After a good night's rest, Henry presented himself in the court as requested by His Majesty.

 

"You are from the horned dog village, right?"

 

"Yes, Your Majesty."

 

"Since you aren't from a noble family we can't arbitrarily give you a noble title. But considering your achievements, we the royal family think it's possible to grant your family the baronet title and you will become an honorary Baron and receive the landed title of Baron when you are ready."

 

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

 

"I have decided to place you under vice count, Marcus's region. You will receive the badge from the Chief Minister in two days. Visit Marcus when you are ready to become a Baron."

Concluding his matter with the talent showcase, Henry joined the other back to campus. A Baron title with land close to 20 square kilometres as well as the right to bestow knighthood to five commoners. These rewards alone were massive and probably given to entice him to join the nobility. After all, it was all but certain Henry would become a grand figure in the future.

 

Thanks to his efforts at the capital, Flowing Water Covenant had placed fifth in the overall strength and first in the year's best upcoming school ranking. The school increased his scholarship to 10 crystals a month to show their thanks. With the massive boost in the school's income, there were changes about to occur. Even the headmistress that he had never seen appeared during the ceremony but she refrained from speaking and left immediately after thanking Henry for his contributions to the school.

 

*****

 

Two months. It took Henry two months to finally complete the mission given by the system.

 

'''Ding! Upgrade Mission Complete.! System undergoing an upgrade to Prophet Tier.'''

 

'''Ding! Fire Mana Drop Evolved into Fire Mana Lake! All common fire spells are now strengthened.'''

 

'''Ding! Water Mana Drop Evolved into Water Mana Lake! All common water spells are now strengthened.'''

 

'''Ding! Earth Mana Drop Evolved into Earth Mana Lake! All common earth spells are now strengthened.'''

 

'''Ding! Wind Mana Drop Evolved into Wind Mana Lake! All common wind spells are now strengthened.'''

 

'''Ding! Soul Strength has increased. Current soul strength: 1160/10000.'''

 

'''Ding! System upgrade complete!'''

 

'''System Administrator requested a meeting with the host. Please lay down to prevent accidental damage.'''

 

After a massive amount of notifications, the system finally upgraded.

 

'A system administrator?' Henry laid down just before the system took away his consciousness.

 

*****

 

"We meet again." Henry heard an elderly man's voice waking up. It was that room. That same pristine white room. But this time, instead of a door, there was an ebony chair on which the man that sent him off to the unknown world sat relaxed.

 

"It's you!" Henry didn't bother getting up but sat on the floor after turning around to face the man. "What is it this time? Did I die again?" A frown appeared on Henry's face. He quite liked his new life.

 

"No. You didn't die. I just wanted to ask how the new world felt?"

 

"It's good. But I'm still a little too young to make an opinion of it. I have barely left home yet."

 

"You should have had a little advantage being a beast-man. Either way, I didn't invite you back here to sit and chat. I barely have enough time to have a good nap. Let's get to the point."

 

"Since you are here you must have successfully tiered up. A prophet at such a young age. Congratulations."

 

"I wanted to let you know that the World of Gana, that what we call your world, is now selected by the higher-ups for one of the earthlings' newer projects. Now before you start making that face, I promise this won't affect the world you know too much. We only plan to initiate the merger step by step. The transition shouldn't cause too much resistance."

 

"What exactly is this project?" Henry was surprised. Since this old man chose to let him in on the secret, screw smooth transition, there was going to be a lot of ruckuses. 'Who are you trying to fool old man?'

 

"I'm not sure how much I can tell you. Let's just say one of the major gods took a liking to a teenager and ended up giving him a boon. All you need to know is your world will soon become a virtual game world. So, expect a lot of interesting changes soon. Oh, you shouldn't be affected that fast. I heard the whole thing is in beta testing so you should have plenty of time to figure out a way around."

 

Before Henry could utter another word, he lost his consciousness again waking up on the forest floor looking at the deep red eyes of a handsome brown chimaera. Henry couldn't stop letting out an exasperated, "Oh, F***." Lucky for him the beast was just another mortal which was instantly reduced to ashes from one of his strengthened fireballs.

 

Host: Henry

Title: Baron (honorary)

Bloodline: Human, Bos

Tier: Prophet

 

Nature elements:

Earth (10/99),

Fire (10/99),

Water (10/99),

Wind (10/99)

 

Body: Prophet (10/99)

Soul Strength: 1160/10000

 

'''Ding! System Quest(admin triggered).

Establish a town.

The players from the earth are soon to arrive. Create a starter town for the players.

Time Limit: 28 days.

 

Completion Requirements:

• Town Bank(0/1)
• Small Adventurers' Guild Office(0/1)
• Town Auction House(0/1)
• Merchant shops(0/24)
• Tavern(0/1)
• Oracle Temple(0/1)
• Population(0/400)
• Guards(0/50)
• Specialized Gathering Region(0/1)
• Mage Tower(0/1)
• Elemental crystals(6438/4000)

 

Completion Rewards:

• Town Mayor Title

 

Warning: Failure Results in system abilities half as efficient.'''

"Wait why me?" Henry had a sudden urge to flip his middle finger at a certain elderly man.

 

'There goes my plan to lead a relaxed life as a countryside baronet.' Looking at the large list of requirements, Henry felt a migraine approaching. 'How am I supposed to deal with all this.' Well, at least Henry knew how to deal with the land issue. 'Did that old man forget I'm just a four-year-old?' After thinking about it, Henry decided to puppeteer his father to complete the mission. 'It shouldn't cause any issues.'

 

*****

 

"Why the sudden decision? I thought you wanted to stay a little longer." Henry was in Silvy's office stating his decision to take a temporary leave. Since he had limited time, he had to rush even to try and complete the mission.

 

"I don't plan to leave for too long. I will be back in half a year at most." After saying goodbye to his two classmates, Henry finally left the school which had been his home for nearly ten months. His destination: Viscount Marcus's City.

 

Alice opened a teleportation circle that leads back to the town right next to his village. Saying his thanks Henry stepped through towards a new beginning.

 

*****

 

"Did you get that fast?" Marcus asked sarcastically. He remembered how Henry was keener on his studies at the school rather than becoming a noble.

 

"Well, I just became a prophet tier mage. I don't think the school could help me any further." Henry was only being humble, but the words that left his mouth caused massive waves in the viscount's court. A five-year-old prophet wasn't unheard of but a five-year-old prophet from amongst the commoners was rather unheard of.

 

"Such a young prophet! I guess there is no point in sheltering you at school anymore." The viscount requested his subordinate to bring a map of his territory. A Baron could choose from a territory within the viscount's or territory outside. But picking one outside came with its own set of difficulties. If a region outside the territory of an overlord was picked he could develop it without any restrictions from the kingdom as long as it was aligned with them. The kingdom welcomed these frontier landlords as it brought an added layer of defence without any practical costs. On the upside, these territories were never required to pay tribute to the kingdom and these noble families were not required to provide military aid even during wartime.

 

"Have you decided yet?" Marcus asked Henry who was still looking through the map. It was detailed enough to show the various resources available for the new town. Finally, Henry decided to pick one that was the furthest away from the kingdom at the same time rich in various common metal veins. A location perfect for a beginner town.

 

"This… The place is excellent but the place is filled with monsters from mid to peak mortal grade. You will find it hard to attract people looking down to settle."

 

This was perfect for Henry. He had no intention to build a massive city. Those grand plans were for the ambitious. Henry instead just wanted to complete the system's requirements and keep his awesome system.

 

"I will lend you a few workers and guards. That should help you get started on your new territory." He paused and then raised his voice louder. "Henry, I, Viscount Marcus, on behalf of the kingdom, name you Baron."

 

And thus, a kid that had yet to turn five, became the youngest Baron of the kingdom.

 

*****

 

Henry was right outside the kingdom's territory on a cliffside looking at the dense forest ahead. When building a town, the first trouble wasn't the water source or the natural defence of the land. The most important thing to ensure was the security of the passage to civilization.

Behind Henry were the workers provided from the vice count's mansion. They were deliberating amongst themselves how to mark the right path. Drawing the path was a strenuous effort. There was no way to see the whole land from a sky view. The only people that could fly were the tier 4 and above wind or space mages and Henry wasn't in a position to hire one.

 

The path must be through high grounds to prevent bandit attacks and must be at least eight feet wide to make sure two wagons could pass through unhindered. This didn't mean all they needed was an eight-foot clearing. They then further had to level the ground and strengthen the path so that it wouldn't become muddy during rains. Muddy paths could cause trouble for heavy carts as the wheels could end up sinking. After all these works they could start focusing on developing the town. They could later come back and clear the area around the path to prevent animals from lurking by the side of the roads. With just the measly 10 workers by the side, he wasn't sure how he could complete the path let alone the town in such a short time. He kept cursing the system inwardly.

 

"Lord Baron, the time you requested is impossible with just us. But if we hire a few more workers, it should be possible." The lead mason said carefully not to enrage the new Lord. He knew how difficult it was to deal with a newly appointed Baron, let alone one that was so young.

 

"How many do you think we need?" Henry saw a little light shine through his despair. He thought it would be impossible to complete the path in just four days. Although the distance was merely 20 km away from the country's border, without the use of heavy machinery that would be impossible to achieve.

 

"We need additional two workers for every twenty meters of the road and working simultaneously we should be able to complete the work in two days. But…" The head worker turned to look at Henry who kept staring at him void of any expression.

 

"But?" Henry could understand the hesitation. What noble would spend such a huge cost to establish a mere road?

 

"Since we are cutting through the middle of the forest, we will have to hire soldiers or adventurers to keep an eye out. For every 100 meters, we need at least 5 guards."

 

"Sounds costly, how much are we expecting for it?"

 

"The adventurers charge up to 50 gold per day, considering the total length we will need at least 1000 people from the guild. Then for the workers, the hiring cost is 20 gold for a week. It shouldn't be too much of an issue since we can use them to work in the city. We will need at least 120,000 gold as a down payment at the guild office."

 

"Where is the closest guild office?" To Henry, gold coins weren't an issue. He had a mountain of coins deep within his spatial ring which he bought specifically to store currency coins and crystals. This was by far the most expensive purchase he made before he left the royal capital reaching a massive 700 crystals. Unlike regular storage, this was a cubic storage ring that could stack the contents inside. The massive amount of coins in his ring totalled around 40 to 50 million.

 

"The closest is 40 km to the west near Baron Cohen's territory."

 

"Let's go and hire them then." Henry and the other workers walked off towards the closest Baron's territory.

 

*****

 

The workers had completed the mission ahead of time and the massive Jo request from the new baron left a favourable impression among the adventurers. During the work, a few animals, mainly the ones that had nested right next to the road, had attacked relentlessly. Thankfully, the new Baron extended a helping hand whenever these attacks became too hard for these low-rank adventurers to handle.

 

"I looked through the whole area. The land is extremely uneven so making any large structures would be unwise." The lead mason opened a chart with a rough drawing of the soon to be built town. "Making any structure beyond 2000 sq ft would be very dangerous. Apart from that, we will be able to save up countless materials thanks to the cliffs on the outer wall."

 

"Make sure the walls are sturdy. We should expect both the animals and the bandits to eye the territory seeing how we are a frontier town. I'll leave for my village. You will be in charge until I get back." Henry took out a communication inscription as well as a few 100 crystals. "Keep this in case of an emergency. I'll be back as soon as I meet my family and let them know."

 

Henry needed someone trustworthy to help him maintain the town. To him, it was easy to request this of his father. Considering how he had already become a baronet being the head of the house, he might as well handle the affairs of the town. Besides, his father had enough experience since he had been working as a staff at the village office.

 

*****

 

It's been two weeks since the start of the town building. Countless buildings were raised mostly of wood as well as a Baron's residence, the single brick house in the entire town. With almost all building nearing completion, Henry focused his head to figure out how to get an oracle temple approved by the high priest.

 

Oracles were extremely hard to create. Yes...create. First, it has to be a virgin kid under the age of 12. Then the kid's brain is completely drained of anything. Yes, a brain wipe. Then the kid is processed through some hidden means at the grant citadel and an oracle is born. Although he wasn't sure why the game needs oracles he had a feeling it was related to the character creation. Finally, he was forced to buy an oracle from an old baron's family. This oracle was old enough to be his grandfather but well it serves the purpose alright.

 

*****

 

'''Ding! Town construction is successful! You have gained the title of Town Mayor.'''

 

'''Ding! The completion rate far exceeded the required amount. Additional reward, 'Forced Level Up' added to the system abilities.'''

 

The only system ability available for Henry was the scanning function. As for the exceeded completion rates, word got around that the newly appointed Baron was generous and an unexpected heavy flow of people, mostly beastmen, started.

 

The 'forced level up' ability was simply monstrous. As long as Henry had enough crystals he could level up unendingly.

 

Although he gained an ability, the number of crystals he required to upgrade each of his elements to the peak of prophet tier was a massive 90 crystals while strengthening the soul further required an insane 9000 crystals. Temporarily, he put it aside as he was running low on crystals.

 

Henry had two days remaining when he had completed his mission. The town brought a lot more profits than he expected. The metal and stone mines right next to the town helped to maintain the reserve of coins and crystals without him injecting some constantly. The town also served as a foundation for his family as he transferred the Mayor position to his father. And so, for the first time in the history of the Fire Canyon Kingdom, A second grade scholar became the ruler of a territory. To make sure the town ran smoothly, he requested the aid of one of Marcus's advisors to which the viscount happily obliged. With everything settled Henry planned to return to school after spending a few more days with the family.

 

While the new Baron received massive support amongst the commoners, the nobles were annoyed by the prodigal behaviour of the kid who was still too green. His attitude of throwing away money even for the menial jobs, as well as the higher pay scale his employees received, has caused a vast majority of the nobles' image to be tarnished in the eyes of the commoners.

 

Thankfully, they felt this spending spree would end as soon as he ran out of the coins received from the royal family. Little did they know that the royal family had only given him a few hundred crystals which were far lower than the amount he spent to recruit just the trainers of the different professions. Even the royal family was perplexed by the spending spree and was forced to open a secret investigation as to where this four-year-old gained such massive wealth from.

 

*****

 

"What do you think he's doing now?" The girl asked curling her fingers in her hair. She sat on a vacant bed cross-legged chatting with the boy sitting on a bed across the room.

 

"Should be busy doing things the nobles do. How would I know? I am no noble." The book on the boy's lap fell on the bed as he got up and walked towards the window.

 

"Think he will come back? It's not the same without him around. Maybe we should go and visit him. I can request the school. What do you think?"

 

"And what then? He should be very busy. I overheard Alice talk. He was planning to build a town in the forest outside."

 

"Where did he get that much money? Isn't he a commoner like you?"

 

"If you ask me, who should I ask? Besides, it's ok. I plan to visit the place once I break through to the prophet tier." Noah flicked his fingers and a flame appeared that was unusually strong for its appearance.

 

"You are at the bottleneck as well?" Aster looked at the blazing flame on his finger and let out a frustrated sigh. "When did you reach the peak? You kept it away from me!"

 

"Yesterday. I broke through during practice. Do you have any potions left? I'll run out in a few days."

 

"It doesn't help with the bottleneck. I wish he was here. It's almost three days since I'm stuck without any improvements. I'll head back to my room. Good night Noah." Aster walked towards the door.

 

Knock, knock, knock.

 

The two froze for a second. It was very rare for someone to come to the magic school's dorm. Aster went ahead and opened the door. It was Alice. The smile on her face was so wide Aster looked at her dumbfounded. And then her eyes fell on the kid standing behind her. The smile suddenly became contagious.

 

"Henry!" Aster hugged the kid that walked in with Alice and dragged him inside closing the door on Alice's face.

 

"Hey!" Alice muttered. 'Kids.' She cursed turning back walking down the long corridor.

*****

 

In a vast grassland, an elderly man stood with his back bent forward into a bow showing extreme respect. The person in front was a little boy wearing a pink shirt and deep blue jeans. Upon closer look, one would recognise the old man as the same system administrator.

 

"So, that guy managed to complete the order this fast?" Surprisingly the boy had a very high pitched voice, almost effeminate.

 

"Yes, my lord. There aren't any complications. He was able to complete the mission beyond satisfaction."

 

"Good, I promised Lucy I will open this game in a few days. How much can we trust this man, Henry?"

 

"The system can't surpass the creator. He won't be that difficult to manage."

 

"Lucy's company has already started the trail runs. With my help, they should be able to accelerate the approval process from their government. Tell me, how many starter towns are ready so far?"

 

"Including the one created by Henry, there are currently 12,000 towns with each having the capability to hold up to 5000 people."

 

"Good, I can't wait for the players to take over the towns. It should be fun to watch. With 60 million souls to play around it should be fun for a little while. Keep an eye on him just in case he turns up useful later."

 

"Yes, my lord." The elder bowed and disappeared leaving the boy staring at the endless grassland.

 

"I should go watch Lucy." He muttered, disappearing soon after.

 

*****