Morning.
The second day of humanity's existence in the Ascendant Realm dawned golden and warm. Essim and Aisha stood on the fifth-floor balcony of the Main Hall, watching their city come to life below.
And it was a city now—not a camp, not an outpost, but a genuine settlement. Overnight, working in shifts with brief naps between duplication cooldowns, they'd transformed the island. Cobblestone roads radiated from the Main Hall in a grid pattern. Houses with thatched roofs and stone walls lined the streets. A ten-storey inn rose near the eastern gate, its facade decorated with carved wooden panels. Shops stood ready for merchants who hadn't arrived yet. Lampposts dotted the avenues, powered by energy crystals. Flower gardens bloomed in the squares—a purely aesthetic choice by Aisha, who'd insisted that "a city without beauty isn't worth defending."
Beyond the beauty, the defences were formidable. Tall watchtowers manned by werewolf soldiers punctuated the perimeter wall. Patrol routes had been established, and the summoned troops moved with disciplined purpose.
Essim had activated Infinity Duplication ten times overnight—waking every hour to use it, sacrificing sleep for exponential growth. With the Version 2 upgrade multiplying items by ten thousand, the results were staggering:
Divine Swords (Sealed) x10,000
Blessing Potions x10,000
Golden Shield Talismans x10,000
Golden Step Talismans x10,000
Crystal Cores (Immortal Level) x10,000
Silver Chests x50,000
Fifty thousand silver chests. Even working around the clock, it would take three days to open them all. But each one represented potential—a chance at unique items, rare blueprints, or materials that couldn't be found anywhere else.
"Brother," Aisha said, interrupting his reverie, "shouldn't we give this city a name?"
Essim had been thinking the same thing. "Do you have something in mind?"
Aisha raised her index finger triumphantly. "City of Life. What do you think?"
It wasn't really a question. She'd already decided.
"City of Life," Essim repeated. It was optimistic, almost defiant—a name that dared the Ascendant Realm to try to take it. He smiled. "Go ahead and announce it."
"Thank you!" Aisha beamed, throwing her arms around him. "You're the best!"
"I know. Now go."
She bounded off to make the announcement, and Essim turned his attention to the military quarter.
• • •
Two hundred soldiers stood in formation behind the Main Hall, arranged by unit type. Fifty per group, each raised to maximum level at a cost of one thousand Energy Crystals per level-up. The expense had been enormous—two hundred thousand crystals—but looking at them now, Essim felt it was worth every one.
Werewolves (Swordsman) x50 — Level 10
Str 72 | Int 46 | Agi 66 | Res 57
Skill: War Roar — +5% attack per stack, max 20%. Duration 1 min. CD 15 min.
Mountain Sorcerers (Mage) x50 — Level 10
Str 34 | Int 71 | Agi 46 | Res 55
Skill: Earth Manipulation — 10m radius, -10% enemy movement. CD 10 min.
Iron Rhinos (Berserker) x50 — Level 10
Str 79 | Int 33 | Agi 53 | Res 78
Skill: Rampage Mode — +10% Str/Res for 1 min. CD 10 min.
Warrior Ants (Assassin) x50 — Level 10
Str 72 | Int 46 | Agi 66 | Res 57
Skill: Paralysing Poison — 1 min paralysis, -0.2% HP/sec. CD 15 min.
They were loyal, efficient, and tireless. The werewolves patrolled with sharp-eyed focus. The Mountain Sorcerers maintained the construction circles. The Iron Rhinos stood guard at the gates with the unblinking patience of boulders. And the Warrior Ants—Essim tried not to watch them eat.
Energy Crystals were, at this point, effectively unlimited. Essim and Aisha's sales through the market had been so prolific that other rulers had started to assume the system itself generated baseline resources. No one suspected it was two siblings with a duplication talent flooding the economy from a single island.
Just as Essim was reviewing his troop deployment, the system spoke.
[Event: Rise of the Sovereign Begins!]
Void Monsters will attack each Sovereign's island for 7 days.
Killing Void Monsters awards Kill Points, exchangeable at the Event Market.
[Event Rankings Released]
[Event Duration: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes...]
Essim's eyes narrowed. He'd been expecting something like this—the system was too generous to be purely benevolent. There had to be a test. A filter.
He opened the Event Market.
The listings ranged from mundane construction blueprints to extraordinary weapons. But it was the top-tier rewards that made his pulse quicken:
Gold Chest — 1,000,000 Kill Points
Silver Chest — 100,000 Kill Points
Jungle King Bow (Lv. 20) — 400,000 Kill Points
Dragon Muscle Shield (Lv. 15) — 300,000 Kill Points
And the ranking rewards:
Ranks 1–3: 1,000,000 Energy Crystals, Territory Artifact, Multi-Space Teleportation Blueprint,
Earth Dragon Nest.
Ranks 4–10: 300,000 Energy Crystals, Sun Cannon Blueprint, Great Teleportation Blueprint.
Ranks 11–50: 100,000 Energy Crystals, Auto-Bow Tower Blueprint, Small Teleport Blueprint.
"Multi-space teleportation," Essim murmured. "A Territory Artifact." The names alone hinted at power that could reshape his entire position. He had to reach the top three.
The event leaderboard was already populating.
[Event Rankings]
Sergei Dragunov #328 — 150 Points
Shining Star #6712 — 80 Points
Huang Yu #4192 — 50 Points
Global rankings. Across all regions. Billions of humans competing for the same prizes.
This is going to be brutal.
Essim's talent wasn't combat-oriented. It excelled at growth, resource accumulation, and long-term power—but in a time-limited event that measured kills, raw combat talent could outpace him. He had no idea what abilities other rulers possessed. All he could do was leverage his overwhelming stats and equipment advantage.
He straightened. No point in worrying. Time to fight.
"Aisha!" he called. "Charge the towers. All of them. Now."