Chapter 3: F-Rank—and First to Advance
"Cassian?"
Rowan stared at the name on the obelisk and checked it twice.
He hadn’t misread it.
[Cassian Vale]
[Forgotten Shrine]
[F-Grade]
The first Lord to reach 100 Essence wasn’t Rowan.
The channel exploded.
"You’ve got to be kidding."
"Doesn’t an F-grade Domain have no troops?"
"How did he farm that fast?"
"Maybe F-grade Domains need less Essence to advance?"
"The obelisk shows 100 for everyone."
"Then his spawn point must be packed with monsters."
"Or his Domain had some one-time reward."
Explanations came one after another. No one truly believed that an F-grade Lord with no troops had simply outpaced an A-grade Ashen Fortress.
Rowan didn’t believe it either, but he said nothing in the channel. Instead, he looked back at his own troops.
Eleven Ash Spearmen were processing the three horned deer they had just killed, while the twelfth had an injured shoulder. Rowan had started with twelve A-grade troops and was still only at 78 Essence.
How had Cassian reached 103?
"Young master."
An Ash Spearman captain approached. "We found another pack of rotwolves to the east. About seventeen."
Rowan pulled his gaze from the obelisk. "Kill them."
If he couldn’t understand Cassian’s result yet, he would advance first and figure it out afterward. At most, another hour should be enough to close the gap.
——
At the same time, in the Forgotten Shrine, Cassian pulled his shortsword from the eye socket of a Level 4 Rotbone Lynx. The corpse hit the ground at his feet.
[Rotbone Lynx killed.]
[Territory Essence +26.]
[Current: 129/100]
[Core Trait detected: Night Sight]
[Devour?]
"Devour."
His vision dimmed for a fraction of a second, then the forest changed. Moonlight seemed brighter, shadows stopped looking like solid walls of darkness, and even cracks in the bark of distant trees came into focus.
[Acquired: Night Sight I]
That made four abilities worth keeping tonight: Bloodsense, Predator Step, Toxin Resistance, and Night Sight.
The other monsters he had killed had traits as well, but most of them were things like:
[Digestion]
[Cold Resistance]
[Sharp Tooth]
Cassian hadn’t devoured everything he saw. It wasn’t that he couldn’t; there simply wasn’t a reason to do it yet.
DEVOUR showed no capacity limit, but he still didn’t know whether collecting too many useless abilities might create problems later. Until he understood the rules, he would take only the things worth taking.
He sheathed his shortsword and turned back toward the shrine.
That was enough for one night. Going out again in his current state would no longer be a calculated risk; the return simply wasn’t worth it.
When Cassian returned to the Domain, Veyra was still sitting on the broken wall near the shrine entrance. A chain looped around her right wrist and stretched all the way back underground.
She looked over the blood covering him. "Whose is it this time?"
"Most of it isn’t mine."
"Good."
Cassian paused and looked at her.
Veyra’s expression remained calm, as if the word had slipped out without thought. Cassian didn’t comment on it and continued toward the center of the shrine, where the golden system panel had been waiting for him.
[Territory Essence requirement met.]
[Advance Forgotten Shrine to Rank I?]
"Advance."
Boom!
The entire Domain shook.
A low rumble rose from underground as broken stone pillars around the shrine slowly pulled themselves upright. Black vines covering the walls recoiled as if something beneath them had awakened, while dark-gold patterns lit across the shattered floor and spread toward the depths of the shrine.
[Forgotten Shrine advancement complete.]
[Current Rank: Rank I]
[Domain Radius: 100 meters → 300 meters]
[Core Integrity: 71% → 76%]
[Function Unlocked: Boundary Sense]
[The Lord can sense hostile life-forms that enter the Domain.]
Cassian’s brow lifted slightly. That was useful—very useful.
Bloodsense could track scents; Boundary Sense could directly detect hostile creatures once they entered his territory. The two abilities paired almost perfectly.
A new announcement followed.
[Regional Announcement.]
[Cassian Vale is the first newcomer Lord to complete Rank I advancement.]
[Reward: Golden Newcomer Chest ×1]
[Reward: Priority Record on the Newcomer Obelisk]
A golden obelisk rose slowly from the center of the Domain.
The first line showed a single name.
[1. Cassian Vale]
The second and third lines were blank. He was the only name in the entire region.
Cassian looked at the ranking for a couple of seconds, then turned his attention to the chest.
[Golden Newcomer Chest]
[Choose one reward category:]
[Weapon]
[Territory]
[Personal Growth]
There was no random roll.
"Personal Growth."
The chest opened, and pale-gold light descended.
[Acquired: Free Attribute ×20]
[Acquired: Hunt Map ×1]
[Hunt Map: Marks the three highest-threat targets within ten kilometers of your Domain.]
Cassian’s attention left the twenty attribute points almost immediately and settled on the map.
To Cassian, the highest-threat targets meant the most valuable abilities.
Veyra stepped down from the broken wall. "You smiled just now."
Cassian glanced at her. "Did I?"
"You did."
"The reward was good."
"What did you get?"
Cassian opened the Hunt Map. A gray map unfolded in midair, and three crimson markers appeared across it.
The nearest was three kilometers away.
[Unknown Target]
[Estimated Level: 6–8]
The second was seven kilometers away.
[Unknown Target]
[Estimated Level: 9–11]
The third was more than nine kilometers away, and its marker wasn’t red.
It was black-gold.
[Special Target]
[Threat Level: Impossible to Evaluate]
Cassian stared at the third marker.
Veyra saw it too, and the casual look on her face faded.
"Don’t go there."
Cassian turned to her. "You know what it is?"
"No."
"Then why shouldn’t I go?"
Veyra kept her eyes on the black-gold marker. "Because I don’t like what I smell there."
Cassian studied the map for a moment, then closed it. "Then I won’t go yet."
Veyra looked mildly surprised. "You’re taking my advice that easily?"
"No." Cassian stored away the twenty attribute points. "If I go now, I won’t be able to digest it. I’ll wait until my appetite is bigger."
Veyra looked at him for a moment and said nothing.
At that moment, the regional channel flooded with messages again.
[Rowan Ashford has completed Rank I advancement.]
Rowan had taken second place, forty-seven minutes behind Cassian.
"Finally, a second person."
"Even Rowan’s A-grade Domain was more than forty minutes late?"
"What did Cassian do?"
"Maybe F-grade Domains get some hidden advancement bonus."
"Yeah. The worse the Domain, the easier the first advancement must be."
"That actually makes sense."
Rowan finally sent a message of his own.
[Rowan Ashford: Does F-grade have a special mechanic for its first advancement?]
No one knew.
Cassian glanced at the message and left it unanswered. If other people wanted to invent explanations for him, that suited him perfectly. The longer it took them to understand what he was actually doing, the cheaper everything around him stayed.
He was about to close the channel when a sound unlike any previous system notification rolled across the Shattered Marches.
DONG—!
It was like an enormous bronze bell ringing across the entire Shattered Marches.
Every chat message stopped.
Scarlet text appeared in front of every newcomer Lord.
[First Rank I Domain detected.]
[Newcomer Phase One has ended ahead of schedule.]
[First Blood Trial will begin shortly.]
[Countdown: 00:29:59]
[All Rank I Domains will undergo the first trial wave.]
[All other Domains will trigger the trial automatically upon advancement.]
[Trial difficulty will be generated according to Domain rank, Lord combat power, and hero combat power.]
The regional channel erupted.
"What?!"
"Why did you have to rank up that fast?!"
"Rowan is Rank I too!"
"Wait, so both of them have to fight the trial in half an hour?"
"Doesn’t Cassian have no troops?"
"He’s dead."
"He got the first-place reward and triggered his own trial early."
"That’s what happens when you rush progression."
Some people were already gloating.
Rowan said nothing. Inside the A-grade Ashen Fortress, his twelve spearmen rapidly re-formed their ranks. The wooden gates shut, braziers were lit, and the entire Domain moved into battle positions.
At the Forgotten Shrine, Veyra looked up at the sky. "Your people seem very worried about you."
"They’re not my people."
"Then why do they keep saying you’re going to die?"
Cassian didn’t answer. He reopened the Hunt Map instead.
All three markers were still there. The nearest target was three kilometers away.
[Estimated Level: 6–8]
[00:28:41]
Veyra saw where he was looking, and her brows drew together. "What are you planning?"
Cassian slid his shortsword back into its sheath and started toward the edge of the Domain. "Preparing for the trial."
Veyra glanced around the shrine. "You’re not repairing the defenses?"
"No rush."
"Then where are you going?"
Cassian raised a hand and tapped the nearest red marker on the map.
"To find something."
"What?"
He stopped after one step and looked back.
"An ability that can help me hold the gate."
Then he stepped out of the Domain.
Behind him, the First Blood Trial countdown kept falling.
[00:28:17]
Every other newcomer was rushing back to defend their territory.
Cassian was heading in the exact opposite direction.