As I took a tentative, single step into the sanctuary that I was evidently claiming as a sort of spoil of war I felt myself be tempted to step more fully inside, partially because I couldn't see a thing in the sanctuary while still partially on Earth. I knew that part of the origin of said temptation was almost certainly the sanctuary itself but I didn't particularly mind that and as my vision filled with the area just beyond the doorway I decided to be brave and step fully into the place. 

I took a few bold steps and found myself inside a gigantic bedroom, one bigger than any I had ever seen in real life. It was a mammoth of a room, with a ceiling that replicated the night's sky on Earth, and had an enormous bed bigger than any I had ever seen. There was a large closet on the other side of the room, one that also dwarfed any closet on the other side of the door I had used to enter this place. 

I studied what was almost certainly "My room" and almost leaped when my senses attuned to this dimension. In doing so I was able to realize that this strange sanctuary was on the smaller size, perhaps a few kilometers long and a few kilometers wide, and also inhabited. That made me curious about the inhabitants of the island but right as my senses attuned to this dimension I felt and heard the whole place freeze, causing me to sigh in annoyance. I knew what was coming before the system next spoke and when it began to speak into my mind I was not caught off guard. 

"Congratulations on acquiring control over the mysterious artifact dubbed 'The Sanctuary'. This is a miniature dimension on par with the divine realm of a baby divinity. When you terrorized and then effectively defeated Alexandria Drakos, she sacrificed what was left of her power to try and distract you so that her sister could help her escape. In doing so they survived and are free but now lack a connection to their former home, a dimension which, among other things, provided them with immortality." The system revealed. 

"Right now the artifact is attuning to the wavelengths of your soul and so it and everything inside of it is frozen. In a few moments, life will resume within the sanctuary, which itself, as you know, is much larger than just this room." The voice in head authoritatively declared. A split second later a menu began to appear in front of me, not in my mind's eye but actually in front of me as if it were somehow being projected from some sort of holographic projector. 

[Sanctuary Customization Menu:

Hello Nathan! Welcome to the customization menu for your new sanctuary. Allow 'Us' first to educate you about the sanctuary you possess. This is a potent 'Safe-Zone' created in the distant past by powerful extra-universal entities and was gifted to an ancient follower of a deity from a distant universe. At the time it was a simple place, just a floating island with few extra decorations and features. Now it is a potent refuge for a number of beings other than the long and mysterious list of owners who have possessed 'Ownership' over this place.]

As I read through the initial text on the menu it began to slowly and steadily change. While reading it I walked over to the bed and then began to smile as I sat down on the thing and found it to be the single softest, most incredible bed I had ever felt. I laid down on the thing and sighed as I continued to read the newly changed text on the menu.

[You are the 'Owner' of the sanctuary. That grants you incredible power over the place, as well as a recognized and unquestionable sovereignty that anyone who visits or otherwise inhabits the place will recognize in the form of the word 'Owner' floating over your head at any time you inhabit the sanctuary. There are three classes of people aside from yourself, any spouses you marry, any children you may, and any invaders who may attempt to conquer this place, that you may encounter on the sanctuary.]

I chuckled and felt my knowledge of the sanctuary expanding even as the text continued to change.

[The first, most notable class of foreigners in the sanctuary are the 'Trapped'. 'Trapped' people are mysterious, often powerful, wise, or skilled inhabitants of the sanctuary who cannot leave of their own volition. Usually, they came to this place willingly and have made homes here, and they are content to live here, thanks in no small part to the fact that those who live here don't age once they hit 'Adulthood' for their species, but many of them would appreciate the ability to leave and would willingly serve or at least occasionally obey an 'Owner' who could give them even temporary chances to escape the sanctuary and see worlds other than those of the sanctuary. You can also be blunt and inform them that you could expel them from the sanctuary, which is true, but that is a dangerous route and will not engender true loyalty.] 

As the menu explained that I found my mind filling with images of human men, elven women, and other beings, who presumably made up this class of inhabitants. I wondered what the next class would be, right as the text finished changed.

[The second class of foreigners in the sanctuary are dependent on the 'Owner' of the sanctuary. They are 'Visitors' who are brought here from the outside by the 'Owner'. They often consist of the families of the 'Owner', and usually have their own rooms within the 'Owner's Manor' which is the innate property of the sovereign of the sanctuary. The third class is the least notable but to the more hands-on owners is the most important. They are the 'Settlers'. Before you read about them, you have choices you need to make.]

The menu was now teasing me and making me curious about the final class of individuals. As I read through the menu I began to eagerly await the changes, but the next change was not one that informed me about the 'Settlers", but rather the beginning of a series of questions. 

[It is time for you to make some initial choices to help tailor the sanctuary to your specifications. The last owner of the sanctuary was a reclusive witch and her family consisted of her coven. She left the sanctuary mostly unchanged, aside from making the place smaller, largely indifferent to the wishes of the previous owner, who was a king who regularly brought in settlers from across the omniverse, and the witch exclusively used the features of the sanctuary located within the 'Owners Manor'. To begin with, what size would you like the sanctuary to be?]

The menu's question was intriguing to me, but I didn't hesitate. I stared at the menu and mentally wished for the sanctuary to be as large as possible. That caused the thing to immediately begin to change.

[Affirmative... The sanctuary's size has changed from one and a half kilometers by one and a half kilometers to eighty by eighty kilometers in size. Now for another important question... What sort of climate would you like the sanctuary to have?] 

That question was harder for me to answer. I considered it for a few moments, as I began to receive mental images of different climates and how they would affect the strange sanctuary I had received power over. Ultimately I decided to pick my favorite climate and informed the menu to give the place a sort of autumnal climate which, to me, represented the perfect mix of both warm and cold days. As soon as I did that I felt life begin to return to the place, and heard the tremendous noises of the entire sanctuary expanding in size, growing enormously in every direction. 

[Thank you for answering those questions. It is clear that you will be a very different kind of owner compared to Ms. Drakos. The sanctuary's inhabitants are going to begin to reawaken soon. Your actual home within the sanctuary, the 'Owners Manor' is inviolable and cannot be entered by anyone of any sort of class without your express invitation at the moment. The previous, reclusive owner, did that on purpose as she did not want to be disturbed by the place's inhabitants. 'Settlers' are mundane people, for their species, who for whatever reason opt to inhabit the sanctuary and typically respect the place's 'Owner' as the closest thing they have to a leader.]

The menu wasn't done monologuing either. As soon as I finished reading the menu's text it was already done changing and so my eyes swiftly returned to the top of the menu's text.

[New settlers are being bought to the sanctuary as this message is being typed, and each of them is a young adult who sought to leave the world of their birth with all of their hearts. You are getting two hundred humans, two hundred orcs, two hundred dwarves, two hundred minotaurs, two hundred elves, and two hundred dragonoids. You possess some familiarity with the other races on this list aside from the dragonoids, which are hybrids between humans and dragons, and possess an immense discipline and physical might, as well as a sort of innate respect for authority. These people will be the first settlers of the sanctuary and will begin to construct homes for themselves in the area around your manor, or anywhere else you designate as a 'Town', 'Village', or 'Future-City'.]

That announcement made me smile and as it finished I sensed hundreds of people arriving in the area around "My" manor. While that was occurring, the summoned individuals began to make sounds expressing confusion in dozens of languages, I was filled with an urge to go and greet the people, especially since not all of them were newcomers. I could sense thirty-five distinct individuals with mental wavelengths that differed from the other, hundreds of people who had just arrived. Something told me that they were the non-settlers who had lived here before myself, and either arrived during or before the "Reign" of the previous "Owner". 

I began to get up and make my way towards the distant door at the end of the room so that I could greet "My people". As I approached the door, walking at a fairly normal pace, I began to restore my form to that I had possessed before becoming and embracing my status as an entity of darkness. While I did the system revealed that going from room to room within the manor was a simple feat of will and my intent would guide me from one part of the sanctuary to another part of the sanctuary, so long as the two parts had doors. 

When I reached the door, I opened it and found myself facing an enormous crowd of people standing just outside of the manor, and to my left was a woman twice my age with white-blonde hair who wore metal armor and had the word "Commander" floating over her head. 

"Everyone quiet!" She roared, oblivious to me standing right beside her. The crowd, spotting me and the obnoxious word, "Owner", floating over my head fell deathly silent. When the crowd fell silent I sensed her sense of self-worth increase and saw her smile. She began to speak, confidence filling her mature voice as she did so.

"Well, that's more I like it. Now we just wait for-" She uttered right as she began to turn and when she saw me she abruptly fell silent. I could see through her mind's eye, and understand her with ease, and I felt her embarrassment as she gazed at me and took in the sight of my, apparently incredibly handsome, form. 

"Umm... Hello, my name is Nathan and I am the owner. I see that you are the 'Commander'. I... do not know what that means in the context of the sanctuary." I revealed, right as I began to read the woman's mind and then almost leaped back in shock.