The total merit balance of the host is now 878,842 [+17,232].

Daz looked at his merit points which had increased by two-percent after having sat in the bank for a day and he immediately began thinking of what to buy as he looked at the four system notifications that had popped up this morning. He had ignored them until now since after glancing at them, he noticed that they could be left for a later time, namely, now.

Congratulations! You have successfully completed the main quest [An Unlikely Alliance]. Reward Ownership Of Waterford City Congratulations! You have become the owner of a city and thus have had your ruler status updated and you have been placed on a new ranking list, the [City Owner] ranking list. Please refer to the system for your specific rank and any applicable rewards. The host [Daz], has changed from being a [Higher Lord] to being a [City Lord]. Benefits The host's maximum citizen count has increased from 1,000 to 10,000. The host may now construct or use an existing [Lord Home] and make it the host's [City Core], which will grant the city with several benefits. The Host may now invade Lords of a lower ruler rank than [City Lord] without any restrictions. The host may now spend 250 merit points to teleport struggling survivors of their own world to their base where they can persuade them to become citizens. This ability only applies to survivors weaker than the host and who possess a deep desire to find a group of survivors to unite with.

"This final ability of a City Lord... If I spent one-hundred and thirty-six thousand points on it, I could easily reach one-thousand citizens, couldn't I?" Daz muttered somewhat greedily before he shook his head.

"I should use today's points on exclusively strengthening myself and Rimmy. I can use tomorrow to focus on the city if I need to." Development of Waterford could be postponed.

"The biggest concern is making sure that no one dies today..." Daz was adamant in this. So adamant, in fact, that a new quest was generated for him.

Quest Title: Near-Impossible Hope Quest Type: Side Quest Difficulty: SS Quest Goal Ensure that not a single one of the host's citizens die in today's attack. Quest Rewards 250,000 Merit Points An increase of citizen loyalty from [Above Average] to [High]

Daz grinned. "Near-impossible, huh? So that means that it is at least somewhat possible."

Reika, who was lying down on Daz's head, giggled sweetly before she noted, 'That's an oddly optimist way to think for a supposed realist.'

"Well, if there's one thing that I can trust about the system, it's that it doesn't seem to lie, so forgive me for getting my hopes up a little bit," Daz shrugged.

"Optimism is a good trait to possess. We wish you would be optimistic more often," Reika requested.

It was incredibly depressing following around a man who had very few hopes, and as someone who had existed for centuries with nothing but that very thing to rely on, Reika wished that her master could learn how to look to the future with a smile on his face.

"No promises," Daz replied.

After that, he left Fort Skip and made his way to Rimmy, who had aptly been nicknamed 'The Guardian of The Wall' by the citizens without Daz realising it.

"Hey, buddy," Daz called as he sat down next to Rimmy who was peacefully laying against the wall.

Bobbing his head in response, Rimmy patted Daz's hair lightly with his massive hand. Reika quickly flew away with fear. "Even though we don't have a real body, that scared us a lot!"

Daz laughed lightly. "Rimmy, do you know what kind of upgrades you'd like? If not, I'll make my own judgement, but I wanted your opinion first."

Rimmy cocked his head slightly and held his chin in his hand. A few seconds passed before he looked back at Daz and nodded.

"Speed? Ah... You don't need to feel guilty about Ger and Sarah. It wasn't your fault. It was a collective error on everyone's part," Daz tried to console Rimmy who was fretting over his delayed reaction when the Frost Phoenix had fired its frost breath.

Rimmy shook his head.

"You sure? I mean, you are fairly slow since you're so big, so it does make some sense..." To answer Daz, Rimmy slowly tilting his head up and down.

"Okay, so speed. I can buy the agility stat for you and max it to the limit of your Species, but is there anything else you want? I'm exclusively spending my points on us today, so don't hold back," Daz said.

Rimmy tapped the ground a few times with his index finger as he gazed at Daz.

"Eh? You could tell that all of Waterford became mine?" Daz asked with some mild surprise in his tone.

Rimmy nodded happily.

"I see. That makes sense. Okay then, so more speed and a far larger size so you can protect the whole city. I'll see what I can do about your offensive capabilities. I'll feel reassured with you protecting all of Waterford after today, buddy," Daz said as he smiled loosely.

Twenty or so minutes passed before Daz had finished upgrading Rimmy, and he took a look at his merit points and all of Rimmy's changes once more.

The total merit balance of the host is now 428,842 [-450,000]. Rimmy Mcshineston's Status Basic Information Name: Rimmy McShineston Species: Jewel Golem (Final stages of evolving) Age: 0 Sex: N/A Class: The Jewelled Pioneer Affinity: Lawful Neutral [+ Lawful] Description The one who got lost on the jewelled path and was consumed by its power. Has been granted a second chance at life by the host, Daz, and due to this host being his summoner and a being who once tread the same path he did, he feels unending loyalty for him. Energies [Upgraded!] Jewelled-core Mark-III: 500/500 (1,000) [+400] [Upgraded!] Jewelled-core Mark-III: 500/500 (1,000) [+400]

[New!] Jewelled-core Mark-III:

500/500 (1,000) Stats Strength: 2,000 [+1,250] Constitution: 4,000 [+1,500] Loyalty: Maximum Defense: 1,500 [+1,000] [New!] Agility: 2,250 Skills [Upgraded!] Triple Energy Usage Efficiency Crystal Shotgun Jewel Generation [New!] Pummeling Force [New!] Spiked Body Transformation [New!] Great Roll Pummeling Force Allows the host to double the force of their punches. Cost: 50 Jewelled-core Energy. Spiked Body Transformation Allows the host to transform their entire body into jewelled spikes. Cost: 200 Jewelled-core Energy. Great Roll Allows the host to perfectly roll their body and create a rolling force regardless of the direction the host is trying to roll in. Cost: 100 Jewelled-core Energy.

The first two skills had obvious benefits, but the last one was hard to value properly unless you knew exactly what it meant.

Daz could immediately tell that the skill, Great Roll, would allow Rimmy to completely ignore resistances and even the laws of physics with this skill. The only drawback of it was that its power relied entirely on the host, however, that wasn't an issue with Rimmy.

Daz looked up with admiration at Rimmy who was now a whole thirty metres tall. The young Reaper almost looked like an ant stood next to the crystal giant.

It had cost a whole two-hundred thousand merit points to triple Rimmy's size while maintaining his agility. As it so happened, trying to increase Rimmy's mass would decrease his new agility stat by fifteen points for every inch that he grew, so Daz spared no expense to make sure that both of Rimmy's requests were granted by spending more merit points to maintain both.

It had cost him over half of his total merit points in the end, but Daz was confident that it was worthwhile.

As he was thinking this, Rimmy suddenly began shaking, which in turn, caused a minor earthquake. Daz looked up at his best friend with worry and anxiety in his eyes. "Rimmy? Are you okay?"

A status message quickly answered Daz's concerns.

Congratulations! Your summoned being [Rimmy McShineston] has successfully evolved for the first time!

Along with this message, Rimmy's gargantuan chest split open and a small figure leapt out of it. With agile and nimble movements, this figure landed perfectly in front of Daz.

"Rimmy?" Daz asked as he gazed at this person.

To describe it, what stood in front of Daz was a humanoid-shaped mass of cyan-coloured crystals. It was very sleek and almost handsome, even though it didn't have a face. It was standing with its back held up straight and it seemed to be very elegant.

"Rimmy," it spoke as it pointed at itself.

"Rimmy?" Daz mimicked.

Nodding, it pointed at itself again. "Rimmy."

At this point, Daz had worked everything out himself, but he chose to identify the crystal person just to be sure.

Rimmy McShineston's Core's Status Basic Information Name: Rimmy McShineston Species: Jewel Golem Race: Jewelled Mountain Golem [Core] Age: 0 Sex: N/A Class: Jewelled Warrior Affinity: Lawful Neutral Description

The true core of the Jewelled Mountain Golem, protector of Waterford, Rimmy McShineston.

This being currently possesses the power to sever its bond with its master and proceed on the jewelled path alone, but it has sworn to itself that it would never abandon the Earth survivor, Daz, and has thus asked the system to seal its ability to sever their bond.

The core, unlike the main body, is far more adept at one-on-one combat and has a different class from the main body to help facilitate this difference.

So long as this core exists, the main body can never be entirely destroyed, however, if the core is slain, it cannot be resummoned and Rimmy McShineston will die permanently.

Energies Lifeforce: 4,000/4,000 Jewelled-core Energy: 5,000/5,000 (10,000) Stats Agility: 3,000 (3,600) Dexterity: 2,500 (3,000) Strength: 1,500 (1,800) [New!] The host has 7 unused stat slots.

"You... you can die... permanently?" Daz's eyes shook, and this new possibility scared the usually fearless man beyond belief.

The lithe core of Rimmy walked forwards and placed a hand on Daz's shoulder. "Rimmy."

"Yeah... I know. I guess this is even more reason for me to make sure no one I care about dies ever again, huh?" Daz laughed wryly.

"Rimmy," Rimmy replied as he patted Daz's shoulder a few times and tilted his head.

"You also have stat slots... I guess it sees you as a unique host now even though you're under my control. Weird," Daz noted.

"Rimmy," Rimmy said as he cocked his head aside, making Daz chuckled faintly.