Oaklan Guild’s flag flapped in the middle of the desert.

And along with about over a hundred users, there were hundreds of guild soldiers that were entering the central continent underneath that flag.

“Whew, the level of the monsters is completely different from the ones in other zones for sure. I thought that we thoroughly prepared ourselves, but for us to already have lost ten people.”

At the words of the female Knight user, who was leading the line at the head, Limlong nodded his head quietly as he replied.

“That’s right, Rihina. Since the monster level range itself is so high in comparison to other hunting grounds we have.”

Rihina was one of the founding members of the Oaklan Guild as well as a ranker, and was also part of the guild’s executive members.

And she was in charge as the main leader of the first expedition for the central continent.

Limlong’s role was to assist her.

“Speaking of which, Limlong, you’re certainly different from other Assassin-class users. There was a reason why the Master put his trust in you.”

“Hoo-hoo, what points make you say that?”

“The fact that Assassin-class users cannot properly display their abilities in PVE is a truth that has already been proven. They hardly have any AoE attacks, and as their body is practically as weak as paper for being a close-combat class…”

Just like she said, the Assassin-class was the class that was most excluded from PVE. Even in this central continent expedition, the fact that a lot of Assassin-classes were excluded was the counter evidence of that.

Limlong smiled as he spoke.

“Is it not all up to each person? There are some disadvantages, but since there are also ways to overcome them.”

However, while these two people were talking about this and that, just then, a scout from far away returned running.

“Ma’am! Rihina, I’ve returned after patrolling.”

Rihina nodded her head as she replied.

“Good work. Give us the reports.”

The words of the soldier, who paused for a moment to collect their breath, continued.

“If you head towards the front for about 10 minutes, there is the news of the Scorpion Queen. The average level of the monsters is about 160. If you are to face them, there is a high chance that you will win, but as the exact level of the Scorpion Queen cannot be figured out, it’s dangerous.”

“If that’s the case, then even if we win, the damage will be enormous.”

At Rihina’s words, the soldier nodded their head.

“That’s right, Rihina. It seems like it will be better to detour and advance.”

Limlong, who stood next to her, assisted her.

“The dungeon first discoverer’s reward feels wasteful, but right now, we must save as much of our fighting power and occupy a base first, Rihina.”

Rihina also agreed with his words.

“I also think that way.”

Her gaze turned back to the soldier.

“Aside from the Scorpion nest, we should be able to proceed to our destination without a lot of difficulty, right?”

“That’s right.”

“If we take a detour, what is the expected time that it will take to arrive?”

“I think it should take about a quarter of a day.”

“Alright.”

As the report of the scout was finished, the troops of the Oaklan Guild began to move again.

Their destination was a base on the front line that they had looked at beforehand.

* * *

‘I just completely got lucky!’

Ian, who was checking the information of his Familiar ‘Bbakbbak’ that he obtained during an unguarded moment, couldn’t hide both corners of his mouth, which were rolling upwards, as he smiled broadly.

But then again, this was because Bbakbbak was an outrageous ‘Legendary’-rank Familiar.

• Bbakbbak (Golden Turtle Dragon)

Level: 150

Classification: Mystical Creature

Rank: Legendary

Personality: Prudent

Evolution Impossible

Offensive Power: 2730

Defensive Power: 3825

Agility: 1575

Intellect: 2355

Vitality: 183,300/183,300

Inherent Ability

*Guardian of the Desert (Passive)

Once every minute, a protective film made from sand will be created and it will absorb damage.

The protective film will absorb 30% of the damage of the maximum Vitality, and will last for 20 seconds.

*Absolute Defense (Cooldown Time 2 minutes)

Will go into ‘Invincible’ state for 10 seconds.

When in ‘Invincible’ state, no damage will be received, and will become ‘immune’ to all status conditions.

However, for the duration of Absolute Defense, no actions can be made.

*Blessing of the Turtle Dragon (Cooldown Time 10 minutes)

For 2 minutes, the damage that a designated target would have received will be taken personally instead.

The Turtle Dragon will receive 150% of the original damage that the designated target would have had to receive, and if the Vitality of the Turtle Dragon drops below 10%, this skill will automatically be cleared.

*Roar of the Turtle Dragon (Cooldown Time 2 minutes)

Opponents within a wide range will be provoked and it will make them attack the Turtle Dragon. The ‘Provoke’ state will last for 30 seconds, and the movements of the opponents that are afflicted with provoke will slow down by 40%.

(When facing users, the effect will drop by half.)

An ancient mystical creature that had protected the relics in the grave of the ruins for a long time.

It is incredibly powerful.

As expected, Bbakbbak boasted overwhelming stats that were similar to Ly and Pin.

The only disappointing part was the fact that he was ‘Evolution Impossible’.

‘If he was evolution possible on top of being a Legendary-rank, I would have been able to make a Mythological-rank…’

In Ly’s case, a ‘Completed Form’ title was attached.

It meant that amongst the wolf-type Familiars, there was no phase higher than Ly’s that could be evolved into.

If those words were thought of the other way, in the case of the Turtle Dragon or the Griffin, it meant that it was possible that there was an even higher phase that they could be evolved into.

It was because of that, he was disappointed.

‘Either way, I felt like tanking with just Ddukdae alone was lacking, so it’s turned out really well.’

An outrageous amount of Vitality at 180 thousand, and Defensive Power that was close to 4 thousand.

As expected, they were overwhelming stats even if the fact that he was a high level of 150 was considered.

“Wow, congratulations, Lord. Bbakbbak is so cool!”

The eyes of Celia, who walked up to Bbakbbak, shone as she petted the side of the giant shell.

Ian also wore a satisfied smile as he replied.

“Thanks, Celia.”

And Hoonie, who was watching from the back, grumbled.

“Lucky dude. The reason why he grew so unbelievably quickly was because of his luck.”

Even at Hoonie’s sarcastic remark, Ian just shrugged his shoulders.

“Luck is also a skill, kid.”

“Hmph.”

And there was also a turtle that wore a displeased expression.

Bbook- Bboo-bbook-!

Bbookbbook glared at Bbakbbak with an expression full of jealousy.

He seemed to have realized that it had now become too far-off for him to become more good-looking than Bbakbbak no matter how much he dieted as Bbookbbook wore an incredibly sullen expression.

Ian, who saw that, smirked as he petted Bbookbbook’s head.

“This cute guy.”

Bbook- Bboo-bbook-!

Bbookbbook grouchily went into his shell, and Ian slowly approached Bbakbbak, who had an imposing figure.

However, there was one problem.

‘Speaking of which, from now on, I can’t summon all of my Familiars in battle.’

His Leadership, which he didn’t know he lacked up until now due to his items and hidden stats, had reached a limit.

Thanks to the Dragon Tamer’s Feather Ornament that makes the Familiar Possession Limit infinite, there was no problem in obtaining, but summoning was impossible.

Ian began to put his brain to work.

‘Even if I use up all my money to change all of my items, I feel like it will still be hard to cover for it…’

However, just then, Celia, who was happily talking with Bbakbbak, caught Ian’s eyes.

‘Ah, by any chance, if it’s Celia, then…!’

Ian called Celia over.

“Celia!”

“Yes, Lord!”

“By any chance, do you have some leftover Leadership?”

Ian’s idea was simple. He was planning on transferring one of his Familiars to Celia.

As Celia was also Ian’s retainer, if he did that, he would be able to manage all of his Familiars.

‘Since Celia is close to lv 130 now as well, she’ll definitely have some Leadership remaining. Since the only Familiar that Celia manages is the Blue Wyvern.’

And as is Celia was fulfilling Ian’s expectations, she nodded her head.

“Yes, Lord. I have a lot of leftover Leadership. Why?”

Ian smiled brightly as he spoke to Celia.

“Celia, then from now on, could you take care of Ddukdae? If it is you, I feel like I could count on you, that is.”

If he transferred Ddukdae to Celia, he felt like he could switch out some equipment to increase his leadership and it would become possible to manage all of his Familiars.

And of course, Celia nodded her head out of excitement.

“Sounds good, Lord! Thank you so much!”

With a happy expression, Celia looked at Ddukdae, who was standing as dumb as a post.

Ian, who had transferred Ddukdae to Celia, finished maintenance and began moving again.

It was now time to start the advance work in order to occupy a base.

* * *

“Sollin, you’ve made such a reckless move.”

At Ilahan’s words, Sollin dropped her head as she replied with a low tone.

“I’m sorry, Master. I didn’t know they were the royal guards directly belonging to the king.”

Ilahan shook his head.

This was because it wasn’t that he didn’t understand her decision, but despite that, the loss received was too big.

The massacre of about a dozen guild members.

The fact that there was a gap created in their fighting power for a day was an obvious, but as their levels even dropped by one in general, this was an incredible loss.

On top of that, the fact that they couldn’t even kill one knight angered him the most.

“Ha… There’s nothing we can do now. Except to stay alert starting now at least.”

As a setback developed in his plans already from the beginning, Ilahan’s head pounded.

‘I was planning on occupying at least three bases before starting… But if it’s like this, then even if we overdo it, we’ll only be able to take care of two.’

Their rival guild, the Titan Guild, had already succeeded in occupying two bases, and as he obtained information that they were increasing the number by one more additional base, his stomach hurt even more.

‘Still, as the Luspel Empire Guild guys haven’t even found a spot properly yet… That at least is a relief.’

Ilahan, who completed his thoughts there, clicked his tongue internally.

The representative guilds of the Luspel Empire were Splendor, Oaklan, and Valiant Guild.

They themselves had pride that they were one of the top 5 guilds, but Ilahan never thought of them as their rivals.

Their decisions were always one step behind, and their objective fighting power also dropped in comparison.

Because the nations that they were affiliated with were different, they had yet to meet in the arena, but if they were to go against each other, he thought that the result would be clear.

For the territory wars, because of the advantage that the defending guild had, they weren’t able to win easily, but he was confident in completely destroying all of them in the field wars that would occur in the central continent now.

Towards Ilahan, who was thinking of this and that while closing his eyes, Sollin opened her mouth with a careful voice.

“Uh… But, Master.”

Ilahan replied with his eyes still closed.

“Speak.”

“While I was coming here after the time I couldn’t log on was over, I discovered an interesting location.”

Ilahan slightly opened his eyes.

“An interesting location?”

“Yes, that’s right. As the Titan Guild guys were gathered around it, I couldn’t go inside, but it was a structure that definitely looked like there was something in there.”

Ilahan’s expression slightly changed.

“Oh-ho, a structure… And you saw what the name was?”

Sollin nodded her head.

“Yes, I checked the name. It was a building with the name the ‘Tower of War’.”

And the moment he heard those words, Ilahan suddenly stood up from his spot.

“This, damn it!”

Sollin, who flinched at his form, where he burst out in anger, asked.

“What’s wrong?”

Ilahan’s eyes glinted.

‘Shyakran, this jerk, so he’s saying he won’t even share information now, huh?’

The Titan Guild and the DarkRuna Guild were rival guilds, so obviously, they kept each other in check up until now.

However, as the advance into the central continent was a battle between the empires, the Guild Masters agreed to share information related to this, but Shyakran had violated that.

Ilahan turned his gaze towards Sollin again.

“Sollin.”

“Yes, Master.”

“We must move immediately. Go get ready.”

As she already guessed where Ilahan was planning on going, Sollin nodded her head as she replied.

“Yes, understood. Master.”

Ilahan added on as he moved his feet.

“Gather all of the executive members. Since all of us will need to move together.”