The heat hit them like a physical blow the moment they crossed the ridge.
The Valley of Cinders was a hellscape. A massive volcanic caldera. Easily ten kilometers wide. The ground was a treacherous crust of black basalt floating over rivers of slow-moving, glowing magma. Geysers of steam and fire erupted randomly. Painting the sky in shades of violent orange and choking grey.
[System Warning: Entering High-Level Zone 'Valley of Cinders'.]
[Environmental Debuff: Extreme Heat. -50 HP/sec.]
[Environmental Debuff: Toxic Ash. Stamina regeneration reduced by 80%.]
"Fifty HP a second?" Valerie gasped. Chugging a red potion immediately. Her skin was flushing red. Her robes were already starting to singe at the hem. "Sebastian, we can't survive here! My regen is only 20!"
"You can't," Sebastian agreed. He reached into his inventory. Pulled out a blue, glowing crystal. "Hold this."
[Item: Heart of the Frost Beast]
It was a drop from a rare spawn he'd killed in the tutorial phase—or rather, a drop he would have farmed later. Had bought off the auction house for pennies though. No one knew its value yet.
The crystal pulsed. Creating a ten-meter bubble of cold air around them. The searing heat vanished. Replaced by a manageable warmth.
"Stay close to me," Sebastian ordered. "We need the center."
They navigated the maze of obsidian. The mobs here were terrifying. [Magma Golems] rose from the lava rivers. Dripping molten rock. [Ash Drakes] circled overhead. Screeching like fighter jets.
Sebastian avoided them. He used [Void Walk] to phase them through solid rock walls. Bypassing patrols. He used [Mirage] to create decoys that sent the Drakes chasing shadows into the geysers. He wasn't here to grind. He was here to claim.
They reached the center of the valley. A raised plateau of black stone. Surrounded on all sides by a moat of lava. It was the only stable ground in the entire zone. A natural fortress.
"Here," Sebastian said. He walked to the exact center of the plateau.
He knelt down. The rock was hot enough to fry an egg. His boots were enchanted though. He pulled the [Guild Creation Token] from his inventory.
The golden coin shimmered. Seeming out of place in this world of ash and fire.
"Valerie," Sebastian said. His voice solemn. "Prepare the gold."
Valerie opened the digital interface of the briefcase she carried. "50,000 Gold Coins. Ready for transfer."
"Do it."
Sebastian pressed the token into the rock.
[System: Guild Creation Token detected.]
[Location: Valley of Cinders (Leyline Node).]
[This territory is unclaimed. Do you wish to establish a Guild Base here?]
"Yes," Sebastian said.
[Enter Guild Name:]
"Sanctuary."
[System: Fee required: 10,000 Gold. Do you wish to pay?]
"Pay it."
The gold vanished from Valerie's inventory. The token sank into the rock as if it were dropping into water.
Then the world shook.
[Ding! World Announcement: The First Guild 'Sanctuary' has been established!]
[Guild Master: Zero.]
[Territory Claimed: Valley of Cinders.]
A pillar of golden light shot from the ground where Sebastian knelt. Piercing the ash clouds. Reaching for the red moon. The lava moat around the plateau surged. Boiling violently.
Sebastian wasn't done though.
"A base is just a spawn point," he muttered. His eyes glowing with the blue light of the interface. "I need a castle."
He opened the [Guild Management] menu. Usually, building a guild hall took weeks of resource gathering and hired NPC labor. You placed a blueprint. Deposited wood and stone. Waited.
Sebastian had Infinite Skill Points though.
In this game, you could use Skill Points to "Rush" construction timers. It was a mechanic designed for whales who spent millions. The cost scaled exponentially. To rush a wall by one hour cost 10 SP. To rush it by a day cost 1,000 SP. To rush an entire fortress instantly? It would cost billions.
Sebastian didn't blink.
He selected the [Tier 3 Obsidian Fortress] blueprint.
[Cost: 50,000 Stone, 10,000 Iron, 5,000 Mana Crystals.]
He didn't have the materials.
"Convert Skill Points to Materials," he commanded. It was a hidden admin function he knew from his past life—a developer tool that was never patched out.
[Conversion Rate: 1 SP = 1 Resource Unit.]
He dumped millions of points.
[Resources Acquired.]
[Construction Started: Obsidian Fortress.]
[Time Remaining: 30 Days.]
"Rush," Sebastian whispered. "All of it."
He poured the infinite stream of points into the timer. The numbers blurred. Spinning down from days to hours to seconds to zero.
RUMBLE. CRACK. BOOM.
The plateau groaned. Massive blocks of black obsidian, veined with pulsing purple mana, erupted from the ground. It wasn't construction. It was geological violence. Towers shot up like spears. Walls rose. Thick and imposing. Topped with jagged battlements. A keep materialized in the center. Heavy and brutalist in design.
The heat of the valley was instantly pushed back as the [Guild Barrier] activated. A shimmering dome of blue energy that encased the entire plateau.
Valerie fell to her knees. Shielding her head as dust and magic swirled around them. When she looked up, the desolate rock was gone.
They stood in the courtyard of a fortress that looked like it had stood for a thousand years. Gargoyles perched on the ramparts. The gate was made of solid iron. Reinforced with runes.
"Impossible," Valerie breathed. Staring up at the central tower that pierced the smog. "You... you built this in ten seconds."
Sebastian stood up. He brushed the ash from his rags. He looked at his creation not with pride. With critical assessment.
"The walls are Tier 3," he noted. "Good against physical attacks. Weak against Void magic. We need turrets. We need upgrades."
He looked at Valerie.
"Welcome home, Heiress. Now we fill the armory."