A few days had passed. Sora and Kara had just bid farewell to Sven and Catherine and were looking at the panel in front of them.
It was a [Military Summon].
[Request from General Asami Hito – "Sto - Adventurer's Guild." Your presence is requested. Attendance is enced but not mandatory.]They moved swiftly through the nd. Sweden had no zones with danger levels above 90, allowing them to pass through effortlessly. With their speed, traveling overnd posed no challenge.
In no time, they reached Sto.
They could see that most people had already gathered. It seemed feent the full three days in Kiruna, opting to return to Sto early for various reasons.
Sora and Kara ehe Guild.
Ihe hall acked. As they stepped in, a few heads turned, and gradually, more people took notice of them.
This was their first public appearance sihe Final Battle.
One pyer began g. Another joined in, and soon, everyone in the room was looking at Sora and Kara, g in unison.
“Make room for the stro couple!” someone shouted, causing Kara to gnce around, trying to spot the culprit.
Pyers started making room for them, splitting the crowd and creating a passage for the duo.
Sora didn't know how to react, but part of him khey really were two of the most valuable pyers in the war. Maybe they deserved such treatment?
Oliver soon came to greet them.
“Hey, Ralph, Kara. Did you get some good rest?”
“Yes, thank you,” Sora replied. “We’re here for the military summon. Is everything okay?”
“It’s to distribute tribution rewards to everyone. e upstairs; upper ranks are gathering in the Guildmaster’s Office.”
The Guildmaster’s Office acious, but with 50 captains, some vice-captains and all els packed i felt cramped.
Sora and Kara entered and quietly fous in a er of the room.
The Adventurer’s Guildmaster stood, speaking with the Vice-Guildmaster. She wore red armor, and her long silver hair flowed freely. Sora couldn’t help but think, 'She’s really beautiful.'
As their versation ended, she turo address the crowd. “You might not know me, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m Hannah, Representative of the New European Uniion of our New World Kingdom and ag Guildmaster of Sto during the war.”
A ripple of shock spread through the room—this meant she yer, and one of the stro i Europe. Sora was surprised to see her name and question marks appearing above her head, as if she was in trol of the information showing above her head. Her level didn’t appear, indig she was over 50 levels above him.
"gratutions on your victory. However, we will not celebrate too much. Finnd and Norway have been lost, and we're now surrounded by the Dark Elf Kingdom. They will end up attag us agaihey think it's time.
“Pyers who want to take part in the war o foissions, travel and grow strohe flict may be far more difficult than a simple Tier 4 war.
“You might not realize it, but our ti is one of the weakest regions in the New World Kingdom. Our average level is low, aruggle in Tier 4 Defense Wars, while a has already quered half of the Demon Kingdom.
“The Ameris are fighting three kingdoms at once, from ada to Cape Horn, and have never lost a battle. Southeast Asia has produced the first knowo reach level 180 and is a high-level region. And Lagos has retly bee the rgest city in the world, boasting the stro adventurer squad globally.
“If we want to avoid relying on everyone else and bringing shame to our Kingdom, we o catch up—one way or another.”
“This means that each of you, sidered elites in Spain, France, London, or Italy, must tio grow. We have high-level pyers who left Europe to train elsewhere, but elites who don’t return to help when we’re utack aren’t worth mentioning. And those of us who are too high-level, like myself, are restricted from participating in Tier 4 wars.
“Before Captain Ralph’s arrival, our twest pyers were from ions. Let that be a reminder of where we stand. We must use this period of peace tthen each of you.”
“For now, you’ll all be rewarded for your service. You’ll receive CP, which you use to gain experience points or items, though I highly reend using it to boost yrowth factor or talent level for pyers who afford them.”
Everyone was stu the annou. Increasing their talent level rowth factor had always been a distant dream. Many had fantasized about multipliers of 2, 10, or even more, imagining themselves being gods in a matter of weeks.
A notification appeared before each pyer:
[gratutions on your victory!][You have been awarded 12,550 tribution points.][Please spend them in the War Shop, accessible through your system panel.]Eager to see what the War Shop offered, Sora quickly ope.
[War Shop]
Armor / Accessories: Cliore detailsons: Cliore detailsMaterials: Cliore detailsTemporary Effects: Cliore detailsPerma Effects: Cliore detailsJob Promotion: Cliore detailsCss Promotion: Cliore detailsMiseous: Cliore detailsHint: You accumute your tribution points and use them anytime.
Sora opened a random category and was immediately overwhelmed by thousands of items. He was even more surprised to discover that he could accumute tribution Points (CP) and use them whenever he wanted.
Curious, he explored various categories to get a sense of the prices. There were ons of all rarities and levels, but anything above level 105 was locked. He couldn’t evehose items, as if the system reventing him from biting off more than he could chew.
Skipping over items and materials, he went straight to the Perma Effects se.
[Talent Boost]: Increase your talent by 1.Price: 20,000 CPWarning: ot be traded[Growth Factor Boost]: Increase yrowth factor by 0.5Price: 20,000 CPWarning: ot be traded[Lucky Hand Boost]: Increase your item drop rate by 20%Price: 15,000 CPWarning: ot be traded[Gold Hand Boost]: Gold earned from hunting increases by 20%Price: 15,000 CPWarning: ot be tradedThere were all kinds of perma boosts, some being expensive and others extremely so. Sora checked the Temporary Buffs instead.
[Temporary Talent Boost]: Increase your base talent by 1 for a week. (ot be stacked with the same item)Price: 500 CPWarning: ot be traded[Temprowth Factor Boost]: Increase yrowth factor by 0.5 for a week. (ot be stacked with the same item)Price: 500 CPWarning: ot be tradedSnored most other buffs, fog oalent and Growth Factor boosts. After reag a new highest level, his Growth Factor had reset to 1, causing his experieo grow as slowly as anyone else’s. Boosting it temporarily when needed seemed pretty useful.
He had no idea whether the boost in talent level and growth level affected his total value, or ged his base value. If it boosted his base value, his overall talent would soar. He o test these items.
Expl other categories, he found tless intriguing items but decided not to spend his CP without a clear purpose.
‘This css promotion category is making me drool… I want everything,’ he thought, relutly closing the shop and deg not to buy anything for now.
Around him, everyone wore excited expressions, like kids told they could piy toy in a store. S Kara, who looked equally enthusiastic.
“Find anything you liked?” he asked. “And do you have enough points for it?”
“There are so many good options. I’ll ignear for now, but those perma effects are amazing… just so expensive. I don’t even have 10,000 CP,” Kara admitted. “I might go with a temporary buff or decide ter.”
“I’ll also wait to buy items until I really hem,” Sora replied, nodding in agreement.
After a few more minutes, Hannah spoke again. “Now that you’ve received your CP, I ence you to take your time before making any decisions. If you’re unsure of what to choose, the Vice-Guildmaster offer advice.” She g him, and though he didn’t look thrilled about the task, he had no choice.
She tinued, “You may now leave. Asami, els, Ralph, Kara—please stay behind.”
Everyoood up, and the captaihe office.
The remaining group turo face the Guildmaster who poi the els and general. “What I said earlier was mainly for you six. It’s a miracle ith such a margin, f the eo retreat. You each have potential, and if you’re ied, I suggest paths that could lead you to eveer heights. Iurn, I’d like your promise to support the NEU if we ever face trouble iure. you do that?”
Lois, Edward, Oliver, and Cero agreed to her request.
Asami and Aaated, weighing their itments and the freedom their backgrounds afforded them. After a moment, they agreed, on the dition that they would help if they weren’t otherwise occupied.
Hannah accepted their terms, reizing that while it wasn’t a firm guarahe seeds she pnted in these six might one day aid her region. She looked at Sora and Kara specifically and said, “You may already know this, given your strength at your levels…”
She paused before turning her head toward the other pyers “You’ve probably heard of Innate Skills—abilities uo certain pyers. While these are rare, some pyers have discovered abilities even more powerful, capable of raising potential to unimaginable levels. We call these Supreme Skills.”
The group was stunned. Sora and Kara, in particur, felt exposed, realizing that Hannah had likely seen through their abilities. The others were equally surprised, learning that somethied beyond Innate Skills, a revetion they hadn’t entered despite years of experience.
mimou
