Kaito was in his territory, reviewing the rewards he had received.
The first thing that caught his attention was the blueprint for basic tools. Upon seeing it, he couldn't help but feel deep contempt for all those merchants who dared to sell axe or pickaxe blueprints in the trade tab.
He used to think it was logical—just a matter of supply and demand. But after realizing that the so-called "basic blueprints" came as a complete set, his perspective changed immediately.
"To sell just one for over 500 gold? That's robbery!"
The basic blueprint included:
• Stone Axe
• Stone Pickaxe
• Stone Spear
• Torches
• Furniture
• Campfires
Simple things, sure, but essential for efficient development.
Without wasting time, Kaito handed the blueprints to his workers. As soon as they touched them, they dissolved into sky-blue particles and disappeared.
"What about the others? Do I need to get more blueprints?" Kaito asked, frowning.
He thought each worker would have to learn them individually—it would be a massive waste if the blueprint only worked once.
"Not necessary. With just one, we all learned it. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but the knowledge just… appears. Even future workers will know it."
"Strange…" Kaito muttered.
Of course, considering this world felt like a game, it made sense. But for the inhabitants of this world, this was just how things were.
Perhaps Gaia had been created from the start with the intent of being conquered by Lords. Otherwise, how could these mechanics be explained?
Kaito crossed his arms, thoughtful.
'Why would something powerful enough to create a world with its own rules summon us, just regular people?'
He decided to leave the unanswered questions for later and kept checking his rewards.
[Blueprint
Type: Building
Rank: Common]
"Nothing new…" he sighed.
Although it was a different blueprint, it wasn't anything special, so he gave it to Loyd—the older man in the group—whom he had named leader of the workers. For now, there were only two, but eventually, there would be many more.
"Next…"
Kaito turned his attention to the next reward.
[Name: Agile Boots
Rank: Common
Description: Increases Agility by 20]
He smiled immediately and equipped them without hesitation. A 20-point Agility boost was the equivalent of at least four whole levels spent purely on that stat—something no one would normally do.
As soon as he put them on, he felt a lightness in his body. He walked a few steps, then ran… and was amazed.
He reached around 40 km/h. It might not seem like much in fantasy terms, but for a regular human, it was impressive.
He ran in circles for a while, enjoying his new speed, until he got tired of doing it for no reason.
The final reward:
[Reward obtained: 10,000 XP]
He immediately opened his status.
---
[Name]: Takayama Kaito
[Race]: Human
[Title]: Lord of the Territory
[Level]: 3 (10,208 / 500 XP)
[Base Stats]:
HP: 2000
MP: 10
Strength: 10
Agility: 36 (16 + 20)
Constitution: 14
[Skills]:
[Stat Points]: 0
[Skill Points]: —
[Gold]: 2470
---
He pressed the level-up button multiple times.
Level 4 cost 500 XP.
Level 5, 1000.
Level 6, 3000.
Level 7, 5000.
He ended up at level 7, with 708 out of 10,000 XP for the next level, and 20 stat points to distribute.
This time, he left Agility alone. He put 10 points into Strength—it was about time—and split the rest between HP and Constitution, 5 each.
His updated stats were:
---
[Base Stats]:
HP: 2500
MP: 10
Strength: 20
Agility: 36 (16 + 20)
Constitution: 19
---
He didn't touch MP. He didn't need it yet, and abilities didn't seem easy to acquire.
He wanted to test his strength. He picked up some stones as makeshift weights and compared himself to his warriors, estimating that he could lift around 130 kg with ease.
It wasn't impressive compared to the world record—about 400 kg—but for someone who'd never trained a day in his life, and in just three days since this all started… it was incredible.
Kaito smiled, satisfied with his progress.
"Silver, tell me everything you know about this forest."
As a native of this world, Silver had to know more about the surroundings. After a long chat—and an even longer wait, thanks to the wolf's limited speech skills—Kaito managed to get some information.
The forest where his territory was located was called the Black Forest.
Just as he suspected, it was divided into zones. Silver only knew about a few nearby:
To the north, the territory of the Black Wolves.
To the west, the Goblins'.
To the east, the Kobolds'.
And to the south, the Strix—carnivorous creatures resembling giant owls that attack at night.
Technically, the immediate south was now part of his territory, as he had taken over the former Silver Wolves' land. His base was to the north of it, but the territory itself included their entire hunting grounds. That's why there had been so many wolves around.
The southern border of that territory directly touched the Strix's land. He hadn't encountered them yet because they were nocturnal and rarely came out. They didn't seek to expand—only hunted what they needed and returned to sleep.
Besides those zones, Silver mentioned two major territories:
In the center of the forest lived the Elves, who occupied 20% of the total area.
At the far north, near the ocean, were the Wyverns.
Silver didn't know the forest's exact size but mentioned that crossing it at full speed would take about six months. Factoring in pauses, detours, and dangers, Kaito estimated the forest to be around 9,000,000 km²—almost twice the size of the Amazon… comparable to China or the United States.
"If the Elves control 20%, their territory is the size of Mexico…" he whispered, overwhelmed by the scale of the world.
It was much vaster than he expected. And if just the forest was this big, how enormous must all of Gaia be?
Even so, his next target was clear: the Strix.
They were weak during the day, and no one occupied their territory because it had no apparent value. Their meat was inedible, and conquering the land offered no visible benefits. Plus, expansion attracted stronger enemies.
But Kaito didn't care. To him, conquest was a benefit in itself.
The Kobolds were intelligent—like anthropomorphic dogs with tactical skills—and while the Goblins had only basic intelligence, some knew magic. That's why he decided to leave the Goblins for last.
Kaito chose to wait until the next day.
The sun was already setting, and it felt like his time in Gaia was coming to an end.
And he was right. About thirty minutes later, he was summoned back to Earth.