Global Game: Developing a Knight Clan-Chapter 44: Advance Preparations, a Storm Brews in the Swamp Territory
Lince toyed with the badge in his hand. With just a thought, it adhered directly to the right side of his T-shirt.
In fact, the Chief badge now looked just like a dragon-head crest printed on the T-shirt.
It looked rather magical.
’Leave it to the game to make something like this,’ he thought.
Lince checked his reflection in the wardrobe mirror and thought it looked pretty good.
At least this was better than having a badge dangling from his chest all the time, and it wasn’t too conspicuous.
With this badge, any Player who fought Lince, whether in reality or in the game, would have their Attributes weakened by twenty-five percent—a full quarter.
Never mind the future—just for the current first closed beta, this was an absolute Divine Artifact!
The higher the Power Tier, the greater the disparity. If their Power was instantly cut by a quarter, what was the point of fighting Lince? They might as well just surrender.
Thus, for the time being, this badge was Lince’s greatest gain.
This was because, whether in reality or in the game, the badge indirectly gave him the power to constrain other Players.
Although the first batch of beta Players was small and scattered across the globe, meaning Lince might not have a chance to use it, there was still a huge difference between having it and not.
Especially if a second round of game access were to be released, the badge would prove to be incredibly valuable.
For this reason, Lince was in an exceptionally good mood.
After toying with the badge for a while longer, Lince finally picked up the Contract Scroll from the side of his desk.
’So, what about this Contract Scroll? How do I put it away? Is it the same?’
Lince tried to do so with a thought.
The next moment, the Contract Scroll in his hand truly did dissolve into particles of light and dissipate.
At the same time, a message entered his mind, while an interface resembling a VR item bar appeared on his retinas.
[Contract Scroll stored in Player’s item bar.]
[Item Bar 2/10:
1. Medium-Effect Healing Potion (8 stacks), currently disabled]
2. Contract Scroll: Master and Servant (1), retrievable]
???
He stared at the item bar in his vision, his gaze fixed on the lifelike bottle of Healing Potion.
Lince was taken aback. He subconsciously reached forward to grab it, but was met with a loud "BEEP! BEEP!"—a warning that access was denied.
’It seems that for now, aside from items directly rewarded by the game for use in reality, other rewards and items produced in the game still can’t be brought out.’
’But since the item bar has now appeared, that day surely isn’t far off.’
Lince was certain of it. Otherwise, the item bar would never have appeared in this projected form.
This was, perhaps, a preparatory step for the True Game.
With this speculation in mind, a fire of excitement ignited within Lince.
He, Lince, already owned an entire territory. If items produced in the game could be brought into the real world, the benefits he stood to gain were simply unimaginable.
However, beyond all that, Lince was also somewhat worried about his progress on Inference Day.
It was his first aggressive choice.
Even though he felt confident in his decision, he was, to be honest, afraid of that one-in-a-million chance—the ’what if’.
After all, the world inside the game was just as full of unexpected events as reality itself.
Until one reached the very top, no one could guarantee they would survive every single Inference Day without a hitch.
And this time, due to Lince’s promotion to Tier Four, Inference Day had been postponed by a hundred days.
This act, which increased the game’s difficulty, was bound to cause an unprecedented uproar when the inference video was released in the early hours of the next day.
Lince felt both helpless and indifferent about this.
He couldn’t control something like this. With a glittering reward right in front of him, he couldn’t possibly refuse to accept it, could he?
Besides, it was every man for himself. What did their problems have to do with him?
Besides, he was so hungry his stomach felt like it was caving in. He checked his phone and saw it was almost nine o’clock at night.
’Time to get something to eat. I’ll just make some noodles.’
With that, Lince gave a big stretch before walking out of his room and heading toward the kitchen.
——————
「The military stronghold of Korola, at the city gates.」
On what seemed to be an ordinary day, with the morning sun high in the sky, three luxurious carriages suddenly appeared in the distance, approaching at an unhurried pace.
Guarding these three carriages were ten Knights wearing silver helmets. Judging from their auras, all ten of them were, surprisingly, Entry Tier Knights.
The Knight leading them was even clad in a suit of Alloy Heavy Armor, completely obscuring his figure. Beneath him was an even more eye-catching mount: a Lion-Horse Beast standing about two meters tall.
Such an extravagant procession naturally drew the attention of the numerous Mercenaries, Commoners, and even the small-time merchants and peddlers entering and leaving the city.
"Has some big shot come to our Korola Highlands? These Guard Knights look incredibly imposing, don’t they?"
"Where are you from? Are you new to our Silver Lion Duchy? Can’t you see the banner flying on the lead carriage?"
"That’s the Silver Lion Banner of the Duke’s Family!"
A Mercenary answered, his expression a mixture of awe and amazement.
"Look at this formation. The leader is a Lionheart Earth Knight, and the other ten Guard Knights are at least Elite Knight Tier. This must be a young master or lady of the Duke’s Family on the move."
"I just don’t know why such distinguished figures would come to the border. It’s fascinating! I wonder if our Mercenary Guild will be able to pick up any related quests?"
"..."
As the crowd buzzed with discussion, the Duke’s Family’s convoy entered the town.
Inside one of the carriages.
"Teresa, why do we have to come to the Demon Beast Mountain Range for this trial?"
"I remember our older siblings and cousins only had to participate in the selection competition for Royal Knights and Mages that’s held every five years!"
"But now that it’s our turn, it’s suddenly been changed to real combat in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. Grandfather is being so unreasonable!"
Odi said to Teresa, his expression full of worry.
"That’s because you’re an idiot, Odi!"
"Have you been living under a rock? Don’t you know the Church and the Royal Family are about to have a falling out?"
"Even Grandfather has been recalled to the Royal Capital. At a time like this, competitions and the like have been canceled. That’s why Grandfather arranged for our generation, both the direct and branch Bloodlines, to come to the Demon Beast Mountain Range for training."
The young Teresa looked at her brother, her face full of disdain.
Then, she turned to the Chief Maid at her side and said smugly, "I’m right, aren’t I, Natalie?"
Chief Maid Natalie smiled at the young master and lady, nodded, and said in a gentle voice:
"You are correct, my lady."
"However, the Duke had other motives for this trip as well."
"Although the Demon Beast Mountain Range is dangerous, as long as you don’t venture too deep, the Desert Demon Beasts in the Wilderness at its foot are actually the best opponents for your training."
"This will hone your practical combat abilities far better than any competition."
At the Chief Maid’s words, realization dawned on Teresa, but a hint of suspicion remained.
"Is that really why?"
"Of course. You are both the fifth generation of the Duke’s Mansion’s direct Bloodline. If your trial were merely one of those so-called competitions, many participants would deliberately hold back, fearing they might offend the Duke’s Mansion. Ultimately, that would hinder the true growth of your strength and abilities."
"That is why His Grace the Duke made this arrangement, and also took the opportunity to have some of the more promising young masters and ladies from the branch families of your generation tag along."
Of course, what the Chief Maid said wasn’t the whole story.
For while the Old Lion did intend to temper this fifth generation of his Bloodline, the true reason for the trial was simply that he had received some news from his Dark Guards about the Wilderness that made him both curious and concerned.
To create a reasonable and convenient opportunity for a deeper investigation, this trial for the descendants of the Duke’s Mansion was the most logical pretext imaginable.
As the Chief Maid of the Duke’s Mansion, Natalie’s identity was, of course, not as simple as it appeared on the surface, so she naturally had her own mission on this trip.
She simply wouldn’t say any of this out loud.
After all, in the Chief Maid’s eyes, even though the young master and lady were both adults who had reached the Entry Tier and seemed to be the leaders of the Duke’s Mansion’s fifth-generation Bloodline, at the end of the day, they had rarely left the Duke’s Mansion since birth.
In their naivety, they were not suited to know such things. They truly did need some "real-world experience," and the Wilderness of the Demon Beast Mountain Range would be the first stop of their real lives.
