Ronan had the bow in hand as he approached the falling ship. It smashed into a building at the edge of the empty area that had housed the Governor's tower. Ronan heard yells and shouts from a few nearby Grathen, wondering what was going on. He ignored them and focused on the downed ship, watching for any signs of movement.

The moment he saw an arm appearing out of the wreckage he let his first arrow fly. It pierced through the charred arm and then exploded, blowing the Governor's hand off. It flopped onto the ground near Ronan, but he only gave it a brief dismissive glance before returning his focus to the downed ship.

He hadn't yet received the kill notification and that meant his opponent was still alive, somehow. Ronan let another arrow fly right into the ship, not caring about the collateral damage as it blew up.

A loud screech sounded out after the explosion, followed by another blast that was accompanied by a flash of white light. Whatever the arrow hit must have been important, yet there was still no kill notification.

Ronan watched as a mutilated and burnt figure clambered out of the burning wreckage. It wasn't even recognisable as a ship anymore, and neither was the governor recognisable as one of the Agrathen. It was pitiful.

Ronan raised his bow and fired one last shot. It pierced right through the alien's head and left the other side. He hadn't even bothered to put an explosion enchantment on it, but it hadn't been necessary.

You have killed [Garuku 1 - Agrathen Governor Lv.136]!

Enemy killed with a critical hit, 1.5x Experience gained!

+814 Bronze Credits

+138 Copper Credits

+29 [Spear III] Mastery

+16 [Stamina V] Mastery

+21 [Mana V] Mastery

+51 [Bow I] Mastery

+7 [Health IV] Mastery

+11 [Critical I] Mastery

+Elite Shard Lv.120 (Body)

+Elite Shard Lv.122 (Energy)

+Burnt Agrathen Neural Link Lv.100 (Rare)

You have leveled up to Lv.107!

…

You have leveled up to Lv.135!

You have been restored x7!

+145 Vitality

+145 Endurance

+58 Wisdom

+58 Intelligence

+87 Acuity

+4814 Free Stat Points

Due to the death of [Garuku 1 - Agrathen Governor Lv.136], all territory under their control will be transferred to you, with the exception of pillars under the control of a greater authority in the deceased's faction!

You now have complete control over [Grathen Border World 13]!

For claiming your hundredth regional pillar and your first planetary pillar, your rank has been raised from [Baron] to [Viscount]!

As a [Viscount], you have the ability to manage the planet(s) under your control from the pillar, bringing benefits or claiming tax from those who live within its boundaries. Your faction, synonymous with your planet(s), exerts far greater influence on neighbouring factions. Nobles with a rank below [Viscount] can't usurp your territory except by killing you in battle or winning a planetary war against you. As a [Viscount] you are immune from suppressing effects of foreign nobles when in their territory, with the exception of nobles possessing a higher rank than your own. You also gain a 10% stat multiplier when fighting to defend your own territory, within said territory.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

There were dozens of Grathen gathering around the burning wreckage, but Ronan had no attention to spare for them right now. By defeating the governor he had conquered the planet and earned himself another upgrade to his nobility title. This one had some cool benefits, including the first 'tangible' buff. He thought about when he'd claimed the pillar back on his home planet and how he'd been attacked almost immediately. With this stat boost, wiping out the attackers would be even easier.

Not to mention it would make taking out other pillars easy, given that the other knights on New Earth wouldn't be able to hold a candle to him. It was unfair, but that was just how his heritage worked.

He had been about to open up his status and distribute his stat points when he heard another chime accompanying the appearance of another notification. Before he could even read it, the world around him shifted and he felt himself being pulled out of real space.

In the blink of an eye Ronan had been stolen from the planet and appeared back in front of a familiar fireplace. He was sitting in a comfy chair in the waiting room of the gladiator staging platform.

Well, that was annoying. I wanted to say goodbye to the raptor… While he had wanted to explore the planet a little more, there was nothing stopping him from doing so in a future iteration. He wasn't going to get mad about what he couldn't control. Instead he started to read, seeing that he was alone in the room.

Congratulations, you have cleared the 1st Step on your Path of the Gladiator!

You have unlocked access to the gladiator market!

+5 Iron Credits

+703 Bronze Credits

+96 Copper Credits

+Thousand-Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)

+Myriad Skills Tome (Epic)

+Skill Upgrade Shard (Rare) x10

+Gladiator Shard Lv.135 (All) x5

The 2nd Step will begin in 2 weeks!

1w 6d 23:59:59…

Ronan read through the list of rewards. "You shitty system! What the hell is that!? One epic skill and some shards for all of that nonsense? I conquered an entire planet for fucks sake." He cursed his lungs out and had to resist the urge to stand up and boot his chair into the fire.

After taking some deep breaths to calm down, he realised there was a blinking message in the corner of his vision. He opened it up and chuckled.

Dear Ronan,

Congratulations on your success in the first step of the path. I can't imagine it was easy, but frankly you completed it in remarkable time. My father is furious. He'd hoped you'd die so that I would lose interest in speculating on the path, but isn't happy to have been proven wrong. When you have recovered from your ordeal, I would like to meet to talk and to give you some more gifts for the rest of your path.

Yours sincerely,

Princess Petanalia

Apparently he would not only be able to meet his sponsor once again, but receive even more gifts from here. At the very least that might make up for the lacking rewards he'd earned from the actual path.

Then again, he had no idea what a gladiator shard was or how good the gladiator market might be. And he had to admit that a legendary weapon would be an incredible boon for any ordinary system-user. It was just not the best for him, given that he didn't have a brand that could make it permanent—if it was even worth doing so—and he wasn't sure it would even be better than his current bow.

If it required regular arrows that would immediately disqualify it in his books. Wanting to rip the plaster off as soon as he could, Ronan took it out to inspect.

The bow itself was beautiful, made of a dark wood that had been carved and polished to perfection. It almost glowed. The wood was marbled like a falcon's feathers, which was presumably where it got the name. The string was made from a light brown material that felt slightly coarse to the touch. As far as craftsmanship went, he didn't have a single bad thing to say about it.

Thousand Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)

A bow carved from the wood of a thousand-mile tree and strung with the sinews of the falcons that call these trees home. It is said that this bow can withstand a million shots and infuses the arrows fired from it with the speed and grace of a falcon in flight.

+15 Strength

+35 Dexterity

+10 Acuity

+25% Projectile speed to all arrows fired from this bow

Arrows fired from this bow are 10% more likely to hit their mark

Ronan sighed. The stats and the bonuses on the bow were the best he had ever seen on an item. It outclassed pretty much everything else he'd ever received, which was why it made it even more disappointing that he couldn't use it.

He had no arrows and no desire to buy or figure out how to make them. Anything he could obtain at this level would likely suck—not to mention he'd need to work out how to obtain them in every new iteration. For now it seemed he would be sticking to the rare bow with the better ability.

However, as he was about to return the legendary bow to his inventory, Ronan had a sudden idea. It seemed the thousand-mile falcon bow wouldn't be completely useless after all.

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