A Knight's New Look

'Is that all of them? Ah. Maybe they gathered them somewhere else because having too many in the courtyard would be a problem?'

"Cain!"

"Ah! My ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knight, Cain! You've come!"

The 4th Prince was overjoyed to see Cain, practically jumping with glee. He pointed Cain out to the other soldiers and knights.

"That is my knight! No matter how far away he is, at my command..."

"Do you want to die, you bastard?!"

He immediately grabbed the prince by the collar!

"?!"

"Are you out of your mind, volunteering for the vanguard to the Demon Realm?! Die by yourself, you idiot!"

"Cough, hack... W-wait. What is the meaning of this..."

The soldiers and knights looked horrified and were about to draw their weapons. Tae-hyun quickly intervened.

"They're just doing that because they're close."

"Close or not, such insolence...!"

"I said, they're close."

"..."

When Tae-hyun glared and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spoke, the soldiers and knights were instantly convinced.

'Ah! They really must be close! Or maybe they aren't, but is it really worth risking our lives for the 4th Prince?' The convinced soldiers and knights quickly looked away.

'The knights are around level 400 to 500, and the royal guards are around 300? The levels are decent, but I wish there were more of them.'

The level of Pangaea Online players was steadily rising. Unlike the early days when reaching level 100 was enough to be considered a ranker, rankers had now broken through the level 200 barrier and were looking even higher.

Since Tae-hyun himself was level 177...

Currently, top rankers were in the mid-to-late 200s. When rankers first broke past 200, there was endless chatter like, "The level 300 barrier will fall in no time!" and "Who will be the first to reach 300?" But lately, things had quieted down, suggesting everyone had hit a wall.

As levels increased, the required experience points grew exponentially, so progression naturally slowed down.

'Sigh. Those rankers need to learn how hard it actually is to level up. If they gained 20 or 30 levels just from clearing a single Legendary Quest, would they ever learn to appreciate the value of a level?'

In any case, soldiers over level 300 were a highly viable force. NPCs were generally weaker than players of the same level due to a lack of good items, skills, and stats, but at level 300, they were more than decent.

Meanwhile, the 4th Prince noticed something strange about Cain. "Cain! Your arms...!"

"Ah."

"..."

A devastating blow! Cain flared up. "Are you judging a knight by his looks?!"

"I-I didn't say anything!"

"I can read your mind, you know!"

"Hmm... It might actually be a good idea for Cain to cover his entire body."

At Tae-hyun's words, the party tilted their heads in confusion. "No matter how ugly Cain is, isn't that a bit much..."

"...That's not what I meant. Look at him. He's starting off with an affinity penalty right off the bat."

Obtaining the Asura title was great, but he was suffering penalties almost on par with an undead.

—Eek! It's a Chimera! Whew. Oh, wait, it's just an undead. Thank goodness.

Actually, in some ways, he was treated as even more bizarre than an undead! Races like Undead or Chimera naturally suffered penalties when interacting with NPCs.

"If we completely cover him in full plate armor, we won't have that problem. Plus, it's beneficial in many ways."

It would boost his defense and hide his identity. Tae-hyun planned to keep Cain under wraps until the Arena League if possible. He wasn't sure how well it would work, though...

'I wonder if people will look at a giant, heavily armored knight with six arms and actually realize it's Cain.'

"There will be some penalties like movement speed, but that's not a big issue for Cain. And it'll make defending much easier."

While Tae-hyun explained, the 4th Prince was busy placating Cain.

"I didn't mean any harm, really. It's just that I believe in your skills so much. You know how I feel, right? Hmm?"

"Hmm... Well, if you put it that way..."

Cain fell for it yet again!

"4th Prince."

"Hieeeek! What?!"

The 4th Prince flinched when Tae-hyun called him. The memory of being dragged away by his collar during the Nevuchadnezzar quest was still vivid.

Because of that, he had subtly brought it up with his father. Of course, the result was disastrous!

—Your Majesty. Do we really have to allow someone as insolent... I mean, as tyrannical as the King of Atali into our kingdom?

—Hmm... My dear son, who didn't visit the palace once when I was on the brink of death, and only showed up after the King of Atali brought the antidote. What did you just babble?

—N-nothing at all, Father.

He had almost died over a single slip of the tongue! Though the King of Erance was old now and spent his days going "hahaha," his sons knew his true nature all too well. He was a man who wouldn't hesitate to lock a son or two in a chest and let them suffocate if they pushed him too far.

"We need to craft armor for your knight, so open up your treasury."

"..."

The 4th Prince looked like he was about to cry.

"Seriously, why is there nothing useful here? You should at least have some Orihalcon and Adamantium stocked up in your treasury!"

"..."

You absolute bastard! the 4th Prince cursed Tae-hyun inwardly. How on earth am I supposed to get those...

Tae-hyun looked around the treasury. Most of the items were works of art, making them awkward to use for crafting.

"Hmm. Still, this one has good stats, so I'll take it."

"Excuse me, but what does a painting have to do with armor..." the 4th Prince spoke up cautiously.

"Tsk, tsk. Blacksmiths need to look at beautiful art to be in a good mood while crafting armor, don't they?"

"..."

"This statue seems to have great stats too!"

'What?! He actually had contribution points?!'

He didn't care about them dropping. He was just surprised that there were points to drop in the first place. It seemed the 4th Prince had accumulated some contribution points due to the Nevuchadnezzar quest.

'Well, might as well use them now. It's not like I'll regret it.'

What else would he use the 4th Prince's personal contribution points for? If he were the King, he could save them for kingdom-related affairs, but the 4th Prince had nothing.

He wasn't a knight commander, nor was he some grand mage. While the princes above him all held some sort of position or asset...

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason. It's nothing."

Tae-hyun looked at the 4th Prince the same way he looked at Cain. At any rate, the sweep was complete.

"Underwhelming."

"What?!"

He had swept up every single high-stat work of art, and he called it "underwhelming"?! That... that evil villain!

'The art pieces are nice, but there aren't many materials suitable for modifying armor. Hmm... Should I melt them down?'

In truth, Cain's current gear was top-tier. It was equipment obtained from Hakkaras's lair! To be precise, it was gear the Dwarves had brought to offer to Hakkaras, but the dragon had refused to wear because it was too heavy. Even so, its quality was staggering.

'I just need to modify the helmet to cover his face, and craft some extra gauntlets to cover his arms.'

"Would three shields and three weapons be better, or four shields and two weapons?"

"How about five shields?"

"Balancing this is surprisingly tricky."

"More importantly, has Cain finished adjusting?"

While Tae-hyun pondered, the rest of the party whispered among themselves, staring at Cain's arms. Since it was a race none of them had ever seen before, they had no idea what advice to offer! Just what kind of power would the six-armed Cain display?

'The Valley'. The residents of this valley grew excited with anticipation whenever something new was built. And it wasn't just them. Now, players all over the world paid close attention whenever a new facility appeared in the Valley.

Various random gachas, the all-purpose crafting machine, prayers, the custom arena, and so on...

A place where every single day was fun, even without leveling up or doing quests! Of course, players outside the Valley would shake their heads and mutter, "Tsk tsk, look at those crazy bastards," as they passed by...

So when a strange building suddenly appeared atop the mountain range behind the Valley, players couldn't help but be curious.

"Archisus's Special Prayer Temple?? What's that?"

"Is a 'special prayer' any different from a regular temple? We can already pray right now."

"Could it be a permanent buff instead of a temporary one?"

"Oh...! That would be amazing."

In Pangaea Online, raising a single stat point required immense effort. A permanent buff would be even better than a simple stat increase. What if you could get something like that just from a single prayer? Well, it was a permanent buff. Just not in the way the players were imagining.

"But why did they build it all the way up on the mountain range?"

"You idiot. If they built a temple like that in the middle of the territory, it would be absolute chaos with everyone crowding around. Putting it up there keeps the crowds somewhat manageable."

"Ah!"

Even before the temple was fully completed, players began climbing the mountain range to line up. These were people who would scale a snow-covered peak just for a single pull of a random gacha!

"Uh... why are so many people gathering?"

"They clearly don't know what this actually is. Shh. Keep quiet."

The members of the Power Warrior Guild kept their mouths shut as they finished their preparations. They also set up a sign in front.

"All done!"

Tae-hyun had done this without much thought. He couldn't drag Archisusman around with him, but he couldn't just let him go to waste either. So, he figured he'd place him in a secluded spot in his territory and let only those who were prepared take the risk! That was his basic idea.

However, Archisusman was bringing about results completely different from what Tae-hyun had anticipated. An unexpected mine was forming in the Valley.

"Um... may I enter?"

"Yes. Go right ahead."

Thump, thump! With the heart-pounding excitement of a fan meeting their favorite star, the player stepped into the cave. Archisus's Special Prayer Temple had been built deep inside a cavern.

'But isn't building a temple deep inside a cave usually what evil god cults do?'

Good God Cults = Proudly establish temples in cities, easy to find no matter who you ask.

Evil God Cults = Usually build temples deep in caves or underground because it's dangerous if they get caught, hard to find no matter who you ask.

That was the difference!

Even the Sadique Order had managed to hold out by building their temple inside this mountain range...

"What are you thinking about?"

"Ah! Nothing! I'm going in!"

The player hurriedly rushed inside. Standing there was a glowing blue humanoid.

"...???"

"Do you know me?"

"Huh? What?"

Squeeze!

"Uh... W-what?!?!"

The player was utterly dumbfounded. It was a staggering bonus, the likes of which they had never seen in their entire life!