Alia’s words had barely faded when Elias gave a small nod.
"I see. Transfer it to ," he said simply. He needed the report.
The mont the words left his mouth, he felt it—a sudden rush of information bursting into his mind. It ca quickly and settled just as fast, leaving him blinking as he furrowed his brows and began to process it.
Just as he suspected, there wasn’t much there to begin with.
The territory had only just gotten a Lord about three days ago, so as expected, there were no other inhabitants besides himself.
Vael wasn’t listed as a resident of the territory by Alia, but that made sense—Vael was a summon. His summon. That ant he was a personal force under Elias’s command, not technically part of the territory itself.
Besides the population details, the report also included other basic information like the territory’s size and its sad list of resources.
Two square kiloters—that was the full stretch of his domain.
And for resources? The list was painfully short, limited to just two sources, with one being timber wood.
There were currently seven timber trees within the area of his territory. Well, originally there had been eight, but one had been chopped down by the previous owner of this body to build the small shack Elias woke up in. Now only seven remained.
As for the second notable resource, it was the Ashveil Grass—that absurdly tall grass surrounding them.
From Elias’s mories, Ashveil Grass was native to the Ashgrave Ruins. It could grow between eight to ten feet tall, its lush green blades covered with a thin ashy-grey outer layer, like soone had gently sprinkled soot over it. It looked striking, but it wasn’t exactly anything rare or precious.
Neither resource was particularly valuable.
The timber was tough—strong enough to be useful for building shelter or carving basic tools and weapons like a bow or staff. But that was about it. And with only seven trees, Elias figured he might end up using all of them just to expand the housing within the territory.
The Ashveil Grass, though... it had so potential.
While it wasn’t considered a valuable herb on its own, in large amounts, it had good use in alchemy.
When heated under the right conditions, it gave off a faint minty scent—sothing alchemists really liked. Not as a main ingredient, but as a scent additive to make potions more appealing. The better a potion slled, the more likely soone would want to buy it.
With the Ashgrave Ruins full of Ashveil Grass, this might actually be a small goldmine—or well, maybe a grass-mine.
But of course, treasure never ca without danger nearby.
From what Elias rembered, many players had died in these sa grasslands—ambushed by beasts hiding within the tall blades of Ashveil Grass.
It wasn’t strange though. That was just the nature of the world—where fortune always ca hand-in-hand with danger.
But then again, rewards were ant for those who could endure the risks of the journey.
Once Elias was done reading through the report, he frowned.
There were a lot of problems he was facing right now, but the most serious one was the lack of water.
From his mory of the Ashgrave Ruins, there didn’t seem to be any water source in this area. No spring, no river, not even a dirty little pond.
Elias let out a tired sigh.
No water ant a big problem for him and his territory. But judging by the condition of his current body, he wasn’t dehydrated. The previous owner must’ve had a water supply stored sowhere, probably inside the shack. Hopefully, there was still so left—at least enough to buy him a bit of ti to figure out a better and more lasting solution.
He sighed again, but before his thoughts could go further, he suddenly felt a signal from the bond—Vael was getting closer.
He looked up just in ti to see Vael dashing out from the thick cover of Ashveil Grass, stopping right in front of him. Seed like he had finished scouting the area.
"Done already?" Elias asked.
"Yes," Vael said, staring at him.
"Oh, I see."
Elias had been so lost in thought that he didn’t even realize how much ti had passed since Vael went ahead to scout. But judging by Vael’s speed, it couldn’t have been that long.
"Go on," Elias said motioning for Vael to fill him in, which he did without wasting ti.
As expected, the surroundings weren’t much—just an endless stretch of Ashveil grass and no other life forms, besides him of course.
But then Vael’s voice changed, turning sharp and flat.
"To the north, there’s a group of dire wolves. They’ve gathered near the edge—by what looks like the entrance to a vast forest."
"Oh, I see," Elias muttered. It was just like the ga plot.
But... a forest? The Ashgrave Ruins were known for nothing but Ashveil grass. There shouldn’t be any forest unless...
"Describe it," Elias asked, a small sliver of suspicion blooming in his chest.
Vael nodded. "It looks like a massive forest with huge trees. The bark is dark, like it’s been scorched. The leaves are bright orange—almost glowing like they’re on fire."
Elias inhaled sharply. He knew that place. It was Embergrove Forest.
Scorched bark and fiery leaves—yes, that was exactly how Embergrove had been described.
From what he rembered of the Ashgrave Ruins map, Embergrove lay to the north. That ant his territory was located on the northern outskirts of the Ashgrave Ruins. But the frown on Elias’s face didn’t disappear. In fact, hearing this brought him no relief at all.
While he had hoped his territory wasn’t in the heart of the Ashgrave Ruins—because that would’ve ant too much danger—he had also wished for sothing safer than Embergrove Forest.
That place wasn’t any better. If anything, it might be even worse.
Dire wolves were just the appetizer compared to the true horrors hiding in that forest.
Elias rubbed his temples. So much for peace and quiet.
"How many wolves?" he asked.
"Twenty-sothing, maybe more. I didn’t get an exact count," Vael said flatly. "They’re led by an alpha. Not a big threat—I can eliminate them. But I didn’t engage without your order."
Elias muttered, "Oh, I see..."
The irony wasn’t lost on him. Just hours ago, he had been nervous about what lay beyond the do. Now? Not really.
With Vael by his side—and considering his own current power—those wolves didn’t feel like a real threat anymore.
Vael tilted his head.
"Should I eliminate them?"
Elias waved a hand. "No. Leave them alone for now. The do’s still up for another twenty-seven days. They’re not my problem yet."
What was his problem was making this place livable. Step one? Clear the damned grass. While it was useful, he had a whole ruins filled with Ashveil grass. He wouldn’t waste it though—he could store or sell it later.
Right now, he needed to clear the land and start putting up structures for the people who would later join his territory.
But to do that... he needed tools.
"Uh, system..." he said with a grin. "Can I maybe... borrow so Karma Points?"
The screen flickered. A mont later, a ssage appeared.
[Yes. You may borrow Karma Points. Standard interest: 50%.]
"Fifty?!" Elias nearly shouted. "That’s robbery!"
[Then don’t borrow, peasant. Take it or leave it. Ti is wasting.]
"No thanks," Elias grumbled. "I’ll pass on the scam karma loanshark."
He’d rather use his teeth to clear the grass than borrow at that interest rate.
Now that he thought about it, the previous owner of this body had chopped down a tree and cleared the grass around the shack to build it—he must’ve used sothing.
’Why didn’t I think of that before talking to that damn annoying system?’
Elias sighed and rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit stupid.
>[By the way, I could consider lowering the rate a little, may—]
"Mute."
Silence instantly followed as he cut off the system and turned his attention toward the little shack nearby.
Ti to search for so tools.
# #
[A/N_ Hi everyone! I have a question. Do you think the story is too slow-paced? Should I speed it up or keep it at the current pace?
Please let know your thoughts in the comnts—I really appreciate your feedback]
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