The group—wounded, exhausted—was still catching their breath inside the barrier. Lesser healing worked slowly to mend their wounds. Niles looked around at his party: Winston, Tesla, Felix, Lina, and Finn. He exhaled deeply, the adrenaline still buzzing in his veins.

Winston broke the silence. “Why didn’t you let us enter the barrier earlier?” His tone was tight, like their lives had been gambled away for Niles’s amusement.

“I couldn’t,” Niles said, collapsing onto the grass and shutting his eyes for a moment’s rest.

Winston squatted beside him. “What do you mean?”

Niles let out a tired sigh. “Hard to explain, but apparently, every time I level up, my barrier also gets an upgrade.”

The group practically shouted in unison, “WHAT?!”

Niles flinched. “Don’t scare me like that! I’m still on edge after fighting that goblin and getting pit against the Big Bonker!”

The group blinked.

“Big Bonker?” Felix echoed, “you mean the minotaur with the enormous stone hammer?”

Niles snapped his fingers. “Yep.”

Felix nodded. “Not a bad name.”

Niles grinned. “Naming things is kind of my specialty.”

Winston, ever the serious one, reeled the conversation back. “Sir Niles, the reason we’re so surprised is that skills are static. They don’t evolve. And you’re saying your barrier upgrades when you level up?”

Niles pushed himself up on his elbows. “Yes but what about spirit stats, then?”

Winston shook his head. “Upgrading spirit might improve your control over a skill, but it doesn’t change its fundamental nature.” He paused, then added, “Or at least… that’s what we’ve always believed. But there might be exceptions.”

He continued, “In our world, once you reach 10 points in a stat—whether it’s strength, speed, stamina, or magic—you hit a ‘spike.’”

“Spike?” Niles asked.

Winston nodded. “A noticeable surge in power. For example, unlocking magic requires 10 points in the magic stat. But doing that means sacrificing improvements in other areas. That’s why magic is so rare—casting spells drains mana fast, and you need a high level of it to make magic viable. Also, even using the holy crystal doesn’t let you know what kind of magic you might possess. The risk is that you’re born with a poor magic type. That’s why you don’t see people throwing fireballs everywhere.”

Niles lit up with excitement. “Magic sounds awesome! We should all level up and get it!”

Winston sighed and looked at Felix. “Is Sir Niles even listening to me?”

Felix just chuckled. “Niles, after today, I’m close to hitting level 10. I’ve put all my stats into strength, so if I gain two more levels, I’ll see a huge boost.”

He turned serious. “Stats cover a wide range of benefits. Strength doesn’t just make you hit harder—it also increases vitality, regeneration, and overall durability.”

Felix studied Niles. “How have you been distributing your stats?”

Niles blinked. “Uh… I spread them across stamina, speed, and strength.”

Felix gave an approving nod. “That’s a solid approach, but keep in mind—raw stats aren’t everything. A child with 2 points in strength is still weaker than a grown man who works the fields every day. Training your body matters just as much.”

Niles clapped his hands together. “Alright, everyone! Short break.”

Then he pointed at Felix. “Starting tomorrow, Felix—our general—is in charge of whipping the army into shape.”

He turned to Tesla. “That includes you.”

Tesla recoiled as if he’d been struck. “No, please! No physical training! That’s the only reason I became an engineer!”

Niles grinned and said, “The civilization that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”

Winston blinked. “That was…” He was about to say something kind, but Niles cut him off.

“It’s a quote I stole from Earth.”

Winston exhaled. “Ah. That figures.”

Niles shot him a glare before turning to Tesla. “Oh, and when you level up, dump all your points into magic.”

Tesla bristled. “What?! Why? What if I get something useless?”

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Niles waved a hand dismissively. “Consider it a royal decree.”

The group murmured but seemed to accept it. Tesla, however, wasn’t done. “What makes you think I’ll even have good magic?”

Niles exhaled. “Your magic affinity is lightning.”

Tesla’s eyes widened. “What?! How could you possibly know that?! No one can be sure—didn’t you just hear Winston?”

Niles interrupted, “Hello?! Your name is Tesla. Of course, your magic affinity is lightning.”

Tesla fell silent, staring into the distance as the absurdity of that statement sank in.

And with that, they didn’t speak of it again.

The fire crackled softly near the group. Finn had gathered more twigs and tossed them into the flames before settling beside his older sister, Lina. She was still trembling from the pain, her body growing cold.

Felix removed his shirt—it was bloodstained, but the heat had dried it stiff. Without hesitation, he draped it over Lina like a makeshift blanket. As he looked at her face, he saw how hard she was trying to mask the pain, though it wasn’t working.

“Thank you for saving my life,” he murmured, barely above a whisper.

Lina heard him anyway. She had sharp ears. Without turning to face him, she smiled.

Nearby, Niles was still talking, his curiosity endless. “By the way, Tesla, tell us more about your skill!”

Felix, intrigued, joined in. Tesla thought back. “That goblin with the long arms and the spear… When its body touched me, a glowing window appeared, asking if I wanted to activate my skill—‘Best Friends Forever.’ I accepted, and after that… I’m not sure. But from its fallen body, it rose again—like a shadow soldier.”

Felix narrowed his eyes, analyzing Tesla’s words. “Where were you born?”

Tesla hesitated at the sharpness of the question. “The City of Forgotten Ruins,” he answered.

Vulcan, who had been resting on his back, suddenly sat up. “Ashenfall?!” he exclaimed, excitement in his voice.

Tesla nodded. “Yeah. I came here as an orphan from the war.”

Felix gave a knowing nod. “That explains it.”

Tesla frowned. “Explains what?”

Felix studied him for a moment before replying, his expression unreadable. “I don’t know if you’re lucky or unlucky, but if you’d been born in Xandria, I’m sure the Xargian Guard would have recruited you.” He paused, then smirked faintly. “And then you’d have to endure physical training every single day.”

A shiver ran down Tesla’s spine at the thought.

“I’m Vulcan. Vulcan Ashsteel,” Vulcan added, but before anyone could respond or care enough, Winston cut in.

“Sorry, but we should probably address the dragon in the room.” He turned to Niles. “You mentioned that your skill upgraded when you leveled up. What kind of upgrades are we talking about?”

Niles grinned and held up three fingers. “So far, every time I’ve leveled up, I’ve been given three options to upgrade my skill.” He lowered two fingers and began, “First, I had to choose between a self-refilling bucket of fresh water, a ‘kingly decree’ that let me name this barrier and everything inside it, and—uh—I forgot the third one.”

Winston perked up, scanning the area eagerly. “That’s perfect! Where’s the bucket?” He actually looked excited. “Getting fresh water is crucial for survival. Where is it?”

Niles coughed, shifting uneasily. “Well, you see… A bucket is just a bucket, but who could possibly resist the power to name things?”

Winston’s face went pale. “Don’t tell me…”

Niles stood up dramatically, his hands on his hips like a hero unveiling his masterstroke. “Welcome to NICELAND!” he announced, his voice ringing with a salesman’s enthusiasm.

His party stared in horrified disbelief. Vulcan muttered something incredibly unkind under his breath, though no one caught it.

Winston, determined to move past this disaster, pushed on. “Fine. What about the other two upgrades?”

Niles stroked his chin. “The second one was ‘Lesser Healing’—1% healing per day while inside the barrier. I could’ve chosen more land or EXP gain instead.”

Winston nodded. “Okay, that might’ve been a decent choice. What about the third option?”

Niles snapped his fingers. “Oh! I only remember picking the one that lets me control who can enter or leave the barrier. The other choices… Yeah, I forgot them.

Winston were thinking, “perhaps we judged your skill as useless to fast” he scratched his chin before he continued, “as I said before, skills are static, they don’t change but perhaps it’s different with yours since it’s not barrier, but barrier-ish” the revelation seemed to fit, Niles screamed, “dude, that might be it! You’re a genius!” Niles continued to think before he said, “if that’s the case” he considered carefully, “then Gustavus might be the most powerful person in the whole world” he looked at the horizon, “if his skill, healing-ish is able to upgrade like mine, we must do everything in our power to recruit him”. Vulcan from the ground responded, “if that’s the case let’s hope he’s better to pick the options than you are” and a new fight blossomed. “What about Roy?” Winston asked, Niles thought back, “I think his skill already is ultimate but he needs to get it under control, his cannon is to unstable but perhaps that’s fixable with the spirit-stats. He did get some levels during the attack on the dancing ball but as I understood, he never had any option to upgrade his cannon, nor does his skill end with -ish”

Felix spoke, “then perhaps” he said, “perhaps we can really settle here” he looked at Niles, “let’s continue to level up and have your skill get new upgrades”. Winston filled in, “and let us in on what kind of options you can choose from so you don’t pick anything stupid”. A new verbal fight broke out. But after a while there was laughter. Niles chuckled, then stretched with a satisfied sigh. “Let’s take it easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, we’ll figure out our next move.”

ACROSS THE WORLD

All around the world, the same bizarre phenomenon was unfolding. Teachers and parents were scolding students, accusing them of vandalizing expensive maps. In classrooms and educational institutions, frustrated teachers demanded answers.

"Who’s responsible for this?!"

Confused children looked at one another. "Responsible for what?"

The teachers jabbed their fingers at the maps, their voices rising. "Who circled the western coast of Monster Island and wrote ‘Niceland’ over it?!"

But no student could claim guilt—because none of them had done it.

Yet something about this felt… unnatural. Some teachers noticed that every map, from the oldest rolled-up atlases to the newest drawn maps, bore the same inexplicable change. It wasn’t sloppy graffiti. It was seamless. Perfect. As if it had always been there.

And so, "Niceland" began to spread—not just among curious students and baffled educators, but to government officials, scholars, and even war strategists poring over their classified charts. Military analysts in war rooms frowned at their maps, wondering if this was some kind of elaborate global hoax.

What no one realized—not even Niles himself—was that his very first skill choice had finally come into effect:

[King of Names: You can name the areas within the barrier—global effect.]

And with that, expeditions from across the world began preparing to set sail. Whether this was a coordinated prank or something far more profound, one thing was certain—something had changed on the western coast of Monster Island. And the world was about to take notice.