CHAPTER 36: EXPANSION FUNCTION

Hunting Ghosts for an entire week, Deklan naturally amassed a good amount of Spooky Dollars.

In the initial days, finding Ghosts is hard to do.

Gathering Spooky Dollars started slow and hazardous in the first few days, but as days came to pass in a blur, Deklan began to pick up cues on how to find Ghosts to hunt, and that significantly increased the amount of Spooky Dollars earned per day.

Coupled with the passive income from the Ward, he now has about six hundred bucks.

Deklan restrained himself from buying anything as his breakthrough to the bronze rank is coming near.

In case there are items that could help his breakthrough, he decided to save his money first.

But now, he was too curious about the Expansion function that he decided to spend some money.

None of the system’s functions had ever disappointed him—so he was sure this one would be more than worth it. As soon as he mentally clicked the Expansion function, another panel was opened, and under the ’available expansion targets’, there was Slosa Hamlet.

It costs a whopping 250 Spooky Dollars to unlock, but Deklan has more than enough to buy it.

"System, buy it!"

[Do you want to purchase Slosa Hamlet expansion for 250 Spooky Dollars?]

"Yep."

[You sure?]

"Yeep."

Just then, the lock symbol preventing Deklan from clicking the Slosa Hamlet option opened with a flair that Deklan thought to be dramatic. And once it was unlocked, he clicked on it and was shown another panel, but more elaborate.

...

[Slosa Hamlet]

Background: In the distant past, Slosa Hamlet wasn’t a humble village, but the heart and backbone of a prosperous kingdom born from a miracle. It’s located within the ancient Rora Forest, specifically a part of the forest where the tangible dimension overlapped with the Ten-Flux Endless Forest, an area within the intangible dimension where...(more)

Expansion Boost(s): +50% Mana Regeneration, +100% Mana Production, and +10% Dimensional Fruit Effect. (Locked)

Origin Quest: Space Distortion.

...

Inside, there was the background of Slosa Hamlet, Expansion Boost, and Origin Quest.

Deklan read through the background and realized the Slosa Hamlet rests on top of an anomaly land.

It was connected to the Ten-Flux Endless Forest, which he assumed to be an area within the intangible dimension where Ghosts resided. And more than that, the land was also extremely fertile that anything could be planted in the soil.

Any fruit that was produced by the land would also be a better version than the original seed.

But what caught Deklan’s attention the most from the background was who blessed the land.

Aurora, the Grace of Nature.

"Isn’t that Marsha’s spirit?" Deklan thought the name sounded familiar, and he reckoned—that it was the spirit that latched onto Marsha. Then, he sneered with envy, "Peuuh... She’s the chosen one, alright. Even her spirit seemed like a bigshot. And me...? I only have Pumple."

Moving on from the background, Deklan was pleased to see the boosts he obtained.

"Fifty percent mana regeneration is insane, but the ten percent Dimension Fruit Effect increase is even more insane," Deklan couldn’t hide his smile as these boosts are really good. "But what about the Mana Production? Does that mean the duration Pumple remained grows longer now?"

[Yes. If the mana production is high enough, Pumple might not even need to go back into his grave.]

"I see... That also implies that there’s a limit as to how strong the Ghost I captured can be. Sucks."

[Prison can negate the need for mana for Ghosts that are too powerful for the host.]

"Oh, really?!" Deklan’s eyes flashed in excitement, but then, his eyes narrowed. "What’s the catch?"

[It can either die or... you’ll see when the time comes, host.]

"Fuck, that’s ominous as fuck! I don’t want to know what’s going to happen!"

Regardless, he didn’t need to think about the boosts as it was still locked.

It goes without saying that it was tied to the next part.

Deklan shook his head and focused on the last part, the Origin Quest.

He clicked on the ’Space Distortion’ that was flickering, and the quest details appeared.

...

[Origin Quest: Space Distortion]

Description: Something is distorting the space around Slosa Hamlet, severing its connection—with the Ten-Flux Endless Forest, thus, severing it from the blessing Aurora the Grace of Nature gave. Because of that, the land became infertile and barren. Deal with the space distortion and recover the connection of the Slosa Hamlet to the Ten-Flux Endless Forest!

Reward: Unlock the Expansion Boosts, 200 Spooky Dollars, and Aurora Blessing.

...

"No penalty and time limit? Hoh... Should I be glad—or worried?" Deklan thought aloud, rubbing his chin as he read through the Origin Quest. It doesn’t sound hard, as all he needed to do was investigate the root of the cause and deal with it.

Deklan supported his cheek with his hand and looked out of the window.

"Is that the reason why the people are all focused on woodwork? Because the land was infertile?" His brows dipped into a frown. "Instead of staying here, why don’t they make another settlement? Do they need to stay on this particular barren spot?"

From the background description, Deklan knew that the infertility was only in the Slosa Hamlet.

An inch from the border, the soil would be normal again.

But none of the people even attempted to plant seeds outside the border, which was quite odd.

"Since the people all seemed to be good at woodwork, I’m guessing this space distortion happened in the distant past. If it happened recently, there should be farmers among them," Deklan lay on the bed with both hands behind his head. "Better yet, why are the people staying in the forest when it’s known to be filled with Ghosts?"

Deklan knew that he was missing a piece of information.

Regardless, he wasn’t worried.

"I’ll ask Marsha about this," He mumbled as he reached out his hand to flick his fingers. "Or that guy, what’s his name again? Hendrick? He looked old enough to know everything around—the hamlet. I’m sure he can help."

Hendrick was still alive and well.

Exercising his merciful side, Deklan let him live and stay in the Slosa Hamlet.

At least, that’s what Marsha thought about the matter—him being merciful.

But in truth, Deklan has a plan in mind.

I’m going to eventually go to a big city—and meet my supposed family. I can’t have Marsha become the next Granny Linsa and stay behind. I’m going to bring her with me—so Hendrick should be the one to become the one who lead the hamlet.

One might think giving Hendrick power is a bad idea.

Since he was close with Granny Linsa and Hendrick, he would soon follow their footsteps.

But Deklan begged to differ.

Hendrick knew the stick that would befall him when he did wrong, and oftentimes, someone who needed to prove something would work harder than someone competent but new. So, Deklan decided to make him the leader.

At least later, when he was about to leave the hamlet.

"Hmm, maybe I should tell him now so that Marsha wouldn’t win the people’s hearts too much."

Flick!

Deklan snapped his fingers.

As soon as he did, a reddish energy gathered above him, and Pumple appeared.

He dropped down and landed on Deklan’s chest.

"Keuhk! Damn, I didn’t know you were that heavy!" Deklan cursed.

He forgot that Pumple’s body was as hard as a rock, so it’s naturally heavy too.

Seeing Pumple bounce so much branded the illusion that he was squishy in Deklan’s mind.

"Take a look outside," Deklan pointed at the window with a restrained voice due to his squeezed lungs. "Since you like to play around so much, it gets boring to only be stuck in that hut, am I right? Now you have a new playground."

Pumple leapt over to the open window and looked outside.

He saw many wooden houses around, and also signs of life in them.

Unlike the small hut that was desolated and empty, this place was not the same as he was used to.

Deklan looked at Pumple, who was looking outside curiously.

Since he had bought the Slosa Hamlet expansion, he was thinking that maybe he could summon Pumple here instead of needing to go back to the hut. And as he expected, he could; the Expansion function, as its name suggests, expanded the Ward’s influence.

Hmm... Since the world knew good Ghosts called Spirits, the people shouldn’t be too worried, right?

It would be bad if the people panicked when they saw Pumple wandering around.

Deklan watched Pumple silently as he lay on the bed.

He could feel the night wind brushing against his skin, soothing him like the embrace of a woman.

Before long, Deklan dozed off to dreamland.

Early in the morning, Deklan was in the backyard doing push-ups as many as he could.

Marsha was already done with her exercise, which has always been the case since, somehow, she has monstrous stamina. Or perhaps Deklan’s body was simply too weak to even keep up properly with her.

"One hundred!"

Deklan panted heavily and walked over to the big barrel to the side.

He then proceeded to do curls with it until he couldn’t.

Once he was done, he dropped the barrel and wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"Young master, are you finished?" Marsha asked from the side.

Deklan nodded his head as he approached her.

He then flexed his barely-there bicep in front of Marsha’s face, "I’m so pumped right now!"

"You’re so cool, young master," Marsha patted his bicep in appreciation.

Ever since they started exercising together, Deklan always wanted her to touch his muscles every time he finished working out. She didn’t know what made Deklan like it, but seeing him feel good made her happy, so she always did it.

"Oh, right," Deklan sat on the ground beside Marsha. "I was always wondering—why didn’t the people move away to a better location? Instead of solely relying on Ingver Town for food, why don’t they move and find a better soil to grow food?"

"Why not...? Because it’s dangerous, young master." Marsha answered.

But this prompted Deklan to tilt his head in confusion.

"Dangerous? Isn’t being in the forest already dangerous?"

"Yes, but for some reason, Ghosts couldn’t enter Slosa Hamlet. Granny Linsa was the first one to notice, but Ghosts couldn’t enter. Even a bronze-rank Ghost from a year ago that appeared out of nowhere couldn’t force its way inside."

Hearing this, Deklan’s eyes narrowed.

Surely, this has something to do with the space distortion.

Maybe this was the reason that the blessing couldn’t reach Slosa Hamlet anymore.

"Was it ever a time when the soil was fertile?"

"No, never. But it’s always safe from Ghosts."

Hmm... So, this distortion happened in the distant past. Way before the people settled. Interesting.