'Wait, I'm Supposed to Become a Goddess?! But I'm a Guy!'

Boom!

The air trembled, a hurricane-like force roaring through the cave, twisting and turning like a wild beast let loose.

The wind lashed at everything in sight, slamming against the walls, kicking up dust, sending cloaks and hair whipping in the storm.

And in the center of it all, Mize stood still, unmoved, fingers barely grazing the floating panel.

Like a spark colliding, streak of arcs spreading in between his fingers as they moved, shifting.

One second…

Five seconds…

Ten.

Nothing.

His expression remained still, those crimson eyes unreadable as the last of the wind died down.

As expected.

If professions alone could bend the warp’s rules, then history would’ve been littered with beings who’d shattered its balance, rewriting reality itself.

There might be some exploitable loopholes, there might... Though he wasn't in possession of them at the moment.

But no such legends existed, not even among those who walked the path of a Goddess.

"As expected... Profession alone couldn't do such an impossible feat"

"Well... I wasn't really expecting much"

"Just hitting two eggs with one stone while trying my strength"

His voice echoed through the cavern, bouncing back in fragmented whispers.

Behind him, the gathered maids and knights adjusted their cloaks, brushing dust from their armor, shaking off the lingering tremors of that sudden outburst.

But they said nothing.

They only watched.

Mize slowly drifted down, his feet brushing against the soft grass.

This time, when he released the transformation, his body didn’t collapse under its weight.

A clear sign.

Before, his strength had been nothing more than a borrowed power, overwhelming yet fleeting.

Now, supported by the foundation of a tier 3 territory, his body had adjusted to it, not a full in depth control but instead, manageable.

"At most, I can keep this state for ten minutes before reaching my limit," he murmured, tilting his head slightly.

But as his gaze swept downward, something caught his attention.

The clothes.

‘Ah... it’s still here, huh?’

The hoodie, once soft and oversized, was gone. Replaced by a cascading dress of midnight butterflies, their delicate wings shifting with the air, rippling like liquid shadow.

And his hair, longer than before, trailing like ink down his back, strands still faintly glowing with an unnatural sheen.

"Some side effects still linger after deactivating it" he mused, but the observation barely warranted more than a passing thought.

Not when a rush of footsteps echoed from the distance.

His gaze lifted, landing on the approaching figures.

The butler led the charge, his usually composed expression marred by visible distress, his hurried steps closing the gap within seconds.

"My lady, are you alright? Any injuries?"

"Stay calm, butler."

Mize’s voice was light, almost teasing, but his eyes, those deep, jewel-like rubies, held a different meaning, the side effects still lingered.

They gleamed softly under the cave’s dim lighting.

"I am fine. Be at ease."

And just like that, the tension broke.

The butler let out a long, controlled breath, visibly relieved, as were the maids behind him.

But relief alone wasn’t enough, before Mize could stop them, the maids were already moving, fussing over him, scanning for injuries.

He didn’t resist. Didn’t push them away.

Just sighed, allowing them to do as they pleased while he turned his attention back to the floating panel.

"Ahhh... System, can’t you do something about this?" His voice carried a hint of complaint, fingers tapping idly against the interface.

"I want a cool hero too, you know. One that doesn’t need to train from scratch, similar Liam’s summoned heroes."

His lashes fluttered slightly, lips curving just enough to hint at mischief.

[Please wait, host]

Mize hummed in response, watching the text flicker across the panel with mild amusement.

It didn’t take long before the system chimed in again, its mechanical voice slipping into Mize’s ears.

[I am sorry, host, but there really isn’t a direct way for this system to help with this issue]

[Tampering with the warp's system will only be resulted in a bigger conflict]

[But the host doesn't have to worry. The host summoned heroes would still be tied to the nature of the host's profession]

[Perhaps there would be a remarkable change to it]

A single line. No sugarcoating. Just a straight-up no and tinged with a deliberate anticipation of something unknown.

Mize exhaled through his nose, lips pressing into a thin line.

"Bummer"

Not unexpected, though. If getting overpowered heroes straight from the rift was that easy, then the entire system of summoning would be meaningless.

Even Liam had to nurture his troops, granted, at an alarming rate, but still.

He had already come to terms with the answer before it even arrived.

But then…

[However, as compensation for this system’s past few days of incompetence, I can provide marked treasure locations outside the territory.]

…Huh?

Mize’s brow twitched, fingers stilling mid-air.

A second passed.

Then another.

Wait.

"Are you serious?"

The system wasn’t known for jokes.

But this, this was unexpected.

Mize took a deep breath, letting the realization sink in.

The map function of the warp.

It was one of the few features he actually had access to, a 2D overview of the world presented in a game-like interface.

Normally, everything outside the territory was an unexplored blur, a mess of hidden dangers and unknown locations.

But now?

With the system marking treasure locations for him?

That was a whole different story.

Without hesitation, he pulled up the map.

Just like the summoning rift, the interface materialized before him with nothing but his will.

A translucent square hovered in the air, displaying the terrain in clear detail.

At the center of it all, a distinct dark castle icon stood proudly, its design intricate, gothic spires, shadowed towers, a place befitting its owner.

Below it, the name [Lord Liam] was displayed in bold lettering, a golden crown icon sitting right beside it.

Mize tapped his chin, eyes flickering over the details.

‘That’s the title decoration for one of the strongest lords in the server, huh?’

Liam really wasn’t holding back on flexing his status. The top 10 lords would receive an exclusive decorations for being ranked.

'I wonder whether it has any stats bonuses or not. You know like those games'

But Mize didn’t linger on it. With a casual flick, he zoomed out, watching as the map expanded to reveal the surrounding lands.

Now, here’s where things got interesting.

No matter how massive a lord’s territory was in reality, on the map, it would never exceed a 10km radius bubble.

Even if Liam’s land stretched for hundreds, thousands of kilometers, from an outsider’s perspective, it would only appear as a single massive castle enclosed in a circular purplish bubble.

The real scale?

Completely hidden until someone actually stepped inside.

A spatial illusion. A formation trick designed to keep things neat and efficient.

‘Ahh… So that’s why the map still looks so clean despite billions of people crammed into one world.’

It was a brilliant system, game-like, even. Mize had already noticed that lords could customize their castle’s appearances and tweak the exterior.

Hell, Liam’s golden crown next to his name was proof enough that this world ran on some serious MMORPG energy.

Though so far, only the crown was available as decorations.

But all of that?

It wasn’t important right now.

What mattered was treasures.

Mize scanned the surrounding terrain.

The world outside was filled with various points of interest, resource nodes, monster nests, secret realms, ancient ruins, each one marked with distinctive icons.

The tiers of these places generally were around tier 1 to tier 5 around this area. The higher the tiers, the stronger the monster guarding it.

And then… there it was.

The treasure markers.

Tiny golden glows flickered across the map like rare fireflies in a sea of uncharted land.

Treasure locations, safe zones where hidden loot could be salvaged without battling through hordes of monsters first.

The only issue?

They were nearly impossible to find.

Most lords could spend weeks, months combing through the wilderness and still come up empty-handed.

And yet, here he was.

With a direct GPS leading him to free loot.

A slow, creeping grin stretched across Mize’s lips.

"Oh… Now this is exciting."

But before heading off to hunt treasures, he had one more thing to do.

Summoning.

Mize’s gaze lingered on the panel, eyes flicking over the common Summoning option first.

There was no specific number listed for how many people would be summoned at once.

Which was a problem.

If the stele suddenly decided to spew out a hundred people all at once, he’d be stuck figuring out how to house, clothe, and organize them, a logistical nightmare.

And he?

He wasn’t in the mood for that kind of hassle.

"I will do the common summoning later from afar, but I will need Elias's help with dealing in the logistic parts"

So instead, his fingers slid toward the Heroes Summoning tab.

"Alright… let’s see what we get."

A soft flick, and the panel shifted.

Zoom…

The stele rumbled, spinning slowly at first, then faster, picking up momentum.

Dots of light, tiny, shimmering motes, began circling around it, orbiting like stars caught in a cosmic tide.

And then.

Boom!

The light abruptly descended, drawn down as if guided by invisible hands.

Like a meteor crashing to the earth, it twisted, warped, condensed, taking form in the swirling radiance of the stele.

A shadow loomed huge within it.

A towering figure.

BOOM!

The very ground quaked as something, someone dropped to his knees before him.

The last traces of light burned away, and there, kneeling like a knight pledging fealty to his king, was a behemoth of a man.

3 and a half meers tall.

His voice echoed through the cavern like a thunderclap.

"TITRUS GREETS THE HONOURABLE LADY!"

The sheer force of his words shook the walls, sending ripples through the small river in the cave.

As the light faded, his massive frame was fully revealed, clad in deep, pitch-black armor that made him look less like a man and more like a walking fortress.

A giant.

Mize blinked.

"...Damn."