Peter’s head was swimming for quite a while afterward. It was just too much. Already the idea of taking on stone golem and the insect faction were challenging enough. Then he had the integration into both the intermediate and centurion divisions. Finally, he would not have to beat 1 but all 6 millennials. Eventually however, he checked his battle rewards, and his mind settled a bit. Getting this much would at least help him get through the next hurdle

  [Dungeon battle awards: Battle essence collected: 5,822,441

  Win Rewards: 5,100,000 essence, 70 support card packs, 1 support card unlock, 1 spare dungeon core, 3 pit fiend type cards, 13 Bone fiend type cards, 4 Frozen gate type cards, 1 Flame whelp type card

  Rookie battle condition met, ‘participate in 7 dungeon battles as a a rookie dungeon’: 1 S tier Design type card

  Rookie battle condition met, ‘win 5 dungeon battles as a rookie dungeon’: 4,000,000

  Rookie battle condition met, ‘fight and win 7 consecutive years worth of dungeon battles’: 3 user chose cards

  Rookie battle condition met, ‘Win a dungeon battle where you are outnumbered as a rookie core’: 50 support packs

  Rookie battle condition met, ‘Eliminate 5 cores as a rookie’: 200 support packs

  Battle condition met, ‘Eliminate 3 cores with a single battle’: 3 S tier design type cards

  ]

  The only thing that was not as good as his last 2 on 1 was the total essence gained from the battle, but that was only because he did not get the extra 10 million from the condition for fighting a battle 2 on 1 battle. He would receive 3 user chose cards and 4 S tier design cards. The latter he could potentially get even more of since he would be opening 330 support packs, once he bought the 10 from the upcoming year.

  The weirdest thing was the number of type cards he got from the demon faction cores. He did not get any for 3 of them, and odd numbers for others. Compared with the others other than Eli who was not present, it became clear they got a number of cards equivalent to their contribution in defeating that core. If they did 50% of the work, they got 50% of the available type cards for the multiple cores destroyed due to core burn through. Peter got 13 of the 20 possible for Bonefiend’s 4 cores.

  Whereas Elyra had only gotten 1 initially, but an extra 5 since she had jumped on using the double tap earlier. Peter had not really fought many if any bael rock or rock demon units, but he had definitely put down a good number of beast fiends. Still with 10 possible type cards split between them, he had not been awarded any. Peter got them anyway by trading off 1 Bonefiend type card for each of the other 3 demon types that he had not received. Along with all the cards he had just gotten from his little millennial conference, he had 11 new card types. Not bad for the year.

  Peter did have the additional stipulation of using and prominently displaying the demon millennials at the very least in his next battle, but that should not be too difficult. At least he had 5 fire based floors to house them during the year. Perhaps it was not perfect, but it was better than if he got an undead that could not hang out in the alternate realm.

  Peter eagerly turned his attention to his support cards. He would unlock another uncommon today, bringing him to 5 common and uncommon, with 4 rares and epics. He would only have to unlock two more to get to 20. Then he could start replacing cards, moving them up one rarity each time.

  Peter had battled every year so far, but he knew he would not be able to keep it up. The goal was to make it where he would get rare and epic cards each year, just from the 10 he was allowed to buy. Already he would have just over a 5% chance to get an epic card with each pack opened. Last year he had thought that he had made out like a bandit getting 13 rares and 8 epics, but statistically he had not done near as well as the percentages would suggest with either. Now his chances were even better in both categories.

  He would get to it very soon, for now it was time to look at his 3 new uncommon options. It was his first time opening an uncommon pack, so all the options were new.

  Advanced dungeon upgrade (UCM)

  Condense Ether (UCM)

  Add Aspect (UCM)

  Peter looked through the three options. The dungeon upgrade was almost expected. Peter was pretty sure he had or had been offered one at every level of rarity now. At the uncommon level it would likely give something like 25,000 essence worth of dungeon upgrades. Not particularly that worth it since right now he was paying 25,000 to buy each of his 10 available support packs each year. When he moved up to the intermediate division it would double to 50,000 essence per pack. Almost like a gacha for most cores that had far less of a chance to get their money’s worth, but they all still did it each year since support cards could be game changers.

  Peter moved on. He kind of knew what ether was. It was basically gathered essence or energy that could be used for alchemy, to make items, or was even consumed by some units for various effects. Potentially this support card could drain the fire energy from a pool of magma in his battle dungeon. The ether could then be used to make a flaming sword or perhaps for a pill to add fire resistance for a time.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The final card was something Peter was well aware of. He had been offered the epic version before, but he knew this card was different. The Epic version would allow him to pick through 3 different choices. It might add a whole new special attribute with a S rank, or it could add a second set of arms which would likely affect the units offence and/or defensive attributes.

  The uncommon version however was a favorite of the insect faction or other cores that did not use combinations near as often. They would have to choose to use it before the summon, but it would do much the same adding some random aspect. It would not affect the unit tier like the epic and rare versions, but it would add something. Probably what was used for Agatha to get those blasted curse flinging spiders of hers, although that would be one of the better outcomes. Far more often the edge added by this card would be far more underwhelming. Combination cards adding an additional card type to the mix were known to produce better results more often, as well as give an increased chance for higher tier and rank attributes.

  Peter picked the condensed ether. He had enough combination cards and card types to do far more than the add feature card could give. With that, he had 18 support cards. Peter breathed in deeply as he shifted his attention to support packs. After buying the 10 for this year he had 330 in total. The results were utterly shocking.

  In total he received 19 epic, 35 rare, 78 uncommon, and 198 common support cards. He knew his chances had increased slightly from last year, but this was just ridiculous. It looked like he was far luckier this year. Except for the summon one off, equipment, and dungeon upgrade cards, he now had near or over 100 cards for each common type. A nice nest egg for the future.

  For uncommons he now had 41 replicator, 46 card type transfer, 17 spawners, and 22 of his new condense ether cards. He would have to get rid of or find a good use for the replicator cards. They were not really conducive to his playstyle. Its not like he could make new set of maelstroms based off them. That and the fact that their attribute ranks were not guaranteed meant potentially worse outcomes. Only the bugs really used them all that much, and he was not exactly on friendly terms with them. Maybe he would use them to make his own disposable force one of these days.

  For his 35 rare support cards, he got 13 block challenges, 9 resurrects, 7 unique masterwork items, and 6 tier up increase cards. He now had 18 block challenges so had a very good chance of being able to resist a challenge from multiple other cores, in a year where he really needed a break. Other than the resurrects, the other two would likely be used up in the next few days. Having 9 resurrects in his back pocket was ridiculous. He had been overjoyed with only 5 from last year.

  For his 19 epic support cards, Peter got 4 free maelstroms, 4 S tier design cards, 3 random S tier type card, and 8 pinnacle dungeon upgrade cards. Of course Peter was the most excited about this haul. The pinnacle upgrades would allow him to expand several resources or bring something up to higher levels. Hopefully, Delilah respawned okay. Peter could only salivate at the rewards he would get for meeting her desires, all in one go.

  Then there were the S tier type cards now in his possession. He had a total of 8 design cards and 3 random S tier type cards. With 3 random type cards there was a very good chance of him unlocking another restricted type card. The last time he had gotten it only on his second try. With 6 rare tier up increases, he could really churn out some powerful units. It might even be the right time to push for a full SS tier unit.

  Peter had wanted to be careful about drawing attention to himself, but it seemed like a fool's dream at this point. He had already done a lot, displaying more S tiers than Helen had ever noted from a rookie. Now he had more than enough to go well past double the 7 she had witnessed. With the two battles he had slated for his last 2 congregations as a rookie, he knew he would not be able to hold them back. Considering that 7 S tiers had already been an anomaly, he was taking it to absurd proportions before the year 8 congregation. At the ninth he was sure he would take it even further. There was no way even the less astute cores would not notice the fact.

  Not much happened at the rest of the congregation. Helen dropped by as did Emma and Fellette. All three of them were clearly surprised about the rookie group’s ambition. Helen looked like she wanted to cut Peter open for study. She had of course not missed a thing. As far as trading, Peter was quite content with the 11 new types for this year. He already had 65 different types and counting.

  Since Peter planned to snag type cards from as many rookies with each successive generation of new cores, he was far from concerned with ever feeling limited. Someday he might have thousands of different options. The real concern was building up a lifetime supply of support cards before he got blacklisted. Based on his conversation with Void, that millennial would not blacklist him, relishing the opportunity for a challenge, but would the lesser millennials feel the same. Still surely they would not do so while he was in the intermediate division… right?

  All bets were off as far as he was concerned. At some point, during one of his battles one of the millennials might be spooked, or he could piss them off in one of a hundred other ways.

  At some point, Delilah and the other units resurrected. Peter was put at ease, when Delilah contacted him through the link. His fears of her starting as a blank slate, at least mentally were relieved. She had been happy to announce that her physical state on the other hand had been brought back to perfect. She had both eyes once again, and no battle scars. She made a few enticing comments, making sure that making a development pond and increasing its level did not slip his mind, before leaving him alone. She seemed a bit reserved. Peter could not blame her, going through a death had to be traumatic. His had not really counted since he had either died instantly or been knocked unconscious. He would likely never know.

  Peter was extremely thankful to have her back and in perfect condition. He needed to endeavor to continue to increase their healing ability. If his saint flame dragon had not died, making him have to resurrect it anyway, it would have been missing a wing. It was likely not the last time he would be faced with the issue.

  The pachyderm core once again fought for his life in the centurion division. He lost again, but apparently still had at least enough spare cores to survive for another year. As far as his group, they all said they would start preparing for the battle two years from now. Gabriel said he would finish off Bonefiend next year. They would all think of how to persuade cores from the other two factions to join them. As strong as they were if it came to a 4 against 9, they would face near insurmountable odds. The insect cores already had endless hordes each thanks to years worth of accumulated resources including at least 5 of them who had not fought once since the tutorial. It seemed like a mountain too high.

  They had two options, convince either the elementals or the reptiles to join up with them. Not necessarily impossible, Peter had a few ideas. The congregation ended and year 8 started.