Mize gracefully flew down one of the castle's hallways, his pace relaxed and his face gleaming.
The light seeped in from the passing windows on the side, a flash of dust and particles flew in the air as he flew past.
A subtle rhythm...
It was a light beat in his steps, or rather, in the way he hovered just slightly above the floor.
His posture was loose and easygoing, the very picture of a maiden that had just swallowed the water of life from the devil.
And while at this, a certain saying flashed through his mind...
When a woman swallowed the liquid, it could make them happier.
Supposedly more... radiant?
'And it worked?' He grinned, finger tapping against his lips in a thoughtful look.
'Then I suppose for better days ahead, I should be taking his liquid once a day from now on, no?'
[Ah, the degraded goddess has appeared.]
'Shut up.' Mize rolled his eyes, and somehow, being called degraded by the system made a certain emotion tingle a little.
A slight nudge of wanting to burst out and overpower everything else.
The forbidden fruit had bloomed, but it needed more time to turn into a beautiful flower.
Mize had never been the one to believe in random sayings, but now... 'I might need to re-evaluate this.' He smiled, humming away along the corridor.
He passed a few workers and maids along the way, offering a kind of casual greeting in his happy mood.
You know, the kind of greeting that you don't even care whether people will greet back or not.
And each time he breathed in a new gush of air, the aftertaste of Liam's cum floated silently above his tongue.
His nose wrinkled but only for a moment with his eyes blinking hard.
'It was sweet and a bit salty.' He pondered, 'What was that word again? Tangy?' Then he wandered off seamlessly, an obvious tinge of red flaring on his cheeks.
A passing angel, long flowing white hair that fell like a waterfall, a loose white robe, and the body of a devil with the face of an angel.
Every person he passed stopped and stared after him, stunned into silence, in the next moment, his figure disappeared into each corner.
This scene repeated many times over and over again throughout the way.
Their reactions were similar: awe, shock, and greed, and with a flick of Mize's fingers, their bodies were immediately refreshed from it.
After all, he wouldn't like for the whole castle to be filled with horny people and turned the whole castle operation upside down because of it.
Within minutes, the entire castle was alarmed.
After all, those workers and maids who should've been at their posts were nowhere to be seen.
The head butler frowned at this sudden trouble and hurriedly paced his way out of the throne room after handling his task.
Moments after he set his step outside of the throne hall's gate, the whole situation was then finally made clear to his eyes.
It was just a passing glance, a fleeting one at that, but he saw it clear and vivid.
A retreating figure of an angel, heavenly body, proud figures, and devilish curves coupled with the face that seemed to contrast everything she had down there.
And likewise, he too was stunned by the sight, his fists half clenched on the side, and with a surge of his energy, he forcibly dispelled the strange state that was affecting him.
Ah yes, the cliche hidden powerhouse inside the castle.
No normal mortal would be able to withstand Mize's charm on his own without any intervention.
Unless it was an awakener himself, and this particular one happened to be a very hidden awakener under Liam's sleeve.
The head butler himself was actually a summoned hero under Liam's management, but his existence as a hero had been kept hidden for the castle's security.
'Her Highness?!' The butler took a deep breath, his chest heaving up and down under his eyes, peering to the end of the corridor corner where the figure had once been.
The sudden glance just now threw him off balance and almost caused him to harbour unnecessary thoughts.
Such a fatal charm is simply tailored to cause troubles in the territory!
The butler complained, not knowing how to proceed with the situation.
Judging from the direction where Mize had come from, "From the dining hall?" the butler contemplated, his gaze lowered, but only for a moment, "Then it seems the lord is aware of her Highness's beauty?"
But then, he pondered, eyes deep in thought, "What's the goal of letting such a dangerous person out into the public? Without a doubt, this would cause problems to arise in the future if not handled well."
However, he was in no position to complain nor question Liam's judgement.
"The lord must have his own reasons for this." He steered himself with this conviction, the lord that he had believed in wouldn't be that simple in his calculation.
There must be some other reason for such an action to let Her Highness walk freely.
Especially in such a state that was bound to attract trouble everywhere she went.
His eyes gleamed, a sudden realisation kicking in as he remembered a conversation he once had with the lord, "Could it be to attract those rats out?"
But really, all he had to do now was to get the castle back on track to its full operation.
And without a doubt, a new protocol must be added to the castle's training for future preparations.
Especially now that Her Highness's beauty might be a bit too unbearable for the people to withstand.
Focusing back on Mize.
He took a turn after turning through the grand halls, eventually arriving at the front gate.
The morning light poured down from above, casting a warm glow across the marble, the front yard that led to the castle's wall was equally gorgeous as the one at the back.
But it was chosen with a slight twist in the design.
Judging from the way it was decorated, Mize knew that this mustn't have been done by Halb's hand.
It was a grand entrance to the gate, a wide marble path that connected the castle and the gate, flanked on both sides by vast empty fields that were made out of white bricks, with flags billowing on each corner and soldiers patrolling in groups.
Tch...
"There could have been a better way to decorate this place, and yet he chose this," Mize complained, a bit dissatisfied with the way the front yard of the castle appeared.
'Well, whatever, let's get down to business as soon as possible.' With a subtle flick of his wrist, the halo behind him expanded, doubling in size.
A faint, refreshing breeze formed at his back.
He floated forward, out into the open.
Mize glanced up at the sky and breathed in deeply, his eyes briefly closing as a small sigh left his lips.
"If only days like this could last forever," he murmured.
Wishful thinking.
He chuckled softly at himself. In a world shaped around the game? Peace wasn't even on the table.
"Unless someone actually dominates the entire server, peace isn't happening."
Could anyone even do that? He doubted it.
Even the biggest spenders, the so-called whales, who could shake the entire server with a flick of their wallets, couldn't pull off full control.
It was always the same: war, schemes, betrayal, rinse and repeat. Peace was never more than a passing illusion.
Still, it was just a fleeting thought. Dwelling on it wouldn't help development.
He shook off the idea and rose gently from the gate's stone steps, ascending with calm ease.
No point wasting time with a carriage.
Instead, he headed straight toward the town.
With a gust of wind and a faint rush of air left behind, Mize shot into the sky like a gliding feather.
He soared past the outer walls, stunning the nearby guards, and rocketed into the open air.
Swoosh…
Swoosh…
Swoosh…
The wind howled in his ears until he raised a hand and muttered, "Mute the wind."
Just like that, silence settled.
The power was ridiculous.
Even he had to admit it. The Path of the Goddess… there was a reason it had that name.
It was simply a path that was made to create a god!
The innate ability alone was absurd, bordering on omnipotent, so long as his mental strength could keep up with it.
Imagination is his strongest weapon; anything can be conjured up so long as he possesses the mental strength to do so.
What he didn't realise was that his path wasn't just overpowered.
It was something entirely different.
The system had only ever mentioned a vague term: mutation.
But the truth?
His ability had been tampered with.
To be able to create something at the cost of a little dizziness, barely a dent in mental strength, and that wasn't normal.
Not even close.
Liam didn't know the full picture either. He only had surface-level info about Mize's class.
But if anyone knew just how little cost this level of power came with, they'd lose their minds.
Swoosh.
His long robes flared behind him, and his hair, several metres long, whipped through the air like a cascading curtain of silk.
Despite the speed, the sharp wind, and the rush of flight, Mize's face stayed untouched, calm, and smooth, not even a crease forming.
It was like the wind itself didn't dare to touch him.
Below, the land unfolded. His territory stretched far and wide, a living map etched in rich green and golden hues.
The lumberyards and farms were organised neatly side by side.
Golden sunlight bathed the paddies, glinting off water and glistening sweat as workers tended to fields and logs.
He passed over the marble road leading toward the town, then veered slightly as he noticed the rugged hills ahead.
From a civilian's view, they were just ordinary rocky terrain. But he knew better; those weren't just hills.
"Looks like we've got a solid number of mines." Mize muttered, his hair trailing behind as he glanced down at the workers chipping away at the rock.
Some looked worn out, others determined – just regular people grinding for a bit of copper to feed their families.
Then his eyes caught something else: the shadow soldiers stationed across more than half the mining sites.
Tier 1 shadows.
Not enough.
"We're short on labour," he muttered to himself, and with a sudden burst of speed, vanished further into the distance.
The town was the same as yesterday; the people were going about their businesses, hawkers were selling and bartering with the ongoing passersby, and even the guards were patrolling the street to keep the security at bay.
Compared to yesterday's hustle and bustle, today's crowd appeared to be slightly busier than before.
Even the townspeople themselves were a bit surprised by the sudden large influx of people into their territory, but it couldn't be helped.
After all, their town had indeed become a little bit famous overnight.
You see, in this world, there also existed those native residents that lived in this world permanently.
They weren't barbaric; instead, they possessed their own system of jurisdiction by region.
Introducing the native lords of the warp world.
They were the same as the players and yet different at the same time.
They didn't possess any systems, events, or any warp features at their disposal.
What they have would only be the City Lord's emblems and statuses.
And to explain these two terms...
The emblem allowed them to bind their souls to the city, and the city lord status gave them the ownership right of the city.
The overlord of the region, the few groups of people that acted as the rulers of this place before the arrival of players.
Their cities acted as the only safe place from barbarians, monsters, scavengers, and so on.
The same as the player's lord, their strength was bound to the city's heart level.
However, what differed them would be the requirements and times it took to upgrade.
For a normal lord, all they required was just the upgrade items, either through trades, battle or other means.
As for the native lords, it required complex requirements, time, resources, energy infusion, hundreds of rare materials, and many more.
To become a lord was a blessing and also a curse.
With no luck and talent, they would be stuck in the same realm for an unknown amount of years.
Immortality in a sense, but a very painful one at that.
In a server, there are an unimaginable number of regions crisscrossed all over the world.
Each region was controlled by native lords, which meant each one of them had their own cities established somewhere.
Yesterday's evening expedition of Liam's army just so happened to be noticed by several of the native lords.
Overnight, the news spread to the upper echelon of these people. The nobles, merchants, and common people alike.
Then the location of Liam's territory was exposed. A large dome with a ferocious-looking castle loomed in their eyes.
And like most cities, from power came a sense of stability, and from stability came the smell of fortune and peace, which many of these native people desperately sought after.
As such, in the early morning, people from all walks of life ventured out of their way into Liam's territory.
Outside the towering walls, numerous carriages and people on horseback were lining up.
Some were dressed in lavish attire, their temperament and attitude evident in their gestures.
Some others were dressed as warriors and also of other professions, waiting in line as they gaped upon the towering wall in awe and amazement.
Everyone had the same reactions once they entered the illusory dome.
They had once heard of the otherworldly lords that came from the heavens.
A prophecy of old tales.
Possessing countless powerful abilities and heaven-defying fate.
It was basically a fairytale of their world, and now they were able to witness it before their own very eyes.
It was simply breathtaking and magical!
"What in the world?" exclaimed a man with a rough beard from his carriage's window.
His eyes peering up into the distance, hands pressed hard against the wooden ledge, "Such a huge wall?" He exclaimed again and again.
"And the materials that the wall was made of" He narrowed his eyes, focusing his gaze onto the fine lustre of the wall's surfaces under the gentle morning light.
"They shine as if they were made out of metal!"
It was one of the few expensive-looking carriages that came today.
Despite being imposing, the carriage didn't break any rules or use their statuses to cut through the line.
"It's really incredible." Gasped a young man on the side, his features a younger copy-paste of the middle-aged man's youth.
Sharp brownish eyes, thick eyebrows, brown bob hair and a face that bordered on nerdy vibes while maintaining the air of a noble.
"Sayfein... " muttered the man before he continued to sigh, his eyes turning towards the towering wall, his eyes catching the vague outline of those watchtowers. "The future of this land will never belong to us."
"Pardon, Father?" Sayfein was taken aback by this, his eyes snapped back toward his father, and his voice came out in a little innocent tone, curiosity evident in it.
"What does that mean, Father? Are you trying to tell me that the future of our land belonged to these outsiders?"
And before he was able to continue with his words, his father nodded, tone heavy as it carried a deeper meaning, "Precisely... "
"Ah... What?" The boy's brain circuit failed for a second, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his father's words.
Looking at his son's dumbfounded expression, the middle-aged man then continued, his tone serious. "Are you aware of the news that every noble and city lord received last night?"
"N-no... I didn't," Sayfein stuttered for a moment, "But I do know that the lord of this place should be quite powerful; the movement of our native lords was quite huge; even the other nobles had to take precautions."
"No... That's not the full extent of the news."
The middle-aged person sighed, "We deliberately pressed the news down."
"And... " Sayfein carefully asked, though judging from how seriously his father carried the conversation, the news must be equally serious , "What might be the truth, Father?"
"Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were spotted... All awakeners."
"Impossible!" Sayfein abruptly stood up; the books fell from his lap alongside the handkerchief, and for his face, it was filled with horror. "Father, do not spread such baseless rumours."
He tried to keep his cool, body lowered as he struggled to gather the scattered books. "Hundreds of thousands of awakened soldiers? That's impossible." He sighed, shaking his head as he sat back down onto the seat.
The reaction was as expected; the middle-aged man barely flinched, his arm hovered before the window as he nudged it a little wider, the carriage shaking as it traversed over the uneven road. "It was hard for me to believe it too, Sayfein."
"And by impossibilities, it means the news must be false, Father." Sayfein shrugged, finger pressing the rim of the glasses against his nose's bridge, and his brownish eyes turned, meeting the sight outside of the carriage.
Noticing the endlessly stretching wall that was visible from this distance, "But perhaps there might be some credibility to it," he recorrected himself.
And to this, the middle-aged man shifted, his legs crossed over the other, as he fixed the collar with the help of the mirror at the front. "And our job was to find out the truth, but now..." He patted the slight creases over the sleeve, plopping out a pocket watch from his chest's pocket. "It seems that the rumours weren't far off," his gaze narrowed, tone becoming hoarse.
"Yes, Father!" Sayfein hurriedly nodded.
And it wasn't just them that were reacting like this.
The rest of those nobles that were coming today also reacted the same way; the news that they heard was more complete and detailed.
As such, none of them dared to be so bold and try to make trouble here. So many awakeners as soldiers in a single city; you can imagine the power that the owner of the territory holds in his hand.
One rule inside: never cause trouble, or else their whole family might be uprooted overnight.
As for the commoners and warriors alike, they simply followed the same principle of dried leaves meeting fire.
Since even the nobles themselves were acting so carefully on this territory, then what rights did they have to make trouble? As such, everyone just wanted one goal for now: to enter and see with their own eyes the true nature of this territory's development.
Then they entered through the gate, walking under the giant metallic structure that acted as the first line of defence for this territory.
The metallic plates and those heavy stones seemed to be mixed together into a powerful defence design.
Tens of metres thick and as tall as the castle that stood proud in the distance.
Then here came the gate's sentry; before entering, an inspection would be done first before anyone was allowed to get in.
Inside the wall, there was a massive compartment that appeared to defy the space visible from the outside.
Many people were perplexed and shocked when they discovered this strange phenomenon, "space formation!"