“This better be worth it, Global. I was in the middle of a really far Guild Request, and now it's gonna take me forever to get back there.” A fully armoured man said, being carried and hanging over Odelia’s left shoulder.

“I know you were, but it’s Eyes Thalion, Ragnar. Any info we can get from him will definitely be worth it, I can feel it!” A hooded woman enthusiastically shouted, being carried and hanging over Odelia’s right shoulder.

“Sure, but this is just humiliating, isn’t there a better way to travel, Miss Odelia?” Ragnar asked politely,

“I could always drag you behind me by the collar if you would prefer.” Odelia suggested, continuing to move incredibly quickly through the forest while carrying the two on her shoulders.

Seeing the speeds they were moving at, Ragnar nervously said “Uhhh...never mind, this good.”

“You’re crazy if you think this is humiliating, Ragnar. Can’t you see how amazing this is? To be able to meet someone this strong and experience their strength first hand!” Global admired Odelia’s strength, “And even with our added weight, we’re still definitely going faster than a 100 miles per hour, maybe even faster!” She exclaimed, completely enjoying the situation.

“You're right, I am crazy; crazy for being your friend!" Ragnar chuckled at her, "But you're crazy just cause you’re crazy, Global.”

“I can see the mountains ahead.” Odelia informed them, pointing ahead. “Now try not to fall off, I will start moving faster now that I know the exact direction to go in.”

“Mountains? I don’t see anything but trees, do you Global?” Ragnar asked, trying to look ahead.

“I don’t either, incredible! Is it because you’re an Elf, Miss Odelia? Or maybe specifically because you're a Dark Elf? No, that makes no sense, right? Or does it? Noo? Yess? Nooo? Yesss?” Global began questioning herself.

Ragnar chuckled again, “Definitely crazy.” holding tight onto Odelia as she somehow moved even faster.

Reaching the foot of the mountains, Odelia continued forward as a barely visible barrier suddenly appeared in her way. Not having the time to stop her incredible momentum, Odelia expected to crash right into the barrier wall, but instead she simply passed through. However the two people she carried strangely did crash into the barrier wall, and were completely knocked off her shoulders onto the ground.

“Uhhh…what the hell was that?” Ragnar groaned, slowly picking himself up from the ground.

“Are you two alright?” Odelia asked, curiously looking at the barrier before easily passing through again.

Unbothered by the crash, Global quickly got up and immediately poked the barely visible barrier, and she saw it become more visible on her touch. “Fascinating!” She exclaimed, touching the barrier again, this time causing a new Menu to appear in front of her. “Even more fascinating!” Then pointing out to Odelia “It seems it only allows you to enter, Miss Odelia. Have you been here before? Or maybe familiar with such a barrier?” Reading the Menu to herself while she talked.

“No, this is my first time here, as for the barrier..." After giving the barrier a quick examination, Odelia told them "This barrier is on par, or even better than the ones you would find protecting the major cities. For it to exist here...there must have been multiple high level Mage Type Classes who secretly gathered to create it, especially for one this incredibly powerful. And from what I can see, it might even surround the entirety of the mountain range.” Odelia was in awe of the whole thing, “This is terrifying to witness, and impossible to imagine.”

Both of them took notice of Odelia’s reaction, and Ragnar nervously said “Global, you never said anything about a huge powerful barrier earlier, and even Miss Odelia says it’s terrifying, and she’s clearly stronger than us. Are you sure this will be worth it?”

“Ooh, stop pretending you're scared." Brushing Ragnar's act off, "I know you find this just as fascinating as I do, otherwise you wouldn't have come so easily, and you know I can make anything worth it.” Ragnar chuckled at her accurate words, “And I didn’t mention it earlier cause I didn’t know earlier, and besides, what’s a wall gonna do to us?” She asked, continuing to read the Menu.

“Maybe you’re right.” Ragnar conceded, asking “Now how do we get pass this barrier, Miss Odelia?”

“We cannot, it is impossible.” Odelia answered bluntly, clarifying “I mean for us that is." Informing them "We would need an army of at least 10,000 strong—all being Lv.50 and above—and that would just be enough to start causing notable damage to the barrier.”

“What?!” Ragnar yelled out in disbelief.

Odelia continued, “Then who knows how long it would take to break the barrier entirely. Could be days, could be weeks, even months if some Mage Types are reinforcing it.”

“Okay, that’s crazy!” Ragnar smiled under his helmet, asking “What do we do now, Global?”

Finished reading the Menu, Global simply smiled at him, asking “Do you know what you do when you find a locked door without a key?” Ragnar tilted his head in confusion, “You knock.”

***

A couple hours earlier...

Calling out to Infinity, I began collecting the enormous pile of arrows and quivers through the small black hole it created, and not even taking a whole 3 minutes, everything was already sucked into it. When I called out to Infinity again to close the black hole, I noticed that the moving and fading infinity trail on the quiver was slightly more prominent now, and thought “Strange, that wasn’t like that before…” Also noticing 18 miniscule white dots and 5 tiny green ones spread throughout the black darkness of the quiver’s design—all slowly moving in different directions around the quiver. “When did those get there?” I wondered, examining the rest of the quiver to see if anything else changed about it, but finding nothing else. Trying to figure out the reason for the change, I decided to inspect Infinity’s Stats and looked into its storage.

Total Stored: 18,793

[Damaged Arrows]: 7,492

Goblin Arrows: 6,820

[Broken Arrows]: 2,215

Goblin Quiver: 1,798

Odelia’s Iron Arrows: 436

Weapon Racks: 10

...

With a little bit of thinking and taking out some of the items, I came to the conclusion that the 18 white dots were for every 1,000 Common Rarity items stored, while the 5 green dots were for every 100 Uncommon Rarity, and it seemed to be regardless of the items being damaged or broken. “I can’t believe I haven’t noticed this until now, but this makes me wonder…” Wanting to test it out, I took the Tear of an Elder Cyclops out of my Inventory, and stored both it and Odelia’s Shame inside Infinity.

Watching carefully, I witnessed the beginning of the infinity trail light up brightly with a red and blue colour; at which point they blended and mixed together to create a vibrant purple light. Though as it continued to travel in the shape of an infinity, the purple light slowly moved down the trail, and eventually faded into only being a red coloured light. When it finally reached the end of the trail, the red light was sent flying out into the black darkness of the quiver, but to my surprise a second red light was also sent out in a different direction to the first, and they each became relatively large star-like dots lighting up the darkness around them.

Seeing the infinity trail grow even more prominent after that, and not seeing a blue dot appearing on the quiver, I figured I should start storing rare items inside Infinity to see what else would happen to it, and theorized that the Rarity of the items mattered. Then safely assumed it needed 10 Rares for a blue dot to appear, probably 1 Epic for one purple, 1 Unique for two reds, and possibly 1 Legendary for three yellows to appear. But having nothing else to confirm my theories, I decided to put them in the back of my mind for now, and redirected my focus on all the notifications I ignored during the battle.

Archer’s Dash increased by 1 Level. Arrow Shower increased by 5 Levels. Charged Arrow increased by 5 Levels. First Aid increased by 2 Levels. Leaping Shot increased by 4 Levels. Power Shot increased by 3 Levels. Rapid Shot increased by 4 Levels. Spread Shot increased by 4 Levels. Turning Arrow increased by 2 Levels. Twin Arrow increased by 4 Levels. Archery proficiency increased by 7 Levels. Archer’s Confidence increased by 1 Level. Sprint increased by 1 Level. Dodge increased by 2 Levels. Fitness increased by 1 Level.

I also realized at some point got a Title that probably made killing the undead goblins even easier.

You have gained the Title: [Undead Slayer]. Undead Slayer: Having slayed thousands of undead creatures, slaying more has simply become much easier for you. +15% Damage against any type of Undead.

While I was distracted by myself, I came to notice Goblex—who was now possessing the dead body of the Warrior Chieftain—had begun to really pile up all the rotten corpses together, and that the horrible stench coming from them was beginning to really irritate my nose. So making my way outside the castle entrance, where there were no corpses and fresher air, I thought to myself “This would be a perfect time to check out the Homestead Menu.”

Homestead

[Settings]

Owner: Eyes Thalion Level: 1 Perks: [Aura Of Allurement], [Barrier Of Protection] Residents[Invite]: None Guests[Add/Requests]: None Intruders: Goblex, ???

“Oooh, this Menu has a Level and Perks. Could this be some type of Housing or Stronghold System?” I speculated, then questioning “But what are those question marks in the Intruders category? Did I accidentally leave a goblin alive somewhere or something?” Trying to learn more about the new Menu, I pressed on the Perks to find out what they did.

Aura of Allurement[On/Off]: Passively emitting a faint sense of allure near your lands, creatures who come across it find themselves naturally being drawn to the area. Choosing a specific Type of Creature, Species, or Others in the Settings can variably increase the affected range. The potency of the Allurement multiplies per Homestead Level. Barrier Of Protection[On/Off]: Creating an incredibly strong barrier around the entirety of your lands, you are finally granted access to the Homestead Settings, and can now actively control who may enter your lands. The strength of the Barrier multiplies per experienced Homestead Level.

“Interesting...I don't know how useful these Perks will be, but at least it gives me the option to turn them On and Off.” Not seeing a problem with keeping the Barrier On, I left it as is, but I did however turn Off the Allurement since I couldn’t imagine a reason why I would want creatures being drawn to the area.

While I continued to play around with the Menu, I learned that the Owner obviously had all the control over the Homestead, being able to Invite creatures to become Residents of the Homestead; at which point they would also be given the ‘Return Home’ Skill I have. I could also Accept creatures as Guests, giving them the freedom to enter for a limited amount of time, but they would first need to be personally Added by me, or make a Request at any part of the Barrier. And Intruders were simply creatures who found a way to breach or pass the Barrier without being Invited or Accepted in. When I saw that there was no info to learn about the Level and Perks, I finally moved onto the Settings.

Settings

Homestead Access: [Closed]

Targeted Allurement: [All(No Bonus)]

Barrier Notifications: [On]

Guest’s Maximum Time Access: [24 Hours]

Request Notifications: [On]

Request Access: [Everyone]

Request Ban List[Add]: None

“Looks pretty straight forward.” I thought, quickly learning that changing the Homestead Access to the only other option—which was Open—is the same as turning the Barrier Off, and that it also greyed out all the other Settings except for Allurment. Switching it back to Closed, I still checked out Targeted Allurement even though I already turned it Off, and I was immediately hit by a barrage of endless options in a different Menu, but strangely most of them only appeared as question marks.

[ S e a r c h ] [Sort] ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? [Canis] ??? [Celestial] [Cervidae] ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? [Dwarverra] ??? ??? ??? ??? [Elventhyl] ??? ??? ??? ??? —>

Too overwhelmed by all of it, I didn't bother looking more into it considering I wasn't even using the Perk at the moment, thinking "I'll deal that when I find a reason to use the Perk." Moving on, I saw the Notifications for when something happened to the Barrier—like it being attacked—could also be turned On and Off, with the ones for the Request making it so I wouldn’t receive them. I also learned that 24 hours was the minimum amount of time a Guest could stay inside the Homestead before then being labeled as a Intruder; with the maximum being 168 hours or 7 days. And finally, I could even specify who could make Requests: from only Players, to Npcs, to Monsters, or a mix of the three. Even being able to ban specific creatures or people from making Requests in the first place.

Closing the Menus after learning everything about it for now, I found myself having nothing else to do but wait, so I made my back inside the castle. When I came across Goblex and saw that he wasn’t even halfway done collecting all the bodies, I decided to help him out, and his possessed faced looked absolutely shocked in disbelief.

“I think that’s all of them, my King.” Goblex said, leaving the Warrior Chieftain’s body and dropping it into the courtyard filled to the brim with corpses—almost reaching the height of the walls.

“I think so too.” I said, in agreement. “And good job, Goblex.” Complimenting him again for his hard work.

“Thank you, Sire. You are too kind.” Smilling as he bowed to me, “To think I would meet and serve a King who willingly helps a mere servant like myself, I am ever grateful.”

“You’re welcome, but can you stop addressing me as King or Sire?” Telling him “Calling me Eyes is enough.”

Goblex nodded his head, “Of course, Master Eyes it is then.”

Sighing like with Odelia, I ignored him and walked to the edge of the wall, where I then overlooked the thousands of goblin corpses. “Hey, remember I don’t want any of these memories.” I said to myself, pointing and reminding my eyes. “I doubt any of them would show me anything interesting like Goblex did.” Then not even needing to call them out, thousands of tendrils bursted out from my eyes and immediately began branching out, wiggling their way through the piles of goblin bodies. A moment passed, and the tendrils all collectively began siphoning their eyes into my own.

You have mass collected multiple eyes to add to your [Eye Collection(15,367)]. You have collected the [Eyes of a Skeleton]. You have gained the Title: [Ten Thousand Eyed Seer]. You have learned the Skill: [Seer’s Eye Sacrifice].

“A New Seer Title and Skill?!” I excitedly thought to myself, as Goblex walked beside me to speak.

“Us Goblins love to collect things that are shiny, and I’ve even known others who also love collecting things, but I’ve never met anyone who specifically collects eyes, especially one who can use that strange power of yours, Master Eyes.” Goblex commented.

“Does that weird you out?” I genuinely asked him.

“Not at all, it’s not much different than someone who collects bodies. I was simply making an observation, Master Eyes.” He explained.

“Hmph, I see…” Trying to read the descriptions of notifications.

Eyes of a Skeleton: Replacing the ones you had when you were alive, your eyes are much more resistant to physical harm and effects.

“Huh, I did notice that the skeleton goblins didn’t have eyes, but I didn’t expect to be able to collect them, or get a natural physical resistance to my eyes.” Pleasantly surprised. “But it’s strange that I didn’t get Zombie and Undead eyes from those Goblin Types, but maybe they’re just considered regular goblin eyes in undead bodies?” I theorized, reading the others.

Ten Thousand Eyed Seer: Finally accumulating and possessing 10,000 Eyes in your Collection, you have finished one of the Requirements needed to Complete the ‘Path Of A Seer’. Gain the ‘Seer’s Eye Sacrifice’ Skill. Seer’s Eye Sacrifice: Sacrificing one or more of your current Eyes, you temporarily empower an Eye/Eyes of your choosing. Cost 1-2 Eyes. Empowered Duration and Potency based on Skill Level and Number/Value of the Sacrificed Eyes.

“I won’t know what exactly the Sacrifice Skill will do until I try it, but what the hell is that Title talking about?!” Making me question, “Was there ever a Quest called ‘Path Of A Seer’? Or maybe Requirements I needed to do?” Double checking my Quest Menu, but finding nothing about either. “Did I miss something?” Trying to remember if I did.

Noticing me in my thoughts, Goblex excused himself, saying “I’ll leave you to your thoughts then, Master Eyes.” Starting to pass through the ground of the walls, “I’ll return when I’m needed.”

“Wait!” I said, stopping him. “There’s something I’ve been needing to do here, and I realized you might just be the perfect person to help me with it.” Quickly giving up racking my mind over the Title for now.

Goblex immediately rose back up from the ground, saying “I’m at your service, Master Eyes.” Kneeling to me again, “What is it you need of me?”

“I don’t know yet,” I answered truthfully, “but I’m sure I’ll know when we get there, now follow me.” And we both made our way to the back of the castle.