ALL NOVEL Chapter 81: Nature’s destroyer
The sun hung above the golden beach as usual. The salty air was getting warmer with each passing day.
“We have to leave soon,” Zyrus stated as he looked around from the mast of the warship. The red ship was gleaming under the golden sunlight of the noon.
It boasted a total height of 25 meters, flanked by three galleons which were a third shorter. As for the 50-plus Viking longboats that were placed behind, they barely reached 5 meters in height.
“We should be able to kill the remaining monsters today,” Ria’s voice echoed from the galleon behind him.
“Hmm..Do you need my help?”
“No need, I’ll make sure it's finished,” Ria’s tone was more solemn this time. Zyrus hadn’t fought once since the battle against Camazotz. She realized the seriousness of this matter after hearing that he was willing to join today.
Zyrus nodded at her and continued his inspection. The warship was 70 meters in length and 18 meters wide at the center.
The diameters of the galleons and longboats were reduced by 30% and 60% respectively. This was the most he could do with the limited resources he bought from the shop.
‘If nothing unexpected happens, we should reach the next island after a month,’
Of course, even if something did happen, Zyrus was sure that he could reach the next island before monsoon season. He was only worried about the damage the ships would have to sustain.
Contrary to its beautiful appearance, the cyan ocean was the most horrible place in the second ring. Even he didn’t dare to tread its depths before he surpassed lv 50.
Hours passed by as Zyrus inspected the ships for the last time. He knew that the ships wouldn’t last long on the ocean, but still, it was fine as long as the parts weren’t lost.
Killing the sea monsters, plundering the resources, and repairing the ships. The same cycle would repeat over and over until the ships became invincible on the ocean.
But there was a condition for this way of progress: The ship’s core must remain intact.
‘It needs a name apart from my blood,’
It was Zyrus’s conclusion based on his recent knowledge of Izena. His Sylvarix blood possessed the trait of infinite evolution, but that alone wasn’t sufficient.
Just like artifact spirits were born after years of usage, the same applied to other inanimate objects.
“Say, did you rob the spirit kingdom’s treasury last time?” Franken asked as if he was reading Zyrus's thoughts.
“No?”
“How come you know so much about their birth then?”
“Heh, there are no secrets for an arcanist,” Zyrus snorted proudly at Franke’s question. It was a mystery for others as to how the original spirits were born.
There wasn’t much of a difference between the spirit race and humans in the second and third rings. They looked the same and their way of 'reproduction' was the same as well.
The only dividing factor between them was that the spirit race had innate traits while others didn’t. Swords, anvils, fire, and even unique traits like flowers and objects such as a pot or a stone, there was no limit to spirit race's innate traits.
They considered themselves to be superior because of these innate traits. Just imagine, Zyrus was the only one who had a trait among the dozens of non-spirit kings.
Of course, the innate traits were different compared to traits recognized by the sanctuary. Even then, the advantage they gave to spirit race was apparent.
If not for the fact that their bloodlines diluted after each generation, the spirit race would've become the ruler of the fifth ring of the sanctuary.
The sun was slowly going down while Zyrus and Franken chatted about the spirit race. It was at this moment that a loud fanfare rang across the island’s skies
<{Congratulations! You have conquered one of the islands of Pisces archipelago}>
<{All stats +10 on conquered territory, no roaming monsters would attack the conquered territory}>
All the players cheered after reading the golden words in the sky. However, their surprises were just starting.
<{Crafting class players can now purchase blueprints once the ‘Shop’ function is available}>
<{New buffs will be added to the flag!}>
- Shipbuilding efficiency +10%
- Logging efficiency +10%
[Note: The buffs apply to all conquered territories]
<{New classes are added to your faction! Anyone who joins you can directly acquire/change their classes to the ones mentioned below}>
- Tanner
- Butcher
- Lumberjack
<{Your flag’s tier has risen by 1! }>
[You have gained the Motif: Nature’s destroyer]
[Effect: +10% stamina regen, All stats +1 when destroying natural resources]
It was a long list of perks after their months of hard struggle. Zyrus curved his lips after looking at the nearby players who were hollering in excitement.
He looked forward to the day when they gained personal achievements after finishing his tasks over and over again. That would be their true reward for following him.
“Gather around in an hour, we’ll hold a feast to celebrate our conquest!”
Zyrus’s excited voice reverberated across the island. He wasn't idle in these months either. He had learned a lot of tricks after completely digesting the knowledge in Oroszlan’s journal.
Spreading his voice via the Ophidian warriors was one such example.
“What a useful tactic, wouldn’t your opponents be annoyed to death when you use this with all your minions?”
“Tch, Even I didn’t think of a shameless idea like this,”
“What shameless? It’s called being resourceful,”
It wasn’t certain whose personality was rubbing off the other’s, but both Zyrus and Franken were getting along quite well. One can only pity their future enemies.
Ria, Kyle, Lauren, and all the leaders were rushing towards the southern beach from the forest.
Well, former forest to be exact.
Forget about a jewel on the cyan ocean, the current island looked like a bald man’s head from above.
“Didn’t expect you to hold a feast,” Lauren spoke the others' thoughts as she approached the duo.
“We need to pack the meat and fruits before heading out tomorrow,”
“As expected of his majesty! Always with ulterior motives,”
“Wait, we’re leaving tomorrow?” Ria interjected in a flustered voice. She knew that they had to leave before monsoon, but wasn’t this too fast?
“The ranking rewards will come every six months. While it’s guaranteed that we’ll be the first, the more land we conquer, the better.”
“I see…”
Of course, this wasn’t the only reason Zyrus was eager to go to the ocean. His intuition was telling him that he’d get the cube’s second mission when he went to the ocean.
“Enough about that, let’s just enjoy the evening!”
“Sure sure, but we have a small task to complete before that,” Zyrus spoke as he called them over to the galleons.
“Kyle and Lauren will be captains of the first galleon, Shi kun for the second, while Strongfist, Jacob, and Druv will lead the third,”
Everyone was speechless for a moment. No one expected such an arrangement.
Zyrus didn’t explain his motives and continued,
“Shi kun, you’ll lead most of the humans with your galleon and the longboats. Of course, Ria will stay on the second one to help you and the others,”
Similarly, he told Kyle and Lauren to lead the candidates for his knights. Apart from them, the ones they deemed lacking in loyalty and those who had ulterior motives were also on the first galleon.
Zyrus was more than satisfied with the duo’s work. In just four months’ time they had weeded out more than 200 players who didn’t truly acknowledge Zyrus as his leader.
Not everything was white and black. It was a limitation of ‘Crown’s fealty’ authority as well. Thus, he needed someone like Kyle and Lauren to deal with the gray areas.
Lastly, Zyrus placed the 12 divisions of monsters along with the ogres and trolls in the third galleon and the longboats that’d follow it.
“I’ll explain the rest when we’re on the ocean, but for now, please name your vessels,”
Zyrus’s words lit up a spark of excitement as everyone started talking about various names. From myths to famous historical ships, everyone shared their knowledge on the matter.
‘Do they really have to think this much for a name?’
Of course, compared to the flurry of discussions about the first two galleons, the third group’s conversation was rather ‘unique’.
“Anything works for me,”
“How…about…Iron…sailed….bea…”
“Strongboat.”
In the end, the names of three galleons were decided after an hour of nonstop chattering. Ria took pity on the poor third galleon and named it on behalf of its captions.
Thus, the three were named Tiamat, Phorcys, and Sedna. Even Zyrus felt self-conscious after hearing their analysis of various myths.
“Great names, we’ll officially carve them in the early hours of tomorrow.”
“Haha.. it’s more exciting than the feast,” Shi kun chuckled at his words. With faint shades of red on his face, it was clear just how happy the middle-aged man was about becoming a captain.
“By the way, what did you name your warship?” Ria asked all of a sudden when they were walking towards the other players.
“Ahem, nothing fancy like you guys,”
“C’mon, just say it,”
“Yeah! Say it,”
Zyrus looked behind at the group and replied in a serious tone,
“Dragon of War,”