Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 290: Signature unit

When Ethan fell silent, saying nothing, the Gem Dragon Grand Elder immediately stepped forward and spoke up.

"Honored Lord Valkarion," he began, his voice solemn but urgent, "we understand how difficult it would be to reclaim the sacred artifact—the Gem Dragon Bracelet—from Sea King Maelthorak. But I give you my word: if you can retrieve it for us, I will grant you the full power of the Sacred Altar to help you grow stronger."

He paused, then added with emphasis, "And this promise has no expiration date."

"No matter when—be it years or even centuries from now—if you bring back the Gem Dragon Bracelet, the Sacred Altar, our most sacred place, will open its gates to you."

"And to show our sincerity, I’m willing to send Zyraxis to aid you in your rise to power."

The moment those words left his mouth, Zyraxis—the Mana Crystal Dragon—visibly stiffened. His expression darkened as he spoke.

"Grand Elder..."

"Zyraxis, follow the arrangement," the Grand Elder said firmly, cutting him off.

"...Understood," Zyraxis replied, lowering his head in reluctant submission.

"Lord Valkarion," the Grand Elder continued, turning back to Ethan, "Zyraxis may not be a Crimson Ultimate hero, but he is the most gifted warrior of our kind. I believe he will become your sharpest spear—helping you conquer lands, build your kingdom, and rise to greatness."

"So... can you give me your answer?" His gaze locked onto Ethan’s, intense and unwavering.

At that moment, a system notification chimed in Ethan’s ear.

Ding!

"Congratulations, player Valkarion. You have successfully triggered the second stage of the SS-tier hidden chained orange-quality lore quest: [Artifact – Gem Dragon]. Objective: Reclaim the Gem Dragon Bracelet, a sacred relic lost to the Sea King Maelthorak. Quest difficulty: SS+. Time limit: None."

"Note: This quest has no expiration. It remains permanently active."

"Note: The more enemy units you defeat in the wild, the faster your progress and the higher your completion rating."

"Do you accept this quest?"

"SS+ difficulty... yeah, I figured," Ethan muttered, his eyes narrowing.

His lips twitched slightly in a grimace. He knew full well that the SS+ rating was probably the system being generous—taking into account that Maelthorak was already half-crippled. If the Sea King were still in his prime, this would’ve been an SSS-tier nightmare, no question.

Still, he didn’t hesitate.

Even without the quest, he’d have to face this challenge eventually if he wanted to rise as a faction leader. And if the intel was right, Maelthorak really was a shadow of his former self now.

Pick the softest target first.

And this was as soft as it gets.

Besides, he really needed Zyraxis—an SSS-tier Legendary hero at level 61? That kind of power was too good to pass up.

So yeah, there was no reason to say no.

"I’ll take the quest," Ethan said.

The Grand Elder’s eyes immediately welled up with emotion. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"Thank you, Lord Valkarion. Thank you for your kindness and willingness to help."

Then he turned toward Zyraxis, whose expression was still unreadable, and gave a firm command.

"Zyraxis, take one hundred Mana Crystal Dragons and thirty Gem Dragons. You’ll accompany Lord Valkarion."

...

Zyraxis opened his mouth as if to protest, but in the end, he just sighed and nodded.

"I understand, Grand Elder."

"Grand Elder, can I go too...?" a voice suddenly called out, catching everyone off guard—including Ethan.

He turned toward the speaker and was surprised to see it was the same Gem Dragon who had earlier warned him about the Crimson Ultimate hero from the Leviathan clan in the Arcane Mistsea.

"You..." the Grand Elder frowned, clearly displeased.

"Please forgive me, Grand Elder," the young Gem Dragon said, his voice low and apologetic. "But I really want to see the world outside..."

He didn’t dare look up at the Grand Elder—or at anyone else, for that matter.

The Grand Elder let out a long sigh, then turned to Ethan with a resigned expression.

"Lord Valkarion, please take care of my youngest brother."

Then he shot a sharp glare at the young dragon—Seran—and barked, "What are you standing around for? Get over here and sign the contract!"

"Thank you, Grand Elder! Thank you so much!" Seran didn’t move, just kept repeating his thanks over and over, eyes red with emotion.

Seeing this scene unfold, the Gem Dragon Grand Elder let out a long sigh and spoke softly, his voice tinged with both pride and sorrow.

"I had hoped to wait until you were a little more mature before letting you go... but I suppose the time has come. The world out there is full of bloodshed, deception, and cruelty. Seran, do your best. Live well. And if you ever have the time... come visit us old folks once in a while."

Seran nodded repeatedly, tears welling in his eyes.

"I will, Grand Elder. I promise," he choked out.

The Grand Elder gave a small shake of his head, then turned to Ethan. Reaching out with one claw, he pulled something from thin air—two shimmering, gem-like seeds.

"Lord Valkarion, these are two Creature Dwelling Seeds of our Gem Dragon race. Just plant them near any large gemstone mine, and they’ll grow into full-fledged Gem Dragon Dwellings. Please... take good care of Elder Seran and Zyraxis. This is just a small token of our gratitude."

Ethan blinked, momentarily stunned by the unexpected windfall.

Gem Dragons were Tier 13 Legendary Units—rare, powerful, and notoriously hard to obtain. And now he was being handed not one, but two Creature Dwelling Seeds... plus a level 61 SSS-tier Legendary hero... and a Legendary Ace Unit?

This was a jackpot.

He accepted the two shimmering seeds with a nod, still a little dazed, and said, "Grand Elder, you have my word. I’ll defeat Maelthorak and reclaim the Gem Dragon Bracelet as soon as I can."

"We’ll be waiting with great anticipation," the Grand Elder replied with a warm smile.

Not long after, Ethan signed the mercenary contracts with both Gem Dragon Elder Seran and Mana Crystal Dragon Zyraxis. With that done, he departed from the Gem Dragon Isles.

It was only then that he finally learned the full name of the young dragon who had chosen to follow him of his own free will.

Seran Gemspire.

Gem Dragon Seran Gemspire.

No doubt about it—just like Green Dragon Orryn and Ancient War Tree Oakenmaw, Seran was another Legendary Ace Unit. But if Ethan had to guess, Seran’s overall strength and potential probably edged out both of them.

Why is that?

Simple.

Green Dragon Orryn is the signature unit of the Forest faction—a 13-Tier Legendary Unit, and more specifically, an Ace Unit among them.

So, what exactly is a "signature unit"?

Basically, every major faction in the game has a representative or flagship unit at each tier level. These are the units that define the faction’s identity and are typically the most well-rounded or reliable choices.

For example:

The Forest faction’s signature 13-Tier Legendary Unit is the Green Dragon, and its 14-Tier Mythic Unit is the Gold Dragon.

The Tower faction’s 13-Tier Legendary Unit is the Arcane Colossus, and its 14-Tier Mythic Unit is the Titan Giant.

The Castle faction has the Angel as its 13-Tier Legendary Unit, and the Archangel as its 14-Tier Mythic Unit.

And so on.

But that doesn’t mean each faction only has one 13-Tier Legendary Unit.

In fact, for most powerful factions, while their 14-Tier Mythic Units might be unique or limited in number, their 13-Tier Legendary Units are not. Almost every major faction has at least three or more different types of 13-Tier Legendary Units.

However, not all Legendary Units are created equal.

Some are stronger, some weaker. Some have glaring weaknesses or exploitable flaws. So, the unit chosen as a faction’s "signature" is always the one with the strongest overall performance among all available options.

And that’s the key—overall performance.

It’s not just about raw one-on-one combat power.

Sure, all 13-Tier Legendary Units are strong in a duel. The differences in direct combat ability between them aren’t massive—there’s no unit that completely outclasses the others in a straight-up fight.

But when you scale things up—small-scale skirmishes, regional conflicts, full-blown wars—that’s when the comprehensive strength of a unit starts to matter a lot more than just its individual power.

In large-scale warfare, things like:

Recruitment cost

Hiring limits

Respawn or refresh time

Effectiveness on land, in the air, or at sea

Strengths and weaknesses in different terrains or against different unit types

...all become critical factors.

And that’s where the Green Dragon shines.

As the Forest faction’s signature 13-Tier Legendary Unit, the Green Dragon’s individual combat power is honestly... pretty average. Among all the 13-Tier Legendary Units in Glory Lords X, it probably ranks somewhere in the lower-middle tier in terms of raw strength.

But despite that, the Green Dragon still beat out all the other Legendary Units in the Forest faction to become the flagship unit.

Why?

Because while its individual strength isn’t top-tier, its overall performance is excellent. Most importantly, it has no major weaknesses. It’s incredibly hard to counter, and it performs reliably in almost every type of battle scenario.

It’s a jack-of-all-trades unit that fits seamlessly into any army composition or strategy.

So if we were to score the signature 13-Tier Legendary Units across all factions, most of them would start at a baseline of 80+ in terms of overall value.

But when it comes to Legendary Ace Units—like Orryn—the criteria shift.

Ace Units are essentially Legendary Units that are evolving toward becoming Hero Units. So for them, individual strength matters a lot more.

And that’s where Orryn falls short.

The Green Dragon race just doesn’t have the raw power to compete at the top. It’s not that Orryn is weak—it’s just that his racial baseline limits his ceiling.

You can see this clearly in the fact that Orryn has never once beaten Ancient War Tree Oakenmaw in a duel. That alone says a lot.

Now, compare that to Oakenmaw and Seran—both of whom are special hidden 13-Tier Legendary Units.

And when it comes to special hidden units... the power gap can be huge.