Unfit To Rule  

No matter what, Will did not seem fit to rule in any capacity, mentally or spiritually. He seemed immature, lustful, arrogant, lackadaisical and ignorant. The fact that he was American made many unsatisfied as America had garnered a lot of hatred due to it being the premier superpower before the arrival of the system. Post-System America had become weak due to its lack of cultural inheritance or cultivators. 21st Century technology was useless in the system, which cared more about the mystic and martial. Thus few could accept being led by an American.

Locals in America, on the other hand, had no choice but to band behind Peerless through Aurora because they did not want to lose their culture and identity. America was heavily fragmented, and Modus had expressed the importance of unity. Thus many expressed a desire for unity and hoped that Arthur would wait until the Eridium issue was dealt with. According to Modus, Earth had next to no chance of survival. The power of a Sovereign reflected upon the users of a World so many felt Peerless was still needed to raise the world's standard of battle.

The last week of evolution only further reinforced this concept. But Dragonheart didn't care. He had his own considerations and felt Peerless was too much of an oddball to be trusted with power. Every leader felt they were the most worthy of leading, and Will's impression only made his enemies feel this even more.

Thus the world entered a period of turmoil, and all the leaders of the largest factions in North America gathered for a meeting to discuss how to handle the issue of an invasion. Famous American users such as Aurora Phoenix, Crouching Tiger and Iron Patriot gathered for the first time since the arrival of the system; North America was united!

…

[A new quest is available! Arthur Dragonheart has started preparations to invade North America. He has decided to devote all of his available troops to this cause! The Vanguard Forces are led by one of his Supremes, the Undying Witch, Supreme Tidal!

Part 1: Supreme Tidal will launch her offensive within 7 days. If you are not back in B30 by the time she sets foot on American land, the mission will be a failure. Return to Miami and receive her with a 'warm welcome' befitting a disciple of the Mad One.

Quest Requirements: Successfully fend off The Attacks of Tidal Witch's forces

Quest Rank: B+

Reward: Mystic Harmony License

Part 2: Supreme Tidal is not the only Supreme coming. 2 more Supremes will accompany her for this war after the first wave. Find them and defeat them in a public battle. You are not allowed to fight with uncontracted beings in this battle.

Quest Requirements: Defeat The Tidal Witch and Her Supreme companions in a battle in front of a large crowd of spectators without killing them.

Quest Difficulty: A+

Reward: Worldwide Evolution Card]

This was the prompt Will received a few hours after giving his speech. He was not surprised much as this had come up during his discussion with the deities.

'It's freaky how well they predicted the flow of events, or did they manipulate things behind the scenes?' Will wondered.

He had been told that he was not allowed to kill any of the Supremes as he needed them to deal with Eridium. His personal strength was not enough to protect Earth.

Modus had explicitly stated that his intention wasn't only to groom a powerhouse but a leader with charisma capable of converting foes into friends. According to Modus, that was a strength that many people feared, even immortals far above Will's reach.

The rewards were quite worth it. A license was a tool that allowed one to forcefully induce what it was named after. In other words, the Mystic Harmony License allowed him to activate Mystic Harmony anytime he wished. It could only be used once and did not seem like much of a gift to others, but to Will, it was exactly what he needed.

'I can already activate Martial Harmony at will. If I use that license, I can activate Mystic and Martial Harmony, completing the third and final stage of The Flowing Tide Restriction!'

Will had lost Dual Mind Propagation due to the Flowing Tide Restriction. In fact, Will's processing power was still quite limited as the restriction affected all his vessels. Once this restriction was lifted, Will would return to having the ability to multi-task freely. This was an ability that could only show its true power in the hands of a Meister!

The Worldwide Evolution Card was an even more priceless gift. It allowed Will to induce an Evolution across the entire world. One far less subtle than what the world had already received. Similar to what he had done to the initial 100 residents of Tsimikas such as Achilles, Tobias and Lyra. Will could choose one of his vessels as a template and have the entire world evolve in accordance with the vessel he chose.

'My mind has an SS+ rating, if I choose that and have the entire world upgrade their minds.'

Will's resolve was strengthened after he considered the options available to him. Will had already laid out plans for dealing with the Dragonheart Empire and Eridium. But now, these two rewards had made his job many times easier.

'Although I will also strengthen my enemies, we need to be strong enough to deal with Eridium. But this time limit makes things tricky.'

Will was only bothered by the time limit. The expedition to Fafnir's Grave was starting soon. Under normal circumstances, the expedition could take anywhere from a few days to a month. But Will had to finish everything before that and return to Earth so he could 'greet' the Tidal Supreme.

Not only that, but Will also had to deal with her troops while being under level 100. Will was now, however, grateful that he had agreed to Wodin's terms of forming a Centralized Tripartite Soul Brethren Contract. This was the key to his success in the future. In fact, it was not an exaggeration to say that his journey going forward depended heavily on this.

…

When midnight approached, Will and his close companions left the feast. He told his close companions and the 3 important locals to follow him to an underground hall far from any fuss located on the outskirts of the city. Will had asked for a hall to be prepared to initiate the contract. It was located in a tunnel that had originally been created for mining but Will had the area temporarily closed off.

Letty, Duke, Alice, Merlin, Woodsy, Lyra, Achilles and Tobias were in the space waiting to see what kind of plan Will had for them. The moment the group entered the room, Will used a simple spatial lock spell to isolate the room from the outside, making it impossible for Alexa or anyone else to observe what was happening. The former was left outside, scratching her head in curiosity at what Will was planning.

Will didn't speak and covered the room with Norse runes. The runes shimmered and fluctuated, adding more layers of protection from prying eyes.

It was a large hall the size of a soccer pitch, and the group stood on one side. The only source of light was a watery ball that glowed like a spherical lava lamp Merlin had summoned and lifted to the skies.

Merlin's class, Aqua Adept, had nothing to do with water despite its name. The Aqua aspect refers to how her fire magic had aquatic attributes, such as being able to flow or being solid and tangible. It was a somewhat rare class meant for users with light and fire element mastery.

Will had shared the details of his quest only after feeling the room was secure. Will's companions were stunned, and he was immediately bombarded with questions.

"There isn't much time to explain guys. But I need you to trust me for a moment. I need to focus for a while, so give me a few minutes."

Woodsy and Merlin knew Arthur well and understood the severity of the situation. They were well aware that Alexa had probably reported what had happened in the dungeon and shared their thoughts with the rest of the group. Will had already expressed the fact that Alexa couldn't see anything allowing everyone to be at liberty.

While his companions talked and discussed the importance of this quest, Will walked to the centre of the room and slapped the ground with his gloved hand.

A supermatrix appeared and covered the majority of the ground. The matrix was simple in terms of structure, but if one looked closely, one would notice that a single centimetre of engraving had hundreds of small runes intricately linked in a chain like formation.

From above, it looked like an equilateral triangle with a circle taking up space in the centre. Complex miniature geometric shapes appeared within the small gaps of the triangular matrix, interlocking and shifting, undulating with World Energy that caused the room to feel stifled.

"Duke, Letty and Alice stand at the points of the triangle."