[Ding! Do you want to upgrade Nirgos's rank?]
Ash froze when the notification appeared.
'Upgrade Old Ni's rank… directly?'
Without waiting for long, he immediately checked the system to learn about new things that he didn't understand.
[Personal Information], [Tribal Information], [Shop], [Inventory].
[Tribal Points: 10,000] [System Points: 100,000]
The moment he opened the status window, it changed into multiple sections that it surprised him.
'Interesting…' Ash thought to himself and checked it one by one, especially the tribal points and system points since he was curious on the things he could do with these points.
"WHATTT?!" Ash exclaimed in surprise when he knew the usage of the tribal points.
Apparently, Tribal Points could be used to directly upgrade the ranks of tribe members, completely bypassing the system's missions. Not only that, it could also be used to increase their stats.
In other words, with enough Tribal Points, he could forcibly turn ordinary warriors into powerhouses.
However, there was a catch.
He could not use Tribal Points to upgrade his own rank. The system clearly forbade him from skipping his personal mission. Though, he could still use it to upgrade his own stats.
However, as good as the tribal points could be used for, it's hard to obtain them—at least with his current situation because the way to obtain them was based on the tribe's overall strength, territory size, etc.
Even with the Ragh'Tal Tribe that could be said to have a decent strength in the surrounding area, he could only obtain 28 Tribal Points per day. Which meant that he needed around a year just to gather the 10,000 tribal points he obtained from the welcome gift pack.
After pondering for a few moments, he finally decided to expand his tribe more and subjugate more tribes in order to obtain more tribal points since it's the easiest thing to increase his overall tribe's strength.
First thing first, he wanted to check how many tribal points needed to upgrade Old Ni's rank.
'What the hell? I need to spend 8,000 tribal points just to upgrade his rank?' Ash thought to himself, thinking that it cost him around 9 months worth of tribal points just to upgrade Old Ni's rank.
Digging deeper, Ash quickly realized why.
The mission given by the system to upgrade people's rank to become 4th Rank Warrior was different because they were given 5 levels with different difficulty and rewards.
The easiest level would multiply the strength by 3 times while the hardest one would multiply the strength 7 times.
_1st level > 2,000 tribal points (x3 strength)
_2nd level > 4,000 tribal points (x4 strength)
_3rd level > 6,000 tribal points (x5 strength)
_4th level > 8,000 tribal points (x6 strength)
_5th level > 10,000 tribal points (x7 strength)
Ash raised an eyebrow, feeling surprised as he just discovered that the difference between each level was really big.
Mind you, every time you upgraded your rank to 2nd or 3rd Rank Warrior, your strength would be doubled, but this time you could even multiply it sevenfold.
Without having a second thought, he instantly went outside and asked someone to call Old Ni.
A minute later, the old man came back with a confused expression. "Why are you calling me so urgently?"
Instead of answering, Ash burst into laughter. "Hahahaha…"
'Did he hit his head before?' Old Ni thought to himself when he looked at the young man in front of him.
After laughing for a few moments, Ash patted beside him. "Sit down first, I have something important to discuss with you."
The reason why he laughed heartily was because he was genuinely pleased when he checked Old Ni's information.
It wasn't because of how strong he was, but rather how high his loyalty was.
[Loyalty: 93]
He learned from the system that if someone's loyalty point was above 90, it meant that they were extremely loyal and won't even have the possibility of a betrayal.
This was such a perfect scenario for him, as he had a loyal subordinate where he could help them in becoming stronger by spending tribal points.
However, thinking about how long and loyal Old Ni has served his family, it wasn't actually an exaggeration if he were to say that Old Ni would sacrifice his life for his family.
He was also the reason why Ash was able to inherit the tribe lord position with his puny strength. If he wasn't there to support Ash, he wouldn't be able to inherit his father's position even for a day.
However, as much as he had the authority as the War Chief, Old Ni could only delay it for one year because of the pressure from a lot of sides and finally agreed with the term where Ash must become 2nd Rank Warrior within a year to keep his position as the tribe lord.
Just as he recalled something related to the old man beside him from his memory, Ash came back to his senses when he heard Old Ni's voice.
"What is it? The others are still waiting for me." Old Ni asked with a little bit of annoyed expression since he just left an important meeting because someone said that Ash had urgently summoned him.
"Old Ni, let's subjugate other tribes and expand—"
Cough!
Before Ash could finish his sentence, Old Ni was taken aback and coughed out hoarsely.
'He definitely hit his head before.' Old Ni nodded softly, looking at Ash with a bitter smile.
He guessed that Ash might have gone a little bit insane under the pressure of not being able to complete his mission.
"I know you're doing everything you can to secure your position," Old Ni said carefully, his tone softening, "but making reckless decisions like this will only—"
Before the old man could finish his sentences, Ash interrupted.
"I think you're mistaken about something." Ash chuckled lightly, already guessing what the old man was thinking.
"Let me be direct with you then…" He paused and smiled faintly, "What if I told you that I can help you complete your mission?"
Sighed!
Looking at Ash's calm expression, Old Ni was convinced the young tribe lord had finally lost his mind.
Seeing the reaction, Ash shook his head helplessly before dropping a bombshell.
"I can read God's messages, is that enough?"
"What?!" Old Ni was shocked and immediately looked at Ash, knitting his eyebrows deep.
"I'm serious, I can tell you exactly how to complete your mission." Ash said with a smile, then turned that smile into a grin as he continued. "Or even upgrade your rank directly without needing to complete the mission…Though, it would cost me a lot in doing so."
"What did you just say?!" Old Ni opened his eyes wide, as he had never expected such a thing would come out of Ash's mouth.
"If you don't believe me," Ash replied, shaking his head once more, "then let experience open your eyes."
Without waiting for another word, Ash checked Old Ni's mission.
[Mission: Lead the Ragh'Tal Tribe and subjugate the Varkesh Tribe!]
[Time Limit: – ]
[Reward: Advancement to the 4th Rank Warrior]
"Oh?" Ash muttered softly. "That's a difficult mission given our current situation."
"We'll skip it then." Ash chuckled softly and ordered the system in his heart. "Upgrade Nirgos's Rank to 4th Rank Warrior!"
[Ding! Do you want to upgrade Nirgos's rank?]
"Yes!" Ash instantly responded.
Before Old Ni could retort, he was left stunned as he felt the familiar yet overwhelming energy suddenly surged into his body.
[Ding! 8,000 Tribal Points have been successfully deducted.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host! Nirgos has successfully broken through to the 4th Rank Warrior.]
[Ding! You've achieved a new record, as Nirgos was the first person from the Ragh'Tal Tribe to reach the 4th Rank Warrior.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1,600 Tribal Points!]
'Oh?' Ash raised an eyebrow when he looked at the notifications, as he had never expected that he would receive a decent amount of tribal points for something like that.
A moment later, Old Ni finally opened his eyes. He clenched his palms a few times, feeling the new terrifying strength that he somehow still couldn't control yet.
"This…" He mumbled softly, then looked at the young man beside him with awe.
"Tribe lord… is this real?" He asked with a disbelief expression written all over his face.
Ash smiled faintly in response. "Do you believe me now?"
"But how?" Old Ni Old Ni asked, his expression twisting between shock, confusion, and awe.
"I don't fully understand it myself. But after I woke up, I suddenly gained the ability to comprehend God's language—and some miraculous powers like this. Of course, I paid a heavy price for it. But it's worth it… especially if it's for you, Old Ni." Ash explained with a smile and tapped his shoulder.
Old Ni fell silent.
After a long moment, he broke into a bright, heartfelt smile.
"Please take it back," he said sincerely. "Use it on yourself instead. Just tell me my mission, and that will be more than enough."
"Don't say something like that." Ash chuckled and shook his head.
"Helping you is also helping myself," he continued with a confident smile. "You don't need to worry about it, Old Ni."