Legendary Traveler: By Earning Progress Points I will Become Supreme!

- 4 Days Until the Barrier Drops –

Standing atop his newly minted 15-foot-tall, five-foot-deep Rampart, Aoni gazed out into the distance as a bitter wind swept past, jostling his hair and the fur of his coat, bringing along a comforting chill and light dusting of snow.

As his eyes scanned the horizon, an unmissable shimmer rippling across the material, constructing the Rampart was a clear indication of it having reached the Full-Star Step.

Four more days had passed since he'd upgraded his wall to 2-Star, and given its current size, he could honestly say that compared to its previous stature, it now stood as imposing as a castle wall in his eyes.

Upon reaching the Full Star Step of the first Star, it had expanded inward, thickening the density of the wall by nearly 2 feet, along with changing the color from the standard stone he had gathered into something much harder to break through.
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From Mountainstone to an offshoot of Marble, it had come quite a long way with the single addition of a Star, but after reaching the end of the Second Star, the once basic rock forming the construction of his Rampart had become true Slate.

That wasn't all either; the material change was but one of many changes that came along with the two Stage Upgrade…

1: Colonial Slatestone Rampart

Defense: F+

Durability: F+

Grade: ★★

Effect:

1: Minor: Damage Reflection

2: Minor: Energia Barrier of Warding

Two new effects were generated, surprisingly enough, both of which were fairly self-explanatory. The first, Minor-Damage Reflection, was a shielding effect, wherein if something attacked the wall, there would be a slight amount of damage redirected toward the attacker in question.

As great of an effect as that was, the second one was something Aoni had desperately required: Minor- Energia Barrier of Warding. Upon activation of this effect, a thin Energia membrane would cover the open area above the Rampart, sealing off the entirety of the camp like a roof.

This barrier, which required an energy source or battery of sorts, had equal durability and defense to the Rampart itself. It would protectively enclose the camp, ensuring that attacks from above or intruders were stopped from entering the space Aoni and his summons called home.

However, powering these two effects was far different from having them in the first place. It had taken him nearly a full day to figure out how to activate them, but as it turns out, when the Rampart expanded inward, encroaching on the space of the camp, a small nodule appeared near the gate resembling a lidded box.

All one had to do was pop the lid and dump some Energia Stones inside, then activate it by using a small burst of internalized Energia, and just like that, the two effects could be activated.

Of course, given the Rampart's low Grade, it wasn't possible to activate the two effects separately, so all you could do was turn both on or both off by applying a light burst of Energia.

Even so, it was more than enough, and given the fact that they had a large stock of Energia Crystals in the Cavern, the only thing that remained after learning how to turn it all on was figuring out the maintenance costs, IE, how long a single crystal would take to burn.

Some testing proved that activating the effects would cost two crystals, then 1 per minute of activation after that fact.

In other words, it was a money sink.

Then again, since it was sustainable due to how many low-grade Crystals could be found in the Cavern, Aoni simply shrugged it off and started up a new "Game" with his summons.

Every day, for 2-3 hours, the three of them would venture into the Cavern where Aoni and Glacia would gather Energia Crystals before handing them over to Delivery Lady Nyria, whose job it was to drop them off in a large chest back at camp.

Like this, the group had amassed an astronomical supply of Low-Grade Crystals, enough to be considered a small fortune, but more importantly, enough to give his summons and self a fighting chance when the barrier dropped.

For Four days, Aoni had toiled, trained not only his body but his Energia Manipulation, and pushed himself to the absolute limit of exhaustion, crafting, building, mining, gathering materials, you name it, and he would only stop to rest for meals and sleep at the end of the day.

Now, with time running thin and nearly all his preparations complete, there was only one thing left to do.

Turning his eyes towards his Traveler's display, Aoni knew there weren't any other options left other than to increase his stats, and that thought sent a shiver several times colder than the brisk wind through his body.

To say he was scared would be quite the understatement because the memories of his previous upgrades had left a mental scar on his psyche deeper than any other experience in his life.

Sometimes, late at night, he would have nightmares about helplessly thrashing around on the ground, blood pouring out of him, and lightning coursing through every square inch of his body.

It was damning, to say the least, yet even if this was the case, the Lad understood that playing turtle would only work for a short amount of time. He needed power, he needed the ability to fight back, and if he wanted to ensure the lives of his summons, there was no better option than adding points.

With that thought in mind, Aoni waited for Nyria and Glacia to return to the camp before sitting them down by the fire and explaining what was going to happen.

At first, their reaction was as expected.

Glacia had long since told her little sister about what happened whenever their Lord added points to himself, and as best as her intelligence allowed, she conveyed how bad things were going to be.

Not because she wanted to frighten the birb but more because she wanted to prepare Nyria for what Aoni would be doing.

So, the moment that Aoni called the little meeting and told them his plan, both the summons were extremely nervous and scared for the safety of their beloved brother.