Upon reaching the fifth tier, River's attributes skyrocketed, nearly doubling compared to her fourth-tier state. This confirmed Alex's suspicion: as units advanced to higher tiers, their attributes increased exponentially, making them exponentially more powerful.
As expected, with River now at the fifth tier, defending the territory became significantly easier. With a mere wave of her staff, sharp thorns erupted from the ground, piercing through the bodies of the monsters. Following this, a flurry of leaves descended, transforming into arrows that sliced through the creatures' flesh.
She had even mastered additional natural spells!
With these spells bolstering the plant army, their morale surged, and they launched a fierce counterattack. One by one, the monsters fell under their assault, and Alex's mind was flooded with notifications.
[Three-tier Tusked Beast slain. 10 Mana obtained.]
[Three-tier Corpse Python slain. 11 Mana obtained.]
[Three-tier Scythe Mantis slain. 9 Mana obtained.]
[Four-tier Cyclops Troll slain. 24 Mana obtained.]
Gradually, the number of monsters outside the territory dwindled, becoming sparse. By late afternoon, the last monster fell to River's attack, and the area outside the territory fell into an eerie silence.
"Finally, it's over," Alex exhaled deeply, his tense expression relaxing as he slumped to the ground.
This wave had undoubtedly been the most intense onslaught at the start of the beast tide. A single misstep could have cost him his life, keeping his nerves on edge the entire time. Fortunately, the worst-case scenario hadn't come to pass. Not only had he survived, but he had also reaped substantial rewards, including nurturing a fifth-tier unit. It was a bountiful harvest indeed.
He couldn't help but wonder how the other lords were faring. Their territories were mostly farther from the forest, and with the monsters already spreading out, they likely hadn't faced as fierce an assault as he had. Still, the beast tide was riddled with fourth-tier monsters, making it no easy task to handle.
"Ah, forget it. It's none of my business anyway," Alex quickly dismissed the thought. After making a round to ensure the territory was secure, he began reviewing the spoils from the beast tide.
First, his Mana had surged from just over a thousand to nearly five thousand—a four to fivefold increase! Second, the corpses of the monsters had piled up into a small mountain outside the territory, with fourth-tier monsters scattered everywhere. He wouldn't have to worry about fertilizer for his plants for a long time.
But the most pleasant surprise was his plant units. Through constant replacements, one had successfully undergone a Mutation, resulting in a variant similar to River: a fourth-tier Toxic Enchantress.
[Name: Toxic Enchantress (Royal)]
[Race: Plant]
[Tier: Fourth (3/100)]
[Strength: 87]
[Constitution: 100]
[Agility: 0]
[Spirit: 85]
[Skills: Devour, Poison Mist, Forest of Thorns (Spreads countless vines to create a terrifying thorny domain around it. Range expands with level.)]
[Description: The queen of Toxic Enchantresses, her massive vines form a protective domain around her, guarding her territory.]
The mutated Toxic Enchantress took root and rapidly grew. From just over a meter tall, it expanded into a towering vine plant over ten meters high, crowned by a sinister flower that opened and closed as if absorbing the essence of the world.
In exchange for losing mobility, its vines thickened and lengthened, becoming as thick as a thigh. They extended underground, spreading around the territory and forming a vast, thorny forest outside the walls!
When Alex ventured into the forest, the massive vines instinctively parted, creating a path for him. Simultaneously, the vines could release a poisonous mist, obscuring vision and creating a toxic zone.
This was the perfect plant, combining offense and defense! Alex could already imagine the terrifying scene once this Toxic Enchantress leveled up, its vines sprawling across miles of land. With such a plant guarding his territory, he no longer had to worry about its defense.
"Excellent. From now on, the task of defending the territory falls to you when I'm away," Alex said, patting the vine that towered over him.
The Toxic Enchantress, understanding his intent through their connection, extended slender vines that danced around him, seemingly expressing joy.
After a moment's thought, Alex said, "Since you're like River, I'll call you 'Ivy.'"
At this, Ivy swayed happily. Following Alex's instructions, Ivy began using its expansive range to help the other plants dispose of the corpses outside the territory.
As for Alex, he recalled the notifications from earlier that morning, mentioning the world channel and territory buildings.
He first opened the chat channel and noticed that the regional channel had expanded from his small area to encompass an entire large region, merging with others. It now bore the suffix "Endless Wasteland."
The channel was flooded with messages, almost all discussing the beast tide. Clearly, many were just beginning to face the onslaught, unlike Alex, who had been hit early in the morning and was only now catching his breath.
If he guessed correctly, this regional channel would change based on his location.
As for the world channel, Alex tried to open it but was prompted that it was still locked. It seemed he was missing some prerequisite.
After exploring the chat channel, Alex returned to the Tree of Life to check the territory information. Sure enough, there was a new option: [Territory Buildings].
Opening it, he found three types of buildings: the Lord's Castle for residence, the Tower of Units for unit development, and the Production Workshop for crafting equipment.
While the Lord's Castle and Production Workshop were self-explanatory, Alex was particularly intrigued by the Tower of Units, given its connection to units.
Seeing that it required 25 wood, 25 stone, and 50 Mana—all of which he had—he didn't hesitate to start construction.
In an instant, a tower rose from the ground at the designated spot. Once the dust settled and the construction success prompt appeared, Alex immediately inspected the tower's information.
[Building Name: Tower of Units]
[Building Tier: First]
[Description: Can research advanced forms of existing units, making them recruitable. Consumes Mana. Unit tier cannot exceed building tier.]
[Research Speed: 1 type/day]
[Upgrade Requirements: 50 wood, 50 stone, 100 Mana]
Research units? Alex's eyes lit up.
He hadn't expected the Tower of Units to have such a powerful function—it could research new units! Although it was limited to advanced forms of his existing units, this was still incredible news for him.
This meant his recruitable units would become far more diverse, unlike now, where his only fourth-tier option was the King of the Man-Eating Flowers.
Excited, he immediately opened the researchable units page to examine the details.