n

n

n“Herss, why don’t we take a break here?”

nAt this, Herss thought for a moment and nodded, “Shall we? Everyone looks tired and we need some

ntime to organize.”

nHerss, who had been going forward in the snow that came up to his waist, looked back and shouted,

n“We will rest here for an hour! Those who need healing, get treated!”

nLotus Guild was one of top 5% guilds in the Korean server. It formed an expedition right after the

nupdate and was exploring the North.

nThe members were all about Lv. 90.

nTheir levels had gone up a lot after they started on their journey. Piolan was Lv. 93 now.

n“Who is on sentry duty this time?”

n“I am.”

n“Stay tense, just in case!”

n“Yes, vice guild master!”

nThey had high levels, but after going over the Snowy Mountains of Crupia, they had to face monsters

nof at least Lv. 90, so they needed to be very careful.

nThere were even Lv. 100 Ice Ogres.

n“Huu.”

nPiolan checked on the sentry and sat down comfortably.

nThey regularly took a rest in order to explore better.

nHerss cleared a spot to sit on as he sat down next to Piolan.

n“The North Continent isn’t easy at all.”

nHerss nodded, “Yeah. But well, we anticipated it to be this hard… and we have gained a lot.”

n“Yes.”

nOn this expedition, all the members of the Lotus Guild gained 2 or 3 levels. They also obtained a lot of

ndecent items.

nBut those weren’t the best rewards.

nLotus Guild had gotten something that couldn’t be compared to items or level.

n“I’m glad we came here. Thanks to that, our guild has some land now.”

nHerss nodded and agreed.

n“Yes.”

nIn Kailan, when a guild’s level reaches 50, it is given the rights to own ‘territory’.

nThere were two ways for a guild to gain some land. The first was to invade the land owned by an NPC

nor another guild and forcefully taking it, the other way was to go to an unexplored land and take it first.

nBefore the update, not a single guild owned land in Kailan. Even the Dark Luna Guild, which was

nfamous for being ranked No.1, obtained its first plot of land after the North Continent was opened with

nthe update.

nThe reason was simple.

nThere wasn’t any remaining land on the South Continent.

nMost lands of the North Continent belonged to the Empire, and the other lands were owned by small

ncountries or noblemen NPCs.

nHowever, players were too weak to take the NPCs’ lands by force.

nAs a result, all high-ranked guilds had been waiting for the update, including the Lotus Guild.

nTheir guild planned to get some land when they went to the North Continent and they succeeded.

nIn the North, the player’s land was barren, therefore, they had no big merits.

nHowever, if they worked hard, one day they would become be big cities. Then players would be able

nto receive taxes from the NPCs and users living in them.

nHerss muttered, “Now what really matters is protecting our land…”

nWhen some land was owned by a guild, no one could invade it for the first three months as it was

nprotected by the system.

nLotus Guild needed to develop the land they had gotten as fast as they could and turn it into a strong

nbase in three months.

n“We will. For three months, all guild members should work on developing our base.”

nHerss nodded.

nWorking on developing the base didn’t mean the guild’s members would stop to improve.

nThey would colonize nearby regions and widen their area of influence. In this process, they would

ngain levels and obtain good items.

n“We were lucky. We found a big base, so we could save the initial cost.”

nA base was a village without an owner.

nThe bigger and more populated the village was, the smaller the initial cost was going to be.

n“I would like to get one more base… but it would be too much, right?”

nHerss smiled.

n“I want that as well, but if we try to cover two bases, we could lose them both. Let’s focus on one

nbase.”

n“Yes, I know.”

nGreat guilds like Dark Luna Guild and Titan Guild had already gotten four or five bases on good spots

nin the North Continent.

nBut that was only possible because they were the strongest guilds. Lotus Guild couldn’t afford to do

nthat.

nHerss took out a hot cup of coffee out of his inventory and sipped it.

n“We should summon all guild members to our new base as soon as we finish exploring. We will hunt

nnear the base from now.”

nThere were many monsters that were a little too strong for them, but it was a risk they had to take.

nKilling monsters nearby and widening their territory was the most important thing to develop the base

nfast.

n“Everyone would be able to come, except for one.”

nPiolan looked confused, “One? Who?”

nHerss smiled.

n“Ian, of course. He should hunt and gain levels in the South Continent before coming up here.”

nHowever, Piolan smiled and shook her head.

n“Herss, you know what?”

n“What?”

n“Ian is probably on the North Continent by now. I think he is at the Snowy Mountains of Crupia.”

nHerss was surprised. His voice got a little bigger, “What?!”

nPiolan laughed.

n“He sent me a message a while ago and asked me to give him information about the North

nContinent.”

n“What info?”

n“He said he was going to hunt at the Mountains of Crupia and he took all information I have about that

nplace.”

nHerss was dumbfounded. He barely managed to ask again, “How high is his level now?”

n“I don’t know exactly.”

n“Ha… he is my friend, but he is crazy. He started playing the Summoner only a while ago and he is

nalready going to Lv.50~60 hunting ground?”

nHerss knew that Ian wasn’t that reckless.

nIf he said he was going to hunt there, it meant he could hunt there.

n“Well, if Ian improves this fast, it is a good thing for us, right?”

nHerss could only smile.

n“I… guess…”

nWhile Herss and Piolan were talking about Ian.

nHe was hunting on the Mountains of Crupia.

n“Big Guy, Ice Wave!”

nKung- Kung-!

nBig Guy stamped his feet and a blue Ice Wave spread.

n– Ice Troll received 175 damages.

n– Ice Troll is slowed down by 30% for 10 seconds.

n“I will go to the front, Ly, you attack from behind!”

nWhile Bukbuk watched, a fierce battle was going on with Ian at its center.

nGrowl Growl-!

nLy leaped and went behind the Ice Troll while Ian quickly went for the Troll’s side.

n– Aiming Weak Spot skill is activated. The target’s weak spots are highlighted. Accuracy rate

nincreased by 19%. Fatal damage probability increased by 23.5%. 93% additional damage is inflicted

nwhen attacking weak spot.

nWith that, Ian saw the Troll’s weak spots highlighted in red.

nNext, Ian’s right fist with the knuckle flew to the Troll’s weak spot.

n– You inflicted 276 damages to Ice Troll.

n– You inflicted 293 damages to Ice Troll.

n– You inflicted fatal damage to Ice Troll!

n– Ice Troll’s Health decreased by 585.

nIan repeatedly attacked while the Ice Troll flinched. Ly would never miss that opportunity.

nWith Ly biting the Troll’s neck, it lost 2000 Health in no time.

n– Ice Troll used Body Regeneration skill.

n– Ice Troll’s Health has been recovered by 1% per second for 40 seconds.

nIan scowled.

nHe had fought the Troll hard to drain its Health and it was about to recover.

nKaaaaaa!

nThe Ice Troll roared and swung its huge club.

nThe club was approaching Ian quickly.

nHe would be hit by it.

nThen, Ian used the skill he had been thinking of.

n“Twisting Space!”

nIt was one of the Summoner’s special skill he gained with the Pet Bestowing Skill when he reached

nLv. 30.

nTwisting Space skill was activated.

nThe skill changed Summoner’s position with the designated pet’s!

nIan changed places with Big Guy.

nBam-!

nAnd the Troll’s club was blocked by Big Guy’s right arm.

nBam-!

n– Your pet Big Guy received 1375 damages from the Ice Troll.

nBig Guy was a defense type monster, but it was attacked by the Ice Troll whose level was over 60. It

nreceived a huge damage of 1375 from a single blow.

n‘I must kill it before it recovers!’

nAs Big Guy blocked the Ice Troll’s attack, Ian emerged behind the Troll. He went straight in to hit the

nTroll’s weak spot with his knuckle.

n– You inflicted fatal damage to Ice Troll!

n– Ice Troll’s Health decreased by 596.

nNext, the system messages Ian had been waiting for came up.

n– Linking Ability of the Ancient Summoner’s Steel Knuckle has been activated.

n– You borrow your pet Ly’s Frenzy skill.

nA Red light started to radiate from Ian’s body.

n– Attack Force and Speed increased by 30% for 15 minutes.

n– Defense Force decreased by 30% for 15 minutes.

nIan felt strength filling his body.

nBut the risk got bigger as well.

n‘Now, one blow from it can kill me.’

nIan got tense, he had experienced many times situations where one or two blows could already kill

nhim.

nHis Defense Force had decreased by 30%. Therefore, a single blow could kill him now.

nIan concentrated even harder to avoid the Troll’s attacks.

nAdditionally, with monsters that had big moves like trolls, it was important to make use of the moment

nin which it couldn’t defend itself right after the attack.

n‘Now!’

nIan concentrated as hard as he could.

nOne more fatal blow to its weak spot would kill him.

nFrenzy skill had an effect of increasing the Attack Force by 30% for 5 seconds when inflicting a fatal

nblow.

nAnd, as he hit the Troll, Ian could feel that he had hit properly.

n– You inflicted fatal damage to the Ice Troll.

n– Ice Troll’s Health decreased by 876.

n– You inflicted fatal damage to the Ice Troll. Attack Force increases additionally for 5 seconds!

nIan’s fist got even stronger. It repeatedly hit the Troll’s weak spot.

n– Ice Troll’s Health decreased by 621.

n– Ice Troll’s Health decreased by 1388.

nThe Troll was nearly dead, so Ly attacked it from behind to finish it.

n– You killed the Ice Troll. You gained 1060 EP.

n