Guild Wars

Draco continued to reminisce casually as he traveled to his destination. He was heading to a place that he had only heard endless tales about during his previous life, when going there had been a pipe dream.

His destination was the fabled Mount Conquest!

Huh, that name doesn't ring a bell? Then maybe you're more familiar with the ones who use this mountain as their base and even named it, the War Maniac Pavilion!

It was the illustrious number one faction in the entirety of the Main Plane, surpassing even the renowned Church of Light. This might struck one as strange because the Church of Light was tied to the Supreme Pantheon, which owned the still-standing Divine City.

Granted, the Supreme Pantheon of today might be a shell of its former self, but it was still the strongest pantheon in the Divine Realm both in the Old Era and this one. They even had Semi-Origin Gods like Kilobar among them, along with ties to actual Origin Gods.

So how then did a 'mere' War Maniac Pavilion manage to surpass them, in a way that was not only universally recognized by all NPCs and monsters, but even the Church of Light who acknowledged this and deferred to them?

Draco was very much looking forward to uncovering this secret. After the experience of conquering the Main Plane, he had learned that the Main Plane was extremely vast when one added unmapped zones.

Currently, only a portion of the Main Plane had been revealed, about 30% of its total area. Umbra had already conquered around 29.5% of this total area, the missing 0.5% was precisely this Mount Conquest and the Divine Island since they belonged to 'friendly' factions.

Yes, Umbra considered the War Maniac Pavilion an ally of sorts. No matter how cruel Draco was, he could not deny that a significant part of Umbra's rise had been cushioned by the protection of the War Maniac Pavilion who had done so without asking for anything back.

A few years ago, Draco had believed they had allied with Umbra because it showed promise in becoming a valuable ally against the Demon Invasion. After all, the War Maniac Pavilion had always been highly regarded among NPCs due to them fighting on the frontlines whenever the need arose.

However, the Evil Trio had long since destroyed the entire Demon Realm - on Livestream no less - before they even got their True God abilities, so… what? Why had the War Maniac Pavilion not once come forward to say anything about that matter, come to inquire, congratulate, or even condemn them?

They had simply gone silent as if they had never cared about such a thing.

Even after Umbra had gone on to conquer nearly the entirety of the Main Plane, Draco had been hearing accounts of various interesting encounters and finds by the core members during the ten years of conquest, leading him to understand how foolish he had been to look down on the Main Plane just because he now had the ability to drop suns and moons to kill the living beings there.

The unmapped zones contained things that could definitely give everyone a run for their money, and even his Avatar had experienced this while traveling with Rila.

Despite being blessed with 50% of all his abilities, including his Eternal Bloodline, the Avatar had nearly been captured. Were it not for Rila breaking through her shackles in a moment of desperation and using her Origin Goddess power to take Draco and run away, who knows what that strange existence would have done.

This just proved that the Eva and Draco's knowledge from their previous lives had been exhausted to a point, and that the Main Plane was actually filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons if you delved deep enough. Umbra were jokers to think that they could dig out the entire Main Plane with their current level of power.

Nevertheless, the progress and development they brought to the world as-is was undeniable.

But that was beside the point. The thing was, Draco was looking for new opportunities and the Divine Trial was something he no longer cared much about because it was better utilized by those under him.

He had already done the initial pathfinding for them, acting his role as Guildmaster. He had always found paths for Umbra and discovered new depths for them to take advantage of, and the Divine Realm was still mostly underway.

Right now, his time was best served by digging out some things in the Main Plane.

Draco already had the current overworld map of the mapped zones in his possession, and everything minus two spots was colored with the black and white symbol of Umbra. One was the Divine Island and the other was Mount Conquest.

While he could theoretically take a normal portal to Mount Conquest he already had his bloodline control of Space, so he tore a space passage multiple times to reach the destination he sought, which was Conquest City.

Conquest City was the territory established by the War Maniac Pavilion at the foot of Mount Conquest that was meant to deal with matters concerning foreign affairs and housing for family members as well as allies of the War Maniac Pavilion.

It was not a place one could access as a non-resident without invitation. Draco, not wanting to be rude, decided to appear in the sky above the city. As such, it took less than a minute for him to be spotted by the guards of the city.

Draco's eyebrows rose when a group of flying vehicles that resembled magitech motorbikes roared towards him around a minute after his discovery, expunging a blue smoke from their exhaust which was actually processed Worldly Energy-containing pollutants.

These were items he remembered from his own Magical Engineering Tradeskill's options, available at the Rare Rank and above. He had hardly touched that Tradeskill after the Treasury's unique quest, which was quite foolish but he indeed was a bit burned out with regards to Tradeskills after that episode.

Now seeing the types of crafts that could be made from it, Draco began to understand the depths of the War Maniac Pavilion's resources and personnel. Before he could speak, he was quickly surrounded by the guards on the motorbikes who wore valiant and slightly hostile expressions.

"Outsider, state your name and any business you have with the city!" The leader of the guards demanded with his hands on his waist, where Draco saw a familiar firearm.

｢Magical Firearm – Basic Device

Durability: 100/100

Rank: Common

Atk spd: 0.5

Dmg: 100-250

Effect: Unlimited Ammunition, No recoil.｣

Yes, while it seemed pathetic to the current him, he had been Rank 1 back then and this item had been on his radar for development. However, the materials to craft one cost a whopping 10,000 platinum and he had eventually given up and chosen to find an easier path.

Yet it appeared that it was part of the regular guard's attire…

However, if someone in the know heard Draco's thoughts, they would purse their lips and resist the urge to beat him up.

You are busy admiring these guys and thinking 'not simple' when even the lowliest guard in the territory of your Divine Empire - which spanned 30% of the main plane by the way - had AT LEAST Epic Rank equipment that formed a set?

Have you no shame?!

"My name is Draco Morningstar, Guildmaster of Umbra, and I'm here because the War Maniac Pavilion invited me," Draco stated as he dexterously revealed a letter and tossed it over.

The guard captain caught the letter with a frown and inspected it, but when he saw the seal on it, his pupils constricted to the maximum.

｢War Maniac Recommendation Letter – Quest Item

Allows the user to take the War Maniac Pavilion Test for the Unranked Warrior position.｣

Immediately, his demeanor changed as he made a hand signal to his subordinates. "Forgive us, Warrior Draco. We were unaware of your noble standing and would like to escort you to the trial area post haste to assess your power."

Draco was not surprised. While he might not know much about the War Maniac Pavilion due to its secretive nature, he had planned to join their ranks during the previous timeline, but such a thing had been impossible for anyone below Rank 5.

Even then, one had to first farm reputation with them to buy a single attempt, and he had been working on that before his time had been spent stupidly fighting Eva over a misunderstanding. As such, he had never actually taken the trial, so this would be his first time.

"Sure, lead the way." Draco accented with a smile.

In truth, he was more interested in visiting Conquest City and exploring whether it was suitable to expand Umbra into here in some way or the other, but it could also be done after he passed the test.

Draco flew behind the group of guards, heading up towards the mountain peak. To his surprise, he saw that the mountain was mostly intact, as opposed to being dug out and used by its owners.

There was only a small hall at the peak of the rather tall mountain that was similar to the Roman Pantheon in terms of design. Here, the guard captain stopped and returned to Draco his letter, showing respect still.

"Noble Warrior Draco, I can only lead you this far. All you have to do is enter the War God's Hall and do what is requiered of you." The guard captain explained, turning to leave the next moment.

However, Draco stopped him. "Thanks for the escort. What's your name?"

The guard captain paused and hesitated. "My name is Antonius, Noble Warrior. As for the escort, it is simply part of my duty."

Draco nodded. "Alright Antonius, I hope you can also show me the ins and outs of Conquest City once I pass the trial."

Antonius and the other guards showed weird expressions following Draco's confident statement, but they all refrained from saying anything. Rather, Antonius nodded in understanding and quickly left to resume his duties.

Draco then focused on the hall before him and walked inside calmly and slowly, like a normal person. He entered a round chamber with exquisite decorations with murals carved on the floor and the roof had a sun mirror in the middle that touched upon a dais.

Draco walked up to the dais and placed his letter upon it, for it was the only thing he could actually interact with in this room. The light shone on his invitation, and a wisp of smoke came out as it formed the blurry image of a slender maiden.

"Greetings, Warrior named Draco. We have been waiting for your application for a long time. My name is Cerea and I will be your aide and squire for the duration of your test. Should you succeed, I will continue to aid your tenure as a warrior in our ranks." The apparition that was even denser and more developed than Vitae or Mortem from the Aether Palace spoke in a clear, pleasant tone.

Cerea continued. "You must have a lot of questions and it is my duty to answer them in time. However, you must at least pass the basic test of an Unranked Warrior position in order to qualify to know more about our organization."

Draco shrugged. "Sure, just let me into the test and let me know what it's about."

Cerea waved her hand and a portal manifested beside her that led to a very far place, that Draco could sense with his own spatial capabilities.

"There are four tests in the War Maniac Pavilion, The Test of Body, the Test of Mind, the Test of Spirit, and the Test of Soul. For the Unranked Warrior position, you only need to pass the Test of Body at the minimum required level." Cerea explained gently.

"Oh? And what about the other tests? When will I have to undergo them?" Draco asked with interest.

"Those are for when you achieve the necessary criteria to elevate your position, and you will have to take the next successive test to qualify. You will learn more after becoming an Unranked Warrior." Cerea explained patiently.

Hearing that, Draco understood that most of what he likely wanted to know was locked behind the door of membership, so his lips curled as he directly walked into the portal that led to an unknown place far away.

When he eventually passed the test and became an Unranked Warrior, wouldn't he be able to see the depths of this so-called number 1 faction for himself then?!

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