The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 1110: Immortal Azov

Azov turned the bracelet in his hands for a moment, then took out a Mythic Grade Holy Stone.

”Please make another of these stones for me. I wish to give it to my successor in celebration of his advancement.”

Karl nodded. ”Your successor in the Clergy, or as Regent of Sholaha?”

”Both. He is reaching the peak of Totem Rank now, and it is only a matter of time before he can take over the day-to-day operations of the nation. Then, when and if he reaches Immortality, he can take over my position in the Clergy, and I will retire to the Immortal Realm.”

Karl nodded. That meant that this was an extra important gift, so he wondered if he should have the large stone carved into a statue. It was a milky white stone brimming with holy power, so it would make an excellent gift as a dragon carving.

But actually adding the spell to that would be a nightmare.

So, Karl formed the spell on the stone as the others watched silently.

”There you go. It should work perfectly now. But I’m sure you know that if you try to test it, there is a good chance that it will bond to you instead.” He warned.

Azov smiled. ”Oh, I’m well aware of the phenomenon. I will pass this to him now, and then we need to have a discussion about a few other topics.”

Then Azov opened a portal and handed the stone through to someone, who made a startled noise, but was cut off in the middle of his first word as Azov closed the portal.

”Portal token linked to my office, a relic from my predecessor. Very handy.” He explained.

Karl smiled, trying not to laugh at the fact that he had obviously just cut off whatever question his assistant had for him.

Most likely it was about the random Totem Ranked item that had been dropped on the desk without any form of explanation. But he was the leader of the nation, so it could have been about nearly anything.

”Now, I have brought the leaders of your Alliance together for a reason. I have spoken with the court Seer, and they determined that your Alliance was on the ascendant, to a degree far greater than any of the other Alliances in the nation.

Unlike some insecure leaders, I’m not threatened by powerful residents.

However, a large financial imbalance between Guild Alliances is not optimal for the region. More than that, a large power imbalance does not suit my goals of social stability.

In next year’s Totem Ranked Challenges, I will be placing a new restriction, and I thought that you should be the first to know of it. Each Champion may only compete for one Dungeon trial. It should clear up the backlog of competitors going for multiple dungeons until they win one.

But it will also stop certain competitors from claiming multiple Dungeons in the name of their Alliance.”

Karl chuckled, and the Immortal smiled at him.

”You’re not quite alone. There are two others who took multiple Totem Ranked Dungeons this year. I considered just making all the trials start at the same time, but that was a logistical nightmare to arrange judges and referees for.”

Deve poked Karl in the side. ”And there is already a rule against competing above or below your Rank, so you can’t go for the easy pickings in the Mythic Rank.”

Azov rolled his eyes at the Druid. ”Do you really think that he could claim a Mythic Dungeon?”

A chorus of affirmative responses filled the room, and Deve laughed. ”Unlike the Guild Challenges, there is no rule against using bonded pets in the trials. How do you think that it would end when he brought out five Totem Ranked beasts with Limited Invulnerability and superfast regeneration?

You might as well say that he’s mugging them once the Behemoth and the Demonic Spider get a grip on his competitors.”

Azov sighed. ”I see your point. All the more reason not to change the rules about the challenges themselves. If you’re the strongest at your Rank, that’s that.”

”So, your goal is to stop us from becoming obscenely wealthy by capping the number of Dungeons that we can control?” Karl asked.

Azov made a noncommittal gesture. ”It’s a start, but the Seer says that it’s not even close to enough to limit the imbalance, so don’t worry too much that you will be left impoverished.

I talked to Lord Drodh, and he informed me that your Guild has been good about complying with his requests not to flood the market with dangerous items.

I believe that something similar might be a suitable request for the Nara Group Guild Alliance. Equipping all your members is a noble goal, but spreading dozens of Totem Ranked items a day through the open market would be disruptive.”

Karl shrugged. ”Well, I have limited amounts of raw materials to work with, and even more limited amounts of crafting time. So, the damage would be limited. But I see your point. Even five Totem Rank, Totem Grade weapons or armour pieces a day would cause chaos.

The dungeon loot here really is trash compared to even the Overlord Ranked Dungeon in Bara. At least that dungeon drops all Overlord Ranked crafting materials.”

”There are Overlord Ranked Dungeons that do drop better loot, but they tend to be monopolized, as even here, there are only so many Dungeons to go around, and most of them have entry limits.

The best only open once a month, but some of the others open daily and only allow a few groups. So, the Guilds closest to them set up guards to keep anyone else from entering without an agreement.

I let it slide because ultimately, an Overlord Ranked Dungeon doesn’t really matter, and none of the Guilds that engage in such behaviour are Crafting Guilds, so they can’t even use the materials they loot. They have to sell them all wholesale.” Azov explained.

”And because they have to sell, they don’t unbalance the system, and most of the trade goods get shipped out of the country because Sholaha has the vast majority of the powerful Dungeons.” Karl realized.

”Exactly.”