Chapter 47: The Gateway Gamble: Ash's Deal with the Alliance
Ash looks toward the system window.
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Congratulations, Altar Owner, for using the teleportation gate in your altar city for the first time.
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He lifts his gaze to the sky from the ground of Nexus City, where a cold breeze brushes against his cheeks and body near the teleportation gate. The sky is completely cloaked in night's shadow—so dark, yet the moon shines clear and full, hanging like a silver guardian above.
After a long moment of staring at the sky, Ash decides to sleep. His mind feels heavy—he's deeply stressed about the decision to join the All-Human Alliance. He walks silently into his house, saying nothing to anyone, his hand resting on his head, trying to ease the weight on his mind.
In the morning,
the sun begins to rise, casting warm light across Nexus City. A gentle, cool air flows through the streets. Birds fill the sky with their soft chirping, echoing through the city's quiet calm.
Twenty minutes later.
Ash opens his eyes and wakes from sleep. He looks around the house and finds Ram still sleeping nearby. Not wanting to disturb him, Ash steps out quietly. He begins observing the others. After a few minutes, he sees Evan refining mana in the altar room. Robin is already at work on the city. Some soldiers are seated at the magic pond, refining mana.
He thinks, Good... more people are working to progress Nexus City or grow stronger. I can see it—my city will grow, without a doubt. But I don't know if the mana produced by the city and the mana trees will be enough to maintain stable growth.
Minutes pass.
Ash walks into the garden of Nexus City and sees the mana tree and healing pond. A sense of deep satisfaction blooms in his chest as he sees the pure stone still producing healing water.
Then his eyes shift to the mana tree.
A system window appears before him.
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Name: Mana Tree (Specialty)
Status: Occupied
Ability: Able to produce mana with different level of trees
Level: 0 (Growable)
Production: Mist Mana Level 0 * 11 per day
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Seeing the system's status, Ash feels a spark of joy in his heart. The mist mana production has increased.
A small smile forms on his lips as he exits the garden of Nexus City. He starts walking toward the teleportation gate—because today, he and Mina have agreed to meet in Nexus City. She is coming to become familiar with the people exploring the relic area nearby.
Minutes later, Ash visits the meeting house, where he and Mina officially negotiated his entry into the All-Human Alliance.
Ash stations two soldiers near the teleportation gate. He tries accessing the system windows for the gate.
A window pops up before him.
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Name: Teleportation Gate (Building)
Requirement: Bound with altar to use
Quantity: 1
Status: Good
Ability: Teleport one person from one gate to another
Description: One of the best methods for traveling quickly to a specific location. Uses a limited amount of mana from the altar city to function properly. A maximum of 300 teleportations are allowed per day.
Grade: High-grade
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Minutes pass.
Ash receives a call from Mina on his All-Human Alliance badge. The badge projects Mina's face into the air—it feels like an Earth-style video call, though it only shows her face. Still, it amazes him every time.
They share a pleasant conversation. Mina also offers him a new proposal—if he registers Nexus City as a teleportation city with the All-Human Alliance, humans from other places can use his teleportation gate. In return, he would collect a Level 0 mana core as a usage fee from each person.
Mina advises Ash to allow other cities to use his teleportation gate. It would help the Nexus City earn mana cores for its treasury. Most people visiting would be adventurers and hunters. They could help reduce the beast population around his city—and maybe even join the city's forces. But she also warns him: allowing others in increases the risk of spies. While no other human altar owners are nearby, and distant locations reduce risk of invasion, he should still remain cautious of other species' altar cities.
Ash thinks, Mina is right. Beast populations in the Nexus Forest grow fast. Every invasion of Nexus City uses them as cannon fodder for the Monster Plane. Letting adventurers and hunters kill beasts is cost-effective. I can't claim all the forest's resources for myself—and I could reward anyone who reports valuable ones to me. This could strengthen my city. From Mina's intel, this region hosts many other species' altar cities. Some violent altar owners may use false justifications to attack. I'm the only human altar owner here... It's going to be tough. Alliance with other species altar cities feels nearly impossible from what Mina says.
After several minutes of silent thought,
Ash agrees to Mina's teleportation city proposal. He asks her to apply the registration for Nexus City. She responds positively. He knows she'll arrive soon with a group of people interested in exploring the nearby relic site. Now, he shifts his focus—he needs to prepare the city, make adjustments to attract adventurers, hunters, and even potential tourists or merchants.
So, he sends a call through the nearby soldier stationed at the teleportation gate to summon all his core city members.
Minutes later.
Ash sees Ram, Evan, and Robin entering the meeting house. Ash is seated, legs folded, waiting for them.
He says, "I got a proposal from the All-Human Alliance. I will use my teleportation gate to allow humans from other altar cities to come to Nexus City for hunting and adventuring in the forest. We can charge them one Level 0 mana core per person as a gate usage fee. And if they decide to stay in the city, we'll also charge them for housing and other services.
What do you all think?"
"This will overall benefit Nexus City, my lord. But we don't have enough houses to accommodate them yet," Robin says with a polite smile.
"Anything else anyone wants to add?" Ash asks, a small smile on his lips.
"My lord, overall, this will benefit us tremendously—but we don't have enough manpower yet," Ram says politely.
"My lord, I agree with Ram. Since we lack the manpower, we can't protect the core region from spies if human agents arrive in Nexus City," Evan says, clearly nervous.
Ash replies, "I agree with all of you—but we don't have a choice. We need people to kill the beasts in the forest. If their numbers don't drop, we'll always be in danger during the monster wars. So, I think we must implement the teleportation city plan. Even if we don't have enough people now, we can temporarily hire humans from other cities to assist in less sensitive areas.
Sometimes, increasing risk isn't a choice—it's a necessity. And right now, it's necessary for Nexus City's survival."
Ash listens as all three of them agree with his statement. They support transforming Nexus City into a teleportation city. Then he turns to Evan.
"With the workload increasing, I've decided to give you a new responsibility. You'll protect the core areas of the city from spying, and prevent fights or crimes inside Nexus. If you need help, you can come to me, or ask Ram if required. You can also select a division of soldiers from the city for this task. The teleportation gate and relic site soldiers will also come under your control. But remember, if Ram needs these soldiers for expeditions or city defense, cooperate as much as possible.
After all, if Nexus City survives, then these statuses have meaning and use for us. Otherwise, we're all going to die."
After the three of them leave the meeting house...
Minutes pass.
Ash gets another call from Mina on the All-Human Alliance badge. She informs him that she's on her way, bringing explorers to the relic site. He nods at her through the call.
Now, he stands tall near the teleportation gate—ready to welcome Mina and the others.