(Here you go, a mass release🎉)
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The sky above the study space was bright and pristine.
It was perpetually sunny here. Even inside the bedrooms, as long as the curtains weren't drawn and the windows weren't shut tight, sunlight would stream in from outside.
But after the sky split open, a strange, chaotic-colored substance slowly began to flow beyond the void.
It had no fixed color and no discernible shape. Just looking at it was enough to make one's heart pound with unease.
Fortunately, there was no sign of that strange power pouring inward through the crack, so everyone remained relatively calm.
Andros, in particular, was still relaxed enough to chat and reminisce. "The new one is making a much bigger entrance than the last. When I first arrived, Tom told me the white mist around him had only rolled a few times before I stepped out of it."
"Then Gellert and Ariana appeared. I was there for both of those arrivals, and each time, the space grew considerably larger."
"Come to think of it, Lady Morgan was the only exception. Her arrival didn't make the space expand any further."
Everyone fought back their laughter.
Not a single person dared to show an expression that could be interpreted as gloating or enjoying the spectacle. They were all seasoned veterans when it came to keeping a straight face.
After all, Morgan was genuinely a witch. Even Ravenclaw and the utterly lawless Jalter had no desire to end up on this witch's bad side and suffer her revenge later.
Only someone as oblivious as Andros, with absolutely no concept of consequences, would do something like that.
"Tom, what's wrong?" At this moment, Ariana, who noticed that Tom had been staring blankly at the crack in the sky ever since it appeared, unable to contain her curiosity, asked him.
Tom didn't answer immediately.
He could sense something on the other side of the crack calling to him.
It wasn't a voice, nor was it some kind of mental magic. It felt more like the Study Space itself was extending an invitation.
"I don't really know what's happening. This is completely different from every other time."
The boy slowly shook his head.
Then his body began to rise.
At first, he moved slowly, but his speed rapidly increased.
His voice drifted down from high above. "I'm going to take a look. Don't worry about me. Just stay here and wait."
With that, Tom disappeared completely into the black crack.
Everyone stared at one another, utterly bewildered.
What Tom hadn't told them was that he hadn't flown upward of his own accord. He had been dragged up.
And the force pulling him away wasn't that strange, chaotic-colored stream of energy outside. It was some indescribable power.
It didn't hurt him, but it gave him absolutely no opportunity to resist. It was almost as though the Study Space itself were breathing, and Tom was the breath being exhaled.
The moment he left the Study Space, his perception of his physical form vanished.
He couldn't feel his hands or feet. He couldn't feel his heart beating or the blood flowing through his veins.
His consciousness seemed to enter a state of complete emptiness, as though his mind were expanding outward at an incomprehensible speed. The expansion was so rapid that his ability to process information couldn't possibly keep up.
His mind became completely blank.
He had no idea how much time passed.
Perhaps one second. Perhaps an hour.
Eventually, the countless fragments of thought that had been scattered god knew how far finally began to converge again.
Each fragment brought with it bits and pieces of information.
Tom gradually pieced them together, integrating everything into a single, coherent understanding.
If he had possessed a physical form at that moment, his expression would undoubtedly have been one of absolute shock.
His eyes would have been wide open, his mouth stretched into a huge O.
Even before summoning the new teacher, Tom had never imagined that he would accidentally stumble upon the system's ultimate secret.
Or rather, he had discovered the true nature of the Study Space.
This place... was actually a Divine Domain in the process of being formed.
No. Calling it a Divine Domain was pushing it. At its current stage, it was more accurately described as the prototype of a Divine Domain.
True Gods dwelled high above, each possessing a domain under their control.
Within a Divine Domain, everything was governed by the will of its god. The laws themselves were little more than a thought away.
As a god's level increased, the area of their Divine Domain would continue to expand, while its laws would become increasingly concrete, detailed, and complete.
Once it crossed a certain threshold, the Divine Domain would undergo a transformation and become a Divine Kingdom.
And when a god possessed a Divine Kingdom, they would finally have the right to be called a True God.
But even a Divine Kingdom wasn't the end of the road.
Divine Kingdoms themselves were divided into different tiers, though Tom had no idea exactly how those rankings worked.
All he knew was that when a Divine Kingdom evolved to its next stage and became a Divine World/
And the true nature of the Study Space... was actually a prototype Divine Domain that the system had specially carved out for him.
Even the teachers who entered this space would eventually become his supporters.
Every time a high-level teacher appeared, the Divine Domain would become more complete.
But then why hadn't the space changed when Morgan appeared?
Because the study space only needed a certain number of samples of mortal existence. Whether they were Legends or Wizard Kings, there might be a huge difference in power between them, but their fundamental nature was still mortal. Neither had transcended into an entirely different level of existence.
This time, however, things were different.
Tom had skipped the Fake God level entirely and summoned a teacher at the Demigod level.
The Study Space in its current state simply couldn't withstand a Demigod's divine status. It therefore needed to expand and upgrade accordingly, transforming into a Divine Domain.
Until now, the Study Space had been ownerless. Tom had only possessed administrative authority over it. He had never actually merged his own imprint into the space.
What had just happened was that his magic had been scattered, allowing him to completely claim ownership of the entire space.
Through his senses, Tom could feel the space expanding at an astonishing rate.
Originally, the Study Space consisted of only a few courtyards, several open areas, and endless white mist stretching into the distance. But as the expansion began, the white mist rapidly retreated, while the land spread outward in every direction.
Mountains rose from the ground.
Rivers appeared out of thin air, then were shifted into their proper positions by some unseen set of laws.
Before long, the space was larger than Scotland.
Then it encompassed the entirety of Great Britain.
But it still didn't stop. The European continent was swallowed up next, followed by oceans, deserts, and frozen wastelands.
Every second, the total area of the space increased by more than ten percent compared to the second before.
Tom could even sense every piece of newly created land.
If he wanted, he could make a mountain sink beneath the earth at any moment.
He could make a lake float high in the sky.
Finally, only after the total area of the space surpassed the entire Eurasian continent did the expansion gradually begin to slow.
Tom was left completely bewildered.
'This is what you call a domain?'
'If it eventually evolved into a Divine Kingdom, wouldn't it be big enough to contain an entire planet?'
Finally, at the very moment the Divine Domain stabilized, all traces of illusion and unreality vanished completely.
The ground beneath his feet acquired genuine weight.
Rivers flowed according to the terrain. The wind developed real variations in temperature.
The forests that had appeared in the distance were no longer mere scenery. Every tree possessed a complete aura of life.
At that moment, the Study Space became a truly physical world.
Yet all of its former abilities remained.
For example, any soul that appeared here would be immortal and indestructible. Tom also possessed authority over the world comparable to that of a creator.
A normal Demigod could never accomplish anything like this.
The main reason was simply that the system's power was far too extraordinary.
The Study Space had now grown to the level of a Domain solely because Tom had summoned a Demigod-level teacher.
That didn't mean the Study Space's potential ended there.
As for how high its true potential actually was, Tom couldn't see the answer yet.
'Wait.'
Tom suddenly remembered something.
He had a quest that would raise the Study Space's level by one stage once completed.
Back then, he hadn't known the true nature of the space. But now that it had become a Domain, what exactly would that quest reward him with?
He hurriedly opened the system panel with a thought.
[Quest Name: Creator of a New World]
[Quest Description: Through his knowledge and vision, the host has already found a new path of development for the magical world. Your inventions are of vital importance, and everything that follows will be built upon this foundation.]
[Quest Objective: Continue developing and promoting your creations, and transform the world into the state you envision. Rewards will be distributed in stages according to the degree of completion. The ultimate reward for this quest is one evolution of the Study Space.]
[Note: In its current state, the Divine Domain can evolve into an Early-Stage Divine Kingdom. The maximum potential of this reward is a High-Level Divine Kingdom. If the host possesses a High-Level Divine Kingdom upon completing the quest, this reward will not advance the Divine Kingdom to the next stage. Instead, it will strengthen its underlying foundation by an equivalent amount.]
Tom stared at the panel, completely dumbfounded.
Only now did he understand why the system called this its ultimate quest.
The reward was simply too absurdly powerful.
Just then, the transformed Study Space had finally expanded enough to accommodate a Demigod-level teacher.
And Tom's newly summoned teacher had arrived.
.
.
.