[Island Core leveled up to Lv. 4, rewarding 10,000,000 xp, island rose by 10,000 meters]

[Island leveled up to Lv. 7, island rose by 10,000 meters]

[Unlocked: Shop Lv. 7]

[Unlocked: Real Time Island]

[Unlocked: Wandering Traders]

Now, the already massive manor was suddenly a sprawling stone castle, with a number of towering and magnificent spires lining it’s top!

This stone castle must have been around 50 by 50 meters, with walls easily a meter thick. There were even watchtowers residing on the corners of the castle, as well as a massive courtyard that took several times the space of the castle itself.

“Congratulations!”

“Long live the Mayor!”

“I can see it already, our island will truly rise to great heights!”

Excited cries suddenly rang out across the island, as citizens rejoiced on the occasion of their island increasing in strength.

Simon in turn, grinned as well.

From having a default island, to having the level of island progression necessary to have a voice in the lowest zone: The fourth island core… He had achieved this in under a week!

That achievement was without question, very impressive. It would typically take others at least a month or two to reach this stage of progression, after all...

The main perpetrators for his quick progression were his hard work and fortunate circumstances.

For instance, the moisture drawing arrays which provided the island with water, the crop field arrays which provided a guarantee of bountiful harvests, and the hardworking group of refugees under his island...

Without any of these factors, the island progression would have certainly been much slower, if not impossible!

But thankfully, these three factors which were hard for others to attain were easily achieved due to Simon’s efforts.

“Everyone, let’s celebrate this occasion with a feast! Let it be known that with every increase in island level, there will be a celebration!” Simon merrily announced, utilizing voice magnification magic to make his words reverberate throughout the island.

On cue, a series of desks were brought out by members on the island, and all sorts of assortments of food were also brought out. From aromatic pork chops, to crispy pies… The food did not stop coming until late in the night!

…

The stars above the world of Island Ascension Online were now out in full. By now, the celebration had died down, and most residents were sound asleep - only members of the night patrol were up and fulfilling their duties.

Meanwhile, a silent figure was currently making his way through the now massive island, which was to be exact, one kilometer in diameter.

Such a distance was by no means small, and would take regular people quite some time to traverse. But this was only to be expected from a level 7 island, which could only be achieved through blood and sweat.

Simon strode through the perimeter of the island, inspecting it carefully...

The air was now cold and crispy, reminiscent of a sunny winter morning. Not to mention, it was now filled with slightly more mana than earlier.

This change in climate was in fact, due to the island’s current altitude of 110,000 meters.

The Low zone, which starts at an altitude of 200,000 meters, is characterized by it’s infamously low temperatures; naturally this little change in the climate was just the tip of the iceberg.

Now that his island was at an altitude of 110,000 meters, he was finally starting to feel the effects of his island’s location.

As for why Simon was inspecting his island… He was meticulously planning out the ruin’s placement! After all, integrating a ruin to one’s island was by no means a simple affair.

Upon implementing a ruin to one’s island, one had to account for the consequences for doing so - both immediate, and remote. Not to mention, he also had to keep the overall look of this island similar to his previous world.

Thankfully, sections of dense jungles were not exactly uncommon in his previous world; he did not lack options.

After a lengthy period of pondering, he eventually came to a decision.

‘Alright, this jungle shall be placed to the northwest of my island, and will be called The Tropics of Ichor - named after the real thing!’ Simon decided, whilst staring at the northwest of his island.

Indeed, in his past life, there existed a jungle called the Tropics of Ichor. The jungle was in the northwest of the town in his past life as well, hence his placement.

Simon went over the plan in his head one final time, before solemnly taking out the Ruin Deed.

Upon bringing the deed out, a system notification sounded in his mind.

[Do you wish to bind this [Ruin Deed]?]

But right as he was about to activate it, he paused.

‘Well, I should probably get rid of the rats first!’ he thought with a chuckle.

There were indeed still some spies on his island. Simon had noticed them quite early on, but didn’t want to apprehend them just yet in order to give the illusion of him being incapable of easily spotting them.

Though he was not exactly afraid of an attack after redeeming the deed, it was still better to be safe than sorry. After all, there weren’t any downsides to being cautious.

And so, he quickly traversed through the island to a particular residence...

At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel proud when gazing at the scenery of the island around him.

By now, a good portion of the town was already complete. From a hospital, to a school, to blacksmiths and abodes… It now had over a hundred substantially sized buildings - well over what was actually needed for the current population of the town.

However, gaining a high population was only a matter of time for the island!

Meanwhile, there were mineshafts, stretches of land meant for logging, fields of crops, and pastures of livestock all over the place.

Overall, the settlement was easily self-sufficient and the quality of life was not low by any means. As a result, the lives of his residents were happy and earnest.

Simon eventually walked up to a humble wooden house, near the outskirts of the settlement.

It has to be known that by now, Simon was approximately a third of the way to achieving his next set of elemental stars, and as such, had a perception range of roughly 5 meters through observing them.

Through these mana waves, he could tell that the two spies were sound asleep - even through walls.

Without bothering to wake them up, he summoned two shards of ice above their heads and promptly pierced their skulls... All while standing outside of the building.

Just like how movements that went along with the flow of one’s mana were not necessary for casting spells, line of sight was not necessary either. Technically, one could control projectiles and summon elements without line of sight, so long as the location of the spell was in one’s mana perception range.

In fact, that was the very reason for the alternate name of a mage’s range of perception through mana: The mage’s domain!

Within a mage’s domain, one could be subjected to an attack at any time. To fight a mage within their domain was a very risky endeavor, as doing so would be akin to treading straight into an enemy’s territory.

After all, a mage knew of everything that happened in their domain, and had absolute control over the region as well!

After verifying that the deed had been done, Simon quickly cleaned up the mess that he had just created and promptly left the building.

With just a word to one of his subordinates, no one would question the disappearance of these two residents. After all, if he, the island owner, wanted someone dead… Most likely, they were a detriment to the island’s well being. Otherwise, he would have no reason to kill them.

Part of the investment that residents put into joining islands was trust in the island owner. In other words, no issues would arise so long as he was righteous and fair, and if he maintained a thriving island.

And if he wasn’t?

The residents could only curse their bad judgement or luck. This was precisely why minions had much lower statuses compared to island owners.

After completing the task, Simon quickly headed towards the northwest edge of the island, before taking out the ruin deed.

Ding!

[Do you wish to bind this [Ruin Deed]?]

He paused for a moment to make sure that he had not missed anything, before activating it.

‘Yes!’

Immediately, Simon, along with any residents that were awake, found their vision darkening.

When their vision returned, the island had completely changed!

If one looked to the northwest, one would see a towering jungle that took up as much space as the original island, filled with a dangerous aura and an abundance of ruins…

Meanwhile, the overall shape of the island was somewhat distorted; it looked rather like an oval shape. The size of the island overall also increased by almost 20% in the process!

“Haha, it's finally done.” Simon chuckled, gazing at the towering jungle in front of him.

Now that the deed was finally redeemed, he felt more at peace. After all, one could no longer steal what was already used, unless they successfully raided his island or killed him. But thankfully, doing those things were easier said than done.

Simon immediately delved into the ruin that was now part of his island.

In any case, he needed to resolve the threats that still resided in the ruin before anything else. The explanation to his residents would come later!