Mystic Calling：Stone of Glory-Chapter 151: A brand-new castle outpost

At the same time, Ethan wasn’t paying much attention to what was happening online.

For him, the world of Glory Lords X was everything!

A day later, Ethan received the unit rental fees from Nathaniel, Caesar, Xavian, and the others:

28 million gold coins, over 1,000 crystals.

With a grin, he and Seraphina took off toward Emerald Castle in Sylvanwood.

This was a fortune! Combined with Emerald Castle’s existing resources, it was enough for him to recruit a Tier 13 Green Dragon and a Tier 13 Ancient War Tree!

Trading a Tier 12 Champion Knight and a Tier 12 Magic Elemental—which were only rentals—for a Tier 13 Green Dragon and a Tier 13 Ancient War Tree?

That was an insane deal. Pure profit.

Just like that, after another half a day, Ethan and Seraphina arrived back at Emerald Castle in Sylvanwood.

Without wasting any time, he headed straight for the Dragon Cliff, the recruitment site for Tier 13 Green Dragons!

[Dragon Cliff]

Allows you to contract and recruit Tier 13 unit: Green Dragon.

Available units: 1/1

Recruitment date: First day of each in-game month.

Recruitment cost: 15 million gold, 800 crystals.

At the same time, a system notification chimed in Ethan’s ears.

"Would you like to recruit a Tier 13 Green Dragon?"

Ding! Player Valkarion has a recruitment discount. Adjusting cost...

Ding! Recruitment cost adjusted to 9 million gold, 480 crystals!

Like there was even a question!

Ethan nodded without hesitation. "Recruit!"

RUMBLE—!

The entire Dragon Cliff trembled violently, erupting in a dazzling, blinding light!

"ROOOOAR!"

A deafening dragon’s roar shook the skies!

A massive, terrifying Green Dragon, its entire body shimmering with an emerald glow, burst out from the Dragon Cliff, spreading its wings wide as it soared into the sky!

It circled high above before finally descending, its enormous form gradually shrinking.

By the time it landed, it had condensed into a more manageable size—about six feet tall.

THUD!

It landed firmly in front of Ethan.

"Grrr..."

With a low, rumbling growl, the dragon lowered its head in deference, its tone filled with humility and respect:

"Greetings, my esteemed Lord."

"Your glory is my own!"

At the same time, Ethan’s vision filled with the Green Dragon’s status panel.

[Green Dragon]

Tier: 13

HP: 15,000

Attack: 111 (246)

Defense: 99 (228)

Base Damage: 188~212 (337~456)

No name. No Potential Rating or Comprehensive Evaluation...

In other words, this was just a regular Green Dragon unit.

Not a Unit Hero.

And it didn’t have the potential to become one either.

Ethan felt a tiny twinge of disappointment.

But honestly? This was completely normal.

Unit Heroes were insanely rare.

One in ten thousand? More like one in a billion.

And the higher the Tier, the rarer they got.

Especially Legendary Units—or worse, Mythic Units.

A Crimson Ultimate hero born from those?

Even the major factions barely had any.

Some factions went tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years without seeing a single one.

And if you spread them across all the different factions?

Forget counting them on two hands—one hand might be enough.

That’s why, in a way, Ethan’s starting lineup—with two Crimson Ultimate Green Dragon heroes—was beyond broken.

Even the top brass of the major factions would be jealous as hell.

As for regular units with the potential to become Unit Heroes?

They weren’t as powerful as the real deal, but they were still insanely valuable.

Normally, any unit with hero potential would be heavily nurtured by their faction.

And out of those, maybe 1 in 30—or even 1 in 50 to 100—would actually become a Unit Hero.

Sounds like a low chance, right?

But in reality? That was huge.

Because Unit Heroes were game-changers.

If they were easy to create, they wouldn’t be worth anything.

And that? Was never gonna happen.

Ethan shook off the thought.

He turned to the newly recruited Green Dragon, flashing a warm, welcoming smile.

"Welcome to Emerald Castle. From now on, we’re family. Looking forward to working with you."

Then, after a brief pause, he called out:

"Seraphina, come out for a sec."

The moment Seraphina appeared, the Green Dragon’s pupils shrank in shock.

"A... A Unit Hero?!"

"ROOOOAR!"

Seraphina barely spared the newcomer a glance before shifting into her full dragon form and letting out a thunderous roar.

THUD!

The Green Dragon instantly dropped to the ground, trembling, drenched in sweat.

But at the same time, its voice was filled with excitement and reverence.

"G-Great Green Dragon Hero! It is an honor!"

"I offer you my deepest respects!"

Seraphina looked down at the shaking, awestruck Green Dragon and let out a satisfied chuckle.

Then, she turned to Ethan, her massive form shrinking back down into her childlike appearance.

Without hesitation, she leapt into his arms.

THUMP!

With practiced ease, she landed perfectly in Ethan’s embrace, snuggling into him with a happy, chirping sound.

Ethan chuckled, stroking her head.

"Nice work."

Then, he turned back to the Green Dragon.

"This is Seraphina, our Emerald Castle hero. From now on, you’ll be following her lead."

"As you wish, my great lord!" The Green Dragon nodded without hesitation, its excitement and enthusiasm unmistakable.

In fact, for Green Dragon units, the greatest honor and aspiration was to serve under a hero of their own kind!

Not only would this significantly enhance their strength, but it was also a symbol of status and prestige.

More importantly, by following a hero of their own species, they could gain inspiration and undergo rigorous training—potentially even evolving and stepping onto the path of becoming a hero themselves!

Yes!

Ordinary units weren’t doomed to remain ordinary forever.

They could evolve into unit heroes!

There were precedents—rare, but real.

That said, it was incredibly difficult.

Extremely difficult.

Almost impossible.

But still, as long as there was hope, it was worth striving for.

Besides, just the status of being part of a hero’s personal army was already something they longed for, something they would chase after without hesitation.

For any ordinary unit, being chosen to serve under a hero of their own kind was an immense honor!

"Master!"

"Lady Seraphina!"

At that moment, Elynn noticed the commotion and hurried over. She bowed slightly, her voice carrying a hint of excitement. "Welcome home!"

"Elynn, how have things been?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"Master, your radiance has protected us at all times, so we’ve been doing well!" Elynn responded immediately.

"You..." Ethan chuckled, then asked, "Where’s Cicero?"

Elynn’s brows furrowed slightly. "There’s been some unusual activity near the Dungeon. Lord Cicero went to see Lilith."

"The Dungeon..."

Ethan frowned for a moment before shaking his head. "Forget it, we’ll deal with that later. Elynn, go gather all the gold and crystal resources from Emerald Castle and bring them to Gleaming Forest!"

Elynn froze for a second, then looked at him in surprise. "Master, you mean...?"

"Yeah." Ethan nodded, grinning. "We’ve got money now! I’m planning to recruit another Ancient War Tree."

"Understood! I’ll take care of it right away. Please wait a moment, Master." Elynn turned and hurried off to collect the funds.

"Seraphina..." Ethan turned to her. "Head to the Dungeon entrance and take Cicero’s place. Tell him to come back—I need his help with something."

"Got it!"

"Master, I’ll go find him now!" Seraphina nodded, spread her wings, and took off into the sky.

Before long, Elynn returned with the gathered resources. She and Ethan mounted the newly recruited Green Dragon and soared toward the depths of Gleaming Forest—heading straight for the recruitment site of the legendary 13th-tier unit, the Ancient War Tree, at the Sacred Ancient Tree!

Unlike the usual desolate ruins, the Lost Realms—where the Sacred Ancient Tree stood—was now bustling with activity. Centaurs, Pixies, Dryads, and other Tier 1 and Tier 2 units were hard at work, moving about busily.

Much like Tier 0 peasants and common folk, Tier 1 and Tier 2 units weren’t valued for their combat abilities. Instead, their true worth lay in their numbers and their role in territorial development.

Building houses, fortifying walls, planting crops, growing fruit—these were their primary responsibilities.

In other words, they handled infrastructure and logistical support.

As for fighting? That was a last resort. Unless things got truly desperate, these units were rarely sent into battle.

So why were they working so hard to rebuild the ruins of the Lost Realms?

Simple.

Ethan had decided to place Emerald Castle’s Sub-Castle Heart here—establishing a brand-new castle outpost!

Both the original Castle Heart and the Sub-Castle Hearts that split from it had a unique property: once a castle reached Level 3, it could generate a Sub-Castle Heart, allowing the construction of a new castle outpost.

At Level 4, this number doubled—two Sub-Castle Hearts.

At Level 5, it quadrupled—four Sub-Castle Hearts.

At Level 6, it expanded to eight.

At Level 7, it reached a staggering sixteen!

However, there was a catch—Sub-Castle Hearts could only reach a maximum level of two tiers below the original Castle Heart.

For example:

If the original Castle Heart was Level 3, the Sub-Castle Heart could only reach Level 1.

If the original Castle Heart was Level 4, the Sub-Castle Heart could go up to Level 2.

This pattern continued until a Level 7 Castle Heart, which could support Level 5 Sub-Castle Hearts.

In other words, in theory, a Level 7 castle could control sixteen Level 5 castle outposts and sixty-four Level 3 outposts.

That was an insanely powerful setup—one that any lord would kill for.

But reaching that level?

Damn near impossible.

To put it bluntly, any faction with a Level 5 castle as its main stronghold was already a major power—at the level of a duchy or even a kingdom!

After all, a Level 5 castle meant access to Tier 13 Legendary Units and their Creature Dwellings.

And in the brutal, power-hungry world of Glory Lords X, that was more than enough to secure a place at the top.

...