Two days passed after opening the new territory and encountering the Aetherblitz. Two days of hunting, leveling, and gaining Soul Essence.

  Nothing exciting happened.

  We didn’t run into any more adventurers, but now and again, while exploring, I could hear things fighting deeper in the woods.

  It was… worrisome, in a way, that we hadn’t seen any of them. It made me wonder what they had been up to.

  Perhaps they had been told to avoid fighting my monsters and me as much as possible. Or perhaps they were simply afraid to enter the parts of the woods I owned.

  Regardless, we managed to earn enough Soul Essence for me to summon another Epic-tier monster.

  [Kharethis - Mummy Level 9]

  [Average Stats: 13]

  [Average Skill Level: 9]

  [Number of Skills: 5]

  I was surprised by the lower number of skills and stats—Arathog was stronger by default—but what shocked me the most was the first thing Kharethis did after stepping out of the Core Room.

  I had handed him a staff, assuming he was some kind of caster when he accepted it—but instead, he went straight for the Bakery, declaring that he loved to bake and would personally ensure my home was well fed.

  I laughed. Of course the ancient mummy had a baking skill.

  The best part was… the food was actually incredible.

  I still had no idea where he was getting the ingredients, but apparently one of his skills was called Creation Magic, which allowed him to create things like eggs, flour, and other basic materials.

  When I mentioned it to him, he became almost excited—going on to explain that he was working toward recreating chocolate. He claimed to remember such delicacies from when he was alive, and that memory alone had been what originally drove him to learn Creation Magic in the first place.

  Most of my monsters had leveled up a fair bit, and I had evolved a couple more as well. Torekk was now a Troll Berserker, while Gurtok had joined Brindle as a Goblin Legionnaire.

  Today, I found myself alone with Elyndra in the Volcanic Zone, harvesting Flame Cores.

  They were found in crystal formations that seemed to respawn at the base of the volcano. The two of us were enough for this zone—Elyndra had hit level 28 now. I was starting to wonder if she would get another evolution at level 30, or if she would simply continue to level up until she gained a title or something similar.

  Either way, the two of us were strong enough that I didn’t have to worry about being overwhelmed here.

  [Flame Cores Gained x45]

  I smiled as the latest batch of Flame Cores was added to my resource pool.

  “Alright, let’s start heading back, Ely—”

  I cut myself off as I heard something. Closer than usual. The sounds of battle.

  Elyndra heard it too, raising her spear automatically, but I shook my head.

  “Let’s scout it out first, then decide what to do,” I said.

  The Coreborn nodded, and the pair of us moved quickly—but quietly—toward the source of the fighting.

  I was shocked by what we found.

  Elyndra and I stood atop a small hill, looking down at the battle below.

  A group of adventurers was fighting several Emberhounds.

  But that wasn’t what shocked me.

  What shocked me was that I recognized them.

  Felix—if I remembered his name correctly—swung his halberd in a vicious arc, decapitating one of the hounds while keeping enough distance that the resulting explosion didn’t catch him.

  The warrior wielding the greatsword lay on the ground, seemingly unconscious, while the man Philipp worked frantically to heal her.

  Corinna, the caster, called down a blast of lightning that killed three Emberhounds in an instant—though one of the resulting explosions singed Felix.

  The supporting mage who had been casting buffs wasn’t present this time. Instead, there was a woman wearing robes and what looked like a witch’s hat, throwing phials of liquid that burned like acid against the flanks of the hounds—or caused them to stagger in confusion, rubbing at their faces as if disoriented.

  Even with one injured party member, the adventurers were doing well on their own. Elyndra and I watched for some time, keeping an eye out for stronger opponents that might interrupt, but it proved unnecessary.

  The last of the Emberhounds went down without so much as a whimper, leaving the adventurers victorious.

  I caught myself smiling, a strange sense of pride filling my chest, before I shook my head—much to Elyndra’s amusement.

  They began gathering their things, patching themselves up with what looked like potions and Philipp’s magic, while Felix picked something up from the ashes of one of the hounds.

  “Oh… what’s that?” I muttered under my breath.

  We were far away, but even from here I could make it out.

  In Felix’s hand was something that looked like a stone or crystal—blue in color and roughly the size of his thumb. He seemed excited about it, speaking quickly to the rest of his party.

  I had never seen monsters themselves drop anything before, so this had to be one of the reasons adventurers hunted them beyond experience and levels.

  I watched as Felix handed it to Corinna. She blushed and shook her head, but Felix seemed insistent.

  Once they finished packing up, the group moved on, keeping wary eyes on the surroundings as they went. They headed west, so I assumed they were returning home.

  I watched them leave, a contemplative look on my face.

  I was glad, in a way, that they were alive. But if they stayed near Aelshore… I wondered briefly if I would be forced to fight them when the time came.

  Sighing, I turned and started back toward my own home.

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  “Let’s head back, Elyndra,” I said calmly. “We’ve got more preparations to make—and I think we should go hunting again today.”

  Elyndra nodded and followed me, casting one last glance over her shoulder at the departing adventurers.

  A couple of hours later, I was back to exploring the furthest westward territory I owned.

  With me were Elyndra, Arathog, Kharethis—who had informed me he possessed some combat magic as well—and Falkar. I had kept several monsters behind at the village for defense and sent others out on their own scouting routes.

  Analth remained at home, stating she wanted to train a different group today. When the monsters who had been under her previous tutelage sighed in visible relief, I found myself growing more curious about what kind of training she put them through.

  The forest around us seemed to hum with energy, tiny motes of blue light drifting lazily between the trees.

  We advanced cautiously, memories of the Aetherblitz still fresh in our minds. I hadn’t been this far west since the first day the territory was unlocked, so I wasn’t sure what we might encounter out here.

  We moved carefully, keeping sharp eyes on our surroundings. So far, we’d only passed a few deer—actual deer, not the monster I’d tamed back home—and various bits of wildlife that gave us a wide berth.

  I didn’t feel any hostile intent, so I doubted we were being watched. Still, as we neared the center of the zone, a prickling sense of unease crept up my spine.

  Like something was about to happen.

  “It’s quiet,” Arathog observed.

  Before I could respond, something finally did.

  It was almost comedic, really.

  A man stumbled out from a nearby thicket, glancing around frantically, a waterskin clutched in one hand and a small hand-axe in the other. He wore leather armor of some kind, with the tabard of the Morveth guild draped over his chest.

  His eyes locked onto Elyndra first… then Arathog… and finally me.

  “Oh… shit,” he cursed, turning to run.

  “Stop him!” I ordered.

  Elyndra was on him in an instant.

  “It’s him! The Herald—he’s—agh!”

  Her spear plunged into his back mid-warning, cutting him off as he collapsed to the forest floor.

  Which meant there were others nearby.

  For a moment, there was silence.

  Then the horns rang out.

  “Shit,” I cursed, drawing my sword. “Form a circle,” I ordered, keeping my voice calm.

  Kharethis moved to the center, with Arathog on my left and Elyndra on my right. Falkar closed the circle behind us, positioning himself to keep Kharethis safe.

  Two more horns sounded—one to our left, one to our right—just before the first group of adventurers emerged from the trees.

  There were six of them in total: four on the front line and two hanging back.

  The front line consisted of a dwarf wielding a small hammer and shield, a human dual-wielding swords, another human with a spear, and something that looked like one of the plant-folk I’d encountered before—its hands encased in gloves studded with metal.

  A fist-fighter, then.

  The back line was made up of a dwarf with a crossbow and an elf already casting a spell, staff glowing faintly.

  “Arathog, take the dwarf and the swordsman,” I ordered, the demon already bracing to engage. “Elyndra, you’re on the spear wielder.”

  I turned next. “Kharethis, see if you can disrupt the caster. Falkar—keep him safe.”

  I didn’t wait for confirmations.

  I pushed forward, charging the fist-fighter as he smirked and raised his hands.

  I hadn’t expected an entire scouting party—let alone multiple ones—but here we were.

  I reached the plant-folk and swung wildly with my sword.

  He dodged left, then right, before stepping into my next swing and cracking me in the jaw with a vicious uppercut.

  I dropped onto my ass, and before I could recover, he was on me, straddling my waist.

  A punch to the face—my vision flared white, blood spraying from my mouth.

  Another blow slammed into my ribs, and I coughed out in pain.

  Before he could strike again, I heard Kharethis finish chanting, his voice rising into a hollow crescendo.

  The man screamed.

  He scrambled off me as if my very presence had become unbearable, clawing at the ground in blind panic.

  I was about to question what had happened when, through the ringing in my ears and my blurred vision, I saw it.

  A mark now burned into the man’s forehead—glowing purple, hissing faintly, as if eating into his skin.

  More screams came from my left and right, and I saw that the other adventurers were similarly affected. The only one who seemed unhindered was the dwarf with the hammer—though even he was sweating heavily.

  I stood, shaking my head as the natural regeneration of being a Herald took effect.

  The fist-fighter still looked at me like I was his worst nightmare. I glanced back at Kharethis, who only gave me a jagged-toothed grin. I nodded, then turned back to my opponent, wanting to finish him before he recovered.

  He scrambled like a crab, trying to get away from me, pleading all the while, before his back hit a tree.

  “No, no, please—please, mercy!” he sobbed, and for a moment, I felt… bad.

  But I shook my head. These adventurers had come into my territory, and they would have kept pressing forward—with the explicit purpose of killing me. Killing my monsters.

  I drove my blade through his throat.

  His body went rigid, hands clawing weakly at the steel for a heartbeat before they fell away. Then he went still.

  I withdrew the blade and turned back to the rest of the fight.

  Elyndra had finished off her opponent and was moving past to handle the caster and archer.

  Arathog was still fighting the dwarf, the sword-wielder curled into a ball and crying, muttering to himself.

  It almost seemed as if the High Demon was toying with his opponent—making small cuts here and there, dodging blows with exaggerated flourish.

  I frowned at that.

  These adventurers may have come to kill us, but I wouldn’t lower ourselves to actual monsters.

  “Arathog, enough,” I ordered, my voice loud and firm. “Finish him off.”

  The High Demon froze, taking a blow to the side that he didn’t seem to feel, before nodding.

  “Yes, Lord Herald!”

  Within moments, he disarmed and slew the dwarf, before moving on to the dual-wielder next.

  The first fight was basically over, but I could hear the distant sounds of heavy footfalls approaching—and a loud roar that sounded like some kind of monster.

  Elyndra finished off the backline, then returned to my side.

  “Do we stay and fight them all, Lord Herald?” she asked cautiously.

  I frowned for a moment.

  There was a good chance we would be heavily outnumbered, but at the very least this first party didn’t seem all that dangerous.

  If each enemy group was at a similar level, I suspected we would make quick work of them.

  “Yes,” I said after a moment. “Let’s form a circle and get ready to fight again.”

  The others nodded, and we made ready.

  For a moment, nothing more happened—then something large burst from the trees.

  It looked like a freaking dinosaur, bigger than a bear, with a scaled body and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

  Two horns curled from the top of its head, and it let out a terrifying roar as it spotted us.

  Behind it came another dozen adventurers—a mix of elves, humans, dwarves, and other species I couldn’t name.

  “The Herald,” one of them said, the presumed leader based on his stance and equipment.

  While the others were mostly dressed in leather and cloth, this man wore plate armor and wielded a silvered longsword in one hand and a silver shortsword in the other.

  I also noted that he wasn’t wearing the same tabard as the rest—his instead depicted a boat sailing along a river.

  This man was a member of one of the local guilds in Aelshore.

  “When I heard a new Herald had been born in the Skarnwood, I expected something more… terrifying,” he taunted, earning laughter from his men.

  I didn’t respond, simply frowning, my eyes never leaving the beast at his side.

  My monsters were not so calm.

  Elyndra growled. Arathog made a sound like a bear’s rumble, his wings snapping as his body shook with anger.

  Falkar let out a bark, tightening his grip on his blade, while Kharethis simply laughed, muttering curses under his breath.

  “You came here to fight,” I said at last, looking at the man. “Enough with the mind games. Let us fight.”

  The man grinned in return.

  “Heralds always seem to have a death wish,” he chuckled, pointing his blade at me. “Very well. Warriors of Hvalbryder! Show these monsters what happens when they mess with our home!”

  The massive dinosaur-like beast let out a deafening roar and charged.

  The battle began.

  [Current Day: 13]

  [Soul Essence: 201]

  [Kingdom Core: Level 4]

  [Domain Size: 7 Sectors]

  [Active Quest: — None —]