I placed Novi on the ground and patted her head. She preened at my touch, the sick little freak that she was.

Then, plopped down after creating a light because the sun was setting, she began rebuilding her missing body, after doing a quick mental check with me that it was okay to reallocate the Wit.

This time, she went with the combat insect design. Occasionally, she flicked open a simulation to test something out before making a slight alteration. I was interested in seeing how it turned out.

As for myself, I opened up my first notification.

Err— Bzzp!

The window emitted a loud buzzing sound that made me jump, then, with a pop, closed.

I really wish I had some way to check the system's log files to determine what the fuck just happened. Maybe it had something to do with aligning with Winter? I don't think it was supposed to be possible to do that the way that I did it.

Was it not quite real because I had to pretend to get it to happen?

My eyes landed on Novi. I was going to have to ask her to see if she could access that one properly.

Given that there was nothing I could do, I just moved on.

[Class Skill Option] Name: [Chill▒▒▒▒▒] Tier: [<$⁸⅘ - Growth] Description: [You have undergone ⸮₣̷̛͜͢⟁⸗∅͞

The notification was flickering in and out of reality.

Oh, yeah, it was definitely related to the Winter thing.

"Hey, Novi. Can you actually read this window?" I asked her. Her body froze for a second as she looked through my eyes.

"Nope, typical system issues." She replied.

I sighed. I wondered what would happen if I accepted this Skill. It could be completely busted and be some amazing power, given it was quite literally busted.

Although the system was running off my Soul, and I was already having Soul issues, so that might be a bad idea…

[Class Skill Option] Name: [Annexed Domain Establishment] Tier: [Wrought] Description: [You have established your first ritual domain through blood-soaked True ownership of stolen soil. Your soul itself has touched the land, and it responds to your whims. This is both a blessing and a curse, as while a Domain can give you strength, it can also act as a perfect weak point.] Effects: [You will be given access to a management function for Domains you control. Due to the fact that your system has its minimap unlocked, every being with a lower average level than you within your Domain will be marked on the map along with their stance towards you.]

Now that would be useful. I think.

What a 'management function' actually was, I have no idea. The only thing that I knew was that part of the Skill would provide me with information on how Domains work. Because how would I manage a Domain without being given information on it?

Interestingly, the effect was now separated from the description. I guess that wasn't just a Capstone Skill thing. It must have come from the system update.

The bit in the description about the Domain being a weak point was worrying, though.

[Class Skill Option] Name: [Arms of Winter] Tier: [Emblazoned] Description: [Winter flows through your veins and A№n⸮. This has allowed you to reach past the limit of your Soul. Forged through absolute self-control, Winter will follow your whims through force alone.] Effect: [Enables manifestation of Mana-Wrought tools oriented towards control. Control over Winter is dramatically improved.]

I wished these Skill descriptions had come with tooltips. What did any of that even mean? Also, another broken bit. This was getting ridiculous.

I had no more notifications, so I decided to test something.

"Hey, Novi, do you have any notifications?" I asked, and I had a suspicion that might be part of the issue.

"Yeah, I left them for you. Why?" Novi responded, confirming my worry.

"Open them, I'm out. Those are uniquely yours," I replied. She stared off into the middle distance, checking her notifications.

I had to take the only completely functional Skill. I didn't want to fuck up my Soul any more than it already was. So I picked [Annexed Domain Establishment].

I kind of wanted to know how Domains could leave a weak point for me, and this Skill seemed like the only way to do that.

The moment I picked it, I suddenly felt nauseous despite having literally nothing in my stomach. It was more like my Soul was nauseated by whatever was happening.

Something was wriggling inside my Core, a structure that shouldn't exist was being built. An itchy, burning feeling passed through my body. Damn, Eryx, this seems like a hack job. You didn't do this part, did you?

A moment later, Novi screeched and launched herself into the air. Her doll's body slammed into the ground a short while later.

"Can you let me know before you drill a hole into my mind, please? Just a quick 'hey, about to fuck your head up, brace yourself' would have been nice," Novi grumbled, her face planted into the dirt, twitching slightly.

"Had no idea that was going to happen. I assume you got an upgrade? Also, you need to let me know what the notification you got was."

"Yeah, no need to remind me," she said, pulled herself off the ground once the twitching stopped and went back to working on the new drone. "I got a Title, half the text is messed up, but it's something about how I claimed Winter as my own. [Aspect of White Silence], if I focus, I can prevent any trace of my passing, and I am much harder to detect with aura senses.

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"You're saying you didn't get this?" Novi asked, not looking up from her work.

"No? How does it work?" I released the Authority I had been holding within my Authority Core and closed my eyes. This blanketed the entire area in my aura, and then I tried to feel for her.

I could feel the land, the forest around us, the snow along the branches, and small animals hibernating nearby. They're hibernating already? That was fast, is it because the domain is Winter-based?

Novi was missing. It felt like the spot she should be was just air. Through [Friend of the Forest], I could feel the plant material that made up her body, but the perception I had through my aura just wasn't working.

Then she appeared, as if out of nowhere.

"Damn, why couldn't you share that with me? What part of the Title isn't displayed properly?" I asked, then realized something. That Title was probably the first window that I should have seen. It just failed to appear.

"The entire description basically. It starts with 'You grasped Winter's', then just cuts off. Luckily, I can actually see the effect," she replied.

"Huh." I was a little envious, but that was okay, she'd be able to use that to hide herself… Oh, that's why she got that as a Title.

I sighed. She'd be fine, no need to discuss it with her.

I didn't have much time to contemplate Novi's mental state as a message appeared in front of me.

[System Alert]

Notice: Due to failing to meet the conditions required for your stay in Eternia, you are required to perform for us. You have until the end of the day to complete the Quest.

Conditions: [1/10] Kill 10 creatures I-10 or higher.

Daily Quest failure in 25 minutes, would you like to accept your failure now? Y/N

What the hell, I didn't even get a chance to complete it! How was I supposed to know what the task was? Novi killed a Second Ascension creature on her own; that should be plenty.

I swear to the gods… Nope, stop swearing, anything. Don't want to create an Oath by accident.

As if on cue, I received a ping of Mana from the transmitter I gave to Kaede.

Gods damn it not—

A genius idea came to me at that moment. Maybe I could solve this in a two-for-one. Novi looked like she had just finished up with her new body. Instead of communicating, I just sent her the issue and my plans over the mental connection.

She looked up at me with the doll and nodded. Then she hopped into a tree, vanishing almost immediately into a white blur. The insect skittered after her.

It was time to try out those muscles, I supposed. Novi had sent me memories of her using them, which should help. There was a problem, though. The size difference and the dolls being built from the ground up as a different model than my body.

Aiming in the direction Kaede's signal came from, I kicked off the ground and flew through the forest. Trees blurred past me as I ran. I had a few close calls but managed to avoid hitting any of them.

It was incredibly exhilarating to move this fast, which was something Novi hadn't included in the memories. Probably intentionally, knowing myself. I was really glad I didn't have a stomach. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't be happy about the rapid changes in direction.

I hadn't been a fan of rollercoasters until now; this was amazing.

Less than thirty seconds of travel later, I was already at the edge of the village, slightly disappointed I couldn't continue bounding about unrestrained.

Checking the minimap, I couldn't see anyone in the direction I was heading in, but I could see some dots in the village itself. They either had no opinion of me or saw me in an incredibly positive light, which probably meant those were the children I had met.

This meant Kaede was either higher level than me or set the artifact to go off in the middle of the forest without standing nearby. The former was really the only likely option, but I should approach it as if it were a potential trap anyway. I spread my Authority out through my body so that I held complete control over myself.

Then, I simply walked in the direction the signal came from. Slow enough that Grace could muffle my movement.

I pinged Novi and received an image of myself walking through the forest in response. Good.

Soon enough, I found Kaede sitting on a log just past the edge of the forest. A small glowing orb floated next to her, illuminating the area. I took a route to circle around behind her.

With a burst of [Natural Enhancement], I hopped into the air and landed directly next to her on the log. The ON-CAMERA indicator appeared the moment before I landed.

"WHA—Oh, you're here," Kaede said, cutting off her exclamation with impressive precision. Her expression fell for just an instant after she halted the scream before shifting to immense relief.

I wasn't sure why, but it didn't look like she was worried about the fact that I appeared out of nowhere. It seemed as if she was more concerned about what she was about to say.

Maybe I was just seeing things, though.

"You have the information on my prey?" I asked.

"Before that, I have…" She took a moment to think about what she wanted to say. "It seems like nobody is able to leave your domain."

"Yep," I replied with a nod.

She seemed to short-circuit at my words, and the ball of light next to her brightened for a second. Something about my reply was probably odd from the perspective of whatever story was being told. But she recovered, and I hadn't been hit with breaking character so everything was fine.

"Okay," well, that was easy. I didn't expect her to accept that fact without some kind of pushback. "The information you seek lies in the history of this land."

I eyed the timer I had on the Daily Quest. Twenty-three minutes left.

Ugh, I don't have time for worldbuilding. Where's the skip button?

I just nodded, and she continued, "It is said this village was built near the site of a massive battle."

I looked around, and this didn't seem like the right type of terrain for that sort of thing.

"This was before the grand mages flattened the land and grew the forests." She said with a wince, and checked my reaction.

I didn't say anything for a moment, but a burning feeling was building up inside me. My character was supposed to react to this in some way. The longer I delayed the reaction, the worse the burning got.

What am I supposed to do? Grand mages flattening… Oh, right, I'm a child of the mountains.

I imagined the sensation of meat sliding into my mouth and down my throat. My face twisted in disgust, and the burning started to ease.

I hoped they only gave me flash quizzes on things I could actually figure out.

"Don't speak of those times, I would rather not remember them. How is this relevant?" I asked, my role recovered entirely as I spoke, and the burning feeling disappeared.

"Near the end of the war, Agemed, a disciple of Nymaris, The Painted Talesman, prayed that the conflict always be remembered by those who touched these lands." Wait, is that a real god? Or a fake one created for the story. "Nothing happened for at least a millennium."

"What changed then?" I asked. A storytelling god was asked to retain a memory. What does that have to do with territorial ownership? Was the prayer misremembered?

Kaede looked away, her eyes locked on the ground.

"Grandpa Rai, our keeper of stories, died," she muttered.

Eh?

Wait, they defined memory as literally being remembered? That's stupid. Also, Kaede learned about it, shouldn't she…

"Why was there no new keeper?" I realized the problem.

"I didn't want to take up the mantle," she replied, and the light dimmed slightly. "I had no interest in studying dry historical accounts for my entire life. Not after a grand mage visited our village when I was a child. I've been enamoured by magic since then."

I sighed and lit the leaves on the top of my cloak.

"So, how does this help me kill it? Also, is there more than one of them?"

I checked the timer. Twenty minutes remained.

"Hey Novi, how do I access the domain functions?" I asked her over the connection we shared.

[Oh, I've been waiting for you to ask. Here you go.]

A panel of information appeared in my mind.

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