Volume 21 : Chapter 01 : The Secrets of Founding an Empire

“Y-Yes, I do.”

Seo Yoon was still very afraid of people, she spoke but her fear of love and reaching out made speaking a terrible task.

It was a shame to see her shiver while wearing a beautiful wedding gown.

It was seeing Hyun Lee die once from the Bone Dragon that had allowed her to break free and let the word ‘ friend’ be spoken.

This was only the second time she had found the courage to speak.

Weed remembered the first time he heard her speak asking to be a friend. He later figured out that dying as she was then, she had been desperate to retrieve her items.

He was confident that this time was very similar.

‘This is the only idea that fits the facts. Having the wedding in place of the Royal Magician Seulloeo is the only way you can equip the wedding ring. How much of a grudge would she have had for me if she hadn’t spoken up at this time, especially when you consider the degree of options for this item are amazing and it would be impossible to buy.’

Humans had to live a life full of endless distrust and misunderstandings, this Weed knew all too well, holding Seo Yoon’s warm hand he felt like he knew what she must be feeling.

“It’s alright, I understand.”

Weed too would do anything for the rare items in Royal Road.

“I even sing songs though I can’t really sing”

Ever since he turned into the Orc Karichi, he would sing a song at the beginning of every battle with the worst tone deaf singing possible and be proud of it. He would probably open a concert in a coliseum if he needed to do it for a quest!

“Anyway, there are lots of reasons for me to be sorry this time too.”

He had been wondering why Seo Yoon never spoke in school or in Royal Road.

When they were fighting the Chaos Warrior in the inferno dungeon Seo Yoon had lost her life, if it had not been for her using her beserker skills to cover for Weed that quest would have failed.

Seo Yoon’s mouth twitched and once again she trembled.

“…The reason why …I couldn’t speak up until now……”

The wedding celebration was loudly going on all around them but Seo Yoon couldn’t hear any part of it. Until now she’d not explained about the heavy burden she carried. It felt very painful to try and describe it.

Weed smiled lightly.

“I know.”

“….pardon…?”

“You don’t have to say anything. I understand.”

Weed gazed at her with a expression of warm bliss, the exact same expression he wore when he picked up expensive items.

‘Some people take a while to understand…it’s clear to me now how much she really loves loot.’

Had anyone who knew her heard her speaking, it would have been like a bolt out of the blue sky. Seo Yoon had opened a small part of her heart for the first time in many years and actually spoke words to another person. However, Weed knew nothing about this, Thus his image of her didn’t change at all.

Regardless of the brighter look in her eyes or her trying to speak attitude, on the surface it wasn’t very different from before so he didn’t feel the need to treat her any differently.

“……”

“We’re busy right now, so let’s talk later.”

The last event of the wedding was the dinner. Many rare foods reserved only for the royalty came flooding out.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk, Call Vampire Lord Tori!”

Van Hawk and Tori have been summoned to the wedding.

“Master, who must I fight?”

“You brought me to a place suits my nobility perfectly. You didn’t have to do so much just for the sake of feeding me this delicious food Master.”

There was no possibility that Weed would call up his servants just to invite them to a feast. Weed divided up his bags and backpacks and gave them out.

“Here guys. I want you to take all of it.”

He started to collect all the money and items given to him for the wedding, even gathering up the food perfectly!

He filled his bags with various cakes, cookies, fruits and desserts that was normally very hard to cook or in some special cases very rare ingredients.

These were new and unusually dishes that he would try to recreate later on after tasting them.

He knew that he would have to learn about these high-level recipes in order to increase his cooking skill. Seo Yoon was embarrassed, so she was carefully taking fruits one by one, when Weed came over to her.

“If you want to take a lot, then you need to start stacking from the bottom.”

There was a ton of food for the hundreds of nobles present. Van Hawk, Tori, Seo Yoon, Golden Bird, and Silver Bird went around collecting the various foods.

“To assure the food is not damaged you need to balance the weight from it’s center of gravity. This is based on all the experience I got while sculpting with big stone blocks.”

Weed constantly thought about how to stack food, and in which container it must go into.

His extraordinary thoughts allowed him to do the impossible. Weed had once built a fifteen storey tower out of various foods.

He made a fruit tower, cake tower and a cookie tower. He used Dishes, bottles of liquor, crates, using them all to make tall stacking trees.

Once, a veteran director of packaging, after seeing Weed’s skills had tried to recruit him!

“As expected, running a wedding is just like a running a military campaign”

There was no time to relax since they needed to leave the wedding dinner party once they’d finished taking everything.

There is a highly satisfying profit all gotten from the wedding!

Even the noble guest really didn’t mind since the groom and the bride were Weed and Seo Yoon.

Every fresh cooked dish from the kitchen was also targeted.

Finally, Weed could see sun setting, it’s fading golden light slowly disappearing from the town and fields far below the castle.

At that moment, the smiling nobles, the laughing magicians all dissipated into smoke….

*Ting!*

==================================

You have completed: Seulloeo’s dearest wish.

The seal on Seulloeo’s ring has lifted.

+ Seulloeo’s Wisdom

Your mana has increased by 3,500 permanently.

+ Seulloeo’s Blessing

Your luck has permanently increased by 20,

also giving a small amount of magic resistance.

+ Marriage Vows.

This holy ring can share the life between the two holders.

If the other ring bearer has his HP down critically low,

the other ring bearer may choose to deliver up to 50%

of his or her health to the other ring bearer.

When you are low on life with this ring equipped, you are

able to use the special skills of the other ring bearer

at 70% proficiency.

–Restrictions:

Because the elements of the ring have changed,

it cannot be traded or given to any other person.

Destruction of the ring will break the Marriage Vows.

==================================

While they were reading the message, Weed, the living sculptures and Seo Yoon were returned back to the Inferno Dungeon.

Weed had a satisfied smile on his lips. It surely was a really profitable wedding.

They had returned to the dungeon where the final the battle of the jigolaths tribal war took place. They had fought over controlling this dungeon’s secret power; the magic circle that pulsed with pure power.

‘S’ Difficulty Quest level, the final stages.

He could see a faint shimmering around the place where Kubichya had died. Parts of Gold Man’s broken body were scattered around, gold sparks shinning in the sand.

He flew over there using the Wings of Light. A living sculpture parasite that Gold Man was wearing at that time and had since returned to live on Weed.

“Let’s search for Gold Man’s remains. Although I don’t know how much we’ll be able to recover.”

Weed hunted through the combat area picking up gold fragments. Golden Bird and Silver Bird went around collecting gold bits smaller than a green pea with their beaks.

Weed, Seo Yoon and the Birds all searched the entire day but could only recover roughly one third of the Gold Man’s original mass.

With difficulty Seo Yoon spoke again.

“Can ..you…. revive ..him….?”

Seo Yoon is heartbroken from this loss, Gold Man was cute and very brave.

Weed Shook his head.

“I can breathe life into him again, but repairing him is impossible because I don’t have enough of him left.”

Seo Yoon’s face took on a sad expression. Clear water pooled in her eyes.

Golden Bird, Silver Bird, and Yellowy have wet eyes as well, mourning their lost friend.

The quest will be completed the moment he speaks with the Inferno Knight’s Captain.

The end of the S Rank chain quest could finally be complete!

Yet Weed could not give up on Gold Man like this, he returned to searching.

“Gold Man, I can’t let you go so easily”

Using his hands as a rough shovel, Weed keep searching.

It wasn’t just because he wanted the gold, he kept thinking of Gold Man’s sacrifice and how grateful he was. Just as he was about to give up against the Great Warrior of Chaos, Kubichya, Gold Man rode in on Yellowy to save him.

The bravery and the loyalty Gold Man must have had, to run in attacking with his sword while being cut and melted! The thing that mattered the most was that Gold Man gave up his own life to save Weed.

He used his blacksmithing skills to make a sieve to filter the sand seeking yet more gold in his desire to search. After going through a large volume of sand, he was still only able to recover only a small bit of gold.

He finally had to accept the fact that the rest of Gold Man’s body was vaporized in the final attack.

“I’m really not sure if I can restore him to his old self.”

Even if Weed had all the lost portions it was still a big question with no assurance of success.

Not only did Gold Man lose his life, a large part of his gold body had mostly been turned into dust.

“That aside, I’ll have to get more gold back in Morata before trying this.”

Having sweep the grounds as well as he could Weed then finally approached the Inferno Knights and greeted them formally.

“ Your knight warriors protected the magic circle with great honor, I was only able to defeat the Grand Warrior of Chaos thanks to their brave actions. I and my companions are adventurers from the south continent.”

The Inferno Knight Captain, Ivan stepped forward and spoke.

“Thank you for your words, it would’ve been impossible for us to do this task alone. Thanks to your help, we were able to successfully protect the magic circle and defeat Kubichya.”

“What happened after Kubichya died?”

Weed was a bit unsure if he really wanted to open up questions around that event, still he felt like he had to know.

Since Weed was the appearing Dragon who had not only killed Kubichya but had also taken the Red Star Sword, it could lead to some tricky questions.

The conditions to complete the Quest were met once he had that sword. That conditional requirement, the Red Star Sword, was also the item that could be used to destroy the magic circle.

He was, however, very curious as to how the Tribal War had ended.

“After that filthy Lich died, a Bone Dragon appeared.” answered Ivan.

“…..”

Even though he had only used that form through sculpture transformation, an Undead Lich it seemed, was still hated.

Despite having rescued them Ivan directed looks at Weed that were not pleasant ones. Well considering that he had hunted a lot of Inferno Knights while a Lich it wasn’t a big surprise.

“After that Bone Dragon ate Kubichya, the Chaos Warriors lost their leader and became disorganized. Thankfully, we were able to team up with the Fire Giants and counterattack. We took those bastards and drove them away. Nevertheless, our losses were great.”

“I see. I’m sorry you had to suffer such loses.”

“We were just able to take on the Chaos Warriors after Kubichya had disappeared.”

“Looking at your muscles and the skills you possess it looks to me like Kubichya would’ve been no match for you, Captain Ivan.”

“Such praise is undeserved.”

This was, of course, a trick to getting friendlier with high level warriors, offhand remarks that they were so much stronger than their enemies.

He was pouring compliments as he asked about how far could he throw, or how much could he lift and had thus gotten friendlier with him.

He had also asked how much more they could do if they used special weapons and armor and a surprised look grew on Ivan’s face.

Ivan spoke in a softer and more thoughtful tone.

“You traveled over a great distance and a unknown road and survived!. Until now humans have found it too difficult to live here.”

They had faced countless hardships, however, Weed didn’t say anything as he collected his thoughts.

He was very worried about the quest reward thus his effort to raise intimacy with Ivan. Into that silent pause Ivan spoke again.

“This magic circle was created by the human Archmage Imbeol and it has been protecting the tribes since ancient times while keeping Jigolaths unstable mana in check.”

At the heart of the enormous underground dungeon, spanning hundreds of meters in diameter, are deep and complex engravings on both floor and ceiling. Suspended in the center, expanding and contracting was a glowing circle of Fire spirit magic endlessly spinning.

The circle in the dark cavern was like a blazing sun!

The fiery light was enough make you drip with sweat just from just being near it.

It was an amazing sight. It fascinated the viewer for the same reason that young children are attracted to playing with fire. The glamor, the feel of having control over the powerful element of fire.

This energy circle can be called the origin of Jigolaths, it’s blaze was more dazzling than the greatest of jewels. Had this magic circle not been there Jigolaths would’ve had volcanic eruptions tens of times larger and more massive in scale, it would have destroyed or sunk the land. The many tribes were able to live here because this magic circle accumulated that energy and used it to entwine and control the unstable mana that saturated Jigolaths.

Ivan continued to speak.

“Kubichya was planning to absorb the circle’s power and thus become powerful enough to dominate the land. He would have tried to rule over this land as the leader of all the Tribes. Yet stealing that power would have destroyed the land. So, at the end his ambition was his downfall.”

“Had he succeeded, it would’ve created a monster equal to that of a dragon. However, in the aftermath of the battle with the Chaos Warriors, the area around the magic circle was damaged.”

“Back then, some areas in the ceiling were already cracked, the accumulated battle damage then caused those areas to collapse. “

Weed could only watch the circle while trying to think.

Ivan spoke further.

“Up to now this damage has caused the circle to roll from side to side and convulse up and down, pulsing as if it was trying to escape. Now however, the damage is showing signs of healing, it looks to somehow be self-restoring the damaged areas. Look for yourself.”

Even as they watched the gaps and cracks were filling with earth and sand. The damaged engravings were also deepening and becoming crisp with magic again.

A spectacular and wonderful scene that left their mouths gaping. The spewing energy then turned pure white and collapsed into a perfect circle!

*Ting!*

==================================

You witnessed Archmage Imbeol’s Circle of Fire

This magic circle is responsible for keeping the unstable mana of

Jjigolaths in check, thus allowing the many tribes to survive here.+Health increases by 900.+Stamina increases by 35+Fire resistance is increased permanently by 7%. +Your understanding of the origin of mana has deepened. However, because you are not a Summoner or a spirit medium,it does not have a special effect+You’ve witnessed a amazing ancient magic from the past.

+Your art stat was increased by 4.

+Your wisdom was increased by 2.

==================================

This was the effect that Imbeol’s restored circle gave, immediately another message window floated up.

*Ting!*

==================================

Quest Complete: Retrieval of the Red Star Sword (3rd) .

The Great Warrior of Chaos, Kubichya has had his life ended and the Dragon’s Weapon, The Red Star sword, was safely withdrawn from circulation. It seems like this will not be the last time a Dragon’s Weapon will cause trouble for the world. The Tribal Races of Jigolaths will always have spirits that compete, but they can live in peace for now. The fact that a sculptor completed this quest can be called nothing other than a miracle.

Quest Reward: Dragon’s Sword: Red Star.

Golden Bird has the information about the duties and requirements of an Emperor.

-Your fame has increased by 5,200

-Due to the completion of the quest, you have gained the title: The Heir to the Niflheim Empire.

-Due to the completion of an extremely hard quest: You have gained the trust of every adventurer.

-You can now gather patronage by a King, Queen or those with nobility of Count or above.

-In addition, you may choose to become the Steward of Adventurers for the Versailles continent.

-If you have enough notoriety, you can also choose to become the leader of a revolutionary army or thieves guild.

-Due to the completion of this quest your notoriety has decreased by 1,200.

-Due to the completion of a heroic quest, all skill stats will increase by 7.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

-You have leveled up.

………..

-In Jigolaths, aside from the Chaos Warriors, your reputation will be replaced with either neutral or intimate for all racial tribes.

However the Fire Giants may still harbor some hostile against you.

-Intimacy with the diversified races in the Northern Versailles continent has increased.

-The reputation of sculptors in Main Versailles continent has increased.

The sculptor class respect level is raised.

Sculptor’s now have the respect of the people and

will be able to eat for free in restaurants.

-The price and trade value of created sculpture works

has increased all over the continent.

==================================

‘I gained 9 levels and an enormous amount of fame.’

“A sponsor.”

‘If I have the King as my sponsor, I could gain quite a few high level quests. Each kingdom will have many types of quests; mysteries, heroic, and treasure hunting.’

Weed had just gained a high risk, high stakes price tag for using these patrons but he couldn’t afford to throw this chance away.

Weed would go to the kings of every country, meet them and receive these new high level requests from them.

He tried to imagined how these new quest might play out

“Please, take care of this for me.”

“I’ll entrust this quest only to the best sculptor. You may not be able to do this alone so take these men with you.”

After meeting with the king, he’d go to the center of the square and use the lion’s roar.

“I have a Quest that all of you can join!”

From young children to the elderly, men and woman in the thousands would join the quest. He could see a vision of them exploited and suffering during the quest.

He had been requested to build something like a Pyramid in Rosenheim by a king before, so he knew that the royalties, or the high ranking nobles of the nation could pay compensation of a huge reward.

This wouldn’t only be about sculpting a sculpture but also collecting a large group of adventurers to go on a grand quest or even declare war against factions like the Embinyu Church.

“Hu hu hu hu”

Of course that wasn’t the only reward.

He’d won the Dragon’s Sword, Red Star.

He still didn’t know if he could use it in battle or when he would be able to use it. Anyway he’d finally cleared the S ranked quest, on his lips Weed had a peaceful and relieved smile.

“Finally, I’ll be able to wash my hair.”

Somehow he’d had this ominous feeling that keeping it clean would’ve cause the quest to fail. While due to his nervous fears, it had still somehow allowed him to do his best. Mostly it had given him some peace of mind while exploring in Jigolaths without having to worry too much.

Still, he hadn’t taken a bath since then.

“9 levels mmm… Display Stat window.

==================================

Character name : Weed Class : Legendary Moonlight Sculptor Affinity : Challenger Title : Commander who hunted the Imugi Level : 392 Fame : 37,983 Health : 31,360 Mana : 17,905 Strength : 1,378 Agility : 1,065 Vitality: 172 Intelligence : 198 Fighting Spirit : 497 Endurance : 226 Perseverance : 753 Art : 1,899 Charisma : 414 Leadership : 706 Luck : 75 Faith : 115+435 Charm : 210+30 Resist Blows : 455 Dignity : 36 Mental Power : 25 Courage : 107 Strength of the Dead : 268 Offense : 5,641 Defense: 1,820 Magic Resistance; Fire : 27% Water : 31% Earth : 35% Black Magic : 50% ------------------- +20 to all stats. + 80 points Art stat. +During the full moonlit night, you will gain 30% increased stat boosts. +You have access to class specific items. +You can learn all production skills up to the level of the Masters. This effect is included in all item creation and refinement. You can learn highest quality in all skills. +Your fame will increase as you create more high level sculptures. +Due to your combat experience, sculptures, production and quest experience, all stats are increased by 132. You are now able to gain the Master Artisan title if you are able to increase your stats by over 100 with just production and sculpting alone. +Due to equipping the Barahanui Bracelet, all of your stats have increased by 15. +You have now gained access to the Necromancer’s special ability, the strength of the dead. ==================================

‘In this window I can see the ability of a construction worker to grind skill and stat points, but it won’t be so straight forward now that I’m getting toward the 400’s. ‘

Of course, it’s primarily due to the huge experience gained from quests.

“Huh? ‘Strength of the dead.’ When did I get that?”

There was a new and rather ominous unknown stat displayed in the stat window.

“I’ve never seen that stat rise up with a message window either.”

“Stat check, Strength of the Dead.”

==================================

Strength of the Dead:

You automatically created this stat while transformed during the long time period as an Undead.

Distributing points to this skill is impossible, undead powers only rise as you spend more time in a Undead form.

This stat increases intelligence, summoning ability, and black magic strength while transformed as an Undead.

Undead raises intelligence and raise the dead abilities, as Black magic powers increase it will cause side effects for those with good alignment.

Strength of the Dead stat will grow rapidly depending on the battles. This stat may suddenly increase itself and will consume other stats in order to do so. Grace, Charm, Luck, Faith are the main prey as a resource used to increase itself.

If strength of the Dead’s stat is higher than any other stat points you will never be able to reverse the Undead effect.

==================================

‘Not just an ordinary undead, I transformed into a one of the highest, a ‘Lich’. Then I hunted for all those millions of EXP which were then piled into this new undead stat.’

‘Well, I did choose the Lich because it was that strong but the side effects are also strong.’

‘298, perhaps I should be worried about this stat.’

Even with faith being high, it was still barely suppressing the strength of the Undead.

“I’ve never even heard about this strength of the dead stat before.”

He had checked multiple forums regarding Royal Road, but there was no information about this stat. This was due to the fact that Weed is better at being bad than anyone else. This was the price he had to pay for being fascinated by the fighting powers of a Lich.

“When I return to Morata, I’ll just have to ask Alveron to bless me.”

This would not be a problem for someone from the Freya Church, especially since Alveron’s the Pope Candidate.

‘I’ve finished the impossible Quest,’ with a long deep sigh Weed then turned toward Golden Bird.

“Then… what should I do first in order to found an Empire? If I construct a Empire of my own, I’d image I will be able to collect taxes from the realm, even sell noble titles?”

The whole spirit of conversation was overshadowed with Weed’s nature of greedily wanting to eat the whole pie instead of a slice! Weed was only interested in profiting from the construction of an empire.

Although hesitant Golden Bird tried to explain.

“To ensure the creation of an Empire several steps are necessary to satisfy the conditions.”

Weed thought that was would be the case, after all the price of doing an “S’ level Quest had called for great sacrifices. Just solving this quest hadn’t been enough, it had only created a foundation for this empire building quest. He knew it would be a very heavy load but even so it won’t get done by saying it’s impossible.

“So what requirements must I fulfill in order to found another Niflheim Empire?”

“In order to build an empire, you must get the approval of the Versailles Gods. To gather this approval you will need to be blessed by three of the founding Gods churches.”

He already knew the Freya Church very well. He’d returned their relic and had completed all their Quest, so he thought it wasn’t going to be much of a problem to at least get one from them. On top of that he already had a good friendship with the Next Pope, Alveron, to rely on.

It was good to have some connections to those with power!

His relationship with the Matallost Church wasn’t bad, so he thought in return for allowing them to build a shrine in Morata, he’d get support from them.

If you added in that he had high fame, especially since fighting off the Embinyu Church, he should be able to gain the approval of other religions as well.

‘If that’s not enough I’ll solve a few high level quest for them, or maybe use the faster method of bribing them with donations and gifts.’

He knew the best way to create high intimacy was to use a bit of both tactics. A few gifts and quest’s should be pretty easy to achieve.

“I guess I shouldn’t have a too much of a problem with getting approval from the gods, I’ll make sure to be blessed by them when before I begin creating an Empire.”

‘Yeah, with the Freya Church’s blessing it’ll be easier to make it a rich Empire. Surely though Golden Bird’s terms won’t end with just that.’

“Furthermore, another condition is for you to gain the approval from several tribes of the northern continent. You must have citizens of more than Five different ethnic groups before the founding of an Empire.”

Dwarf, Elf, Humans, Barbarians, Orcs.

He knew that these five basic species were the most abundant, if he got more detailed about separating them by race, there were sub-races of elves, dwarves, spirits and monsters as well.

Currently, there are races that the players can choose, as well as races players aren’t able to choose.

“Does that mean in order for me to found an empire, all five races must be made available so players can have access to play as those races?”

There was also a chance of a living sculpture civilization needing to be included in those races. Perhaps like some forgotten legacy left behind by Emperor Geihar Von Arpen. Like the avian race of Lavias, city in the sky.

Well he just needed to be resolved to find a way to sweet talk a solution. He felt that he was about to get sent on yet one more high risk adventure quest, still that wasn’t a big deal in exchange for gaining an Empire.

“There is still more…. in order to construct an Empire you yourself must be free of all human sin. If your notoriety is too high, no Knights or Nobles will be able to follow you.”

He already knew how to decrease notoriety through capturing wanted criminals, quests and hunting monsters. He felt that decreasing or even eliminating the unwanted notoriety wasn’t too big of a deal.

“Wait…there can’t be any more conditions…are there?”

“Of course…establishing an Empire takes not only vast territories but a huge population too. ”

“Around 20 thousand people?” Morata’s population was around that much.

“You’ll need at least 10 million subjects…”

“…furthermore…in order for the population to quickly raise their skill and hobby levels, which allow the public order stat to rise, several guilds needs to be established within your Empire. In addition… you must eradicate the surrounding lands of thieves and monsters periodically in order to increase the security of your subjects”

Weed frowned at the absurdity.

“So in order to defend from monster attacks, I need to build several fortresses as well?”

“But of course you will…”

“…Also another requirement you must fulfill ; you must gather at least 500 elite knights and 30,000 heavily armed soldiers.”

“I’ll ask once more… what else? You’re surely not going to end with just that.”

“Of course there’s more….Religious facilities are needed, along with high artistic and cultural satisfaction. It will be needed to develop the higher craftsmen skills.”

Weed’s expression was looking like that of a man who has just been swindled of all his money. Or like a child that had won money and promptly had it taken away by their parents! They then always say the same thing, “When you grow older I’ll give it back to you ten fold.”

Of course that money just disappeared, leaving behind only bitter disappointment. Even a child knows it’s never coming back!

“You can’t be done yet, you have more conditions, right?”

“Yes…you must have high-quality iron resources. There must be open roads in order to travel easily between villages so that the traders will have the maximum travel efficiency and therefore be able to establish solid commercial trade routes.”

There were many, many mountains to overcome in order to found an empire. Weed reached this simply conclusion.

‘I’ll need to take better care of Morata, check those results and then use that testing ground to begin building this Empire.’

It was technically very possible to re-establish the Niflheim Empire. This would mean that the small corner market would turn into a giant mall, inns would turn into large hotels.

Weed thought about this and then came back to reality.

He had been swimming in the fantasy that he would be able to build this Empire but he needed to face the harsh cold reality of the situation.

‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch.’

Even with the all the desire in the world, you still can’t force people’s hearts and minds., they have to choose it.

Nonetheless, these frustrations couldn’t be allowed to go unexpressed. Weed beckoned Golden Bird to come closer.

“Well now, I think I get it, so come over here.”

“Why?….what’s going on over there?”

“These virtues you have expressed have inspired me to want to have a closer and more intimate talk with you.”

Yellowy and Tori sensing the way the wind was blowing, flinched and backed away.

Those two have suffered from Weed for a long time and knew better than to ever get too close, they were especially careful not to ever approach him when he was in that kind of a mood. Golden Bird however, just nodded and walked towards Weed.

Weed ordered his two underlings.

“Van Hawk, Tori. Prepare for combat.”

“…The battle is over, so why?” Golden Bird slanted his head in confusion. At this moment he still didn’t have any sense of the ordeal he was about to experience!

“Sorry, although it’s painful for me and a real nuisance, I have no choice but to beat you, Hey guys… Get’em.”

Weed started beating Golden Bird soundly!

Dust flew as Weed began to truly give Golden Bird a double dose of punches!

Though reluctant, Van Hawk and Tori worked like a team combating an enemy. Under Weed’s guidance Golden Bird is granted a new perspective about life.

One way of creating a seamless command hierarchy is to train the subject by fear… perhaps not the best way yet the effects of a beating are very fast!

“This is so unfair… I was only stating the facts.”

“It seems you haven’t been hit enough!”

Weed realized something. Empires aren’t just created because you have some land and a castle. While doing these quests he had found out the history of the living sculptures and gained the trust of the northern races as well.

‘Both the Von Arpen Empire and the Niflheim Empire! I am their orthodox successor!’

‘Even if I don’t know the why of it, the reason must be a good one. I can’t see any real practical benefits right away but the value will have to be there at some point in the future.’

‘It’s the sculptor’s class, there’s got to be a connection since Golden Bird would only be able to pass on instructions to sculptors.’

‘Well whatever, what’s gained is gained, but having to endure such big disappointment is still disappointing.’

Weed thought it necessary to educate Golden Bird about how life is after the passing of Von Arpen’s Empire. He must be made to understand that the rice bowl is upside down in this new world, he must learn his place as an proper underling.

What’s sadder about this beating was Seo Yoon and Silver bird didn’t say anything except for. “Don’t worry,” and “ he won’t kill you.”

Seo Yoon and Silver Bird both had faith that Weed’s road was a straight and honest one, even if a bit hard to see at times. They believed that this military discipline would only serve to make Golden Bird stronger, better.

“Well, we don’t have any more time for this today.” Weed dusted off his hands after 10 minutes of non-stop beating.

Golden Birds health was significantly reduced and the formally perfectly groomed gold feathers were scattered everywhere.

==================================

GoldenFeather: Durability 35/35.

The ultimate aristocrat of Feathers, Extremely Rare

+You can trade it just like a semi-precious gem stone.

+If you show it to an accessory shop you’ll acquire high intimacy with that shop.

Options:

+Charm and Dignity will rise at a small but constant rate

+You can use this item in tailoring or blacksmithing to create a new product.

==================================

All the fallen feathers went straight into Weed’s bags.

“It’ll be good money if we pluck your feathers from time to time”

Weed glanced at Silver Bird with an insidious gleam to his eyes.

“Well let’s move on.”

He opened the Underground Jigolaths Map and checked the location to where he should go next.

“Hellium, The raw material of dreams …”

That’s where sculpting Master Daycram had to have gone to.

“If this is the center of Jigolaths we should take the byway intersection while going down to the lowest point of the dungeon.”

‘We’ll need to cross the river of fire and get across to the short roads, but we need to endure those river steps.’

Weed walked forward, Seo Yoon and the sculptures following behind.

*****

:Entrance to the Inferno Dungeon:

“They’re here.”

Assassins, Thieves, Sappers and Hunters of the Hermes Guild had followed Weed’s trail to the end, The entrance to the Inferno Dungeon.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, no doubt, the monsters and terrain all match, it has to be here, I’m sure.”

Drinfeld, the Hermes Guild admiral, followed closely by his heavily armed sailors moved into dungeon. Griffith the pirate admiral and his crew were right behind them.

“We’re not the discoverers of this dungeon, so it must be right.”

Weed hadn’t discovered the dungeon right next to the unfrozen river but someone had discovered this dungeon.

The magic squadron and assassins came inside last, the sailors would defend them as a front defensive front line, just in case. If Weed was in here, he might be set up and waiting for them.

“How many more days ’till we arrive where the ‘Tribal Wars’ battle took place?”

As Drinfeld spoke, someone from the tracking team came forward to answer him. He was their most experienced dungeon explorer.

“From what I saw of the on air broadcast and judging by these lava flows, I’d say this dungeon is going to be huge.”

“How many days?”

“This dungeon is big enough to hold a giant lava lake. Also consider that large monsters are able to roam around down here, this dungeon must be gigantic. If we factor in the monster interference…. at least Three days.”

They were already sick of fighting the Chaos Warriors.

When they didn’t have enough mages or clerics, they took heavy damage each time. However, this time, the magicians were able to use their mana to create a field to make the Chaos Warriors unable to move.

“We’ll move as fast as possible from now on, 3 days, 4 days that’s taking too long. We need to be where this Tribal Wars took place, that’s where we’ll pick up Weeds trail!”

*****

On the way to the Hellium mine they took time for a break.

Seo Yoon logged out of Royal Road and came out of the Capsule. Sunlight shone throughout her room.

“Ah.”

Seo Yoon was afraid of people in the real world.

She had begun to speak in Royal Road, yet the fear of other people wasn’t going to be easy to overcome. It has been that way since she was very young.

‘ I don’t want to feel so alone …… again.’

With Weed from royal road, she felt relaxed, she felt she wanted to speak to him about many things. Hyun Lee was a friend apart from Royal Road too, someone who was good to be around, someone she could speak to in the real world.

Seo Yoon was finally finding some joy after many years of being afraid.

‘It’s hard, I’m scared…..but…I feel I want to move forward. ‘

Seo Yoon stopped trembling.

She felt ready to try speaking to people in real life.

The real challenge was to be able to speak freely in the real world

“Do…Dogmeat”

She spoke to the dog Hyun Lee had given her.

Dogmeat was stretched out sleeping by the window where the sunlight could warm him. His ears pricked up and his eyes opened as he heard his name. Seo Yoon spoke again.

“Oh ..so you are there.”

His wonderful owner, she who grooms him, gives him delicious food and a warm place to sleep, is calling him.

“Woof!”

Dogmeat ran towards her, wagging his tail.

i몸보신 literally a ‘dog meat as a body tonic’, or Healthy restoration of the body via dog meat, usually in summer ‘dog meat’ is served as a health tonic.

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