Chapter 252: Chapter 252 - The Calm Before Rank-2
Atlas was rewarded handsomely this season from the Lord Battle, far more than he’d ever received before. The haul included Arcane Shards and a massive amount of gold. At the moment, his gold stash had exceeded 31,000, a staggering number. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of things he could actually purchase with that much gold.
As for the Arcane Shards, he had enough to pull another 43 times from the exclusive banner. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure if it was worth doing another round on the Serenith banner or going for her signature weapon. Or should he? After all, Serenith had proven herself to be incredibly powerful in battle.
Then again, maybe it would be wiser to wait for a different exclusive banner to come around. He leaned toward waiting.
On top of that, he still had 110 standard tickets ready to use! That was more than enough to guarantee at least one more rank-S pull. He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of amazing unit or weapon he might get from that next rank-S draw.
Atlas found himself torn, should he use the tickets now, or wait until he ranked up to Scout? Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to run a few test pulls, just to see what would happen if someone else did the pulling instead of him. He considered trying that soon.
Not long after, he returned to his island, watching the usual process unfold: enemy islands slowly crumbling, while his own territory began to expand from the outer edge. Every battle he won continued to grow the size of his island. He had no idea how large it could eventually become.
Alongside all the victory loot, there was one particular item that caught his attention more than the rest.
[Mana Turbine Core Mk.I: A mid-tier arcane construct designed to draw raw mana from the surrounding environment and convert it into stable energy units.]
He then showed the blueprint to Serenith, explaining that it resembled something he’d seen earlier on the enemy lord’s island.
"My lord, we can build this structure," Serenith said. "We also salvaged several items and leftover structures from them. With these, we might be able to create something new."
Atlas gave a slow nod. "Yes, I believe some of the workers we’ve acquired this time have experience with things like this. Let’s see if you’ll be even busier from now on."
"I welcome the busyness. I’m a proud workaholic," she said with a grin. "I’d rather be overwhelmed with tasks than left idle."
Atlas smiled at that, giving Serenith’s arm a light pat before moving on to check the combatants and workers they had secured in the battle.
He soon stood beside Edrik, who was in the middle of inspecting the new arrivals. 120 combatants and 50 workers, all now kneeling in neat rows before Atlas.
Although Atlas had managed to defeat the enemy lord in relatively short time, it couldn’t be denied that Raze had slain a great number of enemy troops as well, and much of the battle had already played out before Atlas could take full control. Still, with a total of 170 captives under his command, the value of this victory was undeniable.
After spending some time examining each of the captives one by one, he finally gave his report to Atlas. Out of the 120 combatants, every single one of them was already above level 90. That alone was a stunning revelation.
Wasn’t that quite the achievement?
Thankfully, the battle had ended swiftly. Had it dragged on any longer, Atlas’s side might have suffered far greater losses. As for the workers, their average level was noticeably lower, which made sense. They weren’t focused on leveling. Still, with 50 of them now under Atlas’s command, and considering that his second island would soon demand more manpower, he felt confident he could put them to good use.
As usual, he offered each of them a choice: stay and serve under him, or walk away freely. For those who wished to remain, he took further steps to identify their origins, wanting to ensure that the ones he retained were truly worth keeping.
In the end, Atlas managed to secure about 80 new combatants and around 40 workers. A solid gain, he thought.
He continued to uphold the principle he’d believed in from the very beginning: he would only recruit those who truly wanted to serve and grow with him. It was always easier to build something meaningful when everyone involved was doing it by choice.
The aftermath of the battle was swiftly taken care of by the residents of Gacha Haven. By now, they were all familiar enough with each other to work smoothly, understanding what needed to be done without much direction. As for the new combatants, Atlas decided to blend them into the already existing teams, ensuring they absorbed the full values and principles that defined Gacha Haven.
With the island growing larger, so too did the workload. Yet Atlas still hadn’t found anyone suitable to take over Edrik’s role as the chief in charge of managing all matters related to the island’s workers. Or perhaps... should he consider promoting someone who had been with him since the beginning?
There were simply too many things still left for Atlas to sort out.
But one thing was certain, he had now fulfilled the rank point quota required to ascend to Rank-2. The next decision loomed: should he push forward, rush to level 100, and meet the final requirements to enter the next war zone?
Reaching level 100 would also unlock another class advancement for him, a powerful boost. On top of that, he needed to ensure that his army was fully prepared to face the battles that awaited in Rank-2 territory.
Too many things to decide. But as usual, Atlas sat down with his elite subordinates for an evaluation meeting, discussing their strategy moving forward. Edrik was the first to present his insights.
"Our combatants should be able to reach level 100, around 80% of them, within the next month, at the earliest," he explained.
"That’s if you push them hard, isn’t it?" Atlas responded.
Edrik gave a small bow in reply, and Atlas could already guess what was going on in his head.
"We can afford to wait a month, I think," Atlas continued thoughtfully. "We’ll still have time after that to do another round of Lord Battles, if needed. Or we could use the alliance challenge slots to fill up my challenge quota, so we wouldn’t need to go into actual Lord Battles afterward."
Still, deep down, Atlas wasn’t convinced he needed, or even wanted, a fake Lord Battle. There was something deeply unsatisfying about a staged fight. For him, the idea that each battle might lead to a real, hard-earned victory felt far more rewarding.
Besides, using those alliance attack tokens for himself would mean taking opportunities away from his fellow members, resources they could very well use for their own growth. And that wasn’t a cost he was willing to ignore.
"Let’s go with this plan. We’ll wait one month until most of us reach level 100," Atlas decided.
But with that decision came another matter he needed to address. How should he make use of the one month ahead for himself? He couldn’t exactly spend it leveling up. He was already at level 99.