Chapter 612: The Lord of Dragon’s Roar
’That’s the power of Divine Artifacts, and now that’s what I’m talking about.’
Marcus was feeling pretty damn good about himself, but he didn’t have time to bask in the satisfaction. He immediately activated the skill on his Lightning Violet Pearl Ring.
"Lightning Teleport!"
A flash of lightning tore through space, and Marcus and Pebble instantly reappeared away from the Thunder Drum Beast’s corpse.
Sure, he’d wiped out every Thunder Beast within ten yards, but there were still more than thirty monsters farther away, and they all had ranged attacks. The moment his Blackflame Ice Flower finished, those distant Thunder Beasts had already unleashed a volley in his direction.
Even with Adamant Shield Wall reducing the incoming damage, more than thirty attacks landing at once still tore away roughly 15,000 HP, nearly half his health bar. Yeah, staying there wasn’t an option.
Marcus didn’t teleport far. The lightning carried him and Pebble straight back to his pets, placing them just behind the two Sea Demon Souls that had been absorbing the monsters’ aggro.
"Hundred Phantom Light Strike!"
He and Pebble unleashed the skill simultaneously.
"Kill!"
There was no reason to hold anything back now. Marcus and his pets went all-out, tearing through the remaining Thunder Beasts in less than two minutes. Once the battlefield was quiet, they began the cleanup, collecting the dropped equipment and harvesting the Millennium Thunder Beast Horns from the corpses.
This time, luck was finally on his side. He managed to harvest one horn from the boss’s corpse and another two from the ordinary Thunder Beasts. More tears, and he’d earned those, every damn one of them.
Marcus checked the loot dropped by the Thunder Drum Beast and its minions. There were four pieces of Golden equipment, but unfortunately, there was no Mythic equipment, no Demon-tier equipment, and certainly nothing Divine.
Still, two of the Golden items were rings, which were always useful, and there was something even better among the loot: a pet egg.
—
Thunder Drum Beast Pet Egg: Hatches into a Tier 6 Thunder Drum Beast.
—
"Tyler, you lucky bastard. First boss you come with us, and you get a pet egg. Want it?"
Marcus tossed the egg over to Tyler without hesitation.
A Tier 6 pet was pretty damn good, probably enough to put it somewhere in the top five hundred pets worldwide, but compared with Marcus’s own pets, it wasn’t anything special. Raising one from scratch simply wasn’t worth the effort for him.
And there was no point giving it to his women, either. Once they got attached to a pet, getting them to replace it was practically impossible, even if a much stronger pet came along later. Better to keep the truly valuable ones for when something worthy showed up.
Marcus glanced at his experience bar. Level 53, 80% progress.
His pets, Goldie, Lyanna, Camillo, and the Seven-Colored Divine Eagle, were all Level 49 as well, each of them just one step away from Level 50 and their second growth phase. Not bad.
"Emily, hang tight here. These Millennium Thunder Beast Horns are a pain to harvest. I’m going back to grab some Luck-boosting items. I’ll be back in five or six minutes."
After setting up his teleport through Wanderlust, Marcus returned to the Nightmare Auction House and collected the Luck-boosting items Boss Blaze had prepared for him. Before leaving, he opened the guild channel and sent out a message.
"Anyone want some free levels? Get your asses to Thunder Dragon Ravine. I’m power-leveling."
With that, Marcus teleported back and threw himself into the grind.
Eight straight days.
For eight days, he did almost nothing but kill Thunder Beasts and harvest their horns. He barely stopped long enough to eat or sleep, spending practically every waking moment grinding away at the quest.
And finally, after all that work, he had collected one hundred Millennium Thunder Beast Horns. More tears, and this time, they were genuine tears of relief.
After experiencing firsthand how absurdly difficult this quest was, Marcus had a pretty good idea of just how ridiculous his achievement was. Finishing it in eight days was already insane, and he seriously doubted anyone else could have done it that quickly. Give this quest to another player, and they might still be stuck in Thunder Dragon Ravine trying to gather the required materials.
Those eight days of grinding had also pushed Marcus to Level 54. All of his pets had reached Level 50 and entered their growth phases, while his guildmates had made considerable progress of their own. Even Boss Blaze and Path to Heaven, who normally leveled at a much slower pace, had reached Level 49.
Another two days, and they’d be ready to take their Level 50 trials.
Oh, and the Thunder Drum Beast had respawned twice during those eight days. Marcus killed it both times and obtained another pet egg from one of the kills. That one went to DragonBlade.
Once everything was finally taken care of, Marcus looked at the contents of his inventory. One hundred Millennium Thunder Beast Horns were neatly stored inside, along with the two Heavenly Thunder Leopard Horns. That was enough grinding for one lifetime.
"Drinks!" Marcus shouted through the guild channel. "Magnolia Restaurant. Now!"
Two hours later, Marcus leaned back in his chair with a satisfied grin.
"Call your girlfriends. We’re going to Twin Wing Island. Surfing, relaxing, whatever you want. We’re taking a break."
The proud smiles from his women were more than enough to make him feel accomplished, while the thoroughly envious expressions from his bros were even more satisfying. Marcus enjoyed both for a moment before activating Wanderlust and teleporting straight to Dragon’s Roar Town.
He was back.
"Mayor! I’m back!"
Marcus strode into the town hall, startling the mayor, who looked up in surprise. Recognition quickly spread across his face, and the man hurried forward and bowed.
"Sir Guardian..." The mayor’s eyes suddenly landed on the badge pinned to Marcus’s chest. His expression changed instantly, and his jaw nearly dropped. "Sir! You’ve already been promoted to Purple Eagle Guardian? In only a few days? Your future truly is limitless!"
The mayor looked almost happier about the promotion than Marcus himself. After all, Marcus had saved Dragon’s Roar Isle and somehow survived the Storm Seal. In the eyes of the people of Dragon’s Roar Town, he’d already become something of a legend.
"This? This is nothing."
Marcus was in an excellent mood, and the mayor’s praise landed perfectly. He reached into his inventory and pulled out the golden token engraved with the words Lord of Dragon’s Roar.
"Check this out."
The moment the mayor saw it, his eyes widened.
"Dragon... Roar..." he murmured, reading the words one at a time as his voice trembled.
Then his expression changed completely.
"My Lord!"
The mayor hurried forward and bowed even deeper.
"Your humble servant, Mayor Lucas of Dragon’s Roar Town, pays his respects to the Lord of Dragon’s Roar!"
The game didn’t have a kneeling mechanic, but if it had, Marcus was pretty sure the mayor would have been on his knees already. The sheer respect felt damn good, and Marcus couldn’t help enjoying the moment as he straightened his back and put on his best official voice.
"Rise."