Chapter 20: First Blood on His Hands!
"Another lizard monster? It feels as though I'm meeting an old friend, heh~"
Upon arriving at the confrontation site, Kaiden smiled faintly. Directly before him, on the other side of the protective barrier, a wild lizard was roaring and clawing at the transparent wall with its talons. It wasn't as massive as the one he had seen on his first day — it was a little smaller in size.
Kaiden ordered the militia soldiers accompanying him to stand back at a sufficient distance. He quietly swallowed and composed himself. He didn't have much mana, so he would try to end the battle with a single decisive strike.
He estimated the distance between himself and the lizard. He drew a deep breath, extended his hand toward the ground, and focused his mind on the image in his imagination. He felt the mana flow from his body into the earth beneath his feet, then called out in a resonant voice: "Earth Spike!"
In truth, the call-out wasn't required. The skill responded directly to his will. But Kaiden simply felt better doing it — that was all there was to it.
The ground suddenly trembled and a thick, pointed stone spike erupted from directly beneath the lizard's belly, targeting the soft underbelly area he had seen Golan strike before. Everything happened with blinding speed. The lizard, with its simple mind, was utterly unprepared for a sudden attack coming from beneath the earth.
Kaiden was still a novice at using his new skill — he hadn't fully controlled his output, and the spike came out larger than intended and taller than expected. It pierced the lizard's belly with tremendous force and lifted it roughly a meter off the ground. The lizard let out a sudden, mournful cry and its four limbs flailed in the air for several seconds before it fell dead.
A brief silence settled — the lizard hung on the stone spike like a strange bird on a dead branch.
A notification appeared before Kaiden:
[System Alert: You have killed a Common-tier Prairie Lizard! You have gained Origin Points ×2 — Apprentice Bone Carver's Workshop Bundle Blueprint ×1 — Experience +65.]
"Oh? I gained experience from killing too?" Kaiden muttered. "That's another way to increase my level!"
But before he could finish his thoughts, another far more important notification appeared:
[Quest "Nascent Mage!" Completed! Reward dispatched: +3 levels in your class.]
Kaiden suddenly felt a mental clarity unlike anything he had known before. A warm light flooded his mind from within, and his eyes went wide from the sheer intensity of the sensation. This time the feeling was far stronger than before. Three full levels at once. His traits surged enormously: 15 free trait points and 30 Intelligence points added to his total.
The sensation of increasing Intelligence was different from physical strength. It felt as though a window in his mind had been thrown wide open — the world around him became clearer and slower, as though he could now perceive details that had previously been hidden from him. The sensation was truly surreal.
Kaiden distributed his free trait points quickly, following the same pattern as before. When he finished, he clenched his fist with force — his physical strength had more than doubled. For a moment he felt as though he could kill another lizard with a single punch.
He looked at the lizard's hanging carcass, tightened his fist further, and murmured: "And at last I have my own power in this world."
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Later, Kaiden returned to the center of the territory where three villagers were waiting for him. They had reached the maximum level for their rank and had come to him seeking an upgrade.
[System Alert: Do you wish to spend 1 Origin Point to upgrade villager "Hank" to the rank of Mining Worker?]
Kaiden selected "Confirm" without hesitation.
A flash of white light appeared and enveloped Hank's body. It faded quickly to reveal a changed man — his physical form hadn't altered much, but his eyes held noticeably more confidence. His clothing had transformed into a simple mining worker's outfit, and in his hand appeared a well-crafted iron pickaxe — better even than what Hook the Blacksmith produced.
Kaiden opened Hank's new information board: "Nascent Mining Worker," with a future path of "Seasoned Mining Worker" across ten levels. Upgrading his rank again would require two Origin Points.
Hank stepped forward and knelt on one knee. "Thank you for your blessing, my lord!" His voice trembled with excitement and gratitude.
Kaiden patted him on the shoulder in congratulation, then continued the upgrade ceremony for the other two villagers. Both knelt and thanked him with genuine enthusiasm and gratitude.
The moment the third upgrade was complete, a new notification appeared:
[Quest "Territory Resident Upgrade!" Completed! Reward dispatched: Head Steward ×1.]
Another flash of light appeared in the courtyard before him. When it faded, it revealed a man in his fifties. He stood perfectly upright, with carefully combed white hair and features that still retained a distinguished handsomeness despite his age. He wore an elegant servant's uniform in black and white — clean and impeccably pressed.
The man placed his right hand over his left breast, bowed with a noble inclination, and said in a calm, measured voice: "Your faithful servant, Casper. Ready to serve, my lord."
"Welcome to my territory," Kaiden greeted him — slightly taken aback, as he wasn't accustomed to this kind of formal reception. Out of curiosity, he opened the steward's status board:
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Name: Casper
Rank: Head Steward
Type: Administrative Unit
Description: Proficient in reading and writing, with extensive knowledge of territorial logistics management. Trained to serve as a coordinator, assistant, and personal attendant to the Lord.
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"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!" Kaiden exclaimed three times in a row, a wide smile spreading across his face.
Administration had been a growing and significant problem for him. All day long he had been running from place to place, workshop to workshop — issuing instructions, checking on work, resolving small problems, carrying out tasks. He hadn't had a moment to breathe. With Casper here now, he would finally be able to remove a great portion of that burden from his shoulders.
Kaiden held a lengthy and detailed conversation with Casper. He told him everything pertaining to the territory: the current buildings, the active workshops, the available forces, the stored resources, the tasks in progress. Casper listened with intense attention and asked sharp questions that demonstrated a deep understanding. His responses were effective and direct — he even offered several useful suggestions that hadn't occurred to Kaiden before.
Their conversation lasted more than an hour. In the end, Kaiden dismissed Casper to begin his work immediately. The Head Steward's duties were clear: to familiarize himself with all affairs of the territory, monitor the workflow of every workshop, coordinate between craftsmen, and provide regular, periodic reports to Kaiden.
Suddenly, Kaiden found himself with nothing to do. It was a strange feeling — somewhat disorienting. He wasn't used to it.
But the feeling didn't last long. There was always something that needed doing — things that only he could do.
He looked out across his flourishing territory. He took out the residential building blueprints he had accumulated from killing monsters and built them all at once, and a new residential row appeared. He then took out the Bone Carver's Workshop Bundle Blueprint and built it. He held a brief conversation with the bone carver who came forward to pay his respects — the man could simply carve bones, fangs, and monster claws into weapons and equipment. Kaiden handed him everything in his inventory: fangs, claws, and other monster parts, asking him to fashion weapons and tools from them.
After finishing, he finally made his way toward the Lord's Hall. There was no longer any need for him to remain outdoors at all times as before. He had assistants now — no need to exhaust himself.
He climbed to the second floor and lay back on his luxurious bed with a feeling of languid ease. He pulled up the quest list from the system interface and looked it over — three completed, three remaining.
"The potion selling quest… I've sold three so far. Only two left," he murmured, thinking aloud.
"And the Valuable Hunt quest… I've already sent the elite team out. I'll wait for news from them."
"As for the last quest…"
Kaiden looked toward the bookcase in the corner of his room. Three small books sat there, waiting to be read. The "Strategic Lord" quest required him to finish all of them.
He was free now — truly free. So he reached out and picked up "Principles of Territorial Sovereignty." He opened it to the first page and began to read.
It hadn't been in his plans to suddenly become a Lord — so to know how to rule, he first had to learn.
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— End of Chapter Twenty —