Chapter 162: Better and More Efficient
"Now that you have become outer disciples of the sect, all of you will have access to our resources," Uswyn’s voice sounded calmly. "However, how much you receive will depend on your strength and abilities. The sect’s resources were earned with everyone’s blood and sweat; therefore, they require corresponding strength to be obtained."
At that moment, everyone looked up, and then they saw that figure floating, approaching them.
"Each month, you will receive only scarce resources, and to obtain them, you will need to do a lot of work. In essence, at first, you won’t be much better than workers."
Uswyn finished, then nodded. Everyone felt their bodies become lighter and the space around them distort, taking them away from that place.
...
When space stabilized, Priam and his faction found themselves in a new environment.
Most of them let out exclamations of surprise when they realized this was practically a world straight out of a fairy tale.
It was a small mountain around one kilometer tall. Lush trees filled the surroundings, and fragrant grass covered the entire ground. From the top of the mountain, they could see far into the distance in every direction.
The roar of a waterfall and the murmur of water mixed with the cries of unknown birds, giving the place a vibrant vitality.
At the top of the mountain where they stood, there was a cave. The stones of the cave had been polished to an extreme shine, looking very beautiful.
At the top of the cave, there were several huge inscription runes. Priam could clearly feel that these runes were slowly absorbing Ether from the environment into the cave.
"This will be your home now. This particular cave is the main cave. It has a divine inscription that makes the Ether inside extremely dense, reaching a level you can’t even imagine."
A voice sounded in their ears, but Uswyn couldn’t be seen anywhere.
"The caves of the other ordinary disciples of the faction are around this place. There are one hundred similar caves in total, and you can organize them however you want."
Uswyn’s voice finished. "This mountain and region are your faction’s territory. Soon, someone will come to properly register all the members of the faction. You can rest for now."
The people transported here were all from Priam’s faction. The others were nowhere to be found.
They were inside the main territory of this branch of the outer sect. The region they were given was immense, and they were only newcomers. That alone was enough to imagine how large and frightening even just this outer branch was.
At that instant, Priam turned to Dandara and the 1,200 Mages. Everyone focused on him, full of nervousness and expectation.
"You did well. I didn’t intend to recruit you when I allowed myself to help you during the entrance test; because of that, you don’t owe me anything. But whoever wants to stay will be welcome in this faction. However, I must warn you about something very important."
"I don’t care about your current strength. All of you came from different places and had to deal with several adverse situations to be here. But now... you have received a unique chance to grow and change your fate. As for me, I won’t tolerate someone wasting something so valuable. If you want to stay, know that you won’t have any rest and will be pressured to give 110% of yourselves all the time. Being weak today is not a crime, but staying that way forever is certainly a grave sin."
Priam spoke in a very serious tone, firmly believing in his words.
He had learned the hard way, being slapped in the face by life several times, the meaning of being weak.
Because of that, he would never again lose a chance to become strong. Therefore, the people who wanted to follow him had to keep in mind that the path would be absurdly dangerous, and if they relaxed, they would die quickly.
Everyone stayed silent for a moment. Then, Priam finally thought of the system, looking at the green windows he hadn’t paid attention to before.
[High increase in ’Morale’ with a relevant audience identified]
[+6,000 GP]
Suddenly, Dandara’s voice sounded excited. "Boss, don’t worry. I’ll take charge of organizing them, and I’ll personally kick out anyone who’s slacking off."
Priam nodded.
"Great, from today onward, you will be the faction’s vice-leader. The entire organization of the army is in your hands. As for these three here," he pointed to Shione, Lumiere, and Flaris, "they are my generals."
[An ally’s Loyalty has evolved]
[Dandara Growlyn] | Loyalty: High+ (UP)]
[+1,000 GP]
Everyone in the faction clenched their fists, excited. Dandara especially; she had an expression of extreme contained euphoria. Without delay, she moved them outside and began distributing those who wanted to stay in the caves.
Priam, Shione, Lumiere, Flaris, and Dandara, who occupied the highest positions in the faction, would live in this central cave.
Priam entered, assessing the interior. Pressing a stone button beside a stone door, it slowly opened.
A pure wave of energy hit him.
"What dense Ether!"
Shione exclaimed, excited. Since they were still Mages, having plenty of Ether available to absorb was essential for them to advance. Now, since they were no longer in the Mortal Plane, they didn’t need to use crystals and could absorb it naturally.
This main mountain was extremely spacious. There were half a dozen rooms, as well as a large hall.
After checking everything inside, Priam turned to the three of them.
"We have to prepare. We placed first this time, so we got this luxurious place to stay. But if we fail the sect in future competitions and work, we can lose everything quickly. In other words, we can’t relax." He spoke slowly, and the three of them clenched their fists.
"All of us are only at the elementary level, while the other faction leaders are at the fifth level, and their soldiers aren’t too far behind. Because of that, you should focus on advancing as quickly as possible."
Priam paused, taking a deep breath and looking out the window.
"Besides... there aren’t only five new factions. In this outer branch we’re in, several other older and more powerful ones will probably compete with us at some point."
The three of them became much more serious.
They were only youths from the Mortal Plane, but the fact that Priam had put them at the top right away had placed a huge target on their backs.
"Besides that, there are several other outer branches of the sect, all with factions, that will also, at some point, enter the competition with us for resources. In short: things may be several times harder than we imagine right now. So, the competition will definitely be extremely fierce." Priam completed, speaking every word calmly.
"I don’t want to scare you, but... there’s no easy solution to this. We’re just people from the Mortal Plane, without extra resources or contacts... and our army, besides being small, is made up of mediocre Mages... and I’m still being kind with that assessment."
This time, the three of them became truly worried, understanding the obvious thing Priam was saying. Effort alone wasn’t enough. They were destined to fall, and that fall would not be light.
"Anyway... I’ll get straight to the point. You should do what I said before, focusing on raising your levels and then training with the soldiers. As for me... I’ll go out... and look for trouble... cough, cough... I mean, look for opportunities for us to grow faster. The sect is very large, and I’ll be the adventurer at first."
The three of them were stunned. Priam had always trained with them, and he seemed to hate wasting time interacting with people or doing random things. Now, he wanted to do the opposite of what he had always done?
Priam merely smiled, not wanting to answer their doubts.
Unfortunately or not, he needed to find ways to get even more points from the system. That was his best and most efficient way to become stronger.