The cold wind swept through the dark stone tunnel, carrying the faint, metallic scent of ozone and old dust.
Arthur stood motionless on the smooth stone floor. His eyes stared up at the shadows near the vaulted ceiling where the glowing violet eyes had vanished just a second before. The words echoed in his ears like drops of ice water falling into an empty well:
"You think you won the game, little Lord? The real board has only just begun..."
"Who’s there?" Arthur called out, his voice sharp and clear. He instinctively reached down, his fingers gripping the handle of his dented metal dagger.
No one answered. The only sound was the distant, muffled cheering of the spectators still echoing from the main arena, and the steady, rhythmic click-clack of the mechanical owl watcher descending from its stone perch.
The small mechanical bird landed gracefully on Arthur’s shoulder, its golden glass eyes whirring softly as it adjusted its focus.
"Lord Arthur," the mechanical owl chirped in its crisp, polite voice, tilting its metal head. "Your victory in the Trial by Combat is officially recorded in the bazaar registry. The transfer of assets from Lord Marcus has been completed. Please collect your reward voucher before exiting the colosseum."
A small, glowing golden slip of paper popped out of a tiny slot under the owl’s wing.
Arthur blinked, surprised. He slowly let go of his dagger and reached up, taking the golden paper between his fingers. As soon as he touched it, the glowing text settled into plain, simple words:
[ Transfer Voucher: Secondary Trading Post #404 ] [ Fifty Pure Energy Crystals ] [ Status: Claimed and Bound to Lord Arthur ]
"Thank you," Arthur said softly to the mechanical owl.
"May your territory prosper, young Lord," the owl replied, before flapping its metal wings and flying back up into the shadows of the tunnel roof.
Arthur looked down at the golden voucher in his hand. He folded it carefully and tucked it safely inside his trouser pocket, right next to his bronze invitation token. His heart was still beating a little faster than normal, and the memory of those cold violet eyes sent a shiver down his spine, but he knew standing here in the dark wouldn’t solve anything.
He turned around and walked out of the tunnel, heading back toward the bright, bustling white-stone square of the Lower Realm Lord Bazaar.
When Arthur stepped back into the sunlight, the atmosphere of the market had returned to normal. Merchants were shouting their prices, dwarves were hammering glowing metal at their open-air forges, and travelers were walking up and down the white marble streets. But as soon as a few merchants spotted Arthur walking out of the colosseum tunnel, their conversations dropped to whispers.
People stared at him with wide, respectful eyes. Word travels fast in the infinite universes. The orphan boy from a thirty-step island who defeated the proud noble heir of the Crimson Empire was now the talk of the bazaar.
Arthur kept his head down, ignoring the stares. He walked straight down the second row of market stalls until he reached familiar territory.
There, sitting behind his wooden table covered in small bronze gears and iron nails, was old Barnaby. The old man was busy picking up his scattered inventory, muttering to himself while putting glass powder bottles back into place.
"Barnaby," Arthur said softly, stopping in front of the stall.
The old man stopped what he was doing, looked up, and his wrinkled face broke into a huge, toothless grin.
"Well, if it isn’t the champion!" Barnaby laughed, standing up straight and wiping his hands on his brown apron. "By the gears of time, kid, that was the best fight I’ve seen in this bazaar in ten years! You made that arrogant noble look like a clumsy duck!"
Arthur smiled a little, shaking his head. "I just got lucky with my footing."
"Luck has nothing to do with it, hard work and a clear head do," Barnaby said, leaning across the wooden counter. He reached under the table and pulled out the exact same heavy wooden box Arthur had been looking at before the fight started. "Here. Take this."
He placed the small, glowing metal gear—the Automatic Water Collector Gear—right in front of Arthur on the counter.
"How much?" Arthur asked, reaching for his copper coins.
Barnaby shook his head, pushing Arthur’s hand away gently. "Consider it a gift from an old merchant who loves seeing proud nobles get taken down a peg. Besides, you won fifty pure energy crystals in the arena. You don’t need to waste your copper on me."
Arthur looked at the metal gear, then up at the old man’s kind, wrinkled face. He felt a warm swell of gratitude in his chest. Back in Neo-Veridia, nobody gave him anything for free. Every meal, every inch of space, and every scrap of clothing had to be fought for alone. But here, amidst the endless universes, kindness could still be found in unexpected places.
"Thank you, Barnaby," Arthur said sincerely, picking up the metal gear. It felt heavy and cool in his hand. "I won’t forget this."
"Go on now, young lord," Barnaby chuckled, waving his hand. "Go back to your island and build something great. The void is big, and your journey has only just started."
Arthur nodded. He walked away from the merchant stall, heading toward the edge of the white-stone square where the blue-and-gold portal shimmered quietly in the air.
He didn’t wait any longer. He stepped straight into the swirling light.
Whoosh!
The bright colors spun around him for a brief second, and then the warm breeze of the bazaar vanished.
The familiar, cold wind of the endless void hit his face. The peaceful purple stars twinkled in the distance, and the solid gray granite walls of his territory surrounded him like a warm embrace.
Arthur was home.
He let out a long breath of relief, closing his eyes for a moment as he stood in the center of his thirty-step stone island. The stone well bubbled gently, sending up its sweet, refreshing scent of rain and spring flowers.
He walked over to the well and knelt down beside it.
He pulled out the Automatic Water Collector Gear from his pocket, along with a few simple metal pipes that came inside the wooden box. Following the simple diagram printed on the included instruction parchment, Arthur began to attach the gear to the stone ledge of the well.
It didn’t require complicated magic formulas or high-level system spells. It was pure, clever craftsmanship.
He fitted the metal gear into the stone groove, attached the small storage barrel beside the well, and turned a small brass crank on the side.
Clank, whir, click.
The gear spun smoothly. A second later, sparkling blue water began to flow through the metal pipe automatically, filling the wooden storage barrel to the brim without spilling a single drop.
Arthur stood up, wiping a smudge of grease off his fingers with a rag. He looked at the full barrel of magical water, and a deep sense of satisfaction washed over him.
"Now I don’t have to stand here with a cup every time I want a drink," Arthur said to himself with a proud smile.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the golden transfer voucher and the fifty pure energy crystals he had won from Marcus. As soon as the crystals touched the gray stone floor of his territory, they dissolved into a bright, warm violet mist that sank directly into the stone ground.
RUMBLE...
The island shook gently—not with the violence of a monster tide, but with the steady, pulsing rhythm of growth.
Right before Arthur’s eyes, the gray granite walls surrounding his territory expanded outward. The thirty-step island stretched wider, growing to forty steps, then fifty steps, until it finally stopped at a solid sixty steps by sixty steps!
His territory had doubled in size.
Along with the extra space, a second small structure appeared near the back corner of the island—a compact wooden trading post with a small brass bell hanging over the doorway. It was the secondary trading post he had won from Marcus.
Arthur walked over to the new trading post and pushed the wooden door open. Inside, the room was clean and dry, featuring a small oak desk, a leather chair, and a magical communication slate resting on the tabletop.
He sat down in the leather chair, resting his hands on the wooden desk.
This is amazing, Arthur thought. I started with a broken well and thirty steps of rock. Now I have a stone fortress, automatic water collection, a trading post, and fifty energy crystals.
He was not overpowered. He didn’t have legendary dragon blood or an invincible cheat system. He was still Arthur—the orphan boy who worked for every single piece of ground he stood on. But step by step, he was carving out his own place in the infinite universes.
Suddenly, the magical communication slate on the desk lit up with a bright blue light.
Ping!
A soft chime echoed in the quiet room. Words appeared on the slate surface, glowing in neat, simple handwriting:
[ Incoming Trade Request from Sector Eight, Universe 102 ] [ Sender: Novice Lord Elian ] [ Message: Hello? Is anyone there? My territory is being attacked by shadow rats, and I have no walls. Can anyone trade me a simple weapon or a wooden fence? I have rare moon herbs to offer in exchange! ]
Arthur stared at the message on the slate.
Sector Eight, Universe 102. Another beginner lord, just like him. Someone who was probably sitting on a tiny rock right now, terrified of the dark, with zero family, zero money, and zero help.
Arthur remembered how he had felt during his first monster tide—standing alone on the gray stone with no weapon, just a heavy rock and a dream of survival.
He reached out his hand, picked up a small stylus pen resting beside the slate, and began to write a reply.
"I have stone walls and spare supplies," Arthur wrote simply. "What kind of moon herbs do you have? Let’s make a trade."
As soon as he pressed the send button, the slate glowed brightly, confirming the connection across the infinite void.
Arthur leaned back in the leather chair, looking out the window of his new trading post at the peaceful purple stars twinkling in the endless sky. The warning whispered in the colosseum tunnel still echoed faintly in the back of his mind—"The real board has only just begun..."—but Arthur wasn’t afraid.
Let the real board come. He was ready for whatever the universe threw his way.