Neil just needed to grow quickly so that no one here, on the Zoratian planet, could pose a threat to him.
"Sigh that is, if I can get out of all this mess. How am I supposed to destroy the orb under such high security?
What after that? I would be killed the moment they notice me." Neil felt a headache.
The only good thing was, he could afford failures, as many as it took, until he could succeed.
Putting his thoughts to rest, Neil gazed around as several figures rushed up to him.
Bob, Rob, Mob, two Cloud Vultures, Fay and Ray all spoke simultaneously.
"Greetings lord–"
But seeing his condition they paused in shock.
"O– Oh lord, you are hurt. I know some basic treatment, please let me treat you." Fay said, fidgeting with the hem of her dress.
"It's alright, thank you. I have already applied some medicine." Neil soon saw the two new creations in his territory.
The two Watch Towers.
Both were situated on either side of the domain, just inside the walls.
One was on the left, near the kitchen, barracks and workshop.
While the other was on the right, near the two builders' hut.
It was a well-built heavy tower made of black wood.
It was cylindrical in shape and bigger near the top.
There was a wooden boundary on the roof, the place where his new subjects would always be keeping watch.
And there was actually one archer standing at the top of each tower, both from the elf race.
They were holding wooden bows and had lots of arrows, focusing all their attention on the surroundings.
The watch towers had a door and couple of windows.
"Greetings Lord." The two archers bowed from the top of the towers.
The two elves had long yellow hair and were quite good looking.
Neil was happy to finally get something other than dwarves, though he did have two humans too in his domain.
"Hmm welcome to the graveyard."
This sentence seemed to have become a norm now for every new entry.
"Thank you, lord." The two archers said respectfully.
"Did you like the watch towers, my lord?" Bob stepped forward and asked.
"Yeah, good job." Neil nodded.
"Actually, this is their house. Each tower has two elves, working in shifts of 12 hours. In that time the other can sleep or do whatever he wants."
Rob opened the door and pointed towards a peacefully sleeping elf in a big area.
"Well that's efficient, a good defensive building." His territory was truly developing quite nicely.
Then he wondered how strong the two archers might be.
But seeing the price of a single watch tower, he expected it to be Silver or maybe close to Gold.
But right now was not the time to check that.
He was really exhausted and just wanted to lie down on his comfortable bed.
Before leaving he looked over the shop and thought for a few moments.
There was no need for a prison yet, and the healing hut too could wait for some time.
He wanted to purchase another Cloud Vulture but with him going to the Lizzard settlement, what if the shards ended?
And then they wouldn't even have enough to buy food.
He couldn't let his subjects die, so he decided to hold back for now.
[Shards: 3820]
[You have purchased the Pressure Disc Trap.]
[100 Shards used.]
[You have purchased the Pressure Disc Trap.]
[100 Shards used.]
[You have purchased the Pressure Disc Trap.]
[100 Shards used.]
[You have purchased the Pressure Disc Trap.]
[100 Shards used.]
[Shards: 3420]
He could only purchase four traps at this rank of his domain.
Neil gave the rest of his shards to Ray for now.
Unsure of how long he would have to stay in the Lizzard settlement, he had to make some arrangements.
Thankfully, the traps could be built in a short time.
And the two builders informed him that the traps could be used again and again.
After they were triggered, a builder just needed to reactivate them.
After instructing the positions of the four traps, which were just outside the walls of his domain, Neil walked back into the building.
Entering his bedroom, he gently laid Magnar on a pillow before softly settling himself beside his familiar.
His entire body was aching so badly, and he needed to be in a better shape for his next round of adventure.
"Alright, let's first see the footage. Nemo, play it."
***
The footage of ship number 7 started playing on a screen, beginning from the moment Neil stepped foot into the warp ship.
He shook hands with the girl called Amanda, then the procedure of his awakening started.
He was the last to wake up among all the teenagers.
After waking he returned to his room.
Soon after, he was informed of the ceremony and while talking to someone on the call, he walked towards the large area where all others were already seated.
Then came the crushing announcement.
Neil headed back after getting his status updated.
Soon after, It seemed the call got disconnected.
Neil lay on his bed, no emotions visible on his face.
After some time, he got a call and then his expressions changed, looking betrayed, full of disbelief and heartbroken.
"Jan– Wha–? Huh…" He looked so lost, hands trembling slightly.
A few moments passed, yet in that time he seemed to experience a whirlwind of emotions.
After drinking water, he muttered: "Okay… take care."
And the call got disconnected.
For a few moments he just sat there unmoving, looking broken and lost.
Then his gaze shifted down to his hand and after a moment he threw the ring away.
CLANG
Then lying back, he just closed his eyes.
That was all there was to see before the ship exploded.
…
Jane sat inside her room, watching the same scenes again and again.
Watching his every expression, seeing how he threw the ring away with hurt and hatred in his eyes.
Her heart sank, eyes teary, feeling as if everything was crumbling right before her.
Jane's fists were clenched, her nails sinking into her skin.
She too succeeded in conquering a domain, a Diamond Class domain, despite the difficulty.
Of course, unlike Neil, Jane and her domain got teleported back into the Human territory.
And right after returning to the Zoratian planet from the testing realm, she went straight to the human settlement.
While some people from her family went to protect her domain in her absence.
Normally people couldn't trust their domains to others like this, if the core was taken away then all their hard work would be for naught.
Jane heard that someone in high position there had found something. It was this footage and a ring.
Of course, her family wasn't aware of any of it.
Staring at the screen, blurred because of her tears, Jane felt as if something was twisting in her heart.
It felt so painful, she couldn't imagine what he must be going through right now.
Being a slave to a different race, what sort of torture he must be enduring.
And she was actually right about the suffering part, but just not the location or level of suffering.
He was going through things she couldn't even imagine, getting his body melted by acid, being torn to pieces and whatnot.
'Why? Why… nothing ever goes right?' She couldn't even speak, her throat feeling stuffed.
Jane herself was a victim in all this.
Suppressed by her family, that was the only option to protect him.
She knew it would be very painful for Neil but she did plan to tell him everything as soon as she got away from her family's reach.
But then the whole incident happened.
Jane wanted nothing more than to be with him, yet even that single wish was too difficult to be fulfilled.
"T- The Lizzard race…" Jane muttered weakly, killing intent filling her eyes, as she held tightly onto his ring.
Suddenly the alarms on her battlesuit started ringing.
Her health was already quite bad, and now her heart ached so much that breathing became excessively difficult for her.
[Dangerous condition detected!]
[Calling medical support!]
Yet no matter what, she wouldn't let this or anything else kill her.
At any cost, Jane would find her man. She had to spend her entire life with him after all.
❖❖❖
Thanks for reading...