The Level 5 furnace was huge. The fire it burned warmed an area with a radius of a kilometer.
Its intense heat was magical. Even if you were near the furnace, touching it, or at the edge of the territory where you'd barely be inside the furnace's radius, all of them would feel the same amount of warmth.
The Level 2 canteen was bigger and more refined. The structure looked neater, and the stones were smooth.
The kitchen countertop size had increased, as had the quantity of the cabinets. There were now twice as many holes where fire could rise.
In the kitchen, five Arctic women were humming happily while cooking the meat Lan Sol had provided.
All the food was placed in the territory's storage box, so his men could access it anytime.
He didn't have to fear theft, as their loyalty was high, and who would be stupid enough to steal from a territory that had treated them well?
If someone not right in the mind really committed this crime, the other Arctic Men would kill them before Lan Sol could provide punishment, because in their kin, they valued integrity more than their lives. They wouldn't hesitate to die for those who treated them well and wouldn't hesitate to kill those who treated them badly.
That's why Lan Sol liked these guys.
All the Arctic Men's loyalty increased drastically when the meat was served.
The 15 newcomers looked at their plates with teary eyes, and some even cried with joy just to get to eat meat.
Three men and women reached 100% loyalty!
Lan Sol nodded and left the canteen after having his fill. He had devoured at least 2 kg of meat by himself.
Due to his increased stats, his hunger also increased. He was surprised when he ate that much.
Fortunately, he didn't have any stomach aches, as overeating usually causes slight pain from stretching the stomach.
After the meal, he looked at the territory. The most developed building was his own hut.
Lord's Hut
[Name]: Territory Lord's Hut
[Level]: 6
[Effect]: Restores 10% MP and HP per second. All stats temporarily increased by 50% inside the territory. Increases magic effect by 50% inside the territory. All effects are limited to the territory's lord only.
[Materials Required for Upgrade]: Stone x10,000, Wood x15,000
The amount of resources required wasn't that much, but the upgrade would take over fifteen hours.
Also, his population limit had increased to 300.
"Wow, this is a mansion," Lan Sol muttered. It was huge—at least 500 square meters in size.
The area was bigger, with a courtyard and a 20-step path from the gate to the door, which was paved.
A stone gate was installed, surrounded by a large wall. It was honestly impressive. Despite this, its name was still "hut."
There are different evolution paths for the Lord's Hut depending on the materials used, but for that, it needs to reach level 10.
After level 10, a new branch opens for everything, and their names change too. So, no matter how big the house becomes, unless it surpasses level 10, it will always be called a "hut."
Inside the mansion wasn't beautiful. There was nothing to decorate with. Wolf skin was used alongside leaves to create a small bed.
It may not have been comfy, but compared to the stone bed, it was countless times better.
The large space was mostly empty. There were some stone desks and stands, but nothing was placed on top of them.
As he lay in the bed, sleeping on top of the wolf's skin and using the leaves as a blanket, someone entered his house.
"Hmm?" Lan Sol recognized her instantly.
"Woah, so big. Even my previous house wasn't this big," the elf priestess Eirlys said, looking around with a satisfied smile, as if she wasn't in someone else's house, but her own.
"What are you doing here?" Lan Sol asked.
"I'm going to live here, aren't I?" she replied confidently, as if it were obvious, and he was stupid for asking her.
"Why would you be living here? This is my house."
"But I don't have anywhere else to live. You don't want your precious follower, a delicate, beautiful maiden such as I, to live outside, do you? Do I have to sleep on the ground too?"
"Uh, your shelter will be built soon."
"Nope. I want to live here."
"Why?"
"It's big. My dear lord, won't you be lonely living alone in such a big house?"
Lan Sol was lost for words but didn't find anything to retort. It would be a little lonely to live alone in such a big house, but as an introvert, he'd always been alone.
But the house he lived in was too small, and he had all his electronics to keep him busy, never allowing him to feel loneliness. But in this humongous place, there was nothing to keep him company, so it could get boring.
Having her as company didn't sound bad; he might even hear some of her interesting journey stories when he got bored.
"Okay. You can live here from now on."
Elyris raised her hands in happiness and bowed. "My utmost gratitude for letting me live here." Then she skipped outside like a child.
Not long after, two Arctic Men came and built a similar bed to Lan Sol's, just ten steps further than his.
The Arctic Men bowed and left, wishing him goodnight, as Elyris, without caring for her image, jumped onto the bed.
"Waaaa!! This is heaven~"
She squirmed on the bed, enjoying its softness.
At least there were five wolf skins stacked on top of each other, which completely removed any hardness from the stone, giving them comfort.
So, it would be heaven for those who had always slept on hard surfaces.
Lan Sol ignored the priestess, but suddenly a question appeared in his mind. "Why are you so skilled at combat?"
It was slightly puzzling, as she was a Priestess, who shouldn't have anything to do with combat—she would mostly give buffs or heal others.
"In my era, it was brutal. Those who couldn't fight were as good as dead. From childhood, all children, regardless of their gender, were taught combat. Our profession didn't matter. We couldn't rely on others for support, either. In that era, it was either fight or die. So, even priestesses had to fight. With technique and buffs, we could deal with those weaker than us and actively support the team in both combat and support." She summarized it briefly.
"Oh." Lan Sol, who had been born in a peaceful world, couldn't fully understand, but he felt a tiny bit of sympathy for her.
"Must've been hard."
"It was." She buried her face in the soft bed. "Fighting for our lives, eating fruits, sleeping in trees, for the safety of our land... those of us who could fight had to suffer the most."
"So, how did you end up… in the summoning palace?" It was the name of the place where those who could be summoned were placed, according to the game he had played.
Every character had a backstory on how they ended up there.
"Well, because of a long fight with the Demi-Human race, the forest was burned to ashes. There was no food. We, elves, lost the battle… I had to run from all the enemies. And escaping, I jumped off a cliff. Thinking I would die, I resolved myself. But a voice called, asking me if I wanted to live. Without hesitation, I said yes. And when I woke up, I was in that dungeon."
It sounded tragic, but she said it in a casual voice.
"Okay." Lan Sol didn't know what to say, so he didn't bother to open his mouth.
"But I… am glad to be summoned here." Suddenly, she said, facing him with a sweet smile. "I've never seen a place filled with smiles. Everyone working together, eating together, and motivated to work. A warm place, a warm house, and a lord who treats his people right. Honestly, it's a place I wouldn't mind living in for the rest of my life."
"Uh, t-thanks." The sudden heartfelt words made him a bit embarrassed.
Turning to his side, he closed his eyes. "Good night," he said.
"Good night. May you dream of something joyful."
[Communication]
[Global] [Region] [Party] [Private]
Like in every online game, there were four options for communication. He clicked on Global.
[Global]
– No Messages
(You can only post one message per day.)
Currently, it was the first day, and the majority of the people hadn't even reached level 2. So, no one had posted, as the communication function unlocked at level 5.
[Region] (Population: 17,098/24,377)
– No message
(You can post an unlimited number of messages.)
The population had decreased by more than 7,000 on the first day.
A region here didn't mean a server; it meant people of a certain area, like a village, a town, or part of a city are in this region.
"Damn, so many deaths in one day. Let's hope half of them survive." He didn't care if they died or not. He just wanted to trade with other players.
As he couldn't access everything in one area, there could be many useful items with other players, and he hoped to trade. So, he wished not many died—more people meant more items to trade.
After a while, Lan Sol fell asleep, exhausted from all the battles.
---
The next day…
Arctic Men's Hut.
It was three stories tall and huge. It was bigger than the Lord's Hut, as the Arctic Men's hut was meant to be shared by all of them.
Bang! Bang!
Thud! Thud!
Clang! Clang!
Various noises made the place lively. As the territory range had gotten bigger, many trees were ready to be felled.
Large stones were being broken down. One group did all the cutting and smashing, while another group worked as transporters, carrying the resources back to the storage box.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
The sonorous sounds produced when gathering materials never got boring.
Lan Sol enjoyed the view from the window.
He glanced to his side.
The bed beside him was empty.
Elyris seemed to have left before he woke up.
Just as he stepped out, he was bombarded by greetings from all the Arctic Men.
Gong Er, the first man whose loyalty reached 100, walked before him and bowed politely, his gaze filled with reverence.
"Good morning, Lord. We have continued our work. Miss Elyris has requested me to tell you that she's headed out to hunt wolves. She will be back after a while."
"Oh." Lan Sol nodded. "You guys worked really hard." Looking at the upgraded buildings, he couldn't help but beam with joy.
"Thank you for your praise."
Lan Sol reached the crafting table. It had also been upgraded to level 2.
The crafting list had increased, but nothing was craftable, as most of those items required iron.
He crafted some more spears and swords, as many of them had been destroyed in the dungeon.
Gol and Gam were also out of the territory, probably hunting some animals.
It wouldn't hurt to have more food, as they wouldn't spoil in the storage box.
After crafting more weapons, he decided where to head off that day.
"Let's find a village. There should be spices. Eating bland meat every day is very boring. I also need to get seeds and scout some villagers in."
As he was making his plans, Elyris arrived at the base, gathering all the attention she could.
Ten large wolves—she carried them on her shoulder and walked with ease. For her, it shouldn't have been too heavy and seemed normal, but for the others, it was a pretty terrifying sight.
A girl in a dress, walking with a smile while carrying the corpses of ten wolves. Yeah, it didn't look so nice.
But the scariness only lasted for a second, as they all shouted in joy—food was increasing!
Elyris saw Lan Sol and walked toward him. Throwing all the corpses near his feet, she moved her shoulder, feeling a bit stiff.
Lan Sol didn't ask anything and began decomposing the corpses. All the materials ended up in the territory storage box.
"Lord, I found something incredible while I was hunting." She wiped her blood-stained mace as she reported her findings.
"What did you find?"
"A mine! I don't know exactly what kind of mine it is, but it's similar to one I've seen before."
"A mine, you say. How far is it from here?"
"Just three minutes away. It's in the east direction."
"Okay, get ready. We're going there."
"This instant?! I need to eat my breakfast first."
"Okay, I'll inform Gol and Gam. Let's have breakfast together."
He informed Gong Er to call the others, as everyone tended to eat after he took his first bite.
Then he also called Gol and Gam, who were not far from the territory.
Together, they had breakfast.
Afterward, the four of them left the territory.
It wasn't far; it didn't even take a minute with their speed to reach the mine. Lan Sol looked at the mine, and his eyes lit up with excitement!
[Coal Mine]
[Current Status]: Unoccupied
[Currently Occupied by Glimmerfang]