Chapter 69 - Torana Town

[You have killed Lv10 Green Tail Fox. You have received 300 Exp.] 

[Bow Mastery +4] 

The notification chimed as soon as the burning flames on the Fox's tail extinguished. A moment later, white light fell on Samar, and he reached Lv10.

Just as Samar picked the Fox fur, HardBro and BigSoftie arrived from the other side of the grassy plains.

"Reached Lv10?" Samar asked HardBro, who nodded with a wide grin.

"And you?" The mage asked, while approaching the two.

"Yep! Let's go. Stivi and the others must be waiting."

When they arrived at Karn's place, Stivi could be seen instructing Romero and Grimes, a mage from Trainee Party No. 1.

"Recruit new trainees and train them to take your place as soon as possible. When you are ready, come to Panjal City." Stivi relayed the orders from the upper brass to the new trainees. 

"Don't forget to collect Sheep's milk from Luni," Samar reminded them as soon as Stivi finished.

She turned and looked at them before commenting, "Took your sweet time, didn't you?"

Samar chalked up her attitude to that time of the month, but HardBro was not so astute.

"Hey, traveling to the map alone took us nearly half an hour…" BigSoftie covered up HardBro's mouth before he could dig a deeper hole for himself and implicate them.

Stivi shot him a look and then walked up to the Elven Representative with the rest following behind. 

Karn checked each of their levels. Satisfied, that each one of them was Lv10, he asked, 

"Deathless Beings, have you decided on which city you wish to join?" 

"Yes, Mister Karn. We would like to join the Panjal City of the Panjal Region." Stivi answered for everyone. 

The Elven Faction consisted of sixteen major regions. Each region had one major city with numerous other towns and fortresses under its rule. 

The Panjal Region that Stivi had chosen was located in the southern parts of Eleven Forest. The Barbarian Wastelands were located to its north while the Undead Kingdom was located to its west. 

The Grandeur Guild had chosen it as their base because only a few Top Guilds were competing with them in this region. 

Karn nodded at Stivi's answer and he led us to one of the huge birds in the grounds nearby. He opened the doors to the carriage on the back of the bird with wingspan as big as that of an airplane's.

Samar learned from Karn that this bird was the public transportation mount of the Elven Faction, the Giant Wind Condor. Its level was so high that all Samar could see was question marks in its description.

Samar and others got into the carriage, and the Bird took to the air, each flap of its wings booming like thunder.

The speed of the Giant Wind Condor was also nothing to scoff at. Within fifteen minutes of their flight, they had crossed over a hundred kilometers and arrived at the town bordering Barbarian Wastelands, Torana. 

Even before they landed, they could see the stark contrast between the Elvish town and the Barbarian Village. The town seemed enormous when compared to the small area of the Barbarian Village.

Tree houses and other structures made from trees replaced the coarse cloth tents common in the Barbarian Villages. In fact, other than the huge rocky wall that coiled around the town like a serpent, almost every building in the town was nestled in a living tree!

The moment the Bird descended into the town, the stark difference between the Barbarian Villages and the Elvish Town became clear.

It was not just the bustling streets full of people but also the environment. There was a mysterious quality in the air that welcomed people, like returning to the mother's embrace.

It felt like their noses had been clogged for all this time, and only now had they been unclogged, allowing them to breathe easy.

As they took in the changes, an elf dressed in metallic wooden armor approached them.

"You must be the Deathless heroes Karn recruited," he said, not as a question but as a statement. Without waiting for confirmation, the elf joined his fists together and bowed his head slightly in an Elvish greeting before introducing himself.

"Hello! I am Suvic. Welcome to the Elven Forest of Panjal."

Samar reacted quickly and performed his own version of a greeting with joined palms in front of the chest. The others quickly followed his cue.

Suvic smiled with warmth that did not reach his eyes, indicating he had performed the same action thousands of times.

"All Deathless Beings are required to register at the Longevity Hall. Please follow me."

Saying so, Suvic started to lead the way. He took them to the tallest tree at the center of the town.

When they arrived at the building, the mysterious quality became stronger. Samar connected the dots and realized that the mysterious quality was actually the Vital Energy radiating from this tree!

Suvic placed an emblem on one of the small grooves, and tree branches realigned themselves, forming a staircase leading to the huge hall built around its trunk.

The armored Elf led them to the registration desk manned by a beauty. She looked up at them and asked Suvic, "Sent by Karn?" He nodded in response and let her take over the procedures from thereon.

The female elf took out six identical emblems shaped like a Banyan tree and handed one to each one of them. Then she watched with amazement as every emblem turned from gray to white color. While she was busy gawking at them, Samar checked the Emblem's information.

—-

Elven Emblem of Identity (White)

Status: Commoner

Votes Available: 1

Additional Attributes-

+3% HP Recovery Rate

+3% MP Recovery Rate

+2% Stat Boost

Conditions for upgrade to Bronze-

Reputation: (150/300)

Merits: (2/3)

Conditions for upgrade to Pewter-

500 Reputation, 5 Merits

—-

After taking one look at the status window, Samar realized that the Emblem of Identity was a powerful piece of equipment. Even though its grade was not shown, Samar knew that only equipment beyond the Metallic grades provided a percentile increase in basic stats. 

It meant this item was comparable to an Epic grade piece of equipment!

The bonuses it provided were also great. Samar appreciated the HP and MP recovery rate boost but it was mostly useless for an Archer like him. The 2% Stat boost, on the other hand, he only had one word for it – sweet!

Moreover, these bonuses were only for a White colored badge! They would continue to increase as the Samar's status in the Elven Faction rose higher. 

He looked forward to the incredible boosts they would provide when he had finally reached the highest status possible in the Elven Faction. 

Samar was drawn out of his thoughts by the exclamation of Registrar Elf Romi.