51 < (5). 1st Death-1 >

Chuck...

As Ian approaches the entrance to the castle, two guards block his way.

“What brings you here? ”

Ian was embarrassed for a moment.

Because I had never entered the castle of the Ruspel Empire before it was initialized.

‘Hmm... I don't have any tokens to show you, so what should I do? ’

Ian opened his mouth as soon as he thought about it for a moment.

“Ian, prophet of summoning. I heard that the Emperor was looking for me, and I came to see him. ”

Speak as politely as you can!

I couldn't afford to lose my intimacy with the guards after putting on a cheeky tone.

On the other hand, the guard tilts his head slightly and scratches his back head.

“Please wait a moment. I'll ask the guard commander. ”

“Yes, I'll wait. ”

One of the two guards quickly steps into the gate and disappears somewhere.

And after a while, a man from the inside jumps out.

After that, there is a guard who has just entered.

“Oh, here comes the prophet. I offended the guards because I didn't tell them beforehand. ”

The man appears to be the captain of the guard guarding the gate.

Ian is an unexpected extremist.) I did not know how to treat myself.

It was the first time in Kailan that NPCs were this polite before they built up friendship.

‘Hmm... What is it? Is this your reaction to the Emperor's quest? ’

In fact, since he was a guest of the Emperor's to the guards, it should have been difficult, but Ian was unaware of it.

“No… well…. That's okay. Can I come in, then? ”

The guard commander nods with a fearless nod.

“Of course, Ian. I'll take you inside. ”

As the guard commander leads, the locked gate opens, and Ian follows him slowly into the room.

‘But how many levels does that guard commander have? ’

The Vigilante Commander Lapir, who gave the quest for the Goblin Camp, was in the mid-90s.

Ian suddenly becomes curious about the information of the Guard Commander.

---------------------------------------

- Maolin...

Level: 115

Title: Guard Commander

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All information, other than levels and positions, was kept private, but Ian's eyes were wide open.

"By the way, does the guard guard guard the outer gate level 115? I hope level 1 is not even at level 120 yet... ’

Ian was embarrassed.

Because I thought it would be at a level similar to that of the Vigilante Rapper.

‘Let's see, then, what are the soldiers' levels? ’

Ian checks the soldiers' information and is even more amazed.

The levels of the two soldiers following Ian were 104 and 107, respectively.

‘Ha... I think I know why the top ranking guilds can't even touch the Colonard Continent Node with that much power...' ’

If a soldier mishandled an Empire with 100 levels of sowing, the entire guild would be thrown out.

Thinking this way, it really feels more valuable to occupy a Node with this expedition in the Lotus Guild.

‘I need to level up quickly to help expand Node Space. ’

As Ian thinks about things, the group gets closer and closer to the imperial palace.

* * *

The summit of Mount Cropia's Karun peak.

A man with a weapon in the shape of a sharply bent dagger in both hands is battling an ice troll alone.

Khow-!

Trolls groan and swing giant clubs at the man.

Kuang -!

However, the Troll's huge clubs couldn't even touch a man's clothing, and only the rocks were crushed.

But if you look closely, the Trolls the man is dealing with are not ordinary ice trolls.

A large club with a body more than 1.5 times bigger than a normal ice troll and a seething heat bloom.

Trolls were heroic monsters and the boss monsters of Karun Bong, the 'Ice Roll Warriors’.

Blame it-

Just as he played with the Trolls with a very light footstool, the man dug into the Trolls' vicinity in an instant, launching all his attacks.

But the Trolls, as if they were waiting for it, grabbed the man's corpse with one hand that did not grasp the club.

No, it looked like it was clutching.

Glug-ug-

Suddenly, a man's new brother disappeared from the air like a mirage.

The embarrassed troll suddenly becomes defenseless, and the man suddenly appears behind the troll.

“Now stop dying.... ”

His double-edged dagger flies past the troll's back.

Khhhhh!!

Trolls scream in agony.

And the man didn't miss a moment of it.

“Huh-!"

With a brief gasification, his dagger immediately began to absorb black energy like smoke.

And the dagger, which sucked in all the smoke, dug the heart of the Troll into a dark black light that did not reflect a single speck of light.

Puk-!

The face of the ice troll warrior that allowed the decisive attack began to die violently.

And from the dagger in the heart of the Trolls, a black energy burst into all directions.

Finally, the troll's body slowly disappeared into a gray light.

“Phew, one of the real farmhouses was huge. ”

The man retrieves the item from the Troll corpse and mutters as he wipes the sweat off his brow.

“Will it take half a day to reach level 50...? ”

Surprisingly, the man who caught the 'Ice Troll Warrior’, the only monster of level 65, was level 49.

And his job was a new class of assassins.

“I'm still at level 49... How many new job users reached level 50 days ago? ”

He rolls up the tail of one mouth.

“And a summoner.... I'm looking forward to it.”

The man fixes the dagger and starts walking slowly.

“There's still about four days left until the Arena opens... so you should be able to move around a little more relaxed. ”

He stops in front of the steep cliff like a carved stone.

Surprisingly, I threw myself down a cliff.

At that moment.

Blubber-

The man's body turned into a black hawk, and flew away between the peaks.

* * *

“Oh, you must be Ian. ”

Ian is very nervous when he meets Emperor Celia.

The emperor couldn't figure out the level because all the information was private, but I felt a tremendous amount of pressure just sitting in front of him.

‘I thought of a gray-haired grandfather... He's so young, right? ’

At first glance, the emperor Celia, who appeared to be in her early 30s, had a stronger general feeling than an image of an emperor.

“Yes. I heard you were looking for me... ”

Celia replies before Ian's words are finished.

“Yes. I've heard rumors of talents like you in the Ruspel Empire. How could I not find them?" ”

Ian replied with a shaky expression.

“Th-that's right. ”

And Ian's vision reminded me of a system message.

[I met Emperor Selius within the time limit.]

[You have completed the 'Summoning Prophet’ Quest.]

[Reputation +1250.]

I only met the Emperor, but his reputation increased by 1250 in a short time.

‘As expected, Empire quests are different. ’

With Ian in awe, the words of Emperor Celia continue.

“I'm very encouraging to hear that we have a higher level of summoner in the Ruspel Empire than the Kaimon. ”

The emperor takes a sip of tea, and Ian waits for his next words.

“I've waited a long time for a skilled summoner to show up. ”

Ian asked, not even knowing himself.

“Why?”

With Ian's informal words, the guard next to the emperor opened his eyes.

“Hey, what kind of security do you keep on saying that? ”

At that moment, Ian flinches.

‘Ugh, I should have been more careful... ’

I carefully noticed the emperor, but fortunately, he didn't have a bad look on his face.

“Haha, Helheim. It's okay. It's okay. Aren't you an adventurer who doesn't know the imperial arts well? ”

“But…. ”

“Oh, she's fine. ”

When the emperor stopped, the approximate man slightly disdainful and returned to his original position.

‘Phew, thank God. ’

Ian clears his surprised chest in relief.

‘Maybe if that Dagger was swinging, he'd be in one shot. ’

Ian's gaze stayed on the near-death dagger for a while.

It was an excellent weapon that flowed from ear to ear.

Ian wakes up and gives Celia a slight bow.

“I'm sorry... I didn't know how to behave. ”

Celia shakes her head, smiling greedily.

“No, it's okay. ”

And after taking a few moments, he said,

“Anyway, I'll tell you why I've been waiting for a skilled summoner. ”

Ian is very polite (?) I listened to the Emperor in a pose.

“Ian, do you know what a god symbolizes the Ruspel Empire? ”

Ian considers for a moment and nods.

Because the huge embroidered animal directly behind the Emperor, Taesa, immediately caught my attention.

“Isn't that Griffin? ”

The symbol of the Ruspel Empire was Legendary Griffin.

A legendary animal with head, wings and front legs resembling a valiant eagle, with a tan body and hind legs shaped like a lion.

“Okay, okay. There are a lot of people you don't know, but you know them well. ”

Seeing Celia smiling with a satisfactory smile, Ian makes no sense.

"Isn't that silly if it's painted like that on the back? ’

But I did not make the mistake of saying it out stupidly again.

“Anyway, let's keep talking. ”

The emperor's words followed.

“About half a year ago, the Imperial Court sent elite knights to cross the Shikar Desert. ”

The Sikar Desert was a desert region in the heart of the Colonnar continent.

A place called the Land of the Dead among the users.

The reason why it was called the Land of the Dead was not something else.

It was because the average level of monsters appearing in the Shikar Desert was over 130.

No user can even go to the Shikar Desert yet.

Celia opens her mouth again, momentarily.

“But then, Helheim, the knight leader of the Knights, found Griffin's nest in the heart of the desert. ”

Ian was embarrassed to hear that.

Griffin was a real monster? ’

Apart from Ian being surprised, Celia's words continued.

“The Knights fought with Griffins with all their might, defeated Griffin and took his egg. ”

Ian swallowed a false wind without even knowing it.

‘Ugh, I even won... ’

The Sikar Desert, called the Land of the Dead.

And the legendary monster found in it.

The Imperial Knights' power is evident that the Knights captured Griffin without even looking.

“I want to hatch Griffin, the symbol of our Ruspel Empire, and raise him inside the Imperial Court…. ”

Ian thought to himself:

"The emperor is insane... What kind of monster would he raise inside the Imperial Palace?" ’

Ian is starting to get anxious about the quest.

“Griffin's eggs haven't hatched in over half a year. ”

Celia takes another sip of tea, staring at Ian and dropping her mouth.

“I hope you can find a way to hatch this Griffin's egg…. How about that? You want to try it? ”

Quest content that was a little more anticipated since Griffin's egg story.

Ian became depressed.

‘No, how should I know?! I've never seen a Summoner's Egg before...! ’

However, whether Ian was embarrassed or not, the quest notification window suddenly appeared in his vision.

Tyring -

---------------------------------------

- Griffin's Egg (Empire Quest) -

The Imperial Knights of Celia said they found Griffin eggs in the heart of the Sikar Desert half a year ago.

The Knights have brought Griffin eggs to the Imperial Court, and Celia wants to raise Griffin, the symbol of the Empire, in the Imperial Court.

But nobody knows how to hatch Griffin's egg yet.

Emperor Celia hopes that you, an excellent summoner, will hatch Griffin's egg.

Quest Difficulty: -

Quest conditions: none

Timeout: unknown

Reward - One of the Summoning Skill Books in the Imperial Archives.

Rejecting quests will decrease Emperor Celia's Amity. (If you don't have Amity, the enemy will rise.)

---------------------------------------

As I read the contents of the quest, Ian's expression fades.

‘Ha... How do I hatch a Griffin Egg? I'm not Griffin's mom.' ’

Incredible quests where to start and how to get there!

Besides, there's no time limit and you don't know it. What is it you don't know? ’

Failure to know when the quest timeout will end has made Ian even more nervous.

It said it wouldn't be weird if the quest failed right now.

But that didn't mean I had to reject the quest.

It's because Amity and Reputation with the Emperor have fallen because of the quest rejection anyway, but nothing has changed since the quest failed.

Then I had to accept it.

“Yes, let me try. ”

[You have accepted the quest.]

A system message that comes to Ian's attention.

‘Phew... ’

Ian sighs, saying, "Get lost inside."

< (5). 1st Death -1 > End