Ian arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Palace where two guards stopped him.

“Why have you come here?”

Ian was surprised.

He had never been to the Imperial Palace of the Luspell Empire, not even before he reset his

character.

‘Hmm… I do not have any kind of evidence to show them. What should I do?”

Ian thought for a while and just said what he could come up with, “I am Ian, the Pioneer of

Summoning. I heard that His Majesty the Emperor is looking for me, so I came here.”

He spoke as politely as possible.

It would be a problem if he acted rudely and his Friendship with the guards dropped.

The guards looked confused. They scratched their heads, “Please wait here for a while. I will go and

ask our captain.”

“Thank you.”

One of them hurried to go into the gate.

A little while later, a man came out, “Oh, Pioneer, you have arrived. I am truly sorry. I should have told

the guards in advance.”

The man appeared to be the guard captain.

Ian didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation.

He had never seen an NPC acting so politely even before he raised his Friendship with him or her.

‘Hmm… what is this? Is this because of the Empire quest?’

Actually, they were only guards. It was only right for them to treat a guest invited by the Emperor with

respect, however, Ian couldn’t think of that.

“Oh… umm… it’s okay. Then, can I go in?”

The captain hurried to quickly nod, “Of course, Ian. I will escort you to the inside.”

The gate, which had been shut, opened. Following the captain, Ian went in slowly.

‘But what is that guard captain’s level?’

Laper, the leader of the vigilantes who had given him the Goblins’ Campsite quest, was at about Lv.

Ian suddenly got curious and looked at the captain’s information.

[Maolin]

Lv. 115

Job: Guard captain

…

All information except for his level and job was closed, but the two were enough to surprise Ian.

‘What? He’s just a captain who guards the outer gate and he’s Lv. 115? Even the No. 1 player in the

level ranking is about Lv.120…’

Ian’s eyes widened, he had thought the captain would have a similar level to Laper, if not less.

‘Let’s see. Then, what are those soldiers’ levels?’

Ian checked their information and he was even more shocked.

The two soldiers who followed Ian were Lv. 104 and Lv. 107.

‘Ha… now I know the reason why those high-ranked guilds don’t even dare to touch Kolonar

Continent’s territory, even with their massive power…’

Even a mere soldier of the Empire was at Lv. 100. If a guild messed up with the Empire, the entire

guild would be razed.

Thinking of this, the base Lotus Guild had gotten on its expedition to the North felt even more

valuable.

‘I must raise my level quickly and help them widen the base’s territory.’

While Ian was thinking like this, the group was getting closer to the Imperial Palace.

…

Karun Peak, the highest peak of the Snowy Mountains of Crupia.

A man with sharp, curved daggers in both hands was fighting an Ice Troll alone.

Koooo-!

The Troll roared and swung its massive club at the man.

Kwang-!

But the Troll’s club couldn’t even touch the man. It just shattered a rock.

The Troll wasn’t an ordinary Ice Troll.

Its size was 1.5 bigger than normal Ice Trolls and blue cold energy was coming out of its club.

It was an ‘Ice Troll Warrior’, a Hero rank monster, a boss monster of the Karun Peak.

The man avoided every attack with his light movement, as if mocking the Troll, and closed in.

However, as if it had been waiting for it, the Troll grabbed the man’s shoulder with its empty hand.

No, it tried to grab.

In a flash, the man disappeared like a mirage.

The Troll was surprised. It became defenseless for a moment. Next, the man emerged behind the

Troll.

“Just die now…”

He stabbed the Troll’s back with his sharp daggers.

Kaaaaak-!!

The Troll screamed in pain.

The man didn’t miss that moment.

“Hup-!”

A Black energy similar to smoke started to be absorbed into his daggers.

Next, when the daggers absorbed all the smoke, they turned as dark as the abyss. They then pierced

the Troll’s heart.

That was the final attack.

The Ice Troll Warrior’s face started to turn black.

A black energy spread to every direction from the daggers embedded in the Troll’s heart.

That was the end. The Troll turned grey and slowly vanished.

“Hu, it was a tough one, really.”

The man got the items from the Troll’s dead body and muttered, wiping off the sweat on his forehead,

“Do I have to work about half a day till Lv. 50?”

Surprisingly, the man who had just killed the Lv. 65 Ice Troll Warrior was at Lv. 49.

His class was ‘Assassin’, one of the three new classes.

“I am still at Lv. 49… and there’s a new class player who reached Lv. 50 a few days ago?”

A corner of his lips curled up.

“And he’s a Summoner… huhu, I can’t wait.”

The man started to move slowly.

“I still have four days till the Arena opens… So, I have some time to spare.”

He stood in front of a high cliff.

Surprisingly, he then jumped. At that moment, the man turned into a black falcon and flew between

the peaks.

Then, he was gone.

…

“Oh, you must be Ian.”

Ian was very nervous when he stood in front of the Emperor.

All the information about the Emperor was closed, so Ian couldn’t even know his level, but just

standing in front of him was enough to make Ian feel overwhelmed.

‘I imagined an old man with white hair… to think that he’s so young!’

Salias looked to be in his early 30s. He was looked more like a strong general than an Emperor.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I was told that you were looking for me…”

Salias replied before Ian even finished talking, “Yes. I heard that there was a great man like you in my

Empire, so how I could not look for you?”

Ian was a little confused.

“I… I guess not.”

Ian then saw system messages.

Ian got 1250 Reputation by just meeting the Emperor.

‘The Empire quest is indeed different from others.’ Ian exclaimed silently while Salias continued to

talk.

“I am very thrilled that the Luspell Empire got a skillful Summoner before the Kaimon Empire did.”

The Emperor lifted his teacup and sipped. Ian just waited for him to continue.

“I have been waiting for a skillful Summoner for a long time.”

Ian asked back, not realizing what he was doing, “Why?”

At his rude behavior, the knight next to the Emperor glared at him.

“How dare you to talk like that to the Emperor!”

Ian flinched, ‘Uh, I should have been more careful…’

Ian carefully studied the Emperor’s face. Fortunately, he didn’t look mad.

“Haha, Hellaim, it’s fine. He is an adventurer who doesn’t know about court etiquette.”

“Your Majesty, but…”

“I said it’s fine.”

The Emperor stopped the knight and he returned to his position, a little displeased.

‘Hu, I am saved.’ Ian relaxed, ‘If he had swung that big sword, I would have died instantly.’

Ian looked at the knight’s sword.

It was a great weapon that looked very expensive.

Ian gathered his senses and bowed his head at Salias.

“I am sorry, Your Majesty… as you said, I do not know about court manners.”

Salias smiled warmly and shook his head, “No, it’s fine.”

Then, he spoke again a while later, “Anyway, I will tell you why I have been waiting for a skillful

Summoner.”

Ian listened, very ‘politely’.

“Ian, do you know which animal is the symbol of the Luspell Empire?”

Ian thought for a while and nodded, he saw the animal embroidered on tapestry behind the Emperor.

“It is the Griffin, Your Majesty.”

The symbol of the Luspell Empire was the Griffin.

The Griffin had a head, wings and the front legs of a brave eagle, the body and back legs of a lion. It

was a creature of legends.

“Good, good. Many don’t know that, but you do.”

Salias smiled with satisfaction. Ian was shocked, ‘Wouldn’t I be a fool if I don’t know it when it’s so

hugely portrayed right there?’

However, he didn’t make another stupid mistake by saying that out loud.

“Anyway, I will go on.” The Emperor continued, “About half a year ago, I dispatched my elite knights to

cross the Sikar Desert.”

The Sikar Desert was in the middle part of the Kolonar Continent.

It was also called the Land of Death among users.

They did that for a good reason.

Monsters at the Sikar Desert had an average level of 130.

No user had ventured to go there yet.

Salias talked again, “Then, Hellaim, who was leading the knights, found a Griffin’s nest in the middle

of the Desert.”

Ian was greatly surprised to hear that.

‘What? Griffins are real?’

Salias continued, “The knights fought bravely against the Griffins. In the end, they killed the Griffins

and got their egg.”

Ian couldn’t help gasping.

‘And they even won?’

Sikar Desert was called the Land of Death.

Even monsters from legends could be found there.

In order to hunt Griffins, the knights that hunted them must have great powers. Ian realized how

strong the Knights of the Empire were.

“I would like to raise the Griffin, the symbol of my Empire, and raise it in my Palace’s garden…”

Ian thought, ‘The Emperor is mad… he wants to raise that monster in the Palace!’

Ian started to worry what kind of quest he would get.

“More than half year has passed, but the Griffin’s egg hasn’t hatched yet.”

Salias lifted his cup and sipped again. He looked at Ian, “I would like to have you find a way to hatch

the egg… what do you think?”

Ian had seen that coming since Salias started to talk about Griffin’s egg.

Ian wanted to cry, ‘How am I supposed to do that? I have never seen a pet’s egg!’

However, the merciless system message came up.

[Griffin’s Egg (Empire Quest)]

The Emperor, Salias, found a Griffin’s egg in the middle of the Sikar Desert six months ago.

The Knights then brought it to the Palace. Salias wants to raise it at the Palace as it is the symbol of

his Empire.

However, no one knows how to hatch the Griffin’s egg.

Salias wants you, a skillful Summoner, to hatch the Griffin egg.

Quest Difficulty Level: —

Quest Limit: Doesn’t exist

Time Limit: Unknown

Reward: One of the Summoning skill books at the Palace’s Library.

Refusing the quest would drop Friendship with Salias, the Emperor.

(If there is no Friendship, Hostility would rise.)

…

The more Ian read, the darker his face became.

‘Ha… how am I supposed to hatch a Griffin’s egg? I’m not mamma Griffin!’

He didn’t even know where to start.

‘And the Time Limit is unknown? What the hell is that?’

Not knowing when he would run out of time made Ian even more nervous.

It meant he could get a Quest Fail message even right now.

However, he didn’t need to refuse the quest.

It would be all the same, whether he lost Friendship with the Emperor and Reputation by refusing the

quest or failing the quest.

Therefore, he had to at least try.

“Yes, I will try.”

Ian saw a system message.

‘Huu…’

Ian sighed deeply, but silently.