New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"I'll let you two girls decide how we should use or dispatch these things. I still have something to do today."

Both Athena and Phoenix nodded in approbation, as Astaroth left the room, storing the storage ring in his inventory. He could have worn it, but he preferred not to.

If anything happened, the ring would be secure in his inventory. Wearing it exposed him to the hands of an expert pickpocket or thief.

He would rather not have the precious item stolen.

Reaching a staircase that went up a floor in the tree structure, Astaroth climbed it. The floor he reached was one with a large central corridor that did a full circle inside the tree.

The corridor connected to a large middle room and many smaller exterior rooms. If seen from a top view, the floor looked like the chamber of a revolver, but with many more exterior chambers.

But he didn't need to look for a specific room, since he knew where the person he was looking for would be.

Leaving the staircase, he directly walked to an enormous set of doors. He knocked twice rapidly before pushing the doors in.

This room was the new resting place for Leon, their possible soon-to-be kingdom guardian. Leon had all his trophies, skins, and clothes brought up to this room, since Astaroth chased him from the throne room downstairs.

At first, he had complained a bit, since the throne room felt more like a royal room than this one, but the size of his new room was larger, and that suited him, too. Leon was currently resting on a pile of different leathers.

Seeing Astaroth come into the room, his eyes immediately started glowing in anticipation.

"Did you succeed? Where is the fruit? Let me see it!"

"Calm down, sheesh!" Astaroth replied, pulling out the fruit.

Even though Leon wasn't a mage, his senses were still strong enough to feel the difference between the fruit's state from the day before to now.

Leon was already salivating, to the point of almost drooling. He wiped away the corner of his mouth, looking at Astaroth with intensity.

The latter chuckled. It was like he was holding a treat in front of an excited kitten.

"I don't know what will happen once you eat the fruit. So I will stand back when you do."

Leon nodded, slowly picking up the fruit from Astaroth's hands. He treated it like the most precious thing ever, carrying it back to his improvised bed, before sitting down.

Leon carefully lifted the fruit to his mouth before stuffing the whole thing down in one bite. Luckily, it wasn't a melon.

As soon as the fruit crossed Leon's esophagus, reaching his stomach, a burst of Aether exploded outward inside Leon's body. The beast-man immediately started howling in pain.

Astaroth took a step forward, wanting to go help Leon, but the latter lifted his arm.

"No! I can handle it! Aarrghh!"

Astaroth stopped in his steps, observing Leon with his Perfect Mana Sense. He could see the Aether in Leon's body rapidly smash into his organs and bones, trying to pierce through his skin and escape his body.

But with every collision, the Aether seemed to lose momentum and strength. But Astaroth could tell it would take a long time before Leon absorbed the entire amount of it.

He wasn't sure the beast-man would be able to tough out for that long, though. Leon was rolling around on the ground, screaming in pain.

The occasional roars of pain also escaped his throat, shaking the entire Bastion. Some players even thought they were under attack at some point, trying to charge into the tree palace.

Some of the wild Elves, as well as Athena, kept them out, knowing what was going on. When the first scream shook the base, Phoenix automatically expected the situation and asked Athena to stand guard outside the tree's entrance.

Phoenix, on her side, went to warn everyone in the tree palace to stay out of the second floor. She assumed it would be better if no one disturbed Leon's painful transformation.

Who knew what consequences a distraction could bring in this situation? It was better to isolate the entire floor for the time being.

And if something happened, she knew Astaroth would call for help.

The screaming, roaring, and squirming lasted for hours. When Khalor came back to the base, just as the coordinates for it were released, it was still going on.

But before he could go see what was happening, Athena blocked him out of the palace.

"I'm sorry, Khalor, but you aren't allowed to go in here. I would have to ask Phoenix or Astaroth, and both are busy."

"Tch!"

Clicking his tongue, Khalor left the premises. He could have barged inside, but causing trouble in his own guild base would be stupid.

He sent a message to Astaroth, asking for rights to the palace, but Astaroth wasn't responding for now.

Not long after, the screaming stopped. Not a minute after it stopped, a massive wave of mana, along with a roar that shook the heavens, resounded in the entire Bastion, going as far out as miles into the forest.

Astaroth, who was point blank inside the room where it emanated from, was knocked to his ass, the air blown out of his lungs. He took a moment to gather his breath before standing up while coughing.

Leon was standing in the middle of the room. His blond mane-like hair had turned red, and was flaring around his head. His body was suddenly more muscular than before, and his eyes were now entirely black, with specks of white in them.

Astaroth scanned him.

Nemean Candidate, Leon

Level: 100

Grade: Mythical (Zone Boss)

He had made it!

Astaroth quickly pulled out the Kingdom Building Wright. He had read the document's requirements while Leon was struggling to overcome his limits.

Most of them he already cleared, since they required him to be a leader of any kind, have lands to his name that passed a certain size, and have a structure that could be considered a seat of power.

The last one, the one he was hoping could come true, was to have a creature, spirit, or minor divinity of rank legendary or higher as a guardian.

And now that Leon had evolved, he matched that requirement. Plus, he had already promised to become their guardian if the fruit did as Astaroth promised it would.

Astaroth used the document in his hands, receiving a system prompt.

*Kingdom Building Wright is being used. Do you wish to proceed and establish a nation?*

*Yes/No*

Astaroth smashed the yes option.

A bright white light flashed across the Bastion, and the lands beyond, blinding everyone.