Two weeks had passed since the first event.
The main island was now a functioning civilisation. Over a hundred thousand residents lived within the WMA's combined territories. Crime was low—the presence of five thousand Level 20 troops and two hundred defence towers ensured that—and commerce was booming. The alliance had established trade partnerships with every major power in the region and several beyond it.
Essim had spent the time productively. Millions of gold chests had been duplicated and opened, their contents fuelling the alliance's growth. But the Silver Badge—the single item required for his Tier-2 promotion—remained absent.
He'd tried everything. Cleared forty-six Commander-tier islands with Laras, Haikal, and a strike team. Opened hundreds of thousands of chests. Searched the market. Consulted every contact in the regional network. Nothing.
"I suspect the badges aren't monster drops," Laras said during their latest hunting expedition, her massive cross-shaped weapon resting against her shoulder. "They may be quest-triggered. Or tied to a future event."
Haikal agreed, his floating black tome hovering beside him. "Six days of searching. Not a single badge. The system is withholding them deliberately."
"Then we wait," Essim said. "And we prepare."
The preparation was not idle. Essim continued to duplicate every valuable resource he could: Divine Swords, Blessing Potions, Crystal Cores, Golden Talismans. The WMA's hidden reserves—known only to Essim and Aisha—could equip a small army of Immortal-class warriors at a moment's notice.
He also began studying the Ascendant Realm itself. The crowned man's words echoed in his memory: "Is this the age of human awakening?" What had he meant? And the word "cultivator" in the promotion requirements—what system existed beyond the one humans had been given?
Questions without answers. But Essim was patient now. The event had taught him that.
• • •
On the afternoon of the fifteenth day, while Essim sat in his office reviewing population reports, the system spoke.
[Congratulations to the Sovereigns still standing.]
[The Race War Battle Event has begun.]
Event Duration: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.
Regional boundaries have been removed.
Regional chat has been removed. Blue Planet Race Chat added.
Essim's hand froze above his desk.
Regional boundaries—gone. Every human on the planet could now meet, trade, and fight freely. The isolated pockets of civilisation that had developed independently for two weeks were about to collide.
And the name—Race War—implied that humans weren't the only participants.
The search parties went out daily. Laras led one team, her massive cross-weapon slung across her back, her holy aura serving as both beacon and shield. Haikal led another, his floating black tome cataloguing every monster type, drop table, and environmental feature they encountered. Essim himself took a third team, clearing Commander-tier islands with the mechanical efficiency of someone who'd done it a hundred times.
They kept meticulous records. Forty-six islands. Over three hundred Commander-rank monsters killed. Tens of thousands of lesser creatures. Drop tables analysed, patterns mapped, probability calculations run.
No Silver Badge.
The market was equally barren. Essim had standing buy orders across every major alliance's trade network, offering prices that would have made most sovereigns weep. No one had one to sell. No one had even seen one.
It was as though the item didn't exist yet.
"The system is gating our progress," Essim told Aisha one evening, staring at the promotion requirements on his panel. "It gave us the level cap, the Crystal Cores, the equipment — everything we need to be powerful at Tier 1. But it's holding the key to Tier 2."
"Why?" Aisha asked.
"Maybe it's not time yet. Maybe there's a trigger — a quest, an event, something we haven't encountered." He paused. "Or maybe the system is waiting to see what we do with the power we already have."
He spent his evenings on the Main Hall's balcony after that, watching the three moons cross the sky, thinking about the architecture of a world he didn't fully understand. The crowned man's words circled in his memory: Is this the age of human awakening?
Something was coming. He could feel it in the way the system parcelled out information — always enough to keep them moving, never enough to let them see the full picture.
When the answer finally arrived, it came not as a Silver Badge but as something far larger.
The system notification arrived at noon on the fifteenth day, while Essim was reviewing the latest population census. The words appeared on every panel across every island simultaneously, and for a moment, the entire Ascendant Realm held its breath.
The Race War had begun. And with it, the Silver Badge — and every other unanswered question — would have to wait. There were more pressing matters now.
Like survival.
Essim closed the census report, stood from his desk, and began walking toward the war room. There was no time to waste.