Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 66: Blood Moon!

Arriving at the border, Nera was the first to voice her opinions as she let out a curious hum.

"Doesn’t it look similar to a warp gate?" Nera questioned playfully, examining the portal-like wall.

"Yeah, but even under short distances, the contents of the other side were never this clear." Alchemy agreed.

Behind the reddish glass panes was a vast mountain range that seemed far away yet close at the same time. Alchemy tried to describe the contradictory sight before her eyes but failed.

This was, far and away, the most bizarre thing she’s seen in this world so far.

{Mother Goddess. I’m starting to believe this more than ever now... We’re not at the Edge of the Universe anymore.} Nera said through the telepathic link.

Despite no words being said and Nera’s face not moving, Alchemy was sure she heard Nera salivating.

’Not the Edge of the Universe, huh?’

Edge of the Universe. That was the official name of the world in which A.O.A took place. It was a vast world with countless mystical phenomena that you’d only ever see in the highest of fantasy games, yet this world had sights that were somehow even more foreign.

’What are your thoughts on this, System?’

|<Notice: You lack the authority to get an answer. Please increase your Civilization Tier and ask again!>|

’Don’t think I won’t shoot you 10 times in the chest once I get my hands on a gun. The restriction from my IDOL will never save you.’ Alchemy cursed the system.

"Hey, Teacher. What exactly is this? Is it a portal to another area?" Alchemy questioned.

Gravana looked at Alchemy and Nera with suspicious eyes.

These two were definitely talking about something amazing, and it was all flying straight over his head!

"Your guess is as good as mine. All we know is that it’s a barrier, a divider of sorts. It’s meant to keep the strong monsters out of the business of the weaker monsters and vice versa, but it barely works half the time, much less consistently." Gravana shrugged.

’This whole thing bothers me. Hey system, could you deliver a message to Nera for me?’

|<Notice: Messaging your citizens is possible.>|

|<We are not a mobile phone. Messaging other Prospects is fine, but Please do not rely on the system and strive to learn how to use the intrinsic telepathy of the Verminae!>|

’I swear to GOD, System. Either you’re going to die by my hands, or you’re going to be my 13th reason why. Just tell Nera that I want her to look into this when she can.’

The system took a few moments to respond.

|<Notice: Message Sent!>|

Just as that notification appeared, another appeared next to Nera.

’Speaking of, can I only message my units? Is it not possible to message other Players?’

|<Notice: Leaderboards and Friends will be unlocked after the first major update.>|

Alchemy felt her eye twitch as she hid her clenched fist in her pocket.

’And here I thought you were being generous when you offered another skill shard. So much for believing in you.’

|<...>|

|<The increased rewards are an apology for the unfortunate bugs in the system! Please keep going, Prospect!>| 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

There it was again. The System notifications switch between using "Notice" and not. It was such a small thing, but it became glaringly obvious to Alchemy when it happened right next to another system message.

"Well! What are we waiting for? Let’s get this job done." Alchemy clapped, pushing her idle thoughts away.

"Ah! Let me go first, Mother Goddess!" Nera spoke up, probing the border with a stick.

After seeing part of the stick go through, she pulled it back to see if it was still in one piece. After she confirmed that no damage had occurred to the stick, Nera slowly put her arm through, followed by the rest of her body.

"How dramatic." Gravana sighed, being the second one to enter.

"Well, he’s not exactly wrong. Are you ready, Sapphire?"

Sapphire was a little skittish but nodded.

"If Master Alchemy thinks I can do it, then I can!"

Sapphire took a few deep breaths and dashed through the boundary, causing Alchemy to chuckle.

Lastly, Alchemy walked through the wall as casually as she could.

It barely took her two steps to reach the other side, but the feeling was less than pleasant.

It felt... Broken. Like walking over shattered glass, but all over her body.

It wasn’t too bad; it didn’t feel like any of the shards cut her, not too deeply, at least.

Even after entering, the surprises didn’t stop. It suddenly got darker, causing her to look around only to see everything had a red hue. As she looked for the cause, her eyes landed on the moon in the sky.

Crimson. Red as blood, the moon painted the darkness below in a bright red light that forced Alchemy’s eyes wide open.

|<Notice: An abnormal phenomenon is occurring. Please be careful of the changes that might occur due to the shift in environment.>|

It wasn’t just Alchemy, but Nera and Sapphire too. Everyone was shocked.

"A blood moon... You’ve gotta be kidding me..."

"Grahaha! Surprised?!" Gravana laughed, seeing the shocked faces of his cohort.

"A localized Bloodmoon? Nera, what do you reckon its tier is?" Alchemy ignored Gravana’s words, much more interested in what was above her.

She thought about asking the system, but if it gave her one more vague answer or outright refused to answer her today, she would blow a blood vessel.

"I’m not feeling any negative effects. It can’t be higher than a Severity 3."

Hearing Nera, Alchemy couldn’t help but nod.

Blood moons, phenomena in general, were stage hazards—sandstorms, blizzards, tornados, eclipses, etc. Depending on the terrain, they could occur in varying severities.

Blood moons were unique in that they could only occur at night, and when they did occur, it covered the entire world of A.O.A instead of a localized area.

Its effects weren’t much worse than the others at low tiers. It made PVE harder, but it also gave more rewards. At a Severity 4 and higher, player-controlled units would start being affected and enter into frenzies.

"What an unexpected boon. Be prepared, you two."