The wolves were faster than the goblins. The island was a sprawling nine hundred
square metres—the largest they'd encountered yet—covered in tall yellow grass that
rippled in the wind. Roughly ninety Sharp-Toothed Wolves prowled the terrain, their
grey fur bristling, their eyes tracking the approaching intruders with predatory
focus. (Sharp-Toothed Wolf) Level: 5 Attributes: Strength 9 | Agility 9 | Intelligence 5
| Resilience 6 Skill: (Wolf's Roar) — Increases attack power for several seconds.
Level five. Their attributes were triple the goblins', and they had an actual combat
skill. But by now, Essim and Aisha had cleared seven islands in the past hour,
advancing to Level 3 each. More importantly, they'd learned how to fight together.
Essim stood at the island's edge, bow drawn, an explosive arrow nocked. Fifty metres
away, the first wolf pack had noticed them.
"Ready?" he asked. Aisha stood behind him, her staff planted, its tip already glowing
with cold energy. "Ready."
The wolves charged. Essim loosed his first arrow. It struck the lead wolf in the chest
and detonated with a concussive blast, sending the animal tumbling and two of its
packmates staggering. Before they recovered, he'd already nocked and fired again.
[Killed Sharp-Toothed Wolf: EXP +5]
The pack split, half breaking left, half right, trying to flank them. These weren't
mindless goblins—the wolves had coordination. Essim shifted his aim, picking off the
fastest runners, but three wolves surged through the gap.
Aisha stepped forward and raised her staff. The air temperature plummeted. A
howling wind erupted from the staff's tip, and in seconds, a vicious hailstorm
materialised over a twenty-five- square-metre area. Ice shards rained down like
shrapnel, pounding the charging wolves into the ground. (Hailstorm) Area: 25 square
metres Duration: 5 seconds A powerful ice spell channelled through the staff's core.
[Killed Sharp-Toothed Wolf: EXP +4]
[Killed Sharp-Toothed Wolf: EXP +5]
It was brutal, efficient, and beautiful in a terrible way. Aisha's spell didn't come from
a talent—it was the staff itself, amplified by her Intelligence stat of 21. She was
learning to wield it with an instinct that surprised even her. The battle lasted eight
minutes. By the end, ninety wolves lay across the island, and Essim and Aisha stood
amid the aftermath, breathing hard, their weapons still warm.[Killed Sharp-Toothed Wolf: EXP +5]
They extracted materials methodically, filling their burlap sacks with pelts, fangs,
and energy crystals. Each extraction took a few seconds—the corpse would glow
briefly, disintegrate, and leave behind whatever the system deemed valuable. It was
on the last corpse that something different happened. Instead of the usual faint white
glow, the body shimmered with gold.
[Acquired: Silver Chest x1]
Essim's eyebrows rose. He held the chest—about thirty centimetres long, ornately
decorated—and turned it over in his hands.
"What's in it?" Aisha asked, appearing at his side, her curiosity sharp and immediate.
Essim didn't open it. Instead, he checked his duplication cooldown. Four minutes
remaining.
"We're not opening just one," he said, a slow grin forming. "We're opening five
hundred." Aisha stared at him. Then understanding dawned, and her expression
mirrored his.
"Brother," she said, "we're going to be rich." • • • Four minutes later, the
duplication cooldown ended.
[Silver Chest: Duplicate x500?]
"Yes." Silver chests materialised from thin air, tumbling across the grass in a
cascade of metal and light. Five hundred identical chests, each containing the same
randomised loot. The siblings didn't waste time— they began opening them
immediately. The first chest yielded a litre of water, a pointed hat called the Witch's
Hat, eight white stones used for equipment forging, and a weapon called the Spear of
Harmony. The second produced wheat seeds, a flower with alchemical properties,
and something that made Essim pause mid-motion: (Mid-Level Lair — Archer
Wolves) A lair structure. Summons 5 archer wolves per day.
"We can build troops with this?" Essim murmured, turning the item over. It
resembled a small stone tablet, warm to the touch. They kept opening. Chest after
chest, the loot piled up. Weapons, construction blueprints, food resources, raw
materials, forging stones. An hour of focused work yielded an inventory that would
have taken most rulers weeks to accumulate. Among the most valuable finds were
Medium Storage Crates (150 storage slots each), Medium Bags (50 slots, far more
practical for travel), combat turrets and defensive towers, and enough building
materials to construct a small fortress. In total: over two thousand items and
materials from five hundred chests. Essim sat back on the grass, surrounded byneatly organised storage crates, and looked at the island. It had grown
considerably—the wolf territory now merged with the goblin island and their original
patch of land. His domain was still modest, but it was real, and it was growing.
"Aisha," he said, "help me turn this island into something worth defending."
"Finally," she replied, cracking her knuckles with a grin. "I thought you'd never ask."
Together, they began to build. Aisha, with her sharp eye for design and her
surprising knack for logistics, directed the placement of walls, towers, and structures
while Essim handled the heavy lifting and resource management. Defence turrets
were positioned at key points. A stone wall blueprint was activated, though the
system informed them construction would take two hours. An Archer Wolf lair was
placed. A Main Hall began its six-hour construction cycle. By the time they finished
laying out the plan, the island was dotted with the soft glow of construction
circles—promises of what was to come. Essim checked the regional chat one more
time. The death notifications had slowed. Humanity was adapting, as it always did.
But the chat also carried warnings: larger monsters on distant islands, territorial
disputes between rulers, rumours of powerful talents that could reshape entire
regions. Essim closed the panel and looked at the sky. The golden light was
beginning to dim—the first sunset of the Ascendant Realm.
"We need to get stronger," he said quietly. "Much stronger." Aisha, sitting beside
him on the grass, legs crossed, her staff resting across her knees, simply nodded.
"Then let's not waste any more time." And with the sound of distant construction and
the last light fading over the clouds, the siblings prepared for whatever tomorrow
would bring.