The jungle fell completely silent as the dark, glossy saber was drawn. Sylthis’ weapon was plain metal with no adornments or embellishments, not even a single glowing squiggle to represent an enchantment. It was tool created only to serve a Warrior’s purpose, and little more.

As Sylthis stood there with her weapon in hand, Janet felt that she embodied the avatar of violence quite accurately.

“Hey, Janet,” Aurelia whimpered from her position against Janet’s back. The trembling of her body was thus keenly noted by an astounded Janet.

“What’s up?”

“Can’t you feel it, her Killing Intent?” she let out a few labored breaths. “I feel my brain getting melted down by the amount of menace she’s radiating!”

Janet paused to check her mind and mana for foreign influences. Killing Intent? From Sylthis? “Are you sure?”

“So, you don’t feel it.” Aurelia sounded equal parts pleased and resigned, as though she’d just lost a partner to share in her suffering, but at the same time was glad that Janet was not enduring the torture.

As for the shorter girl whose main objective in that moment was trying to mend her scorched insides, she threw her gaze around in search of the aforementioned ‘menace’. Disappointedly, she had to admit that she had no idea what Aurelia was going on about.

Then, her roaming eyes landed on the Adventurer youths. Each and every one of their faces had taken on a ghostly pallor. Even the adults, Rangu Maynard and Dale Potima, looked to be straining under a ponderous weight. That last bit convinced her that the friendly stranger might have been onto something.

As she watched, Janet thought she saw the mage’s legs buckle, before he increased the flow of mana towards his limbs in an effort to curb the trembling. It helped, but not by much. It was nice seeing the pompous asses get what they deserved.

Yet, the angry red light on Sylthis’ brought her nothing but worry. If the Cyclopean broke the Rite of Parley being angry on her behalf, and thus suffered the Guilds’ retaliation, Janet would never forgive herself.

“Won’t Sylthis get penalized for this?” she whispered at the young lady to her back who was definitely more schooled than herself in matters of politics and grandstanding.

“Oh,” Aurelia forced out. “Killing Intent is just as it sounds. Basically, one communicates their desire and willingness to slaughter and outright murder another person by infusing their mana with their unbridled intent. The reason why everyone looks so encumbered is because they’re being suppressed by the sheer force of your friend’s intention to end them.”

Aurelia caught her breath, then continued. “It is not really breaking the rules of Parley to communicate your willingness to kill your opponent. I mean, it’s more visceral and unsettling than simply stating it, but she’s not really breaking any rules.”

Janet released a relieved sigh before Aurelia added on one more sentence before talking got too arduous.

“The only problem, in my opinion, is that to pressure everyone this thoroughly with her intent to kill, your friend actually plans to go through with it.”

Janet felt a chill go down her spine. For a moment, she joined Aurelia in trembling with fright. What in Gaia's name was Sylthis thinking?

“Syl…” the tall woman kept her gaze locked onto her targets, her face an emotionless mask and her saber brandished and ready. Janet’s voice grew very small. “You’re not planning on violating the Rite, are you?”

The silence was answer enough. For the first time since she met Sylthis, Janet rued the Cyclopeans' unflinching principles regarding children’s safety and their unwavering, uncompromising honor.

“They tried to harm you, didn’t they?”

Before Janet could answer, the mage jumped in, his breaking voice betraying the fragile veneer of courage. “Pardon me, Madam Slayer, but your ward just overreacted. We intended her no harm!”

Again, silence.

“Ask her!” A boy shouted. His jaw was clattering like a loose roofing tile on a windy night. “She’ll tell you that we didn’t do anything.”

Sylthis tilted her head, and the boy slunk back with his tail between his legs. She turned her searing glare back towards the cowering mage.

“Here’s what I don’t understand – yes, I’m talking to you, Rangu. You understand the significance of a demon appearing inside the Havenhurst, especially so soon after the Gorge exploded killing all those ants, don’t you?” she pointed towards the still-visible ash clouds in the distance. “It means my ‘ward’ did not just stop an invader. She prevented them from securing a stage for a greater invasion.”

The man nodded his head sheepishly.

“Educate me, then.” Her voice was almost a growl with how low and threatening it had gotten. “Why are there traces of your Killing Intent inside Janet’s Pathways?”

Rangu fumbled with the rings on his fingers. His eyes darted about like a cornered mouse. To Janet and anyone present, it was as clear an admission of guilt as him actually confessing to the allegations.

There was a problem, however, in that Janet did not remember being the victim of a similar suppression to what Sylthis was doing. She did recall feeling uncomfortable and alarmed at the dangerous look in the Adventurers’ eyes, and she’d inferred from that that their intentions towards her had been less than cordial, but in no way did she recall her knees shaking or rivulets of sweat pouring from her temples.

“Madam Slayer,” Dale piped up in support of his companion. “I assure you that we intended your ward no harm. As any of my charges will attest, we just arrived to witness the end of her fight, and were about to request that she hand over the demon’s body for safekeeping…”

This time, Janet felt it when Sylthis’ pressure rose by a couple of notches. Three youths collapsed with foam coming from their mouths.

“What made you think you had the right to ask anything of her?”

“As the highest-ranked Adventurers present…”

“She’s a Wayfarer, not associated in any way with your bickering, rank-toting Guild. A simple [Appraisal] would have revealed that.” Once again, Sylthis focused her ire on the mage. “Didn’t it, Mr. Maynard?”

Now, even Dale turned an inquisitive look laced with suspicion and just the slightest hint of bitterness towards his compatriot. “What is she talking about?”

“Yes, Mage. What is the unreasonably angry lady talking about?”

“Oh, I know this!” Aurelia’s voice cut through the tension. For some reason, her trembling had stopped when Sylthis amplified her Intent’s intensity. “It’s about Lord Amurag’s reward, isn’t it?”

Dale looked even more confused. As for Janet, her head whipped around so fast that her hair made a whistling noise at the mention of the [Lancing Deer] that had inducted her into Wayfarer… and was probably the reason why she was so resistant to mental effects, including Sylthis’ cloying pressure.

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“Amurag…”

“The Lord who by right of nobility and power of might owns this continent,” Aurelia clarified. “A couple of weeks ago, he broadcast a Decree that informed his subjects that there would soon be multiple demonic incursions into Norim. He offered up a reward to any party or individual that contributed in halting the incursions and slayed the invaders.”

There was a lot to unpack there. First of all, Amurag owned Norim? Janet knew it was among the lesser continents, but still that was a fuckload of power and prestige. The taxes alone would make him stupendously loaded, and that was before all the mining rights, resource extraction rights, the fact that he was a Wayfarer…

Janet found herself shaking her head as she forcefully swallowed her envy. Life was just too cruel sometimes. She was planning to fight and hopefully flatten the Deer into a flesh pancake with antlers when she got strong enough, but facing one powerful monster versus butting heads with a continental military were two very different things.

She’d have to reconsider her plans.

“Let me guess. The reward was something like a landless Title or something?” There were very few Quests within the Almanacs that would culminate in Rulership rights. Most such Titles were inherited, and the ones that weren’t required pretty rigorous requirements to even sniff at.

It was no surprise, then, that the mage had been intending to murder her and steal the Territory Lord’s reward.

“Landless? Whatever do you mean?” Aurelia’s palm was planted on her breast, with her other palm fanning her face like a prissy noble. “Look around you, Janet. Here’s a piece of land whose ownership and magic were just erased, and is ripe for a claimant’s occupation!”

The Dead Zone!

“Ha-ha! My first solo outing outside of Seldor-Tep, and I made friends with a Territory Lord!” as Aurelia exalted her good fortune, Janet saw Rangu scowl like he’d just bitten into a lemon. “My dad’s going to freak when I tell him.”

A lot of questions Janet had been having were answered in that instant. She got answers on the intention behind the magic that the demon had been weaving, the reason behind the disturbances in the Realm of Souls, and even why the demon could not retreat out of the Dead Zone during their fight.

Iralith had clearly been strengthening itself and its claim upon the land by reaping all life and Mystery around its incursion point, hence the Dead Zone. Of course, among the magics that were devoured and wiped away was the all-encompassing magic that asserted a noble’s claim to a parcel of land.

At the moment, the Dead Zone was truly and utterly ownerless.

In a planet as old and rife with magic and tradition as hers, Janet knew that she was standing on a goldmine. Every single piece of rock, every blade of grass, every inch of land on the planet had a claim laid to it. One that was written in the mana itself. Except the demon-razed parts, of course.

“Thanks, Aurelia.” she chose not to think of the fact that the Sidur girl had chosen to support her Parley request for self-serving purposes. In fact, she preferred it that way. Altruism was unpredictable and subject to whim, while self-interest was understandable, and thus could easily be reasoned with.

Anyway, the mage had tried to kill her. Janet threw all caution about her health to the wind and stood up. She was baying for blood.

“What are you doing? You’re not healed yet!” Aurelia tried to drag Janet back into a sitting position, but found herself getting lifted as though she weighed nothing.

“The bastard tried to kill me for a shot at a Ruler’s Title.”

Those things came with all sorts of benefits. Just from the top of her head, Janet could count two Skills that would benefit massively if a Ruler’s Mysteries were added to her repertoire. [Shadow Authority] stood to become less draining to her mental capacities, which would undoubtedly balloon her strength and power. [Novice Cartographer] would also receive a boost in the form of a homing reference, a point of origin from which to plot her personal maps.

That would almost certainly mean an instant upgrade to her power. It was understandable why the mage...

“How do I assert my claim?” Her eyes drilled into the mage. For some reason, he took a step back, his face paler and his neck suddenly glistening with sweat.

When he failed to respond, Sylthis answered in his stead. “There’s a ritual involved. A simple one.”

She explained, “Technically, the Dead Zone belonged to the demon, magically speaking. Having killed the demon, you automatically own everything that the demon possessed by right of conquest.” The Cyclopean’s pressure on the atmosphere eased. She softly cupped Janet’s face in her palm.

“All you need to do is let mana from your core percolate into the ambient mana flows, once you recover. It’s quite similar to binding a magical tool, actually.”

“Will I need blood?”

Sylthis chuckled. “You would need gallons of mana-infused blood to permanently imprint your signature into a piece of land. On the other hand, with your [Mana Manipulation] all that’s required is for you to regenerate some mana then fuse it with the ambient flows. Most of the process is System-guided, so not much skill is required”

‘Oh, so that’s how Wayfarers can lay claim to any lands or realms they discover!’

As Janet was reveling in the satisfaction of more answered queries, all softness drained from Sylthis’ face. A crack of her knuckles resounded through the silence as she squeezed the handle of her saber.

“If you had even a point in your MP, the System would already have sent you a prompt asking you to bond with the land. Which this dirtbag knew, and tried to prevent. If you hadn’t thought of Parley…”

Sylthis spat out a few choice slurs the mage and his fellow Guide. Now that the gamut was up, Rangu could no longer claim he had harbored no ill will towards Janet. Everyone listening knew what a Ruler Title meant, and that getting Janet out of the equation would have earned Rangu the Title by virtue of it being unclaimed still.

Cornered and shamed, the man's stream of lies petered out. He had no more recourse other than to ask the million-credit question, “What do you want in return for sweeping this matter under the rug?”

“Janet, you’re the one he tried t kill,” Sylthis passed on the baton of extortion duty.

In the corner of her eye, Janet saw the mage relax. Tension drained out of his shoulders and his frown straightened out. He clearly was underestimating her.

Her first thought was to force secrecy contracts upon all the Adventurers, but not only were there too many people for a secret to be feasible, Janet had called up a four-Guild Rite. Powers that be would investigate that. Secondly, when she finally claimed the land, anyone who kept tabs on such entries in the Almanacs would come to learn of it pretty much instantly.

What she needed was something not easily accessible. Money and Credits, she didn’t need. [Novice Cartographer] allowed her to harvest literal tons of herbs and hunt valuable beasts with little hassle. And that bottomless well of cash would remain as productive as long as the Havenhurst existed.

Another thing that came to mind was magic spell formulas. But Darius was the best magic teacher anywhere. Being his mentee, that meant she had access to unlimited stores of memorized formulae and expert-level theories.

A weapon was also out of the question, as when [Void] finally revealed its secrets, she would have in her hand an armory within that single dagger.

All that remained, then, was Skills. Darius and his party were Slayers, which meant their job was more martial than educative. They were great teachers who suited her learning style a tad too uncannily, but still two glaring holes existed in her Skillset that she was keen as a bean to plug.

“I want an [Identify] Skill Crystal. If that is not available, I demand you teach me a Skill with equivalent utility.” The Slayers had been woefully underprepared to teach a newbie, and thus the foundational Skills were missing. “I’ll also take an [Appraisal] crystal if you have one.”

The man gasped, as did the Adventurers in his charge, Aurelia included. [Identify] and [Appraisal] were Skills whose utility practically outweighed any magical Skills, especially at the beginner Circles. They were hands down the most expensive Skills she could have asked for.

[Identify] allowed one to query records stored within the Almanac at will to obtain the name and properties of pretty much any animal, beast, plant, or herb in existence, with slight exceptions.

As for [Appraisal], it allowed one to accurately and without fail – except in very special circumstances – judge the power, rank, or grade of any living being, magical construct, and Artifact.

“But… but…” Rangu sputtered.

“You’re a Guide for junior Adventurers, so I’m pretty certain that you have the requisite methods to teach both those Skills,” Janet emotionlessly intoned.

“This is extortion!” he was hyperventilating. “Do you know how much those two are worth?”

“Remember, you fully intended to kill me barely an hour ago.” Her tone was cold and unflinching. “Forgive me if I treat you with just as much courtesy as you did me.”

Her biggest leverage was the fact that there were dozens of people all around who had followed the proceedings of the encounter from beginning to end. The mage was cornered. If Janet, a First Circle who had defeated a demon – which implied an ungodly amount of talent and potential – reported his conduct to the Guild, who knew what hell would befall the mage?

With jerky, forceful movements that did little to hide his brewing anger, Rangu retrieved two intricately carved crystals from storage. They each were the length of his index fingers, and a glowing ball of mana was suspended right at their midpoints. Janet knew that within the crystals lay a fleck of mana similar to the one Amurag had used to imprint [Novice Cartography] into her mind.

Sylthis levitated the crystals to her arm before Rangu was done looking them over, causing him to ball up his fists in frustration.

“Good choice, Janet,” she praised as she passed the crystals over to Janet. “They’re both single-use items which will teach the Skills to you at [Common] rarity.”

“No hidden traps, then?” counterfeit Skill crystals rigged with harmful effects were a well-documented menace of Skill trading.

“He’s not brave enough to dare,” the Cyclopean chuckled. Rangu just stared at the dead grass as Janet stored her second batch of loot for the day.