The pale golden morning sunlight pierced through the gaps of the primeval forest's giant leaves, shining upon the shingle roof of Orion's Level 1 Wooden Cabin. The morning air felt freezing cold, but inside the tightly sealed cabin, the temperature was comfortably warm.
Orion opened his eyes and stretched his muscles on the wooden bed lined with clean straw—a built-in amenity from the territory upgrade. He was no longer sleeping on dirty ground covered in damp grass. This minor change had a massive psychological impact. He felt like a human being in control, not a hunted animal waiting to die.
He got up, put on his jacket, and stepped out of the cabin.
Outside, Kael was going through his morning sword-swinging routine in the misty air, sweat glistening on his iron breastplate. On a thick black tree branch extending into the protective dome, Lyra sat cross-legged with her bow on her lap, her emerald eyes scanning the forest border with the vigilance of a true predator.
"Good morning, My Lord," Kael greeted, immediately stopping his training and bowing respectfully. Lyra also leaped down from the branch in a soundless motion, landing smoothly and dropping to one knee.
"Morning," Orion replied calmly. He looked toward the boundary of his protective dome of light, which had now expanded to a 100-meter radius. A larger area meant more trees and rocks were included in his safe zone, ready to be mined without the risk of monster attacks.
However, his main focus this morning was not wood or stone. His gaze was fixed on the giant black metal pillar in the corner of his territory.
[Summoning Gateway (Black Iron)] [Today's Quota Status: 2/2 Available.]
Right at midnight, the gateway's daily quota had reset. Orion didn't waste any time. He walked up to the blue-rune-engraved gateway and placed his palm on its ice-cold surface.
"Summon."
The dark blue energy vortex in the center of the gateway spun rapidly. A magical wind blew, and the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps echoed from beyond the dimension. Two burly figures stepped out simultaneously.
They were warriors clad in incredibly thick plate armor, making them look like walking fortresses. On their left arms, they bore giant tower shields forged from black iron, while their right hands gripped spiked maces.
[Shield Knight (Black Iron)] [Level: 1] [Strength: 15] [Agility: 8] [Physique: 20] [Skills: Solid Defense (Passive), Provoke (Active)]
Both knelt in unison, causing the ground to tremble slightly. "Our shields are the walls of your territory, My Lord!"
Orion nodded in satisfaction. A soldier with a Physique reaching 20 points at Level 1 was an extraordinary tank. If any other Lord obtained just one of these Shield Knights on the second day, they would be weeping tears of joy, knowing they could survive any monster attack.
But to Orion, these two Black Iron-tier units were merely raw materials.
"You possess incredible physiques," Orion said, stepping forward. "But I need a wall that can never be breached by anyone. Do not resist."
Cosmic golden light erupted from Orion's eyes as he called upon his Origin-Grade talent. "Forge of Genesis: Synthesis!"
Kael and Lyra watched the sacred procession with unfading awe. The giant golden cube swallowed the two Shield Knights. The deafening sound of melting and clashing metal rang out, creating a small shockwave that swept the dust around them. The black aura of the warriors began to transition into a blinding, ancient bronze gleam.
As the light subsided, a giant stood before Orion.
The man was at least two point two meters tall. He no longer wore ordinary plate armor, but rather a dark bronze Full Body Armor that radiated magical energy. On his arm was mounted a gigantic shield that looked like the gateway of an ancient temple, adorned with the carving of a roaring lion. His spiked mace had been replaced by a long-handled battleaxe.
The giant slammed the bottom of his shield into the ground—making the earth quake violently—and knelt solemnly.
"My body is a fortress that shall not fall. My life is the shield that will hold back destruction. Bestow upon me a name, My Lord." His voice was incredibly deep and resonant, as if the earth's very stones were speaking.
[Synthesis Successful!] [2x Shield Knight (Black Iron) -> 1x Aegis Guardian (Bronze)] [Level: 1] [Strength: 22] [Agility: 12] [Physique: 30] [Mana: 15] [Skills: Bronze Wall (Active), Damage Reflection (Passive), Intimidating Aura (Passive)]
"Garrick," Orion declared, looking at the giant with gleaming eyes. 30 points in Physique! That was the equivalent of six of Earth's strongest adult men fused into one invulnerable body. "From now on, your name is Garrick."
"Garrick will ensure not a single drop of your blood is spilled, Lord Orion," the giant replied as he stood tall.
With the addition of his high-tier troops, Orion began organizing their daily tasks. Efficiency was key.
"Kael, Garrick, take this Black Iron Axe and Pickaxe," Orion ordered, taking out his reliable mining tools from his inventory. "Your task today is to level every tree and boulder within this 100-meter protective dome limit. We need hundreds of units of materials before noon."
Garrick accepted the black iron axe, which looked like a child's toy in his massive hands.
"Lyra," Orion turned to the Elven Sniper. "You possess the highest agility and the skill to blend into the forest. Step outside the dome. A 500-meter radius. Hunt for our dinner, but more importantly: map the surrounding area. I want to know where the water sources are, the locations of high-level monsters, and... if there are any other human Lords nearby."
Lyra nodded. "Your will shall be done." She pulled up her hood, leaped onto a tree branch, and darted off, vanishing into the forest's shadows without making a single sound.
Over the next four hours, Orion's territory transformed into a terrifying industrial construction site. With a Strength of 17 (Kael) and 22 (Garrick) paired with high-efficiency Black Iron tools, logging no longer looked like manual labor.
Garrick didn't even need to hack at a tree multiple times. He simply struck the base of the trunk twice, and the thick black tree would topple with a thunderous crash. Kael was tasked with shattering giant boulders with his pickaxe, working as fast as a hydraulic machine.
Orion stood watch, continuously processing the gathered materials into his inventory. The numbers on his interface skyrocketed exponentially. 100 Wood. 200 Wood. 300 Stone.
By noon, Orion had pocketed 450 Units of Wood and 450 Units of Stone.
"Enough. Take a short rest," Orion ordered his two bronze knights, who didn't even look like they had broken a sweat.
Orion walked toward the outermost perimeter of his protective dome, right at the border between the safe grass and the dark forest. He opened his [Inventory] menu and selected the [Blueprint: Archer Tower] he had obtained from the Bronze Chest last night.
The construction cost was 200 Wood and 200 Stone per tower.
"Build two Archer Towers," Orion confirmed.
The system instantly siphoned 400 Wood and 400 Stone from his storage. Blue light descended to the earth at two adjacent spots. Within twenty seconds, two five-meter-tall wooden towers stood proudly. The structures looked very simple—just tiered wooden frames with a flat wooden platform on top for archers to stand and aim at enemies.
They were Normal-tier Archer Towers. There were no automated weapons on them; they required humans to stand atop them wielding bows. Naturally, this was highly inefficient for Orion, who only had one archer.
However, he had his absolute cheat.
Orion stood between the two wooden towers and spread his arms. "Synthesis!"
The massive golden energy cube devoured the two towers, which were spaced three meters apart. A blinding light transformed the wood's cellulose structure into dense carbon, then crystallized it into metal. The sound of splintering wood was replaced by the clinking of steel chains and the grinding of gears.
When the Origin-Grade light subsided, what was left made the resting Kael stand up, frozen in shock.
The five-meter-tall wooden towers had vanished. In their place towered a ten-meter-tall Black Iron Tower! The walls of the tower were lined with metal spikes to prevent enemies from climbing it. At the very top, a massive mechanical device resembling a Heavy Ballista was mounted. The metal ballista required no operator; it was engraved with blue magic runes that automatically detected the heat and killing intent of enemies.
[Synthesis Successful!] [2x Archer Tower (Normal) -> 1x Automated Ballista Tower (Black Iron)] [Description: Automated defensive structure. Fires a spear-sized steel bolt every 5 seconds. 90% accuracy within a 300-meter radius. Capable of piercing the armor of Bronze-tier monsters.] [Ammunition: Magically generated using atmospheric mana (Infinite).]
"With this, not a single weak monster will be able to approach this dome when the Beast Tide arrives," Orion muttered in satisfaction, patting the tower's metal wall.
Suddenly, the swoosh of wind sounded from above. Lyra landed right next to Orion, her breathing slightly heavy—something highly unnatural for an Elf with 25 Agility. In her hands, she dragged the carcasses of two Shadow Wolves.
However, her facial expression was deadly serious. She immediately dropped to one knee.
"My Lord. I have brought back game and some EXP. However, there is urgent intelligence you must know."
"Speak," Orion frowned.
"About two kilometers north of our dome, I discovered an encampment," Lyra reported, her voice low but sharp. "It is not a den of wild beasts, but a local race possessing intelligence. A Goblin pack."
Goblins. In standard games, they were the weakest cannon fodder monsters. However, on the Endless Continent, any creature capable of organizing itself, building camps, and forging weapons was a genuine threat.
"How large is their camp?"
"There are about fifty Normal Goblins, and one Hobgoblin (Black Iron) acting as their leader," Lyra explained. She paused for a moment, then added in a cold tone. "However, what you must know is what they are currently doing, My Lord. They just captured a Human Lord."
Orion's eyes narrowed. "Captured a human Lord? Aren't humans supposed to be inside their protective domes for seven days?"
"The Lord seemed to have grown desperate from starving overnight. He breached the boundary of his own dome to forage for fruits in the forest, and a Goblin patrol ambushed him," Lyra reported. "Right now, the Lord is being tortured in the center of their camp. Those Goblins seem to be aware that the humans who descended to this earth possess treasures or fresh Meat."
In an ordinary person's mind, hearing that a fellow human was being tortured by monsters on the second day would trigger moral panic or a heroic urge to save them.
However, within Orion Vance's mind, the gears of his strategy turned in an entirely different direction.
A low-tier intelligent native camp. Fifty troops and one Black Iron leader. A foolish human Lord who had abandoned the protection of his dome and was about to die, leaving his Territory Core completely defenseless...
"That Lord's death is the destiny of his own stupidity," Orion whispered softly. He turned toward Lyra, Kael, and Garrick, who were now standing at attention, awaiting his orders. The corners of Orion's lips curled up, forming a terrifying, demonic smile.
"However, that Lord's Territory Core and the loot in the Goblin camp... that is a destiny entrusted to us. Prepare yourselves. Tonight, we will not just survive. We will slaughter."