Ats quickly tinued developing his isnd. He queued up new strus, adding everything he could possibly need—upgrading the residential huts, building a new quarry, a Lumber Mill, and Training Grounds. He maximized the use of avaible space while ensuring some open areas remained untouched.

  His isnd now looked noticeably better. The test upgrades even added a higher elevation on one side, which might serve as a perfect spot for rexing while keeping an eye on the rest of the isnd.

  With the merging of territories from his quests, the isnd no longer resembled the barre it once was. It had transformed into a lively haven, with patches of grass, trees, and flowers scattered throughout, adding color and vibrancy to every er.

  Ats approached the Gateway Altar with Edrik by his side, ready to shift his focus to this critical structure.

  The Gateway Altar worked simirly to a job board, allowing bids to be posted and summoning those who were ied to the isnd.

  However, there were key details to keep in mind.

  The first was the type of summons, which could be either perma or temporary.

  The sed was the type of entities that could be summoned, divided into three main categories: normal intelligent creatures such as humans, elves, and dwarves; golems, which were artificial structs; and spirit creatures.

  Each type had specific requirements. Normal intelligent creatures were motivated mainly by wealth or power, meaning they required gold or particur items as s. Golems, oher hand, mostly needed gold to be hired, as they were often crafted by others and essentially rented out—funing more like a lease agreement.

  Spirit creatures, however, were different. They were drawn to the Lord themselves rather than material s. It was they who chose their Lord, not the other way around.

  As Ats already knew, spirits came in many forms. Some, like Lyrassa, resemble humans, while others took o-like shapes—or even more abstrad untamed forms. Spirits were the embodiment of tless things: emotions, enviros, creatures, and a variety of phenomena, granting them extraordinary diversity in both appearand essence.

  So far, Ats had a total of 46 batants and 8 workers. Among the workers, 2 assisted in the bcksmith, 2 handled isnd maintenand gardening, 2 served as the cook, and the remaining 2 took on general tasks, c various responsibilities as needed.

  His main focus was building a troop of highly skilled and dependable fighters for the long term. To achieve this, he wao maintain their numbers effitly while prioritizing their quality and development.

  For now, 46 was a solid number, especially sihey were supported by his Elite Subordinates, who were strong enough to cover multiple roles when necessary.

  What he needed was more workers. With the isnd expanding in size and its popution steadily increasing, the demand for workers to keep everything running smoothly was only going to grow.

  “Once you activate the Gateway Altar, it will automatically share your profile locally or even to another world if the portal is open and summoures from there.” Edrik expined.

  “Sounds risky,” Ats muttered.

  “Not your actual identity,” Edrik crified. “It’s more like a simplified profile without revealing your location. And this only affects Spirits.”

  Ats frowned, still unsure.

  “Think of it like casting bait,” Edrik expined. “When a Spirit passes by and takes the bait, they’ll e here.”

  “Does that mean an uable number could show up?” Ats asked.

  “No. That’s why you set limits—like their role, level, grade, and other criteria. You also reject them if they don’t meet your standards.”

  “Do I have to pay anything to invite Spirits here?”

  “They e the area’s mana, so don’t summon too many at once.”

  “Got it,” Ats said with a nod.

  Ats immediately discussed with Edrik the type of Spirits they might need, fog on fighter types or even Spirit Beasts with elements that could plement the individuals already on the isnd.

  Unfortunately, Ats had not yet unlocked his elemental affinity, so he couldn’t take advantage of this option just yet.

  , he pced a bid to summon around 10 golem workers to help manage various tasks across the isnd.

  For summoning Normal Intelligent Creatures, Edrik suggested waiting until Ats achieved a higher rank. This would allow him to attract more skilled and valuable recruits by capitalizing oronger reputation he would build through his victories.

  With everythi, Ats now just had to wait for the stru queue to plete and the Summon Bid to be processed and answered.

  The day, as usual, they refocused on training, with their favorite destination being Fre Peak.

  So far, there had been occasional enters with troops from other Lords visiting the isnd, but both sides stayed within their owories, avoiding further iion.

  It was an unspoken rule among Lords: to prevent fli unoccupied isnds, one must refrain from interfering in another Lord’s business. After all, no oruly khe strength of their oppo or how much backup they could summon.

  Moreover, battles fought outside the floating isnds would only harm both sides. Their forces would be weakened, yet they wouldn’t gain any rewards. Such a loss could prove dangerous in their real battle.

  After more than a week of training, Ats had growo relying on seher than sight. He could now fidently traverse the volic terrain without using his vision. It was only through sutense practice that he discovered this capability, something he never would have thought possible otherwise.

  Even so, ohing was clear—he was still far from the goals he had set for himself. There was so much more to achieve, and he wasn’t pnning to slow down anytime soon.

  The m, Mira’s voice called from outside his room. Ats quickly stepped out and followed the bunny girl, who ointing toward the Gateway Altar. A glowing magic circle had appeared, with a circur portal beginning to form above it.

  So, the Gateway Altar was finally reag, and he was about to receive his first worker summons.

  They waited for a moment until a figure began to materialize ooar. It was a being with a body crafted from smooth stos eyes sparkling like glimmering crystals.

  [Glowstone Golem]

  Though its height only reached about half of Ats's, it was clear the golem was capable of movement, with well-formed hands and fihat appeared fully funal.

  “The golem is quite cute,” he thought.

  Ats smiled as he watched the figure step down from the altar and approach him. Curious about the golem’s capabilities, he stood back as more began to emerge. Eae shared a simir design, their forms crafted in a sistent style. Soon, there were ten of them.

  Just as Edrik had expined, when summoning worker-css golems like these, they were typically provided by a single individual anization, which was why they all shared the same appearance.

  Edrik quickly assisted Ats in analyzing the golems, expining that they could be trolled either through a panel or by voiands. Without hesitation, Ats shared access trol with Edrik alone.

  Soon after, the ten golems were assigned different tasks and dispersed across the isnd.

  “Yeah! I have more friends to help with my carrot garden now!” Mira shouted excitedly.

  “Mira…” Ats said, drawing the bunny girl’s bright, cheerful gaze toward him. “Please make sure you pnt other types of vegetables too, and anything else people eat, okay?”

  “All right, my lord!” Mira replied with a wide smile.

  Late at night, right at midnight, Ats reparing to rest, his body exhausted from the grueling training. Just as he was about to settle in, a knock came at his door.

  Who could it be? he wondered, f himself up and heading to answer. When he opehe door, he was surprised to find… Manna standing there.

  Manna?

  She looked at him briefly, then gnced away.

  What does she need?

  “I need…” she whispered softly.

  “I need your blood,” she finally admitted.

  When had she st fed on his blood? More than a week ago, if he was remembering right.

  But this time… she didn’t look weak or on the brink of colpse like before. She seemed fioo fine. Was it just hunger driving her now?

  Ats held her gaze, then nodded slowly. Without a word, he reached for her hand, guiding her inside and closing the door behind them.

  Because… yes… he was hungry too.

  ***

  (Author’s Note:)

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