Just as Fate Throat began planning the Fate Race's development after joining the Player Faction...
In the distant Wall-Lock Land.
Tu Hu lounged on the deck of an unfinished giant airship.
The ship's main framework had already been completed. Below the deck, groups of nimble Velvet Spirit Tribe members hurried back and forth, working away with their heads down as welding sparks flew and machinery roared without pause.
The evening breeze blew gently. Tu Hu looked relaxed and content, a jar of rich Spirit Wine in his hand.
Looking into the distance, he saw greenery undulating across the boundless grassland. Each passing breeze sent ripples through it, carrying the sweet scent of grass.
The Velvet Spirit Tribe had already turned this fertile land into an industrial park.
Countless Velvet Spirit Tribe members bustled across the grassland within his sight, digging deep into mineral veins for pure Spirit Ore and weaving through patches of spiritual grass to harvest Spirit Plants. Small transport ships came and went in an endless stream, carrying the various raw materials they collected to the smelting center below.
This was the foundation of the Velvet Spirit Tribe's prosperity.
Sealed beneath the smelting center was a Rule the Velvet Spirit Tribe had brought out of the Minor World all those years ago: Fusion Ascension.
Its characteristic was the ability to break down material structures, forcibly combining two or even several completely different substances to produce entirely new materials that had never existed before.
These products accounted for the bulk of the Velvet Spirit Tribe's income.
The new materials forged through the Fusion Ascension Rule had a wide range of uses. Demand in the Trading House exceeded supply year-round, making them scarce resources that Players scrambled to buy.
But this stability and prosperity had not come from nowhere.
Forging