Infinite Realm

(AN: This chapter is susceptible to change.)

"This is...!"

Staring at the parchment on display on his system interface panel, Sato was utterly astonished and surprised. Not just him though but also everyone else that were currently going through the loot report.

[[ Forging Blueprint :

Mountain Army Armour Series : Mountain Soldier (Level 10 Upper Tier Mortal Rank) :

Requirements : Level 10 || 25 [Strength]

[Physical Defence] +35

[Magical Defence] + 30

[Strength] +15

[Endurance] +10

Forging requirements : Apprentice blacksmith rank at the very least with the required necessary knowledge.

Forging elements : Limber Steel, Silver ore, silver core, Iron …

System Comments : You might not become as tough as a turtle shell in this but becoming an amazing punching ba-… MT, in this won't be impossible. Nonetheless, you would still need a good blacksmith to make your masochist dreams a reality.

]]

The Mountain Soldier armor was really impressive and though it was slightly lacking in defensive properties when compared to Rackow's Guard, one should remember that the latter was higher in rank. As a Rare-steel ranked equipment, Rackow's Guard was qualified to possess a skill unlike the Mountain soldier armour.

Despite being a bit worse when compared to Rackow's Guard, in the eyes of all the players present, the Mountain Soldier armour blueprint had the most value when compared with the other loot even the Rare-steel rank ones. Why? Well the key to the reason why wasn't in the armour itself but the form it appeared. A blueprint.

Machine or forging Blueprints, designs, drafts or even alchemy formulae are important resources that can change the future of any gamer, even more so for guilds. The reason why is that with the aid of a blueprint, the player, who of course should already have the required subclass(in this case, blacksmith class), could create tons of sets and market it out to the public in exchange for resources or money. Simply put, the blueprint was a money-making machine in the truest sense. As long as one can afford the initial investment for the plethora of materials needed in forging and also possess the required class and knowledge, it wouldn't be an understatement to say that that person would eventually be swimming in riches.

This was obviously because most or rather all of the players are yet to reach the level 10 mark. As this is the early stage of the game, it is inevitable that the requirement to do so wouldn't be so difficult. In other words, every physical class players are currently potential customers for the Mountain Soldier armour. Even after current players had gone beyond the level 10 mark, there would still be new batches of players logging in. As it is also an Upper Tier Mortal rank equipment, the allure of the armour was on a whole different level.

Due to certain limitations in strength and forging needs, level 5 weapons have been capped to be of the Upper Tier Mortal rank at most. With that said, an Upper Tier Mortal rank level 5 weapon would only be barely on par to a Mid Tier Mortal rank. With that in mind, the strength of an Upper Tier Mortal rank could only be imagined. Seeing it in person, all the players present were tempted to have one in their hands and so desired this blueprint greatly even more so for the guild players as this would increase their value to their guild.

"If we can get this blueprint then I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have to worry about money again for awhile." Fudo's eyes brightened.

"And who's gonna do all the work? Me?" Sato replied. Even though he sounded dissatisfied, Sato was somewhat hoping that they could get the blueprint. But of course, he knew this dream of his was unrealistic as there were two strong guilds before them and none would want to lose such a treasured to a duo of not even official club members but solo players.

"Dream, no matter the cost, we have to get this blueprint." Swift Blade whispered to Dream Tiger.

"I know. But do you think those super guild guys will let it be?" Dream Tiger grumbled.

"Then at the most we make a few concessions. For a super guild I doubt this blueprint is extremely precious to them. As long as we offer them a few deals and benefits, they should give it to us." Swift Blade stated.

"...I will have to talk with boss first."

Apart from the two Low tier Rare-steel rank equipment and the forging blueprint, there were also a couple other materials, specifically 2 star and a few 3 star materials. There was also the mission reward for slaying the boss and the reward from the emergency mission.

"Huh? What's this?"

[[ System notification :

Do you desire to make your name known for the marvelous achievement of slaying the enemy commander and completing the emergency mission?

System : Accept/Decline

15 seconds left to respond.

]]

"Oh? An announcement eh?" Fudo narrowed his eyes.

After they had defeated the boss, they had received a system notification on whether they should reveal their names alongside the achievement announcement but since they weren't paying attention, they only noticed it now. There was actually a 3 minute wait to reply but Sato and Fudo had actually forgotten about the notification and only recalled it after opening their system interface.

Whenever an important boss figure was slain in the game, player(s) involved are usually given the opportunity to display their deeds to the public, thereby gaining praise and appreciation. Since Sygrart was the mini boss of the opposing goblin faction, but in a way, he was the main boss for the player faction to handle in this large scale event. With such appraisals and titles attached to his image, it was pretty understandable as to why a wide range announcement would be given after his death.

This was more of an opportunity for players to become famous and gain recognition from big guilds or sponsors. Of course, it can also be used by guilds to rake in good publicity and improve their image as gaming guilds so that they could draw more players easily to themselves.

VR games have developed so much that the expanse of space is far greater than one could explore. Hence the need of manpower to hold more strategic locations is seen as the number one priority of most guilds.

The two guild parties had volunteered to reveal their names whereas Sato and Fudo's names didn't do so. Even if they didn't reply the message before the countdown was over, with their black cloaks on, their names wouldn't appear on the announcement. This was a hidden feature attached to the black cloaks.

[[ System notification :

Emergency : Lord Midel has just discovered that the goblin forces has a commander figure apart from the Emissary. Find and eliminate this figure before the army suffers more casualties.

Reward : 1000 experience points, 10 silver coins, Loot, 10 kill points.[1]

Failure Penalty : Potential defeat in battle.

Emergency Mission completed by : Team Emperor's Might

Team East Crow

*****

***** ]]

"So, how do we share the loot?" Dream Tiger stepped forward and asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

Yukino frowned while she stared at Dream Tiger. Despite her Emperor's Might squad having the highest number and greatest clout, she couldn't afford to dash a way with the loot and offend anyone right now. Even though she was a 'Queen', Yukino doubted whether she would be able to escape with only 1 actual combatant in her team compared to the 4 qualified fighters before her. However she still needed to get her guild the more precious treasures while also satisfying the rest a bit. After all, if they were to leave here while smearing the name of her guild, it might not do much but it will affect their recruitment rate of players to their guild. What these big guilds fear most isn't a loss in resources but a taint in their public image.

Facing the elegant but cold beauty, Dream Tiger stood his ground without a hint of fear in his eyes. His pride as an expert was deeply embedded in his bones and so Dream Tiger believed that he was equivalent to Yukino with the difference just being the resources and training she received.

"The two Rare-steel ranked equipment would go to us guild players with my Emperor's Might taking the accessory. My guild would also take the blueprint while you guys can share the silver and the materials." Yukino said plainly. It might have looked like she had lost out in the deal, but Yukino had directly taken the best part of the food while handing the leftovers over to them.

Though Dream Tiger looked a bit displeased, he knew this was already the best he could get right now. Plus an equipment, especially an armour, would be the best thing they needed.

"What about us?" Sato grimly spoke up.

Yukino replied coldly, "No offense but you guys are solo players so that's all you get. What else were you expecting? Thank you for the help and all but that's all you get. You already leveled up quite a bit so be satisfied; at least you didn't lose your partner."

It was indeed true that without Fudo and Sato, Chesces and his teammates would have died earlier but Yukino already felt that giving them the monetary reward was enough. After they had finished Sygrart, everybody present had received a single increment in their level despite its quantity. In their words, their levels had all increased by one.

"Don't argue anymore. This is just the status quo. In the presence of us guild players, you solo players don't have a voice." Dream Tiger grinned. Disappointed he was about not getting the blueprint but as Yukino had taken a step back and left the monetary rewards to them, Dream Tiger felt a bit satisfied with that. However he still decided to jab at Sato to relieve himself of his frustrations.

Sato frowned at this as he saw he had no way to change their minds after all, it was 5 against 2.

'Then let it be. It seems I have no fate with the blueprint.' Sato inwardly sighed.

As a blacksmith, though an apprentice-in-training, it would be a lie to say that Sato wasn't interested in the blueprint. A money making path had just been presented before him but he couldn't grab it so he felt quite dissatisfied but there was nothing he could do about it.

Of course, due to the fact that a ton of resources and components would be needed to produce the armour together with the fact that to satisfy public demand it would be a lot better to have a lot of dedicated blacksmiths, the value of the blueprint would be better actualized in the hands of guilds than solo players.

Since he still got a share of the wealth, Sato didn't pursue the matter anymore.

After receiving his share of wealth, Sato was prepared to leave with Fudo till a voice sounded out.

"Wait. Would you like to be a part of my guild?"