Chapter 1317 Strange Resource

Lily and Timi had taken Michael's advice seriously when choosing where to establish the new Universal Cornerstone.

Every layer of the Origin Battlefield was divided into countless regions, and those regions were broadly separated into three levels, from Level One to Level Three.

However, the level of a region wasn't an absolute measurement of the value of everything within it.

A Level Three region was generally more dangerous than a Level Two region, while a Level Two region was generally more dangerous than a Level One region. Stronger creatures, harsher environments, and other threats were much more common as the level increased.

Valuable resources frequently followed the same pattern.

Many of the richer mines, rarer plants, special environments, and other natural treasures could be found in higher-level regions.

But this wasn't an absolute rule.

Above the three ordinary regional levels was a Level One Domain.

Unlike ordinary regions, a Level One Domain wasn't something that naturally existed within the Origin Battlefield.

It was created when a Universal Cornerstone was successfully claimed within a region.

"This should be a good location to claim a Cornerstone," Lily muttered as she surveyed the surroundings.

After she and Timi returned to Evergreen Haven, Lily had only exchanged a few words with Arianne and several others within the territory before dashing away.

Naturally, there had been questions about where she and Timi were going.

Fortunately, the existence of Michael's face played a big role in matters like this.

With a completely straight face, Lily made it sound as though everything she and Timi were about to do had something to do with her cousin's arrangements.

Though there was skepticism, when it came to Michael, even Arianne, his partner, wouldn't want to disrupt his plans.

After that, the two mischievous youths departed Evergreen Haven and began moving madly across the Zeroth Layer.

They didn't explore carefully.

As long as they were still close to Evergreen Haven, practically everything was ignored, whether it contained valuable resources or not. Of course, they also made sure to mentally mark these locations down for future purposes.

Timi slowly turned his head as he examined their surroundings.

Unlike Lily, however, he didn't look convinced.

"Are you sure?"

Timi gestured toward the surrounding landscape.

"This is only a Level Two region. Wouldn't a Level Three region be better?"

There was more than just concern over resources behind his question.

The twenty Universal Cornerstone Fragments he'd gathered had all come from Level Three regions.

As far as Timi knew, fragments of the Universal Cornerstone could only be obtained from Level Three regions in the Zeroth Layer.

That naturally created an association, making it seem reasonable that the completed Deployment Core should also be used within a Level Three region.

"Would it even work here?" Timi expressed his doubts.

"It doesn't matter."

Lily's answer came immediately.

Timi looked at her.

Lily understood where his confusion came from. It was the same assumption Michael himself had once made.

"Have you forgotten that the description of the core says it can be used anywhere in the Origin Battlefield, not only in Level Three regions?"

Hearing this, Timi was immediately enlightened. Sure enough, when he used Detect on the core in his hands again, it was truly as Lily said. It was just that after merging the pieces, he had only taken a brief look at the description, already knowing the general effect of it, and hadn't paid much attention to the other details, especially since he was in a rush to claim his own Cornerstone and take Lily to Earth.

[Universal Cornerstone Deployment Core]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Effect: May be used to establish an unclaimed Universal Cornerstone anywhere within the Origin Battlefield. It is not restricted to any layer.]

[Note: The deployed Universal Cornerstone will initially remain unclaimed. Deployment does not grant ownership, and the Cornerstone may be claimed by anyone.]

Amazing, Timi sighed mentally in awe. Truly, as expected of a Legendary-grade treasure.

Timi couldn't be blamed for this.

Even Michael, who had paid more attention to the details of the core upon getting it, still unconsciously associated this transformation with Level Three regions.

His own Eternal Crown had originated from a Level Three region, and the Universal Cornerstone he'd claimed had been located there.

Because of that experience, he'd simply assumed that Universal Cornerstones were meant to be claimed within Level Three regions, even after discovering the alternative method involving Cornerstone Fragments.

It was only thanks to Arianne that Michael realized he'd fallen victim to the Einstellung effect.[1]

When he'd given her a Deployment Core to establish a territory within the First Layer, he'd expected her to find a suitable Level Three region before deploying it.

He had never explicitly told her to do so.

To Michael, the requirement had seemed obvious enough that it hadn't even occurred to him that he needed to mention it, but Arianne hadn't shared that assumption and had eventually found a suitable Level Two region and deployed the core there.

Nothing went wrong.

The Universal Cornerstone appeared normally.

After it was successfully claimed, the Level Two region was transformed into a Level One Domain just as Michael's Level Three region had been.

It had been a small but useful lesson for Michael.

A Level One Domain didn't require a Level Three region as its predecessor.

With a Deployment Core, virtually any suitable region could serve as the foundation.

The only major difference was size. The transformation that came with becoming a Level One Domain appeared to be the same regardless of the original region's level, but the starting size of the region still mattered considerably.

Since Level Three regions were generally the largest, they naturally benefited the most from the expansion.

A Level Two region transformed into a Domain might only end up comparable in size to a particularly large Level Three region. Michael hadn't personally seen what would happen if a Level One region underwent the same transformation, but following the same pattern, its resulting territory might only rival a particularly large Level Two region.

Whether that counted as a disadvantage probably depended on the Lord claiming the Cornerstone.

Timi's doubts regarding whether the Deployment Core would work in the region had disappeared.

There was little room for argument when the description itself explicitly stated that the core could be deployed anywhere within the Origin Battlefield.

However, that only answered one of his concerns.

Timi looked around again.

"But are you really sure this is actually a good location?"

Lily's confidence immediately weakened.

She followed his gaze and carefully examined their surroundings once more.

"It... shouldn't be that bad, right?"

Her uncertainty wasn't particularly reassuring.

Although resources hadn't been their primary focus when choosing a location, that didn't mean they should deliberately establish Timi's first territory somewhere worthless.

After all, even an unused resource was better than nothing.

The problem was the resources that counted as valuable in this region.

The current location was dominated by green.

That was practically the entire region.

The land stretched into the distance as an enormous expanse of green. Thick grass covered almost every visible patch of soil, rising past their ankles in some places and nearly reaching their knees in others.

Even the scattered trees were unusually green.

Their trunks possessed a faint greenish tint beneath their rough bark, while broad leaves formed dense canopies overhead. Vines crawled between some of the trees, and small green plants occupied nearly every gap left between them.

While other colours existed, everything in this region was eerily dominated by green. The most peculiar feature they had discovered here was currently in front of them.

It was a pond.

It wasn't particularly enormous, stretching only several hundred meters from one side to the other, but the water immediately separated it from an ordinary pond.

It was green.

Not the muddy green produced by algae or stagnant water.

The water itself appeared almost transparent, possessing a faint emerald coloration that became deeper toward the center. The light from above penetrated surprisingly far beneath its surface, making the pond resemble an enormous piece of translucent green glass embedded into the earth.

And beneath that glass-like surface swam hundreds of strange fish.

They were beautiful.

At least, from a distance.

Their bodies were long and slender, with wide translucent fins that trailed behind them like thin pieces of silk. Every movement was exceptionally graceful. Their scales were nearly transparent and possessed a faint jade-green coloration that allowed light to pass through them.

Whenever a school changed direction, hundreds of bodies shimmered beneath the water at once, producing ripples of pale green light.

Unfortunately, their heads ruined almost everything.

Their mouths were disproportionately large, stretching almost halfway across their heads and filled with several rows of thin needle-like teeth.

They had no visible noses.

Instead, several tiny holes dotted the area above their mouths.

Worse were their eyes.

Each fish possessed four small black eyes arranged unevenly along either side of its head. The eyes bulged slightly outward and moved independently, occasionally making one of the creatures appear to stare in several directions at once.

The contrast was disturbing.

From the neck down, they resembled elegant creatures that could have been kept purely for their beauty.

From the neck up, they looked like something dragged out of an unpleasant nightmare.

Timi stared at them for several seconds.

One of the fish gracefully approached the edge of the pond.

Its translucent fins spread beautifully around it.

Then its enormous mouth opened.

Rows of needle-like teeth became visible.

Timi's expression stiffened slightly.

Lily wasn't doing much better.

Still, she pointed toward the pond.

"Doesn't this count as a resource?"

Timi remained silent for a moment.

His black eyes followed another school of the strange fish as they gracefully circled beneath the transparent green water.

"...I guess."

The reluctance in his voice was obvious.

Lily couldn't exactly blame him.

Their appearance was uncomfortable to look at once one paid attention to their heads, but appearance didn't determine whether something was useful.

The fish were clearly not ordinary animals. Their appearance already suggested as much, but the information revealed by Detect confirmed it.

Timi focused on one of the fish swimming closest to the surface.

A panel appeared before him.

[Emerald Veilfish]

[Grade: Rare]

[Description: A rare aquatic creature commonly found in mana-rich waters.]

[Consumption Effect: +10 Intelligence, +5 Agility.]

[Limit: Effective up to three times.]

[Note: Repeated consumption produces diminishing returns. The first consumption grants the full effect. Subsequent consumption provides reduced attribute gains.]

Timi's gaze slowly shifted from the panel toward the Emerald Veilfish swimming beneath the water.

One of them happened to turn toward him at that exact moment.

Four bulging black eyes stared in different directions while its massive mouth opened and closed, exposing rows of needle-like teeth.

Timi gave up.

He wasn't going to judge them anymore.

Whatever else could be said about their appearance, the Emerald Veilfish were undoubtedly valuable resources.

Ten points of Intelligence and five points of Agility from simply eating one was already an impressive effect.

Although the effects diminished after the first consumption and completely ceased after three, that restriction hardly made the fish useless.

There were hundreds in this pond alone.

And this wasn't the only pond.

Even if each individual could only benefit three times, the fish could potentially be distributed among a large number of people.

Timi could only console himself with the fact that valuable things didn't necessarily have to look pleasant.

Besides, he might not even personally manage this territory in the future.

Michael had only advised him to claim a Cornerstone and link it to the larger network. Nothing said Timi had to spend his days raising strange fish or overseeing every resource within his territory himself.

Thinking too deeply about their faces was pointless.

With these ponds alone, the Level Two region could already be considered something of a treasure land.

That was enough.

Since both of them had already concluded that the region was suitable, Timi didn't hesitate any longer.

They moved away from the pond and searched for an appropriate location closer to the center of the region.

It didn't take particularly long.

Once a sufficiently open area had been chosen, Timi took out the Universal Cornerstone Deployment Core.

The process that followed left Timi in awe. Even Lily, who was seeing it for the second time, couldn't help being impressed.

The Legendary-grade core responded to his intention almost immediately.

The earth trembled as an enormous wave of energy spread throughout the region, its boundaries beginning to expand under the power of the newly established Cornerstone.

By the time the violent fluctuations finally settled, the landscape around Lily and Timi had changed considerably.

The Universal Cornerstone towered over the transformed territory.

Timi stared at it for a while before turning toward Lily.

There was still one rather important matter left.

"What should we call the territory?"

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[1] The Einstellung effect is a cognitive bias where the brain uses a familiar, past method to solve a problem, even when a much easier or better way exists.

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A/N: First comment with the territory name gets it. Second chapter coming in less than three hours. I fell asleep when I should've been writing, so I'm grinding right now!