Chapter 99 - Tactics

Draco smiled after all this was done. His task had been completed successfully and what'smore, no blaring announcement was made since he was locked up in a separate instance of the world.

Draco placed all the armor sets into his inventory and left the forge with Roma behind him, her expression one of pride and smugness. No matter who you were, once a person you loved truly - whether romantically or as a family - succeeded in anything, you would feel even more pride that they did about it.

Qiong Qi and Roknar had been outside the whole time, the Lion napping while the Green Orc was extremely bored yet unable to leave.

When Roknar saw Draco emerge, he stood up like someone had shocked him with a sharp jolt of electricity. His hard face lost all its firmness and transformed into the face of a bootlicker.

Even his usually gruff, orcish voice became a lot weaker and full of a simpering tone, making one look down on him instinctively.

However, after all he had been through - after seeing what Draco could do - who could blame him? He dared not make a mistake like before, because he really couldn't afford it.

"Haha, Lord Draco truly has endless magnificence throughout the era. To spend such a short amount of time fulfilling so many orders, Lord Draco might become the richest man in the world doing crafting alone!"

Roknar laughed out as he fawned on Draco, but he was feeling embarrassed deep down. He wasn't beast like Draco, Qiong Qi or Richmond who were born with the physical and mental disorder of extremely thick skin.

He had his own pride as a warrior and a Green Orc, but in order to keep his life, he had to speak such shameful words.

Though, Roknar had a bizarre feeling…

'Bootlicking doesn't actually feel so bad…'

Draco waved Roknar away. "No need to follow me. I'm off to meet your Chieftain."

Roknar was startled by this but he was smart enough not to inquire further. With a low bow, he quickly left Draco alone, almost crying with joy as he managed to escape being around the Grim Reaper.

The Party of Three headed over to the tipi house of Chieftain Lokthar, who was still seated in the same chair, in the very same posture that Draco had seen him adopt the last time he came.

"You are done?" Chieftain Lokthar asked in a gruff voice, his eyes locked right onto those of Draco.

Draco didn't reply, but simply smirked as he withdrew all the items he made and piled them in one corner. They landed with a loud and long clanging sound, a deafening cacophony that made one clutch their ears in pain.

"YEOW! IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE! MY PRECIOUS EARS!!" Qiong Qi yowled in pain, as he rolled around on the ground in a comical manner.

Roma just grimaced and held her ears shut.

Lokthar though, seemed to close his eyes and relish the sound, as if it brought back good memories. A small smile played on his lips as he was lost in recollection of battles long past, and various males and females captured as playthings by his people.

Draco allowed him to reminisce quietly. If he knew that Green Orcs had hidden Chieftains that were their source of military and spiritual power, he would naturally know of such an Orc's preferences.

When Lokthar returned to the present, he simply waved his hands as a bunch of Green Orcs came in and carried all the equipment pieces away.

All that was left was the special Mithril set that Draco made. Lokthar simply grabbed it through the air, his current armor falling off him as the new Mithril Armor set equipped itself on his body like a bunch of phantoms were dressing him.

It was honestly a pretty cool sight.

When that was done, the set seemed to glow as the synergy of the metal and the enchantments connected. Not only that, there was a notable chant of 'Lokthar!!' that resounded in the room as it sensed the person who had equipped the armor.

Lokthar smiled at this and felt very appreciative of the set. However, his next move surprised Draco, but at the same time answered one of his most prudent questions.

Lokthar punched his chest and spat of some extremely pungent purple blood onto his chest plate, which was usually the central point of the synergistic connection in any armor set.

This blood was much more vibrant than most others, containing a good amount of his DNA and life force. It was absorbed by the Mithril Armor set and turned the cream-colored armor into a dark purple color.

A roar erupted from the set as it released a slight shockwave, sending the tipi house flying in the distance, as well as many other houses nearby. The Party of Three were able to keep their footing easily, but they couldn't help the shock that cropped up on their features.

｢System to Player Announcement

Your Unique Set, Lokthar, has been upgraded from Rare to Legendary due to the infusion of the core lifeforce of a Rank 7 Warrior God. Designs for the set can no longer be sold and rewards will not be meted out for any further developments.｣

Draco's face froze when he saw this. Naturally, he had no plans to sell the set and didn't expect to receive much from the set after what he originally got, but having it forcibly cut off like this without his consent inevitably felt bad.

Draco took a deep breath and calmed his emotions, which was becoming easier and easier the more he got into synchronization with his bloodline.

Lokthar laughed loudly as he roared to the sky. "Good! Good! This is excellent craftmanship! The perfect set for me!"

When he focused his gaze on Draco, one could see the slight respect and great appreciation.

"Hahaha! Because of your genius, the set I originally expected to be upgraded to Epic became Legendary! This is too perfect! You have gone above and beyond what I asked!"

His excitement was so infectious that Draco's anger directly dissipated. Well, it was mostly due to the realization that if Lokthar was this happy with what he had made, the rewards might be even better than what he hoped for.

Draco was right.

"I won't be harsh with you! This is your reward!"

｢Congratulations on completing: Hidden Quest (Green Orcs)

Reward:

Epic Rank Hammer - Mjolnir

Epic Rank Tradeskill - Tactics｣

｢Mjolnir – Crafting item

Rank: Epic

Effects:

Passive 1 – Ingot Improvement: All ingots that are struck by this Hammer are improved to the same Rank as the Hammer.

Active 1 – Return on Failure: Activating this skill allows the user to restart a failed crafting process three times. Cooldown: 21 days.

Description: In the history of the Gods, Mjolnir was the hammer of Thor, the God of Thunder. It was re-purposed for the art of crafting after the Gods receded into heaven.

Further abilities can be unlocked by sacrificing experience points. 0% of 50000% needed to upgrade to Legendary Rank｣

｢Tactics – Epic Tradeskill

Effect: Learn how to see the battlefield and understand the intricacies of war. This pertains to all manner of conflicts, whether small scale or large scale.｣

(Author's note: Calm down intellectuals in the crowd. This does not qualify as a combat skill because it can be improved upon and in some ways, be plyed as a trade.)

Draco was incredibly satisfied with Mjolnir, though he found it super strange that a combat hammer of legend like it would be re-purposed into one of crafting, but the AI of Boundless valued mythological items from history far differently from the context in which they came.

However, the Tradeskill he received directly blew his mind. He had only ever heard of Epic Tradeskills and hadn't had the luck to experience one himself. As for Legendary or Divine Tradeskills, those were nothing but absolute myth.

At least Draco knew that Epic Tradeskills existed. Not even hidden powers like Richmond would dare to say they understood the full extent of this world and what it contained.

It was similar to how the human race completely controlled earth in the real world, but had so many mysteries about our planet that we could not verify no matter how hard we tried.

This specific Tradeskill was incredibly valuable to him as a player and as a Guild Leader especially.

It should be obvious by now, that Draco's strengths lay in his absurd combat talent. Without is bloodline and his status as a reincarnator, he would be the best fighter any guild could deploy, but not the best leader.

He had pulled Hellscape up from the ground because people were attracted by his skill and charisma, as well as his motto. The world hated and despised Eva and sympathized with Draco, so many elites joined him in order to punish the infidel Riveting Night.

He had needed the help of various parties to manage the guild, especially his Five Generals and Guild Elders. What had been the true strength of Hellscape was the sheer prowess of its leader in combat, but not his tactics.

There was no one who was perfect, and even Draco had various flaws and weaknesses. Tactical combat involving large scale warfare was one of them.

This was Eva's talent and that was why he could leave the guild to her with no worries and work on this Unique Quest. He was a stronger and more talented fighter, she was a much more effective teacher and leader.

This Tradeskill would allow Draco to be able to learn how to lead wars as a guild leader through assistance by the system. With enough progress, he could make all that knowledge his own in time.

It would be extremely weird for the elite members of Umbra to find that their Guild Leader was something of a musclehead who needed others to do his planning for him.

However, the difference between Draco and Eva was that Draco's upcoming growth as a tactician related only to war. Eva still surpassed him in terms of being able to train and direct members of her organization, as well as manage a guild as a whole.

She was simply perfect and efficient, which had infuriated the hate-filled Draco, but made the current neutral Draco love her more.

"Haha, I thank the Chieftain. This reward is truly everything I could need!"

Draco laughed as he immediately learned the Tradeskill and put away the Hammer.

Chieftain Lokthar smiled toothily in return, his mane rising as his combat intent rose. "Haha, no problem lad! If you don't mind, I have some matters to attend to! I have to test this new armor out in battle!"

Lokthar raised his greatsword and slung it over his shoulder as he stomped away, his body beginning to blur as it disappeared slowly.

Draco simply smiled and grabbed Qiong Qi as well as Roma, blinking them away from the Orc Encampment. He didn't bother to say any goodbyes as the Green Orcs had no amity with him.

The Party of Three appeared in the savannah of the Wood Elves, where they could see many parasitic monsters still rampaging about, even though their numbers had been thinned just little while ago.

They immediately began killing again, Roma using the Witch Slaves and Draco pulling out his Rare bow, Pinaka, as well as his hundreds of rare arrows.

The two tore down the monsters brutally as they advanced, the Witch Slaves collecting all the loot as they went, presenting it to Draco. It was extremely efficient and utilitarian, which made Draco appreciate Roma all the more.

Draco's Star Shot Technique was now at 50% completion, almost getting to the level where he could create the first level and start developing on future levels.

They mowed down the monsters like weeds by the roadside, their levels rising all the while.

Draco rose to level 21, 23% from level 20, 60% and Roma rose from level 13, 65% to level 17, 34%. Draco applied his 3 stat points to Strength again, bringing it from 13 to 16.

By the time they had reached the Wood Elf village, they noticed that the area was a lot more ravaged. Before they could walk further, Draco saw Omar and his particular group of Elf girls coming out from the tall grass, their bodies lightly injured and their eyes baggy.

It seemed like they had been fighting non-stop, trying to defend their home from these tireless monsters that never seemed to end. The Wood Elves were extremely combat capable, but they weren't battle born like the Green Orcs.

Still, they had no serious injuries on them, which meant that they were mostly tired and less hurt. However, this drove home the importance of Draco's quest to vanquish these parasites.

"I greet you, Lord Drake."

Omar's voice was a bit strained, but he maintained his courtesy as he spoke.

"I'm not Drake, I am Draco." Draco removed his disguise and showed them his true form, to which the Wood Elf girls reacted similarly to the Green Orc females, only that it was less intense.

Draco's looks and aura (from the Dark Angel Inheritance) did not make people fall in love with him. It just stirred up their l.u.s.t and s.e.x.u.a.l interest, that was all.

Omar replied with surprise in his voice. "I see… Lord Draco, what do you need from us?"

"Nothing. I wanted to bid you all farewell. This might be the last time we see each other for a while."

Draco shook his head as he spoke this, the melancholy obvious in his tone.

Omar and the Wood Elf girls were startled though, as they thought that Draco felt this crisis was unsolvable and wanted to exit before it became worse.

"Is it that bad?"

Omar couldn't help but ask this, but he was surprised when Draco gazed at him strangely before chuckling slightly.

"No, it is not. Don't worry, I'm not leaving until I'm done curbing the source of this invasion. The problem is that I will not be here to help you with the clean-up, as I have other callings outside the Four Point Valley."

Draco was already reaching the limits of his patience. He really wanted to get out and return to Eva, but this quest needed to be finished properly. When he thought about how shocked and excited Eva would be to find that his bloodline was released, he couldn't help but want to leave as-is, but he couldn't reconcile losing a free Legendary Treasure Chest.

Well, not free per se, but Draco felt that it was easier to acquire than most.

Of course, that ease of acquisition was relative and made easy due to his sudden bloodline release more than anything else.

The Wood Elf girls that Draco had been with possessed looks of utter dismay on their faces. One of their greatest motivations during this endless fight was the giant orgy they would have with Draco afterward.

It was similar to how soldiers on the warfront would carry lockets with pictures of their wives or sweethearts to battle as they only managed to fight through the horrors knowing they had something better at the end of it all.

Finding out that they wouldn't be getting that orgy greatly disappointed them, but they did not complain. They understood that a fellow like this probably had some more pressing matter to attend to than to sate their l.u.s.t, so they tried to be stoic about it.

Draco sighed. He could speak promises about such a ting to them, but he knew they would be empty. The moment he completed the quest, he would turn it in straight away with not a single second wasted.

As such, he nodded to the Wood Elf girls he had been intimate with before blinking away with Roma and Qiong Qi again.

This was the last time Draco would see this particular race of Wood Elves for all eternity….

........

The Party of Three spawned in the endless plains of the Gypsies. They were not too far from the Gypsy village, which was a terrible warzone at the moment.

Roma's face paled when she saw the terrible state of the village, with the walls in shambles and the various tents trampled and in disarray.

In terms of combat prowess, the Gypsies were the weakest of the Four Point Valley, as they were a race of adept Tradeskill workers or masters of the arts. In a raw battle like this, they would naturally be pulverized.

Draco frowned and blinked closer to the village with Roma and Qiong Qi, his face going dark as he saw the sheer amount of dead gypsies, especially the males.

It was clearly from the severe lack of female corpses that these fellows had sacrificed their lives in order to keep the women and children safe. It wasn't an easy thing, sacrificing oneself for another, but these fellows rose to the task.

Draco had endless respect for them.

Roma's heart almost cracked as her lips trembled. Seeing so many of her clanmates dead, people she had been raised to lead at one point, made her feel absolutely terrible.

Her breathing became rough and her forehead began to glisten with beads of sweat. Her breath began to mist and her eyes slowly glazed over as waves began to build up in her heart.

Emotions she had controlled and tamed since childhood began to break free and release themselves from their fetters, washing over her mind and body.

It was anger. Pure, unbridled anger.

Roma was literally drowning in her own rage and hatred. She felt all the negative emotions that were usually unable to bother her suddenly spike up and take over her rationality, leaving her with only one thought.

Kill!

Kill! Kill!

Kill! Kill! Kill!

Her snow white hair began to rise like a bunch of snakes and her usually bright purple eyes began to glow with a darker color. An aura rose around her body, its color dark green and sickly, promising pain and suffering.

Roma was angry!

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