After Ethan bought the troop upgrade scroll from Mr. White, he had tasted the benefits, so naturally he wanted to buy even higher-level upgrade scrolls.
But Mr. White told him that troop upgrade scrolls could only raise units to Level 2 at most. Beyond that, it would depend on the unit's own potential.
At the time, Ethan didn't understand what Mr. White meant. Now, he finally got it. It meant the lord himself had to put in the effort before his troops could advance further.
As for the Lord Domain, it sounded impressive.
Unfortunately, the duration was too short.
Only three seconds, hardly enough to do much.
If only it lasted longer.
He'd probably need to level up again for that.
Level 2, thinking about Level 3.
Although upgrading to Level 3 wasn't urgent, Ethan couldn't resist taking a look at the requirements.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Conditions for upgrading to Level 3 Lord]
(1. Upgrade the manor to a town.)
(2. Form a thousand-man army.)
(3. Establish the army's reputation. Fame: 0/10000)
(4. Lead the army to defeat more than three other armies and earn the title of Invincible Army.)
(5. Only capable lords can go further. Challenge the Magic Tree Floor 10.)
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
'As expected, the requirements are even harsher.'
Putting aside everything else, just the first condition, upgrading the manor into a town, required an enormous amount of materials.
[Town: When your territory develops to a certain level, the manor can no longer accommodate the population. Only a town can house more residents, allowing you as a lord to seize opportunities and retain those who come seeking refuge.]
[PS: After upgrading, you can begin constructing a commercial district in your territory, such as taverns, restaurants, clinics, magic potion shops, and more.]
(Locked: View the next level after upgrading to a town.)
[Conditions for upgrading to a Town: Advanced Stone 2275/10000, Top-grade Mud 31165/10000, Advanced Wood 3521/10000, Iron Ore 6302/10000, Vines 2108/10000, Glass 367/1000, Spirit Stones 8849/10000, Earth-element Beast Cores 584/1000, Fire-element Beast Cores 127/1000, Water-element Beast Cores 310/1000, Metal-element Beast Cores 218/1000, Wood-element Beast Cores 382/1000, Wind-element Beast Cores 131/1000, Multicolored Beast Cores 42/100]
"Uh…"
Ethan hadn't even started upgrading yet.
But just looking at the required materials made his chest tighten like he couldn't breathe.
Ten thousand of each high-tier material, ten thousand spirit stones, a thousand of each of the six elemental beast cores, and even a hundred multicolored beast cores.
'Isn't this basically a scam?'
He'd been in this world for so long and had only gathered about fifty multicolored beast cores in total. Where was he supposed to find a hundred?
'Forget it. No point thinking about that for now.'
'Better check how many Sun Worms Jeffery sold for me.'
[World Channel]
[Pinned Announcement: Congratulations to Ethan, Lord of Zone 7, for becoming a newly promoted Level 2 Lord. You have already been left far behind by the Lord of Zone 7. If you don't start working harder, the end of this elimination trial will be the end of your lives. All lords, keep striving.]
The announcement looped repeatedly.
And as it appeared, the entire World Channel, whether allies of Ethan or not, exploded with reactions.
["Damn!"], Player A exclaimed, ["Boss Ethan really lives up to his reputation! While other lords are still struggling to survive the polar night, he's already quietly leveled up!"]
["Damn! Damn! Damn!"]
Blake of Zone 3 @Lord Orin of Zone 4 @Lord Duma of Zone 9, ["I should've allied with the Zone 7 Lord back then! Didn't you guys say you were the strongest in Area A? Strong my ass! The Zone 7 Lord is already Level 2, what about you?"]
["Lord of Zone 3, you're not Level 2 either, so what are you bragging about?"], Lord Duma of Zone 9 shot back, ["If you've got the ability, level up yourself and carry us!"]
["Enough!"], Lord Orin of Zone 4 stepped in to stop the argument, ["Since we've already formed an alliance, we're all on the same side now. What's the point of fighting among ourselves? The priority is figuring out how to surpass Ethan."]
["Surpass him?"], Blake of Zone 3 laughed, ["Do you even know what it takes to reach Level 2 Lord? First, you need a manor. You've all seen that in Ethan's video, so I won't go into it. But there are other conditions you probably don't know, right?"]
["What other conditions?"], Player B asked curiously.
After all, in this misty world, only lords could see the requirements for leveling up to Level 2. Ordinary players had no access to that information.
So naturally, many people were curious just how far Ethan had developed.
["The second condition is forming a ten-man cavalry unit. That means while everyone else is still struggling just to eat, the Zone 7 Lord already has at least ten mounts. Can you even imagine that?"]
The moment Blake said this, a flood of admiration points surged toward Ethan.
[Player C: Admiration +20]
[Player D: Admiration +10]
[Player E: Admiration +15]
[Player F…]
Countless admiration points poured in. Ethan glanced at them with satisfaction.
They had jumped by over a thousand in an instant.
As expected, mounts were every player's dream, no matter where you were.
["Besides that,"] Player B pressed on, ["are there any other requirements?"]
["Of course. There are five in total. The first two are the hardest, but while the last three aren't particularly difficult on their own, completing all of them together is no easy task,"] Blake of Zone 3 continued, ["The final three requirements are: a unified uniform and insignia for your unit, leading your residents into battle, and having more than half of your residents reach 100% loyalty before you can upgrade to Level 2 Lord."]
["You players might not understand what that means, but any lord should know just how hard it is to get over half your residents to max loyalty."]
["These residents can't be punished or scolded! Damn it, they're all so damn precious, supposedly your subordinates, but they argue back at every turn. And if you lose your temper, their loyalty drops!"]
["And that's not even the worst part! Sending residents to fight should be a given, right?"]
["But those idiots actually say I'm sending them to their deaths! In the end, after a battle, it's not them protecting me, it's me protecting those useless residents!"]
["They're nothing but dead weight, eating my food, wasting my materials, I don't see what damn use they have!"]
["Especially now during the extreme cold night, they're nothing but parasites! Damn it!"]
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.