Level Up Machine

Chapter 66 The Siege of Talion Fortress (1)

“Um, then, before we officially begin the monster subjugation, we will start a social gathering to foster camaraderie.”

In the lobby of the inn where the members of the Salvator Guild were staying.

With all twelve current members of the Salvator Guild gathered, Tiria spoke up.

The start of the party, which should have been noisy, was not as lively as expected. This was partly because people like Yoo Jin and Park Cheol-tae were not the type to enjoy parties, but the biggest reason was Ara glaring daggers at Gil-soo.

“Hohoho. I, I’m sorry, Ara. I never imagined it would be like that with Yeong-sik.”

“What do you mean by ‘like that’? I have no idea what you’re talking about, old man. I was just a little disappointed that Gil-soo barged into Yeong-sik’s room, the leader of our party, without even knocking.”

She spoke to him in a voice as cold as if frost would form.

Yeong-sik, with a complicated expression, tried to argue, ‘Didn’t you also enter my room without knocking?’ but he quickly shut his mouth. He had a feeling that speaking up now would only make things more complicated.

“D-Did something happen?”

Tiria glanced at Ara, who was glaring at Gil-soo with fiery eyes, and asked. Gil-soo let out a light laugh and answered her.

“It’s nothing, Guild Master. I accidentally interrupted a sweet moment between Yeong-sik and Ara earlier.”

“Ah, ahjussi! It wasn’t like that!”

“Hmm. A sweet moment, you say?”

At Gil-soo’s words, Ara jumped up from her seat and shouted, while Tiria, with a mix of anxiety and nervousness, glanced at Yeong-sik.

“Ahem. Everyone, calm down. This is not why we have gathered here, is it?”

Hwang-hyeon, who had been quietly listening to the commotion, cleared his throat and spoke. Yu-na nodded at his words.

“All the food here was specially prepared at my sister’s request, so eat up! Starting tomorrow, we might have to survive on dried jerky again because of the busy battles.”

“Ugh… I hate jerky now,”

Chae-rin said, pouting and lowering her head.

“Ahem, yes. Since we have gathered to foster camaraderie, please eat to your heart’s content and rest well today.”

Tiria, snapping out of her daze at Hwang-hyeon and Yu-na’s words, cleared her throat and said.

Yeong-sik, with his mouth tightly shut, looked at Tiria, who had organized the ‘social gathering.’ His expression was filled with complex emotions.

Among the Salvator Guild members, Tiria was probably the most mentally confused and distressed. It was not easy to understand why someone like her would organize a social gathering.

‘No, maybe it’s precisely because of that.’

Yeong-sik thought as he looked at Tiria, who seemed to be forcing a bright smile. The only thing she had left now was the Salvator Guild. Other than the guild members, who numbered only twelve, she had nothing.

Tiria looked around at the guild members and spoke.

“The main reason for this sudden social gathering is that I felt too many things happened before Yeong-sik, Gil-soo, and Ara, who recently joined the guild, could properly integrate.”

At her words, Park Cheol-tae, Hwang-hyeon, Jeong So-rim, and Han Tae-yeong nodded. Yu-na and Han-seong had talked with Yeong-sik’s party a few times, but the other guild members were different.

Upon returning from the expedition, they immediately fought the remnants of the Light Shield Guild, and afterwards, they investigated the secret passage to the royal castle for the attack, so they couldn’t have any proper conversations with Yeong-sik’s party.

“Hmm. For that, Yeong-sik seems to have blended into the guild very well.”

“Hahaha. Well, Yeong-sik…”

At Yu-na’s seemingly scolding words, Han-seong gave an awkward laugh. In Yeong-sik’s case, it wasn’t just that he had blended in well; he had such significant influence that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him the deputy guild leader.

‘Thinking about it that way, he’s a really amazing person.’

Han-seong quietly watched Yeong-sik, who was sitting at the table and calmly sipping his drink.

Normally, if a new guild member, who hadn’t even been in the guild for a year, had influence almost equal to that of the guild leader, it was natural to feel discomfort.

Even Han-seong, who prided himself on having a good personality, thought so, let alone the others. It wasn’t just a matter of emotions; it also had a critical impact on the guild’s hierarchy.

But strangely, no one felt any discomfort towards Yeong-sik. No, rather, they found him trustworthy.

It wasn’t just because he had a unique body different from ordinary humans. The peculiar charisma that naturally emanated from Yeong-sik, an overwhelming presence that felt like facing an emperor ruling over a vast empire, made it impossible to feel any negative emotions towards him.

“Even so, it’s hard to say that everyone is close. I hope this opportunity helps us all become as comfortable as a family.”

Tiria said with a bitter smile. A guild with a family-like atmosphere was the ideal she had been pursuing for a long time.

“Hmm. If Ms. Tiria says so, I’ll try my best.”

Yeong-sik nodded and spoke. It was true that in the Salvator Guild, Ara, Gil-soo, and Yeong-sik seemed somewhat detached.

“Haha! Then, I think it would be good to start by dropping the formalities with each other!”

Chae-rin, her mouth full of food, raised her hand and shouted. Yeong-sik, Ara, and Gil-soo nodded with awkward smiles.

The next morning.

The Salvator Guild set out for the fortress city of Talion.

Thanks to the well-maintained roads, the Salvator guild members arrived at Talion without much trouble and found a crowd of people gathered at the entrance.

“Those people are…”

“They must be guilds gathered to participate in the subjugation.”

Yu-na, standing next to Yeong-sik, said. Yeong-sik turned his head and spoke.

“Is it possible for participation to be this high?”

Yeong-sik, unlike usual, asked Yu-na without using formal speech. Yu-na nodded and answered his question.

“When it comes to monster subjugation, registering your guild name can earn you rewards based on your achievements. Those rewards are not insignificant, even for smaller guilds, so many guilds participate to gain something.”

“Hmm. Who gives out those rewards?”

“Well…”

Yu-na turned her head to look at the place where several summoners were gathered. Among them, a noisy murmuring began to emerge.

“Le, Leviathan Guild!”

“Wow… This is my first time seeing them in person.”

A group was walking into the fortress of Talion. Each of them exuded such an intense aura that it made one’s skin tingle.

Among them, Yeong-sik noticed some familiar faces.

“It’s Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword!”

A summoner shouted, pointing at a woman carrying a long sword on her back.

Beside her was a handsome man with a sculpted face, walking with five swords hanging from his waist.

“That man…”

“Isn’t he the strongest rookie among the 61st summoned?”

“Oh, right! I heard Cheon Tae-hwang, a 61st round summoner, became the disciple of Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword!”

The commotion grew louder among the summoners who saw Cheon Tae-hwang.

“I heard his level cap is 103 and he has an incredibly powerful hidden class.”

“They say he already takes down level 90 elite monsters by himself.”

“What? A level 90 elite monster? No matter how talented, he’s still a rookie from the 61st round. Isn’t that an exaggeration?”

“No! Our guild leader said he saw it himself!”

People started getting more excited, sharing rumors about the rising star Cheon Tae-hwang of the Leviathan Guild.

Cheon Tae-hwang had already become one of the fastest-growing summoners in the more than ten-year history of summoners.

“Well, with that ‘Leviathan’ backing him, it’s understandable that he would grow at such an extraordinary rate.”

The summoners gathered at the fortress entrance looked at the Leviathan Guild with eyes full of admiration. Particularly, they focused on the three summoners at the forefront.

Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword, with shoulder-length bobbed hair and an absurdly long sword.

Warlock Park Sang-jun, wrapped in tattered bandages and wearing a black robe pulled down low.

And the blue-haired beauty leading the guild, Leviathan Park Si-a.

They were the key members of the Leviathan Guild, which, along with ‘Abaddon’ and ‘Hanul’ guilds, was considered the most powerful force in the East.

Each of them was strong enough to be called a powerhouse among rankers. Surrounding them were numerous high-level summoners.

The Leviathan Guild was so powerful that no force within the Elnote Kingdom could match it. With such a massive guild backing him, it was understandable that Cheon Tae-hwang showed such an extraordinary growth rate.

“Sigh.”

“If only my level cap were higher…”

The summoners gathered at the entrance looked at Cheon Tae-hwang, the genius known as the Firebird, and felt an insurmountable wall between him and themselves, gazing at him with eyes of admiration.

“Hmm. The reaction is no joke.”

Yu-na looked at the Leviathan Guild and the summoners gathered around them with an indifferent expression. She acted as if she wasn’t interested, but Yeong-sik noticed the thick veins bulging on her clenched fist.

‘It’s understandable.’

Yeong-sik thought this as he watched the Salvator guild members, who wore complex expressions.

The Salvator Guild had once been a powerful force, almost as great as the Leviathan Guild.

But now, they had become a minor guild that other summoners didn’t even bother to pay attention to, so their complicated expressions were natural.

“Let’s go register our guild first.”

Tiria spoke up. She had a bitter smile, as if she had read the complex emotions on the guild members’ faces.

“But are you planning to use our guild name as it is?”

Yeong-sik asked as he took a step closer to Tiria. She slowly shook her head in response.

“No. It’s a bit much to use Salvator’s name as it is. We’ll use an alias.”

Yeong-sik nodded at her words. They were not yet strong enough to proudly use the name Salvator.

“What alias do you plan to use?”

“Hmm… I’ll leave that up to you, Yeong-sik.”

“Up to me?”

“Yes. We’ve received a lot of grace from you this time.”

“Even so…”

Yeong-sik was taken aback, not expecting to be the one to name the guild, even if it was just a temporary name.

The other guild members, listening to their conversation, turned their eyes to Yeong-sik.

“Let’s call it the Eclosion Guild.”

“Ho. That seems like a fitting name for the current situation.”

Han-seong gave a slight smile at the word “Eclosion,” which meant “metamorphosis.” Yu-na, looking puzzled, tilted her head.

“Huh? What do you mean by fitting? What does Eclosion mean?”

“It means ‘metamorphosis’ in English.”

Han-seong looked at Yu-na with a slightly exasperated expression. Yu-na, her expression stiffening, continued in a cautious voice.

“Metamorphosis… What does that mean…?”

At her careful question, the guild members’ expressions turned cold. Seeing their faces, Yu-na urgently shouted.

“It was a joke! Metamorphosis! You know, like in Aesop’s Fables! Haha! Of course, I know that much!”

Chae-rin, who was forcing a laugh, approached Yu-na and hugged her, shouting to the guild members.

“Don’t look at Yu-na like that! Her cluelessness is part of her charm!”

Hearing her cry, the guild members looked at Yu-na with a somewhat pitiful expression. Yu-na, flustered, turned her head this way and that, shouting in a distressed voice.

“What, what? What’s going on? What does metamorphosis even mean?! Huh?!”

“Let’s go register first.”

Ignoring her desperate cry, Yeong-sik turned his gaze away and headed towards the registration desk for guilds participating in the monster subjugation.

“Don’t ignore me and answer!”

Ignoring Yu-na’s pitifully urgent shout, the guild members headed to the registration desk.