Chapter 356 A Unique Gift
Following the Rank promotion, Alex's daily routine remained unchanged, with two days spent in the Ancient World and one day on Earth, just as before.
Alex distributed his time between dealing with the organization's needs, leveling to reach the peak fourth Rank, and refining his body with his elemental flame.
On Earth, Alex kept refining his body to increase his stats to reach the required level for the Second Rank promotion and refine his veins to get them accustomed to elemental mana, which was the second condition for the rank promotion.
Before the Rank promotion, Alex was expecting to spend close to two years and a few months to satisfy the two requirements for the second Rank promotion, but after the promotion he was progressing much faster than he expected.
Zoe, the AI in the training chamber, calculated that at his pace, even with his progression slowing down as he got stronger, it still wouldn't take any longer than a year and three months to meet the two requirements.
In the following nine days, things went as Alex had expected, with one million players pouring into the Malefis Domain, bringing a wave of happiness among the inhabitants.
Alex had decided to collect profits from the five factions every seven days for the first few months because there would be a lot of expenses that needed to be covered for both the persona of Shiekh and the organization as things got heated.
Alex collected a direct payment of eighty-one million and some change in gold coins, a large number of items ranging from weapons, potions, herbs, ores, and so on.
Alex could pick and choose from what he wanted, but the five factions also had the option to withhold things they wanted to keep for themselves and pay their value in galactic coins or credits decided by the system.
Alex also had the option to complete his 30% share from what was available, so in the end, he would gain something of value without lifting a finger.
After the selection, the organization earned a hundred and six million gold coins in total after selling what weapons and resources they didn't need back to factions, 4.8 million in galactic coins, information, and various other resources.
The organization earned around a hundred and forty million worth of assets, which was good as players were just settling with the inhabitants, and Alex expected this number to increase tenfold after a few months and only get better as time went on.
The situation with the persona of Shiekh was developing fine, as all six guilds, including the fallen blades guild, which was currently ranged 114th that his father's business partner son was a member of, made a deal to sell their shares at lower than market price.
All the payments to the guilds had already been made, and Venedikt had also secured twelve merry groups to work for him while also successfully spreading the rumors of where his waste wealth was coming from.
The first batch of the Mystium Ore also appeared in the market through rumors, as rumors were flying that some dwarf forge king had found a way to create the legendary metal.
It created quite an uproar among both players and NPCs, especially among the blacksmiths, as they desperately wanted the rumors to be true and hoped to acquire the metal to work on someday.
The rumors about the Malefis Domain had also spread like wildfire as big powers were trying to make silent contact with the organization through his organization members and the five factions.
Wild offers were posted into the members' chats or given through private messages using the golden message tickets every few hours by some power, with few even willing to match the same conditions as the five factions.
Alex ignored them, not bothering to make any statement because he was not going to make a deal and was just waiting for the chaos to begin to do things as planned.
After nine days, the two-week period was over, and it was the day of the banquet that needed Alex's presence at the Royal Vampire Palace.
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[The Present Day]
Alex sat on his throne, his long, dark hair cascaded over his shoulders, with him adorned in an opulent dark rob embellished with golden buttons and sophisticated gilded lines, projecting an air of simplicity yet majesty and distinctiveness.
Standing by side were his two guardians, Lady Margaret and Elder Darrien, both attired with a keen sense of appropriateness for the momentous occasion.
Lady Margaret donned an exquisite crimson gown, accentuating her regal presence. Her hair, elegantly arranged in a high bun, framed her captivating features. A hint of crimson lipstick adorned her lips, adding to the allure of her breathtaking countenance.
Elder Darrien, draped in a traditional vampire robe adorned with rich, harmonious colors, conveyed an air of timeless authority. Despite his stoic expression, an undeniable charm radiated from him, adding an intriguing layer to his formidable demeanor.
'I wonder if Lady Elmara was able to modify the artifact?' Alex thought as he couldn't help but question in silence, and just then, space blurred for a moment, and Varon appeared with a smile on his face.
Varon donned a sleek, midnight-blue suit tailored to perfection, adorned with subtle gold accents, enhancing his naturally friendly and charming demeanor.
Varon presented Alex with a sleek black box, and with eager anticipation, he quickly opened it. Inside lay a pendant with a pristine white chain, and its end was adorned with a shimmering blood-red gem that appeared to shift and change like a liquid, encased in a pristine white crystal shaped like a teardrop.
"Queen Bellatrix would truly value your gesture in presenting this gift to her daughter, appreciating the efforts you've invested in making it happen." Lady Margaret said with a sweet smile as she examined the pendant.
Alex couldn't just go to the banquet empty-handed, and after knowing Queen Bellatrix's efforts to set a perfect stage for his first appearance, he couldn't just give any gift.
After the Rank promotion, Alex was given access to the second section of the Ruler treasury, and what was stored inside made the first section with eleven hundred or items look like a trash dump.
The sheer number of items in the second section crossed seventy thousand, and in the first section, where only weapons, armor, and a few scrolls were present, the second section had almost all kinds of items.
There were weapons, armor, scrolls, rare potions, recipes, and even battle puppets, with their strength reaching Seven and Eight Rank, and there were also sets of War ships capable of leveling continents.
After roaming the second section, Alex was shaken to his core, as everything was of immense value, something that would be close to impossible to find in the outside world.
There was not a single item below middle Unique quality, and the sheer number of legendary items surpassed twenty thousand, with weapon armor and other equipment being a third of the total count.
There were also Mythecal quality items, ranging from low to peak, totaling 318 in number. While the majority were disposable items such as scrolls, amulets, or other single or multiple-use items, the equipment alone accounted for 78 items.
There were few items even among the stash that required Alex to reach a certain level of strength and Ruler authority before he could take them, which included higher Rank War ships, battle puppets or the broken time, and other elements of magic scrolls.
The best part was that it all belonged to Alex as the Ruler, for him to use as he pleased, but for the time being, he didn't take a single item, not even replacing his armor or rings with better ones.
Alex didn't replace his equipment because he was still getting used to his strength and was far from utilizing it properly, so changing his equipment at such a time would negatively affect him.
However, he did make a catalog of everything and registered the whole second section as the warehouse of his organization so he could take whatever items he decided to replace his current items with and do so from anywhere in the world, but he also kept every single item private for the time being not giving any members access to them.
As for the gift he prepared, he could have taken it from the treasury, but after seeing Queen Bellatrix arranging an event for him to shine, he felt it was only right to put some effort into a gift to show his appreciation.
So, he decided to commission a custom-made artifact from Lady Elmara and collect the main materials himself.
Alex decided on a pendant and decided to use the Royal Dryad Core as one of the ingredients collected from the special grade boss, and Lady Elmara asked him to collect three more materials.
The core of a Sanguine River Hydra, a World Boss Moster at the peak of Sixth Rank that truly made Alex make a lot of preparation and use all his trump cards except the Dragoon Monarch Aura to him down.
It was a hectic battle, even with a Litch and an Elemental, both being middle Sixth Rank and Alex using Ruler Pride, burning through ten intelligence stats every minute on top of him using Dragon Might to boost Alex's strength.
Alex was also forced into using the traits of second heart, Mana Amplification, and Mana Overdrive to deal enough damage to the Hydra to cope with his monstrous regeneration.
The second and also third material had been easily acquired, the first being a rare form of Moon Ore that the dwarven king happily gave him for sending the players, while Alex acquired the Life drop, a legendary material from the elves by owing the elven matriarch a simple favor.
All the effort had been worth it since now Alex had a peak legendary grade emulate that granted the wearer various unique healing buffs that reached newer heights under the full moon.
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