As the light faded, a figure with an alluring and curvaceous body slowly materialized. But before the figure could fully form, a bright red glow radiated from Foster's body!
This red light forcefully altered the shape of the figure.
Finally, as the summoning light of the hero and the red glow both dissipated, a hero, a young girl wrapped in delicate black stockings, appeared. Her attire was barely enough to cover her, revealing a partially bare body.
"Are you my master?"
"Thank you for granting me a new life."
A soft, melodious female voice rang in Foster's ears. On the surface, it sounded polite, but there was an undeniable undertone of desire and allure.
"Hello," Foster replied, preparing to step forward and check the attributes of the hero he had summoned. After all, an S-rank hero would never be weak!
The half-naked girl also seemed to want to step forward but, for some unknown reason, stumbled. Foster instinctively moved to intercept her. And then—
He suddenly felt a soft, full body collide with his own.
Especially her ample chest, which pressed firmly against him.
Foster was startled. He looked down to meet a pair of eyes that shimmered in the shape of a pink heart.
No…
It was an Incubus-style hero!
This was bad!
He had drawn the worst possible result.
Incubus-style heroes were the worst type of hero to summon early in the game. This was because their racial traits required the Lord to mate with them to unlock their full potential. If such a hero's needs weren't met, their loyalty would plummet, and they could even rebel.
What's worse, Incubus heroes had the ability to absorb the attributes of their mating partner.
Before reaching level 60, players couldn't resist or control this.
Foster had heard horror stories in his previous life of players summoning Incubus heroes who literally drained them to death, absorbing all their stats, which resulted in their game characters being deleted.
Back then, Foster and many others had laughed at the unfortunate player who posted about it. The comment section had been full of envy and curiosity.
"Man, I'm so jealous!"
"Can you teach me how to summon one?"
"Wait, can you show me how to do this? Not that I'm interested in the Incubus, but I want to restart my character."
And so on.
Of course, players were only after the thrill of the game.
But now, for Foster, it wasn't about starting over. His territory had been built up for a day, and the idea of abandoning it for a fresh start wasn't an option.
In Heroic Epic, early accumulation was key to snowballing. Starting over could set him back severely.
"Master."
"Can I stay in your arms for a little longer...?"
"I feel so at peace here..."
Though she was an Incubus, the girl in front of Foster didn't seem to be trying to seduce him. Instead, she simply lay quietly in his arms, presenting herself as the pure, innocent girl next door.
"Dammit, has she figured out my kink already?"
"I do like this kind of style…" Foster silently complained in his mind.
He wasn't too flustered, though. As an experienced player, he understood what was going on!
Despite the Incubus's negative trait—though many players disagreed, saying it wasn't really negative—Heroic Epic had done its best to balance things out.
Because of this trait, the Incubus heroes would gain an additional skill or receive extra attributes and Talent boosts.
If the player didn't mate with the Incubus, their loyalty would gradually drop, but it would take at least four or five days to fully fall.
During that time, Foster could still make full use of her S-rank hero Talent to give his territory a nice boost. When the hero eventually rebelled, he could kill her and get some valuable rewards.
It wasn't a total loss!
Foster was confident that if he could get one A-rank hero token, he could get a second one.
At this moment, he reached out and gently stroked the girl's hair. The smooth texture and the faint fragrance she exuded made him feel a little hot under the collar.
[Agatha·Renondos]
Type: Hero — Demon of Desire
Rank: S
Level: 10
Loyalty: 100
Talent: Original Sin · Lust (This skill grants all soldiers/heroes/Lords under your command an increase in attributes by 100%, and their attacks gain a 20% lifesteal effect. This state is considered an abnormal state and conflicts with other control effects.)
Attributes: Strength 30, Constitution 30, Agility 30, Spirit 30
Skill: None
"No surprise—she's an S-rank. She's powerful!"
Foster felt a mix of delight and regret. The delight was because Agatha's red Talent, though slightly weaker than his Transcendent Evolution, was still incredible!
There were no branch restrictions, all attributes were doubled, and it came with a lifesteal effect!
It could even benefit other heroes and Foster himself.
This was insane! Truly overpowered!
Even the highest-tier gold Talents from top players didn't provide such exaggerated bonuses, not to mention Agatha's red Talent, which had the extra caveat that it turned Lust into an abnormal state, conflicting with other abnormal states.
This simply meant that as long as Agatha existed, Foster and his soldiers/heroes would be immune to all control effects!
It was practically invincible!
Foster felt that this was on par with the red Talents that players themselves could have.
The Incubus-style hero's negative trait was more than compensated for with these unbelievable benefits.
"It doesn't matter, before your loyalty hits zero and you rebel…"
"I will make full use of you."
"Such a great Talent... The items and Equipment I get should be just as impressive, right?"
Foster felt a bit of regret, but suddenly, his expression changed.
Wait!
What's going on with this loyalty?
Why is it at 100?
And why does it show the lock symbol?
Isn't Transcendent Evolution only supposed to work on soldiers?
Huh?
What's happening here??
Foster was confused for a while. It took him some time before he finally realized what was going on. He remembered an old saying from his previous life: players' rank was determined by the Talent they awakened.
Only those with red Talents could make any hero recognize them as a Lord superior to themselves.
Could it be that his black Talent, in terms of rank, meant that all heroes under his command were nothing more than stronger soldiers?
So, when Transcendent Evolution catalyzed an S-rank hero like Agatha, her loyalty was still full!
"Great! Great! Great!"
Foster's eyes gleamed with excitement. Who said Incubus-style heroes were bad? This was exactly the type I like!
"Master, what's so great about it?"
Agatha spoke with a somewhat naïve tone, intentionally or unintentionally swaying her body. Foster could feel the soft, yielding sensation of her body gently moving in his embrace, sending waves of sensation through him.
Then, he realized—Agatha's gaze wasn't naïve at all, it was full of seduction and allure!
"Enough, enough," Foster quickly said.
"I can't play around with you right now, my stats aren't high enough."
He was speechless.
For a brief moment, Agatha's previously innocent expression flashed with a hint of helplessness and desire.
"Master, don't worry. I will use all my power to help you become stronger."
"And then..."
Agatha couldn't help but lick her lips. The soft pink hue of her tongue flickered in front of Foster's eyes.
"Hiss... how could anyone resist this?"
"It's no wonder that when Heroic Epic first launched, there were stories of Lords getting killed in their beds by their own heroes..."
"Alright, since you're going to help me get stronger, let's focus on the task at hand."
Foster used his willpower to gently push Agatha away.
"As you command."
The Incubus girl reluctantly pulled away from Foster's embrace. However, as she stepped back, she couldn't resist lightly licking the exposed skin on his neck.
"Hiss~"
Foster's brow twitched.
It wasn't that he lacked self-control; it was just that the Incubus's unique physiology made even a light touch like that send a strange shiver through his skin, down to his very core.
To put it simply—it was incredibly pleasurable.
After that, Foster found himself with a bit of free time.
What he considered "the task at hand" was to have Agatha lead the Knight attendants to clear out the common wild monsters around the territory.
This was only the first day of Heroic Epic's launch, the day players first became Lords. At this point, each region would generally have only one boss spawn. Hidden quests typically started to appear within the first 1–3 days of a player's territory being established.
With his second-tier branch, Foster's forces were strong enough to clear out the wild monsters around the area.
Not to mention the boost from Agatha's Talent.
For the first time, Foster could finally take a breather from the fast-paced development. He could just sit back in his territory and watch as his Experience points and the progress of Blade of Conquest steadily rose with each notification.
The only problem was that both progress bars were increasing at a slow pace...
Foster estimated that once Agatha finished clearing the territory, he would reach level 12 at most. As for the progress of Blade of Conquest, hitting 10% would be a good outcome.
"At this rate, counting tomorrow's Conquest and Slaughter event, I might be able to push Blade of Conquest to 30%," he thought.
"In other words, the first reward from the golden Talent will probably come around the fifth day?"
He couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. In the early stages of the game, opening rewards even a day earlier or later made a huge difference!
Foster shook his head, then casually opened the in-game world chat function.
As they say, "Success means nothing if you can't go back home to share it."
Now that Foster had a powerful army, he decided to see how badly other players were faring on the first day of this hardcore game. It would be a good way to satisfy his own emotional needs.
The moment he opened the world chat, he saw someone venting in anger.
"This game is garbage, I'm quitting! I've been playing for so long, finally built up some soldiers, and when I encountered a boss, I barely started fighting and got wiped out??"
"Quitting!"
"This trash game isn't worth playing!"
Foster's pupils shrank. He realized that the player who was threatening to quit had a territory very close to his own!
"Wait… this could be an opportunity!"
He spoke with a hint of excitement.
"Tomorrow, I'll have the chance to trigger the Blade of Conquest reward!"