Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory
Chapter 374: Three blocs

Chapter 374: Three blocs

"Yeah..." Emily nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I’ve been living in Wintergrasp Hold for a while now. At first, I felt kind of isolated, but once I got to know everyone, they’ve been really good to me! They even let me recruit Tier-1 to Tier-10 regular units inside Wintergrasp Hold!"

"That’s actually pretty generous of them..." Ethan nodded thoughtfully.

Then he looked at her and asked, "So, what’s your plan now?"

"I want to try building something here," Emily said without hesitation.

"You mean stay in Kazmordûn?"

"Yeah..." She nodded again. "The Dwarves here, sure, they’ve got their flaws, but they’re straightforward and honest. Dealing with them doesn’t wear me out. It’s a totally different vibe from when I was in the Eight Grand Duchies."

"Even though the Castle faction represents the Light Alliance, I always felt like those guys were fake..." Emily wrinkled her nose, clearly unimpressed.

"That’s fair," Ethan said, his eyes flickering with agreement. "Compared to the Castle faction and their blind devotion, the Dwarves are definitely easier to get along with."

He remembered asking Auremax a long time ago about the major factions. Auremax had told him that while each faction had powerful core units, they also came with some pretty glaring flaws.

The Angels of the Castle faction? Hypocrites.

The Behemoths of Stronghold? Dumb as rocks.

The Devils of Inferno? Sneaky bastards.

The Undead of Necropolis? Cold and heartless.

The Hydras of Fortress? Unstable and aggressive...

Then there were the high mages, Phoenixes, and Kirin from Tower, Conflux, and Tidesworn—aloof and arrogant, every last one of them.

As for the Dragons from Dungeon and Forest factions?

They were a whole mess on their own—greedy, prideful, rebellious, and obsessed with absolute freedom.

And then there were the Dwarves.

Their biggest flaw? Stubborn as hell.

But on the flip side, their strengths were just as clear. They were passionate and sincere. If you ever had the chance to fight alongside them, you could trust them with your back without a second thought.

That was the Dwarves’ core philosophy: Never surrender. Never bring shame. Be proud of who you are. Stand tall, protect everything—your people, your home, your honor, and your friends and allies.

And always safeguard the Temple and Flame Forge of the Fire Dragon Arkath.

"But if you’re planning to stay in Kazmordûn, I probably won’t be able to help you much, at least not for a while," Ethan said. "Not just because of the faction wars, but geographically, Kazmordûn is way out there."

"I know..." Emily nodded, smiling. "But I want to give it a shot. If I can rise up on my own in Kazmordûn, I’ll be in a much better position to help you later."

"And if I fail, well, I’ll just come find you again!"

"Alright then..." Ethan shrugged, not pushing the issue.

Truth be told, he actually respected her decision.

Rising through someone else’s support always felt a little hollow. But if you could make it on your own—even if you failed—you’d still gain something valuable. Something that could carry you further down the road.

"Anyway, enough of that. I’m gonna hit up Isabella. Let’s go grab a bite together," Ethan said.

"Yeah, about that... you might be disappointed," Emily said, shaking her head.

"Why?" Ethan blinked, caught off guard.

"Isabella’s been offline for almost as long as you have—maybe not quite as long, but close to six months now. And honestly, we probably shouldn’t bother her. She’s still in the middle of a mission," Emily said with a smile.

"Mission? What kind of mission?" Ethan blinked, surprised.

"I’m not totally sure," Emily said, thinking back. "But last time I talked to her, she mentioned it had something to do with the Conflux faction."

"Conflux, huh?" Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Then he just shrugged. "Alright, whatever. Guess it’s just the two of us then. By the way, do you know what’s going on with the Eight Grand Duchies lately?"

"I’ve heard bits and pieces," Emily nodded. "But if you really want the latest on them, I’d suggest talking to someone higher up." She lifted her hand and pointed upward, lowering her voice slightly.

"Higher up?" Ethan frowned. "You mean... the government?"

"Yeah..." Emily nodded slowly. "Actually, they’ve been trying to reach you for a while now. And from what I heard, it sounded pretty urgent. But no one could get close to you—literally. And waking you up? Impossible. In the end, they had no choice but to give up. Oh, and you probably don’t know this yet, but while you were stuck in the game for the past year, the real world’s changed. A lot."

"Changed how?" Ethan asked, his tone sharpening.

"Right now, under pressure from the Russian Empire, the world’s basically consolidated into three major power blocs," Emily said, her voice calm but serious.

"Three blocs?" Ethan blinked, his expression turning a little strange.

"Yep..." Emily nodded again. "A little over a year ago, not long after the faction wars kicked off, the top player in Russia—White Bear Tsar—somehow managed to gain the favor of the Castle faction. No one knows how exactly, but he pulled it off. He evolved and reclassed into a Hero Unit from one of Castle’s Tier-9 special hidden unit lines: the Solar Paladin."

"Solar Paladin?" Ethan repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Emily’s expression turned grim. "According to Aeliana, the Solar Paladin is one of Castle’s top three elite cavalry units. Insanely powerful. But the real kicker? After White Bear Tsar reclassed into a Solar Paladin..."

"They say his Hero Tier jumped to orange—Legendary level."

"Orange Legendary?" Ethan blinked, clearly surprised. "A Tier-9 hidden unit class making it to Legendary? That’s some serious luck."

From his own experience with orange-tier Legendary heroes, that kind of promotion usually required a Hero Unit born from at least a Tier-10 or higher unit line. That’s when the odds of hitting Legendary really started to climb.

Then again, nothing in this world was ever absolute.

Hero Units that originate from Tier-9 units becoming orange-tier Legendary heroes? Yeah, it’s happened before—but it’s rare. Super rare. And even when it does happen, those heroes usually cap out at the lowest ranks of Legendary—maybe a D-grade, or if they’re lucky, a C-grade at best.

For Ethan, that kind of thing didn’t even register. He’d seen better. He had better.

But for Earth’s current player base—and for the nations scrambling to keep up—that kind of leap was nothing short of epic.

No wonder Emily looked the way she did.

That heavy expression on her face? It made sense now.

...