Kingdom Building: Civilization Starts with Divinity-Chapter 86: Unprovoked Prospec

|<Notice: Congratulations! You have leveled up! You have skipped levels 18 through 22, leveling up to 23!>|

|<Notice: STR has increased from 130 to 152, INT from 154 to 165, and CON to 222. FAI has remained the same!>|

"Bad guy as I am, I’m sure the system is willing to die for those sins." Alchemy hummed.

|<Notice: The system has not done anything to provoke the Prospect.>|

"Dragged me to another world without my consent, said location in another world was a spot where I was forced to kill children for my survival, pressured me into creating and caring for units that are alive and have free will and are adorable, which also need me to kill things to protect and provide for them..."

Alchemy paused as she glanced at the system with a bitter smile.

"Sure is a long list of not provoking the Prospect."

|<Notice: The system has not forced the Prospect to do anything.>|

"You know, before I was a pro gamer, I worked in a library. Reading the works of old philosophers was basically my job. Do you really want to start this right now?"

The System’s response was delayed.

|<We apologize.>|

"What I thought."

As Alchemy continued down the path, she glanced at the torch she carried, which burned as brightly as ever.

She took care not to move her body too sporadically to ensure her fire remained healthy, but between running this far and her brief battle with the rabbit creatures, it was bizarre that the flame didn’t falter.

"Gods, I knew Kuff Wood was stupid, but this is a bit much, isn’t it?"

Kuff Wood was the wood that all Prospects got from their lumber yards. It was fragile and terrible at conducting any mystical energy, much less Mana, which wood was meant to be extremely good at.

Despite that, one unit could burn for an entire day—at least, it was supposed to. However, the amount it took varied greatly when used as a fuel source, so saying it could burn for a whole day was nothing more than flavor text.

Although flavor text was quite helpful in reality.

That aside, Alchemy looked at the map. Nera was considerably further than her and Gravana and seemed off the beaten path.

She had marked a location and named it "Suspicious Trial." The map showed that she went further but looped back, most likely checking her surroundings before doing whatever said the trial was.

"Honestly, that girl. She’s trying to worry about me when she enters something dangerous without first notifying me."

Rolling her eyes, Alchemy sighed as she turned her attention back to the path ahead. While moving along, another group of four rodents graciously donated her a bunch more EXP.

|<Notice: You have killed an Adult Dire Tooth and earned 13,400 EXP!>|

|<Notice: Congratulations! You have leveled up! You have skipped levels 23 through 26, leveling up to 27!>|

|<Notice: STR has increased from 152 to 163, INT from 165 to 180, and CON to 240. FAI has remained the same!>|

"And here I thought I was finally getting good strength rolls. At this rate, I will be relegated to being the tank!" She frowned.

How drab! At least if she were the dedicated healer, then she’d be the de facto most important person in any party and yell at her teammates for being out DPS’d by her.

A tragedy in the making.

Fortunately, Alchemy was pulled out of her fantasy as she passed a door. A few steps after walking by it, she stopped dead before backtracking.

A door. Not another pathway or small entrance for the Dire Tooth’s to get through. A human-sized door.

"What... System, is this your doing?"

|<Notice: The System marks what is in the Instance Dungeon. We have had no part in the creation or layout.>|

"Mhm..." Alchemy hummed suspiciously.

She wasn’t suspicious of the system; she believed it wholeheartedly.

When she went to interact with the door’s handle, her suspicions were only pushed further.

|<Notice: You are about to enter the Trial of Finesse, a non-required area of the Instance Dungeon. Please note that powerful magic is blocking the entrance of more than 1 participant.>|

"A powerful magic? Could you remove it?"

|<Notice: The System is capable.>|

"Okay, will you?"

|<No.>|

"Figured. I was just wondering how much you were willing to interfere with the world. Oh well."

|<When trying to manipulate someone, the first rule is not to tell them you’re attempting to manipulate them.>|

"How rude. I would never try to manipulate you. I’ll much faster beat you into submission before I manipulate you."

Pushing the door open while she chuckled at her own antics, Alchemy was greeted by a site that she couldn’t decide if it was more bizarre or par for the course in this situation.

Another door, this one closer to being Gigant-Form-Nera-sized, was made of metal and had a button near it, making it seem very industrial.

The hallway between the two doors was also lit up—a light made from a mana shard.

|<Notice: To complete the trial of finesse, you must complete one of two objectives. Either survive for 1 hour or defeat the Miniboss. Completion of either will immediately deem you successful in the trial.>|

"A miniboss? Alright, I bet that there’s going to be a trial down Gravana’s path, and then we’re going to beat all three, and then we’re going to get a mythical weapon. If there’s no mythical weapon at the end of this, it’s your head System." She proudly declared.

She made a mark on the map aptly titled "Suspicious Trial 2" and then pressed the button.

With a loud hum and the grumble of rocks shifting to account for the door’s movement, Alchemy took one step into the trial ground.

Dozens—nearly a hundred Dire Tooths—were sitting at tables, eating like it was lunchtime at school. In the back was a figure that appeared to be the chef.

Collectively, all of the Dire Tooths looked at Alchemy, their eyes giving off an eerie glow in the well-lit room.

"Oh..."