Pure White Knight, Serengeti
If I don't give the egg, the battle with the forest begins.
But even if I do give it, it's a problem.
"Mm. What are you doing?"
I held out the Heavenly egg, but just as I thought, it didn't seem to be visible to the High Dryad.
Naturally so, since the egg containing a Heavenly Spirit is something only I can see.
Besides, since it isn't even a spirit of the natural world, it can't revive the forest either.
Do I really have to run?
It hurts to lose fame if the quest fails, but······ if I put up a wall with Star Scratch, and Isabella and Hudson hold out for just 30 seconds, it feels like I could use the Teleport Book.
"Take it, resident of the forest."
Just as I was seriously considering running, Isabella stepped forward.
Right after that, she handed a Spirit Egg to the High Dryad.
The High Dryad's two eyes grew as wide as lanterns as she took the egg.
"W, Wind Spirit!"
A Wind Spirit egg.
A spirit of the natural world that can revive a dead forest!
Judging by its size and the aura it gives off, the forest will gain even more vitality than before, and grow larger.
Because compared to an Earth Spirit, a Wind Spirit is far more suitable for expanding a forest.
Cheer flooded the High Dryad's eyes.
"Thank you, truly thank you! You are the benefactors of our forest, and our friends!"
"O Forest!"
"Hooray!"
The Dryads watching also shouted in excitement, their voices ringing out.
At the same time.
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<<'Sub Quest: Return the Spirit to the Forest' has been completed.>>
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The message saying the quest was complete floated up.
But the message didn't really enter my eyes.
····· Honestly, I was a little surprised. I never imagined Isabella would hand over, without hesitation, the Spirit Egg she'd obtained by clearing a trial in the Spirit Tower.
There's no way she doesn't know the value of a spirit.
If anything, she knows it too well, which makes it worse.
"······."
When I stared at her, Isabella just shrugged.
Like it was no big deal.
Only then did I realize this, too, was one of the "services" I had ordered from her.
Hadn't Isabella sworn to serve me for a year in exchange for escaping the desert?
This was her showing the will to serve devotedly, even giving up what belonged to her.
"Then we must hold a festival today!"
The High Dryad began to dance with a beaming smile.
***
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<1st, 240 points. Randolph>
<2nd, 219 points. Gracia>
<3rd, 191 points. Mintchocoisdelicious>
<4th, 188 points. Black Jade>
<5th, 180 points. Master>
<6th, 175 points. Massacre>
·····.
<<'Massacre' has dropped one rank in the 'Climb the Tower' standings.>>
<
Massacre, who had been waiting in front of the Tower of Battle God, frowned deeply.
'What kind of bullshit is this now?'
He'd been waiting leisurely for someone presumed to be Randolph, and then all of a sudden his rank fell.
And as his rank fell, the level of Guardian Wall dropped with it.
'How much effort did I put into climbing the Tower of Tempest······!'
In Main Quest 3, if you place within the top 100, you receive a perk called 'Guardian Wall'.
From 10th to 100th place, everyone gets a Lv 1 Guardian Wall, but from 1st to 9th place, the level of 'Guardian Wall' differs according to rank.
Gracia had climbed the tower through months of leveling to obtain a higher-level Guardian Wall.
With that result, Gracia earned a whopping 219 points and obtained a Lv 10 Guardian Wall.
It was the same for Massacre.
He poured his heart into conquering the 'Tower of Tempest', ranked 5th, and seized a Lv 6 Guardian Wall.
Guardian Wall is used to protect your logged-out body in 'reality'.
No matter how high your level in Pangaenia is, if your body in reality dies, it's meaningless.
But aside from something like Guardian Wall, there aren't many functions that protect your real body on their own without using a Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule.
You couldn't keep something like an Amulet of Protection activated at all times.
That's why everyone climbed the tower desperately.
Crack!
'Phantom. No, Randolph······!'
It feels like I'm going to die of anger.
A main quest you've cleared once can't be challenged again.
If I'm this furious, how must Gracia feel, having already had 1st place stolen three times?
Gracia had spent months leveling under the worst conditions, all to get a level 10 Guardian Wall.
Even though growth has limits if you don't push the main quests, he raised it all the way to 7.
And on top of that, risking death, he clawed his way up the Tower of the Immortal.
Even so, it was 219 points.
So what kind of tower did that damned Randolph climb to reach 240 points?
'What kind of trick did he use?'
What's certain is that he climbed a tower of a higher grade than the Tower of the Immortal.
There's no way it was a tower climbed by normal means.
Since Phantom has mastered all kinds of knowledge about Pangaenia, he must have used a bug, or something like that. Otherwise, it just doesn't make sense.
Huff! Huff!
Massacre steadied his breathing.
"Damn it! This damn thing!!"
But no matter how much he calmed his breath, his anger wouldn't subside.
***
<'Randolph' rises to 1st place.>
The phrases that appeared when I entered the hall of fame.
1st place is 1st place, but it's definitely different from before.
'An upgrade in perk grade, huh.'
As I claimed 1st in Main Quest 3, Climb the Tower, a perk called Guardian Wall was created.
I immediately read the description related to Guardian Wall.
[Guardian Wall(Lv 11)]
★ Protects and warns your logged-out body from danger.
★ The strength it can protect against differs depending on Guardian Wall's level.
★ A level 11 Guardian Wall nullifies attacks of 1-star or lower for 30 seconds.
My eyes went wide.
'That's a relief.'
This perk was one of the things I needed most desperately.
Meaning, when I log into Pangaenia, Guardian Wall protects Park Hyun-myung in reality, and when I return to reality, it protects Randolph in Pangaenia.
And it's an absolute defensive wall that, at a level beyond 10, can even nullify 1-star attacks for 30 seconds!
'So breaking past the limit score means that instead of Lv 10 for 1st place, it was upgraded to Lv 11.'
It seemed that depending on the score, the perk's grade could also be upgraded.
Besides, 30 seconds is long enough to go back and fully regroup.
'The Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule also has 72 hours remaining now.'
That wasn't the only reward for 1st place.
The Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule gained an additional 24 hours, becoming 72 hours total. Thinking about the future, the more remaining time the better.
"Lord Star Bearer, thank you. I never dreamed I'd obtain a spirit."
While the Dryads were dancing and the festival was in full swing, Hudson approached and said.
Hudson had obtained a Water Spirit egg.
Since his talent had 'Water', it was a natural result.
"To form a proper contract, you need to hatch it first."
"Yes. When we get back, I'll buy a 'Spirit Incubator' first thing."
The most common way to hatch a spirit egg was to use a Spirit Incubator.
If you paid a very expensive fee at a Spirit Association located in a tiny number of major cities, you could use one.
"Lord Star Bearer, what kind of egg did you get?"
"I don't know either."
"······ Pardon?"
Hudson blinked at my answer.
But what can I do, it's true.
It's a Heavenly Spirit, sure, but even I don't know what it is.
I couldn't tell whether 'Heavenly' meant the Demon Realm, the Divine Realm, or some other world.
"Kihehehe!"
"Uahahahaha!"
"Let's play! Let's spin! Let's dance!"
The Dryads danced in a joyful circle.
"······."
And in the middle of them, Isabella was there.
Isabella, who had gifted the Wind Spirit, was the most honored guest among us.
But Isabella just stood there awkwardly, looking unsure of what to do.
'Good thing she got two eggs.'
Isabella had taken two eggs while climbing the Spirit Tower.
So that's why. She handed one over so easily, she had another.
Still, there's no doubt it was a hard choice. Spirit eggs are immensely valuable in and of themselves.
Besides, spirits obtained by climbing the 'Spirit Tower' are far more powerful than ordinary spirits.
'To think they are giving away a thousand-year-old mandrake as a gift.'
In both of Isabella's hands was a mandrake, a human-shaped plant.
It's the greatest elixir, having lived a thousand years by absorbing the yang energy of the forest.
If you eat an elixir like that, a new talent awakens.
Of course, I have no more talents to awaken, so whether I eat it or not makes no difference.
"I want to hatch it as soon as possible. If it's a spirit, it'll definitely solve my shortcomings."
Excitement filled Hudson's eyes.
Was he imagining a future of hunting with a spirit?
The road from 9 to 10. Alone it might be impossible, but with a spirit, it could be possible.
"Before that, there's a place we need to go together."
"Is there still somewhere to stop by?"
"Yeah."
"I'll follow you no matter what."
When I nodded, Hudson clenched his fist and looked resolute.
Like he'd follow me to the ends of the world.
I let out a small chuckle.
You'll follow me no matter what?
"Then make sure you keep that promise."
***
"······."
Hudson regretted those words.
After crossing the warp, he could only stare blankly at the territory laid out before him.
Gulp!
"Why··· are we here······?"
"Do you know where this is?"
"Isn't this······ the territory of Marquis Weiser's house, in the Kingdom of Balan······?"
How could he not recognize it?
Serengeti.
The place where the woman he promised a future to, the woman with whom he held a secret betrothal ceremony, lived, the woman who returned from the great expedition with both legs severed.
Hudson staggered.
He wasn't ready to meet her yet.
He hadn't become a councilman, nor even reached level 10.
But he didn't understand why the Star Bearer had come here with him. Was he trying to arrange a meeting between him and Serengeti?
"So, the place we had to go together······."
As Hudson swallowed again and asked, I nodded strongly.
"This is the place."
The Kingdom of Balan, made up of 13 major cities.
Among them, a place called the 'Garden of Knights'.
But the reason I came here wasn't for Hudson.
'The end of the great expedition, the day we fought the Demon King.'
Pure White Knight Serengeti, who joined the great expedition with 500 knights, and lost her lower body after falling into a trap while saving me.
She had been my closest aide during the great expedition.
And she was the only eyewitness who saw me fight the Demon King.
So she would know.
····· About my, about Knight King Wilhelm's end, about the situation that was incomprehensible back then.