If there was a problem with maintaining a lean army, it was simple to name.
However strong I made them, at the end of the day they were still humans — soulless, robotic and fearless, but human. Flesh and bone. It didn't matter how much I armed them, how much I hid them behind armor, how much I invested in each unit — there was a biological limit that no investment surpassed. And that limit had become painfully clear when I watched all my great-shield soldiers be obliterated in minutes by the empowered Infernals.
I didn't think it had been a dumb investment. But I felt, in the flesh, that I needed to reformulate how I dealt with enemies that were too strong.
And the first chest gave me an answer.
✦ ✦ ✦
"What is it? Out with it!"
I turned, showing the contents to the two girls who waited anxiously. What was in my hand wasn't unfamiliar to them — I had won something of the sort before.
A blueprint.
"No way… Another blueprint…"
A pause, and the disappointment gave way to curiosity.
"Wait. What's it for?"
Their expectations were high, but they quickly returned to rationality. A rare chest wouldn't produce something absurd like the Griffin blueprint. But what came, despite seeming simpler, was much more specific — and, somehow, perfect for someone like me, who preferred a lean territory and concentrated power to a vast and diluted empire.
"Why don't you see for yourselves?"
I raised the blueprint. The two approached, observing the design engraved on it.
"Wait. That's… It's not possible."
Being rare didn't mean being bad. Far from it. It only meant it was something capable of leveling the playing field with the great powers of the Oasis without surpassing them — and if there was one thing that separated humans from the other races, it was exactly magical capacity.
Humans didn't shoot fireballs from their hands. Didn't control water, nor wind, nor earth. They were, at the end of the day, humans — sometimes super strong, sometimes super intelligent, sometimes incredibly resilient. But humans. Magic had always been the frontier that separated us from the races that looked down on us. Of course, using other races' technology, it was possible to scratch that frontier — but that depended on the other side's goodwill in making it available, or on the human's strength to wrest it away. Something difficult. And, in practice, rare.
The blueprint in my hands opened a door in that frontier.
[ Do you wish to build the Magic Tower in your territory? ]
"Yes. Permit immediate construction and allocate workers to assist."
The Magic Tower.
For other races, it wouldn't be anything special — building a magic tower was trivial for those already born with magic running through their veins. But for humans, that was something that simply had never existed. As far as I knew, it wasn't even a construction available to our race, not even for the most developed Lords. An entire category of power that had always been closed — now unlocked by a single rare chest.
[ Rare Item: Blueprint — Magic Tower ]
Magical capacity for the kingdom's towers within a radius of up to 10 km
Construction of Level 1 Mage (must be built in the Barracks)
Construction of magical items (must be built in the Iron and Steel House)
My territory was still small — which meant I would immediately benefit from the ten-kilometer radius. The defense towers that previously fired only bolts could now channel magical power. I didn't know exactly what that would mean in practice, but I knew what it opened: a much more effective way to protect myself.
Because there were enemies that simply ignored bolts or simply had enormous resistance.
But none of them ignored a fireball.
And there was more. The blueprint wasn't just a passive item — it unlocked new units. Mages, in the Barracks, something that excited me even without yet understanding how that "Level 1" thing worked. And magical items, in the Iron and Steel House — which was, by far, what excited me most.
Magical items needed recipes. And recipes, in the Oasis, were items I could clone.
Like the blood magic book.
The idea arrived with the clarity of something obvious that I should have foreseen: if I could transform blood magic into replicable items, I could carry my power to my soldiers. Multiply what had once been exclusively mine. Of course I would still need to understand how to deal with the drawback — the loss of control that blood magic charged from those who used it. But that was a problem for later.
The important thing was that the Magic Tower opened an entire range of possibilities. New ways to fight. New ways to wear down the enemy before close combat — our fatality — became inevitable. And for me, any weapon that killed at a distance was a weapon that gave humans a real chance.
"But what if the next one has something better? Don't you think it's better to hold the supplies to build it?"
Morgana had a point.
But the Magic Tower was too important to keep waiting. Even if the next chest brought something more powerful, I found it unlikely it would bring something so specific to me, so aligned with the way I fought.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way. In the end, the benefits of this are too great to set aside."
A pause.
"Let's go to the next."
✦ ✦ ✦
I dodged the supplies problem and moved on to the purple chest.
The two stopped thinking about the kingdom's finances and returned to being fascinated, curiosity overcoming caution.
"Now I understand why some people like gambling so much."
"Gambling? What's that?"
"Forget it."
Some things from my world had no translation. I advanced without waiting, opening the second prize.
Inside there was a quadrangular item, not much larger than my palm. The bottom part was solid like metal, while the top was transparent in tempered glass. I brought my face closer — and saw four environments divided with an almost mathematical precision. A plain. An icy area. A volcanic region. And an area covered with water.
"What the hell is this?"
Unlike the blueprint, which was something I recognized, that was a complete mystery.
"Zeus, can you tell me what this item is?"
[ Analyzing… ] [ Result found. ] [ Epic Item. ] [ Portable Vivarium. ]
"Okay. Now this got interesting."
"Hey, what is it?"
Morgana and Livina were visibly interested in the item — and, like me, had no idea what it was for. But I had a suspicion.
"I think I have a suspicion. Come with me."
✦ ✦ ✦
The destination was the only place where I could test my theory.
The stable.
"What are we doing here?"
"According to Zeus, this item is a miniature vivarium."
"But what does that mean?"
"That's exactly what I want to find out."
I advanced to where the Urskra were resting. When I opened the door, they all stood up, startled — my presence almost always meant a request, and my requests had a history of being dangerous. But this time it was different. This time, at least, it wasn't anything risky.
"Hello, everyone. All good?"
As I advanced, I felt the female approach, irritated — the mother Urskra, always the most suspicious, always the most protective since I had taken her husband and her eldest son to the battle and brought him back covered in scars.
"Easy. I won an item and want to test it. Don't worry — it's something I think you'll like."
I showed them the Vivarium. They looked at it with the same incomprehension as Morgana and Livina — but, since it wasn't a request to return to war, they ended up accepting with more calm than usual.
"Zeus, how should I use this item?"
[ Analyzing. After the creature's approval, aim the item toward the individual or group and wish for them to be transported. ]
I didn't delay.
I pointed the item at the group. A light filled the place — strong enough for Morgana and Livina to squint — and when it passed, none of the Urskra were there anymore.
"Where did they go?"
Livina was the first to ask. I, who was already looking at the item, made a point of turning and showing them.
"Take a look at this."
The two approached, focusing their eyes on the item until a gasp of surprise escaped them both at the same time.
"Wait. Are you trying to say that's…"
"Yes. It's a real vivarium."
Inside, on a tiny scale, you could see the five Urskra walking across the plain. Not frightened. Not confused. Happy — running from one side to the other with a freedom I hadn't seen them display since they had arrived in my territory. The mother, in particular, seemed lighter than I had ever seen her, chasing one of the cubs across the open field.
The vivarium seemed to be of an acceptable size, probably something between 30 and 50 hectares, maybe more.
I myself was surprised.
The item was extraordinarily useful. I felt that a bit of my mana was consumed to transport them, but nothing uncontrollable. And there was an even greater implication, which began to form in my head as I watched the Urskra run happily in that pocket world.
Creatures were trapped in the Oasis. It was a fundamental rule — nothing living left.
But the Vivarium was an item.
And items could be removed and taken outside.
If that were true — if I could put living creatures inside an item and take the item out of the Oasis — then that would open a precedent beyond measure. Something that could change not just my battles, but the way I thought about everything I had built there.
But that was for another moment. A theory too dangerous to test in a hurry.
Before leaving, I activated the item again.
The Urskra family reappeared in the stable — and their faces said everything. They were shocked. And it was clear, from the way they looked back in the direction of where they had been, that they preferred the freedom of that plain to the confinement of the stable. I understood. And I felt guilty, again, for yet another selfish request.
"I promise. When I finish testing everything, you'll be able to stay there as long as you want."
It was a promise I intended to keep. But, for now, I still needed them close.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Shall we go to the last chest?"
While the girls were still focused on the Vivarium, I called them for the grand finale.
And while we walked back, I discovered a limitation I had already suspected: the Portable Vivarium couldn't be stored in the ring.
I had predicted it. But it was still disappointing to confirm. Nothing living could be placed in the ring — and the Vivarium, however technically an item, carried life within it. The Oasis's rule saw the difference that appearance tried to hide. The item would have to stay with me, carried by hand, outside the ring.
A small price for something so valuable.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Very well, little one. You're the last. Now show me what you have for me."
I won't lie.
My expectations were sky-high. Every item I had won until then had been wonderful and useful — the Magic Tower opening the door of magic for my kingdom, the Vivarium opening the door to something even larger. If a rare and an epic had delivered that much, what would a legendary deliver?
The last time I had opened a golden chest, what came out had changed the course of everything and given me dominion over the skies.
I opened it quickly. Too quickly, perhaps — the anxiety winning over the patience I had told myself I would have.
And what I saw inside made me understand, once and for all, why legendary chests were so rare.
Why the universe kept them under lock and key.
Why something like that should not, by any logic I knew, be in anyone's hands — and least of all in mine.
"Holy shit."
It was another blueprint.
But where the first had been a door, this one was a promise — and the name alone was enough to tell me it was the kind of promise that made everything else I had built look like a rehearsal.
"What is it? Show us, quick."
Livina's voice arrived with the impatience of someone who had watched two miracles come out of two chests and wasn't willing to wait for the third. But before I let her anywhere near it, I needed to be sure. Items of that category didn't reward haste — and I had learned, the hard way, that the difference between what something looked like and what it was could cost more than I was willing to pay.
"Zeus… analyze this blueprint."
"Analyzing blueprint."
[ Legendary Item: Blueprint — Legendary Incubator ]
Capacity to increase the level of maturing creatures by 1 rank (Limited to level A+)
Accelerate creature maturation between 10 and 100 times (Scales according to initial level, ranging from F to B+)
Matured creatures have 100% affinity with the Lord
I read it twice.
Then a third time, because the first two readings hadn't been enough to make the words feel real.
It wasn't just an item that made my army stronger. It was an item that made it larger — that took creations which should have demanded years and compressed them into months, into weeks. Every limitation that had defined how I built, every slow curve of growth I had learned to plan around, the Incubator simply erased. It was the answer to a problem I had carried since the first day in the Oasis, handed to me in a single blueprint.
"This means it can raise a creature's level…"
The thought finished itself before I could stop it.
"I wonder if it works on the adults too."
But legendary items were never simple.
The Oasis didn't hand out power of that magnitude without charging a proportional price — it was the fundamental rule of the system, the same one that balanced every advantage with a cost, every gift with a chain attached. I had known it before I looked. I had known it the way you know a fact you wish weren't true. And when I finally read what raising the Incubator would require, the suspicion that had been sitting in my chest hardened into certainty.
It wasn't a matter of gathering supplies through effort.
It wasn't labor. It wasn't time. It wasn't money.
It was something that, the way things stood, I simply had no way to obtain.
"Why the sad face, my Lord? This item is wonderful!"
I didn't answer.
I preferred to show them.
"Look at what I need to build it."
I turned the blueprint toward the two of them, and let their eyes find the requirement on their own — the way you let someone arrive at bad news themselves, because saying it out loud would only make you the one who broke it.
And as soon as they found it, the silence that formed said everything I didn't have to.
Livina's smile died first.
Morgana's, right after.
The two of them raised their eyes from the blueprint to me, and what was in them was no longer the admiration of a moment before. It was the same heavy understanding that had reached me seconds earlier — the understanding that the Oasis had given me, with one hand, exactly what I needed most.
And had placed, in the other, a price that perhaps no living human could pay.