Chapter 1087: Dispute of Rights
Generally, the members of Sleeping Gardenia were divided into two groups within Kifa Karsts. The first group was made up of combat classes whose task was to focus on clearing monsters and exploring any potentially dangerous locations. They would also act as a protection force, ensuring that no one caused any problems for their guild members.
The second group's goal was to collect resources in areas deemed safe by the first group. Those from the second group generally ranged from level 45 to 55. This was well below the recommended level for Kifa Karsts; however, it was necessary.
Most of those who took on supporting professions like Herbalist or Cartographer did not typically focus on leveling up. Of course, they could not ignore their levels outright and the guild did form dungeon groups aimed at helping those with supporting professions level up. But, in the end, their goal was to reach the pinnacle of their profession. If they spent all their time leveling up, naturally, that would become increasingly difficult.
That being said, in theory, anyone could pick herbs or draw a Realm Chart, even without a proper supporting profession. But, the difference in quality for most players was like that of night and day.
For example, an ancient-quality herb recklessly picked by a player without the Herbalist supporting profession had a huge chance of having its quality lowered by one or two grades due to the player's lack of the right knowledge, tools, or skills to harvest it correctly. It was similar to a player attempting to use a skill without the assistance of the system. It was something possible, but not easy by any means.
"Hana, Hoa, Hua-come forth," Zinnia called out.
Piri! Jiri! Kiri!
The next moment, three creatures appeared before Zinnia. The first, Hana, was a blue thunderbird that resembled a hawk with four wings. The second, Hoa, was a monkey with golden eyes and flames that looked like clouds around its neck, wrists, torso, and ankles. The last creature, Hua, was a dark blue and black giant salamander roughly 1.5 meters in length that gave off a natural mana scent of the earth and water elements.
Zinnia's class, Elemental Beast Summoner, allowed her to summon creatures who possessed different elements. The reason Zinnia called forth these three in particular was so that she could search the air, land, and water areas simultaneously.
She may be a section leader, but her monthly base salary from the guild did not exceed 12,000 RMB. Even with incentives and bonuses, on a good month, she could only earn up to 23,000 RMB. Compared to the rewards offered by Izroth, 23,000 RMB seemed almost laughable.
"Search for anything out of the ordinary and then report back to me," Zinnia ordered. Piri! Jiri! Kiri!
Upon receiving their orders, Hana, Hoa, and Hua immediately dispersed in different directions.
Not too long after Zinnia sent her summoned creatures to explore the area, she received a voice call request from one of her guild members.
"Hm? Aster? Did she already find a clue?" Zinnia said to herself with furrowed brows. The player who messaged Zinnia was a member of the combat group who went by the name Starry Aster. It had not been that long since she sent out Izroth's message to the Sleeping Gardenia members in the vicinity. However, since those from the combat group were the first to visit certain areas, it would not be strange for one of them to have already located something.
"Section Leader, we have a problem!" Starry Aster's voice sounded through the voice call. Zinnia frowned when she heard the urgency in Aster's voice. That was not the sound or words of someone excited about having just obtained a great opportunity.
"What's going on?" Zinnia inquired.
"We found an ore cave, but these bastards from Defiant are trying to make the claim that it falls into their territory! It's total nonsense!" Starry Aster responded hurriedly.
An ore cave?! Zinnia's entire body trembled when Starry Aster mentioned those words.
An ore cave was just as its name said-a cave filled with ores. An ore cave abundance of ores could provide a steady stream of resources when mined and processed correctly.
More importantly, only three ore caves had been discovered in RML. Or, at the very least, revealed to the public. Nonetheless, each of the ore caves brought about astronomical profit for the ones who successfully mined it.
"What happened? How did they find out about its existence if it was in our territory?" Zinnia thought to herself with a serious expression.
It was common knowledge to keep things like ore caves a secret. This was due to the fact that establishing ownership rights would undoubtedly lead to a huge bloodbath between those who wanted a piece of it for themselves.
There may have been a territory agreement at the Kifa Karsts; however, the discovery of an ore cave could very well end it.
"Send me the coordinates. I'll head there immediately. Try not to do anything until I arrive. But, hesitate to protect yourselves should it come to it." Zinnia stated.
After that brief conversation, Zinnia contacted the other members of Sleeping Gardenia in the vicinity. She also sent an update on the situation to the guild leader, Mariposa.
Since it involved a potential conflict with one of the top ten guilds, it was protocol to directly inform the guild leader.
In situations like this, where only two parties knew about the existence of something of great value, it was common practice to split the ownership rights. This was to prevent further information about its discovery from leaking out. In this way, even though both sides would be losing out, they would not have to suffer any heavy losses.
Sleeping Gardenia was not on bad or good terms with Defiant, but their interaction with one another was limited in RML.
Zinnia inwardly sighed as she shook her head.
"I also have to inform Palace Master Izroth that we may have to delay his search request," Zinnia said to herself as she released a long sigh.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Zinnia received an alert from the system. Not even one minute had passed, but she had gotten a reply from the guild leader.
"The guild leader sure moves fast. I guess this just goes to show the level of importance being placed on the ore cave. But, this part is..."
[System Alert: Player Mariposa has sent you a message, "I sent some reinforcements. Do not let Defiant lay a single finger on what belongs to our Sleeping Gardenia. Also, there is no need to temporarily suspend what Palace Master Izroth has asked of us. Tell the others to continue
with the search."[]
For one, Zinnia was taken aback by Mariposa's stance. She did not mention trying to bargain with Defiant but even went out of her way to ensure that they made no concessions. Furthermore, she wanted them to keep searching for clues as per Izroth's request when an intense battle could break out at any moment.
Even if most of those searching were not the highest of levels, that did not mean they could not be used to apply pressure and support.
Nevertheless, the guild leader's orders were absolute. Zinnia had every intention of carrying
them out.
"The reinforcements that the guild leader sent must be amazing if she's not concerned at all. Were there some members of the Lotus Guard close to Kifa Karsts on a mission?" Zinnia said
to herself.
She wasted no time sending out the updated orders to the Sleeping Gardenia members in Kifa Karsts. As for Zinnia herself, she was still the section leader; therefore, she still had to
personally give up on the search to manage the situation unfolding.
Zinnia made her way toward the coordinates sent to her by Starry Aster.
...
Meanwhile, somewhere in Kifa Karsts...
"You are being ridiculous! What kind of nonsense are you spewing?! This place is obviously
inside of our territory!" Starry Aster said in a feisty manner.
She was a young woman with a fierce yet beautiful appearance. She had neatly kept and wrapped black hair and piercing pale silver eyes. She wore a set of light armor and wielded a simple yet elegant-looking sword in her hand.
At the moment, several members of Sleeping Gardenia stood behind Starry Aster. They all seemed to be on edge as across from them was a group that had at least three times their
number.
Needless to say, if a conflict broke out, they were not confident of getting away unscathed.
"That's not the way we see it. It's clear that a part of the cave stretches into our territory. If that's the case, shouldn't we also get a piece of the profits?" A rough male voice sounded from the front of the group across from Starry Aster and those of Sleeping Gardenia. This player went by the name of Defeaning Silence. He was the section leader in charge of the area managed by Defiant within Kifa Karsts.