Light.
"Oh! You're finally awake Mr. Fran!"
Flashed by bright concentrated light, Fran instinctively covered his eyes. It was Dorothy, she was using light magic—which came out of her hand.
"Stop."
Fran grabbed her hand firmly, getting annoyed by the sudden awakening.
"Hehe, slept well, leader?"
"What are you even doing here...?"
This was Fran's room—it seemed he had passed out yet again. However, this time, he wasn't alone.
"How mean! I was urged by everyone to look after you since I know magic...! You know—"
Dorothy wiped her crocodile tears, exaggerating her cause. While she was having her monologue, Fran suddenly remembered.
[It's good to see you alive, King Fran]
"Axy...!"
[Here is your status]
[Fran Asroth ✦]
[Lvl. 1]
[Equipped Beginner Sword (C)(100%)(+4)]
[Strength - 2 (84%)] [Agility - 3 (71%)] [Intelligence - 3 (5%)] [Endurance - 2 (55%)] [Stamina - 2 (88%)]
[Unique Gift - King's Authority]
[Unique Gift - Wall EXP]
[Fragment (KLO-47) Blessing (Soulbound) (L)]
[King's Gambit (Soulbound) (L)]
"Wait... removing the Soulbound skills aside, these are basically the initial stats of a one-star...!"
Fran mumbled to himself.
[That is correct]
He despaired. What had happened? Was this the 'bug' Evo spoke of? Getting a unique gift meant that you had advanced to the next tier—which meant that at best, one could only get a max of 5 unique gifts per character. However, Fran still had the initial stats of a one-star, excluding his skills.
"Hey~! Are you listening!? How could you ignore me!!!"
"..."
Dorothy's voice just passed by Fran's head, as he was in deep thought.
"Hah... no need to be so gloomy over a failure. Aren't you a pro player?"
Dorothy sighed and looked at Fran with a dejected look. It seems that she has picked up on his worries, even if it wasn't entirely accurate.
"Yeah, it's time to choose the next Fragment."
<<----------->>
[Level Up -> Fran Asroth ✦ Lvl. 2]
[Strength - 2 (84% + 44%)] [Agility - 4 (81% + 31%)] [Intelligence - 3 (45% + 49%)] [Endurance - 2 (55% + 41%)] [Stamina - 2 (88% + 67%)]
[Strength - 3 (28%)]
[Agility - 5 (12%)]
[Stamina - 3 (55%)]
[Vulnerable Strike Lv. 1 (U)]
[Endless Strike Lv. 1 (R)]
Fran was resting on a wall after re-obtaining the skills he had in the tutorial stage. It seems his initial assessment of this trash gift was wrong.
"It took 5 hours of wall leaning to level up to 2 huh...? Also, what is with this absurd increase in stats...? A [Lucky Level Up]?"
Lucky Level Up.
There was a rare chance that a player would get a significant increase in stats when leveling up, twice or thrice their usual stat increase.
"You are... Hero Fran correct?"
"You may just call me Fran, Ms. Sera."
This was Sera.
The village head of Barrett Village and the new 'Fragment'. She had braided blonde hair and donned a one-piece dress. Looking at her status, she had the stats of an average one-star at level 3.
Fran was now in the village elder's house in the new 'Fragment stage'. Since the boss has been defeated, the area is now open, allowing people to come and go. Whether it is to engage in conversation, trade, or even personal relations.
"That cannot be done, Hero, you are our village's saviour. We were trapped here for almost an eternity."
Fragments, or more specifically, unowned Fragments, are trapped in time. This meant that before capturing them, they had been frozen for who knows how long. Many players have theorized why that is, however, no one could come to a concrete answer.
"Still, this means that you'll be under our dominion."
"We do not mind, as we are prepared to die for the liberation that you have brought us."
Fran couldn't help but be mixed with awe and fear. To think these people were willing to die for the Cradle, he still didn't quite understand it either. There were cases where captured fragments would have some resistance, but those were rare cases.
Still, how the Cradle managed to gain these people's trust and unwavering servitude, Fran didn't know.
"In any case, I have a personal request, Hero Fran."
"...?"
Fran, still leaning against a wall, turned his full attention to Sera.
"My sister, Joana, before we were frozen in time, went to the neighbouring city of [Anstrad]. If you plan to visit, I ask you to inform her of our state."
"That's..."
[Choose [Fragment RTU-61 (Owned (IRIS-C9712))] - Anstrad City]
[Y/N]
"An owned fragment...!"
Owned fragments were different compared to unowned ones, like Barrett Village. Not only do they have hostile inhabitants, but they also have other players that appear from time to time.
In short, they were dangerous.
"If you can remember, how long ago was it when you last saw her?"
"I... I am not quite sure, Hero. Everyone still does not know how long it has been since our time had stopped."
The reason why Fran had asked that question was simple: Joana might already be dead. Since it was an owned Fragment, that meant that time was flowing normally for them.
"In any case, we'll try our best."
"..! Thank you so much, hero!"
Sera's eyes lit up, and she bowed to Fran, grateful to him for accepting her selfish request.
[Fragment RTU-61 (Owned (IRIS-K9712)) - Anstrad City]
[Dimensional Connection Established]
"It's really time for war... huh?"
There were many ways to discover new Fragments. First was to ask and investigate the current Fragments that the Cradle owns—a resident of that Cradle can then set out to establish a connection to that Fragment once the coordinates have been picked up by the system.
The second one, if the King sees fit, he establishes a random connection to a random fragment, which could be either bad or good. Sometimes, Fran would waste a really good run because of the whims of a bad King.
There were no limits to how many connections could be established. However, one cannot just connect to many Fragments. This is because they act as a two-way portal. If the Fragment is owned or is a hostile Fragment in general, it would result in the Cradle being besieged and destroyed.
"We'll need to put people here now."
Capturing Fragments in King's Cradle wasn't all there is. It also included the protection of the current Fragments that the Cradle owns. If the 'Fragment' were to be killed by a resident of a different Cradle, it meant that they could own it.
In other words, they had to protect Sera.