Chapter 8: Stone Mountain
In Nexus City,
The first light of dawn stretched across the horizon, painting the sky in hues of deep indigo and soft lavender. The stars, once bold against the midnight expanse, faded one by one as golden tendrils of sunlight crept over the sleeping land. A hush filled the air, the kind that exists only in the fragile moments before the world fully awakens.
Then, the sun emerged with bright sunlight, like embers in a volcano toward the city. Ash opened his eyes and sat on the ground. From nearby, he saw Evan sleeping soundly. He was lost in deep thought about how could Evan sleep so soundly after all, we could die anytime in this world. But he thought it was normal for Evan; after all, Evan is a native of the world of Eldros. So, he started thinking about how to survive in this world.
After Ash said, "Status window..."
...
City: Nexus City
Ability: Territory Defense Double
Description: In the event of city defense, all the attack power and defense power of people and buildings becomes double.
Altar Level: 0
Upgrade Requirement: (wood *1000, stone 250, 50 mana core (level 0))
Production: Mist mana level 0 *10 per day
Area: 625 square meters
Status: Very small village
Building: Guide mark *1 (active)
Warehouse: wood *84, mana core level 0 *11, rabbit monster hide level 0 *11, rabbit monster hide level 1 *1, low-grade axe *1, low-grade knife *1, low-grade shield *1: Market (unique) (Blueprint-resource) (stones *200, wood *50), low-grade house blueprint (stones *100, wood *25)
Population: 2
Specialty: none
Attack Power Level: 0 (80/1000)
Description: City's power level to attack enemies
Defense Power Level: 0 (20/10000)
Description: City's defense power level against enemies
Ash thought I should first try to find stone for building a house. Living on the ground without a roof and only the sky to stare at with the cold wind was really frustrating. Over time, it could create serious health issues, and he had various problems to deal with. So, he thought worrying about one more problem was not a wise decision.
Here, Ash saw evan was also awake after a nap. evan started to address Ash, "My lord, what should we do for today?"
Ash said to Evan, "You will stay here in the city and welcome newcomers. I will judge if they should live in the city or not, and use the altar to absorb mist mana to grow your level. I will go out for exploration and come back before the new attack from monsters."
...
Time left before attack: 12 hours
Ash said with smile on his face, "First, let's distribute the treasure we got from the treasure box.
Here, Evan, you take the low-grade axe and low-grade shield, and I will take the low-grade knife with me. You have to distribute either a low-grade sword or low-grade axe to any new person who joins our city."
"Okay.", Evan said with smile on his face and eager eyes and humble voice.
Ash said, "Status window..."
...
City: Nexus City
Ability: Territory defense double
Description: In the event of city defense, all the attack power and defense power of people and buildings becomes double.
Altar level: 0
Upgrade requirement: (wood*1000, stone 250, 50 mana core (level 0))
Production: mist mana level 0 * 10 per day
Area: 625 square meters
Status: very small village
Building: Guide mark*1 (active)
Warehouse: wood*84, mana core level 0*11, Rabbit monster hide level 0*11, Rabbit monster hide level *11, market blueprint (stones200, woods50), low-grade house blueprint (stones100, woods*25)
Population: 2
Specialty: none
Attack power level: 0 (80/1000)
Description: City's power level to attack enemies
Defense power level: 0 (20/10000)
Description: City's defense power level against enemies.
Then,
Ash said, "My status..."
...
Name: Ash (altar owner)
Age: 24
Status: healthy
Abilities: none
Level: 0 (0/100 mana mist level 0)
Weapon: low-grade Gun, 14 bullets, low-grade knife
Now, Ash saw Evan goes to the city altar for mana mist absorption. Ash is thinking deeply in his mind "evan maybe thinks that he has found a good altar owner for his future, and he feels Ash is trustworthy. But he feels that he has to see if he wants to go to another city for living or if he trusts Ash more
Therefore, I have to prove myself in front of evan and maybe win his loyalty."
Ash is preparing for deep exploration in the forest but he thinks in his mind, "I should eat first before going anywhere," and he take bread, water, and dry meat to eat from the place where Evan put the food. After that, he say in his mind, "I will create the biggest city in this world. Maybe a super large empire, and I will be an emperor without so much to worry about trivial things, with unlimited power in my empire."
After 10 minutes,
Ash started moving from eating toward exploration outside the city.
As Ash is out of the city, he starts seeing wild level 0 beasts.
After 10 minutes of moving away from the city, he started seeing some level 1 wild beasts.
He started seeing massive trees with frightening trunks and large branches. The stems were very big and massive, going deep into the soil. Deep in the forest, a loud noise echoed. Some wild beasts were attacking each other for food.
Some beasts were grazing plants and tree leaves, which were large and massive. A river was flowing, as if cutting the forest into two different parts.
After 2 hours of exploration, Ash came to a place where many level 1 beasts started to appear in his sight. He started holding his gun tight as if his life depended on it, and he carefully and slowly walked while exploring the field.
At times, he began to see some bronze and silver treasures, but he could only feel sad about it because he did not dare go there without enough preparation. He could see many monsters living there, and some were at level 1, which he clearly saw.
So, he explored another place to find treasure and materials that he needed for the future development of the city.
Later, Ash started moving quickly and steadily, and after some time, he found a mountain where many stones were present.
A pop-up window message came to Ash...
...
Name: Stone Mountain (Resource Point)
Status: unoccupied
Ability: mine up to 1000 stones
Level: 1
At Stone Mountain, Ash saw various monsters, some at level 1 and others at level 0.
After looking seriously at the monsters, Ash checked their status...
...
STONE RAT (Low-Grade Monster)
Rank: F-rank
Level: 1
Description: A small, rodent-like rat with oversized fangs capable of chewing through wood, leather, and even weak armor. It moves in packs, using its numbers to overwhelm prey and is mostly found in Stone Mountain.
Abilities:
Fast Reproduction – If not culled quickly, their numbers explode.
Gnawing Instinct – Can chew through doors, weak barriers, or ropes to escape traps.
Cowardly but Aggressive – Fights only when cornered or in large groups.
Weakness: Weak to fire and blunt attacks. Easily scared by loud noises.
The other Stone Rat was probably level 0.
...
STONE RAT (Low-Grade Monster)
Rank: F-rank
Level: 0
Description: A small, rodent-like rat with oversized fangs capable of chewing through wood, leather, and even weak armor. It moves in packs, using its numbers to overwhelm prey and is mostly found in Stone Mountain.
Abilities:
Fast Reproduction – If not culled quickly, their numbers explode.
Gnawing Instinct – Can chew through doors, weak barriers, or ropes to escape traps.
Cowardly but Aggressive – Fights only when cornered or in large groups.
Weakness: Weak to fire and blunt attacks. Easily scared by loud noises.
Ash thinks in his mind, "There are a total of 15 Stone Rats. Two are at level 1, and 13 are at level 0. It looks like I'll have to deal with them another time. If I attack now, I will probably be injured."
Heading back to the city seemed impossible with an injury, so he decide to watch them for a while to make sure they were only 15 Stone Rats. Then he would start heading back to the city.
After 1 hour and 30 minutes, Ash became sure they didn't have any new Stone Rats with fighting power. So, Ash started steadily and slowly fleeing from the Stone Mountain.
After some distractions, he made his way back to the forest and then quickly headed toward the city.
After 10 minutes,
He reached the gate of the city, entered, and started to relax.