“Jason, we are all here.”
Dane felt awkward talking to Jason, who had a crown made of flowers on his head.
“Sigh, Alright.”
Jason adjusted Hanna’s crown on his head in a depressed mood. She was making flower necklaces at the moment, and he would soon have one around his neck.
“I wanted to call you all here to tell you one important matter….”
Jason turned serious as he looked at the people who had gathered there.
“Is it to show us your flower crown, Jason? Hahaha….”
Everyone turned their eyes at Xanders, who started laughing at his own sense of humour. People like Scott had serious looks on their faces, since they assumed Jason was about to speak of his magic sphere. However, the others wanted to join in the laughter.
“Rude Grandpa… Mommy also has a beautiful crown.”
Hanna saw a crown for the first time in a storybook daddy bought for her, and she thought it was beautiful. Her mommy taught her how to make one using flowers, making her thrilled. She was even happier when the Rude Grandpa noticed her beautiful creation. She suddenly felt the Rude Grandpa wasn’t that bad.
However, Hanna’s words made everyone else swallow their laughter. It wasn’t funny when they had to laugh at the cold Grandmaster.
“Ah… Jason, why don’t you continue?”
Xanders tried his best to avoid the cold eyes of Amelia focusing on him.
“Hanna… Maybe Rude Grandpa also wants a crown….”
Amelia didn’t care if Xanders wanted to avoid her.
“Really?”
Hanna looked at all the flowers she had.
“No! I am only making them for mommy and daddy….”
Her words took away all the expectations Amelia had in her heart.
…
“Well… I want to speed up everything.”
Jason raised his brow at old Xanders.
“Jason…?”
Dane froze in his spot.
“Speed up? Do you mean everything related to Light Shone?”
“Yes.”
“But….”
He looked around at the others. The flower crown on Jason’s head was funny, but not his words. Everyone had a serious look on their faces.
‘How are we supposed to do that? We didn’t gain any new players. Rather, we lost many because of the situation with the cities.’
The videos of Heaven’s Gate brought a second storm to the forum, and many more wanted to leave the spawn towns for big cities.
“Jason, why are you in such a hurry?”
Xanders creased his brows with a serious look. He knew these alien humans considered Jason as their leader, but even he felt pressured by these words.
“Because I have to go to Heaven’s Gate as soon as possible. And I have to make sure things here are stable before I go.”
“Huh? Heaven’s Gate? The place already has chaotic undercurrents. Why do you…? Wait a minute!”
The expression on Xanders’s face changed drastically.
“You are going to the Wizard Tower… Why?”
He realised Jason’s aim, but then he wondered why Jason had to reach there in a hurry.
‘Old Merlin can teach this kid the most… Besides, Elemental magic isn’t considered that hard. As far as I know… The wizards researched them on their own… Unless…?’
His eyes widened as he stared at Jason’s calm face.
Xanders didn’t care much about yesterday’s commotion because he knew Merlin was a sensitive person. However, he finally managed to put the pieces together with Jason’s revelation. If it was the Death Sphere, Merlin could teach Jason, and that left only one explanation.
“You… You are a High Wizard, aren’t you? What is your sphere? It should be a Life Sphere, right?”
“Old man… Why don’t you mind your own business?”
Amelia looked at the old assassin with a sharp gaze.
Jason’s magic sphere was a sensitive matter, and this prying was considered rude. Even she wasn’t rude enough to ask it so blandly. Of course, she already knew everything, but that was another thing.
“Sigh… Alright, I get it.”
Xanders raised his hands in surrender. High Wizards were naturally rare, and that wasn’t the only reason to hide their identity at the early stages. It was because of their weakness. The High Wizards didn’t have many offensive or defensive spells at the early stages.
Jason needed protection until he was strong enough to defend himself. Many organisations wanted to control wizards for their benefit.
“So… How do you want to speed things up, Jason? We can do our best, but we lack both natives and players.”
For a moment, Scott thought Jason wanted to abandon Light Shone, but then he realised Jason was talking about developing Light Shone. Meaning that he wasn’t planning on disbanding this place.
‘He is moving so fast. No! Everything is moving so fast… But… Isn’t he the reason for everything to move that fast?’
Jason was the reason they created the Crystal Pulse, but then the Black Steel Guild released the videos of the cities, giving them a crushing blow. The reason the members of the Black Steel Guild reached these cities was Jason. However, despite the difficulty, Jason decided to keep pushing forward with the Crystal Pulse.
However, within a couple of days, he was saying that he would have to leave for Heaven’s gate.
‘It is not even weeks, it is days. This is not some virtual world for crying out loud. It is real… How are you moving so fast? I fail like Aegis failed already….’
Scott was happy about Jason deciding not to abandon Light Shone, but he felt they would be relying more and more on Jason in the future.
“Jason… Are you planning on coming back?”
Amanda looked at Hanna as she asked this question, but the little girl was too distracted by her flowers.
“Yes. I already told you the reason, Ms Amanda. I am not going to stay there for long. I just need to find some things from the Wizard Tower, and then I am coming back. Maybe a month or a little more.”
Jason just needed enough time to figure out his first spell from each sphere, and then he should return. It was too dangerous for him to linger around the other wizards. Besides, he needed to use his immortal years as effectively as possible.
‘That is a relief….’
Dane almost panicked when he heard Jason wanted to move out.
“I want to hasten the recruitments, find the talents, and speed up the progress of construction and other work. We better start breeding livestock ahead of the winter, right, Mr Xanders?”
Jason looked at the old assassin, who was also the leader of this small village. He didn’t try to apologise for using this place as his base. They both relied on each other for mutual benefits.
“Yes. But we have like six more months. I don’t think we can farm before the harvesting season.”
“I agree, but we can stock up during this period. I am not hoping these changes will take effect until next year. But we need the infrastructure and other facilities.”
“How do we find the people, Jason?”
“Let’s go for direct recruitment. We will pay those who are recruited under the Crystal Pulse with in-game currency.”
Jason thought about this a lot during his time on Earth.
“Direct recruit? Like we make them official members?”
Dane wondered if he should persuade Chief Magnus to start a guild.
“Yes. The members will be official members of the Crystal Pulse. I need you guys to make a strict recruitment scheme. Talents are necessary, but I want loyalty. We can train them to be talented, but I don’t want people who are planning to run away.”
Jason didn’t know if he should stay in Light Shone forever, but for the time being, he had no other plans. Also, if he had to face the invasion of the Brodice kingdom, he would need an army.
‘I don’t know if it is possible, but outside is no longer safe for me.’
He looked at the innocent child playing by his side. He wondered what would happen to her if he was gone.
‘Maybe Amelia can protect her, but what if the war destroys Light Shone?’
His mind drifted to the horrifying possibilities of the future.
‘No. I will have to be strong enough to fight back. But how? Maybe….’
He suddenly felt a yearning to have one of those weird training sessions.
“Jason…?”
“Ah… Sorry… Mr Scott?”
He came back to reality with the older gentleman’s voice.
“If we are going to do this, we might need to expose some of the secrets.”
“I get that.”
Jason already thought about this.
“Give me a week. Prepare the recruitment scheme. This week we will prepare and let those who want to leave disappear.”
He had to prepare a few more things during this period.
“A week? Then… Are you going to address the players?”
“Yes, Ms Amanda. In a week, I will officially address them, and it will be the start of the second phase of the Crystal Pulse.”
…
“I guess that is it, right?”
Jason wanted to end the meeting at that.
“Jason. We want to talk about your protection. You are gaining haters everywhere. It is better if you have some security on Earth and in Light Shone.”
“Here? My village is safe enough.”
Xanders looked at Dane.
“I… Know… Grandmaster Xanders. But we can't prevent our people from bothering Jason all the time. And… It is convenient for him to have people to assist him when he goes out of Light Shone. Like when he travels to Heaven’s Gate.”
Dane hurriedly explained, not wanting to anger this Grandmaster. He wasn’t Jason, who could get away with anything.
“Hm… That is actually not a bad idea. I will ask Frank to assign some of his people to Jason.”
His village became less crowded in the last couple of days, but still, many aliens didn’t leave.
‘Jason is becoming increasingly valuable. It is natural for him to have guards.’
Xanders knew people like him who wanted to live a peaceful life were different from Jason. The man who wanted to be the strongest was bound to get more attention than anyone else.
“I also think we can send a few people to protect you, Jason.”
Scott gave a meaningful glance to Amanda.
He knew the faction that backed Dane, and they were actually planning to protect Jason, both in the game and in real life.
‘What should I do?’
Amanda glanced at the cold face of Grandmaster Amelia before swallowing her words.
“Great. It is settled then, Jason. I will introduce Samson to you very soon.”
“Alright! As long as they don’t get in my way.”
Jason wanted to have some free time with all his work, too. It was better to have some people to keep the trouble away from him.
…
“Mr Xanders… Is Life Sphere a good thing?”
The moment Jason and Amelia left with Hanna, Bruce asked the question everyone was dying to know the answer to.
“Who said it is the Life Sphere? Do not breathe a word about that out of here. Do you understand?”
Xanders’s eyes turned sharp.
“I… I understand, Grandmaster….”
Bruce felt terrified when he saw the furious glare Xanders had in his eyes.
“It is not some big deal. Ability to heal people, the ability to summon powerful unicorns and fairies. Use the plants to battle, and much more. Life Wizards are nothing to joke about. But Jason is in a vulnerable period until he reaches the next level. This is the weakness of High Wizards.”
Xanders knew it was his fault that everyone in this room heard Jason’s secret.
“We understand, Grandmaster Xanders. No one here will say a word about it.”
“You better be, or you might have to answer a furious death wizard.”
‘Gulp.’
Everyone became startled when they remembered the terrifying Death Knights they saw yesterday.
“Anyway, Jason might surpass his master in the future.”
Xanders fell into deep thought, and he didn’t notice everyone else becoming very excited.
“Ash… We can’t find it….” Freya looked at Ashely who was in a depressed mood. “Sigh. What does that mean, Freya?” “It means there are no places around Heaven’s Gate where players can respawn after death. It is like every other city.” Freya sat beside her little cousin. “This isn’t good….” “Yeah. I think Jason must know about this.” She had a feeling Jason knew more than he was willing to share with them. He warned them against moving to Heaven’s Gate, but he didn’t tell them too much about it. “Did he say anything?” She looked at Ashley again. “No. He is saying he doesn’t know, but I think he may be angry with us.” Ashley felt even more depressed. The letter Jason gave them actually got them through to Heaven’s Gate, but the actual problems started rising when they entered the capital of Alexandria. If The Endless wasn’t a game, she would have run back to where they came from by now. “Ms Freya… Another group of NPCs are looking for our information. The Innkeeper said th
On planet Yuriel, Wizards are divided into five levels, based on their spell capabilities and the number of magic nodes they have opened. The five levels are: - Apprentice Wizard - Novice Wizard - Wizard - Master Wizard - Grand Wizard A person who is accepted by an official wizard as an apprentice/student is called a Wizard Initiate. Wizards are the most powerful of all, and Grand Wizards are considered to be invincible. Apprentice-level wizards have 20 Magic nodes at the maximum, and they can manipulate Mana by circulating them in their bodies. Different spells take unique patterns of circulation and will take some time to complete. A circular Magic pattern will appear around the wizard based on his spell before it is completed. Novice Wizards have a maximum of 40 magic nodes open and they also manipulate Mana. However, from Novice level, there is another requirement for wizards to advance. That is a magic sphere. There are six known magic spheres. Elemental Spheres: Ea
“Daddy! Daddy!” Hanna clapped her hands in joy when she saw Jason coming out of the house. “Hey….” Jason took the struggling girl off Amelia’s hands. “You are finally out. Did you learn it? Where is Master Merlin?” Amelia looked at him with a fed-up mood. She tried her best to teach these people the Mana Breathing for two days, and the results were disappointing. However, Jason’s modified Mana Breathing method impressed her a bit. Of course, Yuriel already had an excellent method spread all around the planet because of millennia of advancement. Still, what Jason brought forward was a tad bit close to the best she knew. ‘He is truly turning into a nerd.’ Amelia admitted Jason was a genius. Even though Jason said the method came from what he learned from Master Merlin, she didn’t believe it. If Master Merlin discovered this, that old man wouldn’t take two entire days discussing it with Jason. Old Merlin even took the initiative to come to her house to discuss this new Mana
“Hey, Jason….” Logan wanted to stand up when Jason suddenly came to him. It was his natural reaction. Even captain Roger and Mr Scott treated Jason with respect. ‘He must be the first pro gamer to earn such respect.’ “Don’t move.” Logan felt like a heavy rock pushing him down when Jason pushed him back to the ground. “Keep circulating Mana. I am going to help you open your first magic node.” “Open? Can you do that, Jason? I mean… Is it even possible?” “Yes. It will be easier for you since you and Dawn have practised the longest.” “Yeah….” For a moment, Logan felt ashamed of himself. He and Dawn learned Mana Breathing just a little more than a week after Jason, but he was nowhere near Jason with the achievements in The Endless. “Don’t be disappointed. You just learned the new breathing method, and opening the first node is difficult, anyway.” Jason wasn’t trying to comfort Logan. It took him months to open his first magic node in his last life. “But… You did it so fast.”
“Chief?” “Yeah. Let’s go. And I am not your chief anymore.” Frank took one last glance at Grandmaster Amelia’s house. He considered his new position seriously. It was much more honourable than being a bandit. He knew some of his men didn’t want this, but he didn't mind. First, none of them had another choice. Second, most of his men liked this place and their honourable living. Most of these people had a family somewhere, and they became bandits because of various difficulties. After Blade took over, many of them learned the true horror of being a bandit. ‘I am close to opening the second magic node.’ His heart thumped with excitement. The path to becoming a Master was ahead of him, and he felt it was no longer impossible to achieve. “Did you check the patrol teams? Argh… I have to do that all by myself starting next week.” He suddenly grunted in frustration. Butch would have to stay by Lord Jason’s side in the future, and Frank was yet to find a replacement for Butch. “I
“Miss Ashley, everyone logged out. It is….”Ben wanted to ask Ashley and Freya to log out immediately, but he couldn’t bring himself to say these words. He couldn’t tell these two girls that they had to log out to avoid the lecherous eyes of the NPCs of The Endless.“We are also going out, Ben. Are you going to stay?”“We have the night patrol, miss. We will take it.”“Alright.”Ashley looked at those creepy eyes of the NPCs for a moment. There were no other women in the army except for their girls, and they became the targets of the attention of all men. ‘If not for that official letter, what would happen?’The NPCs considered members of the Black Steel Guild to be nobles because of the introduction letter given to them by Jason. If not, she felt these NPCs would have jumped on them already. They had no separate barracks for women, and they could only log out after their daily training. The training was also difficult. They still didn’t learn a word about Mana Breathing, and they
“Hanna….”“Yes, daddy.”“Come here.”“Okay.”Hanna rushed to Jason’s side. “Here!”Jason picked her up and placed her on the table.“Look at this.”He pointed the magic stone he shaped into a lens at Hanna.“Alright!”Jason touched a few transparent buttons projected from the square shaped unit that was entirely made of magic stones. It took him three days to finish the engravings inside this unit.Unlike the runes made of Bluenyx, this unit had to be constructed using magic stones. The engraving of various magic patterns was extremely difficult, and he had to use mana to change the shape of the magic stones as he desired. The process was arduous, and Jason had to engrave over thirty distinct patterns to achieve his desired results.‘Now to enter the name.’He typed her name from the keys. There were more details to add for it to be perfect, but he didn’t want to type anything besides Hanna’s name. After working on this same unit for three days and countless trial and errors, he wa
“How is he?”Xanders tossed the question to the side without taking his eyes off the temporarily built stage. He felt Samson coming closer to the group, and it was a sign that Jason was about to arrive.‘How exaggerating….’He wondered how many nobles in Alexandria would have guards arriving in advance before their arrival. However, Xanders admitted these alien humans had better strategies to attract people. They gathered almost all the aliens to see the things happening on the stage. They demonstrated the effects of the basic scrolls made by Jason, and results looked pretty promising.Already there were many who wanted to exchange their points for Arcane Shield and Illuminate spells, but many people didn’t like the Enchanted Armour, Basic Dispel, and Concealment. Of course, the non-reinforced version of Concealment and Enchanted Armour didn’t look very useful compared to the flashy shield of Arcane Shield or the light orbs from Illuminate. The Enchanted Armour only increased the pr
"Shit," Amelia cursed under her breath as she deflected blow after blow, desperately trying to protect Jason from the relentless attacks.It wasn’t just her previous enemies; there was another massive threat looming on the horizon. She could feel the presence of a greater demon, its oppressive aura emanating from afar, finally ready to make its move.'I can't take on this thing,' she thought, parrying another strike aimed at her.She didn't have the luxury of time to grab Jason and flee. Besides, with the monstrous force approaching, running seemed pointless. This new threat was undoubtedly stronger than her.'If only he can fight,' she lamented, her grip tightening around her sword. She couldn't even afford a glance at Jason to check if he was still holding on. All she could hear were his painful grunts, each one a stab to her focus.…"Daddy, Daddy, no, I have to go!" Hanna cried out, trying to rush toward the mine entrance.Before she could take another step, Nocturne leapt from her
'This is not going to end well.'Jason barely caught his breath as he hid behind a stone column, narrowly evading the swing of a giant demon's sword. He felt a growing sense of helplessness as his spells failed to inflict any significant damage on these monstrous enemies. Surprisingly, his Arcane Spawns managed to restrain one of the demons temporarily. However, the limitation was clear—he could only summon three Arcane Spawns at a time, and that number was far from enough to take down even a single demon.'I don't think Amelia can hold on much longer.'While Jason was barely managing against a single demon, Amelia was handling all five of the remaining demons on her own. She moved with incredible agility, skillfully evading the swords and other weapons targeting her, striking back whenever she saw an opening. Her blade flashed, leaving shallow cuts on the demons’ thick skin, but it was clear that even with her skill, she was being overwhelmed. Five demons were far more than she cou
"Hanna, you have to be good and stay here, alright?""Alright, Daddy," Hanna responded, her voice tinged with sadness, but she kept her composure.'Hanna is a big girl. I can't cry. Mommy and Daddy promised to come back,' she reminded herself, trying to act brave.Floating behind her, Nocturne extended its tentacles, imitating the action of wiping away tears as if to comfort Hanna in its own eerie way."No, Hanna is not crying, Little Cuttlefish," Hanna tried to argue with Nocturne, waving her tiny fist cutely at the eldritch horror."Make sure everything is okay." Jason gave Hanna a quick peck on the forehead before turning to Samson and Butch."We will handle things while you are gone, Sir Jason," Butch assured him. Despite not being from Earth, he had learned to mimic Samson when addressing Jason. Many of the bodyguards, even those from Yuriel, had learned to act properly under Samson's guidance.Jason's gaze shifted to Dane, who was responsible for maintaining the outer perimete
“Eh….”Hanna turned her head around as she felt a familiar ominous feeling. “What is it, Hanna?”“Little Cuttlefish is here, Mommy.”She didn’t know where it was, but she felt its presence. A moment later, a ripple appeared near them and a small slit expanded in midair. An eerie dark feeling seeped out of it as several small tentacles slipped into their world. “Whee!”Nocturne floated toward Hanna making a cheerful noise. “Hiss.”Ancient Wraith hissed at the foreign creature. “Grr….”Nyx growled at the creature in anger, but it didn’t try to attack it. First, Nocturne was Jason’s pet. Second, her little master had no anger toward this thing. However, Nyx knew that the horrible disease had the same scent as this creature. It was a dangerous and foreign feeling that made them uncomfortable. “Gu! Gu!”Nocturne immediately released a defensive sound and hid behind Amelia, trying to protect itself. “Don’t harm Little Cuttlefish. It is not his fault.”Hanna gently patted Nyx’s head
“No! I will not let you go in.”Brood’s voice was sharp and loud, and Jason felt the surrounding air vibrate with her voice. “It is already spreading. Send out one of your Drones and check the caves to the north. There is a crack.”Jason didn’t care about Brood’s rant at the moment. He was much stronger than before. Even if he failed to defeat Brood, he was confident enough to survive against her and escape. Besides, Amelia should be already on her way here. “But… But… This is the only place I am supposed to protect. I… I didn’t let anything escape.”Brood’s voice broke a little as she tried to suppress the agitation. “Check it out. I can feel the monsters roaming beneath those cracks, and it won’t be long before they escape.”“But….”“There is no time. She is coming, and she is angry. So check it out. We will go in there and finish it, Brood. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not. It is too dangerous and we are going to end whatever is down there.”Jason had no idea what kind o
‘This is bad. This is very very bad.’Jason stared at the crack on the ground with a frown. He thought the corrupted land was beneath the spider mines, Brood’s lair. However, it seemed to be extended beyond his scope of imagination. He felt the pulsating mutated life roaming beneath the ground, and he had to use a lot of willpower to suppress himself from roaring. The mutated monster within him smelled the delicacy. Still, alerting them wouldn't be a good thing for them at the moment. Only two Grandmasters were at Light Shone while the others followed the bandit exterminators in secrecy. Only a Grandmaster could face a hunter, and anything above would be too much for this world.The red mist leaking through the crack corroded the mana in the surroundings.‘Is there a way to stop it from spreading? Should I repair the crack? But we better deal with whatever is inside first.’Jason didn't feel like angering Amelia anymore.‘I better see Brood. She must know what happened here before.’H
“You… You are Jason.”“I am.”Jason smiled at the man as he finally opened his eyes. He felt relieved to slip away from Amelia’s fiery gaze. “My… My arm….”The player panicked as he hurriedly inspected his arm. “The wound….”“It is gone now. Honestly, it wasn’t a wound. It was an infection.”Jason shrugged.“What exactly happened? I don’t think you were in Spider Mine.”The lower level of the Spider Mine was a forbidden place. Even if it weren’t, very few would dare to wander into the swarm of spiders. “No, Jason. I was working in the Northern Mine. We had a small quack at the lowest level, and a new crack popped up in the floor.”“And you were the closest to it?”“Yes.”“How big is this crack, did anyone else come into contact with it?”Jason didn’t want to drag out the discussion.This wasn’t exactly unexpected, but an open crack meant there was a hidden space underneath the mine that was contaminated by radiation. He needed to find out how big the hidden space was. ‘I really h
“Jason! We need to see Jason!”“What is going on?”Amelia came out of the house as she heard the loud voice. No one dared to shout in front of their home, and she wondered why Jason’s loyal guards didn’t act. “Madam…!”“Grandmaster Amelia! We… We need help. He can’t log out, and we don't know what to do.”“Hm?”Amelia frowned as he looked at the people from Jason’s world. She knew these were the selected people of the Crystal Pulse. Even though Samson and the other guards prevented this group of people from entering the house, they also looked worried. She looked at the man they brought in, and her eyes widened for a moment. There was a purplish wound on the man’s arm, and a dark purple smoke came out of it. He was groaning in pain and it looked as if the man was going senile with pain. He was twitching and rolling on the ground as the others held him. More people were gathering near their house, and she knew many wanted to know what happened to the fallen man. “Mommy… That unc
“Is it online?”“Yes, Chief.”“How is the reaction?”“I think it looks very violent, Chief. There is an outburst of responses.”“Good.”Despite his words, Magnus’s face showed no hint of comfort. “And Jason?”“He will stay on Yuriel for the time being, Chief. Amelia said she is keeping him there indefinitely. As long as this problem isn’t solved.”“Do you think she knows something?”Magnus rubbed his temple. Technically, there was no way for Jason to know the gaming cabin could transport him to another world. Even if an NPC told him so, it would be impossible to believe. ‘It isn’t like he could handle that kind of secret with such grace.’He believed it would be too much for even a man like Jason Hope. However, Amelia’s behaviour made him suspicious of her knowledge about their world. She knew how to arrange security and cover blindspots against modern weapons. This shouldn’t have happened if Amelia was from a magical world. Besides, her plan looked almost flawless, and even Magn