Painter Mastery [Intermediate Lv.9 increased to Expert Level 1]

+30% Increase in Painting Effects

-50% decrease in materials required per painting

+30% chance to add random effect

+70 Stats added to Art

100% Chance to auto-complete Ordinary Pieces.

New Skill: Dimensional Artist [Lv.1 ]

As you have learned to infuse your heart into your paintings, so must you understand the real power held in the power of art. A thousand words may tell a good story, but a single picture may tell a thousand stories interpreted in ten thousand ways. But you are not an ordinary artist, are you?

Break Through the Conventions!

Connect the Universe with a Stroke of a Brush!

Ferulic's Disciple, Reach for the Heights of the Universe!

Essence of Art Learned!

Dimension Break Costs 20% Less Mana

New Quest: Inheritance of the Gods

New Quest Unlocked: Inheritance of the Gods

Inheritance Location Unlocked

Quest Grade: SSS

Certain Relics Were Left Behind by the gods to serve as a Beacon of Hope for the Downtrodden.

Seven of These Relics Possess Power Unimaginable. The Strongest of These Seven, Ferulic's Bow, was Split Into Fragments and Divided Among the Seven Guardians. Find These Guardians and Retrieve Your Inheritance!

Number of Fragments Collected: 1

Rosario's Brush (Lv.3  Lv.4)

Who Needs Paint? Rosario's Brush now Produces its Paint.

Next Level Unlocked at Expert Painting Mastery Lv. 5

Essence of Art

Sometimes the Truth is Hidden Before our Very Eyes.

Essence of Art Unlocks the Hidden Potential in Qualified Paintings.

Cost: 3000MP

Activates Automatically

Congratulations, You Have Created Your First Grand Piece!

Aygorian Citadel (Created by Essence of Art)

One painting may tell a thousand stories, but a thousand paintings can also contain a single, larger story. Unlocked by Essence of Art, the truth buried within these seventy-six paintings shall be revealed to the world.

Those who look upon this painting feel an overwhelming desire to protect the city.

+5 to All Stats When Within 200km Of Painting.

Duration: 5 Hours

Limitation: Once a Day

Does not Stack with Other Paintings.

City Residents Receive +8 to All Stats when within 300km of Painting.

Duration: 24 Hours

Secret Skill: Those Who Gaze Upon This Painting With Hostility Towards the City Will be Cursed With Blind.

Number of Grand Pieces Created: 1

Aygor prepared a short spell to transport all the dwellers of the cave systems to the glass dome, which allowed Kashi a short window Kashi to exhale at the prompts as he once again inspected them to make sure he was not dreaming. While he was excited at finally entering Expert Painting, he could not help but throw all his attention at the Dimension Artist Prompt. He hadn't even been aware that it was an actual skill. He had always assumed it was his class, and because unlike most other players, he very rarely checked his skills list, he had completely overlooked that!

However, Kashi encountered another problem as he feverishly examined the prompt. There was no clear indication of how to level the skill! Sure, it seemed to have been created with a significant advance in his painting mastery, but when Kashi compared how long he'd had the class to how many paintings he had made, he was certain there had to be more to it than met the eye. There had to be a faster way to level up the Dimension Artist Skill specifically.

Kashi glossed over Rosario's Brush as he had been anticipating that one for a while. Others might not get it, but what that prompt effectively meant was that every painting Kashi made henceforth would be created with god-class paint and brush. Honestly, the only things that would hold his future creations back were his skills and the quality of canvass or surface.

It was the last two prompts that caught Kashi’s attention. He knew that Essence of Art was what caused the phenomenon where his paintings were all absorbed into the very first, and then became a moving image within the canvass that could be converted to a floating 3-D diagram.

The cream of the crop, however, was the final prompt of the Aygorian Citadel!

Although Kashi was a little peeved that the system named the painting without his permission, he suspected that 'the powers that be' accurately guessed that Aygor would be doing most of the work in making that painting into a reality.

Not that Kashi minded much. With those bonus effects, they could name the city whatever they wanted!

Forget looking for immigrants. The dwarves would have their hands full trying to prevent people from entering the city!

+3 to all stats could mean the difference between life and death when hunting. And the fact there was a steady source of such a boost.

What's more, it was +8 for those recognized as city residents. Kashi could imagine Miote going crazy over how much they should overcharge the desperate horde that would want to buy houses in the city. Suffice to say, this city would provide a significant windfall for the Hopeful Maggots.

Convincing the dwarves to defect the city to Rosendun might take a little work, though.

A light snort to his side returned Kashi's attention to Aygor as he tapped the ground with his hammer. Immediately, a large, blue mandala spread from the hammer and instantly covered the entire perimeter.

Kashi was forced to momentarily shut his eyes as blinding light burst from the formation. When Kashi recovered his sight, the large dome was packed to the brim with dwarves, adventurers, some horses, prisoners, and monsters. It looked like Aygor had transported every living being in a 300 km radii. Luckily, the monsters seemed to have some effect on them that prevented them from attacking the humes. Likewise, the humes could not attack them.

The city Kashi had drawn was to be 150km in diameter, giving it a size of about 470 sq.km. In modern times, such a city was tiny, but in this game, it was beyond huge! To put it in context, Riven’s walls were only 114km in length. Furthermore, since Riven was shaped like a fan, it was much smaller in overall size compared to the octagonal-shaped Aygorian Citadel.

This was the main reason Kashi wanted Aygor in charge to expedite the process. If he left it to the dwarves, who knew how long it would take, not to speak of the troubles he would encounter explaining the moving gears in the walls. Heck, Kashi himself did not fully understand the true intricacies.

After all, he was no architect.

Kashi's knowledge came from Suzuki's extensive memory banks of anime, novel and game descriptions of giant castles with secret mechanisms, and the little research the latter conducted out of curiosity. So this wish could not have come at a better time. The daeben could not help but allow himself a second of gloating. Why learn how to build an entire car from scratch when you can just buy one readymade?

Kashi was forced out of his reverie by strings of shouts and curses. Well, it was to be expected. All these people were suddenly transported without warning. It would be more shocking if they were taciturn.

Kashi turned to Aygor, who smirked at him and then disappeared. The daeben grumbled at this irritating god who made sure to repay his grudges quickly. Abducting the nearest 200km would have been enough, but he went as far as 300km. Why was that if not to cause trouble for the daeben who pulled one over on him?

Kashi realized this was his fault and responsibility, so he had to take care of it himself. With a resigned sigh, he placed the now dormant Aygorian Citadel into his inventory then hopped onto the workbench. He glanced over at the crowd who did not pay any heed to the daeben as they were too busy arguing amongst themselves.

"Hello," Kashi called out. When no one paid any attention, he tried in a much louder voice, "Hey! Listen up!" Unfortunately, the majority continued their grumbling and quarreling. His patience finally wearing thin, Kashi released a low growl as he roared, "I said—"

"QUIET!"

‘Sweet Barracuda's Balls’! If it were not for the thousands of eyes, Kashi definitely would have jumped out of his skin. He and the odd ten-fifteen thousand people present turned in tandem to the beautiful, smiling songstress standing right next to him, hugging a beautiful wolf cub to her bosom.

"All yours." Lunette flashed a smile at the petrified daeben and then accepted her brother’s hand as she descended from the table.

Kashi coughed to hide his embarrassment as he faced the crowd. "If I may have your attention," Kashi greeted with a polite bow. "I am called Kashi. Some may know me as Guild Leader of the Hopeful Maggots."

Silence. Absolute and utter silence.

If, by some chance, Kashi’s name did not have much of an impact, then the term Hopeful Maggots filled these people with equal parts dread and awe. Some players mixed into the crowd pulled out Rinks to communicate to their guilds that they had finally found the location of one of the secretly most wanted men in the game. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but a city is about to be built in this location. To prevent any fatalities caused by the construction, we were forced to relocate you all to this venue temporarily."

Kashi could easily spot the cunning spies, but he made no move, instead secretly glancing at Shadow. The youth, without so much as a nod of acknowledgment, blended into the crowd and then disappeared from Kashi's ultra-perceptive gaze. "I promise that in a few hours, you will be transported back to your respective original locations. Till then, I humbly request that you sit still and wait it out."

At a corner of the hall, a red-furred kafu stealthily took out his rink and placed a call to his superior. "I have a message for the lea—urk!" His words died in his throat as blood pooled at the base of his neck. A white-haired shadow assisted him to sit on the floor then wordlessly took the Rink from his outstretched hand. The kafu glared unwillingly at the shadow whose form he could not accurately discern.

The shadow, perfectly replicating his voice, reported, "Sorry, I thought I saw Kashi, but it was a false alarm."

The voice on the other end snorted impatiently. "This is the third time this week Roan! Don't call me till you get confirmation!"

"My apologies." Shadow pocketed the rink then took out a vial from a pouch on his belt. He prodded the spy's mouth open then forced him to drink the potion. "Can't have you dying just yet. Sleep a while." Shadow blended into the crowd as the spy was suddenly overcome with a heavy bout of drowsiness. By the time the spy's eyes finally shut, Shadow was by the side of his next target.

Somehow, despite the densely packed hall, no one noticed anything when Shadow silently took down these spies with experienced ease.

Kashi, of course, had no time to monitor the assassin's progress as he was accosted by a frantic crowd immediately after hopping off the workbench. The daeben was thankful for the dwarfs who immediately forced a barrier around him.

Lunette waved her hand, and thirty chairs appeared in a half-circle within the enclosed area. The Maggots, Asha's group, and the dwarven chiefs sat on the chairs, all gazing at the daeben with different expressions.

At Kashi's puzzled look, she explained, "I hold some extra chairs the orchestra used during our performances. Sometimes I would wave my hands like a magic trick, and they would appear in different formations. The audience loved it. Your capture came as a surprise, so I did not get a chance to empty my inventory of the stage props."

Among the dwarves, Anton Xafier was the first to recover his bearings. He got to his feet and bowed towards the daeben. "On behalf of Second Under’s citizens, I wish to express our heartfelt gratitude towards the Hopeful Maggots for the liberation of our people. It is no surprise that our great god Aygor has granted a wish upon the esteemed leader."

"Please stand," Kashi wryly smiled as he grabbed the senior's shoulders and helped him up. The daeben's head had already begun to hurt from Xafier's tone. As expected of a future dwarven king, he had made the best political speech possible, while subtly inquiring towards Kashi's wish.

"Xafier-san, if it's not too much trouble, can we please speak simply? My vice-guildmaster is the one who is adept in all these political hubbubs." Naturally, Kashi knew that if Leila were here, she would have already slapped him upside the head.

‘ Never show weakness’ was one of the Adachi family principles concerning politics.

Then again, Suzuki was just a kid brought up on games and manga. For Kashi to dare use that superficial knowledge to go up against someone who had been on the political scene for over sixty years. That was tantamount to suicide. Instead, why not level the playing field? There was a reason Leila was in charge of administrative duties.

Xafier seemed to understand Kashi's plight. He patted the daeben on his shoulder. "In that case, just calling me Anton will be fine," Xafier greeted with a relaxed smile. Dwarfs also hated complicated political bullshit. "Then, if we are speaking frankly, may I ask what are Kashi-dono's plans?"

Right to the heart of the matter. This suited Kashi much more than political warfare of words that skirted around the main issue. "My wish was for a city." Kashi took out the Aygorian Citadel. He did not know if it was an effect of the Essence of Art or not, but the painting floated by itself. Naturally, the council had mixed expressions upon seeing the city depicted in the painting.

Xafier frowned upon seeing the painting. "Why do you build a city on our land?"

Kashi shrugged. "The city's a gift."

Xafier's frown deepened, a trace of hostility in his eyes. "For whom?"

Kashi closed his eyes, acting like he did not feel the hostility. "For you, naturally. A present for your future ascension to the dwarven king. Ah, wait, should I also say for all dwarves? Basically, it's yours."

Stunned, Xafier's mouth gaped wide open as he stared incredulously at the daeben before him. "What!?" His expression flitted like the colors of the rainbow before settling on pure disbelief. "Why would you give this to us? What do you want?"

Kashi lazily opened his eyes. "What do you think of the state of the continent?"

Xafier froze. The eyes he used to look at the daeben turned solemn. "So the rumors are true. Rosendun truly does seek world conquest."

Kashi shook his head. "Rosendun seeks Unity. But I will admit that from the view of the continent, it bears concerning similarities to world conquest. Same word, different strokes." The daeben's expression was excessively solemn as he asked, "How long until the next war starts. How long until the Chaos Order’s legions once again takes over?"

Xafier gritted his teeth. "Be that as it may. We dwarfs have suffered long years of servitude. We do not wish to simply change masters—nay, we refuse to do so!"

Kashi's brows furrowed. "Who said anything about submitting! I do wish you would not liken Rosendun to those nations blinded by greed." Kashi was unusually grave as he explained, "Rosendun seeks Unity. A united nation cannot live the life of master and servant. Eventually, one day the servant might revolt or poison the master. What Rosendun seeks is equality of all races within her border—we seek partnership. Even though your banner will change to that of Rosendun's, you will still be your own state. Aside from a few reasonable taxes and laws, Rosendun will not interfere with the governing of your people. You will also have the liberty to choose which commissions you take and which you do not. Rosendun will protect you so that she lives and dies with you, as you will protect her."

Kashi took a deep breath to steady himself. He had never spoken so much in one go. He was not exactly sure where he was pulling all this from.

Kashi tapped the painting. "This city is the embodiment of Rosendun's dream. If you look closely, the city is divided into two main parts, the surface, and underground. Suffice to say, the underground is your territory alone. The surface, on the other hand, is further divided into three parts. The substantially larger outer sector and the inner sector, which are both further divided into smaller sectors by walls, and the palace grounds in the center.

“It is Rosendun's wish that to foster a relationship between dwarves and the rest of the world, you allow the outer sector to house immigrants. These people can also act as a liaison between the dwarves and the surrounding countries. Should an immigrant catch your eye through merits, or otherwise, you can allow him/her permission to move to the inner sector."

Xafier retained a poker face as he pointed at the painting, which had shifted to show a portion of the outer sector, which only had a vast body of water. "What is that?"

"Ah, that?" Kashi revealed a smug smirk. "That is a reservoir of sorts. I know dwarfs do not require as much water as the average guy, but the immigrants will, especially if they are as much as we forecast."

"I know that," Xafier replied with a shake of his head. "I intend to inquire as to how you expect us to acquire that much water?"

Kashi smiled. "There's a river not too far from here which runs into the Forever Sea. I assume that is where you have been collecting your water from?"

Xafier stiffly nodded.

"We'll be borrowing this river."

"B-Borrowing!" Brexio exclaimed, no longer able to keep his cool. The red-haired dwarf deserved an award for holding in his urges all this time.

Kashi nodded. In Rosendun, he had found that towns not close to rivers usually either dug wells or brought back several wagons of water every month. While these methods were feasible for small towns whose populations generally ranged from 40-700, neither were viable for a massive city of this scale.

Riven and Kerta were built close to massive natural water sources, so they did not have this fear, but this had been a significant headache for Kashi when designing this city.

That was until he decided to steal an entire river.

Kashi waited till the diagram shifted back to the main 'skeleton,' and then pointed at a section which had a long, underground pipe heading westward. "I intend to siphon water from that river until the lake fills up. The pipe has a gate that can be closed when we reach the desired level."

The dwarfs had very hesitant looks. Well, that was to be expected. Even in modern times, some people would freak out over heavy tampering of nature, let alone now when these people worshipped gods of nature.

"Do not worry too much," Kashi cajoled. "Given the size of the pipe, the drain will not be as bad as you might think. Apart from the river dropping a few centimeters, there won’t be any lasting effects. And of course, when the lake fills up, the river will naturally regain its previous splendor."

"You speak well," Anton proclaimed. "But how do you propose we get these materials. I assume even your country cannot afford such an expense."

"Huh?" Kashi raised a brow. "Why do you think I requested it as a wish from a god? Do we mortals have any right to question how a god gets his materials? Of course not!"

"Hoh? Darkling, you have quite the mouth on you."

Kashi's brows sweated a little as he turned to his side to see the dwarven god Aygor smirking at him. "Wow, Esteemed Elder, I thought you'd be busy."

Aygor was amused. His lips curled in a mocking grin as he mimicked, "You have no right to question where I get my materials? Why not just admit it? You not only make a god perform unreasonable labor, but you also make him shoulder the costs. Tell me, your wish, is it expensive or not?"

Kashi stiffly laughed. "You jest with this junior Esteemed Elder. My wish is but swine poop compared to your riches."

"BAHAHAHAHA!" Aygor bellowed as he stroked his beard. "I like you, child. You know how to flatter your elders even if you don't mean it. Ho-ho, this god here shall accept your flattery." He then turned to Xafier. "Little Dwarven King, accept this kid's alliance. This is not an order, but providence from the gods. It is up to you if you wish to listen or not. BAHAHA! Now I have heard enough."

Aygor glanced at the daeben. "Daeben, protect my people. They are few yet skilled and thus easily persecuted."

Kashi placed his hand on his chest, dropped to a knee, and solemnly bowed. "Upon my soul, I swear to do so to the best of my abilities and beyond."

Aygor nodded with satisfaction. "I can tell you meant that one. Now, why don't I go fulfill your wish." With another loud burst of laughter, the dwarven god vanished, leaving behind a stunned hall.

‘Little Dwarven King?’ Xafier's entire body trembled with a mixture of excitement and awe. His gaze at the daeben completely changed. At this point, even if the daeben asked his people to become slaves, they happily would.

After all, not only had Kashi received their gods' recognition, Aygor also personally crowned Xafier king. To dwarfs, the existence of a dwarven king was not a matter to be taken lightly.

Unlike humans, who could have several kings, there could only be one dwarven king. One of the main reasons Xafier had never officially crowned himself king was that his kind (half-dwarf, half-giant) were considered unclean and thus were not allowed to be considered for the kingship. If he still went on to crown himself king, it would be the same as officially declaring themselves to have left the dwarven clan.

But now, Xafier was personally conferred the title by their most revered god with thousands of eyewitnesses. Who would dare deny him his position! Even those from the pure bloodline would not dare open their mouths.

Kashi politely dropped to a knee in front of Xafier and hollered, "Long Live the King!"

Lunette followed his lead. "Long Live the King." Her sweet voice though low and solemn, managed to reach every existence in the hall. The Maggots, one after another, dropped to their knees, though Syèl needed a 'gentle' prod to his stomach from Shoko before he did.

The loud shouts sparked the dwarfs out of their stupor, and they quickly dropped to a knee as they blessed their new ruler.

Some players who wanted to join in on the fun also dropped to their knees and screamed. Some even took pictures with the newly released 'Fotostones' from Meilfour’s stores.

With over three-quarters of the hall kneeling and hollering, the remaining quarter did not wish to stand out and also dropped to their knees. Even the beasts, each fiercer than the last, were subdued by the atmosphere and lowered their heads.

So it was that Anton Xafier on the Fifth Day of the Twelfth Month of the Year 1121 A.P was coronated King in front of a crowd of ten thousand believers. Legends will proclaim the Apparition of the Gods that appeared on this auspicious day as the gods themselves granted this legendary king with a gift befitting of his rule.

‎In the clouds above Second Under appeared a massive golden hammer the size of a thousand mountains. Its splendor lit the skies ablaze, and all of creation could not help but bow before its enormous might. This massive hammer struck against the earth with the vengeance of a thunderstorm.

The world trembled under its terror as the earth’s structure changed with each hammer strike. With the ease of a practiced blacksmith, the hammer struck down again and again with a steady rhythmic pattern.

In a 150km radius, dustclouds and stone formed a massive whirlpool that blocked whatever was being built from sight. However, no matter the thickness of sand or stone, the hammer's splendor shone through for the world to see.

The strikes seemed to contain a particular melody of the gods that aroused exhilaration and joy in all who heard it.

And so the hammer struck: Bang...bang...bang...

For a brief time, it was the only sound in the entire continent.