......
After chatting with the two acquaintances, Shin learned that Shiella indeed had recruited a few of the youngsters in the training camp of the Springfield Family. Since they were lacking in manpower and people that they could trust due to their recent rapid development, she could only choose those that she was familiar with and the ones that were working under their family.
Saun and An were one of those talented cadets from the camp of the Springfield Family and Shiella had tasked them to form an elite group that would specialize in sea warfare and underwater combat.
Since the two of them were assigned to the Marine Unit of the Springfield Forces, this job would be the best for them.
Moreover, they were also tasked to change their races into a Sea Nomads so that they could get the advantages of the race, which suited their needs. They could also accept some people with Ocean Naga Race which also met their requirements.
These people would be setting up their main base in the Calderock Port, which was one of the main cities under Shiella and Shin.
Hearing all of these, Shin came up with a sudden inspiration – what if they also created other elite units dedicated to other specializations such as Forest Rangers specialized in guerilla and forest warfare or Air Force Units that were skilled in aerial combat?
Such thoughts were not farfetched since they met most of the requirements. The Ranger Units could either be a bunch of assassins from different races, which had a variety of tricks under their sleeves, while the Air Force could be the Wingmen Race, which Archimedes controlled due to his inheritance.
With all of these, they would be able to create an elite force that covered almost everything.
After polishing his plans, Shin quickly contacted Shiella and explained everything to her.
"Not bad. We can also use this force as other cards that we can use when Guild Wars start," she said before continuing. "But I think it is better to form a guild meant for this. It is better to separate most of their operations from the Hand of Midas and Empyrean Talons to avoid some conflicts."
"Even better if we form a guild for these forces and make them our partners on the 'surface'," she added after a brief thought.
Since this force would be focusing on combats and other matters, it would be better to separate their operations from the Trading Firm. She already had enough people for the Hand of Midas, so it would create some complications if the members of her guild, especially those meant for combat rather than lifestyle profession, learned about these new forces.
"Then I will leave the rest to you," said Shin after hearing her further polishing the plan.
"Tsk! You always leave the troublesome task to me while you, yourself, always get in trouble," she scolded before hanging up.
Shin chuckled as he knew that Shiella did not mean what she said.
He then headed toward the Mayor's Residence so that he could deal with his original purpose of coming here.
...
Ribbit greeted Shin enthusiastically after seeing him. Due to the recent relocation and upgrade of Calderock Town into a port city, Ribbit has become busier, but very satisfied. His dream was gradually coming true with the help of his master.
Shin glanced at the status of Ribbit and saw that his loyalty was already maxed while also being in a Worship Status, which was the highest relationship that a player could have with an NPC.
But what confused him was that the special mission that he had gotten from this NPC was still on ongoing status. This could only mean that Ribbit's life was still in danger due to the mysterious organization that he previously belonged to.
...
A few moments later, Shin stepped out of the Teleportation Hall of the White City, a city on the outskirts of the Saint Heaven Kingdom. It was the city nearest to the Saint Heaven Mountains.
Due to it being quite far from the rest of the cities at the center of the kingdom, the population of NPCs and Players here was quite small.
The city was also quite small as well, so it was not as desolate as it seemed given its small number of residents.
Shin swept his gaze at the surroundings and saw that the average level of the players in this city was quite low despite the moderately high level of the surrounding regions – they were low level on his standard at the very least.
After walking around the city to see if something was interesting, Shin walked out of the gates and rushed toward the mountains. He even summoned Whitie, who transformed into a white tiger, to make sure that he would reach his destination much faster. It was also to prevent any prying from seeing him or anyone from tailing.
While traversing the forest, Shin noticed that there were no monsters around. The forest seemed to be a little too desolate despite him being deep within it. He also noticed that the place was devoid of players, which was quite puzzling.
The travel was quite smooth as Shin did not encounter any mishaps. Or at least that was what he thought since he was able to 'arrive' at the depths of the Saint Heaven Mountains without a problem.
But after continuing his journey, Shin realized that he seemed to be moving in circles around the mountain. He kept on returning to the place that seemed to be the entrance of the mountain.
"Are we caught in a trapping formation? Since when?" mumbled Shin as frowned deeply. He did not notice any strange fluctuations in the air, which was supposed to indicate that there was some sort of formation around. This was the reason why he did not realize that he was already trapped within a formation.
Even Hanzo and the rest of his Elemental Spirit Companions did not notice anything strange up until now.
He also now realized why he did not find any monsters or players around. It turned out that the entire place was under the trapping formation. Moreover, this formation seemed to be very advanced at that.
"Is this some sort of a test or something?" he mumbled as he observed the surroundings closely. He even spread all his senses while focusing his mind on sensing the flow of mana in the air.
Given his high Magical and Elemental Affinity, he would not be losing to most of the mages or other magic-related classes in this area. Adding his True Sight Skill,
Not long after, he was surprised at what he discovered. "What kind of mana density is this?"
The mana density of this place was so high that he felt that he would be drowning in it if he kept staring at them. Even his movements seemed to be getting affected as well without his knowledge. If he did not try to use his True Sight and Sensing Circle to their fullest potential, he would not notice all of these.
Moreover, he could also feel that it would be hard to execute his skills and techniques in this place. Even trying to properly swing his sword would be quite challenging.
But what was more surprising about his discovery, this this place was still the outer part of his destination. This could only mean that if he went deeper, the density of mana would be much more concentrated than in this place.
Frowning deeply, Shin unsummoned Whitie and walked forward, following the flow of mana in the air.
He did not have a good feeling about this, but also somewhat excited. He was anticipating a new experience in this place. "Let's see what the Head of the Mysterious Instructors has prepared for us."
...