"Sigh, so boring."
On the obsidian plains of Godfall Basin, Kalis, clad in his azure stellar mage robe, casually unleashed skills at swarms of monsters, his movements mechanical like an auto-casting puppet.
[Lightning Bolt]
[Magic Missile]
[Fireball]
[Magic Missile]
Wraith Soldiers fell one after another. Kalis's Sin Points steadily decreased at 620 points per minute. After manually killing nearly a thousand monsters, he felt his fingers were almost forming muscle memory.
"Ding～"
"Server Announcement: Guild Spheres Crusaders has successfully completed the Fortress Establishment Quest and obtained special construction approval from the Lord of Lunaris City! As the first faction on the Solaria Continent Theater to establish a guild residence, all members will receive double experience from residence quests for 7 in-game days, and the difficulty of the first Fortress Defense Battle will be reduced by 50%!"
"Server Announcement..."
"Server Announcement..."
The pleasant system notification echoed across the entire server, even players on the Ophilin Continent received it simultaneously, instantly causing an uproar.
"Unbelievable! The server hasn't even been online for a full day, and a guild is already starting residence construction!"
"Rumor has it the Guild Residence Token can only be dropped by Mythic BOSSes above Level 100. Who exactly is Spheres Crusaders?"
"Double experience for all members from quests! This benefit is too tempting! Guild Master, forgive me, I'm going to apply to join Spheres Crusaders for extra experience!"
"Jealousy is making me ugly! I want to join too, but I'm a guild master myself!"
"Players on Solaria Continent are crazy. Did they brute-force the BOSS with sheer numbers?"
The entire Solaria Continent Theater of Eternal Realm Online exploded with excitement! Millions of players frantically inquired about Spheres Crusaders' recruitment channels.
The "double experience" in the system announcement was more effective than any promotion, and the guild application channel was instantly overwhelmed.
Although this benefit only applied to residence construction quests, accumulating about 2.2 million additional experience points over 7 days, equivalent to the gains of an ordinary player hunting for 3.5 consecutive hours, it still made all players eager to join.
Kalis, who was grinding monsters in Godfall Basin, raised an eyebrow in interest when he heard the announcement. He opened his friend list, found Seren, and sent a private message: "Guild Master Seren, how difficult is your guild's Fortress Defense Battle? When will it start?"
Seren was clearly busy handling guild affairs and replied after a moment: "Kalis, thanks to you, we've become famous overnight, so many private messages I can't keep up! The Fortress Defense Battle will start in 24 in-game hours. The exact difficulty is unknown, but the Lord of Lunaris City has dispatched 300 Level 100 City Guards to assist in defense. It shouldn't be too much of a problem."
The so-called Fortress Defense Battle was the "Monster Siege." Waves of monsters would attack from all directions, assaulting the newly built initial residence. The system's construction efficiency was extremely high—after 24 in-game hours, the Level 1 residence would be completed, transforming into a small village covering 1000x1000 meters.
This level of residence had no city walls at all, only wooden fences.
With no city wall protection and only wooden fences for defense, its defensive capabilities were extremely weak. If attacked by a high-level BOSS, players would have to form a human wall to resist, which was quite risky.
Kalis frowned and replied, "Since the difficulty has already been reduced by 50%, yet the lord still dispatched an additional 300 Level 100 City Guards, it's clear he anticipates this defense battle won't be easy. Guild Master Seren, I suggest you stock up on plenty of Resurrection Scrolls and Blast Scrolls to avoid failing the defense."
"That makes sense. I'll have guild members hurry to level up and organize enough people to participate in the defense," Seren adopted the suggestion.
Kalis added, "Give me an honorary guest status. If you can't hold on, I'll come to support."
After all, he had received a huge sum of 120 million gold coins. If Spheres Crusaders lost the residence token due to a failed defense, he, as the seller, would also feel embarrassed.
"Haha, that's a great honor! With you on standby, we'll be absolutely safe!" Seren was overjoyed.
He had long learned through intelligence channels about Kalis's feat of defeating Shadow Claw's 20,000-strong army alone, and deeply understood the terrifying strength of this level-ranking champion. Having such a top expert offer free support was undoubtedly double insurance for the Fortress Defense Battle.
After the conversation, a faint smile tugged at Kalis's lips. In fact, he had another reason for volunteering to help—grinding experience!
For ordinary players, the Fortress Defense Battle might be a disaster, but for a Celestial Mage with overpowered AOE abilities like him, it was the perfect opportunity to level up. When monsters swarmed like a tide, casting Stellar Wind and Meteor Shower would make his experience soar like a rocket. Just thinking about it excited him.
The news of the Spheres Crusaders' residence construction sparked heated discussions across the server. Countless players submitted guild applications to gain double experience and defense battle rewards.
However, while some rejoiced, others mourned.
As Spheres Crusaders' senior executives were busy reviewing applications, Shadow Claw's core members Zevran, Vaelen, and Falric gathered with ashen faces.
"Guild Master, we've confirmed the information: Spheres Crusaders' Guild Residence Token was indeed purchased from Kalis. The specific transaction amount hasn't been disclosed, but it's likely higher than the bounties offered by Crimson Lotus and Oath of Sky," a guild member reported to the three leaders.
"Fuck!" Vaelen flew into a rage, gritting his teeth. "This glory should have been ours, but Kalis completely destroyed it!"
In this operation, they not only failed to seize the residence token and become the "number one guild in the theater" but also lost 3 in-game hours of leveling time. The accumulated experience lost by members was equivalent to regressing 4-5 levels, a heavy loss.
"I can't accept this! We're all players, so why is he so powerful and able to earn huge wealth while we..."
"That's enough!" Falric cut off his complaint sharply. "Vaelen, you need to reflect! If you hadn't taken the initiative to provoke Kalis, we would never have ended up in this situation! Now isn't the time to complain. Our top priority is to make up for the losses and catch up!"
"Falric, you!" Vaelen was already furious. Being reprimanded in public made him even angrier. He was about to retort when Zevran's voice interrupted him.
"Falric is right. You are indeed mainly responsible this time," Zevran's tone was solemn.
"Guild Master, I..." Vaelen had always respected Zevran. Seeing him side with Falric, he was lost for words, filled with grievance and resentment.
Zevran continued: "We've been brothers for years, and I hate to speak harshly. But from now on, you must learn to keep a low profile. In Eternal Realm Online, every player has received a lottery from the Creator God. Lucky people are everywhere, and anyone could have unknown trump cards. Unless it's unavoidable, we'd better stop making enemies outside."
After this lesson, the grievance in Vaelen's heart turned entirely into hatred for Kalis. He clenched his fists tightly, lowered his head, and said in a deep voice: "Yes, Guild Master. I understand..."
"Continue gathering intelligence. Even if we've lost the first place, we must keep the top three! We can't fall behind anymore, otherwise we'll even lose our spot among the Top Ten Guilds!" Zevran issued the order solemnly.
"Guild Master, if Kalis comes to disrupt us again when we raid a Mythic BOSS next time, how should we respond?" Falric asked anxiously.
Zevran's eyes were deep. After a long silence, he spoke: "I'll invite a top-tier expert to stand by. With him here, Kalis won't be able to stir up any trouble."
"Is there such a person? Could it be..." Falric and Vaelen looked shocked at the same time.
Under the expectant gaze of the two, Zevran nodded slowly: "That's right, it's Thorne. In terms of area damage and monster grinding, he may not be as good as Kalis, but in single-target assassination, he's definitely the strongest on the Solaria Continent Theater."
"Great! With him here, Kalis is doomed!" A sinister light flashed in Vaelen's eyes, as if he could already see Kalis being assassinated.