Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Heroic Flying Mount
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Lump (Common), Kiki (Common), Clinger (Common)... flash!
Famed Steed Windflap (Rare)!
Whiner (Common), Whiner (Common), Lump (Common), Clinger (Common).
I'd dumped every penny from my club and broadcast gigs into pet summons. Of course, the results were abysmal. All commons, with a rare popping up every once in a blue moon.
Coco (Common), Choco (Common), Clinger (Common)... flash!
Red Bear Grizzly (Rare)!
But as always, keep pulling long enough and results come through.
Flash!
A burst of light, and the goddess statue's playful smile vanishes.
*Always the same... why does she get all serious when I hit a good one?*
Whether I was stunned or not, the summoning stone on the ground glowed brightly.
Rumble...
Touching it shattered the stone, revealing a massive hawk saddled on its back.
*Rumors in the Crystal League speak of a spirit beast swifter and cleverer than any other, one that only carries royalty through the skies.*
[Giant Hawk Sky (Heroic)]
"Yes!"
Revenge features all sorts of mount pets.
From basic horses to cows, ostriches, alpacas, and more. Rares step it up with combat-capable wolves, rhinos, raptors, and the like.
Once pets hit Heroic and beyond, certain mounts gain a new ability.
Flight.
Flying mounts enter the scene.
"Phew. Lucky my first Heroic is a bird."
Unlike other players reliant on synthesis, I could distribute classes and pets to my subordinates, so I skipped synthesis entirely. Meaning Heroics had to come straight from summons!
*And the odds for a Heroic are 0.1%.*
I'd been sweating the cash burn, but wrapped it up under 4.5 million won. If it hadn't hit this time, I'd have waited for the next gig or worst-case, payday. What a relief.
Just as I patted my chest, text popped up.
[One guild's level has risen from 1→2!]
[One guild's max members increased from 100→150.]
[The following features are unlocked.]
[Guild Attendance, Guild Buff (EXP +1%)]
[Guild Shop (High Potions)]
"Ah, it finally leveled."
I pulled up the territory management options and renamed the castle [Starting].
It marked my first conquered castle and nodded to the game's starting area.
*Not that anyone will notice.*
With [Starting] as a safe haven, my elite troops' EXP and item gains skyrocketed. Resting in town naturally stacked Goddess's Blessings.
Sure, blessings capped at stage 2—200 points—but how could that compare to nothing at all?
Burn those stacked blessings in dungeon runs, and guild EXP piles up.
It took longer than expected, but leveling was inevitable.
Ding!
I checked the guild benefits tab for the new level-up features.
*Standard guild raid at level 6... Players are grinding EXP hard now, so it's not far off.*
Guild perks abound. For Ardentia's near-F2P players, the guild shop was an oasis in the desert.
Attendance wasn't just free Honor Coins for logging in as a member.
The real prize was the guild shop itself.
*Honor Tokens. Finally a place to spend 'em.*
Coins came from [Achievements] too.
Kill set numbers of monsters, farm set gold, level up, down bosses—each nets Honor Coins.
Couldn't spend 'em till now. But that's changed.
*And the inventory's stacked.*
Just potions for now, but higher levels add everything. Consumables like enhancement scrolls or teleports? Barely worth mentioning.
*Skill Books! And Class Summon Tickets!*
Level 6 unlocks weekly standard guild raids plus 9 Rare skill books. Level 7 adds class tickets, 8 adds pet tickets.
Meaning players could stock tickets without me!
With growing troops, class ticket prices were insane. This was a godsend.
"Wait... hold up."
Scrolling the list, I jolted.
"Level 13 adds Heroic active skill books? And level 15... Heroic passive skill books?"
Level 15 Heroics include this:
[Drain (Heroic) (Passive)]
Overwhelm foes with rock-solid stamina, absorbing a portion of damage as health.
"Absorption."
Not HP regen—straight stamina absorb. A foundation for berserk rampages. Stunned, I hit the official forums.
Perfect timing—a question.
[Q] Drain from guild shop?
Honor Coins 1.5M... I got 100k now. Can I snag it?
Drain pairs perfect with my job. How to farm? Skip daily class tickets maybe...
└IMHO, 100k coins easier than guild lvl 15. LOL Revenge guild 15 takes 2 years LOL. Join top guild instant fix tho LOL
└Top guilds do interviews LOL IRL meetings LOL In their office LOL Not a corp but game interviews? LOL
└Guild 13 ~1yr, 15 ~2yr est. If all 2700-diamond full-gear blessing-farmers? 2 months tops.
(1-20M won per head via points doable for 15, est)
└Coins whatever... guild lv impossible...
└Must be one of those untouchables huh ㅜㅡㅜ
"Damn."
My brief thrill chilled. Guild leveling was brutal.
"All members dropping 10-20M each? Bullshit. My guild's all F2P!"
Grumbling, I closed the guild window.
"Sigh. No point staring. Check status instead."
I kicked off the ceiling and flew up, bounding roof-to-roof around the territory.
First stop: the drill grounds north of the territory.
"One."
"Hah!"
"One."
"Hah!"
Swordman trained about 500 troops.
A blue aura shimmered around him as he barked sharp orders.
*He's awakened Aura.*
Talent shortfall had blocked it before, but Swordman was a decade-plus Heavenly Dragon Sword Art practitioner.
Now mastering it fully, with class and mana stats boosting reserves, aura awakening was natural.
I moved on to the large mansion northeast.
"Focus! Don't break your breathing! Incomplete cycles are worse than nothing!"
Hundred trained 30 elites. Steelstone did the same elsewhere on patrol.
Next, a building east in town.
Smile taught young students inside.
"Mana condensation is key. You lot! You goddamn blockheads! Get practicing! Hurry... Oh! Note! Nailed it! Woo! Applause, three times! Note, promoted from blockhead to plain idiot."
Always grinning before—didn't peg him for a trash-talker. Students sweated through circling drills.
*Eh, teaching solid though.*
I'd passed Quick Progress Gong to Steelstone and Hundred, Fast Three circling to Smile.
They shared a trait.
*Instant.*
Raising martial realms hurts.
Memorize formulas, temper the body.
*That's tough enough.*
Lose weight.
Easy resolve. But 50kg overweight? Without bio-fitness training, how many succeed?
Hitting goals past temptations marks you beyond [normal].
Raising realms? Even more.
Ability tempering races toward transcendence. Human-born shedding humanity for divinity—that's realm ascent.
Grind breathing while others sleep, fight deathmatches over hangouts, ponder arts endlessly instead of games or TV.
Difficulty eclipses dropping 50kg from 100kg. No iron will? Forget mastery or even expert.
Only obsession nuts reach high tiers.
*But normals can't.*
Screaming over stubbed toes—that's average.
No self-mastery, can't study 10hrs/day, collapse after 100hr weeks body and mind.
So sages and ability users crafted instant abilities after long research.
Instant.
Quick Progress Gong and Fast Three—them. Peak of "evil arts" in martial terms.
Quick Progress Gong explodes inner power with momentum, masters control fast. No supreme art matches its speed.
An elementary kid with zero ability hits second-rate warrior—upper Aura User, near Aura Expert—in 2 years!
*But that's the ceiling.*
Quick Progress casters never escape second-rate. Designed that way. Instant arts let talentless, busy normals wield some power.
Fast Three rockets to 3rd circle fastest, but stabilizes there—no further growth.
Rising realm mages skip it. Factory mage workers? Mostly Fast Three.
That's why 4th-circle Sehan shocked me. 3rd and 4th circle? Different paths.
Tangent: 5th circle's another beast. Past most mages' [wall].
*Even instants need months to master proper.*
So now—build foundations over expansion.
Troops averaging 30+ with high gear, skills, self-mana control? Unmatched army born.
Then.
"Now's the timing..."
Nodding, I headed back to the castle, thinking.
*Time to sweep outer dungeons.*
With Giant Hawk Sky, totally doable.