In the Intelligence Center of the Aether Hall - which was the name Eva had given to the room where she set up her base - Zaine, Roma and Hikari sat down while chatting, leaving Eva to speak to the person she summoned, Sanji.
"So, my job as department head is to manage the spy network in this Sector, which is the City-State?" Sanji asked.
"That's right. This is a relatively easy task for now, and I need someone we can absolutely trust to hold down the fort here." Eva affirmed with a nod.
"No problem. I don't really have a knack for the fighting anyway, and my talents mean little in a medieval world."
Eva smiled at that. A hacker like him was truly suppressed by this type of genre. If they were in the Sci-fi section, Sanji would probably be the most powerful member of the guild after Jade.
Still, after working on their network in the real world, he now had the skills to manage such a thing. On its own, it was 10,000 times more tedious to do so in this kind of world, but the Intelligence Tradeskill streamlined everything using the system.
Eva rose from her seat and went up to the screen. She gestured for Sanji to sit down, and then entered the Personal Office.
"I have acquired a viable department head for the first zone. How do I appoint him?" Eva asked Steven.
"Simply enter his name in the appointment menu and he shall receive an invite. When the Personal Office assesses him and he is deemed to be passable, he shall be given the appointment." The orb answered with a light bob.
Eva entered Sanji's name for the department in Sector-0001 and smiled. She checked Sanji in the real world and saw that his eyes had unfocused. In the next instant, Steven came to life.
"Assessing candidate for department head… Detected to be Immortal Adventurer; given priority… Detected close combat class; priority lowered slightly… detected Espionage related Tradeskills… 1… 2… 3... 4…; priority greatly increased."
"Detecting Tradeskill Ranks… all Amateur; no priority changes. Final assessment… the candidate is passable; C grade."
Eva saw Sanji's name appear beside Sector-0001 as it became green. She smiled widely, as she had planned for this. Naturally, she had given him the various Tradeskills he needed.
What a joke, they were mostly Common Tradeskills. If Eva sneezed, she could get 10,000 of them with ease. Her Herald's Badge alone granted her almost unlimited authority in this regard, much less considering that Umbra owned the Rank 7 shop.
Seeing that her method worked, she knew that getting department heads or the building itself would not be a problem. It would be fulfilling the other criteria which would be hellish, specifically the additional procedures.
Eva nodded to Sanji. "I leave everything here to you. Oh, before I go, let me check something."
"Steven, is it possible to let others enter the Personal Office?" Eva asked the orb.
"Not directly. However, the Personal Office can be bound to each department head's office, allowing them to interact with you, as well as each other, remotely. It also allows them to receive various tasks." Steven answered patiently.
Eva understood. So she would become a server, and each department she bound would be a client. They would use her Tradeskill to interact with each other, probably by entering a pseudo-Personal Office.
This would allow her to receive updates at all times, as well as connect all her department heads. They would become a monolithic organization, where even if one head was cut the others would be alerted immediately… especially since they'd all be players.
This organization she was forming was only in its budding stages, yet the special characteristics it possessed was infinitely more terrifying than any other intelligence-based organization in the world.
Even the Thief and Assassin's Guild would pale in fear if they heard this conversation, pulling all the stops to destroy what Eva tried to build at all costs. However, it was too late.
After all, Intelligence would make her organization undetectable. It was not like the Assassin's or Thief's Guild where they sold their gathered information to various buyers if the right price is presented.
Eva's organization was built to cater to one power, herself... or in this case, Vita City-State and Umbra. Even if it was discovered, the Tradeskill would provide various means to cover tracks, right? Eva inquired upon this next.
"The Personal Office will receive updates from department heads as well as agents in order to draft special tasks for them to cover all tracks, even through compulsion." Steven answered.
Eva frowned. "Compulsion?"
"That's right, Director. Once they pass the assessment to become a department head, or a qualified agent, they consent to all objectives and rules of the Personal Office." Steven said slowly.
"Resistance will not be tolerated." He finished darkly, hovering close to Eva.
Eva was unbothered by his scary actions and pushed his spherical away from her sight. What a joke, she was someone who's very portrait terrified hundreds of thousands of players as well as NPCs.
"Bind this room to the Personal Office for Sector-0001." Eva commanded sharply.
"Acknowledged, binding. Checking authorities… passed. Checking location… passed. Authenticating… passed. Connecting… complete."
"The department located in the Aether Hall of Vita City-State had been bound to Sector-0001 successfully."
Eva nodded with satisfaction and left the Personal Office. She saw that the room changed, as a wave of energy erupted from her body and coated it.
Since she had already styled it to match her Personal Office, there was no change in style. The main difference was that the room seemed animated, and better yet, the inactive screen came to life.
It displayed the same thing Eva saw, which was the map of all sectors, as well as pending tasks for this particular one.
Curious, Sanji and the three other beauties came to check it out. They played around with it, checking out its functions before nodding with surprise and amazement.
When Eva revealed what Steven told her to Sanji, he immediately became excited, and Eva could understand why. After all, the biggest weakness of this Western Fantasy section was the lack of technology.
Apart from players, NPCs had to rely on traditional modes of communication like letters or some expensive magical means to transfer information to and fro, unlike the real world where the Internet was present.
As such, this kind of benefit which would be seen as a basic necessity in the real world was godly in this one, giving them an edge other organizations would find hard to match.
Eva left with Hikari, Zaine, and Roma. They exited the Aether Hall and boarded the back of Luxia, the Light Phoenix. Once Eva gave Luxia the coordinates for her target, the Light Phenoix flapped her wings once.
All of a sudden, they had reached their destination. It wasn't far, even Draco's Ultra-Long Distance Blink could reach here in one shot. It was an unclaimed Field Zone that was adjacent to the Paradise Lands called River's Dwell.
It was a Rank 2 Field Zone for players between level 65-80. The monster concentration was only 10% that of Field Zones with Rank 1 monsters, where such low-Rank monsters could be found like weeds.
Due to the higher Rank, the number here was much lower and their intelligence was much higher. A team of Rank 2 players would spend around 1-3 months clearing it out, assuming they were all Elite and above.
Due to the low numbers, guilds would brutally fight over ownership of such zones, as they needed them to train their members. That was why most high-Ranked players from the previous timeline were from guilds.
A normal player would have to rely on killing Rank 1 monsters to level up assuming they hit Rank 2, or if they found a zone all to themselves, which was unlikely.
The logistical difficulties were not to be scoffed at. With limited stamina, limited funds, and more Updates that increased realism, one would absolutely need a base in a city.
Hence the growth of settlements, hence the need for expansion and thereby, the Great R.a.p.e of Update 5.
Eva led Luxia to land at the entrance of the Field Zone, disembarking with her fellow beauties as they assessed the Field Zone. It was a lush one with many water bodies, and most of the monsters were water element types.
Eva tapped her lip and redeemed an item from the Guild Shop that had sat there for a long while due to general disinterest on her and Draco's part.
｢Thunderbolt – Ornamental Item
Rank: Epic
Durability: 500,000/500,000
Passive 1 – Lightning Barrier: A barrier of lighting emerges around you whenever you are under attack, reducing incoming damage by 40% and reflecting 10% of the damage back to the attacker as lightning damage.
Active 1 – Thunderstrike: Send out a bolt of lightning that deals Area of Effect damage amounting to 30% lightning damage. Cooldown: 20 minutes.｣
It had been ignored because the active skill was absolute shit for an Epic item, but the passive was pretty great. Unfortunately, it was non-stackable, which was why Eva and Draco left it to one side.
Hikari's White Barrier was far better, and the Evil Duo had various items that granted deflection/reflection damage that could stack, so why swap it out for this?
Thinking like this, Eva checked her current gear in totality.
｢Eye of Heaven – Ornamental Item
Rank: Legendary
Durability: 1,000,000/1,000,000
Effects:
Passive 1 – Light Amplification: Light-based skills and techniques are boosted by 300%.
Passive 2 – Heaven's Eye: You can never lose your sight due to status effects or low light areas, and you can see in 360° within a 1-mile radius.
Active 1 – Light of the World: Activating this skill allows the user to summon a Rank 1 Heaven's Eye to send out a giant beam of light energy, which deals 1,000% Light Damage over a demarcated Area Zone. Cooldown: 3 days.
Description: This talisman was created from the condensed essence of the Heaven's Eye, a mystical being that occasionally emerges in the world to purify all evil.
It has reached its strongest state and can no longer be improved.｣
｢Abyssal Ring – Ornamental Item
Rank: Legendary
Durability: 1,000,000/1,000,000
Effects:
Passive 1 – King of Noct: All attributes are boosted by 70% when the light of the sun does not touch the wearer. Every attack that lands on the user has a 30% chance to miss despite its accuracy.
Passive 2 – Shroud of Darkness: A permanent layer of darkness covers your form, making you 300% harder to detect in stealth and 70% resistant to darkness element attacks.
Active 1 – Abyssal Pull: Open a wormhole to the abyss that swallows all enemies within range. Cooldown: 3 days.
Note: The maximum suction range is 500 meters at Rank 1.
Note: The maximum suction targets are 500 at Rank 1.
Further abilities can only be unlocked by attaining a higher class tier.｣
｢Divine Herald's badge – Unique Item
Effects:
No Liability
Free selection at all rank 1 to 5 shops.
Granted Empress rank worldwide
Granted passage to all Field Zones and Dungeons in the mortal plane
No fees for any transaction made｣
｢Divine Herald's cloak – Unique item
Effects:
Divine Acquisition
Light Manipulation
Free Movement
Perfect Existence｣
｢Lightfire – Fusion item
Rank: Legendary
Effects:
Passive 1 – Purification: Cleanse all darkness and evil in the world. Every Light or Fire based skill, spell, or technique will deal 1,000% more damage to evil beings.
Passive 2 – Light's Might: Light and Fire based skills, spells, or techniques deal 500% more damage.
Active 1 – Inferno: Purge the world of all dirt. Send out a shockwave of heat and light that deals 800% Light damage and 800% Fire damage over an Area Zone. Cooldown: 7 days.
Description: This is a flame that was birthed due to the presence of Light, a legendary mystic flame born from the rays of light in the world. Ranked number 3 out of the Great Ten Mystic Flames.｣
｢Insurgent – Jack
Durability: 50,000/50,000
Rank: Rare
Def: 300
Effect: Speed boost +15%, Evasion boost +15%｣
｢Insurgent – Shoulder Harness (2)
Durability: 50,000/50,000
Rank: Rare
Def: 100
Effect: Speed boost +5%, Evasion boost +5%｣
｢Insurgent – Gauntlets (2)
Durability: 50,000/50,000
Rank: Rare
Def: 100
Effect: Speed boost +5%, Evasion boost +5%｣
｢Insurgent – Boots (2)
Durability: 50,000/50,000
Rank: Rare
Def: 100
Effect: Speed boost +5%, Evasion boost +5%｣
｢Insurgent – Pants
Durability: 50,000/50,000
Rank: Rare
Def: 300
Effect: Speed boost +15%, Evasion boost +15%｣
｢Insurgent – Set Equipment (5 piece)
Rank: Rare
Effect;
- With 2 pieces equipped: +10% Speed boost
- With 3 pieces equipped: +1000 Darkness mastery
- With 4 pieces equipped: +10% Stamina
- With 5 pieces equipped: +30% Stealth effectiveness｣
｢Void Blade – Shortsword
Rank: Epic
Durability: 500,000/500,000
Passive 1 – Shadow Kill: Every strike towards a weak point is an automatic critical hit. The execution chance is increased by 20%.
Active 1 – Void Slash: Send out a condensed wave of void energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% void damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣
｢Chrono Blade – Shortsword
Rank: Epic
Durability: 500,000/500,000
Passive 1 – Light Cleanse: Every strike towards a strong point will inflict a 30% overall defense reduction and healing is weakened by 50%.
Active 1 – Chrono Slash: Send out a condensed wave of chrono energy in the form of a slice which deals 100% chrono damage. Cooldown: 1 minute.｣
｢Chaotic Blades – Set Equipment (2 piece)
Rank: Epic
Effect;
- With 2 pieces equipped: Grant the active skill 'Chaos'｣
｢Chaos – Active skill
Effect: Turn an area zone into a land of chaos, where everything is twisted and flipped on its head. Time shifts, powers decline, space shatters, races change or nothing at all happens.
Note 1: This skill will affect everyone within the area zone, regardless of whether they are friendly, neutral, or an enemy. This skill will only be immune to the wielder.
Duration: 10 seconds
Cooldown: 1 day｣
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Author's Note: Yes, yes, I can feel your seething anger due to the huge list of items, but I do this for the benefit of mankind, world peace, and stability.
And because I'm too lazy to show it piece by piece in the later chapters. So commit this to memory please, it will not show for quite a while.