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The next day arrived, and after Chris and Paul logged back into FSO, they were hit with massive news from Vlad’s mother, who was utterly shocked about what had just happened last night.
“You’re finally back! You won’t believe what happened! A giant dragon has become the guardian of Elderbridge! By any chance, is this your doing?”
“Uh, yeah, kind of; I mean, Chris… Chris tamed it,” said Vlad. “I mean, Alitheus. Wait, what happened?”
“Argentia did something weird?” Chris wondered, slightly afraid to learn what that giant lizard might have done.
The two were surprised by Vlad’s mother acting so excited; this wasn’t something normal, so whatever that giant dragon had done, it was very special.
“He has slain over two hundred monsters and offered half of their corpses to me as a prize for some reason,” said the Vampiress. “Also he can talk freely and has become quite an attraction. He is constantly talking about his priestess, “Alitheus Chris." Is that you?”
“Yes…” nodded Chris. “Dammit, he’s making a lot of fuss!”
“Well, at least he’s helping,” Vlad shrugged. “What else happened? Is that it, mother?”
“Not everything, apparently he saved a caravan of merchants! They were like a dozen merchants, so they are now here, I helped them find a good spot in the middle of the city, and they have begun selling all kinds of rare items and wares from around the world, and even other realms,” she said. “It hasn’t happened in many years! Merchants mostly avoid this city due to how dangerous it is to get here…”
“But with Argentia, that might change, no?” Vlad rubbed his chin. “Interesting, I only wanted him as a protector at most, but he has already done more than I thought! He’s a bit strange, but he’s not bad at all, huh? We got lucky, Chris.”
“I-I guess so…”
Chris was still unable to believe that weird dragon had done anything noteworthy, but if Vlad’s mother herself was saying it, he had to believe it.
“Why the big fuss…”
Suddenly, little Camila woke up from her nap, sitting over Vlad’s bed after yawning.
“Ah, sorry for waking you up, dear,” Teressa said, kissing Camilla’s forehead. “Go back to sleep if you want. We’ll leave.”
“Yeah, just nap all you want, you’re at the age where you should just rest and play, Camilla,” Vlad nodded, patting her head.
“I’m hungry now…” Camilla said. “Mama, did you make stew again?”
“Stew…” Teressa muttered. “Honestly, I haven’t had much time for myself, I’ve been going from one place to another, helping rebuild every place that got destroyed, you see. But I could cook something up for everyone. Shall we celebrate that dragon guardian with a nice feast? I think we can afford so much!”
“Sure…” Paul thought it was fine to eat something before continuing with their plans.
"Alright, mother-in-law—I mean, Lady Teressa…!” Alitheus panicked for a bit, saying words he didn’t intend to. “Ahem! I liked that purple rice you made… Can you do it again?”
“Hmph!” Teressa would have been more upset if it wasn’t because Chris had done a lot for the city already; she let him talk a bit more freely with her. “Well, fine… But only because you’ve done a lot for this city, Alitheus. You’re a servant, so don’t get too ahead of yourself!”
“A-Ah, yeah, sorry!” laughed Chris slightly nervously.
However, Paul could clearly tell that the cold ice armor that protected Vlad’s mother's heart had already melted completely after yesterday’s events, and she had become much more affectionate.
Like that, they walked downstairs and helped Teressa cook a huge feast, which they enjoyed on the large manor’s terrace this time, below the three moon’s gaze and the beautiful, eternal starry night.
“Well, now that we’re back, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check the Raid Shop that I had been ignoring for some time…” Paul thought as he enjoyed the meals that vampires from the countryside apparently ate, which were actually quite tasty. Unfortunately, he had yet to grow used to the taste of blood, as he most of the time directly absorbed it into Blood Power.
Ding!
[Initializing Raid Shop... Raid Shop has been successfully loaded.]
[Showcasing Exclusive Raid Shop…]
[Because you’ve Ranked First in the {Unending Crimson} Raid, you’ve gained access to the entire Raid Shop and its many available Unique Items. Shop wisely!]
“Shop wisely, huh… Let’s see.”
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[Available Raid Score Points]: [360.000]
[Random Unending Crimson Raid-Themed Skill Grimoire (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [25.000]
[Random Unending Crimson Raid-Themed Equipment Treasure Chest (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [25.000]
[Random High Quality Material Treasure Chest For Crafting and Alchemy (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000]
[Elixir of Growth (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000]
[Elixir of Skill Evolution (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000]
[Guild Creation Certificate (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [40.000]
[Territory Ownership Flag (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [40.000]
[Random Territory Guardian Egg (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [30.000]
[Random Territory Hero Summoning Stone (S+ Grade)] [Cost]: [30.000]
[Random Territory Facility Creation Marble (S Grade)] [Cost]: [20.000]
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
[Random Territory Bounty Resource Bag (A Grade)] [Cost]: [10.000]
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“What the hell…?”
Paul couldn’t help but mutter those words out loud as he saw the Raid Shop with his eyes.
Although the first set of items that were sold were quite generic, everything changed once he read the Useful Items category.
There were strange items he had not seen before, such as Guild Creation Certificate, which, upon closer inspection and analysis, seemed to help him create his own Guild as long as enough members were gathered!
Guilds weren’t just that and nothing else; they were a union of players, and any player inside of guilds enjoyed a large quantity of great benefits, from special guild member-boosting skills to loot drop rate, stat enhancement, boss damage, stat enhancement when together, unique techniques, and more!
Also, if this was paired with the next item, Territory Ownership Flag, a guild could take over an unclaimed or conquered territory and make it their own! This allowed for a completely new hidden system to be unlocked, the Territory Management System.
It has only been a week since the game officially came out, but Vlad had already read about the first few guilds being made but had yet to claim territory.
After all, the world of Genesis was already densely populated by strong NPC, so claiming territory seemed unrealistic this early on.
Except that Vlad already technically possessed a territory, his randomly generated avatar was granted such a background; as the son of a duchess, the entire city of Elderbridge practically belongs to him as much as his mother.
“Well, technically, its still Vlad’s mother’s territory, but I can inherit a part of it... Or even all of it if she were to die, right?” wondered Paul. “Hmm, what are these other items?”
Aside from the flag and the certificate, there were a couple of other strange items that seemed to only be usable once you had a Territory of your own.
The Random Territory Guardian Egg apparently was the egg of a magic creature, which had to be placed on a special facility known as “Guardian Nest” where it would take some time before hatching.
Then the Guardian apparently would give the whole territory unique effects on their growth, potential, learning speed, production, and so on based on the beast it is.
Additionally, as a beast, it can fight and protect the city if it is ever attacked, raided, and so on, something they desperately needed.
Although Argentia was now here to protect the city, he was only one being, and he couldn’t be in every single place.
“It’s pretty interesting... It also grants the ability to create Unique Units? Wait, units? Is this a strategy game now?”
His theory of the Territory Management System being about strategy and defense quickly became cemented when he checked the other items available.
The Random Territory Hero Summoning Stone, the Random Territory Facility Creation Marble, and the Random Territory Bounty Resource Bag were all about the Territory too!
The Summoning Stone allowed him to summon one random Territory Hero, which apparently would be like a powerful type of soldier, or a general of sorts, with unique powers.
It quite literally allowed him to summon a person who would be loyal to him.
Then there was the Facility Creation Marble, a magic marble of glass that, once placed on an empty area, would create a facility at random.
These “facilities” were like special buildings or areas that would generate a certain resource or could be used to research certain things to improve a Territory.
Then, lastly, there was that Bag of Resources, which allowed him to stock up on various resources Territories need, apparently.
Including food, somehow!
“I had no idea there was such a system in this game…” Paul was amazed. “But it seems these items are only available to me? Because I ranked first on the first ever raid, right?”
It was practically all for him—a chance for him to get ahead of every other player, or even the rising guilds of obsessed gamers that play even more hours a day than him.
“Heh…”
And he smiled viciously, so viciously that his mother and Chris noticed his evil, villainous smile, growing slightly nervous.
“Um, son, what’s wrong? Why are you smiling like that?” his mother asked.
“Huh? Ah, I was... Well, I guess it’s fine to share this, but what happened a couple of days ago in the Raid. Remember that?” Vlad asked. “Well, there’s this Raid Shop and…”
He decided to explain it all to Vlad’s mother and Alitheus; it was necessary for them to know the existence of such incredible items.
The reaction of Chris was one of surprise, but nothing much more than that, while that of Teressa, however.
“You mean you can purchase artifacts that can simply create things?!” she gasped. “T-That could certainly help us out so much! A-And this territory thing… and guilds… Can non-players like me join them?”
“I… don’t know; I’ll have to check,” said Vlad. “But what do you think? Wouldn’t it be good to protect our territory even further? Though, for that, you would have to allow me to take over this city... I would become the owner, but outside of this system and artifacts laws, you would still be the owner in the eyes of the rest of the people anyway.”
“Hmm, certainly…” nodded Teressa. “It’s something that I think I need some time to think about…”
“But Lady Teressa, what if we get attacked again? There’s Argentia there, but that won’t be enough; he can’t be everywhere, and we can’t be everywhere either. More people might die again. More houses will be destroyed, and the trust of the citizens will plummet again! Do you want that?”
“E-Eh? Of course I don’t…” Teressa muttered.
“What is this guy doing?” Paul thought. “Is he trying to convince her through pressure? Seriously…”
“Even then, it’s her choice to make Alitheus,” Vlad said. “So please just leave her be… I've already repaired our equipment, so today we’ll be quite busy. We need to go take care of some thugs.”
“Ah, fine… And yeah! Almost forgot,” Chris nodded.
After they finished their meals, they were ready to depart into the darker districts of Elderbridge, where the worst thugs, criminals, and drug dealers lived.
It was time for some cleanup—a much-needed one that Elderbridge had been desperately asking for since ancient times at this point.
“Before we even make this place our territory, we have to make sure it’s clean and well presentable,” said Vlad. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go; I was bored anyway.” Chris smiled mischievously.
“Take care, please!”
Teressa saw them both walking away, slightly worried.
She wanted to go with them, but right now she was still helping everyone with the rebuilding of the destroyed areas of the city.
“Mama! Can I help you rebuild stuff?”
“Oh, Camilla! I had no idea you wanted to help. Well, your Telekinesis could come in handy, so sure! But don’t overexert yourself.”
“Okay!”
Camilla wanted to help however she could, accompanying her mother to rebuild the city they lived in.
At the same time, Vlad and Alitheus had already made their way deep into the city’s darkest alleys, where the poorest folks lived.
There were beggars on the streets everywhere, malnourished children begging for money or food, and more.
He wanted to help them, but he didn’t really have the resources for that yet. They moved quickly, although Paul noticed how sad Chris looked.
“Don’t worry, we’ll change this, one step at a time.”
“Okay…”
Using the reports and rants he found online, he quickly found one alley that had become quite unpopular among newbies.
It was called Riot Street by the players, a series of labyrinthine alleys where small shops were located.
All these small and cheap shops were fake, though, made to attract people, especially gullible players, and rob them of everything they had.
“Let’s go here first…”
“Are you sure?”
“Just follow me.”
The two walked towards the nearest shop, immediately entering to notice a run-down place with a few trinkets here and there and old, expired potions placed on wooden tables.
There was a single old man, a goblin man, sitting over a chair while smoking from a pipe as he read some newspapers.
He glared at them, raising an eyebrow and smiling brightly.
“Welcome! Are you here to shop for something? Are you Players by any chance?”
“Yes sir! I just got this big bag of money with me; I wanted to buy potions and stuff, hahaha!”
Vlad’s acting was terrible, but the goblin bought it as his eyes turned into $ signs the moment he saw the bag of coins.
“Sure! What do you…”
“Wait a second; you barely have anything here, though? Okay, let’s go somewhere else.”
Then, out of nowhere, and with Chris' confusion, Vlad turned the other way and walked to the door.
“Hah?!”
The goblin was shocked, quickly slamming the desk.
“Bastard! Where do you think you’re going?! Alright, boys, jump them!”
Suddenly, a group of four men—two orcs and two muscular demons with wings, gargoyles—appeared from the entrance, alongside three more orcs that walked from upstairs.
“Why don’t you leave that bag of coins before leaving, sir vampire?”
They cracked their knuckles, preparing themselves to beat these two newbies to death.
“That girl is cute! Can’t we have our fun with her before we kill her?”
“We’ve tried doing that before, but Players are somewhat protected or something; it can’t be done!”
"Well, that’s a pity; at least we can grab her fat ass and-”
SLASH!
Before they could continue talking, Vlad unsheathed his blade and swung it vertically.
The thugs talking their nonsense met a swift end as their bodies were sliced apart, blood gushing out of their sliced torsos.
“H-Huh…?”
As Vlad drank the blood out of his sword, he glared at the men in front of him.
“That should be enough proof that you’re irremediable bastards. Are you prepared to pay for your crimes? I, Vlad Von Sange, seventh prince of the Iron Blood Empire, have come to personally slay you criminals!”
“What’s wrong with this guy? He totally got into the character…” Chris was laughing as he thought that Paul had a screw loose.
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