[Resistance: Radiant 74 > 75]

I swear that she did that on purpose. When my vision comes back, I realize I am sprawled out on the ground in the same position before I fell asleep.

I stand up and rub my eyes, am I awake?

I have the ruby apple in one hand, but more importantly, I have Flash Gordon in my other.

"Is this a dream, Flash Gordon?"

"..."

"You're right. I should check my surroundings before taking any actions."

Hundreds of twinkling stars hang high in the sky, and the wind rustles the grass beneath my feet. I am in front of a massive three-story mansion with a bell tower. I'm within the mansion's grounds and can see the main gate behind me. Off to my left is a garden shed, and to my right is a coach house, but I'm interested in the main building.

"Where are we, Flash Gordon."

"..."

"Check my [Status]? Okay."

[The User has gained property!]

[The property is reacting to Unique Master]

[New Skill Acquired!]

[Master's Magnificant Mansion ?]

[The master deserves a home fit for their title. The master now has access to his own extradimensional manor grounds and facilities! Just conjure from any doorway to enter or leave.]

"..."

The realization kicks in after rereading the message window a few times. I had a house in Bluefield, but this is entirely different!

But what's the catch? I refuse to believe that a C-rank class managed to change a fracture so much that it's now furnished. Is this what the goddess meant when she mentioned my class in my dream? Who built this place, and how long has it been floating in space.

Let's first survey the grounds before I start thinking any further.

~

I counted three gardens spread out from one another, one labeled for herbs. There was nothing in the soil, and the nearby garden shed was empty. Same with the coach house and the nearby stables. Not even a strand of hay to indicate past occupation.

There were a few buildings around the back that I couldn't access. No matter how hard I smashed with Flash Gordon, the doors were unscathed and the windows spotless. But they are conveniently labeled.

A storehouse, a small guest house, a few servant quarters, and a guardhouse. I also saw what looked to be a church, but there was no way to get to it. I found a side path near one of the gardens that might have led to the church, but the gate was locked. I tried climbing over the walls, but that was useless as well. If I can find out what god or goddess that temple belongs to, that could reveal some other revelations about this place.

I circle back to the front and try to access the main entrance into the building. If this doesn't work, the goddess might as well not have completed her end of the deal. Getting my hopes up and all.

I walk up the steps and reach the entrance. The front is a nice set of wooden double doors, intricately carved in their design. There is a plain brass knocker that catches my eye. I knock on the door, and nothing happens. I wait for a minute and then reach for the door nob.

The door swings open as it was unlocked the whole time.

"..."

Of course, I am met with an antechamber... I go to the next set of doors and open them as well.

This time I am met with a huge open room that proves this is a magnificent mansion. Wooden floors with fancy carpets and pillars with floating globules of light bring a warm atmosphere to the room.

I start running around the first floor like an excited child that just inherited a mansion. There seem to be many staircases, but I ignore them for now. I find a ballroom, a gigantic hall filled with tables and chairs, an office for a steward, a drawing-room that looks suspiciously like a modern-day living room, and a library.

Yup. This place is definitely linked to me somehow. I pull a book off the shelf and crack it open. The book is the journal I found in my first fracture. I reach for another, and it's a mathematics book. All the books here are books I read before, and almost all are found in my [Lexicon].

Is the [Lexicon] linked to this place, or is the [Lexicon] and the [Master's Magnificent Mansion] getting information from the same place. Me.

I grab one of the rare books that aren't in my [Lexicon], and the words are in a language I have never seen before. I put it back on the shelf and left the library for the second floor. This is getting weird.

The second floor has more rooms than the first, but they are all smaller. A handful of bedrooms, one of them being the main bedroom, a study fully furnished with paper and quills, an armory with empty racks, a locked laboratory that I couldn't access, a treasury with one gold coin, and a personal museum.

Before trying to explore any more rooms in-depth, I try to go to the third floor and am met with the inability to go further. Same with the walls outside, there is an invisible force keeping me from entering.

Pity, I guess I will have to settle with two floors. For now, that is.

There isn't much to speak of about the bedrooms except that mine is the best one. It has a fireplace!

I have a hunch about this pisspoor treasury. This gold coin is the physical representation of CC I have in my [System]. I try to bring it out of the room, and it teleports back inside. It would be nice to be able to interchange CC with physical currency. I wonder when the goddess and Charlie are going to update the beta?

I skip the rest of the rooms and head towards the personal museum since that's the strangest room so far.

There are five glass cases on pedestals with room for many more. Each pedestal has different items that vary from each other.

There's an ebony skull that excludes a menacing aura, a golden statuette of a snail of a flower, a lighting cloud frozen in time, a black bonsai tree, and a snowglobe.

Are these representations of the fractures I've been to before? I go touch the glass case covering the skull.

[Endless Graveyard: 1% Complete]

What? That's the name of the fracture, and what's with this completion score? They should change the name of the fracture. If it's endless, no matter what, I couldn't even reach .1% in completion.

I touch the four other cases and see similar messages.

[Snail Garden: 12% Complete]

[Lightning Maiden's Temple: 2% Completed]

[Dark Forest: 64% Completed]

[Snowstorm: 23% Completed]

"I wonder what happens if I reach 100%, do I get a prize? What do you think, Flash Gordon?"

"..."

"Go back to the others? I guess I have been away from them for a while. Good call, Flash Gordon."

I go to the nearest door and activate the skill. The door swings open to reveal a film of milky white. I step through the barrier and find myself right where I passed out.

I casually stroll outside and leave the settlement hearing, "Ikki baba" every step of the way.

~

I haven't told my other beasts about the mansion yet. I wanted it to be a surprise for later. Duchess informs me that nothing happened while I was gone, but they had to make another shelter because I wasn't there to [Martyr] for them.

[By the way, master. Thisss one is curious about that apple you are eating.]

"Oh, yeah. My ring made it from my blood." I take another bite of this apple. It's okay.

[That's unhygienic.]

"I almost died for this apple, so I am going to eat this apple."

[...]

I eat everything but the seeds and put them aside for the new garden. There was enough room on the manor grounds for an orchard.

[The User has Indulged in a Forbidden Fruit.]

[Blood Apple has been Consumed.]

[Gained Title: Indulger]

[Indulger U

The user has consumed one of the forbidden fruits.]

"..."

[Are you alright? You went silent.]

"Does God hate me?"

[Thisss one doesn't see a reason why any god would dislike you. Unless you've been partaking in blasphemy in your spare time.]

"..."

[You haven't. Have you?]

"Nope, but that apple was probably cursed..."

[...]

I start poking around my [System] and find what the blood apple did to me. Under the [Indulger] title was a little arrow that shows this.

[Blood Apple: Delectable Blood

The consumption of a Blood Apple transforms the blood into something sweeter than nectar and more nutritious than a meal.]

"..."

[Ellis?]

"Does my blood taste funny?" I hold my wrist out to Duchess.

Knowing that she probably can't pierce my skin, especially since she isn't a viper, I slit my wrist for her.

Her massive tongue runs over my wound. Her eyes light up, then she looks at me weirdly.

"So? What's the consensus?"

[Why are you so weird?]

"..."

I lick my wound, and I put my arm down in disbelief.

"I'm delicious... Why am I so delicious..."

At this point, Jatan, the lore keeper, approaches us with a smile that fades.

"Ikki baba? Why are you bleeding into the snow?"

"Don't worry about it. What brings you back here?"

She straightens outs her clothing and looks me in the eyes, an impressive feat since she's so short. She then bows to me.

"Ikki baba. The goblin known as Jer confirms the tale of the instant slaying of the tyrant of the woods. On behalf of the Junji people, I implore Ikki baba to help us!"

"Help with what?" I said with a tone of frustration.

I'm not a charity. I hope she doesn't ask for money.

"There are three tyrants that plague this land, and they need to perish for the Junji people to prosper! The tyrant of the woods is the weakest for the sole reason that it's solitary, but the king of frost and the beast of snow still prowl this land."

Interesting. If I can get the locations of the strongest monsters here, then I don't need to aimlessly wander.

"What will I get in return."

"The Junji people will give the Ikki baba their greatest relic in return. We need nothing more than the deaths of those tyrants."

"Not even freedom?"

She hesitates before answering, "This is our ancestral home. We cannot leave it in this state and leave. Maybe one day, if we are ready, the Ikki baba can free the Junji people."

I noticed that her usage of Ikki baba didn't necessarily mean me in this situation.

"Give me the locations of the tyrants."

"Ikki baba!"