Lucien looked at Tiara's figure on the floor, his gaze gentle. Finally, he nodded in acknowledgement.
His thoughts wandered off to Liam, the man who had sacrificed his life without hesitation.
'I wonder if he will revive, he is only at tier 0 and the requirement for revival is a tier drop," Lucien thought. His thoughts were interrupted as Tiara spoke again.
"Lord Lucien, the loot interface is strange," Tiara said, her breath hitched and filled with exhaustion.
"What is wrong?" Lucien asked, his voice mixed with curiosity.
"It is asking me to choose one from three options, one of the beast's skills, its experience, or its life cultivation," she explained.
Lucien's eyes widened. 'The talent's description never said anything about that,' he mused, surprised.
"What should I choose, my Lord?" Tiara asked again.
"Choose whatever you want," he said. He was not going to take her reward for himself.
"Thank you, my Lord," she said, taping something in thin air.
The corpse exploded into fragments of light, and in it picked the orb, and stood up. A screen appeared before her as her hands touched the orb.
[Do you want to use the orb?] The message read.
"Yes," Tiara nodded gently.
The orb shattered in a flash of blinding white light.
Tiara's body began to pulse. Energy filled every cell in her, gushing out wildly as her hair floated behind her.
Lucien looked on, unimpressed by the spectacle. Having experienced something similar while breaking through, he was no longer stunned.
"She chose the cultivation," he muttered.
The light dimmed, and Tiara's body went back to normal. In the same breath, energy surged to life, blowing dust in the little space around her.
Her eyes opened.
"Thank you, Lord Lucien," those were the first words she muttered as she gained control of her body.
Lucien nodded. "What tier are you now?" He asked.
"Stage 1 of tier 1," Tiara replied quickly.
Lucien's face shrank. "The monster was only tier 1, and my full strike could not kill it," he muttered. "It must have had really strong skills then, or it was just a racial talent," he speculated as he thought of the monster's crimson carapace.
"Tiara, pack those things, including Liam's sword and shield; we are leaving here," Lucien said after a bit of contemplation. On one hand, he wanted to see what lay beyond the deserts and the monsters he could fight. But at the same time, he thought of a depleted energy pool. He finally decided to leave the dimension.
Tiara, without second doubts, rushed to where the scattered items were, the place she had previously picked a sword.
She took everything in the shield and walked back to Lucien's side.
With a thought, a portal materialized before Lucien. Both of them stepped through, and the portal snapped shut behind them.
They were once again in the Domain. Tiara's eyes widened, her shock evident. Liam stared back with a smile.
Lucien, on the other hand, was only a bit surprised. He knew about the revival effect; he just didn't know if it worked on tier 0.
On one side, Harold and Frederic sat, looking at the three returnees. Thanks to the dimension's time dilation, the space between Lucien, Tiara, and Liam's arrival was almost the same time.
"Where are Levi and Andre?" Lucien broke the unsettling silence.
"Welcome back, my Lord," they both said, quickly. "Lord Levi wanted to speak with Andre in private," Harold added.
"So, where are they now?" Levi asked.
"They are behind the manor," Harold said.
Lucien heaved a sigh of relief, hearing that. He had thought Levi had gone out of the barrier previously.
"Tiara, check the things we brought back, and give me an inventory of everything later," he said, already heading for the Lord's manor.
"Yes, my Lord."
Lucien entered, and he was greeted by the familiar scene from before. He collapsed into the bed, but sat up just as soon.
"I was unable to check anything earlier. I can't rest now," he mused with a whisper. "System, open the global chat," he commanded.
[The Lord has not named his territory, so he cannot open the system functions.]
"I will have to name the domain, too?" He furrowed his brows.
"How do I name the territory?" He asked the system.
[Use the Domain core]
Lucien did not know what the domain core was. He was about to ask when his head shifted to the floating orb. "Maybe it is that one."
He stood up from the bed smoothly and walked towards the orb.
As he neared it, a window popped up in his sight.
[Item name: Domain Core]
[Domain Name: Nameless Domain]
[Description: The heart of the domain]
[Durability: 1000/1000]
[Upgrade Requirement: 100 woods, 100 stones, and 100 energy points.]
"All of these explanations, just for this small thing," Lucien could not help but pour his mind out.
Then his seriousness returned. "What do I call the domain?" He wondered, pacing back and forth with his fingers trailing across non-existent beards.
His eyes narrowed slightly. "I just can't use any name; it has to feel special."
"What about Endless Dimension?"
The screen glowed. [Confirm the name, Lord]
"No," Lucien replied.
The screen dimmed again as Lucien replied.
"Etoile sounds nice."
[Confirm the name, Lord]
"Yes."
[The Nameless Domain's name has been updated to Etoile.]
A smile formed on Lucien's lips as he saw the name on the core shift from nameless domain to Etoile.
He finally went back to his seat.
"System, open the global chat." He was curious about people's reactions on their first day.
[Lord of XXX: It is really hard, I have used all 3 certificates in the gift pack, but the mage, which was meant to be the strongest, needs to cultivate for at least 3 days before she becomes useful]
Lucien's eyes shrank. Not from the message, but from the situation of the chat tab. That message was the only one, and it was posted about 3 hours ago.
"Everyone is still busy trying to figure things out. I can't blame them, though," he just sighed as he chose the next destination, the global shop.
As expected, it was also empty.
"It remains just one, the Lord Shop."