The cold mountain winds swept across the ancestral lands of the Bingen family as Fabian Bingen overlooked the sprawling training grounds below. From the edge of the stone balcony, he could see thousands of recruits moving in disciplined formations while instructors barked orders from every direction. Some trainees practiced emergency medicine beneath white tents, while others sparred with spears and swords on reinforced platforms. Beyond them stretched countless research facilities and greenhouses filled with rare herbs gathered from every corner of the world. The Bingen family had occupied this mountain for so many centuries that even they no longer knew when their records truly began. Over the last hundred and fifty years, their wealth and influence had expanded their territory more than thirty kilometers beyond the mountain itself, turning the region into a kingdom of medicine and research hidden within the forests of Germany.
"How is the recruitment of bodyguards progressing apart from the retainers we already possessed?" Fabian asked calmly while clasping his hands behind his back. One of his nephews immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully toward the patriarch before answering. "It is going smoothly, Patriarch. We already have over ten thousand young people undergoing training. Most are learning both medicine and combat as instructed. However…" The young man hesitated before lowering his head slightly. "As expected, our loyalty contracts are nowhere near sufficient. Without them, we cannot guarantee long-term stability." Fabian merely nodded at the report without showing much concern. His expression remained composed as his eyes drifted toward the distant laboratories where smoke quietly rose from countless alchemical furnaces.
"Ten thousand is enough for now," Fabian replied after a moment of silence. "Compared to the Sonnebergs, we are already ahead. I heard they only managed to secure around two thousand absolute contracts and will need years to fill their ranks properly." A faint smile appeared on his face as he continued speaking. "This is acceptable. It gives our treasury room to breathe. There are far too many opportunities appearing in this new era to waste all our resources on manpower alone." Around him, several elders quietly nodded in agreement. Ever since the System descended upon humanity, every great faction had begun balancing expansion against survival. Reckless growth could destroy even centuries-old families if they stretched themselves too thin.
Fabian soon shifted the conversation toward the matter that truly interested him. "What about the cultivation potions? How close are we to mass production?" One of the older researchers sighed heavily before stepping forward. The frustration on his wrinkled face was obvious. "Not well, Patriarch. The formulas themselves are stable, but we lack enough raw materials. The spiritual herbs require time to mature naturally, and purchasing ingredients directly from the System Shop is simply too expensive. Even with our wealth, the profit margins would be terrible." The old man looked genuinely pained while speaking. For a family devoted to medicine, possessing miraculous formulas but lacking the ability to mass-produce them was a form of torture. Everyone present understood how much wealth and influence those potions could bring once humanity began cultivating seriously.
Before Fabian could respond, the sharp vibration of his phone interrupted the discussion. The patriarch frowned slightly after seeing the caller ID before excusing himself from the gathering. "Continue without me for a moment." His tone remained calm, but several elders exchanged curious glances as Fabian walked away from the balcony and disappeared into one of the nearby stone corridors. Five minutes later, he returned carrying an expression so cold that the atmosphere around him instantly became tense. Gone was the calm and composed patriarch from moments ago. In his place stood a furious man whose eyes radiated restrained killing intent.
"I want every record related to Grand River Hospital on December fourteenth, 2098," Fabian ordered sharply. "Find out which member of our family was present there and gather every detail regarding what happened that day." The elders stared at him in confusion while Fabian continued speaking through gritted teeth. "And prepare a flight immediately. Someone in this family has wasted an opportunity so valuable that I might personally bury them alive." Without waiting for a response, Fabian stormed toward the massive archive building located deeper within the estate. The elders quickly followed behind him, their curiosity growing with every passing second.
It did not take long for confusion to transform into rage. Deep within the family archives, old reports and hospital records revealed the truth. One of the younger doctors from the Bingen family had apparently dismissed a critically important patient years ago simply because the individual lacked money and status. Worse still, the doctor's growing reputation and arrogant followers had inflated his ego to the point where he considered ordinary people beneath his attention. In the eyes of the Bingen elders, this was not merely arrogance. It was a sin against the family itself. Their entire legacy had been built upon preserving knowledge, treating valuable talents, and recognizing hidden potential before others could. Throwing away such an opportunity because of pride was unforgivable.
As the Bingen family entered an internal uproar searching for the culprit, the rest of the world was equally chaotic. Across every continent, ancient factions, noble families, and trade organizations were desperately recruiting followers and retainers. The new era demanded strength, and strength required manpower. Merchant families armed private security forces to protect their resources, while noble houses openly rebuilt private armies under the excuse of maintaining stability. Every great faction understood the same terrifying truth: once the world expansion finished, humanity would enter a race where hesitation meant extinction.
Inside strategy rooms across the globe, enormous maps covered entire walls showing the projected expansion zones of Earth. Humanity was rapidly abandoning the countryside and consolidating itself within massive cities. In truth, this migration had already been happening for decades even before the System arrived. Modern humanity preferred convenience, technology, and concentrated services. Agriculture had slowly shifted toward advanced greenhouses and artificial production facilities, making traditional farmland less necessary. Outside of the elderly and wealthy seeking peace and privacy, fewer people had reasons to remain in remote regions. Now, with the coming expansion threatening to tear the planet apart geographically, governments no longer had the luxury of allowing scattered populations to remain isolated.
Still, everyone knew abandoning those lands came with consequences. Vast regions would return to nature completely unchecked. Forests, mountains, rivers, and ancient ruins would likely become breeding grounds for treasures, magical beasts, and unknown dangers. Every major faction expected priceless resources to appear within those untouched territories once the expansion stabilized. Because of that, while governments prepared evacuation plans publicly, privately they armed exploration teams and sabotage units to undermine rival factions before the race even began.
Humanity's emotions were laid bare for the entire world to witness. Greed, fear, ambition, desperation, hope, and paranoia spread through every layer of society. Governments struggled daily with rogue factions who believed their newfound power placed them above the law. Several organizations had already learned the hard way that modern militaries still existed when entire leadership groups were arrested overnight after ignoring government warnings. Yet even those political and military crises were overshadowed by another terrifying question that haunted world leaders far more deeply.
Animals.
For months, military analysts and political advisors had studied ancient myths, fantasy novels, and cultivation stories searching for guidance on how magical civilizations might function. What they discovered terrified them. If humans could evolve through mana and cultivation, then logically animals could as well. The possibility that intelligent magical beasts might emerge in the future was enough to give entire governments sleepless nights. Humanity had spent centuries exploiting nature without consequence. If beasts one day gained true intelligence and remembered that history, then the forests humanity abandoned today could become future battlefields.
Europe was luckier than most regions in that regard. Hidden within the continent existed an ancient family whose bloodline had specialized in animals and beast handling since at least the fourteenth century. Their knowledge, once considered outdated and irrelevant in the modern world, had suddenly become priceless overnight. Other continents once possessed similar traditions, but modernization had erased many of them completely. Families that bred animals, understood ecosystems, and preserved ancient knowledge had disappeared over the centuries as humanity prioritized industry and technology.