Debuff Master

Chapter 612

The Proatine Kingdom had been experiencing a massive economic boom in recent times. This economic boom was all thanks to the diligent marketing efforts of their king, King Siegfried van Proa, as he promoted the kingdom while he was on his journeys.

Thanks to that, the Proatine Kingdom enjoyed lucrative trade deals with other nations that eventually led to a positive cashflow for their finances that fueled their economic growth.

But that was not the end of it...

King Siegfried van Proa had also been bestowed the vast Cronasia Plains, including the upstream land of the Piaro River, which was deemed to be the lifeline of the entire continent, allowing the Proatine Kingdom to grow even more robustly.

The Minister of State, Michele, immediately commenced an aggressive development of the Cronasia Plains and the upstream land of the Piaro River. He spared no coin to build cities, fortresses, military buildings, dams, factories, and other drivers of economic growth.

This resulted in an abundance of jobs for the citizens of the Proatine Kingdom, and the kingdom enjoyed miraculous statistics of zero unemployment. In fact, the abundance of jobs in the kingdom eventually forced them to import foreign workers.

The Proatine Kingdom grew stronger day by day.

However, there was a saying about how good things were often followed by bad things, right?

The sudden expansion of the kingdom’s borders came with numerous other unavoidable problems, and the biggest problem was none other than the opposition of the nobles ruling over the Cronasia Plains and the upper streams of the Piaro River.

In a meeting room...

“Damn it!” The feudal lord of the Paraffin Territory, Viscount Horn, slammed the meeting table with his fist and cursed, “That damned upstart wants to use my personal army to build that damned dam!”

Baron Guillaume chimed in as well, “That is not the only problem! That damned Adventurer one-sidedly sent a letter stating that he would be destroying my beloved personal hunting ground to build a sheep farm and a wool processing factory! Does that even make any sense?!”

Viscount Horn and Baron Guillaume were not the only ones disgruntled.

“That fool seems to have no idea what feudal territories and feudal lords are! Are these lands not our possession? But why is he trying to absorb our soldiers into his kingdom’s army?! What nonsense is this?!”

“I agree with you! He is treating us feudal lords like we are some mayors!”

“Emperor Stuttgart himself has recognized our autonomy, so who the hell is he to meddle in our affairs?!”

The feudal lords continued to voice out their frustration of Siegfried. The main reason they were disgruntled, to begin with, was that Emperor Stuttgart forcefully annexed these lands into the Proatine Kingdom.

The Cronasia Plains and Piaro River were originally the emperor’s lands, and these feudal lords were all provincial nobles of the Marchioni Empire.

However, all of that changed after Emperor Stuttgart granted these lands to King Siegfried van Proa. In the process of transferring these lands, he transferred even the local nobles over to King Siegfried and the Proatine Kingdom.

The emperor seemed to have decided to show off his benevolence by granting not only territory but even the population residing in it as a gift to King Siegfried.

Well, it was not like they were useful to the emperor...

Anyway, the feudal lords and the provincial nobles were astounded to hear the decision.

They were backwater provincial nobles considered inferior to the mainland nobles, but they were still proud nobles of the strongest empire on the continent, which granted them protection and a relaxed life.

Unfortunately, all of that was about to change now that they were no longer a part of the empire.

Also, it was a fact that they could not help but be disgruntled by the fact that their new liege was an upstart young Adventurer.

“This is preposterous! Did you see what he did? He was sleeping during the meetings! In his own throne room!”

“How dare a lowly Adventurer pretend to be royalty?!”

“We used to receive His Imperial Majesty’s commands, but why are we going to listen to that lowly Adventurer from now on?!”

The feudal lords and nobles were so disgruntled that it would not be strange for them to explode at any moment now.

“I cannot take this anymore.” In the end, Count Gunther gnashed his teeth and stood up as if he had made up his mind. Count Gunther possessed not only the largest territory in this region but also the highest nobility rank.

“I will personally go to that king and have a discussion with him,” Count Gunther said.

“What discussion will you have with that Adventurer?” Viscount Horn asked.

“What else? I will make it clear that our territories have autonomy to self-rule, and we will not tolerate any meddling in our affairs.”

“I-Is that possible?! That is akin to blatantly committing treason!”

Viscount Horn was right. It was a noble’s duty to serve their liege regardless of whether they liked them or not. In this case, the feudal lords and nobles were bound by their duty to serve Siegfried regardless of how they felt about him.

“What will he do if it’s not possible? Ha! Can he even dare to rile us up? Listen, we might be provincial nobles, but we are proud nobles of the Marchioni Empire, too.”

“Y-You are right, Count Gunther.”

“I am certain he will not dare get on our bad side. Therefore, I will tell him to stick to his own business and be satisfied with the taxes we pay.”

“Oh!”

The other nobles immediately supported Count Gunther.

“You are right!”

“The count is right!”

“Such wisdom!”

Just then, Count Gunther looked around the meeting room and asked, “Where is Count Arial? I have not seen him recently. Did something happen to him?”

Count Arial was the head of the Gray Family, which had a long history of ruling a significant portion of this region.

“Count Arial had gone into seclusion to train three months ago.”

“Gone into seclusion to train?” Count Gunther doubted his ears. Then, he grimaced and asked, “What will training do for a magician like him?”

“That is entirely up to him.”

“Ahem... All right, I understand,” Count Gunther replied. He soon erased Count Arial from his mind.

The Gray Family was once a powerful family that extended their influence all the way to the heart of the empire, but they had lost all glory and had been growing weaker and weaker over the years.

“Anyway, I will personally go and deliver our demands to the king. This meeting is adjourned,” Count Gunter said as he stood up from his chair.

***

The Legends were completely different after clearing their quests. The first to return was Kim Han-Yong, who received the Legendary Class, Blaze Rider.

The three other Legends received Legendary Classes, too.

Han Sang-Gi of Battle Homeground received the Legendary Class, Immortal Ranger. Kim Gi-Tae of Space Craft received the Legendary Class, Heart of the Swarm, and Park Gi-Don of Legend of League received the Legendary Class, Blazing Kaiser.

“Wow... They say lucky people will fall on fortune even when slipping on the road...” Siegfried muttered in sheer disbelief while looking at the Legends.

This could only be pure luck.

Was it easy to obtain a Legendary class in BNW? Not at all!

A Legendary Class was something that most people coveted but would elude them even if they were working hard for it. The fact that there weren't that many Legendary Class users in BNW, even though it had been many years since the servers first opened, was a testament to the rarity of Legendary classes.

However, these old geezers had obtained Legendary Classes, even though it had barely been a month since they started playing the game. It seemed they were gifted with not only their ability to play games but also with in-game luck.

“Congratulations! I cannot believe you obtained Legendary Classes!” Siegfried exclaimed, congratulating them sincerely. Then, he proceeded to ask them what happened after they disappeared with the statues.

“Huh? I just rode a horse and fought in an open field,” Kim Han-Yong replied. It seemed that he dueled Vartizan on horseback.

“I was in a jungle shooting at some archer,” Han Sang-Gi replied. It seemed he had a shooting showdown against Tristan.

“I had to lead an army and have a skirmish with another strategist,” Kim Gi-Tae replied. It seemed that he was locked in a battle of wits with Varka.

“Eh? I just fought to the death with someone,” Park Gi-Don replied. It seemed he had a one-on-one duel against Agniskar.

All four of them seemed to have faced their own tribulation in different environments.

“And I was given a book. I think it was called a skill book?”

“Huh? Me, too.”

“I also received a book.”

“You guys, too? I opened mine, and I changed all of a sudden.”

Siegfried finally understood what kind of dungeon the Ruin of Martial God: Valhalla was.

“Ah! This must be a Class Dungeon!” Siegfried exclaimed.

“You’re right, hyung-nim! It is a Class Dungeon!” Seung-Gu agreed.

These kinds of dungeons that defied the usual pattern of a dungeon would appear from time to time. They'd have their own unique pattern and would award the brave challengers with skill books containing the opportunity to change into a Legendary class.

Class Dungeons would spawn randomly, and they were often found in unexpected places at unexpected times. In other words, Class Dungeons in BNW were like winning lottery tickets; anyone could become winners.

“But why did Seung-Gu and I not get anything...” Siegfried grumbled under his breath that none of the statues reacted to them.

Hamchi looked at him as if he was pathetic and chided, “Kyuuu! Owner punk! Why do you need those skill books?! Just focus on what you have right now!”

“R-Right...”

“Yes! Kyuuuu! Your class is so good that the statues did not bother reacting to you!”

“Now that you mention it...” Siegfried agreed with what Hamchi said.

The Debuff Master was a class that used the skills created by the Level 999 Hidden NPC, Deus, as a foundation, so there was no way there could be a Legendary Class better than it.

As for Seung-Gu, it was true that he didn't have a Hidden class, but his current class was already a great match for him.

“Anyway, congratulations once again. You are all off to a very good start,” Siegfried congratulated them sincerely.

The fact that these Legends obtained Legendary Classes meant that they would synergize extremely well with them in the future, right?

‘Should I bring everyone I know here? All of them can obtain Legendary Classes just like them, right?’ Siegfried thought of a few people he would like to bring to the Ruin of Martial God: Valhalla.

It was then.

Rumble!

A violent tremor ran across the dungeon, and a portion of the ceiling suddenly collapsed.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of the party’s eyes.

[Alert: Warning! Warning!]

[Alert: The Ruin of Martial God: Valhalla is collapsing!]

[Alert: Please evacuate at once!]

Siegfried’s eyes shot wide open after reading the message.

“Everyone! Ruuuun!” he shouted before running as fast as he could.

The party ran for an hour.

“Huff... Huff...!”

Siegfried was sprawled on the ground at the entrance of the Ruin of Martial God: Valhalla, huffing and puffing, trying to catch his breath. He had been running for his life over the past hour without stopping once, so he was understandably exhausted.

It went without saying that the others were in the same condition as him.

Seung-Gu leaned on a rock and puked. “Bleuuuurgh!”

“Bleurgh...”

“Huff... Huff...”

“M-My joints... they really hurt...”

“I can’t anymore... No more running, please...”

The Legends were sprawled out on the ground as well.

Siegfried slowly got up and grumbled, “Why the hell did the dungeon suddenly–”

It was then.

“Kyuuuu! Owner punk, look! The entrance is disappearing!” Hamchi cried out.

“What?” Siegfried looked at the entrance.

Rumble!

The entrance to the Ruin of Martial God: Valhalla was growing smaller and smaller as if it was about to disappear.