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n

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

n“Why have you come here?”

nIan was surprised.

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

ncharacter.

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

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

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

nHe spoke as politely as possible.

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

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

nask our captain.”

n“Thank you.”

nOne of them hurried to go into the gate.

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

nthe guards in advance.”

nThe man appeared to be the guard captain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

nMaolin

nLv. 115

nJob: Guard captain

n…

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

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

nlevel ranking is about Lv.120…’

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

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

nIan checked their information and he was even more shocked.

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

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

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

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

nguild would be razed.

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

nvaluable.

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

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

n…

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

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

nKoooo-!

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

nKwang-!

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

nThe Troll wasn’t an ordinary Ice Troll.

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

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

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

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

nNo, it tried to grab.

nIn a flash, the man disappeared like a mirage.

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

nTroll.

n“Just die now…”

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

nKaaaaak-!!

nThe Troll screamed in pain.

nThe man didn’t miss that moment.

n“Hup-!”

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

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

nthe Troll’s heart.

nThat was the final attack.

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

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

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

n“Hu, it was a tough one, really.”

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

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

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

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

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

nA corner of his lips curled up.

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

nThe man started to move slowly.

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

nHe stood in front of a high cliff.

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

nthe peaks.

nThen, he was gone.

n…

n“Oh, you must be Ian.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

nIan was a little confused.

n“I… I guess not.”

nIan then saw system messages.

nIan got 1250 Reputation by just meeting the Emperor.

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

ntalk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

n“Your Majesty, but…”

n“I said it’s fine.”

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

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

nIan looked at the knight’s sword.

nIt was a great weapon that looked very expensive.

nIan gathered his senses and bowed his head at Salias.

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

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

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

nSummoner.”

nIan listened, very ‘politely’.

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

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

n“It is the Griffin, Your Majesty.”

nThe symbol of the Luspell Empire was the Griffin.

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

nwas a creature of legends.

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

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

nhugely portrayed right there?’

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

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

ncross the Sikar Desert.”

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

nIt was also called the Land of Death among users.

nThey did that for a good reason.

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

nNo user had ventured to go there yet.

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

nof the Desert.”

nIan was greatly surprised to hear that.

n‘What? Griffins are real?’

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

nand got their egg.”

nIan couldn’t help gasping.

n‘And they even won?’

nSikar Desert was called the Land of Death.

nEven monsters from legends could be found there.

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

nstrong the Knights of the Empire were.

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

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

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

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

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

nthe egg… what do you think?”

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

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

nHowever, the merciless system message came up.

nGriffin’s Egg (Empire Quest)

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

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

nhis Empire.

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

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

nQuest Difficulty Level: —

nQuest Limit: Doesn’t exist

nTime Limit: Unknown

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

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

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

n…

nThe more Ian read, the darker his face became.

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

nHe didn’t even know where to start.

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

nNot knowing when he would run out of time made Ian even more nervous.

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

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

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

nquest or failing the quest.

nTherefore, he had to at least try.

n“Yes, I will try.”

nIan saw a system message.

n‘Huu…’

nIan sighed deeply, but silently.

n