Countless factions dominated the multiverse, but few were as unique as the Risen. They were the living dead, and that came with both bonuses and demerits. Some bonuses included a natural lifespan equal to your True Soul’s natural lifespan, meaning you would live as long as possible, and aging would only come to pass due to the person wanting it. Combat-wise, they truly did not have many differences from other enlightened races, besides some changed natural affinities and stats. They were neither stronger nor weaker, and history had also shown that their natural average level of talent was roughly comparable to humans and elves.

As for demerits, the largest inherent one was probably their inability to procreate naturally. Two Risen could not simply make a child. Instead, it took a far more complicated process. It was possible, mind you, but not as easy, and it required a specially created item that both would-be parents poured a part of their essence into. Even then, it wasn’t like an actual child would be born and grow up normally. They would be born in their full adult form, albeit with a nascent consciousness like that of a child.

Their other way to procreate was for others to willingly become Risen. However, this, too, was not as simple as some common misunderstandings and prejudices that existed in the multiverse had made it out to be. One of the most widespread beliefs was that the Risen could forcefully create more Risen by raising the dead.

It did not work like that. The only way for someone to become a Risen was to willingly accept to become one, and only while still alive. You had to participate in a ritual, during which the system would allow you to change. It always required the person to willingly choose, and the ritual would even fail if the individual taking part was being mentally manipulated in any form.

Sadly many still thought the Risen could forcefully make more of themselves by killing others. True, they were talented in raising undead, but while the Risen were classified as undead, no raised undead could ever be classified as Risen or an enlightened species. They were all monsters, unable to possess a class or profession.

Most undead in the multiverse naturally hated the living and wanted to consume them. They were scourges and natural disasters more than anything. A beast or elemental would not choose to hunt down those significantly weaker than themselves for no reason. Meanwhile, an A-grade undead monster would gladly consume several planets with nothing more powerful than a C-grade on it just to kill everything there. This was also due to another trait of the undead – a lack of intelligence. They were, more often than not, still only pure instinct, even when reaching S-grade.

So publicly making an enemy of the Risen for also being undead was easy as pies. And the Risen knew.

Casper and Priscilla had known it too, which was why they had planned for the eventuality that they would be pushed out of Earth from the very beginning. This was why they had wanted to create the dungeon, as it was part of their plan, and when the Treasure Hunt happened, they got the chance to get a damaged World Core by combining all the fragments they had found there.

It was a golden opportunity they had leaped at, and it had gone far better than expected. It had truly given them a path of survival far more viable than any of their other plans, and while Casper did admit he would miss Earth, he had no regrets.

Casper was flying far in the air as he stared at the black skies with only a few clouds here and there. No stars were visible, but they would work on that with time. Down below were rolling hills of soil, and familiar grass was growing, identical to that of Yalsten.

Turning his head, he saw the edges of the realm and knew it was still slightly unstable. The usable area was only a few hundred square kilometers right now, but it would expand with time as everything stabilized - as the tree grew.

So, what had the Risen done?

They had made a new world using the World Core from the Treasure Hunt. One that now existed within the infinite void, like Yalsten, but this one was still linked to the ninety-third universe.

Each world had to be anchored somewhere in the real universe, or it would be forever lost in the infinite void, effectively killing everyone within as they had no way in or out. Unless someone managed to become a god, that is, but chances of that were non-existent. These anchors could be detected and destroyed by outside forces if they located them all and doom all who resided in the world. So the Risen had done something smart. Something classified as clever use of system mechanics.

The anchor had been placed within the cave they had then turned into a dungeon, effectively making it inaccessible as when the dungeon was created, a barrier would form that was impenetrable to nearly anyone. The way anchors worked meant that one could still get out as the anchor was more of a coordinate, and if they wanted to teleport out, they just had to place the person a bit to the side of this coordinate, thus having them outside. As for if they didn’t, then the person would just appear within the cave, but oops, the cave is now the location of a dungeon, so the system would kindly relocate you just outside the dungeon entrance.

Oh, also, even if their world had been cut off, they still had one final failsafe: Casper himself. He carried the Blessing of the Blightfather, so even if they were lost within the infinite void, the Blightfather could use the Blessing as a beacon to locate them.

Casper could never claim this had been his own ingenious idea. It truly wasn’t something revolutionary either, as many factions had done this, and truth be told, there were still ways to mess them up. Just not for anyone on Earth. Not yet.

There was still the risk of Earth being taken over and them just becoming sitting ducks, which was when the other part of the plan came into effect. The Risen had worked on raising ghosts since the day they returned from the Tutorial and made the city. Ghosts had a few properties, but one of them was that they were pure energy. Pure energy and very effective rocket thrusters in large enough numbers.

That’s right, the dungeon that the Risen had made had already left Earth right after they evacuated everyone. The Holy Church had been busy still advancing to catch a large sphere rock being lifted into the air by hundreds of thousands of ghosts. By the time they reacted, the sphere was already too high. Every single ghost had died during the ascent, and there were many risks that they would be stopped by beasts or that the ghosts would die in the hazardous environment closer to the edge of the atmosphere during the journey, but they had made it.

Made it and were now nothing but a rock floating through space like another unsuspecting meteor. Right now, they had no direction or control, but with time they would. This world was one they would use long term and would be one of the new major home bases of the Risen in the new universe.

With the former Root of Eternal Resentment planted and hopefully able to create a new tree, Casper was hopeful. They had the backing of the Blightather and were currently working hard on a teleporter directly from the hidden world and to the Ghostlands, entirely circumventing the ninety-third universe and still giving them a place to go and progress.

Casper smiled as he saw Priscilla busy far below. Lyra appeared at his side, joining him as they saw their new city slowly being constructed. They only had around a hundred thousand people with them, and space was a bit tight, but they would live. Live and prosper.

To commemorate where they had come from, they had also picked a very unoriginal but fitting name for their world:

New Yalsten.

Jake sat chilling on top of a massive tree as he stared out onto the ocean in front of him. Sandy was busy eating an entire field of fruit trees, and Jake didn’t bother the worm as he smiled to himself. Life had been good.

By now, it had been about a month since he had his first talk with Miranda after she reached the Grand Mangrove River, and the thing that surprised him the most was that nothing had surprised him during this time. At least he did learn some stuff that explained things.

The Pylon of Civilization at Haven had been hidden even more than before. It had not been moved, but Miranda had created a decoy Pylon of sorts and placed it under her main office, sealed beneath her ritual chamber. She told him that she had felt people try to get to it, but nobody had succeeded yet. Jake had not even known about her doing this, but honestly, it made sense. Not even Ell’Hakan would think Jake had hidden the Pylon under his lodge in a nearly unprotected state.

They had also discussed Miranda talking with the Sword Saint and the old man being on board, having even faked his own death using the power of the former Monarch of Blood. However, she had failed to get in contact with Casper as the token he had was no longer reachable – he was still around, mind you, just out of range. Where he was, Miranda didn’t know, but from what they had learned, the territory of the Risen was effectively gone, having been successfully invaded by the Holy Church and United Cities Alliance. At least, that was the official story. Jake wasn’t entirely sure what to think after Miranda told him there was now a big hole in the ground where the Risen had once been.

Jake was sad to see Casper gone, but he should still be alive. Villy had at least told him that. Well, okay, not alive, technically, but still around.

Caleb had been suckered into working for the United Cities Alliance, and honestly, Jake didn’t really see the problem. He was just doing his job, and it wasn’t like what he did would hurt Jake or those he cared about. The Court of Shadows was a business, and Jake knew that Caleb refusing could only result in him having to leave the Court.

The Court of Shadows was what could be classified as a true neutral faction in that they only cared about money. Villy even mentioned that if Jake wanted to slap some fat stacks on the table, he could just hire them to also target the United Cities Alliance, including Arthur himself. However, there would be one thing holding them back in the future.

A rule they had was that they would not accept the task of assassinating the leader or someone part of the leadership structure of a planet they operated on. This was simply a concession to allow them to stay on planets without conquering them themselves. Jake also reckoned this was why Arthur was fine with keeping them around. If the United Cities Alliance won and he became World Leader, they would not target him but only function as an asset operating out of Earth as there was an element of deterrence if people knew the Court had a branch stationed somewhere.

So even if Jake was not a fan of what was happening, he understood why it was like that and wouldn’t blame Caleb for what he chose. He did what was best for his family – their family. Jake also knew that while his brother believed in him, it was best he made decisions for his nuclear family first and foremost. Maja and Jake’s little nephew were his priority, and if Jake somehow ended up dead or forced to leave the planet, Caleb needed the Court to back him.

It was all complicated. Valhal had also taken a complicated stance on the matter. One of absolute inaction. He was informed that they had been hired or brought on by several cities to help defend them from the attacking beasts, but that was it. Villy had once more talked with Jake and offered that they did have an approach they could take if they wanted: offer them a deal too. But Jake had no interest in this either.

No, he had been thinking and was beginning to make some realizations. Some things he had to do if he wanted to stay on Earth or even be able to call it a home he could visit. Things to allow those he cared about to find safety there and not have it be what it currently was: a mixture of forces with era-old conflicts that would never get along, with some newborn factions tossed in that also vied for control. Jake would have to make some decisions.

Anyway, the Holy Church was also still acting all shady, and from what he had heard, they were planning something of their own. The Noboru Clan had fallen into shambles over the last month with lots of internal conflicts, and it was all messy as hell. Speaking of messy, even the Church apparently had problems, and Jake had not heard a single peep about or from Jacob. It was like he was gone. Then again, something must have happened because he would definitely not have authorized an attack on the Risen.

Another person Jake had not seen or heard from was one other quite unique character on the planet. Eron. The now third person with a Bloodline residing on the planet after Ell’Hakan had arrived was notably absent from everything. Miranda had tried to figure out what was happening, but she had no idea… all she knew was that no one had seen him for quite a while.

Jake had been curious enough to ask Villy only to get an unexpected response. Not even the Primordial had any idea where he was and found himself unable to locate him. People with Bloodlines were harder to find by default, but Villy clarified that he should still be locatable. Unless, of course, he had been hidden by someone at or around the level of Villy himself. It was enough to interest Villy and make him do some independent research, and what the Viper found out was that he was definitely gone from Earth and likely from the ninety-third universe. As for where he had gone, along with all of his followers, Jake had no idea. Truth be told, Jake had never really talked with or about him that much outside of their brief interaction in the Treasure Hunt. Eron had just been doing his own thing until he was suddenly gone.

Oh, and as for the question if he was dead… Eron? Dead? Yeah, Jake definitely couldn’t see that happening, and his guts also told him the insane healer was still kicking.

To summarize, a lot had happened over the last month, and Jake could probably have been back in Haven already if he had wanted to. He had purposefully waited and wanted to make sure everyone was ready. He had even managed to get word to the Fallen King about his plans, with the Unique Lifeform now on board. Though the Fallen King had apparently not at all been in a rush either but oddly happy with the stalemate that he faced with another Unique Lifeform. Then again, how often could someone like the Fallen King find someone of equal level that was his equal? Well, every day, if he stayed around Jake. Not that Jake would bother to fight him all the time. He was too busy killing to just do fighting.

During this month, Jake had not slacked off at all. He did discover the oddity that it felt like he progressed faster again for some reason. In between killing n C-grades or while waiting for Sandy to get a treasure, Jake would usually either talk with Miranda, recover from a fight, ponder on some issue, or do alchemy. Alchemy was what he did if none of the others were required, which is why he was surprised at getting three entire levels.

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 186 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 187 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 184 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 188 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

A level every ten days from not even being that focused on alchemy was odd. Granted, Jake had primarily been crafting items and not really experimenting, but it was still a lot. Jake had even spent a bit of time checking in on sim-Jake and pondering how to get his last three “of the Malefic Viper” upgrades when he was meditating anyway. No real progress there, though. Some initial ideas began to form, but he was not really that focused on them.

His true focus had been hunting and improving his class skills. As for how that had gone? Well, in the hunting department, the levels spoke for themselves.

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 182 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

…

*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 193 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

And with that naturally came the race levels.

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 185 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

…

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 190 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

12 levels gained in his class and 3 in his profession over a span of thirty or so days was incredibly good and nearly brought him back to his early D-grade days. Jake had been surprised several times at getting a level, even if he had killed a few dozen C-grades by now - C-grades more powerful than anything he had faced before.

Relentless Hunt was truly a powerful skill and gave Jake far more damage than he had initially expected. It allowed him to break stalemates, land unexpected blows, and far more easily control the flow of a battle. Moreover, the longer he kept the fight going, the larger his advantage became if he didn’t need to use the Hunting Momentum.

He was also beginning to realize that the skill was quite a bit stronger than it was meant to be. For several reasons. Its innate balance came from assuming one would still get hit once in a while, hence slowing the generation of Hunting Momentum. Something Jake was very good at avoiding due to his Bloodline.

Additionally, then it was probably not intended for the person using it to have a Perception stat at the level of Jake’s. He had, of course, tossed every free point gained in it without any regrets and was now close to having thirteen thousand Perception, making it nearly as high as his two second-highest stats combined. Stats that were already highly inflated due to Jake’s many stat amplifiers.

Jake truly felt justified now in going so hard on Perception and proving all the nay-sayers wrong. Perception was, and would forever be, the best stat.

As for class skills… Jake had gone even further above and beyond expectations, and the results spoke for themselves.

Naturally, his success was partly due to his high Perception.

Because. Again.

Perception best stat.