The gate shuddered.
Winds howled across the marble plains outside the fortress, scattering digital dust. Elias watched the flickering map hovering before him — a single red spark moving closer, cautious, but unafraid.
[PLAYER DETECTED: Unregistered.]
[CLASS: SCOUT (Bronze).]
[LEVEL: 12.]
[FACTION: UNKNOWN.]
[OBJECTIVE: UNKNOWN.]
Veyra stood beside him, her golden eyes focused.
[A low-level player shouldn't have access to this coordinate. Someone, or something, guided her here.]
Elias didn't respond. He simply waited.
Moments later, the gate's ancient gears groaned, and a figure stepped into the fortress courtyard — a woman in worn leather armor, her cloak torn, her eyes sharp.
She scanned the towering spires, confusion written across her face.
"This place shouldn't exist," she muttered. Then her gaze found him — calm, tall, and utterly composed upon the throne.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "This sector's supposed to be dead code."
Elias smiled faintly. "And yet, here you stand in my domain."
Her brows furrowed. "Your domain? There's no registered guild here. I checked the map—"
"Maps," Elias interrupted, "are for those content to follow someone else's design."
The air trembled. Gold circuitry lit beneath his feet, spreading through the floor toward the intruder. She flinched as the system responded to his presence.
[LEGACY AUTHORITY DETECTED.]
[USER: ELIAS WARD — CLAIMANT OF DOMINION.]
[TERRITORY OVERRIDE: ACTIVE.]
The Scout's expression changed. Fear. Curiosity. Then — respect.
"You're not a system administrator," she said slowly. "But you have override access. How?"
Elias stood, his voice calm but cutting. "Let's just say I found the truth buried where others saw broken code."
[Her vitals are rising,] Veyra murmured in his mind. [Fear, excitement, uncertainty. She's not an enemy yet.]
The Scout crossed her arms. "I'm called Lyra. Independent explorer. I map ghost zones for data brokers."
"A scavenger," Elias said. "Useful, if loyal."
Her eyes narrowed. "Loyal to who?"
"To whoever builds something worth loyalty," he replied.
Silence filled the air between them. The fortress hummed softly, like a living thing listening to its master's words.
Lyra hesitated, glancing at the throne. "What are you building here?"
Elias turned his gaze toward the shimmering world beyond the gates — endless, fractured, waiting.
"A Dominion," he said simply. "Not a guild. Not a faction. A civilization."
Lyra's lips parted slightly, unsure whether to laugh or believe him. But then she saw the golden veins of code spreading across the fortress walls — real, tangible, and alive.
[Would you like to register subordinate access for Player: Lyra?]
Elias considered.
"Limited access," he commanded. "Observation rights only."
[Access granted.]
The system pulsed. A golden sigil appeared briefly over Lyra's chest, marking her as part of House Dominion.
She looked down, startled. "You—what did you just do?"
"I gave you a glimpse," Elias said, stepping past her. "Stay, if you wish to witness what comes next. Or leave, and know you'll never find this place again."
Lyra stared after him, caught between defiance and awe.
Veyra's voice whispered in his mind again.
[She'll stay.]
[She's curious. And curiosity… is the first chain of loyalty.]
Elias smiled faintly, eyes on the rising towers. "Then the Dominion grows."