A Journey That Changed The World.

Javen quickly agreed with wide eyes, but Archer wasn't done and took out one hundred and fifty thousand gold. He handed it to the lion man inside a strong ring. ''Here's enough coin to work for five thousand days straight. You'll answer to me and me alone, also report to me about any mines.''

The older lion man went pale when taking the ring. ''Are you sure, my lord? This is a lot of gold,'' he questioned.

Archer waved him away with a confident smile. ''It's a drop in the ocean for me, but everything to you. Now find me a leader who can run this place while I go build your mansion on Draconia.''

Javen nodded before rushing off, followed by other lion people. While this happened, he cast Cleanse over the whole camp to make sure everyone was clean. 'They will get their dignity back, along with their lives.'

Following that, he teleported to a southern part of Draconia that was populated by the nobility who were much different compared to the ones of the mainland, as they helped the empire grow stronger.

Archer started looking around until he found a quiet spot by a river where he built a decently sized mansion surrounded by a high wall. While building this, he sent a message to Aisha asking her to send Homeguard to defend the lion man's family and home.

The Dragonkin woman quickly agreed before arranging it. He was pleased and thanked her as he got back to creating Javen's new home. After focusing for five minutes, he was done and returned to the Domain.

Once he reappeared in the walled-in home for the homeless Avidians, and noticed loads of them were celebrating with big smiles. They had found the ale he gave them before the older lion man approached with a horde of children and a few women following behind.

They stopped in front of Archer and knelt while taking a loyalty Mana Oath. This surprised him, but he accepted it. Moments later, Javen spoke. ''These are my wives, Tasha, Margaret, and Alexandra.''

''Good to meet you all,'' he greeted the three women who blushed, causing him to think. 'Oh shit, I don't want to charm them!'

Following that, he used Mana Manipulation to cut them off, which made the women shake their heads as he spoke to the older man. ''Your home is complete, but there's no need to work straight away.''

When the lion family heard this, they got excited, prompting him to open a Gate back to the real world. He led them through, and the group appeared in the garden of their new home, causing the children to go stiff at the scene.

''Go explore the place,'' Archer said to the kids. ''You'll be safe here, the surrounding nobles are welcoming.''

Javen was shocked at the sight before him, causing his eyes to widen in shock. The mansion was a typical Avidian build that resembled a two-story Roman villa from back on Earth, and the children rushed around the garden.

The three women were fawning over the garden as the older man. Archer chuckled at their reaction and informed the four. ''There's a town down the road, you can buy all the stuff you need.''

When the lion man heard this, he nodded, just as his eyes widened. ''I found someone to run the camp back in that place.''

Archer chuckled while opening a Gate back to the Domain, and the two of them stepped through. The people there were panicking and trying to horde food until he let out a loud growl.

He sent out his Shadow Creature to take everything back as he warned the people. ''I brought you here to get off the streets and to stop suffering, now behave like proper Draconians or I will be forced to punish each one of you.''

When the crowd heard this, they backed off, just a stranger appeared with grey hair and a pair of bear ears atop his head. This caught Archer's attention, but the lion man quickly greeted the newcomer.

''Benson! Just the man I was looking for,'' Javen boomed.

''Shut up Jav,'' the bear man replied. ''Apart from that, what's wrong?''

Archer watched as Javen went off to the side with Benson and started talking like two old ladies, which amused him. While this happened, he cleaned up the place before bringing in more food.

Ten minutes passed by and Javen returned with the other man was behind him as he spoke. ''I'll be the leader of this place, most of the people listen to me but the ones that don't, I'll beat them up.''

''Good good,'' he replied before revealing. ''The citizens here will be the first onto the floating cities, but they'll have to swear a Mana Oath not to betray me or the empire.''

Benson nodded with an honest smile. ''How about we start it now, my lord? Consider everyone is clean, fed, and will be warm tonight thanks to the tents.''

Archer agreed as the two men started gathering the people who happily took the Mana Oath before going about their business. Once that was finished, he gave the leader of the new Draconians a device to contact him if they needed anything.

The older man agreed, prompting him to teleport to the Ironfoor Workshop to see Dellah about the floating cities. While doing that, a group of children in the Domain was going to cause trouble.

***

''Asha!'' a boy shouted after searching a tent. ''The beds are so soft and there's a thing that burns wood so we can stay warm at night.''

The young girl turned to her brown-haired brother, Asta. She shook her head with a smile, suggesting. ''We should check out the river with Dustin and Cirella, apparently pretty fish swimming through it.''

After their talk, the two hurried off, their parents occupied with Leader Benson, the mysterious white-haired man's chosen overseer of this strange world they find themselves in.

Following that, the siblings went to find their friends who were standing by the edge of a river, gazing into it. The two siblings raced to the edge of the crystal-clear water with their friends, their laughter echoing through the warm afternoon.

They knelt on the soft grass, eyes wide as fish darted beneath the surface. Shimmering scales of sapphire, crimson, and emerald flashed in the sunlight, weaving through swaying water plants.

One fish, its fins trailing like golden flames, spiraled around a cluster of bubbles, prompting Asha to gasp and point. ''Look at that one!'' she squealed.

Asta leaned closer, grinning as a school of tiny amethyst fish zipped past in perfect unison. Their friends each spotted a new favorite among the dazzling display. The pond seemed alive with color, a hidden world of beauty that held the children spellbound.

He paused by the river's edge, his gaze drawn upward as a shadow flickered across the sky. His breath caught at the sight of massive eagles soaring overhead, their wingspans stretching wider than any bird he'd ever seen, feathers glinting like polished bronze.

They glided in eerie silence, their sharp eyes scanning the land below. A chill ran through him, not from the breeze but from a gut-deep instinct whispering that this was no ordinary world.

The sheer size and number of the eagles, moving with purpose, felt alien, as if the rules of nature here bent in ways he couldn't yet grasp. He stood frozen, watching them vanish beyond the horizon, his heart pounding with the certainty that this place was far stranger than he'd imagined.

''This place is strange,'' their friend Rev commented while pointing in the distance. ''I wonder what's past the wall.''

''We should climb it!'' Lev said with a bubbly smile. ''It's what we used to do back in the village. I love climbing.''

Asta and Asha quickly agreed, prompting the four children to rush toward the stone wall and start up it. Rev was shocked before revealing. ''Apparently, the White Devil built this on his own. How can someone do such a thing?''

''Well, he's favoured by the Evil Gods, so I'm sure they give him their power,'' Asha answered as everyone started climbing.

Scaling the border wall, the children flinched as thunder cracked above, Rev and Lev letting out startled yelps. Asta's voice rang out, steady and urgent. ''Keep climbing! We're nearly there!''

''It's another Mana Storm! The adults will feel sick again!'' Rev replied.

After ten grueling minutes of climbing, they hauled themselves over the final ledge of the border wall, their breaths ragged but triumphant. Asta, Rev, Lev, and the others stood atop the weathered stone, eyes widening at the untamed world sprawling before them.

A patchwork of landscapes stretched to the horizon: dense emerald jungles pulsed with life, their canopies swaying in the breeze; savannas shimmered under the sun, dotted with grazing beasts.

Jagged mountains loomed in the distance, their peaks wreathed in mist, and shimmering rivers carved paths through rolling hills of wildflowers.