Chapter 31: Flame Awakening: The Power Within the Altar
Ash sees Robin start placing the wood inside the city's warehouse. He, Ram, and Evan begin heading toward the altar. Five minutes later, they arrive near it. Ash walks into the altar alone while Ram and Evan wait outside. He prefers it that way—the bonding of the altar with a guide mark is a complicated process, and he has no idea if their presence might interfere. A few seconds later, he places the mid-grade guide mark into the core area. The altar emits a thick golden light five times. Then, a thick, round, pink cable-like rope, about 20 cm in diameter, appears. It grabs the mid-grade mark and slowly drags it into the corner where the previous low-grade guide is fixed. The pink cable connects itself to the guide mark and begins to emit golden light from time to time. Ash thinks, "I always feel amazed when I see how the altar works. I'm deeply drawn to understanding this world and its inner workings."
A few minutes later, a mysterious window appears in front of him:
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Altar city fused with guide mark
Time needed: 15 minutes
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After leaving the altar's core area, Ash feels the temperature there rising. He speaks with Ram and Robin and says with a small smile, "Let's go eat something—after all, Robin cooked for us."
"Okay, my lord," Ram replies with a smile.
Five minutes later, they meet Robin. "Let's go eat," Ash says with a smile. Robin nods. They begin walking toward their usual eating spot. Two minutes later, they arrive. Ash and the others sit on the soil while Robin begins serving food on leaf-plates to each of them. They eat with healthy smiles on their faces, and Ash sees Robin also join in to eat.
Ten minutes later, they finish eating and place their used leaf-plates in the waste area. Ash says with a smile, "I'll go to the altar to eat flame fruits and absorb their element to increase my power. Robin, please continue managing the city, especially observing the character of the new arrivals. If any of them look like troublemakers, let me know—I'll analyse them and decide whether they can become Nexus citizens. Ram, Evan, I want you two to keep gathering wood for the city. Remember, your contributions to Nexus City will directly determine what resources you'll receive in the future. So, work hard—for the city and yourselves. Also, try to return in under five hours. The system hasn't announced an attack on the altar yet, but we must be prepared. Here—take these healing and recovery pills for emergencies."
"Thank you, my lord. I'll do my best for the city and for you," Ram says, voice firm and resolute.
"I'll do everything I can," Evan adds with a smile.
"I'll do my best for the city and you," Robin says seriously.
"Good. Let's go carry out our tasks," Ash says with a smile.
Seconds later, Ash watches Ram and Evan prepare their supplies for wood gathering, with Robin helping them. He thinks, "Maybe I should help them prepare, but that wouldn't be as useful as going out to fight beasts and cut trees. Strengthening myself now will help the city more. After absorbing the flame fruits, I can join them on later trips. Let's go to the altar."
A few minutes later, he gets a notification:
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Congratulations to the altar owner!
Your first mid-grade guide mark has fused successfully with Nexus City.
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He enters the altar and feels a refreshing, mysterious energy wrap around him. Sitting down, he pulls out a flame fruit and slowly starts eating. After a quarter, he feels rising heat in his stomach. He immediately stops and begins absorbing the fire element into his body while meditating.
Thirty minutes later, all the fire element from the first quarter is absorbed. He decides to eat another quarter. Realizing he can handle more; he eats the whole fruit. As the heat builds in his stomach, he uses mana to protect weaker internal areas. Then he meditates and uses 10 mana points to increase the altar's mana density, helping him absorb the true fire element more efficiently. He thinks, "Maybe this will give me new abilities. I'm not in danger, so it's worth the risk."
One hour later, Ash opens his eyes and checks his status window:
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Name: Ash
Age: 24
Status: Healthy
Abilities: Fireball
Level: 1 (0/100 Mana Mist Level 1)
Items: Flame sword
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Joy floods him. Gaining an offensive ability like Fireball will help tremendously against beasts and monsters. He leaves the altar, looking for a spot to test it. After a few minutes, he finds a suitable place and casts Fireball toward the ground. He misses, and sweat covers his face. Suddenly, information flows into his mind: he can use Fireball multiple times but must control how much mana he spends on each one. Using all his mana in a single Fireball would knock him unconscious until he recovers. Reckless mana use causes headaches—he must be careful and calculated.
Ten minutes later, he begins practicing Fireball with low mana consumption to reduce the side effects. After thirty minutes, his proficiency and mana control improve. Curious, he checks the city status:
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City: Nexus City
Ability: Territory defense doubled
Description: In city defense, all attack and defense power of people and buildings is doubled.
Altar Level: 0
Upgrade Requirement: Wood * 1000, Stone * 250, Mana Core (Level 0) * 50
Production: Mist Mana Level 0 * 10/day
Area: 625 sq. meters
Status: Very Small Village
Mana (Money): 12
Tax (from market & city): 0
Buildings: Guide Mark (low-grade) * 1 (active), Guide Mark (mid-grade) * 1 (active), Market (0/5 used, 5 free trades/day)
Blueprints: Low-grade House (Stone * 100, Wood * 25), Furnace (Stone * 100, Wood * 25), Blacksmith Room (Stone * 300, Wood * 100)
Warehouse: Wood * 500, Stone * 10
Population: 4
Specialty: Mana Tree (produces Level 0 Mana * 5/day)
Resource Point: Stone Mountain Level 1 (310 mined / 1000 total)
Attack Power Level: 0 (1000/1000)
Defense Power Level: 0 (10000/10000)
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He sighs. "I used 10 mana to temper my body for the ability, but now I need more mana to upgrade the city. I hope Ram and Evan return soon so I can join them for resource gathering." He heads off to practice with his flame sword, thinking, "I hope to learn swordsmanship well. I'll ask Ram for training later."
After thirty minutes of practice, he decides to wander through Nexus City to see how everyone's hard work is shaping it. Fifteen minutes later, he reaches the garden and begins meditating under the mana trees.
Four hours later, he receives a message from the altar: no monster attack will occur today. He also gains insight into how monster world invasions work. The attacks on Nexus or other altar cities depend on the monster world's invasion intensity and its corruption ability. Attack timing isn't fixed; it's determined by the altar's luck and the will of the monster plane. Eldros's will, however, ensures fair monster distribution across all altars. Otherwise, a single all-out attack could destroy an altar—an immense loss, as creating altars consumes enormous energy and time, and there's no guarantee new ones will grow strong. Every altar is a fragment of Eldros's will, and the more powerful an altar becomes, the more it strengthens the Eldros world. The monster plane's core power is corruption—twisting minds and creating puppets from other worlds.
Thirty minutes later, Ash walks through the city toward the entry gate. He sees Ram and Evan returning with wood. Both look bloody. Concerned, Ash thinks, "They must've fought fissure beasts. I need to talk with them about what happened."