Chapter 61

Yara brought Keith to an armor stand wearing a set of Ancient grade equipment. From what Keith could see, it was armor meant for privates, the first rank in the military. Each of the ten military ranks had a designated armor to match, with the styles of higher ranks gaining more and more flair. Keith mentally gave a thumbs up to whoever came up with the designs, which were recognizable and stylish.

With that said, Keith inspected the armor before him.

[Ancient] Refined Mythril Helmet – Level 500

Description: +150 Primary stats, +5,000 Health, +200 Defense, -5% Damage from Slashing and Piercing attacks. Requires level 500 to wear.

[Ancient] Refined Mythril Chestplate – Level 500

Description: +250 Primary stats, +15,000 Health, +400 Defense, -10% Damage from Slashing and Piercing attacks. Requires level 500 to wear.

[Ancient] Refined Mythril Gauntlets – Level 500

Description: +100 Primary stats, +3,000 Health, +100 Defense, -3% Damage from Slashing and Piercing attacks. Requires level 500 to wear.

[Ancient] Refined Mythril Tassets – Level 500

Description: +150 Primary stats, +5,000 health, +200 Defense, -5% Damage from Slashing and Piercing attacks. Requires level 500 to wear.

[Ancient] Refined Mythril Boots – Level 500

Description: +150 Primary stats, +5,000 Health, +200 Defense, -5% Damage from Slashing and Piercing attacks. Requires level 500 to wear.

Altogether, the set gave 800 primary stats, 33,000 health, 1,100 defense, and 28% damage reduction to slashing and piercing attacks. Compared to the Mythic grade set, it was about 30% stronger overall.

Yara nodded satisfactorily and glanced at Keith, “What do you think?”

“Hmm,” Keith mused aloud. “Pretty standard. No cons, but no pros either. It’s missing enchantments like attack speed, movement speed, and magic resistance.”

“Huh!” Zedrick scoffed from behind, “What do you mean no pros? You think we can outfit millions with the enchantments you mentioned? This set is easy to mass produce, and the resources needed are as low as possible.”

Keith’s lips twitched.

He clearly hit a nerve. However, it was true he didn’t consider the cost and time needed to craft the armor.

Yara added from the side, “You should know yourself how much you invested in your current armor and accessories. Now try doing the same for twenty million people. And have you thought about salaries? Food? Supplies? Housing?”

Yara immediately went into a three-minute-long tirade about the costs of maintaining a military, leaving Keith speechless. What the hell? Not only did Keith need to listen to his dad praise the greatness of civilization occasionally, but now he had to hear his grandma complain about running a nation. Did his ignorant comment justify this punishment? He didn’t think so!

“Ahem,” Yara coughed into her hand and finished, “and that’s why paying taxes is important.”

Keith hid his grievances and repeatedly nodded to show his understanding, “You work so hard, grandma. You’re awesome!”

“Hmm!” Yara raised her chin as an elegant crane would.

“Hey, you two,” Zeidrick called out in exasperation. “You do know I’m working here, right?”

Zeidrick desperately wanted to yell ‘Get the hell out!’ but seeing how the other party was his boss, he toned it down a few levels. At most, he could be a little passive-aggressive.

Yara rolled her eyes and pulled Keith to another part of the warehouse. She checked if they were alone before pulling out a translucent orb the size of a fist. With a smug grin, she asked Keith, “Do you know what this is?”

“A gem?” Keith guessed as he leaned forward to get a better look. Squinting, he saw a small flat rock floating in the center of the orb. It had ridges riddled with spots of blue and green. At first glance, it was nothing special, though the longer he looked, the more things he discovered. When he saw a cluster of cities in one area, he had a sudden thought. Wasn’t this a miniature model of the Innate Dimension?

A quick cast of Inspect proved him right.

[Special] Innate Dimension Core

Description: Grants the holder administrative authority over the Innate Dimension and its inhabitants. Fuse with the remaining Dimension Cores to become the absolute ruler of the Grandsky Realm and unlock access to the (Restricted).

Passive Skill 1: Receive alerts when unidentified lifeforms enter the Innate Dimension.

Active Skill 1: Surveillance. Grants an aerial view of a targeted section of the Innate Dimension. No cooldown. No mana cost.

Active Skill 2: Rift Relocation. Freely transfer the location of any Rifts within the Innate Dimension. No cooldown. No mana cost.

“Uhh.” Keith had no words to voice his astonishment. An item like this actually existed?

Yara was visibly pleased upon seeing Keith’s expression. Waving the Dimension Core in Keith’s face, she chuckled, “Surprised?”

Keith’s lips felt dry as he asked, “Does this mean you’re the ruler of the Innate Dimension?”

“Eh, according to the System, sure,” Yara shrugged and stored the Dimension Core away. “Whether other people view me that way is up to them.”

Keith figured it was best to keep this item on the down low. He expected many people wouldn’t be happy.

“Hey,” Yara suddenly gave Keith a mischievous smile. “What's really important is the administrative authority the Dimension Core gives.”

“What does that mean exactly?” Keith raised an eyebrow, feeling that his grandma was up to no good.

“Give me a moment,” Yara giggled and began interacting with the air in front of her. Keith waited for a few minutes when suddenly, a notification he’d never seen before popped up.

[Event] Serenity Canyon Expansion

Description: The Innate Nation is exploring Serenity Canyon and requests your aid. Gain contribution points by completing the following missions:

Mission 1: Provide the Innate Nation with information regarding monster locations and their corresponding abilities, spawn rates, and item drops.

Mission 2: Provide the Innate Nation with the location of ore veins.

…

Mission 29: Find out the abilities of Serenity Canyon’s Monster Lord.

…

Mission 104: Provide the Innate Nation with undiscovered herbs.

All in all, there were too many missions to count, so Keith skipped to the end.

Exchange contribution points for items at the Innate Nation’s armory in Camp Glory. Furthermore, those ranked in the top 100 will receive special prizes when the event ends!

Public Leaderboard:

Rank 1:

Rank 2:

…

Rank 100:

Keith was silent as he processed the notification. There was too much to take in. After a moment, he glanced at his grandma and asked, “How many people received this notice?”

“Hmm,” Yara counted with her fingers and answered, “basically everyone in the military and the adventurer groups working with us.”

“Oh…” Keith’s eyebrows twitched. Why did she need to use her fingers to count that? There were way more than 10, okay?

Right then, Zeidrick found them and ran over, huffing and puffing. “Boss, why isn’t there a mission for smithing equipment? This is discrimination!”

Hearing Zeidrick’s complaints, Yara simply snorted. “I would gladly hand out some contribution points if you did everything yourself. However, not only do we provide you with the materials you use, we pay for your tools and give you a handsome salary. If anything, I should be the one getting contribution points.”

“Ah… sorry… I didn’t think about it that way,” Zeidrick sighed emotionally and retreated to his workspace.

Watching their interaction, Keith was amazed at his grandma’s ability to speak a bunch of nonsense. Since she included the military in the event, why could they earn contribution points and not Zeidrick? Didn’t the government provide the military with equipment and a salary all the same? Why was Zeidrick treated differently?

Yara noticed Keith’s accusatory gaze and coughed awkwardly. Seeing this, Keith smirked, “You can’t afford him, can you?”

Yara’s eyes widened, and she quickly covered Keith’s mouth. “Shh, don’t let him hear you. Once that kid realizes his value, he’ll definitely ask for more benefits.”

At this moment, Keith suddenly realized that his grandma was a bit of a moneygrubber. Should he secretly inform Zeidrick about worker’s rights? No, no. If he did it so soon, his grandma would connect it to him. It was better to wait for some time. Until then, Keith gave Zeidrick a silent prayer in his heart.