Chapter 1304 Foreigner

The Stone House naturally provided a stronger restorative effect and greater comfort, while the Wooden House required fewer resources to construct.

Even the Straw House had its advantages: it was incredibly cheap and could be constructed almost entirely from materials readily available throughout the surrounding grasslands, making it ideal for temporary accommodation.

The Basic Storehouse slowed the ordinary deterioration of resources stored inside and allowed registered materials to be categorized through the Cornerstone.

Considering the amount of monster meat, herbs, ores, hides, and other resources being brought back every day, this was quite valuable.

The Basic Well provided a water source and minor purification.

The Wooden Watchtower provided an elevated observation point and slightly enhanced the detection range of anyone stationed at the top.

None of these effects were particularly powerful individually, but that didn't diminish their value.

For a territory still taking its first steps, these seemingly ordinary Unranked blueprints were exactly what Lily needed.

Then there were the non-repeatable blueprints, or rather, the one-use blueprints.

Among the dungeons subsequently discovered and cleared by Evergreen Haven's Awakeners, two had produced particularly useful blueprints.

The first was an Archer Training Ground.

Unlike an ordinary field where people could simply practice shooting targets, the building possessed several functions specifically designed to assist those following archery-related Classes.

It could generate moving targets of varying difficulty, record accuracy, and provide basic assistance in correcting shooting habits.

It was still only Unranked Grade, so its effects naturally had limits.

For a settlement filled with newly awakened youths, however, it was extremely useful, since it took less than a day of diligent practice to upgrade their mastery to an intermediate level.

Though the effect lessened after that, it still remained.

The second was a Bell Tower.

Once constructed, the tower could transmit the sound of its bell throughout the entire territory and deliver a wide voice announcement at the cost of magic crystals.

Neither blueprint was reusable.

Once consumed through the Universal Cornerstone, it would disappear permanently until found again later.

It was troublesome, but their effects did indeed tend to be stronger than the reusable ones.

Lily looked at the scroll currently in Arianne's hands with increasing satisfaction.

Before Lily's attention could return completely to the blueprint, Ace spoke again.

"Your Highness, there is another matter."

Lily looked back at him, her excitement not yet fading.

"Another blueprint?"

Ace's expression froze slightly.

Beside him, Lia coughed into his fist.

Arianne turned toward Lily with a helpless expression.

"Lily, how could blueprints be so common."

"Hehe. My fault, my fault."

Arianne shook her head, while Ace finally continued.

"There is someone outside the territory requesting to meet you."

Before Lily could respond, Arianne's expression had already tightened.

"One of ours?"

Ace and Lia shook their heads.

"No. A foreigner."

Arianne frowned.

Within the Origin Battlefield, the word foreigner carried considerably more weight than it ordinarily would.

Nearly everyone was a foreigner to everyone else.

Different races, realms, planets, nations, and civilizations were constantly being brought together inside the same enormous world, and unless someone belonged to the same civilization or an already familiar allied force, there was little reason to trust them.

Compared to the monsters wandering the Origin Battlefield, intelligent beings could sometimes be considerably more dangerous.

Arianne naturally had no intention of treating an unknown visitor casually, especially when that visitor had specifically requested Lily.

As far as she was concerned, Lily should have no business with any foreign Awakener yet.

"What did they say they wanted?"

Lily was cautious as well, but her caution was accompanied by curiosity.

"They only said they wanted to see you," Lia answered.

Lily's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Did they say how they knew me?"

"No."

That made the situation stranger.

Arianne's wariness increased further.

"Then there's no reason for you to meet them. If they have something important to say, they can explain it to Ace or Lia first."

Lily hesitated.

Under normal circumstances, she would have agreed.

However, Ace had added another detail: the stranger had not originally approached Evergreen Haven asking for Lily.

They had encountered Ace and Lia outside the territory, and only after seeing the two had the stranger shown an unusual reaction and begun asking questions.

Once the stranger learned that they belonged to Evergreen Haven, the request to meet its owner had followed.

Lily looked between Ace and Lia.

The two boys were certainly quite good looking, but there was nothing about their clothing that should have revealed their connection to Lily based on appearance alone.

Their most distinctive similarities were physical.

Black hair.

Green eyes.

And ears that were slightly pointed compared to ordinary humans.

Lily possessed black hair and green eyes as well.

Arianne clearly still disliked the situation, but Lily eventually convinced her that simply meeting the visitor was unlikely to place her in any real danger.

Arianne eventually relented but decided to follow.

Soon, Lily, Arianne, Ace, and Lia began making their way toward the outskirts of Evergreen Haven.

Their path took them through much of the young settlement.

The changes that had occurred within only a few days were plain to see.

The Universal Cornerstone remained at the center, surrounded by the more important buildings and several open areas reserved for future construction.

From there, rough roads extended outward in different directions, dividing the growing settlement into increasingly recognizable sections.

The residential area was currently the largest.

Stone houses were fewer in number but noticeably larger than the wooden houses.

Most were two-storey structures with enough space to accommodate several residents comfortably, and their stronger restorative effect made them particularly valuable for Awakeners returning exhausted or injured from extended exploration.

Wooden houses were smaller and simpler, but far more numerous, both because of their lower construction requirements and because they had been the first residential blueprint obtained.

The Basic Storehouses had been positioned near areas where returning exploration groups deposited their resources.

Groups of native Awakeners constantly moved between them carrying monster materials, herbs, ores, wood, and supplies recovered from the surrounding regions and dungeons.