Walking through the ruptured world felt completely different than merely watching through the windows in the Fort.
Each time Asleroc lowered his feet to advance, he was met with a new kind of disgusting unnaturalness, sprouting from the ground.
The earth was cracked and as black as coal. Red, twisted plants jutted from the soil like veins torn from flesh, with claws for leaves, roots like twisted blades half-buried in the dirt.
The sky was a bright blue, but the energy from the sun could do little to heal the desolation these fields had fallen into in the hands of Heilmaster and his demon spawns.
Asleroc stayed close to the two Heroines guiding him. Astensia held her Blessed Blade in a prepared position, clearing the crimson veins with its light.
Thor strode at his other flank, hammer balanced on her shoulder, eyes darting constantly to the horizon. Her posture was focused, like a wolf sensing predators in every shadow.
Asleroc wondered how soon it would be until they were attacked by a creature.
It didn't take very long for that to happen.
The ground cracked open, and with dirt and ash spraying into the air, a small insectoid beast scuffled out. It had a body completely covered in jagged black plates and cruel-looking spines, and six thin legs.
A name glowed faintly above its head:
「Spiked Beetle — ★★ Bronze — Lv. 11」
'A Two Star Bronze beast, not that much trouble,' he thought.
Astensia merely lifted her blade and stabbed the tiny monster through its armoured plates.
KRRRKK!
The beetle, regretting its choice to take on forces greater than it, shrieked in pain before slumping lifelessly. A single drop of loot followed: a small glass vial glowing faintly red.
Astensia bent to retrieve it.
「Health Potion」
"Useful," Thor said curtly, even though she personally had countless of those in her inventory.
Astensia nodded and added the vial into hers.
Asleroc on the other hand, couldn't hide his disappointment. Health Potions were useful, but they were no Blessed Flames, and Blessed Flames were exactly what they needed.
Soon they would run into more dangerous beasts, even worse, demon spawns, and he feared what could happen then.
It was exactly this worry that inspired him for what his very first created Character would be.
Ever since the problem of mana cleansing arose, Asleroc had thought of how his Character Creation Skill could help solve the issue.
He glanced at the glowing yellow screen that appeared before him.
At the moment, he had 0 Character Points, which meant he wouldn't be creating any characters any time soon. But nothing stopped him from experimenting, or at least sketching out a blueprint for the character he wanted to create.
'If the markets are too far, and supplies like Blessed Flames are too hard to get… then the best move is obvious,' he reasoned. 'I need a Heroine who can bring the markets to me.'
Asleroc mulled over it as they walked, pride creeping into his grin. He was convinced it was truly ingenious.
He envisioned this Heroine as an overworld trader of every magical item and equipment required for protection and leveling up.
She would have everything in her magical shop, and maybe… he could make it so that she sells it to him for free!
The system snuffed the thought instantly.
「Invalid. Lore breach detected.」
「Magical items are not created from thin air. They must be sourced from the existing circulation of workforce. Compensation required」
Asleroc remembered the rules, especially the part of how all created characters must adhere to the lore and logic of the world of Cinriten.
'Tch. Are you kidding me? Even here, capitalism wins?'
With a scowl, he moved to adjust the archetype, but decided first to put in the other necessary requirements.
「CHARACTER CREATION CONSOLE」
「Name」
「Appearance」
「Personality」
「Role Assignment」
• Heroine
• Villainess
• Hunter
• Civilian
• NPC
「Backstory」
• Family
• Birthplace
• Event
• Motive
「Archetype Keys」: Archetype Keys allocate Powers and Skills to your created character
「— (none available)」
「Minor Details」
「Create Character」
Creating a character was far more complicated than Asleroc imagined.
Only a few minutes into setting details like her personality and motives, he found himself begrudgingly more appreciative of writers who had to do this for the hundreds of characters in their novels, whilst finding a way to make it consistent.
It was… exhausting. And, surprisingly almost fun
At last, he decided the name of his first Heroine: Opaline.
It sounded nice in his head and so he used it.
He gave her the appearance of a typical female trader in fantasy novels, while of course making sure she was… visually… pleasing… by his standards.
Asleroc gave her a fine pair of plump breasts.
He set her personality to cheerful, reliable, merchant-y, and very friendly.
Her backstory was simple: she was the only child of a trader and blacksmith. They were joyous when she was chosen by the Angels of the Tower to be ordained as a Heroine who would have unprecedented magical access to all items in the realm.
Asleroc always found himself leaning more to characters with a bit of a sad story. All memorable characters had it.
So he had to give Opaline, his first baby, a pinch of tragedy. Maybe her mother was suffering from the only untreatable disease in the world, and the cure could only be found in the Tower of Heavens.
This perfectly fit the lore because there was such a disease called Soul Sickness, where the soul withered away, leaving a soulless body to rot. It could be healed by dipping an Angel's feather in pure water, then drinking.
Since Angels were locked away in the Tower, awaiting Asleroc, this gave Opaline even more motive beyond loyalty, to help with all he required so he could get to the Tower.
That way, her mother could be healed!
Asleroc felt a rush of pride and excitement after he coined all that. He wondered how he never attempted being a writer before. He wasn't bad at all!
He then adjusted the archetype. Instead of Opaline giving him items for free, he set her to mostly sell on discounts.
Even though being able to access the world market on a whim was already a very overpowered and comfortable ability, getting items in constant discounts only made it better.
Opaline would be loyal to him, but still follow the rules of trade like any proper merchant.
The system's screen ignited with a new notification.
「Archetype approved」
「To unlock this Archetype and make it available for your new Character, an Archetype Key is required」
Asleroc frowned. 'Archetype Key?'
「Archetype Keys are earned by leveling up your existing characters. The higher their growth, the rarer the key rewarded. Bronze, Silver or Gold Keys will be required depending on the power tier of the Archetype created」
Asleroc pursed his lips, slightly overwhelmed. 'So I can't even finalize her abilities without another kind of currency? Goddamn gachas, even here.'
He sighed, accepting his fate. 'How much Character Points would Opaline even cost.'
He returned to the Character Creation interface.
「Name: Opaline」
「Appearance: Silver-lavender hair flowing to her waist, purple eyes, slim figure, big firm breasts, narrow waist, wearing merchant-robes of deep indigo, carries a scroll ledger at her hip and a crystalline staff.」
「Personality: cheerful and playful but never disrespectful to her master, obsessed with bargains, slightly talkative, extremely willing to help through the journey」
「Role Assignment: Heroine」
「Backstory」
• Family: Only child of a blacksmith and trader
• Birthplace: Mergdal, the popular trade-city
• Event: Chosen by the Heavenly Hosts days before her mother's illness.
• Motive: To supply the Heavenly Hero with all magical items needed so he can get to the Tower in time for her to save her mother.
「Archetype Keys」
「Overworld Merchant : Opaline is connected to a pocket universe where all magical items exist or can be found in time, allowing her access to everything the world needs to survive. She governs this place as a merchant, selling its items to her only eligible customer: The Heavenly Hero」
「Key required: Silver」
「Minor Details:」
「•She hops when she talks • Loyalty begins at 55% • Hates thieves and rats • Default Skill: Market Summon」
「Create Character」「CP: 500」
Asleroc stared at the glowing "0" beside his CP balance, feeling a sense of disappointment and hopelessness wash over him. 500 Character Points seemed quite a lot considering that he presently had zero.
'How do I even get Character Points, anyway?'
He tapped his CP balance and a pop-up appeared.
「Character Points are gained when characters you create, evolve, or directly influence their growth gain kills against beasts or demon spawns at least one rank below their own」
Asleroc was disappointed again. He had no created or evolved characters, and neither Astensia nor Thor had leveled up based on his own influence.
So what was he to do now?
A sudden ding! nearly made him jump.
「Thor has slain a Miniature Demon Spawn — Lv. 7」
「+5 Character Points acquired」
Asleroc stared at the screen, confused by what he was seeing. 'Wait… when did I influence her enough for this to count?'
The sound of a heavy thud snapped his eyes away from the screen and to the twitching little spawn on the ground, lightning sparking over its dying corpse.
Thor emerged from the thorns, lightning crackling around her hammer. She looked around the field, eyes narrowed. "More are near."
Astensia turned sharply toward Asleroc. "My Worship. Stay close. Miniature Demon spawns are relentless monsters."
Asleroc obeyed, trudging closer to her as he tightened his grip on his sword.
He had just gotten his first 5 Character Points, and he wasn't sure whether to feel proud of it or terrified that the tutorial mobs had already found them.