With the last order of business settled, Hiro left the settlement and made his way toward the river.
His "personal business" was straightforward. He wanted to level up.
'My level is too low. The people from the Shuvlok tribe were 20 levels higher than me on average,' Hiro thought.
Once his Realm grew larger, it would become a problem if too many of his combat-class citizens surpassed him in level.
The Ruler of Lust was limited by Carna. Spending Carna to defeat every single enemy wasn't efficient, especially when his Divine Class had other extremely powerful abilities beyond Ultimate Force Telekinesis.
Some of those abilities, which he had yet to use, demanded ridiculous amounts of Carna.
Leveling up and increasing his stats was the obvious solution.
'I'll need to do something about Tara's low level in the future as well,' he thought.
Thanks to [Borrow Class], his women growing stronger meant he would grow stronger too. And as a result, his entire Realm would benefit. A win-win situation.
Carnalia's talk about becoming a God and potentially achieving immortality had also influenced Hiro. His awareness of his own mortality had played a major role in shaping his character. The thought of shedding it was certainly tempting.
For all these reasons, Hiro wanted to go level up immediately.
At first, he considered heading toward the cock-shaped building and hunting monsters there for XP. But he decided it might be better to start with weaker monsters. Carnalia also strongly approved of this plan.
The river seemed like a good choice. Securing the area around his settlement's water source from monsters could only be a good thing.
With his current stats, Hiro was about five times stronger than a regular human. Of course, he couldn't sprint at full speed indefinitely. Stamina and exhaustion still affected him.
For nearly an hour, he scoured the riverbanks, the surrounding area, and the base of the mountain.
Strangely, he found no monsters.
'How is this possible?' Hiro thought. 'Yesterday, Tara and I casually encountered three goblins by the river.'
Could this be the effect of the Goddess Statue?
'But from what I heard, a statue of that quality shouldn't influence such a large area…'
At the very least, Hiro's time wasn't completely wasted. Moving around uncovered a decent portion of the Stone Tablet's map.
As the Ruler, he didn't need a Scouting Beacon to clear the fog of war. His presence alone expanded the map's visibility, as if he had a Scouting Beacon built into him.
Since he hadn't found any monsters and still needed to level up, Hiro decided to cross the river.
'It's probably more appropriate to call this a stream,' Hiro thought.
The so-called river wasn't deep or particularly wide. Large rocks jutted out above the water's surface, creating natural stepping stones. Even without a bridge, crossing it was easy.
Just like yesterday, the sky remained overcast.
While considering how growing crops in the Desolate Lands would be a massive pain in the ass, Hiro hopped over three large stones and crossed the stream.
On the other side, his senses picked up something.
The 'MAGIC' stat, aside from increasing the power and efficiency of spells, also heightened a person's sensitivity to magic—or more accurately, to mana. Hiro felt the ambient mana in the air slowly but steadily flowing toward a specific direction.
'I wonder what's causing this phenomenon,' he thought. Curiosity got the better of him. Resisting the urge to investigate was now impossible.
The woods on this side of the stream were denser. The tightly packed trees further blocked the already dim sunlight, making visibility even worse. It wasn't completely dark, but the lack of proper illumination made the surroundings feel more enclosed.
Meanwhile, back near the camp…
Tara and Barbara stood facing each other, silently sizing one another up.
"You must be Barbara."
"I am indeed. And who are you?"
"My name is Tara. I heard you tried to raid our camp last night. I see that even in the Desolate Lands, your people can't put your barbaric habits behind you."
Barbara smiled, but the coldness in her eyes made it clear the smile was anything but friendly.
"How come I didn't see you when your Lord was fighting us last night?"
"…I was asleep."
"…"
Barbara stared at her, speechless.
"The rain drowned out the noise. I didn't hear the commotion," Tara added defensively.
Barbara's brows furrowed.
"Where is Lord Hiro? I need to ask him something," she asked.
"You don't need to know his whereabouts. If you're asking why he knocked you out, he said to consider it a reduced punishment for attacking the camp."
"Why would he tell you that instead of telling me directly?"
Tara's lips curled into a smug grin. "Lord Hiro and I share a close relationship. It's only natural for him to confide in me."
"Really?" Barbara's eye twitched. Something about Tara's smug face irritated her.
"I saw you training with the sword earlier. Your movements were slow, and your technique was sloppy. I can't help but wonder how low your Level must be," Barbara said. The edges of her lips curved slightly.
Now it was Tara's turn to be annoyed.
"Not everyone is born into riches. It's even worse when those riches are just the plundered wealth of innocent, hardworking citizens," Tara retorted.
From the side, Furina observed the escalating interaction with unease. She lacked a Class herself, but even she could tell that this Barbara woman was much stronger than her daughter.
"Ha! Life in the Boyang Desert isn't as easy as you think. Unlike you people who settle down in one place, we can't afford to be soft," Barbara replied before changing the topic. "Oh, by the way... did you know that I have an Elite Class? I wonder what the rarity of your Class is. Could it be Unique? Epic?"
Tara grit her teeth. The mockery in Barbara's gaze was impossible to miss. This woman had already figured out that she didn't have a high-rarity Class. Barbara's words cut deeper than Tara expected. Having a Common Class was one of her biggest insecurities.
But Barbara wasn't done.
"Just to be clear, I have no intention of getting closer to Lord Hiro and ruining this 'pretty good' relationship you have with him. But I do wonder how long you'll hold his attention," Barbara said, lowering her voice. "From what I saw, he was much, much stronger than you."
Tara clenched her hands. This wasn't a topic she liked discussing. Barbara's words struck a nerve, and she knew it.
Barbara noticed Tara's distress and smiled, pleased with how effective her words had been.
"Anyways… I'll leave you to your inefficient training," she said and turned away.
She had only taken a few steps when Tara's voice stopped her.
"Wait."
Barbara paused, expecting another exchange of words. But this wasn't about their argument.
"Where do you think you're going? Lord Hiro ordered you to stay close to the Refugee Arrival Station."
Barbara's expression stiffened.
"Also," Tara continued, "There will come a day when I will be stronger than you. Mark my words."
Barbara scoffed. "That's a good joke." She didn't even take Tara's declaration seriously.
Despite her unwillingness, Barbara chose not to ignore Hiro's orders. She moved some distance away from Tara and focused on her own training. Anyone watching the two women would immediately see that Barbara's strikes had far more power behind them.
Fortunately for Furina, no fight broke out between the two young women. However, she couldn't help but worry for her daughter. Tara's mind was clouded, and her training became even sloppier.
Time passed in silence. Eventually, the first batch of new refugees arrived.