The 5th-day blessing had already ended by the time Leo reached his territory. The progress was staggering. The air hummed with the sound of labor as workers processed resources and the undead meticulously raised a continuous stone wall. Luna stood at the center of the hub, directing the flow of logistics with Ren in tow.
Leo's initial party had been thinned to thirty by the ferocity of the werewolf camp, but with the recruitment of the ogre, he marched home with fifty-two soldiers. The sight of the disciplined, multi-species line crossing the threshold of his shield felt like the true birth of an army.
'Finally, a real foundation,' Leo mused. He ordered the Captain to settle the ogres into the barracks and dismissed the undead to the ossuary. He had a date with a certain Epic corpse.
In the Lord's Hall, Leo stood over the remains of the Alpha Berserker. Even in death, the beast exuded a lingering malice. 'A terrifying bastard to the very end,' he thought, initiating the dismantling process.
[System: Dismantling Epic-Grade Alpha Berserker...]
Alpha's Charcoal Pelt (Epic) x1
Crystallized Berserker Heart (Rare) x1
Aether Core (D-Rank) x1
Alpha Prime Ribs (Epic) x120
SE x700
'Not bad,' Leo noted. He handed the meat to Vespar, instructing her to oversee a feast for the territory.
Ascending his throne, Leo laid out the day's spoils. The ogre's rare bracelet was a solid defensive relic, but the goblin's staff caught his eye. It was gold-plated, etched with runes that shimmered with a restless light.
[Scepter of the Gilded Arcanist (Rare)]
Mana Resonator – Increases spell casting speed by 20% and reduces Aether consumption.
Active: Aurelian Bind – Chains of liquid gold erupt from the ground to restrain all enemies in a 5-meter radius.
Satisfied with the artifacts, Leo summoned Akul and Luna to the hall. Malphas stood behind the throne, a silent, armored monolith whose sheer presence made the air in the room feel heavy.
''So, Leo, you managed to survive without me,'' Luna joked, though her eyes scanned him for wounds.
Leo fought the urge to grimace. 'She's a permanent threat to my dignified image,' he thought. Akul followed, his usual calm replaced by a frantic sort of hunger. ''My Lord... you called?''
Leo demanded a status report. Luna confirmed that with the influx of resources from the previous night, everything for the territory upgrade was ready—save for the stone wall, which required a few more hours of labor.
''By midnight, we can upgrade to the next level,'' Luna stated, her voice brimming with uncharacteristic pride.
Leo allowed a small, satisfied smile to surface. He then retrieved the Spirit Womb from his Sigil. The stone hovered, pulsing with a rhythmic, embryonic heat.
''Eww, what is that ugly stone?'' Luna blurted out.
Akul's composure snapped. He lunged forward, his eyes fixed on the stone, but he was halted mid-air. A crushing gravity slammed him into the flagstones. ''Know your place, fool,'' Malphas's voice grated from within his visor.
Leo signaled Malphas to release him. Akul didn't hesitate; he pressed his forehead to the floor. ''Mercy, Lord! Its magnificence blinded me!''
Luna gulped as the pressure receded. 'This old man is too terrifying,' she thought, trying to hide her trembling legs.
''Explain this treasure, Akul,'' Leo commanded.
''Yes, my Lord!'' Akul's voice trembled with excitement. ''This is a Spirit Womb. Ordinarily, one must petition a Spirit Monarch for a contract, binding oneself to an established Spirit. But this... this is a blank slate. It is a natural womb. We can shape the spirit within by feeding it. If a Lord of your caliber were to offer your own blood Essence... who knows? We could birth a Monarch. Or perhaps something the world hasn't seen in an age—a Taboo Spirit.''
'What is this man rambling about?' Leo wondered, watching the fanatical light gleaming in Akul's eyes. "How long is the incubation period?" Leo asked, his fingers rhythmically drumming against the stone armrest of his throne.
"That is a variable, my lord. It depends entirely on the quality of the essences we offer the womb. While I would never dare to presume the nature of your lineage, I believe it is of the highest possible order. If we were to nourish it with your blood essence, only then could I calculate the time required for it to awaken," Akul explained with a tremor of excitement.
Leo briefly detailed the werewolf's previous methods of feeding on the stone before he had seized it. Deciding against any hasty gambles, he dismissed Akul and made his way to the temple with Luna in tow.
Leo handed a bundle of F-rank cores to her. "You know the absorption method, don't you?"
"Of course. I've already pushed my progress to F+(63%). Just you wait, Leo, I'll catch up to you before you know it," Luna replied with a confident smirk, taking the cores to a quiet corner of the temple.
With a faint, private smile, Leo began the process of consuming his E-rank cores. Unlike his earlier rapid growth, the transition was now a grueling crawl. The progress was sluggish, and when he pushed the limits of his capacity, his veins throbbed with a dull, burgeoning pain.
The territory gradually fell into a heavy silence. While the undead continued their tireless vigil, the human workforce moved toward the camp kitchen to conclude their daily labors. The total population had reached 120, with the forty-eight humans making up exactly forty percent of the camp's residents. They formed a weary, expectant line, waiting for their evening rations.
A scrawny youth shifted nervously, inhaling the rich aroma wafting from the pots. "I wonder what the menu looks like tonight," he whispered to the man in front of him.
His companion, a large man with a gentle face, glanced back with a grin. "Word is the lord raided a werewolf settlement today. We're eating like kings tonight."
Anticipation rippled through the line. River, the appointed leader of the human faction, called out to the crowd, "Listen up! The lord has provided rare specimen meat for our feast tonight! Let's fill our bellies and show our gratitude with double the effort tomorrow!"
"OHHHHH!" the workers roared in unison, their spirits lifted by the promise of a true meal.
The head cook, Dork, busied himself with the distribution, wiping the steam and sweat from his forehead. His eyes occasionally darted toward the group of female workers, his heart fluttering with a silent hope. 'I wonder if any of them will actually like the seasoning,' he thought, his chest tight with nervous pride.
As the camp settled into rest, Luna emerged from her deep meditation. She checked her progress—F++(99%).
'Finally,' she thought. She took the final E-grade core Leo had set aside for her, clutching the crystalline stone as she began to draw out the aether. A faint mist of energy spiraled toward her heart. An hour later, a visible wave of power pulsed outward from her, signaling her successful ascension in rank.
A series of notifications appeared in her vision.
[Ding]
[Rank Advancement Successful]
[Lord Rank: E-Rank]
[Significant enhancement to physical attributes]
[Passive Aether resistance increased]
[Inventory capacity increased - 22/50]
"Well done," Leo noted, opening his eyes as he finished his own session.
Luna beamed as the spent core crumbled into dust between her fingers. "Uff," she sighed, stretching her stiff limbs as she stood.
"Come. I've ordered the chef to prepare a proper celebration," Leo said. They stepped out of the temple together, passing the silent, eternal sentinels, Malphas and Ren.
"A real feast?" Luna didn't wait for an answer, sprinting toward the kitchen and leaving the rest of the party in her wake.
Inside the quiet kitchen, Luna stared at the spread before her. She had spent the day trading for every spice and vegetable available on the market to supplement the chef's ingredients. The result was a lavish display: vibrant steamed vegetables, grilled epic-grade meat, savory soups, and fresh fish.
Even Leo was taken aback by the sheer variety. 'Wow,' he admitted silently, reaching for his chopsticks. "Let's begin."
"Not yet!" Luna interjected, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She produced a large, sealed bamboo cylinder. "Behold... the Valhalla."
"The what?" Leo asked, his eyebrows arching in skepticism.
Luna began pouring a thick, milky liquid into his wooden cup. "When I was sourcing goods in trade today, I ran into a lord named Ragnarok. His territory is coastal, and he found a dungeon nearby. Guess what he discovered inside?"
Leo gestured toward the cup. Luna chuckled, "Yes, he calls it Valhalla. Apparently, a single sip is enough to take you there."
"You could have just called it alcohol," Leo sighed, reaching for a cut of meat.
"No, this is different. Trust me, take a sip," Luna urged, her eyes wide with anticipation.
Leo chewed the meat, nodding in genuine appreciation of the flavor before fixing her with a deadpan stare. Luna rolled her eyes and took a long sip from her own cup. 'Always so paranoid,' she grumbled.
Amused at her irritation, Leo followed suit. As the liquid hit his throat, it carried a searing heat that transitioned into a deep, soothing cool—a complex profile reminiscent of fine whiskey. "It actually hits the spot," Leo admitted.
An hour slipped away as they allowed the tensions of the world to recede. Leo recounted the day's events and the various people he had encountered. Eventually, they moved the conversation outside, sitting before a low-burning fire under the dark expanse of the sky.
Taking a measured sip of the Valhalla, Leo looked up at the void above. "You know what's strange, Luna? It has been two days since you joined me, yet you haven't once asked for my name."
Luna's drink went down the wrong way, and she coughed into her hand. "Really? It must have slipped my mind."
"Or perhaps you already knew it before we met," Leo said, turning his gaze toward her. "You recognize me, don't you?"
Luna let out a long sigh. She was physically incapable of deception in this state; the bond of submission was an invisible weight that would tighten at the first hint of betrayal. "Yes, I know who you are. Leo Vayne. I knew you back at the university."
"I suppose everyone at the university knows my name by now, thanks to her," Leo remarked quietly, looking back into the darkness.
"I wasn't trying to deceive you. I just thought it was better to remain quiet until you chose to bring it up," Luna said, taking another deep gulp from her cup.
"But Leo... are you really a Vamp..." she trailed off, unable to finish the word. Leo watched her with a faint smile. "Yes. A Vampire."
"Really...It's incredible. How is it even possible to change your race? And even so, how are you still accessing the human chat channels? It's all so confusing," Luna mused.
"That makes two of us," Leo agreed. A fragment of a memory surfaced in his mind. He took a breath and turned back to her. "Do you know—"
The question died in his throat. A system notification flashed across his vision, announcing that the final stone wall had been completed.