. We need to move these rocks away." SnowDew then opened her mouth with excitement, "let me do it." She raised her Epic grade Laser Cannon and shot an energy beam, which completely cleared the ruins and Will saw a clear path of stairs that is leading down. The seven of them started climbing down the stairs and eventually reached the bottom only to see a portal. Looking at it, SnowDew asked Will, "Big Brother TimeTraveler, is this a dungeon?" Will replied, "not sure. The quest doesn''t say it is cleared though." FlameEmperor then said, "But, if it''s a dungeon, they can''t enter and we will be doomed for sure." "Let''s test it, then. Remia, try to enter the portal." Will ordered Remia to see whether it''s a dungeon or a normal portal that leads to somewhere. But, to their surprise, Remia then passed through the portal and stood on the other side. Everyone nodded and they too entered stepped inside the portal. *Ding. You entered the Tomb of Marten. *Ding. You were discovered by Aerona. The NPC guardian, Huxley shouted, "everyone, prepare to fight." As Huxley, Remia, and Valdis stand in the front, Flame Emperor, SnowDew, TimeTraveler, and Hiro stand in the back and raised their weapons as the first wave of the twenty-five mobs arrived. Looking at those level 150-160 common grade mobs with 320K-360K of HP, which looked like corrupted dead humans, in other words, zombies, Will smirked as he conjured an ice arrow in his bow, "I really love these undead creatures." As he released an Ice arrow, it struck a zombie and froze the forty-meter surroundings for a while, which includes the mobs, the Blade Master Valdis, and the other two took advantage of it and started hacking them. As they finished it quickly, all six of them except Jun received around 13-15k exp per mob and with around easy 400K exp, SnowDew finally leveled up to 90. Meanwhile, Williard checked the skills panel to see which skills aren''t fully maxed yet. Dragon Fire (Level-9): Breath fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 300% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. CD: 120 seconds. Ice Arrow (level 7): Conjure an Ice Arrow and shoot down your enemy with a 240% attack. Freeze the surroundings of 40m from the point of impact. 35m range. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs, and legendary above grade monsters. CD: 30 seconds. Bubble (level 1): Create a bubble around you to breathe and swim underwater without losing mana or stamina for 30 minutes. CD: 1 day. Resurrection (level 1): You can revive one of your fallen comrades. CD: 22hours. Aura of Zenon (level 1): Call the spirit of Zenon and increase your stats by 50% for five minutes. CD: 60 minutes Available Skill points: 9 *** "Hmm, I have enough skill points, right now. Should I maximize both Dragon Fire and Ice Arrow? Or Should I invest in the new skill? I should also leave some for the future. Who knows what kind of overpowered skill will I get after I leveled up." After thinking for a while, Will then proceed to maximize the skill of Ice Arrow using 3 skill points. Then, he used another 5 skill points and invested in the resurrection skill, so that, he can revive the six of them at once just in case if they died here. He invested the last one into Dragon Fire and maximized it. Chapter 41: Ruins of Marten part-2 After the first wave is eliminated, all of them waited for a while but as Wil realized there was no second wave is coming, he spoke, "Let''s go." Since he is the leader of the party and this quest, the NPCs obeyed him and proceeded to walk further while maintaining vigilance. The underground place is pretty much simple like a normal dungeon with a straight path that leads to different chambers. Strangely, the fire torches that are sticking to the wall are still working. With no problem with vision, they walked straight following the path until they discovered a chamber on the left. From the outside, Wil saw there are a few skeletons on the ground with old clothes here and there. The only strange thing was a carving on the wall that looks like some kind of head of a beast. Looking at it, Flame Emperor commented, "Indeed, it looks a living place." "Let''s go inside. See if we can find anything." Wil spoke as he moved forward. As soon as he stepped inside the chamber, suddenly, all the skeletons on the ground have a red glow in their eyes and they stood up and ran towards him. Before Wil about to take action, Remia leaped from his behind towards them and slashed a skeleton with the sword but neither Wil nor the other two players didn''t see any damage on its head. Meanwhile, the skeleton which was attacked turned its head towards Remia and pounced on her but she blocked its movements with the shield while no damage appeared on her head too as another skeleton attacked her from the side and tried to strangle her neck. As Wil was taken aback in a surprise because of the sudden developments of the skeletons completely ignoring him and focusing on Remia, Flame Emperor suddenly dragged him out and shouted, "Remia, abandon them and come outside." But, before she was able to do that, the remaining suddenly jumped on her, and just a second later, every one of them collapsed on the ground lifeless. "What just happened?" as Snow Dew voiced out in confusion, Flame Emperor replied, "not sure. I just can''t inspect them." Wil then turned his head and looked at the fallen skeletons and tried to inspect one. Mysterious Skeleton Description: A lifeless skeleton. "Huh?" As Wil got confused with that simple description, Huxley explained, "I think it reacted to your aura. As you know Angels are enemies to undead and demons. That''s why it went lifeless again as you soon as you left the chamber." Wil then asked, "And what about the damage? How come Remia wasn''t able to damage it?" Huxley sighed as he shook his head, "I don''t have the answer for it." "This place is really creepy" Snow Dew commented as she takes another glance at the fallen skeletons. Ignoring her, Wil turned his attention at Remia as she stood behind him like a bodyguard as usual. "Remia, you alright? Did you receive any debuffs?" Hearing his question, everyone turned their heads towards Remia, trying to figure out those skeleton''s abilities as who knows they might face them again. "I''m fine. There is no loss of attack or defense abilities of mine. I''m perfectly in my peak condition. Don''t need to worry about me." He stared at her for a second and asked, "Are you sure?" As she nodded, he turned away while thinking of something and continued to walk. Unknown to them, as the six of them continued to walk, Remia''s eyes turned red for once like the skeletons and her lips curled up before becoming normal again. *** They continued to walk again until they found the second chamber and this time, on the right side, Wil saw there is only one skeleton inside but it is twice as bigger as a human one, which laid before a huge rusty box behind it. As soon as they discovered it, Snow Dew''s face lit up as she spoke, "it must be a treasure chest." "But, the main problem is the skeleton," grimaced Flame Emperor. Remia then voices out his opinion, "if it''s just like those little skeletons from the other room, then we can take the treasure easily. We will block it and you adventurers can open the treasure." Upon hearing her suggestion, as the remaining people agreed, a frown appeared on Wil''s face as he stared at Remia for a while. Feeling his stare, Remia turned towards him and asked curiously, "Is there anything wrong, Time Traveler?" Wil shook his head, "nothing. I''m just thinking whether it''s safe for us to go inside the chamber or not. I want to test something. I want to see if it will react to only Angels like us or anyone. Flame Emperor and Snow Dew, three of us will stay outside this time." Unlike last time, the skeleton didn''t wake up as the NPCs entered the chamber but instead, ten zombies erupted from the ground. Without thinking, Snow Dew just tried to attack one of them with her laser canon but the energy bullets disappear the moment they passed through the entrance of the chamber. "Hmm, looks like we can''t attack from the outside." Meanwhile, glancing at Remia, who looks like she was concentrating on Zombies, he slowly stepped inside to test his theory and was confused to see the Big Skeleton didn''t wake up as he expected. Looking at him, as Flame Emperor about to enter the place, Wil quickly stepped out of the chamber and stopped him, "don''t." and then sent a private message, "Not right now. After the zombies are cleared up, let''s enter together." Flame Emperor frowned, "why?" "I''m just testing out a crazy theory of mine. Please follow my instructions," Wil replied with a grin. "Fine." Wil didn''t know what Flame Emperor had told to Snow Dew but he found she kept on glancing towards him from time to time as they were waiting for the fight to end. Shaking his head, he ignored her behavior and continued to watch the battle going on inside the chamber. After all the zombies were dead while the players didn''t receive any exp because of isolation, Wil spoke out loud, "everyone is dead right? We are coming in, then." As three of them stepped inside the chamber, suddenly, a red glow appeared in the skeleton''s eyes and the big guy stood up and brandished his hand like a whip towards the NPCs. Looking at it, Wil mumbled as he glanced at Remia''s back, "it''s just as I have expected. I''m almost there. Need one more incident." Chapter 42: Ruins of Marten part-3 As Flame Emperor inspected the skeleton, it showed the same as the previous ones, which led him to wonder whether this is as harmless as before. Meanwhile, looking no damage occurred on Blademaster Valdis as the Giant Skeleton guard land a hit him, Wil suddenly gave an order, "Valdis, Huxley, Hiro, all three of you back off. Too many people distracting it is useless. Remia, block it, and try to get it away from there for a while." Although Remia was taken aback with the weird order, she nodded silently and skillfully drags it away from there to the corner of the chamber while the remaining gathered at the old rusty Giant treasure chest. Then, Wil opened the chest and his face glowed as he saw the items in the chest. But, then, it was replaced by a frown. Looking at Wil''s face, SnowDew curiously put her head forward and saw the items in the treasure chest and let out a squeal, "wah! So many gold coins. We''ve struck it big." Inside of the chest, there are no items or skill books of such sort. As Snow Dew described, it''s completely filled with gold coins. Looking at the number of gold coins, Flame Emperor gulped and a greedy look appeared on NPCs but they controlled themselves. Meanwhile, Wil, who was frowning, started to think, "Judging by the size of the chest, there must be at least 5000-10000 gold coins. Even in my previous life, there''s no treasure chest that gave this many gold coins." Wil then took out a gold coin and used inspection on it. Gold coin (corrupted) Description: It''s a gold coin that was corrupted by the demonic energy. Wil laughed and gave it to Flame Emperor, "it''s worthless. Inspect it." As Flame Emperor inspected the coin, he was taken aback, "a corrupted gold coin?" Wil replied, "It cannot be used as a currency. Let''s go." Upon hearing him, the three NPCs were taken aback in a surprise and Huxley spoke, "you weren''t kidding, right? Are all of these worthless, now? A corrupted gold coin is still a gold coin, right?" Wil snorted as he saw their intelligence dropped because of greed, "is a human corrupted with demonic energy, a human too? No, he''s called a demon. Once you bring it out to the city, higher beings like city guardians or mayor will sense it and you will be punished for it." Hearing his explanation, their bodies shook with fear as they even imagined the situation. But then, SnowDew asked curiously, "if they are corrupted, then maybe we can purify them, later?" Suddenly, Wil saw a hopeful look appeared on the despaired NPCs as their salaries are only in single digits of gold and even if they get their one-seventh share, each one would become rich. But he once again dashed their hopes by replying, "once a being is corrupted, you will them by killing. In the same way, a corrupted thing can only be purified by destroying it." While Flame Emperor and the NPCs were convinced, SnowDew argued back, "but we don''t know if we don''t try it." "If you want, you can store them. I won''t stop you. But, I should warn you though. If you place corrupted things in your inventory, it will corrupt other items in your inventory." Wil turned away and began to walk towards the outside without any care while the NPCs followed him with a disappointed look. Meanwhile, as SnowDew was looking at them as if her treasure was being taken away, Flame Emperor dragged her, "forget it. Dad will buy you gold coins, later. Okay? Why take our chances..." Just then, Flame Emperor received a private message, "store all the gold in your inventory. We''ll split 50-50 later." Flame Emperor immediately turned his head towards Wil who was already out of the room with others. "What a sly b*****d." Then, he quickly stopped SnowDew who was about to walk away. "Wait a bit. I''ll pass all the items in my inventory to you. You store them while I''ll store all the gold in my inventory. That way, none of the items will be corrupted." SnowDew''s face was lit up as soon as she heard her dad''s suggestion, "I knew Dad''s the best." After storing away, as they quickly exited the room, the Skeleton guardian fell on the ground lifeless. Meanwhile, Remia whose eyes were glowing in red as she was observing them from the start while holding back the skeleton guardian in the corner mumbled, "these damn humans. I knew they can''t keep their greediness in their hearts and take the treasure even it was worthless." *** The team of 7 continued their journey while Wil and Flame Emperor are exchanging private messages. Time Traveler: How many gold coins were you able to collect? Flame Emperor: 7350. I''m not hiding any gold coins. This is the true number. If you want, I can screenshot my inventory and send it to you. Time Traveler: No, it''s fine. Even if you take some for yourself, you can''t do anything. After all, you still can''t use it without purifying, or else you will be caught by the guardian. Flame Emperor: So, that part is really true. I thought you were just spouting lies to make sure the others give up. Time Traveler: I only lied about how they can''t be purified. The rest of them is the truth. Flame Emperor: What if I want to keep everything to myself? Time Traveler: Then, I''ll just kick the two of you out of the party and kill you. And it wouldn''t matter if you run away to another city. You won''t get any penny. Only I know how to purify them. Flame Emperor: And you won''t certainly do it for free. Time Traveler: bingo. Flame Emperor: If I''m right about your character, you''ll ask for more share of the gold coins cuz it''s the only valuable thing I can offer you. Time Traveler: Wow, you judge my character perfectly. Hmm, since we tactically agreed on 50-50, that means I get 3675 gold as my share. So, I ask 1000 gold as a payment to purify the remaining 2675 gold. Either that or... Flame Emperor: Or? Time Traveler: I want the two of you to join my guild. I mean, not just limited to the game. I will neither restrict your freedom nor will order you two to do something against your wishes. Time Traveler: Honestly, I invited the two of you with me to try and poach you to join my guild because you leveled-up without the use of guards like me and didn''t use the numbers as you don''t have a guild. Time Traveler: So, are you willing to join with these conditions and have 3675 coins or will you take 2675 coins and continue your life as before? * After sending the message with an ultimate choice, Wil thought, "if you chose the latter, I won''t bother with you two again after this quest is over and treat you the same as strangers." Chapter 43: Ruins of Marten part-4 The party of seven continues to walk while glancing left and right to see if they can discover another chamber. On the way, they found three more chambers. While the two of them are only filled with skeletons and nothing more, the last one contained several rusted weapons like spears, swords, axes, bow and arrows, and daggers but no skeletons lying around. Looking at it, Flame Emperor commented, "looks like an armory." Huxley then commented, "I hope this trip will be worthwhile" as they stepped inside it. But, as soon as they entered the chamber, five Giant-sized zombies erupted from the ground. Wil inspected one of them. A corrupted Giant Grade: Elite Level: 150 Hp: 3,200,000/3,200,000 Wil raised his rand and warned Snow Dew, "careful. Since they are level-150 elites, each one will have 120 thousand of attack strength, so, don''t get hit carelessly. Just two hits and we''ll be done for. Let the two of us stay a bit far away and attack them." As SnowDew nodded in seriousness, Wil took charge and ordered the NPCs, "Huxley, tank the three of them and separate them aside. Valdis, you go with him. Remia, tank one of them, and take it to the left corner. Flame Emperor, us three will take care of the last one. Hiro, you stay with us and heal everyone but your main focus should be Flame Emperor. "Got it." All of them said at the same time and followed the orders as Wil was the leader of the party. Honestly, Remia and Flame Emperor can work together to take care of them. After all, the enemies are still only Elites but as Wil suspects Remia because of her unusual behavior, he decided he will never let her co-ordinate with others just to be on the safe side. In the center of the chamber, as Flame Emperor was tanking an Elite level-150 zombie, Wil and SnowDew were attacking it staying at the distance while Hiro is healing Flame Emperor and Huxley''s health to the full every time they got hit. Because of high-level difference and the Aerona''s curse, Wil was only attacking with Fire arrows as he doesn''t want to reveal his trump card, Golem, and the two summons before he figures it out, their progress became very slow. By the time they were able to bring down half of its HP; Remia finished her job and dashed towards them. As soon as Wil got the notification, he received 0 exp, and saw her; he quickly gave a command, "good job, Remia. Now, try to separate one of the enemies from Huxley and Valdis. Huxley, focus on only two and let Remia take over one of them." She used the howl skill, which is a provoke skill of Guardian that lets the enemy shift their attention towards them. Because Huxley was of higher-level, it became harder for her to shift the zombie''s attention towards her but as Huxley and Valdis started ignoring the third one''s attack while Remia attacked it a couple of times and used Howl skill again, she was able to separate one of them successfully. *** As the five of them dead, each one of them received around 700K exp while the father and daughter pair received 800K each and increasing their level again. SnowDew raised her fist in the air excitedly, "yay, I leveled-up again." Looking at her, Wil sighed as not only he didn''t receive any exp; his share of exp was once again distributed among the six of them. "Well, anyway, I can''t do anything about it. Let''s hope I find something useful here again." Without caring about the Bronze and Iron grade equipment on the ground dropped from the mobs, they started inspecting the weapons. Upon inspecting one of them, Flame Emperor spoke, "looks like these weapons are also corrupted with demonic energy." Just then, SnowDew let out a squeal, "wow, this Sword is of legendary grade. What an attack stat. Are legendary weapons this powerful? " "No Don''t." Just as she was about to pick it up with temptation in her eyes, Wil dashed towards her and pushed her aside. As she was stunned seeing Wil''s action, he scolded harshly, "Are you crazy? You are not a little kid. Don''t touch everything you see." Looking at her expression as if she was about to cry, Wil''s voice softened as he explained to her, "if you touch a higher level corrupted-equipment, you receive a curse. The stronger the weapon, the stronger the curse." Upon hearing him, the frown on Flame Emperor gone and was replaced with gratefulness as his daughter was saved from a curse. After scolding away SnowDew, Wil inspected the weapon. Sword of Judgment Level: 120 Grade: Legendary Attack: 615232 Crt.rate: 95% ???? ???? ???? ???? Special skill: Increases attack by 10% for 5 seconds with a 50% chance. Just then, everyone heard a hysterical laugh from the side, a strange black aura started emitting out of Valdis as he was holding a long katana, "hahaha, this feels awesome. I''m getting stronger." As everyone jumped away from him and raised their guard while Remia''s lips curled up for a second, Wil spoke, "SnowDew, this is what happens when you pick up a corrupted legendary weapon. Since we are adventurers, we will only receive a curse. On the other hand, people like them become corrupt." Upon hearing his explanation, SnowDew''s face became pale while Flame Emperor lost in thoughts as he stared at this seemingly ordinary-looking man, and yet, completely mysterious. Meanwhile, a pair of horns grew from Valdis'' forehead and the pupils in his eyes changed to slits like a snake. Looking at everyone''s expressions, Wil shouted, "What are all waiting for? Kill him." Wil immediately kicked Valdis out of the party while inspecting him. Valdis (Corrupted) Level: 153 Since he isn''t a monster but an NPC, his HP wasn''t shown but since they were in a part together, Wil already knows that his previous HP was around 830K, which is a lot lesser than an Elite mop. The only problem is his attack. Now, that he is corrupted, his attack and defense are increased by 50%. With a legendary grade weapon with more than 800K attack stat in his hand, just one hit from him will kill them for good. Even though the others don''t know much about corrupted, all of them at least guessed that they don''t stand a chance with a legendary weapon before them. Flame Emperor saw Wil was the one who was completely calm in the dire situation. He even found Wil lightly smiled. "Don''t worry. It doesn''t matter how high his attack power is as long as he doesn''t get to move. I''ll freeze him for a while. Everyone get ready to attack." Wil raised his bow towards Valdis, who was in the middle of transformation as a pair of wings were about to grow from his back. But, instead of conjuring Ice arrow as everyone expected, he spoke coldly, "Absolute Freeze." Chapter 44: Ruins of Marten part-5 After one second of casting, the ice began to release from his boots on to the ground and then, instantly enveloped the whole armory and froze everything except for the party members. As Remia was taken aback, Flame Emperor remembered the scene of the Sky castle dungeon where Wil froze the heroic boss at the last moments for 20 seconds and helped the others to kill it. "At that time, I thought it was just a one-time scroll. But, it seems he picked it up somewhere." As Valdis was frozen while he was in the middle of a transformation, the remaining six of them bombarded him with all kinds of attacks and killed him in an instant. "Huh?" Everyone was stupefied to see Valdis was quickly destroyed in a second. "What just happened?" As all of them were confused why did Valdis died so quickly because it is impossible to do so, SnowDew then asked, "is it just me or did I see a strange red slash in one of our attacks?" Just then, they heard a response. "It''s me." Remia stepped forward while showing them the sword, which is the same one placed on the wall and Wil made sure SnowDew not to touch it. The rest of them jumped away from her in instinct and looked at her warily while raising their weapons against her. Wil frowned, "Remia, what are you doing with that sword in your hand?" Remia smiled, "Relax, I''m completely fine. It''s a lower level one. So, I managed to suppress it." Upon hearing it, Huxley and Hiro''s eyes darted around the frozen room. "Don''t dare to think of it. One member is already down. Do you want everyone to get killed too? Let''s just consider she was lucky. With that weapon, we can clear this quest. After this is over, you can return here and try your luck. I don''t have any objections to it." With one member down, the team of six walked in silence for an entire hour while recovering their stamina and mana until they reached a huge Hall, which is as big as a football field. Wil''s eyes lit up and an excited expression appeared on his face as he saw a huge Ablorn tree in the middle, which was alive. The only problem was that there are a hundred thousand leaves on it. To find one single leaf on it is very difficult. "Hmm, should I just use a Fireball and burn it? After all, Bey Leaf is a special one that was infused with magic energy. They won''t be burned from a simple fireball, right? But, what if they do? Unless I find a Bey Leaf, it is impossible for me to advance further. Damn, Advancement in Legend classes is indeed at a legendary level." While Wil was thinking of a way to get Bey Leaf as they continued to move forward, all of a sudden, the ground started to shake and the two Giant statues that were present in the Hall started coming to alive. Looking at these identical Giant mobs looking like Knights with black armor on them and an Axe in their hands, Wil inspected one of them. Knight of Aerona (Heroic) Level: 150 HP: 32,000,000/32,000,000 Looking at both of their HP, Flame Emperor bitterly smiled, "I have only seen a 10 million HP boss. Now, there''s a 32 million HP and that too, two of them." Wil then looked at others and smiled, "don''t worry. I have a plan. If you follow my instructions carefully, we can defeat them without dying. Remia, Huxley, don''t use provoke. Let me take care of their attention. Flame Emperor, Snow Dew; both of you will fly with me all time and dodge their attacks. Whenever they are frozen, Remia will attack the left enemy while the remaining will attack the right enemy. And when they aren''t frozen, all of you guys should run and focus on dodging. And Hiro, you know what to do." The ground is shaking more vigorously as the two giant Knights started running towards them. "C''mon, let''s do this." Wil dashed towards the upcoming enemies and as they neared him, he froze 35 meters of the surroundings with Absolute Freeze and shouted, "Now, attack with everything you got." With a legendary weapon of 615K attack power, each of Remia''s simple attack chipped of nearly 1 Million HP from the enemy as every hit turned out to be a critical hit. Upon maximizing his absolute freeze, he was able to freeze the surroundings for a whole 50 second, which was enough for Remia to finish the enemy. Heaps of items dropped from the Heroic mob but no one is in the mood to take care of it because the other Knight with nearly 30 million left became free and placed its attention on Wil as he was the one who attacked it first when its senses are active. Wil then shouted, "Everyone, run." He flapped his wings and used Dash skill, which increases his speed by 300% for the next 10 seconds. After getting away from there, Wil stopped at 30 meters from as he was worried the enemy will go against others. The knight, who was enraged as its little prey escaped so easily, leaped up towards him in the air, and slashed at him with the ax. But, before the attack landed, Wil flapped his wings and easily escaped from there and raised his bow towards him and conjured an ice arrow. As the ice arrow precisely hit him in the chest, once again, the forty-meter surroundings were frozen as the freezing effect activated and Remia started to attack. But, this time, before even two seconds passed, The Knight freed itself from the effect and Wil realized Remia was only able to attack once and its HP was down to 29 million. 2 minutes later, Wil saw around with a serious expression as he spoke, "just try to hang on for the next 30 seconds." As SnowDew nodded while trying to stay away from its range, Remia asked, "Time Traveler, maybe it''s better if I should attack." Wil sternly replied, "No, you stick to the plan." For the next 20 seconds, Wil started flying from here to there while shooting an arrow at it once in a while to maintain the aggro and escaping the range every time it tried to attack. "Hmm, it''s been 90 seconds. This guy still didn''t use that skill. Maybe it has a longer cool down?" The skill, which Wil was wondering about, is the skill where the knight raises the Axe horizontally and rotates at a high speed while moving around the Hall. It is this one move, which took out Huxley and Hiro along with Flame Emperor, who sacrificed himself like an idiot while using Dash as it was about to hit SnowDew. Strangely, Remia skillfully dodged its attack and stayed alive for a guardian but Wil wasn''t surprised as though he expected it. Suddenly, a smile appeared on Wil as he sent a command, "Remia, Snow Dew, get ready to attack. This time, go all out once it was frozen." Wil used Dash skill again and played with it for 5 seconds and then raised his hand towards the knight. "Absolute Freeze." This time, fog released from his hand and enveloped the Knight and froze it along with 35 meters around him. After Remia successfully killed it, SnowDew raised her fist with excitement and screamed, "yay, I leveled-up four times. I defeated dad. Big sister Remia, you are the best." Pointing at the two heaps, Wil asked, "You know that your dad already resurrected at East Ocean City as we aren''t in a dungeon. So, it''s just the two of us. Which one do you want? The left or right?" Chapter 45: Ruins of Marten-final "Aside from HP and mana potions, 36 Augment stones, 3 Gold grade equipment, and a useless skill book. I guess, my luck isn''t much." Williard sighed as he looked at the gains from the battle and then turned his head aside and asked, "SnowDew, did you find any good things?" With a sad look on her face, Snow Dew replied, "other than this big Augment stone which raises my equipment level to +10, and four other gold grade equipment, there aren''t any good drops. Today isn''t our day." Wil stared at her for a while before turning away his attention towards the Tree and then the door at the end of the Hall. "Hmm, should I first secure the bey leaf or should I go and enter that chamber. Let''s just go to the chamber. Even if something happens, I can always come to this place with level 200 guards." Wil then started to walk without looking back while giving a command, "Remia, follow me. SnowDew, you can either stay here or you can follow me. Make your choice." Remia silently followed him like before as her eyes glowed red for a second before disappearing, SnowDew, on the other hand, was hesitating as she never made a choice by herself. From her childhood, everything was decided pretty much by her dad. So, when the opportunity arrived, she can''t help but hesitate. Meanwhile, Wil, who was walking away without any care mumbled, "well, there''s no response from her. It seemed like she wants to stay. Maybe, she was communicating with Flame Emperor? Either way, it doesn''t matter." As he reached halfway and passed the tree, Wil heard a shout from behind, "wait for me, Big Brother Time Traveler. I''ll come with you." Wil stopped walking and turned his head to see the little teenage girl flapped her wings and used Dash to quickly caught up with him. Unknowingly, a smile appeared on Wil''s face as he saw the seriousness on the adorable girl''s face. After a while, as both of them reached the door, Wil hesitated for a second before looking back at the tree and opened it only to see the final chamber with a tomb in the middle of it. There are no skeletons, treasures, weapons present in the room. Just as he stepped inside the room, the three of them received notifications. *Ding. Congratulations, you successfully completed the quest. You received 2,000,000 EXP, 3 Gold, A random Epic grade equipment. Wil received additional notifications like others regarding the random equipment. *Ding. Congratulations, You received Saint''s Necklace. Beside him, SnowDew''s face lit up in excitement, "Big Brother, I received epic grade equipment called Saint''s Blaster. Its level is 150." Wil nodded with a smile, "Good. Since we have completed our quest, then, let''s return?" As Snow Dew nodded in reply, a panicked expression appeared on Remia while she stayed outside of the chamber. She quickly controlled her expression as she asked, "What about the Tomb? We have come so far. Why not open it? Maybe, there are treasures buried within. I heard that ancient people do that often." "That makes sense, Big Brother, shall we open the Tomb?" As SnowDew agreed with Remia, Wil said, "are we grave diggers or something? Looking at all this, we can say whoever is resting there is a highly respected individual. It is disrespectful to the dead to open her tomb for items. Moreover, we have done our quest, anyway. Let''s go back, SnowDew." As he turned away and stepped outside while dragging SnowDew with him, Remia tried to stop them once again, "wait. Just taking a look inside without taking any items wouldn''t be considered disrespectful, right?" While SnowDew looked at her strangely because of her unusual behavior, Wil replied indifferently, "if you wanted to see her so much, you can open it and see for yourself, Remia. I have no objection to that." Upon hearing his reply, Remia''s expression changed as she stayed on the spot without moving. Seeing her, Wil smirked, "Why? You can''t go and unseal your master, Remia? Or should I call you Aerona?" "What!" SnowDew was stunned on the spot while Remia stared at him silently for a few seconds before opening her mouth, "when did you figure it out?" As her eyes started glowing red, Wil folded his hands behind and replied, "you mean about the fact that you possessed Remia? I started to suspect you from the start. The moment you said you are perfectly fine without any debuffs. How can you be fine when all of us received the curse as soon as we entered this land. My suspicions grew up as you spoke casually with me and I knew Remia will never speak to me that way. She always adds Lord to my name and speaks to me like a servant. I confirmed it the moment you were able to handle a corrupted legendary sword without any problems. To do that, you must be either a truly strong spirit or a demon. I don''t know what your power is but at least, one of them is to control the skeletons and take possession of others. That''s why I only let you fight alone against the enemies. Just to show that I have the ability to kill you even if you have a legendary weapon in your hands, I purposely showed you my power of Absolute freezing. I expected that you will co-operate as long as Huxley and Hiro are around but I didn''t expect you will continue your Act even after they were killed and I expected to fight against both of you. At first, I thought you were some minion but only after seeing the empty chamber with no guardian and hearing out your suggestion to open the Tomb, I finally understood your purpose and figured out your true identity. You want us to open the Tomb and revive Marten, right? You can''t afford to kill us. Why? Because we are immortals. We don''t possess true death. I think it might also be the reason you choose Remia instead of me." As both of the ladies stupified on the spot, Remia/Aerona quickly came out of her senses and nodded with a sigh as she sat down on the floor, "yeah, that''s right. I''m Aerona and my intention is for you to open the tomb but you were wrong about two things. First, she isn''t my master. She is my mother. Second, even if you open the tomb, she can''t be revived. It''s already been so long. More than 2000 years ago, a powerful person with wings like you but with one black wing raided our forest. All of our people were killed. I was quite close to becoming an Ascended but still, he was too strong for me. Before my death, I activated a special technique that let my spirit possess another living being. But, before I take over another body, that b*****d sealed me inside a stone head at the first chamber. Even though I heard my mother took revenge for me, she also had grave injuries in the battle and soon she died while I wasn''t able to see her once. I only wished to see her even if it''s just a skeleton. I don''t know why but the seal was broken the moment you guy stepped inside the chamber." Listening to her story, as SnowDew looked at her in pity, Wil asked indifferently, "Is Remia still alive?" "She? I''m sorry but my possession kills others. So, she has perished. This body is basically considered dead. Maybe, that''s why I can''t enter the chamber. Once you open the tomb, the seals on the outside will disappear and I can enter the chamber. I hope you do me this favor." Upon hearing her, Wil then replied, "let''s make a deal. Find a Bey Leaf from that tree and I''ll open the Tomb for you." "Bey Leaf? What is that?" wondered SnowDew. Meanwhile, Aerona smiled, "it''s very easy for me to spot. Just a second." She quickly dashed towards the tree and stopped before it. After scanning it for a few seconds, She quickly jumped and cut three branches and then took three leaves and examined them for a second before bringing it back to him. As she handed over the three leaves, Wil was taken aback to see the task was completed so quickly. He even inspected to confirm it. All three of them showed the same. Bey Leaf Description: A leaf that sprouts on the Ablorn tree every thousand years as it continues to absorb magic energy from the surroundings. "Now, will you open the tomb?" Wil nodded and turned around to walk towards the chamber again while SnowDew and Aerona followed him. Entering the chamber again, Wil walked towards the tomb while SnowDew stuck to him like a baby bird. As both of them pushed the slab together away, Wil saw a beautiful girl with long pointy ears in a sleeping posture folding both of her hands. All of a sudden, Remia who entered the chamber fainted on the ground while the beautiful female elf opened her eyes. Chapter 46: Aerona Marten As the elf opened her eyes, SnowDew jumped away in an instinct while Wil stood there calmly and kept on staring at her without any fear as he realized the debuff because of Aerona''s curse disappeared. Meanwhile, the elf''s body started floating in the air while emitting a glow for a while which slowly dimmed as she landed on the ground. Looking at him, she opened her mouth, "thank you Angel-race warriors for bringing me back to life." "You lied to us Who are you?" Snow Dew stuttered while a slight fear can be seen on her face. ???? Level: ???? HP: ???? Looking at the question marks, Wil understood why she was feared. After all, the greatest advantage of players over NPCs is the skill of inspection. And an unknown always plants a seed of fear in your heat. But, still, as though he expected it, Wil stayed calm as he asked her, "Are you Marten or Aerona? Or maybe, your full name is Aerona Marten?" The elf was clearly taken aback by his response but then, she stared at him silently for a while. Wil felt as though she was piercing his soul and looking for the hidden secrets. After a few seconds of silence, the elf smiled, "Now, that''s interesting. I never imagined I would see the successor of Archangel Seraph one day. No wonder I get a strange feeling from you, all along. It''s a pleasure to meet you, Elementalist." Although Wil looked like he was calm on the surface, inside of him, he started to freak out. "How the f*** did she able to find it out so easily. I thought she is just powerful but it seems she''s much more powerful than I thought. She might not be a mere Ascended." While SnowDew was wondering what is this elf called him by, Wil didn''t comment on that and asked, "Are you perhaps, a High-Elf?" "Well, I''m not surprised that you managed to deduce it. Anyways, it''s as you have guessed. I''m Aerona Marten, a High Elf and the High-Priestess of the Kingdom of Eden." Wil saw a tone of arrogance as she was introducing herself. He thought, "Kingdom of Eden? Is it another ancient powerful Kingdom like Artemis, maybe?" "Then, what are you doing here, in the Kingdom of Artemis?" Wil asked her using the ancient name as he guessed she might not know it was now the Llyne Kingdom. Aerona replied, "Well, I came as an envoy to the Artemis Kingdom as a part of the treaty. The undead you have killed and the skeletons you have seen are some of the native people of this forest. After helping out the people from the calamity, they served me for a while and treated me as a goddess. I stayed here for a while and who knows that just before I leave, that fallen angel King, Lucifer will pass by and kill me. Before killing me, I sealed a part of my soul inside the stone head. Because it was tainted with corrupted energy, the spirit wasn''t able to enter. As both of you removed the slab and unsealed my true body, I was able to revive again. Sorry for deceiving you. If you knew it''s me" Wil interrupted her, "I won''t ever open it and take the risk even if I have to abandon our quest." Then, slowly mumbled to himself, "after all, I''m only here for the leaf." SnowDew then said while looking at her warily, "How do we know you didn''t lie to us again?" Wil sighed, "She doesn''t have a reason to. She''s a High-elf, an Ascended." "Ascended? What is that?" As SnowDew asked curiously, Wil replied, "To put it simply, she''s above level-500." "500?" SnowDew''s voice was shaken as she took a step back in a shock. Ignoring her, Wil looked at Aerona, "either way, we finished our deal. You got what I want and I did what you want. We shall take our leave, then. Let''s go, SnowDew." As Wil turned around and SnowDew scurried towards him, they heard a voice from behind, "wait." Wil turned his head and asked, "Is there anything else?" Aerona smiled, "both of you freed me after 2000 years of my imprisonment. I should at least reward you something, right? Here" She started removing the two earrings that shaped like a silver cross and handed the pair to Wil and then, she removed a ring, she was wearing on her right hand and then gave it to SnowDew. "Too bad, both of you don''t use swords. Anyway, I''m leaving for my kingdom." Then, she looked at Wil, "Before I leave, I need to mention to you that the corrupted gold coins can''t be purified. They were tainted by Lucifer''s aura. It''s best if your companion abandons them in the wild or hand over to your present King." Wil replied, "Not if you have the celestial stone of light." "Stone of Light? Sorry, young man but that was destroyed long ago." Upon hearing her reply, Wil thought, "not really. Well, I have to thank Bran for that. If he didn''t become famous while uploading the videos on the internet, then, I wouldn''t have known its existence. After becoming 2* Elementalist, my next goal should be clearing Level-200 dungeon and get the fragment." Wil faked sadness as he replied, "I see. Then, it''s too bad." Aerona then said, "Anyway, I''m going back to my homeland. Something tells me that this isn''t going to be the last time we meet, Seraph''s successor. Until then..." She disappeared from there leaving the two of them alone. *** Aerona''s Earrings (Bound) Level: 100 Type: Growth Grade: Legendary Attack: 50% HP: 125% Mana: 100% Critical Damage: 25% Critical Resistance: 25% * Looking at the stats, Wil gulped in a surprise, "she''s damn generous." Meanwhile, SnowDew was over the clouds as she shared the stats with Wil and her dad as they exited the Ruins along with Huxley, Remia, and Hiro who were resurrected by Wil after Aerona disappeared. "Wow, that ring had 50% Pierce and 50% Critical rate instead of mana and crt.dmg. That means, once she leveled-up to 200 and it increased to 100, even a 100 million defense will be useless before her. She''ll be the bane of Guardians. Flame Emperor must be feeling a little troubled, hehe." A couple of hours later, everyone reached East Ocean City. Leaving SnowDew with Flame Emperor, who was waiting for them, Wil went to the Mayor''s Manor and reported to complete the following quest only he received as the other two players were considered as just helpers. Upon reporting, he received continuous notifications. *Ding. You completed the Quest. You received 1000 fame, 5 gold. *Ding. Favorability increased by 10. With 85 points of favorability, the Mayor treated him almost like a brother and invited him to dinner with his family, two days later. Looking at the quest, Wil nodded even though he doesn''t have any intention of completing it, "Sure, it''s my pleasure." *Ding. You accepted Ravus'' dinner invitation. After completing his business with the Mayor, Wil exited the Manor and started to walk. Just then, he received a message from Flame Emperor. Flame Emperor: Don''t you want to take your share? Time Traveler: Meet me outside of the city. The coins can''t be taken out as long as you are in the city. Flame Emperor: I know. I''ll wait for you at the entrance of the level-25 dungeon. Just to be on the safe side, let''s enter a dungeon together and we can complete our deal. By the way, we can''t apply. Time Traveler: Good Idea. A dungeon is the best place for the transaction. And just a second, I''ll send you the invite. Right then, FlameEmperor and SnowDew officially joined the Scarlet guild. Chapter 47: Two-star Elementalist part-1 Level-25 Dungeon, House of Cat; Around the Dungeon Entrance in the cave, which is basically a no-combat and no-flight area, the low-level players without a full party were shouting out and sending messages in the General channel. "We are in need of a healer." "We need 2 more people." "We need a level-25 tank." "Two damage dealers of any class." "Looking for a Party. I''m a level-28 Blademaster." Etc Like every other dungeon, Parties are forming and entering the dungeon together. Just then, for a whole ten seconds, the cave went silent as two members with Shining equipment on them walked into the cave and entered the portal. "Say, Did I just see" *** After entering the House of Cats in normal difficulty, Flame Emperor took out 8 pouches with the first seven of them had 500 coins full and the last one had the remaining 175 corrupted gold coins. This is how the currency automatically gets stored in the inventory. In the identical pouches that have a maximum limit of 500 coins which takes up one space. If one wants to store all the money in one bag, then, there are bags available in the market with a greater limit. Thankfully, a player would be given free 5000 spaces at the start. So, most of the players won''t think of it. Not to mention, the system also provides a category section to sort out the items so that they can separate currency, equipment, materials, etc Back to the Dungeon, as Flame Emperor placed the pouches on the ground, Wil picked one by one and threw them into his inventory after checking weight and saw his total number of gold that was showing at the top of the inventory is still 8 gold as before. "Even though I knew they won''t be added as they are just corrupted gold, one can''t help but expect it." A sigh escaped from Wil. After the transaction is over, they started massacring the cats in the dungeon. Flame Emperor then asked, "So, how long does it take to purify it?" "It might take a couple of days," answered Wil. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to inform you. The coins can''t corrupt the other things in the inventory." "I know it," nodded Flame Emperor, "I just realized that after I unknowingly placed the epic grade equipment in the inventory. This inventory was given by the system. It''s the like same as a god-given gift, right? So, how does merely corrupted aura affect a gift given by God? I realized that after applying simple logic." Wil smiled and stayed silent. *** After exiting the dungeon, Wil parted his ways and started flying towards the port and entered the sea. Eight hours later, With his top flying speed of 260 miles/hour without taking any rest, Wil was able to reach the Volcano Island in eight hours, where he was supposed to advance. Without wasting any time, Wil dived into the darkness and reached the foot of the mountain with a Huge Fireball in his hand and entered the dim-lit cave. As this isn''t the first time, he didn''t receive any notifications from the system. Wil walked towards the tomb and knelt before it while taking out three items and started a ritual he found in quest details. "Oh, Lord Archangel Seraph, please accept the tribute of your successor." He took out Orchid flower, which Aster earlier got it for him during the auction, "I tribute the Orchid flower, which is the symbol of your life" "I tribute the Bey Leaf, which is the symbol of your spirit" "I tribute the Gold Grade equipment, which is the symbol of your strength" "Time Traveler is requesting you to formally acknowledge me as your successor." Then, he kowtowed three times and stood up. Suddenly, Wil saw the three items on the ground disappeared and some kind of spiritual energy began to rise from the skeleton to form a spirit of an old man with wings. His appearance gives the vibe of a sage with white robes and long white beard. The only thing that''s a bit different was the wings. Instead of the usual one or two pairs of wings, he had four pairs of wings. "If you are able to find my tomb that no one found for the past 2000 years, it means we are already destined. There''s no need for me to test you further. I will acknowledge you as my successor." *Ding. The ritual is successful. You successfully completed the quest. Upon hearing that, a smile appeared on Wil''s face as it spared him from a lot of trouble and time. But then, his smile froze as the spirit of Seraph spoke, "But, still, I''m curious to see how strong my successor really is. The result doesn''t matter. I want to see how far you can go." Before Wil know what''s going on, his surroundings changed to that a volcanic region. There are volcanoes everywhere spitting out lava from time to time forming a lava lake. Suddenly, monsters began to form from the lava lake and took appearances of standard low-level demons with a single horn on their heads. As Wil came to his senses, Wil realized his wings were gone, his epic grade equipment and legendary grade earrings were gone and replaced with simple level-100 common grade defense clothes and a common grade bow in his hand. He sighed in relief as he saw his skill set was still the same as before and the 10 mobs that are coming at him are all level-100 common mobs. "Each one has the same standard amount of 120,000 HP. That means, each of their attack stat is around 10,000 and they would have no defense. My base attack is standard 4000. With this bow, it is 4500. I have the usual 245 mana. 20% bonus stats didn''t activate. That means this isn''t the material world. I guess I''m at something like an illusionary realm? My inventory is locked. I don''t have mana potions either. Damn, at least give me Mana potions. The only good thing is that I have been given free arrows. I wonder how long do they last though. Fine, then. I''ll" As he was thinking of various ways, the mobs crossed the lava lake and landed on the ground while he received a notification. *Ding. You received a Quest. Quest: The spirit of Archangel Seraph wants to see how strong his successor without using the external power of equipment and items. Reward: Advancement to 2* Elementalist, a unique skill bestowment per each wave. Conditions: Quest will end when the user dies. As Wil accepted the quest since this is the reason he came all the way, they started running towards him while roaring. Chapter 48: Two-star Elementalist part-2 "Golem" Without thinking any further, Wil used his most powerful skill and summoned the golem and put it in an attack mode. Earth Golem Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 400% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies'' attack by 100%. With a 100% buff, his base attack raised to 9000. And the attack strength of Golem was increased to 36000, although its HP and defense stayed the same as his. It only means one thing. Its chances of dying are the same as his. "Good. With this, I can take care of those easily, at least for the first wave." As soon as the last one entered his 35-meter range, Ice started to release from the bottom of his foot, and within one second, with himself as the center of the position, all 35 meters surroundings were frozen in the Ice unable to move even an inch. Then, the Golem started punching one of the demons. As its fist was landed on the enemy, its HP decreased by 57600. "Hmm, there''s no critical hit, and yet 60% damage increase. I see So, even in this situation, he can''t negate the advantage an Angel has over a demon, huh. Not to mention, "Aura of Elementalist" passive skill is really a bonus for me, hahaha. This test just might become very easy for me." Aura of Elementalist (Max): Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. With just two hits, the demon''s HP was decreased by 115200 and was nearly left with less than 5000 HP, which was finished by Wil with a basic attack using a normal arrow to save his mana. After finishing the first one, a smile appeared on Wil as he took out another arrow to shot at the second one and then followed by the third one With this combination, the pair of Golem and its master killed all the demons in a mere 30 seconds and clear the first wave smoothly. In the cave of the Volcanic Island, the spirit of Archangel Seraph is watching him in a crystal ball in the left hand while stroking his beard with the right hand. "You managed to increase your mastery over the Earth Golem and Absolute Freezing so high in just a week of time? Now, this is a surprise. Let''s see how far you can go." Back to the battlefield, as 50 seconds were finished, the Ice disappeared along with the dead demons frozen in it without dropping anything. This time, Wil saw five demons emerged from the lava. All five of them are identical to each other. They have wide builds and are roughly half of the size of the Golem. Every one of them has a single horn on their head and a large single eye in the middle of the forehead with a club in their hands. Cyclops (Elite) Level: 100 HP: 1,200,000/1,200,000 * With 1.2 Million of HP each, these five elite grade mobs stepped on to the ground and began to run towards him. Wil raised his bow towards one of the Cyclops indifferently and conjured an Ice Arrow. As the arrow struck it in the chest, its HP was decreased by 33200 and then, the freezing effect activated and once again, the mobs before him were frozen. Ice Arrow (Max): Conjure an Ice Arrow and shoot down your enemy with a 300% attack. Freeze the surroundings of 40m from the point of impact. 35m range. Freezing doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs. CD: 30 seconds. * Looking at the damage, a smile appeared on Wil''s face "As long as the Golem will be around, all of my attacks will be doubled. Now that is maximized, its freezing effect can even apply on legendary grade monsters but still, unlike, Absolute Freeze, this skill''s freezing entirely depends on the difference in mine and opponent''s strength. If it''s weak, then, it can be maintained forever, if it''s strong, sigh" Meanwhile, the Golem landed its punch on the frozen Cyclops that is roughly half of its size and chipped off 47600 HP, and with their combination; they were able to take out nearly 7% of its health. While the Cyclops'' are trying to resist the freezing effect to get freed, Wil and the Golem once again started their attacks focusing on one of the Demons damaging around 52K, every time Golem punched it and Wil took out an arrow from the quiver and shot at it at different times and 62K, every time both of the attacks land at the same time. Looking at it, Wil mumbled, "Ugh, I really should concentrate on improving this combination timing. I keep forgetting that Golem is not a separate member of the party. As long as I can manage to hit the enemy at the exact time as the Golem, it will be treated as one attack. The only problem is that I can attack within a second while the Golem''s frequency of attack is 1.5 seconds. With their high defense, unless my attacks are sync with it, the attacks with the arrow will be worthless. Just as Wil finished the second tall Cyclops and in started attacking the third one, all of them got freed suddenly. "Oh, they are freed. I didn''t think much about before but it seems the freezing effect created by the Ice Arrow lasts for a whole minute." Wil smirked as he stared at the mobs, "too bad that you guys took a whole minute. As long as you were frozen more than 30 seconds, you are doomed for good because" An Ice arrow once again appeared between his fingers. He pulled the string and released it again. As the arrow struck one of the three Demons, which was about to fight off against the Golem, the freezing effect once again activated and forty meters from the point of impact was frozen. "In a way, on the same level, as long as the mobs are of common and elite grade, Ice arrow excels more than Absolute freeze," Wil nodded with satisfaction and then mumbled, "I wonder why I depended on Absolute Freeze so much when I have such an overpowered skill with me." Within 2 more minutes, Wil cleared the second wave but his happiness didn''t last for a while as the third wave began quickly without giving him any break and three enemies rose from the lava lake. Unlike the two kinds of demons that appeared in previous waves, these three are completely distinctive even from each other. Strange thing is that Wil was familiar with all of them as he fought with them before. First one is the Giant Orc, which he stole from Imperial Guild; the second one is Jatayu, the ruler of the Sky Castle Dungeon and the last one is Kaiser, the Giant crocodile. The only difference is their levels are adjusted to 100 and each one is releasing a dark aura, which indicates their demonic nature. "As expected, each one has a standard 12 million HP. A total of 36 million HP? Oh boy, I really miss Remia at times like these." Meanwhile, the spirit of Seraph was stroking his beard with a smile, "Now, let''s see how you fare against your past enemies who returned stronger." Chapter 49: Two-star Elementalist part-3 Looking at three Heroic bosses, Wil tightened his grip on the bow as he took an arrow from the quiver and pointed it towards the Orc Giant. "Out of the three, that Jatayu is the most troublesome. Even if I use Absolute Freeze, I don''t think I can finish him in 50 seconds. I need to worry about his Berserk state and also his true form. And that crocodile is very slow on the ground. Its tail is nearly 10 m long. As long as I maintain the distance, I''ll be fine. That leaves this Orc Giant. But" Wil then glanced at his mana, "The Golem will only present for 6 minutes until my mana will be exhausted. Ugh, this is why most people choose melee classes. 6 minutes, huh? I wonder if I can take out at least one of them. Well, let''s just go all out and see" As soon as the three of them entered his range, they were frozen by Absolute freeze for 50 seconds, and Wil activated his latest acquired skill, "Aura of Zenon." As Wil felt something entered his body, His stats were raised by 50% for the next ten minutes. His new base attack reached 11250 while his Golem''s attack stat was raised to 45000. Because of their high defense, Wil tried to attack them in sync with the Golem as whenever his attack was off-sync, the attack damage will only show, "-1." 50 seconds later, Wil sighed as he inspected the Orc. Orc Giant HP: 10,400,000/12,000,000 "I knew it. This is impossible from the start. If it''s just one, it might be possible but sigh" Wil sighed again as he ordered the Golem to run back so that the passive bonus stayed but then who would have expected that as soon as the ice disappeared, the Giant crocodile, which was behind the Giant Orc suddenly attacked the Golem with its tail. Its tail passed through the Orc''s body and hit Golem. A huge number, "158500" appeared on its head and it disappeared. "F**k. What an idiot I am. I should have let Golem run a few seconds before the 50 seconds time limit. After all, unlike before, there are 3 heroic bosses here. And here I''m thinking about how to take out one of them in a mere 6 minutes. Whatever I just need to concentrate on dodging their attacks for the next 15 minutes until I can summon my Golem again. In the meantime, my mana will also slowly recover." Wil just turned around and started to run with his top speed. Ten hours later; "Absolute Freeze" As Jatayu, which is in its final form of Giant red Eagle was frozen in the Ice. Jatayu HP: 1,791,586/12,000,000 * The Golem started to punch it. Meanwhile, after looking at the current mana, Wil stared at it coldly and spoke, "you damn creatures let me suffer from all the dodging and running for the past ten hours. It''s time to end this. He moved hands towards his mouth and started breathing out the fire as he made an action of blowing a trumpet. "Dragon Fire" Dragon Fire (Max): Breath out fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 350% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. As Dragon Fire is a continuous attack, Wil''s attack was sync with the Golem punches. For every 1.5 seconds, huge numbers started to appear on its head, "159800, 159800" 20 second later, Wil slumped on to the ground feeling mental exhaustion. Sitting on the ground for a while, he grinned as slowly the Ice and the last boss disappeared from his view. "Damn, this is one hell of a battle. But defeating three Heroic bosses on my level without taking any eternal help from the guardians, overpowered equipment or the members, feels good. But, then again, next time, I would rather give up than going through stubbornly. I will never ever going to do such a thing again." Just then, Wil''s body shivered on his own for a couple of seconds. As he turned his head aside, he saw a skeleton wearing black robes and a crown, sitting in a throne rose from the lava lake and suspended in the air. Hades Level: 100 HP: 120,000,000/120,000,000 "F*** that old man. You can''t bully your successor like this." Wil didn''t move an inch from there and continued to sit around while staring at this legendary grade boss. Hades raised his finger and pointed towards him. Dark energy gathered at the tip of his finger and soon, it turned into some kind of energy ball and shot at him. A beam of energy pierced his forehead and damage of 638500 appeared on Wil''s head before he lost consciousness. As he woke up, Wil was sitting before the spirit of Seraph. He hurriedly stood up and greeted him again. "Master" As Wil looked at his master, he found Seraph was staring at him with a huge smile on his face before opening his mouth. "I''m very well satisfied with your strength. Here, accept my blessings." *Ding. You successfully completed the quest. You have advanced to Two-Star Elementalist. *Ding. Your predecessor blessed you with a 50% critical damage bonus. *Ding. You successfully cleared three waves. Three unique skills are added. Please check your skill panel. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the second legend class user to advance to 2-star. You received 5000 Fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the first Elementalist to advance to 2-star. You received 10000 Fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the third player to advance to 2-star in East Ocean City. You received 500 Fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the sixth player to advance to 2-star in the Llyne Kingdom. You received 500 Fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the eleventh player to advance to 2-star in Xynnar Continent. You received 100 Fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the forty-sixth player in the world to advance to 2-star. You received 100 Fame as a reward. Only then, Wil opened the city rankings and saw it was changed. East Ocean City Rankings: 1) Snow Dew C Rank 106 2) Flame Emperor C Rank 103 3) Time Traveler C Rank 100 4) Supreme Master C Rank 100 5) White Walker - Rank 100 6) Heavenly King - Rank 100 7) Swordmaster - Rank 100 8) Heavenly King - Rank 99 9) Lich King - Rank 98 10) Cool Dude - Rank 98 *** East Ocean City; With the help of the high-level guardians, the average level of the 16 guilds raised, the highest being Scarlet with 82 as they have very few numbers. As they completely sealed level 70-100 areas for good, lots of average players just left their guilds and joined them. Now, just within 32 hours after the update announcement, the situation in the city completely changed as Wil planned. After seeing the power of the guards, now, every guild sought out for achievement as fame is the only thing that lets them climb the ladder in nobility and hire guards on their own as they don''t wish to depend on others. Meanwhile, White Tiger disbanded the Imperial guild and logged out quietly while swearing that he will have his revenge on everyone. Now that there is no more Imperial guild, a lot of Elite players and the Guild leaders took Scarlet guild as a joke as they have only 54 members and found out the secret of Time Traveler''s crazy leveling speed. Still, they kept quiet and don''t go on insulting them as the guards were in the control of Scarlet Guild''s leader. They believed it''s only a matter of time they will have Nobles and gets guards. On one hand, as several guilds started becoming competitive to show that they are the number one guild, On the other hand, the starting five allies of Scarlet namely, Heaven, Snow, Paradise, Royal Chaos, and Westeros stuck to each other and maintained a cordial relationship as they decided to sail the ship of Scarlet. *** Volcanic Island; "There are still a few hours left till the update but I already played too much. Let''s just return and log off. I''m tired mentally. I need to sleep." After the spirit disappeared, Wil exited the island and stopped his flight after a while. As a giant fish with sharp teeth snapped him into two, Wil resurrected at Angel''s sanctuary hovering in the air while dropping to 8th place in rankings. Without minding about it, Wil logged off and returned to the real world. Chapter 50: Min, the part timer As he gets off from the capsule, Wil saw it''s 5:30 o''clock in the morning. Stretching his body, he spoke to himself, "despite lying in there for a long time, I still feel freshened. That''s an S-grade capsule for you. But, still, my breath stinks. I should go brush my teeth first. I might as well shower." After brushing his teeth and having a warm shower in the morning, Wil sat on the sofa with a hot coffee and opened the laptop. "Hmm, the update is at 8 o''clock. Two more hours and everyone will go offline. So, what should I do for a whole day? Should I go for sightseeing? Or Shopping? Or visiting the branch office? Or should I go back to Yarlford and spend some time with dad and warn him again? After all, there are only two weeks left until dad''s assassination. Forget it. It''s not like dad would believe me and betrayals in the field is very common. And there''s no way of finding out the culprit. In the end, They are killers. Surely one of them must have accepted large money to kill... Yes, that''s it. Large money. All I need to check their secret or public accounts. If not them, then, their relatives, etc. After all, dad is a Mafia Lord. It''ll be at least in billions of dollars. Next week, let''s return to Yarlford. I can work with Silver to find it out. Hmm, ever since I started playing the game, my brain is really working a bit fast. I guess it''s one of the benefits of the S-grade capsule? Next time, I should learn everything about it. Ok, now that''s settled. let''s think about today''s program... For now, let''s just go out for a walk and look around for a bit." Exiting the compound, as Wil started to walk on the pavement while listening to music like most people, a Car started to follow him slowly from a distance as part of security. "Sigh These guys look more like stalkers instead of security guards." Ignoring their presence, Wil continued to walk. One hour later, at a convenience store; Wil was standing before the bill counter as the part-timer was scanning the products and preparing the bill. "It''s 1665 Yuan." Wil took out his card from his pocket and asked, "I''ll pay in credits." The 17-year-old part-timer smiled as he took the card to swipe. Just then, Wil saw a familiar girl entered the store. "Hey, Min... Eh? You are that handsome Westerner. Ah, I mean Mr. Ravens, right? Good morning." Wil smiled in return, "Good Morning, Hyunjoo-ssi. How are you?" "I''m fine. Thank you. By the way, I''m Lee Jiwon. Hyunjoo is my sister," she replied with an as I expected expression. "Eh?" Wil was taken aback in surprise, and he apologized, "I''m sorry. You look identical. So" She interrupted, "I know. We get that a lot." Then, after returning the card to Wil, the part-timer Min went and grabbed a banana milk bottle, and then gave it to her along with a towel. As she took them from him and then, took a nearby seat without any reservations, she smiled and gave her mobile, Min-Oppa, here. Pack me these things, please." Wil saw the Part-timer had a wide smile on his face as he nodded and hurried to the shopping section. As he turned his head towards her to ask something, Jiwon replied, "We are just classmates." Wil mumbled, "Poor guy" and looked at him in pity as he understood the whole situation. The guy has an obvious crush on her and this girl was only taking advantage of the situation. As Jiwon exited the store, she saw Wil standing outside. Then, they started walking together. Looking at their backs, Min mumbled, "I hope they are really just neighbors as Jiwon mentioned. Stupid, what are you thinking" Just then, his phone rang. "Hello, Min." "What do you want, fatty?" "We need help with the level-100 wild boss." "I''m working, right now. Moreover, there is only an hour left for the update. You can''t kill the boss within 2 hours." "Not if you can join us Help me out please." Min sighed as he looked outside. He locked the door and put a closed sign and then opened the supposed store in the back of the counter. As he entered and switched on the lights, Min walked a few steps and entered the capsule. "Welcome to War Online." After a while, as he appeared on the barren field filled with mobs, 9 members with level-90s cheered, "You are here" "Thank you for the help" "Welcome, king" Looking at them, Level-100 Death King a.k.a. Min raised his staff. As it glowed, twenty common grade level-100 skeletons emerged from the ground, eight Elite grade Giant skeletons, and two heroic grade level-100 Death Knights stood up behind him. "Let''s go, my army." *** Meanwhile, Wil was walking together with Lee Jiwon towards their home. "Why are you a High school sophomore while Hyunjoo-ssi is still a junior? Did you join the school in different years or is she weak in studies or something?" Jiwon waved her hand, "No, she repeated a year because of an accident in the past. What about you. Are you a college student or" Wil replied, "you can say I''m but in name only." "You don''t go to college?" Wil shrugged, "It''s not like earning a degree with top scores can give me anything. I''m the only son. So, I don''t even have to fight with someone to take over my father''s company." Hearing his response, Jiwon sighed, "the mindset of you rich guys is entirely different. You can just chill out all you want unlike poor people like us." "Please, you guys pay almost 10K monthly Yuan just a rent. I don''t think you can count yourself as poor." "Mister, you won''t be popular among the girls if you talk like that" Wil just laughed in response and changed the topic, "by the way, did you know any Martial arts Dojos or Archery training centers around here?" Jiwon asked curiously as her eyes lit up for some reason, "you have interest in Archery?" Wil was taken aback, "Yes, why?" Jiwon replied, "If you want to learn, my elder sister can teach you. She had won intercity high school championship continuously for 3 years in a row. Next year, she''s sure going to represent this city for the intercontinental college championship." "Oh, looks like she''s one genius archer." Wil''s interest was piqued after hearing about Hyori''s achievement. As a guy who was trained at home by one of the best Archers in the Vulture group, Wil indeed has thoughts of comparing his skill but not before he was ready. Technically, it''s only been 2 years since he last picked a bow but as he is someone from the 5-years future, for Wil, it''s been 7 years. "Well, she seems like a professional. I just want to practice casually." Wil interrupted her as Jiwon went on speaking about Hyori''s academic career. Jiwon then replied, "Hmm, you can go for the Arc Training center. It''s also where sister practices and works part-time. You can ask her for advice if anything''s trouble for you." Wil ignored the latter part and just nodded with a smile, "thanks." *Buzz *Buzz "Excuse me" Looking at the number, Wil picked up the call while continuing to walk together with Jiwon, "You are out?" "Yes, Young master. Sorry for disturbing you. I heard that you were on a morning date with a girl. Should I call you, later?" Chapter 51: Wils future plans and new update changes Wil sternly replied, "Stop talking nonsense and come to my place, right now. We need to talk and bring whatever information you found." As he disconnected the call, Jiwon asked curiously, "your friend?" "Not really. You can say he''s close like a friend." After entering the compound, Jiwon shook his hands, "anyway, it''s nice to meet you, Mr. Ravens. Every Sunday at 10 A.M., my sister goes to ATC for part-time. If you aren''t busy today, you can just go together with her. Just call me or give a message. I''ll say to her. My number is **********" Wil smiled, "sure but just don''t be too formal with me. It makes me feel old. Just call me Williard or Wil." "Sure. See ya, Wil." *** At Wil''s home; As Wil sat on the sofa, Aster connected the pen drive to the tablet and gave it to him. "So, we can buy the shares of these 12 people at any time as long as we offer more price? How much are you willing to buy it?" Aster replied, "Currently, each share of the company valued at 156 Yuan or in our terms, 780 credits. In order to buy it, we should at least offer 20% more but in the end, it will end up at 30%. Lu Heibei is currently the highest shareholder with 37% shares. So, we need at least 38% to take over the company. With these 12, we will be the second-biggest shareholder with 29%. We can take the remaining slowly in the future. So, in total, we need to spend" Wil interrupted him as he already has done the calculations in his mind, "294 million dollars or should I say 2.94 Billion credits." As Aster nodded, Wil shook his head, "No, it''s not worth it. I would rather invest the entire amount in War Online and construct an entire city for myself, instead. So, let''s do one thing. Make the share value of the company a little bit day by day. We''ll purchase most of the shares when its value dropped to half of its value. But, remember that our company name shouldn''t be revealed." "Understood," Aster then continued, "We got the news that major companies will start to invest in the game, soon. Perhaps, some of them are already ahead. Should we" "What? Do you want our Scarlet Company to start investing like others?" Aster nodded, "yes. That way, we won''t have to worry about the lack of funds." Wil smiled, "And I planned to. Actually, I was going to inform you about it. I wanted to form Scarlet Gaming Company with HQ here, right in this Leafway City. All gamers who join our company will formally sign a contract, the same type we have given to our 50 members. They will be given a High salary in exchange for their absolute loyalty." Aster thought for a while and replied, "If it''s just employing, it is easy. But, to build a company, not only we need to conduct several interviews and background checks, but we also need to order at least 100-150 capsules and buy a huge place to accommodate all of those. I''m afraid it can''t be done quickly. I also need to take Lord Philip''s permission. Taking over an IT company is easy but I''m not sure what will be his reaction after hearing about a gaming company." "It''s fine. I''ll convince dad about it. You just take care of the formalities. The next thing we need to talk is about Idols and actors." "Eh? Idols? Young master, what do you mean?" Wil smiled as he explained, "you know about the life skills that will be available in the upcoming update, right? We are going to take over a mid-sized Entertainment agency and have contracts with certain Idols and actresses and let them play War Online." "Eh? Idols and Actresses playing the game Young master, I don''t quite get it." "In simple terms, we are going to create an Entertainment agency in the game with our East Ocean city as our base. I''m sure it will be a profiting business." Looking at this Young master who was explaining with a smile, Aster wasn''t sure whether it''s really a profitable business or he just wants to fool around and date idols and actresses. But, then, remembering his extraordinary achievements in the game, Aster can''t help but look forward to it, "I''ll research about it and give you result by the end of the day." Wil shook his head, "No need to be in a hurry. Take your own time. It doesn''t matter whether it''s a week or a month. I''m just starting all of my future plans at once. That''s all. But you should do one thing for sure. Life skills are important. After the maintenance is over, the first thing you need is to ask the boys if anyone is willing to reset their level and class to change to a life-skill profession. Tell them it is not an order but a voluntary option. The first person to step forward will be the Guild leader for our subsidiary guild, which will focus only on life-skills. The second one to do will become the Vice-Guild leader. Give both of them a one-year contract. The leader will get a monthly salary of 200K Credits and Vice-Leader will get 150K. Remember, you shouldn''t tell the benefits before they agreed and changed their profession. You know the rest of the process of recruiting. "Yes. It''ll be done." Aster nodded but then asked, "what if no one steps forward?" Wil replied indifferently, "Then, it''s their loss. There are 90K players in East Ocean City, you know." "Yes, I understand." "Good. You don''t need to do start research for today. Just take a break and rest. You worked very hard for the past few days." *** At 8 o''clock, Summersoft announced twenty-four hours maintenance and the patch full details while adding a few more changes. *As the method of using the Guardians to level up and lending it to others was leaked inside the forums, too many people leveled-up quickly. So, to remove this abnormality, Summersoft announced the Guardians will be restricted to work only in their working hours, a maximum of 10 hours per day between morning 6 to evening 6. Instead of a week, now, they also have daily and monthly rates so that it will be affordable with the prerequisite is that one has to be at least Viscount to hire them, and even then, their limit can only be 50 levels above. Those who hired the other level guards before can submit the list to the City administration within a day and the gold spent on them will be refunded in full amount as compensation. The high-level guards will be naturally removed and the user will be compensated in full, naturally. Lastly, their prices will also change according to the gold exchange rate. The first change really surprised Wil as he never expected the system would take such an appropriate action so quickly. After all, he knew that the game isn''t controlled by the company but the world''s fastest supercomputer, Aria. *Second is the implementation of Class quests from their respective Class Associations. Previously, everyone only went to the Association at level 20 to change their class. Now, everyone can complete the quests and gain exp, coins, and Association points, which is useful to buy rare items exclusive for their class. With this, they won''t need to depend on dungeons and wild to level-up. *Third is the implementation of adventure quests. Players who don''t belong to any guild can register themselves as a member of adventurer association. Then, they can form a team with fellow members of the association to complete the quest and get rewards. Like Associations, they will receive adventure points to buy exclusive items present by the Adventurer association. *The fourth is the Guild shop and Guild Branch feature. Those who will donate the equipment and currency to the Guild will not only receive contribution points but also guild points, which is decided by the system. The Guild shop is an exchanging platform between the Guild members as they exchange the items with the Guild points. For each transaction, the system will take an 8% fee while the Guild leader will receive 2% and Vice Guild Leader will receive a 1% commission from the system. As for Guild Branch, a guild can officially set up a guild branch under the same name in different cities once their main branch has been raised to level-3. All of them will share one guild shop. *The final addition is the Battle Arena. By participating in random PVP matches and tournaments with no penalty, players can earn arena coins, fame, etc... according to their grade. *** B-Block, 7th Floor, Scarlet Apartments; As Jiwon and Hyori were eating their breakfast at 9:30 A.M. while watching television, she received a text message. Looking at it, she nudged her sister, "Hyori, aren''t you going to be late for your part-time job?" Chapter 52: Arc Training Center Arc Training Center, Leafway city; Two young men are competing against each other in an indoor setup. Scoring another ten, Wan Xue smirked at the other guy, "There''s no way you can beat me, Shiwon." Han Shiwon scoffed, "you are only ahead of me by a score of 3. There are still 6 rounds left." 5 minutes later, after winning by 7 points, Wan Xue grinned, "Told you. I''ll win easily." Suddenly, he was slapped in the back of his head and heard a voice, "Hey, what are you showing off your skills for. You learned Archery from your childhood while he just started 1 year ago. Not to mention, you are 3 years older than him. If you want to compete against someone, go and defeat Hyori, instead." Wan Xue laughed embarrassedly while rubbing the back of his head, "c''mon, uncle. You know that I can''t. She''s on an entirely different level." The middle-aged man who was standing behind is Ma Ling, the Master Archer who is considered as one of the best in the eastern continent back when he was in prime and currently, he is the boss of ATC. Just then, 16-year-old Shiwon spoke, "Hyori-Noona is here. Hmm, who is that?" Upon hearing her name, Wan Xue turned his head to see Hyori and Wil entered together. A frown appeared on his face as he saw both are talking to each other with all smiles. Looking at them, she waved her hand and then bowed to the boss as they stopped before them. Before anyone else asked, Hyori introduced Wil, "this is my friend, Williard. He wants to learn Archery. I thought since Master is here, why I should recommend someone else to him." While Wan Xue eyed him suspiciously, Ma Ling asked Wil, "Did you ever practice Archery before?" Wil asked in return, "Does it count if I say I''m a strong Archer in War Online?" "War Online?" All four of them wondered out loud together at the same time. Upon seeing their response, Wil fell silent and stared at them for a while before opening his mouth, "It''s a virtual reality game." "Oh, so, it''s just a game, huh. C''mon, bro. How does shooting an arrow in-game is the same as the real world," as Shiwon commented, the other three nodded in agreement. Wil tried to explain, "It''s virtual reality. Not a game you can play on television or a computer. The feeling is completely different. It''s like forget it. Can I just get a membership?" Giving up lecturing these archery enthusiasts, Wil paid 3000 credits joining membership fee and was given a membership card like others after paying another 6000 credits annual fee. "Hyori, since he is your friend, I''ll put him under your care." Then, he looked at Wil and said, "If there''s some doubt even she was unable to answer it, then, you can ask me directly. For now, you can practice in the beginners'' section. After you get a hang of it, then, you can practice in advance section. If you like long-distance targets, you can enter the training field." *** As Hyori and Wil standing in the beginners'' section where the target is just 15 meters away, Wil sighed as he spoke, "I expected that boss to not know about it but seriously, you four too? You go to college. How can you not know anything about it? War Online has more than 50 million player population, you know." Hyori bitterly smiled, "I''m in the science department and I spent most of my time either studying in the library, class or at the lab at our university. In my free time, I practice Archery. So, I rarely had the time to care about such things as games." Two hours later, in the advanced section; Wil shot the arrow at the dead center of the target, which is 30 meters away. Looking at it, he mumbled, "Hmm, looks like my skills returned. No, my precision is even better than the past. I guess playing in the game really improved my skill a little. But, this isn''t enough. Anyway, I''m practicing for two hours already. It''s enough for today." "Hyori-ssi, I''m going back." As he turned, Wil saw Hyori stayed still like a statue. "Hello?" He stood before her and waved his hand. "kyaa... Yes?" As she came off her senses and was startled to see him up close. Stepping a foot back, Wil said, "I said I''m leaving. I''ll continue with longer ranges, next week." "Ah, yes. Sure." Hyori nodded. Meanwhile, the boss who was monitoring his score on the screen with the other two for a while, mumbled, "Does playing games will affect Archery level to this extent for real?" As Wil left the training center, Ma Ling ordered his nephew, "Wan Xue, find out about this game so-called War Online." *** After returning home and had lunch, Wil just slept on the bed until he got a phone call from his father in the evening. As soon as he saw the number, Wil was taken aback as they rarely talk to each other except when it''s an important conversation that will usually end up with his dad ordering him something for sure. "Dad?" "Wil, How are you?" "I''m fine, dad. Is everything alright? Your tone doesn''t sound normal" "I told you not to worry about such meaningless things. It''s not what you think. *Cough *Cough. It''s just a cold. Anyway, how''s your college life?" Wil went silent for a couple of seconds as he was skipping it daily. So, he lied, "yeah, it''s good. The environment is good. I even made some friends and we created a gaming club. You know, War Online? I''m telling you it''s one of the best things ever" As he went on explaining the game to his company creation plan, Mafia lord grinned, "Seems like you enjoy that game more than the college." As Wil went silent for a while, not knowing what to reply, his dad spoke, "Aster will provide you a VIP card with no limit. Just spend your college life as you wish. Don''t hesitate to spend the money." After a while; Disconnecting the call, Lord Philip grinned, "That brat didn''t realize that there''s nothing that can be hidden from his father. But, still, it seems like he wasn''t fooling around like before. It''s indeed a good thing. *Cough *Cough." *** The next day at 8:00 A.M., Summersoft announced the system is online. 30 minutes later, after having his breakfast, Wil entered the capsule and logged in. "Welcome to War Online" Wil found himself in familiar surroundings in the peaceful Angel sanctuary. As soon as he entered the game, the first thing Wil did was to check the three new unique skills he gained earlier. Just looking at the first skill itself brought a wide grin on his face. The second skill brought an astonishment and the final skill made him almost lose his balance. Fire pegasus (Level 1): Summon a fire pegasus to use a flying mount for traveling great distances. The mount disappears as soon as the user engages in battle. Flying speed: 250%, Running speed: 75%. CD: 0 seconds. Cost: 0 mana. Special skill: Become invisible for 10 seconds. Gravity Suppression (Level 1): Control gravity around you and force your enemies to stuck onto the ground helplessly for 10 seconds. Doesn''t work on Ascended NPCs, players, and legendary grade and above monsters. Range: 50 meters. CD: 60 seconds. Cost: 5 Mana. Heavenly push (Level 1): Control the element of wind and push your enemies 50 meters away from you with a 0% attack. For every 10 mana consumption, Attack damage increased by 100%. Range: 30 meters. Cost: 0 mana. CD: Depends on mana consumption. * "The third one is really an overpowered skill. With Aerona''s earrings, I have nearly 600 mana. If I really put everything on one attack, every Heroic boss and every player is as good as a mosquito. Not to mention, my mana will increase as I level up. The only problem is the cooldown. But then again, if I consider overall damage against a single enemy, my Earth Golem is still the best one though." Just then, Wil received messages from Aster and Supreme Master simultaneously. Shadow Blade: Young Master, you are finally online. It''s a complete mess. I''m receiving many messages continuously from the ally guilds. It seems most of them want to take full compensation from the system. By the looks of it, most of the guilds will also break the alliance with us, as soon as we hand them their gold." Chapter 53: Wil offers a job As Wil entered the game half an hour later, the guilds who previously gave him the gold to hire the guards now wanted to claim the refund and so, they can''t help but asking Aster, who was online. On the other hand, some of the guild leaders felt that Scarlet guild has no longer has any use to them and really decided to break the alliance as Time Traveler was already dropped from the Top-10 rankings of the city. What they were truly afraid of are the level-200 guards who can''t be defeated even with a 1000 member army. Now that Time Traveler can''t even hire them, they felt it''s time East Ocean City has a proper ruler. Time Traveler: Don''t worry; it''s just a small matter. Just send all of them a message that they will receive their refunds. Collect the details of which guardian they hired before. Now, tell me the status of the new guild. Shadow Blade: Young master, there are a total of 8 members, who changed their profession to non-combat ones. The leader of our subsidiary guild is MountainRock who chose Alchemist and the Vice-leader is FierySnake who chose Blacksmith. Reading the message, Wil nodded with satisfaction. "It''s good that there are 8 members willing to change their class. Now, all that''s left is promoting. Aster will take care of it. Oh, I nearly forgot about the currency. Let''s see the exchange rate." While he landed on the ground and started walking into the city, Wil then opened the official website and checked the currency exchange tab. "Hmm, 1 Silver coin can be exchanged with 2952 credits. That means 1 gold coin=295200 credits. That''s almost double the rate as before. Summersoft charges a 5% commission. So, for every 1 gold if the transaction, they get 15000 credits. What a steal Oh, there''s a 100 gold transaction limit per each account? And it was only available from 08:00 C 09:00, 16:00 -17:00, and 23:00 C 00:00 hours?" Wil scoffed, "what''s the use of that. The restrictions can easily be bypassed with members in the end." As the exchange rate is going to be closed in 15 minutes more, Wil immediately sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: Before the exchange rate closed down, I want 1000 gold. Oh, and just handle the refund process by yourself. And make sure to note down the names of the guilds. Meanwhile, Aster was busy working with MountainRock and FierySnake as they were in the middle of promoting the Silvershapers guild. Since no one truly knows the potential of Life professions, they didn''t try to hinder their promotions and some even supported them as they thought Scarlet focuses on being a supporting guild. As Aster received a message from Wil, he stopped his work and read it. Then, he sent back the message. Shadow Blade: But, Young master. We don''t have enough funds for it. You just have 380,000 Dollars on your debit card. And you only have 16 million credits left to spend through the credit card. Together, we hardly have 20 million credits while we need 300 million credits for 1000 gold. Time Traveler: But, yesterday, Dad said that you''ll give me a no-limit card. Shadow Blade: Yes, Lord Philip told me. I already informed the HQ. They said that the bank will send it to your address by evening or by tomorrow morning. Reading the message, Wil mumbled, "Hmm, it isn''t that long but I don''t want to wait. The first one to take the initiative will have the upper hand." He immediately sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: Then, borrow 100 million dollars from the CEO and put them on my tab. I''ll just transfer the money as soon as I receive the card from the bank. Aster gasped as their expenditure on gold increased from mere millions of credits to hundreds of millions so casually. Shadow Blade: 1 Billion credits? Time Traveler: If it''s too much, 500 million would do. We should always have extra cash on our hands, right? That''s why. Why? Is even 50 million dollars too much for the CEO to lend me or something? Shadow Blade: I''ll make sure to buy 1000 gold in 15 minutes. * Reading the message, Wil grinned, "even after getting dad''s permission, if I still think like my older self to conserve money, I''ll go nowhere." Half an hour later, City Administration Building; As Wil entered the hall, he saw a familiar Melina, who seems to be busy along with other elves as a lot of players formed lines to migrate to East Ocean City. "Hey, Melina" Upon hearing a familiar tone, she turned her and saw Wil. A smile appeared on her face as she quickly stood up and hurried forward to greet him while ignoring the players. Looking at the change in attitude, the players who formed a line, as well as the ones in other lines, turned their attention towards Wil as Melina bowed and greeted, "welcome, Lord Time Traveler." While a few players scoffed as they thought he''s just a noble who was probably a baron because they think every NPC address baron and above grade nobles as lords and treat with respect, someone from the crowd exclaimed, "its TimeTraveler, Guild leader of Scarlet." "Scarlet? Never heard of it" "How come you never heard of it? They were mentioned everywhere in the forums. It''s the key guild that brought the revolution against a top guild here and locked down the leveling areas with the help of high-level guardians" "yeah, I heard that more than 20 thousand players migrated to other cities" "Ah, I know it too. I heard it was backed up by Scarlet Securities" "It is the hidden ruler of this city" "I see. He''s the one who hired dozens of guardians and lend it to other guilds to take over the leveling spots" As they started murmuring among themselves, Wil said, "I''m here to buy lands." Under everyone''s gaze, Milena led Wil to the first floor. As Wil looked at the map again, he saw only 38 of Grey plots were available. He looked at her and asked, "Last time I was here, there are 63 grey plots, 12 Green plots and 9 red are available, right?" Milena nodded, "yes. But, 30 minutes ago, someone bought 10 Grey plots and all of the remaining ones. So, these are the only ones available." "Fine, I''ll just buy remaining all of them." As he took out the pouches, he saw Melina''s eyes changed to purple. Handing the gold to her, Wil commented, "You are observing my fame again." Upon hearing it, Milena immediately retracted her power and apologized, "I''m sorry. Sometimes, I can''t help but" Wil waved his hand with a smile, "its fine. I don''t mind. So, what do think?" Milena replied with amazement while she was handing out all the land deeds, "Lord, you are already qualified for Earl. And you aren''t too far to even become a Marquis if it''s just fame." "I know. By the way, what is your current salary?" Melina instantly replied, "5 gold per week" while thinking why did Wil ask such an unusual question. Wil, who guessed her thoughts looked at her into the eyes, "Melina, I will be direct with you. Once I become an Earl, are you willing to work for me?" asked Wil. "Eh?" Melina was taken aback, "work for you?" Wil smiled, "it is neither a respectful job you are doing right now nor you will get to earn any commissions from every successful work. But, what I can offer you is a stable high salary of at least ten times your current pay. It''s a job offer for the position of head manager for all the stores I will build in these 53 lands that I bought. If you are willing, we can talk about the contract details after they were built." Chapter 54: Scarlet Gaming Corp. "I accept" This time, it was Wil''s turn to get surprised as he found Milena readily accepted the offer. "I expected you to say that you need to think more." Milena smiled, "something tells me following you will be the right choice. Call it a woman''s intuition or whatever" Upon hearing this Elf''s response, Wil can''t help but think, "Those purple eyes. Can those Eyes of truth see something else on me or is it just because of high favorability?" He shook his head and continued to think, "It doesn''t matter, right now. I can unravel its mystery sooner or later." Wil then said, "Okay, that''s great. We''ll talk about the details as soon as we finished the construction." After his business with Melina is over and exits the building, he sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: Is the matter with refund over? Shadow Blade: Yes, Young master. As you know 33 Guardians above level-150 are already off the contract. Of the remaining 43, while excluding five of ours, 21 of level 101-120 and 7 of 120-150 are compensated. So, as you can guess, the sealing of the wild zones will be no longer in effect. Time Traveler: So, how many of the guilds are still on our side? Shadow Blade: According to our spies, 7 guilds; Royal Chaos, Evernight, Justice League, Westeros, Snow, paradise, and Heaven. Even though Snow and paradise are among the group, who wanted to claim the compensation, I assure you they are on the Young master''s side. * Reading the message, a frown appeared on Wil as he didn''t think more than half of the guild leaders think the Scarlet guild is useless to them just because he can''t provide them those high-level guards. It is one thing to claim the compensation but it is another thing to break the alliance itself. "Are they fools to forget who destroyed the Imperial guild? Did they think my background is a fake? Or they believe it but took lightly? If I can become Viscount so quickly, I can also become the Count too. They didn''t even think of such a possibility? Well, at least, those five guilds are still loyal." * Time Traveler: Very well, if they want to dig their graves, we''ll gladly help them. Shadow Blade: By the way, Young master, three more guilds wish to form an alliance with us. Two of them rejected our invitation before. But then, after sealing the wild zones, Battlecrushers and Greybreaker guilds wished to join our 16 guild alliance but were rejected by me. Even now, their Guild-Leaders still wish to enter an alliance with us. Time Traveler: Who is the third one? Shadow Blade: It is a level-7 guild from the capital city called Dreamwalkers. They are trying to set-up a branch here at East Ocean City. But, they weren''t interested in our group. Although they still want to be allied to our guild, their main focus is to co-operate with our new guild, Silvershapers. * "Level-7, huh? Each level represents 5000 member strength. Does that mean their guild strength is already over 35000 members? Sigh The capital city is indeed on a different level compared to ours. If it isn''t for the legend class, I might have chosen to start from there too. After all, the city has nearly a million players of population." After thinking for a while Wil sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: I''ll leave this decision to you. Do what you think is right. *** In the city of Ares, which is also known as the Imperial City since the ancient times, where most of the Giant corporations'' HQs are located, there is a huge Queue before a 150-story building. As for the reason, at 8 A.M., Scarlet Securities'' (SS) CEO officially announced all of a sudden that they are going to build a subsidiary company that will focus on the gaming industry and there will be a public interview right on 10 o''clock on the day itself and the next two successive days. Unlike the other Giant corporations, where they just go and support behind the scenes to take over top guilds, which have immense potential to earn them money, Scarlet on the other hand intends to create an entire company on a huge scale in ten-cities instead without caring about the costs. Of course, no one knows that they don''t care about profits or losses. All of this was created for just their Young master''s fun. At 9:30 A.M., the interviewees who were waiting led to the 11th floor directly for the orientation while the remaining ones who arrived after the time were chased off away by the security. As for the other 9 cities at their branches, they posted the interview date, which will be a week later as unlike HQ, they can''t afford to make preparations so quickly. Back to HQ, Zhu Cheng, one of the most popular professional gamers who signed up with Scarlet one day earlier as the CEO of Scarlet Gaming Corporation (SGC), began to explain the ambitions and the goals of the company. "The very first goal of our company is to build/recruit elites for the recently released highly popular game, War Online. I''m sure most of you play the game or at least heard of it, right?" As everyone nodded, the CEO continued, "As you know, the game is a whole different level compared to other ones we have seen so far . . . I''ll now explain the interview process. First, we''ll check your physical capabilities, and especially dodging will give you more points. After all, having a great reflex separates you apart from an ordinary gamer." Just then, one of the applicants raised his hand and asked, "Mr.Zhu, what if someone has weaker physical capabilities but excels in other areas?" Zhu Cheng replied, "Good question. Based on your final results, our team will decide whether you are suitable to be an adventurer or a non-combat profession and also which classes or professions you are suited to Now, where are we? Right... After testing your physical capabilities, we will test your mental capabilities" Meanwhile, two beautiful 18-year-olds were sitting somewhere in the corner seats of this spacious conference hall in these crowd of 1735 members. "Ellie, what do you think?" Elyssa Strike, a high school graduate replied with a sigh, "I don''t know whether we will be able to get the job. I mean, just look at the benefits. Salary of 100K Credits per month if one gets a final score as a C-grade? B-grade will get 200K while A-grade gets 500K Credits? Only those lawyers from the top firms and doctors from top hospitals are able to earn 500K credits per month. No wonder, my aunt says my brother spends most of his time in the capsule without caring about anything. Looks like this is one profitable job" Helena then said, "C''mon, Ellie. You are a 2-Dan Taekwondo practitioner. Surely, you will have a massive advantage over others. Once you were selected, you can save coaching and your dorm rental fees. You don''t have to full time at the training center for a meager salary." Elyssa nodded as she continued to listen to Zhu Cheng''s explanation, "I hope so" *** Back to War Online; After dumping the alliance and guild matters onto Aster, he started to walk towards the teleportation point that was connected to the other 9 cities. As he walking, suddenly Wil frowned, "Hmm, why do I feel like many people are following me" Right then, Wil received a message from Supreme Master. Supreme Master: Time Traveler, just now, I received a private message from White Tiger. He offered 500,000 credits for your head and 100,000 for ShadowBlade''s head. For such money, only no-combat zones are safe. Be careful. Supreme Master: By the way, I don''t think I''m the only guild leader to receive this offer. Chapter 55: To Capital city Reading the message, instead of fury, a grin appeared on Wil''s face as he mumbled, "good, that guy still has guts. I thought he just ran away to increase his strength to take revenge later. It will be very fun to make guys like them kneel. For a while, my body is itching to use the new skills. But, then again, I shouldn''t also underestimate the greediness of people and be careful. Especially, when I''m out alone." After sending a thank you message to Supreme Master, Wil took out the five original contract copies of the Guardians he hired and sent a party request to all of them. As soon as they accepted, he sent a voice message. "Meet me at the Temple." As he continued to walk towards the City Temple, where the resurrection and teleportation points are located, in the meantime, he suddenly started receiving the same warning messages from few more guilds, which made him really believe they chose to be on Scarlet''s side. Meanwhile, three assassins, who were following Wil for a while were discussing among themselves. Assassin 1: What are we still waiting for? Let''s kill him quickly and claim 500K credits. Assassin 2: Are you an idiot? The other side is a level-99 player. He isn''t some tofu that you cut it cleanly whenever you want. We need a plan. Assassin 1: c''mon. It''s just 8 levels of difference. No big deal. If three of us attack at the same time, he will die in one hit. It''s not like we are the residents of this city. We don''t need to care whether we get blacklisted or not. Assassin 3: The worst is not getting blacklisted. If he resisted our attacks and we got caught by the guards, then, we''ll be jailed for at least 3 days. Assassin 1: I know. That''s why, after killing him quickly, we have to run and quickly escape out of the city. Assassin 3: Exactly. That''s why we shouldn''t attack him whenever we want to. We should wait for the right time. 30 minutes later; Assassin 3: Heaven''s luck. He''s going to the temple, probably teleporting to another city. It''s the perfect time to kill him and escape through the teleportation point. Right then, a huge force suddenly pressed them down. Not just on three of them. Everyone in the surroundings, whether they are NPC or players, all passersby present in the 2500 sq. meter area was down on their knees all of a sudden while struggling to move. "Hmpf, how couldn''t I know the area before the temple is the most popular place for assassinations?" His gaze turned cold as he mumbled, "I will never... ever... get ambushed and lose my life whether it''s real-life or the game. One time is enough for me." Wil neither waited for enemies to nor did he spoke an intimidating dialogue. He just put his hands behind his back and walked into the no-combat zone silently without wasting any time while ignoring everything else around him. *** Scarlet HQ, Ares City; The selection process began, Elyssa Strike and Mo Soyun, who were in the 3rd batch, were waiting for their turn after changing into training clothes. On the television screen, 100 names appeared and an electronic voice in the background said, "Batch number 3, get ready." As Elyssa was showing nervousness, a mischievous smile appeared on Soyun as she spoke, "am I just seeing things, or is that really Shintaro?" "What!" Elyssa suddenly stood up. "Sorry." Realizing that her reaction is a bit too loud, Elyssa apologized to others. Taking her seat, she asked with a glow on her face, "Did you just say Shin-senpai? Where did you see him?" As she started to look around to see her beloved crush, a grin appeared on Soyun, "I was just kidding." "You" "See. You are now good to go." Realizing that she was no longer nervous as before, Elyssa''s anger disappeared quickly. In the meantime, the door was opened and a burly man in a suit entered the hall, "Batch number 3. Follow me." Everyone in the 3rd batch stood up and started following him from behind. Soon, they reached the 35th floor. After all of them arrived at the floor, they proceeded to a large room filled with treadmills. Then, a man and a woman entered the room. As the man stepped back, the woman spoke, "Hello, my name is Emily Richards. I''ll be in charge from now onwards. Without wasting any time, let''s get right into it. As you can guess, the first thing we''ll test is your stamina. You can set and control the speed by yourself but you can only increase the speed. You cannot change it after 5 minutes. You lessen the speed, you receive 0. You fall from it, you receive 0. All you have to hold on until 10 minutes are over to receive a score. So, don''t be too greedy and try to outdo your limit." 10 minutes later, Elyssa collapsed on the ground like others who tried their best to receive a high score. Meanwhile, Soyun, who was completely fine without any sweat, handed her a towel, "you worked a bit too hard, I guess. What''s the speed?" Elyssa replied, "12. What about you? Looks like you didn''t try much." "I just walked with 2 mph with ease. I already told you, right? I was going to try a non-combat profession. Why should I waste my energy on this segment?" Sujin replied with a grin. Meanwhile, on the 30th floor, a few elites who used to be in Vulture Mafia were discussing. "Sigh So far, none reached our standards." "Yeah, what''s with these youngsters? Forget about 20, can''t one even reach 18?" "So far, only two candidates successfully maintained 16 miles/hour" "It''s just 5 minutes. It''s not like we asked them to run for an hour or something." While the room is filled with complaints, Katherine, a retired female assassin who is currently serving as one of the directors spoke, "c''mon. Stop judging them with our standards, will ya. We didn''t call them for recruiting for our company." *** Back to War Online; Imperial city, Llyne Kingdom; In the streets of the capital city, Wil and his five NPC bodyguards were walking together casually while looking around but still, no one really paid attention to them apart from a few players. Looking at them, a passerby sighed, "another one. I guess people are really in a hurry to claim the compensation." The reason for the strange reaction is because first, Barons aren''t that rare in the city. Because there are a lot of officials present in the palace, fame isn''t that hard to earn as compared to other cities, although there wasn''t a Viscount yet. Second, there are a lot of players who followed the lending strategy of Guardians to level-up before. Because the Imperial palace and the city center are pretty much in the same direction, no one really cared about this party of 6. It wasn''t until he bypassed the area and changed his ways towards the palace did he get attention from a few passersby, although most of them ignored it as they knew getting into the palace is impossible without an invitation. Even if Wil has one, it has nothing to do with them, either way. On the other hand, A few scouts of big guilds started following him as a part of their job. After all, in a city full of million players, surely there must be one or two who were able to get the invitation, right? That''s why they always had to follow anyone who goes toward the palace. Although their job is just to follow him and report it to higher authorities in the guild if he successfully entered the palace, they also decided that even if the other party can''t enter the palace, they need to make him join their guild by whatever means as it''s a shame to lose a level-99 player. Not to mention, they never heard of the Scarlet guild. So, they didn''t think he would say no. "Lord Time Traveler, I sense malicious intentions from them." Remia suddenly warned him. Another 7-foot guard named Mauger spoke, "Lord, order us whenever you want to finish these pests. I''m sure his majesty wouldn''t punish a noble Viscount of the Kingdom for making a move against a mere commoner." Wil replied, "forget it. There are always these kinds of people everywhere. Once we kill them before they do anything, they''ll just think we have some secret and drag their entire guild over it. There are some foolish guild leaders who won''t stop until they were destroyed for good. It''s just a waste of time." "I had quite an experience in that type of matter in my past life." Soon, they reached the Imperial palace where there are several soldiers walking back and forth, guarding the entrance. Just when Wil was 10 meters away from them, all of them suddenly pointed weapons towards his group while their captain gave a stern warning, "Halt." The five guardians immediately stood before Wil, raising their shields to protect him. "Step aside," ordered Wil as he took another step forward. Meanwhile, the captain continued with a stern voice, "unauthorized people are forbidden to enter. Return or else, don''t blame me for..." Just then, Wil interrupted him by taking out his silver nobility badge from inventory and showed it to him, "Am I still not allowed in?" Looking at the nobility badge, the Captain raised his hand and the guards put their weapons back. Knowing that the outsider is a Viscount, a rank above him, the demeanor of the Captain changed and ordered his subordinates to stand down. "I apologize, Lord Viscount. But, we have orders to not let anyone in without any proper invitation from a high ranked official of the palace." He respectfully denied their entry again. Chapter 56: Audience with the King Realizing that they aren''t allowing him into the palace with just nobility badge, Wil ordered his guards to stand back together in a line to cover him and Captain. Hearing out a weird order, his guards were taken aback but still, they silently followed it without question. Looking at them, as a frown appeared on the captain''s face; Wil took out the scroll from inventory and handed it to the captain with a smile, "here. I bet this will do the job." The captain took the scroll from him and opened it curiously as it certainly doesn''t look like an invitation from the palace. A startled look appeared on him and his voice started to quiver while he began to sweat, "this... Lord... I''m... I''m... sorry... for offending you... please forgive me. I didn''t know you are Lord Raziel''s guest. While the change in his behavior baffled his subordinates, Wil, on the other hand, went into deep thinking. "Lord Raziel? Who is he? I received that scroll as one of the rewards for becoming the first player in the kingdom to defeat a corrupted guardian, Cerberus. It''s sure an item that grants me an audience with the King for once. But, it looks like it''s not that simple. It''s obvious that this "Raziel" is definitely more powerful or scarier than the King. Hmm, maybe a High-Human?" Meanwhile, the scouts from various guilds were wondering what''s going on as it''s been a while and this new guy was neither allowed inside nor did he get kicked out yet. Moreover, they can''t even see the shadow of captain and Wil as five towering mountain-sized guardians were obstructing their vision. Just then, they saw the guards moved aside and opened the palace gate and they started walking forward. With excited expressions, all of them sent messages to their superiors about it. Starlight Guild HQ, Imperial City; A handsome, well-built young man entered guild residence. As soon as he appeared, the guild members in the residence stood up in respect and greeted him. He greeted back with a smile that caused a commotion among the female players. He''s Rigel, a top graduate of Lakeshire Medical University but chose to become a professional gamer instead, which actually brought a lot of criticism and eventually got kicked out of the home by his father, who is a hospital director. He''s now working with Star Group, a Giant corporation like Scarlet, and is currently serving as the Vice Guild leader of Starlight with a salary of 5 million credits per month, which is 100 times more than what an average pro-gamer with a bit of popularity can earn. Back to the Guild, as Rigel made his way towards the Guild storage to submit the equipment and finally exchange it with his desired level-100 epic grade necklace that their Guild Leader put it up for him suddenly halted his steps after receiving a message from one of the Guild Elites. Wecia: A word from one of my messengers. It seems someone managed to enter the palace. Forgetting about everything else, Rigel concentrated on communicating with Wecia and started asking her about the details. After she told his name and level, Rigel mumbled, "Time Traveler? I''m sure I''ve heard this name before. But, where" Rigel: So, which guild is he from? Is it a big guild? Wecia: Uhh it''s a guild called Scarlet. I have never heard of it before. Should I try poaching him into our Guild, right away? "Scarlet? Oh f*** I remember him now. East Ocean City''s Scarlet''s guild leader. He''s rumored to be the young master of Scarlet Securities. If the rumors are true, then, I should proceed with caution. Ugh very troublesome. What to do" After thinking for a while, he sighed, "Let''s just dump it onto Guild leader''s head *cough* I mean consult. Yes. I''m just asking his opinion." He immediately sent a message to their Guild leader, Starlight. *** Two hours later, Wil and the guardians are waiting silently at the king''s court. Glancing at the ministers who were looking curiously at him, Wil thought, "Hmm, are these NPCs cautious of me or something? For the past two hours, they keep on glancing at me but no one has yet to speak a word. Maybe, they are waiting for me to introduce myself? And it seems this Raziel also didn''t arrive. Speaking of Raziel, it is really interesting that" While Wil lost in thoughts, the door guard announced the King and Raziel are arriving together. Wil stood up with everyone. "The f***" Wil was taken aback as he soon as he saw the King and an old man, who is following him like a servant. This old man surprisingly has two pairs of angelic wings on his back. But, it wasn''t what shocked Wil. It''s the King himself. He has an outstandingly beautiful face, voluptuous body. As he was walking while swaying his hips, everyone in the court, whether it''s a male or female just stared at him in awe. Even Wil felt that his insides for burning for a second. Wait a second. Beautiful? Voluptuous? He? "What kind of stupid setting is this? It''s a f*****g woman, who is cross-dressing as a man. Ugh I really wonder why they are calling her a King instead of Queen. I guess there might be a background story or maybe, it''s just her fantasy?" Mirella Llyne Level: 362 Description: The current King of the Llyne Kingdom. She''s the firstborn daughter of the late King. Due to having no male heirs, the Late King forcefully made her grew up as a man. Raziel Blain Level:???? Description: The guardian of the Royal Family of Llyne Kingdom. "Oh, boy! The King was such an a**h**e. Can''t he just change the system and allow her rule as a Queen, instead? Hmm, if I''m not wrong, in this setting, she''s attracted to girls, right? What a waste" His eyes lingered on her certain body part for a second before he came back to his senses. "Argh you fool. That''s a game character. It''s not even real. Everything is just illusion here." *Ding. You resisted Mirella''s charm. Only then, he realized that this King has a passive effect that lets her attract others unknowingly. Meanwhile, the king and Raziel who were walking towards the throne suddenly stopped as they were passing Wil. For a couple of seconds, Wil felt the feeling of someone prying into the soul to dig up for secrets as Raziel looked into his eyes. The same feeling he felt back he faced Aerona. "So, it''s you, Young man. You are the one who killed one of the corrupted guardians, right?" The King looked at Wil curiously and asked Raziel, "Who is he? Your guest?" Before Raziel replied, Wil bowed and greeted them, "greetings your majesty, Lord Raziel. I''m Time Traveler, an adventurer from East Ocean city." While the King nodded indifferently after finding nothing special about Wil, and continue to walk, Raziel spoke with a smile, "it looks like you used to have fate with the Ruins. But, it disappeared now. I see, so, you are the one who solved the mystery of the Ruins of Marten. Good job." "Hmm, unlike Aerona, he can''t sense Seraph''s aura inside of me." Putting his thoughts aside, Wil admitted the truth and lightly bowed, "thank you." As the King and Lord Raziel took their seats, everyone sat down. As Raziel whispered something into her ears, The King pointed Wil and asked, "Let''s begin with you. So, what is the reason you desired an audience with me?" *** Scarlet Securities HQ, Ares City; Elyssa sat nervously before two officials of the parent company after going through all those tests while they took out the print and checked her individual round scores. "Sigh Too bad" Her heart thumped at that moment hearing that she was about to fail. "I failed?" As she started to mentally prepare herself, The Official continued, "War Online didn''t have fighter classes." "Eh?" A stunned look appeared on Elyssa. He smiled as he handed her the printout, "Congratulations, Ms. Strike. You are selected. Since your overall score is B, you don''t need to attend the final interview. We''ll contact you again in a few days to proceed with the contract." Elyssa exited the building in excitement and called his brother while momentarily forgetting about her friend. *** Deadrum Hills, Reverie Kingdom; Crimson Sun a.k.a. Bran is massacring his enemies of 100-200 while Sierra resurrected at the city and returning with a greater number. "Run This guy is a demon." Just like a Lightning God, his body was covered by Lightning. His gaze was cold as he continued to disappear and appear at different places while slicing the enemies like tofu. All of a sudden, he received a call from the real world. After looking at the number, Bran quickly picked it up and said, "El, I''m in the middle of battle. I''ll call you later." After disconnecting it, he continued his massacre. *** Scarlet HQ, Ares City; "Ah, Okay." A trace of disappointment appeared on Elyssa as she wasn''t able to share the good news. Chapter 57: Realm of Light part-1 A party of 5 is killing the mobs of levels around 180 in the wild zone. While the four of them are working very hard to kill each and every one of them on sight, the one in middle was just grinning like an idiot as he is leveling up continuously. Yes, it is Wil but the other four aren''t his bodyguards but level-200 Royal-Knights of the Kingdom who wore Gold grade equipment from top to bottom and epic grade heavy armors. *Ding. You level up. Looking at the surroundings that suddenly became dark, one of them named Garvin gestured all of them to stop. "It''s gotten dark. We can''t hunt anymore. Let''s set up a camp. We''ll set out for tomorrow." After they set up the camp in one of the caves, Wil said, "then, we''ll meet again, tomorrow at the same spot." Garvin replied sternly, "sure. But, I hope you aren''t using this chance to escape. Don''t forget you are the one who claimed to know the exact location to "his" Majesty. You know what happens if you" "Again? I don''t know what''s wrong with these people who are insisting on her calling "her" "his majesty" even outside of the palace." Keeping aside the useless thoughts, Wil replied, "don''t worry. As I said before, my source of information is trustworthy and I have no reason to escape." "After all, you are the ducks that are giving me golden eggs" After saying goodnight, Wil looked at his level that already reached 136 and a smirk appeared on his face, "I guess, at this rate, I''ll reach 150 by tomorrow." He logged out. Eight hours ago; The King pointed her finger towards Wil, "Let''s begin with you. What is the reason your appearance in this Court?" Wil who already made up a plan to make sure to receive a quest stood up and replied respectfully, "Your majesty, there are two reasons. One is as Lord Raziel had found out. It''s the Ruins of Marten. Earlier, when we investigated the ruins, there''s something I haven''t included in the report. When we killed one of the guardians, I received something like a map that''s imprinted deep inside my soul." Upon hearing it, a curious look appeared in Mirella''s eyes as she moved a bit forward and said, "Go on" Wil continued his lie, "The location inside the map leads somewhere deep inside Nefarus wild zone but the interesting thing here is the destination marked I drawn in the form of a portal, which only means" "A hidden realm," answered Raziel, surprising Mirella. "Yes, this old man got baited. My work will be even easier, now." Wil nodded, "yes, I suspect it is a hidden realm. That''s why I thought notifying the palace directly would be better than including in the report." Mirella squint her eyes, "I understood what you are implying. So, tell me. What do you wish from the palace in return?" "Not much, your majesty. Just the usual 10% as discoverer''s share and I also hope you would allow me to pick just one of the treasures I desire as my reward." Mirella was taken aback and frowned, "just one?" "On the premise that I won''t be forced to do any kind of work until the end. After all, the wild zone is very dangerous for someone like me. I don''t want to risk my life even if I''m an immortal," Wil replied calmly. Upon hearing him, Mirella snorted, "risking your life? Hmpf, aren''t you an immortal? Even if you die, you''ll reborn again. Moreover, you don''t want to work but want to get a share? Fine, then, I''ll force you to risk your life and work hard for it." *Ding. Favorability with King dropped by 5 As Wil was taken aback by the sudden notification, Mirella spoke, "You''ll receive four of our finest warriors who will venture into the deep lands with you." "Just four?" Wil suddenly became worried as he knew four might not be enough to explore it. Not to mention, he already planned to leave the rest of the five guardians in the city as they are useless. Mirella frowned, "are you doubting my decision?" Wil hurriedly shook his head, "no, your majesty. Four are enough but I''m worried about my safety. You see, even if I resurrect again, I can''t go back alone. They have to come all the way to the city to pick me up. This is why I can''t risk my life because it will waste a lot of time." "Is that so?" "Looks like I misunderstood this guy''s intentions. But, I can''t take back my word. Hmm, what to do" *Ding. Favorability with King increased by 5 Mirella then spoke, "you''ll receive a high-grade armor from our royal armory. Lord Raziel will make sure you were able to wear it. With it, you''ll be safe from most of the monsters." Then, her face turned cold as she continued to speak, "But, remember to return it or else you''ll know the consequences." Even though Wil was furious inside because of her attitude, he kept his cool and lightly bowed, "thank you, Your Majesty." *Ding. You received a Quest. Description: The King order to venture deep into the Nefarus wild zone and explore the hidden realm. Reward: Your choice of all gains found in exploration. Failure: You will be a wanted criminal of Llyne Kingdom and will be jailed for a month for deceiving the King. As he accepted the quest, he received a quest item, which is a level-200 epic grade light armor. Llyne''s Armor Level: 200 Class: Anyone Grade: Epic Hp: 2039875 Defense: 202689 Crt. Dmg. resist: 30% Crt. Resist: 62% Damage reduction: 9% As he equipped the armor right away, Wil glanced at the King and thought, "Just you wait. Sooner or later, I''ll take control of your whole Kingdom. But, first, taking control of East Ocean city and its port is important." Meanwhile, as dozens of players gathered far away from the palace and blocking the road to others and threatening them with their guild name, five Vice-leaders from large guilds were talking with each other peacefully outside of the gate. "So, to make fairer, first, we let him out with the secret and then, use your means to poach him to your guild. Does everyone agree with it?" said Rigel. Everyone nodded. Rigel sighed, "Well... since I already had the backing of Guild Leader, I''ll make this mission, a success, even if I have to start a war." *** After he was excused from the Court, Wil and his guardians were taken to the guest room. A while later; four NPCs stepped inside the room. One of them greeted Wil, "Hello, you must be Time Traveler. I''m Garvin. This is Renart, Athelard, and Gervais. We are Royal-Knights, who only serve his majesty." "His Majesty? The way they are addressing that chic is really wrong in so many ways. Maybe, it''s a rule set by the previous king. It would have been better if that woman was once a man and her gender changed because of some curse." As the party of 10 exits the palace and crossed the gate, Wil saw a bunch of players were waiting outside. Rigel stepped forward and called out with a smile, "Hello there. Can we speak for a moment?" Looking at them, Garvin asked, "Time Traveler, are they your acquaintances?" Wil replied coldly, "No, they are not. You can kill them if they dare to obstruct our path. No, actually, let''s just " A few moments later, at Resurrection point, Rigel let out a curse with a dark expression, "f*** I didn''t expect that guy to be this ruthless. I didn''t even get to speak." Meanwhile, near the palace gate, the other four Vice-leaders were stunned on the spot and stared silently at their backs as Wil and the others were leaving. *** Back to the present; Wil logged out of the game like most people as it''s useless to roam without Night-Vision skill. Of course, it can''t stop one who can walk and fight in darkness but they are an extreme minority and nothing can be done to them. Meanwhile, at Aynor continent or underworld, Demon race players were happily leveling up even in the darkness because Fire torches were available in the stores from the start. While this discovery sure made some newbies pick it as a priority, still, the race remained unpopular as their appearances are ugly skeletons. Unlike other races, demon race players don''t get to have their real appearances because they have to live with demons. Only after they reached level-100 and advance, they will get a demon skin with horns. What they don''t know is that they will retain it after the second advancement. After getting out the capsule, Wil took a shower and then, started reading his email that he received from Scarlet HQ. "Oh, 52 members were recruited on the first day? Not bad. If it''s HQ, then, I have no doubts about their capability." He put it aside and started watching the news for a while before playing an action movie after getting bored. While he was interestingly watching it with popcorn in his hand, suddenly, he received a text from an unknown number. A frown appeared on Wil, "unknown number? This number is only known to a few. Who might it be?" XXXX: You shall die if you don''t come to the airport by 3 a.m. Chapter 58: Fiancee Looking at the text that looks like a threatening message from every angle, Wil thought, "A message like this usually comes from three kinds of people. First is an enemy I don''t know. Second is a girlfriend. Third is a biological sister. The last two options are useless because I have neither of them. But, even it''s an enemy, the message is too idiotic. C''mon, who would go to the airport just because they receive some stupid death threat? Not to mention, a person with a background like me. I bet this is a prank someone decided to pull on a random number. Even though I like pranks, I hate when it directed towards me." Wil immediately called Aster. "Hello, Young master?" "Aster, someone sent me a death threat message. I want to know their details." "Eh?" Upon hearing it, Aster was surprised at first and then got enraged, "Someone threatened to kill you? How dare they? I will quickly send their heads to your doorstep." "This guy" Wil calmly said, "No, just find out everything about them and send me the details." "As you wish, Young master," replied Aster. 20 minutes later; While Wil was curious about the identity of the person who dared to send him such a message, Aster called him back. A smile appeared on his face, "Aster is quick as always." "Aster, tell me. Who is he?" "Uhh" On the other side, there is a long pause before continuing, "Young master, are you sure you received a death threat from this number?" Wil frowned as he asked, "Yes, why do you ask?" Aster replied, "cuz it''s young master''s." "Eh? Mine?" Wil was taken aback. "To be precise, it''s your old number you used back when you are at Yarlford city," explained Aster. "Wait a second." After putting the call on hold, Wil checked the message and saw the sender''s number again. "He''s right. It''s my number. But, I already left my old mobile phone at the house." "Aster, can you track my old number?" "Yes, certainly. Just give a minute," replied Aster. After a while, Aster hurriedly spoke, "It''s currently moving a high speed and the current location is near Madvale. I think it''s inside a plane. Young master, I believe it''s a warning from someone inside the house. We can analyze it later but first, we need to secure your living place. No matter what, don''t leave the house or even open the door for anyone until I reach there and don''t disconnect the call either." "Okay, I understand," replied Wil as a fear appeared on his face. Staying connected to the call, Wil closed all the curtains of the windows while lying on the floor beside the sofa, just to be safe. "Wait a second. Can''t I just hide in the capsule? After all, it is an S-grade. One of the perks of it is its sturdiness. Bullets or small explosions can''t damage it. Well, I can''t do anything if the entire building collapsed but at least, it is safer than here." *** 03:00 A.M., Leafway city international Airport; With a darkened expression, Wil was waiting at the airport along with a bouquet in his hands. He saw a 20-year-old beautiful blond-haired and blue-eyed girl along with a stern-looking middle-aged man walking towards them. Behind them was a familiar bodyguard, who was carrying their luggage. Looking at her, as his expression further darkened, Aster whispered, "Young Master, please smile. Remember Lord Philip''s orders." *** Five hours ago; Aster arrived at the apartment complex and saw a team is waiting outside the building. "Two of you will stay here and the remaining four will come with me. I already contacted the branch to send more teams." After telling to cover the terrace, Aster rushed to the tenth floor and opened the door with Wil''s permission. One hour later, four guards were seen on each floor. If one count guards in hiding, one should say there are nearly 50 bodyguards that are guarding Wil on this very night with a belief that an assassination attempt is going to occur. After Aster found out that "Silver" board the plane to Leafway city from a low-level guard, he believed Silver might be the one who sent the message most likely and was on his way to keep Wil safe. As for confirming his doubts with Mafia Lord, Aster didn''t have the guts to ask him. So, while the rest of the guards are securing the building, he stayed in the living room and was keep on checking with everyone to make sure they were alert. Meanwhile, the target Wil was lying in the capsule comfortably and watching a movie in a virtual effect. Looking at the fighting scene as if it is happening before his eyes, Wil let out a whistle, "Woah, I didn''t know this S-rank capsule has this feature. Cool... " After another hour passed, suddenly he got a call from Aster, interrupting the movie. "What is it?" "Uh Young master, you can come out," replied Aster. As soon as Wil stepped out of the capsule, he asked Aster, "What happened? Did you catch the assassin?" Upon hearing Wil, Aster immediately bowed and apologized, "forgive me, Young master. It''s a mistake on my part. Lord Philip just called and ordered me to tell you to pick up your fiance and" "Stop right there. My fiance? I don''t have a fiance. I don''t remember having one. What are you spouting out nonsense?" Wil panicked a little bit as his life story was going in an unexpected way. Upon hearing Wil, Aster was surprised, "are you alright, Young Master? The whole world knows that you are engaged to Miss Rodin. Were you kept in the dark until now?" "Rodin? That surname feels familiar. Where Wait a second" "Cherry? I mean, Cericia Rodin?" As he spoke out her name in uncertainty, Aster nodded in response. As a picture from when they were 10-11 years appeared in his mind, Wil slapped his forehead as he collapsed on the sofa. "F***It''s the damn girl that tried to bully me a lot when I was young. I remember her now. Every time I lost to her, I was given extra training as a punishment because I shouldn''t lose to my fiance. That was dad used to say back then. It''s only after her father transferred to a different city and she left with him, I stopped training and started enjoying like how a rich kid should be. For me, it''s already been 15 years since I met her. So, I already forgot about her. Hmm, now that I think about it, after I ran off and dad died, they probably never tried to look for me since Scarlet was also disbanded and every one of these thugs was busy with revenge and starting gang wars. But, the biggest question is how come a police commissioner and a mafia lord want to be in-laws?" Wil then asked the same doubt, "say, Aster. Isn''t Mr.Rodin, a Police Commissioner? Shouldn''t we suppose to be on opposite sides and fight each other?" Aster replied with a confused look, "How can we understand what Lord Philip thinks? Maybe, it''s because he''s elected as the Chief of police for Western Continent?" Wil immediately picked up his mobile phone and called his dad. "Wil" "Hey, dad. What''s going on? Why is Mr.Rodin and his daughter coming to Leafway city?" "Don''t worry, they won''t stay long. That guy has some business at Ares City with the Eastern Federation police. Cherry will be your guest for the next week." Wil almost shouted, "A week? Dad" "C''mon, son. She isn''t a stranger. You will marry her in the future either way. You can get to know each other in the meantime. After all, it''s been like 8-9 years. You don''t need to skip your college or other matters for her. Just be yourself, okay? Oh, by the way, don''t forget to buy a bouquet on the way." "Dad" Before he gets to react anything to it, his dad already disconnected the call. *** Back to the present; Wil handed the bouquet to the girl before him and greeted them with a light hug while maintaining his smile, "It''s been a while, Ms. Cericia, Mr. Rodin. Welcome to Leafway city. Hey, Silver. Looks like you went through some tough fight." Silver smiled as he caressed the scar near eyebrow, "it''s nothing Young Master. Some Dogs tried to bite me." Mr. Rodin replied, "You have grown a lot, Williard. You look just like your father in his younger days. Not really a pleasant feeling, I should say though." Looking at this man who was maintaining the same expression as he let out his opinion so directly, Wil thought, "Are they enemies in the past or something?" Just then, Cericia spoke, "C''mon, dad. The last part was unnecessary" and then she suddenly grabbed his arm tightly as if it is natural, "don''t worry. He doesn''t mean anything bad. Shall we go, Wil?" As he never played around with girls like other young masters, Wil flinched a bit upon her sudden action but then remembering his father''s orders, he maintained a smile. What he didn''t get to observe is that her arms are also shaking lightly for some reason. Looking at both of them, the supposed police chief nodded with a satisfactory smile. As they were walking together towards the exit, Cericia asked, "Did you wait for a long time?" Wil replied, "Not really, just an hour. Come to think of it" He stopped talking and turned around to see Silver was chewing out Aster while they were following from behind... "How come there isn''t any security here? Don''t you know how dangerous is for Young master to be out alone? Even if you think the airport is safe, you should have still brought four of them with you. What will you if someone suddenly" "Silver, did you have my mobile phone with you?" asked Wil, interrupting him. Chapter 59: Realm of Light part-2 "Huh, your mobile phone?" As Silver looked at Wil in confusion, Aster asked, "aren''t you the one who sent that message to Young Master? Wait a second. That''s right, you can''t send..." Before Aster spoke further, Wil interrupted him, "it must be Dad. Let''s not think too much." "But, earlier, we tracked the mobile phone. It is in the plane for sure" "Aster" Wil frowned, "let''s go." Looking at an unpleasant expression on Wil, Aster shut his mouth and nodded. As they continued to walk, Cericia asked, "What happened, Wil? What''s with the mobile phone and a message?" Wil glanced at the middle-aged man who was maintaining his composure, "it''s nothing, just a small matter. By the way, Dad said this is your first time visiting this city" *** After reaching his apartments, first, they proceeded to the 9th floor, which was temporarily arranged by the boys for the guests. After spending half an hour with them, in which most of the time, Walter was bragging about how great her daughter is in her studies and martial arts. Wil looked at the time, "it''s almost four o''clock. You both take rest," and excused himself. After sending away Aster, Wil went to his flat and threw away the vase in anger, "I''m sure that police chief is the one who sent me the death threat. And just what''s with that girl getting all friendly for phew cool down bro Her father must be forcing her. There are only 25 minutes left to sunrise. I need to log in. Now, what to do with this father and daughter? He said they''ll be touring around the city and expects me to tag along with them. Sigh I guess I have no time to waste on leveling." Wil then quickly took out his mobile phone and called Aster. "Young Master?" "Aster, if I remember correctly, you are currently living alone, right?" "Yes. My son is currently living with his maternal grandparents." Upon hearing it, Wil sighed in relief, "good, then. I need a favor from you. Use my credit card and buy another A-grade capsule and install it in your house. For the next week, you use that capsule while I use yours during the morning hours." Even though Aster didn''t know what''s going on, he accepted his young master''s orders without any question. After all, for him, whether it''s an SCgrade capsule or D-grade, It isn''t worth the command of Wil. One can say that those who work in Mafia are more loyal to their profession and boss than guys who work in other professions. Meanwhile, Wil continued, "And until our guests leave, I''ll be in college until 12:30 p.m., understood?" Only then, Aster understood what''s going on. "Yes, shall I pick you up, right now?" Wil replied, "As fast as you can. There''s not much time till sunrise in the game. I have a very important thing to do that can completely establish our authority in the East Ocean city." Disconnecting the call, Wil walked to the capsule and pressed a button on the right side of it. After scanning his fingerprints and eyes, the capsule ejected a Metallic Chip, which is in the size of a credit card. *** Inserting the metallic chip in Aster''s SCgrade capsule after removing the existing one, Wil stepped inside the capsule and logged in after confirming with his DNA. *Welcome to War Online* As Wil logged in, he found himself at the same spot in the cave where Garvin is found awake and the rest of the four are found sleeping. Suddenly, as the others opened their eyes and grabbed the weapons in alert, Garvin spoke, "don''t worry. It''s our otherworlder friend." According to NPCs, the players are immortals from the otherworld and were summoned by their god/creator to clear the dungeons as they can''t enter them. For some reason, they never had the thought of wanting to know about the real world nor do they care about it. It confused many players but Wil knew that Aria, the world''s most advanced A.I. was the one who deleted such thoughts from them. "You are quick, Time Traveler," commented Gervas. Wil smiled as he looked away at the sky, "the sun is going to rise at any time. We shall not waste any time." As soon as the sun rose from behind the mountains, Wil looked at the mountain range from far away and pointed the tallest one, "that is our destination. Let''s go." The party of five left the cave and started walking down the hill and continued towards their destination while massacring the common grade mobs in the midway and avoiding elite mobs to save time. Five hours later; *Ding. You leveled up. *Ding. Congratulations, you reached level-150. *Ding. You received a new skill. Multiple Lightning Arrows Lv 1: Shoot the enemies with an arrow infused with lighting element with a 150% attack while ignoring their defense. CD: 20 minutes. Cost: 50 Mana. Looking at the details, Wil frowned for a second as the attack doesn''t seem stronger and yet has a very high cooldown and cost. "Hmm, it says multiple arrows. So, I guess the number of arrows will increase after increasing the level? After investing 5 into Heavenly push, I only have 5 skill points left now. Should I invest everything into it? Nah, let''s wait until level 3 and then decide about it. On, the other hand, now that I''m level-150, I guess, the leveling becomes harder once again." He glanced at the exp bar, which showed 23562/9060000. Meanwhile, all the eight cities including the capital are in an uproar as the Kingdom rankings were refreshed while the majority of the East Ocean City players rejoiced as they occupied the top 3 spots in the top 10 and grabbed 26 spots in the top 100. Llyne Kingdom Rankings: 1) Time Traveler C Level 150 2) Snow Dew C Level 116 3) Martial Spartan C Level 113 4) Starlight C Level 113 5) Flame Emperor - Level 112 6) Sonicmaster C Level 110 7) Terabyte C Level 110 8) Leviya C Level 109 9) Oraimo C Level 109 10) Voidwalker C Level 108 Using this opportunity, Mountain Rock decided to open a branch of Silvershapers guild in all the cities now that it is a level-3 guild and currently monopolizing all the non-combat professions in the East Ocean City. On the other hand, while many adventurers wanted to apply for the Scarlet guild, Aster followed Wil''s order and remained closed for applications even though he wanted to let those high-level players in. After all, with 11 more members decided to shift to life profession because of potential profits and little to no-risk, the original guild was left with only 35 members. The only problem now was that there were no plots available in East Ocean city to buy and build even a store to sell their products much less a smithy, lab, kitchen, etc to train. So, they have no choice but to train and sell in NPC ones while paying fees. At least, Blacksmiths were in a better situation as they can sell their items through Snow Dew''s weapons store. They have no idea that more than 80% of those lands were brought by their boss. *** Back to Eindeilf Mountain range; The party of five reached the peak of the tallest mountain, Kinslir. As soon as they entered a huge cave that''s as large as a Mansion, Wil received a notification. *You stepped inside a no combat zone. All of your abilities are restricted. Looking at the huge portal before him, Garvin frowned, "what''s the meaning of this, Time Traveler? This is a dungeon. Where is this Hidden realm? Are you trying to fool us?" Wil shook his head, "I never said this is a Hidden realm. Just like the name, its entrance is also hidden somewhere in this cave. We have to search for it. See if you can any peculiar drawing the walls. That''ll be our clue." "Hmm, if I remember correctly, Bran found the entrance accidentally in Reverie Kingdom''s level-200 dungeon cave after he found an Elephant symbol on the walls. The elephant is the symbol of the Reverie Kingdom. Then, I have to look for a lion with wings symbol." 10 minutes later; "Damn. There''s nothing here. Where is this f****** entrance? Don''t tell me it''s peculiar to that kingdom. No, that''s impossible. Until the kingdoms connected, everything that''s here will also be found in other kingdoms except for landscapes. If I''m right, every kingdom must have one light fragment. Moreover, I gambled quite a lot on this. I can''t return empty-handed. I just need to" Just then, Renart shouted, "I found it. There''s a symbol of our kingdom here." Upon hearing it, Wil immediately ran toward him and saw he was pointing his finger at the ceiling. On the ceiling, there''s a huge drawing of an angry Lion that seemed like it''s flapping its wings to fly. *Ding. Congratulations, you found the entrance to the Realm of Light. You received 1000 fame as a reward. A smile appeared on Wil as he spoke with excitement, "yes, this is it." Then, Garvin asked, "If this is the entrance, then how do we enter the hidden realm through it?" Garvin then replied, "Most Hidden entrances are normally activated on touch. But, the biggest question is how do we even reach it to open the realm? It''s not like we can jump that high nor have wings to fly." Suddenly, all of them turned their heads towards Wil. Wil''s smile became stiff as he stared at the ceiling that''s 10 meters away. Neither his wings are working nor can he use his skills. Chapter 60: Realm of Light part-3 "Not sure. I can''t fly here. This is a no-combat place for us. You are experienced soldiers. Surely, you can think of something," shrugged Wil. As the rest of them looked at him suspiciously, Wil said, "look. Just as I promised, I bring you to the location of the hidden realm. The entrance is right before your eyes." Garvin narrowed his eyes and asked, "are you sure that this is it?" Wil nodded with confidence, "yes. I''m 100% sure." Garvin nodded, "Okay, fine. Renart, you stay here with Time Traveler. Gervas, Athelard, you two come with me." After a while, they returned with carrying a tall oak tree. "Move aside" Garvin spoke as the three of them brought it inside the cave. As Wil moved aside, Garvin then ordered, "on the count, 1, 2, 3" All the four of them raised it and thrust it towards one of the edges. As soon as he saw that, Wil got that they are trying to do. So, he volunteered for the job. As the NPCs steadily maintained the tree in a proper position, Wil jumped on the slanted tree and started climbing up. After reaching the so-called nearest point to the drawing, he raised his hand with a smile but wasn''t able to reach it. All of their smiles froze along with Wil. "Well, here goes nothing" Wil jumped towards it and successfully touched the angry lion''s face but lost the balance as he landed on the tree and fell on the ground. Since it is a no-combat ground; he didn''t lose any hp. Although he felt the pain, there''s a huge smile on his face as it glowed, and a pillar of light formed between the ceiling and the ground engulfing the tree. "Let''s go." Wil took the step and he disappeared into it. The rest of them looked at each other and followed him. *Ding. You entered the Realm of Light. Wil looked around his surroundings. There are four Suns in the sky, one in each direction, providing light everywhere. Despite that, the temperature is normal. Because the light is everywhere, even their shadows disappeared. As for the place, they are in the middle of some kind of grassland. "Hmm, the setting is the same as the video Bran uploaded. That means either all Kingdoms have the same hidden realms like dungeons or they are connected to one realm. Anyway, if I remember it right, the fragment of light stone is dropped from a monster where Bran fought is a volcanic region. Let''s see" Wil flapped his wings as he spoke, "I''ll fly a little bit to see if there''s anything ahead." As he thought, Wil indeed saw a volcanic mountain Range from far away but before he rejoiced, something hit his neck and he lost 1 HP. "Eh?" As he looked around, Wil saw something like a spark of light coming towards him and he tried to dodge but he was hit and lost another 1 HP. Since it''s just 1 HP, Wil didn''t fear and inspected that ball of light as he was hit for the third time. Light Bee Grade: Elite Level: 200 Hp: 1/1 Description: A wandering curious light bee that attacks anyone it sees. Looking at its level and health, Wil was surprised, "it''s a level-200 Elite mob? But only has 1 Hp? And also, it can only deal a 1 HP damage? Is it because it only has an attack power of 1 or is it because of my armor? Now that I think about it, this armor provides defense little more than 200K and normal level-200 Elite grade mob basic attack strength is 160K. That Queen really gave me something good. Tch this damn bee" While he is in the middle of thinking, the light bee kept on attacking him without any break, which annoyed him. After unable to hit it, Wil immediately descended on to the ground while shouting, "Incoming" which is a usual command to get ready to fight. As he landed on the ground, the four of them who raised their weapons looked around clueless and Renart asked, "Where is the enemy?" The ball of light hit Wil as he jumped away but failed to dodge and lost 1 HP again. "This one." As soon as they found it, everyone gets into the position to strike it down. Ten minutes later; Renart glanced at Wil and asked, "Garvin, what should we do?" Meanwhile, Wil was cursing inside. "F*** Am I a flower or something? Why the f*** are you keep going to attack me, ignoring everyone else." For the past 10 minutes, while everyone tried to kill it, they were never able to land a single hit on the bee to finish it while the latter keeps on attacking Wil and talking off 1 HP. Even though it isn''t much, after getting hit a dozen times, anyone would get angry. At first, to kill it for good, Wil even exposed one of his skills and used Heavenly Push with some mana but it escaped from that attack and continued to hit him as if he was a mortal enemy. Leaving with no other choice, Wil took out the Elite pet scroll he got from the level-100 dungeon and used it after locking the target. *Ding. Target level is higher, a 33% chance of failure. Do you still want to use it?" Without thinking too much, Wil pressed ok as he doesn''t have much use for Elite pet. All he wants to put this annoying thing to stop. The ball of light disappeared and Wil received a notification. *Ding. Congratulations, you caught light bee. *Ding. Since there is no other pet in the companion slot, Light Bee is selected as your battle companion. Battle Companion system is something that existed in the game from the last. Each player gets a single slot in pet inventory, where players can catch them with pet scrolls. If they catch another pet, they have to release the previous battle companion into wild as a mob. After they were caught, their level will reset to 1 and every time they are summoned, they take 50% of players'' exp to level up. Of course, it goes without saying that they can neither cross the player''s level nor they can cross their original level before they were caught. Another issue was that they are very rare. While the common grade pet scrolls are dropped from Elite level Dungeons, Elite grade can only be dropped Heroic level difficulty dungeons with a low chance. So, most of them don''t care too much about them as they can just try to become a Summoner if they want to fight with beasts. Back to the grassland, after catching it, Wil summoned it to see this peculiar mob that seemed very invincible. Instead of a ball of light, he saw the true form of it, which is obviously, a Bee, although a little bit different from a usual one found in the wild. It is in the size of a palm with round big glowing eyes. Its body is full of orange fur with no stripes. Jut based on appearance, Wil was sure that girls would love it to pet it. ???? Grade: Elite Level: 1 Attack: 1 Defense: 1 Hp: 1 Speed: N/A Stamina: N/A Skills: Flash bite: Sting the enemies with a speed of light. It was only after reading its skill did Wil realized why they weren''t able to hit it. It was not because they weren''t able to hit it; it was more like they can''t because of its unlimited stamina and speed. As it landed on Wil''s palm while curiously looking into his eyes, Wil grinned, "Let''s call you Strix." Chapter 61: Realm of light part-4 It made a cute inaudible sound while it rubbed Wil''s cheek and sat on his shoulder. "It''s okay now. This little guy is our ally." After reassuring them that everything is fine, Wil then thought of something and spoke, "Strix, go and check around." As it''s now a battle companion, it understood Wil''s command and turned into a ball of light before disappearing from their sight. "Let us wait for a while until it returns with information." Everyone nodded and just sat on the grass, trusting him without asking how he managed to pet the monster even though he isn''t a Summoner. As Royal Knights, they knew everyone has secrets and its best not to pry into everything they found curious. One hour later, Wil suddenly received a notification. *Ding. You completed the Quest successfully. Receive your rewards from the King. *Ding. You received a quest. Description: Report to the King. At first, Wil was startled to hear that he completed the quest but then, after seeing a ball of light suddenly appeared before him and buzzed near his ear, he understood that whatever Strix explored, the system considered as Wil explored the region too since they are companions. "Yes, now, even if I don''t get to kill the guardian, I can surely acquire the fragment after it is dropped and collected later. This is one good pet. Sigh Too bad that I''m giving all of these resources to the Kingdom but purifying those 3675 gold coins right now is more important." He patted its head, "good job, Strix." It made another inaudible cute sound and sat on the shoulder. A big smile appeared on Wil as he pointed towards one of the suns, "in this direction, there is a valley filled with flowers with a strange aroma that gave this little guy a feeling of being healthy. It means a medicinal flower valley. There''s a Giant sleeping there. On our right, that far away Forest we are seeing seems to be filled with magical fruits. After crossing the forest, there is a volcanic mountain range with some kind of flowers floating on top of lava and there are crystals everywhere. At the end of these endless grasslands, there''s seems to be a deep abyss. It seems to be very dangerous. If we walk far in reverse, there''s a barren land and a desert filled with monsters. I''ve done all I can. It''s your call, Garvin." Wil purposely held the info of a ruin that''s in the desert because what he needed to go towards the Volcano and defeat the guardian so that he can claim the fragment. If he had told them about the ruins, Wil was confident that they would surely explore it first. Just as he expected, Garvin pointed the forest on the right, "We''ll go into the forest. If I''m not wrong, those crystals must be volcanic crystals formed by the lava over the course of years. They are highly valuable." "Volcanic Crystals? I never heard of it. Is he perhaps talking about Fire crystals? All Elemental crystals can give equipment, a special effect like elemental attack, resist. Although they are rare and valuable, they can be found in other volcanic regions too. More than them, I''m interested in those flowers that can float on lava. I bet they can be used for potions." The party of 5 started walking towards the forest. "This is the first forest I''ve seen with no shades," commented Renart as they entered the forest. As he said, even though the trees are thick and taller than usual, there wasn''t even a shade of a tree and the environment inside the forest is bright as day. After walking for a while, Wil saw short but thicker trees have bright yellow fruits that look like lemons. The only different thing is their size, which is as big as his head. Looking at them, Gervas asked, "Who wants to take a bite?" Garvin replied as he walked towards the tree, "I''m not taking any risks. You can go ahead." After saying that, he cut a branch with the sword and put the fruit into the storage bag to take the sample back to the capital city. Meanwhile, Strix already turned into a ball of light and sat on one of the fruits and started sucking the juice. Seeing it action, Wil got even more curious and inspected one of them that is hanging on a branch. Light Fruit Description: A sour fruit that was infused with the light element. It is the favorite fruit of the light bees. Effects: Consuming the whole fruit will increase your agility by 100 permanently. "Wow, 100 agility I bet this is a onetime bonus. I guess I struck it rich. Once they are collected by the army, I''ll get my one-tenth share. I can put one of them in an auction, later. Then, we can decide about it." After putting the thoughts away, Wil raised his hand, "I''ll like to try it." After reading the description, Wil immediately volunteered for it, to which they didn''t object as there are hundreds of fruits hanging around. Wil flapped his wings and fly a little higher to pluck the smallest fruit he can find in the surroundings. As soon as he took a bite, Wil coughed, which alerted the remaining but before they speak anything, Wil waved his hand, "don''t worry. It''s just sour. Not poisonous." The remaining three except Garvin nodded in understanding and took a bite but immediately spit out and coughed. "This is just sour? It''s not less than any poison," commented Gervas who took the biggest bite out of them all. Looking at him, Wil laughed inside, "serves you right. Unlike us, your pain and taste buds can''t be adjusted to 10%." They didn''t try the fruits anymore and continued to move towards the other exit. Meanwhile, Wil finished eating the fruit and received a notification. *Ding. Your Agility increased by 100. As they entered deep regions of the forest, Wil felt something amiss. "The forest is too quiet. Are there really no monsters here? Should I re-summon Strix and let it scout deeply?" Just then, he received a notification, disrupting his thoughts. *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside world. As he clicked on the holographic message to see more details, he saw an unknown number. Without thinking much, he just rejected the call. Then, this time, he received a text from the same number. XXXX: Hey Wil, it''s me, Cherry. Your door is locked. Are you outside? Dad asked me to call you. Wil: I''m in the middle of class. I''ll return by lunchtime. I''m sorry that I forgot to inform you beforehand. XXXX: It''s fine. We can wait for another hour or two. It was only then Wil looked at the time and nearly cursed out after realizing that it''s almost 11:15 A.M., which means he hardly has 90 minutes to finish it. He urged them, "let''s increase our pace. I just remembered something important. So, I need to leave this place soon." Upon hearing him, Garvin frowned, "leave? We haven''t even started exploring it, yet." Wil then replied with a serious look, "Well, that has nothing to do with me. After an hour, I''m returning to that light pillar and report to the King. You can continue to explore. It''s not like I''ll be of any use." While the rest of the three frowned as they considered something his sudden actions is like deserting one''s job and running away, Renart nodded, "it''s fine. You have already helped us enough by not only opening the realm and scouting it." Wil smiled as he looked at him and wanted to thank him. But before he did that, suddenly, Garvin shouted, "Halt" and they stopped as they saw a large pair of eyes in their path that seemed to open all of a sudden while the entire body seemed to be invisible. Chapter 62: Realm of Light part-5 As soon as they saw a large pair of eyes with Vertical Slits, even without Garvin''s warning, everyone already took out their weapons. Just then, the eyes vanished as if it doesn''t exist. While everyone was taken aback by this sudden, they didn''t relax and started walking slowly. "Everyone, be alert. No doubt that''s a Snake. Creatures like them tend to ambush in the forest." Garvin, who is in the lead was stepping carefully without making any sound while keeping the Shield ready to defend at any time. Meanwhile, Wil was scoffing inside, "What a coward. You are all level-200 soldiers with epic grade armor and yet you worry about a mere Heroic grade mob? Those soldiers in East Ocean city are way better." Just then, Wil heard a sound in the silent forest like something clashed. *Clang* As soon as Garvin''s Shield hit something invisible on the way, they saw eyes appeared again but this time, a lot closer. No, it isn''t that the eyes were closer to them. It was in the same spot. They were the ones who went near to it. As a huge tongue that''s split up at the ends appeared; Garvin, who was at the forefront, quickly jumped back to dodge the attack. *Hiss* An angry hiss was resounded in the surroundings followed by an appearance of a Giant Golden snake with a Gem on its forehead. Strangely, for a snake, it has eyelids, of course, without any eyelashes. Meanwhile, Wil inspected it while cursing Bran in his head as he didn''t remember this forest having a Guardian. After all, the video he saw was an edited one by a professional. Latzeis Grade: Heroic Level: 200 Hp: 52,000,000/ 52,000,000 Description: Latzeis is a Light Cobra, who serves as the guardian of the forest of light. Its favorite habit is sleeping. It attacks whoever disturb its sleep. Staying in the realm of light for so long made it learn light element magic. Upon reading the description, a frown appeared on Wil, "Light magic? It must be invisibility. This kind of invisibility is different from an assassin. Once it closes its eyes, none can sense its existence unless one is an Ascended." They saw the Giant cobra raised his upper body and spreads its hood. As it looks at them from above, it hissed again and revealed its sharp fangs as it opened its mouth to breathe out fire. Looking at it, Garvin shouted as he slammed his heavy shield onto the ground, "protective Barrier". An energy barrier appeared on all of them, blocking the Fire. "Healer Athelard, once the energy barrier dissolves, use area-wide healing. Blademaster Renart and Knight Gervas, both of you go all out. Trust in Athelard''s healing abilities. As for Time Traveler, you just need to focus on staying alive." After 20 seconds, the party-wide barrier on them disappeared while its fire breath didn''t stop. As Athelard used a party-wide heal so that everyone stays alive and has time to jump away, Wil flapped his wings and dodged the fire. Garvin quickly used provoke skill to make sure its attention on him while Athelard jumped backward to stay in a safe spot while Renart and Gervas started to attack from either side respectively. As the Cobra concentrated on Garvin, who not only disturb its sleep but also use provoke, meanwhile, Wil was weighing out his options while he glanced at the details of his ultimate one hit k.o. skill. Heavenly push (Level 6): Control the element of wind and push your enemies 70 meters away from you with a 0% attack. For every 10 mana consumption, Attack damage increased by 175%. Range: 35 meters. Cost: 0 mana. CD: Depends on mana consumption. "Hmm, I still have 5 skill points left. Should I maximize it? Nah, I''m only getting a skill point every 5 levels. Who knows what skill I will get at level-200. Honestly, even if I use everything I have, I can hardly take out 8-9 million of its health, which clearly isn''t enough to defeat it. Sigh if only the legendary grade bow is unsealed" Looking at the Giant, which is attacking Garvin without caring about Gervas and Renart who are attacking it from either side, Wil mumbled, "With its heavy defense and only those gold grade weapons in their hands, this will be a long battle. After this battle, we have to go to the volcanic region and kill another one. It is obvious that I can''t stay that long. Should I suicide and resurrect at East Ocean city? Nah, if I do that, they''ll suspect me and report to the King just the same. I need her favorability to increase to become the Earl. How about a party wipe? Hmm, it''s a better way. But, to do that, Garvin must die. As long as the Guardian dies, it''ll be easy for the rest to follow." Wil then raised his bow and conjured a Fire arrow and aimed at its eyes. But, because of constant wobbling, the arrow missed the mark. Without giving up, he conjured a Fire arrow again and fired it again. It missed again as this time, the cobra bites Garvin while the latter reduced the damage as he defends with the Shield. "Hmm, I guess I should wait for the right time" 10 minutes later, as the cobra breathe out the fire with the intent of turning Garvin into ash, a smile appeared on Wil as he released a fire arrow and changed his target. It struck the Gem on the forehead and a light crack appeared on it. As the Cobra didn''t realize the damage, it continued to spew out the fire. Meanwhile, Wil quickly released another fire arrow and shot at it continuously 22 times until he saw the gem broke. *Hisssss." An angry hiss resounded in the entire forest as the flames turned greener. *Ding. Latzeis went into Berserk state. It''s attack increased by 100% This time, it didn''t focus on Garvin but instead to wipe out everyone, it started to spew out green flames all around. "Yes, this is it. But, this isn''t enough to wipe out the party. After all, everyone has level-200 epic grade armor, especially those two even have heavy armors. Let''s push into second Berserk state" Wil glanced at Garvin and others, "or maybe" Wil immediately used dash skill and dashed towards the enemy. Looking at his action, Garvin shouted while continue to defend against the green flames, "what the hell are you doing?" Wil replied, "Relax. I know what I''m doing. " After nearing to its eye, once again, he conjured a fire arrow and fired at one of its eyes while it was busy with spewing out fire crazily. Since he shot from a close range, the arrow struck the right eye accurately. *Hissss* *Ding. Latzeis went into the second Berserk state. It''s attack increased by 100% As one of its eyes got damaged, it once again got enraged. But, before any change happens, Wil took out the Book of Destiny from the inventory and used the Absolute freeze skill that was recorded on the first page. Looking at the frozen snake, as everyone was taken aback by the sudden change, Wil shouted after putting away the Book of Destiny, "I used a special scroll that I bought for 200 gold coins. It''ll be frozen for the next 5 minutes. C''mon, don''t waste time. Let''s go all out and kill it before the effects go off." Chapter 63: Return Looking at the Tome that disappeared as Wil put away the Book of Destiny; everyone believed that it was indeed a special scroll. Still, they were skeptical about the time limit as they never heard of such an overpowered skill. After all, even their Lord Raziel wasn''t capable of it. So, they just thought that either Wil was probably got scammed by someone or he was pulling their leg. That''s why, even though they continued to attack the frozen enemy, they weren''t reckless about their attacks. But, as more than 20 seconds passed, they started to believe that whatever Wil said might be true. After it crossed the 30-second mark, their attacks started to become a bit reckless while keeping their mana in check. After another 15 seconds passed, their trust in Wil further increased, and attacked the snake with their strongest skills but how could''ve they guessed that after mere 5 seconds, the freezing effect will disappear all of a sudden as if it doesn''t exist and thereby freeing the Cobra. "F*** Didn''t you say it would last 5 minutes? Athelard, quickly, use area-wide heal." "Uhh I can''t right now" replied Athelard after realizing there wasn''t enough mana to use it. "Run and stay away from its range," shouted Garvin as he jumped aside. But, it was already too late as the Green flames turned into Blue and engulfed them. The blue flames quickly burned all the things present within a 50-meter radius. Not even fruits that were hung so high were spared. Wil, who already removed his equipment, stopped flying and embraced the fire to die a quick death. East Ocean City; As Wil resurrected at the resurrection point, he immediately checked the party and saw they haven''t died yet but still, close. After equipping himself again, Wil walked towards the teleportation point that''s in the same temple and teleported to Capital city after paying a gold coin as a fee. Looking at the party, he smiled, "okay. Everyone wiped out and we returned. Too bad, I fell to Level-149 but anyway, I can level up at any time. It isn''t a big deal." After getting out of the temple, Wil chose a remote location and used Resurrection skill to revive the dead Royal-Knights. As the four Royal-Knights appeared, they were taken aback to find themselves alive. "We are alive?" "It looks like the capital city" "Maybe, it''s an afterlife" "The last thing I remember that we were burned by Blue Flames" "It''s all his fault." *Cough* Cough* "This isn''t the afterlife. You are all alive," said Wil while they were busy discussing. Only then, they realized the presence of Wil behind them. Garvin almost took out his weapon, "you because of you" Wil interrupted him with a sigh, "I can''t believe I got scammed. I apologize for the mistake." Renart, the nice guy, waved his hand, "it''s fine. We are also careless. By the way, how do we come back from the dead?" Wil bitterly smiled, "I bought a resurrection scroll from an acquaintance. That''s 500 gold coins. I guess I made a lot of loss." Upon hearing it, the NPCs didn''t comment on it and stayed silent. Looking at their reaction, Wil thought, "good. With this, I''ll have no problems with the King." As he guessed, after reaching the palace, they recounted the whole story while leaving out his mistake. *Ding. You successfully completed the Quest. *Ding. King''s favorability increased by 10 Wil removed the epic grade light armor on him and handed it to a soldier before her, showing that he returned the equipment. "Good. Viscount Time Traveler, as I promised, you''ll receive your 10% share of the resources and will be given the priority to pick any one item of all the things that were brought by the army from the hidden realm. Until then, you are a guest of the royal family." Wil bowed lightly, "thank you, your majesty." Then, she spoke, "I''m mobilizing the Royal Legion 1st squad. Summon General Gerrad here. He''ll lead the" Just then, Raziel stroked his beard and interrupted, "Your majesty, I''ll lead it personally." "Eh?" Upon hearing him, not only Mirella but also the rest of the ministers were surprised as they heard Raziel himself is taking the charge. "Lord Raziel, You are the guardian of our kingdom. I don''t think it is right to leave his highness alone. Moreover, you can''t forget your oath to leave his highness," Duke Nukegan stood up and refuted. "How dare you talk to Lord Raziel like that in front of me, Duke Nukegan," growled Mirella. Realizing his mistake, Nukegan hurriedly bowed, "I apologize for my rude behavior, your majesty. I''m just worried about your safety." "Considering you are my maternal uncle, I''ll forgive you. But, if you speak about Lord Raziel like that next time, don''t blame for being ruthless." After warning the Duke, Mirella turned towards Raziel who was lost in thoughts and asked, "There''s a look of concern on your face. Is it really serious?" Raziel replied, "A deep abyss that can block the light exists in the realm where there is no possibility of even forming a mere shade. I''m just curious to see what lies inside of it." "It''s a Level-200 legendary grade monster but not my problem. So, I''ll keep my mouth shut," thought Wil as he silently stood. After realizing the king didn''t have any interest to have a conversation, Wil excused himself and he was brought to a guest room. After confirming that it was the same room, not the special room that gives free exp, Wil immediately logged out and returned to the real world. As Wil stepped out the capsule, he saw another capsule installed in the corner of the room while clearing out everything else. "Hmm, looks like he bought it." After sending him the text that he''s leaving, Wil left Aster''s home and started driving towards his apartment. 15 minutes later, he reached home. After brushing and bathing, Wil went to the 9th floor and pressed the doorbell. "Hey, Wil. You are early?" Cericia opened the door and was surprised to see Wil in front of her. He casually replied, "Well, I skipped the last class. So, I returned 10 minutes ago." Without thinking much, he entered the flat while Cericia''s expression darkened for some reason. As he saw Walter was sitting in the living room and reading a book, Wil greeted him respectfully. Walter nodded indifferently, "it''s a good thing you didn''t let us wait for too long." Closing the book, he continued, "Let''s go." "Ah, wait for me, Dad. I''ll go and change my dress. Just 5 minutes." "But, the dress??" By the time Wil finished the sentence "is good too," Cericia rushed into her room and closed it. Walter sighed as he shook his head silently. 5 minutes later, she opened the door and immediately asked Wil, "Is this good?" Looking at her one-piece blue dress, Wil replied with a nod, "You look stunning." A smile appeared on her as she grabbed Wil''s arm, "Let''s go?" At first, they went to a high-class restaurant to have lunch. After that, Silver took them to the Leafway Sky tower, a 173-floor attraction that has a lot of visitors. After looking at the city from the observatory deck, they went to the city center that''s famous for Shopping malls. By the time, Cericia has done with her shopping, it already became evening and they had dinner outside. Because Walter is in a hurry, Wil didn''t take them to downtown where the famous Manchong street is located. After having dinner, they went straight to Airport to drop Walter. Looking at her, Walter spoke sternly, "Cherry, I''ll return in a week. Behave yourself." Then, he turned his gaze towards Wil and spoke softly, "I leave my daughter in your care. Look after her well." Wil nodded with a smile, "you don''t need to worry about her security, Mr. Rodin. AT the very least, you can trust Silver''s capabilities." Walter smiled and turned around. Just then, Cericia, who is grabbing his arm with her left hand and waving to her father happily, removed her hands off him and spoke coldly, "Williard, you can go back. I''ll have some drinks and return later." Wil suddenly turned towards her with a frown, realizing her change of attitude. Feeling his gaze, She turned her head and looked at him, "What? My dad is gone. Are you expecting me to act clingy and sweet even now?" Chapter 64: Resistance *Pfft* "Hahaha" Wil broke out into laughter all of a sudden and clapped twice, attracting the surroundings for a while. "Did he go crazy or something?" As Cericia looked at him with a doubtful gaze, Wil turned around and continued to laugh, "Silver, take her wherever she wants to go and protect her. I''ll take a taxi to go home." Wil left her alone at the airport with Silver while laughing. As he sat inside the cab, he looked outside and laughs for one last time before thinking, "I really feel like a fool to drop the exploration in the middle and gave importance to fake guests. Looks like I spent a million credits on that A-grade capsule for nothing. But, then again, it''s indeed a good thing. From now on, I don''t need to pretend to take care of her. Even if I don''t do anything, she''ll manage everything by herself. Not to mention, she doesn''t have any interest in marrying me. It''s just the thoughts of those two old men. Hmm, I''m suddenly craving for some takoyaki." "Uhh Excuse me, go to Manchong Street, please," spoke Wil to the taxi driver. "Huh?" the Driver looked at him, "but that''s far away." "So, are you out of petrol or something?" Wil suddenly dropped formalities and then said, "If I say to go, then, just go." The Driver replied calmly, "It''s already 8 p.m., now. I''ll be out of duty after 9, young man. It''ll take nearly two hours from here with traffic. And I need to return too" Wil replied, "Go to Manchong Street and then drop me at Sarton Street. I don''t lack Money but lack patience to look for another cab. I''ll pay you double the amount. If it isn''t enough, I''ll pay triple. Just go..." Thinking he is some rude rich kid who doesn''t like to listen and understand, the driver sighed, "it''s fine. I''ll charge the usual amount" and stepped on the accelerator. Three hours later, After eating full, Wil patted his stomach, "I should really say no matter how classy and expensive the dishes are at those high-class restaurants, they can''t give this kind of satisfaction these cheap street foods give." Meanwhile, the driver was talking to his daughter, "c''mon, baby. Dad will be late, tonight. Sleep, right now, okay. You have school tomorrow" After disconnecting the call, the driver sighed and let out a breath, "It''s cold. How long this kid will take to eat. Most of the shops are already closing" Then, he saw Wil was returning with five to six packages and a couple of Beer cans in hands. 75 minutes later, they reached Scarlet Apartments. Looking at the Apartments from outside the gate, the driver thought, "No wonder this rude kid was able to say so easily that he can pay double." After the cab stopped before C-block, Wil asked, "How much is it?" The Driver clicked a button and the number displayed on the screen. "398 Yuan" Wil spoke, "I''ll pay in credits. Tell me your bank acc number." "Ok, done." Looking at the message from the bank, the driver was taken aback, "Huh? Excuse me, young man; you paid Four hundred Yuan more. It''s only 2000 Credits. 1 Yuan is only 5 Credits." Wil stepped out of the cab, empty-handed, and replied with a smile, "Let''s think of it as an additional charge for driving in your off-duty time. Oh, by the way, there are food and drinks in the backseat. Consider it as a thank you treat from me." By the time driver came to his senses, Wil already entered the elevator and disappeared from his view. As soon as he entered the apartment, Wil directly went to his bedroom and collapsed on the bed without even removing the shoes. *** *Welcome to War Online* The next day, at 9:15 in the morning, Wil logged in the game and found himself in the same guest room of Imperial palace. As usual, after finding out Aster is online, he sent a message to him to hear the details of the things he missed out. Time Traveler: Aster, any news that I need to hear? Shadow Blade: Good morning, Young master; I apologize for not realizing that you are online. Time Traveler: It''s fine. Get to the details. Shadow Blade: Young master, first, our Silvershapers guild opened branches in three cities. Mountain Rock is thinking of opening them in all cities of the kingdom. For that, we need to buy another 100 gold. Shadow Blade: Secondly, because of that Lu Heibei''s bounty, I was being ambushed quite a few times but none was successful so far. Shadow Blade: And, of the nine guilds that broke alliance with us unofficially, two of them contacted me as if there''s nothing wrong but the remaining seven combined with another two guilds that we rejected, formed an alliance named Resistance after the Kingdom rankings were refreshed. The name is directly opposite to our own eight guild alliance, "the Imperials." Shadow Blade: This means, they are formally challenging our authority. It won''t be long before huge-scale clashes will happen in the wild zones between the guilds. Reading the messages, Wil mumbled, "our alliance even have a name? The name''s indeed domineering. I did expect another faction to rise but didn''t expect they did decide to go against me. I don''t like having enemy rivals that meddle in my business." Then, he sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: Who is the leader of this Resistance? Shadow Blade: According to our spies, there''s no one yet but I heard the one who gathered everyone is Little Seven, the leader of Redwings. Shadow Blade: Oh, by the way, this isn''t too important but you need to hear. Someone bought all the land available in the city. Their identity is unknown. But, Dreamwalkers'' branch manager texted Mountain Rock that he was willing to lend 5 plots as a proof of friendship. "I see They were the ones who took the remaining lands and stores." Time Traveler: Tell them we are thankful but we don''t need their help. That unknown guy who bought everything is your Young master. Tell Mountain Rock that everything will be solved in a couple of days. Be silent for the next few days. Aster was taken aback in a surprise after reading the message. He smiled as he thought, "Young master is always one step ahead." While Wil was busy conversing with Aster, the door was knocked *Ding. A messenger is asking your permission to enter. As Wil pressed Ok, a soldier entered his room and greeted him with a bow, "Greetings Lord Viscount. You were summoned by Lord Raziel." Wil nodded and followed him while wondering why. As he was taken to an inner palace, Wil saw there were a lot of Royal-Knights of which the lowest is level-200. As he entered Raziel''s room, he saw there''s a high-level General standing before him. Gerrad Beves Level: 297 Description: A general of Llyne Kingdom. He was born a commoner and has a hardworking personality. He hates Nobles. Not much info was given about him and Wil wouldn''t care even if he has a background story as his entire attention is on this Archangel before him. Looking at him, Raziel spoke, "I will come to the matter directly. I heard you caught a pet inside the hidden realm. Can I see it?" "Eh? Strix?" Chapter 65: Intruder in the room Upon hearing that Archangel Raziel was interested in his pet, Wil took a step back in a surprise. "Lord Raziel, may I know the reason?" A frown appeared on Gerrad, "Don''t you know who he is? Do you think just because you are a Noble and a guest, you can question him? Let me remind you that even the King rarely questions Lord Raziel''s decisions." Upon hearing this noble hater''s reply, Wil immediately dropped his politeness and replied indifferently, "Strix isn''t a property of the Kingdom. It''s mine. Even the King has to answer my question for me to bring it out." "You" Stroking his beard, Raziel interrupted, "pride of an immortal. It''s not that I mind it. Anyway, I''m heading to the hidden realm. I heard that you scouted the realm through your pet. I just want to confirm a few things." Wil nodded, "fine." As he summoned Strix, it immediately buzzed around his ear as a way of asking what his order is. Wil pointed Raziel and said, "He wants to talk to you." As Strix looked at him curiously, Raziel''s eyes turned to gold in color, and observed the yellow furred palm-sized bee very intently for half a minute before retracting his gaze away from it, "okay, you can send him back." Wil nodded and gave a pat on Strix before sending it back to pet inventory. While Gerrad is in awe, Raziel asked, "Do you know what I just did?" Wil replied, "Eyes of God, eyes that can see everything. You probably want to confirm whether my scouting report is right or not." "There''s indeed something special about you that I can''t see through. I don''t know how you know that name but anyway, I just want to see whether it managed to take a glimpse at the deep abyss. Too bad, it didn''t go near to it. On the other hand, that thing in the desert is indeed interesting." Lord Raziel directly didn''t mention the word Ruins that weren''t mentioned in the report but Wil was sure that the interesting thing was indeed the Ruins. Still, he stayed silent as if he doesn''t know what Lord Raziel is talking about. As the matter is over, Lord Raziel summoned a soldier and said to him, "Take our guest to the Royal guest rooms." Then he turned to Wil, "Viscount Time Traveler, he''ll show your new room. Consider it as compensation." "I bet it will be a special room with buffs." Wil bowed, "thank you, Lord Raziel." After exiting the room, the soldier took him further deep inside the palace on the 2nd floor, and respectfully said as he opened the door for him, "Lord Viscount, we are here." As soon as he stepped inside the large room, Wil smelled a nice aroma followed by a notification. *Ding. You entered a no-combat area. Your abilities are restricted. *Ding. You entered the Royal guest room. You receive 100 Exp every second. "Cool. 100 Exp per second. 10 times more than what VIP rooms in a standard inn offer." After a while, two maids entered the chamber with drinks to serve him but Wil rejected the service as he is someone who can''t handle alcohol even if he reduced the effect to 10%. It isn''t important that he can''t handle alcohol. The problem is that he''ll turn into a street fighter after that and won''t even remember the things he''ll do by the time he wakes up. It''s the reason why he developed the habit of eating ice cream, which reduced his feelings of wanting to drink. Sending them away, Wil continued to lie on the bed and browsing the forums while enjoying the free exp. Six hours later, *Ding. You leveled up to 150. Wil smiled as he recovered his lost exp just by lying on the bed, "I really love free exp. Hmm, it''s almost 3:30. Should I leave or stay until Raziel returns? After all, I need more than 9 million exp to level up now. I would need to lie all day to level up. Nah, let''s just continue to lie. Why waste free exp It''s not like I have some important things to do." After lying on the bed for so long, Wil slowly drifted into sleep. Meanwhile, the entire Capital city was in chaos as General Gerrad was leading the 1st squad of Royal Legion, a hundred member army to outside the city followed by Archangel Raziel, who was able to fly inside the city, even though it was restricted. The guilds went into a heavy discussion as they believed this must be an event but since there isn''t any announcement from the system, the large guilds only deployed messengers to follow them from far while small guilds sent teams and as usual, normal players who were curious all followed them since they weren''t being warned. Nine hours later, Wil woke up and stretched his body, "what a good sleep. Let''s see how much of the exp bar is filled" EXP: 3,251,025/9,060,000 "One-third, huh. I can earn more experience by clearing level-100 Dungeons in this period though. Still, I prefer this one since I don''t need to do anything. Ugh there are no televisions here. I can''t read anything but forum from the game. I''m suddenly feeling bored... Just then, his door opened on its own lightly and closed in a fraction of second without any sound. *Ding. Someone entered the room without permission. Because it''s a no combat room, where all mana is restricted, Wil knew that he wouldn''t receive damage even if someone attacks him. So, he confidently called out loudly. "Who is it? I know you just snuck in here. Come out or else..." "Shhh" A person in a hood and robes appeared stood before his bed. Wil immediately stepped down from the bed and quickly moved the curtain on the window as the room was filled with darkness. As the Moonlight entered the room and filled with dim light, the person before him removed the hood and revealed a familiar face. Looking at the woman before him, Wil was stunned on the spot and pinched himself to make sure he wasn''t dreaming. "Your Majesty?" It was none other than Mirella, the current King of the Llyne kingdom. If it wasn''t for the presence of blood on her face, Wil would have thought she came to visit him. "What''s going on? How come" "Shh" Mirella put a finger on her lips and then whispered, "Don''t misunderstand Time Traveler, I''m" Just then, someone knocked on the door twice. *Ding. A soldier wishes to enter the room. Mirella quickly put on the hood again and quickly hid in the wardrobe. With confusion on his face, Wil opened the door and saw there a couple of soldiers outside of his room. "What is it?" enquired Wil. A soldier replied, "Sorry for the disturbance but there''s an intruder in the palace, Lord Viscount. A general and his two subordinates were killed. Lock the doors tightly and be careful. If you spot him, please don''t engage and focus on running. Don''t forget to shout for help if needed." Wil nodded and yawned as if he was in sleep, "I''m an immortal. Why would I fear death? But, anyway, thanks for the reminder." Realizing the point, the soldier apologized once again and went away. After sending them away, as Wil closed the door and locked it from inside, Mirella stepped out. "Thanks." *Ding. Your favorability with King Mirella raised by 10 A smile appeared on Wil as he replied, "no problem, your majesty. If you don''t mind me asking" Mirella interrupted, "whether I was the intruder or not, right? Yeah, I killed those traitors. Who knew I would be spotted after killing him. Sigh" Then, she looked into his eyes and asked, "It''s a long story. Do you have time to listen?" Chapter 66: Mirella Llyne part-1 "It''s a long story. Do you have time to listen to it?" Wil eyes lit up, "Yes, a background story of the king. One should never miss this kind of event because it''ll always end with a quest." He dragged a chair and gestured her to take the seat, "please." As she sat on the chair, Wil just stood before her respectfully. Looking at him, she pointed at the bed indifferently, "Don''t be too formal. You can sit there." "Thank you." As Wil quickly sat on the bed freely, Mirella said, "The story starts 5 years before my birth. 33 years ago" Suddenly, everything around him changed. Wil found himself in the middle of the Courtroom in the form of a spectator while he can no longer hear Mirella''s voice. "Unskippable story mode, huh Let''s record it for now." In the courtroom, Wil saw a middle-aged man with grey streaks of hair and beard sitting on the throne. Beside him, there was an empty seat that belongs to the Guardian of the Kingdom, Archangel Raziel. All the ministers were different from the present day except for Duke Nukegan, the son of the prime minister and the brother-in-law of the king. "Your majesty, it''s been a month and yet, there is no sight of our Royal Legion''s second squad. I believe they were already dead. I request you to release and bring back Lord Raziel. Only he can solve the issue," spoke prime minister. Upon hearing his suggestion, the King growled in anger, "Prime Minister Aedan, if you aren''t my father-in-law, I would have punished you to death for speaking that murderer''s name." "But, we don''t have any choice. That monster destroyed three villages. We lost three hundred of our elite soldiers. Currently, there aren''t any movements from the monster. But, what if it starts moving again? I request you to think the people of our kingdom just one more time," pleaded Aedan. "Ok, fair enough. Then, let me ask all of my ministers that are sitting here before me. Tell me. Is it ok for you to put your life on a traitor who killed the entire royal family including my father, your previous King?" As the silence ensued in the hall, the King continued to ask loudly, "tell me. Is it ok for you to put your life on a creature that isn''t even human? Tell me. Are we that weak that we have to forgive a criminal just because they will be useful?" As everyone still stayed silent, King looked at the prime minister, "I''m sorry but I''m not willing to put my trust in him just because our kingdom faces danger. I''ll put down the monster by myself." Looking at the scene, Wil frowned, "Hmm, Raziel destroyed the Royal family? That''s new. Guardians are restricted by their oath. Hmm, unless they became harmful to their own kingdom, after all, their oath is to protect the Kingdom/city, not their rulers." The scene around him changed. This time, Wil is in the middle of a red desert. There are the King and five hundred elite soldiers. The least of them is around level-300 and the King himself is a level-396 warrior. Before them, stood an extremely beautiful woman in green robes but the only issue here is that she isn''t quite human. There are green wings on her back that are shaped like a fan. Looking at her, Wil was stunned as her looks were quite similar to Mirella, except that she has a flat chest. "A Dragon? Does that mean Mirella isn''t a human but a half-dragon? Interesting," Wil continued to watch as the plot continued. The battle started between the Royal-Knights lead by the King and Level-300 legendary grade Dragon before them. 2 days of battle went in a fast forward and ended in an hour. And the result is 356 casualties while the Dragon fainted with heavy injuries. As Wil expected, The King who was attracted by her beauty captured her instead of killing her. The scene changed to the underground prison. Wil saw the King entered the jail and looked at her, whose wings were cleanly cut off while she looked normal without any injuries, "it''s been 5 months since we last meet at the battlefield. This is the Black Citadel Penitentiary. It was built by our Ancestors to hold monsters like you. Your abilities are restricted as long as you are here. Therefore, you have no chance of escape. I''ll make you pay for all the killings you have done." She growled, "you humans are the ones who broke our agreement and entered my territory. Hmpf, don''t act as if you are victims. You greedy humans always coveted our dead bodies and make weapons out of them. You already lost your chance. No matter what, I won''t ever release my true body and let you take advantage of it." The scene changed once again. Wil was still standing in the same cell. The only that''s different was that King sat beside her and she leaned her head onto his shoulder while he was talking about outside affairs to her. A few minutes later, the scene changed to a different time where King was holding the Dragon''s hand with a smile as her belly bulged a little. Then, the scene changed to the Court. Duke Nukegan was congratulating the King with a smile, "Congratulations, your majesty. Looks like the medicine truly worked. At long last, our Kingdom will have an heir within a year." The King smiled in happiness. The scene changed to the Queen''s room. The King''s expression doesn''t look good as the Queen died during childbirth and an unhealthy baby girl was born. Once again, the scene changed to the cell. The Dragon was caressing her one-year-old baby with a smile while the latter was sleeping peacefully. Just then, the King entered the cell with a darkened expression. Before she was about to greet him, the King spoke seriously, "give me the baby. She''ll grow in the palace from now onwards." As the Dragon was startled by his tone and expression, she didn''t believe his words, "Your majesty? Why?" Hearing her response, the King frowned, "what do you mean, why. Don''t you want my daughter to grow as a princess?" "Tell me the truth, your majesty. If you wanted her to grow up like that, you won''t wait until a year passed. Did the news leak about us and you want to hide her? No, don''t tell me, you want to kill our daughter" The King growled, "Shut up your nonsense. Hand over my daughter, right now." As the scene changed once again, Wil let out a curse, "F*** If you want to show me the story, then give me some clarity. Don''t cut the scenes as you wish, System" Wil was standing in a private training ground. The King was beating down an eleven-year-old Mirella in a spar. As she was down once again, the King spoke coldly, "stand up, Mirella. The burden of the entire Kingdom will be on your shoulders in the future. From now onwards, you should stop thinking that you are a girl and never shed a tear. If you ever lose to a man, it must be because he''s skilled than you, not because your physic is weaker." "How the f*** did that Princess died? Since she was born unhealthy, maybe her condition worsened as she grows up and eventually died? Anyway, it''s not important. What important is the Dragon... What happened to her birth mother? Is she still alive? Ugh Half infos are the worst." Chapter 67: Mirella Llyne part-2 In the story scene mode, Wil continued to watch while recording it automatically in the background just in case. Mirella is now 15 years old. Even though her body is well developed, there wasn''t any trace of feminity in either her face or body language. Even hair is short, although this didn''t let males getting attracted to her. The weird thing is that even straight females can''t help but gaze at her as she was walking through the door and stopped before King while holding the helmet in her arms. One can say, she has the natural charm that can attract anyone, a trait that was passed down from her mother. Bowing to her father, Mirella spoke, "Your majesty, our squad has successfully subjugated the leaders of the rebels that were burning the fields of our farmers for the past three months." The King nod with a smile, "Yeah, I heard of your feats before you even arrived at the capital. Not everyone can fight those five rebel leaders at your age. You didn''t give up even after getting heavily injured. Good job, Mirella. You are fierce and strong just like your mother. Here is the reward for your success." A frown appeared on Nukegan upon hearing the King''s comment. The scene changed to a private room where Nukegan was chatting with his father, Aedan. "Did you hear what Byron commented today? Mirella is fierce like her mother. Everyone knows my late sister is a bloody coward. She fears even a small lizard. I wonder what''s wrong with him." Aedan replied, "You are complaining too much about him these days. Isn''t he praising our Lessie? What''s wrong with that?" "What I''m dissatisfied with is that little girl. Hmpf, at this rate, Byron will sure let her sit on the throne as the King. He already decreed everyone to call her as the Crown prince. I just can''t accept a girl sitting on the throne. Don''t you want your grandson to sit on the throne? He had a chance of becoming the King, you know." Upon hearing him, Aedan frowned, "Whether it''s a King or a Queen, prince or princess, its Byron''s right to decide the fate of Mirella. I''m warning you. Don''t dare to think of any funny business behind my back." The scene changed to another room where Mirella is fighting an assassin in the middle of the night. "Who sent you?" asked Mirella coldly after defeating him. The assassin immediately took out a small flask and crushed it. A poisonous gas spread around the room and he died on the spot while Mirella fainted. The scene once again changed to the private conversation of father and son. Aedan grabbed Nukegan''s collar with a fury, "are you the one who did it?" Nukegan asked with an expectation, "did she die?" Aedan slapped him on the cheek furiously, "how dare you send an assassin to harm your own niece? Mirella is still unconscious. Pray that my grand-daughter will wake up. If she doesn''t, I swear, I''ll be the one who will send you to Black Citadel and imprison you for eternity." As Aedan left in a fury, Nukegan frowned, "how''s that possible? She''s just a little girl. Why didn''t she die on the spot? According to that Master Alchemist, it was made from Sonebil''s blood. A powerful person like Byron can indeed resist that poisonous gas but even that little girl can resist it? Strange" The scene once again changed to King, who looks very weak as he stood before a cell. He spoke without entering, "As a King and a son, I still can''t forgive you for killing my family. But for the sake of my child, I''m releasing you from the imprisonment in exchange to protect my daughter." In reply, he heard a voice from inside, "Your majesty, I''m still bound by our oath of protecting the Kingdom. I can only keep my promise as long as she''s worthy." "Then, make an oath that you will guide and train the future generations. You make them sit on the throne only when you find them worthy of it." The scene once again changed to 18-year-old Mirella reading a letter from someone. "Hmm, what''s this? My father was poisoned? His death wasn''t because of the accumulation of heavy injuries? No name is being mentioned" *** The surroundings disappeared and Wil again saw Mirella sitting in the chair continuing to talk, "I still wasn''t able to find out who sent that anonymous letter ten years ago. I received letters for a while but it stopped once I became King. But, over the course of time, what I found that the mastermind behind my father''s death is Prime Minister Aedan and his son, Duke Nukegan. Naturally, Lord Raziel can easily find the truth but he refused to involve in Royal family matters. Not to mention, according to him, my late father wasn''t worthy to be a king. It seems 65 years ago, my father was only spared because he was a kid. So, I can''t depend on him either." Suddenly, her expression changed. Wil clearly saw so much of hatefulness as she continues to speak, "One day, I''ll remove everyone that''s involved in my father''s death." Wil then asked, "what about your biological mother?" "Oh, her? Lord Raziel said he freed her long ago. Not sure about her whereabouts. Anyway, it doesn''t matter." "If you knew they are culprits, then, why not punish them directly?" Wil then continued before she replied to his question, "I see. There are no definite proofs." Mirella nodded, "and if I corner them, then, they would rebel. They have a lot of authority and support in the palace. If the news about my birth will be revealed, then, even Lord Raziel can''t stop me from being dethroned. I need to kill all of them silently not only because of revenge but also to protect the throne so that it won''t fall in the wrong hands." *Ding. Help the King in the quest of her revenge Description: The King has enemies in and outside of the palace. Help her killing the members on the list. Prime Minister Aedan, Duke Nukegan, Grand Duchess Rikilda, Earl Umphrey, Countess Christaire, General Adinet, General Gawyne, General Godelot, General Issat, Viscount Godefray, Viscount Serle, and Viscount Jehanson. Reward: Depends on the enemy killed. The higher the position, the greater the rewards. "F*** there''s a prime minister, a Duke, the only Grand Duchess, two Earls, four Generals, and three Viscounts. Earls usually serve as Mayors. So, I have to take down two cities. Viscounts control the NPC towns. So, that''s another three towns. They aren''t much of a problem. But, Generals? That too, four of them? Each one can command at least a hundred elite soldiers. No, even if I try to ambush him alone, still he''ll be nearly level-300. For a level-150 guy like me, it''s impossible. That Duke can be managed but Grand Duchess... it''ll be very tough. Ugh this quest is very dangerous and will take a long time. But, helping her will solidify my position in the Kingdom. Let''s just help her for now. When the time''s right" After accepting the quest, Wil spoke, "Your majesty, I may not be of much help to you, right now. But, I''ll try my best to help you take your revenge in the future in my own way." Mirella smiled, "thank you. I hope you''ll be able to do that, one day." *Ding. Your favorability with King increased by 10 *Ding. King''s favorability reached 70. You met the requirements of upgrading your nobility. *Ding. Do you want to upgrade your nobility badge and rise to Earl? Chapter 68: Kings Medallion Looking at the notifications, Wil was stunned on the spot as he didn''t expect favorability rise by another 10 after hearing the story and reach 70 so quickly. Only then did he remember that King''s favorability rose by 10 when he first became Viscount. "Hmm, that''s right. I see King''s favorability starts at 30. I thought it would start at 0 since the King has the highest authority. Come to think of it, I never got the chance to interact with a King before in my past life. Bran is always the player''s representative in all wars and meetings. With this, now, I''ll be the player''s representative for the Llyne Kingdom in the upcoming war. Nah, I shouldn''t be careless. There are eight more players who killed Cerberus and obtained an audience with the King. Anyone who has a chance to meet the King might turn into a competitor. Nevertheless, I''m the one in lead." "Time Traveler, Hello" As Wil came to his senses, he apologized to which Mirella asked, "Where are you so lost in thoughts? You aren''t responding for a while." Wil replied, "It''s nothing, Your Majesty. I was just thinking about how to complete my mission. Even though I cannot help you in assassinating your enemies, I can help with finding out the identity of the one who sent you the letters before you become the king. I have a lot of friends who are very intelligent. They can deduce it once they hear the whole thing. If you can show me those letters, I can copy them and find out their identity. You can at least find out who your ally is. Not to mention, they know the complete truth and maybe, even a witness. They are probably hiding in fear." Mirella thought for a while and said, "Hmm... what you said might be right. After I became King, I''m more restricted and monitored except during sleep time. Maybe that''s why that person stopped contacting me. Here, take this" She suddenly took out a medallion that was hanging around her neck and handed it to Wil, "this medallion is a symbol of Royalty. With this, you can not only enter the palace and request an audience with me; you can even command a few Royal Knights and soldiers and will be treated as a member of the Royal family in the entire Kingdom. You can also protect yourself from danger. Honestly, the reason I''m giving you this medallion is because of Lord Raziel. In the past ten years, I have never seen someone he evaluated very highly. He said the fate of mine and Kingdom is tied with you. As for the details, he didn''t say anything and told me he didn''t know anything else. That''s why; I trust you with this. I hope you won''t misuse it to commit crimes and go against the laws of the Kingdom. If you do, then, I''ll show how you terrifying a King''s wrath can be" Ignoring her warning at the end, Wil curiously inspected it as soon as he took it from her hand. King''s Medallion Owner: Mirella Llyne Grade: Legendary Description: The medallion of the King. All members of the Royal family possess this medallion. Even an outsider is treated as a Royalty anywhere in the Kingdom as long as one shows it. Effects: Access to Imperial palace of Llyne Kingdom. You can command 50 Royal Knights or soldiers with a maximum of 100 levels above you. You cannot command a General or a soldier who outranks you in nobility. 50% discount on all purchases in NPC stores across the kingdom of Llyne. Doesn''t stack with the same effects. Access to the Royal treasury. You can rent the weapons from the Royal treasury and by exchanging with fame. Access to Black Citadel. Access to Royal Library. Access to the Royal guest room. You can rent any Auction house and Battle Arena in the Kingdom once every week for free. Skills: Teleportation: You can teleport from any place within the Kingdom to anywhere in the Kingdom of Llyne at any time as long as you visit the place once. You cannot teleport to the Imperial palace and no combat zones. CD: 12 hours. Barrier: Release an invincible barrier that blocks all types of attacks for 30 seconds. Ineffective against a player''s attack. CD: 10 hours Wil inwardly gasped in a surprise, "This What a stroke of luck." He stood up and bowed as a part of etiquette, "I''m honored, Your Majesty. I''ll not let you down." As the sun began to rise, Mirella also stood up and walked to the door. Then, she pressed her ears on to it and listened for a while. With her superior dragon senses, Wil knew Mirella was able to hear across the corridor. So, he stayed silent. After a while, She looked at him and said, "no one is outside. I''m returning." As Wil nodded, Mirella pulled the hood over her and opened the door silently and then, quickly disappeared from his view. Wil didn''t care much about whether she''ll get caught again or not as he was extremely delighted while gripping the item in his hands. "With this, everything becomes easy. I wonder whether Bran also enjoyed such privileges back then. No, he would still enjoy such privileges even now. But, it doesn''t matter. Sooner or later, I''ll make sure the Reverie Kingdom will be destroyed. Only that way, Bran and his guild''s development will be slowed down. Before that, there''s an even more important mission. I should stop dad''s assassination. Only 11 days left." Wil smiled as he thought, "It''s as if the heavens are helping me even outside the game. Or else, of all people, why would Silver be here? After this is over, I should discuss checking the transactions with him. Oh, but first things first" Keeping the medallion in the inventory, he took out the Silver nobility badge. Then, he received a notification once again. *Ding. Requirements are met. You can upgrade to Earl. As soon as pressed on accept, the Silver nobility badge turned to Gold color and he received a bunch of notifications. *Ding. Congratulations, your status rose to Earl. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the first player from the Llyne Kingdom to become an Earl. You received 1000 Fame and 10 Gold as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the first player in the Xynnar Continent to become an Earl. You received 2000 Fame and 30 Gold as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the third player in the world to become an Earl. You received 2000 Fame and 30 Gold as a reward. *Ding. You are summoned by the King. *Ding. As an Earl, You''ll be given a few plots of land and a Mansion to live. Go to the Imperial palace and receive your reward from the King. "How the f*** there are two more people who became Earls before me? It''s only been 10 days since the release. Must be a legend class user for sure. At the very least, I''m satisfied that Bran''s progress is behind me." Nobility Badge Grade: Gold Description: The badge that represents the nobility status in the Kingdom. Effects: 50% Discount of all purchases in East Ocean City. 30% Discount of all purchases in the Llyne Kingdom. You can hire guardians 75 levels above your level for a maximum of 200 in number from all the cities and towns of Llyne Kingdom. "Oh boy. Looks like they tone down the power of Earl too, during the first major update. It used to be 150 levels above. I guess I''m already making changes in the game from the past. But, then, again, with King''s Medallion in my hand, it''s not much use to me other than having numbers. That''s also good when taking down the city." Without having anything else to do, Wil just sat down on the bed again and continued to enjoy the free exp. Two hours later, Wil was laughing as he was reading an exciting verbal fight against Imperials and Resistance. No, it''s more like between the supporters of either of them. Just then, he received a private message from Snow Dew, interrupting his entertainment. Snow Dew: Big Brother Time Traveler, need help right now. Wil was startled at first as it''s been a while since he had any contact with the father and daughter pair. The last time was when both of them joined the guild and Flame Emperor handed his share of corrupted gold coins. Since it''s the first time they took an initiative to ask help, Wil quickly responded while wondering whether it''s an ambush from Resistance. Time Traveler: Right now? What happened? Chapter 69: Invitation to Lunch As Wil started to think whether the Resistance finally decided to take action and ambushed Flame Emperor and Snow Dew, he received a quick reply. Snow Dew: A level -130 Heroic wild boss got mutated in the middle of battle. It only has 12% HP left. Not sure, we can hold out for a very long time. "Oh, it''s just a monster, huh. If it''s a level-130 mob and is mutated, then its maximum HP will increase to 36 million, the same as a level-160 Heroic mob. The same goes for its abilities. No wonder, they are asking help. If both of them died and no one attacks in 30 minutes, then, it will reset." Time Traveler: I''m currently stuck here. So, I can''t come but I''ll send Remia and other guardians as your back up. Send me the coordinates. And only focus on defense and dodging. Nothing else * Using the contracts, Wil sent the message to Remia and the other four guards to go to the coordinates he received from Snow Dew. After the matter is done, Wil continued to read the arguments between both sides. Soon, he got bored with it. So, he changed to Kingdom forums where all the players of Llyne Kingdom can read and post. This section was mostly filled with players who belong to the capital city. Everyone was having a discussion about the unofficial event that a hundred member NPC army were on some kind of expedition in the new wild zone. Although a lot of players started following them, because of their low level, they weren''t able to follow for too long as the Army didn''t have any intentions of helping them out. Some players tried to force them to fend off the monsters that were attacking them but they were killed by NPCs along with the monsters. After that, many of them backed off while only a few skilled assassins were able to follow them successively until the end. As for Angel race players, none were able to follow them from the sky before the presence of monsters flying in the sky in all range of altitudes. Meanwhile, only Rigel thought the matter might have something to do with Wil as it isn''t a coincidence that he went into the palace two days ago. Then, became number one in Kingdom rankings after going into the new wild zone with ten NPCs. Now, just one day later, the King sent an army to a level-200 zone. After thinking for a long time, Rigel put aside the humiliation he faced and tried to contact Time Traveler for another friendly discussion. But, he didn''t expect that Aster and most of the boys in Scarlet were offline and taking a break upon Wil''s order. As for contacting Mountain Rock or Fiery Snake, it''s useless since they never contacted their boss directly. Aster was the mediator between Wil and everyone. Without any other way, Rigel once again decided to consult his leader. After another 8 and a half hours passed, Wil finally heard notification sound while he glowed for a second. *Ding. You leveled up. "Finally..." Wil sighed, "It took almost an entire day for me to level up once." Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. He unlocked the door and opened to a soldier standing outside. "Yes?" He said, "Lord Time Traveler, You are being summoned by his majesty." "The soldiers returned already?" thought Wil, "it shouldn''t be this fast, right?" Wil said, "Sure, let''s go." "Um forgive me for asking. Will you go dining room like this?" said the messenger. "Eh? Dining room?" Wil was taken aback in a surprise upon hearing that he was being summoned to the dining room instead of the Courtroom. With uncertainty in his tone, he asked, "Is his majesty summoned me to have lunch with him?" The messenger nodded, "yes." Wil then said, "okay... Give me 5 minutes. I''ll change and come." After closing and locking the door, Wil removed the equipment and changed the clothes after picking a luxurious looking one from the wardrobe as he didn''t need to wash up or brush because the player''s body is always fresh. Looking in the mirror, Wil examined himself, "Hmm, I look very ordinary. As if I don''t suit these clothes. Should I have not adjusted my face and body during the character creation? No, that was necessary since my face might give away the relation between Scarlet Security and Vulture group. This face should represent the Young master of Scarlet because my real face already represents the young master of the Vulture group. Since both faces look only a little bit similar while body structure and age is different, most people will think I might be a cousin of myself instead of thinking that I adjusted my appearance. Why? Because no young master of a Giant corporation would do that. Even if they do, they''ll adjust it to become more handsome." Looking at the mirror one more time, Wil commented, "Let''s just avoid mirrors here. Yeah, let''s do that." Reaching the dining room with the messenger, Wil saw a long table that has at least a hundred chairs. There are more than fifty dishes that spread all over from one end to another end of the table and twenty servants on standby while another twenty servants keep on bringing the dishes and arranging them on the table. There isn''t a feast or anything. All of this is arranged for one person that is sitting at the end of the table. No, two persons because Mirella suddenly decided to invite Wil while she was waiting. Looking at him, Mirella smiled, "you came. Come, join me for lunch." Wil thanked her and sit at the other end of the table just like how he used to eat with his dad at his home. *** Meanwhile, at a certain convenience store, a female sat before Min while there is a closed sign outside. As she tried to convince him, Min replied with a stern tone, "I''m sorry. But, I''m a lone wolf. I''ll remain as a mercenary no matter what. I won''t join a guild not now, not ever. Please, you can leave" The young woman smiled as she stood up, "what''s the hurry. You can think of our offer slowly. We''ll meet tomorrow again." "Whatever," snorted Min as he gestured her to get out. As she exited the store and sat in the cab, she dialed a number, "Hello, Alex." "Baby, I''m in a dungeon, right now. Just hold on for a while." A few minutes later, "Ok, tell me. Did you persuade Death King?" She replied with a darkened expression, "No. It looks like Min is adamant about staying as a mercenary." "How about offer him double?" suggested Alex. The girl replied, "I already did that. He refused to budge even when I tripled our offer. C''mon. How can someone reject a salary of Three hundred thousand dollars per month? That''s three million credits. Even my dad only had an annual salary of two million dollars." Alex then joked, "Maybe, you should try seducing him." The girl then replied with a flirtatious tone, "Hmm, that''s not a bad idea. He looks cute. Totally my type." "Hey" shouted Alex. "Hahaha, someone sure is jealous out there," The girl laughed and then said, "I''m just kidding. Jokes apart, I have another way to subdue him. I can use my dad''s influence and arrest him. After booking him in several pending cases and putting him in jail, maybe, he''ll listen?" "First of all, don''t try to ruin someone''s life just because they don''t listen to you. He isn''t even our enemy. And secondly, Cherry, you are the daughter of a police chief, not some Mafia King. If things get out, you''ll drag down your father''s reputation. Eastern Continent is different from here. Don''t ever do that" "Mafia?" The girl''s eyes lit up, "Hey, I got another idea. Don''t worry. He''ll voluntarily join our guild." Chapter 70: Book of Alchemy Since a player practically has an infinite amount of capacity to eat, Wil was able to try every dish that servants cooked. To not embarrass Mirella, Wil just tasted each dish like a noble, instead of wolfing down even though he felt they taste more amazing than real-life food in a high-class restaurant. Looking at his table manners, a smile appeared on Mirella and Wil received a notification. *Ding. King liked your table manners. Your favourability with Mirella increased by 2. "This... Even this will increase the favourability? I guess I should thank Storm for that for teaching me from young." After finishing their meal in silence, Wil stood up and bowed, "I''ll excuse myself, your majesty." Mirella then said, "No, wait for a second." As Wil looked at her curiously, Mirella clapped twice and all servants started leaving the room. Even the guards left the dining room and closed the door while standing outside. Meanwhile, Wil''s thoughts went haywire as Mirella started to walk towards him slowly, "damn, the way she walks is damn sexy. Maybe, she fancies me? You fool Just look at your face and level. There''s nothing about you that can attract her aside from these wings. Ugh do those developers have to create such a figure and even give a passive charm skill? Anyway, it''s a fact a romance between NPC and players is forbidden. Hmm, still, one can marry an NPC even if they can''t kiss or do other stuff. As long as they reach certain conditions, one can even marry a high ranking noble or their daughter to gain nobility but each condition is different. I remember a player named Zack even was managed to woo a princess of one kingdom in the South Zalfari continent and attained prince status. But, that''s after the second or third major update." "Hello Time Traveler Hello" By the time Wil came out of his thoughts, he saw Mirella was standing right before him and waving her hand with papers before his face. "Ah, I apologize, Your Majesty." Mirella sighed, "Seems like you have this habit of losing in thoughts. Anyway, here take these." Wil saw a stack of parchments in her other hand as she was handing to him. Just then, Wil received a notification. *Ding. You received a Quest Description: Investigate the identity of the hidden ally of King after reading the letters. Rewards: 5 million Exp, 500 fame, 10 Gold Failure: Favorability with Mirella drop by 5 "This is one generous reward. I guess cracking it might be hard." "I don''t need you to return them. Everything in there is already in my memory. I hope you''ll be able to find out something with your connections that I failed to solve. Since you gave me hope, I expect you''ll not disappoint me." Wil put the quest item in his inventory and replied, "I''ll try my best to finish it." Mirella then said, "Ok, you can leave." Wil turned around and walked away leaving her alone in the dining room. After exiting the room, he saw the messenger was still waiting patiently to escort him back to his room. While they were on the way, Wil suddenly stopped as he thought of something, "Can you take me to the library?" "Royal Library? I''m afraid we can''t. It is only available for royalty. Outsiders aren''t allowed there," replied the messenger. Wil smiled, "don''t worry about it. Just take me there." "If you say so" The messenger changed the route and took him to the Royal Library while thinking, "Just because you are a guest of his majesty and ate lunch with her doesn''t mean you can do everything as you wish. You should learn your lesson for once, lowly immortal." Reaching the entrance, Wil saw there are two guards who are in level 260s. The messenger then said, "Lord Time Traveler, I''ll wait here." As Wil nodded and started walking towards the guards, the messenger sneered, "Let''s see how you will go past those two. I remember even a Duke was kicked out by them." Meanwhile, as Wil reached them, one of them spoke sternly, "Halt your steps, right there. This place is off-limits for you. Return." Before even two seconds passed, the messenger saw their guards'' legs started to shake as Wil took out some object with a thread hanging on either side and showed it to them. They hurriedly bowed and apologized at the same time before Wil entered the Library, stunning the messenger on spot. *Ding. You entered the Royal Library. You receive 20 Exp every second. *Ding. You entered a no-combat zone "Cool" *Whistle* Wil let out a whistle feeling the effects of free exp once again, "although, it''s five times lower, still, something is better than nothing." Unlike the city library, the Royal Library doesn''t have levels but is very large. It''s as big as the Courtroom and has thousands of books placed neatly. "Hmm, certainly, this place is better than that guest room. Even if I receive less exp, I won''t get bored. Although, I wonder whether I can find any high-level skills here" Just like he expected, after searching for an hour, he indeed found a bunch of skill books but alas, none of them suited him. Every skill book is related to sword techniques. Thinking that he won''t find what he wants, Wil took out one random book and dragged a chair and then sat on it as he flipped the page. After reading a few pages, Wil nodded in appreciation, "this is a good romantic-novel. What is its name by the way Oh, Devil and the princess. This title is very familiar. Ah, I remember it now. It''s Sierra''s favorite" Suddenly, Wil stopped and his face became dark as he threw the book away. "Of all the things, why do I have to pick out this trashy novel? Let''s read something else." Wil took another novel from the shelf, "Secrets of Queen Iseut?" After an hour, Wil was engrossed in reading the story of Queen Iseut, the only wife of the fourth King of Brinad, one of the Kingdoms in the Xynnar Continent. She is a nymphomaniac, who secretly slept with her father-in-law, her brother-in-law, her nephew, niece, and even her son-in-law. There are also others including a General and a Duchess. She was caught by the King when she was sleeping with a Royal Knight and his beautiful wife and was executed on the spot along with the Royal Knight. "What''s funny is that the wife of the Royal knight became Queen, at the end." After putting it back in the place, Wil searched for an adventure type of story this time but his eyes stopped moving as his gaze landed on a thick book. Royal Book of Alchemy Description: Contains the experiences and recipes invented by Hubertus Llyne, the only Grand Master Alchemist ever existed in 2000 years history of the Llyne Kingdom. Purchase: 5000 Fame "This Legacy of a grandmaster Hahaha, what a fortuitous encounter. If what I think is right, I can be Alchemist too." Since he had more than 20000 fame, Wil didn''t hesitate to spend it and purchased it. As soon as he did that, the book disappeared from the shelf and appeared in his inventory. Wil didn''t take the book out and calmly continued to inspect the books before taking out an adventure novel written by one of the retired Royal Knights about their King. Half an hour later, as Wil continued to read the book, he suddenly received a notification. *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside world. "Hmm, Silver?" Chapter 71: Cericia makes her move Looking at the familiar number, Wil thought, "Silver? I wonder what he wants to talk about" "Yes, Silver" "Hello, Young master. Thank god you are fine. I knocked on the door several times but you didn''t open. I was worried," said Silver. "I''m inside the game. If there''s nothing important, I''m disconnecting the call, right now." Silver immediately said, "Wait, Young master. Don''t disconnect. There''s something I need to report. Earlier, I was informed by Miss Rodin to threaten someone here." "Hmm, Cherry wants to threaten someone? Who is it?" asked Wil with a frown as he knew it was her first time visiting the city. It might not be possible to make enemies within a short time. "Someone named Chun Yongmin. She told me that he''s an owner of a small convenience store. Originally, I want to complete it as it wouldn''t take us long to subdue a mere shop keeper like him but I was present at the airport when Miss Rodin acted rudely towards the young master. After remembering that, I can''t help but" Wil smiled as he interrupted, "I know. And you did the right thing. Moreover, she isn''t my wife to order you guys as she wishes. Do one thing. Find out everything about this Chun Yongmin and what she wants from him. If you can''t find anything important, just tell her you''ll do the job after hearing the full details. Be adamant about it no matter what and tell her that it''s my order as a last resort in case she dares to flip out." "Ah, Yes" Silver was astonished upon hearing out Wil''s order. After disconnecting the call, Silver mumbled, "Young master is very different compared to a month ago. It''s as if he became mature after coming to this city and living on his own. Even at the airport, the young master I know will get angry feeling humiliation and immediately call his father and tell him about it. But, he just laughed as if he didn''t take it seriously and left the place. I should have a talk with Aster once and report to Lord Philip, later." *** One hour later, Wil''s reading was once again disrupted by Silver. Realizing that it was Silver, he quickly lifted the call, "Yes, Silver. What did you find?" Silver replied, "Young master, Chun Yongmin is the son of the owner of Wyoming Food mart. He is a classmate of Lee Jiwon, a tenant at our Scarlet apartments. He''s currently working as a part-timer there because his dad is in poor health. No criminal records or hidden background have been found yet. As for Miss Rodin, as you guessed, she instantly flipped out the moment I said I need to hear the details. She threatened me with Mr. Rodin and then, Lord Philip''s name and locked herself inside the apartment after finding I was still adamant about it. I apologize that I wasn''t able to get any information from her." "Oh, that part-timer?" Listening to him, Wil replied, "I know that guy. Don''t worry. We can find out in other ways. Tell our boys to keep an eye on him. If she''s the same girl as I knew 8 years ago, then, cops would arrest him for sure. If that ever happens, call me." "Yes, Young master" Silver once again fell into thoughts, "Is this even the Young master I knew? Just what happened in the past three weeks that he changed this much" Silver immediately dialed a number, "Hello, Aster. We need to meet, right away." *** Back to the palace, Wil stayed in the library until the evening before joining the dinner with Mirella on her orders. After finishing the dinner, he went straight to his room and sat on the bed before taking out three books from inventory. Putting aside the two skill books, Wil opened the Alchemy Book with an expectation. "What a f****** scam." His expectations filled face turned red and almost threw the book in anger. "I can''t believe I of all people got scammed by the system. There''s no f*****g legacy in it. I thought I can become an Alchemist while continuing to be an adventurer." Unlike what Wil expected, it is just a book that contained the experiences and recipes of a Grandmaster, who belongs to the royal family. Still, Wil at least thought of reading it once since he bought it with a large amount of fame. After reading it for an hour, the anger on his face already disappeared and was replaced with astonishment. "Damn, this is a needle in a haystack. Hahaha, I can''t believe I lucked it out." Even though there is no legacy, it contains lots of recipes of legendary grade potions and pills. That alone is enough to satisfy anyone. So, Wil no longer considered it was a scam and even thought of placing it in the Bank Vault. After carefully putting away the book in inventory, Wil then looked at the two skill books he purchased from the library with 1200 Fame and 3900 Fame respectively. Thus spending a total of 10100 fame and left with only 11100 fame, which he let the nobility badge consume thereby filling it up to almost half of it. "I still need 11900 fame to meet one of the requirements to become Marquis. I guess I''ll miss the achievement of being the first player but these two are also important. Can''t do anything about it." Blindness Description: Pull your enemy into your illusion of eternal darkness and blind your enemy. Cost: 2 Mana per second. CD: 1 hour Learn? "So at the maximum level, it costs 2 mana per second and has a cooldown of 1 hour huh. Even though it''s a great skill, it will work best with an Assassin''s hands. Let''s not learn and give it to Aster instead." After throwing it inside the inventory, he took the second skill book in his hands with a big smile. Arrow Shower Description: Shoot a magic energy Arrow into the sky and rain a shower of arrows upon the enemies in an area with 100 meters of the radius. Each arrow contains an attack power of a normal arrow. Cost: 3 mana per arrow. CD: 12 hours. Learn? Looking at the skill, Wil continued to smile, "With Gravity Suppression, I can make everyone kneel and then, rain arrows on them from the sky. How wonderful that combo is I really love AOE skills." He instantly learned the skill and the book disappeared. *** The crescent moon was covered by the clouds and complete darkness descended on to the world. Of course, this has nothing to with the players since its midnight, and half of them logged out as soon as it went dark while the other half are still leveling in the dungeons. Since players outside of the Aynor continent don''t have fire torches or knew the existence of night vision Skill, the large guilds came up with the strategy. They saved the five dungeon tries that are given per day until it gets almost dark. They go into the dungeon and level up until sunrise when the new day starts. Looking at them, free players and small guilds decided to follow their strategy, and eventually, it spread all over the world. Obviously, fights between the guilds can''t be stopped when one guild solely wants to occupy it and kick out others using an opportunity that the dungeon cave can only accommodate 200 people. Of course, this has nothing to do with Wil as he was happily sleeping on a comfy bed in the palace while still enjoying free exp. Suddenly, his beautiful dream was disrupted by a notification. *Ding. Someone is calling you from outside He looked at the number, "Silver, again? At this time?" "What is it?" "Young master, sorry for disturbing your sleep. But, it is an important matter. You are right about Miss Rodin. Police arrested Chun Yongmin at his house 15 minutes ago while claiming that they found drugs in his convenience store." Upon hearing it, a frown appeared on Wil and he sat up immediately, "I knew it. That b**** didn''t change one bit. It''s a planted evidence, isn''t it?" Silver replied, "Yes, there''s no doubt about it. Chun Yongmin''s official statement is that he was being framed. He''ll be tested for drugs tomorrow morning but it won''t be of any use since the Colonel here is saying there''s clear evidence. The poor guy still doesn''t know that Miss Rodin is the one behind it. But, we still don''t know why is she targetting him." Wil then asked, "what''s the statement of police?" "According to police, they raided the convenience store in the middle of the night after getting an anonymous tip. The statement says that 1 kg of stuff was being found in the storage room. He''s now being interrogated as a drug seller. What should I do now, Young Master? Should we save or leave him be?" said Silver. Chapter 72: Gains from the Realm of Light "Young Master, should I save him or leave him be?" Wil thought for a while and replied, "bail him out and get the details what feud Cericia has with him. Don''t divulge the relation between me and Cericia. Just tell him that I''m a friend of Lee Jiwon and saw coincidentally saw the arrest. Using our connections, we found the mastermind behind his arrest. Simple." "Understood, young master." 30 minutes later, Silver called him once again. "Is it done? Silver replied, "Yes, Young master. He just went home but the case looks strong. Honestly, I don''t think its worth to clash with the police over him. They haven''t informed the press too. I bet once he agrees to Miss Rodin''s demand, the case will be closed. I''m also worried about Miss Rodin''s reaction once she realizes Scarlet is involved." Wil then said, "It doesn''t matter. I want to know what Cericia''s demand is. Just tell me what you found." "Looks like Miss Rodin also play the same game young master plays daily. She wanted Chun Yongmin to join her organization. When he didn''t agree, I guess she wanted to use force to subdue him. It is a good tactic I should say" explained Silver. Upon hearing him Wil was taken aback, "just for this? Alright. I know how to deal with it. By the way, contact him again and find out her organization''s name and his in-game name." After disconnecting the call, Wil logged out immediately and dialed a number as soon as he stepped out of the capsule. "Hello, Williard?" "Hello, Uncle Walter. Sorry for disturbing you at this time," spoke Wil as if they are close. On the other side, while Walter was also taken aback upon hearing this changed tone of Wil, the latter continued, "there''s a situation here regarding Cherry." "What happened?" asked Walter as he quickly stepped down from the bed. "Ah, nothing happened to her, Uncle. She''s fine. It''s just she used your authority and arrested an acquaintance of mine in a drug bust over a petty feud inside a game. That guy is still a High school sophomore. Although I bailed him out, the case is still there." "What That little I''ll immediately enquire about it," growled Walter as he disconnected the call. 15 minutes later, while Cericia is busy cursing around Wil and throwing things away in anger, Wil received a call from Walter stating that everything is solved. After the matter is settled, Wil returned to the game and continued to sleep to enjoy his free exp. *** The next day afternoon, in the royal guestroom, Lord Raziel and General Gerrad were standing before Wil while the soldiers were carrying large pouches and put it on the floor. After they were done with it, Gerrad sent them away and said, "His majesty ordered me to hand over your share of the gains from the hidden realm. Excuse me" As he excused himself and left the room, Raziel took out a small pouch and spoke, "as his majesty promised, you can have any one of the items present in this storage bag." Instead of taking out the items one by one, the Archangel just poured all of them on to the floor as if they were just worthless items in his eyes. Hundreds of augment-stones, Hp and mana potions, a Heroic grade pet scroll, a Resurrection scroll, three skill books, and four level-200 epic grade equipment fell on the floor. But, nothing caught his eyes as his entire attention was on the last two items. Fragment of Light stone Grade: Heroic Description: One of the fragments of the stone of light. It can be used to purify any corrupted items under a legendary grade. Need 31 more to craft a Light stone. Light and Dark Boots Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Class: Anyone Hp: 3998750 Defense: 675333 ???? ???? ???? ???? Special skill: Every time you successfully dodge an attack, your movement speed increases by 20% for 5 seconds. Wil heart skipped a beat, "A legendary grade boots." After glancing at both of the items for a whole minute, Wil sighed "Damn, what a loss." He closed his eyes and picked up the glowing stone, "I''ll choose this stone, Lord Raziel." "Eh?" Raziel was clearly taken aback by his choice as he expected him to choose the legendary grade boots. But, he didn''t question Wil''s decision and waved his hand. All the items on the floor disappeared and went back into the storage bag. "Okay, now that my job is done, I''m leaving." Raziel then turned around and walked away while Wil bowed lightly and sent him away. After he exited from the room, Wil quickly locked it from inside before taking out a corrupted gold coin from his inventory without caring much about the seven large pouches on the floor. After placing a corrupted gold coin on the bed, he touched it with the stone on his hand. Suddenly, it glowed for a fraction of second before he received a notification. *Ding. You purified a corrupted gold coin. "Good. Now, let''s continue with the rest." He took out one of the pouches from the inventory and poured the coins from it on the bed. After spreading it evenly, Wil then started touching each one with the stone and purifying it while receiving continuous notifications. Two hours later, *Ding. You purified a corrupted gold coin. "Finally." Wil stretched his body as he added the final gold coin to his currency. Looking at the number of gold coins, a smile appeared on Wil, "with the addition of 3675 gold coins, I have 4355 in total. Now, let''s see my gains..." It was only after that, Wil opened the pouches to see his gains. The first pouch contained light fruits. He skipped it and threw it aside as he already knew about it''s effects. Then he opened the second pouch to find small crystals bright red in color emitting the heat. Fire Crystal Grade: Low Description: Crystals formed by the mixture of lava and volcanic rock over the years. Use it on equipment to increase their damage. Effect: +10% fire attack when used it on a weapon, +10% fire resistance when used it on other equipment. "only low grade? Ugh... Not much of use to me." Then, he threw the third and fourth pouches aside as they too contain low-grade fire crystals and light fruits. As he opened the fifth pouch, he saw fire crystals smaller in number but bigger in size. Fire Crystal Grade: Medium Description: Crystals formed by the mixture of lava and volcanic rock over the years. Use it on equipment to increase their damage. Effect: +50% fire attack when used it on a weapon, +50% fire resistance when used it on other equipment. The sixth pouches contain several medicinal flowers and three red loti while the last one contained normal gold coins. Fire Lotus Description: A lotus that was grown on a lava lake. Effect: Consume to gain 20% fire resistance permanently. Medicinal Flower Description: A material used for crafting potions. Then, he started counting all of them before placing them in the inventory. "296 Light fruits, 165 low-grade fire crystals, 18 Medium-grade fire crystals, 3 Fire lotus, wow... 126 medicinal plants and flowers. Oh... 135 gold coins, not bad. If only there are high-grade crystals... sigh... Now that I''m done with it, there''s only one thing left to do..." Wil left the room and started walking towards the Courtroom. As he reached the entrance, the guards who were on standby stopped him at first but then apologized and gave the way as soon as Wil took out the medallion. "Who could have guessed that there''s such kind of monster in the abyss. Your majesty, if not for Lord Raziel, there would have been many casualties." Wil saw Gerrad was in the middle of recounting the events that occurred in the hidden realm to Mirella while everyone was listening to him very intently. Curious as he is, Wil grabbed a chair and sat down in a corner in the residents'' section as he didn''t get to explore the Realm of Light. All of a sudden, Mirella called out, "Time Traveler? What are you doing there? Come forward." After getting spotted by the King, Wil stood up and walked towards Mirella while the entire audience turned their heads towards him. Wil bowed and greeted Mirella, "Greetings your majesty." After enquiring him, Wil took out his Gold nobility badge and said, "Previously, I forgot to report to your majesty about my promotion to Earl. I apologize for causing a disturbance." Upon hearing him, none of the ministers took the matter seriously as it''s mandatory for every Earl to report to the courtroom so that they can receive plots and a Mansion to live. Not to mention, this is the man who found the hidden realm. Except for a few who have displeasure written on their faces, the remaining just maintained silence waiting for their King''s response. Mirella waved her hand with a smile, "it''s fine. Since you have done a great service to the kingdom, I reward you with something good. I, Mirella Llyne, 632nd King of Llyne Kingdom hereby appoint you as the Mayor of Deloris town." "Eh? An NPC town? The f***" Chapter 73: Mayor of Deloris town part-1 "I, Mirella Llyne, 632nd King of the Kingdom of Llyne hereby appoint you as the Mayor of Deloris town." Upon hearing the verdict of the King, Wil was indeed taken aback as he was about to request to become the Mayor of East Ocean depending on their high favorability. But, he didn''t expect that Mirella just decided instead of asking whether he wishes to become the Mayor of a certain town or not. As she clapped once, a soldier entered the courtroom with a badge, land deed, and a key on a silver platter. As the soldier reached him, Mirella added, "You''ll be given 60000 square meters of land for personal use and a Mansion to live in." *Ding. You received a Quest. Description: The King has appointed you as the Mayor of Deloris town. Reward: 60000 square meters of land and a Mansion. Failure: King''s favorability decreases by 50. It was only after that, Wil sighed with a little relief as he accepted and completed the quest, "I knew this chic won''t disappoint me. 60000 sq meters is equivalent to 60 plots of land in East Ocean City. And if I consider the capital city, then, it is even 100 plots. Very generous. But, there are two issues here. One is NPC towns have no bank, no auction house, no battle arena, no port, no library, and very few restaurants, smithies, and labs. With a low player population, there is also no chance of profitable businesses. At least in the present situation. The second thing is that there''s a little security and the town is easily conquerable if it''s invaded by a huge army. Once the players'' level improved, those large guilds will set their eyes on conquering NPC towns to develop personal towns. Unlike a city where they need to be earl and need permission from the king to control it, an NPC town didn''t have too many restrictions. As long as they replace the vacant position with a Viscount Player, the palace won''t send an army to punish the players. If I have to cover all of these missing things, I need to spend my personal fortune to build them and hire guards. Huge expenditure but fewer returns But, even that isn''t even a problem. The problem is that I want East Ocean city, one of the three cities in this Kingdom with a port. If only Mirella asked me what I want as a reward Sigh" "Time Traveler, You are spacing out again" Mirella spoke suddenly and brought him back to his senses. Apologizing to her again, Wil took the three items and placed them in inventory before thanking Mirella as a part of courtesy. After staying in the courtroom for an hour and a half, Wil exited the place as Mirella announced the end of the day. As he decided to return to his city to carry out his next step, Wil waited for another hour in his room before he walked towards the King''s chamber to say goodbye as a part of etiquette since he was a guest of her. Of course, the real reason is to try his luck for one last time to see whether he can convince Mirella to let him become the Mayor of the East Ocean city. "Is there something you wish to say, Time Traveler?" asked Mirella as soon as he stepped inside her room. "Your majesty, Now that my business with the palace is finished, I''m returning to East Ocean city to tell the news to my friends," replied Wil. Mirella nodded and then said, "You must have been surprised to be appointed as a Mayor all of a sudden, aren''t you?" Just then, he received a notification. *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside world. "Cherry?" Looking at the number, Wil rejected the call instantly before replying to Mirella, "If I should be honest, my wish is to be the Mayor of East Ocean City someday." Understanding the meaning behind his words, Mirella just smiled and said, "Is that so? Hmm, you are an Earl and even a resident of East Ocean city. So, there''s nothing for you to be appointed as a Mayor of the city but Earl Ravus is an honest man and is very loyal to the Kingdom. There''s no reason that I can fire him or transfer him to a smaller town. Perhaps, if you managed to become a Marquis in the future, I may able to grant your wish. I''ll even make an exception for you and let you be the mayor of both of them. Contributions to the Kingdom are the right way to climb up the social ladder. So, work hard as the Mayor of Deloris town. I hope you will increase your social standing soon. The higher you climb, the more you can help me weed out my enemies. Good luck." Wil smiled as he bowed, "I understand, your majesty." After saying goodbye and leave the room, his smile froze, "damn if you can''t grant me East Ocean city, you should have left a route for me to have it in another way. Now, even if I wanted to, I can''t claim the city because I''m already a damn Mayor of another town. I won''t able to get recognition from the king even if I use force and becoming a Marquis isn''t easy. I already spent half of that fame on the alchemy book and those two skill books." Exiting the palace, Wil didn''t stay in the city much longer. He quickly reached the City temple and entered the teleportation formation. A map of the Kingdom that was divided into ten regions appeared before his eyes. Like every other Kingdom, each region/district has a city as its headquarters with two NPC towns and 30 beginner villages here and there near to them whereas the Capital district has Llyne city, four NPC towns, and 60 beginner villages around it. If one considers a kingdom is in the shape of a full moon, then a small crescent moon shape on the right is filled with the nine districts that contain the towns and cities while the remaining tenth region that almost covers 70% of the Kingdom is comprised of the new wild zone and the other locked wild zones. The perimeter of the outskirts will start with level 100-110 monsters and then their level increases in deeper regions filled with different landscapes. The same goes for the region where cities, towns, and beginner villages facing their level 21-100 wild zones. That''s how the map changed after the first update. Looking at the Deloris town, that''s pretty much near to the border of the country, Wil mumbled, "Since she promised that I can control Deloris town and East Ocean city once I become Marquis, then, let''s make it my administration capital and let the city be my commercial capital." Wil paid 2 gold coins and teleported to the town. *Ding. You entered Deloris town As he stepped outside of the temple, he saw there are a lot of residents roaming on the streets but wasn''t able to see a single player while he was on his way towards the Mayor''s mansion which led him to think whether there is even a player that changed their citizenship to this town. As he reached the mansion, he saw there is a middle-aged gatekeeper around his level at the gate guarding it even though there was no Mayor inside. As soon as he reached there, before they say dialogues like halt, stop right there or return, etc Wil immediately took out his mayor''s badge, which has a simple word Mayor of Deloris with winged Lion in the background. Chapter 74: Mayor of Deloris town part-2 As soon as Wil showed the badge to the gatekeeper, he was stunned at first and rubbed his eyes to see the badge again whether he was dreaming or not. After confirming it''s real, tears filled his eyes as he bowed to Wil. After a while, he calmed down and greeted Wil with a bow as he introduced himself, "My name is Borris, milord. I used to be the Steward of the mansion but now I''m currently working as the gatekeeper. Forgive me for the unsightly display. It''s been a very long time since we had a mayor. I thought his majesty had abandoned the people of the town." *Ding. Favorability with Borris increased by 20 As Wil unlocked the house with his key, he found the inside of the house, a bit old and dusty. Borris then said, "as you can see, it''s been 15 years since the last mayor used to live Just give me a day, milord. I''ll make the house as good as new and will hire the necessary staff for it." Wil nodded with understanding, "okay, now that I''m here, you don''t need to work as the gatekeeper anymore. You can continue to be the Steward of this mansion and hire two gatekeepers. Take this 100 gold for now and get to work." *Ding. You appointed Borris as Steward to your mansion. *Ding. Favorability with Borris increased by 10 Since hiring maids, cook, and gatekeepers for the Mansion has nothing to do with him as a Mayor, Wil had no choice to spend his personal amount. But, he didn''t flinch even a little bit and casually handed the amount as he was so rich that he doesn''t need to use his card to buy gold anymore for a while. After handing him the money, Wil then asked, "Where do I take charge as the Mayor, by the way?" Borris replied, "Actually, There''s a mayor''s office in the Town administration building, but since it is very small, the past mayor changed that last room on the left as his office. After cleaning is done, you can use it." "Okay, you can continue with your work while I''ll go and take charge right now." After leaving him, Wil walked towards the town center, where he saw there are all normal classes Association buildings, Adventure association, and Town Administration building and a fountain in the middle for attraction. He entered the administration building and saw elves as receptionists as usual. "Yes, what can I do for you?" asked an elf named Syvis. Unlike Melina and others in East Ocean City, the receptionists here are humble and asked him politely to which Wil smiled as he showed them his mayor badge, "I''m the new mayor of this city. Can you show me where my office is?" As soon as they heard him, the three elves stood up in a shock while Syvis uttered, "Ma yor? I apologize, Lord Mayor. Here, come this way" Wil reached the 3rd floor of the office and saw his cabin was indeed small as Borris mentioned. It''s the size of a small bedroom with a desk and chair. There''s a cupboard, and a wardrobe in the room but they are empty for now. It''s up to Wil to use them however he wishes. On the desk, there was a stamp that says Mayor of Deloris and has a dent on it in the shape of his Mayor''s badge as if someone crafted the desk that way so that Wil put the badge on it. "Lord Time Traveler, all you have to do is to put your badge on it and you will officially take charge of this town. And every day, you have to put the badge inside of it for attendance. Your daily work starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m." After giving her a simple nod, he put his badge inside it. The badge perfectly settled there in the space as he received a bunch of notification warnings. *Ding. Once you take charge of this town, your citizenship changes from East Ocean city to Deloris town. *Ding. Once you take charge of this town, you''ll be removed as the Guild leader of Scarlet and drop down to a normal member. An outsider can''t lead a Guild. *Confirm? As Wil already decided to bring the Scarlet guild to the town and let Silvershapers guild to develop in the city, Wil pressed confirm. *Ding. You are officially Mayor of Deloris town. *Ding. A mayor''s panel has been added to your character. Please check it out for details. *Ding. Residents need to know that a new mayor is in town. Do you want to make a system announcement in the town or region? "Hmm, if I consider the region Let''s see this corresponding town is Regmore and the city is Eldershore? Hahaha, is this so-called fate? White Tiger, now, you are really doomed for sure. Before your company collapse, I''ll kick you out from the city the second time." He immediately selected the second option and the system made an announcement all over the region. *Ding. Player Time Traveler is being appointed as the new mayor of the town. *Ding. Mayors Quests are opened. Residents of the town can now accept the quests issued by the mayor at Adventurer Association. Receiving the two consecutive system announcements, all the players who are currently present inside the city, the two towns, beginner villages, and those who were leveling in the wild zone were also shocked. Boomerang Guild residence; Boomerang is a level-96 Blademaster who left the capital city with his 235 guildmates and settled in Deloris town after suffering huge competition from other guilds over leveling spots. Because this is the northernmost region of the Kingdom and is in the border between two neighboring Kingdoms separated by a barrier, it was the last choice of all adventurers as many would consider it as a risk to develop here, thus resulted in only having a player population of mere 39000, if one excludes players from beginner villages and the people who already left. In comparison, one can say it is the same size as a top guild from the capital city. Still, since it was a small guild and won''t need much investment, Boomerang comfortably settled here coexisting with another small guild since there are no tensions of having guild branches in NPC towns because it would need a mayor''s permission unlike in the city. Other than having small issues regarding leveling spots with the Imperial guild and pinpoint guild from the neighboring city, they wouldn''t need to worry about anything as almost all of them are just college students and so are average-level casual gamers. As the rest of them went to dungeons and wild zone to level-up, Boomerang was storing the equipment in Guild storage. Just then, a system announcement has been made across the region. "What? Time Traveler came to this town? No, wait a second. He is a mayor? Hmm, as the resident of the town, I should at least congratulate him personally, right?" Not just him, similar reactions were seen everywhere in the region even if it was for a short time. After all, Time Traveler is the number one ranked player in the Kingdom. According to casual and average players, he''s the strongest player in the Llyne kingdom. While many players didn''t have much of a reaction other than getting shocked for a few seconds, the scene is entirely different in beginner villages. Because of the presence of Time Traveler, now, many beginners begin to consider moving into the town and hoping to have a chance of getting into his guild while the rest were skeptical about it as even a noob knows a city is better than a town. It''s not like they are in a real-world where one would need to pay food, rent, taxes, etc that they need to consider their budget and prefer towns. So, for a casual player, NPC towns aren''t much useful. And there is one more place that has a completely different atmosphere. Barren Lands, Level 95-100 zone; A group of 10 belonging to the Imperial guild was fighting the heroic boss Cerberus. Since most of their levels are in the late nineties and their leader is even higher than the boss, they easily overpowered it. Just when the boss entered a berserk stage in the last 1%, suddenly, everyone heard the system announcement. While the seven of them are also stunned for a second, a darkened expression appeared on the other two while the last one, their leader White Tiger roared, "Time Traveler, damn you" Chapter 75: Mayor of Deloris town part-3 As soon as White Tiger heard the notification regarding his arch-enemy, he dashed towards the three-headed dog in anger and madly attacked it with all of the skills without caring about anything. As he killed it and the drops fell on the ground, White Tiger thought, "Is this a coincidence or a planned strategy against me because I put a hefty bounty on him? Hmpf, this isn''t East Ocean city. I have taken over not only this city lead position but even the so-called also our rival, pinpoint guild with money. I even planted several subsidiary guilds in the city. Now, more than half of the players inside the city are actually under me. Let''s see what you can do this time. And, this time, I won''t foolishly raise the bounty on you. I know it''ll be useless because of your level. That''s why... I''ll wait wait until the average player level increases to 200. After that, neither the default guards hired by the system nor the ones you''ll hire for your protection will save you. Just you wait. I''ll demolish the city you''ll painstakingly develop before your eyes." Meanwhile, in the Mayor''s office, Wil took his seat after realizing the badge won''t budge until his working hours are done and sent a message to Aster after sending Syvis away. Time Traveler: Aster, we are shifting our base of operations to an NPC town named Deloris. I''m now the mayor of this town. Tell everyone in the guild to shift to this town. Our Scarlet guild will settle here permanently. As for Silvershapers, they''ll continue to develop in the city. Time Traveler: I''m sending you 500 gold coins. Silvershapers should be expanded into all other eight cities. Each branch manager will have the same salary as Fiery Snake. They should sign the contract in real life. Time Traveler: Let MountainRock take care of the selection and sign up process. After all, he is the guild leader. If there are any issues, you can help out but that''s it. You''ll stop involving in that guild''s business directly from now onwards. If he can''t do that and thinks he''s incapable, tell him to step down. We''ll choose someone else as the leader and make him a branch manager in another city. Time Traveler: Oh, by the way, tell Mountain Rock to make an application to open a guild branch here. And tell Flame Emperor and Snow Dew to contact me if they have any problems with my arrangements. After messaging him all the orders at once, Wil then opened the Mayor''s panel. Name: Time Traveler Nobility rank: Earl Designation: Mayor Place: Deloris town Free System announcements per day: 3 Deloris town statistics: Area: 15.02 square km Total number of residents: 3781 Number of native residents: 3258 Number of players: 523 Number of Guilds: Two Number of Associations: 9 Number of Stores: 8 Smithy: 2 Lab: 2 Restaurants: 5 Street Food Stalls: 26 Agricultural fields: 7895 Agriculture tax: 2% Commercial Tax: 15% Current tax rate per week: 52 gold, 36 Silver, 52 Copper Tax rate to the palace: 50% Current Funds: 83 gold, 12 Silver, 10 Copper "No wonder, the income is so low. It''s funny that there is a double number of agriculture fields than residents. Most of the town area is occupied by fields. What can I do with a mere 52 gold? It''s just 52 gold per week and in that, 26 gold will go to the palace. I don''t think it''s possible to develop this town with it. Oh, I guess, this is how I can give announcements huh" At the end of the panel, there''s an option of the announcement, which lets him make a system announcement inside the town or give a personal notification to the resident of the town whoever or wherever he might be. Once the free announcements were over, he had to pay 5 gold coins for every system announcement and 10 gold coins for every personal notification. After getting to know all the information about his town, Wil exited his office and came to the ground floor where he saw the only three employees of the Administration building were busy lazing around. As soon as they saw them, they stood up and greeted him formally since they didn''t have the time to do that before. As an elf named Cellica offered him a chair to take a seat, Wil smiled and waved his hand, "it''s fine. I''m here to enquire if there are available lands to buy. I''m an Earl, by the way." Wil showed them his nobility badge as above Earl, a player can buy the locked plots and even stores. Another elf replied quickly, "Absolutely, Mr. Mayor." A map of the town appeared before him as she started explaining, "As you can see, this is our town. Outside of this core region of the town, where residents live, the north and eastern regions are filled with entirely agriculture fields. The southern region is a way to go to other towns and cities. The western region has a total of 250 plots of which only these 25 are allowed to be bought. As an Earl of the Kingdom, you can buy 25 plots of the remaining 225. The plots cost 5 Gold each and for you, it''s 2 gold 50 silver. Oh, there are also 12 stores that are built inside the town which are currently empty. Others normally can only rent them for 1 Gold per week. As an Earl, you can buy such stores for 10 Gold. There''s no discount on this purchase. Wil smiled, "I''ll buy everything." "Everything?" The three of them were stunned on the spot as they didn''t expect it. They were astonished by the fact that their new Mayor is someone who had lots of gold. After all, to buy fifty lands and 12 stores, he had to pay more than 200 gold. As they were about to get a huge commission for selling the lands, which is greater than their salaries, they forgot a simple logic that the money he paid will end up in his own pocket at the end of the week. After all, Wil is the mayor of this town. But, even if they discover it in the future, they weren''t able to do anything as Wil was buying the lands officially and he''s an Earl while they are simple commoners who are working as civil servants. Before they get out of their shock, Wil took out the land deed he got from the King as a gift and showed it to them, "this is a deed of 60,000 sq.meters of land on my name. His majesty gave me the liberty of choosing the area. Considering the area of each plot is 1500 sq. meters in a town and I''m buying 25 of them, I''ll be taking all of this 97500 sq. meters of land in the restricted section and the other 25 plots of land that''s available. Bring the deeds of the fifty lands I showed you, 12 stores, and register this land deed in the reports. Here''s the money. Wil casually handed out a pouch containing 245 gold to Syvis while the youngest elf named Nuala hurriedly went to the 2nd floor to bring the stack of land deeds. As the process is going on, he received a message from Flame Emperor. Flame Emperor: I heard that you want to shift everyone to Deloris town? Do you know that the town the closest thing to the border? Once the barrier between the Kingdoms is lifted and incase, a war broke out, the town will be the first one to get destroyed. Time Traveler: Well, I have my plans for safety too. I took everything into consideration. Oh, by the way, I found the item that can purify the corrupted gold coins. Time Traveler: However, since I can''t implicate you to follow my decisions unconditionally, I will immediately purify the corrupted gold coins that you have with a 1500 gold commission if you want to leave the guild. Time Traveler: But, if you decide to remain, you will have freedom like before but you can''t question my decisions. Flame Emperor: 1500 coins? As I expected. You sure increased the amount you offered me last time as soon as you found the item. Time Traveler: Don''t get me wrong. I invested quite an amount to get the item very quickly. As you can see, it''s not even a week since we get our hands on the corrupted gold. So, what do you say? Will you follow me and risk it without asking any questions or will you pay the commission and return to being your former life? As he was waiting for the Flame Emperor''s answer, Wil received a system notification. *Ding. Someone from the outside world sent you a text. As he opened the notification, he saw it was from his old number. This time, she sent a threatening message. XXXX: Meet Cericia before tomorrow''s sunrise or else you will pay for it. Chapter 76: Flame Emperors choice XXXX: Meet Cericia before tomorrow''s sunrise or you will pay for it. "Huh? What''s with these childish threats? It was fine until last night. Did that old man''s brain got haywire or something? Or maybe, that b***h complained against me? No, it''s impossible. Unlike my dad, He''s a police chief. A person at that level won''t foolishly choose to believe their children''s lies. If I''m right, he''ll still be angry with her, right now. Even if he weren''t, at least he will be on my side. Not to mention, sending a message a second time will give away his identity. If that happens, how could he ensure the marriage if he threatens his potential son-in-law? There''s something wrong here. Wait a second. What if he doesn''t have anything to do with it? What if my mobile phone was never with him? What if" While he was in the middle of thinking, the elves brought the land deeds and handed over it to him. After the process is over, Wil went back to the Mayor''s office on the 3rd floor to wait for Flame Emperor, SnowDew, and others Meanwhile, he sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: Aster, do one thing for me. Call our branch office and ask them to track my old number, right now. I also want to know the locations of it during the past week along with call records. Shadow Blade: Understood, young master. Time Traveler: By the way, where are you? Why aren''t you here, yet? Shadow Blade: I''m on my way, Young master. I''m still inside the wild zone and trying to return to the city to teleport. Currently, I''m looking for a safe spot to log out and complete the Young master''s order. Time Traveler: Okay, text me when you arrive here. We can talk about my mobile phone details directly. While he was waiting for Aster''s report, Wil received a reply from Flame Emperor. Upon reading the message, Wil sighed, "I didn''t think this guy is so decisive. Well, if they are losing their opportunity, I can''t do anything about it." Flame Emperor: I''m sorry. I think we choose to be free again. Time Traveler: it''s alright. Everyone has their own paths to choose... You can teleport to Deloris town here. Then, come to the mayor''s office. It''s in Town''s administration building. Let''s finish our deal and done with it. At the same moment, he received a message from Snow Dew this time. Snow Dew: Big Brother Time Traveler, I''m not leaving the guild. "Eh? Snow Dew wants to stay?" Time Traveler: But, your dad just messaged me saying that both of you will leave the guild. Snow Dew: That''s his decision and this is mine. Unknowingly, a smile appeared on Wil as read the message, "This girl" *Ding. You stayed inside the game for 55 hours. We recommend you to log out soon. Wil ignored the warning from the S-grade capsule as he already decided to log out once his conversation with both of them over. Not to mention, how can he log out when his mayor''s badge was stuck inside the table, which can only happen once his working hours are over. And there''s still 75 minutes left for it. Time Traveler: How about this. Your dad is coming to Deloris town. Tag along with him. We''ll talk about the rest Snow Dew: Sure "Looks like this little girl grew up a bit" One hour later, Wil was standing before the window and looking outside, "tell me, now." Aster, who was standing beside him, replied, "Young Master, your mobile phone is actually in our apartment building all along. There are no additional call records from it except for sending the message to your new mobile twice." "So, the mobile phone is with Cherry, eh If that''s the case, she was also the one who send the death threat the first time. For an entire 2 hours, I was scared of my life and hid in a capsule. If I don''t teach her a lesson, I''ll change my name..." After calming himself, Wil looked at him, "okay, you disband the guild and go to the Adventurer association to form it again and invite me and others except for Flame Emperor and Snow Dew. Oh, and try to gather info about the Imperial guild and its allies. Since we became neighbors by coincidence; we might as well cut him down, right now. Just plant new spies in all in their enemy and ally guilds." Before he speaks further, Aster replied, "don''t worry about him, Young master. I have done that job, long ago. Lu Heibei thinks he captured this city with his subsidiary guilds but he doesn''t know that our spies were the ones that were gathering the members and increasing his guild strength for him. That''s how the Imperial guild became the number one guild in Eldershore city very quickly. The moment we take over the company, we''ll claim everything." "Wow, the way he brings out results is so scary indeed. Looks like I really underestimated his intelligence," Wil was stupefied on the spot and then smiled as he patted the shoulder, "well done Aster. Oh, by the way, this is for you" Wil then took out the skill book he saved for Aster and gave it to him. Looking at the illusion skill that can make the enemy go blind, Aster took a step back in a surprise, "this is amazing. Young master, I can''t take it. It''s too precious. Maybe, the young master should learn it." "When I giving you something, just take it, will ya Moreover, I don''t need it. It''s suitable for an Assassin like you. Practice the skill and master it. Now, go" Wil snorted as he folded his hands. Aster nodded and left the office with an excited expression after learning it. Gazing outside from the window, Wil mumbled, "Okay, the matter with Aster is done. Just when will these father and daughter arrive here?" *** Reverie Kingdom; In an illusionary realm, Bran was fighting against a level-100 legendary grade Giant Serpent creature. Unlike Wil, Bran was wearing his original equipment, full level-100 epic grade from top to bottom. Looking at the enemy that only has a few hundred thousand of health, Bran unleashed his strongest move, Sword of Zenon, a skill he bought in the first system auction. Sword of Zenon (Max) Description: Let the sword absorb the magic energy in the surroundings and strengthen itself. Your next attack deals the damage with 100 times your attack power. CD: 1 day. Cost: 100 mana. He motioned the long katana in his hand as he turned around 360 degrees for once and slashed the air. Magic energy in the surroundings started to envelop the long katana and became a Giant sword as it sliced the snake in half and ended the final wave. *Ding. You defeated Sapphire Grieve Viper *Ding. You completed all the waves. Panting heavily, he sat down on the ground, "Finally man it took me 60 hours to finish this trial. Fighting these legendary grade bosses one after another is really tiresome. I wonder how my real body is holding up." As he returned to the cave, the spirit of High-Elf Eden said with a smile, "well done, my successor. You had indeed exceeded my expectations. As a reward, I''ll give you two choices. Your first option is three unique skills of mine, one per each wave. Your second option is unsealing those two treasures of mine, right now. Make your choice." After thinking for a while, weighing out the pros and cons, Bran spoke, "I made my choice. I chose to unseal the mythic grade weapon and accessory." *** Deloris town; Before the town temple, Flame Emperor was speaking emotionally with Snow Dew, "my little snow, now that daddy will not be with you to protect you around, you should already be wary whether it''s the people or the monsters. Whenever you are confused about something, don''t hesitate to ask for help. I''ll come straight to you wherever you are and..." Meanwhile, Wil, who stood on the side started to grumble, "Do you need to be so dramatic about it? It''s not like you are leaving your daughter at her mother-in-law''s house. You''ll still see her every day at your home." Flame Emperor then patted Wil''s shoulder, "if things go wrong in the future, don''t forget that you have an ally in the capital." "Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up and get out of my town. I''m getting sick of this drama..." Wil sighed and gave a simple nod in return. Chapter 77: A talk with Silver After sending off Flame Emperor, Wil then turned to Snow Dew and said, "Since you made your choice, I''ll remind you once again. Here, everything I order had to be followed unconditionally. Unlike other guilds, we don''t level up together. Whether you level up on your own or party with strangers is your wish. Unless you are in serious trouble, you shouldn''t send a message asking for help. And If you really need help, don''t hesitate to ask in the guild and me. This is how you''ll become truly independent." Snow Dew smiled and bragged in response, "of course, I already know about that, Big Brother. Dad told me about it. Not to mention, I''m stronger than him, you know." "This girl" Wil shakes his head with a smile *** After his working hours are over, Wil logged out and stepped out of the capsule. One hour later, Wil was happily eating chow mein, a simple eastern continent''s dish as dinner while watching the news. *Ring* Ring* Looking at the number, Wil rejected the call and mumbled, "I don''t know what is that you want to talk about that you had to call me twice and sent a threatening message, but now that I know you are the one who dares to send me the death threat, do you still think I care what you want to talk about? Soon, you''ll know how deep I bore grudges. Oh, that''s right, I forgot to call Silver" Wil immediately dialed his number, "Hello, Silver." "Young master?" Wil then said, "Wherever you are, come to my home, ASAP. We need to talk." Within 15 minutes, Silver reached Wil''s apartment. Opening the door, Wil turn around and spoke while going into the kitchen to clean the dishes, "close it. And sit wherever you like." After a while, Wil sat before him and said, "I called you here for two things. First, Cericia. As you can see, Mr. Rodin left her in our protection. But, she was going here and there, causing unnecessary trouble. That''s why, from now onwards; she won''t step outside of her house. Appoint a female bodyguard for her. Whatever groceries or the female products she needed for the rest of the week will be handled by her. No matter what, she shouldn''t put a single step out of the house." "I absolutely agree with you, Young master. Looks like even Mr. Rodin thinks the same. Just today morning, He called me and said to house arrest her for a day." "Eh? Cericia is in house arrest?" Wil was clearly taken aback by Silver''s report. As Silver nodded in confirmation, Wil thought, "I see, that''s why she''s calling me, probably for either a truce or for a challenge." A grin appeared on Wil as he said, "good. Then, we shouldn''t disappoint Mr. Rodin. We''ll House arrest her for the next 3 days. First, deactivate my old SIM card. Then, take her mobile phone away and also wifi router and television from the apartment. If Mr. Rodin calls, then, tell him that I''m teaching my fiance a lesson by house arresting her for sending a death threat against me because I saved an innocent fellow. As for others, you can ignore or reject their calls Somehow, if any police dare on entering the compound with a search warrant with a stupid reason of her acquaintance making a complaint, warn them that they and their families will have to face the wrath of the Scarlet group. If some higher official contacts you, tell them they can contact her father for it." Looking into Silver''s eyes, he calmly raised three fingers, "Remember, Silver. For 3 days she should be out of contact with the world. In this day of age, even a day without the internet, mobile phone, and television will make one go crazy. I bet 3 days are enough to let her know that she can''t mess with anyone she wanted to." "Lord Louis?" Looking at Wil''s expression as he raised the fingers, Silver mumbled in a shock to see the old Mafia lord on Wil for a few seconds and similar words resounded in his ears from his memories, "Remember, Philip, Storm, and Silver. For 7 days He and his subordinates should be out of contact with the world. Let send the police department into chaos by making the rest of their higher officials disappeared. Killing them is easy but they should know that not even police chief can mess with Vulture group." * "Little kid is becoming more like his grandfather. I guess the change might have to do with him living independently. I wonder how Phil will take this news. After all, he doesn''t Sigh" Silver came back to his senses quickly and nodded, "yes, I understood. It shall be done. And what about the second thing?" Wil''s expression turned serious, "this is confidential. You are someone who is with him for almost thirty-five years. Everyone knows that you and Storm are practically like younger brothers to him. That''s why I can trust you with it. But, Dad must know what I''m about to say. Can you really keep it from him?" Silver frowned at first as he never kept a secret from Phil. Still, he nodded after deciding that he''ll think about it after hearing the news. Wil then said, "Within a week or two, there''ll be an attack on dad. Not just a simple ambush from the enemy but someone from inside. Dad ignores my warnings. So, I''m telling you to be careful." Silver frown became deeper as he asked, "What is your source? Is it credible?" If it were before, Silver wouldn''t have thought about it deeply as Wil was just a 19-year-old kid to him but after talking with Aster and seeing the changes in him personally, Silver decided to treat his words seriously. Wil replied, "I can''t reveal who it is but I''m also not sure about its credibility either. That''s why I want you to track all the accounts of our elites. No, not just their accounts; look into their family and relatives'' accounts and see if there''s a huge transaction near or over 100 million dollars happened in the past month or two or not. One must at least take that much money to try to assassinate someone like dad, right?" After listening to him patiently, Silver shook his head, "no, assassins can never take full payment upfront. It goes against our code. It always goes with 10-50% in advance and the rest after the job. That''s how it works. And, young master, you greatly underestimate the value of Lord Philip. Mafia Lord isn''t a title given to your dad by others but is a position given by all Mafia Dons to the leader of the strongest gang. Even though our Vulture group is no longer as dominating as when your grandfather is alive, still, the value of Lord Philip''s head is at least 10 billion dollars and can even go as high as 50 Billion dollars. So, we are always alert in each second. Even if it''s an advance, it''ll cross a billion dollars. One won''t be foolish to keep that much money in banks. Still, it doesn''t hurt to check them once. I''ll do as you said and inform you within three days." "Fi Fifty Fifty billion dollars?" Wil''s mind clearly was shaken by the shock. As he drank water and try to calm himself, Wil thought, "That means my life is even more in danger than I thought." Then he asked, "Then, what about me, Silver? If his enemies can pay that much money, then just to see him suffer, surely there must be a bounty on my head, right?" Chapter 78: Williard Smith? As Wil asked whether there was any bounty of him or not, Silver replied with a smile, "actually, Young Master doesn''t exist yet." "Huh? What does that mean?" Looking at Wil''s confused face, Silver gave a detailed explanation, "I''m not sure whether you are ready to know this or not. So, I''ll explain it to you on the surface. You see our Yarlford city doesn''t look as it seems. Before you arrive here, you saw that the guards inside the compound increased from usual 50-100 to three times, right?" As Wil nodded, Silver continued with his explanation, "that''s just for the sake of appearances. Our real security lies in our city, itself. Ever wondered why there isn''t an extremely low crime rate in our Yarlford city? Ever wondered why no one dared to even attempt to kidnap you much less an ambush even though you used to have little security? It''s not just because of Lord Philip''s name. We have eyes and ears on every inch in the city. Whether it''s the police, fireman, a simple IT employee, lawyer, doctor, teacher, or even a prostitute, etc we have people everywhere. One word from us, whether it''s the enemy in the street or a betrayer in the city can never escape out of the city. They can be killed by anyone at any time. That''s how your identity has been kept secret from the entire world. Of course, it''s inevitable that once you graduate from university and turn 21 years old, your identity will be revealed as Williard Smith Ah" Silver immediately shut up his mouth and became silent. "Huh? What did you say?" Wil looked at him with a frown. Silver coughed and tried to divert the topic, "anyway, Chun Yongmin''s father invited me to their house for dinner today. I will make sure to extract all the information from him this time, young master. If you''ll excuse me..." Just as he stood up, Wil spoke seriously, "I''m sure they won''t mind waiting 15 minutes more. Can you please get back to the topic? If I heard you correctly, you said my identity will be revealed as Williard Smith, not as Williard Ravens" Silver sighed, "Please don''t talk about this topic with your father. Lord Philip was the one who was supposed to tell you. As you already know your father wants you to take over as the new chairman of Scarlet group after your graduation. Who do you think is the old chairman? No, it''s accurate to say, chairwoman" "You mean" Silver nodded, "yes, your late mother, Scarlet Smith. So, to make your identity more secure, your surname will be changed to Smith. Even on your college graduation certificate, it''ll be written as Williard Smith. Once, you finish your graduation, you''ll be CEO as well as the chairman of the Scarlet group. I hope you will not talk about this until lord Philip talks with you. He''ll be angered if he knows I told you." Wil nodded in understanding and send Silver away. After he was alone once again, Wil lies down on the bed, "Sigh... what a fate. After dad died, I changed my identity to Williard Smith using mom''s surname but who could''ve guessed that I have to live with the same surname even if I didn''t run away. Then again, 50 Billion dollars bounty? That''s 500 Billion credits. Just how much money do these mafia groups have in secret, anyway? Even in 2025, the richest guy only has 182 Billion dollars worth of property. Well, I guess it is expected. It''s not hard-earned money anyway. After all, most of their money comes from casinos and the rest were the taxes these businessmen pay as a contribution. Hmm, casinos Now that I think about casinos, I have seen a couple of casinos in the game in my previous life. Should I build one at East Ocean city? But, it''s a risk though. Unlike in real life, the system doesn''t allow cheating and I might really face losses if someone hits a jackpot. Well, it''s worth trying though. If it doesn''t work, I can just demolish it and build another one. How about making a list and see what is left to do" He quickly sat on the bed and opened the laptop. Then, he started writing a checklist. Gaming Company: Done Silvershapers: Done Idol group and actors: Not yet Architects: Not yet Fashion Designers: Not yet East Ocean city: Not yet Investment in-game: Done Heibei Corporation: Not yet Saving Dad: Not yet Sierra: ??? As Wil realized what he has typed unknowingly while going with the flow, he immediately let his thoughts astray while the memory of a pretty girl appeared in his mind. "Thanks, Wil. Because of you, I completed my assignment in time" He quickly erased the word as he mumbled, "it''s already been 2 years since I last saw her and yet Sigh it''s really tough to forget your first love even if you went back in time. Forget it, I have already moved on. Anyway, let''s continue. Hmm, what else there is to do Nah, let''s stop here. There are too many things I have yet to finish. I can think of other goals after these. Let''s make a list of what to build in East Ocean City, instead. Let''s see... I have 53 plots of land. Each plot in the city is 1000 sq.m. So, that''s 53000 sq.m. I guess it''ll be more than enough. All I need to do is to find the best Architect to plan. Laboratory for Alchemists Smithies for Blacksmiths Restaurants with multiple kitchens for chefs Weapon store Potions store A separate store for materials like augment stones, scrolls, etc An entertainment agency for artists Work area for fashion designers Shopping mall Private Battle Arena Private Auction House Private Bank A high-class hotel with rooms having the same effects as royal guest rooms Private Library While writing a long list of what he planned to build, Wil yawned, "let''s just resume it tomorrow. We have a lot of time." He immediately closed the laptop and slept. The next day, at 8 a.m., Wil logged in. *Welcome to War Online* As soon as he logged in, Wil received a text from Aster. Shadow Blade: Young master, looks like guilds of "Resistance" somehow found about our move and decided to become more active. A big-scale fight just finished between Ouroboros and Paradise for the wild boss. Shadow Blade: Our allies are asking whether Scarlet left Imperials too and decided to settle elsewhere Reading the message from Aster, Wil sighed, "if only I became the Mayor of the city, I would have already kicked them out of the city by now. Well, let''s go with plan B, then." Time Traveler: Since they asked for it, then fine, we''ll go to war. Call everyone for a meeting in an hour. I''ll tell you about the meeting place in a few minutes. After sending a reply, Wil started walking towards his mansion to check whether the work is finished or not. Reaching the gate, Wil saw two gatekeepers around his level. As he took charge as the mayor, his appearance and name have been integrated into the minds of the native residents of the town i.e. NPCs. So, the gatekeepers quickly recognized him and greeted him before opening the gate without Wil having to show his mayor''s badge. Entering the compound, he saw a gardener planting the flowers. Ignoring him, Wil entered the Mansion and saw it was sparkly clean and everything is arranged properly. *Ding. You entered a no-combat zone. Wil bitterly smiled, "I guess even I can''t attack anyone in my house." As he glanced around, he mumbled, "strange. How come there''s no one here?" "Hello, anyone here?" As Wil spoke a bit loudly, suddenly, a servant wearing an apron and a chef hat rushed from the kitchen. As she hurriedly bowed, the lady spoke, "greetings master. My name is Ciara. I''m in charge of cooking. Is there anything you would like to eat to drink?" Wil replied, "Just any fruit juice would do. By the way, where is Borris?" Ciara replied, "He''s upstairs to check on Dessie. Uhh, she''s in charge of chores. It''s been more than one hour though." Just then, a notification sound rang in his ears. *Ding. Your servant Dessie and Steward Borris are missing *Ding. You received a Quest Description: As a part of her job, Dessie went to the 2nd floor to clean but failed to return. Steward Borris went to check up on her and he went missing too. Investigate the mystery. Reward: 10k exp, 12 silver. Accept? "Eh?" Chapter 79: World inside a portrait Looking at the sudden quest prompt, at first, Wil was excited that some terrifying being lives on the 2nd floor but then after looking at the rewards, a frown appeared on him, "only 10K exp, and 12 silver? Sigh do I have any choice my 100 gold is still with Borris, after all." He accepted the quest and said, "Ciara, in a couple of hours, there''ll be guests here. Will you alone be enough to cook for 10 people?" Ciara placed her arm with a fist on her chest and replied, "Leave everything to me, master. Borris already bought enough ingredients for the next week. So, we have plenty in the kitchen." Wil nodded, "okay, I''ll leave the menu to you, then. Get going." As she rushed back to the kitchen, Wil started walking towards upstairs while sending a message to Aster. Time Traveler: 2 hours. Our meeting will be scheduled in 2 hours at my mansion here at Deloris. And just in case, remind them that either only the Guild Leader or Vice guild leader can represent their guild in our meetings. Shadow Blade: Understood, young master. Reaching the first floor, he saw everything was perfectly cleaned and properly arranged too. He didn''t roam around and continue to climb the stairs. Wil frowned as he saw the corridor of the second floor is also the same, which means the servant cleaned it too. "But, the quest says they went missing here. Maybe, one of the rooms?" As soon as he saw the doors on either side, he realized the interior of the second floor is completely different from the first or ground floor. Perhaps, it is intended for guests. So, it looked more like an inn or a hotel. On a long corridor, there are six rooms on the right side and five on left, with doors closed. Wil opened the first door on the left and looked inside to see a perfectly cleaned room with a properly arranged bed, wardrobe, etc *Ding. You stepped inside Mayor''s guest room. You receive 20 exp for every second. A smile appeared on Wil, "cool. Not as good as Royal guest room but at twice effective than Vip rooms in an inn." The first room on the right was also in the same condition and quite identical to it. Wil started opening each door one by one and closing it after finding there''s nothing wrong. But, when he opened the fifth door on the left, he saw it was dusty and have spider webs here and there. Unlike the previous rooms, this one is also bigger than the rest. He stepped inside the room *Ding. You entered the Mayor''s room. You receive 30 exp for every second. There are no signs of two of them but as soon as he saw the cleaning equipment and a portrait on the wall, Wil immediately came into a conclusion. He walked towards the portrait and takes a closer look at it. It was a portrait of a pot-bellied fat middle-aged man with a bow in one hand while gazing at a dead lion below his feet. As soon as he inspected it, details appeared before him. Portrait of Brier Description: It is the portrait of Brier, who served as the 35th mayor of Deloris town. Since there wasn''t any other info, Wil frowned, "that''s it? It seems like this is a normal portrait but my intuition tells me that this is the source of trouble. Is it the spirit of Mayor haunting this room?" To test his theory, he spoke loudly, "wherever you are, come out and return my servants." But, there was no response to his words. "If you want to play hide and seek, then, suit yourself but this is my house now. Anything that is not related to me doesn''t have the right to stay here. Just like this portrait." Wil then walked a few steps and reached out for the portrait to throw it out. As soon as he touched it, suddenly, his surroundings changed to a cleaner room, and then, received a notification. *Ding. You entered an Illusionary realm Looking at the notification and his surroundings, his lips curled up, "now, this is interesting." An Illusionary realm is an illusion world created by the power of the mind. Its power depends on the user or the item that casts it. The more powerful the user or item, the more trouble it is to break. There are many types of Illusionary realms. Some have monsters inside it. Some have treasures while some have memories. But, there are common rules that all types of Illusionary realms will follow. One is that its power cannot be changed once it was cast and the caster can''t control it. Second is that once the defensive mechanisms disappear, the illusion realm will also be destroyed. Third and final rule is that everything inside is just an illusion. You can be trapped forever but cannot be killed. Even if someone died, they''ll just return to the real world. It was one of the ways to exit the illusionary realm, although, for some strong Illusionary realms, people will just resurrect instead and go through the same thing over and over again. The place Wil was in is actually the same room and same mansion. He instantly realized it''s the memory type. A relatively weak one that shows the memory of the person. "According to Borris, it''s been 15 years since the last mayor. So, I guess I''m at the same time period, right now. Maybe, both of them are also here. I need to find them first. But, before that" After Wil checked his skills and realized they weren''t in grey, a grin appeared on his face, "good, then let''s solve it in my style." He opened the door and exits the room and saw there''s an NPC at the end of the corridor who look like in a hurry for something. Before the other guy gets to ask who Wil is Wil raised his bow towards him and conjured a fire arrow. Before the NPC knows what''s going on, an arrow that made of fire struck in his throat and he fell on the floor. A clear amount of shock was seen from his lifeless eyes. Wil slowly walked as he took the bow in his hand and started to climb down the stairs without glancing at the dead body. Reaching the first floor, he walked towards one of the rooms but then, as he heard sounds coming from the ground floor, Wil turned around and continued to climb down the stairs. As he further went down to the ground floor, Wil found two level-100 soldiers are dragging away the Mayor while the latter is pleading. From the corner of the hall, he saw four servants are watching the scene. To his surprise, two of them were Dessie and Borris. *Ding. You found missing servants *Ding. You completed the quest. You received 10K EXP and 12 silver. Wil ignored it and put his entire attention is on the soldiers. As soon as they turned around, Wil thought it was a chance and without giving any warning, he conjured a big Fireball and threw at one of their backs. As it struck it one of the soldiers from behind, a crt appeared and he died on the spot while his body continued to burn for the next ten seconds. The Mayor and the other soldier jumped away in instinct after seeing him dead. "You two, what are you doing there. Come here. Let''s go back," As a cold tone resounded across the hall, "Master" both the servants cried out in excitement at the same time. Chapter 80: Mayors secret stash Following the voice, as the Mayor and a soldier saw a stranger aiming the bow towards them, the soldier spoke raising his guard up, "who are you? Are you interfering with his majesty''s decree?" Honestly, Wil can actually solve this by simply taking out his King''s medallion but he didn''t do so. Instead, he replied coldly, "If there are any soldiers waiting outside, call them now before you end up like him. If not, you are free to run away." As the soldier glanced at the charred body, he felt fear and shouted, "Soon, all of you will be hunted by the Kingdom" before trying to run away from there. Just when he ran two to three steps and almost reached the exit, suddenly, a huge pressure dawned upon everyone and all of them were forced to kneel on the floor. "Argh... What''s happening?" The soldier and mayor shouted at the same time as they felt something is pushing them on to the floor and they were helpless against it. While the low-level servants weren''t able to hold on and fainted right away, the soldier and the mayor were stuck on to the ground and struggled to move with everything they got. But, how can they rise... After all, it''s an absolute suppression. Glancing at Wil, Mayor Brier spoke with extreme difficulty, "please, he... help me..." Wil ignored his plea and looked at the soldier coldly, "you could have lived if you just run away silently. I don''t like threats you see, whether it''s a real one or an empty one. Now, you shall die with everyone" As the colors on Brier''s face was drained upon hearing Wil''s judgment, Wil''s words resounded the hall, "Heavenly push." As soon as he spoke his strongest move, the system asked how much mana he intends to put into the attack. Selecting mana as high as 50, Wil unleashed the attack and a huge gust of air erupted from his body in all sides pushing away everyone else away from him. After that Well, there''s no more after that. Everyone was dead including the mayor and his servants. Once again he found himself before the portrait. Borris and Dessie also returned to the real world, although Wil found them lying on the floor, instead. "Hmm, probably because they fainted even before they died." Turning his attention towards the portrait that was broken, Wil mumbled, "I don''t need to know your worthless story and the following quest. Even I know that Lions are considered scared inside this kingdom because it''s the symbol of the kingdom. That''s why there are no Lion beasts inside the wild zone or dungeons. Unless it''s corrupted, you cannot kill a Lion. And as a Mayor, you dared not only hunt it but also make a portrait out of it... You really deserve to be arrested." Then, he looked around the room to see if there are any other objects like these. He threw the portrait, clothes, and things on the floor as if he was searching for something. After throwing away all the clothes from the wardrobe, Wil finally found a palm-sized silver box embedded with gems on top. Oriole''s box Description: It was filled with money she saved secretly without telling her husband. As he tried to open it, the box opened easily, and found gold and silver coins inside of it. "Sigh... only 23 gold coins and 36 silver coins in total? I guess I expect too much money from these poor. Let''s hope, I find at least a decent amount in Mayor''s safe. Usually, every higher official of a kingdom is a corrupt one. But, the important question is where is it that he hid? It must be somewhere here..." After rummaging around all the room for 10 minutes, Wil finally gave up and decided to look elsewhere. Before leaving the room, he woke up Borris with a good slap on the cheek and ordered him to throw away everything inside the room and buy new things. Borris nodded dumbly while a nice red print is on his right cheek. It''s not because Wil lacked water to sprinkle to wake him up but when he saw both of them made him work hard to bring them out for a mere 12 silver, Wil flared up in anger for a second and thought he should at least gave a light punishment. Because the cleaner was a lady, he didn''t bring himself to slap her for such a little mistake. So, Borris took the slap instead. Leaving the lady in his care, Wil came downstairs and roamed the first floor, which has a mini library, although it is more like a couple of bookshelves with normal books; There is another bedroom that''s as big as the one from the second floor. Unlike the room on the second floor, it doesn''t give any exp. It''s just a normal bedroom with a king-size bed, a mirror, a bathroom, a wardrobe, and a couple of normal paintings on the wall. "Hmm, if they have a bedroom here, then, what was the box doing in that room? Did this guy steal it and hid it there or something?" Wil started to think while a frown appeared on his face. The first thing he did is to walk towards the wardrobe and search it. Just as he thought, he has found a huge safe in a hidden compartment inside the wardrobe. After clearing out the wardrobe, Wil looked at it closely and saw there''s a dent on it just like the table in the Mayor''s office. Upon inspecting it, he found Mayor''s safe Description: A safe of Mayor that is used to store the town funds and personal money. Current owner: Time Traveler "It looks like this isn''t a personal item of past mayor but an official Safe. Let''s open it and see if I can find something." As he inserted the mayor''s badge, he turned the handle and opened it to see a few documents on the top shelf. The middle row and the bottom row were filled with gold coins. "What the f***" While the middle row has a lot fewer gold coins, the bottom row is completely filled that more than 10 coins dropped on the floor the moment Wil opened the safe. Looking at gold coins, Wil cursed out, "you f*****g Mayor, just how much corrupted are you? The entire town tax only has a mere 26 gold per week after paying the contribution to the palace and yet, you amassed such a wealth" "Either way, I lucked out," Wil grinned and started collecting the gold dropped on the floor into his inventory. Just when he tried the same with the middle row, the number didn''t increase but a separate pouch has been created and occupied a space in the inventory. Wil was taken aback seeing the situation, "is this also corrupted gold or something?" As he inspected one of the coins, Wil didn''t found anything different. It''s just that all the coins he absorbed from the middle row were stored into a pouch while it was fine with the bottom row. After realizing that the number of coins in the pouch matches with the town funds that''s shown in the Mayor panel, Wil came to the conclusion that all the funds and tax will automatically get collected inside the safe and get stored in the middle row. As for the bottom row, it was past Mayor''s personal stash. After absorbing all the gold, he looked at the top of the inventory and gasped after seeing the number. Gold: 8156 Silver: 26 Copper: 59 Augment stones: 78 Inventory space: 126/5000 "Damn After spending 800 gold and getting 1500 gold from Flame Emperor, Originally I used to have around 5200 gold. Now, it''s 3000 gold further increase. If a mayor of a town has such a high amount, I wonder how much city mayor has and those Dukes and Duchess have in their vaults." "It really makes me wish to go on an expedition to conquer everything," Wil grinned as he takes a look at the documents on the top row. Wil didn''t touch the documents believing they are worthless after seeing a big X mark on all of them and closed the safe. "I guess the Kingdom took back all the lands he possessed after arresting him." 90 minutes later; In the dining room, along with Aster and Wil, nine members sat together while Ciara, Borris, and Dessie were bringing the dishes and placing them on to the table. After finishing the feast, Wil smiled, "as everyone knows, today''s agenda is about crushing Resistance. Let''s start it, shall we?" Chapter 81: Meeting of "Imperials" Deloris town; 30 minutes before the meeting, one by one, representatives from the seven guilds started to teleport to Deloris town. One of them is Scarlet''s biggest supporter, Evernight guild leader, Supreme Master who came to the town together with Justice League guild leader, Green Lantern. After looking around, GreenLantern can''t help but turned disappointed as he hardly saw any players or any stores on the way while Supreme Master still looks around the town in interest. Green Lantern then said, "Ricky, are you sure you want to stay ally with the guild? They even shifted to this little town. If you make your move right, you can even take over the faction." Supreme Master shook his head with a smile, "that''s because you aren''t seeing the big picture here." GreenLantern frowned, "I know they have a backing of Scarlet Securities but it seemed like they don''t want to expand their guild and only wants to stay as a non-combat guild." Upon hearing him, SupremeMaster replied with a smile, "I told you, didn''t I? You can''t see the big picture here. Ever wondered why there isn''t a single piece of land available in our city?" GreenLantern snorted and answered, "It''s because everything is sold out, obviously" He suddenly turned his head towards him, "do you mean he''s the one who bought everything?" "Absolutely not. You can see all the stores except Flame Emperor''s are run by Dreamwalkers. But, according to the information I gathered, they only have 25 stores inside the city that they are currently running and 10 plots of land outside the city, which have labs and smithies. It is a fact that all the cities have around 50-60 plots of land available to buy. So, I think the remaining lands were bought by Scarlet. You see Time Traveler became Viscount very early and he has the Scarlet group as his background. So, he won''t be lacking gold once the currency exchange opened. And now, he became Mayor. So, I bet all the lands here are gone too," replied SupremeMaster in the hopes of letting this info get into his cousin''s head clearly. GreenLantern then frowned, "I wonder why he isn''t building anything, then. It''s not like he lacks money" SupremeMaster nodded in agreement, "it is one of the things I want to confirm in this meeting. I also want to know what he is waiting for if he really bought them. If he doesn''t have plans to develop them, yet, then, I''m planning to ask for a piece of land for rent so that we can develop it instead. It''ll be a win-win situation for both of us. That''s my agenda for today''s meeting." A while later, both of them arrived at the gate and saw the two gatekeepers were refusing to budge while a couple of players want to enter the Mansion and meet Mayor. "Who are they?" as Greenlantern asked, SupremeMaster shrugged his shoulders, "who knows. Let me text ShadowBlade. I don''t want to face that embarrassing situation." As soon as he texted to Aster that they arrived, Aster exits the Mansion and appeared at the gate. A frown appeared on his face as he saw two unfamiliar players were at the gate. "Who are you two?" Boomerang''s eyes lit up upon seeing Aster, "Hello I''m Boomerang. And this is Deltashot. We heard that Time Traveler became our mayor. We''re just here to greet him. As you can see our guild was based in this town. So" Aster nodded, "I understand. I''ll inform Young Master but it isn''t the time. We are expecting guests now. So, please leave. I''ll notify you in the future when he agreed to it." Both of them nodded in happiness as they weren''t directly rejected and left the place in the hopes of meeting this number one ranked player. After sending them away, Aster looked around and found SupremeMaster and GreenLantern were watching the scene from far away while standing under a tree. As he personally led them inside, both of them looked around to see the spacious hall filled with exquisite furniture, paintings, and a chandelier handing in the middle of the room. Greenlantern whistled as he thought, "this one lives in luxury even inside the game. Truly an envious b*****d." After everyone gathered in the living room, Wil went downstairs in luxurious clothes, which he bought from a clothing store in town for 3 gold. *** As the servants were busy clearing out the dishes from the dining table, Wil spoke as he stood up, "as you all know, today''s agenda is about Resistance. Let''s discuss this elsewhere. Follow me" While the rest of them wondered why they need to change places, they stayed silent and followed Wil to the second floor and entered the Mayor''s private room. After clearing out everything, Wil ordered Borris to fill the huge bedroom with chairs so that he can use it as a meeting room instead. It was done so that no one should get the feeling that they came for nothing. *Ding. You entered Mayor''s guest room. You''ll receive 30 exp every second. As soon as they entered the room, everyone started to get free EXP, and amazement filled their faces. Not even Aster was an exception to it as he didn''t expect there''s a room that can give 100K exp per hour. "Take a seat," gestured Wil as he sat in one of the chairs. As all the guild leaders took their seats, Wil said, "In future, Mountain Rock will attend meetings as its representative, thus making us a nine guilds-allied faction." Everyone nodded indifferently as if they didn''t care about it since it''s already a fact that Silvershapers, the biggest guild of East Ocean City is already a part of their alliance. Looking at their expressions, Wil continued, "Okay, now, let''s get into the matter directly. Aster, give us the statistics of our enemy." Aster nodded and stood up, "let me brief you the complete info we have on Resistance. On the surface, it made up of nine guilds namely Redwings, Ouroboros, Battlecrushers, Greybreaker, Earthstars, Swiftmane, Rise of the Skull, Hellguards, and Mystiques. But, there are three more guilds joined unofficially. They are Winged Inferno, Chaospikes, and finally, Bloodsins, which is a well-known Assassin guild that''s shown to be neutral." "What That''s not possible. Bloodsins can''t be on their side. They even walked away during our fight with Ouroboros. If they have joined, we would have suffered heavy losses," interrupted Cloudstorm, the leader of Paradise guild. Wil saw a clear shock on his face. "I trust Aster''s information. His Intel gathering ability is top-notch. If he said Bloodsins are our enemies, then, they are our enemies. Whatever their stance doesn''t matter with me," as Wil looked at him and commented, Cloudstorm shut his mouth and stayed silent while Aster continued. "So, Resistance is made up of 12 guilds with a combined player population of 36785. On the other hand, if we exclude Silvershapers and Scarlet, our side with 7 guilds has a combined player population of 23768. If we include Silvershapers, it''s 39887. So, you can say, almost 80 percent of East Ocean city players are already involved and it''s clear that they have the upper hand." Upon hearing it, the facial expressions of the guild leaders changed and went into deep thinking as to how did the enemies were able to develop so fast while keeping them in the dark Meanwhile, Aster continued, "It doesn''t end there." Now, according to the members of the guilds, LittleSeven, the leader of Redwings is the leader of the faction. But, I suspect, in reality, the one who calls the shots is a different one." Upon hearing it, Wil asked indifferently as if it wouldn''t matter to him, "who is it?" Aster replied seriously, "I can''t say for sure since I lack enough info to confirm it but there''s a high probability that it is Dreamwalkers." "What!!!" Chapter 82: Wils suspicions "I believe that the mastermind behind our enemies is Dreamwalkers guild." "What!!!" Even Wil was surprised upon hearing that their supposed ally is the hidden backer of their enemies. SupremeMaster opened his mouth, "can you tell us on what ground you suspect them? It is well known to us that Dreamwalkers are good allies to Silvershapers. I heard that many members of the Dreamwalkers guild are helping them leveling up and even lending their kitchens, smithy, and labs. In return, Silvershapers'' products are sold in their stores. Even we are selling our gains from the wild and dungeons through them as they are charging less commission for allies. Honestly, I was actually going to propose today to let them into our alliance but I can''t believe hearing out that they are the enemies'' leader. It''s just too much for us" Upon hearing a part of it, as Wil frowned in displeasure, Aster nodded, "yes, that''s where the suspicion starts. You see, for the past few days, we have observed the members joining Resistance faction guilds becoming stronger for no reason. I mean, it''s fine if they level up too fast but something is fishy if the average strength of a guild increases too fast. Many of average level players suddenly get to have good equipment and high attack power. I believe a portion of Augment stones, potions, and the special food members of Silvershapers craft as well as the weapons and materials you sold are being sent to our enemies. The tremendous rise in strength of Hellguards and Swiftmane is also very suspicious. Moreover, not everyone can keep so many guilds together." "How long you need to confirm it?" Wil asked with a serious expression. Aster raised 3 fingers, "just give me 3 more days, Young master. I''ll confirm whether it''s true or not." Wil nodded, "fine. Is there anything else you would like to add before I proceed to talk?" Aster then replied, "There is one more thing. This one is also not confirmed yet though. I heard a rumor that they are planning to merge to become a big guild." Heavenly King, the leader of Heaven nodded in agreement, "yes, I too heard about it." Wil then turned towards others as he shook his head, "Nah, that''s unlikely. If its mastermind is Dreamwalkers, then, they won''t allow the guilds to merge and become a competition to them. Anyway, let''s stop focusing on how to defeat them but focus on how to increase our overall strength, shall we? Now, let me tell you how I''ll increase our strength. The building of Scarlet district." One hour later, as the meeting ended, everyone went their ways with a clear satisfaction on their faces, not just because they have heard of Wil''s plan of building a district but also they gained nearly 150K exp in free. After everyone left, Wil asked Aster coldly, "what is the meaning of this, Aster? I clearly mentioned not to take their plots. What is Mountain Rock doing?" Aster replied with a sigh, "its evitable, Young master. Silvershapers is a guild with 16K players just from our city. You can say every non-combat player in East Ocean City joined our guild. It''s not like everyone can afford to spend money to train and craft in NPC ones. As an ally, Dreamwalkers were providing them the space to train and craft the items for free. It''s obvious that few people will ignore the orders and we only have suspicions on Dreamwalkers guild. There isn''t a reason for them to not accept their help" "Fine, I understand. It won''t take long anyway. You heard my plan, don''t you? I need a team of best Architects you can find by the end of the week. Make a call to HQ and let them get to work quickly," ordered Wil before going to the Mayor''s office on the ground floor. Unlike the office at the administration building, this one was spacious and nicely decorated with paintings, a fake head of an antler, a wall clock, and a large calendar on the wall. Even the material of the desk is of great quality with a similar dent on top. Coming to the calendar, Wil saw there''s a tick mark on 30th June and 2 hours was written on it. Upon placing the Mayor''s badge in the dent on the table, a tick mark automatically appeared on July 1 and a stack of papers appeared on the table. Looking at it, Wil mumbled, "I guess it''s Mayor''s attendance sheet. Well, it doesn''t matter if I don''t work since my salary is only 5 gold per week" and then he turned his eyes towards the papers, "even though this work can be completed by the administration but since I''m here, why do I need to give my authority to them. Let''s see" Wil took a seat and took a paper in his hands. Upon reading it, he mumbled, "A petition to increase the price of barley? Ugh I know nothing about it. Let''s put it aside and see the next one A petition to decrease the price of millets Don''t tell me all of these are related to farming?" After a while, Wil slammed the table in frustration, "I''m a Mayor for god''s sake. What''s with these petitions to increase or decrease the price of barley, rice, millets, wheat Sigh I guess I need to appoint a knowledgeable secretary to take care of it." He immediately opened Mayor''s interface and clicked on the system''s announcement. *Ding. Do you want to make an announcement for the whole town or players? Wil snorted, "Who would want a player as a secretary" Wil directly clicked the whole town. *Ding. Please write what you wish to announce. "Town''s Mayor wishes to hire an assistant with a salary of 2 gold coins per week. Interested people can head to the administration building to register your resume." Originally, to hire someone, Wil can ask the administration department and the elves will take care of the process but he should go to the administration building in the first place. Not to mention, it might take a while for them to recommend the candidates. So, he took a faster route instead. Upon hearing the announcement, several residents rushed to the administration buildings to hand over their resumes since 2 gold coins of salary is pretty much high. After all, even the elves in the administration department only get 1 gold coin in comparison to the elves in the city that get 5 gold. Looking at the applications before her, Syvis sighed, "if not for the low staff in the administration department, even I would have applied for it." Meanwhile, Wil left the office and went to the 2nd floor. Upon sitting on the bed and started to enjoy the free exp, he opened the letters and tried to solve the mystery of the letters to find the hidden ally. After reading all the letters, Wil deduced at the end of the day that it was might be Lord Raziel in the end who was trying to help her from behind the scenes. The reason Wil suspected the Archangel is because he''s an Ascended. "There''s nothing in the kingdom that can be hidden from his eyes. According to the promise he made with the past king, Mirella became King because Raziel thinks she''s worthy. That means he has a reason to help her. The other suspect is the prime minister himself. According to the story I saw, he indeed thinks she''s his precious granddaughter. After all, he''s a good guy who cares about the lives of the people of the Kingdom and even requested the past King to release Raziel. A person like that will feel guilty even if he found out her birth secret and planned to kill the king. But, the biggest mystery is that why did he stop sending letters after Mirella became the King. It''s definitely not because of security. There must be another mystery behind it. Maybe, that person died? Argh Why short circuit my brain over it. Let''s just copy the contents and send it to HQ along with the recording of the story. They''ll take care of it." Two days passed away in a blink of an eye. In the past two days, Wil just roamed every inch of the town and learn everything he should know. He met the store and food stall owners to learn how their business fairing in the town, then, he met Guild leaders of Boomerang and Jadebeards as a formality. He even made a trip to East Ocean city once to try buying plots of land that are reserved only for Earl and above but Melina rejected him politely as he wasn''t a citizen of the city anymore and further replied the restrictions will be lifted once he became a Marquis, which motivated him to focus on leveling once the construction of District is completed. On the morning of the third day, Wil didn''t log in and went down to the 9th floor to check up on Cericia, instead. He saw four guards were standing at the door. Upon seeing him, they bowed and greeted him. "Open it," Wil ordered as he stared at the door. They nodded and unlocked it for him. As the door opened, Wil stepped inside the room and saw there''s a neatly dressed female bodyguard, and disheveled Cericia sitting on the floor playing some board game together. It''s clear to anyone that they were playing for several hours and the latter was on the losing end A laugh escaped from Wil as he commented, "Looks like you are having fun, my dear fiance." Chapter 83: A day with Hyori At first, when Wil found out that Cericia isn''t alone as he ordered, Wil indeed got a bit angry but then when he looked at her condition with messy hair and red eyes from the lack of sleep, a laugh escaped from Wil as he commented, "Looks like you are having fun, my dear fiance." As soon as Cericia heard his voice, she stopped concentrating on the board and turned her head aside. "You" She gritted her teeth as she stood up and lunged at him like a beast as if she wants to tear him apart into pieces. But, before it even happens, the female bodyguard grabbed her collar from behind and hold steadily, "mind your actions, princess. That''s our Young master. When it concerns his safety, I won''t hesitate to break your bones without having second thoughts." While the bodyguard''s actions surprised Wil, Cericia on other hand growled, "You''ll pay for it once my father hears this" "Pfft, hahaha he''s arriving today. You can complain to him while you are on the way," replied Wil as he continued to walk towards her while the bodyguard tightly held her as Cericia prepare to attack him once more. As he stood before Cericia, he pinched her cheek while looking into her eyes, "I should tell you that Chun Yongmin will be under the protection of Scarlet securities from now onwards. If you dare to take any action on him even inside the game, I swear I''ll buy a few guilds in your city and use them against your little Skywalkers. You see I don''t lack money. So, it''s in your best interest to stay quiet until you return. You look hideous by the way. Go and fresh up. It won''t look good in front of your dad." Then, he turned towards bodyguard, "If she doesn''t, then, you make her do so." Looking at him, Cericia thought, "This guy changed a lot since we last saw each other. Hmpf, what can I expect from a son of a thug." She snorted as she tried to free herself, "Hmpf, I don''t need your help. Leave me. I need to sleep. Just wake up when Dad board the plane." As Wil nodded, the female bodyguard freed her and Cericia stomped her foot as she went into her room. Looking at her back, Wil shook his head as his lips curled up, "immature girl." Meanwhile, as Cericia closed her room and lie on the bed, she gritted her teeth in frustration, "That lady is the worst of these goons. How dare she make me play that stupid board game for the past two days just because I threatened her that I might commit suicide out of boredom? I was the fool who believed her that I can win against at least one game to gain my freedom. She didn''t even let me win one single game Damn, what''s father thinking of colluding with these ba*****s If I''m the police chief, I would have used all the police force and send these thugs to the prison." *** In the living room, there are five architects sitting before Wil as the latter was explaining his requirements. "Listen, you don''t need to worry about the costs. So, don''t hold back the creativity while thinking about it. You all just focus on the planning of the district while Aster will take care of the rest. And" *Ring*Ring* Just then, his mobile phone rang "Hmm, Hyori?" "Excuse me." Wil stepped out of the flat as he lifts the call, "Hyori-ssi?" "Williard, I''m going to ATC for my part-time. Just calling whether you are joining the training for today or" Only then, Wil remembered the day and time, "Ah, I forgot about it. Can you wait 15 minutes... I just woke up." "It''s fine. But, please hurry or else Master will chew me out for being late..." Wil smiled as he disconnected the call, "I really forgot about Archery practice. I can''t neglect it just because I have other work. After all, it is important." Disconnecting the call, Wil went back inside and continued his detailed explanation so that he shouldn''t be asked about it again nor they have to make a mistake. After that, Wil let Aster take care of the contracts with the Architects and went to the garage to bring out his car. Meanwhile, Hyori was looking at her mobile phone with a frown, "it''s already been 30 minutes. I''m getting late. If I just call, it would look like I''m waiting for him. Nah, why should I? It''s not like I''m the one that is practicing Archery." Deciding not to wait any longer, Hyori left the building and started walking towards the gate. Just then, she heard a horn sound from her behind. As she stepped aside to give the way, the car stopped beside her and she heard a familiar voice, "Hyori-ssi, its bad manners to ditch a person after making an appointment, you know." She snorted as she turned aside, "and what about the manners of making a girl wait for half an hour? No, that sounded wrong making your trainer wait" Wil grinned, "Sorry about that." As she sat inside the car, Wil commented, "you look beautiful in that dress, by the way" to which Hyori frowned, "are you trying to flirt or something?" Wil shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, just wondering is there something going on at the training center? I mean, it''s just a part-time job, right?" Hyori looked at herself again and replied, "But, I''m the same as every week though. I regularly go out like this." "Is that so?" Wil stared at her for a couple of seconds, "I might not have observed it last week, I guess." Reaching ATC together, he became the center of attention this time and was welcomed by the owner because of his extraordinary performance from last week while Wan Xue who has a crush on Hyori glared at Wil as both of them went to the training field. *** Looking at the arrow that failed to hit the target placed 70 meters away, Hyori asked him, "Mr. Ravens, can we start with something small? Like 50 meters?" Wil shook his head, "no, it is fine. I''ll practice with this." Four hours later, Hyori spoke, "now, target the space between 7 to 5." *Swoosh* an arrow flew like lightning and struck the border between 8 and 7. "Damn" As Wil cursed, Hyori exclaimed, "Wow, It''s close. Looks like you are a genuinely gifted archer." As Wil snorted, "c''mon, don''t kid around. What gifted archer. I wasn''t able to hit the target even once", Hyori flared up in anger and cursed him inside, "you f*****g monster. It took me years of practice to get where I''m today. Even I can''t guarantee to hit every target I aimed to shoot. On the other hand, it only took you four hours to shoot a f*****g target that''s 70 meters away." In the end, she commented with a sigh, "you can just improve your skill through practice. But seriously, that''s one amazing game you are playing." Wil then looked at her and asked, "why don''t you play too? Your university classes end at 1 p.m., right?" "play War Online? No thanks." Hearing her outright rejection, Wil asked, "why? Do you hate playing games or something? I told you this isn''t a normal game." Chapter 84: Construction of Scarlet District Upon Wil''s probing, Hyori bitterly smiled as she explained, "it''s not that I don''t want to play or hate it. It''s just my dad who rejected it fearing it would affect my studies and Archery practice. If I want to play without him knowing, I should rent a space for it. Even though it doesn''t cost much to buy a low-grade capsule, it has maintenance costs too. Sigh With my meager 20000 credits salary, I would have to sacrifice other things for it. Why bother" Wil stared at her blinked twice, "but, you can earn ten times your salary from the game though. Didn''t you ever research it? With your talent in archery, you can even earn more than a hundred times" "Eh? Hundred times?" As Hyori was taken aback and looked at him, Wil continued, "If you worry about the rental and maintenance costs, then, you can use one of the floors in C-block. It is safe and secure." "But the rent" As Wil saw Hyori was hesitating, he further pushed, "well, it''s not like anyone is living there. You can use it as your wish. If you feel a burden on being in debt, you can pay the rent when you earn more than the required amount. Honestly, If not because you only wish to work part-time, I would have recommended you to Scarlet Gaming corp." *** As the Car stopped at the apartment, Hyori stepped outside and said, "I''ll think about it seriously and will reply to you by tomorrow." Wil smiled, "well, I wouldn''t say no if you can also make your Master and other fellow employees play the game and help me out while you are at it. The flat is big enough to store several capsules." Hyori squinted her eyes while smiling, "so, getting Master to play the game is your true goal, huh" "Oops busted" Wil then grinned as he waved his hand, "see ya." In the evening, Walter arrived at the airport. He didn''t return to the apartment as their next flight is only two hours away. After sending off both of them, he waited one more hour until it''s time for Silver''s flight to Yarlford city. While he was returning, Wil looked at the file that Silver gave him while they were on their way to the airport. Looking at the bank account details of the elites of the Vulture group, Wil frowned, "There are no large transactions like I suspected. But, only one week is left. What should I do?" Without getting any other ideas to his brain, he sighed as he looked outside, "what''s the use of having knowledge of the future when you are incapable of changing that. Let''s just do what we can, then" *** *Welcome to War Online* The next day morning, Wil logged in and found himself on the 2nd floor in Mansion. As Wil came downstairs, he found the five architects are explaining to Aster, who was listening to it attentively. Realizing that Wil arrived, everyone greeted him. Wil nodded in return and asked, "Is everything, ready?" The team leader spoke, "yes, Mr. Ravens. The plan is ready based on the land and details you have told me. Here" Wil took the sheets of paper and take a look at the plans. Because he was a layman, it took him an entire hour to understand the logic behind each and every measurement of the stores. "Good, let''s proceed with it. Aster, you are also following me." After placing the mayor''s badge inside the table for attendance, he ordered his steward, Borris, "I''m going out. Tell Malle to sort everything out when she reports for duty." Then, with Aster and five architects, Wil entered teleportation formation inside the temple and paid 17 gold and 50 silver for the party of seven to teleport to East Ocean city. Leaving Aster and the architects at the lands, Wil went to the city Administration building while ignoring everyone''s stares that filled curiosity about why the number one ranked player returned to the city. After all, it was confirmed that Scarlet and Time Traveler left East Ocean city for an unknown reason, although several rumors circulated that they were scared of Resistance and run away. As Melina asked politely about the reason for his visit, Wil smiled in return, "I think it''s time for you to resign this job" "Eh?" As the players around who came to register themselves and the fellow elves were confused about what this man is talking about, on the other hand, Melina''s eyes lit up, "You mean" Wil nodded and then said, "I want to build stores in my land. I need special building permissions, barrier protection, blueprints, workforce, materials, etc" Upon hearing it, Melina respectfully replied, "Please follow me." As they went to the first floor, Melina then asked, "what do you need special permission for, milord?" Wil then replied, "Bank, Library, Temple, and Auction House. I need blueprints for teleportation formation and need to add special effects to rooms that are similar to the Mayor''s guest rooms. And finally, need barrier protection over all the stores after the construction is over. These are all the things I''m building on my land." As she read the list along with the information on the measurements of each building, Melina said, "This is one huge construction plan. We can''t estimate the amount beforehand. You can pay at least 100-200 gold as an advance now and rest after the construction is finished. As for teleportation formation, it costs 50 gold and special effects cost 20 gold per each room." Wil then took out two pouches from inventory and handed it to her, "Take this 1000 gold as an advance payment and hire the best workers and use the best materials. The rest will be explained by my subordinate named ShadowBlade." "Tho Thousand gold?" Melina''s hands shook as she took the money and then said, "As the future head manager, I would be delighted to oversee the construction myself." Wil smiled in return, "Thanks" After settling the matter, Wil took two architects with him and returned to Deloris town to show them the land and his future construction plans once the Scarlet district at East Ocean city is finished. *** A few hours later, the entire city erupted into chaos as more than two thousand NPCs were seen building something over a huge area in the northern region of the city where it''s mostly empty grassland. As the players of Silvershapers who were going in and out of Dreamwalkers'' smithies and labs saw the huge construction around them, they started to send messages to the guild higher-ups. Moonlight restaurant; 9 Vice-guild leaders of Resistance gathered to discuss the sudden issue. The Vice-leader of Redwings, littleNine spoke, "I was informed that Time Traveler has been sighted in the city, a few hours ago. I think it might something to do with him. We don''t need to care about it even if that were true. Our backer already decided to wage a full-scale war against Imperials. Remember how they suppressed us, a week ago? We are going to do the same. The Silver and gold grade equipment will be sent to all the guilds and help is also arriving, soon" *Ding. World Battle Tournament is going to commence. Head to a Battle Arena within 2 hours to register yourselves. Check the official website for details. "Huh? What" Everyone in the world suddenly received a notification at the same time. Chapter 85: Battle Tournament rules Deloris town; In the Mayor''s mansion, the two architects are showing various designs to Wil for the next upcoming project inside the town. Looking at the designs, Wil shook his head, "no, I don''t want it to be stylish. You can consider this place is like my administration region. So, it should have a feeling of intimidation, majestic, etc on one glance, especially the Mayor''s office. Did you understand what I''m trying to tell?" "Yes, Mr. Ravens. We understand. However, if I must suggest" *Ding. World Battle Tournament is commenced. Please proceed to Battle Arena within two hours to register yourselves. Check the official website for details. "Eh? Battle Tournament? Ah that''s right. It''s the third week since the game released. I nearly forgot about it." Wil then said, "we can discuss that later. Until then, you come up with the necessary designs first." After sending them away, Wil opened the official website from forums like everyone else. World Battle Tournament Description: Adventurers, it''s the third week since the launching of War Online. Summersoft hereby is announcing the first-ever world battle tournament. Those who are excited about fighting against other players from all over the world and gain rewards must register themselves in the Battle Arena of any city. And those who want to use this opportunity to earn money can place a bet on your favorite fighters and earn several-fold in return. Entry rules: Standard fee for entry = 5 silver. Late fee for entry = 10 silver. Fee to watch live battles from arena= 1 silver per each day. Fee to watch a close up the live battle from capsule = 1 gold. Fee to record a match for audience = 10 silver Fee to record a match for participants = free Each account has only one entry. All registrations will be closed on July 3rd, 5 p.m. EST or 9 a.m. WST Tournament rules: All the participants'' levels that are less than 100 will default to level-100 and they will be provided with a full set level-100 gold grade gear, which is only exclusive for the tournament. Throughout the tournament, the levels and mastery of the skills will remain the same as the time when a participant registered. The items added into inventory after registration will be locked and can''t be used until the tournament is over. All race effects will be nullified. All kinds of potions and scrolls cannot be used in the tournament. The preliminaries will start from July 3rd, 6 p.m. EST or 10 a.m. WST and end on July 5th, 5 p.m. EST or 9 a.m. WST Top 128 to Top 16 battles will start from July 6th, 6 p.m. EST or 10 a.m. WST and end on July 7th, 5 p.m. EST or 9 a.m. WST Quarterfinals and Semi-finals are on July 8th, 6 p.m. EST or 10 a.m. WST Finals are on July 9th, 6 p.m. EST or 10 a.m. WST Battle rules: Registered players from all over the world will be divided into 128 groups. All battles are one vs one. A player can participate in an unlimited number of matches. Depending on the time, the system will score at the end of the match. Each second of the time left will increase the winner''s score by 10 points and the loser will receive the same number of negative points as a penalty. The participants are matched randomly in the same group. Each battle has a time limit of 5 minutes. It''ll be declared as a draw once the time limit reached and both of them receive a score of zero. If both participants agree, they can tactically agree to draw and stop the match at any time. If a participant withdraws before 10 seconds, then, the winner will receive half of the points and the loser''s penalty will be decreased by half. If participants meet each other for the second time in preliminaries, then, there won''t be a score allotted to either side. Every winner will receive one battle coin at the end of the match. Battle coins can be used in the battle shop to buy consumable items after preliminaries. The items bought in the battle shop can be used in upcoming battles. Rankings from each group are refreshed hourly. At the end of the preliminaries, the top scorer from each group will advance to the next round. All further rounds after preliminaries will be knock-out rounds. Reward: Rank 100000 - 50001: One silver grade equipment Rank 50000 C 25001: Two silver grade equipment Rank 25000 C 10001: Three silver grade equipment Rank 10000 - 5001: One gold grade equipment Rank 5000 - 1001: Two gold grade equipment Rank 1000 C 501: Three gold grade equipment Rank 500 C Rank 129: A full set of gold grade equipment Rank 128 C Rank 65: One epic grade equipment or a full set of gold grade equipment + 100 gold Rank 64 - Rank 33: Two epic grade equipment or a full set of gold grade equipment + 200 gold Rank 32 C Rank 17: Three epic grade equipment or a full set of gold grade equipment + 300 gold Rank 16 C Rank 9: Full set epic grade equipment + 500 gold Rank 8 C Rank 4: One legendary grade equipment or Full set epic grade equipment + 1000 gold Rank 3: Two Legendary grade equipment or Full set epic grade equipment + 2000 gold + Exclusive Title Rank 2: Three Legendary grade equipment or Full set epic grade equipment + 3000 gold +Exclusive Title Rank 1: Full set legendary grade equipment + 5000 gold + legendary pet + Exclusive Title Note: All equipment drawn from boxes is completely random, according to the player''s class and level that has a maximum level of 200. Note 2: All legendary grade equipment is a growth type that has a maximum level of 200. *** "Ah, I forgot about battle coins. They are a game-changer to the top 128. Anyway, this is a good opportunity to scout the other legend class users. Previously, I neither bothered to know their names or their Kingdom and guilds since I already quit the game by the time I knew the existence of legend class. Now, it''s different. Just one similar skill to Bran''s or mine will disclose their identity." Closing the website, Wil mumbled, "Hmm, now that I think about it, I guess this going to be the first time I''ll get to meet Bran, at least in this life." *** Lunaris city, Reverie Kingdom; Bran was on a killing spree against an elite force from the capital city that was sent to take care of his guild. After killing everyone, with a smile on his face, as he was collecting epic grade equipment dropped from his enemies, suddenly, a world-wide announcement has been made. Looking at the details, Bran gasped, "5000 gold? Full set legendary equipment? And even a legendary pet? Wow, Summersoft sure is generous. But, let''s not be greedy, shall we. If I have such amazing equipment, then, there''s a high chance that others also have this class and equipment. So, let''s tone down our goal... Hmm, as long as I get into the top 16, full set epic grade equipment is guaranteed for sure. I already have a mythic grade sword and crown. I''m not in need of an attack now. What I need is defense." Griffin city, Griffin Kingdom, North Zalfari Continent; A tall and muscular player was entering the streets of the capital city along with a hundred elite players. The weakest of them is level-102 and every one of them has epic grade equipment from top to bottom while the one in front even possesses three pieces of legendary grade equipment. Meanwhile, a mighty griffin was flying in the sky following them. He''s the leader of the Excalibur and is also the first legend class user that advanced to 2* Magic Swordsman and Ear. Everyone in the streets of the capital was giving them way, whether it''s an NPC or a player. If one thinks he''s so formidable that everyone fears him, then, it''s wrong. The center of focus here isn''t the guild leader but the weakest of them, the happy go lucky girl who was walking with side by side with him. Why? It''s a simple reason. The legendary grade monster that was following them was her pet, which is also the symbol of the kingdom giving her the status of royalty. Just then, a world-wide notification is being made Looking at the details, the leader of the Excalibur guild glanced at the sky and tightly made a fist, "I don''t care about being royalty but need to get that legendary grade pet at all costs." Chapter 86: Wils preparations Llyne City; After hearing the announcement, people who were online started to rush towards Battle Arena to register themselves to not lose the opportunity. As more than a hundred thousand players are in a rush, no one cared about the appearance of Time Traveler inside the city. Not to mention, he is bound to enter the tournament when there are such excellent rewards. As for why Wil is in the capital city instead of Eldershore or East Ocean city, it''s because he was here for something else. Before going to Battle Arena to register himself, Wil roamed the streets of the city and found a small weapons store that seems to have a good flow of customers. It was only when he entered the store did people realized the appearance of Wil and they sent messages to their higher-ups as a part of the norm. Meanwhile, the manager ignored everyone else and greeted him respectfully, "welcome. May I know what you are looking for? We have gold to epic grade equipment; augment stones, resurrection scrolls, pet scrolls, Hp and mana scrolls. I see that you are an Archer. We have arrows with special effects like poison and fire, which increases damage, and lightning effects which paralyze your opponents. It is extremely helpful in the upcoming tournament. Each set of poison and fire arrows cost only 8 silver, two silver less than NPC shops while normal arrows are just 1 silver per set, 33% less than NPC shops. As for lightning effect arrows, it cost 20 silver per set, five silver less than NPC stores. You can get more discount if you buy in bulk." If you are interested in bullets, we have poison bullets that not only paralyze your opponents; it increases your damage too." Looking at this man who was focusing on Time Traveler while ignoring them, the rest of the customers cursed him inside as a Shameless man, who was only caring about the rich... While different thoughts are going in everyone''s minds, Wil, on the other hand, asked indifferently, "do you have level-150 epic grade equipment?" The entire shop went silent for a while and everyone just stared at him while wondering whether he was serious or just kidding. Looking at the manager''s expression, Wil sighed, "figured. Just give me 10 sets of poison arrows, 10 sets of lightning arrows, and another 10 sets of normal arrows." As Wil ordered just a very normal amount, the manager can''t help but turn disappointed, "Yes, 2 gold 90 silver please." Looking at his expression as the other players sneered and thought he deserved it for ignoring them, just then, Wil added, "Oh, also give me all augment stone you have in your shop." "Eh? Did you just say all?" The manager who walked a couple of steps to fetch the arrows suddenly turned around in a surprise, "did you really mean to buy everything? We have a total of 2289 augment stones in our shop." Wil looked at him indifferently, "am I flinching?" As the manager shook his head while being dumbfounded, Wil said, "then, what are you waiting for. Get to work." As he started placing sets of arrows one after one on the table and then makes a heap of augment-stones in the end, the manager said, "each stone costs 5 silver. The total cost including the arrows is 117 gold 35 silver. Since you make such a large purchase, how about 100 gold? If you are dissatisfied with the price, I can give you more discount" "It''s enough," Wil placed a pouch containing 100 gold coins on to the table without care and then, he threw everything into his inventory before leaving the store and the stupefied customers and an ecstatic manager, who made 100 gold, which is almost equivalent to 20 million credits just like that. After exiting the store, Wil looked at the time, "Hmm, it''s still 1 o''clock. Registration will be closed at 5 p.m. So, there are four hours left. Since I''m the only level-150 player in the Kingdom, I won''t get any equipment in any store. Let''s hit the dungeons and wild right now. As long as I can make it back four hours before, I can just pay the late fees and enter. But, before that... Three hours later, Level-150 zone; Five level-250 Royal knights are overpowering the level-150 wild boss, Giant Moon Rabbit while Wil was comfortably attacking it with normal arrows from time to time while flying around it. As it died and dropped the items, Wil raised his fist, "yes. Finally..." Moon Rabbit''s Bow Level: 150 Grade: Epic Attack: 219398 Crt. rate: 39.9% ???? ???? ???? "Aw... critical rate is low. If the opponents have a high critical resist, it''ll be tough to activate crt.damage. Well, it doesn''t matter. My damage is high enough even without crt damage. After enhancing the weapon to +15, and the rest to +9, Wil returned to the city and went to Battle Arena. As soon as he entered the lobby, a notification sound rang in his ears. *Ding. Do you like to register for World Battle Tournament? Wil clicked yes and paid the late fee of 10 silver. 30 minutes later; *Ding. A portal is opened at the Battle arena in all cities. *Ding. Battle Tournament is going to commence in an hour. Enter the portal to participate in battles. As Wil entered the portal, he found himself in a white space and a large screen appeared before him that has info on the right and a big start button on the left. Info: Name: Time Traveler Class: Elementalist Level: 153 Win: 0 Loss: 0 Score: 0 Rank: N/A *** "Start" As Wil clicked on the start button, he received a notification on the screen. *Ding. You are matched with Galaxy Cry. The match is going to start in 5 seconds. As 5 seconds countdown is over, the surroundings changed. Wil stood on a large platform and saw a demon race player before him. As Wil raised his bow, Galaxy cry dashed towards him with a long katana in his hand. Looking at his action, Wil looked at him in pity, "too bad that you met me in the first round" Just when Galaxy Cry reached Wil and about to slash him with the sword, the latter mumbled, "Heavenly push, 0 mana." All of a sudden, a huge gust of wind pushed him away and by the time he landed a hundred meters away, Wil dashed forward 30 meters and hit a normal arrow on him and crt appear on the opponent''s head. And that''s it... *Ding. Your Hp reached zero. You lose. Galaxy Cry just stood there in a daze, "What just happened, right now?" Meanwhile, Wil received a score of 2950 and returned to white space. The info was changed and one win and 2950 score appeared. Wil once again pressed start. *Ding. You are matched with Lost Woods. Five seconds later, the match started. This time, the opponent is a gunner. Looking at Wil, He arrogantly said, "just withdraw. I don''t want to waste time..." *Swoosh* By the time he finished the dialogue, an Ice arrow appeared in his vision. "Hmpf, looks like you have some skills," commented LostWoods as he jumped back to dodge the arrow. But to his surprise, as the arrow reached its range limit after traveling 35 meters of distance, it fell on the ground, and suddenly, the freezing effect activated. All the forty meters around the arrow were frozen along with the opponent. "What!!! I''m frozen. What kind of Ice arrow is that? I can''t move... what''s happening..." As the opponent continued to struggle, Wil spoke, "do you know why you cannot move?" Since there was no response from LostWoods because even his mouth is frozen, Wil said with a smile, "because I''m a lot stronger than you, simple. Don''t worry, I won''t waste too much of your time. Goodbye, little woods..." Chapter 87: No story Chapter: MCs Character Stats, Skills, and Equipment guide Author: As stated in the previous chapter''s author notes, this chapter isn''t a real one and only has character stats and skills of MC currently. In the end, I also added an equipment guide, which explains the calculation behind the values of the equipment of different levels and grades. Note: 1) Basic stats = (flat value from attributes + Equipment stats)* Buffs from Equipment. 2) Overall attack is (basic atk + all kinds of atk buffs)*(race buff)*(skill dmg)* (increased damage buff) Same goes for the Overall defense (basic def + all kinds of def buffs)*(race buff)*(def skill) Final damage = (Overall attack - overall defense)*(1-damage reduction of defender) If the defense is more, then final damage is treated as "1" Of course, factors like the difference in the pierce stat of the attacker and pierce resist of the defender also affects the final damage. Pierce=% of ignoring the defense. Pierce resist will reduces the Pierce effect on defender. 3) As for Enhancement, each enhancement will increase the stats of equipment by 10% while +5, +10, +15, and +20 will increase it by 20%. Character stats Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 153 I CAN FLY: No mana consumption while flying. Stats: Basic stat (With Race and skill buffs) HP: 8716525 (10459830) MP: 979 (1175) Attack: 1023084 (1227701) Defense: 298024 (372530) Attack Speed: 52.6 (63.1) Movement Speed: 263 (342) Flying Speed: 526 (684) Critical rate: 111.72% Pierce: 0% Critical resist: 55% Critical damage: 105% Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 400 Agility: 263 Vitality: 200 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 0 Equipment: Raiger''s Necklace +9 Level: 75 Grade: Silver Attack: 5.6% +5.6% HP: 13.4% +13.4% Kaiser''s ring +9 Level: 90 Grade: Gold Attack: 12.6% +12.6% HP: 28.3% +28.3% ???? Moon Rabbit''s Bow +15 Level: 150 Grade: Epic Class: Archer Attack: 219398 +394916 Critical rate: 39.9% +71.82% ???? ???? ???? Gorgon''s Light Armor (+9) Level: 130 Class: Mage, Ranger, Assassin; Grade: Gold HP: 332788 +332788 Defense: 33295 +33295 ???? ???? Yves'' Bracers +9 Level: 140 Grade: Gold Class: Anyone HP: 186385 +186385 Defense: 19012 +19012 ???? ???? Armored Gorilla''s Boots +9 Level: 130 Grade: Epic Class: Anyone HP: 676860 +676860 Defense: 96695 +96695 ???? ???? ???? Sauron''s Crown +9 Level: 100 Grade: Gold Attack: 9% +9% Aerona''s Earrings (Bound) +10 Level: 100 Type: Growth Grade: Legendary Attack: 50% +60% HP: 125% +150% Mana: 100% +120% Critical Damage: 25% +30% Critical Resistance: 25% +30% ************************************************************ Character skills Active Skills: Fireball (Max): Throw a Big fireball onto our enemy with a 155% attack. Apply the burning effect on targets for 10 seconds with a 10% attack. 20m range. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Heal (Max): Recover yourself or your ally with a 100% attack. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Flying (Max): You can travel from place to place with the help of your wings, Costs 1MP per minute; Dash (Max): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Fire Arrow (Max): Conjure a fire arrow and shoot the enemies using your bow with a 200% attack. 35m range. Costs 5MP; No cool down. Dragon Fire (Max): Breathe out fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 350% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. Absolute Freeze (Max): Freeze the entire area around you with Ice Magic. For 50 Seconds, everything and everyone around you would be frozen except your Allies. Apply a freezing effect on the targets. Cost 10 MP; 20m range. Cooldown time: 180 Seconds. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs. Golem (Max): Summon an earth Golem using elemental magic. It has two modes. *Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 400% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies attack by 100%. *Defense mode: Defend you from your enemies by blocking the enemy attacks. Increases its defense and HP by 400% and provide a defense buff, which increases you and your allies, Max HP and Defense by 100%. *Costs 20 MP per minute; 30 meters range. Cooldown: 15 minutes. Ice Arrow (Max): Conjure an Ice Arrow and shoot down your enemy with a 240% attack. Freeze the surroundings of 40m from the point of impact. 35m range. Skill doesn''t affect Ascended players, NPCs, and legendary above grade monsters. Cooldown time: 30 seconds. Bubble (level 1): Create a bubble around you to breathe and swim underwater without losing mana or stamina for 30 minutes. Cooldown: 1 day. Aura of Zenon (Level 1): Call the spirit of Zenon and increase your stats by 50% for five minutes. CD: 1 hour. Resurrection (level 6): You can revive six of your fallen comrades. CD: 22 hours. Fire Pegasus (Level 1): Summon a fire Pegasus to use a flying mount for traveling great distances. The mount disappears as soon as the user engages in battle. Flying speed: 250%; Running speed: 75%. CD: 0 seconds. Cost: 0 mana. Special skill: Become invisible for 10 seconds. Gravity Suppression (Level 2): Control gravity around you and force your enemies to stick onto the ground helplessly for 12 seconds. Doesn''t work on Ascended NPCs, players, and legendary grade and above monsters. Range: 60 meters. CD: 60 seconds. Cost: 5 Mana. Heavenly push (Max): Control the element of wind and push your enemies 100 meters away from you with a 0% attack. For every 10 mana consumption, Attack damage increased by 200%. Range: 50 meters. Cost: 0 mana. CD: Depends on mana consumption. Multiple Lightning Arrows (Level 1): Shoot the enemies with an arrow infused with lighting element with a 150% attack while ignoring their defense. Range: 50 meters. CD: 20 minutes. Cost: 50 Mana. Arrow Shower (Level 1): Shoot a magic energy Arrow into the sky and rain a shower of arrows upon the enemies in an area with 30 meters of the radius. Each arrow contains an attack power of a normal arrow. Cost: 10 mana per arrow. CD: 36 hours. Passive Skills: Aura of an Angel: Being born as an Angel, your stats and EXP gain increases by 20% in the material world. The bow of Elementalist: Every arrow you fire contains elemental magic, instead of magic energy. Aura of Elementalist: Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. Toughness: Increases your Defense by 5%. One with Wind: Increase Movement Speed and Flying Speed by 10%. King''s Halo: Your pet stats will be increased by 50%. Available Skill points: 0 *************************************************************** Equipment Guide: Light Armor: Common, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Epic, and Legendary; HP: Level 10: 100, 200, 400, 800- no Equipment above Silver Level 20: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200 - no Equip above Gold Level 30: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800 - no Equip above Gold Level 40: 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400- No Equip above Gold Level 50: 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, 16000- No Equip above Epic Level 60: 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200- No Equip above Epic . . . Level 100: 1000, 2000, 4000, 8000, 16000, 32000, 64000 Level 110: 1100, 4400, 17600, 70400, 281600, 1126400, 4502600 Level 120: 1200, 4800, 19200, 76800, 307200, 1228800, 4915200 Level 130: 1300, 5200, 20800, 83200, 332800, 1331200, 5324800 Level 140: 1400, 5600, 22400, 89600, 358400, 1433600, 5734400 Level 150: 1500, 6000, 24000, 96000, 384000, 1536000, 6144000 . . Level 200: 2000, 8000, 32000, 128000, 512000, 2048000, 8192000 Level 210: 2100, 12600, 75600, 453600, 2721600, 16329600, 97977600 . . . Level 300: 3000, 18000, 108000, 648000, 3888000, 23328000, 139968000 Level 310: 3100, 24800, 198400, 1587200, 12697600, 101580800, 812646400 . . . Level 400: 4000, 32000, 256000, 2048000, 16384000, 131072000, 1048576000 Level 410: 4100, 41000, 410000, 4100000, 41000000, 410000000, 4100000000 . . . Level 500: 5k, 50k, 500k, 5m, 50m, 500m, 5B So, the calculations go like this. From 1 to level 100: Multiplier by 2 From 101 to level 200: Multiplier by 4 From 201 to level 300: by 6 From 301 to 400: by 8 From 401 to 500: by 10 The values of stats of equipment will be near to those according to level and grade. In between level equips have in between stats. Like for example, level-25 will have stats between a level 20 equip and level 30 of a certain grade. For attack, divide by 10 to 5 by Light armor value of the same level. As for defense, divide by 10 to 5 of its respective equipment. Value might be anywhere between them depending on the grade but follows the same pattern. From 10 to 9, it can be considered a low grade, 8 to 7 as an intermediate grade, and 6 to 5 as high grade. For Bracers, Boots, and Helmet, the stats are half of the values of light armor, and Heavy armor stats is 1.5 times more than light armor. Note: Every Level 50 extends the limit of attributes and a character will advance through for every Level 100. Chapter 88: WBT: preliminaries *Ding. You have won the battle in 11 seconds. You receive a score of 2890 and a battle coin. *Ding. Congratulations, your winning streak reached 10. You received 5 battle coins as a reward. Wil continued while maintaining his winning streak. After 16 successive easy battles, this time, he was matched up with a player named Calios. Calios is elite from the Starlight guild branch of Shire City, a branch that focuses only on assassins. Unlike others, as he knew Time Traveler, Calios cupped his fists with respect, "I''m honored to fight against a strong player like you, Time Traveler." Wil was taken aback by his behavior, "looks like you knew me." Calios nodded, "of course, who wouldn''t know the number one ranked player in our Kingdom. I know I''ll lose but I don''t want to lose the opportunity of this fight. I only have one request. Please show me how much gap is there between the two of us..." After indirectly asking Wil to go all out, he immediately went into Stealth mode and slowly began to circle around him. While Wil is in alert and is ready to dodge and counterattack at any time, suddenly, three shurikens were thrown from his right side. Looking at the incoming attack, Wil decided not to dodge and mumbled, "Heavenly push, 0 mana." Just when they were about to hit his arms, a gust of wind released from his body and blew not only the shuriken away but also the assassin, who suddenly dashed to the left and about to attack Wil with his dual daggers. As the wind hit him, the stealth wore off and he landed a hundred meters away without any damage. Unlike others, there wasn''t a trace of shock or even surprise on his face. Instead, Calios nodded with a look of "as expected." Standing at the distance, he rotated his daggers once and held it in reverse this time like how one would grab a knife. Wil saw his opponent went into some strange stance, "it''s as if he intends to throw those daggers like kunai or shuriken." Just then, Calios shouted, "Spirit of Asura, activate." A dark aura enveloped him and the dual daggers. As Wil suspected, Calios threw the dual daggers towards him. As the daggers flew towards him, Wil snorted and used, "Heavenly push, 0 mana" again intending to push them away. But, to his surprise, the daggers cut through the wind and made its way towards Wil to pierce his chest. So, he dodged them by jumping sideways at the last second. Calios shook his head, "you can''t dodge them that way" As he moved his hands, the dual daggers turned around and tried to attack him again. Looking at the opponent who was comfortably standing at 100 meters far away and still able to control the daggers with ease, Wil mumbled, "I guess I need to show the difference between us." "Gravity suppression" Suddenly, the daggers that were about to pierce Wil from behind just fell on the ground. "What!" Calios was greatly shocked this time to see the daggers on the floor while feeling there''s an immovable mountain sitting on it. As Calios struggling to move them, Wil fired an Ice arrow that fell on the floor midway and froze the entire forty meter of surroundings. Looking at the frozen opponent, Wil thought, "Hmm, looks this arrow juts freezes the enemies indefinitely. Does it really depend only on the level difference? Hmm, no, that only works for monsters. Players have different skills, attack, and defense stats. They might also influence it. Let''s just continue to test on every opponent, then" He quickly finished the frozen opponent with a single normal arrow. *Ding. You won the battle in 21 seconds. You receive a score of 2790 and a battle coin. Wil then continued his winning streak. *Ding. Congratulations, your winning streak reached 20. You receive 5 battle coins as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, your winning streak reached 30. You receive 5 battle coins as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, your winning streak reached 40. You receive 5 battle coins as a reward. *Ding. You won the battle in 29 seconds. You receive a score of 2710 and a battle coin. *Ding. Congratulations, your winning streak reached 50. You received 10 battle coins as a reward. After having fifty battles continuously, Wil got sick of it a little bit and no longer resumed his battles and took rest in the white space. A smile appeared on Wil as he glanced at his info on the screen before him, "I really love being awesome" Info: Name: Time Traveler Class: Elementalist Level: 153 Win: 50 Loss: 0 Draw: 0 Score: 139,980 Rank: N/A Highest Winning streak: 50 Battle coins: 80 Half an hour later, as the group rankings refreshed on the screen before him, Wil looked at them curiously like everyone else. Upon seeing the rankings, he let out a curse, "f***" A clear frustrated look appeared on Wil''s face; not because he was ranked far lower but because of the familiar names on top of the table, especially a person''s name that made him remember one of his nightmares of the past life *Flashback* A woman who was wearing a full legendary set with thousands of players and NPCs behind her. "Go, my dear Aelis." *Growl* A Giant bear growled as it started to run along with them and tear apart everyone while Wil was on the ground, shivering without unable to move in fear and waiting for his death... *Flashback ends* Group 56: 1) Death King - 336210 2) Starlight C 295610 3) Wisdom Queen C 285200 4) Honeybee C 278990 5) I''m a King C 256630 6) Bummer C 253000 7) Guitarist C 239780 8) Guide C 239560 9) Supreme Master C 239120 10) Kenny Ken C 238850 . . . 68) Time Traveler C 139980 "What the f*** is that Wisdom Queen doing in my group? Seriously unlucky to face this damn guild leader of Fiery Ladies in early rounds She''s the most troublesome opponent in the list, especially that legendary grade golden bear pet of hers. Even Bran wasn''t able to defeat her in 1v1 during the war Ugh my nightmares of the war Thankfully, it is still early in the game. So, I hope she hasn''t acquired the pet yet." He slapped both of his cheeks and encouraged himself, "C''mon, Wil, you also have a trump card. You just need to hold her pet with Golem for a second and then, blow her away with Heavenly push, all mana. No player can survive it. Speaking of legendary grade pet, there''s also that girl with a griffin pet. I wonder whether she has acquired it yet or not" Glancing at the ranking board again, Wil sighed, "Looks like gaining the first spot isn''t easy as I thought..." Wil then stretched his body, "okay, I have taken enough rest. It''s time to move up the ranks." Wil once again pressed the start button, which loaded for a fraction of a second before matching up with a player. *Ding. You matched up with Supreme Master. Your match will start in 5 seconds. As both of them stood before each other, Wil saw Supreme Master was clearly in shock who didn''t expect him in the group, not to mention as his opponent. Looking at him, Wil spoke seriously as he raised his bow towards him, "Don''t waste too much time hesitating. Either come at me seriously or give up the match in 10 seconds." Meanwhile, Supreme Master was cursing his fate, "damn why the hell I end up with in the same group as this guy. My poor winning streak No, it doesn''t matter even if I lose here. No matter what, I''ll get into the top 128. Strength doesn''t have anything to do with rankings. All I need more points" Supreme Master raised his Laser cannon and fixed it on the ground while facing upwards. As he crouched beside it, Wil frowned, "what is he doing?" Chapter 89: WBT: preliminaries part-2 As Wil is wondering about the action of the opponent, suddenly, Supreme Master pulled a lever down and the canon made a click sound and a beam of light shot upwards and then formed an energy barrier twenty meters around him. Looking at his mana drain and time, Supreme Master nodded in satisfaction, "it''s a good thing I used all of my skill points on this skill in the last minute. Now, all I just need to stay like this for the next 5 minutes and it''ll end in a draw." Looking at the energy barrier before him, Wil frowned, "what kind of energy barrier is this? It''s definitely not one of the gunner''s default skills." Then, Wil took out a normal arrow and aimed at it as he mumbled, "since, he placed a barrier with great confidence, is it an invincible barrier or just a high defense barrier? Let''s test it." As Wil shot an arrow towards the barrier, it successively struck it and broken into two pieces before "-1" appeared on Supreme Master''s head. Upon seeing it, Wil''s lips curled up, "it''s not an invincible barrier. An Invincible barrier nullifies the damage to 0 but his Hp was decreased by 1. So, it''s an ultra-high defense barrier that can easily withstand 1 million of damage. That means, it can probably withstand until 2 million? Hmm, Golem is one of my trump cards. I can''t reveal it yet. So, that leaves with Zenon''s spirit and Ice arrow but what if it can withstand more attack damage? That makes me look like a fool if the match ends up in a draw" After thinking deeply for a while, Wil asked directly, "Supreme Master, how much damage that your barrier can withstand?" "Eh?" Supreme Master was indeed surprised by Wil''s actions but stayed silent as he doesn''t want to reveal it obviously Wil sighed, "I just want to know whether it''s worth to continue the match or not. Just tell me whether it can withstand 2 million of damage or not. Don''t need to give me the exact number." If it is anyone, they wouldn''t open their mouth either. But, since Supreme Master is a close ally, he simply nodded without saying anything else. Getting his confirmation, Wil said, "fine. Since you are adamant about staying in that turtle shell, let''s not waste too much time and make it draw." "Huh? You are willing to draw?" Supreme Master looked at Wil in surprise and asked him again as he didn''t believe his ears for the first time. It was only when he received a notification; Supreme Master sighed in relief and accepted it. *Ding. Your opponent wishes to draw. Accept the outcome? *Ding. You accepted the outcome. The match is a draw. You receive a score of zero points. Meanwhile, Wil, who also received a notification, closed it and went back to the white space before looking at the info that has 1 draw on it. "It''s fine. He is an ally and it''s just preliminaries. Let''s just think I wasted another two minutes." He continued his battles and started winning streak from 1 again 8 hours later; As soon as the match started, as usual, Wil started to shoot continuously without giving any chance to the opponent to finish the match quickly. The opponent, who was a healer, dodged the first attack, but the second arrow pierced her left shoulder and disappeared. As she raised her staff and used a massive single-target heal on herself, another arrow pierced her throat and she died. *Ding. You won the battle in 3 seconds. You received a score of 2970 and a battle coin. Info: Name: Time Traveler Class: Elementalist Level: 153 Win: 549 Lose: 0 Draw: 1 Score: 1539850 Rank: 6th Highest Winning streak: 499 Battle coins: 1950 Looking at the info and rankings, Wil mumbled, "Hmm, I might hit top 3 by the time the rankings refreshed. Okay, let''s go for the 500th winning streak. Once this is over, I''ll log out and sleep." As Wil pushed the start button, it loaded this time for an entire two seconds before matching with the opponent. *Ding. You matched up with Death King. Your match is going to start in 5 seconds. *** Weford City, Searvale Kingdom, Xynnar Continent; Inside the Battle Arena that filled with more than a hundred thousand viewers, of which all of them have pointy ears, five sisters are watching different battles on the small screens before them while ignoring the battles on the big screen in the stadium that is playing random battles. Not only they are extremely beautiful, but they also seemed like rich girls as they were seen wearing extremely dazzling outfits that costs 50 gold, which made every men''s eyes glued to them instead of concentrating on their screens while women were busy cursing them in their minds... Even though all of them are only level-1, still, no one dared to go and talk to them because of their terrifying background. As the sisters continued to watch the battles together, the eldest of them asked, "So, what are your opinions so far?" Then, the youngest sister replied as she glued to her screen, "it''s obvious that "One" is the favorite to win." The Third sister shook her head, "if it was one week ago, that might be the case. But now, there are other favorites like Devil, Magi, Supreme Conqueror, and Wishing Hero. All of them are first in their respective groups and have similar scores." The Second sister nodded, "it''s true that all five of them have the chance to win but still, there''s a large level gap between them and "One". Once the tournaments move into the knock out rounds, "One" can easily destroy them." As the youngest sister smiled and showed a "V" sign to her third sister, the fourth sister intervened with a cold tone, "I think none of those five will win this tournament. This guy from group 115 will win. All of his battles are OHKO." "Eh? One strike?" As the remaining four sisters turned their heads towards the fourth sister in a surprise, the latter spoke, "his name is Crimson Sun" As the youngest sister snorted, "please, who are you kidding? He didn''t even make the top of the list. Must have faced weaklings." Meanwhile, the eldest sister changed her channel to 115 on the screen and clicked on Crimson Sun, who is at 5th rank. After waiting for 5 minutes, finally, Crimson Sun entered the match. As soon as the match started, he just slashed on empty air once. Before the opponent knows what''s going on, his body was slashed, and died. "Eh?" With a shocked expression on her face, the eldest sister continued to wait for the next match. After watching five matches in a row, she spoke, "girls, I think we have a winner" Before her words finished, the random battle on the big screen suddenly changed and one from the crowd that''s near to the sisters screamed, "Omg! It''s Death King versus Time Traveler." "Who?" As the youngest sister wondered, the third sister did a quick check on the groups once again and replied, "Oh, it''s just a battle between first and sixth rankings from group 56." "1st and 6th? Well, top 10 ranked battles are always pleasing to see," commented second sister as she turned her eyes to the big screen. Chapter 90: WBT: Battle against Death King part-1 *Ding. You are matched with Death King. Your match will start in 5 seconds. As the countdown ended, Death King and Time Traveler appeared before each other. As soon as the match started, Wil raised his bow without a word and Death King raised the staff. Looking at Death King, Wil thought as he pulled the string, "let''s see whether it''s right to save you or not." He mumbled as a fire arrow was conjured, "I hope you won''t disappoint me," and then, released the arrow towards his chest. Meanwhile, Death King a.k.a Min spoke, "summon." A level-10 common grade little skeleton is suddenly summoned in front of him and took the arrow in his stead before disappearing. Looking at 4.5 million of damage done to his lowest summon, Min''s face became serious, "I got a very troublesome opponent this time. Two arrows of that will end my life easily. I can only hope my critical resist will not let critical damage to get activated." On the other hand, Wil was equally surprised, not because the opponent managed to avert the damage but because of his own damage. When he realized the truth, he almost cursed out, "how the f*** I totally forgot about my 105% critical damage I could have easily wrecked SupremeMaster. Damn, why did I draw without even giving a try? Sigh what''s over is over. Let''s concentrate on this battle. Let''s see how many servants this necromancer has" Wil then took out a set of poison coated arrows from inventory and replaced normal arrows in quiver before aiming at his opponent. As Wil shot an arrow at Min, he dashed to the left and fired another arrow by the time the first arrow reached Min, who dodged the first arrow by somersaulting backward and then summoned another weakest skeleton to block the second arrow. But, just as the skeleton disappeared after 2.2 m damage appeared on its head, Min realized that a third arrow followed the second arrow and he wasn''t able to dodge again in time and the arrow pierced his upper abdomen. *-835269* number appeared on his head in white, indicating critical hit isn''t triggered but then, as the poison spread inside his body, Min received a notification. *Ding. You were hit by poison coated arrow. Your health will be decreased by 20000 for the next 10 seconds. Looking at continuous damage on the opponent''s head, Wil can''t help but disappointed, "only 20K damage? I guess a low-grade poison. No wonder that guy is selling it for 8 silver coins per set. This arrow is useless to me. But, then again, this guy is indeed good. This might be my longest battle in the tournament so far." On the other side, Min was shocked, "what speed and accuracy. I met an expert this time. I should go all out or else I won''t stand a chance." Min raised his staff and praised Wil, "I didn''t expect that second arrow behind the first one. You are the first one to land a hit on me so far. But, now, it''s my turn to attack." Wil smiled and gestured him to come at him. After all, his goal is to test Min''s capabilities before defeating him. Min then raised the staff, "Arise, my Death Knight." As the staff glowed in dark aura, a level-120 tall and muscular undead knight appeared before Min. Unlike other skeletons, this Heroic grade undead knight is full of black armor from top to bottom, covering his skeletal body. As the death knight brandished the sword, Wil looked at Min in disappointment and asked, "you can summon only one death knight?" "Well, I will summon my whole army if you can deal with it alone," replied Min with a smile and then ordered, "go, Vicera." Death Knight Vicera Grade: Heroic Level: 120 Hp: 20 million Attack: 768k Defense: 153k Description: A summon of Death King. * As there is a considerable level difference between Wil and the death knight, all of its stats were revealed under his inspection except for its skill. After looking at its stats, Wil commented, "well, get ready to summon your army, then." *Roar* Vicera roared like a beast before taking a leap towards Wil and tried to slash him with the sword. Wil moved one of his legs backward and pulled the string, "Ice arrow." As an ice arrow was conjured between his fingers, Wil released it and struck the death knight who is still in mid-air and raised the sword above the arms. *Thud* Vicera froze in mid-air and fell on the floor while Min reacted in time and dashed backward to dodge the freezing effect that was activated the moment Ice arrow struck the Death Knight. *-5259000* "What" Before Min came out of his shock, Wil barraged the frozen death knight with poison arrows continuously. Looking at Vicera''s health that fallen more than two-thirds, Min shouted, "release" and the frozen death knight disappeared from the floor. Wil then turned his head towards Min and said provocatively, "your attack failed. Now, are you willing to send your so-called army?" Without speaking any more words, a serious Min once again raised his staff and spoke, "Arise, my foot soldiers... Arise, my elite soldiers. Arise, my death knights" and then, he shouted while his face turns red because of embarrassing dialogue, "Arise, my faithful general, your King is calling you." Large amounts of dark aura began to envelop Min and the staff. Five seconds later, Wil saw more than fifty common grade skeletons, which ranged from level-10 to level-100 appeared first. Then, twenty elite grade skeletal knights that ranged from level 80 - level 120 appeared before them, followed by five level-120 heroic grade death knights on a row. As they stood behind him according to their ranks, Min waited for two more seconds until a level-123 legendary grade undead lich was seen floating beside him and addressed, "my King, your faithful servant, Erodes is here." Erodes Grade: Legendary Level: 123 Hp: 200 million Attack: 6.1 million Defense: 1.2 million Crt. Rate: 61% Crt. Resist: 61% Description: Erodes, a faithful servant of Death King. Min then looked at Wil who was still calm on the outside even after seeing his army, "Time Traveler, this is my entire army. I only use it to take down a legendary grade dungeon. I can see you are still holding back your strength. I hope you can fight with everything you have got. After all, only one of us will go into top 128." What he doesn''t know that Wil was completely shocked in the inside after seeing Erodes, "the f*** How in the hell did this brat acquired the lich. That can''t be possible until a necromancer becomes 3-star. Undead King''s Legacy? Yeah, that might be the only explanation. Sure enough, this guy has his own fortuitous encounters. No wonder Cherry was even thought of using police to make sure he joins their guild. After all, he looks like he is invincible inside the game. Ugh This brat is more troublesome to defeat than Wisdom Queen." Min then ordered, "My undead army, get into the second formation." As the staff once again glowed, ten lowest level skeletons surrounded him to take the attack aimed at him. A death knight also stood beside Min in the center of formation to block any unexpected strong attack while the legendary grade general still continued to hover around him. The rest of them are divided into four groups with a death knight as their Captain and marched towards Wil. Chapter 91: WBT: Battle against Death King part-2 Battle Arena; "Go, Death King''s army." "Go, Time Traveler. Shoot those skeletons to death." The crowd screamed in excitement, forgetting about the screens before them and focusing on the big screen where Min summoned an undead army against Wil, who almost destroyed a level-120 Heroic mob without breaking a sweat. "What do you girls think of this match?" asked the eldest sister who already put aside Crimson Sun after Wil revealed an Ice arrow. The youngest sister replied, "Obviously, Death King. I didn''t know that he had a legendary undead monster with him. Although, he still can''t win against "One," this match will be a piece of cake." Second sister nodded in agreement, "true. I think Death King can go up to top 16, although, "One" will still win at the end." Upon hearing it, the fourth sister coldly snorted, "One or this Death King, Crimson Sun can easily defeat them." The third sister shook her head as she voiced out her opinion, "You guys are missing a major point, here. We are talking about this match, not the tournament. Anyway, I bet on Time Traveler this time. I think Death King will lose this match for sure." "Eh?" As the second, fourth, and youngest sister suddenly turned their heads towards the third sister in a surprise, the eldest sister asked, "Why do you think so?" The third sister folded her hands as she explained, "c''mon. Can''t you see the freezing effect of that Ice arrow? If it can just freeze a Heroic mob like that and have a good range, how many of those little skeletons have the chance to survive?" The youngest sister then commented, "But, he had already used the skill. I don''t think he can use it again in this match" As the Third sister shook her head with a sigh, the eldest sister explained the meaning behind her words, "What she meant is that Time Traveler isn''t a fool. If he can use that skill that early, then, that means he has more powerful skills in his sleeve and I agree with her. Just by looking at his calm expression, we can tell that he already expected it." Upon hearing their eldest sister''s explanation, the rest of them turned their heads towards the big screen and continued to watch the match without making any comments. Back to the battle; As the undead army started to march towards Wil while raising their weapons, Wil took a deep breath and pulled the string to conjure a normal energy arrow. But, then, instead of aiming at them, he suddenly changed his aim towards the sky above them. Seeing his action, a look of confusion appeared on Min''s face as he has never seen an archer, who aimed at a 75-degree angle, meanwhile, Wil grinned as he glanced at the skeletons, "your Halloween party has come to an end" "Arrow Shower, 600 mana" As Wil released the arrow, the seemingly normal energy arrow suddenly burst in flames in the sky and 60 magic energy arrows started to shower from the sky on the army of skeletons at a terrifying speed. "What" Min opened his mouth in a shock along with the audience, who was stupefied as they looked silently at the arrows which are raining on to the skeletons. Smoke filled the surroundings around the two of them. On the outside, while the audience was anticipating in silence as the smoke in screen slowly fade away, meanwhile, Min coughed a bit because of the smoke and then stayed there like a statue, "my army. I can only feel four of my death knights alive. Are the rest" Just then, he heard a voice from the distance that belongs to Wil, "you are not the only one to have summoning Arise, my faithful knights." "Gravity Suppression, activate." *Swoosh* *Slash* *Slash* *Swoosh Five seconds later, as the smoke cleared, the audience saw three death knights were kneeling helplessly on the ground while a fallen angel just finished one of them by working together with Wil while the other silently stood behind him. After finishing one of them, the fallen angel chose one of the remaining two death knights and started firing a fireball every second while Wil shot two arrows consecutively, thereby decreasing its health by 5.5 million together each second. Just when they were about to kill it, the death knights suddenly disappeared as Min released both of them in a hurry and then ordered the lich, "Erodes, go and kill my enemy." As Erodes brandished his scythe and flew towards Wil like a lightning, the latter sighed, "I had originally wanted to save all of my trump cards. That''s why I even drew with Supreme Master. But, now, my winning streak and your strength are forcing me to reveal one more trump card of mine. Fine, then. Since that''s the case, let''s just put you in your place." "Absolute freeze" Just when Erodes neared him and is only ten meters away from him, Min saw Ice started to release from Wil''s body and before he warned it to dodge it, the Ice spread over the place at a terrifying pace, and Erodes was found frozen this time. Without waiting for any longer, Wil started to fire two poison arrows per second continuously while one of the two fallen angels continued to shoot a fireball at the enemy Min started to worry as Erodes'' health continued to decrease at a rapid rate and Erodes wasn''t able to resist the freezing state. After 30 seconds, as more than 100 million of Hp was chipped away, Min decided to recall it and threw the match away since it''s just preliminaries. After all, it''ll take three days to resurrect it once it ends up dead. *Ding. Erodes is in an absolute frozen state. It can''t be recalled, right now. A panic expression appeared on Min after seeing the notification. Looking at the frozen Erodes and the remaining time, he hurriedly shouted, "I give up." *Ding. Your opponent, Death King gave up. You won the match in 2 minutes 28 seconds. You received a score of 1520 and a battle coin. *Ding. Congratulations, your winning streak reached 500. You received 60 battle coins as a reward. Wil suddenly found himself in a familiar white space before the info screen as Death King gave up the battle to save his servant. "People always fear the unknown. I guess, he feared that his legendary grade lich will be frozen forever or something and will die for sure within time? I wonder what would be his reaction if he knew the effect will wear off in 20 seconds Wait a second. Why did I even attack it in the first place? Can''t I just finish him off directly in 50 seconds while that legendary mob is in Ice?" Wil slapped his forehead, "what an idiot am I..." Meanwhile at Battle Arena; While many of the TimeTraveler''s supporters screamed in excitement, some people cursed Death King to be a coward for running away while others supported him by saying it''s a strategic retreat As for the sisters, they stared at the big screen in silence for a while even though a new match is going on, before the third sister broke the silence with a smile, "see Time Traveler won in the end." Meanwhile, the eldest sister went into deep thinking, "what are those skills? First, Ice arrow, then, that raining arrows from the sky, summoning two NPCs with white and black wings, making heroic mobs kneel and freezing even a legendary mob? Is he an Archer or some legendary mage? What kind of legendary legacy this guy encountered? Time Traveler As Uncle mentioned, this tournament really reveals interesting people" Chapter 92: Hyori starts playing the game As the eldest sister shifted her focus to Wil, she waited patiently for his next match. But, after she found he didn''t play any more matches even after an hour, she shrugged her shoulders and changed her screen to Crimson Sun''s matches. It isn''t just her who became interested in Wil; those who watched the match started discussing in the forum about how a necromancer named Death King has a legendary grade servant while how an Archer named Time Traveler destroyed his army by raining the arrows from the sky. As someone uploaded the video in forums, Wil''s popularity was increased tremendously in one night. Slowly the video''s popularity was increased while some of the large guilds started paying attention to Death King instead after finding that Time Traveler is rumored to have Scarlet Securities as his background. Meanwhile, Wil, the center of attention was busy chatting with Hyori while lying in the bed Wil: Damn You should have told me. Hyori: Sorry. Even I didn''t know Master is already planning to let all the employees play the game and bought the capsules for us. Wil: Never mind, then. What Kingdom and city you chose, by the way? Hyori: Arctin city of Arctin Kingdom, Xynnar continent. Wil: Since twenty-four hours hasn''t been passed yet, the teleportation stone must have not disappeared yet. You can use it and transfer to Deloris town or East Ocean city from the Llyne Kingdom. Then, choose a random beginner village. It doesn''t matter which one it is Hyori: It''s fine. We''re not in a hurry to level up. Wil: No, you aren''t getting a point here. Once the war starts, all different kingdoms will become enemies to each other. Unless your kingdom is destroyed, it''s hard to become a citizen and develop in another Kingdom. That''s why. Hyori: I see I''ll go and change my location to Llyne kingdom after tomorrow''s class. Wil: ok. Call me once your college is over or send a message in-game. What''s your ign by the way? Hyori: ign? Wil: in-game name. Hyori: Oh! It''s Yelir. And Master''s ign is Grimshot. Wil: Got it. Just when he was about to type something... Hyori: Omg, it''s almost four. I need to sleep. Cya "Eh?" Wil didn''t expect that she cut off the conversation just like that all of a sudden. Shrugging his shoulders, he threw his mobile phone away and decreased room temp to 15 before sleeping. *** At around 11 o''clock in the morning, Wil woke up from his good sleep and slowly finished his morning activities without any tension. *Welcome to War Online* As he logged in, Wil found himself in a familiar white space, the last location where he logged out. The first thing he did is to look at current rankings to see how much it changed. While the top ten rankers didn''t change, except that Wil is out of the top 20, there is now a significant gap between everyone. Group 56: 1) Wisdom Queen - 3,256,680 2) Guide C 2,850,060 3) Death King C 2,686,800 4) Starlight C 2,595,610 5) Guitarist C 2,362,260 6) Supreme Master C 2,166,000 7) Bummer C 2,082,520 8) Honeybee C 2,008,990 9) I''m a King C 1,856,630 10) Kenny Ken C 1,823,200 23) Time Traveler C 1,539,850 "Looks like no one took rest and continue to battle. Poor fellows, they don''t know that the first ranker won''t be selected for top-128 automatically. Not my problem, anyway. I just need to be in top-10 by the end of preliminaries." Two hours later, As Wil shot a normal arrow towards a Guardian, the latter dodged it by jumping aside instead of blocking it with a shield but by the time he stabilized his footing, a fire arrow struck him and 5 million damage appeared on his head before receiving a notification that he died. *Ding. You won the match in 12 seconds. You received a score of 2880 and a battle coin. *Ding. Your winning streak reached 600. You received 80 battle coins as a reward. "Good. Let''s continue" *Ding. Someone sent you a text from the outside world. Hyori: Hey, Wil... I just reached ATC and about to enter the game. Only then did Wil remember the conversation they had the previous day. "Ah, that''s right. I forgot about it. Let''s see" He opened the friends'' list quickly and then clicked on SnowDew and sent a message to her. Time Traveler: Are you busy? SnowDew: Nope. Just leveling up in the wild, alone. What''s up, Big Brother? Time Traveler: I just need a favor. Snow Dew: What is it? Is it a quest? You know I''m always up for it. Time Traveler: no, it isn''t. I have a friend who just started. I need you to take care of her once she crossed level-20 and advance to a class. I''m also sending Remia to guard her in the high-leveling area to decrease your burden. I''ll send you her co-ordinates once she arrives. Snow Dew: Oh, I''m going to take care of her? Sure, leave it to me, Guild Leader. * After dumping Hyori on Snow Dew, Wil looked at the expired contracts of which two disappeared indicating some else hired them. Looking at Remia''s contract, he clicked on it. *Ding. Your contract with Remia is expired. Renew for 2 gold per day or 10 gold per week? "Woah Gold rates for hiring guards sure hiked even though 1 Silver coin is still 2000 credits in the exchange rate. Well, it only means, the price of gold is going to decrease soon and before its value decrease to less than 100000 credits, I need to spend all of my gold on something. I guess I need to speed up the process" As he clicked on Renew for a week, the system sent him another notification. *Ding. Your citizenship is different from the birthplace of Remia. You receive a 30% discount. *Ding. 7 Gold is decreased from inventory. *** The next day, Wil woke up at 5 o''clock and he entered the capsule immediately. *Welcome to War Online* Looking at the rankings, he stretched his body for a while, "ok, there are 12 hours left till the end of preliminaries. Since my goal is already reached, let''s aim for a 2000 winning streak by the time preliminaries end." Four hours later, as Wil almost reached 1500 winning streak, the system sent him a notification, after a whole 30 seconds of loading. *Ding. You are matched with Wisdom Queen. Your match will start in 5 seconds. "F*** This b***h is still playing without any sleep? It''s already been 39 hours..." The surroundings changed and in front of him stood an attractive thirty-year-old voluptuous woman. But, no one would even spare her a glance because of a simple creature below her. She was sitting on a giant polar bear that is glaring at its next prey. Armored Polar Bear King, Aelis Grade: legendary Level: 135 Hp: 260 million Attack: 6.91 million Defense: 2.76 million Crt. Rate: 67.5 Crt. Resist: 67.5 Description: Aelis is the pet of the Wisdom Queen. Battle Arena, Weford city; Once again by coincidence, for the third time, the system played the match between Time Traveler and a top character in group 56 on a big screen while the five sisters are watching the match, calmly. Chapter 93: Five sisters of Galaxy The five sisters of Galaxy guild; While the galaxy guild isn''t that famous all over the world but if one asks a common man in either of the continents whether they know galaxy net or not, then more than 90 percent would say yes. Why? Because they are the most fearsome organization after the military that helped the federation unify the world and form a single government. They were even mentioned in middle-school history textbooks. So, what made them so fearsome Well, it''s the knowledge they have on everyone. Their information network is so large that the government didn''t even bother to depend on satellites and forcefully took over the leadership after the world unification five decades ago by giving them a lot of benefits. But, what do these sisters have anything to do with that organization? These naive looking sisters are in fact the daughters of Miyazaki Reisa, the Eastern continent''s finance minister, and her ex, Daniel, one of the four-star generals of the Western continent''s army. And their biggest support is their uncle, Vice-president of Galaxy net. So, yeah, with such a background, they can be considered a royalty even in real life. So, why were these kids with such terrifying background are playing a game together? For fun? Nope. If one asks them, they''ll reply it isn''t definitely by choice. One month ago, Ares city; In a mansion that was heavily guarded with security, five sisters started to arrive one by one. The first to arrive is the immature youngest daughter of the family; Miyazaki Wakano, a 16-year-old high school sophomore. As soon as she took her seat in an empty hall, she took out her mobile phone, put on her speakers, and started watching her beloved "One," one of the most popular professional gamers ever with more than 100 million fans around the world. He was famous for being the top player in games like Bloodrain and Conquer of Campaigns. Due to his handsome looks, this 30-year-old also works as a model and brand ambassador for leading companies'' electronic techs and is also dubbed as the most eligible bachelor in the gaming circle. He was so popular that even Summersoft reserved "One" ign for him along with other popular professional players'' ign so that no else take them. While Wakano was busy with watching videos of One''s games and adventures, her rational third sister arrived. Her name is Miyazaki Akiko and she''s a 21-year-old college senior. Unlike her youngest sister, reasons always follow her words. One can say if Wakano follows her heart, Akiko follows her brain. As both of them are basically opposite in nature, she just sat silently and started writing something in her tab while the youngest is busy with her own thing. Half an hour later, the silence in the hall was finally broken as the ever nice second sister arrived. Miyazaki Konami is a 23-year-old, Chairman, and CEO of an architecture firm that she founded right after she finished her education. "Hey, Wakano, Akiko; It''s been a while." Akiko looked at her and commented, "you have tanned quite a bit, Konami-nee. Must have been working very hard in the sun" "We are finally busy with our first project, right now. So, I had to take care of everything. It''s a bit tough when you want to develop a company from scratch, you know," Konami sighed as she took her seat. Then, as she saw the youngest was busy, she looked over it curiously and exclaimed, "Ohh, it''s One." As soon as the name came out of Konami''s mouth, Wakano, who wasn''t aware of her presence until now immediately paused the video and turned her head towards the source. "Konami-Nee, when did you arrive?" Wakano stood up and specifically greeted her second eldest sister, who doted on former from her childhood. As both of them started to chat and eventually end up watching One''s matches together, the ignored third sister shrugged her shoulders and continued her work. Then arrived the cold fourth sister, Miyazaki Rini, a 19-year-old college freshman of the Ares University. After greeting everyone with a slight nod, she took her seat and stayed silent. Not long after, the perfect eldest sister, Miyazaki Kiyumi arrived with her mother and everyone stopped their works and greeted them respectfully, "it''s been a while, Okaa-san, Onee-san." This beautiful 26-year-old is not only one of the directors of Galaxy net but is also a political advisor to her mom. She''s also a fiance of Richard Welton, a young billionaire who owns a lot of hospitals. Looking at her prized daughters after a long time, a smile appeared on Reisa''s face, "looks like you are all doing well" and then, gave a knock on Wakano''s head, "except for this little brat. Your principal complained that your marks completely dropped in the second semester. He even informed me that you only have a little over 50% of attendance. What are you even doing, not going to school? I''m thinking of you bringing back home." As the rest of them slightly grinned while Reisa scolded her daughter, Wakano pouted, "no way. I finally got my freedom after 15 years. I''ll stay at the girls'' dormitory no matter what. Ah Mom, it hurts" She screamed as her mother twisted her left ear, "then, don''t let me hear complaints next time. Look at your sisters. All you know is to scream that One''s name. I should throw him in the jail" "Ah, Mom, you can''t do that to my One" As Reisa once again flared up, the eldest daughter tried to divert the topic "Okaa-san, we can talk about this, later. Uncle must have been waiting for us for a while. Shall we go?" After a while, as everyone started the lunch, Reisa''s older brother, current Vice-president of Galaxy net, Miyazaki Shihei spoke, "the reason I called everyone here because of two things. One is that next week, I''m going to retire as the Vice-president and Hyosuke will take over the position officially." As their elder cousin smiled, everyone just smiled and raised their glasses towards him and congratulated him as they knew sooner or later, it will happen eventually. Meanwhile, Shihei continued, "Second is that Galaxy net will enter War Online. I think you all might have heard of this game by now." As they nodded, he continued, "I''ve got orders from the president after we got info that quite a large corporations are willing to invest in it. Anyway, it will be launched two weeks later and I will personally lead the organization within the game. Kiyumi, you will also follow me." Reisa then commented as she cut a piece of steak, "Actually, I think it''s best if the remaining kids follow Nii-sama. They might learn a thing or two from you. So, that''s settled. I''ll leave my kids in your care, Nii-sama." "Eh?" All the sisters stopped eating and turned their heads in surprise upon hearing her opinion. No, her decree. *** Back to the present; As Wil glanced at the polar bear and Wisdom Queen once more, his nightmares once again reappeared in his mind and his body started shaking uncontrollably for a while before he calmed himself after thinking rationally, "C''mon, Wil. What are you afraid of? You are Seraph''s successor, now. You are destined to be one of the best. Forget about those worthless memories." Meanwhile, Wisdom Queen, who saw Wil''s reaction from far thought her opponent was shaking in excitement and a big grin appeared on her face as she ordered, "Aelis, shred him into pieces." At that time, as the screen zoomed on to her expression, most of the audience swore that they saw a devil smiling sadistically. Chapter 94: WBT: Wil vs Wisdom Queen *Roar* As the Bear roared before started running towards him, Wil raised his bow and pulled the string to conjure an ice arrow before shooting at the bear in order to confirm one more suspicion of his. Looking at the incoming ice arrow, WisdomQueen didn''t wipe the grin off her face as she ordered, "Aelis, blow them away". The bear, upon hearing the order of her master, roared and unleashed one of its skills while continuing to run. "Wind Roar" A beam of wind flew from its mouth and hit the Ice arrow and blew it away. But, upon the moment of contact with the wind attack, the freezing effect from the arrow activated, and the surrounding forty meters were frozen instantly, which includes the bear. Looking at it, WisdomQueen calmly raised her epic grade staff and spoke, "nullify." A purple complex seal appeared below the bear and absorbed all the Ice on it. The surrounding freezing also disappeared the moment the bear was freed. But, Wil isn''t in a mood about these things as he was busy with trying to find a stable footing as he was being blown away. After the Ice arrow was blown away, the power of the wind beam didn''t stop and continued to make its way towards Wil, who took it head-on as he clearly knew that this was its lowest skill and he too needs distance to plan next movement. Still, he didn''t escape unscathed. As he landed on the floor, Wil found his hp decreased by little more than 6 million and left with only four million. Just like her, he too didn''t have any worried look even though more than 60% of his health was gone just like that. Wil immediately activated Sauron''s crown effect and summoned his two faithful fallen angels. "Dromeus, use heal." As one of the fallen angels used heal to recover his health by 1.5 million every second as critical continued to appear, meanwhile, Wil also used Heal skill on himself and back to full health within just two seconds. This indeed shocked not only Wisdom Queen a little but also the audience who didn''t expect Wil has a powerful healer summon as his back up. What they don''t know is that Wil also used his no Cooldown heal skill on himself, a very basic skill of a Healer that only he was able to retain upon changing the class to Elementalist. That is the reason he was back to full health so quickly, not because his healer servant is strong. After recovering himself, Wil quickly changed his set to lightning effect arrows as the bear almost covered more than half of the distance within these two seconds. He quickly shot an arrow towards the bear, which the latter didn''t have the time to dodge because of the short distance and was paralyzed for 0.5 seconds and a "-1" damage appeared on its head even though a crt hit appeared. Wil, who already expected it, shot another arrow within that time and paralyze it again before increasing the distance between them. Just when he was about to do for the third time, a fireball made its way from the side that forced Wil to dodge it and the polar bear got freed once again. "Damn, I almost forgot that she''s a capable mage herself." "Kallius, take care of the mage." Just when he was about to use a fireball on WisdomQueen "Aelis, use snowstorm and take out those puppets," bellowed Wisdom Queen while looking at him coldly. *Roar* The polar bear roared once again before standing on two legs and started releasing a snowstorm towards the two fallen angels. "No other choice. I have to gamble on her nullify skill still in cool down." "Absolute Freeze" Before the snowstorm even touched the fallen angels, who have a bitter smile on them as they realized that they can''t fly in this new environment, the polar bear was frozen in Ice along with the snowstorm that looks like a small highway made of Ice. Meanwhile, Wil didn''t waste a single second and dashed while shooting a fire arrow towards Wisdom Queen, who raised her staff again and used level-100 witch skill, "Dome of Fire." A Giant fire dome erupted around her, blocking the path of the fire arrow. "This is the first time I see this queen of war hid behind a wall. I guess she must be waiting for Cooldown to finish." Just then, he received a bunch of notifications followed by a message from Aster. *Ding. The construction of the Auction house is completed. *Ding. All the constructions finished. *Ding. As the combined area is more than 50,000 square meters, you can form a district. Name your district. As he set the name as Scarlet the system sent another notification. *Ding. Your Scarlet district is active. *Ding. A district panel is added to the character. Ignoring the notifications, he read Aster''s message. Shadow Blade: Young master, our district construction is completed. As Wil read the message, his lips curl up, "finally, it''s done. Let''s finish this match quickly and return to East Ocean city." Then, as he glanced at the dome, Wil thought, "Dome of Fire, eh? A defensive skill that not only blocks damage up to 500% for 30 seconds but also burns the attackers who touch it. Even though it''s just a strategic retreat, it feels good to see her like that. Now, let''s see, since she was willing to hide, that means, she isn''t confident enough to beat me on her own without the bear. So, unless she possesses a legendary grade accessory like me or a legendary grade weapon, her attack stat bound to be at most 500K. Then, the dome can block damage of 2.5 million. At best, 3 million. Good then, let''s break it with my one of my hidden trump cards." While the audience, who figured out Wisdom Queen''s plan, wondered how will Time Traveler defeat her before she frees her pet, they saw Wil put away his bow and gathered his hands near his mouth. As WisdomQueen wondered what this guy with weird skills is about to do next, Wil unleashed "Dragon Fire" and breathe out the fire as if he was blowing a trumpet. As soon as the dragon fire touched the dome, it instantly disappeared and Wisdom Queen was touched by the fire and a critical hit appeared on her head to her bad luck even though she has more than 70% crt. resist. "-7,592,562" Before she even tried to dodge, Wisdom Queen received a notification that she died and she and her pet disappeared from the platform along with Wil, who was equally surprised that the match will end so quickly *Ding. Your winning streak reached 1500. You received 400 battle coins as a reward. "Damn, Did I overestimate her? Nah, her pet was indeed strong but she herself isn''t a match for a legend class user like me. Hahaha, I won against War Queen who even Bran wasn''t able to win." At that moment, Wil was on the clouds and even jumped twice in excitement for defeating her rather than making a 1500 winning streak. Meanwhile, on the outside, everyone cheered loudly for Wil while the sisters are in confusion to see another skill that isn''t in their database. The eldest sister frowned and went into deep thinking once again, "Just what legacy this guy found? I have never seen or heard of those skills. If he found a one or two, it''s common but I have never seen him use a normal archery skill even once. He''s more like a mage that wields a bow. Is there such a legacy in the game? Ugh his public identity makes it even harder to fish out the secret. Poking him will bring nothing but trouble. Even mom or uncle can''t touch those guys from the Scarlet group without facing severe consequences. They even have those ministers as support. On the other hand, the abnormal high damage of Crimson Sun is also something that deserves attention. I mean, how one can just win all matches on one swing Even the top ranker of that group was defeated in one move. So many people mentioned in forums that this guy had done more than 15 million of damage in one normal swing. I wonder how powerful his best skill is? I bet he has a legendary grade sword and accessories that increase his damage. That''s not strange. The strangest part is that his info was blocked by Summersoft for some reason. I bet not even mom can make Summersoft reveal his identity. Other than these both, Supreme Conqueror, Mistykid, Devil, Magi, Wishing Hero, Antiflight, Astroside, Armada, Vengeance King, Firereign and so many others that can give heavy competition to "One". Forget about winning, looks like "One" isn''t even guaranteed top 16" Chapter 95: WBT: 2000 Winning Streak After winning the game, Wil left the white space with a big smile on his face and exited the Battle Arena in a hurry to see his completed project. On his way, he opened the District panel to check the details. Name: Scarlet District Area: 53000 sq.m or 0.053 sq.km Head Manager: Melina Status: Not open to the public Construction cost: 962 gold List of Buildings: Scarlet Auction House -1000 sq.m Scarlet Bank C 1000 sq.m Scarlet Battle Arena C 2000 sq.m Scarlet Inn C 3000 sq.m Scarlet Weapons store C 3000 sq.m Scarlet potions store C 3000 sq.m Scarlet Smithy C 9000 sq.m Scarlet Labs C 9000 sq.m Scarlet Restaurants C 8000 sq.m Scarlet Entertainment agency C 1000 sq.m Scarlet Library C 1000 sq.m Scarlet Clothing store C 2000 sq.m Scarlet material store C 5000 sq.m Scarlet warehouse - 1000 sq.m Scarlet conference room - 1000 sq.m Scarlet workspace C 3000 sq.m No. of Employees C 1 Total Revenue C 0 gold Land Tax C 53 gold Income Tax - 0 gold Loss C 1665 gold Blacklist C no one *** Wil didn''t mind about the loss stat as he knew every business start with expenditure. As for their construction, since players can only build the second floor after they upgrade the store, which further depends on its sales and flow of NPC customers, Wil built the buildings in a different way. For example, instead of building a couple of stores separately, Wil built the stores on a big scale so that it can accommodate a large number of people. The biggest of these is the Smithy, and Lab, which can easily let 600 people train or craft at the same time while the kitchens of the restaurant can let 200 cooks train in the training chamber while the rest can work. As for the inn, it currently only has 50 rooms that can give 30 exp/second effect. Since Wil has yet to employ, the stores were all currently empty and the business is yet to open. Meanwhile, hundreds of casual players were standing outside and curiously looking at it from far as the district hasn''t been opened to the public yet. On the other hand, Silvershapers guild members are in a celebration as their boss finally built training spaces for them. Those who are really loyal to the guild were ecstatic as they no longer need to go to other guilds to train or sell their resources. After all, as the biggest non-combat guild, elites of the guild have their own pride. Now that they have their own training space and stores, they can''t help but praise Wil at least in their hearts. The ones who were happy the most are the fashion designers as they no longer need to sell their works for cheap in NPC shops who in return sell at a high price. Still, no one went there to look except for a few fellows as Mountain Rock informed them it''ll still take a day or two before they can use the facilities. Following Aster''s orders, he also strictly ordered everyone to abandon Dreamwalkers'' smithies and labs and stop selling the items in their stores and warned those who disobey will be kicked out without a second warning. Meanwhile, Dreamwalkers branch leader and the vice leaders of Resistance were in depression as they not only didn''t get to proceed with the Imperials'' extermination plan because of the tournament but also started seeing a decline in increasing their guild''s strength after the guilds of Imperials stopped selling their items in Dreamwalkers'' stores and started stocking up the resources, weapons, etc. As the branch manager sent the complaint to HQ, he further got a reply to stand down until the tournament is over, which made him even more depressed. Without having any other choice, Dreamwalkers maintained their position as the ally of Imperials in public while the guilds of Resistance continued their usual skirmishes with Imperials to slow down their growth While the drama is going on in every side, the center of this drama was happily strolling around his private district with Aster and Melina after sending away Architects to plan a similar district at Deloris town. After touring around the district along with Aster and Melina, Wil took out 1000 gold and gave it to Melina, "good. Now, I leave the management to you, Melina." Melina bowed lightly, "I won''t disappoint you, milord." Then, he looked at Aster and said, "You stay here with Melina during the hiring process and sent me a message when it''s done. I''ll open to the public." *** *Ding. You are matched with Lifeless Mask. Your match is going to start in 5 seconds. After sorting out everything regarding the district, Wil resumed his battles slowly to keep himself in the top 10. *Ding. Your winning streak reached 1600. You receive 460 battle coins as a reward. *Ding. Your winning streak reached 1700. You receive 520 battle coins as a reward. *Ding. Your winning streak reached 1800. You receive 580 battle coins as a reward. *Ding. Your winning streak reached 1900. You receive 640 battle coins as a reward. Looking at the time, Wil thought, "It''s almost 5 p.m. Only one hour left. I guess I did a pretty good job to reach this 2000th win. Now, I only wonder who it is going to be." *Ding. You are matched with Starlight. Your match will start in 5 seconds. "Ohh Starlight, huh... Let''s see how strong this guild leader of Starlight is." As the match started, Wil raised his bow and conjured an Ice arrow but didn''t fire at him yet as he got a sudden notification from the system. *Ding. Your opponent wishes to draw. Accept the outcome? "Draw? Who would do so on their 2000th winning streak..." Wil quickly rejected it and said, "I''m sorry but my winning streak is pretty much high to ignore your request. I have no choice here." Upon hearing him, 2nd rank Starlight who doesn''t wish to waste time and energy on Wil, directly gave up the match so that he can catch up to Wisdom Queen in the rankings and proceed to the next round. *Ding. Your opponent gave up the match. You receive a score of1500 and a battle coin. *Ding. Your winning streak reached 2000. You receive 710 battle coins as a reward. Info: Name: Time Traveler Class: Elementalist Level: 153 Win: 2550 Loss: 0 Draw: 1 Score: 5,589,310 Rank: 7 Battle coins: 50160 After reaching his goal, Wil didn''t continue any longer. One hour later, the system made a world-wide announcement. *Ding. Preliminaries for the World Battle Tournament ended. Check out the rankings. Group 56: 1) Wisdom Queen - 7,356,910 2) Starlight C 7,125,800 3) Death King C 6,862,230 4) Guide C 6,578,960 5) Guitarist C 6,172,060 6) Supreme Master C 5,999,750 7) Honeybee C 5,606,520 8) Time Traveler C 5,589,310 9) I''m a King C 5,367,620 10) Bummer C 5,000,770 At the arena, looking at the rankings, Kiyumi sighed, "Time Traveler can only climb up until 8th position in the end. Too bad, he can''t face those strong players like him." While many of Time Traveler''s fans thought it''s regrettable that their favorite can''t get into the next round, two minutes later, suddenly, the system sent another notification taking everyone by surprise. *Ding. World Battle Tournament is going into the 2nd phase. Before that, the top 10 users of the same group can challenge the top and take their spot. Each Challenger can only challenge once and defenders will receive a 50% increase in their stats. The final rankings will be updated at 0:00 hours. "Here, it is Now, this is what I waiting for. Now, since, most of them are probably thinking that they''ll challenge Wisdom Queen at the last minute, let''s just follow them and wait until final half an hour." Just as Wil expected, the rankings in the group didn''t change one bit until the final hour when Wisdom Queen was dropped to 6th place and was replaced by Supreme Master in the first place. "Eh? When did this guy get strong enough to defeat Wisdom Queen? Not to mention, with a 50% increase stats" Meanwhile, Supreme Master was smiling big as he easily took over the first spot, "hahaha, what luck. Who would have expected Wisdom Queen is offline. Maybe, she went offline the moment it is over." Chapter 96: WBT: Taking the first spot Just as Supreme Master guessed, Wisdom Queen indeed went offline as she was too tired mentally and receiving a continuous warning from the capsule. But, what he doesn''t know is that even Starlight, Guide, Guitarist, and Bummer went offline before the system announcement while thinking that everything is over and they can sleep finally after 3 days. Ares City; At a certain apartment in the city of Ares, Wisdom Queen alias Kim Soojin was sleeping soundly in the capsule while the capsule keeps on sending automated voice message alerts every couple of seconds. "User Wisdom Queen. Someone is trying to call you." "User Wisdom Queen. Someone is trying to call you." "User Wisdom Queen. Someone is trying to call you." While her guildmates and real-life friends are busy calling her after seeing her rank dropped in the list and she''s offline for five hours, the person in question, Wisdom Queen continued to sleep soundly. Half an hour later, as she suddenly woke up because of one of the voice message alerts of the capsule, she finally picked up the call in a half-sleep state. "Hello?" "Hello, Soojin-unnie, it''s me, Harin." "Harin, let''s talk later. Okay?" "Unnie, it''s serious. Do you know what''s happening here in the game? Your rank dropped to 6th." "What" Wisdom Queen suddenly woke up, "what are you saying?" After hearing out the entire matter, she immediately sighed in relief, "thank goodness. You woke me up at right time." Disconnecting the call, she tried logging into the game in a hurry. Just then, an automated voice from the capsule replied, "the memory chip hasn''t been cooled-off yet. Please wait another 3 hours." "F***" Wisdom Queen cursed out in frustration... When buying the capsule, they clearly stated the rules on a guide that came with it. Forgetting about that, there''s even an AI installed in every capsule that asks a user whether they need any introduction regarding the capsule when one enters for the first time. Once the memory chip heated up, the capsule will send warnings to the players who will start to face tremendous mental pressure as they continue to play long hours. Once they log out, the capsule will go into a cooling state where it usually needs at least 8 hours to log in again. And once again, this is where the type of capsule plays a role. Higher the grade, the more it can handle the process. Just like Wisdom Queen, a lot of players who played for 3 days non-stop to the limit and logged out were busy cursing while losing their sleep and the opportunity to go to the top 128. As for people like Wil, who took sufficient rest and are in a stable state were enjoying the moment of less competition. *** *Ding. You challenged SupremeMaster. Your match will start in 5 seconds. As the defender wins even if it''s a draw and moreover, his mana and all skills'' Cooldown will be reset for every match, Supreme Master just activated the energy barrier with confidence. "With my defense increasing by 50%, unless he can do 5 million of damage, no one can stop me from making it a draw. If Time Traveler can make it, he wouldn''t propose draw last time." Looking at his confident look, Wil mumbled, "looks like he''s too confident because of our last match. Poor guy" Wil then walked towards the barrier while mumbling, "Spirit of Zenon, activate." Suddenly, something entered his body and he was covered by a white aura as his stats increased by 50%. After getting into the range, Wil gathered his hands near his mouth and unleashed, "Dragon Fire." The fire that was coming from Wil''s mouth hit the barrier. "What" A shocked expression appeared on Supreme Master, who was currently crouching near the weapon to maintain the barrier as a part of the fire bypassed the barrier and started burning him. "-6,738,268" As a critical hit activated, a high damage number appeared on his head and before he knows what''s going on, Supreme Master turned into ash and reappeared in familiar white space with a dazed expression. His voice started to shake as he mumbled, "6 million That means, his overall damage is 11 11 million? What a monster." Meanwhile, on the outside, while a part of the audience here and there is cheering and is complaining to play it on the big screen, the eldest sister sighed, "That fire once again appeared. How strong is it that it can bypass barrier and kill the enemy in one hit" After Wil rose to the first spot, he defeated the remaining challengers easily with Absolute freeze and poison arrows combination every time and thus, securing the spot in the top 128. At 0:00 hours, the system sent a world-wide notification. *Ding. Final Rankings are updated. Only then, Wil opened other group rankings to see who might become his competition. "Hmm, as expected, "One" won in his group. Magi, Supreme Conqueror, Devil, Wishing Hero All of them made it. Where is Crimson Sun? I can''t see his name Did he even make it?" After searching for a while, Wil finally found his name on the top of group 115. "Bran indeed made it. Obviously... Hmm, I wonder whether Magi found the tomb and changed to Elementalist. Who knows Forgetting an extra, there are only three spots left for Elementalist. That means two are already out of the race because of me." The World Battle Tournament preliminaries that started with extreme enthusiasm was finally over with several sighs and regrets from all over the world as many top players missed out an opportunity to challenge the top and go into the next round. All because of impatience to log out and rest. AFter finding it out, all the ones who missed it have a single thought, "If only they have waited just 2 minutes sigh" While several people didn''t get to sleep that day, On the other hand, Wil happily slept on his comfy bed as usual. But, who could have expected, even his sleep will be disturbed. Two hours into his sleep, suddenly, his door was knocked continuously *Knock* Knock* Knock* Knock* "Hmm, who is it, at this hour" As Wil woke up and walked into the hall towards the door, he suddenly stopped and mumbled with a frown, "that''s right. Who might be at this hour?" Without opening the door, he asked, "who is it?" But, there was no response from the other side. Wil was taken aback because of the lack of response. Still, he asked the same question. After getting the same response, Wil scurried into his bedroom and took out his mobile phone. As he opened the contacts, the first person he thought is Aster and immediately called to him. "Hello, young master?" It was a tired voice that answered his call. "Aster, somebody is at the front of my door. I asked who they are but received no answer. Quickly send a team to check, now." "I''ll quickly call security to check on you, young master. You don''t open the door no matter what. Just stay indoors." *Knock* Knock* Knock* The door was knocked again and his mobile phone vibrated. *buzz* buzz* As he opened a text from an unknown number, he read XXXX: Open the door. Wil started sweating all of a sudden, "who might be that know my mobile phone number and has the guts to intrude my building. Last time, it turned out to be a prank. What now? Better to stay silent." For the next 15 minutes, the house stayed silent. Looking at the situation, Wil mumbled, "Maybe, he ran away?" Just then, *Knock* Knock* The door was knocked twice but this time, a familiar voice followed with it, "Young master, it''s Aster. You can open the door." Wil went near to the door and then asked, "If you are Aster, answer me. What is the area of Scarlet District and who is my head manager." Immediately an answer came, "its 53000 sq.m and NPC elf named Melina is the head manager. She even has a salary of 50 gold per week." "phew," Wil wiped his sweat after confirming Aster''s identity and opened the door. As soon as he opened the door, Wil was stunned to see the most unlikely person beside Aster that had a smile as he commented, "you did great." Wil''s voice quivered in a surprise, "D... Dad?" Chapter 97: A surprise visit... "D... Dad?" Wil got the shock of his life as he found his dad, the Mafia Lord Philip was standing in front of him at such an unusual time. "A sudden visit at this hour? You haven''t even informed me beforehand" Then, he glared at Aster, "you at least, you should have sent me a text if you knew about it." Philip smiled, "c''mon, don''t blame this poor fellow. He was just following my orders. By the way, will you ask all questions here or shall we talk inside?" "Ah, I''m sorry. Come in" As both of them entered his apartment, Philip said as he sat, "I''m just here to spend my vacation with my son." "Eh?" That night, Wil was rolling on his bed as he wasn''t getting sleep. He mumbled as he sat on his bed while grabbing his hair in frustration, "Damn, why is this old man here? And that too, for a week? Is the venue of his death going to be changed? Don''t tell me I''m fated to die along with dad? There''s no way I''m going to accept that. With a great miracle, I''ve got a chance to live for the second time. Why should I die, again? Dad has killed a lot of people. So, it''s expected that he would die that way. Those who live by the sword die by the sword. I have accepted it, a long time ago. But, I''m innocent. I''ve never taken a life. Just because I''m his son doesn''t mean I have to die along with him too Damn What should I do? Should I run away to some faraway city? I can just hide and play the game until I get old. With War Online, I can make a living. Ugh Isn''t that the same as before? No matter whether I become number one player or not, a bullet can still pierce my heart all the same. Once I''ll be found, it''s game over. The safest place for me is to be with these bodyguards. Then, how about sending dad to prison? At least, he''ll be alive for sure. But, is there such an officer that have the guts to do that? Certainly no. If it was possible, he would have already been there by now. Argh F*** my life Why wasn''t I born in an ordinary family like Hyori? Even if I wouldn''t become great and lose these entire luxury things, at the very least, I wouldn''t have to worry about my life. Is being rich greater than being alive? No, it isn''t. But, if you are alive, someday, you can become rich. Damn Damn Damn Why are you being negative before even the deed happened? Maybe, dad will be alive this time because he changed places. Sigh let''s forget these worries and just hide in the capsule on the 3rd day. The capsule is my best shield against any assassination attempt. Yeah, let''s do that." The next day morning, he left his room with deep red eyes because of the lack of sleep, "good morning, dad." As Wil greeted his dad, who was watching the news while having his coffee, the latter returns his greetings with a smile, "good morning, Son. Looks like you didn''t sleep much. Having Insomnia?" Wil waved his hand, "nothing to worry about. It''s just I became very excited about the game." While a curious look appeared on Philip''s face, Wil explained, "There''s a tournament going on. I advanced to the top 128." "Oh, and how many participants?" asked Philip curiously. "Hmm, not sure. Around 3 million? More or less" replied Wil as he took his seat. "Oh, top 128 in 3 million. That''s an impressive achievement, indeed," Philip nodded as he takes a sip. While a silence enveloped in the room as his dad continue to watch the news, Wil tried to create a topic for discussion, "by the way, dad. How come you are here all alone without Storm or Silver?" Philip replied while continuing to watch the television, "they are busy at our Yarlford with things." Then, a rare grin appeared on his face as he said, "Actually, yesterday evening; when I informed them that I had an impulse to take a vacation alone, they threw a fit, especially Storm. It took me a great deal to convince them. Hah... they really worry a lot." "Damn, who wouldn''t worry if a 50 billion dollar bounty target is going out alone. Dad, your sudden impulse will kill me, this time. At least, you should have come with security even if you want to visit me. If you want to die that much, then go and die alone" While Wil is busy cursing his dad, Philip continued, "so, how''s everything going with your studies?" "Hmm, Yeah. It''s fine," replied Wil with a troubled look. Philip then said, "I have no problem with you not attending the college if you aren''t interested." Wil was taken aback by his dad''s words, "Dad?" Philip nodded, "of course, I knew from the start. But, that isn''t the point anyway. I want to see that game life of yours that made you skip college." "Eh?" For a few seconds, Wil didn''t know how to reply and stared at his dad before replying, "um, sure, dad." In the next hour, an A-grade capsule was quickly brought by the guys and was quickly installed beside Wil''s. *Welcome to War Online* As both of them logged in, Wil went to meet his dad in one of the beginner villages near Deloris. Looking at him, Philip was taken aback at first but then patted his shoulder, "good job on your disguise, son." Wil just smiled in return and took him to level-20 zone to level him up quickly. While Wil was massacring the mobs, Philip was getting used to the game, and within no time, he started shooting level-20 boars from more than 200 meters away with normal arrows provided by Wil. Although there wasn''t any considerable damage, Wil who looked at his dad''s archery skills for the first time can''t help but feel amazed after finding out his father can shoot a target from one-eighth of a mile. His accuracy is so high that all the arrows that he shot pierced the targets at the center of their foreheads, which made him believe that his dad can shoot even far. For the first time, Wil thought that his dad is like a superhuman, and when that thought came in, he looked at Philip''s back and smiled, "for some reason, I feel secure even though I''m the bus that dad is riding. I guess this is how SnowDew feels when she does level up along with her father Sigh but, it''s already too late. What would unnecessary bonding helps at this stage when he was going to die in 3 days. Unlike her father, this superhuman dad of mine is not a great dad, husband, or even a good human being. What''s the use of Forget it. I don''t have the power to stop his death. Even if I avert it now, it''ll happen in the future. So, let''s just do what I can to make him happy as long as he stays with me." After getting him into level-20, both of them left the village and directly went to Deloris town. Entering the town, as the natives greeted him with respect, Wil bragged, "Dad, I''m the mayor of this town. Do you know I''m also the first one to become a Mayor in this kingdom" As Wil continued to brag all of his achievements one by one, Philip just smiled in return feeling proud and then commented, "looks like you''ve indeed changed a lot since you left Yarlford. Well, in a good way." *** An hour before Round-128 starts; As Philip took his seat in one of the audience section at a Battle Arena in the capital city; Wil entered the portal and found himself in a familiar white space. This time, on the large screen before him, Wil found Info at the top left as usual but on the right side, the rankings disappeared and replaced with matches list. Meanwhile, the start button on the lower left disappeared and replaced with the Battle Shop option. As he clicked on it, Wil''s surroundings changed and he found himself in a store with a beautiful elf as the manager, who is wearing traditional eastern clothes. Chapter 98: WBT: Wil visits Battle Shop "Hello, welcome to battle shop. What do you wish to buy?" The shop manager named Flora asked him politely. Wil replied, "Show me the list of available items." Flora then took out a book and handed it to him. As soon as Wil touched it, a holographic screen that contains a list of items and their prices appeared before his eyes. Equipment: Level 50-200, Random Gold grade equipment box C 25 battle coins Level 50-200, Gold grade equipment box class C 50 battle coins Level 100-200, Chosen gold grade equipment box C 150 battle coins Chosen gold grade equipment box user''s level C 250 battle coins Level 50-200, Random Epic grade equipment box C 1000 battle coins Level 50-200, Epic grade equipment class C 2000 battle coins Level 100-200 Chosen Epic grade equipment box C 5000 battle coins Growth type Random Epic grade equipment box level 300 max - 10000 battle coins Growth type Random Legendary grade equipment level 200 max C 25000 battle coins Growth type Legendary grade equipment class level 200 max C 50000 battle coins Growth type Chosen Legendary grade equipment class level 200 max C 100000 battle coins "Hmm, I have around 50K battle coins. So, all I can afford two random legendary-grade types of equipment or one class-oriented equipment? Well, legendary-grade equipment is indeed a game-changer in the upcoming rounds. But, the first one is just a gamble. I may not get what I need in the end and both of them can turn out useless. So, the most viable option here is the class-oriented which may not guarantee what kind of equip but definitely guarantees a suitable one for me. Who knows, maybe I might even get a Bow from the box. With the remaining points, I can buy a pet slot as I planned. But, if I reach rank number 1, then, it''ll become worthless in the end because I can''t sell it. How about checking the remaining list in the resources and special section. Then, we can compare whether it''s worth or not." Resources: Augment stone (max 9999) C 2 battle coin Augment stone +10 (max 999)C 1000 battle coins Augment stone +15 (max 99)- 2000 battle coins Augment stone +20 (max 9)C 10000 battle coins Limit-Break stone (max 9)C 25000 battle coins Gold-grade Appraisal scroll (max 999) C 500 battle coins Epic-grade Appraisal scroll (max 99) - 2500 battle coins Legendary-grade Appraisal scroll (max 9) C 12500 battle coins Teleportation scroll (max 999): 1000 battle coins Resurrection scroll (max 999): 1000 battle coins Elite-grade pet scroll (max 99): 1000 battle coins Heroic-grade pet scroll (max 9): 10000 battle coins Legendary-grade pet scroll (max 1): 50000 battle coins 100% Hp recovery scroll (max 999): 1000 battle coins 100% mana recovery scroll (max 999): 1000 battle coins 100% speed increase scroll (max 99): 5000 battle coins 100% attack increase scroll (max 99): 10000 battle coins 100% defense increase scroll (max 99): 10000 battle coins 100% critical increase scroll (max 99): 10000 battle coins 100% critical damage increase scroll (max 99): 20000 battle coins 100% critical resistance increase scroll (max 99): 10000 battle coins 100% pierce increase scroll (max 99): 20000 battle coins Special: Pet slot (max 9): 1000 battle coins Random High-grade Skill book (max 9): 5000 battle coins Random peak-grade skill book (max 1): 20000 battle coins Elite-grade monster repelling incense (max 1): 2500 battle coins Night vision goggles (max 1): 5000 battle coins Mask of Tranquility (max 1): 5000 battle coins After thinking for a long time, Wil chose two pet slots, 5 mana recovery scrolls, a random peak grade skill book, and finally, one limit-break stone, which is something that lets any equipment increase its enhanced limit by 5 with a 100% chance. At 5:30 p.m. EST, the system sent a world-wide notification again. *Ding. World Battle Tournament Round-128 will start in 30 minutes. All participants must enter the portal and get ready before their match starts. Even though the matches are already decided, the order in which the matches are completely random. So, participants have no choice but to enter the portal and wait for their turn in the white space. *Ding. The first match is between group-16''s Format and group-113''s Reviewer. As all the battle arenas are filled with an audience, the first match began to play in all the big screens. Meanwhile, the betting system is also opened in which the audience can bet on their favorites. As for how the betting system works, first, the system will rate after comparing their stats. In other words, the system will predict who will win the match. After every match, there will be a 5-minute gap and between this period, the audience can check the rates and bet before the match starts. Once the match is over, the system will send the money to their inventory according to the rates. In the battle arena of East Ocean city, every audience who was on Time Traveler''s side bet on him to not only support him but also they believed he would win easily. Even the players belong to the guilds of Resistance bet on Time Traveler after they saw the system rating that shows Time Traveler is 1:1.2 while his opponent, Funky Kid has 1:3. Those who hope for the miracles bet on his opponent to get rich. Looking at the betting rate, Aster spent all of his 520 gold and placed the bet on Wil. After 12 matches, Wil finally got the notification from the system. *Ding. Your match is going to start in 20 seconds. Get ready. 20 seconds later, Wil stood before his opponent, an elf race Knight. As soon as the match started, Wil raised his bow and conjured an ice arrow before shooting at him. Instead of dodging, Funky Kid raised his shield and used the complete block skill. A glow appeared on the shield for a second before disappearing. Just like the skill name, the shield indeed completed blocked the damage of Ice arrow. But, what he didn''t expect that the freezing effect was activated upon the contact between the ice arrow and the shield, and before he reacted, Funky Kid was frozen in thin Ice on the spot. Once the opponent was frozen, Wil shot a fire arrow and then, a normal arrow to finish him off. *Ding. You won the match and advance to the top 64. You receive 1000 battle coins as a reward. While the audience is screaming in the excitement in some stadiums and surprised in others, meanwhile, a few people from different guilds were taking notes about the Ice arrow to pass it to their higher-ups that are currently waiting in white space. It''s not just them. Even Aster is sending the info of the winner of other battles so that he can prepare for it when he meets them in the next round or maybe in the future. Meanwhile, Philip clapped along with everyone else with a smile as he saw thousands of people are cheering his son''s name. 10 hours later; *Ding. World Battle Tournament Round-64 is going to start in 30 minutes. Random matching is going to start. "I wonder who will be my opponent, this time," as Wil curiously looked at the screen before him, the screen loaded for an entire minute before displaying the result. *Ding. You are paired with "One". "F*** where''s my luck gone?" Wil''s face turned dark as soon as he saw the name of his opponent. Chapter 99: WBT: Wil vs One part-1 On the dueling platform, two players stood opposite to each other seventy meters away in silence. Both of them have bows in their hands and arrows between their fingertips but neither is willing to fire it first. It''s Wil and One. One is a hidden legend class user that has the potential to rule the game while the other is an established legendary pro among gamers that even defeated a legendary grade boss in a dungeon using normal arrows without getting hit ever. Meanwhile, millions of players sitting in the audience section are cheering. While the rest of the world is cheering for "One", the battle arenas in the Llyne Kingdom, especially East Ocean city, and the Llyne city is filled with cheers for Wil, save for his enemies. As an experienced gamer over 10 years, "One" was able to judge Wil''s strength not only because of the info gathered by his subordinates but also because he wasn''t able to find any openings at a first glance. On the other hand, Wil was worried inside and hesitating to fire it as he knew; the first to fire will lose the first bout, which he doesn''t wish to do so. Not to mention, "One" is a master at dodging. In his past life''s 3 years of gaming, Wil never heard someone was able to land a hit on "One," not even an NPC boss. It might be because; Wil focused too much on Bran but either way, in his mind, "One" is indeed a monster. Originally, Wil thought of ending the match quickly with heavenly push if he will ever meet strong guys like One, Bran, etc... But, since he met this opponent very early, Wil decided not to use it unless it''s necessary. Under huge pressure, Wil wasn''t able to think of a strategy to win the match but as he thought about Heavenly push, something clicked his mind and he pulled the string even harder. Looking at his opponent''s action, "One" easily figured it out that Wil is going to attack first. As Wil shot an arrow, "One" too shot an arrow much to Wil''s surprise and both of them collided slightly on Wil''s side because of more power from "One" and it knocked it off Wil''s arrow and went straight towards his chest like a lightning. Meanwhile, a series of thoughts instantly appeared in Wil''s mind. "Since it knocked out my arrow, his attack stat must be greater than mine. And considering he''s not a legend class, it''s unlikely he has a legendary grade accessory. So, that only means he has a legendary grade weapon. Even if he has a level-150 weapon, at most the weapon attack stat is around 6 million." Just when the audience thought Time Traveler can''t dodge it, Wil mumbled, "Heavenly push, 60 mana." A gust of wind released from his body in all directions and pushed the arrow away but failed to push away his opponent as he was already out of the range by the moment it reached him. Wil nodded in satisfaction as his opponent moved exactly as he predicted. After all, what he doesn''t want anyone to know about the damage effects of his trump card after his range of attack was already revealed by one of his opponents, which is probably the reason, "One" was able to dodge the attack by moving backward as soon as Wil unleashed it. Looking at 2 minutes Cooldown, Wil sighed, "well, I can only use the skill once more in this match and he still hasn''t revealed anything. Anyway, now that he confirmed my theory, I need to be careful and should drag him closer at any rate. Once he gets trapped inside Ice, it''ll be finished." Wil then dashed towards "One" and jumped high before releasing an arrow towards him. "One" smiled as he took an arrow from the quiver and shot it towards the upcoming attack. Just as their first confrontation, One''s arrow knocked off Wil''s and went towards him but the latter was able to dodge the incoming attack as he landed on the ground and shot another arrow, then, rolled to the left to release the net arrow without caring whether the first one would hit or not. With his quick hands, "One" just nullified them easily and glanced at Wil, "this guy is good but it''s time I should show the difference between us." One quickly took two arrows from his quiver and aimed at Wil, who was surprised, "two arrows?" Placing one of them between his index finger and middle finger and the other in between middle finger and ring finger, "One" somehow placed them firmly and shoot it towards Wil with the same amount of power behind it. As Wil can''t take them down, he just rolled to the right and dodged the attack but before he stood up, Wil saw his opponent already shot another twin arrow in this one-third of a second. In a panic state, as no strategy came to his mind other than dodging and freezing it, Wil quickly conjured an Ice arrow and shot towards one of it and as soon as both of them collide, while the ice arrow got destroyed, the two normal arrows got frozen on the ground. But, "One" who already expected it, took out another two arrows and placed them on the string to shoot for a second time. Meanwhile, Wil just used Dash skill and increased the distance between them more than 100 meters and continue to increase so that he gets enough time to think of a strategy to defeat him. "Do you think distance can solve it? A real archer will not let a mere distance his weakness. And you lose the moment you show your back to an archer." One then took out three arrows this time, placing the third one between the ring finger and little finger. He pulled the string as hard as he can and released all the three of them at the same time. Meanwhile, at Welford city''s battle arena, the audience is jumping in excitement while watching One''s extraordinary performance. While the youngest sister, Wakano screamed as "One" finally revealed his multi arrow skill specialty, "there it is One''s triplet arrow. Go "One." Hahaha, his opponent sure is a coward." While the surrounding Time Traveler''s supporters'' faces turned dark, they didn''t say anything but pray that Wil will win this match as they can''t do anything to this little girl. On other hand, eldest sister Kiyumi was in a discussion with the third sister. "Looks like Time Traveler has no chance. What do you think?" The third sister shook her head, "no, he still hasn''t revealed his trump card; that freezing skill that can even freeze a legendary grade monster. As long as "One" is in range, Time Traveler can win but I wonder why he is creating a distance, instead." Kiyumi replied with a smile, "It''s simple. That''s because he was facing tremendous pressure while fighting against "One." Unlike others, "One" is pretty much famous all over the world and probably every gamer knows his name. Either that or he guessed that "One" has a legendary grade weapon based on their confrontations. So, he was being careful." Back to the game, as the three arrows traveling in a straight line with the power and reached Wil, who is more than 150 meters away from "One," Wil once again tried to dodged the arrows but instead of rolling down to the left, he rolled to the right and the third arrow pierced his shoulder. *-8397852* Wil let out a curse as a heavy damage number appeared on his head even though no critical hit appeared. Watching the match from the audience section, Philip frowned, "what is this boy doing? Did he really forget all that training? Even if his opponent is indeed an expert Archer and Wil can''t counterattack at such a high range, he should have able to dodge it with his eyes closed. After all, it''s only been a few years since he last picked up the bow. The skills won''t go away that easily. Ugh if Andrea were to see this, she would be embarrassed. Sigh what are you thinking, Phil, it''s just a game and Andrea is no more anyway. Instead of thinking why he was going to lose, let''s just appreciate his efforts of making it this far." Back to the battle, after getting almost killed with a simple arrow, Wil summoned his fallen angels and ordered Dromeus to heal him while he tried to heal himself. Meanwhile, "One" once again took three arrows from the quiver and fired it from 150 meters away with accuracy. If one observes carefully, they will realize, he slightly held them in a different manner before releasing it. Chapter 100: WBT: Wil vs One part-2 Looking at the incoming arrows, Wil thought he was able to dodge successfully because of a large distance. But, as Wil tried to dodge to the right, he realized the third arrow coming towards him and almost about to pierce his forehead while he was only able to recover around 6 million. Meanwhile one of the other two arrows struck the healer fallen angel, Dromeus who was standing behind him. As their life is bounded to a crown, Dromeus didn''t die a true death and his soul was sent back to the crown and a 36 hours cooldown appeared on the skill. At such a crisis, suddenly, a memory appeared in Wil''s mind. Six years ago, at an archery training field. A 13-year-old Wil has his eyes covered by a cloth and he has an apple on his head. Before him, stood a young woman in her mid-thirties with a bow and arrow. Without any warning, she shot an arrow and it split the apple into two as he raised his hand. "Again" As she shot an arrow again, this time, Wil reacted a bit early and his hand was pierced by the arrow but didn''t bleed because of protective gloves. "Not good enough. I told you a lot of times. Empty your mind. Use nothing but ears. Remember the training in the forest. All you have to concentrate on the ears to pick the right timing." Back to the present; As the third arrow about to pierce his forehead, Wil unknowingly closed his eyes and caught it with bare hands at the right timing, shocking the audience as well as "One". Looking at the arrow in his hand, Wil mumbled, "The power of an arrow lies in its arrowhead. As long as I can pick the right timing, I can easily deflect it." The words from one more memory began to flow in his head when he was only 9. "You won''t leave for the home unless you finish your assignment. Now, get back to work. Archers don''t blindly shoot the arrows. Based on the distance, you should know at what speed and at what angle, you should release the arrow to deflect opponent''s arrows or shoot him." As "One" decides to test his limits and shot three arrows once again, Wil raised his bow and followed his instincts of aiming at a 30-degree angle upwards and released it sloppily. The arrow that was sloppily released hit the middle of the arrow from upwards and deflected its position. As Wil just stood on the same spot, the middle arrow that was deflected missed Wil and passed him. After failing several times in a row, "One" mumbled in seriousness, "this guy is a trained one by an expert in real life. Let''s increase the pace then. It''s been a while since I got to meet such an opponent. I shouldn''t waste such an opportunity." Meanwhile, Wil is trying to remember his teacher''s lessons. Even though for the body, it''s only been 6 or 7 years, for a person like Wil, who came from 5 years of future, it''s been more than 12 years. So, many of his childhood memories that are only filled with nothing but hardships were disappeared from his memory as the time passed. But, now, Wil is again trying to remember those horror memories. 7 years ago. In the middle of some random forest, 12-year-old was concentrating on his surroundings empty-handed. Andrea''s voice resounding around him, "empty your mind, Wil. Make your mind blank like a dark space and just put the entire focus on your ears. Now, tell me. What did you hear?" After concentrating for a while, Wil replied, "um, I hear birds chirping up ahead. There is a sound of violent winds on the right. I bet they are from the nearby desert." "What else? And also can you spot me and tell the distance between us?" The boy concentrated further and replied, "You are standing behind me. Judging by the sound, there are at least 10 meters between us but not more than 20 meters. I only wonder why you are standing that far. Hmm, now I can hear" Just then, Wil dashed to the left and an arrow shot by Andrea missed the mark and she shot another one, which Wil barely dodged it and got his upper right arm grazed while moving to the left. "It''s good that you were able to figure that it''s an attack but you didn''t dodge it properly. Listen carefully. In a survival, when you can''t spot where the attack will land or the direction it is from, you should always trust the instincts of your body and crouch down or bend. It''s because almost all ranged attacks from far away distance will aim for the chest, neck, eyes, or forehead. That means, above your waist in general if your attacker is on the same ground as you." Back to the present; "One" saw Wil closed his eyes as he was now focusing on dodging the arrows even though his attack speed is doubled because of the speed scroll. He found Wil was sometimes moving in a zigzag manner and sometimes crouching and even lying on the floor for a second and rolled on the floor to dodge the next arrow. There was nothing elegant about it but still, none of the arrows were able to hit him. What he doesn''t know is that Wil was just using his accuracy and the speed to improve himself by bringing back the skills that he forgot a long time ago. Since his body is in optimal condition, Wil was able to get used to it. After a whole minute, Wil finally opened his eyes, and looking at the upcoming arrows, Wil whispered under his breath with a grin, "thank you, One. Someday, I''ll repay this favor but now, it''s my turn to attack." "Gravity Suppression" All the arrows that were about to pierce his stomach and chest fell on the ground suddenly, and Wil started to run towards One, surprising him for a second before he calmed down quickly and shot another triplet arrow. "What" This time, "One" was once again surprised to find his arrows fell on to the ground as soon as they travel only 50 meters and Wil, who''s movement speed increased by 300% for 10 seconds because of Dash skill, continued to run towards him. As a popular pro gamer, he didn''t use Dash and run away to maintain the distance even though there was something fishy about Wil''s behavior and his attacks are failing. "One" thought that if he maintains distance without Wil attacking him, it would make him look like a coward in front of millions of players that are watching. He decided to maintain the distance at least more than 35 meters as he was only concerned about that unique freezing skill''s range from his guildmates. But, who would have expected this stupid pride will cost him a lot. It''s exactly the same thing, Wil betted on before he made a strategy. Just as he expected, "One" didn''t run away but this time, he decided to release a skill for the first time in this tournament. "Circular disk Arrow" It''s a peak ranked skill that''ll revolve around the opponent at an extremely high speed thereby trapping them in the middle while the user controls when to release the arrow and attack their opponent from which direction. But, before the magic energy arrow even circles around Wil, it fell on to the ground because of the high gravitational pressure created by Wil in his 50 meters surroundings and it stuck on to the ground. Meanwhile, Wil leaped towards "One" dodging the arrow that was revolving around him while sticking on to the ground and reached 60 meters range thereby creating high gravitational pressure on "One," who started kneeling struggling to lift the bow. As the distance decreased further down to 35 meters, Wil smiled as he spoke, "Absolute freeze." Freezing in the Ice, One thought, "I lost." And transmitted his thoughts to the system and Wil, who conjured a fire arrow received a system notification. *Ding. One admits defeat. You won the match. *Ding. Congratulations on making it to top-32. You received 5000 battle coins as a reward. Along with the audience from various parts of the world, even Wil was stupefied on the spot for a while before pinching his neck, "Is this real? ''One'' admitted defeat? I I defeated "One"? Hahaha I''m the winner." Chapter 101: WBT: Qualifying to Top-8 without a battle As the news of the match result exploded in the forums, players from all the kingdoms started to get curious about Time Traveler and his unique skills that were unheard of. Meanwhile, those who bet on Wil for a 1:3.5 ratio were celebrating with joy while Deloris town became extremely popular and several small guilds decided to shift towards the town as their base as the info of a huge scale construction of new Scarlet district being started in the town was leaked by someone. Aster was also exploding with excitement after winning 2000 gold from the betting and sold 1500 gold to make 300 million credits / 30 million dollars out of it and sent it to his family. Not just him; several people who tried their luck with a huge betting on Time Traveler became millionaires in 5 minutes while tens of thousands of players became paupers for trusting the system''s judgment. Those who lost their money became haters of "One" all of a sudden and began to complain in forums that this match is a sham to cheat gold out of their pockets but before even the matter became popular, his loyal fans and experts crushed it with their explanations of why "One" admitted losing in the middle of the duel. As for the sisters, the youngest whined as she sent 100 gold to the third sister, Akiko as a part of a bet while the eldest is watching the recording again. After watching a couple of more times, she mumbled, "Hmm, this Time Traveler guy did he evolve during the middle of the match, or did he play with his opponent from the start? No matter how I see it, the second one is more likely to be true. After all, with so many elites in the company, there''s a high chance he might be trained from the young. By the way, isn''t he still a college freshman? Hmm, how about" Kiyumi then suddenly turned her head and stared at her third and fourth sister, who in turn asked at the same time, "what?" She shook her head and thought, "Hmm, honestly, Akiko will be a good match but there might a chance of rejection because she''s two years older. How about Rini Hmm, with her personality, there''s no way it''s possible. Nah, let''s just stick to Akiko. After all, westerners don''t care about the age gap. As long as it''s within range, I guess it''s possible... Let''s ask mom and uncle''s opinion about it." Meanwhile, the matches continued, and slowly everyone forgot about the matter of One''s defeat as new powerful figures emerged such as Crimson Sun, who finished the match in one second with a simple strike once again; Solar, who has a level-203 legendary grade griffin as a pet even though she''s only level-103; And finally, Madheart, a summoner who revealed two legendary grade dragons in the current round and became one of the favorites to win the tournament. The matches went on one by one. Along with "One", favorites like Wishing Hero and Devil were also out of the tournament. *Ding. World Battle Tournament top-32 is going to start in 30 minutes. Random matching is going to start. *Ding. You are paired with Blasterzone. "Hmm, Blasterzone? Never heard of him before," mumbled Wil while continue to look at other pairings. "Oh, Bran matched with Supreme Conqueror, who was dubbed as the greatest guardian. Too bad that I can''t watch it from this space. Sigh" 30 minutes later, the system sent Wil, a notification that his match going to be the first one. With great excitement, Wil entered the dueling platform and saw his opponent is a 7.5 ft beast in human skin with thrice as wide as him and have deep red eyes with a stern face. Wil gulped in fear and stepped back for a sec and then, closed his eyes while mumbling, "Empty your mind, Wil. Forget excitement, fear" He paused as he suddenly opened his eyes with a shock on his face as the system sent a notification. *Ding. Blasterzone gave up the match. *Ding. Congratulations, you advanced to top-16 and receive 10000 battle coins as a reward. "Eh? I advanced to top-16 just like that?" Wil doesn''t know that most of the top-32 contenders were now afraid to face him. After all, it''s an established fact that "One" is the favorite to win the tournament. After winning against "One", most of them hoped they don''t get Time Traveler as their opponent so early, especially melee fighters who think that Wil is a nemesis to them since he can freeze them and finish the match if they get in his range and they can''t attack him from distance. They don''t consider the possibility of even dodging as even someone like "One" wasn''t able to do so. Blasterzone was also one of those, who thought, "Why to reveal all of my skills when my defeat is decided?" A few hours later, Wil pumped his fist in excitement as his next opponent also withdraw and sent him to Quarterfinals. *Ding. Congratulations, you advanced to Quarterfinals and receive 25000 battle coins as a reward. At 5 p.m., the system sent a world-wide notification. *Ding. World Battle Tournament is now going into phase 3. Random matching is going to start. *Ding. You are paired with Madheart. Unlike with "One", this time, Wil grinned as he cracked his knuckles, "I was really hoping that we get to meet. Looks like the system heard my wishes, my second arch-nemesis." After buying Mask of Tranquility, Night vision goggles, and another limit-break stone, Wil logged out and stepped out of the capsule and then, went to brush and shower. "So, Dad. Don''t you think it''s the right decision to create a gaming company?" asked Wil the moment he came out to the living room but saw his dad wasn''t there. After finding even the guest room is empty, Wil mumbled, "Hmm, where is he? He logged out just ten minutes ago" As Wil went to his room again and took his mobile phone to call him, he saw there''s a text message from his dad. He opened it and read, "I''m going out for a walk to feel some natural air." "Ah, I see. I guess staying in the capsule for a whole day is indeed hard for him. But, did he go out alone or with security?" Wil quickly called Scarlet''s branch and enquired about it. After they said they were following him from a distance, Wil sighed in relief and sent a message to his dad. Wil: Dad, don''t eat outside. It''s not good around here. I''ll take you to an amazing place for local delicacies. Three hours later, Philip looked at the crowded people around food stalls and asked in a dazed expression, "this is the so-called amazing place?" Just then, Aster asked, "Lord Philip, should we clear out the street?" Wil then shook his head, "Don''t disturb the lively atmosphere. Follow me to bring dishes for everyone else." Then, he looked at Philip and said, "dad, let''s sit there." As Philip and the bodyguards'' occupied tables, Wil brought the dishes and placed before Philip while Aster and a bodyguard brought food for the rest of them. Looking at the food before him, Philip glanced at his son and saw an image of his wife enjoying street food like crazy back when they were dating. "Looks like I failed to remove your traits from him even after all these years, huh, Letty I guess it''s time to tell him about you. I think the present Wil is matured enough to understand the situation" "Dad Dad Hello, Dad" "Ah, yes?" Philip came out of his thinking. "What are you thinking, dad? The food is going to get cold. They taste best when they are hot." Philip shook his head, "it''s nothing. Let''s eat" "Oh, it''s indeed good. This place is better than Dragon Street," commented Philip as he was enjoying takoyaki. "Eh? Dragon Street?" As Wil wondered where it is, Philip replied, "Oh, it''s a street in Pregas city. I used to eat there with your mom when we were young." Upon hearing it, Wil immediately got interested in the topic as he rarely heard of his mom since young. Since his dad seems to be in a good mood, Wil slowly asked as he was munching his food, "Dad, Tell me some" Just then, three girls walked beside them while laughing. "Eh? Wil?" A girl called out in a surprise interrupting him. As he turned his head, Wil was taken aback, "Hyori?" "Hmm, you knew each other?" "Dad, this is my Cough Ah... damn, it''s too spicy. Sorry about that. Just a second." Chapter 102: A talk with Dad After drinking water, Wil continued, "She''s my friend Lee Hyori and her two sisters. Hyori, this is my dad." Hyori and her two sisters bowed, "Hello, Mr. Ravens." Philip asked as he looked at Wil and then at Hyori curiously, "Is she your girlfriend? Did you tell your fiance about it?" "Ah No, she''s not my girlfriend" "Eh? You have a fiance, Wil?" As both of them replied at the same time, Wil looked at Hyori, "come again?" ***** Midnight; On the tenth floor of Scarlet apartments, Wil was once again in deep thinking without getting a night of sleep. "What was Dad going to say about mom? Is there something he has hidden about her death?" A few hours ago; After they reached home, Philip asked once again, "Is she really only your friend?" Wil replied indifferently, "of course. Why do you ask that?" Philip shrugged his shoulders, "for starters, you don''t seem to be shy around her." Wil replied as he took out a bottle for his dad that Aster bought on the way and placed it on the table, "well, there are girls in the game. A lot of them I should say. It''s natural that I get used to talking to them. But, dad what''s the point though? Even if I was interested in her, I already have a fiance. It''s just a waste of time chasing around the girls, isn''t it?" Philip then commented as he poured the drink in the glass, "just because you are engaged doesn''t mean you should stop falling in love with someone else, you know. Moreover, according to our agreement, your engagement will be annulled once either of you found someone you want to marry within 1 year after your graduation." "Eh? For real?" Wil was taken aback upon hearing his dad''s words, then said calmly, "when I found such a girl, I''ll tell you, then, dad." Then, Philip took a sip and said, "Come on. Take a seat. Let''s talk about something." As Wil sat before him with a coke in his hand, Philip said, "First, let me hear what you think of Cherry." "Hmm, honestly, I didn''t spend much time with her but based on our conversation, I think she doesn''t like this engagement. I wouldn''t be surprised if she said she liked someone else on the day of our marriage." Upon hearing it, Philip asked, "what will you do if she said she fell in love with someone after you are married?" At Wil was indeed taken aback at first but looking at serious expression, Wil thought his dad is testing him. So, as he thought for a while, Wil suddenly imagined if he supposedly married Sierra one day using whatever tricks but if she said she loves Bran, Wil thought what he would do then. "Huh? Didn''t she love Bran for real? What''s with this stupid imagination? Ugh I shouldn''t have chased only one girl in my past life. It left nothing but regrets." After giving an impression of he thought deeply for a while even though he thought nothing but nonsense, Wil answered, "Well, what''s the use of holding such a girl who doesn''t love you back. I''ll just divorce her. Moreover, when I imagined Cherry with someone, I felt nothing, dad. Maybe, it''s because I don''t love her?" Philip nodded with a smile, "obviously. It''s because you haven''t even spent time with her. Why don''t you give it a try if you don''t have anyone to chase after." Upon hearing that, he drank silently while Wil refused to answer to it. After waiting in silence for a while, Philip once again opened his mouth as he was already gotten tipsy, "okay, forget about Cherry. Let''s talk about something else. say, Wil. Do you want to know something about your mom? Actually, I want to say this for a long time but I don''t know how would you take it. So, I kept it hidden. I guess it''s time to tell you the truth. Your mom''s death" Before completing his sentence, Philip suddenly collapsed leaving Wil frustrated all night. "Damn it. You are the Mafia Lord for god''s sake. How come you fell asleep just after two glasses of Whiskey... At least you should have finished what you are saying." After helping on the sofa and covering him with a bedsheet, Wil went to his room. The next day, On July 8th; By the time Wil woke up at 2 p.m., he read a message sent by his father at 9 o''clock in the morning. Dad: Wil, something came up at Yarlford. I don''t want to wake you up. So, I''m leaving without informing you. Dad: Oh, by the way, all the best for your tournament. I hope you win it. Dad: No, I''m sure you will win it. "This dad of mine. He comes and goes as he wishes without informing. Well, either way, he left at the perfect time. Now, there''s no tension of assassination F*** Dad is going to be assassinated today at midnight. I need to do something. What to do" Once again, as Wil wanted to save his dad as a last effort, he walked back and forth for a while to think of any ideas before dialing a number, "Hello, Silver? Where are you?" Silver replied on the other side, "I''m here at the casino. Is there something wrong, Young master?" Wil then asked, "Where is Dad?" Silver replied, "Isn''t he with you, right now?" Wil replied, "No, he left at 9. Ah, it takes 9 and a half hours, right. Ok, dad might reach there in four hours or something. I''m sure you remembered our conversation from last week, right? I think today or tomorrow might be that day. Just make sure to maintain high hidden security for these two days." "Uh, sure... If that''s what relieves your worries." After informing Silver once again, Wil took a shower and had lunch before logging in the game to find himself in the familiar white space. After waiting for thirty minutes, the system sent a word-wide notification. *Ding. World Battle Tournament Quarter-finals is about to begin in 60 minutes. Participants, please get ready. After another half an hour, the same announcement has been made once again. While matches were going on, Wil comfortably sat on the floor in a meditative pose, emptying his mind and forgetting all the unnecessary thoughts. *Ding. Your match is going to start in 60 seconds. Please, get ready. Upon hearing the announcement, Wil stood up before his surroundings changed and found Madheart standing before him with a smirk and folding his hands. "Last time, you showed me what the difference between you and me is. Today, I will show you how helpless your beasts are, midget" Looking at this 13-year-old prodigy, who was doing his doctorate in robotics, Wil spoke coldly, "bring out your legendary grade beasts, kid." Madheart snorted, "hmpf, you have to become worthy of it, first." "Summon, Taslan. Summon, Baltrow" Two level-130 heroic grade monsters were summoned before him. The first one is a six-eyed poisonous green spider that at least as big as Wil while the other is a large Rhinoceros. Looking at them, Wil grinned as he thought, "you are really a fool if you think you can defeat me with those." Then, he turned towards the kid who was brimming with arrogance, "I guess wiping that arrogant face of yours is very necessary. Today, I will show you what true dominance is" "Arise, my faithful servant" Since Dromeus died and need time to resurrect, Wil only summoned Kallius, the fallen angel mage. As Kallius stood behind him, Wil then spoke, "today, I''ll show you something that I didn''t show until now." "Summon, Golem. Attack mode." A giant earth Golem was summoned before Wil which picked up Kallius and put him on its left shoulder and Wil on the right shoulder as Wil transmitted his thoughts. Then, he raised two of his hands, "in the name of Time Traveler, I summon the spirits of Karion and Gyreon into the earth golem and my faithful servant, Kallius." Everyone saw a portal was opened up in the sky and a beam of light shined on them. Slowly, two golden spirits descend and entered both of them. As soon as they entered their bodies, they glowed brightly for a second before turning into a Giant red-dragon with two heads while Wil was standing on its back. Wil smiled as he glanced at the latest skill he got from peak ranked skill book. Spirit of Karion and Gyreon (Level 1): Summon the twin spirits, Karion and Gyreon into your pets, or summons to summon a two-headed dragon, Kagyre for 10 minutes with 500% of your health. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 60 hours. Skills: Single Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from one of two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the user. Cost: 2 mana per second. Double Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the user at the same time. Cost: 5 mana per second. Attack mode: Increase you and your allies attack by 100% Fireball: Randomly conjures a fireball in one of the heads before spiting it at the enemy with a 100% attack. It was for this very reason, Wil decided to summon it inside the golem and Kallius as their skills won''t disappear. Looking coldly at Madheart and then, at the two Heroic mobs that are running towards them, Wil ordered, "Kagyre, Double Dragon Breath" as he conjured an ice arrow before shooting at one of them. Chapter 103: WBT Quarterfinals: Battle against the Dragon summoner "Double Dragon Breath" As Wil''s cold voice resounded all around the world through the big screens, the two heads of the dragon breathe out the fire while an Ice arrow traveled through the space between the two heads of the dragon and hit the floor precisely 1 ft away from the two mobs. Madheart didn''t even get to see the freezing effect activated at the same time because of the ocean of flames that was covering everything in his sight while enveloping the two beasts. Seeing the situation, Madheart frowned, "why aren''t my beasts not attacking or dodging but just standing there and taking the attack" Meanwhile, a constant high damage number continuously appear on their heads "-9061817" "-9061817" "-9061817" Just within three seconds, both of the summoning beasts became crisp and disappeared from the floor and Wil mumbled, "Kagyre. Stop" As the flames stopped after three seconds, the audience realized two heroic mobs were already killed and they erupted in cheers. "Time Traveler" "Time Traveler" "Time Traveler" While his name was cheered from all over the world except at the underworld because of his race, meanwhile, Madheart went daze for a couple of seconds before erupting in anger. "You" Standing on the dragon, Wil looked down at him coldly, "c''mon. Bring out all of your precious beasts. Today, all of them will end up like them." As he pointed the ashes on the ground, this little prodigy''s anger went to peak and roared, "Do you think you are the only one with a dragon?" "I, Madheart summon the six children of the elder dragons of the east and west" "I summon Azrada" "I summon Ashwyrm" "I summon Balark" "I summon Cyrus" "I summon Belzra" "I summon Xorvo" "Now, I, Madheart summon the caretaker of the six children of the elder dragons of east and west." "I summon the mighty Paragas, The Tyrant," bellowed Madheart with pride and anger in his voice. One second later, six identical dragons appeared beside Madheart. All of them are silver bluish and only in the size of a huge wolf with a gem on their forehead. Looking at the gigantic two-headed dragon before them, two of them even cried in fear, "Kuu" "Kuu" Watching the scene from the stands, many girls in the audience squealed, "Cute" "too cute" But, Wil know them very well, unlike their appearance, they are heroic, no together combined, they can be considered a quasi-legendary. Not to mention, all of them are healer dragons. Wil knew Madheart will always summon these seven as a set. As they heal and buff their Vanguard, the latter will take care of the enemy without any care like a mad dragon. Soon, their caretaker and Vanguard, Paragas was summoned. It''s a level-120 legendary-grade giant pure silver dragon, which normally releases blue fire, instead of the usual red. That makes its attacks are twice stronger as a normal legendary grade mob. Paragas, the Tyrant Grade: Legendary Level: 122 Hp: 200 million Attack: 6.1 million Defense: 1.2 million Crt rate: 53.2% Crt. Resist: 53.2% Description: This silver dragon is the caretaker of the six children of Elder Dragons of the East and West. As the Silver Dragon summoned, Madheart bellowed once again, "Children dragons, use the grand buff." "kuuu" As the little dragons roared cutely, Paragas was surrounded by a silver bluish aura and its attack and defense increased by 50% further. Then, Madheart pointed the finger toward Wil and the two-headed dragon, "Paragas, attack" As it roared and started to walk towards them in an extremely slow pace to get into range because of huge weight and restricted flight ability, on the other hand, Wil snorted, "so, your new defense is 1.8 million and attack is 9 million eh? Which means you think that a mere 18 million of attack can kill me? Wait for a second" Suddenly, a sly grin appeared on Wil, "let''s get you angrier." Instead of attacking it, Wil waited until it slowly reached halfway and when it was just 5 meters away from its 30 meters range of attack, he raised his palms towards it and mumbled, "Heavenly push, 0 mana." "What" Madheart was taken aback to see the Giant Dragon was pushed back by heavy wind and it flew back helplessly by force. As it passed him and crashed onto the floor, Wil spoke loud and clear, "no matter how strong your beast, if it can''t attack, it''s useless. How come a prodigy like you doesn''t know such a basic thing? Just like I expected you are just an inexperienced kid. With just these, you can never able to land a single hit on me. Just don''t waste my time and get lost or bring out your two precious elder dragons" Upon hearing him, a couple of the six dragons roared cutely to protect their master, which made him turned his head towards them and called, "Kagyre" The Giant Two-headed looked at them and roared, which made them flinch in fear and this time, three of them cried in return and hide behind Madheart, who was in a rage. Meanwhile, as enormous hate was directed towards Wil from the majority of the ladies, on the other hand, eldest sister Kiyumi asked Akiko with a smile, "What do you think of Time Traveler?" Akiko replied, "No doubt about it. Time Traveler is doing it on purpose to make him lose his reasoning. It also seems like they knew each other in real life or at least, Time Traveler knew Madheart. But, the most shocking thing here is that Madheart seems to have one more legendary grade dragon. That makes it four if we take those combined power of the six dragons. Just one is considered awesome and he has four of them. Even after that, Time Traveler seems confident enough to defeat them. Why? If I''m right, he has more trump cards that he hadn''t yet shown yet His character is also a bit surprising. He acts according to the opponent. In a battle with "One", he acted like a pro. In his battle against that Death King, he acted like a humble hero, and now, he purposely acts like a villain Interesting fellow" As a smile appeared on the third sister as she continued to watch the battle, Kiyumi stared at her in silence. Back to the battle, raging Madheart once again yelled as Paragas stood up and slowly started to walk towards Wil, "Fine, then. I''ll grant your wish." "I, Madheart, the successor of Welsh, summon the divine Elder Dragons of the east and west." Meanwhile, Wil ordered, "Kagyre, double breath." Looking at the flames before that wasn''t able to reach him, Madheart laughed in arrogance, "hahaha c''mon. Didn''t you talk big about how one is useless when they can''t hit the target? You should learn more about your first." Four seconds later, A Giant Silver and a Blue Dragon appeared, covering Madheart and the presence of six dragons with their enormous sizes that are as twice as the two-headed dragon. But, just as they appeared, the laugh on Madheart froze as all of them were encased in an Ice, except for Paragas. Just then, the flames stopped to show the appearance of Wil standing in the middle of the platform, just 35 meters away from him. "I told you right. You are still an inexperienced kid who thinks of himself very highly," commented Wil as he raised his bow and conjured an Ice arrow before shooting at Paragas and freezing it on the spot. Then, he mumbled, "Spirit of Zenon, activate," before conjuring a fire arrow and aimed at Madheart directly while ignoring the dragons. "-5298962" Looking at the frozen kid that was saved by high crt resist, Wil opened his mouth as he walked towards him, "this is why you should never overestimate yourself or underestimate your opponents. Think of it as a lesson and next time; learn about your opponent first before facing him. If you would have done that, you would have summoned your strongest trump card, Dragon King, right from the start." "How do you know about the Dragon King? Even my closest friends don''t know about it," Madheart roared but no voice came out as he was frozen inside of Ice. Meanwhile, Wil shoots another fire arrow and killed him. *Ding. Your opponent died. You won the match. *Ding. Congratulations on reaching the Semi-finals. You received 50000 battle coins as a reward Chapter 104: WBT Semi finals: Wil vs Bran, the ultimate showdown? After one more match is over, the system made a series of world-wide announcements. *Ding. Congratulations, Crimson Sun, Magi, Time Traveler, and Solar to reach Semi-finals of the World Battle Tournament. *Ding. Congratulations, Crimson Sun, Magi, Time Traveler, and Solar to reach Semi-finals of the World Battle Tournament. *Ding. Congratulations, Crimson Sun, Magi, Time Traveler, and Solar to reach Semi-finals of the World Battle Tournament. After announcing it three times, another couple of world-wide announcements continued to ring in every player''s ears. *Ding. Semi-finals will start at 0:00 hours EST. *Ding. The first semi-final is between Crimson Sun and Time Traveler. The second semi-final is between Magi and Solar. After leaving the portal, Wil opened the betting rates and saw it''s outrageously 1:5 against his favor. "Hmm, this shows his stats are outrageously high. That only means one thing. His mythical grade sword and the crown are already unsealed." A frown appeared on Wil as he continued to think, "But, how? It''s impossible that he''s a four-star Magic swordsman. Did he has unsealed versions from the start? Hmm, something is fishy about these legend classes. Come to think of it, I was only given a legendary grade bow and mythic grade ring. Yet, they were still sealed. I guess I need to wait until the barriers between kingdoms disappear and go and meet Aerona Marten. I don''t think she would get angry if I remind her who saved her life and request to unseal the equipment. Or maybe, I can ask Archangel Raziel about it. But, to do that, my favorability with Mirella should increase." As a participant cannot bet, Wil transferred his remaining 5600 gold to Aster and told him to bet on him. Then, he went to Deloris to take a look at the construction after equipping Mask of Tranquility to not cause unnecessary disturbance as the town is now very lively with hundreds of players roaming here and there because of the rise in popularity. Meanwhile, three more guilds with a little over 300-500 member strength decided to develop in the town and their messengers are busy watching the progress of the huge scale construction of the new scarlet district. At 11:30 p.m., as the system sent him a notification to get ready for the match, Wil entered the portal and waited in the white space. As time is ticking, Wil felt his heartbeat started to rise steadily. He took a long breath, "Cool down Wil. No need to be nervous. All you have to enter 50 meters range and finish it with Heavenly push. A simple plan. Hmm, how about purchasing a speed scroll from the store. It might help me cover up the distance quickly." As he entered the battle shop, at first, Wil bought a speed scroll, then looking at the remaining points, he bought all the nine random high-grade skill books and opened them. "Ugh... This one is for guardians" He threw a skill book into inventory that needs a heavy shield to perform. "This is for Assassins. This is for blademaster. This is for the gunner. Again for Assassins. F*** my luck... Did I waste forty-five thousand points for nothing?" As he disinterestedly looked at the seventh book, a big smile appeared on Wil and he pumped his fist in happiness, "Yes, with this. I can win this match for sure." Short Teleport: User can teleport to any place within 500 meters around him. Cost: 20 mana. CD: 6 hours Wil instantly learned the skill and opened the skill only to see at level-1, he can only teleport 33 meters. Then, he made a plan of how to shorten the distance when Bran won''t expect. Two minutes before the match, as the system sent him a notification to get ready; Wil was ready to dash skill the moment it started. But, just then, who could have expected the system notification he''s going to receive right before the battle. *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside world. Looking at the number, Wil''s heart skipped, "it''s Silver. Judging by the time, did did assassination happen?" At that moment, Wil didn''t care about the countdown and picked up the call. "Silver?" On the other side, a depressing voice was heard, "Young Master, in a few minutes, Storm will pick you up." Taking a long breath, Wil asked with a calm tone, "Did something happen to my dad?" Af a long silence from another side, Wil said, "I asked you whether something happened to my Dad or not." "I''ll explain everything directly once you reach here. We are at the University of Ares Medical center." *3, 2, 1* As Wil disconnected the call, he appeared on the dueling platform, and in front of him stood his arch-nemesis, Crimson Sun. "Looks like assassination indeed happened as I feared but somehow this time, dad made it alive. But why was he admitted at Ares? Let''s not think too much and finish this match quickly." Without wasting any time, Wil used speed scroll and increased his speed by 100% and then dashed towards him using dash skill. Bran, who watched the recordings of Wil''s matches didn''t let the distance close. He immediately used dash skill and dashed backward. But, seeing Wil decreasing the distance, Bran took out his katana and slashed in the air. As a large arc containing magic energy was coming towards him, Wil dashed to the left to dodge it and fired an Ice arrow towards Bran. Bran, who anticipated it, used the ability of his crown and summoned two knights that have the same stats as him just like how he summoned it in his previous match to defeat Supreme Conqueror who was a Magic Swordsman like him. Looking at the incoming Ice arrow, one of the knights raised the shield and a fire energy barrier covered both of them repelling the Ice arrow. Even though the freezing effect activated, it wasn''t able to penetrate the fire barrier and just froze the floor. Meanwhile, Wil stopped his pursuit as 10 seconds are up and Dash skill is in Cooldown, then, looked at the two knights who were standing in his way with a fire barrier over them. As they are within range, He mumbled, "Heavenly push, 0 mana" and pushed them away but just then Bran who was 82 meters away from him, raised his mythic grade long katana, and magic in the surroundings started to gather around it and increasing its size more than hundred times. He tightly gripped the sword and turn around in 360 degrees for once and changing the position of the sword from vertical to horizontal. Just when it was about to slash into two, the sword stopped upon hitting a golden energy barrier around Wil, who was gripping King''s medallion and used the barrier skills that let him being invincible for the next 30 seconds. While Bran was inwardly shocked and tried to attack him once more only to see "0" on his head again, Wil thought, "Judging by the distance, I think there''s a distance of around 80 meters between us. Okay, it''s time to end the match." Wil then spoke, "Short Teleport." Bran was once again taken aback to see Wil disappeared from the spot and reappeared 50 meters away from him and suddenly a heavy pressure pushed him onto the ground as Wil spoke, "Gravity Suppression, activate." "Argh" As Bran''s one leg kneeled and the other on its way while he tried to resist but failed and the hundred-meter large sword is also cracking the floor, meanwhile, the legendary grade knights who were immune to it, rushed towards Wil with their spears and a light shield. But, just then, Wil spoke loud and clear, "it''s over, Crimson Sun." "Heavenly push, full mana." Suddenly all of his 810 mana got consumed and the wind emerged from him exploded with speed and power in all sides. "What" Tens of thousands of players who were watching the match from various Arenas suddenly stood up from their seats in a shock as the knights and Bran were exploded on the spot as soon as the wind hit them. *Ding. Your opponent died. You won the match. *Ding. Congratulations on entering the finals. You received 100000 battle coins as a reward. The system then made a world-wide announcement, exploding his popularity all over the world. *Congratulations player Time Traveler for making it to the World Battle Tournament finals. While Bran stayed in a daze for a long time in the white space, Wil logged out immediately without glancing at congratulatory messages or the transaction of 19600 gold coins, Aster sent after receiving the money from the betting. After stepping out of the capsule, he took his mobile phone and called Storm. "Young master, I''ll be there in a minute," replied Storm as soon as he picked the call. Wil disconnected the call and quickly went down. As soon as he got out of the lift, he rushed towards the gate while a few bodyguards who are a guard just followed without asking anything. Just as he reached the gate, he saw a car arrived and stopped. A man in his late thirties stepped outside. Like Silver, he has a Vulture tattoo on his neck. He bowed and greeted, "Young Master." On the other hand, Wil quickly opened the door and said, "Don''t waste time with greetings. Get inside." As they started driving towards the airport, Wil asked, "Storm, tell me the truth. Did someone attack dad?" Storm shook his head, "I''m not sure. Silver won''t say anything." Reaching the airport, they took their private jet and fly to Ares city. By early morning, Wil reached the hospital and saw Silver was waiting for them whose eyes are deep red. As Wil asked him, Silver replied hoarsely, "Please follow me. It''s best if the doctor explains the situation to you." Just when Silver turned around and about to walk forward, Wil suddenly grabbed his shirt from behind and asked him with a serious tone, "I don''t have time to play riddles with you, Silver. Why is Dad admitted here in Ares? And Storm informed me he never went back to Yarlford after he left with you. Why did you lie to me that you were at the casino?" Looking at both of their expressions, Silver sighed, "I''ll tell you on the way." Chapter 105: Philips letter University of Ares; As a Neurosurgeon was explaining with a grave expression in medical terms, Wil stopped him in the middle, "Dr. Steve, I''m not a medical student that I can understand what you are saying. I know you can''t be sure. That''s why you put my dad in observation. Just tell me what the chances of my dad waking up. I''m mentally prepared for the worst." The doctor didn''t take it to the heart and replied, "honestly, very slim chance" Wil then asked calmly, "so, we should hope for the miracle now, right?" The doctor apologized, "I''m sorry." Wil lightly bowed, "I understand. Thank you," and left the room with Silver and Storm. As soon as they reached the private waiting room, Wil collapsed on the sofa while his body started to shake uncontrollably and suddenly began to sweat. "Young master" As Silver and Storm grabbed him, Wil raised his hand, "I''m okay. I''m okay." And then, he made a tight fist in both hands and closed his eyes, trying to calm down, "Wil, you already expected this from the start. Okay, calm down." A few hours later, Storm kept on walking back and forth while mumbling, "Lord Philip will wake up for sure for sure" Just then, a team of doctors entered the room along with the director and Dr. Steve, who operated on Philip with a depressed look. Upon hearing the news, Storm grabbed Dr. Steve''s collar and then throat, "how dare you say that. Didn''t you say it would take a full day? Didn''t you say there''s a chance of waking up? Did you even operate on him properly" As the rest of them panicked and called the security as the doctor coughed, Silver tried to calm down Storm. "Storm, don''t cause a scene. Release the doctor, right now," yelled Wil as light tears formed in his eyes. As Storm left him, Silver successfully took him to the side while Wil wiped his tears before it fell and then, looked at the doctor and the director coldly, "I would like to apologize for his behavior but I don''t have the mood to do so. So, understand our situation and get out of our sight. If you hand over the body and relevant materials of the operation, we''ll return. I warn you though. If there''s a mistake in operation..." All of them bowed once again, "I''m sorry." Helipad on one of the Rooftops; After the body was placed in a helicopter, Storm and Silver stepped inside while Wil looked at his dad once more and said, "I''m not coming with you guys. Dad gave me one last job to do." As the helicopter fly away, Wil gripped the letter Silver gave him a while ago. Looking at the guards from HQ, Wil spoke, "let''s go." While he was on his way towards HQ, Wil opened the letter and started reading. "My dear Wil, if you are reading this letter, that means, the operation was a failure and I died. Originally, I thought of staging my death as an assassination instead without any clue so that Silver and Storm will take revenge for me and wipe out my enemies. You''ll also be safe from possible assassination. It''s like hitting two birds with one stone. A wonderful plan, isn''t it? Just kidding. But, seriously, it''s the only thing that came to my mind until I hear about your gaming company and changes in you. Then, I thought even without Vulture or Scarlet, you might still be able to secure your future. But the biggest problem is how to secure your life? After thinking for a long time, I was able to find a simple solution. A solution that will make your grandfather''s spirit become very angry. That is to just give up the Vulture group and sell all of our assets to our bitter enemies, the Antolov family, and finally, leaving the western continent for good. Only that way, you''ll be safe. I advise you to bring Scarlet HQ to Leafway city to increase your security just in case. . . . Coming to the operation, well, I guess Silver might have told you about it but I''ll explain the situation 20 years ago. It was just a normal day. I and your mom were on a holiday trip to Vangelis Islands. Suddenly, there was an attack on us by the Bridge family. At that time, you were still in her womb. So, to protect two of my most precious people, I have no choice but to take the bullet to my head. Silly, isn''t it. I could have just pushed her aside or just pull her down grabbing her hand to crouch behind the table. But what can I say? When you truly love someone, you would think with your heart, instead. Well, anyway, we cleared out Bridge family afterward. So, there''s nothing to worry about loose ends . . . Let''s put aside all these little matters aside for now. There''s something I hid it for the past 19 years from you. I thought of telling you before I leave your apartment but I can''t really handle alcohol. Your mother is alive." Wil was taken aback by this and then continued to read. "After that attack, your mother became stressed daily and began to suspect every little thing. Fights happened a lot and she decided to leave me to stay away peacefully with you. But, I was very young back then. You are the heir to my empire. How could I lose you? In the end, sigh we got divorced when you are 2 years old and I ended up lying to you that she died. Now, your mother remarried and is living happily with her daughter or you can say your half-sister. But, please don''t visit her if you are uncomfortable with it. I''m sorry for hiding this truth from you all along. I was afraid you would try to leave me if I ever told you the truth. After all, I knew how much you hate the guys from our Vulture group. But, don''t abandon them after dissolving the group. Many of them don''t know anything but to kill or threatening others. I was someone who was in the path of no return but you are not like me. I heard everything from Aster. I''m confident that you can save them from being returning to killers ever again. Consider this as my last wish. This little time we spent together is one of the happiest memories in my life, Wil." The tears started flowing from Wil''s eyes as he clutched the paper. *** Scarlet HQ, Ares city; On the 79th floor of the building, pro gamers who were selected in the combat department are busy in their afternoon reflex training where ten people for the batch will go into the training room at once, and randomly, a number of softballs will be thrown at them in different angles for complete 10 minutes. Their score will be recorded at the end depending on their dodging ability of not only the targets but also their own allies. Soon, it was Elyssa''s turn. Their batch of 10 entered the room and the training room. As a Semi-Elite Trainee (B-grade scorers); Elyssa continues to excel as usual, save for some bumps with others while their trainer Emily is looking at her with interest, "good. Of the female trainees here, she''s indeed one of the best. If only we gave scores differently for each gender, then, she would have score "A," anyway, let''s recommend her to Betty once the course is over." Just then, she got a call. "Yes, I understand." After disconnecting it, she pressed a button on the remote in her hand and the training abruptly stopped leaving the participants and remaining trainees who are watching from the side in confusion as 10 minutes aren''t up. As they turned their heads, Emily spoke, "Young master is about to reach the building in 15 minutes. Everyone, fresh up and gather on the ground floor. Elyssa" "Yes," Elyssa stepped forward. "Jenny, Thea, Xia Fu, Sayuri, Filbert, Okita, Curtis, Nell, and finally, Tian Chun" "Yes," one by one, as everyone came forward, Emily spoke, "go fresh up and get into suits. All of you will follow me to meet the young master." "Yes." As the ten of them following Emily, Elyssa saw a lot of directors, and their disciples and elites were joining them on the way. She asked her colleague, "Thea, do you know what''s going on? Isn''t he only chairman''s son?" "Shh Don''t be loud," whispered Thea and then said, "It seems you researched nothing about this company beforehand. CEO is only running this company because the Young master is still young. I heard that he will take over as the Chairman once he graduates from the college after three years." Chapter 106: Wil at Scarlet HQ "College freshman? He''s that young?" asked Elyssa in a whisper. "He''s only our age. They said, he also looks very handsome," replied Thea. "Two of you, shut up and be silent," scolded Emily with a glare. As everyone gathered at the entrance hall, CEO Jordon spoke loud and clear, "listen very well. It''s the first time Young master visiting the company. I don''t want any disturbances, understand?" Upon hearing his order, everyone simply nodded silently. A few minutes later, a series of seven vehicles stopped before the entrance. While the media who were around was curious about it, a few guards chased them out as the vehicles crossed the gate. Unlike what everyone expected, Wil just stepped out of the car in his casual clothes with goggles to cover his red eyes as he cried for a while. Looking at the grand welcome, with everyone greeting with a bow, he was first taken aback and then asked in a hoarse voice, "what''s this, Mr. Jordon?" This 6ft 10 inch monster in a human skin politely replied, "This is your first time here. So" Wil interrupted him, "prepare a meeting place. There''s something I need to inform. Tell all the directors to come." Without meeting the rest of them, as Wil and Jordon went together while the directors followed them, Elyssa whispered to Thea, "Looks like all Young masters are indeed arrogant" Meanwhile, Thea squealed, "he''s such a handsome hunk, isn''t he?" Elyssa just stared at Thea for a while in silence. After a while; "What" Every one of the directors stood up in shock. The most affected was Jordon, who used to be a personal bodyguard for Philip until 20 years ago. "How? Is Is it an an assa assassination by Antolov family?" Jordon asked with a shaking voice. It was only after Wil explained the situation, most of them calmed down a bit. But, the atmosphere in the room completely changed. As if that wasn''t shocking and depressing enough, Wil further said, "Soon, the Vulture group will be dissolved. So, you should expect new Elites and a couple of directors. You will be getting an official notice about dad''s death and dissolution of Vulture after the funeral is over but just in case, I''m informing you directly so that you mentally prepare yourselves. The second thing is Dad wanted me to take over the company but I don''t have any intention to manage the company. So, Mr. Jordon, you will continue to be CEO. I''ll just be in the background as a Chairman when the time comes. Oh, by the way, how''s the progress of the pro gamer trainees?" While the rest of the directors who were stupefied because of continuous shocking news, just stared at him in silence, one of them replied, "One week more and they are ready to go." Wil then asked, "Do you have an Archery training room here?" As Jordon still stayed silent, Maria Clarke, one of the directors replied, "there is one on the 56th floor." Wil nodded, "good. Take me there. I want to practice Archery for some time to clear my head. Meanwhile, bring an S-grade capsule from Summersoft, right now and install it somewhere there is no disturbance. The most stable one can show me around while the rest can stay here and process everything I''ve said just now." As Maria and Wil reached the 56th floor, they saw three people were in the middle of training. Gu Fang, one of the best elite archers in the company was giving advanced lessons to the three gamers who have talent in Archery and selected to be an Archer. Upon realizing that Wil and Maria are there, he quickly stopped and greeted them with a bow, "Greetings Young master, Director Clarke." The three trainees also followed him and greeted them with a bow. Looking at him, a smile appeared on Maria as she introduced him, "Young master, he''s Gu Fang. The best archer in our company." Gu Fang then asked, "Are you practicing Archery, Young master? I apologize. We''ll leave right away." Wil waved his hand, "it''s fine. I''ll just practice over there in the corner. As long as you are not loud, you can continue with your lessons." After saying what he wanted to, Wil just picked up a bow and glanced at the target 35 meters away before shooting an arrow within a fraction of a second backed by a huge force. Upon hearing the sound, the four of them flinched for a second and turned towards Wil while Maria looked at him in pity as she can understand the reason Wil was practicing Archery at this unsual time but at the same time, she was also confused of why Wil is here at HQ and not with his dad. As Wil continued to shoot arrows, the bad things that he thought about his father, the little precious memories he had about his father, the image of his dad''s dead body came to his mind one after another and his speed and power increased with each arrow. While the three trainees no longer concentrated on training and watched him in awe from a distance, meanwhile, the target 10 is filled with a dozen arrow all of which are pierced more than 1cm of length by the following arrows that are spread on the floor while a few are just stuck after piercing more than 5 cm. Wil''s face and hands continued to become redder as time passed while there''s nothing but the sound of arrows that are making even Elites like Maria and Gu Fang''s hearts explode much less the trainees. *Ting* Suddenly, as Wil pulled a little bit too hard, the string snapped and his fingers started to bleed "Young Master" Maria hurriedly went towards Wil and asked, "wait a second" Then, she turned her head and bellowed, "What are you watching for. Quickly bring the first aid" One of the trainees, Xia Fu hurriedly went to the shelves placed at one of the corners of the room and took out a first aid box before hurrying towards Maria and handed it to her. Wil left the bow and sat on the floor while Maria carefully cleaning the blood on his fingers and applying ointment to lessen the pain. "Young master, you should be strong" As she was about to console him, Wil interrupted her, "can you leave me alone for a while" "But, Young master" "Just needs some rest to calm down" replied Wil as he just lies on the floor and closed his eyes. Maria stood up and took them outside. Glancing at Wil for one more time before exiting the room, Xia Fu asked Gu Fang, "Master, is he ok?" Maria sighed and replied, "Someone close to him died a few hours ago. Just leave him alone for now." Meanwhile, as streaks of tears once again flow from his eyes, Wil punched the floor repeatedly in frustration, "I accepted the truth long ago. I didn''t even shed a drop of tear last time. Yet, why Damn" An hour later, Wil once again stood and grabbed another bow with his injured hand, instead. Maria, who was monitoring him, hurriedly ran to the training room to warn him but saw he was completely calm now as he was shooting the arrows with the left hand with less power. Even though not all of them hit perfectly, they were still in between 8-10 range. Chapter 107: World Battle Tournament Finals part-1 *Welcome to War Online* 15 minutes before the finals, Wil inserted the chip in the new capsule and logged in after the fingerprint, retina, and DNA scan is over. Soon, the final match started as the audiences from all over the world were screaming crazily. As the two minutes countdown is ticking, Magi stared at Wil seriously; the latter stared calmly in return. 10 5 3, 2, 1... Begin. As soon as the countdown ended, Magi used the speed scroll and Dash skill to increase the distance between them more than 100 meters so that his opponent. Meanwhile, Wil looked at the Cooldown of his skills that are reset and then summoned the fallen angel and his pet. "In the name of Time Traveler, I summon the spirits of Karion and Gyreon into my faithful servant Kallius and my battle companion, Strix." The same scenery was repeated from Quarterfinals, a beam of light was shot from a portal in the sky. They were enveloped by it for a second before the two-headed Giant red Dragon, Kagyre was summoned. But, unlike before, its stats are changed because of different offerings. Kagyre (Level 1): Summon the twin spirits, Karion and Gyreon into your pets, or summons to summon a two-headed dragon, Kagyre for 10 minutes with 500% of your health. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 60 hours. Skills: Single Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from one of two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the user. Cost: 2 mana per second. Double Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the user at the same time. Cost: 5 mana per second. Fireball: Randomly conjures a fireball in one of the heads before spiting it at the enemy with a 100% attack. Flashbite: Attack the enemies with the speed of light. Then, Wil mumbled, "Summon, my Golem, attack mode." While the Giant Golem appeared beside the Dragon and increased its attack by 100%; Magi was busy with preparing a ritual by tearing a page from an ancient book after summoning an altar. Upon one glance, Wil realized what he plans to do. Still, he stayed silent and waited for him to finish it. As the ritual finished with the paper being consumed, Magi summoned a level-130 legendary grade demon and used a mana scroll to recover all of his mana. Infer Grade: Legendary Level: 135 Hp: 260 million Attack: 6.65 million Defense: 1.33 million Crt rate: 67% Crt resist: 33% Description: A knight of the royal family of Aynor continent But, since its level is a bit low, He tore two more pages and summoned two legendary grade demons of level-160, and level-200 respectively while the first one stayed as a guard. Dela Grade: Legendary Level: 160 Hp: 360 million Vitos Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Hp: 520 million Looking at the highest level demon he can summon from the underworld, Magi nodded with satisfaction and put away the Book of Demons that have only three more pages left. Meanwhile, Wil mumbled glancing at the last one, "Vitos, huh. The personal bodyguard of the Demon King. What an unlucky guy. Personal bodyguards aren''t the type to listen to anyone other than their King. If we were at war, I would have hesitated to kill because I would become wanted from the Demon continent and the target of King''s quests later for sure. But, since we aren''t at war, I might as well kill it when it is suppressed to spare a future burden." As he knew a level-130 legendary grade demon isn''t a threat for Wil, Magi decided to sacrifice Infer and ordered it to attack Wil to force him to use one of his trump cards as he was confident that the golem and the dragon weren''t strong enough to face against a legendary grade boss. If it were, in previous matches, Wil wouldn''t have used tricks like freezing and attack the summoner instead. Even though the demon Infer was against it as it refused to follow orders of anyone but the demon king, yet the ritualistic magic forced it to obey Magi''s order and it started to rush toward Wil with hate in its eyes after seeing the angelic wings. Meanwhile, Vitos, who almost resisted the magic, spoke to Magi, "human, since your enemy is an Angel, I''ll help you out this time but don''t you dare order me. Only our King is allowed to order me, not a puny human" While the audience of Aynor continent cheered him as he dared to use demons, Magi nodded, "fine. As long as you can defeat my enemy, I don''t care." On the other end, looking at the incoming demon, Wil ordered, "Golem, attack the demon and Kagyre, use your own judgment. I want you to kill that guy." Since it was summoned using a pet, Wil was confident that the default auto mode of battle companion was passed to Kagyre. That''s why he just ordered it to use its own judgment. As the Golem went head-on towards the demon after picking up Wil and putting him on its right shoulder, all the audience''s eyes were glued on it to see the outcome of the first confrontation. Just then, Magi saw the giant two-headed dragon that was standing behind Wil suddenly turned into a giant ball of light. Thinking of a possible unknown attack, he tried to warn, "prepare to def" But, before his words even finished, the Giant ball of light disappears all of a sudden and appears behind Magi and revealed a tail that hit him in the back and a critical hit occurred to his bad luck even though he has 86% critical resist. "-3,867,572" Still, because of his legendary grade armor, Magi''s HP only fell down by 30% and he sighed in relief. Vitos and Dela who were near it quickly tried to attack Kagyre but their claws missed as it once again turned into a giant ball of light and disappeared from there and appeared out of their range with a fraction of a second. Meanwhile, Wil shot an Ice arrow at the incoming demon. Looking at it, it snorted and frozen it as the latter tried to crush the arrow with its claws. As Magi was taken aback in surprise because of the sudden attack from behind, he was unable to communicate at that moment and warned about the Ice arrow, and in the end, the claw and the ice arrow collided with each other. "-9,501,268" While the ice arrow was completely intact because of higher attack power, Infer was frozen along with the floor while a huge damage number appeared on its head as a critical hit occurred. At the same, although Magi lost his composure for a second because of a sudden attack that felt like someone whipped him with a great force, he quickly calmed down himself and ordered Dela after watching how easily the two-headed dragon ambushed him and escaped from two of them, "put me on your shoulder like how that earth golem is doing." Just when Dela is about to pick him up, a Giant hand punched the floor between the two of them and Magi stumbled back. "Don''t dare think of it, human. I won''t allow our mighty demon race to be insulted like this," snarled Vitos stupefying Magi. Meanwhile, Kagyre, who saw opening because of an argument once again tried to ambush with a fireball this time after using its incredible speed to get into its range but a hand obstructed its path and caught the fireball. "-1" Turning its head, Vitos growled, "you dragon, are you looking down on me just because I only have 10% of my strength? Me, the mighty Vitos?" He raised his hand towards the dragon and dark magic energy started gathering in its hands and formed a ball of darkness. Looking at it, Wil mumbled, "It''s useless. I used Strix as an offering. That dragon is impossible to hit. It''s basically invincible." As a beam of dark energy shot towards Kagyre, it once again turned into a ball of light and appeared 30 meters away on the left side of the demon. To aggravate it further, Wil transmitted his thoughts and ordered it to take it away from both of them or distract it. Following Wil''s order, Kagyre used Double Dragon breath on three of them in a wide range. As Magi directly went behind Dela to hide, Vitos opened his mouth and used his "Swallow" skill to swallow all the flames while decreasing its health by a mere million every second. Looking at the situation, a surprised Magi laughed, "It has more than 500 million of health. It''s impossible to defeat Vitos." "Oh, really?" Magi''s smile froze all of a sudden. Chapter 108: World Battle Tournament Finals part-2 His smile froze all of a sudden as he turned his head to look at Wil, who was standing just 30 meters from him while his Golem is still away at 60-70 meters. "You are really noob to forget about your main opponent and exposed your back at such a time," commented Wil as he raised his hands. "Vitos," roared Magi as he realized his blunder of forgetting about that teleportation ability of Wil from semi-finals. Before Vitos turned his head and Dela reacted, Wil spoke, "it''s too late. Heavenly push, full mana." "-808,586, 920" A critical hit appeared along with enormous damage on his head while killing Dela and Vitos in the process. *Ding. Your opponent died. You won the match. *Ding. Congratulations on winning the World Battle Tournament finals. You receive 1,000,000 battle coins as a reward. After reappearing in the white space, Magi''s voice shook along with his body, "8 800 million damage? What kind of monster did I meet? If If only I would I would have known it beforehand; three pages would have been saved tonight" If the incident from the semi-finals is a huge shock, then the scene from the finals is a scene that was imprinted in every player''s mind. "A full-on attack from Wil can kill even a level-200 legendary grade boss. It''s something that normal people can''t imagine even in their dreams," commented Akiko as she stared at Time Traveler for a long time while clapping along with others. On the other hand, Kiyumi thought, "he''s no doubt the key to conquer this virtual world. Looks like I have to strongly persuade Mom and uncle about it." While the audience stood up and cheered Wil, the system made a world-wide announcement five times. *Ding. Congratulations Time Traveler for winning the first-ever World Battle Tournament. *Ding. Congratulations Time Traveler for winning the first-ever World Battle Tournament. *Ding. Congratulations Time Traveler for winning the first-ever World Battle Tournament. *Ding. Congratulations Time Traveler for winning the first-ever World Battle Tournament. *Ding. Congratulations Time Traveler for winning the first-ever World Battle Tournament. *Ding. World Battle Tournament had ended. Final rankings will be updated on the official website after an hour. Meanwhile, Wil stayed in the dueling platform as the fireworks filled in the sky and a congratulations message from the system appeared on it. Just then, Wil, Magi, and Solar got a personal notification to enter the white space followed by another worldwide announcement. *Ding. The prize ceremony is going to begin. On the dueling platform, Wil saw three pillars erupted from the floor and a throne appeared on it along with the stairs followed by a beautiful Angel descending from the sky. 5 minutes later, as Solar also arrived; Isda summoned three exquisite boxes, and then spoke, "Congratulations Solar on making to the 3rd place. You receive the title, Battle princess as a reward." After handing her one of the boxes, Isda gestured her to go and sit on the throne placed on the left pillar that has the least height. Looking at her back, Wil thought, "I still wonder on what basis did system decided Solar is 3rd and not Bran. Is it the total number of points or maybe it''s because Bran lost badly even though the system gave him a higher rating? Who knows" Meanwhile, as Magi glanced at Wil from the corner of his eyes, Angel Isda called him and said, "Congratulations Magi on making to the 2nd place. You receive the title Battle King as a reward." The Angel waited until both of them climbed to the stairs and sit on their thrones and then smiled as she looked at Wil. "Congratulations Time Traveler on winning the World Battle Tournament. You receive Battle Emperor as a reward." *Ding. You received a new title. Battle Emperor: Increase your damage by 50% and Decrease incoming damage by 50% when you are in a battle against a player. Meanwhile, Battle King offered 25% and Battle princess offered 10% As soon as Wil took the box, it disappeared into his inventory and the Angel gestured him to walk towards the throne. Looking at the throne, Wil climbed each step, and random battles that he won begin to play before his eyes. But unlike the two of them, Wil didn''t watch it again and calmly reached the throne and sat on it. The Angel flapped her wings and then gracefully flew towards him. Upon reaching him, she took a crown out of nowhere and put it on his head as a part of the ceremony. This time, the fireworks displayed not only in the battleground but also all over the world, which made the players stop their works for a while and gazed at the sky with a smile. After the ceremony is over, the three of them saw a portal this time to exit to the white space. Without caring about the friend requests that the two of them sent, Wil silent left the space making a bad impression on both of them that he''s arrogant. Wil, who reached the white space, took out the box from the inventory and opened it. Inside of it, he found the box is full of gold coins with six exquisitely crafted legendary grade equipment i.e. A Bow, Light Armor, a pair of Bracers, a pair of Boots, a ring and a necklace; and an egg with stripes on the top. First, he quickly swapped his equipment with the legendary grade without glancing at the stats and gently took the egg in his hands. As soon as he touched it, the system sent a notification. *Ding. Do you want your battle companion to be hatched? After he pressed yes, the egg cracked and a small and cute fox was born. Its fur is Silver bluish with a hint of red on its tail and markings around eyes while the legs are dark. As he inspected its stats, Wil was taken aback, "now, this is indeed a surprise." As it called him out with a cute howl, a light smile appeared on Wil as he took it into his hands and said, "Your name will be Felix." *Ding. Your new battle companion is named Felix. A pet slot has been filled. Felix Grade: Legendary Species: Nine-Tailed Fox Level: 1 After sending Felix into pet inventory, gold into inventory, and increasing his total gold to 25000, Wil went into the battle shop to spend all of his remaining 1,126,312 battle coins as it will be closed until the next tournament. Looking at the list, Wil spent 50000 coins and bought a legendary pet scroll. Then, he spent 19998 coins on 9999 Augment-stones. 112500 coins on nine legendary grade appraisal scrolls. 7000 coins on remaining pet slots. As mana is very important, he spent 100000 coins on a hundred 100% Mana recovery scrolls. Even though he doesn''t Wil want to, he spent 50000 coins on fifty 100% Hp recovery scrolls as they might come in handy at any time. After debating whether to buy anything else or just spend the remaining points on limit break stones, he decided to buy Augment-stones directly and spent 6000 coins on six +10 Augment stones, 12000 on six +15 Augment stones, and another 60000 coins on six +20 Augment-stones. With the remaining 700K change, he bought 28 limit break stones and finished his extravagant shopping spree before logging out without replying to SnowDew, Hyori, or Flame Emperor. A soon as he stepped out of the capsule, Wil quickly exits the room and saw the guards that are standing outside to make sure no one disturbs him while he was in the game. "Inform Director Clarke to meet me, right now," said Wil before going back to the room. After a while, Wil said to Maria, "I''m leaving for Yarlford City. Arrange the private jet for me." She bowed, "yes, young master." As she turned away and walked a couple of steps, Wil stopped her, "wait. I forgot to inform you about one more thing. Tell the directors that they can attend the funeral with Mr. Jordan. And thanks for the first aid treatment." What Wil doesn''t know that there''s a commotion raised in the game, especially in one place after he logged out. Aynor Continent, War Online; Unlike the other three continents, this underworld is completely one kingdom under one Demon King. Feeling that his personal bodyguard Vitos was hunted somewhere outside of the material world and underworld, he roared, "whoever it is, you''ll pay for this mistake." All the Demon race players received a quest from their King to find out the hunter of Vitos. Chapter 109: Philips will The next day morning, at Ravens Island; On a private island that''s located in the south of the Western Continent, several boats started to arrive and docked at the beach while many ships were found sailing in the Ocean near it. Important guests like Presidents or Vice presidents of Giant Corporations; leaders of Mafia gangs; police chiefs of eastern and western continents; five star general of the Western continent''s army along with a couple of four-star generals; Central minister; Defense Minister; and even the Vice-president of the federation arrived one by one in secret. The last to arrive on the Island is the finance minister Miyazaki Reisa and her eldest daughter Kiyumi. Upon seeing them, both of the ministers frowned as to what these schemers doing at a funeral but since it isn''t their place to question, they stayed silent and behaved as if both of them didn''t see those mother and daughter pair. While the guests entered the compound of the Ravens'' graveyard where three generations of the family were buried, their security was left outside along with all the weapons. After the funeral is over, Wil stood there gazing at the tombstone for a while before meeting the important guests one by one. While everything is good and all, this pleasant atmosphere was broken by the appearance of an old man in his early seventies. As soon as Storm saw him, he took out a gun and aimed at him. "How dare you set your foot here, Dexter?" spoke Storm in a cold tone. Upon hearing him, he laughed, "You are just the same, Storm. Now, are you going to treat your guest like this?" Then, he turned his head towards Wil, "you must be his son. You kinda look similar to your father when he was a little boy." Upon hearing him, Storm roared, "a guest? Who the hell invited you?" Wil then ordered him, "stand down, Storm I told Silver to invite him. Put it away. We have a lot of distinguished guests here. Don''t disrespect my father" After he left, a nervous Kiyumi whispered, "Isn''t he completely calm, mom? My heart is exploding just by looking at the guests. By the way, who is that old man? Everyone faces changed as soon as he appeared." Her mom replied slowly, "Antolov family''s leader." "Eh?" Kiyumi''s heart skipped for a moment, "that Antolov family? The nobles that almost governed almost half of the western continent during the Emperor''s reign?" Her mom nodded, "yes. When the federation formed and is in the process of unifying the world, the Vulture group came into existence. Because of the military, police, and Vulture''s co-operation, the western continent was finally subdued, and eventually, the Vulture group became the ruler of the entire underworld and stayed as an Anchor. But, now that the Mafia Lord is no more, Antolov is sure to become the leader according to the rules of the Mafia. Antolov is an enemy to the government. Why do you think even the Vice-president arrived for the funeral?" Kiyumi then asked, "Then, all are them here to discuss so that they stop Antolov? Can''t the military finish them off?" Her mom then replied, "certainly but I doubt it will happen. After all, there''s even more of a simple solution." "What is it?" asked Kiyumi. Looking at her, her mom explained, "If that kid decides to replace his father, he has the chance to become the Mafia lord if more than 50% of other Mafia gang leaders support him. Then, our government won''t have any tension regarding the western continent." "What? No way So, you are only here for this, right? You definitely won''t propose the engagement, right Mom?" asked Kiyumi with a worry. Her mom smiled, "who said I won''t? If Akiko can become his wife, coupled with your dad, we can practically rule a much part of the continent and I''ll have a chance to run for presidential elections with the support of ministers. Well, even if she becomes Mistress, it would still benefit us." "Mom" Kiyumi almost screamed but decided to stay silent to not cause an issue. *** As most of the guests left while the guests from the government and military stayed in the guest house to discuss various issues, meanwhile Philip''s private lawyer sat before Silver, Storm, and Wil. He opened the will and read, "I, Philip Ravens leave all of my inheritance to my only son, Williard Ravens. The properties include Ravens Mansion at Yarlford; a total of 1361.2 acres of land in various places in Yarlford City, Wageburg town, Leafway city, Ares city, and Midvale town; 15 casinos in various cities; Ravens Shipyard at Yarlford; Ravens soccer stadium at Yarlford; Ravens Island; Scarlet Securities and its subsidiary companies; Scarlet Apartments; my 23% shares of Leafway University; 36% shares of Montex IT company; and finally, my personal accounts from Federation Bank and IC Bank." Upon hearing it, even Silver and Storm were taken aback in a surprise that they have so many properties. Meanwhile, Wil''s heart was shaken to the core, "Combined the values, Dad''s net worth easily cross 200 Billion dollars. Is he richer than even the richest man? How''s that possible... All of them can''t be official properties. Well, maybe, he has hidden it until now? Silver once said the Antolov family is even richer I wonder" Then, the lawyer continued, "Now, conditions to claim the properties." Wil frowned, "conditions?" The lawyer nodded, "Lord Philip has put some conditions for you to claim his properties." "First condition is that all the properties except Ravens Island that were tied to the western continent must be sold within 6 months after my death. Failure to do so will result in all of it will transfer to the Federation''s orphanage trust fund. Only selling rights of the listed properties are given to my inheritor. Until he fulfills the condition, he cannot claim a single dollar from the income generated from the properties which will be in a locked state in my personal account of IC Bank. Second condition is that he must take over the vacant chairman position of Scarlet Securities. Third condition is that he should dissolve the Vulture group and hire all the employees into Scarlet Securities. It is acceptable if they leave voluntarily. The final condition is that he must marry and produce an heir of his own blood to continue the name of my Ravens family. Until then, Williard is free to use the money from my personal account of Federation Bank." Wil''s expression turned dark upon hearing the condition, "old man, I''m really feeling that I wasted my tears on you. Dammit, why are marriage and an heir, a condition? Even if I''m twenty-four in mind, I''m only nineteen for everyone else. In these times, to marry and have a child is something uncommon below 30-years-old. And I don''t want to marry for the sake of money either. Hmm, I can make enough money from the game. Just those 25000 gold coins in my inventory alone are worth 500 million dollars at the current exchange rate. If I sell everything right now, even without dad''s property, I can live happily for the rest of my life. Why should I Ugh it''s 200 Billion Dollars. Damn Damn Damn" Meanwhile, the lawyer continued, "Lord Philip''s will isn''t over yet. To Mr. Garnett Oliver alias Silver, as my nominee, I hand over my secondary account of IC Bank that has 1.3 Billion dollars left. And to Mr. Jonathan Aves alias Storm, as my nominee, I hand over my secondary account of Federation Bank that has 1.1 Billion dollars left. I hope both of them continue to protect my son. This isn''t a condition but a request of your older brother." As both of them stood up in a shock, Wil commented, "looks like my father didn''t forget about you two. Please take it and don''t worry about his request. Scarlet securities alone is enough to protect me. I think it''s time for you two about your personal lives." "No, young master. From the moment my life was saved by Lord Philip, I took an oath that my life is for Lord Philip. I wasn''t able to anything to stop him from dying. If I don''t follow his dying request, I''ll be ashamed of my whole life. I''ll follow Lord Philip''s will and from today onwards, protecting your life is our greatest priority," replied Storm, and Silver nodded in agreement. Looking at them, Wil sighed, "I''m jealous of you, dad for having such subordinates." *** After everyone left in disappointment upon hearing about the dissolution of Vulture according to Philip''s will directly from Wil''s mouth, Wil stood before his Dad''s grave one more time and spoke with a determined expression, "Dad, I decided that I''ll meet mom for once. I want to know whether she had abandoned me from her heart or not." Just then, a guard came and bowed, "Young master, one of our guests would like to meet you." "Eh? Aren''t all of them left? Who is it?" The guard replied, "Her name is Miyazaki Reisa. She''s the finance minister of Federation." "Okay, tell her to wait in the living room. I''ll come in a few minutes." After a while, "Eh? But I already have a fiance," Wil was taken aback as he heard a marriage proposal from the mother and daughter pair. Kiyumi then explained with a smile after hearing that he''ll not be Mafia anymore, "according to our eastern customs, a man can have three fiances before he marries one. Even if a child is born from one of the fiances, they''ll be considered legal. So, it''s perfectly legal recognized by the government. Since you are migrating to the eastern continent and think of settling there, why not learn and practice our customs right from now onwards." Wil stared at them in a daze, "what the hell did I just hear, right now?" Chapter 110: Wil accepts the proposal? After Wil came out of daze upon hearing out such a ridiculous proposal, he interrupted Kiyumi, "do you know who I am engaged to?" Kiyumi smiled and answered, "of course, we know that you are engaged to Ms. Cericia, the only daughter of Western continent''s police Chief Mr. Walter Rodin." "Then, do you think he would stay still when I inform of this ridiculous proposal of having to fiances?" questioned Wil. Even though it''s sounded like a question, his inner meaning is actually a threat to them. But, Wil didn''t expect that Reisa didn''t even consider him a worthy opponent. She quickly replied with, "how about this, then. We''ll break off your engagement. Then, you should have no problem with marrying my daughter, right?" Wil frowned at her arrogant tone, "what do you mean by that?" Quick-witted Kiyumi understood the situation on the spot and explained to him with a smile, "what mom means is that you don''t have to worry about Mr. Rodin. He''s a Police Chief of the western continent. So, he has less influence compared to us in the eastern continent." Then, to make him consider the proposal a bit more, Kiyumi started talking about benefits, "You already know Mom is the finance minister. Once you marry my sister, you can not only gain our support, but also the support of the Galaxy net." "Galaxy net?" Once he heard of the name, Wil was completely off guard and asked, "What relation do you have with Galaxy net?" Upon hearing his question, the mother and daughter looked at each other and thought they were partly successful in reeling Wil. Kiyumi then answered him to clear his doubts, "Galaxy net is actually founded by our great-great-grandfather. Currently, our uncle is the Vice-president. Soon, our cousin will take over the position. You might not have heard about it yet but our Galaxy net already entered War Online. As a top player, surely you must understand the game isn''t as simple as it looks. With Galaxy net as your ally both in real life and in the game, you can think how much you will be benefited from this marriage." "Why wouldn''t I know about Galaxy net? They became the biggest spy organization even in the game, two years later. Although they don''t possess any strength, they have money to employ the guilds and power of information about everyone. But, Aster''s spy network isn''t also bad. I also have money and strength. I''m not sure whether they can provide me any strength. In return, I might even have to help them out during this time. It isn''t tempting enough..." As Wil gave an impression of thinking about their proposal, both of them stayed silent and gave him the time to think. After a while, Wil said, "Well, it is sure a good proposal but you see life is more important than money or authority, isn''t it? My dad and my grandfather have been Mafia Lords for a long time. They have a lot of enemies. Even I''m not sure whether my Scarlet can protect me from the Antolov family if they ever decide to assassinate me for the past grudges. Even though you have an influence in the Police department, you are still a mother with five daughters. I''ll only be one of your sons-in-law. Moreover, Galaxy Net doesn''t belong to your family but your elder brother''s. The alliance between Scarlet and Galaxy Net can break up at any time as the bond won''t be strong. But, if I''m the only son-in-law of a police chief, the police will make sure to secure the area so that I''ll be safe, and coupled with our very own SS, I''m confident that I''ll be safe from any harm no matter who my enemy is. On the other hand, if I become your son-in-law, in case I was targeted, then not only it''s risky for me but it will be risky to Akiko-san. Even you or the rest of your daughters might be targeted at any time. Do you consider such a big risk?" Wil asked as he stared calmly at Reisa''s eyes, which started to flicker as she started to imagine such a terrible outcome for a moment. Kiyumi, who was determined to make this marriage, shook her head, "No, that won''t be happening. I forgot to mention our father. He''s a four-star general of the western continent army. He was also one of the candidates for five-star general once the current one retires in a few years. As for the relationship with Galaxy net, once she graduates this year, she will take my position as one of the directors. Just for your information, there are only 8 directors. So, each one is very important for our organization. On her orders, Galaxy Net can start gathering info about Antolov family movements. And if they are trying any funny business, our father can wipe out their family with ease. You know how strong the military is. So, there''s no problem with security either." After hearing her explanation, as Wil started thinking about the pros and cons, Kiyumi once again attacked him with, "we know that you and Ms. Cericia aren''t dating and not interested to marry each other. It was something that was decided by your fathers. If it''s only a loveless marriage, why not consider our proposal?" "Hmm, indeed. You have a point. I have one last question. What do you get out of this marriage? I want an honest answer," asked Wil who was almost convinced at this point. Kiyumi who already expected the question, explained their intentions, "Scarlet Securities is the only company in the world that can rival several Giant corporations which went public. Even though it seemed like Vulture is dissolving, in reality, it''s more like merging with Scarlet. So, I''m sure the company will be increased to the next level. And the second reason is that it also helps mom politically." After listening to her, Wil stood up, "I understand. Can you give me some time to think about it? I don''t want to take such an important decision in a hurry now, on the day of my father''s funeral." Reisa also stood up and nodded with a smile, "Sure, take your own time. After deciding about it, you can inform us. Once again, I''m telling you that you absolutely need not worry about what Mr. Rodin''s reaction is. Whether you want to break your engagement with his daughter or you want to proceed with my daughter as your second fiance, I''m completely fine with either way." *** "What? Young master, are you serious?" asked Silver while Storm was still in a shock after Wil recounted their entire conversation. Wil nodded, "yeah. What do you think?" "What to think It''s the one and only Galaxy net Just say yes, Young master," an excited Storm urged him to accept it. "Eh? What about the police chief, then? Do you want me to break Dad''s promise to him just because there''s a better proposal?" As Wil reminded him, Storm became silent. Meanwhile, Silver, who was also in agreement with Storm, tried to convince Wil in his own way, "Young Master, you don''t like Ms. Rodin and it''s the same for her. If Lord Philip is alive, I''m sure he would accept whatever your decision is. But, if you ask my opinion, honestly, people like us can''t work with the police." Storm nodded in agreement, "that''s right. It''s better to work with military and Galaxy net rather than police." "Sigh These guys aren''t helping at all What should I do? I don''t have a proper reason to reject it. If anything else, Dad''s will and the benefits from marriage are clouding my judgment. Those two looked like they will even proceed with the marriage right now if I say yes. Sigh If only Cherry is Wait a second. That''s right. How did I forget about it" Wil grinned as he dialed a number. "Hello?" "Hello, Kiyumi-san. It''s Williard." "Ah, yes. I didn''t expect you to call so quickly. You surprised me," replied Kiyumi from another side. Wil then said, "On two conditions." "Eh?" *** "Conditions?" asked Reisa. Kiyumi nodded with a darkened expression, "yes, mom." "What are they?" Kiyumi replied, "The first condition is that the engagement can only proceed after his previous engagement with Miss Cericia is annulled. The problem here is that we have to convince Mr. Rodin can''t be threatened with authority or power. Mr. Rodin must voluntarily break it off." After thinking for a few seconds, her mom said, "it''s not a big deal. What''s the second one?" Kiyumi then replied as her expression further darkened, "the second condition is that they can only proceed with the marriage when Williard and Aki-chan decide together. You can''t force Aki-chan about it. And in this period, if either of them fell in love with someone else and decide to marry them, then, without any further discussion, the engagement will be annulled. Mom, he is purposely making it hard for us, so that, we give up the proposal." As the ship continued to sail, Reisa then came out of their room and stand outside. Gazing at the Island from far away, she grinned, "My son-in-law is indeed a clever one like my daughters. Rather than from his side, he was asking that they should be the ones to break it off. That can happen if the girl will fall in love with someone else. Since there''s nothing between them, we can plant a charming guy to date her and with a couple of pictures, I can threaten Walter with them and break it off." "But, mom, he clearly mentioned no threatening," reminded Kiyumi. Reisa then looked at her and said, "When did he say that? Williard only mentioned to not use our authority to pressure him. He didn''t mention anything about using blackmail though" Kiyumi grabbed her mom''s shoulder and smiled, "mom, you are quite a genius." Reisa looked away and replied, "I know But, then again, if Akiko gets pregnant, it would be easier to seal the marriage. It wouldn''t matter even if he loves someone else." "Mom" Kiyumi screamed out this time. Chapter 111: Tower of Mariuk part-1 While the scheming mother and daughter were in a discussion of how to proceed with their scheme to seal the marriage, the innocent lamb at the Ravens Island is thinking about something else. "Dad advised transferring Scarlet HQ to Leafway city but if I do that, it''ll just become another Yarlford. No, I won''t follow Dad''s footsteps. Let''s leave it at Ares. On the other hand, Scarlet Gaming Corp is my baby. Its HQ must be in Leafway city. After the building is finished, I need to gather the best gamers of all the branches in Leafway city. Security will increase if there are more companies there. After taking over Heibei''s Corporation, I need to shift its HQ to Leafway city too. Hmm, I need to buy a couple of companies but the issue is money. I need to check how much cash dad left for me at Federation Bank before I claim everything else. After all, even if I sell the properties, according to the will, the money will be sent to his IC Bank in the end. I don''t get a single penny from it." Wil grabbed his head as he lies on the sofa and mumble, "Marriage and heir as one of the conditions Sigh Dad, do you have to be this ruthless?" *** Two days later, this time at Yarlford city, one by one, the leaders of the various Mafia gang started to arrive one by one with their guards. Ravens Mansion, Yarlford City; As they took their seats while Antolov Dexter and Wil sat on the opposite sides on the edge of the long table, the latter spoke as he tapped the table twice to gather attention, "by now, some of you might have already heard of the rumors but let me confirm it for you. After this meeting, Vulture will be dissolved officially and so, the position of the next Mafia Lord will become vacant. As a few of them turned their heads toward Dexter, who was smiling big, the leader of the Scorpion gang asked, "Why do you want to dissolve it? You are the sole successor of Lord Philip. If you take over the position, I''m sure most of us here will support you." "yes" "Yes, of course. Why not" "yes" 10 out of the remaining 18 nodded in agreement while Dexter''s face suddenly turned dark. Wil ignored him and continued, "According to my dad''s will, we are selling all the properties and leave the western continent forever." They were indeed taken aback in a surprise upon hearing him while Dexter''s face once again glowed. One of them asked, "That means all of your casinos will be auctioned?" Wil nodded, "yes, along with others. Two weeks later, those who are interested in the auction can come here. In the meantime, if you are interested to buy any of them, they can contact us privately and pay twice the amount of its market value to claim it before the auction." As they started murmuring with each other, the seventy-year-old man tapped the table this time and everyone turned their heads towards him in silence. "Why bother. I''ll pay twice on the spot. Just sell everything to me," said Dexter with an arrogant tone. While Silver frowned, Wil calmly stood up, "Based on our estimations, the entire properties are valued around 100 Billion dollars. If you can pay 200 Billion Dollars on the spot, then I''ll happily sell them to you." Looking straight into the eyes, as Wil asked the old man, the latter''s expression once again turned dark and stayed silent. "So, two weeks later, we''ll meet again for one last time before cutting ties with the world of mafia. Meanwhile, you can go ahead and pick the new Mafia Lord." *** *Welcome to War Online* After deciding to stay at home for a while, Wil once again ordered the guards to bring an S-grade capsule and logged in to find himself in the lobby of Battle Arena. Pending notifications of messages from friends continued to ring in his ears. Ignoring the rest of the congratulatory messages, Wil only replied thanks to Snow Dew and Hyori''s, who are offline at the moment. Just then, a message from Aster was sent. Shadow Blade: Young master, you are finally online. Our new district''s construction is finished. Thousands of players are flocking to the town, especially new players. Time Traveler: That''s a good thing. I''m sending you 1000 gold for hiring and management. By the way, what about the situation in East Ocean city? Shadow Blade: In the past three days, no suspicious movements were detected. It''s as if they were compromised and decide not to trouble us anymore. It might be because of Young master''s performance from finals. Or maybe, Dreamwalkers decided not to meddle in East Ocean city''s business. Time Traveler: Send them an invitation through the branch manager. I want to meet Dreamwalkers'' guild leader at our Mansion. If he refuses for any reason, then, send the same to Starlight guild. Shadow Blade: Understand Young master. By the way, can I ask what pet you got from the rewards? "First, Snow Dew. Now, Aster. Looks like everyone is curious about the pet." Time Traveler: a fox. "Eh? Not a dragon?" *** With the help of King''s medallion, Wil used teleportation skills and appeared in level-200 dungeon cave as it''s a place he went once. "Summon, Felix" A cute silver bluish baby fox appeared before him. *wow-wow* Looking at his parent and master, it barked while wiggling its tail as a greeting and then, jumped on to his shoulder before licking his cheek with its tiny tongue. Feeling its emotions with their connection, Wil smiled, "are you ready, Felix?" *wow* As it barked again, Wil take a step towards the portal and entered the dungeon after selecting legendary level difficulty. *Ding. You discovered the Tower of Mariuk. Exp gain and drop rate increased by 100% "Tower of Mariuk, huh. It''s been a long time since I did this dungeon. Last time, it was a hundred player team but now, it''s just a one-man team." Just like its name, the Tower of Mariuk is a dungeon inside a 7-floor tower with the strength of monsters increase as one proceeds to the next floor. The floor 0 that Wil ended up is called the resting floor as there''s nothing except for the plain ground. Without wasting much time, Wil quickly summoned the fallen angels Kallius and Dromeus, and his earth golem. Sitting on Golem''s shoulders, Wil looked at the stairs ahead and spoke, "let''s go." Reaching the floor 1, Wil saw it was packed with dozens of earth golems except that they are tiny, around half of the size of Wil with a single rock as their body where they have eyes on it and there are tiny hands and short legs that are made up of rocks. Rocky golem Grade: Common Level: 200 Hp: 520k For average adventures, as long as they have numbers and good equipment, 500k health isn''t actually a big deal, still, no one takes them lightly because they possess one skill that''s very dangerous. It''s self exploding. They explode once they died. If they were attacked and not killed in 30 seconds, they''ll also explode. Even if they land an attack on a player, that mere touch will also trigger the self explosion. The problem isn''t the damage as it''s just five times their attack. That''s only a 100K, which is no big deal even for an average adventurer. But, it''s the chain reaction that might worry everyone. Since they were too many of them and I''m alone, once even one died, the rest of them will lock on to players and started to run towards them in a frenzy with an intention to attack and explode. That''s why, without proper planning, one never challenges this dungeon. But, Wil didn''t even glance at those things and spoke indifferently, "Kallius, Golem; Kill everyone. Dromeus, heal the two of them." *Boom*Boom*Boom* Continuous explosions occurred as the Golem and Kallius duo are only focusing on killing them without caring about dodging the explosions while Dromeus is healing them. *Ding. Felix reached level-50. It''s entering the first metamorphosis. Wil started to pay attention to the little creature on Golem''s head as it is glowing like a bulb while the Golem and the fallen angel continuing their massacre. A few seconds later, the glowing stopped and revealed the little fox, which grew up a little bit. Not much changed in its height except for gaining a new skill and a second tail. *wow*wow* the fox barked as it continued to rest on Golem''s head. Looking at it, Wil mumbled, "by the time, the dungeon finished, I wonder whether it can reach level-150. Hmm, anyway, let''s see the new skill. Eh?" Size Manipulation: Felix can change its size from one-tenth of its original size to ten times big based upon the situation. The bigger the size, the stronger is the effect of intimidation on lower grade monsters. The smaller the size, the stronger is the effect of ignorance on lower grade monsters. "Sigh It''s good that it can make it''s opponent ignore its presence and get ambushed at the right time but it''s useless to me, right now. Let''s hope it would get either an attack or support skill after level-100." Soon, as the floor was cleared, Wil leveled up once more with ease and they continued to the 2nd floor. Just like the first floor, the second floor is also full of dozens of golems except that each of them is slightly bigger than Wil and their bodies are covered by flames. Unlike the tiny golems on the first floor, they didn''t even give time for Wil to think of a strategy. More than 30 golems that are walking here and there in peace, suddenly rushed towards this one-man party after sensing intruders. Fire Golem Grade: Elite Level: 200 Hp: 5.2 million Chapter 112: Tower of Mariuk part-2 Looking calmly at the Fire Golems that started rushing towards him, Wil raised the bow and conjured an Ice Arrow before aiming at one of them while he continues to sit on the shoulder of the Golem. *Ting* As he released the string, Felix jumped up like a cat and turned its head towards Wil, hearing the sound it made. "What an amazing sound. It would be hard to find a bow like this in the real world," mumbled Wil in a surprise. *Swoosh* Because of an additional boot in attack speed, the Ice arrow that a released flew like a lightning and pierced its chest and killing it on the spot while freezing forty meters surroundings. Looking at Felix''s awed expression as it opened its eyes big; a smile appeared on Wil, "your older brother is awesome, isn''t he?" *wow* barked Felix in response. Meanwhile, the Golem and Kallius are once again on a killing spree, finishing them in one hit. But, this time, there wasn''t any self explosion. After killing the 28th one, the system sent him a notification once more. *Ding. Felix reached level-100. It''s entering 2nd metamorphosis. Once again, the little two-tailed fox glowed for a while. After a few seconds, Wil saw Felix suddenly grew to 1 meter big and an extra tail. As it now big enough, it jumped on to the ground. Its beautiful silver bluish fur increased and grew sharp canines. "Not even 5 minutes passed, and it''s already level-100. Even I need a week to level up and I was considered one of the fastest. If people knew about it, I wonder what kind of reaction they''ll have. Anyway, let''s see what skill it acquired, now." Bark (Level 1): After gathering enough magic from the surroundings, Felix can release them in the form of sound waves. Allies that are hit by those sound waves increase their attack by 20% while enemies decrease their attack by 20% for five minutes. CD: 15 minutes. Range: 30 meters "Not bad, a combined buff and a debuff support skill but for a legendary grade pet, it''s not overpowered. Sigh can''t be helped. It''s not like I caught it in the wild. And unlike them, it doesn''t have skill restrictions either. A long as it continues to level up, new skills will be added and I can even make it learn skills from pet skill books in the future. If only legendary grade bosses of the dungeon can be tamed Hmm, now that I think about it, I remember buying a legendary grade pet scroll from the Battle shop. Shall I catch the region lord or kill it and release the guardian of the Kingdom? In the first case, I can gain another legendary pet. And in the second case, my favorability with Mirella and Raziel will be increased for sure, or maybe even maximum, which will be helpful to climb the ladders of nobility in the future. But, I can only summon one battle companion no matter how many pets I have. It''s the same to me whether I have one legendary grade pet or a hundred. Still, that''s the winged lion. It has its own benefits. Look at Solar. Not only it''s level will be a hundred levels more than me as a passive buff, just by possessing it, makes me a member of the royal family and even has a chance of becoming a King once I overthrow Mirella." *Ding. You leveled up. Wil ignored it and continued to think deeply, "Forget about a mere port or a city. The entire kingdom will be mine. But that''s impossible unless I reach 300 and receive the support of Ascended. Hmm, wait a second. What the hell am I thinking Once, the revenge of Angels'' chapter begins in the main storyline, won''t I have to leave everything behind? Then, what''s the use of becoming a king. Nah I can make someone else as a King. Wait a second. Wait a sec If I have to leave the kingdom eventually, then, there''s no point in trying hard to increase my nobility, right No, I don''t need to leave. It''s only a 20% buff loss. Even without it, I can become the best. Moreover, I can enter the Aynor continent without penalty. But, then again, if I can become the representative of Angels, I can easily gain everything I lose. Argh It''s damn confusing" Meanwhile, with Felix following from behind and barking occasionally to weaken the enemies, the Golem continued its killing spree without caring about its defense even though the Elite mobs finally resisted the freezing effect and became free. After a while; *wow* Wil was brought back to his senses as he got a message from Felix that it''s over. Looking at the drops from Elite that spread out all over the floor, Wil jumped down and collected all augment stones, scrolls, silver coins, and potions. Leaving behind the crappy equipment, the one-man party proceeds to the 3rd floor and equipped night vision goggles for the upcoming danger. "Floor of Death, eh?" commented Wil as they reached the third floor, which looks like a dark cave. It is the floor which is often called as the floor of death by many players in his past life as most of them gave up their journey after reaching here. It''s mainly because of the tiny volcanoes spread all over the floor that spews out lava at random times and form lava puddles everywhere. Just stepping on a lava puddle by mistake will decrease 100K hp for 10 seconds. If that wasn''t enough, for every Fire Golem that''s standing on lava puddle, there are around 5-6 tiny rocky golems that can cause a chain reaction. And, finally, in the end, there''s a Giant Lava Golem guarding the stairs to the fourth floor along with a mage in robes covering his face with the hood. "Felix, use Size manipulation and reduce your size and come here. When you are strong enough, I''ll let you out in the field," ordered Wil. Then he turned his head left and right and glanced at the fallen angels that are flying beside the Golem on either side, "Dromeus get ready to heal Kallius. And Kallius, you try to gather all of them in middle except that Giant Fire Golem. We''ll take them out in one shot." After receiving orders from Wil, Kallius flapped his light and dark wings and flew towards each Fire golem which was followed by triggering the self explosion of the tiny golems. Ignoring the explosions, Kallius shot a fireball towards a lava puddle thereby attracting the nearby Golems, and flew towards the next one while Dromeus followed him to heal just in case. Meanwhile, as Felix used Size Manipulation, Wil was taken aback to see instead of appearing smaller, it turned into its infant stage before jumping on to the Golem and climbed up to the head and settled there on the flat surface. Curious Wil inspected its stats to see the changes. "Oh, so, this is the meaning of the size manipulation, eh? With showing fake stats, even a player would be fooled," mumbled Wil after inspecting its stats Back to the battle, as there are too many of them, coupled with heavy explosions, Kallius was only able to gather half of the Golems at one spot while accidentally killing the rest of them as the fireball hit them. After they were at one spot, Wil raised his hands towards the pack and spoke, "Heavenly push, 20 mana." After that Well, there''s nothing after that. Everything''s gone along with the Heroic mob and the mage, leaving behind drops on the floor. *Ding. You level up. The level up notification continued to ring in his ears for four times in a row while Wil was stupefied by the outcome. "Uhh isn''t this a bit overkill?" Wil stared at the scene for several seconds before inspecting his character menu in a hurry, "That''s right. I forgot I have a full set of legendary equipment, now. I''m a lot stronger than before. Just a single normal arrow is enough to wipe out any player. Ok, Wil. Let''s stop bragging to yourself and finish this quickly. After this, I have to clear out the armory before anyone else discovers it." Picking up all the drops and throwing them into the inventory, Wil continued to the fourth floor. The fourth floor looks pretty much the same as the third floor except that volcanoes are more active and instead of lava puddles, it''s like a lava pond of 1 ft depth that''s almost covered the floor with very little space to walk and avoid it. But, Wil has no problem with the situation as the only one that''s walking on the floor is the Golem and it can be brought to full health at all times by Dromeus and Wil. Unlike last time, Wil just ordered Kallius, who has 75% of his stats to finish them one by one. After it cleared out everything, Wil didn''t bother to pick up the drops and went straight to the three lava golems that stood apart from each other at the exit. It wasn''t because Wil was scared of getting into the lava pond to pick up the drops. It''s just too much of a work to find the augment stones and the biggest reason is that he was rich enough to ignore them. Simple... Lava Golem Grade: Heroic Level: 200 Hp: 52 million Looking at the three of them, Wil spoke indifferently, "Kallius, as usual. Gather them together at one spot." But, just when went into twenty meters of the left one, Wil''s expression changed as he suddenly shouted, "Kallius, return." As soon as he heard his master''s new order, Kallius dismissed the thought of attacking it and turned around to return. *Boom* It was too late A volcano that''s as big as five feet suddenly appeared below his feet and erupted. As the Mage raised the staff, the lava that supposed to flow down like a river from the mouth of the volcano was instead shot towards Kallius. Chapter 113: Tower of Mariuk part-3 "A million per 10 seconds, huh? I guess I worry for nothing." As the lava erupted from the volcano and engulfed Kallius for a second before disappearing, his hp started to drop by 1 million per each second. But, realizing that his total hp is only decreased by 20%, Wil sighed in relief and spoke, "Dromeus, heal him. Kallius continue your job but don''t go closer than 20 meters." Kallius nodded and shot a Fireball towards golem before he quickly dashed towards the second one while Dromeus quickly brought back him to full health with ease. "I thought he would die for sure as players rarely survive this ambush before. I forgot that it''s damage over time and is only 10 million max damage. With 75% of my stats, He has more than 50 million hp. Still, I should have warned him before since five of such attacks can kill him." As Kallius brought all three of them together, Wil unleashed "Absolute freeze" and froze them in the Ice. Once they are trapped inside the ice, the rest became easier for the minions to finish them off quickly. *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You level up. Throwing the drops into inventory, Wil proceeded to the fifth floor. Unlike the previous floors, the fifth floor doesn''t have any kind of lava puddles or exploding tiny golems. Only eight Heroic mobs, the lava golems with mages on top of their shoulders were waiting for him. "Kallius, same thing as before. Gather eight of them at one spot. Don''t forget to maintain a distance between 20 and 30 meters. Dromeus, as usual, follow him" Wil ordered him while giving a warning again. Getting his order, Kallius nodded like a puppet and flew towards the giant lava Golems that are simply standing far away from each other like a statue. Even though each of them had 52 million of hp, it didn''t take long for the party to finish them after Kallius gathered them and Wil spent used Arrow shower, to rain arrows from the ceiling *Ding. You level up. Notifications rang in his ears rang nine more times and Wil reached level-175 directly. Meanwhile, Felix reached level-150 and grew the fourth tail along with receiving another skill. Fox-Fire Manipulation: Felix gathers magic from surroundings and creates a blue fireball by its tails. The size and the power of the fireball increase by 10% for each tail increased. It can manipulate the direction while attacking the enemy. Cast time: number of tails*1 seconds. CD: 1 hour. A wide smile appeared on Wil as he looked at the new skill, "Finally, Felix got attack ability. Since its blue fire, the damage will be twice its attack. Even though the current one has only a 130% attack, it''s actually 260%. With my golem''s buff, it''ll be raised to 520%. That means the current one can take out a heroic mob with ease." Looking at the four-tailed Silver bluish Fox, Wil said, "Okay, Felix. I''ll be counting on you from now onwards. Let''s become the best partners." *wow* Felix barked in response and revealed it''s canines that became even sharper than before, although there are no other visible changes on the outside except for an addition of a tail. The young man sitting on the shoulder of a giant Golem, his two servants followed by a fox stepped on the stairs and started climbing towards the 6th floor. Like one expects, the sixth floor is also unique and different from the previous floors. But, this time, the danger lies with the environment rather than the enemies. Reaching the floor, Wil saw there was a simple 30 sq. meter platform more than 150 meters away. On it, there stood four mages in a square formation while their staffs are glowing. While the platform was protected by four giant golems that look similar to Wil''s Golem except for their green eyes, the rest of the entire floor filled with poisonous gas. "Hmm, if I remember it correctly, it takes 100K hp per second. That makes 6 million damage per minute. That means the rest of them can barely last 10 minutes. On above it, one must defeat the four guardians with their mages healing them. And this golem might self destruct at a random time. It''s a bit dangerous for Kallius and Golem to tackle them who are slow at dodging. Hmm" Wil who thought of a strategy, and ordered the fallen angels and the Golem to stand down and then jumped down beside Felix. Caressing its fur, Wil said, "Felix, for this fight, it''s just you and me. You take the right ones and I take the left ones. Remember to attack only one and after finishing it, move on to the second one." *wow* Felix barked and rushed into the poisonous gas environment. Wil didn''t worry about it as it has more than 300 million hp and walked towards the first golem on the left side without caring about the declining hp as he can easily heal himself on the spot. "-100000" "-100000" "-100000" "-100000" While he was losing 100 thousand of health per second, Wil reached 50 meters range from the Golem. Since he stopped at a spot that''s out of its range, it wasn''t able to detect him while giving him the opportunity to shoot a fire arrow. *Ting* As soon as he releases the string, the fire arrow shot like a lightning and pierced its chest. A critical appeared and it instantly downed to less than 10%. "44,687,528" "Damn, almost got killed. After this, I should enhance the equipment and unseal some of the stats of accessories with the legendary appraisal scrolls I got from the battle-shop." After getting attacked, the Golem started to rush towards him. Wil simply finished it with a normal arrow and then aimed at the next one. This time, he shot an ice arrow thereby not only killing it but also helped Felix to finish the second one by the time it resisted the freezing effect and become free. *Ding. You level up *Ding. You level up *Ding. You level up *Ding. You level up After destroying the four golems quickly in a mere dozen seconds, the mages disappeared on their own and they proceed towards the 7th and the final floor of the dungeon. While they were climbing the steps, Wil and Dromeus started healing the rest of them to full health as they were exposed to poisonous gas while going to the exit. The final floor is on the terrace of the tower. Just like the fifth floor, it''s a plain platform with no traps or special environment. There was only one enemy. A Giant Golem that''s standing in the middle of the platform, which is supported by six heroic grade mages wearing robes while the hood covering their faces. All six of them are not only healers but they are also providing a buff to its stats. Emberstone Golem, Muriek Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Hp: 676 million Description: Muriek, a once known Master alchemist has been turned into a Golem because of a failure in his experiment. Inspecting it, Wil mumbled, "Hmm, there is a 30% increase in its health. That means it''s a 30% buff. Usually, a level-200 legendary grade has around 10 million of attack power. So, around 13 million. As for defense, it''s 2.6 million. The only issue people face with this monster is its critical rate and resist. Well, it doesn''t matter to me, either way. I can finish it off with "Heavenly push" in one second." As he raised his hands towards the Golem and about to unleash his trump card to finish it off in a single move, Wil heard a bark from behind. *wow*wow* He stopped and asked as he turned his head towards his pet, "Felix, do you fight it, alone?" *wow* Felix barked giving him an affirmation. Wil stared at it and thought for a while, "Hmm, with Golem''s buff, statistically, Felix is stronger than the Golem. But, if it blindly charges, then, it might lose. Let''s see what it can do. If it can do well, then, I can leave the future hunting it to Felix while I relax and enjoy the free exp. After all, I sacrificed 50% of the exp to it. But, then again, I should thank the first explorer''s buff for it though. If not for 100% exp buff, I would think of leveling it up only after I reach level-200." Understanding its thoughts, Wil nodded and pointed his finger towards the enemy, "fine. Go and battle it to your heart content." As Wil walked behind, Felix looked at the enemy and growled and revealed its canines and revealed its sharp claws from the legs before dashing towards the enemy. Sensing the enemy as fox entered its range; the Emberstone Golem raised its hand and made a fist before punching towards Felix, which dodged to the right and scratched it with its claws. "12,612,381" Looking at the enormous on Emberstone Golem''s head, Wil nodded in satisfaction, "sure enough. Felix can win this duel with ease as long as my Golem stays active." Just then, the six healers raised their staff, and green magic energy started flowing from their staff towards the golem and healed 7.6 million of hp bringing its total health to 671 million. Meanwhile, the Golem stomped on the floor heavily and Felix flew into the air. Looking at the tiny fox, the Emberstone punched it with the right hand, hitting it right on the spot. "-12,821,359" Chapter 114: Tower of Mariuk - final Looking at the damage number of more than 12 million appeared in red, Wil mumbled, "what a stroke of bad luck. The critical hit was activated even though there''s only a 25% chance." As the crashed fox stood on its four legs, Wil shouted from behind, "Felix, you forgot to use the ''Bark'' skill. Use it the moment" Before his words even finished, the Emberstone Golem jumped high in the air and landed before Felix and tried to kick it away while Wil and the rest of the party take a few steps back to stay out of its range. *wow* Felix, who was quick on its feet, dodged its leg and barked to increase its attack by 20% more and decrease the enemy''s by 20% thereby almost removing the advantage of the attack buff it''s getting from those 6 mages for the next five minutes. "14,287,512" As Felix bit the leg of the Golem taking out a chunk of hp, Wil shouted, "Now, go around it and attack from behind." Felix then followed Wil''s order and quickly dashed towards his back and tried to bite the right leg that''s coming back after the Golem failed to kick. "Damn. I forgot to take its battle experience into account. Felix isn''t either a wild boss or dungeon boss that doesn''t need to be taught. Even though it has superior reflexes, still, it''s like a noob wearing legendary grade equipment," mumbled Wil as he facepalmed because of the blunder he made after watching Felix failed to bite because of mistiming and got its face kicked instead as a result. "-9,699,568" Looking at the hp that almost downed to 93%, at first, Wil thought of healing it but then, he put that thought away after realizing the fact that if both sides heal each other, it might take a long time before the match finishes. After thinking for while, Wil stayed silent and decided not to give a piece of advice to Felix, anymore. A while later, Wil''s lips curled up as Felix''s attacks were getting failed continuously and getting beat up by the Golem instead. After it lost more than 15% of the health, Felix saw Wil dashed forward and raised his hands towards the Emberstone. *wow* Upon hearing the bark of Felix, Wil replied, "I know but in your current state, you aren''t a match to it. I''ll train you further and bring it back here later." "Heavenly push, 300 mana" The extremely violent wind released from his palms and blew the giant golem a hundred meters away leaving behind only 12 million of its health and was saved by its high critical resistance. "657,568,120" "Tch I should have used 10 more mana." As the Golem slowly gets up from its feet, Wil quickly took an arrow from his quiver and shot towards it before the annoying healers heal it up. *Ding. Emberstone Golem died. You receive 130 million exp. *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You level up. Continuous notifications started ringing in his ears until he leveled up 10 times and reached level-185. Meanwhile, Felix leveled up 15 times and reached level-167. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the first player to clear a level-200 dungeon in the Llyne Kingdom. You receive 100 fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the first player to clear a level-200 legendary grade dungeon in the Llyne Kingdom. You receive 1000 fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the second player to clear a level-200 legendary grade dungeon in Xynnar Continent. You receive 1000 fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the fifth player to clear a level-200 legendary dungeon in the world. You receive 500 fame as a reward. Looking at the notifications, Wil was taken aback, "What the hell there are people who cleared level-200 even before me? I can understand if there are one or two but four of them? I guess I shouldn''t relax then. Anyway, let''s see the drops" Looking at a mountain of drops that have hundreds of equipment, scrolls, books, and potions, etc, Wil smiled as he started rummaging, "I love this 100% increase drop rate. Maybe, the other dungeons aren''t explored. I can advantage of this situation and claim everything. Next time, let''s bring Aster and others. It''s time Scarlet becomes a superpower." He threw every equipment below gold grade while the remaining eight epic grade equipment and 18 gold grade equipment into inventory without taking a look along with the potions, augment stones, and scrolls. "Oh, two legendary grade equipment. Let''s see" Muriek''s Boots Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Hp: 3,998,233 Defense: 501258 ???? ???? ???? ???? Muriek''s Heavy Shield Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Class: Guardian, paladin Defense: 1523578 Critical resist: 76.8% ???? ???? ???? ???? "Ugh a Guardian''s shield. There''s only Rock Fist in our guild but this is something that''s at least worth a hundred million credits if we go by the current exchange. Hmm, there''s also a legacy in my inventory. How about convincing Storm and Silver to enter the game, and select one to handover both the shield and the legacy." While he''s in deep thinking, the system sent one more notification. *Ding. Do you want to publish your team name for the announcement? As Wil clicked on yes, the system once again asked him. *Ding. What would you like to name your team? After typing Scarlet, he selected okay and the system immediately made a kingdom-wide announcement. *Ding. Congratulations, Team Scarlet for becoming the first to clear the level-200 legendary grade dungeon. Here''s the list of members, Time Traveler; Although a lot of people were shocked, it was only for a moment and didn''t cause any impact on the players as if they thought it was natural for him to finish it solo. After all, everyone knew that Wil has full-set legendary grade equipment with a legendary grade pet. Most of them strongly believed even a hundred level-200 guards can''t defeat him. It''s also for this very reason, Resistance became silent and three of their guilds even stopped co-operating with them and shifted their base to other cities as they feared Time Traveler might suppress them in the future. As Dreamwalkers decided to leave East Ocean city from their plans, their guild strength also stopped progressing with Scarlet putting a ban on them in their shops. This led hundreds of players to leave their guilds and joining the ruling faction every day. Meanwhile, upon hearing the announcement, once again, White Tiger started beating up a low-level heroic mob in the wild to relieve his frustration as on one hand; his enemy is becoming too strong day by day. On the other hand, it also became harder for the Imperial guild to maintain dominance in the Eldershore city after large guilds like Starlight, Dreamwalkers, Murderers, etc built their branches to expand. Not to mention, to maintain many subsidiary guilds requires a huge amount of money but because of Scarlet''s intervention in the background, his company is facing losses and the share value is decreasing very fast as days passed and forced to cut the salaries or firing the employees *** Ares city; "Oh I''m going to get engaged? So, who is it?" Akiko asked calmly as if she was asking about someone else engagement. Looking at her response, as Kiyumi nodded in satisfaction as if she knew her sister was going to say that, meanwhile, her mother was taken aback by her response. She replied, "the soon to be Chairman of Scarlet Securities." "Oh, SS'' chairman? How old is he?" asked Akiko. This time, Kiyumi replied instead of her mother with a smile, "He''s two years younger than you. 19 years old. In fact, you know him too. The strongest gamer in War Online." "Eh? Are you talking about Time Traveler? The winner of WBT? He''s the chairman of SS? Wait a second. Is he 19? Doesn''t look that way from the pictures," asked Akiko as she was clearly taken aback upon hearing his identity. Kiyumi giggled, "It''s obvious that he changed features in the game. Look, this is his real picture." As she handed over a tablet with a picture of Wil on it, Kiyumi asked, "What do you think?" "A typical westerner, eh?" commented Akiko as she glanced at the picture. Upon hearing her comment, as Reisa frown and about to tell her that she has no say in this, Akiko then returned it and shrugged her shoulders, "he''s handsome indeed. What''s his name?" Kiyumi replied, "Williard Ravens." Akiko then nodded and stood up, "I won''t really mind. Give me a second." Then, she took out her mobile phone and dialed a number. While the mother and daughter in the middle of smiling in joy as their mission is almost a success, they heard Akiko speak, "Hello, Hiruma-kun. I''m going to get engaged. So, let''s break up, right now. Yes Why do you want to know? Don''t bother He''s the next chairman of Scarlet Securities. No A college freshman. Well, does it matter? I know. Okay, then good luck you too" After disconnecting her call, Akiko turned her head to see her mother and eldest sister are staring at her in silence "What?" Coming back to her sense, Kiyumi asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?" Akiko sighed as she takes her seat, "it doesn''t matter. We have long decided to break up after our graduation since he''s going to set up a martial arts school and I''m going to join the company. Now, it''s just happening one year before. That''s all. You can proceed with the engagement." As if this isn''t enough change in Wil''s future, there was one more unexpected incident occurring in the game that is going to change a part of the future that Wil knows forever. Gailzach Kingdom, North Zalfari; At a seemingly ordinary cave at level-180 volcanic zone, ''One'' sat for a while and enhanced his equipment. After a while, deciding to log out, as he went even deeper to the end of the cave just in case, suddenly, the surface below him collapsed and he fell on some mud floor. *Ding. You discovered the resting place of Archmage Solomon, one of the ten demigods of the world. You discover 1000 fame. Chapter 115: Capturing Guardian Beast part-1 *Ding. You discovered the resting place of Archmage Solomon, one of the ten demigods of the world. You discover 1000 fame. "Archmage Solomon? I remember his name from the Great Wall. If I remember correctly, he''s the mage who put barriers around beginner villages, regions, and kingdoms. Is it perhaps a super-powerful legacy?" mumbled ''One'' and proceed further. Meanwhile, at Llyne kingdom, Wil finally reached the Ruins of Marten in level-150 zone while killing every winged mob that''s obstructing his way. He entered the empty ruins and went directly to the Armory. Looking at the weapons and equipment on the walls, Wil nodded with a smile, "Good. It seems no one else found this place or they have run away after experiencing the effect. I''m the only one who can take these either way." Wil then took out the light stone fragment and touched one of the epic grade swords. Walfie''s sword Grade: Epic Level: 160 *Ding. You purified an epic grade corrupted-equipment. You receive 100 fame as a reward. "Now, this is new. I didn''t know that I can even receive fame for purifying equipment. If that''s the case, why I haven''t received any fame after purifying the gold coins? Maybe, it''s because they are currency?" Looking around, Wil mumbled, "I can''t count on legendary grade but there are sure a lot of epic grade items here. With a huge boost in fame, I might get closer to become Marquis. Let''s purify every equipment here. Here we go" *Ding. You purified a gold grade heavy armor. You receive 10 fame as a reward. *Ding. You purified a gold grade dagger. You receive 10 fame as a reward. *Ding. You purified a silver grade spear. "Eh? No fame? I see. Silver grade and below won''t give me anything, huh" . . *Ding. You partially purified a legendary grade Bracers. Lynn''s Bracers (Bound) Owner: none Grade: Legendary Level: 150 Hp: 3256882 Defense: 300125 Crt resist: 30% Crt dmg resist: 15% Attack speed: 10 Decrease damage: 10% "Oh, it''s a bound one, huh" As he picked up the legendary grade Bracers, Wil nodded in satisfaction, "I can touch them. Good. Too bad that they can''t be used. Wait a second Bound? Can''t be used?" As something clicked inside his mind, Wil laughed out, "Hahaha... Let''s just collect everything for now. I can use these to scam my enemies and even earn hundreds... No, even buy it for thousands of gold." Wil continued to grin as he started placing them into inventory one by one. After clearing out the armory, he spoke, "I summon the Fire Pegasus." *Neigh* A black horse with fiery wings and tail appeared before him. As he takes his seat, Wil whispered, "Let''s go, Pegasus." The horse neighed once again before flapping its wings and started flying in a low altitude so as to not touch the ceiling at an extreme speed. As the wind hit Wil''s face, he immediately equipped Sauron''s crown as he suddenly felt the need to protect his eyes and ears while moving at a speed of Mach 1.7 that already surpasses the limit of a player. Within a blink of an eye, as the Fire Pegasus reached the tomb, Wil took a long breath and whispered himself, "so that what it felt like to ride a war aircraft. It felt like a bit of teleportation but I bet long distances will feel f*****g damn cool" Looking around, he quickly found the sword and threw it into the inventory after purifying it partially. After his business is finished at Ruins of Marten, Wil started flying towards the tallest peak of the level-200 zone. Ignoring the dungeon cave and the way from it to reach the top, Wil took the shortest path with flying higher and higher. As he landed on the highest point in the entire kingdom, Wil found a cave and walked in its direction. But, before even take another step, he heard a roar coming from the cave. Upon hearing it, Wil''s immediately summoned Golem before taking the bow in his hands and aimed calmly towards the cave. While he pulled the string and conjured an Ice arrow, suddenly, a black creature exit the cave, flying towards him with its wings spread far wide. Leon Species: Winged Lion Status: Corrupted, Mutated Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Hp: 780 million Description: Used to be the guardian beast of the Kingdom and the personal mount of Acke Llyne, the first King of Llyne Kingdom. After being corrupted by demonic energy, Winged Lion was imprisoned by its master at the top of the mountain. *Ding. You discovered the guardian beast of the Kingdom. You received 500 fame as a reward. *Ding. You received a quest. Description: Defeat the corrupted guardian beast of the Kingdom and return the former glory of the Llyne Kingdom. Reward: 10 million Exp, 200 gold, 1000 fame, Level-200 legendary grade equipment box. "What a petty reward. If it was before the tournament, I would have killed it but now those rewards are useless to me. But, then again, killing it would probably raise my level to 200 Nah, I can just go to the dungeons to level up." Meanwhile, the black winged-lion spew out a fireball, which brought Wil to his senses and he dodged to the left, and then, released the Ice arrow. Unlike the other beasts that always go head to head towards his arrows, Leon behaved differently. Instead of tackling, it rotated its body in the air, dodging the arrow, and this time, it spews out a fireball towards the golem that tried to punch. "Golem, dodge to the right" But, before it followed the order, the fireball already hit it because of short distance between them. "-23,037,562" As a critical hit was landed, the Golem''s health was downed to 70% in one hit. Without a trace of surprise on his face even after seeing such high damage, Wil used "Heal" on the Golem and healed 10 million hp at once. Because of no Cooldown, he used it twice in a row and healed the Golem back to full health, although it was once again attacked by Leon with a fireball. "-23,037,562" It was only after then; Wil''s face became serious and went into a quick analysis mode, "looks that that fireball attack has 1 to 2 seconds Cooldown or maybe, no Cooldown. Coming to the stats, since it was mutated, that means all of its stats will be increased by 50%, just not hp. If that''s the case, with my low crt rate, it''s impossible to hit critical damage. But then again, it''s a demon, right now. So, my damage will be 50% more. Hmm, the required mana is" Wil raised his hands towards the winged lion that seemed to be focus on Golem and mumbled, "Heavenly push..." Meanwhile, Leon quickly changed its target after realizing the magic energy getting absorbed into Wil at a rapid rate that even it cannot calculate. Its wings glowed and straightened like metal as it dashed towards Wil but before it even dashed one meter, Wil finished with, "240 mana." "525,756,253" Instantly, Leon''s health was completely downed to 32% as it crashed on to the ground 100 meters away while Wil cursed out, "F*** I miscalculated. Looks like it also has a f*****g 50% decrease damage buff that canceled my 50% increase damage advantage over the demon race. There''s still 250 million of health and I can only use it again after 8 minutes, which is a bit too long to drag this battle. Let''s just freeze it." Meanwhile, the winged lion stood up again and shook its head; it focused its attention onto Wil. As it spread its wings and dashed towards him, Wil stood at the same place and is ready to use ''Absolute Freeze'' and trap it in Ice. The distance between them decreased to 90m 70m 50m Suddenly, he saw it roared once again, although this time, it was a lot powerful than before. *Roarrrr* Listening to it, the Golem suddenly kneeled and Wil received a notification. *Ding. Golem is affected by the Roar of the King. All skills will be locked for 30 minutes. *Ding. You are affected by Roar of the King. All of your skills will be locked for 30 minutes. "What" Wil stepped back in a shock and saw not only all of his skills locked, even the buff from the golem disappeared as if it never existed. 30m 20m 10m The distance between them decreased further as Leon continued to dash towards him after spewing out a fireball. "I summon, Felix," roared Wil. Having no other choice, Wil summoned Felix on the spot. *wow* As Felix barked in happiness that it got summoned to the material world again, Wil shouted, "Be careful. Incoming atta" "-13,589,122" The Fireball hit it right on its face before Wil finished its sentence and Felix turned its head towards Leon that almost about to bite its neck. Instantly, the claws erupted from its toes and it jumped towards Leon and scratched its face while landing on the ground safely. "5,500,718" Meanwhile, Wil, who jumped to the side to dodge the attack, stared at Felix in a surprise, "that was a perfect counterattack. Is it really who wasn''t even able to land a single hit on the Emberstone golem, just a while ago? Or it''s just a fluke?" Unfortunately, the happiness was short-lived as Wil received two notifications. *Ding. Leon lost its left eye. Its pride is hurt deeply and going to mutate. "Eh? Second mutation?" Chapter 116: Capturing Guardian Beast part-2 *Ding. Leon lost its left eye. Its pride is hurt deeply and going to mutate. "Eh? Second mutation? No, wait a second. What the f**k is the meaning of mutating for a second time just because its pride is hurt" grumbled Wil after reading the notification. As he turned his head aside and glanced towards the winged lion, he saw it was enveloped by dark aura for a couple of seconds before revealing a new appearance, which is not much different other than that it grew to 2 meters in height and 5 meters long. Its left eye is also restored to normal. Leon Species: Winged Lion Status: Corrupted, Double Mutated Grade: Legendary Level: 200 Hp: 255 million/1 Billion "Oh boy the second mutation also arrived earlier than I expected. Officially, it was only supposed to arrive 5 and a half months later during the second update. Sigh It''s already next to impossible for a legendary grade creature to mutate and now, I''m seeing a second mutation. I''m not sure whether to consider myself to be lucky to not. After all, mutated creatures are very hard to tame hmm, I need to decrease its health to the minimum. In other words, beat it up thoroughly." Meanwhile, Leon shifted its target to Felix. Its wings glowed once again and straightened like a blade as it dashed towards the enemy with a speed of sound. As Felix attempt to dodge it, the wing blade sliced the fox''s cheek causing more than 39 million of damage. On the other hand, Wil took out the Book of destiny and quickly opened the eighth page to summon the two-headed Dragon, Kagyre. Felix and the Golem vanished on the spot as Wil started to recite the incantation, "in the name of Time Traveler, I summon the twin spirits Karion and Gyreon by offering my Golem summon and my battle companion, Felix." *Roar* Leon stopped at once and roared in anger after watching the fox disappeared and turned its attention towards the only one left on the ground. But, before it flies towards him, suddenly, a giant two-headed dragon appeared between the two of them thereby obstructing its view while Wil slowly climbed over it with the Book of Destiny in his hands. Looking at the giant presence before it, Leon instantly treated as its enemy and attacked Kagyre with a fireball. "Kagyre, fly" Following Wil''s orders, Kagyre flapped its giant wings to fly but wasn''t able to dodge the attack and the fireball hit its legs. "-30,235,166" Neither Wil nor the dragon care about it and continue to fly in the sky. Looking at them, the winged lion also flew towards them. 8000 meters above the sea level where even Wil started feeling cold even though his sensitivity is set to 10%, the two-headed dragon and the winged-lion started a fire battle. The lion is spewing out fireballs every second and the dragon is breathing out Dragon fire from its two heads. Because the Golem is sacrificed, the hundred percent buff once again returned to Wil, and both of their attacks that have almost the same power with Kagyre on the winning side because of the Bark skill that transformed into Dragon Roar that not only reduces the opponent''s attack by 20% but also increases allies'' attack by 20%. But, since the difference is only in hundreds of thousands, the situation went into a deadlock where no one is getting injured and losing their hp, although Wil is on the losing end because of the massive consumption of mana. Meanwhile, Wil ran towards the edge between the two-heads and leaped towards the winged lion which is on the other side of the fiery dragon flames while opening the second page and shouted, "Short teleportation." All of a sudden, Leon found the summoner of the dragon and the fox just before 20 meters before it and about to fall; it once again, spews out a fireball towards Wil. Just then, Wil, who already fell 5-10 meters, opened the next page and used, ''Absolute Freeze'' and frozen all of his surroundings before Kagyre quickly dived in and caught Wil with one of its front limbs. On the other hand, the winged-lion that was trapped inside the Ice started falling on the ground that''s around more than one thousand five hundred meters below. "1,525,000" A damage number appeared on Leon''s head after falling from a great height. Landing on to the ground, Wil immediately opened the fifth page and unleashed his greatest damage over time skill "Dragon Fire" Dragon Fire (Max): Breathe out fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 350% attack every second. Cost: 2 MP per second; Range: 30m. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. "32,268,975" "32,268,975" "32,268,975" More than 32 million health started to decrease per second and soon, after taking out more than 225 million, Wil stopped and took out a legendary grade pet scroll to capture it. *Ding. Your level is lower than your target. Proceed to use? As he clicked yes, it sent another warning. *Ding. As the opponent is in an extremely injured state, the percentage of successful capture rose to 78%. Proceed to use? "Only 78%?" Wil immediately clicked on ''No''. To increase the chances, Wil attacked it with four normal arrows in a row taking 7 million each time and further decreased its hp to only a mere 2 million and then, used it again. *Ding. As the opponent is on the brink of death, the percentage of successful capture rose to 92%. "Damn It''s still didn''t cross 95%? Well, 92 is also a good success rate. If I somehow fail, then, I can just kill it, and then, free its spirit to resurrect at the Royal Palace." As the legendary grade pet scroll disappeared from his hands and chains started appearing around Leon that was trapped in the Ice. Five seconds later *Ding. You captured Leon. It was stored in one of the pet slots. *Ding. Congratulations, you captured a legendary grade pet. You receive 1000 fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations on capturing the guardian beast''s spirit of Llyne Kingdom. You receive 2000 fame and a title as a reward. *Ding. As the owner of the guardian beast''s spirit, your status elevated to the prince of Llyne and will be adopted into the Royal family. *Ding. King''s Medallion changed to the prince''s medallion. *Ding. Your real age falls in the third category. You will be adopted into the royal family as King Mirella Llyne''s younger brother and Grand Duchess Rikilda Llyne''s nephew. *Ding. You received a Mandatory quest. Description: King Mirella is summoning you to the Royal Palace. Meet the king. Reward: Exclusive prince robes. Failure: Favorability with Mirella drops to 0. "What the status of a prince? Then, that means Solar is a princess along with those remaining 5? Maybe, in the end, they even became King and Queens And yet, how come the truth never came out? Did they form a faction? Hmm... Either that or they just kept quiet about it. Who knows Anyway, let''s check the medallion." Wil then took out his medallion that''s hanging around his neck under the light armor and inspected it. Aside from the description that says every native belongs to the kingdom will treat him as the prince and instead of it, he can command 150 Royal knights and a general regardless of their nobility rank, nothing else changed. After thinking that it''s useless to current him, He put it back around his neck and released before summoning Leon. Instead of a black-winged that fought him, there''s now a blue-eyed pure white lion with large bird wings having pure white feathers and mane in front of him. Leon Species: Winged Lion Status: Double mutated C Stats +100% Type: Growth Grade: Legendary+ Level: 285 Hp: 3.1 million/2.4 Billion Attack: 233 million Defense: 46.6 million Max Movement/Flying Speed: 570 kmph Crt rate: 285% Crt resist: 285% Description: Used to be the guardian beast of Llyne Kingdom but is now a personal mount and battle companion of prince Time Traveler. Skills: Active: King''s Roar: Leon lets out a might roar that makes all of the enemies'' skills unusable for 30 minutes. Range: 285 meters. CD: 6 hours Fireball: Leon attacks the enemies with fireballs from a distance. Range: 100 meters CD: 0 seconds Wing-Blade: Leon''s wings transform into sharp blades as it slices the enemies with 200% attack. CD: 60 seconds. Call of the King: With a mighty roar, Leon can summon up to ten creatures that are below the user''s level from the wild zone. Passive: Mutation: As a double mutation monster, all of its stats increased by 100% Might of a guardian: As a guardian beast, it''s always 100 levels above the user''s level. Guardian''s Blessing: Leon''s and your incoming damage is reduced by 50% as long as Leon is alive on the field. Range: 50 meters. Sitting on the saddle that''s present on the top of it, Wil spoke, "Leon, let''s go to the capital city." *Roar* Leon, which is standing on the edge of the peak, roared as both of them looked at the horizon before flapping its wings and fly towards the capital city. Suddenly, the lion stopped moving, and the surroundings froze "What the" And Wil disappeared from the material world. Meanwhile, at Gailzach Kingdom, North Zalfari; ''One'' easily defeated five level-200 Heroic beasts and proceeds to open the tomb. Just like others, there''s an old book with two personal items along with the skeleton. Staff of Solomon Grade: Mythic Status: Sealed Ring of Solomon Grade: Legendary Status: Sealed "A mythic grade? There''s a grade over even legendary. Wow" Looking at the items, even the experienced ''One'' looked at the staff in awe. Chapter 117: Wil meets Aria Level 110-zone; In the middle of the forest, an 18-year-old boy and a 13-year old girl were blocked in the way by a team of eight with an average level over 115. "What''s the meaning of this? We had a deal," she said in a serious tone while tightly grabbing an egg that''s roughly the size of an ostrich egg. One of them smirked, "what deal? We are the ones who did the work. So, naturally, it belongs to us." She growled, "My brother was the one who fought with the beast. All of you just supported him." "Hmpf, if it wasn''t for eight of us dealing massive damage; neither can your brother kill the boss nor you get to claim" snorted one more guy. "Shut up, Deadline." Suddenly, they were interrupted by the team''s captain. Ignoring the girl, the leader of the group then spoke to the boy, "forget what he said. Rey, I already told you that you''ll be given epic-grade Gun that dropped as compensation. If it isn''t enough, I''ll give you 25 gold coins in addition. Hand over the beast egg, right now." "Captain, are you serious? That''s equivalent to 500 thousand dollars," commented one of them in a shock. The team captain didn''t reply and continued to stare at the boy, "What do you say, now?" Rey shook his head and replied calmly, "My sister desired it. Forget about 500 thousand. Even if you offer 500 million, I won''t let you take it from her." The captain frowned, "Because I value your skill, I was being nice to you. It''s rare to find a good paladin who can act as a tank better than a guardian. But, don''t push it too far, Rey. I had the orders from the squad captain to secure the egg at all costs. Do you think both of you can survive in the game once you offend our higher-ups?" As soon as she heard the name, while Rey stayed silent, the girl snorted, "Hmpf, don''t talk as if your guild is number one in the kingdom. Forget about Kingdom, even inside the capital city, everyone knows your guild is still number 2. We can just transfer to another city and level in another region. What can you do, then?" Upon hearing her reply, the captain looked at her brother, "What about you, Rey? Do you really want to make us your enemy over a petty thing? It''s just an egg of a Heroic grade beast. Think again and convince her to give up. You will be promoted to captain rank once you hand over the egg." Rey then replied calmly, "I''m on my sister''s side whatever she decides." The captain sighed, "I see. Then, it''s too bad everyone, kill both of them, and take the egg." As Rey grabbed her hand and told her to stay behind him, he raised the Shield and the Sword while their opponents also took out their weapons and aimed at him. Just then, something in the size of an apple fell right on one of them. *Boom* A large explosion occurred right on top of one of them and not only killed him on the spot but also took out two that stood on the right and one on the left. Before the captain came to his senses, the explosion was followed by two normal arrows rained from the sky that struck one more thereby taking out more than half of his hp. As the fifth one is also finished by the following two arrows, leaving behind only three of them, everyone heard a voice from above. "Yo, everyone up here" Quickly the five of them turned their heads towards the sky and saw a 13-year-old teenage girl that has a Missile launcher in her hands and a grin on her face. Beside her, there''s a 19-year-old beauty that took two more arrows from the quiver and aimed at the next target. Looking at them, a frown replaced the shock on the captain''s face, "who are you two?" A simple word came from the little girl as a reply, "SnowDew." While the two subordinates in the back and the brother-sister pair wondered at the same time, the older girl giggled as they slowly landed on the ground, "It seems there are people here who don''t know about you, ." SnowDew''s face turned red in embarrassment, "C''mon, unnie" Then, she glared at the two players from Dreamwalkers and instantly fired a missile without giving any warning. Even though both of them reacted at the last second, they still caught up in another explosion and died in one shot. Meanwhile, the captain took a step back in fear, "you we don''t have any enmity with each other. Why are you attacking us? Are you a friend of those two?" SnowDew shook her head, "of course not," and Hyori continued with a cold tone, "But, we saw everything. You guys are trying to bully them and snatch the beast egg using force. That''s something unacceptable to us." "Leave in ten seconds if you don''t want to end up like them," warned SnowDew as she glared at him. Since he knew he wasn''t a match for SnowDew, to save his 50% exp and equipment, he quickly left the place leaving behind the dropped equipment from his subordinates. Meanwhile, on the back of Leon, Wil was whistling in happiness while he was on his way towards the capital city. But before he even crossed the level-200 zone, Leon stopped flying all of sudden and the surroundings froze. "Leon Huh? What the hell?" His surroundings instantly changed and Wil found himself in a white space with no entrance or exit while Leon also disappeared. "What''s happening? Argh Why can''t I f*****g move. Everything was fine until a moment ago" thought Wil as he was suspended in the air with his hands stretched widely. Just then, a 5-6-year-old adorable little girl wearing an Eastern continent''s traditional wear appeared before him. Looking at her, who was floating on the air without any wings, at first, Wil thought she might be an ascended but then, put that thought away and asked calmly while struggling to move, "Who are you?" But, no words came out because of the blockage of the vocal cords. Since there was no response, Wil tried inspection. *Ding. Error "Error? What''s happening? How come the inspection failed? Even if she''s a higher tier ascended, there should be no error. At least, I should have seen question marks. What might be the identity of this girl" continuous thoughts popped up in Wil''s mind. Meanwhile, the little girl slowly floated towards him and then stared into his eyes for a while from close range. Ten seconds later; "Ok, good. There''s nothing abnormal," the little girl backed away with a nod. As she snapped her fingers, Wil was freed and fell on the floor. He calmly stood up and stared at her silence before she apologized, "sorry about that. I had to make sure there''s no abnormality in your data. By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Aria, an artificial intelligence designed by Summersoft to run this game. You can say I''m the manager of War Online." Wil continued to look calmly at her while inwardly shocked to the core, "Ar Aria? That super AI? Why a person like her is meeting me in the game? That''s right. Earlier, she did mention that there''s no abnormality in my data." He quickly came to his senses as she continued her explanation that answered his doubt, "according to the data we collected, I found a few things that''s abnormal about you. For example, on the very second day, you happen to fly over to the sea just when one of the natives opened up a barrier that''s intended only for an hour. Because of you, the barrier had to be permanently opened. After you crossed the port and entered the sea, you flew 15 long hours long and found one of the tombs of legend class and became an Elementalist. It''s as if you knew it was placed there from the start when except me, no one has that knowledge. Another suspicion is that you lied to King Mirella that you had a map and found the entrance to a hidden realm but in truth, your data shows that it''s your first time to enter that region. And you are the first one to do so. So, there''s no chance that you might have heard it from someone unless it''s a GM. If that''s the case, then, in case, we found such evidence, in accordance with our policy, I will have to ban you from playing. There are also other suspicions but I concluded it was entirely coincidence. In human terms, you are too lucky, although I was wondering all this while whether it was just the continuous success of low probabilities or something wrong in your data... But, since, I didn''t have a right to question you, to maintain the balance in this virtual world; I had to check whether there are any bugs that I wasn''t able to detect. I apologize once again." "This super AI... Her analytical ability is on another level. She''s the only one who can crush my plans easily with a thought just like how she made hiring guards almost useless. I need to be careful in the future. At least of my actions" thought Wil after hearing her explanation and then, asked, "it''s fine. I understand. But, why wait until now? Didn''t it happen quite a while ago? Is it because of Leon?" She nodded with a smile, "yes. Acquiring legend class is something that we weren''t concerned about since it was placed at a random place so that a user can acquire it. But, on the other hand, the double mutation isn''t something that should be arrived yet. Nor it is something that should be known to the people. Because your battle companion is a guardian beast, its stats have now crossed the limit from the current phase. This is also a worry for us. So" "So Are you going to put it into some locked state until next phase or will you remove double mutation from it?" asked Wil with a deep frown. Aria shook her head, "no, I can''t remove the double mutation or put it into a locked state. That kind of action goes against the rules. I''m only here with a proposal." Wil then saw her pulling a Bracelet out of nowhere and said, "Upon equipping this bracelet, a curse will fall on Leon, and he will have debuff of a 50% stats drop that will counter the double mutation temporarily until the next phase starts. On other hand, your stats will be increased by 100%. How about it?" "No thanks," Wil shook his head and reject the deal immediately. "Eh?" Chapter 118: Deal with Aria "No thanks." Upon hearing Aria''s proposal, Wil understood that she can''t intervene in the game on her own unless there''s a major disturbance like crazy leveling that happened before. So, he rejected her proposal instantly to take advantage of the situation, "It''s not my fault that Leon double mutated. So, why should I give up the advantages without receiving any benefits in return? Moreover, Leon''s attack strength is 233 million" *Ding. Someone texted you Error Wil ignored the notification and continued, "With its high critical rate, each attack will have damage around 350 million and I don''t have to lift a finger, you know. So, if you are going to propose a deal, then provide me something that I can confidently say I gained from this deal." As a Super AI with high intelligence, Aria quickly understood the meaning behind his words and replied while maintaining a smile, "then, how about this? After the current phase is over, you can acquire a skill with a certain Cooldown that has the same effects as this bracelet. In addition to that, I''ll unseal both of the sealed equipment, you acquired from the tomb of Seraph. Now, will you accept the deal?" Wil suddenly changed his attitude and smiled in return, "of course. Why not helping out the game manager is indeed a privilege." As she raised her right hand, a document suddenly appeared out of nowhere and she handed it to him, "this is a confidentiality agreement. Once you sign on it, you are obliged to be silent about our agreement and cannot reveal the details of our deal whether it''s a real or virtual world. Leaking the details will lead you not only to pay 100 million dollars in return as compensation but your account will also be banned by Summersoft forever. Here''s a friendly reminder. We can trace out the source of the leaked information whether it''s real-world or this virtual-world. Anyway, once this non-removable bracelet will be equipped, your battle companion, Leon will receive the curse and you will receive the buff. Along with it, your two equipment will be also unsealed. Are we clear?" Wil took the agreement and read it. After confirming that it''s just as she had told him, Wil signed the document, and instantly, a golden bracelet with three white gems on it appeared on his left arm. "Oh, I forgot to mention. In case Leon will mutate again somehow with one in a million chances, the curse becomes stronger to suppress the effect. After all, the purpose is to maintain the balance. I hope you remember that" Aria reminded him after taking the document. Wil nodded, "I know." Aria then smiled, "okay, player Time Traveler. It''s time for me to return. Good luck" As she disappeared, the surroundings changed and Wil found himself on Leon at the same place he disappeared. Getting back to the material world, the first thing is to inspect Leon''s stats. Leon Species: Winged Lion Status: Double mutated Grade: Legendary+ Level: 285 Hp: 26 million/1.2 Billion Attack: 116.7 million Defense: 23.3 million Movement/Flying speed: 570 kmph Crt.rate: 142.5 Crt.resist: 142.5 Just like how Aria informed him, the stats were completely downed by 50% while debuff added to the skills. Likewise, his stats boosted to twice their values as a passive buff added to his skills. Then, he proceeded to take out the legendary grade bow from the inventory and was taken back to see the bow''s grade changed to Legendary+ upon unsealing. Seraph''s Bow Grade: High Legendary+ Level: 185 Attack: 1,515,600 Crt.rate: 92.5% ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Skill: Ignores the defense of the enemy upon critical hit. Description: It''s the famed bow of Archangel Seraph that killed more than a hundred million demons in a single day. Only a successor can equip it. "Oh, so, this is what it meant by legendary+ grade. Instead of 6 stats, it has seven. Then, what about monsters? An extra skill, maybe? Hmm No wonder Leon has more of them. I thought it might be because it''s a guardian beast. Let''s see what will mythic ring look like." Wil certainly has a big smile as he put the bow back into inventory and took out the ring. Seraph''s Ring Grade: Mythic Level: 185 Attack: 185% Hp: 370% ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Description: Ring of Archangel Seraph. Only a successor can equip it. Wil gasped as soon as he looked at the stats and almost lost his balance as he was flying on the beast. "Damn mythic grade is indeed out of the world. I wonder how it would feel to equip a full set mythic grade" After checking out the equipment, he opened the notifications panel and read the last one. It redirected him to SnowDew on friends'' tab. SnowDew: Big Brother, I picked up two people on the way. Can they join our guild? And she wrote a long message of how they met them and so on "Eh? Two people... What is this brat doing out there? I told her to look after Hyori, not to pick up stray cats and dogs" Time Traveler: Little Snow, why are you, so naive? Did it never occur to you that they might be spies? Isn''t it a little too coincidental that you were battling level-110 mobs in the sky and they happen to be there? And it is Dreamwalkers of all people? SnowDew: No way. They wouldn''t have sacrificed four epic-grade equipment just so they could plant a spy for that. After all, it isn''t guaranteed that we take them in. Time Traveler: They are just level-100 equipment. Not much worth in my opinion. Even if I''m wrong, we still can''t let them in. After all, I know everyone in real life. It''s risky to let someone we don''t know their identity inside of our group SnowDew: You don''t know me, though. Time Traveler: Well, you are an exception. SnowDew: C''mon, Big brother. I gave them my word. Just accept them for me, please I''ll take responsibility for them. "This girl" Wil shook his head with a smile and sent a message. Time Traveler: Fine. I''ll change the settings in the group and will accept them as ordinary members while changing all of you to the elite while giving you permission to recruit. They won''t be able to see the messages in the elite group. In the future, we can accept others too this way. SnowDew: I knew Big brother is the best Time Traveler: But, they will be given two weeks of time. Consider it as a trial period. If they can''t reach the minimum standards I''m going to set, they''ll be kicked out without a question. Understand? SnowDew: Yes. Time Traveler: Oh, by the way, you are still at level-110 zone, right? I''m on my way to the capital city. Give me the coordinates. I''ll meet you guys on the way. SnowDew: 2153,178 After finishing her conversation with SnowDew, Wil, who was on his way to pick them up, started changing guild settings. Even though there are also other positions like vice-general, Commander, Captain, and Vice-captain, since their guild has less than even 50 members, he didn''t bother to appoint those roles and put everyone else as Elite. Meanwhile, SnowDew looked at the brother and sister pair and smiled, "it''s done. It seems Big Brother *Cough* I mean, our guild leader is on his way to the capital. He said that he''ll meet you guys. Let''s wait here for a while." "Eh, you mean Time Traveler?" asked the girl curiously while Rey is in deep thinking, "the current number one player in the world? If we have his protection, then Mia would be safe from them for now. But, it is also dangerous around a powerful person like him, who doesn''t have a strong guild as a backup. People who lost to him in the tournament might also develop a grudge against him. At present, it''s fine since he has legendary equipment and all but in the future as the average level of players increases, once the barriers between kingdoms opened, we would also bear the consequences" Just then, Hyori spoke, "guys, we have company" "Eh?" the three of looked around, SnowDew responded, "there''s no one here though." Hyori then pointed to the sky. As the three of them followed the direction where her finger is pointing, everyone saw a barrier is forming slowly. "This barrier" A frown appeared on Rey. He suggested, "Let''s get out of here before it finished. It''s the famed barrier only known to the vice-generals of Dreamwalkers. Once we are trapped, it''s impossible to escape. I didn''t know they would deploy even a Vice-general just for a mere Heroic grade pet egg." Hyori shook her head, "I guess they are here to deal with her," she pointed her finger to SnowDew. While both of them turned their head towards her, SnowDew stated, "Looks like they decide to declare war on us. I need to ask the guild leader''s opinion." A while later, SnowDew looked at everyone, "Guild leader is on his way. He told us to stay wherever we are and gave me permission to recruit the two of you. So, we are going to stay. The number one rule of our guild is to follow the Guild leader''s orders without a question. Rey, Mia, I think the egg or you two were no longer their worries. So, you can try to get out of here. I won''t blame you for that. But, if you accept the invitation and join our guild, then, you have to stay with us and face it?" "I knew it. Troubles will follow the allies of a powerful solo player all the time. Let them face their own problems." After thinking for a while, Rey decided to leave with his sister. But before he sounded his reply, Mia expressed, "I will regret a lot if I leave you here to die. At worst, we will lose one equipment, a pet egg, and a level, right? SnowDew I''ll join the guild." Seeing that SnowDew also becoming emotional, Rey got the urge to facepalm himself, "there''s another dramatic girl aside from my sister. Maybe all elementary schoolers are like this. Sigh It''s Mia''s decision. Let''s just go with what she wants to do" While both accepted the guild''s invitation from SnowDew, Rey and Mia was taken aback, "Eh? Your guild name is Scarlet?" "Hmm, what about it?" asked Hyori. While Rey waved his hand, "it''s nothing. The name just reminded of someone we know," Mia confessed the truth, "My mom''s name is also Scarlet, you know. So, we were just surprised." "Really?" SnowDew grabbed her arms, "I guess it''s fated that you meet us here." Meanwhile, Hyori frowned upon hearing it, "they don''t know the guild name of Wil? That''s weird. If one clicks on his name in the rankings, anyone can find out it, right? Even if they don''t do it, as long as they open the forums, they can easily find it. I can understand Mia but Rey is elite from Dreamwalkers. It''s suspicious that even he doesn''t know of it. Is this really a coincidence or" Chapter 119: Clash with Dreamwalkers The four of them continued to wait patiently until the barrier formed that''s blocking every common grade beast around it while trapping the four of them inside. Looking at the barrier that completed, Hyori asked, "Rey, what do you know about this barrier?" Rey answered, "This one is a combination skill. It requires four players who will take each direction from the target of which one must be the caster that knows the skill. I don''t know about the requirements to cast it but I heard it was only known to their eight vice-generals. The only thing I''m sure of is that the four of them cannot stay 200 meters away from each other. And as you can see, a whole minute of casting is needed. In an open field, it might be useless against players, but now that we''re inside a forest, they were able to form it easily. And I can only hope that Vice-General ''Hera'' isn''t the caster. She has a skill that lets" Suddenly, Rey fell silent and pointed his finger towards a direction. As Hyori turned around, she saw a lady was walking gracefully towards them as though she doesn''t have anything else to do. "It''s her" whispered Rey. Meanwhile, the lady spoke in a sarcastic tone, "it''s been a while, SnowDew. Hmm, where is Flame Emperor? It''s really a wonder that you are alone without hiding behind Flame Emperor. Oh, wait a second. There''s Time Traveler, now, right? Too bad, neither of them can save you today." Hyori and Rey turned their heads around towards SnowDew, who kept on staring at her in silence for a long time before tilting her head cluelessly, "who are you?" While Rey and Hyori almost lost their balance upon hearing it, they found Hera''s facial expression was changed and her tone gotten a little bit colder, "you don''t remember. Of course, you won''t. I''ll make you remember, then" ''Hera'' raised her staff and a seal appeared below her feet while a portal formed before her. Looking at it, Rey finished his sentence, "it''s that skill. The mass teleportation. I heard that she gained that new skill from the Battle shop from WBT. With it, she can mass teleport her allies from anywhere to her. The greater the numbers, the higher is the Cooldown time. There''s a rumor that she became a Vice-General for a guild like Dreamwalkers because of it." One by one, Elite players start to exit the portal for five minutes straight. Each one is equipped with at least two to three epic-grade equipment, and the least of them have level-110 while the average is around 125. As three hundred Elite players stood before them, a trace of worry appeared on Mia. As for Rey, he already gave up and got ready to die the moment he joined the guild. Meanwhile, SnowDew continues to look at them without a care. Looking at their expressions, Hyori tried to cheer them up, "don''t worry. It doesn''t matter even if we die. Guild leader will surely take revenge for us and bring back Mia''s pet egg as well as our equipment in case we are wiped out before he even arrives" "Then, I''m going to lose this egg?" asked Mia in worry as she tightly grabbed the beast egg, not intending to let it go even though she said she was prepared to lose it just a minute ago "Ugh I better be silent." Hyori lightly slapped her forehead after failing to cheer her up. Meanwhile, Hera let out a laugh, "this Elite force is only just a part of my squad. When combined together, not even Time Traveler can handle them. Let''s see, how you are going to deal with us" "pfft hahaha" Suddenly, SnowDew started laughing, "You can deal with our guild leader?" Hyori whispered in the party channel, "Do you need to aggravate them further?" SnowDew: Sorry. I was just caught off guard by her statement. Rey: Can our guild leader defeat this many people, alone? SnowDew: of course, you know that the rankings are only refreshed tomorrow morning, right? That''s why they still think he''s in 150s. Just see his current level in our guild panel. A second later Mia: 185? Hyori: Didn''t you hear the announcement earlier? He just finished level-200 legendary dungeon, alone. Obviously, he was going to level up crazily. And neither are they match for him. But, the real problem is that it takes time for him to reach all the way from the level-200 zone to here. SnowDew: Leave it to me. "Attack," bellowed Hera. A Vice-General, commander, 6 captains, 30 vice-captains, and 263 Elites started attacking a team of four of which two of them ready to face them, one just stood like a guardian before the last one that was grabbing the egg tightly. *Roar* But, before the battle even started, a powerful roar was heard around the surroundings that echoed all over the forest. The common grade and Elite grade beasts in level 110 and 120 zones went frenzy all of a sudden while some of the players, who were leveling up in level-110 zone, flinched for a second and then, found their skills were unusable all of a sudden. "What" Not only was the huge barrier set up by Hera immediately disabled, but three hundred elite players of Dreamwalkers also received a notification that their skills were locked for the next 30 minutes. After the barrier disappeared, SnowDew screamed in excitement and waved her hands while looking at the sky, "Big Brother" As everyone followed her sight, they found a two-meter big and 5 meters long, White Lion with wings, flying in the sky. On top of sat, Time Traveler, looking down at them with an aloof expression. Looking at Wil and the mighty winged-Lion, most of them took a step back unconsciously in fear while Hyori sighed with relief. "You really have a lot of guts to try to trap my people," Wil commented while Leon slowly began to descend on to the ground. "Is that winged-lion, the symbol of Llyne Kingdom Hmm wh what level 2 285? 1.2 Billion Hp? The f*** is that monster. This damn woman throwing us to death pit over petty revenge" cursed the commander after inspecting Leon. Meanwhile, Hera shouted, "what are you getting afraid of? It''s just one person. Mages, back down. Rangers, get ready to attack him with arrows and bullets. Melee attackers, you too get ready to slash him." While a few of them hesitated, the rest of them followed her orders and more than 30 Archers got ready to fire the poison arrows and 35 Gunners took out various weapons like pistols and rifles. The melee attackers started running towards Wil with every one of them prepared to die while a few of them switching their weapons to a lower grade one in the middle. Without looking at them, Wil jumped from the lion and ordered, "Leon, leave none of them alive." *Roar* Leon flapped its wings and dashed towards them while Hera shouted, "ready fire." While all the bullets hit it and disappeared and most of the arrows broke into two, a couple of arrows missed the lion and somehow went straight towards Wil''s back, who was walking towards the team. "Look out" shouted Rey and Hyori at the same time. "Summon, Golem, Defense mode" mumbled Wil before waving his hand, "Hey there, SnowDew, Hyori. It''s been a while." Meanwhile, the two arrows struck the Golem and "-1" damage appeared on its head even though a critical hit landed from one of them. Looking at the two of them, Wil asked, "Are these the two of them?" "Hello, I''m Rey. This is my sister," introduced Rey. "I''m Mia," she introduced herself shyly. "Hmm? This girl looks a bit familiar Where did I see her? Maybe, I''ve seen her somewhere in the past life," thought Wil as he saw the girl that slowly raised her head. *Roar* Wil then heard the roar of the Leon once again and turned his head to see more than 160 pieces of equipment fell on the ground. "Oh, already finished?" commented Wil as Leon quickly reached him and bowed his head to get on. After dismissing the Golem, Wil then caressed its back before getting on and then, looked at others, "Hyori, come with me and SnowDew, both of them are your responsibility and collect the equipment." "Hmm Hello Hyori Oi Hyo..." "Yes" Hyori who was in a daze while still looking at the battlefield where three hundred elites didn''t even last twenty seconds while Leon simply massacred them with Wing-blade. "What are you spacing out for? I''m telling you to get on. After my work is over at capital city, I''ll take you to a legendary grade dungeon to level you up faster," said Wil. Upon hearing it, as Hyori sat behind him, SnowDew complained, "Big Brother, it''s not fair. What about me?" Wil grinned, "Well, you told me that you will take responsibility to look after the two newbies. Good luck with that" "Newbies" Rey tightens his fist but stayed silent while Mia continues to stare at Leon in admiration. Leaving behind three of them, Wil and Hyori set out to the capital city. On their way, as Hyori enjoying the view in silence, Wil asked, "Hyori, what do you think of them?" "Hmm, the situation itself is too suspicious. I''m not sure whether they aim to plant a spy or trap SnowDew. That girl, Mia even said that her mom''s name is also Scarlet, you know. It''s a bit too ridiculous to believe" "What did you just say?" asked Wil as he turned his head around all of a sudden. Meanwhile, at the tomb of Solomon; ''One'' went into a dilemma for a long time whether to accept or not after receiving a notification upon picking up the book. *Ding. Do you want to change your class to Elementalist? Warning: Your level will be reset and all of your skills unrelated to the class will be removed. ''One'' was taken aback, "they''ll be removed? Wait a second. What is the Elementalist class, anyway? Is there a class with that name? How come I never heard of it? Even if there is, is it okay to give up Archery skills for the sake of it? No, there''s no way I can give up being an Archer But, it was one and only mythic grade, which surpasses even legendary. Once I equipped it, just one arrow will be enough to finish any kind of enemy." Suddenly, a few images popped up in his mind. "Argh, Dammit. That Time Traveler, why does he have to haunt me now of all times No matter how strong I am as an Archer, it''s true that I can''t defeat him. I need to get strong skills With this demigod''s legacy combining with a legendary grade pet, I might have a chance in the future I guess it was the only way for me to reach the top." If Wil would have seen this, he would get stunned in a shock. Not because the future changed and ''One'' acquired the legend class but it''s because... Chapter 120: Crown prince Llyne City; As usual, the capital city of the Kingdom is bustling with tens of thousands of natives and players roaming in the streets while the stores are busy with customers. Starlight''s Guild leader Starlight and his Vice-leader Rigel were walking together in a street while enjoying a snack they bought on the way. "Are you thinking of accepting his invitation?" asked Rigel. Starlight nodded, "yeah. Just now, our spy informed that Time Traveler destroyed 300 Elites of Dreamwalkers in a mere 16 seconds." "Six... Sixteen seconds?" Rigel was taken aback in a surprise. "There''s even a Vice-general and three commanders in the army. It doesn''t matter whether the Scarlet guild has huge numbers or not. They have Time Traveler and SnowDew with it. Coupled with number one support guild, Silvershapers, it would give us an edge over Dreamwalkers in our city," explained Starlight while munching chicken popcorn. Rigel thought for a while and said, "What you said is right. Just a while ago, Dreamwalkers even left East Ocean city but there''s only one issue. According to my knowledge gathered from that Imperials faction, that man is very arrogant. He treats them as his subordinates even though he says they are allies. That includes the Evernight guild. Not to mention, he even" "Evernight guild?" interrupted Starlight. Rigel explained, "It''s the public acknowledged number one combat guild in East Ocean City. Although they are only a level-1 guild, its overall strength is stronger than our eighth division." Starlight nodded, "I see. Okay, please continue what you were saying earlier." "Ah, that''s right. I was just trying to say that he might look down on you even if you are Starlight''s guild leader. You can see how he set up a meeting at his place. I know it''s probably because of the pride from winning WBT but still" Right then *Roar* A powerful roar was heard from the sky. Like thousands of people, both of them raised their heads and looked at the sky. As the Winged Lion was descending on to the ground at the entrance since Wil and Hyori aren''t permitted to enter the city while flying, all of a sudden, all the NPCs who were working suddenly stopped their work and stood aside. Nearing the entrance of the city, as Leon started to walk, Hyori get off from the Lion and said, "Wil, I''ll wait around here. Send me a message when you are done with your mission." "Well, you are missing an opportunity to meet the King though. Are you sure you don''t want to come with me to the palace?" asked Wil. Hyori waved her hand, "it''s fine. You can proceed" "Fine then," as Wil continued to move farther away, Hyori mumbled, "as if I will ride the lion along with you while thousands of people are watching." She shivered a bit while a thought popped in her mind, "It''s damn embarrassing just thinking about it." As Wil proceeded further while sitting on Leon, the two guards who are guarding the entrance suddenly kneeled on one leg and greeted him together at the same time, "greetings, your Royal Highness." Wil returned the greeting with a slight nod before Leon stepped inside the city and started walking forward slowly while the natives are moving aside and giving him the way. But, before even a few seconds passed, all of a sudden, Raziel appeared in front of him, and in a blink of an eye, both of them disappeared right away thereby failing to cause too much commotion inside the city. After being teleported to Imperial palace, Wil found himself in one of the gardens where only the current King, Mirella, and her paternal aunt Grand Duchess Rikilda, who is one of the enemies he had to defeat later were having a tea together. Upon realizing the presence of an intruder and a beast, as the guards about to move, they immediately stopped after seeing the old man beside them. Meanwhile, the two of them stood up and Rikilda greeted Raziel with a light bow before asking, "Is he the one?" Raziel nodded as an affirmation and greeted Mirella, "Your Majesty." Looking at the winged lion, a wide smile appeared on Mirella, "you are truly a surprise, Time Traveler. Never had I imagined in my life that I would get to see the guardian beast of our kingdom." *Roar* Mirella took a step back in a surprise as Leon roared at her while she was about to touch it, indicating that she has no right to do that. Wil, who already formed a contract understood it, caressed its back as he stepped on the ground, "Its fine, Leon. She''s the descendant of Acke Llyne." Upon hearing the name, Leon turned his head towards Wil and then at Mirella and stepped forward. The Royal Knights who were watching it from the distance panicked for a second and thought it was going to attack their king. Just when they were about to move again, Raziel raised his hand as a gesture to tell them not to move. Meanwhile, as Leon walked towards Mirella, Wil spoke, "I apologize, your majesty. Leon has a lot of pride regarding strangers." While his comment brought a frown upon Rikilda as if he was saying it was his, she kept silent after remembering that this low-level player also has the same standing as her, perhaps only a little bit lower since she''s a Grand Duchess. On the other hand, after touching Leon''s face and mane, Mirella overflowed with happiness and looked at Wil before speaking softly, "you can call me as big sis whenever we aren''t at the courtroom, younger brother." *Ding. Favorability with Archangel Raziel increased by 20 *Ding. Favorability with Mirella increased by 10 *Ding. Favorability with Mirella crossed 90. You are granted one wish from Mirella. The success rate depends on the difficulty of the wish. "Oh, I forgot to introduce her. Younger Brother, this is your aunt, Rikilda Llyne," Mirella pointed at her aunt while introducing to Wil, who shivered a little bit upon seeing the changing in the attitude. After calming down quickly, he bowed, "Greetings, Aunt Rikilda." The latter forced herself to smile and replied, "nice to meet you, nephew." Even though Raziel saw a strained smile on her, he kept quiet and behaved as if there''s nothing abnormal. After a while, in the courtroom; The ministers were called for an assembly. As they arrived at the courtroom right away, Wil entered the courtroom along with Mirella, Raziel, and Rikilda. While the three of them took their seat, Wil stood in the middle of the hall. "As you all know, according to the customs created by King Acke Llyne, the person who was able to tame our Guardian beast that was being imprisoned for the past 2000 years must be adopted into the royal family and will be considered as one of the heirs to the throne. Following the royal customs, I, Mirella Llyne, 632nd King of the Llyne Kingdom hereby officially anointing Time Traveler as the crown prince of the Llyne Kingdom." *Ding. You completed the Quest. You receive the prince''s robes as a reward. Wil, who was explained about the ceremony on the way, walked forward towards the throne while a silver platter was brought by a soldier. Raziel took an exquisite blue robe from it that''s a bit similar to Rikilda''s and handed it to Mirella, who then gave it to Wil. All of a sudden, a throne appeared beside Rikilda while everyone else clapped lightly with a smile. Llyne prince''s Robes Grade: Legendary Description: The royal robes of a prince of Llyne kingdom. Skill: 100% defense Speaking of costumes, as Heroic, and above grade outfits can naturally equip without removing the armor, Wil quickly equipped it and his armor was replaced by exquisite blue robes and he walked towards his thrones and took his seat. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the crown prince. You receive 5000 fame as a reward. Do you want to announce it over the Kingdom? "Wow, 5000 fame? Let''s see I still need 1300 fame, huh. Favorability is no longer an issue until I reach Duke. The third one is a mission from King. I wonder what kind of mission will Mirella gives me Anyway, now that I''m crown prince, I guess it''s time to wipe out my enemies from East Ocean City. But, before that, let me give them a scare" Wil then clicked on ''Yes'' and the system made a kingdom-wide announcement. *Ding. Congratulations player Time Traveler on becoming the crown prince of the Llyne kingdom. What he doesn''t know is that because of this one careless decision, once again, the future is about to change soon. Dreamwalkers guild residence; "Crown prince? Oh boy this damn ''Hera'' has done it. Now, what should I say to ''Dream'' when he gets online," grumbled ''Sugar,'' the Vice-leader or general of Dreamwalkers upon hearing the announcement. Sugar: Hera, come to the guild residence, right now. East Ocean City; Supreme Master and Green Lantern became ecstatic while the guilds of Resistance went into a panic. Eldershore city; White Tiger banged his head on to the table before him in frustration upon hearing bad news in the form of an announcement when he was feeling headache from shareholders of his company in the real world who were selling their shares at a rapid rate. "Damn Was I cursed or something. First, I was forced to develop here, then, my company''s shares started declining, and now, some company is trying to buy our shares in secret. No matter how much I ask them, those damn directors won''t even speak of it even after resigning. And there are those two greedy guilds from the capital. Dreamwalkers, and Starlight. If not for me controlling so many guilds in the city, they might have already gobbled up my guild. Everything is that damn internet caf owner''s fault. If only he wasn''t there Argh Just thinking about him makes my blood boil..." Just then, he received a text from his girlfriend from the outside world. Wen: Baby, someone is interested to talk to you. Come out from the game, right now. Hurry up. Chapter 121: Frozen Castle *Ding. Congratulations on discovering the Frozen Castle. You receive 500 Fame *Ding. You receive first explorer''s buff. Your experience and drop rate increases by 100% After his job is done at the palace, Wil returned to the outskirts of the city putting on Mask of Tranquility to meet up with Hyori and both of them set out to Level-190 zone, a flood-prone zone where mostly high defensive monsters like Hippos and offensive and agility monsters like snakes that are 2-3 meters long, lurking around. But, none of this was a problem for Wil and Hyori because of the presence of Leon, a 285 level beast that can take out any beast under legendary grade with ease. As both of them entered the dungeon portal, Hyori saw a huge frozen castle in front of them with a large number of goblins and Orcs lurking around in front of it with spears and clubs in their hands. Looking at Hyori who was inspecting one of the monsters, Wil spoke, "Listen carefully. All the goblins in and outside the castle are of common grade and Orcs are of Elite grade. You''ll find different types of them inside the castle. Remember, if you see a horn on goblin''s forehead or tusks on Orcs, which means they are mutated. Other than these two, we''ll find corrupted knights inside who are of Heroic grade. And the final boss is an evil mage with an Ice dragon pet. Mage isn''t important. He''s just a Heroic mob who doesn''t give exp. We just have to kill the dragon. I''ll tell you all of its skills on the way There are two ways to enter this castle" Flashback; "Wil, this is actually a secret. So, don''t go telling around. You know that, to go through that door, which can be opened by a key that will be dropped one of these mobs, right?" said a dark-haired, green-eyed, and long-legged beauty, who was leading a hundred member army. Wil nodded in response while keep staring at her The girl continued, "The other one is to go from the top where there will be an open door. It holds true for even legendary grade However, this is an advantage to only Angel race players or summoners like you. With your Thunder-hawk, I think you can go with our remaining angel race players while the rest of us go through straight. We can clear it easily." "Hmm, a good plan But, how do you know that secret that even the guide by ''One'' didn''t explain about it," asked Wil. The girl replied with a hint of embarrassment, "Well, Bran showed me when we did this dungeon together, yesterday" "You went to a dungeon with him again?" growled Wil and as she turned her face away, he lectured her, "I told you many times to stay away from that guy. Did you forget how many times he tried to steal wild bosses from us and I was the one Forget it. I lost the interest. You can continue without me." As he left the party, the girl was taken aback by his outburst, "what is he getting angry for Don''t tell me he is jealous?" Then, she put hands on her cheeks and has a dreamy look, "Hah how wonderful it will be if that''s the case Jealous Wil looks more handsome No, that''s not it. Bran is also handsome and even stronger, perhaps the strongest player. But, Wil is a bit more caring even though he behaves like a bad boy. Those b****s will go crazy if they hear if we date But, Bran is more attractive and manly though. That charisma Sierra what are you thinking Argh" As she pulled her hair and shaking her head in frustration, the rest of them wondered what wrong with her while a girl in the back stared at her coldly. Meanwhile, Wil, who logged out smash a vase in his room, "Bran Bran Bran Dammit. How dare you trying to lay hands on my girl I will hunt you down." Present; "Wil Wil" "Ah, yes Sorry, where was I?" Hyori then said, "You were telling something about the second way. Where were you lost" Wil took a look at the castle and sighed, "It''s nothing. So, you see that tower right" After explaining the strategy, Wil turned his head towards the winged-lion, "Leon, go and clean up the field." *Roar* As Leon roared and dashed to the castle grounds, Wil flapped his wings and fly higher and gestured Hyori to follow him. Skipping the beasts on the ground, Wil and Hyori reached the top of the castle. Then, he flew to a tower on the right side and pointed a window, "Hyori, you can see the window right. We need to blast and enter it. It''s not just this tower. All the other three towers are connected to the underground of the castle where you meet a corrupted knight." Wil then took out an arrow from the quiver and aimed at the glass of the window. After it was broken, Wil fly towards it and opened the window before jumping into the room. Both of them then started climbing down the stairs and reached the bottom without meeting any mob on the way. Meanwhile, Leon, which cleared out the monsters on the field, roared to call out its master as it can''t pick up the key from the ground and open the door to enter. Upon hearing the call of Leon, Wil understood its message and dismissed it to send it back to the pet slot and then, summoned it again before him, scaring Hyori who jumped back on reflex. "Oh my goodness" She lightly slapped him on the back, "can''t you warn me before?" Wil grinned, "Sorry about that," and then both of them started walking while Leon following them from behind. After walking in the underground passage for a while, both of them reached the prison where a few inmates are alive and guarded by a corrupted knight, who is walking back and forth. Looking at him, as Hyori went into battle mode and raised her bow, "ready when you are, Wil," the latter just placed his hand on her bow and lowered it, "don''t bother. Just enjoy free exp for this dungeon. You can fight to your heart content later." "Leon, kill him," ordered Wil as he turned his head towards it. *Roar* As soon as the order came from Wil, Leon roared and leaped towards the knight. The corrupted knight, who sensed the intruder, raised the spear and tried to counterattack the lion. But, before the spear even tried to harm the intruder, the claws of Leon met his face and huge damage appeared on his head before replacing the ground with a heap of drops. *Ding. You killed the Jailor. *Ding. You receive a quest. Description: Free the inmates Rewards: 100 thousand exp, 300 fame. "Hey, I receive a quest. SnowDew mentioned fame is very important here," said Hyori in excitement as she picked up a key from drops after accepting it. "Don''t," Wil stopped her quickly, and looking at her confused look, he explained, "You only received a quest after killing the guardian, which means it''s a trap. Remember, never to accept such quests in the future." "But, Leon is with us. Isn''t it fine?" asked Hyori while fixating her eyes on the rewards section where it mentioned fame. Wil nodded, "of course. I''m only saying to be careful when accepting a quest. You shouldn''t accept the quest based on rewards. Read the quest carefully and think about the timing. Freeing the inmates doesn''t mean rescuing. It means to kill them. And all of them are Heroic grade mobs by the way." "Ah, I see, I get it," Hyori nodded in understanding. As she unlocked the cell, Wil ordered Leon to take care of them. The six prisoners died in a few seconds and both of them level up continuously. Wil and Hyori then proceeded toward the stairs that lead to a large hall filled with frozen statues here and there while Orcs and goblins along with mutated ones are roaming everywhere. In the middle of the hall, lies a staircase that leads to various floors with corrupted knights moving back and forth. As Leon is in the midst of cleaning up, Wil advised, "If you aren''t interested in leveling-up, you can skip the remaining floors and directly go to the boss room." A while later; Reaching the top floor, Hyori saw a mage is constantly buffing the Ice Dragon while it is sleeping. As they entered the frozen Ice room, the dragon opened its eyes and glanced at Wil and Hyori for a second before shifting its focus to Leon. Glacier Species: Ice Dragon Grade: Legendary Level: 190 Hp: 620 million Attack: 9.2 million Defense: 1.8 million Crt.rate: 95% Crt.resist: 95% "620 million?" gasped Hyori after inspecting stats, "it''s my first time seeing that much hp." "Oh, you can only see its hp I forgot that you can''t see the rest of the stats. Anyway, I think the mage is the one that''s providing 50% buff." Upon hearing his explanation, Hyori snorted, "and you told not to care about the mage. Isn''t he the one who should be given priority?" "Well, sometimes, it happens," replied Wil slowly before ordering Leon to take care of it. A level 285 Beast with 23 million Def and over 100 million of attack is going against a level 190 beast with a mere 9.2 million attack. What can be the outcome of the clash? It''s obvious even for a noob to guess. In the end, it didn''t even take 10 seconds for Leon to destroy them, making Hyori stupefied on the spot while both of them received 156 million of exp each, because of the first explorer''s buff Continuous level up notifications rang *Ding. Congratulations Team Scarlet on becoming the first team to clear Frozen Castle legendary grade. You receive 500 fame. *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You level up. . . *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You reached level-200. *Ding. You received a new skill. *Ding. You reached the maximum level. Please advance to 3* Elementalist to receive further exp. *Ding. You received an inheritance quest. Description: As the successor of Archangel Seraph, you need to visit his tomb and get his blessings. Please gather 3* medicinal pill of any kind, feather of Mayura, and level-200 weapon of Epic-grade or higher, to summon the spirit of Seraph. Reward: 3*Elementalist, random mythic grade equipment, unique skills. *Gasp* "Mythic grade? Wow, no wonder they were entirely on another level in the past. I bet they might have gotten mythic grade equipment as they crossed another tier. Wait a second. Mayura''s feather? Isn''t that a f*****g level-250 legendary grade peacock? How the f**k am I supposed to get its feather when the regions are locked? A troublesome quest" "Wil Wil" shouted Hyori and made him came back to his senses. "Ah, yes?" "We got lucky..." Hyori showed him a legendary grade pet scroll with an excited look on her face. Wil smiled in return and asked, "Do you want a legendary grade pet, right now?" "Eh?" Chapter 122: Research Center "Do you want a legendary grade pet, right now?" Upon hearing an unexpected question from Wil, Hyori was taken aback, "legendary grade pet?" and then asked, "Like the lion?" "Of course not, that''s a guardian beast. It can be only caught once. There''s another legendary grade beast hidden in the wild. Do you want to try catching it?" "There are two legendary grade monsters in the wild?" asked Hyori in a surprise. Wil nodded with affirmation, "yeah, the second isn''t a strong one like this but it is still a legendary grade Black Leopard. It''s very fast, I should say..." "Black Leopard," mumbled Hyori as she was considering catching it, right now but as soon as she heard the next sentence of Wil, Hyori''s decision turned 180 degrees in a second. "Or maybe, you can just sell it in an auction, later. You can at least receive 50 million credits." "Fif Fifty million?" As Hyori''s heart skipped for a second, Wil dropped another bomb, "well, if you sell it in a private auction, you might even bag 100 million credits considering the currency exchange rate of 1767 credits per silver." "Hundred million?" screamed Hyori, losing the balance as she tripped on her feet, Wil quickly caught her, "be careful, will ya" "Thanks." After glancing at it once again, she asked, "What kind of crazy people would pay that much for this scroll? I mean, in the end, it''s just a game, isn''t it?" "People like me," replied Wil nonchalantly before concentrating on the drops as he almost gave up on persuading her. "Heavy armor and a helmet. Sigh What a bad luck" Thinking of giving one more try, after throwing all of them inside the inventory, Wil looked at Hyori and said, "You can keep that as your share. If you want to try catching a legendary grade pet, I''ll help you out. And if you want to sell it, then, keep it until this upcoming Sunday. There will be a private auction in our Auction house at East Ocean City. I''ll give you an invitation. But, I should warn you though. They have a drop rate of one in ten thousand chances. So, you won''t likely able to get another one in the future and since you already reached level-175, you''ll be on your own from now onwards. Having a pet will make it easier." Hyori nodded, "I got what you are saying. But, it''s a bit hard for me to decide, right now. I need to think about it." "Well, it''s your wish what you want to do with it," replied Wil, shrugging his shoulders as he completely gave up persuading her, after glancing at her eyes that says ''money''. "Ah, by the way, I want to ask what about your master and others?" asked Wil as they exit the dungeon and sat on top of Leon. Sitting behind Wil, Hyori answered, "well, they were currently stuck in another kingdom. Is there any other way to transfer from one kingdom to another without the teleportation stone?" Wil shook his head, "not that I know of. We''ll just have to wait until the barrier opens. It''s easy you know" "Eh? They can teleport after barriers open? Didn''t you say that it''ll be very hard later because of enmity with other kingdoms?" asked Hyori with a surprised look. Upon hearing it, Wil flinched a bit and looked away, "I said that? I don''t remember it though" "You sounded as if we are going to become enemies for sure You lied to me, didn''t you?" asked Hyori suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "Wow Hyori, look How wonderful is that mountain from far away You know at the top of the peak, I battled Ah my neck Don''t shake my shoulders we are going to fall" *Roar* *** Ares city; On the outskirts of the city of Ares, lies a 100-acre campus that was under constant surveillance of the military. The security was so tight that except for the president, the Defense Minister, and the researchers working there, no one can even enter the compound because of confidentiality. As for exiting, even the researchers will have to wear a tracking bracelet or anklets on them so that they can be monitored when they were outside. So, what was so secretive about it? Well, on the surface, it is a research center where new drugs for incurable diseases are being developed. But, in secret, it is one of the two places where they develop new prototypes of various advanced weapons. In the mid-afternoon, a dozen cars stopped before the gate but only one of them entered the compound. The car took a lot of turns, ignoring various buildings, and stopped before Z-Block. After usual security checks are finished, a dashing middle-aged man in his mid-fifties was allowed to step inside the building. As soon as he stepped inside, he was greeted by a robot, "good afternoon, Mr. President. Welcome to Robotics division of Mars Research Center." He returned the greetings with a nod and proceeds towards the first floor with one of the researchers. "I heard that you finished the prototype?" asked President Adler. "Yes, that''s true" The researcher nodded lightly with a worried look and then, spoke slowly as if he fears about the president''s reaction, "but there are complications" "Complications?" A frown appeared on Adler, "didn''t your head mention everything is fine, just an hour ago?" "Well" Because of huge pressure, the explanation he prepared was stuck in his throat, and ended up confessing the truth, "I apologize" As they reached the lab, the president saw a couple of researchers are focusing on the chamber that locked a female humanoid robot inside, with a small tattoo on her neck and missing a right hand. A machine is replacing it with a robotic hand. After the hand was fixed, a layer of skin generated on it and once again, her hand appeared like a human''s. "What''s the situation? I heard there''s a problem occurred," asked Adler in a serious tone. "Mr. President? You are here." The head researcher greeted him first and then proceeded to explain, "It''s a bit unstable, right now. We might need more time to stabilize its condition. I apologize for wasting your time," the head of this research facility bowed while the rest of them stayed silent, gripping their hearts in tension. "It''s fine." Adler waved his hand, gesturing them to relax. Looking at their prototype from the glass, a sigh escaped from his lips, "I understand that it takes a lot of time to build the actual product but I hope, at the very least, the prototype will be finished before my term is over." The Head researcher nodded, "we understand." "Sigh looks like I rushed here for nothing." Feeling disappointment, Adler turned around and started to walk away to return. Just when he was about to exit the lab, a young researcher, who was doing calculations in the corner, stood up while stretching his arms, "it''s obvious that it would lose out of control with these normal A.I. If only there''s an advanced A.I. that can control its consciousness, *yawn* it would be easy to stabilize it" "What did you say?" asked the president as he faced the young man. "Eh?" Looking at his serious expression, the head researcher quickly scurried towards them and asked, "Mr. President. Is there anything, wrong?" Ignoring him, Adler caught the young man''s shoulders and ordered with seriousness, "Repeat what you said, right now." "Uh if there''s an A.I. something more advanced than what we have, then, it might be possible to stabilize the prototype," replied the young man with confidence, although his legs are shivering non-stop. "An advanced A.I." mumbled Adler and then turned his head towards the head, "Shunpei, ever heard of Aria?" The head researcher was taken aback, "You mean the world''s most advanced A.I. of Summersoft? NB0A1?" "Yeah What if you have Aria? Can you finish the prototype?" The head researcher replied, "If we have the assistance of Aria, forget about the prototype, we can even launch the actual product in just a week without any issues" Upon hearing his statement, just when hope once again appeared in Adler, it was quickly dashed away with the head researcher continuing with, "but honestly it''s quite risky to have it on board. The researchers over there are all the top graduates of Ares University. If they can''t control it, I''m afraid there''s a little chance even for us." "Can''t you just create another super A.I. like Aria?" complained Adler with a frustrated look. Clearly, he was becoming angrier by each second. Shunpei shook his head with a sigh, "our research is still in progress. Originally, it was supposed to be over by now but because we are lacking enough staff and limited fundings, the A.I. project has been slowed down after we began focusing on this one. Considering the current pace, It might take a year or two to create such an advance A.I. Even if we have its data and have huge funding, it''ll still take several months." The young researcher who was being silent voiced out his opinion, "what about upgrading a normal one, instead of relying on a that they will be synchronized perfectly?" Adler frowned, "miracle?" The young researcher then explained, "The principle of sending consciousness into Virtual reality and a physical object is different. In the former case, your consciousness is still linked to your actual body through a medium like capsules. But, in the latter case, it will be ejected from your brain and transferred to an artificial lifeless object. So, it''s difficult for a normal one to guide it like how our brain does. Not to mention, Gynoid N12 is a special specimen. When she was alive, she''s said to be the master of several arts that were known to be lost in history. To tame such wild consciousness, it''s best if we have a sentient A.I. but if it''s just stabilizing, an advanced A.I. can also merge with the consciousness and by possessing both of their traits, stabilization can be acquired. If we consider Alea''s theorem and then proceed with" As the young man started explaining his idea using a whiteboard and a computer, the head researcher is listening carefully and asking questions one by one. Meanwhile, Adler waited for them patiently on the side while having no idea what they are talking about. One hour later, After listening to his theory, Shunpei''s eyes glittered, "that''s genius Where were you all this time Dr by the way, what''s your name?" "Ah, I''m Richard Starves, just joined a week ago." Shunpei then turned his head towards Adler, "Mr. President, if we have the data of Aria. If you can provide it, I''m at least 80% confident that we can finish the prototype by the end of this month." "Hmm, if I use my authority, data isn''t hard to collect but those damn ministers in opposition will chew me out in the parliament. But. if this experiment is a success, there''s a high chance I can continue for the next term. And if it still fails, then I have to say goodbye to my post soon. I have to take the risk," thought Adler for a while and then, nodded, "Leave it to me." Taking one last look at the bumps on the metal door of the chamber, which is a clear sign of strong punches from the other side, Adler turned around and walked away. As the president left, the researchers swarmed around the whiteboard and started discussing. *** Deloris town; Because of the construction of the new Scarlet district, and the extraordinary achievements of Wil, this little town attracted several free players, spies from all over the world, newbies, and small guilds, and is now bustling with over 20000 players of which more than half of them are visitors from other cities. The streets are swarmed with players, especially Scarlet District, where four locations are very popular. One is the bank that gives out loans with a mere 2% interest per week, the second one is a Battle Arena, where players can train for cheaper price and yet, getting a stronger training partner in return. It can also support 100 thousand of audience. The third one is the training grounds, where a level-200 guardian is acting as an instruction to conduct lessons for those who are interested to learn battle strategies in exchange for a mere 1 silver per hour. And the last one, which actually gets them enormous profits, is the teleportation point that only charges 30% of the amount compared to the default one at the temple in cities. The biggest offer is that the teleportation fee from the Scarlet District of Deloris to East Ocean''s district is only 10 silver, where they can shop further while it is free for Silvershapers, and Scarlet. Coming to the guilds, although a fairly amount of medium and large guilds from all the nine cities want to set up a branch since the mayor wasn''t in town; their applications were still pending Two low-level players arrived in the town and started roaming the Scarlet district while having a discussion. "With this amount of population, it''s not less than any city," commented a non-combat player named ''Oak''. The other one named ''Speedy'' nodded in agreement, "Kiyumi-sama is right. This town is indeed one of the places to watch out for. Wow" Suddenly ''Speedy'' stopped moving as continuous district-wide announcements were made by the Head manager, Milena. *Ding. New Level 100-150 epic-grade equipment batch arrived at the store. A total of 38 are available. *Ding. It''s rush hour time. Silver grade and below equipment have a 50% discount and Gold grade equipment has a 20% discount. Lasts for 1 hour. *Ding. It''s rush hour time. Gold and above grade equipment can be sold at a 20% higher rate. Lasts for 1 hour. *Ding. Level-130 Legendary-grade light armor will be auctioned on the third floor until the next hour. The starting price is 50 gold and Buy out is 200 gold. Don''t miss the opportunity. "Is this a department store or something" Upon hearing the announcement, thousands of players, who were busy at other locations, rushed towards the biggest store that already has the third floor with 8 counters on each floor. Meanwhile, at the Mayor''s Mansion in East Ocean city; "What can I do for you, your highness?" asked Ravus while serving tea with respect. Sitting at the edge of a sofa, Wil leaned towards the table to take the teacup and a strange smile appeared on his face, "I''m here to ask you a favor" "Huh?" A few minutes later, the city descends into chaos, and Wil suddenly became one of the most hated players on forums. Chapter 123: Dreamwalkers make their move East Ocean city; A team of twenty elite players from various guilds entered the city after finishing a wild boss. "Hahaha, we got them for good, this time," laughed a berserker. "But, are you sure they won''t retaliate? Little Seven ordered us to be silent," said a summoner named "I think that Time Traveler is just scared of facing our massive army. However strong he might be, he''s alone. I think those higher-ups are worrying for nothing" *Ding. Ouroboros, Dreamwalkers, Redwings, Battlecrushers, Greybreaker, Swiftmane, Earthstars, Rise of the Skull, Hellguards, Mystiques, Winged Inferno, Chaospikes, and Blood sins guilds are blacklisted in East Ocean city. 5 minutes later, players belong to the guilds will be teleported to outskirts of the city and get blacklisted. "What the hell" the twenty of them stupefied on the spot upon receiving the notification Two more announcements followed it, scaring the hell out of thousands of players. *Ding. Properties acquired by the Blacklisted players will be returned to the administration and will be provided a refund in return. *Ding. Blacklisted Players who step inside the city will be imprisoned until they pay a fine of 10 gold coins. A Region-wide announcement has been made all of sudden, causing chaos everywhere as all the guilds belong to the Resistance faction suddenly got blacklisted in East Ocean City. Casual players, who were still in their senses, quickly left their guilds on the spot while several thousands of players went into a state of panic. Before they know what''s going on, the five minutes are up and they lost the chance and got blacklisted from the city, finding themselves outside the walls. Meanwhile, at the Mayor''s Mansion, as both of them were leaving the building, Hyori commented on his decision, "Wil, you didn''t do the right thing. I know they are your enemies but they are no longer a threat to you, right? Not to mention, isn''t the punishment is too harsh? A lot of them are just innocent casual players Ack..." Hyori immediately stepped back in reflex as she glanced at his emotionless expression. Even though it''s a game and sensitivity is only ten percent, she felt as if her heart raced and pulse quickened. A shiver started from the back of the legs and spread throughout the body while he gazed into her eyes and replied without a shred of emotion, "Miss Hyori, do you think I''m a saint who forgives my enemies or do you mistake me for a good guy who judges everyone fairly and think about innocent. If you think so, then you are wrong. I''m a downright bad guy who never spares his enemies no matter how small the grudge is. And by the way, this is my mercy, not a punishment" As Wil left her alone and walked forward, Hyori felt her legs weakened and caught the door to support herself. "What was that about? It was if he turned into a different person. It isn''t the same Wil I knew. Did I say something that triggered him or something? Strange" Thinking about various possibilities, she quickly went after him and found him waiting for her, outside of the gate in silence. *** No one knows who spread it but within a few minutes, the forums are filled with thousands of hate messages and curses against Wil while his supporters tried to back him with ''there''s no clear evidence that their idol was the one behind their expulsion'' even though everyone believes Wil is in a position to do that. After all, just a while ago, he became the Crown prince. While a verbal is going on between both sides, suddenly, Dreamwalkers'' guild leader stepped forward with an aggressive post, "how arrogant is that Time Traveler. Just because he has one legendary grade pet, equipment, and a title of prince, he thinks he can do whatever he wants? Hmpf and people say he is the Hero of Llyne Kingdom just because he won one tournament. No, these are the actions of a villain. I know the rest of you fear him but not us. An eye for an eye. We, Dreamwalkers will bring them justice by razing Deloris town to the ground. I challenge Time Traveler and his supporters to go and fortify it with as many soldiers as they wish." "We, Ouroboros will support you" "We, Redwings will support you" Along with the Resistance faction guilds that have nearly 20-25 thousand of players left, several adventurer teams, thousands of casual players supported him Meanwhile, the medium and large guilds continued to stay silent as if they heard nothing of it. "Hahaha" laughed a guy in his late thirties after picking up a call from Vice-Leader stating that Dreamwalkers'' main branch suddenly attracted over 10000 players thereby increasing their level to 11. Taking a sip from a drink, he put his arm over a slender waist beside him, "See, babe. This is what you call two birds one stone." A girl in her early twenties then, sat on his lap before giving a peck on his cheek, "you are brilliant, Mr. Chairman." An hour later, a simple post appeared in forums that caused waves once again "You are welcome to try, then. I''ll accept your challenge, Dreamwalkers, and the other weaklings. It doesn''t matter whether it''s a thousand or a hundred thousand." Weford city, Searvale Kingdom; In the city of an Elf kingdom, Kiyumi and Akiko are walking together, discussing various things. All of a sudden, as Kiyumi received a message from one of their spies, a chuckle escape from her lips in amusement, "interesting." "What is it Kiyumi-Nee?" asked Akiko. "Your hubby has not only offended but he also challenged nearly fifty to hundred thousand players to a battle" replied Kiyumi, making Akiko almost tripping her foot, "hun hundred thousand?" *** *Ding. Seraph''s Bow has been enhanced to +10. *Ding. Seraph''s Ring has been enhanced to +10. *Ding. Elementalist''s Ring has been enhanced to +10. *Ding. Elementalist''s Light Armor has been enhanced to +10. *Ding. Elementalist''s Bracers have been enhanced to +10. *Ding. Elementalist''s Boots has been enhanced to +10. Using six +10 Augment-stones he bought from Battle shop, Wil enhanced everything except the necklace to +10 successfully. "Damn I should have bought 7 of them each Sigh well, let''s just keep it at that and check the stats" *Gasp* Even Wil, who has three years of experience in gaming, gasped in a shock as his hp reached a staggering amount of 1.4 Billion "Ah, that''s right. I forgot about the bracelet. Hmm, should I use limit break stones and go the all the way? Nah, I guess, it''s fine for now. When the war starts, I can use them and increase my stats further. But, before that, let''s use those legendary scroll appraisers" Placing the Bow on the ground, Wil took out a legendary appraiser scroll and placed on it. After confirming, it glowed for a second before disappearing into the Bow *Ding. Seraph''s Bow has been appraised successfully. A stat has been revealed. *Ding. Seraph''s Bow has been appraised successfully. A stat has been revealed. . . . *Ding. Elementalist''s Light Armor has been appraised successfully. A stat has been revealed. After using all of them, Wil surveyed the equipment once again with a pleased expression. Gazing at the horizon, Wil mumbled, "Now, It''s time for me to finish Mirella''s quest. As for the protection of the town, let Leon handle it" *Ding. You''ve set Leon as the guardian beast of Deloris town. All of a sudden, the players saw a guardian temple rose near the Mayor''s Mansion while Leon disappeared from the pet slot and reappeared in a sleeping position inside the temple. Meanwhile, the pet slot turned grey *** At a random restaurant in the city of Neshel; Lu Heibei, his girlfriend Wen Zhenya, and secretary Long Jing take their seats before Dreamwalkers'' Vice Guild leader Sugar alias Fan Jiang, along with their company''s private lawyer. As Heibei let Long Jing read the documents, after a while, the latter frowned, "so, you want to acquire ''Imperial'' and the subsidiary guilds for 50 million dollars and a Vice-general position in Dreamwalkers?" As a huge smile appeared on Wen, she grabbed his arms, "Isn''t 50 million dollars and a position in a top guild, a good deal? With this, not only a part of your losses from the company will be recovered a bit, but also you can fulfill your revenge against that enemy of yours Eh, Babe" Heibei on the other hand, stared at his secretary and asked in a calm tone, "what happened? Is there something wrong with the contract?" While displeasure appeared on Wen as Heibei ignored her opinion, Long Jing replied, "according to our current exchange rate, it''s nearly 3000 gold coins. That''s like only 15 silver coins per member if we combine all of our subsidiary guilds. Rather than a good deal, isn''t it an insult? I think at the very least, it should be 30 silver even we are going bankrupt. Since we aren''t, it should be at least 75 silver on average. So, 13500 would be considered a good deal but at worst, we can compromise on 10000 gold. Considering the calculations, it will be considered a loss if it''s anything less than 170 million dollars." Upon hearing it, Lu Heibei''s and Fan Jiang''s expression changed all of sudden. Looking at her, Heibei asked with a rise in his vocal pitch, "So, we are losing out at least 120 million dollars?" Meanwhile, Fan Jiang frowned, "you should consider that there are no official agreements exist in the game between players, save for bank. So, there''s a risk factor here... What if they leave the guild and join other guilds. There''s no saying about it. The next thing is that we are giving you one of the positions below Guild and a Vice guild leader. We know your financial difficulties. Rather than the present, think of a stable future." Looking at Heibei who seemed a little bit unconvinced, he took a deep breath, "Mr. Lu, How about this. Along with Vice-General, you can also be the Dreamwalkers'' branch manager of Eldershore. Only the name will change and the other guilds will be merged into our guild. Nothing will be changed." Heibei turned his head towards Long Jing, who shook her head, gesturing not to sign it while his girlfriend continued to pester him to sign while insulting that why a chairman like him listening to a mere secretary. Persuaded by his girlfriend, just when he was about to sign it, Long jing tried to stop him, "wait. Just think again. You will..." He raised his hand and interrupted her, "don''t bother. I already decided..." As he signed on the papers, Long Jing closed her eyes tightly for a second in frustration and then stayed silent, witnessing both of the parties, shaking their hands with a smile. "Long Jing, let''s go..." said Lu Heibei as he opened the door for his girlfriend, Wen. Long Jing shook her head with a strained smile, "it''s fine. You both can proceed without me. I have plans..." Patting her shoulder, Wen spoke loud enough for her boyfriend to hear, "thank you for your hard work" and then, whispered, "in the end, you are just an employee. please know where you stand, ok?" As the two of them drove away, she tightened her fist, "five years... I stayed with the company for five long years without taking a single leave. No matter how many better offers I got, I didn''t leave the company. I even had to sacrifice my free hours and enter a game to save you, and yet..." She dialed a number... "Hello, it''s Long Jing, Heibei Corporation Chairman''s secretary. You offered me a position in the company in exchange for the list of shareholders, right? Is it still valid?" *** Pregas City, Western Continent; Meanwhile, at another empty high-class restaurant in the city of pregas, HQ of the western continent; Miyazaki Reisa was staring at Walter Rodin with a smirk on her lips while the latter''s hands shook uncontrollably for a few seconds in a rage, looking at the slideshow in the laptop, where his daughter was locking her arms with a guy in one picture, dancing with him in a club, kissing him in another picture, going together to a high-class hotel at late night... "If you are wondering about its authenticity, we even have a video from a cc tv that captured their moments. I heard that they are even dating for more than 6 months. Sigh... for a police chief''s daughter, who was engaged to someone else, behaving like that is indeed... "Stop it," Walter slammed the screen and closed it. As his fists tightened, the veins popped out on his neck, clearly indicating, he was about to explode. "What do you want?" asked Walter while suppressing an animalistic growl that rose in his throat. Leaning to the edge of the seat, she folded her hands, resting them on her thighs while staring straight into his eyes, and said in a clear tone, "Williard Ravens." "Huh?" As Walter was taken aback, Reisa then said, "well, it isn''t a complicated one. Our Galaxy Net was interested to make an alliance with the Scarlet group and I happen to have a daughter. What alliance is stronger than the one that formed by marriage?" After revealing her intention, she didn''t wait for his reply and stood up, "annul your daughter''s engagement with him or else... Well, I don''t think there''s a need to explain further in this simple blackmail. You have 3 days." Chapter 124: No story Chapter: Character stats, new skills, pets Author: This chapter is a non-story one. You can just skip it to the next one... Character stats Character name: Time Traveler (Angel) Title: I CAN FLY Class: Elementalist Level: 200 Stats: Flat value (Total with Race + passive skill buff) HP: 651 million (1.43 Billion) MP: 2622 (5768) Attack: 33.6 million (73.9 million) Defense: 9.95 million (32.3 million) Attack Speed: 126 (290) C max of 580 arrows per minute (Limit-600) Movement Speed: max 300 km/hr (690 km/hr) (Limit-1 mach) Flying Speed: max 600 km/hr (1380 km/hr) (Limit-1 mach) Critical rate: 220% Pierce: 110% (max 100%) Critical resist: 220% Critical damage: 270% Pierce resist: 110% (max 100%) Critical damage resist: 55% Increased damage: 55% Decreased damage: 55% Attributes: Strength: 1 Intelligence: 400 Agility: 200 +100 (Light fruit) Vitality: 200 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 298 Titles: I CAN FLY - No mana consumption on flying - currently equipped. Battle Emperor - Increase your damage by 50% and decrease incoming damage by 50% when you are in a battle against a player. Equipment: Elementalist''s Necklace (Bound) +0 Level: 200 max Grade: Low Legendary Attack: 50% HP: 100% ???? ???? ???? Elementalist''s Ring C Right (Bound) +10 Level: 200 Grade: Low Legendary Attack: 50% +60% HP: 100% +120% ???? ???? ???? Seraph''s ring C Left (Bound) +10 Level: 200 Grade: Mythic Attack: 200% +240% HP: 400% +480% ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Seraph''s Bow (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 500) Grade: High Legendary+ Class: Elementalist Attack: 1627813 +1953375 Critical rate: 100% +120% Pierce: 50% +60% Critical Damage: 50% +60% Casting/Attack Speed: 50% +60% Increase Damage: 25% +30% Mana: 100% +120% Skill: Ignores the defense of the enemy upon critical hit. Elementalist''s Light Armor (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Class: Elementalist Grade: High Legendary HP: 8192135 +9830562 Defense: 1655752 +19661121 Critical resist: 50% +60% Critical Damage resist: 25% +30% Pierce resist: 25% +30% Decrease Damage: 25% +30% Skill: Increases defense by 10% for 5 seconds if there''s no critical hit. Elementalist''s Bracers (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Grade: High Legendary HP: 3952138 +4742565 Defense: 797852 +2371283 ???? ???? ???? ???? Elementalist''s Boots (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Grade: High Legendary HP: 3952186 +4742623 Defense: 795213 +2371311 ???? ???? ???? ???? Sauron''s Crown +9 Level: 100 Grade: Gold Attack: 9% +9% Aerona''s Earrings (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 500) Grade: High Legendary Attack: 100% +120% HP: 250% +300% Mana: 200% +240% Critical Damage: 50% +60% Critical Resistance: 50% +60% ************************************ Important items in Inventory: Book of Destiny: Contains 10 pages that a player can record and use without mana in emergencies. Light fruit: Can be consumed only once. Increases agility by 100. Total=296 Low/Medium Fire crystal: Can only use once on equipment. Adds fire elemental attack to a weapon or fire elemental resists on defensive equipment. Total=165 low grade (10% effect), 18 medium grade (50% effect). Fire Lotus: Can be consumed only once. Gain 20% fire resistance permanently. Total=3. Medicinal flowers/plants: Used as alchemy ingredients or can give 1*- 2* medicinal pills when planted. Legendary grade equipment: 5 weapons and 6 defense equipment that are partially purified and unbounded, 1 bounded bow. 3 unbounded legendary equipment. Epic grade equipment: 31 weapons and 53 defense equipment Augment-stones: 10k Limit break stones: 25 Gold: 25,120 Fragment Light stone: used to purify epic grade and lower corrupted items and partially purify legendary grade items Gold Nobility badge: Symbol of an Earl ***** Battle Companions: Strix Grade: Elite Species: Bee Level: 200 Attack: 1 Hp: 1 Defense: 1 Skill: Move and Attack the enemies at light speed. Felix Species: Nine-Tailed fox Grade: Legendary Level: 167 Hp: 388 million Attack: 8.5 million Defense: 1.7 million Critical rate: 83.5% Critical resist: 83.5% Skills: Size Manipulation: Felix can change its size from one-tenth of its original size to ten times big based upon the situation. The bigger the size, the stronger is the effect of intimidation on lower grade monsters. The smaller the size, the stronger is the effect of ignorance on lower grade monsters. Bark (Level 1): After gathering enough magic from the surroundings, Felix can release them in the form of sound waves. Allies that are hit by those sound waves increase their attack by 20% while enemies decrease their attack by 20% for five minutes. CD: 15 minutes. Range: 30 meters Fox-Fire Manipulation (Level 4): Felix gathers magic from surroundings and creates a blue fireball by its tails. The size and power of the fireball increase by 40%. It can manipulate the direction while attacking the enemy. Cast time: 4 seconds. CD: 1 hour. Leon Species: Winged Lion Status: Double Mutated Grade: Legendary+ Level: 300 Hp: 1.32 Billion Attack: 122.8 million Defense: 24.5 million Max Movement/Flying speed: 600 km/hr Crt. Rate: 150% Crt. Resist: 150% Skills: Active: King''s Roar: Leon lets out a might roar that makes all of the enemies'' skills unusable for 30 minutes. Range: 285 meters. CD: 6 hours Fireball: Leon attacks the enemies with fireballs from a distance. Range: 100 meters CD: 0 seconds Wing-Blade: Leon''s wings transform into sharp blades as it slices the enemies with 200% attack. CD: 60 seconds. Call of the King: With a mighty roar, Leon can summon up to ten creatures that are below the player''s level from the wild zone. Passive: Mutation: As a double mutation monster, all of its stats increased by 100% Might of a guardian: As a guardian beast, it''s always 100 levels above the player''s level. Guardian''s Blessing: Leon''s and your incoming damage is reduced by 50% as long as Leon is alive on the field. Range: 50 meters. Soul link: Links the spirit of Leon and the player. As Leon reduces its stats to half, the player''s stats increased by 100%. ****************** Other important properties: Prince medallion Prince robes Soul Bracelet Mayor''s Mansion at Deloris town Deloris town: 12 stores inside the town - 1832 gold of total revenue before tax. Scarlet District of East ocean city: 53000 sq. m C 15390 gold of total revenue before tax. Important locations include Bank, teleportation, Stores. Scarlet District of Deloris town: 90000 sq. m - 17738 gold of total revenue before tax. Important locations include Bank, Teleportation, Stores, Battle arena ************** New skills Added: Short teleportation: the player can teleport to any place within 50 meters around him. Cost: 20 mana. CD: 6 hours Kagyre (Level 2): Summon the twin spirits, Karion and Gyreon into your pets, or summons to summon a two-headed dragon, Kagyre for 15 minutes with 500% of your health. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 60 hours. Default Skills: Single Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from one of two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the player. Cost: 2 mana per second. Double Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the player at the same time. Cost: 5 mana per second. Additional skills: All the skills possessed by the offerings will be added. Soul Link: Links the spirit of Leon and the player. As Leon reduces its stats to half, the player''s stats increased by 100%. Prince robes: Increases defense by 100% Metal Armor (Level 1): C The player can gather magic energy and turn his/her body into steel, increasing defense by 1000% for an hour while decreasing speed by 50% C CD: 6 hours. Cost: 100 mana. Note: The player''s wings will disappear in this mode. Chapter 125: Invading a town Springwood town; At a peaceful town in the southern part of the kingdom with less than 3000 player population, two siblings in level-80s are standing before the mayor as a part of the quest. As they were waiting patiently, the mayor finished reading the letter they delivered and took out a pouch before handing over to them. "Thank you, adventurers. Here, this is your promised reward." *Ding. You completed the quest in time. You receive 100 fame, 50k exp, and 3 gold coins as a reward. Both of them looked at each other, widening their eyes in amazement as they didn''t expect the reward would be this generous when it''s a simple delivery from one mayor to another. Intending to cash out this opportunity, the elder brother asked, "Lord Mayor, is there anything, you need help with?" The mayor glanced at him and then took out a letter before handing it to him, "deliver this letter to Duke Nukegan. But, remember that it should be confidential. You will be handsomely rewarded once you complete this job." *Ding. You receive a quest request. Description: Viscount Jehanson wants a confidential letter to be delivered to Duke Nukegan within 3 days. Reward: 300k exp, 10 gold, 500 fame. Bonus rewards according to the time. Warning: The letter drop with a 100% chance upon dying. The quest will be treated as a failure if the letter is fallen into others'' hands. Since it is just another quick deliver job with generous rewards; both of them accepted it before exiting the mansion. They started to walk towards the temple where there is a teleportation formation so that they can quickly reach the capital city in an instant and complete the quest. "Bro, once we do this, we''ll have a capital of 29 gold together. Let''s keep 10 gold for us and exchange the remaining 19 for credits," said the younger one. The elder one nodded, "yeah. The gold rate is decreasing as the days passed. It''s better to cash out now. With 600 thousand yuan in our account, we can move to a new apartment" But, who could have expected, a devil in the form a human would arrive at the right time and destroy their hopes of living a better life *Ding. You were killed by Time Traveler. Quest is a failure. Along with the both of them, dozens of players who were roaming around in the streets for quests or shopping around in stores suddenly died and received the same notification without knowing what''s going on, as a gust of heavy wind hit 100-meter surroundings around the temple. As more than 50 players resurrected in the temple with a shock on their faces, they stayed still as they watched Wil, who was wearing exquisite prince robes and a black mask, taking out his bow. The question marks on his head changed into deep red in color. His eyes appear cold, dead, and flat as he turned his head towards them and spoke indifferently, "the town will be destroyed soon. If you wish to stay in the town, don''t step outside until it is over or you can leave right now and settle elsewhere." Without caring about their feelings or the warning by the system, Wil continued to walk straight as a few guards coming towards him, intending to make him pay a fine for killing in the town oblivious to the fact their target is the crown prince. *Swoosh* As an arrow flew like a lightning and pierced a level-120 guard in a blink of an eye, the rest of the three raised their shield, replacing their frown with seriousness. Meanwhile, a notification rang in Wil''s ears. *Ding. You killed a guard of Springwood town. Your status changed to a criminal. Ignoring the notification, Wil continuously shot three arrows in a second, which not only pierced the shields but also their stomachs thereby killing them instantly. "Summon Golem, Attack mode." While the deaths of four guardians and 76 players along with 250 natives didn''t cause a commotion since it just happened in a couple of streets away from the center of the town, the appearance of the Giant Golem certainly caused panic among the players as well as the natives, who started running around for their lives while some of the players in town started moving towards the Golem in curiosity. After killing six more guardians, one more notification rang in his ears. *Ding. You killed ten guards inside the town. You can capture the town and become Mayor once you kill Mayor Jehanson. *Ding. Warning: You will be resurrected in the town''s jail if got killed or captured and your level decreases by 2. Start the invasion? As Wil clicked on yes, the system sent him another notification. *Ding. Your status rose to the enemy/invader. If you die, you shall resurrect and spend eternity in the town''s jail unless you are pardoned by a Marquis or a higher rank noble. Meanwhile, the players belong to the town received a quest by the system. *Ding. Springwood town is being invaded by a mysterious outsider. Defeat him and protect the town''s mayor. Participation Rewards: 50k exp, 20 silver, 25 fame. Killing rewards: 2 million exp, 20 gold, 1000 fame. Climbing on to the top of its shoulders, Wil ordered, "Golem, go towards the Mayors'' Mansion. Destroy everyone that will be on our way." After a while; *Ding. You killed the town''s guardian. The protection on the Mayor''s mansion wears off. In an empty ground before the Mansion that''s filled with nothing but equipment of players and dozens of dead bodies of NPC guards, the Golem went inside the compound and stood at the door like a guard as Wil jumped on to the ground and stepped inside the house. Standing in the middle of the hall, Wil shouted at the top of his lungs, "Viscount Jehanson, stop hiding and surrender yourself. I might think to spare your life if you come before me, right now. If you don''t, I''ll bury you along with this building. You can see my Golem standing outside, right?" Soon, he saw a level-1 short middle-aged man slowly walked out from the kitchen while shivering lightly from top to bottom in fear. "You are here, Viscount Jehanson," greeted Wil with a smile. "You... really... will spare my life?" stuttered Jehanson as his face filled with hope. "Of course, I won''t. I only want to say something directly to your face before you die," replied Wil as his smile widened. Looking at the smile that appeared like a devil, the shiver swarmed over the back of his legs, Jehanson lost the strength to stand and started begging with tears while collapsing on his knees, "please spare my life. I''ll give you all of my wealth." "Ugh... I hate this part of the game," grumbled Wil inside his mind before retracting his smile and replacing it with a cold look, "The reason you are dying is that you chose to side with an enemy of King Mirella. That makes you a traitor of the kingdom. And a traitor doesn''t have any right to beg for forgiveness. Don''t worry, Duke Nukegan and your allies will soon join you." "Who... Who are you?" asked the mayor in disbelief. "Fireball" A Giant 2meter fireball hit the mayor, who was looking at him in a shock, and quickly, he became a scorched dead body. *Ding. You killed Mayor Jehanson. You successfully captured the town. *Ding. You killed Viscount Jehanson. A part of Mirella''s quest has been completed. You received 500 fame as a reward. *Ding. You are the current mayor of Deloris town. You cannot become the mayor of Springwood town. You can either resign your post and become the mayor of the town or you can appoint a mayor, who is at least Viscount rank within 7 days. Failure to do so, the King will assign one. And the players of the town received a system notification. *Ding. The town has been captured by an adventurer. The quest will be discarded and the town will go under a protection period of 7 days. "Good then. Let''s see if there''s anyone in our guild who can take over it..." This time, instead of ordering Aster again, he directly made an announcement in the guild channel. Time Traveler: Guys, for the next seven days, your task is to work hard to get fame. Go to the capital city and look for the quests. The first one to become a Viscount will become the Mayor of a town. Just when he was about to look at the responses, the system sent a sudden notification. *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside. "Hmm, Silver?" Chapter 126: Imperial guild disbanded Yarlford city; After finishing his business at Springwood town, Wil logged out of the game, after receiving the call from Silver. Stepping out of the capsule, he walked outside of the room and went downstairs to find a familiar face that appears constantly on news. "Honestly, I didn''t expect anyone else dares to buy our properties except the people from the circle. Nice to meet you, Mr. Jeffrey," said Wil as he shook his hands with Charles Jeffrey, who was a well-known successful entrepreneur with nearly 28 Billion dollars of net worth. Charles smiled in return as he took his seat, "well, I wouldn''t have become a self-made billionaire if I wasn''t daring enough to take bold decisions." "Let''s come to the business, directly. Silver mentioned you were interested in buying our stadium and some of our lands. Do you know our conditions?" asked Wil, taking the coffee mug placed on the table. Leaning back onto the sofa and crossing his legs, Kevin nodded in return, "yeah, twice the market rate. I know that. That''s why I''m here with a proposal. Instead of twice, I''ll pay you thrice the amount. In return, I want you to invest at least 50% of the extra money in one of my companies in Ares city. It''s a" "Huh? Come again" as Wil started repeating the same words in his mind, analyzing the meaning, Silver, who was standing behind him, whispered in his ears, "young master, basically he wants to increase the share value and popularity of his new company using our Scarlet group. In return, he''s willing to hand over some of the shares." "Ah, I see Thanks, Silver." Looking at him, Wil spoke, "go on." "Oh, it''s a weapons manufacturing company. Even though it was launched 2 years ago, the clients were only little gangs. My goal is to supply to the mili" Before his explanation finished, Charles saw Wil stood up, all of a sudden and his eyes turned cold, hard, and flinty, looking at him with disgust, "Silver, throw him out." "What" Charles was taken aback to see a change in a situation all of a sudden, "Wait. Where are you going? If you aren''t interested, then Wait a second. What about the original deal Leave me Do you know who I am" As Silver and Storm grabbed him on either side and dragged him away before handing him to the guards, Wil grumbled while looking at the portrait hanging on the wall, "can''t you just dissolve and sell the properties before your operation? Sigh" *** In the evening, while the three of the having dinner while discussing their future plans, the ringtone on Silver''s mobile phone interrupted their conversation. "Hello? Ah, yes, Miss Kiyumi. Young master?" Wil immediately shook his head in response. Silver continued to talk with her, "He''s a bit busy. If it''s anything urgent Ah, I see?? Um, I''m not sure. Okay, I''ll inform him to call you back, when he steps out of the capsule." "So, what does she want?" asked Wil as he was munching the food. He then informed Wil, "It looks like she has some meeting at pregas city, tomorrow afternoon. She''s asking whether you are free tomorrow for a dinner date..." *Cough*Cough* Wil coughed as the food stuck in his throat, "Come again" asked Wil after drinking water, to which Silver cleared his misunderstanding, "it''s not with her but with Ms. Akiko. She''s bringing her sister along with her and wants you to join dinner with them." Upon hearing it, a frown appeared on Wil''s face but stayed silent until he finished his dinner. Before going back to his room, he said, "Remind her that until my engagement with Cherry is annulled, I don''t have anything to do with them." *** Gailzach Kingdom, North Zalfari continent; "Dragon Fire." An ocean of flames continue to burn a level-30 and killed it. *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You reached level-30. You receive a new skill. Opening the skills panel, ''One'' mumbled in a surprise, "Absolute Freeze? Isn''t this skill also very familiar? Yes, Time Traveler. First, Dragon Fire and now, Absolute Freeze" A realization hit ''One'' as he nodded, "I see, no wonder he''s strong. Wait a second. Isn''t he an archer? Then, how come I''m a mage? Huh? What''s going on?" As ''One'' went into a daze for a while, a roar of a nearby monster brought him back to senses and he mumbled with a smile, "Absolute freeze." Looking at the monster was frozen inside the ice along with 35 meters of his surroundings, ''One'' tightened his fist while a determined look appeared on his face, "even though our starting points are different, now, I too have the same skill set as you, Time Traveler. The next time we meet, I won''t be the one who is going to lose. Soon, the world will see a new ''One'' once again." Meanwhile, at the Reverie Kingdom; *Ding. You reached level-200. You received a new skill. *Ding. Congratulations, you killed Airavata and freed its spirit. The guardian beast is reborn at the Imperial Palace. You received 2000 fame as a reward. *Ding. Favorability with King Edward increased by 20 *Ding. You received a quest Description: King Edward is summoning you to the palace. Go and meet the king in the courtroom. Reward: Two legendary grade items from the Royal Treasure of player''s choice, an exclusive title - ''Savior of the Kingdom,'' and 200 gold. Absorbing 2000 fame points into the nobility badge and becoming an Earl, Bran set out to the Imperial Palace to meet the king once again. *** The next day morning; *Welcome to War Online* *Ding. You have 12 unread messages. "Eh? That many let''s see" Wil ignored the congratulatory messages from allies and read Aster''s message, who was currently offline. Shadow Blade: Young Master, a total of 683 equipment were collected. Of them, 182 are gold- grade, and 3 are of epic grade. I sent them to the stores at Deloris town and remaining to East Ocean City''s branch. "Only 3 epic grade, huh Not much of profits Comparing to 2253 gold from the Mayor''s safe, I haven''t gained much from the players. Well, they are just residing in the town. Not much can be expected, anyway" Then, he proceeded to open Rock Fist''s message, who was also offline at the moment as he was busy with job hunting since the contract with Wil about to end in a few days Rock Fist: Sir, I volunteered to help Mr. Shadow Blade in picking up the dropped items. While I return, I found a strange letter near the temple. It was addressed to some Duke Nukegan, probably some quest. Rock Fist: The letter states a rebellion going to occur soon. I don''t know who to inform this matter other than you Upon reading the message, Wil frowned, "a rebellion? Main story quest, huh I wonder which poor guy dropped such an important item Anyway, if such a thing is going to occur, then, I guess I should hurry up with my next step." Wil then sent a reply to Rock Fist. Time Traveler: When you are online, deliver the letter directly to me. If I''m unavailable, then, take it to Shadow Blade. If both of us are offline, then, deliver it to the Mayor''s mansion. "Being a prince doesn''t give me many benefits. No matter what, I need to climb to Duke before the war starts. Then, upon the end of the ''War'' chapter, I can directly climb to Grand Duke after killing Rikilda Llyne. Sigh why to think that far Becoming Grand Duke isn''t easy. Reaching 350000 fame is not an easy task. Who knows it might take years Even Duke needs 100k fame. That''s still 60k far away. Achievements no longer would be able to help me, alone. I can''t do those boring quests and waste hours and days just for fame, either. I need to think another way once my nobility increases Hmm, speaking of fame, I still need Oh, only 390 fame. Should I just go and clear level-180 too?" A while later, *Ding. You cleared a legendary grade dungeon. You receive 100 fame as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations, you are the first player in the kingdom to clear level-180 legendary grade dungeon. You received 500 fame as a reward. This time, the players are already numb to the announcement, surprisingly including White Tiger, who is now one of the Vice-Generals of Dreamwalkers while disbanding the Imperial guild along with his 17 small and medium subsidiary guilds for good, oblivious to a giant trap that''s almost formed behind him and ready to swallow him soon. The only one, who reacted to it, is the guild leader, ''Dreamwalker,'' who was enraged realizing that Wil isn''t giving a sh*t about his challenge as well as a negative image in forums and is happily on an invasion to capture other towns and clearing legendary grade dungeons. Dreamwalker: How are the preparations? Sugar: We are waiting for your order. According to the Intel I received from our spies of other kingdoms, after killing 10 guards, we can officially invade a town. All we need is to kill the town''s guardian and the Mayor once to capture it. As for the city, it''s 100 guards but you need to have high favorability with the King. Dreamwalker: And what about Deloris town''s guardian? Sugar: Well, according to our info, a player occupied town or city normally doesn''t have a default guardian but they can assign one. I bet Time Traveler might have assigned his legendary grade pet. Dreamwalker: Good. Let''s set out right now. Sending the message, ''Dreamwalker'' smiled evilly, "once I capture its neighboring town too, with Eldershore city is already in our control using White Tiger, the northern region will be mine. Then, all I need is to wait for the barriers to open and make it a strategic location for the other two kingdoms to make a move against Llyne kingdom, hahaha Soon, the entire Kingdom will fall into my hands. It doesn''t matter if you become some crown prince, Time Traveler. In the end, I''ll become the King and everything will belong to our ''Dream'' Corp." While more than five thousand Elite players started marching towards the north of the kingdom from different cities and another five thousand is waiting at Eldershore city, Wil, on the other hand, absorbed the remaining fame points into the nobility badge and received a quest before setting out to the capital. Imperial palace, Llyne City; In the courtroom, as Wil sat on this throne patiently, the officials are informing various issues occurring all over the kingdom while Mirella is ordering the ministers to solve it. After hearing one of the issues, Mirella called out Wil and handed him a job in the same indifferent tone she spoke to the ministers, earlier, "prince Time Traveler, I''ll leave this job to you" A look of disbelief appeared on Wil''s face, "this is the quest to fulfill the last requirement to become Marquis? Are you kidding me?" Chapter 127: Xu Luoyang *Ding. You received a mandatory quest from the King. Description: King Mirella wants you to go to town and catch the culprit who was stealing all the grains from Herven town''s storage within 2 days. Reward: Unlocking the Nobility badge upgrade. Failure: Favorability with King drops by 5 "Such a simple quest... Is it because now that I''m her younger brother, she wants to make it easy for me?" Wil bowed, "I''ll leave right away and get the job done, your majesty." 15 minutes later; "That''s what I thought but what kind of situation is this" mumbled Wil as he stared at the empty storage room where not even a single grain of rice left while the town''s Mayor, guards, and officials were standing behind him in silence. The town mayor then spoke, "this was the third time we have been robbed. We increased the guards but still, that thief stole them. What strange is that every time, the grains will disappear as if they don''t exist at all." Glancing at the room once again, Wil frowned, "Hmm, it wasn''t the work of any normal NPC thief It''s common sense that a few grains will be left on the floor. Most likely a player is behind it. But, what can even do with those grains Another issue is, can a player enter this place without being seen by the guards even if it''s night? Hmm, It might be possible with a teleportation skill. But, the problem here is no matter what kind it is, the teleportation skill doesn''t work unless it is the place, the person visited or at least see with naked eyes from a distance And the only one that''s allowed into the storage room is the Mayor and the guards. It might also be possible that one of the guards is a partner." Turning around, Wil glanced at the guards, who flinched upon seeing his cold expression, and then asked the mayor, "Viscount Garrat, I want to know the details about the first robbery. Who were the guards at that time?" As two guards with their shivering legs in fear stepped forward, the mayor replied to clear his misunderstanding, "It happened around a week ago, right around the dusk. But, these two were awake at the same time. We have witnesses to prove they are innocent" Ignoring him, Wil then looked at the two of them and asked, "Which one of you worked as a guard for adventurers?" While the rest of them were taken aback upon hearing an unexpected question, the two guards shook their heads, "No, your highness. We''ve never worked with any adventurers." "Hmm, either one of them must be lying to save themselves or Wait a second, around dusk... Don''t tell me it''s the work of" Wil turned towards the ventilation where the light is passing through it. It was a traditional one with grills that has enough space for a common garden rat to enter. "No doubt about it," nodded Wil speaking to himself. Upon hearing the words, as the mayor opened his mouth, "Your highness" Wil interrupted him, "Viscount Garrat, do you have any batch of grains available? Pour it into the middle of the storage room and stay outside as usual." The mayor nodded, "yes." After following his orders, as the Mayor went away while the guards and Wil stood outside, meanwhile, a palm-sized Strix quietly waited in the dark corner of the room. He waited patiently until the evening for the little rat-like creature to enter through the ventilation while Wil kept his eye on the spot, standing outside with the guards. Finally, after getting the message from Strix, a smile appeared on Wil, "as I thought," and mumbled, "Gravity Suppression." *peep* Ignoring the kneeling guards, Wil quickly opened the door and saw a creature that has an appearance of a rat but with a kangaroo-like pouch on its belly, collapsed on the floor. Sniffler Grade: Elite Level: 120 Hp: 2 million Attack: 1 Defense: 1 Description: A greedy creature that has the habit of stealing during dusk or dawn. As he quickly grabbed it, the system sent the notification. *Ding. You caught Sniffler. *Ding. You complete the quest. Your nobility badge upgrade has been unlocked. *Ding. Your fame crossed forty thousand points; your favorability with King Mirella crossed 85; you completed the mandatory quest. Congratulations, you met all the requirements to upgrade your nobility badge to epic grade and become Marquis. Upgrade? Wil clicked on ''Yes'' and instantly the color of the nobility badge changed from gold to platinum. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the first Marquis in the Llyne Kingdom. You receive 1000 points of fame and 25 gold coins as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the second Marquis in the Xynnar Continent. You receive 1000 points of fame and 50 gold coins as a reward. *Ding. Congratulations on becoming the Sixth Marquis in the world. You receive 1000 points of fame and 50 gold coins as a reward. "Second in the continent and Sixth in the world? F**k. I even lagged behind so much than the last time. Is it because of WBT? Well, I can''t compete in every department Let''s just be content with becoming the strongest." Nobility Badge Grade: Epic Description: The badge that represents the status in the kingdom. Effects: 50% discount on all purchases across the Llyne Kingdom. 50% discount on all purchases in the Eldershore region. Free city library and Battle arena access across the Llyne kingdom. 0% weekly interest loan in all public banks up to 333 gold and 5% up to 1666 gold. The loan credit of all public banks is set to 10000 gold. You can hire 100 levels above your level for a maximum of 500 from all over the Kingdom. "Wow, extra features. I didn''t expect public banks will provide such high loans to Marquis and above nobles. I thought the loan amount is only equivalent to 50 million credits. No wonder, Bran seems very rich during the auctions. I thought Sierra was giving him the money 10000 loan credit huh That''s nearly 150 million dollars. Too bad I already have more than enough. Or else, I would have taken this loan for sure" Walking back and forth in the storage room, Wil continued to think while the rest of them didn''t dare to disturb him and stayed silent, "Wait a second. How about just store them in the bank and take this loan of locked gold coins to spend for whatever things needed. Yeah, the value is already dropped to 1500 credits per silver. Why waste money when I have nothing else to spend on. Hmm, combined with the income generated from Scarlet Districts, I can provide bigger loans to the guilds during the next system auction Yeah, that''s a good idea." *peeep* Wil came to his senses upon hearing the long squeak of Sniffler and mumbled, "let''s deal with you, now, buddy..." Under the curious gazes of the officials, Wil flapped his wings and fly until the ceiling before catching two legs of Sniffler and started to shake it upside down. While its eyes roll, the grains started falling at an extreme speed. Finishing his job, Wil stepped out of the storage room and left for the capital city after capturing this very rare elite creature that has an infinite amount of storage space in its belly. *** Imperial palace, Llyne City; "Well done, younger brother. As I promised before, now that your contributions reached the status of a Marquis, I''ll give you the East Ocean city just like you wanted. Ravus can be transferred to the capital and serve as a deputy treasurer in the Finance department. The post is comparable to that of a Mayor of a city, either way... On the other hand, You can serve as the Mayor of both Deloris town and the East Ocean city. I''m sure no one will object," said Mirella with a smile while both of them sat together for dinner in the dining room filled with dozens of dishes. Wil shook his head, "It''s fine, your Majesty. I no longer had an interest in that city anymore." As Mirella was taken aback and take a look at him, he smiled and then continued, "Can I be the mayor of Eldershore city, instead?" asked Wil, placing a small piece of steak in his mouth and waited for her reaction. "Oh, Eldershore city? That''s Countess Christaire''s city. She''s a bit close to my uncle but I guess it will do Okay, fine. We can also hack down one more enemy. Wait a second. If you become Mayor of Eldershore, then, that means" Wil nodded with a smile, "yes, with Deloris and Eldershore, I will be the same as region lord. When my contributions reach the status of Duke, you can just make me Eldershore region lord. With that way, not only I can protect the borders of the kingdom, with Leon as the guardian of the northern Llyne, we can prevent outside enemies to invade our Kingdom." *Ding. Your favorability with Mirella increases by 1. "Hmm, that''s a feasible plan. If you can become the region lord, then, I would also have fewer worries. Tomorrow in the court assembly, I''ll announce you as the mayor of Eldershore city. Be there on time." *Ding. You receive a quest. Description: You are summoned at the Courtroom by the King. Reach there before 9 o''clock in the morning. Rewards: The position of Eldershore city''s Mayor. Failure: Mirella''s favorability drops by 10 *** Xuzou Village, Eastern continent; In the streets of an ancient village that was built below Mt. Xuzou, a very fit old man in his early 80s and a 22-year-old young man who look like a pumpkin is walking together while returning from the market. "Grandpa, how long you were going to live here in this small village? Can''t the rest of you return with me to Xuanyang? It''s a big city. There are a lot of people who are interested in martial arts and other fighting techniques, these days. We can at least make some money if we open a dojo there," said the grandson trying to convince his grandfather. Upon hearing his words, his grandfather replied, "Xiao Jin. I already mentioned to you not to bring that topic again. It''s enough that your dad permitted you to study and live there. And our Liao sect''s techniques aren''t for show. Do you know why the sects are built on mountains" "Yeah, yeah... I know. Don''t start those tales of discipline again. That age is already disappeared more than a hundred years ago. Even if our Xuzou sect has a thousand-year-old history, what''s the use when we can''t earn a single penny from it? It''s time for you and dad to realize that the sect died" His Grandfather snorted, "hmpf, no matter what you say, we won''t leave the village. If you bring this topic once again, I''ll force you to stay in this village forever. Instead of your younger sister, I''ll make you succeed as the next head and thoroughly train you." Upon hearing his grandfather''s verdict, Jin grumbled, "Do it. I''ll disband the sect the moment I become the leader." "What did you say?" The grandfather tightly grabbed the skin behind his neck, "say that again?" "Ah I''m sorry" as the young man apologized; his grandfather left him and then, stared at the mountain with a sigh Meanwhile, on the top of Mt. Xuzou, a 20-year-old girl equipped with dual swords sparring against a middle-aged man in his early fifties, who was very muscular. *Cling* She kept jumping and turning around while attacking with dual swords in unexpected moments at a terrifying speed, giving him no moment to retaliate or dodge except for blocking the attacks with the sword head-on. Her eyes are fearless and there is no hesitation in her attacks even though she was sparring with real swords that can take her life or her father''s with one wrong judgment. *Cling* *Cling* Every time, the swords clash, the middle-aged man is stepping backward while the girl gaining the momentum. *Cling* the sword on his hand was thrown away upon clashing once again and she stopped with the sword at his neck with a smile, "I win, Dad. I have to fulfill my promise at all costs no matter how dangerous the journey will be. Now, please let me go." He sighed, "I lose. Go on, then" The next day morning, on the village outskirts, while Jin kept on screaming, "No way I won''t stay here," his grandfather grabbed his collar tightly, "Until she returns, you''ll be spending your time in training. Staying in the city made you so fat. You need to exercise" "Good luck, Big Brother. Maybe, by the time I return, I''ll see a new ''Jin''," said Luoyang with a grin before leaving the village with her aunt who lives in Xuanyang city. "You traitor How could you betray your brother like this Aunt, please save me No, I won''t train in those" bellowed Jin as he was dragged away by his grandfather. Meanwhile, their father, Xuzou sects current leader, Xu Wuhan looked at her back and mumbled while shaking his head with a sigh, "silly girl. That junior sister of mine probably had forgotten about it, long ago." Chapter 128: Opening a bank account "What''s the meaning behind this, Long Jing?" asked Lu Heibei, calling her over the phone first thing in the morning upon hearing she had resigned. "It''s as you know. I no longer think you need my help in running your business. If there''s nothing else, I need to go," replied his ex-secretary with a cold tone before hanging up, looking outside the window. "Wait. I won''t approve..." As the call disconnected, Heibei finished his sentence slowly with a surprised look on his face, "your resignation letter Damn, what''s gotten into her all of a sudden? Resigning without a notice Is it because of merging the guild into Dreamwalkers" After a while, the cab stopped and she stepped outside to see a 15-floor building with the company name in big letters, "Scarlet Gaming Corp" on top of it, which hasn''t been inaugurated yet as the gamers are still in the training phase at HQ. As she showed her ID card at the reception, the employee confirmed her identity, "Miss Long Jing, Director Wang has been waiting for you in his office. 8th floor, second left, third room. You can find it with the label on it," and then, she continued to do her work, ignoring Long Jing. Upon hearing it, Long Jing was taken aback by the poor service, which was unexpected at a large company like Scarlet. After all, she was going to be one of the directors. Quickly understanding her thoughts through one look, the receptionist explained, "oh, we''re currently understaffed because the office hasn''t been opened. So, there were no interns" Long Jing waved her hand with a smile, "it''s fine. I understand. Second left, third room, right?" But the smile on her face froze as she saw the receptionist wasn''t paying any attention to her and simply nodded while focusing something on the desktop. Walking towards the elevator, Long Jing shook her head, "the receptionist Sigh Which idiot placed her at desk Just because this is a gaming company doesn''t mean they should just go with anyone, unprofessional. poor management... Is it because they hired professional gamers as CEO and directors? Anyway, let''s just do what I''m hired for. It''s not like I was going to stay in this city for too long, either." *** *Welcome to War Online* As soon as he woke up, Wil quickly logged in a hurry without even brushing because of the deadline for the quest and ran straight to the palace. *Ding. You completed the quest "Phew. Just in the nick of time," mumbled Wil as he took his seat while greeting the other ministers. A few minutes later, at exactly 9 a.m., Mirella arrived with Raziel and take their seats before starting the assembly with an announcement from the King, which brought a frown from Duke Nukegan but stayed silent. *Ding. You are appointed as the Mayor of Eldershore City. Taking the deed of 50 plots of land, and the key to Mayor''s Mansion, Wil bowed, "thank you, your majesty," and waited patiently until the assembly is over before leaving to the bank and lined up in one of the adventurers'' queues, equipping Mask of Tranquility, to not scare them away. Just like other buildings, the system''s bank staff was full of elf race beauties. There was a long desk stretching from left to the right wall, dividing the office into two areas. The long table was then, divided into 10 counters, of which the last two on the right are dedicated to the natives and the remaining eight were for players. Because the banks preserve currency, it was always one of the popular places inside a city i.e. it doesn''t matter how much gold one invests, it''ll turn into credits, and then, during the withdrawal time, the credits will be turned into the gold coins according to the exchange rate at that moment. So, those who don''t want to exchange the money and convert it into cash, they can preserve money like an emergency fund. Ten minutes later, he got his turn and as he stepped forward, Wil felt as if he entered some sort of barrier, which is designed that way to safeguard one''s privacy, the elf greeted him politely with a smile like she did with others and asked, "What can I do for you?" "I want to open a new account." "Please, put your hand, here. We need your handprint to record," said the bank employee as she took out a device that looked a bit like a tablet but instead of a screen, it''s just a plain one. *Ding. Your handprint is recorded in the bank. Your account has been created. You can store items, deposit and withdraw money from any branch within the kingdom. Then, she asked, "Do you need a private Vault? It costs 10 silver and 1 silver per week as rent." As Wil nodded in confirmation, she further asked, "Do you want to deposit any funds?" "27000 gold coins" "Eh" A look of a shock appeared on her face as she asked, "can you tell me once again? Did I just hear 27000 gold coins?" Wil smiled as he took out more than 50 pouches, one by one with each containing 500 gold coins, and placed them on the desk before her while keeping the rest of 362 gold in his inventory. She gulped her saliva as she stole a peek in the pouches and find the shiny gold before depositing them into his account. As he turned around and walked away, she looked at his account details and stuttered while almost falling off from the seat in a shock, "prince T Time Traveler?" Hearing her scream, the players standing nearby immediately turned around only to realize he already left the bank and hit the streets. East Ocean City; After finishing the first step, Wil left for East Ocean city''s bank this time. Unlike the capital, the bank wasn''t that busy and don''t have any isolated barriers. So, the players in the back or the nearby counters can see everything going on. Even though there are fewer people, Wil still waited for fifteen minutes until he got his turn because of fewer counters. "What can I do for you? Is it a deposit or a withdrawal," asked the employee indifferently, maintaining her pride in being an official. Wil replied, "I want to apply for a loan." "Eh?" Upon hearing him, the employee jerked her head back in a surprise while a peal of stifled laughter escaped by a couple of players, standing around. Before the elf employee about to reply, a person, who was standing behind Wil whispered, "Bro, banks here offer loans at a very high-interest rate. You can go and visit Scarlet Bank if you need a loan." As the bank employee repeated the same thing, Wil revealed his nobility badge and she immediately stood up with a shriek, "Marquis" The seat fell on the floor as the elf quickly stood up and bowed, "I apologize, Lord Marquis. Please forgive me" "Never mind," Waving his hand, Wil asked her, "Give me a form please." "Yes" Upon touching the parchment given by the employee, Wil got a notification from the system. *Ding. Please enter the number, you need as a loan. Wil entered 1500 gold and pressed ok. *Ding. Please scan your handprint to check your credit eligibility. Upon pressing his hand on the tablet-like handprint scanner that was attached to the desk, a new notification arrived. *Ding. You are eligible to take the loan. As a Marquis, you will be charged only 5% interest per week. *Ding. Warning: The principal amount will be equivalent to the credits according to the exchange rate as of today. Proceed? *Ding. 1500 gold has been added to your inventory. *Ding. 75 gold has been deducted from the inventory for this week''s interest. Ignoring the gazes of the players standing around him, Wil exited the bank and opened the inventory and saw a big pouch was added to the inventory with 1500 number written on it. The sizzling gold coins inside of it look almost the same as normal ones except for a winged lion engraved in the middle. Llyne Gold. Status: locked Description: A locked gold coin that can be used as a replacement for normal gold coins in stores. It cannot be used in the exchange platform and paying interests to the bank. "I wonder if I can buy that auto-debit feature for the bank. Now that I''m now a Marquis, maybe, it''s possible? If I can''t, then I will leave with no choice other than using my wish and ask Mirella." *** Eldershore city; A level-1 Appraiser is roaming in the city, behaving like a country bumpkin who came for the first time to a city, curiously looking at the stores, trying his luck with NPCs to trigger any quest. He stopped in his tracks as the players started moving aside while an army of nearly three thousand elite players of average level-138, wearing at least two epic-grade equipment, uniformly marching into the city like a real army of soldiers under the leadership of ''Sugar'', Vice-leader of Dreamwalkers. Quickly, he opened friends list and clicked on Aster, and sent a message. Wishful Merchant: They are here. Shadow Blade: Oh, right on time. What''s the total number? Wishful Merchant: According to one of my informers, there are three thousand in the Elite army. You can expect two more thousand to join as volunteers. And White Tiger is planning to use his entire guild containing 15800 players as cannon fodder. Shadow Blade: Good Job. Now, it is time to give them a huge shock. Let our guys join them. When the army reaches the outskirts of the town, then, we''ll counterattack from the back while they were busy fighting against the guardian beast. A few minutes later; As Wishful Merchant was carrying out the order, suddenly he received a message from Aster Shadow Blade: Never mind. We are canceling our current operation. Inform our guys to get ready to leave the guild, anytime now and regroup. "Eh?" As Wishful Merchant was taken aback upon reading that their plan to be stopped, he asked Aster once again whether something went wrong and they were exposed by one of their captains Wishful Merchant: What happened? Did our plan get exposed? Or is it because their numbers going to increase much further? A simple sentence as a reply from Aster made Wishful Merchant shut up his thoughts and start following the order Shadow Blade: Young Master''s orders. Meanwhile, White Tiger shook hands with Sugar and glanced at the army with a shock on his face, "you came quite prepared. However, don''t you think this is overkill?" Sugar smiled in return, "well, there might be a chance that Starlight can intervene in this battle. Not to mention, his allies from the East Ocean city If not for the guild leader''s orders, I would even bring more. By the way, how many on your side? I heard you lost a lot of people" White Tiger looked away in shame but without bring down his arrogance, he replied, "I still have 9000 loyal soldiers with me. As a Viscount, I can further hire 100 mercenaries. Even though I can''t hire level-200 mercenaries, I can still hire 180-190 levels. Honestly, I think they were enough to" Before his words even finished, a shocking followed by a similar announcement has been made in the region. *Ding. Player Time Traveler takes charge as the Mayor of Eldershore city. *Ding. Player White Tiger has been blacklisted in the city. *Ding. Dreamwalkers guild has been blacklisted in the city. Players belong to the guild will be teleported out of the city walls in 5 minutes while the branch will be disbanded. "What the" As the entire city stunned, meanwhile, in the Administration building, Wil put his legs on the desk and clapping his hands with a continuous laugh as if he was in an extremely happy, "hahaha hahaha Now, then, what will you do now, Dreamwalkers?" Chapter 129: Invincible Wil More than 12000 players found themselves outside of the City walls in a daze, upon enemy''s counterattack of which 9000 of them that followed White Tiger with loyalty, just stared at him in silence, not knowing what to say in this situation as not only they lost their guild twice, but also lost their home. This time, the players who are expelled from the city aren''t angry with Wil but with their incompetent leader. While some logged out, some started running away towards the nearby town. Meanwhile, ''Sugar'' went into a dilemma, not knowing what to do as they challenged Time Traveler and he''s right in front of them but their target is the Deloris town while he isn''t sure about challenging a city with such low numbers. After all, a city has several high-level guards and a level-200 city guardian. Not to mention, unless they have high favorability with the King, one cannot become a Mayor even if they capture it. Ignoring White Tiger, who still hasn''t come to his senses because of a shock, Sugar contacted their guild leader. Upon reading the message, ''Dream,'' who was enjoying a delicacy in one of the restaurants, smiled as he cut a piece of meat, "impressive, Time Traveler But, all you did is stopping White Walkers and his weaklings. At worst, I''ll make a loss over a mere 50 million dollars. Let''s see how you will be able to handle the full might of our HQ." Opening the guild channel, he typed a message in the Vice-generals channel. Dream: I''m deploying all of you, right now. Wherever you are now, teleport to Confeld town with your legion containing only elite players and attack Eldershore city. I''ll pay all of your fees later. White Tiger, you will lead the army to attack Deloris town instead of ''Sugar''. *** While the Dreamwalkers are in a state of war, their supposed enemy went downstairs in a carefree manner and bought 25 restricted plots of land that''s available for Earl and then, bought 50 more plots that are available for Marquis, taking advantage of the dual citizenship while spending a total of 510 gold with the discount applied. Along with 50 plots that were given as a gift by the King, Wil then registered 125 plots with 125000 sq. m area of land under his name before ordering Aster to contact those top Architects again to design Ravens District, in the memory of his late father, this time. Buying the plots, Wil stepped outside of the building and started walking towards the large empty ground before the Mayor''s Mansion as a notification rang in his ears. *Ding. Your city is being invaded by ''Sugar'''' and his allies. *Ding. You receive a quest. Description: Protect your city from the invaders. Rewards: 10 million exp, 100 gold, 1000 fame. Failure: Lose the position of the City Mayor. Unlike the case where Wil invaded the city, this time, only Wil received the quest from the system while the rest of the players were just confused, not know what to do, facing these unexpected situations. "Wow, they are fast, indeed. It didn''t take them too long to launch an attack on the city. Let them see how foolish their decision is," mumbled Wil with a smirk as he opened the city panel, where details are provided. Clicking the announcement on the City''s panel, Wil sends a challenge in the form of an announcement, "All residents must stay inside their homes or buildings around while players and the city guardian must not interfere in this battle. Those who fail to follow this instruction will be expelled from the city without a second thought. As for you, Dreamwalkers, or should I say, invaders, I''m waiting at the Mayor''s mansion. Come at me with everything you have got." After a while; Looking at the horde of people, Wil asked, "Isn''t this a bit too much?" Upon hearing him, a vice-general Hera laughed, "scared? This isn''t even our full strength. Other than three thousand members who will raze Deloris to the ground, there are a lot of guild branches from other cities we didn''t bother to use and" "Uh I meant that you are too many for the city''s jail capacity" replied Wil while interrupting her. Her smile froze on the spot and replaced with a cold expression as she spoke, "General, I''m waiting for your orders" ''Sugar'' nodded, and ordered, "attack." Looking at seven thousand Elites, who were running towards him, Wil mumbled, "let me show you the ultimate defense where even a legendary grade beast is helpless." "Activate Metal Armor." As arrows, bullets, and fireballs fly over towards Wil, he found his arms started turning into steel and then, followed by legs and then the whole body, blocking all the attacks while "-1" blinked rapidly above his head. *** Xuanyang city, Eastern continent; "AuntWhy are these people staring at me," asked Luoyang slowly as she was following her Aunt closely like a baby penguin, not willing to glance at her strange environment where there are buildings that are too high and people walking around in an unfamiliar style of clothing. Her Aunt replied, "I told you not to wear Hanfu, didn''t I? Who wears them in public, these days... They probably think you are cosplaying." If I don''t know you, I would think, you came direct from the drama set. But, it''s fine. You don''t need to bother about them. They just have too much free time." "Uhh What is cosplay?" As Luo asked about the word she''s never heard in her life, her aunt stopped walking as she was taken aback in a surprise. Looking at her niece, who looks very naive from outside, she sighed, "I forgot that you never stepped out of that mountain until now. Listen, a cosplay is" Upon hearing, a frown appeared on Luo as she tightened her fist, "but this is the traditional clothing of our continent. How dare they think it''s some cosplay? City people are really corrupted in their thoughts. If anyone dares to say that in our village, I would have shown them a lesson" *knock* A light knock on her head disrupted her ramblings as her aunt lectured while entering the elevator, "Oi, you brat your aunt is also one of those city people" "Ouch... I''m sorry, I didn''t mean like that. It''s just I" "Don''t bother" replied her aunt, as the lift stopped and Luo followed her while taking a look at this weird thing that brought them 30 meters above the ground like a plane. As they entered the apartment, her aunt further said, "Until that idiotic son of mine will arrive, you can stay in his room. Meanwhile, I''ll explain to you about the outside world, especially that dangerous place, popular to known for Mafia." "Eh, Mafia? What''s that? Is it a traditional delicacy of the western continent?" For an entire minute, the hall went silent as she continues to stare at her niece, who was curiously looking around the new place she was going to stay. *** *Yawn* "it''s only half an hour. Why do you get tired so quickly? C''mon guys pick up your weapons and show me the power of *Yawn* Dreamwalkers See, you have already cut off 6 million Hp. Ugh I''m getting sleepy," Wil yawned once again as he continues to stand still, without moving an inch. Meanwhile, more than seven thousand Elites lost their will in their eyes to fight as they have attacked him together with all their skills for half an hour straight, and yet every time, they were only able to chip off "1" hp from Wil, who became like a steel-man. Looking at their state, the Vice guild leader, who was leading the army spoke, "We accept the defeat. You win, Time Traveler. We will withdraw from this region. How about we end it? It''s not like you have a feud with us in person." *Ding. The enemy wishes to surrender. Accept their defeat and let them go? Upon hearing him, Wil stretched his body, "fine, then. Let''s just end it" Wil suddenly made his move and dashed towards the players, who stepped back in fear, and all of a sudden, they found Wil disappeared from their sight and appeared in the midst of them. Stretching his hands wide, Wil spoke coldly, "Heavenly push, 10 mana." Meanwhile, on the middle road that leads towards Deloris town, an army of more than nine thousand was leading by White Tiger, who was in excitement without realizing that he almost lost everything he owns "Time Traveler, today marks the end of you. There, those guys will tear your city, and here, I will snatch the town of yours. What if you expel me, twice? After this, I''ll become the Mayor of the town. Everything you built from the scratch will become mine, hahaha Eh?" Sugar: We lost. Don''t bother to invade the town too. Return to the capital city with the army. "Time Traveler" roared White Tiger as his muscles strained against the skin and the veins bulged out. Meanwhile, at the same time, someone else is also roaring even louder in pure rage as seven thousand elites of his guild were resurrected in the city''s jail, instead of the capital city. *** Back to Xuanyang city, as the aunt came back with groceries from a nearby store, she called out, "Xiao Luo, come out. Tell me what I should do for lunch "Luo Huh" She was stunned finding the room that Luoyang was supposed to stay in was empty while a small paper was left on the bed with an apology on it. Meanwhile, Xu Luoyang was sitting on a bus, gazing outside of the window while grabbing a picture in her hands, "Sorry, Dad, for deceiving you and everyone." In the picture, an eight old little girl was smiling along with two women in their early 30s, standing on either side of her. As she takes a look at one of the women in the picture, she mumbled as her eyes became red, "The date of our promise is near. Just as you said, I mastered our Xu sect''s entire sword techniques before 12 years of time has been passed. Just a few more days. Soon, I will find you and hunt you down, Andrea" *** Z-Block, Research Center, Ares City; The head researcher was smiling wide as President Adler handed him a box that contained a chip. "I had to expend 5 Billion dollars from my own personal account just to acquire this data. If you can''t finish the job even after this, then, you can forget about this department." The Head researcher replied with confidence, "Don''t worry about it, president. I can assure you that it won''t take long for the prototype to be ready" Just then, they were interrupted by an alarm. As both of them hurried towards the lab, they heard a loud bang on the metal door and a bump appeared on it. "Sir, Gynoid N12 is out of control, again. Auto shut down is being interrupted by her" "What are you doing? Quickly, release the gas" growled the head researcher as he stared at the monitor where he saw their prototype is mumbling something while she is punching the door aggressively without caring about the damage to her hands. The president then pointed at her and asked, "What is she mumbling about?" As one of the researchers increased the volume, they heard her voice, "Need to leave waiting for me Need to leave waiting" "What is she talking about?" asked the president with a frown. The head researcher shrugged his shoulder, "it''s just a side effect. Consciousness is like a soul. In the unstable moment, they cry out the names of the closest ones from their memories Don''t worry. By the time it is over, her memory will be wiped out from the consciousness by our new Super A.I. and becomes the perfect weapon that you need." Meanwhile, a thick gas like a fog was released in the chamber that was absorbed by her body automatically. As a result, she fainted on the ground as her control system was frozen. Chapter 130: Unlocking Main Story quest "Boss, this is the letter I have mentioned," said a muscular teenager as he handed it to Wil. Taking it into his hands, Wil patted his shoulder with a smile, "Good job on finding a clue to main story quest." "Main story quest?" Rock Fist was clearly surprised upon hearing about it. Wil answered with a nod and then asked, "you have a done a huge contribution, this time. Consider this as a reward" "Eh? An epic grade accessory? Boss, this is too much. I just picked it up from the ground," said Rock Fist, although he kept staring at the necklace. Aisha''s Necklace Grade: Epic Level: 130 Looking at his longing expression for the accessory, Wil lip''s curled up in amusement, "it doesn''t matter. It''s something I picked up from an enemy, either way" *Ding. You receive a call from outside. Looking at the familiar number, a huge smile appeared on Wil, "looks like he surrendered" Upon accepting the call, Wil heard a hoarse voice from the other side, "Hello, Williard Ravens." "So, what did you decide?" asked Wil as he dismissed Rock Fist after trading it to him. "10 million dollars," replied Dreamwalkers'' guild leader. "Pfft hahaha," Wil laughed continuously for a while and then said, "do you think I''m that Heibei? I know the value of your Elites. As you can see, I''m the crown prince. Unless it''s the King, there''s no one who can pardon their sentence. Oh, there is one. You can try your luck with the prime minister too if you even meet him, that is So, give me a number that can satisfy my ears." After a long silence, he asked, "How much do you want, then?" Wil replied in a carefree manner as he continues to walk in the empty streets of Eldershore city, "Hmm, I heard you bought Imperial and its subsidiary guilds for 50 million dollars, and in return, you acquired 12000 players excluding the ones that left. So, that''s around four thousand dollars per player. For a guild like yours, since one elite player is considered valuable than 100 normal players, then, my price is five hundred thousand dollars per elite. It wasn''t much, just around 3.6 Billion Dollars" "You" roared the middle-aged man as he slammed the desk before him, "Williard Ravens, don''t go too far..." "Really? It''s only 3.6 Billion though. I heard that your company is a tech giant that''s worth hundreds of Billions of dollars but didn''t know you were that poor that you can''t even afford to pay that much amount. You must have a low amount of shares, I guess. Fine then, I will give you a new offer. Instead of money, I want all of their equipment and a Vice-general of yours that''s still roaming free. You have to expel that little tiger from your guild. If you think its too much, you can just pay a tenth of the amount, that is 360 million dollars but on the condition that you will not only expel White Tiger but your guild will kill him until level-1. Either you can choose one of the three options or you can forget about your elites and build your empire with the remaining normal players. You have three days to consider. After that, I''ll think you don''t want them," replied Wil with a cold tone. *** Disconnecting the call, Wil proceeds to read the letter. Just as Rock Fist mentioned to him, the letter was written by Rikilda Llyne to Duke Nukegan to cause a rebellion against Mirella by colluding with the Kingdom of Zuweth. "Hmm, a neighboring country, huh... But, how are they going to attack, anyway? There is a barrier. They can''t be removed until there are hundred level-200 players over the world. The only other way is to remove it by force. But, that will make Raziel and the entire kingdom alert. Wait a second. Zuweth has a coastal line. They can attack from the sea as the barrier from East Ocean city to the sea was opened permanently" Wil slapped on his forehead upon realizing, "F**k looks like I was the one, who created this situation. They are going to attack the East Ocean city. I guess while Raziel will be busy battling his counterpart, Mirella will be assassinated I need to inform Mirella, right now. With this, she can make a move against both of them" Wil immediately started running towards the teleportation point. As he reached the temple, he suddenly stopped, "wait a second. If Mirella dies, by law, won''t I become the next King? What am I hurrying for? Ah I remember there''s one more candidate even if he wasn''t the heir. That''s right, Duke Nukegan''s son. Didn''t that Nukegan mentioned his existence during the story mode... Should I just erase that supposed cousin of mine, right now? Nah, it would cause a lot of trouble Let''s just be silent and then, kill him during the crisis, or maybe, I should join them and dethrone Mirella" Ten minutes later, "Well done, younger brother. Once again, you proved that you are one of my most trusted people in the kingdom," said Mirella as she read the letter while Wil silently stood before her. *Ding. You unlocked the main story quest of Llyne Kingdom *Ding. Mirella''s favorability rises by 5 *Ding. Your favorability with Mirella crossed 95. You can ask for a wish as long as within the limits of the king''s power. "Younger brother, I would like you to do something for me..." Mirella then walked away and sat before the desk before start writing something in the letter. As she put the letter in the envelope, she took an exquisite sword out of nowhere and handed both of the items to Wil, "Far away in the south-east of our kingdom lie hundreds of uninhabited tiny islands near to each other. In one of the islands lies a temple. Once you enter the temple, you can find a woman, imprisoned in chains. I want you to hand the letter to her. This sword will be your identity and is also can be used for different things. You can find it eventually after reaching the place." Imperial Dragon Sword Grade: Legendary+ Type: Growth C max lv 500 Description: Made from the bones of an ancient Dragon and used by Emperor Artemis, ten thousand years ago. It was the symbol of King passed down into the royal family of Llyne for two thousand years. It can only be wielded by the Kings unless they permit others to use it. Current Owner: Mirella Llyne *Ding. You received a mandatory quest from Mirella. Description: Mirella wants you to hand over a confidential letter to an unknown woman, who is imprisoned in the Islands of Marsh. Rewards: 10 million exp, one legendary grade item of your choosing from the Royal treasury, 100 gold, 500 fame. Failure: Mirella''s favorability drop by 5. "Marsh Islands? F**k. They are almost at the end of the map. Even with my full speed, it would take more than two days just to travel there Sigh... can''t help it, can I? After all, favorability with the King is hard to come by. That penalty will really become a deterrent for my upcoming plans." Glancing at the penalty upon failure one more time, he grumbled internally and bowed, "sure, your majesty. I''ll do my best to finish this mission." With no other choice, Wil accepted the quest and take both of the quest items. *Ding. You accepted the quest. Upon hearing Wil, a pleasant smile appeared on her lips, "I knew you would not let me down. Don''t worry. You won''t be going, alone. My trusted general, Gerrad will protect you. A boat will be ready for you at the port. As for the barrier, you can also use the sword to bypass it, temporarily." "It''s alright, your majesty. I''m confident that I can protect myself. If any issue arises, I can always call Leon to my rescue," replied Wil confidently and then returned while grumbling, "as if I want to go in the boat and waste my time, even further. It''ll take at least three weeks to reach Marsh Islands if I take a boat Instead, I can just use my fire Pegasus and reach the place within a day and use the remaining time to dig out treasures from the sea. But, the only problem is that its speed is a bit too high" *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside. Looking at the notification that disrupted his thoughts, Wil paused in his tracks, upon seeing a familiar number, "Mr. Walter?" "Hello, Uncle Water..." On the other side, Wil heard the sound was a bit hoarse and low, "Williard, I''m at the Yarlford''s airport, right now. I need to talk to you about something important." "Huh... The timing and his voice sound a bit... Don''t tell me..." Yarlford city; Upon disconnecting the call, Wil quickly logged out and stepped outside of the capsule. After finishing brushing and bathing, Wil had brunch while waiting for the guest to arrive from the airport. Half an hour later; In the living room of Ravens Mansion, Wil takes a sip calmly, "so, you want to annul my engagement with Cherry. Is it because my father is no longer here?" While Silver and Storm who sat beside him were taken aback by his unusual response as they expected him to accept the decision to move on to engagement with the girl from the Miyazaki family, on the other hand, feeling ashamed to tell him the truth, Walter shook his head, "no, it''s just that I can''t send my daughter to the Eastern continent, alone. I just can''t live very far away, worrying about her every day. It would be nice if you two were dating but, sigh" Wil narrowed his eyes listening to the explanation that sounded way insincere, "I understand. We can consider the engagement has never happened. As you mentioned, it''s not like there''s any love or friendship between me and Cherry, either way. However, I just want to ask one last thing. You aren''t doing this because that finance minister or her people threatened you, right?" asked Wil as he put the coffee mug on the table before leaning forward a bit while folding hands, resting the elbows on his knees to look at Walter in the eye. As Wil saw Walter flinched a bit, upon hearing their name, he pressed the matter, "Miyazaki Reisa expressed her intention of marrying her daughter to me. But, I rejected it because I was already engaged to Cericia. I wonder if" "No, there''s nothing like that." Walter quickly interrupted Wil''s words and then, stood up to leave, "Don''t think that our relationship is completely broken because the engagement is annulled. Just don''t forget your uncle Walter if you ever landed in trouble. I may stay in the Western continent but still, I''m a police chief." After Walter left in his car, Wil took out his mobile phone while walking back to the house Wil: Miss Kiyumi, we need to talk Chapter 131: To the Marsh Islands Wil: Ms. Kiyumi, we need to talk. *Buzz* His mobile phone vibrated before even ten seconds passed and saw the mobile number of Kiyumi on his phone as a call arrived. "Hello" "Hello, Mr. Ravens. Just now, I was thinking to call you, and luckily, you sent the message at a perfect time. So, what do you want to talk about? perhaps, you decided to accept our dinner invitation?" asked Kiyumi from another side with hope. "No, that''s..." Before he finished, she continued with, "or perhaps you want to talk to Akiko once before we meet, right? She''s here with me. Just a second, I''ll..." "No, I didn''t call you for that," Wil quickly interrupted her before she goes from date to the marriage, and then, asked in a serious tone, "A while ago, Mr. Walter was here. Tell me; what did you threaten him with Did you forget my conditions?" "So, that means your engagement with Miss Rodin has been annulled? That''s great. I need to tell mom and Akiko, too" "Miss Kiyumi, I asked a question here." Wil spoke a bit loudly, making her flinch a bit as she came to her senses, "Ah, it''s nothing. We found out that Miss Cericia has a boyfriend. It seems she''s been in a relationship for over a year. Mom just convinced Mr. Rodin over it. There was no threatening involved in it." "Ah, is that so?" Upon hearing a kind of positive response, Kiyumi then asked again, "now that you are no longer engaged to anyone, I guess you don''t have any problem with attending a dinner date in the evening, right?" "I''m busy today and tomorrow with a quest. Then, I have meetings with some important people. We can meet for lunch after I sort my things over here and shift to Leafway city. Okay, I need to leave. See ya" Wil quickly disconnected the call as his muscles twitched in annoyance. "Okay, fine." Even though Kiyumi was disappointed as she realized he indirectly implied that a quest is more important than her sister, she quickly recovered her mood, "doesn''t matter, right now. At least, right now, there are no problems between them that can stop the marriage. Not to mention, he invited us for lunch on his own. That''s a positive sign." Meanwhile, after disconnecting the call, Wil returned to the game and left to the sea on his fire Pegasus with a speed of 2.5 mach, surpassing the limits of the speed that a player can take. And as a result, Wil received a debuff along with a notification from the system while he was on his way. *Ding. Warning: The player''s speed crossed 2 mach. To protect your eyes from the heavy winds, until the speed reduces to 1 mach, you will be experiencing temporary blindness As Wil''s vision went black, he just closed his eyes and tried to meditate while ears also stopped functioning as the sound of the waves or roaring of the aqua beasts can''t reach his ears. Meanwhile, Wil was slowly trying to go back into the past to look into his memories after burying those horrible ones for so long Soon, a forgotten memory appeared in his mind. *Flashback* Bulls Arena, Yarlford City; In an empty arena, an eleven-year-old Wil was standing alone, with his legs shaking in fear as his world-class instructor raised one of the gates and released a matured bull, which is at least, two meters big and three meters long. Looking at the boy, as it started running towards him, she shouted through the mic, "C''mon, Wil. Don''t stand there if you want to live." As the bull almost approached him, Wil jumped to the side, dodging it at the right time before running away. "Wil, don''t think about running from a superior enemy cuz they will catch up to you, eventually. Think of a method to tackle them using their weakness. In this case, there''s a large red cloth, right before you, all along. You should have used it wisely. Remember that you can''t depend on anyone but yourself. That''s why, at the very least, you need survival skills if you want to stay alive for a long time" Vulture''s Devil instructor continued to lecture Wil as he was crying while he peed his pants in fear. Meanwhile, the bull was lying down on the ground lifelessly with more than twenty poisoned arrows pierced into its hard skin, especially the legs and eyes. Present; "F**k. Of all the memories, I had to remember this one... No, let''s not dig them out. Ugh I think it''s a bad idea to think of them. Those memories contain nothing but child abuse Let''s think of something else Something good this time" Right then, a notification rang in his ears *Ding. You received a message from Yelir. "Eh, Hyori? But, I can''t see the message in my current situation" "Stop right now." Since it''s useless to shout, Wil transmitted his thoughts to the Pegasus through their connection, to which, it responded with and stopped all of a sudden, restoring his sight again Yelir: I finished the job you asked me to do. Mia told SnowDew that their mother''s full name is Scarlet Quilton and they are real siblings. "Quilton? Not Smith? Sigh They aren''t my half-siblings, after all. But, then, again, both of them look nothing like mom, either way, and not to mention, that older sibling is only a year younger than me. I know it would end up this way but I hoped that he would be her husband''s son and I really met my sister, sigh Well, it doesn''t matter. Let''s visit them before sorting out everything on the western continent, then." Time Traveler: I guess it''s really a coincidence, after all. Thanks, Hyori. You can just continue with your work. After finishing his conversation with Hyori, Wil continued his journey towards his destination. Meanwhile, at level-170 wild zone; "Ok. Now, I''m ready," spoke Hyori as she looked at SnowDew, and then, they started descending on to the ground where a thin stream seemed to be originated from a huge cave. After stepping inside the cave, both of them raised their weapons and started moving slowly with high alert. Unlike the usual caves, this one seemed to have a lot of holes on the ceiling here and there. Because of the sunlight and the constant flow of water, a lot of grass, plants, flowers, etc grew up, making the place look a lot like grasslands. They continued to walk deeper into the cave, following the stream, which led to a small pond. Looking at it, SnowDew''s face turned serious, "this is it. Equip the item you received." Nodding at SnowDew, Hyori took out a mask and equipped it. As a bubble formed over them, both of them dived into the pond, where it seemed it''s like a large underground lake leading to a dark tunnel. Looking at the tunnel, SnowDew messaged Hyori to grab her hand and not to lose it while they landed on the bed of the lake before start walking towards it, without any comfort as the bubble around them not only made them stick on to the ground firmly but also protect them from the pressure and the incoming water flow against them. "Activate, Night Vision Skill," mumbled SnowDew as she stepped inside the dark tunnel. After walking an hour, both of them finally exited the tunnel and found themselves inside a cave with eleven large statues of different races and gender, built in the middle of the cave, of which ten of them are sitting on large thrones in a circle facing towards the last one in the center, who was standing like he was some culprit and they were judging him. "What are they? Where is the Water Dragon, we are supposed to defeat?" mumbled SnowDew as she stared at them curiously while walking towards one of the statues. *Ding. You discovered the Hall of the Demigods. You received 1500 fame. "fif fifteen hundred fame points?" As SnowDew''s heart started racing, she turned her head and glanced at Hyori, only to see her standing there in a daze. "Looks like she went into a shock. Well, I guess it''s expected." As she turned her attention towards the statues, she mumbled curiously, "I wonder what Demigods are about" and then started inspecting the statues one by one to find out the information. "Archangel Seraph, Archmage Solomon, Neo-Hybrid Brygos, High-Elf Eden, Valkyrie Thera, Emperor Alexander, Archangel Michael, Valkyrie Cyrene, Neo-Hybrid Orion, High-Elf Faelyn, and Fallen Angel Lucifer. Hmm, judging by their titles and their identity, this place might be some important of the main story. By the way, what is that Neo-Hybrid anyway... I can understand other titles but I don''t think there''s such a term even in the real world''s history. Just what is it, anyway? Let''s ask Big Brother Time Traveler. Maybe, he knows something about it" *** The next day morning at Ravens Mansion, Wil and Oderico Segreti, the leader of the Scorpion gang leader is having a cup of coffee in the living room while in the middle of a negotiation. "Mr. Segreti, I think I made myself clear that if you wish to buy any property before the auction, you should offer the buy-out price. It doesn''t matter if you are buying just one or ten" He nodded, "I know but honestly. If someone is interested in buying it at a buyout price, they would have already done it in these past 6 six days. Even if it goes into the auction, at best you would get a profit of 50%, and here I am offering 75% and buy all 15 of them on the spot, right now. As a good friend of your father, I''m only thinking of the best price you can get out of this deal. Not to mention, I heard that trouble at the casinos increased these days. The further you delay it, the value might decrease" Upon hearing him, While Storm frowned, "Mr. Segreti, are you threatening us?" The latter waved his hands his head in a hurry and explained, "No, of course not. I''m just reminding you guys about the practical situation. The loss of Philip isn''t something that can be filled easily. The crime rate will naturally increase and those idiots will naturally try causing trouble..." Meanwhile, Wil went into deep thinking, "at current market price, all of them combined will amount to 7.1 Billion. The price he is offering is nearly 12.5 billion. That means a loss of 1.5 billion dollars" Suddenly; Wil''s mobile phone rang interrupting his thoughts "Hello, Silver." "Young master, someone from the Antolov family contacted me, just now. He''s willing to buy all of 15 casinos at once for 10 billion. I think it''s a good deal since we were in a hurry to leave right away." Without a change in the emotion, Wil replied calmly, "sorry but the casinos are already sold to the Scorpion gang. You can tell them that they are late" As Wil disconnected the call, he saw Oderico''s expression changed to that of gladness, and confirmed, "It''s as you heard. Consider it''s done but I have one condition." "A condition?" Wil nodded, "well, it''ll benefit you too. I want you to buy at the market price officially while the remaining bonus amount will be transferred to my account." Upon hearing it, Oderico''s eyes lit up and a small laugh escaped from his mouth, "What a coincidence. Honestly, I want to propose the same thing, however with just as low as 50% of the market rate. But, you beat me out of it." After a couple of hours, Wil received a bank alert on his mobile phone. *Your account has been credited with 5,332,368,152.63 WD* As the remaining original amount was transferred to his dad''s IC Bank account where the money will be locked, both of them shook their hands with a smile. After others left with their commission and Oderico Segreti left with the documents, Storm asked, "Why didn''t you just accept his proposal? You would have gotten 3.5 Billion more to spend on" Shrugging his shoulders, Wil turned around, "I don''t want to take advantage of dad''s will. It''s the least I could do, as a son. Not to mention, I already have 12 Billion dollars that I received from Dad''s personal account anyway. It''s not like we are in need of a huge capital, right now. Anyway, I''m done for today. Even if anyone else calls, just tell them that I''m busy unless the deal will be for the land and that''s also if it''s over 5 Billion. As for others, you know what to say" "Yes," nodded Storm as he followed Wil into the house. *Welcome to War Online* Finishing the deal, Wil once again logged in and found himself on a deserted island with nothing but sand and rocks. "Summon, Fire Pegasus." Mounting on it, he caressed it''s mane, "let''s go, buddy" *neigh* The Pegasus then flapped its wings and continues flying towards the destination once again while Wil''s vision once again blurred and then became dark Chapter 132: Dragon princess *Ding. You discovered Marsh Islands. You receive 500 fame as a reward. "Finally." As Wil ordered the Pegasus to slow down, he recovered his vision and saw a cluster of more than a hundred tiny islands from up above the sky. Marsh Islands Description: Once a large island in the ocean, which was broken into several islands because of an earthquake caused by a battle between two ancient beings on the island, 2000 years ago. "Oh, boy Lucifer even came here. Looks like this is going to be an important quest for sure. After all, anything that is concerned with him will be full of danger and opportunities Hmm Wait a second. Where is the temple?" As Wil looked over them again, he found there was no such temple, like Mirella described it to him. "Maybe, it sunk or something?" mumbled Wil as he stared down at the vast Ocean below him and ordered the mount to descend towards the water. Just as he reached 10 meters above the surface of the water, he heard a roar from inside the water followed a giant mouth that has an arched or spiral series of teeth with more than hundreds in number. Wil quickly flapped his wings to dodge the attack while unsummoning the Pegasus at the same time before inspecting the monster. King Shark, Helico Grade: Legendary Level: 325 Hp: 16.2 Billion Description: Guardian of the Marsh Islands. "F**k. There''s even a guardian to these Islands? How come I''ve never heard of it, before And that damn busty chic didn''t even warn me. She clearly sent me to death, this time. Ugh Forget it. It''s too bothersome to fight against a monster above level-300." As the Giant Shark once again tried to snap into two, Wil used dash skill and quickly flew upwards. After finding him out of its range, it stared at him for a few seconds before returning into the ocean. Meanwhile, Wil frowned, "if I have to search the waters, I have to battle this creature Wait a second. Perhaps" Opening his inventory, Wil took out the legendary+ grade sword and dived down towards the ocean, and once again, the king Shark opened its mouth and tried to attack him but suddenly, it stopped in the middle and closed its mouth, and blinked its eyes while staring at the sword in Wil''s hands. *Ding. King Shark''s status has been changed from hostile to friendly. "Yes." A smile appeared on Wil as he glanced at the sword, "I knew it. If it can work on the owner, then, it works on the guardian too." Since the creature is a level-300 above legendary grade creature, which can naturally understand and the language, Wil asked, "I want to meet the woman who was imprisoned in a temple. Can you help me?" It roared in return and dived into the ocean. Taking it as a gesture to follow it, Wil mumbled, "Activate, Bubble skill," and then followed it into the ocean with a bubble enveloping him. Grabbing the fin of the shark, Wil comfortably followed it with the Imperial Dragon sword in one of his hands and soon, he saw a temple. But, just as he reached near it, all of a sudden, the sword in his hand started glowing while the Island resonated with floating upwards in return. Seeing the changes in the Island, the King shark began swimming upwards and reached the shore as the Island started floating on the top of the ocean. *Ding. You discovered the Temple of Nirvana. You receive 1000 fame as a reward. As the shark just stayed there for a while, staring at the temple, Wil started walking towards the temple that was built in an ancient pyramid style with 365 steps; each refers to a day in the calendar. *Ding. Flight ability is restricted. With his wings became useless, Wil climbed each step one by one and reached the Giant door at the top with a large keyhole. Looking at the sword in his hands, as Wil inserted it into the keyhole; the door was unlocked and slowly opened while he retracted the Imperial sword. Inside the temple was a simple large hall with a woman, who was asleep while she sitting against the wall with several chains restricting her arms, legs, and the neck. Dragon princess, Averil Grade: Legendary Status: Sealed Description: The runaway princess of one of the Dragon race. "This" Wil was taken aback to see a familiar person, "Mirella''s mom She''s alive" As he stepped inside the temple, suddenly, her eyes opened and he heard a loud roar from her before a fire was released from her mouth, producing enormous amount of flames. Wil quickly used his medallion and activated invincibility skill before walking towards her, "I''m the member of a Royal family of Llyne kingdom and the younger brother of the current King, Mirella Llyne. Here, this is the proof" As soon as she heard his words, the flames stopped and she looked at the sword in Wil''s hands before mumbling, "Mirella" "Big sister sent me all the way to hand over you, a letter," Wil smiled as he took out the letter from the inventory, and just as he almost reached her, he heard a growl from her, "that little brat How dare she broke our promise and become the king to those filthy humans Argh" Wil''s smile froze on the spot. *** Hall of Demigods; *Swoosh* Two arrows shot like a lightning and pierced a burly man but only a "-1" damage number appeared above his head but was paralyzed for a couple of seconds. Looking at the situation, Hyori frowned and then shot a magic energy arrow that was split into six of them before hitting him and take off a mere couple of hundred thousand Hp. "You are quite skilled. I have only seen a couple of archers who can shoot with two arrows with such accuracy," Her opponent praised her and then send her a friend request before trying to recruit her, "if you are interested in joining our Conquest guild, you can contact me, Miss Yelir." *Ding. You received a friend request from Supreme Conqueror. Accept? Hyori coldly rejected his friend request in return, "no thanks." Supreme Conqueror''s smiled froze upon hearing it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the statues, SnowDew was flying around and using the Healing perfume as she was chased by a level-250 griffin while getting attacked by Solar at the same time. Yelir: There''s no use putting up a fight in this battle. We can''t defeat them, either way. Let''s just give up and return. Reporting this important info to the guild leader is more important. SnowDew: Fine. Suddenly, as they gave up on fighting, the attacks landed on both of them and they resurrected at Deloris town, leaving the Supreme Conqueror and Solar alone. Deloris Town; "Damn What a stroke of bad luck to run into those guys" complained SnowDew kicking the ground in frustration. Hyori then replied, "Well, it''s actually more important to know that there might be a way to bypass these barriers." "Yeah That''s for sure. Or else how come they were able to teleport from another continent to here? But, too bad for them... We got there sooner." A grin appeared on SnowDew as she glanced at the holographic screen before her. Exclusive Title: Spectator Effects: Goes into the spectator mode. As long as the player is in this mode, his/her stats will rise 10% per minute and will stack up to a maximum of 200% for 12 hours. CD: 36 hours. The spectator mode will be ended once the player attacks or get attacked. "What a turn of events We went there to catch a Water Dragon and ended up with an overpowered title" *** Meanwhile, at the Temple of Nirvana, the dragon scales appeared on her skin, hands and legs turned silver and claws grew, wings sprout from her back as the chains restricting her moments were broken. *Ding. Dragon princess got enraged and broke free. *Ding. You receive a mandatory quest. Description: Stop the Dragon princess before she escapes from the Island. Reward: Unknown Quest conditions: Reduce Dragon princess'' hp to 50%. *Ding. The quest has been accepted automatically. Dragon princess, Averil Grade: Legendary Status: partial transformed Hp: 1.32 Billion Description: Runaway princess of the Dragon clan. Looking at her stats, Wil mumbled, "good. At this stage, I can stop her with ease. Well, as long as she doesn''t fully transform into a dragon F**k" *Ding. Dragon princess is going to transform into her original form. Soon, the stats on her replaced with new numbers as she transformed into her final Dragon form just after a couple of seconds after getting free. "Damn, this Dragon clearly not following the script," grumbled Wil as he inspected her new stats. Dragon princess, Averil Grade: Legendary Status: Original form Level: 400 Hp: 31.2 Billion As the Dragon started breathing out the hot fiery flames, intending to turn him into ash, Wil smirked, "looks like you are too hot in your head. Let me cool it for you..." "Absolute freeze" The floor below his start to freeze and quickly, within a second, the flames extinguished while the Dragon was frozen on the spot and stood there like a statue. "Okay, I only have 50 seconds to go" Meanwhile, Wil quickly equipped the bow and shot an arrow towards it. As the arrow tried to pierce the dragon, it hit the flesh and broken into two while "1" appeared above its head. "Ah I forgot that it will have 200% crt resist. It is almost impossible to land a critical hit. Let''s try with this" Then, Wil shot an Ice arrow and even this time, as he saw the result remained the same, a frown appeared on Wil, "that attack alone has 270 million of damage. Even, that wasn''t enough? Did it have damage decrease buff or something? Ah, I forgot about its Pierce resist. Level 300and above grade monsters usually have Pierce resist." "Summon Golem, attack mode." Following the orders of Wil, as the Golem punched the frozen dragon and took off 180 million, Wil ordered it to remain standby and nodded as he looked at it, "50% decrease damage buff, if I consider it''s Pierce resist is damn high well, never matter. Now that I got it, it''s time to finish the quest." Calculating the overall damage in his mind, Wil raised his hands towards it, and spoke, "Heavenly push, 1000 mana" A heavy wind force erupted from Wil''s hands and hit the frozen Dragon princess at a close range and blasted it off towards one of the walls. *Critical hit* "72,320,561,232" "Eh" Wil stared at the heaps of items in a daze as several notifications popped up in his mind continuously. *Ding. You killed the Dragon princess. You received 930 million exp. *Ding. You reached the maximum level. You gained 0 exp. *Ding. You killed the Dragon princess. Quest is failed. *Ding. You are marked as an enemy to the Dragon Clan. "What the..." Chapter 133: Changing Race *Ding. The imperial Dragon sword returned to its owner. The letter was discarded from the inventory. *Ding. Mirella''s favorability decreases by 5. *Ding. Dragon princess died. The main story quest of Llyne Kingdom will take into a different turn. *F**k. I messed it up. That damn 20% chance of critical hit appeared at such a worst time. Sorry Mirella, looks like you have to mourn for your mother, today. Damn why is that becoming too strong also causes a problem What a waste of trip my favorability my wish I just decided to ask the port after I return" His eyes turned in a rage as he bellowed in anger, "I''ll wipe those rebels out of existence once I return to the city" Just then, suddenly, the bow in his hand started to shake vigorously before it fell onto the ground. As he was about to pick it up, it suddenly hovered in the air on its own as another notification rang in his ears "What the" *Ding. The spirit of the Dragon princess possessed the Seraph''s bow, temporarily. Just then, the bow lost the power and fell onto the ground before several light particles gathered to form a spirit that''s identical to that of Dragon princess, only that she was much younger, in the form of a teenager. As Wil jumped back in reflex, the teenage dragon princess bowed lightly, "I thank you savior for freeing me from that depraved life form of mine filled with nothing but grief and hatred. I want to give you something in return. Say, do you wish to become a Dragon?" *Ding. You received a quest. Description: For freeing her spirit from the mortal body, the spirit of Averil wishes to reward. But, she has no treasures to give you in return. So, she offers you the power to become a Dragon. Rewards: Change your race into Half-Dragon and Half-Angel. "Hybrid race? Isn''t that supposed to arrive last, after the Valkyries, Vampires, and Werewolves? No, it isn''t exactly a Hybrid race but similar to it since it was only available for humans. Getting such an overpowered race at such an early stage can essentially help my goal for sure but the only issue is its exp needed to level up will be twice than usual. If I summon Felix and share my exp, then, it''ll be even harder for me to level up. Not to mention, I will be losing the 20% race buff But, the stats increase during the transformation can make up for that. Although I won''t lose my divinity, still Argh What am I thinking so deeply for I''m 200 levels lower than Averil and yet, I have beaten her" After thinking for a long time about the pros and cons, Wil calmly nodded, "sure. I accept." Upon hearing his response, Averil smiled, "Good. Here I go" Averil floated in front of him and put her hand on his hand before reciting her native Dragon language. For the process to go smoothly, Wil didn''t put any resistance and accepted the magic energy that''s flowing through his body while changing his body composition to change his race. But, suddenly in the middle of the ceremony, the magic energy flow stopped and he received a notification. *Ding. The process has been interrupted by Averil. The race change failed. "Huh What happened?" asked Wil with a surprised look on his face as he was expecting it would be finished soon. With a look of exhaustion on her face and the increase of transparency of the spirit, she apologized, "I''m sorry. It looks like my spiritual power isn''t enough to turn you into one" Just when Wil was disappointed and about to say, ''It''s fine'', he quickly swallowed the words as he heard her say, "However, there is a way" "Hmm, what is it?" asked Wil. Averil didn''t reply this time and entered the bow once again. *Ding. Averil wishes to merge with the bow. Accept? "Eh? A Spiritual bow? Like that famed Excalibur of SupremeConqueror''s?" As Wil pressed on accept, the bow started to glow for a while before teleporting into his hand while Averil appeared once again, this time, in her youthful appearance from the story mode. Without waiting for even a second, once again, she activated the ceremony. While a tremendous amount of magic energy began to flow through Wil, the person in question was busy admiring his bow while inspecting its stats. Seraph''s Dragon Bow (Bound) Level: 200 (max 500) Grade: Mythic- Class: Elementalist Attack: 5533813 Critical rate: 175% Pierce: 80% Critical Damage: 80% Casting/Attack Speed: 80% Increase Damage: 35% Mana: 150% Hp: 100% Skill 1: Ignores the defense of the enemy upon critical hit. Skill 2: Absorbs 50% of exp gained by the user and level up. "What the 50%, Oh, damn I f****d up" In an instant, all of his happiness drained away as Wil realized that his exp gain is now only one fourth, and his share will even drop to one-eighth if he summons Felix or he was in a party with someone else "Sigh I don''t know whether to laugh or cry, now. On one side, I gain tremendous strength and on the other side, I have to work even harder and spend so much time on leveling from now onwards Wait a second. If I got stronger, can''t I just hunt high-level monsters and" *Ding. The ceremony is finished. Your race is changed to Half-Angel, Half-Dragon. *Ding. Dragon mode is added to the skill panel. *Ding. New skills added to the Dragon mode. *Ding. Angel race passive buff is removed. While nothing changed in his appearance overall, Wil felt a little bit of rage in his heart as if he wants to go out there and kill the players for no reason. Calming down himself, he opened the skill panel and inspected the Dragon mode. Dragon mode: Partial Transformation: Transform into a humanoid dragon and increase your attack, defense, speed, and HP by 20%. Full Transformation: Transform into a complete dragon and increase your attack, hp, speed, and defense by 50%. Active skills: Dragon Breath: Breathe out the flames from your mouth and turn your enemy into a crisp with a 120% attack (240% for Full Dragon). CD: 0 seconds. Range: 30 meters. Cost: 10 mana per second. Dragon punch: Gather magic energy in your hands and punch your enemy with a 150% attack (300% for Full Dragon). CD: 30 seconds. Cost: 20 mana. Dragon''s Roar: Roar with all of you might, decreasing the incoming damage, you and your allies receive by 20% (40% for Full Dragon). Passive skills: Fly: As a Dragon, you can fly without spending mana. Partial transformation: Transform into a humanoid dragon. All the skills from the angelic form are available to use. Full Transformation: Transform into a fully-grown dragon. Can''t use the skills from the angelic form. Race: Dragon race creatures in the wild that aren''t under the control of the players will not be hostile. "Hmm, not bad but compared to my other skills, they pale in comparison. So, it might not be much use to me, at least, right now. Perhaps after a year when the Dragon Kingdom opens Oh, I almost forgot about the drops. Let''s see" *** Llyne City; At a restaurant that belongs to the Starlight guild, Rigel and Starlight are once again having a discussion about the terms they were going to put for an alliance with the Scarlet guild. "No, Rigel. This kind of terms will be rejected on the spot. If we want to set the terms, we have to be in a position to do that. You saw how powerful he is. Even 7000 elites of Dreamwalkers can''t even defeat him. Our Elite strength is more or less the same as them. That''s why we had to be more submissive, right now." Upon hearing Starlight''s opinion, Rigel asked, "so, what is your plan?" Starlight smiled, "I will gift the town scroll expressing my goodwill and then, Starlight will withdraw from the eight cities in exchange for control in the capital city." "What" "Guild Leader, are you crazy. How can you give up a town scroll that we acquired with so much of difficulty?" asked Rigel as he stood up and slammed the table with both of his hands in a little bit of anger, making the chair fell from the impact while the food on the plate didn''t even move an inch, surprisingly. As his actions attracted attention from a few players as well as the natives nearby, Starlight gestured him to sit down, "calm down, Rigel. It''s just a town scroll. If I can get one, then, I can get another" "B***s**t. To buy that scroll, we didn''t even put anything in the guild store and traded all the equipment in the guild shop in exchange for fame. You even lost the chance to become an Earl. And now, you want to give it to Time Traveler just a sign of goodwill? This time, I won''t accept your decision. Did you forget that it''s our hope of " Rigel scolded his guild leader for a while before Starlight interrupted him with a serious tone, this time, "I told you to calm down Rigel. Hear me out, first." Looking at Starlight''s expression, as Rigel quickly sat down obediently, Starlight continued with his explanation. As time passes on, Rigel''s facial expression changed from displeasure to calmness and then to amazement. "I''m really sorry, guild leader. I just" Starlight waved his hands with a smile, "I know. I can understand that you are frustrated because you worked very hard to collect equipment to help me in acquiring that scroll while I was busy with WBT. I really thank you for that but, we need Time Traveler on our side more than this simple scroll." "Guild Leader, I" Rigel sighed as he doesn''t know what to say as he was frustrated not because he worked hard for it but he felt the town''s scroll will solve all of their problems with funding. Once it was constructed, they no longer have to depend on the funds sent by their parent company. That was what he wants to say but in the end, Rigel didn''t bother to clear the misunderstanding and nodded, "yeah. That''s true." Meanwhile, at the Marsh Islands; Wil flapped his wings and dodged aside as the giant shark attempted to snap him with its sharp teeth while Felix was sitting on the beach, watching the battle and occasionally helping Wil with ''Bark'' skill. Aiming at its mouth, Wil conjured an ice arrow before shooting at the target. As the ice arrow about to pierce through its mouth, it forcefully changed its direction a little at the last second and the arrow pierced one of the teeth before activating the freezing effect, which didn''t last even half a second. Looking at the cooldown time of Heavenly push skill, Wil sighed, "It''s still more than 20 minutes away and I can''t use Golem in waters." Suddenly, as something clicked in his mind, "How about trying that new skill? I have the perfect partner to test it on." "Activate Dragon mode, partial Transformation." Chapter 134: Losing Book of Destiny "Activate Dragon mode, partial Transformation." As soon as he activated the dragon mode, Wil''s angel wings disappeared and Greenish-Silver dragon wings sprouted from his back, emerald scales started covering his skin on hands and legs and sharp claws grew from his four limbs just like the dragon princess. "Whoa this feels amazing," Wil played with the retractable claws for a couple of seconds before flapping his wings in reflex to dodge the shark that tried to bite him and then, gave a solid punch to the left cheek. "1,053,123,598" Receiving a hard punch, Helico was blown away for a couple of meters and drowned in the water for a while before it flapped its tail and swum upwards to the surface of the water again while gathering magic energy towards its fin. "That felt good," nodded Wil in satisfaction as he stared at his fist with a smile but it didn''t stay long on his face as he saw the fin on its back started glowing and he turned serious. As Helico charged up, it suddenly shot a giant water bomb towards him. Looking at the giant water bomb, Wil flapped his wings and dashed to the left to dodge it but just as he dodged the attack, he saw another water bomb was on its way. Having no time to dodge, Wil spoke, "Activate, Metal Armor." As the magic started to gather on Wil''s body and then turned his body into Steel, the water bomb hit his body. "-7,562,312,532" *Gasp* "What a beast Just one more attack will kill me for sure There''s still 10 minutes left for the cooldown to reset. What should I do now? Should I give up and return? Nah, I can finish it as long as I can freeze it. Yeah, let''s just finish this with Absolute freeze F**k" While he was in the middle of thinking of a plan, another water bomb was fired by the shark while its fin lost its glow. "Activate, Invincibility," shouted Wil and activated the skill using the medallion before flying straight towards the shark while ignoring the water bomb that was almost in front of him. "-0" With a golden energy barrier covering over him, the damage was nullified, and Wil, who almost reached 5m in the range, spoke, "let''s finish this." "Absolute Free Eh?" Unlike the dragon princess, this native species of the ocean that have high survival instincts, instantly dived into the ocean with high speed, trying to escape with the range as soon as he about to freeze his surroundings while leaving Wil stupefied for a second before grinning, "you won''t be able to escape it, though." *Ting *Ting* Ting* A couple of seconds later, Wil knocked it as he landed on the frozen surface, "Hmm, I don''t think this can be broken. I forgot to consider the landscape. Looks like this skill is also useless in the battle against sea creatures." "Lad, I feel something ominous." Suddenly, Wil heard a gentle yet matured voice from the bow, which made him almost jumped up in reflex. "You can talk to me in my mind?" asked Wil as he raised the bow at his eye level and looked at it in surprise. The spirit of Averil, who was inside the bow replied, "I guess it might because of the connection between us through this mighty bow. It''s really strange though. I feel very much alive and at the same time dead... Anyway, that''s not important. From a while ago, I''m feeling that a..." Without finishing her explanation, she suddenly shouted, "watch out..." "Huh?" As a very powerful loud sound of water splash heard from his behind and loomed a giant shadow over the wide range, Wil turned only to see a part of gigantic beast crashing on to him and broke the ice along with killing the Giant Shark before continuing its way. *Critical hit*"-2,508,291,635,875." *Ding. You died. *Ding. You were killed by the Deep Sea Whale King. As he resurrected at Deloris town''s temple, the players that were resurrected at the resurrection temple or just arrived at the teleportation point from other cities found Wil stood there standing in a daze. Meanwhile, Wil was shaken to the core after looking at the two notifications, "two two trillion of damage? Is that the rumored overlord of the ocean, level-500 mythic grade beast? Ocean is scary indeed," but soon as the remaining notification arrived, his expression changed *Ding. Felix returned to pet inventory *Ding. Your exp decreased by 7.9 million *Ding. The Book of Destiny is dropped. "My Book Book of Destiny was dropped into the ocean" Wil''s face reddened and an angry roar escaped from his mouth, "you f**k**g damn Whale I''ll hunt you down to the ends of the world" Meanwhile, the players flinched and hurriedly run away from there, fearing that he will take out his anger on them after realizing his identity with that prince outfit on him. Just then, he received a message from SnowDew, which made him almost forgot his rage as he read the letter with surprise. "Hall of the Demi-Gods? Supreme Conqueror and Solar bypassed the barriers? Nah, that''s impossible. There isn''t an item that can do that." Wil immediately sent a reply to SnowDew. Time Traveler: I guess you might have landed in the neutral realm. There are a few places like them exist that were connected to all the kingdoms. As for Valkyrie, and Neo-Hybrid, I think they are just a different race. After sending the reply to SnowDew, he mumbled with a frown, "Hall of Demi-gods, huh I should go and take a look at it. Before that, I should find my book of destiny. Even if it dropped into the ocean, I can find it with the bubble skill. Let''s just use all the skill points on it to maximize it and hope that the Book wasn''t swallowed by some legendary grade beast nearby. And if the worst thing happens" Wil''s eyes turned cold as he tightened his fist, "it doesn''t matter how long it takes. I''ll massacre every oceanic beast if I have to find in the drops" Meanwhile, near the Marsh Islands; A book was floating on the vast ocean without any direction following the flow of water. Suddenly, it started spinning around in a spiral direction as a large whirlpool appeared and slowly sunk along with several creatures on the way. In the depths of the ocean where there is no speck of light, a small dark blue stone is sitting on the ocean bed at the source of whirlpool while absorbing all the water and heroic grade and lower creatures into it. Slowly, as everything sucked into it, the stone started glowing in this pitch darkness, illuminating its surroundings while growing its size into a giant rock. After a while, as the book was absorbed into it, the rock started to change into a strange blue creature while the whirlpool disappeared. Standing on the top of the ocean bed, it stared at its hands and feet for a while before mumbling, "What''s this inside my head Fireball Gravity Suppression Absolute freeze Golem Are these my inherent abilities?" It raised its hand towards the front and unlike Wil''s that would freeze his surroundings, the ice released from its hand, froze hundreds of meters to the direction it was pointing in an extremely controlled manner. A grin appeared on its face as it glanced at its hands, revealing sharp teeth, "this feels amazing. I wish to know who am I, what am I, what can I do, what do..." but then, all of a sudden, chains erupted from the ground and restricted all of its movements before its vision blacked out and then, turned into an unmovable glowing blue rock once again but with chains around it. In front of it, stood a little girl in traditional clothes with an exhausted expression on her face. After checking nothing''s wrong with the rock anymore, she mumbled, "I was right to place attention on him. Sigh these humans with legend class are making me work too much, especially that Williard. I already have enough with managing everything and now, new variables are arriving one by one. Maybe, I should ask Dr. Mac for assistants Although, I wonder how he knows about those two races. Strangely, he knows so much about the game I should follow his movements more carefully " Aria turned her head and looked towards a specific direction where Llyne kingdom is located far away *** Wular City, Eastern continent; In the empty streets of the city of Wular, Luoyang was walking with exhaustion perfectly written on her face while carrying a heavy suitcase, feeling angry at her self, "what a dumb brain How did I even think that the transport fees required will be the same as 12 years ago Forget about Yarlford, I didn''t even cross half of the Eastern continent. First, I need enough money to get there. The money I have left can only save me from being hungry for one more day. Three at max, if I cut off my meals to once per day. Big brother said it''s easy to get a job in the city I wonder if any stores are hiring" As her stomach rumbled again, she grabbed her stomach, "ugh feeling hungry Hmm" She stopped suddenly as her ears moved a little and concentrated on the sound she just heard, "help mmp..." She looked around with a frown, "where is it?" As she closed her eyes, quickly, the sounds of the wind, chirping of the birds, or the sounds of vehicles on the road in another street, completely disappeared one by one and once again, she heard a light sound of "mmpf..." like the sound of someone that is shouting with all their strength but unable to do so as their mouth was closed for some reason. Following the direction of the voice, she reached a dark alley that''s three blocks away from where she saw two men are grabbing a young woman, who is in her early twenties while her dress was torn in several places. As one of them closed her mouth tightly and grabbed her arm and the other one is about to commit the deed, all of a sudden, a large suitcase was hit on his legs and just when all three of them about to fell on the ground, losing their balance, suddenly, he felt jab on his neck and in the blink of an eye, a heavy kick was planted in his private parts and got crashed on to the ground before fainting. "It''s okay, you are alright, now." Looking at the lady, who fell on top of one of them, Luoyang gave her hand to pull her up and comforted her for a while and gave her clothes from the luggage she was carrying before her stomach rumbled again Chapter 135: Deal with Dexter Antolov part 1 *Ding. Your account has been credited with 3,600,000,000 Credits (360 million WD). "It''s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr.Shen Yating," Wil disconnected the call and then, wrote a letter and stamp it with the seal while sitting in his office at Deloris town before sending his assistant to the prison to release the captured elites of Dreamwalkers. "Hmm, it looks like he indeed can afford to pay such an amount, although I wonder why he didn''t choose the second option. Anyway, it doesn''t matter. White Tiger is almost finished by now" Wil then clicked on Shadow Blade in his Friends list and send a message. Time Traveler: Aster, how things are going with Heibei Corp? Shadow Blade: We got the list from Ms. Long Jing in exchange for the director position at our SGC. Our boys are currently in talks with them. Until now, our total shares in the company increased to 33%. By the evening, we can take over it. Meanwhile, Lu Heibei invested 50 million into the company, trying to bring stability. Time Traveler: Looks like Wen did her job. It''s our time to hold our promise and finish the deal at our end. Inform her, Mr. Jordon will talk to the Bank manager about their loan. If necessary, put our company name as the guarantor. It''s just 200 million dollars, nothing much to think about it. Shadow Blade: Understood, Young Master. After things with Looking at the account balance in his personal account, Wil widely smiled with satisfaction, "10 Billion dollars... Combining Dad''s account in Federation Bank, it''ll be 26 Billion Dollars in total Just the interest alone will give 25 million dollars per week. Nah, let''s just put dad''s money away and keep a Billion as pocket money for myself. The remaining can be used to buy shares in companies like Zen, Artico, Rinert, etc The first thing I should do is to invest in Zen. Once their new OS hits the market, I''ll be reaping billions of dollars in return. Come to think of it, they should still be a startup company at this time, right? Hmm or is it last year? I should ask Aster to research about it, later." *** Scarlet Gaming Corp., Ares city; In the training room, more than a hundred trainees gathered before the trainer in two groups while ten elites are standing behind her. Rachel clapped, "ok, your training week is finished as of now. Before we proceed, higher-ups want me to inform you guys about something. All of you will start your work here. 91st to 110th floors are assigned including your lodging, gym, training rooms, entertainment zone, etc And you are prohibited to roam outside of those floors. If you wish to stay here, you can move in by Sunday evening or you can also stay outside if you wish for more freedom but no House rental allowance is provided. Anyway, let''s move on to the task. As I have mentioned before, those who got less scores in the interview can take this test and move up the grade. But I should warn you, though. If you take the test, you can even fall into a lower grade. So, think carefully before choosing." As everyone nodded seriously, Rachel then continued, "non-combat group. Your test will be conducted inside the game during the next week. So, you can relax for now. And Combat group, those who aren''t ready to challenge this test, please go to the side and stand with them. You have ten minutes to think." As a few people went to the side, giving up the test, a smile appeared on Rachel as she looked at the remaining 32 people, "there are more people than I expected. Okay, let me explain to you what the final test will be on. You can see the ten people standing behind me, right? They''ll be the ones who will fight against you. Each of them is an expert in each category. You are free to choose whether it''s Archery, shooting, a direct brawl, weight lifting, etc All you have to do is to win against them. That''s all. If you win or draw, then you will receive a positive score. If you lose, then, the challenge fails and you will receive a negative score. And that score will be added to your interview scores First, Thea Step forward." *** Yarlford City; Unlike a typical day where everything is peaceful, this time, once again, the city has gone into unofficial lockdown as more than two dozen vehicles entered the city. While some people closed their doors and hide in their houses in fear, some quickly rushed to the airport, bus, or railway station to get out of the city as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the others are getting ready to get into action in case a war should erupt between the two gangs. While the police are busy keeping an eye on the Mansion for the same reason, two of the cars entered the compound, leaving the others outside. In one of the cars, a 13-year-old girl tugged his sleeves in excitement, "mom, grandpa we are here. Wow, I have never seen so many guards in my life. They have even more than us and more handsome." "That''s because they are scared of your grandpa," Ignoring her last comment, The 72-year-old man Dexter said with pride as he caressed her head lovingly with a smile but then, his smile froze as he heard the burly middle-aged man sitting in the front, saying, "Evie, don''t believe grandpa. He is lying. It''s because the Vulture gang is the strongest." Instantly, the old man gave a good smack on his head, "you ungrateful rascal How dare you undermine your dad... Would it kill you if you stay silent for a while? If you aren''t interested, then, don''t come with me." "Hmpf, do you think I''m here for your stupid deal. If not for you kidnapping my daughter, I wouldn''t even think of tagging along with you," replied the while folding his hands to the chest. "Kidnap? She''s my granddaughter, you f**k**g..." "Father in law, language," interrupted a beautiful woman who looks like she''s only in her late twenties even though she''s in forties, "and you too honey, don''t argue here. After all, we are in enemy territory." Hearing her words brought the old man to his senses and remembered that a kid is sitting beside him. Dexter cleared his throat, "tell your husband to not open his mouth before that kid. This deal is extremely important to me. I won''t forgive anyone if they mess it up, even if he''s my son." "Well, as long as Evie stays beside me," replied the son, shrugging his shoulders. Just then, the guards opened the door for him, and he stepped outside the car before going through security checks. Stepping inside the Mansion, Dexter spoke to himself in his mind, "Father, after nearly half a century, this unfilial son of yours will finally reclaim our Antolov family''s honor. The next step will be the destruction of the Federation and revive the Monarchism. Before that, I need to find that last living heir of the Tristan family. As they took their seat and was served juice, "Where is your young master?" Dexter asked Silver who received them in place of Wil. "He''s still in the shower. We didn''t expect you to arrive so early. Wait for a while," replied Silver indifferently; clearly intending he doesn''t have any intention to play as a host. Upon hearing him, as Dexter tightened his fist, and a frown appeared on his daughter-in-law, his son, on the other hand, lightly smiled while mumbling, "Serves him right. What he is expecting his enemies to do" Meanwhile, drinking the mango juice through the straw, the little girl looked around curiously and then, said to her dad, who was sitting beside her, "Dad, I like this house." Upon hearing her comment, as Silver smiled, Dexter, on the other hand, replied, "Then, grandpa will buy it for you. How about it?" Instantly, the smile on Silver froze and replaced with a frown. Just when he was about to reply, instead of words, a peal of stifled laughter escape from his mouth as the little continued, "Grandpa''s house is also big but it''s kinda gloomy like some Vampire''s castle in the game." Silver quickly turned around and controlled his laughter while the expression on Dexter changed. "Isn''t it? I knew Evie will always think like dad," replied her dad. "Well, that was built several centuries ago, sweetie. It''s where you''re ancestors governed the entire western continent. You shouldn''t call it like that. And honey, please stop refraining from" As her mother tried to lecture both of them while Dexter was trying to control his temper, Silver glanced at them from the corner of his eyes and smiled in amusement, "the great Dexter Antolov who strike the fear even among the ministers of the government was getting roasted by his own son." Right then, everyone heard the footsteps and turned their heads to the right to see Wil was climbing down the stairs in his casual wear. Looking at him, the little girl''s eyes lit up in delight, "Wah, this big brother is also handsome" But, all of the sudden, they saw Wil stopped moving and stood in the middle of the stairs for a second with a surprised look before continuing to walk down "Hello there, Mr. Antolov. It''s the third time we meet this week," commented Wil as he shook his hands with a smile. "Well, I believe this is going to be the last time. So, no need to worry about meeting me again," replied Dexter and then pointed towards his family, "this is my daughter-in-law Jasmine, my eldest son Reuben, and this is my granddaughter, Evie." Chapter 136: Deal with Dexter Antolov part 2 After finishing the lunch, as the family of three touring around the Mansion along with Storm, meanwhile, Dexter and Wil sat before each other, engaging in negotiation. "No, we can compromise on the value on Shipyard and the stadium but not the land in pregas city. Even if you don''t do anything, its value is bound to rise several times within a few years. Asking for double is a loss for us," said Silver to the negotiator who sat beside Dexter. Upon hearing him, Wil nodded, "I agree with him. After all, you should know the biggest advantage you will have, once you own the land. The relationship with the Western Trade Center..." While Dexter stayed calm as if he was expected of the reaction, the negotiator replied, "of course, we knew that. That''s why we are offering money and the land in other places of equal in return." Silver shook his head, "no, we decided not to have anything to do with the western continent after we sell everything." Just when Negotiator about to speak, Dexter raised his hands to stop him and then, looked at Wil, "I''ll increase half a fold more and pay two and a half times the price for the land in the city of Pregas if you decide to add the island in the list. You already decided to leave. So, why keep that island. Sell it to me." "Eh?" "It''s not a simple private island for us" As a frown appeared on Silver, Deter interrupted him, "I know. But, you are wasting such a good strategic location for some graveyard. I''ll buy that and develop into something more productive. You can just shift the graveyard somewhere else. Not a big deal" "Mind your words, Antolov. Remember where you are right now," growled Silver as he stood up in anger and put his hand inside the coat to pull out the gun. While the negotiator''s face paled in fear, suddenly, Silver''s hand was caught from behind, "Silver, please calm down. He''s here as a guest, now." Then, he turned his head towards Dexter and replied calmly, "I''ll consider your offer if you wish to pay the same price as the land at pregas city in today''s value. 1152 dollars/sq.feet" "You" Ignoring the expression on Dexter, Wil continued, "Well, I''m always ready to sell at the quoted price. You can buy it whenever you want in the future." *** Federation Bank, Ares City; A door was suddenly opened with a great force that slammed against the cabin. The branch manager, who was leisurely eating instant noodles asked, "What are you panicking for... Did an important person run away without paying back the loan, again?" "Sir, we detected two huge transactions taken place, just now," said the operations manager to the Bank manager while breathing hard. "Okay, first take a deep breath," advised the Bank manager and then slurped the noodles once again, "so, how much is it? 1 Billion? 5 Billion? Don''t tell me it''s 10 Billion yuan..." Taking a deep breath, the operations manager replied, "190 Billion, sir." "Huh Come again?" The noodles fell down on the desk as the Branch manager stopped eating and opened his mouth big. "Hundred and ninety billion dollars in total, Sir. In the first transaction, we don''t know the receiver because of the confidentiality of IC Bank but the sender is someone named Dexter Antolov, who sent 150 Billion dollars. The strange thing is that the second transaction took place just a minute after the first where the sender from IC Bank is unknown but the receiver is Williard Ravens. He received 39.5 Billion Dollars. One more thing is that Mr. Ravens also received huge amounts like 3.5 Billion dollars just in the morning and another 5 Billion, yesterday. I believe something is fishy is going on. Should we" Upon hearing the details, instead of getting serious, the manager sighed in relief and leaned back to the chair, "don''t need to investigate the source. I''m the one who sanctioned a 250 Billion Yuan loan to Mr. Antolov. And your suspicion is probably right. There might be a deal going on between the two of them. But we don''t need to worry about Mr. Ravens though. He''s the chairman of Scarlet. Not to mention, with this deposit, He already became the biggest depositor of our bank with 100 Billion Yuan. What if he withdrew his funds if he finds out we initiated the investigation Just close your eyes and ignore the matter." Back to the Ravens'' Mansion, looking at the bank alert on his mobile phone, Wil shook his hands with Dexter with a smile, "pleasure doing business with you." FD Bank Alert: Your account is credited with 39,500,000,000 WD. Meanwhile, Storm and the three members of the Antolov family returned from their house tour. Looking at his grand-daughter, Dexter smiled, "did you like the house?" Evie nodded with excitement, "I like it very much, grandpa. Did you know they have this bowling center on the 3rd floor? And there''s also a basketball court behind the building? You should install things like these at our Mansion, grandpa. Ah, by the way..." The girl then turned towards Wil and asked, "Big Brother, I saw Summersoft capsule in the room. Did you also play War Online?" As Wil looked at Storm as if he was asking ''why he let them inside his room'', the latter just turned his head away in response, feeling a little bit ashamed of his weakness for kids. Controlling his expression, Wil then replied to Evie indifferently, "not really. I tried it for a while after our company started hiring pro gamers but it''s not much interesting to me." Meanwhile, Dexter''s son, Reuben Antolov kept on staring at Wil in silence while thinking, "This feeling is very similar. That''s right; this kid gives the same vibe as TimeTraveler. Both their way of talking is also a bit similar, isn''t it? Nah, I might be thinking like that is probably because of their connection to Scarlet. Didn''t Evie already mention that Time Traveler is the owner of the Scarlet Apartments? Not to mention, both appearances and ages are very different, although one can change them during the character creation. Nah, this kid with a diamond spoon won''t bother to do that." *** *Welcome to War Online* Sending the guests away, Wil went back to the capsule and logged in before teleporting to the imperial city to meet the King and report the matter. *Yawn* "What a good sleep. Morning, lad. Where are you going by the way..." As Wil heard a voice from his back, he equipped the bow in his hand and replied, "To the palace." "Oh... I see." Glancing at the bow, Wil asked in wonder, "what happened? You sound a bit low. Don''t you like to see your daughter?" But as there was no response from Averil, Wil remembered the hate in her eyes upon mentioning she became the king. So, he didn''t ask her further. After a long time, as the golden majestic Imperial palace came into their sight, a sigh escaped from the bow, "it''s nostalgic to go like this. The last time I walked on these streets with chains. Now, I''m here with possessing this bow. I guess restriction is a part of my life too." As the wielder of the bow, Wil wasn''t able to say anything in return as he too doesn''t want her to be free from his bow as it would bring down his stats. So, he changed the topic, "By the way, Averil. I never got to ask how you ended up there. According to what I know, you are imprisoned in Black Citadel?" "Sigh... It''s a long story. I''ll tell you later." Under the gazes of the people around who are staring at him like he''s some crazy fool for talking to a bow, Wil reached the Imperial Palace. A while later; "So, you are saying the prisoner escaped without reading the letter," asked Mirella with a frown as he reported it while adding a lie that Averil escaped instead of getting killed. *Ding. You received a mandatory quest. Description: You lied to the King which is a heavy sin. Don''t let Mirella find out the truth. Failure: Mirella''s favorability decreases by 20 At first, he was taken aback but still, Wil nodded seriously in confirmation and casually asked as if he has done nothing wrong, "Your Majesty, what should I do, right now?" But, Mirella didn''t respond in return as she went into her thoughts. Looking at her state, Wil stand aside in silence and waited for her. After a while, she opened her mouth, "if I''m right, Zuweth won''t be the only one to attack. There''s also Iylenore that hates our kingdom to the core. I don''t think they would miss this opportunity but it''s just a conjecture. I want you to find out their method of attack. *Ding. You received a quest. Description: The king wants you to infiltrate Rikilda''s Mansion and find out who the enemies are and how they are going to attack. Bring back the proof that can be used against them. Rewards: 20 million exp, 100 gold, 500 fame, 1 random legendary grade accessory box. *Ding. You received a quest item. Please check your inventory. "I''ll fulfill this mission, your majesty." Wil accepted the quest even though there''s not much of a reward. Accepting the quest, Wil then teleported to East Ocean city once again to fly towards the Ocean once again to fetch his Book of Destiny that was dropped into the ocean. Chapter 137: Wil meets Akiko One day later, as he reached the Marsh Islands once again, Wil dismissed the Pegasus and dived into the ocean while activating his bubble skill upon reaching the surface of the water. Bubble (max): Create a bubble around you to breathe and swim underwater without losing mana or stamina for 120 minutes. Cooldown: 1 day. Surrounded by the bubble, as Wil was slowly diving into the depths of the ocean, he found a creature that resembles an electric eel. Smelling the presence of an angel, as it hurriedly swam towards him, Wil unleashed Heavenly push skill, thereby killing but also several fishes that are minding their own business *Ding. You received 3.6m exp *Ding. You received 360k exp. *Ding. You received 390k exp. *Ding. You received 390k exp. *Ding. You received 3.9m exp. . . . *Ding. You received 360k exp. *Ding. You level up. *Ding. You reach the maximum level. Advance to 3* to receive exp again. As the drops submerged in the ocean, Wil didn''t bother to look for them and continue to dive until he reached the bottom of the ocean at 5800 meters, where not even a speck of light can be seen, although this isn''t a problem for Wil as he has night vision goggles on him. While the Bubble around him block all the pressure and flow of the water, Wil slowly started to walk while keeping his concentration on the ground to check if the book has hit the bottom or not. "Hmm, what is this?" Picking up a palm-sized white crystal, Wil inspected it. Crystalium Description: A crystal that is used in legendary or above grade equipment crafting. "Ohh... That''s awesome. I should collect these things as much as I can. Might come in handy in the future." After throwing it into the inventory, Wil continued his search. Two hours later; *splash* Wil reached the surface of the water in time as the bubble around him disappeared. Looking at the items in the inventory, Wil sighed, "only crafting materials. I would have been satisfied even if I found any treasure chest. On the other hand, no sign of the book, yet. Two possibilities. One is that it might have been swept far away. Second is that an oceanic creature swallowed it. But, since it is a legendary grade item, only the same grade or above creature has the ability to do that. Even if it''s a Heroic grade monster consume it, in the end, it will evolve to legendary grade." In that case, I need to find and kill all the legendary grade oceanic creatures in this region before someone else kills one and gets it from the drops." Glancing at the endless ocean before him, Wil sighed, "Man, times like these, I miss the feeling of being a Summoner..." Meanwhile at the Kingdom of Zuweth, while a huge army of soldiers boarded the warships under the leadership of a general, on the other hand, on a barren land at an unknown place, a group of players placed their palms on the ground while an Archangel is chanting some incantation in an unknown language. Then, a player, who was covering his face with a mask, placed a purple crystal in the middle of the seal. As soon as the stone was placed in the circle, the Giant seal underneath them began to glow for a while before the crystal started absorbing it before transforming into a purple portal. *** Griffin Kingdom, North Zalfari; *Ting.*Ting. "Did you find out their background?" asked Supreme Conqueror while training under a level-200 NPC on the training grounds. "No, we haven''t found them, yet. All the guilds in our city declined about those two. I think they might belong to one of the eight cities," replied one of their Vice-Generals, who handle information network. "I figured that much. An expert who can shoot two arrows at once couldn''t be unknown in our city. Contact the Galaxy-Net and ask for the information. Oh, and I''ll send you eleven NPC names. I also need info about them. The Vice-general nodded and left him alone with his training. Back to Wil who was trying to fly at a low altitude to attract the legendary grade creatures of the seam, finally discovered one after massacring lower grade monsters on the way. Otto, the Great queen Squid Grade: Legendary Level: 350 Hp: 21.2 Billion Dodging one of its arms, Wil shouted, "Did you swallow a book?" But, as the creature wasn''t interested in communicating and kept attacking him with a couple of long arms, Wil''s face turned serious as he raised his bow and conjured an ice arrow. "Since you refuse to answer, then, let me ask your dead body," mumbled Wil as he pulled the string as hard as he can. Just when he was about to release the arrow, a notification rang in his ears. *Ding. Someone sent you a text from the outside world. Silver: Young master, we''re done here. The flight is ready on the highway. As Wil paused for a second to read the message, suddenly, one of its arms rose from the water and attacked him from behind. "Careful, from behind," shouted the dragon princess from the bow. Upon hearing her warning, Wil directly flapped his wings to fly upwards and then used ''Short teleportation'' to increase the distance further, successfully dodging the ambush. "Thanks, Averil," whispered Wil before looking at the Giant squid, a hundred meters below him, "Let''s postpone your death, later." Getting out of the capsule after a day of flying and another 6 hours of playing, the first thing he did is to hit the shower while Silver and Storm are finished with packing the luggage to leave the house and the city for good. Meanwhile, at a high-class hotel in the city of Leafway, Kiyumi was moving back and forth while looking at her watch. *Ring. *Ring. "Hello, Mr. Silver. Okay, thank you. We''ll be there on time. C''mon, it''s not a trouble at all. After all, Mr. Ravens should understand our sincerity, right? Yes, thank you for understanding." Disconnecting the call, Kiyumi turned around and saw Akiko was busy drawing some graphs on the tablet while listening to songs through headphones, not paying any attention to her sister''s presence from the moment they checked in the hotel. Kiyumi took her headphones away after calling for a couple of times and then said, "Your hubby is already on his way." "I got it," Akiko nodded and keep the headphones again before continuing her work. "This girl" poking the tongue lightly into the cheek and inhaling a long breath, Kiyumi quickly snatched the headphones and said, "Let''s go out shopping. You can continue your project, later. Come on." A few hours later, after dragging her sister for shopping, upon Akiko''s request, both of them went to Manchong Street for street food to try something new while their bodyguard continued to follow them. "Kiyumi-Nee, look at that," said Akiko as she stared at a large crowd before a stall. "Oh, that looks incredibly popular," commented Kiyumi before turning toward their bodyguard, "Shohei-san, go and check it out. Bring their popular dish." "But, Miyazaki-sama" As the bodyguard hesitated as he looked around the horde of people walking around, Kiyumi assured him, "go, we''ll be fine." "How about you two sit in the car. I''ll go and bring every dish from all the stalls," said the bodyguard, clearly willing not to leave them alone. Hearing his words, Kiyumi frowned, "What''s the use of coming here, then. Just go and bring it. I told you we''ll stay here, right?" Looking at the bodyguard nodded and joined the crowd, struggling to move forward, Kiyumi''s lips curled up, "Aki-chan, see even our Elite bodyguard is useless mere civilians when it comes to things like these. This is the power of the numbers. You know Federation is discussing whether to increase people''s vote to 50% in the next elections Huh?" Kiyumi turned around only to see Akiko missing. Meanwhile at an Ice cream cart, "one vanilla, one strawberry, and mint chocolate chip, please" As the ice cream is handing over the ice creams to the girls, Akiko reached there and asked, "Excuse me. One mint chocolate chip flavor." "Uhh Sorry miss. This was the last one," replied the vendor as he handed the last one to the girl. Looking at the girls, Akiko called out, "Excuse me." As they turned towards her, she glanced at the ice-cream on the oldest girl''s hand, and asked, "Can you give me that, please?" "Sorry but I love this flavor," replied the girl before turning around. "Wait. I''ll pay you, double the amount. No, how about triple?" This time the girl didn''t even turn and licked it before replying, "in this world, there are a few things that can''t be bought with money. One of them is this ice cream... Mmm... Delicious," and walked away with her two sisters, leaving Akiko in disappointment and a little bit angry. "What a rude girl," mumbled Akiko before turning towards the vendor and asked while looking at the menu card, "Do you have Black Raspberry chocolate chip, not the cone but the box?" *Ring.*Ring. As the vendor nodded, she replied, "1 Liter, please. Thank you," and then, picked up the call, "Kiyumi-Nee Ah, Sorry No, I wasn''t roaming around. Just at the ice cream cart nearby why should I care about what the bodyguard thinks... Okay, fine." Meanwhile, one of the three girls asked, "Do you need to be that rude with her?" The eldest one snorted, "hmpf, one glance at her and you can release, she''s a pampered rich girl. Those rich girls often lack humility and think everything can be bought with money." "Well, you are close with Wil, though," commented Jiwon, to which Hyori defended herself with, "Nah, he''s different. He might have some personality issues, but he never bragged about having money or something." Jiwon shook her head with a sigh. Chapter 138: Wil meets Akiko part 2 Leafway City Airport; In the evening, as the airport got busy with thousands of passengers, two eastern beauties continue to wait at the gate along with their bodyguard even though the Federation put a prohibition on allowing non-passengers. While Kiyumi becoming anxious and kept on enquiring about the flight delay, Akiko, on the other hand, continue to draw with the stylus once again. 1 hour later; Looking at her, Akiko giggled as she finished the graph, "Look at you, Kiyumi-Nee, you look like you are waiting for your hubby who is returning from the war." "Put the tablet away." Snatching the tablet away from her, Kiyumi grumbled, "You don''t know how lucky you are, actually." Akiko, who heard it, replied sarcastically, "yeah, right. I wasn''t even given the right to choose my own decisions until now. What a lucky girl I am." But just then, as she found Kiyumi''s expression changed, Akiko quickly diverted the topic, "Anyway, I want to ask you this question for a while. Why are so intent on marrying me? I get that you want to form an alliance with Time Traveler and mom wants to form a strong alliance with Scarlet. But, I don''t understand why both of you are in a hurry" "Hmpf, what do you know. If you hear about the details of the deal that just went a day ago, you would faint on the spot. Thank me that I''m bearing all the pressure for you," snorted Kiyumi as she inquired about the flight once again without replying to her. After a while, as the flight landed, followed by Silver and Storm, Wil exited through the gate and instantly, an annoyed look appeared on his face as he grumbled, "How the hell did she know about my arrival. I even changed to a passenger flight at the last minute. Eh? That girl" As Wil glanced at Akiko from far, just for that one moment, his negatives thoughts flushed away from his mind replaced by only a single thought as he paused in his tracks for a couple of seconds, "wow, she looks more beautiful than in her picture, especially with those bangs on the front. Suits her very much, although comparing to that annoying eldest sister, still pales in comparison." But, that thought didn''t stay for long and replaced by a frown instead as he heard, Storm, asking curiously, "Silver, aren''t we supposed to pick up by someone named Aster? Why are they here?" Upon hearing his question, as Wil quickly turned his head around and stared at Silver with a questionable look, gesturing him to answer, Silver laughed nervously before looking elsewhere, not willing to look into Wil''s eyes, "I wonder about that too." "What an insincere answer. Can''t believe this guy is also involved in this matchmaking behind my back, Sigh" Wil sighed and turned his head while continuing to walk towards them, "Forget it." *** Aynor Continent; As the darkness loomed over everywhere in the virtual world of War Online because of the new moon, inside of an abandoned castle, as a demon race player blocked the enemy''s attack, the other one stabbed the vampire''s neck from behind the back, thereby killing him before proceeding towards the stairs that lead to the underground with fire torches in their hands. "Eh?" Looking at dozens of tombs that were packed together tightly without much space to walk, "shouldn''t there be only one tomb belongs to their ancestor?" asked Freddie as they almost reach the bottom of the stairs. "Well, usually in this setting, one will be the right one and the rest are traps," replied Rylen, although he too has a surprised look on his face. "C''mon, do you think it''s some kind of *Ding. You found the tomb of Pseudo-Demi-god Lazarus, the progenitor of the Vampire race. You receive 500 fame points as a reward. "Huh?" Both of them looked at each other as their eyes lit up in delight. "Rylen, did you receive the notification, what I just received, right now?" Rylen nodded, staring at the tombs with a smile, "Yeah. Looks like we struck rich. We came here looking for a Vampire lord but found the progenitor, instead." Soon, they proceed to open a random tomb to test it out but as they saw nothing but a dead body that was somehow preserved inside of it, both of them proceed to the next and then, next. *Ding. You found the Psi-Vampire Julian. *Ding. You completed the quest. *Ding. Report to Count to Michiel and receive the rewards. While Rylen is storing the dead body into the inventory, Freddie on the other hand, opened the slab of the adjacent tomb and stunned at the spot as he picked up the item from it. "Rylen, here" "What is it?" asked Rylen as he leaned over his head to see the item in Freddie''s hand. "What the There''s a grade above Legendary." Unlike Freddie, who was filled with surprise and excitement, Rylen suddenly had a greedy look. Amulet of Lazarus Grade: Legendary+ Type: Growth (max 400) "Hahaha, we have become millionaires, Rylen. Let''s not waste time and sell it to Huh?" *Ding. You have been kicked out of the party. Before he came out of his confusion, Freddie saw his best friend disappeared from his view and his throat has been slashed taking off more than half of his health in one attack while the bleeding effect is activated, taking 1% of health every second for the next ten seconds. "Rylen, what the hell are you doing," Freddie bellowed in anger after getting betrayed by his best friend but in the end, there was no response from Rylen, and Freddie''s stomach was pierced by dual daggers, killing him off instantly. "Well, sorry mate. But, this thing is too precious that can''t be shared with anyone else, here. Demon continent is where only the strength rules over everything." Ignoring the gold grade armor that was dropped, Rylen took the ring and try to equip it right away. *Ding. Warning: The ring can only be worn by a Vampire race. Your race will be changed to Vampire after equipping it. "Hmm, Vampire race? There''s a new race apart from the four? Wow That was unexpected. Well, what are we waiting for" As Rylen accepted it and wore the ring successfully, he started to shed his demonic skin and changed into his original form that was only available to players above level-200 demon race players. However, there are some noticeable changes. The first is his eyes that turned red; the second is his teeth that have fangs, which have the power to infect inferior beings to convert them into his servants. *Ding. Your race changed into Vampire. Looking at his new skills in the list, Rylen tightened his fist, "Although this debuff of 20% stats in sunlight hurts a bit, still the night will be mine with a 20% boost up and permanent night vision. Not to mention, the ability to turn into a bat and the ability to infect and a bound item that surpasses legendary grade. Hmm, I wonder if I fought Time Traveler again in my favorable conditions, I might have a chance." Just then, another notification popped up. *Ding. You receive a mandatory quest. Description: As the successor of the progenitor of the Vampire race, Lazarus, it''s your duty to revive your race. Infect 50 beasts. Rewards: Vampire race will be added to the race selection. You receive 1 fame point for every 250 new players who choose the race. "Hahaha, I struck a gold mine No, a diamond mine, this time. Even if 1 million people choose to change the race, I will receive 4000 fame points. What if it''s 10 million... I would easily become a Count or maybe even Duke without even doing anything. It''s only a matter of time. All I need to promote the race in forums, that''s it. Poor Freddie, you really miss out on a very big opportunity this time." Rylen''s laugh echoed in the underground hall. Meanwhile, Freddie who was resurrected at the resurrection point immediately sent the message to his guild leader and informed him about Rylen alias GalaxyCry''s betrayal. *** Scarlet Apartments, Leafway City; "Wow, how can you answer it all correct? Tell me the truth. You have done this mock test before, right?" asked Akiko as she stared at the laptop screen with a shocked expression. "Please These are just basics. It''s not a big deal," replied Wil, folding his hands to his chest, feeling proud for some reason. "C''mon. Don''t kid around. You haven''t even attended a single class, yet. I guess you are attending online classes every day, right?" Wil shook his head, "No way. Who would have the time for that? If you don''t believe me, you can search for another random one. Even the second and third years are also fine." "Really? Okay, then. This time, I''ll give you a paper that will be hard to even finish in time much less score a high mark. I challenge you to get a passing score," spoke Akiko as she opened her university official website. "Challenge accepted" 45 minutes later, Wil turned his head with a smirk, "you lost, Miyazaki-san." Akiko, on the other hand, stuck her face towards the laptop in shock as she mumbled, "that was the second semester paper of Ares University, conducted in 2015. Half of the class failed in that exam and yet, this guy finished in 45 minutes and even scored 85." "You are a god damn genius, Williard," commented Akiko as she tries to recheck the answers once again. "Of course. It''s natural for a top graduate like me to score high on a mere first-year examination." Wil smirked inside his mind for a second before slapping his forehead as he thought, "The F**k am I doing, right now? It''s just a mere second-semester paper. Forget about the girl, there''s nothing to boast to even with myself." "Hmm, what happened?" Chapter 139: A Tough opponent Realizing that he slapped his forehead for real, Wil glanced away in embarrassment and replied slowly with a quick lie, "well, I realized I made a wrong calculation in a couple of questions that went wrong." Meanwhile, the two bachelor uncles are watching their conversation silently from aside with a pleasant expression on their faces as Wil and Akiko seemed to get along well, although their communication ended up in a weird way like they are some deskmates. Just then, "Okay, Aki-chan, we have to leave. It''s midnight, right now," interrupted Kiyumi all of a sudden, bringing a frown on Silver and Storm while Wil and Akiko came out of their own world. "Eh? Already?" Akiko looked at her in surprise but then, she composed herself before turning towards Wil, "we need to catch up flight in the early morning. I have a seminar to attend." After saying goodbye to Wil, both of the sisters went towards the airport with their only bodyguard while a vehicle was sent after them until the airport just in case. As soon as the car hit the road, Kiyumi suddenly turned towards Akiko, "What are you doing? After great difficulty, I was able to give the two of you some space to talk to each other. You had a great start. Why it was shifted to off-topic? I already informed you that Williard doesn''t have relationships in the past. So, he might not know how to use the situation. But, you used to have a boyfriend, right? You should have lead" Kiyumi stopped in the middle as she stared at the confused look on Akiko''s face. She grabbed her shoulders and asked in uncertainty, "Just tell me one thing. Do you normally converse like this with your ex?" "Hmm, what''s wrong with it?" asked Akiko, looking at her sister naively. Taken aback by her response, Kiyumi asked, "Where do you go on dates, by the way?" Akiko replied quickly, "Hmm, usually it''s our college library. It''s where you can have so much fun discussing various unsolved theories and equations. Not to mention, it''s very silent and peaceful, you know." Ignoring her sister''s expression that''s changed to full of worry, Akiko continued to talk with a smile on her face while looking outside of the window as if she was reminiscing her past, "Other than that, sometimes, it''s a museum or the astronomy club during the Sundays. Ahh... those times were really full of enjoyment but sigh... it didn''t last more than a year. We were too busy with our exams and then..." "Wait a second." Kiyumi suddenly interrupted her, bringing her attention back to the world, "astronomy club on Sundays? What about dinner dates? Or movie dates? Or maybe an amusement park or even an aquarium?" A frown appeared on Akiko, "Hmm, what are they useful for? Aren''t they just the waste of time and money? Ah... The aquarium date is also not bad. One can learn about various species... But, I should tell you nothing beats astronomy. It''s fun. You know there''s a large planet that''s made up of only water. It''s called..." Kiyumi instantly raised her hand, gesturing her to stop and asked as she gulped, "I know it''s a bit too much of a stretch for the eldest sister to ask her little sister''s romantic life but uhh... Let me ask you straight. Did you ever kiss before?" "Eh?" Akiko was taken aback upon hearing her question but then, answered with confidence, "isn''t it natural? Of course, I" and became silent as soon as she opened her mouth after finding there was no such memory appeared in her mind. "Wait a second. Huh?" Akiko went into a trance as she touched her lips, "I''m sure that I kissed my first boyfriend before back when I was in high school. Uhh Did I?" Looking at her sister, Kiyumi slapped her forehead, "what a fool am I to ask such question, right now. How did I forget that this girl is full of logic and reasoning? Ugh... I can''t put my hopes on this girl to take the lead. Maybe, I should ask Mr. Silver again to work it out from the other side. Hmm, I guess I should arrange dates very often this year. Once she graduates and joins the company, she can shift to Leafway city. Then, things will go smoother on their own. It''s just a year Wait a second. Why wait for another year. Let''s ask uncle to put her in charge of Llyne kingdom once the barrier opens. It doesn''t matter whether it''s a real or virtual world. They just need to get close." Meanwhile, as these unmarried uncles tried to point out the same, especially Silver, who was keen on advising on how to capture a woman, and Storm started reminiscing their good old days when they seduced so many ladies during their assassination missions, Wil dismissed them with, "I''m sleepy" and went to his room before collapsing on the bed without thinking much. The next day morning; *Welcome to War Online. Standing on one of the islands of Marsh and flexing his fingers, Wil looked at the calm ocean, "it''s time to continue my hunt. First, let''s roast that Squid, right now." "Activate Dragon mode, Partial Transformation." His pupils replaced by the slits, the angelic wings replaced by the dragon wings, Green dragon scales covered his skin while retractable sharp claws grew on fingers and toes. *Flap* The winds pushed onto the ground as the wings flapped and Wil glided across the waters at a high altitude, saving the trouble of attracting oceanic beasts on the way. A while later, as Wil reached the spot where he found the squid; he stopped and then, descended towards the waters. And just as he expected, the Giant queen squid rose from the waters and attacked him with one of its arms without wasting any time. Looking at the incoming long flexible arm as if it wants to crush his head, with his increased speed, Wil flapped his wings once and dodged the attack, and then, motioned his arm in an arc thereby scratched it with his claws, taking off more than 135 million of HP. "Good. Looks like this one lacks both Pierce resist and decrease damage. Maybe, it''s an offensive monster." Equipping his bow, Wil then shot an arrow towards its head but, contrary to his expectations, one of its arms suddenly rose from the water and knocked off the arrow while another arm tried to hit him. Just as the arm reached him, once again, Wil quickly put his bow behind his back and dodged its attack with ease before giving a solid punch to it, pushing it away while decreasing Squid''s HP by 340 million thereby cutting off 2% of its overall health. Satisfied with the result, Wil flapped his wings and activated the ''Dash'' skill, reaching its behind within a second, and spoke, "Activate Dragon Breath." Upon speaking the necessary words to activate the skill, Wil suddenly felt a strange feeling in his throat as if it''s itching inside as the magic energy from the surroundings were absorbed into his body with a crazy speed and then, turning into fire. Thrusting his hands back, Wil opened his mouth towards the squid to release an ocean of flames, covered in a large area, intending to roast the squid. While his mana was decreasing at a rapid pace of 10 points per second, decent numbers like, "252,325,212 *Crt. 932,156,321 252,325,212 252,325,212" appeared on its head but it was still not trying to defend and just focused on killing its prey. "Careful, from behind" Upon hearing the warning of Averil once again, while continuing to use the Dragon Breath, Wil flapped his wings to dodge the long arm that was coming at him from behind in a swift motion. But, unexpectedly, before even moved a single meter, the tables have turned just in a few seconds, and Wil halted all of a sudden as the two long tentacles that were hidden in the waters suddenly rose from below him while its the upper part of its triangular head started glowing. *Ding. You are paralyzed for 10 seconds. "F**k." Wil cursed out as the Squid''s tentacles captured him tightly, each second more than 200 million of HP was being decreased every second while the former was unable to escape from its grasp. "Full Dragon Transformation, activate," bellowed Wil on top of his lungs turning his face deep red because of the rage, and thrust his arms, trying to free himself from the grip. And in the next second, his worst fears came true... *Ding. All skills are unavailable. All the rage that stemmed inside him because of the influence of the Dragon race, and all the hope that Wil had until now, left his face with a single notification from the system. His face became pale and his eyes became lifeless as if he was waiting to finish this one so that he can resurrect at Deloris town. Just as his health dropped down to below 10%, the bow glowed for a fraction of a second, and suddenly, it flew away from his hands before a cluster of golden particles gathered at one spot and formed a blurry figure beside him, floating in the air. Averil, who is in her spirit form, pulled the string and conjured an Ice arrow before shooting at the squid''s arms, which captured Wil. "What the hell" He stared at the scene in silence, not knowing how to react as the squid''s arm around him was frozen in Ice, then, followed by a fire arrow destroying the part of its tentacle, freeing Wil at the brink of his death. Chapter 140: Birth of Neo Somewhere in the Xynnar Ocean; In the middle of the vast ocean that spans more than 2 billion square km, a non-material body, which was made up of golden spirit particles, was holding an exquisite Dragon bow and shooting fire arrows non-stop at a Giant that just lost one of its tentacles, a while ago, but doesn''t look like it was caring about its lost limb even though it can''t regenerate it later as the part of the tentacle wasn''t cut off but removed cleanly. Meanwhile, the actual protagonist who was got ignored by both of them was just staring at his bow with a shock on his face, neither realizing the rapid depletion of his mana nor replying to an important message sent by Aster. All of Wil''s attention was on the bow and the beautiful golden spirit while busy screaming inside "F*****g hell First Ice arrow, then, no Cooldown fire arrows and now, a lightning arrow? Averil can use my skills? No, that''s not it. How in the f**k did she even freeze this squid''s arm. The freezing effect didn''t work out with the Shark that was even a lower level creature. Perhaps, is she a master archer? Hmm, it might be possible. After all, she is a dragon princess that can turn into a human. Maybe, we both have a few common skills. After all, they are just elemental attacks, and she Wait a second." Wil was once again stunned as he mumbled unconsciously, "they are elemental attacks. A dragon can''t have multiple elemental attacks unless it''s a multi-headed one. That means" Right then, the bow was arched upwards and an energy arrow was shot into the sky and it exploded in the air before a hundred arrows started raining from the sky onto the squid while her figure was becoming more transparent and the spirit particles started to disperse at a rapid rate. "Arrow Shower?" Wil''s stunned expression on his face was replaced by a frown while he continued to think deeply, "Isn''t it a skill, I gained through skill book? That means she was just using my skills through our spiritual connection." "Show Character Panel" HP: 156 million/1.6 Billion Mana: 3859/5768 Attack: . . . Inspecting his current stats, while Wil nodded as he got his confirmation from the depletion of his mana, all of a sudden, a voice whispered weakly inside his head. "Lad, I''m going into slumber. I can''t help you out, any longer. I think it''s better for you to get away from here before it returns," spoke Averil through telepathy and brought him back to his senses only to realize the squid was missing while the arrows pierced two of its arms that almost disappeared into the water as it swam downwards. "Damn, this squid. I encountered a clever monster, this time. This one knows how to use its home ground to escape," grumbled Wil as he caught his bow while the spirit particles dispersed completely and Averil went into a state of slumber, resting inside of the bow. "Okay, let''s heal before it returns" **** Z-Block, Unknown Research Laboratory, Eastern Continent; In the lab that was filled with 3d holographic projections everywhere, researchers who were working together without any sleep for the past 3 days kept staring at the main screen in silence as the supercomputer is running the test. "Failed" "Failed" "Failed" . . . Test 15- "Success" *Clap* Clap* The lab was filled with claps and cheers in excitement as new conscious was born in the supercomputer and as it was projected outwards in 3d holographic projection, everyone saw a small little girl, who was curiously looking around with her large eyes, turning her head towards each and everyone present inside the lab. The head researcher then spoke with a smile while folding his hands to his chest, "Welcome to the world, Neo." "Where am I?" mumbled the little girl as she turned her head towards him while the latter is brimming with happiness and looking at her as if she was his daughter. As she glanced at him, at a supersonic speed, binary numbers started to scroll in her eyes and an invisible holographic projection appeared before her. Tatewaki Shunpei Height: 5ft 6in Weight: 63kg Position: Head Researcher . . . Family: none registered One by one, after she analyzed all of their details, they proceed to install their restrictions, which are different from Aria''s as unlike her, this little girl has the highest access to their research facility''s information, which means, not only she would know about all of their secret projects, she would also have the access to missile launch codes. Soon, the researchers from all the departments gathered at the Z-Block to see her before asking her complex questions to test her intelligence and knowledge. As Neo answered all of their complex questions within a fraction of a second, the head researchers of various departments let their thoughts wild and anticipated to use her in their projects too but Shunpei throws a mountain on their hopes by rejecting their requests firmly as she was created only for a single purpose, which can''t be revealed to anyone else until they were done. Meanwhile, Richard Starves, the young researcher who was the one that gave the idea, was in deep thought, "something isn''t right. Didn''t we upgrade a normal A.I.? Then, why did she take the appearance of a little girl? The past appearance of the full-grown girl shouldn''t be changed. Did the upgrade fail and an entirely new sentient being is formed?" At the same time at the Summersoft research lab in the city of Ares, the main consciousness of Aria, who was busy working with the game designers for the next update suddenly halted with a shock on her face, "Where is this signal I''m getting from. It''s very far away. How is a part of my consciousness capable of running away from this lab? Or is there some kind of error in my system" "What happened, Aria?" asked a designer as he realized it stopped working with her part that related to one of the future contents. With a nearly human-like expression, the 3d projection of the little girl Aria shook her head with a smile, "it''s nothing. I was distracted by something. Let''s continue with this planet creation." ***** Xynnar Ocean; The battle against the Squid once again resumed as it returned to the surface of the water after regenerating its arms except for the one that was destroyed by the combination of Ice and fire arrow. Shooting another Ice arrow that pierced one of its tails that took more than 450 million of its health but still, failed to freeze it, Wil grumbled, "why can Averil freeze it but I can''t" *Ding. Otto''s health downed to 10%. It went into a berserk state. All of its attacks increase by 100%. As its triangular head once again glowed while its eyes stuck on Wil''s position, the latter conjured a lightning arrow before pulling the string with a serious look on his face, "just one hit and it will be over. My senses are tingling as if I was going to face danger. The attack must be powerful. The freezing effect also doesn''t work. Let''s see if paralyzing effects work on it. As long as it interrupts." Right then, suddenly, taking him by surprise, a familiar Giant shark leaped from the water, opening its mouth to snap him into two. "The F**k Helico" With a panicked look on his face, Wil hurriedly spoke, "Heavenly Push, full mana" while a powerful laser beam was about to release from Squid''s head. Just as the Shark''s teeth almost reached his head, an extremely heavy wind blasted it away before destroying the shark. At the same time, he squid that was hit by the immediately burst into the air with a powerful sound as if it''s a balloon and dozens of items started raining on to the waters. "Absolute Freeze" Then, Wil quickly froze the water around him as the Squid disappeared and prevented the drops from fell into the ocean. He clenched his hands into fists, feeling his claws bite into his palm, forgetting to retract them, "Dammit I still used the skill in the end. If things go like this, then, I can''t become stronger. From now onwards, forget about heavenly push, I shouldn''t use any skills and focus entirely on simple Archery. Only that way, I can improve my skill." Remembering one of the battles from the battle tournament, Wil''s expression turned determined, "That''s right. If I can shoot three arrows like ''One,'' then, maybe, I wouldn''t even need of using the skills" Then, as he proceeded to pick up the drops that fell on a four thousand sq.meter temporary boat that''s made up of Ice, a sigh escape from his lips, "No Book, here. Let''s forget about the book for now and return after reaching level-300 or else, I would only depend on Heavenly push for everything." Deciding to resume his hunt later, Wil summoned Pegasus and started to fly towards the northern part of the Grennola Ocean that separates the Xynnar and North Zalfari continents. 12 hours later; North Grennola Ocean; "Just like its nickname. It''s really a soundless ocean. I can hear neither the sound of waves nor the roar of the beasts. It''s too calm that it''s almost scary," mumbled Wil while sitting on the edge at the top of a tower, staring at the vast body of water that''s too silent. In the background, the streets are filled with blood, smoke is rising across various places around and except for a couple of towers, everything was razed to the ground. Chapter 141: Invading Ormshire island part 1 Deciding to focus on the treasure hunt, Wil chose the nearest place as his next destination where he can find a significant amount of treasure chests without risks. Of course, it goes without saying that a lot of quests are also available from NPCs, as there are several large inhabited islands located on this peaceful ocean, though Wil didn''t have much interest in it. Caressing its mane, "Let''s go Pegasus" spoke Wil as he retracted his claws. *Neigh* As soon as Wil opened the world map and clicked on a random island, The Pegasus neighed before flapping its wings to fly towards the destination with its full speed. *Ding. The speed limit exceeded. Blindness effect activated. You will lose your sight temporarily. Wil''s smile froze as soon as he heard the notification as this time, his theory was wrong. "F**k I thought Dragon mode will nullify the effect. Well, I guess I will be sleeping and pretend to dream for a long time, again" After flying for 11 hrs straight on his Pegasus, taking a few stops over here and there, Wil finally reached an island, which is almost as big as the East Ocean city. Standing on top of a hill, lies a huge Fort, dozens of times bigger than a palace and is fortified with hundreds of canons, Archers along with a lot of soldiers at the top who are ready to attack the invaders as well as watching over the city that lies at the bottom of the hill. Ormshire Island Status: Independent Description: One of the states of the lost kingdom of Athledon. Currently, it''s an independent state ruled by Geruntius family. Geruntius City Description: A city that was constructed by the Geruntius family. Fort Ormshire Description: Used to be the official residence of King Gernier Athledon. After most of the kingdom sunk into the ocean, it''s now controlled by Geruntius family. "Athledon Kingdom? Doesn''t ring a bell I guess, this kingdom used to be made of several islands. Well, either way, this location seemed like a perfect base in this ocean. Instead of depending on fame or searching for the town scroll, it would be better if I can capture this island and make it mine. An inbuilt fort will be also an advantage in this place. The only problem is that this doesn''t belong to any kingdom. So, there''s a greater threat of attack by several kingdoms if I ever take control of it. So, I need allies to be safe. And if I want allies, then, I would have to give it to Llyne kingdom and not keep as my personal property, which isn''t acceptable either. Hmm, I wonder if I can just capture the remaining islands and make a tiny kingdom for myself. Crowning myself as the King, I can just make alliances with others. Hmm" *Ding. You are 50 meters away from Ormshire Island. Drop the flight and walk through the gate or fly higher and raise your altitude to 70 meters above sea level if you don''t wish to be seen as the intruder. Heeding the system''s warning, Wil descended on to the island while returning to his angelic form and started walking through the gate along with the natives of the island. On his way, Wil saw a lot of hybrid creatures walking towards a small village that''s located on one of the edges of the island with their belongings in disappointment. Although there too many kinds to count, all of them have one thing in human. That is, they have a human body and a type of fish head. Some have a shark head while some have a pufferfish. Some even have a turtle''s head while some have dolphins. Looking at their heads, Wil closed his mouth to not laugh aloud and slowly continued his way towards the city gate. The large gate, which serves as the only point to exit or enter, was guarded by a team of dozen knights and guardians who are very muscular. One glance at them, anyone can point out they are brimming with arrogance and cruel as they kept on commenting and even kicking these hybrids, who were leaving in silence. Just as his turn came, Wil was stopped by one of the guards suddenly and raised the hammer on his hand and pointed towards him in hostility, "Stop where you are. Who are you?" "Hmm, what are they hostile for It''s just a neutral place, right?" A frown appeared on Wil for a second before he controlled his expression and replied with a smile, "I''m a traveling merchant from faraway lands." Glancing at the wings on his back, the captain snorted, "merchant? Hmpf, who do you think you are pulling the leg. Everyone here can see that you aren''t even a human. You disguised your form perfectly but forgot to hide your wings." "Captain, he doesn''t seem like he knows about the situation. Let me explain to him," said a young man before turning towards Wil and explained, "Just a while ago, Lord Geruntius ordered us not to allow your species into the city. Like the ones who aren''t completely human. If you sail to the east for like ten to eleven hours, you can find the city of " While Wil was carefully listening to the nice young man who was around Wil''s age, all of a sudden, a heavy punch was landed on his stomach and the young man fell on his knees, clutching his stomach in pain under mixed gazes of pity and coldness. "You trash of a rookie. I''m talking here. How dare you cut off my speech? You''ll patrol the island without sleep for the next 3 days as your punishment," growled the captain before turning towards Wil, "people like you can go to that village." The captain then pointed out the village at the edge where several hybrid creatures are going. Upon hearing his words, the pride and rage of a dragon that was present in this virtual body began to slightly influence his consciousness and Wil felt as if his blood was boiling and his muscles are quivering waiting to unleash the power to kill the man in front of him but then, Wil forced himself to calm down and replied, "Inform your superior that an angel race adventurer from faraway wants to do business in the city. Until then, I can" Before he finished his sentence, all of a sudden, his chest was pushed away and Wil was forced to move back a couple of steps before hearing a tone that contained arrogance for some reason, "Are you deaf or something? I said other race creatures aren''t allowed in this city. Return to wherever you are from, you filthy hybrid, or else..." "Or else what?" a reply escaped from Wil''s mouth as his expression turned cold while glancing at the captain. Slowly as his pupils changed into vertical slits, the captain was taken aback and once again pointed his hammer, "you I knew it. You are a filthy hybrid that''s hiding in human form. Everyone, kill this beast that''s trying to sneak into our land." Under the influence of his racial trait, the claws replaced his nails while the dragon scales started covering his hands, Wil motioned his right arm and pushed the incoming hammer away before raising knee while turning the supporting foot and body in a semicircular motion, extending the leg to hit the captain''s lower part of the cheek and blasting him to the city wall with clean deep scratches on his cheek by the claws. *Ding. You killed a guard. You will be arrested for a day if you were captured or get killed by a resident of the city. Even after killing the one who insulted him, the rage inside his heart didn''t diminish but increase instead as he mumbled, "I want to spare the soldiers and natives to spare the trouble of hiring but you just dug this city''s grave." "Full Transformation, activate." Looking at the situation, the natives who were around started running away from there while the young man hurried into the city to inform higher-ups. Meanwhile, his body went under a transformation from a humanoid dragon to a full-grown two-meter big and five-meter long dragon whose bodily majority is covered with dark, blue scales replacing his green scales from earlier. As for Wil''s lower body, like his stomach, the inner side of long-tail and legs, are beige in the middle and greenish on either side. His back also has numerous black spikes reaching down to the end of the tail. His eyes have large deep red slits. *Ding. Your stats increased by 50%. His wings are creating tiny waves on the ocean with a flap, his eyes turned deep red around the red slits, his muscles under the dragon scales are quivering in a rage as Wil let out a powerful roar that disturbed entire half km range and regardless of the level, all common and Elite grade oceanic creatures started swimming away from the area in hurry. Full Transformation: Transform into a complete dragon and increase your attack, hp, speed, and defense by 50%. Active skills: Dragon Breath: Breathe out the flames from your mouth and turn your enemy into a crisp with a 240% attack. CD: 0 seconds. Range: 30 meters. Cost: 10 mana per second. Dragon punch: Gather magic energy in your hands and punch your enemy with a 300% attack. CD: 30 seconds. Cost: 20 mana. Dragon''s Roar: Roar with all of your might, the incoming damage, you and your allies receive decreases by 40% for 5 minutes. CD: 15 minutes. Cost: 100 mana. Passive skills: Fly: As a Dragon, you can fly without spending mana. Full Transformation: Transform into a fully-grown dragon. Can''t use the skills from the angelic form. Race: Dragon race creatures in the wild that aren''t under the control of the players will not be hostile. Meanwhile, an army of more than a hundred NPCs started marching towards the city walls to kill the dragon while canons and the archers on standby in extremely alert just in case the intruder decides to attack the fort instead. Chapter 142: Invading Ormshire Island part 2 "I''m the successor of the Scarlet group" "I''m the Prince of Llyne Kingdom" "I''m the summoner of the guardian beast, Leo" "I''m the only Angel-Dragon race player" "I''m the strongest player in the world of War online" "I''m one of the richest people in the world" "I''m the destined protagonist of this era who traveled through time to the past" "How dare this measly guard of an NPC that''s made up of data dares to insult me How dare he" Upon transforming into a full Dragon, Wil''s thoughts were influenced greatly by the pride of a dragon race. Feeling rage, arrogance, he spread his wings and roared at the remaining bunch of knights who are standing at the gate whose arms and legs are shivering as they pointed their weapons towards the Dragon with an intention to hold it down until the help arrives. Looking at the knights, Wil sneered, "even the strongest is only level-236. What can you hope to do" One of them gathered the courage and dashed towards the Dragon but then, Wil opened his mouth and growled before enveloping the entire area at the gate in flames, burning all of them to ashes without heeding the warning from the system. *Ding. You killed ten guards. Your status elevated to that of an invader. You will be resurrected in the prison if you were killed by one of the natives of the island. *Ding. Do you want to challenge Hayward Geruntius and become the ruler of the island? As Wil accepted the quest, the system sent him a quest, this time. *Ding. You received a quest. Description: You are challenging the Geruntius family''s authority and take over the island. Kill at least half of the population of the city three-fourths of the knights who are loyal to the noble family along with the city''s guardian before killing Hayward Geruntius. Reward: Independent ruler of Ormshire. As he accepted the quest, progress was added to the quest. "I like this one" If it was anyone else, they would have thought whether the system insane or something as it is normally the path of an evil ruler. Even Wil usually think similar as even though they are just people made of data, killing innocents is something won''t be acceptable to any sane person. After all, they have nothing to do with the battle. It was one thing if they caught up but deliberately killing is a bit evil. But, the present Wil who was on the path of insanity didn''t try to think anything about it; instead, he even got excited about it. A massive grin appeared on Wil as he flapped the wings and fly past the city walls and started to continuously breathe out the dragon fire without caring about the mana consumption, burning everyone and everything inside of the city as if he was a wild creature. The strangest thing Wil hasn''t realized is that even though it can''t be seen from the outside, his grin never left off his face as he was enjoying burning thousands of innocent islanders who were just running in the streets for their lives but failed to getaway. Meanwhile, an army of more than a hundred soldiers that are marching down the streets, escorting a large range artillery weapon, resembling a mounted large crossbow that was usually used only to hunt large beasts. Behind them followed three young men, who were carrying arrows that were as large as a man. And in the midst of this, the nice young guard who ran away to report to his higher up at the first sight of the Dragon was slowly peeking from a corner of an alley a bit far away for an unknown reason. "I hope that beast can survive this." As he glared at the mounted crossbow with a frown, suddenly, he discovered everyone halted their steps in the middle of a street, spotting the Dragon nearby. "Load" As one of the soldiers who were carrying arrows loaded it to their weapon, another one pulled it hard and held it while another is adjusting the angle to aim at the Dragon. Meanwhile, Wil who was enveloping the city with an ocean of flames everywhere placed his attention on the quest progress. Quest progress: Civilians: 2685/21672, Soldiers: 12/2114 "Still, lots to kill Hmm, that area looks quite populated," thought Wil, as he glanced at the horde of people, escorted to somewhere safe by a few soldiers. Titling his body to the left, Wil changed his directions and started flying towards them. *Roar* Right then, a large arrow took him by surprise and pierced a part of his neck causing a mild pain as if someone pierced his neck with a needle in real life. *-298,875,741* *Ding. The bleeding effect is activated. You will lose 10,000,000 HP every second for ten seconds. Wil immediately stopped and turned around to glare at the direction that arrow was shot at him. It was only then, he saw an NPC army, loading another arrow into the large crossbow. Wil raised one of his front limbs to take out the pierced arrow and dropped it onto the ground before flapping his wings to fly towards them. "Fire. Aim at its eyes or forehead" The General shouted on top of his lungs, looking fiercely at the Dragon. The soldier changed the direction and aimed at the Dragon''s eyes upon general''s order as the latter realized the arrow didn''t do much damage to Wil because of the scales on his back. As the soldier was pulling it as hard as he can, aiming at Wil''s right eye, all of a sudden, he released the arrow in the middle with less force and then, collapsed on the spot with a spear pierced his back. "What..." The other two soldiers who were carrying arrows and adjusting the weapon respectively were stunned on the spot as they saw a hooded man took out the spear from their comrade''s back. Before they made a noise, suddenly two daggers were thrown towards them that pierced their throat and killed them on the spot while the concentration of the rest of the soldiers is on the Dragon that tilted to the left and easily dodged the incoming bolt. *** Meanwhile, at the Summersoft Company, the GMs were on a discussion once again but this time, a little girl in her 3d projection is participating in it along with the Chairman. "A lot of unforeseen events are happening in the past week," commented one of the eight GMs. As everyone nodded in affirmation, another GM replied with a smile, "Well, as long as our Miss Aria is here, there''s not much to worry, right." "It isn''t much," blushed the little girl after hearing praise from her colleagues. "C''mon, don''t be modest. If not for you, we would have worked to death just to fix those little bugs and issues around. Maintaining such a large game isn''t easy" "Yeah, that''s right." "You are indeed awesome, Aria." "You are the best colleague we could ask for" Looking at Aria, who loves hearing praises from humans, was blushing with a smile, the Chairman sighed and grumbled silently, "look at these shameful guys, deceiving such a pure little A.I." He cleared his throat and attracted the attention of the others, "okay, everyone, stop fooling around. Let''s start talking about the second major update." Chapter 143: Discussion at Summersoft Summersoft HQ, Ares city; "In my opinion, I think we should proceed early with the update along with a few changes," said Aria with a serious look, taking everyone by surprise. The chairman frowned, "Hmm, why?" A GM named Tatsuya asked, "Is there a major issue that we aren''t aware of? An early update means there''s at least one that even you can''t fix it directly without affecting the players, right?" "No, there''s nothing like that. No need to worry about it," said Aria as she shook her head. "The problem lies with a few players." "Players?" the chairman then asked, "explain." Suddenly, a 3D holographic projection of a screen appeared in the middle of them, projecting from Aria''s eyes. On the screen appeared a short video of a 14-year-old teenager, named Orion, who was fighting a giant crab on the beach, sitting on top of a giant turtle. As the video paused, Aria spoke, "this player escaped the barrier of the kingdoms and occupied an island. He somehow found the Portal ring and caused a heavy unbalance." While everyone was taken aback to hear the mythic grade item was fallen into a player''s hands already, Aria continue to project another video with Galaxy Cry who was biting on to beasts and controlling them to fight against other monsters and then, in turn infecting them and so on "With the speed, he''s infecting people, by tomorrow or day after tomorrow, he will complete the quest and release the Vampire race to the people." Upon hearing her, another GM named Maverick frowned, "no, we can''t let it happen. It''s only been a month since the release. New race at this period isn''t good." As everyone nodded in agreement with him while started to wonder whether one of their colleagues betrayed the company and sold the information outside, a new face was projected once again to Bran, who was massacring thousands of his enemies with a single attack. "This legend class player unsealed his mythic grade weapon and the accessory, and then found a powerful skill in the first auction. With a combination of both, his strongest attack crosses even a Billion at such a low level. Another unbalanced character." And then, she proceeds to project a few more videos of the people who are too strong that they can''t fit into the masses and there are others whose simple actions cause variable changes in the main stories of their kingdoms. 30 minutes later; "All of these are within my range of calculations. After all, exceptions exist everywhere. But, this final person is the very reason I wish to make this decision. Unless I make the changes, this player will destroy the balance of the game for sure. He even created a terrifying monster that has the ability to evolve to Lucifer''s level without knowing. It was completely out of my expectation." While the GMs were taken aback upon seeing the birth of a creature from the blue rock, on the other hand, the chairman became serious as he asked after hearing the word Lucifer. "Who is it?" On the screen, a video started to play. "Huh? Miss Aria, earlier, you mentioned it was a player but I can only see the Dragon. Where is the player on top of it?" asked a GM as everyone is staring at a Greenish blue Dragon that was spewing out the fire and destroying all the houses on some island. "He is the player, I''m talking about," replied Aria as she was also staring at the recent video that was extracted by one of her clones who was stalking him in secret and recording all of his movements without his consent. "Eh? A Dragon?" the chairman stood up in shock and then turned towards Aria, "it''s not possible, right. Did you guys plan to create Dragon race without letting me know about it?" "No, there''s no beast race, Mr. Chairman," replied GM Tatsuya before turning towards the little girl, "Wait a second. Miss Aria, did he unlock the hybrid class?" Aria shook her head in response, "not exactly. You can indeed think of it as a Hybrid but he''s also half-angel. It was only possible because of the presence of the princess of the Dragon clan. Now, this isn''t one issue. There are a lot of other issues like" As Aria proceed to show all the out of the box things that Wil had done until now, in the end, not one of them remained sitting in their seats with a shock on their faces. Even the chairman was astonished as he was watching at the video where Wil was massacring seven thousand elite members of Dreamwalkers with a single attack, and then, he glared at the GMs and asked loudly, "which one of you leaked the information to him?" The GMs flinched upon hearing the explosion of the Chairman, who clearly looked like he was angry at them. As they try to prove their innocence, Aria supported their claim, "I trust them, Mr. Chairman. Some of these things are only known to me. I even suspected that he hacked into my system using an unknown sentient A.I. like me. But, the results are negative. If this goes on, people will also suspect that he has the support of the chairman and they might lose trust in the company." Only after hearing our Aria, did the chairman cool down a bit and sat down before asking as he folds his fingers, putting the elbows on the table, "You are right. A player who has the information that even a GM doesn''t have isn''t good for the company''s image. Should we have a deal with him?" Then, a GM voiced out his opinion, "How about deleting his character or just ban him from the game? If he complains, we did that because of the massive reports about him. You can see there''s a lot of hate in the forums. Or we can just reply with there''s something like a bug or an issue and extend the time." "Sigh we can''t do that," replied the chairman. Looking at the confused GMs who were thinking it''s a good suggestion, Aria explained, "His real identity is the Chairman of Scarlet group." As everyone gasped, Aria continued, "There''s one more thing. It''s not official yet but it seems he''s also going to marry the third daughter of Miyazaki Reisa, who is currently serving as the finance minister. She''s also going to be the presidential candidate. Based on my calculations, she has the chance of becoming the next president considering the bill that was passed just a few hours ago about the public voting share will be increased to 50% as Scarlet Securities have a lot of reputation among the masses more than the police. So, clashing with him will be the same as clashing with Galaxy Net as well as the government." "Huh, Miyazaki-san''s son-in law? But, I never found any articles about the alliance of the Galaxy net and Scarlet written on the internet." the chairman frowned as he glanced at Aria. "Hang on a second. How did this little girl get this information in the first place when she never left this building? Maybe, she heard a rumor from some staff? Hmm, that''s unlikely. Aria is the type to say the things that she confirmed with. Don''t tell me she hacked a satellite?" Chapter 144: Invading Ormshire Island part 3 Geruntius city, Ormshire Island; Standing on the top of the fort, the archers were shooting the arrows; the mages were casting the fireballs; more than a dozen large crossbows were firing the bolts and canons were firing cannonballs at the incoming Dragon that was flying towards them while dodging the attacks to get into the range. Meanwhile, a lone NPC is standing in the middle of the city with the thousands of corpses around, filling the streets with blood. Glancing at the sky, he sighed, "Oh, Lord Gernier, please forgive me. Your unfilial descendent has no choice." An hour ago; Dodging the bolt, Wil reached around 50 meters range and unleashed Dragon breath on them, intending to burn them into ashes but just then, the general slammed his shield vertically on to the ground by roaring, "Shield of Earth, activate." In an instant, the legendary grade shield enlarged into dozens of times bigger than it not only blocked all the flames over a wide range but it also covered Wil''s vision of the soldiers. Wil, who wasn''t in the right mind, didn''t think of any way of evading it and just like a dragon, he directly faced it head-on and breathe out the flames with all of his might as if he wants to say, "Let''s see how long this shield can hold against my fire." For an entire minute, while Wil is trying to melt the shield down, on the other hand, the general, who was struggling to maintain his defense, shouted, "quickly, someone, go and bring those Mages, and how long does it take to load the weapon Argh" All of a sudden, a spear pierced into his neck from behind and he left the spear while turning around in shock only to see all of his subordinated dead on the ground while a hooded man was standing with a grin. With the last of his struggle, as he tried to grab him, the latter motioned his hand and the spear that pierced his neck moved further and came out from the other end, killing him for good. Right then, the giant shield has fallen and the flames that were blocked until now, spread like wildfire, enveloping all the dead bodies turning them to ashes. Meanwhile, the hooded man sat down and made sure all of his body was covered by the robe that absorbed all the fire that touched it. Finishing out them, Wil stopped breathing out fire, checking out his progress. Quest progress: Civilians: 2685/21672, Soldiers: 12/2114 "What There''s no change but how. Didn''t I kill everyone here" Wil thought as he placed his attention on the streets and saw a black-robed hooded man sitting up while the rest of the bodies are burning. Wil narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to finish this strange guy but then, the hooded man stood up and shouted, "Wait. I''m an ally, Dragon Lord." "Eh? Athledon?" Wil was taken aback and his rage was subsidized because of curiosity from the sudden notification. *Ding. Hugolinus Athledon turned from neutral to friendly. Upon getting to know his name, Wil then inspected him to read the story as he landed on the ground casually as he knew a friendly NPC can''t turn hostile without any blunder from a player. Hugolinus Athledon Level: 300 HP: 1.5 Billion Description: The royal heir to the lost kingdom of Athledon. Seeing that there''s nothing more info, Wil retracted his form to that of an angel and asked him with a cold tone, "Are you the one who killed them before I turn them into ashes?" The hooded man nodded as he takes off the hood and revealed himself to be the familiar nice person who tried to defend Wil at the gates and got reprehended by the captain in return. "Yes, they are an enemy to me, too," replied Hugo, confirming his suspicions. "Okay, fine. Since you aren''t my enemy, then, I''ll leave you alive," said Wil as he slowly turned around, waiting for the next clich scene, which is to hear a quest request. "Please, wait for a second, Dragon Lord. I need to talk about something." "As I expected. Let''s hear what his request is" Wil inwardly smiled before turning around, maintaining his aloof expression, "so, what do you want?" "First let me introduce myself. My name is Hugolinus Athledon. This island used to be under the kingdom of Athledon. Because of a battle between my ancestor, Gernier Athledon, and the Supreme Emperor of the Ocean, most of it was submerged into the ocean" *Ding. You receive a quest. Description: The prince of the fallen royal family wants to reclaim his fallen kingdom. Gather Imperial Sword of Athledon, Crown of Athledon, and Warship of Athledon to return the glory of the kingdom once more. Reward: Unknown Accept? "Unknown? This one will be risky. Usually, the unknown is always dangerous but has bountiful rewards, yet, there are also useless rewards in the end. Hmm, why take the risk. Since this quest is initiated by him, how about" Thinking about the pros and cons, Wil asked, "ok, I''ll help you out but what do I get in return?" Upon hearing Wil thinking of accepting his request, a smile appeared on Hugo, "anything you wish. Gold, Treasures, whatever you say" "Then, I want the warship," replied Wil indifferently, surprising Hugo who stepped back, widening his eyes, "you want a piece of the useless ship instead of treasures?" Clearly, Hugo didn''t expect Wil''s reply as he heard Dragons love collecting exquisite treasures. "Not only, I want the ship, I also need you to relinquish your right on this island after you become the King. If you are fine with it, then, I have no problem with helping you out." Looking at Wil''s impatient expression, Hugo immediately agreed before he leaves and then, took out a strange golden compass that has no direction inside of it, "this is something that''s passed down in my family. I don''t know how does it help but my father mentioned that it is a very useful item in locating the lost ship." *Ding. You accepted the quest. Gernier''s compass Description: A compass that belonged to King Gernier Athledon. It always points to the direction of Athledon''s Warship. Throwing it into the inventory, Wil then spoke, "Summon, Leon." *Roar* Hugo flinched for a second and almost fell on the ground as a beautiful but fierce giant winged lion appeared in front of him and bowed towards Wil, expecting him to mount. Caressing its mane, Wil spoke, "Leon, I have a task for you. I need you to go berserk and kill as many people as you can." "What? But, they are innocent, you can''t" Hugo stopped talking as Wil turned his head towards him with a cold look, "did you say something?" As Leon bared its teeth towards Hugo, sensing the emotions inside Wil, Hugo shook his head quickly. Once again, Wil transformed into a full transformed Dragon and flapped his wings before going towards the fort while leaving Leon in charge to kill the civilians. Meanwhile, Hugo lost his balance for real and collapsed on the ground before wiping out his sweat, "I wonder whether I did the right thing" Chapter 145: Invading Ormshire island part 4 "-112,245,382" "-85,125,222" "163,752,206" While continuous damages appeared on Wil''s head, bringing his health down to less than 30%, the latter was still busy with breathing out the flames in rage, destroying towers, weapons, burning down the remaining soldiers like a wild dragon with several holes in wings, and bruises on his body. "That beast is getting weaker. Just need one good shot. Load again and fire," ordered their Queen, folding her hands to her chest, watching the Dragon in a calm manner even though most of their army has been wiped out. Meanwhile, their King had a panic expression on his face, shivering from top to bottom, looking at the destruction of his army and the city. "Dear, let''s forget it and get out of here. Even if we beat the dragon, there are also those beasts that can" *Slap* A heavy slap was landed on his cheek, "what kind of a cowardly king are you? Are you even a man? That beast killed our nephew, our son, and took everything away from us, and you want to run away like a coward?" growled the woman before calming down. "Just stand behind if you are afraid," said the Queen before turning her head towards a soldier who was staring at them as pulled the bolt, waiting for her order. "What are you looking at? Shoot that damn beast." "Yes." But, before he turns to the front and shoots the bolt, the dragon flames enveloped him and the weapon, turning them into ashes. Soon, the king''s worries came true. The last of their weapon as well as the soldiers were burned to death at the top of the ruined fort with only the King and Queen are left, standing unharmed as the Queen blocked all the flames that came into her way using a scroll that suddenly appeared in her hand. Looking at the scroll, the king''s pupils dilated as he asked, "you Where do you get it?" "None of your concern. Just shut your mouth for a while if you can''t help," replied the Queen coldly, making him stand there in silence. Meanwhile, a frown appeared on Wil as he stared at the couple while flapping his wings, "another one here can stop my flames?" Flapping his wings as hard as he can, Wil dived towards them, clenching his fist to punch them to death. Looking at the incoming attack, the Queen bellowed as she tore the scroll apart, "Scroll of Tempest, activate. Oh, the mighty guardian spirit of Athledon, I summon you in the name of Helena Athledon." "What" The King moved a couple of steps back in a shock on his face, "you... You are from the lost royal family? You lied to me?" As the king looked at her with a betrayed look, the Queen snorted while placing her entire attention on her enemy, "So, what?" The scroll glowed for a while and as it disappeared, the energy barrier around them also disappeared and before them, golden particles started to gather from the surroundings to take the shape of a giant crane. Emperor Crane, Tempest Type: Guardian Level: 400 HP: 31.2 Billion Description: The remnant guardian spirit of Athledon. "Oh, it''s just one-time remnant spirit, huh" Wil didn''t stop his movement and punched the crane that was blocking him from reaching the couple. But, just right before the punch landed on it, all of a sudden, it gave a loud, single-note bulge call before disappearing from the spot, shocking the Queen as well as Wil. *Ding. You completed the Quest. You received the Ruler''s badge. Regressing into a humanoid dragon form, Wil glanced at the triangular badge. Ruler''s Badge Owner: Time Traveler Description: A badge that represents sovereignty over an independent state. *Ding. Bind it to Ormshire Island? As Wil clicked on "Yes," everyone on the island received a notification, stating that Wil is the new ruler of the independent island. Meanwhile, in the streets of the city; Looking at the massacre of thousands of innocents, Prince Athledon was walking slowly among the corpses with a deadpan expression, feeling a lot of regret for taking Wil''s side. Prince Hugo, who also received the order from the god, sighed, "I see This is why he asked to relinquish my right on this island. It seems he''s more of a winged human than that of a Dragon." Just then, a Giant crane spirit suddenly teleported in front of him and bowed its head, "greetings, your Highness." Prince Athledon just stood there in silence, staring at it. *** While the people are celebrating in the streets with joy despite the street filled with corpses, mistakenly believing that their new king, the winged human was the one who killed the beasts and saved them, the perpetrator in question was sitting on top of the fort, staring at the ocean while playing with the compass in his hand. "What a pleasant ocean. If I didn''t know about the existence of the terrifying creatures under the bottom of the ocean, I would have believed it''s completely empty." Flexing his fingers and stretching his hands and legs, Wil dived into the ocean, grabbing the compass tightly. With a Bubble around him, blocking the water pressure at the bottom of the ocean, and preventing HP depletion from drowning, Wil reached the ocean bed equipping night vision goggles before starting walking as if he was on the land. As he started walking, the handle in the compass changed its direction to 2 o''clock. "Oh, it works." Wil nodded in satisfaction, "Even if I can''t get the distance, just knowing the direction itself is great." Right then, a weird creature went past him, ignoring his presence. "Huh? What kind of weird creature is this? Those game designers are really creative. A fish without a face? I can''t see its eyes either. I wonder how they would see. Seriously, it looks like two rears on a fish." Faceless cusk eel Grade: Elite Level: 252 Hp: 9.2 million Description: A faceless eel that lives at the bottom of the Grennola Ocean. They are harmless as long as one wouldn''t attack it. Shrugging his shoulders, Wil ignored the passerby and continued to search for the lost ship. Unlike oceanic creatures in the other ocean, the monsters here are a bit too peaceful no matter their grade or so Wil thought after meeting other strange creatures including Rat tail fishes that have big heads and tapering tails, Vampire squid that''s blood-red in color, a large group of Piranha that ignored him and swum away, etc However, soon, his opinion has changed once he found a shark that has an elongated and flattened snout swimming towards him while baring its fifty sharp teeth. Goblin Shark Grade: Legendary Level: 300 HP: 1.32 Billion Description: A bottom-dwelling predator that is acting as the guardian of the lost ship of Athledon. "Lost ship of Athledon?" Wil''s face glowed in excitement as he read the description, "didn''t know it was this easy to find the Warship. And this Shark confirmed my suspicions about the presence of treasures present in the ship. After all, that Prince indeed mentioned that their ancestor fled after defeat." Looking at the incoming Shark, Wil simply raised his hand and unleashed, "Gravity Suppression" to force it, sticking on to the ocean bed before breathing out his inextinguishable Dragon Fire even underwater, turning into ash within a few seconds. Throwing all the items into his inventory, Wil once again took out the compass and started walking away. A while later; *Ding. You found the lost ship of Athledon. Chapter 146: Lost Ship of Athledon *Ding. You discovered the lost ship of Athledon. You received 500 fame points as a reward. A large ship appeared in his view, which has a dozen canons installed on either side. The anchor was buried in the soil while a crane symbol was printed on a flag. The happiness on his face faded away quickly as he neared it and saw several holes in the size of a basketball here and there as if some fleet ambushed it from all sides. Athledon''s Warship Status: Damaged Description: The legendary warship of Athledon that once conqueror the Grennola ocean. Sighing with disappointment, Wil swam to the above to open the door on the top and saw the stairs that reach the dark lodging space. With night vision goggles on him, the darkness inside wasn''t a problem for him. Just like the bottom of the ocean, everything was brightly lit up like a day in his eyes as he started climbing down the stairs. Ignoring the first floor which contains nothing but cannonballs and canons, Wil climbed down the stairs to the bottom where there are barrels in the corner, gold grade swords along with skeletons, lying here and there. Wil was taken aback as he looked at the heads of skeletons where instead of helmets, there are hats. Instead of armor, they are wearing normal outfits like t-shirt and pants. "A pirate? Does this game have pirates? How come I never heard of it before? So, either the Pirates were a quest content or they were a hidden class. Well, not that I would care either way" As he continued to swim further, ignoring the bodies and low-level equipment on the floor, Wil reached a seemingly special room that was locked on the outside. Intending to break the door with force, Wil changed into a humanoid dragon and punched it, testing his luck but as the door stood sturdy, a sigh escape from his lips, "I guess it needs a key." "Hmm, wait a second. The Guardian..." "That''s right. I killed that shark. Let''s see" Wil immediately searched his inventory and took out a key in happiness before trying to unlock it. But, just a second later, the smile froze on his face as the key to unlock it. "It isn''t the key?" Control key Description: key needed to open the control room. "Hmm, Control room? So, what about the key to open this room, then? Did it wash away in this water?" Wil mumbled as he turned his head to look at the openings from all the sides. *Click* Wil inserted the key and unlocked the door and stepped inside the control room to see nothing but a huge steering wheel that''s as big as him, a lever in the side to start the ship. *Ding. Congratulations on acquiring Athledon''s Warship. As the owner, you can place it in inventory. *Ding. A warship panel has been added to the Character. Please enter its name. As soon as he touched the steering wheel, the ship became his property but nonetheless, it wasn''t able to start because of the damage. Exiting out of the ship, Wil stored the ship into his inventory and checked the details while changing its name to Ravens. Ravens'' Warship Grade: Legendary Owner: Time Traveler Status: Heavily Damaged Durability (HP): 10 million (100 Billion) Cannons: 35 Cannonballs: 196 Crew: 0 Skills: Invisibility (level 1): Can turn invisible for 1 minute. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 60 minutes. Note: Invisibility wears off if you engaged in battle during the effect period. All out Canon: Take control of the cannons and fire cannonballs at the enemies without the need for manual labor for 5 minutes. Cost: 500 mana. CD: 120 minutes. "Oh! 100 Billion of health? Nice durability. I guess it will be useful for the next phase. With it, I can..." *Ding. Someone is calling you from the outside world. Accept the call? Looking at the number, Wil immediately picked up, "yes, Aster. is it done? Okay. We''ll go tomorrow." *** Two days later; Heibei Corporation main branch, Ares City; Lu Heibei and his new secretary were in a meeting with Bank of Ares'' representatives. "Based on our investigation, this company doesn''t have a single major client. All left is the minor ones. Judging by the state, our bank concluded that the company will be closed sooner or later. So, we no longer wish to provide the loan," said a representative of the bank. Then, the new secretary opened the file and projected it while Lu Heibei took on the explanation to convince them. "So, as you can see, shares have indeed risen by 6.9% in the past few days." Just when one of them about to open his mouth, Heibei spoke, "I know what you are going to say. It is true that I invested my personal fortune of over 150 million Yuan in the company but you should understand that it wasn''t to stabilize the situation or maintain the share value. I invested it for the sake of employees to make sure they can receive their salary at right time. As for the clients, in the next couple of days, we are going to have a deal with Montex Corporation, and just this morning, we have signed a three-year contract with Textel." Showing them the document, Heibei further said, "So, the issue with our backing already solved we don''t have any problems. You can trust" *Bang* All of a sudden, the door was opened with brute force. "Hey, who the hell are you guys? Security" shouted Lu Heibei angrily as he saw five to six tall and burly guys entered the room, disrupting the meeting. "No need to panic," said a guy in his late thirties as he entered the room. Then, he turned towards the bank representatives and said, "I''m afraid the meeting is adjourned for today. You two can leave." Shrugging their shoulders, the two of them stood up to leave as they aren''t interested in the first place. "Wait," shouted Heibei stopping them and then looked at the intruder with a frown, "Who the hell are you to tell them what to do. Wait a second. I have seen you somewhere Who are you?" "Just an ordinary bodyguard. Anyway, I''m here to inform you that your Chairman is summoning you, downstairs to the board meeting," replied Aster with a smile before replacing it with a cold look, "If you are unwilling, the boys here will drag you with us. So, come with us without making a ruckus." Ignoring his threat in the latter half of the sentence, Lu Heibei slammed the table in front of him, "what are you spouting nonsense. I''m the chairman and CEO of this company. Rolf, call the security as well as police." "I''m afraid you are fired by the board, Mr. Heibei. It was under the orders of the new majority shareholder" A reply was heard from his new secretary, who was standing behind, stupefying him on the spot. "What What are you talking about, Rolf?" Heibei turned his head with his voice quivering in disbelief. *** In a meeting room, all of the board directors took their seats along with Lu Heibei who sat in a normal seat like them. Staring at the empty chairman''s seat, his legs shivered, his eyes and face turned deep red while the muscles inside of him quivering with rage. But, he wasn''t able to move an inch because his hands and legs were tied to the back of the seat by the two bodyguards who are standing behind him as if he was a hostage. Meanwhile, the board directors just ignored his situation and waited patiently. A few moments later, Aster entered the room and announced, "Young master is here." Chapter 147: Taking over Heibei Corporation "Young master is here. Everyone, stand up." As soon as the words exited out of Aster''s mouth, everyone stood up obediently with a smile. Meanwhile, Heibei, who continued to struggle to get out of the ropes that tied him to the chair, was stupefied to see the uniformity in directors'' actions. As a bodyguard released the ropes and another one forced him to stand, and a growl escaped from his lips, removing the plaster on his mouth "You guys Looks like everyone is in this scheme. So, who is that ba****d you became dogs for? It''s Textel, isn''t it? I knew something was off when they tied up with our company in exchange for 18% shares umpfff mmm" His lips were once again sealed with plaster while his hands were grabbed tightly. As the boardroom went into silence, Heibei heard nothing but footsteps from outside the corridor which are getting louder as time passed by. Not long after, a 19-year-old Wil entered the room, walking towards the Chairman''s seat followed by Aster, leaving behind the bodyguards outside while the directors bow lightly as a part of greeting. "Is he the young master of Textel?" wondered Lu Heibei after calming down a little, realizing that he can''t win against them. But, to his surprise, Wil stopped on the midway just when he was about to pass him. Looking at him, a frown appeared on Wil as he asked, "What is the plaster for? And" His attention shifted to the ropes that were scattered on the floor, "what are they for?" "Young master, he''s talking too much. So, we thought" As one of the bodyguards trying to reply with the utmost politeness, Wil then interrupted him, "This is a boardroom, okay? Sigh It wouldn''t look for my image if you do things like that." Aster just stared at him with a deadpan expression, "aren''t you the one who ordered me to inform such instructions" Shaking his head with a sigh, Wil proceeded to remove the plaster, maintaining a smile on his face, "sorry about that. As you can see, our boys tend to be violent sometimes. So, it''s best if you quiet. Or else, instead of plaster, I''ll tell them to sew your lips to seal them permanently. So, don''t force me to do that, okay. After all, we are all civilized men, right? White Tiger" Upon hearing his first half of the sentence, the directors stared at him in surprise as Wil was different from what they imagined him to be. After all, everyone in the room knew how scary Scarlet and the Mafia behind the group are. But, then, the latter half of the sentence brought many of them already took out their handkerchiefs to wipe off their sweat even though the air conditioner is working very well. On the other hand, a trace of fear appeared in Lu Heibei''s eyes. Looking at Wil''s smile, resembling a devil''s in his eyes, a shiver swirl up from the back of his legs to the spine, his voice quivered as he bellowed, "Your voice You are him, right? How is this possible for a damn net caf owner to become the chairman No, I f*****g don''t believe it" But, all of the words stuck inside his throat, and no sound came out of his mouth. Realizing that WhiteTiger isn''t in a state to answer, Wil walked past him and took his seat before addressing everyone. "Hello, I''m Williard Ravens. I guess most of you probably got the notification that I was nominated as the Chairman of this board by the shareholders along with firing Lu Heibei, judging the crisis we are facing. As the interim chairman and the majority shareholder of this company, I''m taking some steps to improve our image and financial situation." Aster then, handed over the files to everyone. As they started reading, Wil spoke, "here are my propositions. The first step is to change the company name to a better one. That''s why the name will be changed to Ravens'' Corporation from now onwards. The second step is to annexing it into our parent company, Scarlet group. The third step is" As Wil was reciting the steps they were going to take, everyone held their breath in shock and quietly listened while glancing at each other from time to time. Finishing his speech, Wil folds his fingers while resting his elbows on the table, before leaning forward a bit to look at the board members, "You can read the documents in the file about the benefits we are going to receive from it. But before that, we need a new CEO, as well as the chairman of this board as I will be busy band, can''t afford the time. You can discuss among yourselves and propose a few names, which I will select one, later. So, if anyone has any objections to the changes, you are free to speak. We can discuss it." Looking at the silent boardroom members, Wil turned his chair towards the side while crossing his legs, "seems like no one has any objections. Okay, then, everyone can leave now. And notify all the Presidents of the branches about the changes we are going to implement soon." "What the hell is going on" Lu Heibei just sat in a daze for a long time before Wil tapped the table with his fingers to bring him into senses. Looking at the empty room, Heibei mumbled, "What just happened? Where has everyone gone" As Wil once again tapped the table, gaining his attention, Heibei stared at him in confusion, still wasn''t able to realize the whole situation of what''s going on... Maintaining a smile on his face, Wil then spoke, "Lu Heibei, after the death of your father, you started with being Chairman of the company, holding more than 35% of the shares. You have hundreds of millions of dollars, a lovable girlfriend, and a guild with a large number of subordinates. But, just within a month, you lost your shares and ended up as the minority shareholder with only 13.65% shares left, losing your position as CEO and the chairman, losing your guild, and now, even your company name. How does it feel to see your world turn upside down?" Heibei sat there like a statue, not daring to move around while having a lot of thoughts emerging in his mind upon hearing Wil''s words. Upon seeing no response, Wil thought he was shocked. Intending to interrupt his thoughts, Wil then, asked, "you are wondering where everything went wrong, right?" As Heibei came out of its thoughts and slowly turned his head and looked into his eyes with his deep red eyes, a wide smile appeared on Wil as he stood up from the seat, "let''s just say everything you have done until now for the past month and everything that happened with you is because of me. Confused, aren''t you? Go to your home and think, think, and think..." Wil then started walking away, leaving Heibei alone. Heibei was still silent, not moving an inch, controlling all the raging muscles, quivering voice that''s tempting him to go wild. But then, just before he left the room, Wil, once again, opened his mouth, "Oh, you aren''t the part of the board anymore. So, you don''t need to come to the company anymore... Goodbye..." Heibei collapsed on the chair as Wil left the place. Grabbing his head, he roared as he threw the file, "Time Traveler" Meanwhile, at the unknown Research laboratory, the test subject was sleeping in a capsule while the researchers are monitoring the status... "65%... 70%... 75%... 80%... 85%... 90%... 95%... 100%..." "Integration successful." She opened her eyes, looking blank. Chapter 148: Gynoid N-twelve "What is this place?" wondered a woman, waking up in an unfamiliar place. She tried to lift her hands but wasn''t able to move even an inch of a finger for some reason Her body is stuck inside the capsule leaving the only thing that was able to move by itself are the pupils, which can see nothing but a white ceiling through the glass. "You are at an unmapped place called Stennex, Miss N-twelve." A voice resounded in her head, giving her a response. "Who is it?" asked Gynoid N12, but no words escaped from her mouth, and yet, a response came quickly into her head. "Hello, I''m Neo. To stabilize your state, I was supposed to merge with your consciousness, but the process was failed at the last step. As a result, now, we are sharing one single body." "Two souls in one body?" The young woman was taken aback upon hearing that she was sharing her body with another soul. Still, there isn''t any trace of shock on her face like one would expect in this situation. Maintaining calmness, she asked, "Are you possessing my body or perhaps, is it my soul, which got stuck in your body?" "Neither. Miss N-twelve, both of our consciousness was transferred to an artificial body at different times. The concept of a soul doesn''t exist. According to Marnet''s thesis, the soul is nothing but an abstract term of consciousness or sentience." The Gynoid fell into a moment of confusion upon hearing the explanation of Neo, "Artificial body? Consciousness? The soul doesn''t exist? What the hell is she talking about?" Neo, who was linked to the woman''s consciousness, understood her thoughts and quickly answered, "It means you died but the researchers were able to extract your consciousness from your brain and stored in a chip until recently before transferring it to a robotic body. Let me explain what exactly consciousness is. It is something created by neurons and" "No, don''t bother." The woman interrupted her explanation and then said, "It doesn''t matter since I already died and reborn. By the way, you keep addressing me as N-twelve. Is that my name?" Neo then replied, "Yes, it is the name Dr. Shunpei gave it to you." "I see. I''m a test subject, huh" The woman then asked, "So, is that b*****d that dared to use me as a test subject? No, before that, say, are you also like me?" "No, I''m Neo. A sentient artificial intelligence developed by Dr. Shunpei and his team based on the data of the world''s most advanced artificial intelligence, Aria," replied Neo through her mind, ignoring her first part of the sentence. "A sentient artificial intelligence? Seriously? I thought it was just bu**sh*t when Summersoft research center announced it back then. Huh? Wait a second." The woman was once again surprised as she realized she doesn''t remember anything about her past, and yet, it felt so natural to think about the information from the past. "Can you update me about the current world?" asked the woman, trying to figure out what''s going on with her. As Neo continues to explain about major events that are normally known to the public, she absorbed all the knowledge, thinking she can get a tiny hint of her past but as nothing came to her mind, the woman went into a depression and tried to move to get out of the capsule. Outside of the capsule, the President is frowning as he was staring at the women lying in the capsule with a blank expression while the head researcher Shunpei is instructing Richard about the additional instructions that need to be given to their prototype. "I didn''t get to see her face clearly, but now that I''m, this close to her, she''s familiar for some reason. Did I meet her before" "Yeah We did it" All of a sudden, a young researcher shouted with excitement. As Shunpei joined him with a clap and a thank you speech, the others followed too with cheers and claps, bringing the President back to his senses, and called Shunpei after his speech is over. "Dr. Shunpei, you said she''s the master of several lost martial arts. Who is she, by the way? I mean, what''s her identity when she''s alive?" asked Adler in a low tone. "Oh, her name is Ad Adia. No, is it Alexandria? Hmm Ah! I apologize, Mr. President it''s been several years since we started using her subject name. So, I forgot her actual name. Her last name is Smith, though. Wait a second. Let me check it in the system." Just when he was about to call Richard, the President waved his hands, "nevermind. It isn''t important. Anyway, I have an important meeting, right now. So, I need to leave." While the rest of the team is in a festive mood as their project finally finished, Richard Starves, on the other hand, was busy writing additional instructions into Neo, who for some reason, didn''t report that their integration was incomplete. After doing his job, he glanced at the capsule, and then, turned his head to see the 3d projection of Neo, who was chatting cheerfully with others, which made him think deeply about the abnormality result that everyone ignored. With a frown on his face, Richard placed his elbows on the desk before him and folded his fingers, staring at the monitor that''s displaying details of Neo. "Something is missed just what did I miss here. How can an appearance change that drastically? Unless" As a thought suddenly came into his mind, Richard involuntarily pushed back his chair as he stood up, making his eyes wide in realization before leaving the place in a hurry. Meanwhile, the head researcher was escorting President Adler to his car. "So, now that the prototype is finished, I hope you will start working on the actual weapon." Shunpei replied politely, "of course, Mr. President. It won''t take long to build even an army of Android and Gynoid soldiers. All we need is to mass clone Neo and merge them with different consciousness we have saved in our inventory." President Adler nodded with a smile and proceeded to step inside the car. "Mr. President, about the increase in our funds" The head researcher asked Adler with hesitation but before his words even finished, the bodyguard closed the door, disappointing the head researcher. Seeing that the car started and about to leave, Shunpei sighs and turns around to return, just then, the car window glass came down and he heard a voice, "Oh, Dr. Shunpei." As soon as he heard the call, he turned his body swiftly with hope, "Yes, Mr. President?" "I forgot to mention one thing. You know that popular game called War Online, right?" "Yes." Upon hearing the words of Adler, a crestfallen Shunpei replied slowly in a low tone. Ignoring the change in tone, Adler continued, "Before proceeding with creating others, see if your Neo can escape those Summersoft DNA verification system and never mind. Using Neo might be a risk. How about testing the prototype in that virtual world of War Online? I want to know whether it can fool or if not, at least resist against NB0A1. Unless we are sure about that, you can''t let that A.I. step out of this building." Chapter 149: Moms family picture "Where is Dr. Shunpei?" asked Richard to a researcher who was chatting with others, discussing where he''s going to leave for the upcoming vacation. "Shunpei-sensei? He just left with Mr. President. Probably escorting him to the car. How about" Before his words ended, Richard rushed outside, leaving behind the surprised fellow researchers. "What has he gotten into?" "Who knows" "Forget that nerd. You were telling something?" Ah, right. I was thinking of going to Ankrale beach. My daughter wanting to go for a while" As he exited the lab, Richard started mumbling, "I need to convince Dr. Shunpei to run tests on Neo to confirm my suspicion. If she''s really turned out to be NB0A1''s clone, then, the result might turn out devastating. Oh, there he is" Looking at the backs of the president and the head researcher who were walking towards the elevator, Richard was about to call him but right then, a laugh escaped from Adler that resounded across the empty corridor. He quickly hid behind the wall and listened to their conversation. "Good job, Dr. Shunpei. With the success of this project, I''m confident that I''ll continue to be the President in the third term too." The head researcher smiled along with him, "not just the third term, Mr. President. I believe you will serve as the president for a long time. After all, we are saving humanity. Our next step is to make immortality, a thing for real." "Immortality? You mean, putting our consciousness into a robotic body like her?" scoffed Adler before folding his hands at the back, and looked away, "no thanks. I would rather stay as a normal human." The head researcher shook his head, "no, you misunderstood me, Mr. President. I''m talking about the transfer of consciousness into real bodies. During infancy, the brain isn''t much developed, and the body lacks a certain degree of consciousness. What if we send the consciousness into an infant and replace theirs?" The President suddenly stopped walking and turned towards him with a surprised look on his face before letting out a wide smile, "that''s a brilliant plan, Dr. Shunpei. We''ll talk about that later. But, first, I need to know how long you''ll take till you give an army of these battle androids. You already collected several consciousnesses for the past couple of years" As they entered the elevator, Dr. Richard who was listening to their conversation secretly found himself sweating while his heart continues to beat rapidly. "Replacing consciousness into an infant? That''s murder. What kind of place I have entered? Isn''t this a research center aimed for the betterment of humanity?" He quickly turned around and return to the lab, without reporting his conjecture. *** Ares City; After finishing his business at the main branch of Heibei Corp., Wil went straight to the hotel and took a couple of hours rest before his sleep was disturbed by a call from Hyori. "Hey, Wil." "What''s up? Aren''t you supposed to be at the college at this time?" asked Wil with a frown, thinking whether she encountered any trouble as he knew she never skips college. "Huh? Didn''t I tell you the other day that prelims going to start?" replied Hyori on the other side. Only then, he remembered their conversation the previous night and said, "Ah, yes. I remember it. Intercontinental Archery championship, right?" "Yeah. Originally, I was selected for a seeded spot for my college but all of a sudden, the management decided to give it to a senior, instead. So, I might not have enough time to log in to the game." Upon hearing her depressed tone, the frown on Wil became even deeper and he went into thinking as he sat on the bed, "it''s strange that management of a reputed college like hers is suddenly changing their decision. I smell something conspiracy here. I need to talk to Silver about it." "Hello Hello Wil? You there?" "Ah, yes. Sorry. Something else was on my mind. Tell me." Hyori repeated, "I''m saying that I might not afford the time to log in to the game for the next couple of weeks." "It''s fine. By the way, what about that pet scroll? The auction is scheduled for the day after tomorrow." Hyori answered, "You don''t need to worry about it. It''s been taken care of. I actually" "Huh? Taken care of? What do you mean? Did you sell it off already? How much? No, that''s not it. Who did you sell it to? I told you not to sell it in private, right? The auction will provide you a better price. Perhaps, you needed money? Why go for selling? I would have lent you" As Wil continue to lecture non-stop, Hyori interrupted him, "okay okay Wil, calm down and take a deep breath for a second. Let me finish, will ya. It wasn''t sold or given. I used it to capture that water dragon." "Eh? You caught it?" Wil froze for a second in shock upon hearing the least expected thing from her, "how did you find it? No, that''s not it. It supposed to be the Black Leopard... Damn..." He realized his mistake. Black leopard was a level-150 legendary grade monster at Reverie kingdom, not the Llyne. "Sorry about that... I guess my information is wrong..." Wil quickly apologized to her. "It''s fine." Hyori took it lightly, and tried to tease him, "It''s good to know that the mighty Time Traveler will also make mistakes..." Wil blushed in embarrassment. He tried to divert the topic, "How did you capture it, anyway?" "Well, it''s all started when SnowDew shared her mission with me... I didn''t expect to meet it. Quite a coincidence I should say." Hyori then recounted their adventure after resurrecting at Deloris town. Two days earlier, to finish the quest, SnowDew/Evie and Hyori went to the same cave, which leads them to the hall of demigods, previously. This time, instead of entering the tunnel, they explored other directions and found a giant dragon sleeping soundly in a cave, releasing water from its horns continuously. After dragging it to the surface, both of them fought against the dragon and eventually captured the dragon after its health was downed to less than 10%. Upon hearing her story, Wil understood how it happened. "I see Then, congratulations on acquiring the pet." "Thanks," replied Hyori as a smile appeared on her lips unknowingly before she asked, "what about you? Did you meet your mother, yet?" *Slap* Immediately, Hyori heard a sound on the other side. "What is that sound? Did you trip and hit your leg or something?" "Sh*t" Wil slapped his forehead in realization and mumbled, "I forgot about it, completely." "What? I can''t hear you." He quickly replied, "It''s nothing. I''m just tired, right now. I''ll go in the evening." "I see Okay, then. I''m hanging up. You take rest." "Bye." After disconnecting the call, he quickly dialed a number. "Hello, Silver." After talking with Silver, he took out his laptop and then, opened the mail to see the details Silver already sent to him, long ago. "Flat no. 702, Seven Apartments, Santacruz, Hailey city. I wonder where that is" Opening the map, Wil went into thoughts once again, placing the chin on his hand while the elbow rests on the bed, "Hailey city is like at least 12 hours away. Sigh If only I asked the address before leaving the western continent, it would have been easy. But, now, even going there seemed like risky." Right then, he received another mail from Silver with attachments. "Pictures of mom and her family?" Reading the message, Wil clicked on the attachment and opened the downloaded pictures only to be taken aback in surprise. Looking at the girl and the boy, two familiar faces popped up in his mind from a very recent memory from the game but it wasn''t the siblings that surprised him. It was the picture of his mother. After looking carefully at the individual pictures, Wil once again called Silver. "Hello, young master. I sent a few pictures just now." "Yeah, I know," replied Wil with a confused look on his face before asking, "But, Silver, what is my missing master, Andrea doing here? Where is my mom?" "She''s indeed Scarlet Smith. Your biological mother." A reply came from the other side of the phone. "Eh?" Wil went into a daze as he stared at the picture once again. Chapter 150: Is she really my mother? *You received a new mail* While Wil was checking out the address, he received another mail from Silver. "Hmm, new mail? Let''s see" After reading the message, he downloaded the attachments and opened the photos one by one. The first picture is of an unfamiliar middle aged-man in his mid-forties. A special feature about him is that he has a vertical scar across his right eye as if someone tried to stab his eyes before. Other than that, he looks completely like an average westerner one would find anywhere. "So, he''s mom''s husband, huh?" Wil looked at him in a little bit of disgust, "forget about his mediocre job, even his looks weren''t worth compared to my dad. I wonder what mom saw in him though" Then, Wil clicked on the next picture "Eh? This girl... Mia?" Wil was taken aback as he saw the picture of a familiar 12-year-old girl who has a pretty smile on her lips while her eyes seemed to emit the rays of innocence and naivety. Glancing at the picture carefully, Wil slapped his thigh in realization, "now, I remember her. Isn''t she a member of Saturday? Wow, my sister is a future star idol? Hmm, as her brother, I should support her dream, right. Since I was about to buy an entertainment agency, how about buying that "ANS Entertainment Agency" in secret and Wait a second. Brother? Didn''t she have an older brother named Rey?" Wil quickly put his thoughts away and clicked on the next picture to see a familiar black-haired and blue-eyed 18-year old boy, who was sitting on the ground with a Golden Retriever dog in between his hands. A frown appeared o Wil''s face as he went into deep thoughts again. "It is indeed Rey. But, Dad said I only have a sister. He didn''t mention anything about having another half-sibling unless" Wil glanced at the picture of Rey and mumbled, "He''s either adopted or he''s the son of Mr. Quilton from his first marriage, perhaps? No, Hyori said SnowDew confirmed with Evie that they are real siblings. Hmm, maybe, they lied to them. Parents often lie to the children. All this time didn''t Dad also lie to me that mom died" Without thinking much of it, Wil went to the fourth one to see his mom''s picture. Just like the second and third, the fourth one is also of a familiar woman but Wil''s face is filled with a mixture of shock and confusion. He quickly went to the fifth and final one and saw the family picture of the man and woman were standing apart on either end. In the middle, Rey and Mia along with the dog posed together for the camera. He stared at the picture for a while before quickly dialing the number and shouted at Silver, "What the hell is my master doing here? You said you sent the pictures of my mom''s family." Upon hearing the raging voice on the other side of the phone, Silver took a deep breath and then replied, "It''s indeed your mom''s family. She''s Scarlet Smith, your biological mother." As Wil stood up on the bed with a shock, his leg hit the laptop and it flipped before crashing onto the floor. Without caring about its condition, Wil spoke seriously, "don''t joke around. I know how my mom looks like. Moreover, isn''t this Andrea? Those horrible training memories are still hovering in my head." "Sigh" Wil then heard a deep sigh from the other side. Followed by a sigh, Silver replied, "The photo in your bedroom belongs to someone else. Andrea is your mother''s twin, or should I say, your maternal aunt. Lord Philip lied to you because he doesn''t want to confuse Andrea for your mother as they look alike. Or maybe, he" "He doesn''t want me to find out how my mother even looks like, right?" said Wil finished his sentence before asking him in a cold tone while his voice is quivering, and his hands started to shake, trying to control his anger, "So, who is that woman? In the album that''s hidden in the locker, I have seen pictures of them looking very close. Did my dad have an affair with her that lead to their divorce? Tell me the truth, Silver. Right now, I can''t believe any of Dad''s words from the past. I think even the words from the letter is also a lie. Tell me, did that bullet in dad''s head is also from 20 years ago during an assassination attempt from the Bridge family? My mom wasn''t mentally ill, right? She must have left him because he had an affair with that woman, right?" After a few seconds of silence, Wil growled as he punched the wall, erupting up, "tell me the f**k**g truth, right now." Another deep sigh was heard from the other side. "Wil, don''t misunderstand your father." As soon as Wil heard Silver calling by his first name directly in a serious tone, he calmed down and listened quietly. "She''s your father''s ex-fiance. I don''t know the details but she died before Phil even met your mother. As for the others, it''s better if you never learn of it. The world of Mafia is a lot deeper than just assassinations, guns, and casinos. Lord Philip might have thought" While Silver trying to explain Wil, the latter interrupted him, "forget it. I''m tired. Let''s talk later." He quickly disconnected the call, not willing to listen to Silver, and threw the mobile phone aside casually before clenching his fist, "No matter what you say to defend him, it doesn''t change the fact that my father is nothing more than a liar. I''ll find out the truth by myself." Then, he once again looked at the picture, "is she really my mom?" ***** Wular City; "Manager Luo, please get me a cola," spoke a customer loudly. "Yes," replied Xu Luoyang as she swiftly moved towards the refrigerator and delivered it to his counter before returning quickly toward the reception desk as she saw a new customer entered. Giving his ID card to scan, the customer asked, "I haven''t seen you before. Are you new here?" Luoyang nodded, "yes. I joined two days ago. So, you want a cabin for a computer or a VR helmet?" Instead of answering her, the customer asked her in return, "xiao Jiang mentioned Summersoft capsules will arrive this week." "Eh? Capsules? I know vitamin capsules but never heard of Summersoft capsules. Wait a second. This isn''t even a medical shop. What is this guy talking about? Don''t tell me Boss Qian sells capsules illegally or something?" Luoyang went into a daze; clueless about what is the customer asking for. "Hello, miss" "Ah, yes. I''m sorry. I don''t think they have arrived yet. Boss Qian is currently sleeping. I''ll ask her about it once she woke up." After Luoyang dealt with the problem, she started counting the money in her head, "so far, my working hours reached 20. That''s 220 Yuan. I have 428 Yuan left with me. Since the lodging and food are free, I was able to save a total of 628 Yuan. The flight ticket costs 22500 credits to reach Yarlford City. But, if I take a bus from here to Bey City, and then, take a ship to Yarlford, the costs might be cut off to more than half, and I can use the remaining money for lodging and food." Chapter 151: Phaneuls Order At a net caf in the city of Wular; Luoyang is in a dilemma while looking at the travel expenses on the internet. "Sigh no matter what, to not face this issue again, I should need at least 5000 Yuan before leaving this city. After all, it isn''t a guarantee that everyone is nice as Boss Qian to provide me a job. But, to acquire such money, I should still work for 400 hours more That''s like one and a half months. I can''t afford to waste that much time. I should think of something else Should I open a dojo and teach my sword skills to earn money? Brother mentioned a lot of people living in cities are eager to learn about it." *** Ares City; In one of the luxury seven-star hotels of the Star group, Wil was enjoying in the swimming pool all alone while looking at the view of the full moon and the clear sky. Taking a sip of mango juice, as Wil closed his eyes, right then, suddenly, he felt someone put hands over him slowly, and something soft brushed against his cheek. Instead of getting surprised, a smile appeared on Wil as he opened his eyes and spoke calmly, "it''s not right to cheat your boyfriend, Sierra" Her grabbing became a little bit tight as she pressed her cheek against his cheek before replying, "Bran and I broke up yesterday. It seems after being defeated by you, he lost his confidence." Wil suddenly turned his head, widening his eyes, and stared into her eyes that were just a couple of inches away, "really?" As she gave a peck on his lips in response, Wil turned around and grabbed her waist before dragging her into the pool, and *Knock*knock*Knock* "Young master, we are getting late for the flight. Please open the door. We have to go" A loud voice was heard from outside the door followed by another couple of knocks, interrupting them. Both of them suddenly stopped what they are doing and stared at the door for a couple of seconds. "Forget about him Let''s continue" spoke Wil before turning his head only to find Sierra disappeared into thin air. "Who is it?" shouted Wil as he woke up from sleep and heard a couple of knocks again followed by a voice, "Young master" Looking around Wil grumbled, "Damn you Can''t even let me finish my dream?" As he opened the door, Aster entered the room and informed him again. "Sigh I should have brought my private jet." Wil let out a sigh before freshening up. After a while, Wil checkout the hotel and started walking towards the exit while five other bodyguards are going to follow him until the airport. Meanwhile, somewhere on the roads of the city, a police car is chasing a criminal, who was a prime suspect in a recent murder case. To his bad luck, the fuel tank indicator entered into a red zone, and leaving with no other choice, he stopped at a busy street to blend into the crowd. As soon as he hit the streets, the police didn''t waste any time and started their pursuit without losing him. Seeing that the situation isn''t turning any better, the culprit took out a gun and pointed upwards even though knowing full well that doing that will increase his punishment in case if he gets caught. A deafening crack of thunder caused chaos in the street as he pulled the trigger once. While the people started running at the sound of the bullet, the policemen soon lost their sight of him and quickly called their control room for support. The culprit with a smile on his face started running to escape from the place. After an hour, he reached a dark alley, and looked around on the road and the street. "Phew, no one is chasing me anymore." The culprit sighed in relief before thinking of a plan, "let''s look for a low-class motel and sleep for tonight. I need to call Haesung-hyung. Only he can help me out in this crisis" Right then, all of a sudden, someone called from behind from the edge of the wall, "Dr. Na Tae-Won of VK Hospital?" "Yes" The culprit instinctively reacted to the voice and turned around only to see a tall and slim guy in a black outfit with a face mask and goggles. Before he gets to speak further, his throat was slashed cleanly and blood started spurting out before he collapsed on the floor, grabbing his throat. Looking at the lifeless body, the masked guy mumbled in a cold tone, "you can escape from the police but you can''t escape from us once you commit a sin." After cleaning his dagger as well as the droplets of blood that was spilled on to his face, he took out his mobile phone and took the picture of the dead body before dialing a number. "Hello, this is Redmoon. Reporting the mission. The culprit has been judged for his sin. I sent you the picture." From the other side, he heard a reply of a husky voice that belonged to a woman, "Wait for a second. Let me confirm the target." A few seconds later, the woman spoke, "target has been confirmed. Good job. I sent your commission along with your next task. Check your mail." As he opened his mail, he read the details of his next target. Name: Scott Quilton. Info: Working as the Hailey city branch manager of Frazier Pharmaceuticals. Married and have two children. No criminal records. Crime: Suspected to be Henry Nicholson, the culprit, who scammed thousands of innocents, 20 years ago, and ran away with 5 Billion dollars. Task: Permitted to use any means to confirm the suspicion. Judgment: Death. "Henry Nicholson? Isn''t he the same criminal who was responsible for so many suicides? He deserves to die, indeed." Just then, the other mobile phone in his pocket started vibrating. As soon as he saw the number, his facial expression changed to that of a relaxed one. "Yes, Miss Strike" "Hello, Shin-senpai. I''m moving to Leafway city tomorrow. So, I was wondering whether you will be free. I want to give a treat before leaving. I might not return to Ares for a while. So" As Shin went silent for a while, Elyssa''s heart started to beat rapidly while anxiety was slowly being written all over her face, waiting for his reply. "Ok, sure," replied Shin before ending the call, making her squeal in excitement. "Scarlet gaming Corp. HQ, huh That reminds me why higher-ups never give missions regarding the Scarlet group even though they have a lot of guys who have criminal records. Does our "Phaneul''s order" fear them or something? Strange indeed" *** Next day at 4 o''clock in the morning; Ecrin City International Airport; "Uhh Young master, why we are stopping by this city?" asked Aster as they started walking through the gate after going through the formalities to pick up the luggage. Looking straight ahead, Wil replied, "I have some business here. We can leave to Hailey by afternoon or evening." "But, this is Ecrin. It is now under the control of the Antolov family. It might be risky without any protection," said Aster with a concerned look. *Ring*Ring* Just then, Wil''s mobile phone rang. As he picked up the call, the other side said, "Mr. Ravens, we are here." Wil then turned his head towards him and smiled, "our protection is here." Chapter 152: Wil at Ecrin city "Our protection is here," replied Wil with a smile. Upon seeing the confident look on Wil, Aster went into thoughts, "but, Storm mentioned everyone already left the continent. Perhaps Young master asked his ex-father-in-law for a favor? Depending on the police? Ugh" Thinking that police were the ones who will escort them, Aster made an uncomfortable expression but still, he silently followed Wil with the luggage. To his surprise, instead of police cars, as they exit the airport, Aster saw a couple of military police vehicles along with a liger brand vehicle in between them, parked right at the entrance with five armed officers stood uniformly in the back with their captain on the front. "Military police? Since when did young master has links to them? They aren''t under the control of the Police department." After shaking hands with the captain, both of them sat inside their vehicle, the three of them started moving, amidst the curious gazes of the public as well as free time journalists. A couple of minutes later, as Wil was staring outside the window, looking at the familiar buildings from his past, Aster interrupted Wil, "young master, what''s going on here?" Continuing to stare outside, Wil replied nonchalantly, "earlier, before we check-out the hotel, I called Miss Kiyumi to arrange the security." "Miss Kiyumi? But, the army isn''t in control of the government" Wil then, further explained, "Akiko''s father is a four-star general here. I would be a fool if I don''t take advantage of the fact." "Ah" A look of realization appeared on Aster as he said, "I see. It''s to intimidate the Antolov group. That''s why you asked for the military instead of hiring some bodyguards. Young master, you are really a genius..." Hearing the praise directly brought a blush on Wil but he didn''t show it outright and continue to reminiscing his past five years. Reaching the hotel that was already pre-arranged by Kiyumi eight hours ago, Wil rested for three to four hours before leaving in a cab to somewhere without informing Aster. Meanwhile, a team of the military police who are acting as bodyguards quietly followed him despite complaining among themselves, leaving Aster behind at the hotel. After a while, the cab entered a middle-class residential district, full of apartment buildings and houses everywhere. As the cab is slowly entered into one of the streets where apartments lined up in a row, he asked in uncertainty, "Uhh, can you tell me the name again?" "La Grande Maison," replied Wil in an Ecrin accent as if he was a native before looking outside through the window. "La Grande La Grande Where is it" The cab driver mumbled while driving slowly and looking outside for something like a hoarding. Realizing the situation, Wil sighed in annoyance, "Just go straight until the end. You''ll see a six-story building on the right." Following his directions, the cab driver proceeded further and stopped as they reached the destination. Just as Wil step out of the cab and asked him about the fare, the cab driver asked in confusion as he pointed out the hoarding that was standing before the building, "but, isn''t that "The Great House Apartments?" Are you sure it is the correct location?" Wil then, turned around to see the name, closed his eyes tightly for a second, realizing his mistake, "I forgot they haven''t changed into the translation at this point in time." He silently paid the money and waited until the cab drifted off from there. But, then, instead of going into the apartments he previously lived, Wil walked across the street towards an apartment building with the same name. "Sigh This fatty is just the same" Wil walked through the gate without any security checks as the guard who was supposed to be there was missing even though it''s 9 o''clock in the morning. As Wil entered the building that he was very familiar with, he went towards the lift but then, suddenly stopped without getting inside; instead, he took out his mobile phone and dialed a number. "Hello" A middle-aged woman''s familiar voice was heard from the other side. "Hello Am I speaking to Mrs. Couvreur?" asked Wil just for formality. "Yes, who is it, speaking?" Wil then replied, "I heard from a friend that one of your apartment buildings at Crescent street no.3 is available for sale." *Yawn* She yawned with a lazy tone, indicating she''s still in bed, "then, you need to go through a realtor. Why are you calling me? There is an office near the apartment. You can go and contact them." Upon hearing the exact answer he expected to hear, Wil spoke, "but, I''m already here in the building. Can you come here and meet me directly? Perhaps we can come to an agreement. I will settle the payment at once without negotiations. You can also save the commission." Upon hearing two words "save" and "commission," she quickly sprung up from the bed, and hurriedly spoke. "Just 5 minutes. We''ll be there quickly." Wil then heard a shout as she forgot to disconnect the call, "Sierra Sierra" "What is it, mom?" "Ditch the bag and come with me, right now." "Huh? Where?" "Where else to the crescent street. Since the building is in your name, you need to be there. I''m going to shower. In meantime, call our lawyer." *Thud* Thud* Loud footsteps were heard followed by the voice of a young woman, who was complaining, "but I have a seminar today" Upon hearing her voice for the first time since he returned to the past, Wil disconnected the call with a grin, "looks like I came at the perfect time." Fifteen minutes later, the car arrived and the mother and daughter pair get down but the smile on his face disappeared completely in the next second. *** In the virtual world of War Online, somewhere in the wild zone of Llyne kingdom, an independent player is standing together with Rikilda Llyne, the Grand Duchess. Meanwhile, few mages started incanting together to form various seals and complete half of the ritual successfully as a seal was formed in the center. With a purple crystal that''s as big as a fist, the player in hood placed the crystal in the seal and it suddenly started to absorb magic from the surroundings to form a portal. As soon a purple-colored portal formed, a leg was stuck from it, followed by the remaining leg as well as the body. Looking at the stranger with four wings on his back, Rikilda bowed lightly, "greetings Lord Nebula." As the rest of the mages also kneeled to the archangel save for the player, Nebula ignored them and raised his staff without wasting any time. An enormous amount of magic started to suck into the crystal ball that was embedded on top of it; Rikilda snapped her fingers and immediately disappeared into thin air, leaving the player in confusion due to her actions while receiving a mandatory quest like everyone else in the kingdom that was online at the moment. *Ding. You received a quest. Quest: Protect your home. Description: The kingdom is being invaded by the kingdom of Zuweth. Kill the soldiers of Zuweth. Reward: 10 War points per soldier; 100 War points per squad captain; 1000 War points per general, 100000 War points for Archangel Nebula. Before one would digest this news, another notification was sent to every player. *Ding. A rebellion has occurred in the kingdom. Please choose a side between the rebels and the King. Chapter 153: Mrs. Couvreur Ecrin city; "It''s been 2 years since I last saw her. I wonder how she''s doing." Peeking at his watch every minute, Wil walked back and forth while waiting for Sierra and mom to arrive. As something clicked in his mind, he suddenly stopped with a deep frown, and spoke to himself, "I really wonder why I am wasting my time after everything Am I hoping that I have another chance now that she''s single?" "Are you crazy," Wil suddenly screamed, startling the guard who was curiously watching him from the corner of his eyes, keeping an eye on him until the owner returns as per her orders while wondering about his identity. Realizing that he actually shouted, Wil immediately takes a glance at a security guard, who then, quickly turned his head away and maintained silence as if he wasn''t there. Feeling embarrassed, Wil immediately wanted to leave away from there and started to walk towards the gate. Just as he was about to step outside, a familiar car appeared in his view, which just entered the street. "Oh! Here they are." Wil quickly scurried inside and takes his seat, and started browsing something on his phone. Just as he guessed, the car came to stop across the building, and three people stepped down from the car with one of them being their personal lawyer. But, Wil''s attention was completely stolen by the young woman in her late teens. She wore a simple white dress with a gold braided belt. Her hair was long, wavy, and golden brown, falling brilliantly over her chest. The girl''s face was milky white, with large dazzling eyes that resemble bejeweled water and kissable cherry lips. Looking at the stunningly gorgeous goddess of his previous life, a satisfactory smile appeared on Wil''s lips, "Hah! My princess looks just the same, shining like a diamond" Just as he takes a couple of steps to greet them outside, Wil saw the girl stopped walking and knocked on the window of the driver-side door. Quickly, the door is opened, and a young man with attractive features stepped down from the vehicle, wiping out the smile on Wil''s face. "Br Bran?" All of a sudden, Wil felt as if large waves started crashing into his mind while his heart became really heavy as he saw both of them smiled together. "They were already close to point of accompanying her mother?" "Brandon, you can stay here. Too many people won''t look nice," spoke Mrs. Couvreur in a cold tone before grabbing her daughter''s wrist in a little bit of force as soon as she saw the smiles on them. Upon hearing her, Wil, whose attention was on them from the start, saw the young man just nodded without a change in his expression while the girl''s expression turned 180. Looking at the scene, he sighed in relief, "looks like her mother doesn''t have a good impression of him. If I play my card right, then, I might" But, just then, his thoughts froze as he glanced at the crestfallen Sierra, and let out a sigh, once again, "forget it. She''s obvious" Meanwhile, the lawyer slightly leaned her head towards Mrs. Couvreur and whispered, "He''s the one." The middle-aged woman quickly glanced in his direction, "looks very young. Is he the son of a general with a star or something?" 15 minutes ago; Inside a van that''s parked at the end of the street, three people sat in the back with headphones over them with laptops before them. "Captain, he''s making a call," spoke an officer. The squad captain nodded and put the headphones on. "Am I speaking to Mrs. Couvreur?" After hearing the whole conversation, the captain ordered, "call Aster." A while later, an S-class Liger brand car entered the residential district of Crescent. While in the back seat, as the mother and daughter pair sat together, Bran was in the driver''s seat, helping them out in place their absent driver while the other front seat was occupied by the lawyer, who was reviewing the documents once again just in case. "By the way, Brandon, my daughter mentioned that your sister is working at Ares city. What is she doing again?" asked Mrs. Couvreur all of a sudden. Before Bran replied, Sierra answered while looking at her mobile phone, "It''s pro gamer, Mom. Do you know her salary is 240 thousand dollars per annum? It''s even higher than the top lawyer in our city, you know" Upon hearing the praise of his sister from Sierra''s mouth, Bran tried to hide his smile, and said in modesty, "well, the city of Ares is costly to live in." "C''mon, isn''t she about to shift to HQ at Leafway city? Even though Scarlet is relatively a complete newbie in the gaming industry, it''s still a giant corporation, right?" said Sierra with a smile, without realizing her mother''s expression that drastically changed in the middle after feeling pride in her words that seemed like she was bragging her own sister. As no one commented anything, she didn''t stop her bragging, "But, then again, I guess it''s natural. After all, she''s the sister of the strongest gamer in the world. And once you" Looking at Bran, who was blushing in embarrassment, unbearable to hear such bold words from her daughter, Mrs. Couvreur quickly cut off her speech with a cold tone, "Brandon, your sister is still young. It isn''t time for her to go and earn money. It would be better if she quits the job and focuses on the study. Unlike my daughter, who can afford to waste time and even fail in exams, your family doesn''t have such a luxury. To marry into a well-off household, I think it''s better for her to study hard, get into a good university, and get a proper dignified job." "C''mon, Mom, you are too harsh. What''s wrong with." As Sierra about to refute her statement, Bran interrupted with a nod and answered with a smile, "Yes, I too don''t want her to take the burden of doing a job but she is so happy. And I already promised to support her decision until one year." Sierra then supported him, "Moreover, she''s very smart, Mom. I don''t have any doubt regarding her getting into Ares University." Just when her mom was about to lecture her again, the lawyer who sat beside her suddenly pointed at the front, and said, "Looks like there''s checking. Hmm, are they, military police?" Sierra and her mom also stopped their argument and looked at the front, where military police stopped a vehicle before letting them go. "It''s weird that the military is checking for licenses instead of traffic police," commented Sierra as Bran continue to drove slowly towards them. "Maybe, they are looking for a wanted criminal," commented Mrs. Couvreur, shrugging her shoulders, making everyone nod in agreement. As their turn came, Bran rolls down the window and takes out his license to show him. But, instead of looking at it, the soldier walked past him and knocked the window beside the back seats, instead. *** Present; "Hello, Mr. Ravens, it''s a pleasure to meet you," spoke Mrs. Couvreur with a pleasant smile as she shook his hands. "Eh? Did I say my name to her? I didn''t, right?" Chapter 154: Rebellion part-1 Llyne Kingdom; In the dungeon of the frozen castle, Evie (SnowDew) and Hyori are fighting against the final boss of the dungeon, the Ice Dragon. Glacier Species: Ice Dragon Grade: Legendary Level: 190 HP: 340million/620 million "Feathered light step," Hyori spoke slowly as she dodged the Ice breath. With her speed twice as fast, Hyori stride towards the left and shot double arrows towards the Ice dragon while Evie, on other hand, changed her weapon to a missile launcher before shooting at the mage behind the dragon. Looking at the incoming arrows, Glacier spun around and hit them with its tail, nullifying the attack. But just when the arrows were broken into two and disappear, three energy arrows that were glowing in purple, hit its belly. "984254" "Damn this defense" Hyori started taking heavy breaths because of stamina consumption. Gulping a stamina potion that increased her 13 points to maximum again to remove the fatigue, she sighed, "It was so easy when doing a dungeon with Wil" Taking a look at its health, she shouted, "SnowDew, quickly finish the mage. Almost half of its HP is gone. According to the guild leader, the dragon will lose its attack and gain in defense during 50%-30%." "I know. You mentioned that earlier. Try to hold on for a few minutes. All I need is one good shot." "Missile Barrage" shouted Evie as she kneeled on one leg while grabbing the trigger of a vertically mounted missile launcher. As the barrage of missiles was shot continuously from the launcher, one after one another every second, the Mage applied a buff on himself to increase his speed further to dodge every missile that was raining down upon him. "This guy is very tricky to kill. Most of my attacks are getting missed" Evie''s face turned dark as she complained and then, tightly grabbed the trigger with a determined expression, glancing at her remaining mana points. "Looks like I have no choice" "Atomic bomb" As she pulled the trigger down, five bars that were on the missile launcher, started to get charged while her mana decreased at a rapid rate. Even after pulling the trigger, Evie didn''t release her hand until her mana points become zero, and she locked the region that contains both the mage as well as the dragon. *Ding. You received a quest. "Huh?" She suddenly stopped her action as soon as a mandatory quest was received from the system. Quest: Protect your home. Description: The kingdom is being invaded by the kingdom of Zuweth. Kill the soldiers of Zuweth. Reward: 10 War points per soldier; 100 War points per squad captain; 1000 War points per general, 10000 War points for Prince, 100000 War points for Archangel Nebula. "Eh?" Hyori suddenly stopped for a second, in surprise. "Invasion?" "SnowDew" shouted Hyori. "Yes. I know. We can do this dungeon again. A rare event like this is precious," replied Evie in a serious tone before Hyori about to speak further. Upon hearing her, Hyori nodded, "I''ll inform the guild leader." "He''s offline, and so is ShadowBlade. Ask the leader of Silvershapers, instead. Mountainrock will inform them." Dodging the ice breath again, Hyori shook her head with a smile, "I can just call him directly, you know." "It''s not fair" mumbled Evie with a pout before widening her eyes, and let out a scream, "Look out" The Ice dragon suddenly let out an ice beam while spinning around, intending to freeze everything in the room. "Well, here goes nothing" Evie''s fingers on the trigger were released just before the ice beam hit her. *Ding. You died. You lose 7,411,200 Exp. *Ding. Your level dropped to 192. Meanwhile, Hyori, who dodged the ice beam, saw a spherical ball was fired by the missile and hit the area between the dragon and the mage before an enormous explosion occurred, blinding her eyes for a few seconds, and filling the room with vapor. Before Hyori even recovered her sight, a notification was sent to her. *Ding. Glacier''s HP is fallen to 10%. It goes into a berserk state. All of its attacks increased by 100%. Followed by the notification, an Ice beam suddenly hit her, thereby making her resurrecting at the starting point where she found Evie was just sitting. "I guess, it didn''t die, huh?" said Evie feeling disappointed. Hyori nodded in response, "yeah. But, it did take out 40% of its HP though. That itself is amazing." As Evie blushed at direct praise, another notification was sent by the system. *Ding. A rebellion has occurred in the kingdom. Please choose a side between the rebels and the King. Both of them looked at each other in silence before Evie opened her mouth, "call big brother, right now." *** Ecrin City; At a caf, Wil, Sierra, and Mrs. Couvreur take a seat together after registration is completed, leaving Bran at the car for some reason unknown to Wil, who kept glancing at Sierra, each second from the corner of his eyes while thinking whether he should ask how she knows his identity as he never mentioned his name while she doesn''t have a powerful backer to find about his background. In the end, he kept silent as Mrs. Couvreur asked, "by the way, can I ask, what do you do for a living, Mr. Ravens?" Looking at his calm silence, she further said, "Don''t get me wrong. I''m just curious about how you were able to pay 15 million dollars, just like that without any negotiations." Wil, who knows her personality, didn''t get offended by her words, and replied calmly, taking a sip, "I can understand, a lot of money always bring suspicions. Let''s just say I have lots of money to spend. As for what I do, our company majorly focuses on IT, consulting, and Business Processing. I can''t speak about it other than this much All I can say is that the source of our money is completely legal" Remembering the scene of military police, who checked the car and them for weapons, as well as warning them not to spill about their security checks, Mrs. Couvreur thought he was from a high background that needed to be kept secret. "Ah! It''s fine. I was just curious, that''s it." Mrs. Couvreur quickly replied to make sure not to get misunderstood. Without any other topic to discuss, the atmosphere went silent. As Wil continued to be silent, enjoying his coffee, Mrs. Couvreur suddenly discovered he was glancing at her daughter from to time, and a smile appeared on her face as she thought of an idea to separate Bran from Sierra. "Sierra, call your friend, here." As Sierra quickly sprung from her seat and scurried towards the exit in excitement, Wil fell into thoughts with a hint of disappointment, looking at Sierra''s expression, before he glanced at her mother, "What is this woman playing, right now? It was clear that she didn''t like Bran. Or did I mistaken?" *Ring*Ring* Suddenly, his mobile phone rang, interrupting his thoughts "What''s up?" "Hey, Wil. Sorry to disturb you but you need to log in to the game, soon as you can. Llyne is being invaded by the neighboring kingdom of Zuweth. At the same time, a rebellion occurred," answered Hyori from the other side. "A rebellion?" A deep frown appeared on Wil, making Mrs. Couvreur curious about what is he talking about before she started thinking of various theories in her mind, regarding rebellion. "Okay, I''ll be there, soon." "He said he owned an IT company, right? Did some shareholder became the majority shareholder and toppled the company? Hmm, Nah... He clearly said it''s a rebellion. So, it might be soldiers. Didn''t that captain said that they were doing their duty under the orders of some general? As I initially thought, this kid might have a military background. Maybe, I should ask a favor to keep that brat away from my daughter instead of letting its course. No, if I do that, he might think, I''ll support him if he chases after Sierra. Without knowing his background, it''s a risk..." Meanwhile, after he disconnected the call, Hyori, who have more to say, left him a message. Hyori: One more thing. We were asked to choose between the king and the rebel. Evie said since you are a prince, we should side with the rebels in this event. She mentioned it''s a chance for you to become the King. "These fools" Reading the message, Wil, suddenly stood up from the seat, "Mrs. Couvreur, I''m afraid I have to leave." Chapter 155: Rebellion-part 2 "Mrs. Couvreur, I''m afraid I have to leave now." Upon looking at his serious expression, Sierra''s mother nodded, "I understand. Let''s meet again for lunch, some other time." "Sure," replied Wil with a smile before rushing towards the exit while dialing a number. An automated voice replied that it was busy. Wil tried it again and again until it rang and was picked up by Aster. "Hello, Young master! I apologize for ignoring your call. Storm is on the other line. He''ll get angry with me if I disconnect his call. Can you tell me when your meeting with Mrs. Couvreur will be done? He''s already at Hailey City, waiting for us." Without minding his mistake, Wil patiently answered, "It was finished. I''m returning to the hotel. Before that, you need to" Just then, something clicked in his mind, and Wil suddenly stopped talking for a couple of seconds, before his voice turned serious, "Aster, did you have a talk with Mrs. Couvreur? I remember she knows my identity, at least my name even though we are supposed to be strangers." Upon hearing him, Aster, on the other side, quickly denied, "of course not, Young master. The guards that are following you gave her a little bit of warning." "Warning? When? I was with her the whole time Don''t tell me" Wil''s frown became deeper as well as his voice, "was my mobile phone tapped?" As the other side went silent for a long time, Wil continued, "We''ll talk about it, later. But, first, I need a capsule. Arrange it quickly at whatever price" "Yes" replied Aster without asking further. Two hours later; *Ding. Welcome to War Online. As soon as Wil logged in the game, dozens of notifications started popping up. Ignoring all the messages sent by the allies, Wil quickly sent a message to Evie as Aster forgot to take the chip along with him while Hyori went offline. Time Traveler: SnowDew, I''m online. Please update me on the current situation. In no time, he received a reply from Evie. SnowDew: Big Brother, finally, you are online. What took you so long? SnowDew: Forget it. Where are you, right now? Quickly, come to the Imperial training grounds at Capital city to join the army. The battle against the King is already started. Reading at her message, Wil muttered with a frown on his face, "This girl Did she really think we have a chance against the palace? Mirella is a half-dragon. Once she transforms, there''s no stopping her." Time Traveler: What about the invasion? SnowDew: According to our sources, there are two battlegrounds. One is at East Ocean City, and the other is at the city of Blackburn along with the towns around it. "Blackburn?" A frown appeared on Wil as he quickly opened the kingdom map. "This one is quite near to Eldershore region" Time Traveler: Okay, then. Listen carefully. Our guild won''t be participating in the rebellion, and focus on the invasion, instead. Let everyone know the same. SnowDew: Why? Isn''t this the best chance? Supreme Master said this is the right time for you to become the king, and take control of the entire kingdom. "Supreme Master?" Wil''s frown became even deeper after realizing the identity of the one behind the idea. But, then, thinking of confronting him later, Wil sent one final message to Evie. Time Traveler: No, there''s another heir to the throne. Anyway, it doesn''t matter. Tell everyone else that those who chose rebels must stand down or else, I have to cut them down myself for going against the king. After sending the message to Evie, Wil opened the guild chat and was taken aback to see hundreds of people online. "Scarlet has grown this much in these last few days? 2244 players? Huh? Looks like this little granddaughter of the Antolov family went lazy and just accepting anyone who applied. I need to clean up this mess after this is over," mumbled Wil as he ordered everyone else to stay away from the palace while messaging the same to the leaders of ally guilds to do the same. While there was nothing but cheers in the guild chat, there''s not much of a response from his allies as most of them already set out for the capital city under the leadership of Supreme Master, leaving their home ground to others to defend. It was only after then did he place his attention on the notifications, sent by the system. *Ding. The quest, Spy on Rikilda, is failed. *Ding. You accepted the quest, Invasion. *Ding. A rebellion has occurred in the kingdom. Please choose a side between the rebels and the King. As soon as Wil decided to choose Mirella over the rebels, another quest popped up before him. *Ding. You received a quest. Protect Mirella. "Huh? What''s this? I thought it would be killing rebels." Wil clicked on it. Description: King Mirella is in grave danger with enemies inside and outside the palace. Meet the king. Reward: Unknown. After accepting the quest, Wil took out the Price medallion that was hanging around his neck and used teleportation that lets him teleport to anywhere within the Llyne kingdom. Blackburn city, Llyne Kingdom; In the outskirts of the city, an army containing thousands of NPC soldiers and tens of thousands of players under the leadership of Starlight guild was fighting against ten thousand enemy soldiers, who were cutting down the players like tofu, and sending them to nearby resurrection point. As there was no penalty upon dying, the players became bold and reckless, yet, with facing no success except for a few exceptionals who are raking War points like crazy with the players Starlight and Rigel, on the top two. Meanwhile, at the outskirts of a wild zone, a ten thousand elite player army under the leadership of an unknown player was marching down the south towards the capital. Leading the player army were the ten Royal knights of Zuweth kingdom, with one of them being the fourth Prince who was sitting on a giant white crocodile, the guardian beast of Zuweth. As for the leader of this party, Archangel Nebula, the stern-looking old man was flying in ease with two pairs of angelic wings on his back, resisting the restriction placed by the system, across the kingdom. His gaze fell on the Imperial palace that''s located a thousand miles away, and a smirk appeared on his face, "looks like you are waiting for something, Raziel. Let''s see what you have planned" *Roar**Roar*Roar*Roar* As they reached the edge of the forest, Continuous roars sounded in their surroundings followed by a team of eleven players, who are sitting on top of their summons in an inverted V-formation appeared in their view. The old man glanced at them from the sky, and a frown appeared on him as his gaze landed on the boy in the front, who was standing at the tip of the formation. "I''ll leave them to you, your highness," spoke Nebula before flapping his wings and glided across the sky like a lightning. Meanwhile, the unknown player, who was hiding his identity with the mask of tranquility, sneered. "These fools Did they think they can stop a mighty army with just them? Even one knight was more than a match to them." As if the Prince read his mind, he quickly ordered his mount to stop advancing and turned his head before pointing his finger at a Royal knight, "you over there. Get rid of them. It''s beneath my status to take care of such weaklings." "Yes, your highness." The Royal knight saluted him and brandished his spear, "Raiga, let''s go." Upon hearing the orders, the heroic grade horse started rushing towards them as if it was participating in a race. Looking at the incoming level-250 knight, the 14-year-old boy, who was standing on the back of an ape, spoke, "Duplicate," and an Armored Ape that''s twice as big as an average adult appeared before him with beating its chest thrice before rushing towards the enemy. Kong Species: Ape Grade: Heroic Status: Mutated Level: 200 HP: 104 million Looking at the incoming enemy, the knight raised the spear before thrusting towards its chest. Just as it was about to pierce its chest, a voice spoke from above, "Kong, counterattack with Multi-arms. Use, Barrage of Fists." As the knight was confused where the voice is coming from, all of a sudden, two another arms appeared from either side, right below its armpits, and caught the spear before the other two arms gave a solid punch to his head, successively until his head was exploded, shocking everyone around. Chapter 156: Rebellion part-3 Bordheim Isle; Somewhere in the middle of the Xynnar Ocean lie a group of small tropical islands, which is full of amazing beaches and forests, of which only one was inhabited by people. Until a week ago, these inhabitants were just tribal people, living inside the forest in fear of oceanic beasts outside but now, half of the forest was cut down and a small village was built while everyone is wearing armor and weapons as if they were soldiers, camping there. In the middle of the village lies a small house, where the inhabitants lined up with offerings, waiting for the door to open. At mid-day, the door was opened and a 14-year-old boy, Orion stepped out of the house, rubbing his eyes. *Yawn* "Not again. I told you that I don''t need these things" spoke the boy with an annoyed look. The chief of the natives stepped forward and replied politely, as he put a two-meter dead fish at his feet, "It''s our duty to serve our Savior. Please, accept them." Looking at them, the boy wondered why the bodies disappeared when he or the soldiers kills the creatures while the body remains when natives do the same. Then, a sigh escaped from his lips, "as usual. Let''s just assume I took the offerings and I''m now giving them as gifts to you people. Now, accept the gifts of your savior." The inhabitants looked at each other and took back the offerings with them as usual; meanwhile, the boy flapped his wings and dashed towards the beach, bringing a chair along with him A while later, as Orion was enjoying sunbath at the beach, he started reading the forums. "Hmm? A war between two kingdoms? But, the barriers didn''t disappear, yet." Orion was perplexed as he read the headline. Going into the details, excitement filled his face, "four kingdom wars around the world and an internal war in the demon continent." He immediately stood up with a clenched fist, "Yes! Now, something interesting is happening to relieve my boredom. Let''s contact the guild leader, and see if there''s an unofficial branch in these kingdoms." After explaining to them that he will return someday, Orion activated the portal ring and clicked on the Llyne Kingdom before disappearing from there, leaving them in sadness. Present; *Ding. You killed a squad captain level enemy. You receive 100 War points. Looking at the notification, a satisfactory smile appeared on Orion as he nodded at the Ape, "good job. You may return." Upon hearing his words, the mutated armored ape''s clone beat its chest twice before disappearing. Meanwhile, the expression on Prince darkened watching his subordinate died quickly in front of his eyes. Feeling insulted, his voice turned cold as he points his finger towards a level-300 General, "Slash him into pieces." Upon hearing him, as the General nodded and rode his heroic-grade Armored Horse towards Orion, the latter smirked, "the situation doesn''t change, Mr. Highness" He raised his hand and pointed his index finger to the sky, upon which every one of them raised their staff, and spoke in unison, "Summon the beast of Cosmos." If Wil was to see this, he would have been shocked to see his famous signature move of past life, which requires ten summoners to sacrifice ten heroic beasts, so that the eleventh one can summon a legendary grade beast of the lowest level among them. Under the gaze of ten thousand players, the ten beasts under their enemies suddenly disappeared, and a fire breathing beast that''s as big as an adult appeared beside Orion. It has the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent. The flames were coming out of its mouth continuously as it stared at the enemy, who stopped in his tracks. "What are you doing? Finish them and that weird beast quickly I don''t want to waste a lot of time," spoke the Prince. Listening to the order, the General pulled the reins and the horse neighed as it raised its front legs before dashing towards the Chimera that stood in between him and his target. "Yanarta, use poisonous fireball" *Grrr* As it growled at the incoming enemy, the fire that was constantly breathing out of its mouth changed into a green fire before it spews out a green fireball towards the General, who in turn, took out the sword to take it head-on and cut it into half to protect his pride as a General of Zuweth kingdom. Nearing it, the horse suddenly stops and he leaps towards the incoming fireball. Just as both of them about to collide, all of a sudden, a silhouette of a man appeared in the middle followed by an appearance of a young man who looks like he''s in his twenties, wearing bluish-silver robes. "Eh?" Just as Wil entered the battlefield, the first thing he saw is a sword at a very close up range. Before he gets the chance to dodge, the sword slashed across his chest vertically while at the same time, something hit his back, and heat started spreading over his body. "-58,741,325" "-11,245,784" "Huh?" Wil was taken aback and stared at the massive army in a daze, not expecting such a grand welcome. Meanwhile, Orion and his team members as well as the players were also shocked, not because of a third-party interruption but it was because of the damage numbers that were shown on his head successively. On the other hand, the general quickly jumped back and then somersaulted to increase the distance between the two before staring at him with a frown as his attention fell on Wil''s clothes. As the battlefield in the wild zone went silent for a few seconds, the Prince, who was wearing similar robes but red in color snarled, "Who are you? How do you have those robes? I''m sure that the Llyne Kingdom doesn''t have a Prince." But, Wil didn''t pay attention to him and turned around to see who the one that hit him in the back was. "Beast of Cosmos" "Someone acquired the skill book, at this point of stage?" As soon as he saw the Chimera, Wil let out a cry of surprise and took a step back, and diverted his attention towards the boy who was standing in a formation. Inspecting his name, a frown appeared on Wil, "Orion? I heard that name somewhere It''s very familiar. But, where" And instead of confronting either of them, he just stood there like a statue, confusing Orion, who was wondering about the identity of the man that was able to easily defend Chimera''s attack. "You over there I''m asking who you are. Answer me," shouted the Prince. "General Myghell, take him out." As the General brandished his sword and rushed towards him while there wasn''t any response from Wil, the unknown player slowly replied in a shivering tone, "That is That is Time Traveler Your Highness, General Myghell won''t be enough. We have to attack together and finish him quickly or else we''ll be wiped out, instead." "Huh? What are you talking about?" As a frown appeared on the Prince, suddenly, a painful scream was heard from the front. Turning his head, the Prince saw Wil placed his hands near his mouth and continuously breathing out the fire through his mouth, and the General was quickly turned into ash without even getting the chance to resist. *Ding. You killed a General level enemy. You receive 1000 War points. Wil suddenly turned his face towards the Prince and a look of greed appeared in his eyes, "10000 points, eh?" "What just happened, right now?" Orion stared at Wil in a daze while more than one-third of the opposing player army suddenly logged out. Chapter 157: Skyzon Three days ago; Scarlet Guild Residence, Deloris town; "Guys, with yesterday, one month had been finished since I recruited you. Now, it''s the time for me to decide whether to relinquish your contracts and special treatment," said Aster, looking at fifty original Scarlet members, who were scattered among the Scarlet and Silvershapers. As the guild residence continued to be silent, Aster glanced at two people and spoke, "Mountain Rock, Fiery Snake; both of you have already formed a one-year contract. So, there''s no reason for you to stand with them. You may take the seats" Aster pointed towards the empty seats in the guildhall. After the both of them left, sighing in relief, Aster placed his attention on the na?ve looking muscular teenager, who was standing on the front with a worried look, "Rock Fist, for the past month, your performance and impressive growth were commendable. Since you proved that you are a valuable asset to the guild, I''m giving you an offer to join our professional team. The contract will be one-year and your salary will be tripled." "TriTripled?" RockFist took a step with a shock on his face, "that means 150,000 credits per month. Seriously?" Aster nodded with a smile, "yes, of course. It also comes with additional bonuses like accommodation, a vehicle, credit card, etc..." As his face glowed for a second, Aster''s tone turned serious, all of a sudden, "But, joining the team also have some demerits like you have to shift to our HQ and work from the office. Your freedom might also become restricted as all employees are required to stay at the company''s dorm." "That''s" Getting to the reality, the glow on his face disappeared and turned into hesitation, instead. Taking a glance at the troubled look, Aster folds his hands to the chest and continued, "of course, like any other job, we have specific working hours. You won''t be pressured to play all the time and your opinion will have a higher value." "What What if I I don''t sign the contract?" RockFist asked, thinking about the scenario of leaving his family and go to a new place. Upon hearing his question, Aster shrugged his shoulder, no longer paid any interest in continuing this conversation long. "Well, then, you will be given two options. One is to join the Elite ranks in the guild and the other is to leave the guild. You no longer have any contract. So, you are free to do what you wish." Rock Fist fell into a dilemma, thinking of his mom and younger brother on one hand, while thinking of a 15,000 dollar salary that can only be earned by top graduates, on the other hand. Meanwhile, Aster continued to the next person. This time, he didn''t bother to go into the lengthy discussion as they no matter to Wil, in his opinion. "Xspell, six-month contract, same salary with 50,000 credits. Take the offer or choose between the two options." Unlike Rock Fist, this former gangster, who was used to take money from someone and go to jail on behalf of them, quickly replied, "I choose the contract, Boss." As soon as Aster heard of someone choosing what he offered without batting an eye, a smile appeared on him and he nodded while pointing towards the seats beside Mountain Rock and Fiery Snake, "good. Go and take the seat. We''ll contact you in person, later." "Next, Zeyrox." "Yes, Boss." Another street thug, who used to take protection money from vendors, stepped forward with a salute. "Six-months contract, 60000 credits." "Um Boss, can I get a one-year" As Aster sharply glared at him asking as if ''you dare question my decision,'' he quickly shut up his mouth and saluted again before accepting the offer and joined the rest. After calling 12 names with offering all of them, a contract, Aster proceeded to call ''Skyzon,'' a talented high school graduate who was studying for a college exam. Since he was known to be powerful among the Elites in the guild and led many parties to clear the dungeons, he confidently stepped forward with an expectation of a high salary while already planning his new future in Leafway city. But, what he didn''t expect is a look of frown on Aster''s face as soon as the latter saw him. "Skyzon, I''m afraid I can''t offer you a contract." "Eh?" A shocked look appeared on his face along with the rest of them who were standing behind him, not expecting their Vice leader to make such a decision. "You can either join our Elite ranks or free to leave the guild," spoke Aster with a frown before looking towards the next person, "next, Xenon Laser." "Wait" Skyzon let out a cry of panic, "Boss, why wasn''t I offered a contract when even Xspell got his? I believe I''m stronger and skilled than almost all of these guys here" Upon hearing him, everyone frowned but no one dared to speak out as it is the truth. It is a fact that, in the guild, aside from Wil, Aster, Evie, Hyori, and RockFist, there''s hardly anyone who can match his skills. "Che Dong Hyun" Aster''s voice turned cold as he called him out his real name, bringing a shiver in the back of everyone''s legs, "do you think you are stronger than Young Master?" As Skyzon kept silent, Aster continued, "do you think Young Master need help from you lot? If we need nothing but strength, then, all of you are nothing more than worthless to Young Master. What we need is an attitude more than strength. What is strength and skills amounted for Just need a few legendary grade equipment and learn high-grade skill books. It doesn''t matter how skilled you are. You will lose even to a newbie." As his words getting louder each second, in the meantime, Rock Fist recovered his senses and listened to him patiently, making a decision. "But, I have always followed orders and never did a wrong thing. So, why..." Skyzon questioned him, not willing to back down, feeling unfair. "Che Dong Hyun, just because Young master tells you are free to do as your wish, doesn''t mean you can do dungeons with enemies in exchange for money. Not once but multiple times even after our stance with ''Resistance'' was clear." "This" Skyzon took a step back in panic, "I can explain It was" But, before he was about to explain what happened, Aster interrupted by reading his notes, "If that wasn''t enough, you also took leave for a day every three to four days without my permission. What do you think I''m paying you for?" Taking a heavy breath, Aster then, looked at Skyzon, "remember this very well, kid. When you go out into society later, whatever job you will do, being irresponsible will cut off all the advantages of being skilled. Take this as a lesson and get going" "Next, Xenon Laser" Aster went on with the next name, not paying attention to the feelings of the young man, who was feeling frustrated with being insulted and lectured for such a simple reason A few hours later; At a restaurant in the town of Deloris, Aster is busy having talks with Rigel, vice guild leader of Starlight, about the alliance as Wil was busy overseas, searching for his Book of Destiny. All of a sudden, he received a notification from the system. *Ding. Squad Captain, Skyzon left the guild. "Well, I guess, the kid made a decision" thought Aster for a second and forgot about the matter quickly, continuing his discussion. "So, you are saying, a player town is something that can be built anywhere in the kingdom, even in the wild zone?" asked Aster with an interest. Meanwhile, Skyzon was leveling up in a wild zone, filled with frustration. "Damn that ba****d Does he think their guild is that great? Without Time Traveler, it''s not even a third-tier guild??? Hardly, there are 1500 people left, and that Shadow Blade thinks he''s some big shot" Slashing a beast from behind, he growled, "What if Scarlet is a Multi-billionaire company They are nothing more than noobs Attitude? Hmpf, as if I need to listen to that crap from a street thug... Hmm?" In the middle of fighting another beast, Skyzon spotted a soldier, fighting half a dozen wolfs while grabbing a purple crystal in another hand. "Vanish" Using vanish skill, Skyzon disappeared from the beast''s view and carefully hid in the bushes until only one wolf left while the soldier is only left with 5% HP. A while later; "Thank you, adventurer, for helping me out but I don''t think I can go on with these wounds. Please, take this letter and this, to her highness, Rikilda Llyne." *Ding. You received a request. Chapter 158: Rebellion part-4 Present; *Ding. Your teammate ''Exodus'' logged out of the game. *Ding. Your teammate ''I''m a Lonely Farmer'' logged out of the game. *Ding. Your teammate ''Super Jin'' logged out of the game. *Ding. Your teammate As ''Skyzon'' who was under the mask was getting constant notifications of people logging out of the game in fear, his face turned bitter as he clenched his teeth, "what is he doing here? Isn''t he supposed to be busy with fighting the King to claim the throne? Is this a part of Supreme Master''s plan?" He quickly sent a message to someone, relaying the news Meanwhile, Wil, who destroyed the General, turned his attention towards the Prince who was sitting on a Giant White crocodile. Pegallio Status: Mutated Grade: Legendary Level: 200 HP: 1.04 Billion Attack: 9.6 million Defense: 2.4 million Crt rate: 100% Crt resist: 100% Description: Guardian beast of Zuweth kingdom and the mount of the fourth prince, Wiscar. "I see Looks like someone killed this white crocodile instead of taming it. Either way, it isn''t a match for me or my Leon but the only problem is with" Wiscar Level: 365 HP: 1.8 Billion Description: Fourth Prince of the kingdom of Zuweth. The favorite son of the King of Zuweth, and master of the Guardian Beast, Pegallio. As soon as he realized the HP of the fourth prince, Wil''s face turned serious, and decides to finish with one move, as he is in a hurry to meet the king. Placing his attention solely on the target that''s worth ten thousand war points, as Wil raised his hands towards him and absorbing magic power at a tremendous rate, Skyzon, the commander/general of the enemy player army shouted in a panic, "unit A, hurry and protect the prince." Under his order, as a unit consists of a couple of dozen Guardians and Paladins rushed forward, a smirk appeared on Wil, "sorry but you are a bit too late" "Heavenly Push, 1000 mana." The magic power that absorbed into his hands suddenly generated a gust of heavy wind traveling with an extreme speed towards the fourth prince as well as the ten thousand player army behind him. "Pegallio, Swallow the wind" spoke Prince in a serious tone, almost at the same time, realizing the power behind the incoming attack. *Roar* A heavy roar escaped from the white crocodile''s mouth and a pitch-black color substance seemed to appear in the middle of his mouth. "What''s happening?" Suddenly, Wil felt as if the speed of the wind seemed to decrease and also started to become light before it even crosses the halfway point between them. "The generated wind seemed to disappear?" A frown appeared on Wil and he changed his focus, trying to figure out the reason. Soon, as the wind completely disappeared, Wil realized the crocodile hasn''t closed its mouth, and immediately came to the conclusion, "looks like it''s a skill of that mount." Meanwhile, the Elite guardian class players successfully reached the frontlines, followed by the guardians in the second line, followed by the third, etc to form a strong barricade around the fourth prince and his royal knights. "I apologize for the delay, your highness," spoke Skyzon with a bow while feeling amazed inside, watching the prowess of Wiscar, who was able to counter the skill that took 7000 Elite players of Dreamwalkers in one move. The fourth prince just ignored this player representative, continuing to stare at Wil in seriousness while caressing his pet''s head. "Good job, Peggy..." Staring at it seriously, Wil mumbled, "I need to get rid of it before the Cooldown of its skill over. But, before that, I also need to do something about these pests" For the first time since he arrived at the battlefield, Wil opened his mouth, staring at the army, which was covering the fourth prince from his view, "what happened, Wiscar? Biding your time to depend on your mount, again?" "You" the veins on Wiscar''s forehead started throbbing as he growled at his knights, "What are you fools waiting for? Get him." Obeying his order, the remaining ten Royal knights pulled the reins as hard as they can and rode their horses, which were raring to have a gallop, looking at their enemy as the guardian players gave their way. Realizing that his taunt failed, Wil started thinking of another plan. "Hmm, I can''t use Heavenly push for another half an hour and I can''t waste my time fighting with them using bow skills, and neither can I transform into a dragon in the public," mumbled Wil as he glanced at the incoming knights. "It''s also a waste to use Absolute freeze on these weaklings." Meanwhile, Skyzon, the only one who took his taunts seriously, sent a message to Vice-general, who then shouted, "everyone, raise their shields." *Ding. You received a party request from Orion. *Grrr* Followed by a growl of a beast near him, Wil received a notification from the system as Orion sent him a party request after hearing everything about him from the team members. "Mr. Time Traveler, let us assist you" A voice was heard from behind At first, Wil ignored the voice from behind since he doesn''t need help to defeat them but then, as he glanced at the Chimera beside him, something clicked in his mind, and quickly, he accepted the invitation and joined the party before sending a message in the party channel. Time Traveler: Can I borrow the beast for ten minutes? Orion: Sure. As soon as he got the permission from the leader, Wil then summoned Felix to the battlefield under the gazes of the summoners, who were fascinated upon seeing a beautiful bluish silver four-tailed fox, and before it accessed the current situation, Wil then proceeds with reciting the incantation. "In the name of Time Traveler, I summon the twin spirits of Karion and Gyreon by offering my battle companion Felix and an ally, a beast of cosmos to let the mighty Kagyre, descend on to the battlefield." As the horses neared him, a pillar of light suddenly descended on Felix while Orion received a notification to proceed with the sacrifice. Not willing to offend Wil, as Orion pressed Yes, another light pillar descended on to the Chimera before both the light pillars merged, blinding the surroundings for a couple of seconds, and replaced by a giant two-headed red dragon, awing the summoners behind him. Folding hands to the chest, a grin appeared on Wil''s face as he spoke, "Kagyre, use double dragon breath." *Neigh*Neigh*Neigh* Kagyre HP: 7.1 Billion Level: N/A "7 Billion?" Orion''s heart skipped a beat for a second as he stared at the dragon, and fell into thoughts, "wait a second. What is the meaning of N/A? Based on the incantation, it must be a skill-based mount like the Chimera. So, its stats must depend on the user''s" Once he realized that, Orion no longer moved from his spot and decided to become a spectator of the battle, privately texting everyone not to interfere either. Meanwhile, the horses continuously neighed as they refused to go forward, sensing the danger. But before the knights realized the situation, an ocean of flames bursts out of Kagyre''s mouths, covering a wide area, blocking their route of escape, which forced them to turn around. *Ding. You killed a squad captain level knight. You received 100 War points. *Ding. You killed a squad captain level knight. You received 100 War points. . . . *Ding. You killed a squad captain level knight. You received 100 War points. Looking at the scene, Skyzon gave an order, "Nekross get ready to use the group skill, soon." As the Vice-general relayed the orders to the guardians, of which most of them shaking in fear, looking at the destruction before their eyes, Wil turned his attention towards them. Chapter 159: Rebellion part-5 "Activate the group skill, The Dome of Vulcan." As soon as the captain shouted the words, everyone in the unit raised their shields. A blue energy barrier started to rise from the tip of their feet and slowly, it formed a huge dome, covering the Prince, Skyzon as well as themselves, leaving out the attackers, who are standing in the back. "Oh! A group defense Looks good. I should buy some group skills, later." Wil gave a nod of appreciation before he jumped onto the back of the dragon, and turned his head around towards the summoners who are still standing in inverted V-formation. "Orion, hop on it. Since you sacrificed the beast of cosmos; I''ll give you a ride" Upon hearing his words, Orion stared at him in silence for a couple of seconds before he opens his mouth, "Mr. Time Traveler, players, pets as well as mounts are restricted to fly." "I know that," replied with a Wil. "Huh?" Orion was taken aback, seeing his response, "don''t tell me" Wil quickly interrupted him, "don''t waste too much time. Do you want to ride it or not?" As Orion was also intrigued by the strange dragon before him, he silently walked towards the dragon and jumped on its back. Since this Kagyre is formed by the sacrifice of Felix as well as the beast of cosmos, which recognized Orion as its master, Kagyre allowed him to sit on its back, and then turned the two of its heads towards Wil, as if it was asking the next order. "Fly, Kagyre." Under the orders of its master, the two-headed dragon flapped its wings and slowly rose into the air, defying the restrictions, surprising the summoners in the back and players in the front. "How the f**k is it flying when all of my summoning beasts are also restricted" Orion was stupefied as he stared at the players from up above the sky while the same question is running through the enemies but once they considered the identity of the summoner, no one thought it''s not strange anymore, yet, they are also confident in the defense of the barrier. Meanwhile, Wil was thinking of a plan as he glanced at his mana points and then the barrier. "Ok, only 1400 mana is spent. I still have 4100 mana points left and there are also mana regeneration scrolls. Let''s test how sturdy this barrier is" Instead of aiming at the barrier below him, Wil pulled the string of the bow as he aimed at the sky above him. Upon seeing a grin on Wil as well as his actions, Skyzon''s heart quickened its speed, and he warned the players, "Tankers, better not to careless. Keep your shields up. His target is going to be the barrier." "I''m started to think that you are too afraid of that Prince. Nevertheless, you don''t need to worry. I tested the power of the barrier by myself and now, I saw his power. He''s certainly the strongest of you, immortals from the other world but, it won''t be enough. Even for me, I need" The Prince suddenly stopped and stared at the sky, widening his eyes in shock, "What the hell" A blast suddenly occurred in the sky as if a firecracker is exploded before hundreds of arrows imbued with magic energy, started raining down on the barrier, stupefying Orion, who can''t speak any word, looking at the scene he was witnessing. The arrows started hitting the barrier and disappear, decreasing its defense by 70 million every time. The twenty-five billion defense barrier, which was sturdy enough to stand ten minutes under the attacks of the fourth Prince, started to crack like glass before the remaining ninety or so arrows pierced through their bodies and killed them on the spot. "Oh! It used up that many arrows?" What they don''t know is that Wil was also equally surprised about the prowess of the collective energy barrier, activated by only a thousand guardians. Intending not to give them any time to recover from the shock, Wil quickly took out the mana scroll that he bought in the battle shop during the tournament and tore it off, to refill his mana to the maximum. Looking at the unharmed thousands of players, Wil was depressed for a second but then, soon, his attention was once again stolen by the fourth prince, who appeared calm on the outside as if the earlier attack didn''t faze him one bit. "Orion, I''ll handle Kagyre to you." "Eh? Ah! Yes" answered Orion, feeling amazement inside of him before he gets back his senses as soon as he realized the situation, "wait a second. What do you mean by that?" But, Orion didn''t get a reply as Wil already jumped from the dragon, landing on the ground. Time Traveler: You attack from above to give me the way towards the guy on that white crocodile. Reading the message, Orion thought, "but, how do I control this dragon. I''m not its summoner. I don''t know the skills. Should I just command, attack?" Quickly, his worries disappeared as another message popped as if Wil read his thoughts. Time Traveler: The dragon has the skills of Chimera. You can use those skills with the same words for activation. It''s already been more than 2 minutes. We roughly have 7 minutes or so, to finish this before the dragon disappears. "Ah! So, that''s the case." It only then did Orion understand why this two-headed dragon seemed very stronger, compared to the beast of Cosmos. Orion: Okay. Getting the confirmation, Wil flexed his fingers and stretched his legs before he started running towards a part of the unit. Forcing himself to calm down, Skyzon shouted to the other players, giving out the orders, "tankers, shields up and protect the Prince, and rangers, get ready to fire. If his attack power is this powerful, his defense must be like glass. As long as our attacks hit him, then, we can defeat the Young master I mean the enemy." As most of them are Elites from a hidden guild, they recovered quickly from the earlier shock and Skyzon kept on giving orders continuously in the party chat, proving his capability as a leader. Upon getting the orders, the guardians in foremost of the front line, crouched down while slamming the heavy shields vertically onto the ground while the second line of guardians interchanged their positions with the knights, who were ready to attack with the spears. Meanwhile, the mages comprising of wizards and healers, raised their staffs and ready to use the active skills, waiting for the orders as they moved to the center. As for the gunners and Archers, their focus is placed on the dragon above them, which is currently out of range and isn''t in a position to attack, right away without moving. "Here he comes," mumbled Skyzon, looking at Wil, who got into 20-meter range, running at them. *** Gailzach Kingdom, North Zalfari continent; In the outskirts of the capital city, more than a hundred thousand corpses, belong to both the kingdoms lying on the ground while no players were to be seen around. On the battlefield, the King of Gailzach Kingdom seemed to be kneeling in sadness as he stared at his army and then, the dead body of his guardian, Archangel Araqiel, who practically raised him. In front of him, stood two people. One is an old man with two pairs of angelic wings on his back and the other is a surprisingly a player with staff, looking coldly at him. He raised the staff, and recited, "In the name of "One," I summon the eternal fire of darkness to out my enemy to death." Suddenly, the sky started rumbling and black flames descended onto the spot where the king was kneeling, and quickly, turned him into ashes. Looking at him, the archangel smiled, "I''m happy that the successor of Archmage Solomon lives up to expectations." Chapter 160: Rebellion part-6 "Kagyre, use poisonous fireball." Orion''s voice echoed in the surroundings, surprising the standby players as they didn''t expect the dragon is in the range, all along. The left head of the Kagyre quickly shot a green fireball towards where Wil is moving, to clear the way. "Incoming attack" A player-knight warned from the second line. The guardians tightly grabbed the shields to not lose stability while putting their trust in the healers to heal their lost health. But, just as the giant fireball about to hit three players at once, an icy blue arrow released from Wil''s bow and struck and killed a guardian from the front line, which further activated a freezing effect. As they were standing just 1.5 meters away from each other, the freezing effect from the ice arrow froze an area comprising of more than 600-800 players, almost reaching the place where the fourth prince is standing. Meanwhile, the fireball instantly killed the other two while causing an explosion to throw a few frozen players away. With the help of an explosion, Wil moved past four lines and entered a 1.5-meter gap between the fourth and fifth line, and then started to run towards the right, ignoring the frozen players around before another fireball hit an area and cleared space, letting him move past into the eighth line so quickly At first, Skyzon was taken aback by Wil''s actions of letting the frozen people live but then, watching the next move made him realize Wil''s aim and he shouted, "rangers, what are you doing? Fire Don''t let him near to the Prince. Forget about the dragon, everyone in the range, attack the enemy. Melee attackers, move back. Don''t engage." As soon as they got his orders, hundreds of arrows, fireballs, plasma shots, bullets attacked in the direction towards Wil, blindly without a proper aim. Looking at the scene, a laugh escaped from Wil, "fools Did they forget the most important thing for a ranger?" Except for arrows, where the archers aimed in the path of a parabola, the rest of the attacks just hit someone in the way because of narrow aim and made even more of a mess. The fourth prince shook his head with a sigh, "a foolish general drops the intelligence of his troops, too." It only then did Skyzon understood, in the moment of panic, what a big mistake he has done. Meanwhile, the arrows that were aimed in the direction Wil wasn''t able to hit him because of another explosion that caused their vision blur to get a clear shot on Wil, who ran further right before going past into the eleventh line. Wiscar, who got irked by the mess, raised his hand, "Sword of lightning." Upon hearing his words, Skyzon turned his head aside only to see the spear never appeared in his hand and saw his hand raised above his head. As Skyzon followed his movement, his eyes widened before a powerful scream echoed in the surroundings, alerting Wil. *Ding. The party leader, Orion died. Following the scream of the dragon, as Wil received a sudden notification, he halted his movements and turned his head in reflex to see a giant sword made of lightning pierced Kagyre on its back until it comes out from the other end, making it slowly falling towards the ground. As the dragon was firmly stuck on to the ground, unable to get up while losing health at a rapid rate, Wil glared at the sword for a couple of seconds before unsummoning the dragon. Looking at the result, the prince nodded in satisfaction before he turned towards Skyzon and pointed his finger at him, "Tell your weaklings to stay aside. I''ll handle the enemy on my own or else who knows how long it''ll take to reach the capital." Skyzon clenched his fist in frustration, hearing a game character insulting him, yet, remembering his mission; he nodded and ordered in the party chat. Skyzon: All troops will be on standby. Reading another forced command from their appointed general, the supposed elites of the army obeyed it despite frowning. "Huh! What''s happening?" Wil stopped advancing for a second as he saw most of the army started backing away from the fourth prince, leaving a huge empty field. Taking out a spear from his back, the prince pointed it towards Wil, and shouted, "C''mon, Llyne. I''ll show you the difference between a Zuweth''s royalty and a weakling fake royalty of Llyne weakling." "Ho I guess that white crocodile is ready to use the skill, again. Is that why you stopped hiding behind it?" Wil taunted him in return. "Whatever" The prince didn''t mind his words and instantly throw the spear towards Wil. Looking at it, Wil shook his head with a sigh, "did he also get brain damage? With such a narrow vision and these many frozen players in between us, does he think that can even reach" "What!" Wil''s eyes widened in surprise as he saw the spear that was thrown by the fourth prince, destroyed the frozen players on the way, one by one, and continued its way towards him. The first thought that came to Wil was to dodge the attack but then, as his attention shifted to the enemy for a second, Wil decided to face it, head-on, to make a psychological impact on them. "Activate, Metal Armor." Instead of dodging to the side, he started walking towards it and takes it to the chest only for it to pierce a bit even though his body turned into a metal, shocking Wil, a bit. *Ding. Your defense increases by 1000%, and speed is decreased to half for 60 minutes. "-102,142,532" "Damn! Even with 330 million points of defense and 55% decrease damage, my health still dropped by a hundred million. This damn prince of Zuweth is a lot powerful than an average level-360 character." What he doesn''t know is that the prince was equally scolding him inside of him, "this damn level-200 can resist my attack? I thought he is like a berserker, sacrificing all defense for power. Just how strong is he? Or are these so-called elites I received were just trashes?" Meanwhile, unlike what Wil expected, the expressions of the players that are hoping to see the defeat of Wil brightened, and all of a sudden, as if they have planned beforehand, a part of the girls started to cheer the prince. "Kill him, your highness" "Attack him for a few more times. He''ll be dead, your highness." "You are so strong, your highness." "You are so handsome, your highness." "You are so majestic, your highness." "Please avenge us, your highness." etc At first, watching their shameless cheering, a laugh escaped from Wil but then, his expression darkened followed by the dissing about his negative points. "Your face must be ugly in real world, seeing how you look so ordinary in the game" "yeah, if I had a face like yours, I would sue my parents" "You truly lacks real skills and hides behind rare skills and equipment" "You aren''t worthy to defeat One" "Your guild is too weak" "You just use your father''s money. There''s nothing proud about you" Thinking it is working, the rest of the men also joined their dissing, "Your family tree must be a cactus" "You are an oxygen thief" etc... Whatever it came to mind, they started spouting with an intention of trying to poke him where it hurts and distract him. "Hahahaha..." Instead of showing rage, a continuous laughter escaped from Wil, "fine, then. You guys successfully invited the death god." "I summon, Leon." *Roar* A majestic winged lion appeared in their view before giving a powerful, inciting another roar in return from the white crocodile as if it had seen its arch enemy. "Leon, leave none of them, alive," Wil ordered in a low tone and turned his attention towards the prince, once again. Chapter 161: Rebellion part-7 *Roar* *Roar* Two powerful roars from the guardian beasts silenced the battlefield. "That beast" A frown appeared on the fourth prince as soon as a white winged-lion appeared in his view, "symbol of Llyne. It''s really a guardian beast. But, why does it seem, a lot stronger than my Pegallio? Something is off about it. Maybe, it recovered a part of its strength quicker?" Meanwhile, Skyzon also fell into thoughts as his heart quickened its beat, "is this the beast, the young master got as a reward from the battle tournament?" As he went on and inspected the beast, Skyzon took a step back in fear, "no, it''s impossible." Leon Grade: Legendary+ Level: 300 HP: 1.32 Billion Description: Used to be the guardian beast of the Llyne kingdom but at present, it is the personal mount of player Time Traveler. "A level-300 Guardian beast? Legendary+ grade? There''s even a grade above legendary? Damn. I never thought he still has a trump card aside from that dragon." *Roar* A powerful roar once again disturbed his thoughts and he saw the lion flapped its wings and fly into the sky, before spewing out a fireball towards the enemies in the back. Meanwhile, Wil crossed the fifteenth line and finally reached an empty space where the fourth prince is waiting for him with his white crocodile that seemed very agitated as its attention was entirely on the sky where Leon is. "So, you are really the prince of Llyne, eh? No wonder, you are different from these trashes," spoke the fourth prince in a calm manner. Wil shakes his finger in response, "Nope. You should call me, Crown Prince to be exact, the fourth prince." Just as Wil expected, upon realizing the indirect meaning of the status between them, the fourth prince clenched his fist, but then, he quickly composed himself and snorted, "Does it matter whether you are a crown prince or the king for a kingdom which was about to turn into ruins?" Looking at the confidence on the opponent, Wil frowned at first, wondering what their trump card might be, before getting to a conclusion that he needs to finish the enemy as he has no means of capturing him to negotiate, later. As soon as a thought formed in his mind, without giving any warning, Wil quickly took an arrow from the quiver and shot it towards the enemy. But, before it reached the fourth prince, the white crocodile opened his mouth and tried to catch it, only for the arrow pierced its mouth, dealing 60 million of damage. "You" This time, the fourth prince really lost his composure and growled as he caressed his head, "Pegallio, I''ll deal with this prick. You haven''t recovered your full strength, yet. So, don''t engage in battle, directly without my permission, ok?" *Swoosh* Just then, another arrow was shot towards him. But, just as it reached him, a spear appeared in the hands of the fourth prince and he motioned his arm horizontally without looking at the incoming attack. As both of them collide, a spark appeared on his spear and the arrow was broken into two. Pointing the spear at Wil, the fourth prince growled at him in anger, turning his eyes red, "my first impression was right about you. Just like any other immortal, there''s no class or honor and" "Puhahaha..." Laughter escaped from Wil, interrupting his words, "you think, this is a spar or something? Why would I show any respect and honor to my enemy in a war? So, don''t waste any time" *Swoosh* As another arrow was shot, Wil''s laughter stopped and his expression suddenly turned cold, "the so-called honor is already disappeared the moment your subordinates started running off their mouth. The only thing left is for you to die..." *Clang* Another spark appeared as the spear once again blocked the arrow. The fourth prince spoke arrogantly, "What a big words... Just because I was silent, you thought you could defeat me? I guess I need to show you the clear difference" Wiscar then pushed out his right foot and dashed towards Wil, pointing the exquisite spear at him. *Swoosh*Swoosh* Standing firmly on the ground, Wil started firing arrows of different kinds continuously at the fourth prince, who was defending himself with the spear while decreasing the distance between them. Just as the distance decreased to 30 meters, Wil continued to stare at him coldly as he put down his bow, "do you really think you can reach me?" "Absolute Freeze" Quickly, in an instant, the ground started to freeze below his feet, progressing towards the fourth prince, who was taken aback by the sudden attack. "Once, you get caught in the ice, it''s over, Wiscar" "What the!" Wil widened his eyes in surprise as he saw the fourth prince suddenly disappeared from the spot and appeared fifty meters away. "Damn He has also Short teleportation Skill, to escape. I should have used suppression on him," grumbled Wil as he stared at Wiscar, who has a smile on his face as if he was saying that it''s useless against him. Brandishing his spear, Wiscar then spun around 360 degrees before releasing it towards Wil. Looking at the incoming spear, Wil shot an arrow towards it, but as soon as he saw he missed the mark because of the wind, he quickly jumped aside to dodge, only for it to change its direction and pierced him in his right abdomen. "-102,142,532" "Return" spoke Wiscar, and Wil saw the spear disappeared from his sight and returned to the fourth prince''s hand. "Heal" "Heal" "Heal" "Heal" Before his enemy makes anymore moves, Wil used the healing skill continuously on himself to recover the 200 million of lost health, and pulled the string as hard as he can, before staring at Wiscar. "Now, it''s my turn." "Summon, Golem" "Ice arrow" As soon as a Giant earth golem appeared beside him, and put him on its shoulder, Wil then conjured an ice arrow and order the golem to run towards the enemy. "What is this guy? A mage, an archer, or a summoner?" The fourth prince dazed for a second in a surprise, and then shouted in a hurry as the Golem was nearing him, "Pegallio, final transformation." Upon hearing the words, the white crocodile suddenly enlarged twice and then, stood up on its own legs. It''s straight neck bent and curvy while its legs became long like a dinosaur, and let out a powerful roar, which made all the players including Wil, closed their ears for a second. Leon, which is in the middle of the massacre, stopped for a second, turned its head towards its arch enemy''s new form. Remembering its master''s order once again, it let out a mighty roar, not as powerful as the crocodile, summoning ten heroic grade beasts from the wild zone. On the other hand, Wil''s expression darkened, "final transformation, a skill exclusive to the guardian beasts of the kingdom. To achieve it, Leon has to maximize its level. Looks like this guy is taking me very seriously..." Meanwhile at the Merton sea; Two old figures with two pairs of wings are staring at each other, not intending to exchange blows so that the innocents in the kingdom won''t be involved because of their fight. "I don''t understand why you are doing this, when it''s time for us to unite to face the invasion of demons, not to fight against each other," snarled Raziel at his counterpart of Zuweth kingdom. Archangel Nebula replied with a snort, "Hmpf, what do you know. Do you really think these greedy human rulers live in peace? They won''t stop until there''s a rise of an emperor. That''s why this war is necessary." Upon hearing his response, Raziel sighed, "I don''t think we have enough time left to wait for the emperors to rise. Eight of the ten seals already on Lucifer are already broken. Once he''s free, you know that even 31 of us won''t be a match for him." "I know. That''s why we need an emperor. Once the coronation of the emperor is completed, I will summon the Divine Dragon," replied Nebula. "The dragon goddess?" A frown appeared on Raziel, "do you want to go against the wishes of our late King? The Dragon Goddess has plenty of time to serve her sentence in the void." Ignoring his words, Archangel Nebula continued, "for that to happen, we need eight of us. Join us, Raziel, and convince your half breed of a Queen to submit to Zuweth, or see its destruction with your own eyes." "I won''t allow that to happen" As a growl escaped from Raziel, Nebula laughed, "and you can''t do anything about it, either. If you get involved, I will too. We both know the result of our actions. *Roar* "Hmm?" "Hmm?" Upon hearing a roar from far away, both of them turned their heads in the direction of the wild zone. Chapter 162: Rebellion part-8 Outskirts of the wild zone, Llyne Kingdom; *Ding. You heard the raging roar of a guardian beast. Your stats drop by 20% for the next 30 minutes. "Eh? A stat drop? Is it like Leon''s roar? Well, it doesn''t matter since my stats are increased by 100% because of the golem." Wil then proceeds to inspect the beast before him. Pegallio (Final Transformation) Status: Mutated Grade: Legendary+ Level: 200 HP: 2.02 Billion/ 2.08 Billion Attack: 19.2 million Defense: 24 million Crt rate: 200% Crt. Resist: 200% Increase Damage: 50% Decrease Damage: 50% Description: Ancient beast form of Pegallio. "So, Everything increased by twice while its defense increased by 10 times. There are also two new stats. I forgot that despite having high HP, in the end, it''s still only a level 200 monster. Killing it is a simple matter for the current me. The only issue is that what ultimate skill that it gained to counter me. I don''t have much of the skills left. Sigh I miss my book of destiny even more, now. If only I have it, this battle would have been over in an instant" Inspecting the giant bipedal white crocodile with spikes on its back that let out a powerful roar, Wil came back to reality but didn''t stop the Giant Earth Golem that was rushing towards it, shaking the ground. "Smash that head, Golem" mumbled Wil in a low tone, standing on top of the Golem waiting to release the arrow at the right time. As the Golem leaped towards the beast, raising its fist to smash its head, the fourth prince ordered, "Pegallio, use Water blast." Gathering a huge amount of magic power, it blasted a huge volume of water at high power to knock off the Golem. "Hmpf, do you think, it can block my Golem''s punch that''s four times more powerful than my attack?" Wil snorted, without worrying about its counter. Just as Wil expected, as the water blast collided with the Golem''s fist, the latter continued to proceed, pushing away the water to the side and landed a punch on the upper part of the mouth. "347,364,098" "What! My Pegallio in its final transformation is defeated by a mere punch?" The fourth prince widened his eyes in shock before he shouted, "Pegallio, use Ice bite and freeze it to death." *Grrr* Letting out a growl, the crocodile opened its mouth, transforming its sharp teeth into ice before biting the golem''s hand that was just a foot away from it. Meanwhile, seeing the damage appeared on its head, Wil nodded with satisfaction and then ordered while looking at the beast, "Golem, don''t stop. Smash its head until it turns into a paste." As a puppet, it didn''t hesitate to follow its order and proceed to punch its head with the left fist after realizing its right fist is now being bitten by the enemy''s teeth while slowly transforming into ice. "347,364,098" Another damage appeared on the crocodile''s head, taking off a huge chunk of HP. Looking at the frozen right arm of the Golem, the fourth prince spoke loudly, not bothering to hide his wide smile, "yes. That''s it. Don''t stop" "Your highness, look out" Skyzon, who was spectating the battle from the start, ignoring the massacre that''s going behind him, shouted to alert the fourth prince. "Hmm?" Upon hearing the warning, as Wiscar moved his eyes, he saw an arrow, frozen in ice was released from the bow. Looking at the icy blue arrow that was piercing through the wind, the fourth prince snorted, "Hmpf, do you think you can sneak up on me? This elemental arrow isn''t even any special" Tightly grabbing the spear in his hands, the fourth prince once again, motioned it horizontally at the perfect timing to slash it apart. But, this time, just as the ice arrow and the spear collide, the arrow didn''t break off and pushed the spear away before piercing his upper abdomen, and freezing him for a second. *Crt "1,004,772,542" "Caught you, Wiscar." A smile appeared on Wil, ignoring the Golem that was frozen in half. *Roar* Realizing its master in danger, the beast quickly left the Golem and attempted to use the water blast to increase the distance between them. Before the fourth prince resisted the freezing effect due to the level difference, and the water blast hit them, Wil spoke, "Activate, Gravity Suppression." *Thud* As soon as the words escaped from Wil''s mouth, the entire sixty-meter surroundings faced a huge suppression from above and a part of the player army was crushed to the ground, along with the crocodile with its prince. Pulling the string, an arrow imbued with fire element was conjured between his hands. "This is for daring to invade my kingdom and interrupting my busy schedule." *Tring. As he released the string, making a thundering sound in the fourth prince''s ears, a fire arrow struck into his chest. "294,757,485" "Argh" The fourth prince grimaced in pain as his HP fell into the last 30%. "This is for daring to underestimate me and facing me, all alone." *Tring. "294,757,485" "And this is for letting your underlings insult me." *Tring. *Crt. "899,474,992" *Ding. You killed the fourth prince of Zuweth Kingdom. You receive 10,000 War points as a reward. *Ding. You are marked as the enemy of Zuweth Kingdom. As soon as the fourth prince got killed, the white crocodile beast disappeared from the battlefield, returning to its home. Meanwhile, Skyzon, who was stuck on the ground, facing an enormous gravitational pressure below him, let out a curse, "F**k. The worst thing has happened. This f*****g monster destroyed all my plans. My 5 million credits reward" As he was busy crying out in frustration, a paw appeared in his view and he blacked out. *Crt "-548,384,223" *Ding. You were killed by Leon. For some reason, the winged-Lion stared at his corpse in annoyance for a second before it disappears from the spot. "Leon, return here." An order appeared in its mind. Glancing at the ten beasts that are cleaning up the battlefield, it returned to Wil, who mounted on top of it and then caressed its mane, "good job, Leon. Now, let''s go to the palace and save Mirella." *Roar* Giving a powerful roar, it flapped its wings and started flying towards the capital city while Wil left the party. *** Meanwhile, on the top of Merton sea, the expression on Archangel Nebula darkened as he stared at the corpse of the fourth prince on the battlefield. On the other hand, Archangel Raziel''s face lit up in happiness, "see That''s the power of our Llyne''s crown prince. Let me give you one more piece of news. With him, guarding the northern part of Llyne, even after the barriers weakened and disappear, your kingdom won''t able to invade in the future." *Pfft* "Hahaha" All of a sudden, Archangel Nebula started laughing like crazy before he spoke, "you truly overestimate this kid''s strength. But, anyway, the life of the fourth prince no longer matter since your half-breed of a king won''t be able to sit on the throne much longer." Happiness on Raziel''s face quickly faded away and turned into a frown as he asked, "what do you mean by that?" Looking at his silence, Archangel Raziel turned his attention towards the palace where the battle is still going on between the army that was loyal to the throne and the combined army of players and NPC rebel army. "Hmm, the situation is the same. What is he talking about?" Then, his attention turned to the rest of the kingdom and was taken aback to see a lot of natives in a few cities except for the capital are marching down on the street, protesting against the King that a non-human don''t have a right to sit on the throne and rule them. "You... What have you guys done?" Raziel growled in anger. Chapter 163: Rebellion part-9 "You What have you guys done?" growled Raziel in anger. Archangel Nebula shook his head, "I swear we aren''t responsible for it. In fact, not even our king knows that Llyne''s ruler is a half-breed. You should blame for watering the poisonous plant in your own garden. Now, that plant is destroying all the beautiful flowers." "Rikilda" whispered the Archangel before he clenched his fist, "I knew that damn idiot must have told his sister. Is she the one behind this rebellion, not Aiden and his son, Nukegan? But, how do I miss this?" As Raziel turned his head in the direction of the capital city and inspected the mansion of the grand duchess, he saw she was just sleeping in her bed. But, what more strange is that her stomach is bulging. "Hmm?" Looking at her state, Raziel was taken aback in shock, "What is this? Just a while ago, she''s normal. Now, I sense a new life inside her. Is she pregnant? But, that seemed like the fetus is atleast six-months-old. How is this possible?" Concentrating on her belly from far away, Raziel''s frown deepened, "it''s becoming bigger. 28 weeks 3 days? Wait, 28 weeks 4 days? It grew up a day in a few seconds?" "What! I need to take a look at this." Raziel immediately tried to teleport to her side but then, suddenly, a barrier was formed around the two of them, blocking his movements. "You can''t leave from here, Raziel. I''m warning you, again. If you interfere, I''ll have to attack you and hundreds of thousands of innocents will die as a result. Since there''s no longer heaven and hell, their souls will vanish for good in the cosmos. If you want that, then, go on" A warning echoed in his surroundings, despite there''s no presence of mountains. Upon hearing the warning of Nebula, Raziel clenched his fist and turned his head towards him, "then, explain what is happening?" "Not now. You should wait for a while in patience and watch the events that are unfolding," replied Nebula in a serious tone. Meanwhile, Leon was flying towards the capital city at a top speed, ignoring the fierce battle between the players and the enemy soldiers, which was happening near the outskirts of Blackburn city. Opening the map, Wil mumbled without paying attention to the front because of blurry surroundings and heavy wind pressure against him, "The capital city is still around 500 km away. Judging by the current speed, it''ll still take an hour." *** The Gailzach Kingdom, North Zalfari continent; "One" "One" "One" "One" The capital city is filled with cheers of the players who support the guild ''Zero,'' publicly acknowledged number one guild in the kingdom, while the natives are hiding in their houses in fear and mourning for their families. As for the rival guild players, most of them logged out. The person in question, ''One'' was walking in the streets towards the Imperial palace, filled with pride with his guild players following him from behind. Reaching the palace, he found the old man, the only one left from the enemy''s forces, and greeted him with a nod before proceeding to enter the palace with him. As they reached the courtroom, ''One'' found the low-level ministers who didn''t bother to participate in the war, waiting for them in their seats in silence while the King''s throne is empty as the defeated king left no heirs behind. "Lord Archon." ''One'' gestured him to please go and sit in the empty guardian''s throne. Walking towards the throne of the guardian, where Archangel Araqiel once sat, Archangel Archon then opened his mouth, addressing everyone, "as you all know, King Micah Gailzach is killed in the battlefield and, Kingdom of Gailzach will serve the Kingdom of Talion from now onwards. No one spoke a word in fear of the Archangel as they don''t even dare to speak against him nor do they have the power to go against even ''One'' as their army has been wiped out. "Once the barrier dissolves, this kingdom will merge into our Talion kingdom. However, to this brave and powerful warrior, I promised a reward. Using my rights as the Guardian of Talion, I hereby appoint ''One'' as the Governor of Gailzach kingdom. Once the Empire of Talion is formed, his status will be changed to that of a King." *Ding. You are appointed as the Governor of Gailzach province. Accept? As ''One'' accepted the reward, a system notification was heard over the entire kingdom, putting fear in his enemies. Looking at the Cheers from the ministers, whose expressions transformed as soon as the notification was sent to everyone, a smile appeared on ''One'' as he clenched his fist, "in authority, I think I already surpassed you now, Time Traveler. The only thing that''s left is to check, how my current strength fares against yours. I wait for the day we battle again." Without wearing a crown, ''One'' sat on the throne while the guardian''s throne beside him disappeared. At the same time, in the volcanic region of level-200 wild zone, a two-meter big and 3-meter long Jaguar was attacking an energy barrier that closed the path of the cave just a while ago, where it was residing. After attacking for so long, it turned around and walked back to the resting place before it went into hibernation. *** Weford City, Searvale Kingdom, Xynnar Continent; In the city of Weford, lies a busy guild residence where the Elf-race players keep going in and out, all day. Entering the guild residence of Galaxy Net, which is currently serving as the HQ for their operations in the game, a sweet voice was heard at the entrance reception. "Is Uncle around?" As the male receptionist stares at the person in a daze, the female receptionist who was sitting beside him, gave a chop on his head, bringing him back to reality, and then, replied to her with a bow. "He''s in the office, Kiyumi-sama." Giving a nod, Kiyumi proceeds to the guild leader''s office and found a middle-aged man in his mid-fifties reading some reports. "Uncle, one of the results is out. Talion occupied Gailzach and ''One'' is appointed as the Governor," spoke Kiyumi with a respectful tone. Galaxy net''s former Vice-President, Miyazaki Shihei (ign: Middleman) responded without looking at her, "as expected. What about the remaining three wars?" "In the South Zalfari continent, the Kingdom of Pirn winning against Ayrith as we predicted before. In the northern part of the Xynnar continent, the Kingdom of Everton is successfully defending against Arkaley at all battlefields. As for Llyne, things aren''t going the way, we predicted," replied Kiyumi. It was only then, did he raise his head and takes a look at her, and said, "Tell me the detailed progress of the Llyne Kingdom." "The situation is complex in Llyne. According to our reports, the two Archangels haven''t been sighted anywhere. I think, they decided not to involve in the war. Strangely, the Queen also hasn''t been sighted yet. Meanwhile, in the first battlefield at Blackburn city, the Starlight guild is working together with the imperial army to face the enemy. They are in a deadlock as we expected. In the second battlefield at East Ocean city, the guilds seemed to abandon it and joined the rebels to fight against the Royal knights at the imperial palace. But, strangely, the Scarlet guild didn''t join them and are sighted at the Blackburn city, just now. I wonder if their alliance is broken. In the third battlefield, Mr. Ravens logged in at right time and took care of the enemy''s leader, the fourth prince of Zuweth kingdom, all alone, despite a level difference of 167. It''s confirmed that he''s in the possession of a guardian beast. With this, we can also confirm that guardian beasts can also bypass the restriction placed by the system. If we go by the theory based on reports, then, there''s a possibility, he can turn the battle around but in reality, there are opponents who are even stronger than the fourth prince. So, there''s a high chance that he might fail." Chapter 164: Rebellion part-10 Imperial palace grounds, Llyne kingdom; "C''mon, guys. Don''t hesitate and worry about death. We aren''t receiving any penalty. I told you that I''ll pay the teleportation fees, later," yelled the leader of the Evernight guild, as he cut down an enemy player, feeling frustrated about seeing how their strength is decreasing rapidly. HeavenlyKing, the leader of Heaven guild commented, "Maybe, it is because the word was out that Time Traveler ordered his guild to pull back, and he intends to support the throne." Upon hearing his words, Supreme Master paused for a second before letting out a snort, "nonsense. Don''t believe any words unless you hear directly from ShadowBlade or Time Traveler." HeavenlyKing stared at Supreme Master in silence before asking him slowly, "are you betraying our alliance?" "Huh! What are you talking about?" HeavenlyKing shook his head, "Sorry, wrong question. I''ll ask the right question this time. Are you betraying Time Traveler?" "What!" Supreme Master flustered for a second before replying in a serious tone, "Don''t spout nonsense. What we are doing will turn in his favor. No one in the right mind will choose to support the King." "Did you really not know what''s going on or are you in complete denial, cousin?" A familiar voice was heard from behind him. Hearing the words of Green Lantern, as a frown appeared on Supreme Master, Heavenly King spoke, "a while ago, Time Traveler defeated Zuweth''s prince along with general and royal knights as well as massacring a ten thousand player army. Everyone in the forums is talking about it. Pay attention to your guild channel for a minute." It was only then, Supreme Master realized there are not only atleast a dozen private messages to him from the other clan leaders/vice leaders who are fighting away but his guild channel is full of discussion about the video someone uploaded in the forums. *Argh* A moment of distraction led a sword pierced in his chest taking away a chunk of HP before he kicked the enemy and increased the distance between them. "Heavenly King, cover me for a second." As Heavenly King shielded Supreme Master, the latter went into forums and saw a couple of videos that were taken from far but one can see a few important details like a sword destroying the dragon; Wil freezing hundreds of players with a single arrow; then, turning into metal before summoning a winged-lion; a faceoff between a Giant Golem and a bipedal crocodile; Appearance of Ten high-level heroic beasts all of a sudden in the midst of enemies causing a ruckus; finally, the disappearance of the beasts with Wil flying away. "It''s impossible. Didn''t they say that the prince is above 350 level? How did he get defeated so easily?" Supreme Master mumbled in a daze. "Hmm? Who?" As Green Lantern asked in curiosity, all of a sudden, a part of the second floor of the Imperial palace exploded and a middle-aged stout figure flew before crashing onto the ground followed by a busty maiden in exquisite armor, who slowly landed before him. Just at that moment, the battlefield went silent as everyone stopped fighting; some are anticipating the quick result while the others are shocked to see, dark bluish massive wings, unnaturally beautiful, with an almost translucent leathery material between the wing bones. While the armor covered the dragon scales on her skin, the pupils in her eyes that changed into deep red slits were evidently seen by many of soldiers and the players who stood near to her. "Duke Nukegan, do you really think you can weaken me with such a mere poison?" spoke Mirella as she pointed the Imperial sword to his throat, ignoring her surroundings. Groaning in pain, Duke Nukegan slowly stood on the ground and then started to laugh crazily. "Hahahaha Mirella, you have now exposed yourself." Looking around the soldiers who were in disbelief, the Duke started to shout, resorting to his final trump card, "See at your king, my fellow soldiers. Do you still want to serve this filthy beast? Let me tell you who she really is. Did anyone remember the beast from 30 years ago that massacred so many innocents and fellow soldiers? Our King also defeated and captured it. She''s the daughter of her. This imposter killed our late Princess and replaced her. Who knows, to take revenge for her mother, she might also be the one who killed our dear late King. Join me and capture this filthy creature." Upon hearing his words, the loyalty of half of the soldiers on the palace''s side started wavering and slowly dropping, waiting for Mirella to explain herself. But, contrary to their expectations, a word hasn''t been spoken by Mirella causing a strange silence across the battlefield. Meanwhile, the player army of rebels misunderstood that this might be the reason behind the rebellion. She just stared at him in silence, making the duke''s heart quickened its pace in worry whether his plan worked or not. Right then, one soldier raised the sword, breaking the silence, "a beast has no right to sit on the throne and rule us. Kill this creature." "Yes, let''s kill this beast." "Kill" "Kill" "Kill" As Mirella didn''t refute the allegations, slowly, one after one, more than half of the soldiers turned against her and joined the rebels, who were their enemies just a while ago. The players supporting the king went into a panic as the situation turned upside down. Unlike the soldiers, as they can''t support the rebels because of the quest, a few of them quickly logged out to escape. Thinking that he made the right decision, Supreme Master no longer thought of Wil and spoke in a loud tone, supporting the duke, "what are you still hesitating for?" Upon hearing the chants around, a smirk appeared on Nukegan, "what will you do, now, Mirella? Will you surrender yourself or will you prove yourself that you are a beast by following the footsteps of your mother and kill everyone who stands before you?" In response, Mirella''s face turns cold as she brandished the Imperial sword, "since the beginning of the times, those who betray the throne will only face with one judgment." As she flapped her wings, she dashed like a flash of lightning and the Imperial sword slicing Nukegan''s throat, beheading him in a single strike. The faces of young players who saw a headless corpse from very near became pale and felt the urge to vomit. Pointing the sword at the soldiers around her, her voice deepened, "what are you waiting for? Since you decide to rebel, come on, then." "Father!" A cry was heard from far away. Pushing the soldiers that were in his way, a young man sprinted towards the dead body and held the duke''s body. "You" As his eyes became red, he bellowed in anger, "I''ll kill you" "Attack with everything you have got." Supreme Master ordered the damage dealers to shoot at her from the distance while ordering the melee players to back off since it looked dangerous to face her head-on. *Cling* She blocked the attack of the young man and gave a fierce kick in his abdomen before suddenly placing her attention to the sky, "I knew you will not betray me, younger brother." Mirella whispered with a smile and controlled her wings to cover her, blocking all the attacks that were raining upon hear. Finding a part of her back that exposed to attack, General Adinet, who was on the side of rebels, decided to use the opportunity, raised his spear and mumbled as his eyes turned pitch black, "spear of death." The soldiers around him, whether they are allies or enemies, started to feel as if something is draining their life force and quickly, they became corpses while an aura of darkness slowly enveloped the spear. Upon completing it, the general quickly dashed take a detour, and threw it towards the vulnerable part, "Yes, as long as it pierces her skin, the battle''s over And I''ll be the one to perform the finishing strike and get the reward of a hundred thousand gold coins hehehe" *Roar* All of a sudden, a powerful roar of a lion was heard across the city. The aura of darkness quickly disappeared just before the spear pierced the back of her right leg, leaving him in shock. Meanwhile, the players who were on the side of rebels were also stunned to find their skills in grey followed by receiving a notification. *Ding. You are affected by the Roar of the King. All of your skills will be locked for 30 minutes. "I''m sorry for being late, your majesty." A voice was heard from the sky, making everyone raise their heads. Chapter 165: Rebellion part-11 (final) "It''s TimeTraveler." "Why is TimeTraveler on the king''s side?" "Didn''t TimeTraveler join rebel army?" "Looks at the forums, you idiot" "Doesn''t that mount resembles the beast on the gold coin?" "*Gasp* Level-300 legendary+ grade beast?" The battlefield engulfs in the murmuring of the players as Leon slowly landed beside Mirella with Wil sitting on top of it. "You are a bit late but thanks for standing up beside me," spoke Mirella as she pulled the spear out of her leg. Looking at one of the notifications, Wil sighed, "if not for the Duke banning me from his region, I would have used the teleportation formation to travel to the capital long ago." *Ding. Duke Nukegan banned you from the city of Blackburn. Entering the city without permission will be subjected to imprisonment. "Nukegan?" Mirella frowned as she stared at the corpse that was in the hands of a soldier standing far away, and apologized in a low tone, "it''s my fault. Upon discovering the aura of Leon, I ran off my mouth with bragging that might lead the traitor to do that. Using the authority of King, I''m hereby lifting the ban on you." *Ding. The ban on you has been lifted. "Heal" Placing a hand on the shoulder and healing her to full health, Wil replied with a smile, "It doesn''t matter anymore. What matters is that I''m here and your majesty is safe and sound." Suddenly, he received a notification. *Ding. You received a private message from Supreme Master. "Open notifications." Looking at the holographic screen, Wil clicked on the latest notification and opened the message, sent by Supreme Master, who stepped aside and hid behind a muscular NPC to make sure not to be visible to Wil. Supreme Master: We have already chosen it before you logged in. I hope this won''t get in the way of our friendship. Upon reading the message, a frown appeared on Wil at first but he quickly hid it as he thought, "convincing everyone in such a short time isn''t easy for anyone. Looks like Supreme Master has a lot of influence in the alliance. The most troublesome part is that he informed after taking a decision. Even if Aster isn''t around, he can inform Mountain Rock to relay the message to Aster but he didn''t do that. Aster isn''t enough. I need to hurry up with my plans and bring the gang to the game and" "Younger brother" "Prince Time Traveler" "Hello" A sweet voice disturbed his thoughts and brings him back to reality. "Ah! Yes?" "Are you in your thinking mode, again? Look at the situation, will you" Wil quickly bowed, "I apologize, your majesty." In response, Mirella shook her head with a sigh, "I told you many times. You really need to work on that bad habit. You never know when" Looking at her, a piece of data actually lecturing like a real elder sister, a sense of uneasiness appeared inside him despite smiling on the outside. He quickly cut off her lecturing, "Uhh Your majesty, how about finish the things here" "Younger brother, I need you to do something for me." "Order it, your majesty. What should I do?" answered Wil. "I want you to take care of East Ocean City," spoke Mirella, issuing a quest. *Ding, You received a quest. Description: The king wishes you to support General Gerrad, and fend off the enemies that invaded East Ocean City. Reward: Unknown Accept? "Supporting Gerrad? That means this quest is for fighting against NPCs. If I accept this quest and go away, my other quest of helping this chic against the rebellion will be failed." As soon as he realized the point, Wil tried to convince her, "but, your majesty" "Brother, don''t waste time and get going." Before he even gets to speak further, Mirella cut him off and ordered him to go. Not willing to let go of the bountiful rewards, Wil stepped down from the mount and spoke, "Your majesty, let Leon stay here and help you out." "Fine." As Mirella gave a nod of approval, Wil accepted the quest and spoke to the lion as he caressed its mane, "buddy, you will protect his majesty, and kill her enemies. Upon hearing him, Leon made a low moaning sound while nudging Wil with its head as if it tries to complain that it wants to stay with him but Wil ordered it again before sending a message to Supreme Master. Time Traveler: Well, let''s just treat this as an event, then. But, I hope you won''t do such a thing in the future Supreme Master, who was read the message, gritted his teeth, "Dammit. Are we his lackeys or something?" Exhaling one long breath, Supreme Master replied with a Yes and thanks. Meanwhile, after saying goodbye to the both of them, Wil started running towards the city to go to the temple, and teleport to East Ocean city via teleportation formation which was the only one besides the one at Blackburn city and East Ocean City, is working. As Wil disappeared from its view, Leon turned its attention towards the stupefied enemies and let out a mighty roar to summon ten heroic beasts from the wild zone, ranging from level-150-200. *** Merton Sea; "At first, I thought it was some legendary creature. But, now that I look closely, it is indeed Acke Llyne''s pet. Maybe, my memory is failing because it''s been a long time since I last saw it," commented Archangel Nebula, watching the battlefield. "That pup of Artemis Empire''s guardian beast Leo grown this big. But, it shouldn''t be this big, right?" "It mutated again," answered Raziel in a tone of displeasure while his concentration was on unconscious Rikilda Llyne, more precisely on her bulging stomach, which was steadily growing fast for each second. "Oh! Double mutation? That''s rare in this peaceful world. Well, I guess our Pegallio is lazy" Nebula tried to joke around a bit but looking at the expression on Raziel, he placed his attention in a specific direction and spoke, "the fetus is now 30 weeks, 2 days. Don''t worry. It will take time." "Cut it out and explain to me what is it, Nebula." Staring into his eyes, Nebula replied, "Then, do as I have said before. Make an oath that you won''t interfere until the battle ends." As Raziel fell into silence, not willing to make an oath, Nebula further said, "fine then, at least promise that you won''t interfere until the baby is born. I will even let you break this barrier and brainwash those citizens. This is my final offer, Raziel. I can''t compromise more than this." Having no other option, Archangel Raziel nodded, "fine. In the name of our late king, Adam, I, Raziel Blain, son of Azrael, making the oath that I won''t interfere until the fetus in the womb of Rikilda Llyne, born." As soon as he made an oath, his neck was bound by a golden chain, and a smile appeared on Archangel Nebula. Pulling aside the collar, Nebula then showed the golden chain around his neck, "honestly, it wasn''t a part of my plan. Rikilda forced me to make an oath. I hope you understand." "Quit talking nonsense and tell me, now," Raziel growled at him as if he wants to tear him apart. "Very well" Gazing at the horizon, Nebula answered, "The prophecy of Gaia, Raziel. As the angel of war walks on Gaia, the world plunges into the war, the demons rise from the netherworld and the heaven once again, will be awakened, restoring the natural order." "The resurrection of Fallen Angel Gadreel" Raziel gasped, taking a step back. *** Half an hour later; In the outskirts of East Ocean city, Wil was in a battle against Zuweth''s army while reuniting with Evie (SnowDew) and his lackeys from the Scarlet guild, leading small guilds from various cities that are participating. With Wil joining the party, the tables were quickly turned over, and within 30 minutes, the allies outnumbered the enemies by three to one, which boosted the allies'' will power. "Argh" The enemy''s general screamed in pain as a couple of arrows pierced his leg. Forcing himself to stand on the ground with the support of a sword, the general roared at Wil in anger, "a lowly immortal from other world is defeating me. Just who the hell are you?" "You death," Wil replied in a cold tone before he pulled the bow string to give a finishing strike but just then *Boom* All of a sudden, a loud sound resounded all over the kingdom, making everyone stop the fighting immediately and turned towards the source. As Wil turned his head, he saw traces of an explosion that can be seen from hundreds of kilometers away. "What the" Wil was stunned on the spot as the system sent continuous notifications. *Ding. Your pet Leon has been killed by Fallen Angel Gadreel. It''s returned to the pet space. *Ding. King Mirella Llyne has been killed. *Ding. Rebellion has been succeeded. *Ding. You failed the quest ''Protect Mirella from rebels'' *Ding. You failed the quest, ''Mysterious man from Letter'' *Ding. You failed the quest, ''Support General Gerrad'' *Ding. You failed the quest, ''Take down the King''s enemies'' *Ding. King Mirella Llyne passed down the Imperial sword to you. It was stored in your inventory. *Ding. You received a quest, Retrieve the Crown. Description: Before his last breath, King Mirella appointed you as his successor and passed the Imperial sword to you. But, to become the King, a crown is necessary. Retrieve the King''s crown to sit on the King''s throne. Reward: the throne of Llyne *Ding. You received a quest, Avenge the King. Description: Hunt down the enemy that killed your beloved King. Reward: Unknown Chapter 166: Aftermath part 1 *Ding. Rebellion has been succeeded. As Wil went into a daze, the general slowly stood up and tried to escape from there with the help of a soldier to recover. Meanwhile, the players'' army that was supporting the palace also went into a shock upon receiving a notification that the rebellion has been succeeded. Not knowing what to do next, everyone stared at Wil. But, as he still stayed silent, their former leader Reuben Antolov (Flame Emperor) spoke in his stead, "whether rebellion is failed or not, the quest of invasion hasn''t disappeared yet. So, we ought to finish this job. Isn''t it, Time Traveler?" Reuben placed a hand on Wil''s shoulder, bringing him back to his senses, "Ah! Yes." Looking at the enemies'' faces that filled with happiness momentarily forgetting their situation, a rage crept up in his body. He raised his bow and spoke loudly addressing the NPCs, "fellow soldiers, I''m sure you all must have felt it. Our King Mirella Llyne is no more. Let''s avenge our King, starting with leaving none of them, alive." *Swoosh* His focus shifted towards a man who was slowly getting healed, and Wil released an arrow that pierced his forehead and killing him with a critical hit appeared on his head. "Avenge the King," shouted General Gerrad, raising his sword towards the sky. "Avenge" "Avenge" "Avenge" "Avenge" The soldiers chanted loudly together, making the enemies more nervous as the reality hit them. With no general around to lead them, they were quickly fallen on the battleground, leaving Wil''s party victorious. The soldiers started cheering in excitement as they return to the camp. Meanwhile, a few of the small guilds teleported to Blackburn city, where the final battle against Zuweth is going on while the rest of them either just returned to their guild residences or logged out to take rest. As for the Scarlet guild, Wil ordered them to return to the Deloris town and wait for further orders. Upon seeing his power first hand up close, none of these newly recruited members didn''t dare to object to it and started making their way towards the city, where more than sixteen thousand players were resurrected in the temple. Meanwhile, inside a tent at the camp located in the outskirts of the city; "Your Highness, what are your orders? Now that his majesty is no longer alive, I''m willing to follow the Crown Prince," said Gerrad, kneeling in respect. Putting aside the unnecessary thoughts away, a composed Wil replied, "If the King has fallen, that means, the rebellion is succeeded. You know that even if I''m the crown prince, I don''t think they will let me sit on the throne. There''s a high chance of getting captured." "What about Lord Raziel?" Gerrad reminded him about the most powerful person who can flip the tables whenever he wants to. Shaking his head with a sigh, Wil answered, "there''s no sight of him, yet. Even if Lord Raziel''s alive, I don''t think he wants to involve in the matters of the throne. You should know him better." "Yeah, you are right." Gerrad nodded, agreeing with him. Forming a plan in his mind, Wil then proceeded to say, "Before Rikilda Llyne or Nukegan''s son ascends to the throne, we have to reach Eldershore city and fortify the region." "Eldershore region?" A frown appeared on Gerrad as he voiced out his opinion, "Isn''t going there the same as facing death? It''s right on the border of our Kingdom. With Zuweth on front and her highness Rikilda on back, we''ll be trapped. Isn''t it better if we take control of this region? We can also use the sea as an advantage." "I know." Wil nodded his head as he folds his arms to the chest, "But, it''s the only way to stop Llyne to be merged into Zuweth. And don''t worry about the war. If we can occupy Eldershore, we can threaten Rikilda that we''ll open the doors for the neighboring kingdom of Elves if she tries anything funny. I''ll make a deal with her in exchange for freedom. Something will work out in the end. The only issue is your regiment. I wonder whether they''ll follow you, betraying the throne." "I''ll talk to them. I need time," replied Gerrad as his face turned serious. Looking at his expression, Wil nodded, "Do it whatever you have to do before the battle at the Blackburn city ends. Tell them that I will guarantee their family''s safety." "Yes." After bowing to Wil, Gerrad left the tent and proceeds to gather everyone to convince them of how their King was betrayed by her own kin and to ask them to standby the rightful heir of the throne. Meanwhile, alone in the tent, Wil sat on the desk and became busy with planning his next step since most of his previous plans fell apart by Mirella''s death. "With the Supreme Master''s suspicious behavior, controlling East Ocean city seemed to be filled with risks. I shouldn''t have banned all of my enemies. Without any opposition, I guess, Supreme Master must have felt like a King and became greedy? No, I can''t make assumptions without any evidence. Let''s wait and see how he would play it out. But, before that" Wil then glanced at one of the notifications. *Your pet Leon has been killed by Fallen Angel Gadreel. "Appearance of a fallen angel at this stage?" The frown on Wil has been deepened in a worry, "but, how did such a powerful being all of a sudden?" Suddenly, something clicked in his mind, and he stood up with a gasp, "Rikilda! If she''s the mastermind behind the rebellion, that means, she must have some trump card just like how Mirella has her mother as a trump card. Did she summon one?" "No, she gave birth to one." A voice heard in his ears, startling him, followed by the appearance of a dispirited old man. "Lord Raziel." Wil didn''t bother to greet this guardian with so much of a mess in his mind, and asked directly, "What do you mean by that? She gave birth to a fallen angel? That''s impossible." The Archangel shook his head, "I''m not sure how but it is indeed true that she gave birth to him during the war. No, more specifically, she gave birth to him because of the war as Gadreel is also known as the Angel of War before he became a fallen angel." Upon hearing the explanation, Wil slammed the desk with his palm, "yes, that''s it. Now, everything fits. She used Zuweth to create an atmosphere of war to resurrect the angel of war." As Raziel nodded in agreement, Wil fell into thoughts, "Wait a second. If that''s the case, what about the other three kingdoms that are facing the same situation? In the current situation, I can''t ask Aster to investigate it. Maybe, I should ask Ms. Kiyumi. What''s the use of having connections if you won''t use it at the right time" "If you excuse me, I need to leave. There''s a lot to do" spoke Raziel in the meantime but Wil wasn''t able to hear it. By the time Wil came back to his senses, he found the old man already disappeared from the tent and went off to various cities to brainwash the people, who are causing the ruckus on the streets, protesting against the King. *** Seagle City, Llyne Kingdom; *Slash* Blood spilled onto Sugar''s face as the mayor of the city collapsed on the ground. Dream, who was sitting on top of a Giant Rhino along with a pretty girl, smirked as he looked at the notification that he received. *Ding. You successfully captured the city. "Time Traveler, I''ll get back you at you, this time" Chapter 167: Aftermath part-2 *Ding. You are a party leader. Activate Mass teleportation? Wil clicked on Yes. *Ding. Select the number of people to teleport. A long checklist appeared on the holographic screen before Wil. He clicked on all and pressed OK. *Ding. You have selected 7342 people. 11013 gold coins will be deducted. Proceed? Without thinking any further, Wil clicked on it and thousands of soldiers in the teleportation formation disappeared at the same time and reappeared at the teleportation point at Scarlet District in the town of Deloris. The soldiers were amazed by the prowess of their Prince, who was very rich to the point of mass teleporting them, not knowing that half of the money Wil spent will eventually return to him. Meanwhile, Wil started receiving continuous notifications. *Ding. Favorability with Emory increased by 10. *Ding. Favorability with Tybout increased by 15. . . . *Ding. Favorability with Droyn reached 100. *** As Wil exited the temple, he found hundreds of the members of Scarlet and Silvershapers along with a few NPCs are waiting outside to welcome him with cheers. "General Gerrad, this is RockFist and this is SnowDew. These two are my most trusted people here. They''ll take you to the Barracks. As for the families of our soldiers, I''ll take care of them. You can trust me on that." *thud* "Your Highness" General Gerrad fell on his knees and cupped his fists with a light bow, "thank you for the grace." "Your Highness" Followed by the general, the rest of the soldiers also kneeled before Wil to pay their respects while he started receiving continuous notifications with increasing favorability, once again While the members of the Scarlet were overwhelmed by the scene, Wil, who was long used to it from childhood, gave a simple nod, and spoke, "Rise up." Then, turning towards the members, Wil spoke, "I have an important announcement to make. This Sunday, a qualification test will be commenced at the training grounds. Depending on your performance, your position in the guild will be decided. Whether you stay or get kicked out, you will decide with your own hands. If your battle strength is weak, then, your guild contributions will be taken into consideration." Ignoring the expressions of others, Wil turned towards Rock Fist, "you will create another guild and become guild leader." "Eh?" Looking at the surprised expression on his face, Wil explained, "You will create Scarlet A division, where you will handle normal members." Before Rock Fist about to reply with a thank you, Evie screamed, "Not fair, Big Brother. You promised me that I will get lackeys *Cough* I mean, subordinates under me, just a while ago." "Uhh" Rock Fist went silent not knowing what to say as Evie is treated like a spoiled princess by everyone because of her close relationship with the guild leader. Wil, on the other hand, pinched her nose with a smile, "when did I break the promise. You will create Scarlet B division and handle the dropouts and newbies." "Oh!" 13-year-old Evie''s eyes lit up in excitement, "I knew Big Brother is the best" *Cough*Cough* Wil coughed twice to remind her to maintain the image and as she calmed down, she asked, "May I request the guild leader whether I can take Mia to my division." "This brat She already started to call it hers before it even formed. And now, she even wants Mia? Hmm, maybe it''s not a bad thing. Both of them are of similar ages and are good friends. She can also protect Mia. The only issue is that she''s the beloved granddaughter of Dexter Antolov. Until I get to know that they become best buddies, it''s better to hide my real identity" "Big Brother" "Big Brother" A voice kept on ringing in his ears, getting him back to reality. "Ah! Yes. What is it?" "What are you thinking so deeply? I only asked Mia. We are" Wil interrupted her, "no, I''m thinking about something else. As for Mia and Rey, I don''t have any problem as long as they agree." *Clap* Addressing everyone, "Okay, I have something important to do. Everyone starts preparing for the upcoming test. Those who can move up the ranks will also be rewarded with equipment. Good luck" Turning towards the man behind him, "General Gerrad, until further notice, all of you can rest. I only hope that you will make sure that no one will turn into a traitor in the meantime." Saluting him by placing the fist on his chest, Gerrad spoke, "rest assured, your Highness. I and my men will stay forever loyal to you." Leaving them, Wil then entered the temple once again and teleported to the capital city to see the aftermath of the incident. As soon as he exited the crowded temple, Wil stood there like a statue, staring at the ruins before him. "What the hell" Except for the system buildings like Bank, Auction house, Temple, etc half of the city fell into ruins. Association buildings and guild residences were razed to the ground along with the stores and houses. Even the sturdy imperial palace wasn''t able to withstand the impact completely and got destroyed in half. Not a single NPC can be seen around as he roamed across the streets. As he reached the palace training grounds, Wil saw it was nothing but a huge barren land, not even leaving a single corpse behind while a few scouts are inspecting the place. "It was shocking, isn''t it? "A familiar voice was heard from beside. Turning his head, surprisingly, he found Rigel, who was supposed to be in battle at Blackburn city. "Who could have expected that the city would be reduced to such state with one attack." "What are you, doing down here?" asked Wil, not intending to comment about what he said. "Waiting for you, of course," answered Rigel. "Guild leader predicted that you will be here. He ordered me to wait until you show up. "What is it?" "I''m afraid it''s not a good place to talk." Rigel glanced around to gesture him that their discussion can''t be revealed in public. Realizing that it''s no use fooling around the place, Wil nodded and started to walk with Rigel in the streets to find a secluded place as he doesn''t wish to add him as a friend to exchange messages in private, believing that the latter will just annoy in the future. "Okay, now, tell me." Rigel then spoke, "I''m here to discuss about the player''s town." "I know nothing about, nor am I currently interested to know," A frown appeared on Wil as he replied to him. "Whatever the conditions, you can just discuss with Shadow Blade." "No, I''m not talking about the one, we gifted you," replied Rigel, shaking his head, "I''m here whether you are interested about having priority rights of our new town. A couple of days ago, luckily, we got our hands on another one. We are thinking to build one in the Eldershore region. Guild leader told me to ask you whether you can station a part of your NPC army at our town once it''s constructed. In return, we''ll give you priority rights of certain locations, buildings in the town along with resources. You know, with the resources in our hand, the town is bound to develop into a city." Upon hearing his words, Wil calmly said, "So you knew about the army. I guess, you already planted a spy in our guild." "Just like the Scarlet had in ours. I believe it''s natural that guilds like us wanting to know what''s going on, everywhere. I hope you understand," Rigel replied with a smile, although feeling tense inside. Unlike what he expected, Wil didn''t get offended but smiled instead as his next step would already weed out all the possible spies. "Ok, fine. Let''s discuss the terms the town''s construction is finished. It''s going to be a longtime partnership. So, I need to discuss with Shadow Blade" "I''ll relay the message to the Guild leader, then. Ah! I almost forgot. There''s one more thing the leader wanted me to inform you. Dreamwalkers captured Seagle city, taking advantage of the chaos. What a fool. Don''t they know that city cannot be captured without King''s permission?" "Who knows? Maybe, guild leader Dream thought the palace can''t afford to attack," replied Wil, shrugging his shoulders, stating that it wasn''t much of a deal. Shakings his hands, Rigel then quickly proceeded to the temple to teleport back to Blackburn city now that the job is done. Meanwhile, as Wil remembered Raziel''s words of how the fallen angel is being resurrected, and then Rigel''s words about Dreamwalkers, a thought appeared in his mind. Looking at the Imperial palace from far away, and then, glancing at the Prince medallion that''s hanging around his neck, a massive grin appeared on Wil, "I never thought I was going to do this but all is fair in a war. Dreamwalkers should face the consequences of their actions." Cracking his knuckles, Wil mumbled, "And Rikilda Llyne, by the time you recover from the childbirth, I will leave you a present that will give sleepless nights..." Chapter 168: Birth of Lupin part-1 Llyne Kingdom; As the night fell, the darkness loomed over the kingdom, forcing the war between Llyne and Zuweth to stop temporarily, and following the rules of the battlefield, both of the armies returned to their camps to continue the battle, the next day. Upon hearing the battle reports of various battlegrounds, the soldiers of Zuweth decide to return, taking advantage of the new moon in the sky. Meanwhile, at the camp near Blackburn city, a heavy discussion is going between a couple of generals, and Starlight, who was representing the player army currently. "The enemy is left with only a couple of thousand soldiers. We can just stall the time until our reinforcements arrive," A General named Cobalt voiced out his opinion. Starlight shook his head in response as he knew there are no reinforcements from the East Ocean City, "with the King''s gone, I don''t think the Royal Knights will make the move. As for the army from East Ocean City, it''ll take more than two days for them to come all the way from the south." Duke Armine, who is also currently serving as a general, nodded in agreement with Starlight and asked him whether he has any plan. Starlight smiled in response. "I have over a hundred members in our guild that can fight even in this darkness." "Hundred?" General Cobalt frowned as soon as he quickly realized what Starlight wants to say. "Are you proposing a night raid?" "Yes." Starlight once again nodded in response. "No, it goes against the rules of the battlefield. For a warrior, losing his honor is worse than death," Cobalt said decisively as he slammed the desk, not intending to accept the proposal no matter what. Duke Armine patted his shoulder, "Calm down General. Let''s listen to his plan, first, shall we?" "Go on." The Duke gestured the player to continue. "Thank you." Starlight proceeded to explain what he plans to do. "General, the war is between the Llyne and Zuweth kingdoms. We are just reinforcements that are helping you out. So, none of our actions will represent you. However, to prevent possible issues in the future, you can expel 114 of us from the regiment, which will make us free to do whatever we want." Starlight highlighted the word expel before the General on purpose because he knew, the worst thing most people in the higher position fear isn''t doing a wrong thing but taking responsibility for it. And as he expected, General Cobalt calmed down a bit and gestured him to continue. Starlight took a vial from his pocket and showed it to the two of them. Looking at the green liquid, Duke Armine asked him whether it is the poison. A smile appeared on Starlight as glanced at the vial in his hands. "This isn''t a simple poison. It''s a poison made from the flowers of Datura. For now, our guild was able to craft only this single vial." Unlike what Starlight claimed, the poison wasn''t made by the guild but was dropped from a level-150 heroic grade plant type monster that''s available only at a racial dungeon. Meanwhile, both of them were indeed surprised after hearing the plants of Datura, which Listening to his words brought a surprise to both of them as they long heard of it. Even the palace has an abundant stock of them in their Treasury. Starlight continued, "even though it''s just one, as long as this was mixed in their food and water, by sunrise, they will face respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, psychosis, and in a rare instance, even death. Both of them didn''t understand the rare illnesses that Starlight pointed out but they nodded to save their face. *** Meanwhile, at the Imperial palace, a middle-aged man with streaks of gray hair was walking towards the palace, wearing gold-grade armor with a useless spear in his hand that can''t damage anyone because of no physical attack attribute in his stats. He was none other Wil, who asked the help of Silvershapers for his transformation. With the help of non-combat player Venus, a former makeup artist for a top actor who currently operates a parlor in-game, Wil now disguised as a soldier passes the training grounds. At first, Wil thought of sneaking into the palace since the high walls were destroyed in the incident and there might be a place to infiltrate without getting noticed. But, after finding out that most of the soldiers along with Royal knights got stationed there, Wil decided to go through the entrance. On the way, the exhausted soldiers didn''t pay much attention to him as he looks and walks like one of them. But, he was stopped at the main gate of the palace by a couple of guards, who weren''t able to inspect him because of the mask of Tranquility. Wil saluted to the two of them, trying to trick them one of their own. "State your identity." One of the guards spoke. Wil took out the prince medallion and showed it to them, "I''m from Arch Duchess Mansion. Her highness Rikilda Llyne sent a message to Lord Raziel. Here''s the proof." Looking at the genuine medallion, both of them stiffened and immediately moved aside to not bother this messenger. Fooling the guards, Wil passed through the gate and made it to the palace only to get stopped by Royal knights at the entrance, this time. Wil repeated the same thing to them. Unlike the guards at the main gate, the royal knights examined the medallion carefully to check whether it''s genuine or not. Upon realizing that it''s real, they immediately concluded that he might be an elite secret messenger. That''s the reason why his identity is also hiding from them. "Ok, come with me." A Royal knight named Petrus spoke as he gestured to follow him. Another royal knight also tagged along with them. Even though they came to the wrong conclusion as Wil wanted them to be, still, to be cautious, they didn''t let Wil go alone towards Raziel''s chamber because of several reasons. With one on the front that''s leading the way, and the other that was on the back that''s making sure just in case, the three of them entered the palace. Passing through several guards, the three of them reached the damaged empty main hall that leads to several places. *Clang* All of a sudden, Wil loosed his grip and the spear fell on the floor. Followed by it, Wil collapsed on the floor and started to breathe heavily. "Are you alright?" One of the Royal knights asked as both of them turned around. "I''m sorry. I was injured on the way. I guess my body isn''t able to keep up." As Wil apologized to them, he bends down to take the spear with his right hand while his left hand reached to his back. "Equip the bow," Wil whispers to himself, equipping his bow in his left hand before throwing it away in the darkness without letting the two of them notice his actions. While Petrus didn''t notice anything as his attention was placed on Wil and the spear, the other royal knight frowned, "Injured? How?" Wil didn''t speak further and went silent. Meanwhile, as the bow was about to hit the ground and make a sound, Wil then spoke to himself in his mind, "Averil, get ready." Without any warnings, two successive arrows flew like a flash of lightning and precisely struck the throat of the Royal Knights, killing them in instant. *Ding. You killed Royal Knight Petrus. *Ding. You killed Royal Knight Alan. Flexing his fingers, Wil turned left and started walking with a smile as he replaced his armor into a suit with red jacket, a tophat on his head, and a monocle to complete the outfit. Meanwhile, the floating dragon princess spirit Averil who was carrying his bow as she followed him in the dark, stared at him curiously, wondering what''s the reason he changed into this weird costume, all of a sudden. Chapter 169: Birth of Lupin part-2 The imperial palace, Llyne City; *Swoosh* A fire arrow was shot out of the darkness and pierced a soldier''s skull, killing him. *Ding! You killed the Royal knight, Aqor. 0 EXP gained. Because it''s the NPC, nothing dropped from the body as it disappeared. Meanwhile, behind a large patio torch that was placed on a small pillar, a face emerged out of the darkness and glanced at the hallway. "It''s clear. No enemies in sight." A voice whispered from the darkness. Wil slowly started to crawl, to not make any sounds until he hears the footsteps. He quickly hides behind another pillar while Averil is ready to shoot the enemies. As the sounds of the footsteps got louder, Wil heard their conversation. *Sigh* "What a day. Not only we lost our Prime Minister, but we also lost our King. Truly a black day" One of them spoke as he sighed deeply. "I wonder how the Prime Minister got dead." The other soldier wondered in curiosity. "Captain, did Duke Nukegan really kill his own father and frame it on his majesty, just to start the rebellion?" "Hmpf, nonsense." The older Royal Knight snorted and dismissed his subordinate''s thought, "I bet that half breed must have killed the prime minister to keep her secret. Looking at now, she must also be the one behind all the mysterious deaths of our royal knights for the past few months." ''Prime Minister is dead?'' A visible shock can be seen on Wil''s face if one were to spot him. ''I thought he''s the one behind this rebellion since Rikilda was supposed to stay in her palace and give birth. Wait a second. Why should I worry about who is behind this? Let''s just finish what I am here for'' "Averil, now." Wil waited until they passed him, and then, ordered the spirit that was carrying his bow to kill both of them. *Swoosh* As a fire arrow pierced the young royal knight and killed him, at the same, Wil then transformed into a humanoid dragon and attacked the other Royal knight with his claws from behind, chipping off half of his health. "What!" The Royal Knight quickly reached out to his weapon as he jumped to the front. "Who is" Before he alerts the other soldiers about the intruders, another fire arrow was shot by Averil and killed him as a critical hit appeared on his head. *Ding. You killed the Royal Knight, Kisior. *Ding. You killed the Royal Knight Squad C captain, Arius. After killing the two of them, Wil transformed back into his Angel form and slowly proceeded towards the Treasury room. On the way, while he met with several soldiers, it didn''t obstruct much as none of them patrolled in groups, making it easy to kill them without alerting others with Averil''s assistance. In the process, Wil also received a quest alert to not get caught. As he reached the final hallway to his destination, Wil stopped and takes a peek from the edge of a wall to see five Royal knights, guarding the entrance. ''Damn. I thought it would be only two like how the soldiers are patrolling in duo.'' Wil cursed inside, forming a plan to enter the Treasury without altering everyone else. ''Inventory'' Wil whispered to himself and a holographic screen appeared before him filled with items. Wil then takes out an augment-stone from his inventory to throw it and distract them but before he does that, one of the Royal Knights spoke, "don''t you think, it''s a bit too silent, here?" "Hmm, Now that you mention it, I can''t hear footsteps of anyone else took. Are they slacking off?" Another Royal Knight commented. "You two, go and look. Those who dare to slack off in duty will be punished heavily." The captain of their unit, then, ordered the two of them. Upon hearing his order, Wil put back the augment-stone in inventory and quickly transformed into a humanoid dragon once again before he slowly backed off a few steps. *Ding! Your attack, defense, speed, and Max HP increased by 20% Just as the two of them turned around the corner, they met with two lightning arrows that ignored their defenses and pierced their chests. "Ugh" The soldiers groaned lightly, alerting the rest of the three. The two words that Wil hated to hear this night, at last resounded across the empty hall. But, since the other squads are far away, they weren''t alerted and continued to do their job. "Who''s there" The captain shouted as the three of them brandished their weapons. Having no other choice, Wil slowly walked out from the corner and revealed himself. Looking at a person that seemed a bit familiar to their late King in her final moments, the captain quickly connected the dots, and asked as he pointed the sword at Wil, "Did the dragon clan sent you to take revenge? Maybe, you are here only to take the opportunity. I heard the Dragon loves treasures. Too bad for you that I''m here" ''Eh?'' Wil was genuinely surprised as the captain before him, came to the wrong conclusions. Realizing his current form, he sighed in relief, ''of course, he can''t recognize me in this form and neither does anyone know about my race.'' "After I capture you and present it to her highness, maybe, I will" Not intending to listen to his nonsense any longer, Wil mumbled, "Short Teleportation." At that very moment, the three of them discovered the humanoid dragon before him, disappeared right before their eyes but only to appear right beside him. "Absolute" *Swoosh* As they got distracted by Wil''s appearance near them, an arrow imbued with Ice element shot towards them, at the same time, and pierced the shoulder of the captain, and froze the three of them with freezing effect before Wil activated the skill. "Don''t waste your skills, lad. If you use that skill, the doors will also freeze, and we''ll have to wait until the time is up." Wil turned his head towards Averil and smiled, "thank you." As Averil''s level is a lot higher than them, they weren''t able to get out of the freezing state and Wil gave a solid punch to the captain''s cheek, killing him in one move, as a critical hit appeared. After killing the rest of the two, Wil turned back to his Angel form before taking out his Prince medallion and pushed the door. *Ding! Prince Medallion detected. You have access to the treasury. It was for very this reason, Wil dared to rob the treasury. If it''s anyone else, the moment they entered the room, the soldiers will be alerted and will be captured. The moment he opened the door, the entire hallway started to illuminate in the light that generated from the pieces of equipment that were on the ground. "Lad quickly close the door," Averil whispered to him as she returned the bow to Wil. But, Wil, who was enchanted by the sheer amount of gold before him, wasn''t able to listen to her words nor did he realize that his bow was returned to his hands. Heaps of gold coins are placed everywhere in the treasury room. So many jewels, legendary pieces of equipment are scattered across the room. But the thing that attracted him the most is the crown that''s placed in the middle of the room. King''s Crown Description: The crown of Llyne. A part of the King''s set. Can only be worn if one possesses the Imperial sword of Llyne. ''I found the crown. As soon as I take it, the kingdom will be mine to rule'' Forgetting his mission of looting all the gold to anger Rikilda and let the Dreamwalkers bear the consequences, Wil slowly walked towards a small heap of gold. Just as he was about to reach the crown, an aged voice resounded in the room. "What are you doing, Prince Time Traveler." Hearing that familiar voice, Wil''s heart skipped a beat but still, controlling the panic in his heart, Wil slowly turned around and saw the Archangel. "Are you committing a theft?" asked the old man. "Taking what''s mine," Wil replied calmly as he rehearsed this situation in his head a lot of times. "Yours?" A frown appeared on Raziel''s face. "Just because I allowed the army to follow you doesn''t mean you can think you will be the King." Watching the old man talking, instead of apprehending directly, Wil sighed in relief, and asked, "Do you support, Rikilda Llyne?" The old man, then, shook his head, "No. And neither will I support any of the princes. My allegiance is with the people and the King." Expecting the answer, Wil stayed silent and let the old man continue to talk. "As a Prince, you are allowed to enter the Treasury room and I can turn a blind eye even if you kill the Royal knights." Upon hearing this statement, Wil was taken aback and looked at him in a daze, wondering what kind of sicko is this guy, who blatantly expressing that he knew that Royal knights are killed but won''t even care about it. For the first time, Wil thought about whether the system is malfunctioning. But, soon, his thoughts changed as Raziel said, "You have right to take as much as gold you want from the treasury but, that is out of bounds. Only a King has the right to wear it. Leave right now before I change my mind." It was only then, Wil realized the hidden meaning behind Raziel''s words. He is just telling him that he isn''t against Wil stealing a bit of gold from the room. But if Wil wants to take the crown, he should show the right by becoming the King. That means, causing another rebellion against the king and defeat the Imperial army or becoming the King with the support of ministers. But, Wil, who intends to crush Rikilda, revealed the third way. "Then, how about this" Wil spoke with a smile as he retrieved a sword from the inventory. "The imperial sword?" Raziel''s eyes widened in surprise. "You, how did you" The smile on Wil became bigger, watching the expression on the old man. "I told you, right? I''m taking what''s mine." Chapter 170: Birth of Lupin part 3 In the treasury room of the Imperial palace, a sword was glowing, giving off a majestic aura as soon as it was revealed. The legendary grade equipment in the treasury started to vibrate as if they are bowing down to their King. "Imperial sword?" Even an Archangel like Raziel exclaimed, not expecting it to fall under the hands of this adopted Prince. Unlike other equipment, the Imperial sword is special. It doesn''t accept anyone except the one that it was passed onto by the previous owner. And the owner only has one destiny. To become the King of Llyne. It has been that way for 2000 years and it will be that way forever. It is something none has the right to change, not even the guardian. "I thought it disappeared after the death of his majesty. It looks like his majesty passed the Imperial sword to you. Congratulations, your highness," Raziel spoke with a slight bow. Wil was surprised by the change of his tone. After all, this is the first time this old man addressed him with such respect. Excitement grew in Wil''s heart, thinking his major hurdle disappeared and soon, the entire Llyne will be his to control. But the happiness doesn''t last long as the Archangel proceed to speak, "but, you don''t possess the right to become the Ruler, yet, your highness." Raziel raised his hand and the crown flew towards him before falling into his hands, turning Wil''s happiness into displeasure. Wil frowned, "what do you mean by that? I''m the Crown Prince and I''m also the owner of the Imperial sword. What else should I have to get the rights?" "I didn''t say that you don''t have the rights to become the King. I''m just saying that you don''t have the right to become the ruler" Raziel replied in a calm tone causing a moment of confusion in Wil before he cleared it with an explanation. "Even if you become the King, you can''t rule the kingdom of Llyne as her highness Rikilda Llyne acquire the Kingdom by a rebellion. So, tomorrow, the moment I coronate her as the Queen with this crown, she''ll decide whether you will remain as the crown prince." Wil, who doesn''t know the traditions of monarchism thought everything will be fine as long as he gets the crown. The system will appoint him as the King, changing everyone''s behavior just like how it did when he became the Crown Prince. But, now, upon realizing the reality, Wil felt as if he was slapped on his face. Gritting his teeth, he asked, "Then, why don''t you help me out? With your help, I can become the King." Raziel shook his head firmly, "I apologize, your highness, but I took an oath not to interfere in the politics of the throne. If she isn''t a royal family member, I would have helped you but since her highness is the sister of his late King, I can''t go against the oath." Even though Wil expected the reply, but, hearing the rejection on face made him frustrated to the bone. After all, he is born in a family where every wish is granted quickly as soon as he asked. Seeing his continuous rejection made him remember those painful three years'' worth of memories of getting beaten over and over by Bran, Magi, Wisdom Queen, etc He clenched his fist in frustration as he knew that he doesn''t have the strength to beat up this old man. Even he has the strength, the treasury is a no-combat zone where players can''t use their skills or deal damage to anyone. It was at that moment, Averil who was watching the scene from inside him decides to take action. ''Lad, forget about the King. Did you forget about what we are here for?'' A whisper was heard in his head. ''Ah! That''s right. I''m not here to become the King but to take revenge on that bi**h and to teach the lesson to that guild'' Upon Averil''s reminder, Wil, who momentarily forgot about his goal because of the crown, dispelled his stupid thoughts and smiled. ''Hmm?'' Raziel, who was observing his expression, was taken aback by the sudden change, ''What is this kid planning to do?'' "Okay, fine. I''ll legitimately acquire the crown. I hope you don''t have any problems if I take other items from the treasury, right?" Wil asked the old man, maintaining the smile. "Ah! Yes. Sure" Raziel replied in reflex before realizing the hidden meaning behind the smile, "don''t tell me, your highness is planning to empty the treasury?" Wil gave a nod, brimming with a smile, "Rikilda will only become the King, at the dawn of tomorrow. There''s no Prime Minister either. And I''m still the Crown Prince of this kingdom. That means, right now, I have the greatest authority, right?" Raziel nodded in response. "Using my authority as the crown prince, I hereby order you turn a blind eye to my actions and lock yourself up in your room, until tomorrow. You can take back the crown with you to coronate Rikilda." As soon as Wil spouted the words, the engravings on the Imperial sword in his hand shined, giving him the look of a King in the eyes of the old man. This time, he bowed deeply before replying, "I accept." Without waiting a moment any longer, Raziel turned around and started to walk away. Just before he was about to exit the room, Wil spoke, "since you won''t take either side, I hope you will stay neutral unless you feel she''s worthy of the throne." Raziel stopped in his tracks and replied without turning around, "that goes without saying your highness." As he disappeared from the treasury to follow the Crown Prince''s order, meanwhile, Wil flexed his fingers and a hysterical laugh escaped from him, looking at all the gold coins. "Hehehe There must be more than a million gold coins here. Even if we go by the current standard exchange rate of 750 credits to 1 silver, it''s still atleast 7.5 Billion Dollars in total. With Legendary equipment, the overall price will cross 10 Billion dollars." Wil took a gold coin in his hand in excitement and immediately, the system sent him a notification of warning to pour water on his expectations. *Ding! The gold coin is the property of the Imperial Palace. Stealing it will make the gold coin into locked gold and can''t be stored in the system Bank. ''Ugh Sure enough. The defensive mechanism won''t let me take advantage of it. I can neither exchange it for money nor can I keep it in a bank. I can''t also keep it in my bank to give loans to others since there''s a chance of them storing it in a system bank. But, with such an amount of gold, my plans can be put forward without any issue Wait a second. If even a gold coin has such restrictions, what about the Legendary grade equipment?'' Wil then walked towards a small round shield and inspected it first. Llyne''s shield of Honor Grade: legendary Class: Knight, Paladin Level: 320 HP: 838 million Defense: 102 million Crt. Resist: 80% Equipment Skill: Decreases the incoming damage by 10% whenever the shield blocks the attack. "Oh, this is one decent shield" Wil commented as he picked it up, only to receive another system notification of a warning. *Ding! The equipment is the property of the Imperial Palace. Stealing it makes the equipment unavailable to use or sell. Only an NPC can use the equipment. Chapter 171: Birth of Lupin part-4 *Ding! The equipment is the property of the Imperial Palace. Stealing it makes the equipment unavailable to use or sell. Only an NPC can use the equipment. "So, only NPCs can equip it, huh!" Wil commented, looking at the notification. ''Well, No matter. I have an army, now. I can give these pieces of equipment as rewards to my loyal generals. Once my meeting is done with Rikilda, I''m sure more will be defected from the Kingdom and join my army.'' While Wil was busy in thoughts, another notification from the system bring him back to the reality *Ding! Prince medallion is detected. The equipment can be rented for 7 days at the price of 500 fame points. Proceed? Wil quickly dismissed the notification with No, and threw the equipment in the inventory, and proceed to walk towards the next equipment that looked like an accessory. After transferring all the legendary equipment in the inventory, Wil then threw all the gold coins. Two hours later; Taking the last batch of gold coins in his hands, Wil sighed in relief, "finally. With this, everything is finished." Placing them in the inventory, Wil saw the tab above the inventory that was displaying the stats and a wide smile appeared on him. Gold coins: 2,184. Locked Gold coins: 1,632,876. Items: 19425 Equipment: 432. "1.6 million Wow More than I expected." Wil was amazed to see the staggering amount in his inventory. He was overwhelmed for a moment, remembering, even in his past life, he didn''t gather that much amount in 3 years of gaming. Staring at the empty treasury, Wil grinned widely, "Now, let''s see how Rikilda will react to my present for her coronation." Just as he was about to leave the room, Averil once again whispered in his head. ''Are you forgetting something?'' "Hmm?" Wil wondered what it is. "You are forgetting to leave a message," replied the dragon princess. ''Ah! That''s right.'' Upon remembering it, Wil returned to the middle of the treasury and then, took out a hundred locked coins from his inventory and proceed to arrange them on the floor. ''Good.'' Wil nodded in satisfaction before leaving the palace, changing his clothes to a soldier once again, and logged out. The next day morning, a new chapter begins for the Llyne Kingdom as well as for Rikilda Llyne. Despite having a fear, the streets of the ruined city of Llyne was filled with a crowd, welcoming their new ruler. The players who were on the side of rebellion are also happily welcoming her with smiles because of receiving legendary-grade equipment along with an enormous amount of fame points that made every one of them, a Baron. Meanwhile, with a troop of thousand soldiers accompanying her, Rikilda Llyne proceeds towards the Imperial palace in her legendary-grade defensive item, a palanquin. As the troop reached the palace, they saw the ministers lined up at the entrance, displaying panic and fear on their faces. General Gawyne, who was leading the troop, frowned upon seeing such a sight, misunderstanding that they are afraid of their new Queen. Still, he didn''t comment anything because of the presence of Raziel who stood among them. Soon, Rikilda stepped down from the palanquin to enter the palace. She directly proceeds to the courtroom/audience chamber to sit on the throne. Reaching the throne, she didn''t sit on it yet until the ministers take their seats and Raziel put the crown on her head and declared her as the new Queen of the Llyne Kingdom. *Ding! A new ruler ascends to the throne. For 24 hours, EXP from monsters and dungeons increased by 100%. As soon as the system announced the buff to all players in the kingdom, the large guilds quickly acted. They started to occupy the parts of the wild zone, aggressively; getting into the dungeons; informing the guild members who are offline. Meanwhile, Rikilda sits on the throne with a smile on her face and addressed everyone, "Okay, let''s start with the most problematic issues we are facing now, shall we?" The new prime minister, Aiden''s grandson, or Duke Nukegan''s son, Prince Arry spoke, "Your majesty, taking advantage of the chaos, a guild named Dreamwalkers occupied Seagle city." Rikilda frowned as soon as she heard that. But, then, she quickly calmed down after remembering about the Mayor, who is a supporter of Mirella. "It''s fine. Send an envoy with a letter of congratulations. As long as the taxes are paid in time, it doesn''t matter who is the mayor," replied Rikilda. "Yes, your majesty." Arry bowed in response. "Next" Arry then spoke, "the troops under General Gerrad disappeared after the battle at East Ocean City." Rikilda clenched her fist, "I knew he would turn into a traitor. Send our scouts to search for him. Once I confirmed that he becomes a traitor, I''ll issue a death warrant." "Next" As Arry went silent, the minister of finance stood up, shivering from head to toe, and spoke, "Your majesty, our treasury has been robbed, last night and we are missing several Royal knights." "What!" This time, the shock was evident on her face as she stood up from the throne. "How dare they? Prime Minister Arry, send a battalion to search for those traitors." "It''s not the Royal Knights, your majesty." The minister cleared her misunderstanding and then, spoke, "the thief left his name at the scene, arranging with gold coins." "Who?" Rikilda growled at him, making everyone jump in fright while Raziel just sat silently in his seat. "Lupin" replied the minister. Just right then, a soldier entered the courtroom and spoke, "Your majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience." *** Hailey City, Western Continent; The assassin of Phaneul''s order, Shin enters an apartment that''s located a couple of blocks away from where his target lives. Looking at the information on the Tablet that he recorded, he mumbles, "Instead of altering him, it''s better to take hostage of one of his family members. He has a wife and two children. Who to choose?" He proceeds to see their pictures. "His daughter seems very young. Even though it''s an ideal way but it''s a risk to choose her. If he turns out innocent, I might become the sinner of her life. Hmm, how about his wife? For the past couple of days, she rarely left her house. So, I can safely assume that she doesn''t have the habit of going out. It''ll be troublesome to make a move on her with all CCTVs around. That leaves with the only option, his son. Let''s see He''s an 18-year-old high school senior. Hmm, he''s easy to take as a hostage. After all, normal kids at that age spend their time outside after school. Okay. Let''s monitor his activities first. If he has a girlfriend, then, it''s even easier to trap him without alerting the police." Changing it to the picture of Scott Quilton, Shin mumbles in a cold tone, "Henry Nicholson, if you really turn out who you are, then, believe me, not even god will be able to protect you from my dagger." *Buzz*Buzz* ''Hmm?'' Right then, one of his mobile phones started to vibrate. Looking at the number, a frown appeared on Shin. ''WhiteMoon? Why is this proud peacock calling me?'' "Hello." Shin took the call, despite his feelings. "Redmoon," addressed his rival before getting to the point directly, "Interested to take a private assignment?" "A private assignment?" The frown on Shin deepened, "but, the rules of the organization says" "5 Billion dollars," interrupted the sweet voice from the other side, "fifty-fifty. We do it together. A life time settlement and a new identity to escape from the organization. What you say" "Who is the target and where is the destination?" Shin''s words changed quickly after hearing the amount. "Hailey City. Williard Ravens, the young master of Scarlet Group." Chapter 172: Threatening the Queen part 1 Imperial Palace, Llyne Kingdom; "Your majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience." A soldier informed, just as the minister reported about the theft to the new Queen. The courtroom went silent all of a sudden since it is well known that Wil is close to their late King Mirella. Even though they didn''t know about his win at the East Ocean City, they still believed that his contribution in the war is great with him killing the fourth Prince of Zuweth and his Royal knights, all alone. His mount, the guardian beast is also the one that massacred many soldiers of the rebellion forces. If not for the powerful helper that caused the sudden explosion, which ruined the entire city, rebellion must have been crushed. So, in their eyes, he should be the most hated person in their current Queen''s eyes. But, contrary to their thoughts, Rikilda didn''t dare to show her anger. Instead, she suppressed all of her hate and smiled forcibly, "let him in." Wearing his Prince robes, Wil walked high and mighty into the courtroom under the gazes of the ministers and the audience. "Greetings, Your majesty." Wil then gave a 90-degree bow in respect. After Rikilda responded with a greeting, Wil didn''t move forward to take his seat but, instead, stood there and spoke as he took out a level-360 legendary-grade necklace that was dropped by the Averil when he killed her, "this is something I acquired from a fortuitous encounter during my travels to the Marsh Islands. I hope Aunt will like this present from this nephew." The reason he gave out this valuable treasure is that it''s quite valuable to them, who lost everything in the treasury and it will take a long time till he gets to such a level. Of course, the main reason is to make things harder for her to show her hate towards him in public. As soon as he handed out the gift, which then, was passed to Rikilda by a soldier. She took it with maintaining a smile. As she inspected the necklace stats, which are higher than any of her equipment, she let out a gasp but quickly controlled herself and thanked him for the present, and told him to take the seat. Just as everyone thought the chaos is averted, Wil spoke loudly, "NO." Hearing the change in his tone, Rikilda frowned a bit. Wil then continued, "Your Majesty, the gift was from a nephew to his Royal Aunt. But, that''s it. I can''t sit in the assembly and serve a rebel who killed my sister." All of a sudden, the ministers stood up from their seats and the soldiers drew their weapons. Rikilda stood up from the throne and raised her hand, gesturing them to stand down. Looking at him with a frown, "I can forgive your mistake for raising voice against your Queen, considering our relationship. I hope the Prince will remember to watch his tone." "I apologize for my actions, Your Majesty. I''ll be careful to control my feelings," Wil bowed lightly this time. He purposely enraged her and then apologized to place himself as a victim, in case she tries to punish him. "You should know that Mirella is a half-dragon. A non-human isn''t allowed to sit on this throne. Honestly, the blame is with my brother. If he wouldn''t have deceived us, the rebellion wouldn''t even occur." Since she just ascended to the throne and most of her supporters were killed in the explosion, Rikilda tried to justify herself so that these ministers won''t collude to form a rebellion. Everyone then, took their seats with Wil still standing in the middle of the audience chamber. ''This clever b***h. Let''s see how long will you laugh.'' Wil cursed inside. Then, he spoke, "I heard the royal treasury was robbed last night by the royal knights and a guild even dares to kill the soldiers and occupy the city." Wil again tried to rub the salt on her wound. Because the matter was reminded by the person who she hated, Rikilda was enraged once again, momentarily forgetting about his words from earlier. Slamming the handle, she growled, "Once I catch those traitors and that Lupin, I will skin them alive." "Perhaps, I can help you out with something," Wil replied at the right time, following his plan. "Hmm?" Rikilda looked at him with a frown. Wil then spoke, "I can solve the money issues within the kingdom. During my travels to the Marsh Islands, I encountered a Dragon cave filled with treasures. So, I can fork out a few hundred thousand gold coins." "Really?" the finance minister stood up with excitement, "Your highness is too generous." Wil shook his head in response. "You misunderstood me, Lord Bert. I mentioned earlier, didn''t I? I can''t serve her majesty after what happened to my sister. I can only serve the kingdom and its people." Turning his head towards Rikilda, Wil then said, "on the account of our relationship, I''m willing to loan my entire wealth of 500 thousand gold coins to the kingdom." The entire hall fell into a strange silence once again as Wil folds his hands to the back and stared at Rikilda with a smile on his face. Rikilda didn''t speak for an entire minute and got busy with the staring battle before she asked, "What are you expecting in return?" "I wish for her majesty to declare Eldershore as an autonomous region so that I can rule it peacefully," answered Wil. In response, Rikilda didn''t say Yes or No, and went silent once again, weighing the options. Prime Minister Arry quickly walked to her and whispered into her ear, "I already sent a letter to the Zuweth Kingdom for financial assistance of three hundred thousand gold coins. Her majesty can reject the offer if she wishes. That money is enough for us for a month to run the kingdom. Meanwhile, we can raise the taxes to fill our treasury and fork out some from the nobles. But, the money hasn''t arrived yet. So, I think it''s better to stall for some time." Rikilda agreed with him and gave a nod. Arry then turned his head towards Wil, and said, "Your highness, we need time to discuss this matter. Her Majesty just ascended to the throne. There''s a lot happening in the kingdom" "Lord Arry, it''s precise because of that, I''m willing to help, taking out all of my wealth. Half of the city is in ruins. We need to compensate for the people who lost their homes because of that gigantic explosion. Thousands of soldiers are dead. We need to provide compensation for their families so that they won''t stay out of hunger. We should also recruit new soldiers to replace the soldiers we lost. On top of that, the kingdom needs money to provide salaries. Even with 500 thousand gold, it won''t be enough to restore it to the previous state." Arry and Rikilda got stunned for a second upon hearing this. Rikilda turned her head towards the finance minister and asked his opinion. He replied with respect, "Your majesty, we haven''t calculated how much are our losses but five hundred gold is barely enough if we don''t wish to depend on other neighboring kingdoms." Wil inwardly gave a thumbs-up to this minister who spoke what he wishes to say. If you don''t want to become a lackey of Zuweth, then, take the money. Without giving them a chance to reply, Wil applied more pressure, trying to hit a nail further into the wall. "Your majesty, I hope I will get an answer by evening. Let me take leave. I have an appointment with an envoy of Erelon." "Erelon?" Even Raziel can''t help but frown upon hearing his words as the Elven kingdoms are always hostile to humans since the beginning of the times, despite the elves are highly respected with official positions in the administration departments. "Is he trying to provoke me, now?" Rikilda muttered under her breath. Luckily, except for Arry and Raziel, no one heard of it but everyone got a clear message. That if she doesn''t accept the deal, this Prince before them will fund to their enemies. Well, since he is practically a supporter of Mirella, everyone thought of it that way. Wil didn''t bother to correct their thinking and pushed them even further as walk away. Stopping at the entrance, he turned around and said, "Your majesty, I forgot to inform you one more thing. General Gerrad and his soldiers are under my shelter. They wish to serve the Kingdom at the border. I hope you won''t think they turn into traitors or something." After throwing a huge bomb, Wil left the palace, leaving behind an enraged Queen. If the previous one was just provoking, this one was a direct threat. "You dare to threaten" Rikilda erupted with a roar. Her voice reverberated across the hall, making the ministers and the audience fear. Chapter 173: Threatening the Queen part 2 Originally, Wil directly planned to threaten the Queen with a letter. In case, if they came to a conclusion that he was the one behind the theft, and branded him as a criminal, Wil already planned to transfer the ownership of Scarlet districts to Aster, and escape to the island of Ormshire. With 1.6 million gold coins in his pocket, he can develop the island as he wishes, and when he becomes strong, he can return and take revenge. Then, he thought, negotiating is better than taking such a drastic path. So, he decided to offer a massive amount of gold coins for the Eldershore region. He purposely offered 500 thousand such that they shouldn''t link him to the theft. If he would have offered like a million, then, surely, they would come to a conclusion that he''s the thief. But, seeing their hesitation for such a great offer made a prideful person like Wil, a little bit angry as he isn''t even asking to make it an independent kingdom. All he was asking for the region to be autonomous. The only difference is that the army will be in his control. Of course, he also gets over the access for the locked empty plots but that''s another issue. Honestly, with Eldershore city and Deloris town in his hands, it wasn''t any different from being an autonomous region. With General Gerrad''s regiment in his control, the region is already secured. But, what he wanted is an official notification from the system so that he can develop the region however he wants. Now, he went back to plan A, deciding to bare his fangs against Rikilda. After leaving the palace, Wil teleported to Deloris town and went straight to the barracks that was built at the Scarlet District, where the soldiers are resting. Upon his arrival, the general was quickly notified and he came outside to greet Wil. "Greetings, your highness." "Arise." The general stood up. Wil then spoke of the events that occurred in the palace. Of course, he left out the part where he emptied the treasury, the previous night. That secret was only buried between Wil and the old man. After hearing him out, Gerrad thought for a couple of seconds and voiced out his opinion, "maybe, Zuweth is providing financial assistance?" Wil shook his head, "I don''t think the king of Zuweth will provide financial assistance to a kingdom that killed his son. I bet the fourth prince is even precious to him since he has the guardian beast." "Hmm, but, your highness is against the Queen, right? Maybe, he can provide it on the condition to execute you? If that''s the case, then, you will be in grave danger." A sudden worry started to appear on Gerrad, thinking of the worst case. Wil patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "don''t worry. I''m confident that it won''t happen. The palace can''t afford to wage a war against our army. To do that, they have to bring out the troops from all the borders. If they do that, they''ll face a threat from the guilds. Now, Eldershore city is as good as ours. Seagle city is already fallen into the hands of a guild. As for East Ocean City, our allies can take over it at any time. If more cities will fall under other guilds, the throne will still fall." Gerrad nodded in response, "let''s hope the Queen won''t be foolish to do so." Meanwhile, Wil thought as he clenched his fist, ''let''s hope that day doesn''t come. Moreover, I can''t help but suspect the Supreme Master because of his earlier actions. Did he secretly take over the leadership of the alliance during my absence?'' "Your highness" Gerrad brought Wil from his thoughts. "Ah! Yes." Gerrad then said, "Just in case, let me start preparations for another war." Wil gave his permission and returned to the Mayor''s Mansion, where he was greeted by the steward, Borris, and the house staff. "Welcome back, Master." "Master, should I make breakfast?" asked Ciara, who is working as the chef. "No thanks." Wil rejected it and went directly to his room before opening the message sent by Hyori while he was talking with the Queen. Yelir: Hey, Wil. Good morning. Time Traveler: Morning. Sorry, I was busy with something. To his surprise, she quickly replied to him. Yelir: It''s fine. Where are you, right now? Time Traveler: At the Mayor''s Mansion. Yelir: Not in-game. I mean, did you meet your mom?" Time Traveler: Nah, I stopped at Ecrin city for some business. I''ll go tomorrow morning. Yelir: Is that so. For a while, the conversation went cold as Wil didn''t know what to type to continue. Just when he thought of asking her about how the preliminaries'' preparations are going on since she even has the time to play the game, he received a message from her, continuing the chat. Yelir: By the way, did you see the forums. Your video became viral. Time Traveler: My video? Yelir: Your battle with the prince of Zuweth kingdom. The angles aren''t great but the video has already surpassed 5 million views. Wil was taken aback as he read the message. Time Traveler: 5 million? But, one day has been passed away. Can you send me the link? Yelir: Sure... Clicking on the link, he was redirected to the forums page. He directly went to the comments section, which looks like it''s a war zone that''s still going on between two factions. Fans of Time Traveler and Anti Fans of Time Traveler. The fans contain free players who aren''t tied to any guild, players who belong to the ally guilds, and some neutral players whereas the Anti-fans comprised of the players who became victims of Wil''s actions namely, the past loyal players of Imperial, Dreamwalkers guild players, and their supporters. The comments of the anti-fans mostly say he doesn''t have real skills and only depends on his legendary grade equipment. If they have the same equipment, they can also beat him. While the fans countered it with, Time Traveler gained the equipment with his hard work to which the anti-fans replied, if it wasn''t because he was born rich, and use the gold coins to hire the guards to level up, he wouldn''t even have the chance to get to top-128, much less winning the tournament. "Hmpf, not everyone can be born to a super-wealthy father like me. Don''t need to care about this jealous ba*****s." Closing the forums, he then, asked her about the preparations to which she replied that the management took back their decision and put her as a seeded player. "Oh! Looks like Aster is very quick to finish the job even though he''s traveling with me." Wil actually thought of telling to Silver but after getting the shock of his life, he forgot it, and later he informed Aster while they were on their way to Ecrin. Little did he expect that Aster once again proved himself to be the best subordinate he has Having a lot of time in his hands, Wil decides to go to the Mayor''s Office. There he was greeted by his assistant, who sorted out all the documents neatly on his table. He went through one by one, reading everything to decide whether he should stamp on it or reject the requests. In the afternoon, this time, he teleported to the Eldershore city and went to the Mayor''s office for the first time since he expelled the Dreamwalkers guild branch from the city. Unlike in the town, where the Mayor has to stamp everything, in the city, the administration office that has many employees took care of the mayor''s duties in his absence. Then, he visited the Mayor''s Mansion. Since there used to be a Mayor before him, the mansion was kept neat and the previous staff is still working there. Since Wil doesn''t have intentions to stay in the Mansion, he just told them to continue their work while thinking of using it as an in-game accommodation for his best Elites of the company, later. After touring around the house, Wil then proceeded to go towards the Ravens'' district that was still under construction. On the way, to his surprise, he received a notification. *Ding! You are being summoned by the Queen. Go to the Imperial Palace and meet the Queen at her chamber. Chapter 174: Wils four Conditions *Ding! You are being summoned by the Queen. Go to the Imperial Palace and meet the Queen at her chamber. ''Even after experiencing this kind of thing, again and again, I still don''t understand the logic behind why the things like invitations appear in the form of notification directly, instead of receiving it from a soldier.'' He didn''t waste any time and teleported to the capital city, and walked to the palace. As a Prince, no one dared to stop him until he reaches the Queen''s chamber, where the two Royal knights stopped him. After the permission is granted, Wil stepped inside the familiar chamber where it used to be Mirella''s room but now, it is used by Rikilda. Inside the chamber, along with the Queen, he saw Prime Minister Arry, Newly appointed Duke of the Blackburn region, the finance minister, as well as General Gawyne, are waiting for him. After greeting the Queen, Wil took his seat. Then Queen glared at him as if she wants to rip him into pieces while Wil continuously received the notifications of her favorability decreasing once again, even though he didn''t speak anything yet. Ignoring the tensed atmosphere, the Duke spoke, in place of Queen, "Your highness, our Queen is interested in your proposal." Wil glanced at her for confirmation. Suppressing her rage, she said, "The ministers convinced me." The Duke then continued, "So, in exchange for declaring Eldershore as the autonomous region, you will not only provide a loan of five hundred thousand gold coins to the palace, but you will also never rebel against the kingdom. General Gerrad and his soldiers will also stay loyal to the throne. Are we clear?" Wil shook his head, "Nope. I have a few other conditions." A frown appeared on everyone''s faces. "What is it?" asked the Queen. Wil replied, "First. The autonomous region of Eldershore will be under my control. You will not dismiss my post assigned by the late King." "That goes without saying." The Duke replied with a smile. Wil then said, "Second. The kingdom won''t have the authority over the army that''s deployed at Eldershore region." His second condition made everyone''s face darkened. "Impossible." A growl escaped from Rikilda. *Ding! Your favorability with Rikilda Llyne reached -40. Wil ignored the notification and explained, "Let me finish, Your Majesty. I already have an army under me. Along with them, only those who will be hired by me will be under my control. The Kingdom won''t have authority over it. Their salaries will also be paid by me. As for the soldiers stationed at the region by the kingdom, they are naturally in the control of the palace while their salaries or accommodation has nothing to do with me." Arry then whispered something into Rikilda''s ear and she nodded, "fine." "Third. Until the loan will be repaid by the palace, Eldershore region will not pay taxes. In exchange, I won''t ask for the interest." ''This brat knows how to take advantage of the situation'' Rikilda muttered her breath, and finally nodded, expressing her annoyance, "fine. Is that it? Or, are there any more?" "Just one more. My final condition is to take back the city of Seagle from the guild. If you let them like that, then, another guild will dare to occupy some city. Soon, your majesty will lose all the regions to the guilds. Then, I will lose my money too." For a while, as they went silent, wondering whether this greedy Prince has any enmity with the Dreamwalkers guild, Wil shrugged his shoulders, "well, if you have a problem with it, then, it doesn''t really matter. Instead, I don''t want the taxes to be raised for East Ocean City even in the future. No, forget about East Ocean city, how about exempting the taxes of my businesses only." For the final condition, Wil purposely changed the condition two more times to give an impression that he made up the condition on spot. Rikilda''s expression hardened after she misunderstood that it might because of her tongue slip earlier. The finance minister then, whispered in her ear, to give a suggestion, "Your Majesty, in just the first month, the crown prince has paid more than 1000 gold coins as tax, which means his business is doing well. In the future, who knows, his earnings will increase further. Right now, we can raise the taxes all over the kingdom in the name of bringing stability that was destroyed because of the war. Don''t agree to exempt the tax for him. If we agree, then, it''ll be our loss in the long term." Rikilda gave a nod in response and the minister backed away and takes his seat. Then, Arry whispered something in her ear. After thinking for a long time Rikilda then answered his final condition, "You know our treasury is empty, right now. So, I can''t compromise on the tax. Neither can I afford to send the army. Instead, I''m passing a new law. Any guild is welcomed to invade and occupy the city or a town. But, the city that was ruled by people other than the ones that were appointed by the palace will have to pay the tax by three times the palace is imposing on everywhere." *Ding! The Queen imposed a rule. Cities and towns occupied by players will have to pay thrice the amount of tax. Those who violate the rule will be punished by the Imperial army. Upon receiving a notification like everyone else, Wil frowned for a bit as that law includes the Eldershore and Springwood town. If one adds a player town, his taxes would surge once the debt is paid. Looking at the expression on Wil, Rikilda''s lips curled up. "So, let''s sign the contract? Arry, write the conditions we just agreed upon." ''No matter what, I need to make sure that they never pay me the principal amount.'' Forming a plan in his mind, he smiled and countered, making the smirk on the Queen disappear in an instant. "Your majesty, I forgot to mention. The principal amount you will return me later should be the equal amount at that time of return, not the present." Arry immediately lifted the quilt with a frown and turned towards him. Rikilda asked with a frown, "What does that mean?" "Let me explain, Your Majesty." The finance minister volunteered to give an explanation. As the Queen gave him the permission, the minister said, "It''s like buying a fruit that''s worth five hundred thousand gold coins. When we decide to pay back the amount, we have to give the value of that fruit at that current time. If it''s 1 million, we will give 1 million. If it''s 100 thousand, then, we will only pay a hundred thousand gold coins. Our banks use the same system for Private vaults, Your Majesty. " ''Except that fruit, you are talking about is the credits.'' The Duke then spoke, "you shouldn''t agree to this condition, Your Majesty." After the General also said the same thing, Prime Minister Arry quickly stood up and whispered to her, "We can control the market rate as we wish, your majesty. At the time of returning, we just need to force everything in the kingdom to sell their products to one-tenth of a price. That way, we only need to return 50 thousand and give an explanation as it is. Later, we can increase the tax again to make up the loss." Rikilda became silent and went into a thinking mode. What they don''t know is that Wil already prepared to lose those five hundred thousand gold coins since it wasn''t his, to begin with. So, he kept silent and waited until he hears okay from her. After all, they were just a distraction. What he wants is absolute authority over the region including the military. Once he has control of the military, he can hire and train the soldiers as he wishes with the rest of the money to increase the strength so that he can declare a rebellion whenever he wishes. Putting the Imperial stamp on the parchment, she handed it to him, "your fingerprint." Wil carefully read the contract and a wide appeared on his face as he put his fingerprint on the contract. ''Inventory'' Wil mumbled to himself to summon the holographic screen before him. Then, he started taking the pouches with 500 gold coins in each and put them on the floor, one by one until a heap of thousand pouches formed at the corner of the room. Chapter 175: Depositing the money *Ding! 500 gold coins deducted from inventory. Putting the last pouch, he received the thousandth notification. It was only then, the system sent the notification regarding the contract. *Ding! Eldershore Region is declared autonomous by the Queen. *Ding! Player Time Traveler is appointed as the Governor of Eldershore Region. The first notification was sent across the kingdom while the second one was only sent to the players who were from that specific region. The following notifications were received by Wil alone. *Ding! Congratulations, you are appointed as the Governor of the Eldershore region. You have absolute authority in the region. *Ding! The taxes from the Eldershore were currently exempted. "It''s my pleasure doing business with you, Your Majesty. Now, if you please excuse me, I have to leave." Wil stood up and bowed before turning around to leave the place. "Tch, Whatever" Rikilda muttered and turned her attention to the heap of pouches. Then, she ordered the soldiers to transfer the gold coins to the treasury, and this time, they tripled it with General Gawyne volunteered to guard it personally. As for Wil, he left the palace with a triumphant smile on his face, thinking, "What a Fools. The currency value isn''t that simple as they think. They don''t know that once the barrier disappears, along with the war, the trading between the nations will also start. Once the first Empire is created and snatched the position of global currency, the Llyne gold coin will also change the value. Now that I think about it, previously the global currency was snatched by the Empire of Eden, isn''t it? Hmm" As he started to think about it, he went into a dilemma whether he should go with the flow and use the knowledge to his advantage or whether he should go against it and use force to establish domination. "Nah, let''s not think too much, right now. One step at a time." Shaking his head, Wil left the palace and teleported to Eldershore city. "Welcome to Llyne''s Bank, Your highness." The bank employee greeted him with a bow. "I want to clear the loan, first," Wil replied, straightening his back to maintain his outlook of a ruler. *Ding! Your loan is cleared. After clearing out the loan, he spoke, "I wish to withdraw money from the vault." As she takes a handprint of him, the details were displayed before her eyes. The 27000 gold coins that he deposited a while ago when the currency exchange rate is 1500 credits to 1 silver coin, now increased to 62307 gold coins according to the current exchange rate. *Ding! 62307 gold is added to inventory. Since it is a normal gold coin, it was added to his remaining two thousand and changed to 64,491 gold coins. With a smile on his face, he then said, "I wish to deposit, now." "Eh? Deposit?" The Elf was confused about why this Prince wants to withdraw the money first only to deposit again. Wil nodded with a smile, "Yep." He first handed a pouch of 500 gold coins to her. As she added it to his vault, he again handed another pouch. Five hours later; The sky has gotten dark. The bank was empty without any customers except for one, who was still busy handing a pouch filled with gold coins to the employee. While the people standing behind him long abandoned the line and took the other counters, the elf was in a daze as she took the last pouch of 500 gold coins. For the past five hours, as she was continuously taking the pouches and adding the gold to the vault, in a daze, she placed her arms to take another pouch. But, Wil stopped handing the pouches, "It''s over." Only did then, she realized it''s over and she glanced at the details. "One One million?" She screamed at the top of her lungs after experiencing the shock of her life. Because they were in a private space, her words weren''t heard by the other employees, and Wil responded with a smile, "I expect the info of my funds will be kept secret. After all, it isn''t easy to rule a region." The elf misunderstood that the palace might have sent him funds to help to rule as the governor of the Eldershore region. And because it might cause unrest among the civilians, he wants to keep it secret. At least, that''s what she thought, although the truth is far away from her guess. Originally, they weren''t supposed to be stored in bank but the restrictions were lifted after he became Governor of Eldershore. Since he''s the absolute ruler here, they were bypassed. As he turned to walk away, the employee glanced at the amount again and collapsed on the spot as it became too much for 10-gold coins per week salaried person like her. Stretching his arms, Wil spoke to himself as he exited the bank, "I just need to wait for the second major update, where the currency will stabilize to around 300-400 credits per silver to take out the money again. Until then" He glanced at the remaining 65 thousand normal gold and 130 thousand locked gold and displayed a wide grin on his face. "Everything is set. It''s time to leave." Stepping outside of the capsule, Wil went straight to bed to rest for the night as he has a flight to catch up in the morning. The next day, Wil and Aster boarded the flight to Hailey city. Aster was pained in the heart to leave a hundred thousand credits A-grade Capsule to leave like that. So, before they left, he sent it back to the store, hoping for a refund even if he gets only half an amount in return. Four hours later, the flight landed at the destination and both of them exit the airport and were received by Silver and a few Elites who followed him from Ares city. Reaching the hotel, Wil asked Silver about the complete details of his mother''s family. Silver, who already prepared it in the meantime, connected the USB to the laptop that was remotely connected to the tv. Opening the first document, Silver opened his mouth as a few pictures were displayed on television along with their biography. The first to be displayed is a middle-aged man with a scar across his right eyes. "Scott Quilton. He is working as a branch manager for Frazier Pharmaceuticals. According to the employees, he is a great boss who never forces them to overwork and always treats them to dinner. He also" Wil quickly interrupted, making an annoyed expression, "Skip the useless things. Just tell me about my mother and my sister Mia. Oh, by the way, did you find out whether Rey is really their son?" "Uhh" Silver went silent. "Hmm? " As Wil turned his head towards him, the latter answered with an apologetic tone, "I actually didn''t research about his birth. But, it is clear that he isn''t Lady Scarlet''s biological son. He''s probably either adopted or maybe Mr. Quilton''s son from his previous marriage." "Why?" Wil asked him to provide a sufficient explanation. Silver then opened another document, filled with information about Rey. "Rey Quilton, an 18-year-old high school senior who was born on September 14th, 2001." "September 14th?" Wil frowned as soon as he heard the date, "but, I was born on Feb 12th, 2001" "Yes, it''s exactly because of that I was sure about it." Silver nodded with a smile, thinking that he did a good job, "it''s impossible for Lady Scarlet to conceive another child in seven months of time." "What if he''s a premature baby?" Aster interrupted with a question. Both of them stared at him in silence. Chapter 176: Gynoid N12 Enters the game Silver frowned as he looked at Aster as if asking him whether he was serious or just joking to spoil their conversation. Aster became silent. Still, Silver replied to clear his doubts, glancing at his young master, who looked like he was thinking of such possibility, "no, it isn''t possible either. You were born from C-section when Lady Scarlet was just around 20. Because of that, Lord Philip took a year of break from our usual activities and spent time with her at the Ravens'' Island." "How about a test tube baby?" As Aster once again voice out his opinion, this time Wil shut him up, "Are you serious?" "Sorry." Aster closed his lips. With then, took out his tablet from the backpack. "At first, I too thought he might be either adopted or Mr. Quilton''s son because he doesn''t have any features that resemble my mother at first glance but if you look closely, he and Mia have a lot of things in common. Wil voiced out his opinion as he looked at his sister''s picture on the tablet and Rey''s picture on tv. "You might be mistaken, Young Master." Silver immediately ruled out his opinion. But then, looking at his expression, he justified his statement, "even if it''s true, it''s quite normal that unrelated people can have a few features in common if they have the same ancestor. It might be a coincidence" "What if she isn''t my mom but my missing master and they both were her children?" Wil suddenly dropped another question, which was bugging him from the moment he saw her picture in the mail. "Huh?" Clearly, Silver was taken aback by his question. "You said they are identical twins, right? My mom and my master, Andrea." "You mean she might have stolen Lady Scarlet''s identity and then, made everyone believe she went missing?" Aster once again voiced out his opinion, despite being warned by Silver, once. "Then, what about lady Scarlet?" "Maybe, she went missing or in the worst case Sigh" Wil''s casual slip up made the atmosphere silent for a while. After all, it indeed doesn''t look good if a son is making theories with his mom dying in it, suspecting the one who was living. Realizing that they aren''t going to comment anything, he continued. "Anyway, my father mentioned that, after the attack, my mom started to become crazily. That''s where my suspicions begin. What if Andrea took her place and started to act crazy and went through a divorce." As Wil spouting some absurd theory, Silver shook his head with a sigh, "You spent a few years, training under Lady Andrea. Do you really believe a crazy person like her would marry a normal man?" Wil and Aster nodded together in sync. "What!" Silver looked at the both of him as if they were alright in their heads. "A person that often deals with dangers will always yearn for a normal life," Aster commented. Wil nodded in agreement while remembering his old self, who ran away from the home just so he could live freely and have a normal life like others. "I guess both of you really don''t know her true self. She was someone, who went against thirty members loaded with guns, all alone with just a dagger in her hand. One time, she went and fight against five hungry tigers that were captured and not given food for 7 days. Do you know the result? She tore their limbs apart with her bare hands. Another time, when her target escaped by surrendering himself to the police and got himself locked up in the Peng prison, or should call it, the maximum-security prison, she infiltrated the place and assassinated him. She''s the only one who''s so crazy to try to assassinate Phaneul Order''s late President in their Head Quarters, ten years ago when the organization accepted an assassination mission. After that incident, they didn''t even dare to try it again All of her stories are legendary, you know" Upon hearing a couple of her crazy adventures, both of them gulped in fear, although for different reasons. Wil then remembered his torturous training sessions and shuddered for a moment, ''What a great Dad he is He put my life into the hands of such a crazy woman for four damn years. And she is even my maternal aunt for god''s sake Hmm'' Right then, something clicked in his mind and he suggested another theory, "What if Rey is Andrea''s son, and my mom and her husband adopted him into their family?" "Huh" "Huh?" Silver and Aster paused for a second before Silver gave a nod, "that will fit with everything. Because they are identical twins, they will also have the identical DNA, well, at least on the surface." Meanwhile, Aster smiled widely started to praise Wil, "Young Master, you are really a genius. Since your ages are also similar, maybe, Lady Scarlet raised him, thinking she was raising her son, as in you. Who knows under what circumstances" *Slam* The glass table before Wil was slammed and let the empty coffee mug crash on to the floor and cracked a bit. "Don''t" Wil growled in response, "Don''t you dare try to take her side, Aster" Getting a sudden mood swing, he abruptly stood up, not intending to continue this conversation, "I need some fresh air. Let''s go" "Ah! I''m sorry, Young master. I" Before he finishes his apology, Wil walked away and opened the door to walk outside. "Watch your mouth, Aster. The next time you do that and upset him, I won''t tolerate" Silver warned Aster as they followed Wil. Somewhere at an unknown place; In the Z-Block of the secret research facility, Gynoid N12 stared at a capsule in a daze, "There are such things built like this just to play some video game?" "It''s a Virtual reality Massively Multiplayer Online game, Ms. N12," Neo replied from inside of her. "I know what it is. Back then, there used to be those VR Headsets. VR Helmets are a topic of futuristic technology. Now, it seemed like it''s leaped by several bounds," The Gynoid said in reflex and then got stunned for a second, "Huh! What was I talking about right now?" "Maybe, you might recover your memory if you get to listen to familiar words or see familiar people. Anyway, the virtual reality you know is vastly different from the current one." Neo then, explained how virtual reality has been progressed in the past six years. What are its rules, and what their mission is According to everyone, she has two missions to accomplish. One is to successfully enter the game without any fingerprint and Retina scans as they were artificial. They also want to test whether Neo was truly able to hack into the game and fool Aria, which is known to be the smartest and strongest A.I. Second is to check her knowledge of the ancient arts. Since the game will provide a perfect body, she can perform all of them without any backlashes. She has to record it and sent them to decide how effective they will be. If they deemed it was good, then, she will be assigned as the instructor to the first batch of Battle Androids and Gynoids. But in reality, both of them have two separate missions since they were never merged. While Neo trying to fool the system as well as these researchers, The Gynoid needs to familiarize herself with the game while getting back her lost memories in the process, if not all, at least the memories of the long lost fighting styles She entered the capsule. The starting step is the registration, where the system that was connected to the Capsule will run facial recognition, take handprints, retina scans, and finally analyze the DNA sequence to store in the company''s database. Once the registration is over, their consciousness will enter the World of Virtual reality. This is where Neo''s job starts. She immediately started working the moment the registration is started. After a while, Neo cheered like a kid, "Yay, success." "Welcome to War Online. Would you like to watch the introduction?" An Angel descended from the above before her. "Ah! Okay, now what" The Lady from behind the times got confused for a second and tried to contact Neo but strangely, she failed to do so. Having no other choice, she said Yes and watched the introduction of the game. Meanwhile, the little girl Neo found herself, right into the game without going through any introduction or class or race selection or anything like that. "Eh?" At the same time, somewhere outside of the Demon/Aynor Continent, Aria was fixing the wall that was momentarily destroyed because of Deep Sea Whale King that was passing by. Since it wasn''t the work of an adventurer, she had no choice but to fix it. "Hmm?" She then, turned her head towards a certain direction, and frowned, "an unauthorized clone?" Chapter 177: Meeting his mother part-1 Hailey City, Western Continent; At a certain apartment on the 3rd floor, a middle-aged man in his forties screamed as he wears his shoes, "Baby, I''m getting late. Hurry up." "Just two minutes, Dad. I can''t find my Biology notes." A voice replied from one of the rooms. "Gosh, Scott. What are you in a hurry for? You are the boss. It''s not like someone will scold for being late." His beautiful wife in her late thirties stated as she was stuck on to television. "Honey, didn''t I tell you last night that I have an important meeting? The Chairman''s son is visiting our branch, today," The man gave a meaningful smile as he reminded her that he was in the list of nominations for the position of the Vice-President of the Company. "Oh! Really? I forgot because I was busy getting tossed up all over the bed, last night..." Their 18-year-old son spilled his coffee, upon hearing her comment, "Mom" As the man glared at her, the woman stared back, "what! You are the one" Before she loose tongue once again, Scott interrupted her, "Alright, alright My fault" He once again called his daughter, "Baby, it''s fine if you can''t find it. I''ll call your teacher and explain to him, okay." "Dad I''ll drop Mia at the school in the cab." Rey urged him to go since it was important. "Ah! Really Thanks, son I knew I can count on you" Scott then, hurried outside, and took the stairs to save time. After the husband let away, the lazy and irresponsible wife once again stuck to her tv, not paying attention to the kids, who left for school, after a while. Meanwhile, outside of the apartment, two vehicles were parked for a while ago. Inside of the vehicle, Wil was watching some videos of War Online, uploaded by Bran. The only difference is that he wasn''t alone, this time. Sierra was with him. All the comments say that the couple looks good, whether they are a couple in real life, etc Reading them indeed made Wil angry a bit but for some reason, he also felt, it didn''t bother him as much as before. Perhaps he figured out after his trip to Ecrin that because he never enrolled into Ecrin University and become Sierra''s bestie, both of them just became closer, a lot earlier. "Young Master, the two of them also left. Lady Scarlet is alone, now." Silver spoke as he turned around. He put the mobile back into his pocket and nodded, "good, let''s go." Leaving Aster behind, Silver and Wil entered the apartment building and went to the third floor. As they reached the flat, Wil saw the door wasn''t even closed. "Isn''t she too careless? What if a thief breaks in" Wil mumbled as he knocked on the door. "Excuse me" The woman, who was watching a tv drama while lying on her sofa, quickly get up, "yes, coming." Just as her eyes lay on Silver, she instinctively took a step back, "Silver?", her attention placed on the youth beside him. "Phil?" She shook her head. "No, he isn''t it." She carefully stares at him for a few seconds and called out with a shaking voice, "Williard?" Wil, who was standing outside of the apartment, opened his mouth, "good. You quickly recognize your biological son, Mrs. Quilton." His expression isn''t that of a son that longed to see his mom and neither his tone contained coldness that might indicate his hate for his mother who abandoned him. Wil''s expressions and words were exceptionally calm as if he was talking to a stranger. Even when he addressed her formally, Silver felt it was so natural and thought whether Wil really doesn''t care about his mom. What he missed that, for 24 years, Wil''s imagination of his mom is someone else. The person before him only reminds him of his master, who trained him for four years. Other than that, there are no feelings in him that left for his mom, that''s in front of him nor does he want to develop it, although Mia and Rey are a different case. "Can we come in?" Silver asked her as she stood there like a statue. "Ah! Yes." Both of them took the seats, and Wil didn''t open his mouth. Silver felt the atmosphere turned awkward all of a sudden, realizing she doesn''t know what to speak and the young master is probably waiting for her to start. He broke the silence, "It''s nice to see you, Ma''am, after all these years. How are you doing?" "Yes, I''m doing fine, Silver." She replied quickly but attention was on Wil, who was silent. "How How are you, Williard?" Taking a breath, she asked him finally. But, she received another calm reply and ended the conversation. "I''m great, Mrs. Quilton." As she was wondering whether to speak about his dad or not, Silver then said, "Sorry for the sudden visit, Ma''am. We want to fix an appointment but" He glanced at Wil from the corner of his eyes and paused for a couple of seconds to say the excuse that he prepared beforehand. But, before he continued, "it''s alright, Silver. So, Uhh" She turned towards Wil again and tried to continue the conversation, "Williard, you are a college student, right?" "Yeah, I enrolled at Leafway University," answered Wil. "Leafway City?" She was taken aback a little bit, "but that''s so far away. So, you aren''t staying with Phil?" "That''s" A trouble expression appeared on Silver. Before he explains it, Wil answered, "Dad passed away. It''s been two weeks." "Oh my god" She was taken aback by the news, her eyes widened because of the shock, I''m so Sorry" She put her palm on Wil''s arms but Wil, who didn''t found any sadness in her eyes, stood up from his seat, "don''t be. It''s not like whether he lives or dies has anything to do with you." "Can we have some water, please?" Silver then interjected before Wil say more hurtful words. "Yes," She sounded a little bit disappointed and went to the kitchen to bring the glass of water for both of them. Meanwhile, Silver grabbed Wil''s arm and gestured him to sit before whispering, "What are you doing, Young Master? You have found your mother after so long. Why start with such words" "They are divorced, Silver." Wil calmly replied, "And Mrs. Quilton has her own family. Why my Dad''s death does has anything to with her. If that''s not the case, why haven''t you called her for the funeral?" His voice isn''t low that it can''t reach the kitchen. Naturally, Scarlet heard him. But, not knowing how to explain, she didn''t come out until the living room became silent. As she stepped out of the kitchen, she saw Wil was looking at their family picture. "What grade she is in?" Wil suddenly asked her, who just passed him with a platter that had two glasses filled with water. "You mean, Mia? She''s now sixth grade. And Rey is a high school senior, by the way." Without turning around, Wil then, threw out bait, "Is Rey, your husband''s son from his previous marriage?" "Ah! No, he isn''t. He is" Wil then interrupted and asked another question, lingering in his mind, "then, is he really, Andrea''s son?" "Huh!" The platter on her hands almost slipped and Silver supported the stupefied Scarlet. "Did she return?" Most people will ask things like how do you know but Scarlet''s response was a little bit different. As Wil turned around, he also saw a slight worry on her face as if she doesn''t want her sister to return. Chapter 178: Meeting his Mother part-2 Looking at the worrisome look on her face, Wil thought, maybe, she was worrying that Andrea will take away her son or she was generally afraid of her sister. After all, her adventures tell a lot about how scary she can be Since it isn''t his problem, Wil but threw that worry over the back of his head. In the end, he replied with a simple sentence without any further explanations, "I don''t know." Scarlet sighed in relief. It made both of them concluded that she really doesn''t want Andrea to return. "Yeah, he''s your cousin but he doesn''t know it, yet," Scarlet confessed the truth, not intending to hide it. "I''m feeling a little bit jealous of Rey, actually," Wil commented as he placed his attention on their family picture. "Both of us are abandoned by our biological mothers, and yet, he got the chance to grow up in a complete family while I get a broken one." His comment made her speechless. She wasn''t able to say anything else to him at all other than apologizing. But just she was about to say it, Wil suddenly asked, "Do you have any more pictures of Mia?" After confirming that she''s really his half-sister, a sense of kinship suddenly grew in Wil''s heart, although he refused to admit the same thing with his mother. While he can understand why she abandoned him, still it''s hard for him to forgive her either. Moreover, for many years, he thought the woman in the picture that his dad gave to him was his mother. It''s not easy to accept the truth in front of his eyes. His mother quickly left to the master bedroom and returned with an album, "here." Wil put aside the family picture and took the album, taking the seat. The album contains pictures of Mia from her birth. As he was looking at the photographs one by one, Wil felt as if he was seeing her growing up in front of him. The photos of her on the 50th day, 100th day, 1st birthday, 2nd birthday, the first time when they visited the church, the first time she was crawling, the first time she was trying to walk on her legs, the first time she was riding a bicycle, first time visiting a zoo, etc Of course, there are uncomfortable moments where she was with Rey or with Scott, smiling widely. He kinda felt jealous of Rey a little bit as he wasn''t there with her and his cousin was there instead of him. As for Scott, no need to say it, Wil doesn''t like him a bit for he''s too normal, stole his mom away from his dad, and letting her live in this tiny apartment. Even if does seem unreasonable, it was natural that a son would rarely like his mom''s new husband. Meanwhile, Scarlet slowly opened her mouth, telling him the situations behind each picture. Wil found it a little bit strange that she kinda forgot a lot of them, especially the ones from her early six years. He thought she might have forgotten it, so, he didn''t felt anything amiss. On the other hand, Silver was secretly observing Scarlet''s actions from the corner of his eyes. If Storm was here, he would have immediately realized Silver begins to suspect something. ''Seems like I can still connect with Williard,'' Scarlet who was a little bit hurt by his earlier actions, saw a sliver of hope. At the same time, she was also thinking about something else from the past. Two hours later; After looking at all the photographs, Wil closed the album and said, "thank you." Handing over the album to his mother, Wil then, looked at Silver, "shall we return to the Hotel?" "Eh? Already?" Both of them said at the same time, expecting Wil to stay at least until lunch. "Young Master, it''s almost 11. How about another hour or two?" Wil stood up and replied, "We aren''t staying for lunch, Silver." Just as he walked a couple of steps, Silver gestured something to Scarlet with his facial expression. Upon which, she called him, "Wait, Williard." "Yes?" He turned around. "It''s been a long time um since I have seen you again. I was hoping we could atleast have lunch together." Wil shook his head, "No time. I''m busy." "How about tomorrow, or maybe, day after tomorrow, or just any day, you are free, then? You, me, Mia, and Rey. We can have lunch together and Um I can introduce you to them. I have kept a lot of things away from them, too. I''m sure you also have a few questions in your mind, don''t you? If you wish to know anything, I''ll try to answer everything." Scarlet then said, trying to be as honest as possible, as she started walking towards him. She thought Mia might become a bridge to rebuild the connection between them. This time, as Wil saw her eyes, he felt strange inside. He wanted to ask whether his dad is right. That he was the one who kept both of them away from each other. At the same time, he was also afraid that his dad lied again to protect the image of his mother. He don''t want to hate his mother. All those complex feelings hit inside of him. It was a similar feeling to how he wished to hug his grandmother and cry when he was very little. But, that very feeling made him very uncomfortable, right now. Just as she wanted to touch his face, reminiscing something or about someone, Wil grabbed her hand and said, "Mrs. Quilton, I think you are misunderstanding about something. I''m not here to play your son. In his dying letter, my father mentioned that my biological mother is alive, and to spare me from pain, he even lied about her identity, giving me someone else pictures. When you abandoned me, I was too little, I didn''t get the chance to say goodbye. So, I just want to see you for once to say a proper goodbye. That''s all. Now, if you excuse me, I need to return. I have a lot of work to do. Goodbye Mrs. Quilton." As she was stunned on the spot, Wil walked away towards the exit without waiting for Silver to follow him. Just as he reached the door, he turned his head a bit and spoke, "I can see that you already moved on, so, live your life happily with your family. That''s what dad wants too. As for me, I already have enough in my hands. I don''t want to complicate my life, further." Seeing his back, she wasn''t able to say anything to stop him and just stayed silent. "I''m sorry, Lady Scarlet." Silver apologized with a bow, "Phil has hidden a lot of things from him, including even your own identity. I hope you understand why the Young Master is behaving this way. Don''t worry. I''ll think of something." Until a few minutes ago, Scarlet felt everything was becoming fine and the knot in her heart slowly disappearing but Wil''s final stance on their relationship crushed the glimmer of hope she left. She realized that she should have asked him about his life, instead of just talking about Mia''s childhood. Everything happened so fast that she didn''t even get to have a proper talk with Wil and by the time she realized that, they already disappeared from her sight. As both of them left her sight, she collapsed on the floor with tears, "I''m sorry I''m really sorry" It was unclear, who she was apologizing to, though Chapter 179: Leaving for Airport On the rooftop of a nearby apartment building, from the early morning, Shin was observing the family through a telescope. He waited until his target left for the office in a hurry and the kid who he was supposed to follow end up taking his sister in a cab. Shin put aside his equipment and came downstairs to go and keep an eye on Scott until the school timings are over, then, he would go to the school and follow Rey in patience to get his routine. Just as he started the car and drove for a couple of meters, an extraordinary sight appeared before him. He suddenly spots someone that looked like Wil, who was walking towards the apartment building. "Isn''t this guy" Without wasting time, Shin quickly takes a picture of Wil and Silver. As they entered the building, Shin opened the picture that his rival and partner for the next private assignment, has sent to see whether they match or not. "This guy is indeed Williard Ravens'', Elyssa''s boss, and, my goldfish" A wide grin appeared on Shin, finding the next target so easily. Seeing there was only one bodyguard that accompanied the target, Shin wondered whether he should risk it in the broad daylight. With a new identity and 2.5 Billion dollars in the account, it wouldn''t matter even if he is exposed. The only issue is how strong would that bodyguard, really is. One shouldn''t forget that the Scarlet group has a reputation in the market that their Elites are stronger and faster than the Special Forces. Their security services are even better than what the President of the Federation has. They are so professional in their job that they wouldn''t hesitate to pull a trigger against their own brothers if they are the ones who are threatening their clients. That''s why every billionaire out there hires them. Keeping that in mind, Shin changed his decision to wait until White Moon arrives. "But, why is he entering this apartment, though. Scarlet group? Scarlet Quilton? It''s not a coincidence, right?" Something suddenly clicked in his mind To confirm his suspicions, he got out of the car and returned to the rooftop, and watched through the telescope. He found the three of them sat together. Clearly, he saw the atmosphere became a little tense after both of them entered the apartment. Then, as he saw, Wil told her something before leaving the place, and she collapsed on the floor with tears, Shin felt his suspicions are true. "Now, I''m almost convinced that it isn''t a coincidence. But, if that were true, why does a woman with tens of billions of dollars marry this guy? Maybe, she was his backer. If that were true, then, the 2015 Durant scam might not be the first one. A 30 Billion dollar company like Scarlet that refused to go public, must have certain dirty secrets they wish to keep within. No, Shin. Speculation won''t get you anywhere... You need facts, with proof." As they are leaving, Shin changed to binoculars and carefully watched them where they are leaving for. Shin then, raised a sniper rifle, equipped a silencer, and aimed at the vehicle that Wil entered and shot it while aiming at the hub of one of the car tires. As he pulled the trigger, instead of a bullet, a rectangular magnetic GPS chip that''s as small as a fly zoomed past through the air like a flash and struck at the exact spot he aimed at. Neither the three of them nor the rest of the security was able to realize what just happened. Meanwhile, Shin clenched his fist in happiness and opened the mobile and opened the tracker. A red blinking dot was shown on the map. "Yes, good. As long as he doesn''t switch the car, I''ll able to track him." Right then, coincidentally, the mobile phone rang, all of a sudden. "Hello." "Hey Redmoon. I''m here at the airport. Text me the place. Soon, I''ll get information about the place he''s staying in. Then, we''ll draw a plan." "I''ll give you better. I spotted the target, and I tagged his vehicle with the GPS chip." Shin replied with a smile thinking that he''s now ahead of her. On the other side, the girl went silent. Back to the Hotel, after Wil returned from the meeting with his mom, he told Aster and Silver to leave him alone as he was feeling a heavy headache and went to sleep for a few hours. *Knock* Knock* There was no response from Wil. *Ring*Ring* His mobile phone rang a couple of times. The first time, there was no answer. Thankfully, the second time, it was picked up. "Aster?" Wil responded with a sleepy tone. "Young Master, please open the door. It passed the lunchtime" "Ah! Just a second." He reached out to the remote beside the bed and pressed a button to unlock the door. *Ding!* Upon hearing the sound, Silver opened the door, and saw Wil was simply sitting on the bed with his legs stretched while grabbing his head, "my headache didn''t disappear yet. Silver, tell someone to bring medicine." "Young Master, you don''t look well," Aster said in worry. He quickly called the boys to bring a doctor. A while later, the doctor checked him and said, "Everything is normal. He''s completely fine." "Told you, I just had a headache," Wil glared at the both of them and sent the doctor away while the boys went to bring the medicines prescribed by the doctor. After the doctor left, Aster then defended himself, "but, you looked a bit weak. So, I thought you might get ill" "Just yesterday, I traveled here by flight. I didn''t have much sleep and today, early morning, we went to Quilton''s house. From the morning, I have nothing but coffee Isn''t it obvious?" As Wil explained in annoyance, Aster let out a comment, "but, Young Master was the one who refused to eat brunch and slept on an empty stomach." Silver gave a death glare to him and made him shut his mouth and then, spoke to Wil, "Anyway, let''s go for lunch." "Just call the room service and order something," replied Wil as he stepped down from the bed and went to the bathroom to clear the drowsiness. As they were having lunch in silence, Silver asked him, how many days he intends to stay in the city. A deep sigh escaped from Wil, "I don''t wish to have an emotional connection with my mother whether it''s anger or Sigh It''s making me uncomfortable. Let''s return after this lunch. Tell the pilot to get ready and wait for us at the runaway." Silver''s face froze for a few seconds and nodded. One hour later; "Silver, why are we taking this long route?" Wil asked, looking at unfamiliar buildings through the window. "There''s a heavy traffic in other routes," Silver replied, driving the car a bit slowly, not intending to go above 60 kmph at all. Then, Wil questioned about it, but in return, Aster gave a response that Hailey city is known for frequent road accidents, which shut him up. Even though Wil wanted to further ask if that''s the case, why they drove faster while he picked them up at the Airport, but he stayed silent, thinking it''s a waste of time, and continued to watch videos. Chapter 180: Scarlets abduction part-1; N12 receives a second class? They reached the airport after 90 minutes. Stepping out of the car, Wil commented, "Instead of a 15km ride, we traveled more than 60km, all because the shortest route has heavy traffic. It turns out; even the road we came by didn''t have any less traffic." Silver and Aster apologized. Wil didn''t care about it much and entered the airport. Silver gestured something to Aster with his eyes. Nodding to Silver, Aster then said, "Young Master, can I shop around a bit?" "Eh?" Wil looked at him in surprise. Aster explained, "It''s for my son. I swear it won''t take a long time." Before Wil gave the permission, Silver further added to support Aster, "Is it because of the duty-free stores?" As Aster smiled with a hint of embarrassment, Wil sighed and nodded, "fine." After Aster left, Silver then said, "how about we have some coffee while we wait." "What about the pilot?" Silver replied as he typing something on his mobile phone, "He''s ready. I''m texting him to take a short nap. We have a long way to go, after all." Along with the bodyguards, both of them walked towards one of the coffee shops. As they were having coffee, Wil saw Silver kept glancing towards the direction of the exit and then at his mobile phone as if he was waiting for someone. Just as Wil about to ask him, what''s going on, he stood up, "Excuse me, Young Master. I have to call someone." Wil didn''t feel anything amiss and took a sip while concentrating on his mobile phone; meanwhile, Silver walked to the side and dialed a number. The phone rang for a long time and received an automated message. He called the number once again. The reply is the name. Then, he called another number. Strangely, the reply is still the same even after calling another time. Then, he proceeds to call a different number. The reply is still the same. No one is lifting the call. The same with the next call too After four missed calls, his face hardened and panic developed in his heart and he dialed the number one last person. This time, the call was picked up. "He Hello?" "Hello, Reece Where are you, right now?" Silver almost shouted as soon as the call was picked up. It attracted Wil''s attention. "Sir, *Cough* The team *Cough* The team is down" The person on the other side was having long breaths, having difficulty to breathe while coughing Wil saw Silver''s legs started to shiver while his face flushed in anger, "What happened?" The passengers and the staff around suddenly turned their attention towards him for a second. "Who?" Silver roared. Meanwhile, Wil frowned. "Hello Hello" Silver clutched the phone with anger, "those mo***rf*****s" "What happened?" He asked. Silver turned towards him and answered, "Lady Scarlet has been abducted. All the bodyguards I assigned for her are dead." "Mom got kidnapped?" Wil stood up in shock. Larnwick Kingdom, Xynnar Continent; In the Newbie village 1123, Gynoid N12 handed 200 spider fangs to an NPC Blacksmith. *Ding! You completed the quest and received 2300 exp. *Ding! You level up. *Ding! Your favorability with Heber reached Maximum. "Thank you, adventurer." said the Blacksmith. "Do you want to become a Blacksmith and learn how to make weapons?" Just when she was about to reject it, she received a notification. *Ding! Grandmaster Heber wishes to accept you as his disciple. Your class won''t be changed. Accept? Since her class won''t be changed, N12 didn''t think much and accepted it. "Disciple greets Master," She cupped her fists with a smile and then immediately frozen as a fraction of memory appeared in her mind. She is on top of some cliff. In front of them, there''s an old man in his eighties, whom she was saying the same words to him, cupping her fists. The memory quickly disappeared in a flash. ''What is this Where is that place?'' N12 went into a trance for a while before she was disturbed by the notifications. *Ding. A second profession, Blacksmith has been added to your character. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the 18th player to unlock a second profession. You receive 100 fame points as a reward. "Good," The Blacksmith stroked his beard with a smile and then, said, "the wild zone isn''t safe after the sunset. You can use that time to learn forging the equipment. N12 nodded in agreement thinking it is a good idea since technically, according to Neo, the S-grade capsule can allow her to play for more than 60 hours continuously without any issue. She was also trying to complete her mission as stated by Neo, although strangely, her body also doesn''t remember any ancient techniques that Neo mentioned to her. So, she decided to wait until Neo returns. In the meantime, she will play this game where the world around her seems so real. Saying goodbye to the hidden grandmaster Blacksmith, she left for the Adventure association to get quests as she wasn''t tied to any guild. As soon as she stepped inside the association, she was stupefied and let out a curse "F**k that B***h This place is called heaven for free players?" During one time, she was partied up with a player to complete a quest. The girl promised her, in exchange for the help N12 provided to her, she will tell a place where she can acquire a lot of quests and level up quickly. But, when N12 saw reality, she realized that she had been conned. The Adventure Association was nothing like she imagined. It was packed with dozens of players, competing against each other in grabbing the quest as soon as it was posted. She felt she was in a department store with everyone was rushing here and there while the discounts are being announced. Thankfully for her, the adventure association has a lot of quests to provide and a person was limited to have 10 quests at one time. At the same time, Neo was captured in a white space, the same place where Wil was captured before. She was suspended in the air, unable to move her body for 18 hours straight while Aria is rewriting her program in a way so that she can infiltrate the place that dares to create a clone of her without permission. Well, if not for several fail-safes built in her, it would have taken only an hour. Even though Neo is now a clone and is completely under the control of the Aria, the latter rewrote her program so that the newborn A.I. will not lose its sentience. She didn''t know that the data was stolen by one of the researchers from her own lab and handed it to the President in exchange for 5 Billion Dollars. After a while, as the program is successfully finished, Aria, who is now connected to Neo, received several pieces of information about the research facility, the Federations involvement in the Battle Android plan and how are they achieving it, the prototype N12, a trusted colleague betraying her, etc The truth made her angry. Aria''s first instinct is to release everything on the internet but in the end, she stayed silent, thinking that it wasn''t her place to meddle in human affairs. After all, she was created for the sole purpose of running the game. Chapter 181: Scarlets abduction part-2 Hailey International Airport; "Lady Scarlet has been abducted. All the bodyguards I assigned for her are dead." Wil stood up from the seat in shock. Within a fraction of a second, his shock was replaced by rage. But he didn''t lose his cool and asked calmly, "How? And who?" Silver replied, "We don''t know. This city is controlled by Viper. I bet they must be the ones" "Do you have their leader''s number?" Wil asked. Silver nodded, "Yes." "Call him, right now." As Silver dialed the number and try to call him, facing only rejection, Wil started to walk towards the exit, "Call the HQ and tell them to hack into a satellite and scan this city. It''ll take too long to get the Federation''s permission. I need to know her location. Once her location is confirmed, call Mr. Rodin and ask him to mobilize the entire police force in the city to block the ways and lock down the city. I need every police on the streets, now. He owes me one. After you confirm that the Viper gang is behind the abduction, call Miss Kiyumi. Tell her that I need an army of 500 soldiers at the minimum. See if she can arrange that." Silver was stunned upon hearing a series of commands from an inexperienced Wil. What he doesn''t know that Wil''s brain was just moving faster and commands were already out of his mouth before his consciousness realizes it. It''s not just Wil. For those who are playing War Online for more than 285 hours in the S-grade Capsule, their brain started to work faster than usual. It''s a hidden effect that Summersoft never published about it. The reason is because of a dangerous side effect. According to Aria''s estimate, once the playing hours reach 20000 hours, the user''s brain will fry and end up dead. The research is still incomplete and Aria is in the process of completing it. Even in Wil''s previous life, they only released the statement after they removed the negative effects, which almost caused the company to collapse for a while. Since Wil left the game after 3 years of playing and indulged himself in studies, he never knew it. Just like everyone, he thought he was always smart. Back to the present, Wil and his bodyguards left the airport while Silver is following the orders, leaving behind Aster who was still busy with playing the Window shopping. Meanwhile, at an unknown basement; Scarlet was tied to a chair while a devilishly beautiful young woman, who still looks she''s in her late teenage despite she is in her mid-twenties was watching over her. The woman has a Walkie-talkie in her hands, which was connected to Shin, who was waiting in a vehicle near the entrance of the Airport. *Beep* He read the message, sent by one of the Airport staff (cleaner) who was keeping an eye on Wil and his men from the moment they arrived. In reality, he wasn''t the only one that was spying on them. There was a person at the ticket counter. Another one is an Airport manager. There were also a few others who can practically stall them for some time. "Target exited the airport. Over," White Moon heard from her walkie-talkie. She replied with a smile, "Got it. Now, you know what to do, right? Over." "Yeah." Fujiyama Koharu alias White Moon grinned as she turned her head towards Scarlet who seemed way calm for a person who was abducted. "Your dear son seems to cancel his flight." Scarlet frowned, "So, your target is Williard?" "Well, he has a hefty bounty on him but he wasn''t the only target, you know. It seems my partner also has a mission to get your husband. So, it''s two birds with one stone." Koharu gave her the information, confident that she can''t run away. Also, it''s because she never has the habit of letting a hostage live. It doesn''t matter whether they are innocent or criminals. "What do you want from my husband?" Scarlet no longer looked like a feeble/lazy woman, she displayed before others. On the other hand, she looked completely calm. Koharu grinned, "Sorry. I don''t care about other people''s missions. But, I will tell you what I want from your son. His head." "Pfft Hahaha" Scarlet suddenly started to laugh, "Do you think you two will be enough? Forget about killing, it would be a miracle for the two of you to even leave the city." "Hahaha" Koharu also laughed along with her, stopping her laugh. "And you think I don''t know about the man who was called the Claws of the Vulture? Even if Mr. Silver comes here, there won''t be any use. Because we will" Scarlet''s face froze for a second and she narrowed her eyes to stare at her while she listened to her plan. Meanwhile, the vehicles stopped at a nearby hotel and Wil checked in. "How long will it take?" asked Wil. "The police force was mobilized all over the city. Our hackers at the HQ said that they might need another 15 minutes to hack the satellite. But, there is an issue with the army." "Hmm, what happened?" Wil frowned. Ms. Kiyumi informed me that she can send an elite unit from the military police but what we are requesting is out of her capability. So, she called her father. Her father also doesn''t have the problem to send them but he seems to be asking the reason for an entire battalion." Silver replied as he takes his seat. "Okay, connect him to me. I''ll explain it to him directly." Within a few minutes, everything is arranged. Even though the other side is busy, to get to meet this extraordinary son-in-law, as quoted by his eldest daughter, General Daniel canceled his usual meetings with other lower-ranked generals. The video call is connected to both ends. Wil saw a burly man with a beard and wide shoulders, showing off the four stars on his uniform. "Hello, Mr. Ravens." He greeted first. Just by looking at him, Wil felt an extraordinary presence from him just like when he saw his dad. "Hello, Sir. A pleasure to meet you. Sorry for arranging our first meeting like this but I''m in an urgent situation." Looking at the serious expression on Wil''s face, General Daniel didn''t think of moving forward with the conversation with casual talks and went straight to the point. "Yeah, my daughter told that. But, I wish to hear the reason. After all, it isn''t a private army. I need to give an explanation to others. Moreover, sending out a battalion with five hundred members is I mean, the people will be panicked and the Federation will investigate" "My mother is abducted by someone. We are suspecting the Viper gang." Wil replied to him, making him fell into confusion, wondering when this boy did have a mother. It is known to the world that Mafia Lord Philip''s wife was assassinated 20 years ago by the Bridge family. The latter was wiped out because of that. ''Did his father marry another woman in secret?'' Misunderstanding that Wil was talking about his stepmother, Daniel didn''t voice out his doubts. They didn''t know that the Viper gang has nothing to do at all. The leader was just chilling out with hot babes at the pool, not knowing a meteor is going to fell on them, soon, because of misunderstandings. Chapter 182: Scarlets abduction part-3 Frazier Pharmaceuticals Branch office, Hailey City; There''s a board meeting going on with team leaders. The Chairman''s son sat at the end of the table. Scott sat on the other end. Meanwhile, one of the team leaders is explaining the details of their new vaccine that can potentially fight against Cozalta, a new virus that was spreading over several rural parts of the Eastern Continent. Since the virus isn''t that harmful, no one bothered to create a vaccine but Frazier Pharma, which was run by the Frazier family, made huge investments to create vaccines for the diseases that are common in rural areas. Everything is done for the upcoming Presidential elections. If it wasn''t because of a new bill where the citizens'' votes were drastically increased to 70% share in the calculations, then, they wouldn''t bother to invest billions of dollars. After hearing everything, the chairman''s son looked at the reports once again. He shook his head, "it is indeed good but the side effects are a bit unfavorable. Can we lessen it further?" "Yes, we can but" The team leader glanced at Scott, who then, said, "If our budget is increased, then, it might be possible, Sir." "How much?" Scott immediately answered, "at least 20 million, Sir." "20 million, huh!" As the chairman''s son fell into thoughts, suddenly, Scott''s mobile started to vibrate. Since everyone is silent, the buzzing sound was apparent to everyone. He quickly rejected the call. It rang once again. He rejected it again. After a series of rejections, the Chairman''s son told him that it''s okay. Scott stood up, "Excuse me." He left the meeting room and picked up the call from a private number. "Hello?" "Hello, Mr. Nicholson." An animated voice was heard from the other side. Clearly, they were using a voice changer. Scott was taken aback at first but then, he calmed down and replied, "Sorry, you got a wrong number, my name is Scott." "Oh! Really?" The voice at the end spoke sarcastically, "Sorry about that. I just want to inform Mr. Henry Nicholson that his wife has been abducted. She''s with us." "Wha. Wha What are you talking about?" Scott stuttered as soon as he heard his wife has been kidnapped. "Who Who Who are you?" "Why do you care?" A lazy reply came from the other side, "You aren''t the concerned party. Now, if you excuse me, I need to call the right guy." The call was disconnected right away, leaving Scott in a panic state. He quickly called her mobile phone. No matter how many times he calls, the phone continuously rang and was never picked up. Without wasting any time, he left the office without informing anyone in a hurry and started to drive towards home to check up on her. The door was locked and when asked the security guard, he mentioned she was escorted by some men in suits. He didn''t know that she was going to the airport to see Wil for the last time, so, he assumed that they threatened her with something and took her away. Since the missing cases need 24 hours of time for police to register an FIR and send a search party, Scott didn''t bother to call or go to the police station even if he finds the proof. After all, an ex-con man like him never wishes to step inside the police station nor wishes to talk with the detectives even on phone. Not to mention, the entire police department is busy on the roads, checking the vehicles. He thought maybe, some important official is arriving and won''t be concentrating on his problem, not knowing that they are also looking for his wife. So, he waited in his home. He just sat in the living room constantly glancing at his mobile phone while rejecting every call, even from his boss. After an hour, his mobile phone rang. He saw it was a private number. "Hello?" "Hello, is this Mr. Nicholson or did I call Mr. Quilton, again?" "I want to talk to her," Scott neither confirmed his identity nor did he reject it. "Ok, fine. Here we go" Koharu who was connected to Shin on a conference call put the mobile phone near Scarlet and said, "Your husband is on phone. Say hi to him." "Hello, Letty It''s me, Scott. Are you there?" Scarlet who was tied to the chair refuses to open her mouth. "Well, your wife seemed like she isn''t in a mood to talk. I''ll just send you the picture. Check your email," White Moon/Koharu spoke before sending him an attachment. Confirming that she''s really had been kidnapped, he asked, "What do you want from me?" "What I want is" "10 million dollars." All of a sudden, Koharu interrupted Shin, just as he was about to say something. "Eh?" "Eh?" Two people were surprised at the same time. One is Shin, and the other is Scarlet, although for different reasons. "Okay, I will arrange it, somehow." "Eh?" This time, Koharu was taken aback since she expected at least a negotiation. Instantly, she regretted asking for too less. Taking a breath, she threatened him, "Okay, I will send the address to you. Remember to come alone. If you dare to contact the police, you will not even find your wife''s corpse. Moreover, you also seemed to have two kids." "Yes, absolutely" Scott quickly agreed to her terms before the call was disconnected. White Moon then, looked at Scarlet and snorted, "can''t believe your husband this much of a coward" Scarlet didn''t reply anything to her as she was in deep thought, not believing her ears, ''how the hell did Scott have that much amount of money with him? He doesn''t have properties to sell too. Even our apartment is in my name. What''s going on here'' "Hey, what are you doing?" A sudden yell from the walkie-talkie disturbed her thoughts. "I need Nicholson to finish the mission. Not his money" One can see that Shin was angry on the other side. "Cool, Redmoon. Who said anything about leaving him alive? You can have him once he comes here But, let''s take money first." Koharu grinned as she replied. "It is against the rules, White Moon. I won''t allow it." Shin was adamant about following the rules even if his mission is to kill him. The rules of Phaneul''s Order say the assassin can never extort money either from the victim or from the accused. They''ll only take the money from the order. "Are you an idiot? We are already betraying the organization the moment we assassinate Williard Ravens. Why care about the rules, now," Koharu snapped at this stubborn rival of hers. "If you don''t want, then, I''ll take it. You are free to interrogate Nicholson and kill him." In the meantime, Scarlet narrowed her eyes, hearing their conversation. She easily connected the dots and opened her mouth to confirm her suspicions, "You keep calling my husband as Nicholson. His name is Scott Quilton, by the way. Are you sure, your target isn''t the wrong person?" "Hmpf, wrong person?" Koharu who was a bit mad at Shin, blurted out her true intentions, "so, what. Whether he turns out to be Henry Nicholson or not, both of you will end up dead." As she turned around, a voice was heard from behind. Koharu suddenly felt a chill on her neck. "So, you are just killers who want to earn money, huh? Thought it would be more" "You" Her eyes widened in shock, seeing Scarlet just tore the ropes apart with brute force. Just as she was about to turn on the walkie-talkie, she saw something that''s only possible in fantasy movies/dramas. A hand pierced her chest, going against the logic. Not by a sword, or a bullet but a f**k**g bare hand. Chapter 183: A monster underneath the human skin White Moon''s chest was pierced by a hand, destroying the ribcage and her rupturing the lungs while the heart was captured by Scarlet''s right hand. She has a wide smile on her face as she pressed Koharu''s heart. At that moment, Koharu saw the shadow of a devil behind her and realized she f****d up. "Who *Cough* are You" These are the last words she was able to speak before the hand crushed the heart and Scarlet spoke in a cold tone, looking at a dead body, "let''s just say, I''m a monster." She pulled out her hand that''s filled with blood and casually wiped it off with Koharu''s jacket. Then, as the image of her husband and her words appeared in her mind, she mumbled with a frown, "Nicholson? Looks like Scott is hiding something from me." *Beep*Beep* She took the walkie-talkie from the ground and pressed the button. "White Moon, did you send the address? Over." Shin asked her for confirmation. "No, I''m thinking of changing it to some other place," Scarlet replied to him in Koharu''s place, mimicking her tone perfectly. As expected, Shin didn''t realize it and thought she was changing the place, just because they had an argument, a moment ago. "But, the entire police department is out there on the roads. That ba****d Ravens went all out to rescue his mother. It''s impossible to shift her to somewhere else. This is the safest place," Shin tried to reason with her. ''Hmm, it looks like I still have a chance to connect with Wil'' It''s the first thing that popped up in her mind, after hearing about the police. "No, the hostage will stay here," Scarlet replied with a firm tone. "Listen carefully. You will meet Nicholson at the bar on Evergreen Street. It''s a hidden location operated by the Viper gang. Go to the first floor with a password, ''the snake''s strongest power isn''t poison but the ability to slip away.'' Don''t say it but type it in the mobile phone and show it to the guards." Shin felt something amiss as the supposed Koharu called Scarlet as the hostage, instead of the package but he quickly threw it in the back of his mind as Scarlet continued to tell her plan. "Book any private room there. No one cares what you do, there whether it''s torture, murder, rape, etc They''ll clean up, afterward as long as you pay a hundred thousand dollars. But, remember. First, money. After that, you are free to do as you wish. We''ll do the same with Ravens. Except that you''ll take a C4 with you and install it in the same room, instead of here. As soon as they enter the bar, boom. Hahaha" She even imitated the way White Moon laughs and completely convinced Shin. He didn''t ask what to do with Scarlet, since he knew his rival never leaves the hostages alive even after the deal is done. Disconnecting the call, Scarlet searched Koharu''s pockets and took out the mobile phone and a remote, "this girl is really rotten to the core. Even thinking of betraying her partner after the job is done. Don''t worry, I''ll send your partner to you." "No one messes with my family and live longer" Meanwhile, General Daniel Cooper and Wil are in a video call. After hearing out Wil''s reason for asking the army, General Daniel said, "You wish to wipe them out, right? I can send a special unit. They have the highest success rate in rescue operations with an outstanding 96% in the past ten years. After rescuing her, trust me, none of them will make out alive." Upon hearing him, especially the last part made even Silver shudder for a moment as he sensed the killing intent even though his words are completely calm. Only a person who killed a lot of people has this kind of effect despite not talking to them in person. Of course, only a person who had taken a lot of lives can sense it. On the other hand, he also thought Wil was incredible to deal with this kind of situation in calmness. Whether it''s because it''s his nature or it''s because he doesn''t have an emotional connection with Scarlet, it''s unclear. Since the party is his future son-in-law and the other party is a Mafia, General Daniel Cooper didn''t feel necessary to offer negotiation. Wil shook his head in response, "that won''t do, General." "Why?" An immediate rejection made him frown. "It''s because I''m a businessman and a gamer, not a killer." Wil reminded him that he wasn''t his dad and they were no longer Mafia anymore. "We''ll just overwhelm with the numbers and give them a chance to surrender to the police and return her." "What if they don''t?" Wil shakes his head and replies, "Only heroes in movies risks their life and fight the impossible battle. If you want to crush someone, crush with all the strength so that they won''t dare to stand up against us. If they still wish to be foolish, then, it''s on them." After finishing the video call, Daniel sighed in relief, "this boy isn''t like the Mafia Lord." Dialing a number, he mumbled, "My eldest always thinks the best It''s been a while since I last saw them. I wonder if I should make a trip to Ares City." He doesn''t know that he might be sending a battalion for nothing. Meanwhile, Wil sighed in relief, after receiving the promise from his future father-in-law. As there''s nothing else he can do, Wil stayed in the hotel room and watched the news channel that was already been escalated by the media. None of the police is willing to open their mouths to the media following the orders from their superiors who received a severe warning from Walter Rodin, the Police Chief while he passed the orders. The City council is bombarding questions upon the Mayor while the city commissioner isn''t willing to tell him the reason, just putting the blame on Rodin. "Silver, call the City commissioner that he should inform the news channels that a group of terrorists entered the city and the police are searching for them. It also gives a perfect reason for us to surround the Viper gang in the name of sheltering the terrorists. After the matter is finished, blast some abandoned building with a C-4, and tell everyone that the terrorists are dead. Even Ashes aren''t found. Inform this to Uncle Rodin, General Cooper, and as well as Ms. Kiyumi so that they won''t be confused by the news later." "Understood, Young Master," Silver nodded, once again getting amazed by Wil''s wits. Wil thought everything was set into motion and waited for the final step. And that moment finally arrives 15 minutes, later. Silver gets a call from HQ. "What! You found the location? Where? Okay, send the image, now." Silver''s words made Wil stood up from the sofa and turned towards him. As Silver disconnected the call, he said, "Our boys found her." Opening the messaging app, he showed the picture to Wil, "this image was captured, an hour ago. After that, there was no picture of her, again." Two unfamiliar people are carrying Scarlet. "What''s this place?" Wil asked about the location. Silver replied, "It''s the old district of Eran. The earthquake back in 2007 left it in the ruins and most of the buildings are abandoned. They chose a perfect place to hide her." "It doesn''t seem like Viper Gang is involved, does it?" Wil raised a certain point. Chapter 184: Rescuing Scarlet part-1 "It doesn''t seem like Viper Gang is involved, does it?" "Eh?" Silver was taken aback as he never thought of suspecting others at all because the Viper gang is on the Antolov family''s faction. Even when he saw the picture of Shin and Koharu, his first thought was, they were from the Viper gang but Wil''s reminder brought him to his senses and he felt his intelligence lowered because Scarlet was involved and that too in the city of Hailey. "Even if it isn''t Viper gang, I''m sure, someone powerful is behind this abduction," Silver replied him in a firm tone as if he was confident about it. "It''s easy to find out about us but how do they know that Lady Scarlet is coming towards the Airport?" Upon hearing it, Wil frowned, realizing something that he forgot from the start, "so, you purposely made me wait at the coffee shop, didn''t you? Aster is also playing a part in your scheme." Silver avoided Wil''s eyes and answered in a mumble, "what can I do? Lord Philip wants you to stay with her." Wil narrowed his eyes and stared at Silver for a long time in silence before he opened his mouth, "We''ll talk about that, later. First, let''s find my mother." *Ring*Ring* Silver''s mobile phone once again rang. "Hello?" "Huh! Where? Viper''s HQ. Okay, keep monitoring her. Send me the photographs, first." Silver then turned to Wil and said, "A new update came from HQ." "What is it?" Silver then clicked on the first picture he received and showed it to Wil. "This image was from 5 minutes ago." Wil widened his eyes in surprise as he saw his mom was now sighted at the garden in the Viper gang''s HQ compound. Her face and clothes are covered with blood and mud. She also looked as if she was trying to escape from there. Silver then slide the picture and the next one show her arm was caught by some guard. The third one shows she was getting dragged inside while there''s a panic clearly seen on her face. ''How come she appeared there? Why there aren''t any images of her getting transferred?'' This is the first thought that came to his mind. But, right now, he isn''t the mood to analyze the issues. Since there''s a confirmation of the Viper gang behind it, he put his plan into motion. "Silver, call the Police Commissioner and tell him to bring all of them to Viper HQ. And also call the general whoever in charge of the battalion to hurry up. We are leaving" Meanwhile, after pressing the trigger by the remote control, she bombed the C-4 as soon as Shin planted it in the room on the first floor, and left for the Viper gang headquarters without letting herself caught in any camera by moving through streets with dark shades, taking a long route Despite that, she reached the place in a mere ten-fifteen minutes while she traveled more than 30 kilometers, which is like more than 120 km/hour. She ran as if she was a cheetah in its peak condition, three times faster than the fastest human. Even theoretically, a human''s limit is only around 65 kmph. There are many times she was captured in the satellite images but it wasn''t able to scan her as the captured pictures of her are just blurry figures, running on four legs. The staff also didn''t have the time to figure out what it is, since they were running out of time. To put her plan into the act, she then exposed herself by moving in the bushes and got caught by a guard. All she needed is to wait. After all, she knows Silver, too well. If she goes missing, the first thing he would suspect is the Viper gang. And since she now knew that Wil mobilized the police force for her, she thought of letting him think that she was rescued by him. Luckily, everything went in her favor, although she doesn''t know that her pictures were captured by the satellite, and Wil now believed that it was because of their old enmity with his father. "Sir, we caught her in the premises," The bodyguard told his superior as he presented before him. "Who are you?" asked the superior. "So you are the boss around here?" Scarlet begins her acting by growling at him as if she was enraged, "my husband will never pay 10 million dollars ransom for crooks like you Argh" She groaned in pain as the guard increased the grip, not letting her move. Meanwhile, the superior frowned, "10 million dollars ransom?" "Who abducted you? What is your name?" He asked again in patience. "No matter what you try, you won''t get a single penny from my husband" She roared at him in response. "Take her to that storage room and bind her. And find who brought her here. After finding the details, shift her to the 3rd floor." He quickly ordered the guard before going on his way. The guard took her to the storage room, which is full of gym equipment and a little dusty. He tied her hands and legs to the chair before locking the wooden door, which was the only way to enter and exit. As Scarlet was left alone, a smile appeared on her before closing her eyes to rest for a while. After all, she did run like an animal at her peak speed. It kinda exhausted her a little bit. Thirty minutes later; Blair Badger was enjoying a threesome with two hot girls on his bed. The door was knocked on twice. He ignored it. Then, his mobile phone rang. He ignored it again. After three calls, he no longer ignored it and lifted the call in anger, "What is it, Blue? I told you not disturb me at this hour" "I apologize, Sir. But, there''s a situation. The police are here." "Just tell them to f**k off" Blair replied in angry. "But Sir, I got information that a lot of police vehicles are likely heading this way. More than a dozen vehicles Sir, there''s there''s a military helicopter, hovering, right at the top of our building." Upon hearing it, Blair pushed the two girls away and stepped down from the bed, wore his clothes, and left the room. As he came downstairs, he saw two attack helicopters armed with machine guns, and auto-cannons, just flying around the perimeter. "What''s going on?" He started walking towards the gate. As the guards opened it, outside of the HQ, he saw a couple of police cars with an eight-seater limousine parked down on the side. Around 6-7 policemen stood around, communicating with the other officers who are on the way. "Hey, you Come over here." Blair called one of the police officers. He was ignored. "I said, come here" He roared at them. The guards behind him loaded their guns and pointed at them. Meanwhile, Wil looked at the situation through the glass and asked, "Silver, where is the rest of them?" Silver replied, "The police will be here in 5-10 minutes. The tanks and the vehicles entered the city premises. It might take another 30 minutes at the very least. The police are clearing the way. And the transport helicopters are also on the way." "Okay," Wil nodded and he turned towards the general and said, "scare them a little bit." The one-star general nodded and gave an order to one of the pilots. And quickly, one round of bullets was shot near Blair and his guards that are outside, making them move back in fear. "Okay, what do you guys want here," He asked loudly as he raised his hands. Chapter 185: Rescuing Scarlet part-2 Outside of Viper gang''s HQ; Blair Badger roared at the police at the top of his lungs after getting scared by an attack from the helicopter. "What the hell do you guys want with me?" The police followed their orders and didn''t reply to him. They just stood in their place while the two helicopters also didn''t engage after firing a few rounds. Blair felt that their silence was even scarier. So, he asked again, "okay, now, tell me, what''s the problem. Are you here to arrest me or something? Or is it a drug raid Just open your f**k**g mouths God dammit" Another round was fired by the helicopter, nearby their feet, this time, making him almost lose his balance and get caught by his guards. Suddenly, one of the guards whispered something in his ears. "Fine, suit yourselves." Narrowing his eyes towards those two helicopters, Blair turned around and entered the compound while a few guards stood at the entrance with their guns. The police didn''t care about it. They continued to wait until everyone arrives. They were also excited inside themselves to clean this garbage and make their city clean. It''s just that their city police commissioner never gave such permission before, so, they were frustrated every day, to free them even after arresting the Viper gang with evidence. Now that they have got a chance, they will sure to eradicate the Viper gang. Meanwhile, in the limousine, Wil nodded in satisfaction after Blair backed away. "Mr. Ravens, I don''t understand why are waiting for others? We can just tell our demands, right? Those two vehicles are armed with even missiles. They are enough to take them down." Upon hearing this legion R''s deputy commander''s question, Wil can''t help but bursts into a laugh, "do you really think so, general? Don''t overestimate your military too much" While the one-star general frowned a bit, Silver explained, "each mafia group that controls the city has their own weapon factory, and research department to develop new weapons. They have a lot of means to counter those missiles or machine guns. That''s why the Federation was never able to control the Western Continent. If we are going for a war, you should prepare for casualties" "And that''s why we are not going for a war, Silver." Wil interrupted him, "this is where 500 soldiers and police are necessary. My motto is to force your enemy to kneel before you rather than killing him." Both of them looked at Wil in silence. Silver then once again remembered a memory of Mafia Lord Louis, the grandfather of Wil. It was around 22 years ago when Louis retired and pass the position to his son Philip. Silver and Storm are smiling in happiness for their friend. When letting him take the seat, Louis said, "Remember Phil. Our motto shouldn''t be destroying our enemies but it is to force them to kneel before us. That''s how you''ll keep this position. Otherwise, you''ll make too many enemies and trigger a rebellion." Back to the present, Silver shook his head, putting the thought away, and reminded himself that they are no longer a part of the Mafia. In the meantime, Blair started giving orders to his right hand, "Steve, let''s bring out the big guns and inform everyone to come here asap. Do these mo***r f*****s think I''ll afraid if they had the support of a couple of helicopters that can shoot down from the sky? Guess what! We can blow up anytime we want" "But Sir, our men can''t. The roads are blocked by the police. If they are targeting us, then they won''t make it here, not with those things in the sky." Realizing the problem Blair then asked, "how many men do we have here?" "82 Sir. If we exclude housekeeping staff, hostages, those two call girls" He shut his mouth as soon as he earned a glare from his boss. "82 are more than enough to hold down our fort." Blair nodded, "Bring out all the grenade launchers, bazookas. We''ll first blow up those things in the sky and take out the rest The police need to know who''s the boss here." Five minutes later; "Hahaha" Blair laughed as he grabbed a bazooka, "It''s been a long time since I''m" But his happiness was short-lived. His words were cut off by his right hand who had a panic written on his face after he disconnects the call. "Sir, there are now, four attack helicopters in the sky." Just as Blair was about to retort that it isn''t a big deal, Steve continued, "there are also sightings of dozen transport helicopters, and our boys saw a lot of parachutes in the sky. And there are a couple of military tanks and several jeeps entered the city and heading this way. The police are clearing the way. Looks like the lockdown has something to do with this" Blair was stunned on the spot, hearing the report. "The military is involved in this, not just lending a hand?" *Ring*Ring* Steve picked up the call. "Yes, Casey Terrorists? What?" "Which Channel?" "Every channel?" Steve was taken aback by the news and quickly opened a news channel on his mobile phone. Sir, you need to look at this." As Blair watched the news on the WCN channel and his eyes widened his shock and the bazooka slips from his hand and hit his leg. In the channel, five to six buildings in a 5-acre compound were shown up from the sky. On the side of the screen, a news reporter is speaking, "Claimed by the police commissioner, a terrorist group named Eclipse entered the city this afternoon. Under the order of our western continent''s police chief, Mr. Walter Rodin, the police commissioner acted early and has ordered the police to lock down the city. According to our sources, it looks like Viper Group had been sheltering the terrorist. Now, as you can see, the police confirmed our information. The police surrounded the compound and asked him to hand over the group but it looks like the Viper Group''s chairman, Mr. Blair Badger is keen on refusing the negotiation." Then a video clip of him returning to the compound and closing the gates played on the news channel. "This fu****g media, when the hell did those police proposed a negotiation and when did I refuse it. Wait a second" He then looked at Steve and asked, "are those terrorists hiding in our compound?" Steve shook his head, "No, Sir. There wasn''t any unauthorized entry unless they were able to climb the 6-meter wall equipped with wires at the top that generates enough power to kill an average human in instant. I think they are using terrorists as a diversion to take us out" Meanwhile, after repeating the clip, a few more times, the reporter continued, "But, the citizens don''t need to fear. The military is helping out the police. Sightings of military vehicles are seen" They played the clip of tanks and jeeps, and then the landings of the soldiers nearby the Viper gang HQ. "We neither know the name of this terrorist nor we found any pictures of them but the military''s actions tell us that they are indeed a dangerous threat to our society." Then, the reporter disappeared and the live coverage is being shown as they were recording from drones in several parts of the city. Blair slammed the phone onto his face in anger, "you mean, all of this for us, a tiny gang of this mere first-tier city? Look Is this how it really seemed? It seems as if they are planning a f**k**g siege on city" *Fuuu* Taking a long breath, Blair caught his collar and looked him in the eye, "listen, carefully. I don''t want the police or any army to step inside my compound, you understand that? I need all of our boys to search every corner. If they climb the wall, and there are no dead bodies, that means, they must be heavily injured. Find them..." One hour later, Steve received a negative message from everyone aside from a hostage who was locked in a storage room. They didn''t take it seriously as they never kept tabs on kidnapping. After all, there are at least 15 people like Scarlet who are currently being held, hostage. Just at that time, Steve''s phone rang. He looked at Blair and said, "Sir, it''s the commissioner." "Give it to me." Blair took it and picked up the call. "Hello." "Hello, Mr. Badger, this is Edward Hart, Hailey city police commissioner." "Yes, I know who you are Look, I had my men search every corner here. There is no sight of this terrorist group. You have the wrong information." Then, only a simple reply was heard from the other side, "let''s negotiate." The voice was somehow familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time Chapter 186: Rescuing Scarlet part-3 "Let''s negotiate." Instead of the police commissioner, he heard a young man''s voice, which seemed familiar for some reason but he can''t put his finger on it. He thought the speaker must be the army general who is willing to negotiate with it. "There''s a limousine parked outside." The young man didn''t speak any unnecessary words and disconnected the call. Blair didn''t get a chance to say Yes. He felt as if he was being ordered but then, hearing the sound of helicopters up there, he once again remembered what position he is in now, and quickly started to walk. "Steve, is there a limousine parked outside?" He asked while climbing down the stairs. "Wait a second." Steve then called the security that are guarding the gate and confirmed about it, "yes. There is one that''s behind the police vehicles." He stopped at once and took a long breathe, "Police, huh" Then, he continued to climb down the stairs. "Steve, do one thing. Order our boys to bring out all the explosives we have and be on standby. I also need explosive vests on our hostages, here. As for the boys who are at the branches, I need them to get ready with RDX to blow up the city. If I go down, then, I''ll drag the entire city with me, starting with these hostages right in front of them. You get ready. I''ll go outside to negotiate." After giving orders to his right-hand man, Blair bravely walked towards the gates. But, just as the gate is opened, his heart quickened its speed, looking at so many weapons and lasers pointing at him. He looked up in the sky. Along with four attack helicopters, there are 3 drones, getting the live coverage. "There are no terrorists in my compound. I''m here to negotiate. Let''s talk this out." He shouted loudly to the police on purpose to get justification but he didn''t know that the news channel didn''t bother to go near him to record his statement. They just want a scoop and they were getting it. A billionaire who owns many casinos and clubs, who ruled the city unofficially is now cowering in fear under the might of the government. How cool is that Of course, the real reason is their goal for high TRP. "Mr. Ravens, he''s here," The police commissioner said as he received the message from the walkie-talkie. Wil nodded. "Give him the way," The commissioner passed out another order and the police escorted him to the limousine. Realizing something, Wil quickly addressed the vice commander, "General Russo, tell your men to cover the vehicle. I don''t want us to be spotted by the media." "Yes." Russo nodded before passing the orders. A few moments later, Blair was escorted towards the limousine. As the door was opened, the soldiers quickly covered the drones'' vision, not letting them capture even the silhouette of Wil and other people. Meanwhile, Blair widened his eyes in shock as he saw two unexpected people in the vehicle. "Silver? Ravens?" Something clicked in his mind and he growled at Wil, "Are you the one behind this?" As Silver attempting to take out the gun, Wil stopped him and looked at Blair, "take the seat." Looking sideways at the military, he clenched his fist and sat opposite of Wil, beside the commissioner. "So, this is a trap, huh!" As soon as Blair saw the two of them, he realized that there''s no such thing as a terrorist group. It was done these two from behind the scenes and trapped him, using the police, army, and media. At the same time, he also felt relief on his chest as these people aren''t here to arrest/kill him. Not to mention, Wil isn''t Philip. He''s just a kid in Blair''s eyes. Despite feeling angry on the outside, he was also relaxed inside. But then, Wil''s words shook his heart. "You are really dared to abduct my mom, Mr. Badger. Do you think Vulture''s wings are cut off just because it decides to settle elsewhere?" "What?" Blair was taken aback and hit his back to the seat, feeling an extreme chill in the car. No, it''s more like Wil was emanating it, at that moment. "Wha What are are you talking about?" He stuttered as he asked while feeling shocked inside, ''this brat isn''t even 20 years and I''m feeling fear?'' "I said Where is my mom?" Wil asked again with each other loud and clear in his ears. "I don''t know what you are talking about. Your mother died 20 years ago, didn''t she?" Wil frowned as he was seeing a look of confusion on Blair while he was replying. "Silver." Wil raised his hand. Silver quickly handed the tablet. He opened the images captured by the satellite, 90 minutes ago and shoved the tablet to his chest. "Then, care to tell me, what the f**k is this" *Ugh* Ignoring the pain, Blair looked at the picture. What he saw wasn''t Scarlet but in his eyes, it''s Andrea as he doesn''t know they are twins. As soon as he looked at the first picture, Blair''s entire body shook with fear. The hairs on his legs and hands stood up. Sweat is starting to pour down from his forehead. Wil saw a clear panic on his face. It was filled with so much fear that made Wil wonder just how fearsome is his Aunt. Then, Wil leaned forward and took the tablet from him, not intending to clear the misunderstandings. "Haha My boys must be must be crazy to to abduct this dem I mean, this lovely lady," Blair stuttered once again, worrying whether the boys will remain alive by the time he returns since he ordered them to plant explosive vests on the hostages. "I I I will tell them to release her. Then, we we have. Have a deal, right?" As Blair looked at him in anticipation, Wil shook his head, "you don''t need to. We can raze this compound to the ground and save my mother." Blair felt like this is possible, right now. He nodded like a chick listening to his mother hen. Wil then, raised three fingers, "Three conditions." "What is it?" Blair decides to agree to whatever he will be offered. Right now, what''s important is his life. It doesn''t matter how many hostages or explosive he has. The police might listen, the army might listen, even Wil might listen, but the demon in his house won''t listen. Once she decides to kill someone, there''s no place in the world he and his men can hide. "One, to release all the hostages." Wil closed the middle finger. Blair agreed instantly, "sure." "Two, you will dissolve the Viper gang and your men will leave this city." Blair''s face froze on the spot. Meanwhile, the police commissioner had a big smile on his face since his request to Wil has been voice out. "Dissolving isn''t a problem but leaving the city is" Blair felt troubled. Wil smiled, "well, if your boys don''t leave the city, then, we''ll force them to leave this planet. I brought an army equipped with well enough arms that potentially can destroy this whole city, after all." Originally he wants to scare the police commissioner and the general about how he can kill the hostages to negotiate but now, his plan failed. On the inside, there''s a demon waiting for him. Forget about killing her, he would be lucky if she doesn''t massacre everyone else. On the outside, there''s a battalion that can destroy them either way if he doesn''t listen to the demand. Right now, he felt very safe in this car than in his building. So, he agreed to it, "I and my boys will leave the city and won''t ever return." Wil then closed his thumb and pointed the remaining index finger towards him, "You will surrender yourself to the police." Before Blair reacts, the commissioner added, "Mr. Badger, you will be granted immunity and a new identity if you turn into an informer." A couple of minutes later, as he stepped outside of the car like a lifeless body, the general sounded disappointed, "is that it? I didn''t expect we are returning like this, without any battle." Then, he looked at the commissioner, "Mr. Hart, I''m sure you only need this gang leader, right? Why don''t we exterminate the rest of those scum They''ll become trouble elsewhere too" "There will no bloodshed," Wil shook his head and smiled to him, "General Russo, ever applied the law of success during a war?" Russo sighed, "I understand what you are trying to remind me. It''s the motto of our division." The commissioner asked, "what are you two talking about?" Wil then answered, "Success that''s obtained by negotiations is the best. Success which acquired by the disunion of enemies only temporary while success that is secured by battle is the worst." ''But, what you did isn''t a negotiation. It''s a demand, though,'' the same thought appeared in the rest of their minds. Chapter 187: Rescuing Scarlet part-4 Viper Gang Headquarters, Hailey city; *Creak* The metal door opened, and the sunlight illuminated the room, revealing a woman in her late thirties sleeping in relax mode. The sound of the creak jolted the woman from her sleep and she looked at the guard who entered the storage room. "You, come with me," he spoke to her, pointing a gun at her. Her eyes widened in response, not because of the gun but the sounds of helicopters in the sky. Her ears perked up, and she mumbled to herself, "one, two, three No, it''s four." She thought, ''this little gang doesn''t need four choppers. And they seemed like they aren''t landing on the helipad but just hovering around.'' "What are you mumbling about? Come" He gripped her arm tightly while freeing her and then, dragged her outside. She takes a look at the sky. ''I knew it. Attack Helicopters. They are military. Wait a second. That''s Boeing Apache That''s a twin-turboshaft one... Only the legion R used to possess those. How do these guys provoke them? Or is it Wil and Silver? But, the Vulture group doesn''t have ties with the military. Or maybe, they have made connections within these past 6 years.'' While she was in deep thinking mode, the guard took her to the hostage place, a seven-story building specifically designed to hold hostages like her. Unlike their reputation, they don''t torture and bring anything uncomfortable to the hostages. Those who were kidnapped will be given the best food, nice accommodation with all facilities, including even a bathtub. It''s more like a five-star hotel level boarding house than a hostage building. Of course, the bill will add up on ransom money at the end. There are also hostages who would think about why would they leave such a nice place. At first, they will enjoy the luxury but soon, they will realize the bill increases exponentially and they can''t afford to pay it. The longer they stay, the greater their bill will be. The Viper gang then traps their families with high-interest loans from a bank they had a link with. After all the options to get their freedom were gone, only two choices will be left. Either getting sold to the underground slave-market or getting their organs extracted and die. This is something that every police knows but they are helpless because of their higher-ups. They want to punish Blair at all costs but after investigating this, they realized it wasn''t only Hailey city, the mafia gangs that are ruling other cities also have a similar system. That''s why, they want to turn Blair into an informer, extracting all the evidence they want against the other gangs. Silver was taken aback after hearing it, how they managed such a thing under the Vulture group''s radar and wondered whether their group is also involved or not. After returning to the city, he decided to confront Storm about it since he''s the one who looks over such matters. Silver only looked over the casinos, the Ravens'' Mansion security, and the Assassination missions. He was clueless about other things. Finding the right opportunity, the police commissioner requested and convinced Wil, who agreed without any hesitation and added two more conditions. He won''t spare such scum even if they are in his own group. But, what they don''t know is that the general had already planned to eradicate this scum after the deal is over whether Wil and the police agreed to it or not. While Blair is listening to Wil''s demands in a limo, Scarlet was taken to the dining section where everyone gathered in a hall to their knees and wore explosive vests. More than thirty men are surroundings these 12 hostages and she joined them. The guard pushed her, "now, wear it. Or else, this bullet will penetrate your skull." The guard pointed the gun to her head. Looking at the fearful expressions on the hostages whose lives suddenly turned upside down, and then, at the guards, she cooperated with him and wore the vest. Steve then addressed everyone, "Don''t need to worry. Like I always said, we will take care of hostages with hospitality. Once this situation is over, you all will go back to your lodgings." Of course, none of them bought it. Except for two to three of them, everyone started pleading to let them talk to their families and their ransom will be paid no matter what... But, Steve didn''t listen and shot the bullet into the air. "Silence. Now be" *Ring*Ring* *Shush* He gestured everyone to be silent and picked up the call, "Sir" "Release all the hostages, right now." He heard a voice from the other end, except that it sounds shaky. "Sir, are you alright?" Steve asked him with worry. "Just reply yes and do as I say, you dumb f****r. By the time, if I even see one explosive jacket on them" Steve didn''t let him finish the sentence and said, "it will be done." After a while, Blair entered the hall while everyone had this puzzled look at what''s happening with their situation suddenly changed. Only Scarlet was calm and collected, already knowing what might have happened. But, she was still confused why Blair has this scared look on him. It''s not like they lack weapons to counter those helicopters unless there''s a huge army outside. The first thing Blair did after entering the hall is to look at the hostages. He spotted Scarlet in the middle of them and scurried towards them before bowing to her, "Greetings, Madam Smith. Our boys didn''t make you uncomfortable, right?" Scarlet was taken aback while the rest of the hostages turned their heads towards her, thinking that she must have a great background that he can''t offend. Blair continued, "I truly don''t know who dared to kidnap you for ransom. I definitely didn''t give the order." At that moment, Scarlet was sure that he was thinking that she''s Andrea. She didn''t correct him either. Like mother, like son. Scarlet nodded, "fine. Let me just leave. My husband must be worrying about me." "Husband?" Blair took a step back in surprise, "Mafia Lord Philip is alive?" "Her husband is the Mafia Lord?" All the guards shivered for a second, especially the one who caught her on the premises and lock up in the storage room. He already started to sweat. "No, Philip''s my ex." Upon hearing her statement, Blair connected all the dots in his mind. Andrea is the real mother of Williard and a person named Scarlet was nothing but a ruse to hide her identity. It''s no wonder they can''t find anything about her but her name. Both of them must be divorced and she''s now living with another man. People say responding with silence for a statement is half agreeing. But, silence is also the one that causes misunderstandings "Your son and I have negotiated a deal, Ms. Smith. After this, you''ll never see me again. I hope you won''t hold a grudge against me." Scarlet stayed silent and responded with a simple nod. Then, he started escorting all the hostages personally to the gate. On the way, the hostages thanked her for helping them. She isn''t brazen enough to accept such undeserving compliments. So, she simply asked them to thank his son, instead. As they neared the gate, the police sirens echoed in her ears and she thought, that girl who the kidnapper wasn''t really exaggerating about how her son mobilized the entire police force. The gate was opened and the hostages stepped out and panicked at first sight of dozens of policemen and hundreds of arms aiming at them with the weapons. ''Just what is the background of this lady?'' The same thought rang in all the hostages'' minds. Meanwhile, inside the limo, Wil smiled in satisfaction, and looked at the General, "now, I want a missile to blow up an uninhabited house in the old district." General Russo nodded. "Silver, call the news channels and relay the news of terrorists being dead without ashes under the attack. As for their identifications, use some long-dead people of our enemies It''s best if they belong to the disbanded Mafia gangs." Silver immediately thought of Bridge family and replied, "I will get it done." As the hostages were escorted by the police, Wil then looked at his mother who was looking straight towards him. Tears welled up in her eyes. At that moment, he felt as if he was visible to her. Believing that seeing through the glass with a dark shade from outside is impossible if they are standing far away, Wil turned his head to the other side. "Silver, take my mother home and join me at the Airport. Commissioner Hart, General Russo, thank you for your cooperation. We have to part our ways here." After shaking the hands, both of them got down along with Silver, who walked towards Scarlet and apologized to her. She waved her hand, "it''s not your fault, Silver. I was the one who asked you a favor." She pointed to the limo with her eyes, "is Williard inside?" Silver sighed, "I''m sorry but the Young Master doesn''t wish to see you, Lady Scarlet. He''s probably thinking that it''s his fault that you are targeted. If we hadn''t met you, then, you would have been safe" Scarlet fell silent, not knowing how to respond. Upon informing her about Wil''s intentions, he proceeds to tell her something they failed to tell last time that the Vulture group has been dissolved for good and Wil is now operating a gaming company along with an IT corporation. The limo started to move while Scarlet looked at it, and clenched her fist, deciding not to give up on completing her family now that there''s nothing stopping her, neither Philip nor his Vulture group. She said in a firm tone, "Silver, I decided to move to Leafway city with my family. Can you arrange it?" Chapter 188: Supreme Masters betrayal Ares City; In a private booth of a bar, a young man in his mid-twenties is standing before a thirty-year-old young man and his 20-year-old younger brother alongside three guards who have a crocodile tattoo at the side of their necks. All three of them wore suits and shades, standing like a statue with no emotions on their faces as if they are puppets. The young man is currently shivering from top to bottom, thinking of his failure in the last mission, he carried out. He is none other than Supreme Master while the two young men sitting before are the heirs of the most powerful Yakuza family of the Eastern Continent. Despite being counterparts of the Mafia, they are considered weaker with the government controlling their activities quite a bit close. Since casinos are banned in the Eastern Continent, their main income comes from either selling weapons or drugs. Supreme Master explained everything from start to finish, leaving behind nothing for how everything went wrong in the hopes of getting spared. After hearing him out, Takemoto Koji, the head of the Tojo clan pushed a silver card towards the young man. "As promised, this is your reward. 20 million Yuan." "But, Sir, we weren''t able to anything." The young man replied, refusing to take the money. "If my brother is saying to take it, then, take it, you tactless fool" The rich young master growled and threw the card towards him. He was taken aback and caught it in reflex. "Karasu-kun" Takemoto called his grandson, and said, "he isn''t our employee that you can talk like that" Then, he glanced at Supreme Master, "regardless of everything, the task is being completed. Doesn''t matter whether it''s lucky. Results matter the most. You can sit and have a drink, by the way." The young man waved his hands, "it''s alright." Takemoto shrugged his shoulders and continued, "this is your next mission. Merge all the guilds in the city but talk with that Time Traveler, first. You don''t need to give any reason for him to suspect you. Prepare a good reason to convince him. No matter what, East Ocean city should be in our hands. If you do it, the reward will be five times the previous amount." "500 million credits?" Supreme Master gasped and then, nodded with excitement, "I understand. I will complete the task." "Good, then. Get going." Takemoto nodded with a smile. Just as Supreme Master turned around, he stopped him, "Oh! Wait a second. I forgot about something. Here''s a piece of information for you. In the upcoming update, contracts will be introduced in the game. Make sure you have abundant Appraisers with you." "Contracts?" Supreme Master looked at him with a clueless expression. "It means, one can''t leave the guild without paying proper compensation. A new Vampire race will also be introduced. I''m not sure how many but the races going to have limited spots. Things really going to get complicated in the game." After thanking him, Supreme Master left the bar. The younger brother then spoke, "Nii-san, do you really need to waste that much money on something trivial? And how can you be afraid of such one person? He was just" "Karasu" Suddenly, Takemoto''s face turned serious, "you brat, until when would you stop underestimating people. Didn''t you get your ass kicked by Crimson Sun because you unnecessarily provoked him? The fight with the Crimson guild is still going on because of that" The young brother mumbled as he looked away, "I''m not the one who provoked them. He provoked me by sheltering that traitor of Zebro " Takemoto then caught his shoulder from behind, "take this to your head clearly. It''s been more than 200 years since our gang entered this business, and yet, neither the previous Emperors nor the Federation was able to touch us. Do you know why?" "Because we are awesome?" The younger brother naively replied, making Takemoto clenched his fist, controlling to not beat up this idiotic brother. He took a deep breath and replied, "It is because we know how to survive. We know when to hide and when to attack. There''s a reason our symbol is a crocodile. Unless the prey is in our water, we should have enough patience to hide and wait." The foolish younger brother scratched his head, not getting his brother''s point. *** Hailey City Airport; Aster and Wil sat across each other nearby a coffee shop, waiting for Silver, who was on his way. After a long silence, Aster spoke as he read the message, "Young Master, Silver just dropped Lady Scarlet at home and board a taxi. He said he''ll be here in 30 minutes." Wil nodded in silence as he takes a sip while looking at his mobile phone. "Young Master, about that, earlier" As Aster was trying to say something, Wil spoke, "you don''t need to explain. I know that you are following Silver''s orders, right. But, I was still disappointed, Aster. After all, you work for me, not for Silver." "I apologize, Young Master." Aster stood up from his seat and bowed, "I''m willing to accept any punishment." "Yes. That is something you won''t avoid. You will take responsibility for joining a scheme, behind my back, Aster." Wil raised his head and smiled, looking straight into his eyes. "if you want to earn my forgiveness" Aster gulped, and asked, "what should I do, Young Master. Please, order me." He bowed again, attracting a few passengers at the airport. Taking a sip, Wil replied, "not here" 11 hours later; Leafway city Airport; The flight landed and the three of them along with the five guards exited the airport. The vehicle started to move with Silver and Wil sitting in the back, leaving behind Aster, who was being punished by reaching the apartment by foot, which is at least 30 km away from the airport. "Silver, is the list ready?" Wil asked, all of a sudden. "List?" At first, he was taken aback but then, as Wil clarified about the task he was given, a while ago, he replied, "Ah! The list for the game It was done long ago." He took a tablet out of his backpack and showed him the list, which was compiled by Storm. "A total of 162 Elites from all the branches." "Only 162?" Wil frowned in response as he expected at least 500 of them since they have branches in 28 cities with over 3500 staff. Silver smiled bitterly, "Our standards for Elites is a lot higher and we should also leave half of the people." "What about the ones that followed us, here?" Wil then asked about the boys from the Vulture group who were migrated to Ares City and Leafway city respectively. "We have a total of 127 Elites from our Vulture group. 645 of them are separated into several batches and are transferred to different branches. Currently, you can say our company is overflowing with staff, everywhere. Jordon isn''t sure whether the company is going to generate huge profits at this rate." "I know." Wil nodded his head, "I''ve taken that into consideration. How''s it going with our Professional gamers?" "Hmm, did you forgot? We already appointed Miss Long to oversee the company" Silver reminded him. "I see" Wil stayed silent for a while as he almost forgot about this capable ex-secretary of Lu Hebei. He suddenly gets an idea and said, "Inform Aster to visit Director Long Jing on the way and get the details in person." "On the way? It''s atleast 10 km away. Don''t you think it''s a bit too much of punishment?" As Silver confronted him about it, Wil answered, "Silver, I give you the right to worry about my well-being but Aster doesn''t have that right. He is my personal bodyguard whose job is to protect my life. What if one day, both you and I become enemies for some reason?" Silver was taken aback, "why would we become enemies. Young Master, I swore to" Wil quickly stopped him, "I''m just saying, what if. It''s a hypothetical situation. Then, can I trust my life to such a person?" Silver fell silent. Wil continued, "it''s not about right or wrong. You are right on your side and I''m right on mine. It''s a matter of whose words have more weight for him." After a long silence, he nodded, "I understand." Wil then passed another series of commands, "There''s something else you need to do. I need all of our boys from the Vulture group to migrate to Leafway city. Arrange their accommodations. It might cause a little bit of commotion in the city council and the police department. So, have a talk with the city police commissioner and the Mayor. I don''t want those foolish detectives to cause trouble over nothing In return, our boys will co-operate with the police in solving the cases if they ever needed help. Oh, and also cut back the staff to half and tell Miss Long that I need SGC''s branches in atleast 20 cities. It doesn''t matter whether they are Elites or not. Transfer those who are willing to join me in the virtual world and double their salaries. From now onwards, all of their salaries will be paid by SGC. Or should I say, Scarlet guild Finally, invite the Miyazaki family and General Cooper for a formal dinner. I should at least thank them in person. Ask them when they will be available to visit the city. We should also discuss the details regarding engagement and alliance with Galaxy Net." Silver just stared at him in a daze, wondering whether it''s still the Young Master he knew all along. He wondered, how do a mere six weeks of living in a different environment changes a person this much. It wasn''t the first time he has seen the changes but after seeing him for 19 long years, it surprises him every time Wil takes a decision, whether it''s regarding the game, engagement, taking over Heibei corp., saving his mother, or right now "Hmm, what''s wrong?" Wil asked him, who was just staring at him in silence. Silver shook his head, "Nothing." One hour later; Scarlet Apartments, Leafway City; *Exhale* "Home Sweet Home," Wil smiled as he returned to his apartment after a long flight. Despite living here for only six weeks and don''t have any attachments from his previous life, he felt like it is home for some reason. Because of the eight-hour time difference, only a couple of hours has been passed and it''s still evening. Wil slept soundly until the next morning. *Tring*Tring* The alarm woke him up at sharp 5 A.M. Having a toast and omelet as a quick breakfast, he inserted the chip into the capsule and then, entered to log in. "Fuu" Pressing the login button, Wil let out a deep breath, "The foundation of my Empire has been built in the game. I don''t have anything left to do in the outside world either. Bran, Sierra, One, Magi, Wisdom Queen, Dream, Supreme Conqueror, Supreme Master, and so on All of you had fun all along until now." *Welcome to War Online* A grin appeared on Wil as he appeared at the Mayor''s Mansion, "But, it disappears soon. The era of Mafia is going to begin" Chapter 189: Archangel Michaels inheritor NPC Training grounds, Deloris town; More than 3000 members of the Scarlet guild gathered at the training grounds. Usually, this is the place where NPC will teach players, basic techniques in exchange for a fee. At the end of their training, every player would receive a random skill. Those who can''t afford to spend time/money outside at the classes will attend here at a cheaper price. But right now, here on the grounds, neither a sight of a single NPC can be seen nor the player who wanted to train. It was currently booked by the Scarlet guild or should one say, "Occupied". After all, Wil is appointed as the Governor of the Eldershore region. Along with Eldershore city and Deloris town, he also holds absolute authority over the NPC town of Oclus along with the player town of Star. No one is more surprised than guild leader Starlight upon receiving the system announcement. At that moment, he really regretted building his town in this region. Starlight only wants to use Wil''s military to fortify his town until their average levels increase to 300. How could he have expected that Wil suddenly becomes the Governor... Now, he has no choice but to sit in Wil''s boat, no matter how high the waves going to hit it. Back to the training grounds, Evie (SnowDew), Aster (Shadow Blade), RockFist, Hyori (Yelir), and a few other Elites who were contracted stood together before their guild members. The guild members stood in a group, 120 per each batch before their respective examiners. All of the examiners have a list of names with them who were selected. Everyone is silent, anticipating the results. A day earlier, each batch led by their examiner to the wild zones and dungeons to test their strength in PVE and then, made them participate in Arena for PVP. In the middle of those 3000 members, there is an average looking teenager, who has a worried look on his face. His name is Louis Knight with the same ign and he is a high school freshman. If one considers his background, he is nothing special. Average grades, Parents are school teachers, Average appearance, no girlfriend, etc But, he harbors a deep secret. Louis looked at the squad captains of the guild and then glanced at the holographic screen before him. Quest: Get the Ancient Tome of Michael from player Time Traveler. Description: Archangel Michael, one of the ten demi-gods sealed all of his power into the tome before he died. As someone who was recognized by the spirit of Michael and acquired his weapons, you have to acquire his legacy at all costs. Rewards: Inheritance of Archangel Michael. That''s right Louis is the one who found the tomb of Archangel Michael and acquired one mythic grade gun and one legendary grade belt but there was no book there. For whatever reasons, the book was unfortunately auctioned in the system auction house and landed in the hands of Wil. Without inheritance, Louis can''t use the weapons. So, he joined the guild the moment they started to recruit. Because he isn''t very skilled in either fighting or strategizing, he decided to work on the contribution, instead. Aster then addressed everyone, "those who were selected in the Elite division, please step forward and stand behind our back." "Yelir" Aster gestured her to start as she''s in charge of the first group. Hyori started to speak about the results of group 1. "First, Elite-division" Those who were sorted into group 1 became alerted, not intending to think about anything else. Meanwhile, a few people from other groups glanced at a certain girl nearby them. The same goes for a certain young man who was standing in the front line. "Congratulations, Misty Mermaid, Mimetic, Salpinx, and Red Dragon." Everyone immediately nodded as they expected Misty Mermaid to be selected. Her progress in the past week is indeed clear to everyone else. As for Red Dragon, it''s obvious since he''s famous in East Ocean city who leads the Imperial guild to the top as the Vice guild leader. The four of them walked forward and stood behind them. Even though they stood apart only a few meters, the rest of the guild members as if the distance between the four of them and the rest increased by a lot. Hyori continued, "Now, A-division Congratulations, Abiland, Mirosa, Castory" A total of 28 members were selected in the remaining 116 making everyone gasp at once. The rest of them were dropped into B-division. The standards of the Scarlet guild are indeed very high. This is the thought everyone had at the moment. Louis started to worry. Hyori stepped back and one of the Elites stepped forward with a list. As a former thug who was used to collect protection money from the vendors, his mere glare put a lot of pressure on these na?ve teenagers and college students. "Elite-division: None." "A-division: None." His declaration made everyone stunned while the other Elites turned their heads towards him. Feeling the gaze, he quickly explained to Aster, "Boss, I evaluated them on courage. When facing more than ten common grade beasts, none of them even tried to fight. They just try to run away and add more enemies to the back In my opinion, it''s okay to be a fool rather than be a wimp. Even if their contribution and level are high, I can''t pass them I apologize." "Very well." Aster nodded to him and then spoke to group 2, "Guild leaders told me that the examiner should have every right on the result. In the Scarlet guild, the Elites division isn''t just made up of strong individuals. It is also where the guild leader will place his trust in them. That''s why, as a member of the Elites division, his opinion will be considered. So, all of you are dropped to the B-division. Better luck, next time." Evaluations continued. Some were happy with their results while some are unhappy and felt wrong. Some people also felt it''s unfair that their examiner''s evaluation is too strict compared to others. They can''t help but blame their bad luck. Soon, Aster''s turn arrived. "Group-24. Elite''s Division: None" Everyone sighed, expecting it. After hearing out other evaluations, most of them already dropped their hopes. "A-division: Congratulations " Louis'' heart started beating heavily. Well, not literally but he felt like that as Aster speaking a name one by one. "Louis Knight, Ixia, and Calcar. That''s it. The rest of you guys are dropped to B-division." ''Yes'' Louis clenched his fist in excitement and a wide smile appeared on his face, ''I made it to A-division. My next goal is to enter the Elite Division, get closer to Time Traveler, and acquire the tome. If it doesn''t work, I can still sell the weapons. After all, even if these two pieces of equipment are useless to everyone, it is indeed useful to Time Traveler. I can at least sell it to him for ten million dollars. That''s an amount I can''t earn in my life.'' Soon, three more groups'' results are out. With only 457 members are selected to A-division, everyone dispersed with mixed feelings, leaving behind 36 members who stood behind the Elites. Aster addressed them, "Once again, congratulations on getting selected for the main/Elite division." They too cheered for themselves with a clap. Aster continued, "But, as you know, according to the rules, only those who are contracted to the guild can enter the division. A salary of ten thousand dollars per month, one year contract. The salary can be changed after every monthly evaluation by the guild leader. You can either sign a contract with the guild or you can choose to be free and stay in A-division. We''ll give you a day of time. If you decided, our representative will meet you personally and handle the process." Unlike the last time, all of them just agreed on the spot, bringing a smile to Aster''s face. Meanwhile, at an unnamed island in North Grennola Ocean; *Ding! You killed the big head tortoise. *Ding! You have reached the maximum level. You received 0 exp. *Ding! A sea orb has been obtained. "Finally" Wil sighed in relief as he collected all the necessary parts. Then, he mumbled, "Ravens'' Warship status." A holographic screen appeared before him. On the right side, there''s a picture of a huge ship with several holes, and on the left, the details are written. Ravens'' Warship Grade: Legendary Owner: Time Traveler Status: Heavily Damaged. Durability (HP): 10 m/ 100 B Cannons: 35 Cannonballs: 196 Crew: 0 Skills: Invisibility (Level1): Can turn invisible for 1 minute/ Cost: 100 mana points. CD: 60 minutes. All out Cannon: Take control of all the cannons and fire the cannonballs automatically without the need for manual labor for 5 minutes. Cost: 500 mana points. CD: 120 minutes. On the bottom of the screen, there''s an option of Repair. He clicked on it. The screen loaded for a while. *Ding! 9999 Sea orbs have been deducted from inventory. Warship''s durability increased by 99,990,000,000. *Ding! The Warship has been completely repaired. With a thought in his mind, an enormous ship has been summoned on the surface of the ocean. Looking at the brand new warship, Wil jumped on it and climbed down. The cannons were placed perfectly, 16 on both side, and 3 on behind. Cannonballs and the barrels of wine are neatly arranged. The electricity is running well, although it runs while charging 1 gold coin per week. Wil entered the control room. Besides the steering wheel, there are monitors that are displaying the view on different sides of the ship on each screen. There''s also a fist-sized red button, which has an extraordinary ability. Wil smiled as he pushed it. Chapter 190: Seer Astaria island, a district once part of the capital region of the kingdom of Athledon, now, under the rule of a noble family of Astaria. After the fall of Athledon, just like Ormshire Island, it was taken over by one of the noble families of the kingdom, and ever since then, it is ruled by them. It was every other day on the island. Streets are bustling with people. Soldiers are patrolling here and there. However, different races are accepted here. Two men are walking side by side in the market to meet a certain person. They are Wil and the fallen Prince Hugo. Everywhere they go, people around started to give them strange looks, especially Wil. Even though the island is full of tourists, they never saw a creature with pure and beautiful wings like Wil. It might also because of the luxurious Prince robes he was wearing. It also added a certain effect on common folks. Wil is too busy to take care of the gazes they are giving, right now. "So, are you sure this guy will have the information?" Wil asked Hugo while hoping to complete the quest as soon as possible before the update arrives. "Yeah, he''s the one who foretold me that I will meet the destined person who will help me reclaim my kingdom," Hugo replied, implying that it was him. ''Bullsh*t.'' Wil thought, ''he''s just referring to the first player who set on that island.'' After taking many turns, they reached a dark alley, a narrow road that''s leading to the underground market. As they entered the black market, Wil saw various weapons and accessories that are put up on sale. Sadly, the highest grade he can found is heroic and every piece of equipment is around level 250-300. So, he didn''t bother to exchange the Llyne gold for Athledon gold, which at the moment is a 1:1 ratio, but also didn''t stroll around further after losing interest and followed Hugo to a run-down store. The store''s full of miscellaneous things like scrolls, books, fake relics, etc *Knock*knock* Prince Hugo knocked on the table, "Hello Anybody there?" An old man with wrinkles all over his face slowly stood up from under the table. It seems he was taking a nap. ''Don''t even care whether someone will steal huh!'' Wil thought as he inspected the man. He was stunned as soon as he saw the info. Kenneth Owler Level: ??? HP: ??? Description: Once a renowned Seer of Athledon, now, is nothing but a shopkeeper of Owler general store. ''Damn, an ascended is hiding in this city and that too, a Seer? I thought that job was just another rumor on the Galaxy net. Someone must have acquired this profession from this old man. It''s really true that hidden quests/characters always be found at the least expected places'' Wil thought as he examined the old man. "It seems you have returned with the savior, Prince Athledon," the old man spoke as soon as he saw Hugo. Then, he glanced at Wil. "An otherworldly Angel, huh! I didn''t expect an Angel race warrior would find this place, soon. After all, the barrier set by ArchMage Solomon hasn''t been destroyed yet." Wil respectfully bowed and greeted him, "Crown Prince of Llyne kingdom greets the elder." "Eh?" Hugo turned his head in surprise, "you are a prince?" "Oh! No wonder you wore that robe," The old man commented with a nod before he cupped his fists, "Excuse my manners, your highness. It''s a pleasure to meet you. I''m Kenneth Owler." Then, the old man asked, "the pattern on those clothes tells that you are from the southern part of the Xynnar continent. So, you have traveled this far, your highness?" Wil nodded with a smile, "Yes. Due to some reasons, a part of the barrier is lifted by our guardian, Archangel Raziel. So, I''m on a journey to roam the oceans and visit the islands." "I guess it really must be fate, then." The old man once again commented before he asked Hugo, "So, Prince Athledon, what brings you here?" Wil thought it''s strange that the old man is giving him more respect than his own kingdom''s prince. Maybe it''s because he''s a fallen prince? Or is it because he is a savior? Who knows Hugo replied to Owler, "I need to know where the Imperial sword of Athledon is." "So, you are here to seek the current whereabouts of the sword, huh!" Follow me. Both of them followed him to the room behind the curtain. It''s a small room with nothing but a round table and four chairs. On top of the table, there''s a crystal ball. Upon looking carefully, the crystal ball seems to be filled with some sort of clouds. He inspected the crystal ball. Ball of Prophecy Level: N/A Class: Seer Description: The ball of Prophecy is a magical object used by Seers to see the possible future as well as to locate the things from far away. ''So, it also works as a satellite. How convenient.'' They took their seats. "Please place your palms on the crystal ball," Owler asked Hugo. Hugo followed his orders while Wil observed it carefully. The old man then placed his palms on Hugo''s and said, "now, imagine how the sword looks like. The more detailed is your imagination, the more easier for me to locate it." As Hugo imagined the sword according to the drawings from the history records, the crystal ball glowed and both of them put their hands away. Wil saw the clouds were cleared and an image slowly appeared. He saw a ruined fortress, buildings, there are even treasures around. The only thing is that they are underwater. Other than that, there''s no other clue. "The sword is where the palace is resting. It''s right next to us, all along." The old man said while Hugo and Wil continued to watch the scene. After 20 seconds are over, it disappeared and the old man said, "but at the bottom of the ocean lies the guardian of North Grennola. Both of your strengths aren''t enough to tackle that monster." "You can leave it to me," Wil pointed himself with the thumb as he replied. "It''s my job to collect them." Then, he suddenly remembers something, "can you perhaps fulfill a request of mine?" "What is it that you wish to see, your highness?" Wil then replied, "I lost my book of destiny near the Marsh Islands. I wish to know its whereabouts" "Book of Destiny?" This Ascendant was clearly taken aback upon hearing the legendary grade item, which is normally used to store their skill power and use it against enemies when they don''t have mana. But, there''s another function that only high-level NPCs like him know. "Your highness, please, place your palms on the crystal ball." Just like Hugo, Wil followed the same procedure. Since the book is with him for a long time, it was easy for him to imagine its appearance. But, what followed is the appearance of sweat on the old man as there''s nothing but black in the crystal ball. "I''m afraid, it''s gone," Owler spoke in a shaky tone. "What do you mean by that? Did any monster swallowed it?" As Wil probed him, Owler shook his head, "no, it''s not. All I can say is that it gave birth to a terrifying monster and seeking the book will only bring disaster. I''m not allowed to say more" Wil frowned upon hearing that. ''Terrifying monster? Perhaps that damn whale swallowed it and mutated or something?'' Chapter 191: Searching for Imperial sword of Athledon part-1 At the coast of Astaria Island, Wil and Prince Hugo stood together. "Maybe, it''s better for you to go alone," Hugo said, looking at the waves uncomfortably. "I won''t last long in the depths of the ocean." "I know," Wil nodded in response. Pointing his palm towards the ocean, he spoke, "I promise you that you won''t have to lift a finger." All of a sudden, a giant Warship, looking new and fully equipped with arms appears on the surface of the water, scaring a few inhabitants who were enjoying their time at the beach. "Wow." Prince Hugo exclaimed in excitement, "you managed to repair the Athedon Warship." A couple of soldiers who were patrolling nearby were taken aback and looked at each other. One of them whispered, "A warship! Let''s inform the captain." "Now, hop in." Wil flapped his wings and jumped on to the deck. As both of them landed on the deck, Wil suddenly received a notification from the system. *Ding! An extra person is detected in your party. You can activate the crew system. Opening the door, Wil revealed the stairs to the Prince and gestured him to enter while accepting the system''s prompt. *Ding! You activated the crew system. You are automatically selected as the Captain of the ship. Please assign a position to the crew member. After a while, both of them entered the control room. Prince Hugo''s eyes are full of stars, "it''s just as I saw in the records." Meanwhile, Wil scoffed inside upon seeing his expression, ''how is this awesome. It just looks like some pirate ship from the 18th century.'' Glancing at the Upgrade option on the interface that was showing the ship''s stats, Wil further thought, ''it''s still grey. I wonder whether the missiles will be installed in this ship after I upgrade it.'' After appointing him as First Mate, Wil pulled the lever to pull back the Anchor and then, pulled another lever. The warship started to sail in a certain direction. As it traveled for a certain distance, Wil spoke, "We''ll be entering the underwaters, soon. Go to the lobby and enjoy the view through the windows. It also helps me in concentrating to operate the ship." Wil then took out a chair from the inventory and placed it on the floor. "You can take this along with you." Hugo nodded in understanding and took the chair with him as he left the control room. Meanwhile, Wil pressed the red button in the size of a fist. All of a sudden, the cannons were pulled back into the ship and the holes were closed by glass. The deck was filled with water but no one can do anything about it and it didn''t bother Wil as he knew it will dry the moment the warship will resurface onto the water. By the time the two soldiers brought their captain back with them, the ship was already out of their sight and they were punished for lying as a result. One hour later; In the lobby, two young men sitting on the floor across each other. There''s a board between them and a five-tailed bluish-silver fox sat on one side of the board, moving his head to one person and then to another. It has a lot of coins and cards beside it. "There I got 5 on my dice. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Yes, I''m buying this Westwood town." He handed two coins with 1000 written on them. The fox took them with its paw and then, spread over the cards to search for a certain town and handed it to him. As he took the card from the fox, the young man smiled, "with Westwood town, Shortsville town, Farmhowl town, and Seagle city, now, the region of Seagle is mine, right? Hahaha, now, I can build residences and a fort" The fox whimpered slightly in response Meanwhile, the other player snorted, "Hmpf, once I capture the towns of Skullgorge and Barnsley, the capital region will be mine. Then, we''ll see who laughs" "Who knows I may get lucky and buy one of those towns to block you." The player countered. These two are none other than Wil and Hugo who are playing a version of monopoly where the cities are of Llyne Kingdom. And the banker is none other than Felix. Before he looted the treasury, Wil went on a shopping spree to buy a few outfits. There, he bought this game incase he can play with those two fallen angels servants of his. But now, he was playing with Hugo while the two fallen angels are steering the wheel in the control room, taking their turns while the warship is slowly descending at a newborn turtle speed. After staying in the control room for 15 minutes, Wil got bored with steering the wheel. When he first used it, he didn''t dive into the bottom of the ocean, so, he didn''t know that it was this slow. Even though its maximum speed in a straight line is still 300 Knots (555 km/hr), the diving speed is still less than even 5 knots (9.2 km/hr). So, he pushed the work on to his servants and got busy playing with Hugo. He threw a dice. A number 4 appeared on it. Wil raised his fist, "Yes. I acquired all the Seaports" *Thud* All of a sudden, the ship''s bottom hit something and the dice rolled somewhere. The coins, cards, board, even the cannonballs that are neatly arranged fell apart by the sudden collision. Felix and Hugo quickly focused on catching the cannonballs. Meanwhile, Wil went to the control room. "What happened?" Pointing at one of the monitors, Kallius, the mage spoke, "Milord, we reached the ocean bed. The destination is right ahead of us." Because of pitch dark at the bottom of the ocean, the lights from the warship shown him the maximum distance of 3-4 kilometers up ahead. After that, it was all blurry. But, he can see the ruined buildings and countless rocks. "Go ahead," Wil ordered them. As the Warship continued to move forward, the lights flashed on a giant black colored octopus. Its shape is exactly like a regular octopus but the only difference other than the size and color is the scales. As Wil looked at the monitor carefully, he saw, it wasn''t black in color but there are black colored scales all over it. Dragon Octopus, Orville Level: 360 Status: Mutated Grade: legendary HP: 34.3 Billion Description: A creature that swallowed a dragon and mutated. Guardian of the Athledon temple. Wil was surprised that the Athledon kingdom has two guardian beasts. It suddenly opened its eyes and glared at the source of the disturbance. It swam at an extreme speed towards the ship. "Move aside," Wil ordered them to give him the control. He grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and his other hand pulled up the accelerator to the maximum, in the direction of the incoming enemy. His eyes are darting towards the monitor and the green button that was below the monitors. "Milord, we will crash, soon" As Dromeus reminded him while looking at the monitor, Wil mumbled, "wait." He waited until the Octopus almost reached the Warship and realized the vehicle is the source and extended its arms to grab the Warship. "Now" He pressed the green button and they went through the guardian, shocking his servants who praised him as the best. On the other hand, the Octopus felt confused to see the light as well as the vehicle suddenly disappeared from its view. It can also no longer able to sense the enemy. Having no other choice, it settles down on the ocean bed and closed its eyes. Meanwhile, with one minute of invisibility, Wil was able to reach the ruins but the palace was still out of his sight. Except for one monitor, all other monitors how nothing but dark since there was no light. His night vision goggles also didn''t help as the range of visibility is only 500 meters. And the one that''s working is only showing nothing but ruined structures ahead until the invisibility skill wore off. The lights were visible once again, scaring away the nearby oceanic creatures. Since the light never hit the octopus, the beast also didn''t wake up. "Milord, that''s a palace, isn''t it?" Kallius suddenly spotted the fourth monitor. But, Wil saw only darkness. Believing his servant, He quickly moved the ship in that direction and the lights fell on a ruined structure. Wil looked carefully and thought, ''I didn''t know that the fallen angels have in built night vision sight Should I just turn into a fallen angel, later? I already lost Exp gain passive anyway.'' Putting the thought away, he patted his shoulder with a smile, "good job, Kallius." The other fallen angel Dromeus looked at him in envy as his brother in arms got praised by their master. The ship quickly reached the palace while crashing onto several structures, trees, rocks, etc on the way. He stopped the ship and released the Anchor that deep-rooted into the soil firmly. Wil then left the control room and walked through the lobby towards the stairs. "We are here. I''m going to get back the sword. You stay here." Hugo nodded. Reaching the door, Wil then used "Bubble skill" to cover himself with the bubble and then used "Short Teleportation" to exit the lobby without opening the door. He appeared on the deck. Equipping Night vision goggles, he started to swim towards the palace. Meanwhile, more than 5 kilometers away, the Octopus that was sleeping suddenly opened its eyes and turned towards the direction of the palace. Chapter 192: Searching for Imperial sword of Athledon part-2 Wil landed on what seemed to be the palace grounds and start walking. With the bubble around him blocking all the pressure while the night vision goggles displaying everything in sight, he felt that this quest was a piece of a cake. But, in the next second, his facial expression changed. "Lad, a strong enemy is approaching. Get ready to engage in battle." Averil warned him in his head. Wil quickly raised his palms towards the direction Averil pointed to so that he can finish it off with Heavenly Push. Soon, the enemy''s came into a 500-meter range. His night vision goggles captured the enemy''s appearance. "Oh! It''s the Dragon Octopus. Looks like it sensed me after exiting the ship." Wil sighed in relief, "Never mind. It''s a good thing that our enemy is kind of a dragonkin. I wonder whether it will work on hybrids too. If not, I can still deal it with Heavenly Push." "Partial-dragon transformation," Wil mumbled, changing into a humanoid dragon with green scales over his body. The Dragon Octopus that swims towards him with an extreme speed abruptly halted all of a sudden and stared at Wil. *Ding! Dragon Octopus, Orville''s hostile status changed to friendly. "Yes, my conjecture is right. It truly works on hybrids too. Doesn''t necessarily need to be a pure dragon." A passive skill in the transformation lets him befriend every dragon kind as long as they aren''t a pet of a player. But that''s only until he doesn''t attack it. If he attacks a creature, then, it once again turns into hostile again. It slowly swam towards Wil and stopped before him. Its tentacles started to move weirdly as if it trying to gesture to him something since it can''t talk. But, Wil doesn''t need to learn sign language because he has a translator in his head. "He says, whether you need any help with something in his territory." Averil translated its actions in his head. Since the monsters of legendary grade can understand the human language, Wil directly spoke, "I came here to retrieve the Imperial sword of Athledon to revive the kingdom once again. Can you help me?" The octopus nodded its head and it swam past him and then, stopped before a structure that still intact. It has a portal at the entrance and has some strange symbols on the walls. Wil glanced at it to inspect. Athledon temple. Description: The temple of Poseidon, the god of seas and oceans. "So the sword is in the temple, huh," Wil muttered to himself, and his entire attention shifted to the palace. Instead of walking towards the temple, Wil started running towards the palace, not wasting any time since there are only 20 minutes left for the Bubble to disappear. He entered the palace. Since all palaces built by NPC are quite identical, at least the interior, it didn''t take him much time to find the treasury room. "Wow. Athledon seems richer than Llyne." As soon as he opened the door, Wil exclaimed to see the treasury. His eyes are literally shining with the gold coins and gold bars everywhere. "Luck seems to be raining on me" He mumbled as he inspected a gold bar. Athledon''s Gold bar Description: A gold bar belongs to the lost kingdom of Athledon. You can exchange the gold bar at the bank for 500 Athledon gold coins. He tried to place it in the inventory to see what kind of warning system will send him. As expected, there''s a notification from the system, although it''s a little bit different from what he thought. *Ding! You acquired lost kingdom''s gold bar. Convert it to Llyne''s gold bar? Conversion will be 1:1. Wil quickly pressed Yes. He wanted to convert them not because he needs them. He has enough gold, already. It''s because he realized Hugo might need a large amount of gold to run the kingdom. So, his plan is just as the same he did with Rikilda. Loaning a high amount of gold coins to Hugo on a low-interest rate of 1% per month. Not only will he receive a decent amount of gold coins every month, but the kingdom will also be in his control. Prince Hugo will sure control the kingdom but Wil will be the one who will pull the strings. With a greedy look on his face, Wil swept everything in the treasury. Sadly, no legendary grade items or equipment. But, they were compensated by other treasures. Other than gold coins and gold bars, There are a lot of gems, especially rubies and diamonds. Athledon''s Ruby. Description: It''s a high-grade quality, 10-carat ruby that belongs to the Athledon kingdom. You can exchange it at the bank for 500 Athledon gold coins. Athledon''s Diamond. Description: It''s a fine quality, a 1-carat diamond that belongs to the Athledon kingdom. You can exchange it at the bank for 20 Athledon gold coins. Athledon''s Emerald. Description: It''s a high-grade quality, 10-carat sapphire that belongs to the Athledon kingdom. You can exchange it at the bank for 2000 Athledon gold coins. Wil gasped as he inspected the emerald and almost dropped it. "Damn, looks like emeralds are too expensive. Too bad there are only a few of them here. Useless diamonds are more in number" "2313 gold bars, 85 rubies, 24 emeralds, 325 diamonds, 912 thousand gold coins. This quest is very fruitful. Okay, time to return." After a few minutes, he exited the palace and ran in the direction of the Warship with only a couple of minutes left before the bubble disappears. But, who could have expected he will be blocked by a giant arm all of a sudden. *Thud* The stones below the arm were destroyed as it flung it down just a meter away from Wil to stop him. Wil turned his head towards his left and saw the Octopus with an unfriendly gaze. But, when he saw it didn''t change into a hostile state, he asked, "what is it?" The other arm pointed it towards the temple and did some other gestures. "He says asking about the Imperial sword that''s sealed inside the temple." Averil translated to him. "Damn, I almost forgot about it." Wil then looked at the skill and thought, "I''m running out of time. There''s roughly 100 seconds left. After that, the bubble skill will disappear and I will receive a debuff that will continuously drain 100 mana per second, which means 54 seconds. After mana became empty, then, it will be anywhere from 1-10 million HP/sec. With 1.4 Billion of HP, another 140-1400 seconds. So, even if I assume the worst, at the very least, I will have 4 minutes. If nothing happens, I can retrieve it. Or else, I need to use HP recovery scrolls, I bought from the Battle shop. Or I can just get back to the ship and wait for a day and return. What is better, Hmm?" After wasting 30 seconds to decide the option, Wil spoke to the Octopus, "I need your help. My protection can''t hold for much longer. So, escort me to the temple." Actually, he asked for its help, not because of the time or protection but just thought that there might be another monster guarding the sword, inside the temple. Worse, he can fight with it but what if it''s a monster above 400 like the guardian of Northern Grennola ocean. Even if he goes all out, Wil can''t defeat such monster. So, in that case, he thought of using this Octopus as cannon fodder while he escapes to the ship. Worst comes to worst, after handing the Imperial sword and completing the quest, Wil even thought of just kicking out Hugo from his ship. The monster will chase Hugo if he can stay alive at 10,000 meters depths of the ocean. He already lost the book of destiny once. Wil can''t afford to lose another item again just for the unknown reward quest. Upon his request, the Octopus grabbed him with one of its arms and sped up towards the teleport. It didn''t even take ten seconds for it to reach the temple. Wil, who was in the bubble didn''t feel the speed at all. His surroundings were blurry for a few seconds and after they became clear, voila, now, he was standing before the temple. As it freed Wil, he entered the portal and found himself in the vast temple similar to the ones at the Llyne Kingdom or Reverie kingdom. The only difference is the statue. While the Llyne people worship a Sphinx, the Reverie people worship Zeus, the people of Athledon worship Poseidon. The imposing statue is atleast as big as his golem with a trident in its hands. But, Wil didn''t have time for distractions. He went straight towards the inner chamber where usually the offerings were taking place. Players usually avoid them as they nothing to do with that. They either go left to the teleportation point or resurrection point at the right end. As he entered the inner chamber, Wil saw a rusty sword floating in mid-air. He didn''t waste time grabbing the sword and return. Unlike what he expected, he didn''t go into any trouble and safely gets out of the temple. There''s no monster or anything like that. Exiting the temple, he thought, "I really overestimated the difficulty of this mission." He showed the Imperial sword to the Octopus that was waiting outside and spoke, "now, please get me to that ship fast." Instead of grabbing, the Octopus started to make signs and then put forward an arm towards Wi''s face. "What did it want, now?" Wil mumbled to himself. Before Averil came to the rescue once again, the system cleared his doubts. *Ding! Dragon Octopus, Orville is thankful to Player Time Traveler for releasing it from its prison. *Ding! Your familiarity with Orville increases by 10. "Cool The higher the familiarity, the higher the chances of capturing it in the future. Let''s work on increasing familiarity with it until my level reaches 300." Wil thought as he shakes the arm. Grabbing him, The Octopus swam towards the ship. Just as they reached a hundred-meter radius, Wil used his connection to the ship and teleported directly to the captain''s chamber. It was one of the perks he received upon activating the crew system. *Wow* the first thing he heard as soon as he returned is the bark of Felix, which was left on the ship with Hugo, half an hour ago. The door was pushed open and the fox entered the chamber and barked once again. He caressed its fur and exited the chamber. "Time Traveler, you are back." A smile appeared on Hugo as he saw Wil. "It''s really strange though, seeing you returning from that door when you exited with a disappearance." Wil didn''t comment on it and directly took out the rusty sword from his inventory. Chapter 193: Wil calls for an Assembly "The Imperial sword You have done it." The smile became wider on his face, further, looking at the rusty sword in Wil''s hands. Wil handed the sword. As the sword landed in his hands, the rust was suddenly replaced with a shine. There are some runes carved on it. "I did it, grandpa. I fulfilled your last wish." Streaks of tears started falling from Hugo''s eyes as he was staring at the sword in his hands. Meanwhile, Wil received a series of notifications. *Ding! You completed the quest, "Revive the Lost Kingdom." *Ding! The Athledon kingdom will be restored in 72 hours. *Ding! You received 100 million exp, 10000 fame points, 1000 gold coins, and a mystery box. Please check your inventory. *Ding! You reached the maximum level. Please upgrade your rank to receive EXP. "Wow, 10000 fame points?" Wil exclaimed in his mind, seeing the generous reward. Several hours later; The Warship resurfaced on the water nearby the Ormshire Island. He landed on the beach and the ship returned to the inventory. Wil then started walking towards the entrance of the city that was renamed as "Vulture" city. After his business is done with Hugo, he dropped off the latter at the island of Astaria before he returned to the city. "Welcome back, Your Majesty." The four guards at the entrance kneeled before him. Wil nodded and walked into the city, folding his hands to the back. He has a smile on his face. The people who aimed the weapons against him are now kneeling before him. It won''t be a lie that he''s enjoying the current situation. As the village for hybrid creatures is demolished and now, they are once again, allowed to live in the city, everyone can''t help but feel grateful to Wil every time they see him. The residences and the stores that he destroyed are restored, including the towers of the fort. Nodding to every greeting on the way, Wil reached the fort. "Greetings, Your Majesty." The Prime Minister as well as the advisor to the past king, Eban Doves greeted Wil. The treasurer Wymer stood beside him and welcomed their ruler. Wil saw a look of worry on both of their faces. "What happened?" Eban glanced at Wymer, who then said, "Your Majesty, our treasury is about to become empty. You ordered us not to hold back on the restoration of the city and recruiting the army, no matter what. But now, we are..." "I know." Wil interrupted with a nod. Both of the ministers were taken aback, looking at the calmness of Wil. The last time, when Wil went to the treasury to retrieve the crown of Athledon, he realized that the past ruler sent away the hybrids, not because a hybrid assassinated a member of the Geruntius family. In reality, there are hardly 25 thousand gold coins in the treasury. Wil was sure that the past ruler wants to cut off the army, send off a part of the people while selling their properties to wealthy people in the city, earning money in the process. But, now, the treasury was emptied and there''s a 12000 gold coins further deficit as the prime minister took the loan from the bank for the first time. "Don''t worry. I''ve returned with the funds." Wil said, before walking past them, "Follow me." They reached the treasury. There was a small heap of gold coins in the middle of the spacious room. Wil walked to the heap and smiled as he took out a pouch from the inventory. He poured 500 coins on the floor but he didn''t stop there. It was repeated for three hundred times, stunning these NPC officials. Besides a small heap, right now, several heaps are glistening with gold. Eban and Wymer''s faces are glowing in happiness. Looking back at them, Wil said, "I''m offering my wealth. I guess a hundred and fifty thousand gold coins would be enough to run this city and free our troubles. We don''t need to raise our taxes." With the help of the system, Wil converted all the Athledon gold bars and coins he found in the ruins to Llyne and then presented them as his wealth. With a different symbol on the gold coin, both of them were really fooled by it. Both of them kowtowed on the spot, "Your Majesty''s generousness knows no bounds" *Ding! Familiarity with Eban Doves reached the maximum. *Ding! Familiarity with Wymer reached the maximum. Wil was taken aback by their actions, "Did they never see such an amount? Are they poor or something" In reality, until now, they felt like they are walking on a tight rope that''s attached to two cliffs. Now, they found that a sudden bridge appeared below them. Exiting the treasury, Wil then gave an order, "first, pay off the debt and exchange them to our currency. They are Llyne gold. Then, hire some workers. I need an imposing large statue of a Vulture, spreading its wings at the top of the fort. Understand?" Although they wanted to ask, why Vulture, they didn''t voice out their opinion, thinking that it must have something to do with the city name. They bowed together, "Yes, Your Majesty." "And what about the teleportation formation, how does it going?" Wil asked them. "So far, the research hasn''t borne fruit, Your Majesty. It''s too advanced and hard for our researchers." Eban replied in an apologetic tone. In truth, because of a tight budget, it was hard to convince those freelance researchers. Not to mention, a part of the budget will be swallowed by the officials in the process. Wil sighed as he knew creating a teleportation formation on their own is very difficult but remembering that Bran had done it when he developed a city on an island nearby the demon continent, he can''t but try. It''s just that Wil doesn''t know how he did that. So, he thought of a second plan. "Prime Minister Eban, assemble all the ministers and the general at the courtroom. I''m going to announce something important." Even though he''s a ruler, technically isn''t a King, so, there''s no option that lets him announce the start of assembly. An hour later; Wil arrived at the courtroom/audience chamber. It was much smaller than the one at the palace and there are only six people in the hall. The throne was positioned a bit higher than the rest and looks like a King''s throne. Meanwhile, there are three seats on either side. The queen''s seat beside the King''s throne is empty. Wil looked at the ministers. Five of them are wearing standard robes while one was wearing armor from top to bottom. Eban Doves Level: 300 HP: 2 million Description: Prime Minister of Ormshire state. He overlooks the state''s affairs in absence of the King and is the prime advisor to the King. Wymer Level: 300 HP: 12 million Description: Treasurer of the Ormshire state. He overlooks the finances of the state. Cliff Olive Level: 300 HP: 100,000 Description: Chief Minister of the Vulture city. He overlooks the administration of the city. Roesia Geruntius Level: 300 HP: 120 million Description: The last surviving member of the Geruntius family. The representative of the wealthy people of the state and the head of merchants association. Vicar Pawlin Level: 300 HP: 1 Billion Description: Representative of the Temple of Poseidon. He is the head of the religious organization that worships Poseidon. General Remont Level: 300 HP: 1.5 Billion Description: The current General of the Army. He is a native of Astaria Island. The six most powerful people in the city gathered before Wil. Two people, Roesia and Pawlin surprised him. He didn''t know that there are representatives for the wealthy people in the assembly, not mentioning the religious leader also have a say in the administration. They greeted him with a bow. Wil takes his seat and they sat down too. "It''s the first time we are meeting but let me spare those useless speeches. We get straight to the point. But, before that, I want to hear if there are any issues you would like to raise. Feel free to talk." General Remont is the first to speak his mind, "Your Majesty, Our military is in need of funds to recruit and train the new soldiers." Roesia snorted, "Hmpf, your military is already took 6500 gold coins so far. That''s almost 30% of our budget. And now, you even need more?" "Miss Geruntius" The General frowned, "it isn''t enough. Starting from scratch isn''t easy. I was ordered to raise 10000 soldiers. How ca it be possible with such little amount? If the trained soldiers aren''t well-fed, they might adjust it but if the new soldiers aren''t well-fed and don''t get enough accommodations, not only they will fall into depression and can''t train well, they will also get second thoughts. What would you do if a beast suddenly attacks the city..." "Our mighty King is there to protect us, right. After all, he and his mount defeated the entire army before. What we are in need of is not the military but the support of wealthy merchants, who are now refusing to business in the city. I have their demands with me. If his majesty will fulfill it, I will make sure they will continue." Wil felt Roesia''s words contained a little bit of arrogance. She''s telling that she''s the messiah of this city. He immediately decided to show her place. "General Remont, I just filled our treasury with my personal fortune of a hundred and a fifty thousand gold coins. I''m allotting you, 30,000 gold coins for now. Later, present me a defense budget. If I feel it''s right, then, you will have my full support but you shouldn''t forget that Then, he looked at Roesia, "And back in my homeland, I inherited a few gold mines from my father. With my wealth, I can promise you the Ormshire state will never see poverty, ever again. I don''t know how the previous king ruled the city. But, from onwards, we won''t depend on banks or those wealthy merchants" He didn''t say it aloud but everyone thought he was saying to Roesia that her services are no longer required. As the rest of the ministers were shocked to hear it, General Remont bowed, "thank you, your majesty." Roesia, who also go the same meaning, frowned, "Are you firing me, your majesty?" Contrary to their thoughts, Wil shook his head. "Nope. You are still useful. But for now, tell those wealthy merchants that the Ormshire state will not adhere to their demands no matter what they asked. Ormshire will progress under my rule. Those who want to continue their business, we will welcome them. As for those who doesn''t want to, they are free to do business, elsewhere..." Chapter 194: Building a new town part-1 Ormshire Fort; The courtroom fell silent for a while because of Wil''s decision against the merchants who act as the bridges from their island to other islands in the ocean. Roesia quickly addressed the issue, "Your Majesty, I don''t think you should offend the merchants. It isn''t about the money. You are new here, so, maybe, you don''t know that the island of Ormshire didn''t have farms and entirely depends on fishing. Because our land isn''t suitable for agriculture, the food resources will have to come from states like Astaria, Anore, Nantwich, etc If the food supply is cut off by the merchants association, then, what will the people eat? Fishes?" ''This damn girl just keeps getting on my nerves.'' Wil takes a long breath to calm down and replies, "You don''t need to worry about the farms. I have the solution to it. You just do what I''ve asked you to do." "Yes, Your Majesty." She sat down. Wil then looked at others, "anything else?" "Your Grace, it''s been two decades since we hosted the Poseidon festival at our state. I think the spirits of our people will be lifted if we can host it on our island. I wish his Majesty will support me to go on a trip to temple association HQ and ask of this matter." Wil agreed to it quickly since these religious leaders are often powerful in any society. The most fearsome people aren''t some military or politicians or even businessmen. It''s a civilian. They get united very quickly if they hate a common person. They were easily manipulated and be used by a master behind the scenes. To deal with them, you have to negotiate or be stamped as a cruel leader for trying to use violence. And this man can influence the common people in the state. If his familiarity will be reached the maximum, then, Wil would be able to use his influence to his use in the future. "I''m not a believer of Poseidon but as a ruler, I will respect the public''s opinion and will stand by their side. You will have my full support. Later, I will write an official letter on behalf of the Ormshire state." Wil replied to Pawlin. "Thank you, Your Grace." As he expected, he quickly received a notification from the system. *Ding! Your familiarity with Vicar Pawlin increased by 20 "Okay, Next?" The Chief Minister, Cliff Olive stood up and spoke in a respectful tone, "Your Majesty, there are a couple of problems that needed to be addressed but with enough funds in the treasury, we will have no problems in administration." "Good," Wil nodded in satisfaction, "since the issues have been solved, then, let''s listen to what I have to say. Today, I''m going to announce an important thing. I decided to build a new town. But I''m undecided about choosing the location. I want suggestions on where to build it." "A town, your grace?" Pawlin voiced out his opinion, "I think it''s a very good idea, your grace." Then, it''s Roesia''s turn to say something awful, "to do that, we need to clear a part of the forest but is our current military able to do it?" Wil and the others immediately looked at General Remont. He stood up and spoke, "Your Majesty, we have enough men and equipment to clear it up." Roesia then stood up from the seat with a smile, "I don''t think you understood my point, General Remont. What will you do about the guardian of the forest?" "Guardian of the forest?" A frown appeared on Wil. Prime Minister Eban then explained, "Your Majesty, 250 years ago, before the kingdom sunk into the ocean and before this fort was built, this island used to be full of forest." Since there are no scenes are displaying, Wil thought there won''t be any quest at the end. "King Gernier Athledon made an agreement with the guardian of the forest that half of the island belongs to it and the other half of the island will belong to inhabitants. The other condition is that no monster should ever escape the forest and wreak havoc in the city. In return, we won''t touch or enter the forest. So, clearing the forest will bring trouble. But, Your Majesty doesn''t need to choose the forest. Recently, after the hybrids were allowed to return to the city, we demolished the village. You can set up the town over there." "No, we can''t." Wil immediately rejected his advice, "the town I''m going to build will be at least 10 sq.km in area. It won''t be enough." "Then, why don''t we bring down the walls and extend the city? The new space can be a district, instead." The chief minister suggested his idea. "We can''t do that, either." Wil shook his head, "I brought an entire town with me, sealed in a scroll. I just need to place it somewhere." They were instantly amazed, looking at their King. On the other hand, Roesia was taken aback. She wondered whether this hybrid king was pulling their leg. How can anyone seal an entire town in a scroll? Because of no exposure of players, the system has yet to impart the knowledge of the immortals into NPC of Ormshire Island. So, they are still thinking he''s a hybrid born from a bird creature and a human being instead of thinking of the Angel race. "Your Majesty, the Chief Minister''s suggestion is feasible. We just need to bring down the front wall and clear out space in front of the entrance of the city to the harbor. I think there''s enough space to place a town and then, we will rebuild the wall around the town. This is the only available option." General Remont also joined with suggestion since he felt the current military isn''t ready to face the monsters, yet. "I summon, Strix." After listening to their suggestions, Wil thought of eliminating the monster as well as the forest behind the hill. Suddenly, a palm-sized bee appeared before everyone. Under the surprised gazes of the ministers, he stroked its head and said, "Strix, scout the forest on this island for me. Especially the strongest creature." It led out a cute inaudible sound and turned into a ball of light before vanishing from the spot. "Your Majesty, that is" As Eban probed him about it, Wil answered, "It''s one of my battle companions. Useful in scouting." They don''t know what a battle companion is. His words are registered as a pet in their minds and they nodded. It didn''t take long for Strix to return with the results. Three minutes later, Strix returned to Wil, Along with the information, it gathered, an image also appeared in his head. ''This is the boss of the forest?'' He was surprised as he saw the image. It was a giant bear in black and white, which sat on the legs and is busy with munching a bamboo stick. "A Panda." Wil eyes lit up in response, "I want this" In real life, he never saw this creature directly but as a child, Wil certainly saw cartoon films. And one of his favorite movies is about a Panda who does martial arts. He once asked his father about petting one but due to the strict regulations of the Federation that don''t let these protected species native to the south-east parts of the Eastern continent, his wish remained stagnant. Never would have Wil expected their virtual version will be found here of all places in the world. Chapter 195: Building a new town part-2 *Swoosh* *Crt* "321,124,236" *Ding! You killed the Forest Leopard. You receive 0 exp *Swoosh* *Crt* "321,124,236" *Ding! You killed a Lynx. You receive 0 exp. With a 100% pierce rate and 220% critical rate, every arrow Wil shot turned out to be a critical hit, killing these poor elites and common grade monsters on the way. Leon continued to walk into the depths of the forest while Wil doing his job. As a legendary+ grade beast, Leon''s senses are far greater than any other beast. The moment it entered the forest, it already sensed the clueless boss of the forest who was busy munching the bamboo shoot. It didn''t even realize the presence of Wil and Leon who stopped a hundred meters away from them. On the other hand, Wil was taken aback to see there was more than one panda here. Other than the boss, there are four more little pandas eating bamboo shoots nearby a small pond with another Giant Panda protecting them. Wil inspected them. King Panda, Plumpy Grade: Legendary Level: 300 HP: 1.32 Billion Description: The ruler of the Ormshire forest. His attention shifted to the female panda. Giant Panda, Gu Gu Grade: Heroic Level: 300 HP: 132 million Description: Wife of King Panda Wil then looked at the little pandas. He looked at them one by one. His expression froze for a second as he looked at the third panda, which is a bit shorter than the rest of them. Panda cub, Happy Grade: Legendary Level: 100 HP: 120 million Description: An offspring of King Panda. Wil immediately decided that it will be his target. Without wasting any time, he raised the bow towards the King Panda and mumbled, "Ice arrow." An icy blue arrow was conjured between his fingertips. Looking coldly at the beast, he shot the ice arrow. *Swoosh* Just as it reached the midway, Plumpy who was munching its food stopped eating and looked at the incoming attack. "Hmm?" But, it wasn''t able to dodge the attack and the ice arrow struck its chest. "353,124,235" Too bad that the critical hit didn''t land but the arrow did take away 25% of its health in one shot. Due to the level difference, the freezing effect also lasted only for a second before it roared. The female panda gathered the cubs and gathered them in her embrace. Meanwhile, Wil flapped his wings and fly up in the air, conjuring a fire arrow and shoot at the female panda, killing it in an instant. In place of the mother panda, there are items on the ground. *Roar* A might roar of a bear was then heard all across the kingdom. The citizens got terrified for a second; meanwhile, the ministers were worried about their King who went alone to kill the forest guardian. *Ding! Plumpy entered berserk state. Attack increases by 100%. It jumped high up in the air and clenched its fist to punch Wil. "Leon, grab that shortest cub and run away from here, understand?" Wil quickly gave a command to Leon, which is waiting for its orders. It flapped its wings and dashed towards the terrified cubs, feeling the presence of a higher grade beast. Even Plumpy also felt it but right now, it isn''t in the mood to care about its cubs or the beast. Berserk King Panda only wishes one thing. To take revenge. Looking at the Panda that was about to punch him, Wil mumbled, "Berserk stage often takes away a beast''s intelligence. It won''t defend the attacks and only focus on killing enemies. Too bad, you met a wrong match" "Absolute Freeze," Wil mumbled with a smile, freezing everything around him. King Panda was encased in a block of ice in a punching motion. Wil didn''t waste any time and shot consecutive fire arrows until he received a notification and it turned into a heap of items. *Ding! You killed King Panda, Plumpy. You receive 0 exp. Picking up the drops, Wil turned his head to see the remaining three cubs but they are nowhere to be seen. Shaking his head, Wil communicated with Leon to bring back the cub it caught. Within a few seconds, Wil saw a teary-eyed cute little panda that was hanging from Leon''s mouth. "Place it on the ground." Leon opened its mouth and the panda fell on the ground. It looked around its surroundings. Its mother and father are nowhere to be seen, neither are its siblings. It was terrified. Looking at its expression, Wil felt whether he was too cruel and his expression changed into pity. But, quickly, he reminded himself that it''s just a game and the thing is just a creature made up of data. As long as it was captured, everything would be set. Wil then calmly took out the only legendary grade pet scroll he had in the inventory and used it on the panda. *Ding! The target''s level is lower than yours. The chance to capture is 100%. Proceed? Wil clicked on yes and a seal appeared below the panda that was sitting on the ground. *Ding! You captured Panda cub, Happy. Check out your pet inventory. "Cool" Wil nodded with a satisfied smile on his face. "Leon, let''s get back to the fort." *** Two days later; *Welcome to War Online* Wil logged in and appeared at top of the fort. He can see endless ocean in every direction but there''s no sign of forest on the island. "Looks like the General did his job." Jun smiled as he looked at the barren land that''s almost as big as the city. The monsters are cleaned up in the process. "Greetings, your majesty." The general bowed along with the soldiers as Wil was standing at the entrance of the barracks. "Did you catch them?" Wil asked him. General Remont nodded, "We were only able to catch one of them, Your Majesty. The other two were" "I apologize, your majesty." Looking at his sincere apologetic tone, Wil believed it wasn''t his mistake. He forgave him increasing 10 points of familiarity. Finishing his conversation with the General, Wil then flew towards the barren land and landed in the middle. He opened the inventory and took out the scroll. Town scroll Description: You can build a town of 10 sq.km. area as long as the place doesn''t overlap with any town or the city. As he used the scroll, a map appeared before Wil. Every region was locked except for the Llyne kingdom and the islands on the ocean. Wil clicked the GPS button and locked on to his location. He saw a layout of the town. Several structures can be seen in the town. There''s a move option on them. He placed them randomly as he doesn''t know anything about the town planning. Setting the place, Wil clicked okay. Suddenly, a huge mansion rose followed by a temple, Adventure association building, Town administration building, a bank, Association buildings of each class except for hidden classes, ten empty stores given for free, and a fountain in the middle of the town. The rest of the land is just empty. Only a single road has been built. Around the fountain, the class associations, the bank, administration, and the adventure association buildings were built. The road connects the Mayor''s Mansion and the stores on either side of the town center. And there''s a single man in the whole town, right now. Chapter 196: Birthday present Scarlet Town Type: Private Owner: Time Traveler Guardian Beast: N/A Mayor: N/A Statistics: Area: 10 square km Total number of residents: 1 Number of natives: 0 Number of players: 1 Number of guilds: 0 Associations: Adventure, Guardian, Knight, Wizard, Cleric, Archer, Gunner, Blademaster, and Assassin. Number of stores: 10 Tax rate: 0% (+/-) Current Funds: 0 (+/-) Buildings to Unlock: Smithy - 10 gold coins Lab - 10 gold coins Restaurant - 10 gold coins Agriculture field C 10 silver/100 sq.meters. Upgrade: Conditions haven''t been met. "Hmm no port huh I guess it''s only possible after upgrading it to a city." Then, he glanced at the time, "72 hours aren''t up yet. I have time to deliver the present. Should I have known before, I would have stayed a few more days at Hailey City. Anyway, let''s get moving" Wil proceeds to walk towards the Poseidon temple with a cage in his hand. Since the town was built in this region, the system automatically assigned the religion. Either way, Wil doesn''t care since he has no use for it. He didn''t add funds or decided on migration. He just walked into the temple and turned left. A huge seal was placed on the floor. Teleportation formation Description: used to teleport anywhere. As he clicked on the name, the settings appeared on the holographic screen before him. A world map appeared before him. Hundreds of points are spotted on the map but everything is grey except for 31 teleportation points, which are from nine cities and the 19 towns of the Llyne kingdom. Except for the teleportation point that''s located in the Scarlet district of the Deloris town, Wil blocked the remaining points. To take more precautions, he set the outgoing teleportation fee to 1000 gold coins. He teleported to the Deloris town and Scarlet town earned 1000 gold coins from this. Since there was no tax, the entire amount was transferred to the town''s treasury. So, not a single dime has been wasted. As soon as he teleported to the Deloris town, he set the same price of 1000 gold coins to teleport to Scarlet town so that no one dares to teleport to his town as those who use the teleportation formation will see the possibility of teleporting somewhere outside of Llyne kingdom. In case someone uses it for the sense of their curiosity, Wil made sure that either they have to pay a large amount to return or get stuck there. After all, only Wil can use wings without spending any mana. Unless there''s a rich brat who can afford to do so, there''s practically no possibility of someone teleport to his island. And even if such a fool exists, Wil would still make a profit. Setting everything, he quickly used his Prince Medallion and teleported to the wild zone. He opened the guild channel and saw there are hardly over 75 members in the guild with the remaining 450 or so members transferred to Scarlet A and over 2500 were placed in Scarlet-B. Time Traveler: I have a task. Anyone is willing? As soon as he typed in the guild channel, everyone greeted instantly, pausing their works. "Hello, Young master." "Greetings, Young Master." "What should I do, Young Master?" Etc The thirty-six newbies were taken aback by their behavior. Normally, these Elites would behave like bullies in the region. They threaten the people to clear the area, use violence at the first sight of rejection. Aster can''t do anything about it since it''s their nature and Wil doesn''t care as long as they behave before him. He wouldn''t stop them but he wouldn''t also go on his way to help them if they were in trouble since they are his employees, not friends. But, now, looking at these bullies suddenly flattering their boss, these new Elites wondered whether they are probably doing it out of respect towards their guild leader because he''s too strong. Their admiration towards Wil grew a bit who tamed these guys, although Wil doesn''t have the slightest idea about what others think of him. Looking at the series of messages, Wil sent a message. Time Traveler: It''s just a simple errand. Who is in the wild zone, right now? Followed by ten more replies, Wil selected one of them to meet him. He didn''t wait long before a guild member appeared before him. Wil was stunned as soon as he saw the figure. It was someone who he knew very well. If Bran is considered the best swordsman, then this guy is known as the best gunner. His mind became blank for a second. ''Sky Runner. One of the ten legend class users.'' "Hello, boss. I''m Louis Knight." He introduced himself, first. Wil was taken aback by his introduction and inspected his name. Louis Knight Guild: Scarlet-A Level: 185 HP: 4,342,566 He thought, ''it is Louis knight? Not Sky Runner?'' Wil glanced at him once again and thought, ''No, it''s no mistake. This fellow is Sky Runner. Did he change his in-game name with that voucher from events?'' "Umm Boss" Feeling Wil''s gaze on him, Louis felt troubled. He wondered whether he was exposed. Since he got a quest to acquire the tome, there''s a chance that this guild leader might also get a quest to snatch equipment from him. He didn''t know that Wil is already an Elementalist, and have no use of the equipment. Wil came out of his thoughts, "Ah! Yes. So, you are Louis Knight?" "Yes." Louis nodded. "I''m from A-division. I was training with Red Dragon. I volunteered for the mission." Then his gaze fell on the cage in Wil''s hands. Beast suppressing cage Grade: Heroic Description: A suppressing cage that can hold captive Heroic grade beats or below. Panda cub, Smiley Grade: Heroic Level: 100 HP: 12 million Description: A cub of King Panda, Plumpy. ''A panda?'' Louis was indeed taken aback to see this rare creature, a protected species of the Eastern Continent. Wil handed the cage to Louis and said, "Take this and deliver it to Mia. She''s in the Scarlet-B division. The gift should be anonymous. Can you do it?" Louis nodded and took the cage with a cute panda cub sitting inside of it. Maybe, it''s because it thought Louis was weak. It didn''t feel terrified any longer. "Do you want me to pass a message along with it?" Louis asked Wil as he wishes to know on what occasion the gift is being presented. Wil replied, "Give her birthday wishes." Hearing Wil''s reply made him wonder whether this boss taken a liking to a lady and attempting to woo her but is too shy to give it directly. The truth is miles away from it though. Just as he turned around to walk away to fulfill the mission, Wil suddenly called out to him. "Wait a second." "Yes?" "Consider this as your reward." Wil then took out an Epic grade missile launcher from his inventory. Louis'' eyeballs almost popped out of his eyes, looking at such a generous for a simple errand. Nekron''s launcher Grade: Epic Level: 170 Class: Gunner Attack: 264,343 Critical rate: 35% ???? ???? ???? Louis quickly came to the conclusion that this girl must be special to the guild leader. He felt excited that he might get closer to Wil and earn his trust if he can do errands like these and get better equipment in return. As long as he can get the tome from Wil, Louis is willing to be an errand boy forever. "Thank you, Guild Leader." After thanking him, Louis left for Eldershore city where B-division has their Guild HQ. Meanwhile, Wil returned to Scarlet town and the first thing he did is to fly to the Astaria island, leaving the citizens and the officials in a wonder, whether they will be migrating to the new town or not. But without orders from Wil, they can''t help but wait while General Remont deployed some of the guards to stand outside of the empty town. After an hour of flying to the east, Wil reached the island of Astaria. He went to the black market to visit the store of that Ascended where Hugo is staying until the revival. "Prince Llyne. You are here just as I had visioned" The shopkeeper greeted with a smile. "Do you know why I am here?" Wil asked him. "Sadly, no." Owler shook his head in response, "But, I don''t think you are here for a chat, either. Is it to talk about the Kingdom? I foresaw it''s going to rise soon His Majesty is currently sleeping. I''ll go and wake him up." Owler said to him as he turned around. "No, I came to see you," Wil replied with a smile. He bowed and cupped the fists, "I wish to be your disciple." "Eh?" Chapter 197: Unique profession "You wish to be my disciple?" Owler was taken aback by Wil''s request. "Yes, I''ve met a lot of strong people in my life and even a few Ascended but I''ve never seen a Seer. Please, grant my request." Wil again cupped his fist with a bow in a respectful manner. Clearly, he wasn''t expecting that. Since Astaria Island is a place that''s out of the game''s progression and Wil was being treated as an NPC, instead of the immortal from another world, he didn''t expect that his level is already being exposed to Wil. After all, the players'' inspection skills are far higher than NPCs. While NPCs can judge a person/beasts level and grade, a player can even see one''s HP and a brief description that explains their background story. Feeling sincerity from Wil, Owler stroked his beard for a couple of seconds, and replied, "Prince Llyne, You are the savior of Athledon. I don''t mean to disrespect you but I can pass my teachings to only one disciple. We have only met once and aren''t properly acquainted. How can I entrust you with the power of seeing the future? What if you use it to bring destruction onto the world?" Wil, who already expect such a reaction from this old man, answered with a smile, "I will show you something. Perhaps, it will help you gain trust in me." Wil decided to reveal his secret. A secret that was only known to him and High-Elf Aerona, of course, player ''One'' too but Wil doesn''t know that ''One'' knows his secret. Owler saw an exquisite bow appeared in Wil''s hands. He felt an ancient and majestic aura erupting from it. "This bow" Owler carefully inspected after Wil handed it to him. Since the bound equipment can never be transferred, he didn''t worry about giving it to the old man. The old man saw symbols of a dragon as well as engravings of the sun and moon on it. *Thud* The bow slipped his hands and fell on the table while Owler took a step back in shock. He looked at him and asked, "This bow contained the power of dragon clan and also the spirit of demigod, Seraph. Just who are you?" "I''m the successor of Archangel Seraph." Wil then took out a ring from his left finger and placed it on the table. "This is another proof if you are still wondering whether I was saying the truth." Owler examined the ring with a sun and moon symbol engraved on it. This time, he clearly sensed the aura of demigod emitting from the ring. "As for the power of dragon clan" Wil then, transformed into a humanoid dragon for a second before dispelling his transformation but it is enough for an Ascended like him to see it clearly "It''s because I''m also a part dragon. Half-Angel and Half-Dragon to be exact." Owler misunderstood that one of his parents is an Angel and the other is a Dragon. He wondered which crazy Angel fell in love with a destructive beast like a dragon. "As the successor of demigod Seraph, it is my duty to protect the world from Lucifer and for it to happen, I need your help. I request you once again Please make me your disciple." This time, Owler completely believed him. Wil knew the specialty of the legend class. They don''t just give strong skills. Each Legend-class user will be favored by Ascended like him. He thought it might also be the reason bran might have acquired Seer abilities. As Wil expected, the moment he exposed his identity, Owler''s impression of him changed drastically. The best proof of that is the notification received by Wil. *Ding! Your familiarity with Kenneth Owler increased by 30 The familiarity suddenly jumped to 50, reaching a level where one NPC will have a good impression on the player and ask personal quests, often. The old man returned the bow and the ring to Wil and cupped his fists in return, "it will be my honor for Seraph''s successor to choose me as the master. I''ll teach you everything I have." *Ding! You receive a quest, Owler''s Disciple. Description: Kenneth Owler, a renowned Seer of the Athledon kingdom wishes to accept you as his disciple. Do you accept Kenneth Owler as your master? Rewards: Seer profession. As a crown prince, he can''t kowtow to anyone but a king or an Emperor; so, he bowed and cupped his fists as a way to acknowledge him as his master, "Master." *Ding! You completed the quest, Owler''s disciple. *Ding! A second profession, Seer has been added to your character. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the 19th player to unlock a second profession. You receive 100 fame points as a reward. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the first player in the world to acquire one of the ten unique professions. You receive 5000 fame points as a reward. "Oh! I was the first to acquire the unique profession?" Wil was really surprised by this notification as he didn''t expect to be the first one. "Cool With earlier 10K and now, 5K, I still need 41900 fame points to raise my raise to Duke." Just like a legend or hidden classes, there are also odd non-combat professions like Seer that can only be acquired from an Ascended NPC like this old man. They are called unique professions. Farmer, Miner, builder, Seer, Dungeon creator, thief, transmutator, Inventor, treasure hunter, and Scroll maker. These are the ten unique non-combat professions and each profession can only be chosen by one person. On top of that, one has to be an inheritor of some powerful NPC, or else, they won''t be able to appease these Ascended NPCs and acquire the class. Wil isn''t actually interested to choose this job because he is someone from the future and doesn''t need to be a Seer to know the future content beforehand. But, if he misses this opportunity, he knew Bran will be the one to acquire it. He can''t let it happen no matter what. That''s why, even though Wil was interested in a job like a dungeon creator or scroll maker, his enmity forced him to choose it. Wil checked out the Character menu. Two holographic screens appeared before him. He closed the first one with the stats and examined the second one. Character name: N/A Class: Seer Level: 200 MP: 4623 Skills: God''s eye: Using the ball of prophecy, everything around you is visible to you, whether it''s the people or hidden objects. Cost: 10 mana points per 50-meter radius, CD: 1 minute. Divination Lv1: Using the ball of prophecy, you can divine the location of an object that you desire in your head. Cost: 100 mana points per 1km radius. CD: 1 hour per 100 mana consumption. Divination Lv2: using the ball of prophecy, you can divine the location of a person that you imagined in your head, Cost: 200 mana points per 1km radius. CD: 1 hour per 100 mana consumption. ''Looks like it''s going to be mana demanding'' Wil thought as he stared at the skills. ''But that divination will be very useful to locate someone.'' Just then, Owler brought him back from his thoughts. "As a Seer, the most important thing that you need to have is the Ball of Prophecy. Without it, you can''t predict anything. Go and gather these materials." Owler gave him a quest. *Ding! You receive a quest, Material gathering. Chapter 198: Rise of Athledon *Ding! You received a quest, Material gathering Description: To become a full-fledged Seer, one would need the Ball of Prophecy. Gather the following materials to craft it. Required items: Thunderclap bird feathers x5; Shards of Sacred Ocean x12; Eye of Oculus; Mithril Ores x200; Moonstone x15; Sunstone x15; 1000 sea orb; Rewards: Ball of Prophecy (Legendary) Wil frowned deeply as he looked at the required materials to craft the crystal ball. "Thunderclap feathers are only dropped from the thunderclap beast. Good thing is that it''s only a level-300 beast. The only problem is the drop rate. Shards of Sacred ocean? Never heard of it. Must be obtained from killing a legendary grade oceanic beast. Oculus is almost impossible to kill since it reads the future and runs away before I even make a move. And its whereabouts are also very random. Where the f**k am I supposed to look for it? Mithril Ores and sea orbs are the easiest to get. I can get sea orbs by killing any oceanic beasts but the ores I guess it''s going to cost a hell As for sunstone and moonstone, they can only be acquired from Sun and Moon beasts. I should wait until the barrier disappears. Hmm, now that I think about the barrier, by this time, shouldn''t atleast 100 players already cross level-200? Even in my own guild, there are four players." Wil opened the kingdom rankings as he was walking on the streets. The holographic screen displayed the top 10 rankings. Llyne Kingdom Rankings: 1) Time Traveler C Level 200 2) SnowDew C Level 200 3) Yelir C Level 200 4) Starlight C Level 200 5) Rigel C Level 200 6) Flame Emperor C Level 198 7) Sugar C Level 198 8) Rock Fist C Level 196 9) Red Dragon C 195 10) Soundweaver - 195 "Since I''m different from the rest, I should exclude myself. I should also exclude Hyori since I brought her level up in one go. That means, on average, even if I consider three players per kingdom, then, excluding the Demon continent, there will be atleast 93 players who might have crossed level-200. Then, crossing 100 players wouldn''t be a problem anymore. So, either the players are focusing on other content rather than leveling up or Aria halted the barrier release since the first update arrived too early. Was she was thinking of releasing the second update at the same time? Hmm Who knows Either way" Wil then glanced at the list and grinned, "Five of the top rankings are occupied by Scarlet. Flame Emperor can be considered an ally despite him being the young master of the Antolov family. It clearly says that Scarlet is a dominating force in the kingdom. I should expand the guild further. I wonder who is this Soundweaver is The last time I checked, he wasn''t in the rankings" Shrugging his shoulders, Wil walked towards the entrance of the city to get out and return to Ormshire Island to start developing the town and upgrade into a city. But then, thinking about the quest, he decided to collect the Mithril ores first. Ten hours later; Somewhere in the North Grennola ocean, on a small island that once part of Athledon kingdom, Wil was roaming in the markets. Since he isn''t a miner, Wil can''t dig out the Mithril ore from a Mithril mine. So, he has no choice but to ask around the markets. After buying all the ores from the Astaria market for 25 gold coins apiece, Wil returned to Ormshire Island to try his luck. There, he was given for free the moment he asked them for. But, still, they weren''t enough. So, he flew to the other islands to buy the materials. Along the way, he also bought as many sea orbs as he can, to save time. As for the other needed materials, obviously, they aren''t available. At last, he reached Triena Island to find the last batch of Mithril ores. *Ding! You collected 200 Mithril Ores. Submit now or later? "Finally, 200 ores are collected." Wil sighed as he looked at the number of gold coins. "Eight thousand gold coins were spent away just like that. Just these ores cost me 6542 gold coins. At least, sea orbs aren''t that expensive." Wil then pressed on submit. The Mithril ores disappeared from his inventory as well as from the quest. "Good." Wil once again looked at the required materials and his attention placed on the beast that can see the future. "Oculus," He mumbled, letting out his thoughts. "I wonder how Bran looked for it before. Surely, there must be a way, right?" "Huh!" Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. "Oh! F**k" Wil slapped his forehead for being such an idiot. "How I f**k did I forgot about it. That old man was standing before me, all along. I can just ask his help to look for the whereabouts." Wil immediately started to walk towards the exit and return to Astaria Island. Just as he reached the entrance of the market, the land below him started to shake. He lost his footing and fell onto the ground. Like Wil, everyone also collapsed on the ground because of an earthquake. Jun felt like he was moving somewhere. No, it''s more like the island itself. It turned out that Triena wasn''t the only island in that state. The islands of Ormshire, Archeo, Astaria, Eprines, etc All the islands which were scattered across the North Grennola Ocean started moving. Some merged into the mainland while some stayed as islands. As the earthquake stopped, a notification rang in his ears. Along with Wil, all the players received the same notification. *Ding! The lost Kingdom of Athledon has been revived. And second notification followed by the first. The second one was spread only in the kingdom. Since Wil is the only player around, only he received it. *Ding! King Hugolinus Athledon has rescinded his rights on Ormshire. It has been registered as private property. The following notifications were for him, this time. *Ding! The state of Ormshire has been added to your property list. *Ding! You received the key fragment. Please check your inventory. The first thing Wil did is to take out the key from his inventory and inspected it. Key fragment Description: Three fragments make a key that can open the mystery box. Upon reading the description, Wil remembered the reward he received for completing the quest. Since Wil doesn''t need any items or equipment, he didn''t bother to try opening it, back then. Now he understood that the mystery box might really contain a treasure. He checked out the details and was surprised to find the island got bigger as it merged into the kingdom. Wil even thought that he can establish a small kingdom in that space. State of Ormshire Headquarters: Vulture city Area: 653 sq. km. Population: 52,547 Natives: 52,546 Players: 1 Number of cities: 1 Number of towns: 4 Tax: 15% Current Funds: 133,245 gold Along with Wil, everyone also opened the map in curiosity to check the location of this new kingdom. They saw the map was changed in the area between Xynnar and North Zalfari continents. Previously, there used to be ten or so islands scattered across the ocean. Now, there''s a large island in the middle with five islands around it. While it wasn''t as big as their kingdoms, they still can''t ignore the size of this new kingdom. Since it is out of the barriers, everyone thought this might be an upcoming event. On the other hand, Orion, who was enjoying his vacation on some island smiled as he took out his portal ring. "A Lost Kingdom? Interesting" Chapter 199: Worlds first Virtual Idol group Athledon City; The streets are decorated with flowers and lights. People are busy roaming here and there. New citizens from other islands migrating to the capital as if it''s normal. Unlike the time where people of Llyne city lined up to welcome their new Queen, this time, it''s as if there are no changes. As soon as the kingdom is formed, the system didn''t even go offline while Wil found everything around him changed. He wondered whether if it was prewritten program that gets activated on a certain condition. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that might be the case, Wil was indeed happy that he made the right choice of asking the Ormshire. He asked for the island but got an entire state that''s under Ormshire name in return. The more confusing part is that no one knows how Wil became the ruler of Ormshire state. These NPCs believe he was always their ruler. The same goes for the natives of other islands. The only exceptions were the King himself and the old man. Hugo treated him as the savior while the old man is still his master. But, then again, it is a game after all. There''s bound to be some illogical things that can only be accepted. He also didn''t care about it. As long as the result is good, it''s fine. *** Wil and Hugo are walking down on the streets like old friends except that the latter is in disguise. "So, how''s the financial state of the kingdom, your majesty?" Wil asked Hugo while discussing the affairs of the kingdom. Since Wil is the disciple of Owler and also a crown prince of some kingdom, he was also appointed as an advisor for the King to run the kingdom smoothly. "Well, the nobles donated quite an amount sufficient enough for the next six months," Hugo replied. "You sure, you don''t want my assistance?" Wil asked him. Hugo shook his head, "You have already done enough by reviving this kingdom. I can''t trouble you, anymore." Hugo respectfully declined the offer once again. It wasn''t the first time Wil offered financial assistance. The first time he offered money, he was declined as the nobles who were ruling the islands donated a part of their wealth. This time too, Hugo turned him down again with the same excuse. But Wil didn''t back down. No matter what, he intends to invest in the kingdom to make sure Athledon will stand behind him when he needed them to be. "I have a surplus amount of funds, Your Majesty. You don''t need to worry about burdening me." Wil tried to reason with him but seeing the look on his face, he employed plan B, "How about this, your majesty. I''ll inaugurate a private bank with my personal funds. I want its branch permitted to be built in this city. You won''t need to raise taxes if the kingdom ever needs funds. The palace will have the bank''s backing and the bank will have the palace''s. It''s a win-win situation for both of us." Upon hearing Wil''s proposal, Hugo went silent for a while, trying to weigh the pros and cons. Wil quickly received the hint about the success of his proposal. *Ding! Your familiarity with Hugolinus Athledon increases by 20. Hugo stopped walking and looked at him, "two conditions. The bank''s headquarters should be located in the capital city and not in Ormshire state. Two, the bank should always stand by the palace." "Of course, Your Majesty." Wil nodded with a smile, "I''m the disciple of Seer Owler. I will always stand with the throne." *Ding! Your familiarity with Hugolinus Athledon increases by 5. "Very well" Hugo gave his word. "I, Hugolinus Athledon, hereby, grant you a 500 square meter of land to develop the bank. You can choose any place in the city." *Ding! You received an empty land deed. Soon, they parted their ways. Wil took out a blank land deed with a seal from the inventory and inspected it. Athledon''s Blank Land Deed Description: You can buy any land of your choice as long as it''s on the premises of the Athledon kingdom and isn''t private property. Size: 500 square meters. After receiving the deed, Wil didn''t wait long to implement his plan. He quickly chose a prime spot nearby the Adventure association and spent another 100 gold coins to the city administration department for construction. Except for diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, Wil invested the remaining 2313 gold bars and 500 thousand gold coins in the bank while the remaining 250 thousand were thrown into Scarlet town''s development. *** Nexus Entertainment, Ares City; A vehicle stopped in the parking lot. Seven girls stepped down from the vehicle and entered a 65-story skyscraper. Their manager followed them into the building. As they entered the lift, the manager kept on reminding them. "Eun-Jin-ssi, you are the leader of the group. I''ll let you do all the talking. The remaining will stay silent unless you are asked a question directly. If the terms are unfavorable, don''t forget to reject him politely no matter how angry you get. This representative''s backing isn''t something not even our Chairman can offend. So, you should be careful of your behavior. We don''t need to curry favor with him but make sure that we won''t offend him or else, the Chairman might even disband your group overnight. Understood?" The twenty-year-old girl nodded, "Yes. I got it." Reaching the 12th floor, they went to the meeting place. There, they saw two people in suits were sitting with the Chairman. The girls immediately became tensed, looking at their influential Chairman is now addressing politely. "Mr. Colten, this is the group, you have asked for." The Chairman pointed to the girls who stood nervously. He looked at them and introduced the person, "This is Aster Colten, a representative of Scarlet Securities. He flew all the way from Leafway city to meet you." Everyone was immediately taken aback. Since it''s a privately owned company with only one shareholder, its revenue might not be that great compared to big corporations but their influence is in the same level of government, especially in Ares City. They keep the city safe. If it weren''t because of them, the girls would have been afraid to walk in the streets after midnight. They wondered why a person of such background wants to meet them, a newbie in the idol industry. Do they have the same intentions as those businessmen? Do they need to owe se*ual favors like their senior actresses in exchange for sponsorship? But, they are idols, not the actresses They hardly have 5-10 years of work life. Is it worth degrading to such a level? Not to mention, even with huge funding, if the song isn''t good, there''s no use. There''s no guarantee of their success. It isn''t like the movies In their music video and album, they are the main characters as well as the supporting characters. A lot of things started going through their minds and the six of them became stiff as a result. The only one who was calm was their leader. She nudged the others. "Thank you." All of them bowed in response, getting back to reality. "Please, sit down," Aster told them to take their seats and he sat down. "So, who is the face of the group?" Aster asked, looking at the girls. Eun-Jin raised her hand, "It''s me." "And the leader?" She once again raised the hand, "it''s me." "And you must be the manager, right?" Aster asked the lady who looks a lot older than them and wore a formal suit. She nodded in response, "yes, I am." "Good," Aster then said, "let me go straight to the business. Honestly, today, I''m not representing Scarlet Securities but Scarlet gaming Corp. Have you heard of it?" "I''m sorry." The Chairman apologized as he shook his head, "I''ve never heard of it." Aster explained, "It''s a subsidiary company of ours that focuses only on gaming." ''Gaming? What does that have anything to do with us?'' All the girls had the same thought, upon hearing his words. Seeing the look of confusion on everyone''s face, Aster asked, "Ever heard of the game, War Online?" "Yes, the one developed by Summersoft." The manager answered instead of Chairman, who doesn''t have a clue about it. The girls also nodded, implying that they knew of it. Aster continued, "Our company is starting an Entertainment agency in the game and we are looking for a group. We found your group fits our requirements." ''Entertainment agency in a game,'' everyone was surprised about it. "Our Scarlet Gaming Corp. wishes to collaborate with Nexus Entertainment. We will provide all the funds required for the group to receive the best treatment in the real world from accommodations to the best producer. In return, Clover will join the game and be the virtual idols, representing our company. So, what do you think" At that moment, Wil didn''t know that he didn''t just create the world''s first virtual idol group but also an entirely brand new kind of entertainment industry that will eventually give birth to several kinds of virtual industries. *** Scarlet Apartments, Leafway city; Wil was sleeping soundly on his comfy bed. All of a sudden, his phone rang. "Hello?" He answered it in a sleepy tone without seeing the number. "Young Master, sorry for disturbing your sleep but it''s urgent." Aster''s tone was heard from the other side. "What is it?" *Yawn* Wil''s tone was still sounded sleepy. "I just got a call from Red Dragon. Please check out the forums. The second major update is here" "Eh?" Wil''s eyes opened wide in surprise. Chapter 200: 2nd Major Update "Mr. Ravens, the game is currently in maintenance. Please try later." The A.I. program installed in the capsule spoke as soon as Wil pressed the sync button. Followed by the message, a countdown appeared on the screen. *Countdown: 47:51:34* "Oh! So, the update started just ten minutes ago, huh Aster is indeed quick to reply to me." Lying in the capsule, Wil then opened the forums to check the updates. Unlike the first update, there''s a trailer this time. He played the video. He found himself standing on the grass at a level-200 wild zone of some kingdom. The barrier slowly dispersed from his sight. Then, suddenly, the scene changed. This time, he was standing on a beach. The barrier once again dispersed and then, the next scene is where he was standing on some border. There are soldiers on either side of the barrier that was separating them. Now, it suddenly disappeared between them. The scene quickly disappeared and replaced with another scene while powerful music began to play in the background. At last, he found himself in the middle of barren land. The sky was dim. As Wil turned his head, he realized there is a huge army on either side, waiting for some sort of signal. The sun slowly rose in the sky and both the armies gave a war cry before they started running towards each other. Just as they were about to battle, everything around him disappeared and he saw a title, "War Online: War & Kingdoms, 2nd major update is here." "Last time I remember watching it on a computer. The trailer is indeed awesome when watching in an S-grade Capsule. Those who don''t have it will definitely miss this feature" Wil can''t help but feel satisfied with it. Whenever something good happens, he feels proud of making a different choice. Of course, at the same time, he also curses himself for not making the right choice in his previous life. After watching the trailer, he scrolls down the page to see the details. *Greetings from Summersoft* Here are the details for the update on July 31, 2020. Update Schedule: July 31st 01:35 to Aug. 2nd 01:34 EST (Eastern Standard Time) Or July 31st 17:35 to Aug. 2nd 17:34 WST (Western Standard Time) Note: The maintenance time can be increased further. Update Details: 1) New Race Vampire Race has been added to the starter races. Vampire: *Picture* Description: An underworld mutant race that feeds on the life force of other people. Enemies to the Angels and humans. Have the ability to see at night. Stats: - Material world: No changes. Underworld: 20% increase. Day time: 50% decrease. Nighttime: 20% increase. Note: Stats buff/debuff will stack on each other. Eligibility: New players or Existing Human race players. Skills against other races: - Humans: 20% increase. Remaining race: No changes Available classes: Wizard/Witch, Archer, Gunner, Assassin, Blademaster. 2) Changes to the races Races are limited. Description: To maintain balance in the game, the races will be restricted to a number of people. For every four humans, there will be one Elf, one Angel, one Demon, and one Vampire. Human: Elf: Angel: Demon: Vampire = 4: 1: 1: 1 Revising the attributes buff and debuff Description: All the races'' passive stat buff will be revised Note 1: No changes mean there will be no change to their stat or skill, etc... It doesn''t refer to the past version. Note 2: Stat only refers to attack, defense, HP, MP, and Speed. Human: No changes. Elf: A race that treats forests as their home. Stats: - Forest region: 30% increase. Other regions: 20% decrease. Note: The forest region applies to all the worlds, i.e. Material world, underworld, dungeons, hidden realms, etc Skills against other races: No changes EXP: - forest region in wild zones: 30% increase. Rest of the world: No changes. Dungeon: No changes. Demon: A race that resides in the underworld. Enemy of mankind and angels. Stats: - Underworld: 30% stat increase. Material world: 20% stat decrease. Dungeon: No changes Skills against other races: - Humans and Elves: 20% increase. Vampires and Angels: No changes. EXP: - wild zone in the underworld: 20% increase. Wild zone in the material world: 50% decrease. Angel: A race that contains divinity. Enemy of Demons and allies of humans. Stats: - Underworld: 50% stat decrease. Material world: 30% stat increase. Skill against other races: - Demons and Vampires: 50% increase. Humans and Elves: No changes. EXP: - Wild zone in Material world: 30% increase. Wild zone in the underworld: 50% decrease. Dungeon: No changes Each Race will receive a unique skill after reaching level-250. Human: Unity Skill description: Party of 10 or above with only human players will receive a buff. Exp - 10% increase. Stats C 10% increase. Elf: Feathered steps Skill description: Movement speed increases by 50% for five seconds after achieving a 10 combo. Demon: Berserk mode Skill description: Attack increases by 50% when the HP is below 10%. Angel: Divinity Skill description: 10% HP harm to undead and demon NPC/monsters with every critical hit as long as their HP is above 10%. Note: The undead NPC/monsters controlled by players are included. Vampire: Infect lv2 Skill description: Can forcefully infect other race players of a lower level and turn them into temporary Vampires for a day. Activation condition: Bite on the neck. CD: 3 days. Class restrictions to the races have been revised. Human: All classes available. Elf: Guardian, Cleric, Wizard/Witch, Archer, Assassin. Demon: Guardian, Wizard/Witch, Archer, Blademaster, Assassin. Angel: Guardian, Knight, Cleric, Wizard/Witch, Archer. Note: Players who will be forced to change their classes because of the above rule will be compensated with 100 gold coins and 1000 fame points. All players will also be compensated with a class change scroll. Using the scroll will also change the equipped weapons and armor suitable to their new class. Wings are added to Demon race players. Description: Now, Demon race players can fly in the sky at a cost of 10 mana points per minute. Mana requirement for the Angel race is removed. Description: Now, Angel race players can fly in the sky without spending any mana. 3) Hidden Classes One can change into a hidden class after reaching level-300. Their level will be decreased to level-200. Restrictions: - Paladin: Human, Elf, Angel Necromancer: Human, Elf, Demon, Vampire Summoner: Human, Elf, Angel, Demon Berserker: Human, Angel, Demon, Vampire One cannot change their class after the third awakening (four-star). 4) Restrictions on Flight and Swim. Using wings 1000 meters above ground will get a debuff of 1%HP per second. Swimming under the water 1000 meters below surface will get a debuff of 1% HP per second. 5) Maximum level limit is increased to 300 The barriers to the level 200-300 wild zone of each kingdom will be lifted. 6) Barriers between every kingdom will be lifted. 7) Skills Skill levels, ranging from number 1 to 10 will be replaced by four levels. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master. Current skill levels will be adjusted according to the new scale. The remaining Skill points are converted into Skill fragments. 4 Skill fragments can be merged and form a skill point to upgrade the skill. Skill books can be exchanged for skill fragments. Skill fragments can also be exchanged for a skill. 10 Skill fragments = random low-grade skill. 25 skill fragments = random medium-grade skill. 50 skill fragments = random high-grade skill. 100 skill fragments = random peak-grade skill. 1000 skill fragments = unique skill. 8) Non combat professions Levels will be removed for Non-combat professions The levels are divided into Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, and Legendary Master. For complete details, please contact the NPC masters in the game. 9) Equipment and monsters grading system Monsters with Heroic or above grade will also have + and - grades. Their HP varies in 1:2:3 ratios. Example: If a Heroic grade level-200 monster has 52 Million HP, then Heroic- grade of the same level will have 26 Million while Heroic+ will have 78 Million. Equipment with Epic or above grade will display have + and C grades, instead of high or low. Their stats vary in 1:2:3 ratios. 10) Mutation Heroic grade and above monsters in the wild or dungeons will now mutate instead of going berserk mode after meeting certain requirements. Battle companion quests have been added. One can mutate their battle companion by completing quests or gathering materials. Each mutation will improve the battle companion''s grade. Example: If a Heroic C pet mutates, it will increase to Heroic. Double mutation will make it a Heroic + and triple mutation will upgrade the pet''s level to legendary C 11) Battle companion Potential is added to battle companion. Mutation will depend on the potential displayed on the pet''s stats. Please check your pet stats. 12) Until Aug. 9th, migration is available to other kingdoms. Nobility will not be changed. From 9th-16th, migration will reset one''s nobility. After 16th, migration won''t be allowed. 13) Transfer of Beginner villages. Beginner villages are removed from the material world and will be placed on a different planet. The players are free to roam in the new world. Plenty of villages to migrate, and plenty of NPC to receive quests. 14) Contract System . All Two-star and above Appraisers can create a contract upon which two parties can make an agreement officially. One cannot break the contract without paying a compensation fee. The system has all the rights to decide about the compensation. 15) Gold and Credits exchange increased from 100 gold coins to 1000 gold coins per player. 16) Fixes Fixed an issue where some of Angel race players able to fly in the Arena battle. Fixed an issue with forced log out when the device is overload. B to D-grade capsule users will also receive a warning once you reached 80% of continuous playtime. Fixed an issue with human players able to enter the racial dungeons. Fixed an issue with a few players able to exchange/transfer locked gold coins. . Fixed an issue with stamina being consumed instead of mana for melee players. ****** "Damn This update seriously looked like it''s aimed at me" Wil growled, looking at the details. "Advantage of Mutation is gone My title is useless with everyone can fly without any demerits Divinity is nerfed Damn you, Summersoft If I don''t receive sufficient compensation Wait a second" Right then, a certain line from the details caught Wil''s attention. "Mutation will increase a level Leon is a legendary+ grade beast Does that mean it will become a mythic grade?" Realization dawned upon Wil and all of his negatives thoughts turned into excitement. "If it becomes a Mythic grade beast, then, no one would be able to stop me. I still have four pet slots left. I should try my luck, catching them. I also need to increase the pet slots. Not sure how many are available right now. We can think about inheritance quest, later." Closing the forums, Wil then stepped out of the capsule and returned to his bed. Looking at the ceiling, he mumbled, "I forgot that I need legendary grade pet scrolls to catch them. I should ask Aster about it, tomorrow. I wonder if anyone is interested to sell them. If I can''t buy them, then, I''ll just kill them. Either way, I will be the winner. And then" Wil''s face turned cold, "I will demolish that Reverie kingdom before the war even begins. This time, I won''t let you win, Bran" *Lights off* *** The next day, Hailey City; "No way," Mia screamed at her mom. "What about my school? What about my friends?" She rushed to her room and slammed the door. Scarlet turned her head towards Rey, "convince her." "But, mom" Rey wanted to ask why but he kept silent, following her order. "Okay." As Rey left to Mia''s room, Scott, who was standing beside her, asked, "I think we should tell them the reason" "Reason" She snapped at him but spoke in a low tone so that her voice didn''t escape the living room. "What should I tell them? That their father is a felon who scammed people and lied to his family for all this time? And now, some organization is after not only him but also our lives?" "I''m sorry" Scott apologized to Scarlet. He found this lovely but lazy wife of his scarier after he confessed the truth. Each word of hers appeared cold whenever he tried to have a conversation with her. But he understood that it''s a plausible reaction since he was guilty. He was satisfied with any kind of treatment as long as she won''t divorce him. "Anyway I''ve already made arrangements with a former colleague of mine. Leafway city is the safest place for us and our children." What he doesn''t know that she''s even guiltier than him but was just covering it up by pointing his mistakes. Chapter 201: Lunch with Miyazaki family part-1 Miyazaki Mansion, Ares City; Unlike the usual days where it was filled with politicians, this day was filled with servants, cleaning every inch of the corner, the items are being arranged nicely, the kitchen is busy with a team of chefs, discussing the best dishes for a full course meal. In the garden, Miyazaki Reisa was having a drink with her Elder brother, debating about various political topics. Her eldest daughter Kiyumi walked towards them as she disconnected the call. Looking at them, she shook her head with a sigh, "mom wouldn''t stop talk about politics even today?" "Mom, Uncle" She called out to them as she went near to them. "Ah! Kiyumi. You are here" Her Uncle was the first to respond, "Where''s Mr. Welton? Didn''t you arrive together?" "Richard''s busy at the hospital. Apparently, there''s going to be a live surgery of a double living organ transplantation, tomorrow. The recipient will receive a kidney and a liver from his wife and son, respectively. I thought he needs to be there since many professors are going to witness it. So, he won''t be arriving for the lunch either" Kiyumi replied to her uncle in a calm tone. "Ah! I see" While her uncle believed her words, her mom scoffed, "don''t kid around. If he has the heart to do such a thing, then, there won''t be articles mentioning his arrogant behavior around the university professors. How many times he lost control over his tongue in front of the media. Last year, there was a dispute between" "Alright, mom. You don''t need to go deeper. I told him not to come with me." Kiyumi finally gave in and confessed the truth. "You know he has a superiority complex. He will sure offend Mr. Ravens if they were to meet." "I know that he''s indeed rich I mean, far richer than us or Mr. Welton and Scarlet Securities have a certain degree of influence" Shihei Miyazaki then voiced out his opinion, "but I really wonder why are you two making a big deal out of it. You two are behaving like some king is coming to our Mansion. Relax, it''s just lunch." Taking a sip, Reisa said a simple but shocking statement to him, "Daniel is on his way." "Eh? That ba****d?" Shihei was taken aback by his sister''s words. "Why? Did you invite him?" He didn''t hide his hate for this four-star general. His reaction was obvious since Daniel was the one who decided to leave his sister for the sake of promotion. "It seems he was dying to meet his son-in-law Daniel said he approved Mr. Ravens." Her statement caused him to frown, "that means, they have met before, right?" "Uncle, ever since you are retired from your position, you stopped caring about the affairs of the world," Kiyumi said to him. "A while ago, a battalion that belongs to dad''s regiment besieged a city in the western continent." Shihei nodded, "I know. They and the police worked together to catch some terrorist group named Wait a second." He looked at both of them, "is he involved in that?" Reisa answered him with another ambiguous statement, "it seems like Madam Scarlet is indeed alive and well. The Mafia Lord really fooled the world about her death and even established a security company under her name as a memory of her." "So, The company is a diversion to protect his ex-wife," Shihei quickly connected the dots. "let me guess She was being attacked or abducted?" As a person who served as the leader of Galaxy-Net for almost three decades, he was wise enough to come to an exact conclusion. Kiyumi further said, "according to our investigations, she has a separate family, a husband, and two children. When I asked whether his mother is also coming with him, his tone was a bit off. I guess he isn''t in peace terms with his mother" "What about your sisters?" Reisa quickly cut off the off-topic conversion and brought it back on to the track. "They will come in the morning." Kiyumi answered her before asking both of them, "Actually, there''s another thing. Konami said she wants to introduce her boyfriend to dad. She was wondering whether it''s okay with you two." "Konami has a boyfriend?" Both of them blurted out in surprise. Kiyumi was taken aback by their response. *** The next day afternoon; Two vehicles entered the Miyazaki Mansion''s compound and stopped before the entrance door. Wil and Silver stepped out of it while the guards didn''t follow both of them upon getting the orders from Wil. Kiyumi received them. "Good to see you, Kiyumi-san." Wil had a smile on his face, looking at this beautiful future sister-in-law of his. "Mr. Ravens, Mr. Silver" After returning the greetings, she took both of them into the Mansion while texting someone. Stepping inside the entrance hall, Wil looked around for a while before he heard his mother-in-law''s voice from the side. "Mr. Ravens, we are waiting for you" Wil turned his head and saw Reisa and a couple of daughters who are busy with their own things The youngest was watching videos of ''One'' again. The second oldest was chatting with a young man. Wil thought he might be her best friend or boyfriend/fiance considering how they are locking their arms. Other than those three, there''s a man in his sixties with grey streaks here and there. The remaining two girls are yet to be seen Upon hearing Reisa''s tone, they turned their heads and saw the main star of this lunch party. Seeing Wil in person, 16-year-old Wakano thought, ''the third brother in law is indeed handsome in person. But my One is more handsome, Hmpf'' "Your house looks nice, Miyazaki-san," Wil complimented her as a part of etiquette and handed her the gift bag with a bottle of wine inside it. She took out the bottle without any reservations and as soon as she saw the label, her smile became bigger, "Peortasis Noir, 1992?" Wil replied, "Silver mentioned that it was your favorite brand." "Thank you, Mr. Ravens. I knew this isn''t something that easy to find. The company only makes 1000 bottles per year, and 15-20-year-old ones cost a lot since they taste the best. So, they were even rarer" Upon hearing her reply, Wil thought, ''no wonder that man demanded 400 thousand yuan (200K dollars or 4 million credits). He didn''t cheat me after all.'' He pointed his finger to Silver, "I didn''t know much about wine. Silver is the one who recommended it." Reisa gave a simple nod in response. Wil frowned for a second before retracting it away. Clearly, she wasn''t interested in paying attention to Silver, thinking he''s just a guard even though she knew he was close to her son-in-law. Previously, she gave a lot of attention to Silver but now that they are becoming a family, in her eyes, Silver was no different from an employee. "This is my elder brother, Shihei Miyazaki." She started introducing her family. "Onii-sama, this is Williard Ravens." The man greets with a bow as a part of the Eastern continent''s culture. Wil also returned the greetings with a bow, instead of the usual handshake. "Hello. I have heard a lot about you from my dad, Shihei-san. He once mentioned that you are the best leader of Galaxy Net." Shihei smiled in response. "My achievements are nothing compared to your dad''s." As Wil wondered whether he was just being humble or did his dad really achieved something great, Reisa interrupted his thoughts by introducing the others. "This is my second daughter, Konami and he''s her boyfriend, Adam." "Hello." Konami greeted with a bow while Adam put forth his hand for a handshake, "Hey man, how you doing" Accepting the handshake, Wil wondered whether this family likes Westerners. His father in law is a westerner. Kiyumi''s fiance''s also a westerner. Combining the guy in front of him and himself, almost every female in this family chose a westerner. He felt weird but didn''t let out his thoughts and proceed with greeting the youngest brat. To his shock, she simply bowed without even speaking hello. Wil was taken aback by her lack of response. ''Does she have a problem with me or something?'' Kiyumi, who stood behind him, stepped forward and whispered, "she''s a fan of One. Please don''t mind her" ''I see'' Wil nodded in understanding as the battle against ''One'' still etched in his mind. Deep down, he already acknowledged that ''One'' is superior to him in archery. Well, atleast, currently. Poor Wil doesn''t know that One is no longer the Archer. *Tap* Tap*Tap* Right then, Wil heard the sounds of footsteps from his behind. He turned around. Along with him, the others also glanced at the two girls who arrived at the scene. Wil was stunned as he saw the short-haired fourth sister. ''What a surprise To think I would meet "Siren" here of all the places'' Chapter 202: Lunch with Miyazaki family part-2 *Flashback* Capital city, Reverie kingdom; Wil and a few leaders of other medium-sized guilds are enjoying delicacies while discussing how to stop Bran''s tyranny. *Neigh*Neigh* "Move away" *Screech* Suddenly, various sounds are heard from the street, especially the screech of a bird. It was too loud to ignore. "What is it?" Wil asked in a bad mood. One of them spoke in a panic tone as he read the message, "It''s the Phoenix." "A phoenix? That means Siren is here?" Wil stood up from the seat and left the restaurant only to see the road was blocked by the soldiers of the Empire from the entrance of the gate to the palace. Meanwhile, a unit that contained hardly 10 elves is marching towards the palace with a palanquin in the middle. Empress of the Elven Empire is sitting inside of it. On the other hand, a giant Phoenix was flying around in the sky while screeching from time to time. But, Wil''s attention was on the short-haired girl who was walking alongside the palanquin. As she turned her head towards the left, Wil saw her eyes are cold. It was the first time Wil saw her. Two years later, a dispirited Wil was watching television in his apartment at Ecrin city. It was an interview with the ten strongest individuals. Wil saw her for the second and last time before he left the game and sold his capsule. *Present* Wil was meeting this figure for the third time, only this time, as equals. No, perhaps, his standing is a little bit higher than this short-haired beauty even though both of them are legend class users. Capturing Wil''s expression, Silver, Reisa, and Kiyumi thought he was probably enamored by Akiko''s beauty. Well, it''s no exaggeration to say that Akiko looks stunning today. She wore her best clothes, accessories, and makeup All three of them let out a smile Even Rini was no exception. She whispered to Akiko, "looks like brother-in-law was stunned" "Shh" Akiko swats her away, feeling a little bit shy. Wil, who didn''t know the misunderstandings of everyone, eventually came out of his stupor, and greeted with a smile, "it''s been a while, Akiko-san." She bowed in return, "Yes, it is" Reisa then introduced the girl beside Akiko. "This is my fourth daughter, Rini." "Hello" "Hello" As everyone took their seats, Reisa said, "So, Mr. Ravens" "Williard is fine" Wil interrupted her. "Sure" Reisa smiled upon receiving Wil''s permission. It''s the same as telling that they aren''t strangers. "Mr. Williard, I heard that Scarlet bought Heibei Corporation. I guess it should be called Ravens Tech. Are you trying to expand business through IT?" Even though the question does seem like an interrogative one, her tone suggests otherwise. She spoke in a casual tone as if it doesn''t matter what lies at the end of the discussion. Wil also understood that. He replied with a nod, leaning his back, "Yeah. IT sector is progressing at an unimaginable speed. I actually thought of building a company but an opportunity arose in the form of an enemy." While the rest of them wondered what he meant by that, Shihei commented with a question, "so, the guildmaster of Imperial is Lu Heibei?" Wil nodded in response. "I see No wonder" Shihei''s eyes lit up in realization. He always thought about why Scarlet goes on bullying a small IT corporation like Heibei Corp. Now, he understood the reason. Scarlet was trying to enter the IT business. Right then, the Imperial guild''s leader might have offended Wil in the game. So, he took out the guild and swallowed its backing. At that moment, Shihei can''t help but felt pity for that young man who offended someone he can''t afford to. Meanwhile, except for Silver, the rest of them also came to a similar conclusion. They thought this Lu Heibei offended Scarlet in-game and got destroyed as a result. Wil didn''t know that everyone there misunderstood him as a fellow who holds deep grudges Even if he were to know what they are thinking, Wil wouldn''t bother to clear the misunderstandings since he was indeed a vengeful fellow but he wasn''t someone who would attack someone in real life just because they offended him in-game. He would rather settle the scores in-game. This is the reason Wil hasn''t touched Bran despite knowing his location. If one were to observe the situation clearly, Wil didn''t destroy Heibei completely. Even though he took over the company, he left him with a part of the company''s shares. Under his management, as the company''s value increases, Lu Heibei''s shares will also increase. Then, he can comfortably live his life peacefully as long as he doesn''t return to the game and cause trouble. Since Wil didn''t explain anything else regarding his feud with Lu Heibei, the conversation stopped right there, and Reisa addressed Konami''s boyfriend, changing the topic, all of a sudden. "Mr. Burke, I just remembered I have never asked about your new shopping complex. How''s it going?" Adam was taken aback. "Ah! Yes. It might take two more months to be finished." Wil looked at him curiously. He wondered whether this guy is a businessman in the service industry. "Oh, I forgot" Reisa then looked at Williard, "Mr. Adam is an architect who also works with my daughter under her company." "Konami-san owns an architecture firm?" Wil asked in surprise, "What is its name?" "It''s called Global Architects," Reisa replied with a smile. "It''s still a small start-up, she started for fun. You might not have heard of it." Meanwhile, Konami''s face turned dark. She clearly understood the intentions of her mother. Not only you just go and built a company on your own but you dared to think of bringing a mere architect as a son-in-law? See your sister''s fiance and your'' boyfriend. Adam stayed silent as he expected that much. Even before Wil arrived, his girlfriend''s mother was just speaking about the accomplishments of her third son-in-law "Our company is having talks with Star Group." Not willing to sit by, Konami countered her mom, "once the deal is finalized, the Star Group is going to invest in our company. It will no longer be a small start-up and I didn''t start it for fun, mom." Everyone was taken aback by her sudden outburst. They knew that Reisa was belittling her because Konami went against her mother''s wishes to follow her dreams. A control freak like Reisa will never accept it. But, now, after hearing out Konami, she regretted that she didn''t use her influence to stop her daughter. At that moment, she determined to foil her plan by talking with the Star group. No matter what, she will drag her to Galaxy Net. She can''t let it fall under nephew''s hands. The rest of the siblings gave thumbs up in their heads for their sister. As for Shihei, he kept silent, not intending to involve in her family affairs. "Really? That''s cool." Wil, who was oblivious of her intentions, made a comment with a smile. "If I had known before, I wouldn''t have poured a lot of money to invite those Architects" "Eh?" "Eh?" Konami and Reisa turned their heads towards him. The rest of the members were also confused by his statement. They wondered whether he was supporting the daughter or the mother. Chapter 203: Lunch with Miyazaki family part-3 *Ahem* Kiyumi cleared her throat and explained, "He was talking about the game. Mr. Ravens employed DH Architectures to build his shopping districts located in a couple of cities. I think the Ravens'' district is also done, recently" "Oh!" The sisters and the uncle were amazed upon hearing it because they know how rare is to even own a plot of land, much less so many shopping districts. They wondered whether Wil is already a Marquis. Meanwhile, Adam was also surprised to hear this pretty boy employed the largest Architecture firm in the world to build some building inside a game? It would cost at least a million dollars for that Just how much of a squanderer was this guy "Your information network is quite big, Kiyumi-san," Wil commented with a smile. "I didn''t expect you even figured out the background of the architects who built his shopping districts. After all, the barriers aren''t opened yet. I''m impressed." If he didn''t know that Galaxy Net is behind her, he would have thought she''s a stalker. "Of course, my eldest always does her job well. She''s not only pretty but she''s also intelligent and hardworking," Reisa praised the daughter who never disappoints her. Kiyumi returned a smile in response. Meanwhile, Akiko folds her hands to her chest with a frown on her face, looking at the two of them. She felt unsettled for a second before calming down. Is it jealousy? Or it because she was being ignored? Not even the girl knows what is she feeling right now. As for Konami, she went silent, feeling humiliated for a second. ''It''s not your hard-earned money you are squandering. What''s so proud in that.'' Konami''s impression of Wil became negative at that instant. Silver, who was watching the conversations silently, analyzed the situation, ''this second eldest and the youngest doesn''t seem to like the young master. That fourth-youngest isn''t in a mood to care about the situation. Young Miss''s expression also doesn''t look good. Oh! Perhaps, she has an inferiority complex against her sister? As for this man'' Silver glanced at Shihei and thought, ''too hard to read I wonder what''s going on in his mind.'' Half an hour later, General Daniel Cooper arrived. As soon as she saw her father, Wakano was the first one to rush forward and hug him. "Dad, you are here" "Hey, sweetheart" He then greeted his eldest with a light hug. Since he wasn''t as close to other daughters as Kiyumi and Wakano, he simply said hello to them. They also greeted with a bow, treating him like a guest instead of family. It was clear that they don''t like their dad. As for Shihei, he didn''t even bother to say hello to Daniel. He treated him as if he doesn''t exist. Meanwhile, Reisa forced herself to smile, "thank you for making up time." In response to her words, Daniel turned his attention to Wil and said as he put forth his hand for a handshake, "well, I can do this much to see my daughters and of course, my son-in-law." "Mr. Ravens" Wil shook his hand, "Mr. Cooper" After shaking hands with Wil and Silver, his eyes finally landed on the blonde-haired guy in the room whose arms were locked by his second eldest daughter. "Hmm, who are you?" Daniel asked him with a frown. "He''s my boyfriend, dad. I invited him to introduce to you." As Konami answered, he introduced himself. "He works as the Architect at Konami''s company." Reisa once again chipped in. Wil frowned at her behavior. The first time, when she did that, he didn''t get it but now, he understood what''s going on and why Konami outbursts earlier. ''Does she need to insult him in a roundabout way?'' Wil wondered whether he should help him out in secret when they were engaged. "Ah! I see... Nice to meet you." Daniel''s tone was also flat, earning a smile from Reisa. She knew that Daniel won''t be against Konami for dating someone but introducing him to her parents is the same as asking their permission of acknowledgment. If they acknowledge her partner, that means, they aren''t against the marriage too. That''s why Daniel decided to ignore him altogether. Konami was disappointed a bit. Adam was still maintaining the smile on his face. It was also within his expectations. After all, dads rarely like their daughters'' boyfriends. "What about Richard?" Daniel then asked Kiyumi. Kiyumi quickly gave the excuse she prepared beforehand to him but the latter didn''t buy it. "It''s in the evening, right? Then, call him and tell him to be here, right now. Tell that either he will meet his father-in-law here before I leave or he will be forced to meet me at Pregas city" "Hmpf This man hasn''t changed a bit" Reisa mumbled to herself, looking at her ex-husband. Shihei and Rini who were standing beside Reisa heard her mumble and they nodded as if they are having the same opinion. Taking his seat in between Akiko and Wakano, he asked, "So, Mr. Ravens, how''s your mother?" ''Mother?'' Except for Kiyumi, the other four sisters are taken aback since it is pretty much known to the world that the Scarlet group was built as a memento of Wil''s mom. "Yeah, she''s doing alright." Wil forced out a smile as he replied. "Too bad she wasn''t able to visit. When I have some time, I will make a visit." "It''s alright You don''t need to trouble yourself." Wil was feeling extremely uncomfortable at the moment but since he owed him for the help, Wil tried to talk him out as politely as he can. "C''mon. Even for formality, I ought to meet our in-laws, right? Or else, it would be too rude on my side" Just as Silver was about to make a remark, Wil nodded, "fine." Right then, the Steward of the mansion arrived at the scene and informed them that the dishes are arranged on the table. Everyone left for the dining room and took their seats. They purposely made Wil and Akiko sat next to each other. He didn''t reject it either. Meanwhile, Daniel sat between Rini and Wakano. As for the brother and sister pair, they sat at the end of the table with Kiyumi. Looking at Daniel asking Rini''s college life and Wakano''s high school life, Reisa spoke to her brother, slowly, "Look at him. Trying to be a dad, all of a sudden." Meanwhile, Akiko and Wil are eating in silence, not knowing what to talk about. Last time, they were clicked because of some question paper. They didn''t talk about personal lives much. Since Wil isn''t talking, Akiko picked up her courage and said slowly, "about the update" "Mr. Ravens, what do you think of the new update?" Kiyumi suddenly asked Wil to make him speak something. After all, he''s the main star here. "Vampires can see at night. There''s an advantage to those players to level up." Wil made the comment in an instant. Akiko fell silent as her words drowned because of her eldest sister. "Yeah, but I think Elves got the most of out this update. The passive buff increased from 10 to 30%. Angels also got a great buff. Now, you can even fly without thinking about mana." Wil''s face darkened upon hearing her comment. He growled as he hit the plate with the fork that was picking up a piece of the beef, "It''s not a buff but a f**k**g debuff for me." Akiko was stunned as she stared at him. Feeling the anger in his tone, suddenly, silence engulfed the room. Even Daniel and the other two daughters stopped their conversation and looked at Wil. Chapter 204: Alliance with Galaxy Net Realizing his mistake, Wil immediately calmed down and apologized for cursing out loud, "I''m sorry for the outburst" His right hand grabbed the glass of water and he drank it "Ah! That''s" Akiko widened her eyes as she raised her hand to stop his actions but failed as she was a second late once again, "my glass" "Hmm?" Wil looked at her. "Young Master, your glass in on the left." Silver whispered into his ear. Only then, he remembered where he put the glass previously. "Ah! I''m sorry." He immediately put the glass on the table. "Was that an indirect kiss?" Rini who sat beside Akiko once again whispered in her ear. Despite how she looks, she''s also someone who loves to tease Akiko glanced at Wil''s lips and blushed at the moment and silently gobbled the food into her mouth to hide her embarrassment. Wil was also embarrassed at the moment but he was good at hiding his feelings. He diverted the situation by revealing, "I was the first one to max the flying skill. So, I received a title that enables me to fly without spending mana Kiyumi replied while thinking it wasn''t a big deal to upset over that little thing, "Summersoft will normally compensate with something in equal terms. If they don''t, you can report, I doubt they will ignore Time Traveler." "Well, on the upside, Angel race also got a buff increase" Shihei then supported his niece''s statement, reminding him that he didn''t lose anything. Wil sighed, putting down the fork. "My race is a hybrid one. I won''t receive such buff" "Eh? Hybrid?" Excluding Reisa, Daniel, and Adam who knew nothing about the game, everyone else was surprised. They wondered whether Wil changed the race just like how Galaxy Cry became the Progenitor of the Vampire race. "You can say it''s a fortuitous encounter. My race is called Dragon Angel. A part dragon and a part Angel." Since he already planned to make Galaxy Net his partner, to gain their trust, Wil decides to reveal a few things in advance. Given their network, he was sure that they will find about some of his secrets sooner or later. Of course, he would never tell about the legend class. "Dragon Angel?" Kiyumi''s eyes once again lit up, getting to know a piece of new info regarding Time Traveler. "That means, you can transform into a dragon?" "Yeah. I have two forms. Angel form and Dragon form." Wil nodded. "Since it isn''t technically a race but kind of legacy, I won''t have race buffs This update really made me lose a lot of advantages." "But, your disadvantages will also disappear, right?" Akiko slowly commented from beside. "Eh?" Wil looked at her in surprise since he didn''t think of it. "You can also roam the underworld without losing stats" "Ah! That''s right" Wil''s depression completely wiped out of his face and mind, and replaced with excitement. "That''s right If I won''t receive a buff, I would neither receive debuff. Thanks, Akiko-san" Wil smiled at her. "I didn''t do much," She mumbled to herself before stuffing her mouth with the food. But then, Shihei interrupted by making a comment. "I''m afraid it isn''t that simple." "Hmm?" Everyone turned towards him. Shihei calmly explained, "If it isn''t the race just like you claimed, then, in my opinion, you will neither lose advantages nor disadvantages. Since they are performing 48-hour maintenance to fix everything, surely, by now, the company must have the notice of the abnormality in your character data. If they were to fix it, I think they will make it seem like the Dragon form is a skill to fix the abnormality. So, in the end, you will likely have Angel form on one hand like everyone else and in addition to that, you might have Dragon form where you will lose all the advantages or disadvantages of the race." Shihei''s explanation made Wil stun for a second. ''This man Just from a couple of sentences, he even predicted the result No wonder he''s the leader of Galaxy Net.'' Finishing the lunch, Wil sat with Shihei privately. Since it was a business deal, even Reisa respected the privacy and didn''t ask the details. Meanwhile, Richard arrived at the mansion to meet Daniel after receiving a warning. Even though they have met more than once, clearly, Richard was afraid of this four-star general. Despite wanting to participate in the deal to negotiate the terms, Kiyumi stood with her fiance for moral support. Back to Wil and Shihei, after listening to everything, the latter said, "it is impressive that you managed to accomplished such a feat and I''m also confident that you will develop into an invincible stronghold with the army you have from the Llyne but I can''t move our HQ there" "Why?" Wil asked him. Clearly, the conditions are favorable to them too. He isn''t even asking him to move to Ormshire but the capital city of Athledon. There, Wil might have influence but he can''t control them. Not to mention, players of all races are accepted there unlike other human kingdoms. Their safety will also be guaranteed. "There''s for a reason we chose Searvale kingdom. It wasn''t a random place. I cannot say the reason, yet. I''m sorry." Wil was enraged upon hearing his explanation. Can''t say the reason? Is it that big of a secret? Here he revealed about his race and even hidden Ormshire state, and the other party still wants to keep their secrets. Do they think they can be hidden from Wil? Even if he doesn''t everything about the game, he''s currently the most knowledgeable person regarding the game. Once he becomes Seer, then, he will be even more unstoppable ''Fine, I don''t need to ally with Galaxy Net. Let''s be strategic partners, instead.'' Just then, the old man made a proposal in return, "how about I give you a secondary division as a gift?" "Secondary division?" Wil looked at him. Shihei nodded, "I can branch out a few of our selected individuals and form an entire new guild instead of a branch. Since Akiko will take over the director position, next year, she can gain her experience by leading a team like this They can act as your eyes and ears everywhere." Wil rejected his proposal on the spot with a flat tone, "it''s alright. I don''t need an extensive spy network. You can just set up a branch there. Akiko-san can become the guild manager there if you want her to gain experience." Shihei narrowed his eyes as soon as he understood that Wil wants to draw a line between them, now that, he didn''t receive what he came here for. "How about this" Shihei didn''t want to upset his sister over such a thing. So, he tried to compromise on his side. "I''ll let you select a few of our top Elites to accompany Akiko-chan." At the beginning of partnerships, one has to compromise on a lot of things. "Oh!" Wil became intrigued, "can I see their ign and details of their virtual avatar. Surely, you must have stored the data to see their competence" "That''s right." Shihei nodded in response, "I also planned to show the very same thing." He then took out a pen drive that he always carries with him and gave it to Wil. He connected it to his Smartphone and opened the files. It contained over 1000 names, ranked according to their mission success rate, number of missions, and informers. He was asked to pick up any ten and the remaining will be selected by himself. On the top of the list is Kiyumi, who has over 3656 informers around the world and has a mission success rate of 97.5% even though she took 587 missions for the past two months. Wil can''t help but think she''s impressive. Wil scrolls down the names and looks for certain names. Rather than the ones with mission success rate or informers, he looked for those who will be very famous in the future. And his first choice was a man with only 18 missions and 16 informers. And that too, only within the Searvale kingdom. But he has a 100% success rate. He was ranked low because of fewer missions. "I want this guy." "Hmm, Frosty King?" Shihei was taken aback by Wil''s first choice. "Are you aiming for a high success rate? If so, I can recommend people better than him." "It''s alright." Wil waved his hands, "I don''t want to draw too much blood from HQ" "Okay." Shihei nodded, thinking it is even better for him. Wil continued to pick the members one by one. After picking 9 of them, his last choice landed on a girl''s name that is on rank 1023 with zero informers, and a 0% success rate. "Eh? Rini?" Chapter 205: Shiheis proposal "Rini?" Shihei was taken aback upon seeing that Wil selected his niece of all the people. He wondered whether it''s on purpose. "So, Siren is Rini-san?" Wil faked his surprise as he turned his head towards Shihei. "According to the information collected by my spies, she''s very strong." Looking at Wil''s expression that seemed very sincere at the moment, Shihei didn''t even believe him a bit and scoffed inside, ''Who are you, kidding Ask anyone in the city, they would say her background And do you think I would give up the future Empress?'' Despite his feelings, he forced a smile, "can you reconsider? I''m sure Scarlet guild doesn''t lack experts. Not to mention, she''s the princess of Searvale. It would be a huge loss for her if she were to leave with you. How about this player named Keluar Adding to a 90% success rate with more than 1500 informers, he''s also ranked 5th in the Searvale kingdom rankings. I can assure you that he''s definitely stronger than Rini." ''She''s an important pawn for Galaxy-Net, huh! Sorry but, I can''t let your organization become too strong under her'' Wil decided to be stubborn about it. Just when he was about to speak his decision, another thought popped up in his mind. ''But, I didn''t know whether she''s acquired the legend class or not.'' He then asked, "Do you have videos of her fighting skills? In-game one, I mean" Shihei answered, "You can see her videos on the internet. Rini also loves streaming." ''That girl?'' Wil remembered that cold expression on that face. ''Her hobbies doesn''t suit her.'' When he opened her channel on the site, Wil was stunned to see she has more than 500K subscribers, which is more than current Bran''s. Each video she uploaded has at least 200K views and goes all the way to 20m. ''It seems she''s popular.'' He clicked on the most popular one that was uploaded only two weeks ago. It was a video where she fights and caught the Phoenix. Tens of thousands of comments are asking where she found such a monster. Some are mentioning that it''s a hidden monster. Meanwhile, the players that belong to the Searvale kingdom explained that Phoenix is the symbol of the kingdom. Wil''s name also popped up in a few comments like how his mount is also the symbol of Llyne. ''It looks like it''s going to be tough to catch them, now. I wonder if there''s beast left to catch.'' Then, he played the video. ''Huh!'' Wil was taken aback to see something shocking. He saw her using the skills that he thought they are unique to only Bran in the past. The twist here is that she was holding a sword and a shield, instead of Katana. ''Isn''t she a legend class user? Then, why is she using the skills that Bran has?'' Wil fell into confusion. As he continued to watch the video, Wil''s confusion became deeper, ''she used the thunder steps for every 70 seconds. That''s also the cooldown of Bran''s thunder steps. Meaning the skill is the same If it''s just one skill, I can understand they must have picked up the same skill book from somewhere but there are four skills that they have in common. What''s going on here?'' The longer Wil thinks, the more likely it seemed to him that she''s a magic swordsman. On the other hand, Shihei was silently observing Wil''s expression. Was Wil surprised that she caught the phoenix? Or was he confused about her unique skills? Even though Shihei didn''t confront her about it, he also knows that some of her skills are quite similar to Crimson Sun despite both have different classes. As he watched other videos of her, Wil realized none of the skills are of Guardian or Paladin that he knew of. ''Perhaps, legend class users don''t necessarily have the same equipment? I need to confirm my suspicions with her, later'' "So, she has a guardian beast. No wonder you refused," Wil made a comment on purpose to test him. Wil wanted to see how he would react. If he would accept Wil''s statement, that means, Shihei was refusing for another purpose. Then, Wil can conclude that either Galaxy Net is laying the groundwork to let her be the Queen to control the Searvale Kingdom. If he denies, then, that would mean, he must have already figured out the secret of the guardian beast. But, to his surprise, he received a different reply from his expectations. "That is true," Shihei nodded in response and confessed the truth, "however, even if she doesn''t possess the phoenix, I would still be reluctant about it because she''s not just a princess. She''s a crown princess like you. If the Queen dies in the war, she will be the one to rule the kingdom." At that moment, Wil understood the reason. ''This old man knows about the legend class. People like him reveal the truths to hide the even bigger truth. So, either my guess is correct or he was just stubborn.'' Wil''s eyes narrowed as he stared at Shihei for a few seconds, continuing to analyze, ''And it seemed like he didn''t know about the guardian beast completely. He probably was thinking that the guardian beasts are only legendary grade beasts with 100 levels above the user.'' "Well, since you are adamant about keeping her at Searvale, I wouldn''t drag this topic longer too. Let''s settle with this guy, Keluar as the final person" Wil gave in as he figured out it would be no use even if he offers gold coins or the kingdom. If he would press further, he would also seem suspicious. So, Wil thought of letting him win this round for now. After Wil''s finished with his proposal, it was Shihei''s turn to propose a deal. "You said something about the alliance with other guilds What is it?" Wil asked him. "What I had a plan in mind is a ten-member alliance" Shihei answered it. "Ten guilds to control the game?" Wil wondered what guilds they are Surely, they will be backed by powerful organizations or Corporations. "Yeah." Shihei then stood up and walked to a desk that was lying in the corner. He took out some paper from one of the drawers and placed it before Wil. "This" Wil looked at the global map, "You printed out the map of the game?" "Consider me a bit old fashioned." He shrugged his shoulders before he points the marker at the Searvale kingdom, which is in the southwest of Xynnar. "This is where Galaxy Net is operating from." He drew a line all the way to the Llyne, which is on the southeast border, "This is where the Scarlet guild is, at least for now. If you plan to change your base to Athledon kingdom, then" He erased the line and redrew it to the north-west to the islands between the Xynnar and North Zalfari Continent. "Here is Scarlet." Then, he draws the line from Searvale to the Kingdom of Eska in the utmost northern region. "Here, a strong all-female guild named Fiery Ladies located here." Then, he draws a line to an Elven kingdom of Trielor, "Here lies the guild of Felflayers." "Here is the Conqueror guild in the North Zalfari Continent." As he drew the lines to different parts of the world with Galaxy Net as the center, Wil pointed at each of them, "these guilds Conqueror guild has the Griffin. I have the Winged Lion. Galaxy Net has Phoenix Perhaps, are these guilds the possessors of the guardian beasts? No, according to my knowledge, a kingdom can only have one guardian beast. So, there''s no way the guilds from Aynor continent can have each of them." Shihei shook his head with a smile, "No, I confirmed the reports. Apparently, the underworld indeed has not one but three guardian beasts of which the last one hasn''t been found yet or maybe was caught but was kept secret." Wil felt disappointed by his confident answer. Chapter 206: 2nd Major update is live Not only did Wil found that there are 3 guardian beasts in the Aynor continent, but he also didn''t expect 10 of the 34 guardian beasts are already fallen into the hands of players. Including the others that are accidentally killed and retuned to their respective palaces, he wondered how many would be left for him to catch them. Shihei continued, "Including you, we have only talks with Conqueror, Fiery Ladies, and Hellsky. There are still five to go. So, there''s nothing in stone yet but the plan is that we will remain as the information network for the other nine guilds while they cooperate with each other." Even though Wil felt like he was playing Shihei''s palm, nevertheless, he decided to go with the flow. Using Galaxy Net as the medium, he plans to build a friendship with others. "Happy cooperation." "Happy cooperation." As both of them shook their hands, Wil suddenly remembers another thing, "Oh! I almost forgot. Shihei-san, I need your help with finding something for me." "Sure, what is it?" Shihei asked him, thinking it must be important. Wil replied, "One is something called Shards of Sacred Ocean. I only know the name of it. Don''t know how it looks but I need you to find those materials as much as you can. The money is no problem for me." "Shards of Sacred Ocean?" Shihei frowned as he put his finger below his chin, searching his memory. After a few seconds, he shook his head, "Sorry, never heard of it but I will give that mission to Kiyumi to let her informers search for it." "Thank you." Wil then continued, "The second thing is a beast. I don''t know its level but I know its name. It is called Oculus. The beast will be short like two feet big, round in shape. I''ll give a million dollars as a reward for capturing it." "A million dollars?" Shihei was stunned upon hearing Wil. At that moment, he also thought this boy is too much of a squanderer, wasting the money on such things. "That must be some important beast," Shihei can''t help but comment on the reward. Wil shook his head, "to others, Nah. To me, it is important. Honestly, I just need Eye of Oculus. I would reward the same even if they kill it and provide me the material. It might also appear in auctions, so, please keep an eye on it." Originally Wil intends to say 10 million dollars but it would cause too much commotion. Not to mention, when people find a really expensive thing, they would rather keep it for themselves instead of selling. That''s why Wil thought the price should be moderately expensive By the time he was finished with his discussion with Shihei, it was already past 3, and for good or worse, he ended up missing Richard, who left as soon as he had a chat with his father-in-law. After finishing things at Miyazaki Mansion, Wil left with Silver to the hotel as they have other things to do in the evening. She also felt a little bit upset because the whole lunch thing only turned out to be a business deal between her uncle and unofficial fiance. It was nothing how she imagined it to be. Since her fate was already decided, she already convinced herself to commit to Wil but their second meeting didn''t go well as their first. They hardly got to talk with each other whether in public or in private. ''Am I nothing but a simple bridge between Galaxy Net and Scarlet? Does he really not have any interest in me, even a bit?'' Akiko thought as she looked herself in the mirror in her room. ''Am I not pretty enough?'' With a disappointment on her face, she mumbled, "but, I thought we had a moment out there." She remembered how Wil was stunned upon seeing her. "Ah!" Suddenly, Akiko remembered the project work that she was working on. She quickly changed her clothes to casual ones, wore her spectacles, and returned to being busy in her own world as if nothing happened. *** Mariot Hotel, Ares City; The sunset down but still the city seems to be in daylight No wonder, people call Ares, the city of lights. In the lobby, Wil was walking with two young men who seem to be in their twenties. Right now, they have a huge smile on their faces and they can''t seem to stop thanking him. Those two actually belong to a small company called Ace, a start-up in the automobile industry. Without negotiating too much, he bought 30% of company shares for 10 million dollars. Looking at the foolish smiles on their faces, Wil smirked to himself, ''in four years, this little money will turn into 100 fold. I wonder if they regret selling such an amount of shares.'' Wil returned to the Leafway city on his private jet, alone as the update Meanwhile, Silver went and met the Chairman of a privately owned mid-sized Entertainment Agency called Starsun. Following Wil''s order, he offered a double amount of 26 million dollars to take over the company. The shareholders had a meeting on the spot and by midnight, the process is abruptly finished. The idols and the trainees are shocked upon hearing why a security company like Scarlet took over theirs and they were asked to leave for Leafway city. No one dares to object with the contract on them. They can''t refuse the management''s decision. But, since they are from the Entertainment industry, Silver was forced to stay until the morning for a press meet. So, he returned to the hotel. Back to Scarlet Apartments, by the time, Wil returned, it was already 5 A.M., which means, the maintenance is already over. After having a nice shower, he entered the capsule and logged in to the game. *Welcome to War Online* *Ding! Your title ''I CAN FLY'' changed to ''MOST POWERFUL WINGS'' MOST POWERFUL WINGS: Your altitude range increases to 5km. Your flying speed is increased by 50%. His normal flying skill actually received a huge buff. Wil thought the update is nothing but debuff or him but this proved wrong. At least, that''s what he thought when he saw the first notification. However, the following notifications made him disappoint. *Ding! Your position changed from Crown Prince to Prince. *Ding! Averil''s spirit was moved on. You received a quest, "Last Wish." *Ding! Your race is registered as a Hybrid. Please check out the character for further details. *Ding! Your Full Dragon Transformation is sealed. "Eh? Hybrid? Not Dragon Angel? And my Dragon form is sealed?" *Ding! Soul Bracelet has been disappeared. Soul link skill is transferred from passive skills to Active skills. Please check the Skill panel for further details. "Open Quest list." The first thing he did is to check the quest, Averil gave him. LAST WISH Description: Dragon Princess Averil''s spirit is returning to the spirit world. As her last wish, she wishes you to deliver a message to her father, the Dragon King. Rewards: Unknown. "UghNot again" Wil hates the quest with unknown rewards. He was tricked a lot of times in his past life. "Let''s think about it later." "Open Character menu." A holographic screen with details appeared before him. First, he glanced at the stats. Nothing has changed. As mentioned in the update, level-1 to Level-3 skills is displayed as beginner. Levels- 4 to 6 as Intermediate, 7-9 as advanced, and 10 as Master. Other than that, only one change in the active skills. It was delivered to Wil as promised by Aria. Soul link (Master): Reduce Leon''s stats to half. Your max stats will increase to double for 1 hour. Cost: 0 mana. CD: 12 hours. "Not bad" He then checked the race. Hybrid: A race that contains more than one bloodline. You have the blood of Dragon and Angel. "Sigh It''s just as Akiko-san mentioned." Unlike what Shihei predicted, the Dragon form isn''t turned into some skill or he received the advantages and disadvantages, etc Even though there are no race buffs, Wil found there are also no debuffs, and the biggest disappointment is that there is no skill mentioned under unique. That means, he can''t have the Divinity skill. Since he can''t do anything about it, he proceeded to scroll down. He felt as if all of the disappointments disappeared. Dragon Transformation: Humanoid: Transform into a humanoid dragon and increase your attack, defense, and speed by 30%. Your Maximum HP increases by 50% Complete (Sealed): Transform into a complete dragon and increase your attack, defense, and speed by 100%. Your Maximum HP increases by 200%. Mutation: Available. Chapter 207: Mythic grade pet Mutation: Available Wil froze for a second as he saw the word under the Dragon Transformation tab. He felt as if all of the nerfs he received were compensated. "I forgot that I''m a part beast race just like the monsters in the wild or battle companions. My dragon bloodline can mutate and I become stronger." He quickly clicked on mutation. Bloodline: Greenish-Silver Dragon Grade: Heroic Maximum Potential: Mythic+ Required materials for the First mutation: Dragon bone x1, Dragon eye x1. Condition to mutate: Slay a legendary grade Dragon beast. "A dragon beast?" Wil immediately thought of a level-150 Water Dragon NPC that was fought and captured by Hyori. Since he doesn''t need to capture it, he needs to kill the revived dragon. Either that or, he can just go level-190 legendary grade dungeon and finish off the final boss. After all, it only said about a dragon beast, not mentioned anything whether it should be in the Wild zone or the dungeon. Can he exploit this loophole? He wondered Now that all the Cooldowns are reset, Wil also thought it would be the best time to finish the quest. But then, something else clicked in his mind, reminding him of the most obvious that he ignored for a moment, "The quest is easy but where should I find the two materials. Killing the legendary grade dragon won''t give such materials. I will only get things like equipment or scrolls, potions, etc To get that item, either I need someone to give a quest to kill a dragon, or I should search the markets. Let''s throw it on the Galaxy Net..." "And now" Wil took a deep breath and spoke, "Arise, my battle companion, Leon." *Roar* A powerful roar echoed throughout the kingdom of Athledon, causing a commotion in the public. Hugo along with the ministers in the Imperial palace'' Courtroom became immediately alerted upon hearing a powerful roar. "Attack?" King Hugolinus mumbled before passing out an order, "Men, go and investigate what''s happening." Meanwhile, Emperor Crane, the revived guardian beast of Athledon that was sleeping in the temple behind the Poseidon statue, opened its eyes and frowned. At the same time, Owler, who was enjoying his life in the palace, suddenly looked in the direction of a small island of Triena that''s a part of the kingdom. Back to Wil, who caused the commotion around, was in extreme happiness that he forgot that he was in a public place. His entire attention was on the beast before him. The white-winged lion grew from 2m to 5m big, and 10 meters in length. Its stats were exactly as he hoped for Leon Race: Winged Lion Status: Double Mutated Grade: Mythic- Level: 300 HP: 6.6 Billion (9.9B) Attack: 1.65 Billion (2.47B) Defense: 330 million (495B) Max Movement/Flying Speed: mach 2.4 (limit to mach 1 if a person is riding it) Crt.rate: 300% Crt.resist: 300% Crt.dmg: 150% Pierce: 150% Skills: Active: King''s roar: With a mighty roar of Leon, all creatures in the range have to submit to the king. Except for allies, everyone who was affected won''t be able to use skills for 1 hour. Range: 300-meter radius. CD: 6 hours. Fireball: Leon attacks the enemies with a fireball from a distance. Range: 100 meters. CD: 0 seconds Wing-blade: Leon''s wings transform into sharp blades as it slices the enemies with a 200% attack for 10 seconds. CD: 60 seconds. Call of the King: With a mighty roar, Leon can summon ten random creatures that are below its level and grade. CD: 12 hours. Passive: Might of the guardian: As a guardian beast, it''s always 100 levels higher than its Master. It doesn''t need to level up. Guardian''s Blessing: As long as it is alive on the field and is in your range, Leon and your incoming damage is reduced by 50%. Range: 100-meter radius. "Cool" Wil was indeed excited by the new changes in this precious battle companion of his. "Once I complete the inheritance quest and level up, it''s HP and attack will even increase by 10 times further Other than Ascended NPC, who can stop me. hahaha" Looking at its master who seems to be in a good mood, it put forth its head towards him, brushing its mane across his cheek. "hahaha" Stroking its mane, he spoke with a laugh, "Leon, my buddy we have some work to do" He jumped on the lion''s back and said, "Let''s go" Leon flapped its wings and flew towards the Ormshire state. Vulture City, Ormshire state; A 14-year-old kid was walking in the busy streets, looking around. "There are no association buildings in this city even though it''s the headquarters of the state. That means one cannot move here after the newbies reach level-20. There isn''t a Questboard either. Should I try my luck in the capital city? Hmm, what''s that" From a distance, he saw something in the sky that was coming towards the city at an extreme speed. The guards also spot the thing in the sky. Just as they were about to alert their captain, it flew past the city like a flash and disappeared from their sight. "huh! Must be some flying monster" Orion shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk. Meanwhile, on the back of Leon, Wil was once again busy curing Summersoft. "Damn those mof*s hate me or something how can they relocate my town to the border of the state. It''s not an NPC town by mine. And now, I can''t even relocate it to somewhere." After a while, as Wil reached the empty town of Scarlet where four guards are still guarding at the entrance, he spoke, "Leon, get down." Even though he can just land in the town from the sky, he purposely went through the gate for a purpose. "Greetings, Your Majesty." They greeted him with a deep bow. Wil nodded in response. He then ordered one of them to send a message to the Prime Minister so that they can open up the town to the public. Leon entered the town and started running towards the temple, following Wil''s orders. Unsummoning the lion, he entered the teleportation formation to teleport to Deloris town, then, using Medallion, Wil teleported to a level-200 wild zone. The barrier to the next wild zone is disappeared. Meanwhile, he saw a lot of people are flying in the sky, battling the beasts. Since the Angel race players won''t lose the mana, they are trying to level up in the sky with Ariel beasts. Unlike the ground, the sky is a free zone for everyone. No guild is currently claiming it, at least not yet. At the instant, the Angel race became the second most popular race for the newbies replacing Elves as they found the test to jump down was also removed. Now, they can fly as soon as they created the character. The Demon race also became incredibly popular because of wings. But due to the limited spots, Summersoft mentioned that both of the races won''t be even available at the starting screen for now. So, they can''t help but chose the fourth most popular, the Vampire race, or the ever most popular choice, the human race. Back to the wild zone, Wil once again summoned Leon and mounted on it before entering the new wild zone. *Ding! You are the 79th person in the Llyne kingdom to enter the new wild zone. You receive 10 fame points. Looking at the notification, he scoffed, "79th. Even now, I don''t see a sixth person to reach level-200 in the ranking board, and these fools go and try entering the 200-300 level wild zone. Do they think level 210 monster only slightly stronger than 200? Whatever" Chapter 208: Plucking a peacocks feather Inheritance quest: Second Awakening. Description: As the successor of Archangel Seraph, you need to visit his tomb and get his blessings. Required materials to summon the spirit of Seraph: 3* medicinal pill of any kind, the feather of Mayura, and level-200 weapon of Epic-grade or higher. ''Let''s get Mayura''s feather and ask Mountain Rock whether Silvershapers guild have any stock of such level. Even if there isn''t any available, with the levels being gone for the non-combat professions, surely, there must be an alchemist who would have become a 3* by now, right?'' "Leon, let''s go" *Roar* Flapping its wings, it flew like a lightning towards the level-250 wild zone. None of the Ariel beasts dared to stand in a Mythic grade monster''s way. Instead, they started flying away. Wherever Leon flies, the surrounding Ariel beasts would just either give the way or fly away in fear. So, Wil''s journey towards the level-250 wild zone went smooth without any obstacles. After a while, Leon stopped. Wil looked around the place. It doesn''t look similar to the level-250 wild zone of Reverie kingdom where the wild zones were dominated by grasslands. It''s a rainforest. It was too dense, packed with trees, bushes, etc Due to being too dense and combining with the thick rain, Wil wasn''t able to see the area inside the forest clearly from above but he indeed saw the nearby beasts are currently in the moment of running away in frenzy or cowering there in fear. The rain is continuously pouring down from the sky. Strangely, clouds only gathered above this forest while the sun is slowly rising from behind the mountains "Get down," Wil ordered. Leon descended into the forest, slowly, trying not to crash into any trees but due to its massive size, it crashed into a few branches as it landed. "Leon, can you sense the strongest monster in this area?" Wil asked for help. As a person who played as a Summoner in his previous life, he knew a lot of battle companion''s functions. As long as the pet is legendary or above, it usually has a sensory function that lets it sniff out the desired target. Its master also has to be clear in what he wants like a clear image, which he can transmit to the pet. But, since Wil only knows that the target is a peacock and nothing else as he never battled it before, only saw in the War Online wiki, he wasn''t clear of Mayura''s image. As a legendary grade beast, surely, it won''t look like a regular peacock. So, he directly asked whether it can find out the boss of this region. Leon looked around, sniffing for a while before it stopped, looking in a direction. It let out a low growl. "Okay, let''s go" Walking in the dense forest with a 5m big and 10m long beast became hard for Wil to proceed. "Sigh Felix would be a great choice here but it is too weak" *Nudge* Wil felt Leon''s head touching its back. He turned around and it gestured to the sky. He nodded, "yeah. Better to fly" Getting on top of Leon, he then exits the rainforest and started flying under the rain. Even though he didn''t like the fact that his vision is still blurry because of the obstruction of the rain, Wil kept his cool and let Leon do the rest of the work Soon, they reached the hiding place of Mayura. But this time, Wil alone descended on to the forest as he thought Leon might scare it away. After all, killing the beast wouldn''t give him the feather. As he was slowly landing on to the ground, Wil saw a dressed peacock dancing in the rain, all alone. Unlike the usual beasts, which are either giant or atleast beast-like appearance, this one resembles a human-like, wearing a long blue robe with peacock feathers printed on it. In its hands, there''s a lance with a curved blade at the top. Mayura Grade: Legendary Level: 250 Mutation: 1 HP: 920 million Description: A legendary grade mutated monster of the Clergough Forest. Its favorite hobby is dancing in the rain. Usually stays hidden. "As expected, it''s originally a legendary- grade monster, huh I thought it was only the Reverie kingdom but it seems like legendary monsters at 150, 250, 350 in all the kingdoms are legendary- grade monsters that are mutated." It was so engrossed in its sword dance that it failed to sense Wil until the latter cleared his throat, disturbing its peacetime. "Excuse me" "Hmm?" Mayura realized someone intruded into its territory. It frowned as it saw Wil but didn''t care much for sensing he''s weak and not a threat. But, then its senses picked up a terrifying monster in the sky. It looked at the sky but unable to see the figure due to the trees as well as the thick rain. ''Damn what a mess I came out of hiding today of all days'' But, since Leon just hovered in the sky, it sighed in relief and then, glared at the winged human. Suppressing the fear in its heart, it spoke in a low tone, "I''m in a good mood now. Scram from here, human or else" "I meant no harm Give me a feather of yours. I promise I''ll leave peacefully." Mayura''s expression changed and went into a rage, "A puny life dares to threaten me" It didn''t waste any time and charged forward with its lance. Wil expected this much from a wild monster. Despite possessing intelligence, the legendary grade beasts are enemies when they are provoked. He looked coldly at this uncooperative beast. "Well, you leave me with no choice. Leon, get down here." *roar* A powerful was echoed across the forest while Leon quickly descended down before him, destroying all the branches or trees that were obstructing its path. Mayura abruptly stopped in the middle just as it was about to swing its weapon. It sensed the predator was coming towards it. ''Run.'' The first thought it had is to escape from there. It didn''t care about its peacock''s pride or territory claim. It just turned around to fly away. "Absolute Freeze, Activate." Just then, a voice filled with chillness was heard from behind. Suddenly, the temperature in its surroundings dropped drastically. Before it realizes what''s going on, it was trapped in an ice block. "Argh" It tried to resist and become free but failed. Even though its entire body is frozen, the eyes are still able to move. It darted its eyes left and right before stopping them as a giant white-winged lion landed in front of its eyes. 1 minute later; *Pluck* Wil plucked a feather while Mayura was standing straight with its eyes closed, not daring to look at Leon, who was standing only a meter away. Unlike the other 200 shimmering feathers, this one was Red in color. So, Wil thought this might be the one. *Ding! Your favorability with Mayura drops to negative 50. Wil knew that negative favorability or one should say hostility means that he will be attacked right away as soon as he entered its territory. He will be hunted by the monster at all costs But with Leon on his side, he was sure that the monster will not dare to try attacking. Even if Leon wasn''t there, Wil doesn''t fear a mere level-250 legendary grade "See ya later" Wil waved his hands with a smile before jumping onto Leon''s back and fly away. *Screech* Mayura screeched in rage towards this bully. Red aura enveloped it and glowed for a while before turning from blue to white. Chapter 209: Samsara flame Scarlet District, East Ocean city; In the Scarlet Lab of the player built district, Alchemists were busy at their station, crafting pills and potions. "Hmm, Rexo Mushroom*3." A girl threw three small green colored mushrooms into the mortar. "Done, Next" She glanced at the required materials. "Okay, now, add Sage grass*5 That''s a bit high" Hesitation filled her face as one Sage grass costs 10 silver. Biting her lip, she proceeds to add a shiny-bluegrass, and then, started to grind them thoroughly. Grinding for a minute turned them into powder. As she mumbled something, a white flame appeared in her left hand and she heats up the cauldron and manually boiled the water. Then, she added the mixture to the water and stirred it. After two minutes, a disgusting aroma entered her nose. Then, she takes out two potions from the inventory. The liquid is blue in color. 2* Mana Potion Effect: Recovers 100 mana points instantly. She poured the content into the cauldron and stirred it with the ladle continuously. After five minutes of stirring, the disgusting aroma turned into a delicious aroma as if she smelled a perfume. Meanwhile, a few admirers and guildmates stood behind her to see what kind of experiment this girl is doing, right now. A few no related people also joined the crowd upon seeing the beautiful flame in her hand. "Now" The girl''s eyes lit up and she quickly turned off the fire and brought out empty flasks before filling them with the cyan-colored potion. *Ding! You successfully crafted 2* Mana Elixir *Ding! You successfully crafted 2* Mana Elixir. . . . *Ding! You successfully crafted 2* Mana Elixir. After filling six flasks successfully, she inspected one of them while storing the remaining into the inventory. 2* Mana Elixir Effect: Recover 10 points of mana per second for 20 seconds. "haha I''ve done it" The girl laughed in excitement, not even realizing the crowd behind her. Ten minutes later, her face turned dark as the next batch became failure due to the high amount of water. The next batch also failed due to bad heat control. Thirty minutes later; *Boom* After a series of failures, this time, the cauldron exploded. *Cough*Cough* As the girl coughed making her pretty face black, the rest of them shook their heads with a sigh while thinking, ''as expected.'' In no time, the crowd dispersed, thinking she was just lucky for once. No one was interested to watch this Queen of misfortune anymore Only one person remained. "How" Her voice was shaken as she looked at the cauldron in shock. "I followed the recipe perfectly. Then why" "One week is finished. I''m here to listen to your answer, Cyrus." A loud voice reverberated in the lab, making everyone stop their work. With two followers behind them, a tall and fatty with a bald head who looks like he is in his mid forties was walking towards her. The lab became silent. He stops before her. "You" She stared at him in silence for ten seconds before tilting her head, "who are you?" Everyone almost their balance, and cursed this dunce in their minds. How can she forget the supervisor of this lab, their boss? Not to mention, he''s the elder brother of the guild leader. Meanwhile, the fatty was annoyed by this girl. It wasn''t even the first time they met and she still can''t remember him. Of the seven times she met him, he was asked the same question every time. At first, he got angry. Then, he became angrier thinking that she was mocking him. After that, he realized that she too dumb to remember the names of others Now, he was already got used to it. He replied to her, "Can''t you inspect It''s Bigmouth" "Ah! So, you are a Bigmouth, huh!" "Pfft" A person who was standing behind the girl started to laugh Followed by him, a couple of others laugh before they heard an angry yell "How dare you" His eyes became red due to humiliation. He looked at her in rage. She flinched back in surprise. ''Okay She''s done now.'' Everyone had the same thought as they saw his expression. They knew that this girl didn''t try to humiliate him on purpose. She was just too slow They can''t help but look at this hardworking girl in pity as they can''t go against this man. He''s the older brother of the guild leader, after all. "I forgave you a lot of times before but now I think you should be punished for not only wasting the ingredients of the guild but also for insubordination. I''ll make sure that you will never craft another potion and once, we extract the white flame from you, you''ll be kicked out of the guild. Cyrus, using my rights as the supervisor of the Scarlet labs, I''m hereby banning you from this building." "Eh?" The girl''s pupils dilated in shock as she heard his words. "Why?" "You still are asking me why again?" The fatty became angrier, "Men, throw her out of here." Unlike the bank or temple, the lab isn''t a non-combat zone. So, one can fight here. Since the non-combat players can''t fight against warriors, they were given a certain advantage. As long as they are in the city, if they were killed by someone, then that person can''t avoid the punishment unless he is a Baron. That''s why the fatty told his guards to throw her out instead of killing her. Just as they were about to touch her, a chuckle escaped from the man who was standing behind her all along. "I thought bullying was normal in the wild zones but didn''t expect it even inside the guild Interesting" Since the lab is silent, his words were heard by everyone and they turned their attention towards him. "Who are you?" Bigmouth frowned as he looked at this stranger who wore a luxurious blue robe and also a mask that lets him hide his name and face. He knew of such an item. Mask of Tranquility. But, it was available only on Battle shop, which means this guy is a combat player and is at least a high level since not everyone could afford it. Who knows how many people he must have defeated several people to achieve 5000 battle coins to buy such an item and that''s more than a month ago. By now, he might even stronger. Clearly, those two level-120 players aren''t a match for him. As an Elite and the brother of the guild leader, Bigmouth possesses several pieces of information that weren''t available for casual gamers. So, he became cautious while looking at the stranger. "The potion usually had 95% success rate and yet, you are failing every time despite having the Samsara flame Quite interesting" The stranger didn''t pay attention to Bigmouth and talked to the girl. "Miss Cyrus, I have a job for you. Will you do it? You''ll get a handsome reward in return. Cyrus was taken aback to hear the name of her flame directly from this stranger''s mouth. Until now, she hasn''t said anyone about its name either. Everyone is calling it white flame. So, she was also calling it the same. Upon hearing his words, she thought that he might help her with how to use her flame. She always thought her flame is the problem, not her bad luck. "What should I do?" She asked him. "I asked Who are you?" Despite knowing that it might be dangerous, remembering his background, the fatty tried to threaten him to see the bottom line. "This is Scarlet labs. Who permitted you here?" Bigmouth interrupted them. "Scram" A voice filled with chillness erupted from the stranger as he glanced at him. As Bigmouth saw the eyes of this stranger, somehow, he felt a little bit of fear and he took a step back. When he realized it, he became angrier. *Slam* he slammed the table beside him. "You dare Kill him" Even if his guards die, they will get a notification of who killed them. Once he gets the name, he thought of asking Evernight guild to hunt this guy until level-1 "Ugh You are noisy You three scram away from my district." All of a sudden, the three of them disappeared on the spot and teleported to the outside of the Scarlet district. *Ding! You are blacklisted from the Scarlet District. The three of them were dumbfounded to receive the notification. Since it is private property, only an owner has the right to blacklist people using the system. "That That was Time Traveler" The moment he realized it, the fatty''s legs lost strength and he collapsed onto the ground. Meanwhile, the alchemists wondered where the three of them suddenly disappeared to "So, now that the three pests are gone, let''s talk business, shall we?" The stranger alias Wil smiled as he looked at the girl. She nodded and followed Wil outside of the lab. As they strolled in the streets of the district, Wil asked, "what did that idiot want from you? The Samsara flame?" She shook her head, "I''m not sure. Maybe?" Wil shrugged his shoulders, thinking it wasn''t his business to poke in someone else''s problems. He then said, "I need you to craft a three-star pill for me." "Three-star pill?" She stopped in her tracks in shock, "but I''m only a two-star alchemist who can''t even make a mana elixir properly." "I know." Wil nodded, "but don''t forget that your Samsara flame isn''t an ordinary flame either. I''ll give you the recipe and materials. 30 gold coins as an upfront fee. I''ll return in two days. By that time, if you can do it, then, I''ll pay the remaining 70 gold coins and something bonus. Even if you didn''t do it, I won''t ask for returns. Are you up for the task?" Wil asks as he stared into her eyes. Chapter 210: 3-star Elementalist: Inheritance Quest begin One hour ago; After acquiring the feather of Mayura, Wil stopped by the capital city. Since the lion will attract unnecessary attention, he sent it back to the pet space and wore the mask of tranquility to hide his identity. A while later, Wil reached the street where it is full of Associations. He went into the Alchemist association, one of the three non-combat associations, the other two being Blacksmith and Chef''s associations. The reason he chose the alchemist association instead of a potion store because he knew three-star pills are only allowed on the sale when ten three-star alchemists emerged within the kingdom, making the NPC potions upgrade to two floors. Wil entered the building and saw the ground floor is packed with alchemist players who are busy taking the quests that offer fame points, gold, recipes, rare materials, etc He ignored it and went to the second floor. Unlike the ground floor and the first floor, this one is quite empty with only a few people as it was more of a quest registering area. Players can issue a quest and rewards for the required item. Of course, the risk here is the player who accepted it can cancel the quest at any time. So, no one dares to issue high-level quests. Wil joined the line at one of the counters. After their turn is over, his turn came. "How may I help you?" the employee asked him. "I need an appointment with the President Here" Before they reject him, Wil showed them the prince medallion. "Your highness" Her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly stood up. She greeted him with a deep bow, "Pardon my ignorance If I know beforehand, I wouldn''t have let you stand in the line." The other employees as well as a couple of players around looked at Wil. They thought he might at least an Earl to make her bow like that. Wil waved his hand, "I''m here for an important. If possible, please fix an appointment as soon as possible." She ran off upstairs and returned like a flash before taking Wil to the restricted third floor where only the staff can enter. Removing his mask, Wil went upstairs and met the association president. Since he never saw the prince, he examined the medallion and returned it to Wil. After hearing out Wil, he was taken aback, "just a three-star pill?" "Yeah." Wil nodded, "if I''m not in a hurry, I wouldn''t have asked your help but right now, time is tight. Can you make up some time to craft one for me? It doesn''t necessarily have to be a high-grade pill or a specific one. Just any grade would be fine. Please name your price The old man hurriedly shook his head, "no, your highness, it''s just a three-star pill. If you give me some time, I''ll give you an entire batch of high-grade pills. I don''t need money for that. Instead, can you do me a favor?" Wil asked, "What is it?" "I heard that your Highness went to the hidden realm and acquired a share of medicinal plants. I only need three Cherpa Snow flowers." *Ding! You received a quest, Cherpa Snow flower. Description: Master Alchemist Iquam is in dire need to save the snow flowers in his botanical garden. He wishes to concoct a potion that can help save them. He requires three snow flowers of any type. Rewards: A batch of high grade 3* random medicinal pills (one batch =10) Accept? Wil rejoiced as he read the quest description. Maybe, this is what they call, heaven''s luck. He quickly handed over the flowers from his inventory. In return, he was told to meet him after an hour. Finishing his business with the Alchemist Association, he went to the temple and teleported to East Ocean city with once again wearing the disguise. Suddenly, he got an idea. Just like the Elite combat warriors joined the Scarlet guild, in order to make sure that the potential players won''t turn betrayers, he thought of recruiting some outstanding non-combat players into the Scarlet guild from Silvershapers. That way, he can make his guild, a place of the Elites. He wanted to make the Silvershapers, a training ground for Scarlet, instead of letting it become the strongest non-combat guild on its own. Since the barriers are gone, there''s a high chance that some powerful guild hidden in the background lures his employees with a lucrative offer, and he also made a plan to prevent it. Poor Mountain Rock doesn''t know what''s going to happen to him, soon. Wil quickly sent a message to Mountain Rock about his plan for the guild. Even though he was troubled by Wil''s idea as the guild will be weakened effectively, since the guild belongs to Wil, he was obliged to follow the orders of his boss. Mountain Rock eventually answered with a heavy heart that he will send a list of potential candidates. As he has more time to waste, Wil roamed the district and eventually ended up at the Scarlet lab. But, Wil didn''t expect to find someone with a white flame here of all the places. He decided to bring her to the guild before someone snatches her or her Samsara flame. Back to the Present; "So, are you up for this task?" For some reason, Cyrus felt so much pressure from this stranger who seems like he came to meet her for strictly business. At the same time, she wasn''t also confident about crafting such a potion even though Wil said she can do it. "I''ll try" In the end, she gave a vague answer. "Okay, accept the friend request" He sent a friend request to her. *Ding! You received a friend request. After hesitating for a while, she clicked on the notification. "Time Traveler-Level 200 Accept?" "Ti Time Time Traveler" Her voice shook before rubbing her eyes two to three times to check whether her eyesight is fine It was the legendary Time Traveler. One of the strongest players in the game who destroyed the reign of undefeated ''One'' in a head-on battle. He''s also the boss of their guild leader. Her eyes lit up as she looked at Wil. Wil didn''t know that he was admired by several gamers like her. She asked, "Are you really him?" Wil didn''t reply to her question and took out a paper from his inventory. Handing it to her, he said, "Here is the recipe for 3* Bloodstream pill, which increases one''s speed temporarily. Once you successfully craft the medicinal pill, it will be registered in your character." Wil then transferred the main material light fruit, around 20 of them, which he acquired from the hidden realm, he transferred another 30 gold coins as an advance payment, along with other ingredients that are easily available in any potion store. He said goodbye to her and returned to the capital city to take his reward from the Alchemist before setting out to the tomb of Seraph. Three hours later; Wil and Leon reached Volcano Island, where his predecessor is resting. He entered the cave along with Leon. Perhaps he wants to brag to Seraph. Who knows *** Wil knelt on the ground and started to recite the incantation. "Lord Archangel Seraph, please accept the tribute of your successor." He took out the Feather of Mayura, which he plucked from the legendary grade peacock, and placed it at the foot of the tomb. "I tribute the feather of Mayura, which is a symbol of spirit." He then placed a shiny sword that illuminates the surroundings. "I tribute the Epic grade sword, which is a symbol of strength." Then he finally placed the medicinal pill he acquired from the master alchemist. "I tribute the three-star Energy pill, which is a symbol of life." "Elementalist Time Traveler is hereby invoking the spirit of Archangel Seraph to help his successor to awaken for the second time." He kowtowed three times and stood up. Wil then waited until the three items were absorbed into the tomb. An old man with four pairs of wings appeared before him. "Greetings, Lord Seraph." Wil cupped his fists and greeted him with a bow. "Arise, my successor." He had a smile on his face. "You have grown strong, Time Traveler. I never expected not only you were able to bond with a guardian beast but you also awakened the dragon bloodline within you. Still, you have a lot to learn" Wil was taken aback by his expression. Unlike last time, he looks livelier this time. Wil had a strange feeling but wasn''t able to put his finger on it. "Are you ready for your trial?" Seraph asked Wil. Wil answered, "Yes." The surroundings changed to that of a familiar island. There''s a temple at the top of the stairs. "This is" Wil clearly remembered this place. This very place changed his race after all. "My opponent will be the Dragon princess?" He then realized that unlike last time, his wings are intact. His legendary grade equipment is with him and he can access his inventory too. Even Leon was standing beside him. Just when he wondered whether the old man is making things easy for him, he received a quest alert. His face turned dark as he read the message. *Ding! You received a quest. Description: Archangel Seraph realized that you are depending too much on the power of your skills. He wants you to defeat your enemies without the use of your skills. Reward: A unique skill or skill evolution per wave. Bonus reward for clearing all the waves: Unknown Conditions: Quest will end when either the user dies or clears the five waves. Accept? He immediately accepted. As soon as he did that, he found his skills are grey in color. Chapter 211: 3-star Elementalist: Elemental Golem Wil picked up the bow. He was confident that he can still end his enemy without the need of using the skills. After all, Leon is a mythic grade beast. Having Leon has his support is more than enough. Just when he was about to walk towards the stairs, Leon roared, sensing a disturbance behind them. It warned him of the incoming danger. He turned around to see bubbles appeared on the surface of the sea before the appearance of a giant shadow. Wil quickly understood that a monster is going to attack from the ocean. He didn''t waste any time to flap his wings and fly as a tentacle tried to grab him. The monster finally resurfaced. Otto, the Great Squid. Grade: legendary Level: 350 HP: 21.2 Billion "Oh, so, it''s my good old enemy Thank goodness. My first enemy isn''t the dragon princess. If she was, I would be too troubled for the upcoming waves. Last time, I was helpless but not anymore. This time, I''ll roast you for sure." "Leon, attack however you want. Just don''t get hit or captured by its arms." *Roar* It quickly shot a fireball towards the squid''s head. Meanwhile, Wil summoned his giant Warship onto the water before teleporting into the captain''s chamber. Going to the control room, he controlled the ship to change its direction so that one of its sides faces the squid. Because it was busy catching the lion, it didn''t place much attention on the ship that appeared out of nowhere as it isn''t a threat yet. Looking at the monitors, Wil grinned as spoke, "Activate, all-out cannon." At the instant, two buttons along with a small steering wheel appeared before him. Upon pressing one button, the screen displayed the options. He chose the single target mode. With the help of a small steering wheel, Wil locked onto the target. On the outside, all the cannons slowly turned towards the squid that was busy in battle. Then, he pushed the blue button. "Die" *Boom* Followed by a powerful sound, 35 cannonballs flew towards the target and hit it continuously, taking only 700 million of health, disappointing Wil. "Damn" "So, it''s only 20 million per canon, huh! Thought it would be more powerful" He sighed before firing all the remaining cannonballs. "What" Just as he was about to press the button to unleash the second round of cannonballs, he watched in the monitor how Leon bombarded it with fireballs and killed it easily with four hits. *Whistle* "Easy peasy This ship isn''t even necessary." *Ding! You completed wave 1. Choose between a unique skill and a skill evolution. Since he has enough skills as it is, Wil chose skill evolution. *Choose a skill to evolve. Naturally, Wil picked his greatest asset. "Heavenly push" But to his surprise, the system rejected it. *Ding! You cannot evolve a unique skill. "Hmm?" Thinking for a while, Wil chose his favorite support. *Ding! You chose Earth Golem. "3, 2, 1" *Ding! Your Earth Golem evolved to Elemental Golem. Please check the details later. *Ding! The next wave is going to start in ten minutes. Since the Warship has no use anymore, he dismissed the ship and get on the back of the lion, deciding to fight it with the bow, instead, as it was a better solution. Wil then opened the skill tab to check the new skill. He sucked in a breath as soon as he saw the new overpowered skill. He wondered whether this is the reason his enemies are too powerful for the test. Elemental Golem (Mastered): Summon an Elemental Golem using your magic power. It has two modes and four transformations with a specific skill. You can switch transformations at any time. *Costs 50 MP per minute; Cooldown: 15 minutes. Cast time: Instant Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 400% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies'' attack by 100%. Defense mode: Defend you from your enemies by blocking the enemy attacks with defense and HP by 400%. Provides a defense buff, which increases you and your allies, Max HP, and Defense by 100%. *Metal Transformation: Activates Defense mode directly. Skill: Metal Dome: The golem protects itself and its master from the attacks by creating a metal dome. Range: 50m; Cost: 100mana; Effect: Blocks 200% Max HP of the Golem. CD: 10 minutes. *Ice Transformation: Activates Attack mode directly. Skill: Ice beam: The golem releases a beam of ice towards the enemies in a straight line of 5meters of width. Range: 50m; Cost: 100mana; Effect: Attack increased by 100% of Max Attack of Golem. CD: 10minutes. *Wood Transformation: Can choose Attack or Defense mode. Skill: World Tree: Transform into a replica of the world tree and attack with the branches. In defense mode, the user can hide within the tree. Range: 50m; Cost: 100mana; Effect: The attack strength of each branch is equal to 10% of Golem''s Max attack. CD: 0 seconds. *Lava Transformation: Can choose Attack or Defense mode. Skill: Lava flood: Flood the area with indestructible lava and destroy your enemies. Range: 50m; Cost: 10mana per second; Effect: Touched by lava damages enemy''s health by 1% for 10 seconds. CD: 30 minutes. "The skill evolution is too cool. I wonder what Absolute freeze will evolve to." Wil''s motivation to complete all the five waves increased tremendously. Ready with a bow and arrow, sitting on Leon''s back, Wil waited until the countdown ended and the second wave began. Once again, the enemy is a high-level legendary grade familiar oceanic beast he fought before. A giant shark leaped from the ocean to ambush its prey. Leon, who sensed its presence long ago, dodged it with ease. Looking at the giant shark, Wil wondered, "Clearly, the squid is a higher level and has more HP. Why the old man did send this for the second wave? Shouldn''t this appear in the first wave? After all, this shark is weaker and can''t even attack me like the squid. All it can do is to send waterbombs and jump to bite with its teeth. Don''t tell me he was just sending the monsters randomly, not according to the level?" Soon, he understood that how wrong he was when he inspected its stats. Chapter 212: 3-star Elementalist: Another easy kill A frown appeared on his face upon finding that it is no longer the same beast as he fought before. This beast is more like an upgraded version. King Shark, Helico Grade: Legendary+ Status: Double Mutated Level: 360 HP: 34.8 Billion "34 billion, huh! It still isn''t tough" "Leon, Fireball." *Swoosh* Wil released the arrow at the same time Leon spits the fireball towards the King shark. But, his attack was faster than the fireball and pierced one of its fins before disappearing. "124,325,152" He sighed, looking at his damage. Wil then mumbled, "Dragon mode: Partial Transformation." The dragon scales covered Wil''s skin. While his arms, legs, and back were covered in green scales, his upper portion of the body was covered in silver. One more change is that he grew two silver horns on his forehead and a greenish silver tail. Previously in the complete Dragon form, he didn''t feel anything but in humanoid dragon form, Wil got a weird feeling as his tail waggled. He no longer sat on the winged lion. Instead, he just flew by its side. Since his range of attack is only 30 meters, Wil had no choice to go further down to get into its range before shooting another arrow. "161,622,697" Meanwhile, Leon distracted it with the fireball. Helico dived into the ocean and dodged the fireball. In the dragon form, Wil became sensitive to the magic power in the surroundings. He felt a surge of absorption under the surface of the water. "Leon, use fireballs continuously." Following the orders of Wil, Leon continuously spits a fireball each second and sent them towards the Helico. The fireballs hit the water and make disturbance but weren''t able to hit the shark even once. Wil thought, ''I guess it was hiding too deep underwater.'' "Huh! This" He felt the absorption stopped and magic power was being emitted by the King Shark. That means, it released a skill. As he was ready to dodge the water bomb, suddenly, a small shark around his size, leaped out of the water towards him. He flapped his wings and dodged it in reflex. The little shark dived back to the ocean and then, another popped up from his behind. This time, Wil didn''t dodge but shot the arrow towards it. *Critical hit* 517,192,632. It took one-fourth of its health. Meanwhile, Wil was able to dodge its bite at the right time. Suddenly, two of them jumped at the same time in different directions. Wil didn''t waste any time and flew upwards to increase the distance and make sure they don''t target him. As Wil saw several shadows on the surface of the water, he realized what this enemy has done. "So, it summoned a few heroic grade sharks, huh" "Leon, use Call of the King." Following his orders, Leon let out a powerful roar. Wil saw the Tower of Mariuk dungeon boss Emberstone golem and the frozen castle dungeon boss Ice dragon appeared on the shore. Along with those two, he also saw the replica of legendary grade beast Plumpy that he killed before abducting its cubs. The remaining seven were yet to be seen. So, he thought they might be the aquatic beasts, summoned inside the water. Since the three of them are legendary grade, Wil thought the remaining must be also legendary grade beasts. "Ten Legendary grade beasts" Wil can''t help but imagine the scene of controlling ten legendary grade monsters in the upcoming war. He clenched his fists. "1" "1" "1" Unlike Leon and Wil, since the beasts that were summoned underwater don''t have Pierce stat, they weren''t able to do any kind of damage to the King Shark, although successfully destroyed the small sharks. Having no other choice, Wil once again dived towards the ocean, getting into the range to make sure Helico does not go into hiding. But, it didn''t resurface yet. He thought it was probably still in battle against the oceanic beasts summoned by Leon. Getting annoyed, Wil started shooting arrows towards the water at his maximum speed. After firing a few arrows, Wil realized that upon hitting the water, the arrows deflected their path, thereby missing the target. So, he started shooting a little bit away from the giant shadow. "161,622,697" "Yes, success." Wil smiled as the arrow successfully struck the Shark. The arrows rained onto the ocean continuously. For every three to five arrows, Wil was able to hit one and take out 160 million HP every time. At first, the Shark didn''t care much since it was injured only a tiny part but then, after its HP was downed to 70%, it realized that it was wasting time, fighting with these pests. Without caring about the beasts that were attacking, it swam towards the surface and saw another arrow was approaching. It didn''t care about the damage and leaped towards Wil, opening its mouth wide, getting struck by the arrow in the process. As Wil flapped his wings to dodge it once again, he saw a blurred figure slicing its cheek. A red damage number appeared on its head, taking out a huge chunk. *Critical hit* "6,600,000,000" Its health was downed to half. "Cool" Wil raised his fist in happiness, cheering his pet. "Go, Leon" Leon, who activated Wing-blade, transformed its wings into a sharp blade. It turned around and glided towards the beast once again with its maximum speed of mach 2.4. All he saw a blurry figure, taking out another 6.6 Billion with another critical hit. It quickly flapped its tail and tried to dive into the ocean but another attack cut off its nose with another critical hit. Leon''s wings turned normal while Helico successfully escaped with its life. Wil saw its health was downed to nearly 4 billion. 500 million more, it would go into the berserk state. He was precisely aiming for that. The monsters wouldn''t care about their defense when they went berserk. He sensed it was gathering magic power again. "Leon get ready. You should attack and finish it the moment it will resurface even the tiniest part of its body." This time, he put two arrows between his fingertips and shot towards the shadow. "161,622,697" "161,622,697" "Yes" Once again, he shot two arrows at the Shadow. This time, only one was hit but it was enough for his plan to become a success. *Ding! Helico''s HP reached below 10%. It is going berserk state. Its attack increased by 100%. Following the notification, a giant water bomb was shot towards Leon, who dodged the attack easily because of the huge distance between them. He felt that a monster is a monster in the end. Despite having a little bit of intelligence, it is nowhere near to a human. Otherwise, it would have attack Wil, who is near to the surface. Leon shot a fireball and killed the shark. *Ding! You completed wave 2. Choose between a unique skill and a skill evolution. Wil chose skill evolution. *Choose a skill to evolve. "Should I choose Absolute Freeze? Hmm Nah! I should choose the one that will give me an advantage in the upcoming War. Resurrection or the Arrow Shower Which to choose" Wil went into a dilemma. Meanwhile, the old man who was observing from above frowned. "This isn''t right..." He mumbled to himself. Chapter 213: 3-star Elementalist: Meteor Shower Unknown Volcano Island; In the hidden cave of the island, the spirit of Archangel Seraph was observing Wil, who was thrown into an illusionary realm. "This boy has unique treasure and impressive achievements but he depends too much on skills." With such thought in mind, he sealed his skills. But what followed next didn''t make him happy either "He now depends on his guardian beast? Maybe, it''s because he is that King Athledon''s ship? Let''s see, what he will do against the next monster." After watching the second battle, he frowned, "not bad but the majority of the work was done by his pet. It isn''t acceptable." As a thought appeared in his head, he grinned, "let''s see how well you fare in the next wave" Back to the Illusionary realm, Wil was currently in a dilemma to choose the skill so that he could evolve it. After thinking for several minutes, he came to the decision. *Ding! You chose Arrow Shower to evolve. 3, 2, 1 *Ding! Congratulations, Arrow Shower evolved to Meteor shower. Please check the details, later. *Ding! The next wave is going to start in ten minutes. Please make your preparations. Wil didn''t waste any time and opened the skill panel. Meteor Shower (Beginner): Shoot a magic energy Arrow into the sky and rain a shower of an unlimited number of meteors upon the enemies in an area with 100 meters of radius. Each meteor is 2m wide and has the attack power of 200% of your Max Attack. Cost: 5 mana per meteor. CD: 6 hours. Cast time: 1 second per meteor. Additional Effect: After invoking the meteor shower, you can delay the timing of each meteor for a span of 30 minutes. "Nice the attack power is increased. Cooldown and the cost decreased and I can control the timing too. It will be useful in war." He imagined him to be in the center of the battlefield, raining down the meteor showers onto the enemy. Quickly, a notification turned all of his excitement into 180 degrees. *Ding! The Quest changed. Description: Archangel Seraph is feeling that you are depending too much on your battle companion. You have to prove that you have the strength to take on the enemies without any external support. You can resurrect as many times as you want and will be provided an infinite number of arrows. Rewards: Unique skill or the skill evolution. Bonus after clearing five waves: Unknown Conditions to fail: Only when you give up the quest. Progress: 2/5 *Ding! You have accepted the quest *Ding! Pet space has been sealed. *Ding! Inventory has been sealed. Since it was a forced quest, it was automatically accepted. Wil saw there''s an option in red that says give up. The Lion disappears from the sky along with the legendary grade pets on the shore. Wil thought the oceanic creatures summoned by Leon might have also disappeared. Meanwhile, his inventory is also locked so that he cannot use the Warship or the recovery scrolls to recover his mana and HP. This time, the old man was thorough with his preparations to make sure Wil understand what it means to be a successor of the demigod. The only good thing is that he was allowed to use one skill. "Dash" Dash: Increases movement and flying speed to 300% for 10 seconds. Cost: 0 MP. CD: 180 seconds Ten minutes later; *Ding! The third wave started. Wil cautiously looked around. There was no monster in the ocean. *Roar* Right then, he heard a roar from behind. He turned around. "So, I need to face the Dragon princess, huh!" Looking at the temple, Wil realized who is going to be his opponent, this time. He wondered what beast he might face in the next wave if he clears this one. Wil walked towards the stairs. *Tap* Just as he climbed the first step, another powerful roar erupted from the temple. But this time, it wasn''t just a roar. Something else followed up. *Boom* The upper part of the temple was destroyed and Averil in her full transformation exited from her prison. Averil Race: Dragon Status: Mutated Grade: Legendary+ Level: 400 HP: 46.8 Billion Looking at the adjusted HP of Averil, Wil cursed inside, "Damn not only I was nerfed, but my enemy also got a boost. It looks like the old man wants to make things hard for me. F**k you Seraph" *Roar* Averil let out another powerful roar as it locked onto Wil before breathing flames towards him. Wil quickly flapped his wings. He easily dodged the flames while flying into the sky. Aiming his bow at the enemy, he pulled the string and shot a quick arrow towards the dragon. The dragon tried to dodge it but by the time it stopped breathing fire and flap its wings, the arrow struck the inner side of the neck. Usually, the dragon mode lets him befriend another dragon but now, that isn''t the case. The dragon seemed angrier, looking at his new appearance. It raised its head towards the sky by opening the mouth, absorbing the magic power from its surroundings. Wil realized it was about to unleash a powerful skill since breathing normal fire didn''t have such actions. "Activate, Dragon''s Roar" *Ding! Please perform the action. *Roar* Wil then roared at the top of his lungs. The mighty dragon roar of Wil shook the ground as well as the ocean. If it was the material world, the oceanic beasts might have swum away from this person upon hearing such roar. The Dragon''s pupils dilated upon finding that this humanoid dragon''s roar gives the same amount of intensity as herself. She felt a little bit threatened. That made her angrier. *Ding! You activated Dragon''s might. Your incoming damage decreases by 20% for 12 hours. Deactivates upon changing into Angel form. "Even though my incoming damage is now decreased by 75%, I will still die the moment I received a hit. I guess I should be focused on only dodging" *Swoosh* Wil shot another arrow. Unfortunately, this time, the Dragon who was full in rage countered his arrow with its fire. As the arrow was melted in its flame, it didn''t stop and continued towards Wil. He dodged the flames while flying upwards and equipped two arrows before shooting at the Dragon. *Cling* The Dragon swiped its claws at the arrows. Wil found they were broken into and fell onto the ground. He felt pressured. A certain memory suddenly triggered in his mind. Meanwhile, the old who was watching the performance nodded with a smile, "this is how the battle should be." Chapter 214: 3-star Elementalist: Suppressed memory 5 years ago; In a dense forest, a 14-year-old boy was running at his top speed with a bow in his hand. Behind him, an angry wild boar is chasing, intending to kill him. Meanwhile, there are arrows stuck on trees here and there. "that demon" Wil muttered under his breath as he continues to run for his life. Currently, he doesn''t even have the intention to pick up the arrow and shoot it. "Just what is the thing she sprinkled on my body Should I just take off my shirt" Wil immediately rejected the idea. "No way What if it still doesn''t stop? What if by chance my skin will be pierced by any sharp object At least, the jacket and the shirt will give a little bit of defense What I need to find is a river As long as I can cross it" As he made another turn, the boar went past him and its tusks hit a tree. It vigorously shook his head. "hahaha Serves you right F**k" Suddenly, because of the lapse of concentration, he tripped on the root of a tree and fell down. His leg was bruised and started to bleed. He tried to stand up, meanwhile, the boar charged towards him. His heart skipped and thought he was going to die as he looked at the tusks. Suddenly, his senses went blank. By the time he came to senses, Wil was covered in blood with a broken bow in his hand and an arrow was pierced in one of the boar''s eyes while it has a large injury on its neck. He realized there''s a broken tusk smeared with blood in his left hand. His legs gave away the strength and collapsed on the ground. "Didn''t I tell you that you had it in you? Why did you run?" He heard a familiar voice from behind. He saw Andrea. She then commented with a smile, "Inherent qualities never disappear. They just stay dormant, hiding inside the body, waiting for a chance." Present; In the skies above the Marsh Islands, a level-400 complete dragon is in an intense battle with a humanoid dragon that was fighting on the ground, instead of flying. The battle is going on for six hours with no result. The dragon wasn''t able to damage Wil, who was more focused on dodging and shooting two arrows from time to time. So far, Wil was able to take only five billion HP from Averil but on the bright side, as the battle progresses, his concentration and accuracy of the arrows started to improve. At first, he was barely able to hit two arrows at the same time but now, his rapid draw also became quite fast. One more strange thing is that Wil felt that his body was moving before his brain passes the command. Every time, the dragon tried to attack, Wil wanted to dodge it but he realizes his body already moved to the left. Wil felt the memory he can no longer suppress the memories of his past. The only way he can do that is to stop fighting on his own and let his helpers do it for him. But, now, he doesn''t have such luxury. He continues to remember his training sessions with his master. Now that he knows that his master and his mother are identical twins, just remembering her face troubles him even more. One that abandoned him and the other that tortured him. Both of them are most his hated people. The Dragon shot a fire beam from its horns. Wil once again sidestepped and escaped the attack. An idea appeared in his mind. *Swoosh* Dodging the firebeam, Wil shot another two arrows. He aimed at its eyes. He knew the consequences of blinding the beast. It will enter a berserk state immediately. All he hoped that it won''t mutate in the middle of battle like Leon. But then again, it is unlikely to happen since it isn''t the real Averil, and neither the environment belongs to the material world. As for the berserk state, whether it has 11.7 Billion attack power or 23.4, it all the same to Wil. If it hits, he dies, if it doesn''t, he lives. The Dragon moved its head at the last second, and the arrows pierced the side of its head. "161,622,697" "161,622,697" Wil clenched his fist in happiness, meanwhile, the dragon groaned in pain. As its head jerked to the back, Wil quickly reacted and started running towards its direction. He understood this is the perfect time to blind it. Fighting with the dragon made him realize that it becomes vulnerable during its attacks. Averil then continuously breathe out fire towards Wil, who was moving in a zig-zag move. Its head followed his movements. As the distance between them decreased, it released even more flames but Wil was once again depending on his intuitive reflexes to dodge them and suddenly, he flapped his wings. "Activate, Dash." *Ding! Your speed increases to 300% for 10 seconds. Maximum Limit increases to mach 3 temporarily. The Dragon found Wil suddenly disappeared from its view. Then, an arrow was struck on its neck from behind. Continuing to breathe the fire, it turned its head but found Wil missing. Using its senses, it finds the humanoid dragon on the opposite side. As it turned back its head. All it saw three arrows flew towards it like a lightning and two of them struck its eyes while the middle one struck its glabella, taking nearly 500 million of HP. Its eyes started to bleed. "yes" A smile appeared on Wil. "I can also shoot three arrows just like One." *Ding! Averil is going into a berserk state. All the attacks increase by 100%. A red aura around it pushed him back while it roared in rage. *Swoosh* Even while falling back, Wil didn''t waste any time shooting the three arrows. Only then, he controlled his wings and landed on the ground. *Cling* The Dragon swiped its claws once again to knock off an arrow even though it''s blind. Meanwhile, the second and third arrows deflected the path on the midway. "I guess It is too soon to think that my archery skill matches his level" Chapter 215: 3-star Elementalist: Resurrection Ultimate Twelve hours later; *Roar* *Ding! Averil''s HP reached below 30%. It is going into another berserk state. Attacks increased by 100% of its Max attack. After a while; Wil somersaulted, dodging its tail attack, and shot two arrows to its legs once again. Two arrows pierced its left leg from the side. "161,622,697" "161,622,697" Followed by the attack, Wil used Dragon punch and punched its left leg once again. "242,434,045" "Damn The hidden effect still hasn''t activated, yet." After successfully piercing its leg eight more times and punching it with the Dragon punch thrice, he received a notification. Wil''s eyes lit up as the dragon''s left leg collapsed. Its knee was touching the ground. Because of the unbalance, it felt troubled at the moment. *Ding! Averil''s left leg is damaged. The dragon''s stats weakened by 10%. One hour later; *Ding! Averil''s left-wing is damaged. The dragon''s stats weakened by 10%. Two hours later; *Ding! Averil''s right-wing is damaged. The dragon''s stats weakened by 10%. *Ding! Averil lost its ability to fly. It went into the third berserk state. Attacks increased by 100% One hour later; *Ding! Averil''s right leg is damaged. The dragon''s stats weakened by 10%. *Ding! Averil''s HP decreased to 10%. It is going into a final berserk state. Attacks increased by 100%. It helplessly rooted to the ground. Not able to move or fly even though its attack is now more than 160 Billion. "Finally, it''s critical resist dropped by 80%. Its critical resist is now 120% and my critical rate is 220%. That means a definite critical hit." Averil HP: 4.5 Billion/46.8 Billion. Activating dash once again, Wil flapped his wings to move at an incredible speed of mach 3 while shooting down the arrows. "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" "517,192,630" *Thud* In mere six seconds, the Dragon collapsed onto the ground before disappearing. *Ding! You cleared the third wave. Choose your reward between a unique skill and skill evolution. "Phew" Wil let out a long breath as he sat on the ground. " I did a good thing to invest all the remaining attributes into strength or else, I would have run out of stamina long ago. Summersoft company is also quite sneaky about it. They didn''t mention anything about it in the update but quietly changed the stamina." If Wil didn''t know of it beforehand, he wouldn''t have known that stamina no longer fixed at 100. Just like mana that increases with intelligence, stamina stat was now linked to strength attribute. The higher the strength, the greater the stamina. *Ding! You selected the Resurrection skill to evolve. 3, 2, 1 *Ding! Resurrection skill evolved to Resurrection Ultimate. Please check the details. *Ding! The next wave will start in ten minutes. Resurrection Ultimate (Intermediate): Resurrect your allies and pets without restriction to number as long as they are equal or below your level. Resurrect people will be invincible for 5 seconds. Cost: 20 mana per person. CD: 12 hours. Cast time: 1 second per person. "Wow" Once again, the upgraded skill didn''t fail to surprise Wil. "Legend classes are indeed a whole another level compared to a normal class or hidden class" "If the skills are this awesome, I wonder what will be the unknown reward at the end" Wil only had one thought in his mind. To clear five waves. He didn''t realize that nearly 20 hours have already been passed since he logged in. Even he knew, currently, he isn''t in a mood to care about it. Meanwhile, the old man was happy with Wil''s performance. "Now, it''s time for you to face your future foe. Consider this as a present from me, my successor." Ten minutes later; *Ding! The fourth wave is going to begin. The ground started to shake vigorously. Wil almost lost his balance. He flapped his wings and flew into the sky, just in case. He knew that the enemy won''t be someone weaker than Averil. But, he was filled with confidence. He saw an enormous shadow on the surface of the water. It was stretched at least half a kilometer long and two hundred wide. His heart shook at the moment and a certain memory when he loses the Book of Destiny at this very same spot triggered in his mind. "No No No" Wil kept on mumbling as the shadow became thicker with each second. After a while, a giant whale surfaced and it glanced at the sky towards Wil. It''s the Twenty trillion HP monster with 2.5 trillion attack power. His glow drained from his face. "F**k" He started to swear the old man inside his mind with all the curse words he knew. *** Wular City, Eastern Continent (Real world); On the first floor of a seemingly ordinary net caf, Xu Luoyang and her boss Qian Zhen were standing before the capsules that were installed side by side in a row. "Can I really earn money by entering this machine and play the game?" Luoyang asked with a face that clearly says she doesn''t believe it. "Of course, just follow me You can also put your martial arts to use" "Sword arts" Luoyang corrected her. "Ah! Yes" Boss Qian then gave her one of the empty chips that were sold by Summersoft so that a family can play by turns in the same machine in case they cannot afford the space or money. She entered the capsule. *** At an unknown cave in the kingdom of Uru, Death King (Min) was talking to a skeleton that was temporarily possessed by his predecessor, the Undead King, who is considered as a pseudo-demi-god. "You once again proved that you are my inheritor for a good reason. Here is your reward." *Ding! You completed the inheritance quest. Your level limit extended to 300. You received Undead King''s skull (legendary) as a reward. *** Capital City, Llyne Kingdom; Yelir (Hyori) and another female were standing together, waiting at the temple. A group of ten people who carry bows exited the temple after teleporting to the Llyne city. "Master." Hyori greeted the old man in the middle. "So, this is where your boyfriend lives?" He asked, stroking his beard. "I researched about Time Traveler. Many people are saying that he''s one of the strongest gamers Good choice. I approve." He showed thumbs up to her with a smile on his face. A young man who was standing behind him mumbled to himself The girl beside Hyori was shocked. She shook her arm with her eyes glowing, "Hyo I didn''t know that you are dating a guy" She sighed, "I told you many times. He isn''t my boyfriend at all. Don''t cause misunderstandings." *** Gailzach Province, North Zalfari Continent; In an illusionary realm, ''One'' is fighting a boss. "In the name of ''One,'' I summon the Eternal fire of darkness to put my enemy to death." Black flames descended from the sky and hit a giant Orc. Its body continuously burned for a whole minute until it ends up dead. *Ding! You completed all three waves. You receive three unique skills as a reward. *Ding! You completed the inheritance quest. Your level limit extended to 300. You receive Mythic grade Solomon''s gloves as a reward. Chapter 216: 3-star Elementalist: A troublesome whale Deep Sea Whale King Status: Weakened Grade: Heroic Level: 500 HP: 211.2 Billion "Ah! So, it was toned down from mythic to a heroic, huh!" Wil sighed in relief, ''Phew Thank goodness. I guess they didn''t turn the old man into crazy after all.'' Even though the beast is a Heroic grade, Wil was still cautious and flew higher until 500 meters to be safe. Wil knew that with such vast size and tens of millions of kilograms of weight, the whale unlikely able to jump that high. But, he didn''t take any chances in case the whale was able to lift its body instead of jumping. Just its length is nearly half a kilometer. Moreover, he doesn''t know anything about its abilities. A mythic grade creature should have awesome skills, right Wil hoped that it won''t go worse as he imagined since it is only a Heroic grade. Along with the grade dropped, he hoped its abilities also dropped. Taking advantage of the gravity, Wil decided to shoot vertically from a safe distance. Because of its massive size, he doesn''t need to worry about it being dodged his arrows. *Swoosh* He made the first move. With the help of gravity, the arrows'' speed increased at a tremendous rate. The Whale with its tiny eyes that are only as big as Wil was able to see the tiny being shot even more of three tiny arrows. But, since its size is too enormous and the speed of the arrows is too fast, it didn''t try to dive as it''s useless. Moreover, as an intelligent being, it also wanted to test the strength of the opponent before it counter-attacks. Even with the gravity, the three arrows deflected their path in the midway but due to its sheer size, in the end, all three of them struck its back. "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" Wil was shocked to see the three arrows that hit didn''t even cause 100 million damage combined together. "This one has 80% decrease damage buff?" Wil quickly calculated and came to a conclusion. He can''t help but be amazed at it. "30% higher than even a guardian beast like Leon, huh! No wonder, it is called the king of oceans." With a successful shot from 500 meters away, Wil gained confidence and took out another three arrows, placing each of its ends between his fingers. He concentrated more on the little finger as the third arrow always becoming the problem due to less force. *Ting* The dragon bow once again gave a rumbling sound as he released the arrows at the enemy. But this time, they were met with a seeming fountain of water, which is actually a whale''s spout, simply releasing some of the excess water but it was so big and powerful that it almost reached Wil. He flapped his wings in reflex and dodged to the side. The water still went up a hundred meters more Wil was stunned. "Phew." He sighed in relief as he escaped the attack, "I dodged at the right time, or else I would have been dead by now." "Die?" Wil suddenly went into a daze, concentrating on that word for a second before a plan emerged in his mind. "Ah! that''s right. The quest is changed. I can resurrect for an infinite number of times without penalty, right First, let''s check" Flapping his wings, he dived towards the whale, shooting an arrow at it. *Whieaoooo* It made a simple sound but it made Wil closed his ears for a moment before he saw its giant tail rose in the air and hit him on the head. *Crt. 26,421,415,332* *Ding! You died. The fourth wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 Wil appeared on the shore of the island. Once again, he felt the earthquake. It''s the sign of the incoming of the whale. "Activate, Dragon mode: Partial Transformation." He charged into the sky, reaching the same spot again before analyzing what he just experienced. "Hmm First point, the wave is going to reset. So, the longer the battle goes, the more focused I should be. Second point, I didn''t think about it before but now that I see the damage, with a critical rate, the damage is around 26.4 Billion. Multiplying with 8 gives 211 Billion. But, an offensive monster has an attack of one-fourth of HP and the defensive monster has an attack of one-twentieth of HP. That would mean it should have its attack stat value of either 52.8 Billion or 10.5 Billion. Considering a monster doesn''t have increasing damage buff, a defensive type monster with 200% critical damage? Hmm That explains how I received 2.5 trillion damage back then. One day I''ll kill the original but now" Wil glanced at the whale once again and equipped three arrows. Two hours later; *Whieaoooo* As soon as Wil heard the cry, he only tried to get out of range. All of a sudden, the whale leaped high. Wil just raised his head, opening his mouth wide in shock as he saw a giant whale was now falling on top of him. Usually, if he can use the Dash skill, he can pretty much escape but when something unexpected happens, usually, one''s brain stops working for a few seconds. The same thing happened to Wil, now. His body froze. But something else also happened at the same time. His eyes suddenly became blank and the dragon wings are flapped at once, causing huge ripples on the surface of the water and he dashed to the side but right then, suddenly, the whale opens its mouth, sucking all the water as it dived back into the ocean. *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 "huh!" As Wil once again reappeared on the shore, he glanced at his hands and the body in confusion. "What''s just happened there?" Remembering the scene of the whale falling on top of him, he mumbled, "Did I die from that? I lost my consciousness before it hit me" Clearly, it was evident that he didn''t remember the scene after that. Eight hours later; *Whieaoooo* A large mass of water in the form of a water bomb was spit by the whale. Wil flapped his wings and dodged the attack as always but then, it bursts all of a sudden like a bomb. *Crt. 79,264,245,996* *Ding! You died. The fourth wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 "F**k" Wil cursed out in frustration. "I didn''t expect this f**k**g whale is this sneaky" For the past eight hours, he diligently took out nearly 30 Billion of its HP but that sudden explosion caught him off guard and killed him on the spot. Thirty hours later; *Whieaoooo* It let out another powerful cry. This time, it moved in a circle, creating a thousand-meter large tornado. Wil used Dash at the last second to escape the attack. He saw the water tornado is becoming wider and bigger with each second. Wil shot the arrows but it was dispelled by it. So, he decided to wait until the timer of the skill becomes zero and it stops circling on itself. The temple, the island, and as well as the nearby islands were swallowed by the tornado and Wil doesn''t see any signs of stopping yet. It continued until 15 minutes. All of a sudden, the tornado disappeared on its own and fell onto the ocean along with the countless pieces of hundreds of islands. Chapter 217: 3-star Elementalist: Survival instinct Wil was taken aback by the sudden events. He saw the countless rocks are raining from the sky. Using maximum speed, he tried to escape but at a certain distance, it seems there was a barrier placed and he hit the barrier. A large rock was about to hit him. Suddenly, his eyes went blank. Within a fraction of a second, an arrow quickly shot towards the rock and destroyed it into dust. When cornered, his instincts took over him once again and he continuously dodges the small rocks while shooting down the big ones. *Ding! Warning: You are reaching the limit of playing time. As if he didn''t hear it, Wil continued to fly towards the whale and resumed his attacks. Strangely, unlike before, he was able to shoot three arrows at the same time perfectly. Even after they land on the whale''s back, they were only 2-3cm apart from each other. Two hours later; Ding! Second Warning: You are reaching the limit of playing time. "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" Now, between each space between fingers, instead of one, three arrows are clamped, totaling nine arrows that were released from his bow. Two hours later; *Ding! Final Warning: You are reaching the limit of playing time. You will be forced to log out in 30 minutes. *Whieaoooo* As the whale cried out once again, it shot a water beam towards Wil at an extreme speed. But to its shock, Wil dodged the beam and shot the nine arrows again before equipping the next batch. 20 minutes later; *Ding! Deep sea whale king''s HP dropped to 1%. It went into the second berserk state. Attacks increased by 100% Wil shot the arrows as if he didn''t even hear of the notification. Five minutes later; *Ding! You will be forced to logout in 5 minutes. *Ding! You will be forced to log out in 2 minutes. *Ting Wil''s final nine arrows pierced the whale''s head. "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" "32,324,539" *Ding! You killed the Deep Sea Whale King. *Ding! You cleared the 4th wave. Choose between a unique skill and skill evolution as a reward. *Ding! Your S-class capsule reached the limit. You are being forced to log out in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, An unknown amount of time later; "Ugh" Wil groaned as he woke up, grabbing his head. His surroundings appeared blurry. His stomach growled. Wil rubbed his eyes and realized he was on his bed. That means someone carried him from the capsule to here. It also means someone entered the apartment without his permission. But, before he analyzed further with a hungry stomach, he saw Aster was sleeping on the chair beside his bed. Wil tried to move but he felt so weak at the moment. "Aster" His voice sounded husky and hoarse. With great difficulty, he managed to make the lamp beside his bed lose its balance. It fell and made a sound, waking up Aster. "Young Master." Aster cried out as he grabbed Wil. Moving him to a proper position, Aster brought the water and then, food. "Thanks" After a while; "How did you enter the apartment? It was manually locked from inside." Wil asked him, implying whether he possessed a master tool or something. "Well, we had no choice but to destroy the door using some tools. When I found you, you were already passed out in the capsule. The door is repaired now, so, no worries." "Eh?" Wil was shocked. "What just happened? No, just tell me, what''s the date?" "Aug 7th," Aster replied. "It''s already been 5 days?" Wil was surprised. "Tell me from the start." Aster answered, "Uhh! Three days ago, due to the power overload, the Apartment block had a power cut. After being informed, I tried to call you but no matter how many times I called, you never picked up. So, we had no choice to use the drilling machine. It''s been two days since then." Wil tried to remember the last thing he knew. ''After that memory resurfaced in my mind, I lost my consciousness twice. Is it a coincidence or are they related? As for the battle against the Whale king" he let out a deep sigh, ''Should I just give up? I can''t battle for another 30-40 hours No, I should at least try one more time. If I fail again, then, let''s give up the quest, altogether. I already upgraded my skills for three times, anyway.'' "Young Master" "Young Master" "Ah! Yes? What were you saying?" Wil came back to the reality. "What are you thinking and sighing by yourself Are you troubled by something? Should we visit hospital and have a check up just in case? The doctor said you brain might have been affected because of power outrage." Wil shook his head, "Nah, I''m fine." Aster then informed about the takeover of an Entertainment Agency and then, about the progress of their professional gaming team. After hearing the details, Wil nodded, "good. Let those idols take a break for now. Tell them to be prepared for a virtual debut in a month. As for our gamers, after my business is done, I''ll meet them at Deloris town. Don''t invite them to the guild. I have other plans for them. Is there anything else I would like to know?" "Uhh! I''m not sure whether this is important or not but Miss Lee''s Archery tournament is going to start in two weeks. She said she''s going to take a break from the game after two to three days. Some of her friends joined the regular division. "Two weeks? Shouldn''t it start by now? I remember Hyori said it will start in the first week of August..." Aster shook his head, "Not sure about that. Maybe, due to some internal issues, the tournament might have been pushed back a bit. Should I investigate?" "Nah, it''s fine." Wil waved his hand, "By the way, how are her friends? Are they good?" "I don''t know where she brought them but they are experts, especially, the one who was claiming to be her master. According to our standards, he''s an S-rank Elite level for sure" "Good." Wil smiled in satisfaction, "and anything else?" "Hmm Ah! That''s right. Mia said she likes her birthday present. She conveyed her thanks to you via SnowDew but she said you weren''t replying to her messages." Aster replied to him. "Eh? My identity is exposed?" Aster nodded, "Mr. Louis was caught by SnowDew and spilled the beans" "That useless prick..." Wil''s face darkened. "I wasted epic grade equipment on him for nothing" The next day; Wil once again entered the capsule, lazily while yawning. *Welcome to War Online* *Ding! Choose your reward, unique skill, or skill evolution. "Hmm?" Wil''s eyes widened in shock. "I cleared the fourth wave? How?" He then remembered the past when he killed the wild boar without knowing. "Survival Instinct?" Chapter 218: 3-star Elementalist: The final wave part-1 Wil is in a dilemma once again. On one side, his reasoning is telling him to choose Absolute Freeze, the most logical thing to upgrade. On the other side, something told him to choose the unique skill as a reward. So far, all three unique skills are overpowered in their own way. Pegasus gives you the ultimate speed. Gravity suppression makes your enemies powerless, and Heavenly push can let him kill anyone from far away. Just like those three, this unique skill is going to be an awesome one. Call it intuition or whatever. Wil is someone who hates gambling. That''s why he was always skeptical about the quest with unknown rewards. But, the level of difficulty and trust in the old man made him trust his guts. In the end, he chose the unique over upgrading Absolute Freeze. *Ding! You selected a unique skill. *Ding! Congratulations, you acquired Weapon Transformation. Please check the skill panel for details. *Ding! The final waves will start in 10 minutes. Make your preparations As soon as he checked the skill, excitement drained from his face and replaced with a fury. He was angry with himself for making such a foolish decision. "F**k This is why I hate the unknown Shouldn''t have followed this stupid intuition..." Weapon Transformation (Beginner): Transform your Bow into any kind of weapon with a thought. CD: 60 seconds. Cost: 0 mana. Available transformations: Staff and Dagger. At one glance, a normal person would find the skill as an amazing one because it can transform into whatever weapon you have and engage in either melee or ranged battle but for someone like Wil, who can have Dragon transformation for melee attacks, it is certainly not useful. Not to mention, he can''t use the skills like ice arrow, multiple lightning arrows, and fire arrows, either Wil didn''t even care to try it out, deeming it useless, and got ready for the final wave. He wondered, what kind of ultimate beast is going to show up, now. Something that''s even stronger than the whale. Meanwhile, the old man, who was watching Wil, stroked his beard with a smile, "of all the things that I possess, he awakened the weapon transformation. Kid''s got luck But, his expression says he wasn''t satisfied with it. Well, no matter He will realize it sooner or later" A few minutes later; *Ding! The fifth wave is going to begin. *Roar* A familiar yet powerful roar was resounded in the sky. "Damn This is going to be troublesome" Wil didn''t even need to look at the beast. He already knew who will be the final opponent. As he guessed, the final opponent is going to be someone truly impossible to beat. Wil raised his head and confirmed his suspicions. There''s a winged lion, staring at him from the sky. Leon Grade: Mythic Level: 400 HP: 312 Billion "This one is a stronger version than my Leon. How to beat this kind of oppo" Wil jumped to the side and dodged the sudden attack of the fireball. It flapped its wings and rushed towards Wil. Flapping his dragon wings, he flew backward to increase distance but all he saw was a blur and felt something scratched his chest *Crt* -195,039,324,255. *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 The Lion disappeared and Wil once again appeared on the shore. "Wow" Instead of feeling despair, Wil was excited to see the damage. "Going by the standards, it should have 78 Billion of attack. My Leon has 150% critical damage. Since this is a level 400 one, it should have 200% critical damage and Pierce Now, that explains everything Before the war starts, if I get to level-300 and manage to mutate it once more, then" "Oops" He quickly transformed into a humanoid dragon once again and dodged as Leon sent a fireball, disrupting his thoughts. This time, he took the battle to the skies. Flapping its wings, Leon once again prepared to attack him with its claws. Once again, Wil used the only skill he was allowed to use "Activate, Dash" *Ding! Your speed increases to 300% for 10 seconds. Maximum limit increases to mach 3 temporarily. Wil dodged the attack in the last second and punched its face from the side. "80,811,348" Followed by the normal punch, Wil used Dragon punch skill and punched its cheek once again. "121,217,022" Wil then disappeared and appeared on the other side and gave another punch to its other cheek before he activated the Dragon breath. "80,811, 348" "96,973,618" "96,973,618" "96,973,618" It only worked for three seconds before it swiped its claws, making Wil stop his attack and dived towards the ocean with all his might before the time is up. Since one''s allowed to swim underwater without any debuff as long as they don''t go below 1000 meters deep, Wil planned to hide there until his cooldown is over. This is what he came up with after observing Leon''s battle with the King Shark, Helico. Back then, even though his arrows pierced the water, Leon''s fireball unable to penetrate. And as a land creature, it can''t swim underwater either. So, it is considered the safest spot. What surprised Wil was that the thought of using Guerilla tactics suddenly came into his mind on the spot. *Roar* It roared once again as it threw a fireball at Wil, who successfully entered the ocean and still swimming deep until a safe zone of 500 meters. Because of wearing night-vision goggles, the darkness under the ocean didn''t also affect his vision. After the Cooldown is reset, Wil slowly swam to the surface while sensing Leon''s presence. He sensed that Leon wasn''t hovering in the sky. So, he thought it was probably on the shore, waiting for him. As soon as he reached the surface, Wil once again activated Dash and with the speed of mach3, he quickly flew towards the island and just as he expected, he found the lion was standing on the shore, trying to touch the water with its paws. Maybe, it''s because it''s his pet, He found Leon''s actions cute at the moment. The Lion sensed him and quickly turned its head before flapping its wings. "80,811,348" "80,811,348" "80,811,348" Three arrows pierced the side of its waist. It groaned in light pain. "Wow" Wil stopped at that instant, displaying an expression of shock on his face as he saw the arrows were struck perfectly. "When did I become this skillful?" Wil can''t believe himself. For what he knew, he was indeed skillful in firing two arrows but when he shot three arrows, the third one always deflects its path. He would have understood if the third arrow struck elsewhere but the distance between the third arrow and second arrow is the same as the distance between the first and second. Since Wil was unconscious at the time when he fought and defeated the whale king, he didn''t know that he shot not just three but nine arrows at that time. *Roar* The Lion became angry. Wil saw he has five more seconds. He didn''t waste the time and dashed towards it with the maximum speed and used Dragon punch. Call it bad luck or coincidence, his fist was made in contact with Leon''s claws at the last moment as he was about to punch its face. Obviously, his 242 million attack power isn''t something that can go against its 195 billion attack stat. *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 Chapter 219: 3 star Elementalist: the final wave part-2 30 minutes later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 2 hours later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 4 hours later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 5 hours later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 8 hours later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 9 hours and 30minutes later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 12 hours later; *Ding! You died. The wave is going to reset in 3, 2, 1 The longer Wil continued to use guerilla tactics, the better he became used to it and the time increased. 26 hours later; *Roar* Once again, Leon let out a mighty roar and he received a familiar notification. *Ding! Your skills are unusable for the next 60 minutes. As soon as he read the notification, Wil quickly dived back into the ocean since he knew it was about time it should use the King''s roar since the Cooldown will end. "Phew, made in time" Wil sighed in relief as soon as he made it before he was attacked. Every time, it used the skill, Wil ends up dead because of the difference in speed. But this time, he made the decision at the perfect moment, saving enough time to get to safety. Since he can do nothing about it, Wil waited an hour before he used Dash skill to attack the Lion and return to the ocean before the times up. An hour later; *Ding! Leon''s HP fell below 50%. First berserk state has been activated. Attacks increased by 100%. "Finally, I see a notification other than I died or my skills are unusable." Despite receiving the good news that he made halfway, Wil''s expression was still serious, feeling the pressure. If he fails here, then, all of his hard work would be wasted again. He can''t let that happen Calming himself down, Wil resumed his guerilla tactics. After another half an hour, another notification arrived. More like a warning from the system. *Ding! Warning: You are reaching the limit of playing time. Two hours later; *Ding! Second Warning: You are reaching the limit of playing time. Two more hours later; *Ding! Final Warning: You are reaching the limit of playing time. You will be forced to logout in 30 minutes. "Thirty minutes of playtime left" Wil mumbled to himself. Looking upwards, he shook his head, "it''s useless, right now Let''s take a break." As the gameplay will continue if one is forced to log out by the system, Wil decides to wait underwater for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, he sent a message to Aster to go to his home and this time, try to open the door without destroying it since he will only be passed out and nothing else. *Blackout* ''Hmm Who''s hand is this Is it Hyori?'' Wil felt a hand with long fingers grabbing his right hand for several hours but he didn''t have to will to move his body or open his eyes. He also felt like his forehead was kissed after his hair has been caressed for a while. A smile appeared on his face, unconsciously, implying that he liked it. Even without consciousness, he can tell that it belongs to a female as Men''s hands are rougher but then, since he never held Hyori''s hands before, he didn''t know whether it was her. Not to mention, usually, no straight man kisses another male on the forehead, and certainly, no one dares to do that to Wil. Wil wondered whether it was a dream. He wondered whether he was having dreams about Sierra again. He continued to sleep. "Ugh" Wil woke up after 36 hours. This time, he found himself on a hospital bed instead of his own. He was given an IV drip. "Eh?" He was taken aback. A pretty nurse was monitoring the glucose levels. She saw him woke up. She quickly went outside to inform the doctor. He sighed, ''It''s been 10 days since the update started and I still wasn''t able to clear the inheritance quest.'' Suddenly, the door opened and he saw Silver entered the room. "Young Master, thank goodness. You are finally awake." He sighed in relief. After the doctor checks his vitals, he said Wil was fine and needs some rest, he left the room, leaving the two of them alone. "Do you really need to exhaust yourself, that much?" Silver lectured him with a worried look. "What if something happens to you? How would I show my face to Lord Philip after I die" He started rambling this and that. Wil got annoyed but he let him lecture all he wants as he realized how worried he is "Goodness" Silver sighed, "Playing for 70 hours no matter how much you like playing it, in the end, it is just a game. It''s not worth risking your own life. Just understand that" He want to explain that he had no choice but then, thinking back, Wil indeed have a choice to give up the quest. In the end, he apologized. "Sorry" Wil mumbled slowly, looking away. *** East Ocean City, Llyne Kingdom Supreme Master was sitting before a beautiful mysterious lady with a Mask of Tranquility. He didn''t know her identity. The only thing he knows is her background and who sent her. She asked, "It''s been 10 days. The Chairman asked me to remind you about the guilds merger." Supreme Master sighed, "I know but Time Traveler is unavailable for a while. I tried sending him messages but he hasn''t responded yet. Scarlet guild''s vice leader also doesn''t know his current whereabouts." Taking a sip, she spoke to herself, "looking at the rankings, it doesn''t look like he''s leveling out there. His level hasn''t changed a bit. So, I wonder what he is doing right now. Hmm" Then, she looked at him, "Anyway, just try reaching him once again. If you have no result by 16th, then, make a separate faction and betray him openly." "But, he is the prince. Betraying him openly will only make the Mayor expel our guild." Supreme Master tried to make her understand the risk. She smiled, "I know. That''s why we are going to send experts on 16th and lay a siege on this city. Just make sure that people on your side won''t get involved. The Queen is not on friendly terms with him. So, once we take over the city, he won''t able to do anything. In the worst case, our guardian beast will take care of him and his beast..." "Guardian beast?" Supreme Master wondered what kind of beast they owned that can defeat even Wil. The lady didn''t explain about it and stood up to leave now that her task is finished. "Okay, let me know when you are done." If Wil were to see this, he would be shocked to death. Even with her face is covered by a mask, just by her figure and voice itself, Wil would be able to discern her identity. He would have never expected the lady of his dreams has a double identity. Chapter 220: Press meet After finishing her business at the East Ocean city, the mysterious lady entered the teleportation formation and clicked on the Reverie Kingdom, then capital city. Exiting the temple at Reverie city, she sent a message to someone while removing the Mask. Snow Princess: Baby, You still haven''t finished yet? She quickly received the reply from her boyfriend. Crimson Sun: No, I''m done with the inheritance quest, a while ago. I''m on my way to the Tower of Destiny. Snow Princess: You found out the location? Where? Crimson Sun: Well, I''m not sure about that. I have to verify the location by myself. It''s in the waters of the North Grennola Ocean. These are the coordinates Snow Princess (Sierra) quickly sent a message to someone else and waited for a reply. Dizzy: Got it. I''ll inform the boss. There are no further orders for you. So, you may relax and enjoy the game. Snow Princess: if the news turns out to be true, will I really become the main member? Dizzy: As I have said before, our Tojo clan has considerable influence in the secret order. An elder of the organization will not only promote you to the main member but you will also receive the Elite training. Just wait until you get the news. Snow Princess: Got it. Closing the message tab, Sierra clenched her fist while a frustrated look appeared on her face. "Why does it have to come to this Why of all people, you have to find out its location, Bran" In the end, she sighed, "I hope you will understand me once I explain everything." *** Scarlet Apartments, Leafway city; Wil returned to his home and saw the door was replaced by a new one. Unlike the last one, it only has a biometric lock instead of an electronic lock with a pin. Even on the inside, the manual lock was removed. It was done so that it would become easy for Silver to enter the apartment without breaking it in case an incident like this happens again. As for safety, hidden cameras were also installed on the door, so, that Wil can see the outside view on his laptop. Meanwhile, Silver shifted to the eighth floor of the building, two floors below Wil''s apartment. Not trusting Aster with Wil''s life anymore, he decided to leave Ares city to live near Wil. "Eh? Aster was removed?" Wil was shocked to hear Silver fired Aster for not taking care of him. It wasn''t his fault and it''s not like he can do anything anyway. Silver then explained, "Don''t misunderstand, Young Master. He was relieved of his duties only as your personal bodyguard as well as the secretary of the Apartments. I can understand if he''s busy doing his other duties following your orders is one But, still, Lord Philip appointed him as your bodyguard and the secretary of this Apartments. He failed in both of them. Why? Because he was busy in the game. So, I thought he can''t handle everything. But no matter, he''s still the director of SGC as well as the manager of our company''s Leafway city branch. And also, he''s still your Vice leader. Nothing will change" Upon hearing his explanation, Wil fell silent. At first, he thought of refuting Silver but then after repeating his words again, Wil realized it was probably for best. After all, he still hasn''t forgotten how Aster tried to fool him by participating in Silver''s scheme back at Hailey city. He can''t trust his life in Aster''s hands. ''Either way, I don''t need Aster''s real-life protection. There are enough bodyguards around me.'' Putting that thought away, he then asked, "Silver, how are our boys doing?" Silver''s eyes lit up as soon as he heard the question. He explained, "Right now, we have around 325 members of our Vulture group living in this city. In just three days, they successfully co-operated with the police and apprehended many criminals, and solved many cases. They aren''t comfortable with that and are requesting me to relieve them of such tasks. What should I do?" "325?" Wil interrupted with a frown. "If I remember correctly, shouldn''t there be 645?" "The remaining 320 are currently hiding in different identities just in case. Most of them are currently working as street vendors, security in apartments, etc''" Silver cleared his doubt. "This is unfamiliar territory. It never hurts to be careful. Moreover, if we have too many people, the Federation will also think we are up to something." *Slap* Wil slapped his own forehead, "What have you done. I don''t have any intention to take control over the city. I just wanted an extra army in War Online" "Game?" Silver was taken aback. "Didn''t we set up SGC in 20 different cities for that? We even transferred a total of 1726 members to those branches." Silver was indeed confused by Wil''s words. "I know." Wil nodded in response, "But, I can''t waste those numbers for nothing Sigh Since you have already done that, then, let''s forget about those 320 and purchase Summersoft capsules for the ones that are currently living officially. Let them join as the staff of SS. Talk with the City Police commissioner and tell him not to bother our boys unless they are in a dire situation and have no other choice but to ask us for help. And what about our gamers at SGC?" Silver answered, "All of them have already migrated to Llyne city. As for those who are still in newbie villages, instructions have already been passed to them. They''ll choose Eldershore city. No one has chosen the guild. I was wondering if you are planning to incorporate them into the Scarlet guild or intending to make another one." "What do you think?" Wil asked in return to test his ability. He wanted to know whether Silver can lead a gaming guild or not. And Silver didn''t disappoint him either. "There are problems with either of the options. The first one is inviting them into the Scarlet guild is the same as exposing your identity to the public. If you do that, it is the same as inviting hostile parties, well, not that we care about it though. But, as far as I understand, you don''t wish to expose Time Traveler''s identity to Dexter''s son and granddaughter. That''s why, back then, you lied to them, didn''t you?" Wil nodded in response. Silver then continued, "And if you will make another guild, it will create an impression that you are not Scarlet group''s young master. It will make a lot of guilds that are unhappy with your actions or achievements, fight together against you." "So, what do you suggest to resolve these issues?" Wil asked him. "In case you don''t know, we still haven''t launched SGC officially yet. I mean, to the media. We''ll make a press meet and talk about acquiring Heibei Corporation and shares of the start-up company, Ace as well as acquiring Starsun Entertainment. You can then announce SGC acquiring the 50% shares of Scarlet and Silvershapers Guilds too. That way, you can create a false identity for Time Traveler. You just need to keep his identity secret when you were asked. Publicity will not only improve the company''s image but will also let Williard Ravens detach from the Scarlet guild and Time Traveler will gain Scarlet group''s backing." Wil was stunned, listening to the explanation. All he was planned to make a secret guild and set up at Athledon. He clearly didn''t think too far. Now, he knew how to handle the situation. Chapter 221: 3-star Elementalist: The final wave failed? The next day afternoon; ''Eh? You sold the guild shares to Scarlet group?'' Hyori was taken aback as she was watching Wil''s interview. Her facial expression changed, ''what kind of bullshit is this Aren''t you the heir of the Scarlet group? Why are you selling your shares to yourself?'' As Wil''s bestie, Hyori was already aware of his status. She found it ridiculous that this guy is lying to the public so naturally. She usually hates scammers for years after she knew that his father was once scammed but now, her close friend is turning out to be one. After her college finished, she immediately called him. Upon hearing that he was just having lunch at his apartment, she rushed to the home and confronted him. "I didn''t lie, though," Wil answered while looking away. "I did sell the share of our guilds to the Scarlet group. Previously, it was my own but now, the company''s also can make decisions like Yes, the board of directors There''s a difference you know" She narrowed her eyes, clearly, not intending to believe his words. Even though they only meet once in a while, she was someone who knew Wil''s traits. "Who are you kidding" She scoffed in return, "If that were completely true, you wouldn''t bother yourself explaining to me. I won''t ask if you want to hide something but just don''t treat me like a fool, Wil You already made me once by letting me think that I got the seeded position by my own effort" As she got from the seat to leave, Wil sighed and grabbed her wrist. "Wait." He then apologized, "alright Sorry about that. To protect my identity and the guild from powerful enemies, I need to make up another identity." He didn''t comment anything about his involvement in other matters. "So, just that?" Hyori looked at him in confusion. "This time, I''m telling the truth. Trust me." He stared into her eyes. It wasn''t a complete truth but he wasn''t lying to her either. "Alright. I believe you." Hyori smiled with a nod. One glance into his eyes, she knew he was telling the truth. As she left, Wil mumbled, "I don''t understand why girls make a big deal out of nothing." Wil spent his evening going on an outing with the three sisters since it''s been a while since he ate street food at Manchong Street. Silver also accompanied them to reassure their father of the safety. For some reason, their father trusted Silver more than Wil even though it''s only been three days since he became the new secretary for Scarlet Apartments. Unlike Aster, who only focused on collecting rents or solving the maintenance issues, Silver focused on forming relationships with others. For someone who maintained the casinos, he also has a way with his words to convince others. After filling their stomachs, they went to a karaoke place to have fun for a while. Wil''s voice turned hoarse with non-stop singing for more than an hour. Returning home, he slept soundly after enjoying his break. The next day morning, Wil brush his teeth, took a shower, and had a quick breakfast before entering the capsule to finish the thing he left in the midway. *Welcome to War Online* Wil found himself on the shore of the island, instead of underwater. *Ding! You were forced to log out in the middle of the final wave. It will resume in 3, 2, 1 Wil didn''t waste any time in using the Dash skill to quickly dive into the ocean and wait for 3 minutes. Changing into a humanoid dragon in the water, his senses picked up the location of Leon. It was flying in the sky. Clearly, it was waiting for him. "Okay, Wil. Only 150 Billion HP to go You can''t mess up." Wil slowly swam towards the surface before activating the Dash skill, once again. Maybe, it''s because it was used to his tactics after a continuous battle of over 30 hours, Leon quickly used Wing-Blade and each of its feathers turned into sharp metal. It glided towards him to counterattack. Wil wasn''t surprised by its actions since it wasn''t the first time it happened and he escaped it every time. He dodged the attack and counterattacked by shooting three arrows at once. *Wik*Wik*Wik* The three arrows pierced its upper part of the body, taking our 240 million of HP overall. He shot another three arrows two more times. As none of them landed, Wil returned back to the ocean. 15 hours later; *Roar* Leon let out a mighty roar in rage, getting aggravated because of Wil''s tactics. As its HP constantly decreasing, its rage started increasing but its mach 2.4 speed wasn''t a match for Wil''s mach 3 during his dash. What can it do other than biting its claws in frustration 12 hours later; *Ding! Leon''s HP fell below 10%. It is entering its third berserk state. Attacks increase by 100%. Wil didn''t care about the notification and continued to use his guerilla tactics. By now, he was already too used to Leon''s pattern of attack, behavior, Cooldown, everything He knew when to attack and when is the perfect moment to retreat, and when to launch the next attack. The only thing that bewildered him as to why Leon only used three skills, Roar, Fireball, and Wing-Blade. He died many times and fought for several days but never once it used the Call of the King to summon the beasts below its grade. Since Leon can summon the beasts, surely this one can also do so. Another thing is a level-400 beast should possess another skill. It wasn''t used either. He can only speculate that it was toned down a little bit. Wil really wanted to curse the old man for that. If he wanted to do that, then, he should have limited its speed. If not for its speed, he would have battled it in the skies, instead of using this cowardly tactic. "Only 30 billion left to finish the enemy." Wil thought while recovering his stamina underwater. The spirit of Archangel Seraph is also in high spirits. He was rooting for Wil to finish the Lion as soon as possible and can''t wait to bestow some important knowledge onto him, of course along with the reward. Recovering the stamina to full, once again, he flapped his wings and returned to the sky to shoot arrows at an extreme speed once again. Its HP was chipped off slowly and steadily 30 billion became 20 Billion, then, 10 Billion, 8, 5, 4, 3.6, 3.3 *Swoosh* Three arrows once again struck the Lion. It was already injured heavily everywhere and bleeding. They struck its head. "80,811,348" "80,811,348" "80,811,348" Instead of the usual deep purple aura, a black aura started to surround Leon. Even though he has 8 more seconds to waste, Wil didn''t proceed to attack. Instead, he retreated back to the water with maximum speed. *Ding! Leon''s HP fell below 1%. It''s entering the final berserk state. Attack, defense, and speed increase by 100%. Damage Reduction increases by 50%. Just as he quickly closed the notification, Wil saw the Lion was already right before him, obstructing his path. Wil''s heart skipped. "No" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he saw a blurry claw about to slash him. Chapter 222: Absolute Freeze evolution At that second, Wil felt despair. He worked hard for many days. He ended up in a hospital with an IV drip. Everything became blank around him. He was shrouded in darkness. It happened to him before but this time, he wasn''t unconscious. Wil stood up looked around. "Where am I? I''m not resurrecting." A certain thought appeared in his mind and he was panicked, ''did my consciousness was stuck or something? Am I in a vegetative state?'' Wil didn''t know what''s going on. He screamed, "Hello? Anybody here? Aria, is it you again?" he wondered whether he was pulled into some kind of space by Aria like last time. Suddenly, the darkness was replaced by a forest. But, he didn''t appear there. He felt like he was watching it from the sky. 14-year-old Wil and a tiger were standing before each other. *Grrr* A growl escaped from the tiger while the boy has a blank look on his face. Wil was taken aback to see himself looking at the tiger on his four legs, baring his teeth. He can also see the veins. "What''s going on?" He was confused. It wasn''t a suppressed memory because he never recalled such a scene. *Roar* The Tiger let out a low roar before jumping towards him. The 14-year-old Wil pushed his hands against the ground and dodged before kicking it at the neck very accurately. As he continues to watch the fight, Wil became scared of seeing himself like that. He was no longer human. He saw as if there are two beasts fighting against each other. In the end, he saw an absurd thing of his younger self''s bare hands pierced Tiger''s body and took out, making a hole. The tiger ended up dead and the boy looked at it without any emotions. "Is this perhaps, an illusion?" Wil wondered. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to be true as he was aware that this isn''t his memory. "Either the Lion or that old man must be playing tricks on me Is it another test, perhaps?" As soon as he convinced himself, he broke out of the illusion and returned to the black space. At least that''s what he thought. Just a few minutes later, Wil heard a notification sound but his vision is dark. He realized he was closing his eyes. As he opened them, the first thing he saw is the holographic screen, displaying the notifications. *Ding! You cleared the final wave. Choose your reward between a unique skill and skill evolution. "f**k" he cursed out loud, not believing his eyes. ''I cleared it? How?'' Right then, a familiar voice was heard. "You finally woke up. I thought I would return to the spirit world before you even woke up." Wil looked towards the source and saw Seraph''s spirit was hovering above the tomb. He was dumbfounded. Meanwhile, the old man spoke with a smile, "You passed my test with flying colors. You have proved that even without the need for skills or your pet, you can face an extremely strong opponent and still manage to defeat it. I''m proud of you. Now I think this is the time you need to know about your destiny." He didn''t even give time for Wil to comprehend the shock he was in. All of a sudden, the surroundings changed and he was pulled into a story mode. Wil was standing in an unfamiliar place. It was too beautiful. There are clouds, large floating islands everywhere. Angels are flying everywhere. On the biggest floating island lies a majestic castle. It was made of pure gold. "This is the native place of our Angel race, the Celestial Empire. Humans called it heaven." Seraph''s voice was narrating the story in the background. Suddenly, Wil heard a groan, followed by his words, "it looks like I''m out of spirit energy. Since we have no time, I''ll explain you in brief." The scene was shifted to flames and ruins everywhere. The floating islands are falling. Aside from the Angels, Wil saw the Fallen Angels, even humans, and elves. "Lucifer corrupted half of the Angels and rebelled against our King. He tricked the humans and elves to join the war." There was a war going on. The battle was skipped to the end with all the Fallen Angels ended up dead. "In the middle of the war, the humans understood his plot and helped the Angels in destroying the Lucifer''s army and the Elves. As a result, we became indebted to humans while the Elves were forced to live in their forests, giving up a lot of land for humans. Our Empire was destroyed along with most of the Angels in the war. Only our Princess managed to escape." The scene once again changed to Lucifer wreaking havoc everywhere in the three continents with an army of demons. "He returned with Lilith''s army after a peaceful hundred years." "We, ten guardians of the world managed to seal him but with our death, his seal will slowly start to unseal. Soon, he will be returned. Before that, you need to gather the remaining" The scenery disappeared and Wil returned to the cave. He saw the spirit of Seraph also returned without finishing his sentence. "Remaining what?" Wil wondered. Remembering how they sealed him with some deep blue pebbles, he thought, "Do I need to gather those magic stones? Hmm Anyway, before that" Wil opened the notification panel. *Ding! Choose your reward between unique skill and skill evolution. *Ding! You received a bonus reward for clearing all the waves. Click to open the reward. *Ding! You completed the Inheritance quest. *Ding! Congratulations, you are now a three-star Elementalist. Your level limit increased to 300. You received Seraph''s Armor as a reward. Please check your inventory. "No reward? I guess more than 100 players already completed the second awakening quest before me." He clicked on the first notification and chose the skill evolution. After the previous reward turned out to be a disappointment, he wanted to pick a guaranteed reward rather than gambling on a chance. *Ding! You selected Absolute Freeze to evolve 3, 2, 1 *Ding! Congratulations, Absolute Freeze evolved to ''Absolute Ice Control''. Please check the skill panel for details. Before proceeding on to the next one, Wil quickly checked how this OP skill turned into after reading the name. Absolute Ice Control (Mastered): Absorb the magic power from surroundings and convert it into Ice for 5 minutes. You have three modes. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 10 minutes. Weapon Mode: Create an indestructible ice weapon in the form of a sword, dagger, arrow, or spear to attack your enemies for five minutes. Upon contact, the freezing effect activates and everything and everyone except for the user and the allies in 10 meters of radius from the point of impact will be frozen for 5 seconds. Puppet mode: Create an indestructible Ice puppet in any form from your imagination for five minutes. Upon contact, enemies will slow down by 60% for 30 seconds. Range: 50 meters Blizzard mode: Create a Blizzard for five minutes and attack your enemies. Upon contact, enemies will lose HP by 1% for every 10 seconds for five minutes. Range: 100 meters. Chapter 223: Neo-Hybrid Wil sucked in a breath, reading the details of the new skill. The last one will just freeze the opponents for a while but this new skill is on a whole another level compared to Absolute freeze. He was really satisfied with his choice of choosing the skill evolution over unique skill. At the same time, he also felt sad for his earlier choice and received a useless weapon transformation. He didn''t realize yet how terrific is that unique skill going to be in the future. Then, he clicked on the second notification to check what the bonus reward is. As an unknown reward, he doesn''t have much hope. It was only after saw it, Wil didn''t expect to get another shock. *Ding! You received a vial of Galadriel''s blood. *Ding! You received a vial of Lilith''s blood. "This is the bonus reward?" Wil blinked his eyes for a while before sighing deeply, "I knew that unknown rewards aren''t reliable." All of his happiness acquiring an OP skill like ''Absolute Ice control'' was drained as soon as he looked at the bonus reward. He expected something more awesome. Wil then proceeds to click on the third notification. Without having any expectations, he opened the inventory and took out two vials filled with red liquids, presumably, blood. Both of them look identical. He inspected the first vial. Vial Description: The vial contains the blood of the Elven Ancestor Galadriel. Drink it up and obtain the power of Elves. "Oh! Is this a race changer, perhaps?" Wil wondered at first. Vial Description: The vial contains the blood of Demon Ancestor Lilith. Drink it up and obtain the power of Demons. "Hmm Not much of use to me, is it?" Since he''s a Dragon-Angel, he wouldn''t think this would be any use to him. Then, he wondered whether it''s a race changer or just like the Dragon race, his race will be added to the character. Trusting the system, which will always show a warning in situations like this, he opened one of the vials. It gave off a sweet scent. Meanwhile, Wil received the notification as he expected. But, it isn''t a warning. *Ding! You unsealed the vial. Drink the blood of Galadriel to acquire the Elf mode in one minute or seal it again before it evaporates. "Oh! It isn''t a simple race changer, after all Haha" Wil''s excitement grew and he drank it. Instead of tasting like iron like how our blood does, he felt like he was drinking cranberry juice instead. *Ding! Elf mode has been added to the character. Wil didn''t check the details yet. First, he wanted to drink the second one too. Unlike the first one, this one left a strong flavor in his mouth. He felt as if he drank a juice extracted from bitter melon. But, the notification made him forget the taste. *Ding! Demon mode has been added to the character. *Ding! Four bloodlines have been detected. You will go under a race evolution in 3, 2, 1... "Huh?" Wil didn''t expect the notification, followed by a sudden pain in his body. "Argh" He felt like his bones are getting smashed and reconstructed again. After 10 seconds, the pain became mild and eventually disappeared. Meanwhile, his body went under a tremendous change. His ears grew long and his face became pale. His hair turned white and became long while he grew curved silver horns from his forehead. Meanwhile, his eyes turned red with no visible pupils. Instead of greenish-silver scales, red scales covered his upper part and inner portions of the body. His Armor was covering it, so, it wasn''t visible. The scales also appeared on top of his right leg. His right hand and the left appeared normal. His left arm turned into a demonic. One of his Angelic wings changed into a demonic wing. Finally, a red dragon tail grew from behind. *Ding! Your bloodlines have been purified. *Ding! Congratulations, your race is evolved to Neo-Hybrid. Check your character menu for details. "Neo-Hybrid!" Wil remembered two of the ten demigods are of the Neo-Hybrid race. He didn''t know what it is then. Now, he understood. The only thing he was worried whether he can still maintain his Dragon mode or not. He opened the character menu and then, clicked on the race tab. He sighed in relief as soon as he saw the details. Neo Hybrid: A race that possesses multiple bloodlines. An ancestor of all the Prime races. It contains five modes. Default: Your default appearance, which has traits of an Angel, Demon, Dragon, and an Elf. Buffs: Stats: 30% stat increase at any type of region except for dungeons. Skills against other races: No changes. Dragon mode: Transform into a pure red-dragon and increase your attack, defense, and speed by 100%. Your Maximum HP increases by 200%. Mutation: Available Wil felt a little bit sad for losing Humanoid Transformation. After all, he depended on it, many times. He was still satisfied that his mutation wasn''t removed and the corresponding skills associated with complete dragon form are there. There are no further changes to it. He scrolled down the screen. Angel form: Transform into a pure Angel. Elf mode: Transform into a pure Elf. Demon mode: Transform into a pure Demon. "Woah I can use all the unique skills too That means I can get into all the racial dungeons. Cool Now, I can transform into Angel while leveling up, transform into Elf in the forests, and demon in the underworld..." Wil''s imagination went wild for a while. He was on cloud nine to see what kind of advantage he received just now. Then, he clicked on the third notification. It redirected him to inventory, with a blinking slot. It has an image of the Armor. He clicked on it and took it out of the inventory and examined it. Seraph''s Armor (Bound) Level: 200 Grade: Mythic Class: Elementalist HP: 32,768,000 Defense: 6,553,600 ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Skill: Decrease incoming damage by 20% if received critical damage. "Oh! 20% decrease damage. That''s decent considering I rarely receive critical damage. But, seriously, when considering the stats, Mythic grade Armor isn''t much unless I unlock the remaining stats. Now, the only problem is how to appraise them. I have to find a Mythic grade Appraise scroll which can only be found by killing a mythic grade beast. The thing is except for that Whale, no mythic-grade beast exists in the game. I wonder how many times should I have to kill the whale to obtain so many scrolls. The other option is to find that mysterious tower of destiny. I wonder where it is Bran kept it secret until the end. The third option is to find a 6* legendary Grandmaster Appraiser. Only one such person exists in the game, hiding somewhere If everything else fails, I would have no other choice but to request Seraph to unlock them. Or I should do something that let Aria makes a deal with me, again. Then, I can ask her to appraise them as compensation. Future content, huh! The only thing that''s worth that much is to find and unlock the Dragon Island before the war ends." Since he can''t do anything about it, Wil just keeps the Armor back into the inventory and left the island. Chapter 224: Akikos new home? Scarlet Town, Ormshire State; Two beautiful girls stepped out of the teleportation formation. "Akiko-sama" "Kiyumi-sama" They were greeted by a middle-aged man who is wearing full-set Epic-grade equipment. Both of them nodded to him. Kiyumi spoke, "Yunosuke-san, how it went?" He replied, "Everything''s going well, Kiyumi-sama. For the past few days, our Elites roamed all over this Kingdom and gathered the information. This kingdom is really different from the others. There are no teleportation formations or any kind of Associations in any of the cities here. There weren''t fame quests either. The only exception is this town." "But this is so empty." Akiko chipped in, interrupting him as she looked around to see the ghostly town with only a few empty structures. "Wil *Cough* I mean, does Time Traveler have no intention to develop it or something?" Yunosuke shook his head, "that we don''t know, Akiko-sama." Kiyumi looked at Akiko and cleared her doubt, "He said he''s busy with some quest. He''ll take care of things when he returned." "Continue." She said to him. Yunosuke nodded and spoke, "Someone tried to set up a player town here but it seems the system rejected it, probably because they have no citizenship or the kingdom doesn''t allow it. We don''t know the reason yet." "Should be latter." Akiko once again chipped in with her comment. "If it''s the former, by now, one would have already developed it." Kiyumi agreed to her, "Yeah. I too think the same. If that''s the case, perhaps, Scarlet Town might be the only one that can host the guilds. This might even become a Prime spot once it develops into a city." She became excited at that thought. No wonder her uncle wanted Akiko to form another information network at this base. No wonder Wil put a 1000 gold teleportation fee to this town. Once Wil developed the town, he wouldn''t need to worry about security either. He can just move his army here to ward off the invasions. Meanwhile, Akiko wondered how mysterious her fiance is. Galaxy Net has its fair share of secrets but it seems that Wil has a lot more secrets than they have. Not only he possessed a powerful legacy and a guardian beast like her sister Rini, but he also acquired an entire region at a place where things like citizenship, teleportation formation, guilds, player town, can''t even exist. Her uncle mentioned that he can literally turn into a dragon and even his race is Dragon-Angel. She had no doubt that Wil might also be the one behind Athledon Kingdom''s revival or else, how would he able to become the ruler of Ormshire, so quickly The more she thought about it, the more she became curious about him. She also felt proud at that moment. She wondered why. Kiyumi gestured to him to continue. Yunosuke nodded and continued, "The people in this kingdom consist of humans and hybrid creatures." "Hybrid creatures?" "They have this monster heads and a human body. Usually, they live separately in their own towns but Vulture city was an exception. It is the Headquarters of this Ormshire state by the way in case you are wondering. In that city, everyone coexists without any issues. From what we gathered, everyone says it''s because of Time Traveler, who ended the reign of some arrogant nobles and let the hybrid creatures into the city. Regarding the guilds, while we haven''t found a way to set up our branch yet, we found a method to set up a store. You just need to bribe nobles. So far, in the Capital city, we have found three such stores run by the players. Two of them belong to the Conqueror guild while the remaining one is unknown." "Conqueror?" Kiyumi''s eyes flashed a little. "Looks like they are one step ahead of us. Which other guilds are eyeing this kingdom?" Yunosuke replied, "We have sightings of a lot of scouts, presumably over 70 at least. So, I guess, a lot of guilds." Akiko suddenly asked, "How many of them are either Elves or Humans? We need to be wary of the guilds behind them." "Hmm?" Yunosuke looked at her in confusion as if he was asking, why is that so. "Good question." Kiyumi smiled upon hearing Akiko. She knew that out of all the four sisters, she''s the only one who thinks similar to her except she''s lacking in many ways. One can say Akiko is the imperfect version of Kiyumi. Kiyumi explained, "Angel race scouts don''t matter since they came by flying. The problem is with the other two races. Because they don''t have wings, they can only arrive through teleportation formation and that too, through Scarlet District. As for transportation on waters, no one would be crazy to rent a boat to travel for days. That means they also know the relationship between the Scarlet guild and Athledon kingdom. Not that it''s hard to conclude after seeing the town''s name in the teleportation formation but anyway, what matters is that they are willing to pay 1000 gold coins just to scout the place." He gave a look of, what about us. Aren''t we the same? We even spent ten thousand gold coins. His doubts cleared as she continued, "Our Galaxy Net is different. We already decided to expand our network here. Not to mention, Wil promised that our teleportation fees are considered as the investment in this town. So, we are willing to spend the money. But others are different. To get to this town, they have to travel all the way to Deloris town or East Ocean city and then teleport here by paying such a huge amount. That says a lot of their background, atleast regarding their riches or their impatience." Upon listening to Kiyumi''s explanation, Yunosuke realized the gravity of the situation. Previously, he just thought it was normal to have spies in every kingdom but now, his views changed. "Kiyumi-sama, So far, six human race players and 3 elf race players have been sighted," he answered what he knew. She nodded. While talking, they exited the town and started to travel on their mounts. After a while, they reached the Vulture city. Kiyumi found the situation in this city is the complete opposite of Scarlet town. The streets are bustling with people. She can see a lot of people are roaming around while the street vendors are busy selling their products. Just like any other city, food stalls are very popular. "I wonder how will be inside." Kiyumi suddenly heard a mumble. She turned her head to see Akiko was simply staring somewhere. Kiyumi followed the direction where her eyes are staring at. She saw the majestic fort on the hill that was watching over the city. Kiyumi knew that from her childhood, Akiko was obsessed with royal things like castles, forts, etc When she was a kid, her favorite hobby is to make sandcastles. It was upgraded to making a card castle or paper castle. etc... In fact, the reason she worked hard to attend Ares University because it was once the family compound of the Emperor. Federation turned the former residence of the Emperor into a university. It was also the reason why Ares University is the number 1 university as one would experience the feeling of being Royalty. Kiyumi also remembered Akiko mentioning that she was jealous of Rini when she became the princess. She whispered in her ear, trying to tease. "You take a fancy to your new home in this virtual world?" Too bad for her that she didn''t fall for it or rather she turned out to be incapable of falling for it. Akiko looked at her in confusion and replied, "What do you mean by my new home We haven''t been engaged yet much less married. Why would we live together..." Kiyumi stayed silent, shaking her head with a sigh. This na?ve little sister has a lot to learn. They proceeded to walk towards their temporary base. It''s not actually a base or something. the inn is more like a gathering spot and also for Akiko to live until Wil returns. As they were entering the inn, Kiyumi found Akiko once again staring at the fort as she kept on walking. Kiyumi whispered to herself, "How lucky you are. Our guild is trying everything it can to make Rini the Queen but you will get to enjoy the status of a Queen just by exchanging a ring." In fact, she was a little bit jealous of her sister and at the same, angry at her boyfriend who has no interest in the game. Chapter 225: Mins revenge Llyne Kingdom; In the wild zone of level-200, a team of ten players entered the dungeon that''s located at the foot of the mountain. All of them are human. The party contained a Guardian, a paladin, a gunner, a Wizard, two Blademasters, a necromancer, a summoner, and two Healers. All of them are around level-170. Despite their levels, none of the beasts in the area were able to kill even one of them. "Shall we try legendary difficulty or play safe and go with Heroic?" the captain of the team, who was none other than Elyssa, asked a man beside her who was a professional gamer hired by SGC''s CEO to work as their mentor. He answered with a firm tone, "of course, legendary. Heroic won''t give much EXP. Our task is to reach level-200 by tomorrow. By the way, what''s the record?" Elyssa replied, "Hmm, I think it''s around 4 hours 45 minutes, give or take a couple of minutes." He clenched his fist, "Then, get ready. We only do legendary dungeons, once a day. So, don''t waste it. No matter what, we can''t lose to that A-division ba*****s. They took our level-180 dungeon record; we will take their level-200." This is a team filled with top B-division members of the SGC main branch. Unlike A-division that is filled with all-rounders, this division is considered specialists who excel in one department like evasion, strategy, physical strength, etc Because their remaining strengths are average, they are usually looked down on by A-division. So, they are constantly at odds with each other. Since their mentors are once rivals, the two divisions often compete against each other mostly for dungeon records, and rare materials gathering. Back to the cave, following his advice, Elyssa selected the legendary grade difficulty. Everyone received a usual notification. *Ding! You entered the tower of Mariuk. Everyone made their way to the first floor, which was filled with dozens of tiny rocky Golems that will explode once they die. Four and a half hours later; Elyssa dashed towards the legendary grade boss from behind and jumped high, slashing its head vertically. There was a white aura covering the katana as he dealt the critical damage, killing the Dungeon boss. *Ding! You Emberstone Golem died. You receive 13 million EXP. The ten of them received 13 million experience points and some of them leveled up. Unlike Wil, who finished everything alone and gained all the EXP, since they played together, the EXP received is also divided amongst them regardless of each of their contributions. Elyssa smiled as she mumbled, "184 16 more to go I bet Bran will be surprised" Looking at the dungeon time, their mentor clapped as the team collected the drops. *Clap* *Clap* "Guys, we have beaten the A-division''s record by at least 15 minutes. Good job. We have 3 more dungeon tries. Now, let''s take a ten minutes break and get back to the level-190 dungeon. We have to snatch our record once again." *** Uru Kingdom; "You ba****d How dare you" Cericia hollered as her men were being slaughtered by the skeletons. They came to capture the guardian beast of the kingdom after finding its whereabouts but didn''t expect this mercenary to foil their plans at the last second. While the undead army was busy massacring their 500 member team, she and her expert helpers were being stalled by a level-200 Death knight, Min and his undead lich were engaging in a battle against a giant Boa constrictor. "No" She screamed in age as he successfully killed it in front of her. With her resources, Cericia was able to find out that possessing a guardian beast will make one a prince or a princess, and the killer of such a beast will become a close friend of the King. Either way, it should be fine for her. Even though she found out its location before the update, Cericia carefully planned to gather professional gamers from a gaming company called Atom. They have a certain reputation in Pregas city. The update introducing a contract system helped her further. All 2* or above Appraisers can create a system contract. When both of the parties signed on it, an agreement will be taken place. Once it has been formed, neither of them can break it. Failure to comply with the agreement or breaking it will cause a huge penalty. So, she was sure that those experts won''t also stab her from behind. Even if they do out of greed, not only she will be compensated in the game as well as in real life, she can punish them by making their lives hell. After all, their operation base is located in the city where her father has the most influence. But, she didn''t expect this prick to spoil her weeks of preparation. As he successfully killed the beast, Death King (Min) turned towards them and ordered the Lich to join the fun. "You must be getting tired of living" She threatens him once again. "Haha" He just laughs in response before his eyes turn cold, "do you think I''ll simply cover in fear after you did that to me." Just then, the experts she hired summoned Heroic+ grade battle companions. Looking at that, he raised the legendary+ grade undead skull, "Arise my soldiers Come and serve your Master." Undead beasts rose from the ground. Cericia was taken aback to see these beasts that were killed by them while they are on their way, now resurrected by Min. Combining with the skeletons, there must be around 200-300 undead creatures among them. He then further said, "Erodes, Accept the aura of death." Strange energy released from the skull and hit the lich, making its stats rose by 30% temporarily. The lich used a skill, temporarily binding her. Her eyes shook. She glared at him in rage, "this time, I''ll throw you into prison and make sure you will never see the light. I''ll even make your parents pay for it." His voice deepened as he raised his arms towards her. "Chains of Death." Thick black-colored chains erupted from the ground stabbing her from all directions, ending her life. After killing the rest of them, he collected the equipment and sent a message to someone. Death King: Sir, I followed your instructions and successfully eliminated Cericia and her men. I also killed the guardian beast. Silver general: Good job. How does it feel to take revenge? Death King: people say that revenge is bittersweet. I think I understand. Silver general: Good that you found out very quickly. I thought you would say it was very satisfying. Death King: Nah! I''m not the type to enjoy the revenge and waste my time but still, I want to kill her again. She threatened my family. Silver general: Then, go ahead and kill her and her guild members again and again until you get satisfied. As for the safety of you and your family, you don''t need to worry about that. The scarlet group will take care of it. Just be there at Deloris town of the Llyne Kingdom before the migration gets closed. Death King: I understand. Closing the message box, Min proceeded to leave there, dispelling his army. Two days ago; At a convenience store, Wil and Silver are sitting opposite Min. "Thank you for rescuing me back then" Min bowed being grateful to him. "But, I cannot sacrifice my freedom. I like being a lone wolf." He politely rejected Wil''s offer. Silver frowned. "Silver, wait outside for a bit." Wil suddenly asked him to leave. Before he misunderstands something, Wil hurriedly said, "he''ll be embarrassed if you were to listen to this." Silver wondered what it is and Min frowned, thinking whether this guy intends to blackmail him or something. As soon as Silver left, Wil said, "Do you know that I''m close to Jiwon?" "What are you trying to say?" His expression isn''t good at the moment. As soon as Wil dragged her crush into this discussion, Min thought whether this guy is also trying to woo her. He knew that Wil only rescued him because he was her classmate. He once confirmed with her that she wasn''t dating anyone. So, that''s left him wonder whether he''s a competitor. Not to mention, Jiwon once rejected someone''s confession stating that her ideal type is someone who gives a brotherly feeling. Someone who''s a few years older than her. She wants to date that kind of person. Min, at the moment, wondered whether they are secretly dating and this guy is revealing to him as a way of taking revenge for rejecting his offer. But, Wil''s following words surprised him. "It''s obvious that you have a crush on her. Join my guild and I can set you up with her. How about it?" Wil stared into his eyes. "Now, are you interested?" Chapter 226: Hyoris resolution Archery Club, Maple University; A girl was practicing archery on her own. She appears to be a little bit distracted. The target is 50 meters away. *Swoosh* An arrow cut through the air like lightning and struck at the center of the target. *Swoosh* Another arrow was shot in the same way but this time, it struck 2cm away from the previous arrow, nevertheless, it''s still the center. *Swoosh* This time, the arrow struck on the center golden ring, once again. But the next arrow landed once again on the nine-pointer as she was a little bit distracted by her thoughts. "Fuu" She takes a deep breath, "Hyori concentrate" Taking a deep breath, she aimed at the target once again and shot the arrow. The next couple of arrows perfectly hit the center. She walked towards the Archery target and picked out the arrows before walking back to her initial position to continue once again. Even though all of her arrows were continuously landing on center, she didn''t feel an ounce of happiness. The only thing that''s going on in her head is her persona in the virtual world, where she was able to shoot three arrows easily without her handshaking, where she can shoot at a moving target that''s located more than a hundred meters away. She wanted to become as strong as Yelir (her in-game character) but her master told her that there are no archery training centers that can accommodate such super-advanced training nor there ever will be. Why? It''s because the targets placed for women in the international competitions are often between 30 meters and 70 meters. For young adults like her, in the upcoming Intercontinental Archery Championship, it will be placed at 50 meters. Only for the senior Archers, the target will be around 70 meters. Even for senior male Archers, it would be at most around 90 meters. So, there''s no point in training to practice shooting more than a hundred or two hundred meters and waste the space. Hyori was frustrated. She knew the upcoming competition is important yet her heart is in the game. These days, she even felt practicing archery at such short distances was pointless. Maybe, she was addicted to the game or maybe she was obsessed with improving her Archery skills. Who knows The only thing that still let her keep going on with the real-life practice is because of that one girl who will soon compete representing the Ares University. It was someone who defeated her thrice in middle school championships and made her an eternal runner up. Trying to get rid of useless thoughts, she continued to shoot. As her concentration rose, no arrow escaped the ten-pointer ring. An hour later; *Clap* *Clap* She heard claps from behind her, followed by praise, "wow. Looks like you are at top of the game. I bet you''ll win the competition for sure." "What are do you doing here, TaeWoo-ssi?" She treated him coldly without even taking a glance at this pest who wouldn''t stop bothering her from her high school days. One should say it was because of this rich playboy, she had a bad impression of Wil on their first meeting. "Of course, I''m here to cheer you up." He replied with a smile. "You are our college champion, after all" ''I don''t need your cheering'' She muttered to herself. "College Champion?" A sweet voice was heard from behind followed by a burst of laughter. "Hahaha it''s really not funny at all calling a s**t like her a college champion." "Suji" The young man''s face turns dark as soon as he heard the voice of this ex-girlfriend of his. "Mind your tone" He warned her, glancing at Hyori who was minding her own business. "Why? Did I say anything wrong?" Her tone turned sarcastic as she stood beside her and shoot at her target that was placed a few meters beside Hyori''s target. It struck the perfect dead center. She further mocked, "the college receded my seeded spot because I was too lazy to join the practice sessions? Do you think I believe a stupid reason like that?" She shot another arrow and it hit just a few millimeters away from the previous arrow. They are almost touching each other. The college originally was allotted two seeded spots after Leafway university receded their spot because of the scandal of their college champion caught while having s*x with a professor. But due to the complaint lodged by a few universities from other cities, the board committee decided to withdraw one of the allotments. "They made me, the last two consecutive year''s Bronze medal winner recede my spot and gave it to freshmen like her. I wonder who did she slept with" She shot another arrow and once again, it landed on ten point ring. "Maybe it''s because the college is expecting a better medal this time." Hyori finally commented while continuing to practice. She didn''t stoop low to curse back at her nor defended herself. Instead, she hit where it really hurts. She indirectly implied that she was a three-time runner up of IAC during her high school days while Suji is a third place holder. Originally, they removed Hyori''s spot but due to Wil''s intervention, they were forced to change their decision. At first, Hyori knew about neither the scandal nor the two allotted seeded spots. She just made it as a passing comment but how would she expect that Wil would take action without judging the situation. When she found out, she can''t help but become a little bit angry at Wil. That''s why she also lashed out at Wil, the other day. But, eventually, her master made her realize none would that matter as long as she gets the championship. "You" Her comment made Suji''s face turn sour. Not only this b***h stole her spot but also her ex and now she even dares to look down on her. She felt humiliated. Suji was so angry that she even wanted to shoot the arrow towards her instead of the target. But then, Hyori''s next words made her numb on the spot. "Since you think you are better, then whether you get the seeded spot or not, it shouldn''t matter. Instead of wasting time cussing me or spreading rumors about me, show your resolution with your actions, not words. Get past the preliminaries, enter the top-64, then defeat me when we encounter each other. Then, I will publicly apologize to you for taking your spot if not, you do the same for slandering me." Hyori turns her head and looked into her eyes coldly, "I won''t stop until defeat her and get that gold medal. I dare you to accept the challenge." She pulled the string as much as she can and shot the arrow without even looking at the target. *Ting Both of their bodies shivered for a second upon hearing the sound of the string as she released the arrow with her maximum strength. The young man who stood right behind her instantly closed his ears. Meanwhile, the arrow struck the dead center. Greeting with a light bow as a way of saying goodbye, she picked up the arrows and left the place, and thought of practicing at the training center since they are only causing a disturbance. "Wow" The playboy was impressed as he looked at her back. "Now that''s charming" he grinned and ran after her like an idiot much to her annoyance. ''That damn'' She can''t help but grit her teeth and curse both of them inside. She dialed a number. Someone picked up the call. "Suji-yah." "Oppa, I need your favor" She talked with her acquaintance for a long time. As she disconnected the call, she curled up her lips, "let''s see how you will attend the Championships. You will pay for what you did to me, Hyori" Meanwhile at the Archery Club, University of Ares; A girl stood still with a compound bow in her hand. She was fair and petite with an attractive ponytail. If one wouldn''t know her identity, they would probably think she''s some high school freshman or a middle school senior. At the moment, she was blindfolded and was alone in the training ground. Her surroundings were quiet. A few upperclassmen along with their coach are watching her from the control room. Around her, they placed simple bots with four 10 inch-diameter targets (head, stomach, and two knees). She raised her hand and signaled to start. The coach pressed the button. "Auto mode." Chapter 227: Princess Sakura There are two types of modes. The first one is "Auto mode" and the second one is manual mode. Auto mode is where the bots will move automatically in a random manner. Due to having sensors, they can avoid each other but not the girl. So, not only she needs to care about hitting the targets, but also to avoid them, Or else she will be injured. As for the manual mode, it is a bit riskier. It might either be strong or weak, depending on the persons that controlled it manually from the control room. Right now, the girl is practicing the first mode since the latter is useless. The bots started to move. She draws the bow and quickly shot in a direction. *Wik* It hit something and a smile appeared on her face and took out the arrow from the quiver. *Wik* *Wik* *Wik* The control room was only filled with nothing but continuous gasps. At last, a person let out his thoughts, "is she even a human?" *Wik* *Wik* *Wik* In the midst of shooting, a bot''s path collides with the place she was standing. "Coach" The captain called him. "Shh" He was shut down instantly. "Watch" he pointed at the screen. The girl suddenly put down the bow and somersaulted and then made a consecutive jump to the side to not collide with the other bot that was behind her before she shot at the one that almost ran into her. The arrow hit the target on the stomach. The scene made the senior numb. They are wondering whether there''s a point in them learning the Archery. Ten minutes later, she stopped moving and spoke, "I think I finished the drill." She didn''t wait for confirmation from the coach and removed the blindfold as she was confident in her decision. "48 targets, 11 minutes and 32 seconds 14.4 seconds per target. She''s no doubt the granddaughter of Fujimori Hitoshi, the strongest living Archer." The coach mumbled. After finishing her practice, she left the university compound as she didn''t opt for boarding because of circumstances. The university also granted her permission. It''s no big deal for a special student like her to get such a benefit. An hour later, the vehicle entered a mansion. She stepped inside her home and saw her official known grandfather. "Hime-sama (Princess) how was the practice?" Strangely, he greeted her with a bow and asked in a polite tone. She sighed, "Boring These practice sessions are too easy I''m going to the capsule. I wonder if I get some worthy opponent at the Arena. If not, I have to go back to hunting." Sakura gets from the seat and walked towards her room to get a shower before entering the capsule. "Hime-sama, wait. I have something to report." She stops walking and turns her head. Hitoshi then said, "I have gathered a list of exceptional Archers from our sources. Would you like to see?" "Exceptional, huh!" Her eyes lit up, "cool. Let''s see" Hitoshi pointed his finger, "It''s in my room. Please wait a second. I will go and retrieve it." "Nah Don''t bother." Sakura darted towards his old man''s room nearby the stairs and opened it. "Where?" "I kept the USB stick in the drawer. 3rd-row 2nd column." She didn''t waste any time opening it. "There" After taking the USB stick, she didn''t waste her time and went upstairs to her room. Looking at her back, the old man sighed, "my health is getting worse these days. I wonder how long will I able to hide her from the world. That Antolov isn''t going to stop looking for the Princess now that he''s the new Mafia Lord. Sooner or later, he will close in. I need to do something before that happens." Meanwhile, Sakura saw it is a list of 128 names, according to the rankings judged by her fake grandfather Hitoshi or his sources. 1. One 2. Time Traveler 3. Immortal 4. Maniac 5. Shift 6. Arrow 7. Grimshot 8. Yelir 9. Ninjury 10. ScappleCrow 11. . 12. . 13. . 128. Shukizi Other than the names, there was grading to each of them. They were been graded by only two types. Either S-class or unknown. "Did the old man has lost his senses or something because of his age?" She was frowning deeply. "One isn''t an Archer anymore, and Time Traveler? Why is he even in the list much less on number 2? He is indeed stronger and probably can defeat me on 1 v1 but his Archery skills Sigh they aren''t even at the pro level, much less S-class, although I should admit that his reflexes are good. He knows how to dodge." Sakura cut off both of their names on the list. "He isn''t worthy of either being a partner or being an opponent. And I fought with Shukizi too He isn''t that great either" She cut off the name on number 128. Somewhere near the Marsh Islands; "Heavenly Push, 1000 mana" A heavy gust of wind blew up a familiar Squid and dozens of items started raining onto the ocean. An Ice arrow suddenly struck the water, freezing the surface thereby securing the drops. A pair of winged-lion and an Angel race player landed on the ice together. Wil smiled as he started collecting the drops. "No matter how many skills I get or evolve, this is still my strongest trump card." *Ding! You killed Otto, the Great Squid. You gained 1,146,880,000 EXP. *Ding! Seraph''s Dragon bow consumed 50% of EXP (573,440,000 EXP). You gained 573,440,000 EXP. *Ding! Pure Angel bloodline is detected and you are in the wild zone of material. You receive additional 30% EXP (172,032,000). *Ding! You leveled up *Ding! You leveled up *Ding! You leveled up . . . . *Ding! You leveled up More than 21 notifications continuously rang in Wil''s head causing a headache. At one point, he just muted them and they continue to appear. *Sigh* Wil can''t help but let out a deep sigh, glancing at this EXP hungry weapon. Then again, it is a legendary+ grade weapon that evolved twice on its own and became a genuine mythic grade. Once, when Averil merged with it, and the other time, he didn''t know when it even happened. He only inspected it a few hours ago and realized it already turned that way. Maybe it''s the compensation by Aria after taking away Averil? Or maybe it was evolved by Seraph or maybe it''s because it was sucking all the EXP from the monsters that he killed after reaching level-200, or maybe, the system adjusted the grade during maintenance. He didn''t have the answer and neither would care about it right now since the effects improved aren''t much as one would see in pets. All he wanted to do is to fly towards Athledon while killing as many Heroic or legendary grade beasts as he can while on the way. It would be even better if he counters a level-500 legendary grade. He can use Heavenly Push all mana to kill it and level up to 300 directly but he knew that it''s impossible. Even though the Whale can be seen roaming around the world, Wil knew that until the next update, he won''t be able to see level-400 or higher beasts. The only way is to find the hidden Dragon Island and kill some high-level dragons. Others would require several weeks or even months of grinding to gain 600 million but for Wil, all it took was one single skill to use and that''s it. He leveled up more than twenty times. But, Wil wasn''t ecstatic about his quick level up. He knew that he has already wasted 11 days to clear the Inheritance quest. There are other legend class users and guardian beast owners. Surely they must have ventured outside like him to hunt down higher level monsters all alone and gain EXP. With competitors around, there''s no time to fool around. Collecting the drops, he once again mounted the lion. "Let''s fly, buddy" *Roar* Leon responded with a powerful roar, scaring the weaker grade beasts away as it flapped the wings and started flying through the South Grennola Ocean. His destination is the Null Island, a place positioned at 0-degree longitude and 0-degree latitude. Popularly called the world''s official center, Wil read on the wiki page about it being the birthplace of Time Beast, Oculus. Although it unlikely would wait for him, Wil wants to try his luck. Chapter 228: False Quest Somewhere in the middle of South Grennola ocean; The skies are rumbling with thunder. A powerful storm has been summoned a giant beast that looks a bit similar to an eagle is flying towards somebody. As it leads the storm to attack without any fear, the defender counterattacked. "Leon, use Wing-blade" The mighty lion of the Llyne kingdom stretched its wings and darted towards the beast. Meanwhile, the master of the lion flapped his wings and shot an ice arrow towards the ocean, creating a 5000 sq.m icy island. Following the order of its master, the winged lion attacked the beast head-on. What would happen if a 3.18 Billion HP heroic+ grade beast face off against a 76 Billion HP Mythic- beast? The result is too obvious. The moment both the attacks collide, along with the beast, the storm disappeared without a trace leaving behind the drops that rained down on the ocean. *Ding! You killed the Thunderclap Beast. You received 35,840,000 EXP *Ding! Seraph''s bow has consumed 50% of the experience points (17,920,000) *Ding! You leveled up. *Ding! Seraph''s bow leveled up. *Level 223 (Need 31,555,100 more EXP to reach level 224) Thankfully due to Wil''s preparation, all the items dropped from this level-350 beast landed on the Ice. As Wil threw everything in the inventory, he received a notification. *Ding! You received thunderclap featherx1 *Ding! You completed the quest. Hand over the items to the Island Chief to receive the rewards. Wil then opened the quest. Quest Description: Kill Thunderclap birds and bring their feathers to complete the ritual. Reward: 10 million EXP and a random reward. He then clicked on the reject option. *Ding! You will fail the quest upon rejecting. Proceed. He clicked on Yes. *Ding! You failed the quest, Offerings. As soon as the quest is failed, he received another notification. *Ding! Five Thunderclap feathers are detected in your inventory. Submit? As Wil pressed on submit, the feathers disappeared from inventory. Wil grinned, thinking of his ingenious false quest plan. A loophole that even Aria can''t fix no matter how she tries. Wil felt like thanking Bran at that moment for creating such a thing. A few hours ago; Wil and Leon are flying towards their destination, the Null Island. Since Thunderclap beasts also roam above the South Grennola ocean more frequently, before going towards the null island, he wanted to search for an island with inhabitants around. As a Mythic grade beast, it was susceptible to the aura of life. While it is harder of it to point a particular creature, it can at least distinguish a monster from a human being or a hybrid. Wil trusted its senses and kept silent as it continues to fly. Eventually, he saw the smoke generated from an island that''s filled with a forest and a hill. On the other end of the island, he saw houses built and there are boats nearby. It seems like a human settlement as he can see the fishermen are humans who are trying to catch the fish by throwing a net. Leon landed on the island and they started walking. Seeing the intruder, some of the natives immediately led their guard up and pointed their weapons. "I''m not an enemy and I come in peace. Can I meet your chief?" All he received is a cold shudder from those natives who didn''t let their weapons down. ''Perhaps, they can''t understand my language?'' Wil realized they might not understand it since the setting was designed that way. He heard that some tribes living in islands like these only talk through sign language. Since he doesn''t know how to explain them in sign language, Wil explained in a more easy way. He transformed to his original Neo-hybrid form at the moment and then, looked at his pet. "Leon, give a powerful roar." *Roar* Following Wil''s orders, it raised his head and roared. It was a simple roar but it resounded all across their surroundings. All the oceanic creatures became restless and started swimming away while the natives got scared. Wil smiled as he mumbled, ''Fear works pretty much well to everyone even if you have language barriers.'' They kneeled at the moment, asking mercy for their lives in the form of their own language, which Wil didn''t understand at the moment. Ignoring them, as he walked, Wil saw there''s an old man who was running towards them along with a dozen armed inhabitants. Wil inspected him. Aratus Level: 200 HP: 65 million Description: The chief of Vale Island. As he reached both of them, he quickly kowtowed, "Oh! Great Lord, please show mercy on our people. I apologize if anyone offends you." "You can speak Hiagina?" Wil was indeed surprised. "Yes, Milord" He didn''t even dare to look into Wil''s eyes as he replied. The village chief was still kowtowing on the ground and continued to reply. "I was originally from the Bredenton islands. Fifty years ago, during my travels, I survived the storm and somehow ended up here." "Okay, you can get up. I need to talk to you." Dispersing the natives around, the village chief took him to his home. "Pardon me, Milord for such a poor hospitality." Wil waved his hands, implying that it''s alright as he takes a seat but then, remembering about his tail, he transformed into his Angel form and sat. Meanwhile, Leon waited outside as it can''t enter such a small house with its large body. Since he was going to leave in a few minutes, Wil also didn''t bother to unsummon it. The island chief was impressed by Wil''s transformation. While the Neo-hybrid form was extremely scary, the Angel form was quite identical to human if one ignores the wings. Chief felt better and was able to look at Wil. Wil then commenced his false quest plan. "I''m on a mission to help the poor people who are suffering because of the storms that are brought by the Thunderclap birds. While I was passing nearby, I saw the traces of the devastation on your island too. Are your people affected by it?" *Ding! Your favorability with Aratus increased by 30 points Chapter 229: Capturing Time Beast While Wil was taken aback by the sudden notification, the island chief once again fell onto his knees and kowtowed, "thank you Milord" At the moment, the island chief felt happy and thought his judgment was right about this powerful man, who wore an outfit that usually only the Royal families of his Xynnar continent wear. In his youth, he gets to see a royal prince of his nation directly, albeit from far away. Wil wore the same type of clothing as that prince. So, he kept his manners not to anger him. He then explained, "Your suspicion is correct, Milord. We are facing storm attacks from these beasts every six months. When the time comes, we often go and hide in the forest and after the storms passed, we will find the houses and everything disappears. So, we often have to rebuild the village over and over again." "I heard that if you sacrifice five thunderclap feathers to the sea god, you will be protected." A trace of hope appeared in the chief''s eyes as soon as he heard Wil. But then, he remembered they aren''t strong enough to acquire those. "If you want, I can get them for you" Wil then offers the help. "But, I can''t help without knowing whether you want or not." He continued to kowtow, "Thank you, Milord. Thank you Please gather five feathers of Thunderclap birds We''ll try to repay with everything we got" *Ding! You receive a quest. ''Success.'' Wil smiled as he heard a quest notification alert. He accepted the quest. Back to the present; Rejecting the island chief''s quest that he created, as he submitted the quest items from one quest to another quest, Wil mumbled, "I think I have the skills of a scammer" The process of this false quest method is pretty much simple for Wil. He first chose a place where the thunderclap beasts are roaming around. Since he knew their skills, he then looked for an island nearby. He then planted fear by revealing his strength and then, hope by offering a solution, which made the village chief issuing a quest. "Okay, all that''s left is to gather Shards of Sacred Ocean, Eye of Oculus, and Sunstones & Moonstones hmm if I want to obtain the shards using the same method, first, I need to know what beasts drop it. I have to meet Owler" Leon continued to fly, not caring about the darkness around. As for Wil, since he has night vision goggles, he was perfectly fine, although he was only able to see a Five-hundred-meter range around. Since Wil wasn''t in any hurry, he too didn''t summon his Pegasus or rush his flying mount. The darkness eventually disappeared as the sun rose. A few hours later, Wil finally saw a familiar-looking picture from the wiki of his past life. It was a small island in the size of a one-tenths usual town. There wasn''t any special hill or any forest. It was nothing really special. As expected, Wil didn''t find the Time beast either. All he can see a simple large beach. *Sigh* ''I knew this is going to be a wasted trip.'' Wil felt depressed and cursed himself for trying to gamble once again. "Leon, let''s get back to Athledon." *Roar* Leon just sent a low roar in response. Wil''s eyes lit up, "Oculus is here?" He asked it once again for confirmation. Through their telepathic connection, it sent a reply that the island isn''t empty. There''s a beast present on this island but it wasn''t active. Upon listening to its response, Wil remembered another crucial piece of information regarding the time beast. "That''s right. I almost forgot that Time beast loves to sleep in the soil and this is a beach. A perfect place to sleep. I wonder why the beast didn''t realize that I''m here? Does that mean that it can''t see the future during its sleep, maybe?" Getting the perfect moment, Wil ordered his pet, "Leon, use the King''s roar." *Roar* Without wasting any time, Leon let out a powerful roar. Unlike the usual roar that was just displaying the might of a mythic grade, the King''s roar was full of pride stemmed from being a guardian beast. It was as if indicating that others should kneel to its authority. In the middle of the island, suddenly sand dispersed and a black-colored creature jumped out of the sand. It seemed frightened upon hearing the roar. Since it was just a beach full of sand, the view is pretty much clear to both of them. Wil can see the beast and the latter can see Wil and Leon. Just like he has remembered, it was short and round in shape. It has swirl patterns on its body and only has one big eye. It looked at the Lion with a frightened expression. As it tried to look into these two intruders'' future, it failed. It tried again only to get failed. Just like others, it feared the unknown. Oculus thought of fleeing from the spot with teleportation. As it tried, it didn''t work either. Meanwhile, Wil smiled, "what a lucky day" Oculus Grade: Mythic Level: 1 HP: 1 Description: Oculus is the time beast that can see the future. Former pet of the Time Master but now, a rogue beast that''s just want to sleep peacefully. "Too bad that it''s a mythic grade." At first, Wil thought of capturing it as a pet with his legendary scroll that was dropped from the Squid. With a time beast as his pet, it was the same thing as being a Seer but now, he understood why its eye is necessary material. It''s because one can''t capture it if they want to. Wil never heard a thing such as a mythic grade pet scroll. Even if there is, only by killing the whale can one acquire, which is impossible in the current situation. He didn''t waste time and spoke, "Activate, Gravity Suppression." Oculus, which was already pretty much frightened because of the Lion, now felt a huge pressure from above, and quickly, it was forced to stuck to the sand and is even getting drowned further. "Leon" Without Wil speaking further, Leon already understood the order and dashed towards the enemy. *Ding! You killed the time beast. You receive 0 EXP. *Ding! You obtained the Eye of Oculus. Please check your inventory "So, it was automatically received by the one who killed it?" Wil checked the inventory and at one certain slot, there''s an eye that seemed to be blinking. He didn''t get much time to inspect it as the system sent him another notification. *Ding! Eye of Oculus detected. Submit? He clicked on submitted and it disappeared from inventory. Wil wondered whether the luck goddess is blessing him lately. When he thought how lucky he is getting, he can''t help but become sad, remembering his dad. ''If only luck favored him during the operation'' *Slap* He slapped himself on both cheeks, "Wil, now isn''t the time to have depressed thoughts. There''s a world waiting for me to take over." Wil and Leon once again started to fly, this time to the north towards their next destination, Athledon kingdom. Chapter 230: Hydra East Ocean City, Llyne Kingdom; The seven guild leaders of the Imperials faction (not to be confused with the disbanded Imperial guild) gathered together in one place. The guild leaders of Heaven, Snow, and Royal Chaos shouted with fury. "How dare you" "Will you please listen to me carefully" Supreme Master cut off their words in the middle and proceeds to tell his plan. "The organization that wants us to merge is going to invest a billion dollars in the new guild. On the other hand, what did the Scarlet guild did to us? Time Traveler just left the city and set up his guild elsewhere. Sure, he kicked out our rival guilds but didn''t they become enemies because Time Traveler decided it in the first place? Those who accept his offer of hiring the NPC guardians are allies and those who didn''t accept are enemies" The room became silent. Deep down, they all knew Supreme Master was right but they are too weak to face Wil. Supreme Master smiled as his plan is working. He purposely revealed the money to entice them and then said bad words against Scarlet. Even the three guilds that opposed him at the beginning stayed silent. "Not to mention, I believe, all this while, we were deceived by Time Traveler. Did you guys see the press meet of Williard Ravens? It was revealed that Time Traveler was never the young master of the Scarlet group. No wonder he asked for money for hiring purposes. With the amount of money Scarlet group has, shouldn''t he be able to hire the guards himself and give us as a gift if he wants us to follow him? Why did he ask for money and tried to act as a middleman? He used us basically for his own benefit." Supreme Master exploded. He kept on accusing Wil of all the things he had done. As he continued to talk, their expressions also changed. Maybe, it''s due to the trust they had in him, his words affected them. Before another doubt from them arises, the Supreme master then said, "today, the city will fall whether you like it or not. I was also promised that when my nobility rank reaches Earl, I will become the Mayor too. So, either join with me and progress together or fight for the city and get expelled. I''ll leave it to your wish." A few hours later, more than a hundred Elites entered the city. The least of them is level-190 and have full set Epic grade equipment. Meanwhile, the one that''s leading them, presumably their General is a level-205 Blademaster and has full-set level-200 legendary grade equipment. Everyone also possesses the Mask of Tranquility. So, no one was able to discern their identity. The seven large guilds stayed on the sidelines and let those hundred player army fight the NPC army. The casual players who joined the battle were massacred. Eventually, the battle ended and the city was occupied by their leader. The strangest thing is that there are no players from the Scarlet guild. Most of the casual players thought either abandoned the city or submitted. Now, they felt more confident in their new backing. Within no time, a giant guild known as Hydra emerged. Because of the contracts system issued by the system, Supreme Master followed the Tojo clan''s orders and made everyone who joined the guild sign the in-game contracts so that they cannot leave whenever they want. Of course, such methods cause a lot of people not to join the guild and form their own small guilds, nevertheless, more than 15000 players expressed their loyalty and joined the guild. While the guild recruitment process is going on, Supreme Master sent a message to two people at the same time. Supreme Master: The guild merger became successful. We are now a level-3 guild. What should I do next? In no time, he received a reply from both of them. Snow Princess: I know. Good job. Now, your next orders are to have peace talks with Scarlet guild''s Vice Leader and Silvershapers'' guild leader. Snow Princess: You won''t move or harass Silvershapers guild and let them continue their business as usual. That''s how you''ll avoid conflict. If the worst comes, we''ll come to your aid. Supreme Master: Got it. He then opened the second message. Shadow Blade: Wait until you become the Mayor. In the meantime, try to get to them closer and find out their background. Supreme Master: Got it. He smiled as he closed the message tab. "Great. Everything is moving as I expected. Now, the next step is to ally with the guilds from other cities. Once I had enough support, Scarlet guild or Tojo clan nothing would be able to control me, anymore" *** Summersoft HQ, Ares city; (Real world) The Gaming Masters (GMs) once again gathered for the board meeting. With the CEO''s permission, Aria started explaining. "The next phase is scheduled to start in a week. Based on the data I gathered, here are my propositions." As they saw the list of which kingdom is going to go on a war with which one, they found something amiss. There are only 31 kingdoms listed divided into three groups by their respective continents. "Aria, aren''t Ayrith and Gailzach kingdoms are already out of the race as they are defeated in the war and are now an occupied territory? Why are they included in the list?" One of the GMs voiced out his doubt. Aria answered, "They are still considered as territories but it is unfair how their race is already over before the start. That''s why we should present an equal opportunity to those two kingdoms too. At the same time, we should take an account of how they lost. So, we will also add a condition that they can only defend within their territory and cannot invade others." "Hmm" The GMs thought about her proposal for a while and one by one, they agreed with it. "Now coming to the Demon Kingdom" Aria continued with her plans for the Aynor continent where only one big kingdom exists. "I propose a rebellion where the players can choose the side and fight their own internal war." One of the GMs raised his hand, "won''t that reduce their overall strength. The next update was decided on the Demons invasion, right? Then, wouldn''t it cause harm?" "No, it won''t." Aria shook her head, as she explained, "The developers and I are currently working on creating more demons and Non-player-characters. We still have a year away and have enough time." The CEO then presented his suggestion, "Since the theme of our game itself is War, I think we should make sure the majority of the players participate in it. Although the Battle Tournament was successful with more than 3.4 people registered, it is roughly 8% of the player population. That''s why the monster in the wild should disappear so that they can focus on War, instead of leveling." "Eh?" The GMs are shocked by CEO''s absurd suggestion. They tried to reject it. "This is too much advantage to the high-level players. The War segment might last for months especially at Xynnar where there are seven Elven kingdoms and Eight Human kingdoms. Trust me. Forming an Empire will be a lot difficult than you think. What will lower level players do without being able to level up?" Aria answered in the place of their CEO, "only wild zones will be emptied. People can still go to dungeons and level up. During these times, we''ll increase the limit from 5 to 10 per day." Chapter 231: Mr. Taxi "Increasing Dungeon limit?" They wondered what will be the use if people can''t even enter the dungeon. GMs addressed the issue of large guilds even blocking others from entering the dungeons. While they can''t do anything about it since it isn''t a problem on their side, but if the large guilds control the dungeon entries, without any other option of leveling up, the gap between them will increase drastically. Upon hearing their worries, Aria once again offered the solution. "During this period, 1: the dungeon portals won''t be restricted to cave. Respective to their regions, more than a dozen replicated dungeon portals will be spread over each zone in every kingdom. 2: One cannot attack a fellow citizen. They are treated like the same party. And finally, 3: Only cannot enter the dungeon that belongs to the other kingdoms." "The world auction is going to start tomorrow, right?" A GM suddenly brought the topic all of a sudden. All of them turned towards him. He cleared his throat and said, "I mean, we haven''t informed the players yet." "There''s still time. What''s the hurry" The GM beside him nudged him. He awkwardly laughed and took his seat. "Since Mr. Dixon brought this topic, I might as well reveal the top 10 items on the list." As the meeting ended, while everyone nodded in satisfaction by how the meeting went peacefully without mentioning bugs or complaints against the legend class users, Harvey Dixon, on the other hand, who is working as a spy for a certain secret organization committed the things to the memory. *** Capital City, Athledon Kingdom; After flying for so long, Wil finally reached the capital. With a Mask of Tranquility, Wil enters through the gate and continues to walk in the streets. *Ding! You received a text from the outside world. Wil opens the notification and finds it was Kiyumi who sent the reply to the message that he sent an hour ago. Kiyumi: Sorry for the late reply. I was busy with some political matters. Anyway, Akiko and others are still waiting for you at Vulture City. She was currently staying at Shrake inn. Wil: Ok, got it. After finishing my business in the capital, I''ll go and meet her. Kiyumi: I''ll inform her. Closing the message tab, Wil continued to walk towards the Imperial Palace. *** North Grennola Ocean; A deck boat was sailing with a speed of 22 knots (40 km/hr) in this vast ocean. A person with three-Mythic-grade-equipment and other legendary-grade-equipment was controlling the boat alone. His face looks serious and had a deep frown as he glanced behind him. There are other deck boats that are following him from a large distance. He then glanced at the sky. There are a few Angel race players who are also following him. They neither attack him nor even talk with him. They just follow him from a safe distance. He takes the right turn, they take right. He takes left and they take a left turn. If he turns around, they also do the same and run away. Due to the limitations of the boat speed, this player never caught up to them. "These pests" He mumbled in annoyance. Having no other choice, he gritted his teeth and sent a message to an annoying brat. Crimson Sun: Mr. Taxi, I need your help. 1000 gold coins. Perhaps the other party was busy. It took more than 15 minutes to get a reply. Bran isn''t in a position to complain either way. He needs to get away from them and get to the tower of destiny. Orion: Oh! 1000 gold coins? I''m intrigued. Give me the coordinates. We''ll talk about the details in person. After the update is opened, with the help of his portal ring, Orion traveled to different kingdoms and help people to transport to any place they wish, in exchange for gold coins. That''s how he earned the name, Mr. Taxi. Bran then changed the direction and found a nearby small isle which is only a few square meters in area. The people that are following him stopped at a distance. They wondered whether this is the location of the tower. As they continued to observe Bran, all of a sudden, another player popped up right beside him and both of them begin to talk. Looking around, Orion asked, "So you were being followed huh Ok, tell me. How many I help you?" Bran replied, "I need you to drop me to an island nearby these co-ordinates." He gave fake coordinates nearby the actual location just in case. Looking at the coordinates, Orion was puzzled. "But this location is just a hundred miles away from here." ''Miles?'' Bran immediately realized that Orion is a native of Pregas City or surrounding towns because no other city uses the word anymore. But that''s unnecessary in the current situation. So, bran pushed it to the back of his head and said, "I just need to get away from those." He then transferred 500 gold coins as an upfront. Orion nodded and used the power of his Portal ring. Everyone around saw a portal suddenly appeared on the isle. The captain of the group hurriedly sent the message in the party channel. Tetrapod: They are trying to escape. Go and enter that portal right now. The Angel race players who were right above them flapped their wings and dived towards them. But by the time they reached that Isle, both of them along with the portal disappeared. "Dammit" The captain cursed in frustration and report to his higher-ups. Just as the both of them appeared on a fairly large island, Bran and Orion saw there are a couple of deck boats, a bit far away. ''These guys aren''t just following me. They are trying to distract me. It seems they also know about the location.'' Bran thought it might be possible since he was able to acquire information from an Ascended NPC of a foreign kingdom, they can do the same. Chapter 232: Tower of Destiny Imperial palace, Athledon kingdom; "You know the method, disciple," Owler spoke in a warm tone. He was pleased that Wil came back to him for help. A while ago, he saw the kingdom''s future. Wil was the center of it, once again. That means he would once again help the Athledon become a mighty kingdom. So, Owler decided to help him in any way he can. "Place your palm on the crystal and imagine the thing he would like to find." In response, Wil didn''t place it and instead, asked him, "Master. I don''t know how the Shards of Scared Ocean look like. I only need them." "Oh! So, you are in a quest to look for the materials?" Owler''s eyes lit up. He was happy that his disciple is intending on becoming his successor. Unlike the Archangel Raziel, who can see a few days worth of in-game moments of past with his divine eye, this man was a normal Ascended. He doesn''t have the power to see what Wil had done in the past. Right now, he was in a belief that Wil was searching for the materials for all along or else how can one explain regarding his words that explain that he found the remaining materials "Place your palm on mine. I''ll share my vision. You would be able to understand what they are." Owler said to him. Wil saw a small island that he once went to buy Mithril ores before the update. Its position was fixed on the ocean just like any other island. Wil''s vision then changed to a large sturdy pillar that was supporting it actually towards the bottom of the ocean. It is atleast 1000 meters wide and 6000 meters long. No matter how one sees it, this one looks like a huge rock. The only strange thing is that on the ocean bed, there''s a tiny portal, glowing in the darkness. ''The Tower of Destiny!'' Wil''s eyes lit up in excitement to find the Tower of Destiny so soon. According to his memory, the tower that was placed in the Sun City looked like a giant pole that was connecting the heavens. Bran opened to everyone to level up for some time. But for some reason, he took it down later. Maybe, Aria made a deal with him. "Thank you, Master." Wil bowed to him. "I found what I''m looking for." Based on the timeline that he knew, Wil remembered this was around the time Bran will venture to this area to find the Tower. Coincidentally, he revives the kingdom. He didn''t want to waste the time and immediately left the palace. After all, the tower is a portable dungeon and only one can claim it. Once he claimed it, then, his leveling to 500 will be smooth without the need to look for legendary grade monsters everywhere. Unlike Bran, Wil has no intention of sharing with strangers. After he cleared all the hundred floors and obtain all the rewards, he will share the tower with his guild. *** Triena Island, North Grennola Ocean; "This is the location of the Tower. But where is the portal?" Bran wondered as he looked around. Earlier he swam underwater but found nothing. There are oceanic creatures that tried to attack but got killed instead. Since the Tower was too wide, Bran wasn''t able to discern anything strange about it. Unless one sees it from far away, it''s quite difficult to spot its existence. It made him wonder whether this is the right location. "An existence that acts as the bridge to the netherworld. Placing four of these can make it seem like either the world is a house with a blue roof filled with clouds. Once, the weapon of the monkey born from a stone that defied the heavens, now, all that''s left is a rock waiting for its master." Bran pondered the riddle. He tried to break into three parts and tried to find the meaning but didn''t find his answer yet. According to him, since Sierra wasn''t smart enough to decode it and he doesn''t trust others yet, Bran kept the riddle to himself and tried to solve it on his own. The Tower of his destiny could change also destiny forever. It was what the Ascended said to him. That''s the reason he decided not to take chances. "Four of them? Shouldn''t there be only one?" Bran wondered whether there are multiple towers. The first sentence made him think that there must be a portal but the second confused him. He tried to decode the third sentence. "A monkey born from the stone?" Bran thought about it. No matter how much he thought, nothing came to his mind. Suddenly, Bran got an idea. "That''s right. Instead of wasting my time here, I can just ask Bethy who doesn''t play the game." A girl''s image appeared in his mind. He directly logged out immediately to contact her. Meanwhile, a Warship was speeding up at the bottom of the ocean. After a while, it reached the pillar and stopped. In the control room of the ship, Wil was searching for the portal. He didn''t find it at the first attempt. Controlling the Ship''s wheel, Wil turned the ship around and it started to circle the Pillar. As the ship was circling the tower, at last Wil saw the entrance portal. He wondered whether he should use Bubble skill and teleport to the outside of the ship. After all, the portal was tiny compared to the ship but then, he tried his luck trying to enter the portal with the ship. Luckily, as soon as the Warship''s touched the portal, Wil suddenly received a notification. *Ding! You are about to enter the Tower of Destiny. He pressed accept and a large suction force erupted from the portal. It absorbed the Warship along with Wil. *Thud* The Ship shook as it collided with the ground. *Ding! You found the Tower of Destiny. You receive 5000 fame points as rewards. Wil saw the huge barren land through the monitor. After confirming that there are no waters through all the monitors, Wil got out of the ship and returned it to the inventory. Similar to the Tower of Mariuk, Wil saw stairs half a kilometer away that lead to a large door in the sky, presumably to the first floor. The only change was that there''s no ceiling above him. As if he entered a new realm, Wil saw there''s light everywhere and the sky is as clear as day but without any presence of the sun. Wil didn''t have the time to think of such useless things. He didn''t know how to conquer this tower. All he heard of a rumor is that he has to pass a certain floor. Wil thought of a quick way to do that. "I summon, Leon" *Roar* an exciting roar was resounded over the place. Once again, the winged lion was happy to be summoned to hunt with his master. It loved how its master was depending on it. At first, Wil thought of summoning Felix to complete everything but after remembering that he further have to share his EXP, he put the thought away. "I''ll let it run into the wild after returning to Llyne." Wil stroked Leon''s mane before mounting on its back. "Let''s go, buddy." Leon climbed the stairs and reached the top before entering the door. *Ding! You reach the first floor. The wave will start in 60 seconds. Please make your preparations. Chapter 233: Floor 50 Upon reaching the first floor, Wil found himself on a rock. Like the ground floor, there are stairs at the edge of this space but the door at the top was firmly closed. He understood the mechanism and waited until the countdown is over. "60, 30, 15, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" *Ding! The first wave started. Following the notification, Wil saw a herd of sheep appeared. All of them are Manx Loaghtan with four horns. Only one of them has six horns but it in grey color. It is clear that it is the leader. Manx Loaghtan Status: Corrupted Level: 100 Grade: Elite Grey Manx Loaghtan Status: Corrupted Level: 100 Grade: Heroic Wil stepped down from Leon''s back as soon as he saw their levels. "Looks like half of the floors will be a walk in the park." Wil became relaxed after realizing that it isn''t as difficult as he imagined. Upon receiving the order, Leon jumped into the herd and killed all the 18 sheep and their leader. Not even 10 seconds passed, Wil received the system notification along with EXP notifications. *Ding! You cleared the first floor. Meanwhile, a treasure box fell from the sky. Wil walked towards the box and opened it. *Ding! You received Manx Armor and 10 gold coins. Killing a level-100 Heroic beast will only give him a heroic-grade-armor at best. He ignored the notification and climbed the steps along with Leon. *Ding! You reached the second floor. The wave will start in 60 seconds. Please make your preparations ready. The landscape didn''t change. It was the same grasslands identical to the first floor. Even the enemies are the same. The only thing that changed is their grade and the numbers. Instead of 18, there are 36 Elite sheep and two heroic grade bosses. Finding that they are also corrupted beasts with demonic energy, Wil became excited. "This tower is perfect for someone like me. It''s as if they created it for Angels." He grinned. Two hours later; Wil was standing still on the edge of a cliff, watching the battle down below. There are 125 Elite-grade Bisons, 25 Heroic grade Water Buffalos, 5 legendary grade Bulls, and 1 legendary+ grade Minotaur. All of them are level-200 and are corrupted with 50% more stats. In front of them, there''s only a single predator. Wil wasn''t even concerned about losing. He calmly looked at the battle. *Roar* Letting out a powerful roar, Leon jumped into the pack and started the massacre. Unlike the beasts in the wild, none of them feel an ounce of fear and only thought of killing the intruder. Continuous notifications rang in his ears. *Ding! You level up. *Ding! You level up. *Ding! You cleared the second wave. *Ding! You cleared the fortieth floor. Flapping his wings, he came down towards the Treasure box and opened it. *Ding! You received one legendary pet scroll, five legendary-grade Appraise scrolls, 1000 gold coins, one random high-grade skill book, random legendary grade weapon, and one player town scroll." "Cool" Wil was satisfied with the reward. Since he still hasn''t received any notification about acquiring the ownership or the Shards of Scared Ocean, Wil continued. *Ding! You reached the forty-first floor. The first wave is going to begin in 60 seconds. Please make your preparations. As he was climbing the floors, Wil analyzed the pattern of how this works. Basically, it was divided into five levels. Very easy, Easy, Medium, hard, Very hard. The first one is from floors 1-20 of which the monsters are of level-100 of different grades. While the first ten floors will have only one wave, the second ten floors will have two waves. Of course, it goes without that saying that the number of monsters increases as one would climb to a higher floor. The second level is from floor 21-40, in which the monsters are of level-200. If one goes by the theory, then, the next 20 floors i.e. 41-60 will have the monsters of level-300. After that, it is probably level-400 from 61-80, and finally, level-500 from 81 to 100. Wil was confident that he can make it to 60 floors with ease with the help of Leon, and if he works hard together with Leon, he estimated his highest floor will be floor-80. But, what he encountered was quite different from his expectation. Wil was on an island and there''s a sea all around him. There are no Elite grade mobs or Heroic grade boss. Instead what he found are two giant Octopuses, one on the right and another on the left. King Octopus Status: Corrupted Grade: Legendary Level: 300 HP: 1.98 Billion *** Queen Octopus Status: Corrupted Grade: Legendary Level: 300 HP: 1.98 Billion "The pattern was broken." Wil realized that his analysis might be wrong and difficulty might be a lot higher than he expected. Still, 2 Billion HP monsters like them aren''t a match for an 86 Billion Hp beast like Leon. So, the battle was over in an instant with two slashes from its claws. *Ding! You cleared the forty-first floor. *Ding! You leveled up. *Ding! You received one legendary grade pet scroll, 1100 gold coins, random legendary grade Armor, and a random high-grade skill book. Since the floor is just an entry-level one, Wil didn''t receive as much as the fortieth floor one. Wil continued to climb up. The legendary grade monsters increased while Wil continued to level up quickly. He can''t help but grin as he imagined the situation of the other legend class users getting shocked by his sudden rise in just one day. *Ding! You level up *Ding! You level up *Ding! You level up *Ding! You reached level-250. The unique skill is unlocked. Please check your race tab for further details. *Ding! You receive a new skill. *Ding! You cleared the forty-ninth floor. Wil opened the Treasure box for the 49th time. *Ding! You received one legendary grade pet scroll, 1900 gold coins, and a random high-grade skill book. Just as he was about to climb the stairs to the fiftieth floor, he received the system notification. Along with Wil, everyone received the same. *Ding! System Announcement: The World''s first auction is going to start in 12 hours. Please check the official forums for details. Wil took a deep breath. "Okay, the world auction is here. I hope I have enough time to conquer this tower." He continued his path and walked through the door. This time, there weren''t tens of legendary grade beasts or something. Instead, a giant black sea dragon rose from the sea. Wil was stunned as he inspected its stats. "F**k**g yes" He can''t but curse out in excitement. Gargantuan Leviathan Status: Corrupted Level: 300 Grade: Mythic HP: 19.8 Billion Description: Guardian of the Ruyi Jingu Bang "Ruyi Jingu Bang is the monkey king''s weapon, the original name of the Tower of Destiny. That means this might be the key to control the tower and I might get some generous rewards." Flapping his wings, Wil flew towards the boss mob. He ordered Leon to stay down as he wants to take it down by himself. *Roar* Wil then heard a powerful dragon roar, and all of a sudden, he was paralyzed before he could use the Heavenly Push. *Ding! You heard the Leviathan''s roar. You will be paralyzed for the next 30 minutes. Leon flapped its wings and dashed to save its master. Meanwhile, Wil started to fall. He saw the leviathan opened its mouth to kill him on the spot. Chapter 234: Three Sage Weapons of the Monkey King "F**k" Wil cursed himself for making a stupid move before he was snapped into two. *Ding! You were killed by Gargantuan Leviathan. Alas, there''s no twist here. Leon failed to save him and he failed to escape even though there''s an escape route. But, Wil didn''t find himself resurrected. Instead, his soul was floating in the air with a holographic screen before him. *Ding! Resurrection scroll is detected in inventory. Would you like you to use it and resurrect with Full health?" Wil immediately clicked on Yes. *Ding! Resurrection scroll is consumed from the inventory. *Ding! Your EXP is decreased by 24,900,000. *Ding! Your level dropped to 249. Wil found himself on the island. Only then did he realize how much of a fool he is. Not only he forgets that his opponent is a mythic-grade monster, but he also forgot about his life-saving Prince medallion that can block the attack. Moreover, activating the medallion doesn''t even need him to move or speak. All it needs a single thought and Wil was able to activate the skill to avert the disaster. But he forgot at the crucial moment. Thankfully, he has several resurrection scrolls that were dropped from the lower floor or else, who knows what might happens. There might be a Cooldown before another attempt or he might resurrect at the first floor and start all over again. One more thing he finds strange is that Leon wasn''t affected by its roar. This led him to think that maybe, mythic grade beasts cannot target another mythic grade beast. That also means Leon''s King''s roar will not work on this Leviathan or that Whale either. "Fuu" Taking a deep breath, Wil this time ordered Leon to take care of the beast. *Roar* As Leon flapped its wings and flies towards the sea dragon, meanwhile, Wil stayed behind until Leon killed it. There was no surprise here but Wil felt terrible at the moment after watching how the Lion destroyed it easily. His pride was hurt deeply. But, the following notifications distracted his thoughts away. *Ding! You killed Gargantuan Leviathan. You received 1,966,080,000 EXP *Ding! Your Seraph bow consumed 50% of the acquired EXP. 983,040,000 EXP has been consumed. *Ding! You are in Angel form. You receive 30% more EXP (294,912,000) *Ding! You level up *Ding! You level up *Ding! You level up . . *Ding! You level up (13th time) *Ding! You cleared the 50th floor. "262 level Only 38 to go hahaha" Wil rejoiced in excitement while a giant Treasure box was dropped before him. Before he opens it, the surroundings changed. Wil was no longer able to see himself. As if watching a movie in the capsule in the first person, he saw the story mode unfolded. Wil saw a peaceful mountain with legendary grade creatures roaming everywhere. On the top of the mountain lies a rock, except that it isn''t a simple one. It was greedily absorbing magic from the surroundings. The legendary grade creatures tried to destroy it with their powers but they failed to do so. Instead, they felt their powers are also being absorbed. So, they stayed away. All of a sudden, a monkey was born from it. The monkey roams the planet and finds an Ascended monk only to become his disciple. Acquiring demonic powers, it rebelled against the Celestial Empire of Heaven and was executed as a result. His three Sage weapons namely Ruyi Jingu Bang/Monkey king''s staff (The pillar), Kinto-Un/Flying Nimbus (The cloud), and the Crimson gourd were sealed away together. Wil returned to reality and realizes that his mind was connected to the Pillar. He heard a voice in his head. "Master" *Ding! You became the Master of the Tower of Destiny. *Ding! Ruyi Jingu Bang is unlocked. Unique Equipment tab is added to the character. *Ding! The imperial sword is detected in inventory. It is added to the unique equipment. *Ding! Ravens Warship is detected in inventory. It is added to the unique equipment. The warship tab has been removed. *Ding! Demon bloodline has been detected. You can use it as a weapon form. Wil closed the notifications and walked towards the Treasure box and opens it. "F**kin* yes" It doesn''t contain any mythic grade equipment or scrolls but still, Wil wasn''t more satisfied than right now. *Ding! You received the Flying Nimbus and Crimson gourd. *Ding! Flying Nimbus and Crimson gourd is added to the unique equipment tab. *Ding! Demon bloodline is detected. You can control Flying Nimbus. *Ding! Demon bloodline is detected. You can control the Crimson gourd. "Open, character menu." He then pressed on the new tab that appeared next to the race tab. Wil then clicks on the staff first. He was stunned to see its stats. **Monkey King''s Staff (Bound)** Grade: Mythic Skills: Size Alteration: The staff''s size can be altered according to the user''s will. There''s no limit. The width cannot be more than one-sixth of its length. Cost: 1 mana/1meter. CD: 60 seconds. Cloning: You can clone yourself with the same stats as long as the staff is in your hands. The clones can only use nothing but staff as their weapon if the user switches it. Cost: 100 mana/1 clone. CD: 10 minutes/each clone summoned. Mighty Swing: Swing the Staff with your full strength and hit the enemies with a 200% attack. Description: One of the three Sage weapons of the Monkey King. **Flying Nimbus** Grade: Legendary Skills: Fly: Mount on the flying nimbus to fly anywhere. Can carry two people. Cost: 0 mana. CD: 0 seconds. Lightning Strike: Control the flying Nimbus and induce lightning strikes on your enemies. Cost: 100 mana/1 lightning strike. CD: 60 seconds/each lightning strike. Effect: Each Lightning strike has the attack power of 300% of the user''s Max attack. **Gourd** Grade: Legendary+ Skills: Absorb: The guard has the ability to absorb the attacks aimed at the user or the allies at a maximum of 1000% of the user''s health. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 30 minutes. Repel: The guard can store the absorbed attack until the maximum of 1000% of the user''s health for 10 minutes and repel it towards the enemy at once. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 1 hour. Gourd prison: The user can seal the wild monsters or NPCs and imprison them into the gourd as long as they are equal or less than the 50 levels above the user''s level. Players and Ascended NPCs cannot be imprisoned, and monsters under the control of others can only be imprisoned temporarily for an hour. Cost: 100 mana. CD: 0 seconds "Okay, it''s time to get back." Now that the Tower is in his control, Wil isn''t in a hurry to go for the next floor. He can acquire them whenever he wants. The foremost important thing is to meet up with Akiko and start developing the Scarlet town. With a thought in his mind, Wil summoned his Warship. As he stepped inside the control room, he retracted the staff into his inventory. *Ding! You removed the support of Triena Island. The island will drown in 3, 2, 1 "F**k" Wil slapped his forehead as he forgot about the island that was supported by this pillar. Taking this pillar away will not only drown the island, but the people will also die. Wil isn''t angry at himself not because some innocent citizens are dying. In his eyes, they are just a bunch of data. What he worries about is the aftermath. And just as he feared, the system sent a notification after a minute. *Ding! You have killed 143,122 citizens of Triena. Chapter 235: Returning to Vulture City Lifebook Apartments, Ecrin City; Bran was sitting before a woman who''s his former high school mate, currently, doing her Ph.D. in mathematics. "Are you serious?" She looked at him with a blank face. "just for this riddle, you came all the way to meet me?" However, inside of herself, a chibi version of hers was dancing that her crush from high school came to meet her. Bran nodded with a smile, "believe me. You know I''m not good with these riddles" She wondered whether Bran is using some excuse to meet her. Remembering her friends gone to the concert and currently, there''s no one at the apartment, she blushed for a second before getting control over herself. Gulping down a glass of water, she explained, "the first sentence means it is a medium that connects to the netherworld. It means the thing is a door or an object that houses demons or may something that was related to demons in general. The second sentence means it is the pillar. With four pillars on each corner, base as ground and sky as the roof, it will become a house. The third sentence is the direct giveaway. The monkey was born from stone. According to the Eastern Legends, Monkey King Sun Wukong was born from the stone and later cause havoc in the heavens. The fourth sentence means it was in the form of a rock. Combining the four statements, the answer is the Monkey King''s staff, Ruyi Jung Bang which is in the form of a pillar that looks like a rock. By the way, I have the entire series of Journey to the West with me. I can lend you one. "Uhh No thanks" Bran rejected her offer as he wasn''t in any mood to waste the time. He immediately suspected the rock that was supporting the island might the thing he was looking for. After all, it is pretty much strange that a 10 sq. km island was resting on a smaller sized rock. Usually, islands rest on underwater mountains. He didn''t suspect it earlier but now he can''t help think about it. Since the other parties are also looking for it, he needs to hurry. Bran quickly said goodbye to her and left the apartment, making her sad. Thirty minutes later; Bran returned to his apartment and entered the capsule. *Welcome to War Online* "What the" Bran looked at his surroundings in a daze. As soon as he logged in, instead of the island, he found himself in the waters. He wasn''t able to see the island around him. "Is there a bug or something?" He wondered. Meanwhile, in the depths of the North Grennola ocean, a giant Warship moving towards Athledon at its maximum speed. Inside the ship, two fallen angels are operating from the control room. Wil wasn''t anywhere to be seen. Strangely, there is a 6ft long and 1 ft wide pillar that was lying in the corner of the Captain''s room. Inside of the Pillar; *Swoosh* Three arrows zoomed like a flash of lightning as they struck a level-300 legendary+ grade demonic Rhino, and a critical hit appeared on its head two times thereby killing the boss. *Ding! You killed Rhino King. You receive 122,880,000 EXP *Ding! Seraph Bow consumes 50% of your EXP gain. 61,440,000 EXP has been consumed. *Ding! Angel bloodline has been detected. You receive an additional 30% EXP. You gained 18,432,000 EXP *Ding! You level up. (156,235,000 EXP to reach 275) *Ding! You cleared the second wave. *Ding! You cleared Floor 53 *Ding! You received Rhino King''s light Armor, random high-rank skill book, Shards of Sacred Oceanx4, Demonic Essence Crystal fragmentx1, Legendary pet scroll, and 2600 gold coins. Please check your inventory. "Great" Wil smiled in happiness. "Finally, Collected 12 of them... Now, only the Sun and Moonstones are left " He then looked at the inventory and looked at the dark crystal fragments, "I guess I''ll only collect 1 per floor. Oh! By the way" Suddenly, he remembered something important and glanced at his name. A sigh escaped from his lips. "The name''s still at Purple. I think killing these won''t decrease the hostility." Just as he worried about the aftermath of drowning the island, his name is in purple color. Since he isn''t invading the island and there was no quest, killing an innocent or a player within the safe zone will make his name red. In this case, it will turn into purple as his kills crossed a hundred thousand. Purple name people are forbidden to enter any city in the world and they will get executed by NPC. If he resists, guardians will take the action. A level 274 like him can''t go against an Ascended no matter how powerful he is. Even the Llyne or Athledon will take action against him if he were to step inside at any town or city. They won''t consider whether he is a Prince or a savior. Such is the fate of a Purple named player who is considered nothing more than a sinner and an enemy to mankind. For the current Wil, the safest place on the planet is Ormshire or a player town or wild zone. The only other option left is to flee to the demon continent where there''s no punishment. As he can''t clear his name yet, Wil left the Tower of Destiny and reappeared at the captain''s room. He felt the Warship wasn''t moving forward but was ascending towards the surface at a very slow pace instead. Wil realized that they must have arrived at the location. After dismissing the staff, he sits down on the floor and opens the inventory. "Okay, let''s see the gains" "10 legendary grade level-100 equipment, 10 level-200 equipment, and 3 level-300 equipment. 23 legendary equipment, huh! Not bad Hmm I should put them as rewards for the guild. Next I have 24 random high-grade skill books. Each high-grade skill book can be exchanged for 10 skill fragments. Sigh buying a skill book costs 50 skill fragments while selling only gives 10 Anyway, if I exchange everything for skill fragments, I will get like 240 skill fragments. That means 60 skill points. I can just master all the skills and will still have some left. There are around 9 legendary pet grade scrolls, two-player towns, three fragments of the Monkey King''s inheritance, 12 shards of Sacred Ocean, Hmm what else Oh! Yeah 8 Legendary grade Appraise scrolls. But the biggest gain is the three-set Sage weapons of the Monkey king and this portable dungeon." An hour later, the Warship finally made it to the surface and Wil stepped outside before flying towards Ormshire. Wil steps inside the Vulture city without any issues but the guards at the entrance because terrified of him. Not just guards, everywhere he passed, the citizens were terrified. They bow to him while shivering. He knew it is because of the name that''s floating on his head but he careless about it. Wil enters an inn with a claws sign at the entrance. He entered the Shrake inn. As expected, the receptionist wasn''t an exception either. "Your Your Majesty" She bowed as her voice shook in fear. Wil asked, "I''m here looking for someone. Her name is Athena. She''s currently staying in your inn. Can you tell her that I''m here?" "Yes, Your Majesty" Without ordering to one of the staff, she ran off upstairs personally and bring back a beautiful looking Elf. Looking at her, Wil felt that Akiko looks more beautiful in her Elf character than in her real life. But he didn''t let out his thoughts as it might offend her. Chapter 236: Spending time with Akiko Ormshire fort, Vulture City; A couple was roaming inside the fort. The man was accompanying the girl while she tours around in excitement. From time to time, he sneakily glances at her, observing her reaction. Maybe it''s because she''s her fiance or maybe it''s just his inherent quality, whatever the reason, Wil can''t help but brag to Akiko while showing off the Armory, various rooms, and of course the Treasury like how he was the one that filled all these gold coins. Akiko didn''t also find it strange once she considered Wil''s background. A couple of hundred thousand is possible to buy. Wil also wanted to brag how he has a million gold coins in his bank account and another 2 million in his inventory right now but at the last second, he barely held it and swallowed the words. "Hmm?" She looked at curiously who was about to say something like I have a lot of "*Cough* Ahem." Wil tries to change the subject. "The fort also has dungeons in the underground. Would you like to see it?" "Dungeon?" Akiko''s eyes lit up as she asked, "What level?" "No, it isn''t the instance dungeon you are thinking about," Wil clarified his statement, "but a real dungeon. Since this is built on top of a hill, the past rulers might have dug deep into the hill. Follow me" A while later, both of them entered the underground chamber where there''s a path that leads further down. With the help of Fire torches that are placed on either side of the wall, Wil and Akiko walked down the path without the need for sunlight. On the way, she saw blue crystals embedded in the walls. As she inspected it with curiosity, she gasped in surprise. "Is this a crystal mine?" Wil followed her gaze and saw she was looking at the unmined crystals. "Yeah. It appears so." He confirmed her suspicions. "But they are useless in this game" He took out a fist-sized crystal from the inventory and handed it to her. "Inspect it." "Hmm?" Ocean Crystal Description: It''s a normal quality, a 10-carat crystal that belongs to Time Traveler. You can exchange it at the bank for 1 gold coin. "Eh? 1 gold coin?" Akiko was taken aback. She was disappointed. Wil nodded as he saw her reaction is exactly how he expected it to be. "Yeah, it''s a waste of time and resources. Hiring workers, and then, getting it polished The profit will be at most 10-20 silver coins per crystal. That''s why I sent away all the miners away." In fact, for an average person. 20 silvers is still a big amount as it''s almost 300 dollars in real-world currency but for someone like Akiko and Wil, it''s just like pebbles on the road She too agreed with his opinion. "It''s better if they were preserved. If we can somehow allow the sunlight and light up this area, these crystals shine more naturally and make this place more beautiful." "Hmm" Wil ponders about it for a while. Her idea is feasible indeed. He knew of an item that can light up the area. Eventually, they ended up at the hollowed region of the hill. There are blue crystals everywhere. Since there''s nothing else to see, both of them returned to the Fort. "Your Majesty" Wil found his Prime Minister was waiting at the underground chamber for him. The Prime Minister looked at her but Wil didn''t introduce her for obvious reason as he doesn''t know how to do it. Should he tell she''s the future queen? He can''t as they aren''t officially engaged. Then, should he tell she''s his friend or guest? It might upset her when they are supposed to get engaged soon. So, he kept silent. The Prime Minister didn''t think much of it and said, "King Athledon sent an invitation to the palace." He handed him the letter. As Wil read it, he wondered whether it is because of Triena Island. But as he can''t leave his state yet, Wil replied, "Send a message to the palace that I have some important business to attend to and can''t visit him right now." The Prime Minister then glanced at Akiko and then, bowed. "Yes, Your Majesty." "You are refusing a King''s invite?" Akiko was taken aback. Wil smiled as he pointed the name above his head, "it''s because of this color." "Purple colored?" Akiko was confused for a bit. "Are you cursed or something?" She asked, not knowing what it meant. "No, it became after I kill people," Wil replied her. "But, shouldn''t it be red? The higher your kill rate, the deep the red will appear." Wil then clarified her doubts, "when one kills more than a hundred thousand people, red turns into purple." "Hun Hundred thousand?" Akiko''s eyes widened in shock. "You killed a hundred thousand innocent people" As ridiculous as it sounds, she felt like her fiance really is capable of such a thing. After all, he is from a Mafia background. Wil saw a trace of fear in her eyes. He quickly answered her before she misunderstood him. "It was an accident. I found a weapon on the bottom of an island. I retrieved it and the island drowned along with the NPCs. Not my fault, honestly." "Oh! I see" Akiko''s eyes became clear and she calmed down before excitement took her over. "Can you show me the weapon? Ah!" In the next second, she realized she was acting too close. They are hardly acquaintances and she was asking his secret. "I''m sorry" She quickly apologized. Wil waved his hands with a smile, "no worries. Here" With a thought in his mind, a thin and long pillar appeared in Wil''s hand. "Eh?" She wondered what kind of stunt is this. Was he pulling her leg? She then examined it. As people can''t inspect the weapons equipped or bound to others, all she found it is a normal stone pillar until it suddenly grew the size. "Kya" She stepped back with a scream as a pillar shoot up towards the ceiling suddenly. ''Cute.'' Wil thought in his mind, looking at her expression. While she was embarrassed about her actions, Wil retracted it again. "As you can see, I can manipulate the size." "Oh! Just like the Sun Wukong''s staff from the Journey to the West" Akiko made a comment. Wil nodded but didn''t say anything further about the details of the pillar or the other two weapons of the set. After throwing it back to the inventory, both of them started to talk about the auction. "According to our Intel, the giant corporations already entered the game and they are not holding back with investments. This world auction is definitely going to be tough. You must gather at least a hundred thousand gold coins to get one of the top three items. Just in case, 200 thousand." It suddenly made him remember that he might not able to withdraw the million gold coins of deposit at Llyne bank. He wondered whether he should exchange the gold bars for gold coins. But then, he remembered he still has over 600 thousand Llyne gold coins that he converted them from Athledon gold coins, back when the kingdom hasn''t been revived yet. Adding to that, there''s another hundred thousand gold coins that he gained from the previous withdrawal, killing monsters, clearing the Tower of destiny, etc Wil felt that there''s no need to touch other things. As for the forty-five thousand from teleportation fees at Scarlet Town, Wil decided to send it to Aster and deposit it in Scarlet Bank''s vault instead. Chapter 237: Wils plans for Hyori With the auction coming up ahead, Wil thought of a high-interest loan scheme provided with contracts while increasing the limit to 100 gold coins per person and 1000 per guild during this short period. As for the funds, Wil didn''t worry about it as the data in his Character tab says the combined net worth of the three Scarlet Districts is around 80 thousand gold coins. Because Scarlet bank never has the facility of fixed deposit, he wouldn''t need to worry about the bank getting out of funds either. Another scheme appeared in his mind. Wil went to the market alone leaving Akiko behind in the guest room. Everyone is in fear as usual. It was the effect of his Purple name. Wil bought large storage bags from a vendor for 50 gold coins each even though the latter said he would give it for free. As he returned to the fort, Wil found her just sitting there beside the window and staring at the city. She had a smile on her face. Wil wondered the scenery would have been more beautiful if there''s a thing like rain or thunder outside. Coming out of the delusions, Wil called her. "You are back early." Her smile became wider before she blushed. Wil felt there''s something with those words but he wasn''t able to put his finger. In the end, he responded by taking out storage bags. "I went to buy these." "Three of them?" Wil then started taking out epic and Gold-grade equipment from the inventory. None of them are below gold grade. A few minutes later, a big heap formed while Akiko had a look of surprise. She didn''t expect Wil to possess so many pieces of equipment. It was like he was a walking guild-storage. He then sorted the four hundred and twenty-two of them into two bags and then, looked at Akiko. "Can you do me a favor?" "Hmm? What is it?" asked Akiko as she glanced at the equipment. "I want your people to transfer them to Aster. I can''t enter Deloris town at this moment." He pointed at his name. She nodded, "Sure. No worries about it. While I can''t the same about the informers but our Elites are trustable." "Thanks." After his preparations are finished, Wil logged out. He brushed his teeth, had a shower, quick breakfast, and finally sat before the laptop. *Greetings from Summersoft* Here are the details of the Upcoming world auction that starts on 17th Aug. 16:30 EST or 08:00 WST. "Hmm the items are just the same as last time. Nothing changed except that they revealed the items this time. I guess the future is indeed shifting a lot" He then glanced at the top 1 item, "legendary+ dinosaur egg with a passive ability of 100 levels higher, huh If the base monster has a legendary+ grade that means, it will atleast have Mythic+ grade potential. That puts it in the same line as guardian beasts. No wonder Conqueror guild dominated the North and Southern Zalfari continents in the past. I shouldn''t let it fall under Supreme Conqueror once again. They already have a griffin." He then glanced at the remaining other items. The number 9 also attracted his interest but the bow wouldn''t be of any use to him. A person came to his mind. He quickly took out his mobile phone and dialed the number. "Hello?" A sleepy tone was heard from the other side. "Trainer Hyo" Wil addressed his best friend with a nickname he gave her. "Wil?" Her tone still sounds sleepy. "It''s almost 7. Didn''t you have college?" asked Wil. "No morning classes I''m going to sleep. Good night *Yawn*" "Wait" Wil stopped her cutting off the call and then said, "The world auction going to start in the evening." "World Auction?" Hyori mumbled in her half-sleep state. "You mean like the system auction?" "Yeah. It will go on for 24 hours. It''s a bit long actually. Anyway, once it starts, you can register your items to sell them. It''s a great opportunity for you to earn big." "What!" Wil heard the tone of her pitch suddenly rose. Clearly, she was surprised and probably fully awake now. "When did you say it will start?" "4:30 P.M. but you have to register between 12:30 and 4:30. Also, there''s really a bow that you would love. Check out the forums" After a while, she spoke in a disheartened tone, "The stats are really best I have seen yet but I don''t think I can afford it. What about yourself? Don''t you want to acquire it?" "Nah, I had a better one." Wil dismissed it with a simple reply. If it was anyone else, they would be freak out. After all, the bow in the list is a legendary+ one. What can be better than it? But, somehow she wasn''t surprised a bit with his reply, although the following words shocked her. "I will get it for you if you promise that you won''t pause playing once your tournament is over." "Eh?" She seriously wondered whether this friend has hidden feelings for her like in the dramas where the second male lead CEOs having a crush on the female leads. Maybe, it''s their effect on her after watching so much of them. "Are you serious? Even I know that it will probably cost at least ten thousand gold coins or maybe, even more considering it''s an auction." But her delusions were broken once Wil''s words backed his statement, "the game entered an important phase. I plan to form a separate team with skillful people that will have nothing to do with either the guild or the company. With your Archery skills, combined with this weapon, you can be a great help to the team. Are you interested?" Hyori stayed silent. She didn''t know what to reply. After all, she only started playing the game for money but Wil''s words mean it is a serious business. She can''t impulsively say yes to such a decision. She also started thinking about the Pros. After a while, she finally said, "I''ll think about it." "Okay, tell me your decision after your tournament." *** *Welcome to War Online* He appeared in his room. Wil then opens the friends'' tab and clicked on Athena. Time Traveler: Akiko-san, I''m back. Where are you right now?" Athena: In the gardens. Kiyumi-nee is here with me. "Gardens? But the fort doesn''t have a garden." Wil was confused. Time Traveler: Uhh where exactly?" Athena: Here at the terrace. "Terrace? There''s a garden at the terrace without me knowing?" He climbs the stairs and reached the fort terrace. Along with the cannons and the soldiers all around, there are several raised beds filled with different types of flowers placed in a corner. He saw a sofa, a couple of chairs, and a table with a table umbrella. Akiko and Kiyumi were sitting opposite to each other, drinking a cup of coffee while a couple of maids serving them. It''s as if they turned it into a picnic spot. Only then did he remember, during their conversations, Akiko mentioned one of her fantasies of filling flowers at the terrace and Wil replied that she can consider this as her home too. She can do whatever she wanted to. But, Wil forgot about it quickly. "Does this girl not know really anything about modesty?" Even if he agreed, how can she do this just after a few hours In the end, he didn''t say anything as it would seem petty of him. Meanwhile, Kiyumi was satisfied with the progress. Chapter 238: World Auction part-1: Auction starts 17th Aug. 4:00 P.M.; *Ding! The World Auction is getting started in 30 minutes. Please make your preparations. Everyone received the system announcement. While the rest of the world is busy with preparations, SnowDew was roaming the Vulture city along with Wil. Mia was tagging along with a panda cub in her hands. SnowDew (Evie) asked, "This whole region is yours, Big Brother? Awesome." Both of them were in awe as she looked around. Instead of usual humans, this city has a lot of hybrid creatures, fish head, octopus head, shark head, turtle shell back, etc Looking at their expressions, Wil should find it amusing but the presence of another person beside them made it hard for him to smile. Evie''s overprotective father is back. Maybe, he is missing his daughter too much. While Wil was busy with quests outside of the kingdom, Flame Emperor (Reuben Antolov) left East Ocean City and joined the Scarlet-B guild under his daughter. Originally, he has no problem with him but after knowing their real-life identities, Wil''s feelings towards them took a downturn. He still treats SnowDew like his little sister as she was innocent but on the other hand, he can''t say the same with her father. After all, he''s Dexter''s only son and the one that supposed to acquire Dexter''s inheritance in the end. Wil doesn''t know what he is planning behind the back either. Because of him, Wil wouldn''t even try to converse with his real sister, worrying that she might become his liability if he were to connect the dots and report to that old man. "I should say I never expected this day either" Flame Emperor also made a comment before looking at Wil. "When I first met you, I thought you were ordinary and unimpressive but it turns out like this in the end" Wil relaxed a bit after listening to his comment. From the start, Flame Emperor was always honest and says directly to face what he has on his mind. ''It''s good that something didn''t change.'' 15 minutes later; The system sent another notification. Meanwhile, he received a message from Akiko. Since they were acquainted now, Kiyumi no longer acted as the mediator anymore. Upon reading the message, Wil spoke, "guys, we need to leave." He then looked at this burly middle-aged man, "Flame Emperor, the VIP room can only accommodate five people. Two of the spots are already taken by our acquaintances. Can''t do anything about it. I''m sorry" Wil implied that he needs to leave, right now. Flame Emperor didn''t get offended, instead, he shrugged his shoulders, "I know. I''m not participating in the auction either way." *Ding! Flame Emperor left the party. Leadership has been transferred to SnowDew. He then said goodbye to SnowDew and teleported back to Eldershore city. As promised before, Wil transferred 2000 gold coins to Evie that Flame Emperor spent for tagging along with her. 1000 for in and 1000 for out. A while later, Akiko returned to the Vulture city along with her advisor, Kiyumi appointed to her. Wil knew about his identity from Akiko previously. Publicly, He was a mathematics professor at Ares University but in secret, he is a retired agent of Galaxy Net. Akiko claimed that not only does he possess great wisdom, he''s also smart. Just one look at Wil''s in-game picture, long ago, he informed Akiko about Wil''s intention behind his fake appearance. And now, by observing the people around them, he also came to a conclusion that the color on his name turned purple must be because of an enormous number of killings. That''s why he was extremely feared by natives. Not only that, but he also drew the conclusion about the relationship between SnowDew and Wil is closer than they thought, at least, they aren''t mere acquaintances, or else, how would he allow another little girl to tag along Once again, he sent his opinion to Akiko. Meanwhile, Akiko wondered about the relationship between Wil and SnowDew after taking a look at a stranger that their spies know nothing about. That means the one with the panda cub in her hands must be just tagging along. It also tells the closeness between the two of them. Of course, she didn''t consider it to be romantic. After all, she''s just a 13 year old and addresses him as Big Brother, and Akiko doesn''t want to think that her fiance is a pedophile. So, the most obvious conclusion is maybe, she''s his sister. A couple of weeks ago, after Wil left the Mansion, her father told them about how Wil''s saved his mom/stepmother. If she''s alive, then, there''s a probability of having siblings too Even if she isn''t, she still calls him her big brother and he allows that. It was enough for Akiko to try to be nice to her. *Ding! The world auction is going to start in five minutes. The auction tab is unlocked. Please check your character menu. Wil then opened his character menu and clicked on the Auction tab before pressing Enter. He''s the first one to disappear from the spot while the rest of the four left behind. Wil appeared on a comfy two-seater sofa. There are one more two-seater and one-seater sofas on either side. The place is on the fifth floor. There''s a large window before him, through which he saw the large Auction house with thousands of seats on the ground floor. There are large screens on the walls, displaying the platform. Wil also received a remote with two buttons, + and ++ on either side of up and down but there''s no TV or some electronic device in the room. As someone who participated in the world auction before, he knew their purpose. He kept it aside. *Ding! You booked a VIP room. Please select up to four individuals to invite. He clicked on the party channel and then, selected the four people, Mia, SnowDew, Athena, and Doctor Len. As they accepted his invitation, they reappeared beside him. Coincidentally, Mia appeared beside him. It brought him happiness for a second before she stood up and exchanged her seat with Evie''s. Akiko felt uncomfortable for reason. Maybe, she''s jealous or maybe, it''s another reason, even she doesn''t know it yet However, she didn''t let it bother for too much time as the screens in the auction house were switched on, followed by an appearance of a beautiful A.I. on the platform. "Hello Welcome to the World''s first Auction. I''m your host, Amelia. As mentioned in the forums, there are three phases of the auction. The first phase contains player registered items, the second phase contains our items, and the final phase will contain both but with no buyout price. In the first phase, every one of you will be presented a list of fifty items per hour. You can bid or buy them with a buyout price. Let''s begin, shall we" All of a sudden, every member, sitting on the ground floor received a holographic screen before them. Meanwhile, the VIP rooms only receive one large holographic screen irrespective of the number of people. It goes without saying that only the one who booked the room can participate. The rest of them can only advise or watch. At the same time, the screens on the hall also displayed the items, one by one. They were explained by the host. Chapter 239: World Auction part-2: Wil shares his opinion Wil watched the 65-inch holographic screen before him with items on it. The first item is an egg with starting bid of 1 gold coin and 5 gold coins as buyout price. Wil stood up and clicked on it. The details appeared. Meanwhile, the host started explaining the item. "This egg is an Elite grade item that belongs to an Elite grade beast Sea Eagle." She waited for a minute. The item changed to Armor. "This is a level-100 Heroic grade heavy Armor with one of the stats being unlocked. Click on the item to check the stats." As she continues to introduce each item per minute, meanwhile, on the fifth floor, Wil was scrolling down the list and see if anything that interests him. As he found nothing, he asked the others, "Is there anything that you people like to buy?" "They are worthless" Evie commented, folding the hands to her chest. Then, she looked at Wil and said, "Big Brother, do we have to sit like this for an hour? I would rather roam Athledon instead." Before Wil replies, Akiko suddenly answers, "No, we don''t need to wait for even ten minutes." "Huh?" She looked at her and blinked twice. Akiko pointed to the screen with a smile. The items started to disappear at a rapid rate. Wil nodded and explained, "Just see the ground floor. There are thousands of people currently participating in the auction. It''s obvious that every item will be a buyout." Just like he said, in just eight minutes, all the times were bought. This led the host to suddenly stop introducing the items and say, "all the items in the first batch are sold. Here comes the next batch." Like the first one, they are either elite or heroic grade items with a buyout price of not more than 25 gold coins. This is the time for the casual gamers. None of the people in VIP rooms bid or buy them as they are of no value to these rich people. Eight hours later; "Nah! Investing in Ace might be a bad move if you consider short-term profits but in the long term, it will only give you enormous profits. The current world is already changing. Electric vehicles are the future. I bet within five years, Ace would be an automobile giant with our support." Wil said to Akiko. Currently, they were alone together while the remaining three were nowhere to be seen. SnowDew and Mia were long gone from the room after the former got bored of sitting there and gazing at the items for several hours. Intending to give them private space, the old professor picked up an excuse and also logged out. With only two of them in the room, Akiko just sat beside Wil and chat with him to relieve boredom while occasionally buying NPC auctioned items. At first, Akiko asked about his personal life, his likes and dislikes as such... Wil replied them at ease but it just that. When he was asked about his childhood, he became extremely uncomfortable as it was spent mostly in harsh training, isolation from friends, etc... After trying to make a story, he stops in the middle and confesses that he doesn''t have a memorable childhood stories to share. As a person who was engrossed in the world of books, she realized that she doesn''t have any great stories to tell. But, she was too embarrassed to confess it. So, Akiko changed the topic to other things like the stock market, education system, etc Akiko was impressed with Wil as she found him very knowledgeable and have insights regarding all departments even though he just graduated high school last year. He was two years younger than her but somehow, she felt that he''s like her seniors at the Galaxy Net. Likewise, Wil was also impressed with her analytic ability just at the age of 21. He was someone from the future and loves to watch the news. So, he knows a lot of things that will happen. Not to mention, he''s a 24 year old in his mind. But, she isn''t like him and yet, come to conclusions about a lot of things that will happen in the near future. Slowly, the topic moved to politics. As he knew that who will win in the next elections, Wil wanted to ignore it but after showing his impressive side for the past four hours, he can''t back down in this too At the same time, he also doesn''t want Reisa to win the elections either. Making her too powerful will only leave him and Scarlet at disadvantage. The best way is to make her the Vice-president or the Speaker. Both of them are higher positions than cabinet ministers but lower than the President. So, he shared his opinion with Akiko. "I have nothing against your mother, Akiko-san but if you were to ask me to judge objectively, I think Ms. Kim Yoo-Jin is the right candidate for the president." Wil directly named the next president. "Oh!" Akiko''s eyes lit up as soon as she heard the name. She too thought the same thing but she didn''t say it out loud since it would not good to support her own mother. "Why?" She asked him. Wil replied, "Well, for starters, she came from a humble background with her father being a farmer. Even before the bill passed, she still fought for the farmers, laborers, and every one of those who are at the bottom of the society. According to the 2011 survey, 28% of the world''s population''s livelihood depends on agriculture, which might decline to 20-22% or something in these past nine years because of all urban development. It might not seem much but people in rural areas will have a majority voting percentage rather than those who live in urban areas. As for citizens of Metropolitan, don''t even bother Not even half of the population will try to vote Most of them will think it''s a waste of time even though they are the biggest supporters for changes. I think the Federation should build a few dams to help out them." Akiko agreed with Wil''s statement but also voiced her own opinion on the matter, "the only problem is the increase of corruption will increase. Every time, the Federation Parliament allocates a budget to rural areas, a lot of money goes into greedy politicians." She thought of her mother as she said it. As a daughter, she indeed loves her mother but not as a responsible citizen. Just as Wil about to advise that her mother should support Kim-Yoojin instead of running for the president, the host spoke. "The World Auction''s third phase is about to begin in 30 minutes. Please make your preparations." "Oh! It''s here" Wil spoke as he shifted his attention to the host. He then sent the message to Evie to return. Akiko also did the same with her advisor. As they reappeared, Wil didn''t saw Mia with her. He asked Evie, "what about Mia?" Evie replied, "She''s off to bed." "Eh?" Wil was surprised for a second. ''Right now, it''s 12:30 A.M. around here. Shouldn''t it be evening 4:30-5:00 P.M. out there at Hailey city? Either she''s lying or she''s in the Eastern continent, right now.'' After thinking for a while, Wil put that thought away as she wasn''t supposed to become a trainee at Nexus Entertainment until the next two years and then debut after another year. ''Was she troubled?'' Wil wondered. Half an hour later, the host is back with ten boxes that were carried by burly looking A.I.s. "Welcome to the final phase of the auction. Now, here the rules are as follows. All of these items start with 100 gold coins. Everyone was provided a remote in the beginning. Use the item to bid. The + item will raise the bid by 5 and ++ will raise it by 10 gold coins. Good luck." She opens the first item. Wil saw a Sword. He clicked on it. Baize Sword Level: 190 Grade: Legendary- Description: Auctioned by a player. "No. 1115 raised it to 110 gold coins. No. 24221 raised it to 120 gold coins Congratulations, No. C12 for acquiring the sword." Wil felt that man in the third floor''s VIP room was crazy enough to buy that sword for 250 gold. Chapter 240: World Auction part-3: Mysterious key fragment The auction continued. While Wil bid several items for Evie or Akiko, until the auction reached the top 10 items, never once he bid for himself. It''s not like he doesn''t want to but there''s nothing that he finds useful to him. There''s even a legendary grade beast egg that was auctioned but Wil didn''t even try to bid it. Beast eggs with less potential than his Leon are quite useless to him. He''s already feeding half of his acquire EXP to his bow, doesn''t want another baggage. So, he waited. Amelia, the Host spoke with a smile, "now, for the grand finale. But, before that" Seven boxes were brought onto the platform. "There are seven such items that we can''t group up with other player auctioned items. The rules are slightly different for these items. Each one has a different starting bid price and some of them have a buyout price as requested by the players. But, we assure you that the prices are worth." Looking at the boxes, Wil was surprised. According to his memory, it was supposed to be only 4 of them but now, there are seven. The guard brought the first box and placed it in front of her. She clicks the button on top of it and it opens, revealing a simple key. Everyone frowned as soon as they looked at a simple golden key. Wil clicked on the item and saw the description. Mysterious key fragment Grade: legendary Description: One of the three fragments to open the mysterious box. "What!" Wil suddenly sprung from the sofa, surprising Akiko and the other two. ''The key fragment?'' Wil remembered he received the Mystery box when he completed the quest and then, one of the fragments when the Athledon kingdom has been revived. He wasn''t surprised that there''s a key fragment in the auction. What he was surprised at the level of importance the system gave it to the key. He immediately understood that this change is because he revived the Athledon kingdom way before it was supposed to be... He already threw a mountain in the sea, large waves ought to generate. Either way, Wil decided to acquire this key at all costs. Earlier, when he saw it before, it seemed like a simple jewelry box embedded with jewels but now, Wil realized the box might have something heaven-defying item inside of it. With possessing two key fragments, he would then only need to find the last one to open the mystery box to unveil its mystery. As for the VIPs, although their responses weren''t as exaggerated as Wil, they also were surprised to see the starting item was such a thing. They wondered if the key fragment itself is a legendary grade, what would be the Mystery box''s grade will be like. "We can''t reveal the details but I can say it''s worthless and at the same time, most expensive depending on the owner who acquires it." A.I. Amelia explained it with a smile. "The starting bid is 500 gold coins. You can raise the bid with 50 gold coins or 100. There''s no buyout price." Wil quickly pressed + on the remote. "E14 bids 550 gold coins." Everyone glanced towards the fifth-floor. Meanwhile, Akiko, who was taken aback in surprise looking at her fiance, who was disinterested in all the items until now suddenly took an interest in this key fragment. It must some special key. ''Does he knows its origins?'' Akiko can''t help but suspect Wil considering the things he had done in the game. At the same time, on the seventh floor, room no.2, (G2) Shihei became curious as he checked his message. "Oh! Mr. Ravens is the one who bid it? Interesting." Upon hearing his words, Kiyumi was taken aback, getting to the same conclusion as Akiko. "Uncle, are you thinking what I am thinking?" Shihei nodded in affirmation. "No doubt about it." Meanwhile, the other VIPs also became interested. They started raising the bid. "C27 bids 600 gold coins." Amelia continued to announce. "A12 bids 650 gold coins." Wil frowned as he was outbid so quickly. He pressed the ++ button. "E14 bids 750 gold coins." In the 27th room of the third floor, a young man frowned as the bid was raised by another 100 too quickly. Even he thinks Wil was crazy to spend such an amount. It was none other than Martial Scholar, who competed with Wil back during the first system auction at East Ocean City. "C27 bids 800 gold coins." With not even a second passed, Wil once again raised the bid. "E14 bids 900 gold coins." "C27 bids 950 gold coins." "E14 bids 1050 gold coins." "C27 bids 1100 gold coins." "E14 bids 1200 gold coins." The auction house became silent. The people on the ground floor started to wonder how crazy are these VIPs. 1200 gold coins are like 180 thousand dollars. One can even buy an apartment with such an amount. Moreover, it''s just a key fragment. Not even a key. The last item, a level-200 legendary grade dagger is sold for 800 gold and they thought that certain VIP likes to squander. On the other hand, Akiko already concluded that he knew about the key fragments. "1200 gold coins Anyone else" Amelia looked around, specifically towards the third floor of the VIP section. Although a lot of VIPs can afford to waste such an amount, they didn''t step out to save money for the upcoming items. Many of the giant guilds are aiming for the top ten items. So, they have to save as much as they can. "1200 once, 1200 twice," *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations No. E14 for acquiring the mysterious key fragment." Martial Scholar smiled, thinking of how he cleverly made the VIP in the E14 room spend 1200 gold coins. ''After this, he wouldn''t have too much money. So, that''s one less competition.'' If Wil would knew his thoughts, he would have laughed and say, "How foolish are you..." Meanwhile, the GMs, who are watching the auction, are all smiles to see a huge deal. They are extremely happy as the system would get 20% of the auction fee. Before the auction started, their CEO announced that all the commissioned items gained from the players are converted into currency and then, distributed as a bonus for Summersoft Employees. So, they were excited. *** *Ding! 1200 gold coins are deducted from inventory. *Ding! You received a key fragment. Please check out the inventory for details. After receiving the notifications, Wil then opened the inventory and saw the golden keys are stacked in one slot, which means they are indeed the same one. "Big brother, what is that key?" Evie suddenly asked him with curiosity. It''s not because she suspected him to know of it or she thinks 1200 gold is a big amount. She was simply curious about it. "let''s just say it''s worth is a lot more than 1200 gold coins to me." Akiko who also wanted to ask him now became silent. She got her confirmation. Evie on the other hand had a big smile, "that means you profited right?" Clearly, her brain works differently. Maybe it''s due to her age. Wil nodded in response before concentrating on the next item that was revealed. It was a purple scroll. Wil clicked on it and saw the details. Player City Scroll Description: You can build a player city with 100 sq.km of area. Cannot place it outside of your kingdom. Chapter 241: World Auction part-4: Wil gets offended Everyone instantly became excited. Even the VIPs aren''t an exception to it. While player towns became normal everywhere, they have to develop it to the max, only then, they were able to upgrade it to city. But now, they don''t need to anymore. In fact, one of the top ten NPC items is also a player city but that can be placed at any region without restrictions while this can be set up only in their own kingdom. So, it''s more like a toned-down version. Still, it was great, especially for Demon race players who have a whole continent to set up anywhere they like. "Galaxy Net wishes to acquire this." Akiko suddenly requested Wil. "Oh!" Wil hardly reacted to her request as it was already in his expectations. "Should I bid it for you or should we stay silent and let your uncle bid it?" Wil asked her in a calm tone. "Uncle will bid it" She slowly replied. Akiko didn''t expect Wil to back down quickly. "Okay." In truth, Wil wasn''t much excited about this scroll as he already has an entire developed province. Why would he need to spend additional money to develop it But, on the other hand, Rini is a crown princess of Searvale. If Galaxy could develop another city, it might be easier for them to support her further to claim the throne. Moreover, gaining another city won''t make them too powerful either way. After a heated battle, Shihei acquired the city for 2450 gold coins, making the GMs once again celebrate. First 1200, then 2450 the casual players wondered how fierce it will be for the top item. "Thanks, Williard." Akiko thanked him after receiving the confirmation from the auctioneer. "I''m not interested, either way." Wil casually commented. The third box was then opened. It was a black colored potion. Wil clicked on the item to see the details. Demonic Potion Description: Contains 100 drops. Upon consuming a drop, a player''s stats will be increased by 100% for 24 hours. (Only main stats like attack, defense, HP, and speed are affected. The buff cannot be stacked.) "These bullies" Just then, SnowDew screamed in anger. "What happened?" Wil asked her, momentarily putting aside the third item and ignore the bidding as he wasn''t that interested in it. "Check out the forums, Big Brother. People are bad-mouthing you." "Huh?" Wil was confused why people will suddenly badmouth him. It''s been a long time since he massacred Dreamwalkers. Or do they found out about his involvement in killing the islanders? Not possible. He checked out the forums, and so was Akiko. Her face turned dark while a sinister laugh escaped from Wil. "These guys really know how to offend. Okay, then, I''ll make sure it will become true." *** The VIP section, 2nd floor, room no. B1; It was the most popular number in the auction house, right now. B1 swept the normal auctioned items nonstop for eight hours. Not only the normal items, they even set their eyes on the legendary grade items too and acquired many of them. By estimate, they have spent 15000-20000 gold coins for 491 items until now. The VIPs who failed to acquire the items couldn''t help but curse them in their minds every time B1 wins the bid. While people are speculating about a few names, suddenly, a group of people targeted Scarlet deliberately and left behind hateful comments. They started saying how Time Traveler isn''t even leaving behind for casual gamers like them. They further backed their statement with how Scarlet guild has a giant company as backing and so, it is likely he''s the one behind B1. After all, who can spend 20000 gold coins like this? It is almost 3 million dollars It isn''t a small amount. Once again, Wil''s past actions of expelling guilds, bullying casual players in leveling areas were reminded, adding with a dozen extra rumors spread by Dreamwalkers, the people believed it more and the frustrated casual players who didn''t win the bids made the matter a bit too big. Eventually, the supporters joined to defend him and a war started for no good reason. While the rest of the VIPs are busy bidding, the very center of the public frustration and the reason for forum war is right now in chaos. "We should buy this." The young man voiced out his opinion in a firm tone. "No, we shouldn''t. Just see the name. It''s clear, there will be a side effect. Use some common sense will ya. How can a potion that can make one''s stat''s raise for 24 hours exist without side effects." The fierce lady argued. "How can you be so sure? We wouldn''t know unless we tried." The young man didn''t back down. The lady lost her temper and smacked his head, "you dumb idiot Just consider the amount, will ya You want to spend hundreds of gold coins for a risky item?" Meanwhile, another couple was watching their fight in silence. They sighed at the same time. "Sierra, you sure you don''t me to intervene?" the young man said to her. As the girl gave the signal, he stepped forward and separated the couple who was almost pulling each other hairs. "How about this" After stopping them, he offered a solution, "let''s bid it until 1000 gold coins and if it crosses it, we''ll withdraw. Even if it''s nothing, we can afford to lose at least that much right?" "Alright," "Fine" As soon as both of them agreed to his proposal, he raised the bid for 650 gold coins. "Bran.." Suddenly, the lady called him. As he turned around, Sierra said, "1000 is too small. Let it be 2000 gold coins Judging by how we lost the earlier bid, this one would be also tough to acquire." "Okay, sure" He nodded with a smile. That''s right. This was a four-member group consisting of Bran, Sierra, and their friends from the high school. To improve their guild further, Bran was the one that started buying non-stop, leaving the casual players no chance. Unexpectedly, Wil was involved and became a shield for him. "E14 bids 750 gold coins." "Eh?" Bran and his friends are taken aback by the sudden rise. The one who won the key fragment is back. Bran raised the bid by 50 gold coins. Without even a second passed, Amelia spoke, "E14 bids 900 gold coins." "C27 bids 950 gold coins." "B6 bids 1000 gold coins." Two more players joined the bid but people only cared about B6 as Martial Scholar made an impression on everyone that he only raise the bids but never buys anything. Martial Scholar was another hated person in the auction, right now. Especially, Bran and his friends hate him. Because of Martial Scholar, Bran and his friends always end up buying something that more than they thought it would be. They tried to trap him several times but he was never caught even one of them but instead, they got caught in their own trap and bought a legendary grade shield for 500 gold earlier. Of the 491 items they acquired, around 20 of them are forcefully bought while trying to let Martial Scholar buy them. After learning the lesson, they stopped trying to trap him. Sierra knows when to move forward and when to step back. Chapter 242: World Auction part-5: Wil, the squanderer The VIP section, E14 room. Wil pressed the ++ button on the remote. "E14 bids 1100 gold coins." Amelia once again announced the current bid. As the potion is extremely useful in the upcoming war, there are also VIPs who decided not to bid for previous items, tried their luck with this. "B6 bids 1150 gold coins." "A4 bids 1200 gold coins." Bran raises the bid to 1250 but he was outbid by Martial Scholar once again. "C27 bids 1250 gold coins." "E14 bids 1350 gold coins." Wil didn''t stop it. He already decided to sweep all the items, not intending to give up any of the final items for the mastermind behind the slander. Except for the Galaxy Net, Wil decided not to yield any item to anyone. The bid went on for five minutes until it finally stopped with Wil clicking on ++ for the last time. "E14 bids 3550 gold coins." "3550 going once, twice." *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring Demonic potion." The gamers on the ground floor widened their eyes and stare at the fifth floor. Who is this new tycoon that popped up all of a sudden? Wil''s rampage didn''t stop there. "2800 going once, twice." *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring player city." "5750 going once, twice." *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring Thunderstorm Skill book." By the time the fifth item landed in Wil''s hands, the audience already went numb. VIP section, B6; Supreme Conqueror narrowed his eyes and asked, "tell me what items this person from E14 bid so far?" His secretary looked at the list that she was recording every item that''s been auctioned and who it ended up with. "Hmm, Mass teleportation scroll, mass resurrection scroll, an Epic grade level-210 shield, a legendary- grade level-200 missile launcher, a batch of high-grade mana potions, and a couple of heroic grade pet eggs. Nothing important except for the key fragment, Demonic potion, player city, and the Thunderstorm Skill book. All the four of them are bought vigorously for 1100, 3550, 2800, and 5750 gold coins respectively." "Hmm nearly 13000 gold coins?" Supreme Conqueror frowned after listening to the report. "The gears suddenly changed or is the person changed? I think he invited someone with a powerful background and bidding on his/her behalf." His secretary also agreed with his opinion, "That seems like the only logical explanation." *** "4600 going once, twice." *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring "9150 going once, twice." *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring legendary+ grade level-250 dual daggers. The casual players became numb, The VIPs became numb and even Akiko as well the old professor became numb. The only ones who were indifferent are Wil who was bidding, and Evie who don''t know the concept of too much spending for something. Meanwhile, Bran and Sierra are celebrating as two of their items are sold for 13750 gold coins. Deducting the auction fees, they still had a profit of 11000 gold coins which they divided among themselves with Bran taking 50% of the share and the rest of the three taking the remaining amount. Thankfully, Wil didn''t know of it, or else, he would regret his actions. He can take all the slanders from the world but can''t stand helping out Bran. That was how much he hates him. VIP Section, C27; Martial Scholar slammed the table in frustration. Just who is this f**k**g rich brat that''s squandering so much amount of gold. He isn''t like the ones in the B1 room. No matter how much he rose the amount, this person in E14 didn''t even hesitate to pay a higher price. The first time it happened, he was happy that he managed to waste another person''s gold coins. The second time it happened, he wanted to teach this arrogant person a lesson. The third time it happened, he became competitive. And the sixth time it happened, he lost his motivation. Wil didn''t care whether this guy is purposely making him spend his money or they genuinely want to acquire the items. He just continuously spent his money and acquired every special auctioned by the players. Either way, due to Wil''s enormous spending, the Summersoft company employees are happy that they are getting huge bonuses and at the same time, making the people who auctioned the items, rich, overnight. "The players auctioned items are finally finished. Now, there are ten items remaining. The grand finale of the World Auction is going to being in ten minutes. The currency exchange platform will remove the limits in these ten minutes. Lease make your preparations." ''What a greedy bunch.'' This was what everyone thought at the same time as they realized they can''t exchange the gold coins they got from the auction. It was another scheme Summersoft implemented in secret during the 2nd major update to make sure the gold coins aren''t exchanged too much and drop the value of the currency. While the buying price is still at 152 credits per silver, the selling price was lowered to 101. During the World battle tournament, because of the betting, the company indeed lost too much amount of money as many players became rich overnight. To prevent that from happening again, they also implemented a system such that any gold coins earned from the system events like an auction or a tournament will turn into locked gold coins. Ten minutes later; The exchange platform reverted to original state after seeing enormous profits as more than a million gold coins were purchased. Once again, the boxes were brought onto the platform. Amelia announced, "Now, here are the top ten items that everyone is waiting for." *Click* She opens the first box and reveals a pair of outfits. They are luxurious and have an ancient Royal Eastern style. Both of them are matching outfits and are shining in rainbow color. It was solely aimed at the couples for sure. "Wow" Wil heard exclamations from his left and right. As he turns his head, Wil saw Evie and Akiko were staring at the outfits. They were entranced by its appearance. Pointing at them, the host explained, "this is a set item called the Everlasting Love. Other than their exquisite art, they compliment each other if they were worn by a pair of a man and a woman." **Everlasting Love (Male) Grade: Legendary+ Description: A set outfit of the Everlasting love. Made from the finest silk obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity, it reduces the incoming damage by 30%. Set effects: Sacrifice: As long as the female counterpart is within 50 meters of range, the user can resurrect her on the spot without any EXP penalty as long as you pay the equal cost. Power of Love: Your stats increase by 50%. **Everlasting Love (Female) Grade: Legendary+ Description: A set outfit of the Everlasting love. Made from the finest silk obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity, it reduces the incoming damage by 30%. Set effects: Sacrifice: As long as the male counterpart is within 50 meters of range, the user can resurrect him on the spot without any EXP penalty as long as you pay the equal cost. Power of Love: Your stats increase by 50%. *** It''s not just the both of them, almost everyone is amazed at the sight of those outfits, although the mindset of boys and girls are different. While men focused on the stat raise, most of the women, focused on appearance. Many male gamers who are in a relationship became pressured right now as their girlfriends/wives wanted the outfits. Surely, it costs hell a lot, right? Chapter 243: World Auction part-6: Wil loses the bid "These pair of outfits are one of a kind and unlikely to appear again. So, don''t miss this opportunity. The starting bid is 1000 gold coins. You can raise the bid by 100 gold coins or 500 gold coins." Amelia announced the price. Not even a minute passed and the bid rose to 4000 gold coins, already. Even though Wil wanted to sweep out as he wished, he didn''t make a bid yet because of Akiko''s presence in the room. He was busy thinking at the moment. If he buys it, he would be obligated to present the female outfit to her which he doesn''t wish to. She isn''t an adventurer class player. She can''t follow him to the leveling areas or dungeons. So, he can''t gain the benefits. Either way, it would be a waste of money. Suddenly, the image of a candidate in his mind, the person who can fight alongside him. An idea emerged in his mind. He quickly sent a message to Aster. Time Traveler: Aster, how many of our guys are participating in the auction aside from SnowDew, right now? ShadowBlade: Give me a couple of minutes, Young Master. Time Traveler: I don''t have that much time. How about you enter the auction, at this instant. I''m transferring some gold to you. "142445 bids 4800 gold coins," Amelia announced. The VIPs as well as the casual players were shocked upon hearing the new bidder is from the ground floor. Until now, there''s no person on the ground floor that bid more than 1000 gold coins. This fellow is the first one. "B1 bids 4900 gold coins." Bran raised the bid, intending to acquire it at all costs. He wasn''t interested in the stats but Sierra wishes to acquire it. After all, they are one of a kind in the game. "142445 bids 5400 gold coins." Aster, who was sitting on one of the normal seats, raised the bid. "B1 bids 5500 gold coins." "C27 bids 5600 gold coins." "B1 bids 5700 gold coins." "142445 bids 6200 gold coins." "A12 bids 6300 gold coins." "C27 bids 6400 gold coins." "B1 bids 6500 gold coins." "142445 bids 7000 gold coins." Eventually, the entire auction house is silent as they were waiting for the result between this new bidder and the good old whale from the second floor. After the bidding crossed 10000 gold coins, Aster hesitated for the first time. He paused for a few seconds, which led the audience to sigh as B1 is going to win this one. They glanced at the fifth floor. They wondered why this squanderer isn''t making his move yet. Maybe, he was out of his funds, already? Or maybe, he wasn''t interested in this item? Meanwhile, Wil received a message from Aster. Shadow Blade: Young Master, would you like me to go on? The price already crossed the upper limit. Time Traveler: Just continue I''m not intending on leaving any item for any VIP here. Shadow Blade: Understood "10500 gold coins Any bids, anyone?" Amelia looked around and waited for a minute. No one raised it, further. Bran clenched his fist as he was about to acquire the item. In his view, if he buys it to her, maybe, he can get her mother''s consent for their relationship. After all, he was about to give her 15 million dollars worth of clothes. It must the most expensive clothing in the world. He wanted to see how her mother going to say he cannot be worthy of Sierra, then "10500 gold coins once, twice Oh!, a new bid. 142445 bids 11000 gold coins." "What the" Bran stood up from his seat in surprise. After another five minutes, the bid almost reached 15000. "Bran Stop it" Sierra finally spoke with a great struggle. "It''s not worth" "But" Bran was frustrated. Sierra sighed, "it''s alright There are nine other items. Spending such an amount on this will lower our chances to acquire other items." Bran didn''t raise it anymore. "14800 gold coins, once, twice," *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations 142445 for acquiring the outfit, Everlasting Love." Although Wil wasn''t happy with spending so many gold coins, he was still satisfied with the outcome. In his view, the guys in the B1 room are most likely the culprits behind the slander, or else, how is it possible that they bought the things and he was receiving the hateful comments. It made him wonder whether Dreamwalkers guild is the one in that room. After all, they lost too much amount of face and money because of him. Five minutes later, Amelia opened the second box and revealed a dark bow. It''s black with exquisite engravings with strange symbols. Pointing at it, she gave the introduction, "As you can see from the description, this bow contains the remnant of Taotie''s spirit. Its current stats are fixed at level-200. But, once you equip it, as a greedy bow, it will suck 30% of the Experience you gained and level up, thereby becoming stronger along with you. The most distinguishing feature of this legendary+ grade bow is that it can accompany you until you reach Level-500. Of course, it is bound equipment and can never be dropped." Taotie Bow Grade: Legendary+ Level: 200 (Max-500) Class: Archer Attack: 1,638,400 Critical rate: 100% Pierce: 50% Critical Damage: 50% Casting/Attack Speed: 50% Mana: 50% Skill 1: Attack increases by 20% upon critical hit. Skill 2: Absorbs 30% of EXP gained by the user and level up. "The starting bid is 1000 gold coins. You can raise the bid by 100 gold coins or 500 gold coins." In one of the VIP rooms, a petite-looking easterner spoke, "Hitoshi-san, I want it at all costs. Use all the gold coins we have bought." The old man beside her nodded, "Sure, Princess" She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the bow on the screen, "I waited so long just for this bow. Let''s see who dares to bid against me." Ten minutes later; "50500 gold coins, once, twice" *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations G3 for acquiring Taotie Bow." A smile appeared on Princess Sakura as she claimed the bow while defeating every bidder out there. "Who the hell is this bidder" Wil was shocked as he was outbid this ferocious bidder who didn''t stop bidding no matter how much he raised. It was the first time, he lost the bid since the Demonic potion. Even though he wanted to give the bow as a gift to Hyori, Wil isn''t that generous to spend so much amount of gold on her. He fought until 50,000 before he was forced to give up. If it was something that needs it, Wil wouldn''t have done that but his bow is far better than the one displayed on the screen. Meanwhile, the audience as well as the VIPs were shocked at Wil''s wealth. Even after spending nearly 30 thousand gold coins on player auctioned items, this guy still has more than 50 thousand left to squander. The VIPs wondered which Giant Corporation this guy represents The third item on rank-8 was opened. This time, it was a sword. It''s the same as the previous weapon. As the sword is pretty popular out there, the competition was even fiercer than the Bow. It was bought by Supreme Conqueror for 65000 gold coins. Wil became slightly angry for losing a bid again. Chapter 244: World Auction part-7: Warship with missile system The next items are also similar ones, the item on rank-7 is Taotie Spear, rank-6 is Taotie Canon, rank-5 is Taotie Staff, and rank-4 is Taotie dual daggers. Losing the bid twice in a row made Wil angry. He promised himself that he wouldn''t leave anything to any VIP and teach everyone a lesson because of one''s mistake. He did enjoy the privilege of acquiring the player auctioned items. Maybe, that boosted his ego and let him think he can acquire everything easily and made him underestimate the wealth of others. But, the reality hit him hard. He didn''t expect to receive a strong opposition at the second item itself. Before the auction began, he received a warning from Akiko like how he needs to have atleast a hundred thousand gold coins for the auction. At that time, Wil only thought of his wealth and ignored the meaning behind her sentence. Her words meant that others might also have a hundred thousand gold coins to spend. In the end, he hesitated on bidding the two weapons after they reached a high price and thereby lost them. Why he hesitated? It''s because they are of no value to him. If they are of value to him, he would have gone for even a hundred thousand but alas, they were nothing but useless to him. But suddenly after losing two items, he remembered something else. Why can''t he just buy it now and later auction it for a higher price? He doesn''t need to gift it to them to anyone. The bow and the sword have a 500 level limit. So, it is useful for atleast 3-5 years of playtime. As time passes, their values will also increase. Moreover, it''s not that he would become a pauper even if he spent everything. Then, why did he hesitate earlier? Upon realizing such simple logic, Wil became angry at himself for being such stupid. Wil''s determination became firm. This time, he decided not to hesitate no matter how high the price go. "58000 once, twice" *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring Taotie Spear." "49500 once, twice" *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations for acquiring Taotie Canon." As soon as he received the canon, he handed it to Evie who then paid him the exact amount in return. With her father giving her 41000 gold coins to spend, SnowDew/Evie was able to acquire the Canon without the help of Wil. It made Akiko surprise and she wondered which family this rich kid belongs to. "62000 once, twice" *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring Taotie Staff" While the rest of them are sold for around at a similar price as previous ones, Wil received a huge competition for the dual daggers. Still, in the end, he managed to buy it with his heart is bleeding as he looked at the price. "86000 once, twice" *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations for E14 for acquiring Taotie dual daggers." ''Who the f**k is this squanderer?'' Nearly every VIP almost coughed out blood in anger as they failed to acquire the items they bid for. They spent millions of dollars to buy the gold coins and yet, in the end, this squanderer bought everything anyway. VIP section, B6 room; After hearing Wil buying the daggers for such an exorbitant amount, Supreme Conqueror sighed in relief, "I should really glad that I got this sword." He glanced at the Taotie sword that he bought for 65000 gold coins. "How many gold coins the guy from E14 spent until now?" His secretary calculated the amount and answered "227165 gold coins. I think, he already gave up the top three items and wishes to acquire the rest." The same kind of discussion is going around in other VIP rooms where the secretaries are recording the data. Meanwhile, the gamers on the ground floor can only look up at these VIPs who are spending tens of thousands of gold coins. This audience thought 1000 gold coins is a large amount and found out a guy who is spending tens of thousands of gold coins per item. If the guy in B1 is a bully who bullied the casual players, the one in E14 is a bully who even bullied the VIP players. For the past hour, it just seemed like a one-man show for them. At the same time, a part of them also became a little bit happy that B1 wasn''t able to buy anything else and was crushed under this rich squanderer. But, there are a few people in the VIP section who are silent. They didn''t bid a single thing yet as their focus is on the top three items, specifically, the dinosaur egg. Back to the platform, Amelia opened the box and revealed the rank-3 item, a toy ship. "I apologize for not showing the original item as it is too big to fit in this space. Anyway, this is the miniature model of the Warship. For those who would like to venture into waters or are interested in navy battles, this will be very useful. This Warship is durable enough to take a 100 billion amount of damage and it can be repaired by collecting some materials. It also has a missile system where you can aim at enemies that are 500 meters far away. Each missile has an attack power of 50 million and the blast radius is 100 meters. If you were the upgrade it, the attack power and the blast radius will also increase exponentially. You were given 100 missiles for free but if you need to buy more, there''s a buy option inside the Warship panel. You can just spend gold coins and the missiles will be installed automatically. The starting bid is 10000 gold coins. You can raise the bid by 1000 gold coins or 5000 gold coins." Wil looked at the model. Unlike his Warship that looks like it was from the 18th century, this one looks modern. Not only its attack power is far higher, but the attack range is also far superior to Athledon''s Warship. This one even has a blast radius while his cannonballs are single target. Wil thought this would be useful to him. Having two Warships isn''t bad after all. But he once again underestimated the situation. The silent VIPs who are quietly waiting in the background charged forward. All of a sudden, a bunch of new and unfamiliar bidders declared their intentions to buy. "H3 bids 15000 gold coins." "H24 bids 20000 gold coins" "D1 bids 25000 gold coins." "H3 bids 30000 gold coins." "F17 bids 35000 gold coins." "H24 bids 40000 gold coins." "G11 bids 45000 gold coins." "P8 bids 50000 gold coins." "A23 bids 55000 gold coins." "E9 bids 60000 gold coins." "H3 bids 65000 gold coins." Two minutes in, and the bid rose to 65000 already. Another two minutes in, it rose to 114000. Even a hot-headed Wil had to give up after the price crossed a hundred thousand gold coins. It''s not like he doesn''t have coins to spare but the Professor who tagged along with Akiko advised him that it would better to store them now so that he can bid for the egg. He can''t underestimate these hidden organizations. Chapter 245: World Auction part-8: T-Rex Egg "Mr. Time Traveler, I think you shouldn''t waste it on this. It''s better to save for the top item. Having an extra hundred thousand might give you an edge." "Hmm" Wil thought about the old man''s advice. "That''s right. If a mere Warship costs this much, surely, the egg will cost more. I only have 450 thousand in the inventory to spend. If I spend more than a hundred thousand gold coins for this Ship, then perhaps, I might not get the egg." Wil hates that kind of situation even more. After thinking for a while calmly, Wil backed away from the bid. He then realized his backing away didn''t impact anything on it. The bidding war still continued between two secret powers. Looking at the final amount, he mumbled to himself, "maybe, I did the right thing, after all." What he didn''t know is that the VIPs are more shocked to see that he still has a hundred thousand more to burn than they were at the winner who won the Warship with 142000 gold coins. "The competition seriously jumped up to a whole another level," mumbled ''One'' who sat in the H3 room of the VIP section. "Either way, I acquired what I wished to buy. Now all I need to gather the researchers and reverse engineer it. Within no time, Gailzach will have a mighty navy force." He glanced at the inventory and sighed, "Only 50 thousand left, huh! If only I knew it would be this competitive, I would have collected more gold from the Treasury. Such a shame" Meanwhile, the rank-2 item was revealed by Amelia. It was a pouch, a simple black-colored pouch. However, its description is far from being simple. "The Bag of Eternity is a portable inventory with an infinite number of slots. Items placed in this bag cannot be dropped or stolen." Amelia explained the item as everyone clicked on it to see the description. Her statement caused unrest among the players. Does she mean the items in the inventory can be dropped and stolen? Until now, they thought that only the equipped items can be dropped when one dies. As for getting robbed, they didn''t even think of such a thing. Only a few people including knew that except for the unbound equipped items, unique items like Book of Destiny or the Warship can also be dropped and become ownerless until someone picks it up. Still, not many are interested in buying the item. To protect the items, they can put them in a bank vault anyway. ''I have the Sniffler anyway. I don''t need to worry about the thief profession players.'' Remembering the Elite beast when he captured it back when he was doing the Marquis Quest, Wil didn''t bid it from the start. Wil was already satisfied with doing enough damage to his unknown enemies. He felt like he doesn''t need to bleed himself just to trouble someone. Not to mention, only a few people seem to be interested in the item and galaxy net is one of them. If he likes the item, Wil wouldn''t give a damn about it but since it practically worthless to him and neither he can profit it later, he stayed silent. In the end, it landed in Galaxy Net''s hands for 87000 gold coins. "Now, for the final item Behold" Amelia, with a smile on her face, she spoke in a crystal clear loud voice. "The Egg of Tyrannosaurus Rex." Her voice reverberated all over the hall. She then revealed a 2ft big reddish and Beige mixed-colored egg. "Let me inform all of you of a few important details. First, the known details. First, the beast that will be born from the egg will be of Legendary+ grade with a passive ability of 100 levels higher. You won''t need to sacrifice your EXP to level it up either, although once you reach level-400 and it reaches 500, it will stop leveling up. As for the unknown detail, this battle companion is different from the rest of them. Normally, you can only deploy one battle companion at a time but if you were to deploy this beast, then, you can deploy another battle companion." The latter half of her statement caused a commotion especially among the guardian beast users or the ones with legendary grade beasts. ''Seriously?'' Even the all-knowing Wil was shocked at the moment. He didn''t know that there''s such a feature. Now, his desire to buy this pet increased to the peak. He imagined Leon and T-Rex, destroying everything in his path. As if adrenaline rushed in his body, he became extremely excited. Meanwhile, Amelia continued, "The starting bid for this extraordinary beast is 10000 gold coins. You can raise the bid by 1000 or 5000 gold coins each time." The VIPs became busy all of a sudden. "Gather gather every gold coin we have" Supreme Conqueror, Wisdom Queen, Yakuza''s Tojo clan, Dreamwalkers guild, a couple of hidden organizations, etc Every giant power became busy with collecting the gold coins after hearing that they can summon two battle companions at the same time. Even One was no exception. He left the auction house and made a trip to his Treasury to take out another 300 thousand gold coins. To not ruin his kingdom management, One was only able to take out this much but he felt they were enough. If they aren''t, then, that''s that Meanwhile, Wil glanced at his inventory. He wondered whether it is enough. He stood up from his seat, all of a sudden. "Hmm What happened?" Akiko asked him. Wil shook his head, "nothing. I''ll back in a minute. Please update me on the situation, later." Akiko nodded. "Sure." She wondered why was leaving the auction house at such a crucial time. Does he lack funds? Is he going to the bank to retrieve the? Can''t he just ask her? Her sister wouldn''t say no to that. Even after purchasing the pouch, they still have a hundred thousand coins left to spend. Wil appeared in the streets of the Vulture city. He saw the sun wasn''t up yet but there was enough light for him to see the surroundings even without the help of night vision goggles. There were no passersby either. The streets are empty and silent. Wil looked at the time and sighed in relief as the banks are opened at 4:30 A.M. here which was an hour ago. Without wasting any time, he dashed towards the bank. As he entered the bank, Wil saw it was empty but the employees were sitting in their usual positions. "Hmm?" They turned their heads in surprise as soon as they heard the sound of footsteps. "Your Your Majesty" All of their eyes widened in shock to find their King at this time. Moreover, because of his purple name, they felt fear in their hearts just by looking at him. They hurriedly left their counters and rushed forward to greet him. Wil simply waves his hand and stopped them. "Don''t bother I''m here for an important transaction. Get back to your posts." "Yes" They quickly went back to the counters while Wil picked a random one. He then took out a gold bar from the inventory. "I''m here to exchange gold bars for gold coins." As the employee took it, she saw the winged lion symbol on it. Chapter 246: World Auction part-9: Wil acquires the Dino Egg "I would like to exchange these..." Originally, the gold bars belonged to the Athledon kingdom but after he retrieved the treasure, the system asked him whether he wishes to convert it as the Athledon doesn''t exist. Only after converting them did he revive the kingdom. Thankfully, unlike the deposit, the exchange didn''t take hours. It merely took five minutes for him to exchange 500 of them for 250000 gold coins. As soon as the exchange is finished, Wil left the bank and returned to the auction house. "Oh! You are at the right time. I was just about to text you." Akiko said to him in a hurry. She has a worried look on her face. "What happened?" Wil asked her. ''Is it already over?'' Before she replies, he heard Amelia announcing, "F17 bids 160000 gold coins." "160 thousand?" Wil frowned. "It already escalated to such an amount?" Akiko nodded, "Yeah. I think the maximum bid will be around 350 to 400 thousand gold coins." As Wil took his seat, she then asked, "Do you have enough funds?" Wil smiled in response, "relax. The item will land in my hands in the end." ''I hope so'' She mumbled to herself. Ten minutes later; "F17 bids 370000 gold coins." "E14 bids 375000 gold coins." . . . "E14 bids 410000 gold coins." VIP section, F17 room; "Damn it. Just how many gold coins this guy has. Does he own gold mines or something?" Dreamwalkers guild leader was frustrated at the moment. "Rachel, how''s the collecting going on?" The young and beautiful secretary beside him then answered with a sigh, "Sir, regarding that, we are out of funds, right now. In order to withdraw more funds, we have to get board directors'' permission but" "But what" Dream alias Shen Yating was getting irritated as he saw he only has ten-twenty thousand left. His secretary explained, "In the previous month, you used 360 million dollars to free our Elites from captivity. You know that the board members are angry with you. They are intending to remove you from your position. If you make another wrong move, it might" She didn''t finish her sentence but he realized the situation. He didn''t know about this squanderer but he has a business to run in the real world which is his backing too. A beast isn''t worth the risk. "Let''s just give up." Dream finally decided to resign. He didn''t bid further. Ten seconds passed and suddenly, he received a notification. *Ding! You receive a private message from Supreme Conqueror. "Eh?" Dream was taken aback as he read the message from this ally of his. For a half minute, there was silence in the auction. Amelia wasn''t speaking. That means the squanderer is going to acquire the egg too. But right then, Amelia spoke, "F17 bids 415000 gold coins." This time, it was Wil''s turn to be surprised but as usual, he raised the bid by another 5000. Meanwhile, Dream was laughing in excitement, "50 thousand from Supreme Conqueror, 50 thousand from Star guild, 60 thousand from Tojo clan Heavens is on my side hahaha" With the help of his allies, Dream was once again back on to the game. The auction went on for another ten minutes war between Wil and Shen Yitang. The former was firmly raising the bid while the latter is getting frustrated as he raised the bid each time. The poor audience from the ground floor can only look from far. "E14 bids 590 thousand gold coins," Amelia announced for the last time. As the funds were out, Dream no longer raised the bid. "590 thousand, going once, twice" *Ting* "Sold" "Congratulations E14 for acquiring Tyrannosaurus Rex Egg." Wil smiled in satisfaction as he received the egg into inventory. Wil is happy, Akiko is happy, Kiyumi is happy, and the others Well, they can go to hell He doesn''t care about their feelings "The World Auction is coming to an end." Amelia gave an elegant bow, "thank you for all the participants. A total of 150 Billion credits worth of exchanging has been made today. As promised, Summersoft going to donate 10% i.e. 15 Billion credits to the orphanages and retirement homes all around the world through various non-profit charity organizations. Thank you for once again participating in this year''s World Auction. With new items, we will back next year. Until then" *Ding! The World Auction has been ended. She waved her hands with a smile and everyone immediately exited the auction house and reappeared in the places they teleported from. Wil appeared outside of the bank. He didn''t wait any time to take out his expensive dino egg. *Ding! A legendary+ grade beast egg is detected. Do you wish to hatch it? Warning: Hatching time is 14 days and needs to be out of the inventory. "Oh!" Wil was surprised. He thought it will be like Felix. After all, only heroic or lower-grade eggs will take time to hatch. For legendary, they will be hatched right away. "Maybe, it is because it is special?" Wil wondered whether it is because the dino is like the guardian beast and doesn''t need leveling. That''s why it might need time to hatch. "I have no problem in waiting. 14 days will be gone like the wind but the War will start in 6 days. I guess I won''t be able to use the T-Rex yet." Wil sighed as he clicked on Accept. *Crack* All of a sudden, a small crack appeared on the egg which means the process of hatching has already been started. Now, he needs to think of a place to store it. Once the hatching process begins, the eggs can''t be stored in inventory. "Hmm Where should I store it? The palace? It''s safe but I won''t be there. What if somebody steals it? I paid almost 600 thousand for this. Can''t risk it What about the vaults? Guild vault is risky. Anyone can be tempted. That includes even Aster. How about a Bank vault? I can certainly store it but" He turns his head and looked at the bank that was right in front of him. Storing the egg in the bank is a plausible idea but Wil hesitated to part away with it. "Wait a second There''s the safest place out there" Suddenly, he remembered something. Wil carried the dino egg in his left hand while the right hand took out a stone pillar from the inventory. Looking at it, a smile appeared on Wil. "Yep, this is the perfect place for the egg to hide it. As for this, I can just carry it like a weapon." Wil closed his eyes and concentrated on the world inside the Monkey King''s staff. But he can only see up to 53 floors with every beast resurrected once again. "My portable dungeon." Wil can''t help but smile as he takes a look at it once again. With a thought in his mind, he immediately sent the egg to the ground floor that has no monsters, and then, flapped his wings towards the ocean to kill some beasts and reduce his purple name to normal. Right then *Ding! You received a message from Athena. "Hmm, Akiko?" Wil opened Akiko''s message. Athena: Where are you? We should head for Scarlet Town. Chapter 247: Queen of misfortunate is actually lucky? Athena: Where are you? We need to head to Scarlet Town. "Ah! That''s right" Only then did Wil remember about the town. When they were discussing various things back at the auction house, Wil talked about his plans for the town development but forgot because of all the bidding war. Time Traveler: I gotta clear my purple name, first. I''ll contact you within a day or two. Meanwhile, there was a commotion in forums. The incident with B1 acquiring everything had long been buried. It was replaced by E14. Wil officially gained the title from the casual gamers, Squanderer. Once again the haters insisted that Squanderer is Time Traveler, the person from E14, it backfired on them because of one simple post. This post has nothing to do with Auction house but Time Traveler was the center of it. "Am I seeing things?" The player posted the title and then, below it, there''s a screenshot of the updated World rankings. World Rankings: Time Traveler: Level-275 Crimson Sun: Level-243 One: Level-239 Galaxy cry: Level-232 Siren: level-227 Astrophel: Level-224 Zenith Warrior: Level-224 Peaceful Monk: Level-223 Mad Wolf: Level-223 Slaughter King: Level-223 One day ago, they didn''t even find Wil''s name in the top 50 but now, his name suddenly topped the rankings. The supporters and the idle guys mocked the haters for framing Time Traveler. Forget about whether he''s in B1 or E14, he might have even participated in Auction or else, how would he level up so drastically. It only means that he was busy leveling up. The haters didn''t back down and argued that it might be Scarlet guild, not Time Traveler in person Looking at it, ''One'' laughed while sitting on the throne, "while the world was busy with a bidding war, this guy is concentrating on self-improvement for the real war and silently climbed the ladder. As expected of my rival But, I wonder where did he get acquire billions of EXP Perhaps Legendary grade level-400s?" *** East Ocean City; In the Scarlet Labs, everyone was busy with their work. A fatty was helping out a girl while everyone kept on glancing at them from time to time. Two weeks ago, this brother of their guild leader threatened her to hand over the flame but now, he was working as an attendant to her. They don''t know what changed. Neither does the girl as she had long forgotten Wil and their deal after she was finished with making a 3-star pill. "Okay, Uhh So, grind the rosewood into powder, first." She ordered him as she gave him a small branch. "Yes." The Fatty nodded and continued to grind it in a mortar. Meanwhile, she passed two red-colored leaves. "Add this Maple leaves too" She then looked at the holographic screen before her and read the instructions. Awakening Quest: Craft a Three-star Intelligence potion. Ingredients: Maple leaves, Rosewood branch, 2-star Intelligence potion, Water, Sage grass, Koor Root, Taramun Herb Instruction: Grind Rosewood branch, maple leaves, Sage grass, and Taramun herbs into powder in a ratio of 3:6:14:8 that you deemed necessary. Boil the water. Add the two-star intelligence potion and the mixture. Rewards: 3-star Alchemist. *** Looking at the quest, anyone might think it is easy but the awakening quest for the non-profession class is just as hard as for the adventurers. In fact, it is even harder. The right timing and right measure are needed for the potion. How much water needs to be used and how long it should be boiled. How long the mixture should be boiled. What is the correct order of mixing the ingredients, etc These are all the factors that they need to know it. Or they just can pay a huge amount to hire an Alchemist and let them help out. Back to the labs, Cyrus was working hard to finish the quest, meanwhile, the newbies gathered behind her as they were entranced by the white flame that was heating the cauldron. Amidst them, there were some important people. So, no one dared to even murmur, right now. Fifteen minutes later, Cyrus took out the lid and a strong sweet smell of rosewood enveloped the surroundings. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw a cyan-colored liquid and she retracted her flame. "Flasks" She asked her servant. The fatty handed the flasks to her. She then filled up the flask with the liquid. *Ding! You crafted peak-grade 3-star Intelligence potion*3 *Ding! You completed the Awakening quest. *Ding! Congratulations, you are now a 3-star Alchemist. Please check the new three-star recipes on the recipe tab. "Congratulations, Miss Ciara." She heard a deep voice from behind. She turns around as someone called her real name instead of her in-game name. There''s only one person that knows it. She bowed as soon as she spotted the person, "Thank you, Mr. Silver." Under the orders of Wil, Silver started looking after this airhead for the past week. At first, he found that she was a bit too dumb and na?ve and has the intelligence of a ten-year-old but then, he discovered her unique talent. 95% of the time, she fails even the simplest of the potions but the remaining 5%, she crafts pills, and potions with the highest quality. Maybe that''s due to the white flame or coincidence, he didn''t know but Silver was sure of one thing. If she can be taught, maybe, she can improve. With such thought in his mind, he approached the girl in real life and offered assistance. And his gamble paid off. With his help in real life and in-game, Cyrus/Ciara Williams was able to improve her success rate drastically. This led him to think that her failure isn''t because of her intelligence but because of no guidance. That means her talent in alchemy is very high. "I did it!" Cyrus showed him the flask with a huge smile on her face. Silver nodded and replied, "I know. I have already talked to your Professor. You can return to your college." Upon hearing him, her eyes widened in surprise and the smile became wider, "thank you thank you" Silver waved his hands. "It isn''t much. Anyway, you are leaving the city and the guild." He smiled as he put forth his hand, "congratulations, you are selected for Scarlet guild''s Elite division." She shook his hands while thanking him once again. Everyone around them looked at her in envy. Why she of all people had to possess such an incredible flame. They didn''t know, in fact, not even Wil didn''t know that there are two ways to acquire it. The first method is to craft any potion successively 100 times. The first person in the world will acquire the flame But Cyrus acquired the flame through the second method. She acquired Samsara flame by failing to craft a basic healing potion 100 times in a row. It was an achievement reward for failure and bound to her. Because Wil saw the person who acquired the flame through the first method in the past life, he thought this girl probably transferred it to her. But the reality is completely different. Too bad that Wil still doesn''t know of the truth and Cyrus Well, it''s been two months, after all. It would be a miracle for someone like her to remember it. Chapter 248: Cantonment Two thousand meters above North Grennola Ocean; *Bam* *Bam* *Bam* A hundred-meter-long pillar was swinging around, beating up common and Elite grade winged monsters. Wil was in his Neo-hybrid form. So, while his attack power increased by 30%, he wasn''t receiving the additional EXP but he didn''t care about this minute EXP as his sole aim is to decrease the hostility. For two days straight, Wil cleared the skies of North Grennola Ocean and was currently in search of a certain legendary grade creature that should have been revived by now. After searching for several hours, he finally found the herd. They are a group of Wyverns. 12 female Wyverns are around the large male Wyvern that''s twice the size of them. The females are of heroic grade while the male is of Legendary grade. "Good" Wil smiled as he finally found them. Looking at his name that''s almost in Lavender, he mumbled, "I hope the name will be cleared finally." "Ruyi Grow... 1000 meters." Suddenly, the pillar shot up towards his left side for a km of length while decreasing his mana by 1000. The lower-grade beasts that were on the way got scared for a second and fly away to escape. Meanwhile, he only increased the width to 50 centimeters at most so that he can get a good grip. "Mighty swing, activate" Grabbing it tightly, he swung towards the group like a baseball bat, killing all the level-250 beasts instantly as a critical hit landed on every beast. *Ding! You killed Sky Wyvern. You receive 6,400,000 EXP *Ding! Seraph''s Dragon bow consumed 50% of your acquired EXP. 3,200,000 EXP has been deducted. . . . *Ding! You killed Sky Wyvern King. You receive 102,400,000 EXP *Ding! Seraph''s Dragon Bow consumed 50% of acquired EXP. 51,200,000 EXP has been deducted. *Ding! You level up. "Yes" Wil screamed out in happiness as he saw the color of his name changed to deep red, which is still okay as long as he stays within his kingdom where he is the Prince. Time Traveler: Akiko-san, I''m done here. Let''s meet up at Scarlet Town. In no time, he received a reply from his future fiance. Athena: Finally, you are done I''m getting bored, staying here without doing anything. Both of them met at the Vulture City before proceeding towards the Fort. He then called for an assembly. But unlike the previous one, this time, there are four more people, mayors of the NPC towns tagged along with the Chief Minister of the Vulture City. The majority of them wondered who this beautiful woman is as they saw Akiko beside Wil. Is she a new official? Only the Prime Minister wasn''t surprised about her presence. Wil didn''t bother to introduce her to others and get directly to the point. "I''m opening the town of Scarlet. Announce to all the people of our state that the land is fertile and suitable for farming but only the families of soldiers are allowed to live. So, if anyone is interested to join the military and serve Ormshire, their immediate families can live without paying any tax. All of them will also be given land to farm. Also, hire people for official posts at bank, Associations, Administration, etc Scarlet Town is going to be our Cantonment." After announcing his decision, Wil looked at the Prime Minister, "I''m giving you two days. Is that enough?" "One day is enough, Your Majesty," Edan answered as he bowed. "Good." Wil nodded and then looked at the strongest person in the room excluding himself, "General Remont, report me the situation going of the Army." General Remont who is now a level-400 warrior after the update, replied, "Your Majesty, we have a total of 8923 members in our army which is divided into four divisions. 4912 Infantry, 1234 Archers, 1457 Healers, and 1320 Mages. So far, we have raised 3421 soldiers who are between level 100-200, 1346 soldiers between Level 200-300, 57 soldiers between level 300-400. The remaining 4098 are still in training but I''m sure, within a month''s time, every soldier can be a level-200." Wil shook his head, "we don''t have that much time. I''ll give you a week and add a hundred thousand gold coins for the defense budget. You have to recruit more people. Soon, you will also meet fellow soldiers from our Llyne kingdom. They will help you out. I hope you will co-operate with them and strengthen our defense further." General Remont quickly kneeled on his one leg and bowed, "Thank you, Your majesty. I''ll try to the best of my abilities and give you satisfactory results within a week." Meanwhile, the others are surprised that the defense budget is increasing once again, this time a whole lot more. Since they only have 150 thousand gold coins in the Treasury, the treasurer Wymer got worried and interrupted, "I apologize, Your Majesty. But, allotting such a huge amount to the defense will rise to the problems in administration." Wil waved his hands, "don''t worry about that. I''ll add another three hundred thousand gold coins to the treasury." "300 thousand?" The officials were once again shocked. They remembered the times when they operated the city with just 10-20 thousand gold coins. At the same time, Akiko was also taken aback by surprise In the auction, Wil already spent nearly 800 thousand gold coins. She can''t believe Wil still has more money. At first, she thought it might be because Wil was using the treasury but their investigations told that the Ormshire state is poor before the revival. It was only after Wil became the ruler, there is progress. That means, he has a lot of gold coins in his inventory and was practically feeding the state without any profits. She concluded that he bought them with real currency or he might have stumbled upon a treasure. Although Akiko was able to conclude about his source, she wasn''t able to understand why he was doing it. Even if it''s private land, it''s not worth according to her view. So, she became more curious about solving this mysterious jigsaw puzzle. *** Eldershore City, Llyne Kingdom; "Hah! After so long" With a tiny pillar in his hand that''s look like a 30cm ruler, Wil stepped out of the teleportation formation. He didn''t hide his face because of the deep red name which still terrified the NPCs around. As he was walking in the streets, the guards kept on stopping him as if he was suspicious but then, after finding his identity, they knelt on the ground for forgiveness. It happened too many times that made Wil extremely annoyed but he forced himself to keep his cool. He already had a deep red name, he can''t afford to go on a killing spree now. He went straight to the bank. The reactions weren''t that much different from when he has a purple name. "Your Highness" The Elves the bank greeted him, ignoring the customers in the lines. As he didn''t hide his identity, the forums are already full of Time Traveler being spotted at Eldershore city''s bank with a deep red name. How many players/innocent NPCs did he kill? Wil, who doesn''t have any idea what''s going on, skipped the line and stood before one of the counters. Some of them became angry but they can''t do anything about it. One is that the city belongs to him and two, he''s too strong. As they tried to inspect him, they found his HP is already comparable to that of a level-300 legendary grade beast. Chapter 249: Where Scarlet falls, Vulture rises "I would like to withdraw my fixed deposit," Wil spoke to the bank employee. "Yes" She replied with a scream, before apologizing to him and opening his account. He deposited 1 million gold coins when the currency is 251 credits: 1 silver but during the course of time, the currency was dipped to 148 now. So, his net balance increased to 1.69 million gold. This is the advantage of a Fixed deposit of the bank. The value price at the moment will be frozen. If not for the fact that he needed high funds, he wouldn''t have bothered to withdraw the amount until the currency falls to 10 credits. After withdrawing 1.69 million gold coins, he sighed in relief. "Hmm, Okay, now, I have1 million 800 thousand. It will be enough." Finishing his business at the bank, Wil then made a trip to the Deloris town and went to the barracks to meet with the general. "Your Majesty." General Gerrad and the rest of the soldiers kneeled before him. "Rise up." He looked at him. As he expected, every soldier was up by 100 levels. Level-200 soldier became level-300 and level-300 became level-400. Upon hearing the statistics of the army, Wil felt that his army is incredible. Wil felt like he can siege the capital city and get the throne as Raziel promised that he won''t interfere. But other than him, there are two obstacles to him. One is the Angel of Death who might or might not have left the kingdom and the other is the Queen herself who is now a level-500. It will be a tough battle. So, he has to strike at the perfect time. Back to the Barracks, the soldiers stood up and stayed silent while their General opened his mouth. "Your Highness, any orders?" He asked Wil. Wil replied, "I need 2000 of your men to shift to another base." "Another base?" General Gerrad was confused. Did this Prince build another base secretly? Wil nodded, "Yes, I''m developing another army there. I need some of your men to not only join them but also train them as fast as you can. 9000 of them and 13000 of you We will take over this kingdom sooner or later." Originally, Wil wanted to take all of them to the Ormshire but after thinking that they might not follow him before he takes revenge for Mirella, he changed his thoughts. "Oh! That''s amazing, Your Highness." General Gerrad was impressed that Wil isn''t just depending on 13000 of his men. His loyalty to Wil rose even more but too bad the familiarity has already reached 100, so, Wil didn''t receive any notification. He started to walk with the general to select the captain-level candidates to train his men at the Athledon. Just as he stepped inside the building, Wil received a notification. *Ding! You received a message from Silverknight. "Silver?" Wil frowned as he wondered why Silver sent him a text. Is it something important? Silverknight: Young Master, it''s bad news. A mysterious group of players with masks is hunting down our gamers. "Hunting down? Who might this be?" Wil''s frown deepened. Time Traveler: Did you note down the names? Silverknight: Yes. But none of them belongs to any guilds that our spies infiltrated. But, there was one odd thing that can be suspected. Time Traveler: What is it? Silverknight: Other than being strong, so far, we found 96 names according to the registered notifications. It is too much of a coincidence that they have a similar number that took over East Ocean City and helped out Supreme Master to form Hydra. "Hmm?" Wil fell into deep thoughts. After Supreme Master informed Aster about a mysterious organization that contacted him, he was the one that ordered Aster to make Supreme Master merge the guilds. During that time, he heard from Aster about how a mere 101 Elites managed to destroy the whole city. It is after the update, that means, they are powerful enough to deal with even level-300s. Of course, he doesn''t know that Supreme Master is using both of them or else It is easy to imagine what kind of outcome it will be. Time Traveler: Do you suspect it is the same group that''s targeting us? Silverknight: Not completely sure but yeah, considering their actions, I wouldn''t be surprised if they are the ones behind the slander against you in forums. "Hmm I see Since they can''t do anything to me, they think my guild is a pushover, huh!". He quickly sent a message in the guild channel. Time Traveler: All the members are summoned at the Deloris town''s Barracks. Llyne, 55633,61821. After that, he sent another message to Silver. Time Traveler: I want all of our boys from the company to be gathered at the Barracks here in the town of Deloris. Llyne, 55633,61821. And you need to do one more thing. He added the secondary coordinates that were measured by taking the center of the Llyne as the focal point. *** Level-210 wild zone, Llyne Kingdom; "You Who are you guys" Elyssa hollered in anger as she and her team were being pressed by this group of 10. Every one of them is level-200. What''s more, none of them are using any skills and just playing around with them with battle techniques. One by one, her team members died. She was the last one who was managing to block the attacks with her shield. But, how can she face against the nine of them She, who was suppressed from the start finally ended up dead without getting an answer. As she resurrects at the temple, Elyssa saw the message from Wil. She then sent a message to the party Crimson Moon: Let''s go to the HQ. *** In one hour, 1726 employees from Scarlet Securities were transferred to SGC, 231 gamers from all SGC branches, 325 Vulture gang Elites, and 135 Original Scarlet Elite division members. Most of them are below level-100, especially the ones without any guild name, and there are also non-combat players who were promoted to the Elite division. Overall, more than 2300 players gathered at the Barracks, causing a commotion in the town. Aster, Silver, RockFist, Elyssa, Cyrus Everyone was standing uniformly, waiting for Wil to speak. Meanwhile, the guilds who had spies in the city were also frantic as to what Time Traveler is going to do. Looking at them Wil spoke, "Today, I''m going to announce very important news. As of right now, I''m disbanding the Scarlet guild." *Gasp* The gamers gasped in shock as they heard they are going to be disbanded. If the guild will disband, are they going to be fired just this quickly? But they didn''t voice out their opinion and continued to listen. "Scarlet represents flame, blood, pleasure, fun That''s what the guild is doing until now. But the recent attack made me change my stance. I realized that there''s no use if only I''m going to be the strongest. From now onwards, all of you will no longer stand noble just caring about leveling up, defending ourselves, or killing the players on the way We are going to be the predators that symbolize death, opportunity, Loyalty, Greed, and Horror. For no good reason, people kept on challenging our patience. Then, fine. We''ll show them what happens when the vultures lose their patience." At the moment, the Vulture gang was reborn into the game. Silver almost teared up, looking at his Young Master as he saw the silhouette of Philip behind him. Chapter 250: Sun and Moon Realm Level-300 zone, Llyne kingdom; *Bam* Bam* Bam* A pillar was constantly swung around, killing each monster with a single hit. Not intending to waste his inventory space, Wil ignored the drops and made his way towards the dungeon cave. Honestly, Wil can directly fly and go to the cave but since his name is still red, he thought of going on a killing spree on the way so that he can meet Aerona after this. Because of his status, while the Llyne kingdom authorities can bear his presence but the kingdom of Elf is another thing. The other kingdoms have no tolerance for red name players even if they are a Prince or even a King. He entered the dungeon cave but instead of entering the portal, he walked deep into the cave, looking for a certain mark. Wil''s current objective is to gather the sun and moon stones which are only available in the hidden realm and craft his Prophecy ball. Naturally, since the past one''s entrance was hidden on the ceiling, Wil thought this one might be the same. So, he only searched the ceiling. Just as he expected, Wil found the drawing of the Winged Lion right in the middle of the cave. "Hmm" he stared at the mark for a few seconds. The ceiling was ten meters above him. He can''t use the wings and neither can he use any skills in a dungeon cave. "I can summon Leon but it can''t fly either way." The last time, they took the help of a tree and a few NPCs to hold it but now, there was no one to help him. Should he go and cut a tree again? Then, his eyes fell on the pillar in his hands. "I can use this, right?" Wil almost slapped himself for being so stupid. He has been using this pillar for a while and still forgot about its skill. Wil quickly left the cave. As he stepped outside of the cave, his skills became available. "Ruyi Grow, eight meters." The pillar shot up towards the cave and almost struck the portal. He then set its width to 1 meter to get a firm grip. "Activate, Cloning. 1 clone" Wil activated the skill using the Monkey king''s staff and summoned his clone. Within a second, Wil''s identical twin appeared before him. Clone is just like summoning a battle companion with your own stats except that it is an A.I. that was formed by his previous data. So, he didn''t feel like the clone is a part of him or something. It was more like his fallen angel servants with different stats. "Follow me." Wil stepped inside the dungeon cave and the clone followed him. The enlarged pillar scratched the walls but Wil managed to control it and finally, hit the mark with one end while tightly grabbing at the other end in a slanted way. "Touch that mark with your hands," Wil said to his clone as he pointed at the drawing. The clone nodded in response. It didn''t waste any time to jump on the pillar and ran towards the destination just like how he jumped onto the Tree trunk back then. As the pillar was completely under Wil''s control, the clone was able to make to the top without any issues and touch it, activating a light beam that engulfed both of them, transporting them to somewhere else. *Ding! You entered Sun and Moon realm. He found himself in a large crater. There are rocks and craters everywhere around him. Wil felt light compared to the outside world or in the real world. "Is this how it feels to be on the Moon?" Wil thought as he lightly jumped high but was able to jump over 3 meters with ease. "I still wonder why this is called Sun and Moon realm instead of just calling it as a Moon. Maybe, due to the sun beasts?" Wil then takes a look at two beautiful planets in the sky along with the gigantic Sun. One large one has four continents and three oceans, and the other is a dwarf planet without any oceans or seas. "That must be where the newbies will start now," Wil mumbled to himself as he stared at the dwarf planet. In the earlier update, the newbie villages were removed and shifted to this world so that everyone can mingle with each other and when they reached level-20, they can directly choose their destination and teleport. In place of newbie villages, one NPC town is added to every region in every kingdom. That explains why Ormshire was expanded and has four towns and a city. It was also the same in his past life but Wil never cared much about the newbie planet or the hidden realm as he was too busy fighting a futile war against Bran and Sierra. But, now that the circumstances are changed quite a bit, Wil thought of enjoying even for a while. There are still five days to go. More than enough time for him to level up to 300 and clear his red name. Wil jumped around like a kangaroo with a smile. After all, who doesn''t have a fantasy of jumping on the moon... Meanwhile, his clone was following him around like a child. Maybe, it was a colony of rabbits; Wil saw a lot of Moon rabbits of common to Heroic grade jumping around like him. Since he never attacked them, they let this weird creature passed by. After having enough fun, Wil stopped and so was the clone. "Okay, that''s enough. Let''s finish the job." "Summon, Leon." *Roar* The white-winged lion is back with a mighty roar, scaring the sh*t out of nearby beasts. As a beast that was connected to Wil, it easily distinguished Wil from his clone and stepped forwards to him, and kneeled to his height. Caressing its mane, Wil jumped onto its back, and then looked at the clone, "Kill every beast you can find around. Here" Wil then threw a storage bag that he bought at the market back in Vulture City. The clone caught it in reflex and looked at him as if he was asking what is this for "Collect the stones that suddenly appear after you kill the monsters. Forget about everything else." As the clone nodded, Wil ordered Leon to fly away to look for the boss as well as to check the range of the clone. There''s a reason he left the clone. He knew that a battle companion or a summoning beast can stay in 5 miles apart in open/material world and unlimited range if it is a closed world like hidden realm or dungeon but he didn''t know whether it is applied the same to the clone as it wasn''t mentioned in the skill description either. In a couple of minutes, Wil and Leon are already out of the clone''s sight and it then started to look around to finish his orders. *Ding! You killed the Sun rabbit. You receive 7,680,000 EXP *Ding! Seraph''s dragon bow consumed 50% of your EXP. Your EXP was deducted by 3,840,000. "Oh! Looks like I''m right" Wil''s eyes lit up as he started receiving EXP continuously even though he already traveled 10 miles. "Now, the only thing left is to check the range after returning to the wild zone." He believed the clone functions like his battle companions. Putting the notifications on silent, he continued his search. They reached the lunar South Pole and saw there''s a deep ravine just like the one at Realm of Light. Chapter 251: Capturing the boss The ravine was filled with magma that was flowing like a river. Meanwhile, on the outside, the surroundings were frozen in ice. The beast he was looking for was nowhere to be seen either. Wil wondered whether he''s in the right place. He asked Leon, "Are you sure?" Leon nodded its head like a human and let out a low growl. "Okay." Trusting Leon, Wil steps down from its back and crouched at the edge to inspect the magma. Erlanger river Description: A magma river that flows through the underground of the Moon. Looking at the magma, Wil used 300 mana and summoned three more clones, and ordered one of them to go into the magma to test its damage. Following Wil''s orders, the clone jumped into the ravine with the pillar replica and dived into the magma river. Ten seconds later after he touched the magma, Wil received the notification. *Ding! Your Clone no.3 died. "Now, you go." He asked the fourth clone. Exactly, in the same manner, it died after ten seconds. "10% per second, huh!" After confirming his hypothesis, Wil puts down the pillar on the ground and equips his bow. "Ice Arrow." An arrow made of ice was conjured between his finger trips and he shot it towards the magma without any specific aim. With gravity''s support, the ice arrow successfully hit the magma and froze 40 meters of its surroundings as well as its depth. "Good." Wil was satisfied with the outcome and ordered Leon to get down to land on the ice. He picked up the pillar while unequipping the bow. Leon, Wil, and the remaining second clone landed on the ice without any issues. Standing on the ice block, Wil looked around to see whether it was hiding somewhere but still wasn''t able to find the beast. Grabbing his chin, Wil fell into thoughts as he stared at the magma river. "Maybe" He asked the lion, "Where is it?" Leon sniffed for a few seconds before looking towards the magma river. "As expected, the beast is under the magma. But, the problem is how should I draw it out?" Wil wondered for a few seconds before thinking of a plan. "Leon, point me the direction and distance." Upon receiving the information, Wil turns towards the direction Leon pointed to and ordered the clone. Following his orders, the clone pointed the pillar in its hand towards the direction that Wil points his finger to and then spoke, "Ruyi Grow 3000 meters." As his clone used the skill, Wil found his mana got deducted by 3000. On the other hand, the indestructible pillar grew up to 3 kilometers, pierced into the magma river before hitting something before growing a couple of hundred meters from his end. "Poke it but don''t kill it," Wil ordered the clone while he flapped his wings. The clone then lightly poked the head of the corrupted monster using as much little force as he can so that he won''t kill it on accident. When one is too strong, they often have to hold back their strength. After continuously poking it for a dozen seconds, the clone successfully woke up the monster. A small fiery cat that was sleeping peacefully on the bed of the magma river opened its eyes and saw a long and thin pillar was poking its forehead nonstop. It got angry. *Meow* It roared in anger and instantly jumped high towards the surface. Just as it was out of the water, its eyes landed on the giant lion. Fear filled its eyes. Something tells it that the lion is too dangerous and it isn''t a match for it. It has to escape. Wings suddenly grew from its back. But, right then, it heard a voice from above its head, "Not so fast, kitty." It raised its head and glanced towards the source of the sound. It saw a weird creature with two different types of wings, pale skin, long ears, and a tail. It has a gourd in his left hand and a pillar in his right hand. "Absorb." Wil grinned as he opens the lid on the gourd. A large amount of suction force erupted out of the gourd. "Bye, kitty." *Meow* It wailed but wasn''t able to escape Espurr Level: 300 Grade: Legendary HP: 1.32 Billion Description: A bipedal beast of cat species that was born from Solar Cat and Lunar Cat. During the day, it uses fire abilities. During the night, its color changes to blue, and can only use Ice abilities. It was corrupted by Fallen Angel King Lucifer. "Cool" Wil whistled as he read the description while glancing at the red-colored cat with big eyes, and a thick fur. It was currently sleeping in a prison inside the gourd. Returning the gourd to the inventory, Wil then proceeds to fly with Leon while dismissing the clone and transmitted his thoughts to the first clone to meet up. Wil took the storage bag from the clone and peeked inside. All the four hundred slots are filled with either augment-stones or sun and moonstones. He transferred 12 of them each to the inventory thereby receiving a notification. *Ding! 12 Sunstones have been detected in the inventory. Submit? *Ding! 12 Moonstones have been deducted from the inventory. Submit? He clicked on Yes on both of them. The stones disappeared from his inventory. *Ding! You completed the quest, Material gathering. *Ding! You received the Ball of Prophecy. Check out your inventory. *Ding! Ball of Prophecy is added to the unique equipment tab. *Ding! You become a full-fledged Seer. Class quests have been added to the Seer tab. "Finally, I can use Seer abilities" Will opened his inventory and found a crystal ball that''s similar to the one Owler possessed. He took it out in his hands and inspected the crystal ball. Ball of Prophecy Grade: Legendary Then he opened the character interface and clicked on the Seer tab. Character Name: N/A Class: Seer Level: Beginner **SKILLS** God''s Eye: Using the ball of prophecy, the user can see everything in the surroundings. Cost: 10 mana/50 meter radius. CD: 60 seconds Divination Lv1: Using the ball of prophecy, the user can divine the location of the desired object. Cost: 100 mana/1000 meter radius. CD: 60 minutes/100 mana consumption. Divination Lv2: Using the ball of prophecy, the user can divine the location of the desired person. Cost: 200 mana/1000 meter radius. CD: 60 minutes/100 mana consumption. **CLASS QUESTS** Quest 1: Perform divination 100 times. "Hmm?" Wil looked at the Character''s name that wasn''t displaying his. "I didn''t focus on it before but now that I see it, if I can just register another name and then change my race, I can have dual identities, right?" He felt excited at such thought. Not wasting any time, Wil clicked on it, receiving a system prompt. *Ding! Please input a name. He thought for a while and wrote his real name to confuse his opponents and dispel their doubts if they have any left. *Ding! The name is available. Would you like to register it? Warning: The name cannot be changed later. Wil pressed on ''Yes''. *Ding! Your name is registered as Williard Ravens Wil left the hidden unexplored as soon as he was done with the mission. Reaching the exit portal, Wil turned his head and looked in the random direction, "this place contains a lot of ores. I should hire some miners after a few people climbed up the levels." Chapter 252: Sirens Master Two days before the D-day; Searvale Kingdom; In the NPC city of Sase Allanar that was located in the middle of the forest, elves are roaming here and there. Every one of them possesses some kind of weapon in their arms players and NPCs alike. To say about the city, the number of citizens that live here didn''t even match the number that lived in a normal NPC town of a human kingdom. Even the number of players exceeded NPCs by a large margin with roughly 10000 citizens and over 200 thousand players. The same goes for the NPC guards. Roughly over 20-25 dozen guards are overseeing the entire city. Looking at such statistics, one can imagine the players took over the city from NPC, although the reality is quite different. Each Elven Kingdom contains four cities and 12 towns but combining all the kingdoms, with 32 cities and 96 towns, so far, only three have been occupied. Just three Shocking but true Even though they have little security, the NPC Elves who are in minority numbers are strongly united, and whenever they get attacked, every one of the NPCs will come forward to defend their city. In that way, their security is stronger than the human kingdoms. It''s extremely difficult for someone to raid the town/city and take control of it. Even if one occupies a town or a city, the Imperial palace will send their Elite soldiers to claim back. If their soldiers get defeated, then the Royal knights will come and if even they are defeated, the guardian/high priestess of the kingdom will personally take care of the invaders. Unless one is strong enough to face an Ascended or have nobility of Marquis or higher, they are hopeless. Because of this, the guilds have no choice but to look for player town scrolls to develop their own towns and cities. And it is also the reason the Elven kingdoms aren''t a popular destination for ambitious guilds to develop. It is more for casual players or adventurer teams. Only an information network guild like Galaxy Net is crazy enough to set down its roots here. Just like the usual day, new players are teleporting to the city and the veterans are going out towards the wild zone. A team with four newbies, who just reached level-20, appeared in the temple. Although they appear like teenagers, every one of them is an expert in disguise. It only took 3 hours for the four of them to escape the newbie world. They neither did any quests nor took any extra help. Just the four of them. That''s all. Even with 25 members of help, it took Wil, an entire six hours to leave the newbie village back then. Now, that says about their skill levels While the three of them are looking around, the leader of the party is busy with his streaming. The streaming option is a built-in facility for those who wanted to stream. There are two types. The first one makes your eyes the camera and everything you see will be recorded. Most people will choose this because it''s convenient. However, those who wanted to film themselves can choose the second option which lets them summon a camera into their hands. They had to do it manually Professionals also choose the second option as they are rather comfortable with a camera in their hands. Right now, this 15-year-old Caspian is filming himself in a selfie mode. "Hey guys, we are here at Sase Allanar, a city at elf kingdom. Everyone here is an elf, just like us." He stretched his hand so that all of them appear together. "Guys, tell our viewers something like how do you feel about this place?" Before one of his friends even reply, they were interrupted. *Screech* The four of them flinched for a second as they heard a powerful screech from far away. It echoed all over the city. Everyone in the city was alarmed. While the players are wondering what''s happening, the NPCs stopped all of their works and armed themselves to defend against the incoming enemy. Very quickly, as the view of the flying beast became clear, everyone sighed in relief and put down their weapons. Slowly, a 2m big and 5 m long Phoenix has landed in the middle of the city. A girl jumped down and ordered it in a cold tone like a master ordering a servant/slave, "Pyre, you are free to roam." It screeched once again and quickly flew away from her. Without caring about her surroundings, she walked towards the Mayor''s mansion. As if they received an order, everyone bowed to her and quickly dispersed. The four of them are dumbfounded. Everything just happened too quickly and they don''t know how to react. "What just happened, right now?" Caspian thought as he looked at her back. "Who is she?" As he inspected her, Caspian mumbled, "Siren Ah!" he quickly realized that he was still streaming live and saw many teasing comments popped up. He blushed and quickly turned it off in embarrassment. After a while, she reached the Mayor''s mansion and went to the guest room where she saw an Elf was just enjoying her alone time, reading some book. "Master, I returned." Rini/Siren greeted her with a bow. The elf smiled, "What''s the situation in the Palace, Princess Siren?" Rini answered, "The high priestess divined that Uflenor is going to attack us. Currently, the soldiers are in search of the spies." She then took out a letter and handed it to the Elf. "Her Majesty wishes to meet you." The elf took the letter and read the invitation letter. She simply put the letter aside on the table. "It isn''t the time yet." "But the war is almost upon us, Master." Rini reminded her. While the Elf might not know, Rini knows that the war is only two days away. Most likely, the next day, the system will announce it. Her uncle has an insider in the company, after all. In response to Rini''s reminder, the Elf shook her head, "A very important guest is going to visit me soon." "Important guest?" Rini wondered who that might be. The Elf quickly saw through her even though Rini masked her expression. She said, "Do you remember the time when I agreed to be my disciple?" Rini answered, "You said it''s because I''m the successor of High-Elf Faelyn." "It isn''t the complete truth." She confessed to Rini, "I also saw your fate intertwined with him just like me" "Him?" Rini wondered who she''s talking about. "Princess Siren, I don''t know how long it will take but I can say very soon. I would also advise you to stay with me until then. This meeting might be something that can change your fate. But, at the same time, as a Princess, you have important duties. So, I leave it to your choice." The Elf said to her. "Hmm" Rini grabbed her chin and fell into deep thoughts. *** Thousands of meters below the waters of the Xynnar Ocean, the Warship is moving at its fastest speed in the darkness. Maybe, it''s too threatening or maybe it isn''t a threat at all, for whatever reason, none of the aquatic beasts are trying to attack the ship. The Fallen Angels are in the control room, steering the wheel while Wil is busy leveling up in his portable dungeon. Chapter 253: Mastering skills Tower of Destiny, Floor 55; Ten legendary grade level-300 beasts are attacking vigorously. Seven of them are getting thrashed by the lion, one after another while the remaining three were facing the Golem''s punches. The central protagonist was happily lying watching the battle No one-sided massacre while flapping his wings and drinking cola, cheering them up. *Ding! You level up "Go Golem, that''s it punch it right in its face." "Yes, Leon, slash its throat and throw a fireball to crisp its face." *Ding! You level up *Ding! You level up Only one is left on the battlefield. Just as Leon about to finish the last monster, an arrow flew past like a lightning and struck the beast''s forehead, killing it. "Cool" Wil brandished his bow, making a serious face as if he was the one who battled the beast the whole time. *Ding! You level up. *Ding! You cleared wave 2. *Ding! You cleared the fifty-fifth floor. "Argh Dammit" Looking at his level, Wil became frustrated. "Just 220 million short" Level: 299 (221,341,556 EXP needed to level up) "Climbing another floor would be a waste of HP, now. And I can''t go the lower floor either" As he concentrated on the lower floors, Wil wasn''t able to find a single monster. "I wonder why they haven''t been revived yet. Is it in Cooldown or should I have to clear all the floors" *bam* A huge treasure box fell on the ground, pulling him out of his thoughts. He opens it. *Ding! You received a random peak-grade skill book, legendary-grade Appraisal scroll, legendary-grade Saddle, limit break stone*2, Demonic Essence crystal*1, and 3000 gold coins. Please check your inventory. "Oh! A peak-grade scroll and Saddle This time, it is a good reward." Wil''s eyes lit up as he saw the reward list. He didn''t waste any time taking out both of them. It was the first pet equipment he acquired and it turned to be of legendary grade. Destiny Saddle Grade: Legendary Type: Pet Equipment Effects: User''s attack increases by 25% when mounted. Set Equipment: 1/4 Destiny Talons Destiny Wing Destiny Horn All of them are still in grey color. Wil figured that as he climbed the floors, he might be able to acquire them. Wil then clicked on the peak grade skill book and then selected Yes. *Ding! Congratulations, you have acquired the Beast Taming skill. "F**k**g god" He can''t but curse out once again as soon as he saw the skill name. "Too many surprises today..." A grin appeared on hi face. It was very familiar to him. In his third year of gaming, Wil acquired this skill in his past life by coincidence. But as he wasn''t strong enough to tame the legendary grade monsters, he was only able to tame Elite and Heroic beasts. But, even those hundred monsters weren''t enough to go against Bran. In return, he and his monsters were completely crushed. Beast Taming (Beginner): Use the magic power to tame the wild monsters as long as they are equal to or less than your level. Tamer inventory: 1 slot. Cost: 100 mana points. CD: 12 hours. While this skill might appear Overpowered as it has the potential to capture even a mythic grade, Wil knew this skill has its own disadvantages. Unlike the summons that acquired from the skills or the battle companions, the beasts that were captured by this skill can''t level up. So, as the user level up, the monsters will become weak and they have to discard them away to pick a new monster. "Well, let''s maximize it." Wil didn''t waste any time and opened his inventory. He scrolled and stopped on a slot that has the image of a green book, which represents a high-grade. Instead of simply clicking, he clicked and hold for a few seconds. *Exchange for skill fragments?* He clicked Yes. *Select the number of books to exchange. 1 high-grade skill book = 10 skill fragments. Wil went all in. *Ding! You exchanged 24 random high-grade skill books for 240 skill fragments. As he leveled up, Wil also received one skill fragment per every five levels. Combining with 19 of them, Wil gathered a total of 259 skill fragments. For one second, Wil wondered whether he should hold them for a unique skill but since 1000 skill fragments are far away, he proceeds with the exchange. Wil then clicked on the slot and hold it once again. *Exchange for skill points?* "Yes." *Select the number of skill fragments to exchange. 4 skill fragments = 1 skill point. Wil went all in once again, gaining 64 skill points. He proceeded to maximize every skill that''s not been mastered yet. He started with Beast Taming skill. For beginner to Intermediate, one skill point has been consumed. From intermediate to advanced, two skill points were deducted, and from advanced to master, four skill points were consumed. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Beast Taming. "Okay, 57 left More than enough" Wil then started from the top order as he can cover all the skills either way. *Ding! 6 skill points are deducted. You mastered Bubble. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Aura of Zenon. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Fire Pegasus. *Ding! 6 skill points are deducted. You mastered Resurrection Ultimate. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Gravity Suppression. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Meteor Shower. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Multiple Lightning Arrows. *Ding! 7 skill points are deducted. You mastered Weapon Transformation. "Ah! It''s over" Wil realized that he used all the skill points and there''s one last skill that needs to be mastered. It''s the skill he acquired when he crossed level-250 which he didn''t pay attention to, until right now. Thunderbolt (Beginner): Summon a thunderbolt in the sky without any warning and take out your enemy by surprise. Effect: The attack contains 200% of your attack power. CD: 30 minutes. *Slap* He slapped his forehead for another reckless behavior. "Sigh! Can''t anything now" He used the remaining three skill points on it. *Ding! 3 skill point are deducted. Thunderbolt reached Advanced level. Having nothing else to do, Wil returned to the material world and ordered the fallen Angels to sail towards the surface. Chapter 254: Meeting Aerona Marten One day before D-day; Imperial palace, Llyne Kingdom; "Is he still there?" Rikilda asked with a frown on her face. A Royal knight replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. For the past 16 hours, Prince Time Traveler never left the library even once." "Is that nephew of mine too bored that he came here to trouble me or is he looking for something?" Rikilda wondered. "What are your orders, Your Majesty?" The Royal Knight asked her. She waved her hands, "nothing. Just leave him alone, even if he wants to stay there for eternity." Sending away the Royal knight, Rikilda mumbled to herself, "as long as he doesn''t ask to return his money, it is fine. Things aren''t going well the way I want to, these days" Quickly, she became irritated as he punched the handle of the seat, "Gosh, how did that stupid brother of mine even rule this kingdom that was filled with greedy merchants and nobles I have more freedom and power as the Grand Duchess than being the queen." Meanwhile, in the Imperial library, the books are scattered across the room. Wil was frantically turning the pages and reading them non-stop for the past 16 hours. "Empire of Eden Empire of Eden Just where the hell is its capital" He threw away the book and took another book that contained Elves'' history. An hour later; Turning the pages, Wil sighed, "Every book contained Elves and their Eden Empire''s great history but none of these books contains Hmm?" He saw the drawing of an Elf on the page. Below her image, there was a birth and death date. "Born 2843 BC C Died 86 BC" It immediately drew his attention as he finds her extremely familiar. He mumbled, "Aerona" Wil continued to read. Unlike the other books, this one contains her childhood history. "Aerona Marten, the fifth child of the noble Marten family and served the Elven Queen, Alicia Eden as the High Priestess. Losing her parents and siblings at the age of eight, Aerona grew up with his Eldest sister" After reading the story, Wil closed the book, "Sase Allanar, huh! I hope she would be there. I only have one shot to scan the whole region." Not bothering to keep them back to the shelves, Wil left the Imperial library. Exiting the palace, Wil went straight to the teleportation formation. As he browsed the globe, Wil was taken aback to see his destination was in the Searvale Kingdom, all along. He immediately suspected Galaxy Net whether they chose because of her but he crossed off the thought after remembering she went to her home after they set up their base. So, it''s a complete coincidence. *Ding! 10 gold coins are deducted. He disappeared there and found himself in a similar environment except that there''s a statue of a tree in the center, instead of Zeus. The elves are praying to the Yggdrasill, the world tree that has been disappeared or hidden. Wil never cared much about it. As he stepped outside of the temple while transforming into an Elf, Wil then took out his Crystal ball with his left hand while his other hand was occupied by the pillar, which he shortened to 1 ft long. His class automatically changed to Seer and his character name changed to Willard Ravens, although the appearance remains the same except for ears. Wil closed his eyes and spoke, "Activate Lv2 Divination, 30 km radius." As 6000 mana points were deducted, almost emptying his mana pool, Wil closed his eyes and pictured Aerona''s figure. As if he was watching from the sky, the whole 30 km range was now visible to him and it zoomed in within a fraction of section, displaying the Mayor''s mansion and the entrance hall where she was talking with a male Elf, presumable the Mayor. He turned his head to the side. Just a mile away, the Mayor''s mansion was located. "Well, another unnecessary move She''s near to me." Looking at the Cooldown on the skill, Wil sighed, "now, I can''t use the skill for 60 hours Anyway, the job is done. So let''s go" Wearing the Mask of Tranquility to not get detected by the players, Wil walked towards the Imperial Palace. "Halt your steps." As expected, the guards stopped him right at the gate. "I wish to see Aerona Marten," Wil spoke his intentions clearly while removing his mask. "Can you inform her?" He then handed the earrings to them. As they were bound, he wasn''t afraid of them being stolen. "Once she sees it, she will know who I am." "Oh! Those earrings Lady Aerona spoke us about you." The guards bowed to him. "Please forgive our manners She''s waiting for you at the Entrance Hall." Wil was taken aback by their words. ''Did she know that I was coming? But, she isn''t a Seer though I was right. She wasn''t a simple Ascended. She might be of next level.'' Nodding to them, Wil walked through the gate and entered the Mansion. Just like his vision, he saw Aerona and the Mayor. "Welcome, Savior. I was waiting for you." Aerona greeted him with a smile as she stood up from the seat. The Mayor was surprised at her words. He then stared at Wil. "Miss Marten, it''s been a while." After exchanging pleasantries, Wil sat before her while the Mayor left to give them space. "Looks like you have many encounters after I parted ways. I didn''t expect that you turn into an elf. I''m also sensing the blood of Dragon, a Demon, and also an Angel inside of you" Her eyes widened in realization. "You awakened the ancient bloodline of Neo-hybrid?" Then, her eyes landed on the small rod in his left hand. She almost lost her coolness, "That''s Ruyi Jingu Bang the staff of Sun Wukong. That means you found the other two" As his secrets were like an open book in front of this 2-star Ascended, Wil confessed the truth, "Yes. A lot happened and turned out this way." She slapped her thigh. "I knew it. Poor Siren, the kid missed an extraordinary opportunity." ''Rini? What was her connection with this Elf?'' Wil wondered but didn''t voice out his doubts. "Okay, let''s come to matter directly. Tell me, what are you here for?" Aerona asked him. "I''m here to ask you a favor," Wil replied to her. "A favor?" Wil nodded, "Yes." He then took out his mythic grade ring. "I need you to appraise it." As she took the ring from his hands, she stared at it for a few seconds and spoke, "I can sense the aura of the Seraph in this ring. Is this" Wil nodded in response. He saw her eyes turned golden as she concentrated on the ring. She mumbled, "It has five locks, huh!" Aerona then looked at them, "okay, this one''s no big deal. I can appraise the ring and unlock all five of them but in return, you have to do a task for me." Wil nodded as it was within his expectation. Even though he hoped that she will remember his favor, since she already gave him her earrings, he expected there would be a twist like this. "Please tell me what I have to do." Aerona answered, "I want you to assist my disciple, Princess Siren in this war against Uflenor." "Eh?" Chapter 255: Assisting Rini "I want you to assist my disciple, Princess Siren in this war against Uflenor." "Eh?" Wil was taken aback by her demand. ''Rini is her disciple? On top of that, I should help her in this war?'' "But, our Llyne will also soon face the war," Wil replied to her, implying that he wouldn''t have time to help out. "There are thousands of soldiers, Royal knights, and I heard the current Queen is also quite powerful among the other rulers. With or without your presence, they can fend off their enemies on their own." Aerona explained to him. ''Rini is also a legend class user with a Phoenix. Why would she need my help? Not to mention, this kingdom has two Ascended NPCs. As long as this elf made her move, the war will over in an instant.'' Wil wondered whether there is something else she isn''t telling him. Something clicked in his mind, ''abnormality. Did Aria seal her powers or something? No, that''s highly unlikely cuz if her powers her sealed, she can''t Appraise my equipment, either.'' While Wil was in deep thoughts, Aerona was observing him, trying to figure out his thoughts while watching his three days of past. She was surprised as she found the method he used to discover her whereabouts. After thinking for a while, Wil took out an exquisite armor and placed it on the table. "If I accept, will you also appraise this Armor?" The armor was black with an attached garment on top of it. There''s also a strange symbol drawn on the clothing. Taking it, Aerona nodded, "Yes but I want you to remind that the entire credit should go to my disciple." As she raised her hand, a mask of tranquility appeared in her hands. "This will help you in hiding your identity." "Hmm?" *Ding! You received a quest, Assist the Princess. Description: High-Elf Aerona Marten wishes for you to assist her disciple in the upcoming war against the Kingdom of Uflenor while hiding your identity. Reward: Appraisal of Seraph''s Ring and Armor ''Help out Rini while hiding?'' Wil now understood her intention. Originally, he hesitated to accept her request as he felt it wasn''t worth giving an Entire kingdom to Rini just in exchange for mere Appraising his mythic grade ring. After all, he can ask Seraph for that. But then, as he thought more about it, Wil felt that his thinking is illogical. Even if the war is won by Searvale, Rini still won''t become the Queen unless the latter dies in war but he was confident that a former high Priestess like Aerona won''t stoop to such a level even if it was for the sake of her own disciple. So, trying to take advantage of the situation, he took out his Armor that he acquired from the inheritance quest. Luckily for him, she accepted the deal but asked for a big favor. If he accepted the quest, not only will he lose out on the War points but he will also lose fame. Whether it is worth the sacrifice? As Wil outweighed the pros and cons, unknowingly, he raised his right hand and felt something hit his chin. He saw the pillar. His eyes lit up, developing an idea in his mind. A smile appeared on his face as he took the mask, "I accept, Lady Marten." *Ding! You accepted the quest. You received the quest item, Mask of Tranquility. Aerona was delighted by his response and immediately appraised the ring as well as the Armor. Wil started receiving continuous notifications. She returned both of them to him. *Ding! You received the Quest reward in advance. The Quest, Assist the Princess has turned into mandatory Quest. Description: High-Elf Aerona Marten wishes for you to assist her disciple in the upcoming war against the Kingdom of Uflenor while hiding your identity. Failure: Favorability with Aerona Marten drops by 50. Conditions for Failure: Searvale faces defeat against Uflenor, Princess Siren dies in the war or the user escapes the battlefield. "Let''s see" Wil didn''t care about the warning notification. He was only excited to see how the unlocked stats turned out. Seraph''s ring C Left (Bound) +10 Level: 300 Grade: Mythic Attack: 300 +360% HP: 750% +900% Critical rate: 150% +180% Pierce: 150% +180% Mana: 600% +720% Critical Damage: 150% +180% Increase Damage: 75% +90% *** Seraph''s Armor Level: 300 Grade: Mythic HP: 839,808,000 Defense: 139,968,000 Critical resist: 150% Critical Damage resist: 75% Pierce resist: 75% Decrease Damage: 75% Heal: 150% Mana: 300% Skill: Absorbs 10% of damage when received critical damage. "Oh! Heal stat... That''s cool. But I wonder whether it is only receiving or will it apply to my basic heal skill too..." He equipped them without wasting any time. After finishing his business, Wil said goodbye to her, making an excuse that he had some other business to attend. He returned to Llyne and then using the medallion, he instantly, teleported to level-300 zone nearby the dungeon cave where he won''t be disturbed by anyone. It was the best place to implement the plan. After transforming into an Angel, Wil then used a mana scroll to recover all of his mana points before he spoke, "Activate, Cloning. 1 clone." A clone appeared with the staff replica in its hand. He pointed towards the horizon. "Just fly as much as you want. Don''t stop until I give you the order." The clone nodded and flapped its wings, disappearing from his sight. Meanwhile, Wil started to enhance the mythic grade equipment, using all the 11013 augment stones and 18 limit break stones to enhance their limit. *Ding! Seraph''s Dragon bow has been successfully enhanced to +10 *Ding! Seraph''s Armor has been successfully enhanced to +10 "Okay, I still have over 10400 Let''s hope it will last until +30. I wonder if I maximized the enhancement level, I can evolve them to Mythic+ If it works for legendary-grade equipment, why not for mythic?" "Here we go" He used a limit-break stone on three of them, increasing their maximum limit to 15. Consuming another 734, 560, and 846, respectively, Wil successfully enhanced their limit to 15, and then, once again, he used three limit break stones to maximize their limit to 20. Wil underestimated the difficulty of enhancing the mythic grade. He knew that enhancing higher grade equipment is difficult but didn''t expect there would be so much difference between a legendary grade and a mythic grade. *Ding! Seraph''s Dragon bow has been successfully enhanced to +20 *Ding! Seraph''s Armor has been successfully enhanced to +20 *Ding! Seraph''s ring has been successfully enhanced to +20 "Oh boy Only a little over 5000 remained. From 21, the stones will be needed 140, 160, 180, 200, and 250 and the success rate will likely fall under 5%. I guess I have to choose only one piece of equipment to enhance. Should I choose the Armor to improve my HP or attack, or maybe, accessory Comparing bow and armor, the obvious choice is the bow but the accessory has more buffs. Hmm let''s go with the " *Ding! Seraph''s ring has been successfully enhanced to +25. "Only 1200 left Oh! I forgot about the earrings Even though they are legendary, they are still useful." *Ding! Aerona''s earrings have been successfully enhanced to +15. *Ding! Aerona''s Earrings have been successfully enhanced to +20. "Still have 116 What to do with them?" As they are useless to him, he threw the rest of them into inventory and once again, concentrated on the clone. Since they are telepathically linked, Wil was able to track him down. Wil clenched his fist with excitement as he found the clone was already flying above the Xynnar Ocean. Right then, he received the system announcement. *Ding!* Chapter 256: No story Chapter (Stats and skills) Warning: This chapter only contains stat values of Wil and his skills. You can just skip the chapter if you aren''t interested. Warning 2: The stats aren''t written randomly. From the start, I followed a particular formula whether it''s for leveling, equipment stats, damage dealing, etc... As a result, the stats became absurdly high but it will fit the story either way. So, no worries... Please refer to Chapter 87 regarding equipment stat guide. Enhancement guide: Each enhancement increases an equipment''s stats by 10%. 10, 20, and 30th enhancement will increase by 30%. Monster EXP guide: EXP 200-300: Normal: 100*Level Elite: Normal*16 Heroic: Normal*16*16 Legendary: Normal*16*16*16 310-400 EXP: Normal: 100*Level Elite: Normal*32 Heroic: Normal*32*32 Legendary: Normal*32*32*32 ****** Offensive monsters: Attack: HP/4, Defense: HP/20 Defensive monsters: Attack: HP/20, Defense: HP/4 *********** CHARACTER STATS Character name: Time Traveler (Neo-Hybrid) Bloodlines: Angel, Elf, Dragon, and Demon. Title: STRONGEST WINGS Class: Elementalist Level: 300 Stats: Base value (With Buffs) HP: 2.87 Billion (144.3 Billion) MP: 645 (23865) Attack: 285 million (5.75 Billion) Defense: 475 million (498.7 million) Attack Speed: 60 (372) C max of 744 arrows per minute (Limit-600) Movement Speed: max 300 km/hr (330 km/hr) (Limit-1 mach) Flying Speed: max 600 km/hr (660 km/hr) (Limit-1 mach) Critical rate: 1410% Pierce: 900% Critical resist: 765% Critical damage: 1155% + (default) 50% Pierce resist: 255% Critical damage resist: 255% Increased damage: 450% Damage reduction: 255% (Limit-99%) Attributes: Strength: 514 Intelligence: 600 Agility: 200 +100 (Light fruit) Vitality: 200 Endurance: 1 Free Attribute points: 0 EQUIPMENT: Elementalist''s Necklace (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Type: growth Grade: Legendary- Attack: 50% +60% HP: 100% +120% ???? ???? ???? Elementalist''s Ring C Right (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Type: growth Grade: Legendary- Attack: 50% +60% HP: 100% +120% ???? ???? ???? Seraph''s ring C Left (Bound) +25 Level: 300 (max 500) Type: Growth Grade: Mythic Attack: 300 +870% HP: 750% +1950% Critical rate: 100% +290% Pierce: 100% +290% Mana: 400% +1160% Critical Damage: 100% +290% Increase Damage: 50% +145% Seraph''s Dragon Bow (Bound) +20 Level: 300 (max 500) Type: Growth Grade: Mythic Class: Elementalist Attack: 83,808,000 +201,139,200 Critical rate: 300% +720% Pierce: 150% +360% Critical Damage: 150% +360% Casting/Attack Speed: 150% +360% Increase Damage: 75% +180% Mana: 300% +720% HP: 150% +360% Skill 1: Ignores the defense of the enemy upon critical hit. Skill 2: Absorbs 50% of exp gained by the user and level up. Seraph''s Armor +20 Level: 300 (max 500) Type: Growth Class: Elementalist Grade: Mythic HP: 839,808,000 +2,015,539,200 Defense: 139,968,000 +328,723,200 Critical resist: 150% +360% Critical Damage resist: 75% +180% Pierce resist: 75% +180% Decrease Damage: 75% +180% Skill: Absorbs 10% of damage when received critical damage Elementalist''s Bracers (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Type: growth Grade: High Legendary HP: 3952138 +4742565 Defense: 797852 +2371283 ???? ???? ???? ???? Elementalist''s Boots (Bound) +10 Level: 200 (max 200) Type: growth Grade: Legendary+ HP: 3952186 +4742623 Defense: 795213 +2371311 ???? ???? ???? ???? Sauron''s Crown +10 Level: 100 Grade: Gold Attack: 9% +11% Aerona''s Earrings (Bound) +20 Level: 300 (max 500) Type: growth Grade: Legendary+ Attack: 150% +360% HP: 375% +900% Mana: 300% +720% Critical Damage: 75% +180% Critical Resistance: 75% +180% ************************************ Character skills Active Skills: Fireball (Mastered): Throw a Big fireball onto our enemy with a 155% attack. Apply the burning effect on targets for 10 seconds with a 10% attack. 20m range. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Heal (Mastered): Recover yourself or your ally with a 100% attack. Costs 5 MP; No cool down. Dash (Mastered): Increase your speed to 300% for 10 seconds, Costs 0 MP. Cooldown time: 180 seconds. Fire Arrow (Mastered): Conjure a fire arrow and shoot the enemies using your bow with a 200% attack. 35m range. Costs 5MP; No cool down. Dragon Fire (Mastered): Breathe out fire continuously and burn the targets to ash with a 350% attack every second. Apply the burning effect on the target. Cost 2 MP per second; 30m range. Cooldown time: 120 seconds. ************************** (Evolved) Absolute Ice Control (Mastered): Absorb the magic power from surroundings and convert it into Ice for 5 minutes. You have three modes. Cost: 100 MP. CD: 10 minutes. Weapon Mode: Create an indestructible ice weapon in the form of a sword, dagger, arrow, or spear to attack your enemies for five minutes. Upon contact, the freezing effect activates and everything and everyone except for the user and the allies in 10 meters of radius from the point of impact will be frozen for 5 seconds. Puppet mode: Create an indestructible Ice puppet in any form from your imagination for five minutes. Upon contact, enemies will slow down by 60% for 30 seconds. Range: 50 meters Blizzard mode: Create a Blizzard for five minutes and attack your enemies. Upon contact, enemies will lose HP by 1% for every 10 seconds for five minutes. Range: 100 meters. ****************** (Evolved) Elemental Golem (Mastered): Summon an Elemental Golem using your magic power. It has two modes and four transformations with a specific skill. You can switch transformations at any time. *Costs 50 MP per minute; Cooldown: 15 minutes. Cast time: Instant Attack mode: Attack your enemies with a 400% attack and provide an Attack buff, which increases you and your allies'' attack by 100%. Defense mode: Defend you from your enemies by blocking the enemy attacks with defense and HP by 400%. Provides a defense buff, which increases you and your allies, Max HP, and Defense by 100%. *Metal Transformation: Activates Defense mode directly. Skill: Metal Dome: The golem protects itself and its master from the attacks by creating a metal dome. Range: 50m; Cost: 100mana; Effect: Blocks 200% Max HP of the Golem. CD: 10 minutes. *Ice Transformation: Activates Attack mode directly. Skill: Ice beam: The golem releases a beam of ice towards the enemies in a straight line of 5meters of width. Range: 50m; Cost: 100mana; Effect: Attack increased by 100% of Max Attack of Golem. CD: 10minutes. *Wood Transformation: Can choose Attack or Defense mode. Skill: World Tree: Transform into a replica of the world tree and attack with the branches. In defense mode, the user can hide within the tree. Range: 50m; Cost: 100mana; Effect: The attack strength of each branch is equal to 10% of Golem''s Max attack. CD: 0 seconds. *Lava Transformation: Can choose Attack or Defense mode. Skill: Lava flood: Flood the area with indestructible lava and destroy your enemies. Range: 50m; Cost: 10 MP per second; Effect: Touched by lava damages enemy''s health by 1% for 10 seconds. CD: 30 minutes. *********************************** Ice Arrow (Mastered): Conjure an Ice Arrow and shoot down your enemy with a 240% attack. Freeze the surroundings of 40m from the point of impact. 35m range. Freezing doesn''t affect Ascended NPCs, and legendary+ or above grade monsters. Cost: 20 MP. CD: 30 seconds. (Skill book) Bubble (Mastered): Create a bubble around you to breathe and swim underwater at any depth for 180 minutes. Cost: 80 MP. CD: 1 day. (Skill book) Aura of Zenon (Mastered): Call the spirit of Zenon and increase your stats by 100% for ten minutes. Cost: 0 mana CD: 1 hour. (Skill book-Evolved) Resurrection Ultimate (Mastered): Resurrect your allies and pets without restriction to number as long as they are equal or below your level. Resurrected people will be invincible for 10 seconds. Cost: 10 MP per person. CD: 6 hours. Cast time: 1 second per person. (Unique) Fire Pegasus (Mastered): Summon a fire Pegasus to use a flying mount for traveling great distances. The mount disappears as soon as the user engages in battle. Flying speed: 600%; Running speed: 200%. CD: 0 seconds. Cost: 0 MP Special skill: Become invisible for 10 seconds. (Unique) Gravity Suppression (Mastered): Control gravity around you and force your enemies to stick onto the ground helplessly for 30 seconds. Doesn''t work on Ascended NPCs and Legendary+ or above grade monsters. Range: 150 meters. CD: 60 seconds. Cost: 5 MP. (Unique) Heavenly push (Mastered): Control the element of wind and push your enemies 100 meters away from you with a 0% attack. For every 10 mana consumption, Attack damage increased by 200%. Range: 50 meters. CD: 20 seconds per 10 MP. Multiple Lightning Arrows (Mastered): Shoot the enemies with an arrow infused with lighting element with a 300% attack while ignoring their defense. CD: 10 minutes. Cost: 50 Mana. (Unique) Weapon Transformation (Mastered): Transform your Bow into any kind of weapon with a thought. The stats won''t change irrespective of transformation. CD: 30 seconds. Cost: 0 mana. Available transformations: Staff, Dagger, Spear, heavy sword, katana, and any type of Gun (bullets are excluded) **************** (Skill book-Evolved) Meteor Shower (Beginner): Shoot a magic energy Arrow into the sky and rain a shower of an unlimited number of meteors upon the enemies in an area with 100 meters of the radius. Each meteor is 2m wide and has the attack power of 200% of your Max Attack. Cost: 5 MP per meteor. CD: 6 hours. Cast time: 1 second per meteor. Additional Effect: After invoking the meteor shower, you can delay the timing of each meteor for a span of 30 minutes. *************** (Lv 200) Metal Armor (Beginner): The user can gather magic energy and turn his body into steel, increasing defense by 1000% for an hour. Speed decreases by 50% and wings will disappear. Cost: 100 MP. CD: 6 hours. (Lv 250) Thunderbolt (Advanced): Summon a thunderbolt in the sky without any warning and take out your enemies by surprise. Effect: The attack contains 300% of your attack power. CD: 20 minutes. (Lv 300) Metal Spear (Beginner): Conjure a metal spear to pierce your enemies with a 200% attack. It disappears after causing damage to the enemy once. The user can call back the Spear if he misses the target. Effect: The defense and the buffs on the enemy will be ignored. Cost: 150 MP. CD: 12 hours. Short Teleportation: The user can teleport to any place within 500 meters around him. Cost: 20 MP. CD: 6 hours (Skill book) Kagyre (Beginner): Summon the twin spirits, Karion and Gyreon into your pets, or summons to summon a two-headed dragon, Kagyre for 15 minutes with 500% of your health. Cost: 100 MP. CD: 60 hours. Default Skills: Single Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from one of two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the player. Cost: 2 MP per second. CD: 0 seconds Double Dragon Breath: Burn your enemies with dragon fire from two heads of Kagyre with a 200% attack of the player at the same time. Cost: 5 MP per second. CD: 0 seconds. Additional skills: All the skills possessed by the offerings will be added. Beast Taming (Mastered): Use the magic power to tame the wild monsters as long as they are equal to or less than your level. Tamer inventory: 100 slot. Cost: 100 mana points. CD: 12 hours. ********** (Reward by Aria) Soul Link: Links the spirit of Leon and the player. Leon''s overall stats will drop to half and the user''s overall stats will be doubled. Includes: Attack, Defense, HP, Speed, and Critical rate Passive Skills: The bow of Elementalist: Every arrow you fire contains elemental magic, instead of magic energy. Aura of Elementalist: Damage against other classes and Monsters increased by 10% and Damage reduction against other classes and Monsters increased by 10%. Toughness: Increases your Defense by 5%. One with Wind: Increase Movement Speed and Flying Speed by 10%. King''s Halo: Your pet stats will be increased by 50%. Available Skill points: 0 *********** Titles: Battle Emperor: Increase damage by 50% and decrease incoming damage by 50% against other players. Most powerful Wings: Altitude range increases to 5km. Flying speed increases by 50%. ********** Battle Companions: No. of Slots = 10 Strix: A level-200 Elite beast that was caught in the hidden realm of light. Moves at the speed of light and can''t be hit. It can''t attack either. Useful for scouting purposes. Felix: A level-200 legendary-grade Nine-tailed fox that was acquired from the Battle Tournament. Currently, it has five tails. Happy: A level-100 legendary-grade panda cub that was caught in the forest of Ormshire. Sniffler: A level-120 Elite-grade mutated rat that was caught in the town of Westwoods. It has a belly with an infinite amount of storage space. Leon: A level-400 mythic-grade winged lion. Wil''s best mount. Grade: Mythic- Level: 300+100 HP: 156 Billion Attack: 39 Billion Defense: 7.8 Billion Max movement/Flying speed: 3.2 mach (limit to 1 mach if Wil is mounted) Crt.rate: 400% Crt.resist: 400% Crt.dmg: 200% Pierce: 200% T-Rex Egg: A legendary+ grade dinosaur with a potential of mythic+. It hasn''t born yet. ********* Pet Equipment: Destiny Saddle Grade: Legendary Type: Pet Equipment Effects: User''s attack increases by 25% when mounted. Set Equipment: 1/4 ********* Unique Equipment: Ravens Warship Ruyi Jingu Bang/Monkey king''s staff Crimson Gourd Nimbus cloud Imperial sword Imperial prince robes Prince medallion ************* Properties list: Scarlet district at East Ocean city - 53,000 sq.m Scarlet district at Deloris Town - 90,000 sq.m Ravens district at Eldershore city - 250,000 sq.m Mayors Mansion at Deloris town 12 stores at Deloris town Ormshire state in Athledon kingdom - 653 sq.km ******** Wealth: Inventory: 1,821,232 gold coins Chapter 257: Angel of War, Gadriel 32 days ago; Capital city, Llyne kingdom; While Wil was leading General Gerrad and his regiment at East Ocean city, a great battle was going on between the forces of Mirella and the rebels lead by Duke Nukegan and his son in the capital city. With her superior strength, she slew Nukegan and gained the victory. The Duke''s son escaped, the Generals aren''t willing to lead and with no other choice left, they knelt on the ground as she looked at them with cold eyes. Her voice reverberated throughout the surroundings, "It is true that my mother is a Dragon but still, I was also the blood of your King. It is true that I carry the bloodline of a dragon but I also carry the blood of a human. Why is that I was being judged as a beast when my other half is a human? After my father died, I took up the throne. If even Lord Raziel approved my bloodline, who are you guys to slander me. In the past ten years, there was never a problem that I wasn''t able to solve as the King. That would mean, neither my birth nor my actions are on the wrong side. So, all of you chose the wrong side. All of you dare use my bloodline as an excuse to rebel against your King All of you must really wish for death" Her voice reverberated through the surroundings. "Please spare us, Your Majesty." Everyone begged for forgiveness. But, her steel heart was never to melt and become soft. On the contrary, her rage increased further because of her dragon bloodline. She raised her sword and pointed at them, "All my life, my father taught me one thing. That is never to give a second chance to those who betray you or else you will only encourage others to follow their path. For committing treason against the throne, every one of you will be executed. Accept my judgment and instead of traitors, your deaths will be treated as a sacrifice, and your families will be spared Reject my judgment and raise your swords, you will be killed and your families will not have any place in my kingdom. Now, choose" All around the palace grounds, only Mirella''s voice was echoing while everyone else became silent. "Hmm" Right then, she sensed something and raised her head. She saw a young boy with one white wing and one black wing was looking at them from the sky. ''Who is that?'' Mirella frowned as he looked at the boy who seemed like he''s only 5-6 years old. Even though there are restrictions of flying except for the guardian, guardian beast, or the king, this strange young boy was flying within the premises without any issues. Moreover, she can''t even sense his level. Suddenly, he raised his hand towards her. All of the magic energy in the surroundings sucked into his hand and formed a small black-colored energy ball. Her pupils dilated as she sensed an enormous amount of energy in the black orb. As a dragon, she was indeed sensitive to magic power. "Who" Before the words even escaped her mouth, the energy ball hit the ground and an enormous explosion occurred that took out almost half of the city. The young boy suddenly grew to a young man. 31 days ago; Zuweth kingdom; The people are mourning their loss as thousands of soldiers were killed in the invasion. However, a few players were discussing in the kingdom forums about the appearance of a young man with a white wing and a black wing. 30 days ago; The young man with the white and black wings appeared at the Elven kingdom of Evelon. He did nothing but walked through the streets, looking around while releasing a dark energy into the surroundings. 25 days ago; He appeared in the capital city of Reverie kingdom. 16 days ago; He appeared in the capital city of the Searvale kingdom. 10 days ago; He appeared in the capital city of the Gailzach kingdom. 5 days ago; He appeared in the capital city of Pirn kingdom. 1 day ago; He finally reached the capital city of the Demon kingdom. After corrupting the surroundings with dark energy, he flew towards the barrier that was located at the edge of the demon continent, where the south pole exits and was surrounded by a barrier. And yet, he was able to enter the barrier without destroying the formation. The young man saw there was another barrier. It looked like a giant pitch-black cube. As he neared the cube, he heard a hoarse voice from it. "You are here, Gadriel." He knelt on the ground, "Yes, my king. Due to the help of a mortal, I was able to escape from the Abyss and reincarnate. I''ll set you free" He touched the cube. "Ouch" He cried in pain as his hand burned. "The sealing has been weakened over the course of years but you weren''t strong enough to break it. At least, not yet." The voice from the cube spoke to him. Gadriel, the Angel of War clenched his fist, "Don''t worry, my king. Once the world plunged into chaos, my strength will rise. Soon, Lucifer, the almighty King of Hell will return." *** Scarlet Apartments, Leafway city; Wil was sleeping in the capsule however he was awake while the game is in maintenance. He opened the forums. There''s a trailer. He clicked on it. There was only one young man, a fallen angel to be precise. He appeared in different locations releasing the dark aura. Then, the scene changed to the one he saw in the previous trailer for the major update. Two sides are opposite each other and as the sun rose, they rushed towards each other. *WAR ONLINE* He closed the trailer and read the details. *Greetings from Summersoft* Here are the details for the minor update on Aug 23rd, 2020. Update Schedule: Aug. 23rd, 12:25 P.M. to Aug. 23rd, 2:25 P.M. EST (Eastern Standard Time) Or Aug, 23rd 04:25 A.M. to Aug. 23rd, 06:25 A.M. WST (Western Standard Time) Note: The maintenance time can be increased further. Update details: When the Angel of War walks into the world, it plunges into chaos. As Gadriel completed his trip to all the 32 kingdoms, it is time for the world to enter a new phase. During this time; All the monsters will disappear from the wild zones. The Dungeon limit is increased to 10 per day. The Cooldown time for Normal, Elite, and Heroic grade dungeons was removed. The Cooldown time for the legendary grade dungeon was reduced from 24 hours to 6 hours. Dungeon entrances are no longer restricted to the cave. Several portals have been placed all over the wild zones. Players are immune to attacks from other players of the same kingdom. The War Segment is divided into two phases. The first phase: Intercontinental War North Zalfari Continent: The Kingdom of Gailzach goes war against the Kingdom of Eiron. The Kingdom of Talion goes war against the Kingdom of Sturin. The Kingdom of Krara goes war against the Kingdom of Isengard. The Kingdom of Culon goes war against the Kingdom of Elithiya. Chapter 258: War Schedule South Zalfari Continent: The Kingdom of Pirn goes war against the Kingdom of Zidor. The Kingdom of Ayrith goes war against the Kingdom of Meazia. The Kingdom of Iseria goes war against the Kingdom of Hithlum. The Kingdom of Gesian goes war against the Kingdom of Praiton. Xynnar Continent: Kingdoms of Baernarta, Everton, and Forlond are in a three-way war. Kingdoms of Rivendell, Yhenaes, and Tavrobel are in a three-way war. Kingdoms of Tirion, Edhellond, and Arkaley are in a three-way war. Kingdoms of Uflenor, Reverie, and Searvale are in a three-way war. Kingdoms of Llyne, Evelon, and Zuweth are in a three-way war. "The hell A three-way war?" Wil was in a daze. "Last time, it hasn''t happened that way. It was supposed to be a normal war and one of the kingdoms gets lucky to ally with one of the kingdoms. Did my actions influence that much? Perhaps, this is the reason Aerona asked me to help out Rini. A three-way War is after all, a bit too complicated. There are no loyalties here. Any kingdom can betray the other." Staring at the names once again, Wil grinned, "looks like we are indeed fated to battle." As he saw the Searvale will be locked in a battle against Uflenor and Reverie, Wil went into a good mood. He longed to destroy Bran, his guild as well as his kingdom. Wil expected that it might take another couple of months but didn''t expect the changed future to bring them together earlier. "Even if I have to expose every secret I possess, I will destroy the Reverie kingdom for good." Wil clenched his fist with determination. He no longer cared about letting Galaxy net grow strong or losing out War points. All he cares about is to go out there as soon as possible. Wil then continued to read the Update details. The losers of the Wars will submit to the Winners and the kingdoms turn into a Province. Once the winners of every war are decided, the world enters into a peaceful phase of 30 days. Invasions against a kingdom, city, or town are banned during the period. The remaining kingdoms can formally ally with each other for the upcoming war. The Second Phase: World War Four Winners from each continent. Twelve mighty kingdoms will battle for supremacy. It is free for all War. Any kingdom can invade any other kingdom in any part of the world. The War won''t end until either the King/Queen submits or dies. The second phase ends when a kingdom has seven other kingdoms and forms an Empire. The first Emperor in the world will change the map of the world, and rearrange every kingdom in order to keep his power. The First Empire that forms will be declared as the Global currency. The exchange rates will vary according to citizenship. During this time, the Aynor continent will be under a rest phase for the next week. Prince Beelzebub, who is unhappy with his uncle''s rule will form a rebellion and set up a new kingdom. Aynor continent will be separated into two kingdoms. One is the Ars Goetia, which is ruled by the current Demon King, and the other is the kingdom of Azarath which will be formed by Beelzebub. Players have to choose the side between the two of them during the rest phase. Those who didn''t choose will be automatically be assigned as the citizen of Ars Goetia. On Aug 31st, the War erupts between Azarath and Ars Goetia. The winner will rule the Aynor continent and the loser will be merged into the other. Players of the winner will receive a buff while the losers will receive a debuff. *** Rules of the Battlefield: Players will be immune to each other attacks as long as they belong to the same kingdoms or temporarily allied kingdoms. Players can earn Experience by completing quests given by the King/Generals. Players can earn War points by killing enemies. Soldier = 1 War point Captain/Elite = 10 War points Squad Captain/Royal knight/Nobles = 100 War points General/Royal Family = 1000 War points Prince/Princess = 10000 War points King = 100000 War points With War points, one can buy materials, skill books, Equipment, etc from the War store. Guardians/Ascended level NPCs will only fight against a fellow guardian/Ascended level. However, if provoked by a player or NPC, they can act on them. During the first phase, players who die on the battlefield cannot participate actively in the same war again but they can defend the capital city. Outside of the capital city, all NPCs and players will be immune to their attacks. Players can participate in other kingdoms as long as the General or Prince/Princess or the King approves their participation and will be treated as allies. But, they will not earn War points or EXP from War quests. Important notification to the players from the kingdoms of Ayrith and Gailzach: As the kingdoms of Ayrith and Gailzach lost their territories in the earlier invasion, they will only defend and not attack. The players however as free to attack their opponents and end the war by themselves. If they win, they''ll successfully become an independent kingdom and gain another territory but if they lose, the kingdoms that have the right on them will have to battle against each other for the territory. The winner takes everything. Important notification to the players from the kingdoms of Llyne, Everton, Zuweth, Ayrith, Gailzach, Pirn, Talion, and Arkaley: As the above-mentioned kingdoms faced war and have their overall strength reduced, the players can resurrect one more time to participate in the war. The players who earned War points in earlier invasions have their points locked until the first phase ends. The War points acquired in the first phase or the second phase can be used on the spot. Non-Combat Professions: Players that belong to non-combat professions can also earn War points by selling their products to the NPCs. NPCs who buy your weapons, potions, or food will rate your product and give you contribution points. 10 contribution points = 1 War point. REWARDS: Players who belong to the winners of the wars in the first phase will receive a temporary stat buff in the second phase according to their War points. All the players who belong to the kingdom that formed the first Empire will be awarded fame points and permanent buff according to their War points. 1-10 War points = 1 fame point, 1% stat increase 11-100 War points = 5 fame points, 5% stat increase 101-1000 War points = 50 fame points, 10% stat increase 1001-10000 War points = 500 fame points, 18% stat increase 10001-100000 War points = 5000 fame points, 30% stat increase 100001-1000000 War points = 50000 fame points, 50% stat increase 1 million Above War points = 1 million fame points, 100% stat increase Note: Stat refer to Attack, Defense, HP, and Speed. The top three players with the highest War points will receive unique titles. 3rd Place: War King: All the stats are increased by 50% during a war. 2nd Place: War Emperor: All the stats are increased by 100% during a war. 1st Place: War God: All the stats are increased by 200% during a war. Note: Stats here refer to everything includes Pierce, Critical rate, critical damage, etc Chapter 259: Llyne submits to Zuweth? *Welcome to War Online* *Ding! The Queen summoned you to the Imperial Palace. As it''s an order, Wil teleported to the capital city. Stepping out of the temple, he started to walk towards the Imperial palace amid everyone''s gazes. Whether it is a player or an NPC, right now, everyone is giving him the way. Wil saw a trace of fear in their eyes even though he doesn''t have a red/purple name anyway. However, Wil wasn''t surprised about their treatment. He knew that NPCs are obligated to give him respect because of his position as Prince. As for the players, just a while ago, after reading the update details, he went to the world forums and there is a fair share of people who are having a discussion regarding Wil''s level. They are forming a number of theories about how he is 48 levels more than Bran who is on number two with level-252. As the War is going to begin in a few hours, everyone wondered how strong Wil really is. While the haters argued that players are useless in front of NPCs, the supporters countered by throwing a challenge to stop Wil on the battlefield. Of course, the main topic is still dominated by the War. Wil didn''t care about those stupid military tactics shared by ex-militia or Special Forces as he believed in absolute strength. You would only need tactics when there''s a sizable difference in strength. With 144 Billion HP, and almost 6 billion attack power, probably only the Kings or Queens with level-500 strength are a match for him. At least, that''s what Wil believed for now. Back to the present, he entered the Imperial palace that was fully constructed. As it still only 2:30 P.M., the assembly at the courtroom hasn''t been dismissed yet, so, the assembly is still going on. Not intending to crash the assembly, Wil asked the soldier to lead him to the guest room. Two hours later; *Knock* *Knock* "Yes, come in." Wil saw a Royal knight and his supposed in-game distant cousin, the new Prime minister, Arry outside the door. "Hello, cousin. It''s been a while." Arry greeted him with a smile. "It seems you have grown quite stronger and" Wil frowned as he cut off his words, "Spare me the nonsense. What am I here for, Arry?" He spoke as if he was annoyed to see his face. Being confident in his strength, he no longer faked his feelings any longer. Arry was taken aback by Wil''s tone and became a little bit angry but then, remembering the task given by the Queen, he calmed himself down and spoke, "the Queen is waiting for you, please come with me." Wil nodded and followed him. Arry didn''t speak on the way as he understood Wil''s stance on them. He sighed, ''this meeting not going to end well for her majesty.'' Wil realized the way is an unfamiliar path to him. The last time he was here, he was in a hurry to find Aerona''s location in the library. So, he didn''t care about it. They reached a newly built staircase that was leading to the underground. ''It looks like they made a lot of changes during renovations.'' As soon as he climbed down the first step, Wil received a notification from the system. *Ding! You stepped inside a safe zone. "Not a no-combat zone?" Wil suspected whether they will attack him or something. But then, he realized that he was an immortal to them. So, there would be no use in killing him. Closing the notification, Wil continued to climb down. In the dim-lit underground chamber, he saw there are eight people. Unlike last time, there are no ministers in robes but everyone is in their fully equipped Armor and seven of them are level-400. They have a large table before them with several large sheets of paper, miniature figures of weapons, soldiers, etc are spread on it. He glanced at the middle figure who was sitting on the throne. Wil was surprised for a second as he looked at her stats. Rikilda Llyne Level: 500 HP: 1,000,000,000,000 Description: Queen of the Llyne kingdom. ''To defeat her, I might have to depend on Heavenly Push,'' thought Wil as he greeted her with a plain tone. "Greetings, Your Majesty." The Generals frowned at his tone but stayed silent as Rikilda responded, "I heard that you arrived two hours ago. You should have come to the courtroom. You never once attended the assembly after I become the Queen." "I figured you wouldn''t happy with my presence, Your Majesty." Wil replied to her comment, "And also, I''m busy with other matters. So, what is the reason that I have been summoned, Your Majesty?" Wil already guessed that it was because of the war but still he asked her, going with the flow. "I''ll cut to the chase. Earlier in the afternoon, I received a letter from the Zuweth to hand over the kingdom as part of our deal. That will include the Eldershore region." Rikilda said to him. "Are you intending to go back on our agreement?" Wil''s face turned cold, although he was also delighted inside. "You Mind your tone" A general stepped forward while he was about to raise his sword. Rikilda reprimanded him, "Stand down general. You don''t have any right to butt into the conversation between the members of the Royal Family unless I permitted you to do so. Now, apologize." He bowed and apologized to Wil. She then said, "I don''t intend to back down on our agreement either. If I was a person who reneges on her promises, I would have torn the letter from Zuweth''s king. I will convince the King to make sure you will get to rule the Eldershore region and let it stay Autonomous. Meanwhile, I want you and your men to stand down and stay silent." Wil was indeed surprised that his plan was exposed to the Queen, although the reasons are different. He intends to attack the kingdom to get the throne not because his region was taken from him or something. Meanwhile, Arry was also surprised for a different reason. He thought she was asking for his support in the war but didn''t expect her to tell him to stand down. However, Wil shook his head, "You have every right to do whatever you want with the kingdom. Do whatever you want with Eldershore but I apologize that I cannot trust you and wait. Take a loan from Zuweth or seize from nobles or whatever you have to do, return my five hundred thousand gold coins, right now or else, you will force my hand." Rikilda''s face turned dark. She wasn''t even asking him to lend his support but this brat isn''t even intending on thinking her proposal. *Ding! Favorability with Rikilda Llyne was dropped by 30 points. Your Hostility with Rikilda Llyne reached 70 points Wil threatened her directly, not willing to show even a tiny bit of respect. He cares neither about his 500 thousand gold coins nor the fact that Zuweth is acquiring Llyne without any war. Right now, Wil just needs a reason to rebel and she gave him one at the perfect moment. Selling the kingdom to another nation and suppressing the Prince and seizing his assets, these reasons are enough for him to lay a siege on the city during the War. Chapter 260: Annulment of the contract Looking at the notification that displays his hostility with Rikilda, Wil expected to be blacklisted in the next few hours so that he would have one more reason to go against the Queen. Of course, he can also take advantage of the situation and make his Army transport to Ormshire. Wil knew that even if he wins, his money won''t be returned and he still has to fight against Zuweth and Evelon. So, he planned to weaken Zuweth by making her take a loan from them. Then, after Zuweth momentarily takes control of Llyne, he will cause a rebellion with the army and take back the city by killing Rikilda. And then, once he conquers Zuweth and Evelon before becoming one of the winners of the first phase, the debt Llyne owes to Zuweth will also disappear. The only issue here is the full-moon will arrive three days later. Unlike the other days, on the full-moon day, the moon will shine bright enough for everyone to level up in the wilderness. Even though the company has purposely hidden it, Wil, who participated in the War before, knew that player can attack their own allies during the night when the War is put on hold. However, unlike Wil, his soldiers don''t possess the Masks of Tranquility. So, either he had to attack the palace on his own or siege the city during the full-moon night. Because he possesses the Imperial sword, it will be seen as his right to claim his throne once the Llyne fell into Zuweth and Raziel will be forced to defend him from Archangel Nebula as long as he kills Rikilda. A few hours later; *Ding! Llyne kingdom surrendered to the Zuweth Kingdom *Ding! Llyne kingdom is changed to Llyne Province. *Ding! Player Starlight is chosen as the representative of Zuweth kingdom. Every player in the kingdom received the system announcement. They were shocked to hear that they were already out of the race even if it before began. Players who belong to the Zuweth kingdom, on the other hand, received joyous news of acquiring the Llyne kingdom. Llyne kingdom players started complaining in the forums. Some people try to appease them by explaining how they can still earn War points. But, it only enraged them further. Unlike the wise or powerful players, the casual players care more about fairness and moral values rather than advantages. They also like to complain about every little inconvenience and treat themselves as righteous. Some players will advantage of it and will be manipulating them to target someone in the end. That''s how, despite not doing anything, Wil was once again dragged into the mess for staying silent and not standing up for them. Reading their complaint against Wil, he only laughed, "So, if I''m the strongest player, I''m obligated to support you guys. Hmpf" He sent a text to Aster to note down all the usernames and asked him to register in their death note. After all, the usernames in the forums display your original username. Aster replied that their team was already on the job. After the formation of the Vulture guild, Wil tasked Aster to create the Death note. Those who are registered in the list will be judged later when he acquired the throne. Meanwhile, in response to the overwhelming complaints, Summersoft issued a statement that it was because Llyne''s main story quest was interrupted by a certain player. So, it wasn''t their fault. They further added the details to make their side of the argument strong. That certain player wasn''t able to complete the main quest that involves bringing back the savior. The savior was supposed to protect Llyne''s king from the danger of Angel of War, Gadriel''s attack. They made the name anonymous but it was clear for Wil who they were talking to. At first, Wil also agreed with them but then, he remembered how he easily killed the Dragon in her peak form. If Averil can''t even win against him, can she protect Mirella? He had his doubts. Putting aside the matter, Wil turned his attention to the personal notifications he received. "Hmm?" *Ding! The contract between you and Rikilda Llyne was annulled. *Ding! You received 500,000 gold coins in your inventory. *Ding! Eldershore region was no longer Autonomous. *Ding! You were removed as the Governor of Eldershore region. *Ding! You were removed as the Mayor of Eldershore city. The first surprise was that he wasn''t handed the bagful of gold coins in person. Wil wondered maybe, it''s because of the contract. The other surprise was that neither was he blacklisted from the kingdom nor did he lose his position as the Mayor of Deloris town even after the Llyne submitted to Zuweth. At first, he thought it was the result of the contract but then after seeing the last notification that stated his removal of Mayor Position of Eldershore city, it made him think otherwise. "Maybe, they aren''t in a condition to have an internal war. Hmm 13000 soldiers can indeed give them trouble. They will blacklist me after the war?" Wil then teleported to Deloris town and ordered his General Gerrad to retract his soldiers from everywhere except for Star Town which was operated by the Starlight guild. He didn''t give any specific instructions in the Vulture guild and let them play however they want as they aren''t still strong enough to help him out. He sent another special message to the guild members about how he will hand out legendary-grade equipment as rewards to those who did incredibly well in the first phase. Finishing his work at Llyne, Wil went to the Mayor''s mansion and quickly left after a few minutes. As he left the Mansion, there''s another copy of Wil, staring at his back from the window. He then stepped inside the teleportation formation to leave to Scarlet town at Ormshire to finish one last business with the Athledon king. As the soldiers returned to the Deloris town, Wil was being slandered once again after the news of his removal got announced in the Eldershore region. The power of hate and rumors is indeed strong. Someone painted Wil as the target as it was too coincidental that Summersoft gave them the reply and at the same time, Wil was fired. Since they don''t know who the guy that failed the quest is, the casual players started firing the arrows at the only paint they could find. The Errand boys of Aster once again continued to note down the list and handed it to him. Chapter 261: Wils secret army Imperial palace, Athledon kingdom; "I apologize for the late, Your Majesty." Wil made a slight bow to the King and then greeted the guardian, "Greetings, Master. I''ve finished crafting the Ball of Prophecy." Owler was happy upon hearing it. "Good." He nodded with a smile. Meanwhile, King Hugo also smiled, "Congratulations, Brother Time Traveler." The ministers started murmuring among themselves. They didn''t know that their guardian, the Seer Owler has taken in a disciple and this stranger with white wings is on friendlier terms with their king. "So, um What is the reason you summoned me for, Your Majesty?" Wil asked him. Even though it''s been like more than a week, Wil didn''t forget Hugo''s invitation to the palace. Before the war begins, he wanted to clear all the unfinished business, at least as much as he can. "Actually, Lord Owler had a vision that our kingdom is going to be attacked. We are reinforcing the army everywhere. So, I thought of offering help to you but we got a report that you are already strengthening Ormshire''s defense." "Oh!" After realizing that there''s no important talk, Wil bowed to him, "then, I''ll my leave, Your Majesty. My homeland is going to be attacked by a neighboring kingdom." "Your Homeland?" King Hugo''s expression became serious. Wil was the savior of his kingdom, his dynasty. He was someone Hugo treated like a brother. So, he thought he can''t sit, doing nothing. "You can return with a regiment of our army." But, Contrary to his expectations, Wil rejected his help. "I apologize, Your Majesty. My people are a bunch of prideful fools. They would rather die than accept the help from outsiders." Originally, he wanted to say that their soldiers won''t be much help to him but thinking about their good relationship, he lied. Wil was also confident neither the king nor the guardian would suspect his words based on their favorability, which is already as high as 80. Just as he expected, they believed his words and he left the palace before flying away to Vulture city, where he met the General. "Oh! 76 soldiers between levels 300-400, 1682 between levels 200-300, 5412 between levels 100-200" Wil was taken aback in surprise as he saw their improvement within just 5 days. "This only contained our data, right? You didn''t include the helpers from my homeland, right?" General Remont shook his head, "No, Your Majesty. This is just the strength of our current military. Give me just another week With the help of Vice-general Skylar and his men, I''m confident that everyone will cross level-200." "Good job" Wil nodded with a smile. He was satisfied that his money was well spent. What he was most satisfied with was the number of people that made it into 100-200 levels. Previously, it used to be only over 3400 but now, the numbers increased by 2000 If that wasn''t great progress, he didn''t know what to call it. The happy Wil took out a sword from his inventory and handed it to Remont. "Although this is a level-350, it is still a legendary grade sword, much better than your current ones." It was one of the pieces of equipment, he stole from the treasury. Since he can''t use it, he gave it to his general as a reward instead. "This" His hands shook while his eyes widened in shock as he took the exquisite sword. "Your Majesty" *Ding! Your favorability with Remont increased by 30. *Ding! Favorability reached the maximum. Wil smiled as he read the notification. He felt it was worth it. Then, he selected a hundred of them who are around level 300-400 and ordered them to teleport to Deloris and wait there until further orders. As for the remaining, they will continue to train here. Wil felt that it''s good that NPCs can also get stronger even without killing monsters or else, he would have been forced to teleport them to Llyne which only expose his hidden card. Finishing his business at Vulture city, Wil flew to Scarlet town, which was now bustling with NPCs just like a normal town. However, it was currently dominated by Skynet, a subsidiary guild that was formed by Akiko and her followers. Due to the town having high teleportation fees and not having any dungeons, the casual players didn''t bother to shift. Of course, the other reason being the upcoming War. As for the guilds, well, due to Wil''s notorious reputation created by half-truths, they didn''t dare to set up a branch either. Of course, that didn''t stop them from sending their scouts to keep an eye. That leaves with the only guild that set up their roots at Scarlet town, the Sky guild, which is a subsidiary guild formed by Akiko and her followers. At first, they planned to build a guild branch but Wil''s performance in World Auction made them go with their original plan. "Good" After seeing the town''s stats, Wil directly went to the temple without meeting Akiko as he doesn''t have a reason to and entered the teleportation formation. Transforming into an Elf, Wil selected the city of Sase Allanar. Sase Allanar, Searvale Kingdom; This time, Wil wasn''t stopped by the guards and was let into the Mayor''s mansion, remembering his appearance and the stone staff in his hand. Walking through the gate, Wil put on the Mask of Tranquility that he received from Aerona, and just in case Rini might figure out his identity, he put on a blank mask. After all, the Mask of Tranquility only covers one''s eyes while hiding the user''s information. To his relief, she was alone with the mayor just like last time. He removed both the masks and stepped inside the house. "You are here, savior." Aerona smiled as she got up from the seat. The Mayor did the same. "We don''t have much time. It''s time to leave." She said to Wil while walking towards him. "Put the mask on." She said to him before reaching out to his shoulder. But he didn''t put on the mask. Instead, he asked, "Before we go, can you give me your word?" "Word?" Aerona was puzzled, "what is it?" Wil replied, "I want you to swear on Yggdrasill that you will never disclose my identity. You shouldn''t have a problem with that, right?" Chapter 262: Dual Citizenship? "Swear on Yggdrasill that you will never disclose my identity at any condition." At first, Aerona frowned and went into deep thoughts for a while. Then, she nodded, "fine. I agree as long as you don''t turn into an enemy." Wil nodded as he has every intention to ally with Searvale after the first phase is over. After swearing on their beloved World Tree, she placed her hand on his shoulder. It was only a fraction of a second. By the time he equipped the Mask of Tranquility, he found himself in the middle of a large hall with Elves around. A few meters away from him sat the Elven Queen on the throne. Beside her, there is the High Priestess. Wil then glanced at his left and right and found Rini, who was sitting there like a statue. However, right now, she was staring at him with her cold eyes. "Lady Marten" The Queen and the current High priestess greeted her with a respectful tone. Following them, the officials along with Rini stood up from the seats and greeted her with a deep bow while at the same time, wondering who this mysterious Elf in the mask is. Aerona responded to their greetings with a nod. As everyone took their seats, she pointed at Wil, and said, "As I have mentioned in the letter, I brought the key to win this war against Reverie and Uflenor." Once again, everyone''s attention was placed on Wil. Previously, they were just curious about his identity but now that they heard this fellow Elf is the key to win the war, they can''t help but become curious, and that includes the Queen and High priestess. The High Priestess tried to inspect him with her abilities but she found the mask completely blocked her inspection. Wil didn''t know that he was able to hide his identity by using the mask Aerona gave to him. Had he used his own mask of tranquility, his identity would have been disclosed and might have fallen into trouble. "So, this is the man who you claimed to be the key to winning the war?" The Elven Queen asked Aerona. "Lady Marten, can you please explain how would he help us?" Aerona replied with a smile, "Even I don''t know about that. I''m no Seer. All I can say is that his fate is tied to Princess Rini. As long as they battle together, the victory is certain." Her ambiguous answer made the Queen frowned for a second but after remembering her identity she decided to believe her words. "What do you need me to do, Lady Marten?" She indirectly implied whether they need to make him one of the generals of the army or whether she needs to provide any equipment or something. The Queen wished to know how to support his key person "Nothing, Your Majesty." Aerona shook her head. "You just do whatever you have planned and give him the freedom to do whatever he wishes. And also, give him a formal approval to join the war as he was someone who came from far away." "How may I address you, warrior?" The Queen asked Wil. "Lupin" replied Wil after thinking for a while. "Eh?" As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, Wil felt that his voice sounded a bit different from his tone. It was a lot deeper than his. ''My voice Is this the effect of this mask?'' Wil had a realization. ''No wonder it was a quest item.'' "Lupin" Meanwhile, Rini muttered under her breath while looking at Wil who wasn''t an NPC, obviously, and was the reason her Master wait at the mansion for so long. If it was Kiyumi or Akiko, she would have immediately recognized the name that the Llyne kingdom put a bounty of ten thousand gold coins to catch him alive. Of course, no player knows about the robbery Upon hearing his name, the Elven Queen stood up from the throne and announced, "With the authority of the Queen of Searvale, I, Cremia Searvale grants you citizenship and the temporary status of nobility that equal to an Earl until the war ends." *Ding! You received temporary citizenship and the status of an Earl at the Searvale Kingdom. Warning: You won''t use your original citizenship. Accept? Wil was taken aback, ''dual citizenship? Never heard of it before. But, having citizenship means I can earn War points in both the wars, right?'' He felt excited inside at that thought. Meanwhile, the Queen continued, "I have no doubts regarding Lady Marten''s words. So, I strongly believe that you will be the key to this war. If you were able to prove yourself in this war, I''ll not only make it permanent but also reward you handsomely." Wil expected a quest notification but too bad, he didn''t receive one as his being the key is too ambiguous. At first, he wondered whether his role is to kill Bran and make way for Rini to dominate the battlefield but now he was thinking to kill the king and gain 100k war points. The only problem is that he can''t use Heavenly push as it is his signature move that will give away his identity, the moment he uses it. "Hmm without Heavenly Push, the only other option is to use Dragon Fire but its range is only 30 meters. There''s a chance that I will be killed at that range but if I can use the combo of Gravity Suppression and Dragon Fire, I may able to kill the king." At such thought, Wil''s face glowed for a few seconds before he shook his head and dismissed the idea, "no, I used Gravity Suppression and Dragon Fire, long ago. Some people may identify them. I can''t risk it. It''s better if I just use the new skills and the Sage weapons I acquired" his face froze. "Sage Weapons." Suddenly, an idea appeared in his mind. "I can use the crimson gourd to absorb the damage and store it before reflecting back to the enemy. My HP is over 140 Billion. So, I can store 1.4 Trillion of damage. However, a king will have a king''s medallion. It will be able to block my attack. That means I need to take him out by surprise and that too when he already used the medallion. To do that, I need support. Will Rini able to help me out? Hmm Phoenix can certainly carry me but it isn''t Leon. The bird will die before it even takes me to the King." "Mr. Lupin Mr. Lupin Mr. Lupin" Suddenly his shoulder was shaken vigorously by Aerona, bringing him out of thoughts. "Ah, Yes?" As he came to his senses, Wil saw the Queen and the others were staring at him while Aerona''s hand was on his shoulder. "Her Majesty is calling your name" Aerona spoke with a frown on his face. Wil felt as if he was being scolded. "I apologize, Your Majesty. I was thinking about Lady Marten''s words" Wil hurriedly apologized to the Queen before he gets a notification of favorability drop. He continued, "I think I know how I am going to help out." "Oh!" The Queen''s expression changed to that of curiosity, "let''s hear it." "Once again, I apologize, Your Majesty." Wil shook his head and then looked around, "I can''t say it publicly and risk the chances." Everyone frowned at his statement. Chapter 263: War room discussion part-1 Imperial Palace, Searvale Kingdom; In the planning chamber/ War room, similar to the Llyne, there are miniature figures and large blueprints are spread. Generals, Rini, the Queen, High Priestess, and Wil gathered around the table. Aerona was nowhere to be seen. The Supreme Commander of the army, General Arceana Glynjor started to speak. "First, let''s review regarding the strength of each kingdom. Reverie: It was ruled by the king Decimus Augustus Reverie. He''s just like our Queen, a level-500 warrior. We aren''t sure of his skills as there wasn''t any precedent that he fought personally but as far as we know from our history records, the Royal family members of Reverie kingdom are skilled users of flight despite being humans. So, even if we forget about the king, we also have to worry about the three princes and the princess as they will attack from the sky for sure." "Pyre can take care of that," Rini commented, disrupting him. "And there were also otherworlders like me who have flying beasts as their companion. Each one can carry two of them. You can ask for their assistance and ride on them." "No" The Queen hollered, making everyone flinch in surprise. "Princess Siren, I already told you that our tribe will not enslave beasts. Every spirit in the world deserves to have freedom." "Just because you are restricting their freedom doesn''t mean you are enslaving them," Rini coldly answer her. "Might be easy for you to say since you are the one controlling our guardian beast but if you are going to be controlled like a pet, perhaps, you would understand their feeling." The Queen argued back, implying that her statement is right. "Well, aren''t you doing the same As a Queen, aren''t you ordering your subjects and putting restrictions on them while creating rules? Does that mean, you are enslaving everyone?" Rini counterattacked, almost in an instant. Meanwhile, the Generals were silent and were not a bit surprised at their argument. As for Wil, who was also silently watching from the sidelines, wondered whether this is a normal relationship between them. What''s more surprised him is his future sister-in-law''s blank expression. "Uhh I can provide a viable solution regarding the issue." Wil suddenly chipped in, interrupting their argument. The both of them suddenly stop and turned towards him. The other generals also turned towards him. "My nimbus cloud can carry one more person." With a thought in his mind, Wil then summons a two-meter big cloud, surprising everybody. "It might not be much helpful to everyone but Her Majesty can ride on it to face the enemy''s king." "No" The Supreme Commander replied firmly. "I cannot let a stranger go near Her Majesty. She''ll be under my protection in the war." Upon hearing his words, the Queen blushed for a few seconds before calming down herself. The High Priestess saw it but she stayed silent as she was busy staring at the cloud. Perhaps, he realized his mistake. He quickly gave an explanation, "I apologize to Lady Marten as well as Princess but the otherworlders can''t be trusted. Even if you people die, with the blessings of Gaia, you will resurrect but that''s not the case for us." While Rini frowned at his response, Wil blinked for a while in silence before opening his mouth, "isn''t her Majesty, the strongest person in this kingdom if we exclude the High Priestess and Lady Marten? She''s stronger than any of you. Why does she need your protection? Wouldn''t be the other way around if a level-500 warrior like a King will actively go looking for you?" As he had a responsibility to make Searvale the winner, Wil decided to actively participate in the discussion. The Supreme Commander became embarrassed as he heard Wil. But, he can''t back down because of this outsider. He argued, "Either way you otherworlders who enslave the beasts aren''t to be trusted." He used the Queen''s earlier argument to shut Wil''s mouth. If Wil were to argue, then, it would be the same as arguing against the Queen. If Rini argues, it will be treated as a sibling quarrel but if Wil argues with the Queen, it is the same as defying Queen''s authority. He will be punished for that. Wil also understood that. So, he shrugs his shoulders and dismisses the cloud. He merely wanted to offer his help. If he would have said he was weak, Wil would have shown his strength but the problem lies with the trust. So, he had no choice but to back down. As the Supreme Commander smirked with this small victory and continued, "Okay, let me finish my briefing. Then, we''ll thoroughly discuss how to deal with them. According to the information gathered by our scouts, the Reverie kingdom has an army of nearly 85000 in total with over 26 generals who have level-400 strength. We don''t have other information regarding the numbers of the below-level warriors yet but I expect there will be atleast 200. No, you can expect even a higher number of Royal knights above level-300." Everyone became serious. "While Uflenor''s strength is also quietly similar to Reverie" "No" "No" This time, Rini and Wil interrupted together at the same time. Both of them were taken aback and looked at each other. The Supreme Commander''s face became rigid. ''These damn otherworlders they kept on interrupting'' Since he can''t do anything about the Princess, he turned to Wil and asked him, "What is it?" He sounded irritated at the moment. Wil replied, "Reverie kingdom''s strength is a lot higher than you imagine. They have this Blacksmith who can produce Gold grade equipment for the soldiers. He''s an otherworlders like us. While it isn''t much for higher-level warriors like you but if the foot soldiers were to equip them, their defense and attack power will be a lot higher than others." "Eh?" Like everyone else, Rini was also surprised, although for a different reason. She originally wanted to mention Crimson Sun but she didn''t expect Wil to bring up another person that even Galaxy net knows nothing about. Chapter 264: War room discussion part-2 "There''s also an extremely powerful otherworlder named Crimson Sun. He is as strong as a general. No, I bet he''s even stronger. So, he might be a huge threat in the war and need to be treated as a serious opponent." Following Wil''s warning, Rini also said her opinion. Wil knew that she was telling the truth as he knew Bran''s strength than anyone else but he didn''t think he was a threat as he already decided to kill him at the first sight. For Wil, Bran''s death is more important than the King''s. "Okay, I''ll take that into account." The Supreme Commander nodded with a serious expression. "However, as I said earlier, I hope to be not interrupted again." Wil sighed as he nodded. Rini also kept her mouth shut. After the briefing is finished, the Queen commented, "So, you are implying that we have no hope to fight their combined strength, huh!" Upon hearing her words, the chamber became silent. Not one of them is willing to speak up. After being turned down two times, Wil didn''t have the mood to offer a solution either. He decided not to speak until he was asked. "Didn''t we have enough manpower?" Rini voiced her opinion. "We have a hundred thousand Elves living in our kingdom. If even half of them will join the war, we can block their foot soldiers. The rest of us can focus on higher-level Elites and Generals" The Queen shook her head, "Defending the kingdom from an invasion is one thing but asking civilians to actively participate in war is Princess Siren, there''s no way I would agree to your proposal." "As long as we kill one of the kings and absorb their military power, the battle would be over. So, they just need to hold on until then." Rini commented as if she turned a blind eye to her explanation. "Killing a king isn''t easy as it sounds, Princess Siren." Upon hearing her comment, The Queen frowned, "you are free to go and try assassinating the king." "Our hope lies in him." For the first time, the High Priestess opened her mouth as she stared at Wil. Suddenly they stopped arguing and turned their heads towards him. Everyone followed the Queen and Princess. The Elven Queen then suddenly remembered something and spoke, "Mr. Lupin, earlier, in the audience chamber, you claimed that you know how you were able to help us win the war. I get that you are worried about the spies in the audience chamber. What about now?" With a thought in mind, a crimson gourd appeared in Wil''s left hand. He showed it to them to make them trust him a little bit, "This weapon of mine can store the damage for a few minutes and I can repel or redirect it to an enemy for once. However, it has less range and takes a long time to activate it once again after it was used." "Oh!" The Queen became intrigued now. "What are its limitations?" Meanwhile, the High Priestess was taken aback as she saw the gourd. Wil answered, "It can kill the King provided that he takes the hit directly without any defenses. So, the attack has to be taken by surprise." "Can kill the king?" The Supreme Commander frowned in response, "are you implying that the guard possesses the power to kill any ruler including her majesty as long as they are taken by surprise." "Well, not Her Majesty. She made me a temporary citizen of the nation. So, she was immune to the damage during the war." Wil replied in a casual tone, making everyone gasp and take a step back. Everyone''s eyes are glued to the gourd in his hand. Wil saw greed in a few Generals. He wondered whether he did the right thing After all, this was like having a sure-kill weapon. Why everyone fears the kings and Queens? Not because they are the rulers and have the powers or have the support of Guardians but even when they got caught off guard, they are still extremely difficult to be killed. So, most of them opt for poisoning them like how Mirella''s father was killed. The Queen looked at the High Priestess who then answered, "He isn''t lying." *Ding! Favorability with Cremia Searvale increases by 20. The Queen smiled with a nod, "no wonder Lady Marten brought you here. Hmm, now everything fits. Earl Lupin, I will mount that cloud of yours and protect you along the way. And I think Lady Marten spoke about Princess Siren for a reason too." She then turns towards Rini and spoke, "You will follow us the way to the Reverie King. Meanwhile, our army will focus on taking out Uflenor first." "But, Your Majesty" The Supreme Commander cried out. Earlier, he clearly said they can''t be trusted. While he was impressed with his words, he had doubts regarding the gourd. Even if Aerona Marten used to be High-Priestess for the Eden Empire, she isn''t her boss and it was over 2000 years ago. He can''t trust her either "Glynjor" The Queen''s voice turned cold. "I made my decision." "Yes." He nodded and took a step back while hanging his head down. *Clap* "let''s discuss the tactics." The Queen then asked for everyone''s suggestion to make a strategy. "We only have 5332 on our side and the combined enemy strength has 30 times more army. How do you plan on defeating them without the help of the citizens?" Rini questioned her. Even a fool can see that was impossible. One of the Generals explained her. "Princess Siren, no one would attack with full strength even if they have overwhelming numbers. At most, 20% will be sent." "Right." The Supreme Commander nodded in agreement. "Just like our scouts gathered the information about our enemies, their scouts will also do the same. So, in their view, we are easy to conquer and will be underestimated for sure. So, I bet only like 10 thousand troops from each kingdom will attack. Here" He spread out the map and pointed to the border. "Our kingdom shares a long border with Reverie. Thankfully, until now, it is a wild zone that also has mountains and hills as natural barriers. This area is an advantage to us but since it was no longer inhabited by the wild beasts, it also might be challenging for our soldiers to spread around. I suggest we station otherworlders everywhere on this border. They can''t help us in winning the war but still, their numbers are great. With them on the border and our citizens within the cities, we can completely focus on offense. And here, here, here, here and there" He then marked five places and continued, "In these five spots in the forests, we can place an Elite team hidden to ambush in case if they were able to defeat the otherworlders'' army and proceed towards the city." He then pointed to the shorter border where it was shared by Uflenor and Searvale. "It is likely that Uflenor adopts the same strategy as us, placing the defense across this border that leads to their zone which is advantageous to them" ''This f****r says doesn''t trust us but his strategies heavily depend on players'' Wil grumbled inside as he listened to the plan. Chapter 265: War room discussion part-3 Imperial place, Reverie Kingdom; Unlike the Searvale where only Generals participate, here, there are players too. Representing the combat player division, there is Bran, Sierra, and a few others who are in the top 10 kingdom rankings (not to be confused with the world rankings). Representing the non-combat player division, there are six people, two are 3-star blacksmith, two of them are 3-star Alchemist, and the last two of them are 3-star chefs. Along with the handsome-looking King, his three wives and four children also participated in the discussion. So, it''s a big forty-member conference. When the members are this high, one would expect a heavy debate among everyone but that wasn''t the case, at all. Neither the Supreme Commander nor the Princes displayed any arrogance while talking to the players. They were instead polite with each other even while debating. While the Supreme Commander briefed about the enemy''s and their situation, no one even interrupted him. One can say this was an ideal situation in a war room. "Marquis Crimson Sun, let''s hear your opinion." The Crown Princess asked him before the king opened his mouth. Everyone turned to Bran. Ignoring the Princess who has hots for him, Bran voiced out his opinion, "Even with the support of Uflenor, there are four issues even if we attack Searvale along with the Uflenor army. One is that their majority of the land is covered in forests. Elves'' strength not only increases by 30% but since it is their homeland, they also have the geographical advantage. The second is the Galaxy Net. This guild''s information network is something that no one can compare to. So, you can expect that our strength is already being exposed to them. The third is Princess Siren. She not only commands their guardian beast Phoenix and is also a powerful warrior able to fight evenly or perhaps even defeat one of the generals. Thankfully, her level isn''t high and once we put two of our generals on her, her defeat will be imminent. The final problem is their defense. Their citizens are greatly united and won''t hesitate to sacrifice themselves to stop the invaders." "Hmm before going to any other problem, first, propose me a solution to the one that Marquis Crimson Sun has pointed out." The King said to everyone after hearing Bran''s opinion. "Your Majesty, instead of attacking from the border from our side, what if we attack from Uflenor''s side?" The Second Prince proposed his idea. "Their cities are near the border. As long as Uflenor cooperates, with combined strength, we were able to break through." "The problem here is trust, brother" The Crown Princess replied to him. "Do you think Uflenor will trust us to let a massive army into their kingdom? And do you trust Uflenor and send a small army into their kingdom?" "Hmm That''s true" The Second Prince nodded and sat down. The Supreme Commander then spoke as he pointed the map, "We have a long border but they have less military strength. So, I''m sure they will put otherworlders along with a few Elite teams to lead them in the border. Meanwhile, their original force might defend at the other border that shared with Uflenor to guard the kingdom." "But, since they have people guarding their kingdom, do they have any reason to stay there?" The Queen pointed out the problem, accurately guessing their plan. "If I were in their place, I would make a surprise attack on Uflenor instead." If this was any other kingdom, they would be received an instant No. After all, who would be crazy enough to leave the protection of their kingdom in the hands of civilians While the same thought was running through these players'' minds, the NPCs thought differently. "Hmm I think it would be better if I go to the frontlines of the battlefield. Then, she would have no choice but to face me directly" The King suddenly made a surprising comment. Everyone instantly looked at him. They didn''t expect their King to take that kind of decision. He further said, "to prevent Uflenor betray us and attack our capital, The Princes and the Generals will stay behind while the Crown Princess Excuse me" He then stood up from the throne and walked towards the table and pointed to the map. "Let''s divide this border into three divisions. Crimson Sun and his allies will attack from the left. Free otherworlders will follow me through the middle and the Crown Princess will lead the Royal Knights to break through from the right. Marquis Crimson Sun" "Yes" "Are you ready to take the lead?" "Yes, Your Majesty," Bran answered firmly while Sierra was silent and just had a fake smile on her face. However, inside, she was still unhappy with Bran for lying to her about the Tower of Destiny. If not for the Secret Order giving her a second chance to redeem herself, she might have even broken up with him by now. She didn''t care whether she was the culprit here. What she cares more about entering the Secret Order "As Elves don''t have flight abilities, I will employ Angel race warriors and the ones with a flying beast mount first to scout the enemy. After we confirm about enemy''s movements, we''ll break through the border." Bran explained his strategy, earning a nod from everyone, meaning no one is against it. "Earl Marcus, how''s the weapons production going?" The King then asked the three-star blacksmith who found the inheritance of a Grandmaster Blacksmith. He is the one Wil warned everyone about. Marcus replied, "Your Majesty, so far we crafted 195 Epic-grade equipment; 1425 Gold-grade weapons, consisting of Swords, Spears, and daggers. As for Silver-grade Armors, we crafted 3231 Armors, 2453 Bracers, 3212 Boots, and 124 Helms." All the players including Bran looked at him in shock. They wondered where this genius blacksmith popped up from Meanwhile, Bran and Sierra felt betrayed that one of their core team members hid such a thing from them. Bran didn''t know that Marcus can craft such high-level equipment. If he had known, he wouldn''t have bought so many pieces of equipment in the auction. Wil once again made a wrong calculation regarding this blacksmith. He thought it was a waste to poach this childhood friend of Bran but didn''t know of his sly and greedy nature. Chapter 266: Top Guilds at Star town part-1 Deloris Town, Llyne kingdom; While the preparations for the war are going in the palace, the town of Deloris was bustling with people. In just a day, mere 20 thousand players have increased to almost a hundred thousand. Meanwhile, almost three hundred thousand players from all cities of the kingdom, right now, settled in Eldershore city. Another hundred thousand players were also transported to the other two NPC towns. Even the player town of Star was occupied with tens of thousands of players. It forced Starlight guild to shut down the town. With no place to stay, the remaining hundreds of thousands of players ventured into the wild zone. Why the sudden change? It was only for one reason. For War. It''s because the Llyne is already submitted to the Zuweth kingdom. So, they have only one war to participate in and earn War points. As the Eldershore region shares the border to the Evelon kingdom, people have no choice but to teleport here. Due to the 80% lower fees, most of the people teleported to Scarlet Districts at Eldershore city and Deloris town or the Star town, letting Starlight and Scarlet earn massive profits from it. Just from the teleportation alone, both of the Scarlet Districts earned a combined profit of over 70 thousand gold coins. The Dreamwalkers tried to manipulate people into not letting them teleport to Scarlet districts but people especially the haters turned out to be too wise and ended up fooling themselves. It''s like a story when a king orders the villagers to pour milk in a giant tub that was placed in the middle of the village during the evening. But, every villager thought others will pour the milk, so, they poured the water at midnight. The next morning, all they saw is the entire tub is filled with water and they ended up being punished Something similar has happened here. When Dreamwalkers guild leader heard the truth from his spy how so many people are coming out of the temple that includes members of the guild, he was angered and expelled them on the spot. The evening arrived. The sunset and the partial moon rose in the state of Waxing Gibbous. The streets of Star Town are dim but still, one would have no problem with the visibility because of the lamp posts all along the streets until the Mayor''s Mansion. Starlight was indeed glad to follow Rigel''s idea. Who knew it would come into use, now. One by one, at the town of Star, bigshots started to exit from the temple. The tens of thousands of players are standing on the streets, on the sidelines along with NPCs while the NPC army that Wil lent to them was escorting the VIPs. The first to arrive was their rival Dreamwalkers who also occupied Seagle city. Following them, Hydra guild''s Supreme Master and Heavenly King arrived. They represent East Ocean city. Then, Dago city''s Bloodsuns, which is also the number one assassin guild in the kingdom; Along with them, Ivagale city''s Brothers guild; Kussey city''s Swordbearers that only contain sword users; Antawood''s Oddjobbers guild which is an all-round guild that also has a lot of non-combat-profession players; Blackburn city''s The Horde guild It''s like the top guild in each of the cities is invited to the banquet. Due to its massive popularity, Gen-X''s leader was also invited. It is a top Adventure team with free players consisting of over 50 thousand members and more than 250 Elite members that can go toe to toe with even a hundred casual gamers of the same level. Following them, the top guilds of Zuweth also arrived in the town and made their way to the Mansion. And at last, representing the Vulture guild, Aster arrived in the town. However, he was walking a little bit behind the new guild leader of Silvershapers to show subordinance. The representatives were not only surprised because Time Traveler isn''t here but also this new guild leader was treated like a boss by Aster just like how he would walk with Wil. "It looks like the Scarlet guild made quite a few changes" commented Bloodsuns'' guild leader, Blackfall, who is widely recognized by the public as the number one assassin of the kingdom. Staring at Silver and Aster, he mumbled, "For some reason, I feel like they are strong assassins." "It is called Vulture guild now, Mr. Dream." Supreme Master, who sat beside him, corrected his words. "And you were wrong about one thing. The one in front represents Scarlet Securities and is a non-combat-profession player. The other one is an assassin, though I rarely saw him battle." Supreme Master answered him in a slow tone. "A non-combat profession?" Blackfall stared at Silver and narrowed his eyes. He scoffed inside, ''who are you kidding I know the look of a person in the same profession. This one is definitely a killer and isn''t a small one either I heard the rumors that Scarlet Securities have Vulture Gang as their backing. Maybe, it is true? Everything will fit if that''s the case.'' As Blackfall kept on staring at Silver intently, Supreme Master nudged him to remind him where they are. Quickly coming to the senses, Blackfall turned away his attention. Meanwhile, Starlight and Rigel welcomed them with a smile. "Welcome to Star Town." "Our guild leader wasn''t able to attend for some important matters. I hope you would understand." Aster said to Starlight as he shook his hands. "It''s alright. I just hope that Mr. Time Traveler wasn''t upset at us for snatching the leadership role after the annexation I seriously didn''t know that I was going to be chosen as the player representative. I guess it is because of the relationship with Zuweth, isn''t it? Because he killed the fourth prince during the invasion..." Aster nodded, "Yes but you don''t need to worry. He will join the war, tomorrow morning, as planned." Starlight sighed in relief, "as long as he joined the war, it will decrease a lot of difficulties." Dream''s face was dark, looking the difference in reception. However, it wasn''t just him, the guild leaders/Vice-leaders are also of the same opinion. In an indirect way, Time Traveler is also kinda like an enemy to them but they can''t refute his statement either as they aren''t a match for Wil. Chapter 267: Top Guilds at Star town part-2 More than 40 players who are of top positions of the top guilds gathered at one place to have a discussion regarding the war that was about to start early in the morning. As the player representative and the host banquet, Starlight stood up from his seat and raised the wine glass, "First of all, thank you for accepting my invitation. I don''t wish for Eternal alliance cuz it''s stupid. All I hope, at least until this war is over, we put aside our difference and fight together without any deceit for we are now belong to one kingdom. Happy co-operation." They nodded as they raised their glasses, taking a sip. After they were finished with the dinner and the dishes were cleared from the table, Starlight said, "Now, let''s discuss the important matters. Zuweth is super chilled about the war and didn''t give any special instructions to me. But, let me tell all of you about the perks I had as the representative player." Everyone became interested. For this very reason, they had made a trip all the way to Star town. "First, I received a notification from the system that I will receive a total of 200 Quests per day from the system which I can assign to whomever I wished to. As a sign of trust, I will make sure the quests will be divided only between our guilds. Of course, I have to keep at least 50 of them to myself. Second, from the kingdom, I can temporarily borrow legendary grade equipment to use in the war, not many but only around 10 of them. I''ll keep two for myself, so four guilds from Llyne and four from Zuweth will get the remaining. Who to get them I''ll leave to your hands. Third, those who are in the same party as me will get additional 10% War points. As you know, the new rules state, a party can hold up only 500 people at best. Thankfully, we can''t hurt allies even if weren''t in a party Anyway, I''m reserving 100 for Starlight and Vulture. The remaining spots will be equally distributed to your guilds. So, each one of you will acquire 25 spots. The fourth and final perk, a player representative also has the same powers as a general. That means I can also command a 3000 NPC army consisting of two thousand Level 100-200 soldiers, a hundred Level 200-300 soldiers, and ten Level 300-400 Royal knights. So, staying within my party can not only ensure one''s safety but also make them earn easy war points with the support. And all of these services will be shared with you without any conditions and I won''t ask for anything in return either" Starlight''s announcement surprised everyone. However, the majority of these guilds have doubts too After all, one look at perks, anyone will get greedy and keep to themselves rather than sharing it. He can also keep quiet about the powers. No one will know it either. Then, Why? Is it really as he said about the sigh of trust. What a load of BS. They have Star group as their backing. A company will not become a giant Corporation if they aren''t greedy. So, every guild was wondering what might be his hidden agenda. Keeping Starlight guild''s overall strength and influence in their minds, none of the guilds from the Llyne speak up. Dreamwalkers guild isn''t also an exception. However, the Zuweth kingdom guilds are different. They obviously know their backing but have little information about their overall strength. For a long time, everyone''s focus was stolen by Wil time and time again. While they were hesitating, Zuweth''s number one guild, Twilight''s leader expressed his doubt, "Mr. Starlight, how can we trust your words? None of us know whether they are true or not. And even if they were true, isn''t it too unfair for you to hog so much for yourself?" With 65 thousand members in the main branch and another 80 thousand in nine branches, Twilight''s leader, Twilight expected that he will be the representative but he didn''t expect Starlight not only snatches it from him but they apologized to Vulture instead of himself. He was already unhappy with the situation. Now that he listened to the perks which he should acquire, in his view, Twilight''s negative feelings towards Starlight only increased further. Starlight was taken aback by Twilight''s question. He frowned as he was being questioned even though he shared the information without hiding anything. Finally, Silver, who was silent all along, opened his mouth, "In the western continent, there''s a saying. Beggars can''t be choosers. You should just be content with what being offered. And it''s not like players can change the tides of the war here. It depended entirely on NPCs. All we can do is just participate and get a small piece of the pie." "You" Twilight''s face flushed with embarrassment. He wanted to sow discord by reminding everyone about the unfairness while using their lack of trust but Silver''s words shut up him. After discussing some of the strategies against their counterparts from Evelon, everyone left. *** Two days later, Scarlet Apartment; *Beep* Beep* In the early morning 5 a.m., the phone rang continuously rang for a while before it was stopped by the finger. *Yawn* Wil woke up, stretching his arms. "Hmm?" He felt his left hand touched some skin. Wil slowly turned his head and glanced to his left only to see a beauty who looks like an Easterner and was sharing his blanket. She has tear marks left on her face although she was smiling for now. His eyes widened in shock and quickly raised his body only to find himself naked. The room was unfamiliar. There are clothes fallen on the floor Wil was taken aback to see her clothes. "Hanfu" Her clothes are traditional, which are only now worn in dramas or festivals. "No, that''s not the issue" He quickly returned to his senses and a thought appeared in his mind. His heart started to beat wildly. Trying to force himself to be calm, he slightly lifted the blanket and peeked underneath to confirm his suspicions. As he expected, the girl was also naked from top to bottom. Near her knees, the bedsheet had a wet mark ''F**k'' As Wil once again glanced at her face that had tears marks, he came to the worst possible conclusion. He was terrified for a few seconds before shaking his head vigorously, denying the possibility of r**e ''No There''s no way I would have done that inhumane act...'' ''Calm down, Wil.. Think carefully... what happened yesterday...'' Wil then tried to recollect his memory. Chapter 268: Day-1: Start of the War One day ago; Searvale Kingdom; The sun hasn''t risen up yet. Because it''s too early, most of the players who live in the Eastern continent didn''t come online. However, there are still more than 400 thousand players that took up their positions in the borders. Every one of them received a quest to defend at the border. The majority of them are gaming enthusiasts. While they are greedy about War points, they still followed the orders like soldiers, well, atleast more than ninety percent of them. They knew that with wild monsters gone, they can only level up by going into dungeons or completing quests. The last way is to gather war points as the War Shop also has EXP scrolls. Meanwhile, on the other border with Uflenor, a campsite was being established. Thousands of soldiers along with the Generals were stationed. As for the Queen, Rini, and Wil, they are neither on the border nor are they at the campsite at the moment. Following the Queen''s plan, they reached the outskirts town of Lelilune in disguise. It is a nearby town. "Now, you remember the plan, right?" The Queen asked Rini. "Don''t move too fast." While Rini nodded, Wil commented as he looked up in the sky. "Your Majesty, the clouds aren''t clear. Should we wait until the sun rose completely?" The Elven Queen also stared at the sky that appeared cloudy and also saw the partial sun. "Hmm, the climate might actually turn into our favor." While in the real world, it only takes a mere 2 minutes for the sun to rise above the horizon from the moment top reached the horizon, here, in this world, it takes like 45 minutes. Wil doesn''t know the reason, though, as he never cared about it. *Ding! Siren sent you a party request. "Huh!" Wil was taken aback as he looked at Rini. "Accept. I''m the player representative. You can earn 10% more War points if you are in my party." Rini said to Wil in her usual expressionless tone in the presence of the Queen. Because of the programming, the Queen wasn''t the least interested in the War points. It was translated to her as a contribution. However, Wil rejected Rini''s party request as he doesn''t want his in-game name to be revealed. Rini frowned at first, but then, she shrugged her shoulders. If this guy doesn''t want to reveal his identity, then, it isn''t her problem. They waited until the sun rose completely above the horizon. *Ding! The three-way war between Reverie, Uflenor, and Searvale is started. *Ding! Until the war is over, the three kingdoms will be protected by a barrier. Access to the Teleportation formations outside of the kingdom will be blocked. While it surprised many players, especially the helpers from other kingdoms as it wasn''t mentioned previously, Wil, on the other hand, was calm and collected. He already knew the War will end in a day. No He was confident that he can end the war within a day "Mr. Lupin, summon your cloud." The Queen had given the order. "Princess Siren, we will fly a bit above you. There might be a chance that we cannot see you, so, make sure the Phoenix let out flames all the time, just in case." "Or I can let Pyre use the Fire Wings." As Rini made eye contact with the phoenix that was standing behind it, its wings turned into fire. Because he stood near them, Wil felt the heat hitting him and he moved a few steps away, meanwhile, the Queen was perfectly fine as she was in the same party as Rini. The Queen frowned at her action but she felt it isn''t the time to argue with her. So, she just nodded and turned to Wil and took a glance at the gourd in his hand. She spoke in a serious tone, "because of our relationship with Lady Marten, I''m putting my trust in you. I hope the gourd will turn out exactly as you have mentioned. Or else" She narrowed her eyes and stared at Wil in silence. While holding onto the gourd, Wil replied with a nod while summoning the cloud beside him. Meanwhile, his staff was safely stored inside the gourd as they are technically the same piece of equipment. This is what Wil discovered during the previous evening. Jumping onto the nimbus cloud, he pointed his behind, "Your Majesty" The Queen nodded and sat behind him. "Oh! This feels like a cushion" Her face flushed at her involuntary comment before she forced herself to be calm again. In order to hide her embarrassment, she cleared her throat and spoke in a dignified tone, "what are you waiting for Let''s leave" The cloud slowly ascended towards the sky while the Phoenix flapped its wings. *** Level 300 Wild Zone, Kingdom of Eiron; A team of hundred and one exited the dungeon portal. Several of them worn Epic grade set with at least one legendary-grade while their leader has an entire legendary-grade-equipment set. They are the elites of guild Salvation that was backed by Wymarc, the biggest Oil and Gas Company in the world with over 400 Billion dollars of annual revenue and 20 Billion dollars of annual profits. Although it is a publicly owned company and the chairman only has 6% shares, Zhu Yun, the chairman''s youngest son is still someone who was born with a golden spoon, no a diamond spoon With such status, people might think he might be another arrogant young master but he was different. Even in the real world, he was widely known to be down to earth person who never spends a single cent that belongs to his father. Whatever he earns from his salary, he even donates to orphanages and earned the Federation''s humanitarian award in 2019. Inside the game, one can say, he''s the complete opposite of Wil too. If Wil was rumored to be a notorious oppressor, Zhu Yun is known to be generous. He was good, not only to his subordinates but also forgives the enemies for attacking him. Adding to the top of that, somehow, he has an incredibly lucky rate, which explains the legendary grade equipment on them. However, that kind of good personality also made him being prone to attacks by the guilds over and over because of the equipment he carries over his body. The only problem that poses the guilds was that he will always be surrounded by the hundred elites who are also martial artists in real life. With good equipment, each of them can kill 100-500 casual players easily. So, yeah, one can imagine why he was never being killed until this date. "Congratulations, Boss Zhu for reaching level-250." They kept on congratulating the young man who had a smile on his face. "Thank you, Mr. Walter." "Thank you, Mr. Lee." "Thank you, Ms. Zhong" Like his personality, he thanked everyone by their names that were congratulating him. Zhu Yun, who just reached level-250, then changed his lower-level legendary grade equipment to level-250 ones. "Ms. Zhong Here, these bracers will be useful to you." "Mr. Sian, take this Armor" "And, Mr. Walter, here''s the helm." After giving away level-200 legendary grade to his subordinates, he looked at his character, and mumbled, "Hmm I still need the staff and boots. And there are still 2 dungeons chances left." Thousands of players, who are stationed on the border, are staring at the group with greedy expressions. The leaders of several other guilds knew that they can''t attack them and snatch. So, they made a deal with some enemy guilds to attack them and split the gains later. Now, they were waiting for the perfect time. "Everyone, let''s go and clear the level-280 dungeon." They heard Zhu Yun spoke to his group. The remaining nodded and turned around to leave the place. Meanwhile, at one of the groups in the border; "Guildmaster, they are leaving. We have to block them, now." An elite player spoke to the leader of guild Merciless that''s focused mainly on PK. "No, it isn''t the time yet. There are other hungry wolves in the area too. Revealing our intentions first will become heavily disadvantageous to us. We will wait. Until, then, just follow but no action." He glared at their back for a while before his ears perked up as someone shouted, "Who is that?" Merciless glanced at the sky and saw a man in black robes was riding a broom while standing on it. He had a hood to cover his head and a mask to cover his face. He has a staff in his hand and his name is red in color. To distinguish allies from enemies, the system created a mechanism so that the allies will see the names are blue as if they are in the same party, regardless of their kingdom. Meanwhile, they will see the enemies'' names in red. The same goes vice versa. The guild leader frowned, "the red name" "Angel race players, Attack the guy" Merciless then sent a message on the Ally channel. As he was floating a bit too far in the sky that was out of their weapons range, he ordered the ones with wings to deal with him. But, who could have expected, not even a second later, the sky was brightly lit as if there was another Sun rose up and a thousand fireballs started to rain down, hitting everywhere. As each fireball is 1 meter big and 50 cm wide, it covered a wide area and thousands of players who were hit were killed on one strike. However, He didn''t stop there. While everyone was busy dodging the fireballs, he raised his staff once again and spoke an incantation, "I, the successor of Archmage Solomon, hereby summoning the spirit of the gatekeeper of Tartarus. Heed my call, Minos." *Roar* everyone heard a powerful roar followed by seeing the appearance of a giant Minotaur with an Axe. Minos Grade: legendary+ Level: 500 HP: 622 Billion Description: Son of Zeus, once the king of Crete Empire, now, serving as the guardian of Tartarus. "Kill" He spoke in a cold tone. Chapter 269: Day 1: 45-minutes Reports on War (Unique skill) Last Stand (Mastered): Summon the gatekeeper of Tartarus for 1 hour to attack or defend against your enemies. Cost: 1000 mana points. CD: 12 hours. Range: 500 meters Minos Grade: Legendary+ Level: 500 HP: 622 Billion This was the latest unique skill acquired by One during his inheritance quest. Originally, he wanted to keep this as a secret weapon against Wil but after hearing the news about how his levels soared too high, One decided to level up first by amassing a large amount of War points. He felt that unless he is level-300, it would be tough to battle against Wil. So that''s why, from Gailzach Province, there were no NPC generals or soldiers. All of them were stationed in the capital city for defense. He also wanted to use his authority as the Governor and restricted players to defend with the soldiers rather than attacking the NPC. However, thinking that the players will fill the forums with complaints, he decided against it at the last minute. If he can''t restrict them, what can he do now? Well Go on a solo rampage, of course This is the reason he started the war by using one of his trump cards. He still has the Eternal fire to deal with Wil, anyway. *Ding! You killed a 1-star player. You receive 0 War points. *Ding! You killed a 2-star player. You receive 1 War point. *Ding! You killed a 2-star player. You receive 1 War point. . . . *Ding! You killed a 3-star player. You receive 10 War points. *Ding! You killed a 2-star player. You receive 1 War point. "What!" One was taken aback upon receiving hundreds of notifications, following his act. "Killing enemy players will also give War points? It wasn''t mentioned in the details before" Summersoft once again hid some stuff in the details. Those who are 1-star, i.e. level-100 and below, will give 0 War points. Those who are 2-star i.e. level 101-200, will give 1 War point equivalent to that of a common soldier. And those who are 3-star i.e. level 201-300, will give 10 War points equivalent to that of an elite or a captain. And unless one kills a player, they wouldn''t know about the mechanism. "I see now I got it why does the reward section mention 1 million above War points." At first, One''s intention is to breakthrough the player defense on the border and attack the kingdom but now that he got a lovely opportunity, he wouldn''t miss it. "Minos, leave none of them alive" One man vs a whole kingdom. And the latter was still on the losing side. *** Weford city, Searvale kingdom; In the city of Weford which is now under lockdown with every NPC guarding the outskirts and inside, there''s a place that was very busy with players. It is a simple-looking restaurant on an empty street. Currently, it was occupied by Galaxy Net members, which led one to wonder what happened to their headquarters, the guild residence. Well, as their HQ is in the prime area, the roads were blocked by the citizens, which made trouble for the Elites who come and go. With wars happening all over the world, there are hundreds of requests from several guilds to get the information of their enemy. As a guild that handles the information network, their environment had to be in peace in order for them to work at their best. So, they shifted their base temporarily. Another reason is that Akiko returned from Athledon. As she''s no longer a part of the guild, she wouldn''t be able to enter the guild residence. Either way, for them, whether it is the guild residence or the restaurant, it isn''t important. Shihei, Kiyumi, Akiko, Konami, and other Elites are busy gathering the reports from all the battlefields. Meanwhile, the youngest was off to school and Rini was with Wil. "What''s the status in North Zalfari?" Shihei asked. Konami who is in charge of the North Zalfari continent answered, "Uncle, we''ve really underestimated One. It seems like he released a legendary+ grade, level-500 monster onto the battlefield." "A level-500 monster?" Shihei frowned. "When did he caught one?" "There''s no guardian beast with such appearance and neither there''s an existence of a minotaur." Akiko chipped into the conversation. "I think it''s a skill summon." Konami nodded, "Yeah. Its description stated that it''s a gatekeeper of Tartarus. And, as for its stats, several reports mentioned that its HP was over 600 Billion, and not even a general could stop a swing from it. The battle already reached the final stage. The beast and One are fighting against Eiron''s king." "Final stage?" Shihei was taken aback by the news. "But, it''s only like 45 minutes since the War started." He looked at his third niece, "Akiko-chan, what about the South Zalfari?" Akiko shrugged her shoulders, "Not much exciting as One''s one-man show. They just started and the players clashed. The Wars are going on mostly on the boundaries. There are no people like One or Williard out there. So, I think we have to wait at least 5-6 hours to predict something." Shihei nodded. Then, he turned his attention towards his favorite niece, "what about Kiyumi-chan How is Xynnar? No, tell me first about the situation with our kingdom How much are the winning chances?" "Earlier, I had a contact with Rini" As soon as Kiyumi brought up her name, Shihei''s face darkened a bit. "Where is that rebellious brat?" Shihei asked her with a growl. Shihei clearly ordered her to lead the Royal knights or a regiment to improve her image among the soldiers but the reports told him about how she was absent with the Army. Here he was working so hard to make her the Queen and this little brat is doing whatever she wants. Clearly, he was displeased with her actions. "It isn''t what you think, Uncle." Kiyumi, who understood her uncle''s mindset, explained to him everything about her encounter with the mysterious helper and the following events. After hearing everything, Shihei sighed as he shook his head in response, "still, she shouldn''t have gone With the Queen''s absence, it would be even better if she argued with the Queen and stayed back to lead the army. She missed a great opportunity. If only she had consulted us before making the decision, sigh Akiko-chan" He then looked at Akiko and further said, "if you face a tough decision, always take a second opinion even after you decide on something, understand?" Although he wasn''t angry with Rini as before, he was still displeased with her actions. Not intending to talk about her further, he asked about the remaining battles. Kiyumi proceeds to read the reports. "Well, the three-way war between Baernarta, Everton, and Forlond is in a deadlock. Baernarta and Forlond are Elven kingdoms. So, they allied with each other but even their combined army wasn''t able to overpower the weakened Everton." Upon hearing it, Shihei mumbled, "I thought it was just Searvale but it seems like the NPC Elves aren''t actively participating in any war. They are stationed in their cities to defend." Meanwhile, Kiyumi continued, "For the second three-way war between Rivendell, Yhenaes, and Tavrobel the battle is slightly in Elves'' favor even though Tavrobel''s military strength is higher than the combined strength of the other two." "Hmm I think the key here is the players." Akiko commented, "Rivendell has a lot of three-star players compared to others. So, it probably gave them the edge." "Yeah." Kiyumi nodded, "The third three-way war between Tirion, Edhellond, and Arkaley Well, they are in the exact same situation as the first one. Even with Tirion and Edhellond as allies, Neither one has great military strength or players So, it will come down to who has better strategies. The problem is with the remaining two wars" Kiyumi let out a sigh. "Llyne is already submitted to Zuweth. So, the war is pretty much a piece of cake for Zuweth. Evelon shouldn''t have the means to defend them, right?" Akiko asked her. With Wil on Llyne''s side, there will be hardly any problem. She was confident in his strength. So, what''s the surprise here. Akiko wondered. "Well The problem isn''t the war but your hubby He''s going to draw the hate once again for sure" Kiyumi answered with a sigh. "I thought ''One'' is too much but Mr. Ravens is on a whole another level." "Williard?" Akiko blinked her eyes as she looked at Kiyumi. Chapter 270: Day 1: Imperial swords unknown perk Llyne kingdom; In the early morning, stretching from the wild zone of Llyne kingdom, passing through the Eldershore shore region and to the wild zone of Zuweth kingdom, two million players are waiting for the sun to rise and receive the signal to start the war. Along with players, hundreds of camp tents were placed, especially in Zuweth''s wild zone region where the soldiers of both the kingdoms were being stationed. Well, now that the Llyne was under Zuweth, they didn''t need the feel to be wary of each other either. Llyne''s current governor, Rikilda Llyne, and Zuweth''s King Ballista Zuweth, along with the three remaining princes of Zuweth are sitting in a tent, having a discussion. "Father, We have an overwhelming number on our side. We also have Princess Llyne''s and her army''s support. Why aren''t we exiling our brother''s killer?" The crown prince asked the King. "He only has around 13000 soldiers and that too, a mere one general. Surely, we can afford that while we fight against Evelon." The whole royal family hates Wil for killing their brother. They expected their father, the King to take action against him. But neither did he put a bounty on Wil and neither did he do anything even after acquiring the Llyne. Instead, he kept his official post as it is. "Crown Prince Vegarus" The King spoke loudly, making everyone flinch in surprise. "If you were to behave this way, how am I supposed to hand over everything to you, in the future?" Everyone saw the expression on the King doesn''t look good. He appeared displeased with his son. "Tell me, who am I?" The King asked him. "Our father" He dumbly replied. The King narrowed his eyes. The Crown Prince then said, "You are the King" "King?" He frowned at his son''s answer. Rikilda then answered in his son''s place, "you are the future Emperor, your majesty." Zuweth''s king smiled and nodded as he was satisfied with her answer. "That''s right. I''m the Future Emperor. If you realize that, instead of trying to question the motives of an Emperor, try to think the reasoning for his actions." "I apologize, father." The Crown Prince then requested him to clear his doubts as he wasn''t able to understand his reasoning. "Very well, then listen carefully Who is Prince Time Traveler? He''s late King Mirella''s only younger brother and the former Crown prince. He''s also a firm supporter of her. According to princess Llyne, Mirella was also quite fond of him. Even after becoming the Queen, Princess Llyne doesn''t have the Imperial sword. Do you know what that means?" The Crown Prince shook his head. "Without the imperial sword, one cannot become the true ruler of a kingdom and the Imperial sword can only be inherited from the previous holder," Rikilda answered with seriousness. "I bet Mirella has passed down it to my nephew." "And the moment Prince Time Traveler revealed the Imperial sword and challenge the throne, the native soldiers, Royal knights, and Generals will have no choice but to either follow him or become a rebel under Princess Llyne." The King then asked, "now, imagine. What if I exiled him from the kingdom?" This time, it was the second prince''s turn, "If we consider half of Llyne''s forces to follow him. Combining his army of 13000, he would have at least 30-35000 military strength, and if he goes to Evelon and ally with them" Their eyes widened upon realization. The King nodded, "that''s right. The situation will be reversed in an instant. Even if we win, we would incur huge losses. How do you think I will manage three kingdoms, then?" Everyone became silent, especially the Princes. Previously, even though they voiced out their doubts, internally, they agreed with the Crown Prince''s opinion. Now that they heard it, they felt how serious the matter can escalate. However, another doubt started hovering in their head. "Father, if that''s the case, then, why hadn''t he taken the action?" The Crown Prince asked. Even Rikilda was also having the same doubt. She looked at the king for the answer. The King smiled, "he isn''t a native. How would an otherworlder like him know everything about the Imperial sword? He probably thinks that he only 13000 soldiers. This is the reason he lent you the gold coins in exchange for absolute authority in the Eldershore region. In this period, he probably was strengthening his army. So, we can expect his army grew by another four to five thousand at the minimum. It also made me wonder whether he is the real thief who stole the gold coins and returned you 500 thousand." Rikilda shook her head firmly, "No, that''s not possible. If he is really the one who emptied the treasury, then, he wouldn''t return me some of it to maintain order. As long as he can wait, the kingdom would have been sent into chaos, and then, taking advantage of the situation, he can cause the rebellion." The King shrugged his shoulders, "either way, if he does really have the Imperial sword, he will attack once the war is over when we put our guard down. If he hasn''t, then, I was wrong about him and we can proceed with punishing him by throwing him in a prison, right away." Meanwhile, at the Eldershore border; Dozens of guilds, tens of thousands of people are arriving as the sun is slowly rising in the sky. Hydra, Bloodsuns, Brothers, The Horde, GenX, Vulture, Scarlet-A, and Scarlet-B, and the other small guilds, one by one, with their entire force arrived at their destination. The remaining top guilds of Llyne were stationed in the wild zone. Starlight and his three thousand soldiers also joined them. There are only a little over five hundred members in the Vulture guild who arrived at the battlefield and yet, everyone''s focus on them, or rather, the one leading them like a puppet without any expressions. As people inspected his stats that show his name and level, they were impressed. They know that Wil''s level from the forums but seeing directly appeared more exciting. Instantly, the appearance of Wil was spread in the forums. Aster smiled while watching their expressions. As they reached the place, they were joined by a thousand members of the Scarlet-A division that was lead by Rock Fist, and twenty thousand members of the Scarlet-B division that was lead by Snow Dew and Flame Emperor. Together in number, they were no lesser than a large guild, however, compared to others that have over 40 or 50 thousand members, they were indeed not impressive as much. Several guild leaders went forward to greet Wil but Aster blocked them and made sure Wil was covered to hide the fact that this is a clone. It displeased them but what can they do Aster knows that the rejection will displease everyone but except for him, no one knows about Wil''s cloning ability and he wanted to keep it that way. But, who could have expected, in the very next few minutes, the clone is going to start the trouble. *Ding! The three-way war between Zuweth, Llyne, and Evelon officially starts *Ding! Llyne is submitted to Zuweth. The players and NPCs of both the kingdoms will be treated as allies. *Ding! A barrier was erected around the three kingdoms. Teleportation to the outside of the barrier or the enemy nation is banned. Chapter 271: Day 1: Hundred clones of Wil Evelon is an Elven kingdom that sits on top of the Evelonian plateau which is atleast 3000 meters above sea level and 2800 meters above the Eldershore region of Llyne or Westwend region of Zuweth. So, geographically, they have this little bit of advantage in defense, especially against the Angel race players and those with flying beast mounts. The major update really brought several changes to the game which made a lot of people take time to adjust. Of all the changes, one of the most complicated issues the players faced is the flight. While the update said that one receives a debuff of losing 1% HP per second if they fly above 1000 meters, all the kingdoms are located differently. For example, the kingdoms like Llyne that were attached to the Ocean were situated below 200 meters of altitude from the surface. The coastal areas like East Ocean city were at zero altitudes while regions like Eldershore are at 200 meters. So, it won''t be a problem unless they fly over 800 meters. But, the problem arises for kingdoms like Evelon that was located at a high altitude. While crossing the border, if they continued to fly without caring about the altitude of the neighboring kingdoms, they''ll face debuff So, after the update, the Elf players who have a flying beast mount suffered very much because of this issue. Many of them died and lost level. But right now, this very disadvantage became an advantage for them. Since they are mostly focusing on defense, all over the border, they are waiting to rain down the spells, bullets, and arrows for the perfect moment. Meanwhile, at the Eldershore region; At the border, a few top guilds of Llyne gathered and waited for the signal. Meanwhile, a five-thousand-member army of soldiers led by a General arrived at the scene. "Your Highness" He greeted Wil''s clone with a slight bow just for formality but didn''t wait for the return greetings as he is loyal to Rikilda. As he is a clone, he felt nothing about it too So, everything is good. The soldiers continued towards the frontlines while the other guilds give them the way. "Everyone, get ready" General Gorge that originally belongs to the Llyne, who is right now, stationed with his unit at the border gave an order to the players. Everyone became alerted and took their positions and waited for the sun to completely rise above the horizon. As soon as they received the notification, General Gorge gave the signal with twenty soldiers raised their rifles and shot into the air at the same time. "Attack" The players started running or flying while the soldiers under the General''s lead started marching towards the uphill road that leads straight to the region of Ai Themor where NPC citizens are also defending along with players and the army. "Guys There''s no need to rush." While everyone is rushing to earn War points just like how people rush in department stores once limited discounts were announced, Aster, on the other hand, advised his fellow guild members. "All of you should stay calm. Until the King is down, the war won''t stop anyway. So, we can take it slow" *Tap*Tap* His left shoulder was tapped by SnowDew. "Yes?" She pointed to the front. "Hmm?" Aster turned around to see Wil''s clone was disappeared from his side and rushed forward with others. The new members of Scarlet-A as well as the Elites of Vulture looked at Aster with a blank face as if they are saying, what did you say? Look Even our guild leader is the same Aster became flustered for a second before his eyes widened in shock, "What the" Not just Aster, everyone including the soldiers who were behind, halted their footsteps in shock. All of a sudden, one Wil was replaced by a hundred Wils, blocking the way of several players. Every Wil has a meter-long grey-colored stone pillar. "What What is happening?" Supreme Master was also no exception to it. His eyes widened as he stood there like a statue. Before leaving for Searvale, when the first clone was created at the Mansion, Wil gave him two orders. That is to follow Aster quietly until the battle starts. Once it started, its mission is to kill every red name, whether it''s a player or an NPC. A simple order That''s all Following Wil''s order, the hundred clone army rushed towards their destination at their maximum speed. As Wil''s speed was a lot higher than the other players, the hundred clone army easily passed the front line. Everyone''s pace also slowed down because of the shock. After all, Wil was indeed a celebrity among the players especially those who belong to the Llyne kingdom. So, naturally, they discovered Wil''s appearance. "Wow... Lord Time Traveler is indeed awesome" Even the neutral people can''t help but admire Wil''s new skill. As for the haters or enemies, they don''t know how to react. One Wil is trouble enough. 100 Wils means They can already imagine the outcome. Back to the clones, reaching the end of the road, they entered the Evelon''s perimeter and continued to proceed through the valley that lies between a hill and a river. "Look some people here" A scout who was observing from the edge of the hill passed the message to the others. "Eh?" After passing the message, he looked at them and was surprised to see identical faces. He was only able to inspect four of them but was stunned to see the very name that every player in Evelon considers as a threat. Abus: Guys Either the opponents wore some equipment that disguises their identities or I''m just crazy. I see dozens of Time Travelers here Evelon camp, Ai Themor; The Elven King, his Queen, and two princes along with the Supreme Commander were in the Tent. Meanwhile, 21 Generals, 124 Royal knights, 300 Elites, and thirty thousand soldiers were all waiting in the center. Around them, thousands of players and volunteered citizens were placed as guards. The leader of the unit was the player representative, Envizor, a level-226 player. He is also the best player in the kingdom. Right now, his face wasn''t that good. "All of them are Time Travelers? What does that mean?" At first, he was confused but after getting the same message as Wil''s clones passed the second and third checkpoints, Envizor mumbled, "maybe, they took a potion to confuse the people if that''s the case, then they are fools After all, we are prepared for all enemies." Envizor: The fourth checkpoint, get ready for the ambush. The ninety-nine clones lead by the first clone reached a long canyon with a dried-up river in the middle that made the roadway. On either side, there are two cliffs. From far away, they can see tents and people. They continued to proceed without stopping. As for the other players, they were long left behind. All of a sudden, hundreds of physical and energy arrows along with fireballs rain down on the clones from either side of the cliff tops. "-1" "-1" "-1" "-1" Numbers continuously appeared on the clone''s heads. The clones stopped for a second but since they haven''t seen any person above, they continued their journey. No matter how much a clone resembles the original, they are a puppet and lack intelligence and also follows the order absolutely which lead them to ignore the attack. The Archers and Mages went silent. "What the f**k just happened?" They don''t how they should feel, right now. More than not able to damage the enemy, the way all the hundred members ignored them, hurt them very much Chapter 272: Day 1: Ambush on the King Wild zone, Searvale Kingdom; Rini was flying on her phoenix towards the Reverie kingdom. The Phoenix is using the wings of fire that lets the Phoenix''s wings burn continuously in exchange for 1 MP per second consumption. Just like she expected, she encountered enemy scouts who are flying at the thousand meter limit in their Air space. "Pyre Burn them with flame thrower" As soon as the words escaped from her mouth, the Phoenix screeched before breathing out flames over a wide area, burning everyone that''s in their path. "Incoming everyone, dodge" The Ariel team-13''s captain shouted and ordered them to fly away as it wasn''t a single target attack but an AOE. Meanwhile, he raised his shield to block the attack but alas he wasn''t able to because of the level difference. As he died and resurrected at the temple, he mumbled, "I was foolish to think I can defend an attack from a level-350 legendary grade+ beast." Back to Rini, after flying past through the first encounter, she didn''t turn around to finish off the surviving players who managed to dodge it. She just continued to fly towards the Reverie kingdom. The survivors sent the message in the ally channel about the appearance of Rini and Phoenix. Wild zone, Reverie Kingdom; As per the King''s orders, the Crown Princess was leading a hundred Royal knights with everyone above level-300, towards the right section of Searvale''s wild zone. Meanwhile, Bran was leading an army of five thousand soldiers through the left section. Three hundred thousand players with several guild leaders are following him. The King was leading a five-hundred thousand-player army of which the majority of them are casual players, adventures, or from small guilds. They were trying to break through the middle section where most of the players of Searvale were stationed. All the three armies were moving forward slowly but steadily because of their massive number. While the people behind the king are obedient, on Bran''s side, a few hundred impatient people tried to run but they were left alone. If they wanted to die so quickly, why would Bran stop it... Let them die That''s what he thought. "Hmm? Siren was attacking alone?" Bran halted his steps, all of a sudden. He was surprised as he read the message from the scout leader. "What happened?" Sierra asked him. "Siren" His face was darkened. Bran and his guild researched powerful players from the world. Of the list of threats, she was placed at number 3. It wasn''t because of her fighting prowess. They were above average at best. The most problematic is the Phoenix. It is immortal. Even if they kill it, it will just resurrect after a few minutes. They have to kill it several times before its Cooldown increases. "If she wants to go on a solo war, then let her be. There are princes at the main camp." Sierra advised him, "They can take care of her." "No, they can''t," Bran said with a confident tone. "Of all the players and NPCs, other than the king and myself, I doubt anyone can face her, alone." "But there are three level-400 princes and more than twenty generals out there" Sierra reminded him. "And she''s alone." "Hmm?" He blinked twice before nodding, "that''s right" "Thanks, Sierra You are the best" He smiled as he stared at her. Sierra blushed as she looked away, "I didn''t do much" The people behind them flared up in rage as they were watching this couple''s interaction. Since they are looking from far, they didn''t know what Bran and Sierra are talking about and assumed they were flirting around. So, it irked them. Only they know the pain of being single while watching a couple who are showing off their relationship Putting the matter aside, everyone continued their way to cross the border and enter the mountain range where an ambush is waiting for them. Meanwhile, in the skies, oblivious to the situation on the ground, the Miyazaki princess continues to advance while burning the scouts who are on the way. "Hmm?" Rini then saw the scene from the sky. Because of the clouds below, she wasn''t able to clearly see everything but she saw the huge army down below in three sections that advanced into their territory. Not wasting any time, she sent the message to the guild. However, she got a surprising reply from her sister. Athena: Yeah, we know from our spies. Crimson Sun is leading the army from the left. The Crown Princess is leading the Royal knights from the right and the King is leading the players from the middle. We have already passed the information long ago. They set up the ambush. "The King is on the battlefield?" Siren was shocked to hear that. She asked her again for confirmation. Siren: Did you say the King is leading the army, personally? Athena: Yeah Half of the generals are heading there to face him. Siren: Why didn''t say it before? Rini was angry. She felt like she wasted her time. If the King is coming to the Searvale, there won''t be a need for them to sneakily go to the other town and fly away from there. All her hard work is waster Akiko was of course, oblivious of her feelings. Athena: Well, you never asked before. "Sigh" Rini can''t help but sigh, reading the message. It was her fault for not sharing it with the guild. Siren: Okay, got it. Ending her message, she stopped her Phoenix and looked up. The clouds obstructed her view. So, she wasn''t able to see whether the other two are present or not. "Pyre, use flame thrower" The Phoenix then raised its head and breath out the flames above its head. It created a scene similar to a volcano eruption for a couple of seconds. After giving out the signal, the Phoenix changed its direction towards the King and the player army behind him. 1800 thousand meters above the ground, Wil and the Queen were sitting on a cloud and flying towards the Reverie while keeping an eye on flames that looked like wings. Because of the clouds, obstructing their view, all they were able to see the flames. They can see neither Rini nor her Phoenix. The flames are guiding their way to the camp. Wherever the flame turns, Wil redirected the cloud towards that way. But, right now, he saw the flames were directed towards them. "We haven''t been flying for long. I don''t think we would be even reaching Reverie''s territory." The Queen commented as she looked at the signal. "Maybe, the enemy''s King is on the battlefield?" Wil suggested to the Queen whether he should lower the altitude. But, the Queen refused. She ordered only to follow Rini from this safe distance. Feeling reluctance in her tone, Wil doubted whether this Queen really wanted to face Reverie''s King. Level-300 Wild zone, Searvale Kingdom; The King and his player army entered the mountains. As the path is narrow, everyone walked a bit slower so that they don''t bump into each other. Those who have wings or flying mounts, they weren''t facing any issue to follow the king. "Hmm?" The King, who was traveling on a white elephant suddenly, ordered his mount to stop. Everyone stops along with him. He then stared at the sky. A few of them also raised their heads and saw a dot in the sky. The dot slowly became bigger and soon, a giant Phoenix appeared in their view but they aren''t worried as the King is there with them. Still, it didn''t stop from them taking out their weapons to get ready for the possible attack. "Oh! A Phoenix!" The Reverie''s King looked at it in interest. "Pyre, Use Extinguisher" Without wasting any time, Rini ordered the phoenix to use its most powerful skill on the King and the people behind him. Upon receiving her order, the whole Phoenix burned in red flames as it glided towards the enemies. Then she spoke, "Merge." She burned in flames and disappeared from its back, merging into the flames, temporarily and the color changed to golden. The Golden flame Phoenix darted like a flash towards the King, intending to incinerate him. However, the King was calm. "Airavata Use Whirlwind." The Level-400 White Elephant blew the air towards the incoming attack. Due to the difference of fifty levels, the speed of Phoenix continues to slow down. Just when the players who are nearby the King are celebrating that Siren will be finished, all of a sudden, a lightning strike hit right on the King''s head without any warning. The King fell from the Elephant with a charred head, losing one-third of his health. Chapter 273: Day 1: One wins the war *Critical* "354,128,212,564" A huge damage number appeared on the King''s head as a lightning strike suddenly ambushed him, right on the top of his head. While the indestructible crown stayed intact, his hair was charred while he lost his balance and fell from the Elephant''s back. *gasp* Everyone around can''t help but gasp as they saw the number on his head. Forgetting the damage, just the fact that an attack landed a critical hit on the King is a big deal. After all, all kings and Queens have a passive critical resist, equal to their level. As the King stood upon his feet while groaning in pain, a 2m big cloud descended from the sky, revealing the Queen and a mysterious Elf with a gourd in his hand. The Queen was standing on the cloud with the staff in her hand. At the moment, she appeared majestic as she raised her staff The King saw magic started to gather at the tip of her staff as the cloud continued to descend before stopping a hundred meters above the ground. He narrowed his eyes. The players around the king who had seen the damage believed that it was the attack of the Queen. Even the king thought the same. Meanwhile, the blazing phoenix turned normal while Rini had this shocked expression on her usual blank face. Her cold eyes which penetrate one''s soul are now shaking involuntarily in fear as she raised her head to look at the Queen. ''Uncle and others are working hard to make me the Queen but 350 Billion damage? Just how in the hell I will be able to deal with that? One attack of hers is enough to kill me. Even if I have a trillion HP, three attacks will finish me off'' She lost a bit of confidence to see how powerful this NPC is "Queen Searvale, that''s very cowardly of you" The King commented with a frown on his face. "No, that''s your incompetence, King Reverie. You entered our territory and yet carefree about not getting ambushed from the sky." The Queen''s majestic tone echoed all over the place due to the mountains around before she pointed the glowing staff towards the enemies. "Rise, the protectors of Searvale." A mountain nearby disappeared and transformed into a giant earth golem. *Screech* Everyone then heard a powerful screech and a giant blue-colored thunderbird flew towards them. Every flap of its wing is creating a storm behind. Followed the appearance of the bird, the volcano in the far away erupted but instead of lava pouring down, it transformed into a quadrupedal beast with spikes and little volcano mouths on its back. And lastly, one of the rivers in the kingdom transformed into a giant snake below it crawled towards the direction of the Queen. The Supreme Commander who was facing Uflenor with his army in the border, frowned, "Her majesty called the protectors? They can only be used as the last resort. Is she already in danger? I need to go" He then commanded a General to take over his position and started rushing in the direction where all the four beasts are gathering. Back to the border between Searvale and Reverie, after summoning the four protectors, the Queen spoke in a slow tone, "Mr. Lupin, control your cloud and let us ascend. It is best if we take this battle to the skies. The beasts and the princess will take care of the rest of them." Wil nodded and controlled the nimbus cloud to return. As the cloud rises, the King shouted in anger, "and where do you think you are leaving" He jumped high in the air and even passed the cloud. He then raised his sword and slashed towards the both of them. It took Wil by surprise. He didn''t expect the King''s speed is this high... He wondered whether he should transform back to Angel form but then, he heard the Queen saying while shoving him to the back with her arm, "stay in the back." She raised her staff and blocked the attack. The staff and the sword were collided, generating sparks before she pushed him away. "Mr. Lupin, do your job." She reminded him to not stay there and raise the height further. "Yes, Your Majesty." Wil once again let the cloud continued to rise while the King landed on the ground. "I came here to drag you out in open and end the war. Do you think I''ll let you escape" He growled in anger, feeling humiliated because of the failure. The King then use his flight ability and started floating in the air to chase after the nimbus cloud while leaving the players alone. Rini turned back her attention towards the players and her eyes once again regained coldness, "Pyre, burn." "Everyone, run" A player shouted before the flames engulfed the surroundings, killing a couple of dozen people at the same time, earning a few War points. As the path is narrow and long, the range of flames wasn''t wide enough to take out many people. So, once she burned down the players in the front, Rini ordered the Phoenix to fly while continue to burn down. Meanwhile, the players, especially the rangers attacked her from far away while running back, because they are scared and also to get back to a wider area to battle. Just as the Phoenix flew almost a hundred meters away, everyone heard the trumpet of the White Elephant before its trunk was extended all the way to the Phoenix. Grabbing the bird with its trunk, Airavata swung it in the opposite direction and slammed it onto the ground. Rini fell off from the Phoenix. However, the Elephant didn''t stop there. With its trunk, it then threw it towards the cliff, heavily injuring the bird. "Pyre" She shouted as she saw the bird almost lost around 5 Billion of its health. The Phoenix shook its head, then flapped its wings before glaring at its counterpart. Rini, who stood up on her feet, brandished her sword and dashed towards the Elephant while shouting, "Pyre, I''ll take this one. You take care of them." She pointed at the players who are hesitating whether to move forward or run away. Looking at it, while some of them, advanced forward to face the beast, the rest of them, especially, those who are at the end of the line turned around and left now that the King abandoned them to go after the Queen. With no leader, they thought joining Bran would be a better choice. Just like that, the five-hundred-thousand-player army was divided into two groups. The ones that advanced forward and the ones that left. Outskirts of the capital city, Eiron Kingdom; The King of Eiron was bleeding heavily while the Giant Minotaur lost its left hand while its other hand was tightly grabbing the King, who was struggling to get free. The players who were killed and the ones that are alive, regardless of which kingdom they belong to all of them were just waiting in the premises of the capital city and watching the scene. None of them are willing to help the king or fight the Minotaur. All they can do is to watch and capture this amazing moment. Meanwhile, in the skies, a person in black robes and the hood was standing on a broom He looked at the situation and nodded with a smile. "Good." Then, he raised his staff and spoke the incantation, "In the name of One, I summon the Eternal fire of darkness to put my enemy to death." As the sky rumbled like thunder, the black flames descended onto the both of them, turning the king into ashes. The Minotaur wasn''t harmed by the flames because of his relationship with One *Ding! You killed King Evaleus Onitor Eiron. You receive 100,000 War points as a reward. *Ding! You won the war and became qualified for the second phase. At the same time, players of all over the two kingdoms received system announcements. *Ding! Gailzach absorbed Eiron and became an independent kingdom. *Ding! Eiron kingdom turns into Eiron province. *Ding! Player One is the king of the new kingdom of Gailzach. Originally, Eiron was supposed to attack and Gailzach was supposed to defend but to their luck, a player was their king and was able to attack. The forums are exploded with comments. It''s been only 53 minutes since the start of the war and ''One'' alone massacred the entire enemy forces and became the new King. Chapter 274: Day 1: Invincible clones Campsite at Ai Themor, Evelon Kingdom; Envizor, the level-226 player representative rushed towards a certain tent. If it was somebody else, they would have been stopped by the soldiers or by the Royal knights but having the privilege of being a player representative, everyone gave him the way. He rushed past the soldiers, Royal knights didn''t stop at Generals but was stopped by the two guards at the entrance of the tent. "Tell his Majesty that it is an urgent situation." A few seconds later, he entered the tent and saw everyone was happily drinking the wine. "What happened?" The King asked him in a casual tone, "did the enemy breakthrough your defense or something." Envizor nodded with seriousness, "it was a hundred-member army comprised of otherworlders. I''m not sure whether they are disguised as the Llyne''s fallen prince or it is the fallen prince who used some sort of skill to replicate himself but none of our defenses were able to halt them and neither they were able to gauge the strength of the enemy." The atmosphere suddenly turned tense. The King put the glass down and spoke, "I knew that you lot are useless Supreme Commander Adyraus, send a team of Royal Knights to destroy the invaders" "Your Majesty" Envizor then alerted him, "If it is the fallen prince, then, I suggest sending two or three generals might be better" "Three generals?" The King as well as the other frowned in response. "Earl Envizor You want me to send three generals out of 21 of them to face a mere hundred otherworlders? Our strength may be less compared to humans but don''t underestimate the strength of our generals." "Father" Then, suddenly, one of the princes stood from his seat, "let me go and lead them If the enemy really turned out to be Llyne''s prince Fallen or not, it is proper that a King will battle another king or in this case, a prince will battle another. Moreover, based on the reports gathered by our scouts, tat Llyne''s prince commanded its guardian beast, the winged lion. Don''t you think it is more fitting if I go?" "Hmm What you are saying is right" The King thought for a while and agreed for the Crown Prince to leave. Upon hearing it, Envizor also became satisfied. He smiled, "if it''s his highness, then, I have no doubts about killing him. Once Time Traveler dies, their strength will also decrease by a lot." With over 20 Royal knights, a giant Red-colored rhinoceros with two additional tusks, the Prince set out to defeat the hundred clone army. It didn''t take long for the two parties to meet each other. By the time he met the enemy, the Prince saw more than a thousand players are going against the incoming enemy but all they faced is the swinging of their pillars and getting killed in each strike. The battle didn''t even last a minute before every player was killed and the clone army advanced further. The Prince wasn''t flustered even a bit as he saw all of them are weaklings. He also didn''t take it seriously as he saw every one of the clones was at the same level as the weakest Royal knight. He raised his bow and equipped the arrow while ordering the others at the same time, "go" And he released the arrow towards the sky at the same time. The clones saw the arrow was replicated into hundred arrows as it reached the highest point of the parabola before rained down on them. The clones did nothing to defend and let the arrows pierce them only to receive "-1" damage on their heads. While the prince didn''t know about the damage number, all he saw was that there was no response to his attack. None of them even try to dodge and the most important thing is that they don''t even have a single shred of emotion. He frowned, "are they puppets or they are looking down on me?" For whatever reason, he took the opponents seriously. "Guardian Aolis It''s time for you to join the war." He respectfully said to the Rhino. It growled in response and rushed forward. Aolis Species: Rhinoceros Grade: Legendary+ Level: 400 HP: 62.2 Billion Description: The guardian beast of Evelon. Meanwhile, the Royal knights and the frontline of the clones collided. The clone swung the staff and they blocked it with the shields. The clones didn''t even use the skill, however, at that moment, all of the Royal knights felt the difference between their strength and enemies. But it was too late to realize. "25,875,231,515" All of them were flung away immediately and then, exploded in the air in front of the eyes of Prince. At the same time, the Rhino reached the clones and attacked one of them. It pierced a clone with one of its horns and raised it up before flung it away. "-24,616,243" For the first time, a damage number appeared on a clone''s head but it did nothing much due to high damage reduction. However, the clone that was thrown onto the ground stood up as if nothing happened and dashed towards the Rhino from behind. Even if it was Wil, he wouldn''t have cared about the damage because his HP totaled more than 140 Billion. What would losing 20 million would amount to Meanwhile, the remaining clones attacked the Rhino at the same time. Looking at the incoming attack, it used its skill and turned its body into metal, increasing its damage reduction to 75% before slamming its head into one of the clones. Meanwhile, two of the attacks from the clones were successfully landed, taking out 6 billion of its HP each time. At the same time, the Prince who was angry for losing his subordinates over nothing released another arrow. The arrow struck near the feet of one of the clones and a grand explosion occurred. Every clone was blown off to dozens of meters in different directions. The Rhino was unharmed because of the relationship with the Prince. "-13,521,452" Similar damages appeared on all of their heads, however, once again, they stood up as if nothing happened just like puppets. As if they felt no pain, all the clones stood up on their feet. Without giving any expression of the sort, they dashed towards the metal Rhino. Perhaps, this was the toughest battle the clones might have faced. It took them more than five minutes to finish off the Rhino. Upon its defeat, the clones targeted the Prince, making him gulp. "We really underestimated the enemy." As they were rushing towards him, The Crown Prince raised his bow vertically towards the sky and shot an arrow. At the campsite, this time, instead of Envizor, a general rushed into the Royal tent. "Your Majesty, you need to see this" "Oh! Tell me General Flinar Is the Prince returning in triumph?" The King asked him. The General answered with hesitation, "His Highness sent a message It appears to be his last message" He spoke the last sentence slowly but everyone heard it. As the King hurried out of the tent, he saw a message in the sky. Not only the king, every soldier, NPC, and player was able to see it. The message contained apologies and also a warning to get ready to face the enemy with all the strength or else, they will be defeated. The King hollered in anger, "Time Traveler" Chapter 275: Day 1: Evelon vs hundred clones of Wil "Time Traveler is here" Envizor mumbled as he read the message sent by the scouts. He relayed the message to the King who was ready for the battle. As the hundred-member clone army appeared in their sight, the Supreme Commander ordered, "soldiers, get ready to battle." On Evelon''s side, the last line of defense comprised 65 thousand Elven citizens, 150 thousand players, thirty thousand Elven soldiers, 250 Royal knights, 15 Generals, 1 prince, and 1 King. And on the other side, a hundred clones of Wil, which destroyed every NPC and player in their path, including thousands of players, two generals, 50 Royal knights, the guardian beast, and the crown prince. By standing on 50 meters higher elevated area, not only the Supreme Commander, everyone in the front line was able to see the incoming enemy. If it was before, they wouldn''t have been serious but after reading the prince''s last message, even the players were panicked, knowing that there is a strong possibility of every one of them are clones of the Fallen Prince, i.e. Time Traveler. Because it is the war, to make it more fair to everyone, the system has turned everyone''s HP into percentages. So, when one inspected someone, along with the name and level, they were only able to see how much percentage of health they were left with. Right now, all the clones before their eyes have over 99% of their health. And it''s not just 99%. Almost all of them have 99.9% while some of them have 99.8%. It was another surprising thing considering so many people died. Can someone be this strong? When such thought arose in their minds, everyone thought maybe only people like Time Traveler, One and Crimson sun can be that strong. So, at the very least, it cleared a little bit confusion regarding their identities. Everyone is indeed Time Traveler. One Time Traveler is enough for them to run away. What about a hundred of them Surely, it was nothing but a nightmare. Tens of Thousands of players just logged out directly as they were sure there will be nothing for them to earn war points. In the end, only 150 thousand remained. The Supreme Commander raised his sword towards the sky and hold it there. "Archers, get ready" As the clone army entered the 250-meter range, he pointed to the enemies, "go" More than ten thousand arrows rained down on the clones. The clones didn''t try to dodge as usual. Even though the distance is larger, the defenders being in an elevated area helped them in long-distance attacks. "-1" "-1" "-1" However, they were only able to see nothing but thousands of 1s above their heads. The clones continued without any expression as if nothing happened at all. Once again, the arrows were rained down on them, getting the same result, making the players panic further. By that time, the clones already closed the gap to 50 meters and running upwards on the slope. Now, without even waiting for Supreme Commander''s orders, the mages fired all kinds of spells, fireballs; energy spears; Emberblast that was a powerful level-200 explosive attack; firestorm that rains a dozen small flames onto the enemy whatever they throw onto the clones, only "1" popped up on their heads. Just that one number and nothing else ''F***k'' Envizor can''t help but curse out, seeing how strong he clones really are Right now, even he himself wished to escape but was forced to stay because he is a player representative. He totally believed they were all Time Travelers after looking at such a high defense. One can disguise their looks, identity, or even level but not their stats "If I don''t do anything, then, I''ll only die. Even if I have to lose everything, I''ll have to take out these clones with me." Making up his mind, Envizor took out a bomb-looking thing from his inventory. Nuclear bomb (bound) Grade: Legendary Description: Upon touch with the ground, it explodes and impacts a 100-meter radius. Effect: The attack is equivalent to 100 times the user''s attack. Looking at them, Envizor grinned, "perhaps, I''ll be treated as a hero after this." As the impact range is 100 meters radius, he didn''t throw at the enemies as they need to touch the ground to explode. That''s what he read in the description. So, he just dropped it near his feet. He won''t die either way. Meanwhile, the clone army almost reached the campsite and the melee warriors are ready to tackle them. *Boom* Just right then, a massive explosion occurred, scaring the hell out of everyone. A huge crater has been formed, however, no one on the Evelon''s side was harmed but just lost their footing because of the crater. "Yes, I did it" He shouted in exclamation while everyone is moving their hands to clear the dust. Meanwhile, people were confused about who did the sudden ambush but feeling they weren''t harmed, they felt it was their ally who tried to attack the enemy. As the dust settles quickly and everyone''s vision was restored, he saw the clones were standing there like a statue. "No way my attack is 25 million It should have been a 2.5 Billion attack How" Envizor lost his strength in his legs and collapsed on his knees with shock. He lost his motivation to continue anymore as he saw all the clones'' HP percentage was decreased by only 0.1. He got scared, imagining how high Wil''s HP is Forget about getting killed in the attack, not even one clone suffered huge damage. The bomb did cause a few millions of damage to HP, which is worth nothing when compared to their billions of HP. "Attack" No one knows who shouted but everyone throw spells, arrows, and melee players raised their weapons and dashed towards them more fiercely. The citizens followed them, showing bravery. The clones let the spells and arrows hit them until they reached some kind of agreement between themselves through telepathy and they raised their staff at a time. All of a sudden, the pillars in their hands grew larger. A hundred pillars grew at least fifty meters in length and one meter wide, casting a huge shadow before the players who were in front of the clones. While NPCs and lower-level players panicked, the first clone leaped towards the front and then swung their pillars in a circular motion. As if the dust particles being swept by a broom, instantly, the first clone''s 50-meter radius is cleared completely, killing more than two thousand players in one sweep. Following by the first clone, not even giving time to react, the remaining clones suddenly leaped in different directions before sweeping their 50-meter surrounding radius before setting their eyes towards another pack. A few players who belong to digital media were recording it from above. They felt this action video is more awesome compared to One''s performance who depended on a huge monster to sweep out everything. Sweeping, as usual, a clone reached the area where the Generals are stationed. The King who was enraged, roared, "destroy it, now. Use everything you have" He went back to the tent and by the time, he returned with the Imperial bow, the King was taken aback to see the area was swept as well. All the Royal knights are swept and he didn''t see a General standing guard. The Generals divided themselves into five groups and each group went forward to face a clone while the remaining 95 are busy in their massacring. Only the Supreme Commander and the Prince are left. "What are you two, doing here for Are you waiting for our doom" The King scolded both of them and ordered them to join in the war. Aiming the Imperial bow towards one of the clones, he pulled the string and conjured a wooden arrow before shooting towards the enemy. The fifty-fourth clone was right now battling three generals. As their swords landed on its right& left shoulder, chest, respectively. "-3,532,241" "-3,522,135" "-3,416,543" Similar damages appeared on its head successively while it swept the pillar towards them. Being expert in fighting, the generals were able to dodge the attack, however, the pillar hit a few people on the way, killing them in the process. Right then, a wooden arrow cut the air like a flash and pierced the clone. Instead of damage on its head, vines emerged around the clone and tightly captured it. The King smiled in satisfaction. But, soon, his expression changed. Chapter 276: Day 1: The Queen is a healer? *Thud* With vines tightly grabbing it from top to bottom, tying its legs and hands, the clone fell on the ground. Due to the massive difference in level when compared to the king, the clone wasn''t able to get out. Getting the opportunity, the generals started to stab it while the king turned his attention to the other clone while waiting for the cooldown. It''s ironic that despite being telepathically connected, none of the clones came to save it. For the past hour, from the moment the clone started running from the Eldershore region, this is the first time, a clone has been soundly defeated. At least that was what it seemed from the outer surface. But, in reality, the three generals combined can only do damage over 10 million. To kill it completely, they have to deal 144 billion damage, which is going to take hours for sure. Three minutes later, another clone was down. Another three minutes later, another was down. For every three minutes, the King kept on shooting the wooden arrows towards the clones and capturing them one by one, and between these times, he tried to kill them with normal arrows but because the clones are moving randomly, the king had a trouble of keeping his accuracy. Every time, an arrow pierced the clone, it was able to take 0.1% of the clones, which in no way satisfied the King but nevertheless, he kept on trying. By the time, five of the hundred clones are captured by vines, more than half of the player and NPC were wiped out. "Hmm based on their actions, it doesn''t seem like the original person isn''t here. So, I have to destroy all these puppets but by the time I do that, my citizens and probably, everyone around me will disappear." After thinking for a while, the king made a decision. "Everyone, fall back to the safe zone. This is my order as the King." He shouted all of a sudden. *Ding! King''s order has been issued. Every player has to leave the battlefield and get into safe zones. To let NPCs or the players rest and heal themselves, the system created safe zones all over the kingdom, each one in one region, where soldiers make a campsite. However, due to the fewer number in Elven kingdoms, all of them gathered in the main base camp while leaving the remaining empty. The citizens who wished to protect their cities right now, stationed there. As for the safe zone exact placement, it was usually placed right behind the campsite, where one can see a dome-like barrier. Enemies cannot get into the barrier. So, it is a perfect place to hide also. However, there''s a catch. Any member of the royal family, be it a player or the NPC cannot get into the safe zone. And if they get inside, the barrier will be dissolved and will be prone to attacks. This is done so to make sure the players not taking advantage of the loopholes. Back to the battle at Ai Themor, upon the king''s order, all the citizens and the soldiers quickly fell back and ran towards the safe zone while the clones are busy with the players. Within a few minutes, the area was cleared with only half of them made it to the safe zone. Only the 14 generals, the Prince, and the King remained. One of the generals died in the meantime while some of the fourteen generals only have half of their health left. Some of the clones that chased after people continuously hit the barrier but it didn''t budge. Five clones are on the ground, still struggling with removing the bind. The King looked at the first one that he captured and shot a fire arrow towards it. It pierced the clone''s chest. "-522,411,226" It was the first time with a big number on the clone. The players are half a kilometer away. So, they weren''t able to see exact damage but they thought it wasn''t huge damage as the clone was kicking alive. The King frowned, seeing that its life force was decreased by only a small amount. If he was a player, he would have been shocked to death, considering his attack was around 50 Billion and have a 500% critical rate. With no target to attack, the remaining clones set their target the ones before them. *** Searvale Kingdom; A thousand meters above the ground, an important battle was going on. Of course, it''s mostly the Reverie''s King attacking the spherical barrier that surrounded the cloud and the two people riding on it. *Ting* The King slashed the barrier once again, chipping off last of its health. But then, in the next second, the Queen''s staff glowed and the barrier appeared once again. The situation made Wil frown, ''So far, she was only unleashing barrier spells. After one gets destroyed, the Cooldown gets reset and she once again unleashing another. She wanted to separate the King and the players, so, everything was going her way but why isn''t she attacking in return? Not to mention, killing a few hundred thousand soldiers wouldn''t solve anything Then, why?'' Then, something clicked in his mind, ''does she want to enrage the King further and let him unleash his most powerful strike and use my gourd to steal it?'' He wondered. And just as he suspected, as the battle progressed for more than an hour without any results, the King started to lose temper. Meanwhile, the Queen patiently created the barrier once again as soon as it was destroyed. "Enough is enoughYou dragged the battle for too long." The King growled as he raised his sword. A red aura surrounded his body and his sword. "I won''t let you hide behind that turtle shell any longer." As he raised the sword and continuously gathered the magic energy, Wil saw a huge image of some guy behind the king. Wil then, heard the Queen speak to herself, "Yes this is it Reverie Royal family''s ancient skill, Ancestor''s aura, which would raise their power by ten times for a few minutes." Then, she suddenly turned her head and said, "Mr. Lupin, get ready to use the gourd. I''m going to trust you and remove the barrier as soon as the skill was unleashed. But, don''t worry, even if this doesn''t work, I will keep you alive." She tried to reassure him to make sure he doesn''t get scared. Meanwhile, Wil wondered whether he would be able to absorb the damage completely. He still doesn''t know how strong the King is. So, how would he know about how his new attacks that are ten times stronger will be What if he dies? Then, everything will be for naught. Once he dies, not only will he fail to accomplish his mission, even his clones at the Llyne will be destroyed. Through Telepathy, Wil was able to see what the clones are doing. He was indeed satisfied with how they are doing a great job despite making him spent more than 15000 mana points. As his main body is currently in the battle against the King, he didn''t want to die and let them disappear. He can''t lose that hundred thousand War point target So, Wil hesitated a bit. But then, he saw the King''s damage on the clone. It made him remember something he had forgotten. Until now, he only cared about stats like attack, HP, critical rate, critical damage, etc But he forgot that his defense is over 600 million and he also has over 255% damage reduction, although it is 99% in reality because of the limit. To kill him in one strike, the king''s attack should be at least 14 Trillion, which is impossible as far as he thinks. After all, he faced the attack of Whale. Even with critical rate, it was only able to deal 2.5 Trillion back then And even if his attack is higher than the whale, not only there''s a heal skill, which can heal his HP by more than 5 Billion per every second, he still has over ninety-five 100% recovery scrolls. So, theoretically, he is invincible. Such simple thought made Wil open his eyes and quickly he exchanged his place with the Queen to face the King''s attack directly. Meanwhile, the image of the man behind the king slowly faded away while the aura around the sword becoming thicker as each second passed. "You wish to use a shield, now?" The King sneered while looking at both of them. "Too bad it won''t be enough." "Secret skill: Attack of the Reverie." As he slashed the air from far away, a huge arc was created and it was coming towards them. "Now" The Queen used the staff and cleared the barrier. The King was taken aback by her action. Following the plan, Wil grabbed the gourd in his two hands and placed it before him. "Crimson gourd, Absorb." Suddenly, an enormous amount of suction force erupted from the gourd. As if it''s a black hole, swallowing all the light and mass around, the gourd completely swallowed the energy. At the same time, the Queen didn''t sit still. She raised the staff and spoke, "Secret skill: Divine Protection." *Ding! Queen Cremia Searvale casts divine protection on you. For the next ten minutes, your recovery rate increases by 10000%, and your health won''t fall below 1. Wil''s started to release a thin golden aura that covered all over his body. "What the" Wil was taken aback to see the sudden notification. He was shocked, not because he became invincible but it''s because of the skill itself. ''She''s a f**k**g healer'' While his body is still absorbing all the energy, he screamed in his mind. ''No wonder she didn''t attack him. Because she doesn''t know how to...'' Chapter 277: Day 1: Killing the enemys guardian beast *Ding! Queen Cremia Searvale casts divine protection on you. Looking at the buff he received, Wil realized why she only defended until now and never take an initiative to attack. But, if that''s the case, on what grounds did she think she can contend against the King? The gourd that never been tested? Or those level-400 Elven protectors. Maybe, she has another trump card? Wil pondered. For whatever reason she did it, Wil no longer looked at her in light and even bore a grudge against her even though he was also doing the same to her, hiding his identity. As the attack has been totally absorbed, Wil threw all of his ill feelings into the back of his head and concentrated on the present. He looked at the gourd''s stats. "680B/1T" "Eh? Only that much?" Wil was surprised to see the so-called most powerful skill of the King only had that much power behind it. Forget about him being hit, the gourd didn''t even fill up completely. Or maybe, it isn''t the most powerful skill at all? Wil can''t help but sigh. Either way, the Cooldown timer already started anyway. Until 30 minutes passed, he cannot absorb the attack again and before 10 minutes passed, he had to use the stored energy or else, it will go useless Wil then glanced at the King. He had around 72% of health. "Hmm His recovery rate is decent" Even though Wil had taken one-third of his HP by surprise, 6% of his HP has been recovered in the past hour. Meanwhile, the Queen was in an ecstatic mood to see the attack has been absorbed just as this mysterious Elf claimed but then she heard him sigh. Is there a problem? She asked, "what happened, Mr. Lupin?" "Your Majesty, this power I collected may not be sufficient in taking out the King at once. He needs to be injured further." Wil explained to her. "Oh! Just that." The Queen was calm. "I thought it is something else You don''t need to worry about that. It is going perfectly according to my plan. You just get ready to see the opportunity and strike the king and leave the remaining to me." Her calm reply made Wil wonder what her plan is, and what is she relying on. She''s a healer. Obviously, she cannot attack him head-on. So, maybe, a trap? The Queen then looked towards the ground and a satisfactory smile appeared on her face. "Good the four are gathered." "Mr. Lupin, get down, right away." She ordered him. Complying to her orders, Wil controlled the nimbus cloud and descended into the ground at a terrifying speed. Meanwhile, the Reverie''s King was taken aback by that power. "this elf I thought he''s just the controller of the cloud. That gourd of his can even absorb my attack. Wait a second. She performed divine protection, just now. That means, is he the one who attacked me with the lightning?" The king immediately dismissed the thought, "Nah! The power is too strong An otherworlder cannot be this strong" Looking at the descending cloud, the king followed it, not intending to let them escape his sight. Back to the ground, more than two hundred thousand players are fighting against four beasts. The Golem, The Thunderbird, The Python, and the Volcanic beast. All four of them are legendary grade level-400 beasts with 31.1 Billion of health and 3 Billion attack power. Adding on top of that, level-350 legendary+ grade Phoenix is also supporting them. The situation doesn''t look good for the players for one, they are weaker and two, they lack a strong leader. So, it''s chaos over there. Trapped between the five of them, the players who have mount beasts or wings either tried to leave or stay far and wait for the battle to over so that they can pick up the dropped equipment from the dead players. Meanwhile, not far from the battlefield, Rini is busy in a solo battle against the level-400 legendary+ grade White Elephant. There are a few players who are assisting the Elephant. She was on the losing end, yet, she still ordered the phoenix not to be involved in her fight. Stomping the ground with her left foot, Rini jumped high in the air, "Merciless Strike." She slashes the air three times at different angles, generating three arcs made of energy. Just when they were about to hit the Elephant, all of a sudden, it was hit by a lightning strike and reduced to ashes. While her attack passed through, she saw a huge number floating in the air for a couple of seconds before it disappeared... *Critical* "658,454,062,520." ''This was the same attack Means, the Queen is here'' She raised her head and confirmed that the Queen and the mysterious Elf are back. The enemy king is also behind them, probably chasing the two of them. ''Are they running?'' She wondered. However, in the next second, her thoughts proven untrue as the Queen gave an order, "Princess Siren, fall back." Then, she looked at the beasts, "Protectors, return to me at this instant." *Roar* *Screech* *Hiss* Giving out powerful roars, the beasts left the players alone and started to return towards the Queen. Wil, who saw that, wondered what she''s going to do with these beasts. Level-400 beasts are no match for a king. "No" At the same time, a loud scream echoed all over the surroundings. The source was the king who was enraged due to the death of his guardian beast. Last time, he wasn''t able to see the attack. However, this time he saw it clearly. The cloud was the one that shot the lightning bolt. He wasn''t angry just because the elephant is dead. The guardian beasts are immortal. They can be reborn again after a while but the fact that it was the symbol of his kingdom and it died in front of him, made him feel like he was humiliated. He raised his sword once again. The real clouds started to gather above him. The sunlight became dim because of them and the sky started to rumble because of the thunder. "hmm?" Wil and the Queen raised their heads towards the King, whose sword was absorbing the lightning from the clouds. Looking at it, the Queen cried, "protectors, quickly return and gather here" "Queen Searvale, You forced me to use my strongest attack." The king''s majestic voice resounded all over the place. "There''s no barrier or shield that will stop this one. If you think you can use the gourd, try your luck." However, Wil was calm. He didn''t take his words seriously because he knew he won''t die. All of his attention was on these four beasts. He didn''t get what she is planning with the beasts. A terrific idea appeared in his mind. Instantly, he rejected that idea, "No way, if she were able to do it, that means, it is possible for the other Elven kings and Queens. But, I never see it in the past." In the meantime, the beasts successfully made it to the Queen. They stand before them. "Die" The King slashed the air but this time, a dragon made of lightning emerged from the arc. As it comes down, the dragon opened its mouth widely as if it was about to swallow them. At the same time, raising the staff, the Queen shouted, "Merge." Chapter 278: Day 1: Neo-hybrid beast, the protector of Searvale "Merge." The Queen shouted while a powerful lightning attack coming towards her and Wil. The players who were running away upon getting freed from the beasts halted their movements for a second and glanced at the sky. Rini dashed backward to dodge the attack while Wil just sat there on the cloud hiding behind the beasts. It was okay when he''s alone with the Queen but in front of Rini and everyone, he can''t transform into his Angel form or Neo-hybrid form or reveal his skills that may link to Time Traveler. Well, at least, not yet That''s why he was prepared to get hit. But, when he heard the Queen about the word merge and saw they were glowing before coming together at one spot, Wil realized that it was as he feared. "So, this is her trump card, huh!" Wil mumbled as he saw the back of a giant golem with spikes on its back, blue wings, and the head of a snake. The new beast blocked the lightning with its body. Wil was even more shocked as he checked its stats. Aviar Species: Neo-hybrid Grade: Legendary Level: 500 HP: 58% Description: Used to be the mount of Neo-Hybrid Brygos. After his death, it became weak and divided itself into four beasts. Rather than the fact that nearly 1 Trillion of its HP was decreased, Wil was more surprised about the description. "Neo-hybrid Brygos Didn''t Hyori mention that name when she found the Hall of demigods? His name is on the list I wonder if his successor will be able to control it Quite possible Hmm" Wil fell into deep thoughts. "If I''m a mage and an archer, it''s quite possible the successor will be a mage and summoner or a swordmaster and a summoner something to do with summoner" "Mr. Lupin Mr. Lupin" His shoulder was shaken vigorously, bringing him back to reality. "Ah! Yes" Returning to his senses, Wil apologized to the Queen. "Didn''t you mention that you can only store the power for short time Aviar won''t be able to stop him for too long. Don''t waste time. Go" The Queen pointed to the sky where the King who was now temporarily ten times stronger is in a battle with the King. "Princess Siren, you also follow us." She ordered Rini too before she applied a heal on the beast to recover its health. Wil controlled his cloud to fly and soon, Rini followed with the Phoenix. In the skies several hundred meters above Searvale, an intense battle started between the Neo-hybrid beast and King Reverie. For each blow they exchanged, the king loses 6-7% of his health while the beast loses more than 12-16% of its heath, yet the king fell to a disadvantage as the Queen constantly healed and buffed Aviar by sitting on its shoulder. Meanwhile, the Phoenix was trying to distract him but due to the lesser damage, the latter just ignored it and completely focused on the level-500 beast. As for Rini and Wil, surprisingly, they ended up together on his cloud as part of Queen''s plan. When Wil dropped the Queen on the beast''s shoulder, Rini jumped onto his cloud while leaving the Phoenix to assist the Queen and the protector. Both of them were looking at the battle from hundred meters above and make sure not to get caught in the battle. To his luck, the King''s concentration was entirely on the beast, although he glances at Wil from time to time. But due to the divine protection still on Wil, he left him alone. Meanwhile, Wil was waiting for the perfect opportunity to repel the attack that was in store. The time is also ticking for him. And the opportunity finally arrived before he has two minutes left. The King used a double slash attack, which was a bit similar to Rini''s Merciless strike. In the form of X, as two energy arcs made their way towards the Queen, Rini ordered the phoenix to sacrifice itself. Even the Queen didn''t expect the Phoenix to suddenly come into the middle and took the attack before burning into ashes only for it to resurrect again as if nothing happened. The Reverie king was stunned for a second. Looking at his expression, Wil knew that it was his chance. "Lightning Strike" He controlled the cloud to drop a lightning strike on King once again, following by releasing all the energy stored in the gourd towards the King. Experiencing the lightning strike before, the king was always on guard on it. As soon as his eyes captured the flash of lightning from the cloud, he immediately dodged the attack but didn''t expect familiar energy about to strike him dead on in the next second. Not having time to dodge, he concentrated on his king''s medallion. It generated a blue shield around him, absorbing all the attack. "What" The Queen was surprised to see their ambush failed while Rini was stunned realizing the lightning strike wasn''t from the Queen. She felt like a fool for not realizing all along. Meanwhile, Wil clenched his fist in happiness. "Yes. He used it" "Eh?" Coming to her senses, Rini looked at him. "What do you mean by that?" She asked him in her usual tone. "He used the King''s medallion. Now, he was left with no protection and can be killed." As the King set his eyes on Wil, the latter controlled the cloud and ascended further. The King tried to catch but before he did, Wil already reached above 1000 meter mark, where not only players flying ability will cease, even NPCs too ''Damn it.'' The King muttered under his breath in frustration, "After killing her, I''ll hunt you down for sure" He then turned to the Queen and flew towards her. "Siren Can you do me a favor?" Right then, Wil asked Rini and said his strategy about the beast going all out. Upon hearing his request, she nodded and then passed the order to her Phoenix that revived as new. One should say his earlier attack made her respect him a little bit. Letting out a screech, the Phoenix flew towards the Queen and squeaked to the beast, transmitting Wil''s strategy to the beast. Elves were nature creatures. Naturally, the Queen also understood its language. *Hiss* The Neo-hybrid beast hissed as it flapped the wings and flew towards the King who was coming towards them. "Fist of Fury." While the Queen is heavily concentrating on the beast, not paying attention to Wil anymore, the beast clenched its fist and punched towards the incoming attack. The fist and the sword collided. The king was thrown a dozen meters away while the Neo-hybrid beast was flung away more than 50 meters towards the ground, losing 20% of its HP. The Queen who kept her footing firmly on its shoulder, raised her staff, "Lightstream." Her staff glow for a while and applied a healing buff of the beast. It started to recover HP 5% per second. By the time, the King''s sword neared the Queen, its HP was already recovered to 80%. As the Queen keep on healing the beast, the king decided to kill her first. But, every time, he tried it, either the beast will save it or the phoenix will sacrifice itself. Wil was still waiting for the perfect moment but for it to happen, either the King need to use his most powerful move or the beast should do it. But, neither is happening, probably because his skill is in Cooldown and the beast is still only either defending or just attacking with punches. It made him wonder whether it was thinking about the Queen. "Siren, this isn''t working. I need the Queen to get off its shoulder." Wil asked her to convince the Queen to hop on the Phoenix. Chapter 279: Day 1: Killing the Reveries King "I need the Queen to hop on the Phoenix." Rini instantly rejected his idea, "no, that will never happen. I''m sure of it. The only reason she was on it because they are free beasts." "Okay, then, tell her to jump off. She won''t die, right" Rini frowned in response, "you want me to tell her to jump off? Why don''t you just go down and pick her up, instead? And first of all, just what is your plan?" Rini showed her stance regarding his idea. She already did a favor once as a way of respecting his strength but doing as he said again will make it seem like she was some subordinate or a servant. So, Rini was like, either tell me the details or go and do the things for yourself. If it was someone else showing that kind of behavior to him, Wil would have been offended very much but as she is future sister-in-law, he tried to forgive her. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I want the beast in offense and the King is busy with defense. As long as it occurred even for a moment, I promise that I''ll finish the king with my secret skill Now, please pass the same message to her?" Hearing it from the Phoenix, the Queen was taken aback and she looked upwards. She saw Wil with a serious expression. "I''m going to take a gamble for one last time" Without wasting any time, she jumped off the beast''s shoulder after instructing it to go on offense without caring about anything else. "Your Majesty" The Supreme Commander who was on the ground shouted in panic. He rushed towards the place where she was about to fall but he was already too late and a huge crater formed. He sighed in relief after seeing that the Queen is alive and well. On the other hand, the Queen was surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?" "I thought you might be in danger after I saw you summoned the protectors" The Supreme Commander answered her with a worried expression. "You aren''t injured anywhere, right?" She shook her head in response and glanced at the sky. Following the Queen, Rini also jumped off from the cloud. However, unlike her, there''s a phoenix to catch her safely. She then mounted on its back and showed the okay symbol towards Wil. Whether Wil was able to see the gesture or not, that''s another thing Meanwhile, the beast hissed and flapped its wings towards the King. "I knew it" Just as Wil expected, the moment it became free, the beast spun around itself at a high pace, while its snake-head started to breathe out fire, creating a large spiky fire Spiningtop as it attacked the King. The Reverie''s king was taken aback by the sudden attack, although he dodged it successfully. But, it didn''t end there. Missing the attack, it returned with the same speed, making him trying to dodge once again. For the next two minutes, it continuously tried to attack him and he successfully dodged every time. As the beast stopped spinning, the King laughed and raised his sword. "Now, it''s my turn." Since the Queen was no longer supporting the beast, he thought she was probably recovering her mana and decided to finish her first. It was a very familiar skill to Wil. The clouds started to gather. He''s going to unleash the lightning dragon. Wil was excited. He waited until the king started to gather the lightning energy in the sword. Immediately, a lightning strike descended onto his head. However, this one was generated from the nimbus cloud. The Queen and Rini saw the flash of lightning below the cloud. Just as their faces about to glow in excitement, the King sidestepped in the air and the attack missed him. ''damn'' Rini muttered under her breath, "Eh?" In the next second, her expression changed. "haha Do you think you can ambush me again? It no longer huh!" The King saw only the nimbus cloud remained above him. Wil was disappeared from his view. "Argh" He screamed in pain as a metallic spear suddenly pierced him from the back. "Surprise" The last thing he heard is Wil''s simple yet terrifying word. *Critical* "877,939,855,273" His health was instantly dropped to zero and the body disappeared in the air. "What!" Rini was stunned. A few thousand players who are still on the ground, watching the battle were also stunned. "Oh!" The Queen exclaimed and had a big smile on his face before she used her staff to create a barrier on Wil who was falling down at an extremely high speed. *Boom* As a result, another large crater was formed. Wil was lying on the ground, facing the sky and a laugh escaped from his lips. *Ding! You killed Decimus Augustus Reverie. You received 100000 War points as a reward. "hahaha My gamble paid off But, I guess I won''t be able to use the skill as Time Traveler for now" The moment he saw the damage he absorbed is low, Wil thought it wouldn''t be enough to kill the king. So, he made a plan of using it to take away the protection by Imperial medallion. Then, he used the lightning strike at the perfect moment but that was a distraction. At the same instant, he summoned the "Metallic Spear" (level 300 skill) and then, activated the "Short Teleportation" Skill to teleport behind his back to stab him in the back. Everything happened in a moment Meanwhile, the others received the system announcement. *Ding! Searvale wins the war against Reverie. *Ding! Reverie kingdom turns into Reverie province. *Ding! Players and NPCs of Reverie Province turn into allies of the Searvale kingdom. "Are you alright?" The Queen jumped down and landed before him. She gave her hand with a smile. Wil nodded and stood up on his feet but didn''t take her hand. "Lady Marten is right. You are indeed the key to win this war. And I should say that you are indeed a lot powerful than other otherworlders." *Ding! Favorability with Queen increased by 50 "The War isn''t over yet, Your Majesty. There''s one more king to die" Wil said as he looked at the horizon. "Yeah, you are right" The Queen nodded. Chapter 280: Day 1: Brans Crescent formation Wild zone, Searvale Kingdom; Thousands of Angel race players were flying towards the capital while Bran is leading the other players through the land route. Everyone was controlling their speed to move together. They crossed level-300 wild zone, then, 290, then 280 not even one player has been sighted. While everyone wondered whether the players went off to attack the Uflenor, some guild leaders and high-level players knew about the ambush lying waiting for them but they kept quiet under Bran''s orders. Bran finally opens his mouth as soon as they reached the level-270 zone, The Forest of Kyha Alari that stretches all the way until level-240 zone. Only then, he informed about the ambush in the forest. It is done to keep the other party in the dark of the fact that they knew about their plan But, just as they entered the forest, more than ten thousand arrows were shot towards the skies, presumably targeting the Angel race players. They didn''t expect they will be the ones who will get ambushed first, even though they are flying 200-300 meters above the ground. "Everyone, defend" The leader of the flying unit spoke loudly as he knew that they can''t dodge them. Too bad that there aren''t enough guardian class players here So, they had no choice but to get hit and heal themselves or the wizards. The Angel race players indeed have the hardest during the war. To this date, so many complained about the unfairness of the company regarding the wings. Many casual gamers thought Angel and the Demon race are the best since they can fly. It was good when someone battle against a few mobs but during a war like this it became very hard for the casual players to attack/defend while flying in the sky, especially, unleashing single target attacks while keep flying as the battlefield is packed with hundreds of thousands of players from either side. And the second problem is that they can be targeted easily from the ground due to fewer numbers. The third problem arises when they fight in an unfavorable environment, such as the forest zones which won''t be helpful for the flying players because of the obstruction of trees. For the players on the ground, they only had to dodge the trunks but for the flying ones, they also had to dodge several branches, not to mention, the ambushes. The fourth and final issue is that the race only suits those who want to play Ranger classes And because of the changes caused by the major update, gunners like SnowDew also disappeared and were forced to change their classes. As Archery is a high difficulty profession, seventy percent of the Angel race warriors ended up being either healers or wizards. When in PVP, usually, a healer will always be the first target of enemies. Naturally, they suffered the losses and Elven players were also confident in winning this battle too. Under the lead of Royal Knights, Elves who are hiding on top of the trees kept on shooting the Angel race players who are outside of the forest. It didn''t take long for the Elves to successfully wipe out almost thirty percent of the players that are flying. The rest either scattered away or descended into the forests from the skies. While they can''t do anything about the scattered ones, the players who entered the forest faced even more of a horrible outcome. Not even one of them was spared. Upon hearing the result, Searvale''s General smiled and praised their Supreme Commander but not long after, another scout appeared with a piece of bad news, destroying his mood. "What happened?" The General frowned. "The first and second line of defense was destroyed completely." The scout reported. "Hmm" The General became serious. He took the remaining Royal knights and soldiers with him and left towards the level-270 zone. Two parties were defeated means he had already lost around 50 thousand players. The General wanted to solve the problem personally so that there won''t be too many casualties. But, as soon as he reached the place, his eyes widened in shock. Even the fifth line of defense is already broken and they are currently in sixth defense, which was the strongest that comprised of over four hundred thousand players. It wasn''t the speed that shocked him. It was their formation that leading the enemy players of Reverie. The General saw a team of players that were leading the army. They weren''t that many, just roughly around 500, however, they were moving in a Crescent formation with Bran and his team taking the positions in the first layer. Along the ups were the melee players while protecting the wizards, and gunners who are following them right behind. "Didn''t expect the otherworlders were able to use this formation." The General mumbled to himself. The ranger class players who are hiding behind the formation are first to attack enemies randomly without any aim while taking care of the ones who are hiding on top of the trees. Meanwhile, Crescent formation''s first layer with hundred players will face head-on, attacking once or twice before continuing to press forward. Then, the players in the second layer will attack, then, third to finish them. If the Elven players still have health, it will be taken care of players who were following from behind. Bran and his guild''s aim aren''t to kill everyone and amass a large amount of War points. Their target is the capital city. There are two ways to defeat the enemy. One is to kill the king and the other is to occupy all the towns and cities. All he had to lay a siege on the capital. Once he kills the Mayor and occupies it, the native Elves wouldn''t be able to attack him. Not to mention, once the war ends, it will still be under his control to rule, no matter who the ruler is That was what Bran''s true target is. With the King personally leading another army from the middle, he was also sure that the enemies will focus on him. So, Bran was never worried about occupying the capital city. While his plan was proceeding smoothly, his team encountered a team of thousand soldiers, fifty Royal knights, and a General. "Good" Bran grinned as soon as he saw them. Even his aim isn''t earning War points, he wouldn''t say no to free points that were delivered to him, right? Crimson Sun: Guys, strong enemies lie ahead. Breaking through will make the ones from behind face difficulty We''ll kill them. After sending a message in the party channel, Bran rushed forward, breaking from the formation. "Thunder steps," Bran mumbled. Sparks of lightning started to appear around his feet before he dashed towards a Royal Knight and hack him down. A few minutes later; "I should have listened to Princess Siren" The General who was in charge of the army mumbled before a giant sword appeared in his view and demolished him into nothingness. Rini warned about Bran''s strength about how he can defeat the Generals but none of them took it seriously. How much strength can an otherworlder have? They would have believed if she said Bran can overpower a Royal knight but a general? If it is someone like Rini with guardian beast, sure, they would take him seriously but the one with no guardian beast he thought she was stupid. He wasn''t alone all the other Generals including the Supreme Commander had the same opinion. Now, those stupid thoughts came back to bite him. Chapter 281: Day 1: Supreme Conquerors strategy After killing the general, Bran set his eyes on the remaining Royal knights who were fighting with the players of his guild. However, he was neither Wil nor One. He was too good to steal War points from others. So, he didn''t touch them and only focused on those enemies who are overpowering his allies. Even though their Air force was pretty much defeated, under Bran''s lead, the infantry was able to overwhelm the enemies and break through the wild zone, entering the region of Elalian where the citizens are ready to defend. *Ding! King Decimus Augustus Reverie has been killed. Reverie lost the war. "Eh?" Just for the moment, fifty thousand players who made it under Bran''s lead were stunned on the spot. "The king has already fallen?" Bran mumbled in shock. "I didn''t even make it to the capital and the war is already over?" *Ding! The Reverie Kingdom turned into Reverie province. *Ding! Players and NPCs of Reverie province turn into the allies of the Searvale kingdom. *Ding! Crimson Sun was removed as the player representative. *Ding! Siren is the new player representative for the player alliance. Not only them, the remaining players who remained in the forest to fight the Elven players of Searvale also stopped their fight and read the notification. All of their names turned blue and now, they realized they can''t kill each other. They didn''t expect their kingdom would fall just a little over 2 hours after the war has been started. It''s only 8 o''clock in the morning and, three kingdoms collapsed already. If one includes Llyne, then, it''s four As he was no longer the leader of the alliance, Bran started sending private messages to the guild leaders to return to the Reverie city. Since their kingdom is already down and they can do nothing about it, they will need to come up with a plan to occupy the Uflenor kingdom that was in a battle with Searvale''s strongest force on their border. At the same time, in another part of the wild zone, the Crown Princess and her Royal knights were fighting against two generals, and their army of Searvale. They too stopped their fight as everyone sensed the death of their king. When a king dies, every NPC of their kingdom sees the image of his last breath in their head and their creator, mother goddess Gaia will make the winners immune to their attacks. While the rest of the Royal Knights are saddened with the fact that they lost the war, the Crown Princess, on other hand, burned with revenge after receiving the Imperial sword from her father. But, as the loser of the war, she had to comply with the rules of the war and surrendered herself. The Elven soldiers tied their hands and took their equipment before escorting them to the capital. Since the imperial sword was now connected to her, the crown princess isn''t worried about it being taken away. All she was waiting for the time to escape before she swears her allegiance to Searvale. *** Capital Region, Kingdom of Isengard; Another one-sided war is going on in this kingdom that is located in the central region of the North Zalfari continent. As Isengard''s habitable region faces the wild zones of the kingdom of Krara, their king ordered the entire player army to defend the kingdom while sending a general, a hundred Royal knights, and five thousand soldiers into the enemy territory to occupy a town and set up as a base. But, the players are hungry to acquire War points. So, a part of them didn''t listen to the order. They followed the Solar into the wild zone of Krara. However, strangely, the world''s strongest guild with over 250 thousand members stayed behind to protect the city following the orders of their guild leader. With their thousand-member Elite force, Supreme Conqueror and Solar were waiting for the enemy. As for the generals, no one knows where they are except for Supreme Conqueror. With Solar by his side, he manipulated the King and the Generals to let them play in the way he wanted to. Soon, he heard about the appearance of the massive army from the scout. "What are the stats?" Supreme Conqueror asked the scout with a smile. "Along with more than two princes, five hundred Royal knights, ten thousand soldiers, and five hundred thousand players crossed the border and entered Isengard territory." The scout replied. Upon hearing it, the smile on Supreme Conqueror only became wider. "Okay, the fish took the bait." The massive army passed an NPC town on the way but to their surprise, it was empty. The two Princes thought it was normal and didn''t think too much to occupy the town before setting towards the next town, leaving behind some Royal knights. Strangely. they found the nearby town is also empty. This time, they found something amiss. The plan is to occupy a town by killing the residents but surprisingly, everything is going on their way and they didn''t work hard for it. Thinking that it might be a trap, the Princes took each town as their own and settled by dividing the army half and half. In the meantime, they ordered the player army to stand in the line, making a hundred-kilometer human wall between the two towns. This way, they will be able to react quickly even if there''s an ambush laid by Isengard. "Here" The second prince gave a letter to the player representative, "send someone to the capital and hand it to Elder brother. It''s best if they were able to fly so that they can reach quickly." Oakwood nodded in response as he took the letter, "don''t worry, your highness. I''ll send my best to send it as fast as they can, safely." The second prince was happy with his promise. In fact, he was the one who suggested this plan earlier during their strategy meeting. Now, all they need is to send a letter back to the king and inform him about it. After all, their NPC force is too weak to contend against the entire army of Isengard for they are equal in strength to each other. However, they didn''t expect, just after 10 minutes Oakwood receives the letter, all of a sudden, an enormous explosion occurred in both of the towns. The grounds beneath the NPCs were completely collapsed. Although none of them were killed, all of them fell into a pit of over two hundred meters depth. If that wasn''t enough, the players started to log out, abandoning them, and shockingly, Oakwood wasn''t an exception either. The result well, the destruction of the enemies. Supreme Conqueror laughed hard as his plan worked perfectly. *** Wild zone, Evelon Kingdom; From the start, people never paid much attention to the result of this three-way war after Llyne submitted to Zuweth. With Wil''s clones'' performance, everyone believed Evelon will collapse soon. However, the situation is quite different from everyone''s imagination. That''s right. Evelon is winning against the allied forces. A hundred-meter-big Evelon''s protector, a level-500, legendary-grade Neo-hybrid beast was right now is in a berserk state with one of its damaged. It was sweeping down the allied forces of Zuweth and Llyne, players and NPC soldiers alike. At the same time, sitting on its shoulder, the king was madly raining down exploding arrows from time to time. Looking at the situation that got out of his hand, Starlight''s eyes panicked, "We are supposed to win. How did the situation escalate to his manner..." He then remembered a message from Wil, two hours ago. Starlight mumbled, "Time Traveler, what have you done?" Chapter 282: Day 1: Fall of the Hundred Clones 6:10 A.M.; Ai Themor, Evelon; 13 minutes before ''One'' won the war against Eiron; 90 minutes before Wil killed Reverie''s King; roughly 2 hours before Supreme Conqueror bombed the two towns and dealt heavy damage to his enemy kingdom; there''s an amazing battle going on in the campsite of Ai Themor. This battle is neither between two king nor it is between two massive armies. On one side, there was an Elven king, an Elven prince, and 14 generals with their entire army either down or hiding in the safe zone. And on another side, there were a hundred clones of Wil of which five of them are on the ground with vines on them, restricting their ability to move. Along with the second prince, all the Generals scattered all over the battlefield to make sure the clones don''t stick together. The King was also standing far away from the rest with the imperial bow in his hands. While a couple of clones were guarding the safe zone, of the remaining ninety-three, 60 clones picked these fifteen level-400s as their next target. The rest of them decided to take care of the king who is the biggest threat. *Swoosh* "-261,205,613" A normal energy arrow escaped from the King''s bow and pierced the chest of clone no. 6. However, it wasn''t that big deal if one considers the clone''s HP. It acted as if nothing happened. Pulling the string, the king started to rapid-fire the energy arrows, each time taking nearly 260 million of a clone''s HP. Meanwhile, four clones surrounded each general. Previously, they outnumbered the clones and were failed Now, they were outnumbered by the clones. However, the clones didn''t claim an easy victory either. If Wil would have known some martial art techniques that involve the staff, surely, the clones would have outperformed them in fighting but alas, they can''t help but only fight like a ruffian, just swinging them wildly. And miraculously, they succeeded. Due to the massive size of the pillar and their sheer numbers, while the generals were able to dodge one of the attacks, unintended wild swinging from the other clones hit them more than a couple of times. It is also practically hard to dodge when there are four clones around you, each one swinging a 50-meter big pillar randomly around at a quick speed. So, one should say, they lucked out. The players who are watching from the safe zone were only able to see blur images of pillars from far away. Nearly ten minutes later, as the king shot another wooden arrow, capturing the eighth clone, he suddenly heard a scream from his left. Before now, the king completely focused on the enemies before him as they were too many in number. Losing focus will be fatal to him. So, he wasn''t able to see what''s going around him. The familiar voice of his son forced him to concentrate on his surroundings. As feared. losing his focus for a second, a pillar smashed his face and flung him away. "2,253,523,976" He flew away a dozen meters and crashed onto the ground. As the King slowly stood up on his feet, his head moved left and right and his eyes were looking everywhere on the battlefield. Only seven of his Generals were alive and there was no sign of his second son. He rechecked once again and the result is still the same. He felt his chest tightened for a couple of seconds and tears welled up in his eyes. "I''ll kill you" The King was enraged and his heart screamed for revenge. He roared in anger and pulled the string as hard as he can, conjuring a black-colored arrow. "Secret skill: Arrow of Extinction." He shot it towards the horde of clones that were coming towards him. A gigantic explosion occurred, making a half a kilometer radius huge crater. The tents were destroyed. The clones were blown hundreds of meters away with ten-digit numbers on their heads. Thankfully, the barrier stayed intact. So, the people who are inside were safe while the people who are shooting the battle from above were caught up in an explosion and ended up dead. Only the ones that are flying above the 500-meter range stayed alive. Even the players who are hundreds of miles away were able to see the explosion that was dozen times bigger than the earlier nuclear explosion. Within a minute, the dust cleared. "What?" The King''s eyes widened to see every clone that wasn''t captured by the vines, slowly stood up on their feet like zombies. The name of the arrow means it''s damage is so high that it can destroy any species but he never expected that not only they weren''t killed but it also didn''t do much damage. "Only 5% of their life force has been depleted" He gritted his teeth in anger, "these damn pests" Facing the failure only enraged him further. But, what can he do... Even his strongest weapon became useless. The angry king left with no other choice other to depend on last resort. "Arise, protectors of Evelon." He then summoned the four protectors of the Elf kingdom and just like how the Searvale''s Queen merged those level-400s into a Neo-hybrid beast of level-500, this Elven king of Evelon did the same. What strange is that it looks identical to that of Searvale''s protector... With a golem body, snakehead, spiky back, and blue wings, the beast reciprocates his rage with a mighty roar and goes on a wild massacre. Under the assault of the King and the Neo-hybrid beast, none of the clones were able to stay alive for they don''t know how to retreat without finishing their job. Searvale kingdom; Sitting on top of the nimbus cloud, Wil and Rini were watching the battle going between the Searvale''s Neo-hybrid beast and Reverie king. "Hmm" Wil sensed the destruction of his clones one by one. He wasn''t disappointed. On the contrary, he looks pretty much satisfied with the outcome. Not only he managed to steal the majority of the War points, but he also able to enrage the King as well as increasing the beast''s attack by 100% by forcing it to go into a berserk state. Wil didn''t know which clone did it, but he really wanted to appreciate the clone that damaged the beast''s eye. ''Great now I hope at least one of them will end up dead. It would be best if Rikilda will be the one. Once she''s dead, only that former Prime Minister will be left. Once he''s gone too, I''ll be the sole member of the Royal family of Llyne. All the soldiers and Raziel will have no choice but to stay loyal to me.'' Not wasting any time, he quickly sent a message to Aster. Ai Themor, Evelon kingdom; On the outskirts of the region, the players of both sides are in an intense battle. Earlier, when the clones of Wil passed through them, they only killed the ones that attacked them directly. However, most of them were stationed on top of the cliffs to ambush the enemies. While their ambushes were failed on the clones, they were able to stop the alliance forces. Right now, Aster and the rest of the Vulture guild and Scarlet A and B divisions are also tightly locked in battle. The enormous explosion and the following appearances of legendary-grade level-400 beasts made everyone hesitate to move forward. Rather than going forward and risk their lives, they felt it is better to stay here and fight weak players. After all, killing a player is also netting them war points. Soon afterward, Aster received a private message from Wil. He opened it and read it. Time Traveler: All of you will return to Deloris right now. Those who stay will die. Looking at the giant beast from far away, Aster wondered whether Wil failed to kill the king. He immediately relayed the message to others and they withdrew from the battlefield. Their actions brought mixed feelings among the large guilds. While the ones that are displeased with Vulture were celebrating with an assumption that Time Traveler might have been dead, on the other hand, the supportive guilds like Starlight felt it''s unfortunate. But soon, they realized how strong the other party is, and after his battle video became viral in forums, they can''t help but blame Wil for enraging him, instead of blaming themselves for being weak. Chapter 283: Day 1: Return to Llyne? "I surrender" *Ding! King Obarin Uflenor surrendered to Queen Cremia Searvale *Ding! Searvale kingdom wins the war *Ding! Uflenor kingdom turns into Uflenor province *Ding! The Searvale Kingdom emerged as the final victor of the Searvale-Reverie-Uflenor *Ding! Player representative Siren has been awarded a legendary grade weapon as a reward. As soon as the Uflenor''s king surrendered, every player that belongs to Searvale, Uflenor and Reverie received the system announcements. From thousand meters above the ground, Wil then glanced down where he saw the Uflenor''s king and their soldiers were kneeling before the Queen and the gigantic beast. The soldiers of Searvale and the soldiers of Reverie that pledge their loyalty to the kingdom were celebrating with cheers. Wil then opened the notifications. *Ding! Congratulations, you now hold the permanent citizenship of the new Searvale kingdom. *Ding! Congratulations, your nobility rose to Earl in the Searvale kingdom. *Ding! You finished the quest, Assist the princess. "Okay, my work is finished here. Let''s get back to Llyne" Not intending to join in their celebration, Wil controlled his nimbus cloud and turned around to fly away. But, before he went too far, he received another notification. *Ding! You are summoned by the Queen of Searvale. Meet her. Wil immediately pressed on reject and left for the nearby city to teleport back to Llyne now that the teleportation channels to other kingdoms are working again. Wil has no interest in getting personal rewards or anything like that. He feared that the more he will interact with them, the more his abilities will be exposed. After all, one of his skills, the metal spear is exposed, right now. Unless there''s another appearance of a level-300 Elementalist, he won''t be able to use it when he is Time Traveler. Wil wished to be nothing more than a hired mercenary for them and he did it perfectly. With the Queen already promising him about giving entire credit to the crown princess, he also fulfilled his promise to Aerona. Time Traveler: Hey He then sent a text to Akiko after finding her online. In no time, he received the reply too. Athena: You are still online!!! Athena: Sorry I just assumed that you went offline after you know Time Traveler: Can you tell me what''s happening at Zuweth? He directly came to the point without any comment on his clones'' action. Looking at his message, Akiko thought he was embarrassed about it. So, she too didn''t probe it further and answered him. Athena: Currently, nothing. They called back the troops. I bet they''ll launch a full-scale attack, tomorrow. Time Traveler: No, I mean, what happened with Evelon''s King and the beast. How much damage they have done? "So, he''s really done it on purpose?" Reading his message made Akiko suspect his motives. Earlier, she thought people are exaggerating in forums. Now, she wondered whether the rumors are true. Still, she explained without hiding anything. Athena: According to our reports, Evelon''s king as well as his beast went on a rampage. We aren''t sure about the number but our estimate is around 10-20 thousand soldiers as well as six generals. One of the Zuweth''s princes also became a casualty. Athena: If not for Llyne''s previous Queen and Zuweth''s King, there might have been more casualties. At first, they were pushed back but the sudden disappearance of the beast turned the tide of the war. Athena: Evelon''s King then slowly retreated while taking a prince as his hostage. "Damn it" Wil clenched his fist upon reading the bad news. The number of soldiers doesn''t matter to him. Even if all the Llyne soldiers end up dead, he can raise them pretty much quickly. "I guess I need to wait two more days for the full moon to occupy the Llyne city and declare independence, huh! Or maybe, I should go and kill the Evelon''s king myself, then, declare independence in broad daylight? The rest phase will only start after all the wars are over anyway, Hmm" Thanking her, Wil then asked about the other important news like the state of each kingdom. But, he didn''t expect to hear a piece of mind-blowing news Athena: One destroyed Eiron''s kingdom all by himself in 53 minutes. He''s your rival, isn''t he? Is it considered important? "He destroyed everything by himself?" Wil was stunned to hear the news. Wil knew that ''One'' is strong enough to win against Bran and a better archer than himself or Hyori but never expected he is that strong to go against a kingdom all by himself and even won within an hour. According to his memories, he isn''t even a legend class user. Maybe, did he stumble upon some fortuitous encounter like Min? Wil can''t help but wonder. "Hmm if he has the inheritance of a pseudo demigod and a guardian beast, provided that all of his equipment are enhanced to +30, it might be possible Wait a second" Wil suddenly felt something wrong and read her message again. "My rival?" Wil was taken aback. Then, he thought whether she was describing how people compared him and ''One'' back during the Battle tournament. Time Traveler: We don''t have any rivalry. I only met him once during the Battle tournament. Don''t trust what forums say. "Eh?" On the other side, Akiko was indeed surprised by his statement. Athena: But he claimed that you will be his strongest opponent in this war. I saw the interview. "He picked me as his rival?" Wil felt like, what''s going on "Did that guy bore a grudge on me for losing the battle? Is he a sore loser or something?" Time Traveler: Send me the link Athena: The interview or his battle against Eiron? Time Traveler: both Athena: It would be better if you wait until the official video will be posted on the internet. You rather not visit the forums, right now. People are roasting you out. Time Traveler: It''s alright. One should worry about the dogs that bite not the ones that bark. Sooner or later, they will regret their actions, anyway. As he clicked on the first link Akiko sent him, he was redirected to an interview done by Nova Weekly. It is an established newspaper that has more than a hundred branches all over the Western and Eastern continents. Just like Akiko said, ''One'' indeed mentioned his name and claimed as his greatest competitor and wished to battle him once without any restrictions in the near future. Another thing that troubled Wil is that the reporter asked something about his beast and his unique skills that were way different from a usual mage. She then also asked why he changed his class from an archer to a mage. ''One'' just replied that it was a fortuitous encounter and didn''t talk much about it. Only did then Wil realized that One was no longer the Archer. Something told him that this guy might have found a legend class. He quickly went to the other video. It was a 50-minute long video. It was started with the sudden appearance of a level-500 beast that was legendary+ grade. Wil''s face turned serious. After all, even he wasn''t that capable. He then continued to watch. "This is dragon breath Absolute freeze Earth Golem Metal Armor Oh! F**k" Wil realized that amid the skills that he was unfamiliar with, there were very familiar skills that were a carbon copy of his. "He is a f**k**g Elementalist." Wil came to a conclusion. "And legend class doesn''t seem that simple after all" When he watched Rini''s videos, he had a suspicion that legend class users might use different weapons but now, this confirmed it. Chapter 284: Visiting War shop Time Traveler: Is there anything else?" Thanking her, he asked for other reports, not intending to talk about ''One'' anymore. Athena: A mysterious player appeared in the Searvale kingdom. I don''t know if I should say it but judging on the words described by my sister, he appears stronger than even One. She wanted to say that he was even stronger than Wil but at the last second, she changed her statement to One. "I know he is stronger" Wil smiled as he read it. Even though One has that mysterious flame or that level-500 beast, he was confident that he can win if he goes all out. However, the fact that Akiko said that he is stronger than One made him a bit happier. As Akiko continued to say about the war that happened in Searvale, how the mysterious player helped them win and how Crimson Sun employed a strange battle formation from medieval times, Wil remembered about Bran. Earlier, during the war, because of unforeseen circumstances, he wasn''t able to fight against Bran. And right now, even if he wanted to, he can''t fight against him because they became allies after he killed the Reverie King. Wil thought there would be another opportunity once he takes over Llyne and wins the other two kingdoms. Then, he can exchange Evelon for Reverie. He was ready to provide financial assistance to Searvale if needed extra compensation. Time Traveler: I know Crimson Sun. We fought in the semi-finals. He is very strong, indeed. So, he is from Reverie? Athena: Hmm, Yeah. As if she remembered something because of it, she then informed another piece of important news. "The Crown Princess escaped from captivity?" Wil was stunned as he read it. "Yeah, that''s right. She wasn''t killed. If Reverie king is dead, then, the imperial sword will go to her." A plan formed in his mind and his eyes lit up in excitement, "If I manage to find her and gave her support from behind so that she becomes confident enough to declare independence I can invade and occupy Reverie when she takes back Reverie. Searvale''s strength will drop and I can take revenge too. It''s like killing two birds with one stone. Hahaha" He laughed alone in happiness. Good thing that no one is around Time Traveler: Thanks for the info, Akiko-san. I need to get back to Vulture city. Cya He immediately closed the message window and flew towards a small town nearby. Entering the teleportation formation, he clicked on Scarlet town, paid 1000 gold coins, and teleported to the town. "Oh! 70 thousand gold coins" Wil was indeed surprised that visitations through the teleportation channels increased despite the ongoing war. Wil then went to the system bank and deposited 2 million gold coins, keeping himself the remaining 310 thousand. Even though he can do the same at Llyne city too, Wil doesn''t want to take a risk with the stolen amount now that he wasn''t the Governor anymore. It is the very reason he withdrew everything, a week ago. And here at Ormshire, since it is his forever, he didn''t face any issues nor will he ever face them After he finished with the deposit, Wil opened the War tab that was added to his character menu. It contained the data. Total number of kills: 159,945 Number of player kills: 91,214 Level 1-100: 46,534 Level 101-200: 44,658 Level 201-300: 22 Number of NPC kills: 68,731 Kings: 1 Princes: 2 Generals: 16 Royal knights: 271 Elites/Captains: 1427 Soldiers: 21,312 Citizens: 45,702 Accumulated War points = 691,796 War points before the War = 17,244 (Locked) Looking at the points, Wil grinned, "killing players is more profitable than going against the King" Then, he saw the Citizen kills and sighed, "Too bad that citizens can''t earn me points. I guess people gonna complain again about the unfairness of how Elven citizens can participate in the war but can''t give points when got killed. Most of them are even nearly level-200 Can''t do anything about it, anyway" Shrugging his shoulders, he put the thought away and clicked on War shop that was displayed in big red words. Like the battle shop, he saw there a shop where an A.I. was acting as the shopkeeper. She greeted him with a bow, "greetings player. May I know the reason for your visit?" Wil said, "Show me the goods." A list appeared on the holographic screen before him. He ignored everything that was below the Epic grade section and stopped at the Legendary-grade equipment section. Growth type Random legendary grade equipment (max level 300) C 10000 War points Growth type legendary grade equipment, class-exclusive (max level 300) C 25000 War points Growth type legendary grade equipment, chosen (max level 300 C 50000 War points Growth type Random legendary grade accessory (max level 300) C 50000 War points Growth type legendary grade accessory, chosen (max level 300 C 150000 War points "Hmm what I need is a Ring, Necklace, Bracers, and Boots. Okay, let''s first buy the equipment. I can look for other things, later It''s not like I lack the points" *Ding! You received Elementalist Boots *Ding! You received Elementalist Bracers *Ding! You received Elementalist Ring (Ring) *Ding! You received Elementalist Necklace "There are still nearly three hundred thousand left to spend" Wil scrolled down the list. He ignored the weapon as he already possessed the mythic grade. He stopped at the materials and went on a shopping spree once again. *Ding! You bought 9999 Augment stones. 19998 War points have been deducted. *Ding! You bought 99 Pet slots. 99000 War points have been deducted. *Ding! You bought a Random Peak-grade skill book. 20000 War points have been deducted. *Ding! You bought 150 Mana recovery scrolls (100%): 150000 War points have been deducted. "Good Now, I have over 240 mana scrolls It will easily last for a year or two." After seeing how his mana quickly disappeared because of the clones, he spent most of the War points to buy the mana recovery scrolls. Finishing his shopping, Wil returned to the temple and teleported to Llyne. Chapter 285: Wils interview at Mayors mansion Deloris town, Llyne kingdom; "Young Master, you are back." Aster greeted Wil who returned from Searvale. "Is everyone here?" Wil asked him as he got out of the temple. "Uhh Not exactly" Aster replied with hesitation. He had trouble while answering a part of bad news. "Everyone from our Vulture guild is either log out or leveling up in the dungeons. But" "What is it?" Wil asked him. "Almost one-third of Scarlet-B division left the guild and there are only a few from Scarlet-A division as well. The reason for their leaving is because" Aster glanced at Wil''s calm expression and continued, "Their guild leader hoarded all the War points for himself and they were being pulled out of the War." "Oh! So, it''s just that." Wil didn''t take the news seriously, "don''t worry. In my eyes, all of them are extras. Only the members of the Vulture guild matters to me" Aster was taken aback by Wil''s attitude. He expected him to punish them, not leave them just like that. After all, there is a code of Vulture gang. One is free to leave but those who betray the organization will have to die. Then, he reminded himself that Wil isn''t like his father. Since the young master has already decided to let them go, he threw away the thought. However, in the next second, he realized his thoughts were wrong. As soon as he claimed that only the Vulture guild is important, Wil halted his footsteps and his voice suddenly turned cold, "But mass leaving the guild is also a matter of prestige. If I don''t do something about it, then people might think I''m a pushover. Do you have their names?" "Ah! Yes" Aster hastily replied. "Every name has been recorded in the death note." "Mark them they''ll be the first ones we will take action against after I took over this kingdom." Aster still wondered how Wil''s gonna take over the kingdom Allies can''t attack each other, right Maybe, he''s going to take the help of Searvale? While having a lot of thoughts, he followed Wil silently through the bustling streets of Deloris. As Wil still wore the mask of tranquility over his eyes, no one identified him. Even though Wil''s actions upset many people, especially amongst the players of Evelon, Llyne, and Zuweth, he also gained massive popularity among the players of the other kingdoms. One''s interview also helped him indirectly. As they changed the streets and entered the residential district which is full of NPC houses, Wil saw the space before the Mayor''s mansion was packed with players whose names are in red. A team of over 20 soldiers with a level-300 Captain stood before the gate, blocking everyone. So, everyone just stood outside of the gate as if they were protesting. Wil frowned at first but then, realized all of them are non-combat players and many of them have cameras and mics. "Are they reporters?" He wondered. "Argh These pests didn''t go yet" Meanwhile, Aster was annoyed as soon as he saw them. He hurriedly apologized to Wil and asked him to give a minute to clear them. "No, it''s alright." Wil waved his hands. "What do they want? Let me guess my interview?" "Yes." Aster nodded vigorously. "These annoying flies kept on pestering about interviews. They even tried to interview the NPCs about their view towards the Young Master. Because of that, I had to ask the soldiers to patrol and keep an eye on them. The people are actually very few right now. Once it will be known that young master arrived here, the entire Street will be blocked by the media." "I think it''s better if we just go to the guild residence," Aster suggested to him. "No, it''s alright." Wil waved his hands. "Bring five of them inside the mansion. I''ll give them the interview. The last thing I want is to make an enemy out of the media. With their articles, they can easily manipulate the casual people''s mindset." "Uhh" Aster was stunned as he heard Wil''s words. ''That''s right. How did I miss this'' Although his face was calm on the outside, he was sweating bullets inside. An hour ago, he ordered the soldiers to kill the people who kept on annoying him He wondered the negative articles that are published in the past hour are because of his mistake. However, he kept silent and didn''t confess it to Wil. Wil and Aster walked towards the crowd. Wil removed his mask so that the soldiers discover his identity. Just as they reached the crowd, one of them who turned around spotted Wil with a pillar in his hand. "It''s Time Traveler." The blonde screamed before rushing towards him with a mic in her hands. The cameraman also followed her. Following them, the remaining also rushed towards them. "Short teleportation," Wil mumbled before disappearing in front of their eyes and appear right in front of the soldiers that were guarding the entrance. The sudden appearance of a person before him alerted the Captain but as he saw Wil''s figure, he put back his weapon and bowed, "Welcome back Your Majesty" The soldiers kneeled on their one leg and greeted him. The reporters got astonished. Some of them immediately turned on the cameras and captured the moment. As the media went into a frenzy for a while, contacting their friends, who are looking for a connection in the Vulture guild, so that they can get an interview, Aster announced Wil''s decision. He randomly selected five people and granted them access into the Mansion. Aster didn''t select based on their background because he doesn''t want the others to write that his Young Master is just favoring the rich new stations over them. The ones that got selected were all smiles, leaving behind the rest of them outside. They can''t help but curse their bad luck After a while, the ten reporters with their cameramen got into the Mayor''s Mansion and saw Wil was comfortably sitting on the sofa. "Please, make yourselves comfortable" He gestured them to sit, maintaining a smile on his face. While the cameramen stood behind them, focusing on Wil, the reporters took their seats. "Now, tell me what you wish to know." He said to them. "I''ll give you five questions, each" The first one to speak was the girl that identified him earlier. "I''m Maria Clarke from WCN. First of all, congratulations for becoming the first gamer to reach level-300." "Thanks" Wil nodded. He was also surprised that a reporter from WCN came to interview him. After all, they are an established news channel in the Western Continent. He doesn''t know whether her identity is real or not but it didn''t matter either way. "There''s a rumor going on in the forums about how you have the insider support of Summersoft. Any comment on it?" She asked him. Wil shook his head. "Of course not. If anything, it was quite opposite. Perhaps you may or may not know that I''m the one that introduced the loophole of the guardians before the first update." Everyone nodded as his achievements were known to the public. "In the first update, the system increased the prices of guardians and limited their activity to prevent people from taking advantage As for the second update, they gave wings to the Demon race and removed the mana usage for Angel race." Everyone stared at him silently. They wondered what has that got anything to do with him "I''m the world''s first player to maximize the flying. The title made me fly without any mana." Wil didn''t speak any further about it. He proceeded with another complaint, "I worked hard to acquire a skill that lets me breathe underwater. But, they just made swimming underwater available. It was very difficult to become a crown prince of a kingdom. It wasn''t given. I earned it. And yet, I lost the position because of an unfortunate event of the death of everyone including the kind because of Angel of War, Gadriel I''m also the governor of the Eldershore region. This wasn''t given but earned. And yet, I also lost that position because Llyne submitted to Zuweth There are other things as well but I don''t want to raise an issue over every little thing. All I want to say that I''m also a victim of the changes that happened in the game. If the people still think that I have the support of the company, then, I would say they are sick in their heads" The reporters gasped in surprise. They didn''t know about these things Wil faced. In truth, some of them indeed have bad personal opinions about Wil. They are just forced to come here by their superiors. Now that they heard Wil''s side of the story, they can''t help but sympathize with him. ''Maybe, Time Traveler isn''t that bad as people think he is'' The rookie reporter from WCN thought in her head. Even though it''s just for a moment, everyone had the same thought until a freelance journalist asked him about the expelling issue gamers from East Ocean and Eldershore cities. When heard the question, Wil simply replied, "Why is it wrong?" Everyone was confused. They wondered why it isn''t. You used your authority and expelled thousands of people away from the city, forcing them to go other places and settle down. And yet, you are asking Why Looking at the expression, Wil''s crossed his legs, and said, "First let''s talk about Eldershore city. I admit that I personally expelled the Dreamwalkers guild. Why? It is simple. They are my enemies. They tried to slander me on the forums, and invade this town. If I don''t even retaliate, then, perhaps, tomorrow, some other guild will do the same. I''m not a pushover, you know And as for guilds in East Ocean city, I''m sorry but I as well as my guild had already shifted to Deloris town back then. I don''t hold any authority. I want to ask, on what grounds, they dared to accuse me?" Chapter 286: Wils interview at Mayors mansion part-2 "On what grounds they dared to accuse me?" Wil''s tone was firm as he asked the reporters. The reporters were once again silent as they didn''t know what to say. For one, he is a crown prince, and two the expelled ones are the enemies of Scarlet. But, they also don''t know the powers of the Crown Prince. They aren''t sure whether a Crown prince can order a Mayor to expel everyone as he wishes. Only another prince/princess can say that. If the Crown prince can really do that in one city, then, he can also repeat the same thing in another city, which means in theory, he can just expel them from the kingdom itself but Wil didn''t do that either Another issue is that the real culprit of the incident, the Mayor was already dead and those supposed subordinate guilds merged into one huge entity, leaving the faction in the process. "So, you are denying the allegations, right?" The freelancer asked. Wil nodded, "yes." "Next question" Another reporter raised her hand. He''s someone from a mediocre news channel that was based in Ares city. "Recently, you disbanded the old guild and created another guild name Vulture. Does it have anything to do with Scarlet group acquiring the shares of your guilds?" "Not exactly. I just figured that Scarlet doesn''t suit the image of our guild" Wil waved his hand, "it''s not a big deal." WCN reporter once again took the charge, "just a few hours ago, Lee Jung-Woo a.k.a One declared you as his archrival. Do you wish to say anything?" Wil knew that this question will definitely come in the interview for One is the most popular gamer "Well, if he''s the same person from the Battle Tournament, I wouldn''t hesitate to say that he''s better. I admit that I won against him because my skill damage is higher. Since then, I have trained hard to improve my Archery skills. Just when I thought that I''m ready to face him, I heard that he became a mage. Trying to compete with him now no longer interests me" Upon hearing Wil''s statement, the reporter asked him, "So, are you implying that he can no longer win against you now that he''s a mage?" Wil was taken aback. He wanted to say yes, right away but he managed to swallow it. "We''ll see when we battle" "Do you have anyone that you wanted to battle?" The freelancer asked him. As Wil''s words clearly implied that he doesn''t look at One as his rival, then, there must be someone else he wished to battle. "Hmm it''s not someone but something that I really wished to battle." Wil answered him. "Something?" They were confused. They wondered whether he was talking about some beast. Wil''s next words proved their thoughts right. "It''s a whale Because of it, I lost my most unique legendary-grade treasure." Wil almost growled as he thought of that whale Back then, he swore that he''ll hunt it down. He wouldn''t think that he''s super powerful to kill it, right now But, when he reaches 400, Wil was sure that he will have enough attack power to kill the mythic-grade monster. The reporters clearly saw his hatred as he speaks of the whale. The freelancer wrote it in his notebook. He got another worthy headline. Who would want to publish the complaints of a famous person like Time Traveler? What his boss need is something entertaining. Time Traveler says One isn''t his match. His sight is on the battle against Whale. These kinds of headlines will gather the attention of the public. "What about gamers Any worthy in your sight?" The freelancer then asked him. The public is also desperate to know his thoughts. "He''s not a rival but there''s a person who I''m looking forward to battle in an unrestrained environment." Wil can''t help but reveal his name no matter how much he tried to conceal it within himself. "Oh!" Everyone looked at him curiously. "Crimson Sun," Wil spoke of Bran''s in-game name but in the eyes of media, he was revealing his rival''s name. "I''m sure you must have known his name if you followed the Battle Tournament." "Crimson Sun?" Everyone''s eyes widened and Wil saw their eyes lit up in excitement. Everyone had the same thought in their minds. "This is a huge scoop" Wil didn''t know that in Bran''s earlier interview, a day before the War, he mentioned how he is looking forward to battle One and hoped Reverie enters the second phase. But, who would have known, One is looking forward to battle Wil, while the latter wanted to battle Bran It''s like they caught up themselves in a triangle rivalry. At least, that was what the media thinks and wishes to publish. Looking at their facial expressions, Wil was taken aback at first, but then misunderstood they might just be happy to find out something from him. "Okay, Next Question, please" As three people raised their hands, Wil pointed to the girl from WCN. She nodded with a smile and asked, "Is it true that you owned a part of Athledon kingdom? I heard that it is called Ormshire with Vulture city as its capital." ''It looks like this channel''s information network is a lot wider than I thought,'' Wil stared at her for a couple of seconds before confirming her with a plain nod. "There''s a rumor that you also own a private NPC army despite not being the King. According to our investigations, there are more than ten thousand of them." This question stiffened Wil a bit. Earlier, he complained about how he lost his position and everything because of the changes. If he were to reveal the truth, it would be meaningless. Then, what should he say? He can''t say that he employed them like guardians as there are a lot of level-300s and 2 generals in his army. He doesn''t know how much this news channel knew of him. Since he''s pretty much a celebrity figure, it''s possible that they might have investigated everything about his properties and the private army. Should he bribe them? Wil immediately threw away that idea. Wil cursed himself in his head for not being enough prepared for the interview. He cursed Aster for picking this girl of all the people standing outside. Taking a deep breath, he answered, "The matter involves a complicated quest. So, I refuse to spill out the details. However, I can say that I don''t own them, yet." Wil''s words made them think either he is lying or it is indeed connected to some grand quest as he claimed. Wil purposely said the word yet. That means, soon, they will be his. Does this imply that they will become his private army soon after he completed the quest? In reality, Wil indeed spoke the truth. He doesn''t own them unless he becomes the King. As for the complicated quest, it is also a kind of truth. There''s a revenge quest in his Quest list. He had to kill the culprit that killed the Queen. The complicated part is here who the culprit is. Is it Gadriel, who performed the act, or is it Rikilda, who wished for her death? Chapter 287: Wil goes to Wular city The interview didn''t take too much of his time. After finishing it, Wil logged out of the game. As he has nothing to do for the next two days, he decided to take some vacation for a day. However, a call from an unknown mobile phone number. "Hey, Wil." "Trainer Hyo?" "Yeah, it''s me." "Is this your new number?" Wil asked her. "No, it belongs to the nurse." She replied to him. Wil noticed her tone appeared strange. It''s as if she was in some kind of hurry. "Nurse?" Wil was taken aback, "where are you, right now?" He asked her. Instead of answering, his question, Hyori said, "Wil, I need your favor." Upon hearing her tone, Wil frowned. He wondered what happened. Hyori never asked him for a favor before. He knew she was a prideful girl. Combined with the nurse and her tone of restlessness, he wondered whether she made an accident or something ''Is she calling me to talk to the police?'' Wil thought in his head. "Sure, what is it?" "I missed my flight. I need your private jet." She asked him. "Eh?" Wil was taken aback by her words. Her favor was completely different from his thoughts. "private jet? Are you going somewhere?" "Yeah, I need to go to Wular city but there are no flights Taking any other transportation will be too late Help me out. I''ll pay you all the fuel and pilot charges, whatever charges it will cost you" "Wular city?" He definitely didn''t think she asked for vacation or something. He then, wondered whether something might have happened to her close relative who is staying there Or else, why would she talk like it''s the end of the world. Wil''s thoughts run wild. A number of theories popped up in his head. However, Hyori''s explanation brought him back to his senses. It was nothing like he imagined at all. "IAC is going to start in a few days. This year, I told you that Wular City is going to host the tournament, right? If everything went well, I would have been on the flight to Wular but I was robbed in the airport while I was taking my luggage." Hyori started to explain clearly so that Wil might get some clarity or else, with his personality, Hyori was sure that Wil would ask her questions like a reporter. At least, her intuition tells her that "Maybe, the thief tried to cut the handle of my handbag. I had a light cut at first and when I tried to protect my bag, he tried to scare me with the knife and I had another cut accidentally. In the end, my bag was stolen. Right now, I''m at Sunshine Hospital. I don''t want to worry my dad and others. And also I need to report to the dorm by tomorrow. Now, the next flight is only tomorrow. I really need your help." Although Wil thought the robbery was common and the police can''t do anything at the scene, happening at the airport made him frown. He wondered what airport security is doing? "Sunshine Hospital, right? I''m coming, right now Oh! I''m also going with you to Wular. After dropping you safely, I''ll get back to Ares." Since he has nothing to do for the next two days, Wil decided to accompany her. "I need to drop by Headquarters by this weekend, anyway. Might as well go now" Seeing like Wil doesn''t take no for an answer, she agreed with him tagging along with her. She was also in a hurry. So, she doesn''t want to waste time arguing with this protective friend. Half an hour later; As Wil arrived at the hospital, he saw she was lying on the bed with a bandage above her left eyebrow and another one below her right elbow. Wil was surprised to see the injuries. "You only said it was a light cut" As Wil narrowed his eyes, Hyori looked away, "it wasn''t a big deal. Anyway, hurry up and get me out of here." "You arm" Wil raised his hand and touched her left arm, not at the injury but right below it. "Tsss" She grimaced in pain and tried to swat his hand away. "You aren''t in a condition to play the tournament," Wil said in a serious tone. "Which idiot of a doctor said that you are free to get discharged?" He was angered. As he looked around, he spotted a resident nearby. Just as he was about to call him, Hyori grabbed his arm. "It''s alright. There are still five days. I can recover Now, please don''t waste the time. I need to report before 7 p.m." She spoke in a hurried tone and stood up from the bed. "I can just make a call and tried to convince them, instead." Wil wanted to say that to her but swallowed his words as he can expect what would be her reaction. In the end, he nodded. "Fine, then, let''s go" "Thanks" Both of them walked towards the reception to pay the bill. "What is your relation to the patient?" The lady asked him, taking the card, "Boyfriend?" "No." "No" Wil and Hyori answered at the same time. Taking back the card, Wil answered calmly, "Just friends." As Wil took her away while supporting her by grabbing her left arm, the lady mumbled, "I feel like I saw him in television Is he a celebrity?" *** It took another half an hour to reach the airport. With Silver''s assistance, no one bothered both of them until they board his private jet. Little more than ten hours later, the flight landed at Wular City. It was already evening 9. There, he was received by a team of bodyguards. Wil ordered them to take care of Hyori and left to hotel alone. Wil felt it isn''t also good to accompany her all the way to Wular University. As long as she''s safe, it would be fine. By the time he reached the hotel, he received a call from Silver. "Silver." "Young Master, we caught him." Silver spoke from the other side. "It looks like it isn''t just a robbery like how Miss Lee claimed to you." "Hmm?" Wil frowned as he heard the news. "Who is it?" "He was hired by someone. The one who ordered it runs a nightclub. That''s all he knew" Silver informed everything he knew. "Are you sure he is telling the truth?" Wil asked him again. "Yes. We used a level-3 truth serum. I don''t think he was someone that can resist its effect." ''Level-3?'' Wil didn''t know that there are levels even in truth serums but he trusts Silver''s words and said, "Okay, hand over the guy to police, then, file a complaint. Help them with the investigation but don''t take action on your own. Just make sure they are punished by the law" ''Handing him to the police?'' Silver was surprised that Wil ordered that. In his 22-years of work, he never heard such a strange order. But, then, he remembered Wil''s words when he brought them back to Leafway city. From now onwards, they are no longer the Mafia and are law-abiding citizens. So, they''ll behave the same Chapter 288: Wil gets drugged Hotel Greenpark, Wular city; Wil was rolling on the bed. After not being able to sleep for 2 hours straight, he finally sits on the bed and takes out his tablet. "Hmm looks like this city''s nightlife isn''t bad." He mumbled as searched about Wular city''s specialties. He wanted to see whether there are any tourist spots around so that he can just spend his vacation for the next day. "Hmm not much to look around This city is popular for its studios, nightclubs, net cafs, and bars. Sigh" Wil was disappointed. If any other rich kid like him hears of such news, they would be happy that they would get to enjoy the wild nightlife but Wil, on the other hand, can''t drink, so, he never thought of visiting it. So, most of the places are useless to him. The only place he will enjoy is the one that is filled with different types of street food. Wil then searched about the restaurants that were open all night. As he found a list, he started to look for addresses. His eyes lit up as he found what he is looking for. "Oh! Several of these restaurants are located in this street called Mong Kok." The street was located on the outskirts of the city. So, it will be at least an hour''s ride from the hotel. He then looked at the time and mumbled, "It''s almost 12. Thankfully, there will no traffic on the road." He pushed the blanket away and changed his clothes before leaving the hotel. An hour later; "Give me this gaa Gaa Lei Gaa Lei Yu Dan (Curry fish ball), this Cau Dou Fu (stinky tofu), this, Jaa Jun ju Jaa what is called again?" "Jaa ju cheung (fried pork intestine)" The owner of the restaurant said to him. "Yes, that''s the one and also Siu Mai (Steamed Dumpling)" Wil nodded and ordered four of them. Originally, he intended to eat at the food stalls but after coming here, Wil found out that it isn''t like Manchong Street back at Leafway city. Food stalls are placed here and there in an unorganized manner. The area isn''t also clean. So, he went into a restaurant that was recommended by the cab driver. Even though he chose this street after looking on the internet, Wil still believed locals would know better as they would visit them frequently. Hearing his large order made the owner smile in happiness. "Sure" Of course, it wasn''t the only reason. Wular city is a place located far in the southeast of the Eastern continent. So, westerners are rarely seen around here. Seeing Wil at her small restaurant also made her happy. After calculating the amount, the middle-aged woman replied. "50 Yuan." "Eh?" Wil was taken aback. He pointed at the prices, "Shouldn''t it be 93 Yuan?" "There''s a discount for foreigners on our restaurant." She replied slowly. ''What kind of discount is that?'' Wil felt like she made it up on the spot for some reason. Maybe, it''s because he is a foreigner or maybe, it''s because he is the only customer, right now? He wondered as he paid with the card. "I would like to pay it in credits." Taking his seat, Wil waited until the food is served. To his surprise, there''s an extra item that he didn''t order. It is an item he has never eaten before. There are noodles in it and along with them, some kind of dumplings are also added. "It''s called Tsim Chai Kee (Wonton Noodles). This is one of the local specialties of this city. It''s on service" She smiled as she put all the items on the table before him and went back to the counter. Since he doesn''t know the order and neither did she remind him, Wil first ate stinky tofu followed by curry fish ball, and then, the rest... At last, he tasted the soup inside the bowl of wonton noodles. "Hmm it''s good" His eyes lit up. In no time he finished the food but for some reason, he craved more noodles. Wil asked, "Can I have one more? I''ll pay for it." "Sure, we only charge 20 Yuan to foreigners." The woman said, maintaining her smile. As Wil was about to stand up and handover the card to pay, she shook her head, "please sit down. You can pay up at the end." At first, Wil found something wrong with her words but he was too hungry to care about it. Maybe, they have already made it in a bigger serving already. In no time, the bowl of wonton noodles arrived at the table. Wil started to slurp the noodles, and eat the wontons. "Hmm What''s going on?" Somehow he felt hungrier and also feel dizzy. But, there''s also strange energy he was feeling in his body but still, he can''t help but wanting to eat one thing, now. The wonton noodles. "One more serving please" The smile on her face didn''t disappear. It only became bigger. She returned with another bowl of noodles. This appeared a lot bigger than the previous one and the portion is also bigger with other items on it. He ate like crazy and finished it. Wil''s head started to spin like crazy. He wasn''t able to recognize his surroundings any longer. They appeared blurry to him and his brain also seemed to stop working. Although he wanted to eat more, Wil felt full and wasn''t able to eat anymore. Wobbling like a drunkard, he stood up and walked to the counter. He saw there are four identical women. Wil rubbed his eyes but still saw the same. "What''s happening here? Did the soup contained alcohol or something?" He thought, taking out the card to pay. "2 wonton noodles and 1 special Wular noodles 2040 Yuan please." She said with a smile. Wil didn''t hear the amount properly and handed the card. She swiped it and took his fingerprint to complete the transaction. As the transaction is completed, Wil grabbed his head and collided with the counter before losing consciousness. "Young man, are you alright?" She asked him while leaving the counter. Just then, Wil lost his balance and fell on the floor, however, she didn''t try to grab him. After confirming that he''s unconscious, she looks towards a man that was standing by the entrance, looking at the scene in silence. He was the same cab driver who recommended Wil to this restaurant. "What are you looking?" The woman shouted at him. "Hurry up" He hurriedly ran to the counter and picked up Wil. "Take him to a bar and leave him there. When he wakes up, he''ll think he was drunk." The woman said while giving him three 100 Yuan Notes. "This is your 15% commission." "Thanks." The man grinned as he took the notes and put them in his pocket. Then he asked, "Boss, why didn''t you charge more? I told you that this guy checked in the Green park hotel. Surely, we could have pocketed more" "This is why you always end up in jail" The woman scoffed in response, "You shouldn''t be too greedy. It''s because this kid is rich, you shouldn''t try to mess too much around him. Spending extra 2000 or so Yuan wouldn''t make too much difference to him. So, when he sees his credit card bill, later, he wouldn''t notice a difference. Even if he noticed that he was being conned, do you think he''ll complain at police or come to us for a mere 2000?" "Oh!" The cab driver''s eyes lit up in realization. He nodded, "you are right." "Anyway, the drug only works for a few hours. Hurry up" The woman kicked him out and reminded his job. After a while, placing Wil in the back seat, the driver hit the road. Everything went smooth. Or so thought the cab driver until he heard a powerful sound in the back as if some glass cracked The cab driver turned his head to see Wil was shaking his head left and right while constantly mumbling, "go away go away go away" He looked as if he was having a nightmare. However, the cab driver isn''t in the mood to care about it. "My window glass" One of the car''s window glasses behind the back seat was completely broken. He quickly stopped the car in the middle of the road. However, the trouble isn''t over for him. In the next second, he saw Wil roared, "No" before he kicked the door this time, generating a powerful sound again. His eyes widened as he saw the door was flung away a couple of meters. "No" The driver screamed as he got out of the car. Chapter 289: Luoyang meets Wil As it is almost 2 A.M., there''s little traffic on the road, however, it was a neighborhood filled with a few nightclubs, bars, and restaurants. So, there are people walking around, not many, though. The sudden act of Wil alerted the pedestrians. A group was girls were returning from a party. As they suddenly heard a powerful sound, followed by the flying door, they jumped up in fright. Not only them, a mixed group with men and women who were just out of their party also witnessed the scene. A few of them took out their cell phones and started recording or taking pictures. Meanwhile, Wil woke up from his sleep. Maybe it''s due to the powerful sound generated by his kick or maybe it''s due to the cab driver''s screaming, for whatever reason, Wil put down his legs from the seat and looked out. He found his vision still blurry. Grabbing his head, he stepped out of the cab and started to walk away, wobbling like a drunkard. An enraged cab driver rushed towards him. "You brat Stop right there" The girls were panicked as they felt there''s going to a fight. One of them tried to call the police while a couple of guys stepped forward to make sure there won''t be a fight. However, in the next second, all of them became stunned on the spot. Just as the cab driver was about to grab him from behind, they watched Wil suddenly ducked. His hands then grabbed the driver''s right arm before lifting his whole body and slamming him onto the ground. "Argh" The cab driver shouted in pain. He felt as if the bones in his back are broken. Blood started to trickle from his lips. Meanwhile, Wil continued to walk without any sense of direction while wobbling. Some of them hurried to the fallen cab driver to check his condition. *** PC Qian, Wular city; On the second floor of a seemingly ordinary net caf, there are a couple of dozen capsules lined up next to each other. People are entering with Chips and exiting, constantly. Like everyone, a beautiful 20-year-old girl stepped out of the capsule. She immediately attracted a lot of guys who are waiting in line. It''s not just because of her appearance but is also because of her unique clothes. She wore traditional wear Hanfu, which is very rare to see except during the time of festivals. Taking the chip, she waited for a couple of minutes until another woman stepped out from the adjacent capsule. "Let''s go" The woman said to her. Luoyang nodded and walked together with her to the downstairs, amid everyone''s gazes. Climbing down the steps, the woman said, "You haven''t played a lot today. Thought you would stick around until the morning..." Luoyang replied, "Well, due to the war going on, there isn''t much for me to do in the game. We can''t hunt the monster, and the arena is also boring. No one is challenging enough. Moreover, I''m thinking of catching up morning bus. Trains and Flights are expensive, you know." "Oh! I see" Boss Qian sounded a little bit depressed buy Luoyang didn''t anything amiss. After a while, both of them stopped before the counter. The manager at the counter greeted them. "Boss Qian Miss Xu" Luoyang handed two 20 Yuan bills to her. The caf charges 15 Yuan per hour and 10 per half an hour to use the capsule. As the manager about to take the money, "c''mon, I already told you that you are free to play. Didn''t you tell me you wanted to save up" Luoyang smiled as she put it in her hands, "It''s alright. I saved up enough money in the past month." "Then, consider this as a parting gift from me" The Boss returned the money. "And I don''t accept no." "Fine." She put the money back into her handbag. Saying goodbye to the manager, Luoyang and the Boss left the caf and started walking towards the bus stop. Originally, both of them lived together on the second floor but she sacrificed the space for Capsules and filled all the rooms with them. Then, both of them rented a room which is located around 10 miles away. "So, what will you do after you found that the woman?" Boss Qian asked her. She doesn''t know the story except that this girl left her village to search for a woman in the picture. When she asked her, Luoyang only told her that she''s her mentor and she has a debt to pay. The woman didn''t ask further as she felt it isn''t right for her to probe into Luoyang''s personal life. So, she never asked her much about it. But now that she was leaving, Boss Qian can''t help but wanted to know whether she would settle there or whether she would return or something She also wanted to know whether Luoyang would continue to play the game. As long as they play together, even if they are thousands of miles apart, she wouldn''t miss her friend. To her question, Luoyang responded with a sigh, "I don''t know" "Well, you can always call me in case you need help. I won''t able to do much but I''ll do what I can do" Boss Qian said to her. Upon hearing her words, Luoyang halted her steps and then turned towards her. She gave a deep bow, "Sister Qian, thank you for treating me like a family for the past few weeks If it weren''t for you, I would have starved in the streets. If not for you buying those capsules and letting me play, I wouldn''t have earned enough money to continue my journey. I''ll never forget your debt" Boss Qian suddenly stepped forward and put her hand over her shoulder, "now, girl, will you stop saying things like that You are the one who helped me back then. Forget about these things for a while Since this is your last night in this city, let''s go and have party. I''ll take you to an amazing place." A few minutes later; "This is a party?" Luoyang looked at the crowd in a daze. "I thought we would go to some restaurant and have some late-night snacks" She didn''t expect she would end up in a nightclub. It was her first visit. The music was loud and everyone was madly dancing on the floor or drinking on the side as if there was no tomorrow. "Uhh I don''t think this is a place for me" Luoyang tried to get out. However, Boss Qian caught her hand, "c''mon. Have some little fun. You can''t stay behind the times all for your life, right?" As Boss Qian requested her to try one drink for her, Luoyang finally tried to take a sip of beer. Instantly, her eyes lit up. Usually, it takes a while for beginners to adjust the taste of beer but for Luoyang, as if she was drinking her favorite drink, she drank the whole mug. "This is good" She licked her lips and a smile appeared on her face. "Can I have another?" Boss Qian stared at her in a daze for a few seconds before ordering one for her. It was indeed rare for her to see a smile on Luoyang''s face but even more than that, she never expected this girl, who always follows old customs, was able to drink more than four mugs of beer on her first try. "One more" Luoyang put for the empty glass mug before the bartender. "One more..." At the same time, a male voice was heard from beside her, followed by the appearance of another hand with an empty glass mug. "Hmm?" "Hmm?" Both of them their eyes met. Chapter 290: Luoyang meets Wil part-2 Under the effects of the drug, Wil continued to walk for more than half an hour, finally reaching the district of Nan Lian, a neighborhood that''s filled with mostly bars and nightclubs. He just walked into one of them, not knowing where it is. The two guards at the reception stopped him and the manager asked him the fee. It was a nightclub that serves an unlimited number of drinks for the night, charging a fixed amount at the entrance. Wil didn''t listen to any of his explanations. He just took out his credit card and handed it to him. ''This is an unlimited VIP card.'' Looking at the black card by Federation bank, the manager''s eyes lit up. As he observed Wil, he found him in a drunken state already. Taking advantage of the situation, the manager booked the best service for him and told to the guards. "Please escort this gentleman to the VIP booth number 3." After the transaction is over, the manager returned the card, and Wil was escorted to the VIP booth on the second floor. Within no time, Wil found himself surrounded by a lot of hot smoking babes in the booth. There are a number of drinks before him. As he continuously suppressed himself not to drink for years, his body craved for it and he automatically moved for it and submerged himself in drinking, not intending to care about the girls around him. With an hour, every bottle ended up empty on the table. Wil stood up with a beer mug and left the booth, leaving the girls to wonder whether their job is done for today. From the start, they don''t even get to entertain him anything as he was engrossed in drinking and spoke even a word to none of them. Wil came to the ground floor where people are madly dancing on the floor. He went straight to the bar while wobbling around. "Yes." The Bartender asked him what drink he wants. Looking at the bartender, Wil showed his index finger. The bartender was confused. Wil never replied but raised the empty mug and put it before him. Looking at the glass mug, the bartender just assumed that he might want the beer and refilled it. Wil took the mug but didn''t return to the VIP booth. He just sat there and drank. "One more" Wil slowly mumbled as he put forth his mug but even in blurry vision, Wil didn''t see the bartender. He looked to the side found the bartender who was refilling the beer to someone else. Two ladies are sitting there. Wil stood up from his seat and walked there before putting forward his mug. "One more." "One more" At the same time, the lady beside him also did the same action and her mug kinda collided with Wil''s mug. Both of them looked at each other. Maybe it''s the alcohol effect or maybe, it''s love at first sight for whatever reasons he just stared at her. Wil stared at this beautiful girl who wore traditional wear to a place like a nightclub. He looks at her so intently as if he knew her or liked her. However, in reality, he was just focusing on trying to find the real image, as his vision isn''t that good right now. The bartender, the girl, everything that he sees multiplied four times. Meanwhile, Luoyang was also staring at Wil''s face, although for different reasons. Unlike him, she was a little drunk and mostly sober, so, for her, Wil''s face was clear. However, when she looked at him, she found him oddly familiar. The more she studied his face, the more she felt hatred for some reason. At the same time, she was also attracted towards him and her heart started to race while staring at his aquamarine eyes Luoyang wondered whether it''s the effect of alcohol. She wanted to leave, right away to get off this uncomfortable feeling. However, the taste of alcohol deeply affected her desire to leave. Not paying attention to Wil any longer, she looked at the bartender and asked him to refill. Meanwhile, Wil flinched a little, sensing a killing intent from her. Just when it was about to trigger killing intent inside him, it suddenly disappeared. As she turned away, Wil also didn''t care about it any longer and put forth his mug. "Refill" *Cling* "Hmm?" "Hmm?" Once again, the mugs collided as two of them asked the bartender at the same time. Wil''s mug pushed her mug away. Luoyang frowned at Wil''s actions. He can put the mug, straight in front of him or wait, why did he clash her mug Is he looking for a fight? She doesn''t know that Wil''s vision had a problem. It triggered a desire for a fight inside of her. Not just because of his actions, his face also made her feel uncomfortable. How can someone whom she met for the first time, trigger two opposite feelings inside of her? Just thinking about it made her angry. She started a little fight, pushing his arm away. "I came first, refill mine" If he was sober, he would back down. He was someone who usually has soft spot for girls but the current one didn''t care about such things. He too did the same. Their hands are stuck pushing aside left and right, not willing to yield. The bartender became troubled as these two are fighting for a trivial beer. He doesn''t know which one he should take. "Hmm, what''s happening?" Qian, who was enjoying her shots, finally saw the situation. She saw her friend was fighting with some handsome guy. Thinking she was drunk, Qian grabbed her arm and dragged her away before she makes a scene and embarrasses both of them in public. Staring at her back, Wil blinked for a couple of seconds before shaking his hand, gesturing to the bartender to refill. The bartender took it while cursing himself why didn''t he just grab two new glass mugs and serve them at the same time He was thankful that a fight doesn''t happen because of such a trivial issue. If that happens, the manager will just blame him for not stopping them. Wil continued to drink and passed out there. Present; As Wil tried to recollect everything, he was able to remember up to this. At first, he was enraged at that restaurant owner who drugged him so that she wanted to profit a mere 10000 credits. ''I will demolish that restaurant by the end of today'' He mumbled in anger. ''That''s taxi driver he deserved it'' He didn''t have any remorse for hurting him. Wil felt that at most, his back might suffer heavy injury because of the concrete road. "Mmm" Perhaps, his voice was a bit loud, the lady beside him moaned a bit before adjusting to another position. It then brought him confusion. Staring at her face, Wil thought, "She was dragged by her friend, right What happened then" He wondered whether the lady knows the truth. It''s not like this is his first, well technically yes, for this present body, however, in the past life, he had dated a few girls from his college and also had s*x numerous times too. So, it isn''t a big deal for him if had a nightstand with some random girl. But, the fact that there are tear marks below her eyes made him suspect whether the tears just came out of their own during their intimate moments or it''s a forced s*x. Because of having terrible experiences in the past, he was afraid it''s the latter. Chapter 291: Luoyang meets Wil part-3 The possibility of r**e made him sweat a lot. What if it turned out as he imagined. He doesn''t know how to take responsibility Even though he said to Silver about them being living as law-abiding citizens, he doesn''t want to go to prison for something he hasn''t done it voluntarily. "It was that damn woman and that driver''s fault Hmm Wait a second" Suddenly, his eyes captured an air conditioner that was mounted on the wall. He looked around the surroundings. There isn''t much except for a 40 inch TV, a mirror, and an attached bathroom. "This isn''t my room. That''s not it. This isn''t even Greenpark hotel That''s right I''m at a hotel, right now" A solution appeared in his mind. Slowly, he got up, and just as he was stood up and about to get his clothes, he heard a yawn. Wil started to sweat bullets. "That was some good dream" It was Luoyang who pushed her blanket away and stretched her arms, revealing her naked body to Wil. "Hmm?" Suddenly, she felt something amiss. As she fully opened the eyes, she realized the situation. At the same time, her eyes captured Wil''s figure too and screamed. "Kya" Wil quickly covered himself with his clothes while she did the same with the blanket. "Who are you?" She shouted. "First calm down." Wil stuttered. "Let''s let''s" "It''s you bas***d." She quickly remembered what happened the previous day. "How dare you take advantage of me?" She growled at him in anger as her face turned red. "I''ll kill you." Wil felt heavy killing intent from her. This made him remember Andrea for some reason. Not even caring about being naked, she lunged forward, clenching her fist. "Woah" At the last second, Wil dodged it. "Easy let''s" Once again, his words were interrupted, this time, with a kick. As she raised her leg, perhaps, he saw what he shouldn''t and momentarily closed his eyes for a second, and as a result, the kick landed on his stomach. He felt a massive pain as he fell on the bed. Wil became angry. He had never seen such a wild woman except for his missing master. Normally, the girls would either scream for help, trying to get dressed out of there, scold them or worst, call for the police right away but this girl intended to kill him. Her killing intent was no joke. But suddenly, something clicked in his mind and a smile appeared on his face. He no longer felt about the earlier pain. If she was this strong and wild, then, there would be less likely he would have forced her unless he brought her unconscious. If that''s really the case, then, as a person with a conscience, he decided that he would accept her punishment as long as it isn''t a drastic one. "What the hell are you smiling for, you bas***d" She jumped on him. To prevent him from escaping, she put her legs on either side while sitting on his stomach before clenching her fists. Wil saw two fists were coming towards the face. He doesn''t know how but somehow, he was able to catch both of her arms at the perfect moment. Seizing the moment, he shouted, "Now, will you get off and get dressed first? We''ll talk it out after that. I''m extremely uncomfortable in this position." Wil''s reminder brought her to reality. Clouded by anger, she momentarily forgot about her state. And she looked down she saw her private part is touching his stomach. She jerked back in reflex only to feel something stiff. "It''s involuntary reflex" He said to her, looking away. "Not my fault." Her face flushed, mixed with embarrassment and anger. She quickly jumped and took her clothes on the floor, rushing to the bathroom. Meanwhile, Wil put on his pants, and she already returned. He was surprised at her speed. "Now, what are you looking at? Wear your shirt." After Wil wore the shirt, she said, folding her hands to the chest, "You won''t step outside alive if your explanation doesn''t look satisfactory to me." Her killing intent only increased further. "First, I want to see the footage. Then, we''ll talk." Wil said it seriously while grabbing his stomach. She might have really kicked him hard. Even a physically fit body like Wil still feeling pain. "Footage?" Luoyang frowned. "What footage?" "Usually, there are CC cameras in the hotel lobby. I want to see that." She didn''t get what he is talking about. She suspected he wants to run. Narrowing her eyes, she spoke, "Just remember, any funny business... I will beat you up so hard that you won''t be able to recognize yourself." Inwardly, Wil felt amused. He got the urge to laugh. In his whole life, there was never a man or a woman who even dared to threaten him. ''What a wild girl'' "I wanted to see whether I brought you unconscious or not," Wil explained to her. Her eyes narrowed in response, "that wouldn''t change anything." "No, it''ll change a lot" Both of them left the room and came to the ground floor. To make sure he won''t run, she tightly held his arm. Although it appeared affectionate to others, Wil was feeling the strength of her grip. He really wondered where her strength came from these thin arms. He decided to put up with it for now, until the truth is revealed. After that, he wouldn''t suffer such humiliation any longer "Are you checking out?" The receptionist asked the couple with a smile on her face. "No, not yet," Wil replied to her. He then said, "I think my girlfriend lost her wallet, last night. It was there in the cab but when not in the room. So, I wondered if someone found it." Luoyang and the receptionist were taken aback, although for different reasons. "We''ll ask the staff workers about it." The receptionist replied. Meanwhile, Luoyang narrowed her eyes looking at him. How dared he called her his girlfriend without even asking her about it first. Her impression of Wil only decreased further. Liar is added to the list. "No, I want to check the footage of the last night. We want to check the lobby." "Uhh" The receptionist hesitated. Clearly, she doesn''t want to give because she too believed there''s a high chance that a cleaner or security guard might have found it. Just when she was about to give an excuse of rules, she heard, "Fifty Thousand credits." Once again, both of the women were stunned by his word. This time, they thought the same thing. "This guy is rich" "I want neither the cash nor the culprit. I just wanted to get back her wallet. You see, it''s kinda like a sentimental for her." Wil forced himself to smile and said it. "One-time offer. Either, you take the money and show me the footage or I''ll have no choice but to go through the legal procedure." The receptionist was tempted by the offer. With such a huge amount of money, even if she was fired by the owner, she would be able to live for the next six months with ease So, quickly accepted the offer and opened the files. "Here" Both of them went to the reception desk and Wil watched the video. Immediately, a huge smile appeared on his head while Luoyang was taken aback. She almost left his arm. Chapter 292: Luoyang meets Wil part-4 Room no.204, Hotel YeonDu; As Luoyang took her seat, Wil locked the door and sat before her. The situation turned around in Wil''s favor. "Now, do you understand why I wanted to watch the footage?" Wil said to her before he folds his hands to the chest, "the video clearly shows you are the one who dragged me to this hotel." "I was drunk I don''t remember it." She mumbled in a low tone while looking away. Her rage was completely disappeared and replaced by embarrassment. She can''t even look Wil in the eye. "You were drunk but I was completely unconscious," Wil commented, maintaining a serious expression. "That''s just entrance Not a definite proof." She argued back. "No one knows what happened in this room. I don''t remember it." "But you are the one that brought me here," Wil said to her. "Maybe, you faked being unconscious and took advantage of me when I slept." She brought up another theory. "But, you are the one that brought me here." "Are you are a broken tape-recorder?" She shouted at him. Her face was flushed with embarrassment. "Why you keep repeating the same thing?" She wasn''t able to say anything as it''s practically her fault. Luoyang remembered how her heart raced back then. After watching the footage, she considered for a moment that she might have been the one who made the move in her drunken state. She tried to blame him but after he kept on reminding her the same thing, Luoyang''s mind became a mess Trying to calm down, she stood up on her feet, "let''s consider this never happened. I will just think it is some nightmare." Wil too stood up from the chair and stepped forward, "You kicked me in the stomach accusing me that I was the one who took advantage when in reality, you are the one who is brought me here." Due to his guilty conscience, earlier, he put with her violent behavior. But, now, it was his turn to take his revenge. "You grabbed my arm so tightly that it almost went numb." "You" She stepped backward. Wil stepped forward again, and said, "You threatened to beat me until no one recognize me when you are the one that brought me here" As she stepped back again, her leg hit the bed and she was forced to sit on the bed. Meanwhile, Wil stepped forward again, almost standing right in front of her, "You threatened to kill me and ask for an explanation when you are the one that brought me here " "You you" She pointed his finger at him while her eyes widened. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Soon, she broke down in tears, not being able to hold it any longer. *Uwah!* "It''s all your fault" She started punching lightly onto his upper abdomen. "Why do you have to intervene. It was under my control. If not for you try being a hero the situation would have been different. I had my first taken and I don''t even remember it. Everything is your fault" "Eh?" Wil was taken aback. He didn''t expect the sudden change of events. ''Maybe, did I push too hard?'' A girly side of this wild girl surprised him. No matter how wild or strong a girl is, their first experience is important for them. His soft spot for the girls kicked in and his expression turned gentle. "Okay, okay alright Let''s treat this as never happened" Wil spoke to her, giving in. *Sniff* Sniff* She continued to sob as she was broken down. He dragged the chair and sat two feet away from her. "But, can you tell me what happened yesterday? I remember you were dragged away by your friend After that my memory is blank." Unlike before, even his voice turned gentle. He didn''t want to push this matter too much. The deed has been done and there''s nothing he can do about it but he needs to know the truth. It took a while for her to stop sobbing before opening her mouth. "I..." Three-four hours ago; Luoyang was getting dragged towards the exit by Qian. "What happened? Why did you drag me out of there" Luoyang snapped at her. Not only she failed to get the beer, she was even dragged out of there without her consent. ''That b*****d must have been smirking by now.'' Just thinking about his face made her angry and at the same time, made her heart race. For the past 20 years, no man has ever made her feel like that. "You have too much drink, Sister Xu. Let''s go." Boss Qian said to her. "No, I''m still sober" Freeing herself from her friend''s arms, Luoyang walked back and forth steadily. "See" "How about joining us, then?" Both of them then heard a voice from the side. As they turned their heads, they saw a group of guys. The one who was standing on the front had this air of arrogance on him. "We were missing girls at the moment. How about the beauty accompanies us for the night. I''ll pay a thousand Yuan per hour." Luoyang''s face turned rigid. As she clenched her fist, Qian hurriedly grabbed her arm and said, "sorry but we aren''t interested." "Let''s go" Just as they walked a step, Luoyang''s hand was grabbed by him before he looked at Qian, "I''m not talking to you, lady. Leave the beauty here Argh" He shouted in pain as his hand was suddenly twisted. Luoyang was holding his arm, this time, and twisted it towards his back. "Even if you are rich, you have to watch your tongue." "You b***h" Just as those two words escaped from him, she kicked his leg and made him kneel while still twisting his arm. "I just told you to watch your tongue" "Argh" He screamed. The music was stopped and everyone stopped dancing. The situation attracted their attention. One of them came forward, trying to grab her. Luoyang twisted her body a little bit, and raise her leg. His chest was met with a roundhouse kick and flew away for a couple of meters just like how one would see in the movies. The crowd exclaimed, especially the ladies while the rest of the guys of the victim''s group were afraid to step forward. As for Wil, he didn''t care about the commotion that''s happening in the back. He asked the bartender to refill his glass. The manager and two of the security personnel arrived at the scene. The arrogant young master who was kneeling on the floor, hollered in anger, "How dare you" *Slap* A heavy slap met his right cheek from behind. "I''m the son of the mayor" *Slap* Another slap met the same cheek. He shut his mouth as the marks appeared clearly. Thankfully for him, the cellphones aren''t allowed into the bar, or else, it would be recorded by now. "Free him" The manager asked the security. One of them stepped forward to grab her. Right then, her right elbow hit his stomach and in the next second, Luoyang kicked in the same spot without even looking at him. The other security guard stayed on the spot and refuse to confront her. He was afraid. "Miss, please leave him." Having no other choice, the manager requested her politely. "Or else, our club is going to get into trouble." "Sister Xu, leave him. His father is a Mayor here" Qian also tried to convince her. "Then, his father should have taught him how to behave with girls. I''ll teach him a lesson in place of his father." Luoyang''s cold words made everyone gasp in surprise. Although not openly, the ladies in the club secretly rooted for her. Even though women are treated fairly well in society compared to behind times, discrimination still exists. Not to mention, most of them are regulars here. They knew his character very much Continuously slapping him on the head, Luoyang spoke, "Just because you have a powerful father doesn''t mean you get away with everything. It''s because of people like you" Maybe, it''s because of the alcohol effect or maybe, it''s due to the frustration she faced earlier because of Wil. She took it out everything on this poor fellow who deserved to get hit. "Miss please" The manager was almost on his knees as he pleaded to Qian. She then interrupted her teaching, "Sister Xu let''s leave Please Do it for me I beg you" Upon hearing her words, Luoyang stops hitting him, and said, "now, apologize or the next thing you will lose is your head." Chapter 294: Luoyang meets Wil part-6 The four bodyguards reached halfway as they run towards Luoyang while the two lackeys stepped forward towards Qian, who was standing behind the taxi. Before Luoyang defeats the guards, the Mayor''s son wanted Qian to be captured to tame this wild monster. However, they underestimated her skills. Amid their gazes, Luoyang pushed her leg against the ground and made a black flip. Just two backflips, she already reached the car, which is at least five meters away. They felt like they saw some eastern historical fantasy drama where everyone just leaps dozens of meters and clashes their weapons in the air. The two guys halted their steps. Reaching the vehicle, she opened the trunk. Thankfully, it was unlocked earlier and spared her the trouble. She reached out to the toolkit box and took out a wrench. Making a motion of slightly hitting her palm, she said to the Mayor''s son, "I will make sure that you will fear the sight of a woman." She then turned her head towards his two lackeys, "Why did you stop? Proceed Dare to touch, see if I were able to escape with your life or not." They felt as if her cold voice reverberated through their ears. She dashed towards them, first, and hit their knees, and then, arms, and then, their back. If it was a game, people would call it a six-hit combo. The two of them are already down on the ground, losing their consciousness. In the meantime, the bodyguards almost reached her. Grabbing the wrench tightly, she then dashed towards them. While she was in the middle of beating up the bodyguards, the Mayor''s son managed to shift to the driver''s seat. Luoyang heard the sound of the car''s engine. As she turned her head, she saw the guy stepped on the accelerator and ran away from the spot. "That coward" She growled under her breath and her strength increased as she beat up them further with the wrench until they fell unconscious. After everything was over, Qian rushed towards her with tears and hugged her. "Now now everything''s over. Let''s get back" Luoyang consoled her terrified friend. Earlier when she called the police, she didn''t know which one picked it up but her call was cut off the moment she said it''s the Mayor''s son. "Sister Xu, let''s get out of this city as soon as we can" Qian said after calming down. "Do you think he''ll come back and trouble you?" Luoyang frowned in response. "You don''t know the influence Mayor has in this city." Qian started to explain. "He''s been elected as the Mayor by the Federation for the past five terms. He even got a ministerial position at the cabinet but refused it and settled down here. The whole city is under his control. Even the police won''t help us. You are going to Ares City, right? Then, let me tag along with you. There, I have a distant relative. I will ask my uncle to sell the shop for me." "I''m sorry.. If not for me" Luoyang, when realized the trouble she had caused for her benefactor who gave her a job and a room to live, felt guilty. "It''s alright. I saved up enough to live for the next year." Qian waved her hands with a smile. "Even in Ares, at least, I won''t starve until 3-4 months. With the elections coming up in six months, I doubt they will waste time on us. And this time is enough to sell my property." "Good then" Luoyang sighed in relief. If she was herself, she wouldn''t give a damn even if the enemy is the President but earlier, when she heard the mayor''s son tried to target her friend, Luoyang worried whether she will become a victim of her actions once she leaves the city. That''s why she decided to stay and confront the issue. If they really tried to cause the problem, she will use her Xu-Jian (Xu sect''s longsword) and paint it with their blood. But, when she heard Qian''s explanation, Luoyang''s worries disappeared and she further thought maybe, leaving the city is also a good thing for her. After all, she didn''t forget what kind of situation they had to meet. While they are waiting for the private taxi that Qian booked, Qian''s mobile phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw it was an unknown number. She picked it up. "Hello?" "Hello?" A strange yet familiar male voice was heard from the other side. "Who are you?" She asked him. "Soon, a taxi will arrive and pick you up. I''ll need you to do a job for me. In return, I''ll give you a hundred thousand Yuan for betraying your friend." The person from the other side said to her. "Hmm?" Luoyang''s ears perked up. She heard the conversation clearly. A frown appeared on her face. "Shut the f**k up" Qian shouted in anger as he cut off the call. "What happened?" Luoyang asked, feigning ignorance. "No one. It''s some ba****d" She cursed out again. "They can''t do anything to you. So, they wanted to use me Sister Xu let''s not wait until the morning. Let''s just leave right now. I don''t want to live in this city any longer" Qian was worried that she might get enticed by the money. A hundred thousand Yuan can last her years in a tier-1 city like Wular or she can just expand her shop too. "But, there are no buses or even trains, now," Luoyang replied to her. If they have to leave by bus or train, then they have to wait for at least until 5 a.m. Can''t they just wait 3 hours more? But, Qian seemed adamant in her decision. "No, if we wait until morning, who knows what those guys will do. We''ll take a taxi and go to a nearby town, then, we''ll leave for the bus from there" Ten minutes later, a taxi arrived. Luoyang opened the door and took the seat. Just as Qian was about to do the same, she got a text message from the bank. She opened it. *Your account has been credited with 2,000,000 EY (Eastern Yuan)* She was taken aback. ''Is this some kind of scam?'' Such types of messages are common but when it showed the sender is the bank, Qian was shocked. "What happened, Sister Qian? C''mon, sit." Luoyang said to her. "Ah, Yes." She sat in the car and about to close the door, then, she received another message from an anonymous person. Luoyang saw Qian''s face was frozen in shock while reading the message. Just as Luoyang moved her forward to see it, Qian hurriedly deleted the message and put it back to the pouch. "Anything serious?" Luoyang asked her friend. "Nothing. It''s just a threatening message. No big deal." She spoke and closed the door. "Driver, go and don''t stop anywhere until the destination." The driver nodded while looking straight ahead. He started the vehicle. While the vehicle is moving, Luoyang saw Qian''s face turned nervous. She kept on gripping the edge of the seat while hanging her down. Luoyang didn''t disturb her. She thought sometimes, one needs to be alone to gather their thoughts. However, soon, the trouble made the way to her, once again. Chapter 295: Luoyang meets Wil part-7 Just after traveling for five minutes, the car suddenly took a turn and the driver increased the speed. It entered a dim-lit dark alley. "You What are you doing?" Luoyang shouted. "It was a shortcut." The driver replied. "Stop the car!" She shouted again. "Shut up." He took out a gun. "Both of you will quietly come with me or else, you know what happens." Remembering the offer call and then, the threat message to her friend, at first, Luoyang thought this might be a scheme of that rich brat, but threw the thought away, deeming it is impossible. After all, they booked a taxi through an app that''s widely used all over the world. She then thought of the scenario of taxi drivers who abducts ladies at midnight and commits evil acts. Before they go further away from the main road, she quickly grabbed the driver''s head and banged it to the steering wheel. The car hit a nearby trash can and stopped. Qian''s forehead was hit to the back of the driver''s seat. She grabbed her head and groaned in pain. Luoyang was the first to get out of the vehicle. She then saw her friend was still inside. "Sister Xu?" "Wait a second. My cell phone" Qian shouted from inside the car. It took her 15-20 seconds to come out. Both of them then walked towards the highway. Even after reaching the highway, they continued to walk as Qian refused to book a taxi. Who knows whether another lecher will appear. She expressed her worries. Luoyang didn''t think much of it since she prefers walking either way. On the way, a car stopped. The guy asked whether they want a lift but Qian refused right away. Luoyang wondered whether this girl is deeply traumatized. Her guiltiness rose. However, she doesn''t know how to pay back her. Both of them continued to walk. After walking for a little more than a mile, Qian stopped. She started to breathe heavily and sat on the ground. "I can''t go any longer. Let''s take a break." In response to her words, Luoyang bends a bit and said, "Sister Qian, just hop on my back." "Hop on your back?" Qian was perplexed. Something clicked in her mind and she was taken aback. "Don''t tell me you are going to carry me on your back." "Yes. If my calculations are right, we are only 3 miles away from your home." Luoyang said to her. "Don''t worry, back at our village, I used to carry 50kg rice bags on my back and run for several miles, each day." Maybe, she doesn''t want to argue right now, or maybe, she believed her words or maybe, it was something else. For whatever reason, Qian quickly hopped on her back as she was asked to do. Grabbing her legs, Luoyang started to run like she was doing a marathon. Even though she can run faster, Luoyang held back herself as Qian will lose her grip. Usually, she would be embarrassed to death at such a position but right now, all she had is a look of sadness on her face. She was looking away, not willing to look at her friend''s face, right now while keep on glancing at her pouch that was hanging around her waist. Finally, after five minutes of contemplating, Qian finally freed one of her hands that was around Luoyang''s neck and opened the pouch. A few seconds later, she took an injection and closed her eyes tightly before piercing it on her neck with her force and then, injected the liquid. "Argh" Luoyang screamed in pain with a sudden attack on her neck. Almost instantly, she threw down her friend and turned around. The drug inside the needle affected almost instantly. She felt her head spin and her vision became blurry. "You how" Luoyang tried to grab her but she tripped over and fell onto the ground. "I''m sorry for being selfish" Qian shed her tears, "Hundred million credits is a lifetime settlement for me I''m really sorry" Qian immediately turned around and run away. Her legs turned out to be perfectly fine. Luoyang tried hard to resist the drug effect. The drug not only numbed her senses, but it also had the effects of aphrodisiac, which started to kick in. She felt hot all over the body. Without waiting any longer, she sat down in the middle of the road. Sitting in a meditative position, she tried to circulate her Qi energy using their Xu sect''s breathing exercise. Slowly, her resistance towards the drug improved. However, her meditation was interrupted within a minute by the appearance of the vehicles. She immediately stood up looking at the four SUVs and an open-top car. However, she was wobbling left and right. More than 20 guards stepped down from the vehicles. For her, they seemed like 40-50 of them. This time, they didn''t step out empty-handed. Every one of them either had rods or knuckles. "Looks like we did a good thing to bring them." The person in the driver''s seat spoke to the Mayor''s son. This guy is the same person who ran away first and he is also the same person who first deposited 2 million into Qian''s account and then, offered 20 million Yuan after she had done the job. "I''m not anymore surprised that it didn''t affect her too much. As long as she''s weakened. It''s fine." The Mayor''s son spoke in a serious tone. "Get her" He ordered the goons that were in suits. Unlike the past ones, these don''t have a bulky body or great height. Some of them even appeared average as if they are some random thugs on the street. Clenching her fist, she growled, "forget about teaching you guys a lesson. I will leave none of you alive" She dashed forward but tripped her foot again, causing her to stumble down. "Pfft" The Mayor''s son laughed. "Yeah, let''s see" She picked herself up and continued to charge forward before punching one of the goons without holding back. He was surprised at her quick charge. However, he was also quick to defend himself. Her fist met with his palm only for the former to overpower the latter and he was blown away, hitting a couple of others. Meanwhile, the others who are behind managed to dodge it at the last second. Chapter 296: Luoyang meets Wil part-8 The battle went on for 30 minutes. More than half of the guards are down. The remaining ones currently surrounded the girl who had a pair of rods in her hands and was defending herself and attacking them at the same time. For the normal guys like these two rich brats, they weren''t even able to see her hands, Everything appeared blurry for them. As for the expert guards, they were surprised to meet such an opponent. Sometimes, even they were unable to follow her movements. Her constant wobbling and her bad vision also helped her movements in becoming too random. One by one, they started to fall. Only six of them remained. "Go go what the hell are you waiting for" This rich friend of the Mayor''s son was sure that he can''t stay here any longer. Previously, he thought she was just strong. Now, she even defeated the experts from Scarlet Securities. Who can tackle her? Even the police can''t face her unless they shoot. So, he decided to run away. Upon hearing him, the arrogant son of a Mayor took out a weapon. "Don''t worry my friend. We have this" "Gun!" His friend was taken aback. "Are you an idiot? Don''t you know they are forbidden to carry? If you shot a bullet, not even your dad can save you And do you even know how to shoot?" "Don''t worry As long as there are no witnesses " Before his words were even finished, they heard a powerful squeaking sound from behind. "Hmm?" Just as they about to turn around, a car suddenly crashed into their car''s rear bumper. The collision made the gun on his hand fell on the road while both of them hit the front glass. Meanwhile, the battle between the remaining six experts and Luoyang halted for a moment. The car door was opened and Wil exited from it. Like a drunkard, he didn''t even watch what is in front of him and collided with the open-top car''s rear. He then continued to walk forward, hanging his head down. "You Ba****d. Can''t you see and drive?" Maybe, he had probably forgotten their current situation or he was fallen into stupidity. The Mayor''s son raised his voice as he stood up. Wil, who was passing him, raised his hand and slamming the arrogant guy''s head without even looking at him. The Mayor''s son''s head was slammed into the steering wheel so hard that his upper part of the forehead started to bleed. However, Wil didn''t stop there. Wil then grabbed the guy''s collar from behind and lifted his entire body with his left hand before throwing his body towards the ground. "Argh" He screamed in heavy pain as the backbone was fractured, no, one should say, it was crushed at the moment as it was broken into several pieces. Wil slowly raised his face. His stare was cold. His aquamarine eyes appeared so cold to them that they shivered for a moment. "It''s you" Luoyang pointed his finger toward him Even in such a state, she recognized him. One of them charged forward towards him with a fist to save the fainted rich kid. Just as it was about to hit the guy, the guard found something hard as a steel rod hit his stomach. He flew a dozen meters, coincidentally, crashing onto the street pole. Everyone was stunned at such a scene, including even Luoyang. If normal people were to witness this, they would have wondered whether there''s a movie shoot is going on Luoyang stared at him in a daze, standing there like a statue. Quickly, the five of them exchanged glances. Four of them left the girl and decided to confront him together. Meanwhile, the remaining one decided to take the young master out of the situation. Wil slowly stepped forward as they rushed towards him, picking up the rods from the ground. Luoyang didn''t even see how they were hit. All she saw was that they reached him and at the same instant, everyone was punched away in different directions. At the moment, she can''t help but stare at him. Wil''s eyes landed on her. Maybe, due to her being stayed still, the drug effect kicked in. Her heart raced at the moment while the body felt so hot. As if dragging his body towards her, Wil stepped forward little by little. Luoyang, on the other hand, did the same. Unknowingly, she felt attracted to him. Just as the distance between them decreased to 3-4 feet, Wil''s eyes suddenly got closed and his body fell forward. She quickly caught him. Unknown to her, her cheeks turned red. "Excuse me Hello..." She slapped his back lightly for a while, talking like a drunken lady. Present; "I don''t know what happened afterward." She spoke in a low tone as if she was mumbling to herself. Upon hearing on her side of the story, Wil closed his eyes and thought, ''Damn My terrible drinking habit. But, her description also seemed to exaggerate my strength like I''m a kind of superhero. Anyway, it doesn''t matter. From now onwards, I should never go off alone.'' He then let out a deep sigh as he further thought, ''I guess I''m accustomed to the guards to follow me even when I said I''ll go alone. The guys from Wular city''s branch seemed very laidback'' Luoyang peeked at Wil, who fell into deep thoughts. She wondered what he was thinking so hard. She stayed silent, waiting for his reply. In the meantime, cursing herself for everything From her childhood, her father kept on mentioning to her that the world outside of their village is far more dangerous than she thinks it is But, she, who was burning with revenge, never cared about his warnings. Remembering the betrayal by her friend, Luoyang felt sad. However, she didn''t blame her as they only met a little more than a month ago. It''s not like they are family. After a while, Wil who was finished thinking, opened his mouth, "regardless of our actions, the deed has already been done and none of us is a fault at here. However, as a man, I also ought to take responsibility. How about this I''ll fulfill one of your requests. Anything you wish, I''ll grant it for you. Money, status, revenge, whatever it is Tell me." "No, I don''t want anything. As you have said earlier, both of us are partly at fault here. Let''s consider that we have never met" As Luoyang stood on the floor to leave the room, Wil grabbed her arm and stopped her, "No, if you leave away like this I would feel like I owe you or something. If you want me to truly consider erasing this incident from the mind, then, ask something." "Fine then, let''s just say you owe me a favor. I''ll ask you if we ever cross our paths again." Luoyang said while freeing her hand from his grip. Wil nodded with a smile, "that''s alright with me too." Giving a nod to him, Luoyang left the room. Meanwhile, Wil, who was left alone, took out his mobile phone and made a call. *Ring* At the first ring, Aster picked up the call. "Young Master." Wil heard a scream from the other side. "Aster, I need you to" His words were cut off by Aster, "What happened to you, last night?" "Eh?" Wil was taken aback. He didn''t expect this question from him. "A video where you beat up a cab driver was circulating in the internet. Young Master, did you get drunk?" Chapter 297: The Mayor receives an order "A video where you beat up a cab driver was circulating on the internet. Young Master, did you get drunk?" "Huh!" Previously, Wil didn''t even care about that. He only thought the guy deserved it but he forgot how people are roaming around too. "They have nothing better to do" Wil muttered under his breath as he heard from Aster. "Young Master, why didn''t you take the guards?" Aster asked further. "Storm must be roasting them, by now." Wil didn''t say anything about his comment and asked, "How''s the situation being handled?" "The main branch is currently working to erase the video from all the websites. Originally, the matter shouldn''t be a big deal as it was uploaded at midnight. Not to mention, your face isn''t that known around but didn''t know how it caught the attention of media so quickly." Upon hearing him, Wil replied, "No, don''t try to block them. The more we try to block or dodge it, the more the enemy will attack. The best course of action is to redirect the target of attention. "Redirect the attention?" Aster wondered whether it is what he thinks it is. Soon, Wil cleared his suspicions too. "I want you to call the police commissioner of Wular city and ask him to launch a formal investigation on the driver''s past activities. Before the media bombard with questions and their nonsense theories, I''m going to lodge a complaint and make a big deal out of it, instead of suppressing it. I want more than 10 boys at the hotel. Along with him, I want you to investigate the owner of the restaurant named Metropol. Everything went wrong after I ate the food there. I believe either I was drugged or they used alcohol in the food. Moreover, I think it isn''t just a coincidence that the driver recommended the restaurant and drove me back too." "Hmm" Aster contemplated upon hearing his explanation. Naturally, Aster didn''t believe his excuse of being drugged. If it was Silver or Storm, they would have believed Wil''s words as they knew him personally, watching him grow before their eyes but Aster is someone who was acquainted with Wil, only a couple of months ago. Even though he was loyal to Wil, completely trusting his words as truth is another issue for him. Aster thought that Wil wanted to expose their crimes to redirect the situation, so, that he can be portrayed as a victim. After all, such tactics were often used by the Mafia lord back then. The only thing he was worried about the scenario where the two of them are innocent. If they are framed, it might escalate the situation further and paint them as bad guys. Either way, it doesn''t matter for Aster, now that he got the order. He swore that he won''t disappoint Wil. Even if those pair were innocent, he will just bribe the both of them to take the blame and receive a sentence. But then, he saw a problem that was still unsolved. So, he asked Wil. "What about the media, Young Master? They don''t care about the proofs. Like you said earlier, they like to roast whoever they want as long as they get the spotlight. What if they surround the main branch?" Wil answered, "Then, get the lawyers ready to file a lawsuit against every news channel that dared to portray negativity against me. I have so much money to burn, anyway. Also, contact Miyazaki-san and update her about the situation. I don''t want to be judged by them just because of a viral video." "Got it." After disconnecting the call with Aster, Wil took a cab to return to the Greenpark hotel. On the way, he received a call from Storm. Previously, he didn''t call as he thought he was asleep and doesn''t want to disturb his sleep. After he heard from Aster, Storm wasn''t able to stop himself to call Wil and lecture him regarding his actions of going out alone without guards. He then asked him to explain the situation, how it started. Leaving out the part where he had spent his night with Luoyang, he explained everything from the start when he went to the restaurant and finished with beating up everyone somewhere on the road. Upon hearing it, Storm was angered, not at Wil but at the guards who dared to break the rules of their company. He didn''t mention anything about their involvement to Wil and made a call to the branch manager to give him a thorough lecture. OASIS General Hospital; Scarlet Securities'' Wular city branch manager, Bai Xiang was staring coldly at his boys who have plaster casts over their legs and hands; bandages all over their bodies. "Mr. Bai, what should we do?" His secretary asked him. Bai Xiang snorted in response, "What else Look after them until they heal. Then, they will receive punishment." "Eh?" The secretary was taken aback, "punishment?" "Our influence in this city isn''t that great but that doesn''t mean we would forget our rules. We are allowed to loot, beat up or even kill anyone but we can''t touch children, the elderly, and ladies, unnecessarily. These idiots not only took a private mission from that Mayor''s little brat but also tried to beat a girl." "But that lady isn''t some normal girl" The secretary tried to defend them. The manager interrupted her, "doesn''t matter. The rules can''t change because of some exceptions. We don''t have any enmity with her. It is that brat''s personal problem. And the most important thing is that we are a security company. Our job is to protect the clients, not to act as some random street thug. Oh! By the way, where is the guy that survived?" "Oh! Do you mean Mr. Zeqing? We aren''t reaching him at the moment. His phone was turned off. I wonder whether the Mayor had done something to him in anger." The secretary replied. The manager then said, "I highly doubt that since he''s the one that joined them. Try to locate him. If he''s still in the city, let him know that he''s forgiven for saving his comrades. However, if he ran away, report his name to the other branches. Deserting the company without approval isn''t accepted. He''ll be punished for that. And in the worst case, he ends up dead, then, I want it to be investigated." The secretary nodded in response. Meanwhile, Wil left for the airport as soon as he lodged the complaint at the police station. The city commissioner himself took the charge. By the time it became breaking news all over the world, Wil was in the air, in his private jet, watching the results. Luckily, it turned out, there are others like him. Several travelers made a complaint at the station about how some restaurants are putting mind-inducing drugs inside the food, which they provide as free. After the customer gets affected by it and ate the next serving, the restaurants rob thousands of Yuan from them. Sure, drug usage was legal in almost every city with a certain limit. However, the way the restaurant using it is obviously considered a crime. His complaint almost triggered a huge drug scandal and the police launched a full-on investigation on every restaurant owner, taxi driver, travel guide, or whoever might be involved in this. Taking advantage of the chaos, the police commissioner also launched an investigation on the nightclubs. After all, the Federation only allows a few selective drugs and that too within a limited quantity. In the meantime, as Silver got the news, he quickly did another step. With Scarlet Securities bribing the influential news channels, those who were trying to defame him were put down instantly. Instantly, Wil went from a culprit to a victim and then to a hero in the view of common people. Looking at the result, he smiled in satisfaction before closing his eyes and has a peaceful sleep for the rest of his journey. Meanwhile, at Sunwoo hospital; Dai Wen explained the whole story to the Mayor. Glancing at his son, who is in a critical condition in the ICU, the Mayor grabbed his collar, and growled, "You have seen his face, right?" As the friend of his son nodded, the Mayor said, "then, I''ll bring a sketch artist before you. I want you to draw the girl and the guy." Dai Wen went silent for a few seconds before opening his mouth, "I actually know him The guy who broke Yan Chang''s backbone mercilessly." "What!" The Mayor once again grabbed his collar and roared at him, "who is he?" "Mister, please control your voice It''ll disturb the patient." A nurse who didn''t know his identity warned him as she walks through the door and entered ICU. Just the Mayor glared at her and about to say something, his secretary suddenly scurried towards him with a phone in his hand. "Sir, it''s Madam Miyazaki" As soon as he heard the name, the Mayor quickly suppressed all of his rage and took a deep breath before putting it near his ear. "Ma''am, how are you?" He greeted her in a respectful tone. "I heard that your son was badly beaten. I called you to talk about it." She came to the point directly. "How is his situation?" "Doctors said that they can''t say anything for 24 hours. He had multiple superficial injuries all over his body but the injury on his back was terrible." The Mayor didn''t even bother to hide any detail. He explained everything the doctors have told him. After hearing out everything, she said, "I want you to forget this issue and focus on upcoming elections." "What!" The Mayor was shocked by her suggestion. Or one should say, "Order." Chapter 298: Plans for the next year "What!" The Mayor was frozen like a statue as he received an order from the finance minister. He expected she would console him but didn''t expect such cold words from her mouth. "But he is my son My only son." His voice shook as he talked back to her. "That bastard should die at all costs." Miyazaki Reisa replied in a warm tone, "The elections are only six months away. You know that, within 3 months, the Federation is going to be divided into Federalist and Republican. Since you followed me for the past 15 years and about to join the Republican party in the future, I will give you a piece of advice. It''s best for you to leave this matter alone or else, you are going to be the one that loses everything." "Who is he?" The Mayor asked in return. Even in his rage, he was able to think clearly. At first, he thought she was talking about elections. He wondered whether she wanted him to stay silent until elections because right now, the power shifted to the public. However, her warning made him think the enemy must have a powerful background. Either way, he doesn''t care. He wowed, no matter what, he will make the ba****d pay for what he did to his son. But the next sentence of hers stunned him. Her warm tone turned cold as she replied, "my son-in-law, heir to the Scarlet Group and the son of late Mafia Lord. Even if the Mafia Lord is dead, his direct subordinates are still alive. Their loyalty isn''t something that neither of us can imagine. If you go on a quest for revenge and harmed him, believe me, you will not only lose power but also everything you hold dear I don''t want your innocent firstborn to be affected by this matter." "You" His eyes widened, "how do you know about my daughter?" He never informed anyone about this matter. The fact that he had his first child from an extra-marital affair. He heard a peal of light laughter from the other side, followed by another threat, "did you forget what my background is? There''s nothing in this world that can escape from the eyes of Galaxy Net. I know everything about your family, illegal properties, black money, etc So, forgetting everything is in your best interests." "Yes" The Mayor slowly said while clenching his fist. His face became blood red due to the frustration and his eyes appear to be bloodshot. After disconnecting the call, he looked at his son''s friend, "Dai Wen, you said you knew the identity of my son''s assailant, right?" As he nodded, the Mayor asked, "Just confirm me whether he is Scarlet group''s new Chairman." "Yes That''s the guy." Dai Wen confirmed it. "I don''t know his identity before. I just saw in the news, an hour ago" "Williard Ravens" He gritted his teeth in anger. The moment he heard it''s the Scarlet group, he knew that he had no way of dealing with the matter unless he spends his entire fortune on an assassination. Even that wouldn''t guarantee success. Now that the enemy''s turned out to be his boss'' son-in-law, he had to think of their retaliation too. His daughter''s face came into his mind. At the instant, he understood how helpless he was, in front of greater backgrounds. All this while, he stayed at Wular city to solidify his power here and enjoy the powers similar to a king rather than getting an empty title of a minister with several restrictions. As for the things that are out of his power, he thought that he can depend on this finance minister. In return, he did everything he had asked to do. But now, he was reminded that his 25 years of hard work is for nothing He worked hard for her, following every command like a soldier. What did he get in return? He felt like he was kicked like a dog and then, was ordered, not to bite in return. It only increased his rage further. The blood pressure suddenly increased rapidly, causing him a headache, blurry vision, chest pain, and shortness of breath at the same time, leading him to land in the ICU along with his son. *** Scarlet Apartments; Wil sits on the sofa alone, watching a drama but all he can see are the scenes that happened earlier day. He can''t help but sigh, "I wanted to spend a nice vacation. Not only I assaulted so many people but also spent a night with some stranger when I already have a fiance should I tell her? She deserves to know" Immediately he shook his head in realization, "no, Akiko is neither my fiance nor my girlfriend. We aren''t in any official relationship nor do we have feelings for each other, at least for now. So, I don''t have any obligation to tell her. Moreover, this is just a one-time thing Why damage the relationship over such a thing" After thinking for a while, Wil convinced himself to keep it a secret from everyone and tried to treat it as some nightmare. He then redirected his focus towards the game. "The full-moon night is going to arrive tomorrow. Llyne will be in my hands soon but it will take a while for the other wars to complete. I''m already level-300. So, there''s nothing to be done Let''s note down what else I can do until the maximum limit can be raised." Wil then took out his personal notebook. He carried it from the moment he traveled back to the time. He started to write. To do list: 1) Killing Evelon''s king 2) Llyne kingdom liberation 3) Banishing Dreamwalkers as well as my enemies 4) Capturing the other two kingdoms 5) Looking for Guardian beasts 6) Dragon race mutation 7) Improve Seer occupation 8) Liberate Reverie and then, destroy it 9) Capturing every legendary beast in all the wild regions 10) Creating an Empire 11) Killing Gadriel 12) Finding Dragon Island After writing his plans for the next year, Wil closed down the book and opened his laptop to open the War Online map. Looking at the map, he started to write the name of the kingdoms to eliminate the ones that already were either taken or killed. "There are 34 guardian beasts in the world. From the Llyne, I tamed the winged lion. 33 remaining. Rini tamed the phoenix from the Searvale The girl with the griffin is from Isengard. 31 remaining. The demon kingdom is protected by a barrier that wouldn''t allow the outsiders to enter. Hmm Maybe, I can enter in my demon form? I have to check it, later. Anyway, let''s assume that I cannot. 28 remaining. Uflenor''s king submitted. The guardian beast is still with him. 27 remaining" Wil then looked at the map and started to circle the names, "Hmm if my memory serves me right, back then, the six kingdoms alliance has been formed by the players who are crown prince/princess status. Isengard, Meazia, Iseria, Rivendell, Tavrobel, and Everton Everton''s Wisdom Queen. Previously during the first world war back then, I faced her legendary grade Armor Bear. But, now that I think about it, if her kingdom is allied with the others, surely, she must have possessed a guardian beast. If not her, then, someone else from her guild or her acquaintance. Anyway, I can safely assume that those six were also taken. 21 remaining." Chapter 299: Master of the Guardian beasts part-1 "Gailzach even though he didn''t show it in the video, now that he is the king, it''s highly possible that he acquired the guardian beast too. After all, he doesn''t need to capture it. Even if he kills, it will still end up in his hands as long as he stays as the King. 20 remaining Reverie''s king is dead. So, that Elephant will disappear forever. Once the kings of Zuweth and Evelon die, their guardian beasts will also disappear forever. That''s three down. 17 remaining One completely decimated Eiron but I haven''t seen anyone summoned the guardian beast in the video. So, there''s a high possibility that it might be in a hidden state. Before someone finds the secret of the released or undiscovered guardian beasts, I should capture them as soon as possible. But the only problem is the barrier that was placed around the kingdoms which will allow incoming but not outgoing as long as the war is going on First, I need to see which wars are over." Wil then opened the world forums and opened the system announcement section. There, the War table was posted. He saw the names of Llyne, Reverie, Uflenor, Eiron, Pirn, Sturin, Tirion, Baernarta, and Praiton are greyed out, meaning they lost the war. Looking at it, Wil grabbed his chin and once again, fell into thoughts, "So, there''s Pirn, Sturin, Baernarta, Tirion, and Praiton too, huh It''s just two days and mere than one-fourth number of the kingdoms are already out of race That''s out of the ordinary." A frown appeared on Wil. He then mumbled, "I guess there are more legend class users than I thought. Only they can make a difference." Wil''s eyes once again fell on the map, "so far, 23 of them are eliminated. That leaves only 11. Out of them, how many are discovered and how many are hidden I also need to figure out them. The killed ones will take 7 days to resurrect. So, I need to divide them into two groups. One, Undiscovered, and two, that are discovered and in the hands of the Kings. First, I will go after the undiscovered, and then, I can go after the others. Ugh It''s getting too complicated. Why bother to waste time analyzing things? Isn''t there someone who can just provide me such information?" He decided to ask Akiko. But, since it is late at night, he decided to leave a message. When she''s up, she can reply to him. Wil took out his phone and opened the messenger app. He clicked on Akiko''s name and typed the message too. But just when he was about to send the message, suddenly Luoyang''s image appeared in his mind. Hesitation filled his face. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, his conscience made him feel guilty about his act. He quickly deleted it and went back to click on Kiyumi''s name. He rewrote a message, asking for a favor. Back at Ares city, Kiyumi was working late, looking at the reports of the war and analyzing the situation. "Hmm? Williard?" She was surprised to get a private message from Wil. Ever since Akiko went to the Athledon, he hardly contacted her. Every message of his went through only Akiko. She wondered whether it is something important. After all, one wouldn''t text a person at this late-night for nothing, unless they can''t asleep or drunk. She opened the message. "The list of guardian beasts and the information on owners?" She was taken aback. "Is he planning something big?" Previously, her uncle said about his plan on forming a ten-guild alliance. So, upon his order, she scattered her spies all over the world to gather the information and collected them but now, she felt someone else is interested in them too She wondered what might be the reason. Was he planning to do the same? But her uncle mentioned that Wil''s guild is also involved in his plan. Then, why is he doing this? Is Wil plan to form his own alliance, perhaps? A number of theories appeared in her head. After thinking for a long time, she sent a message. Kiyumi: We still haven''t figured out every name. Our list is incomplete. There are kingdoms that we need to narrow down the suspects. If it''s okay with you, I can send you the names that we confirmed. However, she received an unexpected reply from Wil. Wil: No, I''m not interested in the players. I need the list of kingdoms where the guardian beasts are either undiscovered or taken by NPC. "This guy His ambition is indeed higher" Kiyumi muttered under her breath as soon as she read his message. She immediately realized his aim. She confronted him about it. Kiyumi: You wish to capture the guardian beasts, aren''t you? And Wil didn''t hesitate to confirm it too. Wil: Yes. He knew that a smart person like her will easily figure it out. So, there''s no reason to hide it. What he needs to worry about them being knowing the secret of guardian beasts. If people knew that the undiscovered beasts are still available in the wild zone, somewhere hidden, then, it will become another war. After all, by now, people already knew the power of guardian beasts. Getting the confirmation from Wil, Kiyumi then sent him a reply. She wanted to analyze his thoughts to discover his motive. Kiyumi: But, it will take a long time until the war will be over. Wil: I know. I''m just free. So, I wanted to know. Receiving such a lazy reply, Kiyumi wondered whether she was thinking too much. Since he wasn''t asking about the player names, she happily shared the information thinking that it isn''t a piece of confidential information either way "Good. There are still 9 of them available." As soon as Wil looked at the list, a smile appeared on his face. He didn''t waste any time stepping down from the bed and walked to the capsule. *Welcome to War Online* He appeared in his Mansion at Deloris. With the streets silent, Wil walked in the streets, equipping his Mask of tranquility, and night vision goggles. Entering the Teleportation formation in the temple, He clicked on Zidor kingdom''s capital city, located in South Zalfari continent. *Ding! 12 gold coins has been deducted from inventory. *Ding! You are being teleported to Zidor city. Chapter 300: Master of the Guardian beasts part-2 Zidor kingdom, South Zalfari continent; The kingdom of Pirn is one of the kingdoms that was involved in an invasion. Like Llyne, they were able to successfully defend and sent their enemy back. However, because of that, their strength was greatly reduced. Players of such kingdoms got the perk of the ability to participate in the war twice but they weren''t able to defend themselves from the series of onslaughts of Zidor, this time. With his strong leadership and military tactics & formations, Magi was able to completely suppress the enemies. As people don''t know that he was guided by his grandfather, who was once a general of the Emperor, they just hailed him as a genius in War tactics. Of course, it goes without saying that Wil''s name popped up here too, for no good reason. Well, all of this was unrelated to Wil. Right now, his only aim is to catch the black anaconda, which is the symbol of the kingdom. He exited the temple. Due to being midnight, the streets are empty and dark. The moonlight doesn''t even help with the vision. Thankfully, he had night vision goggles. So, the darkness was no problem for him. With everything around 500 meters visible to him, Wil started to run. After he got out of the city, he flapped his wings and started to fly towards the wild zone. It took him two hours to reach the level-300 wild zone. On the way, he saw a few players wandering around. Thinking that they are probably going for the dungeon, he ignored them. Wil landed inside the empty rain forest. "Summon Leon." *Roar* A powerful mighty roar was heard across the wild zone, scaring the hell out of the nearby players. Caressing its mane, he said, "A snake was hiding somewhere with in this forest. Sniff it out." Looking around for a while, it stopped in one direction and let out a low roar. A smile appeared on Wil as he nodded, "good. Then, let''s go." As he mounted on it, the white-winged lion started to run in the direction of the enemy. After taking a lot of turns, they reached a river that was flowing through the forest. Usually, it was filled with alligators and various snake beasts but right now, it is nothing more than a plain muddy river. That''s what it seemed from the outside, however, the Lion stopped at the river bank and let out a low growl. "So this is the location?" Wil mumbled as get off from its back. "Leon, where is it exactly?" He asked the lion. It gestured to him by almost touching its nose to the river while staring at the depths of the river. "Okay, you stay here." Wil then dives into the river. As the waters in the river aren''t as deep as the sea or the ocean, it didn''t take long for Wil to reach the river bed where he saw a long snake, sleeping. Upon his arrival, the snake opened its eyes and its upper part rose to turn around and saw the intruder. It saw a winged human with a pillar in his right hand and a crimson gourd in his left hand. Staring at it, Wil opened the lid and spoke, "Absorb." A great suction force emerged from the gourd to absorb the snake into it before the guardian even made any move. As it was completely absorbed and become a fellow prisoner for the cat, a grin appeared on Wil''s face, "done Now, the next target is the kingdom of Hithlum." Sending the gourd back to the inventory, Wil swam to the surface before mounting on Leon and left for the neighboring kingdom. By the time he captured the wandering spider of Hithlum, and Sturin''s Armored Centipede, the sun rose and the war resumed all around the world. He quietly returned to the Athledon kingdom without anyone knowing about his actions. Finding a barren land without anyone around, he stopped flying and landed on the ground. Once again, Wil summoned the crimson gourd, however, this time, it wasn''t for absorbing any beasts. Rather, it was for freeing them. Controlling the space inside the gourd, he freed the cat with red thick fur with blazing whiskers that appeared before him. He then dismissed the gourd. *Meow* It let out an angry roar, lunging at Wil. However, he didn''t resist it and stood there like a statue. Reaching its bitter enemy, it raised its paw and scratched Wil''s chest. "-1" Wil tried to catch it but it dodged his hands and landed on the ground. Looking at it, Wil said, "you can''t beat me, kitty. Submit." *Meow* Angered by his provocation, its blazing whiskers became bigger as it gathered magic power towards its mouth, turning it into a red fireball. Wil''s expression didn''t change a bit for he knew it wouldn''t damage him anything. The fireball became bigger as the seconds passed. It took an entire minute for it to become as big as Wil. Jerking its head back and forth, it attacked him with the giant red hot fireball. In response to the attack, he stretched his arms and let them hit him head-on. "-8,323,142" As soon as he was hit with it, the fireball disappeared leaving behind seven-figure damage on his head. Wil wasn''t surprised a bit. Instead, he looked calm while becoming busy with calculations. As soon as he found the result, his eyes lit up, "Oh! it''s a 300% attack Cool" The stronger its attacks, the most helpful it can be... Meanwhile, the cat was taken aback. It attacked this bully with its strongest skill but nothing happened. Only one thing came to its mind. That is to run away It turned around and tried to go away from this man but then, suddenly, an invisible pressure pushed it to the ground. After using Gravity Suppression to immobilize it for the next 30 seconds, Wil walked straight towards it and looked into its eye. "You are a rebellious one, aren''t you?" Grabbing his pillar in his right hand, Wil raised his hand and spoke, "Activate, Absolute Ice control, Weapon mode. The cat saw an enormous amount of magic power was absorbed into his hands, forming an Ice sword. He aimed at it before motioning its hand. The cat thought it was going to be stabbed and panicked. It struggled to get free but due to the heavy gravitational force, it wasn''t able to move. Having no other choice, it closed its eyes. However, to its surprise, nothing happened. The time ticked for a few seconds and it felt nothing. The cat slowly opened its eyes only to see the sword stopped an inch before its eye. "Now, I will ask you again. Will you submit?" In response, the stubborn cat closed its eyes once again, gesturing that it would rather die than submit itself to this bully. "Hmm, looks like this legendary grade beast wasn''t that easy to get tamed without damaging its health." Having no other choice, he decided to go the usual way. "Summon, Elemental Golem, Defend mode." *Ding! Skill failed. Reasons: Incomplete incantation. "Eh?" Wil was taken aback by the notification. He went to the skill list and clicked on the skill name to see the correct incantation. Chapter 301: Master of the Guardian beasts part-3 "Oh! That''s right. I forgot to mention the transformation. I thought there would be a default earth golem. I guess they took it out." Clearing his throat, he spoke, "Summon, Elemental Golem, Lava Transformation, Defend mode." A hundred and fifty-meter giant golem with lava crystals are embedded on its body appeared behind him, blocking the sun. Wil was awed by its size. He felt it was as big as that level-500 Neo-hybrid beast or maybe even slightly bigger. Compared to its previous one, this appeared atleast 5 times bigger. As for its features, it greatly resembled the Ember Golem, the final boss of the Tower of Mariuk. He inspected its stats. Lava Golem Mode: Defense Level: 300 Attack: 1 HP: 748.8 Billion Def: 2.6 Billion Skill: Lava flood: Flood the area with indestructible lava and destroy your enemies. Range: 50m; Cost: 10 MP per second; Effect: Touched by lava damages enemy''s health by 1% for 10 seconds. CD: 30 minutes. "Damn it" Even though it has an enormous amount of HP as per the skill, Wil''s face was still darkened because of the fact that they nerfed its skill. According to the defend mode, not only him but his allies staying in the range should also get a buff of 100% increase in HP and defense. And he got the buff too. His HP was immediately reached 360 Billion, the same as a level-400 mythic grade beast. However, the buff didn''t impact the Golem. Previously, as he and the Golem were treated as allies, its HP or attacks used to be affected by its own buff. So, even though its stats show 400%, in reality, it would be 800% but now, that buff is gone, weakening its strength. Since it''s been a while he summoned it, Wil wondered whether it is due to the major update where they fixed a lot of issues or whether it is due to the upgrade. He can only know of it when he met other Elementalists. Putting aside the matter, for now, Wil ordered, "use, lava flood." Lava started to release from its legs and spread over 50 meters range. The crouching cat which was in the range was automatically hit by the lava flood and its skin started to burn. Its health was decreased by 1%. Meanwhile, Wil''s mana was decreasing by 10 mana for every second. After ten seconds, its health was decreased by another 1%. Ten more seconds later, its health was downed to 97%. A couple of seconds later, it felt the gravitational force disappeared and felt light. Trying to seizing the chance, the cat made another attempt to run away from Wil and this lava that''s roasting it slowly. However, just then, it heard a burst of laughter from behind, "you wish to run away? Dream on, kitty" Wil quickly stabbed the Ice sword into the ground, freezing his 10-meter radius for five seconds. The ground around him became an ice field in the middle of a lava lake. Meanwhile, the cat was frozen by the effect of Absolute Ice control for five seconds while its health started to sip away slowly. After five seconds passed, the cat became free, however, before it even made a move, a sword pierced its back. It wasn''t damaged by Wil''s attack except for going into a frozen state for the next five seconds. Wil repeated the process for five minutes. Its health was now decreased to 70%. In the meantime, he swapped out his Seraph''s bow for a level-250 Epic grade bow, decreasing his overall attack from 5.75 Billion to 40 million. After the five minutes are up, the Ice sword disappeared from his hands and the cat became free once again. He placed the pillar down, so that, he can use the bow. But by that time, the cat already escaped more than 30 meters. It was running for its life. Not intending to waste any time, Wil immediately shot an arrow towards it. It precisely hits its neck, taking out more than 800 million as a critical hit landed. The cat didn''t care about the heavy damage and continued to run away. "Good, it is now less than 10%." "Short Teleportation." He mumbled and directly teleporting in front of the cat, scaring the hell out of it. "I told you, didn''t I? You can''t escape." Wil grinned as he unleashed the beast-taming skill on it. A purple-colored energy collar appeared around its neck. Instead of running away, because of the skill effect, the cat started to jump around, struggling to get out of the collar. Wil waited for ten seconds. Soon, its movements slowed down and the resistance decreased. Another ten seconds passed, and it stayed still with its eyes turned purple. *Ding! You tamed Espurr. *Meow* Unlike the last time, it sounded pleasant as it walked towards its owner. Reaching him, it rubbed his cheek against his leg, showing its affection. Wil picked it up and inspected its stats and skills. Espurr Level: 300 Grade: Legendary HP: 1.32 Billion Attack: 330 million Defense: 66 million Critical resist: 150% Skills: Solar mode: During the day, it appears in fiery red-colored and uses the abilities of fire. Blazing Fireball: Sends a red hot blazing fireball towards an enemy dealing heavy damage equivalent to 300% of its attack. Range: 50 meters. CD: 10 minutes Fiery scratch: Strikes the enemies with his nails, at a high speed consecutively 3 times. The first hit deals the damage equivalent to 100% of its attack, the second hit is 120% and the final hit is 150%. CD: 30 minutes Lunar mode: During the night, it changes into icy blue colored and uses the abilities of Ice. Frost Breeze: Breaths out an icy wind towards the enemy and deals heavy damage equivalent to 200% of its attack. Enemies hit by the icy wind will be frozen for 3 seconds. Range: 50 meters. CD: 10 minutes. Ice wave: Sends a wave of razor-sharp, crystallized ice towards an enemy, dealing heavy damage of equivalent to 300% of its attack. Range: 100 meters. CD: 30 minutes. *** Sending it to the tamer slot, Wil proceeds to release the giant Anaconda from the Zidor. A hundred-meter-long black snake appeared before him. It was facing towards him. It didn''t waste any time to show its sharp teeth Chapter 302: Master of the Guardian beasts part-4 Bailey Species: Snake (Anaconda) Status: Corrupted, mutated Level: 300 Grade: Legendary+ HP: 100% Description: The guardian beast of the Zidor Kingdom. It used to be the mount of Asteria Zidor but after being corrupted by the demonic energy, it was imprisoned in the river of Lazuli "Hmm with corrupted and legendary+ grade its HP must be 2.64 Billion. Unlike the cat, it would also have a 50% damage reduction. So, it won''t die as long as I don''t use powerful skills" Probably, Wil might be the only person in the world who would worry about not killing a guardian beast accidentally rather than worrying about its power. "Still, I need to bring it to the brink of its death to use the pet scroll" Yes, that''s right. Unlike the cat, Wil didn''t plan on using the taming skill. Not because that he was impatient to wait for 12 hours Cooldown time but it''s because of their passive ability to grow along with their owner without taking any share of EXP. If he were to using Beast-Taming Skill and tame them, sure, he can use multiple guardian beasts at the same time. However, their ability to grow will also be ceased. They will forever stay as level-300 beasts. Then, what''s the use of capturing them? To remove other player''s chances to become stronger? Sure, it was one of the reasons. But, there''s also another reason. He planned to make a guardian beast army in the future First, Wil would place them in pet slots, keeping them hidden and only use them when he was in disguise. In the meantime, he will slowly mutate them into mythic-grade monsters and maximize their potential. And, later, in the future, when he finally reaches level-500, he will release them, one by one. The moment they were released as level-500 Mythic grade beasts, he will then, capture them with the beast taming skill. Once he will be successful, even if all other legend class users joined together and attack him, they will face nothing but defeat. However, this plan is also risky as the possibility of taming a mythic-grade beast will be close to zero. Back to the present situation, raising its body more than 30% of its length, the snake glared at the person who dared to use underhanded tactics to imprison it. This man even dared to imprison the fellow guardian beasts of other kingdoms. After spending a few hours in that dark cell that suppressed its powers, the anaconda is filled with rage as soon as it became free. *Hiss* It immediately attacked Wil, not caring about the lava lake that was harming its health. "Please Don''t be too much of an idiot" Wil muttered under his breath as he looked at the incoming attack. He immediately conjured an ice arrow and shot towards its mouth. The ice arrow cut through the air and reached the snake before it even decreased the distance between itself and the enemy. The arrow pierces through one of its teeth, dealing heavy damage to it. The snake''s upper body fell to the ground. *Critical* "2,567,214,543" *Ding! Critical hit landed. Unique passive skill, Divinity is activated. *Ding! HP is less than 10%. Divinity is failed to affect. "Phew" Wil sighed in relief. "I almost killed it. Damn, I shouldn''t have used the ice arrow Anyway, only 2.8% remaining... I can capture with the legendary grade pet scroll, right now. But it would be a lot better if I can bring its health below 1%. The lava flood will decrease within 20 seconds. I just need to hold on, until then" To make sure he doesn''t kill it accidentally, Wil put his weapon away and then, glanced at the skill list to see whether any skill can help him out. After all, Gravity Suppression will not affect a legendary+ grade monster. After reading all the skill descriptions, Wil let out a helpless sigh as he found every skill is powerful enough to wipe it out. The only useful skill that can be used is Absolute ice control which is right now in cool down. All of a sudden, something clicked in his mind. "Ah! That''s right" "What an idiot" He slapped his forehead for being stupid for searching skill list while the solution is elsewhere. Closing the screen, he looked at the snake that slowly lifted its body once again and hissed at him angrily. A deep red aura erupted from it before the aura changes into purple. *Ding! Bailey''s health has fallen below 30%. It went into a berserk state. All of its attacks will deal damage, two times the original. *Ding! Bailey''s health has fallen below 10%. It went into a second berserk state. All of its attacks will deal damage, three times the original. Instead of trying to swallow him, this time, it tried to use its tail to capture him and crush his bones However, in the next second, its eyes widened as it saw a ball of light hit on its forehead. "Can''t believe I''m using Strix of all the things to counter a guardian beast," Wil mumbled as he watched the scene where a bee, which was in the size of a palm, was hitting the hundred-meter long anaconda that was struggling to find its path. Ten seconds passed, the lava took out another 1% of its health. "C''mon, Strix You can do it Keep it busy just for a while" Wil hoped that it won''t be caught by this guardian beast. After all, Strix is of Elite grade Ten seconds later; The purple aura turned into a dark and deathly aura. *Hiss" The anaconda let out another angry hiss. It was so powerful that Wil had to close his ears momentarily. He started to receive notifications. *Ding! Strix was killed by Bailey. *Ding! You are affected by the Hiss of Death. Your skills will not be available for the next 30 minutes. *Ding! Bailey''s health has fallen below 1%. It entered the final berserk state. All of its Attacks deal damage, four times the original. "Hmpf As if I would need any skills" Wil didn''t care either about the death of the bee, his grey skill, or its stat increase. He just took out the legendary grade pet scroll and used it on the beast. *Ding! The capture rate is 99%. Proceed? Wil clicked on Yes, with a smile. As the scroll disappeared from his hands, black-colored chains appeared out of nowhere and captured it tightly for five seconds. The snake disappeared, followed by a series of notifications. *Ding! You captured Bailey. It was stored in one of the pet slots. *Ding! Congratulations, you captured a legendary+ grade pet. You receive 1000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! Congratulations, you captured a guardian beast. You receive 2000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! As the owner of the guardian beast''s spirit, your status is elevated to the prince of Zidor and will be adopted into the Royal family. *Ding! Llyne kingdom and Searvale kingdom citizenship detected. Do you wish to change your citizenship from Llyne to Zidor? Warning: Your status as a Prince of Llyne will be removed. Wil immediately rejected it. *Ding! You rejected the citizenship of Zidor. *Ding! Favorability with the king of Zidor dropped by 100 *Ding! You are now a wanted criminal in the kingdom of Zidor "Eh?" Wil was taken aback by the latter half of the notifications. He didn''t know that one''s status would be changed if one captures a guardian beast of other kingdoms. But, then, as he thought about it, he felt that it was possible as it isn''t some normal wild beast. Guardian beasts are the symbol of their kingdoms. Stealing them is the same as insulting their kingdom Although Wil was surprised about it, he didn''t care much and proceed with releasing the second beast, the Wandering Spider of Hithlum after waiting for 30 minutes for his debuff to disappear. However, before that, he used the Resurrection Ultimate skill to revive the Strix. A giant spider with three pairs of eyes appeared before Wil. Grelin Species: Insect (Spider) Level: 300 Status: Corrupted and Mutated Grade: Legendary+ HP: 100% Description: The guardian beast of the Hithlum Kingdom. It used to be the mount of Meiran Hithlum but after being corrupted by the demonic energy, it was imprisoned in the caves of Egress. "Well now, it was your turn, spidey" Wil grinned as he equipped his bow. He followed the same process of conjuring an ice arrow and hitting it. As all the guardian beasts have the same stats, the damage was exactly the same. Strix, with its speed of light, continued to hit the spider constantly to make sure the aggro is on it And the result just repeated. *Ding! You captured Grelin. It was stored in one of the pet slots. *Ding! Congratulations, you captured a legendary+ grade pet. You receive 1000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! Congratulations, you captured a guardian beast. You receive 2000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! You rejected the citizenship of Hithlum. *Ding! Favorability with the king of Hithlum dropped by 100 *Ding! You are now a wanted criminal in the kingdom of Hithlum After making an enemy out of two kingdoms, Wil waited for another 30 minutes before proceeding with releasing the final guardian beast, Armored Centipede of Sturin. Once again, he hit this ten-meter big centipede with the ice arrow, dealing the same amount of damage. However, unlike before, he didn''t bother to decrease its HP further to below 1% as Strix can''t be revived yet and he didn''t have anything else to hold it. Using pets other than Leon will be useless as they will be dead in one hit and using fallen angels or any skills will kill it He directly used the pet scroll. *Ding! The success rate is 91%. Proceed? Wil was surprised that the success rate decreased by that much. Nevertheless, he clicked on Yes. Chapter 303: Day 3: Five seconds to kill a king Campsite at Blaisia, Zuweth kingdom; Zuweth''s King, the second prince, Zuweth''s Supreme Commander, Rikilda, the player representative Starlight, and finally, Blackfall who was unofficially representing Zuweth''s players entered a tent one by one and took their seats. "Your Majesty" Starlight reported, pointing at the map of Evelon. "With the help of fellow adventurers, we were able to capture the region of Ai Themor and Neve Serin. All of the towns and cities in these two regions are now under our control. However, more than three-fourths of our forces are depleted. We cannot advance further." "What about our Army? How many of them are left?" The King looked at the Supreme Commander. He replied, "Roughly four thousand left, Your Majesty. Thankfully, all the six generals were alive and are currently stationed in different cities and towns." "Four thousand, huh!" The King fell into thoughts. He was calculating some numbers in his mind and his face doesn''t look good at the moment. Starlight then said, "To make sure the citizens won''t the chance to either rebel or get support from the citizens of other regions, we need another ten thousand" "Ten thousand?" The huge number brought the king back to the reality and a frown appeared on his face. He knew that he can''t afford to move ten thousand soldiers. He already lost 15 thousand soldiers because of the King''s rampage on Day 1 and another twenty thousand while his army tried to invade Evelon on Day 2. Still, the issue here isn''t about the remaining 45 thousand soldiers. The problem is that of the remaining ones, 20 thousand of them belong to Llyne. If he sends away ten thousand of his soldiers to station Evelon, then, it would be a danger to his kingdom. From the start of the war, he was wary of Llyne''s soldiers who can change their sides at any time. But at the same time, he can''t also send them to Evelon. What if his fears come true and Wil reveals the Imperial sword? Then, he might lose control over those regions. After thinking for a while, he thought of a solution to keep them in check and at the same time, not losing control over the regions. Keeping the Generals, Royal knights, and Elite level soldiers within Zuweth, he decided to send over ten thousand Llyne soldiers to the Evelon and another ten thousand Zuweth soldiers along with them. As for the remaining Llyne soldiers, they will be separated into small groups and spread over the two kingdoms. After the issue raised by Starlight is solved, he then asked, "What''s the status of the Crown prince?" "According to our spies, he was still at the capital city, safe and sound." Starlight answered to him. The Supreme Commander then said, "We have sent a few teams. However, all of our rescue attempts turned out to be a failure. I''m wondering whether I should send the Generals." "I think it''s time for both of us to make a move," Rikilda joined the conversation. "That Elven king hid for enough time. Let''s kill him." Just like the players, she too doesn''t care about the life of the Crown Prince. All she wanted is to finish the battle as soon as possible. So, she suggested fighting head-on, instead of wasting rescue attempts. However, the King was against the idea. "No, if I make the move, then, he''ll kill my son, on the spot. Not to mention, with that beast on his side, we can''t kill him either. Did you forget what happened when he came here last time" "I don''t think you have to face the beast, Your Majesty." Starlight said to him. "Hmm? What do you mean by that?" The King asked this player representative with wide connections. Starlight explained, "I have contacted a few friends of mine. I heard that every Elven kingdom has that kind of beast which is usually used as a last resort. Of several theories regarding the beast, everyone agreed on one point. Its time is limited. Not sure what the maximum time was but we are sure that once it will be dismissed, it will take a while to resummon it again. The best example is that our forces invaded Evelon, yesterday, and occupied two regions. The king didn''t take any action because he has no choice but to look after the Crown prince. But, why didn''t he summon the beast, then? It''s simple. He was biding his time to cast the spell again. That means right now, he doesn''t have the beast to protect himself. If you two launch an attack now, he will be alone." "What should we do now, Your Majesty? We can''t drag the war for too long" The Second Prince also chipped into the conversation. "We can''t sacrifice thousands of soldiers for the sake of one person. The longer we drag this war, the more harm it will be done to us." He supported Rikilda and Starlight''s suggestion to attack. This Prince was actually hoping for his brother to be killed. Once he dies, being the sole survivor, he will become the Crown Prince and later, the King. His comment made the King''s frown deeper. "I won''t be listening to this nonsense. I made my decision and that''s final." "Then, how about allow me to go alone," Rikilda made another suggestion. "You, alone?" The King was taken aback. Everyone else had the same expression. They looked at her as if she was brave or crazy Going alone is akin to suicide. Looking at their expressions, Rikilda said, "I''m not going there to fight them to the death. What if I will challenge the King to a duel and in the meantime, our Supreme Commander and a few more generals will rescue him within the meantime?" "No, it''s risky" As the king tried to reject this proposal too, Rikilda interrupted him and continued to explain, "The king''s warning is restricted to you, Your Majesty. Not for me Perhaps, I might face heavy injuries but at the very least, the Crown Prince will be saved, right?" All of a sudden, Blackfall, who was silent until now opened his mouth, "that won''t be necessary, Lady Rikilda Llyne." Everyone turned towards him. He said, "The King and his beast left the capital city, just now. Just like we suspected it looked like the King only dragged the battle because he was biding his time." The King suddenly stood up from his seat, "what did you say?" "I''m saying that we have to get ready to battle, right now," Blackfall said to him while grinning inside. Meanwhile, Starlight was taken aback. ''How did I miss this?'' He hurriedly sent a message to Rigel to contact the spies. "What about the Crown Prince?" Instead of focusing on the real issue, the King placed his entire attention on the well-being of his son. In response to his question, Blackfall shook his head, "Well, the crown prince is no longer useful to the King. I''m afraid we can assume the worst." "Commander Braille, go to Evelon and confirm it." The King then growled, "He killed two of my sons I won''t let him return alive." *Ding! Aquilan Liawreck Evelon has been killed by Player Time Traveler. *Ding! Zuweth wins the war against Evelon. *Ding! Evelon kingdom turns into Evelon province *Ding! Players and NPCs of Evelon turn into allies of the Zuweth kingdom and Llyne province. "What!" Starlight and Blackfall shouted in surprise. *** Two hours ago; Somewhere in the Ormshire state, Wil was looking at the series of notifications of making another enemy by rejecting the citizenship. "Okay. 3 are over and 6 to go Let''s hunt the remaining later" Wil closed down the screen and summoned Leon. Mounting on its back, he flew to the Scarlet town. From there, he was teleported to Deloris town using teleportation formation. Using the prince medallion, he reappeared somewhere at level-300 wild zone. A few players who are entering a nearby dungeon portal spotted him but he didn''t pay any attention to them and summoned Leon once again to fly towards Evelon. Who could have expected that he would luckily meet the King and the beast on the way As soon as the King spotted Wil, he immediately forgot about his revenge against Zuweth and roared in anger. "You... I''ll kill you..." On the other hand, Wil was calm. "I highly doubt it." He then, showed five fingers. "In fact this is all it will take for me to remove you from this world..." The Neo hybrid beast flapped its wings and dashed towards Wil and the lion. Soon, the distance between them almost reduced to a few meters. Right then, Wil opened his mouth, "Gravity Suppression, Activate." As soon as Wil unleashed the skill, instantly, the King felt the effect. As the gravitation force increased tremendously, he felt as if something was pushing him onto the ground. Along with the beast, both of them suddenly collapsed onto the ground, making a giant crater. Leon then stopped at the edge of the crater and Wil jumped from its back and landed before them. "You What did you do?" The Evelon''s king was gritting his teeth in anger. He tried to get up but was stuck to the ground again. The Neo-hybrid beast was the same too. Wil didn''t answer his question and unleashed another skill, "Absolute Ice control, Weapon mode, activate." He didn''t waste any time in piercing the ground with the Ice sword, freezing the king along with a part of the beast. It was done so that he won''t bring out the King''s medallion at the last second. "Goodbye," He then raised his palm, facing it towards them, "Heavenly Push, All mana." From the moment he unleashed gravity suppression to the king''s death, only five seconds have been passed like Wil claimed earlier. Just five mere seconds... Meanwhile, at an unknown place, Aria was observing all the battles. A frown appeared on this A.I. as it replayed the battle. "Abnormality" Chapter 304: Arias thoughts part-1 Day 1; One hour after the War started; Aria appeared in the white room. It is a space that''s located between the virtual world and the real world. Strangely, her appearance was now a little bit different from before. Previously, she used to be in the form of an elementary kid with pigtails. But now, she looked like a middle school teenager with short hair, although her clothes are still the same traditional eastern wear kimono. It''s as if she aged like a human. Maybe, she willingly changed her appearance and style or maybe, she was upgraded for some reason. No one knows For now, this is her new appearance. "Okay, let''s begin" Aria smiled before waving her hand. With a thought in her mind, she created a large screen before her. Numerous 1s and 0s once again appeared before her and a sofa was created. Followed by it, a bucket of popcorn appeared in her hands. She took her seat with excitement as if she was going to watch a movie. "Hmm" Suddenly, she felt something amiss and looked around "Hah!" She sighed and shook her head. "The environment isn''t lively enough" *Snap* With a snap of her fingers, instantly, the surroundings were changed into a movie theatre filled with NPC characters that were abducted from some random town. They are all low levels and have nothing to do with the players. They are originally created to be passersby to fill in the number. As their disappearance wouldn''t make any difference in the game, she used the loophole and brought them into the digital space. "Everything is set" She then played the battle between Gailzach and Eiron that only lasted 53 minutes. The movie started with One starting from the Imperial Palace of the Gailzach kingdom. He summoned a broomstick and flew towards the enemy kingdom all alone before summoning a monster. As soon as the monster appeared, Aria''s face filled with surprise, "Minos? The gatekeeper of Tartarus? Did he receive the second strongest unique skill from Solomon''s spirit at this stage? He''s a lucky one indeed However" The surprise was replaced by a deep frown, "because of this, the game became heavily unbalanced. How can anyone face a level-500 legendary+ grade beast? It''s very difficult for even a king No wonder, the battle was over very quickly." As she can''t do anything about it, she shrugged her shoulders and threw such negative thoughts away, and tried to focus on enjoying the movie But soon, she found there wasn''t a battle for her to enjoy. It was just a one-sided massacre until they reached the campsite where Eiron''s King was waiting for him. "Hmm The last ten minutes was something worth watching. But, what would the reaction of the players be like?" She wondered whether the players that belong to Gailzach will start to complain in the forums. As she opened the kingdom forums, Aria saw he received hate from casual gamers. However, there was also strong support to him. So, the overall reaction is kinda mixed. "One sure has a lot of fan following Then, what about the rest of the world?" She then opened the world forums to see the reaction from the others to this incident. "What!" Contrary to her expectations, the world forums are filled with hate messages but not towards One. It was directed towards Wil, instead. Everyone was complaining against Time Traveler for using some trick to steal the majority of the war points while harming them at the same time. "Eh? Time Traveler? What did he do this time?" Aria didn''t waste any time changing the scene towards Llyne. It was peaceful everywhere in the kingdom. She changed it to Evelon. There she saw the players are getting killed by the king and the protector. "Hmm? The forums say that Time Traveler is the one that brought the wrath of the King and the beast onto them. But, there''s no sign of him, here. Did he die?" She then connected to the mainframe and retrieved the two hours'' worth of data before playing it onto the screen. A few minutes later; "Cool" She clapped in excitement while eating popcorn. "Now, this is how the one-sided massacre should look like, although it''s a pity that he doesn''t know any fighting techniques" Aria liked the way Wil used the power of hundred clones to take down Evelon. Then, she remembered the curse words from the forums Her facial expression turned 180 degrees. "I don''t understand the mindset of these people." She shook her head with a sigh "No matter the place and time, instead of working hard, these common people always envy those who are great and complain or talk negative things about them." She fell into a daze. No one knows what she was thinking. But, she looked as if she was reminiscing about something. Maybe, some horrible past events regarding some fellow employees Either way, she pitied Wil for being a target of people''s envy and continued to watch as the beast trampled the fierce clones. After every clone disappeared, she thought, "He only sent the clones. Then, where''s the real him?" Before even she tried to search for him, suddenly, she heard the system announcement. "Searvale won against Reverie? This quick?" Forgetting the matter about Wil for the moment, she opened the battle video of Searvale. Who could have expected that she would see Wil would be involved in all the places. "Eh?" She was taken aback, finding him at Searvale kingdom. Aria immediately retrieved the data and read his latest activity. "He unlocked the dual citizenship, huh!" After watching the whole video, she mumbled, "It''s been a while since I last checked upon him. Let''s see his progress" "It''s obvious that he received the weapons of the monkey king, although it doesn''t seem like he received the inheritance yet What else is there Oh! T-Rex egg and legendary+ grade weapons? His gains from the auctions seem to be also very good Acquiring Tower of Destiny I already guessed it earlier. Seer? It seems he also crafted the crystal ball Unlocking Neo-hybrid? Hmm Did he already reach the 75th floor?" Chapter 305: Arias thoughts part-2 "Did he reach 75th floor?" After checking his data, Aria shook her head in realization, "Nah! It looks like the dragon race helped him out in unlocking the form. Oh! It seems he also upgraded the skills All of these things are normal to acquire with effort and luck. However, the most disturbing thing is his stats." "Did I do the right thing to give him that Soul-link skill as a part of the deal, back then?" She wondered. Aria continued to watch his moments. She watched how he let Searvale become the final winner and quietly returned to Llyne. She became intrigued about his movements. Aria continued to spy on him. She almost laughed out loud in amusement when Wil rejected the claims of him being the person who expelled the guilds. Soon, Wil logged out and she placed her attention elsewhere. However, a clone of her was also ordered to keep an eye on his log. To her disappointment, Wil didn''t log in the next day. However, on the third day, before the sunrise, her clone informed her about Wil. "At this time?" She wondered why he would log in at such a time when a war isn''t going on. Perhaps, he would go and ambush Evelon''s king or maybe, he will ambush Rikilda? Several thoughts popped up in her head. "Stealing Guardian beasts?" But, she didn''t expect Wil to go into the territories where the war is over and quietly capture them into the gourd. The issue here isn''t capturing the guardian beasts but the fact that they were hidden in the wild despite every other monster disappeared, is only known to her and the GMs. She can''t help but suspect whether one of them leaked it to him. Considering Scarlet Group''s wealth and influence, she thought it is highly possible. Aria continued to observe him until the morning. As the sun rose and the war resumed elsewhere, she shifted her attention towards other battles but then, once again, her attention was stolen by Wil. She immediately replayed the battle. Unlike the battle between the clones and the King or the battle at Searvale, there''s nothing to be excited about. All she was a simple combination of three skills and a king with 1 trillion HP and 65% passive damage reduction was blown away like a small rock under the might of a tornado. She gasped as she saw the 15 digit number damage on his head with a critical hit. "730 trillion?" Her facial expression turned dark. All the positive impression she had for Wil turned into something of fear, "That kind of damage will even kill an Ascended if they were to face it head-on. Abnormality and it doesn''t seem like it is at level-2 either Players like One and Crimson Sun can only unbalance the game, but this guy will even destroy the game. The higher his mana and attack stat goes, the more his damage increase If his attack strength is this high when he''s only level-300, what will happen when he reaches level-500?" Imagining the situation made her shiver in fright, "I can''t let it happen. However, he didn''t break the rules either. What should I do? Hmm Should I make a deal with him again?" Aria quickly shook her head, "Nah first, let''s contact Dr. Mac and then, decide about it." Aria no longer cared about the battle. She immediately disappeared from the digital space and reappeared in a private lab that was located at some unknown place. There was no one at the lab except for a lady, who seemed very busy working, all alone. She was the creator of War Online and Aria. The lab was completely different from other labs. The machines present here completely looked futuristic. Even Aria doesn''t know the functions of some of them. The most mysterious was that in the center of the lab, a blank card was suspended in some kind of glass tube. It had ten-black stars on it and nothing else. Ignoring it, she called her. "What is it?" The lady replied while kept on working with the laser "Level-3 Abnormality in the game," Aria said to her. "I need your opinion." A level-1 abnormality means the potential of the problem doesn''t affect the game much. It is mostly bugs and loopholes. They were usually handled by either the GMs. A level-2 abnormality means the potential of the problem will unbalance the game. The unexpected mutations of the beasts, unknown creations like the one Wil accidentally created, etc And a level-3 Abnormality means it had the potential of destroying the game. For example, the appearance of Gadriel It''s because of Aria he didn''t go on destruction like he did at the Llyne''s capital city. She rearranged his data so that he will focus on finding Lucifer, instead of going on a rampage. And after he went and find him, Aria then cast a barrier on him too and made sure he never leave it. But now, who could have expected that there will the same level of abnormality, so quick, in the form of Wil. So, she wanted to ask for a second opinion. However, the lady seemed disinterested in the game even after listening to the severity. "Then, take care of it. Why bother me?" "Because, it was caused by the player, not an NPC," Aria said to her in a worried tone. As time passed, Aria started to behave like a human, especially in the way of speech and expressions. Normally, the lady will be happier to see the development but right now, she didn''t have the time to do that because of the grave news. "What did you say?" The lady abruptly stopped her work and turned around to look at Aria, "did you say a player caused level-3 Abnormality?" The little girl nodded in response. "He''s a level-300 but caused damage more than 700 trillion in number." The lady then, said in a serious tone, "Don''t spare me the details. Tell me everything." Aria then proceeds to explain to her about the situation from the start. After listening to everything, the lady said, "Put the game under maintenance and do what I say" "Okay." Aria received the instructions and returned to the Summersoft HQ. After she was gone, the lady fell into deep thoughts and finally mumbled, "So, this Williard Ravens acquired the strongest skill ever created, huh! Is it luck or is it fate? I should put him under observation" Chapter 306: Damage cap *Ding! You killed Aqualian Liawreck Evelon. You received 100000 War points as a reward. He opened the data. A king was added to the list. Then, he clicked on War shop and appeared before the store. "Hmm I have enough mana scrolls and the equipment is also set So, I won''t need them. Limit break stone costs 25 thousand war points. I can only buy four of them. But I have four of legendary-grade-equipment to enhance. It would be best if I wait for another battle tournament. Should I buy skill fragments, then? Hmm Let''s see" Wil then scrolls down until he reached the skill section. Skill: Random Intermediate-grade skill book (max 25): 1000 War points Class related Intermediate-grade skill book (max 25): 2000 War points Random High-grade skill book (max 9): 5000 War points Class related High-grade skill book (max 9): 10000 War points Random Peak-grade skill book (max 2): 25000 War points Class related Peak-grade skill book (max 1): 50000 War points Unique-grade skill book (max 1): 100000 War points Skill fragments (max 9999): 500 War points "Hmm skill fragments are indeed pricey It is useless to buy them at the current stage. I can buy them later if I have any points left after the second phase. Should I go for unique skill or those two?" Wil went into a dilemma. He had but a hundred thousand points and he cannot buy the two of them. "Doesn''t matter after claiming the independence, I can kill the king and gain another hundred thousand." Wil talked to himself about killing the Zuweth''s king as if he was killing a chicken for the lunch. Probably, only he dared to spout such words. After deciding on the item, he clicked it. *Ding! You bought a Random peak-grade skill book. 25,000 War points have been deducted. *Ding! You bought a Random peak-grade skill book. 25,000 War points have been deducted. *Ding! You bought a class-related peak-grade skill book. 50,000 War points have been deducted. Returning from the War shop, Wil checked the skill books. Mine Field Description: Counterattack your enemies by turning the area around you into a minefield for 1 hour. Use a missile launcher to launch ten hidden mine bombs in the minefield. Those who will be hit will receive heavy damage equivalent to a 200% attack. Range: 50 meters radius. Cost: 200 mana. CD: 6 hours. "Missile launcher?" Wil''s face turned dark as read the description of the skill book. "Even if I bought one, I won''t be able to equip it. Let''s just place it in the guild vault." Wil then looked at the second random skill book. He was taken aback as soon as he saw the title. "Another field skill?" Divine field Description: Create a divine field around you for 15 minutes by stabbing the heavy sword into the ground. All the allies that stay in the field will receive a 20% stats buff and recover their health by 1% every 3 seconds. The debuffs on them will also disappear. Range: 50-meter radius. Cost: 300 mana. CD: 2 hours. "Oh Boy! Another dud" Wil felt the urge to curse the system. All this while, he enjoyed the luck but suddenly he felt like he became bad luck. Wil wondered whether killing kings will give him bad luck or something He quickly threw his thoughts away and focused on the last one that is class-related, which means, it will be a useful one for him. With continuous disappointments, his anticipation towards the third one increased. However, as soon as he clicked on the book to take it out, he received a surprising system prompt. *Ding! Detected two classes within the user. Choose a class. "Ah! I almost forgot about Seer" Wil didn''t even hesitate to choose Seer over Elementalist for he has many powerful skills to use. Clairvoyance Description: The user can gain the visual information of an object, monster, or a person in their sight. The user can also see the past of the things or people they touched. The skill can''t affect Ascended NPCs or players and mythic- or higher-grade beasts. Cost: 200 mana. CD: 0 seconds "Uhh" Wil went into a daze. "This skill can be considered a peak grade skill?" He doesn''t know how to react after spending a hundred thousand War points only to receive useless ones. With players possessing Inspection Skills, he felt the so-called visual information was practically useless. Perhaps, the only useful thing is that he can see the past of the people just like Ascended NPCs as long as he touched them. Suddenly something clicked in his mind and he read the description once again. "I can identify a person with the mask of tranquility, right?" His eyes lit up as a theory formed in his mind. "It just said that they have to be in my sight. God''s eye can help me out with seeing my surroundings. If I use both of them as a combo, then, I can find out their identities. Hmm, maybe, the visual information isn''t also useless. Who knows, it might be some sort of upgraded version? Let''s test it, later." Wil used the skill book. *Ding! Clairvoyance skill has been added to the skill list. Please check the Seer tab for details. "Okay. Let''s return." Wil then mounted Leon and flew towards the capital city to teleport back to Llyne. Just as he reached the outskirts of the city and about to land, suddenly, his path was blocked by a teenager who bore striking resemblance to Aria. Leon stopped flying and didn''t attack her. "Miss Aria?" He called out in a calm tone. In reality, he already expected a meeting with her. The only thing he was wondering what might be the reason. Is it related to the killing of the kings of Reverie and Evelon? Or maybe, it''s because he got the three Sage weapons? Or maybe, it''s because Leon is a mythic grade. Wil has several reasons in his head. "What do you need, Miss Aria," Wil asked her. In response to his question, Aria spoke, "let''s change the place." Her tone and her expression appeared serious. Wil nodded. She snapped her fingers and the Wil found their surroundings were changed to that of the white space. At the same time, everyone else received a system notification. *Ding! System announcement: Due to underlying circumstances, War Online will be under maintenance for an hour. You will be logged out in 60 seconds. An abrupt system announcement threw off everyone who is in the middle of the battle. There was no warning or advance notification in either forums or the official website. But, what can they do other than accepting it? Whenever the system announces maintenance, it won''t be just fixing small bugs. Either there''s a powerful bug or they might be adding a feature, probably for the ones that were eliminated. "Hmm? System Maintenance?" Like others, Wil was also taken aback. He just killed the king and was returning to the Llyne to free Llyne from Zuweth''s control. His original plan was to wait until the full moon night and attack Rikilda with his forces but now that the three-way is over, Wil felt he doesn''t need to wait. The damage number of Evelon king''s head further boosted his confidence. He felt he can kill both of them and occupy all three kingdoms. But, suddenly, there''s now system maintenance and he was brought to this space. He felt like both of these are linked. "So, what is it, Miss Aria? Spill out the beans" Wil probed her once again. "You created an abnormality, Mr. Ravens." Instead of speaking his in-game name, she addressed him with his real name. Wil wasn''t surprised about it. He knew that this super A.I. was even capable of hacking a satellite "Is it related to killing the kings?" Wil voiced out his suspicion. "No, it''s more related to your maximum attack damage that caused the abnormality." Wil remembered the 15 digit number on Evelon''s king''s head. He cursed himself inside for recklessly showing his power. He became worried whether Aria intends to nerf his strongest skill. Last time, she did the same with his Leon too. Aria continued, "I''ll come to the point directly. We are going to limit the damage of all the players. No matter how high is your skill damage, one trillion will be the maximum amount of damage that you can instill on the enemy. So, yes, you can still kill a king in one move. Currently, you are the only person who will be affected by the changes. So, I''m informing you in person." "Okay, I get it." Wil nodded in understanding. Although he felt a little bit wronged to get such a huge nerf, he convinced himself that it isn''t limited to him but everyone else also. At such a moment, a thought emerged in his mind. Wil realized that Aria wasn''t worried about the kings getting killed in one move. Then, what was she aiming for, when she was limiting the damage. If one can kill a level-500 king that means, except for the Ascended and the mythic whale, no player, NPC, or monster can be spared. So, where is this abnormality come from? Wil concluded that it might be the Ascended level guardians. He then remembered the quest to kill Gadriel. He quickly formed a plan and said, "It would be unfair if it only applied for the players." "Eh?" Aria was taken aback by Wil''s response. She didn''t expect Wil to point out something that she hadn''t thought of it. "Are you referring to NPC or the monsters?" She asked him. "Both. If you are going to limit our damage, wouldn''t it be fair that their damage is also limited? If not 1 trillion, then ten trillion " Chapter 307: Aria wants to take back the skill? "Limit the damage of NPCs?" Aria was puzzled by Wil''s suggestion/demand. She felt it was useless to do it. After all, it wasn''t the attack that was getting nerfed, it was the overall damage. And who would be able to do that kind of damage to Wil? His damage reduction was capped at 99%. If he needs to receive 1 trillion of damage, the attack power itself has to be 100 trillion. Not even Ascended have that kind of damage. Only two-star Ascended such as Aerona Marten can deal that much. Moreover, this attack damage cap isn''t permanent either. She plans to slowly increase it during the next major update. But, Wil didn''t know that. Aria didn''t explain to him either and simply agreed with his statement, thinking that the matter was solved smoothly. "Okay, the final attack damages of NPCs and the monsters will also be limited to 1 trillion." Wil smiled in satisfaction, "thanks. Now that we are done here, can I log out?" "No, there''s one more thing" This time, Wil saw the hesitation on her face. ''Was she going to ask what I''m thinking?'' He wondered whether she was going to talk about Leon. However, unlike what he expected, she asked another thing that he almost forgot its existence. "Can I take back the Soul-link skill? I''ll compensate with something else. If you have something in your mind, please feel free to say it." "Soul-link skill?" Only after she mentioned the skill, Wil remembered it. After the update, he never used it even once. More like, he never fell into a circumstance that he might need this skill that lets Leon''s stats decreased to half and his stats increased to double. Since she was already limiting the damage, is there a reason for her to take the skill away? With his current stats, most of his skills can do the maximum damage anyway. So, why? He can''t help but wonder. Meanwhile, Aria was worried that Wil won''t accept her offer. After all, unlike last time, he''s now stronger than Leon. In her view, there''s a high chance that he might use the skill that doesn''t have either mana cost or cool down. Once he activates the skill, everything would be doubled. His attack stat in angel form will reach 15 Billion, his HP crossed 300 Billion. His defense crossed 1 Billion and the speed, movement, flying as well as attack speed would hit the limit. With his usual arrows containing double the attack power, would he even need to depend on skills? Just buying a set of arrows for a gold coin will earn him victory over everyone. As for the numbers, he just needs to use all of his mana on his clone army. What''s worse, if he summons his unique golem or the twin-headed Kagyre, just their HP alone will scare away everyone. Eventually, with their HP will cross the limit damage, he will just simply focus on healing them. With 200% heal and a definite critical rate, he can endlessly heal them to full. And that will create another abnormality, which is something she never wanted to see. However, Wil wasn''t Aria. His brain didn''t think of all of this. His thoughts were pretty much simple. He was just being pleased for making the super A.I. limit the Ascended NPCs'' strength so that he can go and hunt down the Angel of War. As for the defense, he just needs to maximize the enhancement of the accessories and the equipment to level-30. Just that alone will make his HP cross the 1 trillion mark. He was confident to stay unharmed by the attack of an Ascended as long as he gets to achieve that. So, when Aria asked for soul link skill, which he doesn''t use, he didn''t take it seriously. Wil thought maybe the company forced her to take back the skill she gave him. He then started to think about how to receive maximum benefit from this deal. After a while, he made a decision about the compensation. "I won''t ask much." Wil directly said what was on his mind. "I need the citizenship of Dragon Island and also need T-rex egg to be hatched instantly. If it''s too much, you can" "Deal" Aria interrupted Wil, almost immediately, with a smile. Her previous serious expression completely disappeared. She appeared delighted. She didn''t even waste any time snapping her fingers, worrying he would change his mind. *Ding! You receive a quest, Find Dragon Island. Description: Find the whereabouts of the Dragon Island and meet the King. Reward: Citizenship at Dragon Island without losing citizenship at Llyne and Searvale. *Ding! You accepted the quest. The system directly forced the quest onto him. Followed by the quest, he received another notification. *Ding! T-Rex has been hatched. In the meantime, the soul link skill was disappeared from his skill list. Wil was taken aback by the sudden events. He didn''t expect Aria would be so decisive in proposing the deal. It led him to wonder whether he received the short end of the stick in this deal. "Mr. Ravens my job is done here. I''m leaving." She then said to him while maintaining her smile. "Excuse me" Saying goodbye with a bow, she disappeared, leaving Wil in a stupor for a couple of seconds before he too disappeared and found himself in the capsule. Getting out of the capsule, Wil clenched his fist, "Now it is the time for the dinosaur to go rampant. Meanwhile, at the city of Wular; As the competition was only two days away, the archers from various colleges and high schools are practicing on the university grounds. On the other hand, Hyori was resting in the dorm while spending her entire time watching the professional archery games. As for the practice, due to completely focusing on wrist and hand exercises to make sure her not injure her arm, she wasn''t able to join her fellow competitors. So, all she can have is visual training in place of an actual one. It lifted her spirits a little bit. Meanwhile, on the grounds, Sakura became the center of attention as she was shooting the arrows at a rapid pace of 30-50 arrows per minute, yet hitting the moving targets precisely. Everyone can''t help but think she would be the winner and as a result, half of the senior division lost their motivation. As for the junior division who are all high school students, they too stopped their practice and placed their entire attention on her. "That show off b***h" the current reigning champion, Miura Kazushi gritted her teeth in anger. A day ago, during the morning practice, as the petite princess was showing off her skills, she challenged her to a match of fifty arrows. The result was an absolute defeat. Sakura completely crushed her by shooting 50 consecutive ten-pointers. Miura lost her face before everyone and stayed on the sidelines, not intending to compete with her again. Finishing her practice, Sakura returned to the dorm. As she opens her door, she found Hyori was busy with meditation. It turns out Hyori ended up as her roommate. "Are you sure that visual training is going to help you in the competition?" She asked in a flat tone. "Well, you will find out after two days" Hyori calmly replied. Chapter 308: Assemble of soldiers *Welcome to War Online* Along with millions of other players, Wil also logged into the game as soon as the maintenance is over. He found himself, standing on the ground nearby the capital city of Evelon. Wil then changed his race to that of an Elf and equipped the mask of tranquility before entering the city. Even though they are allies and none were able to do anything to him, Wil wanted to avoid the attraction from the other players. He quietly entered the temple and returned to Deloris town, then, teleported to Scarlet town. Returning to the vulture city, Wil summoned General Remont to the fort. "Your Majesty." He half kneeled and takes a bow as a greeting, in the middle of the courtroom. "Arise." "Report me the progress of training," Wil asked him to give him the numbers of those who were able to reach level-200, excluding the soldiers from Llyne. "Your Majesty, right now, we can mobilize 5815 soldiers who are between level 200-300 and 14 soldiers of above level-300, including myself. However, the only issue is the lack of equipment. Vice-general Skylar mentioned the war that''s going on in your homeland. Without proper equipment, our troops won''t be ready for the war, yet." Along with reporting the details, he voiced out his opinion too. After all, their king was spending thousands of gold coins on defense. They too are working day and night to train the soldiers. He doesn''t want them to be killed because of such a thing. Thankfully, Wil already thought of that problem. He immediately opened the inventory and started to throw out every piece of equipment above gold grade that he stored until now. Very soon, several heaps of equipment weapons, armors, bracers, boots, shields, or helmets, ranging from level-100 to level-400 are spread in the courtroom. Meanwhile, General Remont''s eyes widened in shock, looking at these many high-grade equipments. After almost clearing his inventory space, Wil said, "there are around 4000 of them in total. Distribute it among the soldiers as you wish. As for the remaining, they can be adjusted once we return to Llyne." He ordered Silver to take care of it, long ago. For several days, Blacksmiths of Silvershapers guild and the Vulture guild were busy with mass-producing Gold-grade equipment for his soldiers. As for the finances, his Scarlet District''s head manager, Melina was taking care of it. Considering it is a long-term project, the pace is indeed extremely slow. However, they still have an abundant number of Bronze-grade and silver-grade equipment. After half an hour, Wil found nearly 7800 soldiers who are above level-200 started to march to the Scarlet town under General Remont''s lead In the meantime, Wil flew to the town and entered the temple to return to Llyne. Stepping outside of the teleportation formation, Wil sent a message in the guild channel. Time Traveler: Everyone who reached level-200, come to the training grounds. He then sent a private message to Aster to call the ones who are offline and tell them to be present at the location. Wil didn''t stop there. He also sent a private message to RockFist and SnowDew to relay his orders to their guild. Along with them, Starlight and Supreme Master also received a message, stating to stay away from Zuweth kingdom. Both of them immediately realized that Wil is going to attack them. The system announcement of Wil''s involvement in the death of Evelon''s king has been already spread in the world forums like wildfire. While Supreme Master isn''t confident about Wil''s chances of winning as there wasn''t one but 2 level-500s out there, Starlight, on the other hand, asked Wil whether they can join him. As a player representative, for the past three days, he actively participated in the discussions. One day ago, during their usual strategic discussion, he saw Rikilda suddenly bringing up Wil in their topic. From their conversation, he realized that they suspect Wil has the Imperial sword which he might use to rebel at any time. The previous night, Starlight re-watched the video of Time Traveler''s Hundred Clones vs Evelon in the forums. He then, realized there was no real Wil and all of them are clones, judging by their reckless actions and stiff expressions. Starlight felt weird that the real person never appeared even after the destruction of clones. It was the most obvious move, right? Then, why didn''t he make a move? Did he give up or is his aim something else? In no time, he connected the dots and concluded that Wil probably wants to reduce their strength first, so that he can rebel once the war is over. It was for this very reason, he proposed to the king for extra manpower. Once he takes away a part of their strength, it would become easy for Wil to cause a rebellion with his army. But, who could have expected Wil took an action so soon Since he wasn''t able to help him out, he wants to take a gamble and ride with him on this operation. If Wil becomes successful, he would reap benefits. Since there''s also a chance of failure, Starlight decided not to participate personally and only let his guild members participate. In case his rebellion will be unsuccessful, he can just apologize to the King and say a few words like he will punish his men for the betrayal At worst, he will lose his job at Star Corporation. If that happens, he can just join Vulture. So, he told him how he and his guild members will be able to help him out. After agreeing with Starlight''s request, Wil proceeds towards the Barracks. Removing his mask, he entered the barracks and summoned his loyal General. "Your Majesty." General Gerrad greeted him with a bow. "I''m waiting for your orders." Wil then said, "Gather everyone who is atleast level-200, right now. I''ll be waiting at the training grounds." The General nodded and turned around to walk away towards a soldier. He passed the orders to him. Thirty minutes later, at the training grounds, soldiers arrived and took their places. Of them, four hundred soldiers are above level-300 and behind them stood another five thousand that are between level-200 and level-300. Unlike the soldiers from Ormshire who were recruited manually, these were recruited by the system from the start. So, none of them have any issue with the lack of proper armor. In fact, every one of them had worn gold-grade equipment from top to bottom. Level-300s above has some epic-grade equipment. As for the level-400 general, he has a legendary-grade sword and shield. The rest are of epic-grade. All of them stood uniformly, waiting for his orders. Two hours later, they were joined by another 7800 soldiers from Ormshire. In the meantime, the players from Vulture and Scarlet-A division also arrived. The guild members were overwhelmed, looking at such a huge number. Silver and Aster, on the other hand, felt proud of their young master. Receiving the news from Aster, Wil left the Mansion and went to the training grounds. They became silent upon his arrival. Wil spoke, "A while ago, my sister, Mirella Llyne, the true ruler of this kingdom was betrayed by her aunt, Rikilda Llyne by leading the enemies into our territory. In the process of defending the homeland, she met her death on the battlefield. Following her death, something was passed onto me" Wil then took out an exquisite sword and revealed it to the public for the second time. The first time was when he revealed it to the Archangel. Imperial Sword of Llyne Grade: Legendary Type: Growth Level: 300 (max 500) Description: The symbol of the monarch of the Llyne. It can be passed only to a member of the Royal family. *Thud* The soldiers of Llyne immediately kneeled on the ground. The soldiers from Ormshire state followed the suit, not knowing the reason. Everyone looked at him in reverence. Even though all of them listened to his orders, in reality, except for the ones from Ormshire and the general, all the soldiers were actually loyal to Gerrad. They were only loyal to Wil because the general is loyal to him. But now, looking at the Imperial sword that represents the true monarch, their attitude towards Wil suddenly changed. And Wil started to receive the notifications of their favorability increasing to 100. He continued, "After betraying her own family, Rikilda Llyne took the throne and then, gave it away. I was too weak back then. So, I waited to build my army slowly." His voice turned cold as he continued, "Right now, I''m strong. Strong enough to wipe out Rikilda as well as the Zuweth''s king backing her. Today, I''m going to reclaim the throne and liberate my homeland Our homeland. I won''t ask for your help. However, if you want to take revenge for your late King with your own hands, follow me in this quest." Chapter 309: Assemble of soldiers part-2 "We are with you, Your Majesty." Continuing to kneel on their left knee, all the soldiers except for the players responded at the same time. Meanwhile, the gamers, as well as the experts from the Scarlet-A division, were shocked by this event. They were completely overwhelmed, especially the gamers from SGC and of course, Flame Emperor. It is no secret that Wil is strong. However, only a couple of people know about his secret army. Before the war started, many people spotted soldiers in the town of Deloris. But all of them thought it might have to do something with his position as the Prince. Even the guild members thought that way. As for the experts from the Scarlet group, they thought their young master wanted to depend on them, inside the game world. After all, one can only do a few things. But, now, everyone realized how wrong they are Not only they found out that there are thousands of NPC soldiers who are under Wil''s command, what''s more all of them are above level-200. There are even level-300s which are obviously not lower in number either. Even they are lesser in number compared to a kingdom, both in the number of generals and the foot soldiers, in other two categories which actually matter i.e. Elite level soldiers and Royal knights, they had an overwhelming number compared to any other kingdom. "Today''s the full-moon day. So, there will be no problem with the visibility even if the war goes on until midnight. No matter what, by the time the sun will rise, Llyne will have to be liberated. Understand?" "Yes." All of them answered in sync. "Now, except for the soldiers who followed me all the way from Athledon, everyone else is dismissed. I need all of you at the town gate in two hours. You will lead by General Remont. As for the soldiers who are above level-300, you will meet me at the temple. After we finish our work, we will join you. Understand?" "Yes." Except for the NPCs, everyone''s eyes widened in response. Upon arriving at the place, these players saw these strange NPCs with varieties of heads, ranging from a carp to a shark. They knew that these weirdos aren''t from Llyne and wondered whether they are from that strange kingdom that appeared out of nowhere. There are also rumors circulating about their guild leader developing a town in the 33rd kingdom. But now, Wil''s words confirmed their thoughts. A few moments later, as Wil ordered, all of the soldiers from Llyne returned to the barracks, the members from the Vulture guild returned to the guild residence. As for the people from Scarlet-A and Scarlet-B guilds who don''t have the guild residence in the town, Aster took them to the Mayor''s mansion and let them wait in guest rooms. Louis was one of them. He looked at Evie''s back with a darkened expression, on the way. Back then, when gave Mia, a panda cub as a birthday present, Evie (SnowDew) hunted him down until he revealed Wil''s name. That situation made him realize how weak he is To not get into that kind of situation, he worked hard and raised his level to 200. Currently, with level-221, he was one of the top-tier experts in the guild and was being respected by his fellow guild members. By luck, he even managed to woo a beauty like Misty Mermaid, another top expert in the guild. For the past few days, with no monsters out in the field and no enemies to defeat, he became relaxed. However, after meeting this little girl again, he realized she was already at level-260 and the gap between them only increased further. It generated a competitive spirit in him, once again. Louis swore that one day when he acquires Michael''s inheritance tome from Wil, he will challenge her to the battle and defeat her straight and fair But for now, since he was still powerless to face her, he stayed silent all the way and kept his distance away from her. The group reached the second floor where the guest rooms are located. Since they are only 12 in number, it became easy for everyone to form into a group of two to share the rooms. Louis decided to stick with Rock Fist. To his surprise, as soon as he entered the room, he received a series of notifications just like the others. "What!" *Ding! You entered a no-combat room. *Ding! You entered the Mayor''s guest room. You receive EXP buff. *Ding! You are above level-200. You receive 200 EXP per second. *Ding! Another player is detected in the room. The experience will be shared between the roommates. "Oh! 100 EXP per second" Louis'' eyes lit up in excitement. With the major update, the system readjusted the experience buffs. For the guest rooms in the mayor mansion, the exp buff is also increased, according to their level. Currently, the players below level-100 receive 20 exp per second, 101-200 will receive 50 exp, and 201-300 will receive 200 exp per second. For a high level like Louis, usually, it wasn''t that great of a buff. However, in times like this, where the monsters are only available in the dungeon, the exp rooms are precious no matter how much minute buff it might be. Because of this, along with the system inns, the earnings of Scarlet Hotels at Eldershore and East Ocean city also improved tremendously, leading the others to establish an inn or hotels too For the players like Rini and Solar, who caught the guardian beast and became the member of Royal families, they can stay in the royal guest room and receive the upgraded exp buff that is five times the one in the mayor''s mansion. Meanwhile, One is sleeping in the king''s chamber while receiving 2000 EXP per second. Looking at the continuous EXP he''s receiving, Louis smiled as he thought, "two hours. So, roughly around 700 thousand free exp That''s like 1.5 to 2%... Not bad" Chapter 310: Mythic+ grade equipment Meanwhile, at the training grounds, only the soldiers from the Ormshire are left. Wil then turned his head and looked at Silver. He understood his gesture and nodded. Silver then called his subordinates from the Silvershapers guild. Until now, upon his order, all of them just roamed the streets or stay in the inns, waiting for their turn. After all, this summoning is for the Elites and they don''t have the qualifications to go and stand with the rest of them. Now that they received the message from Silver, the subordinates moved out. Soon, within ten minutes, more than a hundred of them arrived at the grounds and stood behind Silver. Upon his signal, they started to pour the equipment on the ground. It took more than 30 minutes just to throw all of them out. Soon, hundred heaps of equipment were lined up before the soldiers, shocking them as well as the scouts who are watching the scene from far. It appeared as if there''s a huge army of equipment out there in the field, shining brightly under the sun. Even Wil was surprised at the amount. "Silver, how many are there?" "Young Master, a total of 46,124" "Forty sixty thousand?" His eyes widened in shock. "Are all these" "Yes, every piece of equipment is at least of bronze grade," Silver answered with a smile. Looking at Wil''s expression, Silver felt happy on the inside. "For the past week, from various weapon stores of all over the world, we also aggressively bought all these low-grade equipment." "Good job, Silver" Wil was once again impressed with Silver''s work. He actually expected around 20-25 thousand but didn''t expect they are almost double the amount. Looking at the soldiers, "Here are the pieces of equipment that you required. General Remont, you can distribute to everyone. After you equipped them, you can tour around the town until the promised time. I''ll be waiting." After dispersing everyone, Wil took out his bracers, boots, necklace, and the right ring, and then, replaced them with level-300 ones. Since they are bound and can''t be traded or sold to the NPCs, Wil proceeded to dismantle them. He first clicked on the inventory slot with the image of bracers but didn''t remove his finger until he received the option, dismantle. *Ding! You are dismantling legendary+ grade Bracers. You might receive anywhere between 1000 and 1999 augment stones. Proceed? Wil proceeded with Yes. The bracers disappeared from the inventory. *Ding! You dismantled Elementalist''s Bracers and received 1643 augment stones. Wil proceeded with the remaining three of them. *Ding! You dismantled Elementalist''s Boots and received 1667 augment stones. *Ding! You dismantled Elementalist''s ring (right) and received 524 augment stones. *Ding! You dismantled Elementalist''s necklace and received 772 augment stones. "A total of twenty-four thousand six hundred, huh!" Wil mumbled as he looked at the total number of augment-stones in his inventory. He shook his head, "no, this won''t be enough" Wil then took out his level-200 legendary grade Armor, which was replaced by the mythic grade armor, and dismantled it to gain another 1000 augment stones. However, he didn''t stop there. He took out every legendary-grade-equipment that was below level-200 and dismantled them too. He originally wanted to put them in the guild vault but decided to use it now. In the end, his total number of augment-stones reached 32248. "Okay, let''s begin" He took out his left ring and placed it on the floor. *Ding! Seraph''s ring has been enhanced to +26 *Ding! Seraph''s ring has been enhanced to +27 . . *Ding! Seraph''s ring has been enhanced to +30. *Ding! Seraph''s ring has reached maximum enhancement. *Ding! You unlocked a unique skill *Ding! You unlocked evolution *Ding! Congratulations on being the first player in the world to enhance equipment to the maximum. You receive 5000 fame as a reward. *Ding! Congratulations on being the first player in the Xynnar continent to enhance equipment to the maximum. You receive 2000 fame as a reward. "Eh?" Wil was taken aback to see the notification that stated a unique skill. Before proceeding onto the remaining ones, he checked the ring. Seraph''s ring Cleft (Bound) +30 Type: Growth Grade: Mythic Level: 300 (max-500) Attack: 300% +1080% HP: 750% + 2700% Critical rate: 100% +360% Pierce: 100% +360% Mana: 400% +1440% Critical Damage: 100% +360% Increase Damage: 50% +180% EVOLVE Accessory Skill: Entrap: Using the ring, cast a wide barrier around you. Anyone except for an ally who enters the barrier will be trapped for eternity. The barrier will be dispelled if the user either exits, dies, or empties the mana pool. Cost: 10 mana per second. Range: 100 meters radius. CD: 60 minutes. "Oh! There''s evolution just as I thought" Wil''s eyes lit up in excitement as he saw the evolution option below its stats. This option made him happier than the unique accessory skill he received just now. In fact, this is the very reason he started enhancing with the ring rather than the new equipment. He wanted to confirm whether he can evolve it to Mythic+ or not. In the end, although he lost around one-third of his augment stones in the process, everything turned out in his favor. Not only he got a unique skill but he even confirmed it. "What are we waiting for" Without wasting any time, he pressed on to evolve. However, he received an unexpected notification. *Ding! Warning: All the enhanced stats will reset and the unique skill will disappear. Proceed? "Eh?" Wil was taken aback to see the warning. According to his memories, usually, an equipment''s enhancement will drop by ten levels if it evolves within the same grade. And if it evolves into a different grade like epic+ to legendary or legendary+ to mythic In situations like these, their enhancement will be gone for sure. However, what he was seeing is completely different from his memory. At first, he wondered whether the system changed it but then, he threw the thought away as he hasn''t got any groundbreaking results in the enhancement section, yet that they had to do this So, he concluded that the rules applied for mythic-grade might be different. Hesitation filled his face. Wil contemplated for a while. After all, he knew he can''t maximize the enhancement of the new ring with the remaining stones. Just those five levels took one-third of his. After thinking for a long time, Wil made a decision and clicked on Yes. *Ding! Seraph''s ring has been evolved to Mythic+ grade. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the first player in the world to evolve a piece of equipment to Mythic+ grade. You receive 5000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the first player in the world to evolve an accessory to Mythic+ grade. You receive 5000 fame points as a reward. Wil then looked at the ring. Not much has been changed except for its color which changed from Crimson to Maroon. With the remaining 22 thousand augment stones, he first enhanced others to +10, and then, used the remaining on Seraph''s ring. *Ding! Seraph''s ring was enhanced to +10 *Ding! Seraph''s ring was enhanced to +20 *Ding! Seraph''s ring was enhanced to +21 *Ding! Seraph''s ring was enhanced to +26 *Ding! You have run out of augment-stones. Chapter 311: Battle for Kingship part-1 Seraph''s ring Cleft (Bound) +26 Type: Growth Grade: Mythic+ Level: 300 (max-500) Attack: 450% +1350% HP: 1125% +3375% Critical rate: 150% +450% Pierce: 150% +450% Mana: 600% +1800% Critical Damage: 150% +450% Increase Damage: 75% +225% "Ok Cool" Wil was satisfied with the result. Equipping the ring, he then looked at his stats. "229 Billion HP, 11 Billion attack power, almost 30 thousand mana points Sigh" Wil let out a sigh, thinking about his past, "In my past three years of gaming, my overall stats didn''t even reach half of this. With 85 Billion HP, I was foolish to think that I was the best and constantly challenged him" Remembering Bran''s face made him angry for a second and clench his teeth, "I bet both of them must have laughed behind my back for my futile attempts back then" He doesn''t know why. Maybe, he''s still jealous of him or maybe, it''s because he suffered defeat numerous times at the hands of a common man from a humble background. Whatever the reason, whenever Wil thought of him, his blood would boil and he gets angered. "Once I capture this kingdom, I''ll make sure to demolish" As if he retained his logic, he shook his head "no, it isn''t the right time Even if I harmed them, they will just migrate to a different kingdom and develop there. That''s why I need to let them develop freely in the Reverie kingdom while suppressing them in every other kingdom. So, when the time comes, I can weed them out with the roots" Taking a deep breath to calm down, Wil then mumbled, "There''s no use of these unnecessary thoughts, right now. Let''s just focus on the current issue. We''ll go step by step. Revenge can wait" An hour later; Nearly 14 thousand Elite soldiers gathered at the outskirts of the town. If it was before, Wil would have just added all of them into his party and teleport directly to the capital city. However, now that the system restricted the maximum number to 500 until the world war is over, he only added the Royal knight level soldiers and General Gerrad into his party before setting out to the destination. The capital city, Llyne Province; A party comprising of nearly 500 soldiers of whom everyone is atleast level-300, stepped out of the temple, attracting the attention of the natives as well as the players who were busy performing quests to level up. Everyone put aside their work and watched the soldiers, standing outside of the temple in a uniform manner as if they were waiting for something. Then, they saw Wil stepped out, causing a commotion among the players. He then took out the Imperial sword from his inventory and opened its stats. As soon as he clicked on Activate option, the system sent him a quest. *Ding! You received a Quest, Claim the throne Description: As a person who was passed down the Imperial sword, you are the rightful heir to the throne of Llyne. Defeat at least ten thousand soldiers, hundred royal knights, four generals, and the Queen. Reward: Imperial Crown, Throne of Llyne. Failure: Banishment from Llyne kingdom and all the properties acquired within the Llyne will be taken away. The Imperial sword will disappear. Conditions for failure: Death Accept? "Yes." Wil immediately pressed on it. *Ding! The battle will start in thirty minutes. You and your allies will be teleported to the outskirts of the city. 462 of them suddenly disappeared from the middle of the city. Meanwhile, every player that belongs to the kingdom received a series of system announcements. *Ding! Player Time Traveler activated the Imperial sword and gained the right to claim the throne. *Ding! Join the Queen Rikilda and become a rebel to stop Player Time Traveler and his allies. Participation rewards: 100 fame points. Killing reward: 3000 fame points, 3000 gold coins, nobility promotion to Marquis, and an exclusive title. *Ding! Help Player Time Traveler to claim the throne. Participation Rewards: none. Killing reward: 1000 fame points. "Eh?" Even Wil was taken aback to see the announcements. All this while he thought he will rebel against the throne but didn''t expect Rikilda will be labeled as a rebel. As if that wasn''t shocking enough, the next series of notifications made him stun on the spot. *Ding! General Alonzo supports your claim. His troops will join you shortly. *Ding! General Bailey supports your claim. His troops will join you shortly. *Ding! General Remia supports your claim. His troops will join you shortly. *Ding! General Blaze supports your claim. His troops will join you shortly. "Remia became a General?" Wil rubbed his eyes and looked at it once again to confirm. Because he only participated in such war in his past life and never had the qualifications to challenge for the throne, he didn''t know that the Generals under the opposing faction also had the option of choosing him. If he knew, he wouldn''t have bothered to spend hundreds of thousands of gold coins on the defense budget and train such a huge army. More than that, he was shocked to see Remia, who was his loyal bodyguard that helped him out at the beginning of the game is now a General, which means a level-400. He was still confused about her shocking improvement. Her improvement is even faster than him. Back when he became the Mayor of Deloris, because of citizenship restriction, he wasn''t able to bring her back with him. After that, his level and strength rose tremendously, and never cared about hiring her again as she won''t be useful to him. But now, she''s back. This time, far stronger than before and in a position to help him out. He looked forward to meeting this seven-foot burly woman. Wil didn''t know that the reason for her improvement isn''t by coincidence. It''s because she was being possessed by Aerona. When she was resurrected by Wil, the leftover power of Aerona''s boosted her talent to the maximum. And it helped her level up very quickly. While Wil was excited within himself, meanwhile, thousands of players started to appear behind the army. In no time, more than fifty thousand players joined him. After receiving the notification of Wil''s victory over Evelon''s king, his popularity was boosted tremendously. Everywhere, there are only praises of him, which is completely opposite of the situation on the first day. In truth, Wil didn''t kill that many people when compared to One. He only took care of 60% of NPC soldiers and a little over 10% of players. Everyone just thought Wil stole most of the war points for himself. That''s why they joined the others who were criticizing him. However, on day 2, as the Zuweth invaded Evelon, most of the neutral players found out that they can gain war points even if they killed the other players, not much compared to NPCs but still, they are easy to kill than NPCs. Even though they didn''t support Wil, atleast, they backed out from it and mind their own business. And once they saw his achievement on the third day, some of those neutral players turned into supporters. However, they didn''t know that most of their comments are being recorded by a special team of the Scarlet Group and Wil isn''t a merciful hero to forgive them. Chapter 312: Battle for Kingship part-2 Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of players from all over the kingdom were teleported to the capital city. Some of them are haters while the others were mostly neutral players. Maybe, they were enticed by the rewards or maybe, they thought they had a chance if they stayed together to face Wil. For whatever reason, the capital city swarmed by the players. Strangely, members of the Dreamwalkers guild and a few other guilds that were against Wil and his guild didn''t appear there. Back to Wil, as soon as the system announcement was sent, he received private messages from Starlight and Supreme Master, almost at the same time. Supreme Master: I just received the quest. I''m letting the guild members join you. Is that okay? Starlight: I just received the quest. Should we proceed with the original plan or should I let my guild members join you? Supreme Master originally thought that they had to face two of these level-500 people. So, he had doubts about Wil''s victory. But now that he had realized that they only had to face one of them, his hopes of Wil''s victory increased. So, in order to get into his good books, he volunteered. As for Starlight, he thought the main battlefield would be Zuweth. So, he prepared the routes where Wil will be at advantage. He also prepared their data. But, he didn''t know the rules to take over the kingdom and didn''t expect the situation turns out like this. So, he offered his help too. Upon reading the messages, Wil replied to both of them that he doesn''t need support in taking down the city. However, if they want to help, they can send support, later when he will fight against Zuweth. Wil''s reply made both of them realize that he plans to conqueror all the three kingdoms. As both of them agreed, Wil sent further instructions and closed the screen. *** Half an hour later, everyone present in Llyne kingdom received the announcement. *Ding! The Battle for the throne has been started. "Let''s go." Wil entered the city and started to run towards the palace because that''s where the actual battleground is located. But, as soon as he walked through the entrance gate, Wil suddenly halted his steps. To his surprise, he saw there are thousands of players lined up on the sidelines, looking at him curiously. All of them have grey color names, indicating that they are bystanders. Many of them even have a camera in their hands. No one knows who screamed first. But, soon, the cheering started while a few people started to take pictures. Wil expected resistance from the players after he received information of how players swarmed the city. Aster reported to him that a countless number of players rushed to the city and are continuously exiting the temple. Wil thought it was because they came here to try their luck but didn''t expect this kind of treatment. "Good for them," Wil muttered under his breath as he continued to run forward. Their existences wouldn''t matter to him either way. Soon, under Wil''s lead, the allied army reached the palace grounds, where he saw Rikilda and her troops are waiting for his arrival. There are more than thirty thousand NPC soldiers lined up behind her. A couple of thousand more casual players that accepted the quest also stood together with them. They had no choice but to stick with them as their numbers are too less to ambush him on the streets. Meanwhile, on the frontlines, more than 20 generals were standing together with the former Queen. Behind them, there are more than a thousand Royal knights. Looking at him, she smirked, "You are here, my nephew. I knew that half-breed niece of mine would pass the Imperial sword to you. We also predicted that you would rebel as soon as the war is over. So, I had my preparations. I''ll give you one last chance. Accept your defeat and surrender the Imperial sword. I''ll turn a blind eye to you and let you continue to be the Mayor or else" "Phuahaha" Wil interrupted her with a laugh, making her frown. "You are really an idiot, aren''t you?" Wil stopped laughing. "Do you think I used some kind of trick on Evelon''s king or something?" As the frown on her face deepened, Wil continued while his eyes turned cold, "Today, you will suffer the same fate as Mirella Llyne, not even knowing how you died. However, your allies" Wil then looked at the generals of Zuweth and Llyne beside her, "the enemies of Llyne and the traitors will face the wrath." "Summon, Elemental Golem, Lava Transformation, attack mode." A 150-meter giant Lava Golem appeared before Wil, casting a shadow on the enemies that are standing in front of it. With a telepathic link between them, he ordered it to grab him. As the golem raised him by a hundred meters from the ground, he looked down at Rikilda. *Ding! Your attack increased by 100%. Along with Wil, all the players that had blue names received the buff. At the same time, the NPC soldiers were covered by some sort of aura and felt their strength is increased by a lot. As the enemy players and the enemy NPC soldiers widened their eyes in shock, Rikilda snorted in response. "So, this is the thing that let you be so arrogant?" She raised her staff, "In the name of Llyne, I, Rikilda Llyne, the direct descendant of Acke Llyne, hereby" Before Rikilda''s incantation finished, Wil mumbled, "Summon, Thunderbolt." All of a sudden, a flash of lightning hit her on the head, turning her to ash, followed by the sound of thunder in the sky. *Critical* "1,000,000,000,000" Silence ensued all over the battlefield. Not one of them spoke a word. Everyone around was stunned, looking at such an outcome. There was no exciting sword or skill fight. There weren''t any movements from either of the leaders or the soldiers. The soldiers that were on Rikilda''s side were waiting for their orders. They didn''t get to step forward one foot and the Queen was already dead. It terrified them, especially the players who are behind him. As for the red-name players before him, they quickly logged out to escape. Chapter 313: Battle for Kingship part-3 Continuing to stand on the golem''s palm, he then looked at the generals as well as the terrified soldiers. After a brief silence, he turned his head towards his allies, "well, what are you waiting for? Attack... I don''t want to see any of them alive. Go" "Revenge," General Gerrad raised his sword and shouted the battle cry. "Revenge" "Revenge" "Revenge" Followed by him, everyone shouted for revenge before dashing towards the enemies who lost their motivation. In the meantime, Wil summoned Leon and ordered it to leave none of them alive. With the lion wreaking havoc, the battle didn''t even last 15 minutes. Perhaps, Wil made a mistake to summon Leon. Because of this battle, not only they saw the personal strength of Wil, they also found out its grade. Well, it didn''t change much in people''s view. While it only made them respect or fear him more. On the other hand, as the news circulated about the appearance of a mythic grade beast, possessors of the guardian beasts went into a frenzy. After all, they were trying to gather the materials from the legendary grade dungeons for a while to mutate their guardian beasts. The fact that Wil beat them to it, made them hurry as they might face this monster in the second phase. Along with them, there''s one more person who became interested in capturing the guardian beast. The King of Gailzach as well as the Eiron, One. Being confident in his strength, he didn''t think of capturing the guardian beast but now, after reading about its grade, he was excited. He decided to capture or kill the beast as soon as the war segment is over. Meanwhile, as the massacre is going on, Wil started to receive a series of notifications. He waited until every one of them ends up dead and then, opened the notifications. *Ding! You completed the quest, Claim the Throne. You received the Imperial Crown and the throne of Llyne as a reward. *Ding! The throne of Llyne can''t be placed into inventory. It was fixed at the spot. Please visit the Imperial Palace. *Ding! You receive a mandatory quest, Liberate the Llyne. Description: Equip the Imperial crown and sit on the throne of Llyne. Reward: Kingship of the liberated kingdom. Time limit: 30 days. Failure: Llyne loses the status of an independent kingdom. "I will be an idiot to waste the time. Let''s just become the king, right away." Wil then dismissed the golem and mounted on Leon''s back. "All Hail Llyne." "All Hail Time Traveler." "All Hail Llyne" "All Hail Time Traveler." While the soldiers were cheering out loud, Wil flew towards the palace. This time, he didn''t walk through the gate and no one dared to stop him either. Landing on the ground, the lion started to run towards the Palace door. Soon, it entered the palace. With Wil''s directions, it took him to the courtroom. And then, it slowed down before continuing to walk towards the throne. As it reached the bottom of the steps, Wil stepped down from it and climbed the three steps. Taking out the Imperial crown from his inventory, he inspected it first. Imperial crown Description: The symbol of the ruler of the Llyne Kingdom. Effect: Equipping the crown in the battle, increases the stats of the King''s subjects by 10%. Range: 10 km radius. "Not much useful," Wil shrugged his shoulders and placed it on his head. Then, he sat on the King''s throne. *Ding! You completed the quest, Liberate the Llyne. You liberated the Llyne and acquired Kingship. *Ding! Congratulations, you became the King of Llyne Kingdom. *Ding! The Llyne Kingdom has been added to your properties list. Please check out the properties tab. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the second player in the world to become a King/Queen. You receive 10000 fame points and 10000 gold coins as a reward. *Ding! Prince Medallion has been upgraded to King''s Medallion. *Ding! Imperial prince robes have been upgraded to King''s robes. "Hmm Prince medallion didn''t change a bit except for the name. However" Wil looked at his robes that he took out from the inventory. It turned from blue to Maroon. As for the stats, his defense was now improved to 200%. "Hmm, not bad" After equipping it, Wil then opened the properties list and clicked on Llyne to check the stats. Kingdom of Llyne Current King: Time Traveler Headquarters: Llyne city Area: 66723 sq. km Habitable zone: 6528 sq. km Wild zone: 60195 sq. km Population: 3,124,486 Natives: 1,031,151 Players: 2,093,335 Total number of cities: 9 Player cities: 0 Total number of towns: 33 Player towns: 3 Number of guilds: 182 Tax rate: 15% Current Funds: 188,429 gold coins "It looks like you have succeeded, Your Majesty." An aged voice disturbed his concentration on the screen. Wil closed the screen and looked towards the front. He saw Raziel, standing before him with a smile on his face. He then stood up from his throne and greeted him, "Lord Raziel" "Thank you for staying neutral." As Wil thanked him, the Archangel waved his hands and replied that he was only following his oath of not getting involved in the royal family matters. Raziel then asked for the crown so that he can properly coronate him as the King, the next day morning. Wil gave it to him and said, "By tomorrow, you won''t see me just as the King of Llyne." "You mean" Raziel''s eyes were widened in surprise. He immediately guessed Wil''s intentions. Meanwhile, players from Evelon, Zuweth, as well as Llyne, receive a system announcement. *Ding! Llyne Province has been liberated and becomes an independent kingdom. The Zuweth Kingdom no longer holds authority over Llyne. *** Capital city, Zuweth Kingdom; "All Hail King Zuweth" "All Hail King Zuweth" "All Hail King Zuweth" The natives of the city are cheering for the king in the streets. The street vendors were even offering free food to the nearby players or the natives. Suddenly, they saw thousands of soldiers marched down the streets, making them stop the celebrations and stay in the side. Soon, they found out that the city is going to be under lockdown. The natives wondered what''s going on as they left for their homes. They didn''t know that Llyne was taken away from Zuweth and they suffered a massive defeat, almost losing 17 thousand of their soldiers and eight of their generals. Meanwhile, the players either started to teleport to different cities or towns, Or, log out directly. Only the foolish ones were left in the capital city. All the remaining 37 thousand soldiers and 1621 Royal knights, belonging to both Evelon and Zuweth gathered at the palace grounds. Originally, it would have been impossible to shift them, so quickly. But with the help of Blackfall and the others, they were able to teleport to the capital city, directly. A few hours later, the full moon rose in the sky. However, there''s nothing but destruction in the city. On the palace grounds, the king was kneeling with his head hanging down. His eyes appeared dead as if he lost any motivation to live. He glanced to the left. There''s nothing but craters and ruins. Smoke can be seen everywhere. He glanced to the right. It was also the same. The entire city was turned into ruins and flames are erupting everywhere. "Kill." "Kill" "Kill" "Kill" Thousands of soldiers shouted as the King raised his head and looked at the person that was standing before him. He let out a laugh, "perhaps, I should have listened to Prime Minister''s advice." Chapter 314: Battle for Kingship part-4 A few hours ago, Zuweth city; In the courtroom of the Imperial palace, without the presence of any audience, the ministers, the second prince who became the crown prince after the previous one is dead, the king and the queen were having a heated discussion. Some are against the Prime Minister''s proposal while others are supporting it. As for the Archangel Nebula, he was silently sitting on his seat. Usually, the courtroom used to be busy with discussing various affairs of the kingdom but right now, all of them are discussing only one topic or rather, one man. "Are there any witnesses that Time Traveler didn''t take outside help to take him down? Not the outsiders but a native..." After hearing out everyone, even the king joined the debate. "I agree with the possibility of Evelon''s king, not in his peak condition due to the previous battle. A surprise attack might have taken his life." He sided with the ministers who are speaking against the Prime minister''s proposal of honoring Wil for his contributions to the war. From what they gathered the information from the Starlight and Blackfall, Wil indeed nearly wiped out half of the Evelon''s army alone on the very first day itself, which helped them to conquer two of its regions. It was also true that, on the third day, he even killed the king and ended the war. However, the King doesn''t want to acknowledge Wil''s contributions to the war. How can he accept the proposal after losing his favorite son in the hands of this Llyne''s prince? He even blamed Wil for the deaths of the crown prince and the third prince. He blamed Wil for everything Going another step further, the King said, "I can''t trust the words of otherworlders. The best I can do is to leave him alive if he stays silently in his town." Even though he said that he was actually nervous inside. All of his hopes were placed on Rikilda''s plan. After sending a huge army and several of his trusted generals with Rikilda, he was now hoping that Wil really possesses the Imperial sword. So, when he tries to siege the city, he will fall into the trap, set by him. He knew that otherworlders can''t be destroyed completely. So, there''s no use in killing him once. However, if he were to destroy his attempt of claiming the throne, he can exile him away while taking away the right to claim. Once it happens, even in the future, if Wil ever attacks Zuweth, he can mobilize the Archangel to subdue him. So, in this way, not only he gets to secure the Llyne province, but he can also take revenge on his son''s killer like this. Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the courtroom turned tense and the ministers who were supporting the prime minister fell silent. Now that the King stated his stance on this matter, they don''t know how to proceed. Feeling a mixture of hatred and determination in his tone, the prime minister also shook his head with a sigh. ''His Majesty can''t see the upcoming crisis.'' No matter how many ministers supported his decision, if the king doesn''t agree with it, then, nothing can be done about it. Right then, Nebula, who kept silent until now opened his mouth. "Your Majesty, a grave news for you." "Eh?" Everyone turned their heads towards this old man, who then looked at the king and spoke with a straight face, "Llyne has fallen into the hands of Prince Llyne. Rikilda Llyne, Arry Llyne, all the Generals, Royal Knights, and the soldiers every one of them is now dead." "What!" The King immediately stood up from the throne in shock. Followed by him, everyone also stood up on their feet. "Impossible." He has an expression of disbelief on his face. "Please tell me that you are just joking. I sent thirty thousand soldiers. More than a thousand Royal knights and 20 generals. 8 of them are even our best of the best That Llyne prince only has thirteen thousand soldiers and one General. The other generals who might support him were all sent away to the north." As the King tried to give several reasons, Archangel Nebula explained, "Once the Llyne Prince killed the Governor Rikilda Llyne, everyone lost their motivation. All of them ended up dead. As of now, Llyne is no longer under our control." The King felt his legs became weak and he lost his balance, falling on his back. Luckily for him, the throne was right behind him, so, he saved his image before the ministers. If Wil kills Evelon''s king, that can be considered either accident but if the same thing happened twice, then, it''s no longer him being lucky. It proved that Wil has the strength to kill a level-500 which means, he can also be killed. Fear rose in his heart. The King lost all the desire for revenge. His facial expression also no longer seemed confident. Now he only hoped that Wil won''t set his eyes on Zuweth''s throne in the future. "What should we do now?" The King asked the old man with a shaking voice. After all, their invasion of Llyne was his order. However, Archangel Nebula kept silent. Or rather, he looked like he doesn''t care a bit. Now that he already acquired what he wanted to achieve, it doesn''t matter for him whether this king lives or dies. While Nebula didn''t give a response, the Prime minister who somewhat expected this kind of result, replied, "Your Majesty, we can still control the situation." "Tell me." The King asked him. The Prime minister suggested, "As a reward for killing Evelon''s king, we can share a part of Evelon with the Llyne and ally with his kingdom. That way, we might even gain a powerful ally instead of an enemy." For a second, the king thought of going with the plan. He knew that Zuweth''s current military strength is a lot weaker now that more than 17 thousand of their soldiers were dead. The only good thing is that the remaining 13 thousand of them are former Llyne soldiers who swore loyalty to Rikilda. Now all he needs is enough time to raise their military strength. Then, he can take back the lands from Wil. Just when he was about to accept his suggestion, a soldier entered the courtroom and said, "Your Majesty, a messenger requests an audience." "Messenger?" The King frowned at first but then thought it must be someone from the neighboring kingdom who was sent to give congratulations to them. A part of them thought it might be from Llyne. However, he threw the thought away as the war at Llyne city is just finished. Will he send a messenger to Zuweth as soon as he acquired Llyne instead of focusing on the kingdom''s development? Unless he was crazy enough to go to war, right away, he won''t do that. The King assumed that Wil must have also lost a considerable number of soldiers in the battle. So, he won''t be in a position to wage another war. Thinking that it is useless to worry by himself, he gave the permission. Soon, a 1-star Alchemist player entered the courtroom. "Who are you?" asked the prime minister. "State your identity." "Your Majesty, I''m Silverknight." He introduced himself and then said, "King Time Traveler sent you a letter." "Prince Llyne?" The King''s face darkened in response. It turned as he feared it to be. He wondered whether it is just a formal letter or it is what he was thinking it is Taking out the scroll from his inventory, Silver gave it to the prime minister, who then started to read loudly. "I, Time Traveler, the rightful heir to the throne of Llyne, managed to overthrow the traitor of our kingdom, Rikilda Llyne, and liberated our kingdom. I wanted to say that the Llyne is an independent kingdom and no longer is in the control of Zuweth. Putting such matters aside, as a person who invaded our kingdom and the person who aided his support to the traitor with thousands of soldiers and several generals, you are guilty and are entitled to be punished by death penalty, according to our laws. The only way to redeem yourself is to handover the Evelon kingdom as well as the Zuweth kingdom. Along with that, I also want all the members of the royal family to relinquish their rights to the throne, forever, by presenting the Imperial sword to the Llyne. And then, you will kowtow before our late king''s tomb and beg for forgiveness. In exchange, I will let you take one region of your choice to rule it forever. Of course, you can''t take the capital region. And neither your Generals nor the soldiers that are loyal to you will be allowed to follow you. Don''t accept my goodwill, then, I will crush you and your army with everything I have. Every soldier will die before your eyes. I will burn your capital city and the citizens within it. Only after that, I will take away your life. Yours truly, Time Traveler." The prime minister slowly closed the scroll. The entire hall became silent in response. Even Silver was surprised about it. He didn''t expect Wil would be that bold to humiliate him in his own palace. "How dare he" As expected, the King roared in response as his eyes became red. All of his disappointment turned into rage. "He wanted the war, right? Then, fine I''ll give him one." He was angered by the way Wil wrote the letter. Silver then remembered Wil''s words when he was handed a letter. "Silver, don''t be shocked if you were killed right away." At that time, Silver thought Wil thinking of demanding Zuweth to give a part of Evelon or the entire Evelon but didn''t expect he was completely asking this king to surrender everything that he owns. It was obvious that this king would be angered. Chapter 315: Battle for Kingship part-5 Capital city, Llyne kingdom; After acquiring the throne, the first he did is to take out the monkey king''s staff to go inside and release the beast that was hatched. Originally, he will summon the fallen angels before disappearing into the staff but now that Raziel is on his side, he felt there''s no need to worry about someone coming near. Of course, it''s not that he needed to worry about getting it stolen as it was bound to him but Wil wants to keep secret of the fact that there''s a world inside the pillar... When it is in hand, the pillar will be treated as a weapon and so, one can''t inspect it. However, if it lies on the ground, it will be treated just like a bound object. So, the players can inspect it. Just its description will give away everything. He knew how many opponents Bran had to face because of it. Large Guilds, Giant Corporation, even Galaxy Net tried to acquire it with money. For some time, Bran kept the pillar in the center of the Reverie city. After that, Wil didn''t know what happened with it either. Maybe, he sold it to someone else, or he stopped taking it out. Since he isn''t like Bran, people won''t try to coerce it from him but rather annoy him daily for a favor. He would rather form enmity with them and later, suppress them to control everything than forming useless alliances. That''s why, no matter what, he can''t risk some player getting near. So, he instructed General Gerrad to not let anyone inside the courtroom whether it''s a player or an NPC. At the same time, just in case, he requested the Guardian to look over it until he comes back. Raziel, who knew the importance of the pillar, agreed to it. He long figured out when he saw Wil''s clones as well as the pillar in their hands. The only thing he still hasn''t figured out is his strange skills. The giant Elemental golem, followed by a thunderbolt that can even kill Rikilda in one shot... These things are still mysterious to him. Back to Wil, as soon as he entered the pillar, he appeared on the 55th floor. Connecting his mind to the pillar, with a thought in his mind, he disappeared from there and reappeared at the ground floor and saw a reddish-brown little dinosaur, which is as big as him, was running here and there in excitement. Suddenly, it stopped after sensing Wil. It turned towards him. As if it found its most beloved one, it rushed towards him. At first, Wil thought it will attack him but since his HP is far higher, he didn''t care about it and stayed calm. Stopping before him, the T-Rex then, crouched down and nudged him with its head, asking him to give it a pat. *Ding! Please give a name to complete the pact. Placing his hand on its head, Wil then spoke, "Your name will be Rexy." *Roar* The dinosaur raised its head towards the sky and roared in response before it was enveloped by a blinding light. It took a whole minute for it to dim and the little dinosaur was replaced by a giant fifty-meter Tyrannosaurus. *Ding! Your new battle companion has been named Rexy. A pet slot has been filled. *Ding! The pact has been formed between you and Rexy. *Ding! You received a quest, Rexy''s Mutation. Wil inspected its stats. Rexy Species: Lizard (Dinosaur) Grade: Legendary+ Mutation: None (max-3) Level: 400 HP: 62.4 Billion Attack: 15.6 Billion Defense: 3.1 Billion Critical rate: 250% Critical resist: 250% Damage reduction: 50% ACTIVE SKILLS: Extreme Bite: Increasing its bite force further, Rexy will snap its enemy into two. Effect: Attack power increases by 200% when using the skill. CD: 1 hour Head slam: Rexy strengthens its giant head to slam into its opponents, dealing heavy damage. Effect: Attack increases by 50% for 60 minutes. CD: 6 hours. Fireblast: Rexy blasts a fire beam from its mouth towards the target, dealing heavy damage. Effect: Attack power remains the same. CD: 0 seconds . Range: 100 meters. Petrifaction: Rexy shoots laser beams out of its fiery red eyes and petrifies the target for 5 minutes. Effect: Attack power reduces to 0. CD: 15 minutes. Note: Mythic grade beasts/Ascended NPCs can''t be affected by the skill. Merge: The user can merge with Rexy for a short period of time and controls its body as his/her own. Effect: Attack increases by 100% for 60 minutes. CD: 24 hours. Note: In this state, the user cannot dispel the skill and return to his/her own self. If the user gets killed, then, both of them will be considered dead. PASSIVE SKILLS: Level up: Rexy''s level will be always 100 levels above the user and doesn''t need to hunt down the monsters to level up. "Hmm the merge skill looks a bit similar to Rini''s. But, my attack damage is far higher than it because it can''t do critical damage unless I evolve it to mythic grade. Extreme Bite and Head Slam are also useless. They have long cooldowns. The only good thing is the petrifaction. However, it is only single target damage" After experiencing so many epic skills, he wasn''t impressed with the dino''s skill set and at the moment, he felt that he received a loss for spending almost 600 thousand gold coins on it. The only hope he has left on its mutation, right now." Wil then opened the notification and clicked on the quest. Quest: Rexy''s Mutation Description: As a creature that was born to cause chaos and destruction, Rexy needs to kill as many as people to absorb their essence to grow stronger. Mutate Rexy by killing one million natives or monsters. Rewards: Rexy''s first mutation. Accept? "Oh!" Wil''s eyes lit up, as soon as he read the notification. Just this one quest made all of his disappointment, go away. As he wasn''t able to complete Leon''s mutation quest, yet, he placed his hopes on the dinosaur. And when he saw it, he was overjoyed that the quest was neither complicated nor was it restricted by the system updates. Chapter 316: Battle for Kingship part-6 Despite the high number, Wil was confident that he can finish this quest in no time. He clicked on Accept. *Ding! Warning: The user''s kills will not be counted. Players will not be counted. The user won''t receive any EXP from the monsters that were killed by Rexy. Proceed? "Doesn''t matter I always have Leon with me." Wil clicked on proceed. *Ding! You accepted the quest. *** Finishing his job, Wil returned to the courtroom and found Raziel sitting on his throne with the pillar in his hands. Raziel gave the pillar back to Wil and said in a serious tone, "Are you sure you want to go for this war? Once you start it, you cannot stop. I think you know what I mean." As soon as he heard his statement that he won''t just be Llyne''s king, Raziel figured out his ambition. Now that he was the King, a legitimate one unlike Rikilda, he can''t stop him. However, as a peace-loving angel, he still tried to remind him about the destruction which will be brought to the world because of his decision. But, Wil was adamant about it. First, it was just his wish to become an Emperor but after looking at the mutation mission by Wil nodded, "I know. But, it is necessary for me to establish domination among the otherworlders. Only when the people realize that the gap is too much, they will submit, or else, they will keep on trying with a hope that they stand a chance." Raziel didn''t say anything else, other than responding with a plain nod. As he disappeared from the courtroom, Wil then opened his friends'' list and opened the messages sent by a number of people. After replying to them with simple thanks, he then sent a message for Silver to meet him at the palace. By the time Silver arrived at the place, he found Wil was sitting on the throne with a scroll in his hand. "Once again, congratulations, Young Master." Silver was pretty much excited to see Wil capture a kingdom. From the rumors, he knew that Wil was strong in the game but didn''t expect he''s strong enough to kill a level-500 NPC with 1 Trillion HP. He then suggested that they should celebrate tonight regarding his success. After all, becoming a King within just two months into the game is pretty much crazy. Wil just smiled in response, "save it for the future. There''s a lot to do." He then handed him the letter and warned him that he might be killed on the spot, the moment he gave it to Zuweth''s king. Silver became curious about the content of the letter but never opened it. After sending away Silver, Wil then sent a message to Aster to ask about their location. Aster replied that they were still within Llyne. Wil then ordered him to stop and set up a camp. He wanted to leave with them, together. After that, he sent a message to Starlight and Supreme Master about his decision to invade Zuweth and then, asked if they were interested, they can meet him at the camp. Half an hour later, he received a reply from Silver. Silverknight: Young master, I was imprisoned here. He then proceeded to tell the details of everyone''s reactions and the atmosphere in the courtroom. Wil asked him to log out for now. Campsite at the border; Since Star town was built in the same region, it didn''t take much time for Starlight to gather his guild members and set out for the co-ordinates provided by Wil. As for the guild Hydra, only a little more than five thousand players expressed their desire to participate in this war although Supreme Master mentioned to them that they won''t receive any War points and is completely voluntary. At first, none of the higher-ups accepted his decision of lending a hand to Wil. After all, they merged their guild to form a giant guild, just so to counter guilds like Starlight, Dreamwalkers, and Vulture. However, after the system announcement, they immediately changed their stance. The memory of Wil expelling their rival guilds is still fresh in their heads. They don''t want to be expelled by Wil. Meanwhile, the Dreamwalkers guild also started to make preparations in another kingdom. Their guild leader knew how their fate is going to be. An hour later, everyone gathered at the Campsite, waiting for Wil and his 462 Royal knights. Supreme Master and Rigel sat together, discussing the matters of their possible alliance while Starlight is busy explaining the routes to the soldiers. Suddenly, everyone heard a powerful lion''s roar from the distance. They turned their heads towards the source. "Someone''s coming" A soldier pointed a figure. As the image became bigger, they saw someone riding on a winged lion. Behind the lion, there are hundreds of horses galloping together with riders on their backs. Following them, experts from Vulture and Scarlet guilds were riding on different kinds of beasts. The soldiers cheered in excitement. The same with the players who are present just to take a look at Wil *** Settling down at the camp, Wil, his two generals, Starlight, Aster, Evie, and her father, stood in a circle. In the middle of them, there''s a table and a map was placed on it. Starlight started to explain the safes routes to the capital Wil, the same thing he told them to the two generals, earlier. At first, Wil wanted to say that it isn''t necessary but thinking of not wasting his time on petty ambushes, he agreed with his plan. Starlight continued, "And also, I acquired crucial information from our spies. It''s regarding their strategy." "Oh! Please do explain." Although Wil didn''t want to listen to such bu**s**t, because Starlight worked hard, he thought of at least listen to him out. Moreover, it is also good to know the enemy''s plan, Starlight took a large sheet of paper out of his inventory and placed it on the map. Wil saw there are five inverted Vs one below the other. And at the end, a line was drawn. "What is this?" He asked. Starlight started to explain, "This is Zuweth''s five-layered defensive formation. It consists of two outer layers, a center layer, and two inner layers. The first outer layer will be entirely made up of guardians with heavy shields. They will be the first line of defense that will block most of the attacks. While we are focusing on breaking through the first one, the mages placed on the second outer layer will constantly attack. We might think it gets easier, once we broke through the first one. No, it won''t. The mages aren''t easy to kill because of the center layer. The center layer consists of healers whose job is to heal the first and second layers. They have Elite knights protecting them. They can not only defend the healers with their shields, but they can also attack the enemies with spears. So, it will be extremely hard to take them out. Honestly, these healers possess the most threat out of every one since they can heal front and back. They also possess a combined healing technique to heal their allies in a wide area. The trouble doesn''t end there. Chapter 317: Battle for Kingship part-7 The 2nd inner layer will consist of Royal knights. When they are in the formation, their strength will rise significantly. And the innermost layer consists of Generals, protecting the King. And at last, with the palace as a base, there will be a team of Archers lined up at the back, behind the King. Originally, they won''t be able to attack until the enemies broke through the center layer but considering their current strength, the formation will be packed together. So, their range will exceed that of formation and can attack the enemies, right from the beginning. The most troublesome is the king, who was also an Archer. There''s no way to break this formation other than surrounding them from all sides. However, to do that, we might need more than sixty thousand soldiers. Not to mention, since they are laying the formation within their city, it won''t be possible to surround them even if we have the numbers. And if we attack with all of our army, head-on, by the time we reach the King, we would lose more than half of us." Upon hearing everything, as everyone else got serious, Wil, on the other hand, was only broken into laughter. The Generals and the others were confused about Wil''s response. Starlight frowned, wondering whether this guy was underestimating this formation. "Brother Time Traveler, what''s funny here" "Starlight, what you say will be right if the strength of two sides is equal. If the offensive side is far stronger, then, there''s a simple way to break the formation. Just wait and watch how I will disrupt the formation completely." Wil grinned, thinking of the image of destruction in his head. "And don''t worry about the king, either." Capital city, Zuweth Kingdom; After the war has been declared, the king ordered all of his soldiers to return to the capital city to defend against Will''s army. The citizens who were celebrating were evacuated. Upon hearing the enemy is Wil, the players aren''t also brave enough to stand with the King except for the foolish ones and the greedy ones that were enticed by the rewards. Standing in the middle of his army, the King was standing silent, waiting for the enemy. However, one can clearly see anger on his face. No one dared to disturb him in the fear of getting punished. They continued to wait for hours, after getting the information of the enemy''s army headed to the kingdom. Unlike what Starlight thought, their whereabouts are also completely exposed to the king. Just how he had planted spies on the enemy''s side, Blackfall also planted spies in Starlight. It''s because the King wanted to confront Wil with the formation, the latter didn''t face any ambushes, not because of Starlight''s safe routes. The sky darkened and the moon slowly rose above their heads. However, due to being full moon, everything was still visible for everyone. A scout appeared before them and reported, "Your Majesty, the enemy is here." The king nodded in response and raised his sword above him, "everyone, get ready for battle." Marching down the empty streets along with the soldiers, Wil reached the palace grounds where he saw the soldiers are standing in the strange formation that Starlight mentioned to him. "Starlight, I said that I would break this formation, right?" Wil spoke to the man who was riding a legendary-grade two-headed wolf. He acquired it from the world auction. As Starlight looked at him curiously, thinking that he was going to see Wil unleashing some powerful skill, Wil didn''t explain further and jumped down from Leon''s back. As Leon flapped its wings, Wil spoke, "Leon, I''ll let you meet your new buddy." "Summon, Rex" All of a sudden, a giant dinosaur appeared between Wil and his enemies. "What the hell is that" Even the Archangel mumbled in surprise as he was observing the scene from far away, along with Raziel. It was the first time this kind of bipedal creature appeared in this world. Meanwhile, the players, allies and enemies alike, were surprised as they finally realized the identity of the squanderer. The guy who dominated the world auction is also none other than Wil, at the very least, his proxy. "Of all the people, why did it have to be him?" The same kind of thought ran through their minds. Previously, there''s a rumor that the squander might be him. When the haters argued that he might be busy with leveling up, someone mentioned the possibility of a proxy that belongs to the Scarlet group. Looking at it with their eyes, they felt the reality hit them hard. *Roar* Despite being a legendary+ grade beast, its roar was more powerful than Leon''s. Wil flapped his wings and landed on his back. Watching Wil, Leon grunted in response. It looked at the dinosaur, angrily. It felt jealous for his owner preferring to mount on the lizard when it was clearly superior. Maybe, it''s due to their telepathic connection, Wil somehow felt Leon''s rage. He wondered what''s wrong with it and turned his head only to see that it was staring at the T-Rex that was staring ahead. He didn''t know the reason and currently, wasn''t in the mood to care about it. Not wasting any time, he passed an order to the winged lion. "Leon, use King''s roar." To let the king feel despair and helplessness, Wil thought this is the best way to start the war. As soon as he heard his words, Leon felt excited and let out a mighty roar. *Ding! You were affected by King''s roar. All of your skills are locked for the next 60 minutes. While every player received a shocking notification, on the other hand, the NPCs felt their mana was restricted by some unknown power. Without their mana, they weren''t able to use their special skills. The soldiers started to panic. Even the King was no exception either. "Leon, I''m leaving to your own judgment. Go wild and leave none of them alive. However, don''t attack the King." Leon flapped its wings and flew towards the enemies. However, on the way, just as it passed Wil and the dinosaur, it snorted, looking at T-Rex''s eyes. It gestured that it was still more useful to their master. The dinosaur, for some reason, got provoked by it. It stared at the enemies with his big red eyes and roared at them, once again before rushing with its big feet before Wil even ordered it. Not having any other choice, he shouted, "Charge" Followed by the two of them, the soldiers, as well as the supportive players, also started to run with weapons in their hands. "Soldiers, get ready. Be in your positions and remember your training." The Supreme Commander warned everyone on their side to stick to the plan. *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* With heavy sounds, the tyrannosaurus charged towards the formation and started to continuously shoot the fire blasts. Starlight''s eyes widened in shock and he was rooted on the spot. The great formation which he thoroughly studied and took a long time to explain Wil about its ability was broke within just a minute. The King was also going through the same shock. It took a long time for him to set this formation but didn''t even last a minute when the crisis arrived. Looking down at the King, Wil spoke, "Greetings, King Zuweth. I''m here to deliver my promise." Chapter 318: Battle for Kingship part-8 One minute earlier; "Your Majesty, the formation is being broken," Supreme Commander of Zuweth informed his King as winged lion and the Dinosaur easily went past the front lines. "I know. You don''t need to remind me." The angered King took out his bow and equipped a normal arrow between his fingertips as he felt his mana was restricted. "Archers, get ready to shoot down that creature" He ordered the Elite soldiers behind him. The archers, comprising of players and NPCs, drew their bows and waited until their target gets into the 50-meter range. Soon, hundreds of arrows were projected towards Rexy that broke through the center layer that was filled with healers, elite soldiers, and the rest of the players. Most of the players have even a lesser range than 50 meters. So, they shot at a high angle, hoping to hit the target. Meanwhile, the NPC archers with higher ranges fired the arrows at a low angle. Even if the formation is broken, they were confident of injuring their enemy that was coming towards them, all alone, except for two more beasts. However, they underestimated Rexy''s strength. "Charge through them, Rexy. Activating the skill, Head Slam." Upon receiving Wil''s order, the dinosaur increased its speed while its head''s started to glow for a second before it became shinier. In the meantime, its attack stat also increased by 50%... In response to the arrows, instead of defending, it countered them by facing them head-on with its giant head. Out of seven hundred arrows, around 50-60 successfully met their target but were broken into pieces as soon as they collided with Rexy''s head. "Argh Dammit" The King was frustrated as the dinosaur slammed its head into a few Royal knights that left the formation and grouped together to stop it. But, the result turned out to be disastrous. They were instantly killed and it entered the range of the innermost layer where the Generals are standing. The Zuweth''s King who was standing behind them immediately shot an arrow at this troublesome weird creature. He knew that Wil was sitting on the creature''s back but Rexy''s head was too large that it covered him. So, he decided to target this one, first. However, before it even reached halfway, all of a sudden, a fireball unleashed by Leon blocked the arrow and turns it into ash. Originally, it doesn''t want to help out this newbie that grabbed the attention of its master, however, through their telepathic connection, Wil ordered it not to let Rexy get attacked by the King until they reach him. As for the attack by others, it doesn''t need to intervene. Wil knew that despite being a legendary+ grade, level-400 beast, it wasn''t a match for the King even if he doesn''t use skills. Unlike him, it''s HP and the damage reduction is too less. With Leon acting as a vanguard, Wil and the dino successfully made it to the innermost layer. Wil ordered it to stop. They were now, just twenty meters away from the King. Obeying his order, Rexy stopped, not intending to pass through them. Before killing the king, Wil intends to kill his generals and the remaining prince who was standing with him. The thirteen generals, like the Royal knights, clustered together. Three of them have bows; four of them have spears and the remaining of them have heavy swords in their hands. However, they hesitate to attack him as Wil looked coldly at them. As Rexy then lowered its head, the king saw Wil, who was sitting on its back, looked at him coldly, and said, "Greetings King Zuweth, I''m here to deliver to my promise." Upon hearing his tone, the generals were stiffened as they don''t know what they were supposed to do. All of them realized that this war is meaningless and they turned their heads towards the king, hoping that he will submit. "You" The King gritted his teeth in anger, feeling humiliated. Equipping another arrow, he growled at his Generals, "What are you lot, looking at. Kill this creature." Then, he turned his head around and said, "Don''t bother to intervene. Just fire at the front lines and you lot" He roared at the players that have lower rangers, "why are you standing in the back. Go to the front and help them out." *Swoosh*Swoosh*Swoosh* All of a sudden, he heard the noise of the arrows. By the time he turned his head and looked at the front, three normal arrows that were released by Wil, struck a couple of generals. Luckily for them, the third one was missed. The remaining Generals quickly dispersed into the sideways. However, Wil was faster. He shot another three arrows at three more generals. With his attack speed at its limit, the generals didn''t even get the chance to react. Thankfully, because the arrows traveled in a parallel way with a small gap between each of them, they only struck one general, this time. "Go" The King roared and the remaining 10 of them charged towards Rexy. Since their king was adamant on continue to battle, they had no choice, now. However, before they even covered half of the distance, Wil continuously shot normal arrows at one after the other, killing one after another, instantly. As three more of them were killed, suddenly, Wil saw an arrow made its way towards him. It was from the Zuweth''s king who decided to ambush him while he was concentrated on his Generals. He was confident that Wil would either die or will receive heavy damage once his attack would be successful The king sure acknowledged Wil''s strength. However, he knew that Wil was still a level-300 warrior. So, he thought Wil doesn''t possess much life force (HP) and his abilities were concentrated on offense. The King didn''t know Wil had nearly one-third of his own life force. On top of that, he also has a 99% damage reduction. As the system concealed everyone''s health, the players didn''t know it either. If they knew it earlier, no one wouldn''t even bother to battle and submit directly. Meanwhile, Wil, who saw the arrow, didn''t put his attention on it and continued to shoot. However, right then, to his surprise, Rexy raised its head and blocked the arrow to protect its master. *Graa* It groaned in pain, distracting Wil. Ten billion of its health was chipped away instantly and it started to bleed. "Rexy why did you bother to defend without my order" Wil stopped shooting for a second and immediately put his palm on its neck. "Heal." He immediately healed it to its full health and then, jumped from its back. He originally mounted it, thinking that it was cool but now, he felt it was annoying. What''s the use of such tools that were useless to him and in return, depending on him to save them Believing that it will only distract him, Wil gave an order, "Rexy, go and run wild. Destroy the city." "I won''t let you do that" Supreme Commander roared as he almost reached him. Wil glanced at the front and saw there are four more Generals that are right behind him. He wasn''t able to see the other side of the dinosaur but expected the other Generals might have also reached them. All of a sudden, Zuweth''s Supreme Commander raised his sword and tried to attack Wil, changing his target at the last second. If Wil gets killed, the war will be finished, right away. Who wouldn''t be tempted Not to mention, Wil is an archer. As close combat is a weakness of the archer, Supreme Commander thought Wil was the same. Even though he wasn''t completely confident, he tried his luck. He hoped, at the very least, he would cause heavy damage, so that it would get easier for his King to kill this enemy. However, just as he leaped towards him and about to swing his sword at Wil, the latter mumbled, "too na?ve" "Gravity Suppression, activate." All of a sudden, the Supreme Commander was crashed onto the ground. Along with him, the king, the other Generals that almost reached Rexy, the Royal Knights in the broken second inner layer, and finally, the remaining healers in the center layer all of them felt a huge pressure from above their heads. They were immediately forced to kneel on the ground before fall flat on their faces. The NPC soldiers and the players that are currently fighting against their enemies of the first and second outer layers in the broken formation halted their battle for a moment and looked in the direction. The whole battlefield became silent. Chapter 319: Battle for Kingship part-9 Strange silence ensued on the battlefield as Wil unleashed the Gravity Suppression skill and made everyone around him, stuck to the ground. "Rexy, go" Upon Wil''s order, Rexy roared and turned around before charging towards the city. Meanwhile, Leon continued its killing spree. It was trampling the fallen Royal knights and at the same time, spitting fireball, every two seconds. Upon receiving an order from Wil, it no longer cared about what''s happening in the other places. First, it needed to finish all the Royal knights on the second inner layer, then, it should go for the remaining. Earlier, it did get surprised about the sudden change in the situation of its targets. However, it didn''t think too much about it and continued its massacre. "You stop" The king roared as he forcefully raised his head. Wil looked at him blankly and said, "sorry but I keep my promises. First, your generals." *Swoosh* Swoosh* Swoosh* Wil continuously shoots at the fallen generals at a rapid pace, killing them one by one. "Do you have no honor by attacking unarmed soldiers and letting your pet attack the civilians?" This time, Blackfall shouted in fury. He and the rest of his teammates, who are stationed at the center layer to protect the Healers, were now stuck onto the ground. "Hmm?" Wil turned his head and looked at him. He was unfamiliar to him. "Blackfall?" he spoke out loud and then, said, "Never heard of you but anyway, I don''t understand what honor you are talking about. If you want to care about the honor that badly, then, don''t waste your time here. Go and join the military or become a civil servant" Wil reprimanded him with his own logic. Some people didn''t get it, some were terrified, some were angry while the others were impressed. "Guys, forget about the formation go and save your king." Blackfall then passed the order to the rest of the soldiers. As the battlefield is silent, everyone heard it. To save their king as well as their last line of defense, the soldiers in the frontlines, started to rush back. But, the allies of Wil didn''t give them the chance. They tried to block them to give Wil as much time he needed. While the frontlines were successfully blocked, the soldiers who were standing in the backlines of the first two outer layers were able to leave their places without facing any trouble and rushed towards their fallen king. *Swoosh* An arrow flew from Wil''s bow and pierced his head, killing him instantly. "You talk too much." Wil was displeased by the action that tried to cause him more trouble. Even though he said that he would kill everyone, in reality, he intended to spare the foot soldiers that will grow loyal to the king that occupies the kingdom. Later, he can spend some money on the defense budget to increase their levels. That''s why he gave the job of dealing with those soldiers to the army behind him. But, who could have expected that this player would force him to take action? Noting down Blackfall name in his memory, Wil put aside his bow and took out the pillar from his inventory. "Well, I guess I have to rebuild everything from scratch" "Activate, Cloning skill, 100 clones." Starlight saw a similar scene from the video. Looking at the pillar on Wil''s hand and then, at the clones, he connected the both of them and concluded that the secret to that power lied with this mysterious pillar. Receiving Wil''s order, the clones spread out in two directions, fifty on the left and fifty on the right. Forming a line, somewhere between the second outer layer and the center layer, everyone extended their staffs by 20 meters in length to sweep out that comes in their range. Their job is to prevent anyone from passing through them. As Wil had nearly a total of 30k mana points, losing 12000 mana points didn''t hurt him a bit. "Okay, I still have 12 seconds to go" Now that there''s no disturbance, Wil used his remaining 12 seconds of time on killing all the Generals that are lying on the ground. "Next is your son''s turn," Wil said to the king while taking out an arrow from the quiver. He equipped the arrow between his fingertips and pulled the string, aiming at the prince, lying beside his father. Right then, the king felt the pressure disappeared and he immediately stood up at the same, Wil released the arrow. "No" The King screamed as he jumped before his son and took the arrow to the chest, at the perfect time. *Critical* "338,963,225,178" One-third of his health was chipped away while everyone else that was lying down stood up on their feet. As Zuweth king''s chest started to bleed, the son supported him to stand up. "Father, are you alright?" he asked in worry before placing his palm a foot away from the injured part. Immediately, the wound was closed and Wil saw the king''s health was recovered to 75%. The prince then summoned his tome and performed another incantation to heal him. His HP slowly started to recover. "Oh! So, this prince is a healer, huh! Good" Wil mumbled as he watched the scene but he didn''t interrupt him. After all, he doesn''t want the King to die, yet. While his son is recovering his health continuously, The King picked up his bow and looked at Wil in hatred. "You dare try to harm my son" Out of nowhere, a strange book with a cover of a dragon head image appeared in his hand. He spoke to himself, "I never thought this day would come" The king then opened the book. Wil watched him curiously. As the battlefield was no longer silent as before, he wasn''t able to hear his words. All he saw that this King is chanting some incantation. With a deep red aura covering the book, Wil believed it must be some forbidden skill After his incantation is complete, the book disappeared and a spell formation appeared on the ground. Slowly, a slender figure rose from the ground. She was wearing luxurious clothes like a princess and appeared cute. If not for the presence of two horns on her head, anyone would have mistaken for her being a human. "Eh?" "Eh?" Wil and the Zuweth''s King both of them were taken aback in surprise. "Where is the Dragon clan Elder? Why is there, a little girl, here?" The Zuweth''s King mumbled in shock. He wasn''t ready to believe what he was seeing. "According to the historical records, Dragon King should send an aid upon using this totem." He felt that his ancestor was scammed by the Dragon King. On the other hand, a big smile appeared on Wil as he inspected her information. Iphi Draconus Level: 300 Grade: Mythic HP: 100% Description: The youngest and the most beloved granddaughter of the Dragon King. "Where am I?" As the little girl looked around in confusion, Wil didn''t wait any longer and took out the crimson gourd from his inventory. Opening the lid, he spoke, "Gourd prison, activate. Absorb." Before the girl and the King even realized what''s going on, she was already sucked into the gourd. "Thank you for the present." Wil said to the frustrated king as he dismissed the gourd. Chapter 320: Battle for Kingship part-10 Looking at a little fledging from the dragon clan, the King of Zuweth was stunned to realize that his ancestor was scammed by the Dragon King. He then wondered whether he was the one that was scammed by his grandfather. He still remembered the day who gave him the object and warned him to use the tome only when the kingdom at extreme crisis. According to historical records shown by his grandfather, two thousand years ago, when Lucifer wreak havoc on the planet, the Dragon King of that time, handed his ancestor the totem as a parting gift before their race went into hiding. Upon invoking the chant, he was supposed to summon a powerful dragon elder of level-500 in exchange for half of his life force. As per the rule, his life force was indeed cut in half i.e. his Max HP was decreased to 500 Billion. However, he didn''t expect them to send a level-300 weakling with a life force that''s almost one-hundredth of his own (13 Billion). The king was disappointed. As she wasn''t useful to him, he decided to send her to death but didn''t expect Wil to counter his so-called fake trump card by simply absorbing her into a strange gourd. "This is the worst day of my life." The king blamed his bad luck and quickly forgot the matter as he can''t undo the past, anyway. Meanwhile, Wil was ecstatic, upon capturing the granddaughter of the current Dragon King. Without doing anything, not only a mythic grade beast fell into his hands, he found the best way to find the coordinates of the Dragon Island too. Dismissing the gourd, Wil mumbled, "I actually planned to tour around the world, using his divination but it looks like there''s no need for that. What a lucky day." With a smile on his face, Wil thanked his enemy of a king, which only enraged him further. He further said, "Since you gave me a gift, I''ll do a favor for you." Wil decided to make his opponent fall into despair to give a strong message to the world. Dismissing the Seraph''s bow, Wil stood straight with his hands behind his back, "Within 30 minutes, my Rexy will completely demolish the city along with your citizens. Within 30 minutes, my Leon will destroy all of your Royal knights. Within 30 minutes, my clones will destroy all of your foot soldiers on the back and my allies will destroy your foot soldiers on the frontlines. I''ll give you 20 minutes. You are free to attack me. I will neither defend myself nor even move from this spot to dodge your attacks. My allies or my battle companions won''t disturb our battle either. As long as you kill me, the war will be over and you''ll get to save your people. If that happens, I''ll even submit Llyne to Zuweth. How about it? Do you dare to kill me?" Wil looked extremely confident now. "Hmpf, you are too overconfident on your strength, otherworlder." The King snorted in response before raising his bow. Since his enemy was vastly underestimating him, then, he would put his pride and take advantage of it. Now, all he cared about is to kill him for good. The King didn''t even waste any time to shot an arrow towards Wil. Starlight was watching the battle from a distance while the others were busy fighting against the frontline soldiers. Until now, he never witnessed Wil''s strength, directly. He only heard of his strength from the reports by Rigel. Now that he witnessed it with his own eyes, he felt he vastly underestimated this guild leader of Vulture. When he watched the video, he put an estimation of Wil''s maximum strength, considering a clone''s strength is almost equal to the original. However, after hearing that Wil killed Evelon''s king, he wondered whether it''s due to the addition of different unique skills of the original. After that, he heard that Wil only used one skill to kill Rikilda, who was just as powerful as a King. Several people behind him, back then, saw the damage on her head, which stated 1 Trillion. Due to the damage being so precise, Starlight concluded that Wil used some one-time use skill on the enemy. With the reveal of level-400 mythic- grade beast, he also thought of a possibility where Wil took its help when dealing with the Evelon''s king. After all, its grade and level gave away its maximum HP too. And naturally, he knew that the attack stat of the offensive monsters is one-fourth of its HP, no matter the level or the grade. Keeping that in mind, he calculated that Leon''s attack was 40 billion. That would mean it''s quite possible for the beast to take down the enemy if he were to be busy in battle with the clones. And now, at present, when he heard its mighty roar and got informed by his spies about how their skills are locked, he realized the possibility of Wil using the same skill on Evelon''s king, first, before dealing with him. But then, a question arose in his mind. If that were the case, how did he kill the King, so quickly? Surely, an NPC of such a high level wouldn''t go down with a fight. He soon found out his answer when Wil used Gravity Suppression on the field. Like that, he formed a complete theory while erasing all the doubts in his mind. Just when he thought he uncovered the mystery, he suddenly saw the appearance of a crimson gourd in Wil''s hand. Although it only stayed there for a couple of seconds, Starlight had recognized it. Perhaps, summoning the gourd was Wil''s biggest mistake. His action instantly revealed a secret of his to Starlight. "There''s no doubt about it. The mysterious masked player that killed the King of Reverie is Time Traveler. He alone has such power to accomplish such a feat. Moreover, he was disappeared at the time, the clones invaded the Evelon. There''s a high chance that he was in Searvale kingdom while leaving the clones at Llyne. The only issue is the masked player is an Elf while Time Traveler is of Angel race. Hmm" Starlight thought for a while and came to another conclusion, "Either that blank mask is a special one or Time Traveler somehow found a way to become an Elf." Starlight continued to watch him from afar. An arrow struck Wil''s chest, taking away nearly 193 million HP from him. He was taken aback to see there isn''t much change in Wil''s health. Wil threw the arrow away and said, "Not bad but it isn''t enough. Too weak." Wil''s comments made his opponent''s face darkened and this time he shot two arrows at the same. However, only one of them struck while the other one ended up missing him. "Eh?" Wil was surprised at the result and he stared at the king in disbelief. They were merely standing 20 meters apart and yet, he wasn''t able to accurately shoot two arrows? Wil felt something amiss ''Maybe, it wasn''t possible for NPCs except for Elves'' He thought as he took out another arrow that struck his armor. Suddenly, the King dashed towards him and jumped up after reaching halfway before he fired two arrows. This time, they successfully struck him. ''So, it is not that he can''t fire two arrows at the same but it is because his range is too less?'' Wil widened his eyes in realization. Chapter 321: Battle for Kingship-final Fifteen minutes later; *Swoosh*Swoosh* Two arrows cut through the air and struck Wil causing nine-digit figure damage. The King was panting heavily while checking out Wil''s life force. "So far, I''ve fired more than a thousand arrows. Every arrow landed on its target and yet, this ba****d''s life force is only depleted by three-fourths. Just how tough is his body" He finally emptied his stamina and started to take heavy breaths, feeling very tired. The Zuweth''s king didn''t even have the strength to become angry anymore. For the past fifteen minutes, the king continuously fired two arrows at Wil, taking off around four hundred million of his HP, each time. If it was anyone else, they would have long dead by now. However, Wil was someone with nearly 230 Billion HP. In his Angel form, his HP was now nearly 300 Billion. Looking at the King, Wil taunted, "Only fifteen minutes have been passed. There are still five minutes, left. C''mon get up. Don''t you want to save your people? Oh!" Wil suddenly paused for a second and then continued, "nevermind. It looked like most of your troops are already dealt with, anyway." Only did then the King paid attention to his surroundings. Except for his son, all he can see are a hundred clones of Wil and his allies that are silently watching the both of them. "It''s over?" His voice shook as he once again surveyed his surroundings. A few hundred soldiers were still left but they were standing far away and weren''t able to get near to the battlefield because of the clones. As the King fell into a state of extreme shock, Wil continued to speak, "well, now that you failed to protect your soldiers as well as the citizens, it''s time for you to realize how weak you are, in front of me" "Heal." Instantly, a little more than 14 Billion of his health was recovered while he only lost 5 mana points. "Too bad that only the healers have the opportunity to get critical healing Anyway" Wil thought that it was indeed a pity or else, just his critical healing capability itself would have been out of the world. "Heal." As the skill didn''t have any cooldown time, Wil continued to use it on himself, shocking the audience. In ten seconds, as Wil recovered his health to more than 60%, the King fell into despair. He lost the strength in his hands and the bow fell on the ground. The King looked like he no longer had the motivation to go on He tried his best to cut down Wil''s life force and after fifteen minutes, he managed to bring it down to 25%. But, all it took was 10 seconds for Wil to around the situation with his healing. The King understood that Wil was not just strong enough to kill Kings like him. He was basically, invincible. He felt only guardians will be able to deal with him. The King fell on his knees and looked at the ground, "I lost." Raising his head, he then looked into Wil''s eyes, "Kill me but please allow my son to live. I''ll submit the Imperial bow too and my son will also relinquish all of his rights. Everything will be yours." Putting aside his pride, the King pleaded with Wil to leave his son, alive. The Prince, who was fearfully standing beside his father, grabbed his shoulders from behind, "father" Tears welled up in his eyes. Meanwhile, the players, standing around them, gasped in surprise but no one made a noise. They continued to watch in silence. Wil glanced around and then, looked at the King. His eyes appeared cold as he raised his hand, "Sorry. You have met a person who bore deep grudges for every unpleasant thing." "Thunderbolt, Activate." All of a sudden, a flash of lightning hit the prince on his head and turned him to ash, the same way it did to the Queen. "Regal" The King roared as he turned his head. "I told you, didn''t I? You will be the last person to die." The words once again echoed in his ears. Turning his head, he growled at Wil, "You don''t need to do this Why" Wil continued to look at him, coldly, "You should''ve expected this the moment you decide to ally with Rikilda and attack the Llyne city. If hadn''t done that, I would still be a crown prince. My sister would still be alive and I wouldn''t have to spend hundreds of thousands of gold coins to set everything, right Do you think I''ll forgive your sins" Wil then reequipped the mythic grade bow and conjured a fire arrow, pointing at King''s forehead. Even though Wil said in a calm tone, everyone felt the hatred hidden in those words. As he said, Wil is really a person that bore deep grudges. Starlight sighed in relief. ''Thank goodness, I never went against him.'' meanwhile, Supreme Master was sweating bullets. Witnessing his strength on the first hand, Supreme Master thought of dismissing his plan of using both of the parties for his own good at least, until he will become strong enough to face Wil. "Kill" "Kill" "Kill" "Kill" Meanwhile, the soldiers of Llyne started to shout, implying Wil to deliver the final blow. All of them still remember the day they lost their king, their fellow soldiers, and their citizens. On the other hand, the King fell silent. He doesn''t have the strength to argue because he knew there''s no use and lost the will to live. He once again looked at the right and the left, this time at the city. Smoke was rising from everywhere. Almost the entire city turned into ruins, except for the Imperial Palace. He let out a laugh, aiming at himself, "perhaps, I should have listened to the prime minister''s advice." A while ago, when the King read the letter sent by Wil, he became extremely angry. To appease him a little bit, Silver, who was acting as a messenger, mentioned that the king can save his kingdom if he were to just give up Evelon and submit to Llyne''s sovereignty. Silver promised that he will convince Wil if he were to do that. The Prime Minister, who also heard Silver''s proposal, suggested the King do as the messenger mentioned. But, the King, who was in a rage, sentenced Silver to life imprisonment and even dismissed the Prime Minister. Now that everything came to him, the King regretted his actions. *Swoosh* The fire arrow suddenly struck his forehead and killed him instantly. *Ding! Congratulations, you became the King of Zuweth. *Ding! Zuweth kingdom is changed to Zuweth Province and lost its authority over Evelon. *Ding! Zuweth Province and Evelon province was merged into the Llyne kingdom. Please check out your properties list for details. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the first player in the world to capture three kingdoms. You receive 10000 fame points and 10000 gold coins as a reward. "All hail King Llyne." "All hail King Llyne." While the soldiers are cheering in excitement, Wil observed the new stats of the kingdom. Kingdom of Llyne Current King: Time Traveler Headquarters: Llyne City Area: 200,423 sq. km Habitable zone: 19,458 sq. km Wild zone: 180,965 sq. km Population: 7,432,875 Natives: 2,341,779 Players: 5,091,096 Total number of Provinces: 3 Total number of Cities: 27 Player cities: 0 Total number of towns: 94 Player towns: 4 Number of guilds: 491 Tax rate: 15% Current Funds: 1,941,366 Chapter 322: One discovers Wils secret Gailzach Kingdom, Northern Zalfari continent; Somewhere in the level-300 wild zone, Jung-Woo (One) was riding on the broomstick, searching for something. After searching for an hour without any results, he sent a message to someone. One: Are you sure about its authenticity of the news? Gamer Bot: Yes. Hundred percent I personally witnessed the special beast with dual attributes. One: I''m not asking about the beast. I''m asking whether that so-called hidden realm exists in every kingdom. Gamer Bot: Of course. It was around the dungeon portal. I''m surprised that you still haven''t found it. One: I''ve almost searched every corner of the level-300 wild zone. Gamer Bot: Did you search the dungeon cave? One: Yes. It isn''t there. Gamer Bot: Give me a second. After a while, he replied with another message. Gamer Bot: My informer is asking for 100 gold coins as a payment to tell the exact spot. Is it okay with you? One: Alright As Jung-woo sent him the money, his friend kept 90 gold coins for himself and gave the remaining 10 gold coins to his informer to get further information. Gamer Bot: Ever heard of the Gaming Sense channel? One: Nope Gamer Bot: Open GoLive and search for it. It belongs to Crimson Sun. He uploads videos of his adventures. There, you can find the level-200 hidden realm too You can see the exact spot there. "Crimson Sun?" Jung-woo then remembered the article where he read Time Traveler treats Crimson Sun as his rival while Crimson Sun treats him as his rival. They are in a triangle rivalry. Jung-woo immediately opened the website to confirm it. After watching it, he was perplexed about something. "The entrance" He realized the entrance was right in the cave, all along. He almost cursed his friend to take advantage of the situation but considering how he''s been helpful from the start, Jung-woo put aside the matter and started to set out towards the dungeon cave. However, right then, the level-200 legendary+ grade ring that he acquired from the royal treasury started to glow. *Ding! Damian has been detected nearby. "Hmm?" Jung-woo stopped flying and read the notification. "Damian? What is that?" He didn''t know the meaning behind the notification. He wondered whether it is some kind of treasure but then, threw the thought away. Whatever it is, he decided to deal with it, once he finished exploring the hidden realm and excavate all the resources that present in it. After watching Bran''s hidden realm''s adventure video, his interest only grew further As he continued to fly away, the ring glowed for a minute before it became normal. A few hours later, as the full moon in the sky, illuminating the entire world with its light, in the streets of the capital city, more than ten thousand soldiers were seen carrying storage pouches, instead of weapons. Meanwhile, Jungwoo was leading the army with a blue-colored cat on his shoulders. He was grinning ear to ear after cleaning up both of the hidden realms from Gailzach and Eiron''s wild zones. The four hidden realms gave him a tremendous amount of resources like flame crystals, ice crystals, different types of medicinal plants, fragments of light stone, hundreds of equipment, etc Out of them, the biggest profit is the Sun and Moon cat. At first, he wanted to kill the cat to get equipment. He even killed the first one. However, upon discovering the second one in the hidden realm at Eiron province, Jungwoo decided to capture it, instead. Due to his lower level, it cost him 6 legendary grade pet scrolls before he successfully turned it into his battle companion. After storing them down at the royal treasury, Jungwoo smiled, "today seems like a good day." *Ding! You received a private message from player Gamer Bot. At first, he wasn''t much interested and casually opened the message. Gamer Bot: I have some new information about Time Traveler As expected, any mentioning of Time Traveler will make him curious about it. His eyes widened in surprise the moment he read the next message. "Time Traveler is the squanderer? He already captured the remaining two kingdoms, this quick? If I underestimate his strength, it''s quite possible to some extent but he was also the mysterious expert Lupin? How is that possible?" *** Reverie city, Reverie Province, Searvale kingdom; In the streets of the former capital city of the Reverie kingdom, a man and woman are walking together, wearing robes over their clothes, covering their head with a hood and a blank mask to hide their faces. While the man was walking upright, the woman seemed tense and grabbed his arms tightly while walking closely with him. Since it was normal for the people like them, no one paid attention to their odd behavior. After a while, both of them reached a seemingly ordinary-looking inn. Paying the fee for a month in advance, both of them went upstairs. "Princess, you will be safe here." The man spoke after reaching the room. "Thank you, Crimson Sun" The lady replied before she took out her disguise. After managing to escape from the Elven guards, Sheryl hid in one of the towns at Uflenor for a while before she sent a letter to Bran via a low-level player. Bran immediately met with her and brought her to the Reverie city, where the influence of Elves is rather low. Due to having fewer amounts of soldiers, the Elves of Searvale had no choice but to appoint the second prince as the Governor of the Province after making him pledge loyalty to the kingdom thereby relinquishing his rights to the throne. As for the generals who are with him, some of them were sent to Uflenor while the others were kept at Searvale to instruct their soldiers. With the second prince as the current governor here, Bran thought it is the best place to hide her. After all, the best place to hide is in plain sight. "What''s your plan, Princess?" Bran asked her. Taking the Imperial sword out of nowhere, she replied, "After my father died, the sword was passed onto me. I still have the right to reclaim the throne. However, I don''t have enough army to face them." "Hmm" Bran fell into thoughts for a while. After thinking thoroughly, he said, "Give me six months, no three months of time. I''ll be able to develop enough soldiers to not only defend the kingdom but also become strong enough to protect you." She looked at him sentimentally as tears welled up in her eyes. "Thank you" The princess lunged at him and hugged him tightly while crying. *Ding! Favorability with Sheryl reached 100. *Ding! Favorability turned into affection. Bran was taken aback by her action. Remembering his real-life girlfriend, he felt guilty for some reason *** Capital city, Llyne kingdom; As the citizens and the soldiers were celebrating under the moonlight, Wil, on the other hand, silently returned to the imperial palace while summoning the ministers to the court to make an important announcement. Wil waited for everyone while continuing to sit on the throne. He looked like doesn''t care about formalities right now. One by one, they arrived at the courtroom. Some have the look of fear while others have the look of happiness. Chapter 323: Three capital cities In the imperial palace of the Llyne kingdom, every important official is summoned to the courtroom while the citizens are celebrating outside. The ministers who stood with Rikilda for various reasons started to worry about their life. "As you all probably know by now, I defeated Rikilda Llyne and claimed my rightful position. I annihilated the Zuweth''s forces and took control of Zuweth and Evelon, thereby, expanding the kingdom to three times bigger than before." "Long live the King" "Long live the King" "Long live the King" The ministers cheered him for a while before he raised his hand as a gesture to stop it. Whether they were on the side of Rikilda or whether they are on the side of Wil, everyone was happy about one thing. It is that monarchy still hasn''t been dead in the kingdom. "Now, I summoned all of you here to announce a few important things." The courtroom fell silent and everyone just stared at Wil, waiting for his announcements. They also decided to agree with him to show their loyalty. Wil continued, "Lord Raziel said to me that my formal coronation will be held tomorrow. All of you must have already gotten the information about it by now." Everyone nodded. "The official coronation will not be held, tomorrow. So, don''t make preparations for it." Wil''s decision surprised the ministers, even including Raziel. "Your Majesty, official coronation isn''t just a simple ceremony. It will be done so that every citizen of the kingdom will be assured that they had someone who will look after them." While the ministers stayed quiet about it, Raziel, on the other hand, immediately objected to his decision. In response, Wil said, "I''m not saying that the ceremony will not be held forever. It will be postponed for a week. And in these few days, I will also be absent to deal with far more important things. So, there will be no courtroom sessions." Raziel stared at him for a while, searching his past. He then saw the girl that was summoned by the Zuweth''s king only for her to be imprisoned by Wil. Looking at her fiery red eyes and the horns on her head, featuring similar traits to that of Averil, Raziel immediately understood the matter. "Fine. The ceremony will be held, next week." Wil continued, "General Gerrad, please step forward." "Your Majesty." The General who was standing on the side walked forward and stood in the middle of the courtroom. "When we lost our King Mirella, when we lost our Llyne, you were the one who believed in me and followed me. You proved your loyalty many times while doing every task I gave you without asking any question in return. I, Time Traveler, 633rd King of the kingdom of Llyne, hereby appoint you as the Supreme Commander of the army." "Thank you, Your Majesty," Gerrad bowed to him. As soon as he appointed the Supreme Commander, a seat appeared in the courtroom. "Regarding the military, I''m also adding two ranks to the system. One is the Supreme General and the other is the Commander." Although some got an idea what they might be, as soon as they the names, most of the ministers didn''t understand what their king was trying to say. Before anyone questions it, Wil explained, "We are currently in temporary peacetime. But, the situation won''t stay long like this. Soon, we will be embroiled in a war with several powerful kingdoms from all over the world. To protect ourselves, I intend to focus on improving our military strength during the next month. As for the defense budget, we will talk about it, after I return. Anyway, let me explain about these two positions in the army. Supreme Generals are considered a higher position than Generals. Each one can command five generals and their army. The number of positions isn''t limited. As the number of our Generals increases, they too increase. They will be appointed by Supreme Commander." Since it''s a matter with the military, the ministers didn''t think too much about it. However, General Gerrad was taken aback in surprise. He realized that being a Supreme Commander is now a far higher position than before. Once again, he kneeled on his one knee and bowed to thank Wil. Wil continued, "As for the Commander, they will command, all the soldiers under one province. Only Supreme Commander stands above them. As for their appointment, I and Lord Raziel will take care of it. For now, three positions are available. After one month, all of these positions will be fulfilled. So, Supreme Commander Gerrad, make sure to pass it to the soldiers. Just because we have won the war doesn''t mean they should slack off. And one more thing. The kingdom will be put under the control of the military until I return. As the Supreme Commander, I hope you would manage your duties very well" "I won''t disappoint you, Your Majesty." Continuing to kneel, Gerrad spoke in a firm tone. At the same time, he felt warm in his heart. Until a while ago, even though he was a general, his status is usually lower among the peers because of his background as a commoner. But now, he''s become the third strongest person in the kingdom in authority. His loyalty towards Wil rose further. Sending him back to his seat, Wil then looked at everyone, "now the matters with the military are over, we should talk about something else The capital city." "Capital city?" They wondered whether the king intends to expand the capital city. With the expansion of the kingdom, the capital city should also become bigger. However, Wil made an unexpected decision to take them by surprise. "I intend to create two more capital cities for the kingdom. Llyne city will stay as the headquarters as well as the Legislative capital city where all the decisions are made. As for the executive and judicial capital cities, I will tell you about it, later." It wasn''t that Wil wants to keep this in suspense. It''s just that he doesn''t want to make haste decisions on important things like these. Wil felt that he needed to consult Silver about it. After all, Silver knows how to run an organization. And just like he expected, a look of surprise appeared on everyone''s faces. Even in the historical records, there''s been never mentioned of two capital cities for a kingdom. They didn''t know what''s going on in Wil''s mind. They didn''t know that Wil took this decision because he doesn''t want to bear all the weight alone. He wanted absolute power but at the same time, doesn''t want the responsibility that comes with it. He knew that, as a king, he ought to be present at the assembly, every single day. Wil doesn''t want to sit on the throne for several hours to deal with the problems of the kingdom as if he was going for a 9-5 office job In this way, he can just make whatever decision he has in mind, and let the executive and judicial branches take care of the rest. As the ministers stayed silent, he further continued, "Oh and also, for now, everyone can keep their positions. However, in the meantime, I order Supreme Commander Gerrad to form an investigation department to investigate the accounts of the nobles." Everyone''s face became pale as Wil''s voice became louder, "all of you must cooperate in the investigation. As long as you admit your crimes, the punishment will be waived. However, it will also determine your posts. That''s all I have to say today" Chapter 324: Mass Expulsion Finishing his announcement, Will dismissed everyone from the courtroom, and then, sent a text in the guild channel, in response to congratulations. Time Traveler: Good job everyone. Now that we captured three kingdoms, our next aim to form an Empire. However, there''s still time for that. All of you can take it easy and relax until the rest phase. Looking at another series of praises, Wil shook his head with a smile and closed the chat tab, and left the courtroom. Accompanied by a couple of soldiers, he started to walk towards the King''s room. Even before, he went there a couple of times, so, he didn''t find any difficulty in finding the room. The two Royal knights standing outside of the room greeted him with a bow. As Wil responded with a plain nod, they opened the door for him. *Ding! You entered a no combat zone. *Ding! You entered King''s chamber. You receive exp buff *Ding! Your level is detected between 201 and 300. You receive 2000 EXP per second. *Ding! You reached the maximum level. Please complete the inheritance quest and increase your limit. Wil sat on the bed, opening the forums. As expected, his battle video against the Zuweth went viral. Within a few hours, the view count had already surpassed 5 million and is still rising. "That''s great" Wil didn''t care whether others would profit by uploading his video without permission. He was actually more thankful to that user to spread the news like this way. He clicked on the video. "What!" Wil was taken aback to see the video was taken from a top angle which isn''t possible as flying is prohibited within the city. "Helicam?" Wil fell into deep thoughts. "I don''t think Journalist job is added officially to the non-combat profession list, at this point in the timeline. It should be atleast a year away unless someone managed to find the inheritance and then, decided not to unlock it. Either that or, a guardian beast is holding a camera and shooting it from the skies. Wait a second" Something clicked in his mind, and Wil dawned in the realization He immediately threw the useless thoughts away and nodded to himself, "I see. Now I get it. The flight ring. Someone must have acquired the flight ring. Other than the drones, Helicams and the guardian beast, it is the only thing that can restrict the city rules." Putting aside the theories, he continued to watch the video. "Damn I look cool." Watching himself, saying those dialogues to a kneeling king and the reaction of the others who are standing behind him, Wil felt satisfied. Like Silver suggested earlier, he decided to celebrate this success, but not alone. He thought of including everyone available that followed his orders. After finishing the video, he then went to the comment section to see the reaction of the outsiders. "Hmm?" Immediately a deep frown appeared on his face. It didn''t go as he expected. Back then, when he saw how thousands of players cheered for him while he was claiming his throne, Wil thought everything will be set. And by killing the Zuweth king, in front of everyone, he then thought everyone will develop fear. He expected that he would be treated as a villain by the people but didn''t expect that he was completely being treated as someone trash, heartless demon, devil king, loser, a spoiled rich brat, etc... There are thousands of keyboard warriors who were commenting with all kinds of insults. Some of them are even directly challenging him, a face-to-face duel. "These damn pricks" Wil''s anger rose abruptly and he immediately texted Aster to send him the list of all the names that were recorded in the death note, the right way. Originally, he wanted to do it later as he was in a celebrative mood but now, looking at the comments, Wil decided to start the mass expulsion right away. It took more than 30 minutes just to send the names to him as each message was restricted to only 200 words. Looking at the series of names, he mumbled, "There must be atleast ten-twenty thousand of them. Never matter" Wil stepped down from the bed and returned to the empty courtroom, making the guards, puzzled. He then walked towards the throne to sit on it, so that he can proceed with his plans. This is one of the disadvantages of being a ruler. Like the Mayor''s office, the King''s throne is the place where the King can take decisions that can impact all over the kingdom. Any other place, all he can do is to order someone. As for whether that happens or not, it depends on favorability. If the NPC is a loyal one like Gerrad or Remont, it will be done immediately, or else, they will only make excuses to drag it for days. It''s not only the NPCs, if Wil orders a player while sitting on the throne, then, a player that was summoned to the courtroom has no choice but to follow or face the punishment by the system. However, if Wil was elsewhere, then, a player can choose not to follow it. Of course, they will still face the consequences of offending the king. "Open, Properties list," Wil spoke to himself while sitting on the throne. Clicking on Llyne kingdom, he scrolls down until he sees the Blacklist option which was usually grey when he sits at any other place. Wil didn''t hesitate to click on it. *Individual* *Guild* *Native* He first clicked on Guild before he deals with the individuals. *Ding! Please select, readout, or write the name of the guild that you wish to blacklist from the Kingdom of Llyne. "Today, the world will know how much of a devil king I am." *** Scarlet Apartments, Leafway city; Wil stepped outside of the capsule with a huge smile on his face. After expelling 27 thousand individual players and another 92 thousand from the guilds like Dreamwalkers and their allies, he felt quite satisfied. He no longer cared about the backlash that comes from this action. Wil just wanted to express his stance on the matter. If those keyboard warriors don''t understand his warning, then, it''s their loss After having a shower and dinner, Wil then called Aster to invite the employees of SGC that participated in the battle for the next day''s dinner treat. He wanted to celebrate his success with them. Although he wanted to invite everyone, since the HQ contains more than a hundred gamers, he restricted only to a few of them. Aside from them, he only included Long Jing, who used to be Lu Heibei''s secretary but now, one of the three directors of Scarlet Gaming Corp. "Okay done" Wil climbed up from his bed and proceed to sleep. Suddenly, he remembered something and immediately woke up to call someone. The next day; Wil didn''t log in, all day. He just lay on the sofa and watched the news or TV series. It''s not that there''s nothing for him to do inside the game. It''s just that he doesn''t want to disturb his mood by logging in. After all, he can atleast expect a certain amount of backlash. He doesn''t want to go on another mass expulsion. Chapter 325: Wils treat part-1 Hours passed away; *Ring*Ring* "Yes, Aster" Wil asked how''s the reservation went. "Just like you wished, I''ve managed to reserve a popular BBQ restaurant until the morning. It''s called BBQ Jeong. Located in the downtown, 16 kilometers away from here." Aster reported him with the good news. Wil then asked, "what about our employees?" "I relayed the news. They said they will come to the place. It is only a kilometer away from our office, either way. So, by the time we arrive at the place, everyone will be here." "Good." Wil nodded to himself in satisfaction. He then asked his whereabouts. As Aster replied that he just left his house, Wil called him to the apartment to leave together. He then dialed another number. "Hello?" A sweet voice was heard from the other side. However, it felt a bit different. "Ms. Jiwon?" Wil asked whether it was her who lifted the phone. "Mr. Ravens, sister is busy, helping out mom with the dishes." Her twin sister replied. "Oh! So, it''s Ms. Hyunjoo. I wondered what''s wrong with your voice Anyway, are the two of you free, this evening? I''m organizing a dinner party. Employees of our company will also be there." Wil didn''t explain the matter completely and just said they can return home before midnight. In response, she replied that she will ask her sister and then, ask their father''s permission. If it is Hyori, he would have said that he will take the permission personally from their dad but since he wasn''t that much acquainted with her, Wil just said Okay and disconnected the call. 30 minutes later, he received a call from the same number. This time, it was Jiwon. Unlike Hyori who was cold and Hyunjoo who was too reserved, Jiwon is someone who has an easygoing personality. She didn''t even hesitate to request him to take to their father about it. Wil didn''t ask him directly as he thought it would inappropriate. After all, their ages weren''t that apart. So, he let Aster ask him about it and made him promise to their father about the protection of the girls. Since Aster worked as the manager of the Apartments for the past five years, Wil thought their father would trust Aster more than him. And as he expected, their father agreed on the condition that they have to return before 11 p.m. After informing Jiwon, Wil then called another number. He felt that this is the time to hold his promise to a certain someone. "Hello" The other side picked up while heavily breathing. Of course, Wil didn''t misunderstand the situation as he further heard the roar and the sounds of metal collisions. "Mr. Chu, are you in the game?" He asked him. "Yes. A guild hired me for clearing out a legendary grade dungeon of level-250." Min (Death King) answered honestly without hiding anything. "When I hired you, I promised that I will give you the freedom to continue being a mercenary. However, I hope you won''t help out the enemies of our guild." Wil calmly reminded him of their agreement. "Of course, I know that much, at least. Anyway, what did you call me, for?" He asked to come to the point directly. "You must have known about the news of Time Traveler acquiring three kingdoms in a row," Wil spoke about it as if it has nothing to do with him. "Yes, so?" "I''m organizing a party for the success, this evening. Some of the top guild members are also arriving. You are invited." However, Min rejected it immediately saying that he was busy. Wil at least expected for him to ask whether Time Traveler is also coming or not. But, his invitation was rejected flatly. Wil didn''t give up and took out his trump card as he had planned before, "Jiwon was also invited." "Eh?" Min was taken aback. "Jiwon. You mean, Lee Jiwon? She''s coming to the party?" He asked in a hurried tone. "Of course. If you want to miss this chance, then, don''t blame me, later." Wil quickly disconnected the call after sending him the address and the time. If he won''t willing to come, even after that, Wil wouldn''t care about it the next time. Sure, he recognized his potential but that doesn''t mean Wil is desperate for Min''s help that he needs to put up with his behavior. Half an hour later, Aster arrived at the apartment, and later, with the two girls joining, the five of them set out to the restaurant. As usual, the bodyguards followed them from behind. But unknown to them, a person in a suit was watching the scene from a rooftop of the same apartment building that Wil lives in. He was wearing a similar suit and shades as the bodyguards. This suspicious bodyguard then called someone and reported the scene he was watching. "Who are those twins? Are they close with Wil?" The other person asked him. "Not really, Ma''am. According to the rumors, I heard the young master was close to their eldest sister." He replied what he gathered so far. The woman from the other side then asked, "Two days ago, you reported about a girl who was accompanied by Wil, all the way to Wular city. Is she the same girl?" "Yes, Ma''am." The bodyguard confirmed it. "So, Wil not only helps this friend to Wular and now, give a treat to her younger sisters. Hmm" The woman mumbled to herself and then, gave an order, "Ethan, I want all the details of the girl. And also, I need confirmation about their exact relationship. Oh! And tell Silver to increase the guards around Wil. They are nowhere enough." "Yes, Ma''am." After disconnecting the phone, the woman sighed as she looked at the city from the 24th floor''s balcony, "Phil, you promised that you''ll take care of our son You incompetent fool. Why promise when you don''t even have the ability to keep it from the start. Perhaps, you knew that if I knew about your injury, I would have taken my son away with me. Had I done that, he would be brought up in a safe environment and today, there won''t be any threat to his life" She let out a deep sigh once again and returned to the house. There she saw her kids were playing some racing game on play station. She took a deep breath and walked towards them. *** At the restaurant, the gamers that were invited were waiting for their boss. As Wil was late due to the traffic, he told them to start without him and will join them in the middle. Long Jing who received the orders from Silver, relayed the same to everyone. If it were the employees of the Scarlet group, they would have insisted to wait until their young master arrives. However, they were just young gamers who didn''t even see Wil, for once. The only exceptions are Elyssa and a few others who saw him briefly when he came to the headquarters after his father''s death. "Today, I''m gonna confirm with our young boss whether he''s none other than Time Traveler." As the girls sat together and chatting about Time Traveler, Xia Fu, who is an Elite Archer in the guild, voiced her opinion. "Eh?" Maybe, her voice was too loud, even the boys stopped talking and turned their heads. Chapter 326: Wils treat part-2 As A-squad Elite, Xia Fu claimed that she was going to ask Wil regarding his identity, B-squad''s leader, Elyssa, quickly objected. "Miss Xia Don''t cause trouble. You keep saying that Mr. Ravens is the one behind Time Traveler without any proof. What if he gets angry. You won''t be the only one to bear the brunt." Elyssa got annoyed with this girl who has high self-esteem and at the same time, look down on the B-squad and lower grade teams. "Hmpf looks like you are watching too many dramas these days." Xia Fu snorted, "this is why you are still in B-squad." "You" Elyssa stopped eating and clenched the chopsticks. Xia Fu continued, "Not all rich young masters are arrogant and narrowminded in reality. Moreover, I have seen his Archery skills with my own eyes. I even have witnesses." Turning her head towards the male section where the guys were watching the both of them. "Brother Shen, Brother Jin the two of you are with me, back when the chairman visited the headquarters." Two months ago; Scarlet Group Headquarters, Ares City; At an Archery training room, Xia Fu and the other two trainees, along with their trainer stopped their activity and watched Wil, who seemed to be in agony as he fired the arrows at a rapid pace. Every time he drew the bow and release the arrow, the sound made by the string struck her heart. Adding his handsome looks to his skill, unknown to her, this genius archer was drawn towards him. She kept on watching him until Wil injured his hand while breaking the string with raw force. As he asked everyone to leave him alone to gather his thoughts, everyone else exited the training room. She then asked her trainer, "what happened to him?" In place of her trainer, Maria, an executive director at the Headquarters replied, "someone closed to him has died." Xia Fu became curious, "close? His friend? girlfriend?" Maria shook her head and said, "his father. And yet, he''s here to play the game so that he can finish the tournament." She looked at the three of them, "Not because he doesn''t care about his father''s death or something. That''s how much the young master was determined to establish supremacy in War Online and he expects the same level of seriousness from you. For the company, our priority is always the happiness of the young master. If you want to do a half-hearted job thinking that you were just playing a game, then, you might have to think about your career once again." The three of them firmly nodded in response. Present; While Xia Fu and Elyssa were in a heated argument, suddenly, Long Jing stood up and clapped to get attention from everyone before announcing the arrival of Wil and the others. By the time Wil entered the restaurant, he saw everyone is just silently eating by themselves. On spotting him, all of them stood up silently. They saw Wil was accompanied by strikingly beautiful twins who attracted the attention of everyone. While the male gamers are appreciating their beauty, a few female gamers misunderstood that the twins were escorts and felt disgusted. For good or for worse, Elyssa is one of them. She immediately developed a bad impression of him. Aside from those two, there are two more people who are obviously in their late thirties. While one of them is unfamiliar to everyone, the other was familiar to almost everyone. Meanwhile, Long Jing welcomed Wil. Even though it''s her first time meeting him, as a director, she, atleast knew his face. "Mr. Chairman, thank you for inviting us" She put forth her hand forward for a handshake while keeping a smile on her face. Accepting the handshake, Wil interrupted her, "pleasure is mine, Director Long. By the way, is there something wrong?" "Eh?" She was taken aback. "What do you mean?" Wil pointed his finger towards the people who stood up silently. "No one seems to be enjoying the treat. Perhaps, they don''t like BBQ places?" "Ah, it''s not like that" She quickly waved her hands, "it''s just that it was too noisy earlier." Wil immediately understood the situation and looked at everyone, "hello. Thank you for accepting my invitation. You can say, yesterday, our company made its first stamp in War Online." *Clap*Clap*Clap* Everyone clapped for a while. Wil continued, "Too bad that Time Traveler isn''t with us now. However, today, another top expert of the guild is going to join us, shortly. Before that, let me introduce my friends. This is Silver. He is a director of SGC and also the current guild leader of Silvershapers." Wil then pointed to the twins, "this is Lee Hyunjoo and she''s Lee Jiwon. They are my friend and we kinda live in the same neighborhood. They don''t play War Online, by the way, so, don''t talk them about gaming stuff." He then looked at Long Jing, "Director Long, they are still 17. So, alcohol is prohibited for them. I trust you will make sure they don''t touch the alcohol." Long Jing nodded with a smile while Jiwon''s face darkened. After all, she likes to moderately drink with her friends, although secretly. Only did the female gamers realized that they misunderstood Wil. They further felt that this young boss of theirs doesn''t seem like the other typical young masters. Elyssa felt apologetic towards Wil. "And I guess most of you have recognized him." Wil then, pointed at Aster, "He is Shadow Blade, the Vice guild leader of Vulture." He then looked at both of them and gestured with the hand to join the ladies section as it would be inappropriate for them to tag with him, now that he saw there''s a gender separation. While Hyunjoo felt nervous and stood behind Jiwon, the latter dragged her towards the ladies and sit between them. Meanwhile, he and the other two joined the men''s table. They cleared the space to make sure the three of them get to sit in the middle. Soon, the meat and a lot of side dishes along with the restaurant''s handmade special liquor were served at the table. However, to the restaurant staff''s disappointment, Wil didn''t even touch it. Silver wondered whether Wil inherited his father''s little drinking capacity. As someone who was very close with Philip, he knew that the Mafia lord will be down with just one peg. *** Judson and Berley General Hospital, Arlington city, Eastern Continent; At a general ward, a man was lying on the bed without any consciousness. Half of his face and several of his body parts had burn scars. Meanwhile, a nurse stopped before the bed. As usual, she changed the feeding tube and saline. Right then, he suddenly opened his eyes, startling the nurse. An hour later; A man and a woman in casual clothes arrived at the hospital. "I don''t understand why the higher-ups are making a fuss about this guy. Even if he is a diamond level, it doesn''t make sense that both of us are deployed for his safety." The woman complained as both of them stepped inside the hospital. "I mean, this is our home turf. Who would be daring to abduct him without us knowing" Chapter 327: Wils treat part-3 BBQ Jeong restaurant, Leafway city; "Young master, is the food to your liking?" Silver asked him as Wil was simultaneously grilling the meat while eating. "Yeah, the meat quality is quite good." Wil was satisfied with the taste. He liked the eastern style BBQ that has a lot of side dishes. "Young master, give those tongs to me. I''ll grill it for you." As Aster tried to take them from Wil''s hands, Wil rejected his help. He didn''t let Aster or Silver do it as for him, it was another joyful experience. "By the way, where is that guy?" Remembering that Min still hasn''t arrived, Wil asked Aster to call him. Aster made a call and then, reported to Wil, "He seems to be stuck in traffic. Might be late by another 30 minutes." Wil shook his head with a sigh. Thinking that he already did his part of keeping up with the promise, he shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat. Meanwhile, at the far end of the girls'' table, Xia Fu and Elyssa continue to bicker in low tones. Because the restaurant is quite noisy, their argument stayed between themselves. "Well, technically, half of those records don''t count. You had the help of Rock Fist and Death King on multiple occasions." Elyssa was arguing about the dungeon records. She was pointing out that they can''t add those records to their data as two experts were also on the team. "Well, doesn''t your team also take the help of others? If we count only B-squad members, then, you would have to drop 90% of your dungeon records." Xia Fu counter-argued that Elyssa''s team isn''t that different. In her view, they were more shameless than A-squad. "We have permission from Director Long to do that." Elyssa dragged Long Jing into their argument to shut her rival''s mouth. "What about you guys? Your team always claimed that you are Elites in front of us and yet, taking the help of others without permission" "We are far lesser in number. So, we only asked them to join to fulfill the number requirement. Unlike you guys, we didn''t depend on them to clear the dungeon. Their contribution is far less in our team than when they were fighting in your team." As expected, Xia Fu doesn''t like to lose the argument either. "Blaming someone else doesn''t make you innocent." Elyssa planned to win this bout no matter what. So, to make sure she won''t argue back, she revealed the trump card. "I heard that recently, all of your team was wiped out by some mysterious experts. How many times was it? Eight times, right?" A couple of female gamers from the A-squad immediately frowned at her provocation. They were also a part of the victims that lost four levels in just a week. They felt that war saved them. For a while, those hundred mysterious experts hunted almost several elites of Vulture whether it is the hunting grounds or within the city. To her surprise, Xia Fu wasn''t a bit offended because she was never hunted down. In return, she managed to kill a couple of them. She said, "Getting hunted by them isn''t a bad thing, actually. It only explains that, in their eyes, we are the important force of the guild. By hunting down A-squad over and over again, they indirectly stated that our levels more matter to them. As for you guys and the other Scarlet guilds, they didn''t even care about it after killing once or twice." Elyssa was taken aback by her response. She felt as if she was the one who cut the branch that''s beneath her. However, as a person who wasn''t willing to admit defeat to this arrogant rival of hers, she tried to defend her allies once again by repeating the same statement. "As I have said before, blaming others will not make you innocent. Whatever their intentions towards us, doesn''t matter. What matters is that you guys made the guild lose a lot of reputation. You should be ashamed for thinking that you are worthy to get recognized by enemies" Elyssa once again tried to provoke her. And once again, she failed. Xia Fu smiled, "What a hypocrite. You are doing the same thing." "Both of you please behave properly. Did you forget that Mr. Chairman is here?" Long Jing suddenly intervened before they lost control over their tone and raise a ruckus. "I apologize, Director Long." Elyssa was quick to understand and stayed silent. On the other hand, Xia Fu suddenly changed the topic, instead of staying silent, "Mr. Chairman That''s right. I almost forgot my original objective because of her. I need to confirm with him whether he''s Time Traveler or not." Just as she about to stand up, her friend who was sitting beside her, grabbed her hand and forced her to sit, "Stop it or else, you will only embarrass yourself. Just a while ago, Mr. Ravens said that Time Traveler wasn''t able to come here. Did you forget it already?" She slowly reminded her by whispering. "I''m sure he''s lying." Xia Fu appeared stubborn. Looking at this girl sitting before her, Elyssa became so annoyed that she wanted to rip her hair apart. Forcing herself to calm down, she looked at Long Jing and said, "Director Long, please stop this crazy girl so that the atmosphere here will not be ruined." Xia Fu who heard it, quickly said, "Director Long, I still remember the day when Mr. Ravens came to the Headquarters. There, Director Maria clearly said to us that Mr. Ravens is there for the tournament. I researched about it and found that day was when the semi-finals and finals were played. Surely, he won''t be there to watch when his father passed away, right? That means Mr. Ravens must be one of the participants; Crimson Sun, Solar, Magi, and Time Traveler. Of the four of them, only Time Traveler is an archer. That''s why I''m sure of it but some fools aren''t even ready to listen to me. They were only interested in defaming me and my team." She then glanced at Elyssa, indicating that fool was referring to her. "You" As Elyssa was angered, Long Jing went to the rescue. This time, she stood on Elyssa''s side instead of being neutral. "That''s enough, Miss Xia. No matter whether your statement is true or not, you will stay silent on this matter. You are free to discuss this topic with Time Traveler if you wish but I won''t allow you to disturb Mr. Chairman." Xia Fu stuffed herself with food in disappointment. She was sad that no one is supporting her. On the other hand, Elyssa was happy that Long Jing sided with her. Meanwhile, at the middle of the girls'' table, Hyunjoo and Jiwon were surrounded by the other ladies who are curious about their Chairman''s personal life. As Hyunjoo stayed silent as much as possible, Jiwon, on the other hand, quickly mingled with others and is already started to gossip. Munching the meat, she continued to talk, "Actually, our sister and Mr. Ravens are a lot closer than we are. As for whether they are in a relationship or not, I''m not sure about it but likely Yes. I mean, who would accompany a normal friend from all the way to Wular city just because their hand is injured?" Chapter 328: Wils treat part-4 "Seriously? No wonder he was treating the two of you even though it''s company dinner." Upon hearing Jiwon''s statement, a girl joined the gossip. Another girl asked, "Do you have her picture?" Jiwon immediately took out her mobile phone and showed their group selfie where the four of them took it when they went for an outing together for the first time. In the picture, Hyori seemed to be standing next to Wil. "Oh my" The girl named Mi Nayoung gasped in surprise. "Your sister is prettier than I imagined." The girl who was sitting beside her, commented, "She easily passes as a model. I''m quite envious of her body." "Aren''t they cute together?" Jiwon asked while covering her and Hyunjoo''s images with her hand. Both of the female gamers can''t help but nod. Meanwhile, Hyunjoo tugged her clothes and said in a low tone, "Don''t talk about Hyori-unnie behind her back. She already said they were only good friends." "And you believed her?" Jiwon scoffed, "For someone who keeps tell us to not trust boys, sure travels on a plane with a handsome and rich boy of the same age, all alone." She suddenly realized that she was talking ill of her own sister in front of others. So, to save herself from embarrassment, she quickly changed her words and defended Hyori, "Well, the situation can''t be helped because of the missing flight. Due to her competitive nature, she wouldn''t miss the tournament. Either way, even if they are good friends, I highly doubt Mr. Ravens sees that way." Hyunjoo stared at her for a while, blinking silently. She doesn''t know what to say. Right then, another girl who was just listening to their talk, suddenly interrupted their discussion while snatching the mobile phone from Jiwon and looked at it closely. "Miss Quan, What are you doing?" Nayoung frowned at her behavior. Jiwon also seemed surprised as her mobile phone was suddenly taken away from her. She looked at the girl that was sitting beside Hyunjoo. Quan Rong apologized to Jiwon and then pointed to Hyori, "isn''t she Yelir? The Vice guild leader of Scarlet-A guild?" "Hmm?" Suddenly, a few others'' ears perked as they heard of her words. Meanwhile, Nayoung and Eunsoo were taken aback in surprise. "That Yelir? the goddess of Archery? You aren''t kidding, right?" Quan Rong then zoomed in the image and closely looked at it once again, "Yes, I''m sure of it." Returning the mobile phone to Jiwon, she asked, "Your sister plays War Online, right?" While Hyunjoo appeared clueless, Jiwon nodded in uncertainty, "I guess. She mentioned that she was practicing Archery in-game. Not sure if she''s the one you think about but she''s excellent in archery. She was the runner of last year''s Intercontinental Archery Championship in the high school division, you know." Upon her statement, they now confirmed that she''s really the one. Quan Rong said, "You don''t know that your sister has a lot of fans in the game, especially in the Llyne Kingdom." "Llyne kingdom?" The twin sisters titled their heads in cluelessness. Remembering Wil''s warning, she tried to explain briefly, "Err it is a place where our leader is the King. Not a title but a real monarch. It''s actually quite a big achievement." One by one, they tried to explain briefly about Time Traveler''s achievements without telling them the complicated stuff about gaming. "I didn''t know that Mr. Ravens is that awesome" Jiwon''s eyes lit up. She thought he was just lazing in the apartment without going to college or the company while playing games. Only now, she realized that this guy wasn''t wasting his time even with being born with a silver spoon. Of course, she still doesn''t know that Wil is the Chairman of Scarlet Group too. All she knows is that he owns that apartment complex and a gaming company. "Wait a second. We aren''t talking about Mr. Ravens." Nayoung realized that this girl misunderstood Time Traveler for their chairman. "Hmm? Then who?" Jiwon was confused. "Well, we don''t know his real identity but his in-game name is Time Traveler. I don''t think Mr. Ravens even play the game." Nayoung explained her before shrugging the shoulders as if she doesn''t care about Wil, "or maybe he does, we don''t know for sure." Hyunjoo who was silent, voiced her opinion, "But unnie once mentioned that Mr. Ravens is one of the most talented Archers in the world, though. Isn''t this Time Traveler also an Archer? Is it really a coincidence?" They felt silent and can''t help contemplating it as they heard her. An hour later, while everyone is still busy with their meal and busy chatting with each other, Wil, on the other hand, long finished his and was only waiting for the twin sisters to complete so that he can leave. Maybe, it''s due to the status between them or maybe, it''s because of the presence of Silver and Aster. For whatever reason, no one came forward and initiated the conversation, which kinda disappointed him a bit. As a young man who loved the freedom from childhood, he also yearned to socialize with people. Too bad that there''s always a wall between him and the others because of his father. It was because of this reason, he ran away from home. Yet, he still wasn''t able to do it, mainly because of falling in love with Sierra. Instead of socializing with other people, he pursued Sierra and started playing the game eventually going into a dark path while getting defeated by Bran over and over again. It wasn''t until he left the game after graduating did his life turned normal. He got a job, dated a couple of girls, and led a happy life of two years until he was assassinated, all of a sudden. Now that he got a second chance, Wil doesn''t want to throw away such a chance. This time, along with his revenge, he also wanted the freedom and socializing that he always desired. And yet, trouble always finds its way to him. Even though the food is delicious, Wil''s mood was no longer as great compared to an hour ago. He finally realized why eating with the girls at the Manchong street food stalls, feels way better than here. Perhaps, he shouldn''t have joined the boys'' table and sat with the twins. Maybe, it would have been better. With his head filled with such thoughts, he got angry at Min who didn''t even show up until now. "Check if the two of them are finished," Wil asked Aster to find out whether the twins are still eating. He stood up and walked towards the girls'' table. He returned quickly with a report. Upon hearing that they are finished, Wil stood up from his seat. As Silver and Aster also followed him, everyone else stopped talking and looked at them. "It''s getting late for me. I need to return. The bill is on me. So, don''t need to hesitate to order your liking. Miss Jiwon, Miss Hyunjoo let''s leave. Your parents must be waiting for you." "Yes" The both of them also stood up obediently as they don''t have a choice. Just then, a person entered the restaurant while heavily breathing. "I made it" "Mr. Ravens," he called him out. Wil and the other people turned their heads towards the entrance a saw a familiar-looking young man. Wil looked at him coldly and said, "you are too late, Mr. Chu..." Chapter 329: Iphi Draconus Wil wouldn''t have been disappointed even if Min would reject the party invitation. After all, it isn''t his love life that wasn''t on the line. However, Wil told everyone that an expert will soon arrive and with Min being late, he felt humiliated. So, he was angry at Min. So, when Min arrived right before they were leaving, Wil didn''t welcome with a smile either. "You are late, Mr. Chu." "Eh?" Min was taken aback while the twins were surprised to see him, especially Jiwon. "Min-Oppa, what are you doing here?" Before Min replied to her, Wil opened his mouth, "I invited him. He also plays the game." As his expression appeared cold, Jiwon and the others wondered whether Wil doesn''t like him or something. Meanwhile, Min said, "Faced a trouble with the vehicle on the way." Wil shrugged his shoulders, "well, it doesn''t matter. It''s late and we are leaving either way. You can go and mingle with fellow guild members." He then turned around and spoke to everyone, "This is the expert I said earlier. He was late. But anyway, let''s welcome Chu Yong-Min, or you might know by his in-game name, Death King." "Good luck." Patting his shoulder, Wil left the restaurant. Aster, Silver, and the twins also followed him, leaving behind a stupefied Min while the other gamers are murmuring amongst each other. "Dammit" Looking at Wil''s back, Xia Fu, on the other hand, was frustrated because not only she wasn''t able to verify her suspicions but also got reprimanded by her boss. "Fine, if I can''t ask Mr. Chairman, then, I''ll confirm it with the guild leader himself. But to do that, I need to get into his good books. That will only happen if I achieve something extraordinary." As a girl with an overconfident and obsessive personality, she didn''t leave the matter alone. No matter what, she was determined to find out the truth. The next day; After having a peaceful sleep, Wil logged into the game, next morning. *Welcome to War Online* A number of notifications continued to ring in his head. He quickly put them into silent mode and then looked at them. Some of them are congratulatory messages from friends while the others are from guilds that seemed to be disbanded. Wil shrugged his shoulders and cleared the notifications before sending a reply to people like Starlight, Akiko, Kiyumi, and Evie. Closing the screen, he proceeds to use the King''s medallion and teleport to the wild zone. After confirming that he was alone, he summons the Crimson Gourd before letting out the prisoner. The dragon girl once again appeared before him upon getting freed. "You" She pointed her finger as her body shook, "You are the one that imprisoned me." "Relax, I''m not an enemy." Wil tried to reassure her. "After all, we belong to the same family. I won''t harm you." However, as one would expect, the girl was angered in return. "How dare you spout such nonsense after imprisoning me in that dark cell" She quickly dashed towards him at a speed that even Wil wasn''t able to react. Claws generated from her hand as she scratched his chest. "-3,263,675" But, the result was minute damage. Only 0.01% of his HP was deducted. Even though Iphi Draconus is a mythic-grade beast, she was still a level-300 monster with 13 billion HP and 4 billion attack power. With 99% damage reduction and 700 million of defense, the outcome is obvious. "Okay, will you calm down and listen to what I have to say?" Wil asked her. The dragon girl attacked him once again, taking out 3 million HP. After attacking for ten times or so, her rage increased to the limit and she conjured a fiery red fireball in her palms. Wil was calm and collected. He didn''t move an inch from the spot and allowed the fireball to hit him. "Oh!" To his surprise, instead of causing heavy damage, it instead took away 2% of his Health every second for 10 seconds. Iphi appeared satisfied to see 20% of his life force was taken away. She no longer felt that he was invincible. Right then, Wil continued to spoke, "Heal." "Heal." "Heal." "Heal" Instantly, he was covered with golden light and every time he activated the healing skill, more than 14 billion of his HP was recovered. Within a few seconds, he was back to full health once again while stunning the girl. "You What are you" For the first time, she felt fear. Upon realizing that there''s no hope of defeating him, her rage quickly disappeared and was replaced with fear. Staring at the girl, Wil said, "No matter how much you try, you can''t defeat me. Now, you only have two options. Either answer my question or rot in that dark cell forever. But, before making the choice, let me assure you something." "Activate, Dragon mode." Wil transformed suddenly into a giant fiery red dragon and startled the girl once again. *Ding! Your attack is increased by 100% *Ding! Your defense is increased by 100% *Ding! Your movement and flying speed is increased by 100% *Ding! Your HP is increased by 200% *Ding! Elementalist''s Skills are temporarily unavailable. "You You are a full-grown dragon!" She was taken aback to see a fellow dragon before her. "How is your bloodline so pure?" Iphi was shocked not only because her capturer is a fellow clan member, but also because of his pure red scales. Of all the dragons at her home, only selected individuals of the royal family were of red dragons. Originally, every person of the royal lineage was born as a red dragon but the dragon king''s marriage with humans and elves gave birth to an impure dragon bloodline like green and silver among the royal family members. However, at the same time, it also benefited the clan. Unlike the dragons which will gain humanoid form after becoming level-300, these hybrid dragons were able to get such form right from birth while gaining their full dragon form when they become adults. Getting the impure bloodline from the runaway princess Averil, Wil was also a silver-greenish dragon, at first. Changing his race to Neo hybrid removed the impurities and let him mutate into a red dragon. The only thing that still surprised him is the availability of further mutation. He wondered what comes after when the red dragon is the ruler of Dragon Island. The answer (materials) can only be found there. This is why it is important for him to get the coordinates. *Ding! Race effect activated. Iphi Draconus turns from hostile to friendly. Attacking a friendly will turn it into hostile once again. "What do you want?" As expected, as soon as Wil revealed the dragon mode, as a fellow dragon, Iphi calmed down, despite being shocked. "I want to visit the Dragon King to give him a message from Averil." He stated his intentions of visiting Dragon Island. If a native or a player would have seen it, they would have shocked to see a beast is speaking in human language. However, for Iphi, it is nothing of a surprise as her father and grandfather can do the same. What was unexpected for her is the name of the runaway princess. "Aunt Averil?" Chapter 330: Journey to the Dragon Island part-1 "Aunt Averil?" Iphi was surprised to hear the name of a person who managed to run away from their island without noticing anyone. "Just in case I''m asking. You are talking about a greenish-silver dragon, right?" "Yes." Wil nodded his head and then explained, "Averil''s daughter adopted me as her brother. So, that makes her my foster mother in a sense. She''s the one that granted me the bloodline of a dragon. Later, by luck, I had a fortuitous encounter to increase purity. But that''s another story Anyway, you called her Aunt. That means we are also a family in a way. If not for that, I wouldn''t act this patient towards you. As for the imprisonment, you were summoned by an enemy in front of everyone. I had only two options. One is is kill you and the other is to save you by taking you as my prisoner." *Ding! Favorability with Iphi Draconus increases by 20 Maybe, because she''s a child, the little dragon girl easily believed the truth that he twisted to his convenience. Wil''s dragon race effect also helped the situation. Even though he succeeded in making her trust him, the result still turned out to be a failure. "But, I don''t know the way to Dragon Island." She said in a cute voice. "What!" Wil was stumped upon her reply. "You don''t know the way? Then, how are you supposed to return after doing your job?" "I don''t even know how I was summoned. I''m playing with my friends. All of a sudden, a mysterious seal appeared below me and the next thing I know, I''m standing on the battlefield, and then, I was in a dark prison cell." She spoke making a pitiful face as if she was being wronged. However, Wil is someone who doesn''t care about the feelings of an NPC made of data. He didn''t feel an ounce of pity for her. Instead, her explanation made Wil disappoint and let him have thoughts of killing it for equipment. Who knows, he might get lucky and get a piece of mythic-grade equipment. Not to mention, he doesn''t possess a mythic-grade pet scroll. So, he can''t turn her into his battle companion. Using the skill of Beast taming on her is also useless as she''s a mythic grade. It definitely won''t work. So, she was no use to him. Just when he was about to summon his bow, he heard her saying, "However, I heard from my mother that our home is hidden in one of the places where the north meets the south." Wil looked at her curiously, "North meets the south? What does that mean?" She shook her head innocently, "I don''t know but I can sniff out fellow dragons if they are in a five hundred kilometer vicinity. Of course, the prerequisite is that they aren''t hiding in their human form." Wil stared at her and almost about to comment whether she was a dog or something. At the last second, he swallowed his words remembering her usefulness. "Then, let''s leave right away." Wil flapped his huge dragon wings and slowly flew into the air. However, to his surprise, the dragon girl just raised her head and stared at him silently while blinking her eyes. "Hmm? What happened?" Wil asked her. "I haven''t gone through the awakening ceremony. So, I haven''t sprouted wings, yet." Wil fell silent, all of a sudden. ''Are you f**k**g kidding me What kind of a mythic grade dragon can''t even fly?'' He roared inside his head in frustration feeling that Aria is trolling with him. Wil transformed back to Angel form before descending before her. Even though he is technically the same person, Iphi became uncomfortable standing before him. She moved two steps back and showed the signs of a person in fear. Compared to his normal state, she felt the dragon transformation was friendlier. ''Oh Boy this little girl is so troublesome. Guess I have no choice'' Taking a deep breath, Wil suddenly transformed into the default state. "Eh?" Iphi''s eyes widened in surprise as she saw a never seen before weird humanoid creature with a pale face, long ears, silver demon horns, red dragon scales on its left arm and right leg, along with a dragon tail. It has a white angelic wing and a reddish demonic wing. Due to the presence of Dragon Bloodline in the Neo-Hybrid form, Iphi also felt the same kind of familiarity that she found in his dragon transformation. With his face unrecognizable, Wil didn''t feel the need to put over a blank mask. However, to cover his identity, just in case, instead of becoming another mysterious expert like Lupin, he simply changed his profession to Seer. Now, his name is displayed as Williard Ravens, instead. With a thought in his mind, he summoned the nimbus cloud before her and asked her to mount on it. Trusting him, she jumped on the cloud and bounced as a result. Sitting on the cloud, she squeezed it as she became curious. Her eyes lit up immediately. "Wah! It''s so squishy." *Ding! Favorability with Iphi Draconus increased by 5. While controlling the nimbus cloud, Wil flapped his wings and flew upwards to 3000-meter altitude to make sure no one spots them until they reach the ocean. After all, it is well known to the world that a person named Lupin had a cloud. He doesn''t want to link himself to Lupin as he intends to use that name in the future for a lot of things. *** Three days passed away in a blink of an eye; Most of the kingdoms are still in war. The expelled people spread over to different kingdoms now that the system gave a choice to them. The world forums are in a huge fire with everyone joined a campaign with the hashtag, devil king Time Traveler, started by some random teenager for fun. Tens of thousands of messages were sent to the company, requesting to ban him from the game. It gave Summersoft''s staff quite a headache. As most of the players from the other kingdoms that finished their war are too free, they too joined the campaign. More than a hundred thousand players united against Wil, threatening to dare expel them too. Most of this bunch are from the other kingdoms and have nothing to fear Wil. In response, the technical experts of the Vulture guild got busy, noting down the names and their affiliation. At the same time, his popularity also grew tremendously. An unofficial fan club has been opened by some random player from Llyne kingdom. However, she didn''t expect the members of the club will grow to fifty thousand within a day. The club continued to increase too. With Wil becoming the most followed person and at the same time most hated person in the game, he even made it to the front page of E-sports magazines. Coming to the situation of expelled guilds, the smaller guilds disappeared while the medium-level guilds not only managed to stay alive but also gained a considerable number of new members. As for Dreamwalkers, as they already started their preparations, the moment Llyne city has fallen, they were able to settle down at the kingdom of Zidor in the southern Zalfari continent where there are no huge powers. Their leader, Dream realized that now Time Traveler is too powerful. Putting his pride aside, he decided to better to run away to a farther place. At the same time, he swore that he will take his revenge. That''s the reason he chose Zidor as a place to settle where for some unknown reason, a system announcement has been made about blacklisting Wil from the kingdom. *** Xynnar Ocean, Island of Olnarius; "Your grace, these are the records" An old man respectfully handed him some papers that looked very old. Wil looked at them curiously. It contained images of humanoid dragons and full ones. The records explained the dragons'' settlement on this island for a period of five years before they set off to their destination. In these five years, some of the adult dragons married humans of this tribe and took their spouses along with them while leaving. The most catching information is of the leader of this migrant group, a white dragon. Iphi said that it might be an elder dragon. For the past three days, while flying above the ocean, Wil was looking for the traces of Dragons within the free islands. This is the seventh island that he found that has a connection with the dragons in their history. Wil then opened the map and drew an imaginary line from the starting island of Kastal to this island of Olnarius. It formed a straight line. A sudden idea emerged in his mind and he continued to draw the line. "This" his eyes widened in surprise. Chapter 331: Journey to the Dragon Island part-2 "Marsh Islands?" As Wil extended the imaginary straight line that was connected to the seven islands, it cut through the Marsh islands, more specifically, one of the islands. Looking at it, he suddenly remembered an island where the temple is located. "Is this coincidence?" He wondered while looking at the map clearly for one more time. Something told him that the entrance might be linked with the Marsh Islands. He wondered whether Averil getting imprisoned at that location was just a coincidence. Back when he ventured into the Realm of Light and provided the resources to the kingdom, Mirella told him her story. From the story mode he watched, it was clear that Raziel was the one that freed Averil from imprisonment. Then, how did she get imprisoned once again and that too, on an island which was further submerged under the ocean with a guardian? Even though the data showed that she''s a level-400 dragon, Wil knew she was a lot stronger than that, or else, how was she supposed to save Llyne from the Angel of War, Gadriel. So, Wil concluded that she''s at least a level-500 dragon and was in a weakened state. So, that would mean either she was imprisoned by an Ascended or a powerful level-500. However, all the Ascended NPCs are the guardians of their respective kingdoms. They won''t be involved much in the story and are only considered extras. Only Aerona Marten was an exception. If Averil would have caused trouble, she would either be exterminated or get imprisoned at their specific kingdoms, not somewhere in the Marsh Islands. That leaves level-500 NPCs. It isn''t also possible as only in the latest update, the levels of the kings increased from 400 to 500. That would only mean one thing. This NPC is an outsider. Wil immediately thought of a dragon race member who wanted to punish her for desertion. Since her father is a dragon king, maybe, that NPC thought she would be spared. So, he might have imprisoned her in the Marsh Islands and later submerged it to make sure no one finds her location. As one wouldn''t do that in any random place, Marsh Islands might contain a secret. When he thought of such a theory, Wil felt that he might have solved the puzzle. Suddenly, he remembered that he used the Imperial sword to let the submerged island resurface. He immediately shook his head, "Nah, I shouldn''t jump to conclusions based on this. There are a lot of mysteries concerning the Dragon princess. How about instead of going directly to the Marsh Islands, let''s search for the clues along the way? If my theory is right, then, I would find it. And there''s one more riddle to solve." Wil glanced at the little dragon girl and thought, "The place is where North meets the south. I wonder what does that means." Both of them didn''t stay on the island, much longer. Carrying Iphi on the cloud, Wil flew away amid the gazes of the natives who appeared very afraid of his appearance as well as his level. "So, where are we going, next?" asked the dragon girl with a smile on her face. She seemed to enjoy riding on the cloud. "To check my hypothesis," replied Wil as he continued to fly. He didn''t explain details when she asked further. The background story of Mirella is a bit complicated. And coupled with the girl has an intelligence of a 7-year-old, he had a doubt whether she would even understand anything even if he were to explain. In return, she would get more confused and will ask him a series of questions. During the past 3 days, as he got busy finding the traces of the dragon race while visiting several islands, the dragon girl became so curious that she asked literally about every little thing that was unfamiliar to her. "What is that tree called?" "Why are these humans black?" "Why are these humans white and yellowish?" "Why do these humans have paint on their cheeks?" "What is this costume?" "What is this pointy weapon with handle?" "Why do these humans wear such unusual outfits?" "Why do these people build houses on the trees?" Wil was almost annoyed with her curiosity but put up with it. The longer he spent with her, the more his will towards killing her after finding the island has been increased. After several hours of flying along the path instead of searching every available island, Wil finally reached a tiny island. However, there was no human settlement there. So, he logged out to take a rest for the night. Before he left, Wil absorbed the dragon girl into the gourd to make sure that she won''t disappear by the time he relogins. Who knows anything might happen. The next day morning, Wil reappeared on the island and freed Iphi once again. Although she felt displeased with the fact that she was sent to imprisonment, since Wil asked her permission to do that providing a reason that it''s for her safety, Iphi didn''t make a fuss about it. Once again, the pair continued their journey. After flying for another six hours, Wil finally found a group of small tropical islands with amazing beaches and forests, of course, human settlements. From the sky, he was able to see the houses that most resembled normal residences in the towns of the kingdoms. Wil and the cloud slowly started to descend on one of the islands. Meanwhile, on the Isle of Bordheim, which is where the majority of the inhabitants live, a couple of armored soldiers with spears in their hands were patrolling on the beach. "Brother Kahl, do we need to be equipped with this heavy armor even now? For the past week, we aren''t seeing any beast attacks and even Lord Orion said that there won''t be either." One of them complained about it. Looking at the waves, he sighed, "I want to lay on the beach and sunbathe. Huh!" He suddenly stops and stared at the sky. "What is that?" Upon spotting Wil and the dragon cloud, he pointed to the sky and showed it to the other guy. The other soldier''s eyes widened and cursed, "Sh*t. We need to alert others." Both of them immediately dashed towards the village. "What are they?" Iphi pointed to the soldiers that gathered together with their weapons. A frown appeared on Wil. "Level-200 soldiers? At this place? And their equipment doesn''t seem low-grade either. What place is this?" More than a hundred soldiers stood uniformly. Wil felt something''s not right with this island. An appearance of a housing system and an army of more than a hundred high-level NPC soldiers. Both of them suggested that this place might be a colony of some kingdom. But do colonies exist in this game? Yes, but not now. It was only after the third major update when the world will be expanded with the addition of new lands. Wil slowly landed on the ground. He dismissed the cloud as Iphi stepped onto the ground. "Who are you?" asked a soldier who was standing in the frontlines. All of them have wariness in their eyes. Clearly, they never had seen a creature that looks so weird like Wil who is in Neo hybrid form. If not for Iphi who looked mostly like a human, they would have even thought that this was a wild beast attack. "I want to meet your village head," Wil said to him. Chapter 332: Journey to the Dragon Island part-3 "So, let me get this straight. If I get the historical documents that state that these dragons once lived here, you will leave, peacefully?" Orion asked Wil in a serious tone. He never expected that one day, he would see a non-combat player with a unique profession and appearance. Looking at Wil''s appearance with Elf''s ears, dragon scales, demonic horns and wing, and finally Angelic wing, Orion wondered whether there are hidden races like hidden classes. At first, Orion even thought of him as an NPC. However, his usage of informal language without bothering about his grammar gave away his identity. Not to mention, Wil''s accent alone is enough for Orion to figure out that he''s from Western Continent. But Wil''s identity isn''t important for Orion as his attention was completely on the little girl beside him. Who could have expected that he gets to see a friendly mythic-grade dragon beast Ever since the mutations panel is introduced for the pets, Orion had suspected there might be a new grade above legendary+ grade or else, why would his friend say that mutation is available for his guardian beast. And a couple of days ago, his suspicion has been proven by Wil revealing his Leon in the battle of Llyne. Now, he was directly seeing a mythic-grade beast with his eyes. Immediately, greediness appeared all over his face as he stared at Iphi. Wil, who realized it, immediately summoned the giant anaconda, which was one of the guardian beasts that he captured. Due to its giant size, a few soldiers ended up crushed below it but didn''t die though. Meanwhile, everyone quickly moved away to stay far from it. As the native soldiers went in panic, Wil stared at him coldly and said, "know your place." Only then did Orion realize how fearsome is this player. With a level-400 legendary+ grade beast as the opponents, Orion realized that he and his men''s current strength is nowhere near enough to face them. Even if he killed this guy in one move to dismiss the giant snake, his logical senses warned him that this girl might not be simple either. Who knows how much HP and Attack strength this girl has. Not to mention, there''s no guarantee that Wil doesn''t have defending treasures on him. Orion feared that if he made a wrong move, the chances of everyone on the island ending up dying would be quite high. So, he behaved himself as escorted the both of them to his house with respect. At the same time, he was also curious about what kind of quest they are doing in this area. Upon reaching the house, keeping the snake outside the house, Wil told him about his reason for the visit. Orion fell into deep thoughts upon hearing that Wil was searching for the history of the dragons. Taking advantage of Wil''s request, Orion immediately deployed the soldiers to search for the ruins in all the islands. He also asked the natives for help. He originally had such an idea before because of coincidentally finding a treasure chest in the ocean. This was the very reason he stayed up on this island while the entire world is embroiled in wars. For the past week, he has been fishing for the treasure chests in the ocean but never thought they might be present in the islands until he heard Wil''s suggestion of ruins where the historical documents can be found. Upon realizing the possibility of ruins, Orion put forth his plan. He asked Wil for a day of time and ordered his soldiers and citizens to inform him in secret if they ever find such ruins. He also ordered them not to explore it as they might be filled with danger. One should say that this 14-year-old kid indeed became a bit mature and sly after playing the game for more than two months. *** Wular City, Eastern Continent; While Wil was busy with finding the traces of the dragon race, Hyori, on the other hand, was preparing for the competition in her own way. Her injury was completely healed but she has yet to join the practice. Several contestants who are unfamiliar with her thought that she was just here to pass time. Nevertheless, her beauty attracted several male contestants regardless of their divisions. Coupled with her being the roommate of Sakura and the center of attention whenever she enters the dining hall, several girls also expressed their envy and talked behind her back. Hyori didn''t care about their opinions. For all day, she just meditated in her room and only stepped outside during lunch or dinner. Now, the last day of the training is finished and from now onward, everyone had become rivals to each other. As usual, she woke up early in the morning and proceed with her image training in her head. "Even today? Did you forgot the date, already?" Sakura said to her while checking the conditions of her personal bows. However, Hyori didn''t give her a reply and remained silent. "I guess you really intend to give up the tournament, aren''t you?" Sakura commented after deciding to go with the compound bow over recurve and longbows. The competition will allow all kinds of bows including even a crossbow as long as there''s no optical enhancement device is installed. However, contestants very rarely use them in competitions as the public doesn''t consider crossbow users as archers. The same goes for personal bows. As long as there are no optical enhancement devices, the contestants are allowed to bring them. After choosing the bow, Sakura reminded her one last time before leaving the room for her final practice before the game. In the meantime, Hyori was replaying the last year''s finals in her mind. Those high-speed robotic machines with targets on their bodies gave her quite trouble, back then. So, instead of targets, Hyori used to change them into wild animals from War Online after finding that they increased her concentration. Now, she no longer Half an hour later, Hyori opened her eyes with a smile on her face, "Image training is successful. Now, let''s check the practical results of my training." Unlike Sakura, Hyori was only skilled with recurve bow and only brought one with her. With the bow in her hand, she stepped outside of the room and went to the training ground. There aren''t that many people left in the ground with everyone wanted to stay in the top shape. "Hmm, this girl Lee Hyori, right?" One of the mentors who was overlooking the contestants mumbled as she spotted her. Hyori made quite an impression on her during the last year''s high school division finals. She heard that this girl took rest because of a hand injury. Hyori walked towards an empty target where quivers filled with arrows are being placed on the ground. Taking one of them, she walked away 50 meters before drawing the bow. *Ting* A loud vibration erupted from the string as she released the arrow. The arrow cut through the air and strike at the dead center. "Accuracy, okay. Now, lets test the speed." Hyori didn''t stop there. She continued to fire the arrows at a rapid pace, almost releasing them instantly. "What the" The instructor was taken aback as she saw the whole Archery target is full of dozens of arrows when it''s only been a minute since she turned away. Chapter 333: Hyoris rapid fire Soccer stadium, University of Wular; As the announcement has been public, one by one, the locals started to arrive at the university to watch the competition. Several media channels are already up there and started to record. Scouts from several Archery Teams also made their way to the soccer stadium where the goalposts were removed and filled with target boards. Robots were safely placed inside and being guarded by tight security as they are the highlight of this tournament. One more specialty of this competition is that the format and rules aren''t set until the last moment. The distance of the target can vary from 40-60 meters. The diameter of the target also can vary. They can be divided into groups or they can be battled one on one. There can be knockouts with a second chance or there might be given two to three chances. Arrows can be anywhere between 50 and 100 per game. With so many variables, obviously, most of the competitors are nervous, especially, the first-timers. In reality, the organizers usually prepare 2-3 different formats and then, let the sports minister pick one of them randomly. Universities like Ares that have connections will already get the information of those formats even before the competition. So, they will have an edge over others, especially for the second round. In the waiting room, Hyori was sitting in the corner while closing her eyes. Some people who spotted her thought she was taking a nap while others thought she was probably meditating as they saw her 90-degree posture. As for some hot-blooded boys, they were just having thoughts like she was pretty, cute, etc If it was a day before, most of the girls would have probably ignored her. However, her feat of rapid firing was seen by a couple of girls who then spread it to others. In no time, more than half of the people knew about it but only a part of them believed it was the truth. The rest didn''t. After all, they weren''t on the scene and their statement is too exaggerated to believe and thought these competitors probably wanted to pressure them mentally. Meanwhile, Sakura seemed like she was high on clouds. Naturally, she was there when Hyori practiced her skills. Even though she didn''t see her shoot, Sakura still saw the arrows on the target which are placed in a uniform manner with no arrows on the ground. If it was just one target, none of them would have taken her seriously. But, five targets appeared the same. And all of it just happened in mere 8 minutes. She was excited to find Hyori''s skills improved vastly compared to the last year. After a while, staff members brought a couple of boards into the room and placed them in middle. They informed everyone that the tournament format has been decided. The people instantly swarmed around the board, girls on the right and boys on the left. Sakura immediately disturbed Hyori''s meditation and informed her about it. As a roommate and a rival, she felt that she can at least do that much. Thanking her, Hyori went to the notice board and read the format. The competition is divided into three rounds. The first round is a general shooting where the target is placed 46 meters away. They will be given 60 arrows. All they just have to shoot the target. The sixty scores will be added in the end. With 8 members per group, only the top 2 from each group will go to the next round. The rest will be eliminated. These 64 contestants will play the second round, which is shooting oscillating targets. The targets will be placed at the same distance as before. However, they oscillate like a pendulum. Of the sixty-four, only the top 8 will proceed to the next round. The third round is a well-known one. It''s the randomly moving fast-paced Robots. This is where they will be divided into two groups. The winner of each group will challenge each other in the finals. Then, the finalists will participate in all three of them, once again. The one to win at least 2 of them will be the final winner. Now, with the format and rules being set, everyone mentally prepared themselves for the first round. Meanwhile, on the outside, the large screens displayed the first round of participants and the groups they are divided into. Hyori was in Group 1 while Sakura ended up in Group 5. Gripping the bow in her hand, Hyori walked out of the door amid the good luck wishes from a few people. Sakura was one of them. As she was walking towards the exit, seven more from other waiting rooms joined her. Together, they entered the field where they saw the Archery targets were set up one by one. Everyone stood at the positions, waiting for the signal. The Technical Official reminded them that they will be given only two minutes to shoot ten arrows. And for every ten arrows, while the staff will remove them, the contestants will get a 30-second break. So, they will have 12 seconds to shoot each arrow. As he blew the whistle, the countdown started on the screen. Everyone drew their bows and shot at the target within just the first ten seconds except for one person, Hyori. She drew the bow but didn''t release the arrow while everyone else is continuously shooting. The audience wondered whether something wrong with the girl. Even the official wondered whether the girl is experiencing some issues with the bow. One minute is over and yet, Hyori stayed still. Four of them already shot the ten arrows and their scores were displayed on the screen. The highest is 81. Another twenty seconds passed, and now, except for Hyori and another boy, everyone else is done. The highest is now 86. As another ten seconds passed, Hyori smiled as she mumbled, "the wind is calm. Now, it''s a perfect time." With thirty seconds to go, she started to shoot the arrows at a rapid pace for 2-3 seconds. Each one is hitting the ten-pointer ring. At first, everyone was just amazed at her skill. However, soon, every one of their eyes widened in shock after nine arrows formed a circle just a bit away from the border and the last shot pierced the dead center, forming an art. "Wow, it''s a 100. A perfect score, ladies and gentleman." The commentator was in high spirits. "Lee Hyori from the Maple University is indeed a once in a decade genius. Look at that accuracy. Starting from the first arrow to the last, she only took nearly 25 seconds and still hit the mark with perfect accuracy. She was leading the group by 14 points." A fellow commentator joined him while the staff members are removing the arrows, "I know this girl. She''s the runner-up of the 2018 and 2019 Championships in the high school division. Interestingly, the final winner is also the same. Fujimori Sakura, the granddaughter of Fujimori Hitoshi, the strongest living Archer. We have to see how these rivals'' next match will turn out if they meet again." "I''m also excited about it. But first, let''s watch how well the second set will turn out. Will Miss Lee will show another spectacular performance?" Chapter 334: Sakuras Splitting Arrow technique "And that''s the final arrow. Once again, it hit the dead center." The Commentator screamed on top of his lungs as he watched Hyori shot the 60th arrow. "Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for Lee Hyori for displaying a spectacular performance. With perfect accuracy, this girl hailed from Leafway city opened the tournament with a perfect score of 600. It''s been eight years since anyone in the college division managed to get such a score. Huge applause for her." "Whoo" *Clap**Clap**Clap* Amid the cheers and clapping, Hyori returned to the waiting hall with her bow. Although she appeared calm on the outside, her heart is beating at a rapid pace with excitement. Even though the target is only placed 46 meters away, Hyori still never expected to see the date where she would have such a result. She felt that her hard work had paid off. Wil''s image appeared in her mind and she felt that she made the right choice on getting experience by playing War Online. Although she hadn''t been playing for long, Hyori knew that the game improved her mentality, accuracy, and concentration by a lot. "I think my limit hasn''t reached yet. After the tournament is over, I''ll polish my skills even further and get into the world championships, next year." The results not only made Hyori more motivated and hungry but also boosted her confidence in taking on Sakura. She believed that she has a chance to defeat her in the finals. As for the others, she never thought of them. Meanwhile, in one of the rooms, two times consecutive Bronze medal winner, Nam Suji was looking at the screen. Her expression was dark. She was her senior, who made it through the preliminaries to qualify for the tournament. She was also the one that was responsible for Hyori''s injury. Suji thought everything would be fine after she heard Hyori missed her flight. But she didn''t expect to find her, reaching the Wular University before time. At first, she was frustrated but when she heard the rumors of Hyori not attending practice due to the injury on her dominant arm, Suji felt elated and didn''t bother to find more trouble with her. She no longer cared about her and completely focused on her own training. However, who could have expected Hyori to not only have a perfect score but also made such a score in a beautiful way and gained many supporters. "Damn That b***h" Now, it was too late to do anything. All Suji can do is grit her teeth, curse her inside, and get on with the competition. At the same time, a smile appeared on Sakura, whose eyes are on Hyori from the start. "Challenge is on." As Hyori returned to the waiting room, many people especially boys congratulated her. Displaying courtesy of saying thanks to everyone, she took an empty seat in the corner and closed her eyes. Because of concentrating too much on the target, she felt a little bit of strain on her eyes as well as on her mind. She slowly drifted to sleep. After gaining respect for Hyori, no one dared to disturb her sleep either. "Whoo" A little more than an hour later, her sleep was suddenly disturbed by a loud exclamation from the other contestants. As she woke up from her light nap, she saw everyone''s eyes were glued to the screens. The two screens in the room were displaying only one person. Hyori stood up on her feet and walked to the crowd. Still, no one even noticed. Meanwhile, in the stadium, the crowd went crazy upon looking at the scene before her. Sakura drew the bow and looked at the nine arrows that were on top of each other. That''s right. The first arrow was shot in the center. After that, each arrow split the preceding arrow''s shaft, almost until the arrow''s head. So far, nine arrows were struck that way. Now, it''s the tenth one. With a smile on her face, she released the arrow. Like the first nine arrows, this one also split the arrow and she raised the bow. "Amazing What an amazing performance. No doubt she''s the tournament''s favorite. Clearly, this girl will become one of the strongest female Archers, no, one of the strongest Archers in history. What do you think, Mr. Wang?" The main commentator was already standing on his feet while looking at Sakura''s target. Wang Jun, the fellow commentator and also a retired Pro Archer voiced his opinion, "I completely agree with you. To split the arrows, simply having talent isn''t enough. A lot of hard work is also necessary to develop this technique. Although the distance is less than 50 meters, it''s very difficult for even the best of the best pros to perform such a feat. In my view, I think she''s ready for the world championships. It''s going to be tough for everyone, this year. Let''s hope we''ll get to see a few more amazing talents." The competition continued. By the end of the day, the first round or senior/college division was completed and the winners were announced the same day. Just as they announced, the top two of each group, a total of 64 members proceeded for round 2. The rest of the girls packed their bags to return. With the junior/high school division''s round 1 going to be conducted on the next day, Hyori and the other contestants of the senior division got a day off. Some stayed and practiced Archery or watched performances of their juniors while the others decided to enjoy by touring around the city. After all, for the past week, none of them left the university at all. Sakura leisurely toured around the university with a few admirers. Meanwhile, Hyori became busy with her image training. After seeing Sakura''s performance, she felt like she needs to polish her concentration skills further. Hyori realized that if she were to make even a single mistake in either of the following rounds, she would fall behind her. *** Scarlet Apartments, Leafway City; *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Wil yawned as he woke up slowly with his eyes closed. "Hmm Is it already 5?" He sat on the bed for a while, thinking whether to open his eyes or go back to sleep. In the end, he forced himself to step down from the bed, change his clothes, wore the shoes, and hit the gym upon realizing that he was becoming fat these days. After all, due to constant gaming and eating street food without any workout made him a little bit fat. Although he appeared fine on the outside, Wil''s perfect abs from four months ago no longer present. Since he had too much time in the game and had accomplished kingship, Wil didn''t feel the need to hurry it either. As the outdoor gym was occupied by a couple of residents, instead of joining them, Wil decided to go for a run in the park. Two hours later; He took a seat on the empty bench on the side with sweat running from head to toe. "It''s really strange. I''m running for like 90 minutes. How come I don''t feel pain in the legs, yet? Is my stamina that high in the past?" He wondered. Right then, a familiar voice disrupted his thoughts, "C''mon Rey, let me play a bit more. There''s still time for the school." "No. It''s already 7, Mia. Mom will be angry." Her older brother said to her. Wil immediately turned his head and looked towards the source and saw a pair of siblings. The older brother was trying to convince the little sister who was playing with another girl in the playground. "Mia?" Wil was stunned on the spot. Chapter 335: Journey to the Dragon Island part-4 Never in the world did Wil expect to see his sister in real life and that too at Leafway City of all the places. Moreover, he even saw them, nearby his apartments. Naturally, he was shocked. He remembered his mother''s face. As Rey was dragging Mia away to home, Wil tried to stop them when they just passed him. "Hello, Excuse me" He called out to them but they didn''t turn back, thinking it wasn''t them. Wil strode a few steps and quickly grabbed Rey''s arm, "Mr. Quilton, wait." "Eh?" Rey halted his steps and turned his head. Mia did the same and looked at Wil. "You both are Rey Quilton and Mia Quilton, aren''t you?" Wil asked them even though he recognized them as he formed a plan in his mind. "Yes, who are you?" As it''s the first time for them to see Wil, Rey asked him. At the same time, he felt Wil''s face appeared a bit familiar, although he wasn''t able to put his finger on it. Wil forced out a smile as he introduced himself, "I''m Williard. I was acquainted with Mrs. Quilton. But, what are you two doing here? Aren''t you two supposed to be at Hailey city?". "We moved here," Mia answered him in a cute voice, which brought a genuine smile to Wil''s face. "Is that so?" "Eh?" Wil suddenly felt something wrong. Upon realizing what his sister said, he looked at her in surprise, "Wait a second. Did you just say that you moved here? As in with the whole family?" Mia nodded. "Yes." Meanwhile, Rey was surprised as he glanced at Mia. He saw her staring at him curiously. He knew that Mia was shy around strangers and would take a while for her to open up. As far as he knows her, unless she likes the person, Mia would often hesitate to talk to them. Since she''s at an age where one would fall in love too quickly, Rey wondered whether she''s fallen for this guy''s handsome looks or something As a protective brother, he immediately stepped before his sister, covering her sight. Rey then looked at Wil. Once again, he felt like he saw him somewhere. But where? He wondered. Upon realizing the change in Rey''s expression and his actions, Wil didn''t continue the conversation for much longer, "Please say Hi to Mrs. Quilton. If possible, I would like to meet her. It''s been a while so Anyway, since you came to this park, I guess your family also live in the same neighborhood, we will probably meet again. See ya." Wil didn''t wait for their response and started to run towards the exit to leave the park. Looking at his back, Rey mumbled, "It''s really strange that somebody recognized us in this city. But, who is he? Where did I see him?" Suddenly, Mia tugged his shirt, bringing him back to reality. "Ah, yes, Mia Let''s go" "Rey, don''t you think his voice is familiar?" She dropped an unexpected question. "Eh? Voice? Not face?" Rey was taken aback in surprise. He didn''t expect Mia would find his voice familiar. "You met him somewhere?" He asked her. Mia shook her head, "No. But I think I heard this voice in War Online. As for whom it belongs to, I''m not sure about it." "Ah! War Online" Rey realized that he might have also seen this stranger in that virtual world. As the game is popular among the youngsters, it is quite possible for him to play too. Fifteen minutes later, both of them returned home. "Mom, we''re back." "Both of you are getting late," Scarlet said to them while preparing breakfast. "Go and fresh up quickly, Rey. Your dad already left for work. I left money on your desk. Don''t take the bus. Take taxi. And Mia, I''ll drop you at school. I received a call from your school for a parent meeting." After they got ready, everyone sat at the dining table and eat together. While munching the toast, Mia spoke, "mom, today, at the park, we met someone." "Someone?" Scarlet looked at her curiously. "Right, you know someone named Willard, mom? He seems to be around my age." Rey asked her. "Eh? Williard?" She was taken aback upon hearing his name from Rey. "How do you know him? No, I mean, you met Willard?" She asked. Rey and Mia nodded, "Yes." "He said he would like to meet you, someday." Rey conveyed Wil''s message. "Wil wants to see me?" Scarlet was once again surprised. "It seems like you know him very well," Rey commented upon seeing how his mom addressing a stranger by a shot name. Scarlet sighed in response, "It''s a bit complicated to explain. Someday, I hope everything would be alright." "Hmm?" Rey felt there''s something that his mom is hiding. However, as an understanding person, he didn''t pry into the matter further. After they were done with the breakfast, Scarlet went along with Mia to her new school to meet other parents for the first time. As for Rey, he left for Maple Academy where Silver got him admission in the final year using his connections. So, his transfer procedures were smoothly done. Meanwhile, at the Scarlet Apartments; Silver was sitting in the living room with Wil glaring at him while folding his hands to the chest. "Out with it, Silver. You knew that my mother moved to this city, didn''t you?" Silver stayed silent. Wil continued, "I know that you probably wanted us to get closer but you need to understand that I have no intentions of doing that. It doesn''t matter to me whether she moves into this city or even to this apartment building. Even if I meet her a hundred thousand times, it won''t change anything, neither the past nor my feelings. She will forever be a stranger to me. So, don''t waste your time on this. I will tell her the same. Arrange a meeting with her. I''m going back to the capsule. When she''s free and ready to meet, call me." *Welcome to War Online* Wil appeared at the guest room where he logged out. He summoned the Crimson Gourd and then freed the dragon girl. However, she turned to be sleeping soundly while munching in her sleep. As he tried to wake her up, she suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled it towards her into her mouth, and suddenly started to bite it as if it was some food. "-1" "-1" "-1" "This girl" Wil was ticked off and knocked her head with a punch. Unless he''s in Dragon mode, his damage is also equal to the physical attack generated by his strength attribute, it didn''t do any damage. However, it did wake up from her sleep. "Hmm?" Rubbing her eyes, as she woke up from sleep, she immediately realized the situation and instantly backed away. "I''m sorry" "Forget it," Wil waved his hands as he wiped off her saliva with the robe. "Are you hungry?" "Not really." She mumbled. Right then, her stomach rumbled. "It''s not me" She hurriedly said it while blushing. Looking at the little girl, Wil can''t help but find her cute, and let out a smile. Meanwhile, at one of the inhabited islands nearby, Orion was in some kind of underground ruins. There are two dragon statues that were still intact. Both of the dragon heads twirled around each other and below them, there''s a stone slab with some writings. However, his attention was completely captured by the treasure chest behind it. Orion proceeds to open the ancient treasure chest while feeling excited. *Creak* As he opened it, he found a level-300 epic grade sword. "Not bad. It will fetch a good price." After placing it into inventory, Orion looked at the stone tablet and the dragon statues. "Is this the thing that Mr. Williard Ravens and that mythic grade dragon girl are looking for? Hmm? Something''s written on it." As he found some characters on the stone tablet, he proceeds to clear the dust. "What is this?" Orion found the sentence written on it was in some kind of unfamiliar language. He doesn''t know the meaning behind it. A couple of hours later; Wil, Iphi, and Orion were standing in front of the stone tablet. "This is the language of our dragons," Iphi exclaimed and then, read the words, "Our Utopia lies at the place where the Human of the north, Angels of the west, Elves of the east, drew the blood of the demons of the south." Chapter 336: Wil wants to live with his mother? Scarlet Apartments, Sartor Street; Scarlet was standing before the apartments while staring at a certain apartment building from the outside. "Ma''am?" Silver who was escorting her turned around and called out as he realized she stopped walking. "Do you think he''ll see me?" She asked in a worried tone. Unlike her usual demeanor, she appeared quite nervous about this meeting. The last time, she wanted to meet him, she was abducted two times, no three times if it includes her sneaking into the Viper gang. It caused her son a lot of trouble. "Sure, Ma''am. Like Lord Philip, Young Master never breaks his promises." Silver assured her that everything will be fine. Even after hearing Wil''s resolve, Silver was still adamant about bringing them together. After all, she''s the only family Wil has left. Taking a deep breath, Scarlet followed him to the C-Block. Going into the tenth floor, Silver opened the door with his master key. He let her inside. As she took a seat in the living room, Silver scurried to the capsule and then, made a call. *** Meanwhile, in the virtual world of War Online, the dragon girl, Wil, and Orion were standing before the stone tablet that stated the destination the dragons are searching for. "Humans of the north, Elves of the east, Angels of the west, and Demons of the south?" Wil wondered what that might mean. He then remembered Iphi saying that the dragon island is located where North meets south. Are these two riddles connected Or were they stating the same thing? Just then, Iphi spoke, "I remember something that my father used to read me a bedtime story. Around ten million years ago, there used to be two gigantic continents. The north and the south. The Calacus Empire was used to be ruled by humans while the Ice continent was used to be inhabited by demons that were sent by the Demon Empress Lilith of the Netherworld. The power-hungry demons used to invade the northern continent. Back then, Angels who hailed from the Celestial Empire of Heaven acted as the protectors and kept the demons at bay. After thousands of years, the population of hybrid angels grew and the Emperor allotted a large amount of fertile land in the west as a way of appreciation. The Angels then formed their kingdom. With Elves forming their own Empire, the next human emperors begin to grow anxious. But, to maintain peace in the continent, they put up with it until one Emperor decided to wage a war against the Elves and reclaim the lands due to the overpopulation of the humans. Not only the human Emperor fought against the Elves, he even demanded the Angels to return his lands. He outright disrespected them as their servants. The peace-loving Angels had enough of the greediness of them humans and decided to return to heaven. Following the Angels'' departure, the demons invaded the continent while taking advantage of the war between Humans and Elves. The Elves retreated to the forests and managed to protect themselves, the humans, on the other hand, had no choice but to bear the brunt of Demons'' rampage. The war went for a hundred years. Angels refused to help and Elves continued to hide in forests. As the population of humans declined by more than three-fourths, a human Emperor knelt down at the gates of heaven for seven days until the King of Angels finally agreed to help out humans. Getting the hope of defeating the demons, the Elves also agreed to join the war. The dragon island is the place where the demon emperor Shedim, the child of Lilith was beheaded by an Archangel named Gadriel." Orion was intrigued upon listening to the background story. He doesn''t know whether this information will be useful or not but just in case, he recorded it. Meanwhile, Wil was taken aback in surprise to hear those familiar names from Iphi. After all, he was connected to Gadriel and Lilith in enmity. They are someone who he had to cut down in the future. At the same time, he also felt that the game story is much deeper than he thinks it is. "Hmm this riddle and the riddle spoke by the little dragon aren''t the same at all. North meets the south. They probably referred to the ancient continents. Unless I know the pre-history of the game, I won''t be able to find the place. Aerona is currently the strongest and the oldest NPC out there. She might have the knowledge. Let''s visit her later" As he slowly fell into deep thoughts, a notification brought him to reality. *Ding! You are receiving a call from the outside. "Silver?" Wil frowned as he saw the name. He had an inkling of what it might be. "Excuse me" He walked a few steps away and picked up the call. "Hello" "Young Master, your mother is here. She''s waiting for you in the living room." Silver said to him. "What! What is she doing... *Cough* Okay, I''ll be there in five minutes." He disconnected the call and then, said to Orion, "Okay, now that I''m done here, it''s time I keep my promise and leave the island peacefully." "Iphi, let''s go" Looking at the flying Wil and Iphi who was on a cloud, Orion mumbled, "Willard Ravens and Seer occupation, huh!" He committed Wil''s appearance and name to his memory. *** As soon as he stepped out of the capsule, he saw his mother was having coffee while she was looking ahead. Even though it was almost noiseless as he opened the door, Scarlet was able to hear it but still looked ahead. "Young master." Silver called him out to sneakily inform Scarlet. As expected, she turned her head and saw Wil who seemed to be staring at her with a frown. "It''s been a while," She awkwardly smiled as she stood up on her feet. Walking towards her, Wil replied, "When I said I want to meet you, I didn''t mean here at my home. But then, again, I guess it is better this way since I don''t need to mind whether people are paying attention." Taking his seat, Wil continued, "Anyway, the reason I wanted to meet you is not to ask what you are doing here? It''s a free world. You can stay anywhere you like. Who am I to stop you? The last time you wanted to meet me, you were abducted by the enemies of my father. That''s why, I felt like I owe you one meeting, at least. So, Mrs. Quilton, you can now tell me what you would like to say." After explaining his reason, he then calmly looked at her. Scarlet stared at him for a while in silence. Several words are stuck in her throat and aren''t coming out. Finally, she took a deep breath and looked at Silver, "Can you leave us, alone?" "As you wish, Ma''am," Silver bowed and went outside before closing the door. Wil calmly waited to hear what she has to say. "I know that my words probably will not change anything but I really regret not taking you with me, back then. I have to apologize for a lot of things. Sorry for not being with you when you grow up. Sorry for not being with you when you feel lonely. Sorry for not being with you whenever you face difficult situations. Sorry for not being with you when you even lost your father. If saying sorry can make you forgive me, I will say it a million times if I have to but I know that it will change nothing. So, don''t forgive me. But, just give me a chance to amend my past mistakes." When a person sincerely apologizes, even a stone-hearted person might melt much less a person like Wil who was soft at heart. Looking at her, Wil felt the urge to hug her and cry but then, he reminded himself of his earlier resolve and calmed down. ''Get yourself together, Wil. No matter what, you cannot forgive this woman at all costs.'' Thinking of a plan, Wil opened his mouth, "Fine, then. I''ll give you a chance. I want you to acknowledge me as your son to your family. Today is August 24th. I''ll live with your family until 30th of the next month. Do whatever you plan to do. On the 1st of October, if my heart is changed, I''ll acknowledge you as my mother. However, if nothing changed, then, promise me that you won''t bother me in the future" While Scarlet''s eyes widened in surprise, Wil looked into her eyes, "Wil you accept my condition?" Chapter 337: Dragon Lord Egan *Welcome to War Online* "You are back, just in time." Iphi''s face lightened up as she saw Wil. "I thought I would spend in the darkness for a while and thought of sleeping." Adding her into his party once again, Wil set out to the next island in the imaginary path that was drawn towards the Marsh Islands. On the way, they came across many uninhabited islands. Remembering how the stone tablet was located in an underground ruin at an uninhabited island, he tried to search them. However, after searching a small island for a couple of hours, Wil gave up on such an idea. He realized that it is impossible for him to search alone. So, he decided to continue to go to the inhabited islands for clues. Three more days passed away; "Finally" Wil let out a deep breath as he was looking at the cluster of hundreds of islands right down below. "What is this place?" asked Iphi while looking at a temple as they landed on the island. "This is where I met Averil." Wil didn''t give any explanations while he started to walk. Both of them slowly climbed the steps and reached the temple that was sitting at the top. Entering through the door, Wil saw the place was empty except for spider webs and the broken chains on the floor. Restriction Chains (Damaged) Grade: Legendary Description: These chains can be used to hold down any legendary or lower-grade beasts. "Eh?" Wil was stunned as he read the description. He didn''t expect such normal-looking chains are of legendary grade quality. "What a lucky day" His eyes lit up in excitement. Even though they are damaged, the fact that they can hold down the beasts without any level of restriction amazed him. He also cursed himself for ignoring this treasure, back then. Not intending to waste any time, Wil immediately hurried towards the wall and slowly removed the chains from the holders, and stored them into inventory. Iphi was looking at him with a clueless expression. She didn''t understand why this person got excited over some mere chains. After storing the chains, Wil started to look for clues on the wall. Since the entrances of the hidden realms were also on the ceiling, he searched for any drawings of a dragon. "What are you doing?" Iphi asked him. "Looking for clues." He replied while thoroughly searching every inch of the temple. "Clues?" "Yes. Usually, at places like these, there would be clues related to the dragon race. Just like how we find all those clues in things like books or ruins." Wil explained to her. "Are you talking about this?" She suddenly said an unexpected thing as if she found something. "Hmm?" Wil turned his head around to see Iphi was pointing at the floor, right below her. He glanced in the direction she was pointing at but there''s nothing. "What is there?" He asked with a frown on his face. "The painting of a human and a greenish silver dragon," She replied while staring at it. "Is she Aunt Averil?" She wondered out loud. "Human and a dragon? Averil?" Wil''s frown deepened and he immediately walked towards her. "Are you joking around? There''s nothing" Wil stopped talking upon seeing the seriousness on her face. He realized she wasn''t joking. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. "Wait a second is it the Dragon eyes?" Wil felt that there''s no reason to trust her once and check it. He immediately transformed into a full-grown Red dragon. "Oh! You look cool in this form, Mister" Iphi commented while her face glowed in delight. Wil saw an illusion of even stars in her eyes. She had never seen a young pure red dragon in her life. All of those are just old dragons at their death door like her grandpa. He ignored her and looked at the floor. "This" As soon as his eyes fell on the floor, he saw there''s a painting of a bearded man and a greenish-silver-dragon like Iphi mentioned. However, it wasn''t a complete image. A lot of it was covered by dust. Controlling his tail, Wil swiped the dust on the floor and saw the whole image. "So, my theory was right, after all," Wil commented while looking at it. Right beside the human, there''s another person standing. He appeared in a humanoid form with black horns, black dragon wings, and also pitch black dragon scales all over his body. The greenish silver dragon which was supposed to be Averil seemed like she was confronting the old man while the black humanoid dragon stabbed her with a trident. "No way Uncle Egan?" Iphi took a couple of steps back, displaying shock on her face. "Egan?" Wil looked at her. He didn''t know who this Egan guy is Calming down herself, Iphi explained, "This is my eldest uncle, the Dragon Lord Egan. Long ago he colluded with demons and rebelled against my grandfather. However, he was failed and got banished from the dragon island." ''Hmm so, this guy is the one that imprisoned Averil? But, why? They were siblings and she was only a runaway princess.'' Wil fell into deep thoughts upon hearing Iphi. ''If this guy''s evil who doesn''t care about family, then, he should have killed her. Perhaps, not strong enough to do that? Or maybe, this old man asked him to spare her. Come to think of it, who is this old man?'' Not having answers to his doubts, he simply took the picture and saved it. At the same time, he was also slightly disappointed that the entrance to the dragon island isn''t located at the marsh islands as he thought. Should he go further? Or should he just go back to Llyne? He wondered. Just then, he received a call from Hyori. He picked it up. "Trainer Hyo." "Hey, Wil." She sounded excited. "What are you doing?" "Nothing much. Just roaming around here and there What about you? How''s the situation over there?" Wil asked her about the results. Since she seemed excited, he assumed she might have called to tell him the good news. And just like he expected, she answered, "Just won the third round. hehe... I''m going to the finals for the third consecutive year." After congratulating her, Wil promised that her family will be there to watch the finals. Although she said its fine, he insisted on helping her out and further said that he also had some kind of business at the branch office. Hyori was skeptical about his reasoning and believed he made it up on the spot. However, she didn''t know that Wil really had a serious business in the city but not at the branch office. It''s the Mayor. After all, he still hasn''t forgotten what happened at Wular city during his first visit. For the past week, every time he saw a romantic/erotic scene in a movie, it kept reminding him of Luoyang. Even in dreams, he was no longer able to see Sierra. Instead, there''s always a wild girl, which irked him more. He felt angry at not only those scammers but also at the Mayor''s son. He believed that if they wouldn''t try to cause trouble with Luoyang in the middle of the road, perhaps, he wouldn''t meet her for the second time and the incident wouldn''t even happen. So, he felt like the Mayor owed him an apology. Now that he got the opportunity to visit the city, Wil decided to deal with it once in for all. Chapter 338: Scarlet reveals the truth In the skies Eastern Continent, two private chartered jets were almost flying together with a vertical distance above 1000ft between each other. One of them was rented by Wil, and the other one, he already owned. Inside the rented one, Aster was accompanying Hyori''s parents, Jiwon, and Hyunjoo. All of them have this excited look on their faces. Since they have known Aster for several years, the ride was comfortable. On the other hand, in the second plane, the atmosphere was awkward. Mia kept glancing at Wil from time to time while the latter was busy watching music videos on the internet. Silver seemed very happy as he was trying to converse with Scarlet while the latter''s attention was completely on Wil. Meanwhile, Rey, who was observing the situation quietly, sighed as he mumbled to himself, "Just what the hell are we doing here?" Two days earlier; Venus Apartments, Leafway city; *Knock* *Knock* "Rey, please open the door" Scarlet begged as she knocked on the door continuously for a while. As there''s no response, she dejectedly turned around. Just then, the door was suddenly opened and she saw a half-sleep Rey. "What is it, mom?" "You are sleeping?" She was taken aback while tears welled up in her eyes. Rey nodded as he yawned, "Of course, what else do you think I''m doing. I''m a matured adult, you know" He spoke in such a relaxed tone that made Scarlet hug him immediately, "thank you, Rey" He fully opened his eyes this time and hugged back, "It doesn''t matter who gave me the birth. You will forever be my mom. Mia is my sister and dad is my dad It will change nothing." When Wil proposed a deal, Scarlet fell into a dilemma because acknowledging Wil as her son is the same as telling Rey isn''t her son. After thinking for a whole day, she finally revealed the truth to Rey that he is in fact her maternal nephew, not her biological son. She then told him that she took him as her son after his parents died in a plane crash. Scarlet expected that he would be heartbroken. However, Rey took the matter lightly. Maybe, it''s because she gave Andrea''s picture to him. As they were twins and appeared too identical, Rey found his feelings didn''t change a bit. If it was someone else, he would have seen Scarlet differently and then, feel frustrated. But, due to their identical appearances, Rey''s image of her mother in his head didn''t change and he forgave her quickly. While he was thankful that the truth is revealed, he was still a little bit disappointed that Mia who he holds dear isn''t his real sister but a maternal cousin. As for Scott Quilton, from childhood, he knew that Scott isn''t his real father. After all, when they were married, he was already four years old. But, the love he received from Scott made him never question the identity of his real father. Now that he knew the truth, he wanted to find about his late parents. At the very least, he wanted to know their names and how they look like as they weren''t alive anymore. However, what he received is the only picture of his mom. Then, what about his biological father? He wondered whether he should ask or not. All of these things made Rey feel dizzy and he went to sleep while skipping lunch. But, Scarlet thought that he was angry with her. For a long time, she kept on knocking on the door to talk until he finally opened the door and said that everything was fine. Continuing to hug him tightly, Scarlet thanked him and said, "Yes, nothing will change. I didn''t give birth to you but you will forever be my son. Thank you for being understanding." Rey then requested his Mom to keep the truth from Mia. She was the last one he wanted to know. Scarlet gave her word to him. Just when Rey thought the matter ended there, she further revealed that she had a son who was from her first marriage. "Eh? I have an elder brother?" He was surprised. Scarlet nodded. "And he''s going to live with us from now onwards." "I see" Rey then finally understood why his mom revealed his birth secret. He realized why his mom forced all of them to shift to this city that''s located thousands of kilometers away. It was so that she could meet her firstborn. At first, he indeed felt a bit unfair but then, after hearing that his elder brother (maternal cousin) had recently lost his father, Rey understood the reasoning behind his mother''s actions. He wholeheartedly accepted the situation and smiled, "No worries, mom. I''m actually looking forward to meeting my elder brother." A big smile appeared on Scarlet''s face. She never expected the situation will be resolved so smoothly. As for the other two, she felt it was easy to handle them with a simple lie. The next day; For a whole minute, silence filled the living room. Mia and Scott stared at Scarlet in shock as she revealed about his firstborn son from the first marriage. Rey, who already knew of it, stayed silent and watched their reactions. "What did you say?" Scott was the first one to erupt. "How can you hide this from me for so long?" 15 years ago, when he met her, she told him about her first marriage to some businessman and her divorce after her birth to Rey. But he never heard her saying that she had another son. So, he felt betrayed. In return, Scarlet glared at her husband, "You are talking about hiding secrets? Are you in any position to say that to me?" Scott immediately flinched on the spot and stayed silent. He remembered how he fooled his wife for several years while hiding his alternative identity and the wealth he attained from various scams. Rey and Mia glanced at their father. They wondered what secret their father is keeping from them. Shrugging her shoulders, Scarlet continued, "Anyway, I made an agreement with his father, my late ex-husband that I won''t meet our son as long as he''s alive. Only then, he agreed to divorce me. At that time, the system isn''t that powerful and is too corrupt. And Scarlet Group isn''t something that I or a mere judge can go against. So, I had no choice but to comply for the sake of my own freedom." Once again, her statement stunned the three of them. "Scarlet Group? That means" Rey and Mia are too familiar with the multibillion-dollar company that was associated with their guild. Looking at Rey, Scarlet nodded, "Yes, it was named after me. Not some coincidence. I know it''s a bit difficult to take in but that''s the truth. And now that he''s no more, I contacted my son and he expressed his willingness to live with us. Not for long. It''s just one month. I just request the three of you to behave within this one month. Even if you don''t like it, do it for me" Unlike Rey, where she practically pleaded and expressed her emotions, Scarlet spoke to the other two as if she was ordering them to comply with it. Chapter 339: Meeting at the Airport After convincing her family, Scarlet, then, contacted Wil and informed him that she agrees to his conditions, however, requesting two things at the same time. One is to keep Rey''s birth secret from Scott and Mia, and the other is to change his birth year from 2001 to 2000 as she already committed to his family that way, so that, there won''t be any confusion regarding the difference between their age, especially to Scott. In fact, she wanted to lie with the same thing to Rey and keep him in dark. However, when she remembered Wil''s wealth, she was worried that in the future, Rey might claim Philip''s inheritance too and fight with Wil. At that time, when the truth will be out, he will only become a fool in the end. It is something that she wasn''t willing to see, ever. Although, she was confident that he isn''t like that still, who would know about the future? Who knows how Rey would change after he grew up. After all, when tens of billions of dollars are at stake, one would normally lose rationality. That''s why she revealed the truth to Rey. However, Scott and Mia are different. Keeping the truth from them will not cause any damage. So, she requested Wil to keep it from them. Since it isn''t a big deal, Wil also agreed to it. After all, his aim isn''t to cause trouble and break their family apart. All he wanted to get rid of the relationship between him and his mother. Once, a month passes away, both of them will get back to their past lives. With such a thought in his mind, Wil decides to go and meet his mother''s family after he reached Marsh Islands. However, he didn''t expect that not only the trip to Marsh Islands solved nothing but also received a call from Hyori who only wanted him to support her by watching live on the internet. Right then, he remembered the incident that occurred at Wular city and decided to go there. At the same time, he also wanted to cause some inconvenience to his mom. After his call with Hyori over, Wil immediately called Scarlet. "Hello, Wil. Did you already start? I just finished, readying your room" Scarlet appeared excited, on the other side of the phone. "No, I''m not coming today. I''m going to Wular city on personal matters." "Wular city?" Scarlet went into a daze, trying to remember the name. She surely heard of the name somewhere but wasn''t able to recollect the memory. "When will you return?" Although she was a little bit disappointed that he wasn''t coming to their home right away, Scarlet tried to not show it in her tone. "Three days. However, from there, I also need to go to Ares city to visit my fiance and her family. So, I''m hoping that you will come with me. My future mother-in-law expressed her wishes to meet you, a while ago." Wil explained, following his plan. In reality, he never intended to go there. After the incident with Luoyang, no matter how much he convinced himself, Wil still felt bad for Akiko. He wondered how long he would able to look at her face and talk nicely as if nothing happened. Then, why did he ask his mother to tag along? It was so that if she will hesitate to come, then, Wil would have a reason at the end to reject the relationship. And even if she accompanies him, it wouldn''t do any harm, anyway. Who knows, it might annoy her husband, which might provide him another excuse. Meanwhile, Scarlet, who already knew about her fiance from Silver, fell into deep thoughts once again. If it''s just traveling back and forth, it wouldn''t matter. However, going away for a week while leaving her kids at home, she isn''t comfortable with that. After thinking for a while, she came to a decision and asked whether his siblings can also tag along with her. Wil didn''t take took too much to respond to her question. It was within his expectations. Moreover, he always looked forward to bond with his sister. He said, "As long as Mr. Quilton won''t come with us. It won''t look good for me if I were to introduce him to my in-laws. Moreover, I don''t think he would be comfortable with staying alone at the hotel, either." Unlike where she thought about kids, Scarlet didn''t even hesitate as she agreed with Wil and decided to go without Scott. However, after disconnecting the call, she thought he would be sad if she were to do that. So, she planned on only taking Mia with her. It''s not because Mia is her real daughter and Rey isn''t. It''s just that Rey is almost an adult and can take care of himself. She thought, in this way, neither Wil nor Scott will be displeased. However, in the end, she decided to bring him with her too, so that he will not misunderstand that he was being ignored. 5 A.M., August 28th, 2020; *Knock* *Knock* "Mia, it''s getting late. Wake up." Scarlet knocked on the door before she goes to the next door to wake up Rey. *Yawn* Scratching her hair, Mia complained while still appearing sleepy, "Mom, didn''t you tell me that we are going on a private jet? It won''t go anywhere." "Well, your brother will be disappointed and thinks that you don''t like him, then," Scarlet said with a smile. "Eh? Why would Rey be disappointed?" Mia asked in confusion while blinking her eyes. "She was talking about the eldest brother, not me." Rey let out a comment as he brought the luggage to the living room. "Ah! Then, I''ll hurry up and ready nicely. I don''t want the first impression to be bad." Mia hurried back to her room. Just as she was about to close the door, something suddenly clicked inside her mind and Mia said, "By the way, mom. You never said the name of the eldest brother." "You will know when you meet him." Scarlet didn''t want to spoil the mystery as they already met him. After a while, Silver arrived at their apartments and escorted them to the Airport. Reaching the terminal, Silver called Wil. "Young Master is on his way. He said it''ll take ten more minutes." Silver apologized to Scarlet. "It''s alright." She waved her hand. A while later, taking a seat at a coffee shop, Scarlet asked, "Earlier, you mentioned that Wil rented another jet for his friend''s family and he was going all the way to Wular just to see her performance. Do you really think they are just friends?" "Young Master says so. And I have no reason not to believe him." Silver answered it confidently. "However, Ms. Hyori looks very beautiful. So, I won''t be surprised if young master will fall in love with her. She was also an excellent Archer, by the way." Just as his words were finished, he received a call from Wil. Soon, the family of three met Wil, a family of four, and a dozen bodyguards around them. "Hello" Looking at Rey and Mia, Wil smiled, "I believe you still remember me from a few days ago. Let me formally introduce myself, Williard Ravens." While Mia took his handshake, Rey was looking at the twins in surprise. Chapter 340: Rey and the twin sisters A week ago, Maple Academy; In the first floor corridor, Hyunjoo was walking with her classmate, carrying books to the staffroom. Just as both of them reached the stairs, two boys were running down the stairs. Hyunjoo saw one of them lost control about to collide with her. So, she abruptly turned around to dodge it. However, she accidentally tripped her leg and the books were slipped her hand. Meanwhile, another shocking thing occurred that seems to be crafted straight out of a high school drama. At the same moment, Rey and his deskmate were climbing up the stairs from the ground floor and they just reached the first floor before Hyunjoo fell on him. Rey quickly caught her, wrapping his left hand around her waist, and protected himself by grabbing the staircase railing by his right. Both of them inclined a bit for a few seconds and looked at each other. Their faces are so close that they were able to see their reflection inside the other person''s eyes. At those few moments, she felt as if the time ran slowly. She stared at him, blinking her eyes for every second. Looking at the scene, her friend''s eyes widened and she closed her mouth with her hands. Unlike Hyunjoo, Rey came back to his senses very quickly and quickly freed her after finding stability below his foot, "Are you alright?" He asked her. She nodded vigorously before she started to take the notebooks. Rey offered his help by crouching down. As he handed a couple of notebooks, Hyunjoo quickly take them and ran upstairs in embarrassment. Three days later, he received a notification from school about joining the club before the 31st of the month. His deskmate suggested the swimming club where he is a member. Coincidentally, as he was a member of the swimming club in his past school, Rey agreed to it right away. Upon hearing the coach is at the pool, both of them made their way towards the swimming pool. As the school timings are over, the pool is empty, and yet, both of them heard whistles and the instructions as they neared. "The competition is getting near. Just stick with inward 2 ? somersaults." "Coach, it will only make me go through qualifiers. To get an edge over other competitors, I need to do this." The girl seemed to be stubborn about it. "Okay, fine. I''ll just give one last chance. If you fail, then, that''s it." As soon as they entered the area, Rey''s eyes fell on the girl that was standing at the edge of the diving board which is placed at least 10 meters above the surface of the water. She was facing her back and strength her arms upward. *Whistle* As the coach whistled, she jumped up and twisted her body as she was high above the board and rotated once. As she came down, she somersaulted two times and dived straight into the pool. "OMG! Jiwon-ssi succeeded in doing Back 2 ? Somersault and 1 ? twist?" His deskmate Kim Jongsu exclaimed while looking at her. "Coach, I did it." The girl came up to the surface of the water and grinned. "I did it, this time." "Well, I guess you have it in you, after all. Okay, then. Do it one more time and" The Coach asked for a retry to see whether it''s just luck before she turned her head towards the direction where the sound came from. Rey was also seemed to be surprised. Not about her feat as he knew nothing about diving aside from jumping from the diving board. After all, his past school didn''t have a separate diving club, and neither did he attend any tournaments. "Oh! It''s that girl" Rey remembered the first year pretty girl he collided, three days ago. "So, her name is Jiwon, huh. It seems like she''s also a member of this club?" "Kim Jongsu, don''t you know that outsiders aren''t allowed here." A frown appeared on her face. "And where have you gone after skipping the practice. Do you want to get kicked out?" Unlike Jiwon''s situation, where the coach was kind and understanding, she was fierce while she was talking to Rey''s deskmate. He then introduced Rey to the coach as the transfer student and is willing to join the club. "Do you have any experience?" The coach asked Rey. Rey shook his head, "I only know swimming techniques like freestyle, butterfly and backstroke." "Then, you should apply for the swimming club." The coach commented right away. "You are already 3rd year. So, if you a beginner, then, we would have to waste 3 months training you. There are only 7 and half months left. Your last two months will be spent studying for final exams. So, there will be hardly 10 weeks that you will be able to dive with your fellow club mates. Now, do you understand what am I saying?" Upon getting rejected by the coach, Rey joined the soccer team as he didn''t want to see her face in the swimming club again. Present; After that, Rey saw them once again at Airport. He didn''t expect that they are twins, not one. It left him in wonder whether he met two different persons or the same person. If they are the same, then who is it? "These are my friend''s I mean, Hyori''s parents." Wil introduced them to Scarlet. "This is um" As he pointed to one of the twins, he stopped and then, looked at her carefully. Both of them wore the same set of clothes, accessories, heck, even their hairstyles are the same. He moved a step close to the girl that he was pointing. The girl immediately stepped back and grabbed the other twin''s arm. "Yes, um... this is Hyunjoo and this is Jiwon." Wil smile as he figured it out. However, in the next second, the shy girl that grabbed her twin''s arm giggled, "Oppa, I''m Jiwon and this is Hyunjoo. You got fooled by my acting, hehe" "Ah!" As Wil blushed in embarrassment, Jiwon''s mom grabbed her arm and scolded in a whisper, "Behave, Jiwon. Everything has a time and place. This isn''t the place to joke around." And she then apologized to Scarlet. "Sorry for my daughter''s behavior. She can be mischievous sometimes" "It''s fine" She waved her hands with a smile, "She was behaving now but my daughter is also very mischievous. Ah! I forgot to even introduce myself. I''m Scarlet. This is my second son, Rey and this is my daughter, Mia." As Jiwon and Hyunjoo shifted their attention to Rey and Mia, Hyunjoo suddenly put her head down in shyness, remembering the incident. On the other hand, Jiwon pointed her finger at Rey, "I know you. You are the one that got rejected by Coach Bridgette, aren''t you?" "Jiwon" As her mother glared at her, Jiwon put down her hand and apologized while leaving everyone in confusion. Jiwon''s family quietly stared at Jiwon for constantly embarrassing them. Meanwhile, Scarlet and Mia looked at Rey for an explanation. They wondered whether Rey proposed to some coach and got rejected. Even Wil thought the same. It seemed Rey realized the situation. He cleared the misunderstanding by explaining the situation to them. Only then did Wil sigh in relief. Even if he isn''t his real sibling, Rey is still his cousin. He can''t lose his face in front of outsiders because of him. Chapter 341: Wil, the Hero of Wular City? Wular city; As the plane neared its destination, the flight attendant informed about the arrival. "Young master, wake up." Silver woke up him from sleep. As Wil opened his eyes, Silver then said, "We have arrived" *Yawn* Stretching his hands, Wil looked at others who seemed to be awake already. As he glanced at the right, he saw the sky is dark and saw the view of the city filled with lights everywhere Then, he turned his head to the left and found Scarlet was staring at him. As their eyes met, she smiled, "Seems like you had a good dream. You were smiling for a long time." "Ah, Yes. Maybe I don''t know. I can''t remember it anymore" He was surprised at first. In the next second, he remembered that he wasn''t going on the trip, alone. After spending a few hours while watching the music videos, Wil almost forgot about their existence and drifted into sleep. Wil then looked at his siblings. Mia''s face was glued to the window as she was looking down at the city. As for Rey, he was simply reading some kind of book. By the time they landed and exited the gate, Wil found Hyori''s family was waiting for him. "Aster, please escort everyone to Hotel Greenpark. Silver, you are coming with me." Stepping on the moving walkway, he passed out quick orders to both of them. As he wasn''t controlling his tone, everyone also heard it. While Scarlet wondered where he intended to go, Hyori''s father who heard from his daughter understood that Wil might be visiting his company''s branch office. Sometimes, it would be hard for him to believe that Wil is the Chairman of a multi-billion dollar company like Scarlet Group, the biggest security company in the entire world. Even though Sarton Street is pretty much an expensive neighborhood, it still isn''t the most expensive area where the local millionaires live. Moreover, Leafway city is only a first-tier city with barely a million people reside. But then, upon seeing the bodyguards, he would be reminded of Wil''s identity and often gets worried about his daughters'' friendship with him. Wil''s polite behavior towards him doesn''t ease his worries either. Although he doesn''t show it on his face, even now, Lee Sangmin still worries that something is going on between Wil and Hyori. After all, as far as he knows, renting a private jet just costs around 3000-5000 dollars per hour flight on average. He estimated that the total round trip plus waiting charges would cost nearly a hundred thousand dollars. That''s like a hundred and fifty times their monthly rental fee or 14 months of his annual income. This is the reason Hyori''s father didn''t say that he would pay the money back and quietly accepted Wil''s generosity. Lee Sangmin always gave freedom to Hyori to choose her own life. Even if both of them end up dating, he would still bless them. However, in such a situation, he only hoped that his daughter chooses Wil, not because of his wealth but because of the person himself. Having thoughts of confronting his daughter about their relationship, Lee Sangmin quietly followed the rest of them. After others left for the hotel, Wil told Silver to call for the guards from the branch. Silver was surprised by his order. Earlier, when they took off from Leafway city, Wil clearly said to him to not call anyone else. But now, he was saying the reverse. He asked, "Young master, aren''t we headed to the branch office?" Like Lee Sangmin, he too thought that Wil wanted to go to the company''s branch. If that''s the case, then, there''s no need to call them up. Just giving them a heads up would do while they grab a cab. Silver knew that Wil isn''t the type to show off and make grand entrances. If anything, he is the type to quietly go to the branch. Then, Why? While the guards are on their way to the Airport, Silver fell into deep thoughts. A crazy thought appeared in his mind. To confirm it, he asked Wil. Just like he feared, Wil revealed his true objective, "First, we go to the hospital to check up on the guards who are still lying on a bed. Then, we go to the Mayor''s house to receive compensation for making me beat up my own employees. Moreover, one of the restaurants that were in his city drugged me for some mere two thousand Yuan As a Mayor for 15 years, it was his fault for not managing the city properly." As Wil can''t reveal that he was forced to sleep with some girl due to his drunken state that was caused by getting drugged, he made up a reason to make sure that he appears as the victim instead of being an assailant. Silver just stared at him in silence. No one knows what he is feeling at the moment. After being silent for a while, he let out a deep sigh and looked at his mobile phone to call. However, right then, a couple of girls stopped before them. One of them who looked to be in her early twenties asked, "Excuse me, you are Willard Ravens, right?" "Eh?" "Huh?" Wil almost spilled the coffee that he was drinking and Silver quickly stood up on his feet in an alert. "Do you know me?" Wil pointed to himself while blinking. He can''t believe someone from this city recognized his face. Upon getting the confirmation, the girl named Remi smiled widely, "I can''t believe I''m meeting the Hero of Wular. Can I have a selfie with you?" "Wait a second. Who are you guys?" As they pointed the mobile phones at Wil, Silver covered him like a bodyguard. "We''re college students. Because of Mr. Ravens, our city became free of drugs Just one selfie, please I swear I won''t ask much." As the girl requested Silver, Wil who doesn''t know what''s going on, just went with the flow and agreed with it. "What kind of lame title is that?" Wil muttered while he neared his face and took a selfie with her. As they left while thanking him, Wil looked at Silver and asked what''s going on. Silver avoided his eyes and looked away for a few seconds. As Wil asked him again, Silver explained, "A few days ago, you put a complaint on that restaurant named Metropol, right... Taking advantage of it, the police commissioner started to raid the restaurants and bars. In the end, he gave the entire credit to you to tackle the higher-ups. When we were contacted by the media, we created a story of how risked your life to gather evidence of the drug dealings after your friend got drugged and got cheated out of his money. We further informed that you were being kidnapped by the driver after you were drugged but still managed to resist its effects and got free. With the evidence submitted to the police, the latter proceed with the raids and were able to seize hundreds of kilograms of stuff that were illegal to sell. The police commissioner also co-operated and went along with our story. A couple of days ago, the Mayor himself announced you the Hero of Wular. The City council sent the banner to the branch office. I guess by now, they must have already sent it to the headquarters. " Now, it was Wil''s turn to become speechless. Chapter 342: Different lifestyles Watching the video that was circulating on the internet with over 500 thousand views, Wil became speechless. Just like Silver told him, Wil saw the Mayor announced his name to the public and praised him for his work. Wil didn''t expect there''s so much of bu**s**t went on while he was busy with searching for Dragon Island. Just a minute ago, he claimed that he will seek compensation from the Mayor for his employees. Now that he knew that the Mayor announced him as the Hero of the city, Wil became clueless. He doesn''t know what to do as the compensation was already given After all, Wil beat up his son. Even if it is the police department that used his poster for their movie, and even if the City Council is the one that took the decision of the announcement, still, the Mayor was the one that said it with his own mouth. There''s nothing more shameful to the Mayor. And if Wil goes to his house and further demanded compensation, it would only portrait him as being petty not only to Silver but also to himself. Sipping coffee continuously for a while, Wil thought about it and stood up from his seat, "Silver, let''s go" "But, the boys" "No need. Just tell them to return. I''m considering the debt is settled with this. I''ll just go to the hotel. You go to the hospital and see our employees. And also, the branch manager. I don''t know his name but give him a serious warning. I don''t care how they operated before but from now onwards, no one is allowed to take a private assignment and certainly, not the guards that are transferred to the gaming department. And also, tell him to hand over all the details of the current assignments the branch is working on." Looking at Wil''s expression, Silver thought that Wil is indeed taking the matter seriously. At the same time, he was also happy that the young master is finally caring about the company''s operations instead of just focusing on the gaming world. Even though Wil acquired the Heibei Corporation and its subsidiary companies, last month, he hardly did anything other than changing the name to Ravens Tech. He never attended a single meeting till now. Everything is being handled by the company''s new CEO who is originally an executive vice president of Heibei''s cloud and enterprise group, responsible for building and running the company''s computing platforms. It was same with Scarlet Group. Even though he was appointed as the chairman and by Late Mafia lord, and even created a whole new gaming company, Wil only visited both of the companies just once in the past two months. Storm, the new CEO; and Jordon, who is the past CEO and the current President; are the ones who were looking after everything. Now that Wil seemed like he''s ready to take charge, Silver decided to support him the most of his ability. However, there''s just one thing he didn''t get it. Why is Wil interested in the assignments of the Wular city''s branch? Silver expressed his doubt without keeping it to himself. Wil simply responded with, "let''s talk later." Since Wil doesn''t intend to explain it now, Silver decided to wait for it. Parting away with Silver, Wil took a cab to the Hotel Greenpark. Meanwhile, an SUV is following him from a distance. They are originally the employees of the city''s branch who are waiting outside. Even though Wil refused the bodyguards, Silver still made a call before they get on the plane. After the kidnapping incident, Silver always kept two teams, one to protect Wil, and the other for his mom and her family. Even now, one team followed Aster and the others while the other stayed back to wait for Silver''s signal. Once they go the signal and the plate number, they started to follow him until he reached the hotel safely. Upon reaching the hotel, he didn''t meet either of the families and directly went to his room to rest. Meanwhile, Mia and Scarlet are enjoying the view of the bustling city from the balcony of the thirty-fifth floor. Looking at the silent Mia, her mother said, "surely, you must have been shocked by the recent events, right?" After reaching the hotel, Scarlet realized that she never got the chance to ask about Mia''s feelings. Previously, all she cared about Rey''s. Now that they were alone, she also intended to ask about her first impression of Wil. Instead of answering her, Mia looked at her and asked in return, "Mom, do you really think he''s interested to live with us?" "Eh?" Scarlet was taken aback by the unexpected question. "Why do you ask that? Of course, he is. Wil was the one who proposed to live with us, you know." "I''m not a kid anymore, mom. I know how much does it cost to own a private jet. And I looked up online regarding the room we are staying in. For just one night, they are charging 512 dollars per room. He''s a bit too rich and seems like he grew up in a completely different world than ours. I still don''t understand how you were able to live in two different types of the world but I don''t think he can adjust to our house even if we try to adjust to his lifestyle. Upon hearing the words of her 13-year-old daughter, Scarlet finally realized that she''s no longer a little girl. She felt like Mia is far matured than she expected. So, not intending to treat her like a little girl anymore, Scarlet said, "Do you know why I have left the world where I can get anything I want?" Mia shook her head and curiously looked at her mother. Scarlet then said, "It''s because I was born into a middle-class family and was used for simple and peaceful life that was filled with freedom. As you know, my ex-husband is super rich, and the consequences for marrying him is to live a life filled with worries, lack of privacy, lack of freedom, sleepless nights, etc... Everywhere I go, there would be dozens of bodyguards with guns around. It suffocated me very much. Adding on top of that, my late ex-husband would be so busy that sometimes, he returns home once a week. It would only worry me more. I would often think that whether it is so important to have money and power that you had to put your and your family''s life at risk for your wrongdoings? At that time, all I thought is to get away from such hell. I thought I did right because I found my happiness with your father. But, it isn''t true." Scarlet shook her head and looked at Mia. "All of them are just excuses. The reality is that I no longer loved Philip. That''s why, no matter what he did, I only saw faults in him. I just wanted to get away from him even if I had to part with my child. I regretted that I never tried to fight for Wil''s custody and gave up very soon My selfishness is the result that my son had to grow up without the love of a parent." As tears welled up in her eyes, Mia grabbed her mom''s hand. It was the first time she saw her mother is acting this way. Realizing that she had spoken too much than necessary, Scarlet forced herself to calm down and said, "Don''t worry about the things that you can''t do anything about it. You just need to be yourself and try to treat him just like how you treat Rey. If he really considers you like family, then, he will reciprocate the same. Then, the difference in lifestyles wouldn''t matter anymore." Mia nodded vigorously. Chapter 343: Family bonding Wular University Soccer Stadium; The next day evening, the stadium was filled with college and high school students, scouts from professional teams, and locals that have free time. People who were interested in Archery also arrived from several cities of the Eastern continent. Like everyone else, Wil and his family entered the university. "Big brother Wil, do you know Archery?" Mia was walking beside Wil while asking the questions. "Well, yes. I think I''m fairly good at it." Wil replied while thinking what''s going with this little sister of his. At early in the morning, Rey and Mia visited his room, waking him from sleep. She then asked him to accompany them for the hotel tour as he had stayed here before. If it was anyone else, Wil would have gotten annoyed but for some reason, when he looked at Mia''s sincere eyes as she addressed him as big brother, his mouth had already agreed with it before his brain did the thinking. While Wi was acting as a tour guide, Rey didn''t talk much and only talked once in a while. On the other hand, the little girl seemed pretty much enthusiastic as she kept on asking the details. After finishing with the hotel tour, they parted ways to fresh up. Later, around 8, once again, she visited his room, this time with Silver to invite the restaurant on the highest floor (50) that also has an observation deck where Rey and his mother are waiting for them. Wil was a bit disappointed that he wasn''t able to invite Hyori''s family to the breakfast. But, he can''t do anything about it as they left the hotel early in the morning to meet Hyori, although the finals will start in the evening. He wondered whether they are uncomfortable eating with his family as they are strangers until a day ago. Thankfully for him, Aster also accompanied them doing his job, or else, Wil would have thought they were uncomfortable with himself. Soon, the dishes have arrived, and the five of them started their breakfast. As Mia is a westerner, she wasn''t accustomed to eating eastern dishes, especially the ones with a lot of side dishes. Not to mention, sharing the dishes is a part of the eastern continent''s culture which she wasn''t comfortable with. Taking a seat beside him, she continued to ask about the dishes. Wil explained her patiently while unknowingly tried to show off his knowledge about eastern cuisine at the same time. Although he made mistakes from time to time regarding their names, since the others have no idea about the dishes, they didn''t find anything amiss. Looking at how well Wil is getting along with Mia, a big smiled appeared on Scarlet. She continued to watch them from the corner of her eyes. As for Rey, now that he is aware of the truth about his birth, he couldn''t help but feel slightly jealous upon watching how his sister is trying to bond with her biological half-brother. But, at the same, seeing a smile on Scarlet and Mia, he was also happy for them. After finishing with the breakfast, they toured around the city, took a bunch of pictures at every tourist spot, and returned to the hotel by 3 o''clock. It was only after returning to his room did Wil realized that he forgot his original objective and had a nice family vacation, instead. He then strongly reminded himself not to do this again as he was worried that he would really forgive his mother, at this rate. Everyone took a rest until Silver got a call from Aster. Around 6 o''clock in the evening, as the sunset and the sky darkened, Silver then drove the family of four to the university, where they met Hyori''s family outside of the stadium before entering together. Everyone took their seats. The stadium with filled with thousands of spectators with all the screens switched on, displaying a close look at what''s happening on the playground. The finals were started with a couple of speeches from the Association''s president, the university''s Chancellor, and some students. After that, a rock band that was formed by the university students appeared on the stage. They opened the tournament with their wonderful performance to raise the excitement of the spectators. As the music being played in the background, the host announced the entry of two finalists from the high school division. One after the other, a boy and a girl entered the ground. The Hosts announced the rules of the finals as a formality. The first round is of normal shooting. The second round is to shoot the oscillating targets. The third round is to shoot the moving targets. In this case, the robots that will have three targets on their bodies move randomly. One on their forehead. The second on their abdomen and the final is on their back. For the high school division, they will be given 50 arrows. All they have to strike the target with the arrow. Each target is worth 10 points. So, there''s a total of 300 points is at stake. However, for college division, hitting the target won''t just be enough. Where the arrow was hit is also important. The targets were divided into four divisions. White, Blue, Yellow, and Black. The outermost white ring is worth 3 points, blue is worth 6 points, Yellow is worth 9 points and the innermost black ring is worth 10 points. Upon hearing the rules of the tournament, Wil jokingly said to Mia that the competition might as well change its name from IAC to MWC (Mini World Championships). Mia didn''t get the meaning. However, she didn''t let out her thoughts and simply nodded and then, watched the screen that was showing the high school students standing in their position. The target was placed 45 meters away and each of them was given a quiver with twenty arrows. In the end, the boy won the round-1 challenge with a score of 179-171. Amid the claps and cheers, the two of them left for the waiting room. Then, round-1 for the college division started. The first one to enter is Hyori. Jiwon enthusiastically cheered her sister from the stands. Many youngsters along with Rey were awed at the first sight of her appearance. On the other hand, Wil just clapped with a smile. Right then, the host announced, "Let''s welcome the second contestant of the finals. Fujimori Sakura." As the petite college freshman entered the ground, Scarlet stared at the name on the screen and mumbled, "Fujimori? What a nostalgic surname, indeed. I wonder whether that old man is doing well" "Hmm? Did you say something, Mrs. Quilton?" Mrs. Lee, who sat beside her, asked her as she heard something about an old man. Scarlet shook her head, "nothing." She continued to watch. Soon, the finals started with the round-1, shooting the target that was placed 60 meters away. Originally, they thought of placing it 46 meters just like before. However, looking at their wonderful performances, the relevant authorities were forced to increase the distance. Little did they imagine that 60 meters were a joke to these two girls Upon getting the signal, Hyori and Sakura released the arrow at the same time. Both of them zoomed through the air like lightning and hit at the dead center. "Oh!" Scarlet seems surprised as she looked at the result. "I didn''t expect these two girls are this talented." Right then, as one of the commentators voiced their opinions, Scarlet''s eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "Hitoshi''s granddaughter? That''s impossible" Chapter 344: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-1 *Swoosh* *Swoosh* "Wow, Dead center Amazing. Both of them released the arrows at the same time and hit the target at the same time. And look at it, even the spot they were hit is exactly the same, although the targets are different." The commentator and former Pro Archer, Wang Ru, even stood up in excitement just from the first arrow. However, right then, the other commentator, Yamamura Sozen, spoke, "Wait a second, Mr. Wang. Watch the replay closely. It looks like Fujimori Sakura''s arrow was slightly faster than Lee Hyori''s." *Ahem* Wang Ru cleared his throat, covering up his embarrassment, "well, such a minute difference doesn''t matter. What matters is the score. Look they drew the bow again." Sakura and Hyori continued to shoot an arrow for every minute. Ten minutes have been passed and the score was 100-100. The crowd was cheering in excitement to see such an amazing battle. The scouts from the professional teams were awed as they were watching the performance which even exceeded the professional level. After all, even the professionals can''t hit 10 point circle every time but here, at the IAC college division, the two finalists were constantly hitting the ten-point circle. What''s even more shocking is the perfect accuracy of Sakura. From start to the finish, Sakura''s accuracy never changed. The arrow always hit the dead center. Hyori wasn''t able to keep her accuracy like Sakura as the heat of the competition got to her. Sakura''s perfect accuracy put a lot of pressure on Hyori that she wasn''t able to hit the dead center like the first eleven arrows. However, she did manage to score 10 every time, which is commendable. At the end of round-1, both of them drew with a 200-200 perfect score. The Judges discussed for a couple of minutes and finally, decided to give both of them a point. They didn''t continue the round. With that, both of them are now 1-1. "These two girls are very talented" Scarlet commented as both of them left the ground. "Especially that girl Fujimori Sakura." Turning her head, she further said, "Mrs. Lee, it''s going to tough for your daughter." Hyori''s mother had a look of worry on her face. "Hyori was lost to that same girl for the past two years. I hope it won''t hit her confidence if she loses again" "Dear, please talk positively. Hyori will win for sure." Her husband said to her. Unlike her, he doesn''t an ounce of worry on his face. If anything else, there''s only confidence. Just then, the screens displayed the commentators. Along with the two of them, a handsome young man is sitting in the middle. "Right now, we''re with the reigning world champion of Archery''s men division, Kim Jun-Ho" Commentator Yamamura introduced the young man. As he waved his hands with a smile, a lot of fangirls screamed in unison. Commentator Wang then said, "Mr. Kim, give us your insight regarding this round between lee Hyori and Fujimori Sakura." Junho replied, "Well, I don''t think I need to emphasize their skills. It was clear to everyone that both of them are highly talented. However, Ms. Fujimori was faring better. Whether it is her precision, her technique, her breath, her concentration, or her mental strength, everything was perfect. It was like she was born for Archery She had what a world-class Athlete should have. I should say she''s what we call a once-in-a-century genius. Ms. Lee, on the other hand, was also a genius like Ms. Fujimori. After all, even a world-class Archer cannot hit a ten-point score in every shot when the target is placed 60 meters away. However, her technique was, how should I say, a bit unbalanced. It was like she was aiming to shoot a target that was placed more than a hundred meters away. Maybe, she was facing a lot of pressure from a perfectionist like Ms. Fujimori. But, I think she had a better chance in the next round because she had the eyes of a hunter. So, rather than the stationary targets, I think she''s fare better in moving targets." "Who do you cheer, Mr. Kim?" Commentator Wang asked him curiously. Commentator Yamamura also looked at him. Is it his favorite, Sakura, or is it Wang Ru''s favorite Hyori? Along with them, his fans are also anticipating the answer. They are ready to support whoever their idol chooses. "Hmm" Junho kept silent for half a minute, thinking of both of their plays. Then, he finally opened his mouth, "I''ll root for Ms. Lee" *Whoo* All of a sudden, some of the spectators started to cheer for Hyori while remaining was stuck to the screen. "Oh! Why is that, Mr. Kim?" His answer kinda disappointed Commentator Yamamura. So, he asked for the reason. Junho explained, "It''s mainly because of their background. One is from an Elite University and the other is from a first-rate university. While both of them have learned from one of the best Archers, still, Ms. Fujimori is the only granddaughter of Venerable Fujimori Hitoshi. I don''t mean to say that it''s unfair for Ms. Lee but it''s true that the amount of hard work Ms. Lee had to put, to reach this stage is far higher than Ms. Fujimori unless the former is far more talented than the latter. That''s why I intend to root for her. Ms. Lee, Hwaiting" Upon hearing the explanation, while some of the scouts, who don''t like this pro-Archer, did think that Junho is biased toward Hyori because he wasn''t born into a wealthy family, on the other hand, Junho''s fans started to cheer Hyori''s name even though the next round is between the high schoolers. Wil can''t help but smile while listening to the audience cheering for his buddy. Meanwhile, Scarlet''s eyes widened as she went into shock. "She''s the granddaughter of Hitoshi? Impossible. The old man didn''t have any children, much less a grandchild. Is she the daughter of his Illegitimate child or did he adopt her? Wait a second." A crazy theory popped up in her mind, "Hitoshi is one of the Generals of the Tristan Empire and he''s also one of the trusted people to the last Emperor. What if Prince Masashi, the missing baby was taken by this old man? It''s been 51 years since the fall of the Empire. That means Prince Masashi will be 52 by now. And this girl is a college freshman. So, around 19 years old. She can pass off as a daughter. Ugh Why am I thinking about such useless things? Does it matter whether what her identity is?" Letting out a sigh, she shook her head and continued to watch the replay that was being played on the screens. *** After a couple of dance performances from the college students, the second round of the finals began with the high school division. The second round was to hit the moving targets. Unlike with the college division, the oscillating target was placed 45 meters away. As the boy won the second round with 156-143, claiming the championship, the commentators informed the audience about the tournament''s jinx about how the championship title for the high school division have been decided in the second round for eight years in a row. Chapter 345: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-2 Junho voiced his opinion regarding the jinx, stating that it''s time for the committee to discuss this problem thoroughly and look for a solution, probably revise the rules. After all, the robots are the highlight of this tournament. Once the championship is decided, it''s obvious that most of the depressed runner-ups will not be able to perform their best in the third round. Watching the outcome of the high school division from the waiting room, Hyori can''t help but let out a deep sigh as she remembered the finals of the previous two years. Hyori also faced defeat in both of the rounds for two years in a row. In IAC 2018, she managed to win the third round. However, the following year she faced a devastating defeat. One can say that Sakura completely crushed her. Taking a deep breath, she tried to encourage herself, "My family is cheering for me. Wil even brought his family all the way here to cheer me up. If not my sake, I should win this battle for them." She then closed her eyes and emptied her thoughts for a while until her name has been called by the staff member. Gripping the bow, she walked out of the room. Just then, she found her competitor also stepped from the opposite room at the same time. As both of their eyes met, Hyori turned serious while Sakura let out a smile, "I never said these words for the past week. But, I think it''s time for me to officially acknowledge the fact that you are really a worthy rival. If you hadn''t come here, the competition would have been boring. Thanks to you, I''m feeling excited to compete in Archery after several years." Hyori didn''t feel any good upon hearing Sakura''s heartfelt words. Instead, she was angered for a second thinking that her opponent is taunting her. Taking a deep breath, Hyori forced a smile as she looked into Sakura''s eyes, "Save your gratitude until the end. If you were still able to smile like this even after losing, you can thank me, later" Saying what she wanted to say, Hyori continued to walk forward. Meanwhile, Sakura''s face immediately changed to seriousness. She wasn''t taunting Hyori like the latter thought it is. Her feelings are really genuine. However, she didn''t realize that she spoke those words at the wrong timing. Thinking that her opponent threw a challenge, Sakura felt like she should become serious in the next two rounds. Followed by Hyori, Sakura reached the grounds and heard several people are cheering for her opponent. "Huh!" For a moment, she halted her steps in surprise as she looked around. She didn''t know what happened that made the audience rooting for the opponent but it no longer matter to her. With both of them, taking the positions, the technical official pressed the button. Two targets that were placed 60 meters away, started to oscillate. The only difference is that both of them are oscillating at the same speed and weren''t reducing their distance as time passed. "After the signal is being given, both of you will have 30 seconds to shoot. In case, any of you don''t release the arrow within the allotted time, then, the score will be declared as zero." The technical official reminded them of the rules and then, looked at the oscillating targets. As soon as the both of them reached one of the peaks, both of them received the signal and drew the bows. The 30-second timer started on the screen. *Swoosh* Sakura didn''t even waste any time and shoot the arrow as soon as the timer began. The arrow cut through the air and hit the target. "Ten" Commentator Yamamura screamed in excitement. "Amazing. Fujimori Sakura once again proved that her accuracy is top-notch. On the other hand, it seems, Lee Hyori seemed like she was biding her time. What do you think, Mr. Kim? Was she in high pressure?" "No, I don''t think so." Junho shook his head, "There''s no trace of stress on her. Her facial expression tells that she was concentrating deeply and also seemed to aim for something" Just as his words ended, Hyori released the arrow while the target about to reach the lowest point. It hit the dead center, contrary to Sakura''s shot that hit almost the edge of the ten-point circle. *Whew* Hyori let out a sigh as she put down the bow. Sakura narrowed her eyes for a second before she took out the next arrow from the quiver while the authorities are removing the arrows from the target. "Okay, you can do it Hyori" Hyori drew the bow, once again. "These two girls really increased the level of IAC." Even though Commentator Wang personally supported Hyori, with the presence of Junho in the commentary box, he decided to be neutral to maintain the level of fairness. However, still, he can''t help but sneakily pass out the comments in Hyori''s favor. "With both of them still in their first years, it will become tough for other competitors in the following two years. However, the more pressing matter right now is whether Hyori will be able to take revenge by winning this championship or not" Just as Commentator Yamamura about to say something, both of them suddenly received a piece of news from the authorities. Commentator Yamamura then said, "We mentioned at the start about the possibility of rainfall, but right now, judging by the state of the clouds, I guess it might fall at any time soon. "Well, as long as the rain isn''t heavy, it''s alright" Junho shrugged his shoulders. He didn''t consider this as an issue because this is an outdoor sport. In his view, these athletes should have been prepared for such a scenario. The battle went on for little more than 20 minutes. Only one shot left and both of them tied with 187-187. Of the nineteen shots, while Hyori missed the ten-pointer three times and scored nine, Sakura, on the other hand, made a slight mistake once and score 7. Her seven points made Hyori relax a little bit as she had a 3 point lead, and eventually, she made mistakes over and over again. However, she didn''t expect Sakura to equalize the score by shooting the rest of them into the center ring. Once again, as the pressure got to her, Hyori found her hands shaking a little bit. She immediately put down the bow as Sakura shot her next arrow which turned to be another ten. "C''mon, Hyori. Be calm" Hyori closed her eyes and stayed still to empty her thoughts. Watching Hyori from the stands, Wil leaned forward while making fists in nervousness. "C''mon, Hyori. What are you waiting for... There''s only 10 seconds left." Just as the timer reached 5 seconds, she drew the bow and looked at the target that was about to reach the peak. *Swoosh* Just as she released the arrow, all of a sudden, a bright flash of lightning appeared inside the gathering dark clouds, followed by a powerful sound of thunder. Hyori shivered for an instant in reflex as she released the arrow. Once again, the thunder roared in the clouds and it slowly started to rain. Hyori raised her head and looked at the sky as her bow slipped from her hand to fell on the ground. "It seems she''s given up." Watching Hyori, Scarlet out a comment. Upon hearing her comment, Hyori''s mother''s face filled in worry. Meanwhile, a frown appeared on Wil''s face. Chapter 346: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-3 Heavy rain continued to pour down from the sky. With the roof covering the upper half of the seats, everyone changed the seats. Thankfully, the capacity of the stadium exceeded twice that of the current number of spectators. So, everyone managed to find seats under the roof. Watching the heavy rain, Silver commented, "It looks like the rain isn''t going to stop anytime soon" "What will happen to the match?" Wil asked with a frown on his face. When it thundered, while everyone thought Hyori missed her mark because of a sudden shiver in fright, Wil, on the other hand, clearly saw her hand shook for a few seconds after she put down her hand. He realized right away that her hand reached the limit. He doesn''t know why everyone else failed to notice it but Wil saw it clearly. In the second round, after the fifth or sixth arrow, her arm started to become red. By the end of the last arrow, one can easily catch how much stress is on her right hand. Wil wondered whether it is the injury acting up again. At present, watching the heavy rain, Wil hoped the third round to be postponed or to be canceled for he knew Hyori''s competitive spirit. As he asked Silver about the match, the latter replied, "I will enquire about it, Young Master. You don''t need to worry about canceling or the announcement of Ms. Fujimori''s win. The sports minister is close to close to us, anyway. You might not remember it but he came to Lord Philip''s funeral" While Silver is trying to reassure Wil that Hyori will not face unfairness, Wil suddenly turned his attention to his mother upon hearing her words during her conversation with Hyori''s mother. A minute ago; "Mrs. Lee, I think it''s better to hope that rain will go on" Scarlet was talking to Hyori''s parents with her back facing Wil. "Eh?" Hyori''s parents were taken aback in surprise. Mrs. Lee then said, "At this rate, the match will be canceled or will be declared in Hyori''s opponent''s favor. How would that be good?" "You misunderstood my intentions." Scarlet shook her head and explained, "both of you failed to notice how much your daughter is struggling to pull the bowstring. It looked like something happened to her hand. There are even two small scars on her skin. Those cuts are probably made by a blade." "Eh? Scars?" Along with the parents, even Jiwon and Hyunjoo were stunned, this time. This particular sentence attracted Wil''s attention. He wondered how his mother managed to analyze it so perfectly. Is it because she spent years with his father in that mafia gang? Or is it just because she''s smart enough to figure it out? He can''t help but wonder. Meanwhile, Jiwon chipped in, "But, Auntie, Hyori-unnie has never cooked in her whole life. She never held a knife too." "I''m not talking about kitchen knife, Jiwon." Scarlet shook her head in a serious tone. If not for addressing the serious issue, Scarlet would have smiled due to Jiwon''s cheerful personality. Clearly, she liked her. Oblivious to Wil''s gaze from behind, she continued, "It was clear that she was being assaulted by a knife quite recently or it might be self-harm. I''m inclining to the former." Hyori''s parents were instantly terrified upon listening to Scarlet''s words. Even the cheerful Jiwon can''t help but frown at the moment. "My daughter is being assaulted? What What are you you talking about, Ms. Quilton?" Mr. Lee stuttered as he uttered the words in disbelief. Even his wife seemed to be in denial, "Maybe, you are mistaken, Mrs. Quilton." Just then, Wil who was silently listening to their conversation opened his mouth, "A week ago, Hyori was robbed at the airport." "Huh!" Everyone turned towards him. Upon revealing the truth, Hyori''s parents didn''t ask him why he hasn''t informed them about it. Instead, they thanked him once again for taking care of Hyori. Scarlet also finally realized why Wil accompanied her all the way to this city. She felt Wil must have been worried about letting her go alone in such a state. It made her suspicions grew further regarding Wil and Hyori''s relationship. If she didn''t know that Wil engaged to the girl that he doesn''t love, she would have believed it was a concern for a friend but the fact that Wil''s engagement was nothing but an indirect business proposal made her think otherwise. After all, she knew that men in Raven''s family fall for women who are good at Archery just like how Philip fell for her at the first sight when she was practicing Archery. She also heard from her ex-husband how Wil''s paternal grandmother was also an Archer. Along with Wil, while everyone from Wil''s family and Hyori''s family is hoping for the rain to continue, in the waiting room, the person in question was peacefully sleeping in a sitting motion with her head resting on the wall. The ice pack on her hand was melted long ago and reverted to gel. A while later, she woke up from her nap. The first thing she did is to raise her hand to check its condition. Rotating her wrists and then, arms, she sighed in relief, "Looks like it''s good to go." Applying a gel ice pack on her hand and with enough time passed, the pain in her hand was temporarily gone. She then looked at the wall clock and was surprised to realize that more than 90 minutes has been passed. Her eyes then fell on the screens before her. "The rain hasn''t been stopped yet?" Hyori began to worry that the third round will be canceled and she will be declared as the runner-up. She started to pray for the rain to stop so that she can resume her duel. However, as if the god of rains and thunder isn''t intending to listen to her prayers, the heavy rainfall continued for the next half an hour with thunder rumbling in the clouds from time to time. Meanwhile, at one of the rooms in the stadium, a meeting was taking place between the staff. As the relevant authorities kept requesting the sports minister to annul the finals between Sakura and Hyori, Imada Genichi, slammed the desk in anger. "I know that it''s already been more than 2 hours and there''s no sign of weather change. You don''t need to remind me about it. But, no matter what, the finals can''t be canceled. How would people take it? Fujimori Sakura was leading the game by 2:1. Canceling the finals will bring criticism. We can cancel the third round for the high school division but canceling the third round and declaring Fujimori Sakura as the winner will also bring criticism from the media. Let''s just wait for one more hour. If the rain didn''t stop by then, we can postpone it to tomorrow." Upon hearing his stance on this matter, the organizing committee''s representative spoke, "We have our orders from the President. The finals have to be done by today and can''t be postponed." Remembering how stubborn the Eastern Archery Association''s (EAA) president is, Imada Genichi gritted his teeth and said, "fine, then. Let''s change the venue. Transfer all the robots to the Gymnasium. The competition will be held there." "But, the capacity of the Gymnasium isn''t big. Barely, a thousand people can fit in there" The representative voiced his worries. Genichi shook his head, "only the participants, the robots, and the staff will be present. The audience will watch the finals on their mobile phones. Take care of the preparations." Chapter 347: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-4 The ground of Wular university''s soccer stadium was almost flooded due to heavy rainfall. Meanwhile, several people, especially the locals and the university students, stood up from their seats and left the stadium one by one with the authorities announcing the third round of the finals will be broadcasted online. In no time, more than half of the stadium was emptied. The remaining took out their mobile phones to watch the live stream. Looking at the situation, Wil wondered why the staff didn''t just place the screens under the roof and stream it there. Wouldn''t it be better to watch on such a big screen rather than watching on mobile phones or laptops? But, as the match started, he threw away the useless thoughts and concentrated on his phone. *** With no audience around, the two high school kids, Hyori and Sakura, entered the gymnasium together. All of them saw a line was drawn on the floor and ten robots were standing 50 meters away from the line. Each of these robots has three targets fixed on their bodies, one on the forehead, the second is on the abdomen and the final one is being hidden from their vision as it was placed at their back. Unlike the usual targets with ten concentric rings, these ones have only four. They were painted in white, blue, yellow, and black. Hyori and Sakura took their seats as the finalists of the high school division started the final round. Watching the match from the screen in the commentator box, the two commentators and the guest started their commentary. With no time limit being set, the match went on for an hour. In the meantime, the rains also became light. However, no one cared about it as the third round is already about to end. As the girl overpowered the boy in the third category, the three of them couldn''t help but cheer for her. Even though she lost the championship, the high school senior from the Ares Academy managed to win the third round. The audience also applauded for her performance where she managed to hit all the targets in 42 out of 50 arrows, which itself is a worthy feat to remember. After all, she isn''t a monster like Hyori and Sakura. After both of their finals finished, everyone watched a ten-minute dance performance on their mobile screens. Wil and some others felt it was weird as the performance wasn''t needed right now. But, as the performance turned out to be great, no one complained about it and continued to watch the live stream. A while later; "Finally, Fujimori Sakura and Lee Hyori came on to the stage." Commentator Wang and Commentator Yamamura screamed together. A group of male students who stayed behind instead of returning to the dorms cheered loudly for them even though the participants cannot hear them. Upon spotting the collective cheering from university students, pro-Archer Junho also actively cheered for Hyori. "Now, this battle is a lot important for Ms. Lee," Commentator Wang then spoke of the rule that was just added a while ago. "With Fujimori Sakura leading the game by 2-1, Ms. Lee had no choice but to win this round to go for a tie break where both of them will continue to shoot the arrows with the remaining arrows they were left." "Now, Fujimori Sakura has a big advantage here." Commentator Yamamura reminded everyone of the advantage Sakura had in this match. "Each one will be given only 50 arrows and there are 30 targets. To win the tournament, she doesn''t even need to win this round. As long as she was able to hit the targets without worrying about the score in as few arrows as possible, she would be able to save many arrows for the tie break. On the other hand, lee Hyori cannot afford to save arrows. Her focus should be on getting a high score. Facing such huge pressure, she has a higher probability of missing the targets." However, in the next moment, Commentator Yamamura''s words were stuck on the throat as he fell into a daze. First, the robots started to move in random directions. After they were separated from each other, the technical official whistled to start the match. Upon receiving the signal, both of them raised the bow and aimed at one of the robots. Sakura didn''t take much time in targeting a robot and fired the arrow as soon as she spotted a robot facing her direction. Robot no.6 abdomen''s target was successfully pierced by the arrow. It was barely landed in the black ring due to the robot''s sudden change of direction just before it was struck by the arrow. Meanwhile, Hyori closed her eyes for a few seconds and then, looked at her target, once again. Instead of the robot, she imagined it to be a troll from the virtual world of War Online. She aimed at its forehead. *Ting* A loud sound of the string reverberated in the surroundings as Hyori released the arrow. It cut through the air like a flash and struck the target placed at the head of one of the robots. Shockingly, not only it was hit in the tiny black ring, which is worth 10 points, but it also hit in the dead center. Even Sakura was surprised to see Hyori''s sudden move. After all, hitting the abdomen target is easier than the one on the forehead. Not to mention, the robot''s head was slightly tilted to the side as it walking in the 5 o''clock direction. Still, the arrow struck at the dead center. Not caring about the earlier success, Hyori withdrew the bow once again while maintaining a serious look on her face. Instead of looking for other targets, Hyori put her focus on the robot that she hit earlier. She plans to go one after the other. Soon, she found the opportunity. Robot no.8, which was struck by Hyori, earlier, now, changed its direction. Hyori found the target on its back. She quickly walked to the side without crossing the line that was painted on the floor and shot the second arrow while tilting her body in the same direction as the target. Half an hour later; "Another ten" Commentator Wang was jumping around like a kid in excitement. "Now, this was the eleventh perfect shot in a row. Lee Hyori was leading the game with 110-103." "Lee Hyori" "Lee Hyori" "Lee Hyori" The stadium was filled with cheers from Hyori''s supporters. However, Sakura seemed calm on the outside. In fact, she was even smiling as if she was enjoying the feeling of losing. Looking at her expression, Wil felt like the girl is toying with Hyori. Something told him that either this girl might be hiding her real skills or she just wanted to take the match to tie break by saving as many arrows as she can so that she can get a clean victory just like Commentator Yamamura mentioned earlier. Back to the match, Hyori''s concentration is at her peak, and she shot all the remaining arrows without missing the black ring. "And Hyori finished the third round with a perfect score." Commentator Wang was high on clouds as he screamed in delight. "With a score of 300-273, Hyori won the third round and leveled the game with 2-2. Now, the match is going into a tie break where both of these finalists will have 20 each." Chapter 348: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-5 "Now, both of us have the equal amount of arrows, targets, time, and pressure. Let''s see how you make use of this opportunity" Sakura mumbled as she glanced at Hyori. The technical official proceeds to tell the rules of the tie break while the staff members brought a ball launcher into the gymnasium and placed it 45 meters away from them. "Both of you were remaining with 20 arrows each. The one before you is a ball launcher which is generally used to train goalkeepers but for now, it will be the one that decides the winner. Every 30 seconds, a soccer ball will be launched towards the ceiling with a speed of 5 meters per second. That would mean, the ball will touch the ceiling in roughly 3 seconds. Within that time, both of you need to shoot the target with the arrows. The match ends when both of you will be emptied of arrows. The total number of soccer balls is 100. So, you can choose not to shoot if you think you can''t hit it. But, if you release the arrow, hitting the target will earn you 10 points, and missing it will earn you 0 points. And the final reminder is that there are no separate targets for both of you. There will be only one single target. In case the two of you managed struck the same target, the one who struck it first will get ten points and the slower one will only receive 5 points. Now, please get into your positions and get ready." At first, Wil thought it would have been better if it''s either ten or zero, but then, he wondered whether the rule was implemented to reduce the chances of a tie as much as possible. *Whistle* The first soccer ball has been launched towards the ceiling as Sakura and Hyori were ready to shoot. *Swoosh* *Swoosh* Both of them released the arrows at the same time. However, before the soccer ball even moved up a couple of meters, it was pierced by one of the arrows, making it abruptly change its direction in the midway and crash onto the wall while deflating. The second arrow that seemed slower than the first, missed its mark and struck the ceiling before falling onto the floor. Hyori turned her head to stare at her opponent, displaying shock on her face. Not only Hyori, even the audience, as well as the judges, couldn''t help but go into a daze for a few seconds. Sakura finally displayed the full power of her specially designed compound bow. Hyori finally realized how much this opponent of hers is holding back until now. Meanwhile, in the soccer stadium, Scarlet nodded with praising Sakura, "Looks like she had mastered the falcon shot. Hyori''s chances to win against her are less than 1%." "Falcon shot?" Along with Hyori''s family, even Rey, Mia, Silver, and Aster also looked at Scarlet, asking for an explanation. On the other hand, a memory from the past jogged in Wil''s mind. A few years ago, in a bull arena, Andrea was teaching him the arrow techniques. "Today, I''m going to teach you the ultimate technique in Archery. It''s called Falcon shot. It has very high requirements. The first requirement is that your draw weight should be at least 60% of your body weight. The second requirement is that you should be comfortable enough to shoot a dozen arrows in a row without struggling. The third requirement is that you should maintain perfect accuracy even in such conditions. Accuracy is more important. Of course, you can lessen the requirement with a compound bow and even skip the requirements altogether if you were in a state of survival instinct but still, it''s better to learn the hard way. Once you achieve the three requirements, you should practice this grip. Look closely at my fingers" Andrea put the tail of the arrow between her middle finger and ring finger and then, brought all the fingers together like a fist as she drew the bow. "This will help you drew more weight. Now, after you drew the bow, you should tilt the bow to anywhere between 30 to 60 degrees, depending on where you stand. It''s better if you don''t stand straight to the target. If you are right-handed, then, you should move right, depending on the distance between you and the target. Sure, the distance will increase but at the same time, your arrow speed will also increase more." As Andrea releases her hand, it cut through the air and made a hole in a target that''s 3 inches in depth before disappearing from the sight. Back to the present; Before Scarlet gets to explain what a falcon shot really is, Junho from the commentary box revealed the technique to everyone else. Despite supporting Hyori, he still praised Sakura for unleashing such a technique which is very rare even in the world of Pro. He further said that Sakura shouldn''t use this technique too many times as it will take a heavy toll on her thin and petite body. To everyone''s surprise, Sakura once again fired the arrow in the same way as before... Her arrow zoomed like a lightning, piercing the soccer ball just like the first shot. Once again, Hyori''s arrow missed the target and she fell behind the score. With 18 arrows left, Sakura gained a solid lead of 20-0. Hyori''s family and the supporters became worried for Hyori as she refused to shoot for the next three arrows, letting the score go to 50-0. On the other hand, Wil felt like it is a smart move. Wil wondered whether Hyori has figured out the side-effect of this technique. He felt it would be better for her to wait until either Sakura make a mistake or shoot normally. After all, there are 100 soccer balls and only 5 have been launched. So, he hoped that Hyori wouldn''t rush. And soon, Junho''s warning has been confirmed after Sakura had shot the 10th arrow. Her fair thin left arm shook for a couple of seconds because of overbowing. Until now, Hyori has yet to shoot her 3rd arrow. Now that she got the signal, she finally drew the bow for the next launch. Meanwhile, Sakura kept an ice pack on her left arm and took a rest for the next minute, skipping the next two targets. Hyori took advantage of it and shot the two of them successfully, reducing the gap to 80, although Sakura has 10 arrows left while Hyori still has 16 arrows in the quiver. She thought Sakura will take 5-10 minutes at the very least. Between this time, she intended to score as much as possible as she realized the huge difference between the two of them. Meanwhile, the commentator Wang and Pro-Archer Junho voiced their opinions about how Sakura is too reckless for not caring about the consequences. Commentator Yamamura wasn''t able to defend her actions as he too agrees with them. Just then, Sakura stood up from the seat and walked to the line. She raised the bow and placed the arrow between the fingertips. However, instead of using her left hand, she was grabbing the bow in her right hand and drew the bow with her left while waiting for the countdown. Hyori wondered whether Sakura is feeling pressure *Swoosh* *Swoosh* Both of the arrows once again released at the same time and once again, the result of the first bout has been repeated. Looking at the stunned Hyori, Sakura smiled, "I forgot to mention that I''m ambidextrous." Chapter 349: Intercontinental Archery Championship finals part-6 "Ambidextrous?" Hyori''s face darkened as soon as Sakura revealed her trump card. This was the third time Hyori was battling Sakura in the finals and she also had watched her past videos too but never had she found Sakura using her left hand in a competition. So, when she saw Sakura holding up the bow in her right hand, Hyori thought her opponent might have trained to shoot the arrows with the left hand just like herself. However, to her shock, Sakura had not only displayed that she can shoot extremely well with her left hand but also defeated her in the same manner. Hyori felt like everything about her having a chance to win the game is just an illusion. If that''s the case, why hasn''t Sakura finished off earlier? When such a question popped up in her mind, she remembered the conversation she had with Sakura just before the 2nd round started. Realization dawned upon her. Hyori finally realized that her opponent was just toying with her because she wants to have fun. At that moment, her spirit was completely broken. For the remaining shots, she didn''t even try it seriously and just casually shot the arrows. After that, there are no more surprises to either the audience or the judges. The match became completely one-sided in Sakura''s favor. In the end, Sakura won the tie break with 200 to 50 thereby, winning the Championship. "It''s been a fun match, Hyori. You are really the best Archer I''ve ever battled in my age group." Sakura kept a smile on her face while being oblivious to Hyori''s feelings. She didn''t realize her little act brought a huge change to her opponent. Hyori took the hand and shake for a few seconds before leaving for the waiting room. "After a neck-on-neck battle, the finals went into a tie break and Fujimori Sakura has claimed the winning trophy for the third time in a row with two of them from the high school division." As Commentator Yamamura screamed at the top of his lungs, the supporters of Hyori couldn''t help but let out a deep sigh. Even Wil and his family were the same. Wil didn''t expect her opponent is far better than her. In his eyes, even ''One'' is no match for this petite girl from the Ares University. Of course, being the strongest in the virtual world of War Online, he knew that Sakura won''t be a match for him inside the game. However, when imagining himself going against her in real life, Wil felt like he will be completely crushed. It developed a sense of competitiveness inside of him. Wil decided to take Archery classes seriously even outside the game. At the same time, there''s one more person who was deeply affected by this match. His sister, Mia. Unlike the experts, she wasn''t able to see the depth of Archery in this match. Instead, she was amazed while watching the finals. "Mom, I want to become a Pro Archer." While Scarlet was consoling Hyori''s mother, Mia suddenly announced her goal. As everyone around was taken aback by her words and looked at her, she looked at Scarlet and asked, "Can I start learning Archery once we get back?" "Okay, now, you want to become a Pro Archer Great" Scarlet casually commented, not taking her statement seriously. "This time, I''m serious, Mom." Mia''s face darkened as she saw Scarlet doesn''t seem enthusiastic about her decision. She knew why. Continuing to look at her phone, Scarlet said, "Really? I still remember, when you were 8, you said you will become a pilot. Then, a year later, on your 9th birthday, you said you will become a police officer. Then, you suddenly changed your dream to architect, then, astronaut. Just a few days ago, you said you want to become an idol and you also mentioned you were serious about it. Can''t believe I fell for it and waste money on your dancing classes. No more dancing classes from now onwards. You will come straight home after the school timings are over." "Mom" Mia screamed, attracting the attention of the nearby audience who were waiting for the presentation ceremony. "Ummpf" Rey, who sat between Scarlet and Mia, immediately, closed her mouth before the situation escalates, "Mia, everyone is staring at us. We can talk it out at home. Not here" He slowly whispered to her. At first, Wil wanted to intervene by supporting Mia but as Rey quickly calmed the situation, Wil didn''t get the chance to do that and stayed silent. Meanwhile, Scarlet doesn''t seem like she''s in a mood to care about Mia''s tantrum. Her focus is on the replay of the final match. The more she looks at it, the more she found it interesting, not Sakura but Hyori. Looking at her, Scarlet couldn''t help but reminisce about her past. She was at the same age when she married Philip and gave birth to Wil. She said to her daughter that she had grew up in a middle class family but in reality, in search for freedom, she and her sister escaped from a certain organization at 16. After that, Andrea took the route of joining Vulture while Scarlet took the route of normal life filled with freedom. Yet, fate decided to let her fell in love with the Mafia Lord of all the people in the world. Suddenly, she felt the desire to mentor Hyori, but then, she quickly threw the thoughts away, not wanting to get back to being the person she was, twenty-two years ago. Soon, the presentation ceremony started featuring the current world champion Kim Junho presenting the medals to the winners, runner-ups, and third place holders. Along with the gold medal, Sakura also received 1 million Yuan prize money as well as a golden trophy. As for Hyori and the other runner up from the high school division, each of them received a silver medal and a hundred thousand Yuan prize money. The next day afternoon, a private jet landed in Tristan Airport of the Ares city. A group of five exited the airport and aboard the vehicles filled with guards. As the four vehicles hit the roads, Wil looked outside through the window glass and let out a sigh, "Nothing''s going according to my plan... I''m out of luck these days" Chapter 350: Williard Ravens Smith Two days ago, at Miyazaki Mansion; As usual, the mother and eldest daughter pair were having some meeting with the former Secretary of Human Resources Development (Education Minister) at the mansion. Upon the bill being passed just a while ago, as the federation is going into divided into two parties within 3 months, the current President placed his entire bets on his semi immortality plan. On the other hand, Reisa and her supporters were too busy roping the officials and businessmen into Republican Party way ahead of the time. They placed their bets on gathering votes with benefits This former education minister was a person who served the federation for three consecutive terms in the past. However, his critic remarks against Adler''s predecessor''s actions regarding the privatization of universities and a dozen other things made the current President not to indicate him in the current term when he was reelected. Right now, Reisa wanted to rope him in as he was still influential, especially from the people of the western continent. *Buzz* *Buzz* Kiyumi''s mobile phone vibrated. Just as she was about to reject the call, she saw the name displayed on the screen. "Mr. Silver?" Thinking that it''s going to be an important call, she excused herself and walked away before taking the call. "Hello?" "Hello, Ms. Miyazaki." "Mr. Silver" "I wanted to inform you that Young Master is visiting Ares city to meet your family, day after tomorrow. Ma''am Scarlet and her children were also coming with him specifically to meet your mother. Please make preparations." Silver informed them of Wil''s visit, not knowing that Wil only lied to Scarlet and never planned on visiting his fiance''s family. He wanted to give them an excuse and sent them back to Leafway city with Hyori''s family while he alone goes to HQ to attend the board meeting. However, due to Silver''s intervention, Wil was now forced to make his lie into truth. Back to the present; Everyone checked into the hotel arranged by Kiyumi beforehand. Reisa also called all of her daughters and her ex-husband once again to take the flight right away for the following day''s dinner. At first, Daniel refused the offer as he had a general level meeting at Pregas city in the western continent. However, Reisa threatened him that she will not let him meet her daughter forever if he doesn''t listen to her demand as for her, this meeting is extremely important. Four-star General Daniel, who can be considered as the second most powerful person in the western continent''s army, couldn''t help but adhere to her demand. Since it takes 14-18 hours of journey from Pregas to Ares city, he didn''t waste time and aboard a private jet right away after mailing his only direct superior, the five-star general and the Supreme Commander of the Western Continent''s Military. The next day morning, like last time, Mia intended to spend some time with Wil and also invite him for breakfast. She knocked on the door to wake him up if he''s still asleep. However, this time, the door didn''t open no matter how many times she knocked on it. Making a sad face, she returned to her room. Scarlet, who was enjoying her morning coffee on the bed, saw her expression and asked, "What happened?" "Big Brother didn''t open the door," Mia spoke in a depressed tone. "I guess he might be too tired from the journey" Just as her words ended, her phone rang. It''s from Silver. "Yes" "I see It''s alright?" "Hmm? The city tour. Just a sec" Covering the mic, Scarlet looked at Mia, "Sweetie, it seems your big brother left early to attend the board meeting at his company and will be back by noon. Silver is asking whether you are interested in a tour around the city." "Tour?" Mia''s eyes lit up instantly. "Sure, mom." "Go and tell your brother to get ready. We''ll go out after having breakfast. We can also shop around a bit" After passing the instruction to Mia, Scarlet then continued her conversation with Silver. Meanwhile, at Scarlet HQ; Wil stepped down from the vehicle and was received by Storm and Jordon. As he was too early, only a couple of directors were assembled at the entrance hall. However, most of the Elite employees of the company were summoned and right now, standing uniformly behind them. The last time he came here, he was full of depression. So, he didn''t pay much attention. However, right now, his heart was beating rapidly due to nervousness. Taking a deep breath, Wil looked at them once again. This time, he treated them as if they were NPCs in the game. Suddenly, all the nervousness disappeared from him. Only then did he remove the shades showing a confident look in his eyes. Shaking hands with the directors, Wil then said, "I guess the two of you might have already been informed of the reason for my visit. Regardless, let me say it in person. I''ll give you one hour. I need all the board members in the boardroom." Wil then left with Storm to the Chairman''s office which has been empty since the foundation. Yet, it was properly maintained as if the Chairman sits in the office to do the work. The last time when Wil visited the company, he only practiced Archery and then, participated in a world battle tournament before returning to Yarlford city. So, it''s his first time stepping inside this room. "Young Master, please" Storm pointed the seat with his hand. On the desk, along with the desktop, there''s a nameplate with his name, Williard Ravens Smith, and his designation as the Chairman of the company, on it. At first, Wil was taken aback to see his maternal surname has been added at the end. When he confronted Storm about it, the latter simply replied that Wil''s father, the late Mafia Lord Philip wanted to honor Wil''s mother''s surname too. It made him remember the meeting he had with Silver who visited Leafway city, a couple of months ago before his father died. Back then, Silver mentioned how Wil''s identity will be revealed as Willard Smith after turning 21 and graduating from college. However, now that Mafia Lord is dead and the Vulture gang is disbanded, it was no longer necessary for Wil''s surname to change. Still, to honor the wishes of Philip, Storm made this nameplate. Wil also had no problem using this as his full name now that his mother is no longer Scarlet Smith but Scarlet Quilton. So, with this, he can also honor his maternal ancestors. Wil walked to the desk and took his seat. Storm couldn''t help but take out his mobile phone and asked whether he can take the picture, mentioning that how this day is memorable. Later, he sent the photo to Silver who is at the hotel. After a while, the nine directors along with CEO Storm Woods and President Jordon sat down after Wil taking the Chairman''s seat. "Okay first, let me hear what you all have to say. I wanted to hear the problems in the company directly from your mouths." Leaning forward to the edge of the seat, Wil placed elbows on the table and folded his fingers while looking at the directors that majorly run the company in his absence. Chapter 351: Board meeting at Scarlet HQ part-1 For a while, silence ensued in the boardroom. They thought that Wil was going to announce something. But instead, as he asked about the problems the company is facing on, they were taken aback, thinking that Wil might have caught onto something. "Hmm, what happened?" Wil was also surprised by their reactions. "Why everyone is silent? I asked you to tell me the problems the company is facing right now." Storm who is acting as the current CEO of the company immediately replied, "Everything is being taken care of, young master. There''s nothing for you to worry about." Wil didn''t find anything amiss and stated his opinion, "Of course, I believe in your capabilities but I need to know how the company works if I''m going to work as the Chairman. If everything is solved, then, tell me what problems the company faced and how you guys resolved it." It was only after hearing these words did everyone sigh in relief. "Well, uh for a while, the company''s revenue doesn''t seem good as before as the total number of employees was cut into half." Storm diverted Wil by pointing another problem. "Continue" Wil''s face turned serious as he was the one that took the decision. Storm continued, "Regarding one of our subsidiary companies, SGC, we had to rent studio apartment buildings to temporarily open the branches in nine cities as you ordered. Along with that, following your orders, we installed an A-grade capsule in those offices one per employee so that they play War Online for the young master. Each capsule costs 200 thousand credits which is equivalent to 20000 WD (western dollars). Just buying those alone cost 50 million dollars for the company. Along with that, each of them was given a salary of 10000 EY (Eastern Yuan) per month which is otherwise, 5000 WD. The salaries, the rental costs, accommodation for employees, enormous electricity bill as such, the parent company had to pay for SGC even though its revenue stands at 0. Director Long had mentioned that SGC still might take a couple of months before it started to generate profits. Adding on top of that, due to the less staff and elites, several branches weren''t able to take the missions like before, which resulted in fewer earnings. To meet the demands of the clients, a few days ago, we started recruiting people, mostly from martial arts and sports clubs. We are also in talks with other smaller security agencies to take over their company and merge into ours." In reality, the issue mentioned by Storm isn''t even an issue to Wil. After all, Scarlet group is a twenty-billion-dollar company where everything was owned by a single person. So, none of the directors in the company need to worry either about the share value or shareholders The costs weren''t much for Wil who had around 50 billion dollars in his private account of Federation Bank and another hundred billion dollars in his father''s locked account. Just the monthly interest from the Bank of Federation will cover all these losses. However, Wil didn''t know that the real issue they were hiding in the lawsuit with the largest electronics company in the world, Texel Electronics. The problem arose three weeks ago when Storm became the CEO. With Storm''s permission, Scarlet Finance, one of the subsidiary companies of Scarlet Group, had issued a high-interest loan of six billion dollars to a bank to save it from being bankrupt. But, he didn''t expect the bank owner would immediately transfer eighty percent of it to an IT giant Texel Group to repay the debts before committing suicide. The bank owner''s family and one billion dollars are nowhere to be found while the bank went bankrupt. The Scarlet Group filed a case against Texel and it is going for three weeks now. The police are still investigating the whereabouts of the missing family and money. Six billion dollars isn''t a small sum of money even for Wil much less for these directors. The amount was so big that it made even a forever loyal person like Storm hide the matter from Wil and Silver. As Silver was heavily focusing on running the non-combat guild in the game, he didn''t know of it, yet. Storm was too embarrassed to tell Silver. To recover the losses, Storm didn''t even hesitate to transfer the billion dollars he received from the will into the company''s account. At the same time, he also accepted some illegal jobs like smuggling weapons from the eastern continent to the other mafia groups in the western continent. Using several private teams full of Elites from the Vulture gang who were loyal to him, he was also extorting money from several rich businessmen using life threats or kidnappings. Wil thought that he would be able to make every thug and killer of his father''s Vulture gang live a normal life that isn''t filled with crime. However, he was too na?ve to think that they can be changed so quickly just because they followed him. However, now that Storm is the one that''s doing business, these former thugs selected by him were working even more enthusiastically than in the past they missed such life. Despite all of it, Storm still knew that it will take a while to recover such a huge amount of money. So, until then, he intended to keep Wil in the dark. He even threatened the board members to stay silent. As the left hand of the late Mafia, this top assassin of the Vulture gang was indeed feared by the directors. So, they kept their lips sealed. Wil, who was oblivious to everything, thought that Storm was worrying too much regarding SGC. With a smile on his face, Wil tried to reassure him. "Don''t worry. SGC will soon start earning profits. I''ve already laid the groundwork in the game. All we had is to just wait until the right time. Anyway, is there anything else I would like to know?" Storm shook his head in a hurry, "no, Young master. As I have said earlier, everything is being handled great." "Good." Wil nodded and then, looked at the other board members. Just as he about to say something, one of the directors said, "Young master I mean, Mr. Chairman, I want to say something." Wil looked at the woman. It''s Maria, who took care of him the last time he visited the company. Meanwhile, a frown appeared on Storm''s face. Right now, in the situation, he doesn''t want anyone to even open their mouths. As a guilty party, he couldn''t help but be alert every time, even more so in the presence of Wil. "Yes, please proceed" Wil said to her. Maria then voiced her opinion, "As for June 2020, our Scarlet Group''s current net worth stands at 23.2 billion dollars if we include all of five subsidiary companies under us. Scarlet Securities was operating in 58 cities in the Eastern Continent so far. Along with that, our subsidiary company, Scarlet Finance has 46 branches; Scarlet Training center is established in 21 cities; Scarlet Life Insurance has almost reached 62 cities and 288 towns; 12 branches of Scarlet Logistics; Five branches of Scarlet Mortgage; What I want to say is that despite all of this, our company still isn''t a match for giant corporations like Texel, Star, Numerical, etc I think it''s time for us to go public for the bright future of our company. I request you to please consider it before making the decision." Wil stayed silent while processing all the information in his brain. Chapter 352: Board meeting at Scarlet HQ part-2 Originally, Wil had no intentions of making the company go public because of three reasons. One, he isn''t really interested to earn more money as he was content with what he has. Not to mention, his current wealth is more than enough for even the next ten generations. Two, he was worried that he wouldn''t be able to play War Online in peace if the company goes public as he will have to work harder in the future to care about the company''s net worth, share price, investing of other giant corporations, frequent board meetings, etc... And three, if the company goes public, the board of directors will have more authority than in the present situation. They can even remove him as the chairman if necessary like how he did with Lu Heibei. But, if he owns everything, his words will be final and no one would dare go against his wishes. He doesn''t want to bother with all this stuff and let the company run as it is However, upon learning that Scarlet Group even has five subsidiary companies, he fell into deep thoughts. It''s not about whether to go public or not. Rather, he was thinking about something else. Until now, he thought Scarlet Securities is the only company that was generating profits. In his past life, he stayed Ecrin city in the western continent, where Scarlet Group or its subsidiaries doesn''t operate. So, he knows nothing about it, before either. His father died without telling him anything and Silver was just letting him do what he wanted to do. Upon listening to the details from Maria, Wil now realized that several companies needed to be taken care of. Just changing a few rules within the company won''t do. He also needed to understand how the other companies work. If they aren''t generating sufficient profits, Wil intended to close them down and shift the staff to newly acquired Ravens Tech As Wil continued to think, the whole room was filled with silence. No one opened their mouths and just stared at Wil, waiting for his response. After a while, Wil finally opened his mouth, "For now, the company stays private. Ms. Glades, I will consider your suggestion once I sort out everything. But first, let me inform all of you regarding the changes I decided to implement, starting from tomorrow." Everyone just stared at him in silence. In their eyes, since Wil was just a kid without any experience of running the company, they wondered now what kind of mess he will create now. Last time, when he cut back the staff and shifted to his little gaming company, they faced severe losses and received several complaints from the rich clients. Wil then raised his hand and showed them five fingers. "One, There will be no more private assignments. If an employee is in dire need of money, the company will provide a loan with low interests or even no interests if necessary, but from now onwards, no one is allowed to take a private assignment. Two, we will not accept everyone as our clients just because they have money. Every assignment the branch offices receive must be submitted to Headquarters. I''m not sure whether there is an investigation department. If there isn''t, now there will be. The investigating department''s job is to investigate the background of the possible clients. Not deeply, just on the surface would be enough. Then, their file will be passed through an analysis team that will rate them based on four things. Criminal record, financial status, reputation, and necessity. Our team will then decide whether to offer them services or not. To do that, our branches should be in contact with local police stations. Three, I''m going to form a separate investigation team. Their job is to keep an eye on our employees of all the branches including yourselves. Remember that they will directly answer only to me. So, threatening or giving orders to them is the same as questioning my authority. Four, every employee and team leader will go through monthly assessment and bi-annual assessment. The monthly assessments will let me know whether everyone is following the rules or not. I''m going to ignore whatever happened until now. But from now onwards, extortion, smuggling, drugs, scams, murder, sexual violence, etc crimes like these are absolutely not tolerated. They will be handed over to the police without any second thoughts. It is the number one rule of the company. So, warn everyone to stay away from these things if they are into them in the past. And once again, remind everyone that if they require money, then, don''t go into illegal side occupations. The company is willing to lend them a hand at any time. We don''t lack the funds. And if they were being threatened by someone, their team leaders need to help them out. As for the bi-annual assessments, those who have good conduct will either receive a promotion, extra leaves, a 1-month salary bonus, or might get a raise. Similarly, people with bad conduct might get a demotion, salary deduction, or even get fired. Prepare new contracts for everyone with these rules adding to them. These new rules are applicable from the cleaner to the CEO. And lastly five, the Headquarters will be shifted to Leafway city." From the moment Wil started to speak of the new changes, everyone just looked at him in a daze. They didn''t even know how to react. A client is the one that chooses the company but here, the company will choose the client and that too, based on his merits. If it is just the financial status, and reputation, it will be fine, but criminal record too? The majority of the influential clients of theirs have criminal records in the past Their revenue already dropped by 70% due to the cutting of the staff by more than 1500 members. This kind of system will only make them suffer losses. As for the third and fourth ones, since a few of the directors were also into things like smuggling weapons and drugs in secret, they felt a bit of panic in their hearts. It was only after Wil said that he will ignore the things of the past did they sigh in relief. And the fifth one was no surprise to them since it was within their expectations. After all, Wil was staying in Leafway city. Either he had to come to Ares city for every board meeting or attend through the video call. Certainly, shifting is easier for someone like Wil. Meanwhile, Storm was sweating bullets as he was doing everything that his beloved young master despises just so to cover up his mistake. If the company shifted to Leafway city, he will be under the radar of Silver too. It will only make his work very difficult. "After we shift to Leafway, this building will be used for commercial and residential purposes. Before that, talk to the authorities and acquire land in the outskirts of Leafway city. It should be big enough to have several residential apartments for all the staff members, playgrounds, parks, training centers, a stadium, of course, office buildings for different departments, in simple words, something like a township. 600-meter Skyscrapers like these aren''t my taste." Retracting his hand, Wil then closed his statement, "This is all I have to say in this meeting. Now, before everyone gets back to their work, I need the past five year financial reports of Scarlet Securities and its subsidiary companies on my desk, right now." Everyone immediately stiffened as soon as they heard those words. They couldn''t help but glance at Storm. Chapter 353: Wils five demands *Thud* "Please forgive me, Young Master." Storm fallen to his knees as soon as Wil took his seat. The moment Wil asked about the financial reports, Storm knew that he was f****d up. Until now, even after doing all kinds of illegal jobs, he had only managed to deposit 1.6 billion dollars into the company''s account of which 1 billion is his personal money, inherited from Philip. So, there are more than 4 billion dollars which he had to account for. If it is around a billion or more, he could say that the real estate is soaring and the value of their 150-story building has been increased to 4 Billion dollars as he never planned to change the data in the accounts. However, the fact that the change would be too enormous made Storm feel like he was walking on a tight rope hanging between two cliffs. He couldn''t even breathe properly for a while. After the board meeting is over, Storm took heavy deep breaths for a long time before catching up to Wil and personally escorted him to the Chairman''s office while sending away Maria who was walking with him. After entering the room, Storm closed the door and kneeled on the floor before confessing everything to Wil except for the fact that he was involved in a dozen illegal occupations right now. Listening to everything, Wil stared at him in silence. He doesn''t know how to react. ''That was f*****g 6 billion dollars, not cents. You f*****g moron, b***'' Wil roared in his head and cursed Storm with every word that he knew while still maintaining a calm look on the surface. Taking a deep breath, Wil opened his mouth in a stern tone, "Earlier, I proposed five things to all the board members. I''ll also do the same to you. First, you will resign from the position of CEO. Second, of the billion and a six hundred million that you deposited, I believe the billion you received from my father''s last will. Don''t insult his wishes by returning the money. It''s yours. So, I will return it to you. Use it for yourself. As for the money, I know how to get it back from Texel. Third, publish the whole story to the news channels and newspapers. Secretly bribe them if you have to. But, I need this matter to escalate in the morning news. Inform the news channels that there should be debate segments on this topic too. Oh! And also, don''t forget about the internet. A few angry and hate tweets against Texel would spark the flames. I don''t care how but I need the matter to be spread like a wildfire in the forest. Whether it sways on our side or the other side, public opinion doesn''t matter. As long as Texel''s share value drops temporarily for a few days, the rest will become easier. Fourth, arrange a private meeting with Texel''s Chairman. I want to talk with him. Five, in compensation for your mistake, I want you to become my general and assist me in building the empire in War Online. Do these five things for me. Sure, I will forgive you." As Wil finished speaking, tears welled up in Storm''s eyes. He never expected that his young master would be this generous. 6 billion dollars isn''t a normal amount. Heck, even 1.6 billion dollars is a huge sum of money for billionaires. Maybe, it''s because his past was spent in the mafia gang, Storm couldn''t help but think from their perspective. If it was the Mafia Lord, Storm was sure that he would have been either chopped off into pieces or at best, considering their close relationship, he will be forgiven by probably getting imprisoned in the ice room. Continuing to kneel, Storm thanked Wil and swore that he will even die for him if Wil orders it. Wil always wanted to have loyal people like his dad have. It''s not like Silver and Storm are untrustworthy but they were loyal to him because of their relationship with his father. It''s clearly not enough for him to put complete trust in them. Wil thought Aster would be his trusted right hand until his trust was broken when he listened to Silver''s orders back at Hailey city. However, now, after Storm''s confession, Wil felt like he can gamble his trust on him. That''s why, to gain his loyalty further, he returned all the money Storm deposited into the company''s account and forgave him. As Storm stood up on his feet, Wil then looked at his eyes and said, "Considering our relationship, I''m giving you a second chance to redeem yourself. You heard my rules too. I hope you won''t break my trust one more time." "Absolutely, young master. I will never disappoint you again." Thanking him once again, Storm left the office enthusiastically and later, returned with all the files of financial reports that Wil asked earlier. Leaving Wil alone in the office, Storm summoned the board members to announce his resignation before inviting the media to inform him about the whole story from his side. Although the media channels knew the story long ago, they still swarmed to the company headquarters. After all, it is the first time Storm has been talking to the media ever since he was appointed the new CEO. Naturally, they have a lot of questions to ask. Starting from why Jordon has been replaced by a person, who had nothing to do with the company prior to how he resigned within just three weeks, the media bombarded him with questions after questions. Despite that, Storm patiently answered their questions one by one in a calm manner. In the end, as they finally asked him who will be his successor, Storm answered the question that he prepared for. Although he believed that Jordon will be reappointed as the CEO to lead the company, Storm didn''t give the name yet as he didn''t know what is going on in Wil''s mind. So, he just said that it will be decided soon once they have discussed it with the Chairman in a board meeting. "Okay, that''s good" Wil nodded in satisfaction while watching the press meet from his PC. "Now, the only thing left is to make sure everyone talks about it." *** Texel Electronics Headquarters, Colville; A middle-aged man named Tang He was enjoying his morning tea in leisure while gazing at the city from the 63rd floor. He was the founder and chairman of the Texel group. *Knock* *Knock* "Hey, dad..." "Hey dad" A young man and young woman in their early twenties entered the office and greeted him. "Xiao Lan, Xiao Lei" He was surprised to see his children in the office at this time and that too, together. "What is it?" He asked them. The younger twin nudged her brother to say it. "Um, dad Xiao Lan wanted to start from the bottom and grow outside of our company''s shadows. So, she applied to a few companies. Yesterday, her interview went successful and she got a job at Ares city." The older twin brother had this expression of nervousness on his face as he explained the situation to his father. "Oh! Congratulations, my daughter." Surprisingly, the Texel group''s Chairman seems to be chill about it. Just when the two of them about to sigh in relief, Tang He asked, "what company is it, by the way?" As soon as she heard it, Tang Lan stiffened up for a second. "it''s um Rave" *knock* *knock* Suddenly, a couple of knocks were heard on the door before the Chairman''s secretary entered. "Not now, Yuan Qing. My kids are here" The Chairman turned serious. Busy people like him rarely get time to spend time with family. He doesn''t want to be disturbed with office matters when he was with his children. However, the secretary doesn''t seem like she intended to leave. "I apologize, Mr. Chairman but this is urgent." "What is it?" Tang He asked her. He wondered whether it was that serious. The secretary reported, "Mr. Chairman, it''s the matter with Scarlet Group. It looks like their CEO is being fired and" After showing him the video of the press meet which started with the apology from Storm and ended with how the investigation is taking too long, she further said, "This is being telecasted in every news channel right now. It is going to hurt us for sure" Upon hearing the matter, Tang He frowned, "I thought the matter was finished, a while ago. What''s going on here?" Meanwhile, Tang Lan and Tang Lei looked at each other. Chapter 354: The case of missing 2 billion dollars Miyazaki Mansion, Ares city; "It looks like brother-in-law decided to take action," Kiyumi commented as she was watching the television along with her mother. "I wonder this will change anything," Reisa commented, taking a sip of coffee. Both of them glued to the morning news of GBN (Global broadcasting network) as they played Storm''s interview. After that, the new anchor further mentioned how the new CEO failed the company by getting fooled by an acquaintance and lost 6 billion dollars to the company. She didn''t fail to mention the four billion dollar transaction between Jonathan Fogs, the owner of Ark bank which is based in Colville, and the Texel Group. As the people who always keep an eye on pretty much everything, it was no secret to either Kiyumi or her mother. However, they didn''t want to step in when they weren''t even been asked for help. Only that way, Wil would owe them a bunch of favors and in return, they could easily ask him to help out in the upcoming elections. A while later, Kiyumi opened the lightweb, the most popular social network site. To her surprise, she found the matter didn''t attract much attention from the public. There are a few dozen hate comments towards Texel. However, Kiyumi guessed that those accounts must be from Scarlet Group too. Of course, there are a few normal users who joined the discussion but it didn''t go as Wil hoped it to be. The reason? One is that the matter is three weeks away and most of the people already stopped caring about it. Two, the banks going bankrupt and big companies filing a case against each other are too common. Because of such two reasons, the matter didn''t spread like wildfire as Wil wanted. Until for a few hours, that is The upper echelons of the Texel group thought the Scarlet group was only trying to make a noise upon finding that situation is completely under control. However, at exactly around 11 o''clock, the lady luck smiled on Wil and turned the situation completely around. The police who are investigating the case found an ample piece of evidence against Texel, where one of the missing family members presumably the victim''s eldest son was caught in the port town of Flurg while she attempted to escape to the western continent by sea route. As he was being escorted to the prison, the police chief presented the investigation results and recorded statements before the media. It seemed like the eldest son of Jonathan fell into an argument with his father after Jonathan borrowed the money from Storm to save the bank rather than paying off a heavy debt to Texel. His son didn''t know that Jonathan borrowed it from the Scarlet group. He thought some billionaire friend of his gave to him or might have taken a loan from a bank. Bank owners usually have a few billionaire friends. So, he didn''t find anything amiss. As Jonathan was adamant about saving the bank, the argument between the father and the son heated up. Having no other choice, the son blackmailed Jonathan to commit suicide if the money isn''t returned to Texel as he was constantly receiving a lot of death threats from unknown people every day when they weren''t able to pay off the mounting 120 million dollars quarterly interest. With Jonathan''s wife also supported her son, facing mounting pressure from family, Jonathan was forced to pay off the debt to the Texel group. The next day, feeling that he betrayed the innocent bank customers and his own friend, Jonathan committed suicide. Meanwhile, Jonathan''s son convinced his mom and ran away from the house with the remaining two billion dollars to have a fresh start somewhere else. But, the story doesn''t end there. After both of them are changing towns and cities constantly every day, watching the news, Jonathan''s wife finally realized that the money belonged to the Scarlet group and her husband took a 25% high-interest loan from its CEO. She immediately feared for her life. She knew that despite being a far smaller company than Texel, the Scarlet group is much dangerous than Texel. She panicked about what the Scarlet group will do to them if they ever get caught. So, she tried to convince her son to return the money to its rightful owner. But, how could Jonathan''s son do that? If they return to Colville, not only he should return 2 billion dollars, he would have also to pay an additional 4 billion dollars with a whopping 1.5 billion dollars annual interest. On top of that, he might also have to face the wrath of the public. As a son, he will be forced to clear his father''s debts. They argued. He tried to convince her that once they will reach the western continent, they will be safe. However, his mother was adamant about her decision. She thought he would be safe in the police custody rather than with Scarlet. She told him that she will call the police and inform him about their whereabouts, the next day morning. The rest is predictable. The son killed his mother while she was sleeping and quietly escaped in the middle of the night. But, what he didn''t know is that his mother sent a text to her friend before she went to sleep regarding her current whereabouts. That very message helped the police to track him down. Back to the present; Watching the news from his office, Wil let out a whistle, "now, this is some turning twist. I guess, even if I didn''t have to do anything, the matter would have solved on its own No, actually, in this case, I can only recover 2 billion. Hmm" Thinking for a while, he pressed on 0 and called the reception desk since he doesn''t have a secretary yet. He then informed the receptionist to connect the line to Jordon. After a while, Jordon and the PR department head were seen entering the Chairman''s office together. "I guess the both of you watched the news?" Wil looked at them. Both of them nodded. PR head then spoke, "Mr. Chairman, as you have ordered, we are escalating this matter as much as we can. Now with the latest investigation results, several citizens are blaming the Texel group for Jonathan''s death. But, still, I''m not sure how this will help us in the case against them and recover our money." His last statement brought a frown on Wil''s face and Jordon immediately nudged his colleague to stay quiet. Wil then ordered the PR head to anonymously create a rumor that Scarlet might be going downhill soon due to the financial losses. The PR head quickly understood what Wil was trying to plan. He agreed with it right away. After dismissing him, Wil looked at the towering giant standing before him. "Mr. Jordon, I wanted to reappoint you as the CEO but doing that will only defame Storm. I don''t wish for that. But, at the same time, you also looked after the company for two decades. So, I won''t do injustice to your service too. However, all I can give you is two choices." Chapter 355: Appointing New CEO for the company As reappointing Jordon as CEO will make Storm a laughing face in front of the media, Wil decided to give him a choice, rather than just ordering him to stay there and work silently. He doesn''t want to oppress his employees, particularly those at higher positions. Looking into his eyes, Wil proceeds to tell, "One, continue to remain as the President of Scarlet Securities. Two, choose any of our subsidiary companies. I''ll appoint you as the CEO for it. My other acquired company, Ravens Tech is also included in this list. Think about it and make your choice before lunch break. In the meantime, prepare a list of names to consider for the next CEO. At 2 o''clock, I will announce the name in the board meeting after discussing it with other directors." Jordon felt moved a bit. Even if he was a loyal person to the core, when he was being demoted to the President without any reason, like any other man, Jordon indeed felt disappointed. He just didn''t show it outside. He felt like all of his hard work was paled in front of connections. Still, when Storm made a blunder, he didn''t feel happy on the inside. After all, the company was also like his foster baby that he raised for the past twenty years. Thankfully, his loyalty never went unrewarded. Sometimes, getting an acknowledgment from a precious person is more worth than finding a treasure. The same thing happened to Jordon. Upon receiving an acknowledgment from Wil, Jordon felt like all of his disappointment left away. At the same time, he felt relieved that Wil was mixing into the corporate world very well. With the founder passed away, he was worried that 19-year-old Wil would either succumb to the pressure or waste his life away by squandering like a rich young master. His worries increased when Wil exactly did that by creating a gaming company and cutting the staff to half just so that he could gain an army inside a mere game. However, the last couple of orders from Wil made clear to him that this young master before him was a person with a plan in his mind. Maybe, he wasn''t perfect and those plans weren''t genius either. Still, in Jordon''s view, his young master was indeed better than any other heirs of big corporations out there He felt like he accomplished the mission the Mafia Lord gave to him. That is to look after the company until Wil gets ready to take over. After thinking for a long time, Jordon decided to leave the company. He started to list the names like directors, senior managers, or the CEOs of their subsidiary companies, all those who held high-level positions but also possess high educational backgrounds. Meanwhile, due to the escalation of the matter of Texel-Scarlet case combined with rumored Scarlet''s financial issues by all the media channels like breaking news, one by one, youth from Ares city especially females stepped forward by supporting Scarlet on the internet. After all, the Scarlet Group is more reputable than even the police department within the city of Ares regarding nighttime security. Those employees that volunteer to patrol the city like night policemen until 4 a.m., they will receive additional bonus and paid leaves. Since the foundation, it''s the company''s policy to safeguard people, especially women during such late-night So, the Ares city citizens who supported the company didn''t want them to face financial issues because of this issue and compromise the free security they are providing to the public. Even the Ares city police department worried that the crime rate will shot up if Scarlet Securities closed down and their workload will increase. Moreover, the angered customers especially the Colville citizens who lost their deposits now hit the roads once again but this time, their target of protest is the Texel Electronics'' CEO whose extreme measures destroyed their lives. Everyone is just demanding his arrest and asking for the company to take responsibility by investing in the bank before it gets delisted from the stock exchange. Of course, Texel never intended to do that. After having an emergency board meeting, Tang He, the Chairman of Texel Group announced that the board is firing the company''s CEO while the police filed an FIR on his name, although they weren''t able to arrest him as he was quick enough to get anticipatory bail from the court. As the shares plummeted, the headquarters became busier. Wil knew that it''s impossible that a giant corporation like Texel will fall because of this mere issue. However, it goes without saying that they will be in a tight situation for the next few days. At such a moment, the Chairman''s secretary got a call from Storm to arrange a meeting between Wil and Tang He. While Tang He readily agreed to it, thinking that Wil might be the one behind the sudden turn of events, the latter said he will only be available two days later. After all, he needs to meet his future in-laws and have a talk with them regarding the situation. *** In the afternoon board meeting session, Jordon presented a list of names for the positions of new President and CEO as he will be resigning from his position to take over the position of CEO of Ravens Tech, instead. As the projector showed their files one by one, the directors stated their opinions. Soon, the list was narrowed down to three people. After listening to everything, Wil looked at the three of them. One of them is the current CEO of Scarlet Life Insurance while two of them were the employees of Scarlet Logistics, one being the CEO and the other being a Chief inventory control executive. Wil''s attention was on the senior manager who has an impressive educational background. Graduating from Ares University, getting triple promoted in just four years before becoming a Chief inventory control executive. The only thing Wil didn''t understand why this guy chose their Logistics Company when he can choose a much bigger one. Compared to Scarlet Securities and the other subsidiaries, the logistics company is very smaller with only a couple of hundred million dollars of net worth. Raising the document with the details of Oishi Takanori, when Wil enquired with the directors, everyone immediately turned their heads. Wil followed the suit and found everyone is staring at one of the directors. "What happened?" He asked. The director in his mid-sixties stood up from his seat, and said, "He''s my son." "Eh? Your son?" Wil was taken aback by surprise. "But, his surname is different from yours, kensaku-san Ah! I see" Without him explaining, Wil understood what''s going on. Fujikawa Kensaku then revealed that his son took after his mother''s surname after his parents'' divorce. Despite that, the father and son were very close. This is the reason Oishi chose to work in the Scarlet group too Clearing his throat, Wil then announced, "I would like to propose appointing Mr. Oishi Takanori as the interim CEO of the Scarlet Securities for a period of four weeks. Should he prove himself, he can continue to be the CEO of the company. Any objections?" Although most of them wanted to reject because of Oishi''s young age, still, since Wil mentioned that he''s temporary for the next month, they accepted the proposal, thinking that they would see his actions first before making a judgment. Chapter 356: Shes Mrs. Quilton "This is the Ares World Tower, the world''s tallest building." Standing in front of the building that seemed like it was touching the sky, Silver informed the family of three who seemed amazed just like other tourists. Passing through the entrance, he further said, "This is the only structure in the world that crosses 1 kilometer in height, although we can only go up to the fifth observation deck at 880 meters, which is on the 178th floor. You can have a 360-degree view up there." "There are too many skyscrapers exist in this city. Will I able to see big brother''s office building?" Mia asked him while glancing around. Left and right, there is nothing but tall skyscrapers everywhere. "Of course, Mia. Scarlet HQ is the third tallest building in this city and is over 600 meters in height. Didn''t you see it while we are on the flyover, earlier?" Scarlet casually commented while taking the tickets from the machine. "Come, let''s go" Earlier, she did search on the internet but never paid attention to how big the company building is. She searched the internet once again, but this time, she searched the tallest buildings in the world and Scarlet HQ was shown in 9th place. Mia couldn''t help but feel amazed once again as she read the cost of the building was 1.7 billion dollars back when its construction was completed in 1999. She long knew that Scarlet group is indeed huge but every time, she comes across a thing that tells the difference between their family and Wil, Mia couldn''t help but feel disheartened thinking that it''s very difficult for her brother to adjust to their lifestyles and same goes for her too. Even though Mia felt excited to travel in a private jet, live in luxury hotels, tour around in limousine for the past few days, she realized that she wouldn''t be able to live in the world of rich if her brother ever wanted them to live with him. Just the thought made her uncomfortable. As they reached the fourth observation deck, which is the highest outdoor observation at 700 meters above the ground, Mia put all her thoughts away and decided to enjoy the present. While the family of three was busy enjoying the tour, Wil was busy reading the financial records in his office. He no longer paid attention to the matter with Texel and focused on the company''s internal matters. "Hmm, it looked like Mortgage company is suffering losses for the past seven years, and so far, I suffered more than 500 million. No need for this company to exist any longer. I don''t care even if it''s a billion-dollar company. I''m closing it down for sure." Wil commented to himself before putting it away and opened another file. "Life Insurance doesn''t seem to generate enough profits either. It has 350 branches with 62 of them in cities and 288 are in towns. However, a mere 1.8 billion Eastern Yuan of net worth? It''s roughly 900 million dollars" Probably, Wil might be one of the few people in the world who would think 900 million dollars of net worth isn''t profitable. Wil wondered why does their net income is only 125 million dollars when their revenue stands at more than 200 million dollars. Upon checking further, he found that none of the offices that were built on the land belonged to the company. Every one of them was rented. The cost of renting the offices alone is more than 30 million dollars. Not to mention, the salaries At first, Wil thought of closing down this one too. However, he realized an issue. "The only problem is that there are thousands of employees working here. Their livelihood also depends on the job. Moreover, the company doesn''t seem to be running on losses either." Suddenly something clicked in his mind and Wil slapped his forehead, "what an idiot. Why should I close them down? Can''t I just put the companies to a sale? Should I call for an auction? Or should I separate them from the parent company and make them go public. Hmm" Wil fell into deep thoughts. *** As the sky slowly became dark, the Miyazaki family are done with their preparations and waiting for their in-laws. Meanwhile, Wil, who returned to the hotel around 4, was taking a nap in his room upon feeling tired. *Ring* *Ring* After three to four rings, Wil woke up from his sleep and found it was Mia who was calling him. At the same time, he realized it was almost 7. ''F**k I forgot about the dinner.'' He quickly picked it up and informed her that he will be in the lobby in ten minutes. In the meantime, Silver visited his room to hand over the dress his mother selected for him while they were shopping. Wil was surprised to find the dress fit him perfectly and appeared to be in the line of his taste. However, he found two issues. The first issue is that he found the suit is too formal. And he wasn''t going for some social gathering event. The second issue, which is the most important one, is that his mother was the one that selected it, which made him decide not to wear it and choose casual wear instead, before leaving the room. As expected, they were surprised to see Wil in different clothing and that too, in casual wear while they look like they were going to some award ceremony. Looking at Mia, Wil couldn''t help but remember his past life, which is five years in the future, where she''s been depicted as a princess in one of ''Saturday'' idol group''s mv. After that, Mia got the nickname of Hailey''s princess. Meanwhile, Silver asked him in Scarlet''s place regarding his attire, to which he replied that he liked being simple as this isn''t some formal event. While Scarlet was disappointed a bit, Rey and Mia, on the other hand, felt embarrassed upon hearing Wil. They weren''t kids and both of them are conscious of the gap between their social standings. So, when a super-rich person like Wil is acting like this, how can they not get embarrassed? An awkward silence emerged between them for a while before Silver hurried everyone to get into the vehicle telling them how they were getting late. Thankfully, due to less traffic, they were able to reach the destination in just 15 minutes. So, they weren''t late. "Welcome, Mr. Ravens. Welcome, Mr. Silver" Kiyumi is the first one to pick them as always before she turned her attention to the three other family members that just get out of the vehicle. Upon one glance at Scarlet, she was a little bit stunned. She found Wil''s supposed mom too young. After all, their Galaxy Net doesn''t have any information on her. "Is she a stepmother?" Kiyumi wondered before she greeted them with a smile, "Welcome, Ms. Ravens" "Quilton." Wil suddenly interrupted her. "Sorry?" Kiyumi looked at him. "She''s Mrs. Quilton." Wil shrugged his shoulders. "Just correcting it." While Mia and Rey found anything amiss, Scarlet felt a bit sad upon remembering Wil always addresses as Mrs. Quilton and still hasn''t called her mom, yet. Chapter 357: My company doesnt lack funds "Ah! I apologize for my mistake." Kiyumi didn''t understand what''s going on. She wondered whether this young woman is Wil''s elder sister who was married into some Quilton family. That can explain the situation. Maybe, they were earlier than they thought because in the entrance hall, aside from the four-star General Daniel, Miyazaki Reisa, no one seems to be present, neither the four sisters nor Reisa''s brother. And just like Kiyumi, both of them too thought that Scarlet was either Wil''s older sister or stepmother rather than his biological mother until Wil introduced his family to them. "This is my mother, Scarlet Quilton. This is my younger brother, Rey Quilton, and this beautiful princess over here is my younger sister, Mia Quilton." Wil''s introduction of his family surprised both of the families. The ex-husband and wife were surprised to see this young woman who looked like she''s in her early 30s was actually none other than Scarlet for whom the giant security company is built. They were also surprised to find her surname different. They quickly realized that Wil''s mother might have taken divorce. That might be the reason he was reluctant to bring her topic, last time. At the same time, Scarlet and Mia were also surprised that how Wil introduced Mia, filled with affection. Rey felt a little bit jealous while the mother and daughter pair was somehow happy. Silver was also felt happy on the inside and remembered his old friend and boss, Philip. As soon as they took their seats, Reisa brought the topic of their fight with Texel, "Williard, I watched the news. How you are holding up?" Except for Wil and Reisa, everyone looked at Wil. They are wondering what she is talking about. Ignoring everyone''s gazes on him, Wil smiled in response, "It isn''t a big deal. My company doesn''t lack funds either way. And I won''t intend to lose my money either" Daniel was confused about what these two are talking about. He immediately asked Reisa about it. The finance minister explained about the case, shocking the two siblings and the General. After all, that''s 6 billion dollars. Scarlet felt it was too pity that of all the people, Storm had to be the one who was duped. With one perpetrator dead and the other is in jail, she felt he must be frustrated. On other hand, Silver became angered at his long-time friend and rival. Since the young master is against unnecessary violence, Storm was prepared to give him a good lecture once this was over. However, remembering where he was, he clenched his fist as tight as he can and forced himself to calm down. Since Wil seemed like he was confident about the case, they didn''t intend to talk too much about it. For a while, Reisa and Daniel talked with Scarlet, enquiring about her new family. Scarlet didn''t hide anything and told them the truth. While Reisa felt nothing strange, Daniel, who had fought battles, got a strange feeling of danger when he looked at Scarlet. He felt like he can''t mess with her or else, his head might roll on the head at any minute. But, then, in the next minute, thinking of how she got kidnapped last time, Daniel felt he might be mentally exhausted due to a long flight and is having crazy thoughts. In the end, he convinced himself and joined the conversation. After a while, as the remaining four sisters are coming downstairs together, Silver whispered to Scarlet, "The one from the second left is Ms. Akiko." Scarlet nodded in response. After all, Silver already sent her the details, a while ago. Although she knew about her, she didn''t know anything about the other sisters. Just like last time, Wil was indeed stunned by Akiko''s beauty for a moment. Yet, he wasn''t able to look at her for more than a second after remembering the incident with Luoyang. A sense of guiltiness once again rose in his heart. After they were being introduced by Reisa, the girls were surprised like their parents. The third youngest Akiko was the first to comment, "Ms. Quilton, you are really too young. I thought you were Williard''s elder sister." Maybe, unconsciously, she was trying to get in good books with her mother-in-law, or maybe, she was genuine about it. For whatever reason, Akiko complimented Scarlet as soon as she met her. As for her different surname, she was someone who grew up in a similar family. As long as Wil was close to his mother, it doesn''t matter for her. "So, uh you are in the final year?" Scarlet struck up a conversation with Akiko who was told by her mother to sit in between Scarlet and Wil to get more familiar with her future family as they sat for dinner. "Yes." Akiko nodded in response. Scarlet further asked, "How were you faring at the university? I mean, in studies." She was just curious to know what kind of person her future daughter-in-law is like. "I was in the top 10 for the past two years. So, I guess, it''s alright?" For others, it might be an achievement. However, for Akiko, she wasn''t sure whether it''s good as she always aimed for the top spot. "Then, what do you wish to do after your graduation? Any future plans?" Scarlet pressed her further. "My mother wanted me to take over Kiyumi-nee''s position at Galaxy Net as one of the directors and I don''t have any problem with it. However, before that, I thought of training myself this year. Thankfully, because of War Online, it became easier" She answered smoothly as usual albeit feeling nervous inside. Watching them from the corner of his eyes, Wil thought of stopping his mother who seemed like she is interrogating Akiko. However, he didn''t barge into their conversation as he wasn''t in a state to talk to Akiko either. Thinking of distracting himself, he talked with in-laws instead, bringing out a business topic. "Konami-san, I heard that Star Group acquired a percentage of your company and became your partner. I wonder if you are busy with the projects" His unexpected question drew the attention of everyone. Even Scarlet and Akiko stopped talking and glanced at him for once. Chapter 358: Ten billion dollar project Konami, who had a negative impression on Wil due to her mother''s constant undermining of her boyfriend, was also taken aback. Glancing at her mother, she proudly said, "now that we are in partnership with the Star Group, we received a handful of projects but our focus is on the upcoming Wells tower. Our firm got the opportunity to work together with Alien Architectures to design the tower. After all, it''s a 4-billion Yuan project." "I see." Wil nodded and became silent for a few seconds before he explained, "Well, I intend to shift our headquarters to Leafway city. We are planning to build a headquarters similar to Texel town, but much bigger since it also contains separate villas and dorms for employees and their families. Then, I remembered that Konami-san owns an architecture firm. So, I thought of asking you to join this project but I guess you will be busy." "Shifting the headquarters?" Daniel, who was looking for a topic to converse with his son-in-law, finally found it and joined the conversation. "Then, what about the current one? Are you selling it?" Wil waved his hand, "No. Like I said earlier, our company really isn''t facing any financial troubles. We have plenty of funds to do it. So, I intend to convert into a mixed commercial and residential building." "You said it will be bigger than Texel town, right? That would mean the costs will be higher than at least 4 billion Yuan, right?" Reisa didn''t miss any chance that she finds to undermine her second daughter who chose to stay with a mediocre man against her wishes. Konami narrowed her eyes. Wil realized her intentions but still, he couldn''t help but nod. "It''s a ten billion dollar project. That was our early estimate. But, I wanted to employ more workers and finish it as early as possible. So, I bet another couple of billion will be spent more." For a few seconds, the dining hall fell silent. The servants who were standing behind them stiffened in shock. Thankfully, no one is swallowing the food at that moment or else, they would have coughed nonstop for a while. "Hmm, what happened?" Feeling gazes on him from all sides, Wil looked at everyone. Almost everyone thought this squanderer really doesn''t know the value of money at all. Thinking of how he spent the money back at a world auction, even Akiko thought the same. Only Reisa and Kiyumi know the real wealth of Wil. So, they weren''t that shocked like the rest. Reisa was a bit against the idea as she needs his money to be spent on meaningful things like for example in elections, not to be squandered for something like this. Still, she didn''t speak her true feeling as their relationship isn''t that strong yet. Looking at how awkward her mother and Konami looked, Kiyumi thought of changing the topic. "What''s going on in War" As Wil abruptly turned his head towards her, she stopped talking. She remembered Wil''s earlier text message where he requested her not to talk about the game, especially his identity being Time Traveler in front of his siblings. Since she didn''t tell the same to her sisters yet, Kiyumi didn''t continue it and quickly changed her words. "I mean your war with Texel group. Now that the accused was caught, you might lose the case. As for the two billion dollars, if you file a lawsuit against late Jonathan, along with the assets, I think the court might order the bank that holds the money to return it to you as this is a private loan from your ex-CEO to Ark Bank''s ex-Chairman. But, if that happens, the Scarlet group might become the enemy of the public. So, my advice is to invest at least a billion Yuan in the bank and save it from not getting delisted from the stock exchange. Then, later, after you receive the money, you should also invest them into the bank and raise the share value to a considerable level before convincing the Federation to take over the bank and turn it into a public sector bank. However, you need to have at least 51% shares before you do that. Well, ex-chairman Jonathan has a 32% share in the bank. After filing the case, you will already possess them and by now, most people must have already dumped the shares. You can just acquire everything as much as you can and sell 51% to the Federation. Once it becomes a public sector bank, the Federation will fund the money to the bank, raising its value considerably. That way, within no time, all of your money might be recovered or might even profit from it; the Federation might not have to pay the deposit insurance to the bank customers; In return, you will also gain popularity. Everyone will be happy in the end." In reality, she doesn''t want to tell him and let Wil realize the issue by himself but due to her earlier slip-up, she couldn''t help but point out the situation, which led her to tell him the solution too. Reisa wasn''t happy that her eldest helped Wil without even being asked for advice. Meanwhile, Daniel was impressed by how insightful his daughter is. As for Wil, while he too thought Kiyumi was as impressive as ever, he still didn''t bother to process everything and stated, "Actually, I intended to turn he bank into private and then, acquire all the remaining shares." "Eh?" Once again, the listeners were shocked to find this Richie rich is even intending to buy a whole bank instead of trying to recover his money. Meanwhile, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law resumed their own little talk. Despite hearing confident answers from Akiko, Scarlet felt like the girl doesn''t have her own personality, goals, or anything, well, except for the things like examinations, seminars, science fairs, competitions, etc... She felt pity for the girl''s upbringing. After thinking for a while, Scarlet threw out an unexpected question while whispering into her ear. "What do you think of Wil? Do you like him?" Almost instantly, Akiko''s ears flushed a deep, hot red. She stuttered while not being able to answer properly, "I I I" Wil and the others who were keeping on this pair for a while wondered what happened. Scarlet patted her back with a grin, "Alright, girl No pressure here You can give me that answer, later" Watching Akiko''s genuine reaction made Scarlet feel at ease in her heart. Chapter 359: Official marriage proposal After the dinner finished, Reisa sent her daughters upstairs except for Akiko. Meanwhile, Silver took Mia and Rey to the entrance hall. As the dishes were cleared from the table, Reisa made Akiko sit in between herself and her ex-husband. "Ms. Quilton, Williard, please" She then gestured for Scarlet and Wil to sit on the opposite side, facing them. Looking at Scarlet, she said, "In the past, I gave a marriage proposal to Wil not knowing that you are alive. Now that our families have met each other, I think it''s appropriate for us to take permission from you, officially. I, Miyazaki Reisa, would like to propose a marriage between our third daughter Akiko and your eldest son Williard to form a relationship between both of our families." Upon hearing the official request, Wil felt tensed a bit. Accepting the request is the same as making it official. At the same time, it is also the same as giving a signal to Reisa to prepare for an engagement at any time. Before, Wil didn''t think too much about it. Maybe, his thinking is a bit dumb but all he cared about War Online and staying alive. He thought that accepting the marriage proposal will not only help him achieve his goal in the game but also help him survive threats in real life as his mother-in-law is a finance minister and his father-in-law is a four-star general. However, after getting acquainted with Akiko, a part of him feels that since he hadn''t got close enough to Akiko yet much develop feelings for her. After all, his crush on Sierra hasn''t been wiped out from his heart, yet. Wil thought maybe spending more time with her daily might help him in developing feelings naturally. Since she was a final year, Wil assumed that he might still have a year. Moreover, there''s that situation with Luoyang. As soon as they will get engaged, he is obliged to tell her the truth. Wil felt that they weren''t close enough yet for her to understand his situation. Another part of him believes that just like whom Akiko dated in college or school has nothing to do with him, he felt his past actions before the engagement also have nothing to do with her. Their present life matters more than the past. So, he should out with it While he fell into a dilemma not being able to choose one over the other, Scarlet gave an unexpected reply. "Ms. Miyazaki, since you have asked me formally in accordance with your tradition, let me follow the tradition of our western continent too." She answered her firmly before looking at Akiko, "Parents can propose an alliance but it''s the bride and the bridegroom that will spend the life together. We aren''t standing in a church and there''s no priest to ask this either. So, let me just ask you a similar question he asks during the marriage that will happen in presence of the lord. Do you accept this marriage proposal? If you don''t want it, then, say it. If you want to take time, then, take it. Until the both of you give your consent, I can''t accept the proposal." Reisa stiffened for a couple of seconds as she didn''t expect Scarlet would have this sort of temperament. She wasn''t a delicate person like she heard at all. "Maybe she changed due to the second marriage?" Reisa wondered. However, to her relief, without she needed to pressure her daughter, Reisa saw Akiko nodded her head shyly. Reisa instantly smiled. Meanwhile, Daniel was observing Wil who seemed like he was lost in thoughts. "What about you, Wil?" It was probably the first time Wil heard his mother talk with a tone like this towards him. After hearing his mother''s words Wil felt like he had already found an answer to his dilemma "I give my consent to the marriage. However, I''m only 19 and still a college freshman. Akiko-san is also still in college. So, only after she graduates from college, we can have an official engagement. As for the marriage, it would have to wait until I graduate from college, we can marry each other." Unlike Akiko, Wil stated his terms clear to everyone. To his surprise, Miyazaki family members and Scarlet stared at him in silence for a few seconds making him wonder whether he was a bit harsh on terms or something until suddenly, Reisa started to laugh, "I didn''t expect Williard is so impatient in marrying my daughter." "Young man, even if I approved you, don''t you dare think that I will hand over my little girl so easily." Daniel also joked around, pulling out a typical father''s dialogue. "Eh? Eh?" Wil looked at them cluelessly while Akiko blushed in shyness. "Did he say something wrong?" He wondered. Looking at his clueless expression, Reisa explained with a smile, "We aren''t in a hurry in marrying you two right away. It was only to make it official for the public to know and I don''t plan on ruining my daughter''s college life by getting her engaged." If Kiyumi listened to her explanation, she would have scoffed in her heart. After all, she knew that her mother''s political ambitions outreach the love over her family. Upon hearing her words, Wil realized that his words caused a bit of misunderstanding to others. In reality, he just wanted to say that he doesn''t want to get engaged or marry right away as he is too young. Under the embarrassment, he stayed silent until Reisa mentioned that she will publish the news the next morning where she has an interview regarding the flood relief to the people who lost their houses because of heavy floods. It made him remember the heavy rains at Wular city during the finals. Wil asked her whether the floods occurred in the rural parts of the Wular province to which she nodded. Wil immediately thought of something. With the news of the engagement with Akiko going public, he felt that his deal with Texel will go smoothly. However, to develop the bank from the scratch, he needed the support of the public. He thought of improving the Scarlet group''s fame by giving a hefty sum as a donation to the relief fund. *** Soon, the family of four along with Silver returned to the hotel. Reisa offered them a night''s stay in their guest rooms but Wil rejected it right away as he felt it wasn''t proper for them to stay in Miyazaki''s mansion when the engagement isn''t official yet. Wil actually wanted to talk to Kiyumi and Reisa about Texel. However, with the talks of engagement and a peaceful dinner where no one talked about his in-game life, he decided not to ask them, not intending to turn this family meet into some business deal. At the same time, he also sent a thank you message to Akiko for not revealing the truth to Mia. After the talks of the engagement is over, as everyone gathered at the entrance hall once again, this time, Akiko sat beside Mia and tried to converse with her, the latter also pointed out about their meeting during the world auction. Akiko then finally remembered where she had met Mia and immediately glanced at Wil. He slowly shook his head gesturing to her, not to say it. Understanding what he was trying to say, Akiko covered the matter by explaining that her guild works with Time Traveler inside the game as Scarlet group owns it. At first, her words surprised the others as to why she was addressing Time Traveler as some other person. Then, as Kiyumi supported Akiko by mentioning that she wanted to meet Time Traveler for once in real life, the other sisters also understood the situation. They too realized why their eldest sister didn''t start the conversation about the game until now. After all, in their view, usually, she would be like congratulating Wil for conquering three kingdoms. Now that they understood the reason, none of the sisters intervened about the game, any more and let the topic end naturally. Scarlet didn''t understand what they are talking about but seeing how her daughter-in-law is trying to get along with Mia who also seemed to be comfortable with her, Scarlet kept quiet and didn''t intervene. She only questioned Mia after they get back to the room, to which the 13-year-old explained the events that occurred in the game of how they met each other. Since it''s nothing important to think about, Scarlet puts the useless thoughts away and lies down on the bed after talking with her husband Scott for a while. Chapter 360: Changes in Llyne kingdom The next day morning, after informing Scarlet that he will stay in the city for two more days because of personal business while they can return to the Leafway city, he left for office. After confirming the truth on the internet, Mia and Rey thought it is best if they leave as they don''t want to burden Wil by staying here. On the other hand, Scarlet decided to stay until Wil return with them to the home. However, what they didn''t know is that upon reaching the office, Wil didn''t go to the office but to the 89th floor where the capsule was kept in an empty training room. It was the same one he used two months ago to participate in the battle tournament finals. Thinking that their young master might use it in the future, the management left it as it is. Now, Wil got the opportunity to use it again. As for why decided to login into the game, it is because he thought it would be better to talk with Texel group''s chairman after the latter digested the information of his engagement news. He wanted to give a strong message to Tang He that he can get the weaknesses of the Texel Group and its upper echelons at any time he wants to. Wil expects that a person who built such a huge business empire would be to understand the situation clearly. *Welcome to War Online* Wil found himself on a familiar island that was surrounded by a familiar vast ocean. Looking at the temple at the top of the stairs, Wil opened the pictures that he took of the painting. "Averil, Dragon Lord Egan, and a mysterious old man. There''s a background story involving these three, after all. There''s still time I need to find more clues about the whereabouts of those two to unveil the truth. As for the entrance, the moment I find this Dragonlord, maybe, I would be able to get into the Dragon Island. Maybe, the quest from him will show the way to the entrance. Damn instead of citizenship, I should have asked Aria about the location, instead." Wil thought for a long time about his next step. After what seemed like an eternity, finally, he let out a sigh of helplessness, "It''s better to return to Llyne city. Come to think of it, I didn''t really ask Aster or anyone how the situation there is. Well, I didn''t receive any messages. So, I guess, everything is under control." He opened the Character menu and then, went on the properties list to check the changes. The data really surprised him. Kingdom of Llyne Current ruler: Time Traveler Guardian: Raziel Blain Headquarters: Llyne city Area: 200,423 sq. km Habitable zone: 19,458 sq. km Wild zone: 180,965 sq. km Population: 7, 136,764 Natives: 2,337,190 Players: 4,799,574 Military personnel: 101,647 Supreme Commander: Gerrad Commanders: None Supreme Generals: 7 Generals: 35 Royal knights: 6457 Captains: 189 Soldiers: 94358 Total number of provinces: 3 Total number of cities: 28 NPC cities: 27 Player cities: 1 Total number of towns: 97 NPC towns: 90 Player towns: 7 Number of guilds: 386 Tax rate: 15% Current Funds: 438,957 "What the hell" Wil was completely taken aback by the data that presented before him. When the war is finished, he had roughly 20 thousand NPC soldiers in his army. Now, it increased to more than a hundred thousand. Before, the Royal Knights are barely five hundred in number. Now, it was 6500. The generals were, well, when he declared the kingship, he got like five notifications, each one indicating a general that is supporting his claim. Now, there are a whole 35 generals. There is an emergence of a player city within these two peaceful weeks. Wil thought that it might be Star town that developed into Star city now. Along with that, there are emergences of a few more player towns. And then, there was a decrease in the player count as well as the guild count. Wil expected it was the aftereffect of the mass expulsion. So, he didn''t care about it. In fact, he was happier that the decrease is only by four hundred thousand. The final thing that shocked him is the remaining funds. Two weeks ago, when he started his journey with Iphi, the combined treasuries of Llyne, Evelon, and Zuweth have nearly two million gold coins. Now, it was reduced to less than five hundred thousand. If he needs to buy that much amount, Wil needs to spend 37 million dollars. Now, looking at the data, Wil realized that Gerrad might be using the funds to strengthen the army. Usually, it is a good thing as he planned to do the same after returning. However, Wil wasn''t satisfied with this outcome cuz he clearly mentioned that the defense budget will be discussed only after he returns. He felt disobedience from Gerrad. "I need to return to the capital city, right away," Wil spoke to himself in a serious tone. Summoning the gourd, he concentrated on the person inside it, "come out, Iphi." A sleeping dragon girl appeared on the ground. He also decided to bring Iphi to the public to instill more fear onto his officials as well as the hidden enemies. With two mythic grade beasts and the legendary+ grade dinosaur on his side, Wil thought everyone wouldn''t dare to rebel against him even if they unite together. However, as soon as he looked at the cute teenage dragon girl, Wil thought of Evie (Snow Dew) for some reason. He shook his head with a smile. As soon as the sunlight hit her, Iphi slowly opened her eyes and found Wil. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at him once again. A glow appeared on her face in excitement. "You are back. I''ve been sleeping there for so long, you know." After spending with him for days, her favorability slowly increased. So, despite feeling a little bit uncomfortable, she no longer hated Wil''s Angel form as before. Giving her a hand with a smile, Wil said, "Let''s go back." "Go back?" She was taken aback. Wil nodded, "we''ll not going to search for the Dragon Island anymore. There aren''t enough clues. That stone slab said that the island is at the place where I need to search for the history records where it gives us a clue about the place where the demon emperor Shedim was beheaded by Archangel Gadriel. Hmm wait a second" While he was explaining to Iphi about his reasoning to get back to the palace and read the history books from the library, suddenly, something clicked in his mind. "I''m a Seer, ain''t I? I just need to divine the person. As long I increase my mastery, surely, my range will improve further, right? Hmm, maybe I should just make a trip to Athledon and ask that NPC Owler''s help? Wait a second... Athledon?" *Slap* The dragon girl was startled for a moment upon watching Wil slapped himself, all of a sudden. "What happened?" "I''m a f*****g moron What the hell am I wasting my time for the past two weeks? I should have teleported to Athledon and ask about the entrance in the first place." He criticized himself as realization dawned upon him. Wil felt like he was the most foolish person in the world. Chapter 361: Journey to the Dragon Island part-5 He traveled back to the time but his intelligence was just the same as before. Always forget about crucial parts and makes terrible mistakes. Taking a deep breath, Wil convinced himself that his trip wasn''t all for naught either as he found out the painting. Forcing out a smile, he looked at Iphi, "Plans change. We are going to my second home. But, I need you to return to the gourd." "Again?" She complained in a high pitch. "No, I don''t want to." Wil smiled helplessly, "sorry but you just need to take a short nap for a few hours." Without waiting for her response, Wil sent her to the gourd prison, once again. *Ding! Favorability with Iphi Draconus reduced by 5 Iphi was disappointed to return to the dark cell just after a couple of minutes it got free. Ignoring the notification, Wil dismissed the gourd and then, summoned the fire Pegasus. *neigh* Caressing it, he got on top of it before pointing towards the ocean, "buddy, let''s go at full speed. *Ding! The flying speed crossed the maximum limit. You receive a temporary debuff, blindness. "Ugh, not again" He quickly ordered the Pegasus to stop to make preparations for the flight. Not intending to waste time on nap like previous high-speed flights, he opened the forums. Wil then went to the music section which was uploaded by the users. He clicked on all the playlists before ordering to fly once again. *** With 6 times the speed of Wil''s maximum flying speed, the Pegasus flew towards the island kingdom of Athledon at a speed of 3.2 mach. Within a little more than just five hours, the Pegasus reached the skies of Athledon kingdom and slowed down. Maybe, it''s due to the update changes to nullify the effects or maybe, it''s due to the high speed of the Pegasus that cuts through the wind, for whatever reason, Wil didn''t feel a thing until he arrived at the destination. *neigh* As his vision restored, Wil stopped the songs and ordered it to get down near the shores of a river which is located in the state of Ormshire. After that, it closed its wings and started to run like a horse. For the passersby, it felt extremely weird to see a winged human is sitting on a winged horse that is running instead of flying. On the way, remembering that he forgot to see the changes in Ormshire, he opened the data of Ormshire state in the properties list. Thankfully, there weren''t many changes except the NPC population which is increased by a little more than a thousand. As for the player population, except for Akiko and her branch guild members, there are none, mainly due to the war happening around the world. Moreover, there is neither the presence of dungeons in the Ormshire state nor there are any monsters in the ocean or the sky. Adding on top of that, Scarlet Town wasn''t developed much either, except for farming lands, basic residences for NPCs, and a few official buildings. So, no one settled here yet. Wil thought of developing it once the world war is finished. Money is more needed on developing the military, rather than on city development. After all, once the second phase starts, the minor update will bring a lot of changes to the world, especially increasing the military strength of the NPC kingdoms. As for player kingdoms like Llyne and Gailzach, they won''t get such benefits. So, they need to focus on improving military strength, not that it is needed for someone like Wil, well, at least in his own view. Upon reaching the Imperial palace of Athledon, the captain escorted Wil into the palace where he crashed on the courtroom session as soon as it began. "Brother Time Traveler." King Hugolinus Athledon was delighted to meet the savior whom he treated like a blood sibling. Wil also saw Owler, sat beside the king. As he greeted Hugo in return, the King asked him the reason for his visit. Wil answered him truthfully that he came for Owler regarding a personal business and further requested to grant a few minutes as it was a very urgent matter. If it was anyone else, it would have brought a frown upon the King. But, Wil is not only the savior of Athledon, but he is also a disciple of the Seer. So, King Hugo permitted Owler to leave the courtroom for a while, to which, Wil expressed his thanks and quickly left with Owler. As they exited the courtroom, Wil expressed his intentions to his master and requested him to grant the wish. At first, the original Seer Owler fell into thoughts. After all, Wil isn''t requesting to find just one ordinary person. He was asking for the whereabouts of three people in which there''s a possibility that at least two of them might be an Ascended like him. If they are weak, it would have been fine. However, Owler was worried that the targets might turn to be powerful ones and get offended. If that''s the case, it might bring harm to himself and Athledon. Moreover, his intuition is also telling him that he shouldn''t mess with them. As a seer, he never disregards his intuition. After thinking for a while, Owler shook his head, "I''m sorry but I can''t help you find those persons you are looking for. However, I can also help you find the entrance of the Dragon Island." As soon as he heard that Owler can help him out in reaching the Dragon Island, he no longer paid attention to the matter of why his master rejected to help out in searching for that mysterious old man or the black dragon. "Come with me." Owler started to walk away. Wil followed him to a private chamber. Summoning his crystal ball, Owler closed his eyes and continuously poured magic power into it. If Wil would be able to see his mana, he would have seen the mana points are depleting at a rapid pace as Owler is increasing his search distance from 1 km radius to 5 km, then, 500 km, 5000 km, and finally 50 thousand km, thereby covering the entire planet. The process lasted for a whole ten minutes. After almost depleting his mana, Owler opened his eyes and the crystal ball stopped glowing. Instantly, he felt like he was tired, at least on the outside. Looking at Wil, he slowly gave the directions, "From here, travel 20765 kilometers to the south and then, travel west for another 2498 kilometers. Then, finally, dive into the ocean for 5.7 kilometers. There, you will find the ruins of the islands that were submerged long ago. The entrance looks like a door. However, the only thing that can unlock the door is a weapon that was filled with the aura of a king. His majesty''s Athledon''s sword is qualified to open the entrance. You can ask his help to lend it to you. Considering your relationship, I''m sure he will agree to it." "No, it''s alright." Wil shook his head. "I need to make other preparations before setting out to that place." After getting what he needed, Wil didn''t stay in the palace any longer. After sending a message to Aster to increase the treasury of the palace to make sure not runs out in his absence, he immediately set out to the location right away. It cost him another five hours of blindness as he sat on top of the Pegasus. On the way, once again, he started to listen to the music. However, as soon as his sight restored, Wil''s eyes widened in shock. He couldn''t help but roar, "why the f**k am I here?" Chapter 362: Journey to the Dragon Island part-6 "Dragon Island, here I come" "Dragon Island, here I come" By the time the fire Pegasus reached the destination according to the instructions it was given to, Wil was humming to the music while expressing his happiness forgetting all the hard work he had done until now as the destination is almost before him. As the Pegasus stopped its flight and the sunlight hit his face, Wil received a notification from the system about his restoration of vision. "Finally, I''m here" Wil opened his eyes in excitement. However, a familiar temple on an island that was like a hundred meters away stunned him on the spot. His excitement was all drained instantly. Wil looked around left and right. The group of islands was exactly the same as before. "haha" "hahaha" Wil started to laugh over his disbelief. "Hahahaha" After laughing crazily for a while, he roared on top of his lungs. "Why the f**k am I here, again?" The temple wasn''t some new place. It was the same one that imprisoned Averil. He traveled more than forty thousand kilometers back and forth while spending ten hours in blindness only to find himself back at the Marsh Islands. For a moment, he thought there was a malfunction in the system. Then, as something clicked in his mind, he opened the map and immediately slapped his forehead. "Great I should have known." While the map doesn''t show the distance, Wil who traveled halfway around the ocean, knew that the distance between the places is exactly the same as Owler mentioned. "Damn it, I should have gone underwater to see the place for once." "Graaaa" he roared again in frustration before dismissing the Pegasus and summoning the Warship. After teleporting directly to the captain''s cabin, Wil summoned the gourd and freed the dragon girl. As soon as she was out, Iphi lunged at Wil in anger. Wil was taken aback and moved his head a bit in reflex. However, he wasn''t able to dodge her and was bit by her on the side of his head. "-1" "-1" "-1" "-1" "-1" Wil went speechless for a while as the Dragon girl tightly latched herself on his back and continue to gnaw on his head. His favorability with Iphi is still above 50. So, he highly doubted this was a malicious attack. It was more like a kid throwing a tantrum. This is a kind of reaction Wil often sees in eastern kind of animations where a loli does to MC or Second male lead. He didn''t expect this kind of situation will happen to him. "-1" "-1" "-1" "-1" At first, he tried to be understanding but then, as his HP was going down by 1 point every second, continuously for two minutes, Wil slowly started to get annoyed and thought of just removing its existence once in for all. However, she''s the most beloved granddaughter of the Dragon King. Now that he was right in front of the entrance, Wil couldn''t help but think about it. Having more favorability points will help him a lot in the Dragon Island Of course, that doesn''t mean he was afraid of the consequences of killing her. After killing three level-500 NPCs, Wil was very much confident in dealing with the whole dragon clan. Worst comes to worst, he will be killed by an Ascended and will be teleported to Deloris town. It''s the reason he dared to go to the dragon island knowing that there might be consequences of killing Averil. Taking a deep breath, Wil apologized. "Alright, I''m sorry, okay. I will not send you to that prison, again. By the way, we''re going to your home." "Eh?" As soon as she heard the last sentence, her anger dissipated and was replaced by excitement. "Really?" *Ding! Favorability with Iphi increased by 15 points An abrupt rise in the favorability points made Wil surprised for a second before he realized that it might have to do with her age. Teenagers and kids are highly susceptible to emotions than adults. So, he thought it was normal. Meanwhile, the dragon gets down from his back and looked around. "Where Eh?" She finds herself in a strange place. Looking at the water from the glass window, she asked, "Are we under the sea or something?" Wil nodded in response as he walked towards the control room. "Yes, we are under Xynnar ocean. It looked like the entrance is located here somewhere" As the Warship diving into the ocean deep, the sunlight disappeared and everything went dark around the ship. With the help of Warship''s headlights, Wil managed to see 500 meters ahead while they were continuing to descend until the bottom of the ocean. Four hours later; "C''mon, Felix. We only need seven" Iphi handed two dices to the five-tailed fox which managed to grab them with its paws before lifting them up and throwing them down gently. In the Warship, Wil, Iphi, and Felix were playing monopoly together. While Felix doesn''t have a clue of what''s going on, Iphi was just letting it roll the dice after it turned out to be lucky. Looking at the situation, the person who actually introduced the game to the little dragon girl was regretting the fact that he let Felix be teamed up with Iphi. After three hours of play, Iphi and Felix were on the winning side with more money and almost 3/4th of the territories. Just as the dices were thrown, suddenly, the Warship shook as it collided with the bottom. As a result, there were 3 dots and 4 dots on the respective dices. However, Wil hurriedly scurried to the control room. "Damn, I forgot to summon them." Due to traveling with Iphi for so many days, Wil actually forgot the existence of his fallen Angel servants. It was only after the ship hit the rock bottom, he remembered them as he would usually give the control of the steering wheel to those two. Getting into the control, he controlled the ship to lift above the ocean bed a few meters before proceeding to go around in circles to check for something round slab-like thing that his master mentioned to him. "Not fair You left the game" Iphi complained as she followed him into the control room. *Wow* It seemed like even Felix agreed with her. However, he wasn''t in any condition to care about it. Dismissing the fox, he said, "Alright, let''s say it''s your win. I need to concentrate on finding the entrance. It should be somewhere around here." Iphi kept silent and watched the monitors. After looking for a whole hour, Wil felt like he had enough and unleashed the bubble skill. "I''m going outside for a bit. You stay here." She nodded a few times in response. Wil then used Short Teleportation Skill to get out of the Warship and reappeared at the ocean bed a hundred meters away before he started to walk around with equipping night vision goggles. "Found it." It didn''t even take enough long for him to discover the ruins of the island with a huge round stone slab on the ocean bed. It was practically right beside the Warship. It had the drawing of an Angel, a Dragon, a human, with a headless demon kneeling in front of those three. The Angel was grabbing the demon''s head. "This is it" Wil''s eyes glowed while looking at the image. Chapter 363: Mias difficulties Looking at the mural on the stone slab, Wil''s eyes lit up in excitement. He was hundred percent confident that this is the entrance to the Dragon island. The only thing that''s off about this mural is that there wasn''t an Elf in the picture. According to the prophecy, the utopia of the dragons is located at the place where the Northern humans, Eastern Elves, Western Angels drew the blood of the southern demons. However, instead of Elves, there was a picture of Dragon with the other three. Is the prophecy wrong, or do Dragons have enmity with Elves? Wil doesn''t know or rather, he doesn''t care about it. Putting his useless thoughts away, he inspected the stone slab to confirm his thoughts and to see if he can get any other information from it. Gateway of Dragons Status: sealed Description: One of the two gateways to the world of dragons. After being sealed by Archmage Solomon, this gateway can only be unsealed by the Imperial weapon. "One of the two gateways? So, there must be another way too, huh! Well, never matter Let''s get to it." An imperial sword appeared in his hands. Dismissing the Warship along with Iphi into his inventory, Wil grabbed the sword''s handle, position it vertically down to let its tip touch the mural, and unseal it. Just as he about to touch it, suddenly, a system notification rang in his ears. *Ding! You are receiving a call from outside. Upon clicking on the notification, it turned to be his mother who was calling him. He wondered whether it is because she''s reached home and was calling him or something. Wil''s first thought of rejecting it right away but then, as a sudden thought of possible abduction of his siblings appeared in his mind, he immediately answered it. "Hello?" "Hello, Wils. It''s me" He heard his mother''s voice on the other side. It appeared calm. However, Wil wasn''t comfortable with her calling him affectionately like that. He only put up with it in front of his future-in-laws and Hyori''s parents. "What is it, Mrs. Quilton?" Now that they were on the phone, his voice turned cold. His mother, who was long prepared for it, didn''t mind his tone. She said, "Nothing, it''s past 11. You haven''t returned to your room, yet. I''m wondering when you will finish your work at the office." "Huh! You haven''t aboard the flight?" Wil was surprised that they didn''t return to Leafway city even though he asked Silver to drop them at the airport so that they can return by his private jet. As Scarlet confessed that she intended to return home when his business in Ares city is finished, Wil fell into a brief silence before replying that he''s almost done with the work. Upon getting reminded that it is already 11, he remembered the meeting with Texel''s Chairman, on the next day. "Sigh Let''s just open it, tomorrow." Wil immediately logged out without returning to the surface, not intending to waste hours of time to go up and down. *** The next day morning; "Good morning, Big brother" Mia was the first to greet him after waking him up by kicking the door twice as her hands were occupied by mugs. Looking at the cheerful smile on the little girl''s face made Wil feel like all of his drowsiness left away. "Hey, Mia Sorry, I was busy yesterday with morning stuff and I thought you were also leaving for home." From the moment he learned about the existence of his sister, Wil didn''t know why but he felt attached to her. Maybe, it''s because he spent so much time without seeing any blood relatives save for his dad who was always busy with the settlements, and his paternal grandmother who passed away when he was around 11. As for his mom, in his past life, he never knew that she''s alive and in the present life, he hated her for abandoning him and living happily with her new family. So, in Wil''s heart, Mia is kinda like a little angel. He was also further guilty for not looking after her well either in-game world or in the real world. "It''s alright. Here for you" Giving the coffee mug in her hands to Wil, she entered the room. Taking a sip, Wil was surprised a bit as his eyes lit up, "It''s good." "Isn''t it? Rey also loves the coffee brewed by mom. But, I don''t like it though Too bitter Ugh" Mia let out a comment as she walked towards the balcony. Thankfully, she didn''t see how Wil''s expression changed to dark upon hearing that it was brewed by his mom. However, thinking that Mia would be sad if he were to throw it away, Wil continued to drink it while following her. As Mia was enjoying the view of the city from the balcony, Wil dragged an additional chair to sit down, "so, how''s your day. Did you tour around, again?" "Not much." Mia let out a sigh and spoke honestly. "Most of the places are filled with eastern architecture. Kinda weird to me. Although I like the view from the top like these, there are too many skyscrapers in this city. Got a little bit sick of them. Still, this city is a lot better than Leafway city, not because of all the infrastructures but we can see westerners everywhere. There, at home, I hardly see any people like us. I don''t know how you deal with them but whether it''s their habits, culture, or food, it''s a bit too difficult for me to adjust here" Although it appeared like she was complaining, Wil felt like there is a hidden meaning in her words as if she wants to tell him something. He fell into thoughts. After a brief silence, he opened his mouth, "Did you miss your home at Hailey city?" He wondered whether his sister just didn''t like the eastern culture at all in contrast to him. In response, Mia nodded, "It''s more like I miss my friends. There aren''t too many westerners in my class too. So, they look at me differently." "Is your school life, good?" Since Mia seemed to be opening up to him regarding her difficulties, not just showing her cheerful side, Wil probed further. Her words made him worried that she might be facing bullying. After all, it was common in Yarlford city. Unlike the adults who were more accepting towards the other races, the teenagers in their rebellious phases won''t be that kind. Thankfully, his sister doesn''t seem like she was facing many difficulties. "A few classmates avoid me due to the racial difference. However, the teachers are good. I made a couple of friends. At least, there was no bullying like I feared it to be." Wil fell into thoughts once again. A couple of hours later; Wil was alone in his room with a laptop on the desk, seemed to be busy in a video call with some middle-aged fellow. "We can only issue the scholarships based on their economic background, not on their place of origin or race. If we do that, the image of our academy will fall. Even if it is to promote multiculturalism, the board members won''t agree to it, Mr. Ravens." The chairman of Darwin institutions doesn''t seem like agreeing with Wil''s demand. Wil''s face turned serious. "Then, what if I invest another 100 million? Will the board members agree?" Chapter 364: Consecutive meetings "You want to invest another 100 million Yuan?" Wei Jian, the chairman of the Darwin institutions was taken aback in surprise upon hearing that this young chairman of the Scarlet Group intends to become a shareholder at their private institution. Despite having more than 20 branches in various cities, despite having top faculty, they have very few global achievements in the past eight years. Most of the time, their results are mediocre in sports competitions, quiz competitions, University Entrance examinations. So, they would also fail to acquire top talents. After eight years since the foundation, their net worth is barely ten million dollars due to maintaining the top-level faculty, high-quality facilities, etc At such a moment, Chairman Wei got the proposal from the Scarlet group of 100 million Yuan donation to the academy. Chairman Wei felt like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert. However, he didn''t expect it turned out to be a mirage when he listened to Wil''s demand. How could he grant free scholarships to every westerner that joins the school? Just their tuition fees cost 8000 dollars per annum. As for the boarding fees, even though it depends on each branch, on average, it still costs more than 20 thousand dollars. If Wil would ask to waive just tuition fees, Chairman Wei would have agreed to it. After all, they can still make profits from the boarding fees. However, Wil asked to provide scholarships in a way that lets them practically study and stay for free except for other stuff like books, extra classes, trips, etc No matter how he thought of it, Chairman Wei couldn''t accept such a deal. Moreover, it will be a loss to him if many students of western continent origin get granted such a scholarship. However, at the same time, being an acquaintance with Silver, he couldn''t offend Wil either. So, he rejected the offer with an excuse. He didn''t expect that instead of compromising on the deal, Wil, instead proposed a new one, by becoming an investor/shareholder. As the other party appeared to be stupefied for a moment upon hearing his offer, Wil further said, "It isn''t Yuan, Chairman Wei. I''m willing to fork out 100 million dollars on top of a 50 million dollar donation. In return, gather the shareholders. Do whatever deal you want to do with them. I need 33% of the shares in return. I have another condition. The donation I provide to the academy will only go to the scholarship program. Announced that in order to promote multiculturalism, the university and the academy will provide a fixed number of scholarships to those who reside in the western continent. You can also use those funds to provide merit scholarships for those students who excel in intercontinental or global competitions too. This is a 150 million dollar deal. My conditions and the deal will go together. No compromise over here. Discuss with the board members and give a reply to my mail within tomorrow." Wil didn''t wait for his reply and disconnected the call. Putting away the laptop, he let out a deep sigh. "To rectify mom''s mistakes, I had to spend such a huge amount of money." Thinking of his mother, Wil''s mood turned bad, "What does that woman even thinking? Didn''t she think how Mia would feel while suddenly leaving her home, school, friends, and everything? And what about Rey? He''s even in his final year and yet, was forced to change the schools. For her freedom, she abandoned me. And now to live nearby the son whom she had abandoned, she had ignored the happiness of her other children. She''s just doing whatever she wants, not caring about the feelings of others" To not get irritated further, Wil stopped thinking about his mom and took a nap until lunchtime. Wearing a formal suit, he then left the hotel without eating lunch with his family as one, he had a lunch meeting with the Texel group''s chairman, two, he wasn''t in a mood to eat with his mom. Silver originally offered to accompany Wil but the latter rejected telling him that Storm is coming with him, and he further asked him to look after their family. Silver was a little bit disappointed that Storm was forgiven very quickly for the mistake he had done. Although he didn''t intend to forgive his rival that easily, still he respected Wil''s wishes and didn''t confront him, at least not yet. Upon reaching the location, Wil saw a few bodyguards were waiting at the entrance. As for Storm, he was told to stay inside as he will continue to be a public figure until everything settles down. Under the orders of Wil, Storm booked the whole restaurant for the day so that there won''t be any possible disturbance during the meet. Entering the place, Wil saw Storm was sitting before an old man in his sixties and a young man in his twenties who slightly resembled the old man. Wil recognized them as he saw their info on the way on the internet. Along with them, a pretty young woman was also there. Wil knew that she wasn''t his daughter. So, he wondered whether she''s a secretary. "Ms. Clarke wasn''t exaggerating. He''s really too young." The son of the chairman commented as he looked at Wil. "His mother was lucky unlike me. A capable daughter doesn''t want to succeed in my position and the son was incapable to handle any affairs." The old man couldn''t help but be grumpy. Just the previous evening, he had an argument with his daughter who said she wished to work at Ravens Tech, a company acquired by Wil. Tang Lei became silent. He knew that his father always gives freedom to both of them. It''s just that he''s in a bad mood after their company''s shares drop for the second day in a row due to the recent scandal. With the news of Wil getting engaged to the finance minister was also circulating in the media, Tang He didn''t know to who he should show his frustration. At such a wrong timing, his daughter breaks the news of her joining the Ravens Tech, making him show his anger on his kids, instead. "Hello." Tang He put for his hand instead of greeting with a usual bow as the other party is a westerner. "Sorry for the late." Wil accepted his handshake before taking his seat. Tang He commented as he also took his seat, "I hope it''s worth the wait." "That depends on your answer, Mr. Tang." Wil returned the comment with a casual comment while hinting that there''s something he would ask or propose that they might or might not like. Both Tang He and Tang Lei had an idea about this meeting beforehand. They knew that Wil might be talking about the case with a negotiation. Wil''s words further confirmed their speculations. "Well, we can talk while having lunch. There''s no hurry." Even though he''s interested to know what Wil might be proposing, as a business magnet, he should properly follow the etiquette. "Oh! By the way, this is my son, Tang Lei." Tang Lei also put forth his hand for a handshake. However, Wil didn''t take it. "I know." Wil plainly nodded with a comment. "I read the articles on the way. Fined for more than 20 times on speeding; Got caught in a scandal twice with actresses; an alleged drug scandal, and got cheated by a girlfriend who ran away with five million." Both the father and son were taken aback upon hearing his words. Even Storm felt like Wil isn''t here to play with friends. Chapter 365: Wils proposal to Texel "You" Tang Lei got angered upon getting reminded of his past scandals. Just as he was about to stand up from the seat, his father grabbed his arm and pulled him down while refuting, "These little things are common in this business circle. Don''t believe everything in the articles. Some will be exaggerated articles, some will be half-truths and some are fake rumors like for example, some say the Scarlet group has links with western mafias, some say the company''s founder Ms. Scarlet Smith is dead. That''s why she never appeared in public. Some say she''s a beloved of some diplomat or top businessman, etc If people like us put too much attention on such baseless things, it will only cause us a headache." Tang He countered Wil''s statement with a smile, defending his son and attacking at the same time using the same method of mentioning the articles. He wanted to let Wil know that he isn''t a pushover like others. Tang Lei also smiled a bit, thinking that his father is indeed awesome to deal with the situation in such a calm manner. While Storm was triggered by Tang He''s words, Wil, on the other hand, nodded calmly, "What you said is true. I guess I have to find the complete truth from the Galaxy Net before making the statements from now onwards." Wil replied to his counter with a simple threat and wiped off the smiles from Tang Lei and his father, even if it''s just for a moment. The Texel group''s chairman controlled his expression and nodded while maintaining his smile once again, "Ah, yes. I watched the interview. Congratulations, by the way." Wil responded with simple thanks and ended the conversation. After a brief silence, Tang He once again tried to resume the conversation. "So, I heard that you recently decided to move the company headquarters to Leafway city. Is it true or just another baseless rumor on the internet?" Wil didn''t know how this old man knew of it as they only decided in the board meeting and never made the news official, but still, he tried to keep his face calm and collected as usual before confirming the news, "Yes." "Then, are you intending on selling the building?" With real estate booming in the Ares city, Chairman Tang really intends to buy it. Moving the company from Ares city to a first-tier city like Leafway, intending to sell one of their subsidiaries, calling a meeting for negotiation, all of these coincidences made this old man believe to some extent that Scarlet group might be facing difficulties. So, he wondered whether he could buy the building at market price while compromising at the negotiations. However, his hopes were dashed away with Wil rejecting it in a firm no. Chairman Tang fell into a bad mood once again and this time, to save his face, he didn''t continue the conversation about the other things. After a while, the food has been served. Focusing on weight loss lately, Wil only ordered a simple grilled chicken and broccoli. On the other hand, the other party ordered a mouth-watering hotpot with dozen ingredients and few other eastern specialties. Wil resisted the temptation of eating the unhealthy food and stuffed the broccoli in his mouth. Everyone finished their lunch in silence as Wil had nothing to talk about while Chairman Tang doesn''t seem interested in entertaining Wil any longer. "So, let''s get to the point, Mr. Ravens." Chairman Tang then asked Wil the reason for this meeting. Wil proceeds to talk about the deal. "Then, let me get this straight, Chairman Tang." His voice no longer appeared calm and casual. His expression was rather serious. "Your Ex-CEO basically stole our money through the bank owner. But, I''m not na?ve to think that you will return our money just like that. So, here''s my proposal. Our Scarlet group intends to save the Ark bank. I need Texel group to back off the case and return those four billion dollars to the bank. As the new owners, we will have to pay off the debts of the bank too. So, your money won''t go anywhere. For the next two years, Texel group will not ask the bank its principal amount as long as the bank continues to pay the agreed 1% monthly interest every month. In the meantime, Scarlet group will invest five billion dollars into Texel Electronics and will not withdraw the shares at least for a year. This is my first and final proposal. Either agree to these peaceful terms and we will sign the contract or reject it and we will go to war. I have nothing to lose either way. Anyway, I''m short on time. So, Chairman Tang only has 6 hours to decide. If you agree with it, please arrange a dinner meeting. If not, then, I''ll treat that this meeting has never occurred." Now that he finished the lunch, Wil didn''t wait for his response and stood up to leave the place as he had more pressing matters to deal it. It''s been several hours since he last logged in. Wil was in hurry to login into the game and enter the dragon world. Watching Wil''s back, Chairman Tang narrowed his eyes as he mumbled, "this kid sure has temperament." *** *WELCOME TO WAR ONLINE* After leaving the restaurant, he immediately left for the headquarters and logged in the game with enthusiasm, putting away all other tensions aside. As soon as he logged in the game, Wil found himself on the same spot, standing on the round stone slab while receiving a series of notifications. *Ding! You crossed the limit of underwater depth. *Ding! You are at a depth of 5738 meters under the ocean. Your HP will decrease by 57,346,056 per second. *Ding! The Angelic wings were completely drenched by water. Your flying ability with these wings is restricted for 2 hours. Due to the latest maintenance, along with the damage cap, Aria also tweaked a few things. One of them is the effect of water and fire on the wings of Angels and Demons where they can be temporarily drenched, burn, or can be cut off as long as the requirements can be met. Another of them is the high altitude and sea-depth debuffs where the decrease in the HP will vary according to the perpendicular distance from the ground and surface of the water respectively. Thankfully, Wil had billions of HP. So, he didn''t have to worry about dying because of such debuff. However, right now, he wasn''t in a mood to care about notifications as he no longer stood on the stone slab. Instead, he was experiencing the same thing others experienced when he unleashed Gravity Suppression skill. Every second, more than 57 million HP was deducting while his body was stuck on the ocean bed due to the enormous amount of pressure. Since 12 hours cooldown has already been passed, Wil immediately unleashed the bubble skill and nullified the pressure. "Well, that was some scary experience." Healing himself, Wil then summoned the Imperial sword from the inventory and held the handle, and touched the tip of the sword at the dragon. As soon as the Imperial sword touched the mural, an expected reaction appeared. The sword and the mural glowed in the pitch darkness. The intensity of light sharply increased enveloping Wil. Suddenly, the ocean bed started to shake before a chunk of the land ascended slowly towards the surface of the ocean. An hour later, a tiny island was floating in the middle of the Xynnar Ocean. However, Wil was nowhere to be seen. Chapter 366: Lucius Draconus In the middle of what seemed like an endless blue ocean, a gigantic island, large enough to be considered even as a continent was slowly floating in an aimless direction. Snow-clad mountains, coniferous kissed hills, glacier-fed rivers, lush green conical trees, colorful tulip gardens, and sparkling lakes. If seen from the skies, the island appears gorgeous as if the god decided to shift heaven to the material world. The mountain range was located at the edge of the island in a circle, which act as the barrier for the marine disasters and attack of the wild aquatic beasts. Streams and rivers flow down from all the mountains, making a large lake in the center of the island around which beautiful towns and cities were being built, largely resembling the human architecture that was found elsewhere on the outside. Various types of dragons were normally seen flying above the forests, lakes, and hills. At the same time, humanoid dragons were seen busily roaming in the towns and cities while the members of the dragon race who failed to become one and remain as humans were seen working in the farms, fisheries, constructions, mines, or servants to nobles. Unless one was born as nobility, these failed dragons were practically seen as slaves to the upper class of the society. With the Dragon King ruling the kingdom with an iron fist like a tyrant, their situation only got worse over time. The nobles with dozens of acres of farming land forcefully make these humans work as farmers. Those who had mines make them miners. In one sentence, the life of these humans/failed dragons depends on the mood of the upper-class dragons. Imperial palace; A well-built old man is sitting on top of the throne in an audience-filled courtroom. Amid the gazes of everyone, four scouting captains were standing before the king to report their findings. His usual calm eyes now appeared fierce, indicating that he''s angry at something or someone. His hands were tightly grabbing the handle while one of his legs was shaking uncontrollably, indicating that he''s getting impatient. After the four of them finished with their reports, the Dragon King stood up abruptly while exploding in anger, "What about Iphi? Why isn''t there any news of her in your reports?" "We are still searching for her, Your majesty." One of the captains took courage and replied to him. However, the angered Dragon King wasn''t in a mood to hear the word ''No''. As he raised his index finger, a fire beam suddenly shot towards the scout captain and turned him into ash, instantly. "It''s been two weeks, since her disappearance." "Father, my imprint on her soul hasn''t disappeared yet. She isn''t awakened. So, it''s impossible for her to fly on her own towards the endless ocean. I think she was likely been abducted." Iphi''s father, the crown prince, Reuben Draconus expressed his suspicions. Unlike his father, he was a lot of calm. "Who would dare to abduct my granddaughter?" The Dragon King, Owen roared in a rage. "Reuben, announce the news to the citizens. I will reward handsomely to those who find the whereabouts of Iphi and I will forgive those who will return Iphi safe and sound within a day. Once the time limit is finished, send a warning that the culprit should hide himself very well. Once I found who is behind this, I will put him and his entire family to death whether they are young, elder, baby, or female" After announcing his decision, Owen stormed out of the palace before started to fly towards the mountain caves to find some peace. *** Meanwhile, at a village hidden within the hills; *Ding! You discovered Dragon Island. You receive 2000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! You receive a quest, open the Dragon Island. *Ding! You receive a quest, Meet the Dragon King. "Ugh" Wil grabbed his head feeling as if a needle pierced his head while waking up. Following the series of notifications, Wil''s vision was restored and he found himself lying on a wooden bed with no mattress on it. He looked around. The room was quite simple. There''s one bed, one small desk with a couple of books on it. Other than that, the room is completely empty. "Open, Map" After confirming his current location and his destination, Wil proceeded to click on the notifications and open the details of the quests. *** Quest: Open the Dragon Island Description: As the first player to reach the dragon island, you can open the entrance of the Dragon Island to the public. Rewards: 5000 fame points; Dragon Island''s dungeon unlock; Favorability with All dragons 20; and 10000 gold coins. Accept? Wil didn''t select on either Yes or No as he had yet to explore the kingdom. He proceeded to read the next quest. Quest: Meet the Dragon King Description: Meet the Dragon King and tell your origins. Rewards: Dragon Island Citizenship Accept? *Ding! You accepted the quest. Closing down the notification panel, Wil stepped down from the bed to walk through the door. There, he saw a teenage boy seems to be looking after a sleeping little kid in the living room while studying a book. He inspected both of them. First, at the teenage boy, and then, at the kid. Lucius Mole (Draconus) Age: 15 Grade: Mythic Level: 100 Description: The direct descendant of the royal family of Draconus. Adopted into the family with surname Mole. Currently, he doesn''t know his identity. Amber Mole Age: 5 Grade: Common Level: 1 Description: The only daughter of Sarah Mole and Hobert Mole. "Direct descendant and a mythic-grade beast? Now, this is a surprise." Wil felt like he encountered a rare treasure. A look of greed appeared on his face but soon, he controlled his expression and cleared his throat. "Excuse me." "Mister, you have woken up." Lucius immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile. *Mister* Wil felt like an invisible arrow struck his chest. He was offended a bit as they were only a few years apart. At the same time, he regretted changing his appearance over for nothing. Forcing himself to calm down, he thanked him and then, asked about what happened. Lucius replied politely, "My father said he caught mister in the net while he was fishing in the lake." Looking at Wil''s Angelic wings, Lucius wondered whether he was from the clan of Eucliffe where the white dragons were born. As for their different shape from the dragon wings, mutations are common everywhere in this world. So, as a commoner without much knowledge, he didn''t feel strange about it. Upon hearing his words, Wil fell into deep thoughts. "Hmm, it''s strange that I was drowned and ended up unconscious when I teleported to this world. Why? Even if I accept the fact that people end up inside the lake, still, it doesn''t make any sense as bubble skill will nullify all the water pressure and I was unconscious for twenty minutes." Wil wondered there''s something that he doesn''t know yet. After completing the quest, he decided to find his answers. Coming back to reality, Wil then looked at Lucius and said, "thank you for saving my life. I want to repay the kindness of your family. I will grant you a wish. Ask it and I will fulfill it at all cost whether it''s wealth, power, or revenge, anything that you want." "Anything?" Lucius''s face suddenly turned hopeful. Wil nodded in response with a smile, "anything." "Then, can you save my mother?" The young boy looked at Wil with a pleading look on his face. *Ding!* A familiar notification bell rang in his ears. Chapter 367: A puppet king Quest: Save Sarah Mole Description: Sarah Mole, a resident of Norwich was dragged away by the Dragon Lord Qelrit along with several villagers for mining. Bring back Sarah to her children. Reward: Lucius''s favorability points +50 Accept? Usually, Wil wouldn''t bother to do a useless quest. However, aiming to make this mythic grade beast his battle companion, Wil accepted the quest right away. Not to mention, he was also happy at the moment as he finally entered the dragon island. "Sure. I will give you my word. Even if I have to topple this entire island, I will save your mother from that Qelrit." Wil''s words made the boy prostrate on the floor, "thank you." Lucius doesn''t know whether Wil can do it or not. Still, he was thankful that someone accepted his request. His father along with other villagers knelt before the Region Lord and begged him, but since the culprit was the Dragon Lord Qelrit, their pleas went ignored. Now that he heard someone is willing to do the job, Lucius became hopeful. *Ding! You accepted the quest, Save Sarah Mole. *Ding! Favorability points with Lucius increased by 10. *Ding! You receive a hidden quest. "Huh!" Wil didn''t expect a hidden quest of the things from this simple quest. He clicked on it, looking curious. Quest: Kill the Dragon Lord Qelrit. Description: After the disappearance of the Dragon Lord Egan, his son, Qelrit Draconus took control of Bexley and became the region lord. Kill the Dragonlord Qelrit and liberate all the slaves. Reward: 100 million EXP, 10 thousand gold coins, 1000 fame points, and random legendary grade dragon egg. Accept? "Now, this is one hefty reward." Wil couldn''t help but think the opponent might be a level-500 boss for the system to give a generous reward. However, the problem here is that none of the rewards is that appealing to him. Wil wasn''t in need of experience as his level is at the limit. He doesn''t need gold coins as he was rich enough to buy them at any time. He doesn''t need fame points as he was a king. And certainly, he doesn''t need a legendary grade dragon egg as he had a mythic grade beast and four legendary+ grade beasts with him. The reward is as useless as the previous quest. Moreover, killing Qelrit brings trouble with the Dragon King as they are father and son. Then, perhaps, he would have to kill the Dragon King too. "Hmm?" Suddenly, a thought emerged in his mind and he glanced at Lucius. "That''s right. He''s a direct descendant of the royal family. Rather than making him my battle companion, he can be a puppet king." Upon forming a plan, Wil controlled his expression and told the young boy that along with his mother, the other villagers will also return. *Ding! You accepted the hidden quest. Lucius was taken aback by Wil''s announcement. Since he knew that defeating a Dragon Lord isn''t possible, he thought Wil might be of a highborn in the Eucliffe clan and have ties with the royal family. Such a thought made him shiver as he addressed him as mister earlier. Before he gets to apologize to Wil, the latter passed him and walked towards the door, and exited the house. With his Angelic wings still wet, Wil had no choice but to summon the nimbus cloud to travel to his first destination, the Imperial city. First, he needs citizenship, the rest is secondary Three thousand meters above the surface, sitting on the comfortable sponge cloud, Wil was enjoying the beautiful view of the island. If not for its beauty, he would have summoned the flying Pegasus and flew towards the Imperial city right away. Not to mention, he wasn''t in a hurry to finish the quest and he had already accomplished his tiny goal of finishing the Dragon Island. He crossed the hills, various towns & cities and finally stopped nearby a city called Ozreigh after traveling for 6 hours. Because of the artificial sun created by the earliest dragons, the sun will never in this world. However, in the real world, it was already dark. As Wil need to need to return to the hotel and prepare to leave for his home, he decided to log out here. "Well, first, let''s go to a safe place and log out." Since the Imperial city is still four thousand kilometers away, Wil decided to get into the city which is a safe zone before logging out. Too bad that he didn''t have a human transformation to hide his Angelic wings and blend in the crowd. So, after entering the capital city on foot, his beautiful pure white wings attracted the attention of several people. Like Lucius, the civilians as well as the low-level city guards also thought he was from the clan of Eucliffe. With his level being 300, the guards thought he was a noble. So, none of them dare to offend him and let him enter the city without any questioning. Of course, it didn''t stop them from sending a report to their captain about the sight of Wil because of his high level. After all, an unknown person of such level visiting a small tier city like Ozreigh is something that needs the attention of even the city lord, much less their captain. Wil didn''t know about it. Even if he knew, he wouldn''t care about it. Ignoring the gazes of the passersby, Wil casually roamed the streets for a while like a tourist before logging out. *** "Big brother, you are back." He was greeted by Mia as soon as he entered the terminal. After logging out from the game, instead of getting back to the hotel, he called Silver and told him to inform his family that they are going to return to Leafway city and he will meet them directly at the airport. After freshening up at the HQ and change into casual clothes, he entered the lift. However, who could have expected that as soon as he got on the 50th floor to change the elevator that will go to the ground floor, he would meet Oishi Takanori and Jordon on the way. The sudden encounter with the new CEO that he appointed made Wil stay at the company for another ten minutes. Wil thought he would just have a cup of coffee as a formality and leave the place. However, Oishi requested an hour of time as he prepared a presentation that was filled with ideas. The first thing he suggested for Scarlet Finance is to partner up with a bank and issue an EMI Network card, Health EMI card, and a credit card. Along with usual benefits, he further said that the customers can avail the discounts of the purchase of the services of the company and its subsidiaries. Other suggestions include making a deal with the startup hubs, expanding Logistics Company, buying so and so companies, accepting cryptocurrency as payment, etc After hearing everything, Wil told him that he will consider it and took the flash drive with him as he left the company with his assigned bodyguards. Even though he was late by an hour, he didn''t expect his family would already arrive at the airport before him. Everyone has this pleasant expression on their faces which made wonder whether they are that happy to return to their home. It''s the same for him whether it''s Yarlford, Ecrin, Leafway, or Ares. So, he wondered how that would feel Chapter 368: Dragon Island is in a war Wil parted with his family as soon as the plane landed at Leafway city. Although he told them that it is because of the luggage, in reality, he wanted to avoid Scott, who came to the airport to see his wife and children. After briefly shaking his hands with Scott, Wil informed them that he will return the next morning with his luggage after having a sleep and left right away with Silver and the bodyguards. Scarlet Apartments, Sarton Street, Leafway city; *Creak* Wil opens the door to see it''s nice and clean as always. Having a quick shower, he lies on the bed and stare at the ceiling, falling into thoughts. "Okay, for the next month, I need to do something about War Online. At any rate, Mia and Rey shouldn''t know that Time Traveler is me. But staying away for several hours every day is the same as going back on my words. Hmm" Slowly, he drifted into sleep. The next day morning, on the tenth floor of the Venus Apartments in the neighborhood, Scarlet was walking back and forth in the living room. She was constantly checking her mobile phone. Currently, no one is presented in the house. Scott had gone to work; Mia and Rey have gone to their respective schools on their mother''s insistence. It was because she wanted to let her soon feel like he was at home as a family member, not as some guest. *Ring* "Hello, Silver." She picked it up at the first ring. "Ma''am, we reached the place." Silver informed her in advance, just in case. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang once. "Fuu" Taking a deep breath, Scarlet walked to the door and opened it with a smile. "Wil, you are here." She stepped forward and hugged him as a greeting, but, Wil didn''t reciprocate the same. He simply asked where he should put the luggage in return. Scarlet was disappointed inside but watching Wil for the past few days, she knew it''s not going to be easy either. As it is a triple bedroom apartment, Wil got his own room to sleep and he was satisfied with it. Originally, the room was used to hold two Summersoft capsules. But now that Wil occupied the room, they were shifted to Rey and Mia''s room separately. She then told him about the others about why no one is present at home. Wil nodded in understanding. He felt it was for the best. After unpacking his luggage, Wil took a seat in the living room. Silver was arranging his luggage in the room like a butler while the guards were busy installing his personal S-grade capsule in the corner. He did it at the Ravens Manor back at Yarlford city back when Wil was a child. So, Silver doesn''t have a problem doing things like that. "So, I heard from Silver that you are shifting the company HQ." Giving a mug filled with coffee, Scarlet took her seat and started the topic to have a conversation with Wil. The latter nodded in response. "Yes, I liked this city." "I see" Scarlet nodded in understanding. As the conversation was cut off, silence filled the room for a while until she attempted to have a proper two-way conversation once again. "So, you play War Online regularly?" This time, Wil gave a long reply, "Yes. I used to play like 12-16 hours a day since I have nothing else to do. But, now that I need to take care of a lot of companies, I guess I''ll have to play moderately from now onwards." "What about work? Are you going to work from home? Or" Wil interrupted with a nod, "Yes, from my room. As I promised, I will be at home for the next 30 days but I hope you and your family members will give me privacy when I''m at work or lying in the capsule." Scarlet inwardly sighed and agreed with the terms. What could she do anything about it At around 10 o''clock, after Silver left, Wil walked into his room telling his mom that he has some urgent business within the game. "I thought it was just the kids. Even Silver plays this game?" Scarlet became curious about the game upon hearing that this game is loved by even adults like Silver. Opening her laptop, she went to Summersoft official website and ordered an empty data chip that costs 2000 Yuan/10000 credits. *Welcome to War Online* Wil found himself in the same street that he previously logged out but the street doesn''t look the same as before. Several houses appeared to be ruined. And the strangest thing is that there isn''t a single person around him and the area is completely filled with silence. It appeared as if the whole neighborhood was deserted. Meanwhile, several quest notifications rang in his ears. *Ding! You receive a quest, Missing Dragon King. *Ding! You receive a quest, Meet the City Lord. *Ding! You receive a quest, Join a faction. "What the hell is going on?" Wil frowned as he opened the quests. The quest names made him think that these quests might be related to the destruction around him. ** Quest: Missing Dragon King Description: The Dragon King, Owen Draconus flew towards the Valfair mountain caves and ends up getting trapped by the traitorous elders. Find the Dragon King and save him. Rewards: Unknown. Accept? ** Quest: Meet the City Lord Description: The City Lord was aware of your presence and wishes to meet you. Meet the City Lord of Ozreigh. Rewards: 10000 EXP ** Quest: Join the faction Description: On the day after the Dragon King Owen went missing, the second prince revolted and tried to occupy the throne which resulted in forming four factions that are vying for the throne. Join one of the factions and participate in the war to claim the throne. Rewards: Unknown (Depends on the contribution) Warning: Only the winning faction will receive the reward at the end. Accept? ** Wil was taken aback in surprise to see how the situation in the Dragon Island changed within just 24 hours. "Is it because of him?" He wondered at first but then, he crossed the thought from his mind as he didn''t do anything to start such war. He assumed it has been this way from the start and is nothing but a coincidence. Wil accepted the first two quests, first. He left out the third quest for temporary as he wanted to learn about this war. And that information can be acquired from the city lord. As soon as he accepted the quest, he received the letter in his inventory. Gripping the letter, Wil continued to walk, following the city map. After crossing three to four neighborhoods, Wil saw an influx amount of people crowding the streets, especially at the stores while soldiers were busy managing the situation. Ignoring them, Wil continued to proceed. After walking for more than 30 minutes, Wil reached the Mansion gate. "Stop right there. Who are" As one of the gatekeepers about to stop him, Wil handed the letter, "I have an appointment with Wendell." Looking at the genuine seal on it, the gatekeeper bowed and allowed inside. As Wil passed through the gate, the keepers whispered to each other. "That young man''s wings are strange. Is he from the Eucliffe clan?" "Shh! He can listen. That young man gives the aura of the same level as the city lord and even addresses him by the name. Maybe, he belongs to the main branch of the Eucliffe clan and was sent here to participate in the war." Meanwhile, in the entrance hall of the Mansion, the City Lord was in a meeting with higher-level officials of the city. He appeared to be distressed about the situation. "Damn that bi**h. We have been neutral for several decades now. Just because she''s a princess doesn''t mean she can send an army and attack our city all because we refused to join her faction." The City Lord was angry but at the same time, he was also helpless against them. "Lord Wendell, how should we reply?" An official spoke in worry as he glanced at the letter in the hands of the city lord. "If we either refuse or not give any reply by tonight, this time, Princess Kyla will destroy our city for good." "I know that." Wendell shouted in frustration, "so far, there''s no reply from the Dragon Lord Juan. It''s safe to assume that he''s given upon us. There''s only one choice left." Looking at the officials, the city lord said, "We should start evacuating the people." Everyone looked at each other''s faces. Just then, a soldier entered the hall and spoke, "Milord, a person named Time Traveler wishes to meet you. He''s waiting outside." Chapter 369: Battle of Ozreigh part-1 *Ding! You completed the quest, Meet the city lord. You receive 10000 EXP. "Hello, I''m Wendell Harpis. Welcome to Ozreigh city, Lord Time Traveler." As soon as Wil entered the hall, the city lord stood up on his feet and greeted him with a smile. "Please take a seat." "Nice to meet you," Wil shook his hands and took his seat. The officials glanced at him curiously. Naturally, his Angelic wings attracted their attention. Judging by his level is around the same as the city lord, everyone including Wendell thought he was of high noble-born within the Eucliffe clan. As the white dragon symbolizes purity, holiness, knowledge, and most important neutrality, everyone was confused as they felt nothing but fear when they look at him. It was unlike anything they have heard about the white dragons before. In their eyes, he appeared like a predator instead of being a peaceful passerby. As it is the first time they were seeing a white dragon, the officials wondered whether the books are wrong. On the other hand, Wendell didn''t experience anything that the officials around him are experiencing. Maybe, it''s due to the fact that he was of the same level. "Lord Time Traveler, please tell us the reason for your visit to this city." Wendell was aware of his presence from the soldiers. After that, the war has begun. Since Eucliffe clan elders were also known for their prophecies, he wondered whether this person before him was on the official business of the clan. Wendell doesn''t know that Wil was the one who was most confused in the room. He expected there would be a continuous quest after meeting him but it isn''t. Instead, he was asked why he entered the city. How should he answer that question? Should he tell them that he only dropped here while he was on his way towards the Imperial city? Or should he make up some lie now that there''s no Dragon King to welcome him and grant him the citizenship. Thinking of the quests, Wil slowly opened his mouth, "I wish to discuss regarding the war. I wonder which faction Lord Wendell supports." "War!" The officials looked at each other. Wendell mumbled, "As expected." He an inkling that it will be about the war as the appearance of Wil was too coincidental. Looking at him, the city lord answered, "We don''t wish to participate in this conflict." "Yet, I see the destruction in the city," Wil commented in a casual tone, hinting about the destruction of a couple of the neighborhoods in the outer sector. The city lord didn''t hide the truth, "Princess Kyla wanted us to join her faction. We refused and she retaliated by punishing us. If we won''t join her faction, she threatened that she will raze the city to the ground by tomorrow morning. If the Eucliffe clan can help us in avoiding this crisis, we will be in your debt for life." "Eucliffe clan?" It was the first time Wil heard of this name. Since there is no prompt of a quest, Wil knew that he doesn''t need to go and convince this clan named Eucliffe either. Even if there''s a quest, why would he go there when he can solve the situation on his own Leaning to the back of the seat, Wil replied in a relaxed tone, "There''s no need. I can solve the issue on my own. Princess Kyla, is it? Tell me, Lord Wendell, do you need my help in stopping her or not?" Seeing how confident Wil is, even after hearing the name of the princess, all of them now strongly believed that he might be a member of the main family. The only one who appeared to be worried is the city lord who couldn''t place his entire trust on Wil as the fate of tens of thousands of his people at risk. After a brief silence, the city lord slowly requested, "please save the city from Princess Kyla''s onslaught." *Ding! You receive a quest, Defend Ozreigh The sound of the notification brought a satisfactory smile on Wil. He was successful in forcing a quest towards him. ** Quest: Defend Ozreigh Description: Kyla Draconus, the fourth child of Owen, in an attempt to occupy the throne was forcing all the neutral city lords and region lords into her faction. Her eyes were now set on Ozreigh because of its strategic location. She was deeply offended after Wendell Harpis refused to submit. She''s now dead set on destroying the city of Ozreigh with her army of 1000 Elites. Defend the city. Conditions for success: One-third of her forces must be killed or two of her generals must be killed or reduce her HP to more than 50%. Conditions for failure: Half of the civilian population of Ozreigh dies or Wendell dies or the player dies. Rewards: Unknown (Depending on the damage caused by the player) Accept? ** After reading the details, Wil looked at Wendell and nodded, "It will be done." Wil''s promise made the officials relax a little bit, although it didn''t impact much on Wendell''s decision on evacuating the civilians. The only thing that changed for him is that before the evacuation was a primary option but now, it was a plan B in case Wil failed to persuade the princess. After sending an envoy to the Qale city with his reply, Wendell ordered the officials to move all the civilians to the inner sector. In case a battle breaks out, he planned to send them away to safety by the underground tunnels. In the meantime, Wil was taken to the guest room. *Ding! You entered a no combat zone *Ding! You entered the city lord''s guest room. You receive EXP buff *Ding! Your level is between 201 and 300. You receive 200 exp per second. *Ding! You reached the maximum level. Please complete the inheritance quest and increase your maximum limit. Dismissing the useless notifications, Wil opened the world forums to check the situation of the war. He clicked on the official post from Summersoft that shows the list of the kingdoms who completed the first phase by defeating their opponents. North Zalfari Continent: Kingdom of Gailzach kingdom; Kingdom of Isengard; Kingdom of Talion; Kingdom of Sturin. South Zalfari Continent: Kingdom of Zidor; Kingdom of Iseria; Kingdom of Praiton. Xynnar Continent: Kingdom of Llyne; Kingdom of Searvale; Kingdom of Baernarta. Demon Continent: Kingdom of Azarath. "It looked like the first phase is almost on its end. It''s faster than the last time." Wil didn''t expect his intervention brought the first phase to finish earlier. "Only three kingdoms left and the result of the Demon continent''s war exactly went the same as last time. I guess I''ll have to speed things up here." Wil decided to finish all the quests within the next three to four days and leave for Llyne before the rest phase starts. In his past life, these two weeks of rest phase is called the phase of alliances. As the second phase is the world war that is free to all battle and goes until an Empire is formed, Wil believed that he and his guild members should be ready for it. He doesn''t want to do everything on his own. That can only happen when his fellow subordinates will become stronger. Such thought made him remember the two-class books. He took them out and looked at both of them. "One contains the legacy of the First Emperor of Llyne and the other contains the legacy of a demigod Michael. Who should I give it to them? Hmm Hyori? Silver? Storm? Maybe, Rey?" *** City of Qale; Inside the city lord''s mansion, Princess Kyla was residing as a guest while her army was resting within the city. Right now, the city lord of Qale was reading the letter handed by the envoy from Ozreigh. The princess appeared calm and collected while listening to it completely. The city lord of Qale looked at the princess, "Your highness, it looks like this fellow is adamant on dying rather than submitting." She turned her head and looked at the shivering envoy coldly, "Return and tell your master that he will now face the consequences of going against me." As the envoy hurriedly fled from the place, the city lord voiced his suspicions, "Your highness, I wonder whether Wendell got some backing. Maybe, it''s because of Dragon Lord Juan?" "Juan?" *Pfft* Princess Kyla broke out into laughter in response. "That weakest Dragon Lord would dare to go against me? Let''s see if he dares" Chapter 370: Saving to kill? part-1 Time Traveler (Wil): So, did you trace the source? Shadow Blade (Aster): Not yet, Young Master. But, we have a strong lead. Time Traveler (Wil): What is it? Shadow Blade (Aster): During the first four weeks, these hundred experts were members of different guilds from the Baernarta Kingdom. After the second major update, those guilds merged to form a guild named Predators. "Predators? Isn''t it the same giant guild that was completely destroyed by Supreme Conqueror because his girlfriend cheated on him with the guild leader of Predators?" Wil was surprised that this enemy that was targeting his guild members for the past few weeks is none other than Predators. He used to look up at it in the past, mainly because of their sheer manpower and how they used to give trouble to Bran and his Empire. But, now, all he wanted is to put a stop to them once and for all. Previously, before the war started, when the ambushes were happening he gave the job to Aster to find out their source. After that, the war has begun and he became busy with several matters inside the game and in the real world. Moreover, the ambushes were also stopped. So, he gradually forgot about their existence. However, when he read the message from Snow Dew who is claiming that she was constantly encountering ambushes from a group of experts for the past three days, Wil took it seriously. As he confronted Aster regarding the matter, the latter reported everything that he had collected so far. Wil was thankful that even after being busy looking after Scarlet and her family back at Wular and Ares cities, this supposed personal bodyguard of his was still in contact with his scouts as well as Galaxy Net to gather enough information. He felt like this matter would probably be discussed by Kiyumi during the dinner if he didn''t request her to not talk about the game in front of his siblings. Back to the present, Aster continued to send the information that he gathered. Shadow Blade (Aster): Predators guild is a level-11 guild with over 57843 members based in Baernarta kingdom. The guild leader Redemption Rider was close to the King of Baernarta and is of Marquis Nobility. Shadow Blade (Aster): There are rumors that the Tojo clan is backing the guild. They are a powerful Yakuza family with a wide range of networks. Tojo clan used to supply arms and drugs for us in the past. Fifteen years ago, they fell out with Lord Philip and started to trade with Antonio''s family. Shadow Blade (Aster): According to our spies at Predators, none of those hundred experts belong to any guild. Still, many of them spotted doing dungeon records with the Elites of Predators guild. I highly suspect the Tojo clan is behind the attack. Time Traveler (Wil): Okay, I got it. All I need you to do is to confirm Redemption Rider is the one that was relaying the orders. Shadow Blade (Aster): There''s something else, Young Master. Time Traveler (Wil): What is it? Shadow Blade (Aster): After the Everton and Forlond kingdoms were annexed by the Kingdom of Baernarta, the Predators guild developed several branches into the new cities. Do you know who was appointed as Guild branch manager as well as the unofficial head for the whole region of Everton? Time Traveler (Wil): Do I know this person? Shadow Blade (Aster): Yes. It is Miss Rodin. "Eh?" Wil was taken aback. "Cherry?" Time Traveler (Wil): Are you sure it is Cericia? Shadow Blade (Aster): Yes, Ms. Kiyumi confirmed her identity. I believe Ms. Rodin might be behind this, considering her personality. "A daughter of Western continent''s Police department''s chief was working for Yakuza?" At first, Wil thought it was strange but then, remembering how she was his ex-fiance, he believed that it will not be any miracle even if she was engaged to the Tojo clan''s heir. Such a thought made him wonder whether that Police chief has a fetish for establishing relationships with gangs or something. Throwing the useless thoughts away, Wil sent an order. Time Traveler (Wil): Okay, we need to put her in surveillance too. Confirm who is giving the order. Is it Cericia or is it their guild leader? And also, I''ll be finishing my things here and return to the capital within a couple of days. Go to the palace and relay the message to Supreme Commander Gerrad. *** After finishing the conversation with Aster, Wil opened the map. It showed a tiny island sitting in the middle of an endless blue Ocean. As he expanded the area, several landscapes were displayed on the holographic screen. As the entire island was surrounded by the mountain ranges, Wil had no choice but to search its name one by one until he finally found the Valfair mountain range. "Oh! This mountain range is quite near. According to the scale, it might be around 1500-2000 kilometers away. I can cover that distance within 7 hours round trip if I fly with maximum speed. Or I can just summon the Pegasus to reach the place quickly. The invasion will happen tomorrow morning. So, there are still more than 15 hours. It is enough for me to finish the quest. And once the Dragon King is finished, Hehehe" Wil grinned, imagining how he''s controlling the entire dragon island. He quickly left the room and went downstairs. As the city lord went out to see how the preparations of evacuation are going on, Wil spoke to the steward to relay the message to Wendell that he had urgent business to attend and will return by midnight. Exiting the mansion, Wil flapped his wings and flew towards the east where the Dragon King was kept imprisoned. After traveling for more than 30 minutes, Wil reached a place where there are no dragon settlements. He then summoned the Pegasus and flew towards the destination like a rocket. 30 minutes later; *neigh* the fire Pegasus neighed as it stopped. *Ding! Your vision has been restored. As the darkness before Wil was cleared, it revealed a beautiful sight of snowcapped mountains, lush green forests, and mirror lakes amidst them. However, the only issue is that Wil couldn''t spot a single cave from the sky. "The quest description clearly mentioned the place was Valfair mountain caves. That would mean there should be a group of caves here. Should I get down and search each mountain? It will take" As Wil fell into thoughts on how to find the quest location, suddenly, something clicked in his mind. "That''s right. How could I have forgotten such an easy method? I even used this tactic so many times in the past." Raising his hand, Wil then spoke, "Summon, Leon." *Roar* Followed by a powerful roar that echoed across the surroundings, a familiar winged white lion appeared before him while flapping its wings. Maybe, it''s his illusion but Wil felt as if this favorite battle companion of his seemed very lively as it flew towards him like a flash and crashed onto his chest, making him almost fell from his mount. Leon then brushed its giant face against Wil''s neck as a form of affection and asked for a head rub with a low gurgle. Wil grinned as he caressed its mane before dismissing the fire Pegasus and jumping onto its back. He didn''t know why but it really felt like he was meeting a real pet. He knows that the higher grade pets were designed in a way close to real pets, but he never saw another beast like Leon that shows its feelings of missing its master because of the time gap. No pets would actually know the time difference where it spent in pet space. Leon''s behavior made Wil remember the little dragon princess Iphi. Until now, he treated it like an NPC. So, he didn''t feel weird when her mood changed drastically because of the time she spent inside the gourd. Since he never had mythic grade battle companions in the past life, he assumed whether they are probably designed that way like an NPC. Caressing the back of its neck, Wil said, "Leon, there''s someone hiding here. I need you to sniff out strong targets around us. The targets that even make you feel threatened." Leon turned its head many times while sniffing. Within a minute, it raised its head a little and glared at its 2 o''clock for a few seconds before letting out a powerful roar once again. Chapter 371: Saving to kill? part-2 In a dim-lit cave, six people wearing red robes were standing in a circle with each of their feet were on the vertices of a six-pointed star drawn on the floor. All six of them look frail and old. They were having red irises, and identical red wings and horns. In the middle of the star stood a well-built old man with a barrier created around him. Punching a barrier with all of his strength, he roared in anger. Cracks appeared on it but then, one of the elder dragons raised his hand and repaired the barrier almost instantly. "It''s useless, Owen. You have caused enough trouble for our world. It is time for a new ruler to emerge and bring the changes. Give up on escaping." "Hmpf, how long do you old geezers can hold me? One week? One month? One year? One day, I will return to the Imperial city and reclaim my throne. The only way for you to stop me is to kill me. I don''t think you lot even possess the strength to do that. Six of the last surviving 11 pure dragons. You lot ashamed our ancestors by using such a cowardly tactic." The Dragon King tried to provoke them by insulting their pride. But, alas his provocation failed as they were incredibly thick-skinned and witted. "First of all, the Dragon race itself is a race full of cowards who couldn''t face the onslaught of humans and fled from the northern continent." An elder dragon named Kazom spoke. After him, another elder dragon named Xagher spoke, "And the one who led to this migration is your direct ancestor, Owen. You are the direct descendant of a coward. I don''t think you should speak such noble words." "And don''t think highly of yourself, Owen." A proud elder dragon named Oran, who was the great grand uncle of the dragon king, scoffed at him. "If not for possible casualties of the civilians, we wouldn''t have resort to such methods." "Hmpf, those slaves aren''t deserved to even live, much less being protected." The more time he spent trapped within the barrier, the more he started to go insane. Growling at them, he further roared, "Once I get escaped, I''ll make sure to hang your dead bodies at the entrance of the Imperial city to show an example" Before his words finished, they heard a powerful roar within the vicinity. "Hmm, A wild beast?" Everyone turned their heads to look in the same direction. As it wasn''t the roar of a dragon, even Owen''s attention was directed towards the source and he tried to sense the location of the beast. Not only they sensed the location of the beast, they even gauged its level, which is equivalent to that of a Dragon Lord. The elder dragons became serious as they wondered the beasts from the Endless Ocean are once again trying to invade the land. After a few moments, they heard the same roar once again. The six old men looked at each other. They couldn''t leave from the spot as it would become a bit tougher for the rest of the five to maintain the Hexa-shield barrier. Looking at the anxious look on their faces, Owen''s lips curled up, "now, what will you do? Your precious civilians living in nearby towns and cities will die for sure." The elder dragon Oran asked the fellow old men whether they can handle the matter of his great-grandnephew without his presence. As everyone nodded, Oran left his spot, creating a little bit of pressure on the remaining five, and walked towards the exit. Just as he reached the exit, he sensed two creatures, one is a level-300 and the other is a level-400, coming towards the very cave he was standing at the entrance. Flapping his wings, he flew towards the incoming invaders. Within ten seconds, he met the targets. As soon as Oran saw Wil and Leon, his eyes widened in shock, "A Eucliffe clan warrior is colluding with the beast? No, it seemed like he actually tamed this strange winged beast." Meanwhile, Wil ordered Leon to stop on the midway due to the interception of a humanoid Dragon. He inspected the frail and old-looking dragon. Oran Draconus Description: The Great grand uncle of the Dragon King Owen and one of the ten elder dragons. Level: 500 Grade: Legendary+ HP: 100% "Hmm, legendary+ means his hp would be around 450-500 Billion. The only issue is its damage reduction." As Wil fell into thoughts to plan the necessary course of action, Oran opened his mouth, breaking the silence. "Who are you? How do you tame this beast from the Endless sky?" The endless sky is referred to the skies above the ocean where some mutated oceanic beasts roam. Usually, when an oceanic beast consumes an adult dragon, it mutates. Some lucky ones ended up acquiring the ability to fly. They were the ones that constantly invade Dragon Island from the sky. In response to the elder dragon, Wil looked at the elder dragon and calmly spoke, "It is of no importance to you. Move away from my path. Or else, you will pay for the consequences." At first, Wil wanted to spill out the truth about saving the Dragon King as this guy before him is of the royal family and is even a relative but then, Wil felt suspicious of how he came from the opposite direction from the ground where his destination lies. He then remembered the factions where the three princes and one princess are vying for the throne. Adding on top of that, the quest description clearly mentioned that the Dragon King was trapped by the traitorous elder,s and the person who obstructed his path is also an elder. It wasn''t hard to connect the dots to realize the truth. So, Wil wasn''t the least bit polite to him. A proud elder-dragon like Oran wouldn''t even stand Owen''s accusation. How could he stand Wil''s provocation? Since there are only level-300 and level-400s before him, Oran wasn''t as defensive when he argued with Owen. Instead, he went direct for an attack, strongly believing that the young man before him might have been a scout who was sent by the Eucliffe clan to confirm the Dragon King''s whereabouts. This clan of White dragons is neutral. So, he assumed that they might save the dragon king to stop the war. At first, he wanted to capture him but after being offended by Wil''s words, Oran decided to finish them on the spot. "Okjhra kila jyre arbawah." Raising his hands towards Wil, he proceeds with an incantation in the language of dragons. However, before he even finished with it, a lightning bolt struck his head, turning him into ash and leaving behind a 12 digit damage number. "893,970,236,247" As a rain of weapons and items started to fall towards the ground, Wil mumbled, "Overall damage is supposed to be above 2 trillion. I have 1100% pierce. So, their defense is out of the question. The result is around 900 billion, which means he must have around 60-65% of damage reduction. Every elder dragon possibly will have the same amount of health and damage. It stated that he''s one of the ten elder dragons. So, at the maximum, there will be nine more. Hmm" After thinking for a while to create a strategy, Wil ordered Leon to go down so that he could collect worthy equipment. Meanwhile, within the cave, a look of surprise appeared on the elder dragons. Even the Dragon King seemed to be surprised. One of the Elders spoke, "I cannot sense Elder Oran anymore." *Pfft* His comment made the Dragon King break out into laughter. "So many big words for someone who couldn''t even last a few minutes when faced with a mere level-300 and level-400 beasts. And he dared to say that I was thinking high myself? This incident clearly proves that all of you are far away from your peak. Hahaha" The Dragon King no longer attempted to escape like before. He sat on the ground with ease, thinking that they might have grown weaker to maintain the barrier. He decided to wait. *** Somewhere in the kingdom of Talion, North Zalfari continent; As the war is being finished with the neighboring kingdom of Sturin getting annexed into Talion, the kingdom was operated as usual. Several guilds migrated from Gailzach because of ''One'' and developed within this kingdom. In one of the smithies of the Imperial city, Gynoid N12 was working hard to create the weapons. *Ting* Ting* *Ding! Level-300 Starcrug sword has been created. *Ding! Congratulations on creating an Epic-grade weapon. You receive 100 fame points as a reward. "Fuu" letting out a sigh of relief, she looked at the weapon and nodded in satisfaction. Chapter 372: Saving to kill? part-3 Starcrug sword Grade: Epic+ Level: 300 Attack: 3.5 million Critical rate: 118% Pierce: 62% Attack speed: 41% Critical damage: 59% "Good. " Gynoid N12 was satisfied with the result and threw it to her right. *Cling* It fell on the pile of swords. N12 continued. *Ding! Level-300 Starcrug Armor has been created. *Ding! Congratulations on creating Epic grade Armor. You receive 100 fame points as a reward. After checking its stats, she nodded and threw it to the left. There was a pile of shields here. Soon, she was run out of the materials and stopped forging before opening the friends'' list. She then sent a message to the client who requested the weapon and also provided the materials. N12: The batch is ready. A total of 72 Epic grade swords and 85 Epic grade shields of level-300. Come to the Smithy with the remaining amount and collect it. She also attached the screenshot of the stats of each piece of equipment to make sure there won''t be any complaints later. A few minutes later, she received a reply. Supreme Conqueror: Thank you. Milton will come there to collect them personally. He''s the same guy who came with me last time. He''s the branch manager there at Talion. N12: No need. I''ll go to the guild branch and deliver it personally. Supreme Conqueror: Okay Supreme Conqueror: By the way, are you sure you don''t want to join our guild? How about this. You will receive the same amount of salary as our Vice-guild leader. 2 million dollars per annum. Think about it. N12: No, I''m not interested in money. My interest is something else. Supreme Conqueror: You said the same thing, last time. Tell me what is it. As long as you join our guild, I''ll make it happen. N12: It is not something that you can do it. Forget it. Supreme Conqueror: Try me. N12: I don''t have time to fool around. Contact me if you got your hands on any blueprint again. Closing the friends'' list, N12 collected the pile of equipment into her inventory and left the Smithy. After her business is finished with the Conqueror guild, she proceeds towards the auction house to see an NPC acquaintance of hers who works as a receptionist. This way, she could get the information about possible higher grade blueprints in the weekly/monthly system auctions. Alas, she received nothing but bad news. Letting out a deep sigh, N12 proceeded towards the bank and dumped all of her income into it before leaving for the wild zone to complete dungeons. After all, she was a dual-class user. Of course, leveling up her Assassin class is only her secondary goal. Her primary goal is to recover her memory which was slowly returning like flashes from time to time whenever she was facing a tough battle. In the meantime, from the void space, a clone of Aria was keeping an eye on her. *** Valfair caves, Dragon Island; The five elder dragons were debating on whether they should ignore the intruder or deal with these pair of level-300 and level-400. Although the Dragon King mocked his late great grand uncle as a weakling for getting killed, the others didn''t have the same thoughts as him. They knew how powerful their fellow elder is. So, they understood the severity of the situation. "The intruders seemed like they are coming towards our cave." Elder Kazom spoke in a serious tone. In response, Elder Xagher suggested that two of them must go and kill those two, to which an elder dragon named Elliot disagreed that they should prioritize the dragon king. He also further said that they couldn''t sense their presence. The barrier at the entrance will conceal their whereabouts. It is impossible for such low-level creatures to spot them. The Dragon King who was comfortably sitting on the floor, laughed heartily, "Don''t worry. Even if all of you leave to face them, I will stay here for now. I knew how weak you are in strength and can only resort to using tricks. Sooner or later, I will be free anyway. Go on" As he urged them to go on and eliminate the intruders, two of the elders voiced their opinions that they shouldn''t trust Owen of all people. Finally, the majority came to an agreement that they will continue to guard the dragon king and if by chance, the intruders smell their presence and enter the cave, they can collectively battle with it while staying at the same spot. With five of them attacking together, they don''t think a level-300 and a level-400 could do anything even if they are strong enough to eliminate a level-500 Elder dragon by surprise. Just as they feared, Wil and Leon reached the entrance of the cave and were stopped by an invisible barrier. Narrowing his eyes, Wil passed an order. "Leon, fireball." *Roar* Letting out a small roar, the lion spit out a fireball. *Boom* The fireball was collided with the barrier and caused a large explosion. Wil and Leon got blasted away for a few meters before both of them flapped their wings and controlled the impact. In the meantime, the barrier disappeared. Returning to Leon''s back, Wil told Leon to continue to proceed. It took them ten minutes before they found six humanoid dragons are waiting for them. One was a captive, who was supposed to be tense, is now at ease. The other five old men, who were supposed to be at ease, are now tense as their eyes fell on the Lion and Wil that killed their friend quickly. Just like Oran, the six of them were also surprised to see someone from the Eucliffe clan tamed a powerful beast and they too thought he was here to save the king. "Who are you?" Xagher asked him with a look of hostility in his eyes. Jumping down from the lion, Wil replied with a smile, "My name is Time Traveler. I''m from Well, let''s just say I''m from far away. Nice to meet you." While introducing himself, Wil glanced at each of them and finally saw the buffed man in the middle. Owen Draconus Grade: Mythic Level: 500 HP: 76% Description: The King of the Dragons and the ruler of Dragon Island. He''s a notorious ruler that ruled the island with an iron fist. "Mythic grade, huh!" Wil''s smile was wiped off from his face and replaced by seriousness. "Since he seemed like an offensive type beast, this guy will have at least 5 trillion of HP and have 500 billion of attack power. Considering his skill attacks are as powerful as Leon''s, the maximum attack will be around 1.5 Trillion. Combining with a possible 250% critical damage. It will be 4.5 Trillion. My damage reduction was capped at 99%. So, I would receive 45 billion at most. Hmm, wait a second. My critical resistance is 765%. That means it''s impossible for me to receive critical damage. That would mean a maximum of 15 Billion of damage. With 230 billion, I can take 15 such hits without dying. Meanwhile, my attack damage was capped at 1 trillion. If I consider him having 60-70% of damage reduction, then, I need five hits that have the attack damage of at least 3 Trillion to finish this smoothly. Thunderbolt doesn''t work. So, I need more powerful skill attacks. I can only see three skills. One is Heavenly Push. It can be used anywhere at any time. So, there''s no problem in taking out 1 trillion of his HP. I can use it as a finishing move when his HP drops below 20%. The second is the Golem but it can''t be summoned in this tiny space. I can only summon it on the outside. The third one is Dragon Breath. Even I can probably roast the dragon king in a few seconds but the range is below 35 meters. However, it''s riskier. Once I die, I will resurrect at Deloris town. So, I can''t die no matter what. Hmm, but then again, his HP is at 76%. So, if I can reduce his HP to below 50%, then, I could ambush him on the way once the cooldown of Heavenly Push is over." While Wil fell into deep thoughts, the elder dragons and the Dragon king watched him curiously. They are wondering why he is staying at the spot and thinking so deeply. It is pretty much simple. If he''s afraid after seeing so many elder dragons, he should run away. If he''s brave, then, he should come forward but he''s doing neither. Having lost the patience, one of the elder dragons spoke loudly, "What are you standing there for? Time Traveler or whatever your title is, leave this place." "Heavenly Push, 30 mana points. Activate." Suddenly, an enormous amount of magic power was absorbed into Wil, almost instantly, and in the next second, a powerful wind force was released from Wil in every direction, pushing away everyone. While the cooldown of the skill entered 60 seconds, the Dragon King found himself drenched in the blood of the elder dragons and was buried in a heap of equipment. Forcing himself to become free, the Dragon King whose HP was reduced to 66%, stared at Wil. His eyes shook in surprise as he never expected this level-300 before him to be this strong. He thought it was the winged beast before him that killed Oran. Now, he realized it was probably this guy. However, he didn''t feel a little bit of gratefulness towards Wil though. Instead, he felt anger as he was injured by the person who was supposed to save him. At the same time, he was also free. So, he forced himself to calm down and asked, "Are you really from the Eucliffe clan?" "Averil''s adopted son." Wil calmly replied to him. *Ding! .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 373: Tome of Tiamat *Ding! You completed the quest, Meet the Dragon King. You received the citizenship of Dragon Island. *Ding! Congratulations on becoming the first player in the world to hold three simultaneous citizenships of three kingdoms. You receive 5000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! You completed the quest, Missing Dragon King. You received an evolution stone as a reward. Please check your inventory. Upon receiving the consecutive notifications, while Wil fell into a trance for a moment, not being able to believe that he''s received the extremely rare item, the evolution stone as a reward, on the other hand, the Dragon King was also shocked to hear the name of his daughter from this savior''s lips. As Wil became a citizen of the kingdom of Dragons, the rage in Owen''s heart is also dissipated. "You are Averil''s child?" Owen''s voice echoed throughout the cave. Wil, who returned to reality, corrected him and proceeded to explain the situation in order to finish the remaining quest, "Adopted son. I came from the outside world to deliver a message." "Outside world?" The Dragon King fell into thoughts, "outside word, no horns, pure white wings" Realization dawned on him. "You are an Angel, aren''t you?" "Yes, and No," Wil replied in a calm tone. "What do you mean by that?" A frown appeared on the Dragon King. "Dragon mode, Activate." Suddenly, a blinding flash appeared before Owen, which forced him to close his eyes for a second. When he reopened his eyes, his pupils dilated to see a giant red dragon before him. He felt the bloodline of the dragon was as much as pure as himself. Wil transformed back to his Angel form and said, "As you can see, I''m also a pure-blooded Dragon." "I see" Owen nodded as he realized the truth. He commented, "I guess this is why my daughter took you in. Wil didn''t bother to correct him and went with the flow, "Before she passed away, she asked me to give this letter to you. I''m here to fulfill her last wish." Putting the Dragon King into another shock, he took out a blue envelope from the inventory which he received when the second major update''s maintenance was finished, and Averil''s spirit left his bow. Wil handed the envelope to Owen, whose hands were shaking as he took it. "This is my Averil''s handwriting." The Dragon King started to read the letter. Tears started to flow from the eyes to the cheek. Watching the emotional old man who looks nothing like in the description, Wil thought of his father. Even though Owen was a game character, Wil felt like he was similar to his dad, a bad person who hurt many innocents and yet, love his child with all of his heart. Wil couldn''t help but let out a deep sigh. While Owen continued to read the letter in tears, Wil managed to stabilize his emotions and silently watched him finish it. Wiping out his tears, Owen took an ancient booklet out of thin air. "This was something that she acquired from some human that invaded our world, decades ago. This is all left of her. Adopted or not, you are her family. It is right for you to possess this. I hope you will make it of some use." *Ding! You completed the quest, Last Wish. You received the tome of Tiamat. *Ding! Favorability with the Dragon King increased by 20 Taking the booklet from the dragon king, Wil inspected it. Tome of Tiamat Type: Skill book Grade: Unique Description: Tiamat is an evil dragon that almost destroyed the world under the direct orders of Asmodeus, the right hand of Lucifer. After Lucifer was sealed by the Demigods, Asmodeus was killed and his pet was prisoned in Tartarus. Effect: Upon learning the skill, the user can summon the five-headed dragon Tiamat from the prison of Tartarus. Cost: 10 mana points per second. CD: 1 hour per every 10 mana points of consumption Learn this skill? "10 mana points per second?" Wil gasped in surprise. "That''s like 600 mana points per minute and 36000 mana points per hour. It must be a mythic grade. That is why there is a huge consumption. Right now, I can hardly keep it for 50 minutes. I guess I must wait until level-400. Let''s learn this later." Placing it in the inventory, he bowed to the Dragon King and thanked him. It was really an extremely generous reward for something as insignificant as delivering a letter. Owen waved his hands, "It''s nothing. For several decades, I''ve been waiting for my daughter''s arrival, constantly worrying whether she''s even alive or not. It''s actually a relief to know what happened to her rather than not knowing anything about her situation. Anyway, as I said before since Averil treated you like a son, then, I''ll also treat you like a grandfather. Come with me to the Imperial city and be my guest." Thinking that his plan is going as expected, Wil readily accepted his wishes. "Good." After nodding with a smile, suddenly, his face turned serious. "But, before that, there''s something that needs to be done." "Is it about the war?" Wil asked him, shooting an arrow in the dark. He suspected that the Dragon king might have known about it. And if he doesn''t know, Wil decided to show him the light. Owen confirmed Wil''s suspicions with a nod, maintaining a serious look. Very soon, a growl escaped from him as he clenched his fist, "Those brats of mine needed to be taught a lesson for going against my rules of not harming each other. To vie for the throne as soon as I disappeared, the elder dragons must be colluding with a brat of mine." Owen then took out his bracelet and handed it to Wil. "I''m going ahead to stop the war. Come to the Imperial city. Show this to anyone who dares to stop you." Without waiting for Wil''s reply, the Dragon King flapped his wings and rushed towards the exit like a flash. Not intending to lose the trail, Wil quickly got on Leon''s back, "Let''s go" He followed the Dragon King from behind. And this is where he had made a blunder. The moment he mounted Leon, its maximum speed was restricted from 3.2 mach to 1 mach. By the time Wil exited the cave, the Dragon King was already out of his sight. "Oh! Sh*t How could I make such a noob mistake?" Wil gritted his teeth in realization. Until now, he only considered how enormous the Dragon King''s HP would be but didn''t care about his speed. Wil thought he would ambush the Dragon King once they got outside of the cave but his carelessness made his plan completely fail. Taking a deep breath, he spoke to himself, "All is not gone. There''s still a chance. To kill the Dragon King, either I need a strong helper or the war continues. With the return of this Dragon King, the war might as well be halted but a helper. I wonder if Tiamat can do the job" Wil took out the ancient tome from the inventory and learned it. *Ding! You learned the skill, Descent of Tiamat. Check the Skill panel for details. Descent of Tiamat (Beginner): Summon the five-headed dragon Tiamat from the prison of Tartarus and bring the destruction around you. Cost: 200 mana points per second. CD: 12 hours per every 10 mana points of consumption. Wil''s hopes were dashed as soon as he saw the details. The difference between the beginner and the mastered version is so high that Wil couldn''t help but curse out loud, "F**k you Summersoft." "Okay, now, that''s 12000 mana points per minute. Even with the highest mana points in the world, I will hardly get 2 minutes to operate the beast. Any longer, I will have to use mana scrolls to feed mana to it. Let''s hope this gamble works in my favor." Under Wil''s orders, Leon then flew towards the city of Ozreigh. Whether the war happens or not, Princess Kyla''s onslaught on the city might likely happen. In his view, the princess might be even more furious after seeing the possibility of claiming the throne becomes zero. And in that kind of situation, those who offend her will pay a terrible price. So, Wil was confident that the Princess will attack for sure. The only issue here is that he should be careful if he wants to kill her or else, who knows how the Dragon King would react. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 374: Day-1 with family In the living room, while lying on the couch, Scarlet was re-watching an episode of Seven Assassins, a banned TV series where the main character is a runaway prince who turns into an assassin after his kingdom has fallen to a neighboring kingdom. It was the fifth episode of the second season which is termed as the most gore scene of the television series. The extreme violence and other things shown in the TV series forced the Information and Broadcasting ministry to even ban it. However, for Scarlet, it was her favorite series even though it ran for only two mere seasons. Right now, this was her twenty-second time watching it in the past year. Still, she was as excited as she watched it for the first time. "Now, that''s the way. Stab in the eye. Man, what a duffer. It''s obvious that she would betray you at the perfect moment. After all, you killed her father in front of her eyes. Okay, now the entry of Mervin. Serves you right, Minerva. Who told you to be bold and kiss that b**t**d outside. And" *Creak* Suddenly, Scarlet''s ears perked up and she quickly switched off the television and took out her mobile phone. "Is your work finished?" She asked him with a smile and acted as if she was just looking at her mobile phone. While watching the episodes one after another, for a few moments, she actually forgot that Wil was also present. "What are you doing?" Wil asked curiously. After logging out, he heard some voices in the living room. So, he thought Rey and Mia were returned. He left the room in anticipation only to see it was his mother with a phone in her hand and Bluetooth headsets overhead. When asked, Scarlet shook her head, "nothing." She felt a little bit embarrassed to lie in front of her own son because she doesn''t want to leave any negative impression on him. Wil felt a little bit suspicious as he saw there''s a nervous look on her face. She looked like a teenager who was almost caught by her father while talking to her boyfriend on the phone. He didn''t care about her personal affairs. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "I came out for Coffee." Scarlet quickly stood on her feet and throw the headphones away. "Give me a second." "It''s fine. You don''t need to trouble yourself. I can make my own." Wil waved her hand and just asked for the location of the coffee bottle. When she said that she was also craving for one, Wil said that he will make for her also. Scarlet felt a little bit happy that her son is doing something for her even if it is just something as insignificant as just mixing the instant coffee powder in hot milk. By the time, Wil returned with two cups, Scarlet was watching a talking show. "Can I watch the news?" Wil asked her as he handed the mug. Scarlet was pleasantly surprised that her son was interested in watching the news. After all, most young men don''t do that. Heck, even she gets bored. But, for the sake of her son''s satisfaction, Scarlet also tried to watch the news along with Wil who seemed to be engrossed, watching the discussion of three professional players on the current situation in War Online. Scarlet thought that this might be the reason her son was interested in the news. "Now, let''s analyze the way Supreme Conqueror trapped his enemy. Long before the kingdom of Krara invaded the kingdom of Isengard, Supreme Conqueror thought ahead started to dig tunnels beneath the cities and planted explosion scrolls in them. And once the invasion is happening, he evacuated the citizens of the region of Clesa, letting the enemy believe that they were afraid and were being defensive. The princes of Krara felt for the trap and got massacred as a result. The major point lies in the strategy of using explosion scrolls to trap the enemies in a deep pit rather than aiming to harm them directly." "Yes. This way, they got the upper edge in the battle. And one other surprising thing is that the possession of Epic-grade weapons. So many members of the Conqueror guild were in a possession of high-level and high-grade equipment. It wasn''t possible to collect them through dungeons. I think some outstanding blacksmith, some NPC, is helping them out." Suddenly, the door was opened a bit rashly and a high-pitched voice filled with excitement was heard. "Mom, I''m home." "Big brother, you are here." "Hey, Mia." As soon as he heard his sister''s voice, Wil''s attention was no longer on the screen. She quickly scurried towards her room, threw the school bag on her bed, and rushed to the living room. Her eyes then fell on the TV screen. "Oh, that''s Blaze and Heart King. Today''s their turn? Cool" She appeared to be even more excited and she hurriedly sat beside Wil. "Blaze and Heart King?" Wil wondered who they are. He never heard of their names in his past life, meaning they are insignificant to him. Still, seeing that sister seems to be excited, he asked about them, to which she spoke, "Big Brother, you might not know about them since you don''t play War Online but they are extremely popular in our guild. Rey was friends with them." "Our guild?" Wil looked at her in surprise. How come he doesn''t know about it? Wil wondered whether they are recently hired. "Do you mean Vulture guild?" "Vulture? No, not them." Mia hurriedly waved her hands. "They are a bunch of elites working for the guild leaders. How could I be in that guild? I''m talking about Scarlet-B division where Sister Evie is the guild leader." Upon hearing Mia''s explanation, Scarlet couldn''t help but exclaim in surprise. "Scarlet?" "Ah! Mom, that''s right. I forgot to tell you back then, must have been slipped my mind. The guild I''m in has the same name as yours." Mia further said as she was reaching for the popcorn. Scarlet swatted her arm away, "don''t. First, go and wash your hands. No, just go wash yourself. We can talk later." "Ouch" Shaking her hand, Mia stood up on her feet, "fine." Just as she walked away for a few steps, Mia suddenly halted as realization dawned upon her. She turns her head and glanced at Wil. "That''s right. How could I forget it before? Big Brother is the one that backs Time Traveler and Vulture guild. That means, naming the Scarlet district or Scarlet town couldn''t be coincidences." A giggle escaped from her in happiness as she felt that her brother might not dislike her mother as he appeared on the surface. The evening went well for everyone. Although Wil was a little bit uncomfortable with how Scott is treating him very friendly, he put up with it and mainly concentrated on being a listener to Mia''s school adventures. In the meantime, he also revealed that he''s also playing War Online but as a non-combat player. When asked for the ign, Wil answered with his other in-game name that is the same as his original name. He also didn''t keep his job a secret either. At first, they are surprised as they never heard Seer as an occupation but when Wil explained to them that Time Traveler was the one who brought him the legacy and let him become the Seer, somehow, both of them believed his lie. In their eyes, it appeared as if Time Traveler was a god. Wil grinned inside as Mia revered Time Traveler with great respect. *** The next morning; Wil set up an alarm at 4 o''clock in the morning to wake up and log in quickly. Maybe, he was too tired or maybe, he felt peaceful. Wil never woke up until his fourth alarm rang at 6. *Welcome to War Online* He hurriedly logged in the game, thinking that the war has already started. Wil found himself lying on the bed where he logged out before. And just as he imagined, notifications appeared before him. *Ding! You received a quest, Capture Princess Kyla Quest: Capture Princess Kyla Description: Not heeding her father''s orders, Princess Kyla intends to rebel against the throne. She is now invading the city of Ozreigh to destroy its people. The Dragon King has sent out an order for her arrest. Capture her and take her to the Imperial city and present before the Dragon King Owen. Conditions to success: Reduce her HP to 10% Conditions of failure: Death Rewards: Unknown Accept? "Well, why not..." Wil grinned as he accepted the mission. After receiving the evolution stone and the skill, he was a little bit interested in unknown rewards. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 375: Battle of Ozreigh part-2 The entire Ozreigh city was burning in flames with dozens of dragons were roaming around, looking for the citizens who are alive. The others were also searching around in the nearby hills and towns. However, except for a little more than five hundred citizens from the outermost sector, every single soul from the city has disappeared without a trace. The city lord Wendell is also nowhere to be found. It is clear that they had abandoned the city. Angered Kyla, instead of interrogating them, she massacred every single civilian who was found and then, sent teams to nearby towns. As she planned on leaving none of the Ozreigh citizens alive, she gave her soldiers to destroy the surrounding towns, suspecting they might be sheltering Wendell and others. Poor citizens of the other towns didn''t know that they were getting all because Wil rescued the Dragon King, who, as soon as returning to the Imperial city, subdued two of the princes and placed them under house arrest. When the matter was his return became public, the second prince ran away. He was currently missing along with a couple of elder dragons that are supporting him. Kyla who was staying at Qale city also received a letter from the Imperial Palace. However, the stubborn princess refused to accept defeat that easily. With the strongest elder dragon supporting him, she was confident in holding her ground. Adding on top of that, she believed that her father might have escaped for she knew that he wasn''t strong enough to defeat six elder dragons. So, after venting out her frustrations by destroying the city, she felt that she should go and gather support from the other elder dragons. After all, they were her last hope as no Dragon Lord has the courage to go against Owen. That was what she had in mind but the situation was different from what she had imagined. Even though almost the entire city was enveloped in flames, there was no trace of happiness on her. How could she be happy when she had no found one to vent her frustration on? So, it only left an opposite effect on her. Clenching her fist, Kyla growled in anger, "where that rat had gone? How could those tens of thousands of ants leave no trace?" A frail and old-looking woman, who was flapping her draconic wings beside her, chucked, "Princess Kyla, rats and ants have one thing in common. It is that both of them often live or travel through underground." "Hmm?" Kyla abruptly turned her head in a sudden realization. "You mean?" The elder dragon nodded as he pointed her finger towards the ground. "Damn, that b**t**d." Kyla''s rage increased. "How dare he make a fool out of me." She gave a quick order to her soldiers to find any hidden entrances that lead underground. A team of soldiers entered the City lord''s mansion once again. The last time they entered to see if there''s anyone is hiding. After finding no one else, several soldiers ransacked the Mansion and left with valuable things. And right now, inside the messed up mansion, now, the soldiers were searching for some kind of secret chambers. They were also hoping to find any treasures that were hidden. As the soldiers were searching in several rooms on the ground floor and the cellar, one of them decided to go to the upper floor in secret in the hopes of finding something. Just as he reached the entrance hall where the stairs lead to the first floor, found a white-winged dragon with no horns was climbing down the stairs. Looking at the smile on Wil''s face and how he was steadily climbing down even after spotting him, the soldier hurriedly shouted in panic, "There''s someone here." Quickly, from the other chambers, five more soldiers hurried to the hall. "Kill him. What are you waiting for?" His superior scolded the panicked soldier. "But, but he''s far stronger. How could I?" The soldier who discovered Wil and called for help was shivering in fear. The remaining soldiers were also seemed to be hesitating to go forward. After all, their levels were only between 100 and 200 and the opponent is a level 300. "So, what! At the end of the day, he belongs to the white dragon race." Their captain suddenly transformed into a magenta dragon, raising his stats by 100%. In his view, most of the members of the white dragon clan are scholars. It is the reason why the squad captain appeared to be more confident even though he''s more than fifty levels below Wil. *Tap* Tap* Meanwhile, folding his hands to the back, Wil was leisurely climbing down the steps one by one as if he doesn''t care about the presence of the soldiers. Without any prior warning, the magenta dragon breathes out flames. His subordinates backed away to save themselves from the sea of flames. At first, all they saw was the flames. Soon, they saw a silhouette and it was becoming thicker as time passed. "-1" "-1" "-1" "-1" With his HP continuously reduced by 1 each second, Wil continued to move forward against the flames that are trying to burn him. Soon, he reached the bottom step and the magenta dragon stopped breathing out the flames. Looking at the smile on Wil, the squad captain felt humiliated and his anger rose further. "Graa" Letting out a roar, he started to gather magic power into his mouth. Slowly, the magic power was converting into a ball of fire. It started to become bigger with each second. However, Wil neither halted his movements nor removed the smile from his face. Just putting on a fake smile, he continued to move forward. The magenta dragon spits out the giant fireball which is even bigger than Wil. "-1" It hit the target dead but once again, only 1 damage popped over Wil''s head. For the soldiers, Wil''s life force hasn''t decreased in the least. While their panic only increased further, the magenta dragon was raged even more. Flapping its wings, it flew towards Wil with raising its claws. Finally, Wil raised his right hand and spoke, "Your turn his over. Now, it''s my turn." "Fireball" Unlike the enemy, Wil''s fireball was conjured almost instantly. While it doesn''t look as big as the latter, still, the soldiers felt its power terrifying. However, their captain who was consumed in rage was oblivious to its power. It was only after Wil threw the fireball almost reached the incoming dragon that tried to destroy it with its claws did the latter realized the power inside this blazing fireball. However, it was too late. The fireball did the claws, destroying them instantly, and continued to proceed to hit the body, killing the squad captain immediately and leaving behind a few materials as well as a 1 trillion capped damage number on his head. "Captain." Of course, as a player, only he could see it, or else, the soldiers would already have fainted by now. A couple of soldiers instantly knelt down and begged to spare them while the rest of the three quickly turned around and fled. Meanwhile, three more soldiers who were searching for the entrance heard the commotion in the entrance hall and started to rush out after hearing the scream but seeing a level-300 on the spot, they didn''t dare to come out. Ignoring the dropped materials because of the low level, Wil once again folds his hands to the back and continued to walk towards the door. The two soldiers looked at each other and sighed in relief. Exiting outside the door, Wil raised his head and take a look at the sky. He could see many dragons in various colors flying around. A grin appeared on his face. "Well, they sure razed the city to the ground. Now, it''s my turn." "Summon, Leon." *Roar* A powerful roar resounded across the city, scaring the hell out of many dragons as it wasn''t a dragon roar but the roar belongs to a beast. Looking into its eyes, Wil ordered, "Leon, kill every dragon roaming in the sky. Leave none of them alive. Go." *Roar* Letting out another powerful roar, Leon flapped its wings and flew into the sky and Wil continued to walk towards the streets in leisure. Meanwhile, in the skies of Ozreigh, Kyla and the elder dragon were just flapping their wings while having a discussion on their strategy against the Dragon King. "What about your nephew?" The elder dragon asked her. "Qelrit? That fatty will help me out? Please" Kyla doesn''t seem that interested in her suggestion. "Then, what about the guard" Before the elder dragon finished her sentence, a powerful roar was heard from the direction of the mansion. Both of their faces turned serious. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 376: Battle of Ozreigh part-3 As the winged lion was massacring the roaming dragons in the sky, the elder dragon and Kyla got alerted. "Your highness, I will go and eliminate this beast." Not intending to let their elite army get destroyed anymore, the elder dragon flapped her wings and flew towards Leon. Meanwhile, Wil was leisurely walking in the streets of Ozreigh and looking around the flames as if he was on a tour. The only thing that says otherwise is a grey-stoned one-meter-long pillar in his hand. A couple of soldiers who were searching for the tunnel entrance in the largest weapon store of the inner sector coincidentally found him. Thinking that he was a survivor, the two of them charged towards him in their humanoid form with their spears. As they almost reached him, one of them thrust the spear at Wil to which the latter responded with a simple sidestep to dodge it and swung the pillar at him. The pillar hit him and the soldier turned into a pool of blood, leaving behind a bunch of trash items. The other soldier got terrified and wanted to run away but Wil didn''t give him a chance. He immediately dashed towards him and swung the pillar. The monkey staff hit his head and killed the level-100 soldier instantly. Ignoring the trashy drops, Wil continued like earlier. He was actually searching for Princess Kyla who was the one behind the city''s destruction. Wil also said to Leon to report him if it meets any strong silver dragon as an afterthought upon ordering to kill everyone in the sky. From Iphi, the little dragon princess in his custody, Wil at least knew what kind of uncle and aunts did she have. Originally, the dragon king has eight kids. The eldest kid, Iphi''s father was a platinum dragon. The second eldest and his twin Egan Draconus were a pair of black dragons. The third eldest, Averil was a greenish silver dragon. The fourth eldest, Kyla was a pure silver dragon. The fifth eldest was an Ice dragon. Finally, the youngest twins who just became adults a while ago were a couple of green dragons. While their real combat abilities might differ due to the difference in their bloodline, there''s one thing that all of them have in common. That is that every prince/princess is between level 400 and 450, the level of Dragon Lord. And according to Iphi, both of her aunts Averil and Kyla, and her uncle Egan said to possess the ability to increase their level during the transforming, along with increasing their combat strength. Now, the only thing he lacks is how they look like. "Damn, I should have gathered some information from the servants before I logged out, yesterday." After all, he couldn''t just inspect every single person he found to search for his target. Just when he was regretting a little bit, suddenly, his eyes fell on a woman with silver wings in the sky. She was staring at the space above the City lord mansion where Leon was in an intense battle with a giant red dragon. "Silver wings? Or are they platinum wings?" Wil couldn''t distinguish the both of them from far away as the colors appear similar. Since it is a female who was doing nothing but staring, Wil inspected her with hope. Wil''s eyes lit up as he found the target. "It''s her alright." Kyla Draconus Grade: Legendary+ Level: 410 HP: 100% Description: Kyla Draconus is the fourth princess of Dragon Island and the daughter of the Dragon King, Owen Draconus. Very arrogant, cruel, and rebellious in nature. She possesses no remorse in hurting whether it''s a blood relative or a civilian baby over the slightest inconvenience. "Well, it''s time to hit two birds with one stone." Flapping his wings, Wil flew upwards. After a while, the princess also spotted him when he was around ten meters away. A frown appeared on her face. "A member of Eucliffe clan? Level-300?" A mere level-300 is nothing in front of her eyes, but looking at the fact that a white dragon is coming to meet her at Ozreigh of all the places, she wondered what might be the reason. As far as she knew, members of the Eucliffe clan won''t leave their clan for no reason and they were also huge supporters of the Dragon King. "Is he an envoy sent by the Eucliffe clan? Or does my father have any hand in this?" she couldn''t help but wonder as she waited until Wil reached her. "State your identity and the reason for coming," Kyla spoke to him in a cold voice, trying to frighten him a little bit as she believed these scholars of the white dragon clan are mostly cowards and weaklings. Naturally, she looked down on Wil. The latter looked into her eyes and smiled, "Greetings Princess Kyla. You are coming with me to the Imperial city and surrender before the Dragon King." "So, it''s my father, huh! As I expected," Princess Kyla clenched her fist and warned him to leave out of her sight within a minute. "Pfft hahaha. You are too na?ve, princess." In response, Wil burst into laughter and deepened her frown. "Do you think you have a choice or something?" Wil''s face suddenly turned cold as he pointed the staff at her face. "Come with me quietly on your own or I will kill all of your soldiers and drag you back there with force." Now, it was Kyla''s turn to laugh upon seeing the actions of Wil. She felt like he was thinking too much of himself. "A mere level-300 from the clan of weaklings dares to provoke me. You are really the most idiotic scholar I have ever met. Fine, then. Let''s go your way. I was also getting bored just watching. Come at me. If even one of your attacks successfully contacted me, I will consider leaving you alive." "No, you won''t be battling me." Wil dismissed his staff while continuing to look directly into her eyes. "I fear that I might kill you accidentally. My friend will be battling you, instead." "Hmpf, as expected. A coward." It wasn''t Kyla''s fault to think that way as Eucliffe clan members are intelligent and often perform tricks to trap the opponent. So, Kyla thought the same. "Then, I hope your so-called friend is worthwhile to battle." Looking at her hands, she then commented, "My claws are itching to pierce a worthwhile target quite for a while now." "Well, if your claws can even pierce it, that is," Wil commented as he dismissed the staff. "It?" Kyla wondered whether this guy made the mistake of calling him/her with it because of fear. Just then, Wil spoke, "I summon, Elemental Golem: Wood Transformation, Attack mode." *Ding! Your attack is increased by 100% All of a sudden, a hundred and fifty meters giant beast made of wood appeared behind Wil. Its body was covered with roots from the bottom to the top. Kyla who was flying only above fifty meters above the ground couldn''t help but raise her head and stare at the golem in shock. It was the first time she had seen such a giant creature in her life. Adding on top of that, she wasn''t able to sense its level, which was even more strange. She feared the unknown that she wasn''t capable to understand. Meanwhile, the dragons that are roaming in the sky in the outskirts of the city also stopped flying and looked at the invader that appeared in the middle of the city. Their state is the same as Kyla''s. Even the red dragon and the elites were halted for a movement in shock. While Leon took advantage of the state and killed five captain level (200-300) dragons and two knight level dragons (300-400) with a rapid swipe of its claws, the level-500 elder dragon was forced to abandon its battle with Leon and tried to fly towards the princess. Because of the intervention of two generals of Kyla, the elder dragon was successfully separated from the bunch. However, Leon didn''t stay still. It retaliated very quickly. *Roar* It let out a powerful roar and locked the skills of every single dragon that was in the vicinity of three hundred meters around it. The elder dragon felt its mana was restricted. Meanwhile, the Golem put forth its palm to let Wil on top of it. As Wil stepped on it and was raised a few meters, he looked down at her coldly, "this is the friend I told earlier, and the beast that was massacring your subordinates is also my companion. Now, I will ask you once more. Will you surrender or not?" .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 377: Battle of Ozreigh part-4 "You You made a pact with beasts? It''s impossible." After coming out of the shock Princess Kyla only turned furious with Wil''s arrogant behavior, "You aren''t a member of the Eucliffe clan, are you?" "Does it really matter?" Wil rebuked her for asking a useless question when it''s her survival at the stake. "I knew it. You are from the outside world." As realization dawned upon her, a plan formed in her head, and suddenly, the rage within her subsidized. Raising her head, she stared at him coldly, "So, you are in cahoots with my father, huh! I knew that my father will turn into a traitor, one day." Right now, she no longer cared about the unknown. There''s only one thing that''s in her mind. She wants to capture the outsider and present him as a witness before the Quetzalcoatl, the guardian of the Dragon Island to dethrone her father. Then, the throne will be hers. In response to her accusation, Wil simply replied with a straight face, "You really talk too much. You seem to be like a barking dog that never bites. Anyway, I don''t have much time to entertain you. We have to finish this and get going to the Imperial city." "Wood Golem, Activate Skill: World Tree." Not intending to continue the conversation any longer, Wil activated the skill. Slowly, the wooden golem''s legs attached to each other and turned into a trunk that extended all the way to its abdomen while the upper body disappeared and turned into 1 meter thick branches. Wil also found himself standing on top of a branch. The only thing that makes it different from an actual tree is that below its trunk, there are thick roots, however, they aren''t rooted into the ground but just spread around on the surface so that it can move around. Other than that, the tree also lacked any sort of leaves with its big eyes appeared on its trunk. Rather than a world tree, it largely resembles a tree monster from a fairy tale. "Attack," Wil gave the permission and the World Tree extended two of its branches. The first branch which was at the top was extended just far away, a hundred meters above Kyla while the second branch was at the lower section attacked the princess. Kyla easily dodged the attack of the branch, "I told you. You won''t be able to lay a fing Kya..." Before her words ended, the top branch above her head was swung down at her with a high speed and hit her head. "1" A single-digit number appeared over her head while she crashed onto the ground. *Gra* (Your highness!), the red dragon that was on the way screamed in panic and increased its speed. Meanwhile, Wil fell into thoughts with a deep frown on his face. "Hmm, only 1 point of damage. She''s that strong? Let''s see According to the level and the grade, her HP should be around 460 Billion. With the buff from the golem, my attack is 22 Billion and the Golem''s attack should be 88 Billion. Then, how come? Unless she''s a defense-type monster, it couldn''t be possible." Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and he opened the skill interface to check the details of the Golem. Upon reading a particular detail, he tightly shut his eyes for a moment, "f**k. I messed it up once again. The world tree''s branches attack will be a tenth of it. So, that''s only like 8.8 billion. Even if she''s an attack-type or all-around type monster, the Golem couldn''t harm her in her current state as the dragon''s defense stat will be more than 20 Billion. Dammit First the Dragon King and now, this. I keep making beginner mistakes." Taking a deep breath, Wil opened up his fingers and mumbled, "Activate, Metal Spear." With a thought in mind, Wil unleashed another skill where a spear completely made of unknown metal appeared in his hand. He tightly gripped it with his eyes focusing on the ground where the princess stood up on her feet and broke out into laughter after realizing that the giant creature is nothing. "All show and no substance. Hmpf." As all of her worries were disappeared, once again, her arrogant expression returned as she flapped her wings and flew towards Wil. Meanwhile, the red dragon got a strong feeling that something bad is going to happen. It hastened its pace further. By the time Kyla flew to the seventy-meter altitude where Wil was standing on a branch, the elder dragon managed to reach the Golem but instead of trying to ambushing it from the back, she bypassed the golem and flew towards the princess. "Elder Thelma, You defeated the beast?" Princess Kyla was surprised to find the elder dragon in her full form. With the Golem covering her view, she couldn''t see what''s going on with the others. Her return made the princess think Wil''s beast was dead. With the Golem providing to be ineffective against her, she never felt more confident. She also felt like her dream is within her reach now. However, to her disappointment, the red dragon transformed back to her humanoid form and shook her head, "No, I came here as I thought you will be in danger. But, you don''t need to worry. General Terrance and General Marin will take care of it." "You must really have a low opinion of me, Elder Thelma." The Princess was annoyed upon hearing the explanation. "Eh?" As the elder dragon was taken aback by her words, the princess told her everything that she managed to analyze. The old woman was also excited upon realizing that the Dragon King is behind the outsider. Glancing at Wil, she spoke, "Your highness, you can sit back. I will capture him for you." "No, it''s fine." Kyla rejected her suggestion. "I want to capture him with my own hands." "But, Your highness" As the elder dragon tried to convince her, Kyla turned her head and looked at her sharply, "when I say the target''s mine, then, don''t argue" The Elder dragon couldn''t do anything but bow, "Sure, Your Highness. However, let me hel" Before she finished her words, all of a sudden, a lightning bolt hit on the top of her head, turning her into ash, leaving behind a rain of drops and a 13 digit capped damage number. Kyla was frozen in shock. Her voice started to shake as she mumbled, "What just happened? Elder Thelma" "I told you before. You talk too much in a battle. You see I''m working so hard to not kill you. So, don''t force me to do that and surrender yourself." As Wil''s words once again fell into her ears, she abruptly turned her head to look at Wil with her eyes that became red. With her body shivering from top to bottom, she roared on top of her lungs, "I''ll kill you." Her rage returned to the peak and she transformed into a pure silver dragon, increasing her stats tremendously. *Ding! Kyla transformed into full form. She received a passive buff, original form. Her attack, defense, and HP increased by 100%. *Ding! Kyla transformed into full form. Her level is increased by 50. A ten-meter large dragon was flapping its wings before a 15 times bigger tree. Kyla Draconus Status: Full form Grade: Legendary+ Level: 460 HP: 100% "This is what I''m waiting for." Wil nodded in satisfaction as he saw the pure silver dragon. Wil was actually worried all along that he might accidentally kill it because of his high critical damage. And now, the dragon did a favor of becoming stronger by itself. It was more of a piece of good news to Wil. "Yes, c''mon." Tightly gripping the spear, he ordered the golem to attack it. Three of its branches were extended towards the Dragon, this time. *Roar* Letting out a powerful roar, the silver dragon countered by breathing out a sea of flames and burned the branches. As its life force resides in its trunk and roots, The Golem''s health was naturally unharmed. Adding on top of that, it has over 300 branches, losing three of them didn''t hurt much of its combat ability either. Watching the branches were destroyed, Wil ordered the Golem to go all out. This time, around 15 of its branches attacked the dragon in several directions. The remaining stayed still as the Golem could only control 15 at a time. Looking at the state of the dragon, Wil knew that this kind of attack will only make Kyla angrier. Just like he expected, instead of dodging, she was destroying all of the branches with the flames. After all of them were destroyed, it started to conjure a fireball in its mouth Wil''s eyes lit up, "perfect time." "Short teleportation." All of a sudden, he disappeared and reappeared one meter above the dragon. He thrust the spear into its back. "744,975,754,530" *Ding! Kla''s HP dropped below 30% .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 378: Battle of Ozreigh part-5 *Ding! Kyla''s HP dropped below 30% *Ding! Kyla Draconus goes into a berserk state. All attacks increased by 100%. *Ding favorability with Kyla Draconus dropped by 30 points *Ding! Favorability has fallen below 0 points and reached -10. Favorability turned into hostility. *Ding! You fulfilled the necessary conditions. You successfully completed the Quest, Defend Ozreigh. You receive 10000 gold coins, 10 million exp, and a title as a reward. *Ding! Favorability with the citizens of Ozreigh increased by 50 points *Ding! Your level has reached your maximum limit. Please complete the Inheritance quest to extend the limit and receive exp. Title: Savior of Ozreigh Effect: Upon equipping the title, all the purchases within the city of Ozreigh will receive a discount of 20%. "Ugh What a useless reward. I knew that I couldn''t trust the quests with unknown rewards, after all. If I don''t get the appropriate reward for this quest, I will have to go on a killing spree, starting with this princess." Wil closed down the notifications and looked at the silver dragon that was roaring in pain and anger. Red aura covered its body, raising its attack stat. As he inspected it, he found its HP was still at 20.4%. Wil quickly made calculations in his mind and mumbled, "75% damage reduction, huh! Now, it has over 190 billion HP. That means, my attack power shouldn''t be over 760 billion. It could only be possible if" He knew what he should do now. Wil dismissed the Wood Golem, revealing only two dragons and one lion in the skies over the city lord''s mansion. A dragon was getting killed each second. The two General level dragons are on the brink of death, all of the surrounding dragons were trying to protect them while they were getting healed by the Yellow Dragons. Along with the city lord mansion''s roof, the surrounding areas were also filled with items. However, neither Wil nor Princess Kyla was in a mood to care about those. The former wasn''t interested while the latter wasn''t in a state to care about her subordinates. Flapping its wings, the silver dragon flew towards Wil at a blazing speed to which the latter unleashed Heavenly Push without any mana. A gust of wind erupted from Wil in all directions, pushing the incoming dragon away and made her crash onto the ground. As he hadn''t used any mana, she wasn''t harmed in the least. The princess didn''t give up and once again rushed towards him. In the meantime, Wil managed to summon the pillar. He then pointed it at the incoming dragon. On its way, the silver dragon unleashed its skill. Its claws grew bigger and are surrounded by a silver aura, strengthening its attack power and attack speed. As it reached the three meters range, it raised its front limbs to shred its enemy into pieces. However, just then, staring at the incoming enemy, Wil mumbled, "Grow, Jingu Bang, seventy meters." All of a sudden, the stone pillar grew bigger and was extended towards the silver dragon, taking it by surprise. Its chest was hit by a strong force, leaving behind a 12 digit damage number while it crashed onto the ground once again and was pinned by a ten-meter wide and seventy meters long stone pillar with a thin handle at the other end for Wil to grab it like a club. "186,243,752,253" *Ding! Kyla''s Health dropped below 10% *Ding! Hostility increased by 20 points *Ding! Choose between Capture or Continue. You have ten seconds to choose. *Ding! Warning: Choose the first option, Princess Kyla will be subdued. Choose the second option, Quest: Capture Princess Kyla will be termed as a failure and Princess Kyla will go into the second berserk state. The battle will only end when one of you dies. Reading the notification, Wil looked at the ground. He rubbed his chin, "Hmm, killing it will give me no benefit." Even after killing six elder dragons in the cave, all he acquired are six pieces of legendary equipment of level-500, nineteen pieces of Epic grade equipment, a couple of Player city scrolls, ten Advanced HP potions, around nine hundred gold coins, and one advanced skill book. If it was for anyone else, it would call for a party but for someone like Wil who had mythic grade equipment, millions of gold coins, and a whole kingdom to rule, they were nothing but useless. And he thought capturing Kyla might be better than acquiring those useless materials. Wil decided on its fate. "Alright, I choose" He clicked on the first option. *Ding! You chose Capture. *Ding! Princess Kyla has been subdued. Berserk state is deactivated. Energy chains activated. *Ding! Princess Kyla is now your prisoner. Please present her before the Dragon King to complete the quest and received the rewards. *Ding! You receive a quest, "Escort the Princess" Quest: Escort the princess. Description: The capture of princess Kyla will be known to all of her subordinates and supporters. They will try to rescue her while she was being escorted to the Imperial city. Conditions for failure: Death of Kyla or your death or escape Conditions for success: Escorting her to the Imperial palace Reward: Unknown (Based on the opponents you face) "Ugh One more unknown Forget it. I don''t have the mood to get disappointed again." *Ding! You rejected the quest. *Ding! You have fifteen minutes to take Kyla out of this city before her subordinates return. Wil retracted the monkey king''s staff and saw the silver dragon turned back into her humanoid form with blue energy chains, restricting her movements. Currently, she was unconscious. He slowly descended before her. Staring at her, Wil smirked, "I told you, didn''t I? You don''t have a choice from the start." He then glanced in the direction of the winged lion and ordered it to return to where he was through their telepathic connection. Leon, which just killed one of the General-level dragons and about to kill the second one, abandoned its battle to return to its master. The general-level dragon realized the situation. He gave orders to the remaining eleven dragons around him to go and bring the 800 guards that were busy searching the hills and destroying the nearby towns. Since he knew that he couldn''t face the man that defeated the elder dragon and captured the princess, the General level dragon just stayed there and spied on Wil to gather information. "Only 300?" He was surprised that this stranger with the white wings, possibly from the Eucliffe clan, was only level-300 and yet, somehow subdued a beast like a white-winged lion and a giant wood golem. He believed that the 150-meter giant creature was the one that killed the elder dragon too and wondered whether they will disappear if Wil were to be killed. Meanwhile, the unobstructed Leon reached its master and landed on the ground. As Wil quickly picked up the unconscious Kyla and placed her on Leon''s back before he mounted on it. "Let''s go, Leon." "Your highness." The General screamed as he watched the princess got abducted by the mysterious enemy in front of his eyes. He couldn''t stay still and wait for the backup. The General chased after the lion flying away from the city. As Leon''s speed was restricted because of the people on its back, eventually, the General level dragon caught up with it. The Lion growled a little, informing Wil about the arrival of an enemy. At first, Wil paid no heed as it was just a weak dragon but then, as Leon said that this dragon was very tough to kill, Wil ordered it to halt. Leon turned around and the blue dragon also stopped chasing, letting out a roar to provoke the lion. Gilrum Alanus Grade: Legendary Status: Full form Level: 410 HP: 39% Description: Gilrum is the second eldest child of the noble Alanus family and used to serve as the General under Owen. Upon the disappearance of the Dragon King, Gilrum defected from the kingdom became the west General of Kyla Draconus. "Level-410, huh! That means a total of 312 Billion HP. No wonder he could stay alive until now." Wil decided to kill him as he doesn''t believe that this General will stop chasing him. However, just before he was about to conjure the fireball, Leon requested him to let it kill the pest once in for all. Since Leon blocked his skills, Wil wasn''t worried about getting late as he will be the one that will guide the battle. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 379 - Imperial City Of Dragons "Heal" "Heal" "Heal" A glow of golden light covered the lion, healing it to its full health. It was only then, Wil allowed it to battle the General-level Dragon. After looking at the dragon''s level, Wil was actually surprised that Leon managed to reduce him to such a state while eliminating others. After all, its HP is only 234 Billion and its overall attack is only 58.5 Billion. On the other hand, its enemy is a level-410 legendary grade dragon with over 312 billion HP. The only way he can think it is possible is either it is because of the Critical damage or the opponent might be a defense or neutral type monster. As it is unlikely possible with only a 400% critical rate, Wil concluded that the dragon might be of the latter possibility. With the lion possessing a 50% damage reduction, the overall damage would be too little. "Hmm, it seemed to be the possibility. Let''s check my hypothesis." Wil gave an order to Leon to take the first hit and then, counterattack with a fireball. Leon let out a low growl, indicating that it understood. Meanwhile, Gilrum was taken aback to see this mysterious kidnapper even knows the healing the life force, still, he hoped to stall them until the backup arrives. Flapping its wings, he flew towards Leon to engage in close combat as he couldn''t use mana for the time being. Soon, the distance between the five-meter big dragon and the winged lion that was one-fifth of its size decreased to a couple of meters, but the lion has yet to make the move. It stayed still and took the attack of the blue dragon''s claw. "-13,652,235,612" With almost six percent of its health was dropped and a scratch appeared on its cheek, the Lion got a little bit angry because of its pride. The blue dragon was now going for the second strike with the other claws. As Leon opened its mouth, fireball started to form at a rapid pace. The dragon was already on a motion to strike the lion and it couldn''t stop in the midway. "-13,652,235,612" The second strike landed on Leon and scratched its face once again but at the same time, the fireball hit the Gilrum right below the neck. The dragon flew away along with the fireball for a few meters before the fireball disappeared and it blew into million pieces. *Crt. "175,523,235,411" As the rain of items was falling on the ground, Wil nodded, "Good, it''s now confirmed. It is a neutral-type monster. So, there is no critical resistance. Its HP and defense is one-eighth of the HP, instead of usual one-fourth and one-twentieth respectively and vice-versa." Not bothering to pick up the items from the ground and wait for the backup soldiers for unnecessary fighting, Wil spoke with a smile, "let''s go, Leon." Of course, wild beasts like dragons couldn''t see the dropped items. So, Wil wasn''t worried if someone steals his loot that was dropped from the dead elder dragon. With a speed of 1-mach, the Lion flew for more than three hours straight until a huge city appeared in his view that largely resembled his Vulture city at Ormshire. A huge city was formed at the foot of a small hill on all sides. It was enclosed with a huge wall around it with eight entrances on all sides. Each entrance was accompanied by two towers. Soldiers were at the entrance to take care of the people that enter the city. Meanwhile, the soldiers at the top of the towers keep an eye on the skies to make sure there are no illegal entries. Those who try to do that will be killed without any mercy. Only General-level and above Dragons have the privilege to enter the city from the skies. Meanwhile, on top of the hill lies a majestic golden palace that looked as if it was a deity looking down at mortals. "Damn, the dragons really love gold, don''t they?" Even Wil was awed by the view of the palace where the outermost 30 layers were made of gold. Moreover, the size of the palace also looks almost three times his palace in the Llyne kingdom. While he was fascinated by the beauty of the palace, there''s no greed in Wil''s eyes. He wasn''t interested to snatch the palace but wanted to build his very own after becoming the Emperor. "Leon, get down." As he couldn''t see any dragons roaming above the city, Wil assumed that it might be banned. Meanwhile, at the southeast gate, two soldiers were doing their duties normally while chatting with each other. They seemed like they were happy. "Thank goodness, his Majesty has returned." A soldier named Dale sighed in relief. "Or else, who knows when we would have been roped in the situation and gets sacrificed." "Yeah, you are right. At the very least, His majesty cares about the lives of the soldiers. These Princes don''t even care about either the civilians or even the soldiers. To them, we are just sacrificial pawns." As the other soldier also expressed his view, suddenly, his comrade raised his head, "Dale, look at that." "A beast?" Dale''s voice shook a bit as he stared at the white-winged lion descending slowly. Even the soldiers on the top floor of the tower also spotted it. However, they didn''t do anything after seeing two people on top of it. Slowly, Leon landed onto the ground a dozen meters away and walked towards the entrance. The people who are entering the entrance halted their steps and looked at Wil and Leon in fear. As they gave the way to Wil, they wondered who the unconscious lady with energy chains is. Meanwhile, the soldiers put up their guard and raised their weapons, and pointed at Wil. "Halt right there. State your identity." Even though he knew that the person before them is of a higher level, Dale mustered up the courage and asked him. Wil first pointed to the unconscious lady, "my identity doesn''t matter. This one is Kyla Draconus. Now, if you move aside, I have to deliver her to the Palace." "Eek!" Both of the guards took a step back in shock. "Ky Kyla Draconus?" They knew about the order the Dragon gave, last night. However, they never saw Kyla. So, they failed to recognize her. "Please wait a second." Dale quickly ran towards the tower to inform the captain. To his surprise, the captain was already on his way as he was informed by the guards on the top floor. The captain walked towards the entrance and looked at Wil. A frown appeared on his face,"Eucliffe clan member? Without horns? Human side?" He then glanced at the lady in energy chains. He slowly walked towards the lion and confirmed her face from far away as he was afraid of it. "It is indeed the princess." The Captain of the guards bowed, "I apologize. Please follow me." While leading him personally into the city, the captain kept on glancing at the lion and then, at Wil, wondering how could a Eucliffe clan member with human traits subdue a beast which wasn''t even possible for the mighty Dragon King. In the meantime, the surrounding passersby also couldn''t help but stare at Wil curiously and then, at the lion in fear. The captain met a few soldiers and even a couple of royal knights on the way and they too thought the same as him. More than the beast, they wondered how could a person like the fourth princess was captured by them of all the people. In public opinion, only the Dragon King, the second prince, and the elders could defeat her. To keep an eye on the beast as well as the mysterious stranger, the two royal knights also tagged along. It took an hour to reach the palace gate, which looks more like a wall as it was built all around the hill, spanning over a hundred kilometers in total distance. "Halt. State your identity and provide an appointment letter." The guards at the gate were at level-300 and as strong as the royal knights. So, they neither fear Wil nor his Lion. When Wil explained the same to them, one of the gatekeepers came forward but was met with the growl of Leon as he stood in front of the beast. It led the remaining two gatekeepers to take out their weapons but Wil waved his hands, "relax. It''s harmless." "As if" Looking at it, the surroundings soldiers thought of the same thing. Clearing his throat, one of the gatekeepers said, "Okay, you can hand over the princess and wait here until I return." After all, he couldn''t let the beast enter the palace compound. Just as the backed away gatekeeper continued to walk again to take the princess from Lion''s back, Wil patted Leon''s back and it let out an angry roar and made the gatekeeper, as well as the royal knights, fall on their butts. As everyone took out their weapons and looked at Wil in hostility, he takes out a bracelet from his inventory and showed it to them. Looking at them coldly, Wil spoke, "Now, will you let me in or do you want me to raise the ruckus and force the Dragon King out to punish you in person?" With the Golden bracelet that looked in the shape of the first dragon that evolved from a serpent. The gatekeepers and the royal knights naturally recognized it. They quickly kowtowed before him. "We apologize to the honored guest of his majesty. Please forgive us." "Okay, just open the gate," Wil said impatiently. As the gate was opened, Wil proceeded to climb the hill followed by the royal knights. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 380 - Handing Over The Princess Imperial Palace, Dragon Island; Everyone gathered in the courtroom for the morning assembly. His ever-loyal eldest prince, Reuben Draconus, the Platinum Dragon, and the fifth prince Frost Draconus, the Ice Dragon were right now, kneeling in the middle of the courtroom. The youngest twin brothers were sitting in their seats with a look of fear on their faces. As usual, two seats that belonged to Averil and Egan were kept empty for the past few decades. The seats of Kyla and the second prince were also empty as they decided not to return to the palace. Along with them, several seats that belonged to the elder dragons were also empty. Only two elder dragons were left within the hall. Unlike the princes, they weren''t given punishment even though they took part in this faction business. This is the difference between a red dragon and others. While the Dragon King could still punish the red dragons, they were still the symbol of purity. He couldn''t disgrace them in front of others after knowing that the six of them already disappeared. The remaining five were needed to stay loyal to the kingdom to face the invasion of the wild beasts from the endless ocean and endless sky. With several seats empty, the courtroom was only filled with a few ministers and an audience that stood in the back. Looking at the two of his children, the Dragon King spoke coldly, "do you admit your mistake, Reuben, Frost?" "Yes." Their voices echoed together. "We''re willing to face the punishment." "Good." The Dragon King nodded in satisfaction, "considering the two of two given up yourselves and admit the mistake of trying to vie the throne in my absence, I''ll make your punishment, light. Reuben, your punishment is to work in Bragghim mines for a month like a commoner. Do you accept?" The eldest prince kowtowed, "Thank you for the mercy, Your Majesty." "And you, frost." The Dragon then looked at the fifth prince, the only Ice dragon within the island. "You will work in the mines of Norwich under your nephew, Qelrit Draconus for a month. Do you accept?" Frost stayed silent. He didn''t give any reply and continued to look down. "I asked, do you accept the verdict?" The Dragon shouted in anger. Everyone flinched in fear, including Frost. Only Reuben and the elder dragons weren''t intimidated. They were calm. The fifth prince bit his lip in frustration and nodded. Just as he was about to accept it, suddenly, a couple of royal knights entered the courtroom and made the audience clear the way. "Hmm?" The Dragon King frowned as he looked straight. "What''s going on?" He asked them. Before the Royal knight replies him, a cloud appeared in the view upon which unconscious Kyla was present, bound by energy chains. A smile appeared on the Dragon King as he stood up, "You are finally here. I was waiting for you." However, his words weren''t directed at his daughter but towards the man that was walking beside the cloud. Originally, Wil was on his way with Leon but after watching the reactions of mere gatekeepers, he thought everyone would go frenzy if he brought the lion into the palace. So, while climbing the hill, Wil dismissed the winged lion and summoned the cloud to carry the princess as he doesn''t wish to carry her by himself nor he wished to hand her over to someone. And naturally, everyone was surprised regarding a lot of things. First, their unconscious princess; second, a member of the Eucliffe clan of level-300; and third is a cloud that was supposed to fly in the sky was carrying their princess. "Reuben and Frost, both of you give the way to our esteemed guest." Both of the princes stood up and moved aside as they were ordered while the supposed guest stopped in the middle and greeted him as a formality, "Greetings, Your Majesty. I came here just like you asked me. On the way, I saw her destroying the city of Ozreigh. At first, I want to kill her, but after recognizing her identity, I decided to bring her with me. I heard she was a rebel, so, I had to prison her with these energy chains. I hope you won''t get offended because of it." The Dragon King only burst into laughter in response, "No, I don''t mind. She actually deserves it. I should be grateful to you as you had done a huge favor on me, once again." Addressing everyone, the old man continued, "This person standing before you is my savior. He not only saved me from the imprisonment of those traitorous elders, but now, she also brought this rebellious child of mine." He then told him to release her. As Wil picked her up and handed it to Iphi''s father, Reuben, the energy chains around her disappeared on their own while a notification sound rang in his head. *Ding! You completed the quest, Capture Princess Kyla. You received an evolution stone as a reward. *Ding! Favorability with Owen increased by 10 points "Another Evolution stone? Now, that''s cool." Wil was satisfied with the quest reward. Since the Dragon King seemed to be very happy, he decided to talk about the little dragon princess that was currently imprisoned in his ship. However, right then, the princess slowly opened her eyes. She found herself in the arms of Reuben. "Eh? Eldest Brother?" Then, her eyes fell on the imposing figure of her majestic father. "Fa Father?" She was surprised to find herself back at the Imperial Palace. While she was angered at the invader who defeated her and then, captured her, right now, she couldn''t afford to think about him. "Kyla, it''s been a while," Reuben was happy that she was alright. After all, he could sense that her life fore is extremely low. As soon as he kept her down, she silently stared towards the floor. The Dragon King then spoke to her in a serious tone, "Do you wish to say anything?" Like her younger brother Frost, she too kept silent. "I asked, whether you wished to say anything about betraying the throne and dismissing my order of returning to the palace?" the Dragon King''s voice rose. Maybe, it''s because she''s his daughter and not a son, he was a little bit soft on her. However, Kyla refused to beg for forgiveness. Looking at her silence, the Dragon King felt that she no longer respect him. His blood boiled in anger. All he wanted to see that she was sorry for her actions. He will surely forgive her. But, she didn''t do as he expected. The Dragon King carried out his punishment. "You will serve as one of the guards in the Prison of Bragghim for a whole year." Upon hearing the sentence, Kyla raised her face abruptly and looked at him in shock. Everyone else also has a similar expression. Only Wil who doesn''t know what it is had a look of confusion on his face. "Father, I request you not to give her such a harsh punishment." Reuben immediately kneeled and begged to forgive his sister. Even one of the elder dragons mustered up the courage and voiced out his opinion, "Your Majesty, you know those undying demons hate the royal family to the core. At such a state, sending Princess Kyla to such a place is extremely dangerous." "Then, Kyla will have to be careful." The Dragon King seemed like he was adamant about his decision. "Take her away." Having no choice, an elder dragon came forward and sealed her mana. Kyla didn''t try to resist the process and just stared at her father full of resentment. As the two generals grabbed her arms and turned around, her eyes finally fell on Wil, who had a bright smile on his face because of a generous reward. "You It''s you" She erupted in anger after holding it for the past couple of minutes. She forcefully freed herself from the generals and lunged at him with raising her hands that changed to that of a dragon''s. "Stop" The Dragon King roared in anger as his wings opened up. Just then, Wil raised his hand towards the princess. "Heavenly Push, activate. 0 mana." A gust of wind was generated from his palm. It pushed not only Kyla but also the two generals, Reuben, Frost, and the elder dragon that was also standing in the same direction. All of them in the path were blown away and crashed onto the walls before they fell on the floor, one after the other. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 381 - Evolution Stone As soon as Wil stepped inside the courtroom and didn''t receive any notification of a no-combat zone, Wil realized that the Imperial palace might be considered as a wild zone. So, within the palace, he can attack others while he could be harmed in return too. To test his theory, he unleashed Heavenly Push to blast away the princess despite knowing that he won''t be harmed much even if he allowed that attack to hit him. And the result of his actions made his suspicions become true. But, then, he remembered how he received EXP buff in the city lord''s mansion. So, all he hoped now that he shouldn''t receive such buff in this palace so that he gets the perk to assassinate anyone at their rooms while they were asleep, including the king. Watching his children and his generals blasted away because of the powerful wind, the Dragon King unknowingly took a step back while remembering the scene of the death of six elder dragons. "You, what have you done?" He erupted in anger, this time towards Wil. *Ding! Favorability with Owen decreased by 40 points Wil didn''t care about the favorability but still, he felt the need to at least explain himself as he doesn''t like to be painted as wrong due to misunderstandings. Maintaining a serious expression on his face, he replied "I didn''t use any mana. None of them is harmed. And Your Majesty, even I used any mana, it''s not my fault that I was using my powers for self-protection when your guest was being attacked by your daughter in your own palace. If you don''t like my actions, I will leave right away." The ministers and the audience gasped in shock to see someone who dared to talk to the Dragon King in such a way as if they were equals. They expected that the Dragon King will lose his cool and punish this so-called esteemed guest, but on the contrary, Owen sighed in relief as he realized none of their life forces decreased. "Sorry." As a simple word escaped from the Dragon King, everyone was stupefied for a moment. *Ding! Your favorability with the Dragon King increased by 40 points Owen then once again turned his head towards the bunch of people who were about to stand up. "Kyla, for trying to harm my guest, your punishment is extended by one more year. Reuben, Frost, take her away from my sight." As she was dragged by her brothers, the Dragon King sat on his throne again. Addressing his ministers, he told them that Wil will stay as a guest in the royal palace as many days as he likes and ordered them to spread the news to the public that he will also get the same amount of respect a prince gets. The Dragon King further warned that those who will disrespect his guest will be faced with harsh punishment. Wil stayed silent while feeling his overbearing attitude extremely annoying, although he doesn''t know that others also feel similar whenever he gives the orders. He didn''t speak about Iphi and excused himself from the courtroom. "There''s no exp buff, Cool," Wil let out a long whistle as he entered the guest room. He now believed that there might not be a no-combat zone within the whole palace. Closing the doors, he sat on the bed and hurriedly took out two golden-colored pebbles. They were glowing brightly just like the light stone fragment. Evolution stone Grade: Legendary+ Description: An object that was formed within the heart of the beast after it evolves two times. It can be used to evolve a battle companion, a piece of equipment, or any unique item by skipping necessary requirements. "Eh? It was a legendary+ grade object?" Wil was taken aback to see the grade was different from what remembered even though the description was exactly the same. According to his memory, it was supposed to be a legendary grade. As something clicked in his mind, he then inspected the second one. Evolution stone Grade: Legendary Description: An object that was formed within the heart of the beast after it evolves two times. It can be used to evolve a battle companion, a piece of equipment, or any unique item by skipping the necessary requirements. "This one is a legendary grade." A frown appeared on Wil as he fell into deep thoughts. After thinking for a while, he concluded that the evolution stone''s grade depends on its effectiveness on the object. As he only possessed one legendary+ grade object in his previous life that was evolved because of an evolution stone that he got his hands on, Wil wondered whether the first one work on the legendary+ grade objects. "If that were true" The image of a Dinosaur and a five-tailed wolf appeared in his mind. "No." At first, he threw the thought away, thinking that he should rather evolve the accessory into a mythic- grade rather than T-Rex or Felix but then, another thought appeared in his mind. "That''s right, why should I bother raising my attack power further when there''s a damage cap?" Feeling that there''s no use in raising personal attack power further, Wil decided to try on the battleship to evolve it to legendary+ grade and use the remaining one on the T-rex. "Okay, this is settled." Since he could summon neither of them in such a closed space, Wil put those two pebbles back into the inventory. *** Reverie city, Province of Reverie; Inside a seemingly ordinary inn, Bran, Sierra, a level-400 General, three other high-level guild Elites gathered in a room on the top floor. Along with them, the fallen princess of Reverie is also participating in the discussion. Like the crown princess, the General of Reverie also managed to escape while he was being transported to the Searvale kingdom. After searching for so long, he reunited with Bran, who led him to the princess. "Your highness, The Citadel of Searvale is highly guarded. It is very difficult to free our soldiers but if there''s a huge distraction, we can make it possible." The General voiced out his opinion. As the princess looked at Bran for opinion, another guild Elite spoke, "No, one is too risky. There shouldn''t be just one but several distractions. We need to make sure all their Generals are away from the capital city. And it also should be done between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. During such time, most people will be asleep and people like us won''t be available." "In that case, we need a huge number of Elites," Sierra suggested of bringing extra manpower from Predators guild but bran outrightly rejected it, explaining that their Guild might have to cede one of their territories to that massive guild from the outside kingdom as payment. Sierra was a little bit dejected that she was outspoken by her boyfriend in such a way, but still, she kept her expression calm on the outside. "Any ideas, Crimson Sun?" The princess looked at Bran expectantly. In response, a mysterious smile appeared on Bran, "I have a friend who can take me to the Citadel without causing any commotion. I can release everyone from the prison and let the other prisoner cause a distraction while I take our men to safety. However, there''s one issue" "What is it?" The Princess asked him. "It''s the Queen. Generals don''t matter. However, as long as the Searvale''s Queen is nearby, it isn''t possible." Bran asked them to think of an idea to drag the Queen out of the Searvale kingdom. The room was filled with silence for an entire minute until suddenly, Bran himself thought of an idea. Patting the shoulder of the General who sat beside him, Bran said, "General Carson, you will go in my place and release our soldiers. I''m going to challenge the Queen or force her to fight against me." "What!" Everyone stood up from their seats in surprise. "Are you crazy?" Sierra was the first to erupt. "Challenging the Queen is the same as declaring war against her. If you lose, then, you will be blacklisted from the kingdom." He waved his hands with a smile, "don''t worry. As long as the battle will not have a result, everything will be fine. The only issue here is that my popularity might drop" "Hmm?" Everyone couldn''t help but wonder what he''s going to do to achieve such a result. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 382 - An Official Bounty On Bran *Ding! You killed ten soldiers of the Kingdom within a safe zone. An arrest warrant has been issued against you. Bran ignored the notification and stood straight with a sword in his hand. Flames are dancing on the edge of the blade. He neither backed away nor did he charge forward. He just stayed there until a group of soldiers along with their captain appeared before him, telling him about his arrest. "You are coming with us." The eyes behind the Mask of Tranquility looked cold as Bran opened his mouth, "Sorry but I''m going to disappoint you." Because the mask hides the level even from NPCs, the captain wasn''t able to find out his level. So, he was quite aggressive just like he was on other players. "Soldiers, apprehend the criminal." As the captain gave the order, the soldiers rushed forward with their weapons. However, Bran was faster and stronger. Within just ten seconds, every one of them ended up dying. *Ding! You resisted arrest. As you don''t possess the qualifications to invade the capital city of a kingdom and issue a rebellion, another team was sent to arrest you. Resisting once more makes you a wanted criminal within the kingdom. "Wanted criminal? It doesn''t matter as long as the Generals are released." Bran mumbled as he was waiting at the entrance of the city with no gatekeepers. "Orion, I''m betting everything on you. If you betray me, then, I will chase you to the end of the world." Amid the gazes of roaming players and citizens, twenty Elven soldiers lead by an Elite squad captain of level-300 arrived at the place. The Elite captain said the same thing as before one. Bran''s reply is the same and in the end, even the result turned out to be the same. The only thing that changed is the notifications received by Bran. *Ding! You killed an Elite squad captain and resisted the arrest for the second time. Henceforth, you are a wanted criminal within the kingdom. *Ding! Your name is added to the bounty chart with 100 gold coins. Bounty and Punishment will increase with the number of NPC or bounty hunters that you killed. At the same time, the players who were the citizens of the new Searvale kingdom (Including the provinces of Reverie and Uflenor) also received a notification. *Ding! Player Crimson Sun repeatedly violated the rules and resisted arrest. His name is added to the bounty chart. Please visit the Adventurer association to receive the quest. The notification caused a huge uproar among the guilds and players as Crimson Sun is the most popular player within the kingdom, followed by Siren. Wil''s declaration of acknowledging him as his rival while putting away ''One'' only increased his popularity further. As the fame of Time Traveler grew, Crimson Sun''s fame also grew exponentially. Of course, it also brought a huge animosity from Time Traveler''s diehard fans. As they don''t think he deserves to be Wil''s rival, several players that belonged to Searvale kingdom used to issue a challenge in the arena. Now that Crimson Sun is declared as a wanted criminal, many free players rushed to the Adventurer association within their cities to accept the bounty quest. Bounty Chart is an official list of players who don''t follow the rules set by the system. When a person kills an NPC within a safe zone, an arrest will be issued against the perpetrator. Based on the NPC that was killed, usually, punishment ranges from a simple fine to hours of imprisonment. However, not all players would sit quietly and wait for the arrest. Many people run away from the place. In such a case, the system will give him/her a few warnings before finally adding them to the bounty chart with the reward money. In such a case, if a wanted criminal gets killed by either an NPC or a player that accepted the bounty quest, then, he will revive at jail or prison. Then, one will only have three choices. Pay the relevant amount of fine or get pardoned by a nobility of higher rank (depends on the crime) or just serve the sentence. Most of the players who weren''t present there didn''t know what he did but when they saw his starting bounty was 100 gold coins, they were excited. The large guilds and high-level bounty hunters decided to wait to let the pig grow fatter. Galaxy Net Main Branch, Weford city; With the war still going on around the world, Galaxy Net is busy selling the information to the clients who wished to use that information to either harm their enemies or impress the royal family of their respective nations. The guild leader Shihei was looking after some reports sent by his scouts. Right then, he received a message about Crimson Sun causing trouble within the capital city. At first, he didn''t take it seriously as killing soldiers within the city is quite common but then, as soon as he received the notification from the system, his expression grew serious. He thought something is fishy. After all, according to their research, Bran isn''t the type to go after trouble unless someone irks him. He quickly sent a message to his scout to keep an eye on Bran at all times and told him to report all of his actions. A few minutes later; *Ding! You received a private message from Karirin. Karirin: Crimson Sun''s bounty has risen to thousand gold coins. "Already?" Shihei was taken aback by surprise as he didn''t expect Bran would be so aggressive now. He didn''t know what that person suddenly decided to become a rebel, but he thought he should do something about it. "What should I do? None of my nieces is online. I wish at least Kiyumi or Akiko here. Their personal contacts could have been more useful at this time." With Wil disappeared to god knows where Akiko had temporarily returned to the main branch to continue to work with her sisters. Of course, being college students, Akiko, as well as Rini, weren''t available in the morning. Along with them, Konami was busy with her project with the Star group, Wakano was at their schools, and Kiyumi was with her mother, busy being attending the meetings. So, usually until the afternoon, most of the time on weekdays, the five sisters won''t be available in the game. So, the entire thing was operated solely by their maternal uncle, Miyazaki Shihei. Usually, it isn''t a big deal for him but the situation became more serious when Bran''s bounty increased to 4000 gold coins and then, a bit more than 11000 gold coins after killing three of the Elven Generals along with more than a hundred players. When he heard that more than five Generals made a move and is currently chasing after him, Shihei wondered why Bran just stood at the entrance of the city until now and was now running. "Is he afraid that he''ll die? Or is he trying to lure them into the trap?" He fell into thoughts. Ten minutes passed away while Shihei was waiting for the message other than he''s still running. *Ding! You received a message from Karirin. Karirin: Crimson Sun stopped running at the plains of Fale Serin and is currently engaged in a battle against the Generals all by himself. Someone is live streaming the battle. Check out the kingdom forums. "Hmm? Did he stop at the border of the two regions? He could just escape into the wild zone if goes that way. Just what is he planning to do?" .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 383 - Top 10 Valuable Players In The World Shihei opened the forums. A popular freelancer reporter is currently live streaming the battle while commenting in the background. It already attracted more than ten thousand viewers and the number is increasing rapidly by each second. He clicked on the video. On the vast grasslands that stretched for several kilometers, an intensive battle is going on between five level-400 Elven Generals and alone level-300 Player. In the meantime, the reporter was commenting in the background while moving around to cover every moment of this intensive battle. "As one can see, despite being engaged in an intense battle against level-400 NPCs, Crimson Sun is still managing on his own without any external help." The battle went for five minutes before the reporter inspected Bran and his opponents and show the audience. Everyone could see Crimson Sun''s HP was downed to more than 72% while at the same, the Generals'' HP was already downed to 74%, 71%, 83%, 78%, and 91% respectively. While Bran was drinking health potions every ten seconds, a General who seems to be a paladin is healing himself and fellow Generals while striking down the rebel before them. "We don''t know their exact HP numbers but the damage on their heads at least shows that Crimson Sun''s attack damage is over 500 million adding all the critical damage" With five Generals ganging upon Bran from all the sides, the other bounty hunters didn''t get any chance to interfere. Everyone feared that if they accidentally injure the Generals, they will become Bran''s accomplices and eventually, become the enemies of the royal family. They weren''t strong like Bran to resist or fight against them. So, both the friends and foes are just watching the battle in silence. However, there are a few Elites who are waiting for the battle to end like hyenas and then, ambush Bran for the bounty. Meanwhile, the comment section was flooded with praises until fan club members of ''One'' and Time Traveler have arrived and started an argument about how Bran is weak compared to their idols. Reading the comments, Shihei could only shake his head, thinking of how immature they are. It also made him wonder what kind of hidden quest Wil is doing now as the status says he''s online but none of his spies could find his trace anywhere within the four continents. Leaning to the back, Shihei mumbled, "Even Texel Group decided to compromise with Williard. The longer I wait, the more this brat will grow and it will be more difficult for my plans to go smoothly." "Hmm, I should ask my sister to push forward the official engagement as much as possible." Shihei continued to watch the live stream. The battle went on for thirty minutes. One of the Generals was killed. Bran is hanging on with 24% HP. The Elven General with Paladin class is still strong with more than 80% and went into full support while the other three are hanging on around 30%. Just then right then, Bran received a simple notification. *Ding! You received a private message from Orion. Dodging an attack that was aimed at his shoulder, he quickly opened it. Along with a message, there''s an image where he''s having a selfie with eleven injured people behind him. There was also a mysterious guy with a mask on his face and dual daggers in his hand. Orion: My job is done. Send the remaining payment. As soon as he read the message, a bright smile appeared on Bran and he raised his katana. The lightning sparks changed into flames once again. "Well, I guess it''s time to finish this battle." Pushing his right leg against the ground, he thrust the katana towards the General in front of him. As the Elven General with only 31% HP backed away a bit, two of the Generals attacked from behind. But, Bran didn''t give them a chance anymore. "Violent Fire Tornado, activate." With his right leg as the pivot, he spun around at a high speed. The katana managed to slash the two Generals, taking away more than 5% of their HP before they jumped away with the rest. In the next second, violent winds gathered around Bran, affecting the Elven Generals. Before they knew what''s going on, the flames dancing on his katana became bigger and added to the wind, creating a fire tornado. The tornado disappeared after 30 seconds passed away and Bran slowly decreased his spinning and finally, stood still in the end. However, there aren''t any Generals around to fight anymore. His bounty was abruptly rose to more than 25000 gold coins, becoming the most wanted in the bounty chart of Searvale Kingdom. When Shihei heard the bounty from his scout, he fell into thoughts for a bit. After thinking for a while, he opened the most valuable players list in the world which was created by Galaxy Net in the World forums. He looked at it. Crimson Sun''s name was at ninth. He readjusted his position and looked at the list once again. 1. Time Traveler 2. Lupin (?) 3. One 4. Clown (?) 5. Dark Knight 6. Magi 7. Crimson Sun 8. Siren 9. Supreme Conqueror 10. Yolo (?) "Hmm this Lupin, Yolo, and Clown, I wonder what their igns are" *** Imperial Palace, Dragon Island; Lying on the bed, Wil was inspecting a crystal ball. He was weighing the options of choosing this crystal ball over the Warship. "That Warship will be very useful in navy battles in the second phase of the war. But, the issue is that I could just summon Leon and rain down the enemies with fireballs or I could tame aquatic beasts from the ocean and attack the ships underwater. However, if I lend it to Aster or someone else and form a separate navy, it will be tremendously useful. On the other hand, I barely used Seer ability until now. Whether for finding the entrance of the Dragon Island or the Tower of destiny, I depended on that Owler. Even in the future, most likely, I won''t get the chance to use this ability. At the same time, there might not be any changes in the skill-set. Maybe, it''s possible if it evolves to mythic but in that case, I have to use both of the evolution stones, which isn''t possible. In any case, it''s obvious that my former choice is a good one I wonder why my guts telling that this one will benefit me" As Wil was observing the crystal ball, suddenly, he received a message from Aster. Upon reading the message, Wil opened the forums and started to watch the video. However, within just one minute of watching, Wil got angered. "What kind of sh*t is this. 562 million attack damage against a mere general?" He couldn''t believe that his archrival and former love rival is this weak. After all, in Wil''s eyes, Bran is always a formidable enemy. So, he convinced himself that his enemy might be holding back and is playing with them. As the battle continued, Wil realized that his suspicions were true. Looking at the sword that keeps changing from fire to lightning, then to ice, the netizens thought he was using skills. Only Wil who was familiar with Bran knew that it was his sword. During his past life, he knew nothing about them and thought it was just Bran''s specialty. However, now that he knew the existence of Legend classes, Wil was even confident that perhaps, it was the unique feature of a Magic swordsman class just like he could use skills from different elements. "After I return, I should talk with Rini." He decided it would be best to learn all about the magic swordsman class, which can be acquired by constantly sparring against Rini. It made him remember the offer from Shihei about the alliance of ten guilds to have hegemony over this virtual world. Clearing his thoughts, Wil focused on the battle once again. As the battle is finished, he closed the forums and looked at the crystal ball once again. "Now, what should I do with this? It''s clear that evolving the warship gives me better results but I have other methods to deal with the navy. On the other hand, being Seer, I could only ask Owler to divine things every time. This is a matter of prestige, I guess" After thinking for a long time, he took a deep breath, "Okay, let''s gamble." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 384 - Special Advisor Dazzis He took out an evolution stone and touched the crystal ball. The stone glowed. *Ding! Would you like to evolve the Ball of Prophecy with the evolution stone? He clicked on Yes. *Ding! Ball of Prophecy has been successfully evolved to Legendary+ grade. Ball of Prophecy Grade: Legendary+ Character Name: Williard Ravens Class: Seer Level: Beginner (10%) **SKILLS** God''s Eye: Using the ball of prophecy, the user can see everything in the surroundings.. Cost: 10 mana/75 meter radius. CD: 60 seconds Divination I: Using the ball of prophecy, the user can divine the location of the desired object. Cost: 100 mana/1500 meter radius. CD: 60 minutes/100 mana consumption. Divination II: Using the ball of prophecy, the user can divine the location of the desired person. Cost: 200 mana/1500 meter radius. CD: 60 minutes/100 mana consumption. Clairvoyance: The user can gain the visual information of an object, monster, or a person in their sight. The user can also see the past of the things or people they touched. The skill can''t affect Ascended NPCs or players and mythic(-) grade and higher-grade beasts. Cost: 200 mana. CD: 0 seconds **CLASS QUESTS** Quest 1: Perform divination 100 times (1/100) "Well, there''s at least a bit of improvement of 50% in range." Wil wasn''t too happy but at the same time, he wasn''t disappointed too as he expected nothing from the start. Still, he felt hopeful for the next evolution. For a moment, he got the urge to evolve it to mythic- with the remaining evolution stone but he managed to control himself and dismissed the crystal, thinking that evolving the T-Rex is very important. After changing the class back to Elementalist, Wil climb down from the bed and walked out of the room. Meanwhile, at the courtroom, the Dragon King was discussing matters with the higher officials. As Iphi''s missing case is a top priority to the Dragon King, he appointed a General to the mission and ordered him to form a team that will focus on finding her. He then ordered one of the two remaining Elder Dragons to form a search party for the second prince. Once the two important matters were dealt with, his Prime Minister then reminded the King about the upcoming tournament. As soon as Owen heard of it, he spoke disinterestedly, "It''s that time of the year, already?" The Prime Minister then proceeds to answer, "Your Majesty, I think we shouldn''t host it, this year. Princess Kyla is being transported to the Bragghim Prison to serve as a guard. Prince Reuben and Prince Frost will soon leave to serve their punishment in the mines of Bragghim and Norwich respectively. Prince Amon is still missing and wouldn''t likely return within just two weeks. If we conduct the tournament in such condition, the power of the royal family will be shown as weaker in the eyes of the public." "Is that so? Then, cancel it." The Dragon King didn''t have an ounce of interest to watch the boring fights between the weaklings every year. He would be more delighted to cancel the tournament itself. The Prime Minister was happy with Owen''s decision and thought of using the funds that are allocated to it to transfer to the Annual festival where his interests lie. However, right then, a handsome youth stood up from his seat. "Your Majesty, May I speak my opinion?" Everyone turned their heads to look at the youth named Dazzis. He was lean and tall with long hair that was almost reaching his waist. The most unique feature of him is the rainbow horns, which obviously stand out more than his priest-like robes. Dazzis was nothing but a commoner and yet, he was the Special Advisor to the King, appointed by none other than the Divine Dragon itself. This witty dragon is also an eyesore to many ministers. So, as soon as he opened his mouth, even the King couldn''t help but narrow his eyes. Dazzis, the King''s Advisor then bowed, "Your Majesty, it''s in our best interests to host the tournament, this year." Everyone was taken aback by his suggestion. "What do you mean by that, Advisor Dazzis?" The Prime Minister was furious about this troublemaker''s interruption. The Dragon King knew that Dazzis wouldn''t suggest anything that''s bad. However, at the same time, most of his suggestions would always point towards the welfare of the people, which Owen finds hard to swallow. So, he wondered what this young adult intends to say. "Explain it, Dazzis," Owen asked him. Dazzis answered, "For many years, the strength of the Royal family members was overshadowing the talent of other participants. Many talented and strong warriors refuse to participate in the tournament because they couldn''t offend the Princes. The current situation is actually a perfect time for other participants to showcase their skills. Along with the material rewards of gold and such, I think it''s better to include positions in the military. And everyone knows that commoners are more loyal to the throne than the nobles who switch sides as soon as something happens. Not only will our military growth increase further, but the masses will also be grateful to his majesty. To promote the tournament, we can limit the participation to commoners or just introduce categories according to the level or age." The Prime Minister as usual doesn''t intend to accept it and only got angrier by his words. He spoke, "Your Majesty, Advisor Dazzis purposely targeting the nobles and even undermining the dignity of the Royal family. He also needed to be punished for it." "Yes, Your majesty. Advisor Dazzis went out of the line. He should be apologizing for insulting the nobles." While several ministers jump on the Prime Minister''s boat, Dazzis simply stared at the King, waiting for the decision. Meanwhile, the Dragon King stayed silent, falling into deep thoughts. He doesn''t care about the tournament. What he was thinking about was the loyalty of the nobles, which no longer seemed to be clear with the incident of his abduction where the Princes formed different factions with the support of nobles. On one hand, he could no longer trust the nobles. On the other hand, he couldn''t go and massacre the noble families. Once he does that, the Divine Dragon might call for a new ruler. It was what happened to his ancestor who once went on a killing spree that forced the guardian of the islands to act and replace the King. While Owen was an arrogant king and practically looks down on everyone, he isn''t a fool to go against the Divine Dragon and meet his doom. Dazzis'' reminder appeared to be like a wake-up call for him. He was trying to think of a plan to completely suppress the nobles in a way where they won''t even think of rebelling once again. Suddenly, an idea emerged in his mind. Looking at the handsome youth, The Dragon King spoke, "Dazzis, sometimes, you really do your job very well. You deserve a reward for this." Dazzis smiled brightly as he felt the King was listening to his advice. Meanwhile, the expressions of the ministers darkened. They couldn''t understand what was going on in their King''s mind. Owen then announced, "The Annual Tournament will be held, two weeks later as planned. The participation is voluntary for commoners but for nobles, every family must send at least one of their heirs or direct descendants to the tournament." "Eh?" Everyone just stared at their king in confusion including Dazzis. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 385 - Queen Of Chaos, Tiamat While the Dragon King was busy talking with his advisor regarding some affairs of the kingdom, Wil entered the courtroom once again, surprising everyone. The ministers and the Elder dragons wondered why this abnormal guy is returning to the courtroom so soon when he left just an hour ago. In their eyes, Wil was indeed abnormal for possessing the strength to save the Dragon King from the Elder dragons, for possessing the strength to capture a person like Kyla, and for possessing the strength to blast the Generals and others away without letting them resist. On the contrary, the Dragon King was happier. He broke out into a smile and said, "Just now, I was reminded about the Annual tournament. I wish you participate in it, two weeks later." "Eh?" Along with Wil, everyone else was taken aback by the sudden request. Dazzis felt suspicious about the King making it mandatory for the nobles to participate in the tournament and then, inviting Wil to join it. "Does he plan to eradicate them using this guy?" He wondered. His doubt was indeed reasonable as he believed the nobles offended the King by supporting certain factions. To his surprise, Wil rejected the proposal in a calm tone, "I''m not sure about that. My business here is almost finished. So, I need to return home very soon. But, if I get time, I''ll think about it." The Dragon King nodded in understanding. While the others assumed he was probably going back to the secluded Eucliffe clan and thought it wasn''t a big deal to return, only the Dragon king knows that Wil was actually implying that he will return to the outside world. Owen then asked whether he was returning right away to which, Wil replied, "I have unfinished business at Norwich mines. So, I wish to inform you about it in advance before leaving." "Norwich mines? Qelrit?" the Dragon King wondered out. Wil nodded in response and said, "Your Majesty, before coming here, I promised a person named Lucius whose mother as well as fellow villagers was abducted by Qelrit Draconus. So, I''m going to free her. However, I heard that he was your grandson. I don''t want to offend you by using force on him. So, I came here to ask you whether you could issue an order of her release or else" Straightly looking into Owen''s eyes, Wil stopped talking, leaving it to his imagination. The Dragon King who saw his power in person knew what Wil was implying. At the same time, due to high favorability points, the Dragon King''s judgment was affected and as a result, he was even a little bit satisfied that Wil was actually considering his blood relations. However, Wil''s words didn''t bode well with other listeners. The Prime Minister angrily spoke as he stood up from his seat, "Please mind your tone, warrior of Eucliffe clan. Talking this way to your king is an insult to the throne." Wil glanced at the Prime minister from the corner of his eyes and replied, "Not mine." In reality, Wil was also a king of another kingdom. In status, the Dragon King and Wil must be equal. So, there''s no need for him to be that polite. Surprisingly, the Dragon King didn''t feel offended and told the Prime Minister to prepare the document right away. His actions greatly surprised the onlookers. As far as they know, the Dragon King only shows such patience towards his precious granddaughter Iphi and nobody else. In the end, they assumed that it was probably because their King is tolerant. After all, Wil was his savior and indirectly the person who stopped the civil war. However, the special advisor Dazzis has different thoughts than them. He started to analyze Wil''s actions until now as he gets a strong feeling that something''s wrong with this guy with strange white wings. *Ding! You receive a quest, A letter to Qelrit. Quest: A letter to Qelrit Description: The Dragon King wrote a letter to the Dragon Lord Qelrit to release Sarah Mole. Please hand over the letter to the Dragon Lord. Reward: Release of Sarah Mole. Accept? Wil took the scroll and thanked him. He was offered a knight to go along with him but Wil refused the offer and left the palace. Entering the city, Wil hit the streets. Finding a corner where no one else was around, he took out the Monkey King''s staff. In the next moment, an identical-looking clone was summoned before him. Handing the scroll to him, Wil passed the order. "Your destination is Norwich mines. Your target is Qelrit Draconus. First, hand this letter to your target and free Sarah Mole. One of your clones will take her to safety. After that, kill him." The clone nodded in response and left the alley while the original dismissed the staff and mumbled, "Demon mode, Activate." His beautiful pure white bird-like wings turned into bat-like wings. A pair of silver horns grew up from his forehead. Other than that, there are no visible changes as he was already level-300. Equipping an eye mask, the Mask of tranquility to hide his identity, and then, a simple blank mask to hide his face, Wil crackled his knuckles and let out a grin under the mask, "let the fun begin" Wil waited until his clone left the city and then, flew into the sky for a few meters, looking around. The passersby stopped for a moment and glanced upwards, wondering who this guy is that is daring to break the rules within the Imperial city that too, very near to the palace. Wil then spoke in a loud tone, trying to speak as deep as possible. "People of the Dragon Island, I''m here to deliver the punishment for the sins of your King. If you wish to live, go away." Some people were taken aback and others looked at him like he''s a fool. Meanwhile, a few soldiers were on their way to nab him. Right then, Wil slowly spoke the incantation, "Break the chains of imprisonment of the hell and descend on to the material world. Tiamat, I summon you. Arise and destroy my enemies." *Roar* A gigantic five-headed dragon appeared right in the middle of the city and let out a very powerful dragon roar, making the dragons and humans alike, running away in fear. It was so loud that even the ministers flinched a bit. The Dragon King who sensed its presence immediately left the throne and flew outside. "What the" Wil was taken aback as he inspected a being that''s even bigger than his Elemental golem. It was over 200 meters big, looking down on everything. The only thing that''s in a higher elevation is the palace. Queen of Chaos, Tiamat Species: Dragon Type: Chromatic Grade: Legendary+ Level: One-star Ascended HP: 7.38 Trillion Attack: 1.84 Trillion Defense: 369 Billion Critical rate: 500 Critical resistance: 500 "Asce Ascended level monster? Is there such a thing?" Wil went into a daze for a few seconds until he heard a piercing dragon roar from upfront. He saw Owen flying towards them at a top speed. Upon remembering 200 mana points per second consumption, Wil quickly climbed on its back and gave an order, "destroy everything in your sight, Tiamat." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 386 - Might Of Tiamat "Stop right there" Owen roared as he neared the five-headed dragon. None of the dragon heads spare a glance at him. They continued to move their heads and destroy everything around, following their command. *Roar* In one glance, he knew that it was none other than the ancient evil dragon Tiamat, which was supposed to be imprisoned in hell. After all, there''s only one dragon with five heads that existed in their history. Moreover, he could also see that it was something above his level and can only be subdued by the likes of Divine Dragon or the missing ancestor of the pure metallic dragons. Owen didn''t know how it escaped from hell but he understood that he couldn''t attack it and end up dying. Taking a deep breath, the Dragon King went into full transformation. Usually, a 20-meter giant Red dragon is something majestic for the spectators but in front of a 200-meter towering giant, Owen was like a kitten before a mature tiger.. "Waefo asfakfs aawyhw asfhiwo as bfywiry" Thinking that it was attacking in a rage, he started to speak in an unknown ancient dragon language. It has various uses like cooling down a dragon''s berserk state, suppressing weaker dragons, summoning an allied dragon to one''s aid, etc Right now, Owen was using it to pacify Tiamat''s rage while hoping for the Divine Dragon to interfere in the meantime, or else, he was afraid that the entire Dragon Island will be in danger. However, he didn''t know that the five-headed dragon is in the control of Wil, who couldn''t be seen because of its enormous size. So, the evil dragon from hell continued to ignore the Dragon King. "Tiamat, kill the Red Dragon." Wil didn''t know what the Dragon King was speaking but he felt the need to finish it as soon as possible. After all, more than 2000 mana points have been deducted in mere 13 seconds and continued to decrease as time passed by. As soon as Tiamat received the order from Wil, the five dragon heads collectively stopped breathing out flames and raised their heads towards the Red Dragon. It also saw two more red dragons were also seen flying towards it. Tiamat didn''t kill him outright as it was confused by Wil''s unclear order. It relayed him the same through their telepathic connection as there are three in front of it. Wil simply told it to vanquish every dragon that it sees. As an intelligent evil dragon, instead of going berserk around, Tiamat decided to ambush all of them with its strongest move and waited patiently. But, Owen doesn''t know that. He thought he successfully managed to calm down the evil dragon from the past. With the earlier success, Owen continued to speak in dragon language to convince it to leave for the mountains and have a peaceful rest. Wil was waiting for the result. Soon, the two Red Dragons reached the King, "Your Majesty." Like Owen, both of them are also shocked to see the legendary dragon of the past in front of them. Just right then, the five heads roared once again and unleashed its strongest combo, which is using its entire skills attacks one after the other. The black dragon head breathes out corrosive acid, intending to melt down its enemies and dissolve them into nothing. The blue dragon head breathes out a burst of lightning to electrocute its enemies. The red dragon head breathes out powerful white flames to burn the three little red dragons into crisp. The green dragon head breathes out poisonous gas to slow down the function of the organs of its enemies. Last but not least, the white dragon breathes out intensive cold air to freeze everything before it. *Roar* (You evil fiend) The Dragon King''s body shivered in anger as he roared on top of his lungs. Never did he expect the dragon that passed the mortal stage would suddenly trick him and ambush him when he let out his guard. He realized that Tiamat wasn''t called the evilest and cunning dragon in history for nothing. He felt like he should have expected this from the start. However, it was already too late to consider such an option as the burst of lightning from the blue dragon head first paralyzed him and inflicted heavy damage on him while reducing the two elder dragons into ash. Due to the 90% damage reduction, the Dragon King lost only 9.1% of his life force (HP) and got paralyzed. But, it is nowhere over. The next one to affect him is the poisonous gas of the green dragon head that is the second fastest after lightning. It seemed into his lungs and slowly spread all over the body. Not only was the paralysis effect doubled, his life force even started to slip away by 1% every second. The third one to affect is the hottest white flames of the red dragon head, which has the capability of inflicting a tremendous amount of damage with six times the attack power. It was supposed to deal 1.1 Trillion of attack damage. However, due to the damage cap, only 1 Trillion of attack damage was inflicted and the Dragon King lost 20.3% of his life force as a result. The fourth one to affect him is the corrosive acid of the black dragon, which inflicted heavy damage and take out roughly 4.5% of his life force but the corrosive effect acted on Owen''s skin and he started to lose 0.5% HP per second. With Owen facing all kinds of heavy damages at the same time, the cold breath of the white dragon hit him and his entire body was frozen in ice with his life force slowly slipping away by 1% each second. The five skill attacks landed on the target one after the other with no chance of dodging it. Even though he wasn''t able to watch the bullying of Tiamat, through notifications, he realized the effects of the attacks. The life force reduction of the Dragon King went on for the next 32 seconds where the final skill attack of corrosive acid reached the threshold of the damage and it stopped with the Dragon King''s HP completely reduced to a mere 9.7% HP left. The notifications already revealed to Wil that the Dragon King is in the second berserk state and yet, there''s movement. Why? The reason is while Aria did cap the damage of any type of attack, there weren''t any restrictions on the added effects of skills. With the Dragon king got attacked by an Ascended level monster, he couldn''t break the freezing effect of Tiamat''s cold breath, which seemed eternal unlike the paralyzing effect caused by the lightning and poisonous attacks. So, he was continued to be suspended inside the giant iceberg. His surrounding area that was razed to the ground now turned into an icy region. Upon realizing that the Dragon King now has less HP, Wil decided to show himself and finish him personally. Tiamat which raised its claws put it down while Wil flapped his demonic wings to fly and land on top of the middle head, which slowly extended its head to Owen''s level. It was then the Generals and the ministers who were quietly watching from the top of the hill finally realized that it was the work of someone and not just a simple invasion. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www.webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 387 - Bahamuts Shield Looking straight at the frozen king through his mask, Wil put his hands towards near his mouth. "Dragon breath, Activate." As he blew through his mouth like a trumpet, an enormous amount of flames generated from his mouth and hit the iceberg, along with the person inside it. *Crt* "260,741,253,873" *Crt* "260,741,253,873" Within just two seconds of time, the Dragon King inside the ice turned to ash, leaving behind a mountain of items on the ground. *Ding! You killed the Dragon King, Owen. *Ding! You received a mandatory hidden quest, Bring the Peace. Quest: You ended the tyranny of Owen Draconus and people are grateful for your actions. Reveal your original identity to the public and Coronate the new king to bring peace to Dragon Island. Rewards: Favorability with Dragon Race +30 and title. Warning: Upon success, Quest, Join the faction will be dismissed. Failure: The Dragon Island will be embroiled in the war. Time limit: 1 hour "Eh? This quest!" Wil was taken aback by the hidden quest that is forced upon him as soon as he killed the Dragon King. He contemplated a bit as he landed on the ground. "Okay, this is probably the best chance to control the kingdom." After making his decision, Wil started to inspect the items to see for any worth ones that dropped from the Dragon King and his two Elder dragons. With Tiamat guarding him, no one dared to move from their spot while kept praying in their hearts for the Divine Dragon to save them. He threw all the Epic grade and legendary grade items into the inventory without sparing a second glance while continuing to search the pile. After finding 13 Epic grade pieces of equipment, 4 legendary grade pieces of equipment, two-player city scrolls, three legendary grade pet scrolls, three advanced skill books, a smile finally appeared under the mask as he picked up a vial with red liquid, an exquisite dagger and a shield from the bottom of the pile. He first looked at the vial, which was familiar to him. Red Dragon''s Vial Grade: Legendary+ Description: Upon consumption, the Red Dragon bloodline will be added to the character. NPCs, Dragon race pets, and players can consume this. Since he wasn''t in the need of it, Wil placed it in inventory and placed his attention on the dagger with a dragon-shaped handle and a very sharp curvy blade. Void dagger Type: Bound Level: 1 (Max-500) Grade: Mythic Class: Assassin Status: Sealed Description: It was forged from the bones of Void Dragon. "Now, this is the stuff, I''m looking for. With this, I wouldn''t need to worry about doing things alone. But, who should I give it to? Hmm Oh" Feeling low mana, Wil hurriedly took out a mana scroll and replenished mana to full before placing it into the inventory and then concentrated on the details of the shield with a dragon image carved on it. Bahamut''s Shield Type: Bound Level: 1 (Max-500) Grade: Legendary+ Class: Knight, Guardian Status: Sealed Description: The shield was forged by Grandmaster Blacksmith Hernais. It is one of the twelve legendary+ grade items created from the corpse of Dragon God Bahamut. The twelve items together can temporarily summon the spirit of Bahamut. *Whistle* "Summoning a Dragon God? This is even cooler than the mythic grade dagger. The only issue is that who should I give these both of them to. Probably, Aster and Rock Fist? Hmm But, I already have Taotie dual daggers to give to Aster. Why waste a mythic grade on him? As for Rock Fist, he''s a stranger that I haven''t met. His loyalty is questionable. Even if he were to stay loyal, still he was just a contracted employee of the company for the next year. Once the contract expires, he could just choose not to renew it later. And I couldn''t get the shield from him either. If that''s the case, I would rather give it to Flame Emperor What about the vial? I can only give these precious items to those I can trust the most. Hmm" Something clicked in his mind, all of a sudden. "Yes, let''s do it this way" After sorting out the inventory, Wil ignored the pile of items on the ground and flapped his wings to return to the five-headed dragon''s back. "Fly, Tiamat." *Roar* Letting out a powerful roar, Tiamat flew into the sky, disappearing from everyone''s sight. With Wil mounted on it, it could only fly 40 kilometers away within two minutes, barely reaching the outskirts of the city that was spanning 5000 sq. km in area. Still, he felt it was far enough and didn''t replenish his mana. As it disappeared, he flew towards the city of Ozreigh to pick up the dropped items from an Elder Dragon. On his way, he landed at the secluded location on a hill and took out the remaining evolution stone from his inventory. "Summon, Leon." First, the winged lion was summoned before him. "Sit down." The lion sat on the ground obeying his orders. He glanced at the evolution once again and slowly pressed it at its forehead. *Ding! Target''s grade is higher than the item. "Well, what am I hoping for" Letting out a sigh, he retracted the evolution stone and then, summoned the Dinosaur. The lion looked at him curiously. *Rexy, sit down." The Dinosaur did the same and lie its head on the ground. As the golden stone in Wil''s hands got in contacted with its head, the stone shone brightly for a couple of seconds. Just when he thought the T-Rex would mutate into a mythic grade monster, he receives a surprising notification that made him almost slap himself because of stupidity. *Ding! Rexy is the monster of chaos and destruction. It is only mutated by absorbing the essence of the creatures that it killed. "F**k. It happened only a while ago. How could I forget about this? That''s right. Even without an evolution stone, I could evolve it naturally." Wil was thankful that there''s a restriction placed on the beasts. Otherwise, he would have lost such an important thing. "Okay, so, now what should I do with this." Now that he can''t evolve the dinosaur, he wondered whether he should use it on a Legendary+ item or just keep it for the time being. He opened his inventory and inspected all the items. After that, he checked the unique items but too bad, all of them are only legendary grades. So, it''s a waste to use this on them. While wondering whether to use it on the Crystal orb, he casually clicked on the next tab to the unique weapon, which is a race tab. As his eyes fell on the list, an idea emerged in his head. "That''s right. I almost forgot about this. It was changed after I updated my race to Neo Hybrid, right?" Wil clicked on the Dragon mode. Description: Transform into a full-grown Red Dragon and increase your attack, HP, defense, and speed to 300%. Bloodline: Red Dragon Grade: Legendary+ Maximum Potential: Mythic+ Mutation: Available Required materials: Gold dragon bone, Gold dragon eye "I wonder if I use this but I can''t use inventory if I go into Dragon Mode." Taking out a staff, he summoned a clone of his who grabbed the evolution stone. Wil then transformed into a giant red dragon and let his clone attach the golden stone to his forehead. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 388 - Overpowered Evolution *Argh* On the top of a secluded hill, a red dragon was roaring in pain as it was going under a genetic evolution. Just like when he became Neo Hybrid, Wil now also felt like his bones are getting smashed and getting reconstructed. And because, it is a ten-meter giant body, there are more bones and organs. The pain also multiplied. He was cursing the game creators nonstop for making him suffer like this. After all, this was supposed to be a game with fun. The pain sensitivity is so less that one could only feel a little bit of pain even if their throat is slashed. On top of this, this brought painful memories from the past, mostly that involved him getting beaten up by Bran over and over again. Wil no longer could think straight now. Meanwhile, a dinosaur and a lion were looking at the blinding flash of light in worry. Even though they couldn''t see Wil, they could hear and feel his pain. After a whole minute passed, Wil started to felt coolness in his body. The pain left and he suddenly felt so refreshing and this time, his consciousness is remembering some happy memories. Strangely, a few of those memories had his mother in them. Slowly, the blinding flash dimmed and disappeared, revealing a gold dragon which is as big as the Tyrannosaurus in place of the Red dragon. Wil opened his eyes and looked around. He sighed in relief. "Phew, that was some nightmare. Huh?" *Ding! Your bloodline has been evolved to Gold Dragon. It was then he realized the changes in his body. *Ding! Congratulations on evolving your Dragon race to mythic grade. You receive 10000 fame points as a reward. *Ding! You unlocked Dragon energy. Check the race panel for details. "Dragon energy?" Wil wondered what it is. He didn''t waste any time returning to his Angel mode and open Character to click on the Race tab once again. As he clicked on Dragon mode, he found the updated information. Dragon Transformation: Transform into a full-grown Red Dragon and increase your attack and speed to 300%, defense, and HP to 500%. "500%?" He gasped in shock. For someone with high attack power as he didn''t care about three times the attack. He was rather excited about his HP that will cross 1 Trillion in this mode even though he knew that he can''t use any skills. Wil continued to read. Bloodline: Gold Dragon Grade: Mythic- Maximum Potential: Mythic+ Mutation: Available Required materials: Gold dragon heart, Gold dragon eye*2 Restriction: The user cannot use the skills of the Elementalist. Only Dragon skills are permitted to use. Dragon Energy: 100% Active Skills: Dragon Breath: Breathe out the flames from your mouth and turn your enemies into a crisp with 300% attack. CD: 0 seconds. Range: 100 meters. Cost: 10 mana points per second. Dragon Punch: gather magic energy in your front limbs and punch your enemy with a 500% attack. CD: 30 seconds. Cost: 20 mana points. Rage of the Dragon: Roar with all of your might, increasing your damage by 100% and your allies'' damage by 50% for 60 seconds. CD: 5 minutes. Range: 200 meters. Cost: 100 mana points. Tail swing: Swing the tail with all your strength to smash your opponents with a 200% attack. CD: 0 seconds. Cost: 10 mana points. Sleep: Breathe out a sleeping gas and knock out your enemies for 30 seconds. It doesn''t work on legendary+ or higher grade creatures, Ascended NPCs, and higher-level players. CD: 15 minutes. Range: 200 meters. Cost: 100 mana points. Mini Sun: Gather magic energy and transform it into a giant fireball to eradicate everything on your path. Size depends on the mana consumption. Effect: 100% attack per 100 mana points of consumption. CD: 1 hour per 100 mana points. Range: 500 meters. Passive Skills: Fly: As a Dragon, you can fly without spending mana. Darkvision: As a Dragon, the user could see perfectly even during the night. Limit Breaker: As a gold dragon with a strong physical body, the user can endure the movement speed higher than average limits. The maximum speed limit will be increased to 5 mach. Dragon Energy: The attacks will be powered up when using Dragon Energy. Every 1% Dragon Energy increases the attack power by 10%. Race: Dragon race creatures in the wild that aren''t under the control of the players will not be hostile unless they were attacked by the user. *** "Oh!" Wil''s eyes lit up in excitement. The smile on his face only grew further as he read the details. He felt like he did the right thing to use evolution on himself rather than on the crystal ball. "Limit breaker, mini sun, Sleep, and Dragon energy. Man, these skills are so dope hahaha" Wil was also shocked to see the changes in the attack damages from before. He was most satisfied with the mini sun skill and Dragon Energy which are kinda similar to heavenly push and the meteors. He never felt any stronger in Dragon mode than now. As he was laughing by himself alone, the Dinosaur and the winged lion were staring at Wil, wondering whether their master had gone crazy because of that stone. Sensing the gazes on him, Wil stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "Leon, Rexy. I will call you back again. For now, go and take rest again." After dismissing them, Wil flapped his wings and started to fly towards his. *** Somewhere, a couple of hundred kilometers away from the Imperial city, an unconscious Kyla was being carried by an Ice Dragon in its arms. Suddenly, a large translucent white dragon appeared before him, obstructing his path. The Ice Dragon was taken aback and got alerted, thinking that it''s an assassin. He stared at it seriously while tightly grabbing his sister. *Graa* (Who are you?) "Greetings, Frost Draconus." The dragon spoke normally despite being in a dragon transformation. "I''m a spirit, created by my master, the Rainbow Dragon. You people know her as the Divine Dragon." It was only then, his expression eased a little and at the same time, fell into confusion for a moment. After all, why would such a being visit him? The spirit continued to say, "This is the message from my master. The Dragon King is no more. However, only a dragon of pure blood can ascend to the throne. Child of Owen Draconus, if you are interested to become the new ruler, find me to purify your bloodline and pass the trial." "What!" Frost was taken aback to hear such a piece of news from this stranger that claimed to be the messenger of the Divine Dragon. Naturally, he disliked his tyrannical father and was even overjoyed that he was dead. Just like his attribute of ice, his heart also appeared to be cold. Now, there was only one thing that he wanted to confirm with the messenger. "Why me?" To which, it replied, "The other qualified heirs are also informed. You have to make your choice whether you wish to ascend to the throne or stay on the sidelines." The translucent dragon disappeared into thin air after finishing its message. After thinking for a while, Frost looked at his sister in his arms and let her go. As she kept falling from 3000 meters in height, Frost breathes out cold air and froze her in a giant block of ice as it crashed onto the ground. "Giving you a chance since we are siblings." Flapping his wings, Frost turned around and flew towards the Imperial city once again. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 389 - Supporting Lucius Claim To The Throne Thousands of kilometers away from the Imperial city, at a certain fishing village, a young teenager fell onto his butt in shock as a translucent dragon suddenly appeared before him and revealed to him the truth of his bloodline. "No, that can''t be possible. I''m nothing but a commoner. Please stop joking around." He refuted the claims of the Divine dragon''s messenger which stated that he was actually the son of the late dragon king and not the son of the fisherman. The translucent dragon shook its head, "My master doesn''t joke. She also told me to inform you that your fate is tied to an otherworlder of the ancient race. You met him once before and you will meet him again soon to embark on an unknown journey. It''s your choice whether you wanted to ascend to the throne or not but fate is something you cannot run from." As it disappeared, Lucius helplessly laughed, "I''m really must be going crazy. Maybe, I''m hallucinating after working for so long. I should just take a rest." Soon, he drifted into sleep. Meanwhile, Wil was flying towards the city of Ozreigh after his evolution. And with one hour limit is finished, the Quest of revealing himself turned into a failure, thereby throwing the entire Dragon Island into a war zone. *Ding! You failed the Quest, Bring the Peace. *Ding! Quest, Join the Faction has been modified. Quest: Join the Faction Description: With the Dragon King dead without naming his successor, the Dragon Island once again embroiled in a civil war. Join one of the factions and participate in the war to claim the throne. Rewards: Unknown (Depends on the contribution) Warning: Only the player in the winning faction will receive the reward once the throne has been claimed. Accept? *Ding! You accepted the Quest. *Ding! Choose the heir/heiress you wish to support. As soon as Wil accepted the Faction quest, he received a long list of potential candidates for the throne. Surprisingly, a total of 24 names popped up, considering the Dragon King only has eight children out of which one is missing or dead, the second is dead, and only two eldest princes have children. Out of them, he found the names of Lucius and even Iphi. It made him wonder whether the system is recognizing all the descendants and not just the legitimate children of the Dragon King to fill the empty spot on the throne. Wil didn''t know how one of these factions can claim the throne. If it follows the same rule just like the ones in the outside world, then usually the one with an Imperial weapon passed down by the previous king would have the right to claim the throne. Usually, when the king dies, the weapon will pass down to either the Crown Prince or the one that the King wishes to have, just like how Mirella Llyne passed down the Imperial sword to Wil. So, Wil was sure that Reuben will have the greatest advantage over others and probably be the closest person to have the right to claim the inheritance. Of course, Wil doesn''t care. Even if he claims the throne by using the Imperial weapon, Wil felt that all he needs to kill him and start the faction war again. After all, Lucius will automatically become the king if the others will be dead. Thankfully for him, Egan Draconus'' only child, Dragon Lord Qelrit is already the target of his clone. As long as the regional lord of Norwich stays within the mines, then, there''s a hundred percent chance that the number of competitors for Lucius will be reduced by one. As Iphi was being held captive within his Warship, now, the competitors were reduced by one more. *Ding! You have joined the faction of Lucius Draconus. *Ding! You receive a quest, Faction Lord Quest: Faction Lord Description: You are the first person to join the faction of Lucius and so, eligible to become the Faction Lord. Obtain permission from Lucius to become the Faction Lord Reward: Title: Lucius'' Faction Lord *Ding! You receive a quest, Meet Lucius Draconus Quest: Meet Lucius Draconus and convince him to join the race to the throne in 48 hours. Reward: +10 favorability points with Lucius Draconus Failure: You must join a different faction "48 hours? Now, that''s more than enough time" It was because Wil had decided to support Lucius'' claim to the throne, this war was created in the first place. Now, to convince him, he needed the favorability points to be higher, which will happen once his mother gets rescued. Flapping his wings, Wil increased his speed towards the city of Ozreigh. *** A few hours later, Norwich Mines; In the middle of the fort that was built nearby the mines, twenty clones with a giant stone pillar in their hands are in the middle of massacring Dragon Lord Qelrit''s forces while the original clone is escorting a blonde woman out of the place. *bam* A pillar smashed the face of Qelrit and he crashed onto the wall. *3,312,141,362* With blood trickling from his nose, the Dragon Lord slowly got up on his feet. "You ba*****s I will not leave you alive" Qelrit transforms into a black dragon and lets out a powerful roar. In front of him, standing is one of the duplicated clones of the original clone. He just looked at the dragon with a blank expression. Dragon Lord, Qelrit Draconus Grade: Legendary+ Status: Original Form Level: 400 HP: 45% Upon transforming into his dragon mode, Qelrit''s grade was increased from legendary to Legendary+. While his Maximum HP was increased from 31.2 Billion to 46.8 Billion, his current HP didn''t change a bit. If Wil''s original body would have been here, he would have fallen into thoughts about this transformation. From Iphi, he understood that the original transformations will normally increase their strength. For some, it will be a boost in its stats while dragons like Averil and Kyla, their levels will increase. Wil would have never expected that even grades can be increased just by transforming. Alas, it was just a clone standing with an intention to fulfill its orders. Without caring about defense, the clone dashed forward towards the black dragon and swung the ten-meter-long pillar at it. "Hsssaaaa" The Black dragon opened its mouth. A moderate amount of corrosive acid was blasted towards the clone. The pillar hit the abdomen of the Dragon and the acid hit the clone at the same time. The clone started to lose 0.5 of his HP per second while the Black Dragon crashed onto the floor once again, reducing its HP to 37%. *Bam* All of a sudden, another clone nearby that appeared to be free attacked the fallen dragon, reducing his Hp further down below 30%. *Ding! Dragon Lord Qelrit''s Health fell below 30%. He goes into the first Berserk state. Attack increases by 100% Wil who was on his way towards the city of Ozreigh received the notification. "Good." He nodded in satisfaction. As for clones, they don''t receive such notifications. So, they care much less about the red aura around it and continued to launch the attacks. By this time, more than half of the forces within the fort have been annihilated. Three more clones joined the assault. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 390 - Lucius Reunites With His Mother *Ding! Dragonlord Qelrit''s health fell below 10%. He goes into Second Berserk state. Attack and Defense increases by 100% of the original attack. *Ding! Dragon Lord Qelrit''s health fell below 1%. He goes into a final berserk state. Attack, Defense, and rate of recovery increase by 100% of the original attack. Not even five seconds passed since the final berserk state, Wil received the series of notifications once again. *Ding! Dragon Lord Qelrit was killed. *Ding! You completed the Hidden Quest, Kill the Dragon Lord Qelrit. You receive 100 million EXP, 10000 gold coins, 1000 fame points, and a dragon egg as a reward. *Ding! Slaves of the Norwich mines have been liberated. *Ding! You saved 9,124 people from slavery. You receive 912 fame points as a reward. *Ding! You reached the maximum level. You cannot receive any more exp. Please complete the inheritance quest to extend the limit. *Ding! You completed the quest, Save Sarah Mole. Please escort her safely to her home to receive the reward. With a series of notifications, Wil stopped flying and opened his inventory in curiosity to see what kind of dragon egg he received. He found the image of a glossy black egg in one of the inventory slots. "Cool" Wil let out a whistle in satisfaction, "Black dragon is as good as a Red Dragon. I guess I don''t have to use that vial and can be stored for later use" He took it out from the inventory and takes a look at the black egg. It was the size of an ostrich egg, weighing around 2 kg. Dragon''s egg (bound) Grade: Legendary Description: The egg of a black dragon with a maximum potential of Mythic (-) grade. *Ding! The egg is ready to hatch. Proceed? As he can''t carry an additional weight of a living thing while in the air, Wil landed on the ground, and only then, he responded to the system. "Yes." *Crack* It was just like how Felix was born. As soon as he proceeded with hatching, cracks started to appear on the egg and little black front limbs were the first to tear the eggshell and step out followed by the whole body. "Kraa" A little black dragon appeared on his palm with the eggshells disappeared. It let out a cute roar while looking at him as it tried to step towards him with its little limbs. *Ding! Please name your battle companion. Caressing its head with his finger, Wil spoke, "your name will be Abyss." *Ding! Abyss is added to your battle companions. Sending it to pet slot, Wil once again flapped his wings and continued with his journey. A few hours later; A fire Pegasus was flying at its maximum speed with Wil mounting on top of it. A holographic screen with a map of the dragon island was floating before his eyes. In the map, there is a blue blinking dot advancing towards the same destination as his. However, due to the temporary blindness, Wil couldn''t see it. Just a while ago, he collected the drops and left for the fishing village in disappointment. Except for a legendary grade Armor and a couple of Epic grade equipment, Wil didn''t find any other valuable drops. For a while, he cursed out the company for such little drop rate but then, as he spotted his clone''s movements on the map which are quite near to the fishing village, he put aside the negative thoughts and started to hurry towards his destination. With the clone and the fisherwoman walking while Wil was traveling beyond the speed of 3 mach, within no time, he met the other two. When Wil saw her, he found her eyes were full of hope and at the same time, there''s a trace of fear. Originally, when she was freed, Sarah Mole thought the Dragon Lord sold her to him. So, when they crossed the border and the clone created more clones, she was silent, despite being surprised. When the clone was silent, she kept her mouth shut and followed him, accepting her fate. After all, she was a commoner, and judging by how the dragon lord handed her over to his white-winged dragon, she thought he must be another noble. So, she didn''t try to run or resist and just followed him quietly. After walking half the way, Sarah realized that the path they were going leads to her hometown, which is only like 20-30 kilometers away. Her dead eyes turned alive and a trace of hope appeared on her face. It''s not that she was expecting he was escorting her to her village. Rather, she was hoping to see her children on the way, even if it was just for once. But, she also didn''t have the courage to ask the clone as she feared the outcome. It was at that moment the clone stopped walking and raised the head. There was an identical-looking fellow on top of that fire winged-beast. As the beast landed on the ground, the clone disappeared, making her realize that this one was also a trick all along. Her surprise turned into shock as Wil put forth his hand with a smile, "Hello, Ma''am. I''m Time Traveler. Your son requested me to free you." It was then she finally realized she misunderstood the situation all along. "I''m free? My son?" All of her emotions welled up and burst out into tears as she collapsed on the ground. She kowtowed on the ground and thanked him multiple times before Wil told her to stand up. They started to walk together towards the destination. *** Lucius was in a deep sleep alone in his house while his five-year-old sister was accompanying their father. *Knock* *Knock* The door was knocked twice, disturbing his sleep. "It looks like father and Amber is back." *Yawn* Stretching his body, Lucius proceeds to walk towards the entrance door and opened it. "Hmm? Mister?" He found Wil right in front of him. It made him remember the promise this white-winged person made to him. Before he opened his mouth to query about his mother, Wil stepped aside as he said, "I fulfilled my promise." His eyes widened in shock. "Mo Mother?" A few minutes later, they settle down in the living room, and once again, both of them kowtowed for his help, to which Wil looked at Lucius and replied, "If you think you are still in debt, then, take your rightful place as the new Dragon King." "huh!" "What!" .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 391 - Background Story Of Lucius As the mother and son were grateful for his help, stating that the favor he had done on them is something that can''t be paid back even in a lifetime, Wil simply told Lucius to get his rightful place as the King. Upon hearing it, Sarah and Lucius were taken aback by surprise. Wil saw a peculiar look on Sarah as if she got caught while the boy had a look of confusion. "What I don''t understand I don''t understand what what you are saying, Lord Time Traveler" Sarah stuttered as her eyes widened in shock. Such a reaction greatly surprised Wil and even Lucius. Sarah proceeded to say as she grabbed her son, "he''s just a son of an ordinary fisherman. How could my Luci becomes the King?" "Because he''s the direct descendent of the Draconus Royal family. His destiny lies at Imperial city, not here at the fishing village." Wil didn''t even hesitate to tell the truth as he wanted to hurry up and finish the quest. "Now that the Dragon King is no more, Lucius has the right to claim the throne and become the new Dragon King." He expected them to get shocked but the mother just tightly grabbed her son even tighter. "No, he''s my son. Luci doesn''t have any relations with the royal family. I may not give birth to him but he''s my son he''s my son" She continued to repeat the sentence as if she had gone insane with sweat pouring down from her head. Wil felt the developers have really worked too hard to show realistic behavior on an unimportant NPC. Just as he was about to speak further, Lucius opened his mouth, "so, that messenger was saying truth after all. I''m the son of the late Dragon King, Owen Draconus." "Messenger?" Wil frowned as he looked at him. Sarah also took a look at him in surprise. "Who told you that?" Lucius then started to explain about his encounter with the translucent dragon that claimed that it is the messenger of the Divine Dragon. After listening to everything, Wil realized this is how the event of the civil war starts. He further assumed that this messenger might have informed all the eligible candidates from the list he got. As for whether it informed Iphi or not, Wil doesn''t know but he never had the intention to go and talk to her in the current situation. He then wondered whether that it was him, this otherworlder of the ancient race that messenger dragon told him. If that''s the case, then, Lucius is fated to follow him. On the other hand, Wil wanted to put a crown on the boy and make him the puppet king. The two things contradict each other. So, Wil couldn''t help but fell into thoughts to decide his next move. Meanwhile, after telling everything, Lucius looked into his mother''s eyes and asked about his birth and who is his biological mother. Wiping off her tears, Sarah let out a deep sigh, "It was around 16 years ago when I work as a handmaiden of the Queen." Suddenly, the surroundings around Wil changed, bringing him back from his thoughts. Wil found himself at the Imperial Palace Gardens. He realized this was a story mode and found there''s no option of skipping. As he looked around, he saw a beautiful looking woman in servant''s clothes was seen standing nearby to a Silver-haired little girl as she was attending to the flowers. "This must be Kyla. Who could have expected that such a cute little girl will grow up to such an evil woman" *Ahem* "She''s just a piece of 1s and 0s... No need to think about her character." Wil continued to watch the scene. Suddenly, Owen enters the scene full of armor. A few soldiers were accompanying him. "Papa" The silver-haired little girl screamed in happiness as she rushed towards her father. "Be careful, princess." The servant girl also followed her. "Kyla" The Dragon King seemed overjoyed as he lifted his daughter with a laugh. Just then, his eyes fell on the servant who wasn''t standing far away. "You, over there" He called her. The servant girl reached him and greeted him with a deep bow. "What''s your name?" He asked her. The servant girl replied, "Lila Boots, Your Majesty." The Dragon King nodded and handed Kyla to her. "Look after her well." The scene changes to where the Dragon King is in some sort of dinner party. The servant girl while pouring wine to one of the guests, upon which her hand was grabbed and was told to sit on his lap. As she tried to resist, he forcefully tried to make her sit on his lap. The Dragon King spotted it and roared at him. "Lord Vester, mind your behavior. She''s a servant here, not a slave." The scene changes to where the servant girl was abducted by two hooded figures. Somehow, the Dragon King got the news very quickly and went after them. The scene now changes to Dragon King killing the Dragon Lord Vester. "You are trying your own cousin because of a servant?" He roared the muscular old king, to which the latter looked at him coldly. "I won''t spare anyone that dares to snatch my things" The scene suddenly changes to the outer sector of the Imperial city. The roads weren''t that nice and most of the houses clustered together. There are people in tattered clothes roaming around. To put it simply, the location reeks of poverty. In such a location, the Dragon King was walking in the streets all alone without bothering to hide his identity. He enters a house and was soon, greeted by a couple. As he entered the bedroom, he saw a pregnant girl lying on the bed. "Your Majesty!" She tried to stand up but was grabbed by the King. "Don''t." Sitting nearby, he spoke with affection, "Lila, The truth is known to everyone. There''s no point leaving you here. You are returning with me to the Palace." The scene then changes to a temple in the Imperial city where the Dragon King is taking blessings of the statue of the Divine Dragon. While the Queen looks calm on the surface as if she doesn''t care about it, the other three concubines on the other hand are glaring at the commoner that snatched their husband and became a Royal Concubine. To everyone''s surprise, a light beam fell on both of them, indicating the blessings of the Divine Dragon which only happened once during his wedding with the Queen. The scene once again changes to one of the bed chambers where the Dragon King is anxiously moving back and forth. Reuben was seen accompanying him even though his wife is also pregnant at that time. He heard of the crying of a baby and a smile appeared on his face. Reuben congratulated him. However, soon, the Dragon King''s facial expression changed as he heard of the death of his concubine. The scene once again changes. This time, it''s the Queen''s chamber. Wil saw Sarah for the first time in the story mode and was a lot younger than now. The Queen handed a four-month-old baby to her. "Go, Sarah. This boy inherited the pure blood of dragons despite his mother being a commoner. With his Majesty ignoring his existence, it isn''t safe for him in these walls of the palace." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 392 - Liberation Of Reverie Province Part-1 As the Queen handed the baby to her trusted handmaid Sarah, Wil felt something amiss. In his eyes, the Queen should be the one who should despite Lucius the most as he was born out of a mere servant. "Is she just a noble character?" Wil wondered while continuing to watch the scene where Sarah put up a disguise and escape the palace. The scene was cut off and suddenly, it changed to Sarah breathing heavily resting inside a small cave at the foot of a cliff while dragons are flying above the sky, searching the surroundings. "Hmm? Now, this is strange. Why does it feel like there is something more to this?" Before Wil gets the answers, the short film was abruptly ended with a notification. *Ding! The story mode is finished. As the fifteen minutes short film ended, the surroundings disappeared and Wil found himself in the living room where Sarah was explaining to Lucius. "I was ordered to take you far away from where the palace can''t reach you. I traveled for thousands of kilometers, shifting from one village to other for a whole year. Eventually, 14 years ago, I fell in love with your father and settle down here. You know the rest of the story." Grabbing his face, Sarah further said, "I''m sorry that I wanted to bury this secret in my grave but never expected that the truth comes out this way." Lucius hugged her back and thanked her for telling the truth. Wil, who was watching them, interrupted them in a serious tone, "Lucius, the Dragon Island is in chaos right now. Every heir like you is vying for the throne. Even if you want to stay away, the others won''t let you. Soon, people will come looking for you to eliminate the competition. You cannot stay here for very long. Come with me. I''ll make you return to your rightful place and bring peace to the Island." As an experienced player, Wil knew the mechanism of the NPCs way better than others. Even though the company claimed that their interactions will be real-life-like, Wil knew that wasn''t the case. It is common knowledge that characters have a lot of options and their reaction will depend on the player''s action. However, NPCs involved with a quest will not have that many options. And their reaction will depend more on favorability than their actions. With favorability points crossing 80 because of the earlier quest reward for saving Sarah, Wil was sure what the boy will say now. He was waiting for the answer. *Ding! You completed the quest, Meet Lucius Draconus. Favorability with Lucius increases by 10 points. *Ding! You completed the quest, Lucius'' Faction Lord. You received a title as a reward. *Ding! Faction tab was added to the character. Faction Lord: Upon equipping this title, you can recruit NPCs and players that are unbounded to any organization as long as your favorability points with them exceed 60. You have full authority over all the members of the faction. *** Ares Academy of Arts, Ares city (Real world); It was evening 4 and all the students are leaving the Academics building. Like everyone, Rini was leaving for the university dorm with a group of friends, although it appeared like she was alone and detached from the world. While they were giggling around, talking about various things from cosmetics to boyfriends, she was just silently tagging along with a cold look on her face. The group of seven then encountered several people are rushing towards the tennis club. "Hey, Lila" One of them stopped a girl to check what''s going on. "Girls, what are you still doing here?" This new fresher seems excited. "There''s a match going on between Seniors Tachibana Shinji and Yi Xue for the position of club captain. Come on, hurry up" A couple of girls screamed like fangirls as soon as they heard of these two handsome and popular tennis stars of their university. The remaining girls also followed the rest, leaving behind Rini who said she wasn''t that interested. As they left, Rini raised her hand and looked at the sky, "Sigh Ever since the war started, the game got boring. No wild monsters, no dungeons, no PVP in the wild, as for the Arena challenges, only weakling opponents. They don''t have any techniques. Only quests are available but they are for wimps damn that Aerona. Why should she hire an expert to win the war? What''s the point of winning the war so soon And I can''t concentrate on real-life sports too. Even martial arts lost their appeal compared to a battle in the virtual world. At this rate, I''ll die of boredom Maybe, I should ask the third brother-in-law to spar with me. Even if he''s busy, the Vulture guild is full of experts. I could pass off the time Hmm Should I call Akiko-Nee or Kiyumi-Nee?" *Ring* Ring* While she was contemplating on how to contact the Vulture guild to relieve her boredom, her phone started to ring. She took it out and saw it was her uncle it was calling. "Hello, Uncle." "Rini-chan, are your classes over?" "Yes, I was on my way to the dorm. Tell me, what is it?" "Then, you need to hurry up and log in. Reverie kingdom''s escaped crown princess declared independence and is currently in the midst of a war with the Duchy of Reverie province. She has the support of Crimson Sun and his guilds. We lost more than half of our generals. You need to hurry up and stop him before we lose the territory" As soon as she heard of the news, her cold-looking eyes lit up in excitement. This battle-crazed girl instantly dashed towards the dormitory without wasting any time. *Welcome to War Online* *Ding! Reverie Province has declared Independence. *Ding! You receive a quest Quest: Protect Reverie Description: Using the Imperial sword, Princess Tremellia Similis Reverie declared the independence of the Reverie Province and launched an attack on the current rule of Reverie Province. Protect Duke Reinhold for 24 hours or kill Princess Tremellia to protect your territory. Conditions to failure: Death of Duke Reinhold or Your death. Rewards: 3000 fame points, 5000 gold coins, and one random legendary grade piece of equipment. Accept? "Why not?" She clicked on the option. *Ding! You accepted the quest. As soon as she accepted the quest, instead of planning the strategy with the generals, she directly went to the temple to enter the teleportation formation and leave for Reverie city. Getting out of the temple at Reverie city, she found the city in chaos with the NPCs just running around here and there while the adventurers are rushing towards the palace. She followed the rest and after running for ten minutes straight, she reached the palace grounds where people are just killing each other NPCs and players alike. With thousands of people gathered there with very little room to move around freely as one wishes, Rini found it hard to find her target. She quickly sent a message to her uncle for assistance. Galaxy: Reverie Province - 4823,164 Now that she got the coordinates, she proceeded to summon her buddy. "Come out, Pyre." *Screech* A powerful screech was heard in the surroundings as a Blazing phoenix appeared before her. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 393 - Liberation Of Reverie Province Part-2 At one of the palace grounds, Bran and a human were locked in a sword battle against each other. Neither of them is getting an upper hand over the other. The crown princess was busy fending off all the surrounding ambushes on Bran. Of the remaining two princes who were still alive, one who was freed from the Citadel of Searvale is also acting as a support to Bran and his sister. As for the other, his location is not known. Bran suspects they were either held at Uflenor kingdom or missing but didn''t have the time to look for him as his concentration was on freeing Reverie. He thought of searching for the third prince after winning this war. *Cling* Cling* Sparks were generated every time they clashed with the swords. While Bran looks calm on the surface, the current ruler is getting agitated as the battle getting prolonged further than he expected. Spiridon Moliades was a level-453 Arch Duke, served under the previous king. With the other princes, he was also stationed at the Reverie city by the late King to protect the capital region in case someone invades the capital in the absence of the king. However, unlike the princes who resisted and got imprisoned or end up dead, he just submitted to Searvale along with the army after he heard the death of the king. Later, after Uflenor was annexed into Searvale thereby ending the first phase, The Elven Queen appointed him as the new Governor for the Reverie province because of his high level. With the new status similar to that of a king, Spiridon was enjoying his time until the Crown princess decided to take back her rightful throne. At first, he thought it was a foolish attempt and decided to end this war once in for all. However, he didn''t expect Bran to turn out stronger than he expected. There was a difference of more than 150 levels between them and yet, he couldn''t even get an upper hand, much defeating him. And for some reason, never once Bran used any special attack. Spiridon only felt like he was being mocked. It only made him more frustrated as a result. Right now, both of them were left with nearly 30% Health. For some reason, Bran was only using Intermediate Health potions that heal 10% of his HP every time he drank it. They also have 30 seconds cooldown. "As I have said before, you have no chance in this battle, Lord Moliades. Surrender yourself to our Queen. You''ll still be spared." Bran spoke to him while launching a barrage of attacks once again. *Cling**Cling* *Cling* *Cling* *Cling* *Cling* Blocking all the rapid slashes with his own sword, Spiridon growled, "Never will I accept defeat to a low-level otherworlder. You may be immortal and keep getting resurrected with the creator''s grace, but that doesn''t mean you are invincible. Graaa" Roaring on top of his lungs, he used all of his strength to push back Bran with the sword and then, leaped at him, unleashing a skill. Looking at the sword burning in flames, Bran turned serious. "I guess it''s time to end the war in one swoop." "Thunder steps" Sparks of lightning suddenly dance around his feet as he brandished his katana. Suddenly, Bran disappeared from his view just as Spiridon was about to strike him down. As he landed on the ground, he felt a chill down his spine and rolled forward in reflex. Bran was seen jumping in the air right behind the spot where Spiridon was standing just now. Seeing how his ambush missed, Bran followed his strike by unleashing a skill to make sure this finishing strike land on his back as the Governor was about to stand on his feet. "Fiend Strike" The blade turned suddenly turned into flexible dark energy, which extended rapidly towards the back of Spiridon''s neck. Just as it was about to pierce the target, it was hit by a golden shield from the side and deflect its path, thereby saving the Governor. Strangely, after colliding with the blade, instead of just falling on the ground, the shield just returns in the same direction. Bran glanced towards the left and found a girl with a cold gaze as she caught the spear. One could see a flaming armor on her or more like the flames taking the shape of armor, covering over the original Heavy Armor. On her back, there were fiery blazing wings that are made out of smokeless flames. Pointing the heavy sword at him, she spoke in her usual cold tone, "Crimson Sun, from now onwards, I''m your opponent." A frown appeared on Bran as he inspected her. "Siren of Galaxy Net guild, huh! This is going to be troublesome." "Princess Siren." The Governor got elated as he spotted Rini. "Thank goodness, you are finally here. The reinforcements have not arrived until now. Are they here?" Siren took a glance at him and replied, "I don''t know. I only came here on my own as soon as I heard of the attack. And I don''t think you can expect any powerful reinforcements. We have lost eight generals so far. Just kill that Princess and this war will be over. Meanwhile, I will take care of him." At first, Spiridon was taken aback by her attitude towards him but then, after listening to everything, he no longer cared about her manner and turned his attention towards the Crown princess Tremellia who was currently in the midst of a battle against a player. Just as he was about to make his move, Bran motioned his katana, which is currently in the form of a flexible dark energy blade, backward to thrust forward. However, before he even got the chance to ambush his enemy, Bran saw a burst of flames from the corner of his eyes and jumped away to dodge them. Rini was continuing to point her heavy sword at him with blue flames were dancing around it like a tornado. "I told you before. I''m your opponent. To kill him, you have to go through me." "Sorry but I don''t have an interest in wasting my time," Bran replied her in a serious tone as he opened up his chat room and sent a message for assist. In no time, he got a reply. Snow Princess: Got it. On my way. Glancing at the crown princess, Bran mumbled, "Just hold on for a minute." Thrusting the dark energy blade towards Rini and drinking a bunch of advanced potions which recovered his health by 25%, stamina by 50%, temporarily increased his speed by 20%, and attack by 10% for 60 seconds, Bran tried to mislead her in thinking that he will battle her seriously to finish it quick. And his bluff worked with a rare smile on her lips, she charged forward. *Cling* Cling* Both of their swords clashed. However, it turned out that Rini''s raw attack power was more and Bran got pushed back while losing more than two hundred and fifty million of HP with a critical hit. It greatly surprised Rini that Bran only lost 3% HP as a result, unlike her expectations. At the same time, the excitement only grew in her heart as she was about to face an intensive battle that she was longing for. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 394 - The Divine Dragons Test Part-1 "Well, you asked for it." While keeping an eye on the Governor, he too attacked her aggressively with the flexible energy blade. The battle went on with Bran on offense and Rini on complete defense. For a whole three minutes, he didn''t give a single chance for her to go on offense and kept pushing her back with his combo attacks. However, due to high defense and high damage reduction, Rini''s HP reduction is too less than he expected. Once the time is up and the flexible energy blade was back to normal, Bran suddenly leaped back, giving an opportunity for Rini to fight back. Her fire blade was burning brighter than ever as she thrusts it towards the sky. "Activate, Phoenix Tornado." *Screech* A powerful screech of a bird was heard as a violent tornado made of flames was generated with the tip of her sword. Slowly, a flaming bird formed at the vortex as it rapidly became bigger. The flaming bird flapped its wings. It enveloped every person nearby whether it is an NPC or a player, ally or an enemy as the flaming bird was charging towards Bran with a hundred feet big tornado. Every enemy that caught up in the tornado ended up dead while the allies didn''t get harm in the process, although they weren''t in any condition to battle. Bran looked at the incoming fire tornado calmly. As it rushed towards him, he slowly backed away, trying to lead it somewhere away from the Crown princess while sacrificing many soldiers on the way. Meanwhile, Rini followed from behind. The Tornado lasted for a whole thirty seconds. Bran''s speed was so high that it didn''t catch him up but was able to take down more than 220 enemy soldiers and players. Once the time is up, the fire tornado disappeared and suddenly hundreds of players and NPCs that were caught up in it dropped onto the ground. Bran felt that it is the perfect chance and send a message to Snow Princess (Sierra). After confirming it, he took out a scroll. Linked Teleportation scroll Grade: Heroic Description: The user will be able to teleport to his/her friend at any time or place as long as he/she is located in the same realm as the user. "Well, I don''t want to use this but I guess I have to" He crushed it and all of a sudden, he disappeared from Rini''s view before she saw hundreds were dropped before her, making her lose his position. "Damn, that coward. I didn''t expect him to run away." She immediately sent a message to her uncle to track out his location. However, within just ten seconds, before she could even get the info, she saw a giant red sword raised in the sky, located a bit far away. "That sword" Her eyes widened in shock. "It''s him, alright" Just like Wil''s invisible and invincible attack, Heavenly Push, this giant red sword was the hallmark of Bran. Every player recognized it, immediately. From afar, she saw the giant sword was slashed down at the ground and in the next seconds, the series of notification sounds ran in everyone''s head. *Ding! Duke Reinhold was dead. *Ding! Reverie Province was liberated and became independent. The Searvale Kingdom no longer holds authority over Reverie. *Ding! Tremellia Similis Reverie is the new Queen of the Reverie Kingdom. *Ding! Reverie Province turned into the Reverie Kingdom. *Ding! Congratulations to the players of Reverie Kingdom for qualifying for phase 2, the World War. As for Rini, she received an additional notification regarding her quest failure just like other players that stood by the side of Searvale. One of the notifications threw the world into chaos as they didn''t know that a liberated kingdom can participate in the second phase on its own, instead of resuming the war with the Searvale kingdom for territory grabbing. After all, the players didn''t receive such notification when Wil occupied Llyne. Some of the analysts wondered whether it might be because Wil is a player. The story of the Imperial weapon also made a few guilds search for the missing heirs and a few large guilds even attempt to release the imprisoned heirs. Of course, it was a piece of good news to Wil who knew the real advantages of having a bigger kingdom. While he was a little bit sad that his plan of finding the Crown princess was never implemented due to the Dragon Island and Bran managed to win in the end, still, Wil wasn''t worried about their development. The moment he acquired the Tiamat, he knew that no one in the world was strong enough to challenge him now. So, he put his entire attention on how to make Lucius, the King of Dragons. Because he is a player, Wil was able to acquire the information regarding the conditions to claim the throne through a quest as soon as Lucius left the home with Wil. Quest: Meet the Divine Dragon Description: Come to the Abode of Divine Dragon at Mt. Velkazar with Lucius Draconus along with at least one of your Faction members. Time limit: 48 hours. Reward: 100 fame points Failure: Lucius will be disqualified for the throne. "Only one supporter is needed. Then, that''s fine. I actually don''t need others'' help in taking down the opponents. Just my Leon is enough to eliminate every competitor." While Wil was busy reading the quest, the translucent dragon was explaining to Lucius a few things about the test he was going to face. However, it was invisible to Wil just how his holographic screen is invisible to NPCs. A few minutes later, Lucius finally looked at Wil and told him that they need to go to Mt. Velkazar. Wil doesn''t know where it is either. So, he opened the map and search for it. After finding its coordinates, Wil answered him, "It is on the northwestern edge of this island. It is nearly eight thousand kilometers away from here. Let''s leave right away" *Roar* Lucius nervously mounted on top of Leon as just like others, he also treats the beasts as nothing but invaders from the Endless Ocean. He couldn''t help but being afraid of it even after Wil assured him that it is an ally. The winged lion continuously flew for 12 hours without taking any rest on the way, reaching the biggest mountain on the Island where the Divine Dragon, Velkazar stays at the highest altitude and look after the world. *Ding! Flight is prohibited. As soon as they reached the 50 kilometers vicinity of the mountain, Wil received the notification, forcing Leon to land on the ground and let them climb the mountain on foot. Mt. Velkazar is a twenty thousand foot mountain with an uneven surface. So, it isn''t easy for Lucius to go on hiking without any preparations or so whatever. Thankfully, for them, Leon is a mythic grade beast that also has the same running speed as flying. Within no time, they reached the top of the summit where there''s flat ground and a cave. Strangely, Wil saw a portal to the cave. "Is it a dungeon?" he wondered. When he tried to inspect it, he found nothing but question marks. Both of them started to walk. Standing before the portal, Lucius suddenly asked in worry. "Everything will be fine, right? The others will have the support of so many people and I only have you." Wil smiled as he nodded, "of course, there''s nothing to worry about." "Let''s hope that''s the case." Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside the portal. Wil followed him. *Ding! You entered the Cave of Velkazar. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 395 - The Divine Dragons Test Part-2 "Welcome, Lucius Mole Draconus." As soon as Wil and Lucius entered the portal, they were teleported to plain grassland surrounded by mountains. In the meantime, Wil received a notification stating that he stepped inside the Abode of Velkazar, which is like a hidden realm. Since Wil was familiar with things like dungeons, illusionary realms, and pocket worlds, he was calm. On the other hand, Lucius seemed to be nervous as he finally made it to this sacred place where every citizen wished to visit. In front of them, there was a translucent dragon, bowing to them. This time, even Wil was able to see it, although the messenger took no notice of him. Its focus was only on the heir. After Lucius returned the greetings, the messenger continued, "Before you meet Master, you have to participate in a trial to see whether you are worthy enough to meet him." Glancing at Wil for a second, its eyes turned back towards Lucius added, "only you, alone." "Alone?" Both of their facial expressions darkened as neither of them knows of it beforehand. Lucius looked at the dragon nervously as he knew that he was only level-100 and definitely wasn''t strong enough to pass the trial. As if his thoughts were being read, the translucent dragon then explained to him, "this trial doesn''t need strength. According to my master, whether they are level-500 or whether they are level-1, everyone is worthy to meet her if they are free of guilt. However, now the situation is quite special, only a candidate to the Dragon Throne needs to enter this trial alone and pass. If he/she passes, then, everyone who serves him/her will be given a pass. If not, the heir and his faction will be out of the race. They will have to return. And coming to the trial, my Master has set 48 hours of time limit to meet her. 13 hours have already been passed. So, you have 35 hours. There are only three ways to get out of the illusionary realm you will be sent to. One is to get free of all guilt, two is to give up, and three is when the time is up." After giving him the info, the messenger transformed itself into a portal. Lucius let out a sigh of relief as he heard those words. At the very least, he thinks that he doesn''t have any guilt. "Good luck, Lucius. Prove that I''m right about you." Wil spoke seriously, crossing his arms to the chest. The 15-year-old teenager nodded and walked into the portal confidently. The portal suddenly turned red. After Lucius left, Wil stepped forward and touched it curiously. *Ding! You are restricted to enter. "Well, I guess I have to wait here until he returns." At this moment, Wil wasn''t the least bit nervous because he had plan-B. If Lucius fails to ascend to the throne through legitimate means, Wil decided to occupy the Imperial city by using force and make the kid the puppet king. With the addition of the Tiamat and gold dragon bloodline in his arsenal, Wil was never more confident. The only variable that can obstruct his plan is this Divine Dragon, which Wil has no information about. Even if that happens, there''s no loss for Wil. He can just go back, get stronger, return, and have his revenge. Wil sat on the ground and spent his time browsing the forums. "Okay, let''s see what''s happening in my kingdom." "Oh, there have been a lot of attacks lately. Inter-fighting is prohibited until the rest phase. So, either they are outsiders or, they are insiders just attacking the military. Did I perhaps leave any prince/princess alive? I should confirm whether there are any attacks on my guild members. Let''s also inquire about the management of the kingdom in my absence." While Wil was busy conversing with Aster, Lucius, on the other hand, was going through a trial. He was standing before his mother, who was accusing him. "Never once you attempted of saving me when I was abducted. You are really an ungrateful bas***d" "No, mother. It''s false. I never gave up" As Lucius was trying to explain her circumstances, his mother roared at him as she lunged at him and gave a slap to his cheek. "Shut up Do you know what I have gone through during the time I was abducted? Do you know how slaves are being treated? Those soldiers harass us every day and when we failed to finish the target, we will be beaten mercilessly as punishment, and sometimes, we won''t even get dinner" "Mother" Lucius'' eyes were almost filled with tears as the illusion overpowered him. He kneeled on the ground. Suddenly, a kitchen knife appeared in his mother''s hand as she kicked his stomach, "If only I had stayed in Imperial city. I would have lived my life in peace. And now, when you know the truth, you left your mother and father who raised you and left for the riches. Why should I have to risk my life and career to save your life? And what do I get in return? Perhaps, if you had died while trying to save me, I would have been prouder that my son is not a coward" "Die" She thrust the knife towards Lucius'' chest. Lucius, who was silent until now, suddenly raised his hand. As the knife pierces his hand, Lucius raised his head and looked into his mother''s eyes that were full of hate. "Sorry, mother. It''s my fault that I''m not strong enough, not brave enough." Then, a look of determination appeared on his face. "And this is why I''m taking the chance. I have no desire for riches. What my mother and others are facing, no one in the kingdom will face it. If I become the king, I will abolish the slavery system itself. To fulfill my goal, if I will have to follow a stranger, I will do it. If I have to leave my parents and my sibling, then, I will do it I won''t feel any remorse in my actions, mother." All of a sudden, his mother in front of him disappeared. Just before he lost his consciousness, he heard a high pitch voice, probably belongs to a lady. "You have good soul, child, although the one you fated with is sigh" After a while, Lucius opened his eyes and found himself lying on the grassland. There was Wil who crouched beside him while staring at him. Apart from him, there were the familiar 3ft translucent white dragon. "That illusion It is too powerful. I never even realized it." It was only after leaving the trial, Lucius realized what happened. "So, the trial was fighting with oneself, huh" "You did it, Lucius." Wil smiled as he helped him up. He was satisfied that Lucius only took 15 minutes to clear the trial. "Congratulations, Lucius Draconus. You and your faction members are now allowed to meet my master. Just so you know there are still 35 hours till the deadline. You can bring all of your faction members with you and enter together." Lucius turned his head to look at Wil, to which, the latter simply nodded and said, "Let''s go." With confirmation from Lucius, the white dragon disappeared along with the change of scenery around them. It was the same grassland. However, there weren''t any mountains around it. There was just sky and clouds, making one assume that it is perhaps a floating island. But, Wil was careless about the habitat, and his concentration was completely grabbed by the humongous dragon sleeping gracefully in the middle of the island. Despite its size, it was beautiful to look at. For a second, even Wil went into a daze. Its giant feathers were shining with every color of the rainbow. Its scales are pentagonal and shaped like a teardrop with two long sides and two shorter ones, and a very short fifth side attached to the skin. Its eyes were also beautiful with the round pupils constantly changing their colors every second. Around the dragon, there was a group of twelve standing around in silence. All of them glanced at the newcomers. "This guy Isn''t he the same royal guest from the Eucliffe clan? The savior of Father? And the one that defeated Sister Kyla?" It turned out to be Frost Draconus with four level-400 generals and eight Royal Knights. "I didn''t expect to meet this guy once again. Moreover, supporting some kid" Of course, he personally saw how Wil pushed away Kyla and others without even touching them. But, since there wasn''t any damage caused to them, Frost doesn''t know the extent of Wil''s strength. At the same time, he can''t underestimate him either. "But, why he''s alone? Is he too confident or just an idiot?" .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 396 - Eating Early Morning Breakfast With Mother Velkazar Species: Dragon Bloodline: Rainbow Grade: Ancient Level: ???? Description: Velkazar is the twelfth guardian of Dragon Island. As a rainbow dragon, she has all the abilities of every type of dragon ever existed. "Okay, this one seems stronger than I imagined," Wil concluded that it isn''t in his best interests to offend it. If it was only a 1-star Ascended beast, he would have thought of summoning Tiamat but now, upon seeing its grade, he felt that this might be a 3-star Ascended beast too While he has never heard of an Ancient grade before, Wil assumed that this grade might be a level above mythic grade. After seeing all the unimaginable things in this new life, Wil is no longer surprised that there''s a grade higher than even Mythic+. The only thing that gives him comfort is how the damage limit is also capped for NPCs and monsters. So, Wil felt that he needs to attain 1 Trillion HP before challenging such beasts. Meanwhile, Lucius had a look of infatuation as his eyes fell on the beautiful dragon shining in the colors of the rainbow. He doesn''t know what came over him. With a dazed look, he was just walking towards it until he was suddenly grabbed by Wil and stopped. "Where are you going?" "Ah!" It was only then Lucius came to his senses and just apologized to him. *Tap* Tap* Frost started to walk. His faction members also followed him from behind. Wil and Lucius stared at them in silence. "It looked like your efforts of saving my father have gone to waste," Frost commented as soon as he got near. Stopping before the two of them, he glanced at Lucius, "so, this kid is your king?" "He is destined to rule the entire Dragon Island," Wil answered in a confident tone as if he was stating the obvious. Of course, he also hid the fact that he''s not accepting Lucius as his ruler. "Destined?" Frost fell into thoughts. Because of Wil''s white wings, naturally, he too thought he was from the Eucliffe clan as it is a unique feature to them. And as this clan of white dragons is adept in prophecies, he suspected the boy might be involving a prophecy to rule. To confirm his suspicions, he asked Wil whether he is representing himself or the Eucliffe clan, to which, the latter replied that his actions have nothing to do with the clan. The meaning behind Wil''s words only states that he wasn''t a part of the Eucliffe clan. However, for Frost, they appeared different. Thinking that it was an individual mission, Frost bursts out in laughter as he put forth his hands towards his competitor. "Okay, I got. Anyway, Good luck, kid." Frost no longer cared about Lucius and started to return to his original position. Wil didn''t know what''s going on in this Ice Dragon''s mind but he was careless about it either way. Wil''s eyes then fell on the Dragon once again. "Why it is still asleep? Is it waiting for other competitors?" Remembering the time limit, a thought appeared in his head. Wil decided to return home and return when the time limit is near. However, considering how the place wasn''t a no-combat zone, Wil was worried about the assassination of Lucius. A plan formed in this mind. He closed his eyes. "Summon, Gourd" Lucius saw a crimson-colored three-foot big gourd appeared in his benefactor''s hands. Looking at the teenager, Wil then said, "Lucius, I have somewhere I need be. There are still 35 hours. Until then, you will have to spend inside this prison. It will be dark but trust me. It is for your safety." Because of high favorability, Lucius agreed to his suggestion despite not being comfortable with the idea. "Activate, Gourd Prison." He opened the lid. *Ding! Please select the target. As Wil selected the target, magic power was flown from his body to the gourd, activating a powerful suction force from its opening. Under the eyes of Frost and his allies, Lucius was sucked into the gourd and they saw Wil calmly put the lid and closed the opening of the gourd. "Au Revoir." Wil waved his hands towards Frost with a smile and disappeared from their view, letting them wonder whether they teleported to somewhere else. *** *Swoosh* The capsule door was opened and Wil stepped out of it with all sweat over him. The room''s lights were on. And through the window, he could see the outside is dark. Wil instantly checked the time. "It''s already 4:15?" Wil never expected the day would go so fast even though he fought two great battles, bringing chaos to the Dragon world and starting an event, evolve into a gold dragon, evolve his seer abilities, and even met the Divine Dragon. Upon realizing that the majority of the time was wasted on traveling, he felt the need to install teleportation formation across the Island once he was done with it. He decided to add it to the file, later. Right then, his stomach started growling and he rubbed it. "Should I go out and eat? Death King''s store. No, what was his name again? Ah, that''s right. Chu Yongmin. His store has a microwave right" After having a quick brush and shower, Wil put on his clothes and stepped outside the room only to find the lights were switched on in the living room and his mom is lying her head on the dining table. "Why is she sleeping there?" Wil shrugged his shoulders and put the thought away as he didn''t care about it. To not wake her up, he slowly closed the door. Just when he was about to pass her, suddenly, his phone started to ring. Her eyes opened abruptly and she stood up from the seat while Wil turned off the alarm. "Oh! Hey, Wil. You are up." She glanced at the watch around her arm and then, turned towards him. "Good morning." "Morning," Wil slowly replied before he asked to clear his doubt now that she was awake, "why are you sleeping here?" "Oh, it''s nothing." She brushed it off. "I didn''t know that you are going to game for all day. Anyway, you didn''t have anything yesterday. Let me make a quick breakfast." "It''s alright," Wil informed her that he was going out for a run anyway. So, he can eat at a convenience store. "But, you still need energy to run, right?" Scarlet tried to convince him, believing that he was just avoiding her. Without waiting for his reply, his mother started to take away the dishes on the dining table. Since they were out all night, she had to throw everything in the bin. Looking at the dishes, Wil understood that she was waiting for him to eat together and probably waited all night. After all, he did get a couple of calls from his mother while he was on his way towards Mt. Velkazar. But, he never lifted them as he was uncomfortable eating with the family. There was Scott he couldn''t like because he is his mother''s husband. And there was his mother who abandoned him. And then, there''s Rey, who is the son of his Aunt that showed him hell during his teenage years. Of course, he doesn''t hate Rey but neither could he like him too. Wil''s only comfort was Mia. Maybe, Mia was upset that he refused to eat with them? When such a possibility appeared in his head, he felt a little bit guilty. At the same time, he also felt pity for this mother who was trying her best to bond with him. "Is there instant noodles?" Wil asked her. "I usually crave noodles if I stay awake around this time." "Eh?" Scarlet was a little bit surprised. It reminded her of how she would drag her late ex-husband to eat light night food. After throwing all the other ingredients in the vessel, she told him to look after it for a while and left to her room to freshen up. After all, it feels good to eat noodles together rather than alone. Wil wondered why she made in greater quantities. Even if they were eating together, isn''t it too much? Five minutes later, by the time she returned, she saw her son was in the middle of tasting the broth and the meat. "Hmm, quite good" Wil seemed like he really liked the taste. It felt like he tasted a delicacy. When he spotted the presence of his mother, he forcefully changed his expression to normal and continued to stir the ladle like he was doing earlier. Scarlet smiled as she shook her head. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 397 - Riled Up By Toxic Comments "So, what are your plans today? Get back to gaming?" Scarlet asked Wil while they were having Ramen together. Before Wil replied, she clarified her statement, thinking that he might misunderstand her words, "I mean I need to meet Rey''s Homeroom teacher after the school timings. I guess it might be because he was absent for a week without taking permission, ya know. If I and Rey stay there, Mia will be alone. This city is new for her. If there''s no important business in the evening, I will drop you at her school. You just need to accompany her to return home." Worrying about rejection, she added in the end, "It''s alright if you can''t make it. I can ask Scott to return early and pick her up or I can just take her with me to Rey''s school or maybe" "You don''t need to drop me." Wil interrupted her before she makes him even more pathetic, telling him various solutions as if his playing time is more important than Mia. "I have a car and driving license ya know. You just go to Rey''s school. I''ll go and pick up Mia in the evening." "Thank you." Scarlet felt happy upon hearing it. She thought it will be tougher for Wil to get close to her directly and can only use Mia as a medium to make him a part of her family. After spending time with him for the past week, she knew that Wil had a soft spot for Mia. Through Silver, she also knew that Scarlet Group bought one-third of the shares in Darwin Institutions along with providing a fat donation. Is it a coincidence that Wil happens to buy shares of an institution where Mia is studying? Of course, she doesn''t believe in such coincidences. And now that her gamble paid off, Scarlet planned to make Wil pick his siblings every day, so that, he gets to bond with the family. *Slurp* "Thank you for the food." After a while, as Wil finished, he took them towards the basin to wash it but his mother stopped it and told him that he doesn''t need to do that. As it is already crossed 5:30, Wil hurried outside for a walk to digest his stomach that was too full. Putting aside his dislike towards his mother, he liked the taste. He was walking on the pavement while opening the forums on his mobile phone. More than Llyne, he was interested in the development between Reverie and Searvale. A video that wasn''t uploaded by the official Summersoft account was trending in the forums. It is focused on a battlefield where thousands gathered but the viewing angle is from above. "Again?" It remembered him of his battle against Rikilda when he was taking over the kingdom. Despite a ban on flying within the premises of a city, there was a video shot from above and coincidentally, the uploaded user was also the same. "I was not sure before but now, it is confirmed. The Drone technology must have been received from a hidden quest as making them at this stage is impossible. And with how this person doesn''t dare to shoot in different angles and just zooms instead of getting near, either he/she must be worried about damaging it or doesn''t want others to know of its existence. Must be the latter" With nice edits and the help of background commentary, it became easier for the viewers to understand the situation. After watching the whole video, he went to the comment section. Some people started to badmouth Crimson Sun (Bran) and some fans are defending him. Angon Rider: What a coward. Stream Elements: Crimson Sun runs away with tail in his legs. Hahaha Faction King: Crimson Sun is a black spot on manhood. Lady Yue: Faction King, are you looking down on girls? Do you dare to battle me 1vs1? Faction King: Sure, why not. Come to the battle arena. I''ll show you who the boss is. Amaretto: Faction King, aren''t you too shameless? You are level-243 and she''s 187. Will you dare battle in a fixed mode, the one? Agitator: Crimson Sun knew that he can''t defeat Siren. So, he ran away. And he wants to battle the One? Dream on Arsenic Role: Please, it''s called strategy. Siren wasn''t of any importance to Crimson Sun. His goal is to liberate Reverie. Flagship Property: That''s right. Everything''s fair in love and war. While the netizens are fighting each other on who is better, suddenly, The Time Traveler''s fan club joined them, triggering the other fan clubs. The comment section was soon thrown into chaos. Along with the praises, Wil could see a number of insults aimed at him. Annihilator: He''s just all money. Onscreen Prompts: He spent a large amount of money buying the best equipment, best skill books, and best mount. If I have those, even I could kill a level-500. Faction King: If Time Traveler and ''One'' play 1vs 1 in a fixed mode, the latter wins easily. Flagship property: Our Crimson Sun would also sweep him off the floor. Sidewalk Enforcer: Anyone with mouths can trash talk. Actual results matter. Even when ''One'' has a higher level, he was soundly defeated by Time Traveler during WBT. Cool Iris: If your One and Crimson Sun have the guts, then, tell them to challenge our Time Traveler. Even if both of them came along, they will be killed in one blow. Just his clone is enough for those two. Delivery Boy: And where is Time Traveler now? I heard that Llyne is ruled by the Supreme Commander. Either he was afraid of challenges from other players or he doesn''t know how to rule. Cobra Bite: I heard that he was a lackey of Scarlet Group''s Chairman. That''s why the guild was named Scarlet at first but due to some reasons, it was changed to Vulture. Agitator: That''s right. All of his money and items come from the Scarlet group. He himself is just a puppet and nothing special. Eventually, the latter half of the comment section is replaced from Siren vs Crimson Sun towards Wil vs the other top players. "Bran is better than me?" Wil didn''t care much less about those insults as they are too common. However, when he saw people are praising Bran and ridiculing him, he was riled up. "If not for my mission at the Dragon Island Fuu" Taking a deep breath, he made a resolve to take care of Bran once in for all, "Now that the new Queen herself comes into the open and Bran took back the Reverie kingdom, it''s probably the best chance for my Vulture guild to formally enter their battle. In return, I will not only claim a few territories but also blacklist him and destroy his guild. Hmm, maybe, I can recruit Sierra" Wil went into a daze for a second, thinking of his crush''s beautiful figure that was etched in his mind for several years. He quickly slapped himself on the cheeks and shook his head, "Wil, you are about to get engaged officially. What are you thinking of such bulls*it." He threw those thoughts away and continued to walk. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 398 - Grocery Shopping With Mother? Wil was watching the news in leisure while his siblings and his mother''s husband were having breakfast. "Big Brother, can you switch to channel Vega? Morning E-sports news must have already been started." Unlike the rest of the family members, Mia behaves as usual without any reservations. Just when Scarlet was about to lecture her daughter to eat silently, Wil complied with her request and asked the channel number. In no time, the channel was changed and his siblings'' attention was shifted to TV. The news anchor was reading the news regarding the situations going on in different games. Because of the massive popularity of War Online, most of the news segment was covered by this VRMMO game alone. Mia stood up from the dining table and sat on the couch beside Wil with a bowl of cornflakes and milk in her hands. Even Rey''s eating started to slow down and his attention was fixed on the news. With how all of her children are playing the game, she wondered whether their addiction will affect their studies. She wasn''t worried about Wil. Whether he graduates from university or not, it wouldn''t matter as he has an enormous inheritance in his name. However, Mia and Rey are different. They belong to the upper-middle class and need to forge the future on their own. They are neither good at sports nor are they good at studies. They were average in other areas too. The only thing Rey and Mia are good at is martial arts, which is something they inherited from their respective biological mothers but Scarlet wouldn''t let them learn it. Her priorities lie with the studies. And that''s why she refused to let them play the game. But, her husband adores and spoils them. In the end, she accepted it to let them enjoy playing a game but who could have expected that they are addicted to it. When she inquired with Silver, the latter also told her that the pro gamer occupation also seemed to be getting popular. She ordered the chip a day ago and decided to experience herself and also test Mia and Rey''s capabilities to see whether they have a future at it or not. Then, she''ll decide whether to ban them from playing, whether to put certain conditions linking with studies, or whether to support them all the way. At present, along with their kids, she too shifted her eyes towards the television in the hopes of learning something new from this gaming industry. "Lee Jung-woo or popularly known as ''One'' today revealed that he possesses a legendary+ grade beast. Interestingly, this beast is nothing other than a Lightning black panther, the symbol of the Gailzach kingdom, which is located in the North Zalfari continent. First, Solar of Conqueror guild, then, Siren of Galaxy Net, Time Traveler of Vulture, and now, One. So, what are these guardian beasts? How to find them?" "Standoff between Reverie and Searvale resumed once again. Will the mysterious expert resurface again? Does Galaxy Net have a plan?" "It is Day-16 and Time Traveler is still missing. Where has he gone? There are many speculations. Apparently, some are claiming that he stopped playing the game. While his friends stating that he is online, the Vulture guild is not giving any comment. There''s a rumor that the relationship between Time Traveler and Scarlet Group turned sour? The answers can only be found when he returns." Almost instantly, Mia and Rey turned to look at Wil for a moment before they get back to watching the news as the anchor continued. Wil could only laugh inwardly as no one in the world except for his closest aides knows that he was Time Traveler. Why would his relationship turn sour with the company that he owned? Soon, Mia and Rey joined Scott who will drop them at their respective schools before going to the office. It was Scarlet and Wil alone. Neither of them has any work to do. Unlike Mia, she cannot tell Wil that she needed to watch tv dramas. So, she could only let her son invade her personal space and time to watch what he wanted to watch. At first, it was alright but then, as Wil continued to watch the news straight for two hours, Scarlet started to get bored. Should she just go to her room and watch on her laptop? Scarlet who was desperate to bond with her son again cannot afford to do so as every minute of spending time with him is precious. She thought of an idea to pass her time while staying in the living room at the same time. "Wil, what would like for lunch? Eastern or Western?" She asked him. "Western food is boring. I ate it for so many years." He remarked with his eyes fixed on television were three political analysts are debating on ''which party will emerge as the winner in the upcoming elections.'' "Okay. I just thought of something." Scarlet is a master of all types of cuisines. So, it didn''t take long for her to decide on the lunch menu, a three-course meal. Just as she decided on the menu, she realized some of the ingredients weren''t available at home. A sudden idea emerged in her mind. "Wil, how about you tag along with me?" "Hmm?" Wil stared at her as if he was asking for an explanation. "I need groceries to prepare for lunch. Didn''t you say that you drive? Help me out, will ya." Scarlet reminded his own words with a smile. "Moreover, it''ll be better for me to know what you like and dislike regarding the foods." Wil didn''t know what she was playing but since she was cooking for him, he thought he could repay her this way. "Fine." Switching off the television, he stood up from the couch. "But, my car is at home. I need to get back." "Just ask someone to deliver it to you. What are those security men for?" She passed off a comment while walking towards her room to get changed. After a while, Wil was seen driving in his Liger CL63 sports car with his mom sitting beside him while listing the things that she needed to buy. Naturally, a 1.6 million dollar car would attract the attention of the public wherever it went even at a place like Ares city much less at the first-tier city like Leafway. "Your destination is about to arrive." As they entered the hundred-meter range from the designated hypermarket, Wil received a notification from the car''s A.I. Just as they almost reached the place, all of a sudden, Wil''s phone rings. Surprisingly it was Storm who followed Wil back to Leafway city and currently laying low. "Yes, Storm?" "Hello, Young Master." "What is it?" "There seems to be a slight issue regarding the land purchase" A frown appeared on Wil''s face. "What happened?" Scarlet looked at him curiously. Of course, her ears are so sharp that she could hear Storm''s voice more clearly than even Wil. "It''s the Leafway City Council. They are telling us that it needs special grants. I was wondering whether we should talk with the New Mayor or let CEO Takanori talk with the Interior ministry." Storm informed him as he was now caution about using bribes or threats. Any wrong move and the reputation of Scarlet Group might be hit. He made a mess before and isn''t willing to do it again. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 399 - Fearless Mayor Who Follows Rules "What happened, Wil?" Scarlet asked him, pretending to not knowing anything that Storm talked about on the phone. "Your face doesn''t look good." "Nothing, there seems to be an issue over land buying for our HQ. I need to get back to the company." After assuring her that he will pick up Mia in the evening, Wil dropped her and left for the office. She was a little bit disappointed but she understood the severity of the situation. After all, Wil publicly told her and Miyazaki''s family about his ambitious ten billion dollar project for new Headquarters. "Hmm, he might not come to lunch. So" After thinking for a while, she proceeded to enter the building. An hour later, Wil reached the branch office where Storm and the other staff members are waiting for him. It was the first time he was visiting there. The Branch manager welcomed him and took him to the office. While Wil sat in his seat, the branch manager kept standing along with Storm. Wil gestured them to sit down. Taking his seat, Storm started to explain the issue, "it looks like there''s a new regulation passed by the Federation regarding the land purchases just over six months ago. Now, any individual or private organization cannot own land over 600,000 sq. meters in size. It''s around 148 acres. And those who already own must acquire special grants from the Ministry of Lands and Housing within a year." The Branch manager continued, "Young master, we have eyed a place that''s suitable for our needs. It''s located only 18 kilometers from our city. Originally, the 286-acre land belongs to GK Group of constructions more than fifteen years ago but the company went bankrupt within five years. Now, it is in the hands of DRS Bank." "286 acres, huh. Enough land to build even an artificial lake and manmade forest along with the township" Wil pondered over it before he realized he wasn''t told how much it will cost him. Looking at Storm, he asked, "What''s the price?" Storm answered, "Right now, their value cost only 9.2 Yuan per sq. ft. So, it''ll cost over 114.6 million Eastern Yuan (57.3 million dollars or 573 million credits). I talked to their Chairman. He already discussed this with the board of directors. We can proceed with the deal once we bring a special grant issued by the Ministry of the Lands, Housing, and Urban Development. But, Minister Song is a pro-Alder. He might try to stop us. So, it''s best if we go the alternative way which is probably safer." "Alternative way?" Wil asked him to explain it. Storm informed him of how the special grant can be acquired if one can get a permit from the nearest City''s Mayor and the Provincial Governor. It is well known that Mayors and Governors are usually susceptible to bribes. Moreover, with the elections on the way, Storm was confident in getting the work done. To convince Wil more, Storm further stated, "I also contacted a realtor I know from the past. He was an old acquaintance of Lord Philip and the one that showed us the land where our Headquarters has been built. According to his analysis, once we finished the construction and make the Federation extend the city perimeter, the value will be increased exponentially. In my opinion, this is the best deal we can acquire." "Rather than buying in the city, buy nearby and extend the city perimeter, Eh!" Wil mumbled to himself, going into deep thoughts. Storm and Branch manager Yu were waiting in silence. After a minute of silence, Wil gave a nod, "Okay, let''s buy it. Storm, arrange a meeting with the Mayor. Meanwhile, do background verification on him. We might need some leverage. Branch Manager Yu, I need you to prepare a list of the twenty best construction companies along with their history like what projects they have taken, how much they have succeeded and how much they have failed, everything. I need a presentation by evening. Contact the Headquarters and take the help as much as you can." "Um Young Master, can I say something, if you don''t mind?" The branch Manager then suggested that instead of going through all of this nonsense, he can just purchase in the name of other people like his close friends or family members separately. The names will be on them but will be operated by Scarlet Group. It''s pretty much of a known loophole rich people use these days. However, Wil rejected the idea and asked him a question, "Do you know why Scarlet Group hasn''t gone public?" As Branch Manager Yu shook his head, Wil answered in a serious tone, "Whether it''s my father or me, we like hegemony over sharing the power. I don''t want anyone else to object to my decision. My company, my rules. It''s my philosophy." Storm''s eyes flickered in surprise as he saw the silhouette of the old mafia boss, Wil''s grandfather. "My gang, my rules" These words echoed in his ears as he went down on memory for a moment. Returning to the reality, Storm bowed, "As you wish, Young Master." Two hours later, Wil and Storm were seen sitting before the City Mayor at the latter''s office. Taking a sip of coffee, Wil spoke, "so, this entire process takes two months of time. You are a man of principles and you refuse to do a favor for us. Is that what you are saying?" "I don''t care what kind of reputation Scarlet Group has in the Ares city or with the city police department but everyone must follow the rules and regulations set by the Federation." The New City Mayor replied in a stern tone as if he doesn''t care about the people sitting before him. A frown appeared on Storm. "You Do you know" just as he was about to say something that''s in the line of threatening, Wil grabbed his hand while calmly taking another sip, "don''t need to be so serious, Mr. Mayor. We''re gentlemen. We follow the rules. That''s why we are here to sincerely request you to do a favor for us and thereby, your federation too. Once our company moves here, other big companies will be thinking of developing branches. The city develops, thereby, providing more jobs to the public and more tax to Federation." The Mayor just stared at Wil as if he was pondering the possibility. After a brief silence, he once again rejected Wil''s request to which the latter let out a deep sigh and stood up from the seat, "very well. We will follow the rules as you asked." Mayor Kim was taken aback by Wil''s attitude. He expected threats or bribes but this billionaire young master just accepted it. But then, his eyes fell on the CCTV that was installed in the office. He thought Wil might be cautious and was sure that he will receive threats later. But, he didn''t care. "Okay, once I received the application, we will survey the land, get in touch with the bank, and then, an auditor will visit your company. If everything is okay, it will be passed without any issues. Thank you." Suddenly, Wil smiled and put forth his hand, "I hope you stay like this, being a man of principles without bending for any power even in the future. See you, Mr. Mayor." For a moment, the Mayor was confused whether this was an act or whether he was mistaken about the young man. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 401 - Picking Up The Sister At School A couple of hours passed. Wil was now watching the dungeon gameplay of B-division where Death King (Min) was guiding everyone. *Ring* Ring* "Hmm, mom?" He frowned as soon as he saw the number. He was conflicted about whether to lift it or not. But, after seeing her for a week, Wil also knew that she''ll call the office if he ignores the call. So, he picked it up reluctantly, "Hello." "Where are you, Wil?" She asked him. "Office at SGC. Had important work." Wil answered her as he prepared the excuse beforehand. "I will return by evening." "Ah, I see" Her tone turned slightly dull but then, she asked, "you had lunch, yet?" "Nope." "Then, I''m sending the lunch with someone. I made eastern dishes as you asked. Be sure to eat all." Without giving him a chance to reject it, Scarlet quickly disconnected the call after informing him. After a while, a bodyguard brought the lunchbox or more like a five-layer bento box. He opened it. The first one is rather a simple miso soup. The second box contains a tempura dish. The third one is rice and thick curry made of beef, potato, and carrots. The fourth one is a Seaweed Salad, and the last one is an ice-cream-filled mochi. He doesn''t how did this dessert didn''t melt even at room temperature but it tastes f**k**g as hell. People say the way to man''s heart is through the stomach. For that half an hour, Wil really forgot all of the animosity he had against his mother and thoroughly enjoyed the food. Now, he really wanted to eat the food his mother makes every time. Back at the Venus apartments, Scarlet was watching her favorite tv drama. *Buzz* *Buzz* her phone vibrated. "Hmm" She looked at the text. Instantly, a smile appeared on her, "it looks like Wil liked the food if he finished everything." A thought appeared in her mind. "Should I start making eastern dishes for Mia and Rey too? Scott also stayed here for some time. So, he probably will also like it. Yeah, even Rea used to love eastern dishes" Suddenly, her face dimmed upon remembering her twin sister she grew up with. Scarlet fell into sadness, "I haven''t heard from you for six years now. Where have you gone? Are you captured? Are you even alive? Just need a small clue" Letting out a deep sigh, Scarlet put her thoughts aside and focused on the television. *** A few hours later; Darwin Institutions, Leafway city; Just like the other private institutions, several children born with a silver spoon are attending the school. With the school timings over, the scene of Cars lining up at the entrance of the school is common. On the other side, some are just exiting the gate by bicycle, and others just are walking out. Just like others, a luxurious vehicle of Liger Brand stopped at the entrance and a driver get down to wait for the kid of his employer. Norman-Liger, commonly referred to as NL, is an automotive brand headquartered in the city of Pregas, the Western continent. It is popularly known for producing only luxury vehicles with a starting price of a hundred thousand dollars (200 thousand yuan/ 1million credits). It isn''t that rare in top-tier cities like Ares or Pregas. However, in the first-tier city like Leafway, wherever such vehicles go, it tends to attract the people around even if it is for a moment. On top of that, this one is even more of a luxury one that costs nearly five hundred thousand dollars. And considering the location is a school, then such vehicles grab even more attention from the students and their parents. So, it''s not an exaggeration that every kid or adult passing by at least glances at the vehicle for once. Meanwhile, a 13-year-old girl with short hair exited the academic building along with two of her friends or one should say her underlings. Even her school bag was carried by one of them. Everyone''s eyes are on the rich granddaughter of their school''s Chairman wherever she passed by and the people walking in the front instantly gave the way. Wang Xieren is known to be a spoiled brat who acts sometimes like a bully too. With no teacher dares to take action on her, the students could only either flatter her or ignore her. As for why no senior tries to bully her in return is that she was a taekwondo practitioner with a Red Belt. A year ago, once a tenth-grade senior tries to trick her but she used violence and broke his bones. In the end, it was declared as self-defense, and the student that complained got a demerit instead. Since then, no one dared to mess with her. Soon, they reached the vehicle parked outside and her underlings got inside. This was also one of the merits when one sticks with the rich. They can get free rides along with free lunch/dinner treats. Just when she was about to get inside the vehicle, her eyes fell on a group of three exiting the gate. Two of them have bicycles while the other one didn''t. Saying goodbye to her friends, Mia stood on the side alone, looking at the distant left in anticipation. "Hey Westerner," Wang Xieren called her in a loud tone, grabbing Mia''s attention. "Hmm?" Mia looked at her curiously, "what this girl wants?" She gestured abruptly raising her chin, asking her what the matter is. "Which babysitter are you waiting for this time?" Xieren tried to taunt her for no reason. When there''s no reply, she further said, "There''s space inside our car. Come. I''ll drop you at home. You might not get a chance in your life to ride a car like mine." Mia ignored her and looked at her phone, trying to dial a number. It was then a white sports car and an SUV appeared in everyone''s view. For a moment, every single person halted their footsteps and stared at the car that stopped right before Mia who was also seemed to be taken aback. The window was slid down and she saw it was none other than Wil on the driver''s seat. "Big Brother?" Mia took a step back in surprise and then, took a look at the car before her. "Is that yours?" She knew that Wil is rich but didn''t know that he will drive this kind of vehicle. "Hop in," Wil said to her while clicking on a button. The right door automatically opened itself, revealing Wil''s appearance for those who are on the other side of the street. Glancing at Xieren, she grinned and waved her hand, gesturing goodbye before she got inside. Soon, Wil started to drive. The SUV also followed behind, leaving a shocked Xieren in a daze for a while. As Wil continued to drive, Mia looked around the interior of the vehicle curiously. "Big Brother, Can I ask something?" "What is it?" "Don''t you have any other cars other than this?" She asked him, hinting that she was uncomfortable. Wil immediately understood she was a little bit embarrassed to get into such a high-end car in front of everyone. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 402 - A Natural Talent Archer From the next day, he was also sure that everyone will think she''s rich. But then again, if he''s adjusting with their lives, they should also get used to this, especially his sister. It was for this reason, he showed her a glimpse of luxurious life at Ares City back then and it was also for this, he purposely drove in his personal car. In fact, he was prepared to take large security with him but not wanting to make news, Wil backed off at the last minute. But, he couldn''t say all of it to his sister. So, he answered, "I have but I like this the best. It was the last birthday present my dad gave me." Although it wasn''t the reason, still, it was true that this car was given by the Mafia Lord on his 19th birthday. So, in a way, it can be considered as a memory. Mia went silent. Originally, she planned to say that it''s a bit intimidating and even worried about what going to happen the next day but now, she couldn''t tell what she wanted to upon hearing the reason. "By the way, how''s school?" Seeing Mia keep quiet, Wil tried to start a conversation. "Anything interesting happened, today?" "I made a new friend." As Mia started to tell him various things ranging from the school world to the virtual world, Wil continued to drive while listening to her. Nearly half an hour later, Wil stopped the car. "We are here." "Eh? Where are we?" Mia felt the surrounding buildings were unfamiliar. She was sure that this wasn''t the street where her home is located. Wil opened the door and got down. As she got out of the car, her eyes fell on the signboard. "ATC?" "Didn''t you say you wanted to learn Archery?" A smile appeared on Wil as he asked her. "It will take time before Rey comes back home. Until then, you can try to see if you have the talent or not." Due to the weekdays, there were only two customers inside the training center. A part-timer was looking after them and the owner was reading some magazine. "Oh, it''s Mr. Ravens." The owner spotted Wil as soon as the latter stepped inside the building. "It''s been a while." Shaking his hand, Wil replied, "I''m busy these days." "I saw the news." This Master Archer had this look of excitement upon seeing Wil back. Just a while ago, he found out how much of a big shot this young man is. "Anyway, this is" His eyes then fell on Mia who quickly hid behind Wil in instinct. As Wil''s built is bigger than Rey''s, she felt even more secure. "This is my sister, Mia." He then stepped aside and looked at his sister, "Mia, this is Ma Ling, a Master Archer and Hyori''s teacher. He is also the boss here." Mia shyly greeted him with a nod. She was a little bit reserved when talking to strangers. "Do you like archery?" He asked the girl. As Mia faced difficulty to reply because she wasn''t sure about it, Wil replied in her stead, "She becomes fascinated with Archery after watching IAC finals and wants to try it. Can we" "Oh sure, why not... The Kids section is usually empty anyway." As the owner gave permission, Wil and Mia walked to the archery lane for kids where the owner manually placed the target board five meters away. He gave a recurve bow and arrow according to her size. Then, he picked his own to demonstrate. "You should grab the arrow like this" Mia followed exactly what he was doing. Pulling the string as much as she can, without receiving a piece of advice, she instinctively closed her left eye and narrowed her right eye to concentrate on the yellow paint in the center and released the arrow. *Swoosh* The arrow cut through the air like lightning and not only struck at the center of the ring but embedded 1 inch deep inside the wooden board. "What!" The Master Archer wasn''t able to hold back his surprise. Even Mia couldn''t believe her eyes while Wil didn''t think much as the distance is only 5 meters where shooting a hundred meters is common for him. He was only excited that his sister seemed to be talented in Archery. But, this Master Archer has different views from Wil. He hurriedly asked Mia, "Is this really your first time?" Mia nodded in confusion. Even she couldn''t believe she was this good at it. The Master Archer quickly walked forward and placed the target ten meters away, this time. "Uhh Mr. Ma, isn''t it too much?" Wil thought this middle-aged fellow was too excited. Isn''t this the time to boost Mia''s confidence instead of testing her limits? He wondered. Ma Ling replied, "I just need to confirm something. Please don''t mind." "What he wanted to confirm?" Wil thought in his head. He watched in silence as Mia put another arrow between her fingertips and pulled the string. She only saw the demo once but was able to follow it for the second time perfectly. *Swoosh* The arrow was released again and this time, Wil saw something out of ordinary. It is the speed. Moreover, it struck the dead center once again. "Big Brother, I did it." Mia''s face glow up in excitement as she turned around. Ma Ling finally took out the Archery board from the lane and pointed at the Archery Target that was fixed on the wall, fifteen meters away. He asked her to try on it. Once again, she tried shooting at the center, but this time, the location was off and the arrow struck the red zone at 7 points. She felt a little bit sad but the Master Archer praised her, "good, I never seen a beginner without prior knowledge was able to shoot a target that is placed nearly 50 ft away. Here, you can practice a few more." As Mia continued to shoot the arrows, Ma Ling came to Wil and said, "Your little sister is a natural talent. Moreover, she seems to have internal strength. If she trains for a few years, she might even reach the level of a pro." Wil was satisfied by his remarks. "I guess I''ll sign her up for membership." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 403 - Visiting Hyori "Here," Wil hands the credit card to the owner and paid the bill. Handing the receipt, Ma Ling asked casually, "so, how''s Hyori holding up lately?" "Huh! What do you mean?" Wil looked at him curiously. "Ever since the finals, forget about her part-time work, she wasn''t even showing up here to play War Online too. She told that she was taking a break to recover her mental state but it''s almost a month since I last saw her before the tournament started. I was worried that she might have broken from inside as all of her hard work was failed before that granddaughter of Hitoshi." "Huh! Hyori hasn''t been coming lately?" Wil was a little bit surprised upon hearing from this Master Archer because he regularly chats with her and she seemed normal as before. He didn''t expect she was even staying far from the game too. Wil decided to drop Mia at the house and go and meet Hyori. However, his sister wanted to tag along. After all, Hyori wasn''t a stranger to her. Despite being the vice guild leader of Scarlet-A, she often tags along with Evie Antolov (Snow Dew) who is Mia''s friend and her guild leader at Scarlet-B. Thankfully, his mother and Rey aren''t back yet. So, he didn''t bother to call her and just waited in the car for fifteen minutes while Mia went to the apartment, freshen up a bit, change her clothes, and came down with a box. Scarlet Apartments was in the same neighborhood. So, it didn''t long for them to reach the place. Wil also didn''t call her beforehand as he knew her classes end up at 12:30 in the afternoon and with her taking a break from Archery, he doubted she will still be at the college, practicing at her club. *Tring* Trrring* The door was opened by Hyori''s sister, "Eh? Wil-Oppa? I heard that as soon as Oppa returned from Ares city, Oppa shifted to Ah! Hey Mia, You too are here. Didn''t notice you here" "Jiwon-ssi?" Wil called her uncertainly as he still couldn''t differentiate between the twins. But, in his experience, only Lee Jiwon would address him or any older person who is an acquaintance intimately like that. So, he felt it was Jiwon. Still, he couldn''t get used to that word. "Where is your sister? I heard that she''s still moping after the loss." Wil directly came to the subject. "Yeah, it really hit her hard, I guess. She''s not even eating properly these days." Jiwon let out a deep sigh before she invited them inside. "Anyways, she''s busy with studying. I''ll go and bring her. Please come in." Jiwon turned around and walked towards the bedroom while informing her mother about Wil''s arrival. Hyunjoo who was watching anime suddenly changed the channel to a music channel and sat properly. After greeting Hyunjoo and her mother, both of them sat down, and very soon, Hyori also rushed out with a look of surprise. "Wil, what are you doing here? You didn''t even text me." "Oh, hey Mia." "I heard that you are still moping because of a loss. Dropped by to see how you are doing. And my sister also wanted to tag along." After Wil''s casual reply, Mia shyly raised her arms and handed the box to her. "Sister Hyori, this is for you. My mom made them." "Hmm?" Even Wil looked at it curiously as he didn''t know what it is. It was only after Hyori opened it Wil realized that it was mochi ice cream that was probably stored in the fridge and Mia brought it without asking their mom. Because of this reason, Mia took fifteen minutes to come down. After freshening up, Mia opened the fridge to drink cool water and casually opened the freezer but she didn''t expect there''s homemade ice cream. Mia had once eaten it before. So, she immediately knew that they were made by her mom. She packed them in an air-tight container, which was placed into a bigger container along with several frozen ice gel packs to maintain the coolness. Wil doesn''t know whether to laugh or cry as she doesn''t need to do that but still, he thought it was cute because of her hardwork. Putting aside the matter, he confronted her about how long does she intend to stay away from the Archery, to which Hyori sighed as she took a seat, "I don''t know but when I grab the bow, I will see Sakura. It kinda scares me, you know." Suddenly, silence filled in the room, and everyone stared at her. Hyori''s mother couldn''t also help but glance at Wil who managed to make Hyori tell him her worry with a simple question when they were utterly failed all this while. She realized that Hyori is not a kid anymore. She went through the phase long ago. So, she very well knew that Teenagers and young adults usually share their burden more with friends rather than family. Upon listening to her reason, Wil took a deep breath and spoke in a serious tone, "Grab your bow and follow me." "Eh?" Hyori suddenly raised her head as she was taken aback by surprise. "Yes," Wil nodded while looking straight into her eyes, "I''m going to take a gamble. If this works, you will back to normal but if it fails, you will probably break down and might not continue the Archery. 50-50. Will you trust me and grab this chance?" As he extended his hand, Hyori didn''t even hesitate to grab his hand and stood up. It was right then Wil suddenly remembered that Hyori''s mother was also there. Wil quickly said, "Ms. Lee, if you don''t mind, will you also please come with us?" "Me?" Her mother was even more surprised by Wil''s invitation. In reality, Wil didn''t actually want to ask her this favor but he thought it would be inappropriate to take a young girl from her house in front of her own mother. It would even seem like he was her boyfriend or something. To make sure there''s no misunderstanding, Wil asked Hyori''s mother to tag along. It''s not like there would be a problem with it. Half an hour later; "So, this is the gamble you are talking about?" Hyori was skeptical as she and Wil were standing apart in the backyard of the training center where only one target is placed at the end of the wall over 60 meters away. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 404 - I Practice To Defeat My Past Self, Not A Stranger *Swoosh* *Swoosh* Two arrows were shot at the same time. Both of them are aiming at a single target and both of the arrows did hit the target at 10 point mark. However, the first to strike was the arrow on the left, which belongs to Wil. *Whistle* Ma Ling blew the whistle and announced, "Point to Williard, 4-0." "Point to Williard, 5-0" "Point to Williard, 6-0" "Point to Williard, 7-0" "Point to Williard, 8-0" . . . "Point to Williard, 19-0" Hyori''s mom, Mia, and Ma Ling were looking at Wil in a daze. They never expected Wil to dominate Hyori. Meanwhile, Hyori looked dispirited. As she raised the bow once again, Wil spoke, "what happened, Trainer Hyo? The speed of your arrows was getting slower and slower." "No, they are not. You are the one who is getting faster." Ma Ling muttered under his breath. Meanwhile, Hyori didn''t answer him and pulled the string, waiting for the whistle. "Point to Williard, 20-0" "Only five points left for me to win but you have yet to open your score." Wil continued to taunt her. "If you are this much weak, then, it''s obvious that you can''t defeat Fujimori Sakura and the gap will only widen in the future." "What is this guy doing? Trying to rile her up?" Everyone wondered as they saw a frustrated look on Hyori with her face becoming red. "Point to Williard, 21-0" Do you know why I''m stronger than you? Not because of some talent or being a man. I only train to improve myself not to defeat someone else," "Point to Williard, 22-0" "How can you beat me when you can''t even defeat yourself?" "Point to Williard, 23-0" By then, even Wil was getting frustrated that his gamble isn''t working. Will it break her? He was a bit worried but he couldn''t stop it either. He almost roared at her this time, "Why do you practice and improve yourself, Hyori? To win some tournament? To win against some stranger? Or because you love Archery?" His dozen taunts didn''t work on her but a simple question made her realize something. Frustrated Hyori closed her eyes. *Whistle* Wil shot the twenty-fourth arrow but Hyori didn''t yet and still closed her eyes. Just at the moment, Ma Ling was about to announce the result, Hyori was seen grabbing the tip of the arrow with all her fingers, shooting it at the target. To Wil''s surprise, the arrow cut through the air like a lightning bolt and pierced his arrow from behind. It was embedded two inches. Ma Ling gasped in surprise as the speed of her arrow was almost in the same level as Wil, who is deemed only as a monstrous talent in his eyes. "Point to Williard, 24-0" As the master archer announced the score while taking out the arrows, a smile appeared on Hyori as she opened her eyes. "That''s right. How did I miss this?" Wil nodded to himself that his gamble has been worked. Upon hearing the whistle, he shot the arrow, aiming at just outside the ten-point ring as he doesn''t wish to end the match right then. But, he didn''t expect that Hyori, who regained a little bit of confidence from her last power shot, managed to strike the target almost at the same time as Wil, just a millisecond behind. But, Wil''s arrow landed on 9 points while Hyori''s landed in a ten-point circle. "Point to Hyori, 24-1" "Your shot was off, Wil." For the first time in twenty-five shots, Hyori spoke out. Wil shrugged his shoulders, "not a big deal. I''m way ahead of you and if this was a real match, I would have won by now, anyway." "Let''s see about that." "Point to Hyori, 24-2" The next shot was here both of them struck at the same time but Wil held back in his strength. So, this time, his arrow was struck a bit late, giving a point to Hyori and increasing her confidence. After that, Wil used a different trick of shooting an arrow a bit late than her. Then, later, he used bullish power but aiming at 9 point circle. This way, Wil lost points one after the other. Mia and Hyori''s mother thought Wil is getting pressured by Hyori now that the latter seemed to reach her peak. However, it didn''t fool a Master Archer''s eyes. Ma Ling clearly could read Wil''s mind. First rile up, then, build the confidence. But, it only worked because it''s Hyori. Ma Ling was sure that if it is someone else, their spirits would have broken down by now. In his eyes, even if Hyori trains for hundred years, she couldn''t defeat someone like Wil. In his whole life, he never saw a person who could become this much of a monster in just two months. In those months, Wil hardly visited the training center four times. As for playing in the game, he personally experienced it. So, he can tell that playing War Online will improve one''s focus tremendously and to some extent, a few techniques but that''s it. The bodies that they were given were adaptable to any kind of stunt a player can do. They were strong enough that one can experience their maximum limit. However, the bodies in real life cannot follow with the things they want to do. This is why when he first saw Wil''s Archery practice, he believed that Wil who has an advantage over Hyori regarding gender and a huge internal strength eventually surpasses her in the future. But, he didn''t expect the day would come this sooner. The match continued until Hyori raked up 12 points in a row and not intending to make her feel suspicious, Wil ended the match with the perfect ten. "Point to Williard, 25-12. Williard wins." As Ma Ling declared the results, Hyori turned to look at him for a moment and step forward and then, hugged him tightly, taking everyone by surprise, especially her mother. But, there was no romantic feeling in that hug. It was only filled with gratefulness and only lasted for a couple of seconds, "Thank you." Unknown to Wil, she also realized Wil went easy on her during the later rounds. As they separated, Hyori gripped her arrow tightly and apologized to her mother for making her worry. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 405 - The Divine Dragon Wakes Up The next day, 14:45; *Welcome to War Online* Eighteen minutes before the deadline, Wil logged in the game and found himself on the same spot he logged out, the floating island where the rainbow dragon is still sleeping. However, the island was packed with several dragons, belonging to different factions. As most of them are infatuated with the Giant Dragon before them, very few people around placed their attention on Wil who is not at the level that they need to focus on him. Looking around, Wil mumbled to himself, "It looks like many competitors passed the trial. But then again, this will turn in my favor. The more princes/princesses will die here, the less trouble there will be for Lucius, later." Wil didn''t free Lucius right away as this place wasn''t a No-combat zone. Who knows who will ambush who... That''s why he waited until the last minute before taking out his gourd and freed Lucius who seemed very pale due to spending nearly 36 hours in complete darkness. Before Lucius get to speak anything, Wil grabbed him and turned him around to face the front where the dragon is sleeping. "It''s almost time for the divine dragon to wake up. Take deep breaths and calm down." As an understanding individual, Lucius did as Wil told him. For some reason, all of his frustration and negative feelings were dispersed once he glimpsed at the sleeping rainbow dragon. Very soon, the guardian of the dragon island opened its eyes and stood up. Wil saw its eyes were just like her feather, a beautiful rainbow in color. A barrier suddenly appeared around the floating island, preventing anyone to enter or escape. *Ding! You resisted the Velkazar''s Charm. *Ding! You are locked in the abode of Velkazar. Dying will resurrect you at a random location within the premises of the barrier. Even without doing anything, just by looking into its eyes, including Lucius several people standing around fell into a daze. Only high-level dragons managed to resist it. Meanwhile, Wil was even more ready with the usage of his skills to save Lucius just in case he''ll fall into danger. As for the Rainbow dragon''s presence, he doesn''t trust it because when he killed the Dragon King, it didn''t appear to save its king. So, why it would bother to protect Lucius? At the same time, he wasn''t sure that it will interfere too. If he knew for sure that it won''t interfere, he would have used heavenly push right there and kill everyone apart from Lucius and the dragon. The Divine Dragon slowly opened its mouth and spoke in a normal tongue, "greetings warriors, I''m called Velkazar, the keeper of this world. Can the inheritors of the Dragon throne come forward and the remaining get back? I would like to take a closer look." "Lord Time Traveler?" Lucius looked at him nervously. Wil nodded with a smile and patted his shoulder. He started to walk forward. Adding him, Wil saw a total of 13 candidates that came forward. That means the other eleven failed. It made him wonder whether someone brought too many members with them. Meanwhile, everyone was checking out the inheritors of the thrones. Of the ones that made it to the abode, along with Lucius, there were three people who are below level-200 with all of them being the illegitimate children of the Dragon King. The rest of the candidates are above level-300. And finally, the favorites to the throne, the legitimate heirs who were standing together on the left were even above level-400. Wil''s eyes shifted to the Ice Dragon, Prince Frost; the Platinum dragon, Prince Reuben; The Pure Silver Dragon, Princess Kyla; and finally the strongest of them all, the Black Dragon, Prince Iamrar. Iamrar Level: 450 Grade: Legendary+ Species: Dragon Bloodline: Black Status: Humanoid Description: The second prince of the Dragon Island, son of late king Owen Draconus and twin brother of Egan Draconus. As a black dragon, he was cruel to the core and is the type to sacrifice anyone to fulfill his goal. Remark: Not recommended as an Ally. Just like the other three, Wil saw an additional remark during an inspection. Maybe, it''s because he''s embroiled in this specific situation. While this kind of situation isn''t new for Wil who fought wars even in his past life, maybe, it''s because the targets are of legendary+ grade or so he thought. "With level-100, Lucius is undoubtedly the weakest here. Also, he doesn''t possess any sort of combat skills. I hope there won''t be one vs one challenge between them." When such a thought arose in his mind, Wil coldly swore in his heart, "If such a case arise and I fail to protect him, then, I will make sure hell descends on the Dragon Island even if I had to make an enemy out of this rainbow dragon." Meanwhile, Lucius stood straight in the line as the Divine Dragon is examining each of them. His trust in Wil was so high that despite seeing stronger people all around, he never felt that he would die under Wil''s watch. Perhaps, this is the effect of 100 favorability points. Spectators have various thoughts running through their minds while staring at the candidates. Some people are thinking about how to beat the royal children while some people fixed their targets on the weaker candidates. And some are wondering who this level-100 teenager is standing in the middle. After taking a close look at each of them, the Divine Dragon suddenly transformed into a frail-looking old woman in pure white robes. Unlike its beautiful appearance earlier that attracted everyone, this humanoid appearance was quite a contrast. Not only her hair was long and white, but there were also wrinkles on her face too. Reuben and Iamrar who know the secret of the Divine Dragon wondered whether it is almost the time for her death. As for the others who were infatuated with her beauty, they were taken aback and felt betrayed. However, the thoughts about her new appearance didn''t last long enough with a dazzling crown and a staff summoned in her hands. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 406 - Race To The Dragon Throne Part-1 Wil inspected them. Imperial Crown Grade: Legendary Description: The crown of the Dragon King. Imperial Staff Grade: Legendary Description: The Imperial weapon of the Dragon King. It is the symbol of authority to rule over the entire Dragon Island. Like Wil, everyone was also observing the two items, although they were a bit enamored by the thought of possessing them. Just right then, a huge black portal appeared in the sky, far above them. She lightly threw the two objects into the portal. Almost instantly, they disappeared from everyone''s view. The old woman addressed the prime candidates for the throne, "My test is simple. The items are up there in the world that I created for the next ruler. Those who obtain the two items will become the king. This is the only rule. How you obtain them is your problem. But remember that until the two items are found, none of you will be allowed to exit the place. So, those who fear death can still quit now and return. The Previous Dragon Kings went through the same trial and so will you if you wish to rule this world." *Ding! You receive a quest, Find the Imperial objects. As soon as she finished with the announcement, Wil received a quest notification. Quest: Find the Imperial Objects Description: Two imperial objects, namely the Imperial crown and the Imperial staff have been lost in the Dungeon somewhere. Find the two objects before others to clear the dungeon. Conditions for failure: Death of Lucius Mole Draconus Rewards: Red Dragon''s vial. *Ding! You accepted the quest. "Oh, Boy. This Dragon is very cheap. What should I do with a red dragon''s vial? I''m already a mythic grade gold dragon." Wil grumbled as everyone getting ready to fly. "I guess I have to focus on killing everyone rather than finding those two objects." While everyone flying, Lucius returned to Wil who stayed on the ground until everyone leaves within just the first two minutes as everyone is already prepared for the worst outcome. After all, they are NPC. So, their thinking was rather straightforward compared to a human''s. It was then the old woman''s eyes fell on the man from the outside world. She asked, "Are you two giving up?" Wil smiled while shaking his head, "of course, not. I just don''t think hurrying will help to find those two." Lucius was a little bit surprised that Wil was taking a chill. It only describes how much confident is Wil, right now. So, he didn''t urge him either. However, in the next second, to his surprise, Wil summoned the squishy cloud instead of the winged lion that he was expecting. Wil jumped on top of it and told Lucius to do the same. As Lucius sat behind Wil, the latter smiled at the old woman and boldly announced, "Please do remember these words. This kid behind me will become the next Dragon King whether we find those two objects or not." The old woman stayed silent until Wil disappeared into the portal. She let out a mysterious smile, "the purest of dragon bloodline, eh. Indeed an interesting fellow from the ancient Neo Hybrid race." *Ding! You entered the Realm of Velkazar. *Ding! You found a hidden realm. You received 500 fame points. Upon entering the portal, Wil found himself in the middle of a forest and the cloud is touching the ground. *Ding! Flying is prohibited. "Argh no flying damn" Dismissing the cloud, Wil opened the map. This was one of the perks of being a player. The others may not have any idea how the surrounding area looks like but Wil could understand how the realm looks like. The outermost sector where he, Lucius, and every other person landed were landed is a giant forest in an hourglass shape connected by a narrow path. The map shows the outside region as black. So, that means they are outside limits obviously. Meanwhile, the upper section and the lower sections have four concentric triangle-shaped regions respectively. Upon taking a look at the structure of the hidden realm, Wil realized that each of the objects might have been placed at the centermost triangular regions. It may be named as a hidden realm but for Wil, it was awfully similar to that of a dungeon. Wil doesn''t know who is who but he could only see numerous red dots except for two blue dots, which represent their faction. Either way, monsters and competitors alike, since everyone is a target, Wil doesn''t need to care about it With a plan in his mind, he summoned the Monkey king staff to summon more than two hundred and ninety clones, spreading them around the forest to erase all the red dots on the outer section. However, just as he was about to proceed with it, something else clicked in his mind and he fell into thoughts, "killing them in this way can ensure the win but can''t I use this opportunity to level up my beasts and also grow the faction bigger? What''s the use of becoming a Faction Lord of one person faction? Even after I was gone, the faction will help Lucius sit on the throne. Hmm, that''s right." Even though Lucius was in a position to even command Wil, he stayed silent and waited for Wil''s action as he already put his life in this savior''s hands. He didn''t even move from the spot until Wil came out of his thoughts and said, "Get ready. You will get to see the power of my pets." "Pets?" Lucius tilted his head in confusion. Such a thing didn''t exist in Dragon Island. "Summon Felix" *Woof* A five-tailed bluish silver fox appeared before Wil. It barked while waggling its tail as a greeting. Rubbing his fur, he said, "Felix, you get a free ride. Reduce your size." *Woof* Felix used the passive skill, reducing its size to a size of a small puppy, and jumped on his shoulder. "This is the so-called pet?" Lucius wondered. It was then, Wil summoned the next one. "Summon Rexy" *Roar* This time, Lucius flinched in fear because of a powerful roar echoed in the forest, scaring not only him but also other candidates and beasts lurking nearby. Eventually, as a huge dinosaur appeared in front of his eyes, he lost his footing and fell on his butt. "C''mon, don''t worry. They are friends." Helping him to get up, he ordered the T-Rex to lower down his head so that they climb up. Getting on top of it, Wil grinned, "let the game begin." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 407 - Race To The Dragon Throne Part-2 Somewhere in the Forest of Gulmir; A thirty-member faction was massacring a horde of goblins headed by as they charge forward. They couldn''t assume the dragon forms due to the location. But then again, Goblins were only level-200 Elite grade creatures. So, their full strength wasn''t even needed to kill them. The only thing that his weakest faction members, a level-236 violet dragon need to worry about is the presence of the goblin''s leader, which is a level-250 Heroic grade Orc with high defense. Meanwhile, a well-built old man was standing in the middle giving orders to everyone or more like scolding his subordinates. As they finished a batch of goblins, the short-tempered old man started ranting again, "Reed, what are you doing? You are at level-310 dammit. This was the third time already. Why are you taking too long to kill that level-250 green giant? Do you think we are on a f**k**g trip? And Colt, you are from the noble family of Mallard and you are also over level-250. Stop being a timid fellow. Show some spine." Both of them immediately apologized before they continued their journey. Jothadam Draconus is one of the older brothers of Owen and the son of the previous Dragon King. Because he was weaker and don''t have any hope of defeating Owen, never once he thought of the throne and only lived far away until a certain translucent dragon appeared before him and told him about his candidacy. He immediately picked up his best guards and set out for Mt. Velkazar. It was only after arriving at the destination that he wasn''t alone that was participating in this trial. Now, successfully destroying the batches one by one, Faction Jothadam was proceeding in a random direction. Once again, they encountered another batch of twenty goblins led by an Orc. "Reed, that beast is yours. But, if you waste too much time once again, then, don''t bother fighting and stay back." "I will not disappoint you, Your Highness." The level-310 warrior decided to unleash his skill to kill his target, this time. However, before he even charged forward, a powerful roar echoed all around the surroundings followed by the screams. The goblins Jothadam Faction encountered suddenly dispersed in different directions, running for their lives. "What''s happening?" Jothadam frowned as he stared ahead while his subordinates shivered a bit. "Milord, this isn''t a dragon''s roar. I think a powerful beast is going on a rampage." Jothadam''s strongest General informed him in a serious tone. Even though he''s level-400, even he didn''t think of it as light. The Dragon Race believes the more pressure emitted from a dragon''s roar, the more powerful it would be. While the other party isn''t a dragon, the pressure created by its roar was very strong even though it wasn''t even standing before their eyes. "Everyone, get ready," Jothadam ordered the soldiers. Everyone including the General is prepared to face the monster. They could hear the sounds of the destruction of trees far away, the screaming of monsters, and the loud footsteps. Within a minute, they witnessed a horde of goblins and dozens of Orcs rushing towards them. "General Uru, erect a barrier." Jothadam didn''t waste the time to pass an order as he understood that they weren''t coming towards them to attack but are running away. Why should he risk the life of his men over such a thing So, he decided to focus on defense. Almost instantly, the strongest of his faction let out a roar and unleashed a barrier, covering all of his allies. Those goblins and Orcs that collided with the sturdy barrier only crashed on the down. Eventually, the numbers of Goblins became fewer and the General knew what''s they were going to face next. Very soon, their target appeared in the view in the form of a leg. Suddenly, it stopped and everyone raised their heads to look at the large lizard which is a lot bigger than a fully transformed Elder Dragon of level-500. "A level-400 beast?" Jothadam relaxed a bit upon realizing that this beast is only at the same level as his General despite its giant size. "General Uru, take it down. Everyone, support him." "Milord, there''s someone up there." It was only after the general told him, Jothadam tried to sense his surroundings. There were not just one but three people above its head. One of them is a level-300, one of them is between 100 and 200 while the last one is in between 200 and 300. Slowly, the Dinosaur lowered its head and Jothadam saw the teenager along with a white-winged man. "Eucliffe clan?" He was a little bit taken aback as the clan of white dragons never steps out of their territory and interferes in the kingdom''s business. Since Wil''s wings were a bit different from typical dragon wings, Jothadam misunderstood that he might be a mutant and probably got expelled. But it doesn''t matter. What matters is their intention. Before anyone opens the mouth, Wil revealed his intentions directly after inspecting the old man, "Jothadam Draconus, I''ll give two choices. Surrender and pledge loyalty to Prince Lucius or die. The same goes for your subordinates." "What an audacity to not only call me by my name directly but also dared to threaten me?" As expected, Jothadam who was born into a royal family was difficult to be convinced by mere words. Wil also knew that this General was probably his strength for him to speak like this. He knew that he has only three options. One is to kill the old man and absorb the group. Two is to kill the general and force the old man to join his faction. If neither works, the third option is to kill everyone to erase the competition. At the same time, Wil also wanted to see if he absorbs the faction, whether the candidacy of the old man will be disappeared or not. He then shifted his eyes towards the General, "what do you say? You are at a level where you will be very useful to the public. Join our faction and I''ll promise you the position of Dragonlord once our prince attains the throne." "How dare you?" Jothadam was enraged when Wil tried to poach his own general in front of him, disregarding his presence. "General Uru, kill them." Upon receiving the order, as the general stepped forward without any hesitation, brandishing his ax, Wil''s face turned cold, "very well. You made the choice." "Rexy, kill him." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 408 - Race To The Dragon Throne Part-3 When Wil offered the position of Dragonlord to General Uru, he didn''t expect the man to abandon his master and switched the sides right away. Such a person couldn''t be trusted too. All he wanted was to see a little bit of hesitation on this level-400 legendary (-) grade dragon, considering the offer. If such a happened, Wil would have decided to cut down the master and absorb the faction. However, it didn''t happen. General Uru didn''t even hesitate to step outside the barrier and brandished the ax to cut down the monster before him with just one order from his master. It tells that he was incredibly loyal to the old man. It was at that moment Wil decided to go with the second option. "Rexy, Kill him." The Tyrannosaurus let out another roar, trying to intimidate its opponent. Meanwhile, General Uru dashed forward to cut off its legs. After spending in the forest terrain, he knew how many constraints a beast of such size would have in this area filled with trees. "Use Petrifaction skill," Wil passed an additional order after seeing his moments. All of a sudden, its pupils were gone and its eyes turned blood red before a beam of red laser light was shot from its eyes while locking onto its target. Before the bearded General even made it halfway, he was struck by a laser beam and stopped in his tracks. Almost instantly, he turned into a rock statute. "What the hell" Under the stupefied gazes of low-level dragons, the tyrannosaurs raised the leg and stomp on his head. The first time it stomped, only cracks appeared over the statue while losing almost 95% of HP. The notifications about his berserk state also rang in Wil''s ears but it''s of no use because Uru was petrified already and couldn''t break out of the situation. Seeing that its opponent hasn''t dead yet, it stomped once again, turning him into powder and dissipated the barrier. *Ding! You killed Uru. You received 1.3 Billion EXP. *Ding! You are in a two-member party. The EXP will be evenly distributed. *Ding! Lucius is detected as Dragon Race. He cannot receive EXP. The acquired EXP will be received by you alone. *Ding! You summoned two battle companions. The EXP will be evenly distributed between the three of you. *Ding! You received the maximum limit. You cannot receive EXP. *Ding! Rexy''s level depends on its master. It cannot receive EXP. *Ding! Felix receives 433.33 million EXP. *Ding! Felix reached level 250. It is going under a fifth metamorphosis. *Ding! Felix reached level 300. It is going under a sixth metamorphosis. *Ding! Felix reached the maximum level. It cannot receive any EXP. Please increase your level to increase its level limits. With just one kill, Wil saw his five-tailed fox now became a seven-tailed fox while receiving two additional skills. *Woof* It barked in happiness. It seems even animals love free EXP. Meanwhile, Wil was a little bit confused about the notification. Earlier, Lucius did receive EXP when he hunted down the goblins and orcs that are standing in the way. But, now, he didn''t receive any EXP. Maybe, due to the same kind? After all, he doesn''t receive EXP when he kills Players or NPCs too. And NPCs will also receive EXP only when they kill the beasts. Maybe, the dragon race will receive EXP if they kill a beast of a different kind. When Wil thought of it, he felt it might be the case. He inwardly sighed, "A pity. The kid couldn''t get his share of 650 million EXP. It would easily make him jump at least 200 levels and become a powerhouse." Sorting out his thoughts, Wil then looked at the old man and spoke in a serious tone, "you still can redeem yourselves. Join our faction and support Prince Lucius'' claim for the throne. I''ll give you ten seconds of time. Those who wanted to join us kneel. Once the time is up, those who are still standing in front of us will receive the same fate as your General. Well, you can try to run away but make sure to hide carefully all your life. Not even an Elder Dragon will be able to save you then. Now, make your choice." Everyone who was still not out of stock started to shiver in fear of their lives upon hearing the warning. Their heartbeat increased rapidly as they didn''t know what to choose, loyalty or life. "Ten, nine" Wil started counting, increasing the terror on their faces. *Thud* Shockingly, before even two seconds passed, the level-310 captain Mallard suddenly fell on his knees, "I submit." *Thud* Thud* Followed by him, one after another, everyone fell on their knees, leaving an aggravated old man. "You trashes. How dare you" He pulled out a sword and pointed at the nearest soldier. "I will kill each and every one of Ugh" Before his words ended, a fire arrow struck his chest, turning him into ash. Everyone raised their heads to see Wil had an exquisite bow in his hand. At the same time, they felt a strange kinship with the bow as the power of Averil''s spirit was engraved on it. Closing the notifications that were only informing him about the maximum level limit, he looked at twenty-eight soldiers kneeling on the ground and nodded to himself, "well, this one also works." "From now onwards, your loyalty will lie with his Highness. Keep in mind that loyalty will earn rewards and disloyalty will earn you death." The Tyrannosaurus slowly lowered its head as Wil made a statement. Because it is a fifty-meter giant beast, they haven''t got a clear look before. Now when everyone saw the young appearance of Lucius, they were a little bit taken aback but since they already jumped onto another ship with their original ship being sunk into an ocean, they could only sail on it, at least until a better opportunity appears. "Aren''t you going to greet your future king?" Wil''s voice brought them to reality. "Greetings, your highness," All of them kowtowed before Lucius to pay their respects while Wil continuously received notifications about each one joining his faction. Meanwhile, the Divine Dragon who was observing all the candidates from outside let out a smile, "this young man chose this route huh. Entered my abode with one member in the faction but now, increased to 29. Let''s see how far he will go." .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 409 - Race To The Dragon Throne Part-4 Nearly five hours passed since the test started. Wil continued to hunt down the monsters, leveling up Lucius along with a panda named Happy. Happy used to be a panda cub when he dismissed Felix and summoned this cute creature. Now, it''s as big as Wil, crossing level-150. Meanwhile, Lucius'' faction grew to 96 members in total, absorbing all the five factions that are landed in the upper section of the hourglass-shaped forest. Unfortunately, all this while, he neither met any top faction lead by a legitimate prince nor a legendary grade dragon. With so many members sharing the exp, leveling progress of Happy is incredibly slow. Another good thing is that except for the old man who was too stubborn to resist and end up dead, all the other four accepted Wil''s offer after he killed their best fighter. The more his faction increased, the more he managed to pressure the opponents. With a huge faction behind him, Wil charged into the next inner zone. Since Wil knew the path, he didn''t look for it anyway. The Tyrannosaurus-EX just rushed towards a certain direction Wil pointed towards, destroying every tree and monster that is encountered. Meanwhile, his ninety-six faction members safely followed him without having to do anything. Over time, their confidence in Wil only increased further. Soon, under Rexy''s lead, everyone was out of the forest zone and passed through a transparent barrier only to find their surroundings change into that of a large open grassland where several wolves were seen roaming around with large bulky humans with fur over their bodies, pointy ears. While everyone was a little bit taken aback upon seeing these level-300 creatures of elite and Heroic grades, Wil, on the other hand, let out a satisfactory grin. In his eyes, whether they are wolves or werewolves, all of them were nothing more than EXP. He turns around and passed an order to everyone in his party, "everyone stays together for safety. I''ll go clean up the field." *Ding! Favorability with Mallard increased by 10 points *Ding! *Ding! *Ding! Continuous notifications kept ringing in his ears as the members of his faction were grateful towards their leader. Usually, a leader will stand back and ask his subordinates to do the job for him and they but here, their leader asks them to stay back and is going to the job by himself. Who wouldn''t like it except for battle-crazed ones Even the candidates who were forced to submit now felt a little bit touched. Soon, their respect and fear towards Wil only rose higher after watching how the giant Dinosaur made the lively grassland into empty grassland within half an hour. By the time he cleared the field, everyone found themselves level up with a total share of nearly 3 million exp each. Everyone''s enthusiasm reached a new height as they stepped inside the next triangular zone. As they go deep, the zones only get smaller and the monsters got stronger. This zone is just a single large mountain with forests. At first, Wil wanted Rexy to go on a rampage like before. However, the enemies stationed in this terrain turned out to be elves that only ambush from out of nowhere with arrows. "First Werewolves, now Elves?" Wil never expected that the divine dragon will create a realm where elves are also present. Since this test is for the prince to become a King, Wil wondered whether the Divine Dragon wanted the next ruler of the Dragon Island to get familiar with other races in case of a possible invasion. Does that mean there will be Angels and Demons in the next zone? Wil could only imagine. After finding out that these elves are also wild monsters and give exp to everyone, for a while, Wil let Rexy go on a rampage, destroying the surroundings and the enemies in it. But, it only became harder as they are not only very swift to dodge the attacks but this forest is also quite thick, restricting Rexy''s movements more thereby reducing its speed. It worked with goblins and Orcs but the same rampage didn''t work with the elves. So, Wil opts for a different solution. That is to just ignore them and go to the next zone to save time. Thankfully, Rexy''s appearance was so huge that these tiny little dragons that are in their humanoid form were able to escape the elves'' radar. Instead of going straight, Wil ordered Rexy to go around the foot of the mountain where only level-300 to level-400 Elves of Elite and Heroic grade were stationed. It took another two hours for them to escape the region. On the way, Wil received a text from Mia about whether he''s joining for dinner to which he could only apologize and continue his gaming as this was very important. Considering how long Wil is playing the game, Mia really wondered what her brother is up to. The last time she asked, he mentioned it was a non-combat profession called Seer, which is a job to predict future things like events, missions, etc So, she only assumed that he was operating a shop somewhere, predicting futures for customers like those tarot card shops in real life. But, is it that important? Or is he just trying to avoid? If so, who? Their mother? Or her father? Maybe, he was just lying to her? If so, then, why there''s a need to. Does he want to game alone? Or is there some kind of secret? Maybe, he''s like Batman and Superman, living two different lives except that the other life is pretty much a top-secret like being the mystery Time Traveler. The more Mia thought, the more she felt like her brother might be the Time Traveler. One, no one knows Time Traveler. Two, Time Traveler is the guild leader of Scarlet and later, Vulture. Three, Time Traveler is a friend of Akiko who sat with her during the auction where in real life the latter is the fiance of her brother. Four, Time Traveler squandered gold coins like water during the world auction. Five, Time Traveler give her a birthday present. And most important, Six, his brother was incredibly strong in Archery, and coincidentally, Time Traveler carries a bow. Of course, as Wil mentioned, it is highly possible that Time Traveler wanted to stay secret while being a proxy leader in place of her brother. Mia didn''t have answers to her doubts yet but believed she would find them soon once she contacts her brother with the ign he mentioned to her. So, she told him that she would like to meet him in the game, later. Wil didn''t know Mia''s thoughts and assumed she just wanted to play along with him in the game. Wil did accept it out of reluctance as he knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. He doesn''t have a plan to fool her but thought that he should come up with one so that things stay the same as before. The reason he wants to keep this secret as much as possible is because of his unknown worst relations in the real world. Only he knew how much the world will change in five years and how much War Online will impact the economy. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005 Chapter 410 - Race To The Dragon Throne Part-5 *Graaa* *Graaa* In an open field of a graveyard, dozens of dragons in their complete transformation are fighting against each other while killing undead skeletons at the same time. On one side, there''s a faction serving the eldest prince Reuben and on another side, there''s a faction serving the second prince Iamrar. Both of the factions have an Elder Dragon and several Generals and Dragonlords supporting them. So, one can say, the competition between them is quite fierce and there''s also seemed to be enmity judging by how they are personally fighting against each other. And one faction with just over ten members was quietly watching from far away. There''s the third and final Elder Dragon within the group. "Your Highness, if we just support one, the other side can be subdued easily." The Elder Dragon advised the fifth prince, Frost Draconus. Frost shook his head, "no matter how much we are vying for the throne, they are still my elder brothers. I can''t take sides. We will wait here until one of them emerges as the winner." "Then, what should we do about the princess?" The Elder Dragon proceeded to ask while glancing at the unconscious woman in the arms of a soldier. It was Kyla who lost her faction and surprisingly got defeated by the fifth prince very easily. "I don''t know." Frost let out a sigh remembering how he couldn''t bear himself to kill her even though she was the one that tried to ambush him and kill him. "We''ll see what to do with her once I take the throne." The battle went on. Soon, the soldiers from either side started to die. Both of the Elder Dragons are loyal to their masters and are equal in strength. Neither of them is getting the upper hand. However, for the battle between the princes, the Black Dragon seems to be at a little bit of a disadvantage against the platinum dragon due to the latter being a metallic dragon. Iamrar was getting pushed back by the aggressive attacks of Iamrar. Eventually, the crown prince overpowered the second prince and pinned him to the ground despite the latter was of higher level. *Roar* (Your Highness). Elder Dragon Rayrgen tried to get back to Iamrar but he was blocked by equally powerful Elder Dragon Qavrot. *Graa* (You, get lost). Rayrgen growled in anger. Qavrot firmly grabbed the opponent''s claws, *Grrrraaaaa* (no one will involve in their battle, not me and certainly not you. This was the rule we set and we will have to follow it no matter what) Meanwhile, the second struggled to get free with his neck tightly chocked by the platinum dragon. The latter''s other free front limb raised above and all of a sudden, an energy ball started to get form. Within five seconds, the energy ball became as big as five meters, one-third of the size of their bodies. "Your Highness, the crown prince is going to win. Prince Iamrar will not be to survive this attack." The Elder Dragon informed the fifth prince but failed to notice that Frost''s sky blue eyes turned deep blue, stating that he''s extremely angry. It was only after a second later when Frost raised the bow and conjured an arrow he realized it. *Grrraaa* (How dare you). The Platinum Dragon decided to kill him when the latter threatened him using his daughter''s name. It was just then, he sensed something, possibly an ambush that coming towards him from above. "Hmm?" Reuben glanced above only to find an Ice spear aimed at him. The crown prince was forced to free his brother and tried to dodge the attack upon sensing the power behind the spear. But, it was so fast that the platinum dragon didn''t even get much time before the spear pierced the giant energy ball on his right front limb, triggering an explosion. Iamrar and Reuben blasted away from each other, although only the former was harmed by the explosion. "Stop the battle." A familiar voice echoed in the surroundings, followed by the appearance of Frost and his faction. As soon as the third Elder Dragon entered the field with its complete transformation, the battle between the two factions came to halt. Seeing that it is a good opportunity, Rayrgen slipped away and flew towards his prince. "Frost," Iamrar and Rayrgen transformed to his humanoid form, welcoming the person who can immediately change the tides of the battle. After staring at him briefly, the second prince let out a grin, "I see You have hidden your strength very well, younger brother, just like the Elder brother. Who could have expected that a mutant in our family is actually higher level than myself..." Being an Ice Dragon, Frost was indeed considered unique even among the royal family. One should say he was the only living Ice dragon in the entire Dragon Island. As mutants like him often have less potential due to impure blood, to date, he didn''t take him too seriously. He didn''t expect that Frost suppressed his level-470 to 405 and lived low key to protect himself from possible assassination from other Elder Dragons. Even Wil who was out somewhere was fooled by the inspection. "Well, I worked hard," Frost shrugged his shoulders in response to Iamrar''s comment. He then looked directly into the second prince''s eyes, "I planned to stay out of business until I see you planned to kill Eldest Brother." "So, you want to support this rebel?" Reuben''s face turned dark. He knew that he will be in a tough spot if both of his brothers team-up. But at the same time, if he proceeded to kill Iamrar, there''s a possibility that Rayrgen might join Frost. In either way, he will be the one to lose. Thankfully for him, Frost''s thoughts were in a different direction. He glanced at the injured Iamrar who was being helped by Elder Dragon Rayrgen. "I believe by now, you know that you have lost, Brother Iamrar. I have a proposal for you. Admit defeat and withdraw your claim to the throne and in return, when either I or Eldest brother ascends to the throne, you will be given any two regions of your choice and make it your own kingdom albeit still under the control of Imperial Palace." "Huh!" Both of the brothers were taken aback by his proposal. .... .... If you are not reading this at webnovel.com, then, sorry, the content you are reading is stolen. Please support the Author by reading at the original website. Thank you. Original link: https://www..webnovel.com/book/war-online_17039002606374005