The light from the Genesis Seed was not blinding. It was deep, and hungry. It swallowed the sunlight and replaced it with a cool, silver-blue radiance that seemed to come from the earth itself. The stone floated a foot off the ground, the hair-thin lines inside it blazing like captured lightning.
A web of the same silver light shot out from the Seed. It cracked across the ground, etching itself into the dirt and rock in a complex, glowing pattern that spread out in a circle fifty yards wide. The light crawled up the cliff face, over the rusted bunker door, weaving a net of energy over everything.
Elias felt a jolt, like a key turning in a lock deep inside his chest. A new box, solid and permanent, anchored itself in the center of his vision.
[Settlement Core Established!]
[Name: UNNAMED]
[Tier: Village (Foundation)]
[Population: 7]
[Leader: Elias Vane – Chronicler of the Lost Timeline]
[Authority: Absolute]
[Settlement Blessing: Genesis's Favor – Growth Speed +100% for first 7 days.]
At the same time, another prompt flashed for everyone.
[You have been invited to join the Settlement: UNNAMED.]
[Leader: Elias Vane. Accepting links you to the Settlement Core and grants you the [Citizen] designation. Accept? Y/N]
"Everyone! Say yes! Now!" Elias shouted, his voice cutting through the hum of energy.
He saw their faces go slack with internal focus as they read their own prompts. One by one, their eyes cleared, and a tiny silver emblem, a simple circle with a line through it, briefly glowed over each of their heads before fading.
[Population Updated: 7/7 Citizens Confirmed.]
"It's done," Leo breathed, looking at his own hands as if expecting them to change. "I felt… a pull. Like a tether."
"That's the link," Elias said. "It's what makes this place ours in the eyes of the System." He turned his focus back to the core prompts. He needed to name it. The words formed in his mind, pulled from memory and hope.
I name this place… Chronos.
[Settlement Named: Chronos.]
[First Settlement on Tutorial Planet: Terra. Bonus Awarded.]
[All Founding Citizens receive: +1 to all Primary Stats.]
A warm, strengthening wave washed over the seven of them. Elias felt a slight, immediate difference, a clarity in his thoughts, a steadiness in his limbs. A tiny edge.
But the System wasn't done. A new, urgent prompt, this one in red, appeared for him alone.
[ALERT: Settlement Establishment creates a Mana Nexus.]
[Nexus Attraction Radius Active: 5 Kilometers.]
[Warning: Native Fauna/Flora within radius undergoing rapid Mana-Adaptation. Hostile entities will be drawn to the Nexus's energy signature.]
[First Settlement Defense Quest Initiated: Hold the Core.]
[Objective: Protect the Genesis Seed and maintain Citizen count above 4 for 24 hours.]
[Reward: Settlement advances to Tier: Hamlet. Unlocks Basic Construction Interface.]
[Failure: Core destruction or excessive Citizen loss results in Settlement dissolution. Survivors become [Refugees].]
Elias's blood ran cold. He'd known this was coming. The first night was always the hardest. The System didn't give shelters; it gave targets. But knowing it and seeing the countdown timer appear—23:59:58—were two different things.
"Listen up!" he barked, the Commander's voice snapping them all to attention. "The clock is ticking. We just lit a beacon for every monster in these mountains. We have twenty-four hours to prove we deserve to be here. Leo!"
"Yeah, boss?"
"You, Sarah, and Mia get the priority supplies inside the perimeter. Stack them against the cliff face, near the door. Use them as a barricade if you have to."
Leo nodded, his face hardening into the mask of the future Iron-Saint. "On it."
"Aris, Sam. You're on lookout. Sam, you take the high ground." Elias pointed to a rocky outcrop above the bunker door. "Your job is to watch the tree line. You see anything move that isn't us, you signal." He demonstrated a sharp, waving motion. "Aris, you watch the science side. Your equipment. Can you set up anything to detect life signs? Mana signatures?"
Aris, still gripping her tablet, looked at her core unit. "The bio-scanner… it's tuned for microorganisms, but if I recalibrate it to the ambient energy frequency… maybe. I can try."
"Do it. Lena." He turned to his sister. "You're with me. We need to see if this damned door can be our fallback point."
As the others scrambled, Elias and Lena approached the massive bunker door. The silver energy net pulsed over its surface. He grabbed the rusted central wheel and heaved. It didn't budge. A century of corrosion had welded it shut.
"It's useless," Lena said, pulling on a lower lever with no effect.
Elias stepped back, his mind racing. They had no heavy tools here, no cutting torches. The bunker was a symbol, not a shelter. Not yet.
A sharp, bird-like whistle cut the air. They looked up. Sam was on the outcrop, pointing urgently to the east, into the thick pine forest. He made a clawing motion with his hand, then held up three fingers.
Three somethings. Coming.
"Leo! Front and center! Aris, get behind the supplies!" Elias yelled. He ran to the pile of gear and grabbed one of the Estwing axes and a machete. He tossed the machete to Leo, who caught it easily.
"What are they?" Leo asked, hefting the heavy blade.
"Don't know yet. Could be wolves. Could be rats. Could be something new. We hold the line at the perimeter glow. Don't let them reach the Seed."
They stood side-by-side, ten feet in front of the softly pulsing Genesis Seed. The silver web on the ground glowed brighter where they stood. Lena stood behind them, a tire iron in her hands, her face a mask of terror.
From the trees, they came.
They were not wolves. They looked like large, hairless raccoons, but their skin was a mottled, bark-like brown and green. Their eyes glowed with the same silver as the Settlement net. Their forepaws ended in long, thorn-like claws. They moved in a skittering, unnerving pack, letting out low chittering sounds.
[Mana-Adapted Woodland Predator – 'Barkling' – Level 1]
Three of them. Level 1. Weak. But they were fast, and they were hungry for the Mana pouring from the Seed.
The lead Barkling launched itself at Leo, a blur of claws and teeth.
Leo didn't swing the machete like a knife. He swung it like a hammer, a full-bodied, mechanic's blow. The heavy blade connected with a sickening thwack, cleaving into the creature's shoulder. It shrieked, a sound like splitting wood, and fell back, wounded but not dead.
The other two darted past him, aiming straight for Elias—and the Seed behind him.
Elias's body screamed. He was too slow. He knew the move to make, a sidestep, a downward chop to the spine, but his muscles fumbled it. He managed to get the axe up in a clumsy block. Claws scraped against the metal handle, sending jarring vibrations up his arms.
One Barkling latched onto his leg, its thorn-claws digging through his jeans into his calf. White-hot pain lanced up his leg. He roared, more in frustration than pain, and brought the axehead down on its back. It was a weak, panicked strike. The creature yelped and let go, scrambling away.
The third was almost at the Seed. Lena screamed and stepped forward, swinging the tire iron. It was a wild swing, but it connected with the creature's flank, knocking it off course.
"Get back, Lena!" Elias shouted, limping forward.
But Leo was already there. With a grunt of effort, he brought the machete down in a perfect, finishing arc on the wounded Barkling near him. Then he charged the one Lena had hit, his big boot stomping down on its head before it could rise. The crunch was final.
The last one, the one Elias had hit, was circling, hissing. Its glowing eyes were fixed on Elias's bleeding leg.
Elias felt a hot rush of shame. He was the Commander. He was supposed to be their protector. And he was the one bleeding, the one who'd fought like a clumsy child. The Paradox in his head pulsed, a taunt.
He locked eyes with the creature. He let go of the pain, of the shame. He remembered. Not a memory of a battle, but a memory of a feeling. The absolute, cold certainty of a killing blow.
His hand tightened on the axe. His stance shifted, subtly perfect. The Barkling lunged.
This time, Elias moved. Not with the speed of youth, but with the precision of experience. He wasn't faster than the creature. He was just exactly where he needed to be. He sidestepped the lunge, and as the creature passed, the axe fell in a short, brutal arc.
Thunk.
The axehead buried itself in the Barkling's neck at the base of its skull. It dropped, instantly still.
Silence returned to the clearing, broken only by their heavy breathing and the soft hum of the Genesis Seed.
Elias yanked the axe free. His leg throbbed. He looked at the three dead, strange creatures already beginning to dissolve into silvery motes of light. A tiny trickle of energy flowed into him.
[Combat concluded. Minimal XP gained.]
[Settlement Defense Quest Progress: First Wave Repelled.]
Leo clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Good finish, boss." There was no mockery in his eyes. Only respect. He'd seen the change, the shift from flailing to executioner.
Elias nodded, panting. "They were just scouts. The weak ones. The Nexus will draw bigger things. We need a wall. Now."
He turned to the Settlement interface in his mind. With the Core active and the first threat defeated, new options had unlocked.
[Settlement Management (Chronos – Tier: Village)]
[Available Actions: Designate Construction Zone.]
[Available Resources: Basic Stone (0), Basic Wood (0), Mana (12)]
They had no gathered resources. But they had Mana, generated by the Core and their victory. And Elias had his memory.
He walked to the edge of the glowing silver perimeter, where the trees began. He placed his hand on the trunk of a tall pine. He closed his eyes and reached into the Chronicle.
He remembered the first palisade wall around Vane's Redoubt. The rough-cut logs, the sharpened points, the way they were lashed together. He didn't try to manifest the whole wall. He focused on the knowledge, the pattern, and pushed it into the System's construction interface, targeting the Mana they had.
[Chronicler Ability Activated: Memory Imprint – Construction.]
[Paradox Integrity: 96.1%]
[Mana Cost: 10.]
[Attempting to construct: Basic Wooden Palisade (10-meter segment).]
The air shimmered. The Mana resource dropped to 2. The pine tree in front of him glowed, then flowed. It was like watching time-lapse footage in real life. The tree bent, split, and reformed, its substance unraveling and weaving itself into a section of sturdy, ten-foot-high log wall, sharpened at the top, directly along the perimeter line. It was seamless, as if it had grown there over decades.
Aris gasped. Leo stared, open-mouthed. "How…?"
"The System builds," Elias said, his voice strained. The Paradox headache was back, worse. "You give it the blueprint and the energy. I just gave it the blueprint from… another place." He leaned against the newly formed wall, suddenly dizzy. "It's not enough. We need to gather real wood, real stone. The Mana cost is too high. This is a stopgap."
He looked at his small, battered group. They were staring at the magical wall, then at him, with a mix of awe and new fear.
They had survived the first five minutes. They had a wall segment.
And they had twenty-three hours and fifty-five minutes of hell left to endure.