Syrus slowly opened his eyes and was met with the familiar roof of his hut. He was alone, but judging by the mess of chairs around his bed, a lot of people had been around.
With a groan, Syrus got up and opened his stats. Noticing no difference, Syrus decided to check for any messages from the system.
You have completed the challenge: Conquer your first nexus
You gained 50 credits
You have completed the challenge: Upgrade a unit
You gained 50 credits
You have completed the hidden challenge: Create a Queen rank Unit
You gained 10 stats points
Putting all the stat points on constitution, Syrus gained the strength to get back up. The first thing he did was to stretch his limbs to get a feel on his body. Despite the remaining strain, Syrus felt like his body had become stronger. There were also some odd sensations as he moved around, but it didn’t seem like anything bad.
Reconnecting with his Outrider ravens, Syrus became aware of the chaos around him. Tia seemed very busy managing the settlement, while Sylvia and the others seemed to be gearing up.
Stepping out of his hut, Syrus was hit by the sound of the chaos. But the chaos halted the moment the noticed his presence. With a serious look, Syrus spoke up. “What the hell is going on?”
“Other dimensional players are heading this way,” Tia informed him as she approached. “A group of forest elves, dwarves, and wolf beast folks.”
Syrus scratched his head in irritation, but he immediately wiped that expression of his face when he saw his mother running towards him.
“You’re awake!” Aurora rushed to embrace him. “I was so worried when you returned unconscious.”
“I’m fine mother. I just tired myself out.”
Tia shook her head, but didn’t say anything, trying to avoid making Aurora even more worried. After convincing his mother that he was really alright, Syrus requested for a meeting.
A moment later, Syrus sat in a table with Tia, Elder Morac, and Sylvia. “Why are they coming here?” Syrus asked.
“While you were unconscious, those three groups had created settlements across the danger zones around us,” Tia explained.
Syrus sighed. He was informed that he was unconscious for five days, causing everyone to panic at the start but calmed down since they knew he was still alive due to his wyvern remaining summoned. But a lot had happened during that time. Like a danger zone to their south being completely cleared.
“I’m not certain of their intentions, but they’re not coming to attack,” Tia stated.
Checking in on his ravens, Syrus took note that the approaching groups each had a few members with them. But each member was equipped with good gear and seemed powerful. “Do they know about the wyvern?”
Sylvia nodded. “Our first encounter with them was with the wyvern.”
That meant they were either uniting to deal with a powerful threat, or wants to establish a connection with a neighboring settlement.
“Where’s Sevina?” Syrus asked.
“I believe she is training with Lady Elizabeth,” Tia answered.
“Elizabeth?” Syrus raised an eyebrow, remembering that he had not seen Elizabeth a lot lately.
With that, Syrus became curious with everyone’s progress. Using his skill, Syrus found out that he was the lowest level in the room by a wide margin. Tia was level 36 and Sylvia was level 31, even elder Morac was level 29.
“What are we going to do?” Tia asked.
“Just prepare a place near the entrance of the settlement to receive them,” Syrus stated. “I’ll make my own preparations.”
------
Gluttony changed drastically. At first, he was around the same height as Syrus, but now, he was a three-meter-tall giant muscular man with two pairs of arms. He still lacked any facial features and still looked like a mannequin, a behemoth of a mannequin.
The temporary leather armor Syrus made for him was ripped to shreds by his transformation, but didn’t matter since Syrus already had all the materials needed to make the symbiote armor.
Since he already had everything planned for making this armor, any further conversation within the void was unnecessary. With a quick use of his skill to make the armor, Syrus felt the exhaustion as his stamina was drained by his skill. Thankfully, he had raised his constitution by a lot, so that skill didn’t need to drain his vitality as well.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Syrus tiredly reached out his arm, and a living ball of purple slime appeared. “Bond with each other,” Syrus ordered Gluttony and the armor.
The symbiote leaped onto Gluttony’s chest and began spreading, covering every inch of him and turning his white body purple. Then it began to shift, forming into a steel plated armor with a thorn-like exterior.
Gluttony began moving around, trying to get a feel on the armor. Then a bunch of the symbiote began gathering in his hands before forming a two-handed axe.
Syrus raised an eyebrow. “That wasn’t part of the plan, but I like it.”
The sound of rustling came from behind him. Glancing towards the sound, Syrus saw a pack of hyenas with red fur coming out of the bushes.
“If you would,” Syrus stepped out of the way and gestured to the pack.
“As you desire,” Gluttony took a heavy step forward and swung his axe. The axe extended and enlarged, cleaving through not just the pack of hyenas, but the forest around them as well.
Syrus let out a whistle as he saw the destruction.
Opening Gluttony’s status window, Syrus couldn’t help but cackle like a madman.
Gluttony Class: Nexus Vanguard Stats: Strength: 159 Constitution: 202 Agility: 78 Dexterity: 57
Bond: Symbiote (Thorns)
Nexus skill: Sentinel’s oath
Indomitable bastion – The user is immune to all crowd-control effects and reduces all damage taken by 90%
Shield of the soul – Transfer all damage received by an ally to the user
Unbreakable oath – The user is an eternal servant to their designated master. They cannot act upon their own self-interest, stripping them of their free will. Upon the master’s death, the user will perish as well.
With stats like that, Syrus didn’t need to worry about being overpowered by the visitors coming towards them. But he also needed to consider whether he should directly reveal himself.
“I could make another player-based summon, but making one without a free use of the skill was too risky,” Syrus muttered.
Syrus couldn’t help but sigh.
-------
Lovelia Ironheart, the hero of Love, and the clan leader of Golden Heart clan. One of the few clans with different races as members. Lovelia herself was a human-elf hybrid.
“Lady Lovelia, we’ve received a report from the expansion team we sent to the new dimension,” a red skinned demon reported.
Lovelia held out her hand and the demon handed over a blue crystal. The crystal flashed and Lovelia’s eyes widened. “A dimension with a mana conductivity like this is unheard of,” Lovelia rubbed her chin in thought. “Xenan, how many did we send?”
“Fifteen of our new members and three groomed elites,” Xenan answered.
“A world like this would produce over a hundred chosen...” Lovelia began pondering the possibilities and potential actions they should take. “Once the second integration is done, send another group of elites. And make preparations for migration.”
“Pardon?” Xenan looked shocked. “Are we going to migrate a branch?”
Lovelia shook her head. “Don’t you understand how valuable a dimension like this is? I’m certain every other clan that found out is already making preparations themselves.”
Lovelia’s tone was calm, but Xenan felt the wave of magic power coming out of her raging like a wild beast.
It reminded Xenan that the only reason she was given the title hero of love was because it was in her name.
------
“Are they waiting for each other?” Syrus commented with his arms crossed.
They were waiting by the entrance of the settlement for their visitors. Syrus was keeping track of them using his ravens, but there was nothing he could do about their scouts using stealth.
“Anything I should know?” Syrus asked Tia who was beside him.
“Don’t be nice,” Tia replied. “The more compliant you are, the more they’ll try to crush you.”
Syrus raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” then he began to chuckle.
Tia thought he found her answer funny, but Syrus didn’t register her answer as he noticed something else approaching. The reason the groups halted wasn’t because they were waiting for each other. It was because another party decided to join in.
It wasn’t a group, just one person.
She began leading the way, giving Syrus a clear look at her. She had pitch black hair and golden vertical slit eyes. Black scales covered her neck and shoulder, while a crop top barely contained her bountiful chest and skin tight pants showed of her amazing curves.
“Too flashy,” Syrus commented as he waited their arrival.
Once they were in view, Tia reacted first. “A dragon!”
“A dragon around level 30? That’s just sad,” Syrus said, but upon activating analysis, Syrus found out how wrong he was.
Drafaira Flare – Level 103 - ?? - None
Syrus nearly choked at the sight of her level. “I thought there was a restriction on the levels of players coming here?” Syrus asked Tia.
“Bold of you to assume such a thing can stop a dragon,” Drafaira spoke up as they stopped in front of the entrance.
Syrus stepped forward. “What do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Syrus asked the dragon since it was clear the groups behind her no longer had say in how things go.
“I can sense the power of a nexus here,” Drafaira answered. “Where is it? I no longer sense its power.”
Syrus raised an eyebrow as he came to the conclusion that when Gluttony isn’t summoned, anything related to him is gone without a trace. “Fascinating,” Syrus muttered.
“Enough games human. Show me who has the nexus,” Drafaira demanded.
Syrus was about to make a retort, but Tia grabbed his arm and shook her head at him. With a sigh, Syrus summoned Gluttony.
With the sudden appearance of the unit, along with his more menacing appearance, everyone reacted in surprise. Even Tia was surprised to see Gluttony donning his symbiote armor.
A sudden pressure began to push down on them.
“This should be interesting,” Drafaira cracked her knuckles.