The map opened up and on top of it a system window opened before he could even see the map.
"The combination of the three realms is complete, your planet is now three times larger and contains new topography."
"Please take the time to investigate it so you don't get lost"
Eli closed that window and went back to checking the map. Right now it was zoomed all the way out to be the entire planet and he noticed that it did not look like his planet at all. He spun the map so he got a good look at it, the whole thing was greyed out except a small white dot which he guessed was his location. There were three continents, each of them shaped roughly like a massive 6 pointed star. They were equal distance from each other for the most part with some small islands scattered randomly around the land masses. However, the vast oceans between them were empty and deep, making it obvious that going from one continent to the other would be a rough journey.
It looked like they all had similar topography, with a large cluster of mountains in the center and different terrain areas on the outside of the mountains all the way to the coast. The terrain areas went from flatlands, to grassy hills, to desert, to swamp with only some rocky terrain to separate them. This was obviously artificial and done for a reason, he just didn't know what it was yet. There was also something greyed out in a different color, right where the separation lines of rocky terrain met the coast and the mountains there were green areas. They were small but looked like a good area for people to settle. The coastal ones seemed to be good for fishing and ship docks and the mountain ones were set up like they would make a great place for an easily defensible fort and maybe some mining and industry.
This might be where the system would drop people after the tutorial, but knowing what he did about the system, it was more likely that it would drop them randomly and just tell them about distance and direction like it did for him. He took a look at where his dot was and zoomed in, but it turns out it wasn't his dot, it was the dungeon location. I guess it marked areas of interest that he had discovered with a dot, he focused on the dot and a description expanded.
"Cacophonous Caverns"
"Current top rank - 'EKGG'"
Ok so anyone who has been here can keep track of it from anywhere, that should be interesting. The dungeon was located close to the central mountain's eastern edge not far from a green area, so they would know about him soon. But maybe everyone in the tutorial was coming out strong and he would see his time beat soon after everyone got settled. That could be a good indication of how strong everyone else might be, it's not a fool proof measure but it's more than he had before. He checked the terrain around him and saw the volcano, forest and jungle from before, but they were different. The area looked much larger and was now three volcanoes in a line going north to south with what he guessed was jungle around it that was thicker near the volcanoes. The coast area looked like tropical beaches maybe, it was hard to make everything out in this grayscale tone of everything.
Eli sighed and closed the map, he just stood there scratching his chin which had an increasingly long beard now and just thought. He knew he needed a plan to spend his last 18 days before everyone came back and he also knew that he was stronger than just a level with his supreme class and strong skills. He needed to know what level monster he could face so he decided to go back to the volcano area where he would test himself and see what resources he could find. Since the land has all been reset, maybe he could find some treasures or something to help whoever ends up being on his team.
He checked his inventory for his wyrm skin since he would be heading towards a fire area and noticed two new items he didn't remember getting. He thought back to when he would have gotten them as he tied the skin scarf item around his stomach like he had it before. The only option he could come up with was when he was running the dungeon over and over, he wasn't checking what it was giving him since he didn't want the distraction. It did say he would only get loot every 10th run and he had cleared it over 20 times so that seemed to explain it. The first item was a mask looking thing and he took it out of inventory to see what it was.
"Mask of sonic indifference - Rare"
"A white cured clay mask with lines over the eyes"
"This mask allows the wearer to hear all sound clearly, no magic can hide sound from this mask"
"This mask feels weightless and does not block sight of the wearer"
"This mask hides the wearer's face, but does not offer any protection."
This seemed like a good item and hiding his face was a good idea since he plans to go against any evil he comes across. Although now that he thought about it, it is going to take a lot of time for people to gather into the safe spaces and form organizations. So he should work on his team during that time after people come back, get himself set up with a small team and get them trained so they can move around and get things done. He hated to admit it but the mask was pretty cool looking and it covered from his hairline to his chin and around both ears. While wearing it he didn't feel it at all and the ambient sounds around him seemed clearer and more focused. He thought he probably looked ridiculous right now but didn't really care. He was happy about the mask.
The next item was something he had absolutely no idea about. He took it out of his inventory and tried to focus on it but no window came up. It looked like a little lizard man statue of the one he fought that had held a spear. It looked so life-like but felt like stone and was cold to the touch. He tried to shake it, poke it, and he even tossed it like a game he played as a kid but nothing happened. It was kind of disappointing but it did look really nice, maybe it's a trophy or something he could put in a house if he ever has one again. He put it away and started moving toward the volcano, he decided to keep the mask on and just enjoy the feeling of a superhero with a secret identity. He started running and had a grin on his face looking forward to the next 18 days of grinding levels and skill-ups.
Eli made it to the volcano in 2 days fighting levels in the teens at first and as he got closer he was killing monsters in the mid twenties. Now that he was at the volcano, he focused more on his surroundings since he was expecting that the monster here would be closer to his level. He started up the volcano and the first monster he came across was a volcanic rock elemental, its stones seemed kind of brittle as they were breaking as it moved but the heat it was throwing off was drastic. It moved slowly but as it got closer the heat started to really affect him and he felt like he was struggling before it even got close enough to hit. It was close enough now for him to focus on it and get information.
"Volcanic Rock Elemental - Level 29"
This was going to be tough to fight, he knew one hit would get it but the heat would do a lot of damage to him if it wasn't a quick death. He decided to try his new throwing hammers, he cast his light boost then conjured three small hammers with long handles. They were small but they were still quite heavy. He threw the first one and it went through the elemental destroying some rock but not even slowing it down. The second one he tried to aim more in the center where he guessed its core would be, but again it just knocked some stone away. The third he aimed for its head, or at least what he thought the head was, but again no real effect.
He was going to have to get hurt to smash this thing but, that was just how it had to be he guessed and he got ready. Eli took a runner's stance and dashed forward with all the speed he could and conjured a cudgel and used the wide area smash to crush the monster. The heat slowly dissipated but when he checked himself he was very melty. The skin on his chest and arms was charred and falling off him and when he felt his head he no longer had hair and his beard was gone. After he looted it and just got system money he moved on to a cooler spot and let himself heal, it didn't take long since it was all surface damage, but he was not happy when his hair didn't grow back when he healed.
After a few more of these and a vulture looking bird that was trailing ash from its wings he finally gained a level, but did not put any stats in since he was focused on how to deal with the heat as he got further up the volcano. He decided to go around it at this level since he wasn't sure he could take much more, maybe if he got his resistance past 25 it would be another threshold that would allow him to handle it. He would need two more levels for that if he put all of his free points in it, but that would be a big commitment to dump that many stats into one place. But he didn't have the time to go to another area and figure it out and get to some strong monsters, so he was considering it while healing up from his latest fight.
Eli decided that he would work towards those levels and save his points while circling the volcano looking for treasures. He wanted stuff to barter with when people showed up, maybe he could get some clothes or a cloak or something so he wasn't running around so naked. It would be awkward if he was trying to meet people all dirty and in furry underwear and a mask. He doubted the tutorial people would not have clothes or some kind of armor to cover themselves so he was going to stand out. After he was all recovered from his last fight he went on his treasure hunt and moved slower focusing more on his magic senses to try and find plants or rocks that had magic.
It took another week and many monster kills to get his levels and he had some stuff that might be useful but he just didn't know. Some rocks that had fire or ash magic in them, a root of a dead plant that felt like fire and life magic in it and a few affinity gems that he found after breaking some rocks apart that felt like they had magic in them. He did however have fun with a problem, his inventory had a weight limit that he didn't know about and the system was kind enough to give him an explanation.
"You have reached your inventory weight limit"
"Your inventory weight limit is based on your weight, and doubles each time your body levels."
This would mean that he could keep twice his own body weight right now. Eli dropped all the random stuff he had picked up in the dungeon onto the ground except the string stuff he had found. Now he had more weight to use, but he needed to decide if he was going to drop those stats into resistance since he only had 9 days left. He needed to clear his head and see if this felt like the right choice. Sitting down, he focused on his internal magic and just felt it moving around inside him, always moving and crashing into itself getting more dense than expanding back out.
He sat like this for almost half a day just letting his mind relax and wander around from thought to thought, idea to idea. It wasn't clear if his plan would work or if what he was going to do was the best plan, maybe the monsters wouldn't be worth fighting. But, his biggest concern was finding strong monsters but not having the firepower to damage them since he was investing in defense. His mind kept coming back to the feeling when he put the mask on and started moving toward this volcano, it was pure adventure.
Something he couldn't remember feeling before even through the dungeon, this was the mask messing with his head. It was something he knew from his psyops work. People were more likely to follow baser instincts and be truer to who they were at their core if they were wearing a mask. This made him feel like it was ok to just let himself enjoy the crazy he was in. So, he decided to enjoy the crazy and try to conquer this volcano before the tutorial people came back. He dropped 8 points into resistance and put his other points in intellect to hopefully give him the power he needed to take on the crazy he was hopefully now ready to face.