For the past several weeks, Adam had been very busy. Ever since he received the legendary quest, he had focused on increasing the proficiency of his classes- in particular, blacksmithing.

He initially expected it would take him six months in-game before he could reach an adept rank in blacksmithing. Fortunately, it only took him four.

The valuable buff that helped him improve his proficiency faster than other blacksmiths is a massive factor in this achievement.

[As you train under a grandmaster-level blacksmith, the growth rate for Blacksmithing proficiency is 50% higher than usual.]

He became so absorbed in his work that the number of times he logged out for the past two months in real life can be counted on one hand.

But Adam's hard work and sacrifice paid off. Within just four months in-game, he became an Adept Blacksmith.

At this point, a few dozen players had already become Adept Blacksmiths. But despite the other blacksmith players starting several weeks in advance before Adam did, he was still able to make it as part of the first one hundred blacksmiths to reach the adept rank.

Even with the bonus 50% learning buff, reaching adept rank within a few weeks is still impressive. While it's true that the buff is a huge help, Adam's singular focus on grinding made this feat possible.

[You are among the first 100 players to become an Adept Blacksmith. The title 'First 100 Adept Blacksmith' has been added.]

As a result, instead of his original six-month projection, Adam completed one of his immediate goals within four months. This gave him extra time to accomplish the other tasks he had pending.

And with his unexpected extra time, Adam took the time to prepare all sorts of items that he knew he would need, from weapons, armor sets, utility items, potions, etc.

Then, there is the deal he had with Hao Jun.

It took Hao Jun two months to learn the recipes Adam taught him. And with it, the ten thousand chopped wood they agreed upon was finally delivered to him via the Mercury Auction House.

Apart from that, Adam dedicated over a month of continuous potion-making to have enough bottles to trade with the Hao Wei Guild's ores. The guild provided all the ingredients he used, so the number of potions he needed to provide was far more than what he would need to trade with if he procured the ingredients himself.

However, he judged that having a guild supply him with all the materials would save him precious time as he wouldn't need to farm the materials by himself.

Upon accomplishing this, Adam finally completed the labor-intensive task Vetius assigned him several months ago.

[Blacksmithing Chain Quest Completed: Chop 10,000 Woods]

[Blacksmithing Chain Quest Completed: Mine 10,000 Ores]

Now, Vetius has everything he needs to begin the construction of his store.

Adam was initially worried that Vetius would require him to help set up the store. But fortunately, that did not come to pass.

Instead, his teacher gave him his next quest, aligning perfectly with his agenda.

[Blacksmithing Chain Quest: Pass the Creation Paradigm Trial for Blacksmithing]

Details: You are now a peak Adept Blacksmith. To develop your proficiency further, you must pass the Creation Paradigm Trial for Blacksmithing.

Adept is the highest possible class rank players can achieve without undergoing a Paradigm Trial. If one wants to improve further, they must take and pass their respective Paradigm Class trial. But not everyone is capable of passing this trial.

This is ultimately what sets the regular players and rankers apart. Anyone who progresses past adept is considered an elite player, while those stuck at the adept rank are considered the average player.

In Adam's previous life, it is estimated that for every one thousand Adept players, only one can make it to the Expert rank.

For every one hundred Experts, one can reach Master rank.

And for every ten Masters, only one typically becomes a Grandmaster.

It is difficult to get the higher rank past Adept and its succeeding ranks.

This statistic assumes that the player only has one class to develop. The odds of a player with two or three classes reaching even Expert rank on all their classes are lower. The unwritten rule of only developing two classes at most per player is solidified when players learn this mechanic. Of course, a select few still took it upon themselves to learn two or three classes and aim to be among the best elite players.

Meanwhile, Adam intends to develop four classes to at least master rank.

Because of this, even if Vetius didn't ask him to, Adam already had plans to take the trials in the immediate future. After all, he also has his other classes that have reached Adept at a 99.99% status.

To reach the next rank, Expert, Adam must complete the Paradigm Trials for Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Pyromancy, and Rune Tracing.

When Adam finally reached adept rank in blacksmithing, he used whatever Essence he had accumulated to do a one-time leveling since adding a fourth class would increase the necessary Essence for each level moving forward.

But Adam didn't mind. Rune Tracing is a beneficial class with excellent synergy with Alchemy, Blacksmithing, and preparation for combat. The only downside is that it is a costly class to have, as every encryption requires Essence instead of Mana.

Adam ultimately decided to develop Rune Tracing independently instead of asking Vetius to become his teacher. This way, unnecessarily time-consuming lessons on rune encryptions won't tie him down.

Even without the 50% learning buff, he is confident that his encryption skills can get him to an adept rank in just a few weeks since he already knows many rune patterns. This is because, just like alchemy, the more complex encryption he uses, the faster his growth in proficiency will be for Rune Tracing.

But now, the time for him to venture outside the catacombs has come.

"Teacher, thank you for all the lessons," said Adam while bowing to the Revenant. "I will be paying you a visit from time to time."

"Take... care... on... your... journey..." replied Vetius as his bony hands pat Adam on the head. "Here... take... this..."

Vetius handed him the emblem he had given Adam about two months ago. He asked for it back when Adam reached adept rank.

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At the time, he didn't understand why Vetius took it away from him. But upon looking at the emblem, he now understood the reason why.

Emblem of Vetius' Workshop (Unique)

Description: A unique item created by Vetius to allow the user to open or close pathways on the maze-like structure of his workshop. Allows the user to view a projected map showing the entire workshop, its surrounding area, and any living or undead being within. The emblem has been enhanced, which allows the user to teleport directly at the teleportation array within the smithy.

Details: Using the key function requires Essence. The map and surveillance function uses MP. Teleportation can be done once a day and has a cooldown of 24 hours.

Restriction: Vetius' Apprentice

It previously only had two functions: a map and a key. Now, it would allow him to teleport directly to the smithy.

"Thank you, teacher," said Adam in gratitude. "With this, I can visit you at any time."

"Go... now..." said Vetius. "I... have... a... lot...to... do..."

And without further ado, Vetius concentrated a vast amount of mana in his hands and began casting a spell.

Summoning: Clay Minions!

Several dozen minions made of clay began forming in front of the Revenant. Vetius directed them towards the warehouse- most likely to pick up tools for building the shop.

Upon witnessing this, Adam had an incredulous look on his face.

'You made me gather all those woods and ores,' he thought. 'Why couldn't you have used your summons to do it!?'

Fortunately, Vetius is so busy issuing instructions to his clay summons that he does not notice Adam's expression.

"Thank you again, teacher," said Adam while doing his best to keep his tone respectful. "I will return in a few weeks."

In response, Vetius wordlessly opened a path for Adam. Judging by the looks of it, it is a path that would lead him directly out of the Forgotten Temple without having to pass through several pathways that the Hao Wei Guild will most likely patrol.

Adam summoned his mount, Karva, and began to leave the catacombs. He expects he won't be able to return for at least a few weeks. Now that he has completed his lengthy grinding assignment, it is time to secure a high contribution to the Fortress in preparation for several events.

"Now, let's do a few missions before going to the Fortress," he declared. "Let's go, Karva. I'm sure you haven't seen the Undead Region plains in ages."

Adam reviewed his status window while his undead mount galloped at full speed.

Name: Adam

Level: 144

Essence: 102,912 [137,483 (+20%) Essence to reach Level 145]

HP 440/440 (+200)

MP 980/980 (+700)

STATS

Vitality 30 (1:8 Stat to HP)

Endurance 53

Willpower 20 (1:14 Stat to MP)

Strength 33

Dexterity 28

Perception 10 (+5)

Intelligence 40

Clarity 6

Harmony 40

Mystery 10

SKILLS

(Adept Alchemist 99.99%) Purify 1, Ferment 1

(Adept Blacksmith 99.99%) Blacksmith's Fortitude, Repair, Dismantle, Appraisal

(Adept Pyromancer 99.99%) Fireball 7, Blazing Will 4, Flame Aura 4, Flame Pillars 5, Fire Bullet 8, Blazing Barrier 2

(Intermediate Rune Tracer 33.12%) Rune Encryption, Rune Disabling, Rune Modification, Rune Identification

TRAITS

Botanist, Toxic Resistance, Flame Resistance, Frost Resistance, Metallurgy, Flame Augmentation, Mental Resistance

(Sanctified Necklace of a Holy Knight) +200 HP/MP, HP/MP Regen 20%

(Sanctified Ring of a Holy Knight) 50% Holy Attribute

(Spatial Ring of Sorkis) Spatial Inventory

(Novhekaar's Ritual Mask) +5 Perception, +500 MP

TITLES (see more)

ACHIEVEMENTS (see more)

Thanks to his mount's comfortable saddle, Adam can review his status window leisurely despite Karva sprinting at full speed.

"I need to level up," said Adam. "The top rankers are almost at Level 160 now."

At this point, a few dozen rankers have already surpassed his level.

Due to being stuck grinding his smithing rank for several months, Adam's level has somewhat stagnated. Although he can earn Essence by crafting, it's still not in the same quantity as when he was hunting powerful monsters.

Tyler Evergreen is well and truly the top player of the Lorikan Server now. If Adam were to put his name in the rankings right now, he would only be within the top 50.

Incidentally, this made the Spire of Pangea title known to players worldwide- in other words, the highest leveled player worldwide.

At the moment, Tyler and the Murim server's top ranker, Hao Shi, are in an intense competition regarding who is the world's number one player. Tyler was at Level 157 the last time he checked, and Hao Shi at Level 156, while the other rankers were just a few levels behind.

While Adam does not plan to join the Leaderboard soon, he must still have the highest level worldwide.

This would make starting the legendary quest easier later if he already has the prerequisites.

[1st Condition: You must become The Spire to take on this quest.]

Description: He who seeks the legend must become a legend themselves. He who seeks to bring the legend out in the light cannot do so from the shadows. One must become the Spire to take on this quest.

***

After an hour of Karva galloping at his fastest speed, Adam finds himself back in the open plains of the Undead Regions.

"Can't believe it's been several months," said Adam out loud. "Well, time to accomplish some quests before heading to the Fortress."

In truth, Adam already has a teleportation scroll that can lead him directly to the Fortress. But he judged that it is far better to accomplish a few quests pre-emptively so that he can immediately acquire as many contribution points as possible upon arriving at the Fortress.

'If I'm not mistaken, that incident should happen any day now,' Adam thought.

During his previous life, about two weeks before the next major questline of the Sanctus Lux Fortress was officially started, there was a unique mission that the Dark Sun guild secured. It was the search and rescue of several nobles kidnapped while traveling to visit the Fortress.

Demetra aimed to have key noble houses join her in managing the vast territory of the Undead Regions. However, that plan got off to a bad start when bandits kidnapped all noble delegations in exchange for ransom.

After all, the region isn't just home to undead threats; there will always be people who will take advantage of the vast land for selfish goals. And an abandoned territory is an ideal haven for those outside the law.

At the time of the incident, Demetra made a region-wide announcement using her Aquila spell.

There are two urgent tasks she issued. The first is to save a group of nobles abducted by bandits, while the other is to subjugate a horde of trolls.

Dark Sun is the closest group to where the nobles are believed to be held captive, so they were the ones who completed the quest. It took Dark Sun two days to reach the bandit's hideout, but their mission succeeded. Adam remembered it vividly because the event was one of the top-viewed live streams during his previous life.

As for the other event, Maxima handled the quest to hunt down the horde of trolls. They, too, live-streamed the entire event.

Viewers juggled between the two live streams as Demetra issued the two exclusive quests via her Aquila spell.

Then, two weeks after the success of both missions, Demetra officially started the plan to subjugate the Undead Region back to the Lorikan Republic's control.

"Hey, buddy," said Adam to his mount. "Let's go."

By Adam's estimation, he has a day or two at best before the emergency quest is announced. He decided it was more advantageous for him to rescue the nobles than to hunt the trolls, so he began to travel to where he knew the abductors would be hiding: Fort Vindomora.

And on his way there, he intends to make a quick detour.

***

At the Sanctus Lux Fortress, Demetra is meeting with her officers.

"Imperatrix, most of the Auxiliaries have reached the 3rd Star level while a remarkable elite has already attained their 4th."

The man who spoke is one of the Centurion of the Sanctus Lux Legion, responsible for issuing daily tasks for the players.

"The Auxiliaries' growth is nothing but impressive," nodded Demetra. "Very well. Issue the Subjugation Quests first thing tomorrow."

Demetra then gave additional details while handing out a parchment to the centurion.

"Auxiliaires who earned their 2nd Star may handle the subjugation of 2-Star or 3-Star ranked monsters."

"Auxiliaries who earned their 3rd Star are entitled to take on quests involving the subjugation of 3-Star or 4-Star ranked targets."

"And finally, the 4-Starred Auxiliaries may take on high-risk quests involving the hunt and subjugation of 5-Star or 6-Star targets. But first, they must succeed at hunting twenty 3-starred monsters or ten 4-starred."

"Any questions?"

"No questions, Imperatrix," responded the Centurion. "Your order will be carried out."

"Excellent, Remus," acknowledged Demetra. "You are dismissed."

She then gestured for the Centurion called Remus to leave her office. After doing so, she continued the meeting and addressed another Centurion.

"Publius, how are the Fortress supplies? I understand that we are currently lacking in Bleedwo-"

Just as Remus opened the door to see his way out, there was a loud and abrupt knock on the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Remus, open the door."

The Centurion did as commanded.

The door opened, showing a high-ranking Legionaire with blood on his armor, drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Demetra recognized the man as Legatus Augustus Aurelius.

Without waiting for permission to enter, Legatus Augustus entered the room and made a declaration.

"Imperatrix, there's been an incident," said the Legate. "As of last night, we are in a state of emergency."

"I am taking command of the Sanctus Lux Fortress for the duration of this crisis."