Ryan didn’t pay much attention to the buzz on the forums. He just ntioned it offhand to Evelyn and the rest of the guild—and left it at that.
Securing his fourth Glorious Achievent finally let him exhale. For the first ti in a while, he felt like he could truly take a breath. There weren’t any more known thods to earn those achievents—not yet, anyway.
Eventually, as players climbed to higher levels, more avenues would open up. But for now, this was it.
Leisurely, he dropped his newly earned attribute point into Stamina. While riding his mount across the open terrain, he began considering where to assign the accompanying talent point.
His options were still confined to the first three tiers of the Retribution build. Conviction and Vindication—both tempted him in different ways. But in the end, he leaned into Conviction
—
Conviction: All your attacks and spells gain 1% critical strike chance. (0/5)
—
As soon as he added the auxiliary talent point, that 0/5 turned into 5/5. A full 5% increase to his crit chance across the board.
He didn’t stress too much about defensive reductions. Before raid-tier content kicked in, his current level of protection was more than enough. And when Vindication finally beca necessary, odds were high that another Retribution Paladin would be in the group to cover that.
The extra 5% crit from Conviction directly boosted his output—always useful, always on.
"Guild Leader, there’s a quest objective up ahead. Should we turn it in?"
Moonlight Beauty’s voice cut through his thoughts. By now, the two of them had returned to Alliance of Light territory. The local mobs had dropped to around level 14. Up ahead, an NPC stood with a giant glowing question mark over his head—clear turn-in indicator.
Ryan glanced at it, then shook his head.
"No. Let’s head back first. We’ll turn it in at Darkwood Camp. The new quests there are better suited for our level."
He nudged his mount forward without waiting for a reply.
When they arrived at Darkwood Camp, several other player parties were already milling around. So had just ridden in, others looked like they’d been there for a bit. Their speed was startling—they’d already pushed their quests this far?
"Geez, they’re moving fast! How much ti’s even passed for them to get here?" Moonlight muttered.
Her tone carried a hint of frustration, and almost imdiately, comforting ssages started popping up in the guild channel.
"Moonlight, don’t be so dramatic. At least you got a Glorious Achievent! We’re here stuck in the heartlands—super jealous of you." —BY Tyrant Queen
"Exactly. A Glorious Achievent puts you way ahead, no matter how fast they’re leveling. The rewards you get from those can’t be undone by a few hours’ progress." —BY Winter Lily
Seeing his sister chi in to calm Moonlight down, Ryan couldn’t help but add his own voice.
"Co on, Moonlight. Look at those guys. If they knew you were the one who earned a Glorious Achievent, they’d probably delete their characters and start over in the beginner village—just to try and do what you did."
That made her laugh. She stopped complaining, nudging her mount forward to follow Ryan into camp.
Not a second later, a ssage popped up in Ryan’s friends list.
"Featherlight, are you there?"
Ryan raised an eyebrow. The sender was Sky Dragon Roar.
That was unexpected. Why would the head of the Sky Dragon Family be ssaging him directly?
He had a guess.
"Is sothing wrong?" Ryan typed back.
"Featherlight, I heard soone’s already created a guild. If that’s true... it’s gotta be you, right?"
"Yes, I did create one."
Ryan’s response was curt.
Sky Dragon Roar didn’t hesitate. "I’d like to ask... is there so shortcut to creating a guild? There’s no way the current quests give enough reputation to hit Honored, right?"
There was a slight edge to his voice—hopeful, but laced with unease. On one hand, he was eager to learn of a shortcut that could accelerate his own progress. On the other, he didn’t want it to exist. He’d worked hard, gained considerable reputation already. If there was a shortcut, it ant others might surpass him before he could act.
"There’s no shortcut," Ryan said plainly. "One of my Glorious Achievents gave 5,000 reputation. That’s how I t the requirent."
Just as he suspected, Sky Dragon Roar had reached out because word had spread—soone had created the ga’s first guild. That "soone" being Ryan.
Sky Dragon Roar’s voice brightened. "Then, the other players who earned Glorious Achievents... are they all in your guild?"
"Yes. They’re all mbers of my guild."
Ryan was starting to lose patience. This wasn’t a conversation he cared to entertain for long, but etiquette kept him from just cutting the call.
Sky Dragon Roar clearly picked up on the shift in tone. He quickly thanked Ryan, ended the chat, and sat back.
Nearby, Sky Dragon Iris approached. She had been watching his expression and now smiled with relief.
"How was it?" she asked.
"Perfect!" Sky Dragon Roar grinned, energized. "You guys, speed up and find the Guardian in this zone. I’ll clear every quest here to farm as much reputation as possible."
He turned toward the crowd of players around him and shouted, "No one’s ahead of us now! Push hard—find that Guardian! It gives a huge amount of reputation. The Sky Dragon Family will be the second guild in the ga!"
Cheers erupted. Hundreds of players scattered deeper into the zone, forming teams and sweeping the area in search of the powerful Guardian monster rumored to be hidden nearby.
"How are the players handling professions?" Sky Dragon Roar asked Sky Dragon Ascendant, who had just returned from the field.
The reply, as usual, wasn’t ideal.
Sky Dragon Roar frowned, then quickly issued new instructions. "Have them gather materials as fast as possible. Partner with the studios we’ve worked with before—no need to rely on in-ga gold. Just get it done."
"Yes, Big Bro! I’ll contact them right away."
Sky Dragon Ascendant nodded firmly and imdiately logged off to take care of it.
Sky Dragon Roar stood silently for a mont, staring at the landscape ahead. His mind lingered on the na Featherlight.
’Where did you co from? Why have I never heard of you in any of the pro circles?’
He shook his head, letting out a sigh.
Back in Darkwood Camp, the object of his curiosity was busy turning in quests. Ryan had just hit Level 11.
He had deliberately held off leveling up while in Dark Horde territory, keeping the free full-heal from leveling as a tactical fallback. It had already saved him once. But now, back in Alliance of Light territory, there was no reason to stall.
With access to new quests now unlocked, he moved efficiently through the camp, grabbing objectives and forming his route.
Then a ssage popped into the party channel—this one from Moonlight Beauty.
"Guild Leader! I just got word—soone found a Guardian! Should we go check it out?"
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