Mirabelle’s eyes snapped open.
A translucent blue screen floated in front of her.
Clear letters shimred across its surface, displaying the exact words she had just heard.
She sat upright. The thing moved with her.
Always maintaining the exact sa distance from her eyes.
She tried to ground herself. Closed her eyes again.
For a mont, she sat completely still, listening to the distant sounds of the city waking beyond the balcony.
The scent of warm stone, sunlight, and hyena still clung to the blankets around her.
She opend her eyes again.
But the screen was still there.
Then it dissolved. Its surface flickered and rippled before vanishing entirely.
With a soft puff, a white-grey cloud appeared in its place.
The cloud didn’t look entirely real. More like an animation than actual vapor. The cloud slled faintly of rain and fresh paper.
It split apart into several fluffy little cotton ball like clouds, revealing an unbelievably adorable creature.
The creature was no larger than Mirabelle’s hand.
Its body was a soft blue-grey color and looked almost unreal.
Too smooth.
Too perfect.
A round head flowed directly into a short torso, with no visible neck separating the two.
Six tiny tentacles dangled beneath it, swaying lazily through the air.
It was obviously supposed to be an octopus. And yet it looked nothing like a real one.
The creature was so stylized that Mirabelle would have expected to find it in a children’s cartoon rather than floating in front of her face.
It dipped slightly lower. Wiggled its tentacles experintally. Then floated back up again.
Then it looked at her.
A bright, pleasant voice rang out. The voice carried a faint musical quality that reminded her of animated movies.
"Hello, Host. I’m Pebbles. I am the Territory Developnt System. Just think of as a spirit companion."
"Hell yeah!"
Mirabelle slapped both hands over her mouth. Her eyes imdiately darted toward Kaelith.
The hyena beastman continued sleeping peacefully. The blankets rose and fell with each steady breath. A blissful, slightly stupid smile spread across his face.
She looked back to that thing.
Two enormous eyes dominated most of its face. White sclera.
Black irises.
Far too expressive for sothing that claid to be a system.
It looked less like a living creature — sorry, spirit companion — and more like a mascot that had sohow escaped from an animated movie.
"Oh. That’s a first." Pebbles studied her carefully as she sat frozen in bed.
"Normally Hosts scream, panic, or start swearing when we—"
"Why the hell did it take you so long?"
Mirabelle cut him off.
She had been trapped in this damn world for days.
Days.
And the entire ti she had assud she would have to survive on her own.
Now it had the audacity to show up?
After everything she had been through?
Without aning to, her ears kept turning toward the sleeping hyena behind her.
She threw another glance toward Kaelith.
Then she decided it would probably be safer to continue this conversation sowhere else.
This discussion was far too important for whispered voices.
Mirabelle climbed out of bed. Cool stone greeted her bare feet.
Then she imdiately froze. She was clean.
Completely clean. Her skin carried the faint scent of soap she didn’t recognize.
And she was wearing a black silk robe that was very obviously far too large for her. His scent lingered on the robe.
Reading the confusion on her face, Pebbles chirped happily:
"The hyena beast washed and dressed you after the update started."
"Update?"
’Hold on.
How long has this thing been here?’
Mirabelle stord toward the balcony.
Pebbles, who looked suspiciously like a chibi mascot, simply floated after her like a tiny ghost.
The morning air brushed against her legs beneath the oversized robe.
The scent of dew-covered stone and distant cooking fires drifted through the city.
She made sure the balcony doors were properly closed and checked one last ti that Kaelith was still asleep in bed.
Then she spun toward the floating octopus.
"I want answers!"
To emphasize her point, she slamd both hands onto the large flat stone in the center of the balcony, above which the ghost-octopus-thing was hovering.
For a brief mont, the left eye of the chibi mascot seed to twitch.
Then its bright, clear voice rang out:
"Of course, Host. What would you like to know?"
What followed was an exchange of questions and answers delivered as rapidly as sparring partners trading sword strikes.
Mirabelle: "Why are you only showing up now?"
Pebbles: "Host had not fulfilled the activation requirents."
Mirabelle: "What requirents?"
Pebbles: "The most important one was acquiring a first Mate. Couldn’t exactly help that you needed several days to make a decision and finally get it over with."
That was definitely a sarcastic jab.
And it landed.
Had Mirabelle known what this would unlock, she would have chosen one of the males much sooner.
Pebbles continued:
"Congratulations, by the way."
A flicker appeared before Mirabelle’s eyes.
The blue window — which she had already started ntally calling the Screen —reappeared.
DING!
Then words began appearing one by one as though soone were typing them in real ti.
[Milestone Achieved: First Mate Acquired]
[Congratulations]
[A founding bloodline requires pillars strong enough to support it.
You have successfully chosen your first Mate.]
[Reward Granted.]
[ 25,000 Legacy Points]
[System Tip - Complintary]
[A ruler may build a territory alone.
A dynasty cannot.]
Had the System just lectured her?
For free?
Mirabelle blinked.
"Legacy Points?"
Pebbles nodded solemnly.
Or at least perford sothing that vaguely resembled a nod despite lacking a neck.
Pebbles: "Legacy Points can be spent in the Legacy Store."
Mirabelle: "How do I open it?"
Pebbles: "Would Host like a System Tutorial?"
Mirabelle: "Yes!"
The lynx female spent the next minute experinting.
’Store.’
The nu appeared instantly.
’Close.’
Gone.
’Status.’
A new window replaced the old one.
In short, the System could be controlled through thought commands.
And the she learned that she didn’t even need to consciously think the words. The mont the desire to view the Store appeared, it opened in front of her eyes.
It felt less like operating a nu and more like the nu was sohow reading her mind.
Currently, she had access to a basic status screen, though she would need to examine that more carefully later. At the mont, it displayed little more than her point total.
And then there was the Store.
The Legacy Store was divided into several categories. The one that imdiately caught her attention was Skills.
The mont she opened it, she nearly stopped breathing.
---
Appraise
2,000,000 LP
Reveals basic information about objects, materials, plants, animals, and individuals.
---
rchant’s Eye
25,000 LP
Instinctively identifies the value of objects, resources, and living beings.
(Upgradeable to Appraise.)
---
Surveyor
400,000 LP
Provides detailed information about terrain, resources, and land quality.
---
Agricultural Mastery
300,000 LP
Grants deep understanding of crops, irrigation, and soil optimization.
---
Architect’s Insight
50,000 LP
Greatly improves understanding of construction and city planning.
---
Trade Network Vision
250,000 LP
Reveals potential trade routes and comrcial hubs.
---
Bloodline Vision
2,000,000 LP
Allows observation of bloodline potential and hereditary traits.
---
Civic Planner
500,000 LP
Allows prediction of population growth and infrastructure needs.
---
Golden Age
5,000,000 LP
Temporarily increases productivity, innovation, and prosperity throughout an entire territory.
---
’Hold on.’
Mirabelle stared at the list.
Then she checked her current point balance again.
Twenty-five thousand.
She looked at rchant’s Eye.
Twenty-five thousand.
She looked at Appraise.
Two million.
For several seconds, she simply stood there in silence.
The system wasn’t offering choices.
It was mocking her.
’Why does rchant’s Eye cost exactly twenty-five thousand points?’
The exact amount she currently possessed.
Mirabelle narrowed her eyes.
’It’s also the only skill I can actually afford?’
It felt suspicious.
But then her gaze landed on sothing else.
---
Administrator
10,000,000 LP
Greatly enhances mory, organization, planning, and information processing.
Grants the ability to efficiently implent and manage all of the above.
---
Mirabelle stared at the description.
Then stared so more.
"Wait. You an ADHD treatnt costs ten million points?"
Pebbles bobbed in the air:
"A comprehensive cognitive optimization package, yes."
Mirabelle stared at him.
Pebbles tilted slightly.
"Not even your old world has solved that. Did you expect it to be cheap here?"
’Okay. Deep breaths.
Do not get distracted.’
She closed the System window.
"Earlier you ntioned an update. What exactly did you an by that?"
Pebbles imdiately replied:
"The current integration phase encompasses the progressive synchronization of the Territory Developnt System with your physical, spiritual, and cognitive frawork, as well as the ongoing recalibration of informational discrepancies between your preexisting knowledge base and the realities of this world."
Mirabelle blinked.
"..."
Mirabelle blinked again.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third ti.
Mirabelle: "I understood exactly three words in that entire sentence."
Pebbles: "Which ones?"
Mirabelle: "The. And. World
Pebbles remained silent for two seconds.
Then:
"I am connecting to your soul. The System is becoming part of you."
Mirabelle: "Please speak in a way that a normal person — aning — can understand."
Pebbles tilted slightly.
"You are no longer a human."
Mirabelle stared at him.
"..."
Sohow this System was already getting on her nerves.
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