Foster knew that the invaders' iron hooves would soon descend upon his land. However, he wasn't in a hurry. First, he made his way to the two Barracks and recruited all 40 soldiers for the day.
As the recruitment progress gradually filled up, Foster, alongside Agatha, began preparing to face the incoming monsters.
At this moment, with Agatha standing at the battlefield's edge, a faint red glow enveloped all of Foster's forces. This was a massive bonus, doubling all attributes!
Soon, as the fog began to thicken, the first wave of monsters appeared!
Previously, on the first day, Foster had faced only a handful of first-tier monsters. But this time, though still first-tier, the enemies were much stronger — low-level magical puppets that were more powerful than typical first-tier creatures. These puppets also possessed a passive ability called "Mage Armor," which reduced damage.
However, facing a second-tier army with doubled attributes was no challenge for Foster.
With a single command, his knights rushed in, swiftly slicing through the puppets and reducing them to shattered fragments.
Luckily, the enemy numbers were multiplied by five, giving Agatha an opportunity to showcase her abilities.
Her attack method was unique—she summoned a massive, scythe-like weapon made of strange energy, cutting down enemies with terrifying efficiency.
As an S-rank hero, her attributes were far superior to Foster's, who hadn't yet promoted his own class.
"Next wave!" Foster called out. "Ahead of schedule!"
The battle was relatively easy for Foster, as his role was mostly to command and watch his experience bar rapidly fill. Before long, he reached level 11, with the bar continuing to climb toward level 12. Blade of Conquest's progress was also steadily increasing.
By the fourth wave, second-tier monsters began to appear, but they were no match for Agatha's enhanced army, which massacred them without mercy.
The attribute doubling effect was so overwhelming that even second-tier wild monsters were quickly mowed down.
The battle stretched on for quite a while, as even with five times the troops, Foster's army still had to defeat each monster one by one.
Fortunately, as the front lines expanded, the 40 soldiers Foster had recruited earlier quickly returned to the fray, boosting the slaughtering efficiency. The ground was soon covered with glowing orbs of light.
Foster, however, remained calm. While today's event would bring in a massive haul of resources, he knew that the consumption rate for his territory's systems would be steep. Even with all these resources, it was still far from enough.
Then came the sixth and seventh waves of monsters.
At this point, the wild creatures that appeared were stronger second-tier variants—Fire Elementals and Ice Elementals. Their contrasting temperatures scorched the ground, leaving cracks and frozen markings in their wake.
Foster raised an eyebrow, feeling quite pleased.
These elemental creatures had a chance of dropping Elemental Crystals upon death, which were common Weapon Enhancement Materials. Foster knew that some quests offered high-tier weapons quickly, and Enhancement Materials could be sold off to make up for his real-world financial losses.
His mind wandered, and he idly scrolled through the world chat.
At this moment, the event refresh had just occurred, and many hardcore players had already begun their grind, so Foster was greeted with a flurry of complaints.
"Seriously, man? Is this difficulty even right? It's only the fourth wave, and we're already facing second-tier monsters??"
"I can't believe it! Not only have the monsters gotten stronger, but their numbers are increasing too. This is ramping up way too fast."
"What kind of game is Heroic Epic? The difficulty curve is completely broken!"
...
Clearly, the players were feeling frustrated. On the first day, they had been fighting first-tier monsters and gathering resources, but now, on the second day, they were facing large groups of second-tier monsters. How were they supposed to cope with that?
Foster glanced at the chat again, then looked at the scene unfolding before him.
The tenth wave had arrived, and it consisted of nearly two hundred winged, grotesque demon insects. Each one had sharp mandibles and screeched viciously in the air.
Demon-type monsters, which players couldn't normally obtain, were always stronger than other monsters of the same tier. They also had a high rebellion chance unless their loyalty was at 100%.
But even the strongest second-tier branch of demons stood little chance against the ferocious charge of Foster's attribute-doubled Knight Serfs!
The demon insects were quickly torn apart by the onslaught, with Agatha laughing manically as she swung her scythe.
"Ha ha ha!"
"Die, all you rebellious insects!"
She had completely shed the pure, innocent demeanor she had earlier.
As the last demon insect screamed and fell, bursting into a pile of fragments, a message popped up in front of Foster.
"Congratulations, you have completed the second day of the Conquest and Slaughter Trial!"
"Your rating is S+!"
"You have received an S+ rating chest."
"Open the chest," Foster said, his voice tinged with excitement.
What he got this time was just as satisfying.
First, there were five basic resource packs.
Next, two Architectural Drawings.
"You have received a White Architectural Drawing: Well"
"You have received a White Architectural Drawing: Wall"
"Not bad, saved me some trouble," Foster nodded. Both of these drawings could be used to take on tasks in nearby cities. Now, having them come directly from the rating chest spared him a lot of hassle.
The well's function was simple.
In Heroic Epic, everything was rooted in realism, and soldiers needed food and water to survive. Most players, especially early on, didn't go as far as Foster in aggressively hunting monsters. Instead, they had to allocate a significant portion of their forces to find food and water sources.
Foster, however, wanted to maximize efficiency. He made the choice to leave his soldiers hungry and thirsty, as their loyalty wouldn't decrease.
His original plan was to wait until the third day, when soldiers would begin dying from starvation or dehydration if they hadn't eaten or drunk for three days. He would then build wells or mills to remedy the situation.
Now, with the well building already available, his soldiers could survive for up to six days without food or water before death occurred, giving him much more breathing room.
As for the wall drawing, its purpose was exactly as it sounded: it could be used to build walls around his territory to defend against enemy attacks.
Then there were two more items.
"You have received a Branch Recruitment Card."
Its function was exactly as the name suggested: it allowed you to recruit any soldier from a Barracks, up to the daily recruitment limit, without consuming any resources and completing the recruitment instantly. However, the card's limit was that it could only recruit up to Tier 4 soldiers.
"You have received an Exploration Card of the Ruined World."
This was a consumable item that allowed access to explore a ruined territory, likely containing a lot of resources and potential Equipment Drawings. This Exploration Card was the bonus from the S+ rating chest.
Foster knew from his past experience that people often became incredibly wealthy overnight using the Exploration Card of the Ruined World.
Of course, these resources weren't the main focus for Foster at the moment.
What really caught his attention was the Blade of Conquest in his Talent menu. The golden hilt of the sword was now visible, awaiting his call.
At this point, not only was the first sword nearly complete, but the second one had also gained a slight glow, at about 3% completion. Clearly, achieving the second reward from the Blade of Conquest was going to be much more difficult. Otherwise, Foster would have easily drawn the sword, and brilliant light would have burst forth, marking the moment it was in his grasp.
"Let's go for a Second-Order Barracks," Foster muttered to himself. "I'm not asking for much."
Foster's thoughts were focused on the growth of his power, as he eagerly prepared for the next steps in his conquest.
With the enhancement of Transcendent Evolution, turning a Second-Order Barracks into a Tier 3 building would instantly catapult him to a whole new level.
As the dazzling light appeared, Foster saw the familiar building silhouette materialize before his eyes. However, it wasn't the Second-Order Barracks he was expecting. Instead, it was—
"Congratulations, you have received the Tier 3 Barracks: Archer Training Ground."
"Whoa, what the hell?!" Foster nearly choked on his breath. But at the same time, he was flooded with intense joy!
Tier 3!
That meant it could evolve into… Tier 4!
And I still have a Branch Recruitment Card! That means I can recruit a batch of Tier 4 soldiers right now!?
The light continued to shimmer, and—
"Your Talent, Transcendent Evolution, has activated. You have received a Tier 4 Barracks: War Nun's Prayer Hall."
Under a towering pillar of light, a grand cathedral slowly took shape. The sounds of devout prayers echoed from within.
At the same time, outside Foster's territory, a white-haired young man gazed up at the radiant column of light. He froze for a few seconds, then his face lit up with an expression of wild joy.
"I knew it! I knew it! That guy must've had some kind of lucky encounter! What he said about studying the Lord's Heart was just a cover—he's clearly triggered some kind of hidden quest!"
"This time, I've pulled out all the stops and brought in some Tier 2 branches. With the help of you guys and your Tier 2 soldiers, plus the over a hundred Tier 1 soldiers we have, we'll crush his territory!"
The white-haired youth was filled with confident excitement as he prepared for the assault. The thought of defeating Foster and claiming his hard-earned resources was driving him to mobilize his forces with a new intensity.