About an hour had already passed since Kaito first entered Astralis City from South Glade Town. At this Time, the large Teleportation Array that connected the towns to the Astralis city had been flashing almost non-stop. Wave after wave of players continued to appear, their figures materializing in bursts of white light as the array hummed with energy.
The number of new arrivals increased rapidly. The once orderly hall had turned into a bustling crowd as more and more players arrived from different towns to the various cities, across the Solaris Kingdom and even the whole glory the players had started entering the cities corresponding to their towns.
At that moment even the top ten players who were able to reach their respective cities were announced in a ranking format by the main god system of glory, before that the system had only announced the top three but now it directly released the top ten rankings.
One by one, glowing names began appearing in golden text at the top of every player's interface.
Among them, the name that appeared under Astralis City stood out clearly.
[Astralis City – Raen]
That was the only name listed from the entire Solaris Kingdom.
The rest of the top ten names belonged to players from the major empires dominant powers known for their advanced techniques and fame, their population advantage, and their strength. But among all those great names, the one belonging to the Solaris Kingdom a place often overshadowed by the empires belonged to none other than Raen.
It was a small line in the system announcement, but its impact was enormous, As although it was previously announced in the system announcements it didn't compare it with others but now after comparison the impact was greater.
All over the Solaris Kingdom, players were buzzing with excitement. As, someone from their kingdom had managed to stand on equal footing with players from the great empires. The pride this brought to the Solaris players was indescribable.
Raen had already been a well-known name before this. Through the many videos and detailed guides he had uploaded on the forums especially those about dungeons like Misty Palace and Echoing Deep his reputation had spread far and wide.
But after this announcement, his fame completely exploded.
"Raen from Solaris? He's the one who made those dungeon guides!"
"Wait, that's him? The guy who fought against the Everhold Dominion alone?"
Discussions flooded both the forums and in-game chat channels. Within minutes, Kaito's name became a hot topic across the entire kingdom. His popularity skyrocketed, and countless players began to idolize him as a symbol of pride for Solaris.
Meanwhile, in Astralis City, the teleportation hall was overflowing with life. The newly arrived players were stepping out of the array with wide eyes, their expressions filled with shock and awe.
The first sight that greeted them was nothing short of breathtaking.
The city stretched out endlessly under the bright sky vast streets paved with mana-infused stone, towering buildings decorated with intricate runic designs, and countless lights glowing with faint magical energy.
The air itself felt different.
Many players immediately noticed how dense the mana around them was. The very atmosphere seemed alive, rich with power that made their bodies feel lighter and their minds sharper.
Some couldn't help but voice their amazement.
"This mana density… it's nothing like the towns!" one of the players exclaimed in awe.
Their surprise was justified. For NPCs, a higher mana density directly meant faster training and cultivation speed. But for players, it offered a different kind of benefit.
Whenever players logged out while inside the city, the mana-rich environment affected their characters. When they logged back in later, they would receive temporary mana buffs, boosts that could increase their experience gains by 100%, 200%, or even 300%, depending on the mana density of the area where they had last logged out.
Of course, these buffs came with a time limit, and that duration also depended on the local mana concentration.
Back in the towns, this effect only activated if a player logged out while renting a room at an inn or while staying inside their own residence. The higher the quality of the room, the stronger the mana and the longer the buff would last.
But here in Astralis City, the situation was completely different.
The ambient mana density throughout the city was so high that even standing in an open street provided more benefit than the top-grade inn rooms back in the towns.
That was why so many players were shocked. The sheer difference between the environments made it clear that they had stepped into an entirely new stage of the game.
But before the players could adapt to the high density mana, another player shouted,
"Hey!! Are those… magic beast carriages?"
All around them, magical beasts of various kinds were pulling carriages, their scales or fur gleaming under the sun. Even more shocking were the mechanical carriages vehicles powered by mana cores that emitted a low hum as they moved smoothly along the city's broad streets.
For many players, this was their first time witnessing such a scene. It felt completely new far beyond the scope of any VR game they had experienced before. The realism, the scale, the sensory depth of Glory all of it was astonishing.
Some players were so overwhelmed that they sat down right where they stood, unable to take their eyes off the majestic cityscape.
But what drew the most attention was something that stood tall and imposing in the very heart of the city.
The Central Mage Tower.
Its structure rose high into the sky, a gleaming pillar of stone and mana, reaching up to nine floors in height. Its peak was shrouded in a faint layer of mist-like light, giving it an ethereal, almost divine presence.
Every player who laid eyes on it fell silent for a moment. Even those who had seen screenshots or concept art before were still stunned by the sheer magnificence of the real thing.
Although the players lacked the knowledge and experience Kaito had from his previous life, they still knew the basics about mage towers. Over the past few weeks, as they played Glory, they had learned that the height of a mage tower represented the power and strength of the mage who owned it. The more floors a tower had, the stronger and more prestigious its master was.
And this nine-story tower, standing proudly at the city's center, spoke for itself.
It represented power on a level far beyond what ordinary players could yet comprehend.
Although the players knew what a Nine-Floor Mage Tower represented, none of them knew who the tower actually belonged to.
The official records had provided only general information to the players, basic knowledge about cities, classes, and systems, but nothing too detailed. The explanation given by the game officials was that they wanted players to explore and discover things on their own. According to them, the sense of mystery and exploration was part of what made Glory so immersive.
But the truth was different.
The real reason the officials couldn't reveal detailed information was because they themselves didn't know.
As this wasn't a game they had built. Glory had not been developed by any known studio or coding team. The officials managing it had only managed to acquire limited information after securing the mysterious meteor that had brought the game into existence.
Even then, the data they obtained came only after applying their most advanced technology to analyze the meteor. But in the end, all they were able to extract were some general materials and superficial information about the system. Nothing in their research could fully explain how Glory worked or who had created it.
This was one of the main reasons why the Federation paid such great attention to anything related to Glory. Even if they couldn't uncover its true nature, they at least wanted to trace its origin. They had initially hoped to monopolize it, but reality soon shattered those ambitions.
When they realized that they had no control over the game itself, their plans changed completely. And although it was a game, even if they mobilized all of their top experts, their most powerful experts, and every elite unit they possessed, those forces weren't even enough to dominate a single principality within Glory let alone the entire Glory itself.
And that wasn't the only problem.
The meteor had not arrived alone. Along with it came something even more shocking a portal.
At first, the Federation believed that this portal would be a great opportunity, possibly a gateway to another world filled with new resources and hope to increase their strength. But after some initial exploration, they quickly realized how wrong they were.