Chapter 2013 – Advanced Abilities Activated
After a.s.signing Melancholic Smile's tasks, s.h.i.+ Feng departed from the Candlelight Trading Firm and headed to White River City's library.
He had been bound by the Soul Chain all this time, and no matter how he looked at it, finding the mysterious NPC that had appeared in Blackwing City was simply unrealistic. Even if he found the NPC, he'd have to avoid the man. Not even Sharlyn, who had been a Tier 5 Red Official, had been able to stop him. How was a Tier 2 player like himself supposed to deal with the NPC?
The true goal of his quest wasn't to locate the mysterious NPC, but to collect enough Mysterious Flames to gain control of the Soul Fire.
While Aqua Rose gathered the necessary manpower, he could take advantage of this time to enlist Sharlyn's help with absorbing the Fallen Earthfire, which he had obtained during his Exploration Quest.
Although Tier 2 players weren't as rare anymore, they still made up a small minority of G.o.d's Domain's players. This was the case for Zero Wing, as well. Gathering 1,000 Tier 2 s.h.i.+eld Warriors and Berserkers would take Aqua Rose some time.
Meanwhile, after Melancholic Smile relayed s.h.i.+ Feng's words to Aqua Rose, Aqua Rose began to secretly gather Zero Wing's Tier 2 experts from the Ore Empire and Star-Moon Kingdom. She instructed her chosen experts to teleport directly to White River City's Residence.
Unfortunately, despite the care she used while performing her task, news of her actions soon reached the kingdom's various major powers.
Star-Moon City, Star Alliance's Residence:
“Guild Leader, we've just received news. Zero Wing is gathering 1,000 Tier 2 experts in White River City. We do not know what the Guild plans to do with them yet,” Purple Eye reported as she entered the Guild Leader's office.
Although more players had been completing their Tier 2 Promotion Quests, there still weren't many Tier 2 players in the game. Take the Star Alliance, for example. Despite being a first-rate Guild, it just barely had 3,000 Tier 2 players. The fact that Zero Wing was gathering 1,000 of these experts warranted scrutiny.
“One thousand Tier 2 experts?” Galaxy Past considered the situation carefully, muttering, “Could Zero Wing be preparing to move against the Starlight Alliance?”
Currently, Star-Moon Kingdom's various major powers were eagerly preparing for battle, and Zero Wing's sudden withdrawal from the Witch's Hill was the reason for this. In addition, the Starlight Alliance's reputation had received a ma.s.sive boost due to the sudden development.
If Zero Wing did not put a stop to this, it might lose its position as the kingdom's overlord. G.o.d's Domain had changed, and more Tier 2 players surfaced each day. While Zero Wing might have a lot of these experts, the difference between their count and the total number of Tier 2 players in the kingdom was t.i.tanic. Zero Wing wouldn't be able to maintain its dominance over the kingdom if its development stagnated. Even the various superpowers faced such a problem.
Hence, for a considerable period in the immediate future, G.o.d's Domain's kingdoms and empires would enter an era of strife. It would no longer be possible for a single power to monopolize a country. The various superpowers could only maintain their advantages and their current status in their territories.
“That can't be possible, right? Zero Wing intends to strike out against the Starlight Alliance now?” Purple Eye was astonished by Galaxy Past's guess. “Doesn't Zero Wing know that the top adventurer team, War Riders secretly partnered with the alliance? If a fight breaks out, Zero Wing will suffer.”
The War Riders were a mercenary-like adventurer team. It was one of the few adventurer teams in G.o.d's Domain that had tens of thousands of members. As long as one paid enough, the War Riders would move against any power. Superpowers were no exception.
In a past virtual reality game, a Guild had hired the War Riders to attack the Super Guild, Battle Wolves. Of course, they didn't target the entire Guild, simply one of the Branch Guilds. Even so, the Battle Wolves' First Guild Leader managed that Branch Guild, and it wasn't to be trifled with.
However, the War Riders had paid no heed to the Guild's strength. They had initiated a war without hesitation, and although the Battle Wolves had pummeled the War Riders in the end, the Super Guild had suffered significant losses. Because of the a.s.sault, the Battle Wolves still had a bounty out on the adventurer team.
The War Riders hadn't changed after joining G.o.d's Domain, and as time pa.s.sed, both its reputation and its strength grew.
As a result, many independent experts that wanted to earn some side income sought to join the adventurer team. After all, the War Riders' sole goal was earning money. Members of the War Riders had no obligations and responsibilities to the team. Just some time ago, the War Riders' member count had exceeded 30,000. Now, it was already considered a super- large-scale adventurer team, and many first-rate Guilds feared its overall strength.
“I don't know. I can never tell what Black Flame is thinking, but he's preparing for something. However, with the War Riders' partic.i.p.ation, the Starlight Alliance should maintain its status quo even if Zero Wing prepares for an a.s.sault. We should use this opportunity to further our development in the kingdom's various cities,” Galaxy Past said, chuckling as he shook his head.
The various major powers had been busy trying to solidify their positions lately. Now that the sudden development in Star- Moon Kingdom troubled Zero Wing, this was the perfect opportunity for the Star Alliance to become the kingdom's number one Guild.
Meanwhile, the kingdom's other major powers concocted their own schemes. As soon as the Starlight Alliance defeated Zero Wing, they would spread their influence throughout the various NPC cities, especially White River City, the kingdom's most populated city.
As Star-Moon Kingdom's various major powers planned and prepared, s.h.i.+ Feng arrived before White River City's library.
The library had changed drastically due to the city's latest promotion. Now, it looked more like a castle than a library. A large number of magical cla.s.s players had gathered at the building, many here because of quests.
So many magical cla.s.s players had come here to quest due to the library's new function-Magic Walkthrough. This function gave players access to the gigantic, magic water globe in the center of the library, allowing them to learn the double-casting technique.
Not many magical cla.s.s experts had mastered the double-casting technique at this stage of the game, but now that the system provided a tutorial, magical cla.s.s players swarmed to take advantage of the opportunity. However, using the magic water globe required Library Contribution Points and Magic Crystals. The required Magic Crystals were a small matter for magic cla.s.s experts, but the Library Contribution Points could only be obtained by completing the library's quests. Hence, so many magical cla.s.s players eagerly quested at the library.
After a brief look at the library's first-floor hall, s.h.i.+ Feng made his way to the Star-Moon Hall on the library's top floor. As always, Sharlyn sat in the hall reading some tome. She only set the book down after noticing s.h.i.+ Feng before she began to draw the magic array that would help him absorb the Fallen Earthfire.
Once the magic array took shape, s.h.i.+ Feng retrieved the Fallen Earthfire and wrapped the Soul Fire's scorching flames around it.
However, fusing with the Fallen Earthfire proved far more difficult than fusing with the Purple Thunder Flame. This time, s.h.i.+ Feng felt as if he were trying to wrap a sheet of paper around a bonfire. His control of the Soul Fire had to be precise; the slightest mistake could throw the process off-balance, which would cause the fusion to fail.
After 32 subsequent failures, s.h.i.+ Feng finally encased the Fallen Earthfire in Soul Fire successfully.
The moment the fusion succeeded, flames devoured his body. He felt the flames burn and sting his flesh as he succ.u.mbed to a splitting headache. Shortly after, the sound of a system notification reached his ears.
System: Congratulations! You have successfully fused the Fallen Earthfire and activated the Soul Fire's advanced abilities.
