Looking down at a large field you could see a courtyard spanning hundreds of metres entrenched between the grass. Sitting in the centre of that courtyard was a young man.
Cameron held his head in pain, the faint blood slipping through his slender hands. There was a small laceration on his scalp caused by the rough gravel below his ass.
''Where the hell am I?''
Cameron looked around in surprise. What came into view was a large stone courtyard, it's height over twenty metres tall. Stone arches held carvings of various mythical creatures, ranging from dragons to phoenixes.
Cameron pushed himself off the ground and walked towards the large wooden gate of the courtyard. From his quick glance he didn't see anyone at the entrance of the courtyard.
As he pushed open the courtyard to see a large empty Martial Arts field and a variety of beautiful decorations.
''Ouch''
Just as Cameron was about to step onto the large martial platform, his foot kicked a large boulder and he couldn't help but take in a sharp breath of air.
But he couldn't help but push it away angrily.
[Ding detected contact with an Object, do you wish to absorb it?]
Suddenly a mechanical voice rang in Camerons ears.
''Absorbable object? What is this?''
Cameron asked inquisitively but the curiosity took over.
''Yes absorb it.''
[Defence +0.01]
''Defence increased? But my body doesn't feel any different.''
But just as Cameron was struggling with what had happened, he suddenly felt the ground shake as dust floated into the air.
In a panic he looked up only to see a slightly translucent dome now surrounding the entire courtyard.
[Congratulations to the host for activating the Unparalleled Courtyard System.]
''System? What are your functions?''
Cameron was surprised but then asked quickly. This was his capital for surviving in this strange place.
[Host, the system will assist you in creating a completely Unparalleled Courtyard! Everything that the Host touches that can be considered his belonging can be absorbed by the system.]
[Things with only basic qualities will only contribute to the defence of the courtyard. The defence rating of 1 is enough to defend the punch of an ordinary person. However if you find rare or unique objects they have a chance to provide new benefits to the courtyard.]
[Moreover the hosts strength is linked with this Courtyard, your defence will increase by half of the courtyards defence. The Host will have a watered down version of any abilities in the courtyard.]
''Ah I see! So basically I need to continue collecting items to upgrade the Courtyard?''
''System shows me my status and my Courtyards Status''
[Name: Cameron
Attack: 1
Defence: 0.005
Abilities: None]
[Courtyard Status:
Defence: 0.01
Abilities:None]
Although the statuses were simple, they told Cameron a lot.
First of all his strength is the same as an Ordinary person, while his defence was actually the exact half of his Courtyard's defence.
But this means that the Courtyard is a potential safehaven for Cameron while exploring this strange new world.
Speaking of which he learnt a bit of information from the system through some casual communications. First of all this Continent is called the Botanical Continent.
The forces are thoroughly spread out throughout the continent, but they are simplified and divided into three ranks, 1-3. Rank 1 Forces are the most powerful while Rank 3 forces are the weakest.
But the most important thing is that people on this continent can actually cultivate! Even flying and destroying mountains are within reach. Mythical creatures travel the earth and even legendary beasts are kept as pets.
Cultivators are divided into five simple stages, Body Tempering, Spirit Gathering, Core Building, Supernatural State and finally the Demi-God Stage.
During the Body Tempering Stage, you simply increase your attack power through tempering your bones, skin and blood. In the Spirit Gathering realm you absorb the surrounding Aura and build up enough energy before creating your core.
Each realm has three divisions, however Cameron hasn't had any chance to experience the power of any other cultivators.
So far his physical properties show that he's only slightly more durable than an ordinary person and that's just due to the Courtyards effect.
Furthermore Cameron found that his courtyard isn't actually located in a city like you would expect. He stepped out of the large Wooden Gates and stopped just in front of the translucent film.
The sight that greeted his eyes was incredible. In front of him were endless plains, green grass spread widely with many plants sprouting out of the ground.
But what was even more shocking was the huge beasts that roamed around, even if they were hundreds of metres away Cameron could still see their colossal figures trudging around.
Although with that immense distance, if they were to stand still it would be easy to mistake them as mountains.
Cameron shuddered as he looked at the creatures and thought of his pitiful 0.01 defence value on his courtyard. According to the system prompt this defensive value was probably less than a newborn baby.
Thinking of this as a sense of urgency spread in Camerons heart. His head turned slowly as he scanned the courtyard, his eyes lit up as he saw a large amount of rocks scattered on the floor.
Camerons mind even started to wonder whether these boulders are actually a newbie gift for him.
But as he wiped that off his mind, he started to run towards the multiple rocks.
[Ding detected contact with an Object, do you wish to absorb it?]
[Ding detected contact with an Object, do you wish to absorb it?]
[Ding detected contact with an Object, do you wish to absorb it?]
[Defence +0.03]
[Defence +0.01]
[Defence +0.05]
Cameron picked up rocks of various sizes and continuously absorbed them. Slowly he could actually feel his body start to strengthen. Although the amount was small, it was at least present.
Cameron continued picking up rocks until late into the night. The sky had two revolving moons; the glow flowed down covering parts of the courtyard.