Royal techniques were generally considered stronger than normal techniques.
The reason for that was simple.
Who made the normal techniques, and who made the royal techniques?
Usually, normal techniques were made by strong Fighters or Grandmasters, while royal techniques were made by the King himself.
The King was a very powerful Transcendent.
A Transcendent’s mind was much more powerful than the mind of someone in the Third Realm, and they also had the advantage of having experience in all four Aspects of Power.
Someone like that could create far better techniques.
Technically, there was a way of gaining access to royal techniques without being part of a powerful family or joining the kingdom.
Skysand Contribution Points.
And how did one get those?
By killing people from the Winterfire Kingdom.
And how did one kill people from the Winterfire Kingdom?
They had to join the war.
So, in a way, getting Skysand Contributions Points basically just meant joining the war without joining the army.
‘Of course, doing it this way is like being a F2P player,’ Kyle thought. ‘Shit is way more expensive for you, and you gotta work much harder. Some of the guards from Forthing’s Hold said they needed to do five times as much work for the same reward a soldier would get.’
‘It’s also much more dangerous.’
Information about the enemy was confidential, and since these kinds of free agents did not go through extensive loyalty screenings, they wouldn’t gain access to this information.
This meant free agents essentially had to join the war blindly.
Want to earn some Skysand Contribution Points?
Sure, attack a random squad.
Whoops, turned out that the squad was close to a hidden base that had a Mid Grandmaster.
You’re dead now.
The Skysand Kingdom probably knew about that base, but they didn’t want the enemy to know that they knew.
Even their soldiers probably didn’t know, but the officers commanding these soldiers would tell them not to go there.
“Hey, where are you going?” Kyle suddenly shouted as he saw Lily quietly moving away on her cat.
“I don’t want to be part of this team anymore!” she shouted with a shaky voice.
When Kyle saw Lily’s face, he rolled his eyes.
‘Great, she’s angry-crying again.’
“Come on,” Kyle shouted. “Think about the future. Do you really want to throw some good books away just because you lost in a fight?”
“Yes!” Lily shouted. “I hate all of you!”
Then, she vanished into the forest.
The others watched in surprise and annoyance.
“So, we got another free spot?” Falk asked, almost hopeful.
“You want the good news or the bad news first?” Kyle asked without looking at him.
“The bad news,” Falk answered as his mood soured a bit.
“She’s just throwing a tantrum. She will be back within 30 minutes,” Kyle said.
Falk sighed. “And the good news?”
“She will be back within 30 minutes,” Kyle said.
Falk just rolled his eyes in annoyance, while Kyle just grinned.
Everyone talked with Sven for a while to familiarize themselves with him.
20 minutes later, Lily returned with an annoyed expression.
“I officially left the team, but I decided to give you guys another chance. I am willing to return,” she said with an arrogant voice.
“Cool,” Kyle said dryly. “You ready to take on your first mission?”
Lily looked at Kyle with a mix of disgust and annoyance but didn’t say anything.
“I already told the others. I accepted it just before the meeting started,” Kyle said as he took out a stack of papers, waving them around with a smile.
“40 Ether Stones. With your share, that’s almost half of a new golem for you.”
Lily didn’t want to seem interested, but deep inside, she was.
“Target?” she asked blankly.
Kyle grinned.
“Almost fully grown Icestone Fiend,” Kyle said.
When Lily heard that, an expression of betrayal appeared on her face.
“That’s a Peak Ferocious Beast!” she shouted. “I’m supposed to earn money, not lose it!”
“I said ALMOST fully grown,” Kyle answered. “It’s a Late Ferocious Beast.”
“That’s still too much!” Lily shouted. “I am still going to lose one golem, at least!”
“Lily,” Kyle said with a sing-song voice. “Don’t forget. It’s not about making more of your current golems. It’s about making your current golems better.”
“You remember our agreement? I get your contribution points, and I will give you a book of equivalent value.”
“This mission gives everyone 30 contribution points! That’s a good book for you, and you don’t even have to pay me!”
Lily looked at Kyle with disgust. “Not in funds, but I have to pay you in assets.”
“How do you know what a financial asset is?” Kyle asked with a raised brow.
“Are you calling me stupid?! You’re the stupid one!” Lily shouted aggressively.
For the next minutes, Kyle calmed down Lily after she threw another tantrum.
While all of this was going on, Falk threw disgusted glances at her.
What value could such a child have?
Yes, she was powerful, but the most important part was loyalty.
Falk needed to be able to trust his team with his life!
Which insane person would trust someone like that with their life?
Naturally, the other two felt the same way about Lily.
However, Kyle just kept reassuring them.
The only reason why they even considered going on a mission with Lily was the trust they put in Kyle.
After going through all the details, the team left.
Surprisingly, the target was not very far away.
In fact, it was just a couple of kilometers away from Starkhold.
Technically, Kyle had already seen the Icestone Fiend.
Or, more precisely, its old form.
One of the fingers of the Greater Ice Demon the Ace Team had killed quite a while ago.
The Ether the Greater Ice Demon released after its death had created a chunk of Icestone, which was a Rank B Material.
A hunter had noticed the Icestone Fiend and sold the information to an ore merchant, who tasked the Stark Brotherhood with killing it.
Naturally, Kyle’s team would not be allowed to keep any part of the Icestone Fiend.
After traveling for just a couple of minutes, the team reached a huge clearing, which was covered in a thin, icy mist.
This was the place where the Ace Team had fought the Cult of Final Fate.
The Icestone Fiend was somewhere in this place.
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