Consciousness returned to me slowly.
The first thing I registered was an unfamiliar ceiling.
I stared at it for a long moment, cataloguing the details with the methodical patience of someone whose brain hadn't fully committed to being awake yet.
Thatched roof. Bark layering. The faint smell of resin and packed clay.
It was undoubtedly my Chief's House.
There had been a massive hole bored through it. I supposed Timber had repaired it.
And someone must have settled me in the bed I had built from lashed logs and woven vines.
It's the benefit of having companions. One can feel safe even in the depths of chaos.
I couldn't help but sigh in deep relief.
I thought I'd be able to hold out a bit longer with the 9% stamina I had left.
But it seemed I couldn't… A mistake on my part.
I should have rested instead of forcing myself to walk and think constantly.
After all, the nagging siren of my wife wasn't here to pull me out of my workaholic state.
Either way, I slowly turned my head and found something I hadn't expected.
Pride was resting beside my bed, folded into himself, wings tucked, massive head lowered, molten-gold eyes half-lidded.
[Loyalty: 75%]
That was a dramatic jump.
I wondered what I would gain when their loyalty reached maximum. The anticipation was deliciously sweet.
Getting off the bed, I gently crouched beside Pride and caressed his head.
He was hot—warm to the touch.
He didn't stir. It seemed he was in deep slumber.
Had he been awake all night?
I shook my head with a slight chuckle, feeling like a proud parent.
After a brief moment, I stood and stepped outside the Chief's House.
[Stamina: 94%]
I had recovered quite a lot of stamina in just a day. Not bad at all.
Once outside, I carefully looked around.
The clearing had changed considerably in what I thought was a single day.
The system store must have taken the Drake corpses. The scorched earth had been cleared, debris pushed to the territory's edge. The Chief's House roof had been patched as well.
Then I heard the crackle of fire, followed by the smell of something cooking.
Kaira and Aldric were sitting near a small fire, eating something that smelled extraordinary. Yet both of them carried the look of people who had been working without rest. Aldric had a fresh cut above his left ear. Kaira's bandaged arm had a new layer wrapped over the old one.
Timber was settled at the swamp's edge — half on land, half with his root-like feet trailing into the dark water — eyes closed, self-repair visibly progressed but not complete.
Napoleon was doing Napoleon things near the well.
When I approached, Kaira greeted me with a "Good morning," and I greeted her back.
"Looks delicious… What's that?"
"It's an Initiate Boar we hunted while you were unconscious," Kaira said, offering me a steak.
Taking it from her, I bit into it. It was far more delicious than those Hellhounds. However, it lacked salt.
Salt is needed in everything. As a modern man from the twenty-first century, I can't savour any real taste without it.
"So, you were fending off monsters, made the land cultivable again, and even repaired the Chief's House… all in a day? That's quite the progress."
"A day? What do you mean by a day? You were unconscious for two whole days, Marfin."
As the words registered, I could only stare at her blankly.
Two whole days? No wonder my stamina was at 94%.
"You're lucky with your Beasts, man. Pride guarded you every night, while Napoleon and Timber took the day shifts," Aldric said, a faint trace of envy in his voice.
Was all this devotion because of their loyalty gauge… or their own will? I wondered.
"Either way, Aldric, I had a question weighing on my mind. What exactly happened before you arrived here?"
He was quiet for a moment, considering something. Then he spoke.
"I found the Wyvern three days before I ended up here. I was heading toward the Valdris Academy through the forest route. That's when we crossed paths. Seeing such a rare beast, I couldn't resist the urge to test myself. That's how it started."
"That's reckless. You picked a fight with a Juvenile beast without even knowing what it truly was?"
"That made it even better for me. Anyway, to keep it short — we fought well and somehow acknowledged each other. Then suddenly, a spear came out of nowhere mid-fight. It was clearly crafted by a Cultivator household. It struck Pride's wing and badly damaged it."
"So let me guess. You helped Pride pull out the spear and somehow escaped the Cultivator's grasp. As you ran deeper, you encountered those Drakes. They chased and attacked you until neither of you could handle it anymore, and Pride grabbed you and flew toward this settlement of mine?"
Aldric stared at me, mouth slightly open, visibly stunned.
"Ah… yes. That's exactly what happened."
"Figured as much."
This was a new kind of problem.
If it involved Cultivators, I was certain they wouldn't let it slide.
The young masters of every cultivation household carried immense pride and ego.
They must have attacked Pride because they wanted him as a pet… or for some other purpose entirely.
But one thing was certain — they would eventually find this settlement and demand that I give him up.
Huhuhu… some Young Master would most certainly come to greet me soon.
So I had to be ready for that.
Napoleon pecked my boot once in greeting, pulling me out of my thoughts.
After breakfast, I stood at the territory boundary and looked at the swamp that would soon be absorbed by the expansion.
Dark water lay between gnarled roots and dense undergrowth, its surface broken by unseen movements beneath.
"I'll have to work my ass off to fix this terrain and transform it into cultivable land."
[Territory Expansion Available]
[Current Radius: 50m → 100m]
[Requirements:]
[100 SP ✓]
[1 Building ✓]
[6 Inhabitants ✓]
[Confirm Expansion?]
I pressed confirm.
The ground hummed outward — a low, steady vibration spreading through the soil in a perfect ring, the boundary doubling dramatically.
[Territory Expanded: 100m radius]
[EXP gained: +25]
[Scanning new territory…]
[Swampland detected — northeastern quadrant]
[Significant stone deposits detected in multiple locations]
[Cave formations: 2 detected]
[Warning: Recent large predator activity detected in new territory]
[Warning: Unknown structure detected]
[Congratulations, Host — You have reached the threshold of your current rank]
[Breakthrough available: Initiate → Adept]
[Proceed with Breakthrough?]
[Yes / No]
I stared at it in disbelief.
I had been prepared for some kind of ritual or to go into seclusion and seek enlightenment in order to breakthrough.
But this?
Was I really going to breakthrough just like that?