The Goblin and Kobolds got to work roasting the rabbits we’d caught on the way back, while Analth inspected my… home with an expression that could only be described as judging.
She carried her helm under one arm, and even I could tell she was a seasoned warrior—every step through the woods had carried that quiet, dangerous confidence.
We hadn’t run into any more monsters on the last stretch of the trip, so I took the time to claim my quest reward for hunting both monsters and adventurers.
[Quest Completed!]
[Quest: Hunting]
[Type: Main Quest]
[Objective:] Now that the Herald has established his base, he must learn the basics of monster hunting. And adventurer hunting.
[Goal:]
- Kill 5/5 Monsters
- Kill 5/5 Adventurers
[Rewards:] 1 Small Armor Box | +350 Soul Essence | Blueprint Unlocked: Marketplace
I couldn’t help but grin at the blueprint reward. A Marketplace.
I wondered briefly if building it would unlock that one tab I still couldn’t access.
With that out of the way, I pulled up my Soul Essence total. I could open the armor box afterward.
[Soul Essence: 892]
A low whistle escaped me. I’d earned a lot today—between the adventurers, the monsters, and the quest rewards, it added up fast.
I doubted every day would be like this, but it was good to know I could build resources when needed.
Looking up at the sky, I guessed it was late afternoon, maybe even nearing evening.
Unsure what to do with Analth for now—who was currently tapping one of the huts like it might collapse if she breathed too hard—I headed toward the cave.
It was time to expand my domain.
I stared at the map, realizing I wasn’t entirely sure which direction I wanted to expand in.
West, I suspected, led toward the village the adventurers had come from.
Come to think of it, I could probably just ask Analth.
East looked like nothing but more forest, and north—if my sense of direction was right—eventually reached the coast.
South wasn’t even an option yet, so it came down to one of those three.
Decisions, decisions.
Well… regardless of what I wanted, I knew I’d have to face the people of whatever nation ruled this land eventually. And something told me they weren’t the type to have friendly chats with monsters.
So, I chose west—spending 500 Soul Essence for the expansion.
Almost immediately, the system pinged again. I had a feeling I knew what that meant.
[Achievement Unlocked!]
[Title:] Expansion!
[Condition:] Purchase the first expansion for your domain.
[Rewards:] +250 Soul Essence | Small Weapon Box
Not a bad reward. I got half the Soul Essence back, and a new set of weapons to boot.
Speaking of which… I still had that—and the armor box—to open.
I started with the armor box.
[Armor Acquired!]
[Bronze Scale Vest | Wolfhide Buckler]
“Oh… a shield item. How interesting.”
I pulled it out and equipped it right away. As a buckler, it was fairly small, but it would do in a pinch. The “wolfhide” part came from the stretched pelt covering the wooden base—it even had a faint, earthy scent. Too bad there wasn’t a way to—
Wolfhide Buckler
Type: Off-Hand
Defense: +6
Weight: Light
Effect: Grants +5% Resistance to Beast-type attacks.
Description: A small round shield crafted from the hide of a forest wolf. Reinforced with wooden plating on the inside and a simple leather strap, it’s more practical than pretty—but reliable in a pinch.
Oh… that was new.
Before, I’d only ever gotten a basic description for items. I wondered if it was because I was getting stronger—or maybe because the Core had grown with the new expansion.
Something to think about.
The Bronze Scale Vest, I decided to hold onto. I could probably give it to the Goblin later.
Next, I opened up the weapon box I’d just earned. I wasn’t exactly hurting for weapons—but hey, you could never have too many.
[Weapons Acquired!]
[Ashwood Shortbow x2 | Iron Flail]
I frowned. The bows were definitely useful, though that brought my total up to four. At least my little archer could finally swap out that beginner shortbow.
The flail, though… I had no idea what to do with that. For now, it would just sit in my inventory until I found someone who liked hitting things the old-fashioned way.
With that done, I glanced at my Soul Essence.
[Soul Essence: 642]
Not bad. Enough to summon another standard monster.
I thought about it for a moment, remembering that I was still down a wolf, and shrugged.
“Why the hell not,” I muttered, pressing the Summon Standard Monster button once more.
Light erupted from the Core again, flooding the cave until I had to shield my eyes. When it finally faded, what stood before me looked like a bigger, meaner goblin.
Reddish-brown skin, flat nose, a mouth full of sharp teeth—and from each shoulder, a jagged horn jutted like some kind of natural armor.
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[Halvard - Hobgoblin Level 7]
[Average Stats: 6]
[Average Skill Level: 3]
[Number of Skills: 5]
I blinked.
Even better than the zombie.
Five skills, solid stats, and level seven right out of the gate. Ignoring Analth, that made this guy my strongest summon yet.
“Uh… hey there,” I said, a little uncertain.
The hobgoblin met my gaze—then dropped to one knee, head bowed low.
Oh. Well, at least it knew who was in charge.
I decided to see what kind of equipment it preferred.
First, I offered one of the Ashwood Shortbows—but it turned it down immediately.
Next came a Bronze Spear I’d looted from the adventurers earlier. Another shake of the head.
I frowned and scrolled through the rest of my inventory, handing out weapons one by one. The hobgoblin refused them all—until I tried offering the wizard’s staff.
That, it accepted eagerly, gripping it like it had just been given a precious treasure.
I couldn’t help grinning.
“My first caster unit.”
I passed it the tome and the robe as well. Despite its bulk, it somehow looked the part of a wizard now—and I was honestly excited to see what it could do in combat.
I stepped back out into my little… village, I guess you could call it, glancing around for Analth.
The Hobgoblin, meanwhile, had joined the others where they were eating, fitting in almost too easily for a newcomer.
It didn’t take long to find her. She’d claimed the remaining hut—the one I’d slept in last night—as her own. She sat in front of it, methodically polishing her blade.
“Analth,” I said quietly as I approached. She didn’t look up, but the slight twitch in her posture told me she’d heard.
“I wanted to ask about the village you came from, if you have a moment.”
She kept polishing for a few seconds longer before looking up. Her golden eyes revealed nothing.
“What of it?” she asked evenly, one brow rising.
I hesitated, organizing my thoughts before speaking.
“Where is it located? How many people live there? What kind of defenses does it have? And… is there any chance they’d cooperate with monsters—or with me—or will it be straight to war when we meet?”
For a long moment, she just stared, silent. Then she sighed, setting her blade across her knees.
She told me the place was called Aelshore, a fishing village built along a wide river that flowed from the northern ocean all the way south to the mountains, located roughly eight hours west from here.
Aelshore was quaint, quiet, and filled with adventurous types—but its defenses were thin.
A handful of trained guards, maybe a dozen militia, and whatever adventurers happened to be around at the time.
It was about six or seven hours due west, she said.
Which meant that if I kept expanding in that direction… eventually, I’d reach it.
“If you march on Aelshore, I will not help you fight its people,” Analth informed me. I didn’t say anything. I had already expected as much. “And I ask that you don’t slaughter its civilians. They’re decent folk, and they treated me well in my time there.”
I was a bit surprised hearing that coming from a monster.
Every monster I had summoned so far seemed to almost instinctually want to attack people, so the fact that she requested I try to spare the civilians was… interesting to say the least.
“I’ll do my best,” I answered, not committing wholly to the cause.
It wasn’t that I wanted to kill innocents, but if the village proved a threat to my home, I wouldn’t hesitate to raze it to the ground.
I shuddered at that thought. I was becoming less human the more I thought about things.
With the conversation over, Analth went back to polishing her blade, and I went to give Skree and Roderik their new equipment.
After that, with nothing left to do for the evening, I decided to turn in early. Tomorrow would be a new day, and with it, I was certain I’d get some new quests.
I reached the cave, giving the hut I had slept in yesterday to Analth, and laid down. The forest outside had gone silent, the Core’s pulse a soft heartbeat in the dark as I dozed off.
By dawn, the cave had cooled, the air thick with dew and the faint hum of magic from the Core.
Sleeping on the cave floor had been… surprisingly comfortable.
The Core seemed to sense my desire to sleep and had dimmed throughout the night, not shining again until morning.
I stretched and smiled down at the little blob of slime that had, at some point, found itself curled up on my chest.
It shimmered faintly blue in the morning light, quivering each time I breathed.
I had forgotten about the little guy, honestly, but it seemed content just cleaning the cave.
It even looked a bit bigger.
[Essi - Slime Level 4]
“Well… would you look at that,” I muttered to myself. This little guy had been level one when I summoned him, and just by spending an entire day cleaning the cave, he had reached level four. That was quite the achievement, if I did say so myself.
I’d have to keep an eye on it to see if it continued its swift progress or if it would plateau now.
Next, I decided to check my Soul Essence.
[Soul Essence: 262]
I gasped aloud at that, rubbing my eyes, unsure if I was seeing things.
I had slept for about eight hours again, and it had been another two or three hours since I had looked at it last.
That… wasn’t right. Either I was terrible at math, or something had changed overnight.
I immediately scanned the Core.
[Kingdom Core - Lvl. 2]
[Passive Soul Essence Gain: 2/10 Minutes]
Oh. I had leveled up the Core. Did that mean I was stronger now too? I certainly felt stronger.
I frowned and started going back through my notifications.
I had to have missed it somewhere—there was no way it just—ah-hah.
[Territory Expanded!]
[Kingdom Core has Leveled Up - Level 2!]
There it was. So expanding my territory had increased the level of the Core.
“So leveling up the Core is done via expanding my territory,” I muttered to myself. “Is it one level per expansion, or will I need more expansions to level it further?”
I guess that would be answered at a later time.
In the meantime, I needed to plan and prepare. I knew the adventurers were coming from the west, I knew there was a village there that could potentially threaten my new home, and I knew I’d have to get stronger to face it.
Which meant summoning more monsters.
The question was whether or not to save up and get stronger monsters, or try and get a mix of monsters by summoning more minions now and then going out to hunt.
There was also that bit the system had mentioned about taming monsters, which I was curious how to do.
I assumed it would either be through force of arms, or like in some video games where you just fed them.
Something to think on for later.
With a deep breath, I opened the summon interface again.
Two hundred Soul Essence later and I had two new minion class monsters.
[Sootwing - Imp Level 3]
[Average Stats: 2]
[Average Skill Level: 1]
[Number of Skills: 3]
[Dominic B?deker - Skeleton Level 2]
[Average Stats: 1]
[Average Skill Level: 1]
[Number of Skills: 2]
The Imp was exactly what I thought it would be: a humanoid with pointed ears, fangs in place of normal teeth, and bat-like wings. It was maybe two feet tall from its feet to the top of its head and had skin like charcoal, its eyes bright as magma.
The Skeleton was also exactly as presented—a humanoid of pure bone that made a rattling sound as it was summoned.
The Imp… no, perhaps it was time I started acknowledging that all my monsters had names.
Sootwing took the remaining Ashwood Shortbow, the weapon seeming to shrink to fit its smaller frame, and with Dominic, I tried a couple of different weapons before it accepted a Bronze Shortsword and a Bronze Shield.
The next thing I did was build two more huts next to the ones I had built the day before, increasing the number of homes up to five, and then I dropped a Well dead center of the current village.
There was more rumbling as the buildings appeared, and the crashing of trees—followed by an acknowledgment that I had gained more lumber—told me I had cleared out more forest.
I’d have to figure out a way to gain more lumber and stone naturally, and determine if there were other resources I was missing sooner rather than later, as I was beginning to run out.
Five huts, and a well. Two new allies. And a forest that seemed to whisper of more to come. The air itself felt alive with promise, and my gamer’s instinct was going into overdrive.
[Current Day: 3]
[Soul Essence: 62]
[Kingdom Core: Level 2]
[Domain Size: 2 Sectors]
[Active Quest: — None —]