—

Due to the nature of the competition, Kieran couldn’t receive Experience from any of his fights.

The only form of a power increase he received came from the improvement in his natural skill mastery. If not for this feature, Kieran would have felt he suffered some losses by entering this competition.

Wasn’t the goal of a player to increase their level? How could he justify entering the competition if it yielded zero Experience?

Many might ask themselves this question, but not Kieran.

The chance to officially join the War Deity Council was a gift in and of itself. As long as he increased his standing high enough, he could trigger and obtain a unique World Quest.

The triggers didn’t exist within the War Deity Council, but only an internal member could claim the quest, which is why a select few benefited from that ludicrous World Quest in his past.

Aside from this, Kieran was genuinely interested in the unique opportunity as only one newcomer could only obtain it once a year.

Based on the long pause between the opportunity, Kieran suspected it was something the council couldn’t present too often.

What was it if it wasn’t a way to obtain another edge over his peers?

While watching the rounds of the competition pass by, Kieran redirected his attention to the stream, reading the comments.

Several donations asked him about the skills he revealed, more specifically, the movements he executed. How could he explode with such absurd momentum?

Even an Assassin wouldn’t necessarily be able to keep up with his movement speed.

“How are you all enjoying the special event? Has the scenery been enjoyable? If so, let me see a sea of ones in the chat.”

“1!”

“1 x100!”

“1x infinity! I love you, Aatrox! You’re the best player ever. Please don’t stop streaming. Your skills are something that brightens my day.”

The chat was filled with ones and emotional comments that changed faster than Kieran could read through. Furthermore, his viewership of this particular stream surpassed 250,000, and the number showed signs of a steady increase.

At the same time, Kieran’s followers increased like symbols rolling on a slot machine in the casino.

The effects of this stream truly surpassed Kieran’s expectations. But, considering it was the first of its kind, Kieran felt he underestimated the attractiveness of giving players insight into the true abilities of NPCs.

“Whoa. Who would have thought NPCs could be this powerful? I thought the city guards were only moderately powerful, but my eyes have been opened.”

“Watching these NPCs engage in intense battle makes me wonder what will happen in the future once we explore greater parts of this world. Will we come in contact with characters of unimaginable strength?”

“Has Aatrox revealed the location of this arena, battle royale competition? I want to try it out. I’m pretty confident in my skill.”

Many people in the stream chat expressed interest in this competition; however, they made a grave oversight. They weren’t aware that Kieran possessed a Mythical Class, and even then, he struggled to contend against the real competitor.

Those seeking to enter the competition with Normal or Rare Classes would be ejected from the match before they could understand what took place.

Furthermore, many people were mistaken to believe that his power had stagnated because Kieran’s level hadn’t changed on the Zenith Leaderboards.

Players placed too much attention on their levels due to the allure of challenging new content. They neglected the benefits of taking a step back to deepen their understanding of their skills and find applications that existed outside of the listed skill description.

As mentioned before, skill descriptions didn’t depict the limits of a skill. They revealed the current attainments of the skill. As one improved their understanding of the skills, they could delve deeper into the roots of the skill.

Not only did doing such a thing increase the skill’s level by leaps and bounds but if the new application was found to be greater than the original potential of the skill, it could be potentially rewritten by what the player comprehended.

Only a select few players were intelligent enough to experiment with their skills rather than focus on the progress of other players. Sure obtaining opportunities was an important part of Zenith Online, but it meant nothing if one couldn’t clear it with their current ability.

It would simply waste away until someone else somehow chanced upon the same opportunity and reaped the benefits of it.

Kieran entertained the thought of telling the chat not to get their hopes up and instead focus on themselves, but he decided against that action. The odds of him being received as a killjoy would be high if he took that course of action.

Instead, he let the chat live inside their fantasies, where they lived vicariously through Kieran’s actions. Some even exchanged Kieran’s face for their own and dreamt they were of matchless skill.

Aside from conversing and interacting with the chat, Kieran also noticed a particular message inside his private inbox.

After closing the stream, Kieran kept his private messages open and read through one of great importance.

“Hello, Aatrox. This is Khaos, Guild Master of the Overlord Guild, Advent. I’m contacting you to discuss the possibility of enlisting your help because I believe we can clear a recently found dungeon with our joint efforts. Please contact me as soon as possible once you aren’t busy.”

After reading through the message, Kieran rubbed his chin in thought. ‘An Overlord Guild? Advent… why does that name sound eerily familiar?’

Kieran pondered the familiarity of Advent before it snapped inside his mind. ‘Advent! It’s the guild that suffered an internal outbreak of players leaving and ultimately dissolved. There were rumors that a Behemoth was responsible for its decline, but Khaos never proved it. Although unproven, I don’t doubt the authenticity of Khaos’ accusations. Advent possessed even greater potential than Eclipse.’

Like Ezra, Khaos, the Guild Master of Advent, was a Titled Ranker on the Exemplar Records. The only difference was Khaos was ranked approximately 50 places higher than Ezra, sitting at the precipice of becoming a Luminary—a player who shined brighter than several other Titled Rankers.

However, becoming a Luminary was extremely difficult because Kieran recalled having refined mental abilities was a prerequisite.

Compared to his old knowledge of the standards, Kieran understood the Exemplar Records wasn’t as simple as other players believed it to be.

With the presence of X-hancers, Kieran suspected the Exemplar Records existed to pinpoint the truly exceptional.

For what reason? That was where Kieran’s answers stopped.

Considering the information-gathering abilities of an Overlord Guild, Kieran decided to hear out Khaos. Although he wasn’t a friend, Kieran could initiate a video call because Khaos private messaged him.

A few seconds, a man with light orange hair and indigo eyes appeared before Kieran. Despite his position that commanded respect, Khaos possessed soft features that made him seem somewhat meek.

The first to speak was Khaos. “Greetings, Aatrox. Pardon my rudeness. I didn’t mean to interrupt your successful stream.”

Kieran was somewhat surprised by Khaos’ respectful demeanor. After all, Kieran didn’t hail from any superpower.

Yes, he was skilled, and his name was on the rise, but most Guild Masters of a certain degree cultivated a haughty demeanor.

“No worries. I decided to approach you of my free will, so be at ease. Your offer has caught my eye. I assume you’re in the Xesian Empire?”

“Correct,” Khaos admitted. “To be precise, my Advent operates out of several kingdoms—Aubrililes, Aeredale, Bellonia, Xezum—to name a few.”

“I see,” Kieran nodded. Intrigue flashed in his gaze because he didn’t realize such a strong guild was this close to him.

While he didn’t know Advent’s origins, he reckoned the reason for their current realm of activity was similar to Eclipse’s migration.

After a brief pause, Kieran continued. “What kind of dungeon did you come across?”

“I believe it’s a Lv.45 to 50 dungeon based on our findings. It’s located not too far from the Desert of Crumbling Sands.”

Kieran paused after listening to Khaos.

An imperceptible frown crept upon Kieran’s face as he internally sighed. ‘Crap… I didn’t expect people to venture there so soon. But, seeing as how he didn’t mention a mine, it’s safe to assume it hasn’t been located. The dungeon and mine are located in two different areas.’

“Could you be referring to the Mad Alchemist’s Hidden Laboratory?” Kieran cautiously inquired.

“As inspected, you’re well-informed. That’s precisely the dungeon I’m referring to. It’s a 20-man dungeon, but if you’re interested in teaming up with us, I can reserve five spots for you. That’s if you have anyone in mind?” Khaos replied.

Five spots was a generous offer because most guilds would only extend a single slot when enlisting the help of a foreign party.

“Five spots, is it? And when exactly do you intend to clear it?” Kieran asked.

He’d have to decline the offer if it were too soon.

It was just a feeling, but something told him it wouldn’t be long before the other Mythical Heroes found their inheritors.

Wouldn’t that mean his deadline for Isadora’s was coming to a rapid end?

Khaos noticed the undertone in Kieran’s voice and realized he might be busy over the next few days. “Well, my core members have stopped leveling up for the time being. So we can delay our run by up to ten days.”

“Ten days?” Kieran estimated his timeline before nodding. “That’s doable. I’ll gladly accept the offer if that’s the case.”

After finalizing parts of their deal, Kieran accepted Khaos’ friend request before closing the video call.