"So." The draconian held out an armful of fruit to me. "Eat?"

"Uh, sure." I kicked a few rocks aside and sat down on the stone. She unceremoniously dumped her gatherings in front of me, and plopped down as well. I selected something recognizable, a plump mango, and began awkwardly peeling it. "What would you like to hear?"

"Name?"

"Ah, yes. I'm Edmon Valli." I wiped my hand awkwardly on my shirt and held it out to her.

She stared at it for a moment.

"It's a greeting," I explained. "Clasping hands."

She reached out hesitantly and wrapped her fingers around mine. Her scales were cool and dry, but her grip was strong. I gently shook her hand.

"I am Ankh Algon." She crossed her arms and gave me a serious nod. "Tell me about where you came from."

"Where I'm from." I mused for a moment. "Well, that's a bit complicated, so how about I start with where I set sail…?"

Two months ago, I left the floating city of Armada. It's made from hundreds of boats, anchored in the shallows of the Sanretto Sea, and it's owned and run by pirates. It just so happened that I'd made a, um, questionable deal with one of these pirates, someone who stupidly thought they could double-cross me and hang me out to dry. I didn't take too kindly to that, so I betrayed him first." I grinned.

"Unfortunately, that meant I needed to get out of Armada pretty fast, which is surprisingly difficult in a city that's basically made out of boats…"

I let the story unroll slowly as I finished the mango and poked through the rest of the fruit. I'd eaten a few bananas, a couple of lychee, and was just starting into a pineapple by the time I'd finished the yarn, wrapping up with my sail set, a cache of ivory and gems tucked into a cleverly disguised container belowdecks, and a stiff wind at my back.

"…and I was able to outrun the rest easily enough. My Eigengrau is one of the fastest ships out there, despite being no more than twenty feet prow-to-stern."

I looked up as I finished my slice of pineapple. Ankh had sat in silence the whole time, listening intently.

"Thank you." She stood, and gave another half-bow. "May I come again?"

"If you like." I nodded. "But, um, please be careful." I gave a pensive frown. "I don't really want a lot of draconians visiting me, so I'd appreciate it if you came alone, and didn't mention that I was here."

She nodded.

"Then, later?" I waved.

"…Later." She waved back, awkwardly, then spun and dived off the cliff.

"Haaaah." I finished the pineapple slice slowly, and rubbed my eyes. I guess that was dealt with, for now? I really hoped she didn't go tell everyone about me. Even putting aside that draconians were difficult to get along with at the best of times, the last thing I needed was anyone with even a hint of greed or ambition prying into my business. Ankh seemed like a straightforward person, and trying to outright drive her away would likely be counterproductive… besides. I looked at the pile of fruit. I could use her help.

Still, I hoped she could keep her mouth shut.

I finished up by licking my fingers. Then I gathered up the fruit I hadn't eaten, and carried it into Sanctuary.

The house was noticeably larger now. Stepping in through the high double doors, I found myself in a long gallery, lit by tall windows and ending in sweeping stairs. I took a side door and found myself in what looked like a kitchen, where I piled the fruit. On my way back out, I washed my hands in the fountain and drank my fill. I was glad I didn't need to worry about clean water, at least. Still, I'd like some sort of meat.

I made my way to the cave entrance, and cautiously peered out.

The volcano's caldera was still choked with ash. At the bottom, a dull red glow reminded me that this really wasn't the safest place I'd ever been. I leaned out and grabbed a handhold, before gingerly leaving the cleft and climbing upwards at a careful pace.

When I finally crawled over the edge of the cliff, the sight of the island was a wonderful thing. My first breath of clean air, warm and damp from the jungle with just a hint of salt tang, washed away the weariness of the climb and refreshed my soul. I sighed deeply, stretched, and found a boulder to sit against.

And then, for at least an hour, I simply sat and gazed out to sea.

As I did, my mind cleared and tension I hadn't even realized I'd had melted out of my body. I'd really hit rock-bottom yesterday, facing down those damn Snow Moths. I'd scrabbled my way through, but sitting here in the tropical sunlight, feeling the breeze on my face, reminded me why I'd fought tooth and nail for survival. There were a lot of good things in life, and although I'd definitely tasted some of them, I wasn't ready to give up yet.

When I stood, I felt noticeably stronger. Curious, I checked my Magic, concentrating on where it slept, right behind my eyes.

"Huh." It felt fuller. Status, Magic.

"Your magic level is moderate."

That hour in the sun had done more for recharging my magic power than a night's sleep and a good meal. Interesting. That was good, though. I'd come up here to continue experimenting with my abilities.

Firstly, I concentrated on the surrounding area. "Mark!"

Again, the magic spread out in a rush. As the ability expanded, I felt my magic reserves dropping sharply. Yesterday, I'd thought this ability took less magic than Incarnate, but as the area I was claiming rushed outwards, the consumption jumped up and up. After a moment, I forcibly pulled back on the boundary, trying to keep the ability from draining all of my newly acquired magic. I limited it to a blob that was about fifty feet across, running along the edge of the cliff and down the mountain a short ways.

The expansion slowed, and then stopped.

"The territory you are trying to Mark has already been claimed."

Uh-oh.

"Defeat or subjugate the current owners to assert your dominance."

I immediately hopped onto the boulder I'd been sitting against before and scanned the area. This situation wasn't exactly unexpected, but I thought I'd picked an empty piece of land. I concentrated, and a filled magazine dropped into my hand, wiping out the last of the magic I'd carefully preserved. I swapped it for the nearly-empty one in my pistol, and took up a firing stance.

Aaaaaand… nothing.

I frowned and scanned the area again, more carefully. This time, a slight movement caught my eye. I focused and saw a rock that was crawling oh-so-slowly across the rubble.

Huh.

I picked up a stick and walked over. A quick poke upended the thing, and I saw it was a hermit crab the size of my fist, lodged into a piece of pumice. Did this thing count as a monster? I frowned, and watched it work to laboriously right itself.

As soon as it did, I picked it up and heaved it down the mountain.

"Territory claimed!"

I grinned. The magic coalesced into a new Mark, smaller and less ornate than my first one, clearing the rubble off a small area and settling into the stone.

"You have expanded your dominion. You have repelled invasions peacefully and by force. You have created subordinate monsters and watched them die for you. Your experience as a Lord of the Land increases your level from 'inexperienced' to 'raw'. The Heart of Metzli begins to acknowledge you. Your control over your domain deepens."

Interesting. I sat back down and fished around in my breast pocket, pulling out the handkerchief I'd folded the Heart up in. Tipping it out on my palm, I took a good look at it for the first time under the brilliant tropical sun.

It glittered like a star, and glowed like the moon on ice. It was easily eight carats, and clear as running water. It was warm to the touch. I rolled it around on my palm, wondering if that acknowledgement had any sort of tangible benefit, but after a moment, I wrapped it up tucked it back into my pocket.

But deeper control over my domain, huh? Wonder what that meant. I carefully canvassed my mind and body, feeling for a change. Sure enough, something felt different. It was the same sort of feeling I'd used when I'd called or dismissed the door to the Sanctum. I focused on it, concentrating. Maybe I could…

The door blinked into existence, directly over my new Mark. Now we're getting somewhere! I definitely wasn't looking forwards to climbing back down that cliff.

I let the door disappear again. Now that I could call it to me, I didn't feel like I needed to keep it out in the open. No-one could get to it, right?

Maybe I should test that.

I walked down the mountain a bit, scanning the ground. After a few hundred feet, I found a familiar-looking piece of pumice and flipped it over. Sure enough, it was my friend the hermit crab. I picked him up and carried him back into my territory.

"You are being invaded!"

Man, I needed to figure out some way to make that message stop. There ought to be more to how this dominion thing worked than just rushing out to fight everyone who wandered in. Maybe in areas with less monsters it wasn't as much of a hassle? Maybe I needed to think about boss monsters, or just make more minions or something. If only I could figure out how the subordinate system worked. Ankh had killed my Snow Moth, but I should make another one.

I set the hermit crab down. After a minute, it cautiously uncurled and ambled off. I tried to summon the door.

Nothing.

Hmm. Well, not exactly unexpected, but a bit annoying.

I picked up the hermit crab and wound up my arm, before pitching it straight upwards as hard as I could. After it got about twenty feet up—

"You have repelled the invasion!"

I summoned the door and slipped through, just as the poor crab began to slow and fall back.

"You are being invaded!"

Ah, now this was interesting. The door was still there, but when I cracked it open, it opened onto the crevice. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get it to re-open on top of the cliff. After a few moments of opening and closing the door, I clicked my tongue and resolved myself to make the climb again.

At least going up was less nerve-wracking than going down.

When I pulled myself over the top of the cliff again, the crab was right next to my Mark, wandering in wobbly circles. I picked him up and studied the small monster.

"Mark!"

"You have subordinated a monster. Alpine Pagurus (Mountain Hermit) has been added to your Archive."

The magic swirled over him, before settling into his scavenged shell in intricate glyphs. I inspected them, wondering. I'd never seen anything like that when I'd been in the Marglades dungeon, but… maybe other people couldn't see them? I shrugged and pushed the matter aside. I waved my hand, and the door reappeared.

So, when I was being invaded I couldn't summon the door in the affected territory, unless it was my first one. Well, it might be more complicated than that, but that was enough for now. My other discovery was far more intriguing.

I could Mark monsters I hadn't created from Archive.

I turned and stared out over the sea of trees, a jungle that I'd personally verified was filled with rare, expensive, and dangerous monsters.

A slow smile spread across my face.

"Well then." I fingered my pistol. "Not sure if it'll be useful right away, but… maybe I should start a collection?"