Network medians. That's what devices used to access the system’s network was called. And every device being sold in the system shop had limited uses.
For now, Syrus settled on the cheapest device being sold in the system shop. Once he was alone, Syrus tried activating.
Bonding device
Inject mana signature into the device
Syrus placed his hand on the crystal on the device and allowed his mana to flow. It took a while but the device began displaying his information.
Bonding complete
Owner: Syrus Blake
With the device bonded, Syrus wasted no time looking up the information he wanted but somehow nobody knew nothing about. Information about the summoner class.
Searching through the network, Syrus found several articles, lectures, and many more learning materials. Unfortunately, all of them required him to spend system credits, so Syrus looked for one material that was cheap and had a good rating.
The one he found was a video lecture about the basics of the summoner class. Playing the video, Syrus watched as an old man wearing a purple robe and held a wooden staff appeared on the screen.
“Greetings. I am Madalo,” the elder introduced himself. “I’m here to discuss the basic information of the summoner class.”
Syrus listened patiently, hoping to actually learn something useful. Otherwise, he would have wasted a lot of credits.
“To start us off, the summoner class is only given to those with the talent for nurturing,” Madalo stated. “The class revolves around raising your summoned creature and helping it flourish in its role. The class isn’t limited to combat as some units can be used for scouting, building, farming, and many more.”
“But despite the versatility of the class, many people see it as one of the weakest classes due to its lack in combat related skills,” Madalo mentioned. “But the same could be said for other non-combat classes.”
Syrus crossed his arms, waiting for more knowledgeable information to be provided.
“Let’s head into how units work. For starters, summoned creatures are divided into different ranks. Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, and Royal, which is either King or Queen. These ranks represent the potential of the unit, not their current power,” Madalo explained. “In case you still don’t know, the process on how to gain a unit is to kill a monster, obtain their core, and infuse it with your own energy. It will take the form of the creature you just killed with its level set to one.”
Syrus finally heard some useful information. The process was somewhat similar to his methods since he required monster cores to make units and items, but there were obvious differences that had their own benefits and downsides.
“At that point, it is your duty to guide the growth of your creature. Most creatures are capable of evolution, so even a weak creature has potential. And the system loves nothing more than potential.”
By that point, the lecture provided information that Syrus actually cared about. An example would be that normal units created by summoners did not just return to wherever they go when they’re not summoned. They actually die and would no longer be summonable. That was a big advantage for Syrus since his units can be resummoned even when they’re destroyed.
Another thing was that most summoners had a limit on how many units they can have summoned out. That’s because each unit drains their energy while they’re summoned. That’s another problem Syrus didn’t have since his units were independent creatures.
Lastly and the most valuable information he gained was that summoners would gain access to a power separate from mana or energy. That power is called Unisence, which was short for Unit Essence. Summoners gain access to that power at level 100 and cab used to further strengthen their units and even gain skills that use it as the power source.
Madalo also provided links to monster data books and evolution trees, but Syrus found no need for them at the moment considering he could make his own units.
“We cleared all the danger zones,” Sylvia announced as she entered his workshop. “Tia and the other combat goblins also cleared a rift nearby.”
Syrus already knew all that thanks to Sloth’s report, but he didn’t want to spoil the mood of his sister who took the initiative to report. “Thank you.”
“Hey...”
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Syrus looked up with a raised eyebrow. “Did you need something else?”
“Synthia. Have you found her?” Sylvia asked.
Syrus nodded. “I have. But picking her up would take several days and my wyvern. At the moment, we can’t risk not having it around.”
With the other settlements still around, they were still under constant danger of being attacked. His wyvern was one of the main deterrents, so sending it out now could potentially signal an opportunity to attack.
“Can’t you send the new guy?” Sylvia asked, referring to Sloth.
“I have. Sloth is making his way towards her while scouting places for our new base,” Syrus answered. “It’ll take over a week, but Synthia will be fine, she has a powerful friend with her.”
“I’ll trust you, but I’ll kick your ass if something happens to her,” Sylvia stomped out of the workshop in a hurry.
Syrus grimaced. He never had a good relationship with his sisters, and he never bothered to do something about it since the only person he really cared about what his mother, so he really finds it challenging to tolerate their attitudes towards him.
If they weren’t so important to his mother, Syrus doubted he’d bother saving them.
With a sigh, Syrus got up from his chair and left his workshop. It was pretty calm in the settlement since most of the preparations to move was already done and any further construction was postponed until the move.
Syrus took a good look at the place he needed to protect. It wasn’t much, but he won’t let anything take what was his.
And the only way to that was to get stronger.
“My lord,” Sloth passed through a portal beside him. “I have found a variation rift.”
And an opportunity presents itself.
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Challenge: Capture the golden locust
Upon entering the rift, received the challenge needed to be completed. Beside him, Gluttony was ready to fight.
The Outrider ravens took off to scout the topography of the rift while the Dynamite rats began spreading out to eradicate any weak monsters.
“Save the mana stones for Sloth,” Syrus told Gluttony before gesturing for him to head out.
Now that he was alone, Syrus activated his tracking skill to find the golden locust. The trail of mana appeared and he sent a couple of ravens to follow it.
The setting of the dungeon seemed to be a dried-up field with dead trees spread everywhere. The heat was bearing down on him, but it didn’t affect him since it was considered damage being inflicted on him and was transferred to Gluttony.
“Normal people would struggle staying here,” Syrus commented as explosions began popping in the distance.
Using his ravens, Syrus saw that the monsters inside the rift was a swarm of red locusts. The rats found their hives and began exploding, causing the surviving swarm to scatter, forming a red cloud in the sky.
They swarmed towards a certain direction which Syrus identified as Gluttony’s position. Normally, such types of enemies would be a match up for a tank like him, but Gluttony technically wasn’t alone. As the swarm approach, the living symbiote that served as his armor reacted and began consuming the insect monsters.
“This’ll be good.”
Syrus could feel an enormous amount of experience flowing into him. Several messages informing him that he leveled up also began popping up. If he could clear this rift by himself, he expects to gain over ten levels even if the experience obtained was cut in half.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be a smooth operation. The trail of mana tracking the golden locust led to a hive. That meant he would need to find within a swarm.
“I hope blowing it up counts as capturing,” Syrus sighed as he gave the mental command to the nearest rats.
A few minutes of waiting later, a powerful explosion erupted in the distance. Only a few locusts survived, so there was no red cloud visible from where he was. What he did see was a giant golden locust.
“God damn...”
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New York city was one of the few cities that quickly adapted to the effects of the second integration. It only took them a month to completely restore electricity to the surviving buildings and establish a working community of both players and regular people.
It also became the first player owned territory.
Native dimensional ranking
1. Steven Waymon – 91
2. Hector Chaves – 83
3. Jinho Cha – 82
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34. Peter Lake - 54
Peter stared at his ranking through the projection of the network median like it was reminder of how far back he was compared to the ones above him. The OD players told him that the numbers after their names represented their power level. It was calculated using a lot of factors like their level, skills, achievements and many more.
They also mentioned that only players that reached a certain threshold would be listed in the rankings and can even choose to remain unranked to keep a low profile. But being in the rankings gave certain benefits.
The first time he climbed up the ranking, he was given rewards in the form of system credits, items, and even skills. He also gained rewards when a new person joined the rankings and was placed beneath him.
“Let me guess. You’re staring at the rankings,” Lora entered his office.
She was a woman with short black hair and eyes. She had an average height and figure, but made up for it with her brilliant mind.
“54,” Peter said.
Lora shook her head. “Remember what they said? The evaluation of the system is harsh,” Lora mentioned. “Even a level ten player had a power level lower than 1.”
“It’s sill degrading,” Peter stood up from his chair and approached the glass panel with the view of the city. “I run this place, yet my power level is evaluated that low.”
“You just need to work harder. I’m sure a couple of achievements would get you up there.”
At the moment, Peter saw the rankings change as his name went down. But he wasn’t the only one. Every name went down as someone took the top spot.