Chapter 171 Frozen Land
[Previous bonuses from the two Voids, Ice Caves and Snow Desert, are retained and are active as well in this Void]
[The speed of all resources in Frozen Land is increased by 15%]
[Frozen Land is a Small Size Void, consisting of two territories. Given these conditions, you can appoint someone to oversee these territories. With your powers, you can give one creature the Title of Knight.
Knights can control from one to three territories at a time. Knights will get an extra boost to stats, resistances and will accumulate Soul Essence faster. Knights will also have a certain amount of power over the creatures in the territories they control]
Wain nodded, "I see. This is starting to feel like some strategy computer game. When the size of the zone increased, the previous bonuses were not increased, but there were new ones and expanded functionality."
When the spaces were merged, only one Voids remained instead of two, but Snow Desert and Ice Caves did not disappear. They became part of the new zone or its territories.
Over time, there will be more territories under Wain's control to appoint commanders.
Wain thought that was the end of the changes and was about to explore the new area, but suddenly his Seal of Darkness shone brightly.
[Your importance in the World of Darkness has increased. Your Seal of Darkness has been upgraded to rank two.]
[You will now be able to locate a spatial rift at a distance of 70 meters, as well as see the approximate level of danger lurking behind a door of ink. All your stats are increased by 10. Also, when using souls, you now get 10% more Soul Essence]
These bonuses didn't stack with each other. They were replaced. This meant that Wain's stats increased not by 10 points but by 5, since first rank Seal of Darkness increased by 5.
[Also, you can now see the map of Voids you possess.]
Wain's green eyes glowed brightly the next moment, and the Seal of Darkness lit up.
A huge and detailed 3D map of Frozen Land appeared in his mind. Wain was discouraged, but he saw hundreds of icy tunnels and massive dunes covered in snow as he looked closer.
He saw a frozen lake and a desert funnel a few minutes later. However, even though Wain was the owner of Frozen Land, he could not see everything. Many dark spots on the map had yet to be explored and discovered.
'Looks like I'll have to explore the area. After all, I can only see a limited number of places.' Thought Wain and was about to close the map, but suddenly he noticed something.
One of the tunnels began to grow larger. So the areas on the map gradually opened up on their own, and Wain didn't have to explore them.
"Huh, great, the monsters will explore the areas for me. Okay, now I only have one thing left to do." Wain muttered and headed for the main square.
Wain could give one monster the Title of Knight, and he immediately decided who it would be.
He walked over to the chosen monster and said, "It's time for you to accept your Title officially."
The seal looked like a dark crown with a silhouette of an eerie jaw around it.
In the next moment, the Ice Knight knelt before Wain to signify his gratitude and devotion.
Wain smiled. He could feel the Ice Knight's aura gradually growing stronger and larger. If he was going to evolve in the World of Darkness, where the system was built on hundreds of spaces, he needed powerful allies and subordinates. Otherwise, he would get nowhere.
"Great, now it's time to leave," Wain muttered and headed for the spatial rift that was in a cave nearby.
He was curious to see what new resources appeared in the Ice Caves and Snow Desert, but he didn't want to waste his time looking. Wain knew that the monsters would fully explore the entire area after a while, and the Ice Knight would take over the management and distribution of resources.
Although Wain accepted his role as an owner of Void in the World of Darkness, he had no intention of being one. The Ice Knight was someone like Gisle, an excellent leader capable of leading an organization or zone to prosperity.
Whooosh.
Wain went through the ink and returned to the cave at the bottom of the canyon a few minutes later. A few days ago, he killed many werewolves in this place and saved the Trolls.
"It's so nice to be back. Being in the World of Darkness for so long is rather unaccustomed, so it's time to go get the rest of the map." Wain muttered and walked out of the cave.
Considering that he had spent almost two weeks in the World of Darkness, it had already been three months since the apocalypse began.
Gisle and Elsa had wholly rebuilt Last Light's ruined bases and quickly raised their power. Likewise, Zero, Agnes, Teresa, Grut, and Gisle have successfully evolved.
Each of them became stronger during this time and moved on to the next stage of their development. They continued to fight in Dungeons and gradually took over territories at the bottom of the canyons.
Wain didn't go back to Last Light, he had another task. He took out his compass, and after making sure, the map location hadn't changed, began to climb the slope.
Given his increased stats, it was pretty easy to do. He climbed the steep wall like a rock climber and had no trouble jumping more than ten meters high.
Wain didn't expect to get so many stats and different bonuses in the World of Darkness.
He was pleased with this as he had become stronger, and there was hardly anyone in the human world to compete with him at the moment, but it made him think about how powerful creatures there were in the World of Darkness.
At the moment, he owned one Rank-E Small Void, which gave him a huge number of bonuses and advantages. Wain couldn't even imagine what creatures controlled the high-ranked and huge Voids.
'Huh, I guess they are like gods in their spaces. If I'm not mistaken, with each increase in Rank and zone size, the owner has increased rights and functionality. Moreover, even I already have over a thousand monsters willing to fight for me. Most likely, some have armies of more than a few million.'
...
After a while, Wain grasped the ledge and climbed up. He looked around and saw many buildings in the distance, but Wain was in no hurry to go there. He had no reason to fight the enemy organizations, his main concern now was to find the rest of the map.
He opened a compass and ran in that direction. Part of the map was not in the city but a vast park nearby.
This time Wain didn't jump the buildings, he ran through the city's streets. The weak monsters walking through the streets could not catch up with him.
Zombies or mutated insects were equal to garbage for Wain. They couldn't even scratch him because their strength was at too different levels.
'Hmm, downtown looks like a real fortress. It looks like there are a few people with craft souls in the West. Without them, it would be impossible to build something like this.' Thought Wain looking towards the tall buildings.
It was the base of the main organization on the west side of the city, Twilight Steel.
'I don't have any information about this organization, but apparently, they specialize in defense and brute force attacks. Their main base is well protected. Moreover, I don't see any monsters around the city center. Have they exterminated all the monsters in the area?" Said Wain.
Wain nodded and headed on, he had a few more miles to run before reaching the park. Wain hoped that part of the map was there since the compass could only give directions, not the exact location.
Booooom.
Suddenly there was a deafening explosion. Wain turned around and saw that massive firebug-like monsters were attacking the main base of Twilight Steel.
Wain wasn't going to help them or participate in this battle, but he decided to stop and climb one of the buildings. Wain wanted to see what the members of Twilight Steel were capable of.
The Fire Bugs attacked the iron watchtowers and tried to melt them with their flames. The people in the towers tried to fight back using firearms and skills, but the monsters didn't care about that. They continued to melt metal, destroying one tower after another.
Twilight Steel was not prepared for this attack. The Fire Bugs were dangerous opponents who could fly and had an excellent defense.
Wain could not sense the auras of these monsters from this distance, but he was sure that the Fire Bugs were First Chronicle.
"Hmm, if these bugs had attacked the base of Twilight Steel a month ago, they probably would have destroyed the organization. However, that's impossible now. Twilight Steel must have some people who have already evolved." Mumbled Wain.
He was right. A pumped-up man with a massive iron sword behind his back ran out of one building for the next moment. As the man ran towards one of the monsters, his sword shone brightly and made a vertical swing. He was one of the strongest members of Twilight Steel.
The Firebug didn't have time to react to this attack and was cut in two. The man didn't stop and continued his attack.
"Oh... He's pretty strong. Also, he has a strong weapon, this sword looks simple, but it has incredible sharpness. Maybe I should be part of that battle, too? But, remotely." Mumbled Wain, and the next moment he used the Distant Bullet.