Chapter 2461 – Fortress’s Legacy

Star Valley, Starlight Fortress:

Inside the dilapidated fortress full of Level 110-plus Elemental Creatures, the Silver Lion Legion continued to push toward the fortress’s core. Although they faced more Great Lords and Grand Lords as they delved further into the fortress, defeating these monsters became an easy task with the Tier 4 Hero MacAffrey had summoned and the fortress’s magic array buff.

After grinding in the fortress for just six hours, every member of the legion discovered that their experience bars had grown considerably. Their leveling speed here was several times faster than grinding in normal maps.

Furthermore, the Elemental Creatures dropped substantial loot, including plenty of Level 110 Mysterious-Iron Equipment. If they were lucky, even Level 110 Secret Silver Equipment and Set Equipment would drop.

The equipment was top-tier to the Silver Lion Legion’s members. The highest-leveled players among them were Level 106, while many of them were still stuck at Level 105. Currently, obtaining Level 110 weapons and equipment was a major challenge for them.

Set equipment pieces’ Attributes were generally half a rank better than ordinary equipment of the same rank. If players could collect the full set, the set’s Attributes would be a full rank better than ordinary equipment of the same rank, with some having even greater bonuses.

Take the Level 110 Secret-Silver Set Equipment the Starlight Fortress’s monsters dropped, for example. Although the Hidden Blue Set was only a Level 110 Secret-Silver Set Equipment, not only would having six of the eight pieces increase a player’s casting speed by 20%, but it would also increase their Spells’ effects by 25%. With all eight pieces of the set, it would increase one’s Spell Completion Rate by another 2% and casting range by 20%

Wearing this set, a magical class expert’s DPS would be even higher than players in Level 110 Fine-Gold Equipment!

Even after they reached Level 110, they couldn’t be certain how many pieces of Level 110 Fine-Gold Equipment they could obtain. It was likely that only the Guild’s peak experts had any chance of securing a full set. Obtaining enough Level 110 Fine-Gold Equipment was simply too difficult for experts of their caliber.

Fortunately, MacAffrey had already announced that he would auction all weapons and equipment they obtained from the Starlight Fortress. This meant that they’d all get a chance to acquire Level 110 Secret-Silver Set Equipment. How much they obtained would only depend on how many GCPs they had saved up.

This was the reason that the Silver Lion Legion members put all of their effort into clearing out the Starlight Fortress’s monsters, even without Shi Feng saying a word. They actually hoped that Shi Feng’s group wouldn’t participate in the battle, allowing them to keep all of the Elemental Creatures for themselves. The fortress only had so many monsters, and there wouldn’t be enough Secret-Silver Set Equipment for everyone.

“Guild Leader, are we really going to leave these Elemental Creatures to Divine Tribe’s members?” Aqua Rose asked as she watched the Silver Lion Legion push through the fortress’s main streets.

Level 110 Secret-Silver Equipment and Set Equipment might not be important to her or the other experts that had ventured to the western continent with Shi Feng, but it would be to Zero Wing’s other experts. Moreover, not even Level 110 Common Equipment had shown up on the market yet, much less Level 110 Secret-Silver Equipment.

They had an advantage with the Crimson Dragon Flying Ship, and the fortress’s magic array currently suppressed the monster’s Basic Attributes. This was an excellent opportunity to secure some Level 110 weapons and equipment for the Guild. Leaving all of the suppressed monsters for the Silver Lion Legion was a huge waste.

“That won’t be necessary. Although these monsters drop a lot of loot, only the Grand Lords drop Secret-Silver Equipment, and they only have a chance of doing so. The drop-rate isn’t 100%. Since the Silver Lion Legion is willing to help us clear out the fortress, we should allow them to benefit from the task,” Shi Feng said, chuckling when he watched the idea of Level 110 Secret-Silver Equipment tempt Aqua Rose. “If we try to clear the fortress ourselves, it’ll take us a long time. Besides, we have something more important to take care of.”

As per Shi Feng’s agreement with Adolf, the Silver Lion Legion was only here to help Zero Wing capture a city. Now that they had captured the Starlight Fortress, the legion had no reason to continue the fight. It was well within its rights to turn around and leave. The fact that the Silver Lion Legion was willing to slay the monsters within the fortress was good news for Shi Feng.

If Zero Wing had to clear out the monsters on its own, he wouldn’t have much time left to fortify the fortress.

“Something more important?” After giving the matter some thought, Aqua Rose asked, “Are we raiding the remaining Guardian Bosses?”

The moment Aqua Rose mentioned the Guardian Bosses, Cola and the other Zero Wing experts burst with excitement. They hadn’t had a chance to participate in the fight with the Starlight Behemoth directly, so they were itching for action.

“No,” Shi Feng replied, shaking his head. “We’ll be taking control of the Fortress Lord’s Mansion!”

“The Fortress Lord’s Mansion? Guild Leader, don’t you already have the Fortress Lord’s Token?” Aqua Rose inquired.

The Fortress Lord’s Token was necessary to take control of the fortress as a whole, and it was the key component in taking over the Fortress Lord’s Mansion. Normally, when one obtained a Fortress Lord’s Token, they automatically gained control of the Fortress Lord’s Mansion.

However, Shi Feng now informed them that they still needed to secure the mansion.

“I do have the Fortress Lord’s Token, but I don’t control the Fortress Lord’s Mansion yet. In fact, I don’t even have partial control over it,” Shi Feng explained with a bitter smile.

Fortresses built before the Great Destruction weren’t like more modern fortresses. When one gained the Fortress Lord’s Token for the latter, they would gain full control of the Fortress Lord’s Mansion, but that wasn’t the case with ancient fortresses.

Securing an ancient Fortress Lord’s Mansion would prove several times more difficult than capturing the fortress itself. The true value of these fortresses didn’t lie in the resident monsters’ loot nor the items that the Guardian Bosses dropped. Rather, the truly valuable items were the ancient Legacies[l] that were stored in the Fortress Lord’s Mansion.

Items such as weapons and equipment were only secondary compared to these ancient Legacies.

Most of the Legacies ancient humans had left behind to reach Tier 3 had been lost to time, and as a result, present-day humans had a far more difficult time completing their Tier 3 and higher Promotion Quests.

Since ancient fortresses like the Starlight Fortress had existed before the Great Destruction, they, more or less, still contained Tier 3 and higher Legacies.

These Legacies were the true treasures within ancient fortresses.

At this stage of the game, players only knew that it was difficult to reach Tier 3. They weren’t aware that Tier 3 was only the beginning of their journey in God’s Domain. Once they completed their Tier 3 promotions, growing stronger would become many times more difficult.

Why was this the case?

The reason was very simple.

After reaching Tier 3, players wouldn’t receive any guidance from the system regarding ways to increase their strength.

Take Tier 3 Skills and Spells, for example. These were the foundation for Tier 3 players’ power. If players only relied on Legacy Skill Points to acquire Tier 3 Skills and Spells, they wouldn’t be considered a true Tier 3 player. To be a true Tier 3 player, one would need at least 10 Tier 3 Skills or Spells in their arsenal.

One also needed a way to control their Mana Body, which was also a crucial Legacy. These methods were even more important than Tier 3 Skills and Spells.

Although Shi Feng was already a Master Magician, and his control and understanding of magic arrays were far superior to other players, he only had basic control of his Mana Body. This was also the case for the western continent’s experts, who were particularly skilled at controlling Mana. Their mastery with their Mana Bodies was still in the infantile stages.

This was why current Tier 3 experts were no match for Tier 3 NPCs.

Many of the Legacies within ancient fortresses were related to Mana Body control, offering methods that allowed humans, who had no physical advantages, to survive in the dangerous environments that had survived the Great Destruction.

“Guild Leader, how are we supposed to secure the Fortress Lord’s Mansion?” Aqua Rose asked. She realized that Shi Feng wasn’t joking when she saw his serious expression.

If they could not secure the Fortress Lord’s Mansion, the Starlight Fortress would remain ownerless. If that didn’t change before the fortress automatically opened to the public, Zero Wing would be left in a very awkward position.

“It’s simple. All we need to do is pass the Legacy Trial in the Fortress Lord’s Mansion. If we fail, we’ll only control the fortress on the surface, even with the Fortress Lord’s Token,” Shi Feng replied.

To put it simply, the Starlight Fortress Lord’s Token was a ticket to obtain the Starlight Fortress’s Legacy. How much of the fortress players controlled would depend on how much of its Legacy they could activate.

The various ancient fortresses’ Legacy Trials differed in difficulty. The known difficulties were Normal, Hard, Hell, Asura, and God Mode. The more challenging a Legacy Trial was, the greater its rewards would be, but clearing the trial would also require more players. Moreover, all Legacy Trials had a one-week Cooldown.

Shi Feng then led Aqua Rose and the rest of his companions toward the Starlight Fortress’s Fortress Lord’s Mansion.

A magic array currently enveloped the mansion, and not even Mythic monsters could break through the barrier, let alone players. Only the player that held the Fortress Lord’s Token and those that player granted access to could pass through the barrier.

After walking up to the mansion’s entrance, Shi Feng retrieved the Fortress Lord’s Token and started to chant an incantation. Silently, he prayed, Please, don’t let the Starlight Fortress’s Legacy Trial be too high of a difficulty.

He hadn’t just chosen to capture the Starlight Fortress because its monsters were easier to deal with; most of his reasoning was based on the fact that it was one of the few Small Fortresses in Star Valley that had a Fortress Lord’s Mansion with a weak Mana signature. This meant that the Legacy the Starlight Fortress protected wasn’t particularly powerful, and the Legacy Trial shouldn’t be overly difficult. If he had tried to capture a fortress with a powerful Fortress Lord’s Mansion, he would’ve wasted his effort if he couldn’t secure control of the mansion after capturing the fortress.

When Shi Feng finished the incantation recorded on the token, a dark-purple, fourfold magic array appeared on the mansion’s main door. A set of gigantic, golden doors then emerged, and as the doors slowly parted, an ancient aura gushed between them.

Crap! Isn’t this just a measly Small Fortress?! Why does it have an Asura Mode Legacy Trial?!

Shi Feng was utterly dumbfounded when he saw the golden doors.