bookrebus Chapter 169: Cassandra’s plans
Chapter 169: Cassandra’s plans
[You have logged in as Cassandra Selfmore Lv.1]
Cassandra appeared within the safe grounds of the Forest Hidden Monster Hunter Academy.
Behind her, the elders’ headquarters bustled with life as the residents tended to the forest. Hunters moved between wooden structures, workers carried supplies along the giant roots, and young monster tamers trained beneath the shade of ancient trees.
Above them all, the Light Tree spread its gentle radiance. Its warmth was weaker than before, but it still reached everyone, including her.
Basking in its light, Cassandra took a seat on a bench beside one of the giant roots supporting the academy’s headquarters. She crossed one leg over the other, opened the system window, and went straight to the guild management tab, where the newly unlocked territory tab waited for her.
Cassandra selected it, and a detailed outline of the Cascade Valley appeared before her eyes.
The map shifted with quiet detail. Streams shimmered across the valley like thin blue veins, while darker marks gathered around caves, underwater tunnels, and ruined nests. Each icon carried information Cassandra could open with a single touch: monster type, spawn density, possible evolution route, environmental preference, and loot pool.
Some marks were pale blue, showing areas already stabilized by their conquest. Others remained dark and restless, pulsing as though the valley itself still remembered the corruption that had once ruled it. Cassandra tapped one of the darker clusters, and a small panel opened with several branching possibilities, each one suggesting how the monsters there could grow if given the right conditions.
The longer she studied the map, the more small opportunities appeared. A narrow riverbend could become a farming route. A ruined nest near the cliffside could serve as a controlled danger zone. Even the quiet spaces between monster clusters mattered, because those gaps decided how safely her guild could move supplies, escort weaker members, or build something permanent later.
Rewards glimmered across the interface, enough to make an ordinary player celebrate on the spot, but Cassandra’s gaze lingered on the darker clusters. Those were the parts that mattered most to her: the pressure points.
For a moment, she simply stared at the map.
With a single victory, the Cascade Valley had stopped being an ordinary hunting ground and become something she could shape. Its borders, exits, resources, monster nests, and influence now answered to her adjustments.
For Cassandra, power was most useful when it came with handles she could actually grip.
The system showed her the full outline of the valley, where the forces of the Dark dwelled, along with the monsters that spawned there and every possible loot drop.
The interface went further than a normal monster list. It showed the valley’s current state, then hinted at the versions she could create if she adjusted the right conditions.
She could control those purified forces of the Dark and place them wherever she wanted.
Every monster spawn point was now part of her management window. She could even make them appear en masse for grinding, speed-leveling, and more.
The reward list alone could keep players busy for weeks, and the resources were enough to fill a guild master’s schedule with plans. Cassandra’s attention went further. In her hands, this territory could tilt the balance of the neighboring lands exactly where she wanted it to.
The item drop information was the best part.
She could see various beast eggs and cards. Although their drop rates were low and the chances of obtaining them were questionable, consistent grinding would eventually pay off.
As long as she sent people into the Cascade Valley, Night Espresso would one day have many water-element companions similar to Ao Tenshin.
The recent video of her working with Martin had ensured that the entire guild was thoroughly hyped for pets.
That much won’t be an issue. Everyone will want to have a beast now. The influence of spawn points is the biggest asset I must consider for the future.
Monster control changed every calculation.
By placing spawn points near the exit caves, she could create a flood of monsters and eventually send them pouring out of the Cascade Valley. The Dark Aquatic ants would struggle in the open forest without water at first, but they would eventually adapt, and adaptation always opened the door to expansion.
With enough time, the ecosystem itself could become her pressure tactic. Soldiers, declarations, and direct hostility were unnecessary. She did not even have to appear involved.
If she moved a few monster nests closer to the exits, placed stronger variants near the waterways, and increased dangerous spawns around contested paths, the surrounding land would slowly change. It would become harder to cross, harder to settle, and far less comfortable for anyone who did not have Night Espresso’s support.
By the time monsters began crawling out of caves, no declaration would be necessary. The surrounding lands would understand the threat on their own.
Since the Cascade Valley bordered the academy’s lands, she now had another card to play against the Forest Hidden Monster Hunter Academy.
There was also the other exit, the one leading toward the Mountain Risen Monster Hunter Academy.
On that end, she could apply the same pressure to the neighboring ecosystem. If she allowed the ants to evolve there, claim the lakes, and turn the surrounding land into something even more dangerous, Night Espresso would have an easier time swooping in and taking their second territory.
Only one last stretch of land would then separate her from the Mountain Risen Monster Hunter Academy. Calling it influence would simply make the plan easier to discuss. In practice, the pressure would speak for itself.
The Cascade Valley mattered far more than she had anticipated.
Her original goal had been simple: expand enough to rely less on the academy and gain more room to negotiate with them. The territory had turned that simple goal into something much larger, and Cassandra couldn’t stop calculating.
Trade routes, hunting routes, resource pressure, monster population control, potential guild housing, pet farming, and future political leverage against both academies all passed through her mind.
With each new possibility, the valley’s true value became clearer. Yesterday’s conquest had given Night Espresso the foundation for everything she wanted to build next.