Chapter 157: Sanctuary Covenant

Marcus stepped forward and fixed his gaze on the pack of Highland Jackals sprawled across the sunlit grass ahead. They looked lazy at first glance, ribs rising and falling in the warmth of the afternoon, but anyone who had ever leveled in this region knew better. Highland Jackals were shameless scavengers with a talent for mobbing their prey. Alone, they were manageable. In groups, they were a nightmare, swarming in a blur of snapping jaws and dirty yellow fur.

For most players, running into two dozen at once meant a frantic retreat and a repair bill waiting at the end of it.

For Marcus, it meant efficiency.

His defense stat had long since crossed into absurd territory. He was a tank in the purest sense of the word, built not merely to withstand punishment but to invite it. The more enemies that surrounded him, the better his skills functioned, the smoother the fight became. Where others saw danger, he saw neatly stacked experience points.

He lifted a hand. “Lily, ride with Amber.”

Lily nodded and swung up behind Amber on the Violet Thunderwing Steed, settling carefully and wrapping her arms around Amber’s waist. Marcus summoned his own pet in a burst of dark light, the Shadow Stained Gryphon King descending with a heavy beat of its wings before dissolving back as he instead brought forth his true war mount, the Nightmare Dragon Steed. Its scaled body shimmered with a faint black sheen, smoke curling from its nostrils as it pawed at the ground.

Beside him, Lily called forth her Darkfire Phoenix, its feathers burning with a steady, ominous flame that did not consume but promised devastation.

Buffs flickered across the three of them in quick succession, shields of light, boosts to attack, mana regeneration humming faintly under their skin. Then, without further ceremony, they charged.

Three players. Four powerful pets.

The entire field erupted.

“Oh my god…” Lily breathed, her voice was barely audible over the roar of wings and thunder.

“Marcus, that’s insane!” Amber shouted, unable to contain herself.

The moment they crossed into the jackals’ aggro range, the entire pack snapped alert. Two dozen lean bodies surged forward in unison, teeth bared, snarls ripping through the quiet afternoon.

They did not even make it halfway.

The Shadow Stained Gryphon King beat its massive wings and unleashed Wing Storm, a spiraling vortex of slicing air that lifted several jackals clean off the ground. Almost simultaneously, the Darkfire Phoenix swept overhead and cast Sea of Darkfire, waves of black flame crashing down and swallowing the battlefield in heat and shadow.

Amber’s Violet Thunderwing Steed followed with Thunder Roar Charge, lightning bursting outward in a blinding arc as it plowed through the front line. A heartbeat later, the Nightmare Dragon Steed opened its jaws and released Black Dragon Wave, a sweeping surge of dark energy that carved through what remained.

The jackals never reached them.

They dissolved mid charge, vanishing into streaks of light as experience notifications flooded the corner of Marcus’s vision.

For a moment, none of them spoke.

Watching four top tier pets operate in perfect, overwhelming synchronization was almost dizzying. The experience bar climbed at a visible pace, each wave of mobs pushing it higher in massive chunks. Even Marcus, who had orchestrated this entire power leveling session, had not expected it to be this efficient.

With the pets cycling skills and mana regeneration keeping them sustained, there was almost nothing left for the three riders to do. Marcus rested a hand lightly on the reins and let the Nightmare Dragon Steed pace forward at a leisurely trot as the others followed, their pets sweeping ahead and clearing respawns before the jackals could properly regroup.

They chatted idly, commenting on skill effects and joking about how unfair this looked from an outsider’s perspective.

Inside, however, Marcus was waging a very different battle.

He had insisted Lily ride with Amber earlier, worried about stray aggro or some unexpected elite spawn. At the time, it had seemed like the responsible choice. Now, watching entire packs evaporate before they came within ten meters, he could only feel the sting of his own caution.

If he had known it would be this safe, he would never have given up the opportunity.

Instead of enjoying a quiet stretch of shared saddle space, he sat alone on the broad back of his Nightmare Dragon Steed, the wind brushing past him in mocking solitude. He had effectively sabotaged his own close contact bonding moment.

Tragic.

They circled the Highland Jackal territory for hours. The respawn rate was aggressive, clearly designed for high level players to farm efficiently, and the terrain made it easy to herd the mobs into tight clusters for maximum damage. If their pets had not been so powerful, or if their mana regeneration had been even slightly lower, Marcus might have needed to step in.

As it was, he barely lifted a finger.

The only disappointment was the loot. After more than a hundred kills, the ground had yielded little more than a couple of pieces of vendor trash. The jackals were notoriously stingy, which only reinforced Marcus’s suspicion that this area existed primarily as a leveling zone rather than a farming spot.

Then the familiar chime rang out.

Ding.

“System Notification: Congratulations to Stonehaven for reaching Level 30.

Stats Gained: +10 HP, +10 Mana, +1 Luck.

Attribute Points: 5 points available for distribution.”

Marcus exhaled slowly.

Level 29 had been a slog, even with this kind of efficiency. Breaking into Level 30 felt like stepping through an invisible threshold. In Dominion, thirty was not just another number. It was the point where the game quietly opened its next set of doors.

Another chime followed almost immediately.

“System Notification: You have reached Level 30. You must now complete the quest for the Dragon’s Crest. Failure to enter the Mist Veil Palace or abandoning this quest will result in automatic system penalties.”

Marcus almost laughed at the warning. ’Like I’d back out now’, he thought. He was the guy who went where others wouldn’t. The number one player in the game did not retreat from quests, especially not ones that threatened penalties for cowardice. If anything, the warning only made him more interested.

A third notification flashed.

“System Notification: As a Temple Knight, Hidden Class, you have met the requirements for your base advancement. You have automatically learned the following skills: Dual Weapon Mastery, Triple Surge, Hundred Phantom Strike, and Sanctuary Covenant.”

That got his full attention.

A genuine surge of excitement ran through him as he pulled up the skill interface.

Dual Weapon Mastery:

Level 1 (0/3000)

Passive.

Allows the Temple Knight to wield two handed weapons with ease. Increases Attack Power by 10 percent when using two handed weapons.

In Dominion, class roles were usually rigid. Knights carried sword and shield, anchoring the frontline with defense and utility. Warriors handled greatswords and lances, trading survivability for raw damage. This skill shattered that boundary completely.

Marcus could now wield heavy two handed weapons without sacrificing his core Knight identity.

The thought of plowing through a frontline like some ancient warlord flashed in his mind, and he couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his face.

He scrolled down.

Triple Surge:

Level 1 (0/5000

Active (Single Target.)

Mana Cost: 100.

Delivers three rapid strikes in quick succession. Damage: 100 percent, 90 percent, and 80 percent of normal attack. Bonus: 10 percent Critical Hit chance.

Hundred Phantom Strike:

Level 1 (0/5000)

Active (Area of Effect.)

Mana Cost: 150.

Unleashes a flurry of blade shadows, striking all enemies within a three meter radius. Damage: plus 20 percent Attack Power. Bonus: 10 percent chance to Stun.

“No way. Yes!” Marcus let out a loud, genuine laugh.

These were the real deal. Huge damage, no cooldowns, killer secondary effects.

These were not filler abilities. These were core combat skills designed to define a playstyle. Combined with his defense and future access to two handed weapons, they transformed him from an immovable tank into something far more dangerous.

This was the privilege of a Hidden Class directly tied to the Goddess of Dreams. The growth curve was simply different.

Then his eyes shifted to the final skill.

’Sanctuary Covenant.’

The smile faded as he read.

His pupils dilated slightly, and for a brief moment, he forgot to breathe. The description did not merely exceed his expectations. It redefined them. Numbers, conditions, scaling effects, clauses that hinted at synergy far beyond standard class design. The more he reread it, the more unreal it felt.

His earlier laughter died off completely.

“Marcus?” Amber’s voice cut in, concerned. “What happened? You were celebrating two seconds ago. Now you look like you just saw a ghost.”

He swallowed once before answering. “I just… I learned something insane,” he finally got his voice out. “You wanna see it?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I do!”

She guided the Violet Thunderwing Steed closer and brought it alongside the Nightmare Dragon Steed before dismissing it in a flash of light. With an easy hop, she landed behind Marcus, then adjusted herself without hesitation.

Unlike Lily, who would have perched neatly and kept a polite distance, Amber had never believed in unnecessary space. She shifted forward until she was sitting directly on his lap, turning to face him. Her arms slipped around his neck as though it were the most natural position in the world, her legs dangling off one side of the saddle.

“Show me,” she said, leaning in close, eyes bright with anticipation.

Marcus blinked, still half lost in the implications of the skill. “Wait. Pinch me first. I need to make sure I’m not hallucinating.”

Amber rolled her eyes, though the corner of her mouth curved up. “You are so dramatic, big bro.”

She reached up and gave him a slight pinch on the cheek. “There,” she said lightly. “Reality check complete. Now stop stalling and let me see.”

Marcus had not been angling for anything. He had genuinely needed confirmation that what he was reading was real. The pinch short circuited his thoughts for a fraction of a second anyway.

Then, steadying himself, he opened the skill interface and shared the full details of Sanctuary Covenant.

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