The monster turned toward them, her volcanic eyes narrowing as she spotted the craft. Opening her mouth wide, she vomited out a beam of pure Earth elemental energy, causing the air itself to turn to stone as it passed. A line of gray spread across the sky for miles, racing towards their craft.

They narrowly avoided the strike, but the rocky tendril exploded into a storm of flying shrapnel. The ship was buffeted to the side by the strike, and it almost fell out of the sky. However, they had escaped Gaea, and Sam took one last look at the titan, who seemed to be looking directly into his eyes. There was a chime, and a quest notification appeared in front of him.

Rise of the Titans

Difficulty: S

The unprecedented surge of power created by the formation of multiple Daos on your planet within the first month of the initialization has created a Dao resonance of epic proportions. Figures from throughout your mythological systems have been brought to life, first among them being Gaea, the mother of the Earth. These beings will not suffer the lives of ants to exist on what they consider their planet, and they will attempt to eradicate you. Gaea herself has risen, as a result of the unprecedented release of power by the denizens of your planet. She swam up from the Earth’s core to wreak havoc on the surface world, and will soon be joined by her children. Survival is but a slim chance at this point. The System has given you a one month deadline to find a way to kill her, which is the most that you will be getting. However, you will still be affected by her presence.

Ultimate Goal: Kill Gaea and her eleven children.

Current Goal: Gather power sufficient to kill an E Rank being.

Rewards: Survival

Sam bit his lip as he read through the notification. It seemed like they were really screwed now. Short of a sudden boost of power within that time that would allow him to fight on par with an E Ranker, or at least harm one, they were as good as dead. In addition, they needed to claim the Seven Seals for themselves as well, which was likely the only weapon that could damage one of the Titans.

Then Sam remembered something that he had gained from the tournament. The ring that would teleport him off for a month of training by an E Ranker. If anything could quickly increase his power, it would be that. The fact that System had given exactly a one month deadline seemed to be related to this, as if it wanted for him to succeed. It seemed counterintuitive, given that the System wanted to kill him, but it was better than nothing.

Sam closed the quest, and fingered the ring on his right hand, which had been there for quite some time now. It had somehow survived all of his escapades, but he supposed that it had been constructed to be mostly indestructible. He would wait until he arrived back at the faction headquarters to use it however, as he would need to set up a plan of attack with his captains.

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

He had been putting off his training session thus far, as it would take up quite a bit of time, time that could be better used to build up his faction. However, he had come to realize that his faction was almost completely autonomous now, especially with the addition of the Manthrox sect. Sam was not that important compared to the rest of the faction, and his greatest role was to level up and grow stronger to act as his people’s sword and shield. He was not supposed to baby his citizens and defend them. He was supposed to be the last resort of his people. Sam clenched his fist, and began to cultivate his Dao as the ship flew across the land back towards the city.

Upon reaching the faction headquarters, Sam rushed out of the ship, only pausing to tell the captains to come with him for an emergency meeting. Lao, Jeffrey, Pyotr and the others followed him, dashing through the city towards the city hall. When they reached it, Sam slowed down, spotting Eduardo talking to one of the diplomats outside of the hall.

“Eduardo!” Sam called out to the man, who turned towards him.

“Sam. What are you looking for?” He answered hesitantly, ignoring the diplomat, who was trying to say something.

“Can you call an emergency meeting for the rest of the captains? Some things have come up that need to be discussed.”

Eduardo gave Sam a look, but Sam kept his mouth shut. The man who Eduardo had been talking to had gone red in the face now, but he wisely decided not to push his luck in front of so many high ranking faction officials. The man simply walked away with his tail between his legs.

Sam and the others entered the building and Eduardo ran off to find the other captains, and he quickly made his way towards the war room. Sam took a seat at the head of the table, and crossed his legs, waiting for the others to arrive.

The captains with him took their seats, and over the next half an hour, the table filled up. The captains were organized by their superiority and power within the faction, which Talnor had insisted on, given the adherence of his people to strict hierarchy. Sam had reluctantly conceded to it, and as a result, Talnor was on his right side, and Eduardo on his left.

It seemed a bit suspicious that such a newcomer to the faction would be given such influence, but the fact remained that Talnor was the second strongest member of the faction, and he was due respect for that fact. Besides, it helped to keep the peace between the two factions that were trying to meld into one cohesive whole. Sam cleared his throat when everyone was there, and began to speak.

“Alright. I assume that you all know why we are here, because of the quest update. However, I have a few other things to tell you.” Sam paused to see if anyone had questions. The captains remained silent, and Sam continued speaking. “Our chances of survival, let alone victory, are minimal, but there is a shot that we have to take at this. During the tournament, I received a one time use item that will allow me to embark upon a one month training session with an E Ranker, which will likely boost my power significantly. I feel that you are all capable of looking after the city in my stead.”

“What will we do if someone truly powerful comes though?” Addas asked, his face slightly perturbed. “How will we deal with them?”

“You have the full backing of a nascent F Ranker faction, and the fighting force of a previously established one. Talnor here is almost my equal in battle. With all of those factions, you should be able to deal with almost any threat imaginable within the timeframe that I will be gone.” Sam replied. Addas nodded at this, but the man still seemed apprehensive.