Overgeared Chapter 982:
[Nefelina is checking your condition . ]
[Nefelina believes that your stats are insufficient . ]
‘Heok . Don’t tell me?’
What was the dragon’s blessing? Grid’s expectations swelled even more . The dragon was observing him seriously, and Grid thought she would make up for what he was lacking .
‘Will she increase my agility or intelligence?’
In fact, it was wrong to say that Grid was lacking power, especially among players of the same class . No, Grid’s average stats were so high that there was almost no one among the two billion players who had higher stats than him . Nevertheless, humans were animals who didn’t know how to be satisfied . Grid coveted more for his relatively scarce stats and hoped Nefelina would know his earnest heart . He had faith it would be possible with a great dragon .
However, the result was different from what he expected . Nefelina didn’t raise Grid’s stats .
[Nefelina has given you a blessing so you can overcome your deficiencies!]
[10% more experience will be gained when hunting monsters in the future!]
[20% more experience will be gained when hunting boss monsters in the future!]
“ . . . ”
That’s right . The blessing that Nefelina gave didn’t mean immediate results, but it was a driving force to achieve better results . Grid’s excitement was popped like a balloon .
“This is the blessing . . . ?”
He wanted to deny it but it was true . The effect of the dragon’s blessing was already shown in Grid’s status window, and it could be described as an experience buff . Nefelina looked at him with a grumpy expression . “Is it a curse?”
“No . . . ”
Maybe it was because his expectations were too high . Grid had wanted a dramatic effect like the goddess’ blessing that strengthened a skill . Thus, he felt greatly disappointed at the unexpected experience buff effect .
‘Ha, I can’t believe that a dragon’s blessing only gave me an experience buff . Once the buff duration ends . . . Eh?’
Grid once again confirmed the effect of the blessing and looked like he had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer . He was really shocked .
[Dragon’s Blessing]
[★ Growth Blessing ★
Additional 10% experience gain when hunting monsters .
Additional 20% experience gain when hunting boss monsters . ]
“ . . . ?”
No . There was no ‘duration period’ mentioned anywhere . Perhaps?
‘Is it a buff that lasts indefinitely?’
Experience buffs were very rare and efficient . The general public had few chances to receive an experience buff apart from the reward of the National Competition . However, Grid had a huge amount of reputation points . He could obtained experience buff potions by using the drawing machine of the Reputation Store . This experience buff potion gave an extra 20% experience .
Therefore, he saw the dragon’s blessing and thought it was worthless . Now he realized it was different . The experience buff potion had a duration of three days while the dragon’s blessing was a permanent buff . It meant Grid would always get more experience than others .
‘It is even 20% against boss monsters!’
What if he hunted after taking experience buff potions in this state? He would be able to enjoy a buff effect similar to the first place buff of the National Competition .
“ . . . Gulp!” Grid gulped excitedly after realizing the value of the blessing . Nefelina’s tail moved as she said, “You finally realized that I have given you a great blessing . ”
He had to admit it . Grid was reminded of the structure of named NPCs . It was practically impossible for a player to catch up with them since there was the player’s average level +@ correction effect, as well as their steady increase in level over time . At this moment, a possibility opened up before Grid . It was the possibility of catching up with the leveling speed of named NPCs .
“Thank you!”
The dukes of the empire, the Five Pillars, the grandmaster . . . And finally, the yangban Garam . . .
Their backs, which seemed like they would always be ahead of him, were now right in front of his eyes . Grid was filled with joy and embraced Nefelina . Nefelina was currently in the form of a cute little dragon, so there was no reluctance for him to express his affection .
“Hiccup . . . !” Nefelina’s wings soared up as she was suddenly hugged by the man . “Y-You . This majestic body . . . ! What are you doing?”
“Ah, s-sorry . You are so cute that I made a mistake . . . ”
“C-Cute? I-I am an existence you will always look up to!”
Nefelina flapped her wings, and her body eventually rose into the air . The space reconstruction magic couldn’t cope with the currents of magic power and became unstable . The surrounding landscape was distorting .
“Hiiik!” The chef Idan was terrified and fainted .
The evil eyes king instantly knelt down and shouted, “Destroyer of the future! Please fix it using any means!”
However, Nefelina couldn’t hear the voice of the evil eyes king . She just growled as she glared at Grid, “You were only able to touch me in the past because I was in the egg! However, it is different now! You can’t do it anymore! I’m no longer a baby, so be careful in the future!”
“Yes, yes . . . ”
Did she have memories of when she was in the egg? Now he knew why Nefelina was so good to him . Grid learned a new fact and vowed not to touch her again in the future .
***
“Thus, I plan to focus on hunting for the time being . ”
This was after he gained the dragon’s blessing . Grid visited Panmir, not Lauel . There was something he wanted to ask Panmir .
“What is the safest area in the volcanic zone near Talima?”
Talima, the dwarf city—it was surrounded by a volcanic area that contained the nest of a dragon Trauka and was a place where players and the empire couldn’t access . Panmir’s expression hardened . “Are you going to hunt there?”
“Yes . ”
Once again, there was the nest of the dragon Trauka in the volcanic zone of Talima . One of the legends of the Legendary Great Magician Braham was that he ‘survived the dragon Trauka’, so it wasn’t necessary to explain how strong and ferocious Trauka was .
“If you happen to meet Trauka . . . ”
“I will die . That’s why I’m asking you for the safest area . ”
The 1st ranked blacksmith, Panmir—he was superior to Grid in some ways . It was because he learned the dwarves’ techniques . Grid knew that Panmir had visited Talima . He thought that Panmir would know a safe place in the volcanic area . However, the response was terrible .
“Um . . . ” Panmir’s brow furrowed as he thought about it for a long time .
Grid noticed his mistake . “Oh, excuse me . I’m sorry . ”
In Satisfy, the value of information was higher than 1,000 gold . They might be colleagues but few people were willing to freely hand over the information they worked hard to collect . In that sense, it was great that Kraugel had provided information about the Behen Archipelago and the Ether Diamond despite not being part of the same guild . Panmir waved his hand . “No, it isn’t that . The reason I thought for a while isn’t that I am uncomfortable but because I truly don’t know . ”
“You don’t know?”
“Yes . I was able to visit the dwarves and Talima thanks to the help of another force . ”
“Another force . . . ?’
“Rothschild . ”
“Is that a guild name?”
“It is the name of a guild and a real family name . ”
“Rothschild is that Rothschild?”
“Right . Just as in reality, they have accumulated wealth and influence in Satisfy . They probably realized the value of Satisfy from the moment it launched and made a big investment . In any case, only the Rothschild Guild knows about the current Talima . I don’t know which part of the volcanic zone is relatively safe . ”
Grid’s interest wasn’t just the volcanic zone .
“They have great influence . . . ? But I’ve never heard their name in all these years . ”
“Rather than move directly, they act in a way that creates lower forces or supports other forces . It was an agent who first made contact with me . ”
“Why do they bother moving in secret?”
“That family is originally like that . Well, I guess it is bothersome to deal with everyone . ”
“Did they introduce you to the dwarves?
“Right . At that time, the Rothschild family directly raised their power by dealing with the dwarves, and there were occasional disagreements during the process . They figured it would be better for an easy-to-handle player to obtain the dwarves’ techniques . ”
“What was the result?”
“As you can see, I was a free agent and moved to the Overgeared Kingdom . I didn’t meet Rothschild’s expectations . ”
“Are you saying a blacksmith like you were abandoned?”
“Haha . . . ” Panmir scratched his head and laughed bitterly . He was ranked first on the blacksmith rankings . Unless there was someone great among the unofficial rankers . . . After Grid, he was the next best player among the existing blacksmith players . The reason why the Rothschild family could easily discard him meant that the skills of the dwarf craftsmen were beyond imagination .
“Hrmm . . . Are they a threat to us?” Grid asked after a moment of thought .
Panmir shook his head . “No, that won’t happen . They are aiming to quietly build up wealth . There is no reason for them to be hostile, and they might even be dreaming of a symbiotic relationship with the Overgeared Kingdom . ”
“Indeed . . . If they were dangerous, Lauel would’ve already warned me about them . ”
Feeling convinced, Grid nodded and opened the Reputation Store . He used the drawing machine and secured a total of five experience potions . Grid was planning to hunt for at least one month .
‘Let’s go to the Galgunos Temple . ’
The volcanic zone was the most ideal hunting ground, but he would die if he didn’t reduce his chances of meeting Trauka . He could afford to die one or twice due to the experience buff, but more than three times would be too much . In the worst case, he could drop an item .
***
[(Breaking News) Grid’s level-climbing speed . ]
20 days had passed since Grid left for the hunting grounds . The royal palace was quiet because most of the Overgeared members were at the hunting grounds . Still, it was hard to say that it was peaceful . There were three months remaining in the truce agreement with the empire .
The movements of the Overgeared Kingdom that wanted harmony with the different species was at odds with the empire’s ideology . This was the calm before the storm, and it was an uncomfortable calm .
“What?”
The cries of the soldiers rang out around the clock . Lauel was trying to find peace of mind watching Piaro, Mercedes, and Singuled train the soldiers only to become astonished . It was due to Faker’s report .
“Agnus visited this place?”
“Yes . It seems he came to meet Elizabeth . ”
Agnus was the most wanted man in seven kingdoms . It was alleged that he had murdered several accessory makers . However, Lauel knew it was a lie .
“He is a dangerous guy . Shall I kick him out?”
“Umm . . . No . Let’s just watch a bit . ”
At one time, Agnus was known as a madman and a purely evil person . Now, it was hard to see him as unconditionally evil after calmly analyzing his movements . He had actually protected Irene and Lord .
‘He is more powerful than Grid in a massive war . It would be good to build up a connection with him . ’
Lauel touched his chin and ran to the location of Prince Lord . Lord was in the middle of learning from Sticks .
“Lauel, what are you doing here?” Coke ran over and asked after discovering Lauel .
Lauel chuckled . “I want to take a walk with the prince . ”
“ . . . ? I understand . ”
It wasn’t going to be an ordinary walk . Coke felt very tense when he saw Lauel and Faker standing side by side .