Local Lord walked through the streets of Cario City with a slight smile on his face. His tall and well-built body attracted the attention of quite a few women since his looks weren't bad at all.
Coupled with the large greatsword he held over his shoulder and his dark brown armor, he did look somewhat heroic. Even his red cape that billowed behind him made things more impressive.
Local Lord basked in the praises of the onlookers. As a member of the Lineages, he firmly believed that all sub-humans should be slaves to them, who held the bloodlines of the true humans.
However, Local Lord - despite the critical weakness of the Pangu Lineage - was a schemer. He was able to deduce a lot from seeing very little. Right now, he had very little knowledge about this game, but he knew that Eva was here somewhere.
He would first learn all he could about this game and then find a way to capture her for his own playing. His bloodline, and maybe, more importantly, his soul demanded it.
The difference between this timeline's Local Lord and the old timeline's Local Lord was that the old one was much more level-headed and mature. After experiencing Boundless up to Update 5, he had become painfully aware that it would be impossible to capture Eva.
As such, he didn't even care about her anymore. He just wanted to satisfy his bloodline craving and get it out of his system to finally be free. What she or her dog boyfriend Draco did afterward was nothing to him. Nevertheless, the other Local Lord had become the only one to get the last laugh given the past timeline's development...
However, this current Local Lord remained a frog in a well. He was too confident in his power.
He had hardly ever interacted with sub-humans except those who were captured for him to play with, and his bloodline abilities in this game proved to be so useful that many sub-humans deified him.
Just like how every player knew Draco was number 1, the average players of Sturgehaven had come to learn about Local Lord's name through the Regional announcements. In their eyes, Local Lord was the next best candidate to become a core member of Umbra.
After reaching level 10, Local Lord was now heading towards the Guild Hall of Umbra to take the test. He was sure that it would be a cinch for him, just as everything up until now, hence his endless confidence.
When he reached the Guild Hall, Local Lord was lucky enough that the second recruitment of Umbra had just started, so he became the first person eligible to take the core member test.
When he spawned in the test area, a voice spoke out to him.
"Welcome Player Local Lord, to the core member test for the Umbra Guild."
After that, a team of five people spawned before him, all having the same level and same equipment as him. If that alone wasn't worrisome, they all had high levels of intelligence.
The area around him became an ocean with a very small mound that one could stand on. If he fell anywhere else apart from these small mounds, the sharks roaming in the ocean would rip him apart.
Even worse, some crab monsters began to spawn from the water and climbed onto the mounds, their claws clacking as they wished they could snap him in half.
And then, there was a very large yet fragile egg that spawned in his arm. He could not throw it away, as his objective was to kill the party of five while protecting the egg.
As such, he would have to fight with one hand, on limited ground and against two different types of enemies.
Even the endlessly c.o.c.ky Local Lord became somber and serious. He finally realized that it wouldn't be as easy as he thought to enter this guild called Umbra. Their test was far too fraudulent and he hadn't even truly begun.
Local Lord decided to go all out from the beginning. He channeled his Primogenitor Inheritance which allowed him to summon elementals made of one of the four elements and a few more.
However, the BP cost was really terrible. It was just like Riveting Night's Abyssal Eye Inheritance or Draco's Serpent God Inheritance, both of which drained a hefty amount of BP compared to their Lineage's other two inheritances.
Since he had a 90% bloodline purity, his total BP should - theoretically - be 900. Since he was just like Riveting Night who had received the best training from birth, he could use a variety of techniques and had learned how to minimize their cost, unlike Draco who foolishly burned everything to do the simplest thing.
Still, it cost him almost 700 BP to create three Golems of the lightning element. Local Lord began to sweat after that heavy deduction occurred, but he judged that it would the optimal thing to do in this situation.
After all, these monsters were of the water element. Lightning should be the perfect counter for them and Local Lord had been a bit of a gamer anyway. He wasn't a total noob like most others.
He was right. The system assessed his summoned Golems and gave them health as well as quantifiable stats just like it did for Draco's Black Dragon during the Dragon Slaying Event.
｢Name: Storm Golem (Local Lord) – Lieutenant Rank monster
Level: 13
HP: 3,800/3,800｣
Just like the Black Dragon, their HPs were much lower than monsters of the same level, however, this was to balance them out, as they could display more power than system-assisted Golems at that same Rank.
True to the point, the Storm Golem mowed down the ever-spawning monsters like they were weeds. They channeled an almost endless amount of lightning into the surroundings, frying everything weaker than them and even giving Local Lord some support against the five-man party.
He stood his ground against them, using and abusing his Undying King Inheritance which took a very minuscule amount of Bloodline Energy to function, but his defense and HP regen were out of this world.
He directly traded blows with the tank member of the five-man party and crushed him with the Primal God Inheritance, which also took a minuscule amount of BP to work. This Inheritance dealt solely with physical strength.
With his greatsword and great strength, he directly cleaved the fellow's shield in half and with the next swing, bisected the fellow.
There was a reason why Riveting Night of the previous timeline had been forced to swallow the bitter pill of making Local Lord into one of the Vice-Guildmaster of Darkrow.
His raw power was too high, and his usefulness in battle was unparalleled. Currently, if Local Lord and Draco were to fight with each one using only a weapon of the same rank, no armor, and no other items, Draco would ultimately win, but only because he had Control and his expertise from his past life.
However, he would suffer to break through the Undying King Inheritance.
Unless of course, he became more proficient with his bloodline's Inheritances. The Horned Demon was a counter to the Primal God, the Serpent God was a counter to the Undying King and the Dark Angel was a counter to the Primogenitor Inheritance.
As such, Local Lord eventually succeeded in passing the test in record time and entered the Guild Hall for admission. After seeing the high-tech stuff, his mind was blown and his greed spiked.
He couldn't wait until he smashed the guild leader here and took over this guild. Then, everything Boundless had to offer would become his!
Local Lord went up to the Assembly Room and waited. After almost 6 hours, in which he considered leaving many times, the room began to fill up excruciatingly slowly with people who had passed the various levels of the test.
More than 70% were basic members, while 20% were advanced members. The final 9.99% were expert members. Apart from him, there was only one other core member who got in this time, a Tradeskill player called Noble Writer.
He seemed to be a Scribe main and a Runemaking sub. He was quite okay looking and seemed a bit nerdy, but he was very polite and respectful to everyone.
Local Lord had spent his time socializing with everyone and winning their hearts over. Despite his large size and disgusting personality, Local Lord had the face and bearing of a hero.
He looked like someone you could rely on in hard times, and spoke like one too, so it was easy for people to like him on the first interaction.
After some time, a person entered the room and climbed the podium. It was Cobra, who was an assassin like Riveting Night. When the ladies saw him, their hearts began to thump and desire filled them.
However, when the fellows saw him, their balls shrunk back into their bodies and their eyes teared up. The fellow was too…!!
Cobra also had learned the Dark Interrogation passive skill at Riveting Night's behest, so he went through the same measures the Vice-Guildmaster did to assess these members.
"Any one of you who has nefarious intentions for Umbra, stand out. If you intend to spy or disturb the peace, stand out. If you're planning evil against the guild or its members, stand out."
All the players were struck with the skill, and a check against their charisma was made. None of them were able to pass, so their thoughts were revealed. More than 30% of the basic members stood out unwillingly, while only 2% of the advanced members stood out.
None of the expert members nor the two core members stood out, because they had no such intentions, not even Local Lord.
Destroy Umbra? Harm Umbra?
Why the f.u.c.k would he do that? He was trying to take the leadership of the guild through a legal challenge and then take it to higher heights! Only someone of his caliber could do that!
To harm his future guild… would he be so foolish?
Cobra nodded and killed the players with nefarious intent easily. After all, he was above level 35 while they were still between level 10-20. Putting aside level suppression, they simply couldn't match someone like him who had been trained by Draco and Riveting Night.
Then, he turned to the silent remainder who seemed unbothered by his actions on the surface. His gaze towards them was slightly amiable because they would be his future colleagues and subordinates.
"Welcome to Umbra. Follow me while I take you on the orientation of the guild. Listen carefully, as I won't be repeating myself."
With that, the first batch of new recruits for Umbra were taken on an extensive tour of the guild after signing the contracts. Local Lord had no qualms with it as he could change it when he became the guild leader.
......
Roma rubbed her belly lightly and held Rila in her arms. She felt her stomach begin to bulge ever so slightly in the past week since she had been seeded by Draco. Her gestation period was supposed to last up to 6 months, but she was in Vita City State.
With the 500% boost in population growth, the time had been reduced to slightly over 1 month at the most. This was an example of why the Hidden powers had been so crazy about the City-State.
They could spit out descendants like they were cabbages over and over again, bolstering their numbers. The only sad part was that eggs were only covered up until they were lain, but not afterward, otherwise, Draco would have left the Drake egg and his egg with Hikari there.
Rila slept in Roma's arms comfortably. She knew that Roma was someone her daddy treasured, and it didn't hurt that Roma herself was extremely beautiful with her pale caramel skin, gentle facial outline and long white hair.
Rila especially loved playing with the Ultima Sunt gem in the center of Roma's chest. Roma and Draco had no idea what those gems did or what they were for, so they took them as mere decorations.
However, Rila could feel something special about those gems, hence her endless fascination.
Roma was in the Aether Hall, being cared for day and night by the best midwives in the whole of Cario Continent. Even Vitae checked up on her every now and then to make sure she was in tiptop shape.
Honestly, the amount of pampering she was receiving really made Roma feel weird. From her mother, she knew that childrearing was something that required careful effort and planning.
The Queenmothers usually handled it themselves, but now every part of the process had been taken over by a specialist for her. As such, she could spend the days in peace and happiness, all thanks to her soţ, Draco.
Roma thought about her mother, Vano, and the others. In the weeks since she left the Four Point Valley, she had come to terms with her loss. Still, she dearly missed her endlessly wise mother and her foolish but protective brother.
Rila woke up slowly, and rubbed her eyes. When she looked at Roma, she saw tears falling from her closed eyes as she reminisced on times long passed.
Rila reached out and wiped Roma's tears before she patted the other on the head with her small hand. In what was a very soothing and sweet voice to hear, she comforted Roma. "Don't cry. Daddy will come back and make you happy again."
Roma was moved by Rila's gentle touch and sweet smile. She kissed the toddler gently and nodded. "That's right, I miss your Daddy so much. I can't wait for him to come back and blow my problems away."
Rila's smile grew even larger. "He will, I believe in my daddy."
Her confidence in Draco was quite heartwarming and Roma felt her sadness bleed away. She had her child and Draco's presence to strengthen her. There was also her Eldest Sis Eva, who cared for her deeply.
There was Hikari, who she was still getting to know, but seemed nice. There was Zaine, a fellow dark-skinned sister who was extremely astute and intelligent. Zaine had really taken to Roma as a best friend and confidante, which made her very happy.
As such, she had no reason to be sad. Her mother wouldn't want that and Vano wouldn't want that. They would be proud and happy for her since she finally had the life she wished for, ever since she was young.
Roma's smile was very pure and enchanting, because all these thoughts filled her heart with warmth and happiness at this moment. Rila nodded when she saw the smile, as if expecting it.
'That's right, only daddy can do this.'
Draco's number 1 supporter attributed every good thing in the world to him.
......
Qiong Qi facepalmed for the hundredth time since he had entered.
He was currently in a realm without a name, standing on the mound where the other version of him was staring back with indifference and arrogance.
"Listen here, you bastard thick-headed idiot. Don't you understand what I'm saying? Do you need me to indiscriminately roar for you to comprehend my words??"
Alternate Qiong Qi didn't seem bothered by our Qiong Qi's words. After all, he had already tried to beat up this impostor, but found that the fellow was unkillable.
Both knew the same skills and attacks as the other. The only difference was, that the newcomer's attack power for some reason had been nearly non-existent.
The same could not, however, be said about his defense, which made the Alternate Qiong Qi wary. He didn't understand how this impostor was able to get into his realm, so he had decided to hear him out.
Who knew that the fellow would outright ask him to commit suicide so he could take over? How could this impostor be so outrageous and shameless?
Our Qiong Qi sighed. "This fellow here, listen to me. Why do you exist? Is it not to provide a foil for the races of the world to test their might and provide rewards?"
Qiong Qi stood on his hind legs and pointed at this realm's World Boss Qiong Qi. "How can such a life be called meaningful?! Just end it here and let me take over. In our name, I shall bring the world to its knees!"
World Boss Qiong Qi was extremely tempted to kill our Qiong Qi, but regretfully couldn't so he breathed deeply and spoke. "The King of the Jungle fears no one and does not commit suicide. Only the enemies whom I respect may have that privilege."
Qiong Qi wanted to pull the hair of his mane off. How could the fellow be so blockheaded?! Could he not see the truth in his words!?
The problem was that Alternate Qiong Qi and our Qiong Qi were two sides of the same coin. The difference lay in their personalities and feelings.
Their memories, skills and raw power were exactly the same until a certain point. Why was this so?
This whole scenario was troublesome from the perspective of the AI. It was fine to bring Roma out, because that NPC had specifically been created for the Flora and Fauna Individual Quest.
So, when she was brought out, there was no conflict.
However, the Qiong Qi who appeared in the closed-off Flora and Fauna Quest had been spawned as a copy of the original, to indirectly assist the player of the quest against the various Rank 7 entities like Lokthar, Vadoma, Flora or the Elf King.
As such, his personality had to be tweaked into something that would become neither an ally nor enemy of the player, but be easily approachable. He needed to have a personality that could accept any type of player, whether evil, immoral, naive, kind, or indifferent.
Hence, his shameless personality. In order to give Qiong Qi a reason to be 'there', he felt anger at his 'dogshit pops' who kept stressing him out.
However, the real Qiong Qi was a typical male Lion. He was lazy, arrogant and very powerful. He believed he was the King of all and feared nothing. He felt reverence for his father and carried out his will without the slightest hesitation.
This naturally formed a problem when Draco brought Qiong Qi out as a mount. The problem was, the AI never predicted that the initiator of this quest would be so compatible with Qiong Qi that the Lion would sign a mount contract without even reading it first.
The best the AI could do at the time was to nerf Qiong Qi, but it knew that the day would come when the two lions would meet. Their different ideals and personalities would clash, and only one could become the World Boss at the end.
The issue was that Draco's Qiong Qi had the power of growth. Unlike this World Boss Qiong Qi who would remain stagnant in his power, Draco's Qiong Qi could use items, acc.u.mulate experience, be eligible to achieve rewards and whatnot to become stronger.
If Draco had a legitimate World Boss as a mount, one who controlled a realm of ever respawning beasts, wouldn't he be able to trample all over the world?