"A 5-Star beast?" The maid's eyes narrowed slightly, her expression shifting from supportive to stern. "My Lord, I must advise against such arrogance. You are currently in the 'Tireless' state, and yes, your soul carries the weight of thirteen stars, but your physical vessel and your mastery are still that of a novice. You are, comparatively speaking, paper-thin. Even a 3-Star beast would likely end your journey before it truly begins."
Elian gripped the hilt of his Phase-Shard, a flicker of frustration crossing his face. "But I have you. A 9-Star."
"I am your steward, not your crutch," she replied coldly. "I cannot interfere in your battles. The laws of the Realm are absolute—a Lord must forge his own path. My loyalty is not a given; it is a variable. It will be determined by how you conduct yourself, how you lead, and how you conquer. I will only step in if I feel the absolute necessity to do so, and even then, every time I save you, the bond of loyalty between us will wither. Do you wish to be a master, or a protected child?"
Elian exhaled, the gravity of her words sinking in. He looked at his four warriors, who stood like statues of sapphire steel.
"You are not a sitting duck," she continued, her tone softening just a fraction. "You have four 4-Star warriors at your disposal. They are bound to your will for now. Use them."
"Then give me a target," Elian said. "What is the closest threat?"
"There is a Beast Lord—a Shadow-Stalker—ruling a ravine three miles to the east," she said.
Elian blinked. "A Beast Lord? There are leaders among the monsters?"
"In the Realm, everything is a hierarchy," she explained. "Beast Lords command territories just as humans do. As for your other question, the closest Human Lord is Lord Valerius of the Iron Bastion. His territory lies fifty miles to the north. He is a 6-Star Lord with decades of experience. To him, you are currently nothing more than a flicker of light in the distance."
Elian turned toward the eastern horizon, where the purple clouds hung low over a jagged tear in the earth. If he could defeat a Beast Lord, his Extraction trait would allow him to pull a massive amount of essence to fuel his growth.
"If we take that ravine," Elian muttered, his mind working through the tactical layout, "we gain a natural choke point. We use the warriors to draw the Stalker out. I'll stay at the rim. If I can use Sovereign Manipulation to stall its movements for even a second, the warriors can finish it."
He turned to the 9-Star maid. "Stay here. Organize the others. I want the Medical Facility blueprint laid out and the Scholar mapping the immediate perimeter. The Cook and the Bank Acquisitioner need to begin inventory on whatever resources this plateau has."
The maid bowed, a glint of genuine interest appearing in her eyes. "As you command, My Lord."
Elian turned to the four armored giants. "With me. We're going hunting."
The warriors clanked into motion, their halberds glowing with a faint, predatory light. As they crossed the shimmering boundary of the protection barrier, the silent, eerie stillness of the plateau was replaced by the raw, howling winds of the Wilds. Elian didn't look back. He had thirty days to turn this purple rock into an empire, and it started with the blood of a Beast Lord.