As Soul Essence spread throughout the Void, Wain saw many messages before him.

[Adjustments have been made to account for your strength and the power of your souls in Soul Altar.]

[Stats of all creatures in this territory are increased by 33%.]

[All creatures in this Void progress and accumulate Soul Essence 33% faster.] 𝘣𝘦𝑑𝘰𝑣𝘦𝘭.𝘰𝘳𝑔

Wain was surprised. He had never seen so many messages at one time before, even when he evolved. He didn’t think that being a Void owner could bring so many bonuses.

[Ice Caves will gradually grow and strengthen. Over time, the area will increase in size and its overall power.]

Crackling.

Suddenly Wain heard a loud crackling sound, but it was not coming from the destruction of something. On the contrary, the ice caves were slowly expanding, and this zone would get bigger and move into another category after a while.

[You can find out the current status of any of the zones belonging to you at any time. You just have to think about it].

“This is incredible…” Mumbled Wain and thought about the status of this Void.

[Ice Caves

Owner: Nameless

Size: Tiny

Chronicle: First

Rank: F ]

“Hmm, probably Tiny is the smallest size of the territory. It also counts Chronicle and has an unknown Rank parameter. Well, it’s pretty obscure, but I think I’ll figure it out in time.”

Suddenly another message appeared in front of Wain.

[Your value in the World of Darkness has increased. Your Seal of Darkness has been upgraded to rank one.]

[You can now find spatial rifts from a greater distance, as well as see approximately what level of danger lurks behind a door of ink. All of your stats are increased by 5. Also, when using souls, you now get 5% more Soul Essence]

“Holy shit…” Mumbled Wain.

Time after time, he was more and more surprised. He didn’t expect so many things to happen when he got into Void for the first time in his life.

Wain took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He was excited about so many things happening in one moment.

“In total, all my stats have been increased by 15, the creatures in this zone have become a third stronger, and the Void will gradually grow. Also, I became something meaningful to the World of Darkness, and now I have an alias. Moreover, my Seal of Darkness has been improved…” Mumbled Wain.

He decided to spell out everything that had happened in the last few minutes. This was a big surprise to Wain, but he was delighted and content with the situation.

Wain thought about the present situation. But suddenly, a large amount of Soul Essence piled up in front of him, which had already managed to permeate the entire area of this Void.

In some ways, the Voids were similar to Dungeons. After defeating all the monsters in Dungeon, a person received a reward. The situation in Void was slightly different. A person had to defeat the territory owner and get their reward.

The reward was not in any chest or treasury. There was no need for such complications. The reward was created from a massive amount of Soul Essence piled up in one spot.

Whoooosh.

Soul Essence turned into a vortex, which quickly shrank to a small point. Then the dot expanded and transformed into Wain’s reward. An object floated in the air in front of Wain.

To his surprise, it was a pair of boots. They looked as if they were made of ice on the outside, but they were not. A coldness and an ancient aura were coming from them.

Wain smiled and walked over to the boots and took them in his hands.

[Sparkling Frost Boots (First Chronicle, Epic Rating)

These boots are made of a special material that can only be found in the coldest corners of the universe. It is suitable for those used to moving fast in combat and fighting in the icy elements.

Over time, the temperature of these boots will decrease, and your speed and power of the ice attribute will gradually increase. But, first, you need to develop great speed, after which the effect will be activated.

If equipped: speed increased by 10%, Agility +5, all attacks with ice attribute increased by 15%]

“Today, I wonder too much. With every message I see, I get stronger. It’s incredible.” Thought Wain and immediately put on his boots.

Despite their unusual shape, they were quite comfortable and strangely warm, to his surprise. Wain wasn’t cold, although he could feel the temperature gradually dropping around the boots.

“Huh, this is my first item that raises some stats. I’ll need to replace my gloves or improve. Every day the Primary Chronicle items become less useful than before.” Mumbled Wain.

Cracking.

Suddenly there was the sound of cracking ice. Wain turned around and saw several monsters in one of the caves. They were slightly taller than the average human.

Their bodies were thin, and their arms and fingers were long, with short but sharp claws. They also had long, triangular ears. They didn’t look dangerous, except for their wide mouths with many sharp teeth.

Wain did not prepare for battle. There was no need to, for these monsters were now obligated to obey him. Of course, they could challenge him and try to become the new owners of this Void, but Wain saw no desire to fight in their eyes.

“Hey, do you understand me?” Wain asked.

Several of the monsters nodded and quickly ran up to him. Wain was strong, and they understood that. Among humans, the one who was the strongest usually ruled, but with monsters, this rule was elevated to an absolute.

“That’s good…” Wain muttered.

‘Hmm, the fire goblins understand me too. I wonder if it’s because these monsters are smarter than the others or because they don’t behave aggressively towards me.’ Wain thought.

Even though he didn’t care what race his interlocutor belonged to, he hadn’t quite figured out how it worked yet. Moreover, he needed to get used to communicating with monsters.

In a few decades, they would be full inhabitants of his world, at least some of them. Wain was confident of this.

Wain called the monsters to him, but he didn’t know what to say to them. He didn’t need them now, and there was no way he could use them. Wain realized that there was no way he could move them from Void to his world.

“Anyway… Show me a place to rest here, and you’re free to go.” Wain said calmly.

He killed the wyvern and became the owner of this Void, but he didn’t explore the whole area. He took the shortest route down, but dozens or even hundreds of caves around the Void.

Wain originally wanted to search for the Sorcerer’s Soul, but he wasted a lot of energy. Wain decided to rest. He didn’t know if the Ice Caves had the right place for it, but he hoped it was.

When the monsters heard Wain, they smiled and nodded their heads. Their smile looked rather creepy to humans, but Wain didn’t care. He couldn’t be impressed by beauty or horrified by ugliness.

He had seen many beautiful people in his life, especially women with godlike looks. The same seemed to be true of ugly people. He saw them too many times, and they ceased to be somehow unique.

Perhaps this was one of the reasons why, more often than not, Wain didn’t care what any particular monster looked like.

That didn’t mean Wain didn’t have a taste. He, like other people, had his own type of appearance that he liked. However, he wasn’t capable of falling in love with a girl just because of her looks. It was impossible.

What could really make his heartbeat was what was hidden inside a person.

…

After a while, the monsters led Wain to one spacious cave. It was a small lake, hidden under tons of ice, to his surprise.

Wain let the monsters go and undressed and plunged into the water. Even though the water was freezing, like ice, Wain felt great. He could sense the freshness and how all the accumulated tension was released from him.

Wain was the strongest in his world, but that didn’t mean that nothing could surprise him. On the contrary, he liked the apocalypse, the World of Darkness, and the Purgatory zones, because it was unusual, interesting, and exciting.

“If I were a normal person, I’d be freezing to death by now, but given my high stats, this water seems like a normal temperature to me,” Wain muttered and closed his eyes.

Many momentous things happened recently. Wain wanted to rest and think about his plans for the future.

Wain would leave the lake in half an hour, but he didn’t notice himself falling asleep. The last time Wain slept was when he went to help Gisle capture some of the forests to build a base.

Several days have passed since then. Sometimes Wain wanted to go to sleep, but he didn’t have time for that. Every time something was happening that he had to participate in. So when he finally relaxed, he instantly fell asleep.

Wain slept for quite a long time. For two whole days, during which time his body gained strength. Wain rested both physically and mentally. Moreover, gradually his body temperature began to decrease due to the influence of the special water in the lake.

A thin layer of ice even began to appear on Wain’s body.

Crackling.

Suddenly Wain opened his eyes, and the thin layer of ice shattered. He looked at his already blue skin and frowned. But, he wasn’t unhappy that he was practically frozen, but that he had suddenly fallen asleep.

‘Damn, I’m lucky no monster decided to challenge me. I need to be more careful. That inattention could have cost me my life.’