Staring at the ten drops of Essence of the Earth before him.
Luca couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.
This was valuable stuff!
Although each person could only use 10 drops, it would still provide him with 300 points in constitution!
Currently, his constitution was the lowest of his four basic attributes.
Sitting at just 120 points.
The Essence of the Earth would perfectly compensate for his lack of defense and health!
"Hahaha! Luca, my boy, I owe you one! If you ever find yourself in trouble, just come to me!" Cassman, beaming with joy, slapped Luca on the shoulder with hearty laughter.
The sheer strength from the Gold Grade knight made Luca's bones creak under the impact.
Quickly dodging another slap, Luca rubbed his shoulder and jokingly complained, "If you could just use a little less force, that would be the biggest favor you could do for me. My body can't take much more of your slaps."
Cassman suddenly realized.
Luca was only a Level 10 Demonic Rune Mage.
He immediately apologized.
Just then, a crisp, commanding female voice called out from outside the infirmary.
"Captain Cassman, the soldiers have assembled!"
Luca was taken aback.
Catherine? What is she doing here?
"Understood, I'll be right there," Cassman responded, then began to don his armor.
Luca, on the other hand, walked straight to the door and stepped outside.
"Luca, what are you doing here?" Catherine, clad in light armor, looked surprised to see Luca emerging from the infirmary.
The others, including Kaman, were also taken aback to find him there.
Luca casually explained, "I was treating Lady Lenna earlier, and I decided to stop by and help Captain Cassman with his injury as well."
Catherine nodded in realization. "No wonder the Iron Mountain camp suddenly assembled the troops!"
She recalled Luca mentioning this before, but she hadn't expected him to complete it so quickly.
"So, what brings you here?" Luca asked, puzzled as he looked at Kaman and the others.
Though they were from the Iron Mountain army.
Catherine was now under the jurisdiction of Riverfall City and technically had no business with the Iron Mountain troops.
Catherine sighed, unsure of how to explain.
Kaman, however, burst out angrily, "It was that bastard Matthew! Yesterday, he had my sister removed from her position!"
The others shared his fury, their expressions grim.
Luca immediately understood.
It seemed that Matthew, frustrated by Catherine's strong-willed nature, decided to use underhanded tactics since he couldn't win her over directly.
"So, you all ran back to the Iron Mountain camp to take refuge?" Luca's question caused Catherine and the others to lower their heads in embarrassment.
But Luca nodded approvingly, saying, "No need to feel embarrassed. It's actually a smart move."
After all, the Iron Mountain army was Count Ryan's private force.
Even if Matthew had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare extend his influence here.
At that moment, the infirmary door opened, and Cassman walked out.
He approached the group, immediately smacked Kaman on the back of the head, and grumbled, "What are you all standing around for? Get in line and prepare for assembly!"
"Y-yes, Captain!" Kaman and the others instinctively straightened up.
It was clear that Cassman held a significant position of respect in their eyes.
Luca joined the group as they headed out of the barracks.
Outside the Iron Mountain camp, several thousand fully armed soldiers had already gathered.
Clad in armor and holding their weapons, they stood tall and disciplined, with the lowest rank among them being Bronze Grade.
Luca couldn't help but be impressed as he observed them.
These were truly the elite of the Emerald State!
Their sheer presence alone set them apart from ordinary fighters.
If these soldiers were to combine their strength, even a Platinum Grade expert would likely avoid facing them head-on!
As the group emerged from the camp.
The soldiers' gazes naturally turned to Luca.
Their eyes were filled with curiosity, along with something else.
Earlier, when Luca arrived in Sophia's carriage, it had sparked speculation among the soldiers. After all, none of them had ever heard of a man being allowed to ride in Miss Sophia's carriage.
Given their similar ages, some even speculated that Luca might be Miss Sophia's fiancé.
That left many soldiers—who saw Sophia as their dream girl—heartbroken.
Cassman took a few steps forward, surveying the assembled troops, and announced in a loud voice, "The monsters in Beast Forest have been acting up recently. Miss Sophia suspects a monster horde might be imminent, so we're heading out to investigate!"
"Everyone, form into twelve-man squads!"
"If you notice anything unusual in Beast Forest, don't engage. Report it immediately. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" The soldiers responded weakly, their enthusiasm clearly dampened, like wilted vegetables.
Cassman could see what was bothering this group of men but didn't bother addressing it.
These guys had too much energy and spent their days daydreaming, so giving them something to focus on was a good thing.
Soon, the thousands of soldiers were divided into over two hundred twelve-man squads, marching in step toward Beast Forest.
Almost simultaneously, a game notification appeared in front of Luca.
[Ding! You have triggered the special hidden quest "Subjugate the Enraged Hydra (Part 1)!"]
[Description: You have discovered the node where the Hydra is set to descend in Beast Forest. Destroy the descent node or defeat the Hydra's avatar to receive substantial rewards! This quest is a multi-part quest, with rewards varying depending on the stage and completion level. The higher the completion level, the greater the rewards!]
"A special hidden quest!" Luca was shocked as he read the notification.
This type of special quest was something he had only heard of in passing during his previous life!
According to those few players, before the virtual and real worlds merged, several people had triggered similar hidden quests to subjugate the Seven Demon Lords.
That was when these Demon Lords were at their weakest, offering players the best chance to defeat them. However, at the time, no players were strong enough to complete such difficult quests.
Even facing just an Abyssal Projection of a Demon Lord was far beyond their capabilities.
By the time players were strong enough to take on these tasks.
The monsters had already emerged from the Abyssal Demon Realm, making them nearly unbeatable.
The most significant thing was that, according to speculation, if a player managed to complete such a special quest, there was a very high probability they would be rewarded with a piece of Transcendent-level equipment!
"A Transcendent-level piece of gear!" Luca couldn't help but breathe heavily.
Even in later stages, Transcendent-level equipment was extremely rare. In his previous life, Luca had only ever obtained one piece of Transcendent-level gear!
If he could get his hands on such equipment in the early or mid-game…
It would be like playing with cheat codes!
"But this quest's difficulty is off the charts!" Luca muttered to himself.
Eternal Continent was vast—where would he even begin to search for the Hydra's node?
Even if he had accepted the quest, completing it in its entirety would be a monumental challenge.
Fortunately, the quest was broken into stages, meaning he could still receive valuable rewards even if he only completed one or two parts.
Otherwise, this discovery would have been nothing more than a fleeting moment of excitement.
At that moment, the army began to move, and Luca quickly followed.
He was grouped into a small squad with Cassman, Catherine, Kaman, and the others.
Cassman had someone send the carriage back to Howard Manor and also relay the message to Sophia that the group had already departed.
With such a large force on the move, it naturally attracted a lot of attention.
"What a massive army! There must be thousands of them!"
"They look like the Iron Mountain soldiers. What are they planning to do? They look ready for battle!"
"Look at the guy in the middle! Isn't that a player?!"
"No way, that's Luca, the legendary player!"
"Did he trigger a hidden quest? Luca's luck is off the charts!"
Luca, being the first player to reach level 10, was well-known in the Riverfall City player community, especially with his distinctive black gold-threaded robe. It didn't take long for the other players to recognize him.
In the crowd, a player from The World Guild suggested to a young man in a mage's robe, "Celephais, it looks like Luca triggered some kind of quest. Should we go check it out?"
"Of course we should!" The young man, Celephais, didn't hesitate. How could they miss out on the excitement of such an event?
He waved his hand to his guild members and announced loudly, "Everyone, follow them! We need to trigger the quest before anyone else does!"
It was obvious that a large-scale quest like this would be extremely rare. If they could get a piece of the action, it would give them a huge advantage over other guilds!
Meanwhile, another group noticed the movements of The World Guild.
A young man with yellow hair, dressed in leather armor, excitedly turned to the pretty woman in white beside him and said, "Sis, should we join in on the fun? I'd like to meet Luca in person!"
The two were Ben and Ada, the vice president and president of the Snowfall Guild, respectively.
Ben was a masterful assassin.
While Ada excelled at support and control, with an exceptional sense of gameplay.
The Blues siblings were well-known in the gaming community.
Ada nodded slightly and cautioned, "For the Iron Mountain camp to mobilize so many soldiers, the difficulty of this quest must be immense. Our guild can't afford heavy losses. We'll follow from a distance and let that rich kid from The World Guild take the lead."
Snowfall Guild had a solid reputation in the Eternal Game, ranking among the top-tier guilds.
However, they were still a notch below The World Guild, which was backed by a large club and was considered a super-tier guild.
As the only two major guilds in Riverfall City, there was frequent friction between them.
Snowfall Guild had taken its fair share of losses in the past, so this was the perfect opportunity to let The World Guild take the brunt of the risks.
"Got it," Ben replied with a mischievous grin, leading his group to follow at a safe distance.
Seeing that the two major guilds had joined the pursuit, other players eagerly followed, hoping to get in on the action.
Amidst the crowd, a slender figure cloaked in a hood quietly blended in.
She kept her eyes on Luca from afar, her gaze filled with admiration. "I've run into Luca the Great again—looks like I'll have new material for my blog!"