Housewarming (3)
What is a Seed of Life?
It is the Saint's trial—a test to confirm whether one possesses the power to claim what the Saint left behind.
If the required number of Seeds of Life aren't gathered within the given timeframe, Atlas Territory will fail to evolve into a growth-type territory.
In other words, it would be stripped of its qualifications and remain a ruined territory forever.
However, Hyun-soo had overcome the disadvantage of having only a handful of guild members and territory residents by hunting the Bone Dragon and pulling the Saint's Sword, meeting the baseline criteria.
Now, the only thing left was how many dormant beings in Atlas he could awaken.
How many awaken depends on how many Seeds of Life we gather in the allotted time.
According to Karn, the number of those who awaken would vary based on how many Seeds of Life were obtained during this period.
The more territory residents awakened, the better.
They'll rebuild this place with me, serve as soldiers when needed, and merchants at other times.
That was why Hyun-soo and everyone who had migrated with him were obsessed with collecting Seeds of Life.
But the results from the first day were disastrous.
Just 121.
Even that was only possible because Bella had steadily hunted in Zone D with the troops she brought.
Hyun-soo realized just how difficult gathering Seeds of Life truly was and recognized his own shortcomings.
And also.
I won't be able to awaken that many residents.
Even Karn didn't know how many residents had once lived here.
But for a grand territory on average, there were typically over 30,000 residents and more than 3,000 soldiers.
That was the standard for a grand territory.
Still, Hyun-soo was somewhat resigned to the slower-than-expected pace of gathering Seeds of Life.
Fortunately, the 4,000 blacksmiths arrived.
The issue was that those 4,000 blacksmiths would only contribute to construction and production.
Unlike the first day, he had expected around 300 to 400 today.
Plus, since it was a territory quest, everyone was gathering seeds, and Hyun-soo as lord could hear the notifications.
But with alerts popping up every few minutes as everyone progressed, he had turned off territory notifications.
However, he could still hear the hourly ones.
Hyun-soo was stunned by the number floating before his eyes.
What the hell...?
You have obtained 2,754 Seeds of Life in one day.
Astounding achievement.
Atlas Territory once reigned as the greatest grand territory due to its diverse strengths.
Among them, the greatest power came from the Saint who led them.
You approach one of the powers the Saint possessed.
This power signifies the lord's strength and dignity while leading countless residents and soldiers.
Or, as a territory lord, it wields a force that can even humble enemy prestige.
The higher the count, the more absurd its power becomes, fulfilling the qualities of a lord's charisma, leadership, and command.
Hyun-soo caught on that the hint referred to a power the Saint had wielded.
A stat... yeah, it's a stat!
Stats existed beyond the basic four primary ones, including those tied to job classes.
The more stat slots opened, the greater the power they granted the user. Hyun-soo already possessed the Legend stat Willpower as one such example.
Gaining an additional stat slot alone is an enormous reward.
Ares rewards often included across-the-board stat increases.
Opening one more slot meant one more stat to boost each time.
Moreover, character growth had clear limits.
Overcoming those limits came from possessing stats others didn't have.
And if it's a stat the Saint held...
Gulp—
Hyun-soo hadn't seen it yet, but he knew.
It would be a Legend stat.
Then a question arose in Hyun-soo's mind.
Thanks to the 4,000 blacksmiths and the four artisan blacksmiths?
Even so, it was too many.
And Hyun-soo suspected it might be connected to Nel's tea time.
What the hell is going on?
And for Hyun-soo, not knowing was fine.
Because...
"Mang~?"
He was just sitting there, sucking on honey!
Hyun-soo refocused on his own work.
As time passed, he wore a puzzled expression.
You have obtained a massive number of Seeds of Life in a short time.
A new story for Atlas begins.
Saintess Aria had already figured out the identities of the old man and the burly man.
She agreed with what they were saying.
The massive, rugged man asked,
"Housewarming?"
The old man chuckled in response.
"Funeral?"
The territory resident standing beside them had gone pale and was nodding frantically.
"......"
Aria tilted her head at this bizarre trio.
The two kings rumored to hate each other have gotten along this well?
Aria glanced toward where Hyun-soo might be.
Walking a path even greater than the Saint's...
The Saint had interacted with the Ares Church but not other nations.
Thus, he unified the continent and walked the path of the holy king.
Yet Hyun-soo's path seemed even more righteous and solid.
Creating his own legend as a holy king in his unique way.
It was about walking the right path and gathering talent.
Aria agreed with their words.
"Who knew such a custom existed? I'll join you."
With the two heading off with housewarming gifts, she couldn't go empty-handed.
Besides, Aria felt a spark of competitive spirit.
She was a legend before being a saintess.
Though she hadn't attended gatherings of the Ten Legends.
So this would be her first time comparing her power to other legends.
Ben and Barad had teased her into it with similar thoughts.
"Press on, all of you."
Saintess's Blessing
All stats +19%.
All attack power +18%, all defense +22%.
All skill levels +1.
Natural recovery speed x3.
The two kings marveled.
Not every buff worked on everyone.
Ironically, the last time these two kings had received a buff was 20 years ago.
The reason was their high levels.
At such heights, buffs rarely made a difference.
Yet Aria's ignored levels, boosting them by over 20% right then.
And Kabel, already pale, was utterly shocked.
What kind of insane combo is this...?
Two kings and a saintess buffing them.
Monstrous kings made even more monstrous.
Kabel had only wanted more Seeds of Life for Hyun-soo and his own stats.
He couldn't hide his horror at the situation he'd created.
And the three legends entered the dungeon together.
Kabel couldn't believe it.
Time cut in half?
Aria's debuffs on the dungeon monsters!
Plus the stacked buffs!
Even funnier, their "housewarming gifts" for Hyun-soo seemed as easy as shopping at a mega-mart.
In a flash, three dungeons collapsed.
Seed of Life acquisition rate is excessively high.
Seed of Life acquisition rate is excessively high.
Seed of Life...
Hearing the alerts, Kabel gaped like a goldfish in shock, awe, and reverence.
As another dungeon crumbled, one man watched Kabel.
His name was Pao.
Known as the paladin closest to legend status, Pao was a powerhouse over level 400.
He pitied the pale, frail-looking(?) ordinary resident.
Well, overwhelming force like that is too much for a normal resident.
But Pao wasn't ordinary.
That's why he felt sorry for Raon, that resident.
Why's he so pale? It shouldn't be that bad.
With such doubts.
Then, as the fifth dungeon fell, Ben, Barad, and Aria emerged to rest.
"The saintess's heals aren't that impressive, huh."
"Just a regular healer after all."
"......Healer? Watch your mouth, spear guy. Without my heals, you'd have a broken finger. And thanks to me, we're clearing this fast..."
"Hoho, no, healer girl, it's all my mighty spear..."
"This is why spear users and healers don't mix. Swords hold over 40% market share across the continent for a reason..."
No, what kind of conversation is this?
Pao couldn't comprehend.
Even more incomprehensible was Aria assimilating into it.
Uh, Lady Aria?
Fuming at "healer," Aria burned with rivalry, bickering away.
Then.
The three turned sharply toward Pao.
"Hehe, Sir Pao, I'm the best, right?"
"Hoho, you're using a spear? As the Spear Heaven, I'm the top, yeah? Say it."
"Sword, obviously? No, why'd you even pick a spear? Unbelievable guy. Switch to sword from now on..."
In that instant, Pao panicked.
Killing intent and grim expressions poured from them.
Saintess's Overwhelm
Spear Heaven's Presence
Sword King's Killing Intent
Even one aura was hard to endure.
But three at once left Pao's mind reeling.
Actually, passing out seemed preferable.
And finally.
Thud—
"Weakling too, huh."
"Ares Church's top paladin?"
"Kinda frail. Anyway..."
Through his fading consciousness.
Pao locked eyes with Raon, the resident looking down pityingly.
"......"
"......"
One was the world's top assassin, the other Ares Church's premier paladin.
China's Special User Management Team.
Team Leader Wang Uk, Branch Chief Tao, and other team members who hadn't gone home in over a week stared at their monitors with bloodshot eyes.
The reason? Aria's participation had more than doubled the seed acquisition speed.
They'd never anticipated this pace.
No.
Even the two kings farming seeds together was absurd.
Finally, the alert appeared.
User Hyun-soo has obtained a massive number of Seeds of Life in a short time.
A new story for Atlas begins.
The blinking red alert!
A new story forged by three legends.
They watched tensely, then despaired at the content.
"It chains like this?"
"In the world..."
"It connects like THAT!?"
New stories unfolded unpredictably from exceptional actions.
With sharply increased difficulty, but superior rewards.
Learning what was unfolding, Branch Chief Tao told Team Leader Wang,
"Wang, fetch the Story Team leader."
Wang dashed off and dragged back Yi Hui, the Story Team leader, from lunch at the cafeteria.
Yi Hui's eyes trembled the moment he entered the Special User Management Team.
W-what is this...?
The staff inside, including Branch Chief Tao, all stared at him with haggard faces.
And a fleeting expression like 'Heh heh heh...'
It felt like "Can't suffer alone."
"Yi Team Leader."
"......Yes."
Yi looked at Tao.
Tao nodded at the monitor.
Yi gulped upon seeing it.
What the...
It was too shocking a story.
"Come on in."
Yi Hui understood. Story Team overtime too.
He glanced around.
The China Special User Management Team's faces said it all.
Welcome to overtime hell, first time?
Heh heh heh.
We haven't been home in a week.
"......"
Yi, wanting to cry, checked the monitor again.
It displayed content utterly unexpected, unplanned by Story Team.
The Saint awakens.