Free Web NovelChapter 53: Chapter 52: Customization
The atmosphere around the camp gradually relaxed.
The towering Darkstone Wall continued its steady ascent in the distance, but after staring at it for nearly an hour, even something as absurd as a wall emerging from the earth began to feel almost normal.... Almost.
The resource piles Elias and the others had produced remained stacked near the center of the territory, silent reminders that Velaris had officially entered a new stage of development.
For now, however, nobody seemed interested in discussing economics, gathering efficiency, or future construction costs.
Dinner had become a far more pressing concern.
A campfire crackled near the tents as Li Wei and Jin Taejin sorted through the supplies Iris had brought out from her space. Several cooking pots had already been placed over the flames, filling the air with a familiar scent that immediately improved everyone’s mood.
There was something strangely comforting about hot food.
Especially after spending days surviving on hurried meals, emergency rations, and whatever could be eaten while constantly watching for monsters.
Caleb stretched out on the grass beside the fire and sighed dramatically. "This is nice."
Nobody argued.
Because it really was the wall was rising, the territory was secured and esources were coming in.
Nobody was actively bleeding, by recent standards, the day had been extraordinarily successful.
Veronica settled onto a folding chair near the fire and shook her head.
"I still can’t believe we’re actually sitting around a campfire."
"What were you expecting?" Benjamin asked.
"Monsters."
"Fair."
"More running."
"Also fair."
"Less sitting."
"Definitely fair."
The group laughed.
The conversation drifted naturally from there.
Nobody talked about anything particularly important. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Instead, they discussed small things.
Things that would have seemed completely ordinary back on Earth.
Favorite foods, terrible cooking experiences, family stories and embarrassing childhood memories.
The kind of conversations people only had when they felt safe enough to stop worrying about tomorrow for a few minutes.
Unfortunately, peace never survived long around certain individuals.
Caleb sat upright suddenly.
His eyes widened.
"Oh."
The single word immediately attracted attention.
Several people looked over.
Benjamin narrowed his eyes.
"That tone concerns me."
Caleb pointed dramatically toward Elias.
"Elias."
Elias blinked. "What?"
"The monster."
Silence.
Then everyone’s expressions froze.
Elias stared.
"The monster."
"The monster."
"The monster."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then realization appeared on Elias’s face.
"...Oh."
Daniel immediately started laughing.
"You forgot about it."
"I did not forget."
"You absolutely forgot."
"I temporarily misplaced the memory."
"That’s called forgetting."
"It isn’t."
"It literally is."
The argument lasted approximately three seconds before collapsing beneath its own stupidity.
Meanwhile, Veronica looked between them "What monster?"
Elias rubbed the back of his neck. "The one from earlier."
"The one you stored?"
"The one I stored."
"The one nobody mentioned for hours?"
"...Yes."
Caleb slowly pointed at him. "You put an unidentified alien monster inside your storage and forgot about it."
"When you say it like that, it sounds irresponsible."
"Because it was irresponsible."
"It was resource management."
"It was absolutely not."
The group dissolved into laughter again.
Even Elias looked slightly embarrassed.
Eventually he sighed and opened his storage.
A moment later, something large appeared on the grass.
Thud.
Several people instinctively leaned backward.
The creature’s body landed heavily on the ground beside the campfire.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Now that they were looking at it without the pressure of combat, the creature appeared even stranger than before.
Its body vaguely resembled a mountain goat.
Vaguely.
The proportions were wrong,the limbs were slightly too long and the shoulders too broad.
Its dark hide carried faint patterns that looked almost like veins of stone running beneath the skin.
Most unsettling of all were the twisted horns protruding from its head.
They curved backward in multiple directions rather than following any natural shape Iris had ever seen.
Caleb stared. "Okay."
Nobody responded.
He pointed. "That is not a goat."
"It was never a goat," Daniel said.
"It was goat-shaped."
"Those are completely different things."
"I know."
"It sounds like you don’t."
"It definitely sounds like you don’t."
The argument restarted immediately.
Iris ignored them.
Instead, she stepped closer to the corpse.
Curiosity had already won.
If monsters could potentially become a food source, understanding them mattered.
She activated Appraisal.
A familiar notification appeared before her eyes.
[ Stonehorn Grazer
Classification: Common Beast
Threat Level: Low
Toxicity: None
Consumption Status: Safe
Nutritional Value: Below Average
Description: A herbivorous beast commonly found in forested regions of Eldilon. While safe for consumption, the quality of its meat is generally considered poor. ]
For several seconds, Iris simply stared.
Then she looked up. "It’s edible."
The entire group paused.
"...Really?" Veronica asked.
Iris nodded. " it has no toxins, no dangerous contaminants.... Nothing that should kill us."
Caleb’s eyes immediately lit up. "So you’re saying it’s dinner."
Li Wei raised a hand. "That’s not what she said."
Everyone looked toward him.
" she said the meat is poor." Elias mentioned
Caleb shrugged. "Poor meat is still meat."
Jin Taejin laughed. "Spoken like someone who doesn’t have to cook it."
Unfortunately, curiosity had already won. Within minutes the Stonehorn Grazer was being butchered.
Several strips of meat soon found themselves over the fire.
The smell that followed was... strange.
Not bad but not good either. It was Just.... strange.
Like someone had attempted to combine venison, beef, and tree bark into a single ingredient.
Eventually the first pieces were ready. Everyone stared, nobody moved.
Then Caleb grabbed one. "You know what?" He pointed at the others. "If I die, remember me fondly."
"You are being incredibly dramatic," Veronica said.
Caleb took a bite and chewed.... Continued chewing.... Then kept chewing.
The entire group watched and finally, he swallowed.
Silence fill the air safe for the constant crackle of the campfire.
"...Well?" Benjamin asked unconsciously holding his breath
Caleb stared into the fire. "It tastes like disappointment."
The camp erupted into laughter then the others tried it.
The verdict remained largely the same.
Edible?... Technically.
The texture was tough and the flavor was bland. The meat seemed determined to fight back long after death.
Even Li Wei eventually surrendered. "I’ve done everything I can."
"That bad?" Benjamin asked.
Li Wei pointed at the meat. "Some ingredients cannot be saved."
The resulting laughter echoed across the territory.
For a little while longer, the conversation continued.
The fire crackled.
The wall continued rising in the distance as they finally relaxed.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, nobody worried about immediate survival.
Night gradually deepened. The forest beyond the wall became darker. The stars grew brighter.
Then Caleb suddenly looked upward. His expression changed. "...Huh?"
Benjamin glanced over. "What now?"
Caleb didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he pointed toward the sky. Everyone followed his gaze.
Then froze.
Above them hung two moons.
Not one... Two.
One was larger and silver-white, bathing the world in pale light. The second was smaller. Faintly blue, almost hidden beside its larger companion.
For a minute, nobody spoke.
The sight was beautiful. Unfamiliar. Wrong. And somehow mesmerizing.
"I never noticed that before," Claire whispered.
"Neither did I." Evelina admitted.
Henry continued staring upward. "When exactly would we have noticed?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Because everyone already knew the answer.
The first day had been chaos, after that came the forest, then the cave.... Then King’s Territory.
Every moment had been consumed by survival. By the constant running, fighting and adapting.
Nobody had possessed the luxury of simply looking up.
Veronica folded her arms. "When was the last time any of us actually stopped to admire the sky?"
Nobody could remember.
The realization settled quietly over the group. The stars above looked familiar enough... Yet not familiar at all.
The moons alone made that impossible.
This was not Aurilion, not a distant country, not another continent or somewhere hidden beyond the horizon.
It was an entirely different world. The thought should have been terrifying.
Oddly enough, it wasn’t.
Perhaps because they had already accepted it without realizing.
Or perhaps because there was no point fighting reality.
Eventually Daniel let out a breath. "Still feels weird."
"Yeah," Marcus agreed. "It does."
The conversation drifted elsewhere soon afterward.
People gradually returned to eating. Others prepared to sleep.
A few remained around the fire. The peaceful atmosphere lingered.
Meanwhile, Iris quietly opened her Territory Panel. The familiar screen appeared before her eyes.
Nobody else noticed.
Most had become accustomed to her occasionally staring into empty space.
She began reviewing various menus again.
Buildings, Infrastructure, Defense, Resources.
Information she had skimmed earlier while distracted by more urgent matters.
Then something caught her attention. A small icon positioned near the corner of the interface.
The icon looked like a gear.
Iris frowned. She did not remember seeing that before. Curiosity immediately surfaced.
After a brief hesitation, she selected it. A new menu opened.
she simply stared at it... stunned.
Then she sat up straighter.
In this tab there were options for custom structures, custom interiors and even custom residences.
Her eyes widened. Slowly, she began reading. Then reading again. And again.
The implications hit almost immediately.
Until now, she had assumed Velaris would eventually be forced to use standard system buildings. The same houses, the same layouts, the same designs, the same appearance.
Just like every other territory. Including King’s Territory.
But this... This was different.... Very different.
Iris continued reading as excitement gradually replaced surprise. The system wasn’t merely offering buildings.
It was offering freedom.
The freedom to decide what those buildings looked like. The freedom to decide how they functioned. The freedom to decide what kind of place Velaris would become. A slow smile appeared on her face.
Beyond the campfire, her family continued talking beneath the twin moons. Beyond the territory, the forest stretched endlessly into the darkness. And somewhere in the distance, the Darkstone Wall continued its steady ascent.
For the first time since arriving in Eldilon, Iris could genuinely picture the future.
Not merely surviving or enduring.
But building, creating and growing. Velaris did not have to look like every other territory.
It could become something entirely its own. And suddenly, tomorrow could not arrive fast enough.
