When Shaun appeared outside of the dungeon, he didn’t immediately go through the prompts to finish off the claiming, instead he spent some time in mediation, needing to recentre himself and think through everything that had occurred in that dungeon. He wasn’t sure how long passed like this but by the time he left his meditative state he had come to the conclusion that he needed to work through some of his own mental issues that had been building over the course of his life which he had done nothing to address and instead pushed down and ignored.

** Claim the Throne (E grade) Dungeon has been completed**

Would you like to claim this dungeon for 2,000,000 TE?

He claimed the area as he had previously, and terraformed it to complete the final area that would be needed for the ward. After all of his spending so far in claiming and terraforming across the F and E grade areas he had used less than half of all his TE which was more than probably any single person would have. That left him with more than enough TE to claim the D grade dungeon when the time came as well as more left over.

**For fully incorporating the entirety of E grade clusters in an area, please visit a claimed settlement crystal for further upgrades.**

Like before, the terraforming would be complete in 3 days, during that time he would need to make it back to Viv and the others, have a number of serious conversations around what was happening with this settlement and then make their way to one of the E grade crystals to finish off merging the area and putting his final touches on the warding.

**Title Upgrade: Duke to King**

**High Duke: Through the claiming of an area of a planet large enough for a Kingdom the title of King has been acquired. While in an area that you rule your stats are increased by 40%. Title Upgradeable. Note: If the area under your control is taken from you or you freely give up this land you will lose the title.**

And now I am a King. What the hell has this world come too. He only hoped that this title would come up when someone identified him. Being seen as King Shaun Clermont would be horrifying. He considered contacting Eric before setting out but decided against it at the last moment, he would rather speak to everyone in person rather than through the stone, he bet a lot had happened while he had been gone and last he heard from them, Viv wanted to propose some kind of deal.

Making his way back to the F grade area that he had met everyone last time was an easy enough journey. The E grade area he had just claimed was one of the closest to where he originally started so the travel time was only a few hours at full speed. He felt the difference as soon as he crossed from the E grade to the F grade area, the mana density noticeably decreased and he could see that the settlement had extended much further than it had previously.

Now rather than a large village or hub, it was much closer to a full blown city, multiple of them if he was seeing it right. From his vantage point in the sky he could make out that at least 3 of the F grade areas had been completely urbanised.

I’m an idiot! Shaking his head, he did something he should have just done from the start. Mentally pulling up the map of the F grade area he was able to see that around 5 areas had been completely turned into major cities with his ritual lines being turned into roads which had pockets of housing all along the way from one city to the next.

Considering he was ahead of schedule he decided to check out one of the cities and scope out the state of it, including how it was being run and how the people were being treated. The moment he got to the edge of the first building he came down to the ground and ensured his aura was fully pulled in. He also did something that he should have done the first time he entered one of the areas full of people, change. The last time he showed up covered in blood and injured, this time he aimed to blend in.

Putting on the clothes that he had been given the last time he saw Viv, he put away his armour as well as all of his weapons. To the average person he would look relatively normal, unless they chose to identify him, that would show him as question marks to anyone in F grade and for those in E grade he would be seen as someone way above the normal.

The outskirts of the city were fairly empty when he entered, but from what he could see it was all in a decent state. Sending out a burst of his echo he found that a lot of people were congregating in a specific area, curious he started making his way over.

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The closer he got the more people he saw. For the most part they didn’t look too bad off, not starving or homeless at least but definitely not like they were loving their lives. The closer he got to the crowd of people he started to notice that nearly everyone had the same bowl in their hands, the fund inside looking like it was made to feed a very large number of people rather than something that was purchased from a store or made in one’s home.

When he made it into what looked like the city centre he found, as he expected, people queuing up for food at large stalls where food was being dished out to people who had lined up. The food, if he could really call it that, didn’t look the most appetising, but at least it smelled half decent, probably thanks to the Chefs that he assumed were making it.

Looking over the entire area he found that people were mostly standing together in groups, the people were rather mixed, groups of old and young, different ethnicity and some looking happier than others. It was an odd sight, but at least no one seemed to be ready to rebel or start a fight with each other.

Off to one side he saw a group of kids that seemed to have finished eating and were playing a game on the ground. They ranged in age, looking like they were anywhere between 12 to 16 and about 20 of them in total. Looking around to see who was looking after them he found that no one was really paying any attention to them at all.

Moving closer Shaun figured that it would be easier to speak to the kids first, if they didn’t know anything than he would move on to the groups of adults to get a gauge of what the city was really like. As he approached, one of the kids caught sight of him and alerted the others. They quickly picked up what looked like small stones from the ground and seemed ready to leave.

“Hey, you don’t need to go. I was just curious as to what you were doing.” He tried to come off as relaxed and non-threatening as possible, not an easy task considering that his go to these last months was to be closed off and dangerous to all that approached.

The kids looked like they were ready to bolt the moment he spoke, the older kids even moved to stand in front of the younger ones who seemed more sad than before.

“Its okay, we will go somewhere else.” The one who spoke back to him looked to be the oldest of the group. The boy was eyeing him like he was a threat and ready to protect the other kids if Shaun decided to do something untoward to them.

**Elijah Wright – Level 2**

“Wait, hold on a sec!” He hadn’t expected to see a level next to Elijah’s name, not that he had any idea at what age kids got access to the system. But this was unexpected, he needed a moment to figure out what exactly was happening. He was sure that the kids he had seen with the group that had wondered in before everyone had arrived didn’t have a level next to their name, although they were younger than everyone in front of him now.

“I don’t know what you want man, but you need to leave us alone.” Elijah was taking steps away from him, pushing the rest of the group back towards one of the road leading out of the town centre. “Run!”

The moment Elijah yelled for them to run they all took off as quickly as they could, the only one that delayed was Elijah who threw a stone that was in his hand at Shaun. Rather than dodge it he just let it him in the chest. What is wrong with these kids?

He didn’t give chase to the kids, not that he really needed to given he could track them with his echo with no issue. What made him hesitate to follow them at all was that they seemed scared, as if he was some bad guy. He didn’t like it, not one bit. Something was happening with those kids that made them fear him and he had no idea what.

Rather then directly follow them he went in the opposite direction and out of the way until he was confident that no one could see him, only then did he shift into the wind and trail after Elijah. It wasn’t hard keeping up with him while he was in this form, and although all the kids went their separate ways at first it was clear that they were all heading in a single direction, towards the cities edge.

He followed them for 30 minutes before they left the city and all started grouping back together right on the edge in a grove of trees. They were all exhausted and clearly in need of water and rest but he didn’t show himself. Instead, he solidified behind one of the trees and decided to listen in on them to see if he could learn anything while they thought they were alone.

“Eli, why did you make us run away? Is he one of the bad ones?”

For a moment there was silence, as if Elijah, who he was now certain led this group, came up with a response.

“I don’t know Josh, but he had no reason to come up to us like that. You remember what happened last time don’t you?” Elijahs voice was different to when he spoke to him, softer, kinder.

“Are we going to get into trouble for running again like last time?” The same kid as before asked the question, definitely one of the younger ones, and he felt a spike of fear come from the kid.

“Don’t worry Josh, I will make sure that I am the only one that gets punished. I promise, no one is going to hurt you.”

“Do you think we should go back to the home? You know the rules, we are only allowed out for the daily meals or if we have permission. Astrid will not be happy if we stay out for long.” This was said by a girl in the group, definitely older, closer to Elijah’s age. It was said in a whisper but with Shaun’s perception he was able to make it out easy enough.

“Let everyone rest for a bit, then we will go back. If we ever see that guy again avoid him at all costs. I don’t know what he wanted but it wasn’t good.” Taking that as his que to make his appearance he stepped out from behind the tree and put a smile on his face.

“Hi everyone, I think we have had some misunderstanding here.” As soon as he spoke they all backed away from where he stood. The moment they realised who he was they older kids again moved in front of the younger ones. “I am Shaun, and seriously, I don’t mean any harm. I just have questions.”