Chapter 75: All Twelve Stormlance Reach Legendary—Crystal Bastion!
By the time the Shattered Marches Channel finally quieted down, a long while had passed.
After Tobias finished reposting Varek’s old lines, he was the first to stop. The result was already written on the Ranking. Keep chasing them after that, and it stopped being a face-slap and turned into an argument.
Cassian closed the channel.
Only three numbers on the table actually belonged to him.
[Aether Crystal: 3,575,266]
[Free Attribute: 60]
And a Battle Essence reserve he had not totaled precisely, but which was more than enough to keep spending from.
Veyra sat across from him, her wine cup empty.
"Not checking the Exchange this time?"
"Not yet."
"Not touching the sixty points either?"
"Leaving them for now."
Veyra looked up.
"Then what are you looking at?"
Cassian opened the Troop interface.
Twelve names lined up together.
Only one Level was different.
[Eira | Stormlance Valkyrie | Epic | Level 20]
Sigrid and the other ten Stormlance were still Level 10.
He had raised Eira alone to Level 20 because Elara had run into an Epic on the Eastern Mountain Route that she could hold, but could not break through.
At the time, they needed one blade.
So Cassian sharpened one.
Now it was different.
Black Banner had already made one real push all the way to Forgotten Shrine, and the Shattered Marches Ranking was over. The twelve Stormlance were still one of the most flexible high-grade mobile forces in his hands.
Leaving eleven of them at Level 10 no longer had any value.
Cassian lifted a hand.
"Call them back."
Veyra glanced at the list.
"Eira too?"
"Eira too."
"Elara just got used to having her."
"She goes back when we’re done."
Veyra laughed once.
"You make it sound like the soldier you lent out isn’t yours."
Cassian was already opening Elara’s channel.
The background on her side was full of Dwarven hammers striking stone.
"What?"
"Eira’s coming back for a bit."
"How long?"
"Leveling. I’ll send her back after."
Elara went quiet for a beat.
"Fine."
Then she added,
"Don’t decide she’s too useful and keep her after you finish."
"She was mine to begin with."
"That’s why I’m reminding you."
The connection ended.
Veyra leaned back in her chair and looked at him.
"You two are getting awfully natural about this."
"She holds the Royal Hall line."
"I know."
Veyra stood.
"But my Eclipse isn’t going to run around filling every post the Stormlance vacate. The mine routes and patrol lines can cover the gaps under their existing assignments."
Cassian nodded.
"I wasn’t planning to move your line."
This time, Veyra said nothing else.
The Warden Gate lit several times in succession.
Sigrid returned first, dust from the Outer March still on her short spear.
Ten more Stormlance followed her back one after another.
The final Link opened to the Eastern Mountain Route.
Eira stepped through with the Cinderedge Lance still in her hand.
She looked at the eleven women already standing in formation.
"All of them?"
"All of them."
Cassian opened the growth interface.
Eira’s Level 10-to-20 cost had already been established. The other eleven followed the same rules.
[Stormlance Valkyrie ×11]
[Quality: Epic]
[Level: 10 → 20]
[Battle Essence Cost: 1,320,000]
Veyra stood to one side.
"The fight at the gate gave you two million one hundred eighty thousand."
"Mm."
"And you’re spending one million three hundred twenty thousand of it in one click."
"For eleven Level 20s."
Cassian confirmed.
"Worth it."
Golden light descended at once.
Eleven columns.
Sigrid’s breathing deepened first, then another Stormlance, then another. Their Aether signatures climbed one after the next, and the lightning wrapped around all eleven short spears thickened almost in unison.
When the final layer of light disappeared, the loose gravel outside the Hall rolled outward under an invisible pulse.
[Stormlance Valkyrie ×11]
[Level 10 → Level 20]
[Battle Essence -1,320,000]
[Upgrade Complete]
Sigrid looked down at her hand.
The Troop interface did not close.
A golden rim lit around all twelve Level-20 names at once.
[Stormlance Valkyrie | Lineage Advancement]
[Unlock Condition: Level 20]
[Current Quality: Epic]
[Target Quality: Legendary]
[Battle Essence Cost: 200,000 / unit]
Veyra glanced at it.
"So the one million three hundred twenty thousand only brought them to the door."
"Mm."
Cassian selected Sigrid first.
[Sigrid | Stormlance Valkyrie]
[Quality: Epic → Legendary]
[Level: 20]
[Battle Essence -200,000]
A column of deep lightning flashed down and vanished almost at once.
[Advancement Complete]
[Storm Body: Retained]
[Spear Mastery: Retained]
[Thunder Javelin: Retained]
Her combat path remained the same.
Only the Quality had crossed the threshold.
Cassian did not stop there.
"The rest. All in."
[Stormlance Valkyrie ×11]
[Quality: Epic → Legendary]
[Battle Essence Cost: 2,200,000]
Eleven columns of lightning descended at once.
[Battle Essence -2,200,000]
[Advancement Complete]
[Stormlance Valkyrie ×12]
[Quality: Legendary]
[All Current Level: 20]
Sigrid had barely closed the panel when Veyra raised a hand.
"You spent three million seven hundred twenty thousand Battle Essence. Don’t insult it with training poles."
An Eclipse Praetorian walked to the edge of the training ground with his tower shield raised.
"One hit," Veyra said.
Sigrid nodded.
Storm Body flared.
Thunder Javelin left her hand.
BOOM!
Every rune on the black-gold tower shield lit at once.
The Praetorian’s boots scraped across the stone for two full steps before he stopped.
He was still standing.
Veyra raised her hand.
"Enough."
She looked at the shield, then at the twelve Stormlance.
"My line didn’t embarrass itself."
"And your twelve aren’t in the same tier they were a moment ago."
Cassian gave her one answer.
"Worth it."
Eira did not stay long.
Once the training ended, Cassian reopened the Link to the Eastern Mountain Route.
Elara’s call connected at almost the same time.
"Done?"
"Done."
"Level?"
Eira answered for herself.
"Twenty."
Elara paused.
"I know you’re twenty."
Eira glanced behind her.
"My Quality went up too."
"Legendary."
This time, the silence on the other side lasted longer.
"...All twelve?"
Cassian had already stepped away from the Warden Gate.
"All twelve."
Elara drew in a breath.
"Fine."
"Send mine back first."
Eira stepped into the silver gate.
"I was going back anyway."
The light closed behind her.
The other Stormlance returned to their own routes and assignments as well.
The only difference was that when they left, all twelve shared the same Quality and Level.
Legendary.
Level 20.
Less than half an hour later, Celia’s channel lit up.
She was still in the Outer March.
When Cassian connected, the image first showed a gray-white valley.
The rock walls gradually turned translucent crystal from bottom to top. The deeper the view went, the denser the crystal layers became.
Far in the distance, a massive fortress sat against the mountainside as though it had grown directly out of the range itself.
No stone walls.
No wooden gate.
Its entire outer shell glowed with cold white crystal light.
Celia’s voice came from outside the image.
"We didn’t approach."
Cassian’s attention settled on the outer perimeter.
Several thin streaks of crystal light moved between the slopes. One creature swept over a ridge, its spread wings looking as if they had been assembled from overlapping crystal blades.
"Level?"
"Forty-plus on the outermost guards."
"There are stronger ones deeper in."
Celia enlarged another piece of footage.
A four-legged Crystalkin had barely emerged from behind a rocky slope when a row of angled spikes erupted from the ground dozens of meters ahead of it. Another stood higher up and fired a white beam that punched through a rock wall from range.
"Ranged attacks."
"Control too."
"That’s as far as we confirmed."
The system did not provide a complete Building panel.
They were too far away.
Only a few lines could be verified.
[Discovered: Unknown Wild Domain]
[Temporary Identifier: Crystal Bastion]
[Dominant Race: Crystalkin]
[Observed Outer Guard Level: 40+]
[Control: Unknown]
Crystal Bastion.
Cassian stared at the last line for several seconds.
A truly organized Wild Domain.
Not something on the scale of a Ridgewarden outer patrol.
Veyra came over as well.
She could not cross the Domain boundary into the Outer March, so she could only study Celia’s record.
"Want it?"
"Of course."
"Attack now?"
"No."
Cassian answered without hesitation.
"The outer guards are over forty. We’ve already seen ranged attacks and control. We still don’t know what’s inside."
"Going one step closer just means trading people for information."
Celia said,
"The Fountain can reconstruct units formally belonging to Forgotten Shrine."
"If we can bring the corpse and record back."
Cassian looked at the crystal fortress.
"This place is too far from Forgotten Shrine."
"Dying out there isn’t the same as falling beside the Fountain."
Veyra did not praise him for being cautious.
She only asked,
"Who keeps watching?"
"Celia stays on the perimeter."
"Aurelia doesn’t press deeper."
"Blackfang only records entry and exit directions. Don’t touch the Crystalkin."
Cassian paused.
"Don’t attack Crystal Bastion yet."
"Once we’re done with the Hall, keep scouting deeper today."
On the other end, Celia gave only one answer.
"Understood."
The image closed.
Cassian did not take twelve freshly advanced Legendary Level-20 Stormlance and throw them at an unknown Level-40-plus Wild Domain just because their strength had jumped.
His strength had gone up.
His judgment did not need to go down with it.
Less than ten minutes later, Tobias’s channel lit again.
This time his voice was faster than usual.
"Cassian."
"Go."
"A Wild Building just spawned along the southern patrol line."
Cassian looked up.
"Quality?"
"The system didn’t show one directly."
"But it takes Renown."
Cassian’s hand stopped.
"Name?"
"Hall of Renown."
Tobias continued,
"Temporary Building."
"The entrance is already open. No idea when it disappears."
Region Fortune +5 already increased the probability of higher-quality Wild Buildings appearing.
Cassian was not going to claim one spawn was one hundred percent caused by Fortune.
But now that it existed, there was no reason to leave it untouched.
Crystal Bastion was still on the map.
It would not run away because he waited a few hours.
A temporary Wild Building was different.
Cassian was already on his feet.
Veyra glanced at the Crystal record still hanging in the air.
"What about the fortress?"
"Leave it for now."
"I thought you wanted it."
"Wanting one thing doesn’t stop me from wanting another."
Cassian opened the Warden Gate.
Silver light began forming inside the frame.
"Take the thing that can disappear first."
Veyra smiled faintly.
"That sounds more like you."
Cassian stepped through.
Crystal Bastion remained on the map.
It had not been forgotten.
Something with a shorter life had simply taken priority.
Hall of Renown.
If that Building could turn the ten thousand Realm Renown in his hands into something else—
then he would see what his name could buy.