There was a large commotion that caught Eliza’s interest. Staring out the window, she saw he group that went out to clear a rift returned looking barely alive with some of them even missing limbs. It was a miracle that they even managed to return alive

With a sigh, she turned to Syrus who’s head was laying on her lap as she fed him some berries. "You did something to that rift, didn't you?"

“What makes you say that?” Syrus asked with a smirk.

“Don’t play dumb. It’s hard to believe that you missed a rift with all those ravens flying around,” Eliza crossed her arms. “You let them have it on purpose.”

“And? So what if did do that?”

“Why did you let them live?”

Eliza knew that Syrus never left loose ends, and she doubted any of those players were skilled enough to deal with whatever Syrus prepared in that rift.

“Well, we need people to stay here as bait,” Syrus revealed. “There’s quite a lot of them, so I doubt the other settlements would think we moved away.”

“Is there a need for that?” Eliza questioned in confusion.

Who cared if they moved away? As far as she knew, the other settlements feared them after Syrus killed their envoys along with the dragon. If anything, they would be happy they left.

“We don’t know when elite players would join those settlements, so having something left behind for them to destroy would keep them off our backs. The rift was just something to keep these people busy.”

“Is what you have in there the reason why you can’t move?” Eliza asked.

A couple of hours ago, Eliza went to his workshop to find Syrus laying on the ground groaning in pain. He had no physical injury and only mentioned it was a drawback from his skill. That led to their current situation of Eliza taking care of him.

“You could say that.”

“When are we moving?”

In response, Syrus displayed a holographic map using his skill. “Sloth found this yesterday.”

A projection of a place that was partly a forest and an open field being divided by a stream was displayed in front of her.

“He scouted the area and found no signs of civilization.”

“Seriously? Was this created during the integration?”

Syrus nodded. “There’s several ruined towns around it and a lot of danger zones, so they might have just died.”

Eliza didn’t know how to react to that.

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Esther knew Julian ever since they were pre-school. He was energetic and always stood up for people that were getting bullied, especially her. He fought for what’s right even when he keeps getting beaten for it.

But Julian suddenly changed.

When he became a player, he became arrogant and treated people around him like they were trash. It was like he became a completely different person.

“Please hold still. I need to bandage you,” Esther said weakly as she tried to wrap the bandage on Julian’s wounds.

“Get off me you worthless bitch!” Julian pushed her away.

“She’s just trying to help!” Jasmine yelled as she rushed to help Esther up from the ground.

“I don’t need any of your help!” Julian yelled back.

This scene had repeated for the past few months, but Esther endured it all since she hoped Julian would go back to normal.

But this time felt different.

Esther held in her tears and ran out the hut.

“Esther!” Jasmine called out to her, but Esther didn’t stop running.

Since she blindly ran out, she didn’t know where she was going. And with her eyes full of tears, she couldn’t see where she was going. “Oof!” Esther crashed into someone, sending both of them to the ground.

She heard someone chuckling. “Damn. You must really be weakened to be knocked down by someone her size.”

Esther rushed to her feet and bowed. “I-I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine,” the person he crashed into replied.

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She quickly recognized him as the person in charge of the settlement. Even though he hadn’t introduced himself as such, it was pretty obvious when the tall goblin woman obeyed his orders and he would often ride on a wyvern.

“I’m really sorry sir!”

“Don’t call me sir. I’m still in my early twenties,” he replied. “Were you part of the team that went into the rift?”

Esther shook her head. “I don’t have a combat class, so I stayed here. I'm just a bookkeeper.”

“What does that do?”

“I record information.”

“Not very... game like,” the woman beside the leader of the settlement commented.

“Bookkeepers play vital role in the future,” another person joined the conversation.

A woman with black scales on her neck approached them.

“Ignia.”

“Once major events occur, bookkeepers create history and their work can create titles and achievements that can decide a player’s future,” Ignia explained. “Of course, results depend on the credibility of the bookkeeper.”

The leader turned back to Esther. “Well, looks like you’ll be quite important in the future,” he said before walking away.

“Good luck,” the woman with the leader said before walking after him.

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“I wonder if they’ll notice some of the huts vanished,” Syrus commented as the construction of their new base begun.

They decided to only include the facilities that were in use for the move since if all the huts suddenly disappeared, the others would start asking questions.

For the initial move using elder Morac’s skill, they only included all the huts being used by the goblins and Syrus’s family. That included Sevina, Eliza, and Hana. As for the storage houses, they decided to just make new and bigger ones.

“Time to use this,” Syrus took out the lord’s medallion from his inventory.

Would you like to designate this area as your territory?

As the panel appeared, the surrounding area turned green, signifying the area affected by the item. Using his ravens, Syrus got a good luck of the whole area affected by the skill. It was roughly larger than town, but not big enough to considered a city. Unfortunately, Syrus couldn’t get an exact measurement of the territory, but he was more than satisfied with what he got.

“Yes.”

Territory established

The territory has been recorded in the world map

The area has been designated as a safe zone

No rifts, nexuses, nor danger zone will appear within the territory

Panels appeared one after the other to the point that Syrus lost track of the information being provided.

The only thing that was clear was that he now had a safe zone under his ownership.

“This place is amazing,” his mother, Aurora approached him with a glass of juice. “I always dreamed of moving into the countryside,” she handed Syrus the drink.

“I’ll make sure it’s as peaceful here as possible,” Syrus promised. One he intends on keeping.

You are the first native to establish a territory

You have gained a lord and class specific reward

Syrus raised an eyebrow at the reward he got from achievement.

You have gained the sentry unit [Infantry]

“Is something wrong?” Aurora asked in concern.

Syrus shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile. “No. I was just looking at the reward the system gave me.”

“Oh, then don’t let me keep you,” Auroa took the empty glass from him. “I’ll be at my hut if you need mee.”

As his mother left, Syrus went through the list of his summons and selected the infantry. The unit appeared in front of him, taking the form of a mannequin wearing a middle age knight armor.

On the knight’s chest plate was the emblem of a black lotus.

“Well... at least it fits the theme.”

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You are the first native to establish a territory

You have gained a lord and class specific reward

You have gained the item [Lord’s quill]

The item appeared in Ethan’s hands. Lord’s quill was an item create magic enforced contracts. It was a valuable item that could help him in recruiting allies without the fear of being betrayed.

As for the territory he established, he created it secure a safe place for the people he cared about.

With the territory being an old residential area, there were a few houses that managed to survive the expansion. The rest would need to be demolished and replaced. With the help of the players with construction classes, they’ll be able to make the place livable again.

“The first person to establish a territory. I’m impressed.”

Ethan turned to find a woman with long blue hair. She was a human other dimensional player named Irelia. Ethan had actively sought her out since she was a valuable ally he had during his first run.

“First? We both know the system says that to the first ten people to gain the achievement,” Ethan stated. “For all I know, I could be the tenth.”

Irelia shook her head. “Tell me again why you revealed to me that you’re a regressor.”

“Why are you acting like you’ve never heard about regressors?” Ethan raised an eyebrow.

Irelia shrugged. “People usually keep that part a secret.”

“There’s not a lot of people I can trust. A lot of things will happen soon, so if I want you to trust in my plans completely, you need to know why they’ll work.”

“Cause you’re a regressor?”

Ethan nodded. “There’s no better guarantee than living through it.”