'I advanced a whole Tier just like that? Is this leveling system pretty easy?'
'Or are these generous rewards only for the initial tutorial mission?'
'I've entered Tier Three, and my Growth Level has reached 18%...'
Lince was pleasantly surprised by his character's breakthrough. He then immediately took some time to familiarize himself with the game's interface and its various unlocked features.
After fiddling around for a while, he directed the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard to return to its lair in the pool at the center of the Swamp Territory.
Meanwhile, Knight York was already heading back toward the border town of the Silver Lion Duchy.
As for Lince, he had already switched his first-person perspective to York.
After Lince unlocked the family gameplay, he couldn't directly control York, but he could switch to his point of view.
At this stage, the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard's growth didn't require Lince to risk hunting and devouring other Demon Beasts.
After all, beneath the center of the swamp lay a Low Tier Magic Crystal Vein.
The Magic Crystal Vein had given rise to a Low Tier Magic Well, which was more than enough for the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard's current growth needs.
So, with this new perspective-switching feature, Lince changed the game's point of view to Knight York.
Under the cover of night, Knight York found one of the horses that had been spooked and fled earlier.
So, he was now enduring his fatigue and pain, riding his warhorse back to the border town with the aid of a Light Stone.
'How enviable!'
'That Demon Beast was so lucky to become the agent of a great Deity.'
'And to obtain a Saint Tier Giant Dragon Bloodline so easily.'
'Saint Tier...'
Riding his horse, York replayed the recent events in his mind.
He felt as if everything that happened an hour ago was a dream.
But he was also grateful that he had managed to escape danger unscathed and even gain the favor of a Deity.
Of course, he was even more envious of everything the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard had received.
Low Tier Bloodlines had a limit of Tier Three.
This was the case for the Gale Cheetah Bloodline of York and the entire Smith family.
If one could fully develop it and possessed considerable personal Potential, Tier Three was the absolute ceiling.
Middle Tier Bloodlines were limited to Tier Six, and High Tier Bloodlines were limited to Tier Nine.
And a Saint Tier Bloodline? A Giant Dragon Bloodline?
That was a Bloodline capable of reaching Tier Ten!
Tier Ten is also known as Saint Tier!
Above Saint Tier was the Divine Tier Bloodline, with a limit of Tier Eleven, also known as Demigod.
As for what comes after Demigod?
That was beyond the imagination of a mere Tier One Official Knight like York.
After a Low Tier Bloodline reached Tier Three, if one still wished to grow stronger, the only way was to infuse it with the bloodline of an Upper-Rank Species from the same lineage.
But this process was incredibly difficult.
For example, when infusing a Low Tier Gale Cheetah Bloodline with the bloodline of a Middle Tier Upper-Rank Species like the Fierce Wind Black Panther, the success rate was less than twenty percent without Magic Potions and auxiliary rituals.
Failure meant instant death.
And advancing from a Middle Tier Bloodline to a High Tier Bloodline was even more difficult.
In short, increasing one's strength required many things.
Personal willpower, individual luck, physical Potential, financial support—not a single one could be lacking.
Of course, there were exceptions.
But such exceptions were limited to those who directly possessed an Upper-Rank Bloodline when their bloodline was first awakened at the start of their journey to becoming an Extraordinary Life.
But were Upper-Rank Bloodlines so easy to obtain?
Those who awakened Middle or High Tier Bloodlines from birth—which one of them didn't benefit from the bloodline legacy of their parents and ancestors?
For minor Nobility to ascend to major Nobility?
The difficulty was tantamount to ascending to the heavens.
Not to mention, when one was on the verge of a breakthrough, they had to face malice from all sides—from rival families, or even those who simply didn't want to see someone leap up in station and come to share their already limited 'pie'.
Therefore, it was only natural for York to envy the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard.
In this world, the Human Race was naturally weak and could only rely on the bloodlines of Demon Beasts to become Extraordinary Life forms.
Demon Beasts, however, had no such concerns.
Because Demon Beasts could grow continuously from birth, although most of them grew very slowly.
However, the advantage of Demon Beasts was that when they broke through from Tier Three to Tier Four, or from Tier Six to Tier Seven, their bloodlines would evolve on their own, awakening ancient bloodlines.
Although this process was also dangerous, its success rate was much, much higher than that of humans, whose bloodlines could not evolve and who could only advance by infusing Upper-Rank bloodlines.
As for Giant Dragons, they were another matter entirely. They had long lifespans and grew even more slowly, but as long as they reached adulthood, they could smoothly advance to Saint Tier, or even Demigod Tier.
However, in this era, creatures like Giant Dragons had become extremely rare, so much so that rumors of them were only heard in a few Empires.
'I can't keep thinking like this.'
'Greed is the original sin. Only those who know contentment can find happiness and joy.'
'I've already gained enough.'
'A territory, a Contracted Demon Beast to show the world, and the benefits of my upcoming ennoblement...'
At this thought, Knight York quickly calmed his mind, trying his best not to dwell on matters concerning the Deity and the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard.
Of course, it wasn't that he was thinking of nothing at all.
He was still considering the specific costs of recruiting subjects and developing his territory.
At the same time, he was secretly calculating how much support he could get from the Gale Territory.
But as Knight York rode back, he was unaware that outside the computer screen, Lince was listening to his inner thoughts and marveling.
'After switching perspectives, I can even hear the knight's thoughts?'
'This is a great feature!'
Knight York's whispered thoughts continuously played through the computer speakers.
The thoughts were in authentic Human Alliance language. In fact, even before, when Lince was immersed in the scene, he could automatically understand Knight York's speech, allowing for barrier-free communication.
From this perspective, the game was indeed very convenient to play.
And so, in this peeping-Tom-like fashion, Lince quickly played for eight hours straight.
During this time, he tirelessly switched his perspective back and forth between the Rock Dragon Giant Lizard and Knight York, never growing bored of it.
He also checked the game's various functions for any hidden Easter eggs.
But unfortunately, there were none.
However, just as he reached the eight-hour mark of playing the game...
Suddenly, the entire game screen froze once again.
And a large amount of text abruptly popped up.
[Player has been detected online for eight hours, reaching the daily time limit for the closed beta test. A forced logout will now commence.]
(Closed Beta Rules: The server opens daily at 08:00 and closes daily at 24:00. Players, please manage your game time wisely.)
[Reminder: 1. After the Player logs off, your character and related personnel will automatically advance the timeline within the Game World according to the plot.]
[Reminder: 2. The current time ratio between the real world and the True Game is 1:100. After the Player logs off, the game's background timeline will automatically simulate until midnight of the next day. This means one day in reality equals one hundred days in the Game World.]
(Time is based on 00:00 in the real world's Eastern Continent. All time zones should calculate accordingly.)
(While the Player is online, the in-game time flow is synchronized with real-world time.)
[Reminder: 3. Before logging off, the Player can set behavioral guidelines for their character.]
(Behavioral Guideline Options: Conservative or Aggressive)
(Please select the behavioral guideline for your character. Countdown: 00:00:29)
'Does that even need a second thought?'
'Of course I'll pick Conservative!'
'After all, the game has just started. A Tier Three Demon Beast is nothing special.'
If his character died while the game progressed, Lince had no idea what would happen next.
'Start over from the beginning?'
No, at least Lince hadn't seen any prompt indicating that the game could be restarted.
So, in the worst-case scenario, if his character died and his game access was revoked, all of Lince's efforts would have been for nothing.
Therefore, choosing the Conservative 'AFK' mode was absolutely necessary.