Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 43: A huge mistake

In Glory Lords X, even buildings within private castles often have prerequisites—things like blueprints, special resources, or prerequisite structures.

And without exception, any building that comes with such requirements is always incredibly valuable!

Take the Cathedral of Light, for example. It allows you to recruit Tier 6 units—Vestals—and even Tier 6 heroes!

This thing is absolutely priceless. A game-changer.

After all, Vestals are pure support units—healers who can restore health and even resurrect fallen allies! If used correctly, their value could rival that of Tier 9 or even Tier 10 units!

"Liora, thank you." Ethan expressed his gratitude sincerely.

Once the Cathedral of Light was fully built, Emerald Castle’s foundation would be significantly strengthened!

"It was my duty." Liora smiled, bowed slightly to Ethan, and then turned to leave. "Honorable Baron, if you ever have the chance, come visit me in King’s City. Farewell!"

"I will. Take care."

Ethan waved as Liora departed.

...

"Valkarion!"

"Valkarion!"

Behind him, Ethan suddenly heard excited voices calling his in-game name.

Turning around, he saw LoS_Blackblade, LoS_Starlily, and the rest of their five-person party emerging from the underground necropolis, looking absolutely thrilled.

Their faces were practically glowing with joy—grinning from ear to ear, clearly exhilarated.

"How’d it go?" Ethan asked.

"Valkarion, we can’t thank you enough!"

Blackblade bowed deeply to Ethan. Seeing this, LoS_Starlily, LoS_Voidwalker, and the others immediately followed suit, bowing just as deeply, their faces full of gratitude.

"Valkarion, thank you!"

Their sincerity was undeniable.

"No need to be so formal." Ethan chuckled, motioning for them to stand.

Only then did LoS_Blackblade and the others straighten up. Still buzzing with excitement, Blackblade spoke up:

"Valkarion, our quest reward was two random Tier 7 units, plus some resources and gold. What about you?"

"Same as you—some resources and gold. And two Genies." Ethan answered openly, not hiding anything.

"Genies?!"

The moment Ethan said it, LoS_Blackblade and the others froze, their pupils contracting in shock.

"T-Tier 9 units... Genies?!" Blackblade stammered.

"Yeah." Ethan nodded, then turned to LoS_Starlily, whose face was still frozen in disbelief. "Starlily, your Legion of Shadows would probably want to buy these, right?"

"Hiss—"

"Wait, what?! Valkarion, y-you—"

The entire group nearly jumped in shock.

Their eyes were wide with disbelief as they stared at Ethan like he had just said he was selling a dragon.

"Valkarion, you’re actually selling the Genies?" LoS_Starlily was completely stunned.

This was a Tier 9 unit!

Do they even understand what that means?

As long as they didn’t go up against the top 1,000—no, even the top 500 players in North America—these Genies would make them practically unstoppable in the region!

And yet, Ethan was just... selling them?

Were they dreaming?

At that moment, their minds went completely blank.

"Yeah, I need some gold. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be selling them. You interested?" Ethan remained calm, completely unfazed.

Sure, Tier 9 Genies were rare, but compared to an 11-Tier Unicorn, they were nothing.

Besides, he was already confident he could take Unicorn Glade in Wishing Valley.

The only thing he lacked now was the recruitment cost.

Sometimes, you had to give something up to gain something greater.

And in this game, time was money.

So, selling the Genies was the obvious choice.

"Of course we want them! Absolutely! Let me check with my brother—wait just a second!" LoS_Starlily said hurriedly, immediately messaging her brother, Doombringer.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Not even ten seconds later, Ethan’s inbox was bombarded with messages from Doombringer.

"Valkarion! My sister says you’re selling Tier 9 Genies?!"

"Are you serious? You’re not messing with me, right? This is Tier 9 we’re talking about! Why would you—"

"Where are you right now? I’m coming to find you!"

"Wait for me! You better wait for me—"

...

At the same time, LoS_Starlily turned to Ethan. "Valkarion, my brother says he’s coming to meet us."

"No need. Tell him to wait for me in Silver Horn City." Ethan shook his head.

Then, after a brief pause, he glanced at LoS_Starlily and spoke slowly.

"Starlily, keep today’s events a secret."

LoS_Starlily was momentarily stunned, but then she nodded firmly.

"Understood. Valkarion, don’t worry—I won’t tell anyone."

"Thanks." Ethan nodded, then turned to LoS_Blackblade and the others.

Before he could even say anything, they immediately caught on and nodded in unison.

"Valkarion, don’t worry. We’ll take this to the grave. Not a word to anyone."

"Appreciate it."

"No, no, we should be the ones thanking you! You helped us get such an insane quest reward—we owe you big time."

"We’re all friends here. No need to be so formal. Let’s go—back to Silver Horn City."

"Got it!"

...

Silver Horn Tavern – A Few Hours Later

By the time Ethan arrived at Silver Horn Tavern, Doombringer had already been waiting anxiously.

But he wasn’t alone.

Sitting with him were LoS_Ironfist, the Vice Guild Leader of Legion of Shadows, and LoS_Stormrider, the guild’s third-ranked ace.

At first glance, LoS_Stormrider looked to be in his thirties.

But in reality, he was pushing fifty.

Of course, in today’s world, that wasn’t considered old at all.

Ever since the Global Gaming Era began—when in-game power could manifest in the real world—human lifespans had increased dramatically.

The moment a player’s character advanced to Hero status, their lifespan extended significantly.

Even the lowest-tier Common (White) Heroes could easily live to 120 years old.

And for Rare (Blue) Heroes?

Medical estimates suggested they could live well past 150. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

As one of Legion of Shadows’ top players, LoS_Stormrider had successfully advanced his character to Rare Hero status.

So at fifty, he was still in his prime.

But right now, his expression was anything but pleasant.

Tension at the Table

"Doombringer, have you completely lost your mind?" LoS_Stormrider sneered, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"This quest was originally ours. The rewards were supposed to be ours. But not only did someone else swoop in and take them, now you’re actually planning to buy them back? What the hell are you thinking? Running a charity?"

His sharp words made Doombringer’s face darken instantly.

"Stormrider, cut the crap. What are you trying to say?" Doombringer snapped.

"Oh? You really don’t get it? Fine, let me spell it out for you."

LoS_Stormrider smirked coldly, leaning forward as he continued, his voice laced with disdain.

"Any B-rank quest resource is an extremely valuable strategic asset, no matter where you put it. The moment LoS_Blackblade and your sister realized the quest difficulty had increased, they should have immediately reported it to the guild. We would have taken over and handled it properly. But what did they do instead?"

"They went behind the guild’s back and brought in an outsider to help. Do you understand how ridiculous that is? Do they even respect the guild? Do they even care about the rules?"

At this, both LoS_Ironfist and Doombringer visibly tensed.

But LoS_Stormrider wasn’t done.

"Let’s call it what it is. At best, this was a desperate, reckless move. At worst?"

His smirk widened, his voice turning sharp.

"This was betrayal, Doom. Plain and simple. Selling out the guild’s interests. Do you get it now?"

"Without Legion of Shadows backing them, do you really think those nobodies would have gotten this far on their own?"

Doombringer stiffened, his expression frozen.

His face turned pale, then flushed purple with anger.

For a moment, he was speechless.

Earlier, he had been too excited about the deal to think about the bigger picture.

But now, after LoS_Stormrider’s brutal breakdown, his heart sank like a stone.

Because he knew—LoS_Stormrider was absolutely right!

LoS_Blackblade, the others, and his sister, LoS_Starlily, had seriously messed up.

And not just a little. They had made a huge mistake.

"So what do we do now?"

After a long silence, Doombringer finally spoke, his voice slow and measured. "I don’t think they did this on purpose. It was probably just an honest mistake. As for Valkarion... he probably didn’t think that far ahead either. He’s just strapped for cash, right?"

"Stop making excuses for them."

LoS_Stormrider cut him off coldly. "Doombringer, do I need to spell out for you what a 9-Tier unit means? Why the hell should we, the Legion of Shadows, take such a massive loss for no reason? Are you going to cover this hole they just blew in our finances?"

Doombringer’s face went pale. He had no response.

A 9-Tier unit started at at least a million gold.

Two of them? That was two million gold—gone.

The guild should have earned that two million, but instead, they were now losing it.

And 9-Tier units weren’t just expensive—they were nearly impossible to get.

There was no way he could personally cover that kind of loss...

"Doombringer, this whole situation is unacceptable."

LoS_Ironfist finally spoke, his tone calm but firm. "Starlily is your sister, and she’s the one who caused this mess. That means you bear some responsibility too. You understand that, right?"

Doombringer felt a chill run down his spine. He exhaled slowly before answering, "Vice Leader, don’t worry. I’ll make sure my sister takes responsibility for this."

"Good."

LoS_Ironfist nodded slightly, his eyes glinting with thought. "But for now, stay out of it. Stormrider and I will handle the negotiations. If this were just a few 8-Tier units, we could take the hit and move on. But 9-Tier units? That’s a whole different level. The value is too high, and more importantly, the implications are different. If we just roll over and pay up, what does that say about the Legion of Shadows? Where’s our reputation? Our authority?"

"But Vice Leader... are we really going to risk burning this bridge over this?" Doombringer hesitated, clearly uneasy. "Forget the unit trade for a second. If we go too hard on him, this deal is dead. Losing a supplier for high-Tier units would be a huge blow to us. And besides... you know that guy. He’s unpredictable. There’s something about him that’s... hard to read."

"Enough."

LoS_Stormrider cut him off again, his voice dripping with disdain. "What, are you scared of him? You think he’s that dangerous? What kind of joke is this? Are you seriously suggesting that the Legion of Shadows should be afraid of one guy?"

"That’s not what I meant!"

"Then what do you mean?" LoS_Stormrider’s eyes narrowed. "Doombringer, I’ll be blunt—if you keep defending him like this, I might start wondering if you had a hand in this mess too."

"LoS_Stormrider, watch your mouth!" Doombringer snapped, his voice sharp with anger. "Don’t throw baseless accusations at me!"

"Enough. Both of you."

LoS_Ironfist stood up, his expression unreadable as he cut through the tension. "That’s enough arguing. Doombringer, this is how it’s going to be. When we talk to him, you stay quiet. Stormrider and I will handle it."

"...Understood, Vice Leader."

Doombringer let out a heavy sigh, clearly frustrated but unwilling to argue further.

A short while later, Ethan, LoS_Starlily, LoS_Blackblade, and the others arrived at the tavern.