After the end of the tutorial, Erica was given back her original grade, and all of the unused levels she earned were converted into points. Erica was given two items at the end of the tutorial.
Item: Upgrade token - Upgrades an item one rank.
Item: Settlement token - Claim a plot of land on any celestial object, size 3000 km², and will extend out into space by 1000 km. The area picked will be protected from bombardment and unauthorized entry. You can pick up to five lifeforms to run your settlement. Any profession-related activities will have a 20 point bonus to each level gained, this only applies to the owner and the five managers. Items crafted will require 30% less materials to form a finished product while in the settlement.
Erica also received a new skill related to her master.
New skill: The Right Hand of the Demon (Uncommon) - As the right hand of the demon, you are given the ability to recruit followers in his name and claim land on his behalf, limited to system-acquired tokens granted from quests and dungeons. Anyone you recruit will receive a stat increase of 30% in their lowest stat. Merchants will be required to pay a 5% tax on any profession materials sold within any claimed zone. Tax will be paid in the form of arcane power. Arcane power will be stored within the claimed zones. As the right hand, you can use the stored Arcane energy as you please, be it for weapons or to release it back into space to increase the density of the area over time.
“It seems that this skill at the moment is more for me than master. If I wanted to fix my home galaxy, I could with this skill. But I don't know what to do. Maybe I should find Aaliyah and ask her what I should do. I just don't know where to start looking.”
Erica ran a scan of what was happening around her Corvette, noting where she was. It was no surprise to her that she was still orbiting the same planet as she was in the tutorial, but there was one major difference. The planet was now occupied by some kind of powerhouse, as in orbit, there was a space station constructing what looked to be battleships. Erica activated her impulse engines and left the orbit of the planet, moving out into an orbit around the moon.
“Unknown vessel, you have entered the Territory of the Grand Empire of the Warring Path. Power down your systems and prepare to be boarded.”
Erica increased her impulse power as she spun up her FTL drive.
“We are registering a buildup of power in the unknown vessel's FTL system, sir.”
“Fire a round past the vessel's nose and repeat the transmission.”
A flash of light shot across the corvette's nose. Erica looked down at the FTL display.
“It won't be ready in time. I need more time. I will have to do something stupid.”
Erica spun the Retribution around and went to full impulse, blasting towards the ships tailing her and opened fire, blowing one of the ships to bits. She then spun the ship and activated her point-defense system; the cannons opened fire as she drilled her way through the ships. As she passed between the two largest ships, the space around her warped, and behind the ships that she was fighting, fifteen small cargo ships popped out as her radio started to crackle to life.
“Erica class corvette, retreat towards the moon; we will take these cretins for you.” “I can assist you,” Erica replied in her native tongue. The only reply she received after that was all of the crew from fifteen ships repeating on all radio frequencies, “To the heroes, we give our lives; to the heroes.” The fifteen ships roared to life and began moving at full impulse directly at the Grand Emperor of the Warring Path's ships, their impact shattering the enemy ships to bits. It was all over before Erica could even do anything. She flipped the corvette and retreated back to the moon only to come into view of a ship even bigger than the battleships that were being made in the planet's orbit.
“Erica class corvette, this is Aaliyah La Flame. My scanner says you are in possession of a token produced by me. I request that we meet in neutral territory. I will be taking a shuttle down to the moon and would appreciate your attendance.”
Before Erica could reply, a shuttle launched from the huge ship heading towards the moon.
“Well, I guess I have no choice, do I?”
Erica lowered the ship's orbit till she could make a controlled landing on the surface of the moon. Looking out the window, she could see three people; two in space suits of the fighting type a lot like the one she was wearing, and the last one had no suit on at all; she was as Jake described. Erica put her helmet on and exited her ship; in her left hand, she had the token Jake gave her, and in her right was her grenade launcher Jake gave her; she was not taking any unnecessary risks, if she could avoid it.
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“Was that weapon created by Jake?” Aaliyah said. With a smile, Erica said, “Yes, master created it for me as a gift.” The two Nordicless scoffed at the word master. “A slave, she's a slave we lost fifteen ships and their complement for a slave.” “What do you know about me? Yes, technically I'm a slave, but to a master of my choosing.” “A slave trying to justify the fact she is a slave, how laughable. Don't worry; the lady will remove your slave mark.” Erica jumped backward and lifted her grenade launcher, aiming it directly at the man's face. “Come any closer, and I will blow your face off.” Aaliyah stepped over to the man and with a solid slap, the man's helmet came off. The man started gasping for oxygen, his face going white as the coldness of space crept in. “You really are a fool.” Aaliyah cast a spell on the man, and he breathed in deeply. “Don't ever do something like that again, or next time I will kill you.” The man just looked up at her. “What, have you got nothing to say now? You were all talkative before,” Aaliyah said before turning to Erica. “So maybe we can start over again; I'm Aaliyah La Flame, and yes, if you wanted, I could remove that mark for you, but I won't. So don't worry; you clearly chose your path. But I would like to know the man who created that weapon; do you know where he is right now?” “Why do you want to know where my master is?” “He is an arcane smith, and people will try to hunt him down for that; I just want to help him out a little so he can have a safe place to go to if he gets into too much trouble.” “I don't see any harm in telling you; he would be back on his home world by now. I don't know where that is; I only know it is in that direction.” Erica pointed in the direction of the Milky Way galaxy, but neither Erica nor Aaliyah knew that was what it was called. “There are a lot of new galaxies integrating into the system now; I won't be able to search them all. What should I do now? Lady Aaliyah,
maybe we could set up a safe zone here. The battle for this solar system is going well. If we set up here, he should be able to find it.” One of Aaliyah's men said, “It's a good idea, but there is no arcane energy here anymore.” “There might be a way to fix that.” Everyone looked at Erica with curiosity. “How?” Aaliyah finally said. “If I claim this as my territory and start recruiting people, I should be able, in time, to turn this area back into what it was.” “You said 'claim,' so you have a token,” the man who had his helmet smacked off said. “Ye–.” The man lunged at Erica, his hand grasping for her throat. Only an inch before he would have had her in his grasp, the arm the hand was attached to fell to the ground. “A fucken spy, one of my kind turning out to be a spy for the same people that enslaved us.” Erica let out a deep breath before saying, “If you are going to hang around in this solar system, I would like to claim this moon as my territory if that's okay with you.” “Are you sure you don't want a planet? If you can do what you said, I would even give you the whole solar system if you wanted.” “No, just the moon will be fine, though I would appreciate some help with building a trading hub and settlement here.” “That can be arranged. From this day forth, this moon will be yours. If you don't mind, I would like to watch as you claim this land of yours.” “I would like that, but he will have to leave, and I do mean that he will need to be 1000 km away from the moon; otherwise, I can't promise he will live.” “Jack, send him back with the shuttle and keep him away from here.”
Thirty minutes later, Jack and the man were back on the ship and had moved over two thousand km away from the planet. “It's time; they're out of range now.” Erica activated the tablet, and as she did, the sky went red as a bubble formed around the moon. It reached out to 1000 km above the moon; once that bubble was formed, a second one formed; this one was blue, and stopped about 100 km up. The second bubble activated, and oxygen started to be produced by the bubble.
Notification: You have claimed a land. Would you like to activate the skill yes/no?
The Right Hand of the Demon (Uncommon) - As the right hand of the demon, you are given the ability to recruit followers in his name and claim land on his behalf, limited to system-acquired tokens granted from quests and dungeons. Anyone you recruit will receive a stat increase of 30% in their lowest stat. Merchants will be required to pay a 5% tax on any profession materials sold within any claimed zone. Tax will be paid in the form of arcane power. Arcane power will be stored within the claimed zones. As the right hand, you can use the stored Arcane energy as you please, be it for weapons or to release it back into space to increase the density of the area over time.
Erica said yes as another notification showed up.
Notification: You have claimed a settlement. What would you like to call it?
Erica thought over the possible names before she decided on the name of Harbour.
A notification popped up in Aaliyah's face.
You are now in the Territory of the Demon of the Past. The settlement you are in is called Harbour, and it has a tax of 5% on all profession materials sold within the claimed zone. Tax will be paid in the form of arcane power.
“It looks like it worked,” Aaliyah said before hugging Erica, “and what's more, they are here now. I will have to get some people started on the construction efforts this place will need.” “If you can, I would also like five people to run this place. It would also be good if I could recruit them; they would receive a 30% increase in their lowest stat and would have full control over the governing of this settlement. I will only give them some ideas that I would like done.” “That could take a little time, but I think I can do it.” “That's okay; I've got some things to do. For one thing, there are a lot of those Grand Empire of the Warring Path ships out there, so I'm going hunting.” “Would you like a flight crew to assist you?”