Rina arrived in Cario City a week later. When she touched down, she heard that Eva had gone dungeoneering with Draco's other women, a piece of info that spirited endless jealousy in Rina's heart.
However, she only smiled and shook her head. It would take time to leave her mark and enter his lineage, and the best way to do that would be as a talent on the same level as the Four Beauties.
In terms of looks, Rina knew she was definitely to Draco's taste from what she observed. She had the huge shapely butt he seemed to worship, and her facial features were on par with Zaine at the minimum.
In terms of personality, Rina was not too sure how he thought of her. However, the contrast between Eva, Hikari, Zaine, and Roma seemed to be all over the place. This gave her hope that there was no one personality archetype he favored.
Rina was quite observant, so she concluded that Draco chose his women based on four things. Talent, Potential, Butt Quality, and Compatibility. The first three Rina knew she had in spades, but the last one was a problem.
Most of the core members of Umbra and those close to Draco and Eva were aware of their bloodlines as well as the Lineages. As such, it made sense that Eva and co were treated differently from his other women despite some having great talent or looks.
Eva was compatible with Draco comprehensively, Hikari was compatible with his Dragon stuff, Zaine was compatible with his Devil stuff and Roma was compatible with his Ultima Sunt stuff.
That only left his Demon and Angel slot open, neither of which Rina had, which was the cause of her dilemma. She would trade away anything to gain the State of Being of an Angel or Demon at the highest possible value, but that was as hard to achieve as climbing up to the sky.
Rina always became depressed when she pondered this issue, so she had put it out of her mind. Right now, she was in the Guild Hall, specifically the Guild Shop. All the resources she had gathered got sold to the guild in exchange for Umbra Points.
The value of Umbra Points had increased explosively since its inception. The conversion rate was now 1 UP to 5 gold! What a single Umbra Point could have bought in the past, could now be purchased five times!
It couldn't be helped. The quality of items found by members of Umbra, the quality of items created by their high-brow expenditure, the limited avenues of acquisition, and the increased demand for certain items all ensured this would happen.
As such, the resources that should have sold for more was now giving her much less overall. Rina was contemplating taking a quest from the quests board to gain some free UPs - as any quest there would be a piece of cake to her - she was startled when the NPC managing the Guild Shop informed her that some of her items could not be accepted.
95% of her Inventory had been accepted in exchange for 452,098 UPs. This meant that she could now freely buy as much Epic gear she wanted. She could even request Draco to make specialized Semi-Legendary gear for her as well!
However, the remaining 5% had been returned to her, so she naturally inquired why. The response she got floored her.
"I'm sorry, but these items are too valuable to be traded for UPs. Guildmaster Draco and Vice-Guildmaster Eva have specified that certain items brought here by the members of Umbra were to be rejected and presented to one of them for further valuation." The NPC responded respectfully, given Rina's high position in the guild.
Rina understood. These particular items were so valuable that Draco and Eva would not dare to have a guild member place it in the shop or trade for UPs since they could not afford it through that avenue.
Rina inspected some of the items in question.
｢Shard of the Apostle's Trial – Unique Item
Rank: Epic
Effect: Activates the Apostle's Trial Unique Quest.
Note: Only one shard is present. Gather four more to activate the quest!｣
｢Apostle's Trial – Unique Quest
Description: The Gods are dissatisfied with the lack of worship from the main plane, but are unable to pioneer new churches. As such, they seek to choose a suitable candidate to become their voice in the world of mortals!
Note: Only Clerics or Paladins can attempt this quest
Rewards: The First Apostle Divine Class, Broken Divine Foundation｣
｢Treasure Map – Unique Item
Rank: Legendary
Description: This map shows treasures located in the same Area Zone as the user at and below the Rank of the map itself. It does not assist with acquiring said treasures though.｣
｢Hilt of Puritia – Unique Item
Rank: Legendary
Description: This is the legendary hilt of the sword Puritia, a blade lost in the history of Boundless and one of the first. It has the ability to grant the user full mastery over swordsmanship when wielded, but fixing a blade on it is impossible without a special method.｣
Rina was surprised. She now understood why the attendant was hesitant to accept these items, as they were all Unique. It seemed that the criteria Draco and Eva had set wasn't Legendary, Epic, or whatnot, but the item itself.
Unique Items were called unique for a reason. There was only one of them in existence. It was likely that if such items slipped through their grasp, whatever special function they had might be utilized by a c.o.c.kroach and not a magnificent being like Draco or Eva.
…which was exactly the line of thought the Evil Duo had at the time they established that rule.
Anyway, understanding what she had to do, Rina took back her items and placed them in her inventory. She decided to meet up with Eva and sort out what to do about them later.
Feeling light and fluffy thanks to gaining loads of money and a lighter inventory, Rina took the stairs down to the Training Hall. Inside were many players of Umbra hard at work honing their techniques.
Not one person used a skill here. Whether male or female, they all sweated greatly as they practiced their swings or cried out in pain as they tried to dodge incoming attacks of all types.
Some were also in private rooms, the more talented ones who were crafting their own systems of techniques and needed a more specialized environment. Of course, there were those who came to Class Up after working hard to acquire enough UPs.
Not everyone could afford a Legendary Class, but Epic or Semi-Epic classes were not impossible. Many who attempted came out with one of the two, and hardly did they fail.
The guild helped by subsidizing the cost and reducing it to a level where each member could make an attempt, but with stringent conditions.
Heh, they were still members of Umbra, the First Guild, at the end of the day. Whether basic or advanced members, their skills could not be compared to others.
Any single basic member picked at random could be an elite guild leader of a small guild who would be feared and respected among guild leaders and not a nameless background character.
Yet in Umbra, they were precisely nameless background characters. The standards were just so bloody high in this guild that it was outrageous.
When the players saw Rina, they either greeted her or asked for some pointers. Many were the new members recruited in the recent batch of 10,000. They had been oriented and trained by the Five Generals because Eva could not be bothered anymore.
What about the original 3,000 members? They mostly hung around in the common room or chilled in Vita City-State. They were vets of the guild and they acted like it.
As for the legendary first batch of 108, they were treated as gods regardless of their Rank. Even expert members of the guild, who were one rank below Core members, still greeted basic members like Panty King, Johnny Sins, or Daoist Penetrator with respect.
Rina spent some time helping out those who asked for it, as well as returning the greetings, before entering a Private Room. There, she chose to Rank up since she had already reached the Rank cap.
｢System to Player Announcement
Analyzing player class… Done. Player detected to possess a Divine Class, generating Rank up scenario and possible class developments… Done.
Display Rank 2 Class?
Y/N ｣
Rina selected yes.
｢Paragon of Fire (Rank 2) - Class
Rank: Divine
Success Chance: 50%｣
Only a half chance of success, huh? Well, at least it was free to attempt a Rank up, otherwise she'd probably feel stressed out at this moment. Still, Rina had confidence in herself, and in the fact that she could pull this off.
｢System to Player Announcement
Begin Rank up?
Y/N ｣
Rina started it, and just like the time she chose to Class Up, she was whisked away into a world of blackness. When her focus returned, she was in a familiar place.
It was a hellish wasteland of fire and brimstone, with various fire elementals moving about freely as if this was their home… which it was. Rina was standing on a plateau 3 kilometers above ground, without any adornment jutting out from the ground.
It was as flat as could be, almost like someone had spent hours sanding it to perfection. In front of Rina stood a tall man with a burly body that could give even Boyd and Uno a run for their money.
His skin was a deep bronze and his brows were thick as well as sharp. He had burning coal-like eyes that radiated intense heat and his mustache, as well as his beard, were made of fire.
He wore a red vest that displayed his monstrous abs as well as a pair of tight-fitting shorts that were also red. With his expression locked into a wolfish grin and his tree-like arms crossed over each other, he seemed like a dark-skinned hulk more than anything.
The moment Rina saw him., her eyes lit up. She skipped over playfully and her usually snide voice came out in a whine.
"Uwa, Uncle Flamey! I missed you sooooo much~!" Rina simpered as she grabbed onto his arm and tugged at him.
Flashflame laughed good-naturedly and rubbed Rina's head. "Fiery Princess, don't act like that. I have seen how evil and wicked you are to your foes, yet you dare to act cute before me?"
Rina smiled widely. "Hehe, that's for my enemies. To Uncle Flamey, I'm your Fiery Princess!"
Flashflame chuckled pleasantly and gave up. "Fine, fine, you win my dear. I guess you're here to Rank up?"
Rina nodded obediently. "I am! Please go easy on me, Uncle Flamey!"
Seeing Rina, this evil succubus who enjoyed teasing men only to leave them with a severe case of blueballs, act so cute like a teenage daughter in front of her doting dad, one would vomit from horror. However, from the look of endearment Flashflame gave Rina, one could see that the God of Fire truly cherished Rina like she was his own kin.
"Hm, I'll be as lax as I can… within reason." Flashflame conceded.
Rina knew her limits and didn't push for more. Flashflame only liked her because of her great talent and her ability to act cute. If she became annoying, she had no idea how he'd react, so she skipped over to her spawn location and got ready.
"I'm ready when you are, Uncle Flamey~" She said as she gazed at the screens that popped up before her.
｢System to Player Announcement
Beginning Paragon of Fire Rank Up (2) Procedure. Standby.｣
｢Paragon of Fire – Divine Rank Up (2) Procedure
Description: You have the staff of the Fire God Flashflame, and as such, walk the path of his successor. With the Divinity of Fire blessing you with its blazing prowess, rise to the occasion and become a Paragon! Clear the objective to complete this procedure.
Rewards: Divine Class - Paragon of Fire (Rank 2)｣
｢System to Player Announcement
The objective of the Paragon of Fire Rank Up (2) Procedure has been set. Player L.u.s.ty Wench must reduce the HP of True God Flashflame to 70% within 1 hour.｣