Fuck, 50 Fire War God Cards again…?

I felt like tearing up as I stared at my reward as the first eighth-promotion player in the game. While 50 Fire War God Cards were of course a great reward, it ultimately wasn’t as solid as say, a Divine Armament. On the other hand, the masses would probably curse me and the game company again if the Eternal Moon Corporation rewarded me with yet another Divine Armament. I already had three on my person.

I put away the 50 Fire War God Cards and checked out my class. The title "Undead Swordsman" had been replaced by something called the Master Swordsman of Death. Finally, I had transformed from a nameless skeletal warrior to a master of an era!

I also got a new title called "The Frostblade of Death”. It was a murderous-sounding title and an absolute necessity when killing other players and dating girls. There were far too many men who played games these days, so anyone who managed to stand out among the competitors was as popular as hot cakes.

……

I looked at Rinser again and smiled at him. "So, what eighth-promotion skills can I learn, mentor?"

Rinser shivered from head to toe for some reason. "I… I no longer have the ability to teach you anything!"

I immediately raised my Purple Ying Sword threateningly. "Ah? You can’t teach me anything? Why would I need a mentor who can’t teach me anything, huh?"

Cold sweat slid down Rinser’s skin as he searched his pockets frantically. Finally, he produced two golden skill books and passed them to me, saying, "I may not have anything left to teach you, but I have acquired some ancient warriors’ martial arts during my days of exploration and cultivation all across the continent. I hope they are of use to you!"

I smiled the moment I saw the contents of the skill books. Eighth-promotion skills were about as powerful as I expected them to be—

Myriad Swords Obliteration: Summons tens of thousands of swords, control them remotely with your energy and deal an incredible amount of damage to all targets within 40 yards. The skill’s attack power is 150% of the user’s base Attack. Cooldown: 25 seconds. MP cost: 500. Level Requirement: 210. Class Requirement: Master Swordsman of Death. Weapon Requirement: Sword-type weapon.

Last Stand: Passive skill. Automatically activates when the player’s HP is below 50%. The player’s Attack and Defense are increased by 25%. The player also absorbs 5% of their damage received as HP. Level Requirement: 210. Class Requirement: Master Swordsman.

……

Myriad Swords Obliteration was about as standard of an AoE skill as it could get. It also seemed to be exclusive to my class only. On the other hand, Last Stand was a common skill every warrior would eventually get. When my HP was below 50%, it would increase my combat capabilities by leaps and bounds. It also made up for the Warrior class’s shortcoming, no reliable way of healing itself, and thus low sustain.

I waved my hand, turned both skill books into balls of light before absorbing them into my body. Alright, time to give my new skills a whirl or two!

I raised the Purple Ying Sword and locked onto a giant rock about 20 yards in front of me. Then, I activated Myriad Swords Obliteration and immediately felt a great surge of energy flowing into my brain. Bending my left fingers into some sort of hand seal, I let out a shout and fired a silver-colored sword blast into the air. The next moment, it transformed into an innumerable number of silver blades and drilled holes into my target, absolutely devastating the giant rock and the snow around it. Power aside, the skill was absolutely gorgeous to look at!

Myriad Swords Obliteration was basically Ancient Seal that didn’t require Divine Energy Points to cast. In fact, its Attack might be even higher than Ancient Seal’s. It was the perfect skill to use against enemy shield formations.

Overjoyed, I mounted my dragon again before bidding Rinser goodbye. "Alright, I’m leaving, mentor. I’ll come see you again another time…"

Rinser nodded. "Work hard, boy. You are the pride of all undead!"

I nodded, and the Ancient Divine Dragon let out a mighty howl. The next moment, we were already far from Dragonbone Mountain Range.

And so I followed the same path I had come through and flew back to Iron Skull Wilderness, the place I was meant to be at this time. Unless I was sorely mistaken, Breeze and Rain, Flowing Cloud and God of War would be making a move soon. Iron Skull Wilderness sat to the south of Elephant City, and it was like a time bomb that could explode and destroy their southern defense at any moment. There was no chance they would let me grow stronger without doing anything to stop me.

……

An hour later, I arrived at Bonecrush Forest where a supply camp was set up by a neutrally aligned gnome. It was also where Warscar, Hickey and the others usually resupplied themselves. There were also class mentors here, but the skills they offered weren’t as comprehensive as the main cities’, and a lot more expensive to boot. It was yet another reason why unaffiliated players weren’t able to keep up with the players of main cities.

Pa!

After I landed on my feet, a group of Zephyr Cavalry helmed by Warscar himself immediately rode up to me with an urgent expression, "Finally! Something bad has happened while you were gone, guild leader!"

"What is it?" I asked calmly.

Warscar uttered through gritted teeth, "Besides Godkiller and Sacred Oath, there’s another powerful force in Iron Skull Wilderness called Beast Soul. They normally operate at the far north of Iron Skull Wilderness only, but half an hour ago, a large group of Beast Soul players was spotted entering Bonecrush Forest. I’m sure they’re plotting something!"

"Let’s head over and take a look!"

"Mn."

I spurred the Ancient Divine Dragon and entered the forest with my players. It wasn’t long before we arrived at a canyon where green and yellow painted a scenic picture, and colorful butterflies could be seen flapping around the area. Unfortunately, none of us were in the mood to enjoy it because at the center of the canyon were at least 10000 Beast Soul players.

Hickey in her new complete S2 set was standing at the forefront of her party and facing down the Beast Soul party without giving a single inch. Her normally pretty face was etched with anger, and she looked like she was one nudge away from engaging Beast Soul in anger. Thank goodness Hickey was the one here and not Warscar, or we would’ve arrived to a battle instead of a standoff.

Standing at the forefront of the Beast Soul party was a magic knight with a battle axe. His profile stated—

ID: Beast Trainer LV-198

Class: Magic Knight

Guild: Beast Soul

Position: Leader

……

Beast Trainer said with a lazy smile, "Yo! Why so nervous and unfriendly, Hickey? We’re just passing through the center of the Wilderness is all…"

Hickey replied with a smile that didn’t reach the eyes, "Beast Trainer, your headquarters is at Thunder Mountain Range, while ours is here at Bonecrush Forest. Surely you understand why we can’t let you waltz right into headquarters?"

Beast Trainer waved his axe once before saying, "Every player who lives in Iron Skull Wilderness is a homeless wanderer, and in that sense there is no place in this map that we cannot call home, am I right? If Godkiller and Sacred Oath can co-exist together in Bonecrush Forest, then why can’t we join you as well? This display of hostility is entirely unnecessary."

Hickey simply pursed her lips and said nothing in return.

It was at this moment I moved next to Hickey. I was still riding the Ancient Divine Dragon of course.

"You’re finally here, boss!" Hickey gave me a nod of acknowledgment.

I shot her a smile before facing toward Beast Trainer. "Godkiller has already declared their dominion over this map, and more importantly, this is our base of operations. We can share leveling maps with fellow wanderers, but we aren’t so kind that we will share our base of operations as well. Do empathize with our circumstances, Beast Trainer."

"Empathize?"

Beast Trainer raised his bushy eyebrows. "So, you’re that Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand who managed to tame our number one war goddess, Hickey? You look more normal than I thought. Also, you’re not a player of Iron Skull Wilderness, so who are you to point fingers at us and tell us what to do?"

Enraged, Hickey unsheathed her weapon and declared, "Watch your mouth, Beast Trainer! You don’t seriously think we’re too afraid to kill you and your party? Just because we gave you an inch doesn’t mean that you can take a mile!"

Beast Trainer grinned coldly. "Feel free to attack us if you want to. But remember, Beast Soul is the one and only Rank 8 guild in the entire Iron Skull Wilderness. Our main guild alone numbers over a hundred thousand players, and our 5 subguilds, almost two hundred thousand. What you see here today is less than 10% of our full strength. Attack us, and I promise that both you and Godkiller will vanish from the surface of Bonecrush Forest!"

Hickey gritted her teeth and tried to make a move.

However, I grabbed her hand, pulled her closer and whispered, "Wait! Look to the southeast corner of Beast Soul’s party. Do you see something familiar?"

Hickey followed my gaze and widened her eyes in surprise. "OMG, that’s… the Beast King Cavalry! Why is there Beast King Cavalry in Beast Soul’s party?"

I gritted my teeth. "Isn’t it obvious? It’s because Beast Soul has submitted to Cyan Earth City! The Beast King mount is Cyan Earth City’s unique mount, and there’s no way God of War would give them away for nothing. They’re strengthening their puppet, Beast Soul, to fight us in their place! Breeze and Rain thinks he can vanquish us without lifting a finger of his own!"

Hickey’s beautiful eyes widened even further. "Does Breeze and Rain really underestimate us that much?"

"Hmph!"

I looked behind me and sent Warscar a message: "Take 10000 Viking Cavalrymen with you and circle around to Beast Soul’s back from the right ring. They think they can challenge the right to our homes? Very well! We’ll answer that challenge by wiping out every single one of them!"

Warscar laughed. "Understood!"

……

Five minutes later, I abruptly unsheathed my weapon and shouted, "Attack!"

I and over a thousand Zephyr Ironbone Cavalrymen charged toward the enemy as the Ancient Divine Dragon roared. Unsurprised, the guild leader of Beast Soul, Beast Trainer, also waved his battle axe and shouted, "Beast King Cavalry, attack!"

About 5000 Beast King Cavalrymen dashed to the front of the enemy troop and rode straight toward us.

I bent my left index finger and middle finger to form a hand seal. Then, I shouted, "Myriad Swords Obliteration!"

Swhoosh!

A silver sword blast surged toward the air before transforming into countless silver blades. They crashed on top of the Beast King Cavalry and dealt an incredible amount of damage—

192832!

173837!

201828!

……

Beast Trainer’s pupils shrank like a needle at the sight of this. The next moment, he winced visibly and growled out, "The enemy has an eighth-promotion player? That damn Breeze and Rain betrayed me! Everyone, focus down Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand now! He’s an eighth-promotion player!"