I could see what I assumed to be the top-down view of the house and quite a bit of the forest, but it was just that. Though, I didn’t exactly know how to select it. Was I just supposed to think about it? I frowned and focused on the house, and at that moment I saw it get marked by a contrasting blue area.

[Claiming this area will set this as your main settlement and consume 6 small territory claims (43 available). Once claimed, you can only claim land surrounding the claimed area. Repeat this process to remove the claimed area, once unclaimed territory claims will not be refunded. Do you wish to claim this area?]

Uh-huh... That was a bit wordy, but from what I got was, once I claimed the house I would only be able to claim things surrounding the house, and subsequently once those places were mine, I would also be able to claim places surrounding those places? It was wordy, but I sort of got it. Also the fact was that I wouldn’t be refunded the territory claims that I had gotten from my quests once used.

I agreed to the prompt, and with a small buzz I saw an immaterial barrier form around the house. It was akin to a thin white-film that protected it.

[Please name your settlement.]

I spaced out. I wasn’t good with names… I stared at the prompt for what felt like a minute or so, and finally, with some defeat and embarrassment in my voice I said it.

“The Deep Dark…”

[You have created: The Deep Dark Settlement.]

I almost facepalmed feeling an instant wave of regret wash over me. Thinking about it, the name made me uncomfortable, though I guess it was better not to think? A sigh left me and I shook my head. It was too late to do anything about it, more importantly there was something that I found more confusing. I approached the barrier that had formed around the house. Now it was my place? I touched it but my hand went right through it.

[Do you wish to adjust your settlement?]

A new prompt greeted me. I accepted it with some confusion.

[Settlement: The Deep Dark.

- Barrier (Expand)

- Construction (Expand)

- Territory Expansion (Expand)]

Huh? Not knowing much, I expanded the barrier section.

[Barrier: Level. I ⁠(E rank) — Requires energy to activate (Expand).

Upgrade I (E rank) to II (D rank)? Requires D rank mana crystal.]

So I couldn’t even upgrade it. I expanded once more.

[Barrier: Level. I (E rank) ⁠— Strong enough to withstand a D rank attack and multiple E rank attacks. Requires energy from mana crystals to activate. Do you wish to supply energy from mana crystals?]

I stared for a brief second and decided to grab a mana crystal from my ring before accepting.

[(Basic) Mana Crystal supplies 20% energy, do you wish to use it?]

I took out four more, and the prompt changed to a hundred-percent, I agreed and the prompt changed.

[Barrier: Level. I ⁠(E rank) — 100% Energy (Active) (Expand).]

Now it showed the energy relatively quickly. Even on the first menu it showed, and the thin-film around the house became a bit brighter, though it was still very much incorporeal and transparent. I tried to expand the construction entry.

[Construction: You do not have enough Prime to construct.]

That was⁠… helpful. I shook my head and approached the film, like before I could pass without any trouble. I just assumed it would keep any hostile outside and always let me in. I moved onto the next entry, but it seemed a bit self-explanatory so I skipped it and closed the menu. I simply assumed it would open the map yet again and make me select more areas that were next to it. In short, the only thing that I could do was set up the barrier.

Glim bobbed. [Hey, so I kind of forgot but here you go.]

[You have received a quest⁠—

[You have completed a quest ⁠— Territory Claim (Common) Receive rewards?]

I agreed to the prompt with some confusion.

[You have received: 3 Small Territory Claims!]

A small sigh escaped me. I guess Glim forgot to give me quests and at the same time I had gotten here not too long ago. I stepped into the house and looked at the blood. Technically I was going to be living here since it was my settlement, so it was within my best interest to clean. I looked around and remembered the bathroom, it had water. Well, the ones I knew about did.

As I stepped in that direction my ring started to vibrate. Confused, I prodded it with mana only to see the mana bead I had received from Elasia. I took it out and it shook. Prodding it with another string of mana. It buzzed with static and a voice came from the other side.

“Oh, Blair! Glad you answered!” It was Elasia, though she sounded weird.

“Hey, em… why are you speaking to me?” I felt slightly awkward.

She breathed. “Well, as you’ve noticed some things have changed. For example, Continental Challenges were enabled… So things are in turmoil.”

“Right.” I nodded.

“Anyway, I see you’ve opened a Settlement! That’s great! I wanted to go visit, but now with Continental Challenges The System might get angry at me. So all you get is a call.”

“Angry? Because of Interference?”

“Yes,” there was a pause. “I also wanted to talk to you about the er Illusionist Contract.”

“The Contract?” I asked with a frown. “Am I going to be forced to agree to a new one?”

“Well, no,” she spoke. “I was going to ask if you’d want to end it? You see, a lot of Patrons are in turmoil and there might be a big fight. So, if The Illusionist dies then you might get penalized because of System things.”

I frowned. “So if I die will The Illusionist die?”

“No?” she asked. “He just doesn’t want you to die, that’s all?”

“Is this a Scheme? Does it matter if I die?” Annoyance overcame me.

Elasia sighed. “He just cares about you Blair, or maybe just the fact that you have Lumina’s will. I do not know.” Her voice was grim.

“Right… What does he do with the Prophecies, and why did you silence Glim when I was over?”

There was a brief pause. “Prophecies have two uses, one of them is mana crystals and the other is absorption. You can absorb knowledge for faster progression. Though, one reason that the Prophecies are taken from you is because, if you absorb the knowledge rather than make it, it generally makes you weaker in the long run. It is important for a Prophecy to be developed by the user rather than having it be fed. Those are both uses. Though you can only absorb the ones that are at least related to your affinity. Glim’s situation is complicated, and now since you’re a Champion he can not speak of it.”

As I was about to speak, she continued. “Of course, you don’t have to trust me… on Glim nor the Prophecies.” A sigh left her. “Look Blair, it really is that simple. Do you wish to end the Championship Contract? You would lose both of the feats you got from it, but you would get to keep the Prophecy and well… Lumina by extension.”

I pondered. It sounded a bit too good to be true. “I still don’t… Why ask me as if I had a choice? Didn’t he say to not negotiate with higher levels? Do what he wants? Can’t he forcefully end it, force me to end it even?” I snorted.

Elasia sighed. “Right. It’s a bit more complicated. Feelings are complicated. Well, I guess he just needs to not die..”

“Will he actually die?”

“I hope not. He is… pretty strong after all...” The bead buzzed and the static went away.

I couldn’t help but walk to the room and sit on the bed, bringing some of the blood along with me. I was skeptical of Elasia’s words, and why she was the one to tell me this. Why didn’t The Illusionist call? It all seemed like a way to deceive me. Couldn’t he just force me to end the contract? I would’ve at least agreed if he was the one telling me all that, not Elasia out of all people. It just seemed like another scheme. Maybe he just wanted to kill me to take his Prophecy back for all I knew. Elasia did mention Lumina, so there was a fragment of truth to that. It was better to just retain the status quo now, I was unsure if he could kill me with the contract, but I was just going to assume he wanted the Prophecy back and couldn’t take it without ending the contract. In that case, he wasn’t going to get it. Elasia said I would get to keep it, but I was now very doubtful of her words.

It did not help that she did not speak of what Glim refused to say either.

[It really isn’t what you think…] Glim said but I just scoffed.

“Then say it.”

[You know I can’t.] Glim groaned. [I guess I’ll just have to be a better assistant. How about I give you new quests? I will stop underestimating you!]

I almost ignored him, but I needed quests too. In the end, I just inwardly agreed as they came. Soon, I had an updated quest list once more. But two quests had vanished, they were Till They Bleed and Land Reconnaissance. Surprisingly there was a new category called. World Quests.

[World Quests:

[Continental Challenge #4: A Herald type monster roams, wild and untamed. Hidden away waiting to be discovered. Slay it. Take its crystal, and the Central Wall shall grant you passage. Secrets and opportunities await.]

[Active Quests:

[Invaders! (Rare D): Now in the New World others want to claim your land. Kill them or make peace with them! Reward: Guidance of The Stars (30 seconds) Condition: Entities killed or with a peaceful stance. (1/50).

[Slayer of Champions (D to C): Other patrons have designs on your prize. (0/1) Reward: Knowledge Revelation. Condition: Kill a Champion and show superiority. (0/1)]

[Homewrecker (Rare D): They dare to claim your land? Destroy it! Reward: Mana Crystal (D rank) with Excellent purity. Condition: Destroy a Settlement.

[Survivor Of The Skirmish (Rare D) You have survived and now have the rights to be in the New World. Reward: (Premium) Potion Kit. 1000 Prime Currency. (Completed).

[Lumina’s Will (Mythical): Lumina has accepted you as their inheritor. Advance your Prophecy to C rank. Reward: Unknown. Step. 1 out of ?.]

[Ecology Dissection IV (Rare D): Now familiar with the land, one must research further. Reward: 5 Shards of Great Ambition. Condition: Kill Beasts of a Higher Grade. (2/5)]

[Dynamic Quests:

[Chosen Matriarch (Epic C): As the leader of your race it is your job to secure prosperity. Reward: Ownership of the Planet. Condition: Acquiesce the rights from the other Patriarchs and Matriarchs.]

[Equilibrium (Mythical): Equilibrium is the fairest of all desires, it is required for all life to be eternal. Reward: Nothing. Condition: Equilibrium of the New World.]

[Final Space (Legacy): At the arch of eternity, far beyond the reaches of the universe and The System, the Final Space awaits its purpose. Reward: The Next Step. Condition: Acquire Seedling]

[Explorer of Regions (Epic C): You’ve explored Continent #4, now you’re broadening your horizons. Reward: Explorer’s Map (Rare Item). Condition: Visit another Continent. (0/1)]

I stared for a second. There were a lot of new quests. And a lot of them had good goals for me to focus on, at least I felt that way. Explorer of Regions seemed good to me, though I did not know what the reward actually was. Overall there were no quests that I found lacking, though I did feel like I lacked some sort of short-term goal quest. At the same time, there was a completed quest… I accepted the reward.

[You have received: (Premium) Potion Kit. +1000 Prime Currency.]

A bright flash appeared and the object slowly generated. It was a box that floated to my arms. It was relatively heavy and as I moved it to the bed, I couldn’t help but see the rattling from the glass. The box was opened afterwards and what greeted me were two rows of potions. Ten of each kind.

I quickly stowed them away in my ring feeling a lot better, I had also gotten some Prime Currency which I still barely knew the use of. I opened my status.

Name: Blair | Level: 26

Race: ??? (E-Grade)

Feats: [Lone Survivor], [Bottomless Ambition], [Champion Of Champions], [Champion Of Illusion], [Pest Control], [DeathShot], [Five of a Kind]

Prophecy: Scarlet Bloom (D-Grade)

Basic skills: Universal Understanding (NaN),

Universal Inquiry (NaN)

Free attribute points: 2

VIG: 66 | END: 42 |

STR: 40 | AGI: 47 |

PER: 43 | WIS: 72 |

Skills: [Proficient Archery (Uncommon Passive)], [Explosive Shot (Rare)], [Power Draw (Uncommon)], [Penumbral Instinct (Rare Passive)], [Frictionless Slide (Rare Passive)], [Burrowing Shot (Rare)], [Flashbang (Rare)], [Mana Manipulation (Epic Passive)]

Prophecy Skills: [Seed Manipulation (Rare Passive)], [All Dark (Uncommon Passive)]

Attunements: Dark plants (II)

Prime Currency: 1,100

I stared at my stats briefly and thought about my battle with the Bloodfang. In the end a sigh left me. I couldn’t rely on movement skills forever. And I was already getting Vigor from my Prophecy, same went for Wisdom. I didn’t use much Endurance and Strength was occasional. In the end, I needed Agility. It was bumped from 47 to 49. I now had Currency to configure my Settlement but that could wait.

Finally I turned to Glim.

“Don’t you have more quests to give me?”

Glim trembled. [Fine! You always want to die, fine, fine! You should’ve just been happy!] It said angrily, which made me confused. [Don’t die…] Glim muttered and then. It happened. My mind blanked out for a bit

[You have accepted ⁠— Slayer of Dragons (Epic C) Continental Quest ⁠— A dragon lurks in Continent #4 Summoned as a Herald-type monster. It has lived for over a hundred years. A creature of a higher order that has never known defeat. Reward: Great Feat. Condition: Slay the Dragon (0/1)

“Father of humanity. Your name; long forgotten. But your achievements, brilliant.” ⁠— Samsara the Last Dragon of the Void.]