Chương 19: Chapter19-The Subjugation of the Magus Group, 6-tier Frost Lich

Jason received three rewards from the treasure chest.

Basic Resource Pack x5. Divine Waters x3. A special item—

[Soul Essence] [Effect: Can be used to enhance a hero's quality. A basic enhancement requires three units, with each subsequent enhancement costing three times more.]

"This haul is pretty lucky," Jason said with a slight smile.

Not to mention, [Soul Essence] remained a precious item even twenty years into the game's integration with reality, where the benefits of enhancing a hero's quality were tremendously impactful.

Of course, due to the rarity of [Soul Essence] and the trait that each quality upgrade required tripling the consumption, it was best reserved for A-grade, or even S-level and above heroes to be most cost-effective.

"It's just a pity I only have one right now."

Jason stashed his loot into his backpack.

Although he knew the location of the town lord's daughter, he continued to take his time, methodically clearing the map.

Soon, he discovered several resource points: [Haunted Gold Mine], [Goblin Automated Lumberyard], [Miner's Cabin]…

These places were typically guarded by monsters, and as he explored [Old Losfall], the tiers of the monsters guarding the resource points escalated.

They evolved from the initial 3-tier and 4-tier to 5-tier and 6-tier, with the occasional appearance of a solitary 7-tier wild beast.

Fortunately, with his soldiers' attributes doubled, Jason ensured a smooth progression.

Two hours later—

In the forests outside the Old Losfall district, Jason's soldiers had encircled a group of 6-tier units, the "Frenzied Giant Bats."

The Subspecies Bone Dragon was holding the front, Death Acolyte provided ranged attacks, Dragonsepulcher Sentinels coordinated in combat, and Banshees supported from the air and unleashed the controlling effect of Agonizing Wail.

The battle was initially at a stalemate, but the tide gradually turned in favor of Jason's soldiers, who, with their attributes doubled, began to overpower the dwindling numbers of Frenzied Giant Bats.

Then—

Jason activated a skill from his Exile Cloak—

[Shadowfade]

He instantly entered a state of invisibility, followed by [Assassination], a reveal strike that dealt double damage, triggered a critical hit, amplified the burst damage, and added the backstab output of an assassination.

In one stroke!

Jason instantly slew a Frenzied Giant Bat, proving himself as the strongest point in the team!

The next second, Carolina, transformed into a flying dragon, swooped down, unleashing a wild storm, blossoming from the center, scattering the Frenzied Giant Bats completely!

Afterward, the monstrous troops collapsed entirely, swiftly dismantled by the Dragonsepulcher Sentinels, who, along with the other soldiers, slaughtered them en masse.

And because Jason's [divine spell: Healing] had fully cooled down.

This time, his troops achieved a flawless victory without any losses!

At this moment, a golden light radiated from Jason, and Carolina was similarly illuminated; both leveled up to level twenty.

As for his soldiers, their levels had also increased; the Banshees had reached level 3, the Subspecies Bone Dragon was now level 2, while the rest of the soldiers' levels remained unchanged.

Despite the double experience, the leveling up of soldiers was still painstakingly slow.

Jason couldn't help but complain, "The soldier level settings in Divine Age are really tough."

The soldiers' max level is fixed at 10, with maxed-out attributes doubling.

Jason's [Undead Plague] added a five-level cap, meaning maxed out, there's a 150% attribute increase, enough to let soldiers fight across one to two tiers.

But the amount of experience required for soldier leveling is excessive, making it only a slight boost in normal gameplay, increasing attributes by only about ten to twenty percent.

This resulted in the soldier leveling system being quite underwhelming in the early stages of the game, where the best way for players to boost their army's strength was to switch to higher-tier units.

It wasn't until twenty years into Jason's past life, when some top players couldn't obtain higher-tier units, that the soldier leveling system started to feel significant.

Of course, for Jason, with the double experience, the early boost in soldier level attributes could be slightly higher, and the extra five levels available later meant his army's potential limit was inherently higher.

After tallying his gains, Jason looked around.

"If I remember correctly, it should be right here," he pondered, eyeing the [Old Losfall Map], which only marked this spot for a squad of 6-tier monsters.

However, there was a reason he traversed half the map to this location first in his plan.

He searched around and finally, at the side of the forest, heading straight into what seemed like an ordinary southwestern corner of trees, he charged in.

Rustle, rustle.

After a disturbance of leaves and branches, Jason emerged covered in dust and dirt.

Nothing happened at first.

After a moment of thought, he changed his angle and charged into the woods again.

After failing three times, Jason finally felt a shift beneath his feet and realized he had entered a campsite.

Success!

He cheered inwardly, recalling the information from his past life.

This camp was related to Lance, who had plans to build the magus tower.

A squad of 5-tier magus soldiers from Veronica, following the dean's orders, was prepared to assist Lance in the construction.

Unfortunately, they were ambushed by monsters while passing through Old Losfall, suffered heavy casualties, and were forced to jointly cast an illusion spell to hold their ground.

In the past life, by the time these magus soldiers were discovered, they were nearly all dead, barely managing to convey the information needed for constructing the magus tower, thus triggering the regional storyline.

But now, Jason had arrived over a month earlier than in his previous life, and as he expected, the campsite was filled with the stench of decay, and the red-robed magus soldiers were wailing in misery, yet they were still alive.

At that moment, a limping magus approached him proactively.

"Are... are you here to rescue us?" he asked excitedly.

Jason didn't hesitate to start his performance, "Of course, I want to save you."

"But with your injuries, you can hardly move, right?"

The lead magus's expression immediately dimmed, "Yes, that's right."

"Apart from me and a few brothers, the rest of the hundred or so people here are just waiting to die."

At once, many of the red-robed magus soldiers showed expressions of despair.

And that's when Jason made his move.

"I have a way that can not only save your lives but also enhance your strength. However, you must swear allegiance to me."

He revealed his hand.

Jason was eager to find these magus, aiming to capitalize on their dire situation to bring them under his command.

After all, Jason's Underworld Baptism was akin to transforming soldiers into another form of life, instantly allowing this group of red-robed magus to be revived with full health.

As expected, after only a brief hesitation, the magus nodded in agreement, "We are willing to accept your recruitment."

Prompts continually appeared before Jason.

[You have encountered 5-tier unit: flame magus. After negotiation, they are willing to be recruited by you (150 gold coins per person). Yes/No to recruit?]

Recruiting soldiers always required payment, a fundamental rule of the game, unless they were a reward from a quest.

Jason promptly paid; typically, the recruitment price for a 5-tier unit ranged between 100-120 gold coins.

The 150 gold coin cost for flame magus indicated their superior strength, categorizing them as a hidden unit, which would become even stronger after the Underworld Baptism.

And if the recruitment price for a high-tier hidden unit, even just a 6-tier, would be over 1000 gold coins, whereas regular 6-tier units usually cost between 600-800 gold coins.

Therefore, recruiting a 5-tier hidden unit was actually more profitable in terms of the price difference.

For Jason—

The more expensive the recruitment, the more cost-effective it proved to be.

No problem at all!

[You have recruited the 5-tier hidden unit [flame magus] x 116]

[Ding! Undead Plague has been activated. Your [flame magus] have been promoted by 1 tier and transformed into undead, your flame magus have ascended to 6-tier hidden unit [Frost Lich]]

In an instant, each of the red-robed magus shimmered with an icy blue glow.

As the light faded, their appearances hadn't altered significantly, their skin just appeared somewhat paler... but their robes had transformed into a very clear shade of blue, and the magic swirling around them was denser than ever.

Jason's eyes sparkled with delight; his first squad of 6-tier units had arrived!

Not only that!

"Just as I had estimated earlier, they have indeed evolved but remained magus-class units," Jason felt a surge of excitement internally.

His army had control, melee output, tanks, but to accelerate the monster clearing efficiency, what was needed was a mage with area-of-effect skills!