28 Chapter 28: Exploration, Part: 1

Lucas and Lina had a cheerful reunion for a few moments while Lucas filled her in on what had happened during the period in which she was asleep.

Lee shyly hid on Lucas's shoulder at the sight of the new face.

"Psst- Hey kid. Be careful. It looks like she is a fey! Those are the trickiest people in-universe." Lee whispered into Lucas's ear into which Lucas just shook his head in response.

"So Lukey... You changed the city?" Lina asked with a look of confusion on her face.

"I'm not really sure. It was what I and my 'boss' were talking about." Lucas said with extra emphasis on the word 'boss'.

Lee looked at him in a confused manner before beginning to speak.

"Even though you used a Tier-3 skill, it shouldn't have been this powerful..."

"Ah, that's right! I forgot to tell you I used a skill called <Miracle> On it and spent all my divinity using it." Lucas said nonchalantly.

Lee raised an eyebrow before continuing.

"That can be a very powerful skill, Lucas... And you used it on a Tier 3 skill. It should have truly elevated it to the level of a tier 6-7 skill."

"Really?!" Lucas asked in surprise.

"Divinity is no joke kid. I only have a few hundred and I'm a god!" Lee exclaimed.

"Then I suppose it is time for us to go on an adventure!" Lina said seeing the strange interaction between the 'Boss' and his 'Lackey'.

"Agreed," Lucas replied.

Lee nodded gently before seemingly remembering something.

"You know what, I got something to do. You guys go exploring and I will get back to you in a few days to give you your first task." Lee said before disappearing in a poof of stink.

Lucas and Lina looked at each other before chatting for a while.

"What happened to you, Lina?" Lucas asked hesitantly.

Lina furrowed her brows before answering.

"Well... I changed into an adult silly! Don't you humans do something similar?" Lina asked with confusion clear on her face.

"No, not really... we don't gain wings and gain the ability to fly, that's for sure."

"But don't you guys get that weird gland in your head?" Lina asked in a very pure manner.

"Gland?"

"Yeah, that thing that lets you guys have superpowers and stuff!"

"We don't have superpowers, Lina. I don't know what you're talking about, to be honest,"

Lina frowned before going silent.

"I'm sure I wasn't confused. The Humans of my homeworld all got superpowers when they got old enough..."

"Well I don't know what to tell you, I don't have a superpower and I'm an adult,"

"Let's just forget about this for now and go exploring, ok Lina?"

Lina nodded and a happy look appeared on her face as she got her pack ready to leave.

'I wonder what all has changed...' Lucas thought to himself as he and Lina finally walked through the doors into the outside.

The sight they saw when they were outside was truly different when compared through panes of glass.

The street was nearly spotless and the sky was perfect. It was a beautiful blue sky with sparkling white clouds that moved lazily across the sky.

The air was filled with freedom. It smelled like a mixture between a fresh forest and a farmer's market, with the scent of trees and fruit hanging everywhere.

As Lucas was looking around he received a notification from the system.

'Yes?' Lucas answered hesitantly.

Lucas stopped in his tracks and motioned for Lina to stop as well.

Lina gave him a questioning look before Lucas began to explain.

"I-I think that this is my land now..." Lucas said hesitantly.

"What?!"

"The system just said that I claimed this land and made it mine,"

Lina looked as shocked as a middle schooler fairy could look and seemed rather speechless.

'System, show me the map function.'

And as soon as he asked that a beautiful map appeared in front of him depicting everything in the massive city he was staying in.

He could even track down individual creatures and people inside the area by using the map's key on the side.

'This is... Crazy!" Lucas said aloud as he realized he could search for humans this way.

'And most likely other race's as well...'

'I wonder what else I can search for?'

Lucas looked at the key and realized it scrolled for a good few pages filled with different things to search for and overlays.

'Mana Overlay, Leylines, Mineral Distribution, Stability/Fortification, all sorts of things...' Lucas thought to himself as he read through everything.

"Let's take a look at what has changed so far," Lucas said to Lina who nodded and happily flew above Lucas, doing barrel rolls and getting used to the new appendage she had developed.

---

The walk through the city was much more casual than it had been before. No beasts seemed to populate the city anymore and almost everything seemed more peaceful than before.

Lucas was walking towards where he remembered the mall was and was almost there, from what the map said, but decided to take a look at the system to see what the Territory function would do.

---

<THE SUNDERED LANDS>:

<Current residents>:

Humanoids: 2247

Beasts(Undomesticated): 12,486

Beasts(Domesticated): 785

Non-Humanoids: 24,516

Monsters: 27

Territory Quality: 4052

Territory Reputation: 0

Territory Strength: 1100(104,891 Unfounded)

Current Owner: Lucas Walker

Current bonuses for owning:

+50 stat points a month.

+1 skill point a year

(These numbers improve when the quality/reputation/strength of the territory increase.)

---

'These numbers are rather confusing...'

'What do these categories mean?' Lucas asked the system.

<...>

<The Categories mean as follows>:

Humanoids: Creatures that are human-like in nature.

Beasts(Undomesticated): Beasts that have tasted only the wild.

Beasts(Domesticated): Beasts that are under human control.

Non-Humanoids: Intelligent creatures that are not humanoid in nature.

Monsters: Incredibly strong creatures that will weigh down on your Territory's quality.

Territory Quality: This is the quality of life in this Territory. Other aspects affect this category as well, such as mana quality, ley line density, soil quality, Etc.

Territory Reputation: This is affected by what creatures in your territory do to other territories. It is the general opinion of your territory and can affect the hidden charm of your territory.

Territory Strength: This is the amount of realized power in the territory, IE: Total military strength that is under the power of the owner of said territory.

---

'Interesting...'

'So kind of like a country in a way,' Lucas thought to himself as he came back to reality by the gentle pulling on his shirt from Lina.

"Lukey! Someone is talking to you!" Lina said before hiding behind him shyly.

Lucas's eyes snapped to the person in front of him like a hunter snapping onto his prey as he grabbed towards his trusted Indissolubilis.

A man in his mid-thirties stood in front of him with his hands in the air. He was wearing torn clothes and wore a camping backpack that seemed to be filled to the brim with odd items such as plushies and key chain adornments.

Lucas stopped when his hand was halfway towards his bat and his fingers twitched menacingly in anticipation.

"Who are you?" Lucas demanded.

The man shivered lightly as he slowly got on his knees before answering.

"My name is Maxwell. I'm just a survivor in this hellscape and am just happy to come across some 'friendly' faces." The man said while shivering wildly.

'He seems afraid... Am I really that scary?' Lucas thought before raising his hand to his head in embarrassment and giving out a shy smile to Maxwell.

"Sorry for the scare Max, Can I call you that?" Lucas said purely.

Maxwell continued shaking but it was less intense now. He nodded shakily to Lucas's request.

"You can call me Max, My parents used to call me that..." He said as his eyes drifted off into the distance.

Lucas observed the man and noticed he was abnormally thin and skinny. He was basically a bag of bones at this point. On top of that, the man didn't have a weapon. He seemed like someone who had never seen the sight of combat in his life.

"How have you been managing out there Max?" Lucas asked curiously.

Max shrugged lightly before replying.

"I have been holing up in my apartment room and haven't left since. I have no food and have been struggling to survive since the apocalypse started a week or so ago." He said with a faraway look in his eyes.

"We can fix that, Max!" Lina said before walking forwards with some rations that they had prepped.

Halfway towards her path however Lucas felt like something was off and raised his hand to his bat.

And that is when everything around him went to hell.

'Why the hell didn't I check his description earlier!' Lucas thought as he stared at the menacing tag above the man's head.

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