Chapter 53: A New Growth Path

Ethan’s figure appeared back inside his room at the City Lord’s residence.

He was sitting on his bed when he left, and he was still sitting on it now.

Ethan stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders before standing up.

"Twenty-four hours."

He had spent a full day inside the Thornheart Secret Realm, yet it felt much shorter.

A smile appeared on his face as he thought about everything he had collected.

There were hundreds of First Order herbs, dozens of Second Order herbs, and several Third Order herbs.

And then there was the Thornheart Flower.

A Fourth Order plant.

"Really a good harvest."

The Thornheart Flower alone was enough to make things a little troublesome for the Verdant Alchemy Hall.

As for the Silvercrest Guild, he would probably have trouble with them too.

Ethan didn’t care.

"If they want trouble, they can come."

Ethan checked the herbs he had collected from the Thornheart Secret Realm.

Most of the First Order herbs were common enough that there was no reason to keep them.

He decided to sell those.

The Second Order herbs were more useful, so he kept some and planned to sell the rest.

As for the Third Order herbs, Ethan kept all of them.

He had no shortage of space in his inventory, and these herbs could become useful later.

The Thornheart Flower was different.

Ethan had no intention of selling it.

The City Lord could easily handle the herbs he wanted to sell. Ethan didn’t need to waste time looking for buyers himself.

With everything sorted, Ethan closed his inventory.

"That’s settled."

He then opened his status panel. ℴℴ𝘮

[Panel]

Name: Ethan

Race: Human

Level: 14 (1%)

HP: 1,000/1,000

Mana: 500/500

Profession: Legion Summoner (EX)

Innate Talent: One Mind, One Legion

Title: Hell Slayer

Attributes

Strength: 885

Agility: 886

Constitution: 885

Spirit: 1,689

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0

Ethan looked through his panel.

"Everything looks good."

With the help of the Tear of Spirit, his Spirit had reached 1,689.

At this rate, it wouldn’t take more than two or three days to reach 2,000.

His other attributes were also good. Even his HP had increased to 1,000.

The only problem was his Mana.

"500 is still too low."

Divine Flame required 1,000 Mana just to activate.

At his current Mana pool, he wouldn’t be able to use it anytime soon.

Fortunately, Ethan knew there were ways to increase Mana capacity.

The Order Academy had several opportunities that could help with that.

"I’ll deal with it after I get there."

Ethan shifted his attention to the Profession section.

[Profession: Legion Summoner (EX)]

[Description: A profession that commands countless legion types. Unlock new legions as your level increases. Every legion possesses unique soldiers and its own growth path, while granting you an exclusive Divine Legion Skill.]

[Skill: Legion Formation]

[Description: Create a summoning formation to recruit legion members, deploy them from the Legion Space, or recall them at your command.]

[Innate Talent: One Mind, One Legion (Divine)]

[Description: Every member of your legion is connected as one. You can perceive through their senses, always know their location and status, and all beneficial effects gained by you are shared with your legion.]

[Legion Capacity: 29,600]

[First Legion: Shadow Wraith Legion]

[Growth Path: None yet]

[Members: 1,000]

[Enhanced Shadow Body: Shadow Wraiths can hide and move through shadows. Their bodies can merge with shadows, making them difficult to detect.]

[Legion Skills]

[Spectral Claw: Forms sharp spectral claws that can directly damage the target’s life force (HP).]

[Phantom Chains: Creates spectral chains that can bind targets and restrict their movements.]

[Divine Skill: Shadow Veil]

[Description: As long as at least one Shadow Wraith remains hidden within a shadow, Ethan’s presence, location, aura, and traces cannot be detected by perception abilities.]

[Second Legion: Solar Elemental Legion]

[Growth Path Requirements: 1,000 Members, Solar ore]

[Solar Body: The body is formed from solar energy and can withstand extreme heat. Solar Elementals are immune to fire and heat.]

[Legion Skills]

[Solar Ray: Condenses the energy within the Solar Elemental and releases it as a concentrated beam of solar energy.]

[Solar Dash: Converts the body into solar energy for a short period, greatly increasing movement speed.]

[Divine Skill: Divine Flame]

[Mana Cost: 1,000]

[Description: Creates a divine flame that burns everything it touches. The flame cannot be extinguished by ordinary means and will continue burning until its target is destroyed or it is dismissed.]

Ethan looked at the Legion Capacity which growth rate had changed.

Until Level 10, his Legion Capacity had doubled with every level. Now, it increased by 1,000 per level.

"So the doubling was only for the early levels."

It made sense. Giving a new Legion Summoner such rapid growth at the beginning would allow the legion to develop quickly, but the growth had to slow down eventually.

Ethan nodded and shifted his attention to the Solar Elemental Legion’s growth path.

[Growth Path Requirement: 1,000 Members, Solar Ore]

"Finally. The growth path is here."

The requirement of 1,000 members wasn’t a problem. He could increase the number of Solar Elementals once his Legion Capacity grew.

The Solar Ore was different.

Ethan already knew about it.

Solar Ore was a Fourth Order resource formed in places with extremely concentrated solar energy. It was rare, but Ethan knew where he could find it.

"I’ll just need to get one."

Ethan closed the panel and stepped out of his room.

He went straight to the City Lord and handed over the herbs he wanted to sell.

The City Lord was surprised by the amount of herbs and couldn’t help asking where Ethan had gotten them.

Ethan only gave him a simple answer.

"I got lucky."

The City Lord clearly didn’t believe him, but he didn’t ask any further.

The herbs were quickly sold through the City Lord’s connections.

And just like that, several hours passed.

By the time everything was settled, Ethan had sold all the herbs he didn’t intend to keep.

The total came to 100,000 Gold Coins.

Ethan looked at the amount and smiled.

"Not bad."

The City Lord checked the time.

"It should be about time."

Ethan looked up.

"Are we leaving now?"

"The Academy representatives are waiting."

The City Lord stood up.

"They’ve already brought the transport."

Ethan followed him out of the room.

Aria was already waiting outside.

She had clearly been waiting for a while, and the moment she saw them, she walked over.

"Finally."

The City Lord gave her a look.

"You’re the one who insisted on coming. Don’t start complaining now."

Aria crossed her arms.

"I wasn’t complaining."

"You were."

"I was just saying that you took too long."

The City Lord shook his head and led them toward the large open grounds behind the residence.

The area was big enough to accommodate a flying vehicle, and one was already waiting there.

It was the transport prepared by the Order Academy representatives.