The Spellblades weren’t the only ones that had been sent here. The Military Regiment was only the start, as they were not expected to be system compatible. The government was assembling Elites who had been out on missions to come to the orb as soon as possible, and Karl could hear the military commander talking to someone on the radio about the next expected arrivals.
Both nations had more people coming, but the Blue Dragon was beginning to look impatient.
“I will see you all in a few minutes. I need to go greet our draconic visitor, and make a good impression before they start reading everyone’s minds.”
It was a male blue dragon, so at least they didn’t need to worry about Thor hitting on this one. But if the Dragon started searching for information directly from everyone’s mind, they were going to find countless things that Karl would rather they did not.
“Greetings, Prince Karl. I am Librarian Gareth.” The dragon greeted him as Karl approached.
“Welcome, Librarian. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I presume that you have a number of questions about the inner workings of the orb, as well as the many historical events that the visitors have seen.” Karl replied.
“Indeed. The historical events that I have heard so far have added many pages to the history book, and there are so many more to go through. But it is the advancement opportunities and how they might function that is of the greatest interest to me.
So much about the System is unknown to us now.”
“Well, I can describe how it went for me. After I entered, there was a group of mannequins, or illusions. They all looked like me, but in slightly different armour, with different weapons. When I used the System Interface to look at them, I could see the different class names, and a few minor details about them, like the starting details, or a theme for the class.”
The dragon had heard all of that before, and it wasn’t all that interested in hearing it again, so Karl added some juicy details to bring its attention back.
“However, I had a number of skill points, and one more skill from my existing class that I wanted to add. There was a skill called Rampage, a passive skill that adds damage to my strikes every time I hit the same target. A bit like stacking damage over time effects, but I have to keep hitting them for it to take effect. Or, if I could poison them, I suppose that would work as well.
But the part that actually applies to this situation is that when I learned the skill, it gave me another option.”
That got his attention. “Adding a skill gave you a new option? Perhaps it was the combination with the other skills you already knew? There has long been a theory that the progression of Elites was individualized, and that not every person with a certain Class would get the chance at the same advancements.
But to hear that it could be directly related to the skills that they had mastered is wonderful news.”
Karl nodded. “If I happen to return to see Orthos at the Beast God Temple, I will be sure to train some of the children there in new skills. Then, when they grow up, you can study them and see what paths they follow.”
The dragon’s massive blue head turned to look off into the distance. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the Naga Queen and the Nature Priestess wanting more time with the pups and whelps of the beast nation, would it?”
Karl gave him his best fake innocent smile and the dragon laughed. “I will consider extending an invitation at some point in the future. Orthos has enough on his hands right now without bringing others to cause chaos.
But your people will get to see the pups again. We are sending many acolytes here before the orb deactivates, so they can try to gain access to the system.”
Karl nodded in agreement. “That sounds good. We will look out for the children and keep away any attackers. The faster that we get through the advancement of the defence groups, the more secure the area will be. However, I do expect that we will face attack by either the Giants or one of the other nations soon.
If experience has taught me anything, it’s that nothing on this continent remains a secret once more than two people know of it. With that in mind, most of the continent will know about the situation by tomorrow.”
“I will leave you to it then. Please send your people by individually, and we can finish the debriefings. I will be providing a copy to the Capital Cathedral’s library, as well as to Orthos at the Beast God Temple, as per our agreement on information sharing.”
Karl nodded. “One last thing before I go. Which location do you call home?”
The dragon gave him a toothy grin. “Neither. I am from Whiton Temple. When there is new knowledge of this level, the blue dragons hold a lottery to see who gets to go.”
Karl walked away and sent Tessa over to give her report next. If there were children coming, her and Lotus would likely want to be nearby. The Red Dragon prioritized protecting children during battle, and the Green dragon loved all creatures, so it was a duty that neither would have any problems with.
That left just the waiting for things to go wrong part of the day. They were slowly getting more soldiers and monsters back to the defensive lines around the ruins, but there was still a long line of them waiting to use the Orb, and most of the ones who had success were too giddy with joy to actually pay attention to anything.
Thankfully, they had Hawk overhead, and he could keep watch for approaching threats. But if there was one, Karl wasn’t sure he would be able to get anyone’s attention in time to have them actually respond.