?A NEW INTERNAL TEST PLAN
The new dungeon tasks created by Evé using the spatial crack turned out to run even better than she had initially imagined.
Fearing that the legion of shadows would come again, the Dark-Dwarves not only took it upon themselves the responsibility of maintaining the sealed dungeon’s magical array, but also expressed their gratitude towards the players who hunt shadow monsters every day.
Of course, should the Dark-Dwarves discover that Evé had purposefully left this particular spatial rift open and had even manipulated the protective magical array in order to populate the sealed dungeon with an excess of shadow monsters, then it would probably illicit a different reaction from them.
Nevertheless, regardless of the circumstances, even if the Dark-Dwarves were to learn the actual truth, they would probably not opt to fully close the spatial rift, considering the intact seal that resided deep within it.
Moreover, they too have gained some benefits from players’ hunting the shadow monsters that keeps spawning out from it.
Especially the Fragments of Shadow Gems dropped by the shadow monsters after they were slain. These fragments are a valuable magical materials for the Dark-Dwarves, whose attributes were also predominantly dark as well.
And upon discovering that the Dark-Dwarves were interested in purchasing these fragments at a relatively high price, the elves began selling their loot to them as it became a third outlet for players to dispose of their hunting spoils.
As a result, once players became accustomed to hunting shadow monsters, the newly created dungeon became the primary source of shadow gem fragments within Blackstone City.
In fact, if it weren’t for the twisted and corrupted nature of the land inside the shadow dungeon which can heavily affect one’s soul, the Dark Dwarves would have likely sent their own hunting teams to slay these low-level shadow monsters themselves.
With the dungeon hunting task running normally, along with the help of the dark dwarves, the map of the Deep Rift Cavern had also been finally completed by the players.
In truth, the structure of this particular underground area was quite relatively simple.
The Deep-Rift Cavern is divided by an underground river. On its western side lies an expansive subterranean forest, teeming with numerous creatures and beasts and to the east, is where you’ll find a narrow gathering place for the dark-dwarves, centered around Blackrock City.
It is said that in the southeast corner of the cavern, lies a hidden underground lake that leads to other deeper areas of the underground world…
In actuality, the Dark-Dwarves were in fact one of the earliest factions to migrate from there, whose driven by their intention to avoid wars against the other factions living deeper underground.
Of course, Evé no longer intended to let the players venture deeper underground at the moment. Establishing a connection with the Dark-Dwarves, creating a new monster spawning dungeon, and discovering the underground forest teeming with magical beasts and monsters to replenish her vitality already quite satisfied her enough as it is.
Additionally, another reason was that the players couldn’t venture that far away, since they’ll be out of range of her control and Evé herself lacked interest in further expanding deeper within the world underground.
After devouring the shadow dragon’s quasi-demigod strength and obliterating the Shadow Legion, Eve has also undergone new changes;
【Name: Evé Yggdrasill】
【Race: World Tree (Ancient God)】
【Level: 150 (Mythical)】
【Status: Weak Divine Power】
【Divinity: Nature, Life, Elvenkind】
【Titles: Mother of Nature, Goddess of Life, Matriarch of Elves】
【Divine Power: 673/3000】
【Number of Followers: 552 (Saint (01), Zealot (04), Devout Believers (144) , Shallow Believers (403)】
【Abilities: Absorption, Communication, Bestowal, Enlightenment, Healing, Summoning, Divine Descent, Celestial Domain…】
Just merely devouring the Shadow Dragon had instantly increased Eve’s divine power by nearly 60 points, and the lifeforce she accumulated from hunting the Shadow Legion further boosted her DP by another 50 points.
Combined with the lifeforce provided by the players’ constantly hunting monsters, the faith offered by her believers, and her slow “absorption” and assimilation of the void energy, Eve’s current divine power had skyrocketed to a whopping 673 DP points!
Of course, the most surprising change was the number of her believers.
After the old priest Samuel left Florence alongside a group of Rageblaze Clansmen and started looking for any other scattered elves around the world, Evé has been looking forward as to whether they will eventually bring surprises upon herself.
And after such a long time, she finally received a response from them…
Following his old memories and distinct elven markings they’ve found, Samuel and his companions have finally found some elves whom have secluded themselves in the outer rim of the Elven Forest near the Dark Mountains!
Although these elves weren’t as organized as the Rageblaze Clan was, when all was said and done, they still found more than a hundred individuals within this particular group.
And after Samuel and the others had displayed their “miracles,” most of these elves have decided to abandon their secluded hiding spot and chose to return…
However, the majority of these elves were still on their way, so it would likely take some time for them to reach Florence.
After having cleared out the Orc tribe that had once established itself at the southeastern exit of the Elven Forest, Evé was no longer concerned that these elves would undergo a crisis similar to the one the Rageblaze Clan had experienced during their migration in the past.
Of course, the Dark Dwarves also played a significant role in recruiting these elves this time.
This time, the elven race had helped save the entirety of Blackstone City.
While the world underground follows the law of the jungle and backstabbing allies is quite the norm, the Dark-Dwarves who hold the belief in the Goddess of Death are much stronger than those cultists who follow the Darklord.
Under the tacit approval of their Goddess Hela, the Dark-Dwarves have agreed to the elves’ request and commenced aiding them in locating and rescuing any of their fellow elves who had been once traded as slaves on the black market.
As for Eve’s identity, following the High Priestess of the Dwarves’ prayer to the Goddess of Death, the Shrinelord received a revelation from Hela:
‘She is a newly born true god, the successor of Yggdrasill, the protector of the elves… the God of Nature and Life—Eve!’
Those words were almost accurate.
The only inaccuracy might be that it is not the Divinity that is inherited, but the world tree itself.
Thus, under Hela’s divine revelation, Eve’s role was solidified—
Rather than the actual reincarnation of the World Tree, Evé is now just simply being recognized as a newly born deity that somehow acquired the Divinity of Nature and Life.
Truth within falsehood, and falsehood within truth.
However, how long could such a trickery be used still remains uncertain.
With the passage of time, players had finally reached the limits of their exploration—a radius of 300 kilometers.
With the World Tree at its center, the area within a 300-kilometer radius zone had been thoroughly explored by the initial 1200 beta-testers.
In light of this, the official forum for Elven Kingdom had updated the latest game map, including distribution zones for various plants and activity points for mobs.
Of course, it’s just a cursory exploration.
A 300-kilometer radius zone by all means was not a small area.
Beyond the 30-kilometer safe zone, within the northern part of the Elven Forest, there are monsters that pose a challenge for players to contend with. Furthermore, even farther away, it is rumored that even higher-leveled beings exist…
Currently, with each players’ maps, their worldview appeared as follows:
The central point of the map was the World Tree, and beneath the World Tree was the main city of players—the Chosen City.
Thirty kilometers to the northeast of the World Tree was the former Holy City and the current gathering place for native elves—Florence.
With the City of Florence as the boundary, the area within a 30-kilometer radius was a safe zone where Evé maintained absolute control. Here, there were virtually no monsters left, and it was a paradise and main zone of operation for the life-oriented players whose primary focus is casual and easy going gamestyle.
Beyond the thirty-kilometer radius safety zone, monsters continue to exist, and their strength gradually increases as players venture farther out…
Among them, the northern region of the Elven Forest was considered the most prominent. This zone was filled with expansive forest and approximately a hundred kilometers to the north, silver-ranked monsters would also began to appear.
These formidable monsters were best avoided unless one had the protection of Aél or Berserker.
Conversely, to the south of the World Tree, the strength of the monsters was generally lower, mostly iron-ranked and even apprentice-ranked beings. Also the land in this area was relatively barren.
Around 270 kilometers to the southeast of the World Tree was the southeast exit of the Elven Forest and the former Orc’s Tribe’s domain, now the Black Dragon Castle. It guarded the southeastern passage between the Elven Forest and the outside world.
And about 250 kilometers south of the World Tree is the Dark Mountains.
Monsters near the Dark Mountains generally possessed higher strength, with many also at the silver-rank. This was particularly evident near the Dark Canyon, where the Dark Mountain Range and the Elven Forest met. Rivendell was situated here, and the Spider Queen, Rose, had established her base here.
Three kilometers further south from Rivendell was the Deep Rift Cavern which is also the underground’s entrance.
This… constituted all the maps currently available in Elven Kingdom!
For the 1200 beta-testers, a 300-kilometer radius zone of available playing field was already quite extensive enough.
With the addition of the underground and more players attempting life-oriented gameplay, Evé finally realized that her current manpower was getting insufficient.
Ultimately, 1200 individuals were still too few and it was the right time to recruit a fresh new labor…
However, given the extent of maintenance she would need to allocate to these newcomers, Evé didn’t plan to initiate a public open-beta just yet. Instead, she intended to continue the current closed-beta operation, enlisting and selecting fortunate participants to recruit for the third round of closed-beta testers.
With an abundance of divine power and in preparation for the upcoming religious war against Uller, this time she intended to further expand the number of recruited players—
The third closed beta would recruit 9000 players!
Of course, her selection would be drawn from those who have signed up, but in reality, Evé would select based on information she gathered. She would just somewhat relax the selection criteria compared to the strict criteria she previously used for the first and second rounds.
Moreover, this time around, Evé would further optimize the game. She would address some of the game’s glitches and would further refine the game mechanics with hidden risks, such as the Perfect Resurrection and such.
With the increase in player levels, the Perfect Resurrection system had started to show some flaws, which Eve intended to rectify.
With a detailed closed beta plan in place, Evé once again accessed Earth’s internet and posted the news about the third closed beta on the official website.
And once the news had been released to the public, the entire online world buzzed ablaze once again.
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