Three trees surrounded a perfectly still lake. Each tree was a beautiful creation of moon-white wood, bent and warped in shape but still somehow graceful. They extended branches that spread into crystalline black leaves that glowed with inner strength, and that same luminous nature flowed beneath the bark, showing in places along the trunks. They were perfectly beautiful- except that the ground they grew from had a dark, rust-stained hue. The color of dried blood.

The lake between them was full of stars, reflecting a constellation in the shape of a chalice.

The otter, for once, didn’t have much to say. “That…”

“I’m guessing this should be one-in-a-million, right? The kind of opportunity that people kill for?” Not that people had a high bar on killing. Nic had known people to fight to the death over the alchemical scraps from making cheap, mass-produced cultivation pills.

“Oh. Oh yes, yes you could say that.” The otter covered its mouth with its little paws. “Those are Blood-Drenched Samsara Trees. They’re treasures that reshape the body.”

Nic tilted his head aside, staring into the light that emerged from the star-swept grove. “Like a bloodline evolution?”

“Oh, better. Bloodlines are messy business. This is more artistic. When you enter one of the trees, your body is rendered down, your Essence preserved within the plant. As it withers to nothing and regrows, your body regrows alongside it.”

“The only difficulty is someone has to guide you. The trees will reform your body perfectly on their own, but to create changes, they have to be carefully tended and infused with blood. Someone outside chooses the shape you’ll take, so they’re mainly used for beast-rearing.”

“Ahhh.” There was the catch. It had almost seemed to good to be true, but leaving yourself vulnerable to someone else was enough of a drawback to make it click. “And there’s a limit, I imagine?”

“Mhm. These trees are only D-Class, so they can only help those at E or below. And they’ll take maybe a year to replenish their energy once they’ve been used.”

“Still…” Nic smiled broadly. “It’s a pretty good bit of luck.” It would be perfect for advancing his beasts, even if he didn’t trust the trees enough to enter one himself. And the chance to shape their bloodline would be a draw to bring warriors to the side of his Settlement.

“It’s an insane ‘bit of luck’ - you should be thanking the heavens!”

Nic waved him away. “The heavens will be sending me plenty of pain to make up for it soon enough.”

“Hmmph.” The otter harrumphed, crossing its tiny arms. It was about to begin speaking again, but this was when another voice rippled through the darkened medium space.

“It’s about time I stepped in.”

Sofia appeared. It had been so long since Nic had seen her spiritual form and not just heard her voice, he’d actually almost forgot she had one.

Her body was a beautifully made suit of silver armor, with her face as a floating mask of iron surrounded by pale blue flame.

“Woof. You’d be a lot more scary if you always appeared like this…” Nic casually commented. It was a split second before he realized his mistake.

“Oh? Am I to be insulted that you just said, I think, that I look scary, or that you don’t think I’m intimidating enough on intellect alone?” One iron eyebrow raised.

“Hey! You know that’s not what-” But it was too late. She waved away his protests and turned towards the otter. An audible gulp ran down the little beast’s throat.

“I’ll be taking over from here.” She said.

“Oh. Ah. And the Town Steward position..?” The otter was the very picture of timid hopes, its tiny fingers tapping together nervously.

“You can be my Assistant Steward.” Sofia promised smoothly.

“Righto miss…” The otter took its defeat with grace, slowly fading out of existence. That left Sofia and Nic alone.

“Right.” She raised a hand and a ball of what looked like liquid mercury rose from the floor, lit by internal light. It spread outwards at chest height to form a circular platform. “Let us begin with the basics.”

“There are Native and Invader Settlements of different types. You, as a monster, are allowed to choose your alignment of your own will, but what you choose will be final.”

“There are eight basic types split between factions. They form four pairs, each mirroring the other.”

She waved a hand and the mercury platform rose into a dense, tangled city, which was dominated by an enormous set of towers. Energy crackled between them to form a surface like a blue mirror, reflecting a different city entirely.

“The first option for Natives is the Infinite Webcity. Its chief benefit is being connected to every other Infinite Webcity within a domain that grows as the city does. By leaping between cities, you can eventually go anywhere in the cosmos.”

“On the Invader side…” Her hand crossed above the table and the city sank back down, to be replaced by an image of a floating island. Huge fortress walls ran around the edge, bristling with guns, and dirigibles floated in the sky around it.

“The Roving Citadel. Instead of being interconnected to other cities, it can move directly, allowing it to plunder the world. You can see how the Invader options are more aggressive.”

Nic nodded, reaching out to brush one of the floating warships. It rippled and dissolved into a chain of bubbles that snapped back together and reformed.

“Then there’s the Native option of a Hidden Sanctum. It’s a zone protected by anonymity. Your location won’t be declared and certain natural wards will hide you from easy access. These are typically chosen by cultivators who want to quietly build up strength, because the Sanctum also serves to draw in natural energy, making cultivation faster.”

This time the image on the table was of a beautiful monastery, its crown jewel a ziggurat hidden among the trees of a mountain valley.

She waved her hand and the image changed. This time it was underground, pillars of earth lifting over a miserable, squalid city where buildings piled atop one another.

“A Chthonic Labyrinth. The city will be totally submerged, and can actually take territory out from under other factions without them noticing. They’ll receive various penalties as you infect their realm, and you’ll have ample opportunities to steal from them.”

Nic paused. “Would the Natives know that’s even possible? Or do they only see the Native options?”

Sofia smiled faintly, like a proud teacher. “Exactly right. This is why I’d suggest this option. It’s an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the gullible and untested world.”

“But…”

“If you wish, you could also start a Hermetic Foundry. Capable of producing weapons, pills, golems- you can choose almost any type of production to gear the city around, and its easily one of the strongest choices from an economic perspective.”

The view was of a massive workshop where forges the size of mountains blazed out fire from their open mouths, sparks and cinders settling over everything as conveyor lines marched fresh-cast warrior golems down into cooling baths of water. Dwarven smiths scuttled in all directions tending to the machines.

“That’s a really neat trick.” Nic commented, picking up a dwarf carefully so it didn’t dissolve. It swung at his finger with a tiny hammer and he dropped it.

There was a splat.

“Thank you. Now, the Invader equivalent is…” The scene shifted once more. Now it was a pit in the middle of a wilderness, descending in stepped layers like the inverse of the ziggurat from before. “A Verdant Origin. Beasts will constantly be created at the heart, spreading out in all directions. They won’t directly acknowledge your orders, but they’ll defend their territory fiercely from invaders.”

Nic considered for a moment. The other choices hadn’t struck him quite so strongly. The System was clearly pushing him to develop his skills as a beastmaster, and this Settlement would provide a chance to build an army.

The problem was, it would be poor at actually being a Settlement, instead of a pit of quarrelling monsters.

“I can see this one strikes your fancy. However, before you decide…”

It shifted again. This time, the image was of a massive cathedral-fortress. Nic blinked, looking closer, and saw the walls were made from thousands of skulls. Those same walls were patrolled by lurching abominations of stitched-together flesh.

“A rather messy example of a Last Redoubt. These are the best defensive Settlements, usually chosen by those in dire straights when they form their town. It will enable you to invite warriors from across the cosmos to serve you without needing a Mercenary License.”

“I have a Mercenary License.” Nic pointed out. “Or I’ve been promised one.”

“By an angel you promptly murdered?” She asked.

“I think it was less a murder, more uh, fulfilling his quest in an unexpected way.” Nic refused to back down this time.

“You have in fact received a Mercenary License.” She admitted. “The heavens keep their promises, even to those who, frankly, sin like its their last day alive.”

Nic looked at her bluntly. “That’s a terrible time to sin. You’d be better off acting like a saint and trying to get last minute points on a good afterlife.”

“Yes, yes that’s exactly it Nicolas. What you did was, in point of fact, a terrible idea. Now-”

Once again finding himself on the back foot, Nic watched the final transformation of the diorama city. This time it took shape as a city of ancient ruins and beautiful desolation. The wind curled around crooked and broken pillars, whistled through the broken domes of churches, and lifted the sand across flagstones, slowly burying all beneath the desert.

It reminded him of the Scales of Sand.

“The Fallen Kingdom. Like a Last Redoubt, the chief benefit is gaining warriors. Unlike the Last Redoubt, which calls mercenary wanderers to your aid, the Fallen Kingdom draws its strength from civilizations who earned a last chance from the System. They are preserved outside of the normal flow of time, held in stasis for the day they are called forth. When someone chooses a Fallen Kingdom, they revive an entire culture.”

“Which I’m sure appeals to your sense of philanthropy, but-”

“It’s that one, clearly. And not just for their sake. I need warriors…”

“- but there’s another route. If you acquire a second Spatial Pillar token, you can choose a secondary specialization for your city. The benefits aren’t as pronounced, mind you, but I would suggest you pick Fallen Kingdom as your secondary. That way you gain the warriors you need without sacrificing your ability to function economically.”

Nic stepped back, pacing around the darkened space for a moment and biting at his thumb as he thought. Choosing a Fallen Kingdom second was probably the right choice…

But he wasn’t sold on her idea of choosing an underground, lightless empire. It might be a fast way to gain resources while avoiding conflict, but nobody could avoid conflict forever, not while the skies above were ruled by the System’s will.

In the end, at best he’d be delaying the inevitable, while at worst he’d be putting himself on the back foot when the inevitable happened. He wanted to advance. To seize the day and be the threat on the horizon.

There was only one choice for that.

“Roving Citadel.” He declared, turning towards Sofia.

She nodded, not disputing his decision. Lifting her hand over the diorama table she clenched her fist and made it collapse back into a ball.

“Then let us choose the shape of your new realm.”

Once again it expanded outwards into a flat plane, but this time, no buildings rose. Nic stepped forward and put his hand over the expanse of mirror-smooth mercury. As he focused on the thought of the massive tusked skull where his body was, even now, resting, a miniature image of the skull rose from the liquid.

He grinned. “I have a few ideas…”