The room was silent for a moment before Elisia shrieked and began to violently shake Ragnan. "Oh, gods! What do we do?!?!"

His horrified face was too much, and I burst into laughter.

A few minutes later, I finally regained control of myself. 

"There's still a long time to go before this is over, so don't worry. My contractions are still well over an hour apart."

I clapped my hands and used a circle to quickly clean up the mess made by my water breaking.

"Well, like I was saying, my name is Terra, and it's a pleasure to meet you two. I don't have much to offer, but please make yourself comfortable," I said and sat on one of the simple couches I had around a coffee table.

The pair glanced at each other and then nervously sat across from me.

A few moments passed in awkward silence before Ragnan spoke. "Thank you, Lady Terra, for saving us and allowing us to join your kingdom."

"Huh? What do you mean? I don't have a kingdom." I tilted my head and asked, confused.

"That's strange... Our quest said to join the Synthorg Kingdom under the new Prime..." Ragnan said.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "The people who brought me here said they couldn't give me a human body, so they had to give me a new race. I should be the first, and currently only, synthorg."

"By the gods!" Ragnan whispered. Catching my confused expression, he excitedly explained. "That's what the system meant. You've been granted the right to form a new kingdom!"

He jumped up and began to pace, mumbling unintelligibly under his breath. "This is...! The political landscape hasn't changed in millennia!"

"Sorry about that... He tends to get excited about this kind of stuff." Elisia said with a wry smile. "This excitement is part of what caused him to be banished from his tribe, and no matter what I try, I can't seem to help him keep it contained."

"It's okay! It's kind of cute, actually!" I said with a giggle.

Elisia's smile brightened, and she gushed. "I know! It's such a contrast from his rough exterior!"

"Do you know where we are? The system teleported us directly into the woods. I couldn't get a good look at our surroundings before we were attacked." Ragnan suddenly interjected, appearing utterly oblivious to our conversation.

"I have no idea where we are. I haven't been here for long, remember?" I said and shared a giggle with Elisia. 

I looked from Elisia to Ragnan and spoke seriously, "Honestly, I'm still trying to decide what, and how much, I should tell you... I don't know you after all."

The duo locked eyes and seemed to communicate silently before they both knelt before me and spoke in unison.

"I pledge unyielding loyalty to Lady Terra, the Synthorg Prime, in the name of the system."

A beam of light shot out of each of their chests and entered mine.

I sputtered, shocked at the prompt I was reading.

"Wha?!? Why would you do something like that? We just met! How do I release you from this vow?!?" I exclaimed.

Ragnan laughed heartily.

"There's no need Lady Terra. The fact that you've even considered it means that we made the correct decision." He said with a grin as the pair returned to the couch. "Now, as the system should have told you, we cannot betray you. This is enforced under all circumstances, including torture, so you don't have to worry about any of your secrets getting out."

I sighed. "You guys are crazy, you know that?"

The pair just smiled and shrugged.

"Really though, how do I release you? If this is something that you want to do, that's fine. Still, it should be done after careful deliberation, and definitely not when you barely know anything about me."

"Lady Terra. It's honestly better this way, both for you and for us. There are a lot of other effects that the vow has that we can go over later." Elisia said with a gentle smile. "And don't worry, we thought long and hard about this before accepting our quest."

I stared blankly at the pair for a long time, trying to will them into changing their minds.

"Well, I guess I should just tell you everything..." I said with a deep sigh.

"I don't know how long ago it was, but my planet exploded, and my soul was blasted out into space..."

---

I spent several hours telling the pair everything that had happened to me recently, only pausing briefly for a few contractions.

"And then I opened the portal to save you guys... You know everything from there on." I finished and tapped my chin. "I think that's it."

"Fascinating!" Ragnan exclaimed. He coughed into his hand sheepishly after receiving a sharp elbow to the ribs from his wife. "While the circumstances of your arrival are nothing short of terrible, you've been given an incredible chance."

He stood and began to pace again. "At least, as far as I am aware, there has never been a weak Prime. Far from it. Every recorded holder of the class has been among the strongest individuals to ever live."

I nodded. It is a legendary class, after all.

"The Admins have also granted you a new race and placed you within a land where you can start a new kingdom." He said, his pacing gaining speed.

"An extraordinary land, in fact. From what you described, I believe we are currently housed within the cliff that separates the Border Plains from the Shallows."

"If this is true, then we might be in the perfect situation to establish a kingdom next to the Deep Woods."

I interjected before he could continue to build up speed. "Wait, wait! What are the Border Plains, Shallows, and Deep Woods? Are those the places nearby where we are?"

He stopped his pacing and nodded. "Yes. If I'm correct, you woke up at the entrance to the Shallows, which is the forest you walked through. It's a fairly small forest that runs up to this cliff. The shallows are a fair distance away from any of the other established kingdoms. Most call the rolling plains that you saw the Empty Meadow. It's a vast field of nothing but grass that serves as a kind of neutral land between the four kingdoms."

"The Border Plains are on top of this cliff and are roughly three times the size of the Shallows. The Border Plains are called so because they separate the Shallows from the massive trees in the distance. Those trees are the Deep Woods." He finished. "At least from what I know."

Curious, I asked, "And why is this a great place to build a kingdom?"

"The Deep Woods are full of resources and opportunities." He explained. "This cliff and the vast distance are the only obstacles stopping the kingdoms from warring over the area. It would cost them a fortune to build the infrastructure to reliably transport any goods. Between that and the danger of the woods, the Border Plains are basically a lawless zone occupied by adventurers looking to strike it rich."

"If we build your kingdom there, we won't have any competition from the other kingdoms for a long while. We'll only need to contend with the few scattered villages run by the Adventurers Association."

I hummed. "So, we should make plans to head up and scout out the Border Plains then?"

Ragnan nodded. "That should be our first move, in my opinion."

Elisia spoke up for the first time. "I agree. We'll have to wait until the Mana Storm is over, though. Do you have any idea how much longer it will last?"

"I don't." He answered with a frown. "There are not many records of the previous storms. All I know is that it's occurred randomly over the centuries."

He scratched his head. "I think I read something about each phase lasting at least as long as the initial buildup, but I'm not certain."

"I've been checking the storm with my magic for the past few days, and the concentration of mana is still building. So it'll likely be several weeks before we can leave safely." I said with a sigh.

Ragnan sighed. "Well, that should give us plenty of time to prepare."

He paused as if a thought had just struck him. "Ah, have you checked your notifications after completing your quest? You should have some class points that you can spend."

I shook my head. "I haven't gotten anything other tha-"

"What the fuck!?! Where did all that come from?!?" I all but screamed, startled by the sudden appearance.

Ragnan chuckled. "The system automatically suppresses noncritical notifications if you're in a fight or similar situation."

"The changes associated with those notifications are suppressed as well. They aren't applied until you view the notification." Elisia chipped in.

"So I could have gone forever without getting these notifications and the associated power-ups? How the fuck am I supposed to know that I need to manually view them?" I groaned and rubbed my temples.

"I believe that's where we come in. The system sent us here to help you, and my part is likely to teach you the ways of this world. I may not be well renowned, but I do have the scholar class, and I think I'm fairly well-learned..." Ragnan trailed off with a contemplative expression.

"Enough of this boring stuff! What did your notifications say? You have two legendary ranked classes. I bet the level-up rewards are amazing!" Elisia exclaimed.

I chuckled and read the notifications aloud.

The pair sat in silence with blank eyes. A minute passed before Elisia stomped her foot. "What the fuck?!?! That's so overpowered!!!"

Ragnan shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's to be expected, dear. The Primes are supposed to be the strongest beings. How could they do that with a weak class?"

He turned to me. "How many stat and class points did you get per level? Total class points will be listed on your status, and you'll have to do the math for the stat points. Stat values are rounded up."

"It looks like I get three to all stats, three free points, and five class points per level," I said while reading over my status.

A few moments passed, and I looked over at the silent duo.

Ragnan and Elisia were both laid back against the chair with their eyes rolled into the back of their heads.

I sighed in exasperation and summoned a circle to douse them in water.

The pair came to, and Ragnan spoke groggily, ignoring the water soaking them. "Huh? Oh. Lady Terra, Elisia, I had the strangest dream. Lady Terra told me she gets three to all stats, including free stats, and five class points per level."

"That wasn't a dream," I said and frowned at the unintended bite in my voice caused by a contraction.

Ragnan jolted, his eyes widening at my expression, and dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry, My Lady! Please forgive me for my transgression."

I let out a deep breath as the contraction finally released me. "Ragnan, there's nothing for you to apologize for. I just had a contraction mid-sentence, and it colored my tone."

I gave a wry smile. "If anything, I should be the one to apologize. Sorry about that. I don't want either of you to ever feel like you need to kneel and plead for forgiveness. If I ever do so, make sure to give me a good smack upside the head, okay?"

Ragnan shook his head and returned to his seat. 

"No, no. There's no need for you to apologize, either. Truth be told, it was more of an instinctive action..." He let out a tired sigh. "Elisia mentioned my bad habits earlier. Those bad habits have gotten me on the wrong side of many a noble's ire."

"Well, you'll have a lot of practice getting over those instinctual responses soon. My contractions are starting to come much quicker. I'll likely be screaming and cussing up a storm in an hour or two." I said with a chuckle at the pair's paling faces.