SSS-grade Orb, Stormy Night.
This was the item I was asked to craft by Lee Ga-eul, who had given me the rare material called the ‘Corrupted Imugi’s Yeouiju.’
At first glance, it looked ordinary, but once infused with magic, the orb’s internal power surged and swirled like a raging storm.
What I was about to do now was—
“Bang!”
Transform this orb into the iconic weapon of a mage: a staff.
Changing it wasn’t that difficult, after all.
Usually, turning an orb into a staff was simply a matter of placing the orb atop a wooden stick.
But I had no intention of settling for such a simple approach.
[Progress 10%……]
Besides, what kind of wood was I using now?
This was no ordinary wood—it was an SS-grade material, a branch from the Divine Tree.
There was no way I could just use such a precious branch as a mere support for the orb.
“Bang!”
Swinging the hammer, I began refining the Divine Tree branch.
Refining wood—sounds ridiculous, but thanks to blacksmithing skills, it was possible.
“Bang!”
With every strike, the branch grew and started to harmonize with the orb.
As if they had been one from the start.
Like the orb had sprouted naturally from the Divine Tree’s fruit, they melded seamlessly.
I’d thought since the orb was already complete, the crafting wouldn’t take long, but I was wrong.
Refining the Divine Tree was far more challenging than expected.
Trying to fuse the two naturally raised the difficulty level sharply.
Only after engraving runes did—
[Crafting complete.]
[‘Altar of the Storm’ acquired.]
Lee Ga-eul’s staff for Cheongryong was complete.
Altar of the Storm.
The name probably came from the orb’s name, ‘Stormy Night,’ and the ‘Altar’ meaning from the Divine Tree’s branch.
Both the appearance and the name pleased me, so I checked its details.
[Altar of the Storm]
Form: Staff
Grade: L (Legendary)
Requirements: Level 300 or above, Alliance with Vulcanus Guild
Description: A staff forged by Vulcanus for the allied ‘Cheongryong, Lee Ga-eul,’ fusing a branch of the Divine Tree with the Imugi’s Yeouiju.
Attack Power: 8,000
Abilities:
1. Storm: The user’s magic converts to storm attributes; all magic used becomes water and wind type or these attributes are enhanced.
2. Favorable Wind: Offensive magic no longer harms allies but instead increases their movement speed and boosts buff efficiency.
3. Headwind: All magic gains a ‘knockback’ effect, pushing enemies back to interrupt attacks, skills, and magic, while increasing movement hindrance effects.
4. Yeouiju: Maintains part of the orb’s original power, ‘Stormy Night.’
5. Altar: Enhances the orb’s innate ability, ‘Stormy Sky.’ Normally, all magic consumes mana, but under the Stormy Sky, mana consumption disappears.
Once again, an L-grade item.
Crafting L-grade items was tough at first, but now, as long as I had genuine SS-grade materials, I could create them without fail.
That meant my skills had improved significantly.
By the way—
“The orb’s abilities are maintained?”
Even if only partially, the orb ‘Stormy Night’ retained its powers.
That alone was impressive, and the staff’s abilities perfectly suited Cheongryong.
Especially the last ability—it looked truly remarkable.
“If mana consumption disappears, does that mean unlimited magic use?”
Although summoning the ‘Stormy Sky’ required spending all available mana, once the storm was called forth, one could cast any magic freely.
Using this ability in front of a boss monster?
As a mage, it would be an unbelievably powerful weapon.
Honestly, among all the L-grade items I’d crafted so far, this one looked especially outstanding.
“With this, even if anomalies occur during the Age of Destruction, I’ll never want to break the alliance.”
While thinking that, I was making other defensive gear for Cheongryong when familiar names came through the news I had playing.
[Breaking news]
[Two of Korea’s Five Great Guilds—]
[ Jeon Mongju, Guild Leader of Royal Guild, and Lee Seongjun, Guild Leader of Noblesse Guild, have been arrested by the police on bribery charges.]
[ It was reported that the Hunter Association President personally caught the Vice President accepting bribes and subdued him.]
“Huh?”
The President and Vice President of the Hunter Association.
The Guild Leaders of Royal and Noblesse Guilds.
What on earth was going on?
Turning my head, I saw the Vice President with a face swollen like a toad, desperately covering it as the police dragged him away.
Since he was subdued by the President, it seemed the President had punched him.
It was surprising that no one questioned whether the President had used excessive force.
As far as I knew, the Vice President wasn’t an awakened one, just a regular person.
For a normal person to be pummeled by an awakened individual—or even just by a big muscular guy—was terrifying to imagine.
Well, if he was taking bribes, he got what he deserved.
[Guild Leader Lee Seongjun was confirmed to have used Guild Leader Jeon Mongju’s financial influence to spread bribes in various places.]
Currently, the police and the Hunter Association are investigating and purging those who accepted bribes from the two guilds.
[This revelation explains why Noblesse Guild was receiving so many privileges, leading to widespread criticism and mass departures among its members.]
“Wow, it’s real. That place had quite a few Rankers, too.”
Noblesse Guild.
A guild known for its refined image, now suffering from member departures.
If this continues, Noblesse Guild might collapse altogether.
Even if a giant guild, Rankers joining Noblesse probably had little to lose.
Now that their connections were cut, they’d lose the special perks, too.
[Royal Guild is in the same boat.]
[It was revealed Royal Guild served as a channel for slush funds for the strongest corporations and is now undergoing large-scale raids…]
[In response, the strongest corporations distanced themselves, claiming Royal Guild had already become independent…]
Royal Guild was in the same situation.
The powerful corporations that had backed them cut ties.
Without that solid financial backing, Royal Guild’s wealth would surely be shaken.
Most Royal Guild members had joined because of that wealth.
In this state, no one would stay.
Maybe two of the Five Great Guilds of Korea were already collapsing.
This much was easy to infer from the news.
But what came next was an astonishing surprise no one expected.
[Just in now!]
[Blue Guild has announced its resignation from the ranks of the giant guilds.]
[Recently, Blue Guild’s upper Rankers have been leaving one after another, greatly weakening its influence.]
[According to Blue Guild insiders, their status as a giant guild has been severely shaken after consecutive failures in rank 8 Gate raids.]
[The more this happened, the more members left, eventually forcing them to give up their position as a giant guild.]
[Even those remaining in Blue Guild are uncertain about when they will leave…]
“Even Blue Guild?”
Blue Guild gave up their spot as a giant guild.
Well, it was less giving up and more losing the power to hold that position.
Better off than Royal or Noblesse Guild, which seemed on the verge of disbanding, but still destined to become little more than a middling guild that could only sigh over past glories.
“So that leaves only two now? Changcheon Guild and Mir Guild?”
What a situation.
Three of the Five Great Guilds suddenly crumbled.
It seemed Korea now only had two giant guilds left.
[Thus, only two of the Five Great Guilds remain.]
[Mir Guild and Changcheon Guild Guild.]
[People are now calling for Vulcanus Guild to be promoted to giant guild status.]
[Though smaller, Vulcanus Guild has many top Rankers like Berserker, Shadow King, and Spirit Emperor.]
[Other members are growing rapidly, and their S-rank Gate raid success rate ranks among the top five, making them a worthy candidate.]
[The Hunter Association has stated that while setting conditions for accepting defectors from the three fallen giant guilds, they also recognize Vulcanus Guild’s qualifications…
“Eh?”
I heard strange rumors.
That Vulcanus Guild should be counted as one of the giant guilds.
In other words, instead of the three vanished guilds, Vulcanus would take their place, forming a new triumvirate: Vulcanus, Changcheon, and Mir.
In response, not only the Hunter Association but also Cheongryong and Mir Guild accepted Vulcanus Guild and welcomed Rankers from the fallen guilds.
What in the world was happening?
Then—
“Ring ring ring—”
Nam Bora contacted me.
I could guess roughly what she’d say, but I answered the system call anyway.
– “Vulcanus, did you see the news?”
“Yes, I just saw it.”
– “Regarding that matter, an enormous number of applications have been pouring into Vulcanus Guild.”
“You never announced recruitment.”
“But it seems they’re applying anyway. Most are Rankers from the three fallen giant guilds.”
“Some even came to the guild in person.”
“To the guild?”
“Like Hunter Park Kang-chul.
Luckily, Park Kang-chul chased them all away, but what can we do?”
“Ugh.”
Rankers from giant guilds.
Their skills were already proven.
The question was whether I had the capacity to accept them.
‘I think I can manage.’
The equipment for regular guild members was handled entirely by the production team.
I only made gear for the team leaders and deputy leaders.
Most of the gear I’d already crafted just needed level cap adjustments, nothing major.
So I could easily take on one or two more teams.
“Maybe one or two teams at most? We shouldn’t blindly accept just because they’re skilled. Let’s do interviews again like before and choose carefully.”
– “Of course.”
– “I’ve already removed ambiguous Hunter applications.”
– “Not many salvageable Hunters came from Noblesse and Royal.”
“Blue Guild still has some Rankers with decent attitudes.”
– “They also have decent potential.”
“I’ll come to the interviews, too, like last time.”
– “Okay, I’ll organize it so you won’t waste your time, Vulcanus.”
Thus, Vulcanus Guild decided to officially start recruiting.
I hadn’t planned on recruiting new members, but the saying goes: ‘Strike while the iron is hot.’
Soon after, Vulcanus Guild publicly announced recruitment.
—Vulcanus Guild has begun recruiting members.
—This confirmed their intention to expand through recruiting Rankers.
—The Hunter Association is also recognizing Vulcanus Guild.
—In the public eye, Vulcanus Guild, together with Changcheon Guild and Mir Guild, is counted among Korea’s proud Three Great Guilds.
Before I knew it, Vulcanus Guild had become one of Korea’s three giant guilds.
And it didn’t end there.
Not long after, I saw—
[Three Great Guilds ᄃᄃ]
It’s actually happening.
—Wow, that’s scary.
—Is this Vulcanus’s big plan?
—I thought it was nonsense, but it’s real.
—Did Vulcanus plan all this?
—So finding bribery charges against Royal and Noblesse to topple them was actually Vulcanus behind the scenes?
—Taking Blue Guild’s Rankers to weaken their power was also basically Vulcanus?
—It’s true.
[The grand scheme of Vulcanus is not over yet.]
Everyone knows Vulcanus formed an alliance with Changcheon and Mir Guild.
Though called an alliance, it’s basically Vulcanus kneeling Changcheon Guild and Mir.
So Vulcanus’s plan isn’t just to be one of the three giant guilds but to secretly control all three, reigning supreme over the Hunter World.
– Are you reading too many novels? Haha.
– But it’s all fact.
– Changcheon Guild and Mir really did bow their heads.
– The Hunter Association is basically following Vulcanus’s orders, too.
– Is this real? Haha.
– Vulcanus… who is he really…?
– What is this? Mom, I’m scared.
“No, what is everyone talking about? Really……”
Vulcanus had become the massive hidden force manipulating Korea’s giant guilds and the Hunter Association.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.