Desolate World

Ace could oversee whoever had done good jobs by their accumulation of guild coins from the list. At the moment, the top 10 of the guardian list had left behind the others by some distance. They were:

1. Emily (level 3, human, bard, 94 points)

2. Troy (level 4, human, runemaster, 90 points)

3. Evan (level 3, angel, sharpshooter, 84 points)

4. Ruby (level 3, shadow, shadow knight, 82 points)

5. Alonso (level 3, dwarf, blacksmith, 80 points)

6. Cody (level 3, elf, elven hunter, 79 points)

6. Anna (level 3, gnome, earth mage, 79 points)

6. Oza (level 3, dragon (dragonling), 79 points)

9. Hanzo (level 3, goblin, ninja, 78 points)

9. Paul (level 3, dwarf, alchemist, 78 points)

Ace had observed the list every hour. In the beginning, the list was really dynamic. A name could leapfrog from rank 50 to rank 5. Or a rank 32 to rank 3. But only two names could maintain their rank consistently. They were Emily and Troy. 

For Emily, as a bard, she should do singing in the restaurant mission from the beginning. The requirements of the missions were easy as you only needed to be a bard, and got the improvement of the restaurant's supervisor. But doing the mission needed tenacity, as the mission needed her to sing for an hour each time. And she had maintained 1st rank for at least 4 hours, so she had done it for more than 6 hours. 

As for Troy, he was a runemaster. As he was the first runemaster that the guild had, Sofia surely dumbed a lot of equipment for him to engrave runes on them. It was done to cultivate him and of course to upgrade the products of the guild further.

She had heard from Sofia, there were 3 ways for upgrading a piece of equipment, accessory, or weapon. 

First, by enchanting them with a monster core. With this method, the item would get a small adding in an attribute. However, the price would be the level requirements for wielding it would be increased by 10 levels per upgrade. 

So if you had a high grade but low-level equipment, you would be able to use it to a really high level. Although the bonus attribute of the item would be less than an original high-level item, it would have a superior grade. And the real quality of an item was mostly decided from its rank, not its level requirements.

Second, by making it part of a set. It also needed an enchanter or a gnome earth mage to do the job, but it also needed a rare monster's heritage. A monster's heritage could make 3 to 6 pieces of equipment into a set. It entirely depended on the quality of the monster's heritage.

With this method, you would get a big addition of an attribute. And the interesting thing was, the attribute addition from the set would also increase, as the pieces of the equipment were upgraded through enchantment.

Third, by inscribing a row of runes on a piece of equipment. With this method, a piece of equipment would get an effect addition. For example, causing a certain debuff, dealing a type of elemental damage, adding a certain debuff immunity, adding a certain elemental resistance, etc.

However, the success rate of this method was really small. And once the process of enchanting failed, the equipment would become waste. The only way to increase the success rate of enchanting was to increase the inscribing mastery of the runemaster. So, a runemaster needed a rich backer to grow. 

For his guild, investing in Troy was surely a worthy gamble. And looking at Troy's level and guild points, Ace was sure they had invested in the right person. As it would be impossible for Troy to get experience and guild points if he made a lot of mistakes. 

As he would only get a minimum experience if he failed in inscribing the runes on the surface of a piece of equipment. And he wouldn't get any guild points through a failure. So, he had succeeded in inscribing many runes despite having level 1 mastery. It meant he was a meticulous person.

As for the other top ten members they had created a pretty large gap to rank 11 in the possession of guild points. It meant they were capable, as they could choose the best work for themselves. 

Completing guild missions was similar to completing missions from NPC. As guardians would receive experience, dirac, and maybe items. While the dirac and the items usually were prepared by the quest giver, the experience was determined by the system. Because of that, logically, guardians could level up by completing some missions.

As Ace thought about the new members of his guild, he had arrived in front of his house. He could still see the light of a light golem from the ventilation above the door. 

After Sofia made the summoning scroll that could summon light golem, she wanted to teach the 5 writers and 5 painters personnel to make it. As using the light golem as the light source was more efficient and cleaner than torches or candles, she was sure it would be popular. Unlike a light sphere that only had 24 hours lifespan, a light golem could live for a long time, as long as it could absorb mana in the environment.

Sofia was sure the guild could make much money from selling the scrolls. But, they had to wait for the writers and painters to increase their writing and drawing mastery to level 6. Yes, a painter could also make scrolls, as scrolls were basically a combination of writing and drawing. Because of that, if the painter personnel didn't have jobs in making pictures, murals, or painting, they could also draw scrolls. 

However, as their skill levels were still 4 or 5, it would take maybe a month for them to be qualified to draw the scroll.

"I'm home!" Ace then shouted and knocked on the door.

He didn't have to wait for too long, As the door was opened from inside.

"Welcome home, honey, " Sofia said as she opened the door.

***