《The Empires Rise》 Chapter 1: The White Room There was a flash of light. Suddenly, I was stuck in a completely white room. With nothing other than a table right in front of me. Then a notification comes into my vision with a ¡°Ding¡± noise, and it states the following: - Welcome to the Prime Universe Network, or as will be stated, "PUN" for short. You have entered a safe space and have one hour to pick a class and a profession that¡¯s provided. Upon selecting a class and profession, further instructions will appear. - After a few seconds, the screen vanishes on its own. Another flash of light blinds me for a second. When my vision returns to me, I look back at the table and find three different sets of armor lying there. I go up to one of them, a robe with mystical symbols scrawled all along the edges. The pattern appears to move on its own. Upon the initial contact, I received another message from the system. - Analyze level 1 has been acquired. Upon focusing on an object for 3 seconds, you will see a basic description of the item. - Upon receiving that skill, I focus on the robes again. I found out that they are ¡°Mages Robes.¡± The description reads that upon selecting them, I will become a mage. I am curious what that means, but no further information is provided. I then repeat that same procedure with the leather armor as well as the iron armor receiving the following: - Hunters Leather Cuirass: Upon selecting, you will receive the Hunter Class. - - Warriors Iron Armor: Upon selecting, you will receive the Warrior class. - Throughout my life, I have read many novels and have concluded that I have either died or have been pulled into a system where the world is out to kill me without the slightest bit of help from others of my kind. As I am mulling this over, I was curious whether saying ¡°Status¡± in my mind would do anything. To my surprise or lack thereof, my status screen appears before me. Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Class: None Class Level: 0 Profession: None Profession Level: 0 Attributes: Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1 Constitution: 1 Intelligence: 1 Wisdom: 1 Charisma: 1 Skills: Analyze Lvl 1 Seeing that my stats are so low in comparison to what I have read in the past, I decided to see if there is any information on the stats that I would want to know so that I can have a good idea as to what sort of class would best suit myself in the long run. Strength - Increases the damage done by physical melee attacks by 1 for every 5 points. Dexterity - Increases the damage done by physical ranged attacks by 1 for every 5 points. Constitution - Adds 5 points of health per allocated point. Intelligence - Increases the damage done by magical attacks by 1 for every 5 points. Wisdom - Adds 5 points of mana per allocated point. Charisma - Increases the chance of negotiating with someone. Note: The stats are not equal from race to race, so 1 point in strength to a human is different from 1 point for an Orc. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Finding that I am average among humans is quite disheartening. When you consider all the work I have done throughout my life. Though, it was cut short at the age of 25. With my mind swirling with thoughts about the future outcomes and trying to figure out what would be best for me. I look up to see the clock slowly ticking down, to see I have 40 minutes to choose one of the three options in front of me. Though it is a lot of time. With so many pros and cons to consider. And since I don¡¯t know what I will get upon selecting a class. I feel a tug coming from my heart, pulling me towards the mage¡¯s robes. Following the feeling, I decided to grab the mage robes. When the prompt comes up. Asking if I wanted to become a mage, I selected ¡°Yes." To which the other two sets of armor and the table disappear. Once they have disappeared, I feel a rush of information flooding my mind about how to cast a skill called Arcane Shot. - Arcane Shot Level 1 - Deals anywhere from 1 - 8 points of damage on a target within 30 meters from your location. - I looked at the clock, finding I still had 30 minutes left. Suddenly, another notification appears. ¡°Now that you have selected a class, please select a profession you want to progress in.¡± With that, the notification vanishes. Another table appears, with 12 different sets of items. I started to go down the list of item sets to see what professions were available to choose. Blacksmith Mason Foreman Doctor Leatherworker Woodworker Alchemist Chef Enchanter Tailor Formation Master Scribe With only my limited knowledge of the different subjects provided, in some cases none, I started narrowing them down. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about becoming a formation master, and I don¡¯t know if there will be much information available to me once I get out of whatever or wherever this room is. Tailor sounds like it would be beneficial to be a mage. But to what extent, I don¡¯t know. I will put that one on the holding list. Blacksmith and Mason sounds like something that would help with either building. Or for making heavier arms and armor. Foreman is on the same lines as a mason, so there isn¡¯t much that I would look forward to in this profession. I wasn¡¯t that much of a chef when it came to when I was on Culhara, so I don¡¯t think that will change now. Being a scribe sounds fun, but knowing it will take some time to relearn how to write more legibly seems like something that wouldn¡¯t work well for me. Enchanter sounds fun since I am a mage. Maybe I can do something with arms, armor, or everyday items. Leatherworker isn¡¯t that appealing to me. Then there is alchemy. It sounds like a lot of fun based on all the books I have read. And the thought that I could increase my levels by taking pills or even elixirs appeals to me. Again, like the formation master, I don¡¯t know how much knowledge I will receive and if it is viable.¡± As I am considering all of these things. With a tug pulling me in a particular direction. Finding that I am following the pull from my chest, I see I am headed towards the enchanting equipment. As I look down more closely at the equipment. I see some grinding tools, a small metal pen that appears hollow all the way through with a very sharp tip, a set of fine chisels, some needles, and a small leather-bound book. I reach over and grab the leather-bound book. A prompt asks if I want to pick "Enchanting" as my profession. After weighing the pros and cons of each of the professions. I gaze towards the clock. I notice it has taken me till the last 10 seconds to pick. With a slightly panicked thought, I agree and feel a small burst of knowledge about how to grind out herbs and different ores to use them in the tools. After picking the class and profession, another notification appears before me. ¡°As you have picked both a class and profession, we will now give you some time to adjust to the sudden insights that might have occurred before moving on to the next step. And if there are any questions at this time. Please speak them aloud. We will answer to the best of our ability. Though, your time is still limited. Due to you finishing in the last 10 seconds. We are giving you two minutes to ask your questions. Be sure to choose wisely, as this time is precious.¡± I looked up and said aloud, ¡°What is this place? What is the goal?¡±: ¡°This is the integration room for those selected through the multiverse. The goal is something that you will have to work on.¡± ¡°Why me? What was the trigger that pulled me into the integration?¡± ¡°Why not you? There is nothing in particular that is needed to be integrated. You could say it was quite a literal roll of the dice to bring you here. And as for the ¡°Trigger,¡± as you have said, that is something that you will have to find on your own.¡± ¡°Is there any specific reason I had to pick the classes and professions within the time limit?¡± ¡°There was no specific reason. If you did, you would have time to ask questions to further your knowledge or to bring your mind into an equilibrium so that when you are released into the world.¡± ¡°What would have happened if I had not picked either in the allotted time?¡± ¡°Easy, you would have been sent either way.¡± ¡°Sent without a class or profession?¡± ¡°You do not have high enough rights to this information.¡± Looking at the clock, I still have a minute left before I am brought out of the room. ¡°What is the purpose of having a class and profession?¡± ¡°To grow stronger.¡± ¡°What should I expect upon arriving in this new world that you have brought me to?¡± ¡°You do not have high enough rights to this information.¡± ¡°What sort of position will I be in once I arrive?¡± ¡°You do not have high enough rights to this information.¡± There are now only 20 seconds left on the clock. ¡°Is there any information you can tell me about the class and profession I have chosen?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± 15 seconds remaining ¡°What information can you give me?¡± ¡°Whatever information you ask about.¡± 10 seconds remaining ¡°What can the mage class do?¡± ¡°Many things. As there are many paths that anyone can walk down. The mage is the most diverse in the ability to answer solutions that pure physical force cannot overcome. You will cast spells at lower levels and evolve the class into something new once you reach a high enough level.¡± 5 seconds remaining ¡°Will anyone be there with me when I first arrive? Or will I be completely alone?¡± ¡°There will be someone there, yes.¡± And with that final answer, I feel myself being pulled away. My vision goes black as I think about the answers, and the memories of how I came to this place flood me. Chapter 2: Growing Pains As the memories appear before my eyes, I find that there shouldn¡¯t have been anything wrong that would have led me to that white room. The start of my day was "normal." I had a doctor''s appointment to check that my heart was okay. For several years, my heart has been skipping beats. That led me into cardiac arrest on several occasions. All of the investigations into this phenomenon have pointed to nothing. Other than a deformity on the side of my heart. I have tried several times to have it removed, but all to no avail. It always comes back, which leads to more pain when it does come back. Recently, there have been signs of it growing. IE, the reason I was headed to an appointment was to make sure that it wasn¡¯t life-threatening. With the pain, the doctor has decided, after the last time, that I should give up on removing it and see if it leads to any issues further down the line as they study it, and with the now recent growth of this deformity that has slowly started to surround my heart and even follow the veins through my body. Nothing is coming of the studies. At least nothing that they will willingly tell me. On my trip to my appointment this morning. I thought several things were different about today. First, my sibling called. It seemed odd and out of place since we don¡¯t talk often. When we do, the calls end within 10 minutes of it starting. The strange thing about this call was that they talked to me for the entire walk to the hospital. As if they were afraid of something that I didn¡¯t know about. It probably had something to do with the deformity. Since they also work in the medical field. They sometimes call the doctors I am visiting to see if they can get insights into what might be occurring with my body. As we were conversing, I could tell that something was off. Other than the length of the phone call. They seemed almost distraught, which wasn¡¯t new to me. They had broken it off with their boyfriend. And they are known to need emotional assistance whenever that occurs, leading to long conversations.so I just let it be and continued on my way. At this point, they did ask when I was planning on getting to the hospital. I mentioned that I was just about to walk in the front doors so I could have my examination and hear if there was any information they could give me. To which they replied, ¡°Good Luck.¡± Finding it strange, I tell them to have a good day and that we will talk as soon as I hang up the phone. Walking into the hospital wasn¡¯t all that bad as the nurses at this point know me by my first name as I am constantly coming in at least 5-6 times a month for my checkups and for them to prod me with more needles than you can find in a sewing shop. I get checked in. I am brought to a patient room to have the tests start again. With the questions of, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±, ¡°Any discomfort in your chest?¡±, ¡°Have you been unable to breathe lately?¡± and so on. It is to the point that I am tired of it all and have very generic answers since I know that they probably won''t tell me anything new today, as it is the same with any other day. Soon, the doctor comes in and sits down across from me as the nurse is finishing up taking my blood pressure, and he looks at me with a slight furrow creasing his brow. ¡°Mr. Taldrit, I know that you are a bit frustrated with the lack of knowledge you have been receiving from us regarding what exactly you are experiencing. I would like you to know, though, that we are slowly finding that, while not good news, it is still a direction that we might be able to take in the future. I will let you know that we have seen a drastic increase in the activity that has been going on near your heart over the last two months to the extent that now, 12% of the veins in your body have a parallel set of veins. To all of us in the hospital, we can do nothing to help you.¡± I look at the doctor and ask with a firm tone, ¡°What does this mean for me then, seeing as you can¡¯t remove the deformity, and now you are telling me it is growing in my veins like a cancer.¡± ¡°Now, Mr. Taldrit,¡± the doctor replies, ¡°I understand your concern and frustration with everything happening, but I would like you to remain as calm as possible through this discussion. We don¡¯t know what is causing the accelerated growth, but we have done some confirmation that it might not be bad for you once it has fully grown out.¡± If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°And how could you possibly know that?¡± I started in a huff. ¡°Well, as you know, the cardiovascular system helps to regulate many things throughout our bodies; with the new set of veins, we believe that it might be possible that they will double the output of the system and make it more efficient for you as it works its way through your body. We have no examples to follow, but we think that will occur.¡± ¡°So you have no evidence it will help me, but we have evidence that it has been causing me issues in the past. To the point of needing, on several occasions, a doctor''s intervention to ensure that I stayed alive after months of recovery from my last surgery to remove the deformity. I am of half the mind that I should get up and leave right now since this hasn¡¯t been productive for either of us, and all I am hearing is that I will continue to need to be a guinea pig for you as you prod me in hopes of finding some solution or answer that you are looking for in some case study.¡± I state this in an ever-increasing volume as I start to get up from the chair I am sitting on. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t stop you,¡± they said with a slight smile, ¡°Actually, I would highly recommend you leave as if anything gets out too fast to the higher-ups, they might not just let you leave.¡± I look at him with confusion and then nod my head. I have read enough about the history of the world to know that not all things are as they seem on the surface. And it strikes me that maybe my sibling might have been worried that I wouldn¡¯t be able to leave once I got inside. Quickly looking at the doctor, I get up and leave the room. ¡°Mr. Taldrit, before you go, I will make sure that everything that I have put into your file states that you have left and that nothing has changed and that monitoring will continue, but we will push it back to a bi-weekly meeting to give you some time to decompress.¡± Turning my head, I nod back at them and then continue and leave the hospital. On my way back, I called my sibling, and it sent me directly to voicemail. Leaving one for them, I continue walking home as I consider what I should do for the remainder of the day. I feel like continuing one of the novels I have been reading but choose not to and decide that I should instead do something productive and clean my apartment before it gets too late in the day and my motivation is gone. Considering it is an hour''s walk home and it is already 2 pm by the time I left, it will be dark in about 6 hours. On the walk home, I go to the store since I realized that I don¡¯t have any dish soap or food for that matter, and I don¡¯t want to eat out for the fourth time this week, considering that I am still unemployed and hardly anyone wants to hire me due to my health. I then reach out to my parents and see how they are doing for the first time in several months. I lie to them and tell them that the growth has slowed and that I shouldn¡¯t need to undergo surgery for the seventh time in the last decade, relieving them. I can tell they are busy since it is only 3 in the afternoon, so I hang up the phone and continue walking back to my apartment. I get all my cleaning done, prep my food, and prepare for a shower since I have iodine from where I had blood drawn again. Proceeding to finish my night, I put out a couple of job applications, hoping to hear back from them soon. Finding that it was 11:24, I decided it is time for me to go to bed. And that is the last thing I remember before I was suddenly brought to the white room for my integration. ¡ª With my mind at least a little clearer about my last day in my home world of Culhara, I find myself back in what feels like a tunnel. There is no air movement and no light. I can hear strange noises that seem to be coming out of the void, but I can¡¯t see anything to tell where they are coming from. And so I will wait. In the meantime, I say ¡°Status¡± to review it again before going on to my next adventure. Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Class: Mage Class Level: 1 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Health: 5 Mana: 10 Attributes: Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1 Constitution: 1 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 2 Charisma: 1 Free Stats: 1 Skills: Analyze Lvl 1 Arcane Shot Lvl 1 I notice that my intelligence and wisdom have gone up one point, and I have one free stat point. I also see another tab named ¡°Materials¡± at the top. There is nothing in the tab besides rough names like ¡°Wood, Stone, Metal, Food, and Enchanting Materials¡± with a grayed-out drop-down menu. I decided that since I am going down the path of a mage, I should invest my single stat point into intelligence so that I can do a bit more damage. After adding my point, I looked around to see if I could find any constellations I might recognize, but I had no luck. I look down once more to see something coming up very quickly. So quickly it gets twice as big within a minute of looking at it. I see mountains, oceans, and extensive forests spanning hundreds of kilometers. I also notice that as I get closer to this planet, there seems to be an ever-so-light fog getting denser as time passes. Whole forests are swallowed by the mist first, then the oceans, finally leading to the mountains reaching the stars. This voracious fog covers everything. I finally notice a small piece of land that hasn¡¯t been covered with the fog; it looks like it can barely hold it off, and the territory gets so tiny it¡¯s hard for me to see from my vantage. Still, it stabilizes at a 1Km by 1Km border with what appears to be a small hut in the center. Chapter 3: Hut on a Hill
It only takes a couple more minutes before I am finally "gently" deposited onto the land right in front of the house. A notification immediately takes my attention away from my surroundings, giving me a small message. - Welcome to Corenthia. While we know there is a lot that you need to take in, we highly recommend that you look around your new home before proceeding inside. - Immediately after that, one more screen pops up in my view. - New Quest: Welcome to Your New Home: While this is new for you, to find yourself stranded and alone in a world with fog all around you, know that not all is lost yet. Objective: Scout around your new home and note what might be helpful. Tasks: Walk to the four cardinal direction points near the edge of the territory (0/4) Find potential food sources (0/?) Enter the hut (0/1) Rewards: ??? Special Note: There are always higher possibilities for rewards based on completing the quest. - After receiving my first quest in what I feel is PUN-ishment and laughing at my terrible joke, I quickly look at my menus to see that there are now three tabs. The first is my status, the second is the materials tab, and finally, the third is the label "Quests." I mentally clicked on that one and saw the same thing as the notification in front of me. Shrugging my shoulders, I close out of the menu and look around my surroundings. I must figure out which way to go first; I head towards the southern border. Since I don''t see anything in my immediate vicinity, My gaze wanders around, and I can see just above the water line is a thick fog that hinders any further sight lines. Then, looking up at the sky, I can see the sun, and it feels like the time is getting closer to about 10 a.m. As I am walking, I smell something pleasant. Looking around myself, I spy a small bunch of flowers. Some of them are blue, red, yellow, and orange. As I get closer, I cast analyze on them. - Small patch of flowers: Has an unknown effect when used with Enchanting. It can also be used in other professions. Edible - Reaching down, I grab a couple of them as they have piqued my interest when I hear a "Ding" in my head. Curious, I look over my different menus to find my quest has updated one of my tasks. - Task: Find potential food sources (1/?) - Noting that down, I continue towards what appears to be a large body of water. I don''t smell any salt in the air, meaning that it is either a fresh body of water or that something in this world could prevent it from spreading out to me as I am now only 200 meters away from the beach. As I approach the beach, it becomes harder to walk as it becomes more sandy, making my footing a bit unstable. Once officially on the beach, I hear another "Ding" in my head. I quickly checked on it. - Task: Walk to the four cardinal direction points near the edge of the territory (1/4) - I pump my fist into the air as I know how far I have to go to have scouted a direction when suddenly I feel a sharp sting on my leg. Looking down in surprise, I notice a crab attached to my leg. I hear another "Ding," and a notification enters the side of my vision, stating that I have lost 1HP from the crab attack. Scrambling to detach the crab from my leg so it won''t be able to do more damage to me, I drop everything in my hands and quickly pry it off. I hurl it as far as I can when I remember that I can cast a spell. With it landing about 4 meters away, I quickly cast an arcane shot. When I release the spell, it goes wide of the crab, landing in the sand, causing a small amount to burst into the air. Another notification on the side of my visions lets me know that I have used two mana points. The crab gets its claws under it and starts to scuttle towards me. Noticing that I dropped my staff and thinking it will at least be a good cudgel if I run out of mana, I again use an arcane shot to shoot before it comes too close. Not used to using magic, I miss the crab again and another two mana spent. Looking at the crab that is now able to snap at me with its pincers again, I try to avoid getting snipped and am barely able to step back from it due to my poor footing on the sand. Pointing again, I cast an arcane shot at it and hit it. With that hit, a notification on the side of my vision tells me I have dealt 5 points of damage. Seeing that I did 5 points of damage, I looked down and saw that the crab is not moving. And another notification appears, this time right in front of me. - Congratulations, you have killed a level 1 small sand crab. Reward: 1 Experience point - After closing that one, there is one more that appears immediately after. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. - Congratulations, you have killed your first monster. Reward: 1 Small Wooden Equipment Chest - I click to close it out when suddenly a tiny box appears at my feet. Knowing it is my reward from the notification, I quickly open it to find a small set of spiked red boots. Quickly, I analyze them. - Boots of the Small Sand Crab: Provides one defense against attacks at your feet and ankles. Adds one damage to kicks. - Note: Boots made from the carapace of a small sand crab. It is a bit spikey. Try not to kick your shins. It will hurt. A lot." Closing out the window, I decided to equip them since my current shoes aren''t doing much. Once that is done, I analyze the crab. - Small Sand Crab: Dead; Can be parted out for different professions. Edible - With that, there is a "ding," I know my task for finding potential food has increased by one. I go and pick up the herbs I dropped and grab the crab. With the south side completed, I head back to the hut to drop things off outside. Once I get back to the hut, I realize that I shouldn''t leave things outside, so I walk around to see if there is an entrance, only to find that there isn''t any currently. Finding that odd, I tap on the hut, which is solid all the way around. Giving up after a while, I decided it would be best to continue on my journey to get the other 3 points dealt with before it became night. Following that thought, I head to the north, and not seeing anything on my way, I reach as far as I can go, and there is another beach and what appears to be a small dock to the west on the northern border. While I see it, it is hard to tell if it is in any working order or repairs are needed. Reaching the beach, though I get another "ding," means that I have reached the point in the north. Instead of heading directly back to the hut, I explored more around this dock. Getting within 30 meters, I find it is in a state of disrepair. Having lightly investigated it, I do get a "ding" again. A little confused, I look at my log to see what has been updated. - Task: Walk to the four cardinal direction points near the edge of the territory (2/4) Find potential food sources (4/?) - I am confused about why I would have gotten four on finding potential food sources. I think it over quickly before nodding my head in realization. It must be because the two bodies of water might not be connected and might have different types of fish or vegetation available to eat. I continue my journey around the edge of the territory. Eventually, I build the courage to get closer to the fog wall, preventing me from seeing what is on the other side. Walking within 2 meters of the wall, nothing has happened to me, yet when I finally decide that I am going to touch the wall of fog. Upon reaching out, I am stopped by an invisible wall. Confused, I try to push on the wall, and it won''t budge. Seeing that I won''t get anywhere with that route, I continue walking until I get too close to what feels like the middle of the west side of the territory. Getting the "ding," I know I have reached the point. Not having noticed anything of use to myself, I make my way back to the hut. Seeing that nothing has come to take the crab I have brought back or the herbs I picked, I leave them there and continue heading towards the east. On approaching one of the hills, I stumble on a pile of bones, thinking not too much of it. I continue up the hill. When I reach the top of the hill, I hear a rattling sound. Looking around, I find that the bones that I didn''t think much of start to get up and are making their way up the hill. Since they are far enough away and moving slowly towards me, I quickly analyze them. - Skeleton: Level 1; Health: ??;" Seeing the unknown health, I quickly look at my stats to see where my health and mana are. - Health: 5/5 Mana: 7/10 - Doing the math, it has been about 5 hours since I had the battle with the crab, meaning that I have only recovered three mana points and one health point in that amount of time. Realizing that my regeneration levels are atrocious makes me a bit concerned about whether I have to conserve my mana just in case of an emergency, but now isn''t the time to think of that. I start casting my spell, and I miss it with my first shot as it goes wide and hits the ground at the bottom of the hill. Looking at my hands and then seeing the staff, I facepalm myself, and I decided that the next one would be cast through the staff, and hopefully, it would be a more accurate shot. After sending the magic through my staff and pointing it at the skeleton, I strike it in the rib cage for two points of damage. The skeleton staggers from the magical blow, and several ribs fly off. Knowing that I only have enough mana for one more shot, I send it through my staff, and in my panic, it just misses the skeleton. Out of mana, the only thing I can do is swing my staff at it and hope it will do enough damage to kill it again. Going down the hill, I approach it and swing my staff at it just as it comes into range, and as I am swinging, I stumble as I take a step to finish the swing. With that, the skeleton gets close enough to slash at me with his hand and with me already having stumbled with my swing. Taking one step back, I quickly swung at the skeleton again and hit it with a notification telling me it was for 4 points of damage. Looking at where I hit it, I saw that I smashed its skull, shattering it. Following the death of the skeleton, my battle is complete, with a delicious reward awaiting me. - Congratulations, you have killed a level 1 Skeleton. Reward: 2 Experience points. - I analyze the now re-dead skeleton. - Skeleton: Dead; Can be used in multiple different professions. - After closing out of this screen, I received another message. - Congratulations, you have leveled up the Analyze skill to level 2. - Thinking about it, I decide to leave the bones here for now and continue, but at a much slower pace, towards the edge of the territory. It takes me another 40 minutes of climbing up several hills and going around some of the steeper sections to reach the point where I hear a "ding," that is also when I notice, at the edge of the fog wall, a cave in the cliff face. Looking closely, I notice that there is enough space from the wall to go inside and make a quick turn to avoid going into the fog right away. I look at my stats to see where my health and mana are at. - Health: 5/5 Mana: 1/10 - Seeing that I am still incredibly low on mana, I call it a day and return to my hut. On the way back, I found a large patch of bushes with berries. I then analyze them while noting that they are a deep red, like the color of blood. - Manaberry: Can be used in multiple different professions. Edible- Seeing the name manaberry and another "ding" gets my hopes up. Grabbing several, I pop them into my mouth and receive a status effect. - Manaberry: Having consumed a manaberry has increased your mana regeneration to a rate of 1 per hour. This is retroactive for any points that are still regenerating.- And with that buff, my mana has increased to 2/10. With that exciting news, I continued on my way back. While going past the skeleton, I grab some larger bones to bring back. Chapter 4: The Settlement? When I arrived back at my hut, I immediately saw something that wasn''t there before, or at least the option wasn''t there before. There is a small exclamation point hovering just on one of the walls. Curious if it would follow me, I walked around the hut it did follow. Getting closer, I reach out and touch it. - Please place the door where you would like it. - Confirming that I could place it anywhere on the hut''s walls, I decided to put it facing the west and towards what I believe will be grasslands in the future. With the door in place, I open it, step inside for the first time, and hear a "ding." - Task: Enter the hut (1/1) - Looking at the quest, I see a button at the bottom of the screen that says "Complete Quest?". Thinking about it, I decided that now would be an excellent time to complete the quest, seeing as I am almost out of mana, and night quickly creeps upon me. Selecting it, I receive several notifications in a row. - Completing quest... Calculating rewards. For walking to the four cardinal directions and entering the hut, receive an 80% completion rate. For finding five different food sources, receive a 50% completion rate. The total completion of the quest is 130%. Increasing rewards accordingly. - Receive 1 X Lords charter Receive 1 X Settlement Experience Bag Receive 3 X Small Resource Box Receive 1 X Special Population Box Receive 1 X Small Personal Inventory Bag Looking at the rewards that are all over the floor of my hut, I take a small breath and look for the things that pique my interest right away: the small personal inventory bag and the special population box. Thankfully, finding the bag was easy since none of the rewards were on top of the others. Grabbing it, I analyze it. - Small Personal Inventory Bag: Can carry up to 4 different types of items within. You can stack up to 100 for each type of item. An Enchanter can deconstruct it. Owner: None - Finding that it has no owner, I try figuring out how to claim ownership of the bag. Announcing that I am the owner, while stupid, doesn''t work. I look around for something sharp so I can try and cut myself and put my blood on it like in the many different novels I have read, only to realize the only sharp things I have are either the small sand crab''s carapace or my new boots. Feeling that cutting myself on a non-clean carapace wouldn''t be the best of ideas, I slowly lean down, press the tip of my finger on one of the spikes on my boots, and get a drop of blood to come out. I didn''t receive any notification of damage, so I found that it wasn''t enough harm to my person. I wiped the blood on the bag, discovering it didn''t work either. Frustrated, I gave up and instead analyzed the special population box. - Special Population Box: The person that opens this box can either get four persons with classes and professions or one bound companion that can act as a guide. - Now, that is a tricky choice for me. If I go with the four people, that means I need to find out how to house them, feed them, and keep them all happy while still having very few options as to how I can help currently. And just making an educated guess, they won''t have any more knowledge about what is happening in the world, just like myself. On the positive side, it gives me more hands to work with around the territory so that more things can be done faster. If I go with the companion, it would be more valuable right now since there is only one more mouth to feed, and there is a lot of potential with it, stating that it is a guide. Another thing to note is that while the four-person option is there, nothing says that the companion I would get is a human. I find that either way, I am gambling with having more mouths and hands or fewer mouths and hands while also having a potential bank of knowledge. Finally, deciding, I go for the one companion that is a guide. Having selected the option, a blinding light inside the hut slowly condenses into a small Raven. I feel a sharp pain deep inside my chest as something connects to me on what feels like a soul level. I analyze it quickly. - Name: --- Species: Raven - Corvus (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Earth Health: 3/3 Mana: 21/21 Class: Mage Class Level: 1 Profession: N/A Profession Level: N/A Attributes: Strength: 1 Dexterity: 2 Constitution: 1 Intelligence: 2 Wisdom: 3 Charisma: 2 Free Attributes: 0 Skills: Analyze Level 4 Find Shiny Object Level 6 Arcane Shot Level 4 Note: This companion is bound to the user Drake Taldrit. This is a soul companion. Upon death, there will be a one-day timer to spawn next to the bound user. The respawn time will increase as the companion rises in the level/evolutionary stage. - With the explanation in the note of the companion, I now understand what that pain was. Unable to figure out how the connection fully works, I look down at the raven as it looks at me with its head cocked to one side. I give a small caw in my direction, and then I hear a voice in my head. "So you are the master that I must follow?" Responding with some surprise and confusion as to how this animal speaks to me, I nod. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Hmmm, there is a lot of work to be done around here to get it up to speed." Again, I nod, still confused, as it starts to hop around the room when it looks at the small bag still in my hand. "Are you going to bind that to yourself or not?" With as much willpower as possible, I tamp down on the confusion in my heart and ask a prominent question, "How?" "Oh, you don''t even know this much, and I would have thought of more considering your circumstances." "My circumstances?" "Well, yes, with that thin-" I notice a slight stutter in the raven and can tell there is a little bit of a shock. "What was that?" I ask with a small amount of concern. "Well, it seems I cannot talk about that for now. I guess I will have to move on and inform you of how to bind an item to your person." Sitting down so I am not looking down on them, I nod and see them hop up onto the top of one of the boxes that have appeared as part of my reward. "So, before we start, I have some questions for you. First, what is your home planet like? Second, what information do you have about where you are? Third, what is the situation in the area that we are currently located in? And finally, what was the completion rate of the first quest that you have completed." Thinking about these questions, I respond, "To answer the questions, I will go in the reverse order so that you can figure out what might have happened from there. Starting with your fourth question, I completed the quest with an" I go back to my menus and see a completed tab under the quest screen. Selecting it, I can see how it was rated again, so I have an accurate description of what happened. Continuing where I left, "130% completion rate for the quest." He quickly interrupts me, "130%, that is quite a good start for you; I am sure we could have gotten it higher if there was a more in-depth look around the area." Nodding my head again, "I agree with you on that, but as I was running out of time and also was quite low on mana, I decided that it was best if I completed what I had done already and tried to get inside so I am not stuck outside for the night." Nodding his head in agreement, I continue answering his questions, "For your third question, I have found two bodies of water, one completely covering the territory''s southern border and another covering what feels like just the middle half of the northern border. A dock on the northwestern section of the beachfront is not in good repair. To the east is a lot of hills and craigs, and the west is what I think as grasslands." Seeing that the raven cocks his head to the side again, I ask curiously, "Is there something wrong with the area we are in?" "Not wrong," he responds, "but it isn''t the best for us if we want to start building anything." I nod, knowing he is probably talking about the lack of wood in the area. "Well, there isn''t anything we can do about that now. Please continue." "So with those two out of the way, all of the information that I have been able to gather was the basics of what a mage is and some information about casting arcane shots, as well as how to grind out herbs and ores for when I am going to be enchanting." "Seems like not a whole lot, seems like a poultry amount." I give a slight chuckle at that. Knowing that the small joke worked, the raven relaxes a little bit. "Now, please answer the first question, and then I think we can move on to what would be useful in this situation." Once again, nodding, I answer the first question, "Culhara was a pretty technologically advanced planet, at least from what I could tell. There were touchscreen phones, computers, internet access for everyone, and healthcare, but it still cost quite a pretty penny for certain surgeries to be completed; we were on the brink of hovercars, or at least that was what I had read a couple of days before. And lots of content about medieval/dark ages to play with games in a 3D environment if you could afford the gaming setups, or just reading novels for those that couldn''t." Seeing that it has gotten the information it wanted, I notice a slight smile in the eyes of the raven. "With all of that, I am glad to know that even with the change of environment multiple times, as well as being in a location unknown to you, you were able to have at least some courage to explore. I commend you on that. Now, to get back to your question of how to bind something to you. Can I ask a question as to what your class is?" "My class? Sure, I mean, I picked the mage class. I don''t know why you are asking, though, since shouldn''t you be able to analyze me and see my stats?" "No," he replies in a slightly flat tone, "Unlike you, who can see my stats, and I know you can because of how the bond works, I cannot see anything other than your name, race, and planet of origin. Everything else is blank for me." With a quick start, he hops closer to the edge of the box and closer to me with some shock, "And what do you mean you have the mage class? I thought only-" Again, he stutters and looks like he is shocked. With what feels like a gasp, he stops his thought and moves on. "Seeing as I can''t explain what I want to means that I won''t be able to explain how to bind it. The only thing I can think of is having me bind it and hold onto the items you want to put in it for the time being." Looking skeptically at the raven, I don''t know my head since we have just met. Instead, I respond, "How about for now, we just set it off to the side and focus on some other things around the room?" "Good plan," is the only response I get. And with that, it hops off the box and, with a gentle flap of its wings, flies up to land on my shoulder while looking at the other items. "So I would recommend starting with the charter, as I haven''t seen one of that color in a long while." Agreeing with him, I analyzed the charter first. - Lord''s Charter (Silver): The user will receive the Lord''s interface for their chosen settlement. It comes with 250 units of Tier 1 Wood, Stone, and Metal that will be put into the Lord''s Chest. Receive 1 Instant Completion Token (Bronze). Receive 2 Time Reduction Tokens (Iron). And Receive 2 Resource Reduction Tokens (Iron) - Looking over at the raven, I can see only a slight shock in its eyes as it looks back at me. "These are some pretty powerful items to have in the early setup of a settlement. We can do a lot with them to make things easier for us. Let''s use the charter and get the items to review what we need to do next." Agreeing, I use the charter, and with a flash of light, I now have an overhead view of my small territory. With that, a notification appears. - Having successfully used the Lord''s Charter, please select the settlement you want to control. - With only one selectable option, I chose the hut I am currently in. - Selection successful. Would you like to name your settlement? - A keyboard appears in my mind''s eye. Slowly thinking through the options, I quickly type out Caelnova. Once completed, another notification tells me I can find the other items in the chest located in the chosen building. Still stuck in the overlay mode, the raven says in my mind, "To exit out of this, please state ''Close Settlement Overlay.''" Following those directions, I return to myself and see a small bed in the corner of one room and a chest at the foot of the bed. I analyze the chest. - Lord''s Chest: Can hold reward boxes that have not been opened from missions the lord has completed. Holds any amount of tokens for the improvement of the territory. It has ten spaces to start and can be upgraded along with the level of the territory. Items stack up to 1000. - The inside of the chest is described in the charter I used. After analyzing the items inside briefly, I return to the last four things that need to be opened. Studying both provides me with the following. - Settlement Experience Bag: Upon using the settlement attached, the user will receive 50 Experience towards the next level. - - Small Resource Box: Upon opening the settlement attached, the user will receive 50 units of Tier 1 Wood, Stone, and Metal. As well as 25 units of Food. - Quickly opening the resource boxes, I get the items that immediately go into my materials tab. Curious as to where those materials exist, I quickly ask the raven. "When I receive materials, where do they go?" "Well, they enter the available chests or warehouses within the territory. Note that you cannot open chests too far away from the settlement; otherwise, the materials will spawn right on top of you and might crush you under the weight." Taking note of that advice, I looked one more time in the chest, and it has indeed increased the number of materials, and now there is also food included. "One more question about the materials. Why can I see how much is in the chest through my menus?" "On that note, anything a construction material that appears in a warehouse or Lord''s Chest will be counted and tell you exactly how many materials are within. Now, if you consider that you can have villages and so forth underneath one lord, you will get a drop-down to see what is in a specific village storehouse." Nodding along, I reach for the experience bag, only to be stopped by the raven. I look over in a little bit of confusion. "Why are you stopping me from opening this bag?" "Because this is probably one of the rare items that came out of that reward!" "Rare in what sense?" "Rare as in, you can''t get these experience bags other than through extremely challenging quests or overshooting goals by a good margin. We should store this bag and only use it when we are on the cusp of a level-up for the settlement for when it gets harder to level up!" "Does it get that hard to level up settlements?" I ask out of pure ignorance. "Extremely hard. Consider that we are currently just a level one roadside hovel." Stopping the raven, I glare at him. "Where are you getting this information." "Well," it says, looking like a chicken with its feathers removed, "you have to go into the settlement tab within your status menu." "THERE''S ANOTHER TAB TO GO THROUGH!" I shriek in dismay. Quickly going to my status page, I see another tab, making it the fourth one I now have to look through. And there it is, all of the information the raven is discussing. Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 1 Experience: 2/10 Territory Size: 1Km X 1Km Buildings: Hut Level 1 Small Dock Level N/A !!Repairs Required!! Requirements to level up: Beat five monsters in the area (2/5) Have three different buildings (1/3) Sighing, I rub my forehead and lower my head. "There is a lot that still needs to be done." Looking outside and seeing that the sun has gone, I call it a night. Chapter 5: Ritotorius Thankfully the night passed without issue. Waking up I find that the raven is perched near the end of the bed on the chest. Thinking about it, I still have to give him a name so I can stop call him "The Raven." So while sitting there thinking I figure why not, I give him a gentle poke to wake him up. "Hey, would you like a name?" "Finally! I thought you would keep forgetting until suddenly I got stuck being called a raven out of pure embarrassment of you not figuring out a name for me." Taking that as confirmation, I recall a family pet from when I was a child. It was a nice black lab that was always around and was super fun to play with and was a little mischievous. Recalling those memories and my family and how well we got along when I was younger starts to get me down, when I feel a nudge against my chest from the raven''s head. Snapping out of it I look carefully at him and speak up, "The name that I would like to give you is Ritotorius." "Ritotorius?" "Its meaning is ''The Ritual of the Weaver." "There must be a lot of sentimental value to you then?" "It was the name of my family''s first pet. We named him that because every morning my parents would pet him right as they were about to leave for work...I have many happy memories with him, and I want to have more with you." I reach down and gently stroke the top of Ritotorius'' head. "For short though if you don''t mind I will call you Rito." "I am just happy that you have given me such a personal name." Analyzing him again I see that the name section of his sheet has changed to Ritotorius and it gives me a small amount of hope for what is to come for the day. That is when I notice the terrible smell coming from right outside. Going to check what it is I see that it was the crab that I killed yesterday, which also makes me remember that I haven''t eaten for the last 24 hours. Hurrying inside I take a look in the chest and grab out one unit of food, which is a little bit of bread and I scarf that down quickly before taking a second piece as well. Finally feeling full after eating two solid chunks of bread I start to make a plan for my day. "First I will figure out the rest of what the settlement tab has to offer. Then I will look at getting some of the tasks that are on my list to level up my settlement so I can see what bonuses I receive. After that I think I will continue with the exploration of this area to see if there are any other places that I can get food from." Having thought my day through I start on my first task which is the settlement tab. I open my menus and look closely at the tab and find the overlay button, I press it and get my top down view. While in this view I can hear Rito talking to me. "While in the overview look around the edges and see if you can find a building option there." Looking around quickly I find it sitting in the lower right corner of my vision. Mentally pressing on it I receive a set of different structures that I can build. Building Options: Small Dock - Available 2: 1 to build, 1 to repair; Able to attach two small fishing boats at a time, can be used for fishing as well. Small Garden - Available 1: 1 to build; Able to plant small seeds to start a garden must be placed in a location with a decent fertility rate otherwise no growth will occur. Size is 2m X 2m Small Mine - Available 1: 1 to build; Able to mine out ores and stone from a cliff side or hill. Small Hut - Available 0: Max Capacity acquired; Houses 1 or 2 people at a time, provides mild comfort and shelter. Size is 3m X 3m Wooden Fence - Available: Unlimited; A low fence to help keep out small monsters and critters. Has a very limited health pool for those that are attacking it. Provides limited defense while behind it. Seeing my options aren''t many I look for places to put some of the other buildings since I already have a small dock in place and it just needs to be repaired. Thinking along those lines I select the small garden and it gives me a small holographic image that I can place anywhere. One thing I also notice is that the grounds start to turn different shades of reds and greens. Looking around my territory I notice that there aren''t many dark green areas, using educated guesses that green is good in this case, and those areas that are deep green are smaller than the garden I will be able to put down. So I pick the best spot with a little bit of dark green and a lot more of a lighter green. With the location selection complete I receive a prompt. "After confirming the placement of your building the total material cost will be 10 units of lumber and it will take 4 hours of time without someone actively working on the project. Do you wish to proceed?" Confirming my selection Rito pops into my head again. "With you placing down the garden the materials will not just automatically appear near the construction site you will still need to bring them over yourself or you could have one of your other workers do so if you had a warehouse to pull things from. In this case I can help with that process but I will need to bind the small personal inventory bag to myself since I cannot physically take them with me." Contemplating it further I decide that he should bind it to him since I can''t use it currently anyways. "Also you will need to give me permission to access the Lord''s Chest since currently you are the only one allowed to open it." "And how would I go about giving you permission?" "All you have to do is go to the Lord''s Chest and think "Permissions" and when that screen pops up you just add me to the list of allowed persons." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Proceeding to do that it takes me a couple of frustrating minutes before I am able to give Rito access to the chest. During that time he has already bound the bag to himself and was just waiting for me to get the chest permissions handled. I receive a "Ding" and curious I take a look at the message that comes up. "Ritotorious has grabbed 10 units of wood from the Lord''s Chest in Caelnova." Finding that interesting to note I continue back to the settlement overview screen. I bring my vision over the small dock on the northwestern section of the map and see that there are a couple of options. Small Dock !!Repair Required!! Materials required: 20 Wood of any tier Hours till operational: 6 hours I took a look at building a new small dock next to it and find that the amount of materials required is more than twice as much and it will take longer to complete. With no reason to think about it anymore I go ahead and get the order queued up for the dock to be fixed. Having completed that task I look to find Rito and come back to get a second load of wood to bring to the small dock. Calling to him I say, "Hey, when you are done with that would you like to go out and scout more in depth around the hut to see if there are any monsters that I need to be aware of?" With him giving me a curt nod he continues what he is doing. I heard another "ding" informing me that Rito had grabbed another 20 units of wood from the Lord''s Chest and I watched as he flew away quickly. I walk outside again and start looking around, not seeing anything in the near vicinity. I start my walk up towards the garden to see how it looked as it was being built. Watching slowly as the garden is building itself I see a timer on top of it stating that there are still 3 hours and 45 minutes left before it has finished. Trying my hand at helping quickly I go up to one of the pieces of wood, grabbing it. I see that it needs me to move it to a specific point on the construction hologram. Placing the piece down I see it form to the piece below it slowly. I looked back at the timer to see that the amount of time has decreased by 10 minutes. Feeling productive I continue to grab the rest of the wood and put them in the assigned spots, watching as every piece places lowers the time by another 10 minutes. By the end of all of the wood I see that there are still 2 hours left before it is complete. Suddenly I hear the flap of wings, I stretch my arm out like I have seen people that train birds on the internet do and Rito lands gently on my arm before slowly hopping up to my shoulder. Looking at him I ask, "Are you ready to do some scouting?" With a nod of his feathered head we start exploring. Since I hadn''t seen anything while I was close to my hut I decided that we will start by doing a circle around 100 meters out. With Rito on my shoulder I make my way around, slowly to make sure that I haven''t missed anything when I stumble upon a set of rocks low to the ground to the northeast of the hut. With me working on my analysis skill I receive the following. - Open air copper vein (Small): Gathering at this spot will produce Tier 1 copper ore. - Not much information but definitely something that I will take note of as I find more resources around the area. Telling Rito to fly up and see if he can find anything else I continue on with my initial 100 meter walk. As I am walking up to find a couple more small flower plots in the southeastern section of my loop I hear Rito tell me something. "Master, I have found what looks to be a buried chest to the southwest of the hut. It is a little bit further than 100 meters out but I felt that you should know about it as soon as possible." Thanking him I quickly headed that direction, it took me a couple of minutes since I wasn''t the most in shape guy and when I finally got there I could see how I would have missed it on my way to the beach and back from the grasslands. Buried so just barely any of the chest is sticking out of the soil I can see a small glint of metal. Looking at Rito I finally understand why something like that would have caught his attention with his skill of Find Shiny Object being at level 6. Slowly as I am digging the chest from the ground I get hit in the back with what feels like a large rock which causes me to fall to the ground. Feeling immense pain in my back I quickly turn around to see a small figure standing there. Analyzing it I find it is a level 1 Goblin with 3 health points. Rito is already casting an arcane shot at him and misses him, while I also do the same and mine thankfully hits the goblin launching him further away from me and dealing 4 health points of damage killing it instantly. Slowly getting back up I carefully look around me to make sure there aren''t any more lurking around to find that one is slowly trying to sneak up on me from my right hand side holding a small dagger in its hand. Before I can do anything Rito casts his spell again barely grazing the goblin but not doing any damage to him. While I also cast and I hit the goblin right in the head blowing it up by dealing 8 points of damage. With the battle complete I receive my rewards. "Congratulations, you have killed a level 1 goblin. Reward 2 Experience points (1 Shared due to your soul bonded companion); Congratulations, you have killed a level 2 goblin. Reward 4 Experience points times 1.5 for a total of 6 Experience points (3 Shared due to your soul bonded companion.)" I look at my experience to see how I am doing. Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Health: 1/5 Mana: 6/10 Class: Mage Class Level: 1 Experience: 7/100 Turning to Rito I mention, "I am very low on health," wincing a bit as the pain in my back acts up for a second. "I feel we should go back to the hut and heal up and make sure that I don''t accidentally die..." Looking to see what time it is I find that it is just after noon so heading back right now is probably the best thing anyways as I was getting hungry from all the wandering. I grab hold of the chest that I just lifted from the ground and make my way back. Upon arriving back at the hut I set the chest down as I stretched out my arm. Rito takes that as an opportunity to land on it before hopping up to my shoulder nuzzling my head with his. With my mind on all the pain that I was experiencing I remember that I haven''t analyzed the chest that I had been lugging back to the house this entire time. - Wooden Chest: Contains a random amount of Tier 1 resources and an additional item randomly. - - Initiate Mages Robes: +1 Defense, +1 to Intelligence and +1 point of damage to spells cast. - - Ring of Focus: Increases the chance to hit a target by +5%; Increases Wisdom by +1 - Right away I equip the items and then I see if I can just see what the stat increases are on my stat page so that in the future I can quickly see any increases or decreases. To my shock it works. Mana: 11/15 Defense: 1 (2 when attacks directed at ankles or feet) Intelligence: 4 Wisdom: 3 Hit Chance: +5% Having looked at my stats I also go to the settlement tab and check to see the progress there. Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 1 Experience: 5/10 Territory Size: 1Km X 1Km Buildings: Hut Level 1 Small Dock Level 1 Small Garden Level 1 Requirements to level up: Beat 5 monsters in the area (4/5) Have 3 different buildings (3/3) Complete. Chapter 6: Skeletons, Slimes, and Goblins! Oh My! With one of the tasks completed I look forward to being able to finish the second requirement for the level up of the territory. With such a low amount of health left I look towards Ritotorius and ask, "Would it be possible for you to go around and kill several more monsters so we can start getting closer to leveling up the territory?" With a nod of his head I open the door for him to go out and see what spoils of battle he can reap while I go and sit on the edge of the bed and go through my settlement tab and start looking towards the future. Looking I see that I have the Small Dock, a Small Garden, and also a Hut. Not much by any means but then I see the fencing option, thinking that I click and see that I can place it down and a grid type pattern appears. Fiddling with the placement of the fences I find I can place a corner on one section of the grid and then it snaps into place on its own. If I want to have the fence go in a specific direction I can also have it free flow and follow my thoughts. With not much to protect at the time I go with setting the fence to go around the initial 100 meter section of the map that I have walked around just to give myself a little bit of a perimeter for safety against lower level monsters like goblins. Upon having placed it down I see that it will require 200 units of wood in order to complete. Lower than I thought it was going to be overall but I also know that I will not be able to easily replenish it in the future unless I can find some sort of wooded area, or get more resource boxes. As I am hovering over the garden I take a closer look to see that there is a small information panel that can be expanded at will. Doing the logical thing at this moment I expand the window. - Small Garden: Increases the yield of small food items that are planted here. Increase in between 1 to 5 units. - Thinking about that I also go and look at the Small Dock. - Small Dock: Helps to attract fish in the local waters to make it easier to gather food. Passively provides 1 unit of raw Tier 2 food every 5 days. - Seeing this I am ecstatic to find that I can get a higher quality of food stuff passively. Even though it is a long time between receiving it at least it will give me a different flavor compared to bread, berries, and flowers. I am also sure that Rito will thoroughly enjoy the fact that we might get some fish. Thinking of Rito I wonder how his hunting is going when I receive a prompt quickly. "Congratulations, your soul bonded companion has slain a level 1 slime. Reward 1 Experience Point (Given to Ritotorous based on contribution)." I check to see if there are any updates quickly to find the monster slaining task has been completed and that the settlement has gotten one more experience point as well. Looking more in depth at the experience of the settlement I am able to find something interesting. The settlement acquires experience based on the monsters slain in the territory directly, by people making things from their professions, or as a reward in the form of "Settlement Experience Bags". With some idea of what to do next I get ready to head out of my home when I remember that I still have low health. Checking to see if there is any progress on that front I see. Health: 4/5 With the good news that my health has gone up I try to remember how long it has been since I have been inside. Knowing it hasn''t been that long I check the sun''s position just to make sure only to find that it is dipping quickly below the point I can see it on the horizon. "I guess I spent more time figuring out how the fences will work and other things that I anticipated." Chuckling to myself and working up the courage to go further out again I hear Rito call out to me. "I see you have found some things out, I am glad to see that you are able to come outside again so quickly. It is a wonder that people say that humans are the most adaptable to their environments." Taking the compliment and responding with a small smirk at my discovery, "And who knew that ravens could be so talkative and still miss out on some information that would be useful sooner than later." "Well it''s not my fault that someone had to go and get hit on the back so hard they couldn''t help me scout some things out." Came his retort. "And what have you found oh mighty Rito, scout extraordinaire, seeker of shiny objects, and feller of slimes." I respond with a good natured smile on my lips. "Now I don''t think I will be telling you, Drake, sitter of beds, purveyor of comfort, and opener of boxes.¡± With an exaggerated gasp at him, I give him a look and decide to be a bit more serious. "So really though, what have you found out?" Seeing that the word banter has stopped for the time being Ritotorous tells me. "So I think I have found the 4 major monsters that we will be fighting for the current size of the territory." With a look of intrigue I send a mental image of me motioning on. "In the south there are lots of crabs on the beach and some of them have come further onto shore. The north contains slimes, most of which are just water slimes, there are some grass slimes on the northwest side and gravel slimes on the northeast." Quickly interrupting him, "So does that mean that in the west we have the goblins and in the east there are more skeletons?" Giving me a small mental glare for interrupting he responds. "While it isn''t just skeletons in the east that is what a majority of them are from what I could tell." With the last piece in place I get a new quest prompt. "New Quest: Skeletons, Slimes, and Goblins! Oh My!: Having found yourself surrounded on all sides either by water or by the monsters of the land a choice has come to you. Do you clear out some of the area of more of the monsters, or do you let them continue to grow more in number until you can''t handle them anymore. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. While in the immediate area you can''t find any place that would allow these creatures to have a place to stay, not all locations have been investigated as to what threats might be there. Tasks: Enter the fog and clear out 1 group of enemies (0/1) Level up your settlement to Roadside Hovel Level 3 (0/1) Rewards: ??? Special Note: While these monsters are slowly coming into the territory more they will not attack en masse unless there is a large enough trigger." Looking towards the sky I give a small sign. "The one place we haven''t gone due to the potential risks that might be involved and that is now the only place we can go in order for us to survive the ever increasing problem. Oh how I wish I had some more help as I can''t do everything by myself." I look down again towards the ground and feel a rush of wind on my head as I see that Ritotorous is right in front of me giving a concerned look that only a raven could possibly give. Honestly it just makes it look like he is just looking at a dead carcass that isn''t quite dead enough. Feeling that there are no other options I give one last look towards the sky and decide that since it is so late in the day already that I will call it a night after running the wood to the fence so at least I can have some sort of defense now that I hear that I will be having more monsters coming into the territory. Finishing my tasks quickly I go and lay down with Rito perched on the chest at the foot of the bed as I mention to him. "Honestly Rito, I feel like having picked the enchanting profession might have been a bad idea. I mean look at what we have around, there are flowers, herbs, and berries, not to mention the potential ores that we could get in the east. I just feel that it is too advanced of a trade to have started out." Opening one of his eyes he looks over and comments. "So you haven''t tried looking more into what enchanting does and how it would work with the things that we have around us?" "No" I reply a bit dejectedly. "Well once we get up I think that should be one of the first things that you should focus on as not only will that help to increase the settlement level but it might help to increase your knowledge of what is possible with the things we have around us." Getting that somewhat cryptic message from him, I rest my head back down on the bed and try to focus on getting some sleep. In the middle of the night a prompt quickly flashes into being. "Mana Heart progress 25% complete. Mana Vein progress 15% complete. " Then just as suddenly as it appears it disappears. Tossing and turning for most of the night fearful for what might come I only am able to get a couple of hours of rest making waking up the next morning a strenuous task. Ritotorous, quickly waking up, hops onto the bed and lightly cuffs my head with his wing telling me that we need to get a start of our day. And like he said last night I take a quick look around my surroundings trying to figure out what he meant by taking a closer look at things. Seeing my confusion after about 20 minutes, Ritotorous decided to give me a hand. "So when you were learning your profession in the integration room what were some of the things that you learned?" "Well" I start "it taught me how to grind different materials down so that way they will work better for some of the tools that I need to use. There were also scenes of people applying different types of enchantments onto different types of weapons, and armor." Nodding his head at me. "Did you notice any specific way they were adding them on? Were they going for specific points on the items or did it seem more like they were just applying it anywhere they wanted." Thinking harder about what I saw, I remember catching a quick glimpse at the end of the series of instructions and images of one particular image of an item. While there was nothing special about the item itself, what was interesting to note that I missed was that there seemed to be nodes along the item and that the enchantments were going around one node and then having connecting lines to another. I relay this to Ritotorous and he nods his head again at me. "So if there didn''t seem to be anything special about the item other than these nodes. What do you think is missing that would help you in being able to be an enchanter?" Quickly replying this time. "I would first have to be able to see the nodes so that way I know where I can either start an enchantment or so that way I know how to connect one node to the next and if there is a particular order that needs to be followed for a specific effect." "So for you to be able to see..." slowly Ritotorous trails off. "What will I have to do to be able to see the nodes?" I ask fully engrossed into what he was talking about. "You have been able to do something you can''t yet. This is getting frustrating!" He says finding that he is unable to talk about something that I can tell will greatly improve the rate at which we can proceed forward with getting everything set up. Just frustrated by the situation I threw my hands in the air and looked for something that we could do that would actually be productive. I look over at him and motion towards the door. "Should we head outside and see what the situation is out there or do you think we can get more things figured out by being here talkings? Being just as frustrated with everything Ritotorous flaps his wings and then lifts off the bed to come and land on my arm before replying to me. "Well at least there might be some good news for us once we go outside at the very least." "Good news?¡± "Well you did get your quest just at the end of yesterday, so maybe we can work on some of those goals today!" "I agree, that is something we should work on. And before I forget, let me make sure that the fence was able to be completed last night!" Looking I do see that the fence did complete its construction last night and that now there is a fence running around the 100 meters of my home. Stepping outside I have to decide which direction to go. With a staff in my hand I feel that the only appropriate way to determine the direction is to throw it up into the air and see which way the head of the staff points. Continuing with that plan I threw it up as hard as I could, as it fell back to the ground I mistook which direction it was falling only for the end to bounce off the top of my head dealing 1 point of damage to me and then dropping to point to the east. I rub my head from where the staff hit me, reach down to pick up the staff and look at Ritotorous. "Not. One. Word." Glaring at him while he has his head turned away from my direction. I continue my terrible morning by going around the house and see one skeleton right up against the fence with another 4 not far behind it. Looking and seeing that they are all only level one I choose to use the distance, and fence to my advantage and start shooting Arcane shots at them. I miss my first shot, before continuing, since I notice that the skeletons aren''t the brightest of creatures and they can''t get to me. It is right after my first shot blasts the skeleton against the fence to pieces that Ritotorous joins in by shooting his own at the skeletons still advancing our way. It takes a couple of minutes of us shooting at a safe range before we kill all of them. "Congratulations, you have killed 4 level 1 skeletons. Reward 4 Experience points (Shared with Ritotorous)¡± Thinking about it, I should be able to complete my first level up of the settlement. Going to my settlement screen I see a big red "Level Up" button right on the page. I look over at Ritotorous and ask. "If I level up the settlement now will there be any potential for additional rewards that I will be missing out on if I was to instead level up at a later time?" Shaking his head he replies. "No, the only time that I know of that there are additional or increased rewards are when you over complete a quest, or when you get an achievement for something. So it should be good to level up the settlement now without any issue." Nodding I mentally click the button and there is a small flash of light at the edges of the territory and I get a couple of prompts quickly. "Congratulations, your settlement has become a level 2 Roadside Hovel. Reward 1 X Small Resource Chest" "Congratulations, you have leveled up your settlement for the first time, you have been awarded the choice between a Small Equipment Box, or a Small Population Box." Chapter 7: Population Summoning I minimize the window for the small achievement and take another quick look at my settlement menu. Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 2 Experience: 0/25 Territory Size: 1.1Km X 1.1Km Buildings: Hut Level 1 Small Dock Level 1 Small Garden Level 1 Tasks: Have a population of 5 or more. (1/5) Make at least 2 excursions past the edge of your territory. (0/2) Seeing that I need to have a higher population gives me a good point to start with, also seeing that I have to make excursions past the territories border anyways it gives me a good quick way to level up the settlement again. Not worrying about the building menu at this moment since I have time to figure it all out I go for my reward and pick the Small Population Box. It plops down at my feet, and giving a quick analysis on it explains that the box has a chance of giving 1-4 population summoning scrolls. Opening the box anyways since I am curious as to what the population summoning scrolls do, I find out pretty quickly. - Population Summoning Scroll: Summons one humanoid near the location of the user of this scroll. - I feel like my luck is pretty good today after the fiasco of trying to figure out my enchanting profession. There are 4 scrolls inside of the chest. Rubbing my eyes not fully believing it since that is the amount I would need to complete a task on my list. Giving my companion a quizzical look I ask, "Soooooo, how exactly do I use this scroll." "That is actually quite simple, typical people can tear off the wax seal that is on the scroll and toss it into the air and it will complete the summoning. I know high level mages don''t even need to tear off the seal personally and can use magic to open them." Following the simple instructions I quickly tear the wax seal off of the scroll and lob it into the air. Before it has a chance to fall to the ground there is a flash of light with a portal hovering just above the ground and out steps what appears to be a human sized being. As they walk out I get a slight chill down my spine as I start to hear a very familiar sound. Panicking a little as to what I should do in this situation I look for Ritotorous to find him flying a couple of meters away from me, and from the looks of it he has positioned himself so that he might be able to get in between me and this new figure. "Calm down." I hear in my head. "They are not here to hurt you, I can tell you that. They are new to this world and you with the most knowledge will be a good guide for these people." I look back at where the portal was to find a skeletal figure standing there stock still. A bleached skull with blue flames in the sockets, boney hands grasping a staff in hand with very familiar robes on to signify that they are a mage as well. "Are you sure they won''t attack me?" I semi-shout in my head to Ritotorous. "If they were going to, they would have already. I would say that now would be a good time to either continue summoning with the remaining three scrolls or save them for later." I look at my soul bound companion with shock in my eyes about how he can be so certain that I will not be attacked. With as much courage as I can muster I quickly analyze the being in front of me. Name: ??? Race: ??? Level: ??? Getting all question marks makes me concerned but knowing that they have entered the world just like I had means that I know their level is 1 even if it just shows the question marks. Noticing that I am looking at it I also feel like someone has poked at my body. Not knowing the exact reason why I ask Ritotorous. "I just got a slight feeling of being poked, what exactly was that about?" "That would be your new hovelite analyzing you." "Wait so I can feel when someone analyzes me?¡± "No, only when you are close in power level do you feel someone else''s prods at your information." Nodding my head I hear a voice that sounds dry like it has just walked out of a tomb. "So are you going to introduce yourself, or should I start?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. A bit startled by the question I reply by pure instinct with just a slight stutter. "M-M-M-My name is D-D-Drake Tald-d-drit." With an elegant bow they introduce themselves. "And my name is Laxreal Wraithwhisper, it is a pleasure to meet you. Would you be so kind as to explain what is going on here and the reason why I was summoned by a human from what I can tell?" Landing in front of me, Ritotorous quickly points at the remaining scrolls and looks up at me with a meaning that he wants me to open them. "I-I-I" I stutter before taking a couple of deep breaths. "I will tell you but first I have to know, what exactly are you? And also as you can see I need to open a couple more of these scrolls." While pointing down towards the pile of scrolls. Replying to my question he states with a slightly haughty tone, "I am part of the great race of Undead. And I see, it would make more sense to open those scrolls first and inform everyone together instead of having to repeat yourself. Hmm?" Looking down he sees Ritotorous. Quickly bowing he looks Ritotorous and states, in a manner only from what I have seen on my home planet as a religious fanatic, "How could I have been so blind as to not see one of the great Bringer of Death ravens. Oh how auspicious this day is that I came to find you here!" Ritotorous quickly looks at me as if I would have any information on what exactly is going on. I just shrug my shoulders finding that Laxreal is far less threatening than I first thought after this little incident. Stepping forward with a little bit of courage I place my hand gently on Laxreal''s shoulder helping him up and I inform him quickly, "That is Ritotorous, he is my soul bonded companion. And I would like to know more information about what you mean but right now I want to get on with summoning more people so if it is alright can I have you step to the side?" With shock on his face Laxreal looks several times in between myself and Ritotorous before asking in a confused manner, "Soul bonded companion?" "Not now." I inform him, "Once everyone is here then I will give you a brief rundown of what we are doing and what the goal is here." Bowing to me one more time only this time a bit lower out of what I can feel is respect for me he doesn''t step to the side but behind me. I pick up Ritotorous and rest him on my shoulder and mention it to him. "Please keep an eye on him, I don''t like the fact that he went behind me and don''t trust him yet." Getting a quick nod in reply. I open the next summoning scroll, again the portal opens us above the ground. A rustle of wings comes from the portal and I see a man with wings on his back, a buckler on his back, a sword at his side. He is wearing sandals, baggy blue pants that have clouds depicted on them with a matching top. His eyes are a deep emerald in color giving the image of vitality. I receive a quick bow, and I quickly walk forward to raise him up and give him a handshake as a greeting while introducing myself. After getting up and shaking my hand awkwardly he introduces himself. "My name is Uxa Sizzok." Noticing just a second later that Laxreal is behind me still he goes to draw his weapon. Panicking slightly I go to stop him. "Ux...Ux... Uxa, that is Laxreal, don''t hurt him!" "What do you mean don''t hurt him obviously he is undead." "Well that is quite rude of you," I hear Laxreal state. "I have not done anything wrong and I have not seen, let alone heard of what you could possibly be so I know that my kind has no animosity with you." "What do you mean you don''t know what I am?" Uxa on guard asks while pushing me to one side. "I have fought your kind all of my life, I have battled with the liches and necromancers since I was a young Tengu. And you are telling me that you don''t even know what I am. That is the highest insult I could ever receive, I can only regain my honor through a duel." I quickly step back in front of him and sign a little bit. "Uxa, I was going to explain this later when everyone has arrived but I will do a quick explanation right now. Laxreal, my raven companion and myself all come from different worlds. There should be no need for you to fight Laxreal right now!" "And how do you know that we all come from different worlds?" Uxa glares over at me. "Easy, on my planet there are no such creatures as undead. It took me a minute to get my wits about me since I thought that it was a skeletal mage that crossed over my fence and into my little safe zone without me knowing." Skeptically Uxa withdraws his hand from the pommel of his sword and steps away from Laxreal and I. "I will trust what you have to say for now but I will want a full explanation of what is going on." I nod to him and then reach down to grab another scroll. Again the portal, this time a slightly slouched figure comes out. Looking at her, I see a bow and quiver on her back, and a dagger at her waist. With what I feel is a slightly haunting gait she comes to a stop just outside of the portal. She has obsidian black eyes, deathly pale skin with small bits missing from one of her cheeks. Several of her fingers are missing flesh as well. Since this is the third time in a short while I quickly introduce myself to this undead. In response I get a grunt with a firm look behind me. Rubbing my temple quickly I look back to see Laxreal looking over quizzically. I also look over to Uxa to see his hand is again on the pommel of his sword looking at me with some rage. I quickly hold my hands up to the sky as a sign of defeat as to what is happening. Then to my utmost surprise I hear a quite lovely voice, one that isn''t so high pitched to remind me of those idols back on my planet, but not low enough where it is almost gravelly. "So if it isn''t Laxreal the Failed Sorcerer. Who would have thought that I would run into such an ''esteemed'' individual after being pulled from tracking my target down." "I mean I wouldn''t say that I am a failed sorcerer, just not very well accomplished." I hear it come out of Laxreal''s mouth though I don''t think the last part was supposed to be heard. "And you have caught me at a disadvantage my dear lady, if you wouldn''t mind by chance introducing yourself to me?" "Hmmmm." She ponders, "I guess it couldn''t hurt since I am sure that you have heard of my family. My name is Strauvana Void." "You mean THE Void family that is known for its tracking, and scouting?" Laxreal says in astonishment. "The very same." Looking between the two of them with a little shock on my face that they both come from the same planet and by the sounds of it very important families at that. I find that I am slowly getting surrounded by very important people. With Laxreal being from what seems to be a line of sorcerers, Strauvana from a line of hunters and trackers, and Uxa seems to also come from a long line of warriors based on how he holds himself. I look back onto my family. I don''t exactly see too much. I mean my sibling being a doctor, my father is a successful publisher for medical journals, and my mothers art has been shown throughout the world but I wouldn''t say my family is a household name that is for certain. I take a deep breath and look at Uxa. "Would you like to open the last scroll as it seems that my luck has run out and you might just kill me thinking that I am purposefully summoning all of these undead to surround you." Looking carefully at the scroll, he nods his head before breaking it open and for the fourth time today the portal opens. I heave a huge sigh of relief as I see that the humanoid that is coming out of the gate this time isn''t an undead. Though she is something that is for sure. She stands at 3 meters tall but for the most part she is hunched down partially, she brings with her a staff and robes again showing that she is a mage. Her skin has a green tint to it and there is also a crown of feathers on her head making her look very shaman-like. I look at Uxa and then I slowly approach her before introducing myself. And with a very heavy islander style of accent introduces herself. "I be Zul''Zara, it be a pleasure knowing you. Might I be inquiring ''bout what we be doin'' next?" Looking at everyone I have a thought that this will work out far better than I had hoped before I start explaining everything that I know so far. Chapter 8 What鈥檚 Your Profession Having summoned all of those that I could, I state with what little confidence that I have built up to go out past the territories border. "I know that everyone wants to know more about what is going on. I know that everyone here other than myself and thankfully Ritotorous," I quickly gestured to my raven companion, "that there was hardly any information given to you about what is going on here. My suggestion and as you all have asked is to sit down and talk about what our next steps should be." On that note Laxreal, Strauvana, and Zul''Zara nod their heads in agreement, and from what I can see Uxa isn''t against it, at least fully. His hands are back on the pommels of his swords after he has removed them for the brief moment to summon the last person here. Looking around I remember that there isn''t anywhere to sit other than the ground. Sighing to myself I plop down onto the ground and the others slowly follow suit. "To start I am quickly going to reintroduce myself. I am Drake Taldrit, I am a human, I selected the mage class, and have the enchanting profession. I have been here the longest and have some information about the surrounding area that I know will be of use to all of us. We will get to that later, for now I would also like to mention that next to me is Ritotorous, he is my soul bonded companion, he is also a mage class which has worked out better than anticipated. One last thing to note, I come from a planet called Culhara." Completing my brief introduction I look around to see if anyone else wants to take the next introduction and to my surprise it is Zul''Zara that speaks up in her very heavy accent. "As be stated earlier, I be Zul''Zara, me kin be of Trolls, I be picking the mage class, and alchemist. I am coming from Usa''Nov." Not to be outdone is Laxreal, "My exquisite self am Laxreal Wraithwhisper, I am of the undead persuasion quite obviously," gesturing at his skull and hands, "I picked the mage class as well since it is of my main subject of study back on my home realm." A quick snicker escapes from Strauvana at the mention of his main study to the dismay of Laxreal. "I have also picked the profession of a formation master and my home realm is called Thelatera." "Since that failed sorcerer has finished." Laxreal gives her a glare that only a skeleton could. "My name is Strauvana Void, I am also of the Undead but a different house as compared to our "esteemed" sorcerer is from. I picked the hunter class, and I am a scribe by profession now. I am also from the same planet as Laxreal." Finally my eyes land on Uxa, with his arms crossed over his chest and still a slightly hostile glare focused on the two undead, he states in a huff. "Uxa Sizzok. Warrior. Blacksmith. Troberia." Seeing as that is all we are going to get out of him I ask one more quick question more focused on Strauvana since she at least seems to be willing to talk about her class but also towards the rest of the group. "So what does your hunter class do and do you have any information you would be willing to provide what a scribe does?" Bowing lightly in my direction she responds, "With the hunter class I got the bow and arrows and a small dagger. I also got a skill called ''Hunter''s Mark'' which states that it can help guide my attacks towards hitting a target that I mark. It is level one as well as my analytical ability. As for being a scribe, the profession didn''t really state much as to how it could help out here." She gestures around her, "It requires something to write on and herbs to grind down. Also I need books of formulas in order to know what characters should go where on the parchment. At least that is the beginning. I feel as if in the long run I should be able to make my own." Nodding along with what she is saying I note a key difference between the two, while enchanters can enchant anything as long as they deal with the nodes in the object, scribes can only use paper and there aren''t nodes they work with but how the characters flow together to create an effect. Without wanting to be second fiddle Laxreal speaks up. "Formation masters are very close to the same as a scribe, they use either artificially created formations or natural formations to cause an effect. A lot of it is about how the environment can help with the process or hinder if you don''t set up the formation correctly. I will mostly be using different woods, or ores to make the formation flags." Again I can see how that would be beneficial. Having a long-standing formation for protection in the territory could make it so we can survive some of the harsher groups that we might be facing in the near future. Zul''Zara is next to explain a bit about what she could do with alchemy. "Alchemy be about mixin'' different herbs together to create potions, elixirs, poultices, or pills. Based on quality of the herbs and the energy they be causing different effects. Though I be needin'' more tools in order to craft them." So we have 4 different professions that require herbs, this could get complicated quickly if we don''t figure it out sooner or later. Everyone turned to Uxa. He just looks up and spits out, "Warrior''s take the damage and dish some back. Got a skill called ''Power Attack''. Blacksmith''s be what they are, they make weapons, armor, and tools out of ore." With a big sigh I just let it go for a second. I look Ritotorous and ask. "So with all of these new people here I am curious if there are any ways to make a party, or guild, or something along those lines." He nods at me. "All you have to do to create a party is look at someone and think ''Invite to Party'' and they will receive a prompt asking if they want to." I nodded in understanding and was about to start when he quickly interrupted my train of thought. "I would first look at your other options to see if anything else has changed." Getting the hint I open the menus and go right away to the settlement screen. Settlement Information Updates Only: Task: Have a population of 5 (5/5) Complete Seeing that I have completed one of the tasks already but feeling that that wasn''t all I needed to look at I delve into the building options of my menu. Building Options: *Increased Options Due to Varied Types of Humanoids* Basic Tomb Level 1 - Available 2: 2 Ready to build; Basic housing for Undead races. Comes with a place to sleep based on who claims the tomb and a small personal chest. 3 meters X 3 meters Small Cemetery Level 1 - Available 1: 1 Ready to build; Can bury bodies here to provide basic food for Undead races. Basic Hut Level 1 - Available 3: 2 Ready to build, 1 Built; Basic housing for Non-Undead races. Comes with a place to sleep based on who claims the hut and a small personal chest. 3 meters X 3 meters Small Alchemy Hut Level 1 - Available 1: 1 Ready to build; A basic workshop for an alchemist. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters Small Blacksmith Hut Level 1 - Available 1: 1 Ready to build; A basic workshop for a blacksmith. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters Small Scribes Hut Level 1 - Available 1: 1 Ready to build; A basic workshop for a scribe. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters Small Formation Masters Hut Level 1 - Available 1: 1 Ready to build; A basic workshop for a formation master. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Small Enchanters Hut Level 1 - Available 1: 1 Ready to build; A basic workshop for an enchanter. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters Looking at the plethora of options that are now available to my settlement to build I look around to see everyone staring at me which I give them a look of confusion. "What, might I ask, have you been looking at that has kept you so engrossed?" Laxreal says looking at me is a bit odd. "Yea, what could be so interesting that you would space out with such a weird look on your face. I mean, I know I''m pretty and all but that was creepy even for me." Strauvana who is now up and pacing a bit states with a bit of caution in her voice. "What face?" I ask and look at Ritotorous for an answer. "I don''t know how I should phrase this for you to soften the blow, but everytime you look at your menus and see something that interests you, piques your interest or makes you happy you get a very creepy grin on your face." He tells me. I am shocked as to why I wasn''t told this before! Trying to snap out of my shock, I answer Laxreal''s question. "I was looking at the settlement menu and the building options since I know at some point today we will need to get your homes constructed so you aren''t just sleeping out in the open. Also there are now options to build different profession building, while they don''t seem very useful now since they don''t come with tools, and I know that we don''t have any tools of our own we will have to think of a way to get them or make basic tools so we can start to craft more items." "Would you rather we split up for a bit and have some people work on the housing while some come with me to go and explore a bit or do you have anything else you want to discuss?" Uxa huffs one more time and then says. "Weren''t you also going to give us some more information about the area and what we should be expecting?" Smacking my forehead since I had completely forgotten with all of the information that I have been provided. I tell them quickly what the situation is and about the different monsters in the different areas, though I am a bit more delicate when it comes to talking about the skeletons since Laxreal is one. Seeing my reluctance to talk about the skeletons Laxreal speaks up. "Not all skeletons are sentient like my esteemed self. You need a High level magic user to either grant the sentience, or to enslave them. Otherwise they are just as much cannon fodder and monsters as if you were to have bandits in a land." Heaving a huge sigh of relief I continue with the explanation which takes a couple of minutes. I also mention the fact that when you analyze a monster unless you have a high level you will not see health points, you would just see question marks. Wrapping up with the information about the different monsters and the areas that they have been spotted in currently, I continue to talk about the food and different resources. This takes a little while as I don''t know everything and I am stumbling as this is the first time that I have had to explain it to anyone. "Are you telling me that in order to build something there has to be the available resources and that we can complete the buildings at a much increased rate as compared to us having to personally do all of the manual labor?" Laxreal states. "Correct. There would be no way that I would have been able to get all of the things done around the territory if I was stuck here on my own if you consider I also setup a build to quickly get the fence put into place yesterday so I could sleep with less concern about getting attacked in the middle of the night." Rubbing his "chin" with a bony hand Laxreal looks to me and ask, "If that is the case is it possible to queue up the buildings that need to be built and then we can go out and explore as that seemed to be your plan before you summoned us." "We can definitely start getting things arranged so that way they can complete before we get back." I jump back into the settlement information menu and look at the cost for all of the buildings that I should get started today. Building Requirements: Basic Tomb Level 1 - 40 units of Tier 1 or higher Stone Small Cemetery Level 1 - 20 units of Tier 1 or higher Wood and 20 units of Tier 1 or higher Metal Basic Hut Level 1 - 40 units of Tier 1 or higher Wood Going to the overview option of my menus I look at where would be the best spot to place the small cemetery. Just like with the garden the ground turns different shades of colors. Looking for where the efficiency would be the highest I find that in those areas that are less fertile for the plants to grow would be a great spot for the cemetery. I quickly place that down, next I select the Basic Tomb and put two of them close to the cemetery but not too far away from everything else. With those placed I select the Basic Hut and go to place it down when I am stopped and a prompt fills my vision. "In order to place any more buildings please finish the current buildings or have a foreman take ownership of the projects to allow for more buildings to be built simultaneously." Seeing that I close out of the window. "Alright everyone, I have found that there is a limit to how many buildings can be built at time, so for the current time we are getting the two tombs up and the cemetery in place. I know this is not ideal for everyone." I look over at Uxa. "But these are my only options. I have found that if you bring the resources over the construction can start, but if you want to speed up the construction you can help by following the holograms that are placed and can manually place the materials." "And how long do you think it will be before we are able to get housing for myself and Zul''Zara seeing as what you are making is the housing for those two." Uxa points with hostility. "Honestly if we pitch in and get the materials in the basic places we should be able to get the huts for you and Zul''Zara up before the end of the day, that is including us going and exploring a little bit since there are more monsters about from even yesterday." Giving me a curt nod Uxa grabs his blade and jumps over the fence while heading to the east. I think it might be to blow off some steam on the undead population that might be headed our way. Clapping my hands I look at everyone else, "Now that the buildings are in queue to build we need to go and bring the materials over to them. The easiest way for that to happen is for Ritotorous to bring them over as he has my small personal inventory bag with him that can carry stacks of items without them being a hindrance." Laxreal stumbles in his steps to look where the buildings were placed and looks at me with a bit of rage in his eyes. "What do you mean to send this fine beast to do all this labor? It is just an honor to have him with us let alone have him work. My esteemed self will go and personally help carry the materials so that way Ritotorous does not have to do such menial labor for one of such high standing." To which I see him promptly run off in the direction that Ritotorous flew. Shaking my head at how Laxreal can flip the switch from going from a slightly pompous noble to fanatic religious zealot really has me curious as to what is going on there. I look over at Strauvana and she just shrugs her shoulders while spinning a finger in the universal sign of there might be something wrong with his head. Sighing I find that a prompt that will be getting more and more familiar to me as my days progress. "Ritotorous has grabbed 80 units of Tier 1 Stone, 20 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 20 units of Tier 1 Metal from the Lord''s Chest in Caelnova." I jog up with Strauvana right behind me as we look at an odd situation occurring in front of me. Laxreal has grabbed hold of the bag that Ritotorous was carrying in his talons and is now looking at his hands as if he has done something that he shouldn''t, all the while getting lightly pecked on the top of the skull. "What happened to Rito?" I ask. "This guy, I don''t know what his problem is but I was just coming out of the hut when suddenly I felt a tug and the bag was out of my talons and into this numbskull''s hands." Catching my breath from the ever so light jog I just did I turn to Laxreal and in a firm tone. "Laxreal, what do you think you are doing?" "I-I-I... I just didn''t want to see him doing anything strenuous as he is a magnificent being from on high." He mutters slowly, still eyeing his hands. "Laxreal, Ritotorous is here as my companion. While I don''t understand your religion you have to start to see that you aren''t home anymore. You need to start working on getting over that as quickly as possible because Rito has great potential in scouting from the air and I will need him to do that and more in the coming days. If you are going to be getting in the way of his duty you will be hurting all of our chances at survival." I am firm with my words, I can tell he isn''t taking it well with all of the personality shifts. "He is right Laxreal." Strauvana says next to me. "While I also venerate the Great Bringer of Death, I also know that I must work for my own survival here on this new planet. Even if it means having one of his envoys helping make things progress faster." I walk up slowly and take the bag from his hands and pat him on the shoulder. "Look I know this is going to be hard, we are here to help you but you have to also let those that can quite literally make the materials fly far faster than we can walk do the job so we can be safer faster. Once we are all done with the small tedious things I will make sure that there is a temple or shrine or something that you can pray to your Great Bringer of Death. How does that sound?" "Ok, this esteemed one will wait for that day, but I hope it is sooner than later." Laxreal slowly lifts his head to stare directly in my eyes. Not being used to staring into semi-empty eye sockets with fire in them, a chill runs down my spine again as I nod my head. "Not too long, we just need to make sure we have a blueprint or schematic to make it a bit easier on ourselves." With that small fiasco out of the way I carry the bag and bring it to the new construction sites and have Ritotorous bring out the materials and they appear in piles next to the three buildings. Chapter 9: When Worlds Collide Quickly explaining to the other three that have followed me to the buildings and also giving an example so they can see exactly what I am doing that will help the buildings go up so they can repeat it, we get to work. It doesn''t take us more than an hour to get all of the materials into the right spots. "How long be you thinkin'' this will take?" Zul''Zara asks me. I inspect the holograms and see that the two tombs will take another 6 hours to complete while the cemetery will only take about 4 hours after all of the materials have been put into place. While not the most ideal of situations for Zul''Zara and Uxa since they won''t be able to get into their houses until later in the night I will have to figure out what to do later this afternoon to make sure that the queue doesn''t empty out unlike yesterday when I had nothing being built all day. Thinking about it I focus on the three of them and mentally send them a party invite. Laxreal''s eyes brighten a little bit, Zul''Zara takes a step back in shock, and Strauvana reaches for her dagger on her waist at the appearance of the prompt. "Would you like to join Drake Taldrit''s party? Yes or No" They look to me still shocked about what is going on when Zul''Zara speaks up. "When we be a party, what happens?" Looking over at Ritotorus for confirmation of what he told me earlier. "We will share experience with each other, and we will have a small icon of each other that can show us some basic information so we know where we are at health and mana wise." "That would be a useful thing then, yes?" "It can be incredibly useful, I read lots of books back on my planet that involved people getting these things and they were able to help out tremendously in making sure that everyone was at a good point before they go further into unknown lands, like we are about to do right now." "That makes a lot of sense." Strauvana chips in. "Being able to see how our mages are doing mana wise will be a great factor in whether we are able to continue exploring or if we have to turn around. Though one thing to note, we shouldn''t go through all of our mana or in my case stamina in case we run into monsters on the way back from our exploration." "Good point, we will have to maintain some communication as to when we should head back as I will have more mana than you from what I know of a human''s stats." They all agree and accept the party invitation. I then get several prompts. "Strauvana has entered the party. Zul''Zara has entered the party. Laxreal has entered the party." Seeing that everyone here is in my party I bring up an important question. "Which direction should we go?" Laxreal while slowly getting out of his stupor mumbles his vote of going to the east like my original plan was. Which the other two agree. And off we went towards the east and the skeletons that are there. On the way I start to notice several piles of bones sporadically throughout the area. I know there is only one person that would be out here killing skeletons in what appears to be a very aggressive manner. Not long after seeing the bones piled up I see Uxa, he is panting but still slashing his sword at an oncoming skeleton. There are wounds all over his body and he seems to be in the verge of collapsing. Watching the fighting I suddenly see an arrow fly past my shoulder and hit the skeleton in one of its ribs knocking it back a couple of feet and giving Uxa a little bit of breathing room. I call out that I will cast my arcane shot so no one else wastes their precious mana. It flows out of my staff and lands directly on the skeleton''s head causing it to explode. "Congratulations, you have killed a level 3 skeleton. Reward: 4 Experience points (1 point shared between party members.)" After the skeleton collapses into a pile of bones, Uxa follows suit. Rushing over to him I can see that he has a multiple injuries and some are still bleeding. "What are you doing here?" He snorts while panting heavily. "Saving your sorry hide." Strauvana quickly snaps at him. With a downcast glance Uxa mutters darkly under his breath, "I could have taken it down without your help. I am fine." "You are fine?" Strauvana hisses in fury at him. "You are FINE? If you are so fine then tell me what your health points are at? Huh? What is your stamina at? Because from what I can see you don''t have any stamina remaining, and your health is close to bottoming out." Seeing this completely different side on Strauvana I am about to step in when Strauvana continues on. "Do you know that there are options for us to help each other out and make everyone stronger here? Do you know that going off on your own in such a manner could have gotten not just yourself but someone else killed?" Uxa gets his feet underneath him and spits back. "So what if my health and stamina are low, so what if there are options to make you people stronger, and so what if I could have gotten myself killed. It''s not like you undead scum care about the living. It''s not like you haven''t already destroyed my whole world as we slowly fight for our own survival in the small bands that we can get together." "That is how you see us, huh? As scum that kill without concern for those we are harming?" She replies though most of the anger is gone, now only a small amount of sadness appears in her eyes. "How else am I supposed to see you? All I have known is the emotionless undead that have taken almost everything from me. When I was transported to that white room I had hope. Hope that I wouldn''t have to see undead again. That I would be able to see my friends in an environment that they could slowly rebuild and prosper. But what do I get instead? I am stuck with two of my most hated enemies, a human that doesn''t know how to fight properly to save his life, and a troll that I can''t really have an opinion on. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I don''t see my friends, and I don''t see what is left of my family. I was the strongest warrior in our band, and now I am gone. I don''t know if they are going to die without me. I don''t know a lot of things. The only thing I know is how to kill undead, and how to hate them just as much." I am in absolute shock hearing that I am from Uxa. I didn''t know that he had such troubles back on his planet. It does hurt that he thinks so little of me, but I am willing to admit that I have no idea what I should do in this situation that could make this a positive turn. While looking around my surroundings as I am trying to think of a solution I see Laxreal step forward and gently touch Strauvana''s shoulder. "You hate us so much that you are willing to give up everything? You hate us so much that you aren''t even willing to work with people that aren''t your own for your survival in the hopes that your people might still be moving on and you might be able to bring them here? I can understand hating ''Your'' undead for what they have done to you, your family, your loved ones, and everyone else on that planet of yours. Have you asked yourself though if it is different on Strauvana and my own planet? Have you thought that maybe not all undead are the same?" Shaking his head, Uxa looks at Laxreal still with hatred in his eyes. "No, I have never thought of what your world could have been like since to me it didn''t matter. I would give up everything because there is nothing left that I can do other than fight. Why should I-¡± Laxreal cuts him off by raising his hand. "Let me tell you a little about my planet then. On it all of the different races get along to an extent. Sure there are wars, what the planet doesn''t have them though, But the living come to the lands of the dead to learn, to find out what they can do with the knowledge that we have been storing for hundreds of years, and in turn we learn from them. As while they are a short lived race they are so intriguing when they get something that they figure out on their own. They bring new items to the world that we wouldn''t have thought of in our wildest dreams allowing everyone to make steps forward. I have even seen tengu in the halls of my family''s schools that learn and expand on theirs and our knowledge. I digress though, what if it is possible to bring your people here still? What if it is possible that we find a way to slowly target your populations and get them to start rebuilding here? How would you feel about that?" Still shaking his head and holding it Uxa replies with small sobs of frustration. "I would give anything to see my people free of the threat that is the undead scourge on our lands. If I could summon them here that would make things easier but we don''t have scrolls, we don''t know if we can even target specific races to bring them here anyways so what is the point?" Laxreal slowly points at me, "I think you need to hear what Drake has told us whilst you were out searching for things to kill in such a blinding rage." Uxa looks at me with a small amount of hope in his eyes. I step forward and take a deep breath. "While I don''t know if it is possible to get specific scrolls to target a population, there might be options available to us as we progress. I mean from my standpoint I was going to potentially be a guinea pig in my world due to some issues with growths in my heart before I was summoned here. I was all alone until I leveled up the settlement to level 2. Now I have 4 people that I can talk to even if they aren''t of my own race, it brought me joy knowing that I don''t have to be alone anymore. But it also petrified me when I saw that the first person to walk through the gate was Laxreal. I also had fought a couple of undead in this area and I wasn''t born on a planet that had these issues so since the first day of my time being here I have been frightened. Now though I know we can pull through, so I promise you that if there are specific race summoning scrolls I will give them to you in hopes that we can pull your people here instead of the death that might be waiting for them in your home world. So do you think you can at least trust me in helping you get your people here at least a little bit?" I reach out my hand to help him up one more time. He has fallen once again but this time he is on his knees sobbing into his hands. Removing one of his hands to see my kind smile and outstretched arm towards him. Nodding he slowly grabs my hand and I pull him up to his feet. "Let me ask you one more question Uxa, might we know how old you are?" "I am an adult in terms of my people, but honestly I am only 17 cycles old." Thinking back to when I was 17 I didn''t have nearly the responsibility that this young tengu has on his shoulders. I look around and see the faces of my new compatriots to see a gentle smile from Zul''Zara, and what I can only interpret is a smile from Laxreal. I do see a small change in Strauvana''s posture as well when she hears of his age. I can feel the wisdom that comes off of Laxreal, I can feel the concern that comes from Strauvana, I can see the hope sprouting from Zul''Zara, lastly I can see the courage and strength that is Uxa. We are all not alone, we just haven''t found the right path completely yet but I vow that I will make sure that when we are strong enough we will get their people here to either save them or show them a whole new world that they can explore!¡± Seeing a new determination fill his eyes he stands on his own two feet firmly grasping my hand. "I haven''t fully changed my mind about the undead that are with us, but if you feel like we can trust them then I will trust that you will watch my back in case something untoward happens to me." "I promise that these people will look to you for the support that you can provide. They will look for a strong back that can help them move forward just as much as you have to move forward with what is happening." I confirm his determination and give him something that he can hopefully look forward to in the future. I know this isn¡¯t the last time something like this is going to happen with Uxa but at least with the help of the others we might be able to get him to focus a bit more on what is going on around us instead of what could have happened back at his home planet. "To start, let''s get you in the party so we can assess the situation." Inviting him to the party I immediately received a prompt. "Uxa has entered the party." I do take note that while his health and stamina are regenerating faster than I anticipated it is still not very much and we might have a long day ahead of us. Using some of my old mages robes to make simple bandages I try to wrap his wounds. I a stops me and does it himself with much more steady hands. I look towards the east and lead the way to the mana berry bush I found last time I was out this way figuring that we can''t have too many boons to add for those moments that we absolutely need them. Arriving at the bush pretty quickly as we don''t need to worry about any surprise attacks from the skeletons we grab a handful and eat them, I also instruct Ritotorous to put some more into the bag he is carrying so we have a stock as a backup. Finally we get to the cliff face with the cave that I found earlier. As we arrive we spot a skeleton walking out. I immediately analyze it and it''s only a level 2 skeleton. I cast a spell and miss him from my maximum distance, while Ritotorous casts and hits the skeleton blasting off the lower half of it dealing 9 points of damage. Zul''Zara also casts her spell on it and misses as it is her first time casting mana, let alone trying to cast it through her staff. Strauvana hits the skeleton and puts an arrow right into its eye sockets that comes out the back killing it, dealing 4 damage. "Congratulations you have killed a level 2 skeleton. Reward: 2 Experience points (As there are not enough experience points to give to everyone the highest contributors to the kill will receive them.)" I also received another prompt. "Congratulations, Arcane Shot has leveled up to level 2." Thrilled, I look at my status menu. Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Class: Mage Class Level: 1 Class Experience: 11/100 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Attributes: Strength: 1 Dexterity: 1 Constitution: 1 Intelligence: 3 Wisdom: 3 Charisma: 1 Skills: Analyze Level 2 Arcane Shot Level 2 I analyze arcane shot to see if anything has changed. - Arcane Shot Level 2: Deals 2-9 Damage to an enemy within 30 meters. - Seeing that the damage has gone up I am ecstatic. I look to everyone in the group once I am done with my status menu and then motion for us to proceed into the cave entrance. Chapter 10: Into the Fog As we are moving into the cave I quickly take stock of the area around us. The cave entrance is only wide enough for two people to walk a breast or one person to stand in the middle and be able to swing a weapon efficiently. I also see that throughout the cave it isn''t that dark as there is a light blue glow coming from around the edges of the cave. - Luminescent Cave Moss: Provides small amounts of light in caves and dark caverns. Can be used in alchemy and inscription. - I quickly nudge Zul''Zara and motion for the cave moss, she nods her head and quietly mentions. "Ah, you be seeing quite a nice item. That be good for some smaller potions from what I remember. Will be needing to come back and grabbing some later." Next I check to see everyones resources, the only one that I am concerned about right now is Uxa, so far he has the lowest health currently sitting at 4/10. While not much lower than all of us, it is still a concern as he is right now in front of all of us. Strauvana whispers that we should stop as she hears more clacking of bones other than what we already have with Laxreal with us. Going ahead of us at a very light job she readies her bow and looks around the corner. When she comes back she mentions that she saw 2 skeletons and right behind them is the fog wall that has surrounded us. Nodding slowly and cautiously, when we are in range of everyone to cast their spells or shoot an arrow we determine the order of cast, I will go first followed by Ritotorous, then Laxreal, then Zul''Zara. Since we need to make sure our mana can last for the length of the time we are in here. Stepping up I take aim at the skeleton on the right hand side and immediately down while Strauvana misses her shot. Following the order even though now we have alerted the skeleton of our presence and as it approaches us Ritotorous casts his shot also downing the skeleton quickly. With the two skeletons down quickly we get the experience 2 total, one going to me and the other to Ritotorous. We enter the small cave that they were in and I walk up to the fog and receive a quick prompt. "You are about to enter an area not within your territory. Would you like to progress? Yes or No?" Curious, I look back at the group and explain to them what I see, then I look at Ritotorous and see if he has any further explanations that I should be aware of as I progress. "If we proceed we will have the potential to fight monsters of higher levels or in much larger groups. There are more rewards to killing things outside of the immediate territory but know that any killed monsters don''t add to the settlement experience pool. Also there are sometimes chances to conquer areas outside of the territory making them further accessible without a large amount of danger." "Are you saying that there are more ways to increase the territory''s size other than by just leveling up the settlement?" "Correct, but do know that those territories can then be taken back if monsters get to the control point and stay there for a day." "Gracious." I exclaim. "There are so many things to keep track of, and so many things that we will need to keep a watchful eye out for." Halting the mental communication to Ritotorous, I explain what he has told me to everyone else. They all nod their heads in understanding and then I ask. "Do we proceed further forward or do you want to stop here?" "I vote we go forward." Uxa volunteers. "I second that." Laxreal. The other two just nod their heads and I proceed to mentally click yes. Once I do that the fog swallows us whole and we can see a new prompt. "You have entered a Tiny Mining Outpost. It is currently infested with monsters, so please clear out the monsters and proceed to the control point." Several more prompts appear before me right after that one is closed out. "New Quest: Settlements First Conquest You have found a location that you can conquer. You seem to have gotten bored already of the territory waiting for monsters to show up, so you decided to bring the fight to them! Tasks: Claim the control point (0/1) Rewards: 1 X Wooden Resource Box 1 X Wooden Building Blueprint Box 1 X Settlement Experience Bag" "New Personal Quest *These quests are rare and hard to find typically. Do more to increase your growth at a faster rate* Head Over Heels For when double-tapping something isn''t enough just blow off their heads. Task: Kill 3 enemies by shooting them in the head while you are in this conquest. (0/3) Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Reward: 1 X Class Experience Bag" Getting the two different types of quests I ask, "Hey Rito, what is the deal with a personal quest as compared to a normal quest?" "The difference between the two is that the normal quest is actually called a settlement quest. They are there for the lord to work on and build up the settlement. A personal quest is something that anyone can get to them though they will only see it as a normal quest since they will not typically see a settlement quest. The only way for that to occur is if you promote someone into a position of governance, at that point they will start to receive the settlement questions as normal quests." "Thanks, Rito. I appreciate the information." I gently stroke the top of his head. "That''s what I am here for!" Leaning a bit closer to me. I look to the rest of the party and ask, "Did anyone else get a personal quest for this?" Zul''Zara raises her hand. "Mine be telling me to bash some of the skeletons. Thankfully I be not needing to kill them." And going down the group from there. Strauvana needed to kill 2 enemies without them noticing her. Laxreal has to run out of mana and then keep below 50% mana till the end after the initial drop. Uxa has to deflect 6 strikes. I also proceed to tell them what my objective is. With everyone knowing each other''s goals we proceed on carefully. For the first bit we stumble upon 6 skeletons, they don''t seem too challenging since we have a confined space. It gives us the perfect choke point so we don''t have to face them all at once. Strauvana marks one of them to start to try and get one of her kills right off the bat. Shooting her bow there is a quiet "twang" as the arrow is released and one of the skeletons collapses to the ground. Releasing his own skill through his staff after seeing me do it a couple of times Laxreal fires off his spell dealing only a single point of damage to another of the skeletons. From there we continue our small barrage on them. With the skeletons being slow I am able to take careful aim and kill one of them via a headshot and receiving a "ding". Uxa steps forward as does Zul''Zara. And she swings her staff at one of them dealing another point of damage to the skeleton Laxreal has hit staggering it backwards. One of the skeletons swings at Uxa and he deflects it with his shield. With that the fighting continues with us missing more often than hitting and the skeletons trying to also hit Uxa but his battle experience against the undead comes into play and he is able to deflect them. I can see him starting to gasp as the last strike is deflected and look at his stamina bar to see it is running low. We continue our assault on the skeletons. We send another barrage at the skeletons. Strauvana hits the front most skeleton that has two points of damage on it already and gives it a third sending hits left arm flying off. I send a bolt to the skeleton and at point blank range am able to just point my staff directly at its head and it blasts off. Three down, three to go. As we continue Zul''Zara is able to hit one more time and takes down the skeleton that is low on health. The two remaining skeletons come up to swing at Uxa. He dodges one of the blows while using his sword to deflect the other that was coming at his face. Laxreal calls out, "I am below my halfway point, I will be holding back unless more mobs come our way." I cast one more time and just missed the skeleton''s head and instead hit it right in the spine, dislodging the head from it and killing one more skeleton. Uxa swings him with a power attack and hits the other skeleton, killing it as well. With all of the skeletons down a prompt comes up. "Congratulations, you have killed 6 level 1 skeletons. Reward 6 Experience points (1 point per party member and 1 point to your companion.)" Thankful that the fighting is over for now I take a look at everyones resources. Uxa: Health 5/12 Stamina 4/8 Laxreal: Health 4/4 Mana 4/12 Strauvana: Health 4/4 Stamina 10/12 Zul''Zara: Health 6/6 Mana 8/8 I see that Uxa''s wounds have started to bleed again through the bandages so I tear up some more of my old mages robes and put them on him hoping that it will help even a little bit with his healing. "Are we good to keep going forward?" I ask quietly to the group. They all give a nod of approval and with Uxa in the lead we continue into the cavern. When we get inside the space opens up so we can all have a little bit of comfort not feeling so enclosed inside of a tunnel. Strauvana calls out gently once we are in the room. "I see glinting in the walls around us." Which is also confirmed by Laxreal to everyone. Specifically to me, Ritotorous mentions. "This seems to be quite the mining outpost. There is a Tier 2 metal here as well as a small amount of Tier 2 stone. While it isn''t the best to use for some of the projects we have around the settlement currently you never know." I relay what he has said to me and everyone lets out small gasps that he can determine that much. Mentioning one of his skills being to find shiny objects, or in this case valuable things they understand. At the far end of this little cavern we are passing through is another tunnel. Proceeding through that tunnel Zul''Zara stops when she is 40 meters into the tunnel. "I be seeing some enemies ahead. We should be getting them to come to us like last time." I nod and Strauvana steps forward. "So there are 3 skeletons and a zombie ahead if I am seeing things right." She marks one and then grabs her bow making a stance to fire upon them. "Hold on." I stop her before she can lose her arrow at them. I walk to where I can see them and analyze the zombie and skeletons. - Zombie: Level 3; Health ???; - - Skeleton: Level 2; Health ???; - So we have 3 level 2 skeletons and 1 level 3 zombie, everyone gets ready for a solid fight and I nod to Strauvana to signal I am ready to start the battle. She marks one of the skeletons and fires her arrow. It launches into the room but misses all of the monsters. They hear the racket come from behind them and turn around to head in that direction. I give her a look and from what I can tell in the dim light of the moss she seems to have a blush on her deathly pale face. "Sooooooo, that was something." I tease lightly to her. "I am still not used to these weapons, I was never a bow user when on my planet." Trying to hide the shame she has for missing all of the targets. Laxreal pipes up. "Oh I know, the Void family was renowned for their assassins more than their hunters. If only that was a class available to you, you would have been able to wipe the floor with those zombies, huh?" She nodded her head and then nocked one more arrow to fire. This time she hits her target and the arrow shatters her marked enemy''s head. One skeleton down 2 to go, and also a zombie. In my gut I can tell that this is going to be a long day. Chapter 11: Control Point Guardian After the second arrow connects the other undead turn and start heading in our directions. With only 15 meters distance between our group and theirs we have a several seconds that we can start casting spells. All four mages in the group fire a salvo of arcane shots at the oncoming enemies. Only my shot hits the target out of 4 shots sent. It hits the rib cage of the skeleton that is on our right hand side. I hear Strauvana mark the other one and fire a shot as well. She hits the skeletons shoulder and causes it to dislodge from its body. With both of the skeletons that are in front of the zombie taking a step back from our shots the zombie is able to get in front of them and proceeds a bit faster towards us. As prepared as he could be, Uxa steps forward with his shield raised and sword ready to slash at him. The zombie is now 7 meters away from us and the skeletons are both 8 meters away. "I am firing my last shot for the next little while until I can get my mana back." I hear Laxreal call out before a dark shot runs past, missing the zombie hitting the wall instead with a flash of light. "Great," I sigh as now there are only 3 spell casters with mana and one ranged physical between the 6 of us. Uxa shouts, "Power Strike" and sinks his blade into the zombie, dealing 7 points of damage to it. The zombie swipes at him dealing 4 points of damage, and Uxa drops backwards towards us and is groaning on the ground. I look at his party icon to see that he has 1 health left. This is leaving me very perplexed, I will have to figure it out later considering that we are still in battle. One more arrow is sent out and hits the left hand skeleton and it drops to the ground dead. I send out my shot and so does Ritotorous, with his hitting and mine missing and the skeleton explodes from the damage that Ritotorous'' shot does. Zul''Zara sends a swing of her staff towards the zombie and knocks it back with another 5 points of damage done to it. Focus firing on the last monster Strauvana deals another 4 points of damage. I take careful aim at the zombie''s head wanting to kill it in one last shot since we have a party member unable to get up. Channeling my mana through my staff as best I can I launch my arcane shot, and it hits right on the zombie''s forehead causing what little flesh to explode outward from the impact. And I wait for the prompt to come up as combat is done for now and I am not disappointed. "Congratulations, you have killed 3 level 2 skeletons and 1 level 3 zombie. Rewards: 10 Experience points (Experience distributed based on contributions to battle. You have received 3 Experience points, and your soul bonded companion has received 1)" "Congratulations, you have killed a Control Point Guardian. You can now claim this Control Point. Would you like to claim it? Yes/No" I mentally select yes subconsciously as I am trying to get some bandages on the new wounds that are on Uxa''s body from the zombie while still being confused but also determined to never go out and try conquering something without everyone being topped off on their resources. We are able to get him stabilized and we decide to use the remainder of my old robes and two of the staves to try and make a makeshift stretcher to get him back to the settlement. I am kicking myself now more than before as I don''t have a hut to put him in at this time. Thinking about it , he will just have to stay in mine for the time being and I will look and see if there is anything that I can do to build some of the huts faster. We are able to get him on our poorly made stretcher and move him out of the cave that is more lit up than it used to be and I can now also see torches on the walls that have lit up. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. We make it out of the cave and head back to the huts. I have Ritotorous on lookout to make sure that there aren''t any monsters on the way back. While on the way back I see that there are additional pouches on everyone''s hips other than Uxa''s. "What are those pouches?" I ask. "They are the reward from the personal quest that we got and completed." Laxreal mentions in passing. "We all seem to be waiting to open them when we get back to the huts." Strauvana continues and from what I can see she seems a little embarrassed still from the failed shot earlier. We make it back without any issue other than it taking almost three times as long as it would normally. I do hear from Ritotorous that there was a slime but he was able to kill it. Once back inside of the walls I do note that the construction on the other buildings has completed so I queue up some more and have Ritotorous bring all of the materials to the sites so we can get the process started and then sped up. I choose to make a blacksmith and two huts with this next batch. That way everyone has a place to rest on their own as well as a place that we can start to use some of the ores that we are finding once we have the tools to work the shop. With 100 units of Tier 1 Wood, 20 units of Tier 1 Stone, and another 20 units of Tier 1 Metal being pulled out of the chest I note that we are starting to get low on wood with having less that 200 left and also have more buildings to make for the other professions and no trees in sight currently. Putting Uxa in my room I go out and get the materials onto the buildings so the time is sped up and I also look at the Iron Time Reduction Token that is in my chest. - Iron Time Reduction Token: Can speed up the construction of 1 building by 2 hours. One time use. - Thinking about it and checking the time it is 5pm and there isn''t much time left before it starts to get dark. Making the decision I use both of my tokens on one of the huts. "Item Used: 2 X Iron Time Reduction Token. Time until construction complete: 1 hours 25 minutes" Seeing that the time is under an hour and a half I breath out a sign of relief. Uxa will have his own place for the night soon. Taking a breath I am able to focus on the rest of the prompts that I got after we conquered the Tiny Mining Outpost. And they come flooding in one after the other. "Congratulations, you have taken control of a Tiny Mining Outpost. Materials produced: per day without a worker: 10 units Tier 1 Stone, with a worker: 20 units Tier 1 Stone, 2 units of Tier 2 stone, and an additional chance to harvest Tier 2 metal." "Congratulations, for having conquered your first outpost you can receive one of the following rewards. 1 X Random Profession Tools Box 1 X Random Settlement Token Box 1 X Random Level Resource Box (up to silver ranked) 1 X Population Box" I minimize that prompt as I don''t want to pick anything and think it would be pertinent to consult everyone to see what they think. I continue to look at the prompts I am receiving. "Congratulations, you have killed your first Control Point Guardian. Please select one of the following rewards: 1 X Outpost upgrade token 1 X Equipment box for all party members there at the time of defeat 1 X Specific Profession Tool Box 1 X Random Profession Schematic Box" "Congratulations, you have completed your first personal quest. You have been given: 1 X Specific Defensive Equipment Box 1 X Specific Consumables Box" I reach out to get Ritotorous'' attention. "How come it says I have completed my personal quest?" "Personal quests get auto-completed the moment the person they have been given to is out of danger. You didn''t see your reward as you were focused on getting Uxa back to Caelnova. I picked it up in your stead as I am your soul bonded companion. I can do that. Was just waiting for the right time to tell you that I had it." "Ahhhh," I reply mentally and continue down my prompt list. "Settlement buildings have been completed. 2 X Basic Tomb Level 1 1 X Small Cemetery Level 1" Reaching the end of my prompts I head back to my hut from where I was standing next to the new buildings. "Hey everyone, I have some things that I want to run by since we have some options for the settlement that seem like it will help us out but I want to give a vote since it was about the control point that we now have under the settlements control." "We are listening to Drake." "Yes, tell us what you have found and what our options are." Strauvana just nods her head. And Uxa stirs before sitting up in the bed and starts to freak out. "What happened? Where am I? Was all that happened not a dream? And where is my sword!" Chapter 12: Settlement Rewards "Whoa there Uxa, slow down we have questions for you as well but we will wait on those till we can get some food in you and you to calm down." I approach him slowly before telling him what happened and where he is currently. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief Uxa briefly calms down then puts his guard up again since Laxreal, Strauvana, and Zul''Zara are here with us. Before he can say anything to anyone I stop him and ask. "What was that? I saw your health hit zero and then you were back up to 1 health point. It scared the living crap out of me!" I look into his eyes and for a brief moment before he looks away. "I can''t tell you, it''s a very closely guarded secret of my race. Let''s just say that I won''t be able to do that for a while." I look around the room and don''t see concern in either Laxreal''s flames or on Strauvana''s face. "Oh, pish that little thing about Tengu''s. You forget boy that we aren''t from the same world and that has been studied to a great extent that we have found ways of improving it." A look of shock and horror crosses Uxa''s face as his head snaps to Strauvana. "What do you mean you know?" Laxreal rolls his eyes. "Boy, I have been alive for hundreds of years and something like your races ''secret'' isn''t actually that uncommon. Granted it might be for your planet and Drake''s but on our planet it is very common." I raise my hands in surrender and with a firm tone ask. "What is this thing we are talking about? I am sure that myself and Zul''Zara might not know." Getting a nod in agreement from Zul''Zara, I continue. "And since it isn''t a big deal to one party but a huge deal to the other what would the resolution be here?" Uxa looks at Strauvana and breaths out. "I guess since a majority know what it is already it wouldn''t hurt to tell you Drake. Tengu as a race have a special constitution which allows us to revive into a comatose state one time after receiving a blow that would kill us. But the downside is that it can''t be used often and during that state we are extremely vulnerable." "Like the boy said, he would be vulnerable but there are ways of improving it that my world has slowly been discovering which allows the time to use in between fatal hit revivals shorten and the length of time in the comatose state also shorten to the point that they would be able to rejoin a battle quickly if trained up enough." Strauvana finishes. "I have a name you know." Uxa firmly admonishes Strauvana. "I know you have a name, I decided that I will not call you your name until I can see that you are willing to stop being a brat that didn''t get what he wants and acts like that adult that he should be in this situation. Respect is given but none has been received." Strauvana quips back. Sighing once again at the antics of these two I step up. "Ok, so now we know why you didn''t die, check to see if you have completed your personal quest Uxa and know that you will have your own house to rest in once we are done here. Also there will be a blacksmith soon, though we don''t have tools yet, I thought it was pertinent that it was the first building of the professional buildings since some people could use better armor. So before anyone leaves this hut, we have some decisions that I would like us to discuss and make together." "You be telling us there be more rewards than the personal quests?" "Yes, these are settlement achievements that I received, they don''t provide anything of personal use but are for the settlement. One is for the first time we as a settlement conquer something, and the second reward is from killing the what is being called a ''Control Point Guardian'' that I would like us to talk about." Laxreal raises his hand. "And what are the rewards for the first time we conquer something?" I pull up the prompt again and tell them the choices that we have. "First is 1 box of random professions tools, the second is a settlement token box, third is a random level resource box that could be up to silver rank, and fourth is a population box." Uxa perks up at the mention of the last one and immediately states. "I vote for the population box." Everyone looks at each other knowing what he is hoping will be some scrolls to pull people from his world into this one. Laxreal asks. "What are settlement tokens, and also what are the different levels of resource boxes as I don''t think anyone has seen or touched one." Nodding my head I quickly pull out a token from the chest at the foot on the bed and while I am at it I go and complete the settlement quest ''Settlements First Conquest'' which deposits an Extra Large Wooden Resource Box, a Medium Wooden Building Blueprint Box, and a settlement experience bag at my feet. Seeing such large chests appear I become startled. Uxa starts, "What is the meaning of this, I thought we were going to choose the reward together and not just pick one!" "For once I agree with the boy, what is going on Drake." Strauvana speaks up. "Hold on everyone one." And I mentally reach out to Ritotorous. "Is there any way I can show them my prompts so they can understand what happened there?" "Yes, you just have to do it on a specific prompt and it will show it to them." Is the reply that I get back. Quickly willing the two prompts into everyone''s vision I show them that I was just completing a quest that didn''t have an option for a reward, while the other is still pending on the choice of a reward. "As you can see I haven''t selected any rewards and this was just the rewards from completing the quest." Uxa visibly backs down and goes back to sitting on the bed, while Strauvana crosses her arms while nodding at me. "To answer Laxreals question." I hold up the token which is the Bronze Instant Building Completion Token so everyone can inspect it. - Bronze Instant Building Completion Token: Can instantly complete any building that is under level 3. - "This is what a settlement token can do, though there are only 3 different types that I have gotten so far, they are this one, a time reduction, and a resource reduction. From what I can see the levels range right now from wood, iron, bronze, and I am guessing that silver is the next rank I don''t know for certain though." "Well isn''t Ritotorous your guide, wouldn''t he have that information?" Strauvana questions. Smacking my head again at my own stupidity I ask Ritotorous. "What are the different levels for boxes and the settlement?" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. "I can''t tell you all the way to the top of the list but I can cover most of it. First is wood, then iron, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Boxes come in 6 different sizes as well. Tiny, small, medium, large, extra large, and gigantic. Settlements are a bit different though, they follow the same structure as the boxes with wood being a Roadside Hovel, going up to a Small City. The difference lies in that you have to complete an urgent settlement quest to go from one tier to the next. We will cover that more once you reach settlement level 10" Relaying this to everyone lets us have an understanding of what we should expect to come up in the near future. I bring us back to the topic of which reward we should pick out. "What is everyone''s thoughts on which reward we should pick this time?" After saying this I look around to see who would want to go first for their opinion. "Well, I be thinking that we be needing either the tokens or the resources more than more people or just some random tools that maybe we be not having a use for." Zul''Zara comments. "I would have to agree with her, though I am more of the opinion that we should go for the tokens as we already have in front of us what looks to be quite a large box of resources already." Laxreal states. "What do you two mean that you don''t want to get more people here? What if it is something that will specifically target our populations?" Uxa chimes in quickly hoping to get some people on his side of things. "While the population has its merits, we have to consider in the long term what would be beneficial for our growth. We need houses, which at this time we are barely able to get enough for us. Granted it has been a day that does not mean we will have the capability to build more as we don''t know what to expect when we level up the settlement." Laxreal rebuts. "Drake, could you tell us where we are at with settlement experience so we know when we can level up next." Strauvana mentions from the side. I oblige her. Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 2 Experience: 16/25 Territory Size: 1.1Km X 1.1Km Buildings: Basic Hut Level 1 Small Dock Level 1 Small Garden Level 1 Basic Tomb Level 1 X 2 Small Cemetery Level 1 Tasks: Have a population of 5 or more. (5/5) Make at least 2 excursions past the edge of your territory. (1/2) I show them the screen. "So far we are only 9 experience away from leveling up the settlement, and 1 more excursion out of the territory. The last time I leveled up the settlement I received a population box which allowed me to summon you all here. I don''t know if it will be the same for the next level but we might have a small reward for it." "How we be going to do another excursion when this wee one be unable to move easily." Zul''Zara says with some concern. "Well, there is one option that is quick and dirty. A couple of us go out to the edge of the territory towards the plains since that is more open land and then one of us goes over and comes back. Technically that should work and allow us to have the excursion be completed." Laxreal says. "What happens if the person that goes over gets stuck on the other side and can''t come back?" Strauvana retorts with a little bit of disgust in her tone. "Well then we will have to have the second go over with them or they will try and get out on their own." Laxreal replies with some ire. "All of this is well and good but off the current topic and I don''t think anyone is going to be going out today any longer anyways. So let''s back up and continue the thought of what we should get for the first reward." I try to reel back in the tempers that are about to flair up. "Right now we have 1 vote for a population box." I look over at Uxa with a small smile. "And no one else has voted for anything, I personally want the token box as they could be useful in getting better defenses up faster depending on what we get from the blueprint box at my feet." "I be of the mind that we be getting the token box as well." "The token box." Strauvana huffs. "Not that it matters anymore but I also agree with the token box." I look over at Uxa to see him glaring daggers at everyone, and can''t help but agree a bit with Strauvana on that he needs to start looking at the big picture without getting so caught up in the small things. I select the token box and a large box appears in front of me. "Alright, that choice is done, that brings us to the final choice so we can go about our own business." And I show them the prompt for the next reward. "Congratulations, you have killed your first Control Point Guardian. Please select one of the following rewards: 1 X Outpost upgrade token 1 X Equipment box for all party members there at the time of defeat 1 X Specific Profession Tool Box 1 X Random Profession Schematic Box" "My personal thoughts on this is that we should get the outpost upgrade token. My reason for that is then we can have a higher sustainable output of materials which will cause us to be able to build things more readily just like with the box of tokens." I say to the group. "I don''t see any issues with that as I believe everyone has gotten at least one piece of gear from completing their personal quests if I am not mistaken." Laxreal says. I see hesitation on Uxa''s face as he tries to speak up while still being downcast that we didn''t pick the population box. "I-I-I didn''t complete mine so I never got my experience satchel or any boxes that could be opened." "You be lying, I be seeing you deflect 6 blows from them undead." Zul''Zara hisses. "N-N-No, I truly didn''t complete the quest. U-U-um Drake how do you show a prompt so I can show everyone that I was not lying." He asks with some urgency as the other three look at him with a bit less trust. "You mentally have to allow others to see it. So think at the prompt telling it to become visible to others." With that a prompt appears in front of him. "Personal Quest: Defend Yourself (Failed) Learn to control your shield a little bit better. Task: Deflect 6 blows from monsters while you are in this conquest. (5/6)" Looking a little shocked at him I had thought he had gotten his quest completed. "When I was going to deflect the last attack of the zombie I failed as I got distracted with a thought of what those at home must be doing to survive. I know it was foolish and it almost led to my death as a result but I can''t make an excuse for my failures." Uxa states. Giving him a nod of approval Zul''Zara steps forward and slowly touches her head, and then her heart with her right hand before offering her hands palms up as what appears to be an offering of an apology. "I be sorry for the attack, just after watching everything that was going on and that I be not liking liars I spoke out when I be thinking the facts be what they were, not what they are." Feeling like I have been signing a lot today I sigh once more and then listen to everyone''s opinions. "With the specific profession tool box we could get a set of blacksmithing equipment and start to have Uxa work with the ores that we have been finding which in turn can then be used to make better equipment for all of us." Comments Laxreal. "I can agree with that as I will be running out of arrows at some point and being able to get more arrow points will give me a good chance at being able to replenish when I am out." Strauvana. Shocked as this is the second time that they are agreeing with each other in such a short time I hear Zul''Zara state her opinion. "I be thinking that the outpost upgrade could be worth more in the long run as we don''t be having enough people to mine materials and we might be getting more out of it if it was upgraded." Have 2 votes for the professional tools, 2 votes for the upgrade token, and only one vote for the equipment box we look over at Uxa, he will be the deciding factor as everyone is set on having their option picked and there won''t be a chance for the equipment box to be selected. "Um... I think that both ideas are very viable, though I think the only thing that will be immediately helpful is the outpost upgrade as I still need to level up my blacksmithing before we can even start to have better gear than what is already provided for us in the boxes." "So Uxa, you are saying you want to move your vote to the outpost upgrade?" I ask him. "Yes, I want to move my vote to the outpost upgrade." Looking at Laxreal and Strauvana, and seeing their heads nod in approval that they aren''t going to be getting their choice I select the outpost token. Chapter 13: Blueprints, Tokens, and Resources With all the different boxes to open and a new token to use on the outpost I let everyone know that they can go and open their own boxes. During the time that we were discussing all of the options I received a prompt. "Settlement buildings have been completed. 1 X Basic Hut Level 1" "Also could we help get Uxa over to his new home for the time being. It has just finished building and I would like to have some space as I open these boxes." Noticing it is getting late as well I add. "I would also like to go to sleep as soon as possible since it is getting late." I look to Zul''Zara and let her know that her hut will be completed in the next hour so she shouldn''t have to sleep outside. Having as respectfully as I could, kicked everyone out of my home and help to bring Uxa to his hut, I start to inspect the boxes that are in front of me. - Large Settlement Token Box: Contains 13 - 20 Settlement Tokens of varied use. - - Specific Defensive Equipment Box: Contains one piece of armor/defensive gear based on type chosen. - - Specific Consumables Box: Contains specific consumables based on the type chosen. - - Extra Large Wooden Resource Box: Contains 160 of each Tier 1 resource, and 55 food - - Medium Wooden Building Blueprint Box: Contains 7 - 12 Building Blueprints. - I do notice that the resource box is different from the ones that I opened before. Asking Ritotorous he explains, "As you were just starting out, what was given to you could be considered a starter package, though the packages vary depending on how well you did with your first quest. Now they will be more standardized and might not be the same on the resource allotment you receive." Looking at each of the boxes and unable to figure out which one to open first. I shrug my shoulders, I close my eyes, spin and point. When I open my eyes I see I am pointing at the Extra Large Wooden Resource Box. Seeing that it is the easiest one to deal with getting out of the way first I open in and receive the resources. I select the defense equipment box next on my list and open it. A prompt fills my vision asking me what type of defensive gear I want to get. I selected boots since my current boots aren''t doing anything for me and I figured I could give them to Uxa as a consolation since he didn''t get anything earlier. - Initiate Mages Sandals: +1 to Intelligence, +1 to Wisdom - Equipping them instead of my current boots I continue on with opening the boxes next with the specific consumables. Since I have such low health I go for healing potions as my consumable item. I can regen mana whenever but if I die then no more regeneration for me. - Basic Health Potion: Upon Consumption heals for 4 points of damage. - I receive 4 potions which isn''t that many all things considered but I will take that over none. Having only 2 boxes left to open I start with the largest of the two, the Large Settlement Token Box and receive. - 1 X Wood Instant Completion Token: Can instantly complete any building that is Level 1. - - 3 X Wood Time Reduction Token: Reduces construction time by 1 hour. - - 2 X Iron Time Reduction Token: Reduces construction time by 2 hours. - - 3 X Bronze Time Reduction Token: Reduces construction time by 4 hours. - - 1 X Silver Time Reduction Token: Reduces construction time by 8 hours. - - 2 X Wood Resource Reduction Token: Reduces construction cost by 5%. - - 4 X Iron Resource Reduction Token: Reduces construction cost by 10%. - - 1 X Bronze Resource Reduction Token: Reduces construction cost by 15%. - - 2 X Silver Resource Reduction Token: Reduces construction cost by 20%. - - 1 X Iron Instant Level Up Token: Select one building to instantly level it up level 2. - Looking at all of the tokens that are now scattered all over the floor I begin to pick them up and place them in the Lord''s Chest so that way I can use them later. Finally I open the last of the boxes that are in front of me. - 1 X Wood Arrow Tower Level 1: Automatically attacks individual monsters that get within range. - - 1 X Wood Flame Tower Level 1: Automatically attacks groups of monsters that get within range. - This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. - 1 X Simple Garden Level 1: Able to plant small to medium seeds to start a garden will increase fertility by 10% decreasing time to harvest by 20%. Size is 4m X 4m - 1 X Simple Hut Level 1: Houses 2 to 4 people at a time, provides an increased rate of regeneration for Health, Stamina, and Mana. Rate per hour 1. Size is 5m X 5m - 1 X Fog Disbursement Tower Level 2: Disperses the fog in the area of 100 meters X 100 meters. Can claim territory if the Control Point Guardian is dead. - 1 X Combat Support Tower Level 2: Increases chance to hit by 10% and increases damage by 2 while in area of influence. AoI: 100 Meters X 100 Meters. - 1 X Observation Tower Level 2: Can be used 2 times per day to get the direction of a control point nearby. Can be used to see if there are any monsters in the area. Control Point distance: 10 KM X 10 KM. - - 1 X Basic House Level 2: Houses 3 - 6 people at a time, provides an increased rate of regeneration for Health, Stamina, and Mana. Rate per hour 1.1 Size is 8m X 6m. - I put the blueprints into the Lord''s Chest as well since I don''t know what I will be able to do with them for the time being and am too tired to figure it out at the moment. I look at the last 3 items that I have in front of me. - Outpost Upgrade Token: Can increase the size of an outpost by 1 size instantly. - - Settlement Experience Bag: Contains 50 Experience points for the settlement. - - Class Experience Bag: Contains 70 Experience points for the user''s class. - Using the Class Experience Bag gets me closer to leveling up. Then I use the Outpost Upgrade Token when a prompt stops me. "You are not within range of an outpost to upgrade it. Please go to the location of the outpost and upgrade it from there." Knowing I am not going out again to upgrade the outpost I put it into the Lord''s Chest for later. With all the things that have happened today I look through my full stat sheet. Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Health: 5/5 Mana: 10/20 Class: Mage Class Level: 1 Class Experience : 86/100 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Profession Experience: 0/25 Attributes: Strength: 1 Constitution: 1 Intelligence: 3 + 2 from equipment Wisdom: 2 + 2 from equipment Dexterity: 1 Charisma: 1 Free Points: 0 Skills: Analyze Level 2 Arcane Shot Level 2 Seeing that my stats have progressed nicely being only my third day here I head to my bed and lay down for the night. I will gather everyone when the morning comes and talk about what our next steps should be. I quickly fall asleep after the stress and don''t see one final prompt before my head hits the pillow. ---------- "Mana Heart progress 35% complete. Mana Vein progress is 25% complete." "Skill acquired: Mana Circulation Level 1" "Stat Changed. Ratio for mana increase per point in Wisdom to 6 instead of 5" ---------- Waking up I am a bit groggy when I see a flash on the side. It is different from what I am used to with the prompts. It is flashing in very opaque white, I look at it and find that there are three prompts. And I am shocked further awake at the realization of what it implies. All the time I have been getting surgeries and the pain of it coming back was all because my body was creating a Mana Heart. No wonder no one knew what it was back on my planet. I sprint outside and look to see if anyone is awake, not seeing anyone right away. I continue to run around my hut with unknown energy till I collapse shortly afterwards. Running is definitely not my strong suite. Feeling a strong set of hands on my shoulders I look up to see Zul''Zara trying to help me up with some concern in her eyes, and not far behind her is Laxreal and Strauvana. "What be you all uppity about this morning Drake?" She asks me. "I finally figured out the reason for all of my surgeries back home and all the pain that was caused without any knowledge!" Gasping out I respond in as much relief as glee that I have something that might help me in the future. "Oh, and pray tell what it is you have found?" Laxreal joins in.¡± "I have been developing a Mana Heart and Mana Veins through my body. "I have heard of Mana Veins before, but what is a Mana Heart?" Laxreal asks. "Honestly, I don''t know, just this morning I woke up and there was a prompt telling me that my Mana heart is 35% complete and the Mana Veins are 25% complete." Still cheerful about the situation. "Drake," Laxreal looks at me with worry in his eyes. "You are telling me that you have been able to cast magic without having a full set of Mana Veins?" "Well from what I can tell it was quite a bit lower than before." Seeing the worry in the depths of those flames I start to get worried myself. "How stupid could you be!" He shouts at me. "That could have killed you by poisoning your body with mana that you couldn''t control! I am shocked you haven''t died since I figured that you would have a full set considering that you have been casting arcane shots with a higher accuracy than myself and I have been taught how to channel mana hundreds of years ago." "Not that it came to any fruition." Strauvana digs at him. He glares back at her. "While that may be the case I at least had my veins so I could learn to cast on Thelatera, and since I can cast here I don''t see any problems since I can now follow the same paths that I am learning from casting repeatedly." "But that is besides the point." Pointing at me again. "How did you even channel in the first place cause having the Mana Veins is a necessity." "I just focused my thoughts onto my staff whenever I cast my magic after the first couple of times trying to channel it through my hands." Now realizing my mistake. "Does this mean I shouldn''t cast anymore until I have my full set of veins?" "I would say yes, but having a Mana Heart causes a different situation as no one that I know has heard of one of those on Thelatera. Can you tell me if it has done anything else to your body?" "Well, it gave me the skill Mana Circulation, and it also changed the ratio of how much mana per point of wisdom I add." I inform them. "Any details on that Mana Circulation skill?" Furthering his interest in the whole situation Laxreal asks. I analyze the skill. - Mana Circulation Level 1: Can either passively or actively use this skill. During passive use your mana regeneration increases from 1 mana per 2 hours to 1 mana per 1.5 hours. During active use of this skill mana regeneration rate is further increased to 1 mana per 1 hour. - Letting them know the exact nature of the skill I see Laxreal smack his own forehead. "How could I have forgotten to circulation my mana, let me see if I can get this skill." Rushing back to his home he is gone. Zul''Zara bids goodbye and also goes to circulate her own mana with what I think is her own people''s way. Seeing that it is Strauvana and myself left I look at her and ask. "Think we should get them and we can discuss the rest of the day?" Shaking her head she responds. "No, I know Laxreal, he won''t stop until he gets that skill and Zul''Zara might be in the same boat. Let''s give them a couple of hours to figure it out and while we wait lets get something to eat. With all the excitement of yesterday I haven''t had anything to eat." Nodding along we head into my hut and grab some food from the Lord''s Chest. Chapter 14: The Next Excursion After waiting for a couple of hours for Laxreal and Zul''Zara to get their mana circulation skill they finally came to my hut. They also brought along Uxa with them so we can all talk. With everyone here and getting them food as they haven''t eaten anything either we then start to talk. I let them know about all the things that I acquired yesterday through the boxes. "Have you figured out how we are supposed to use the blueprint?" Laxreal asks me. "No, not yet, I thought I would wait for everyone together so they can at least see the blueprints to know what is available before figuring it out just in case they disappear." I responded. Sensing my question, Ritotorous answers preemptively. "All you need to do to learn a blueprint is think about using it and then it will appear in the ''Building Option'' menu." Trying it out on one of the housing options it disappeared just like I thought it would. Looking at everyone to see if they were done with the blueprints and getting nods of approval I go through them and add them to the ''Building Option'' menu. Finishing that task I ask what we should start to build next as there are a lot of buildings we need to get in place as well as a lot of things that would be beneficial for us. "I vote that we look at some of the defensive options and get at least 1 of them started so we have something more than just a fence to defend from monsters." Strauvana offers. "A fine choice, I would also like to look at getting one more of the profession buildings started. I might be biased but I think the Basic Formation Masters Hut would be useful." Laxreal comments. "Does anyone else think we should get a defensive building in place right now?" I ask the other two and they both nod their heads. "Then I vote we get the arrow tower started since it should have a longer range than the flame tower." Again there are nods of agreement all around. Selecting it for placement. - Basic Arrow Tower: 80 units of Tier 1 Wood, 20 units of Tier 1 Stone. - Thinking about where to place it I go right behind the current perimeter fence as it would have some basic protections hopefully so it isn''t immediately knocked down. "With the first building decided on, what would everyone like for the next building? We already have 2 votes for a profession building." "I would like to vote for the mine option as you told us early yesterday that there is an open air copper vein not far from us. We could start to get some metal." Uxa says. "I be in agreement with the young one this time we should be focusing on getting more raw materials." Zul''Zara offers. "With us having 2 more options to build I would have to agree with you two, Uxa and Zul''Zara. We should do as you say because that will allow us to get more of the territory that is uncovered by the fog to actually be our territory instead of a no man''s land where monsters can come in as they please." I add. Seeing that Strauvana and Laxreal are nodding and in agreement with the logic behind the choice. I select the Small Mine and it shows the available locations that I can place it. Unlike the garden or the cemetery I only have the option to place it on the copper vein or along some of the more rocky hills that are to the east of the settlement. - Small Mine: 50 units of Tier 1 Wood. - Placing it I see that Ritotorous has just gotten back from placing the materials for the basic arrow tower so I send him out on the next errand to get the mine started. "For the last option this morning I think we should go with getting another of the profession buildings up. We have the blacksmith and I think that I should be able to start enchanting things if what I am seeing is correct in that I can now at least circulate my mana. I will have to experiment but I think it will be a great boon to have." I offer up my explanation to the group. "I be willing to give another profession building a priority. But me thinks that it should be the alchemy shop as most of us have some of the consumables and having someplace that could make more of those items would be a great boon for all of us." Zul''Zara counters. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The only 2 people that haven''t specified which of the buildings they would like to see built are Strauvana, and Uxa. We continue the pros and cons to get them to lean towards one option or another. Finally Strauvana raises her hands and looks at all three of us trying to sell her on the idea like a bad car salesman. "I can see everyone''s point of view on this and while I would like my own scribe¡¯s hut, realize that we don''t have tools for anyone. Do we really need to consider this that hard when nothing is available to us to even start working on our professions." Uxa nods along. "Also with having the blacksmith''s hut already built we could try and get the tools for that and maybe some schematics so I can start hammering out the tools everyone else needs for their respective professions." With a collective sigh Laxreal, Zul''Zara, and myself back up and look at each other. They nod their heads and I make the final selection by picking the Basic Scribes Hut. - Basic Scribes Hut: 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. - I place it down near Strauvana''s home and tell everyone my choice. I let everyone know the choice that has been made to a bitter Laxreal. "Next on today''s agenda is that I need to show you all one more quest that I have for the settlement." I show them the quest. "Skeletons, Slimes, and Goblins! Oh My!: Having found yourself surrounded on all sides either by water or by the monsters of the land a choice has come to you. Do you clear out some of the area of more of the monsters, or do you let them continue to grow more in number until you can''t handle them anymore. While in the immediate area you can''t find any place that would allow these creatures to have a place to stay, not all locations have been investigated as to what threats might be there. Tasks: Enter the fog and clear out 1 group of enemies (1/1) Level up your settlement to Roadside Hovel Level 3 (0/1) Rewards: ??? Special Note: While these monsters are slowly coming into the territory more they will not attack en masse unless there is a large enough trigger." Zul''Zara asks. "What be the purpose of the reward not stating what it is?" "Well the reward can increase as there are no hard requirements on when we can complete the quest. So let''s say that if we kill 4 groups of large enemies in the fog then there is a possibility that we could get a better reward." I announce. Continuing, "I had one of these to start on my first day, I completed it with a higher rating because I found more than 1 type of food source to keep myself alive, which benefited me in allowing me to pick a companion guide box." Finally, I point at Ritotorous. "For the next steps of today I would like to finish the level up task for the settlement and go out into the fog again, though it will be dangerous if we stick together we might have a good shot at fighting a couple of larger groups of enemies." I offer my suggestion. "Do we know how large a group needs to be to be counted towards the quest?" Ever intrigued with the prospect of learning more about the system Laxreal asks. "Honestly I think it counts as a group of 3 or more. When we were in the outpost control point, we ran into 2 sets of groups. 1 set only had 2 skeletons while the other had 3 skeletons and a zombie. It only counted the last group of monsters, so that makes me think that it is either at 3 monsters or at 4 that a group starts to be counted towards the goal." I answer to the best of my ability. "That is interesting and a good thing to know, and it is also good to know that even if the monsters were once in the fog, the moment the set out they are not counted towards this quest while I think that the same could be for collecting settlement experience points for if a monster dies after stepping foot back into the fog." Laxreal is now in theory mode. Leaving him to his thoughts I look at everyone else waiting for their thoughts. "I think it would be more prudent to have all of us go as it will keep us safer in the long run." Strauvana says. "Agreed," Zul''Zara and Uxa state at the same time. "Ok so it seems it is settled. We will make an excursion out into the fog today and kill some monsters for experience. And then come back and hopefully the tower finishes and we have killed enough monsters in our territory that we could potentially level up the settlement again. Meeting everyone again at the fence line we look out and Strauvana, and Ritotorous notices several goblins hiding nearby. Strauvana marks one and lets loose an arrow at it. and hits it in the shoulder dealing 3 points on damage. Ritotorous shot out one of his arcane shots and missed his target. Having alerted the goblins to the fact that we can see them, they start to charge at us. Laxreal, Zul''Zara and I all release an arcane shot each. Laxreal hits one of them and it collapses while running towards us dead. Zul''Zara''s shot misses while my shot hits another and also downs it. There are now 3 left with one of them with an arrow sticking out of it. Running towards us Uxa steps in front of us while also behind the fence so he can swing his blade at them. We are able to send one more barrage of attacks at the goblins with this wave of attacks; one goes down via arrows, and the other two drop from spells. All of the goblins are level one based on the amount of experience that they give which gives all of us other than Uxa 1 more point into our classes. We continue on the way going slowly as we don''t want to get ambushed by these monsters. Thankfully nothing is around us and we reach the edge of the territory in a quick time. Once again I reach out to the fog, and I receive a prompt. "Would you like to go and explore outside of your territory? Yes/No" Chapter 15: Finding the Party Selecting ''Yes'' I am brought into the fog. I walk forward a little bit and notice that there is no one behind me and only Ritotorous is on my shoulder. A prompt flashes. "New Quest The Lost and Found You and your party have entered an area that has displaced you throughout this small region. Find them. Task: Find your party members (0/4) Reward: 1 X Race Specific Population Summoning Scroll per party member found. New Personal Quest Treasure Hunt You have gone into the fog thinking there will be monsters, now while that is correct you forget with danger comes opportunity. As you are exploring the vast plains keep your eyes out for valuable loot. Task: Find Treasure (0/?) Kill a minimum 2 groups of enemies (0/2) Reward: 1 X Class Experience Bag 1 X Class Equipment Box 1 X Companion Experience Bag 1 X Profession Tool Box ???" I wait for a little longer to see if anyone else comes through. With a sigh I turn around and start to head deeper into the fog. After several steps I hear a hurried set of footsteps behind me. I turn to see Uxa waving his hands up in the air at me but he is further away than he should have been. Seeing him I get a ''ding'' I wave back and ask. "Did you get any quests upon entering the fog?" He nods his head. "Yea, I just have to kill 5 monsters this time around, though with how you all are ranged damage dealers I will have a hard time killing anything." I let him know that we have a quest to find all of the party members. I hesitate about telling him about the rewards for the quest at this time as I don''t want him to run around frantically trying to find the party members. I also let him know about the personal quest that I have. "Hmmmm, I think it might make it harder for you since you have already completed one quest." He comments off hand to which I can''t help but agree with him on that point. "That does make sense. Hopefully the rewards for completing it are better since it looks like they will be better." I acknowledge. "Shall we start looking around and see if there are any points of note or see if we can find any one of our party members?" "Lets." He gets in front of me and takes a vanguard position before moving forward at a slow pace. I tell Ritotorous to fly into the sky and see if he can make out anything. With a flap of his wings he leaps into the air and doesn''t find any monsters. He does find something shiny in the distance and lets me know that it isn''t far. I called out quietly to Uxa. "Ritotorous has found something shiny in the distance. We should head a bit to our right and see if we can figure out what it is." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. He nods back acknowledging the information and starts to head in the direction that is stated. As we are approaching I do spot some movement to the side and cast an arcane shot in that direction. I blast a goblin right in the chest for it to fall and not get back up. There is more rustling and 4 more goblins pop up and charge towards us. Uxa not wanting to waste an opportunity to get some kills charges forward and uses his longer reach to attack and shouts powerstrike. Chopping one of the goblins from shoulder to its sternum. It falls backwards dead. Ritotorous sends an arcane shot at another enemy blasting it to pieces. Now with only 2 more goblins left one heads to keep Uxa occupied and the other comes towards me. It slashes but Uxa is about to block the blow with his shield and counter and with a normal slash he decapitates the goblin. The last one still running towards me leaves me just enough time to cast one more arcane shot at it. And it jumps out of the way of my shot right as I release it. It takes a slash at me with his dagger like fingers and hits me for 1 point of damage. Seeing that I still have one Uxa rushes in my direction while I swing my staff at it. It pushes my attack wide but Ritotorous was about to get a shot onto it before it could attack at me again blasting it apart. "Congratulations, you have killed 5 level 1 Goblins. Reward: 5 Experience points (1 for you, 2 for your companion, and 2 for party member Uxa.)" Breathing out in relief I look at Uxa and give him a small smile. "Looks like that helped us both out! Shall we see what they were guarding?" He nods at me and we go and see what Ritotorous found before we had to fight the goblins. - Treasure of the Fog: Upon bringing it back to your settlement you will be able to further inspect what this treasure provides. - I look at Ritotorous and have him store it in the bag since it might fit and thankfully it does. "Ritotorous, could you go up again and see if there are any more treasures in the area?" I ask him. With a gleam of greed in his eyes he flaps his wings and once again is in the air looking for treasures. We walked for 45 minutes in a straight line from where we were when I felt a familiar weight on my shoulder. With one of his wings Ritotorous points. "There are more treasures if we keep going in the same direction but there seems to be a small encampment of goblins, I could only see 5 of them in the open as well as a cage with someone in it." "Could you tell who it was?" I ask. "No, but it appeared to be a large cage." I look towards Uxa and ask if he wants to take a closer look at the goblin encampment or if we should try and find out party members. Uxa puts on a brave face, "I think we should look at getting whoever is in the cage out since there are only 5 goblins that should be too hard for us to handle since we could try and surprise them." We proceed with caution up to the camp, now considering that we have a raven who can fly, a mage from a technologically modern era and a warrior, so we semi-waltzed up to the encampment. The goblins notice our approach and start to rush at us. Seeing that the stealthy approach didn''t work, Ritotorous and I started to cast our spells. Both spells hit downing a goblin each. I receive a ''ding'' which I tell myself to look at after the battle is over. Uxa charges at the goblins and swings over the heads of them. The leading goblins swing at Uxa with a small cudgel deflecting the blow off to the side completely. Another round and we drop two more goblins with our spells when Uxa shouts back to us. "Let me kill this one, then I will only need a couple more for my quest!" I agree with him on that and tell Ritotorous to scout for some loot as I watch to make sure that Uxa doesn''t get hurt. They go back and forth several times and it is quite awkward to watch as they both keep missing each. It makes me wonder how he was supposed to be the best warrior in his little group. Though he did kill several skeletons yesterday before we caught up to him.... Anyways, Uxa finally hits the goblin while shouting ''Power Strike''. He downs the goblin. I look at my messages and see that my arcane shot has leveled up and somewhere along the way my analyze skill also leveled up. "I have found a chest out in the open. Since I didn''t want to go inside any of the tents and they make an ogre''s body odor smell pleasant right now." Ritotorous reports into me. I walk up to Uxa who is panting from the small confrontation with the goblin. "So how many more till you are done with your quest?" I ask, trying not to make it awkward for him. Embarrassed at the display he responds. "I need just two more. Also don''t tell anyone what you saw please. I am not used to this way of fighting yet." "What do you mean?" I ask. "Aren''t you always having to fight on your home planet?" "While yes we are always fighting on my home planet. I typically have a long halberd that I used so I am thrown off with a sword and shield.¡± "Ahhhh, that explains the reason for some of his personal quests." I hear Ritotorous say in my head. "The personal quests are there to try and help you with your abilities and teach you some basics." I nod my head and explain that to Uxa and he bows to Ritotorous. "Thank you for the information. I am curious if I could find some halberd schematics from the quest reward I will receive." "We should keep moving and look around at this encampment while it seems to be empty. And also we should see who or what is in the cage." I point to the tents then the cage respectfully. Pinching my nose, I go inside the closet tent and find a small bag in the back of the tent. Grabbing it I leave the tent and look around. I see Uxa also running into a tent quickly and coming out just as quickly. Running into another tent I look around and don''t see anything. I head back out and figure it isn''t worth looking through. I head towards the cage. When I get there I take a look inside and see Strauvana inside. She appears to be knocked out. I also see that my party option for her has become clear showing that she is at low health. I suddenly get another prompt. Chapter 16: Emergency Quest! "Emergency Quest: You have found one of your party members who is in grave danger. Task: Clear out the encampment of goblins (0/1) Heal your party member (0/1) Reward: 1 X Wooden Blueprint Box 1 X Random Resource Box Note: You cannot collect the rewards while not in your territory." Quickly I spin around trying to find Uxa but I am unable to see him so I start calling out to him. I keep calling out for a couple of minutes when I finally hear a response from him further than I thought. I also see that some of the tents are now moving. "Why? Why did you have to go and scream for me? I was able to complete my quest easily with the goblins that are sleeping in their tents and I was hoping for some more easy experience." Uxa shouts back at me for being stupid. Looking around I see that there are now 6 goblins coming from different directions, thankfully they are far away leaving me some time to shoot some arcane shots at them. I start firing them off and only 2 of them hit targets after 5 shots. Both of the shots kill a goblin each. I see 4 shots also come in from the side from Ritotorous. He kills 3 of them leaving only one left. Uxa is too far away to intercept the last goblin, so while it is running towards me I take my staff and adjust my stance to that of a baseball player. Gripping the lower section of the staff into my hands I step and swing at the oncoming goblin. Cracking it over the head of the goblin it drops right in front of me like a pile of dirty laundry. I hear a ''ding'' and the emergency quest task for clearing out the goblin encampment has been completed. I also get a prompt. "Congratulations, you have killed 6 level 1 goblins. Reward: 6 Experience Points." "Congratulations, you have cleared out a level 1 goblin encampment. Reward: 1 X Random Wooden Resource Box.(Max Size Medium)" Pumping my fist I rush back to the cage and see it is only "locked" with some rope tied around the bars. "Uxa." I shout. "I need your sword over here to cut open the cage to get Strauvana out!" He rushes over to me and we get the ropes cut on the crude cage. Opening the door I grab one of the healing potions that I got from my consumables box. Slowly I started to feed the potion to her. After ingesting the entire potion she starts to wake up and looks around at her surroundings. "How did I get here?" She asks with as much confusion as there is anger in her eyes at seeing she was being held in a cage. "Honestly, we have no idea, we entered the fog like we did the last time but instead it seems to have spit us all out at different points. Thankfully, Uxa and I were near each other and have been able to help each other out." I answer her to see if I can at least get her to calm down a little bit. "Where are my weapons? And what is the overall situation?" Asking more questions she starts to look around a bit more closely to see if she can find her items. I also start to help her and look in the tent that is directly next to her and call out. "I found them, thankfully they are all still here and in good condition." She rushes over and equips her items as fast as possible. Seeing that there is no danger I look at the emergency quest and see that it is completed. Taking one last look around I decide we should all gather up and discuss our next plan of attack as we don''t know where the other two could be located. "Where should we go from here? I could have Ritotorous scout out a little bit and see if we can find any traces of our companions. Also he did mention that there is a treasure chest not too far from where we are and that it seems easy enough to grab." I offer up to the group. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "I don''t see an issue with having Ritotorous scout for a little bit as we head to the chest. I do have a personal quest that I need to find some herbs that would be useful for my profession." Strauvana says. Uxa nods in agreement as well and we make that our plan for the time being. We head over to the chest and it doesn''t take long before we find it, dig it up, and it disappears to where the other chests have gone but not before I look at it. - Treasure of the Fog: Upon bringing it back to your settlement you will be able to further inspect what this treasure provides. - Seeing that nothing has changed about the description of the item I shrug my shoulders and look up to see where Ritotorous is at before calling out to him. "Hey Rito, how has the scouting been, have you found anything?" "No, I haven''t found anything that I would take note of, though I have spotted some herbs and what looks to be a tower in the distance. It is about a 30 minute walk from where you are heading to the south." I look at the other two and tell them the information that I have received from Ritotorous. We agree and start to make our way over to the tower. Strauvana does stoop down occasionally to grab some herbs that she needs for her quest. After a bit of time we finally reach the tower and low and behold there at the base of the tower is Laxreal studying it and what seems to be him trying to figure out how to get inside. "Hey Laxreal." I call out from a distance. Spinning around I see the flash of recognition in the flames of his eyes. "Well hello everyone, and to what do I owe the pleasure?" "Well," Uxa answers. "We are looking for everyone as it seems that we have been separated upon entering the fog and there is a settlement quest to get everyone back together." "Oh, well that does make sense. Did everyone receive a personal quest as well since I know mine is to get inside this tower and obtain the treasures within, though I am having the more troublesome time getting past the magical locks." Laxreal replies. "Have you noticed any monsters or things in the area that are hostile?" I ask him. "No, just this tower over here and nothing else." "Ok, so do you want us to leave you alone or should we all head out to see if we can find Zul''Zara?" "I would like to stay here, I get the feeling that I am about to stumble upon the solution, it is just a matter of time." "Uxa and I should be more than enough company for the time being to find Zul''Zara if what he has told me is correct on how the monsters aren''t that tough." Strauvana replies to my question. "Fair enough, just make sure nothing comes and attacks you Laxreal." I mention before I reach out to Ritotorous again and see if he has found anything else. "Not yet." He responds, "Oh, I just spotted another shiny thing though, you should head towards the west and see what it is. It is only 10 minutes away from where you are currently located." I let everyone know the new direction and what the goal is and the three of us head out. I get a ''ding'' and I look to see that the quest for getting everyone has gone from 3 to 2. Taking note that we all have to be together in order for the quest to count it as complete I proceed on. Again we get the chest and dig it up. There aren''t any monsters nearby so it is safe to grab. I am just happy that I have Ritotorous and his eyes to find these things. We wander for another little while as Strauvana collects more herbs and we look for more chests or monsters to appear. It isn''t until about 2 hours later that Ritotorous reaches out to me again. "I think I have found where the last member of our party is located but I am not too sure. Head to the north for another 45 minutes and you should see some woods." Woods means that there is the option for us to get a logging cabin up and we could finally not have to worry about getting wood, but that is only once the settlement has expanded that far as we haven''t run into any control point nodes the entire time we have been out here. We head off in hopes of finding the last party member before we have to head back and grab Laxreal since it is starting to get late in the day, or at least I think it is getting late in the day. Upon arriving at the woods we notice that there isn''t anything of note on the outside. We start searching around for about 15 minutes before Strauvana points to what is an old worn path heading into the forest. Uxa taking the lead and Strauvana going just off the path into the woods we proceed inside. Once inside I notice different carvings of animals as we progress further. I get a feeling that there is something sacred about these woods and we shouldn''t stay here for long. After about 30 minutes of walking through the woods we come across a clearing and in the center of the clearing is Zul''Zara. She is sitting cross legged in front of one of the wooden statues, this particular one is of a boar. Waiting for a moment to not break her out of whatever meditative state she is in I slowly approach as there is a strange feeling in my chest that I follow. Sitting behind her while she doesn''t notice my presence I reach out with my hands and rest them on her back. Following the feeling of my mana I slowly start to circulate it through my system and try to force it out of my hands and into her. The feeling gets stuck though part of the way down both of my arms when I start to push the circulation harder. I feel a horrible burning pain slowly start to course down my arms like someone is taking a knife and slowly adding veins alongside my bloodstream. I start to scream out when Strauvana runs behind me and clamps my mouth shut. She can see how much pain I am in but forces me to swallow it with the glare she is giving me. I want to stop as well but I receive a prompt. "Mana Veins 30% complete." Seeing that the amount of my Mana Veins have increased I continue to push. The pain is slowly crawling down both of my arms and I start to sweat. I also notice that my health is starting to go down quickly. I don''t have much health and I give a pleading look to Strauvana hoping she can see that I am in need of help soon. Seeing my glance she looks at her party interface and sees my health dropping she finds my potions on my belt and reads through the description to know how much they will heal. Seeing her look at me and then shake her head she sets it down next to her within easy reach. When I think of the pain that I am experiencing in my arms I want to grab the potion and down it quickly. I continue with the circulation though since Strauvana might know what is going on. Time seems to crawl by and within the next 10 minutes my health has finally dropped to 1 point and I have received one more prompt about my Mana Veins increasing by another 5%. It is excruciating but I feel glass touch my lips and I quickly open my mouth to ingest the potion hoping that it will stop the pain even for a moment. Once my head has cleared a little bit I do find that there is one small vein that has finally reached the palm of my hand. The pressure that has been building inside of my body starts to leave me as a trickle of mana enters Zul''Zara. Chapter 17: ZulZaras Transformation With some of the pressure letting up, I continue the circulating mana towards Zul''Zara. Her body receives with a gluttonous zeal. My face is getting more pale by the minute as I channel until I can''t feel the flow of mana coming out of my body anymore. I collapse, breathing heavily with pain wracking my body from my Mana Veins developing. I look and see that there are two more prompts in my vision. "Mana Vein''s progress is 40% complete. Mana Vein''s progress is 45% complete." I look at my status menu and see that health and mana are almost bottomed out. Health: 2/5 Mana: 2/24 With that, I look towards Zul''Zara to find she is still meditating, asking Strauvana. "What was happening? I could feel that I was helping something along. I don''t know what exactly it was." "She is picking what sort of beast she will choose as her first transformation. I didn''t think it was possible. Since there is a completely different system in place here compared to my home planet. I have seen this process several times before but with the additional mana. It should allow her to receive a stronger form than if Zul''Zara was alone. It would have been weak due to the low mana she contains." She replies. We wait for a bit more time as nothing is happening. Figuring that I might be able to get further along with my Mana Veins, I start to circulate my mana again though this time a bit more slowly to not cause so much pain. Following the path that is in my mind, I feel the flow stop at the ends of where my veins are located. I can feel it throughout my body, though not as much in my arms as in my legs and head. I start focusing on finishing my arms first. They will be the easier option as I push the mana through the veins in my right arm. The feeling of a dagger running across my veins appears, but it doesn''t have as much bite since I am doing one side at a time. Another hour lapsed before I finished my right arm. I feel the flow of mana through the veins isn''t blocked anymore. Starting work on my left arm, I am nudged by Uxa as he points over to Zul''Zara. She is surrounded but a white light. We can see her turning into a boar. One that is much larger than any I have seen on Culhara. Standing tall Zul''Zara lets out a snort of approval before she changes back into her original form. "I be thanking you for the assist Drake." She offers with a kind smile. "I be taking a Dire Boar form instead of just a lowly boar in a forest proper." I smile back at her. "I am glad I was able to help you. I followed my instincts, and they haven''t led me wrong yet. Honestly speaking Zul''Zara, helping you helped me in turn. I found that through my Mana Circulation skill, I could extend my Mana Veins faster than letting them develop slowly over time." "Yes, Drake, you can do that but know that you should have someone with you just in case you need help." Strauvana interrupts. "We should get going. I am sure it will be late soon." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Agreeing, we gather up and head toward Laxreal. With Ritotorous flying above us, he spots one more treasure chest. We gather it before making it back to the tower. Once we arrive at the tower, I see the door has been opened. I enter the first floor and see rows of bookshelves. Hearing cackling in the distance, I head deeper inside. After passing several rows of shelves, I find Laxreal sitting in a chair reading a book. I call out. "Laxreal, the group is going to head to the settlement." With a sigh, he sets down his book and looks in my direction. "I have found something quite interesting if we have a moment to spare." Nodding my head, he guides me to the center of the floor, where a spherical object is located. "If you put your hand on this device, it will let you browse the floor for spell tomes that your affinity." He instructs me with a wave of his hand. Reaching my hand towards the orb, I soon feel its cold stone texture. There is a bright light as it flashes between green and gold. "Well, well." Laxreal says, "This is the first time I have seen that someone has both the affinity to nature and healing magics in a long time." "Nature and healing?" I ask quizically. "Yes, people associated with healing magic can only cast spells that can heal someone''s life signature. While those associated with green, or nature magic, can only raise plant life or more druidic spells. Just like our friend Zul''Zara is starting to show." "What this could mean is anyone''s guess. This is a new world and a new system of magic. However, when I tested my affinity, it revealed I had a death affinity. Which is not that much of a shock." Nodding along to his two prompts appears up in front of me. - Affinity has been unlocked on the status screen. - - Would you like to receive your starting spell tomes for your affinities? Yes/No - I mentally click yes and receive four spell tomes. Looking at them closely, I can see that two are for nature. The other two are for healing, and no other information is provided. I hear a ding in my head as one of my quests updates. "Wow, you received four spell tomes. When I got mine, I only received three spell tomes. I wasn''t able to read them yet. I was able to have them sent back to the settlement though." Nodding along, I see that Ritotorous has also come up and pressed his beak against the Affinity Testing Orb, as I am now calling it. There is a flash of black, and in front of him is a single spell tome. Seeing my gaze land on him, Ritotorous says to me. "I received knowledge that I have an affinity towards darkness. And the spell I got was a small support spell." With a flash, the tome is gone. Looking over at Laxreal, I can see that he is packing up a couple of books and getting ready to head out. I head over to the doors to leave and jokingly ask aloud. "I would like to claim this building." Surprisingly, I get a prompt. - The settlement level is too low to claim this structure. Please Level up to at least the town level of Small Town Level 5. - I looked back at Laxreal walking up to me. "Looks like these special buildings can be claimed later down the line. We have to level up the settlement more until we become a small town." "And at what point do we reach that level?" Casting my gaze to Ritotorous, he answers Laxreal''s question for me to relay. "There are a total of 13 settlement levels. I will spare you the details of the higher tiers, but to get to a Small Town level, you have to get through several levels. First is Roadside Hovel, which we are at currently, then a Hamlet. Following that is a Village, then finally a Small Town." Repeating that to Laxreal, he gives me a nod of understanding. He gestures to the door, showing he is ready to leave the tower. We head outside to find the rest of the party. When everyone is together, I look around and ask. "Did anyone see the exit of this area?" "No." This is the all-around answer from the group. Thinking of trying what I did in the tower again, I call out. "We are ready to leave." And I get a prompt. - If you are ready to leave, please select "Yes". If you want to keep exploring, please select "No." Special note. If all of your party members are not within a 10-meter area from you they will be forever lost to the world. - Looking around and telling everyone to get close so we don''t lose them, I select yes. Chapter 18 Quests, Chests, and Sweet Rewards Blinking, I turn around and see that the sky is indeed getting dark. We were teleported right next to the edge of the territory. I see that everyone is with me. I received a slew of prompts that demanded my attention. - Quest Completed: The Lost and Found You and your party have entered an area that has displaced you throughout this small region. Find them. Task: Find your party members (4/4) Reward: 1 X Race Specific Population Summoning Scroll per party member found. Special Note: Rewards have been sent to the Lord''s Chest. - - Quest Completed: Treasure Hunt You have gone into the fog thinking there will be monsters, know while that is correct you forget with danger comes opportunity. As you are exploring the vast plains keep your eyes out for valuable loot. Task: Find Treasure (12/?) (Three Treasures of the Fog Chests, one goblin settlement extermination, two groups of herbs, one Forest of Druidic Transformation, one Tower of Arcane Knowledge, four spell books) Kill a minimum of 2 groups of enemies (3/2) Reward: 1 X Class Experience Bag 1 X Class Equipment Box 1 X Companion Experience Bag 1 X Profession Tool Box You will receive four additional chests with the option to pick what type they are out of four options. Special Note: You have completed the quest with a 450% completion rate. You will receive four additional chests with the option to pick what type they are out of four options. Rewards have been sent to the Lord''s Chest. - - Quest Completed: Emergency Quest You have found one of your party members who is in grave danger. Task: Clear out the encampment of goblins (1/1) Heal your party member (1/1) Reward: 1 X Wooden Blueprint Box 1 X Random Resource Box Special Note: Rewards have been sent to the Lord''s Chest. - - Settlement Buildings have been completed: Basic Arrow Tower Small Mine Basic Scribes Hut - With those out of the way, I started to follow behind everyone else as they had gone ahead since I received more prompts than them. Catching up to the group quickly, I informed everyone that we had the scrolls to summon some more people into the settlement. Also, there are a lot of chests to open and receive the rewards from. Uxa grabs my arm and tries to increase the pace. Moving faster, I tell him. "Uxa, I know you are itching to get more of your people here. I want that as well. We have to do this one step at a time so those who arrive have a place to come to." "Also," I mention. "I have a lot of things that I need to discuss with everyone once we get back. Also, let''s see if there are things that we can do with the items we have on hand. Since there is a huge influx of potential with getting our profession tools." Heaving a heavy sigh, Uxa let go of me. We resumed our standard pace the rest of the way to the settlement. Upon arriving, I saw a tall arrow tower standing where I put it. The fence has some dead monsters around it as well. Going over to loot the mobs, I don''t receive anything from them. I ask Ritotorous if he knows why. "You don''t get any loot from monsters that your defenses kill unless you are actively a part of the defense at that time." Since that has been cleared up, I take the monsters that have died and bring them a distance away so others might not come due to the smell of blood. By the time I am done with that. It is about 8 p.m., and the sun is about to set on our little settlement. I get everyone''s attention and ask. "Would we like to meet first thing in the morning to discuss the loot we have gotten from the boxes?" Laxreal is the first to speak up. "I would like that, but can I ask that we get the rest of the profession buildings up?" Strauvana nods in agreement. "I would like to say that would be the best idea since we aren''t using the buildings until tomorrow. We are down three profession buildings currently." Zul''Zara intones her stance as well. "I be agreeing with her. I be hoping to do some alchemy tomorrow. Since we have the tools now." I glance at Uxa to see if he has anything to say. I know he is antsy for the next day since one more of his people will be in the settlement. Thinking on that note, I take a look at the settlement menu. Seeing that we have completed the requirements for it to be leveled up. - Settlement Tasks: Tasks: Have a population of 5 or more. (5/5) Make at least two excursions past the edge of your territory. (2/2) Would you like to level up your settlement? Yes/No - "I would like everyone to know that we have completed the next set of tasks. We can level up the settlement again," I informed them. "What are you waiting for? Do it now!" Laxreal exclaims in excitement. The higher we get the settlement, the faster we can claim unique buildings like the Tower of Arcane Knowledge. The other three look at Laxreal, confused about the last part of his statement. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "What do you mean you can claim unique buildings? What would count as a unique building?" Uxa asks out loud. "Well," I start. "When I was about to leave the tower, I said out loud that I wanted to claim it. Well, the system took it seriously and gave me a response that we needed a higher settlement level to even get to that point." Still a bit confused about the situation, Uxa relents as he doesn''t have the attention span to continue with this conversation. "What level does the settlement have to be for the tower you were in?" Strauvana asks. "Well, I was told we need to get to Small Town Level 5. And from what Rito has told me, we are quite a ways off that point." I respond. Gasping at the sudden revelation, Zul''Zara speaks up. "We be not trying that in those woods you be finding me in. Could be that we might claim it as well?" "Honestly, I don''t know. I know what they are called now. The Forest of Druid Transformation. That explains the different statues of animals that we saw on our way in." "Are we okay with leveling up the settlement now? I will be able to complete one more quest if we do." I state. "From what I can hear from everyone. We all seem to be ready for an upgrade." Strauvana says. With nods from everyone else at that affirmation. I select "Yes" on the prompt. A golden hue then encompasses the territory border. With the fading of the light, I receive a prompt informing me that the territory has been upgraded. I checked on the status of the settlement. - Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 3 Experience: 0/50 Territory Size: 1.2Km X 1.2Km Buildings: Basic Hut Level 1 X 3 Small Dock Level 1 Small Garden Level 1 Wooden Fence Level 1 X 1 Basic Tomb Level 1 X 2 Small-Cemetary Level 1 X 1 Basic Blacksmith Hut Level 1 X 1 Wood Arrow Tower Level 1 X 1 Small Mine Level 1 X 1 Basic Scribes Hut Level 1 X 1 Outposts: Tiny Mining Outpost X 1 (Tier 1 Stone 10 per day with no workers, 20 with workers) - With the buildings being displayed, it gives a feeling of accomplishment. Four days since my arrival at Corenthia, the amount of work that''s been done is incredible. I continue from where we left the conversation. "Looking at the settlement status screen has given me a good idea of where we are with buildings. There are a lot of options that we need to consider for our future. To start, I will get the three profession huts built for enchanting, formations, and alchemy." Going to the building menu, I select the Small Enchanters Hut, Small Formation Masters Hut, and the Small Alchemy Hut building near their respective people. - Building Menu: Small Enchanters Hut: 30 units of Tier 1 Wood. And 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Small Formation Masters Hut: 30 units of Tier 1 Wood. And 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Small Alchemy Hut: 30 units of Tier 1 Wood. And 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. - I asked everyone to come and grab some building materials. We move them to start the building process. Once that¡¯s done, I bid everyone goodnight. I receive one more prompt before I get into my hut. - Quest Completed: Skeletons, Slimes, and Goblins! Oh, My!: Having found yourself surrounded on all sides either by water or by the monsters of the land a choice has come to you. Do you clear out some of the areas of more of the monsters, or do you let them continue to grow more in number until you can''t handle them anymore? While in the immediate area, you can''t find any place that would allow these creatures to have a place to stay not all locations have been investigated as to what threats might be there. Tasks: Enter the fog and clear out 1 group of enemies (4/1) Level up your settlement to Roadside Hovel Level 3 (1/1) Rewards: ??? Special Note: Since you have exterminated a goblin encampment. You have put off an attack for three nights. You have also completed the quest with a 300% completion rate. The rewards will be generated now. - - Rewards: 2 X Tiny Wooden Token Box 1 X Large Specific Population Box - With my mind trying to recall how many boxes I have to open tonight. Stepping inside my hut, I find out that they are stacked inside. I see the three boxes I received by the door. Two bags that are lying on their sides on my bed. One medium-sized wooden resource chest, a tiny wooden blueprint box, my professions toolbox, and my class equipment box. Four scrolls have a special symbol on them. There are four boxes with question marks on their sides. There is one large-sized wooden resource box. Finally, three more boxes have fog swirling around them. Thinking about that, I remember that I have four tomes that I need to learn as well. They must be inside my Lord''s Chest since I don''t see them in my hut. Starting with the ones closest to the door, I open the last three boxes I got first. - Items Received: 1 X Silver Instant Completion Token 1 X Silver Instant Level Up Token 1 X Iron Time Reduction Token 15 X Specific Population Scroll - Examining the three items, I find the last one interesting. - Silver Instant Completion Token: Can instantly complete any building that is level 4 and below. Silver Instant Level Up Token: Select one building that is level 3 and level it instantly up to level 4. Specific Population Scroll: Select one of the inhabitants of your settlement and summon one person from their respective planet. - I noticed there is a difference in the names of these scrolls. Compared to the ones received from "The Lost and Found" quest. I examine those scrolls to see what they do. - Race-Specific Population Scroll: A special award. Use these to summon one person of the user''s choice from their specific planet. - With the scrolls examined. Walking to the Lord''s Chest, I store the received items. I grab the two experience bags to inspect them. They provide 80 class experience and 80 companion experience. After storing those items, I walk up to my profession toolbox and open it. - Items Received: 1 X Novice Enchanters Engraving Tool 1 X Novice Enchanters Guide 1 X Novice Enchanters Mortar and Pestle - I put those into my Lord''s Chest and open my equipment box next. - Staff of the Initiate Mage: Increases Damage of spells by + 2. Increases Healing of spells by + 2. - I continue this pattern of storing items and opening boxes. - Resources Received: 120 Tier 1 Wood 120 Tier 1 Stone 120 Tier 1 Metal 50 Tier 1 Food Blueprint Received: Small Major''s Manor Level 1- I use the blueprint and look at the building menu again to see what it is. - Small Major''s Manor Level 1 - One Per Village; Houses the leader and their family. Has two floors. The first floor has a small meeting, a dining room, and a kitchen. The second floor has three bedrooms. 10m X 10m - My next stop is the four chests with question marks on their sides. Upon reaching them, I hold one when a prompt appears. - Please select what type of box you would like this to become:
  1. Class Equipment Box
  2. Profession Material Box
  3. Class Spellbook Box
  4. Merge (Unavailable) -
With shock in my eyes, I look over at Ritotorous and ask. "What does it mean by merge?" After asking the question, there is a ding inside of my head. "Well, that means you can merge certain items to get a potentially higher quality item. Though they are rare and typically don''t come in such large quantities as you see before you." "It also says that it is unavailable. Why is that?" I continue, astonished at the option in front of me. "Either you don''t have enough of said item. Or you are too far away. Make note it takes at least 5 of a similar item to merge them." He says with finality. Sighing, I pull myself away from thinking of the options for a higher-level box. I decided to put them all into the Lord''s Chest. I have finally arrived at the three swirling fog boxes. I decided to examine the first one. - Treasure of the Fog: Upon touching this box, it will reveal itself as a random box with a random quality. Quality is determined by the tier of the settlement that has opened it. - Figuring we are in the first stages of development, we are at either an iron quality or wooden quality. My thoughts are leaning toward the latter of the two options. Risking it, I press my hand on the box. It indeed does become a wooden box. Touching all the boxes, I received another large-sized wooden resource box, a small building blueprint box, and a medium-sized population box. I proceed to open them. -Resources Received: 80 Tier 1 Wood 80 Tier 1 Stone 80 Tier 1 Metal 20 Tier 1 Food 12 X Random Population Scrolls Blueprints Received: Mobile Archer Tower Level 1 Earthen Bulwarks Level 1 Wooden Walls Level 1 Cobblestone Roads Level 1 - I use the new blueprints again and look to see what they offer. - Mobile Tower Level 1 - A small tower on a cart that can be hauled to give a mobile vantage point for ranged attackers. Increases the range of ranged attacks by 10m. Requires two work animals to move. Earthen Bulwarks Level 1 - Basic defenses made of earth and wood. Durability can be increased by using stone or metal in place of wood. Use as an initial platform to build further defenses. Wooden Palisades Level 1 - Wooden walls with a walkway to fire ranged attacks. Has moderate durability. Cobblestone Roads Level 1 - Can be placed between two points and increases traveling speed by 5%. - With all the rewards dealt with for today, I go to my bed and lie down for the night to see what arrives in the morning. Chapter 19 The Morning After I wake up to the feeling of a small beak against my skull. I look at Ritotorous and find he has been lightly tapping the side of my head. "Why are you hitting my head?" "Well, you forgot there was one more prompt you to address last night." Is his response before jumping off of my chest and onto the floor. Nodding along, I go to my prompts and do see one more. - Congratulations, you have encountered your first mergeable item. Due to this achievement, you have been granted a matching item. Reward: 1 X Tier 1 Personal Evolution Box. - Thinking of the other four boxes I had received, I quickly pulled them out to merge them. I quickly look at Ritotorous and ask. "Is it possible that everyone could get one of these achievements, and we could quickly farm a set of tier 2 boxes?" Stopping for a brief moment, Ritotorous thinks. "I don''t see that idea not working. We will try it out first to see if anything happens." I merged my boxes, getting the Tier 2 version before we tested it out. Stepping outside, I see there are a couple of people already awake. I called them over to my location. The first to come over is Uxa, as well as Laxreal. "Have you gotten the scrolls? And can we start to summon people yet?" Uxa asks, showing how nervous he is. Bringing my hands up, I look at him. "Uxa, I know you want to get your people here quickly. I need you to think about something for a second. Do we have the supplies? Can we even support them at this time?" With his head hung low and shaking, Uxa acknowledges. "No, I hadn''t thought of that yet." "I do have the scrolls, plus a lot more of them. We also received twelve specific population scrolls as well." I continue my efforts to keep him calm but not sad. "What do you mean specific populations scrolls? I thought we had already gotten some of those from the one quest. Now you are making it sound like they are a different item entirely." Laxreal joins in. "They are a different item compared to the Race-Specific population summoning scroll. Those are for the people we saved and brought back to the settlement. We get to choose who we want to bring over to this world. With these new scrolls, we can select an inhabitant of our little settlement, and then it will summon someone from their world at random." Interest shines in Laxreal''s eye sockets. Quickly realizing the implications of what such scrolls could accomplish. A little behind on what is going on, Uxa asks. "So you are saying one of them we can choose who we want to bring over, while the other just brings someone randomly from the world of the chosen inhabitant?" "That is exactly right, Uxa." Laxreal praises. "With this, we can bring in one of our family members. Or someone good at management. Something along those lines. It gives us avenues that we didn''t initially think." "Not to get too far down this rabbit hole, but I would like to make one mention." I bring their attention back towards myself. "I didn''t get a Race-Specific population summoning scroll. I will be drastically outnumbered by races I don''t know much about. Or I will have to deal with someone from my planet that wouldn''t work well in this situation." I bring this issue to the front of their minds. "What do you mean by that Drake?" Laxreal speaks up. "For one, my planet does not have mana or anything of that nature. Second, the only sapient species on my planet is humans. Granted, there could be other things on the planet that we don''t know about yet. Thirdly, there are groups of people that already hate others just based on their skin color." I quickly list out. "And you are worried that with the different races here already, they wouldn''t be able to acclimate to the situation and would instead try to kill one or all of us?" Laxreal bluntly states. "Correct." That is the only response I can give. Scratching his bottom jaw like he would a beard, he responds. "Maybe we try with one of the specific population scrolls to see how they work. Also, we will summon another human here?" This was one of the responses that I was hoping for. "I would like to do that, and we can also do the same for you, Uxa, and Zul''Zara so there are no majority races. We can then go from there?" They both nod in agreement. "Okay, now we get the other two up to continue summoning. And also a little experiment that I am hoping will work." With that, they quickly split off to go and get the other two. Then, we can have a settlement discussion about what to do next. I go inside and pull out all of the Race-Specific scrolls. Along with the specific population scrolls. After 10 minutes of getting everyone together, we started the conversation. "I be thinking that what you said to be true, Drake. Let us be having at least 2 of each kind here so we be having a fair discussion about the future." Zul''Zara starts, as it''s clear that Uxa has been talking with her. Strauvana nods in agreement. "I am not opposed to this idea as we won''t use Race-Specific scrolls. Unless one of you two does." Staring intently at Uxa. "But I would like to clarify one thing before we start summoning people. I would like to see more housing being built before anything." I acknowledge this request and enter the building menu. I started processing building the huts. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "From what is being said, I should build 3 more huts?" I asked the group. "Actual, we be needing only 2 for now." Zul''Zara offers. Curious, I ask. "Why only two?" "Well, I be using my scroll to summon my mate. She be left behind when I be transported here." She replies shyly. "Oh." I am a bit shocked at this news. "Well, since we have the extra building slot, what do you all think we should build?" "I would recommend not building anything new. Not until we know who is summoned from the summoning scrolls and what professions they have." Laxreal states. "I am finding that I agree more with this failed scholar." Strauvana acknowledges his idea. The other two also nod their heads in agreement. Asking Zul''Zara before we start summoning people. "What do you think your partner will take as a class and profession?" "She be probably picking the hunter class and leatherworker." She provides. "So we will have another person that can make items for defense, that will be useful. Once we can get a forest in the territory." Strauvana says sarcastically. "Don''t be that way. We all have been unable to do anything with the professions we picked thus far." I shoot back light-heartedly. "Are there any other considerations that I should take note of? Or are we ready to move on to the next topic?" "I am ready to move on to this experiment you mentioned earlier." Laxreal perks up, instantly more interested in the conversation. "If you have gotten him to get this excited over something, then I think it is time to move on as well," Strauvana states. "I be ready as well." Zul''Zara. Nodding his head is the only response Uxa gives. "Alright, with everyone ready." I pull out the Tier 2 Personal Evolution Box. "When I was waking up this morning, I had an achievement from coming into contact with a box like this. I was curious if you all could get the achievement. If not, I don''t mind letting you know the options this box provides." I state, looking hopeful that we can glitch the system one time. Laxreal steps up and grabs hold of the box, with curiosity gleaming in his eye sockets. I can tell they dim for a second before coming back. "It seems that your conjecture is correct. I have also received a box of similar quality as this one." Not fully believing him, Strauvana steps into his place and touches the box. Again, a similar dimness comes to her eyes. "Hmm, looks like this scholar isn''t wrong this time." Keeping her eyes focused on the box. The other two each take a turn holding the box. While also getting notified that they have received a similar item back in their huts. "Now there is one more test I want to try, though it will involve summoning more people to the settlement," I announce to the group. Zul''Zara raises her hand. "I be offering to summon mine first." I gesture for her to go ahead and take the scroll for her world and watch. This portal is a royal gold color, unlike the first time the portals appear. The energies are more potent than previously. Finally, after a minute of these energies washing over us. We see a slim figure walking out of the portal wearing hunter''s leathers, a bow on her back, and a dagger at her waist. She has soft golden eyes and long silver hair. Looking around at her new surroundings, she immediately sees Zul''Zara. Running up to her, the elf gives a long hug before stepping back with a slight blush on her cheeks. A little flustered at the act. Zul''Zara goes to introduce her companion. "This be Sylvasti Yinmenor. And as I be telling you all, she be a hunter. Though I be not sure what she be doing-" "If I may, Zul." With a bow towards all of us shocking me more than a little. She introduces herself to us all. "As Zul has been saying. I am Sylvasti Yinmenor. When dragged into that room, I had three choices. I did pick the hunter role. And my profession is cooking." With that declaration, my eyes gleam. An actual chef has come to the settlement. Now, the settlers won''t have to eat the pre-prepared foodstuffs from the system. Going to the building menu, I see a small restaurant building available. I select it and place it down near Zul''Zara''s hut. - Small Restaurant Level 1 - A small restaurant for a chef. Tools not included. 5m X 3m 50 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. - I asked Ritotorous to go and get the materials to start building. He nods and flies off. Clapping my hands together, I approach Sylvasti and help her up. "With you just getting here, there are some questions I would like to ask you." Nodding her head in approval, I continue. "How long has it been since you last saw Zul''Zara?" "It feels like longer, but it was only a minute." She is somewhat confused by the answer. "Next, did anything happen when she left your side?" "The only strange thing is I saw a blinding light, then she was gone. After a couple of seconds, a thing blocked my vision." Becoming more concerned about what is happening, she tries to press close to Zul''Zara. "Did the thing blocking your vision look something like this?" I show her my status screen, heavily redacted so she can only see my name and class. "Yes, but it didn''t read like what I am now." "Can you remember what the words-" I am suddenly interrupted by Zul''Zara, who is quite mad at me. "What be with all the probing questions? I be thinking you only had one or two. Now you be scaring my Sylvasti." There is a slight growl in her voice as she places a protective arm around Sylvasti. Laxreal steps up to my defense. "I think I know why he is asking all of these questions. If I may, Drake." I nod, seeing that my questioning is pointed, scaring the person transported seconds ago. "Zul''Zara, what Drake is trying to find out is brilliant of him. It can not only put our minds at ease. But also those that we summon in the future." Zul''Zara starts staring at Laxreal, not backing down from protecting Sylvasti. "If we can figure out how long we have been gone in their eyes, we can figure out one of two things. Firstly, if they are put into stasis after the first person from their world has been summoned. Second, we can figure out if the first isn''t the case. There might be a form of time dilation that makes our timelines faster than those we summon." Seeing this, Zul''Zara lessens the threatening glares at Laxreal and me while nodding. "And if we be summoning more people, we be getting an accurate time of if either of those two options is correct?" She finishes before Laxreal can. "Exactly," Laxreal responds. While Laxreal finishes explaining this to Zul''Zara, it doesn''t go beyond my notice that Uxa seems to have visibly relaxed hearing how long Sylvasti has perceived time. Looking at everyone, I raise my hand. "I think it would be prudent to finish the questions." Hearing this, I receive another glare from Zul''Zara. "Not now. My suggestion is to summon someone from my planet. This will give us a better gauge as I have been here longer than anyone else." Zul''Zara removes her arm from Sylvasti and gestures at the pile of scrolls. "Go on then, you be summoning a kinfolk. We will be greeting them." Saying so with a devilish grin. I grab one of the Specific Population Summoning scrolls and target myself as the inhabitant. Soon, another portal opens wide in front of us. Its color is a deep purple. The energy levels aren''t as high as the last one. They are still on the threshold of being overbearing. As soon as the first sign of the person stepping through the portal occurs, I know exactly who I have summoned. Chapter 20 The Unexpected Reunion The one stepping out of the summoning portal causes me to be shocked and taken aback. I stand still as Xelyphe approaches me. "Hello, Drake, how have you been?" They ask. "Xelyphe, this is quite a surprise. I wasn''t expecting you to be here. I am fine. Better than I ever have been." I answer out of pure habit upon seeing them. "That is good. Now, I should introduce myself to these fine people as they seem to be on the edge of their seats." They gesture over to the rest of the people of the settlement. "After that, we are having a long talk about what has happened and why I am in this new place." Glaring at me but more of a concern than spite. They turn around and address the rest of the settlers. "Hello everyone, my name is Xelyphe Taldrit. I am Drake''s sibling. I am happy to see he is well. I presume it is all of your doing due to his condition. Which I am sure he has told you about." "He has told us about a condition, yes. I think you are a bit mistaken as to who saved whom." Laxreal approaches the topic. "As I can see from my vantage, your brother doesn''t have any condition that would be life-threatening. They are a boon for him as long as it can grow." Sylvasti, looking between the two, is confused as a newcomer to the settlement. Zul''Zara, sensing this, leans down and starts to whisper in her ear to help her catch up on the goings-on. Begrudgingly, Strauvana steps forward as well. "He saved me from a goblin encampment. When I was knocked out, he freed me and healed me with one of the few potions in the settlement." "He has helped me. By supporting my flagging emotional state on many occasions," Uxa remarks with a slight blush on his cheeks. Xelyphe looks back towards me, giving me an "I told you so" grin. They turn around, addressing Zul''Zara and Sylvasti directly. "I guess he has helped you two as well?" Nodding and then shaking her head, Zul''Zara says. "When I be doing my druid''s trial, to get my form, he be helping by supplying more mana. Though from what I have heard, he hurt himself in the process. To what extent, I be not knowing." Looking up at Zul''Zara with shock in her eyes, Sylvasti asks excitedly. "You finally have your druid form? The one that you have been searching for all this time?" "Now isn''t the time Syl. I be telling you later." Zul''Zara informs her. With a more pointed stare, she looks at the elf. "And what of you? From what I see, you are just as shocked to be here as I am. Have you also been recently summoned?¡± Bobbing her head, not used to the directness. Sylvasti meekly says, "Yes." Grasping the entire situation well, Xelyphe turns back to me. "You have been doing well from what they are telling me. Tell me, how many days have passed since you have been here?" Answering, "I have been here a total of four days. Today would be the fifth. How long has passed on Caelnova since I have been gone? And why do you not seem off-put by what is happening?" "Well, to answer your first question, it has been about a minute since midnight of the night since your last doctor''s appointment. A screen appeared stating that the entire planet would be put into stasis. While curious about why that would be, I saw no issue with letting it happen. Not that we had a choice anyway." She briefly explains to the group. "Interesting," Laxreal rubs his chin again. "So you were put into a stasis. This gives credence to our first theory. This is good news for you, Uxa." Smiling at the Tengu99 that only a skeleton could. Looking over at him, I see his shoulders have visibly relaxed. Knowing that his people are safe from what could have been a terrible fate. "Now, we can take some time to get things more organized for the arrival of those we are going to summon." This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Before going any further with this conversation, I turn to Xelyphe and ask her something. "What class did you pick, and what profession?" I could have gone into the building menu to see what they picked for a profession, but I thought it would be best if everyone knew what they could do. "Let me start from the beginning. After the message about going into stasis passed, I woke up in a pure white room. There were two options on the table." Hearing this, I hid the surprise from my face. "They were to be either a warrior or a hunter. I chose a warrior, pointing to the armaments on her person. As for a profession, I chose to become a doctor again." "You had twelve professions to pick from. And you chose to be a doctor again? I thought you hated being a doctor." I ask them, still shocked that they only had two options for a class. "While correct that I hated being a doctor. It was for those that I worked for that made me hate my job." She explains. "Too much paperwork. And not enough saving people." "One last question. There were only two options for you to pick from?" I continue to ask. "Yes, why is that strange?" They reply. "I would have to say so. I had three options, the third being mage." I announce with a sly grin on my face. Knowing what I picked, they look at me and huff. "Well, I am glad you are living out a part of your dreams." "Before we continue any further discussions about worlds. Why don''t we test a little experiment." I offer up. "It won''t hurt anyone, but it will give us a gauge if we can glitch some aspects of the system." "What do you mean by glitch the system?" Xelyphe asks. "I have a box here," gesturing at the box on the ground. "When touched, people have been getting an achievement and receiving one of their own. I was curious if any of the new summons could get the same achievement." Xelyphe nods her head. Then, they grab hold of the box. Their eyes go out of focus like they have gotten a prompt. Answering the unspoken question, "Yes, I got the achievement. I also received a box of similar quality." Suddenly, a box appears in front of them. I bring the box over to Sylvasti. She also grabs hold, noticing that nothing happened. Another box appears right in front of her. Looking at everyone I pronounce. "Looks like we can glitch the system. Should we summon more people or wait?" "I would recommend that we wait." Strauvana offers up. "We haven''t finished what we have set out to do. We need to get one more of Uxa''s people here before we make those decisions. I would recommend we keep an eye on the food. I know we have a lot, but no one other than you knows exactly how much we have currently." With nods, I hand Uxa one of the Race-Specific Population Summoning Scrolls. Stepping away from the group, he uses the scroll. A deep red colored portal appears before him. From this summoning, I feel a sense of death and bloodlust. Stepping out of the portal is a delicate-looking Tengu woman. Looking around, she immediately sees Laxreal and Strauvana. She starts to shake as terror appears in her eyes. Uxa steps forward and embraces her. Whispering just out of earshot, I see her nodding quickly while also trying to keep an eye on everyone in the group. With a heavy sigh from his mouth, Laxreal speaks up. "Uxa, I know everyone is in stasis to prevent your people from perishing, but this is bound to be tedious for every new member. I feel we should make a room to orient those that arrive so we don''t have to embarrass them as they step through." Shooting a glare towards Laxreal, Uxa calls back. "While I think that is a great idea, I don''t think now is the time. While everyone wants to start further conversations about the future, I will need some time with her." Shrugging my shoulders, I look at Xelyphe. "Shall we head to my hut, where we can discuss further about what has happened since I have appeared here?" "That would be nice. By the way, Drake. I am happy to see that you are doing well. With your permission, I would like to bring the skeleton and zombie. I have questions for them as well." Getting Laxreal and Strauvana''s attention, I wave them over. It takes them a couple of seconds before we can talk in hushed tones to not startle the other two newcomers. "My sibling would like to have a conversation between the four of us. Would you two be willing to oblige me on this?" "I would love to talk with her-" Laxreal starts. "Please use they/them. I don''t follow gender norms as one might think." Xelyphe cuts him off. "My apologies, as this will be a new concept for me, so please forgive if I misspeak. My original statement stands. I would like to have a discussion with you about him." Pointing to me. "As he has been quite the anomaly. Also, you are an anomaly as well." "Oh shut it, Laxreal," Strauvana cuts in. "Just state your mind plain." Looking straight into Xelyphe''s eyes, she says. "I want to know why you had only two options. I feel it has something similar to what Drake has been experiencing. Also, I want to know why you don''t seem afraid of me or Laxreal." I start to guide everyone up to my hut as they are having this small conversation. Upon arriving, we enter, leaving Zul''Zara to bring Sylvasti back to her hut. With Uxa to calm down the female Tengu. Chapter 21 Were Going to Need a Bigger Wall Upon entering the hut, Xelyphe sits on the bed as Laxreal, Strauvana, and I all stand around. It didn''t take long before they started firing off questions at my new companions. "What exactly are you? I don''t mean to be rude. In our world, we don''t have anything like you." "Right now, that isn''t a question that requires much explanation. I am a skeleton, and this specimen is a zombie. Also, I''d like to introduce myself. I am Laxreal and this is Strauvana." Laxreal says. Strauvana starts, "Why didn''t you have the third option? From what we have seen, everyone has at least three options for picking a class." "I think I know the answer to this one," I speak up. "If I am not mistaken, our world doesn''t have mana. Remember, I don''t even have a full set of Mana Veins." "Is that what that growth around your heart is called? Mana Veins." Xelyphe interjects. "No, that is something different entirely. The growth around my heart is called a Mana Heart. Mana Veins run parallel to the blood vessels in the body. I can circulate mana through those channels to open them up slowly. It is a painful process, and I wouldn''t recommend it unless you want to have magic." I stare intently into their eyes to hone in on how much it hurts. "Does that mean you have been slowly expanding the vein structure as you have been here?" Xelyphe asks. "Yes, and no. I can let them passively clear. Causing less pain, but the process is slow. Or I can circulate my mana and speed up the process by a factor of 10." I offer as an answer. "And that leads to him hurting himself so much that others must step in. To make sure that he doesn''t kill himself." Strauvana finishes my sentence before I can make it sound less harmful than it is. I shrug my shoulders as Xelyphe gives me a death glare. "What do you expect? I wasn''t going to tell you that even if you asked. I don''t like causing you stress." I turn towards Strauvana, "You could have at least let me get the chance to say lessen the blow before throwing that grenade into the room." "What is a ''grenade''?" Laxreal asks. "Think of it like a small fireball, except with a metal casing that throws pieces everywhere after the explosion," I answer quickly. "Moving along. What other questions do you have for everyone here?" "First was about their races since I haven''t seen them before. Next, I am curious about what happened the first day you were here. And some of the events leading to you helping or saving your fellow inhabitants. Also, it shows that I have received a new personal quest. What are these personal quests? And what do they do?" They start the conversation with a strong start. I sigh while looking at the other two. "Let''s start with the last two questions first. Personal quests I have found are for someone''s personal growth. They usually appear when you know more about something or to work on yourself. What is your quest?" I ask. "It says I need to find someone who can inject mana into my system and start cleaning my Mana Veins." They reply. I look at Laxreal, then Strauvana. "What could that mean?" They both looked at me like I was being stupid. "You do know that you have already done this process before. Though, it is a little different. While helping Zul''Zara, you injected your mana into their Mana Veins. While it wasn''t as dangerous as helping someone start their own, it was not without risk. Thankfully, Zul''Zara knew how to circulate her mana and could grab the extra you provided." "Oh," I look at them. "Would one of you be able to help them start to clear their Mana Veins?" "Honestly, I would like to help. What I would recommend, though, is that you do it again." I was about to interrupt his explanation when he held up one of his skeletal hands. "It is best that someone of the same species helps. Mana Veins are different from one species to the next. If I were to help, it could lead to a disaster of them being unable to use mana again as I scour their veins with my alien mana. I recommend getting your Mana Veins fully cleared before helping out your sibling. The clearer your picture of your own, the easier it will be to help others." I nod my head, "Thank you for the explanation. I will do as you say and hold off until I have cleared my Mana Veins first." Looking back at Xelyphe, "Why don''t we answer the rest of your questions that you have before we are called out to have a settlement meeting." Then, we delve into the events of the last four days. Some things shock them, while others make them furious at the risks I took. During this time, several "Dings" happened in my head. I put them off until we are done with the current conversation. After an hour of the telling, there is a knock on the door. Strauvana, who was closest to the door, opens it. "We be all gathered outside. I be thinking we be having the full conversation with everyone now." Zul''Zara says. "Let''s head outside, meet the new Tengu, and see what they are like." Laxreal offers. We all head out shortly after. When we are all together, the conversation starts again. This time, we can skip to the reason we have gathered. "Let''s first be introduced to our new friend," I say while gesturing to the newcomer. Uxa starts to introduce her, "This is Bryst. She is a mage class, and she chose the tailor profession. I want to mention a couple more things. First, she is my sister. Second, she doesn''t like to fight. Third, I won''t let anyone tell her what she needs to do. I want her to live without fearing becoming a monster. Lastly, while she doesn''t seem like much, she is skilled in manipulating her mana to make garments. I thought this would be beneficial as we lack proper attire for most mages." Laxreal steps forward, offering his hand. Bryst, still unable to control a tremor in her body, looks back at her brother. Thankfully, Uxa nods in approval, and she takes the proffered hand. "It will be a pleasure to work with you, Bryst. If you have any questions or need help, do not hesitate to come and find me or Strauvana. I understand from your brother that your world was in a terrible position. Know that Strauvana and I both are from a different planet. Where we are from, there are no uncontrolled undead wandering. And if there is a future option to return to your world. I will do my best to get control so you can live in peace at home once again." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Th-Th-Thank you, th-th-that is very kind of you. B-B-But I think once brother gets st-st-strong enough, w-w-we will be able to clear our home of the infestation." Bryst stutters but gains a little confidence as she speaks to Laxreal. Strauvana asks me, "What new tasks do we need to upgrade the settlement level?" "Let me check quickly," I answer, pulling up the settlement menu. - Settlement Menu: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 3 Experience: 0/50 Territory Size: 1.2Km X 1.2Km Buildings: Basic Hut Level 1 X 3 Small Dock Level 1 X 1 Small Garden Level 1 X 1 Wooden Fence Level 1 X 1 Basic Tomb Level 1 X 2 Small Cemetary Level 1 X 1 Basic Blacksmith Hut Level 1 X 1 Wood Arrow Tower Level 1 X 1 Small Mine Level 1 X 1 Basic Scribes Hut Level 1 X 1 Basic Enchanters Hut Level 1 X 1 Basic Alchemists Hut Level 1 X 1 Basic Formation Masters Hut Level 1 X 1 Outposts: Tiny Mining Outpost X 1 (+10 units of Tier 1 Stone, with a worker: twenty units of Tier 1 Stone, two units of Tier 2 stone, and an additional chance to harvest Tier 2 metal) Tasks: Reach a population of at least 10 (8/10) Survive at least one night attack (0/1) Have at least two professions up to Level 2 (0/2) Have at least two classes at Level 3 (0/2) Optional Tasks: Clear out monster encampments in the fog (0/?) Have one of each profession (8/12) - Staring at the screen with wide eyes, I look at the group. "It looks like we have much to do before we can get the settlement to the next level." I share the screen so they can all see. I shake my head and ask Bryst, "Would you mind holding something quickly?" She agrees with some confusion. I hand her the Tier 2 Personal Evolution Box. "With this, you should get an achievement that will give you one of the same boxes." She nods in agreement as a box appears before her. "Okay, with that out of the way, let''s break down the tasks as best we can," I say. The first task is easy; we must use the population scrolls to get more people. This also applies to the second optional task. Surviving the night attack is the only one that bothers me. There has yet to be any information about what that is. So I ask Ritotorous, "How will we know when the night attack happens? Or better yet, what should we expect with night attacks?" He shrugs his feathered shoulders to the best of his ability. "Honestly, Drake, I don''t know. This is new to me." Hearing he doesn''t know, I remember some notifications when talking with Xelyphe, Laxreal, and Strauvana. I pulled them up to see what they were about. - New Quest: We''re Going to Need a Bigger Wall As you have leveled up your settlement, forces have started to take notice. Plans are brewing to attack your fledgling settlement. You have given your settlement more time by destroying one of the encampments. But be warned, sometimes more time is worse. Tasks: Prepare defenses for the attack (1/?) Destroy encampments to delay and reduce the attack force (1/?) Time until attack: 35 hours Rewards: ??? Penalty for Failure: Death and destruction of the settlement Note: Increasing the population could help or hinder the attacking force. Be careful. New Personal Quest: Did Someone Call for a Training Montage? You have leveled up once, but will that be enough? Before the night attack, reach level 3 in your class, learn more spells, and clear your Mana Veins. Tasks: Reach Level 3 (0/1) Learn more spells (0/?) Clear more Mana Veins (45%/?) Rewards: Random wooden consumables box Pill of mana nourishment - I look at every one. "Did anyone else just get a personal quest?" Everyone nods their heads. "What are some of the objectives we need to focus on?" Uxa starts, "I have to get to level 3 and also learn some martial techniques." Next is Zul''Zara, "I be needing to either reach level 3 in my class or level 2 in my profession. I be also needing to learn to control my form." Laxreal picks up after, "I need to learn my new spells, get to level 3, and learn to control my death-attuned mana." Strauvana answers, "Learning more assassination techniques, learning how to track more efficiently, and reaching level 3." Xelyphe looks at the others and then tells of their quest. "Mine is to level my healing profession to level 2 and raise my class level to level 2. It also says that I must learn to wield a sword and shield and look for someone to train me." Their eyes dart over to Uxa, being they are the only one who is a warrior currently. Uxa, noticing the look, slowly shakes his head. "I can''t teach you. I am still learning more about the sword myself. Maybe we can get someone summoned who will know how to wield a blade." With a look of disappointment, Xelyphe acknowledges his remark. Sylvasti follows the brief interaction. "I need to level up my cooking profession to level 2 and create three new recipes. I have an optional task to go and hunt to level up and get ingredients." Last is Bryst, "My tailoring skill needs to level up to two, and I need to talk with someone who knows magic and can help tutor me on how to use it more." There is a look of pleading in her eyes as she turns to me. "Could you, by chance, help me learn?" I shake my head at her, "I am sorry, I will not be able to teach you about magic. I am new to it myself. I would recommend that you reach out to Laxreal. He was and still is a scholar. The amount of information you could get from him is multiple times that from me." One more "ding" sounds in my head. I sigh and open the following notification. Chapter 22 Population, BOOM - Buildings Complete: X 2 Huts X 1 Small Restaurant - With a notification about completing the rest of the buildings, I look to everyone. "Shall we continue with the distribution of the settlement tasks? Or should we talk about something else?" "I think we should figure out who will help whom. We should also complete easier tasks to the best of our abilities." Laxreal says. "I would have to agree with him, Drake," Xelyphe mentions. "Once we get some more people, we should be able to get things figured out a bit easier. They also might bring some new professions we don''t have yet." "That is true. Does anyone have any objections to this idea?" I offer up to the group. Uxa raises his hand. "I have one concern that I would like to have addressed. How are we going to keep the populations in check? Also, how will we distribute the population scrolls?" "A valid question. I think we let Laxreal and Strauvana use their scrolls, and then, based on the population counts, we split them. The only issue with this solution is if we get another type of species from the random population scroll." I say. "This isn''t that big of a deal, thankfully. We know we will eventually get more scrolls one way or another. The population will also have varying degrees of species. So, from my vantage, we should use them without too much concern." Strauvana interjects. We all nod along with those thoughts. I hand off the two Race-Specific and Specific scrolls to Laxreal and Strauvana. While I then split the remainder of the Specific scrolls between myself, Zul''Zara, and Uxa. This will leave us with precisely six people from our respective planets. Heading our separate ways so we can summon the population without worry from the other groups while agreeing that we will convene when we have summoned everyone for one last meeting. Xelyphe and I head back toward the back of my hut. Giving me a nod, I use all of the summoning scrolls. The purple portal appears, and four people step out in a single file line. The first two we don''t know, and they look around with some mild confusion. The last two are people I had hoped would show up. They are Xelyphe''s and my parents. It is weird to see a sword and shield on my father''s back and a bow and arrow on my mother''s. With my entire immediate family with us, we have a group hug. Mother is a bit teary-eyed seeing us in this weird environment. On the other hand, my father looks around to see if he needs to worry about anything. Seeing nothing, he can relax for a second while enjoying the care his family gives each other. There is a cough on the side when one of the other people walks towards us. "So, I know this is a family gathering moment you are all having. But do any of you know what is going on?" "I know what is happening," I inform all four newcomers. "I would like to tell you everything but can''t. At least not yet. Still, another twelve people need to hear this information, and I don''t want to repeat myself. I will tell you a few things: This isn''t Culhara anymore. We are in a different world, meaning there is magic and monsters. I haven''t seen many, but have fought them for the last four days. You need to be aware of different species of sentient life, such as talking skeletons, zombies, elves, trolls, and a species called tengu. There might be more, but know that from what I have seen and learned about this location, they will not harm you or won''t be able to hurt you." I am closing off this line of questions before it has a chance to start. "We will also briefly introduce ourselves when we are all together again. So, you will learn who I am and the other twenty-one or twenty-two people of the settlement." Bringing them over, I have a nice view of the summoning portals all closing off¡ªRed for Uxa''s home world. Gold for Zul''Zara''s, and the last one is black as night, which I can only presume is for Laxreal and Strauvana''s home world. As we approach the settlement center, my father starts to shield us from the different beings. This is his first time seeing them, so I don''t give him too much flack for trying to protect his family. "Dad, these are the different species I am talking about." I grab his shoulder, walk in front of him, and gesture. "They haven''t hurt me in the slightest. I have helped them. We must work together to survive what is to come and build." Waving over to Laxreal, Strauvana, Uxa, and Zul''Zara, we all get to the center of the settlement close to the same time. "I see we have many different races here with us now. This is going to be interesting." I call out to everyone. "Hello, my name is Drake Taldrit. Right now, I am the person with the most knowledge." A rustle of wings and Rititorous lands on my shoulder. "While I know all of you have questions, we can get those answered through the days. Right now, we are in dire need of everyone''s help. I see past hostilities still." Gesturing at Uxa''s side of the settlement as, they glare at Laxreal and Strauvana. "Know this, though. Violence to fellow settlers will not be tolerated." Quickly looking at Ritotorous, I get an affirmation of this fact. One of the new settlers steps forward. He is 3 meters tall at minimum. His muscles ripple in agitation. "And who are you exactly to tell us what we can and can''t do?" I see Uxa stepping forward, but I halt him with a small gesture. He considers the motion and stops. Several others in the crowd also see this happen and now have curious gazes centered on me with more intent than before. "You are correct. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Drake Taldrit. I was the first one here and summoned those who have called you here. I am a," I quickly scan my character sheet for the information. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. - Status Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Class: Mage Class Level: 2 Affinity: Healing, Nature Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Attributes: Total Strength: 1 Intelligence: 6 (4 base + 2 from equipment) Spell damage increase +1 (+1 damage per 5 points in a stat) Wisdom: 5 (3 base + 2 from equipment) Charisma: 1 Dexterity: 1 Constitution: 2 Free Points: 0 Skills: Analyze Level 4 Arcane Shot Level 3 Mana Circulation Level 1 - I notice I have leveled up and hear a "ding" of a notification being received before putting my point into "Constitution." I continue. "Second-level mage. As you can see with your status screens, I am one of the strongest in the settlement." "So what if you are the highest level? That doesn''t mean you can tell us what to do." The goliath interrupts before I can proceed further. "You are correct, but I have never intended to tell you what to do from the start. I wanted everyone to have some basic introductions before we moved on to the more pressing matter. Which you would hear about if you don''t allow me to talk." My voice is getting louder in volume, slightly intimidating the goliath. "Now, would you kindly back off so we can finish this." Taking a step back so he is behind Uxa again, I relent. "Okay, now that that is out of the way. Allow me to continue." I say in a less harsh voice. "Four others are also as strong as me, if not stronger, due to experience with magic that I sorely lack. But I am currently the only person who can queue up buildings and other things to be made, so we aren''t spending days to make simple lodging for everyone. I''ve already mentioned my class, and my profession is enchanter." Finishing my introduction, I step back. Laxreal, Strauvana, Uxa, and Zul''Zara all approach the center and quickly introduce themselves with class and profession. My sister, Bryst, and Sylvasti follow them, the next group to even the numbers. Then, with one group of four at a time, they introduce themselves. From Culhara is Ilpheus Taldrit, my father, a warrior and mason. My mother, Madoka Taldrit, is a hunter and woodworker. Jemol Truethorne is a hunter and leatherworker. Last, from our group, Demetrius Glowsword is another hunter and alchemist. From Troberia is the Goliath Rognar, a warrior and mason. The other Goliath''s name is Narus, and she is a mage and scribe. Then, a snake-like woman introduces herself as Vranjaya. She is a mage and healer. Last is Muiress, a merfolk. He is a Hunter and enchanter. From Thelatera is Draemish Void, a zombie warrior and a leatherworker; Eleanor Blood-Flight, a vampiric hunter and enchanter. Ramona, the Peace Guardian, is a daemon warrior and blacksmith. And last from their group is Oria, the Earth Elemental, a mage and foreman. A "ding" goes off with the completion of two of the tasks as more people introduce themselves. From Usa''Nov is Nelaedeth Oakenbrow, a dwarven warrior and mason. Gibnic Mikmack is a gnomish mage and formation master, the last two being Autumn Dust and Shadow Dust. Both are hunters, with Autumn as a chef and Shadow as a foreman. Suddenly, Draemish calls out to Autumn and Shadow. "And what is your race? I can feel the telltale signs of transformation magic on you." Both of them look around at the group with terror in their eyes. "We are elves as you can-" Shadow, the one talking, is cut off. "Don''t play dumb with me, boy. I know transformation magic when I see it. Now talk, what race are you actually from?" She says while approaching them slowly, with Strauvana getting her bow out. "Whoa there," I shout as I run up to Draemish. "What are you doing?" Seeing that I am approaching her, Draemish backs off a step. She is still glaring at the other two. "I am just trying to ensure we won''t have any problems. From the brief information we have received from my darling Strauvana. I know you to be a good human, but those two." She says while pointing. "They are blatantly lying to us all. Saying they are elves when they reek of transformation." I look to Laxreal for confirmation of these allegations. He nods at me while pointing at his eyes, implying he can also see it. I ask with my back to Draemish, "If you don''t feel comfortable telling us, that is one thing, but if you keep lying to all of us, then it will be hard to trust you to do anything here in the settlement. And considering you will need us for many things, there is no reason to hide who you are." The siblings look at each other and then sigh, defeat written on their faces. "If you must know what we are, we are shifters. I know, the only group of people that have been run out of more cities in our home world than I could count. While the fault of this lies with those before us, we are heavily discriminated against. Since we can shift into any sentient race, within reason." Shadow says while looking at one of the Goliaths. "We are typically hired for jobs that others would be caught doing otherwise. Thus leading to our predicament." "Will this be the end of it?" I ask Draemish. "No, just like he said, even though they are young and not of my world, I have had my share of shifters trying to assassinate me. I will not believe them unless they take an oath." Draemish insists. The rest of the group they are with slowly distancing themselves from the siblings. Seeing this, I step forward and offer a hand to Shadow. "Are you willing to work hard to clear the name of your people so you can start anew in this new world? For yours and your sister''s sake?" He looks around and then back at me. "I will do all in my power to make sure there is a space for my sister so she can live a full life. If that means I need to vow servitude, then I will." He slowly gets to one knee in front of me, ignoring my proffered hand. "I vow before you all that I, Shadow Dust, and my sister, Autumn Dust, shall never harm the interests of this growing settlement. That I shall be the sword pushed forth to keep those behind safe to, if I must, sacrifice my own life to protect those within my reach. And for those that are not, I shall do all I can to make it so their families will live in peace. I vow this to you, Drake Taldrit." A crack of lightning sounds in the distance, and a golden notification comes into view without my prompting. Chapter 23 Noble Classes - Congratulations, you have your first oath-bound. The weight of their choices now falls on more than just their heads. Rewards: 1 Class Tome of Scout Commander, 1 Class Tome of a Noble. - In front of both me and Shadow, we get a tome. Mine is for the Noble class. His is for the Scout Commander class. Looking at him, I see he has made a terrible mistake. One that he plans on carrying out but a mistake. "What is going on?" Xelyphe asks. "He has sworn his allegiance to Drake. That is what has just happened. And from the look on his face, I can see he didn''t think it would be taken as seriously as he first thought." Draemish answers them with a wicked smile spread across her face. "Seems like a just punishment for a group that would backstab someone for the right coin. I would recommend having her also give you an oath." She says while pointing at Autumn. "NO," Shadow shouts. "One is more than enough. Do you think I would do something that would jeopardize my own?" "I have seen far more than you can think, young shifter. I have been alive for centuries. I have seen the rise of some clans only to lead to their fall because of simple things. So, of course, I would require that you both make an oath. Why would you want to not? It seems like you have received something special for making that oath." She gestures towards the tome. "Hold on." I raise my hands in protest. "I understand your hatred for their species if that is what has happened to you in the past. But they are from a completely different world. Can you even say they do the same things in that world?" Zul''Zara comes forward. "They be just as she said. Most of them, that is. Hard be the time to find one that be as good as this one." She points to Shadow. "I see the same from just the small tribal wars in my world. Someone be coming into another camp and be killing their leaders. I be not as harsh since that be the way of things in my world. Be wary; they still be sneaky and should not be trusted." Looking aghast at Zul''Zara, I then turn to Autumn. "I can see more people are wary of your race than anticipated. I would like to hear your side of things. I need to know the truth, though. Can I trust that you will not harm us? Or that you will not go against the settlement?" Before she can speak, I raise my hand to continue. "If this is how things will go, I would eventually expect, when people are ready, also to be willing to come forward and swear on oath, though not as harsh as one that Shadow has said." I can see disgruntled faces in the crowd as they murmur amongst themselves. Then I shout over them, "If you want to have one group of people swear an oath not to harm us, why shouldn''t everyone? I have been here for four days." I move my hands to the four others. "Laxreal, Strauvana, Zul''Zara, and Uxa have been here for two. We only had four other companions, so it was easy to keep tabs on people. Once we get more people, it will be harder to trust each other. We are from different worlds, cultures, and life experiences. Who is to say that one group wouldn''t outright fight another just because of something that has happened on their planet?" "I will not treat one group any differently than another. If one must swear an oath, then I will have all swear an oath." My heart beats loudly in my ears as I make this proclamation. A majestic bearing flowed out of me, putting pressure on everyone around me. Some got on their knees in recognition of the feeling. Others stared open-jawed while trying to figure out what this pressure could mean. I received another notification. This one has a golden edge. - Mana Heart progressed to 50%. +1 Wisdom per level, +1 Constitution per level - My Mana Heart, which has been quiet since the second day of my being here, has advanced to another degree. I am shocked at this revelation but continue exuding the pressure for a minute more. Calming down, I look at every one. "I hope that this doesn''t become an issue. But I expect that everyone has made some form of oath before a large-scale fight. I don''t want to be suddenly backstabbed, as Draemish has put it. But I don''t want everyone to feel like they are strangled and don''t have a way out. If you can''t think of an oath you want to take, give me some time, and I will devise one that is easy to do and won''t limit you as much." This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. After getting approval from everyone, I take a look at my new item. - Class Tome of a Noble: Upon use, acquire the class of a Noble. - With no other information provided, I use the skill book, and a prompt flashes. - Would you like to acquire the class of a Noble? Yes/No - I select "Yes" when another prompt flashes in front of me. - Are you sure you want to Receive the Noble class? Upon doing so, you cannot acquire any other special classes. Yes/No - Once again, I select "Yes" when one last notification appears. - You have received the special class of Noble. This class is at Level 1. To increase the level of this class, please receive more "Oaths of fielty." Stats for Class Level: + 1 Charisma, + 1 free stat point New Skill Learned: Leadership Level 1: When in a party, you have a 5% chance to increase damage by 1 point and healing by 1 point. - There is another notification that I can put off to the side for right now. I see all of Uxa''s people standing in front of me. I am still inundated with information about the noble class and don''t fully notice what is happening around me. Uxa takes a knee, and then shortly after, Vranjaya bows her head. They both make a vow of their own. "I, Uxa, swear to uphold the honor of Drake Taldrit. I swear I will not harm the settlement or have any nefarious thoughts towards the settlement for as long as my sister and I are safe." "I, Vranjaya, swear to follow and guide Drake Taldrit. I swear I will not harm the settlement or have nefarious thoughts towards the settlement. I will be the spells at his back and an advisor for as long as I still breathe." Hearing the two different vows, a tome appears before Vranjaya after a golden flash of light with a flash of lightning happens in the world around us. A silver light shines from Uxa at the end of his oath. My interest is piqued at this point. Why did one person get a tome while the other didn''t? Asking Vranjaya, "What is the reason behind your vow?" "I sssensed a familiar presssenssse when you were releasing your arua. Assss my kind isss prone to, we will ssseek out thossse that have a ssstronger bloodline, sssimilar to our patronsss. In doing ssso, we give our allegiance to sssaid perssson in hopess that they offer sssactuary." "Bloodline?" I ask Ritotorous. "It would appear that you have a bloodline, " she stated. Though what kind, I don''t know yet. I will find out as you figure it out as well. Though, from the pressure released earlier, I can assure you that it is powerful." Xelyphe asks, curious that I am talking with the raven on my shoulder. "Why are you asking a raven for information? Can''t you ask the system?" "I have found that PUN isn''t as forthright with information that could be useful and that we need to experience something for us to understand it personally. I have a bit of a head start as I have Ritotorous." I gesture to him. "He is acting as a guide for me and has far more information than I would have thought, though I can see we are slowly getting to the point that even he is stumped by some things." "Can you ask him about the tomes you three have gotten?" They ask. I look at Ritotorous, and he replies to their question. "These tomes are very rare. Usually, you wouldn''t see them until you got to the small town settlement level, from my knowledge. Shadow, Vranjaya, and yourself have received tomes because, once someone has given an oath of fielty to one person that would bind them to you for a lifetime, the two that participated in the first oath receive a special class to each." Acknowledging that I am following along, he continues. "There can only be one noble per settlement. From that one noble, three special classes go to the first person of each starting class. They are Knight Commander, Mage Commander, and Scout Commander. So far, you have two of the three. Next, the first person from the warrior class to swear a lifelong fielty to you gets the Knight Commander special class." Looking a bit shocked at this information, I pause. "Should I inform everyone of this?" I asked him in my mind instead of out loud this time. "I would recommend it. The reason is that once people see that there are benefits to swearing fidelity to you and the settlement, they will be able to progress faster than anticipated. Also, the attack that is bound to happen sooner or later benefits those who can increase their strength." Agreeing with him, I inform everyone of my new class and what benefits the two will receive. I also mentioned there is still one commander spot open, but the caveat is the oath of fielty has to be one just like Shadow and Vranjaya. Interestingly, Draemish steps forward. "If you need an oath of fielty, then I think the best option is one from each world." She says while gesturing at the other two groups of people. Before bowing her head, "I, Draemish, swear that I will be loyal and not harm the interests of the settlement. I will do my best to guide those who need it and support those in need. I will protect my new home even at the cost of my life." Another golden light shines from Draemish, accompanied by a flash of lightning from the sky, signifying the oath is just as binding as the one Shadow provided. After which, a tome appears in front of her. She uses the book, and I can feel a connection formed. I can feel three solid bonds and a slightly lesser one. Following those, I feel my three new commanders at the end of them. At the same time, the more inferior connection leads in the direction of Uxa. After exploring these bonds, I received several notifications. And after reading the first couple of words, I can''t help but smile. Chapter 24 Buildings, Spells, Notifications The first of the notifications has the same golden border as the one telling me about my Mana Heart. It is more regal in feel, though, in comparison. - Congratulations, you have received three oaths of fidelity, one from each class for the first time. Reward: 1 X Iron Instant Level Up Token - - Congratulations, you have received three oaths of fidelity from three different planets. Reward: 1 X Random Wooden Specific-Race Population Box - - Note: All rewards have been put near your Lord''s Chest. - I am seeing the quick and easy rewards. I announce to the crowd. "Hopefully, this can alleviate some of our mistrust for each other." Laxreal steps forward, saying, "Some, yes, but I think some of us are curious if you will make an oath of your own. Seeing how none of the people from your planet have made any oath yet." Looking around, there are nods of agreement from what he has said. I call out, "That is fair. I wouldn''t have you think that giving me your oaths would be all that needs to be done. So, I, Drake Taldrit, swear that I will uphold who I am. I will not be swayed by others who will cause the settlement to come to purposeful harm. And I will do my best to keep everyone''s best interests in mind as we grow this settlement into a town and further." A red and gold light shines out from my body, and I get a notification. - You have made an oath to those who live in your settlement. Should you go back on this oath, there will be penalties. While this oath is in place, the people of the settlement will have a positive outlook and be likely to swear their oaths to you. - Having finished my oath, I look at the groups before me. "We have a lot to discuss, and many things must be done. And not to pressure anyone, but we only have..." I look at the time until the first full attack on the settlement. "33 hours before there is an attack on the settlement." Hearing this news for the first time, there are a lot of concerned faces. To prevent any more panic from setting in, I also mention. "We can delay the attack by going into the fog that you can see over in the distance. I want people to start working on a couple of tasks. For those who have the profession, I would appreciate it if you could help manage some of the construction projects. A small restaurant is already being built for those in the chef profession. Once that is done, you can go into my storage chest and pull out the food goods and see if there are any recipes that you can make for those who need materials to do their work like mason, blacksmith, and the like we don''t have a sustainable supply of resources currently. I will set up a party so we can go out to get more rewards and clear some encampments in hopes that we can push the attack back at least a day so we are better prepared." Taking the lead to get things organized feels weird. I haven''t been one to tell people what to do, but I can see in their eyes they want someone to take charge and give them some direction. Draemish comes to stand by my side, along with Shadow and Vranjaya. "Do you have any orders for us, Drake?" Draemish asks. "At this moment, there are several people from my world that don''t have any knowledge in the way of the sword. Please help find someone or teach them yourself. I don''t want to hinder your progress, though. If you want to come with me and we can start leveling you up, that is also an option. I will be leaving the settlement in two hours. I have to learn some new spells and try and clear some more of my Mana Veins." I answer her. Giving a nod to everyone, I turn to head into my hut. I know there will be a knock at my door soon. I am leaving early so I can also start to figure out if any new buildings need to be built and to see where the settlement resources are. I reach my hut in less than a minute and enter. A hand stops the door from shutting entirely, and the rest of my family steps inside. "Drake," my father starts. "I think we need to talk about what is happening. I can see that you are in a hurry to finish something, but your mother and I are lost. What do you want us to do?" I look over to see how troubled he is by all the new things happening. "Dad, there are lots of things going on. I know there are so many questions you both have. I don''t have time today since I just got a mission to try and build up defenses. These things will take time to explain, which is the one thing I know we are lacking." I pause and check on two things I want to do. - Building Menu: New Habitations: Small Earthen Mound Level 1 - Basic housing for earth elementals. It comes with a small personal chest once completed. 3 meters X 3 meters (Special Building, does not need building supplies. Earth Elemental must make it themselves) Large Basic Hut Level 1 - Basic housing for large species. It can only be claimed by those of the Goliath race. It contains a small personal chest and a bed. 5 meters X 5 meters, 60 units of Tier 1 Wood. Basic Sleeping Pond Level 1 - Basic housing for amphibious species. It comes with a place to sleep based on who claims the pond and a small personal chest. 3 meters X 3 meters, 40 units of Tier 1 Stone This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Small Major''s Manor Level 1 - One Per Village; Houses the leader and their family. Has two floors. The first floor has a small meeting, a dining room, and a kitchen. The second floor has three bedrooms. 10m X 10m, 100 units of Tier 1 Wood, 100 units of Tier 1 Stone, 50 units of Tier 1 Metal New Profession Buildings: Basic Constructors Hut Level 1 - A basic workshop for a foreman. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters, 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Basic Tailoring Hut Level 1 - A basic workshop for a tailor. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters, 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Basic Leatherworking Hut Level 1 - A basic workshop for a leatherworker. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters, 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Basic Mason''s Hut Level 1 - A basic workshop for a mason. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters, 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Basic Carpentry Hut Level 1 - A basic workshop for a woodworker. Tools not included. 3 meters X 3 meters, 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 30 units of Tier 1 Stone. Settlement Resources: Tier 1 Wood - 24 Stone - 542 (+10 daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - 751 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 215 Tier 2 Wood - 0 Stone - 0 Metal - 0 Food - 0 (+1 Per 5 days Fishing Pier) - With a heavy sigh, I turn to my family. "Not only do I have to make sure we can survive an attack, but I have also to find where I can get more wood resources. I am almost completely out of them. How am I supposed to build anything if I don''t have the required materials?" Grabbing my hair in stress, I slump onto my bed. A look passes between my family members. Then my mother comes and sits next to me. "I know it hasn''t been easy on you, Drake. I can see the work you are doing here. It is far more than anything I could have done on my own. I saw your inhabitants, while they aren''t exactly human, in the standard way. I can see Laxreal, Strauvana, Zul''Zara, and Uxa''s care towards you and those around them. These are good people, and I hope we can get used to them quickly and not slow you down. Now, how can we help? Think for a moment and then answer, always remember we are here to help no matter what." She says, giving me a loving smile. Following that, I take a deep breath¡ªa minute passes when there is a knock at my door. My father looks over and then opens the door slightly. He gasps and steps back, still not used to the new people. I hear a voice ask quietly. "Can we come in, my lord?" Still not used to the serpentine voice, I ask, "Who all is out there?" There is a clacking of the jaw, and there is only one person that I can think of to make such a sound. "If you must know, it''s your party. Also, there are Vranjaya, Draemish, and Shadow. We have some news for you, but take your time. Don''t forget to learn your new spells while you are in there." He reminds me. Sighing, I go to the chest at the foot of my bed, pull out the four books, and analyze them. - Spell Tome of Minor Healing: You will learn the spell Minor Heal by using this tome. Spell Tome of Shielding: You will learn the spell Holy Shield by using this tome. Spell Tome of Nature''s Grasp: You will learn the spell Nature''s Grasp by using this tome. Spell Tome of Barkskin: You will learn the spell Barkskin by using this tome. - I use all four tomes right away after learning what they can provide. On doing so, I feel a splitting headache as the information on how to cast the spells rushes into my head. I lightly hear Laxreal call out. "Oh, and don''t use them all right away. It will cause one nasty headache." Shortly after that, a mild chuckling can be heard. Screw him and his late warning, as my head feels exactly like he said. My father chuckles, seeing the position I am in. "Laxreal, that was cruel but well worth it. Thank you on my behalf for teaching that valuable lesson to us. I don''t think he will do that again for a long time. I am glad you have seen through some of his bad habits of rushing into things." He opens the door further so everyone outside can look in and see my hunched-over form as I am grasping my head. A chorus of laughter rings out, and while it still hurts, I am glad to hear it. I know these people mean no harm in the laughter, and I am embarrassing myself. I pull myself together and stand up. The pain is still there, but it slowly decreases as people laugh. "Ok," I say, wincing at the sound. "Let me check what these spells do, and then shall we review what I have learned and the next steps?" - Skills: Analyze Level 4 Upon focusing on an object for three seconds; you will see a basic description of the item. Mana Circulation Level 1 Increases mana regeneration by 1 per hour Leadership Level 1 5% chance to increase damage and healing by 1 Spells: Arcane Shot Level 3 Deals 1 - 8 +2 Damage within 30 meters. Minor Healing Level 1 Heals a target within 30 meters for 1 - 8 points of health. Shield Level 1 Creates a shield of light surrounding a target that prevents four points of damage. Nature''s Grasp Level 1 Creates a layer of rough brambles in a 5-meter area, causing enemies to take 1 - 4 damage while walking through them. Barkskin Level 1 Cast on a friendly target to make their skin as thin as bark. It gives two points of damage mitigation when receiving an attack. - Smirking, they agree, and we talk about the settlement''s overall situation. "I think we ssshould get the earthen bulwark ssstarted. I have a ssstrong feeling the earth elemental will be able to help out consssiderably. I would alssso like to look at the two bodiesss of water and sssee if there are any waysss to get more resssourcesss out of them." Vranjaya offers. "I would alssso like to offer my assssissstance in helping you clear your Mana Veins. Asss one of our bloodline. You ssshould have that completed possst hassste." Shadow walks forward next, "I would like to scout the rest of the main territory. I have heard from Zul''Zara that you have just expanded our space, and some resources could be out there. I will bring my sister along with me. We might get lucky and find things to improve ourselves." I nod at him, agreeing with his idea. Draemish is next. "I would like to start training those with a sword on using them if they don''t have any experience. I know two of your family members require aid, and there are more that could also be used. I think a night lesson every night would be for the best. Let those who need to use the daylight use it for other tasks. Until those lessons, I will be coming with you on excursions. We don''t need our only noble to go and perish in the wilderness." I acknowledge her offer and look at the rest of my family and group. "With that settled, shall we see what adventures await us this time in the fog?" A large smile is plastered on my face, thinking of all the loot. Chapter 25 Squads and Armies Stepping outside, Oria, the earth elemental, was right before me. "I need materials in chest to start buildings." They say in a monotone voice. I nod and give them access to my hut and Lord''s Chest. Knowing what they are about to see, I inform Oria. "We don''t have much wood left. I know this will slow down the construction efforts. But I know several things that don''t require wood and might take longer to complete can be built in the meantime. Start with those, then see if there is any way to start a project without all the supplies." Nodding their head at me, they look through the menu. They select to build two tombs for the other two undead of the settlement, their habitation, and the earthen bulwarks. Leaving Oria to handle building matters, I turn to my now expanded group. There''s Uxa, Laxreal, Strauvana, and Zul''Zara. Following behind them are my sister, father, mother, and Draemish. We head out of the settlement with three warriors, two hunters, a mage becoming a druid, and three ranged support figures. I try adding more people to my party, but I am limited in how many I can have at a party. I look at the party menu and see only six available spots. I asked Ritotorous about this. "This makes sense; a typical person will only be able to have four party slots available to them. Your noble class gives you a bonus of one additional slot. I think your Mana Heart is also increasing your party limit by one. I am not certain, though. Another way this will increase as your Charisma stat increases. You will get one more party slot for every five charisma points. There is more to this system that I will explain as you figure it out." "Why not now?" I ask with a bit of frustration. "What is the fun of knowing everything without learning in the process." He responds flippantly. Continuing into the settlement, I pass people. And find they are doing what they can to help. It is a bit shocking as it hasn''t been long since they arrived at the settlement, and are willing to work together. It makes sense, though, in one way. One world is in strife from an apocalyptic amount of zombies, one is very tolerant of all species, except for shifters, and one is full of different races that seem to at least be at peace with each other. Lastly is my home planet. Those two are just standing off to the side. I can see they are still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that these fantastical species of people exist. We approach the last two humans, "Are you okay?" I ask them. "We are fine," Jemol responds. "Just trying to get our wits about us and figure out what we can do. From what I see, most of these people have things under control. I am hesitant, though, as to if I should go out and explore." He is wringing his hands together. "Why did you pick the leatherworking profession?" I ask him, looking for a way that I can help the situation. "I used to be a hunter and leatherworker back home, but I was also an RPG gamer. So when I saw the options before me, I immediately went to the one that I always played as, Warrior. As for profession, I went with what I knew, just like when I chose warrior. I didn''t want to stray too far from my roots." Hearing that he used to be a hunter, I ask, "Have you thought about joining under Shadow? I am sure there are plenty of opportunities to grow your skills, even those as a warrior under him." I say, having a slight hunch about what will help those commander classes under me. "I didn''t think about that. So many things are new that the bigger picture is blinding me too much for me to focus on a smaller detail like that." He stands straight and looks at Shadow, "If you would have me, I would be thrilled to help you scout the area." Shadow gives his ascent to the request and then looks at me. "You knew that this would happen, didn''t you?" "What happened?" I asked him since it was only a hunch. "I got the option to create a scout squad. At my current level as commander, though, I can only have one squad of 5 people." "That is interesting. I wonder if it is the same for the other commanders as well. Are there any other benefits that you get for the squad?" "When I inspect it, it says that those in the squad can find resources, treasure, places of interest, and enemies more easily. It also says that based on how much they find, the level of the squad can increase, thus making all of those things even easier with more bonuses to come later." I turn to my other commanders, "Maybe we should complete all the squads before we leave? I don''t want us to lose valuable squad experience if we can avoid it." With a nod, all three start looking around and calling out to people. Uxa, my father, sister, Roma, and Rognar all offer to join the knight squad. Laxreal, Gibnic, Zul''Zara, Narus, and Oria join the mage squad. I tried, but as the one giving the commander class, I could not enter. Finally, my mother, Autumn, Muiress, and Strauvana join to finish off the scout squad. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. When my party members join those squads, they leave the party, and I receive a new set of notifications. - Uxa leaves the party. Laxreal leaves the party. Zul''Zara leaves the party. Strauvana leaves the party. - Curious as to why they left the party, I ask Laxreal. "To join the mage squad, I had to leave my party. I have a hunch about something. Why don''t you try to invite Vranjaya to your party and see what happens." Following his suggestion, I invited her to the party. My menu changes with another new notification. - You have invited your commander into your party. As is the case, your party menu will become an Army menu until your commander or commanders leave the party. - - Vranjaya has accepted your army invitation. - There is one more notification that pops up. - Congratulations, you have started your first army. Though small, they find and conquer more to increase their power. As their power increases, your troop''s numbers shall expand. Reward: 1 X Random Bronze Resource Box. - The menu visibly changes. I can see that it is now a tree-like structure. On the top is myself. Branching from there is my only commander in the army, Vranjaya. And from her are five branches going to those in her squad. I can click on Vranjaya''s name and see her information and the data of those directly underneath her. I look at Ritotorous and smile at him. "This is what you meant earlier when you wouldn''t tell me, huh?" I send in a thought. "Well, yes, I know how much you like to figure things out. And in some instances, there isn''t an option to explore. With this being so convenient for you, I thought, why not? And only nudged you in that direction. Grateful for my fine feathered friend, I stroke his head and continue to invite the other two commanders into my army. "Should I be aware of anything when I want to go out into the fog since this time will be very different than last?" "Yes, there will be a bit of a difference. But not much. I recommend bringing extra food as you never know when you need it. Also, inform the commanders that those in the army will be brought along whether they want to, as armies need to go on campaigns together." "Will there be an option to leave parts of an army behind?" I ask. "Yes, but that will be when you can have several armies active simultaneously. Your noble class must increase and evolve before that can happen." Looking around at everyone, I tell them the next step. They, in turn, tell those under them. Since there isn''t much we can do right now with the limited resources for buildings, we head to the edge of the territory. With a large group of people heading out, I stop and look at those we are about to leave behind. Calling out to them, "If any of you want to explore this initial area for treasure chests and resources, please do so. There is a wooden fence that lines where it should be safe. I will not guarantee that there aren''t any monsters out there. I would recommend grouping up so you can be safer. Any resources found would be helpful. Those who find treasure chests feel free to open them if they aren''t resource boxes. You do not need to open them to be drowned with materials." We continue towards the fog wall. Ritotorous catches up after grabbing more food from the Lord''s Chest and putting it in my Small Personal Inventory Bag. We get to the fog wall after a seven-minute walk. Pressing my palm to the wall of fog again, I get a notification. - You are about to enter this region with an army. Would you like to continue? Yes/No - Looking back at my army, I select "Yes." A flash of light is behind me, and a new notification is before me. - As a noble leading this army, you may select what you want to do since it is the first time entering as a noble. War Extermination Exploration Conquest - I see that Ritotorous is still with me, and I ask him about the different options. "War will put you against another settlement. It could be a newer settlement or one that is older. To clear the objective, kill the settlement''s leader, raze it to the ground, or force the leader to join your payment. Rewards will be based on the path you take. I would not recommend this option; we are still at a low power level and might run into a more powerful settlement. Extermination can be cleared by destroying monster encampments. One thing to note, this will be a gauntlet. While there are times that you can rest and slowly go through them, it won''t be that long for rest. I would recommend this option, though, as you are looking for ways to extend that timer. Also, the rewards of this option are based on the number of camps you clear and the level of the encampments. Conquest will put you in front of an outpost; these outposts are monster-controlled. Once you have cleared the outpost, you can claim it. This will move it to a part of your territory if it is not adjacent. Exploration is like what you experienced before on a much larger scale. You can develop a central base and then find treasures and opportunities there. This has fewer reward options as it is just that exploration. One thing to mention is that most of these options will scale based on the size of your army and the average level of those in the military. Since your army consists primarily of level 1 settlers, you will be given lower-level encampments and outposts to deal with." Thinking about these options, I pick one, and with a flash of light, I am back in front of the army. Chapter 26 Extermination I think about the four options only for a brief moment. I select extermination in hopes that this will count not only towards pushing back the timing of the attack. I also hope it will help me level up and get my Mana Veins to progress. One more flash and I am back in front of my army. It is weird for me to think that this is my army. Looking around, I see they are prepping as best they can. Within sight is a small encampment. I see movement from inside the encampment. Once I see my target, I receive a set of notifications. - New Quest: Extermination Upon entering, you have found yourself in front of an encampment. Kill all the inhabitants of the encampment. Task: Eliminate all the inhabitants of the encampment (0/1) Rewards: Ability to go back to your settlement, one Treasure of the Fog New Army Quest: Wet Behind the Ears This is your first time being in command of a force more significant than the amount of digits on your hand. Task: Clear the encampment by only giving orders to your troops (0/1) Reward: ??? - With the new quests in mind, I look for my commanders. "I will be unable to help you clear this encampment unless necessary. We will clear this place with no problems." I hold back the fact that the only time I have given any orders is through RTS games. In hopes that I don''t make a mistake, I call out. "Scouts, please find out what we are looking at. I would like to know numbers, if possible, and levels." Sending them off, I give orders to the other two commanders. "Let''s set up a defensive line here for the scouts to fall back on just in case they are spotted. We don''t want to be unprepared if whatever is in the encampment decides to come and welcome us." Draemish gives a nod and sets the warriors into a line. While also giving some instructions on holding a shield to help protect themselves and their companions. Vranjaya looks towards the mages and has lined up several steps behind the warriors. I hear a shout from the encampment and see that one of the scouts is sprinting back to us. Four humans are chasing after him with crazed expressions on their faces. I analyze them. - Crazed Bandit: Level 1 HP 5/5 - They were only level 1 and didn''t have much health. But seeing that my opponents this time were humans, I could feel a knot develop in my stomach. Looking towards my commanders to see what they would do, I see they are calm. There are only four people who feel a sense of unease with the situation. When I looked back to see who was being chased, that knot disappeared. Seeing the frantic look on my mother''s face gives me the courage to do what I need to. "Mages, Fire when they are within range. Warriors, prepare to step forward to help." Hearing the orders, my troops settle into a ready position. I can feel minute amounts of mana being channeled into spells as they prepare their arcane shots. Draemish nods back to me on the front lines with the rest of the warriors. My mother passed the 30-meter mark quickly, and shortly after, the four bandits passed it as well. The mana surges out of the mages as they cast their spells. Three of the spells connect with bandits, two directly dropping to the ground, with the third getting staggered as the bolt impacts them. With the now one remaining bandit still running at full speed, I give the order for my warriors to surround and kill him. I have the mages take turns casting at the staggered last bandit. It takes four more bolts, several missing before they can down the bandit. Hearing the panting of my mother, I see her going to hold my father, looking for support. My father, shaken by the fact that he had to cut down another human, mercilessly holds her close. Approaching the two of them, I ask. "How are you doing mom?" She doesn''t reply right away before a sob escapes her lips. "These men are not right. They were eating something; from what I could see, it might have been another human. I don''t know exactly, but only the four heard my shock and started chasing after me. The rest appeared to be fully invested in their meal." She holds onto my father firmly. I look towards Draemish and Vranjaya. "It seems we might be able to take the rest of the encampment by surprise." As I finish saying this, Shadow and the other scouts return. Getting right to the point, Shadow tells us the situation in the camp. "There are six more figures inside of the encampment. From my information, there are five level 1 bandits and one level 2 bandit. I would recommend long range in hopes we can whittle down the numbers and make it even more in our favor." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Draemish and Vranjaya both nod in agreement before I ask an important question. "How many more arcane bolts can your mages cast?" Taking stock of where the rest of the mage squad''s mana levels are at, I get a response. "We can cassst at leassst one more volley of bolts. Then ssseveral of our cassstersss will be unable to continue, which will only put usss down to four cassstersss, myssself, Laxreal, Zul''Zara and Narusss." With this information, I ask Shadow, "What are the odds that you and your scouts can kill the rest before they can get close?" "I have only four bows available since one of my scouts is a warrior, and the other seems to be taking the fact we are facing humans harder than the rest. He should be able to sneak up and at least distract one of the bandits. In theory, we should be able to get three volleys of arrows into the enemy before they are on us in melee range." "How about our melee? Will it be a problem to be down one of the warriors?" "We should be fine. I want to ask for the warrior in the scouting party to be a part of the defensive line. He will be better used since he can''t be caught out alone then." Draemish counters Shadow''s plan. Shadow looks at Draemish and huffs. "That is fine. Take him if you want; it will be best since we won''t accidentally shoot him." Throwing his hands up in frustration. "I think the best plan of attack is to leave the mages only to cast the one volley of bolts. This will give us time to recoup some of the lost mana." I say. "Why do we need to consider that?" Draemish asks. "It is so we can continue to clear out encampments," I answer. "Before I arrived by your side, I was allowed to pick what type of experience we would have. I won''t be able to do so in the future. And from what Rititorous has told me, this can be more of a gauntlet. The more encampments we clear, the better the rewards, but we can also extend the timer before we have to deal with the attack on the settlement." With this information, Draemish looks at me with a gleam in her eye. "You want to clear out several encampments at once. This will give us some hands-on experience, coordination, and information on how we all fight. This is a good idea." After letting them see my overall plan, I ask, "Who will go and start the fight?" Shadow raises his hand. "I will go so we can get this over with and move on to the next encampment. Glancing at my parents, I tell them to get behind the mages and to calm down as best they can. Shadow stealthily approaches the encampment once again. I see him draw his bow and fire before sprinting back to us. He can get to the warrior''s lines with the head start he had. Once he reaches the front of the line, the three other hunters and six mages fire at the enemy when they cross over the 30-meter range. I analyze the only bandit that has armor on. - Bandit Chieftain Level 2 HP: 15/15 Armor 1 - Two of the hunters hit their targets. One of the bandits goes down with an arrow piercing the left side of his chest. The other gets an arrow to his gut. Two of the arcane bolts hit targets as well. One shoots the chieftain right in the leg. The last one hammers into another regular bandit, dropping him the moment the bolt pierces through his skull. I analyze the chieftain again. - Bandit Chieftain Level 2 HP: 11/15 Armor 1 - I call out, "Focus on hitting the lesser bandits to start. We must take them out before the chieftain can single out anyone." With the two bandits dropping to the ground, unmoving, three more regular bandits are coming at us and the chieftain. Shadow can get into position and join the hunters firing at the bandits. In the next volley, only one of the arrows hits, dropping the bandit with an arrow sticking out of his gut. There is one final volley of arrows before the bandits can reach the warriors. This time, two of the arrows hit targets. On pierces a bandit in the eye. And the last one hits the final regular bandit in the leg, slowing him down. "Charge!" Draemish calls out to the warriors, and they push forward. In the first clash, the warriors can quickly kill the bandit chieftain and the other bandit. With all the bandits dead, I call out to see if anyone has been hurt. To my thanks, no one was, which isn''t too shocking considering we were able to lure them out in smaller batches. "Well, that was anti-climatic," I say before a notification appears. - Congratulations, you have successfully cleared a level 3 encampment. Would you like to move to the next encampment? Yes/No Note: You have one hour to choose before you are forcefully moved onto the next encampment. - Telling my commanders this information, I make some recommendations. "Let the mages sit down and see if you can help them get the mana circulation skill before we move on to the next encampment. Shadow, I want you and Draemish to go around the camp and see if there are any boxes that you can see. If you see them, quickly bring them back to me if they don''t disappear on you." Going to check on my parents, I ask how they are doing. "Honestly, Drake, not the best. This is the first time we have had to do anything like this. How did you get over it so quickly?" My father asks. "Well, it does help that I have mostly been facing skeletons and goblins. This is the first time I have watched humans be killed before me. But after being here for a few days, I learned quickly that it is a kill-or-be-killed world, and strength is the only thing that can keep me alive." Looking at me, my father takes a deep breath. "That makes sense. I am sorry you were all alone to deal with something like that. I promise to do my best to help guide and support you when you need an ear." "Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it. In the coming days, I might have to lean on not just you but everyone in the settlement. There are lots of things that have to be done before the night attack." Thinking about that, I look at the quest to see if there have been any increases in our time." - Time until Attack: 35 hours - From my memory, it was 33 hours before I went into my hut and learned all the new spells. I know it took a couple of hours of talking before we started our trek into the fog. So, based on this, we received four hours on the timer before the attack. This is good news. That is until I see it tick down to 34 hours. With the walk, scouting, and the battle, it took us close to an hour. We will lose even more time trying to find treasure and getting the mages so they can participate in the next round. Sighing, Ritotorous and I decided that since we didn''t help with the combat, we could at least help find any treasure that might be lying around. After an hour of going through the tents and scavenging around the camp, we found 5 Treasures of the Fog and one unknown token that were all directly sent back to the settlement. When I call everyone over, we are closing in on the hour mark. "I hope everyone has been able to use our time wisely. It is time for us to move on to the next encampment." Draemish and Shadow give nods in agreement. Vranjaya looks skeptical. Turning to her, I ask. "What''s wrong?" "The magesss were able to learn the mana sssirculation ssskill, but they still aren''t at full mana." "Can they at least cast one of their arcane shots each?" I ask. "Yesss, they can do that much." She replies. "That is enough for now. Ritotorous and I should be able to help out in the coming encampments with two more mages capable of casting magic." Hearing that eases some of her burden. "That isss wonderful. Thank you, my lord." Checking one last time with everyone before I select yes, I see they are all ready. We then proceed to the next encampment. Chapter 27 Rinse and Repeat The next encampment comes into view. Looking at it more closely, I see this time, we are near a cave. There is lava not too far from our current location. The smell of brimstone is in the air. Then a notification "dings" in my mind. - Extermination Upon entering, you have found yourself in front of an encampment. Kill all the inhabitants of the encampment. Task: Eliminate all the inhabitants of the encampment (1/1) Rewards: Ability to go back to your settlement, one Treasure of the Fog - There is only one change in the task being completed. I ignore it for now. Sending the scouts go and scout. The mages get into meditative positions to regenerate what mana they can. The Warriors are getting more instruction from Draemish on handling their weapons. This goes on for 20 minutes, and the first scouts return. Nothing is following her, as she reports. "There are only eight enemies this time. One is level 2, while the rest are level 1. The opponent is a demon, more specifically, imps. They are unable to fly, but they have wings on their backs. I get the feeling they are newly born demons." Ending her report, I ask, "Has there been any sign of treasures? Or is it just the imps?" She looks dismayed, "We didn''t look specifically for treasure. We wanted to get the information about the enemy back first." "That is a good start." I credit her on the report. "Are the demons in the caves or out in the open?" "They are all located in one of the caves. And here is the basic information for them." She shares a screen with me, which shows the stats of the imps. - Lesser Imp Level 1 HP: 4/4 MP: 6/6 Imp Level 2 HP: 8/8 MP: 18/18 - With the two imps having mana points, I figure that they are spell casters. Knowing how much a single spell can hit, I ask, "Is there any way that we can kill them off one at a time since they have such low hit points?" Autumn nods, "Yes, we should be able to pick them off slowly. They aren''t near each other, and it wouldn''t take more than just the scouts to clear this encampment." Hearing the good news, I tell her to bring back my affirmation to kill everyone. With that out of the way, I ask Draemish, "Do you want to look around the area to see if there are any worthwhile materials we could bring back with us?" Shaking her head, "No, I think the warrior and mage''s time is better spent getting ready if we have more challenging battles ahead of us." With all the groups dealing with their things, I look at Ritotorous. "Want to go and do some exploring?" "Why not? Maybe we can find some treasure that has been missed." He agreed. While wondering, we found three Treasures of the Fog and one more token. I analyzed the token. - Token of the Fog: Use to receive a special type of token for settlement purposes. When merged with other tokens, receive a higher tier token when used. - Once we have done a quick scope around the outside of the caves, I hear cheers from inside. The scouts are coming out. One of the scouts comes out holding his arm. There are burn marks visible. Approaching him, I ask. "I have a healing spell. Would you be alright with me healing you so we can continue?" Jemol nods, and I get to work on casting the spell. There is a flash of light, and I can see that I have healed the burns. There aren''t any scars left behind. I look at my mana total to see how much it costs for that one spell. - MP: 30/36 - This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Down a whole six mana for the one spell, I see we have a timer before we are brought to the next encampment. After dealing with Jemol, I start to look for Shadow. Spotting him standing near the rest of the scouts not far away. I head over, "Hey, Shadow, did you find any treasure inside the cave that we needed to grab?" "We found two more Treasures of the Fog down there. I don''t know why you are obsessed with getting test treasures." "I am obsessed with getting them because they could provide us with more resources, population summoning scrolls, blueprints, or tokens for the settlement. The best part is that they are random; this allows us to have larger chests open with more of these items. There is also the chance that the chest is higher quality." "Okay. So, I should also have everyone look for these chests when scouting the area?" "Yes, it will make clearing these much faster and more efficient." Draemish speaks for the first time in this conversation. "I will also have my people do the same. We can never have too many eyes looking for these things." Wrapping up with this conversation, I look for Vranjaya. "Are your people ready to head to the next encampment?" Nodding in affirmation, I shout. "Everyone be ready to go to the next encampment. Please gather up." It only takes a minute for everyone to be ready to go, and then I select "Yes," and we start all over. We repeat this process three more times. The first time is will a Gnoll encampment. There weren''t that many Gnolls. Similar to the imps, there were 8 in total. The main difference is that they stayed together for the most part. A couple of the Gnolls had bows, while the rest had clubs. - Gnoll Level 1 HP: 6/6 Defense: 2 Gnoll Hunter Level 1 HP: 6/6 Defense: 2 Gnoll Chieftain Level 2 HP 18/18 Defense: 3 - Combat was quick and easy. The hunters on our side could sneak around and pick off the two hunters on the enemy''s side before we confronted them. The mages, including Ritotorous and myself, cast our spells and defeated the level 1 melee combatants. My warriors charged forward to finish off the chieftain. It bashed Rognar with its club, knocking him onto his back. I rush forward and heal the injury as swiftly as I can. After seeing that one of our own was hit, the rest of the squad focused on combatting the chieftain. It wasn''t long after that it fell, not dealing any more damage to anyone. The fourth encampment that we come across is another bandit encampment. Doing what we have done before, we lure some of them out and finish the rest without issue. The fifth encampment is another imp encampment. With another easy encampment, we stop briefly after clearing it out to take stock of what we have received. There are 15 Treasures of the Fog and three more tokens. I received a new notification. - You have cleared out five encampments. Would you like to go to a unique trial encampment as a reward? Yes/No - I asked Ritotorous, "What does it mean by a special trial encampment?" "That is a reward encampment. It is a reward because there are possibilities for higher-quality treasures to be gathered. It will also pause all counters you have running like your time until the attack. During this unique trial, there will be more enemies and higher-level enemies. They will provide double the amount of experience, and there isn''t a time limit to head to the next encampment after you have finished clearing it. It provides plenty of time to gather resources. Another thing is you will still receive the quest progress you would normally get for completing a normal encampment. It will be scaled to the level of the encampment, though, so it can be better overall." Hearing this, I can''t help but get excited about the prospect of more loot. I quickly communicate with my commanders and tell them the good news. "This seems like it will be a good challenge. However, we must be extra cautious about what we will face once we arrive." Draemish comments. "More scouting needs to be done, and we also need to work on some more tactics than throwing things at the enemy in hopes that they topple over." Shadow critiques. I was cringing at Shadow''s words. "I know we need things to work on. This is my first time dealing with tactics for real battles. And though they have worked well in these small instances, I would appreciate the help from all of you when making these choices." Shall we continue to the next encampment?" I ask the group. Everyone agrees that we should continue. With everyone ready, I select yes. We are again teleported to another encampment. When we first arrive, we are in a forest. There have been obvious signs of logging happening. It takes us 10 minutes before we see the encampment. This one is larger. There are small walls around it, so we don''t know what it holds yet. Looking at Shadow, I gesture at him to start the scouting process. While they are scouting, I look to see that the warriors and mages are already ready. "We should split into smaller groups and scout in our general vicinity. I want to know what there might be around us." Draemish nods and starts to get organized with the warriors to set up a perimeter. At the same time, Vranjaya has the mages ready to cast spells at anyone who should arrive. We have a perimeter set an hour after the scouting team and Shadow comes. "We haven''t found any Treasures as of yet. I think they might be inside of the encampment. We got a brief glimpse into what the encampment could provide. It is another encampment of bandits. We found at least ten bandits inside. The most disturbing thing is that there are at least two at level 2. And they have different stats than the level 2 we have seen before." He shows me a screen for the new bandit type. - Elite Crazed Bandit Level 2 HP: 15/15 Defense: 2 - "Let''s get everyone over here to discuss our options for this encampment." Shadow gives a slight nod and then goes and gathers everyone. It doesn''t take long before everyone has gathered. "We might have a small problem. These bandits have higher levels than the previous groups, and they seem to be more organized. From what I can tell, there might be some gate or opening on the wall that we could see through. With that information, it gives us the option to do some more damage." Laxreal looks around before he asks. "Drake, I don''t mean to undermine everything you have done. There is a wall; we can all see that. Why haven''t you let Ritotorous look at the encampment to see if we can get more information?" I smack my head hard, "Ritotorous, can you do that for me? It shouldn''t take you too long, and if anything happens, come back as soon as you can." He takes off from my shoulder with a light flap of his wings. We wait for five minutes before he comes back. "Well, I have good news, and I have bad news. The good news is that there are only 19 bandits, and they don''t seem organized. The bad news is that half of them are level 2, and there is also one at level 3." Chapter 28 The Elite Crazed Bandit Chieftain "What is the level 3''s information Ritotorous?" I ask him. "Well, I don''t know if you will like what you see." He responds but still shows me what I want. - Elite Crazed Bandit Chieftain Level 3 HP: 40/40 Defense: 4 - I whistle upon seeing the stats of the chieftain. "That defense could be an issue. Is it just a chest piece?" "No, he has armor on his arms, legs, torso, and shoulders. The only thing not covered is his head. So unless people can hit his head, they will unlikely do much damage to him." I relay all of this information to Shadow, Vranjaya, and Draemish. "What do you think our plan of attack should be for this encampment?" "We should stick with what we have done for the other bandit encampments and see if we can at least whittle down the numbers so we aren''t outnumbered." Draemish offers. "There isss much agreement on thisss ssstrategy." Vranjaya. "So you would have my scouts be the bait again. This is the third time today." Shadow complains. "And this will be the last time today." I offer, "We have been gone for a while, and we need to get back to the settlement to settle the rewards we have gotten." Getting a scowl from Shadow, he relents. "If this is the last time, then I don''t have a problem with us being the bait. At least this time, we have trees, so we should be able to use that to get more kills before we need to retreat." "That''s the spirit." I smile at him. "The faster we can get this done, the sooner we can get back and rest." Gathering the scouts, they make their way around to the entrance of the encampment. I have Ritotorous on scouting duty to see if there is anything special that we need to take note of during the attack. I hear screaming from inside. From what Rititorous tells me, they were able to kill the guards at the entrance. I have the rest of my people circle so they can help if required. By the time we have gotten around, the scouts are already running towards us. On their tails are six bandits; two of them are the level 2 elites. One of the ordinary bandits is heavily injured. One of the two elites has an arrow going through his chest piece, while the other has an arrow remnant sticking out of his right arm. "Mages," I call, just loud enough for only our groups can hear them. "Cast onto the enemy. Warriors prepare for combat." With those commands, the warriors step in front of everyone and form up with their shields. With the barrage of bolts, three hit the bandits through the trees. Two of the bandits fall to the ground. One with scorch marks on his chest. While the other doesn''t get up. The bandits are still a decent distance away; we can release one more barrage of bolts, but I hold them back, not wanting them to waste their mana with more bandits still inside. This is the perfect time to cast one of my new spells. So, right before the warriors, I cast Nature''s Grasp. The scouts run past, seeing the spell light on the ground. Once they pass the warriors, they turn around, panting and firing arrows at the oncoming bandits. With the first barrage of arrows, two more bandits fall to the ground, with another arrow sticking to the left arm of one of the elite bandits. They close in fast and step into the area of effect. After the step, I can see that the last ordinary bandit is taking damage. There isn''t any pain on the other two''s faces, and they keep coming towards us. After the second step, the ordinary bandit drops face-first into the area. The two elite bandits start to lose the protection of their leather leggings and wince in pain. On the third step, they arrive in front of the warriors. One of the elite''s leather leggings holds out while he is in front of them. The second elite''s leather leggings have holes with lacerations on his flesh. Four out of 7 warriors are in striking range and swing at them. They all hit their targets and dealt enough damage to incapacitate the first bandit''s arms. The last bandit of this group is right now on the ground, having his left arm severed and right leg severely wounded. I can see he is finished. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. With both of his arms incapacitated, the bandit misses as he flails his right arm at the warriors before him. The warriors swing again. Now, there are three warriors on this one bandit, and they can cleanly take him down. After killing all the bandits in this group, we returned from my bramble patch and took stock of our situation. Ritotorous, being helpful as a scout, informs me that there are only two more ordinary level 1 bandits, seven more elite bandits, and the chieftain. However, after the attack, they are more prepared and have eyes on higher platforms looking toward the forest. Groaning that this would be harder than we thought, I informed the commanders what we should expect. Before we move on, Shadow offers a suggestion. "Why don''t you cast your brambles spell before the camp entrance? If Ritotorous hasn''t seen a secondary exit, we can slowly have the bandits walk through them, and hopefully, it can make things easier for our warriors." Draemish looks at Shadow and nods. "I agree with the Shifter. We should do as he says and lure them out with arrows and spells." With everyone''s agreement, we walk the rest of the way to the front while keeping the encampment at a distance. Since we were almost there, it didn''t take long to go the rest of the way. Once there, there are two more guards at the entrance. They are the last two level 1 bandits of the encampment. Stepping forward, I cast my spell before them while still hidden in the trees. There is a flash of green light, and the bandits are on guard. Once the spell is in place, I cast an arcane shot at one of them. I shot off his right leg with the one spell, causing him to fall forward into the bramble spell, where his face and throat get lacerated by the sharp brambles. Not long after, the other bandit shouts in alarm and runs inside. With a sigh, I look back at the forest towards my troops. I make my way back before anyone else from the camp shows up. It doesn''t take long for the bandit to return with five more level 2 bandits in tow. Seeing that I am gone, the bandit points towards the forest, and they start to run towards it. After the second step into the brambles, the ordinary bandit stops. This causes the rest of the bandits to run into him. The weight of the rest pushes him forward, and he takes another step with his legs eviscerated. With that final step, his legs get caught, and he falls. With the fall of that one bandit, four elite bandits jump over while one elite trips and falls into the brambles. The fallen elite reaches down with both hands, shredding the armor and getting deep cuts. He was able to stop himself from completely falling in but still received more cuts on his face as a result. As they advance, there is one more step before leaving the patch. When they exit, most bandits have cuts along their legs, and one doesn''t have any cuts. The hunters launch a volley of arrows at the bandits. Two hit the bandit in the rear in the arm and leg, causing it to stumble backward into the bramble patch and fall. He receives more lacerations around his body as a result. The rest of the bandits make their way to the tree line when a barrage of arcane shots comes out of the trees toward them. After the barrage hits the group, there is a shower of blood as one of the bandit''s head explodes, while the others have scorch marks on their torso or legs. Only one elite was left out of the group of six that came out of the encampment. The warriors charged out to meet him. They take turns swinging at the bandit. One slashes at his torso, another at his right leg, a third is at the left leg, and by the time the fourth person is going to strike, he has fallen to the ground and isn''t getting back up. I sent Ritotorous to scout one more time. He arrives back shortly after. "There are only two more elites and the chieftain left. He seems very mad at us for killing his fellows. From what I can see, he won''t be coming out of the encampment. We need to go in and fight him inside." Grumbling about completing this sooner rather than later, I bring everyone to the entrance and cancel my spell. With the way clear for us, we continue into the camp. Once we see the bandits clearly, I can see that the chieftain has been expecting us. Once we get out of range for our arrows and magic, I have everyone form up. The chieftain, seeing this, brings his two followers and starts to run toward us. The scouts and mages fire off their respective ranged attacks. This is the last shot for several of the mages. Several shots connect, and one of the elites gets knocked down with an arrow striking him right in the jaw. It knocks his head backward and causes him to fall flat, not get up. The chieftain also receives a shot to the face, but it is an arcane shot. It burns his hair and causes him to stumble, but not enough for him to fall. The only one still charging at full speed for us is the last of the elites. The hunters shoot one more volley of arrows at him. Three arrows punch into his arm. This causes him to drop his weapon and spin due to the force of impact. Having lost his weapon, comically, he finds himself falling on his blade after his spin. I hear from Draemish snicker. "And that is why you need always to have a good grip on your blade. I don''t want to be pulling something out of one of your stomachs. Or worse." This invokes a round of chuckles from those who can hear. Seeing that his two followers have also fallen, the chieftain becomes enraged. He dashes forward at a speed that isn''t humanly possible and hacks with his weapon towards a warrior. Looking who he is attacking, I see it is Draemish, and she expertly brushes the attack off to the side. "I didn''t realize I would get such a good sparing partner." She says, "Now watch closely as I deal with this raging beast." Usually, we have been silent on the battlefield as no one knows anyone yet. With Draemish taking the initiative to make this joke and use it as a training exercise, I hope this will help bring people closer. If it doesn''t, there will be some good stories about what happened. I turn to Shadow, "You might as well have the rest of the scouting squad go around and find what they can in the encampment. I hope this exercise doesn''t take too long. We need to get this done and then go back to the settlement. He nods while giving a curious glance at Draemish. "Are you sure you will just let her take this guy on his own?" "It is better than us trying to beat him with numbers only for people to die. Why not make it something people can learn from?" I shrug in response. He heads out, and within thirty minutes of hearing about the different ways to parry and dodge attacks, Draemish finally wears out the chieftain. There are cuts along his arms and legs. There is a deep gash on the side of his chest. Seeing the chieftain as having spent his usefulness. Draemish finally ends the exercise by cutting off his head. Chapter 29 Completion and Rewards With the beheading of the chieftain, a notification appears. -You have completed the unique trial encampment. You have been awarded: 1 X Tier 1 Personal Evolution Box and 1 X Tier 1 Settlement Evolution Box. - Following that, the notification about continuing with clearing encampments comes to view. I look behind me to see that my army needs rest. "Have we looked through the entire encampment?" I shout to everyone. "Not fully. We are still trying to get into the chieftain''s hut. It is locked, and no one has the strength to get it open from the scout squad." Shadow shouts back. "Draemish, is anyone from the warriors who could knock down a door?" "Yes, Oria, Rognar, or Ramona should be able to do it." She replies. "Has anyone looted the chieftain?" I ask out of curiosity. "No," Draemish says. "Then maybe he has the key to open the door?" I prod. Hanging her head a little, Draemish reaches down to the headless body of the chieftain and starts to go through his pockets. After searching for a couple of seconds, she finds the key to the hut strapped to the inside of his belt. Taking the key and handing it over to Shadow, he runs off to open the door. I follow along to see what is inside the hut that needs to be locked. Inside are seven Treasures of the Fog and three more Tokens of the Fog. While PUN is teleporting out the treasures, I look around the hut one more time to see if there is anything that I have missed. On my final time looking, I saw a small box underneath the bed. It is positioned so that it would have been wholly missed unless you were looking for it. Grabbing the box, I analyze it. - Mythical Treasure of the Fog: Upon leaving the fog, this box will give you options for what it can provide. - After analyzing it, the treasure is sent back to the settlement. I pull up the quests to see what progress we have made. - Settlement Quests: Preparing for the Storm As you have leveled up your settlement, forces have started to take notice. Plans are brewing to attack your fledgling settlement. You have given your settlement more time by destroying one of the encampments. But be warned, sometimes more time is worse. Tasks: Prepare defenses for the attack (1/?) Destroy encampments to delay and reduce the attack force (7/?) Time until attack: 48 hours Rewards: ??? Penalty for Failure: Death and destruction of the settlement Note: Increasing the population could help or hinder the attacking force. Be careful. This quest will be completed upon victory or defeat of the attack. Special Note: The threat level has decreased due to completing a Unique Trial Encampment. Extermination Upon entering, you have found yourself in front of an encampment. Kill all the inhabitants of the encampment. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Task: Eliminate all the inhabitants of the encampment (6/1) Rewards: Ability to go back to your settlement, one Treasure of the Fog Army Quests: Wet Behind the Ears This is your first time being in command of a force larger than the amount of digits on your hand. Task: Clear the encampment without helping them in any way other than through orders. (1/1) Reward: ??? - I gather everyone together with two of the three quests completed upon leaving. "Are we all ready to leave?" I ask to make sure that everyone has the things they require. "Yes," is the reply I get from the commanders. With a thought, I select the option to leave. When we get back, we are in the territory. It is late in the afternoon, and there are many things that we need to finish before we can rest tonight. "Alright, everyone. We must return to the settlement to collect our rewards for everything we have accomplished today. We have two days before there is an attack on the territory. I recommend to those who want to keep leveling up to get groups together and explore the fog in those groups. There are many treasures out there for the taking." Having said my piece about what to expect next, I start the walk back to the settlement. I complete my quests, so the chests are there when I arrive. It takes another ten minutes to get to the settlement, and I can see that some people want to lay down where they are after their exhausting battles. Well, at least that is the case for the warriors and scouts. The mages seem to be doing fine, almost like they were meditating while waiting for things to happen. While walking, Oria comes over to me. "Tombs done. Finish my place later. Bulwarks half complete, almost out of material." Hearing this, I look at my materials menu to see less than 100 wood and stones left in the Tier 1 category. "Looks like we need to focus on getting more stone mined and maybe some more out of the treasures we pulled back." This is my only hope, as we don''t have anywhere to get wood. After returning to the settlement, I go straight to my home and open the door to see piles of treasures on my floor. For the rewards from completing the two quests, the settlement received ten more treasures, and I received a noble''s skill chest. I go around and touch all the treasures to see what chests I receive. Building Blueprints: 3 Tiny 1 Small 2 Medium 4 Large Resources: 3 Tiny 4 Small 1 Medium 1 Large 2 Extra Large 3 Gigantic Tokens: 3 Medium 2 Large 1 Extra Large 2 Gigantic Population: 1 Tiny 4 Small 5 Medium I open the resource boxes first to get them out of the way and receive 1,150 units of Tier 1 Wood, Stone, and Metal. Also, the settlement received 400 units of Tier 1 Food. With that chuck of boxes out of the way, I can finally make my way over to my bed to sit down. It isn''t long after I sit down that I look up again to see I haven''t shut the door, and in the doorway is my family. I beckoned them inside, "Today was great for all of us. I was able to get plenty of resources not to have to worry in the immediate future about running out of wood or stone again. We still need to find a way to harvest those more efficiently." "Son, you seem to be taking all of this alone. Again. Would you like your mother or I to help?" My father asks. "I would love to have some help. I don''t know how, though. Everything is so new to you and me that finding the most efficient solutions isn''t easy." "Well, maybe what you need right now isn''t efficient solutions but ones that can help our immediate survival chances. Could you explain some of these boxes to us? We might be able to find something that you have overlooked." He offers. I nod and start explaining the boxes and what they give or, to the best of my ability, what they can provide. "It would seem that the given tokens would be useful for our current predicament. Why don''t we open those boxes next and then start using them to complete some tasks before it gets too dark outside." Mother says. She has always been the family planner, so I am not too shocked that she took control. "How many of each token do you have currently so we can get things organized?" She asks. - Tokens: 1 X Wood Instant Completion Token 1 X Bronze Instant Completion Token 1 X Silver Instant Completion Token 3 X Wood Time Reduction Token 3 X Iron Time Reduction Token 3 X Bronze Time Reduction Token 1 X Silver Time Reduction Token 2 X Wood Resource Reduction Token 6 X Iron Resource Reduction Token 1 X Bronze Resource Reduction Token 2 X Silver Resource Reduction Token 2 X Iron Instant Level Up Token 1 X Silver Instant Level Up Token 1 X Outpost Upgrade Token - "I haven''t used any since I have been getting them. I didn''t want to accidentally make something I could have completed while I was away or sleeping." I explain as to the reason there are so many. "Well, I think it is time to use some of these. You could have saved a lot of stone if you had used one of the Silver Resource Reduction Tokens." She scolds me. Thinking about it, I look at that specific token to see its effects. - Silver Resource Reduction Token: Reduces construction cost by 20%. - She is right, I screwed up royally this time. Knowing the bulwark could have been closer to completion if I had used what I had at my disposal sooner. I crack my knuckles, "It looks like we need to open some more boxes and work on fixing my screw-up." I look at my family with renewed hope, knowing I can be with them. Chapter 30 Step One Building Tokens The next set of boxes that I opened were the tokens. With these, I could see if there were any buildings that we could quickly make. It doesn''t take long to open them, but when we do, there are 169 more tokens we can use, very few of them for instantly completing a building. What we did get a lot of were the time reduction tokens and resource reduction tokens. With these, the resources we have on hand will get us further along than I could have hoped. There are also some new tokens in the mix that I hadn''t received before. They were of different levels, so not that much different. I look at the latest list of tokens to gauge what to focus on first. - Settlement Materials/Building Tokens Tier 1: Wood - 1174 Stone - 1222 (+10 daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - 1901 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 615 4 X Wood Instant Completion Token 2 X Iron Instant Completion Token 3 X Bronze Instant Completion Token 2 X Silver Instant Completion Token 22 X Wood Time Reduction Token 27 X Iron Time Reduction Token 23 X Bronze Time Reduction Token 20 X Silver Time Reduction Token 18 X Wood Resource Reduction Token 19 X Iron Resource Reduction Token 22 X Bronze Resource Reduction Token 25 X Silver Resource Reduction Token 3 X Iron Instant Level Up Token 1 X Bronze Instant Level Up Token 3 X Silver Instant Level Up Token 1 X Outpost Upgrade Token 8 X Token of the Fog - With all the resources on hand, I look to see if there are ways to make the buildings more efficient. With that in mind, I ask Ritotorous a quick question. "What would happen if I was to get a blueprint of an item that I already have?" "Well, that is easy. You would have two options. The first is to hold onto the blueprint to sell later to another settlement. The second is to break it down into blueprint parts for the categories: Habitation, Offensive, Defensive, and Support. With those parts, you can select a blueprint you already know and spend them to increase the level of the blueprint." "Why did I get a level 2 blueprint of the Fog Dispersion Tower, the Combat Support Tower, and the Observation Tower?" "The reason is that those blueprints are rare buildings that don''t come at lower levels. I wouldn''t have expected you to have gotten them since they require materials you don''t have. One thing to know is that the higher the building level, the more materials it can take to make, but also, they have better properties. You can always choose to downgrade the blueprint when making it so that you can use the materials you have." "That makes sense. Thanks, Rito." I stopped the questions there, and aloud, I said. "Looks like there aren''t many more things we can do that will give us an edge when it comes to buildings." "Drake, what are those other tokens for?" Xelyphe asks while pointing at the Tokens of the Fog. "I don''t know, let me look," I respond. - Token of the Fog: When used, it will provide a choice of what type of building token the user wants. It can also be merged with four other tokens of the same tier to go up one-tier. - "Seems like we can get more building tokens this way. However, I am curious what level building tokens we would get now." I use one of the tokens and receive a notification. - Token of the Fog Used. Pick one of the following options and receive them. Instant Completion Token Time Reduction Token Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Resource Reduction Token - Seeing only three options, I select the Instant Completion Token. Once that is done, a Wood Instant Completion Token is in my hand. I look at my family. "If I were to merge 5 of them, I would get an iron token instead of a wood token. Well, at least that is the thought." "I would have to agree with you, son," My father states. "It would make sense that the next tier of the token is iron from the context of everything around us. I would recommend not doing so, though. We need buildings completed; none will be over level 1. This allows us to quickly get several huts up for those who need them." Looking at my father, I couldn''t agree more. So, I take all of the Tokens of the Fog and get seven more instant completion tokens. We can complete twelve buildings with these eight tokens without blocking the queue. I look at my father, "Would you be willing to grab Shadow and Oria and bring them here? I have some things I need to discuss with them about their professions." "Absolutely." My father replies and walks out the door to go and look for them. "Mom, I would like you to look at what we have for food and get the chefs to prepare a meal for everyone. We have plenty of food for now that we can go for weeks without needing any more." She nods her head and heads out of the hut. "Xelyphe, I don''t know what I can have you do at this moment that could be helpful. Maybe you could see how the settlement looks and understand how we need to build things. I don''t want to randomly place buildings around if we can get some order setup." "I can do that. Do you want me to talk to the different groups and see what they require, and we can have a big meeting once things are ready?" They offer. "That would be wonderful." I feel a weight lifting off of my shoulders. This will be doable. I just needed some extra hands to get things organized. After Xelyphe left my hut, my father returned with Shadow and Oria. I ask them, "What does your profession do? And how can it help?" Shadow replies, "The Foreman profession allows us to manage one additional building for the construction queue individually. This can increase as we level up. We can also lower the time and resource requirements if we actively work on the buildings." "Okay, so I can have five buildings being built simultaneously, and two of those five will have lower resource and time requirements. How does your profession gain experience?" "We gain experience by completing buildings or being a part of higher-level buildings. We need to be aware that as we get higher-level structures that are more complex, we will need more people to have the same effect on the buildings as a single one for a lower-level building. This also changes as we get higher in levels. Oria has no experience as he wasn''t there to be a part of the construction. "I want to test something with the following buildings. We have a lot of tokens that can increase the speed and decrease the resource cost. I am curious if these tokens can stack with your profession." I offer. "It never hurts to try," Shadow says, shrugging his shoulders. "Let''s wait for my sibling to get back as they will have an overall idea of where we should start putting buildings. I wasn''t a city planner, so I don''t have the foggiest idea of what would be the best fit for our work." "Don''t you see an overview of the area when you are in the building menus?" Shadow asks. "I do, but I also don''t want to leave those who have more experience in this manner out of it. There are only 24 of us. While we are smaller, we can accommodate more. Once we are too large, getting things right will be a hassle if they aren''t at the start." "Alright, but I hope it isn''t too long as we need to get things moving," Shadow says irritably. Xelphye returns not long after. "Drake, you might as well just come outside. Everyone heard what you wanted to do, and they are here to help." Not expecting it, I step outside. With everyone here, it makes it easier for me. "Since everyone has gathered, I don''t need to call everyone for a meeting. I want to get everyone a place to stay as soon as possible. Right now, there are enough spaces for ten people who aren''t undead, eight for those who are, and two for earth elementals. This number is if everyone is willing to double up on their huts. While I know this isn''t ideal, it will let us get more things done that could be useful for all of us." Rognar and Narus look at each other. "We are willing to stay in one hut if that is the case. I would like it to be known that I want my own space as soon as you can." Rognar offers for the two of them. Vranjaya says with a note of anticipation, "I would be willing to live with him. If it will help." Muiress quickly shoots up. "I would prefer my own space if it isn''t an issue. We don''t have much time, but preparing my accommodations shouldn''t take too long." There are snickers in the group as they think of him having to stay with Vranjaya. Who, for the second time since we have met, is so assertive about something. I smiled at Muiress, "I don''t think we will have the time to complete your and her accommodations before the night''s end. So you might have to share for at least one day." It might take more than a day, depending on how much we can get done. What are some of the things that we should focus on first?" I ask everyone and then permit them to see the building screen for our available buildings. Gibnic raises his hand and jumps. "I think a good idea would be to get more of the arrow towers and maybe a couple of the flame towers. We don''t know how well we can hold out, considering the mages only have so much mana." I look specifically at the arrow tower blueprint. I can see that it is mostly enclosed. But I see a ladder on the side leading to a flat top. I call out. "Can someone see if there is a way to climb the arrow tower and tell me if anything special happens when you are up there?" Muiress volunteers and quickly runs off, hoping Vranjaya won''t follow him. While he is gone, I ask again. "Any other suggestions?" Nelaedeth steps forward, "I would like to see better walls than that flimsy fence around the entire settlement. It would also help prevent some nasties from getting in and force them to specific choke points with the entrances we leave in the wall." "Are there any ideas for things other than defenses right off hand?" I ask. People in the crowd shift from one foot to the other. I look to my father, Shadow, Draemish, and Vranjaya, with no other recommendations being forthcoming. "What are some things that your groups would like?" "Other than getting more housing, I would guess getting more profession buildings to get more people working. Many people got rewards for being a part of the army, and some even got their profession tools." Shadow says. The other groups agree, other than Draemish''s. Most of her people already have housing, so they only need one more to get everyone in a building. I take a look at the profession buildings I already have built. There are still half the buildings. We need to get a small medical hut, a constructor hut, a tailoring hut, a leatherworking hut, a masonry hut, and a carpentry hut. We continue discussing the issue for another ten minutes before Muiress returns. "There is a ladder going to the top, and when I was up there, I received a bonus for my accuracy and increased damage. It specified ranged attacks, so maybe the mages can also be onto and get those bonuses?" "That''s a good thought. It would be good to make sure that the mages aren''t going to get themselves killed just because they weren''t in the right spot." Draemish gives a nod of approval to Muiress. As we conclude the talks, we agree to get the profession buildings, a couple of accommodations for those who don''t have any, and a couple of the defensive buildings in preparation for the attack. Chapter 31 Step Two Location, Location, Location With our initial choices made, I go through and select them. Initially, I wanted to ensure all the buildings were next to their respective holders. Upon reflection, I found that this is incredibly inefficient when it comes to expansion. With a new thought, I ask the crowd. "Should we make this settlement into a district? We will be expanding, and I don''t want to continuously remove buildings and then add them again if we don''t have to." Nelaedeth responds, "I don''t think that is a bad idea. I used to do some construction with my clan. I have a good idea of good districts for ease of expansion." Motioning toward her to keep going. "Well, when the branching clans were settled into their new homes, we would set up five districts. The first is the production district with all of the buildings for the crafters. The second is the housing district. Third, the market district. Fourth is the military district, and last would be the management district." I ask, "What is in the management district?" "That would be buildings like city hall, the mayoral manor, banks, guild halls, etc." I can agree with this setup, but one thing mildly bothers me. "When you say things like that, it sounds like there is a central district with the other four spreading out in a circle from there. How would we do something like that when we have limited space?" "Well, we have a good start with the initial earthen bulwark. For now, we will have to make do with the space provided. It is quite a lot, but some things could make it more efficient. That is for later. Currently, there won''t be a standing army because we all are responsible for each other''s lives." So far, a selection of people nodding along with her explanation. "So, how would you like to start with building?" "I think we should start rebuilding the most central building in the territory and make it the mayor''s manor." Once she finishes saying that, I see everyone looking right at me. "Which means we need to clear out my house?" I ask a bit sheepishly, with my building being the most central. "Yes. Afterward, we can spread out from there, giving about 10 meters of space so there is room for growth of the manor as we grow. Then, we will split the rest into just two districts because there isn''t any money to trade with, and only housing and crafting will be taking place currently." "Alright, let''s get started." Looking at the description of the manor again, I note that I won''t need to make another house for my family right away. So that is one less project we need to get done in the interim. It takes a couple of minutes to clear out the house. And I can move the Lord''s Chest as long as possible. We get the place cleared out of the necessities. I can finally select my house from the building overview, and a set of options comes up. - Would you like to do one of the following? Level Up Demolish Move Nothing - Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I see "Move" as an option, and my heart picks up since maybe we won''t have to demolish it. But then I see it is greyed out, and an information notification appears. - Unable to move building until the settlement tier has leveled up. - With that information, I begrudgingly select to demolish the building. There is a countdown timer of ten seconds. Once it finishes, I get another notification. - Materials from demolishing a Basic Hut Level 1: 20 Tier 1 Wood. - With that, I look back at the hill where my hut once stood to find a pile of leftover wood. Sighing again for the umpteenth time since coming here, I select the Mayor''s Manor and position it where my hut once stood. Once it has been placed down, the outline is there for everyone to see. There is a new option I haven''t seen before. I can select one of my construction foremen to work on the project. "Do you or Oria want to be selected to work on this project?" I ask the two of them. "Are you going to test what the effects of having someone on the project have?" Shadow responds. "Yes, I was going to see what discount in materials and time there is initially, and then we can see if speeding up the construction with other tokens will still give you experience for your profession." "Put me on it first." Shadow offers. I select his name, and it appears on the list of workers. Right away, I see that there is a buff added. - Novice Foreman Level 1: 1% Resource Reduction, 1% Time Reduction. - With that reduction, I look at the resource cost now. - Mayor''s Manor Materials required: 99 Tier 1 Wood, 99 Tier 1 Stone, 50 Tier 1 Metal - I see no change in the amount of metal required for the project. I thought there needed to be a higher percentage for that part to take effect. The first thing I do is grab one of the wooden resource reduction tokens. Using it on the Mayor''s Manor, I see an additional buff. - Wooden Resource Reduction Token: 5% Resource Reduction. Total Resource Reduction: 6% - Looking towards the group, I let them know of the stacking effects. I grab another wooden token to test out one more theory. I try to use it, but it doesn''t disappear like the last one, and a notification comes up. - Only one Resource Reduction Token may be used per project. - With this revelation, I turn to everyone. "Let''s get the materials in place. I want to see how long it will take to build this building before I use more tokens." Everyone steps up and brings materials up to the blueprint. It doesn''t take long, and then the timer for the building shows up. - Time till completion: 5 hours 57 minutes 12 seconds. - I grab one of the time reduction tokens and use it, dropping the completion time by one hour. I hold one more of the tokens and use it as well. This time, unlike the resource token, it disappears, and the completion time drops again. With that experiment out of the way. I ask everyone, "Where should we have the districts start? I want to put a fence up so we have a guide to where things will fall. This shouldn''t take too many resources or time." I select the fence and place it around the manor ten meters from the walls. With the blueprint positioned, I confirm the location, and the outline becomes visible to everyone. I get the materials into place, and then the two-hour timer starts to count down. I ask Oria, "Do you want me to assign you to this job for one more experiment?" He nods, and I put him as the person in charge. The timer drops to one hour, 58 minutes, and 48 seconds. I then used one of the iron time tokens on the project, completing it. "Did you receive experience for the completion of the project?¡± Again, he nods his head. "One point for project completion." With that information, I look to everyone. "Where should we start the districts?" "We should split the settlement into northern and southern sections to start with the southern area being there for crafting halls. We can slowly move those already made to avoid disturbing everyone in them." Nelaedeth says. After getting affirmation from everyone, I started placing the profession buildings. Once four are down, I can''t place any more buildings until we complete the current ones. "Alright, everyone, let''s get this show on the road!" I shout and pump my fist into the air, only to get confused looks from everyone else. "Drake, what are you doing?" Draemish asks. "Trying to get everyone pumped about building up the settlement," I say while scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment. Chapter 32 Step Three Profit? With the initial set of buildings placed, I turn towards the soon-to-be manor. "Would everyone be okay with me finishing the manor building first so we can free up Shadow to help reduce the costs of other projects?" "I don''t be seeing a problem with what you be offering, Drake." Zul''Zara is the first one to step forward. "If we can get the houses for myself and Narus built next, that would be preferred. I don''t want to be stuck sleeping outside tonight." Rognar grumbles. "I agree. The sooner we can get the rest of the buildings built, the sooner I don''t have to share one with Vranjaya." Muiress jumps up and says frantically. "I am not that bad. I can leave you sssome ssspace," Vranjaya starts to say. "Yes, but you need to be on the other side of the pond!" Muiress vehemently clarifies quickly. "Are there any other requests?" I ask the group as a whole. "I know you will get the buildings up as quickly as possible. Just make good use of the tokens. There is no need to waste them on things we could save for in the future." Nelaedeth says. "Don''t we have some level-up tokens that we could use?" Draemish says. "Yes, we have several level-up tokens. Why? What are you thinking?" I ask. "Seeing we need to have defenses up for the attack, wouldn''t it make sense to use some of the tokens to level up those defenses?" She states. "We could use those tokens for that." I glance at how many of the level-up tokens we have. "Currently, we can level one building up to level 4 and two more to level 2. That is if I am thinking how these tokens can be used." "Then I say we level up whatever walls we build on the earthen bulwarks up to level 4, then have the earthen bulwarks level up to 2. After those two, let''s see what we can do with defensive towers. I wouldn''t mind getting one of them up to level 2." Draemish says with excitement. "There is no disagreement from me," Shadow says. "But let''s make sure we can select a foreman or several so they can get the experience for the building." "Obviously," Draemish retorts. I leave them be to have their little spat. I use the resource tokens first on the buildings that need them. The lowest-level tokens are used first. This saved four of each tier 1 resource required to complete the buildings. After we got the building materials to the blueprints, I selected Oria to work on one of the buildings. This didn''t bring down the building cost, but the time till was decreased by 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Once the building timers started to count down, I grabbed one of the instant completion tokens and used it on the Manor. I received the notification of its completion, and Shadow commented that he received three experience points for the completion of the project. I selected one of the other buildings and put him in charge of it, and the process continued going through the time reduction tokens in a frenzy. While working through getting the buildings built, people went about their business. Some went to find those who could offer training, Draemish being the one to provide training for those who were warriors. Laxreal picked up his scholarly persona and started talking about mana and the differences to those still learning the differences, even though he was still new to the world. Finally, and to my surprise, Autumn was helping to train those with the hunter class about being more stealthy. Others still decide to go into the crafting buildings that have already been made and use them until I have to tear them down and move them over to the new district. I become more motivated to get everything done with everything going on around me. One of the things that I can tell people are missing are training facilities to practice spells, archery, and swordsmanship. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! This is on my list of things I hope to get as a blueprint from the new boxes that I still have yet to open up. Quickly, the first of the four crafting buildings has been made. With each completed, I move the person in charge so they continue getting more experience. This uses a total of 16 wood time reduction tokens. I cannot help but look forward to using the higher-level tokens as I use them. Soon after, I started a new round of building construction. First, I got the Earthen Bulwarks and the required materials. When I look at it now, it requires more than 800 stone units to complete what it will make. When I think back to why it said it was half-finished, I notice that it wasn''t covering the entire radius of 100 meters around the main settlement. With that, I changed it to cover the rest of the settlement, giving me the new cost minus what has already been done. I am frustrated at how much it will cost, so I use one of my higher tokens. While it isn''t much, having a 20% reduction is still more than I could hope for for such a large project. With the token added, the cost drops to 687 stone units. Next, I added Oria to the project. Once he has officially been added to the project, I have one more reduction other than for him being a foreman. - Earth Elemental: Decreases Resource Cost by 10% and decreases Time till completion by 10% Note: This bonus is due to the project primarily using a majority of earth elemental items. - This is an exciting use of Oria since if any projects use mostly stone. I can have him run the project, reducing the cost and time. We are getting a 31% reduction in material costs with all the bonuses. I have Oria start to bring the materials to the new sites and work on those while I get the rest of the crafting buildings set up. Continuing to use the lower-level tokens until they are gone, I use another two wood resource reduction tokens and the rest of the wooden time reduction tokens. Only four time reduction tokens were left, so I used two iron tokens to complete the last crafting buildings. I assign Shadow as the foreman to each of the buildings. Looking over at the earthen bulwark that Oria was bringing the materials to, there was finally a timer with 16 hours left until completion. I figured this would also be an excellent time to complete another project. I use one of the wooden instant completion tokens on it. Suddenly, a two-meter-high earthen bulwark appears around the settlement with a 100-meter radius. From the building menu, I see a flat top that spans for two meters before a steep slope on the other side leads into a small gully. The front of the bulwark towards the attacking side is reinforced with stone slabs, which will also make it slippery when they are wet. Selecting the Wooden Palisades, I run those around the top of the bulwark. The initial cost of the fortifications is going to be 630 wood units. I again use one of the silver resource reduction tokens. This reduces the cost to 504 wood units. With a heavy sigh, most of the resources I had just received were now gone. I assigned Oria to the fortification project again. With another reduction of 1% to the total, I saved another six units of wood. Instructing Ritotorous to bring the materials over this time so Oria doesn''t have to make the trips, he does so, and the timer shows up shortly after. With 20 hours until the completion of the palisades, I use another instant completion token. After the fortifications are placed on the earthen bulwarks, they stand eight meters in height and have a small walkway two meters across, just enough for two people to pass by each other if they have to get to a different portion of the wall. I ask Shadow and Oria, "How far are you from leveling up to the next level in your profession?" "I have received 12 of the 25 points needed to level up." Shadow answers. "Need five more." That is all that Oria responds with. "DRAKE!" I hear a shout come, and I cringe. "Yes?" I see that Draemish is approaching me with a stern gaze. "Let me ask you something." She says with fury showing on her face. "Yes?" I look over my shoulder to see Shadow and Oria have wandered off. "Do you think you have forgotten something?" "Um, I don''t think so. I have all of the crafting buildings up. I have the fortifications up. I was going to start working on the housing situation next." "You have gotten the fortifications up. They are up so well that I don''t think anyone is getting in or out of them." She says while gritting her teeth. I slowly ask because she isn''t complimenting me about how well I did. "So, what is the problem?" "Well, since you have asked. Can you please look at your fortifications one more time for me?" "Sure," doing as she asked, I looked at the fortifications again. The walls cover the entire area, and the bulwarks are well-positioned. The tower is behind the walls and cannot shoot out due to the height difference. "I know!" I exclaim, "I need to add the arrow tower to the fortifications." "NO." She shouts, then slowly thinking about it. "Yes, but not what I am getting at. Let me pose a different question to you. I want to get out of the settlement and go scout. What would I use to get out of the settlement?" "Oh, well, of course, you would use the...." At this moment, I finally figured out what she was saying. I look over the walls again and then slap my forehead for being stupid. I. Forgot. The. Gate. Chapter 33 Questions and Stats Looking over my blueprints, I don''t have a gate. I then look at the blueprint boxes that I have yet to open. I ask Draemish, "Could adding the gate to the settlement wait slightly? Everyone just got in, and we still have to sleep tonight." She thinks about it for a second. "I admit that it would be safer for the night not to have a gate since we don''t have anywhere we can run to just in case the walls are broken. I will admit that not having a gate isn''t a terrible option now." "Thank you. I will put it on my list of things to do immediately in the morning. Along with moving the rest of the profession buildings, getting housing for the rest of everyone." I don''t want to blow through all of my tokens now. Draemish gives me a brief look before nodding and then turning to leave, shouting, "Alright, I want all of the warriors that want to learn over by the east wall so we can go through some more forms." Sighing with relief that I dodged that bullet, I look around to see if there is anything else I can do now. "All the crafting buildings have been completed for the moment. We have walls fully enclosing us. There are still a lot of boxes that need to be opened. I need to work on my mana veins and look at the experience I received from all the combat earlier. Last, I must see if I can start working on my profession." Nodding my head, I start with the experience I received. - Congratulations, as a Noble leading your army, you have cleared out six encampments. While not personally fighting in one of them, you were the leading voice in giving direction. Due to this, you have received 50 experience points. - I was thinking about all of the enemies we killed. I shouldn''t have received that much, even with the share of killing. I don''t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I ask Ritotorous. "Why did I receive so much experience clearing the encampments?" "That is a good question. When you are sent to clear out encampments, you will receive more experience based on the level of the encampment. While the amount of monsters also dictates how much you will receive, it is to a lesser degree than the encampment level itself." "Why did I receive a per-kill experience in the fog with the party then?" "For that instance, you were not in an army format. To receive the extra experience, you need to join the army. Not everyone receives the amount of experience that you have. They received about half the amount while the commanders would have gotten three-quarters." "So, it is more beneficial for us to go and do these expeditions when we are in an army than individual parties?" "For experience gain, yes, but I hesitate to say it is more beneficial. As we are right now, we were lucky you could choose encampments. If you had randomly gotten raid as an option, you would have been thrown against a force stronger than your entire settlement. Not to mention you would then have negative relations, that is, if you even survived." A cold sweat trickles down my back. "Why would they be of a higher level?" "Because, usually, nobles don''t become active in a settlement until later in the settlement level." A spark of understanding pops into my head. "Because nobles don''t appear until later in the settlement levels, could it be that they don''t have the same planets they are pulling from and are all strangers?" Ritotorous nods his head. "That is exactly it. Due to you having summoned ''Shifters'' and another of your population has almost been assassinated by one, events played out how they are. But not all planets have shifters or things like them, so the natural hate isn''t there unless it is dwarfs and goblins or elves and demons." "When you say elves and demons, why didn''t I sense any hostility from Slyvasti toward Ramona?" "Demon and Daemon are a little different." "How so?" "Demons are your typical beings from the abyss. They look to destroy any land they come across. Daemons are a group of highly sentient beings that pick a specific path to follow and lead their lives in that manner. A daemon can become a demon, but a demon cannot. For your example of Ramona and Sylvasti, Ramona is a Peace daemon following that path as a guardian of peace. So, Sylvasti shouldn''t have any hostile intentions towards them." "OK, I think I understand. I also understand why we are special in this instance, being a hovel but having a noble." "There are more pros than cons to this. One of the pros is that technically, no noble in charge of a higher-level settlement can raid your settlement. Unless there is a special occurrence for our settlement, they are allowed to." "Okay. Thank you for answering my questions." With that out of the way, I look at my status sheet. -Status Name: Drake Taldrit If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Health: 15/15 Mana: 10/36 Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Class: Mage Class Level: 2 Experience 50/200 Affinity Healing, Nature Mana Heart 50% Mana Veins 45% Special Class: Noble Level: 1 Oaths of Fealty 4/5 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Experience 0/25 Attributes: Strength 1 Intelligence 6 Wisdom 6 Charisma 2 Dexterity 1 Constitution 3 Free Points 1 Skills: Analyze 3 Arcane Shot 4 Mana Circulation 1 Leadership 1 Minor Healing 1 Shield 1 Nature''s Grasp 2 Barkskin 1 - With how far I have come, I am shocked at how little I have grown in my stats. There are many things that I need to work on. "Hey, Rito, I have two more questions for you. Is it possible to increase your stats without leveling up?" There is a slight gleam in his eye, "That is a great question. Yes, there is a way to increase your stats without leveling up. To do so, you have to expend copious amounts of effort. Let''s say you want to increase your strength. You would have to lift weights and do things you normally do. But once you reach a certain point, you will feel you must go past your limit. If you stop at this limit, then it won''t work. Also, you have to repeat this pattern for several days." "Well, I think I will pass on that. How about for mana?" "To increase your wisdom, you must drain your mana, refill it, and then repeat." "That seems a lot easier." "Trust me, it isn''t. The pain of casting a spell when you don''t have enough mana at the end causes excruciating headaches. It can also lead to permanent damage if you are not careful. I wouldn''t recommend doing such a thing until your Mana Veins are fully cleared." Sighing that until they are cleared, my Mana Veins are holding me back. "Last question, I see an ''Oaths of Fealty'' under my noble class. I can only presume this is to level up the class." "You are correct. To level up the class, you must get more ''Oaths of Fealty.'' I want to mention that this is the only class that can level up, but also it can de-level through normal means." "Wait, it can de-level?" "Yes, if you were to lose those that have sworn their ''Oaths of Fealty'' to you, then you can degrade in level. Specific benchmarks will prevent further degradation, but those will show up more in the future. So it is in your best interest to have strong subordinates and commanders to keep those with oaths safe but to show those without the benefits of swearing an oath to you." Thinking about this, "Looks like I need to get more people to trust me to swear an oath. Let''s start clearing my Mana veins so it is one less obstacle for me." I go back to my new manor and find a room where I can start. I ensure I have a health potion on hand just in case I run my health too low. I started the process. Having cleared out most of my Mana Veins in my arms, I started with my legs next. Thinking about it, I never thoroughly learned the mana circulation skill. With a sigh, I stop for a moment and go to look for Laxreal. He isn''t far from where his tomb is located. "Laxreal," I call out. "I have a quick question for you." "And how can I help you, Drake?" He asks. "I was curious if you could teach me how to circulate my mana. I just received the skill after sleeping. I have only used it when I was helping Zul''Zara with her transformation process." "Oh, that makes sense. Would you like to start now?" "Yes." "Good, let''s get started then. First, I will have you sit down with your legs crossed." He sits to show what he means. Following suit, I sit, crossing my legs. "Next, you will clasp your hands together with only your fingers interlocking." Again, he demonstrates. "Finally, you are going to circulate your mana through your veins. I can''t personally show you this, so I hope you understand the paths you need to take." Having a couple of questions before I get started, I ask. "Why just interlocking the fingers? And also, why can''t you show me exactly?" "For the first question, Mana Veins go through the fingertips. If you don''t include them, you will have an incomplete set of Mana Veins, which could cause backlash. For the second question, everyone has different pathways their veins can take. The journey to clear out the veins is very personal. These differences cause the different affinities. I would like you to know one thing, though, about affinities. No affinity is above another. Some cancel each other out, but they are not distinctly better." Agreeing with what he is saying, I stand up. "One last thing before you go. Make sure that there is someone there to watch over you. You will be very vulnerable when clearing your veins. Please keep this in mind." Chapter 34 Pain in the Vein After getting Laxreal''s advice, I head back again to my manor. On my way, I bump into Xelyphe. They are sweating and out of breath. "Hey, how are things going with Draemish?" "They are going well, I think. She is quite hard on us, though she cares for us all. Almost like we are family already to her." They say as they fall in step with me back to the manor. "It is good to hear that she is treating everyone with the same amount of gusto I get for small mistakes." "Oh, and what mistake could the mighty Drake have done?" The sarcasm oozing off that one statement doesn''t go above my notice. I decide to play along, "Well, when building the great and mighty fortress of Caelnova, one must look toward the future. Leaving no stone unturned and wanting the most secure locations for my humble population, I made the wall go all the way around us so no monsters would creep upon us." "Ahhhh, I see, and with said mighty fortifications, what could be wrong with them?" "There is nothing wrong with the walls themselves, my dear sibling. The lack of things I did not implement has irked our great Knight Commander." "What?!?!" They gasped in surprise. "How could something the wise and noble Drake do irk our ever-great Knight Commander?" "She was saying that she wanted to leave the settlement! I mean the audacity. To want to leave my ever-great city that is in progress." I say with faux hurt in my voice. Flatly, Xelyphe looks at me. "You forgot to put a gate in the walls, didn''t you." "Yup," I say with some pep in my step. "But it''s not like it was something I would remember to do. I don''t have the blueprint for it yet. I plan on fixing that problem come the morning. There are some other things that I would like to work on tonight, though I would like your help with them if possible." "What do you need help with?" They ask. "I just talked with Laxreal about mana circulation. He says that it would be safest for me to have someone nearby when I am working on clearing my Mana Veins." Stopping me at this point, they state. "You want me to be the person that is there with you while you are clearing out your Mana Veins." "Yes, I feel safest with you watching over me. He said that I would be vulnerable when I cleared them. Are you willing?¡± "Of course, but you know the price of a favor from me." They say with an evil grin. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Yes, yes." I sigh, "I know I must pay the blood price for such a favor from the great Xelyphe." "Good that you know." They state with a pleased expression. We continued to talk while returning to the room I was going to use previously. Upon arriving, I sat in the same position that Laxreal showed me. "What do I need to do while you are doing this?" Xelyphe asks. "If you would just check that I am not bleeding profusely, that would be the best for now," I answer. They shrug their shoulders and then get their sword out. I hear them swinging and practicing as I circulate the mana through my body. It starts with the mana flowing from my chest to my arms. It doesn''t take long before I feel a little resistance from the Mana Veins in my left arm. I continue to push the mana through. Once it reaches my left shoulder, I feel it moving toward my head. Once it gets to the base of my neck, I feel the resistance suddenly spike. It feels like a hose is trying to push water through a clogged straw. The pressure increases in my neck until it becomes a throbbing pain coursing into my skull. With the increased pain, I can feel that some of the clogged portions of the veins start to break down and clear up. Soon, a small amount of spots are visible covering my neck. I hear my sibling take several steps away from me and continue to practice their stances. Gritting my teeth, I push forward. I slowly increase the pressure on the mana so it can move through the veins. Gradually, the mana starts to creep higher along my neck. There are smaller off-shoot veins that can be cleared, but at this moment, I am focusing on removing the main set. Pushing harder, I finally feel the mana gather at the base of my skull. The pain is excruciating. Fighting to remain conscious, I finally get the mana to circulate over an unknown threshold. I feel the mana flood into my head. This is the last thing I remember before blacking out from the pain. I start waking up an unknown time later. Looking around, I spot the health potion is completely dry. Muttering, "Xelyphe must have fed it to me as I was unconscious." "Well, duh. Why not?" I hear their voice from my back. "When you fell unconscious, I panicked for a second before coming over and checking your vitals. Seeing that you were still alive, the decision was obvious. Also, it has been a couple of hours since you collapsed. Did you succeed in your endeavor?" Going to my status screen, the Mana Veins section has increased by only 5%. Shocked at how little the stat has grown, I look at Xelyphe, "Partially. I was able to get another 5% of my veins cleared. I have a long way to go before finishing this task." "So, will you want me to watch after you every time you try to clear out more?" They ask. "No, I don''t think that is fully necessary. I will watch how much I am clearing at a time. Though, it is shocking to think that I was able to clear out so much the last time." I admit. "Was it that bad?" "No, but yes, I think I know the reason. I want to ask Laxreal for his opinion before I make any conjectures." "Alright, but if you need anything, come to me first. You know I support you and your crazy endeavors." They say, winking and then turning to leave the room. I take a deep breath, think about the time, and quickly wash in the little pond/waterfront near the dock. Once that is done, it is about eleven o''clock at night, by my estimates. I head back to the manor, find a room to lie in, and sleep while thinking about what I need to complete the next day. "So much to do, and so much to start, and only 43 hours left before the attack," I murmur. Closing my eyes and ending another day. Chapter 35 A Gatehouse I wake up with a start as there is a banging on my door. Hearing shouting from outside, I get my sleep-addled brain to try and pick out the words. "Do you think he is awake now?" The first voice asks. I faintly recognize it as someone from my family, but I can''t think straight. "Well, if that doesn''t wake him, I will just have to barge in and shake him awake." A second, much more irritated voice comes through. This voice, I can distinctly tell, is coming from Draemish. Shouting out to them, "I''m awake. No need to go barging into the room." I jump out of bed and go to find my clothes. Not seeing them anywhere on the floor, I realize I have been wearing them this entire time. Shaking more of the sleep from my head, I head to the door and open it. Outside are several figures: Draemish, Xelyphe, and Laxreal. Seeing this will not get any better, I join them outside my room. "Why are you in such a hurry this morning?" "MORNING?" Draemish shouts at me. "It''s nearly two in the afternoon." "Oh...." I scratch the back of my head. "I guess I did oversleep a bit." Trying to bring the conversation back to a regular volume. "You told me. ME. That you would have the gatehouse figured out by this morning. Lo and behold, it is not done!" She exclaims. "Whoa there." Laxreal steps in, trying to help calm the she-zombie. "Drake, might I ask a quick question?" Grasping the opportunity to change the subject, I jump at it. "What is it, Laxreal?" "Where exactly did you get with clearing your Mana Veins?" "From what I remember, I was working on clearing the veins in my neck and head." I offer. "Then that would explain it." He says with a sigh. "Draemish, do you remember..." He doesn''t get to finish his question before she interrupts him. "So, you weren''t just sloughing off the responsibility because you couldn''t wake up until now?" "Yes?" I hesitantly offered, not knowing what I should be saying. "That would make the most sense," Laxreal says. "Those working on the veins in their necks and heads require more rest after cleaning. Do you know how much you have cleared out?" "I could get it just past the base of my skull. I felt like there was a threshold that I needed to overcome before I could continue." "Ah, that explains it then. Draemish, if you don''t mind my saying. I would think giving Drake some time to wake up from his endeavor would be the best option. Knowing him, he will not let things sit for long before he starts working again." Laxreal states. "This makes things harder for us," Draemish says. "Why?" Xelyphe asks. "No one else can open the boxes for the blueprints or population. I tried it already, and it gave me two options. One is to destroy the box and receive lesser versions and amounts; the other is to throw Drake as the settlement''s leader. Not wanting to do either, I came straight here this morning only to find that Drake was still sleeping." With a look of despair on her face. "Give me a few minutes, and I will start opening those boxes." She gives a curt nod and then proceeds out of the manor. "Drake," Laxreal starts, "I know you want to get your Mana Veins cleared out as quickly as you can, but I think it might be best that we wait until after the attack for you to clear them." Thinking about it, I reply, "I would like to, but unless we get together and go out as a small party like we did initially, I won''t be able to progress much. My enchanting profession is stuck until I can get my veins cleared. And that is one of my quest objectives." This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. With more frustration, I continue. "Also, there are the blueprints I need to go through. And then, I also need to open the population scrolls." "Don''t forget, you have that mythic treasure box, as well as that special token," Xelyphe says. I clutch at my head. "And those," I point at them. "Those are my biggest concerns. I don''t know what they will give, and I don''t know what to do with them." "Have you tried analyzing one of them yet?" Laxreal offers a comforting hand on my shoulder. "No, we got back, and I first needed to get everything situated to have housing and crafting areas." Throwing my hands up, I said, "Also, I just found out I slept for over 12 hours. That means, as of right now, we have only 29 hours left until we are attacked. I am a bit stressed about all of this." In a shocking turn, Xelyphe comes over and hugs me. "Drake," They say soothingly. "You are trying to do all of this on your own again. You just started to get people in a semblance of order. Take a step back for a second and let things settle. Most of us are also trying to get used to being here. And I, for one, am still getting used to the idea of friendly undead. Sorry, Laxreal." "It is ok. Coming from a world where there aren''t these types of beings can be quite jarring, and I am shocked at how well Drake has taken it." He replies to them. "Drake, let''s start with the simple things first. Let''s go downstairs, where everyone has piled the rest of the boxes that need to be opened, and start dealing with the blueprints. Once those are done, analyze the two other items. Starting there will be the best for you right now. After that, I think that you should go around and talk with people. You haven''t had much time to settle for a second, and I think you need to change that." "Ok," I say, finally calmed down. "Let''s go." Removing them from me, I nod at Laxreal, thankful for his support. Leading the way down to the first floor, I see all the boxes that need to be opened. Next to those is the Lord''s Chest. Taking a deep breath, I start to open the blueprint boxes. - Blueprints Received: Adaptive Housing Stone Walls Spike Traps Moat Gate House (Wood) Gate House (Stone) Logging Hut Herb Garden Docks Shipyard Siege Towers Mobile Balistas Wall-Mounted Catapults Communication Tower Stone Slab Roads Irrigation Channels Wooden Bridge Stone Bridge Summoning Portal Base Piece X 3 Summoning Portal Tower Piece X 2 Infantry Training Yard Archery Training Yard Apprentice Mage Tower - I was shocked at the differences with all the new blueprints. There is also a pile of blueprint parts, equalling 70 pieces. "Well, at least I got the gate; now is the choice of a wooden or stone gatehouse. I will bring this up to Draemish when I have time." I sigh with relief that we have the gatehouse blueprint. Considering that she might flay my hide if I didn''t do anything about our inability to leave yet." "Drake," Laxreal stops me before I can leave. "I have a question for you. I know this is sudden with everything happening, but I need an answer to what I am about to ask. What is your goal for this settlement?" Confused, I look at him, "What do you mean? I want it to grow and prosper." "We all see that. I am more concerned about how you will deal with all the different species of people coming into the settlement. Will you treat everyone as you have been? Or will you let others sway you from making the best decision for the settlement?" "That''s quite a tricky question. Of course, I want to treat everyone equally. While I am not accustomed to the people of the different planets we have been pulling from, we haven''t had any major issues other than the problem with Shadow and Autumn. If push comes to shove and someone isn''t willing to play nice like Draemish. I would have no issues kicking them out of the settlement to have a more community-focused group." With that answer, Laxreal responds by bending his knee. "Drake, I swear that as long as you uphold the stance of openness to those who need a home or those searching for knowledge. I pledge to follow your direction and help in any way I can. I promise to keep the settlement''s interests in mind as I work. This I swear." With him giving his oath to me, a red and gold flash surrounds me. - Congratulations, your Noble class has leveled up. It is now level 2. Received +1 to Charisma and +1 Free Stat point - Looking at him with shock, I help him back to his feet. "Why this all of a sudden?" "Strauvana and I have been talking about it. While she is tied more towards Draemish, I am more of a free spirit, shall we say. I want to see you prosper as you are the first being that didn''t criticize me for being a failure of a scholar. While it doesn''t seem like much to you, it means a lot to me. Thinking of the hundreds of years I failed with my research only to be welcomed, as hesitant as you were that first day, meant a lot. So thank you. If you have any need of my assistance in the future, please don''t so much as hesitate to ask. My door is always open to you." "Thank you, Laxreal. I will do everything in my power not to let you down." Chapter 36 A Birds Secret With Laxreal''s oath completed, I helped him up. "Let me get the gatehouse in before Draemish has a bigger fit that isn''t done yet." Jumping to the correct menus, I select the gatehouse and consider where to put it. The northern wall would be a good option since it leads to the docks. The same can be said about the east, which leads to the mining outpost. Scratching my head in frustration, Xelyphe steps in. "Why don''t I ask Draemish which wall she wants the gatehouse to be on? We can figure out if we want to have multiple later so we don''t overextend ourselves for the time being." "That is a wonderful idea, Xelyphe." Laxreal chimes in. "Why don''t I go with you? Maybe we can get her to work with some people to get the start of a military district started?" With that, the two of them head out of the manor. "I need to get better at delegating things," I mutter. A rustling of wings alerts me that Ritotorous has come over. "Yes, you do, Drake. But not all rulers or lords were born knowing how to lead. Take it one step at a time. There are plenty of people out there who have been worrying about you. Go see them and return when you have cleared your head." He says to me. With a deep breath, I nod and head outside. - Ritotorous POV - I beat my wings in frustration at how much Drake gets bogged down with little details. I see a deep shadow in the corner of the manor. Reaching out with my mind, I brush up against another being. "Eleanor, I know you are hiding in the shadows. Come out so we can talk." With a flourish displaying her heritage, she comes out, bows to me, and says aloud. "As you command, oh bringer of the end." I quickly look around to see if there is anyone around. "Enough of that. You know just as well as Laxreal that I don''t like those titles. Why are you stalking Drake?" "Answering the great one," She says now with a more playful tone. "I am having a hard time finding what you see in that boy. From everything displayed thus far, he doesn''t have a great aptitude for death energies and seems more aligned with life than anything else." "It is not what he can offer me through his alignments. It is what he can offer me in terms of his fresh view of this world." "You know of this world?" "Yes, but not much more than what PUN lets me see. For the most part, this world should have ended a millennium ago. I need to figure out how it holds on and watch as life sprouts from it again or bring it to its end." "I understand your sentiment," She says while finally standing up. "But why must you take this guise? Does the boy need to be fooled as such? Or are you worried about something else?" "This is the only form I have been allowed to bring in. My status has shown him of my origins, but not fully. I must keep up the guise and only give information that would be a guide in this world. Otherwise, the penalties will be deadly for him. Let us speak of this no more. I must get back to Drake. He has shown some incredible things to me so far. I have high hopes for this boy." With a quick flap of my wings, I take off from the railing on the stairs and proceed outside to see what Drake has been up to. - Drake POV - After a couple of hours of wandering around the settlement, I look up and determine the right time to return to the manor and figure out what that last token does. Once I get back to the manor, Xelyphe, my father, and my mother are all waiting outside for me. "Why the sudden family meeting?" I pleasantly ask them. "Drake, I think it is time that we all talk about what is going on and what the future for the family looks like." My father starts. "We haven''t had much time to talk as you have been busy. Can we please go inside and discuss everything and devise a plan for the next day?" My mother has a supportive hand on his shoulder, and my sibling nods beside them. "Yes, we can do that. It will take a while to explain everything, though." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "We have time. Dinner won''t be going anywhere." My mother says. We all head inside, and it takes an hour to explain everything that I know to them. Once I am done, I look at them, "What do you think would be best for right now?" Xelyphe answers, "I think we should get the gate up so Draemish doesn''t go ballistic. Next, I think we use what tokens we have left to get more defenses up. Everyone has accommodations; another night of sharing won''t hurt anyone." My father nods along with this plan. "We should also think about setting some basic traps. We might get lucky and have the enemies fall into them." "OK, so what should we do about the professions that everyone has? I know I haven''t gotten mine to level up for some reason." "Have you tried asking Muiress?" My mother asks. "No," I sigh, "I am concerned he will just bring up the fact I haven''t built him a separate home from Vranjaya. Now would be the best time to do so, I guess." "Maybe you can use making his accommodations a higher priority as an incentive to help you understand your profession. It makes sense to trade since you have something he wants and visa versa." Xelyphe offers. "That is true," I look at them, seeing the scheming part of them I have come to know as we grew up. "Maybe we could set up a board near the manor''s entrance, and people can make requests. I know it is a bit early, but maybe we can start to get things organized faster. You can also put something up to get people to focus on certain objectives." With that thought, gears start to work in my mind. "And when we get enough people in the settlement, maybe we set up a mission or adventure hall. When the tasks are completed, they can earn points to request certain buildings, materials, or training from others?" "Exactly!" They say with excitement. "It will be hard to start, but I am more than willing to take over this task." "First, I need to figure out what this token does." Raising the mythical token in my hands. - Mythical Token of the Fog: Upon use, the user can select one of several options. Spawn Specific Resource Outpost Outpost X2 Level Up Token Move Settlement Buildings Token Instant 2000 Tier 1 Resources - I am trying to get more information about what these options do, but nothing comes up. "I need to get my commanders and original party here. I don''t want to make this decision without some more minds." Xelyphe stands up, "I will head out and be back within 15 minutes." Watching them leave, I turn to my parents. "Have you figured out what your professions do yet?" "I can take stone resources and make things with them. Mostly decorations right now." My father says. "Woodworking is as it sounds. I need wood for me to make things. On the list are things like bows, arrows, and furniture." Nodding along, we continue to converse till Xelyphe comes back with everyone. "Drake, I better hope you have that blueprint for the gatehouse ready," Draemish says right when she sees me. "I do. I didn''t want to place it down anywhere without consulting with you. Also, didn''t Xelyphe tell you I had the blueprint earlier today?" "I saw her earlier today, and it was never brought up." She says, growling at Xelyphe. "Hey," They throw their arms up in defense. "It''s not my fault that the first thing you do when seeing me is make me start running and practicing." And quietly says, "You didn''t even allow me to say anything about it, so I figured it could wait." With everyone here, I inform them of the token and what it can do. "Do we have any ideas for which one we should get?" "Honestly, I think it would be best just to get the instant resources." Shadow starts the conversation. "It would let us get more towers up faster and have more places covered more heavily." "The instant resources would be a good option, but I think we should instead focus on getting the specific resource outpost." Laxreal counters. "Why?" Vranjaya asks. "Easy. We don''t have any way to accrue some of our resources. Getting the outpost would allow us to select the needed resource; with some people working it, we could get more help without worrying about running out any soon." "That does make the most sense," Strauvana says. "What would the resource that we need them most be? Uxa asks. Looking at the materials menu, I show them. - Materials Menu Tier 1 Wood - 404 Stone - 364 (+10 daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - 1854 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 550 Tier 2 Wood - Stone - Metal - Food - 0 (+1 Per 5 days Fishing Pier) - "From what we have, I would sssay that wood isss the resssource that we need the mossst." Vranjaya points out. Laxreal looks over the options again. "Drake, did you ever use the outpost upgrade token that we first received for defeating the Control Point Guardian?" "I haven''t. We could save it for if we ever found a wood resource." He looks at the gathered group. "I would say the specific resource outpost would be the best suited. We could level it up one time instantly. We might even use it as a defensive option to grow out from." "Why would you say that?" Draemish asks. "Because, when we captured the other outpost, a small amount of fortifications came with it. Nothing more than a fence considering its size." He answers. With this final declaration of this information, everyone agrees that we should get the Specific Resource Outpost. Chapter 37 A Whole Lot of Buildings Looking at everyone, I think for a second before I speak up. "While we are on the topic of fortifications and buildings, there is something that I need to show everyone." Taking a small step back since we have decided on what we are planning to do with the token building. Browsing my menus, I find an option to show everyone the new building blueprints we have just received. I also received a shock due to how the system breaks down all the new buildings, leaving me pleasantly surprised. - New Building Blueprints: Housing: Adaptive Housing Level 1 - Adapts the environment inside the house for all species so they have a better environment than the most basic of accommodations. 5 meters X 5 meters. Requires a Journeyman Enchanter and Journeyman Foreman. 200 Tier 2 Wood, 200 Tier 2 Metal Defenses/Military Support Stone Walls Level 1 - Stone walls with a high defense and a walking path that can accommodate two people standing shoulder to shoulder. Reaches 7 meters in height. 10 Units of Tier 1 Stone per 5 meters. Spike Traps Level 1 - Basic spikes that can be placed inside pits or around the defenses. Requires 2 Units of Tier 1 Wood per 3 meters of spikes. Moat Level 1 - A bare ditch dug out around the settlement. No materials are required. Wooden Gatehouse Leve 1 - A basic gatehouse that will provide access into and out of the settlement. The gatehouse is 5 meters wide, 5 meters long, and 7 meters high. It is reinforced with heavy wooden doors and a crossbeam to shut. Requires 30 Units of Tier 1 wood. Stone Gatehouse Level 1 - A stone gatehouse that will provide access into and out of the settlement. The gatehouse is 7 meters wide, 7 meters long, and 10 meters high. It has metal-reinforced wooden doors with a portcullis. Requires 30 Units of Tier 1 stone, 10 Units of Tier 1 wood and 10 Units of Tier 1 metal. Ballista Towers Level 1 - These defensive ballistae fire bolts at a maximum rate of 2 per minute while they are manned. Requires 5 Units of Tier 1 wood and 3 Units of Tier 1 metal Wall-mounted Catapults Level 1 - Attached to a stone wall, these artillery placements lob large boulders at attacking forces. Fires at a rate of 1 stone per minute for larger boulders and 2 per minute for smaller shots. Requires a stone wall, a journeyman foreman, 5 Units of Tier 1 wood, and 3 Units of Tier 1 metal. Infantry Training Yard Level 1 - A basic training yard that provides dummies and a sparring ring. Increase the training time of skills by 5%. Requires 20 Units of Tier 1 wood. Archery Training Yard Level 1 - A basic training yard providing dummies and target range. Increase the training time of skills by 5%. Requires 20 Units of Tier 1 wood. Apprentice Mage Tower Level 1 - A basic tower that provides dummies to fire magic at, dummies to heal, and ample space to practice group-based spells. Increase the training time of skills by 5%. Requires 20 Units of Tier 1 stone. Logistics: Docks Level 1 - A construct that will allow the building of fishing vessels and other small boats. Requires access to a large body of water, and 50 Units of Tier 1 wood. Shipyard Level 1 - This shipyard will allow access to build large vessels up to 20 meters long. Requires a Journeyman Foreman, 200 Units of Tier 2 wood, and 100 Units of Tier 2 stone. Communication Tower Level 1 - A tower that allows instant communication between two towers at a range of 20 km. Multiple towers can increase the range of communication but must be placed in a straight line with the one in use. It requires a Journeyman Foreman, a Journeyman Inscriptionist, 200 Units of Tier 2 stone, and 200 Units of Tier 2 metal. Irrigation Channels Level 1 - With access to water, these channels can increase the yield and speed of crop growth when the plots are located within 20 meters of the channel. Requires access to fresh water. Wooden Bridge Level 1 - A simple wooden bridge connecting roads from one side of a river. It can only stretch over a 10-meter-wide river. Requires 10 Units of Tier 1 wood. Stone Bridge Level 1 - A simple stone bridge connecting roads from one side of a river. It can only stretch over a 10-meter-wide river. Requires 10 Units of Tier 1 stone. Offensive: Siege Tower Level 1 - A basic siege tower that will allow attackers to mount onto walls up to 10 meters in height. Requires 10 Units of Tier 1 wood. Special: Summoning Portal Base Level 1 ¡ª This is a one-time-use blueprint for positioning a summoning portal base. It requires a Journeyman Foreman, a Journeyman Inscriptionist, a Journeyman Enchanter, 400 Units of Tier 2 stone, and 100 Units of Tier 2 metal. Summoning Portal Tower Level 1 - This is a one-time blueprint that allows positioning a summoning portal tower. It requires a Journeyman Foreman, a Journeyman Inscriptionist, a Journeyman Enchanter, 200 Units of Tier 2 stone, and 300 Units of Tier 2 metal. - This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I look towards Dreamish, "It seems we have a way to train everyone in the specific skills and abilities now, along with more defensive options for when the attack arrives." "That we do, Drake," She agrees. "I would like to get the moat in place and then fill it with the wooden spikes if we have the spare materials. I also want to get the different training yards in place, so we have some extra time." "The moat won''t be a problem since we can have Oria. I wonder if we can use that dirt differently to have multiple defensive lines?" Laxreal says. "That isss a good question. My thoughtsss would be to get the training groundsss for the different troopsss up quickly asss well." Adds Vranjaya. "It would be a great place to start training everyone for the rest of tomorrow since we only have that much time left." I offer. "While this is all good," Dreamish pulls us back to the original topic. "We still need a way out of the settlement to gather more, and maybe there are options we haven''t considered to extend the time like we did the last time. I don''t want to deal with a night attack when I know not everyone can see that well in the dark." Looking at the group, I agree with everything said thus far. Turning to Shadow, I ask. "What do you think? Should we see about getting people out to get more experience and try to extend our clock till at least the morning of the day after tomorrow?" "Yes. There isn''t a need to overthink that. What notification did you receive when we went into the fog with the large group last time?" He asks me. I looked around my menus to see if there was a log of the notifications I received. Finding it after a little bit of digging, I showed all of them the exact notification. - As a noble leading this army, you may select what you want to do since it is the first time entering as a noble. War Extermination Exploration Conquest - "So, from what I can see, the best option for us to get more time is to send groups into the fog. I hope they can find camps or other items to extend our time." Shadow states. "I would be curious what it would look like to just send one person through and what scenario they receive. The two times that we have gone through were completely different experiences." I offer, "The first time, we ended up getting an outpost that was connected to the cave that we entered. The second time, we were all split up, and my mission was to gather everyone from the party, which led to several different situations." "You be meaning when you be helping me to receive my beast form?" Zul''Zara interjects. "Or when you help free me from a cell in a goblin encampment." Strauvana follows up. "And when you found the tower, I struggled to open it and then received your elemental alignment," Laxreal finishes. "Yes." I sigh. We have never gone in by ourselves. Honestly, I am tempted to try it." I quickly raise my hand to stave off any comments from my family. I am currently the only person in the entire settlement with healing capabilities. And I have plenty of options to keep enemies at bay while firing from a distance." My father quickly steps up, "I wouldn''t typically agree with what you are saying, but in this instance, you might have a point. But I don''t condone you going out before we have an attack on where we are. As you just said. You are the only one who has the possibility of healing us if we are in danger of losing our lives." Hearing the logic from my father, I nod my head in agreement. "So what do you think we should do?" "I would vote to send in groups like you said earlier, so it is potentially safer for everyone who goes. Maybe they have some healing potions that they can use while out. And while those groups are out, we can get some more work on getting the defenses up and running." "I would have to agree with your father," Laxreal starts. "There are several things that I think you could be working on to improve yourself without the need to get into harms way. Have you considered working on your enchanting? Or work on some spells you have learned to increase their proficiency?" "Once we get the mage''s tower up, you could always go over to it and start to work on your spells in a more effective environment," Strauvana says. "Those are good recommendations for Drake, but we must get things situated first before we get too far ahead of ourselves." Dreamish pulls the conversation back to the main topic. "The gate should be positioned towards the west since the north and south have bodies of water obscuring most of the land mass for monsters to attack, and we can easily see anything coming from all three of those directions." "I second that thought," Shadow states in a matter-of-fact tone. "Third," Vranjaya offers. With the three commanders having the same opinion, I look towards the rest of the group. "Does anyone else have thoughts on where the gate should go?" Seeing that everyone is shaking their heads, I pull up the settlement interface and select the wall portion we want to make into a gate. - Notice: Since you are trying to place a gate on this section of the wall, the material cost for the gatehouse has decreased due to the materials from the previous building being of a compatible type. Resource cost has been reduced by 5 Units of Tier 1 wood. - Before implementing the new gatehouse, I asked the room one final question: "Do we want to start with a wooden gatehouse, or should we swap to the stone gatehouse?" Dreamish offers first, "While having the stone gatehouse would be a boon right now, I don''t know if we should spend the resources on it quite yet. We aren''t producing a lot of stone at the moment even though we can get more with the resource boxes." "The same could be said about the wooden gatehouse," Shadow retorts. "I vote we go for the stone gatehouse. While it costs more overall, we might be able to get more people on top of it to fire down at any foes." Dreamish looks thoughtful for a moment before conceding the point. "This is the wise option. I guess I was getting stuck looking at what we have on hand and forgetting, even as I said, that we can quickly get more stone when the resource boxes come along." "Ssso, are we agreed that we ssshould build the stone gatehoussse, even though it will end up costing more materials?" Vranjaya asked. "I think that is exactly what we will be doing," I respond as I select it and place it in the exact location. - Notice: Due to selecting the stone gatehouse there will be a 5 Unit of Tier 1 wood cost reduction for this building. Proceed? Yes/No - I mentally select yes and wait for the building to be placed down. Upon doing so, I see if anyone is chosen to be a builder for any other projects and find neither has an assignment. Figuring I should put everything into place before I start my next couple of items, I place the moat around the entire encampment other than the entrance, leaving a 5-meter wide span that we can easily adjust right before the attack starts. Following that, I try to put the wooden stakes into the moat beforehand, but I cannot until it has been completed. Slightly depressed, I selected Oria as the builder for the moat. - Stone Gatehouse Level 1 time till completion: 5 Hours 56 Minutes 24 Seconds Moat Level 1 time till completion: 8 Hours 54 Minutes - Chapter 38 Resource Outpost... With two new buildings in the queue and three more available, I am looking at the last options that would help soon. "Alright, we have just the gatehouse and the moat building right now. I considered building three different training buildings so everyone could get more efficient training for their classes. What does everyone else think?" I announce to the group. "Again, Drake, I don''t think anyone would have an issue with us having those buildings. I would be curious as to what else those buildings might offer. They seem a bit lackluster in their descriptions. Is there any way to get more information?" Dreamish asks. "Let me check," I respond to her. Mentally sending my inquiry to PUN, I ask the same question. I don''t get a response. Then I remembered Ritotorous might be able to help in this situation, so I asked him the same question. "Well, Drake, these buildings offer little more than what they offer. I can tell you that most buildings have bonuses if the right circumstances happen." That is the response I get. "Anything else you can tell me?" "No, I can''t tell you anything else as that would be against my role as a guide and just telling you what you need to do." He replies with a bit of snark. "Fine," throwing my hands up in defeat once again. I relay the little information he has provided me to everyone else in the room. "Hmm, that sounds interesting. I''m curious about the specific requirements for the training buildings," Dreamish ponders. "I think I might have an idea, but I won''t be able to see if it is right until the buildings are built," Laxreal says. "Alright, I will get the rest of the buildings situated so we have a full roster of buildings in the queue," I announce. As I finish saying this, I go into the menus again and select all the training buildings. I choose the space near the walls. It is flat terrain and right next to the gatehouse, so we have easy access for defense when the attack does come. Last but not least, I bring up the resource outpost. Where should we use it? I know we want to upgrade it with the other token that we have, but I don''t know if it is wise to build it at this point." "You are afraid that the attack might destroy it if it gets in the way, right?" Xelyphe asks. "Correct, I don''t know what we will be facing, and even if we get some defenses with the outpost, there is no guarantee that we will be able to hold onto it since we don''t have many people currently." I acknowledge, "Even if we had enough people, splitting them now wouldn''t be wise. Not many people have gone out to get more levels. Yes, there are the ones who joined us in the extermination missions, but we need them to also level up before tomorrow." "Those are fair points, Drake. We can''t account for everything that will pop up. We should wait to add the resource outpost until we know it is safer. As for right now, all we can do is hope everyone quickly grasps the opportunities to get stronger as fast as possible so we might all survive," Shadow says. With nods all around at the idea of delaying the resource outpost positioning, I think it is time for everyone to get to their tasks in preparation, which I also announced to them. Thinking of something, I head up to where the Lord''s Chest is and proceed to pull out the last of the Wood Instant Completion Token and use it on the moat, as well as a Bronze Time Reduction Token to use on the gatehouse. This frees up Oria to be assigned to one of the other buildings and leaves only 1 hour and 55 minutes left for the gatehouse. Putting Oria on the Infantry Training Yard reduces the time until completion by only 1%, but I feel that the experience needed to level up his profession is getting close. Thinking about this, I also get the wooden spike traps in the moat. While placing the spike traps, I quickly noticed I only had one piece of tier 1 wood left. This left me just over 99 meters of my moat without spike traps. With a sigh, I head to my room to meditate on my veins again, hoping to clear more of them. Going up to my room, I sit down to start practicing my mana circulation and force more mana through my veins. As it is running through, I can feel it reach my head with ease before continuing down my neck again and heading towards my arms again before getting stopped mid-way through my chest. Slowly, I start building up the mana in hopes that it will be able to push through and clear it out. For an hour, there is nothing but pain as the mana continues to build before finally, at the end of the second hour, it pushes through and, with a rush, it flows towards my right leg. I get a notification then. - Mana Veins is 54% complete. - With a heavy sigh, continue for another hour. While I can feel the mana building up like before, there isn''t enough time to continue pushing forward. However, after finishing my third hour of Mana Circulation, I get another notification. - Congratulations, your skill, Mana Circulation, has reached level 2. - You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. This puts a smile on my face. I get up and stretch my body. Going outside, I find that everything is progressing, but I do notice that at least a dozen people are missing. Walking around, I do find Muiress. "Where is everyone?" "Well," He starts, "Based on what you all have discussed earlier, a couple of groups are headed out right now to explore more. And while they are out, those inside have been working on our professions. And by the way, when do you think I could get my abode? Vranjaya hasn''t been able to give me a lick of rest since I have been stuck in the same building as her." Looking closely, I can see dark bags under his eyes. "What, can''t handle a little fan girl?" "NO!" he hollers. It is more than that. She insists that we should ''Rebuild the population.'' I can''t even explain how she thinks we must do that." "Has anyone told her you were all summoned and time has frozen on your planets?" "Oh. I have tried repeatedly. But does that help? No. She still insists that we try anyway." He looks at me as if begging me to find a way to keep them separated. Seeing this, I relent. "Okay, give me a couple of hours, and I will make sure that your abode is next on the list of things that need to be done." "Thank you," he exclaims, "I can finally leave that nagging naga!" "So...." I start again, "People are working on their professions, right?" "Yes, and might I say, enchanting is different than I would have thought." "How so? Isn''t it just inscribing some runes or patterns onto equipment?" "That''s how it used to be for me. Now, there are all these new rules, and," he raises his hands and does air quotes, "mini-games." "Mini-games? To enchant something?" "It feels more like mazes and puzzles. That is why I-" He cuts himself off and starts running away. Feeling quite confused, I look around to see the situation, only to see a blur of scales and hissing. "Muiress, wait for me!" Vranjaya trails after him. "And there goes my potential teacher." Huffing about the inconvenience, I proceed onto the enchanting hut. Once I entered the industry side of the settlement, I looked around. I first noticed that every building had a sign hanging near or on the door. Quickly finding the building with the tool''s design, I remembered, and I entered inside. Looking around the room, I find a couple of tables for working and an empty shelf. Proceeding forward, I approach one of the tables. Nothing happens when I get there, but a notification appears when I set my hands on the table. - Profession check: Passed Available tools: None found Unable to use Enchanting Table at this time. - Thinking about it, I realize I did leave my enchanting items at the manor. I go back, grab my tools, and return. I find that Muiress has started working on one of the tables. "So, you managed to lose her?" I asked. "Yes," he pants, "Though no thanks to you." I shrug my shoulders at him. "It''s not like I could have done anything. You just took off without trying to hit at what was happening." He gives me a death glare. "Context, Drake, context. What were we talking about before I had to run off?" "Oh, well, sorry. I don''t have the best idea as to why someone might run off because they have girl troubles." I say with as much sarcasm in my voice as I can muster. "It''s not like I had any of those issues before coming here." "I guess that makes sense." Giving me one last look, he asks, "Why are you only getting here now?" "Well, you see, I might have forgotten to bring my tools along, so I had to run back and grab them." "Couldn''t you have used my tools?" He asks. "No?" I give him a confused look, "When I entered, there wasn''t anything on the tables." Seeing my confusion, he asks one more question. "And what did you see on the shelves?" Thinking I understood where he was coming from, I answered, "There was nothing there as well." "So, in your own words, there was nothing on the table I am at currently and nothing on the shelves. How about now?" "I see your tools now on the table. But I still don''t see anything on the shelves." "Interesting." "Why is that interesting?" "Well, Drake, when I came in the room, there wasn''t anything on the tables like you, but I assumed that that was because no one had come in and placed their tools on the table. But from my observation, plenty of parchment is on the shelves." "Wait, you''re telling me something is on the shelves right now?" "Yes." "Why can''t I see it then?" "I have an idea about why that might be the case. It must be because you haven''t been subject to enchanting from your home world. At least in any way that would correlate to how this world''s enchanting works." "But why could you see something when you were just as confused about how to enchant?" "That is because some theories have transferred to this world. I have started to look for similarities, but nothing has stood out as of this moment other than how to use mana to enchant..." Then there is static. While I can see his mouth moving, I can''t understand anything he is saying anymore. That is when I received my fourth notification today. - As you are in the Enchanter''s Hut, there is a time limit of how long parties might collaborate and how much knowledge can be shared between parties. This time will be reset after a week, or it can be extended by upgrading the building. Please experiment and further your studies of enchanting. - Seeing I have stopped listening to him, Muiress stops talking. When he also receives his own notification, shaking his head, he continues with his studies. Chapter 39 Enchanting Deciding that I had no other option than to grab the book about enchanting and read it, I set all my tools on the different work table and started my journey through the book. Starting with the book''s first line begins to explain the nuances of enchanting, from injecting mana to grinding up different materials for the required enchantments. The grinding of materials seems pretty simple to me. What trips me up is the process of mana manipulation and how it affects the enchantment itself. From the description, I must channel my mana into a pattern and activate nodes throughout a pattern that appears during the initial process. However, as Muiress said, it is more of a maze for enchanting. Once you head down a path, you can backtrack, but that will lead to a waste of mana, and the maze changes each time you do the pattern. One important point I gleaned from the book is that even if you don''t have the materials to grind, you can still make the patterns and apply them like a stencil. I can see some issues with this process, but until then, I will have to experiment. Finishing the relatively small guidebook, I look at the enchanting table and place my hands on the table. - - Profession check: Passed Available tools: Available for use. Would you like to start working on an enchanting diagram or enchanting an item? - I select the first option, and then, like the book mentioned, several different mazes appear before my eyes. Unlike any mazes I have done back on my homeworld, I see a mana bar at the top corner of the interface with my total mana at the top. Looking at the different mazes, they each have a name for what they would do. - Weapon Enchantment: Minimum Success +1 Damage Armor Enchantment: Minimum Success +1 Defense Accessory Enchantment: Minimum Success +1 Primary Attribute Defensive Building Enchantment: Minimum Success +100 Durability or +2 Damage - Selecting the first option, the maze zooms in, completely different from what I saw. Looking more intently, I notice that even though I know the maze, I only see a portion. Cursing in my head, I start tracing the only path before me. Slowly but surely, the path becomes highlighted with my mana. By the time I reached the first intersection, I had already dropped to 34 mana out of my 36. Choosing to go down the left-hand side, seeing multiple intersections visible, I continue. Going down one section and turning at different intersections has led me to backtrack on several other occasions, causing me to lose the mana I could have spent getting to the node. As I get closer to one more intersection, I stop for a second as a node has become visible. Heading in that direction, I am down to 26 mana. Once I get to the node, there is a moment when I have to inject more mana into it before it becomes active. After injecting ten mana into the node, I receive a notification. - You have successfully activated a node of the Weapon Enchantment schematic. +1 Damage when applied to a weapon. Would you like to continue? Yes/No Note: If you decide to proceed with this attempt, you will lose all your progress and need to restart. - I select no, and the maze phases out. Before my eyes is a sigil. When I inspect it closer, I see what it does. - Weapon Enchantment of +1 Damage. Requires two pieces of copper to enchant the item successfully. - Once I am done inspecting the sigil, I will see that I have gained some experience. - For the successful completion of an enchantment sigil at a +1, you have received two experience points. - This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. As I saw my enchanting experience increase for the first time, I looked at my mana pool. It is now resting at 16 of 36. Realizing that just this basic enchantment took 20 mana to obtain the sigil makes me concerned about trying to get more out of it. Taking a small break to replenish my mana before my next attempt, I glance back at the shelf. There is now a piece of paper on it that wasn''t there before. Going towards it and looking at it, I see the pattern I am trying to fill out. Seven different nodes are on it, and one goes off the page. Confused by this, I look towards Muiress and see that he is deep into a maze, but the difference is that I can see the whole maze he is going through. From what I know, he has already filled out several different nodes. I was curious about how he managed to do that, even though I knew he had less mana than me. I was going to ask him, but then I remembered that we couldn''t talk to each other anymore, at least inside the building. Sighing, I head back to my table and circulate my mana. While doing this, I noticed a difference in how much mana I am getting back. Looking at my mana bar after 15 minutes, I have regenerated ten mana points. Finding that speed a bit ridiculous, I look to see if there are any buffs. I see one icon regarding my status that I hadn''t noticed before. - Enchanter''s Hut: Increase the mana recovered while using meditative techniques by 1000% - Shocked at this discovery, I look again at Muiress and see that he has stopped his attempt. Thinking about this, I also head to my next attempt since I have enough mana now and want to try to get the armor enchantment in my repertoire. Following the same process as before, I start the maze and follow it slowly at first. Completing one intersection at a time and finally finding the node to push mana inside it. Once I have finished it, I will look at my mana reserves. There are only two points left. Finishing the enchantment, I inspect the sigil. - Armor Enchantment of +1 Defense. Requires two shield flowers to enchant the item successfully. - Glancing at the shelves again, I see a second piece of paper holding the sigil. I also received two more experience points for my enchanting profession. Sitting down to circulate my mana again, I took 45 minutes to fill my mana pool before I attempted to get the accessory enchantment. This time, though, I will use every drop of mana to see if I can''t get a better enchantment. As I am circulating my mana through my veins, I notice that some smaller veins are shooting off from the main ones in my head. I start to clear them out; they head towards my eyes once I am done. During those 45 minutes, I can clear one of my eyes enough to see the mana flow better in Muiress'' enchantment. I am still baffled about how he can keep going while I have to stop after every enchantment. When I got up to start the accessory enchantment, two hours had passed since I entered the enchanter''s hut. It is getting late, and I need to wrap this up and eat something before I head to bed since I want to get an early start tomorrow. After going through the process again to select the accessory enchantment, I filled out the maze. As I start, there is one big difference: I can feel the mana flow behind my right eye that was cleared and see further along the maze than before. Right away, I can see a path to a node. Heading towards it, I quickly get there and fill it up. Finding that I still had 22 mana remaining since I didn''t have to backtrack like I did with the other two, I decided to continue. From where I am in the maze, I can see another node again, but I can''t see any immediate path to the new node. After several intersections, I was able to find the path to the next one. Quickly getting to it, I filled it up again and saw that my mana had dropped to five left. I chose to complete the maze at this point, and I received a notification. - For the successful completion of an enchantment sigil at a +2, you have received five experience points. - One more sigil appeared on the shelf. Pumping my fist into the air at my accomplishment, I looked back and saw that, at some point, Muiress had left the building, and Eleanor was hovering close by. I jumped in shock right as she spoke. "Hello, Drake. I can see you are working hard on your craft, though I am confused about why your mana control is lacking." Feeling like she is making a slight toward me, I retort with sarcasm: "Well, it''s not like I had any sense of mana back on my home planet." "Oh, well, that makes more sense then." She states, completely ignoring my sarcasm. "It would be best if you could get your mana more under control then. Have you been practicing the mana circulation that Laxreal has spoken of?" "Yes, but it doesn''t seem to make much of a difference other than increasing my mana regeneration and working on clearing out my mana veins." I shrug with a defeated sigh. "That makes¡ª" she cuts herself off. What do you mean, clear out your mana veins?" "Well," I offer, figuring there is no harm in her knowing. "Since I have gotten to this world, I have been working on clearing them out since they were still developing on my home planet but were viewed as a detriment to my health. On several occasions, I have had to get a lump removed from near my heart." "Wait, wait, wait." She holds up her hands. "You also have a mana heart?" "Yes," I say with a glimmer in my eyes since this might be a time to get more information. "What does that mean?" "Typically, those with mana hearts have incredible mana reserves and higher combat effectiveness due to the greater damage their spells can cause. There isn''t more than one in a billion chance of them occurring, at least in our world, which has an abundance of mana. I couldn''t think of what could have occurred if your planet had developed someone like you." "Well, I can think of one potential option." As I wave my hands around to symbolize this world. "That is one option. I am curious how you will turn out." As she finished saying that, I got another notification telling me we couldn''t talk anymore. It isn''t very pleasant, but I sigh and think about what she has said initially. How can I get better control over my mana, and what would that do in the long run for my enchanting? Chapter 40 Special Quest With Eleanor''s questions ringing through my head, I focused more on my mana and how to control it better. There aren''t any easy guides for me, so instead of floundering and trying to get it to work, I head to where I think Laxreal will be. When working on my mana veins, I don''t feel confident that I can control the mana, stumping me. I think of all the books about how they might control their mana. With this in mind, I come up with a couple of ideas. My first option is to remove the mana from my body somehow and control it that way. Another option is to be able to control things with external mana. It takes five minutes before I am in front of Laxreal''s tomb. Not knowing the right way to get his attention if he is inside, I go to knock on the stone door. Right as I am about to knock, I hear a raspy voice from behind me. "And how might I be of assistance to you, Drake?" Turning with a start, not expecting him to be right behind me, I say. "I was curious if you had time to discuss some things involving my mana." "I can spare some time, but first, I want to ask. Is the mage tower ready to use?" I take a second to look at the building queue. - Building Queue: Stone Gatehouse Level 1: Complete Moat Level 1: Complete Infantry Training Yard Level 1: Complete Archery Training Yard Level 1: Complete Apprentice Mage Tower Level 1: Complete - With all the buildings in the queue finished, I informed Laxreal. "Yes, it is complete. Why?" "I feel it would be beneficial if we continued this discussion there." He turns around and walks to the tower. I was helpless since he had just walked away, so I followed him. Only a few minutes before we reached the tower, I looked at him and asked, "So, why did we need to come here exactly?" "Like I said before, I just felt it would be beneficial if we came here." Shrugging his shoulders at me. He turns to the tower and presses his hand to it. That is when I received a notification. - Special Settlement Quest: Teach a Man to Fish... You have constructed training buildings for each class currently available to the settlement. Find eligible instructors for each of these buildings. Tasks: Find Instructors (0/3) Reward: 3 X Class Experience Bags 3 X Random Skill Books Extra Random Settlement Bonus - I find this quest quite interesting. It gives experience bags and skill books. I considered how I could use these items. As I think of ways to use them, Laxreal pokes me. "Drake, what are you doing spacing out? I was asking you a question." "Sorry," I apologize to him. "What were you asking?" "I was asking you why I couldn''t enter the mage tower?" "Wait, we can''t get inside? Did you get a reason why?" "I didn''t get an exact reason; it was just a notification saying that I am not allowed to enter yet." I ponder on this before asking. "Tell me, Laxreal, what were you doing before you were summoned to this world by me?" "Well, before being summoned here. I was trying to start a school, though it was challenging. Having the reputation of a failed sorcerer isn''t the best way to attract students to learn under you." He looks downtrodden. "What makes you a failed sorcerer? If you don''t mind me asking." "For one to become a failed sorcerer in my world, you have to fail at breaking through to a higher realm while not being able to cast spells of the sixth tier." "How strong is a spell of the sixth tier?" "I would be strong enough to slay hundreds of unprepared opponents, at least in power. Many sorcerers have different affinities, which shows in the spells they can cast. The highest-known tier of magic on my planet is the tenth tier." "And what realm were you at?" "For a brief explanation, to cast a sixth-tier spell, you needed to be at least in the fifth realm. The first three realms aren''t crucial to our discussion, but I was in the fourth realm, also called the Baron Realm. I was trying to get to the level of a Viscount. The naming scheme is based on what land you have at your disposal. If I had succeeded in advancing, I would have also had my land rights increase. After my failed breakthrough, I became known as a failed sorcerer. However, it wasn''t because of the failure by itself. It was because I was trying to start a school simultaneously with the failed breakthrough, which made it a larger ordeal than anticipated." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I sensed he still wanted to teach people as he explained this. "Soooo, I might have just the thing here for you." He snaps his head up and looks at me before speaking slowly. "And what might that be, Drake?" There is a hint of hope in his voice. "Well, I might have just gotten a special settlement quest for finding instructors." "Instructors?" He says, more hope entering his voice. "As in for the different training buildings?" "Yeah," I reply, a shit-eating grin on my face. "And how do I go about getting said position?" "Give me a second so I can try something." I start to look through the menus, and it takes me a while before I stumble upon it in the settlement portion of the menu. By selecting it, I can invite people to become instructors for the specific buildings. Mentally tapping on the mage tower, a list of the people in the settlement appears. Looking down the list, there are some discrepancies. Only three people are on the list. - Apprentice Mage Tower Instructor Options:
  1. Laxreal Wraithwhisper
  2. Gibnic Mikmack
  3. Eleanor of the Blood Flight Clan -
Seeing such a sparse list makes me curious, especially since Eleanor is on it. I don''t want to think too much about what that might mean, so I select Laxreal. - Would you like to invite Laxreal to become the instructor for the Apprentice Mage Tower? Yes/No - Selecting ''Yes,'' I see his soul flames focus on something before the settlement quest updates. Giving him another look, I motion for him to try the door again. He reaches for the tower''s double doors with shaking skeletal hands. Once his hands are on the handles, he pulls lightly. Upon seeing the tower inside, I released a breath I didn''t know I was holding. Inside the tower, it is filled with light. Shelves line the walls with books. Tables are placed around a central winding staircase. From the feel of the room, there is a scholarly air about it. Walking inside, I ask Laxreal, "Is there anything special you received when you got the instructor position?" "I did receive a bonus for teaching skills I know. I also learned that when someone learns a skill, I get class experience. One passive ability of the building is that you can also self-study and learn new skills or upgrade current skills. It says that there are more bonuses, but they will be unlocked at higher levels." Pondering this, I went back and selected the other training yards. Two notifications came up with who can be chosen as an instructor. - Infantry Training Yard Instructor Options:
  1. Ramona the Peace Guardian Daemon
  2. Nelaedeth Oakenbrow
  3. Ilpheus Taldrit
  4. Rognar
Archery Training Yard Instructor Options:
  1. Autumn Dust
  2. Sylvasti Brymaris
  3. Muiress
  4. Eleanor of the Blood Flight Clan
  5. Strauvana Void -
With a couple more options for these, I slowly go down the line. I start muttering about the different options. "Ramona seems like it would be a good fit, but I also feel that Rognar would be better at this situation. I am shocked that my father is on the list for the Infantry instructors list. Interestingly, Eleanor was on the list for both the mage tower and now the archery range." Laxreal comes to my side, "Drake, I think it would be best to talk with these people individually. Maybe even hold interviews with those who are interested. You might be surprised by the response you get. Also, I heard you are curious why Eleanor was on both lists. I can tell you one thing. The Blood Flight Clan is not one to take lightly. They train all of their members to control their mana to an almost perfectionist state, and while doing that, they also train them how to be hunters. They are vampires, after all." "Thanks, Laxreal. I don''t know where I would be without your help and the help of my family." "It is fine, Drake. We are all here in hopes of seeing success and maybe even getting to go home." I contemplate what he just said. Do I even want to go home after everything I have experienced? I shake myself out of my momentary stupor. "Since I don''t have as much time as I would like to learn what I asked about, we should start quickly. I don''t know when someone will ask about the other training yards." "Then let''s get started." He rubs his hands together and heads upstairs. Following along, I see that there are doors leading to different rooms. I see Laxreal open one of the doors, and inside, there are two mats on the ground where he promptly takes a seat. I sit across from him, and not long after, he asks. "Are the mana veins in your arms and hands cleared out?" I circulate my mana through my system to ensure they have been cleared. This doesn''t take more than a couple of seconds before I reply. "Yes, I have cleared out the veins in my arms." "Alright, that makes this a bit easier. What I want you to do is concentrate on your mana and bring some to the palm of your hand. Once you get to that point, we will move on." Focusing on my mana, I try to follow the instructions. It is more complicated than it looks, and I can see his teasing smile. I don''t know how he does that, but I am getting better at reading his facial bones. On a different note, he has some mana flowing through his own hands; it is entwining itself around his fingers, taking on various shapes as it does so. After twenty minutes of trying, I can finally get the tiniest trickle of mana to the palm of my hand. Or at least to just under the skin of the palm of my hand. "Good," he says after my accomplishment. "This is a great start. One more step, and you will start to learn the process of officially controlling mana." I have been so focused on my hand that I lose concentration when he speaks, and I look at him aghast. "What do you mean? Isn''t this controlling it?" "Oh heavens no. I got the mana control skill up to level 7 in just a couple of days doing the basics of mana control from my world. There is a long way still." Sighing about getting my mana back to where it was, I ask. "Could you tell me the next step so I can attempt that?" "Sure, once you get your mana, just underneath your skin. The next step is taking the mana and pulling it from your body. One thing to mention is that you have already done this once, from what I have heard. Do you remember when you were pushing mana into Zul''Zara during her transformation ritual?" I nod my head in agreement. "You need to do the same thing, but instead of letting it run wild, you must take control. I would recommend starting small¡ªno need to cause an explosion." I look at him in shock. "What do you mean an explosion?" "Oh, nothing. It is just a little joke; seeing your expression is funny, though." He says while I hear a dry chuckle leave his mouth. With an exasperated sigh, I start work, focusing on what he said. I try to remember what it felt like when I was injecting mana into Zul''Zara, which seems like so long ago. It takes another twenty minutes before I can feel the mana just under the skin of my right hand. Once it was there, it didn''t take me long to push it past that final barrier and out into the world. A tiny trickle of mana comes out, and right when it comes out, I am able to grasp it with my mind. I noticed it has a gold and green color to it. Thinking about my affinities, it makes sense. Once it is within my mental grasp, I receive a notification. - Congratulations on learning the skill: Mana Control Level 1 - I look up to Laxreal and can tell he is happy I succeeded. "Now, Drake, all you have to do is continue to work on what you just did. Once you have gotten used to pushing mana into the air and consistently pushing out small amounts, I will teach you the next steps." Thanking him, I head out of the tower and start to look for the people that are on my list for instructors Chapter 41 The Bull and The Mouse As I head out of the tower, I stumble upon the first person on my list to visit, Ramona. Not having officially met this being before, I more formally introduced myself to them. "I have seen and heard of you from the others of the settlement," they say gruffly and gutturally. While there is a lot to be desired from your leadership, there isn''t much I can complain about since you are considering a wide range of people''s opinions." "Thank you. I am doing my best in a situation that is unknown to all of us. I was curious if you had any opinions about the training yards." I then proceeded to inform them of the quest and what some of the benefits would be based on what Laxreal had told me. "While it sounds like a worthwhile investment, it is not one I can see myself making. I would much rather be a protector than a teacher." "Well, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me about this. I have a list of people; I would be curious if you have any thoughts on who would be receptive to becoming an instructor." I tell them the list. "From what I know, dwarves are more known for crafting." They start, "Don''t get me wrong, they are formidable opponents when they have shield walls and can be behind defenses. However, once out in the open, they don''t have the best coordination with others; they are stuck in their ways and don''t improvise well. This doesn''t mean all dwarven instructors are like this, but from my experience, they are all very similar. I know humans have their cunning and craftiness, but from what I have heard of your planet, you don''t have all the tools to teach people what they need to in a world of magic." I nod along with this information. Their assessment isn''t far from what I know of the wars on my home planet. "I would recommend the Goliath. While Rognar is bull-headed, he is quite smart regarding his training. From what I have gleaned from a distance, he has already learned several skills and is learning as much as he can. I have even caught glimpses of him teaching that Tengu, Uxa." "I appreciate the information and will talk with Rognar shortly. Have you seen where he is recently?" "The last time I saw of him, he was over by the new training yard." I thank them and then start walking to the training yard. It didn''t take long, considering I built all three training buildings near each other. With Rognar''s size, I can quickly see him. I call out as I am walking up to him. "Hey, Rognar, I have a question for you." "What?" He asks, being short with me. "How would you like to be the instructor of the Infantry Training Yard?" Like Ramona, I explain what the building does and what he can gain from it. "Fine," Is the only answer I get from him. Shrugging my shoulders, I select him from the menu and invite him to be the instructor for this training yard. With one more instructor found, all that remains is to find the archery instructor. However, I decided to talk with my father to see why he would have been selected as a potential instructor, but that can wait until later. Next, I head to the archery range first to see if anyone is waiting. After only a minute of walking, I rounded the corner of the building and found people waiting outside the range. Getting closer, I saw that all the people who could be the instructors were waiting there. "How''s it going, everyone?" I greet. "It is going fine, and yourself?" Eleanor greets back. "Well, still getting used to being around a bloodsucker for longer." Strauvana declares sarcastically. "Good," Autumn offers. "Oh, you know, I''m just trying to stay away from that crazy Naga," Muiress says while looking around as if she might be behind me. "I am well, and thank you, Drake, for helping Zul''Zara," Sylvasti says. "Well, I am glad that you are all here. I am in quite a pickle since I don''t know much about you, and I am on a quest to get an instructor for the different training grounds. So, I am curious who would be interested in becoming the instructor for the archery yard." "Honestly, I don''t want to have to train anyone," Strauvana is the first to step away from the position. "I know there must be some benefits to becoming an instructor, but I don''t want them. I like killing things too much to want to train someone else on how to do it." "Sounds good," I give her a thumbs up. "What about you four?" "I don''t think people would be receptive to me training them. With me being a Shifter and all." Autumn also backs down. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "I don''t think that is fair of you to say that just because of your race, so many negative things are being put on you." I look at her. "Just look at your brother. While he has sworn an oath to me, he is now the scout commander. And I think he has done an admirable job." "That is only because he has sworn an oath. I haven''t, so people won''t trust me as inherently as they do him. So, I don''t want to position. Let the others deal with teaching people. I want to work on my skills and go out and hunt." Seeing her adamant about not wanting the position, I backed off. "I don''t want the position either; I just want to work on some of my skills lightly and then focus primarily on my enchanting. It will also help prevent me from dealing with Vranjaya as much." Muiress states. Seeing the hopeful eyes that I don''t insist that he at least tries the position, I also let it drop. "It looks like it is between the two of you," I say as I look directly at Eleanor and Sylvasti. "Sylvasti, are you open to being the instructor?" I ask directly. "I would like to be the instructor, but I don''t know if my skills would be useful now." She replies with a quiet but firm tone. "Why do you say that?" While asking her questions, I saw Eleanor looking at me, hurt. I ignore her for the time being. "Well, most of my skills involve finding herbs and identifying poisonous plants in a wooded environment. Since there aren''t any woods in this area, it is hard to say that it would help soon." "I would have to disagree with that assessment. This is a whole new world; even knowing which plants are poisonous or useful in different crafts could make a huge difference. Also, I would presume that you have skills with the bow." "I have skills with my bow, but I mainly was a gatherer. I can hunt small game with decent accuracy but nothing that would astound people." A loud scoff sounds from behind Sylvasti, "If you be calling your accuracy only decent, then I be a tall goblin." Zul''Zara pipes up, startling her and causing her to become embarrassed. "Zul, you promised me you wouldn''t sneak up on me like that!" She admonishes Zul''Zara. "What would you call your accuracy if you were to shoot a target from twenty meters?" I ask, now curious about where this is going. With even more embarrassment, she replies, "I can usually hit about six shots out of ten." "And where be you when you are making those six shots out of ten?" Zul''Zara asks. Quiet like a mouse, I hear her mumble something. "What was that?" I ask. Slightly louder, I hear, "....woods." "You be calling your home woods like it be a stroll in the park." Zul''Zara turns to me, "She be hitting six shots out of ten inside a dense jungle." That is quite a shock to Eleanor and me since she has also been listening. Following that line of thought, I clarify. "What would your accuracy be if you were shooting at a target from twenty meters in an open field?" Again, quietly, I can barely hear her say, "Nine shots out of ten." "Well," I turn to Eleanor, "How would you do?" "Honestly, I am not one to use the bow much. I am more of a close combat fighter, but since warrior wasn''t my best option, I had to pick the hunter class." "That''s fair. How would you do with teaching people?" "I wouldn''t be as good as Miss Near-Perfect over there, but I could help people with knives and short blades." "That is good to know. I will consider that in the future. Today, though, I think the best option would be to get the better marksman since we might be able to increase our survival since we have the walls." Seeing us ignoring her in her embarrassment, Sylvasti shouts, "Why don''t you ask the person who would potentially teach people instead of ignoring her?" "Because," I say with some mirth, "It is hard to talk to someone who isn''t speaking louder than a mouse. And how would you feel about teaching people to help their survival?" Zul''Zara gives her a nudge from behind, and I see her say something but don''t know what. "I would like to be the instructor for this training yard." She turns and opens the doors with her semi-confident declaration, only to find they won''t move. Waiting a second to see what she will do, I watch. After a minute, she turns around and looks at me with flushed cheeks. "How do I open the doors?" With a chuckle, I went to the menu, selected her, and sent the invitation to be the instructor. Noticing that she received the invitation, I watch as she tries the doors again. This time, they open right as she pulls them. Upon the doors opening, I was notified that the special quest had been completed. I collect the rewards sent to the Lord''s Chest for me to check later. One problem I noticed about the rewards is that only three bags of experience and three skills are available. Sensing a headache coming on, I massage my temples. "Are you alright, Drake?" Eleanor comes to my side and asks. "I will be, but I must first figure out what to do with these new quest rewards. They aren''t like other rewards, where we can get materials, blueprints, population, or tokens for different things. I have to figure out how to use these best before tomorrow." "I don''t think it is that big of a deal." She consoles me, "I think you just give one of the bags to each new instructor. Since we need them here to help people learn as much as possible, it will limit the time they can go out and hunt for their experience." "That is true. And continuing with that line of thought. Maybe the new skills they learn can also be taught to those in the training halls, making it count for more than just the singular skill book." With excitement leaking from my voice. "There you go, Drake. One problem that wasn''t a problem solved." Thanking Eleanor, I returned to the manor to gather the items and hand them out. The round trip took me twenty minutes, but everyone was happy to receive the bags and skillbooks. Once that was done, I looked at the sky and saw it getting dark. Deciding to call it a night before getting dragged into another project, I returned to the manor one last time. On my way back, I see a certain merman running with a naga hot on his heels for the last time today. Chuckling as I get back to the manor, I stumble upon my father. Pulling him off to the side, I ask him the question on my mind all evening. "Dad, today I had a question about getting different instructors for the different buildings. One of the options for the Infantry Training Yard was you. Is there something that you haven''t told us?" Chapter 42 A Fathers Wish "And why would you want to know if there is something that I haven''t been telling you?" Is his immediate response. "Well, it would help me if I knew so I could take the appropriate steps to ensure our survival." I retort. "While that is valid, other than the information from the system, what could have possibly led you to think that I was holding something back from the family?" "Honestly, there isn''t anything I can pinpoint that would have led me to think about it. One thing to note is that I am not the only one here who could make observations. I can see that several other warriors in the settlement are giving you respectful glances¡ªalmost like you have earned their respect." He responds with a sigh that matches my own when I know I have been caught. "Why did you have to be the most observant member of the family?" Knowing it is a rhetorical question, I wait for him to continue. "You see, Drake, there are many things that I shouldn''t tell you. Not that I am not allowed, but as my wish to keep the family safe, I have chosen not to tell anyone. I will tell you a little so you do not pry further." - Ilpheus Taldrit POV - Looking at my son, I think hard about all the life experiences I have had to get to this point. I know I will not be able to skirt the topic since this system has mildly exposed me to what I can do. I started to tell him about my early years and one of the most important secrets of our family, but before doing so, I needed to cover one specific topic. "Drake, let''s start by talking about our planet''s history. Do you know why so many people have names from mythical beasts or persons, and only when they graduate?" "Based on your question, I think there is a different reason than what I was told in all my schooling." "That would be the correct assumption, but why?" "I think it would have to involve either bloodlines that have been passed down?" He responds to my question, confused. "You wouldn''t be far off the mark, though something that isn''t taught at the schools is that a procedure is done after graduation. During that procedure, you are knocked out, some of your blood is drawn, and they check to see if it has activated. Those with active bloodlines are brought away and taught how to control them. Those with inactive bloodlines go about life as if nothing happens." "Wait," he stops me from continuing. "What do you mean by active bloodlines? And what does this have to do with your secret?" "My son, let me finish before you ask questions. Plenty will be answered by you just listening," I scolded him. Once everyone has been segmented into active and inactive, their schools are vastly different. You experienced inactive bloodline schooling; let me tell you how they teach bloodline control. For each person, control can be very complicated or straightforward. It all depends on the bloodline that would be active in that person." "For those with aggressive bloodlines that cause harm to their owners, they are required to be in almost constant meditation or sedation until the body learns to stop fighting itself or until they die. I am sure you have heard of several of your friends from school going off to the military and not coming back?" I ask him. "Yeah, but if I remember correctly, not that many joined the army. We were in a time of peace, so it never made sense why they would be needed to go into the military." "That is part of the secret. Those that went perished from their bloodlines that they couldn''t get control over. The parents are made to sign NDAs and not share the news of their offspring passing." "That is terrible," I see him look at me with concern. "It is, but it is for the best since we don''t want to cause undue panic among the population. If it is aggressive enough, one bad bloodline owner could cause the demise of entire cities. This is only for the worst-case scenarios. Those with mild bloodlines can quickly overcome this burden and start to control it to a much higher degree. Your sibling has one of the rarest bloodlines found on our planet, but they could only use it for healing." "What is their bloodline? And how do you know they have one?" Drake asks me impatiently. "Asking for someone''s bloodline is very improper. While I know you wouldn''t know why that is the case, I will get to it later. Back to what we were talking about. Bloodlines require refining, but once they reach a certain purity point, they can manifest some of the abilities these mythical beings had. From higher cognition to high physical strength. Those with obvious markers of bloodlines are typically placed in different cities that are specifically made for them until they can control their physical appearance to that of a more baseline human of our world." Stopping now, I wait to see if Drake has any questions. And as I expected, he does have a couple, "How do you know these things? How does this relate to the secret you would tell me about?" Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "I''m going to start with the second question first. This information is relevant because I was an instructor at one of the bloodline universities. I helped many different people from our world control their bloodlines and get back to their normal selves, or as normal as they could be." "So, being an instructor makes sense as to how you could know all this information. I am stumbling upon what your bloodline could be that would cause the warriors to view you respectfully and how the system would think you were a candidate as an instructor." "Again, asking for someone''s bloodline is rude in our circle. You should never approach someone from our planet and question their bloodlines. I will tell you that part of my bloodline concerns my health and age." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you telling me all the jokes that your friends calling you ancient might not just be jokes." "Oh, those were jokes, but only by the standard that I am over 500 years old. I handled a blade for longer than you have been alive, and I know how to protect my family." "That doesn''t make any sense, though. How could you possibly be that old? Did our civilization sprout up so quickly in the last hundred years?" "Yes," I answer straightforwardly. "Once people were able to control their bloodlines further, they were able to make leaps in technology that we thought would take several more centuries. Food became something overflowing in abundance; all forms of science could take leaps in their development with the help of people accessing their bloodlines and making discoveries based on those properties." Seeing Drake''s confused face, I know it is time to end this talk. "That is all I can tell you for now, but just know that not everything is as it seems when it comes to the people of our world. You will learn more as you become more active with your magic. You might even surprise everyone because, as far as we know, no one from our world has had the option to pick the mage class yet." Having finished what I wanted to say, I bid him a good night and headed to bed. - Drake''s POV - To say my mind has been through the wringer would be the understatement of the century. Thinking about all that has happened, even in my limited time on my planet, makes me realize there is so much more going on than anticipated. Shaking my head, trying to get it from spinning with the information provided, I headed to bed for the night. Upon getting into bed, I hear a faint tap on the windows of my room. Opening up the curtain, I find that Ritotorous is sitting outside. "Where have you been all day?" I ask him. He responded, "I was just checking the area around the settlement and seeing if there was anything I could kill for some meat." "Why don''t we do that tomorrow and see if anything is worth killing after the night? Most of my team and family agree that I shouldn''t go too far from the settlement in case of an emergency." "They aren''t wrong. I would want to have the healer close in case someone gets hurt or has another problem with the settlement. This is going to be a rough day for you, though. As I was passing the training yards, I heard that Laxreal had big plans for your training. He will see if you can develop some spells without skill books. We know it is possible with minor things, but spells will be a fun experiment to watch." I can tell he has a malicious grin based on how it comes into my mind. "Maybe I should get some sleep as well. I just heard the craziest thing, and I don''t know how much of it is true." He cocks his head at me, "What did you hear?" "My father is 500 years old, and while there wasn''t mana back on my planet, bloodlines were prominent. I was part of a group in the population without an active bloodline." I''m still trying to understand such a vast development. "Hmmm, now that you say something, it did seem like your father was quite proficient with the blade for only having just received it. His age would make some sense. Do you know how long it had been since he had to use the blade last, or was that not brought up?" Thinking back to the conversation, I don''t remember him saying anything about how long it had been or how long that period was prominent. I shake my head, "No, he didn''t say anything, but from what I know. I was raised in a time when technology was advancing rapidly. People were getting more in-depth with using their bloodlines and what information was inside to study." "That does help a little bit from my knowledge of mythical beings. Several tinkers and engineers had all sorts of gadgets and do-dads. I don''t see it as impossible for them to get information or at least have an intuitive grasp of the knowledge to advance things. It would be tough to do so. They aren''t the most active of bloodlines, meaning the person with the bloodline would have to have such exquisite control over it that they could get that information." Taking a deep breath, I start to think of all the implications. I remember bits of my childhood where Xelyphe was out of the house. Being told they were studying at university made sense to me, but when they came back. They were a leading doctor at a hospital in the capital. At the same time, it wasn''t far for my family since we were raised there. Many different hospitals were vying for them. It would also make sense why they would inform me to be careful about all the tests and things. They would have a clearer picture of what was happening with the government. All of these thoughts in my head start to make it spin again. I go to sit down, and Ritotorous settles next to me. "Drake," I hear from him. "I think what you need to do right now is meditate. Calm your mind; if you keep this up, you will have a breakdown. A lot is happening, and it won''t stop for a while. So, while you have a moment like this, I think it would be good to meditate, and maybe you will get some answers you weren''t expecting." Since he is the one to send me on this second head-spinning revelation, he does what he thinks is right and tries to help calm my mind. "You are right. I do need to calm down. It is just hard for me to think about what this means." "What this means for you are two things. First, you have more powerful people than you would have thought nearby to help you. And with their vast knowledge, you can easily lean on them and learn. Second, it means that there might be a hidden bloodline deep inside of yourself. There might be a way to awaken it while you are here. If that is the case, then all the better, but don''t get bogged down in the details. The past is in the past, and we can only plan for the future. There is less than one day left before the settlement is attacked. So focus on that while meditating and what sort of spells you might be able to develop to help." With that last statement, he flies up to a perch installed in the room specifically for him before nestling in and getting ready to sleep. Thinking one more time about all the history hidden in plain sight in my world, I take a deep breath and expel it. It''s time to focus. Chapter 43 Sending Them Off I spend an hour calming my mind while meditating and thinking of potential spells I could try and acquire. My first thought is to go down the route of damage-dealing spells. This progresses down to controlling more nature-based spells. Then, I consider increasing my healing potential. Having more spells to keep people in the battle might be beneficial since we don''t know how long the attack on the settlement will last. Bouncing between the two options, I figure either wouldn''t hurt. Then I get a brilliant idea that''s been looking me dead in the face this entire time. Is it possible that I could make a nature spell that includes my healing capabilities? Develop plants that can radiate healing or give buffs. Those would be just as efficient as if I were near someone. I will need someone with more magical knowledge to progress the idea further. Not long after this thought, I decided to head to bed. - Time until Attack 18 Hours - Waking up to the sun in my eyes, I cover them while groaning. "Drake!" I hear in my mind. "It''s time for you to start your training. Also, there has been some movement from those in the settlement." Slowly getting up, I see there is a notification from last night. - Due to Eleanor destroying a Level 2 monster encampment, the time till the monster attack has been extended. - Thinking about it, I was glad. The further we can push the attack off, the better off we will be in the long run. Hopefully, we can at least delay it till late morning of tomorrow. Looking at Ritotorous, I respond, "I see we have pushed the attack further back." "From what I know of the inhabitants, it might have been Eleanor. It would have made sense for her to go and get some form of sustenance." "It was Eleanor, the notification said." Shrugging my shoulders since it is good news and one less thing to worry about this morning, I prepare for the day. Less than 5 minutes before I leave the door, I walk towards the training grounds when my sibling intercepts me. "I heard from Dad that you two talked last night. Is everything alright?" Thinking about the one main lesson my father taught me last night, I wondered if she had a bloodline, but I held back from asking directly. "I would say it was very... Eye-opening. I learned a bit about what was hidden in plain sight. And it shocked me as to how old he was." "Oh, he even told you how old he was. Must have been some talk." They respond like it isn''t anything crazy. "This," I gesture, "I knew I would get this treatment from you. Normalizing the fact that our father is Five. Hundred. Years. Old." "I knew that long ago since he helped me control my bloodline. DUH!" They say sarcastically. "So, you do have a bloodline. I guess that is only expected. With your amazingness, it''s not hard to see him trusting you with such vital information." "Drake," they look at me with sympathy. "It''s not that he didn''t want to tell you, but those of us with active bloodlines must take an oath on our bloodlines." There is a serious look in their eyes as they say this. "Several people in the government have bloodlines capable of enforcing said oaths." "What kinds of people are those?" I ask with morbid curiosity. "Bloodline Hunters, I have seen them in action too. Let''s say it wasn''t a pretty sight by the end of it." Seeing their face pale at the mention of one of these hunters, I choose to move on with the topic. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" "Dad and I were talking. We are considering getting a group together and heading out to level up. Maybe we could find some resource boxes to help the settlement." "Just the two of you?" I ask. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "No, we will bring some more people with us since Dad is rusty with his blade work." "How big of a party is going out? Won''t you guys need a healer? What about mom?" I ask in rapid succession. "It is going to be a party of five. I can heal people, and she will work on her profession." They answer quickly, "And, Drake, we are adults. We can take care of ourselves. We must figure things out; telling you everything will bog down your days. So, your task is to go and train. Laxreal stopped by this morning, telling us to send you as quickly as possible." I grumble at the mention of Laxreal asking my family to send me over. It feels like I am still a child. "Whoa there, buddy," Xelyphe stops me before I storm off. Don''t go in there with that attitude. It isn''t his fault, he asks one of us. It would be best if you got up earlier. However, it is hard to tell when that guy sleeps, as he is undead. Does he even sleep?" I hear them ask themselves as they turn to walk away. "Anyways, we are off." I look ahead of them and see several groups of people gathered together, preparing gear to head out. There appear to be three groups with only two people, two with three people, one with four people, and my sibling and father''s group with five people. While doing the math, I found that 21 people from the settlement were heading out. "Wait, can I at least see you guys out? Maybe I can try giving some encouragement to those that go out?" They think on this offer. "Sure, why not." Following along with the groups, I hear them talk about what they might encounter. As the gate gets closer, I build up my courage to speak to everyone. "Everyone," I shout to get their attention. "I would like to give some advice but also some encouragement to all of you." Seeing the groups stop, turn, and then wait for me to continue, I start. "When you go out into the fog in groups of five, please be careful. The reason I say this is two-fold. First, there is a chance you will be split from each other. I am sure you have heard the stories of my group going out. Second, if you need to return at any point because it is too dangerous, do so. Your lives are more important than any rewards you might receive by endangering yourselves." Looking at the groups in front of me, I can see some people are just nodding to get me to let them go out sooner since I am delaying them. Thinking of my plan, I continue, "Now, I know you are ready to go¡ªone last thing before you do so. I want to hold a competition. This competition will be based on several factors, and rewards will be distributed accordingly. First, those groups have the most collective level-ups. Second, for those groups bringing back the most resource chests. And third, the group that can push back the timer on our countdown till the attack the most." "What are the rewards for each of these?" I hear someone shout from the back. Looking closely, I see that it is Nelaedeth. Being a dwarf, it is hard to see her in the crowd. "Honestly, I can''t specify any rewards as of right now. I was hoping to let you choose a reward that would fit you from the spoils brought back." I see people shifting in discomfort. Thinking about this more, I realize the problem. "Any loot you pick up from the battlefield is yours to keep. I am talking about the chests that get set back to the settlement or to have one request of myself instead of that." "That is all well and good. How will you be able to tell who gives what?" Narus says. Looking around for my feathered friend, I send a thought to him. "Will we be able to tell which chest is brought in by which group?" "Yes, it will have a looted-by tag at the bottom. This hasn''t been an issue since you were with all parties when they went out the last couple of times." "Thanks," and I reply to Narus, "Chests will have a looted-by note at the bottom when the settlement receives them." "And what of the time delays we provide? How will we know who gives the most?" Rognar asks. "The notifications inform me which group increases the time. Are there any other questions?" Seeing none, I wave at them as they head out. Not long after, I get a notification. - Quest Given: A Lord''s Bounty - Looking at the notification in interest, I try to get more information from it. - Settlement Quest: A Lord''s Bounty The Lord of the settlement has charged your group with three different tasks. Level up, collect resource chests, and delay the attack on the settlement. Tasks: Level-up party members: (0/?) Collect Resource Chests: (0/?) Delay the attack on the settlement: (0/?) Reward: Class Experience Class Equipment Box The Lord has offered bonus rewards for being the group that exceeds the rest in any of these tasks. - Seeing how the system has put my words into a quest, I became curious if there is a way I could have more quests issued to quickly power-level my fellow settlers. I continue to think about the quest I gave as I walk to the mage tower to train with Laxreal. Arriving not long after, I enter and see Laxreal sitting near one of the desks in the middle, looking towards the door with an expectant gaze. "I see you have finally decided to show up. Took you long enough." He starts with a curt tone. This is an entirely new side of Laxreal. With all the different ''faces'' he puts on, I have concerns he might have multiple personalities. I shake those thoughts out of my head as he asks me a question: "What have we found that has delayed you so much this morning?" I inform him of my discovery of being able to hand out quests. "That is an interesting phenomenon, but let''s not delay any further; we have lots of ground to cover." I watch as he rushes up the stairs. I soon follow along and get into the same room as yesterday. Chapter 44 New Spells "Drake," Laxreal says as I get into position on the floor mat across from him. "What do you think magic is?" "Uhhhh," confused about the question, I quickly dive into my knowledge from books I have read in my world. "Magic is the manifestation of mana that circulates through our bodies?" Not knowing if this is the answer he is looking for. "So, that is where we have to start." He sighs, "And you took to magic so easily, too. There''s nothing like getting back to the basics to build the foundation. Magic is just as you said, but it can do so much more. People think of magic as a formula. There is no absolute requirement to cast any specific spell other than the mana cost." "If there is no absolute requirement to cast spells, can spells even fail?" I ask. "This is a good question; spells can fail at being cast. One reason for a failed cast is a lack of mana. Another reason it could fail is a lack of understanding about what you want the spell to do. The third reason a spell could fail is someone is countering your spell." I nod, "So, how exactly do spells come into existence?" "They come into existence through several mediums. First are phrases, then there are symbols, and finally, gestures. The more you know about the spell''s makeup, the easier it is to cast them." Taking a second, he creates two symbols. The first symbol is of a single mountain, and the second is of multiple mountains in a row but smaller. He points at the first symbol, "This represents earth spike. This spell allows you to form a set of spikes in front of you to skewer your enemies." Then he points to the second symbol, "This also earth spike, the same spell with a different form. Both symbols cast the same spell; the difference applies to understanding the spell. Knowing a simpler diagram can give the same result where less is more. It will also allow casters to perform their jobs better on a battlefield." He explains "I get how casting can be faster, but what makes it faster?" I ask. "Think of it this way. Let''s say you are pushing a boulder up a hill, and you must exert a lot of effort to get it up the hill. Then, you find a book about pullies, learn from that book, and apply that knowledge to get the boulder to the top of the hill. It will take you less time and require less effort. It is the application of your knowledge which allows you to be more productive." "OK, but what about spells we cast in this world? I haven''t had to use any patterns or anything of that nature. I call out the spell name, and then it activates." "This world does have different applications for spells, but the general principle applies: Learning about spells can increase their level and efficiency. Let''s take your minor healing spells as an example. What is the cost of the spell?" I look at my skills status, "It takes six mana per cast." "What if you found a way to decrease the mana cost without lowering the amount of healing?" "I could heal more people and for a longer time." "And that is what we are looking to achieve here. We first need to think about how the spell diagrams work, learn how they apply to our environment, and then apply the knowledge to enhance the skill and make it more than possible." He is excited at the prospect of teaching the spells. "But what if I want to develop my spells? Would that be possible in the short term?" I ask him. "It is possible to develop your spells, but it takes knowledge about spell frameworks, which you need to learn before diving into making something." Thinking about the healing flower I wanted to make going up in smoke, I comfort myself by wanting to increase the potential of my healing spells. "OK, so how do I increase my spelling proficiency?" With a skeletal grin, he looks at me and says, "We start teaching you more about spells in the traditional sense. It might take the rest of the day, but the theoretical framework should not be forgotten." Ten hours passed while he taught me, and I asked him questions to clarify my understanding of magic and mana. Most of it was theoretical, but there was enough hands-on experimenting for me to acquire several skill levels and also two brand-new spells. - Congratulations, Nature''s Grasp has reached level 4. Congratulations, Mana Control has reached level 5. Congratulations, Arcane Shot has reached level 7. Congratulations, Minor Healing has reached level 5. Congratulations, Barkskin has reached level 3. Congratulations, Shield has reached level 5. - - Congratulations, you have learned the spell Mend level 1. Congratulations, you have learned the spell Smite level 1. - Most of the time was spent increasing my spell proficiencies. Laxreal found that working with my affinity helped me comprehend the spells faster and increase their levels faster. It also gave him some experience since he taught me all about the spells. Several more notifications are hovering in the periphery. Opening some of them shows the countdown progressing steadily to zero hours left. I find it odd that it hasn''t increased since the groups were sent out, but also that no one has come to get me to heal wounded people. "Laxreal," I say, "I think it is time for us to stop here and head to the gatehouse to see if anyone is there. I am starting to get concerned about everyone that has gone out." He agrees with me. We both stand and head to the gatehouse. As we get near it, I start to receive notifications. - Due to the group ''Pheonix Fire'' destroying two Level 2 monster encampments and one Level 1 monster encampment, the time until the monster attack has been extended by 5 hours. Due to the group ''Zulvasti'' destroying a Level 2 monster encampment, the time till the monster attack has been extended by 2 hours. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Due to the group ''Commanding Presence'' destroying one Level 2 monster encampment and two Level 1 monster encampments, the time till the monster attack has been extended by 4 hours. - Adding all the time together, we just got another 11 hours to finish building defenses and preparing people for the attack. I wouldn''t call it a night attack anymore. Upon thinking that, another notification pops up. - Settlement Task Updated: Reach a population of at least 10 (24/10) Survive at least one attack (0/1) Have at least two professions up to Level 2 (3/2) Have at least two classes at Level 3 (2/2) Optional Tasks: Clear out monster encampments in the fog (14/10) Have one of each profession (12/12) - I look closely at the tasks and feel something is off. When I think back to the original task, there was a question mark where ten was for the encampments task. I have a theory about the optional tasks, but I am curious if it works how I think. Putting that to the side, I quickly head out of the gate. In front of me, I can see all the groups coming back at the same time. It''s odd, but I don''t think much about it. Greeting them as they come back, I see many excited faces and a few downcast faces. Figuring they were talking about their quests on the way back, I should know who the winner of the different tasks was in a second. "How did everyone do?" I shout so they can hear me. "Well enough." Xelyphe is the first to answer with a smug grin on their face. "Oh, shut it," I hear Dreamish call out. "Just because you beat us by one hour doesn''t mean you are the best. We beat you when it came to collecting treasures." "That is unfair," Xelyphe retorts. "You had two hunters with you, both skilled in finding things. I bet they could even sneak into camps without issue and steal the loot right under the monsters'' noses." "They sure were," Dreamish chuckles. But there is a duo in front of everyone with even brighter smiles. Rognar and Narus stand tall before everyone, proudly showing their level 3 status. I remember that they were only level one when they left this morning. "It seems I know who won each category," I announce to the crowds. Wanting to ensure there aren''t any black horses among the crowd, I have them display the quest they received from me. - Pheonix Fire (Xelyphe, Ilpheus, Muiress, Uxa, Bryst) Level-up party members: (3/5) Collect Resource Chests: (6/?) Delay the attack on the settlement (Hours): (5/?) Commanding Presence (Dreamish, Vranjaya, Shadow, Autumn) Level-up party members: (3/4) Collect Resource Chests: (8/?) Delay the attack on the settlement (Hours): (4/?) Blood Guardian (Eleanor, Ramona, Strauvana) Level-up party members: (2/3) Collect Resource Chests: (4/?) Delay the attack on the settlement (Hours): (2/?) Strong Arm (Rognar, Narus) Level-up party members: (4/2) Collect Resource Chests: (2/?) Delay the attack on the settlement: (0/?) Toss Me No Don''t Choose That (Nelaedeth, Gibnic, Jemol) Level-up party members: (2/3) Collect Resource Chests: (3/?) Delay the attack on the settlement: (0/?) Patient Hunter (Demetrius, Oria) Level-up party members: (1/2) Collect Resource Chests: (1/?) Delay the attack on the settlement: (0/?) Zulvasti (Zul''Zara, Slyvasti) Level-up party members: (2/2) Collect Resource Chests: (4/?) Delay the attack on the settlement: (2/?) - Looking at the different group names, I can''t help but chuckle. I can see Slyvasti''s ears turning red as I read the name, while Gibnic and Nelaedeth are glaring at Jemol, who has a sheepish grin. "Has anyone completed the quest yet?" I ask. "No, we haven''t been able to complete it. I kept getting a message that you had to approve the quest completion since it is a settlement quest," Rognar grumbles. Looking at the groups before me, some battered but all in good health, "I pronounce the quest a success and completed." I look at everyone, and they start completing the quest. Some people collect multiple experience bags, while some have a couple of equipment chests in front of them. "Thanks to all of you, we have a bit more time. Please go home and rest. Please stay behind for those who came first in each category, and we can talk about potential rewards." I receive a notification after that announcement. - Congratulations, Leadership has reached level 2. - With a satisfied look on my face, I address those remaining. "Now, I would like to provide an additional reward to each person if possible, or you can forgo the reward now and have me owe you a favor for in the future. It is your choice." I feel a determined stare burn right into my soul. I look at Muiress''s eyes and see his determination to fulfill his reward immediately. Before anyone else could speak, he walked up to me, grabbed my shoulders, and nearly shouted at me. "I. Want. My. Own. House. Not in the future. Right. Now. Use one of the instant completion tokens you have or will get and make it. That is the only reward I need." I scratch the back of my neck, "Muiress, you know I was going to give everyone a house even-" He cuts me off, "No, I don''t want eventually. I want it right now. I can''t sleep without that witch trying to sidle up to me. It is bad enough that she chases me, but I can''t even go and get the bonuses from the house. So, please. MAKE MY OWN HOUSE!" I look closer and see bags under his eyes. I also think I can see more definition in his legs, probably from all the running he has been doing. Then I feel a second set of eyes focused on me. I turn to look directly into a set of serpentine eyes. Vranjaya is staring directly at me or, more so, at Muiress. I slowly nod at him, "We will get you your house. It will be the next thing on my agenda; stick close to me for now. She might not bother you while we have such a big group. Snakes are ambush predators and might not go after you so quickly." In a quieter voice, he says, "Thank you, Drake. You have no idea how much it will help me." He steps back, and then Vranjaya slithers forward, but not before trying to brush closer to Muiress. He quickly sidesteps so as not to get too close to her grasp. I do not understand the interplay between the two. Other than Vranjaya wanting to be with him and him not wanting to be with her, I quickly move on. I know it isn''t right, but let me be honest: Watching him go from standing still to a dead sprint as she chases him is hilarious. Plus, it has to be a good workout for both of them. Right? With Vranjaya now in front of me, I ask, "And what would you like, Vranjaya?" "I would like to have a favor from you. I know there isn''t much to be had now, but I think it will be worthwhile in the coming days, months, or even years." "Fair enough." Rognar, Narus, Dreamish, Shadow, Autumn, Xelyphe, and my father also ask for a favor. This leaves Uxa and Bryst, who haven''t decided yet. After a bit more waiting, Uxa walks up to me, "Drake, what I want is one thing: I want the next specific population summoning scroll. I want to see if I can bring one more of my relatives over. That is my only request." Bryst joins us: "I want the same thing. Our mother and father still live, and I want to show them this new world full of possibilities." I look at the siblings, and I can see the hurt and pain in their eyes, being able to see me with my family and not being able to have their own by their side. I give them a look of sympathy, which Uxa misinterprets. He quickly adds, "I know they are expensive scrolls just by what they provide. I will do anything in my power to make up for the cos-" I step forward and put my hands on his shoulders, "Uxa, I would gladly help you bring your family back together. We have to go one step at a time. You and Bryst will be the first to receive those scrolls. From there, we can figure out who else we need to give scrolls to. So, don''t worry." I flash him a smile, "It will be alright." With a shudder that jostles his wings, he breathes deep, "Thank you again, Drake. I won''t forget this." Then he grabs his sister''s hand and walks away. Chapter 45 Snap After I have received favors and made promises, I return to the manor. Muiress is not too far behind, not wanting to be dragged into his current residence. As we walk, I examine the materials needed to build his residence. - Building Menu: Basic Sleeping Pond Level 1 - Basic housing for amphibious species. It comes with a place to sleep based on who claims the pond and a small personal chest. 3 meters X 3 meters, 40 units of Tier 1 Stone - I turn and mention what kind of place it is since he is currently in a crowded standard hut. Thinking about the issue of everyone being crowded in the limited number of housing I have made, I decided to finish dealing with everyone''s housing situation once we were done with the attack. "That is fine. Can you put it somewhere far away from her? Maybe somewhere near the enchanting house?" "I don''t see any issue with that," I agree. I placed it near the enchanting hut but not too close to allow expansion. "When will it be done?" He asks. "First, I must return to the manor and collect one of the tokens to apply it. Then you will have your own space. So, in maybe ten minutes, you will have your place," I respond. "That works. I will head there and wait for it to be finished." With that, he runs off since Vranjaya isn''t anywhere in sight. Breathing out like I just finished running a marathon, my walk to the manor. Inside, waiting for me, is my family, ready to help. "Good job today, Drake," Is the first thing I hear from my father. "Taking your first step in leadership is always the hardest." "But I was leading my group from the moment I summoned them," I countered. "Leading larger groups of people is different than a small group. While some skills apply to both, they aren''t the same. I wanted you to know that I am glad you could take that step." Smiling at him, I continue inside. "Has anyone seen where the chests were placed?" I ask. "I saw them appearing near the front door, so I brought them over to the meeting room," my mother answers. I see there are 42 chests. "It looks like it will be a while before I can head to bed," I sigh. "Yes, but at least it was a good haul overall," Xelyphe says. "True. Can you all help me get this mess sorted out?" I ask. After getting everything sorted into the correct piles, I ended up with the following: Population: 1 Tiny Wooden Box 6 Small Wooden Box 5 Medium Wooden Box 4 Large Wooden Box 2 Extra Large Wooden Box 1 Gigantic Wooden Box Resources: 1 Small Wooden Box 1 Medium Wooden Box 2 Large Wooden Box 1 Extra Large Wooden Box 2 Gigantic Wooden Box Tokens: 2 Tiny Wooden Box 1 Medium Wooden Box 1 Large Wooden Box 1 Extra Large Wooden Box 1 Gigantic Wooden Box Blueprints: 1 Tiny Wooden Box 1 Medium Wooden Box 2 Large Wooden Box 2 Gigantic Wooden Box Looking at these numbers, they don''t add up. I recount and see there are four missing boxes. "How many boxes were in this room when I got here?" I ask my mother. "There were 42 boxes in total," She replies. "I counted only 38 people in the room. Where did the other four go?" "I figured you wanted to keep things organized, so I put the odd-ball boxes all together in a corner," she says while pointing to the corner behind me. "How did- Why are- When?" Not being able to finish a coherent question. "Oh honey," She says, "When your father told you about bloodlines, we have all decided not to hide them as much anymore. Sorry." She says, but I can tell she isn''t apologetic. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. With a look of betrayal, I turn to the rest of my family. "Am I the only one that doesn''t have an active bloodline?" In hopes that I am not going insane. "Duh," Xelyphe says, "We were controlling our bloodlines so as not to make you feel inadequate, but since you can do magic, we decided to stretch ourselves a bit more." "GODS..." I start to shout in frustration as I finally snap, and my blood starts to heat up in frustration. "I come from a family that has active bloodlines, and I was stuck getting surgeries done for my heart! How am I supposed to cope with this all of a sudden!" I''m getting more worked up about it. "Drake," my father steps in, trying to calm me down, "We all hoped you would awaken your bloodline. We couldn''t have predicted-" "NO!" I turn to him, "You have seen families, for hundreds of years, have members not awaken their bloodline," I can feel my blood heating up further. "Why was I the one that was summoned first? Why not someone like you?" I point to him. The heat in my veins increased even more, so my mana veins became aggravated. "Or you?" I pointed to Xelyphe. You are both more successful than me, but it was me." I spit out. At this point, my blood and mana are circulating faster and faster. I can feel the mana being drawn in. "My whole world was a lie. Nothing about it was real." "Drake," my mother tries to step forward but is blocked by my father, but I don''t see it. I am in pain. So much pain. "Was the only thing real about where I came from my heart?" I clutch at my chest, my fingers digging in. Was this ''Thing'' the only thing I know is true?" I am gasping for breath; all I see is red. I can feel my mana pushing into my legs and hitting a wall. More is coming in than my body can handle, but my blood is boiling, allowing my mana veins to swell without bursting. - Laxreal''s POV - Having left the gatehouse alone, I head to the mage tower to think about what Drake and I learned about this world and its rules for learning magic and leveling up skills. Upon entering the building, I grab a book and head over to sit at one of the desks. Skimming the book about fundamentals, I proceeded with my thoughts, hoping the book would give me a hint about some more of these unknown rules. Time passes, and I feel a pull on the mana in the area. I don''t think anything of it until several minutes later, the door is slammed open. "Thank Death''s cold embrace." I turn to the door and see Eleanor standing there, and Ritotorous is on her shoulder. "How can-" I don''t even get my question out before she grabs me by my robes and tries to pull me out the door. "Drake is in trouble." "Trouble? What kind of trouble could he be in while in the settlement?" I hear panic in her voice, which is odd as the Blood Flight clan is known for being calm in almost any situation. "I don''t know, and neither does she," I hear a voice in my head. My soul flame almost extinguishes hearing that voice. "H-H-How can th-th-that b-b-be?" I stutter out, looking at him briefly before lowering my gaze. "It doesn''t matter now. What we need is your expertise." He again speaks to me. "B-B-But I am a failed scholar. I-I-I couldn''t p-p-possibly h-h-help." I feel a pressure building on me. "It is either you or no one. Eleanor knows magic but can''t explain it to anyone. You are the only one here with any information about how it works. Don''t think I haven''t noticed what you have been working on since you came here. We both know you don''t need to sleep; it is just a luxury for when you want it." I can hear the smirk in his voice. "Yes, right away." Even though I say the words, my body doesn''t listen to the command to move. It is so bad that Eleanor picks me up and starts running. "How can you be so heavy? You''re just a set of bones." She complains but doesn''t put me down, knowing it will be faster this way. I look up into the sky and notice a swirl of mana developing, and some of the more mana-sensitive people are stepping out and looking toward the manor. - Ilpheus''s POV - I have to stop Madoka from approaching him. I can tell something is happening to his body by the black blood oozing out of his eyes. This isn''t the first time seeing it happen to someone, but it is when I don''t know the cause. Centuries of experience, and I can''t help my son now. I want to say it is his bloodline, but I can smell that it isn''t, at least not yet. Something else is awakening inside of him. The transformation has been going on for only five minutes when I hear the front door burst open. Then I hear the clack of heels on the wooden floor. Not long after, there is a knock on the door. It is oddly polite, considering they just burst through the main door. I chuckle. Opening the door, in front of me are Laxreal, Eleanor, and Ritotorous. "How is he?" Eleanor is the first to ask. Ritotorous flies in and finds a spot near Drake to land. "He isn''t well, but it''s not bad yet," I answer. "What do you mean yet?" Laxreal questions, wanting to get close to Drake, but I stop him. "Whoa there, I mean to say that he is still breathing, which is more than I can say based on my experience dealing with how aggressive bloodlines can be." Laxreal looks me dead in the eyes after taking a quick look at Drake, "This has nothing to do with his bloodline. It should have something to do with his mana heart and veins." "And how do you know it isn''t bloodline related?" I ask. "Your world seems to be familiar with how to handle bloodlines but has no idea about mana. Is that correct?" He retorts. "That would be correct." "Then you don''t know the signs of a mana heart''s activation." "I wouldn''t, but again, how do you know it is that?" "There is no way of telling without me getting close to him." As we talk, I see Drake has become more aggressive due to the pain. Lashing out, his arms, torso, neck, and head have all started to shine golden and green. Magic is discharging off his body, and I can see the mana stopping at the top of his legs. "Is this going to hurt him?" Madoka asks. "It shouldn''t be hurting him." Laxreal says, "There must be something wrong. I know he was clearing his veins, but I didn''t hear if there were any problems." He starts to inspect Drake from a distance as best he can and sees the same thing as I do. "How are his veins holding that much mana inside of them?" He is flabbergasted at what he sees. "What do we need to do?" I ask, slightly panicked. "At the very least, we need to hold him down; from there, we have two options." He explains, "We can either have someone channel mana into his system and try to manipulate it so it clears his veins, or we have to go a bloodier route..." "We would have to forcefully draw along his veins with a knife or use a needle at major points and shock the veins clear," Eleanor states with no hint of remorse. Laxreal looks at her and takes back over. "Both ways will hurt him. The easiest way is to guide the mana through his systems since we can feel where it must go. It will take more time but harm him less. The more complicated way is what Eleanor explained, forcing the veins to clear by damaging them and hoping he can heal himself through the turmoil of having his system ravaged by mana as if flowing through." "Is there any benefit to going with the second route?" I ask, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Drake cast a spell toward Xelyphe. He misses by a large margin, but our time for conversation is running short. Laxreal, seeing the same things, quickly explains, "With the damage done and persistent healing, it can cause the veins to become more sturdy and handle more mana as it flows through his body. We can typically do this process when the patient is unconscious." Another spell comes towards me, and I dodge quickly. "Seems like we are out of time," I say as Ritotorous takes a green spell to the chest, knocking him down and out for the count in this fight. Since we are in the meeting room, there isn''t much room for him to try and take cover; the chests are still in here, making it an even smaller space. Xelyphe, being the first to get attacked, has already approached Drake in hopes of restraining him, but right before she can grab him, he casts his shielding spell on himself. Swearing under my breath, I unsheathed my sword and charged at him. I swung and hit his shield for 6 points of damage. It shuddered under the force but held steady. I raise my arm to swing again when the ground becomes covered in vines covered in thorns. Having seen this spell, I know it is in my best interest not to move. However, this doesn''t leave many options for everyone else in the room. Xelyphe starts to hack at the vines covering the ground, trying to clear an area so we can wrestle him to the floor. Laxreal hits his shield with dispel, and I rush to drop my sword and grab him. He ducks under my arms and goes around me. Madoka and Xelyphe attempt to hold him as well but fail. I feared he would get another shield up, making this harder again when Eleanor finally snuck behind him, grabbed his arms, and brought him down. As he falls, he takes one last look at Laxreal and casts his Arcane shot. I hear a clatter of bones behind me. Laxreal has fallen apart, and I can''t see his soul flames anymore. Chapter 46 Full Clear - Drake''s POV - In the depths of my rage, I hear the door open and see them walk in: Ritotorous, Laxreal, and Eleanor. In a cacophony of visual noise, notifications assault my vision. - Mana Veins 56% Complete... 72% Complete - My vision is the first thing to change as my veins clear. Not only am I seeing red with rage, but I also see specks of light in the air congregating around me. Next is my ears; I hear whispers telling me I can become more powerful. Telling me the secrets of what this world could become if I only gave in. Gave in? To what? And that is when I see shadows moving in the room. My father and Laxreal are talking. I don''t know what about, but I cast a spell, shooting it wide of Xelyphe. I am not aiming to attack them, though. I want to get their attention since I can''t talk anymore. With all the fury in my heart towards my family at this moment, all of it is overshadowed by the manifestation of these figures around us. No one notices them, but I can see them. They taught, laughed at, and mocked us in their language. How can no one else see what I am? My nose is almost clear; the smell of sulfur and brimstone fills the room. I look around again and see one of the figures close to Ritotorous. I cast my spell and hit it. The laughing only intensifies. I see my father is charging at me now. I still can''t hear his words, and his intent is unclear. Does he want to kill me? Why is he getting closer to one of these figures? I cast a shield on myself as everyone is taking defensive actions toward these beings. Not long after, they are attacking my barrier. I cast Nature''s Grasp to try and slow them down, but that doesn''t stop them. They get through. I am whirling around, trying to avoid being grasped by these figures. Not long after, my shield breaks, and they are upon me. I weave as best I can through the assault, but I am too slow. I am caught. Not wanting to go down without taking one of these figures with me, I glare at the only one in front of me and cast Arcane Shot. The figure collapses, but this is only the start of my struggle as they bring me to the ground. - Ilpheus'' POV - We get him onto the ground, and I pounce on him to prevent his head from moving so he can''t cast spells at us anymore. "Eleanor, what do we do?" I ask "We must follow Laxreal''s last plan since neither of us can manipulate mana like he could." She is as shocked as I was about Laxreal''s passing. Looking around the room for something sharp to focus on, I find nothing nearby. "Xelyphe, go to the kitchen and get me one of the knives," I shout. This will be bloody. I''m sorry, Drake. This is for your good." Shortly after, Xelyphe returns to the room. We are struggling to hold him down. I can tell the mana raging through his body is making him stronger than anticipated. I hear them approach behind me. "Xelyphe, you have to be the one to make the cuts." "B-B-But I don''t know if I can do it." I look up and stare deep into her eyes, "This isn''t a request, Xelyphe. You have to do this for your brother. Let us make up for not being able to help him before." Resolve takes over, and they approach Drake, who is still struggling and squirming. "Madoka, go and get more people. We don''t know how long this will last, but we need more people to hold him down at this rate." Running off, it doesn''t take long before I can''t sense her anymore. With a grim smile, I look back at Xelyphe, "Are you ready?" "No," is the only response I get. "That''s good because I am not either. Let''s make this count." I look at Eleanor. "Be ready to hold him tight. I don''t know what is going to happen." - Drake''s POV - A second set of hands grabs my head and forces it to one side. I can''t see my assailants. I can only see my family chatting in the corner and not noticing the pain that I am in or the fact that mysterious figures are on the floor holding me. I hear footsteps approaching me and getting near my legs. I continue to squirm as another set runs off. In my enraged state, I try to retake control. I focus on the training Laxreal has given me. I push mana into my hands and push it out from my palms. I fail at getting the mana to take any form that can help me. I continue with this process until there is a throbbing pain in my right leg. It feels like someone is dragging a knife down my veins. I can feel my blood flowing out of the wound. I lose my focus from the pain of the wound, I continue to struggle, and I get my right hand free. I bring it down over the wound and quickly cast Mend. Feeling the wound close, I try to bring my hand around to cast another spell. As I flail the arm to try and grab the attacker holding my head, it is quickly pinned down against the ground again. There is another stabbing pain in my leg as a new wound opens. Unable to focus on any spells anymore. Slowly, my vision starts to go black. Not wanting to fall unconscious as these beings are holding me down, I bite my tongue to wake myself up. - Ilpheu''s POV - "How is it going down there, Xelyphe?" I call back. "I don''t understand. I can see I am puncturing at the correct place, but why isn''t it working?" Hearing the panic in her voice, I tried to calm her down. "Xelyphe, take a deep breath. What can you feel? You are the best person for this situation. Feel out the problem; don''t let it consume you! Eleanor, do you have any ideas at all?" "I am sorry, Ilpheus. I don''t know what to do. Laxreal might have been known as a failed scholar in our world, but he had one of the largest libraries for different procedures. Without him, I don''t know what we should do!" "Gods above," I shout. "Try again, Xelyphe.¡± I feel Drake squirm underneath me as Xelyphe once again stabs into his leg. "This will be over soon, son; just hold on." I don''t know if I am trying to comfort him or myself. This continues for several minutes, during which Xelyphe stabs and heals himself while Eleanor and I hold him down. A couple of times, he can free one of his hands from Eleanor''s grip, casting one type of spell or another. This is mostly harmless, as he shoots at random points in the room within his sightline. One more time, Xelyphe stabs into his leg, and not long after, several sets of steps come running into the room. When they entered the manor, I sensed them and was not shocked by who was brought. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Draemish comes in first, followed by Rognar, Zul''Zara, and Slyvasti. They all stop when they see the Laxreal''s bones and Ritotorous lying on the table. "What happened?" Draemish asks. "Not the time," I say through grit teeth. "We need to get his mana veins under control. All we know is we have to get the mana to flow, but we don''t know how." Rognar comes over and grabs Drake''s arms from Eleanor, and she retreats a few steps to breathe. Draemish comes over and helps keep his legs steady. "What is going on with his veins?" That is all I hear from her. "We don''t know; all we know is he was angry at us since we all have bloodlines, and he doesn''t, making him the only one in the family from knowing the truth of our world." "Hmph," is the reply I get. It sounds like you deserve his anger. You can deal with this later when we return your son to a more normal state. Is there anything in this building we can use to increase his mana? From what I can see, nothing will change even if we continue what you have tried." Seeing a light reach Zul''Zara''s eyes, she searches for something when I hear her call out. "Sylvi, we be needing to look for a chest. It be called a Personal Evolution Box." Another minute passes as we hold down Drake. Xelyphe has stopped stabbing Drake''s leg under Draemish''s recommendation. Finally, they return. I look at the box and become curious about it. "It is a personal evolution box. How is this supposed to help?" "All we be needing, is for Drake to open it. I be receiving an excellent treasure for myself." "How are we supposed to get him to open the chest without one of us being exposed to danger?" I ask. She scratches her head. "My best plan be one person holds him till we all clear out. Then hopefully he be having enough brains to open the chest." I turn to Draemish, "Is this our only option?" "Well, we can always try grabbing and tossing him in the room and then shutting the door behind us." I think about it before shaking my head. "While it sounds like it would work, we don''t know if he will open the chest. Can anyone write something on the chest, maybe?" "Like what? Open Me?" Rognar scoffs. "Yes," I respond. "You can''t be serious. Do you think he has enough will to open something that says ''Open me''?" "Here is to hoping there is one other option, but I would hate to do this." "What?" Madoka asks, fear in her voice. "I stand behind him, with his hands tied to his feet in front of him, and I hold the back of his head while having my sword against his throat." "That is too extreme, Ilpheus." Madoka shrieks at me. I look and growl at her, "What would you have me do? This might be our only hope. I would rather he hate me for the rest of his life than potentially lose him with a solution right in front of us." Shaking her head, I can see tears start to form. "If this is what you need to do, then do it. I can agree with your sentiment." "Does anyone have cloth or something we can use to tie him?" I ask. No one moves. "Anyone?" "We haven''t gotten any clothes since we have been here. How would we have something to spare?" Rognar shoots. "Xelyphe, have you seen your brother''s items? He must have gotten this robe while he was here. See if you can find his old shirt or something." Madoka, Xelyphe, and Eleanor go out to find anything. They return shortly after holding his old shirt. Ripping it apart, we form a blindfold and wrist and ankle ties to keep him from moving too fast or casting spells. After another minute, we are ready to try the plan. - Drake''s POV - This torture has been going on relentlessly. I can feel my will crumbling, just wanting it to stop. The pain is excruciating. The stabbing isn''t helping either. Eventually, another couple of sets of hands hold me down more firmly. I am finally unable to move at all. Breathing out, knowing it is my final moment, I sigh. At least the pain will stop, and I close my eyes to accept my fate. Several minutes pass with nothing happening before I feel a cloth covering my eyes, and then I am forcefully lifted to my feet. I can''t walk well since my feet are tied very close together. Then I feel my hands being brought to the front of my body before also getting tied, this time more tightly. I feel a claw against my neck, slowly moving back and forth across my skin. I hear a jumble of words, and the blindfold is removed. In front of me is a chest. I have been holding one of my chests, hoping to level it up. In my blood are the words: Open Me. Feeling a push from my back, I almost stumble. I step forward. Why do they want me to open this chest? I feel the claw dig deeper into my flesh, and a trickle of blood starts to come out. I take another step closer to the chest. It wasn''t far from me, so these two steps put me in range. I could open it if I reached out. Feeling this might be my only hope of freeing myself from these figures'' clutches, I open the chest. Inside the chest is a pill. It floats up and into my hands. I analyze the pill, and nothing happens. That''s not right. Something should have happened. I try to analyze the pill again and again, but nothing. Over and over, I try all to no avail. I feel the claw drag against my skin again. The intent is clear: it wants me to eat this pill. Steeling my resolve to kill this being, if this pill is helpful to me, I swallow it. I feel a power burst through my body before collecting all the mana. Then it condenses down. From the storm of mana, it forms a small orb about the size of a needle. I can control the orb, and I have it push through the blockage in my right leg. Once the orb has passed through, the rest of my mana follows. The orb keeps going as it gets down to my ankle and then through my foot. I can tell it has lost a lot of energy from just those two sections, but it continues with my left leg bursting open with a little more effort from my mana circulation. By the time it reaches the ankle of my left leg, the energy has almost its course. I continue circulating my mana through my almost cleared pathways. Not long after, I got the notification I was expecting. - Mana Veins have reached 100% Mana Heart 65% - I was shocked that in just one session of circulating my mana, I could get an additional 40%. Then I think about all my anger for my family. It isn''t as strong as before. I open my eyes to look around the room and don''t see my family off on the other side; there are chests, and that''s it. Also, there isn''t a claw on my neck anymore. It''s a sword. It doesn''t stay in its position for long before it is moved away. Then I heard the words from a familiar voice, "Drake, are you there?" That''s when some of the rage comes back. What does he mean? Am I here? Of course, I am here. I spin around to confront him. "Yes, I am right... here." The wind is taken out of my sails as I look at the relief on my father''s face. I look past him to see the door opening, and my mother and sibling walk in. They aren''t the only ones outside; I can see more people. Right in front of them are Zul''Zara, Uxa, and Strauvana. I ask quietly, "Where''s Laxreal? And where is Ritotorous?" "A couple of things need to happen before we talk about that. First, I''d like to apologize to you. I didn''t know how you would feel with this big secret coming to light. I knew it would be bad, but the gods above you frightened me. Second, I want to apologize for having my sword at your throat. We had to take drastic measures to ensure you didn''t try anything you would regret." I consider all he is talking about and then describe what I saw and felt throughout the ordeal. "So, you weren''t trying to attack us. You were trying to defend yourself from these mysterious figures. Did you try and reach out?" "I did, multiple times, but no one noticed. It felt like a bad dream, but the pain," I shiver thinking of all the pain that was brought upon me. "It kept me from succumbing. I don''t know what I would have done if I had fallen unconscious." Xelyphe comes over, "Drake, I am so sorry. But we had to keep trying to help you; we had no other way. Laxreal only gave us two options, and no one that we could find quickly was skilled enough to help us in the manner he could have. All we were going off of was the scant information he provided before he was shot." I want to say that it is alright, but that whole process was torturous to me. "Give me some time. I don''t blame you for this instance, but the memories hurt right now." My mother is next to approach and apologize. She holds me there for a few minutes, and I hold her. Letting go, I step back and look at my family, "Please, no more secrets. I don''t know if I could handle any more." "That is fair, but you will have to get used to us doing things you wouldn''t expect," My father says. "Dad," I look at him, "we are in a world of magic; I think we all can agree that maybe being more of ourselves would be for the best." "We tried that, and look at how that turned out," Xelyphe remarks. "How about showing me slowly, but at your own pace when I am not around? I don''t want to hold you all back, but I still feel bad knowing you all kept something monumental from me. Even the whole world was keeping secrets about its existence." They all nod. "One more thing, Drake," Dad says. "We have to plan a funeral for Laxreal." Hearing those words, a stone drops to the deepest pit in my stomach. "Yeah," I say quietly. Looking up, I see Draemish, "Are there any traditions in your world we need to observe for his funeral?" She shakes her head. "Death is not unknown to us; we all know that we must move on at some point. For those undead that perish, we try to send them back to their tombs, wherever they may lie. Our world has protections to prevent evil necromancers from raising strong undead servants." "That is fair, then let''s do that," I say while collecting his remains. Chapter 47 Rest Once his remains have been gathered, I look to find Slyvasti holding Ritotorous. Inspecting him, I see he is low on health but not dead; his wings have been damaged badly. Knowing this, I turn to Xelyphe. "Can you do me a favor and take a look at Ritotorous? I want to make sure he will be able to fly again." They nod and make their way to Slyvasti. With a solemn air, I approached Draemish. "Can you show me which of the tombs was his residence? I want to follow your traditions as best we can." She agrees and leads the way. We bump into a couple more people in the settlement along the way. Noticing the air around us gives us space to continue on our journey. Heading inside the first tomb, several books and some candles line the walls. "He did like to study a lot," I said off-handedly. "He didn''t want to make a school for no reason," Draemish says. "I am more shocked about how calm you are with what has happened," I mention. "This isn''t the first time an instructor has been killed by a student going through mana unblocking. He just forgot how lethal it could be. There is no blame on you. Those beings you saw were there for show. They try to lure anyone on the path to unblock their mana veins. Sadly, it happens more often than we hope back home. That is partly why we knock out anyone going through the process." "He did mention knocking people out while clearing their mana veins," Eleanor defends. "But he forgot the main reason, other than pain. Those bastard demons take more than is acceptable." There is fire in Draemish''s words. "They target the weak and try to get them to follow their path toward chaos." "That sounds awful." "It is. I am glad your will was strong enough to fight back," She gives me a sad smile. "Even if it was at the cost of our scholar..." We arrived at the main room not long after entering. Seeing the empty coffin before me, I approach with his remains. I gently set them inside and then step back. Draemish comes to my side and swings the lid onto it. Several pots line the walls, but nothing of note catches my eye. I do hear Draemish comment under her breath. "You old fool, what were your plans?" before she followed behind me. "Today has been too much for me," I say aloud. "I am going to sleep before anything else happens to me." As I head back to the manor for the final time today, nobody stops or approaches me. I do hear whispers, but nothing that I can make out. When I got home, I was about to go straight to bed, but I remembered one last thing I needed to do before I slept. I am about to enter the meeting room before Xelyphe grabs me from behind. "Drake," they say softly. "You don''t have to go in there again. At least not now." "Why not?" I ask, feeling tired down to my core. "We have moved everything out of there. It is all in the dining room." "Thanks," I acknowledged. I moved to the dining room and opened the resource chests immediately. We get 780 of every material and 235 food, all tier 1. With some of the wood, I finish putting spikes in the moat around the settlement. After finishing that task, I went to my room and passed out. There is a heavy knock on the door before my father walks in. "Drake, it''s time to get up. We only have five hours left before the attack. We need to get organized and put our final defenses in place." I look up groggily and start moving. Never to see a task unfinished, he pulls me to my feet. "Everyone is waiting for you. I think they hope you might have some words of encouragement for them before we start." Rubbing my eyes as I stagger to the door, I look back. "Why don''t you? You have more experience with this than I do." "Because I don''t want to, and it''s not my position. I am just a regular settler like everyone else." "Regular my ass," I mutter under my breath. "What was that?" "Nothing," I go down and get some food before starting my day. Munching on bread from the Lord''s Chest, I walk outside and am immediately bombarded by my commanders, who are vying for my attention. "Drake, can we make any more defenses?" -Draemish. "Should we try opening chests this morning for more blueprints?" -Shadow. "I sssay we ssshould be working on our coordination. We haven''t tried any joint tacticsss." -Vranjaya. Sighing, knowing I won''t get a break from this until the attack is over, I start with Shadow''s question first. "While it would be great if we could get more blueprints, I don''t think that would be beneficial now. We should work with what we have and try to use them best." "For your question, Draemish, I have finished the spikes surrounding the settlement. I don''t think anyone will leave today if they get caught in the middle of the attack and cannot reach safety. Let''s get some more defenses up once we get to the walls. I want to see how things look from there." "Finally, for you, Vranjaya, I don''t disagree that we should get joint training for the hunters and the mages. We might be able to get a rotation setup since I don''t know how long it will last, and getting everyone set up might ease the burden overall." "Are there any other questions?" I ask, already tired, and the day has just started for me. "Can you show us what defenses we have and what defenses we could build?" Draemish asks. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I pull up both lists and share them. - Current Defenses for the Settlement: Wooden Fence Level 1 X 1 (10 Meter Radius around the Major''s Manor) Earthen Bulwarks Level 1 X 1 (100 Meter Radius) Wooden Pallisades Level 1 X 1 (100 Meter Radis) Stone Gatehouse Level 1 X 1 Wood Arrow Tower Level 1 X 1 (Located right near the western wall) Moat Level 1 X 1 (102 Meter Radius) Spike Traps Level 1 X 1 Layer (102 Meter Radius) Building Options: Wood Arrow Tower Level 1: Automatically attacks individual monsters that get within range. - 80 units of Tier 1 Wood, 20 units of Tier 1 Stone. Wood Flame Tower Level 1: Automatically attacks groups of monsters that get within range. - 80 Units of Tier 1 wood, 20 units of Tier 1 Metal. Combat Support Tower Level 2: Increases chance to hit by 10% and increases damage by two while in area of influence. AoI: 100 Meters X 100 Meters. Wooden Fence Level 1 - A low fence to help keep out small monsters and critters. It has a very limited health pool for those who are attacking it. Provides limited defense while behind it. 10 units of wood per 40 meters Earthen Bulwarks Level 1 - A basic defense made of earth and wood. It can increase durability by using stone or metal in place of wood. It can also be used as a platform to build further defenses. 10 units of a resource per 5 meters Wooden Palisades Level 1 - Wooden walls with a walkway to fire ranged attacks. Has moderate durability. 10 Units of Tier 1 Wood per 10 Meters Stone Walls Level 1 - Stone walls with a high defense and a walking path that can accommodate two people standing shoulder to shoulder. Reaches 7 meters in height. 10 Units of Tier 1 Stone per 5 meters. Spike Traps Level 1 - Basic spikes that can be placed inside pits or around the defenses. Requires 2 Units of Tier 1 Wood per 3 meters of spikes. Moat Level 1 - A bare ditch dug out around the settlement. No materials are required. Wooden Gatehouse Leve 1 - A basic gatehouse that will provide access into and out of the settlement. The gatehouse is 5 meters wide, 5 meters long, and 7 meters high. It is reinforced with heavy wooden doors and a crossbeam to shut. Requires 30 Units of Tier 1 wood. Stone Gatehouse Level 1 - A stone gatehouse that will provide access into and out of the settlement. The gatehouse is 7 meters wide, 7 meters long, and 10 meters high. It has metal reinforced wooden doors with a portcullis. Requires 30 Units of Tier 1 stone, 10 Units of Tier 1 wood and 10 Units of Tier 1 metal. Ballista Towers Level 1 - These defensive ballistae fire bolts at a maximum rate of 2 per minute while they are manned. Requires 5 Units of Tier 1 wood and 3 Units of Tier 1 metal Wall-mounted Catapults Level 1 - Attached to a stone wall, these artillery placements lob large boulders at attacking forces. Fires at a rate of 1 stone per minute for larger boulders and 2 per minute for smaller shots. Requires a stone wall, a journeyman foreman, 5 Units of Tier 1 wood, and 3 Units of Tier 1 metal. - When they see the options provided, I can see the hope to increase our survival radiate from their eyes. "What is the resource count at?" Shadow asks. Again, I show them that menu. - Material Count for Caelnova: Tier 1 Wood - 715 Stone - 1075 (+10 daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - 2625 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 830 Tier 2 Wood - Stone 10 (+2 Daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - Food - 1 (+1 Per 5 days Fishing Pier: Time remaining till next fish 4 days) - I can see their concern. "We are sorely lacking when it comes to wood. It''s sad that most buildings also require wood," Shadow says. "I would have to agree, Ssshadow, but there are ssstill many thingsss that we can make even with the limited wood sssupply." Vranjaya comforts. Turning to Draemish, she is deep in thought. "What do you think Draemish? Any thoughts on what we can do to improve our chances?" I ask her. "These buildings all have level 1 next to them, with a select few with level 2. Is there a way to increase the level of the blueprints?" "There is, but you need blueprint parts. I haven''t gotten the option to use them yet, either." "Interesting; stepping back, I don''t think we need second-level defensive buildings. At least we don''t need to build them. If we can level some buildings up with tokens, that would be wonderful." "There are upgrade tokens available." I offer, "There are three iron, one bronze, and three silver. They correspond to the levels of buildings it can upgrade." "And those levels would be?" Shadow shows some impatience. "Iron can level a building up to level 2, bronze to level 3, and silver to level 4." I patiently reply. "Have you tried using a silver token on a level 1 building?" "No, I haven''t yet. Which building should I try it on?" The three of them look at each other and then at me. "The walls," Draemish says. With the other two''s agreement, I take out the tokens we will use in short order. With a silver token in hand, I select the wall in my interface and then select the silver token to use. Then, a notification pops up. - Error: Unable to upgrade building as it does not meet the requirements. - "It didn''t work. It says it doesn''t meet the requirements." I inform them. "Try the bronze one next." Draemish offers. Taking the bronze token in hand, I repeat the process. - Error: Unable to upgrade building as it does not meet the requirements. - "Still didn''t work," With some skepticism, I grab an iron token and repeat the process for the third time. And it works immediately. - Upgrading Wooden Pallisades Level 1 to Level 2 - There is a brief flash of light, and the walls change. Thick bands of iron connect the different parts of the wall. "Let''s see how much the wall has changed," Draemish says excitedly. We all follow along as fast as we can. It still takes us a couple of minutes to reach the walls. Upon reaching the base of the wall, I can see that the foundation has changed along with the palisade on top. At the base of the wall, a stone layer reaching one meter high is visible. At the top, rough crenulations have begun to form. Looking at the rest of the group, I ask, "Should we try the bronze token now?" "Yes(ss)," they all say. I take the bronze token out again and try to level up the walls again. Once again, it was successful, and the walls flashed once more. - Upgrading Wooden Pallisades Level 2 to Level 3. Maximum level achieved. - When the walls become visible again, the stone has crept up to cover two meters from the base, and a solid plate is now holding the timbers together. The last observation is that the crenulations have formed, and there is a place to put a torch spaced out for those patrolling at night. "Now use the silver token," Shadow pushes. "I can''t. The building is at the maximum level." I respond. "So, wooden buildings can potentially only level up to three; if my thoughts are correct, we need to replace them with stone buildings." Draemish muses out loud. "That seems like it should be right." I acknowledge. "We continue to level up the defenses as we make them, using tokens provided when possible." Shadow butts in. "I couldn''t agree more. The one issue we face is that only two more iron tokens are left, and we need to build more defenses." Shaking my head in dismay. "We collected many chests yesterday; why don''t we open some of those and see if we get more of those level-up tokens." Draemish offers a solution quickly. "That sssoundsss like a wonderful idea." Vranjaya agrees readily. "Let''s head back to the manor then... and man, do I get a workout from constantly walking back and forth..." I breathe out, and then we all run back, knowing we don''t have much time to fine-tune the defenses. Chapter 48 Time Slipping Away Arriving at the manor, I rush to the dining room with everyone. In front of everyone are the different chests that need to be opened. Finding the pile of tokens, I pull them onto the table. "Are we ready to get these chests opened?" "Hurry up, Drake, we don''t have all day," Shadow says urgently. With the six chests on the table, I note the difference in appearance other than the size of one; there is a gold band wrapping around the wooden exterior, and there are places to put your hand to lift the lid quickly. I start with this chest. When I open it, a golden glow shines out from within. I didn''t notice this with the resource boxes, but they must not be as important for this display. Once the top is fully opened, the chest contents are displayed. - Instant Completion: 3 X Iron 1 X Bronze 3 X Silver 3 X Gold 1 X Platinum Time Reduction: 1 X Wood 3 X Iron 1 X Bronze 2 X Silver 1 X Gold Resource Reduction: 2 X Wood 1 X Gold 2 X Platinum Instant Level Up: 3 X Iron 1 X Bronze 2 X Silver 1 X Gold 4 X Platinum - Seeing the two new ranks for tokens gets me excited. It is going to be great once we can get to those levels. We continue to open the rest of the token chests and only take note of the level-up tokens for the moment. - Instant Level Up: 1 X Silver - Looking around at the others, I shrug, "At least we got one more out of all of them." A pile of tokens is in front of us. "How many tokens in total did we just go through?" Shadow asks. "If my count is correct, there were 94 tokens in total. Since we haven''t cataloged the others, we don''t have time to now," I reply. "Fair enough," He steps back. "What should we do about building the defenses?" "With all my commanders here, let''s figure out where to place the towers." "We should put one tower on the wall''s northwest, northeast, southeast, and southwest points. The wall''s current circularity makes some portions harder to target than others, but it shouldn''t be a big deal now." Draemish offers first. "Ssshould we put flame towersss near the gatesss to help if the attackersss get congesssted there?" Vranjaya asks. "That would be a good idea." I started implementing the changes as we speak. First, I add the arrow towers to the walls. Then, I place the first of two flame towers near the gatehouse. - Building Queue: Wooden Arrow Tower Level 1 X 4: Time until Completion 6 Hours Wooden Flame Tower Level 1 X 1: Time until completion 6 Hours - This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. I selected Oria and Shadow as the jobs'' foremen and used the time reduction tokens. First, I used five bronze tokens to lower the time by four hours, and then I ironed to finish the remaining time. I ensured I had Shadow or Oria on the different buildings between each completed building. As I complete the first batch of defensive buildings, I have one question for everyone: "We have 315 wood left. Do we want to add some more arrow towers near the gatehouse? It would be nice to have the extra help." "We should," Draemish agrees, "It will give our people more chances to rest." With affirmation, I start three more buildings. - Building Queue: Wooden Arrow Tower Level 1 X 2: Time until Completion 6 Hours Wooden Flame Tower Level 1: Time until Completion 6 Hours - All the defenses are ready, following the same process as the last set of towers. "What is next?" I ask. "Team tactics, we need at least one quick response team," Shadow recommends. "OK, who do we want as the leader of the QRT?" I ask. "I will take the lead for the team." Draemish says, "I will be of more use for it since we will need some melee fighters to be able to float around. I would also like to have your father as part of the team. He knows how to handle a blade based on how well he did when we were exterminating the camps." "You can talk with those you want in the team since you will control it," I say. "Sound fair enough." "Shadow, Vranjaya, why don''t you two team up, grab everyone else that Draemish doesn''t grab, and have them run some drills on the wall? Then, have them work on scenarios of potential wall breaks and what to do." "Right away," Vranjaya says. "What will you be doing while we are all working?" Shadow inquires. "I will work on my healing spells based on what Laxreal has taught me. It''s the best I can do while remembering him. I hope my contributions to the fights can help me make amends." I resolutely say. "He would like that," Draemish offers in consolation. "Yeah." - Time Remaining until the attack: 3 Hours - I have worked on the highest potential spells but have not leveled them up. The thought that I was the one to kill Laxreal has been resting on my heart like a lead weight. With three hours remaining, I leave my manor and head to the enchanting hut. Since I can''t get my spells to level up, I figured I would try and be productive in another area. I almost reach the hut when Draemish stops me with Nelaedeth, Strauvana, Rognar, and Narus behind her. "Drake, I need you to join me with some training." I look at her with shock. "Why?" "You are the only healer we have. We need to work on getting you to people who are hurt fast and having you in the QRT would be a good solution. We will move quickly around the battlefield to plug holes." Knowing what she means when we have to plug holes, I can''t help but have a grim reminder of what could go wrong with this battle. Not everyone has taken the chance to level up as much as possible. Some people still have a small health pool and could quickly die if they are overwhelmed. Following along behind Draemish, we start to run drills. Rognar is in the front, charging into a ''cluster'' of enemies with his large shield, while Draemish and Nelaedeth follow behind to cover his flanks. I am situated in the middle, where I can easily access everyone on the team. Following behind me are Narus and Strauvana. They cover the back with arrows and spells, and if people get too close, Strauvana will pull out her daggers and fight in melee. We practice this formation for an hour before we start a mock battle with the teams led by Shadow and Vranjaya. - Time Remaining until the attack: 30 Minutes - We are resting on the battlements of the walls before the attack. Our coordination has improved, with everyone focusing as hard as they can in these last five hours. We are still rough since we didn''t have long to practice and are heavy on ranged units, but our work gives us a better chance of survival. My father approaches me, "Are you ready, Drake?" "I don''t know," Is the only response I can give now. "You have done what you can for everyone. We now hope our rushed training will give us the edge we need in the coming fight. The worst-case scenario is that we fall back to the manor." I nod while thinking if there was anything else I could do. There is a flutter of wings, and Ritotorous lands before me on the battlements. "I am glad you are okay, and I am sorry I hit you," I say apologetically. "Have you heard what has happened since you passed out?" "I did hear Laxreal perished. It is saddening to hear that as life passes, another shall begin. Life is just a journey of leaving a legacy on the way towards death. Never view death as scary, just as another part of the journey." He says a bit cryptically. Confused, I ask, "What does that mean?" "Who knows?" is all the response I get back. Sighing, I ask, "Can you tell us what we can expect from this attack?" "No, this will be new to me. I am glad you have upgraded the buildings as much as possible." I smile lightly at the acknowledgment. I had increased the level of five of the eight built towers. We now have one Level 3 Wooden Flame Tower, one Level 2 Wooden Flame Tower, and three Level 2 Wooden Arrow towers. These were all I could do before I ran out of level-up tokens. - Time Remaining until the attack: 5 Minutes - With the last five minutes, I stand up and look towards everyone. "We have done what we could to prepare a defense with the limited people we have. Fighting the unknown is one of the scariest things we could do, but I know we can make it through." I look over the friends I made in a short time. Zul''Zara, Strauvana, and Uxa. "I haven''t known many of you for long, but I am glad to call you all a part of this settlement. My hope for the future rests with all of us. I want us to grow together and bring our families to this world. For those from a ravaged world, I hope this can become your new home," I smile towards Uxa and Bryst. "For those that dwell in the night, I hope this can be a sanctuary where you can study and share your knowledge," I nod towards Strauvana and Draemish. "For those who seek refuge and want to explore the world and build their own legacy, I hope the spoils become abundant, and you live long and have longer stories," I gesture towards Zul''Zara and Slyvasti. With one final look, I look towards my family, "And for the world that has to hide itself, I hope that we can become stable enough to help those in need and to grow so we don''t become a danger to ourselves." I sadly look towards my own family. With all these words said, I use the one skill I received from the Noble''s Skill Chest. - Heroic Stand Level 1: When used, increases the morale of all people within the bounds of the settlement based on the walls of the settlement. Increases damage dealt by all forms by +1. Reduces damage taken from all forms by +1. Increases resource regeneration by 10%. Lasts for 24 hours. - - Time Remaining until the attack: 5 Seconds - I shout one last thing, "FOR CAELNOVA!" And a golden glow spreads from by body before touching everyone else. They shout back, "FOR CAELNOVA!" Chapter 49 Settlement Attack Start The first thing I hear after the countdown has finished is: - Settlement Attack Event Commencing: Attack type: Wave Rules of Engagement: To finish the event, you must complete at least ten waves of monsters. The monsters'' levels will start at average and increase as the waves continue. The minimum monster count at the start equals the number of settlers plus ten and increases as the waves continue. Variable amounts of experience will be awarded after each wave. If the average level of the settlers has increased between waves, the waves will increase in difficulty. Failure conditions:
  1. Lose all settlers in the waves.
  2. The Mayor''s Manor is destroyed.
Note: The number of waves required to complete the event has decreased by one due to clearing a unique encampment. First Wave: 34 Creatures Spawned Average level of settlers: Level 2- Looking out over the parapets, there are 25 monsters outside the wall. Eleven are goblins, and the other fourteen are giant rats. I don''t know where the other ten monsters are right now, but I will have someone go and find them along the walls shortly. I look to my commanders, and they start to kick things off. "Hunters and mages, go to the battlements and prepare to fire. Warriors, space yourselves out as best you can. Try to cover as much ground as possible. There is a lot of wall, and not many of us." Draemish calls out. Everyone starts to climb onto the walls and spread themselves out. It takes them a minute to get to their positions when someone says, "There are five monsters on the north side." Another voice calls, "There are five monsters on the south side." With our defenses in place, those monsters might not get hit by the towers once they get too close to the walls. The commanders noticed this problem and ordered: "Send a hunter, a mage, and a warrior to go and kill those monsters before joining us back on this side of the walls." With the order being passed down the two sides, I see six people split off the ends and head over to kill the monsters. "How far out can we hit them while we are on the wall?" I ask. "Our bows have an increased effective range of 45 meters, while magic can still fizzle out after 35 meters." Shadow responds. "Area effect spells would be ideal for those ground troops. Let us see how well we hold up to these monsters before we cast for now." Draemish says. Agreeing with her assessment, I hold off from casting Nature''s Grasp. Once the monsters are within 60 meters of the walls, the arrow towers fire upon them. Four arrows fly out of the towers closest to me towards the monsters in front, and I see all the arrows hit their targets. They don''t kill in one shot but hinder the movements of those hit. With the first arrows fired, the monsters start charging towards the settlement. Every three seconds, another arrow is fired out of the towers. By the time the monsters in front of us have reached the range of the hunters on the wall, four sets of arrows have fired out, and two monsters have died. The remaining five archers on this side of the wall start firing their arrows. They all hit a target in the first volley, with two more monsters dying under it. There were another two volleys from the archers and four from the towers. Two more monsters died from the archers, and six died from the towers. This brings the total number of deaths to 12 of 24, with half the wave killed without the mages doing anything. There are still another 30 meters before the monsters can even attack us, which doesn''t include them having to navigate the spike-filled moat. I look at Draemish, and she looks back before sending another order. "Mages, don''t waste your mana on this first wave. Let''s wait for the next wave and see how bad it is then." Hearing this, the mages stand down for now, and the hunters keep firing. No less than two minutes go by before I receive a notification. - First Wave Cleared. Calculating Experience... If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Contribution 0 Kills. No Experience granted. Second Wave Starting in 1 minute - No bodies are left looking out at the field where all the monsters died. They have all disappeared. "What do you think we should do for the following waves?" I ask. "What do you mean?" Draemish asks back. "I mean, what do we do about making contributions? Those that make contributions will level up faster, meaning that the average level of settlers will increase faster." I respond. "Yes, while that is true, there is one option we could take, but it is risky for a different reason." "What is that?" I ask with my curiosity peeked. "We could try and cheat the system and force the average level of the settlers down. But I don''t know if that will work," Draemish suggests. "What are you saying?" "I want to try to summon new population members to the event. If it works, we might be able to complete more waves and get more levels out of it." "That isss a risssky endeavor." Vranjaya "I know it is risky, but I want to try. Do we know our average settlement level right now?" She asks me. I flipped through the settlement information but found no reference to that number. Then I go to the quest information to see if anything has been updated. - We''re Going to Need a Bigger Wall As you have leveled up your settlement, forces have started to take notice. Plans are brewing to attack your fledgling settlement. You have given your settlement more time by destroying one of the encampments. But be warned, sometimes more time is worse. Tasks: Prepare defenses for the attack (13/5) Destroy encampments to delay and reduce the attack force (12/0) Average Settler Level: 1.8, Difficulty Rounded up to 2 Waves Completed: 1/9 Rewards: ??? Penalty for Failure: Death and destruction of the settlement Note: Increasing the population could help or hinder the attacking force. Be careful. Special Note: The threat level has decreased due to the completion of a Unique Trial Encampment. - I showed Draemish this information. "From my information, we could try to do as you are saying, but this is important; what happens if we summon someone who isn''t willing to listen to reason? I don''t want to kill someone just because we couldn''t get the information that they require." "There is one solution to this problem," Draemish looks at me. "There is one population box in your manor for a specific population; if we can summon some of my subordinates, we could easily help hold for longer and rack up more rewards." I think about it for a second. "What happens when the waves become too tough for us to handle and we haven''t completed the minimum number of waves?" I ask. "We just have to push harder or fall back to the manor. There isn''t anything we can do. I think it is worth the risk, and who knows, we might get something worthwhile out of it." She looks encouraged. Shadow looks between us, "This is weird coming from me, but we need more frontline fighters; having the extra hands can help us in case we get overrun; as we stand right now, there are 12 hunters, 8 warriors, and 5 mages. This includes Ritotorous. If we can raise the number of frontlines to range to at least a 1:1, then we can have a buddy system. Those who want to hunt individuals will always have someone to back them up." "That isss a valid argument," Vranjaya states. - Second Wave starting in 5 seconds - We can talk about this after we finish the next wave. We break off and prepare. The second wave consists of 44 monsters; this time, I can see all of them. It is the same mish-mash of goblins and giant rats. They come forward, and the arrow towers fire at them, and then the casualties appear on their side. From a couple at first to half a dozen at a time with each volley. The hunters are getting better at firing, at the very least. It isn''t long before this wave has been completed. Again, we have the mages hold back from using their magic. However, one odd thing is happening: I saw a couple of hunters hand their bows to the warriors and have them shoot. - Second Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 0 Kills. No Experience granted. Third Wave Starting in 1 minute - I ask my commanders, "Why were some warriors using the hunter''s bows?" "To get experience, of course," Draemish says. "But isn''t that a waste for the hunter?" "It would be, but once a hunter gets to level 3, the experience for these monsters drops, and someone else should get the experience and stats that come with leveling up." Shadow responds. I am not arguing the point; I look to see what the average level of the settlers has reached. - Average Level of Settlers: 1.92, Difficulty Rounded up to 2 - "Do you still think we should summon some more people?" I ask Draemish. "We should summon one person and see how much that brings the average down." I look at the others, and they nod in agreement. "Alright, I will go and open the box, then you can summon your people. I hope they are subordinates of yours." With confirmation that the walls will hold without my help, I run back to the manor and open the box. - Received: 10 X Specific-Race Population Scrolls - When I returned to the walls, the third wave had already started. There were 54 monsters this time, and some goblins had begun riding the rats. The process for this wave isn''t different from before, and we see them fall right as they get to the walls. Some rat riders charged straight into the wooden spikes, impaling themselves, while others ran to the gates and were quickly burned to a crisp by the flame towers. This is the longest wave because there were so many enemies, and shots were missed due to their speed. - Third Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 0 Kills. No Experience granted. Fourth Wave Starting in 1 minute Difficulty has increased to Level 3 - "Anything I need to know?" I ask upon returning to the battlements. "Nothing new yet." Draemish says, "Just some more people using bows." I see four warriors holding the bows of their compatriots, and those hunters are teaching them what they can. Seeing the difficulty has increased, I check the quest. - Average Level of Settler: 2.08, Difficulty Rounded up to 3 - I look at Draemish, "Do you want to try your plan?" Still adamant her thoughts will work, I hand her one of the scrolls. Chapter 50 Miscalculation Draemish takes the first scroll and tears off the wax seal. The scroll flies into the air, and a black portal appears. A zombie steps out of the portal, holding a sword and shield. Once his eyes fall onto Draemish, they immediately snap to attention. "Private Hardegin at your service, General Void." "Good, this is what I hoped for." Draemish gives an approving nod. "What division are you from?¡± "Reporting, I am from the 5th Platoon of the Peacekeeping Division." "Wonderful. Move aside now, and I will inform you of your job soon." "As you command, General." She turns to me, "What is the average level now?" "The settlement average level is 2.03 currently." "We need to summon a couple more to lower that number. Do you mind?" She asks the group. "As long as they are like Hardegin, we have no issues with you summoning more of your people." Shadow responds. I hand her four more scrolls, and they open, one after another. Out from these portals are three more zombies and a giant four-meter-tall Arachnea. The three zombies step to the side with Hardegin after saluting Draemish. I don''t catch their names as I focus on the prominent being before me. With a sigh from Draemish, I hear her acknowledge the Arachnea. "It is good to see you again, but I wished it was at a better time, Rhenriqi." They clasp hands, "What can you tell me, old friend?" She asks in a sultry tone. "What have you received so far?" "Oh, just that we are in a new world, and there is an attack on the settlement we have been brought to." She looks at me and flutters her eyes. "And who might this tasty snack be?" I shiver like I am being eyed as prey. Thinking about it, I could technically be prey for this being. "I-I-I," I start. "This is Drake," Draemish cuts in. "We don''t have time for you to toy with this boy. Also, he is so young, not even in his second decade." "But you know how I like them, Drae," She licks her lips at me. "Plus, he seems strong from the mana emanating from him." "At the cost of Laxreal." Her eyes light up at his name: "Lax is here!" She does not fully tune into the words before looking frantic at the mention of Laxreal''s name. "How is my hair? Is my makeup okay?" Looking at her fidgeting like a school girl at a school dance, hoping for her crush to ask for a dance. "He has passed sadly," Draemish says. She erupts into fury hearing about it, "What do you mean? Who killed my Lax-Lax?" Draemish points to me while pulling me behind her. "Drake did, but by complete accident. While finalizing his mana veins, something went awry. The short version is that demons were messing with his mind, and he accidentally attacked Laxreal with one of his spells, instantly killing him." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The fury in Rhenriqi''s eyes bore into me. "Is this true, young man?" "Yes," I say quietly, not wanting to draw any more of her ire. We are interrupted from further discussion by a notification. - Fourth Wave starting in 5 Seconds - "Rhen, we will talk about this more later. Drake, what is the average level of the settlers now?" Draemish quickly asks. - Average Level of Settlers: 1.9, Difficulty... - "I don''t read further," since I have the necessary information. "Ok, Rhen, this is the perfect time for you; we need more archers, and you can move quickly. Can you please move along the walls and pick off those stragglers of the edges?" "Yes," she responds, "At least I have something to kill to burn off my anger at hearing my Lax-Lax is dead. Those demons are going to pay one day." With that, she skitters away. "Drake, she will be helpful, but she has a hang-up on Laxreal. I am sure you noticed. Before he died and became the Laxreal you know today, he was originally a human and had a spider companion. I am sure you can think of what happened after that." I nod, "She is his old companion. Did he remember her after he turned into a skeleton?" "No, sadly, his memories were wiped out. She has been doing all she can to help him recover those memories. She is going to be furious for a while, I would recommend letting me handle her." "That sounds like the best idea," I agree with her. The wave has started, and everyone is joining the battlements again. I look at the enemies of this wave. There are more goblins on rats, and some imps are mixed in. "Aim for the Imps first. We can''t let them fire their spells." The order is passed along down the line. Like the first three waves, the hunters fire their bows, or the warriors borrow bows to fire. I feel something is off about this wave. The enemies are perishing as fast as the previous waves, not because of how many enemies there are. The imps fall quickly under the hunters'' targeted fire, which allows the goblins and mounts to approach more intact. Several of the rats start to scratch the walls. A durability bar appears above the scratched sections. - Wooden Pallisades Level 3: Durability 498/500 - Barely any durability is being taken away. The mages should start casting spells at the attackers, but Shadow beats me to the punch before my words get out. "Mages, hold your fire. Your mana is important. Grab a bow from one of the hunters or a warrior if they no longer need it." I sigh. I want to cast some spells. His way is better in the long run, though. "Don''t we have to worry about arrows running out?" I ask since I haven''t noticed a need for replenishment. "We thought we would have to worry about that, but during the extermination mission the other day, our hunters learned something important. The arrows replenish themselves after every combat." I think of the wording he just said, "Every combat, does that mean every time we stop and get experience after a battle." "Yes," He smiles at me. "So that means we are getting replenished after every wave?" "Correct. No need to save arrows since they just come back." "Cool, that saves a lot of headaches. When there are more enemies, we must be careful not to eat through the arrows before we have a solid battle plan." "That is one of the reasons I think the mages should fire bows, too. Then, they don''t have to use their mana, and they could level up and get more mana instead." I agree with him, "Alright, those hunters that hit level 3 should hand off their bows then to mages. We might not be the best shots, but anything helps, right?" "Yes," He sighs before handing me his bow. "You are at level 3?" I ask. "Yes, I was hoping you wouldn''t catch on. I was still getting good experiences from the monsters." "That''s great," I acknowledge, then catch his wording again. "You were still getting good experience from the monsters of this wave?" "Yeah." I think about the quest, not remembering what I saw. I check one more time. - Average Level of Settlers: 1.9, Difficulty Remaining at Level 3 - The blood drains from my face before I look back at the monsters attacking. There is only one left. "I think we miscalculated," I whisper. After saying that, the monster died. "Oh, how so?" He says with a smile, not realizing the issue. "DRAEMISH, WE SCREWED UP," I shout to get her attention. - Fourth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 0 Kills. No Experience granted. Fifth Wave Starting in 1 minute - Chapter 51 The Fifth Wave "What happened, Drake?" Draemish comes running over. "We screwed up; we didn''t decrease the difficulty; we only increased the amount of monsters that the settlement is receiving." I start to panic. "Calm down, Drake, it isn''t as bad as you think. Once we get everyone to level 3, we don''t have to worry about the difficulty overshadowing us. Then, we can focus on getting more people to level 4. We need to take things slow." She tries calming me down. It does help a little, but I won''t get over the point of us needing more people. "Why don''t we summon the rest of the specific summons? We can get more fighters and spread out more, but not be too thin. Currently, we are at least one person per 30 meters. That is way too much space for one person to cover." Again, she has sound logic behind her. "Can we summon some more people from a different world?" Shadow asks. "Will they listen?" Draemish asks. Stopping to think about it, he shakes his head. "Probably not, like you were when you heard I was a shifter. It is probably for the best..." He trails off. I look at Vranjaya, "Would anyone from your world be easy to handle and immediately incorporate into a fight?" She also shakes her head, "They would lisssten to sssomeone who hasss more experienssse. I am ssstill young in the eyesss of the people." I hand over the rest of the scrolls to Draemish, and she uses them immediately. Unlike last time, she summons three hunters and two more warriors. The hunters come from the Shadow Corp., while the warriors are all from the Claw Corp. With the additional five people added to the roster, the average level has only increased to 1.92. Six more people leveled up after the last wave, meaning the total levels in the settlement have reached 68. I hope the next wave doesn''t have too many surprises. - Fifth Wave starting in 5 seconds - I''m hurrying up to the battlements to see the start of the wave. Once it spawns, I''m shocked. Sitting in front of us is a large goblin, and he is sitting on top of a rat larger than any I have seen before. "Great, they have a commander now..." Draemish sardonically. "Is that a good thing?" I ask. "It can be. Goblins are known for their flightly behavior, and when they have a commander, if they can be killed quickly, they scatter. I don''t think this will be one of those situations, though. Either way, we must kill him; it will make the other goblins less coordinated. The good news is there aren''t any imps in this wave." Looking around, I can agree with Draemish. "Should we send people to look to ensure there aren''t any?" "It wouldn''t hurt. Let''s get Rhenriqi to go. She will be faster than any of us." With the discussion over, she calls Rhenriqi and tells her the plan. She nods and then heads out immediately. "Let''s take this guy down." She encourages. "Any plan? Or are we just shooting what comes in range right now?" I ask. "We should target the leading edge of the goblins. We might be able to get more to impale themselves if they rush in and don''t know what is in front of them." Shadow offers. "That is better than nothing." I agree. We should have the mages fire their spells to help weed out the weaker ones. It will help them get spell experience and total experience." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "There is no disssagreement from me," Vranjaya whoops in excitement. I can empathize with her. It has been boring watching the waves come but doing nothing to help. "Pass the word, and let''s get this show on the road!" Not long after, word gets out that the goblins are in bow range again. Adding three additional bows increases our throughput a bit more. This wave starts like any other, but then the commander screeches, and a red aura envelops all of them. They approach the walls faster, with potential additional effects that are a mystery now. The hunters keep firing, and the mages join in once they are within spell range; more shots are missing again due to the increased movement speed. It isn''t long before rats, and their riders try jumping over the moat in some areas to fall short, while others go around the spikes as best they can while sustaining minimal damage. A dozen rats, some with their riders still on and some without, have started attacking the walls. The walls'' durability isn''t decreasing fast, but they are doing more damage than previously. I watch the bar closely as I cast Nature''s Grasp below. I peek my head over the parapet and cast my spell. It is placed in a cluster of rats and riders. The rats need to lunge for their attacks, and their bellies are so close to the ground that they start to take even more damage. It isn''t long before the first rat falls. This one''s rider tries to jump to safety but fails, landing face-first in my spells area. He starts to struggle to get up but isn''t able to before an arcane shot hits him square in the back. "Sssorry, Drake, that one isss mine," Vranjaya says. The hunters stop focusing on the rats near the walls and try to pick off the last few at the range. The goblin commander, in a rage, spurs his rat forward. Once he gets into range for the hunters, they all focus on him. Leaving the smaller targets for the mages to handle. Several arrows impact the rat, but it keeps running forward without losing momentum. It is moving at double the speed of the other rats. In no time, it is at the edge of the pit. It leaps, fails to reach the other side, and instead impales its back leg on one of the spikes. Not long after that, one of the mages hits the goblin on its back. It takes the brunt of the hit, sways, but ultimately remains on its mount. A couple more volleys of arrows have not made the much slower rat a pin cushion. The commander pushes the rat to get closer to the walls. Once only a few meters away, I watch as it stands on the rat''s back. "Look out, the commander will jump onto the wall!" I shout. "Where is a warrior?" It takes several seconds for others to realize what is happening, and then the commander jumps. He jumps from the back and lands gracefully on the battlements in one smooth motion. I am not far from where the goblin landed, but someone else is closer to him. Vranjaya, not missing a beat, turns and casts an arcane shot at him, but he quickly dodges to the side and charges at her. I quickly cast my shield spell on her while looking around. Several of the hunters are shooting to finish off the dire rat, and one warrior is rushing to Vranjaya''s aid. Sergent Markward races from behind her. The commander attacks Vranjaya and hits my shield. Cracks appear on the shield. I know it wasn''t meant to take a lot of damage, but I didn''t expect that it almost shatters completely after one hit. I cast Barkskin on Markward. Then, I cast Smite onto the commander. It staggers from the damage, and while in that state, Markward gets around Vranjaya and bashes the commander into the settlement from the battlements. Not being able to get its feet under it, the commander takes a more daring approach. It follows through in getting bashed and tries to hold onto Markward''s shield, probably in hopes that it will take its enemy with it. Catching onto what the commander wants to do, Markward allows the goblin to grab hold of his shield, but as he finishes his swing out over the side, he lets go of his shield, sending the goblin and shield down below. "Finish that commander!" I call to all those who are listening. Immediately after, arrows and arcane shots rain down on him. After two barrages and falling from the battlements, the goblin commander perishes. With no more enemies alive on the battlefield, a notification appears. - Fifth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 6 Kills. 25 Experience granted. Sixth Wave Starting in 5 minutes - "That was close," I say to Markward. "I would have to agree with you," He responds. "Vranjaya, are you alright?" I ask. "I am doing fi-" She stops talking and then starts to feign being wounded. "Is she doing alright?" Muiress whispers in my ear. I look at him, "She says that she is f-" "Oh, Muiress, I have been wounded. Would you please come and look?" She starts her act. "I am not going over there," He whispers even more quietly. "I just wanted to know if I was going to have to deal with her looking at me and trying to get my bow to ''shoot''; she keeps giving it weird looks." Not wanting to get in the middle, I make a terrible excuse, "Would you look at that? It seems I should go and talk with my family; they seem to be in a rough spot." With that, I scamper off. Chapter 52 A Thorny Path As the timer for the next wave approaches, I look at the wall to see how durable it is. - Wooden Palisade Level 3: Durability 470/500 - - Sixth Wave starting in 1 Minute Difficulty has increased to level 4 - The wall has plenty of durability even after several fights. My hope is for it to be held during the entire event. As the timer counts down, I gather the commanders together; I ask, "What should we plan going forward? I don''t want to be caught off guard like we were with the goblin commander." "I don''t think it will be an issue again," Draemish says. "If something comes up, we will have to handle it on the fly like we have been." Shadow and Vranjaya nod, though Vranjaya still acts hurt whenever Muiress looks over. "Do we know if we will continue to face the same monsters in the upcoming waves, or should we expect different monsters because there was a ''boss''?" "I think we should ask Ritotorous. By the way, where is he?" Shadow looks around, confused. "I don''t know," I also look for him. I reach out with my mind to connect with him; it doesn''t take long to establish the connection. "Where are you?" I ask. "I have been flying around the walls, making sure nothing comes from an unexpected side," he replies. "Oh, thanks!" I tell everyone what he has been doing. "That is a great use of our main advantage; we should be able to get people to the sides of the wall if we are attacked from different sides." Draemish praises Ritotorous for his intellect. "Do you know what we could expect from the future waves?" I ask Ritotorous. "I don''t, and I know the difficulty will increase after every fifth wave." "Thank you for the heads up." Telling my commanders this information will help us once the wave starts. - Sixth Wave starting in 5 Seconds - I nod to everyone, "Just like he said, there has been an increase in difficulty." I look out towards where all the monsters have been spawning. Not long after, they spawn in. Counting, there are 100 undead, with a mix of zombies and skeletons. Thanking my lucky stars, I ask Draemish, "They should be pretty slow; let''s see if it is true. If so, do you want to send some warriors down to the gate and get some formation practice?" "Let''s see how they do. If so, we will head down and get more melee practice on live targets. I require that you be there with us to put shields on the struggling fighters." "I can do that," I acknowledge. The first zombie shambles into the range of the arrow tower, and it continues to walk. Like the other waves, one hit kicks it all off. All the undead come at us at a crawling pace. Looking at Draemish, I ask again, "Do you want to send the warriors down?" Sighing at how slow the enemies are, she responds, "We can let''s clear at least half of the wave first. No need to get swarmed by accident." We all agree with this plan. And the hunters start to pick off individual targets. I look at the mages, "Fire, but keep some of your mana." They all look grateful to me because they haven''t received much experience since the start. By the time the undead reach the mages'' range, their numbers have drastically reduced. Only 30 are left. We get everyone in position, and all the warriors stand shoulder to shoulder in a shield wall. There is enough space inside the front line to have all but five warriors as backup. Being the tallest warrior, Rognar is right behind the line, showing he can reach over the line to attack enemies that reach a certain height. Thankfully, the undead fit this description. Once they are ready, we open the gate. Once we do, the undead immediately head towards the opening. "Don''t leave the front of the gatehouse. Let them come to us." Draemish orders. With the hunters and mages no longer firing at the undead, only 20 are left in the field before they reach the gatehouse''s opening. Once the undead are close enough to us, their focus sharpens. They pick up speed and come at us faster than their typical shambles. I don''t see the speed being an issue, but they have a decent amount of momentum for when their ''charge'' hits the shields. With the second row able to stabilize the line, though there isn''t a need for the stabilization due to the weak charge, they start to hack down at the disorganized mob of undead. Through the engagement, I cast two shields on two different people. This doesn''t take much of my mana. I do notice the warriors working together to kill their foes. One would bash a zombie for another right next to them to decapitate it while it was unbalanced. Rognar would reach over and thrust into heads while those in front of him held the undead in place. It doesn''t take long before the melee is over. - Sixth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 0 Kills. No Experience granted. Seventh Wave Starting in 1 minute - Grumbling about not having received any experience since I didn''t kill anything, I looked at the average level of the settlers. - Average Level of Settlers: 2.28 Difficulty Based on Levels: 3 Added Difficulty based on waves completed: 1 The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Total Difficulty of waves: 4 - I look at Draemish. "I need to level up. We will have more mobs coming at us, and if I remain behind, it will hinder us." "True. What do you have in mind?" "I want to cast Nature''s Grasp at the entrance of the gatehouse. One cast should be able to cover most of the area, and I should also get some kills just from the undead walking through it." She thinks about it for a little bit. "What about the experience for the warriors?" "I shouldn''t be able to kill all the undead coming through, and if you want, you can position your warriors nearby and kill those that get close to leaving the area of effect." "That sssoundsss like a good compromissse." Vranjaya comes up. "I alssso wanted to asssk if we could have sssome of the other magesss do sssomthing sssimiliar." "The gatehouse is the best place to include the mages for their area of effect." Shadow agrees. "I want to ensure that those with an area of effect won''t harm the gatehouse first, though. So we should have Drake first and then, at the next wave, talk about the other mages." "That is a fair deal," Draemish acknowledges. - Seventh Wave Starting in 5 seconds - Shadow runs up to the battlements with Vranjaya while I stay on the ground with Draemish. I reach out to Ritotorous, "Have you seen any monsters appear from the other sides?" "Not at this time. They seem bunched up on the one side at this time." He responds before flying down. He appears to be fidgeting, hopping from one foot to the other. "What did you see while you were in the sky?" I inquire. "I don''t know for certain. The energy seems to be gathering. I don''t know where, but I can tell it is gathering." "Can you keep an eye on it for me?" I ask. "Yes, I will let you know if anything happens." The wave starts. I don''t see how many enemies there are this round, but I see them approaching the gatehouse opening¡ªa minute passes before they are close enough for me to cast my spell. A five-meter radius inside the gatehouse has been covered by thick, grasping, thorned vines. The first of the undead walks straight into it. By the time it has reached halfway, it has already collapsed from the wounds and died. This continues until more undead in the gatehouse than the vines can cover. They skirt around the edges and come closer with only mild burns on their forms. The flame towers are doing an excellent job of softening the undead. Half a minute later, the first undead reaches the warriors, and they start slowly dismantling the mob. Some warriors push the undead back, hoping to fall into the grasping vines. It doesn''t take long before this wave has been cleared. I cast another shield on an overly confident Xelyphe, but nothing else major happens. - Seventh Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 20 Kills. 100 Experience granted. Eighth Wave Starting in 1 minute - I look at my stat sheet upon receiving my contribution. - Basic Status: Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Mana Heart 50% Mana Veins 50% Class: Mage Class Level: 2 Experience 175/200 Affinity: Healing, Nature Special Class: Noble Level: 2 Oaths of Fielty: 5/10 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Experience 9/25 - I briefly look through and notice how close I am to leveling up. Thinking carefully, I remember I have a bag of class experience back at the manor. "Rito, could you do me a favor and get the bag of experience and bring it over to me?" I ask my companion. "Sure, close to leveling up?" He asks. "Yup, might as well get the additional mana before the next wave starts." "Good idea." He flies back to the manor. Vranjaya approaches while I wait for Ritotorous to return, "Drake, could we sssend another mage with an area of effect ssspell down?" "What is the spell? And who is the mage?" I ask. "It''sss Gibnic the Gnome. He can ussse chain lightning. It ssshould be ussseful inside the ssspace, and it ssshouldn''t disssrupt your ssspellsss." I look at Draemish. "I think it would be a good idea. What level is he?" "He hasss reached level 2 ssso far. Thisss will be a great opportunity for him to catch up." Draemish thinks about it. "We this isn''t a bad idea, bring him down." Seconds later, a gnome is in front of us. "Gibnic, can you describe your spell to me?" I ask him. "Sure, upon casting the spell, it hits the enemy and then has a chance to bounce up to five times between different targets. I have seen the spell bounce between two different targets before." "Is there a chance of friendly fire?" "No, it only targets those I view as an enemy." "Alright, one last question: how will you cast your spells? Not to bring it up, but you are shorter than everyone on the front lines." He looks at me, puzzled. "Can''t I just stand in the front and back away after casting my spells?" "You could, but what happens if there are different types of undead?" "Then I will have to figure it out like the rest of you," he says. "Fair enough," I reply. "Feel free to stay down here then and cast your spells when you see them group up. Ensure not to blow through all your mana unless you are about to level up at the end of the wave." I iterate. "Roger," he says while throwing me a poor salute. Sighing, I hear Ritotorous come back with what I asked for. "Thanks," I gently rub his head upon receiving the bag. I immediately open it and feel a rush of power, then check my status. - Status: Name: Drake Taldrit Health: 15/15 Mana: 42/42 Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Mana Heart: 65% Class: Mage Class Level: 3 Experience 55/300 Affinity: Healing, Nature Special Class: Noble Level: 2 Oaths of Fielty 5/10 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Experience 9/25 Attributes: Strength 1 Intelligence 7 Wisdom 7 Charisma 2 Dexterity 1 Constitution: 3 Free Points: 1 - With my free point from leveling up, I put it into intelligence. With that increase, I have 48 mana to spend on spells. I look down the tunnel and see my spell is still there. Some of it has been trampled, but for the most part, it can still work on the enemies. - Eighth Wave Starting in 5 Seconds - Another wave is about to start. Chapter 53 Would You Like to Continue? At the start of the eighth wave, we must send a small group of people over to the western wall to defeat the monsters that have spawned there. They told us they were focused on coming to the gatehouse after returning. Since the monsters are going toward the path of least resistance, we needn''t worry too much about the different parts of the wall. It is also nice that we don''t struggle to keep these slower mobs at bay. The ninth wave starts and finishes like the eighth; nothing dramatic happens, just lots of experience. - Eighth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 34 Kills. 68 Experience granted. Ninth Wave Starting in 1 minute - There is one change in the notification after the ninth wave has been cleared. - Ninth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 52 Kills. 104 Experience granted. Your settlement has completed the minimum amount of waves. Would you like to continue? Yes/No - After everyone had wrapped up their levels, I called the commanders over. I ask them all, "What do you think? Should we continue with the next wave?" They looked at everyone. No one person was explicitly exhausted from fighting. Overall, this event lasted two hours. "I think we can keep going," Shadow piped up. "I think it will be worthwhile to at least get to the tenth wave," Draemish says. "Ok," I go to the menu and select ''Yes.'' - Are you sure? You cannot opt-out until the 15th wave if you want to continue. Yes/No - With this new information, I asked my commanders again if we should continue. "Wave 15, huh?" Draemish says while putting her hand on her chin, "I think we might be able to do it, but I don''t know..." "Drake," I hear from Ritotorous. "Yes?" I asked. "The mana in the area is condensing." "So?" I ask again, a little irritated. "It''s right over Laxreal''s tomb. From what I can feel, it is all death mana." "Ok, so what does that mean?" "I don''t know. Maybe we should go check out what is happening." With that thought, the link disconnects. Looking at my commanders, I say, "I need to go to Laxreal''s tomb. Something is happening, and mana is condensing." "What do you mean mana is condensing? What kind of mana? Can I come with?" Shocking all of us, Rhenriqi climbed down the wall to join the group. "Hold on, Rhen," Draemish grabs onto her hands. "We don''t know what is going on yet. We were just about to head over ourselves. I don''t see why you can''t come with us. And Drake hasn''t told us what kind of mana has been condensing." "It is death mana," I reply to Rhenriqi before nodding to Draemish. And I would appreciate you coming with us." I extend my hand in hopes that she can help answer some of our questions. Walking over, we stop when we get close. I don''t notice anything. "How are you seeing the mana?" I ask Ritotorous. "I was cycling mana into my eyes." As he said, I cycle mana into my eyes and look at the building again. There, I can see mana above, but only wisps of death mana are flowing into the tomb. It is prolonged. "What do you think we should do?" I ask the group. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "I need to see my Lax-Lax," Rhenriqi says before bowling me over and entering the tomb. I chase after her; it isn''t hard, considering the small space. With mana still cycling through my eyes, I follow where the death mana is going. Doing a double-take, I see the mana is going into the empty pots. "Oh my," I hear from Rhenriqi. "What?" I ask, confused. "It can''t be; he wasn''t ever able to find proof that it would work," she continues. "What would work? What do you know?" I asked again. She turns to me, "We have to keep going no matter what." There is a look of fanaticism in her eyes. "Why? What is happening?" Draemish asks. "Lax-Lax is trying to turn himself into a lich!" She shouts in glee. "Wait, isn''t he already a lich?" I ask, now fully confused. "No," Rhenriqi replies. He was just a skeleton that could use death magic; even in life, he tried to become a lich but failed, resulting in his becoming a skeleton." "Wait, what?" With an exacerbated sigh, she turns to me, "Drake, I don''t know what a lich in your world is like, but let me tell you a bit about what becoming a lich entails in my world. First, you have to give up your mortal coil." "OK." "Then, you must have an item that can store your soul, making it a phylactery." "Right," Not seeing the difference yet. "Third, you must collect and condense a lot of death mana," She continues, but at this point, she becomes solemn. "OK, so that sounds pretty normal," I reply. "It is different, though. The death mana must come from living beings dying in decent quantities and power levels. It must be done after the first two steps have been started in a ritual circle." Feeling a bit of understanding coming along, I continue, "And you have to have someone willing to kill these beings while you are in the process of combining your soul into the phylactery?" "Correct. And while you can use monsters, there is such a high threshold for the mana requirements that it is nearly impossible to complete." "Why do you think he is trying to do so here?" I ask. "Probably because he found a way to do so with less mana requirements," Rhenriqi guesses. "You are forgetting one last thing, Rhen," Draemish calls out. "Oh? What have I forgotten?" She asks. "The lich becomes bound to the area where they set up the ritual," She says with concern. "So he can''t go anywhere anymore?" I ask. "He can, but not far, at most a couple hundred meters away. The only way for a lich to gather materials for them is to send out minions. Also, the amount of death mana required to create a lich makes them go insane, so it is taboo for liches to come into being." I look at Draemish, "So, he will become insane from all the mana flowing into him? This makes me want to-" Rhenriqi cuts me off and glares, "We will be helping Lax-Lax finish his transformation. I have faith in him that he will not go insane." "That is very optimistic of you, Rhen." Draemish looks at her friend, sadness oozing from her eyes. "How far did he get the first time?" I ask. "He could only shed his mortal coil. The phylactery shattered, trying to contain his soul. What happened after that was his soul went into his body, and to feed the ritual, it dissolved his flesh and made him into a skeleton without any memories of his past." She starts to sob, recalling the incident. Draemish pats her on the back in an attempt to comfort her. Glancing between them, I ask, "What must we do to ensure he is successful this time?" "We need more death energy. Just from what you have told me, we have far from enough." I ask my commanders, "Do you think we can do it?" "Are you seriously thinking of trying to bring him back?" Shadow blurts out. "Yes," I say with resolve flashing through my eyes. "I was the one that caused his death, and if I can bring him back, I will do what I can to do so." "How many wavesss mussst we clear before we have enough death mana?" Vranjaya asks Rhenriqi. She turns to me, "You can see the mana, right? How much is entering the phylactery?" Looking at the jars on the side, one of them takes in all the mana, and I analyze it. - Phylactery of the Guardian Lich: Progress 46% - "Has anyone heard of a Guardian Lich?" I ask the group. They all shake their heads. "Well, it looks like he is going to be special as long as we can finish his phylactery," I sigh. "How much mana does the phylactery need to complete?" Draemish asks. "I don''t know the exact amount, but it says it is 46% complete. My guess would be at most another ten waves." I shrug, "I don''t know of any way to speed up the process. Do you guys?" Again, a round of shaking heads. "Alright, looks like we are going to continue with the waves." "I don''t agree with this, but as you have allowed my sister and I relative peace, we will continue with this mad quest," Shadow says. "You will owe me another favor for thisss," Vranjaya says. "I will owe everyone a favor after this is over," I acknowledge. "Do we have to do anything else?" Shadow asks. "No, we just have to keep killing until he returns," Rhenriqi says. She grabs my hand, "If he does come back, no matter what state he is in, I swear to you I will follow your orders and live my life for this territory." "And what if he doesn''t come back?" "I will leave and look for a way to revive him; this is a new world; something has to be out there capable of resurrecting him." "That sounds unfair. If we don''t resurrect him this time, I swear I will help you find a way to resurrect him with all the resources at my disposal." Tears glisten in her eyes, "Do you truly mean that, Drake?" "Yes, he was my friend, teacher, and confidant. I want to see him back, just as much as you." Suddenly, a glow escapes from my body, and a quest activates for the settlement. - Drake has offered the assistance of the settlement to help resurrect a fallen comrade. Settlement Quest Given: Resurrecting a Friend: Having promised to help bring Laxreal back from the dead, you have offered the settlement''s assistance. Task: Look for ways to bring Laxreal back: 1/? Resurrect Laxreal: 0/1 Rewards: ?? - Chapter 54 Making Things Easier? With the quest in hand, we returned to the walls. I asked everyone, "Does everyone want to continue with the waves?" "Why do we need to continue? Haven''t we finished the amount required for the event?" Rognar asks. "There are a couple of reasons to continue. First, we can gain more experience and level up faster. Second, we should receive better rewards if we complete every fifth wave. Third, we can work on our formations on easier targets like the undead." "What happens if the next five waves aren''t as easy as this set?" Rognar asks. "Then we fight. We fight with our lives on the line. I know it sounds selfish, but think about it," I stop here for a second. "I haven''t told anyone this, but there are other lords in this world. I don''t know what their power levels are, and I don''t know how long they have been here to build up their defenses and offense. As a lord by the oaths given to me, I hold an interesting position. We can attack other settlements, but if we go in without the levels to fight back, we might not return." "Can these other lords attack us?" Gibnic asks. "Yes, they can attack us, though Ritotorous has told me we have some time before we run into this issue. Most people aren''t declared lords until a later stage of settlement building. This is another reason we need to develop faster. Those settlements have more capable soldiers and crafters that could easily destroy us." I can see shock in some people''s faces. I look at my family and see my father''s stoic face, resolve etched into the hard lines. "Remember, this is the easy part. Our enemies are at level 4 currently. They will increase to level 5 after the next wave and once more to level 6 once the average level of all of us passes 3. There are ways around getting to that threshold, and we have experimented with it before." I gesture to the nine new undead in formation behind Draemish and Rhenriqi standing beside her. "How close are we to breaching the threshold?" Draemish asks. "Currently, we have an average level of 2.8; the moment we pass 3, the wave level will round up the difficulty. How many are still at level 2?" I ask the crowd and half a dozen hands raise. "And how many of you are at level 4?" Only a couple of hands rise into the air from the hunters "Our one option to lower the average level is to summon more people. We don''t have enough space now, but we will get more. My main concern is that we are tired and don''t have enough bodies on the walls. If we don''t summon more, people won''t have enough mana to last through the waves." "Now is a good time to summon those people," Shadow says. "We have an extended break until Drake chooses for us to continue; I wouldn''t say it is unlimited time, but even if we can get half an hour to train people into formations, that is better than no time." Acknowledging the point, several people nod along. Then, someone steps forward. "And how will we choose what world they come from?" "We don''t know; we will be using random summoning scrolls to make it less likely one group will overpower the others. There is one option we haven''t done, and I don''t want to implement it if we don''t have to." "What is that, Drake?" Xelyphe asks. I sigh, hoping no one would ask, and just let it slide. "Huhhh, We could have everyone take an oath to me." A commotion starts up in the crowd. I raise my hands to finish. "It would be a very light oath, nothing to hold down or say anything that would harm you permanently. It would be along the lines of protecting the settlement and not knowingly causing harm to the settlement. There is nothing personal like an oath never to leave the settlement, even if one day we connect to another lord and you prefer their settlement, town, city, or whatever. I will wave your oath, letting you leave without any hindrance." This caused everyone to gather and calm down a bit. I looked at Shadow and whispered, "This also applies to you and your sister." He nods at me. "Does anyone have any questions?" I call out. Seeing no one arguing, I ask one last thing: "Do we want to start with everyone here taking such an oath so that when we summon the others, they know it isn''t an option?" "That be fair," Zul''Zara approaches first, giving me her oath. Once the first person does so, more approach and give their oaths. The newly summoned undead look at Draemish. She gestures forward, and they comply as well. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. In the end, everyone swore some form of oath to me. This raises my Noble level to level 4, giving me another two points in charisma and two free points. Once again, I placed the points into my intelligence, bringing the stat to ten and my mana pool up to 70 points. "Since everyone swore an oath, let''s start summoning more settlers." I smile at everyone and then lead them to the manor. I can now experiment and see if the random scrolls are genuinely random. I want to try a test by having others use the scrolls and see if they get more options from the same planet as they are from. I opened the chests for population scrolls and received 238 random population scrolls. I hand Draemish, Zul''Zara, Uxa, and my father ten scrolls each. I instruct them to open them one at a time, and the portals start to open. Of the ten scrolls Draemish used, five were from her planet; thankfully, they were all soldiers, four melee and another hunter. The other five scrolls summoned two people from Culhara, one from Zul''Zara''s world, Usa''Nov, and the last two from Uxa''s world, Troberia. The same thing happens with the other three people. At least half of the scrolls, if not more, are drawn from their world. Uxa: Troberia: 3 hunters and 3 warriors Usa''Nov: 2 mages and 1 hunter Thelatera: 1 mage Ilpheus: Culhara: 2 hunters and 6 warriors Usa''Nov: 1 mage Troberia: 1 warrior Zul''Zara: Usa''Nov: 4 warriors, 2 hunters, and 1 mage Thelatera: 2 warriors Troberia: 1 hunter When I sort everyone out based on their class, I get the following: Mages: 14 Hunters: 30 Warriors: 30 More warriors are excellent, and having more hunters and mages will significantly help in the coming battle. We inform everyone in front of us what is about to happen. There are many confused faces, and they are scared, knowing that we need them to help defend this settlement. Taking a moment, I bring Draemish pull Draemish to the side, "This might be rougher than we thought. I don''t think we should summon any more people." "I agree; let''s get this batch to swear the oath and move on with the waves. If we need more bodies, we can summon more people." As callous as she sounds, she isn''t wrong. I turn towards the newly summoned settlers, "Hello, everyone. I know you are all confused. We will do our best to help those who need it, but we lack time. We are about to be attacked by a large wave of enemies. Those next to you will be your allies through this fight. Before you head up to the battlements, I ask that you speak a small oath to me." Having said what I did, I see many disgruntled faces among the people of my world. The soldiers of Draemish come forward immediately and swear their oath, while the people from Usa''Nov take a second longer before being urged by everyone else who has been here. Then, the people from Troberia join in. The only ones who aren''t are from Culhara. I agree with what they might be thinking. My world has become used to not having such individually influential figures as leaders, at least from what I know. Several people have noticed my father and are talking with him. They are nodding their heads. It isn''t long before they also come up to swear the oath. This only leaves a couple of people left, with everyone else looking at them; they hesitantly come up and swear their oath, not wanting to be targeted by all the strange new beings around them. My noble class levels again; this time, I put the extra point into the constitution. I run up to the battlements, figuring I should at least try to give one more speech to those who have just arrived. "I know this must be a shock for most, if not all of you, being summoned to a new world, having friends, family, lovers, or strangers around you. I promise that when we have time, we will summon more people from every world connected to this settlement. It will take time for us to find those close to you, or in some instances, they are already here. After some time, we will take a registry and have those missing family members as the first pick for specific population draws. I want everyone here to know that I will owe each of you a favor after these upcoming waves. In contrast, this might not seem like much. It is the best I can do for all of you right now." With that, everyone settles down a little. I look to my commanders, "Form into your class groups and get into position. There isn''t much time to teach you the basics, but if you follow those in front or next to you, you won''t stray too far from what we need to have done." I sigh as everyone goes off, and my father approaches me. "Good job, son. I know public speaking isn''t your forte, but it at least put everyone a little bit at ease. When are you going to start the wave?" Shrugging, I respond, "I don''t know yet. I would give everyone at least ten minutes to get used to the situation before talking with the commanders." "Alright, please give everyone a heads-up before you start it. We don''t want to be pounced on suddenly." Nodding in acknowledgment, he heads off to talk with the rest of the warriors. I do another head count. There are 74 in total, and the average level has dropped to 1.86; this gives us a lot of leeway in case some of the more ambitious hunters level up or if I level up. I become nervous as the time ticks forward. Waiting for everyone to wrap up quickly makes my mind go insane. When the unexpected happens, I start pacing back and forth on the battlements. - Due to the prolonged time elapsing, the Tenth wave will start immediately. - I look in dread at this message. Then, I look out over the parapet. Outside I see a host of undead, and they are organized. Some have armor on, others have bows, and finally, a figure is in the back in a black robe waving their hands about. Cycling mana into my eyes, I see he is trying to grab the vast amount of death mana condensing in the sky. And if my worst nightmare couldn''t become worse, the arrow towers start firing. Chapter 55 Necromancer I look around and see the gatehouse is still open. We aren''t ready, and the undead have started to move. I quickly head over and try to close it by myself. It doesn''t budge; frantically, I call out to get help closing the gate and have all the ranged personnel on the walls as soon as possible. My father quickly joins me, and the hunters start firing at the incoming undead. Once they are within range, the mages join the hunters. By the time the gate is closed, there is a pile of undead outside, but still, there are at least a couple hundred more outside. "What is going on?" I ask, "Why haven''t we whittled them down faster?" Shadow steps forward. "The hunters are hitting the enemy, but they aren''t hitting the same target, so the damage is spreading out. Those who have died have been coming back up from the necromancer in the back." I look over the parapet and see what he is talking about. A couple of the zombies fall, just for them to get back up again with the arrows being pushed out of their bodies. "What do we do?" I ask. "We have to take out the necromancer." "How? He is out of our range." "We need to send a party out to kill him," Draemish says. I look at her, "Who do we send out? There are hundreds out there. Shouldn''t he run out of mana?" I cut myself off and think about what the necromancer has been trying to do. I circulate mana into my eyes again and see that he has successfully gathered some of the death mana from the environment. "Damnit, he is taking the mana needed for Laxreal''s ritual." "WHAT?!?" Rhenriqi shouts. "Count me in for hunting down that bastard necromancer." "How many do we send out?" "We must clear a path and ensure we don''t get surrounded. Our best bet is to try and kill the undead inside the walls." Draemish lectures. "Why inside of the walls?" I ask. "If he can''t see where to cast his spells, he won''t have the option to bring them back." Coming to this solution, I have to agree to at least try it. In the worst-case scenario, we kill off the enemies faster than if we let them constantly get healed or resurrected. "Alright, Draemish, get the warriors into position. Shadow, have the ranged units focus on their ranged units; if we can keep the necromancer focused on keeping those forces up, we might have an easier time with the melee fighters." I give the orders. They give me a salute and head out to get everyone organized. The archers are sending wave after wave of arrows over. The undead archers have taken some damage, but like the melee units, they are healed or brought back shortly after being killed. The warriors take a minute to get into position, and the gatehouse opens again once they are ready. The necromancer directs the undead to the gatehouse, the skeletal soldiers in the front with their shields raised and weapons ready. I once again cast Nature''s Grasp at the gatehouse''s entrance. Like before, the vines slow the undead, and some die. The undead in the vines are out of range of the necromancer as they stay down. "This is going to work," I call to the rest. Several undead have started fighting in melee with my allies, and it isn''t long before I have to start casting shields on people. The warriors have formed a circle around the exit of the gatehouse, allowing a more prominent front to attack the undead. Gibnic has been steadily casting his chain lightning into the crowd of undead, and they are dying even faster. Everything is going well until I see the tunnel skeletons start rising again. "What is going on?" I shout to the hunters on the walls. "The necromancer has come closer to the walls, and he has an honor guard around him, preventing arrows from getting to him." Shadow calls back. "Damnit," I curse again, "What can we do... Think..." Suddenly, a different idea comes to mind. "Close the gates on the undead, force the necromancer to lose line of sight," I shout to Shadow. A couple of hunters run to the controls and start closing the gate. Thankfully, it is a heavy door that doesn''t take much to lower. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Seeing that we are closing the gate, the necromancer gets furious and casts spells at the mages on the walls. He hits one of the mages, and they cry out. Taking cover, I see that he has necrosis spreading on his arm. "Watch where that necromancer is casting. Make sure to leave as small a target as possible," I shout to those on the walls. The gates have closed, and the undead have stopped rising; now, all that is left to deal with are the 50 units in the settlement. We clear them out in short order, "Once they are all dead, move them away from the gatehouse," I instruct everyone. A couple of people are just pulling them back behind the lines, "No, put them on the sides of the walls. Fully out of sight of the gatehouse tunnel." I scold them. After completing That task, I tell the hunters to open the gates again. I am thankful for the arrow and flame towers. They have helped to keep the undead from overwhelming us. I look to the walls and see a couple more people have been hit with necrosis spells from the necromancer; one person takes a heavy hit and cannot keep fighting, and the other perishes; having received the spell in his throat, the wound makes me nauseous just looking at it. It was one of the new hunters from Troberia. For a moment, I stopped. I looked at his dead eyes. I saw resolve in them, not a hint of resentment. Then I remembered those from Troberia dealing with the undead trying to claim their world. I gave silent thanks to the man for the help he had provided. The gatehouse opens again, and the undead outside the gate have been burned to a crisp. Seeing this, I try to guess why the undead are not being raised. Then, I look at the state of the bodies again. They are nearly burned to ash; not much remains of them. I think he tried to raise them again, but being under the flame towers caused them to die faster than if it were arrows. Thankfully, there aren''t any more undead right outside the gatehouse. We start to walk through the gatehouse, and that is when I see the necromancer pulling back with his forces. There are still 50 undead on its side who haven''t died, and its bodyguards prevent the occasional arrow from the tower from reaching it. I look at my mana bar to see how much I have used in this wave. Mana: 32/60 I think about it. We should be able to attack the necromancer, and I can use the next wave to replenish my mana, or Nature''s Grasp has killed enough enemies to help me level up. We head out with 30 warriors and the mages at the back, covered by shields. The remaining undead attack once we are within range of casting spells. The towers still provide us with some ranged support, and the mages start to cast spells to deal more damage. We get closer until we are within ten meters of the necromancer. Some of the mages cast fireballs on any undead they can to minimize the amount that can be raised again. The warriors fight the undead with shields and swords while I focus on casting shields on those about to be slashed. It is more of a brawl, considering that some warriors don''t know how to use their weapons well. I cast more spells, and finally, a hole in the necromancer''s defenses opened up. A couple of warriors charge it. They expand the hole, but right as more warriors are about to go through the hole, a wave of death passes, causing several warriors to be stunned by the foul mana. This gives the undead an opening to start hacking at those warriors. Most of them take severe wounds and have to be pulled back from the fight while I focus on healing them. I recheck my mana. Mana: 9/60 I have enough mana to cast mend once and one shield. Or I can focus on casting my arcane shot to try and take down the necromancer. Looking towards the warrior with the worst wound, I cast my mend spell on him, which left me with four mana. I can tell the mages are running out of mana as they retreat from the fight and head back to the settlement. Some hunters have come down from the walls and are now trying to flank around the warriors to give the necromancer a hard time and split its focus. I admire their plan and bravery. Another 15 seconds pass and the Warriors have once again made a hole. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I cast my arcane shot. With a lucky shot, I score a hit right on its skull. It knocks it down, and the warriors make sure of the time to charge forward again, this time without getting blasted by its magic. The hunters, without the threat of the necromancer, start picking off the other undead. Rognar strides forward and stomps on the necromancer as it tries to get up. It grips his leg, and I get a terrible feeling. The necromancer grabs his leg and starts channeling its death mana into its hands. It damages Rognar, but that doesn''t stop him from lifting his foot and stomping again on the necromancer. Before it can continue to damage him, I try to cast one more shield but fail as I am close to running out of mana. Once again, the necromancer reaches to channel its mana into Rognar when an arcane bolt comes from the sky and lands on its hand, blasting it away. I look up and see Ritotorous flying above, casting down. Seeing those two have the necromancer finished, I look to see if there is any other way I can help with the fighting. There are only two undead left, and they are fighting my father and Draemish. The rest of the warriors are either sitting on the side catching their breath or separating the body parts to ensure the undead don''t return anytime soon. I analyze the last two skeletal warriors. - Elite Skeleton Warrior Level 4 HP: 5/50 - I am shocked at how much these elite warriors have. I also analyze the necromancer. - Elite Skeleton Necromancer Level 5 HP 3/40 - It has less health than the warrior, but with its use of magic, it is a deadly foe. With the last fights coming to a close, I ask my father to keep one of the skeletons alive so we can extend our break since we don''t have any option to stop the waves until after wave 15. He agrees, pulling the skeleton out of range of the towers, and starts kiting it around since it is slow once one of its legs has been hacked off. With the skeleton handled, the rest of the group heads inside. Draemish and Rognar stay out to make sure nothing happens to my father and take turns having it chase after them. Once I get back inside, Vranjaya ensures everyone has started meditating. I joined in and received a notification 30 minutes later. - Tenth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 80 Kills. 175 Experience granted. Eleventh Wave Starting in 10 minutes - Chapter 56 Slimes and Devils "Everyone," I shout, "Make sure you have allocated your stat points. This will not be as easy as you might think!" I leveled up after the last wave and put my free points into intelligence. I am double-checking my mana; it was replenished after the level-up. With a sigh, knowing I can heal those wounded, I approach the warriors who have taken the brunt of the necromancer''s death wave. "Several people have wounds. Some are already closing, while others have necrosis slowly creeping through their bodies. Healing the two who are the worst, I hand the rest over to those who have healer professions. I check my mana levels. Mana: 62/72 It''s not bad. There''s plenty for when the next fights start. I walk over to the group''s one casualty. From somewhere, a white sheet was placed on his body. Seeing no one else doing anything about this person, I checked in with Draemish. "Is there a way for us to have this person raised as a new undead?" "In theory, yes, but I would make sure it is okay with the people in question not to harm our relations with them." She replies. Looking for Uxa and Bryst. "Uxa," I start, "could we have your-" He looks over at me and cuts me off with a sad look, "You want to ask if we could raise him so he can continue to fight with us? The answer is no. We have been fighting for our own space back home. Doing this to his body would be the greatest sin in my eyes. Coming from one world where the undead turn those that fall to another where our allies will raise our bodies makes no difference. Do not do it." I looked deep into his eyes and nodded, "Alright, I wanted to ask before we did anything. What would be the best way to honor this man''s life?" "Burn him till nothing remains. Use the ashes for fertilizer, and then make sure his family receives his items." Uxa states relief in his voice, knowing I want what is best for his people. "OK, it might be a bit before we can do as you say, but I will make sure it is done." Knowing this man had a family yet to arrive, I returned to Draemish with a heavy heart. "It is for the best. I have seen when necromancers go out of control on a battlefield. The death-attuned mana ran rampant, and they started raising enemies and allies alike. It was horrifying. We had to put down the necromancers to stop it. So this is for the best." "Given that, is it okay for us to have Laxreal return as a lich?" "There is something different about liches. Their bodies are fully encased with condensed death mana, so they don''t react similarly to large quantities of death mana. They get excited, but they will not go on a rampage. Because creating a lich has become taboo in my world, there aren''t more. Those getting trying to get hunted down before they can succeed." Confused, I ask, "And you are okay with Laxreal becoming a lich now?" "Yes, he isn''t killing innocent beasts or people. The mana condensing from the deaths of these monsters would be there one way or another. His receiving the benefit of it is right. Otherwise, we don''t know if another necromancer will come out and use it to raise us if we fall." This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I am happy to hear that no one will kill Laxreal immediately and that he won''t go on a rampage from the death mana. I turn to the battlements one more time. - Eleventh Wave starting in 5 Seconds - "Be ready for whatever is to come!" I call to all those around me. With anticipation, we look over the parapet to see the next enemies. The countdown hits zero, and nothing appears in front of us. Continuing to look around, I still don''t see anything. Looking over to where Ritotorous is perched. "Rito, can you fly around and find the enemies?" He nods and takes off not long after he reaches out to me. "There are 100 monsters spread out between the north and south. There are slimes and a fish monster. They carry two spears, one longer and the other shorter." Thanking him, I inform everyone. "We need to split up the groups; there are 100 monsters total." "What is the split of the monsters?" Shadow asks. Not knowing the answer, I asked, "What is the spread of the monsters?" "There are about 70 slimes in the north and 30 fish monsters in the south." After telling everyone this, we split the groups. All ranged damage dealers went to the South to care for the fish monsters. A couple of groups of warriors went with them to ensure their safety at close range. The rest of the warriors stayed at the gatehouse. I again cast Nature''s Grasp at the gatehouse''s entrance and followed the rest to the south. With the increased level of the monsters, it takes longer for the fish monsters to take casualties, but once the first one appears, more follow quickly behind it. Once the monsters got close, I analyzed one of them. - Sea Devil Level 5 HP: 0/20 - With this side of the settlement dealt with, the hunters head to the north while the mages return to the gatehouse. Reaching the gatehouse, I find the warriors cannot deal much damage to the slimes. The cores keep moving out of reach. A few warriors have minor arm and leg damage from the slime touch, but nothing major so far. A few slimes remain after passing through the gatehouse and the flame towers. However, it is still unnerving how many have made it. Out of the 70, 16 slimes made it, though. This is great since it means the flame towers are doing their jobs well. Gibnic launches a chain lightning at the slimes, and they are paralyzed for a few seconds. This gives the warriors time to destroy the cores inside of their bodies. "How often can you cast that spell?" I ask him. "I can cast it up to ten times before I run out of mana," he answers. "Great, for the next wave, I want you to stay here if there are more slimes." These slimes came from the north, and a lake is in that direction. Continuing down that line of thought, if lightning can stun the slimes, wouldn''t ice be able to slow them or even freeze them? Asking the rest of the mages, "Does anyone know ice magic?" I see a couple of hands raised. "For the next wave, stay here with Gibnic and focus on the slimes that come through the gate. I want to know how effective your magic is against them." They agree to stay behind after I look down to the last slime being slain. - Eleventh Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 20 Kills. 40 Experience granted. Twelfth Wave Starting in 1 minute - The next wave starts, and we have the same enemies as before. However, the number of enemies has increased to 120. There are still 70 slimes in the north, but now there are 50 sea devils in the south. It takes longer for us to finish off the sea devils, and one of them can get within range to throw its short spear. With a lucky hit, it can stab through one hunter''s leg. Waiting to finish off the enemies on this side, I walk over and help to heal the injured man. He can still fire, but he won''t be walking around the settlement quickly without a potion or a healing spell. Rhenriqi is helping to wrap the wound and help me preserve my mana. Her physician skills are coming in handy since Xelyphe is with the melee fighters, helping where they can. The wave clears, with our side taking the longest out of the two groups. - Twelfth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 10 Kills. 20 Experience granted. Thirteenth Wave Starting in 1 minute. - We are about to start our third hour of fighting. The people around me are becoming more haggard as we fight. Knowing I need to do something, I try to cheer them on. No one is receptive to my encouragement, and they look for the next wave begrudgingly. The next wave starts, and right away, I can tell that something is different about it. Chapter 57 Sea Devil Baron [Elite] From the twelfth to the thirteenth, the groups of enemies remained relatively unchanged; the main change was that the sea devils became more organized. Everyone has been healed in the best way we can. The one hunter hit with a spear had it removed, and then a bandage was wrapped around their arm. The slimes are being dealt with. The slimes haven''t had an increase in their numbers since the start. My concern is the sea devils. They appear in front of us and immediately form a loose formation. The formation has no strict pattern; they shuffle about but remain in place. They act like there is a leader, but they can''t manage all of them. From my vantage point, I see a slightly larger sea devil. Its color is a lighter blue, on the verge of turning green, in comparison to the others, which are deep blues. I analyzed the new sea devil to understand it a bit better. - Sea Devil Baron [Elite] Level 6 HP: 100/100 - The first change to this creature is a new tag at the end: [Elite] is separated from the name. I have seen others with ''Elite'' as part of the name, but with this new tag, I became confused until I remembered what the ''Elite Crazed Bandit'' was like. It wasn''t much more challenging than the regular crazed bandits we fought; it had a little extra health. Considering that, I look for Shadow or Vranjaya and call out, "Try and focus down the Baron [Elite]. If he goes, the rest might act like a mob, like they were before." Many of the hunters prepare to fire. Taking a second glance, I notice one hunter aiming higher and pulling their bow further than the rest before letting their arrow loose. It flies high into the sky and starts spinning rapidly before bursting. A shower comes down onto the clumped-together sea devils from the burst arrow. Looking back at the hunter, I see he has exhausted himself. "What was that?" I hear Shadow call from further down the battlements. "Arrow Rain, I learned this skill when I was out in the fog yesterday." I look closer and recognize him. It''s Demetrius. "Can you use it again?" I ask. "It recharges slowly and takes up most of my mana. If we can delay the ending of the wave by a couple of minutes, I should be able to use it once per wave." Hearing this, I call out, "Leave one of the sea devils alive; I want to have a longer rest before the next waves." "Does anyone else have an area skill like this?" I call out. Seeing people shaking their heads, I sigh. "Be ready to fire; the enemy is closing in." Helping to accentuate my point, the arrow tower starts firing on the enemy. Getting caught up in battle, from running around casting shields on those that require it and casting mend a couple of times, it doesn''t take long before we are at the last of the sea devils. The only one left is the Baron. Analyzing it again, I find it hasn''t taken much damage throughout the charge and fighting. - Sea Devil Baron [Elite] Level 6 HP: 83/100 - There is a watery glow around its body. When an arrow gets close, it is deflected off the shield. Cursing lightly, I find it going around the battlefield with little care for the arrows fired as it makes its way to the gatehouse. One arrow sticks into the Baron after another volley is directed at it. - HP: 77/100 - The watery glow persists on its body. "Can anyone tell me what is going on?" I ask. "Don''t you have a skill almost similar to this one?" Shadow asks. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Are you talking about Barkskin?" "Yes." "Oh, right... I forgot about it." Embarrassed for not remembering one of my abilities, I figure it must have something similar to mine. I recheck the spell as a reference point. - Name: Barkskin Cost: 5 MP Level: 3 Description: Cast on a friendly target to make their skin bark-like. It provides three points of defense when receiving an attack. Lasts for 2 Minutes - "We just need to wait out his spell. It shouldn''t last long... I hope," the last part of the sentence was said quietly. I continued to watch it approach the gatehouse. Rushing down to the melee lines, I see the flame towers spewing fire on the Baron. After getting burned by the towers, his health dropped to 52/100. There is cursing and a streak of lightning courses through the gatehouse. Once it hits the Baron, I notice the lightning arcing, and it stops. Almost like it has been paralyzed by the lightning hitting its shield. Smacking my head, I remember these monsters are all from water environments, meaning lightning is effective. "Quickly hit him while he is stunned," I shout to the other mage while Draemish charges forward. I''m casting my Arcane Shot, which does the most damage with the least mana expenditure. The shot lands, punching through the water armor and knocks it backward onto its back. It sadly missed falling onto one of the wooden stakes in the moat, but it did fall back into range of the flame towers. Once again doused in fire, it quickly breaks the stunned effect and rushes back into the gatehouse. Lightning again surges through, stunning it. With it again stunned, Draemish reaches it and fails to push it into the vines, which are sticky with slime goop. This time, the stunned effect continues longer than previously, allowing Draemish to bash the creature again, pushing it into my Nature''s Grasp. Falling down and still stunned, the water shield finally becomes overwhelmed. Draemish thrusts her sword down into its leg, crippling it. My arcane shot once again hits, crippling its right arm. And Gibnic''s lightning strikes again, lowering its health to 13/100. Allowing it to take damage from my spell, Draemish walks back to the group. "It''s time we start shutting the gatehouse again. This isn''t the last time we will see a Baron of this species." Nodding in agreement, I instruct the hunters on the walls to close the gates. It takes a couple more minutes before the Baron dies of his wounds. - Thirteenth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 21 Kills. 48 Experience granted. Fourteenth Wave Starting in 1 minute - "Shit," I hear someone swear behind me. Turning around, I spot Draemish, "What?" "Nothing. I''m just tired from all the fighting today. It''s been a while since I''ve done this much." "Oh, I understand," I give her a look. She looks right back, "It would be obvious for you, but for me, as the general and matriarch, I don''t have to move around as much. So, yeah, it''s been a while." Shrugging my shoulders at her, I look for my father. "How are you and Xelyphe holding up?" "I should be asking you that you haven''t ever been a fighter; you are more invested in your games and books." "It is hard. I am doing my best to ensure every one is as healthy as possible." "Leadership is hard, right?" He gives me a knowing smile. "Yeah, I don''t know if I should be in charge of all these people. There is a literal general here and you with all your life experience." "Yes, but everyone here has trusted you: delegate, son. You have been doing well but are overstrengthening yourself again," he says, concern creeping into his voice. "What should we do about the next wave then? We can''t have the gate open for fear of more Baron''s showing up and being able to defeat our melee fighters." "Son, the walls have so far been our best advantage. The sea devils aren''t using siege equipment, and the slimes are stupid. They will probably sit outside and wait for their deaths." He says with a chuckle. Having a bad feeling about what he said, I look at him. "Why?" "Why, what?" "Why did you have to put that into the world?" "What?" "The system has spawned those slimes. Have you seen the creatures we have been facing? I don''t doubt that they have a way to get into the town if it is fully blocked off." "Yea..." He says sheepishly. Having a brilliant idea, I call the gate crew, "Is there a way to open the gate a little so maybe the slimes can still squeeze through?" "Not necessarily," one of the operators says. "We can lift it, but we have to hold it in place manually; there isn''t a locking position between it being closed and open." Thinking out loud, "Is there a way to make something?" Unable to think of anything, I sigh. "Let''s leave the gate closed for now. Have the warriors go to the battlements. They might be able to help stave off the spears the sea devils are throwing at us, and it might give us an idea of what the slimes would do when they can''t get in through the gatehouse." Once again, a notification comes through. - Fourteenth Wave starting in 5 Seconds Due to the Average Level of Settlers increasing to 3.13, the difficulty has increased by one level. - "Damnit," I shout, "Just what we needed, harder enemies..." "Drake," someone calls out to me. "What?" Fuming, I spin to the person calling my name. "It could be worse. It could be on the fifteenth wave." Draemish smiles reassuringly and shrugs. "True, but still," I feel like pulling my hair out from the stress. "Go over there and meditate. Due to your stress, we don''t need you to give contradictory instructions while we work. Trust us." She points to the side, near the wall, in case they need me. With my father having just mentioned delegating further, I nod. "OK, but get me immediately if you need me." Nodding, she walks to the battlements while I find a spot to sit. Then the next wave starts, and everyone straightens, ready for battle. Chapter 58 Meditation Having been forced to one side to meditate, I started. Circulating my mana through my system, I began to note the differences that had occurred since I had cleared all of my mana veins. First, the mana runs through my system more quickly. Second, Xelyphe''s damage to my legs helped alleviate the pain and strengthened them considerably more than the rest. Third, I found the mana is refining the veins further. With each pass of mana through my system, they grow more robust and can stretch to accommodate more mana. Fourth, I can tell that as the mana passes through the mana heart, it is also being refined by my mana. The increments are so small it is hard to tell the difference at first, but I can tell after cycling my mana for a few rounds. Finally, the purity of my mana is increasing, and more impurities and blockage waste are being pushed out of my system slowly. With all of these factors compounding, I can enter a deeper state of meditation. Notifications keep popping up during my deep meditation, but I ignore them, not wanting to distract myself from my findings. I will continue cycling my mana and trying to incorporate the mana outside of my body, making a whirlpool of mana. I slowly can grab hold of more mana in my immediate surroundings. First, it is just within a couple of centimeters of my body, growing to 15 centimeters. After completing the first step, I try to pull the mana into my body. A couple of specks land on my hands and slowly become absorbed. Upon absorption, there is an immediate reaction in my body. Pain is all I feel as the mana slowly courses through my veins. There is a distinct feeling of death in the mana; with this reminder, I remember all the death mana in the air. I try to expel it out of my body and am unsuccessful for some reason. Being unable to remove the mana, I follow its excruciating path through my body until it reaches my mana heart. From there, an unbelievable pain wracks my body. The mana is slowly boring through my mana heart. Panicking, I try again to grab hold of the mana to no avail. It progressively digs further and further into the heart, slowly corrupting it. Trying to think of something, I control some of my mana and wrap it around the death mana. This process is slow, and I can feel that I might make a breakthrough and be able to pull the mana out of my body successfully. That is when it finally finishes burrowing through my mana heart and starts to burrow into my heart. Shocked at this progression, another wave of torment floods through my system, this time for my heart. Because I lack control over my mana inside my body, I don''t risk pushing my mana through the veins and into my heart. With no other options, I try anyway. Hoping I won''t mess up, I grab my mana and start condensing it in my mana heart. Condensing more and more mana in the mana heart, it starts to revolve. With the revolution starting, another bout of pain courses through me. The death mana trying to dig through my heart has found purchase and is eroding its way further. The pain has caused me to lose control over the mana flowing through my veins, and I have to start over by condensing the mana in my mana heart. Trying to speed up the process, I pull more mana from my system and do not focus on the mana heart itself. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. As the revolution starts again, I try to condense it but cannot. What''s wrong? What am I doing wrong? Thinking furiously about what the issue might be, another about of pain comes, disrupting my progress once again. Starting again, I look closely at my mana and see the golden and green motes inside it. Then I look at the death mana. It is black, but I also see deep purple on closer inspection. If I weren''t looking closely enough, I would have missed it. Thinking about what this might mean, I try to split my attention, gathering the golden motes into one section of my mana heart and the green motes into another. During this process, I have to restart four more times from the pain, but with every attempt, I get closer to creating separate whirlpools of mana. It feels like I have been working on this whole process for several hours when there is a notification that I can''t ignore. -Fourteenth Wave Cleared. Calculating Experience... Contribution 0 Kills. 0 Experience granted. Fifteenth Wave Starting in 1 minute - Knowing I can''t stop because of the death and other mana in my body, I continue to push forward and try to complete the process of getting my two mana types to work together to push out the invading mana finally. Slowly, the whirlpools gather strength, and as they do, they start to make an attracting force for all of the mana through my system. This includes the two motes of mana digging into my heart. Slowly, I push the whirlpools harder, getting them to attract more and more mana. The motes are about to be pulled out when the corruption of my heart makes a passage for them to enter. I black out for a second, dealing with the pain of what just happened. There isn''t a physical hole in my heart as I expected from the corruption. Instead, it is a metaphysical hole in my heart. This hole, though, has done one thing I hadn''t expected: my mana heart enters as well, and that is when I noticed what happened to the mana heart. From just barely encompassing 65% of my heart, it has fully enclosed it now. Looking at one of the rapid notifications in my vision, I see what I want. - Mana Heart''s progress: 99% - Right as I look at that notification, another comes up. - Mana Heart Complete, Integrating... - This is the last thing I see before collapsing backward once again, passing out from the changes occurring in my body. - Ritotorous'' POV - I find it intriguing to look down at Drake as he breaks meditation to start convulsing on the ground. I expectantly await the news that he can overcome this trial. Turning away from the boy, I look at the sky again and smile before flying down to meet with Eleanor. "I can see why you are so interested in the boy." She says, looking down at him, and his family rushes to his side. Drake is covered in blood, his body is shaking uncontrollably, and a tiny bit of happiness escapes from my aura. "He is a good seedling. Let''s see where he goes." Rhenriqi approaches us and bows to me. "What are your orders?" "Protect the boy, and make sure that not too many people die in the next wave. We have a lot of work ahead of us." Looking at the now disappearing corpses, there were once again 50 slimes, but this time, there were 90 sea devils and three Barons. Several people were hurt enough that we had to start handing out our few healing potions. Draemish also joins us, looking at me with less reverent eyes than the others, "The fighting is getting to them, and seeing Drake-like this is going to take a big hit to our morale." "It will, but remember, the manor is our last line of defense. There is more than enough space to have a final hold. The sea devils have never been a species that burned things." I reply. "Make sure to pull back before too many injuries mount." "As you say," Draemish walks away to talk with the other commanders Drake has appointed. He did an excellent job picking someone from each world to lead a section of the army. No favoritism. This is going to be exciting. I watch as his family brings him back to the manor before I fly up into the sky to keep watch and let Draemish know where the enemies are coming from. - Fifteenth Wave starting in 5 seconds. - Chapter 59 The Last Wave? - Ilpheus'' POV - After finishing the most recent wave with much difficulty, we all settled down to heal the wounds we had received from the battle before. Hopefully, this will be the final wave. Looking down to where Drake is meditating, I see him convulsing on the ground with blood pouring out of his body. Shocked, I ran down and tried to figure out what was happening to him. All I smell from him is death and corruption, but that doesn''t make any sense to me. All I have ever smelled from him recently is medicine and grass. Xelyphe and Madoka join me shortly after I get there. "What''s happening to him?" Madoka asks with concern laced in her voice. "I don''t know," I answer, my voice tense, "Before anything happens, though, we need to bring him back to the manor. Find a health potion. He might need it on short notice." They both acknowledge, and we prepare to move him to the manor. A few smells wafted into my nose: fire, wind, and another more earthen one. Looking at where they came from, I saw they were from Xelyphe and Madoka. Nodding, knowing something good must have happened to them, we brought Drake back. "Madoka, can you stay here and watch over Drake?" I ask her. "Yes, is there anything I should do?" Her concerned look makes me want to wrap her up in my arms, as I have done so many times when we have heard news of Drake''s operations in the past. "I don''t know. If I can, I will try to get someone who knows more about mana and magic to visit him," I respond. "First, we need to survive this final wave. Xelyphe, let''s go. The walls will need us, and Madoka, can I borrow your bow?" She nods at me, knowing I have a better shot than her. Rushing back to the walls, the final five seconds count down. Xelyphe and I approach Draemish, "What are your orders, commander?" "Stop that. You know you are older than me and have more experience in these sorts of confrontations," she scoffs at me. I shrug at her, "While I am older and have more experience, I won''t forsake the commanders'' orders just because they might not be what I would do. Where would you like Xelyphe and I?" I ask again. "You have your wife''s bow. Go over and pick off targets of opportunity. Be ready for these bastards to try climbing the walls again. There aren''t many of us, but the more we can take down before they get over the parapets, the better." Acknowledging her order, I head to my spot and fire at the spawned enemy. Looking across to see how many there are, I become concerned. They are far more organized than even the last wave. At the back are 15 of the slightly green Barons, and they are surrounding another slightly larger enemy. I analyzed this new enemy. - Sea Devil Viscount [Expert] Level 8 HP: 500/500 - Clenching my fists, seeing it, I look for easy targets to pick off and get some easy experience. Suddenly, Draemish shouts, "There are no slimes on this wave, and there are 200 sea devils. Thankfully, they are all on the same side, so focus on the enemies in front." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I''m glad we don''t have to fight on two sides and can space people out less. We prepare for the slog. Immediately, Demetrius fires his Arrow Rain. The enemies, not knowing wave to wave, are bunched up. Several more things happen from our side, though. First, a couple more of the archers listening to his talk about his skill have also learned how to shoot an arrow rain. From the effects, it isn''t as effective as his own, but still, it can significantly increase our firepower. Next, Oria manipulated the earth more effectively, casting earthen spikes under the enemies'' feet to slow them down. Finally, arrows have been exploding into poisonous mist. These have all come from the Arachnea. Looking between her and Eleanor, I decided to approach the latter after the fighting was done. The enemies get closer and have loosened the formation after hearing a guttural cry from one of the Barons. Their numbers were depleted quickly at first, but as they got closer and could throw their single short spears at us, they received less damage since our area-of-effect abilities weren''t as effective. Occasionally, a fireball or some chain lightning would come from our side, scorching several sea devils at once and even crippling a few where they weren''t effective in combat anymore. However, it was still far from enough to deplete the force coming towards us. Ones and twos fall, but they continue to close in. Not far behind them are the Barons and the lone Viscount. Once again, there is the guttural cry, and this time, the sea devils go into a frenzy, rush to the walls, and start to climb them. Everyone is shocked at the change, but a cry from Draemish makes everyone focus. Those with blades take them out and prepare to repel those that poke their heads over the parapets first. It isn''t long before the first head sticks up, its eyes bloodshot, and its body is bleeding from several wounds on its body. A nearby warrior quickly stabs it in the head, causing it to fall down and out onto the stakes in the moat. More of them start reaching the top of the walls, and it isn''t long before the first of them land on the battlements with no obstructions. An arrow from one of the arrow towers hits the sea devil in the head, knocking it down with a scream. This reminds the rest of the people on the walls that they are vulnerable. Hunters start to take out the short blades they have with them while the mages begin to fall back off of the walls, ready to provide covering fire for those who need to retreat quickly. The defenders become more bunched together as more space becomes available for the attackers. Before long, Draemish calls out, "Retreat to the manor. Hunters, pick off those that you can as you run. Don''t let them reach you. Warriors, be ready to turn and guard with everything you have. Mages, blow them up!" With this next command, we are all in full retreat back to the manor. The mages are doing their best to give us more time without being harried by the monsters. Not long has passed when one of the newer warriors is overrun by the sea devils. The warrior wasn''t in the best shape to begin with, and then suddenly, being thrust into extensive combat, I am more shocked at how long he lasted. Thankfully, the hunters have been able to fire as they run away, as with the mages, but more effectively. We have finally dwindled the opposing force to less than 40 members before counting the Barons and the Viscount. Arriving at the pitiful fence surrounding the manor, the warriors'' remaining warriors all get into position. Oria has started to showcase how much his earth manipulation has expanded by slowly reinforcing the wooden fence with stones. Looking at the oncoming enemies, I am thankful they haven''t decided to burn down the settlement. The arrow towers are still firing, and because the enemies are within the walls, three of the five towers can attack them, whittling them down even further. Soon, there are only 20 sea devils in front of us. They have stopped approaching and are instead trying to hide behind buildings. Feeling that something isn''t right, I look around. The mages have run out of mana, and some are trying to meditate to generate at least one more point to help with the defense. The hunters are almost out of arrows; several have stepped forward and are now near warriors, hoping to help deal damage when the enemies get closer with their blades. And the warriors, we are the last stand for this settlement. I look at the arrow towers, seeing them firing. I''m glad we put so much in our defenses. I calm down for a second, then that calm turns to dread. The arrow towers have stopped firing. The remaining sea devils step out once the three towers have finished their last volley. Eight regular sea devils remain, 12 of the Barons and the Viscount. I analyze the Viscount one more time. - Sea Devil Viscount [Expert] Level 8 HP: 347/500 - "Fuck." This is the last thing I say before preparing for a tough fight. Chapter 60 Helping Hands With the warriors as ready as we can be, we wait. We outnumber them and will have the advantage as soon as they get close. However, to make it out alive, we need more than outnumber them. I look for Draemish; she is looking down the line, and our eyes meet. She nods her head at me, and I know it is her respect for my skills. Turning back to the impending battle, I prepare myself. My goal for this fight is to survive and thrive. My blood starts to churn faster, and scales come out of my body. I feel an itch on my back where my wings typically come out but have stayed hidden. With a grunt, I calmed down a bit. I had fought challenging battles, and this wouldn''t be anything new; it was just different. They finally charge at us. Oria has done an excellent job reinforcing the fencing, but we all know it won''t be enough. By the time the regular sea devils reach the line, the Barons have stepped forward and have prepared their attacks. Small water spears fly out; they are indifferent in who they attack. Three sea devils take water spears in the back, and one, quite unlucky, receives a spear in the back of the head. Several spears hit the line of warriors; three could not adjust their shields to offset the force of the strikes, staggering backward while one held on valiantly. One Arcane Shot comes from our side, and I see Ritotorous helping us. With him, we can retaliate to a lesser extent. He kills one of the regular sea devils before flying over them and heading to the back. The enemy reaches our line, and the warriors fend them off quickly due to the overwhelming numbers. The Viscount is apathetic towards the plight of these lesser sea devils and instructs the Barons to move forward. Ritotorous occasionally hits them, even managing to kill one of the Barons. Waiting for the right time, I stay in my position. The Barons reach us and start stabbing with their spears. We are out of reach, but with some teamwork, we pulled the spears away from the Barons and forced them into closer quarters. Knowing it is my time, I charge out of the line and past the Barons, heading straight for the Viscount. My eyes are bloodshot from all the killing today. That is when I see my lovely wife. She appears behind the Viscount silently. Raising her blade, she hacks down. A smile can''t but appear on my face, knowing she always has my back. That smile dies just as quickly as it formed. Her blade, which was meant to stab deep into the back of the Viscount, is instead stopped by a powerful water shield. A sinister look appears on the Viscount; he turns and punches out at Madoka. She dodges to the side just in time, just as shocked as I am. My blood churns again, and the familiar itch comes. Remembering the pain that comes with having my wings erupt from my back in moments like this, I hold on and try to calm down that impulse before continuing to charge at the enemy. I thrust forward, aiming to hinder his movements so Madoka could continue to stalk around while hitting him in his blind spots. He dodges but keeps his eyes on her. Launching a Power Strike at him, he finally turns his attention on me. He fails to dodge this attack, but the water shield around him keeps him safe. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I notice a slight ripple from where my strike hit him. He slashes his claws at me, and I raise my shield in defense. The claws rake across it, leaving deep gouges in the wood. Feeling the strength behind the hit, I know the shield will shatter if I don''t use it wisely. This dance continues between the three of us. I pick up a scratch here and there. Madoka, thankfully, can barely dodge all the attacks. And the Viscount has finally taken some damage from us. HP: 337/500 I know we won''t be able to outlast this Viscount, and not many warriors would be able to hold it off as long as we have. Trying to think of what we could do, I hear shouts from behind, and I smell blood. Quickly looking at the situation, I see three more of the Barons have fallen, but in return, four of our own have perished in the fighting. Two of them were warriors, while the other two were hunters fighting on the line with the warriors. During this lapse of attention, the Viscount sends a spell at me. Not anticipating the spell at that moment, it hits my shield arm, rendering it nearly useless. Cursing for being distracted, I try and focus back on the fight. I hear a shout from behind me again. Not wanting to take another attack, I ignore it and continue fighting. We held off the Viscount for another couple of minutes. He has worn down my shield to the point that it is just pieces of wood, and I am physically exhausted from the intense battle. A couple more of our attacks have penetrated its water shield, lowering its health by another 11 points. Thinking about how we can do more damage to this guy without sustaining more damage, I remember two arrow towers might have ammunition to fire. I slowly start to attract the Viscount to the north side of the settlement. Once I see the tower, I hear the familiar sound of an arrow whizzing through the air before impacting the Viscount. It looked at me menacingly, but I kept its attention and brought it further from any potential cover it could use. When it tries to go to cover, Madoka pops up and forces it back into the open. With the addition of the arrow tower, we can further bring down its health, but I am now exhausted and won''t be able to continue the fight. The arrow tower has run out of ammunition, and the Viscount has only dropped to half its health. It has backed off from us and looks ready for another attack at any moment. Madoka appears next to me, "How are you doing?" "Not great. I don''t think I can keep fighting him." I check my health to see how much more I can take. - Status: Name: Ilpheus Taldrit Race: Demi-Human (E) Bloodline: Giant Red Dragon (25% Purity) Class: Warrior Level: 5 HP: 6/100 MP: N/A - It has been a while since the sounds of battle from Manor have stopped. Feeling like there might be reinforcements, I gather my remaining strength. "Madoka, make sure you look after the kids. I will hold it off as long as I can. Hopefully, Draemish or Rognar can get here soon," I tell her. She looks at me and nods, willing to listen to me one more time. I charge forward, but I am unable to hold it any longer. I force my left arm to shift into its draconic form. The pain grates in my consciousness, but I push through, hoping to give her one more minute. Slashing with my sword while clawing at the Viscount, I force it further from Madoka. I can feel my legs slowly giving way from exhaustion, and I push harder. My pants break at the seams, revealing the many scales covering them. Blood drips down from my chest. Splattering on the ground around where we are fighting. I finally broke the water shield completely, my blows landing harder and drawing more blood. During the fight, we turned around, and I saw Madoka standing there, at the ready. Then my face paled. Behind her, I see twelve Barons approaching. They are covered in blood and staggering towards her. Where did these enemies come from? Why are they here now? What happened to everyone else? These thoughts race through my head, leaving me distracted. I want to wave her when a claw pierces deep into my chest. I look down at the Viscount as my lifeblood flows out of me. My vision blurs, and I see that Madoka has been surrounded. I have failed. Chapter 61 Memories - ???''s POV - The darkness is quiet. The void is still. Death takes all in due time. My consciousness becomes clear. -------------- A tiny spider in memory scuttles about, helping keep the bugs at bay. As time passes, the spiderling grows and evolves. The connection becomes clear. They become a ''she'' in mind. "M-Master." That is all I hear. It''s a small, delicate voice, with a subtle clacking of mandibles in the background. I look down at the spiderling that has grown larger in the last two years. I pet her and smile. "Good, can you understand me?" "Master," it repeats. "Hmmm, not there yet." I pet her again and continue with my experiments. -------------------- The ritual is almost complete. She has grown so much more than I could have dreamed. Maybe I should name her, but that is for another time. I must complete the ritual and find enough beasts and volunteers. "Master, what is my next task?" She asks me. I smile at her, "Go, find and capture more ferocious beasts." She has done an excellent job recently. The cellars have been filled with beast cages; only she can bring food to those in the back. "Yes, it will be done." She scuttles off. Not long after, I finish the ritual circle. I am preparing for the next step, the soul housing. The script is archaic, and I can''t make out some parts; I have some educated guesses between two different runes, but there is no knowledge in any of the libraries regarding either. I place the one that I feel would be correct and prepare to start the ritual. I have moved my plans forward; I can''t let her know; she must stay safe. The army will be here soon. Starting the ritual, the pain is worse than described in the books. Feeling my flesh slowly being eroded, my blood being used to fill the runes on the ground. While still conscious, I activate the hidden runes in the cellar to kill all the beasts. Death mana floods up, and the essence of the beasts fills the ritual. I grit my teeth and push through the pain to leave one last message to my little spider before I disappear from her life. "From this day forward, your name will be Rhenriqi. Thank you for your support and care for the past 15 years. Live long and grow strong. Haulgard." With this final task completed, I proceed with finishing the ritual. The only thing left of me is my skeleton and soul. The flesh has melted, the blood has dried, and my soul is being sucked into the special housing. --------- Another persons memories start to flow. ---------- Looking down I see my hands, and I think for the first time. Who am I? The door bursts open and a group of soldiers? Yes, soldiers, they come into the room and look down at me. One of them commands, "Put your hands where we can see them." Some of the soldiers look like my hands, no flesh on them, just bones. Slowly raising my hands from where I am seated. "Do you know what you have done here?" I am asked. "No," my jaw isn''t working right. The sound of teeth knocking together grate on me, I don''t know why though. Hearing the confusion in my voice, he asks me one more question, "Do you know who you are?" I shake my head. "Damn..." I hear him whisper under his breath. "Bring him to the matriarch, she should know what to do with him." Being forced to stand up with my hands behind my back, I am pushed into a cart. Slowly being pulled away from what looks like a tower, I see a large spider scuttling to it from the woods. -------------- Several days have passed since I was taken as a ''prisoner''. They don''t treat me poorly, and I am learning many things about them. I am what they call a newly risen skeleton. The process was botched though and I don''t have memories of my past life as one of the other creatures we have run into. I can smell life coming from them. I don''t need to eat, I rest at the most inconvenient times. They keep saying that as a newly risen, my mana levels are low and it is normal. I ask, "How can I increase my mana levels?" No one answers the question right away before a zombie steps forward. "You have to receive it from one of the leaders after taking a test of sorts." "A test?" I asked. "Yes, we need to know what manual to give you." "Manual? I am very confused." "Don''t worry, you are in good hands." ---------------- Another coupld of days past. We have reached a large city, and I am brought into a building that looks like a temple. "Bring the newly risen here," a gruff but benevolent voice sounds out. Sergent Draemish, as I learned her name from our talks, brings me over to the man. All around me are depictions of a man wielding different weapons of death from sickles, to darts, and one holding a staff up like he was casting a spell. He looks down at me, I have a light set of robes on, they are dusty from travel, and almost completely worn through. "Hmmm, and where did you find this one, Draemish?" He asks in an almsot disrespectful tone. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "He was located on a ritual circle where we believed the Magician Haulgard was going to practice his ritual for lichdom." "And are you certain this risen is not that man?" "I am not certain, but I can confirm that this risen doesn''t have any memories of his past. It is also possible that Haulgard perished before the ritual and his familiar spider was the one to start the process in hopes of resurrecting him." "Were you able to capture the spider?" "No," her answer is short. "But what abou-" I was about to ask, when she silences me with a stare. "Oh, and what do you have to say?" The zombie in priest robes asks. "I....I was just thinking, there was a forest near that tower I was taken from. Could it be that she escaped?" I feel Draemish glaring daggers at me. "Oh," he turns to Draemish, "Did you send anyone into the forest to find the spider?" "No, sir." She responds in a cool tone. "Well, I need you to go and find that spider as punishment for not doing your job properly then. You are dismissed." Draemish snaps to attention, turns around and leaves without another word. "As for you my fellow risen, do you have a name?" "No," I try and think of the honorary to call him, he can see my confused look. "Bishop Kirnon," he readily supplies. "Ahhhh, then you will have to work to get your name. Shall we start?" I nod, not knowing the torment I would be put through for the next ten years. Cleaning, practicing magic, torture, worshipping the Death God, and the God of Corruption. My days grew long, and my power was increasing. Passing by the Bishop''s office one day, I hear him talking with someone. "Second Lieutenant Draemish, what can I do for you today?" "I am here for someone." "Oh, and who might you be here for? Last I heard, you were on a mission to the border." "I am, and I need someone that you have held here for the last several years." "There is no one here that is being held here, just those looking to further their studies, and live their lives." Remembering how nice this Draemish was to me those days when I first was newly risen, I creep closer. "I think you know which risen I am talking about, when I brought him here, he had no name." "That poor fellow. I am sorry to inform you that he has perished." "What do you mean perished?" Hearing the blantant lie the Bishop is giving to probably my first friend, I grind my teeth in anger. I am about to extend my hand to the door to open it, but then a mysterious tendril of black silk grabs my arm. Following the silk, my eyes meet a young demi-human, half her body is a human, the other half is a spider. Then a connection forms between our minds, I try to stop it quickly but the force of the connection pushes my feeble attempts to the side. "Found you." Scared, I bump into the door. Hearing the commotion I caused outside, Draemish opens the door, looks down at me, and then at the Bishop. "Well, ''Bishop'', it appears that he hasn''t perished as you thought," her sarcasm fills the room. "This risen, I thought you were talking about a different risen," he is glaring at me. It doesn''t take long for him to follow the silk thread to the young demi-human. "And what is that abomination doing in the sacred halls of the Gods of Death and Corruption?" "This is Rhenriqi, she is my helper. And from what I can tell, she seems to have taken a liking to this risen. And what by chance did you say his name was?" "I-I-" Kirnon stutters. "You didn''t, did you. Thank the Lord I arrived then with orders to investigate your church." She gives a malicious smile. "Should I ask this fine risen what he has been experiencing while under your ''care''?" The Bishop starts to cold sweat, and Draemish notices this right away. "Hmmm, seems I should," she turns to me, "Has he given you a name?" "No," I answer succinctly. "What has your tasks been since arriving at this, oh so holy, place?" Thinking about how to answer, I decide to tell her everything. My memory seems to be in near perfect condition. As the minutes pass, the scowl on Draemish''s face deepens. There is a moment when the Bishop steps forward to stop me from talking but she pulled out her blade and held it to his throat and I continue. After 15 minutes of talking, I finish. Draemish''s eyes have turned black, the veins on her head are throbbing, and the sword at the Bishop''s throat has started to press further and further in. "And you haven''t been given a name?" "Correct," I respond. "I did think of a couple of names for myself, but after reading books about how names are bestowed and the meaning for the bestowal, I decided against giving myself a name." "Good, good, good," she says three times. "And what do you think we should do with you?" "Please don''t, I was instructed by my matriarch. You can''t kill me, please." The Bishop folds like a house of cards knowing that this is the only time he will be able to beg for his life. "Rhenriqi, please tie up this ''Bishop'' we have more to investigate. Through the rest of that day, Draemish and Rhenriqi went through the entire temple with me as their guide. They pulled my fellow nameless risen from their jobs and had them wait outside. More bundles of priests and high ranking officials come out of the temple in a slow stream. Once everything is done, Draemish asks me, "I am sorry I have failed you, I should have fought harder to help you back-" I stop her, "There wasn''t much you could do. As a sergent you had to follow your orders from a higher up. These ten years have allowed me to learn a lot. My only requests are for a name, to have my mana affinity checked, the basics for mana circulation, and to be left alone." She nods, saddened but understands my thoughts. "OK, I will request a name for you, or do you want to use one of the names you have thought of. As a Colonel, I have more say in how things turn out in the clan." "You aren''t a Second Lieutenant then?" "He wasn''t the only one telling lies." She smiles at me. Nodding, I take a second to think about the names that I wanted, and list them out to her. ----- Several months have passed since Colonel Draemish has rescued myself and the other risen. I took what little money was owed by the church for the services I provided as well as compensation from the Void Clan, and went to start a new life on my own. My affinity was tested showing a strong affinity to death mana, and a small affinity to corruption mana. The first mana circulation books were provided to me, and then I was told to come back after half a year for the naming ceremony. Wandering around, I found myself back where my life started, in a tower out in the middle of nowhere. I go inside to find it filled with webbing. Sighing to myself, I start to clean up some of it so I can live, when a mental connection connects to me. "Welcome to your home...Master." Glancing around, I find the demi-human hanging from the webbing. "I am not your master," I tell her. "I can never forget your smell," she insists. Thinking about how this person has been bugging me since I first was rescued, I can''t help but sigh again. "Don''t you have missions to complete with Colonel Draemish?" "No, I quit." She answers. "But didn''t you have a good job?" "It was an agreement to find my master again." "But I remember she was sent to find a spider that used to be attachted to this tower." "She did, and she found me." "Why didn''t she kill you?" "Because, she was undercover, and has been since the day you botched your own ritual." "It wasn''t my ritual, it was someone else''s." "It was yours," again she insists. "Fine," I toss my hands in the air to surrender the point. "Can you help me clean up, if you are so insistant that I am your master." She oblidges and cleans up space for me to rest and practice my mana circulation. When she pulls her webs away there are shelves of books ranging from basic education, to highly advanced knowledge. I look at her and ask, "Why do you have such advanced knowledge, I thought they were strictly regulated?" "You were lied to," she answers. A feeling of anger rose in my chest. "Damn that Kirnon." "Don''t worry, he is getting his punishment by order of the Council of Matriarchs." Her voice is filled with admiration just saying this name. "You want to be on that council don''t you?" She nods her head, "It isn''t easy for a familiar like myself to become a part of the council, but I will make it one day." The day of the naming ceremony came and went, I was offered a spot in the Void Clan to which I refused. They didn''t push and accepted my refusal. When leaving the ceremony the only thing to note was the sadness in Draemish''s eyes as I left. Rhenriqi has stopped calling me master due to my insistance and came up with a little pet name for me. I grew stronger and got to the point of becoming a Baron. I failed at becoming a Viscount but still strived to open a school and teach. Rhenriqi grew stronger as well, she went off and made her own clutch and was accepted into the council after a lot of struggle. Draemish was promoted to become a General, and also rose to become a matriarch of the void clan after a failed breakthrough attempt from the previous matriarch that killed her. My years were quiet, I didn''t know why until later when I found a couple of the younger members of the Void clan stalking around my tower that had slowly expanded to become a manor. I told Draemish to stop it, but she claimed that she couldn''t control where the adventure society sent her clan members. Hundreds of years passed like this, until one day I was taken from my world, put into a white room and told to choose a class, and profession before being shunted infront of a scared human. After standing for a minute with him looking at me, I asked, "So are you going to introduce yourself, or should I start?" Chapter 62 Are You Sure? With the memories of two different lives rushing through my mind, I consider the notification in front of me. - Guardian Lich Ritual 95% Complete. Please select a location you would like to be the Guardian Lich of: Caelnova - There are no other options available. I sigh at how stupid this choice is; I select Caelnova. - Are you sure you want to be the Guardian Lich of Caelnova? Yes/No - When I select yes, my mind immediately gathers around two points. The first is the phylactery in the corner of the room, which holds my soul. The other is the body lying in the coffin near the phylactery. When I checked my status, my race had changed to Guardian Lich (E). I could allocate a couple more stat points, and I did. I am still a level 2 mage but have acquired several new spells by transforming into a Guardian Lich. I raise undead from those foes the settlement has killed through traps, towers, or the population. I can also use the condensed death mana the settlement accumulates to further my powers, but once I use it, it is gone. With these considerations, another notification shows. - Quest: Becoming a Guardian As a recently decreed guardian of Caelnova, you have a responsibility to help your fellow settlers. Tasks: Kill outside forces: 0/5 Save various settlers: 0/? Help the noble of the settlement: 0/1 Rewards: ??? - This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Feeling out of sorts due to the dual perspectives, I climb out of my tomb to see blood and dead creatures. Gathering the power I have been given, I raise a few dead creatures and have them follow along. Progress to the manor is quick, and I find more dead bodies; this time, some are of people other than the monsters. One of the monsters dies, and my quest updates. Raising the ones around me, I quickly gather a small group of undead monsters and send them out to kill the remaining monsters. The ones with more blue take little time to reach the battle before the greener ones slaughter them. But as they die, I raise them and have them fight the others. I analyze my minions to get a feel for how tough they are. - Raised Sea Devil Level 3 HP: 15/20 Raised Sea Devil Baron Level 5 HP: 50/50 - When I help clear the remaining Barons, one more enemy remains left to kill. With everyone exhausted from all the fighting, I look for Draemish first. As I look around, I notice a familiar face, and I do a double-take before hurrying to cover my presence from her. It is futile. She sees me and rushes to my side. "LAX-LAX!" she scoops me up into a big hug. Smiling at her, remembering her as a small spiderling, "I see my little spider has grown. And my, how you have grown." She is stunned before asking, "What do you mean, your little spider? Don''t you remember we met by saving you from that despicable ''Bishop''?" She says the title with venom. Shaking my head, I said, "I would have to disagree. I remember a small spider catching little bugs while watching me work. Always happy to please me with little tasks." "Haulgard?" She asks tentatively. Smiling brightly, I shake my head again: "I am neither Haulgard nor Laxreal individually. I still have to figure out what I want to be called, but don''t worry¡ªwhatever you call me for now is fine." Hearing my affirmation, she hugs me tighter; I feel some of my bones creaking from the pressure. During this reunion, Draemish approaches us. "Glad to see you back. I have overheard some of what you two talked about and am quite impressed. For now, let''s hold off on the pleasantries. We have to finish this battle." Nodding in acknowledgment, "Where is the last monster?" "Ilpheus brought it away from the frontlines. I think he was hoping to kill it off. Can you go and check on him with your newly risen? I don''t have a good feeling. I will rest for a second and then be behind shortly." "As you say, General," I send my minions out following her orders. "Where is Drake?" I ask. "He is in the manor and has been passed out for over an hour now. I am getting concerned he won''t be able to come back," Draemish states, concern in her voice. "Lich," I hear in my head. Looking up, I spot Ritotorous. Giving him a light bow, I reply, "How can I assist my Lord?" "Go to him. Your risen should be able to hold off the Viscount long enough for everyone to be prepared. Save him first." Bowing one more time, "As you command." Heading upstairs, I activate mana into my eyes. From what I see, there is a cyclone pushing down on the house, full of death and corruption mana. Concern fully taking over, I reach his room. Inside, I see Drake lying on a bed. Reaching out to him, I can feel that his Mana Heart is in the process of finalizing, but there is something wrong with it. It would be better to say that it is unheard of. Chapter 63 Spinning Motes - Drake''s POV - It feels like I have been in darkness for a long time when a bright light suddenly appears. As I approach the light, it turns into two lights. As we approach the lights, their colors start to pop: one is golden, and the other is green. I try to get as close as I can but am unable to. There is a force preventing me from approaching. There is a sharp tug on my back, and I look. There are two other lights. One is black as night, and the other is a deep purple. I have seen all of these colors before. It confuses me why I can see the other two when I have no affinity with them. Or can you see any mana? I haven''t thought to ask anyone. I pay attention to my mana affinities, and it hasn''t been long since my eyes have been able to see the different mana types. Getting bogged down in what mana types is going to get me nowhere. Mentally taking a seat, I think of things that might help in this situation. It took me a moment to remember one thing Laxreal told me: "When in meditation, it is possible to see into yourself and find your mana spiral. The purer the spiral, the better the spells cast by it will become." Taking a closer look, I notice that there aren''t any spirals right now. Since I am here anyway, trying to get them to spin won''t hurt. Focusing on my healing mote of mana in front of me, I try to move it. It doesn''t want to budge, no matter how much willpower I use to move the singular mote. I move on to the Nature mote, and the same thing happens. Trying the other two, I receive the same results. None of them want to sping to make a spiral. I try to circulate my mana through my system, but it seems like my mind is locked into this space, and I can''t get it to register anything outside of this area. "Damn," I say. Knowing no one will hear me, I make a decision. If I am going to experiment, I want to have a baseline of where everything is located. Following this train of thought, I assign ''quadrants'' to the different motes of mana. The first quadrant is the healing mote, the second is the nature mote, the next is the corruption mote, and finally, death. My mind spins briefly, and I look at each mote''s location. If one looks at it specifically, it forms a sort of cycle. I don''t know where the cycle starts, but they all interact with the previous quadrant differently. I can''t tell how they interact fully as they are singular motes of mana, but I have a feeling I will know more once their spirals develop. Again, I try spinning the motes. They are just as solid as before, and I want to experiment with something. I focus on two of the motes of mana and try to spin them. It is more demanding since I focus on two motes instead of one, but I can feel less resistance. However, the strain on my willpower is incredible. Thinking about it, I try and get three motes to spin. I can grasp the third mote, and the resistance further decreases, pushing my willpower to its limits. I don''t know if I can get all four motes to spin simultaneously, which becomes an issue. What will happen if I can''t get all four motes to spin? I keep trying to figure out how to get all four motes to spin, and then I have a potentially stupid idea. Why don''t I try and get all of the quadrants to spin around me, and then I try to spin those I can see? Trying this new method, from my seated position, I move the two motes in front of me counterclockwise around my body. Slowly, they start to move, and as the healing mote leaves my line of sight, the corruption mote enters. This process continues till the healing mode comes back into vision. Being able to spin all four around me, I push the motes before me to spin. Starting with the healing and nature mote, with the lesser resistance, I can get them to begin to spin before the corruption mote comes around. Focusing as hard as possible, I can get all the motes to spin slowly. As they are turning, I feel a burst of pain. And everything in this place stops abruptly. I start the process again and once again get all the motes to start spinning before the burst of pain breaks my concentration. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. When I look down at my chest where I ''felt'' the pain, I see black tendrils spreading across my body. There is another set of motes next to the death and corruption motes. Feeling frustrated by the pain, I try to start over, but I am unable to. Trying to move the healing and nature motes has become all but impossible at all. I tried another six times to start the process, and my frustration grew with each failure. During these attempts, another three motes of each death and corruption mana joined the previous two. The black tendrils have started to spread through my legs and arms. Feeling helpless that I can''t circulate my mana, I think something is getting wrenched out of my body. Looking over, I see one of the motes has been pulled from the death section. Another wrenching and a corruption mote has been pulled. Figuring that someone might be helping me get rid of the extra motes, I wonder if there is anything I can do to help. I mentally think about circulating my mana again; this time, I feel my body responding to the mana circulation. As soon as that starts, I can see one more healing and nature motes in the space with me. Pushing to get the rotation started again makes it easier for both sides to be more balanced. There is another wrenching from this space, and I feel another of the death mana motes being dragged away. The spinning destabilizes, and one of the motes from the nature side is shunted to the corruption side. Once it is over there, I watch in horror as it slowly corrupts and becomes another mote of corruption mana. Now, with two motes of healing mana, one of nature mana, four corruption mana, and two death mana, the supposed black tendrils turn purple, spreading further onto my metaphysical body. Panicking, I tried rotating my mana through my body again, and thankfully, it was successful. This pulled in another mote of healing and nature mana. This doesn''t balance everything but gives me more time to think. What do I need to do? I try to think, another wrenching pain and one of the corruption motes is pulled away, but it severely interrupts my thought process; it takes me about 30 minutes, from what I can tell, to get my mind back on track with what I was doing. In that time, nothing terrible happened, nothing good either, but at least I am stable for now. I rechecked my metaphysical body and saw that the veins hadn''t grown with an even amount of healing mana to corruption and nature mana to death. There are now golden veins running through the system alongside the purple veins. Thinking about it, I try to shunt one of the healing motes to the nature motes. It took a couple of minutes, but I succeeded in doing so. The mote slowly turns green and then stabilizes. The golden veins slowly recede while green veins become prominent. I am trying to do the same with the corruption mana, but I can''t manipulate them as much as I can with healing and nature mana. Another bout of pain wracks my system, and the corruption mana drops to two motes. The purple veins recede, leaving only the green veins visible. Thinking about what I could do to make everything even, I took another risk. I push the extra mote of nature mana to the corruption quadrant and let it become corrupted. Hoping whoever is helping me can grasp this extra mote, I wait and focus on spinning the four quadrants around myself. It doesn''t take long for the mote to be removed from my system. At this point, I have no primarily visible veins. Taking a deep breath, I focus on circulating my mana again. Once again, I am successful, and another set of healing and nature mana motes appear in my workplace. Then, I do something that would be stupid if things weren''t as stable as they are now. I try to integrate the death and corruption mana from outside my body and pull it inside. It takes a couple of attempts, but I can integrate a set of death and corruption mana into my system. I look at my metaphysical body and find four veins running through it. They are just reaching through my body, but none have fully incorporated themselves into my mana veins like my healing and nature mana should. I have stopped trying to spin the quadrants; it is too challenging now, and my focus is on just turning the quadrants around me. Soon, I feel the tug on my death mana mote, and I reach out to stop it from being pulled away. My willpower and the person trying to help me struggle, but I win by holding onto the mote. I continue trying to incorporate more motes into my system. As I become more conscientious of what is happening, it becomes more challenging to circulate my mana through my body. It takes 14 minutes to get another set of motes in my workplace. There are now four sets of each inside where I am at. Looking again at my metaphysical body, I find all four veins aren''t proceeding like my veins were cleared. All my limbs have been highlighted, leaving only my head untouched by any of the veins. Finding this development intriguing, I continue trying to get the fifth set of motes in my system. It is almost eight times as complicated to get the fifth set of motes as it was to get the fourth set. The person helping me constantly tries to pull out either a death or corruption mote. Fighting for control over everything has made things more complicated than necessary. At one point, they can grab one of the motes and pull it out, causing me to wait for the other of the corresponding motes to be pulled out. The whole process of getting the fifth set of motes takes 56 minutes. Once the fifth set is completed, my entire metaphysical body is lit with different veins. As soon as that happens, I feel pain all over my body. It feels like my blood is trying to force its way out of my body through any means it can while my mana is boiling just as furiously as it rushes through my system. There is a sudden break as I am forced into a conscious state. I quickly inspect my body to find something I couldn''t have believed to happen. My mana veins have started merging with my regular veins, which is excruciating. I see a notification in my field of vision. Chapter 64 Bloodline Awakening? - Congratulations, you have awakened your... [ERROR] [ERROR UNABLE TO IDENTIFY BLOODLINE] [BLOODLINE MERGING WITH MANA VEINS] [PROCESSING....] [BLOODLINE AWAKENING FAILED] [MANA BLOODLINE AWAKENING FAILED] [MANA BLOODLINE FIGHTING FOR....] [BLOODLINE UNDER PRESSURE...] [MERGING...] [MERGING PARTIALLY SUCCESSFUL...] [NAMING NEW BLOODLINE: BLOODLINE OF THE LIFE NURTURING, DEATH CORRUPTING DRAGON] [BLOODLINE AWAKENED: 0.01%] - More notifications are coming after the bloodline awakening, but I am too distracted by the skeletal hands pressed against my back. "Who is there?" I ask. "And to think you would have forgotten who helped you with all your mana circulation and skill improvements," a dry voice sounds from behind. Spinning around, I find I am in my room back in the manor, and behind me stands Laxreal. Getting up, I hug him. "Thank everything! I was hoping we could resurrect you after the event!" He gives me a look; it is hard to tell if it is a concern or something else. "Drake, we aren''t done with the event. Look outside your window." Following his pointing finger, I look outside to find my father in a pool of blood, with my mother nearby. Xelyphe has reached Dad and is applying some first aid to him. In the distance, I see a group of dead Barons and another three fighting with a Viscount. "What happened?" I ask. "I don''t know. I arrived just in time to stop you from fully corrupting your body and dying. I have felt my minions die but haven''t had time to look at them. I was working on removing the renegade mana from your system, and there were several times that I wasn''t able to. I had a feeling you were trying something dangerous..." He looks at me, knowing that I was doing something foolish. "I am just glad we didn''t lose you. You must tell me what you have gotten from this mana heart, as each one I have read differs." Agreeing with his request, I ask him, "Is there anything I can do?" "Do you have mana to spare right now?" I check my status for my mana and am shocked at how much mana I have. - Status: Name: Drake Taldrit Health: 70/70 Mana: 240/240 Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Bloodline: LIFE NURTURING, DEATH CORRUPTING DRAGON Bloodline Awakened: 0.01% This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Class: Mage Class Level: 4 Experience 210/400 Affinity: Life, Nature, Death, Corruption Special Class: Noble Level: 5 Oaths of Fielty: 62/75 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 1 Experience 9/25 Attributes: Strength 1 Intelligence 13 Wisdom 12 Charisma 6 Dexterity 1 Constitution: 7 Free Points: 0 - Figuring I need to go through my notifications with Laxreal to figure everything out, I answer his question first. "I have lots of mana, plenty to spare." "Good, then you must get down there and kill that Viscount. I will focus on distracting it from you, but you must kill it fast. My minions won''t last much longer." Acknowledging the information he has provided, I analyze the Viscount. - Sea Devil Viscount [Expert] Level 8 HP: 167/500 - Not wanting to wait for a second longer, I jump out the window. Not knowing where the courage to do such a stunt came from, I reached the ground with a hard ''thump'' and felt a sharp sting in my legs. Pushing that off, I quickly run to the enemies and cast my spells. First is my Nature''s Grasp: I want the Viscount to feel pain for every movement. As I pass by my father, his chest is rising and falling, but barely. Casting a Minor Heal on him will hopefully keep him alive for a bit longer before I start my attack on the Viscount again. With every step that it takes, damage slowly accrues to its legs. Laxreal''s minions are preventing it from moving to attack me directly. I notice it start to cast a spell in my direction; casting my shield, I watch as the water spear he casts penetrates through just enough to draw blood on my chest. With a light sigh, I continued and cast Arcane Shot at it. The spell flares to life and shoots out of my hand, ramming hard on its shoulder, forcing it to take a step back over balancing itself. Laxreal''s minions take the chance to go forward and grab the enemy, trying to pull it down. It takes two of them to bring the enemy down on its back finally. The last of the minions hobbles forward on its damaged legs and attempts to pierce the enemy to the ground with its spear. The sharp point of the spear going through the Viscount''s stomach makes it unable to push it further into the ground. It starts thrashing about, using its superior strength to get the minions off it. Forcing one minion to fall off, it spreads its hand toward the other and blasts it point-blank with a water spear. It drills deep through the back left side and to the front. Not noticing the wound, the minion continues to hold down the Viscount as best it can. Leaving the spear in the Viscount''s gut, the third minion steps forward and helps to restrain it again on the ground. Without its claws accessible, it continues to shoot spells as best it can through the minions while I attack it from a distance with my spells and deep mana pool. It only takes a minute before one of the minions perishes from the magical onslaught of the Viscount. With one less minion holding it down, it proceeds to try and get back up. It successfully pushes off one of the minions again but cannot stand due to the damage its legs have received. I see the hate in its eyes, the loathing for me and my kind. Staring back at it, I continue to pump mana into my shots. In my anger, I channel some of the corrupted mana into my spells. A dark purple bolt flashes out of my hand and lands squarely on the head of the Viscount. A notification appears, but I close it quickly, wanting to end the fight. Laxreal, watching from afar, has his minions start to slash at it, wanting to bring it down quickly. My attack stuns the Viscount, and I watch as the minions and my spells slowly whittle it down. I cast two more spells at the Viscount before it regained its clarity from the hit, but not quickly enough, as it finally couldn''t get up anymore from the damage caused to its body. Analyzing the Viscount hopefully one last time, I am pleased with the results of our attacks. - Sea Devil Viscount [Expert] Level 8 HP: 13/500 - Just a little left, but then I notice one more thing: purple veins are spreading across his body from the impacts of both of my most recent attacks. Remembering the last notification, I hesitated to pull it up before deciding against it. We need to finish this enemy before I do anything stupid...again. Soon, the Viscount dies under Laxreal''s minions and my spells. When it is finally killed, the notification everyone has been waiting to hear arrives. - Fifteenth Wave Cleared Calculating Experience... Contribution 1 Kill. 32 Experience granted. Your settlement has completed 15 waves. Would you like to continue? Yes/No - Without any hesitation, I select ''No'' before taking a second to sigh with relief. Once I turned around, there was another notification. - Tabulating Rewards based on: Average Level of Settlers Number of Waves Completed Difficulty of Final Wave Number of Enemies Slain Please Wait... - Chapter 65 Meeting - Rewards Granted: Average Level of Settlers: 3.5 Rewards: 2 X Class Experience Bag for each Settler 1 X Personal Reward Chest for each Settler Number of Waves Completed: 15 Rewards: 3 X Building Repair Token 3 X Settlement Experience Bag 3 X Class Experience Bag for each Settler Difficulty of Final Wave: Level 6 Rewards: 1 X Tier 2 Personal Evolution Box 1 X Tier 2 Settlement Evolution Box Number of Enemies Slain: Level 2: 132 Level 3: 150 Level 4: 769 Level 5: 361 Level 6: 360 + 1 Elite Level 7: 15 Elite Level 8: 1 Expert For killing over 1500 Regular monsters. Rewards: 5 X Settlement Experience Bag 3 X Building Move Order 1 X Ignore Settlement Task Order For killing 16 Elite monsters. Rewards: 3 X Settlement Experience Bag 1 X Building Move Order For killing 1 Expert monster. Rewards: 1 X Large Settlement Experience Bag 1 X Ignore Settlement Task Order 1 X Outpost Upgrade Token - Looking at all the rewards generated from the wave, I can''t help but smile. This isn''t even everything; quests can still be completed. My smile quickly fades as I turn around and spot my father still bleeding profusely. Rushing to his side, I cast my healing spells on him to stop the bleeding. The wounds close, but he doesn''t return to consciousness. Looking up at my mother, she shakes her head, but a small smile is on her face. "What a stupid fool, but I am glad he is saved. Thank you, Drake." I breathe out in relief, hearing he will be alright. "Why hasn''t he woken up yet? His health is full." "Like any good warrior, healing can only do so much; he must rest now and recoup his strength." Draemish approaches from behind. "We aren''t expecting any more waves, correct?" She asks. "No, I finalized the waves as soon as the Viscount was killed," I point over to where there is now a pile of purple mush. She looks down at me and then back at the dead monster, "And what, might I ask, is with that mush?" Seeing her eye me suspiciously, I briefly go through my notifications. - Congratulations, you have learned the spell Corrupting Bolt Level 1. - Going to my spells and skills, I find the spell. - Corrupting Bolt 6 MP Leve 1 Cast a bolt of corrupted energy at a target, dealing 1 - 12 damage and inflicting a corruption debuff resulting in 1-6 damage every 5 seconds for 20 seconds. - I explain the new spell to her. "If I didn''t know you better, Drake, I would cut you down where you stand. Corruption mana is one of the few things that can kill someone where even a necromancer can''t raise them. I have seen many people go crazy when corruption eats their minds. They don''t last long, usually a couple of days, but the signs of instability happen quickly." Laxreal walks up from behind and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Draemish, no point in scaring the poor boy." I have noticed this before, but his diction is different now. It is still the dry sound from a tomb, but something feels different now that I think about it. "Now, Drake, why don''t you explain what happened with your Mana Heart? That would appease Draemish and me, and we would not have to worry about you killing everything due to that mana." Nodding, a bit stunned at how things are progressing, I am about to start when I turn to my mother. "I think this is a conversation for you, Xelyphe, and all the commanders. Can we please gather everyone into the conference room?" I looked at Laxreal before correcting the question, "Dining room, please." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The two of them smile and nod before gathering Shadow and Vranjaya. "Mom, let''s get Dad inside and in bed," I state. She agrees readily, and we lift him together and bring him inside. I notice tears rolling down her face. I am glad I was able to heal Dad before it was too late. On the way back, I spot everyone sitting or lying on the grass, resting after the battles we fought today. I smile as best I can at them before focusing on not dropping my Dad. By the time we reach the top of the stairs, I am huffing and puffing from the exertion. I need to use some of my stat points to build strength. Xelyphe meets us at the top of the stairs. "Meet us down in the dining room, please?" I ask her, and she nods. My mother and I take a minute to get my father onto the bed, then head downstairs. Walking into the dining room, I noticed that everyone I had asked to be there was there. "Ssso, Drake, you have called usss here. What do you want to tell usss?" Vranjaya asks. "I wanted to tell you all about what happened when I was meditating," I start; seeing everyone giving me their full attention, I proceed to tell them what happened, leading to me passing out. At one point, Shadow asks, "Why were you trying to gather external mana when you knew it had such a high death mana concentration?" Embarrassed, I respond, "I forgot." Everyone groans hearing that, and Laxreal puts his hand on his face. "Yup, that''s my brother..." Xelyphe says with sarcasm. "What? It''s not like I could have known what would happen," I try and defend myself. Draemish looks at me with some steel in her eyes, "That was why we wanted you to MEDITATE, not EXPERIMENT." She emphasizes those two words with fury on the edge of her voice. Laxreal steps forward to protect me. "Draemish, please. How could the boy not be curious when so many possibilities surround him? It''s like watching a toddler play with a stray cat; he doesn''t know if it will bite or claw him, but he wants to pet and play with it anyway." He continues, though I feel hurt compared to a toddler. "I think we have something more important to discuss than why he decided to absorb such condensed death and corruption mana into his system." Heads nod all around the room. Feeling a chance to escape from this embarrassing conversation, I grasp onto it. "So, once I passed out, there was a time where nothing was happening, and then I was in a space with motes of mana..." I explained what happened in that space and how I managed to stabilize the situation. Realization dawns on Laxreal, and a hint of admiration appears on Draemish and Vranjaya''s faces. "Do you know what that space is called?" Laxreal asks. Feeling this might be a learning moment, I shake my head. "That space is mana representation of a soul space. As uninspired as it sounds, we have called it the ''Heart Space.'' It is rare, as only those with a Mana Heart can access this space." "Thank you. At least now I have a name for where my mind was. What does this do for me?" I ask. "At the start, it doesn''t do much for you, but as it grows and your control over mana increases, the space will expand, making breaking through the mana rankings easier. At least, that''s what it typically does. Those with a Mana Heart usually have one or two mana affinities complimenting each other." I raise my hand, "But mine is different for several reasons. First, it integrated with my dormant bloodline. Second, I have two sets of complimentary affinities, and those sets are opposite of each other." I hear Draemish muttering, though, loud enough for everyone to hear: "Nature grows the land, which allows corruption to spread across it. Death consumes the corrupted, feeding the land and allowing life to sprout again. The cycle continues." Laxreal looks at her and smiles. "It sounds like Draemish understands. So Drake, do you understand what she means by this?" "No," I honestly answer. "There is a saying in our world. One affinity strengthens a Lord fiefdom, two strengthen a Kingdom, three strengthen an Empire, and four strengthen a world. Someone with four affinities happens only once every hundred thousand years. We haven''t experienced anyone with that sort of affinity for almost eighty-thousand years. During that person''s time, they conquered the world and lived in relative peace. Then they disappeared; some say they broke through the last bottleneck and reached beyond our world, while others think they perished during the tribulation." "So I might be the next one to break through the world?" I ask, excitement glinting in my eyes. "I don''t know," Laxreal states, bringing my mood back to earth. "They were born with a natural affinity for four elements: Fire, water, wind, and earth. While they didn''t fully complement each other, they did allow for some magnificent magic. Yours are different. Life and death will fight each other, while nature and corruption have their struggles." "But they aren''t fighting each other," I state, "They are all acting in harmony according to the quadrants they are in." "Good, this is a balance that must be kept. As you grow, you must ensure these four affinities grow in harmony." Turning to Draemish, he asks her, "Do you know what mana is most readily available in this land?" She thinks about it and shakes her head. "How about this: do you know why this world is covered in fog?" Again, she shakes her head. "Then let me explain. After all the killing, there should have primarily been death mana in the air, but there was corruption mana. If we take a logical leap, we can discover that the corrupted mana was already here." She looks at Laxreal with her eyes growing wide in horror, "You don''t mean to tell me-" "Yes," he says, "The only logical reason there could be so much corruption in the air is that this was a dead planet, and the corruption is remnants from years gone by. We are saved from most of the corruption because of the settlement. As the settlement grows, more land becomes available because it is healing the land we stand on." "So what does that have to do with my four mana affinities?" I ask, a little heated from the excitement Laxreal is showing. "What exactly did your Mana Heart do?" He asks me in return. "It merged with my normal heart, and then my bloodline changed. I didn''t know if I had a bloodline at all." "You said that when you absorbed the mana from the environment, it burrowed into your normal heart, and it wasn''t just the death mana but also the corruption mana?" "Yes." "Your bloodline had an affinity with those two mana types, and your mana heart had an affinity with the other two. Upon merging, your Mana Heart and Bloodline became the same. So, it expanded the scope of your bloodline to include life and nature." "Right, but why did it become ''Life'' then?" "It was probably because the pressure from the death mana forced it to become more than it should be, elevating it to life mana. Granted, such a small change in mana affinities doesn''t take much. You can go up in tiers based on understanding or naturally due to circumstances. It just so happens to be the latter in this instance." "OK, so you''re saying due to me absorbing the death and corruption mana, it led to my bloodline awakening while at the same time, my Mana Heart was developing due to my efforts, which led the two to merge, which in turn elevated my healing affinity to a life affinity." "Yes," is the response I get. "Alright, that is easy..." I sigh. "Well, thankfully, everything finished in time for me to heal my father before he died." "Oh, he did die," Laxreal says. "What do you mean?" I ask and then look at my mother in shock. "He is right; by the time you arrived, your father had stopped breathing for a few minutes." There are tears in her eyes as she says this. "Then how did my healing help? It shouldn''t be able to do something like that." I answer, shocked. "It''s because it was elevated to life. Life can heal someone who should have died as long as the wounds aren''t too serious. In the instance of your father, he died from bleeding out, so the magic was able to get his heart started again and fill in where there wasn''t enough blood. It only worked because it closed some of the larger wounds. He was still bleeding by the time you were done with your fight, but the life affinity of your healing spell resurrected him." He gives me the best skeleton smile ever. This means it''s just all teeth, all the time. "Not to digress from this important topic, but should we be concerned about the corruption mana destroying his mind?" Shadow asks, trying to stay on topic. "No," Laxreal replies, "It is in a stable state with the other three mana types to keep it in check. When I was helping him by removing death and corruption mana, I could feel him holding some of it back when it was in equilibrium. I did struggle to pull it out, but he was adamant about holding onto it. It seems to have been for the best with the results we have in front of us." "What does that mean for your bloodline?" Xelyphe asks. "It means he has a lot of work ahead of him; not only does he have to work on his mana concentration, but he also has to find the materials to awaken his bloodline further," Laxreal answers for me as I am still wrapping my head around the fact my father died, and I brought him back. "How much of your bloodline is awakened?" They ask me. "0.01%," I reply automatically. Everyone looks at me in shock. "What do you mean 0.01%? How is it that powerful?" My mother is asking. I shrug, my mind is working overtime currently, "I don''t know, it is what it is. It''s not like I have had a bloodline for long." "True." I clap my hands together to reset my mind and ask, "Shall we talk about anything else? Like how Laxreal is back?" Bursting through the door, Rhenriqi storms in and tackles Laxreal to the ground. "How about we talk in the other room? It seems those two need some alone time," Shadow says, snickering as he leaves. With the consensus being to leave these two alone, we head out. All I hear from the room is the barrage of questions from Rhenriqi and Laxreal, trying to escape her clutches. Chapter 66 Finishing Quests Once in the main entryway, we hear crashing from the dining room. "You better not break anything in there!" My mother shouts at them. Rhenriqi pokes her head out, "Don''t worry, madam; I promise everything will return to its right spot. Just ensure this guy doesn''t try to escape me again." She says all this while I watch Laxreal walk out with a lead attached to his hand. "Ummmm, Laxreal," I start to say. "Don''t." He stops me, "I deserve it this time, I think." Rhenriqi nods, "Yes, this is the second time you have died and come back to life. How am I supposed to keep up with you if you keep dying on me." "So, does that mean you will be his guard?" Shadow asks with a smirk. "Yes." "What if he needs to teach people private lessons?" He further probes. "Don''t worry, I will make sure it is private." This time, she has a sinister grin on her face. "Um, can we go back in, or should we head to the meeting room?" Draemish asks. Looking again at Laxreal, I decide to go to the meeting room. I can''t let it bother me; Laxreal is here, and it is my house. I shouldn''t be afraid of a single room in my home. We all proceed quickly into the room before everyone sits down. Rhenriqi joins us since she is quite literally tied to Laxreal. I looked around for an accessible chair for her but found nothing. Thinking about it, I will consider the meeting room and see if there is an option. - Customization to the meeting rooms is only available in buildings with a neutral racial stance. The building is primarily made for humans, so no customization options are available. - I look at Rhenriqi. "Sorry. I thought I would try to find some seating that would work for you. Sadly, there isn''t an option, at least not in this building." With everyone that can sit seated, I jump into the following conversation. "What should we do about all the rewards? A lot of people are going to get experience bags and level up. Should we worry about it or just let it happen?" "We should let them have their rewards," Shadow starts, "They fought with us without knowing anything about this world; they deserve every single reward that can be given to them." "I sssecond that," Vranjaya states, "They alssso ssswore an oath to you, ssso it ssshouldn''t be an isssue." I did not see any disagreement from anyone, so I opened another notification about the rewards and selected to release them to everyone. It doesn''t take long before the room is filled with different bags and boxes. Pushing mine off, I bring up the next topic for now. "We have finished everything we need to level up the settlement again. Should I do that next, or should I complete the quests?" "I would say level up the settlement first." Rhenriqi is the first to offer her opinion. "We already have a lot of rewards to sort through, and if we can get some more space, that would be for the best since we are going to need to build a lot of housing for all the new settlers." "We should finish the quests first." Shadow says, "We could get more resources and start the buildings. If we hold off for too long, it will be night again, and we don''t want people to go without homes." "We already have a chuck of people without accommodations. We should be thinking about housing first and foremost." Draemish offers a third opinion. "Ok, let''s put this to a vote then. We have three different options. Those in favor of the level-up, raise your hands." "Hold on, why are we the ones voting?" Rhenriqi asks. "We aren''t the only ones that can make these decisions." Sighing, I look at her. "True, but most people are not in this room right now. They have sworn the oath, but they haven''t been here long. We must keep things simple and low-key so this little group will do for the moment." Not thinking deeper about this issue, she relents, and the voting starts. Two people voted to level up the settlement, two voted to finish the quests first, and the remaining four voted to get more housing started immediately. Looking at my resources, I can start the construction of one hut and nine tombs. Thankfully, with the influx of people, we have more foremen to complete more construction projects. When the projects started, I asked again, "So, settlement or quests?" This time, the vote goes right to level up the settlement. Going to the menu, I select to level up the settlement. This time, there is something new. - Reward for completing optional tasks: The experience accumulated over the amount has been retained to the next level. - Thinking that it isn''t much, I open the shortened settlement statistics. - Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 4 Experience: 12682/100 Population: 62 Territory Size: 1.3Km X 1.3Km Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 15 (62/15) Have 10 settlers at level 3 or higher (62/10) Build at least 5 different defensive buildings (7/5) Optional Tasks: Have 2 outposts under settlement control (1/2) This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Have 15 settlers at level 3 (62/15) - "Okay, good news first: We can level up the settlement again if we so desire," I announce to everyone. "Then why aren''t you leveling up the settlement?" Draemish asks. "That is the second thing I was going to bring up. I want to keep the experience from the level up because it is an insane number at the moment. The only way to do that is to complete the optional objective," I answer. "How much experience do we have, and how much is needed to level up?" she asks. I show everyone the screen and some blanch at how much there is. "We ssshould try and keep asss much asss possssible." Vranjaya agrees with my opinion. "Then we should get the next outpost built," Shadow says. "We have already decided to use the ''Mythical Treasure of the Fog'' to craft a lumber outpost. All that is left to do is place it." I answer "The best location would be to our west; there aren''t any hills, and it is a nice open plain," Rhenriqi is the first to offer an option. "That would also be my recommendation; the north and south have water, so all we need to do is watch for ships or monsters underwater. But it should be a big deal with how we cared for them in the last five waves," Laxreal agrees. With no one objecting to the placement, I used the token and placed the Lumber outpost to our west. No one can see what it looks like, but from my perspective on the map for building constructs, I see a small patch of trees sprout, and then a hut spawns next to it. Surrounding the hut is a fence just like outside of the manor. - Tiny Lumber Outpost: (+10 units Tier 1 Wood, with a worker: 20 units Tier 1 Wood, 2 units of Tier 2 Wood, and an additional chance to harvest Tier 2 Food) - With the new outpost built, I can level up the settlement again, which will update the status one more time. - Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 5 Experience: 12582/200 Population: 62 Territory Size: 1.4Km X 1.4Km Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 25 (62/25) Have 20 settlers at level 3 or higher (62/20) Optional Tasks: Have 10 settlers with professions at level 2 (2/10) - Seeing that we still have the experience from the previous level, I breathe a sigh of relief. "Alright, same issue, different solution," I announce to everyone. Before we can upgrade, we need 10 people to have their professions to level 2. With our current downtime, focusing on some professions shouldn''t be an issue." They all agreed with me, and finally, we completed the quests. Looking at them, I select the easiest one since it is complete. - Resurrecting a Friend: You promised to help bring Laxreal back from the dead and offered the settlement''s assistance. Task: Look for ways to bring Laxreal back: 1/1 Resurrect Laxreal: 1/1 Rewards: Guardian for the Settlement - "For the first quest, I chose to complete ''Resurrecting a Friend,'' Laxreal. Could you please stand up?" I ask. With him standing, I point. "He is the reward for this quest; more specifically, he is the guardian of the settlement. I presume this means he should be able to hand out quests like I can." He nods, "That isn''t all; I have more information about certain aspects of this world, but that can wait until later and when I experiment some more." "Does that mean he can''t go out and explore anymore?" Rhenriqi asks. "Correct," he replies and then pats her hand. Then, I choose the next quest to complete. - We''re Going to Need a Bigger Wall As you have leveled up your settlement, forces have started to take notice. Plans are brewing to attack your fledgling settlement. You have given your settlement more time by destroying one of the encampments. But be warned, sometimes more time is worse. Tasks: Waves Completed: 15/9 Average Level of Settlers: 3.5 Difficulty Based on Levels: 4 Added Difficulty based on waves completed: 2 Total Difficulty of waves: 6 Rewards: ??? Penalty for Failure: Death and destruction of the settlement Note: Increasing the population could help or hinder the attacking force. Be careful. Special Note: The threat level has decreased due to the completion of a Unique Trial Encampment. - - Rewards Generating: 16 X Selectable Type Chest 5 X Settlement Experience Bags 1 X Auction House Invitation 14 X Random Wealth Bag - Once again, the area around the table is crammed with bags and chests. Two of the items immediately pique my interest. - Auction House Invitation: You may use this invitation to teleport the user and two companions to an auction event. The event happens once a month. Next event: 5 Days 4 Hours 41 Minutes 40 Seconds Random Wealth Bag: Inside, it consists of various coins used for trading. Best of Luck - "Interesting," I say. "Who wants to go to an auction?" I ask with a sly smile. Draemish and Vranjaya immediately raise their hands. "OK, when it is closer to the time, I will see if anyone wants to sell anything or if you want to change your mind. We might be lucky to find some people who were traders in the current settlement." They sit back down. "That is all for the settlement quests; all left is for people to complete their quests and then focus on their profession levels. Let''s do a large settlement meeting in the morning after everyone has rested." I state. With their dismissal, they all head out except for Laxreal and Rhenriqi. "What''s up, Laxreal?" I ask him. "I want to make sure you are okay, and I want to continue our training. You have more affinities, which means you have more options. I don''t think you can get out of it. I have talked with Rhenriqi, and she agrees that we need to strengthen you so you can hunt independently. It is useless for a powerful person like you to be trapped behind walls because you are the only healer." "I mean, I am pretty strong as it is. I have 70 health and over 200 mana. It shouldn''t be a problem for me to explore for a while and then come back and heal those that went out." "What do you mean you have over 200 mana? How is that even possible? Even after upgrading to an E-tiered race, I still don''t have as much mana as you... Wait a second. It''s your Mana Heart, isn''t it? Damn, damn, damn. Cheaters and their Mana Hearts. They always have more mana than those without Mana Hearts." "Yeah," I pull up a notification I have ignored. - Mana Heart has successfully integrated and merged with the user''s heart and bloodline. Bonuses: 20 Mana per point of Wisdom 1 Wisdom per Level 10 Health per point of Constitution 1 Constitution per Level - I share this screen with him. And he looks at me in shock. "Twenty points of mana per point of wisdom, and one wisdom per level; stacking that with the one wisdom you get for being a mage, you receive at least 40 mana per level. That is ridiculous. I am only getting ten mana per point of wisdom due to my race being in the E Tier. If I am not mistaken, you must have four times the mana compared to anyone else at your level." "I think so. Before my Mana Heart was completely formed, I started out getting five mana per point. Then, when it reached 65% of its development, it increased to six mana per point, one wisdom per level, and one constitution per level." "Cheaters the lot of you," he scolds me. Knowing he isn''t mad at me specifically, I laugh, "Yeah, but it will be useful in the future." I give him a big smile. "Yea, yea," he waves his hand. "Just make sure when you are done with your exploration, you help those injured." I give him a thumbs up, "Is there anything else?" "No, I wouldn''t be shocked if you speed ahead in your profession now that you have so much mana at your disposal." "I hope so. I was going to look at my last quest and see what goodies it provides me." "Alright, Drake. We will leave you be. When you are ready to train, come on over to the Mage tower." "Roger." As he leaves, I pull up the last quest in my log. - Did Someone Call for a Training Montage? You have leveled up once, but will that be enough? Before the night attack, reach level 3 in your class, learn more spells, and clear your Mana Veins. Tasks: Reach Level 3 (0/1) FAILED Learn more spells (6/4) Clear more Mana Veins (100%) Rewards: Random wooden consumables box Pill of mana nourishment Status: Lower rewards will be granted upon completion of the quest due to partial failure. - Chapter 67 Personal Rewards Looking at the quest and re-reading the bottom, I am stunned. Why did it lower my rewards? I reached level 4. It should register as completed! I read the quest once again, trying to figure out why I didn''t complete the one task. It took me a second to figure out where I had gone wrong. Smacking my forehead, I realized my mistake. The quest wanted me to be level 3 before the attack on the settlement, not during the attack on the settlement... Frustrated that I missed out on a probably great reward, I completed the quest to receive my rewards. - Rewards Granted: 2 X Medium Wooden Consumables Chests 2 X Tiny Class Experience Bags - Sighing at the rewards, I realized they weren''t as bad as I had expected. Thankfully, I over-completed the spells I needed to learn, which gave me the extra chest and two tiny experience bags. I pile these rewards with the rest of them. I take a small break from all the hubbub. Going through my notifications, I close the ones telling me about my Mana Heart progressing and focus on the skill levels I received during my meditation. - Congratulations, your skill, ''Arcane Shot,'' has reached level 8. Congratulations, your skill, ''Mana Circulation,'' has reached level 8. Congratulations, your skill, ''Mana Control,'' has reached level 6. Congratulations, your skill, ''Leadership,'' has reached level 5. Congratulations, your skill, ''Minor Healing,'' has reached level 6. Congratulations, your skill, ''Shield,'' has reached level 6. Congratulations, your skill, ''Mend,'' has reached level 3. Congratulations, your skill, ''Nautre''s Grasp,'' has reached level 6. - With all the skill levels, I am pleased with the progress of each of the skills. Taking a deep breath, I look around and see the different chests and experience bags in front of me. Each experience bag from completing the event gives 60 points, while the two tiny bags only give 10 points. Using three of the experience bags, I could level up to five and then hold on to the rest for when I want to level up again in the future quickly. Proceeding with this plan, I use three of my five. Class experience bags and level up. With the level up, I receive the following stats: Wisdom + 2 Intelligence + 1 Constitution + 1 Free Points + 1 Diving into my basic stat sheet again really shocks me. - Name: Drake Taldrit Health 80/80 Mana 280/280 Class: Mage Class Level: 5 Experience 22/500 Affinity: Life, Nature, Death, Corruption Special Class: Noble Level: 5 Oaths of Fielty 62/75 Profession: Enchanter You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Profession Level: 1 Experience 9/25 Attributes: Strength 1 Intelligence 14 Wisdom 14 Charisma 6 Dexterity 1 Constitution: 8 Free Points: 1 - Another 40 points of mana and 10 points of health encouraged me to explore independently. Next on my list of things to do is open the consumables chests. When I do, they reward me with the following: - 7 X Basic Mana Potion 1 X Basic Healing Potion 5 X Random Stat Scroll 5 X Basic Throwing Knife - Taking all of these items and putting them off on the side, I try to remember to grab my personal storage bag the next time I am heading out. Next, I open my Personal Reward Chest. Rubbing my hands together, I prey under my breath for any gods of luck to shine on me. When I open the chest, a pair of pants rests at the bottom. Analyzing the pants shows me their stats. - Initiate Mages Pants: +1 to Defense, +1 to Wisdom, +1 to Spell Damage - Once I equip the pants, changing out my now tattered pants. I received a notification. - Congratulations on equipping three pieces of the Initiate Mage set. You have gained a bonus +1 to Spell Damage and have a slight increase in learning new spells up to tier 1. - Tier 1 spells, that sounds interesting. I wonder what those spells will look like, and how I would get a tier one spell is another thing I need to consider. Closing this last notification, I head out of the manor. Looking around, I find people either strolling about or lying on the ground, still resting from the battles. From what I can see, everyone has reached at least level 3, and some people, like myself, have even used the bags of experience to reach level 4 or even 5. I proceed to the enchanting hut and find Muiress there. I wave at him, "How are you doing Muiress?" "Not great; after the battles, Vranjaya kept bothering me, and it wasn''t until I came here that she finally left me alone," he sighs, a little depressed. "Well, I am sorry you haven''t gotten any time to rest. Hopefully, some more work will recharge your batteries," I give him the biggest smile I can put on now. "Don''t you have work to do?" "Like?" "We did have several people die in the last wave, and their bodies need to be taken care of." "I didn''t see anyone looking for me, so someone else may have taken it upon themselves to deal with the fallen." "That may be true. Maybe you should bring it up tomorrow at the meeting you want to hold." "Yeah, I should. At least if we manage to summon their families, they should be given some form of compensation." "That would be for the best." He nods his head, and then the building silences us. Noticing the quiet, I head to my table and work on enchanting. With so much more mana at my disposal and my mana control higher, I could quickly go through all the nodes on the weapon enchantment. Once that has been completed, I encounter a different node form. This one has a door inside. Curious, I fill out this form, and it bursts open once 20 mana has been sent inside. Noticing something had happened on the shelf, I took a closer look. The original sigil and my progress had crumbled and been replaced with this new sigil. From this new sigil, there are now several pathways through which it can progress. Inspecting the pathway gives me more information. - Path of the Warrior: Choosing this path will cause the sigil to give stats focused on warrior classes primarily. - Inspecting the other two pathways, I learn they are the paths of the hunter and the mage. Focusing on one of the paths, a notification appears. - Do you want to walk down the Path of the Mage? Doing so will lock you out of the other paths until you have completed the initial part of the path. - Finding it interesting, I turned to ask Muiress, only to see that he was at the same point as me. He smiled at me and motioned for me to leave the building with him. Following his lead, I head out with him. "So what have you found out, Drake?" "I just finished one of the sigils, and now I can pick a path. The options presented are the paths of the warrior, hunter, and mage." "Did you get any other information?" "Only that the other paths will be locked until I complete the initial part of the chosen path." "OK, how much mana are you at? And what is your profession level at?" Checking my mana, I noticed I am at 129/280, and the experience I received for completing the sigil fully. - Congratulations on completing 100% of a sigil and opening the path lock; you have received 100 experience points. - With that chuck of experience points, I could level up my enchanting to level 3. When I share this news, he looks at me with disgust. "What?" "Why must you have the good luck to have such deep mana reserves?" He becomes depressed again. "Sorry?" I half-heartedly apologize. "Don''t worry about it," he waves me off. If you have so much mana available, I recommend you complete all of the initial sigils and see what sort of paths they provide for you." That sounds like a good idea; I thank him for his opinion and tell him I must regenerate my mana before I complete another sigil. Heading back inside, I start my mana circulation. With the increase in levels for this skill, my mana quickly fills, and an hour later, 88 points have restored my mana, and I can complete another sigil. This process continued for several hours. During this time, I would use my mana to complete one of the sigils and then circulate my mana to restore it. I knew what paths each provided by the time I was done with all four sigils. Weapon: Path of the Warrior Path of the Hunter Path of the Mage Armor: Path of Light Armor Path of Medium Armor Path of Heavy Armor Accessory: Path of Statistics Increase Path of Skill Damage Increase Path of Experience Increase Defensive Buildings: Path of Durability Path of Damage Path of Construction A notification came up the moment I finished all the initial paths. - Congratulations, you have completed the basic sigils for the initial randomly drawn enchanting sigils. Would you like to generate more basic sigils? Yes/No - Chapter 68 Paths After considering my options, I decided to expand the scope of what I could enchant. Before making my selection, I check on my enchanting level. -Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 6 Experience 35/150- The amount of experience is progressing at a slower rate. Thinking about this, I make my decision. Going for more will help me quickly and stabilize my foundations for enchanting. Bulling ahead at this point could cause more harm than good. With my mindset, I select ''Yes'' to receive more basic sigils. - Congratulations, you have received the basic sigil for: Offensive Buildings Support Buildings Bags Tools - Looking at the new options, I became excited. Finally, I might be able to make more spatial bags! With that choice dealt with, I step outside and find it is night, "Wow, time does fly when you are focused." "It sure does," spooked by the sudden voice beside me, I turn my head to find Eleanor beside me. "What are you doing here so late?" I ask. Her red eyes give me a flat look, "Drake, did you forget what kind of being I am?" Slumping forward, I sigh, "I guess it''s a force of habit from my world. I am not used to seeing people out and about once it gets darker. At least in areas without streetlights." She looks around, "That would be a useful solution to the darkness that befalls us every night. It would help me and my own to get our work done." "Speaking of your kind, why can you be in the sunlight?" Another flat look, "What do you mean?" "Well, in my world, we have stories of vampires. They are so allergic to the sun that they burst into flames. They can''t be targetted with holy water, or again, they burst into flames." "Let me guess, we also can''t be around religious symbols, or we''ll burst into flames," she says dryly. "Yeah," I respond; noticing her look, I stop. "Don''t you think that is a bit...redundant? All the flames and such?" "I mean, yeah, but with all the stories and finding out about bloodlines, I figured maybe there was some truth to them?" I lamely try to defend myself. "Drake, Drake, Drake. The only things we have to watch out for are our hearts being pierced or decapitation. My kind sees better in the dark, so it is our best time. Our dietary habits are more raw, but other than a couple of small things, we aren''t that much different from humans." "Don''t you also have a longer life span?" "I mean, yes, but what''s a couple of thousand years as an initial life span compared to the tens of thousand you get by having a high mana cultivation?" she responds with a shrug. "So, no flames?" I ask tentatively. "No flames unless they are a fire specialist." The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Cool. Soooooooo. What''s up?" I ask, trying to change the topic. "I''m just checking on our glorious leader, making sure he knows he has missed dinner and also reminding him that Laxreal is waiting." "Wait, why are you acting like a messenger? Can''t someone else do the job?" "Others had the job, but I intercepted them and told them to continue with their own lives. I don''t mind waiting for you to leave your focused state." "Oh...So, why are you acting like a messenger?" I ask again, feeling she is trying to skirt the topic. "No, the real reason. I''m just checking to make sure you are who you say you are," she sluffs in an attempt to pry before asking me a question. "What are your plans for tomorrow? There are people we lost, and I have heard there is an invitation to an auction. Also, we must level up professions; what are your plans for getting people to rally and work for you?" I think for a minute, "Can we walk and talk for a second? I feel the need to move and talk." She gave a welcoming gesture, and we started to walk towards the walls. "So, to answer your first question, I am going to inform everyone that if they perish in defense of the settlement, their loved ones, whether here now or summoned in the future, will have a place here, and I will do my best to make sure they are compensated." I figured starting with this question might be the easiest, but I realized how much I care about this topic as I began to. "I want people to come here and know they are safer than if they wander alone. I want this to be a haven for them, a home." "How are you going to make sure it is safe?" She asks, "We just lost a dozen people in the event, all newcomers." "That is a hard question to answer. I know I can''t protect this place alone, let alone as it expands." We approached the walls and started to climb to the top. "I will need people I can rely on, those who will help me when I cannot. As much as I don''t like that the mantle of a noble has been given to me, I will do my best to work with everyone to make this a world we can thrive in." "That is very ''Noble'' of you," she says, smirking at me. "What are your plans, then?" "I plan on getting stronger, strong enough to protect those who trust me." "How?" "Honestly, I plan to explore by myself-" "No, absolutely not," She stops me before I finish my statement. "Why, I have enough mana. My health is probably one of the highest in the entire settlement. And I haven''t gotten to explore alone since arriving here. I need this. I must know I can care for myself without relying on someone." I state with conviction. Sighing, she continues, "You shouldn''t go out alone because we don''t know what will happen if we don''t have you around. We don''t know what will happen if you were to die." "These fears have their place, but I must have my own goals. And I can''t get stronger by staying in the settlement." "Why not? Monsters come to you. You can pick those off and level slowly but safely." "That isn''t acceptable for me. I failed a portion of one of my quests, and I won''t say it is anyone''s fault, but it was because I was held in reserve in case someone got hurt. I want to lead by example, showing that going out alone doesn''t have to be impossible, but for people to know that once they get some strength, they, too, can explore without being held back." She smiles at me, "Good. This is what I wanted to hear from you." Stopping, I turn to her, puzzled, "What do you mean?" "Laxreal didn''t ask me to give you a simple reminder. He asked me to see where your resolve is. He is concerned about you. We have lost people, and you need to be able to bear that pressure from everyone, knowing that any call you make could harm those around you. An example is during this last wave, if you weren''t struggling with your mana internally due to your mistake, we might not have lost as many people from attacks." When she talked about what happened during the final wave, my perspective shifted dramatically. "And I could have been there to help my father more..." "You understand your mistake. Granted, it didn''t turn out as bad as it could have, but you still need to be aware of your choices. The consequences of your mistakes are more far-reaching than you think sometimes," she pats my shoulder comfortingly. "I don''t fully understand your thought process, but I can grasp why it could have happened. There is no mana in your world; you aren''t used to different concentrations of mana, and with the higher concentrations, pulling in ambient mana can become dangerous. No one told you, to put it simply." "Yeah," the melancholy is evident in my mind. "Now you know what to be careful of when pulling in ambient mana." "One question about this before returning to your initial questions," I say. "And that is?" "Why does absorbing ambient mana from the environment typically cause issues?" "That is simple: There isn''t enough of one type of mana in the area in a high enough concentration. Also, as you circulate your mana, it slowly purifies the mana types that aren''t your own." "OK, that makes more sense why it is so slow to regenerate mana." Having figured out something to be mindful of, I reflect on her questions. How can I get people to rally and work for me? Taking a couple of minutes, we continue to walk as I think: "I don''t know how to get people to rally around me. I haven''t done anything ''leadership-ie'' other than being the first one here and holding the nobility class. Other than housing, which we are sorely lacking, and food, we don''t have any way to replenish other than small things. There aren''t many things I can do to make people want to work." "Drake, don''t think too hard. Not all solutions have to be hard." Wracking my brain to think of something, I give up. "I can''t think of anything for now. Maybe I will think of something in the morning, but now, I am tired. As much as I want to continue this conversation, this should probably be the end." Giving her a large smile. "Thank you. I know I haven''t answered all your questions, but I hope we can have more talks like this. Having a third party other than my family and those who came initially helps me put things into perspective." "Don''t look for me every time. There are many people here; maybe one of them can be as helpful as I am." She nods and heads out alone, leaving me alone on the wall overlooking the battleground. Blood is still soaking into the ground and staining the walls. Chapter 69 The Dancing Motes Looking over the battlefield, I am overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility for those in my settlement. I brought them here whether they wanted to or not. It was I who, by using the summoning scrolls, brought to this world to fight for someone they barely know at best or have no idea who I am at worst. Resting my arms on the battlements, I contemplate what I want to discuss with everyone in the morning. Taking a deep breath, I stand tall. The familiar flap of wings alerts me to Ritotorous'' approach. He lands next to me and looks over the battlefield. "What are you thinking, Drake?" he inquires. "Trying to think of what to say tomorrow. People died; I must ensure everyone knows I am willing to take responsibility for the losses." "Hm, I can understand why you would think that. There is one thing I want to point out: you didn''t know who would come through those portals." "That doesn''t absolve me of what happened. Some of those who died looked young." "Death happens," he becomes very adamant, "No one can guess who might die on the battlefield. Strong leaders can make a battle swing wildly in their favor, but there is a cost to every action on a battlefield." Looking at him with shock, I ask, "Why are you so calm about this?" "I know more than you, Drake. No one comes out of a battle unscathed. Don''t dig into a coffin that should be left alone." Taking the hint, I start to walk back to the manor. "Want to come with, or do you have tasks you need to do?" I ask him. "There are a couple of tasks I will be completing tonight. Leave the window open." Nodding, I head back alone, still trying to figure things out. My mind is a mess from the conversation with Eleanor and then Ritotorous. Deep in my thoughts, I surprise myself when I bump into the fence surrounding the manor. The blood here has dried, but it still hurts to see how much was spilled on the manor side of the fence. Taking a deep breath, I step through the gate and head inside to sleep. The night passes as I toss and turn, unable to get comfortable with what has happened. My mind is racing, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I sit up in bed and meditate. Trying to calm my mind, I delve into my Heart Space. I look at my avatar in this space and find all the veins have receded again. In their quadrants, the five motes of each mana type still swirl. Taking a deep breath, I focus on the swirling mana motes. I watch as they dance their patterns. The life motes are full of vitality, the nature motes flow effortlessly, the corruption motes have a slow, methodical rhythm, and the death motes stagger like they could stop moving at any moment. Thinking of my training with Laxreal on the different symbols used for casting spells, I carefully observe the life motes first. The vitality they provide leaves small trails behind them. There is one point in particular: the trails overlap. Focusing on that point, I don''t see anything. Curious, I wonder what this could mean. I stop myself from delving deeper into the problem. The nature motes don''t leave any trails behind them, but they occasionally bump into each other like giving a handshake before moving on. The corruption motes are the most confusing of the four; they never get near each other, don''t overlap trails, and have no specific pattern like they are trying to be separate. When focused, the death motes are simple. They bump into each other more frequently, using each other as a crutch to keep moving. Feeling calmer after watching the motes, I leave the space and return to bed. Closing my eyes, I feel more prepared for the new day. Waking to the sound of footsteps outside my door, I get up. A knock on my door that sounds like a clatter of bones on wood lets me know who is outside my door. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. "Drake," a dry voice sounds, "It is time to prepare. Shall I help you with your speech?" "No, Laxreal, I think I know what I need to say today." "That is good. Get ready quickly. I will gather everyone," his footsteps disappeared down the hall. Gathering my thoughts, I prepare myself. It takes me ten minutes to be ready to face everyone. Then I head downstairs. Outside the manor, a small wooden platform was created. Seeing Laxreal and my mother standing beside it, I know I must climb up. The walk to the platform feels like an eternity. I see everyone has gathered. They all look at me, their eyes full of curiosity. I quickly find many of the people I know. I step up once I finally reach the edge of the stairs, which leads to a slight rise. Everyone is dead silent as they watch me. My steps on the wooden planks fill the area. Reaching the top, I face the crowd. Taking a deep breath, I prepare to start. "Everyone, I would like to talk about those who have passed," my words are slow at first, "All of these people showed their bravery. Sadly, I didn''t know them, but they fought for me, you, and this settlement. In my eyes, they deserve to be treated with the highest regard. Many of them passed while I was incapacitated. My incapacitation was my fault, and for that, I can only beg forgiveness from you all. I put everyone one of our lives in danger by not being available in case there were wounded." My words get heated and stick in my throat, "If I had not been so curious about the things around me during a time that it wasn''t necessary, then maybe some of those people wouldn''t have had to pass, but that is not the case. My actions have caused deaths among us. I know it is hard for most of you. You were pulled into a new world without any information, and then once you arrived, we greeted you. You had two ''choices'': swear an oath to me or go out and die from the monsters that would spawn in the wave. To this, I once again ask for all of your forgiveness." Looking down at the crowd, I see people looking up to me, ready to ask questions but holding back for the time being. "Somethings I would like to share with everyone. First, for those who have passed in battle for the settlement, I will ensure that their families know of their heroic deeds and that they will be cared for. Second, please let me or either Laxreal or Madoka know those with special rites for their dead. I will ensure their bodies are treated with the utmost respect based on their home world customs." Faces in the crowd that were once aggressive towards me slacken, "Third is for all of you. I will do my best to grow stronger so something like this doesn''t happen again when I can prevent it. I know this promise is hard to fulfill, but I will strive to get as strong as possible so that more people from our world don''t have to fight a harsh battle upon arrival. Lastly, for those who would like to leave the settlement. I want to offer you the option to leave, but at this moment, we are locked in; there are no other places to go from what we know. So, in the meantime, please allow me to show you that it is worth staying here with us and growing with our community until an opportunity to leave arrives for you or you decide to stay with us." Taking another deep breath, I bow to everyone present. "Thank you, everyone; I know I have forced you all to lead a harsh life for the moment, but for what you have all done and what you will do in the future, whether with this settlement or with another. I want to thank you." I stay in that position until I feel a hand on my back. It is quite large, and then another large hand on my back. They grab me and straighten me. Rognar and Narus helped me up. "Drake," Rognar starts, "You have done well for a youngling. Your experience in battles shows, but those of us who have gotten to know you think highly of what you have done and what you are willing to do." "Those newcomers around us," Narus picks up, "They will find life hard without the support of someone as understanding as you." Draemish comes and stands to my left. "While you do stupid things frequently that make me want to bash your skull to knock some sense into you, you have never done anything out of malice, even concerning the new races around you." She gestures to everyone and explicitly places her hand on Laxreal''s location. "When I am in trouble, you will be there to support me. Not sharing your pain, but sharing others." Zul''Zara steps forward. "You are willing to show that everyone in your settlement has the potential to be treated fairly," Shadow chimes in while moving to my other side. "It''sss not fair to take all the blame for your ssself. Many of usss were there, and at no point did I sssee where you could have helped sssave sssomeonesss life." Vranjaya reluctantly gives up her spot next to Muiress to slither forward. Muiress sighed with relief at seeing she was gone. Seeing the first group of people brought to this world step forward makes me feel less sad about the situation. "Drake," I hear from the side and see Uxa standing there. "You have done more than anyone could ask for. You are always there to help when needed but hardly ever ask for help in return. While the newcomers don''t know this, those who have been here do. Since we stepped foot into this world, you have been trying to help everyone. In my eyes, those who arrive need time to see how this world works and how you handle situations. Either way, anyone from my world would agree that this is a better situation than we had back then. So, thank you for summoning me and those from my world. This gives us all a new life. What''s a little fighting?" He quips. Hearing this from him, I feel better. I once again bow before saying one last thing to everyone. "For those looking for a place to stay tonight, I will go into the fog alone to search for resources as an extension of my apology to you." Taking everyone by surprise, I hop off the platform and head to the fog wall. Chapter 70 A Stupid Idea Once I have pushed through the crowd, I get to the gatehouse before anyone can stop me. Charging through with conviction in my steps, I am oblivious to those following behind me and trying to get my attention. I aim to make it to the fog before anyone can stop me. Not long after I pass through the gatehouse, Ritotorous joins me. "And what are your plans, Drake?" "No one has gone into the fog wall by themselves yet. I need to know what will happen. And since I am a noble, something special might happen when I try and go alone." "Hm, that is an interesting thought, but why haven''t you shared it with anyone?" "Because they will try and stop me the first chance they get." "You mean like right now? I think I saw Laxreal trying to persuade Rhenriqi to let him onto her back to catch you." "That seems about right." I continue forward, now trying to run, finding that my strength has improved even though it hasn''t been displayed on the stat sheet as being adjusted. "Will you come with me?" I asked him. "As your familiar and guide, yes." "Not as a friend?" I ask perplexed. "Sure," he gives me a smirk only a raven can manage. Rolling my eyes at him, I keep going. It doesn''t take long before I am at the fog wall. As I am about to pass through, I am tugged backward. Looking at the area pulling me back, I found a mana rope around my middle leading to Laxreal. "Drake, what are you doing?" I hear in his crypt-like tone. "I am trying something no one will let me do." "What?" "No one has gone in alone yet, not even when it was just myself. And now that I am a noble, something different might happen!" I exclaim in hopes he will let me go. "You know this is a foolish idea," Rhenriqi says, looking split between joy and frustration. Not understanding her mood, I continued, "When would any of you let me go? I know it is stupid, but I need to try." Laxreal gives me a look like he remembered something from his past; I feel the mana slip from his concentration for a second. In that second, I pounce and get back to the wall. The notification appears in front of me. - Would you like to enter the fog? Yes/No - I quickly command yes. - You are entering the fog alone, and a unique instance is being generated. It is detected that the participant is from the Noble class. New Instance generating; please wait. - Looking behind me, I see Laxreal pulling on the mana rope again, but I am not moving, no matter how much he pulls. He is also shouting something, but I can''t hear him. I look into his eyes and show him all the determination I have before turning away with Ritotorous on my shoulder. - Instance has been generated. Good Luck - This is the first time I have seen PUN saying good luck. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. It doesn''t take long before I disappear from their sight, and a new instance is before me. - Laxreal''s POV - "What happened?" Shouting comes from behind Rhenriqi and me. "What do you mean? I tried to stop him." I answer Madoka''s question. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "I know you are stronger than that, and why wasn''t she helping you?" He is furious at me for not stopping Drake. "Madoka, for how long are you going to smother him? He is an adult and honestly more powerful than we could think." "By why, why couldn''t you pull him back, and we can talk about it more?" She looks at me, tears streaming down her face. "I did try; he just overpowered the pull on my magic. And you all discussed it before; the last time was before the event. You stopped him from going out. He understood your take on it. This time, there is no harm in him going. We can work on what he has left for us. People can explore while he is gone, or we can finish what has been started. We all need rest." "So did he," She rebuttals. "And I tried." "That still doesn''t explain why she didn''t help," she again points accusatorially at Rhenriqi. "She can''t see my mana, let alone touch it. So how was she supposed to help?" I ask, showing some frustration at her constant questions. Flustered, she tries to continue, but I stop her. "Madoka, why don''t we just head back to the settlement? We can discuss the plans there, but we hope he returns fine for now." Huffing, she returns and storms to the settlement again, where everyone watches the scene. Once she is out of earshot, Rhenriqi asks me, "Was it really alright for you to let him go just like that?" "Yes," my memories still come back to me. "He reminds me of someone who wanted to go on a journey to learn and experience." Visions of myself when I was a human flash past. The friends I made while traveling on the road, the lovers I had, and the adventures. "If he is half the person I think he is, he will be back and stronger for it. I hope he learns some lessons while he is out." "I still think lying to her is stupid," Rhenriqi says. "And is this why you discussed making a fake argument last night?" "Yes," I mentally smirk, "I knew he was going to do something stupid like this, so why not let him try?" She shakes her head, "Lax-Lax, I hope you know what you are doing." "I hope so too," I say, patting her on the head like I used to. Then, we head back to the settlement. - Drake''s POV - The fog slowly clears from my vision, and a table is before me. Confused, I try to look closer but find I can''t, and a notification blocks my vision. - Welcome, Nobleman. This unique instance will train you to be a noble and lord of lands. Be prepared; as you grow, so will your enemies, so make sure you are ready. - The notification closes, and I can inspect my surroundings more thoroughly. I find myself inside a small tent. With the table in front of me, a bed behind me, and a small bookshelf, most of the space in the tent has been taken. I analyze each of the items. - Cott: Basic sleeping quarters for a noble on the road. Small Bookshelf: Holds a small number of books for perusal. Small Strategy Table: ??? - "Well, this is going to be interesting." I hear from Ritotorous. "Yeah, shall we take a look outside?" "Yes." Approaching the tent flaps, I am stopped by a notification. - Would you like to start the battle? Yes/No - Hurrying to select ''No,'' I turn back around. "That is a bust. I can''t leave, or else a battle starts." Turning to the bookshelf, I find it is mostly empty. There is one book available for me. - Nobleman Basics - Shrugging my shoulders, I open the book and start to read. Inside is information about what I need to learn before I can leave. After reading a couple of pages, a quest comes to me. - Noble Class Quest: You have entered a unique instance for a nobleman. This instance will save your progress after finishing the initial series of battles. During these battles, you will learn about leadership, cunning, people management, delegation, and other minor skills any nobleman must possess. Tasks: Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (2/6) Complete the initial series of battles (0/10) Rewards: ?? Failure: If you cannot complete the battles, your status as a Noble will be stripped from you, losing all the class bonuses and the right to become a Noble ever again. - That is one heck of a quest. Putting the book down, I focus on the table. Nothing happens. Looking closer at the table, I see two grooves in the wood, about the size of a pair of hands. Pressing my hands into the slots, a map magically unfurls from the table. - This is your first time using the Strategy Table, so you have been gifted ten command points. - And then it clears away. Looking at the map, nothing appears other than one point. Focusing on that point, I mentally think of zooming in on it. The map slowly pans closer to the point, and I see it isn''t just a point but a clear square on the map. On closer inspection, I see a small tent icon. Mentally selecting that, a notification appears. - Central Command Post Level 0 Noble Present: Yes Troops: 1 Command Points: 60/60 Resources: 20/200 - Thinking about options for the command post, I get another notification. - Central Command Post Options: Build Buildings Recruit Troops ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) - "Ok, this is going to be interesting." I smiled and jumped in since this appears like the strategy games I played in the past. Chapter 71 Command Post Delving into the options that were available to me, I started to gather more information. - Building Options: Upgrade Central Command Post Tent - 5 Resources, Including expanded living quarters for the noble. Build Basic Defenses - 5 Resources, Includes a small wall, a gate, and a ditch. Build Basic Barracks - 5 Resources, Includes basic housing for troops. Capacity 10 Command Points of soldiers. Build Basic Training Yard - 10 Resources, Includes a training yard to improve troop coordination. Recruitment Options: Name: CP Cost: Description: Bat Swarm 1 Summons 5 bats in the swarm. It''s a basic scouting unit. Doppelganger 3 Summons 1 Dobbelganger to fight. It''s a basic infiltration unit with poor damage. Gnoll 2 Summons 3 Gnolls to fight. It''s a basic infantry unit. Succubus 2 Summons 1 Succubus to fight. It''s a basic magic unit. Elananx 2 Summons 1 Elananx to fight. It''s a basic assassin unit. Hag 5 Summons 1 Hag to fight. It''s an intermediate magic unit. Linnorm 10 Summons 1 Linnorm to fight. It''s an intermediate beast unit. Heavily aggressive towards other units, it will kill those around it if agitated. Skulltaker 6 Summons 1 Skulltaker to fight. It''s an intermediate magic unit. Unicorn 10 Summons 1 Unicorn to fight. It''s an intermediate calvary unit. Wendigo 10 Summons 1 Wendigo to fight. It''s an advanced infantry unit. - Looking through my options, I am concerned about how little I have regarding available options. There are potent creatures available to me, but I don''t know what I will face in properly using any of them. The one creature that concerns me the most is the Linnorm. Seeing the warning, I agree that spending the command points on units that won''t attack each other would do me better. "What do you see, Drake?" Ritotorous asks. I show him my screens. "I am trying to figure out what to do with the units. Who should I summon first, and what should my spread be for the units I summon?" Seeing all the screens and options in the last couple of weeks has stressed me out. There are so many things I need to take care of. "Drake, I think this is a good opportunity for you." "Oh, and why is that?" "For the exact reason back at the settlement. You have to learn to delegate. So, let''s focus on one task at a time." "Ok, and what do you think that first task should be?" "The camp itself. We have 20 resources to spend. I am curious about why the upgrade to the tent costs as much as building basic defenses, but for now, let''s set that one aside. Get the defenses and the barracks." Thinking about what he said, I can''t help but agree with him. Trying to calm my thoughts, I select the basic defenses and the barracks to be constructed. There is a flash from the map, and the resources have been deducted. Looking at the map again, I can see a small barracks tent off to one side of the command tent and some basic defenses. Nothing crazy, just a border of wood around the border of the square we are on. "Have you tried anything else with the map yet?" He asks me. "No, just the menus and my concerns about the troops threw me through a loop." "Try to focus on one of the squares outside the initial square." Following his instructions, I focus on the square directly to our north. - Would you like to scout this section of the map? Yes/No - I select yes, and another notification appears. - Unable to scout this location due to a lack of scouting units. - When Ritotorous is told about the two notifications, he nods, "Okay, we did get a scouting unit. I recommend summoning a set of bats and seeing what they can do." When I summon the bats, I hear some screeching outside the tent and wings fluttering. Looking back at the command center, above the barracks, is a counter; it displays 1/10 now. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Ok, we have scouting units. Let''s try and scout the terrain next to us." Again, the notification comes up, and select ''Yes,'' the flutter of bat wings disappearing in the distance proceeds. With my attention on the map, the square becomes clear. There is now a tiny flag on the square, which shows a picture of a small skull. I intently look to see what it means, and another notification appears. - Enemy Troops: 1-5 Would you like to attack this enemy? Yes/No - Again, I consult Ritotorous. "What do you think I should do?" "It is a small section of troops. Let''s summon some more troops of our own. I don''t think the bats will do any good in a fight. I would say summon some Gnolls and maybe a succubus." Agreeing with him, I summoned the succubus first. I was curious about what they looked like. A flash of light blinds me for a moment, and instead of outside the tent, the succubus appears in front of me. "Greetings Nobleman." The demoness says. From first appearance, she is wearing a long flowing dress, has red tinted skin, small horns sprouting from either side of her head, black nails, and a small bladed whip on her side. Her voice is sultry alto, making me immediately understand why succubi are lust demons. "Greetings. Do you have a name?" I ask, trying not to get transfixed from her voice. "No," she responds. She is standing nearby with her hip cocked and her hands resting on it. "Well, what are you? And why did you appear in the tent with me?" "I am a succubus if that isn''t obvious," she sticks her tongue out at me, "And I appeared in the tent with you because I am different from the other rabble you summon. I am a heroin." "A succubus hero?" I ask perplexed. "Yes, you know about heroes, right?" She looks at me. "No, I just got here?" "Really? No wonder your tent is so small." She giggles a little at this statement. "Hey," I start a little aggrieved and then look around. She means the actual tent, but her tone is very... Flushing from embarrassment and frustration, I ask her, "What does a hero do?" "They help the nobles with their tasks when they have too many things on their plates. Once the tent is upgraded, there are places for me to command troops under my banner, and then you don''t have to do everything and can tell me the objectives we need to take." Trying to figure everything out is causing my head to spin, so I back up and sit on my bed. "So, because the tent is too small, you don''t have space to work?" "Work, live, relax." Sighing, I look at Ritotorous, "Do you think we should upgrade the tent?" "I would say yes, but I am curious about something. Can you ask the succubus if she can leave the tent?" Following his thought, I asked her to step out of the tent. To my astonishment and dismay, she left without anything happening. When I called her to come back in, she proceeded to do so. "It seems you have been investing in the right areas at least," she comments on entering back into the tent. "Yeah, we figured having the defenses and at least one barracks would be a good start. We still have some resources left, but I didn''t want to spend them without knowing what I need to focus on." "Makes sense. I would recommend you start exploring, though. The more area we have, the more likely we are to discover resources." Agreeing with her assessment, I proceeded to summon some Gnolls like I was previously going to do. Summoning four sets of Gnolls, the barracks show 9/10. Looking at my command points, they have dropped to 49/60. "How many command points do you have?" The succubus asks me. "Currently, or overall?" I return. "Both, if you don''t mind sharing." "I have a total of 60 points, but as of right now, only 49 points remain after summoning one set of bats, four sets of gnolls, and you." "Wow, you have a lot of command points. Do you know where that number comes from?" "I have a small idea, but if you know, that would be great if you could tell me." "From my knowledge, command points are the noble level multiplied by 10, so you must be a level 6 noble." "No, just a level 5 noble currently. I received 10 points for interacting with the strategy table." "Ah, those must be temporary. If you are smart about it, you can keep that number if you don''t lose too many troops." "Fair enough. Are there any other troops I should summon?" She looks over at the strategy table and then back at me. "With one set of bats, we won''t be able to scout that many territories before initiating the first attack on the camp. I recommend summoning another set of bats and seeing if there are any other easy locations we can grab this early." Ritotorous seems thoughtful and then agrees with her. "That sounds like a logical plan. You should follow her idea. She seems to know more about what is happening here than I do." Summoning the next set of bats, the barracks are now full. I tried to summon more bats but was stopped by a notification. - No more spaces are available to summon additional creatures into the Command Post. Please construct additional barracks to increase capacity. - I went back to the build options to try building more barracks, but I was unable to select them again. - Building Options: Upgrade Central Command Post Tent - 5 Resources, Including expanded living quarters for the noble. Build Basic Defenses - 5 Resources, Includes a small wall, a gate, and a ditch. (Completed) Build Basic Barracks - 5 Resources, Includes basic housing for troops. Capacity 10 Command Points of soldiers. (Completed) Build Basic Training Yard - 10 Resources, Includes a training yard to improve troop coordination. - I ask the question that is on my mind. "To level up the command post, I must construct all the provided buildings?" "Correct, and once you build them, you will receive more buildings that need to be constructed and other goals. I wouldn''t expect to get too far currently." "Why do you say that?" "Most nobles can''t handle the time away from their main settlements long before they have to return." "How do you know all of this?" "Oh, I have had several different nobles I have served. They mostly die before they have the chance to come back." She gives me a sad smile. "What happens to you when that happens?" "I get sent back to the summoning pool and wait for another noble to summon me. I never truly die in here." "If you had the option, would you leave?" "Yes." "Drake, don''t worry about her. We need to worry about ourselves first." "Right," I pull myself out of those thoughts and focus back on the map. After scanning the map, I selected the east square and sent my bats to scout that location. While waiting, I got the tent upgrade since I could only buy the items on the list once, and they needed to be purchased either way. With that purchased, the size of the tent quickly expands to take up twice the standard space. There are now two chairs in the room, one on each side of the strategy table, and a small rug. "Cozy," she says and sits on one of the chairs. With only five resources left, I looked at the map to see what the bats scouted. - Enemy Troops: 1-5 Would you like to attack this enemy? Yes/No - Not seeing the point of attacking someone right away, I selected ''No'' again and tried to scout out another square. - Unable to scout this territory as scouting units have run out of stamina. - It was worth a shot. Going back to the eastern square, I selected ''Yes'' this time, and the sound of gnolls grabbing their weapons and bats fluttering around reached my ears. "It looks like it is my time to shine," the succubus says before heading out of the tent with the rest of the troops. It doesn''t take long before the map shows an icon of crossed swords. Interested in what this could mean, I select the swords. - Would you like to spectate the fight? Yes/No - When I select ''Yes,'' my view starts from overhead. I can control where I am looking with a thought. At first, I can see a small encampment with walls in the middle distance and all my troops filing out while whooping and hollering. The succubus is at the back of the pack, letting the gnolls take the lead. The bats hover around her as a bit of protection. As they proceed further forward, the enemy comes into sight. There is a group of goblins sitting there, five of them, and they get up after hearing the gnolls coming barreling towards them. Chapter 72 Spells The goblins scamper to prepare for the rush of gnolls headed in their direction. It doesn''t take long before the forces clash. The goblins, ill-prepared as they were, take charge and immediately start to fall. The gnoll''s weapons reap several lives before the goblins retreat from the battle. Overall, the battle, from my perspective, wasn''t impressive in the slightest, but what can I expect from a small group of goblins? The succubus couldn''t do anything before the gnolls cleared the enemies, so I couldn''t gauge her abilities. Looking at my map, I see a new option on the tile my forces have cleared. - Would you like to lay claim to this tile? Yes/No - I selected'' Yes'' without even giving it a second thought. After that, the troops returned, and a small flag was placed on the tile they had left. The flag has four separate quadrants: one golden, representing holy symbols; one green, representing leaves and plant life; one purple, representing corrupted beings; and the last black, representing decaying bodies. In the center of the flag is a dragon entwined around a heart. Overall, the banner looks fantastic. After looking at the map some more, I selected the other tile and had the troops head to clear it. Getting the directive to go and clear the next tile, they head from the tile they just cleared. Upon reaching the next tile, they find another set of goblins. There are only two of them this time, so just like the last time, the group quickly charges through and kills both enemies before they can put up much of a defense. Again, I don''t see the succubus'' abilities, but that is ok. Feeling good about how much has been completed, I again claim the additional tile. I have three tiles under my banner now, and I am looking to see if there are any other options. Not finding any other options, I wait a second for her to return to the tent. She saunters inside and looks at me, "Is there anything else we need to complete?" "There isn''t anything else that I can do at this moment. I have sent the bats out as many times to scout as I could. What can you tell me of what I need to do next?" She looked at me with a smirk, "Next, we get to see what you are like when it comes to giving orders in actual combat." I look at her curiously, "What do you mean by that?" "With no other options to scout or build, the only other thing is for you to step out of your tent and battle." Thinking about her words, I get curious. "Rito, did my quest update?" He looks at me from his perch and gives me the best side-eye a raven could, "Drake, I can''t see your quests. Even if I could, I would tell you to look after yourself." Looking at him with a wry smile, I say, "Wasn''t one of the things I need to learn to delegate? So, I thought I would try to delegate the task to you." Again, he looked at me, "Delegating does not mean you can be lazy; it means learning how to properly instruct the people under you with instructions of what needs to happen next and giving them the freedom and trust to complete the task, not doing your menial tasks for you. That is what a servant is for." Signing after his mild scolding and hearing the succubus titering from what I can only assume is my embarrassed face. I look at my quest to see if there are any updates. - Tasks: Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (2/6) Complete the initial series of battles (0/10) - Seeing that no battles are completed in the quest, I look stumped. "Rito, why haven''t any battles been added to the quest?" "Those battles didn''t count? Interesting. I think I have an idea about why that is the case." "Would you mind explaining?" "The battles it is counting are those you initiate from leaving the tent. Not those that you use to acquire land from the strategy table." "Well, we will see here in a second. I must start the battle since I can''t build anything else, and the barracks are full." This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Having considered everything, I head up to the tent flap again. - Would you like to start the battle? Yes/No - Choosing ''Yes,'' this time, I can leave the tent. Once I step outside, the sun is high, and another notification appears. - The battle is about to start. Please prepare your troops and defend yourself. - Quickly gathering my troops, I prepare them for battle. Turning around, I find the succubus has followed me out of the tent. "What are your orders?" "I want to know what we are facing. Do we have any sentient beings able to scout?" "Well, I can scout, but we can also use one set of the gnolls to scout. They should be able to give a rough estimate of the numbers we are facing." "Alright," I continued, thinking about Ritotorous''s words. I will leave this to you. Let me know immediately once you have a report on what we are facing." She bows her head and follows through with her idea, leading a set of gnolls out of the walls. Gathering the rest of the gnolls, we head to the only opening in the defenses. I set up a basic defensive line and waited for her report. It takes a minute before she returns, "There is a small force heading this way. From what I could tell, their numbers are around ten in total." Nodding at her, I prepare to cast my spells. Reaching into myself, I gather the mana to cast Nature''s Grasp. And when the spell completes, nothing happens. I try again to cast the spell, and again nothing happens. I tried several times before I finally gave up. My mana has reached 200/280. "Why aren''t my spells working?" I ask out loud. Shrugging her shoulders, the succubus looks at me. "This isn''t the first time I have seen this. It is funny to watch as mage nobles come in and can''t cast any high-tier spells using their high-tier mana." Spinning on her, I glare at her, "And you didn''t think that would be good information for me?" Smirking, she replies, "You never asked." With that, she strolls to the group of gnolls and finalizes the defensive line. Reaching out to Ritotorous, I ask, "What can I do if I can''t cast any of my spells?" "That will be tricky for you, but my advice is to re-think her words. I can''t give you all the answers as I am being stopped." He flies off and lands on the walls to overlook what is coming. I stop and think of her words over and over. Occasionally, I look up and find her staring back at me with a smirk. Seeing her like that is making me frustrated. Then I see the enemies approach, and the gnolls start slinging rocks at them. Seeing that she controls the defense, I think about her words. Confusion turns into frustration and then anger because I don''t understand. The battle finishes just as quickly as it starts. There is one loss on our side. One of the bats got too close and was skewered by a lucky spear thrust by a goblin. I''m still frustrated at not knowing what I need to do to cast spells. I am suddenly teleported back into the tent. In front of me, the succubus still smirked at me while Ritotorous gave me a look of concern and pity. "I don''t get it!" I finally shout at her, "What can I do to cast spells?" "That is something you will need to figure out for yourself. From what I can feel from you, you won''t be able to use any of your four mana types." Giving her an incredulous look, I tell her, "I only have two mana types." She titters at me again, "No, you don''t. You have four mana types. Quite rare, I must say." "Oh, and what makes you think I have four mana types?" I ask, still skeptical. "I have seen a lot of different nobles. Their banner backgrounds always show how many mana types they have. Not everyone is privy to this knowledge. Only heroes like myself can see the truth and inform the nobles we are under of such things." Sighing, I look at her, "And there isn''t any way you can tell me how to cast spells." She puts one finger to her lips and whispers, "It''s a secret," before laughing at my expense. I try to get my mind off of how infuriating she is and look at my quest. - Complete the initial series of battles (1/10) - Finally, one of the battles has been completed. When I return to the strategy table, I immediately receive a notification. - You have received resources: Total Tiles Claimed: 3 Tiles Lost: 0 Total Resources Received: 3 - Adding these three resources to my remaining five, I am two short of being able to make the training yard. I start the process of selecting tiles and scouting. I can scout another two tiles to the west and south. It is all plains, and a couple more enemies must be cleared. Sending the troops to clear them is a simple task. The succubus leaves to lead the troops. I sit and wait for her to come back. While she is gone, my mind wanders to her statement. I can''t use my high-tier spells, and I can''t use any high-tier mana. Thinking through the problem, there is only one thing I can think of: I don''t have high-tier spells, so I need to find a way to cast my current spells with a different form of mana. I am still pondering how to cast spells while reviewing my skills/spell list. - Skills: Analyze: Level 3 Mana Circulation: Level 8 Mana Control: Level 6 Leadership: Level 5 Spells: Arcane Shot: Cost 2 MP Level 8 Minor Healing: Cost 6 MP Level 6 Shield: Cost 4 MP Level 6 Mend: Cost 5 MP Level 3 Smite: Cost 4 MP Level 1 Nature''s Grasp: Cost 8 MP Level 6 Barkskin: Cost 5 MP Level 3 Corrupting Bolt: Cost 6 MP Level 1 - Checking one of the skills, I smack my head. "Of course, why didn''t I think of that sooner." - Mana Control: Level 6; Description: Increases the control of external mana. - Chapter 73 Training Yard While my thoughts latch onto the one piece of information that will give me a chance to cast spells, the succubus comes back into the tent. "My lord, we have cleared out the other enemies around the camp," she says as she falls back into the chair across from me. "Did you find anything at those locations?" I asked her. "Nothing worth noting," she responds to me. "How are the troops?" I ask absently, as my mind still thinks about how to improve my mana control. "They are fine. They picked up some meats from the enemies and are eating now." With her saying this, it forces my mind back to the conversation. "Do I need to worry about feeding the troops? I haven''t seen anything that would make me think they have an upkeep cost." "No, you don''t have to worry about food; they get sustenance from the barracks building. Upgrading the foods they eat can help them in battle, but that is far down the line," she winks at me and proceeds to lounge in her chair. Nodding along with what she says, my mind slips back into figuring out my mana control. "Drake," I hear in my mind. Stop getting engrossed in your mind and figure out what to do next." Looking over at Ritotorous, he gives me a look, saying he wants to get on with the battles. Projecting my thoughts to him, I return, "If I can get my mana control to a higher level, I will be able to help with the defense, though." "Do you think we will have issues with the camp''s defense? We have a hero and a decent group of soldiers. The last battle wasn''t that hard, and we only lost two bats. And even since then, they have respawned back in the barracks, so we haven''t lost any troops yet." "Fair enough," I agree with him before standing up and heading to the tent flap. - Would you like to start the battle? Yes/No - Selecting ''Yes'' and then proceeding to the outside, I look out and find the troops already standing at the ready. Well, as prepared as a group of gnolls can be. Their spacing is off, and they keep shuffling their feet, anxious for another fight. Several of the gnolls have blood on their snouts. Seeing them prepared for combat, I send out the bats and ask Ritotorous to scout. All the remaining forces stand idle as we wait to hear about the incoming troops. When the scouts return, not more than two minutes pass. "We have found the enemies. Twenty troops are approaching. They are a rag-tag group of goblins with three large wolves. They aren''t wielding any advanced weapons, and the wolves are on leashes held by four goblins each, held in the middle of the group." "Thank you, Rito." Hearing about the wolves makes me curious. "Is it possible to break one of the ropes holding the wolves and see if they will attack the goblins?" "I would say yes, but I don''t have control over mana enough to cast spells currently." I think about it some more, "Is it possible to have the bats swoop down and get in the faces of the goblins, making them let go of the ropes?" "We can try. There isn''t any harm in the attempt." The succubus approaches us and asks, "What are you planning?" I told her the report and my plan. "That doesn''t sound like a terrible idea; you have the command points to spare, so why not try it with a group of bats? The worst that happens is they die." Considering the options, I have to agree with her assessment. As much as I don''t want to lose the troops if they can cause the wolves to attack the goblins around them, then we have a higher chance of success dealing with the rest. Immediately following that thought, I sent out a group of bats. Walking to the front of the gate, I watch as the bats approach the goblins. They are noticed quickly, and the five goblins who aren''t on wolf duty prepare small spears to throw at the bats. With the spears'' poor quality and weak arms, they throw them and completely miss the incoming bats. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With no more immediate attacks incoming, the bats swoop down and swarm two goblins holding the ropes. With two bats on one of them and three on another, they flail their arms, trying to bat the bats away, leading to them letting go of the rope. I hear the wolf snarling; before I know it, it pounces on another goblin. The bats fly off and try the same tactic on another set of goblins, and it works again. This time, it isn''t entirely because of the bats; the wolf has torn the throat out of the goblin it pounced on, leading the rest of the goblins to try and figure out if they should run or try and hold off the wolves, leaving them open for the bats to harass them. It isn''t long before the three wolves are freed. Seeing the wolves are free, two goblins run back the way they came and disappear. The succubus walks beside me and says, "I recommend trying to tame these beasts." "Tame them? How? Also, why?" "If we can tame the beasts, they would be good companions for the gnolls, and they can improve scouting abilities. And it isn''t hard to tame them. Have the gnolls take on the task. They might even be related." She snickers at the last comment. Sighing, I order her to take the gnolls to clean up the rest of the goblins and see if there is any way to tame the beasts. The battle wraps up quickly after the gnolls join in the fray. They are clearing the goblins rapidly and grabbing hold of the ropes that are attached to them. Once the last goblin has been killed and the wolves are controlled, I am teleported back to the tent. - You have received resources: Total Tiles Claimed: 5 Tiles Lost: 0 Total Resources Received: 5 Troop Upgrade Path Discovered. - "Interesting," I mutter, "does this mean I can start upgrading my troops?" Looking over my menus, I find there aren''t any options available for me to upgrade troops. Sighing, I look at the amount of resources I have accumulated. - Resources: 13/200 - I have enough resources to get the last building for the command post. When I select it, a small training yard appears on the map, and I see a couple of new options. - Training Yard: Train Skills Train Troop Tactics Upgrade Troops Troop Upgrade Paths - Selecting ''Troop Upgrade Paths'' first, I am shown another screen. - Troop Upgrade Paths Gnolls: Wolf Companion: Adds one wolf to each troop upgraded down this path. The wolf allows the groups to scout out locations. It requires consistent access to wolves and 10 resources to provide permanent access to this upgrade path. - Looking at the option, I let out a breath. "It seems I can''t upgrade the troops with the wolves quite yet, but what happened to our current wolves?" I ask out loud. Seeing no magical response provided, I go through the other options. - Train Skills: Basic Spearmanship: Provides basic information about wielding a spear. Basic Swordsmanship: Provides basic information about wielding a sword. Basic Archery Training: Provides basic information about wielding a bow. Troop Tactics: Basic Training: Provides training for the troops to form a basic formation and increases troop morale. Upgrade Troops: Gnolls: Wolf Companion, troops available to upgrade: 4/4; Available upgrades: 3/3 - Seeing that I could upgrade some of the units, I upgraded as many as possible. The number of scouting units I now have under my command makes me glad that the goblins were too stupid to tame these wolves Returning to the main map, I have a notification waiting for me. - All buildings have been completed. Would you like to upgrade the Central Command Post? Yes/No - Selecting ''Yes,'' there is a brief flash of light. Looking around, I don''t notice anything different than what is already here. Returning my vision to the map, I see that new options are available to build for the command post. - Building Options: Upgrade Central Command Post Tent - 10 Resources, Including expanded living quarters for the noble and living quarters for heroes. Includes a small window to view the camp. Expand Defenses - 5 Resources Per Tile. Expands the small wall and ditch to include another tile. Upgrade Defenses - 10 Resources Per Tile. It increases the height of the walls and provides a landing for troops to stand on. The ditch is further improved to become a moat, and small wooden spikes are placed around the outside of the walls. Requires ''Basic Defenses'' to be built on the tile before this option can be selected. Build Basic Barracks - 5 Resources, Includes basic housing for troops. Capacity 10 Command Points of soldiers. One per tile. Build Basic Troop Research Facility - 10 Resources, Allows the research of different troop types and paths. Build Small Blacksmith - 5 Resources: Consumes resources to provide equipment for one group of troops per battle. - Looking at all the new options, I can''t help but want to get them all. One thing at a time, though: I need to get more resources, and the only way to do that is to claim more tiles. Chapter 74 Nobles Plight By sending out the five different scouting parties, I could view more of the area around the initial point I was placed in. Looking at the succubus still in the tent with me, I ask her, "How would you like to be in charge of the troops? Give them the orders and relay any important information to me?" She grins at me, "It would be a pleasure to lead these troops. Can I make requests once we have more resources?" "Naturally," I respond. "Good, then I will be off. Expect good news," she says as she saunters out of the tent. "Why did you give her the power to lead the troops?" Ritotorous questions me. Answering him, "Because if I don''t take something off my plate, how am I supposed to get better at manipulating mana to cast spells? All I have done so far is direct the troops; she seems intelligent enough not to waste the opportunity." "That is true. I hope you can be of more use than just a figurehead, based on what she has told us." Thinking about it, I ask, "Should I name her? I don''t feel comfortable calling her succubus, and you seem so lacking." "That is up to you, Drake. If you want her to have a name, then give her one. If you don''t want to give her one, don''t." Muttering under my breath, I comment, "I wish Laxreal, Draemish, or someone else were here with me. It would make this so much easier." There is a rustle of wings, and then I feel the back of my head smacked. "That is no way to think of this. You are here to learn, so learn. Figure out what you are lacking as a nobleman. See if there are things you could be doing." "What?" I asked with frustration in my tone due to my being smacked. "What could I do besides what I have been working on or already done?" "Have you thought about developing some close combat abilities? Have you thought about what kind of settlement you want? Have you done your research on everything involved in this room?" A torrent of questions come flying at me. "No," I say, looking downcast at how much I still have to do. "It never hurts to know you aren''t ready and have a starting point." He encourages. Looking at him, I think about what I should start on next. Knowing I don''t have the bearing of a nobleman, I decide to focus on my magic and what sort of settlement I want to build. Sitting down away from the strategy table, I begin to think while absent-mindedly trying to manipulate the mana around me. What am I striving for with my settlement? What is the end goal? What should I do as my next step to complete said goal? How will I convince people my aspirations are the right way to go? This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Taking a deep breath, I start to ponder the first question. Am I merely striving for survival until I can separate my world from this one, or am I trying to make this a new home? My thoughts go down the hole of what my world offers me. There was technology, but nothing says we can''t have the same technology after we get things on track for research. This world has mana and magic, and going back to how things might have killed me due to my heart condition, Continuing to ponder this issue for a couple more minutes with different pros and cons for each option, I make up my mind and choose to stay in this world for longer than till I can go back. What is my end goal? Like with the first question, survival is my immediate option; after that, I want to make something of my life; from what I learned from my father, those with a dragon bloodline have longer lives once they finally awaken to a certain point. My goal will be to awaken my bloodline to the best of my ability while striving to make Caelnova a place where everyone can feel comfortable living, regardless of race. Thinking about different races, I know my next steps will involve having different worlds of people as part of a council and providing feedback to help the settlement grow. How do I convince everyone this is the right path when I return? This is the most complex question since the settlement has many different types of people. Those from different worlds have other thoughts on how things should go. I think one of my steps to get everyone to come together is to set up some organization or see if there are buildings that do the same thing and help people find a common goal. As I sit there fiddling with trying to get the mana to form what I want, someone comes and pokes my head. Looking at the offending finger in question, I follow it up to the drop-dead gorgeous eyes of the succubus, staring intently at my seated form. "Huh, so you do notice when someone touches you," she smirks. "I was worried that you had spaced off so hard you might have passed." Tittering, she steps back tantalizingly. "Is there anything to report?" I ask her, neither frustrated nor giving into her little game. "Poo, you''re no fun," she replies, "There isn''t anything problematic to report. We did the scouting and slowly cleared the different tiles. We did manage to acquire a couple of loose resources while we were out." "Oh, interesting." Standing up, I head to the strategy table and loom over it. Once I get a clear view of the table, I see seven notifications. Going through them quickly, the first five are the basic reports asking if I want to claim the tile. Once they come into view, the last two pique my interest the most. - Resource Point Discovered: Uncovering the whole resource point will allow the command post to build a collector on the point to accumulate additional resources for them. - - Resources Collected: 6 - I ask, "Where did the resources come from?" "They were in a little chest in one of the tiles we explored. It was a small chest, but it produced resources at least." "Did we lose any of the fighters?" "No, we didn''t. It was all small groups of goblins and a couple of skeleton troops out there." Hearing news about a new type of enemy in this instance, I heighten my guard of what is to come. "Anything else that is worth noting?" "Nothing else, just those few things." Nodding and proceeding with this small influx of resources, I looked at the building options, selected the tile directly in front of the gate, and expanded the defenses. There is a rumble from outside, and it doesn''t take long before the map updates with the changes I initiated. There are now three different gates entering the tile. Looking closely, I see only one gate still leads into the initial tile, with one directly across from it and the third leading into the tile claimed directly next to it. Looking over at the succubus, I ask, "Shall we start the next battle?" She nods her head and grins, "Absolutely.¡± Chapter 75 Resources, Resources, Resources The battle progresses in the same manner as the previous two. Goblins came, the gnolls fought them off using some minor advantages, and then those that can flee while the rest perished under our might. There were several casualties, which increased the number of available command points in the barracks located in the main camp. I look at my command points to see if I got them back or if they are gone forever. - Command Points: 48/59 - Asking the succubus, "Why did my point total go down, but I didn''t receive any points back for the death of the group of bats during the last battle?" She rolls her eyes at me before replying, "Remember when I said that newcomers get a bonus of ten command points on their first entry into this instance?" I nod along with what she is saying. "Well, when one of the groups summoned past the cap of your noble level dies, those points go away. You don''t get anything from their death other than the knowledge that they did their jobs." "But that is so confusing. How am I supposed to know what troops are summoned with which points?" "The answer is simple: it doesn''t matter what troops die; as long as they were summoned when you had the bonus points, the CP value will be deducted until those points have been exhausted." "What would happen if I had a 10 CP creature die when only 5 points are left?" "Also simple: you will lose the remaining five points but will receive five points because of the loss of the creature to your total CP." "Could you please explain that with numbers? Just talking about losing and gaining points has confused me further?" "Fine," she looks at me exasperated, "Let''s say you have 35 total CPs, and five of those CPs are the newcomer bonus. You have used 14 CP of your total, which looks like this." She takes her finger, and in the air, a light comes from the tip, and she writes.''21/35'' "Using the same creature as before that uses ten CP when it dies, the numbers will shift in accordance to a new total." Again, she uses her finger to write a new set of numbers in the air. ''26/30'' "That is what I meant when I said you would lose the remaining bonus points while gaining the five from the creature''s death. There is one thing to consider about the death of your troops. The CPs won''t return immediately to your pool. They will only return after you come back to this event. So, take caution when throwing your entire army at a problem. You don''t want to lose them all just to be wiped out because you can''t summon any more forces until you return." "Thank you for the information. That was quite informative," I sincerely thank her. "Do you have any other questions about how this works?" She asks me. "Not at the moment. I was just about to conclude the battle and receive the resources. And thank you again for the thorough explanation." She nods before slowly fiddling with her finger, making different shapes with her mana while giving me a sly grin. Ignoring her and returning my gaze to the table, I receive the resource report from the battle. - You have received resources: If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Total Tiles Claimed: 10 Tiles Lost: 0 Total Resources Received: 10 - With these resources, I built another barrack on the newly walled-off tile, receiving another ten command points of space for more troop recruitment. Thinking about my options again, I consulted with the succubus to see if she had any ideas for what we should get for troops. She ponders the question briefly before responding, "The next units we should get are some infiltrators. They will help in the long run. Once we find another nobleman''s territory, we can send it over and get a more detailed view of their forces. I would also recommend getting some more gnolls and bats. It never hurts to have more basic troops to expand our reach further." Thinking about what she has offered, I can''t entirely agree with her. "Why should we invest in infiltration units so early on? There are plenty of other options, and this will limit us to how many more troops we can summon for a weaker unit that can''t help with the main fighting." "The earlier we get them, the more likely we can get an early mover advantage over enemies we can''t see. Don''t forget that other noblemen must scout out tiles before knowing who occupies them." Thinking about this statement, I ask, "Won''t other noblemen figure out something is strange when a group of bats or other scouting unit appears on their maps?" "If they can see the units, then yes, but for the most part, it doesn''t show them much unless they have defenses that prevent scouts from viewing their tiles. And even if they do, it typically won''t cover all of their tiles." She responds. Great, now I have to think about having defenses for different scouting units from opposing nobles. Considering my options, I summon one doppelganger with the rest of the command points towards three more sets of gnolls and two units of bats to make up for the one unit I lost in the last combat. With all my barracks filled, I hand off the scouting and clearing of tiles back to the succubus. I need to figure out a name for her. This is starting to bother me. She heads out and gets the units scouting and clearing tiles, specifically in the direction of the resource point. Taking a few moments for myself again, I consider what I should do as a preventative for other nobles from immediately noticing my claim. One option is to claim a set of tiles around, leaving at least one empty tile between myself and the border of my discovered land. The other option is to scout two tiles out and expand while slowly clearing out the tiles after keeping a buffer of neutral combatants between myself and those further away. Checking the map, I see that the scouting teams are finishing quickly. The resource point is only two tiles in total. Near the resource point are several groups of goblins, but there is also a militia with a tattered banner on one of the tiles. Investigating the militia further, I haven''t received much information. - Enemy Troops: 2-8 - There are also four chests that I presume contain resources that the succubus mentioned. They are on the spaced around the resource point. Pulling away from the table, I head over to my chair, sit down, and work on my mana control idly while starting to think of a name for the succubus. "One thing at a time, Drake," I muttered. - Lilith''s POV - Looking at the gnolls and bats around me, I find joy knowing that the noble I serve this time is so young. The young always make things easy for me. They don''t have ridiculous questions because they would feel embarrassed to ask them, and they take things sometimes at face value. I am a demon, so of course, I want to have some fun with him before he dies, and I am sent back to that hell of limbo, waiting until I am summoned again. His face gets so funny when he tries to address me. I could have told him my name, but why should I? It is far more fun for me to see him squirm as he is talking to me. Walking behind the gnolls, I wait for them to engage in the enemy goblins when I see the militia in the distance. "Huh," I mutter, "I wouldn''t have expected to see a fallen noble so close to where I was summoned. I should probably let Drake know what this means." Thinking about him, he is probably in his tent, watching as we slowly scout out the terrain, trying to think of his next move. Trying to let me have some leeway but not fully wanting to let go of control. He doesn''t know all the rules of this world. Again, I could tell him, but this is just the beginning, and he has to survive his initial trial before I am willing to give him more information. I wonder how long this brat will last. I hope it is longer than the last one. Chapter 76 Militia and Ruins - Drake''s POV - As I continued working on my external mana manipulation, I came up with several names for the succubus. Having thought of the different names, I am ready to talk with her about it and see if there are any that she prefers, though I don''t know if I will get a straight answer from her. She seems to be more playful as I get to know her. I wonder how she''ll react to the names I''ve chosen. Having lost myself in my thoughts, I am interrupted by the sound of the tent flap opening, and in comes the succubus. She stands in front of the strategy table and looks at me curiously. "Do you have any other orders?" Thinking about the militia group on the map, I decided to ask her about it. "Do you have any information about the human group? They22 had a tattered flag and differed from the other groups we faced." She raises her eyebrow at me, "You saw that. I can tell you about them, but I have a question. Do you have anything specific you want me to do after this?" "What do you mean?" I ask her, confused as to why she would ask that. "Oh, never mind, you didn''t see anything else while looking at the strategy table?" "I mean," I look at her, seeing her shoulders slumped slightly forward like she is disappointed with something. "There were several chests on the map, and the resource point is only as large as two tiles. So, it is relatively small. After seeing those, I stepped back and started to work on my mana manipulations and try to figure out names for you since I haven''t thought of any till now, and I don''t like having to call you ''You'' or ''Succubus.'' It feels less wholesome, and I don''t like it." She snaps her head up from her downcast position and looks directly into my eyes, "Is that really what you have been doing? Don''t you know the resource point or how many resources we acquired? And you don''t have any other plans for me other than to continue what we are doing?" "Well, I would like it if you could answer my questions like you have been doing when I have them. And I do find it intriguing that I don''t have to direct the troops on the map. You take charge of this and report any issues that might crop up. Also, you are proving to be very helpful in managing the troops. I don''t have to worry about your small battles since things seem to be going smoothly for you. Should I be trying to find things for you to do specifically? Or should I be trying to manage more of your movements?" She looks at me like I am some idiot before saying, "You are trusting a demon to be in charge of your troops? That is ridiculous! In my thousands of years of experience, I have never had someone, especially a human, let me take charge of their troops like you have. You boggle my mind. I should just get all of your troops killed since you have enough command points and not think twice about it." Giving her a stern look, I respond, "If you did that, you would destroy the trust I have been giving you. And I have reasons why I can trust you with the troops. So, let''s get back to the topic. What do the humans on the map, with the tattered banner, represent?" Sighing in defeat, she answers, "The tattered banner behind the troops represents that they were from a nobleman''s lands that have fallen. If you were to fall, all of your troops would be the same as them, splitting into their groups and being enemies for other nobles that come later. They were typical fodder troops, and we could easily beat them since they didn''t have much in coordination or weaponry." If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "What does that mean for the tiles that the nobleman used to have claim over?" An inquisitive tone seeps into my voice. "Depending on how far the noblemen were in the technology and building progress of his command post, there could be ruins we could loot." My ears perk up when I hear about the potential for loot. "How far along would he have to be to leave ruins for us to loot?" Shrugging her shoulders, "I don''t know. I have been around many noblemen, but their territory is ruined once they perish here or elsewhere. I am immediately teleported back to where I was summoned." "Fair enough, let''s move back a bit in the conversation. I presume you looted the accessible chests and have more information about the resource point." Standing straighter, she enthusiastically answers, "The chests have been looted, and the resource point has been fully scouted. The only thing left for us is to use the resources we received and start our next battle." "Great, I have one question for you before we start the battle. Will there be a time that there isn''t a battle after finishing everything we could do?" I asked her "There will be times that there aren''t battles, but that won''t be until you finish your initial trial." She answers. "Wonderful. Let''s see how many resources we received and get to the building. I would like to know what having a full resource point gives," I say as I get off my chair and approach the strategy table, where several notifications appear. Six are asking about claiming the tiles, which I do. The last one is the resources from the chests. - Resources Received: 21 - Choosing to hover over the resource point to see what it provides. - Small Resource Point: When claimed and worked, it produces 3 resources per tile at the point. - Going further into the information provided, I noticed another notification. - Would you like to work on this resource point? There will be a 2 CP cost to working this point. Yes/No - Looking at where the point is compared to my defenses, I choose not to start working on the point. I want to have enough defenses around the point before sending workers there. With this influx of resources, I go to my building options. I choose to expand the defenses into a larger square based on what I have currently. This action takes 10 of the 25 resources. With the remaining resources, I built another barracks and a small blacksmith. This leaves me with 5 resources left. With the option to expand my base defenses one more tile or to hold on to them and wait for the resources from battle to accrue, I chose to do the latter of the two options. Again, I have another ten slots for troops, so I figured getting a couple more sets of gnolls, a couple more sets of bats, and one more succubus was okay. Looking at the succubus in the tent with me, I stand up and say, "Since there are more of your kind here, it would make sense that you, as the superior, have a name." Before I can continue, she bursts into laughter. "Is that really necessary?" she asks. "Yes, I don''t want to confuse the two of you when I call out to you," I say earnestly. "Alright, let''s hear the names you have come up with." She continues to chuckle at my expense. "Ok, just stop me when there is one that you like," I offer before running through the list of names I have thought of. "Fellona, Lynthine, Tryxova, Nemortia..." This goes on for a few minutes, and her laughter gets more hysterical with each passing name. "What? Were there no names I have offered that would work for you?" "Oh," she titters, "There were a couple that got close, but there haven''t been any that really ''speaks'' to me." Grunting in displeasure, I stop and figure I should try again later. Trying to get her to be serious again, I ask her, "Can you do another round of scouting with the two additional bats groups and clear those out." My hopes for this are to get enough resources to build either the research facility or to upgrade the tent again. "Sure," she says, still chuckling about what just occurred while getting up from her chair. So, the process of collecting resources, building the command post, and trying to figure out what to call this succubus starts. Chapter 77 Fast Forward The subsequent several battles proceed similarly: the enemies come at us, and the gnolls, bats, and succubus decimate the forces. The forces that perish during the fighting are replenished, scouting, claiming tiles, expanding the defenses, and building new buildings. There were a couple of times when I had to summon more of a specific type of troop because they died during the fighting. After the fourth battle, we had 16 resources to upgrade the base, and through scouting, we acquired another 29 resources. Draining all of the resources, I built the research center and the tent upgrade, upgraded the defenses of the initial tile, and then expanded the defenses to several more tiles. With all the building done, I claimed ten more tiles and started the next battle. The fifth battle ended with me having 26 tiles and resources and acquiring 15 more from chests. I continued to expand my defenses. After the sixth battle, there were 36 tiles with another 9 resources from chests. I again broadened the defenses and expanded them until a 5X5 square had been completed with the command center in the middle. Also, between the battles, I have been working on my mana control and figuring out a name for my hero succubus. She keeps laughing at my failed attempts to figure out a good name for her. It has gotten to the point that I have given up entirely so as not to be mocked by her laughter any further. I continued through the 7th, 8th, and 9th battles and acquired the following. -7th Battle: 46 Resources through chests: 19 Total: 66 Built: Nothing 8th Battle: 56 Resources through chests: 6 Total: 129 Built: Nothing 9th Battle: 66 Resources through chests: 24 Total: 200/200 Built: Nothing - I checked my command post''s overall panel and saw that I had filled my resources after all the battles. Command Center Information: Central Command Post Level 3 Noble Present: Yes Heroes: 1 (Succubus) Troops: 59 (Ritotorous, 35 Bats, 9 Gnolls with 3 Wolf Companion, 27 Gnolls, 1 Doppelganger, 2 Succubus) Command Points: 0\50 Resources: 200/200 - Tiles Claimed: 66 Tiles With Defenses: 25 Resource Tiles Worked: 1/2 - Central Command Post Options: Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Build Buildings Recruit Troops Troop Research ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) ??? (Command Post Level Too Low) Building Options: Expand Defenses - 5 Resources Per Tile. Expands the small wall and ditch to include another tile. Troop Research Options: Basic Weapon Research - 5 Resources Basic Armor Research - 5 Resources Basic Amenities Research - 10 Resources Minor Troop Speed Research - 30 Resources Minor Troop Morale Research - 100 Resources - With the resources capped at 200, I figured it was time to research. I started down the list with the basic weapon and armor research. Once that was done, I checked on the troops through my window to find that nothing had changed with their gear. Trying to figure out why, I considered looking into the blacksmith I had built but didn''t look at. - Basic Small Blacksmith: (Requires 1 Resource Point being worked to operate) Basic Weapon Upgrade - 2 Resources per command point Basic Armor Upgrade - 2 Resources per command point - Looking up at the succubus, I ask her, "What does a ''per command point'' mean regarding the weapon and armor upgrades?" "That question is probably one of the worst you could ask. It would be easier for you to try instead of wasting my time with having to answer it." She scoffs at me. I have noticed that she is not as happy since I have stopped trying to give her a name, almost like she was making a game of it. Considering what she said, I selected one of the succubi and proceeded with the basic weapon upgrade. From my position near the window of the upgraded command tent, I can see her whip flash lightly before extending slightly, and wicked barbs appear on the end. Checking on the resources I have. They have gone from 190/200 to 186/200. Thinking about it, I can see how my question could be answered quickly through some small experimentation. Continuing down the path of upgrading my troops, I get all of them their weapon upgrades, as well as the armor upgrades. Each troop is different in how their upgrades affect them. The succubi have their whips upgraded and receive more padded, form-fitting armor. The gnolls received an upgrade from their clubs to short swords, and their armor is better-kept leather. The bats are interesting. They have metal capping their claws, giving them a sharp gleam. While they don''t seem to have any armor, their wings do seem to have bulked up considerably. I can''t find the doppelganger in the camp, so I figured its upgrades are also helpful. With almost all of the upgrades completed on my troops, my resources have dropped to 0/200. Giving the succubus a knowing look, she heads out and continues scouting and clearing out the nearby area. With another ten tiles scouted, she clears them out and acquires another 17 resources from chests in the area. With this last influx of resources, I finish the upgrades to all the troops, again dropping my resource count down to 1/200. Wrapping up that task, I looked at the quest given to me when I entered. - Noble Class Quest: You have entered a unique instance for a nobleman. This instance will save your progress after finishing the initial series of battles. During these battles, you will learn about leadership, cunning, people management, delegation, and other minor skills any nobleman must possess. Tasks: Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (2/6) Complete the initial series of battles (9/10) - Noticing the lack of progress in one section of the quest still frustrates me. Trying to figure out how to learn these class skills, I returned to the bookshelf. It has increased in size since the latest upgrade. There are a couple more books about swordsmanship and mana manipulation. I had skimmed through the latter book to see if there was anything to help me with casting, but it didn''t provide much more than I already knew, while swordsmanship hasn''t interested me since I want to focus on spell casting primarily. Sighing, I turn to the tent flap one last time before finishing the tenth battle. "Let''s get this over with," I say to the room. Selecting to start the fight, I head outside and find everyone already in their positions. The succubus appears nearby, trying to startle me. "Have you figured out how to get your mana to work yet?" she asks with a devilish grin. "Not yet," I respond, "I feel like I am so close to getting it, though." "Oh, well, that will be good news for you then. At least once, you can cast some simple spells." Chuckling, she walks off, ready to lead the troops. Looking around, I figure now is the time to at least be near the fight. Walking behind her, I zone out while focusing on getting the mana to gather at the center of my palm. Slowly, a swirl forms, and before it dissipates, I continue, knowing I am not far off from my goal. Soon, I heard the clash of the different groups of monsters attacking the camp, still focused on getting the mana to form. Not paying any attention, I listen to footsteps approaching quickly. Looking up in a daze, I see a large goblin heading in my direction. It took me a second to realize that no one was in front of me to stop it. Panicking, I look around quickly to see that the hole in the formation where this goblin came from is filling back up, but no one is turning around to help me. Frantic to complete the spell, I try again. The magic swirls but breaks apart due to my frantic mental state. Over and over, I quickly try to consolidate the mana in my palm as I back away from the goblin. Taking a breath, the goblin is about ten meters away from me. Knowing I have one more attempt at getting the mana to form, I double down. Pulling the mana into the center of my palm from around me, I bring my second hand up to cup my hands like I am holding a small animal. Feeling that the mana is still swirling and finally condensing, I take another look to see the progress of the goblin, only to find it standing right in front of me, preparing to swing its sword right at my neck. Chapter 78 Return Flailing my arms, I push the semi-condensed ball of mana right into its chest. As it impacts, a burst of light blinds me. The force of the blast launches me backward; I roll for what feels like a dozen meters before my back impacts a hard wall. Lying there, I wait for something to happen as my sight clears. It doesn''t take too long, and when I do look up from my position, the goblin that was coming after me is also lying on the ground with a gaping wound in its chest. Confused, I looked at the rest of the battle and found the succubus standing not far from where I was. When it took me to get my bearings, she finished it. There is a brief moment of my brain to realize I am safe, and there are no more attacking monsters before I turn my entire attention onto the succubus. "What was that all about? I thought you had everything under control!" I shout at her. "Well, obviously, I did have everything under control, unlike what you think. The monsters are dead, and you are well. That is all I could ever hope for." She responds, her tone betraying a lack of concern for my life. "You know exactly what I mean. You could have easily kept that goblin away from me, but you let it charge right at me instead. Don''t you think that was a bit too much?" I demanded, with my anger just below the surface. "No," she says with a tone of finality. Before I can raise my hackles further, she continues, "There is one thing that I have learned from watching you. While you are studious regarding simple topics, you struggle once you get to the more advanced topics. Take mana manipulation, for example. You have been able to get the mana to gather for so long, but you were never pushed to get it that one step further." Looking at her, I consider her words. I had been stuck at the condensing portion of external mana manipulation for several sets of enemies. "Does that give you the right to have such a large enemy come at me?" I asked my anger at the situation slowly abating. "Sometimes, there will be a breakthrough at the cusp of life and death. And honestly, do you think we left you to your devices?" Gesturing, I follow to see Ritotorous flying not far above me. "Why didn''t you tell me then?" I asked, betrayed that they hadn''t told me their plans. "If we had told you, you probably wouldn''t have progressed, knowing you had a fallback in case something happened and you weren''t successful. Young noblemen always get a big head about how well they can manipulate magic in a safe environment. It takes putting them onto a battlefield to see how they genuinely react so that they can realize the folly of their ways. Typically, this is done without the careful gaze of a protector. This does lead to a lot of deaths, but so what? They shouldn''t be noblemen if they couldn''t handle a little pressure." Her tone of finality for the fates of those she has put in the same positions echoed in my ears. Paling at how callous she has become, I carefully consider what I will say next. "So, you have done this before?" "Several times, I have needed to see if the person I work for can learn. Thankfully, you are one of the few who have passed my initial tests." Her tone teased that it wouldn''t be any easier for me later. Gasping that she still has more tests, she wants to put me through to figure out if I am still worthy of leading her. Getting off the ground with a wince at the pain in my back, I head back into the command tent to review the battle results. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. - You have received resources: Total Tiles Claimed: 68 Tiles Lost: 0 Total Resources Received: 68 - Sighing with relief that the initial battles have been completed, I figure it is time to return to the settlement. Pulling up the menus, one more option has become available. - Would you like to return to your settlement? Yes/No - "Finally," I exclaim, "I have had enough of this tedium. It is time to head back. Are you ready, Ritotorous?" I ask just in case. "Yes, let us get back. I''m curious about how long we''ve been in this realm." After receiving his consent, I decided to return it. A small countdown timer appears with ten seconds on it. Being a bit cheeky, I decided to ask the succubus one more question. "Doesn''t finishing one of your tests result in me getting a reward?" 8 seconds "You are right, considering you did well on my test. What would you like?" 5 seconds "I don''t know. What do you think would be appropriate as a reward?" 2 seconds A devilish smile reaches her eyes, "My name is Lilith." With that final statement and with wide eyes, I am brought back to the settlement. - Lilith''s POV - Oh, that look of shock on his face when I told him my name would give me shivers for a long time. I can''t wait until he comes back. Until then, I hop onto the bed and start to meditate. - Drake''s POV - Shocked at what I had just heard, I didn''t even realize that I had returned to the settlement till I was grabbed from behind and dragged back. "We are going to have a long talk about what you have done, and when I am through with you, there won''t be any more of this reckless behavior. Do you hear me, young man?" This is the point at which I zoned into what was being said around me. Coming back to myself, the first thing I notice is that I am tied up like a hog and on the back of Rhenriqi with my mother scolding me from right beside her. "Umm," I try to defend myself. "None of that. You will wait until we are back at the manor before you can talk. And until then, you need to think about what you have just done," she declares while continuing to walk. Reaching out to Ritotorous, I ask, "What is going on?" "Oh, you weren''t privy to your mother''s entire rant about how you scared them all and such. It seems like you are going to be getting more than just a small earful from her then," he chuckles at me and flies off to do what he does. I first tried to figure out how long I had been gone. From what I can gather, it hasn''t been too long since everyone hasn''t been up in arms about resources, and no one seems to be rushing to get things ready for those going to the auction. Lowering my head in defeat, I try to make myself as comfortable as possible as I lay on Rhenriqi''s back, slightly embarrassed as to how I look for those that we pass. There is one person we pass with a look of abject horror on his face. Giving him a small smile, I can only hope that Vranjaya doesn''t figure out how to convince our lovely Arachne of her schemes of courtship. It took longer than I would have thought to get back to the manor, which I figured was because my mother was guiding Rhenriqi on the longest path with hopes that all of the people of the settlement would see me in this predicament. Once we arrive, my mother and a very reluctant Laxreal manhandle me into the manor. "Just listen to what she has to say and nod. Don''t fight her on this, or you will just drag out the punishment." He tries to give me some advice. I nod along with what he says, and I am brought to the meeting room on the first floor. Rhenriqi skillfully cuts the webbing holding me from moving and then sets me down in one of the chairs. Seeing that everyone with words for me is seated in the meeting room, I pluck myself up and prepare for the longest afternoon of my life so far. Chapter 79 A Mothers Fury Sitting at the table beside my mother, I look up at everyone surrounding me, "I am ready with what you have to say." Laxreal starts to raise his hand but is immediately glared at by my mother. Curious about what required that sort of response, I can only wait. The first person to start isn''t anyone from my family but instead Draemish. "Drake, do you know how long you have been gone?" She asks in a curious tone that strains on whether there will be hell to pay if answered incorrectly. "Based on what I could see in my dazed state while being jostled around on Rhenriqi''s back on the way here, I can only assume it is the next day since the sun is out and still close to the afternoon." After stating this, I looked around the table to see several confused faces, some shocked expressions and looks of disbelief at what I had just said. "The trial for me was longer than I anticipated, but I completed it. Good news, it was a specific nobleman trial, and it did help me in several different aspects of my magic." I happily exclaim. Placing his hand on his skull, Laxreal looks over, seeing that my mother isn''t stopping him this time, "Drake, you haven''t been gone for one day..." He wants to continue but is interrupted by Xelyphe. "You were gone for four whole days. FOUR. WHOLE. DAYS." They emphasize. Hearing this, it is my turn to be shocked. "That doesn''t make sense. I didn''t need to sleep once during the trial. I feel like it has only been a day at most." "It''s true, son," my father says, "you have been gone for a long time; the only reason we knew you were still alive is that the oaths people took for you were still active." "Damn," I curse. "So I have missed a lot, huh?" "An incredible amount, if I was to say. However, it isn''t with the buildings. We are still having a hard time gathering wood. Excursions into the fog haven''t provided any chests, from what we have seen recently. We have stopped going out after the first day to ensure everyone is ready if something happens to you." Draemish answers. "That does explain why everyone is so mad." I shrink a little in my seat. Four whole days, gone just like that, what am I supposed to do? A strong hand lands on my shoulder, "Drake, you don''t have to worry about the health of everyone in the settlement. We have had enough food coming, people are working in the outposts to produce resources, and most of us have leveled up our professions. We have been doing fine without you." Nodding along with what he says, I look at the settlement window to see that he is right. - Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 25 (62/25) Have 20 settlers at level 3 or higher (62/20) Optional Tasks: Have 10 settlers with professions at level 2 (43/10) - Giving everyone a weak smile, I inform them. "We can at least upgrade the settlement. And have there been any rewards in this room since I completed my trial?" I asked for a way to change the topic but failed to do so. "There weren''t any when I came to the room, but that isn''t surprising." Shadow acknowledges the question. "But that doesn''t mean we will let you try to steer the conversation a different route." "He be right," Zul''Zara pipes up, "You be needing to tell us what be occurring in that head of yours. Why you be making such a stupid choice on the fly?" "And why is it that Laxreal was willing to cover for you." My mother shoots another glare at said skeleton. Putting his hands up in surrender, he answers for me. "For the last time, he had no idea about what I planned on doing. I don''t intend to indulge the boy, but he needs to think more clearly about his choices since they affect us all." "What do you mean by that, though, mother?" I ask. "When you left, Laxreal was trying to stop you, right?" I nod along, "Well, when he was ''trying'' to stop you, it was obvious after you had disappeared that he hadn''t been trying his hardest and let you slip through the fog on your own. So, I think you somehow managed to recruit him in your little scheme. He has been adamant that you hadn''t told him anything and had no dealings with him concerning this." I look over to him and give him a brief smile, knowing that my new friend had helped and also took some of the heat of my mother off of me just by his actions. "I can wholeheartedly tell you that, by no way did I ask Laxreal to help me with my foolish errand of going into the fog by myself. Nor did I have anyone''s help. It was just me and me alone." Hearing this, my mother has another surge of fury behind her eyes as I look in her direction. Crap, that didn''t help at all, I think it only made things worse. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. "Oh, really now? So, you are solely responsible for your actions? Because if you had at least talked with someone about what was going to happen, then I could write part of the idiocy towards them, but it seems like my son is an absolute dolt." Swallowing, I look towards my father in hopes that he might be able to help me out of this one, as he always has something to help calm her down. Instead of a small smile, I see him slowly shaking his head, getting up, and gesturing for the door so everyone can follow him. "Everyone, this would be a good time for Drake and his mother to have a more ''private'' talk. Don''t you all agree?" Everyone looks at him, then at my seething mother, and then down to me. They all get up and head out of the room because they aren''t required for the next part. Laxreal comes over and is about to grab my shoulder to comfort me when a clink of metal is on the bone. "You, you don''t get to comfort this idiot till I am done with him. Is that understood?" My mother hisses out with her blade in between my shoulder and his hand. Giving me one last look, he heads out of the room with everyone else. Once the door shuts, I look at my mother in hopes of seeing some mercy she will show me. Any hope of that is gone with her next question. "Drake, how much health do you have, and what is your strength like?" - Ilpheus'' POV - With Laxreal as the last person to leave the room, I look at everyone gathered before me. "Alright, this might take a while, but we must move things along quickly once we get in there. The only help I can give him is a quick end to the humiliation he has already suffered and will suffer. So what are everyone''s plans?" "Not that I was mad about him leaving out of the blue, but it would have been nice to know about what he planned ahead of time," Draemish says; not far from her, Shadow and Vranjaya are nodding along with what she has said. "I will just keep doing what I have been doing for the last several days and work with Rognar on teaching people to use their blades." There is a clattering of furniture behind me, but I don''t let that stop the flow of the conversation. "Laxreal, what are your plans?" "Just like Draemish said, I will work with those who want to improve their spell craft. I will also work on my formations and see if I can break to the fourth level before the auction starts." The rest of the people slowly discussed what they planned on doing while several cringed at the sounds just behind me. There was the sound of objects shattering, tormented cries from Drake, and incoherent shouting from Madoka. Several minutes pass in this manner. The crashing becomes less often, feeling it is about time to open the door. I turn around and approach the doors. Once there hasn''t been a sound from the room for a solid minute, I open them to look. - Drake''s POV - Fifteen minutes, that''s how long my mother chased after me in this tiny room, and trust me when I say this. Even without using her bloodline power, she catches up with me many times and smacks the back of my head to ''teach'' me the folly of my ways. Granted, nothing she does hurts me, and I can heal myself if I am ever in any danger, but the one time I did for a light cut while she was chasing me only made her up the ante. When everyone left, she hadn''t stopped trying to smack my head by saying how stupid I was and how I should be a good son and stay out of trouble and out of harm''s way. I find this humorous when she says things out of harm''s way and when she is trying to punish my stupidity. With her strength, it doesn''t hurt that much, but I play along and act like I am getting hurt more and more. If she can''t smack me upside the head occasionally, she will throw the furniture around the room. Finally, once the small furniture has been shattered, she stops and collects herself before turning towards the door. Figuring this is a good sign, I go to start healing myself. At the glow of my hands, she turns towards me. "Don''t think you can get away from this. You are not allowed to heal yourself yet. This is the consequence of your actions, oh son of mine. Come and stand next to me; we must properly greet everyone back into the room to continue today''s discussion." She gives me an evil look and stands again, ready to receive everyone from outside the room. I was bruised and had minor cuts along my arms and legs from snagging them on the different objects in the room from when the chairs and end tables splintered apart. Figuring it was better to do as she said then, I stood next to her. The door opens, and my father gets the first glance at the destruction in the room. "May we come in now?" He asks my mother a bit hesitantly. She tilts and looks at me, "Are you ready to receive everyone?" Her tone says no matter what my response is. There isn''t any way I am getting out of this. I answered their questions with an awkward smile: "Let everyone else join us. We should continue with the discussion. We don''t need to prevent people from continuing their daily work." Everyone takes a glance around the room, finding no suitable chairs anywhere. They awkwardly surround the table. Wanting to finish this quickly, I start the conversation: "Thank you all for coming to this meeting. First, I would like to address the settlement levels, and then we can discuss different questions you might have." People are wincing as they look at me, but don''t shy away from my words. "Is it possible to level up the settlement again?" Laxreal takes the bait first. "Yes, we can. I want to know what we have to do to complete the next level of the settlement." After reviewing the options, I selected to level up the settlement again. - Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 40 (62/40) Have 10 settlers at level 4 or higher (10/5) Optional Tasks: Have 10 settlers with professions at level 3 (38/10) - Seeing that the tasks have remained largely unchanged, I continue to upgrade the settlement until I can no longer do so. Finally, after two more levels, I can''t level the settlement up anymore, and the basic settlement information hasn''t changed much. - Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: Roadside Hovel Level: 8 Experience: 11682/500 Population: 62 Territory Size: 1.7Km X 1.7Km Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 70 (62/70) Have 5 settlers at level 6 or higher (2/5) Optional Tasks: Have 10 settlers with professions at level 5 (10/10) - Looking at the highest level in the settlement makes me curious. "Who is level 6 already?" Nobody speaks up with the revelation. Someone is at a higher level than everyone in the room. Not wanting to dwell on this topic for long, we continue with the discussion. Chapter 80 Preparing for the Auction "Are there any questions before we continue with one more thing on my list?" I ask the group. "Yes, what did you get from going into the fog alone?" Draemish questions me. "I didn''t receive anything tangible," I start to recount my time in the nobleman''s trial. "So, there is an entire other scenario happening only for you and other people with noble titles?" She continues to ask. "From what I know, yes, though from what Lilith has told me so far, there typically aren''t many people that make it that far before they are either killed in this world or decimated in the scenario," I explain best. "What stops someone from destroying your base while you are here?" She prods for further information. "I don''t know. I know I don''t have to worry about my interests in that world while I am not actively involved." Scratching her head, trying to figure something out, I ask her. "What are you trying to figure out?" "If what you said is true, then on what sort of time scale does that trial take place?" Pondering the question myself, I get just as confused. My initial thoughts are that it took one day per two battles, but that doesn''t seem right because I can spend time out here, but things won''t flow there. It isn''t the same for when I am in the trial space. Looking around the table, several other people are also pondering what Draemish has just posed. "Did you meet any other nobles during the trial?" Laxreal asks. "There weren''t any living nobles. I did run into a dead noble''s units, but they weren''t any better than the low-level troops that attacked my command center for every battle." I answer honestly. "There are two trains of thought for this then," he starts. "The first option is that that world is paused, and no time will flow as only one noble is allowed in that space at a time, and different nobles have their own spaces." He pauses, thinking for a second. "What isss the sssecond option?" Vranjaya pushes. "The second option is that no matter what, the time scale in that place doesn''t fit any world, and no matter the amount of time out here, as long as Drake doesn''t go back in, there won''t be any time difference, and he will return with the same setup as he had to start." "While that is an interesting thought, that doesn''t explain why our world''s time flows while he is in space. If we go based on the second assumption, then there shouldn''t be any flow of time in our world, and he should be able to come back immediately." Shadow states while looking perplexed at the current conversation. "Maybe it is like our worlds. They are currently in a state of stasis. Those summoned have their time resumed, not realizing there is a flow of time elsewhere." Uxa says, bringing up a good point. "So, how do we treat this trial? For Drake to progress and potentially have rewards come from it, he will need to go into the fog again." Draemish says. My mother scowls at the mention of me going out by myself again so soon after I came back. "I don''t think that is something that I will do anytime soon." I quickly inform everyone. "Right now, there are too many things that need to be done for me to be gone for more than a couple of days at most." "True, we do have other things that are more pressing for the time being," Laxreal helpfully assists, knowing that he isn''t in the clear with my mother yet. "With us going based on the assumption that we don''t have to worry about your trial space, Drake, does that mean we can move onto something more pressing for all of us?" My father inquires. "I would second move on to another topic since what we have been discussing thus far hasn''t been of any help to us other than knowing what Drake went through," Rhenriqi adds. Seeing that almost everyone is ready to change topics, I quickly grasped the chance. "For the next topic, we should more thoroughly discuss who will go with me to the upcoming auction, and if we can, we should bring some of the items people have made to see if we can sell them at the auction or to others." "Haven''t we figured out who will go to the auction with you?" Draemish says. "We have had a preliminary discussion about who is going, but we haven''t discussed it since I did a stupid thing." I quickly responded, "Do we know if we have any merchants in the settlement yet?" "From what we have gathered from everyone, there hasn''t been any movement to determine if anyone has mercantile experience. The closest we have is your father since he has recovered from his wounds." Mother states. I think about what is being asked and the current settlement. "If we have my father and me go, we will be overriding many different groups of people here. It would set a precedent that we are focused only on our world and not trying to help everyone we can." I think out loud. "Should we have the different groups of people vote for a representative to send? And then pick from those three?" "You mean four," Shadow says. "No, three, I am guaranteed to go since I am the lord of the settlement unless you think it wouldn''t be good for me to go. I feel that if I go, there will be some form of benefit for the group that does go." I counter. With everyone''s gazes on me, I continue to try and explain but am interrupted by Vranjaya, "If you think that you have to be the one to go, then I don''t oppossse. But I would like to clarify if you have to be the one that isss guaranteed a ssspot." "How would you confirm this?" Shadow asks. "Easssy, take out the invitation and sssee if it can be usssed by sssomeone elssse." Not thinking this will be an issue, Xelyphe goes to fetch the invitation. It doesn''t take long before they are back and slowly hand it to me. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. - Would you like to go to the auction? Yes/No - I see nothing wrong with the prompt, so I select ''No'' and then pass it to Laxreal. I can tell he is focused on a notification before his eyes shake, and he hands it to Draemish. Curious about his look, I asked, "What was your notification when you tried to use the invitation?" "It said I cannot use this object as a guardian." "Interesting," I turned to look at Draemish, who had also gone through her notification before handing the invitation back to me. "What was your notification?" Everyone perks up a bit when I ask her. "It said that since I am not the settlement owner, I cannot use this item." "There we have it. I have to use this item. This means that there are only two spots available. I want to have the best people from the other worlds to come with, but I want to have as much representation as we can." I say with a tone of finality. "That means that the other three worlds," and I look at their corresponding groups, "have to pick someone they would feel comfortable sending with me and are willing to help work for the best of the settlement." Looking at the invitation again, I see the timer is down to less than a day before it can be used. "Can I ask that you all get everyone from your world to quickly pick a representative so we can finalize the two people coming with me?" "That shouldn''t be a problem," Draemish answers before she stands up to go out. Give us until tomorrow morning, and we will have someone before you." "Sssame," Vranjaya agrees. Shadow nods his head quickly before hurrying out of the room. With that finally done and everyone taking their leave since they know there isn''t much time to pick someone up, I turn to my family. "I think that could have gone much worse." I smile, still bruised. "That was quite smart of you," my mother says; as this compliment reaches my ears, my grin gets wider. "For once," she finishes, and with that, my smile fades as I look and see her eyeing me. Father comes and pats my shoulder before heading out of the room. "You must be hungry and tired from your trial." Thinking about it, I agree with him. I hadn''t eaten during the entire trial, which I found weird. I hadn''t slept either, even though there was a bed, and it had been five days. "I am a bit hungry and could sleep. What''s the time?" I asked. "It is just after noon," Xelyphe responds. Thinking about what I could do with the time I have in the day, I could go and work on my enchanting some more and use the rest of the experience bags I have. There is also learning how to wield a sword, so I should schedule some time with Rognar or Draemish. I tell myself one step at a time, don''t get too bogged down in the details. My first step is to open my experience bags. Opening all of them gives me 220 experience, which pushes my level halfway to level 6. After finding something to eat quickly, I head to the enchanting hut. With four new paths for me to work on, I quickly get to it. Several hours pass before I am done in the hut. I have gotten three new paths up to selecting a specific focus. - Offensive Buildings: Path of Sieging Path of Mobility Path of Construction Support Buildings: Path of Enhancement Path of Afflictions Path of Construction Bags: Path of Professions Path of Storage Path of Currency - Looking through the paths presented, I find it interesting that all of the building paths have a form of construction. It makes me curious if selecting that option will allow the bonuses from one path to be used for another set of sigils. After briefly looking, I check on my enchanting level; it has risen twice, and now I am at level 8. Each level is taking longer and longer to work on. It probably isn''t helping that all I am doing right now is just getting the sigils made and haven''t enchanted any items. I haven''t had the materials to experiment on either. Leaving that for another day, I head out of the hut to see everyone working on their projects or waiting for a spot to open in one of the different buildings. I''m curious why no one is trying to get into the enchanting hut; it doesn''t take me long to figure out why. There are only a couple of enchanters in the entire settlement. Including myself, Muiress, and Eleanor, only a couple of other people have enchanting as their profession. I head to the infantry training yard to see if anyone there would be willing to teach me a little swordsmanship. Poking my head around the corner, I see several people practicing with wooden blades in their hands. They are slowly going through the motions of their footwork, thrusting the blade, slashing, and parrying. There are several pairs off to the side that are sparring. Draemish''s soldiers and others from other worlds who used cold weapons before coming here are seeing it. They can quickly get up to speed and work on getting the most out of the strength they get from their stats. Signaling Draemish, she quickly finishes with who she is sparring, and I ask, "Would you be able to teach me some basic defensive postures with the blade?" She looks at me and nods, "It is good to see that you want to learn more self-defense that isn''t magic-oriented. I have always tried to get Laxreal to work on his self-defense, but he has never listened. But I don''t think you want to learn from me." Confused, I ask her why. "You have an instructor who can give you the same lessons if not better suited for you than I could." She continues while pointing at Rognar, who is slowly instructing one of the warriors from my world. I can''t remember his name, but he still struggles with his forms. After thanking her, I moved over to the duo to overhear what he was saying: "Haroth, spread your legs wider, find your balance, and stop overextending your arm as you swing." From the tone of his shouting, it''s not that he is angry at the young man; it''s just that he is frustrated to have to keep correcting his mistakes. "Hey, Rognar," I call out. Turning his head to see me, he gives me a nod before focusing on Haroth some more. "Keep your focus and remember the feeling as you slowly go through the motions." He steps back and watches his perform another swing, this time a bit more stable than the last I saw. "Good. Now, just remember that feeling and practice some more." Turning his attention to me once again, he asks, "What can I do to help you, Drake?" Scratching the back of my head, I said, "I want to learn how to fight with a sword." Giving me a curious look, he asks one more question, "Why?" Letting out a sigh, I answer, "Because I want to make sure I can protect myself even if I don''t have mana, and if I do have mana but the enemy is weak, I want to be able to conserve my mana and have a secondary option just in case." Smiling at me, he gives me another nod of approval. "Good, I will teach you, but under two conditions." "What is the condition?" "You have to be the sparring partner with Haroth here. And you have to come by every day to practice and learn from me for at least one hour." "That sounds reasonable. I can be his sparring partner, but you must remember that it will be hard for me to be here every day for one hour. I have lots of things I need to do throughout the settlement." Shaking his head, he gives me a look. "Drake, I know, but you are forgetting something. Many of the people here are just under your age or many years your senior." He gestures towards Draemish and the undead warriors. "They have hundreds of years of experience under their belts and come here every day for at least two hours." I raise my hand to speak up, but he stops me before I can get a word out. "I also know you are working on your magic, and you might even go over to learn things from the hunters, so you still have limited time in a day. That is why I only asked for at least one hour. It will give you a good workout, and it will let you flex those stat points that haven''t been fully utilized. Plus, you should be able to trust some of the people close to you to do what you think is best for the settlement. No need for you to have your hand in every pot." Nodding along with all the points he has made, I take a breath and then look up into his eyes. "Alright, I will agree to both of your conditions." Chapter 81 Final Preparations After working out with Rognar about how to get started with my training with the sword, I thought about something he had said about learning something from all the different classes. "It wouldn''t hurt to know more; it might also help me in the long run," I murmured. Heading over to the archery range, I quickly found Slyvasti. Her tall, lithe stature as an elf made her easy to spot among the various races working on their skills. Approaching her, I was able to work out a similar deal with her. The main difference of this deal is that I would help with healing and provide different scenarios that only I could give. Mainly, it would be practiced by those who want to test their blade skills on a live target, not stationary. Breathing a quick breath out, I turned to go out, but instead, I found Laxreal nearby with what I can only describe as a smile flickering in his eyes. "So, Drake, it seems you have found magic too easy, huh?" He says with a bit of mirth in his dry voice. "I didn''t find it easy, but I thought if I could get a better idea of the different primary classes, I would be able to work things through more thoroughly when working with them in the future." "Not a bad idea, and where did you get this idea from?" Looking hurt that he would think I couldn''t come up with the idea, I retort, "What if I told you that it was my idea?" "Then I would work you harder for not telling me the truth." "And how would you know that I wasn''t-" I stopped mid-sentence as I heard the sound of wings flapping and saw Laxreal put his arm out as a post for Ritotorous to land on. "Shit," I cursed under my breath. "Would you like to finish that statement, Drake?" He asks, knowing I don''t have an answer for this situation. Shaking my head, "No, I would rather not. Instead, let me talk about how this idea came to be." With that, I walked up to him and gestured for us to walk to the mage tower in the nearby distance. It doesn''t take long for me to tell him about my trying to learn more skills to be a better leader for everyone here and how the idea came a little from Lilith but mostly from my quest that I still haven''t had any updates on since I left my trial. -Noble Class Quest: You have entered a unique instance for a nobleman. This instance will save your progress after finishing the initial series of battles. During these battles, you will learn about leadership, cunning, people management, delegation, and other minor skills any nobleman must possess. Tasks: Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (2/6) Complete the initial series of battles (10/10) Rewards: ?? Failure: N/A Note: Rewards have been lowered due to the lack of skills learned during the trial. Rewards will continue to be reduced based on how long it takes to complete the quest. Due to completing the battles, failure of this task is no longer an option. Time Taken: 2 Hours 22 Minutes 23 Seconds- Sharing the screen with Laxreal, we try to figure out a basic plan for tackling the quest. "There are a couple of things on here that I think we will need the help of some others. Let''s take one option off the table for now." "Which one is that?" I asked. "Cunning." He says with a flat tone. "Drake, you are not cut out for that. Leave that sort of skill to others for now. Instead, we should focus on simple skills you can acquire quickly." "And what would those skills be?" "Basic Etiquette, swordsmanship, delegation, and people management." "One quick question," I started. "What is the difference between delegation and people management." He looks at me and answers, "Delegation is handing out tasks to others in confidence that they will complete the task in a manner that would suit your ideal goal. People management is different in that it manages people like a resource. Where should we send more people to work? How many of one type of profession should we focus on now? Can those people also be put into a different position that suits them better? Those two skills coincide with each other. You use one to hand down your orders and the other to fine-tune said orders." Looking at him more clearly, I ask, "How long do you think it will take to get these skills?" "If we work on them and do things correctly, we should be able to start tomorrow once we have the different representatives. We can use those representatives as an initial council for the settlement with you as the overall head." Thinking about what he offered as an idea, I agree with it, but there is one point that he is missing. "If I am to have a council of some sort, I need a good second for those times that I am not there. And there is only one person that could have as much of an interest in this settlement as I have." Giving him a stern look, I ask him. "I know this is putting more on your plate, but I want you to join me as my advisor if we go down this path." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. And from what I can tell, a flicker of amusement flashes through the fires in his eyes. "As I am bound to this place, it would be my honor to serve as your advisor and second." He placed one hand over where his heart would have been and gave me a light bow. Smiling at his antics, I step forward and place my hand on his shoulder. "Now, why don''t we get a slight head start on what we should do for those etiquette lessons? I feel I will be using them sooner than I anticipated." Nodding in agreement, we start from the basics and work until late into the night. Heading back to my manor, I fall asleep with a smile. I groan when I wake up with the first rays of light coming through my window right onto my face. Getting ready quickly, I head down to the bottom of the stairs and get ready to receive everyone who should be coming soon. When my parents came downstairs and saw me waiting, they looked at each other and proceeded to the kitchen to make breakfast. I hear the knock on the front doors shortly after standing in the entry. Straightening myself as Laxreal taught me yesterday, I open the doors. In front of me are seven people. At the front is Laxreal; immediately behind him are Draemish and Eleanor, Shadow and Zul''Zara, and then Vranjaya with Narus. Gesturing for them to come in and then leading the way to the meeting room, we all take our seats once we have settled. Everyone but Laxreal has decided to stand nearby like an advisor in a king''s throne room, ready to be called on when needed. On one side of the table are my military leaders, and on the other are those who can fight for one of the two spots in the auction. Kicking the meeting off, I ask my first question. "You three are the representatives that your worlds have picked?" Narus, Zul''Zara, and Eleanor all nod their heads. Looking at Eleanor, I state my next question, "Why did your world pick you?" After asking my question, my gaze travels over the other two representatives. Seeming to understand that she should be the first to answer, Eleanor does so. "As the daughter of the progenitor, I have been trained in many different areas of leadership. I was ruling over my house for hundreds of years, and those of my world know of the Blood flights reputation for fairness in all matters." Following her example, Zul''Zara is the next to speak, "I be of no higher ranking than any of those from my world. They be thinking that since I be with you for longer I be the right choice for handling matters." I can see why they think this is a wise choice on her world''s part, and it was their choice. Seeing that Zul''Zara has nothing else to add, Narus answers last. "I am from a group of goliaths. This puts me in a higher position than most in quite a literal sense. We haven''t been hit as hard by the world''s ending events. With a lower population base and the terrain advantage we have had, my kind has been known for taking in different refugees from all other races and for helping them as best we can." Understanding the thoughts of those residing in Uxa''s world shows that larger groups can survive and even have a semblance of normalcy. Nodding to all of their answers, I asked another question that Laxreal and I worked on last night for this situation. "Why do you think you should come with me to the auction?" Looking at each other, I can see them all nodding their heads. This time, it isn''t Eleanor who answers the question first, "Drake, we be thinking and talking before this. And with our talks, we be at a conclusion. It be not my place going to the auction. So, I be stepping out of the race." Zul''Zara says decisively. Seeing the other two nodding to what she said, she continued, "I be here to represent my world, that be it. No more, no less." With nothing else to add, the other two sit silently and wait for the next question, "Since there isn''t an issue with who is coming with me, we should make a game plan for what we should try and focus on while at the auction. I don''t know if there will be individual items or if this is an auction for the settlement. It could be a mixed auction, for all I know. Also, I don''t know what to expect in any auction scenario." I openly admit. "I think we should plan like we are trying to advance the settlement as much as possible. If there aren''t any items for settlements being listed, we can start looking for items or abilities that will have the most lasting impact for everyone." Eleanor says. "That wouldn''t be a bad option, but to help with this, we need to know what funding we are dealing with. I haven''t seen any currency since we arrived, and also we should think about some of the items our people have managed to produce in the last five days. Maybe we can get some of them up on the auction and hopefully have extra funds based on how well they sell." Narus states. Hearing her words reminds me of the bags of random wealth we received after the wave event. Taking that into consideration, I turn to Laxreal. "Laxreal, can you go and find someone in the manner to get the bags of wealth that are somewhere around here? I want to open them so we can have a general idea of what we are working with." Nodding, he leaves the room to find my mother or father. "With Laxreal going to find the bags, we should soon be able to figure out our initial game plan and do some budgeting. However, having a tight budget might be hard since we don''t know how well certain items will be sold for and what we could get from the items we bring to the auction." Noticing that everyone in the room agrees, we continue discussing possibilities until Laxreal returns with his arms full of bags. There aren''t any sounds coming from the bags, which I find odd considering they should have money in them, but just like with the resource boxes, they must be magic. After opening all the bags and carefully counting, we found 17,280 gold coins available to budget for the auction. "This is a lot of gold," Shadow states with shock filling his voice. "Do you all think we are likely to get some items we should need to keep us up and running for the time being?" I asked. "We should be able to get some of the lower items, though I don''t know how far this amount will get us. Just talking with everyone, every world has a different type of currency, whether it is based on precious metals, or is gold coins, or some variation. I would say we should be overly cautious regarding the auction. Plan to spend more than we think on the items we see come up." Draemish advises. Eleanor stands, "If we can''t figure out how to budget currently, we can only hope where the auction is being held will let us have some time to figure things out before it starts. How much time do we have left before the auction starts, Drake?" "We have four hours left before we have to head out. Are you going to see if there are any spare items we can try to sell?" "Exactly, I think everyone should; the more items we can gather, the more potential wealth we will have at our disposal." "Right, let''s break for now and reconvene in three and a half hours." With that, everyone gets up from their chairs and heads out. This leaves Laxreal and me alone in the room. Slumping down in the chair, I look back at him. "We need to make sure that there is a representative from my world since after we get back from the auction, it would be unfair not to have one more person from my world to work with and have a balance for all the different worlds." "Not a bad idea and it will also show that you are looking out for everyone''s interests, not just those from other worlds, and leaving your own in a lurch." "Can you do me a favor than Laxreal?" "Yes." "Can you please pass the message to everyone from my world and get them to figure out a representative? We can hold another meeting tomorrow after we rest from the auction to determine the direction of the settlement." "I will handle the message." "Thank you, Laxreal." Congratulations! You have learned how to properly delegate a task to someone with clear intentions of the hoped-for outcome. Delegation Level 1: People are more likely to understand the underlying meaning of the tasks you hand out to them. - Chapter 82 Small Truths In what feels like a short amount of time, everyone going to the auction has gathered together, and there is a small pile of items on the meeting room table in front of me. The items range from simple potions that restore only one or two HP, essential tools from blacksmiths, simple leather pieces from leather workers, and other minor items. From what I can see, there aren''t any enchanted items due to the lack of materials to practice with, or we are holding onto those items for our purposes. At this point, I don''t have much time to think about it as we are stuffing whatever we can into my storage bag. As the timer for the invitation reaches the last couple of seconds, I remember to grab all of the money. Thankfully, it doesn''t take up any space and becomes weightless upon entering my pouch. Breathing a sigh of relief, the card finishes its countdown. We waited 30 seconds before someone asked if I had used the item. Smacking myself for my foolishness, I quickly used it. - Would you like to enter the auction house? Yes/No - I select yes. - Please choose two companions to join you for the auction. - Seeing this notification, I mentally select Eleanor and Narus. With a flash, we are teleported out of the meeting hall into a vast room filled with many creatures and people. Since I am the only one standing with my mouth agape at everything, from the audacious gold and red walls to the soft feel of the red carpet underfoot, it reminds me of an old theatre from when I was younger and my parents brought me to an opera. The only difference is how crowded the room feels with all the large races in one room. After being jolted for a couple of minutes, Eleanor and Narus can finally lead us to the edge of the room, where we catch our breath. "This is quite the crowd," Eleanor starts. "I haven''t seen this many people in one space in my entire life, and I hope we can find our seats easily," Narus adds. Looking up at her, I ask, "Have you not been to an auction before?" "I have; it was long ago, before the outbreak in my world. We haven''t been able to host anything of its nature since then. And even when we did hold them, there weren''t as many people. Not at least in a small room like this," she answers. Eleanor nods with what she says, "Do we know where we will be seated during the auction? I hope it isn''t on the ground floor. Dreadful of someone of my status to be seated down there." Taking a look at the ticket, I noticed that the text on it changed upon our entering. - Due to your status as a Lord, you will be provided with a small box on the second floor of the buildings. You can teleport to the box with your companions whenever you wish, and an attendant will help you answer any questions that you might have. Would you like to teleport to your box? Yes/No - After telling Narus and Eleanor about the ticket change, I asked if we should go to the box. That is before I hear an ear-piercing scream from across the room, and suddenly, as if by magic, a path has formed between myself and one of the people I would have most liked to have avoided. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU NO GOOD SON OF A WRECH!" Curious about who could be treating me with such disregard, Eleanor turns around and sees a woman. She stands about 1.75 meters tall, is well-kept, and has a slightly curvy figure. This woman is the previous wife of my father, though I wouldn''t ever acknowledge her as someone my father could be interested in with her sharp tongue and waspish personality. Following along with Eleanor, I turn to face her. "And what do you want?" I ask with as much venom and vitriol as I can manage without seeming to stoop too far to her level. Seeing her also puts a different thought into my mind. What if others like her are here? Can multiple people be summoned from the same worlds? Should I be concerned about trying to summon more people as quickly as possible to prevent her from getting more for herself? At least from my world? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She sneers down at me, her eyes spitting fire, "That is what I should be asking you, you spawn of a demon." Hearing her call my mother a demon infuriates me, "What did you just call my mother?" I asked with rage bubbling up from deep inside of me. "You heard me, demon spawn. Oh wait, that''s right, you don''t know about bloodlines and awakening to know that your mother is a demon, both literally and figuratively. What right does a demon have to covet a phoenix''s conquests?" Hearing her further bad mouth, my mother, and now treating my father like an object to greed over, further pushes me to the edge. "You, who are worthless, an unawakened brat that can''t even live without needing constant support from my phoenix lines medical knowledge," she continues, now standing proudly in front of me. I can feel my muscles tightening, and slowly, my hands curl into claws. "Who do you think had to beg me to provide my healing every time you had to have one of your precious surgeries to fix that defective heart of yours?" She starts to ask while slowly leaning over me, "Who do you think came begging me, pleading, crawling just for one more of my phoenix feathers? I enjoyed stepping on her head; those horns turned down to the ground as she prostrated before me. I couldn''t forgive her, so I never fully healed you so that she would have to come back and prostrate over and over again." My blood starts to heat up to the point of bursting hearing all of this. There is sadness in my heart from hearing all the shame my mother had to go through to heal me after every surgery, but knowing that it wasn''t a complete healing finally pushed me over the edge. The pain of having my own heart fight against me for years, the suffering of having to have my body cut open multiple times just not to get appropriately healed. It enraged me. The feeling of something trying to push through my skin right above my hands goes unnoticed as I fully clench my fists. "What are you going to do? I am a mighty phoenix, capable of giving and taking life." With as much willpower as I can muster, I ask one final question, "Why?" "Because," she looks down at me, sneering further. "Only I deserve him. Only I can give him what he wants," and with a feral smile, leaning ever closer. "Only I can give him the life that he has longed for, of a child capable of being a guardian of our world. At least that was before, now maybe not just a guardian, but even rulers of this world, and many more." With that last comment, I brought my fist up and swung with all of my might at her head, which was too close for her to dodge, only to be stopped by Narus holding my arm back at the last moment. Stepping between us, Eleanor introduces herself, "Good day, I am Eleanor, and who might you be?" The hypnotic-predatory look in her eyes is fixated on the woman. Losing her balance from the close call of being punched in the face by me, she looks up at Eleanor. "My name is Gwinlana. And what right do you have to interrupt me from teaching this brat a lesson?" "Oh, I have the right as an ambassador from one of the worlds he has managed to get on his good side. And what might I ask you, gave you the confidence to do as you are?" Scoffing at the mention of being an ambassador to me, she tilts her head and points to a large man with bulging muscles and a scar running down one side of his face on the other side of the room. "He is my confidence. He has promised that if I help him, he will help me get what my heart desires." "Well, since this is an auction, why don''t we speak with our funds instead of our fists?" Eleanor suggests. Intrigued by the idea, Gwilana seems to have stopped one train of thought and landed on another: "And how would you have us compete?" "There are a couple of options; we can go based on the number of items we acquire, the cost, or their rarity. We don''t mind even doing a best of three where the winner of two categories will forfeit any items they won to the loser. What do you say?" Hearing the terms of the competition and what the loss would be, she looks at me with disdain. "And what makes you think you even have the funds to compete with us?" Eleanor looks at me, and I nod along with her words while still seething in anger. "Showing you our hand would be a poor choice. What if we add one more stipulation? PUN runs this world, so why don''t we initiate a system contract that will be the neutral third party to our wager? It can be used to check if we are on a footing that would make it worth the wager for you." Hearing this one last stipulation added, Gwilana turns to the man. Seeing him nod, she agrees with Eleanor''s recommendation. "Then we will do as you say. I don''t mind getting items for free from this brat." After she had agreed, two notifications appeared before me. - You are about to initiate a system contract for a wager. The wager is as follows:
  1. The winner of two of the three categories, amount of items, item cost, and item quality, will receive the loser''s items.
  2. The system will verify that the party led by Drake has the funds to make it worth the opposing party, Throsdurgrash, to initiate this wager.
  3. The count of items will start at the end of the auction. Neither side will know who has the most.
Do you agree with the terms of this wager and acknowledge the consequences of losing? Yes/No - - Personal Quest: Petty Gives, and Petty Receives The woman who wed your father initially appears before you. She does not know that you have been reunited with the rest of your family. To show her that you are to be feared, beat her at her own game. Tasks: Beat Gwilana and her backer in the auction: 0/1 Find where Gwilana and her backer are located and conquer their settlement: 0/1 Reward: ?? Failure: ?? - Acknowledging the wager, Throsdurgrash nods and looks at me before slightly rubbing his hands together. Still seething with rage, I get out, "Let''s go. We have an auction to get to." Using the invitation again, the three of us teleport up to the box waiting for us. Chapter 83 Because Magic Menus It takes me a little while to calm down from Gwilana''s blatant disregard for my reputation in the reception room. Trying not to think about it, I look around the room we are now in. It is relatively small because Narus is with us, but from what I can tell, the room adjusted its size to fit her, Eleanor, and me. The oddity I find is that there is one opaque wall that I can only assume will clear as the auction starts. Interestingly, we cannot see where everyone is seated, but maybe that is for the best. There are three chairs, two that would fit Eleanor or me and one that would only fit Narus. A small coffee table is in front of all three, and next to each chair is a simple side table. A small pamphlet on the coffee table looks like it will show what is being sold. Next to the center chair, there is a small bell on the end table. Approaching the center chair and the bell, I sit down and lift the bell. Inside of my head, I hear someone talk to me. "If you have any questions about what is being sold, please feel free to ring the bell, and we will have an attendant with you post-haste. Please wait while we get the other guests situated if you require refreshments, as higher nobles require our attention." The sound of someone speaking into my mind that isn''t Ritotorous is surprising, and I jump. Seeing my lack of composure due to the sudden invasion into my mind, Eleanor lightly chuckles, and Narus smirks. Seeing how composed the two are, I blush in embarrassment, my anger forgotten for the moment. Retaking my seat between them, we started to talk more in-depth about what we should expect or focus on using the pamphlet. Another announcement is made shortly after the conversation starts: "For those who have already taken your seats, we thank you in advance. Please go to the auditorium floor or your corresponding viewing box for those who still need to sit. We will begin the auction in the next five minutes." We continued the conversation this time, slightly less surprised by the announcement. Eleanor and I both decided that we shouldn''t be the ones to call out our bids just in case Gwilana recognizes our voices and tries to increase the price of something out of spite for me. "What do you think we should expect? And we need to take a moment to call one of the attendants to see if we can add anything to the pamphlet?" Thinking it wasn''t a bad idea, I rang the bell on the table beside me. "Thank you for calling an attendant. There is one guest in line ahead of you. Please give us a moment; someone will be with you shortly." Letting them know what the situation is, we sit and wait for the attendant to come. Like the message said, it isn''t long before someone knocks on our door. Eleanor stands up and lets them in through the door to the room. "Hello, my Lord and ladies. How can this humble one assist you?" A tall man walks through the door. He is wearing a red suit, which I can only assume is the symbol of the auction house emblazoned on his jacket. The logo depicts a hammer coming down on a bag of coins, an apt symbol for any auction house. "Hello, we have several items we were hoping to enter in the auction, or if you prefer, you can purchase directly from us," Eleanor answers the man. "Sadly, my lady, we cannot take any items into the auction. After the auction, there will be a gathering for the different lords and ladies attending to discuss and potentially make trades. Is there anything else that I can help you with?" Hearing this, I feel down, knowing I won''t have any more funds to use during the auction. I think of another question: "What sort of security do you have for those who win items?" Smiling at me, he replies, "All items won by a party will not be released into their care until after the gathering at the end of the auction. And from what someone has told me, there is a bet between your party and another; if you would like, we can make a list and cost of each item you have won to prove you have won the bet." Hearing this, I nod, "That would be wonderful if you could provide that for us." "Anything else?" he asks one more time to ensure we don''t have any other questions. "Would it be possible to get a list of refreshments?" Eleanor''s eyes glow. Looking directly at her, he nods, and out of what my eyes could believe was nowhere, he pulls out a menu. From what I can see, it isn''t a long menu, and there are no prices. As Eleanor looks down the list, I glance over her shoulder. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. - Golden Hammer Auction House Drink Menu: Wines: Merlot Pinot Noir Riesling Moscato Ros¨¦ Beers: Pale Ale Stout Sour IPA Porter Mixed Drinks: Martini Whiskey and Ginger Mule Margarita Non-Alcoholic: Any Carbonated Beverage Milk Water Lemon or Limeade Tea For any special requests, please ask the attendant, and we will do what we can. - Seeing Eleanor point to a blank space on the menu, I look at her curiously. "What are you ordering? There wasn''t anything at that spot on the menu." She turns to me and gently pats me on the shoulder. "It''s a magic device; it can identify your race and offer different options. For me, I got a choice of a magical blood wine. Oh, how I have longed for my blood wines." I picked the ros¨¦ as my first beverage as she considered the wine she hadn''t received yet. I look at Narus and ask if she wants anything to drink. She takes a moment to think and then says, "Could I get a large tankard of water?" Hearing our orders, he took my offered menu and made it vanish. "I will be back with your orders shortly, " he says before turning around and heading out of the box. With that out of the way, I return to my chair. Glancing back at the pamphlet, I closely examine the auction schedule. - Golden Hammer Auction House Schedule: Lots 1 - 30 Low-Tier Combat Items Lots 31 - 60 Low-Tier Crafting Items Lots 61 - 100 Low-Tier Settlement Items 20 Minute Intermission Lots 101 - 130 Mid-Tier Combat Items Lots 131 - 160 Mid-Tier Crafting Items Lots 161 - 200 Mid-Tier Settlement Items 20 Minute Intermission Lots 201 - 230 High-Tier Combat Items Lots 231 - 260 High-Tier Crafting Items Lots 261 - 300 High-Tier Settlement Items Gathering in the Ballroom for 2 hours - I can only shake my head, not seeing anything specific about what we seek. "The good news is that there are settlement items and individual items. Let''s hope that we can afford some of the higher-tier items." The other two agree with my assessment, and it isn''t long before the attendant is back with our drinks. With drinks in hand, we see that the opaque wall is slowly becoming more see-through. Looking at our position in the auditorium, one set of boxes is a tier below us, and then there is the main auditorium floor. Looking around, I can''t see where that witch of a woman, Gwilana, is located. Feeling a gentle tap on my shoulder, I turn to see Narus trying to be subtle while pointing in a specific direction. Following the general direction down and to the left, I spot her and Throsdurgrash in a box a tier below our own. Snickering to myself over having one up on her, I quickly duck my head back in hopes she doesn''t see me. Looking around further, I can make out several more tiers above my own. Curious about how to get into a higher tier, my thoughts are interrupted by a jab to my side and Eleanor pointing towards the stage. Looking to the center of the main stage, I see a woman waiting patiently for everyone to settle down. She is wearing a long dress that covers down to the floor; the is a slit up the side of the dress, showing her long legs. It takes a minute for the crowd to quiet down, but they all shut up once they realize the woman standing on the stage is waiting for them before she starts. "Welcome to the 12th Decennial Auction held by the Golden Hammer Consortium. We welcome all those who are new to our auction house and welcome back those who have visited us before. First, let me explain the auction rules to those who haven''t been here before. 1. No fighting is allowed during the auction or in the gathering after the auction. If you are seen drawing a blade or swinging your fist at another guest, you and your party will be ejected from the auction. 2. Using your station to intimidate other participants will not be allowed. We are a business, and some of the items donated to our auction house in good faith should go to the proper homes without fear of reprisal during the auction. And 3. Please feel free to partake in the refreshments during the auction. They are all covered by your participation as long as you participate. Those who don''t expect a bill to be sent to you or the lord of your settlement after the auction ends. And without further ado. LET THE AUCTION BEGIN!" She shouts while a storm of confetti showers over her, and she vanishes. "Little tricks," Eleanor says beside me. "I could have done what she did before I was brought to the settlement." Looking closer at the confetti, I notice that it simply vanishes from existence once it touches the ground or another guest. "At least no one has to clean up all that confetti." I retort with a small smile. Chapter 84 The Worth of Gold It takes a second before someone else takes the stage. This time, it is a handsome man wearing a red suit with black stripping accentuating the suit''s red, giving him the formal look of someone ready to have fun¡ªfun taking our money. He has a darker complexion with pointed ears and gives a devilish smile to the crowd. Standing straight, he starts talking. "Hello, my name is Dalvtorin. And as some of you might have guessed, I am a Devil. How could I say no when allowed to join this illustrious group of people at the Golden Hammer Consortium?" Hearing a couple of chuckles in the lower portion of the auction hall, I sit with a mild hint of shock on my face. Turning to Eleanor, I asked, "Why would they have a Devil be an auctioneer?" "Haven''t you heard the turn of phrase, ''The Devil is in the details.''? From what I can see, they are hoping to use a sort of scare tactic to prevent people from defrauding their goods, as Devils are known to get what they want. Also, having a Devil as the auctioneer gives us a sense of security. Unlike with a Demon, Devils are known to make fair trades within a certain span of reason." Nodding along with her answer, I look closer at the groups of people on the floor and find much less tension. "So, having him be one of the auctioneers gives us a higher sense of security. That is interesting." "One more thing to note is that a Devil as an auctioneer means that they have inspected the items and know more about them. It gives us a better sense of what they will sell or auction off." Once again, nodding, I returned to the stage where the first item had been pulled up. "For those new to this world, let me introduce the first item on the list. This item is great for those who have fledgling settlements and are looking to give a bit of a kickstart. Most people will look at this and think that it isn''t worth it, but in the right hands, it can definitely help." With a sweep of his hands, he pulls the cloth off the first item. - Outpost Upgrade Token - "For those who don''t know what this item does, let me quickly explain. This will allow someone to increase the level of an outpost in their settlement quickly. There is a slight limit on how high the level can be increased, but that is up to you. We shall start the bids for this item at one gold, with a minimum increase of 10 silver per bid." Just as he finished saying this, the lower section of the crowd started bidding immediately. "One gold," someone says, only to immediately be outbid by another at one gold, twenty silver. "Two gold," another shouts, increasing the price by 80 silver. This goes on for a little while. Whispering to Eleanor, I ask her, "Shouldn''t we get this? We have the lumber outpost, and increasing its level would greatly help us." She nods but then shakes her head. "We shouldn''t bid on this item; though we need it, we don''t want to impact how much we have for the higher tier items. Also, think about it. We have over 12,000 gold. We can easily afford to wait for better items if this token''s starting price is one gold. Just think of how much we could get out of this if we play our cards right. Also, if you look closer at where that token is placed, its lot number is only 83. There must be better items in the lower category that will be of better use to us." I''m thinking over what she said. I don''t entirely agree with her, but I am willing to be patient and see what to expect from some of the other items. "So they brought out a better item to get the crowd riled up for what is to come?" If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Exactly, they have to start a feeding frenzy, which takes time. If you start with a small item of no importance, how will they make their money? It is better to bring out a higher ticket item now and then than to let the auction stagnate with slower lower interest items." When we finished our conversation, the token cost had increased to 10 gold. The bidding had slowly decreased to this point, and now, two people were bidding on the item. It didn''t take long before the item was sold to one of the people on the floor for 11 gold. Feeling poked on my side, Narus nudged me while giving me a look. "I have a general idea about how much that token was worth, " she said quietly. "Oh? And how much do you think it was?" Eleanor asks. "From what I could tell about the Devil, he had a gentle smile that was a little different from the smiles he had been giving the crowd up to this point. I would say the token was around ten gold in total." "You got that from just the small change in his smile?" I asked. "Yes, auctioneers typically get a small commission from selling items. If the item sells for more than its worth, their commission on that lot will increase. Hence the change in his smile." "Good to know," I say, returning to the auction. The next lot has come out. This time, it is on a large display. Based on the overall profile of what is displayed, it initially looks like a weapon, probably some sword or even a staff. "This next piece is great for those beginner adventurers." Pulling the cloth off the piece, a well-made sword comes into view. "Made by a Journeyman Blacksmith using Tier 2 materials, and then later enchanted by a Journeyman Enchanter. This blade has basic enchantments for sharpness, durability, and fire damage." From the side of the stage, a stagehand steps up and unsheathes the blade. A straw dummy is placed on the stage not far away, and the stagehand swings the sword at it. After the first hit, the dummy burst into flames and smoldered on the stage. "As you can see, what I say isn''t a lie. Now, let''s give this fine gentleman a round of applause for the demonstration." He starts to clap his hands, and everyone in the audience follows suit. "For this first set of items, this gentleman will be helping with every item that needs to be demonstrated." Looking at the blade, it is about three feet long and double-edged, like a knight''s blade. Running down the center of the blade are the enchantments Dalvtorin mentioned. Not recognizing any of them, I inspect them more closely to get a glimpse and maybe learn something. I didn''t hear the starting amount as I was focused. Then, I heard several shouts again from the floor. Again, I heard nothing higher than one gold for this piece. After a couple of minutes, the piece landed in the hands of another person from the floor. I don''t know who received the item, but from the shout of joy, it must have been a great upgrade for them. This pattern continues for several hours, with Dalvtorin introducing the different pieces and the stagehand showing off their capabilities if needed. It isn''t until the last couple of items in the lower-tier lots that I hear more people from the higher booths putting bids in for the items. One item was for an outpost creation token. Another lot was for a set of 10 specific summoning scrolls. Leaving the last item before the first break, a deep smile appears on the Devil''s face. "Now, before I leave you, I want to present you with the final item for this auction portion. Some of you have seen the different outpost and level-up tokens for settlements. While this piece isn''t something like any of those, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed with our offer." Quickly pulling the cloth off the final item, I examine it closely to see what he could be talking about. - Settlement Upgrade Token: This token is required for the settlement to upgrade from a Tier 0 Roadside Hovel up to a Tier 1 Hamlet - "While this isn''t useful for a lot of the older lords in the audience, for those that are starting from the ground up and were able to get an invitation to this auction, they are in a stroke of luck. Typically, in order to get one of these tokens, you have to complete a settlement quest that could put your entire settlement at risk. So let''s start the bidding for this item at five gold, with a minimum increase of 50 silver." Turning to look at my two companions, I sternly say, "We need to get that token. We have already put everyone''s lives in danger with the waves, we need to get it so we have a safer path to the next tier." Seeing them nod their heads in agreement, the auction for this piece starts. Chapter 85 A Token Achievement Immediately after the start, the piece''s price goes up to eight gold. While we want this item, we will wait for the competition to die down a little bit. Listening as the price slowly increases from eight to ten and then to fifteen in rapid succession, we continue to wait. Looking over at the box that Gwilana is in, I can see she is talking with Throsdurgrash about something that I can''t make out. Before long, the price had risen to 25 gold, and the competition for the piece had also slowed down to a couple of people on the ground floor, but most of the people involved were those in the first and second tiers of boxes. We continued to wait until the price finally hit 30 gold. Narus states our first bid in the auction was "32 gold." Raising the price by a whole two gold isn''t much for us, but for those participating in this item, it is a big deal when the price has only been going up by 50 silver at a time, and maybe a single gold piece here or there. The jump to two gold immediately caused those below us to go silent for the briefest moments. Not wanting to think about what other groups are willing to pay for this token, having a small amount of shock for this piece isn''t bad. After that moment of peace, the bids started to come in once again. The next bid for the item is "33 gold," which continues to rise quickly to 41 gold. It takes another minute before Narus calls out our next bid for the item, "45 gold." Another hush falls on the crowd. Dalvtorin looks up to our box with a smile. The silence lasts for a couple more moments than before. "Are there any more bids for this item?" He asks the crowd. Not hearing anything, he starts the count. "Going once. Going twice..." With a pregnant pause, he is about to call when someone calls another bid. I looked toward the bidder with a slight sense of frustration on my face. After I gave Narus the go-ahead to continue bidding for the item, it went back and forth between us and our fellow unknown participant. "Friend, if you would let me have this one, I will help you with something in the future. I am in dire need of this item." came a soft yet slightly forced voice. "I am sorry, but my lord has told me we must get this item. I could also offer you the same. We might be able to help each other in the future." Narus responds to her. "If that is the case, then let the better offer win, " she says with a bitter smile, immediately bidding 60 gold. Not afraid to continue to bid for the item, Narus bumps the price up to 70 gold. Another bid from the other person brings the item up to 79 gold. Our final bid for the item is 80 gold. There is a moment of silence, and then Dalvtorin starts counting the items: "Going once, going twice, and sold to the wonderful patrons in the second-tier box number 80." A loud ding rings through my head before a voice sounds out. "If you are purchasing an item for the first time, please look toward the door, and you will be able to see the final bill. You cannot leave the auction until the bill is settled. Thank you for your patronage." As the voice said, a blue screen shows the cost per item and the total at the bottom when you look at the door. "With that, my friends, I encourage you to go to the lobby for a small break; food and beverages will be available for those who would like them. Otherwise, we will see you in the next twenty minutes! Enjoy!" Dalvtorin proclaims and then walks off the stage. Looking at the other two, I tell them, "I will stay up here. It is less likely that I will run into that terror of a woman if I stay. I don''t find a need to get angry at this point." "I think I will head down and enjoy some company of others. I''ll see about making some connections to different groups of people. I''ll also see if I can get more information about the system and if we can connect with others outside of our settlement during normal times." Eleanor offers. "That is good. I will stay here with Drake and see if we can devise a plan for the second part of the auction. I want to ensure we have enough funds, though based on how the first part went, the only expense we had was the one token. Here, we hope the second part of the auction produces different items that would be enough to pique our interest," Narus offers. Nodding in agreement, Eleanor heads out the door. With just the two of us, I inquired what her thoughts were on the next part of the auction. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "We should plan to use at least three-quarters of the wealth we brought in this second part. It would give us a solid amount of items, but they should be within our usability. I don''t want to shoot for too many items so that we can be outbid and left with nothing. Also, it is an excellent time to show some financial strength. The latter portion of the auction is for those with a more extended foundation than we can." "That sounds like a good plan. Should we spend one-third of our budget for the second part on the different categories, or should we be fluid with them to ensure we can get the items we want?" "Being more fluid with the funds will give us more flexibility. I agree with the initial plan of using one-third per category with the option to put more funds into something else if that item would be better for us overall." Continuing that conversation for a bit longer, we figure out our overall strategy before moving on to different topics of less importance. In what feels like a shorter time than what it is, I hear the door behind us open and Eleanor''s voice sound out. "Thanks. I will see you at the next intermission." Coming over to sit beside me again, she turns to us and asks what the plan is. Answering her, I asked her how her time down in the lobby was. "There wasn''t much going on; there were just a lot of smaller groups getting together to find ways to pool money together so they could afford something in the next segment of the auction. A couple of people from the first-tier down there talked about what they could expect, but nothing major." "Did you learn anything about the system and how things work?" Narus asks. "No, they didn''t have much information other than how they became what they are," she says in an offhanded manner. "Became what they are?" I asked. "Yeah, they were solo adventurers," she replies, and seeing my quizzical look continues. "For someone to become an adventurer, they must leave the settlement after it has reached the second tier. This gives them more autonomy. Most people don''t want to leave their settlement because it is more dangerous. Still, from what I gathered from overhearing their conversation, they were from territories that didn''t treat them well, and it was their only option to save themselves." "Did you, by chance, overhear what the different tier levels are called?" I asked. "I did manage to overhear what the first five tiers are called. They are Roadside Hovel, Hamlet, Village, Small Town, and Large Town or, as most people say, tier 0 to tier 4." "Even at the fourth tier, we still haven''t hit the level for a city, which is mildly interesting. Is there anything that I should be aware of when it comes to the different tiers?" I asked her. "There wasn''t anything worth noting, and honestly, from what I gathered from everyone, they didn''t know much about the expansion and ranking up of the settlements." She once again answers what I can tell is the best of her ability. "Did you learn anything about classes or races? Bloodlines or anything of that nature?" Narus asks. "I did learn that classes evolve at several different points. The initial class that everyone has can evolve at level 10, and it is a very personal choice; from there, I couldn''t make out any details as the system blocked that information. As for bloodlines, some items can increase bloodline density and purity. Some items can increase the rank of a race. But I don''t know if we will see any of those items in today''s auction, but it is worth watching." Just as she was about to talk more about it, Dalvtorin stepped on stage, and next to him was another person. "Welcome back, friends; I hope the break did you well. As I will be the person to demonstrate the items auctioned off for this next section, please allow me to introduce the next auctioneer." Gesturing to the woman behind him, he gives her a grand introduction, "Behind me is a woman that I look up to. She has trained me to be an auctioneer for the last 100 years, and it is my absolute pleasure to present Hothtol, a Sylph." "Thank you, Dalv, for the lovely introduction." With a gentle gust of wind that goes around the hall, she gracefully bows. Her red dress accentuates all the right places, and her shawl has two golden bands on the sleeve. "For those new to our Consortium, I would like to introduce one small thing. We bring out a new auctioneer for the different tiers of items presented. It gives the lower-tier auctioneers practice for future auctions. So, thank you for your understanding. Now, without any more delays, allow me to introduce the first item of the second part of the auction." Just like in the first part, items were brought out one by one; this time, there are now groups of items for the different tokens being presented, sets of armor instead of single pieces, and groups of weapons. Throughout this part of the auction, we won nine different sets of weapons for 89 gold a piece. Each set came with 20 weapons of varying grades and qualities, resulting in 801 gold spent. We also won two sets of armor for 48 gold, for a total of 96 gold. Finally, we won 13 different lots for different token sets. Four sets were purely upgrade tokens, with ten tokens in each set for 90, 97, 98, and 99, respectively. There were four sets of outpost tokens. Some of them were specific to certain types of outposts, while others were just generic. The outpost token sets cost a little more due to the difference in rarity, so they were 108, 120, 133, and 157. The last five sets were for overall settlement tokens ranging from time reduction to resource reduction and tokens to reduce the type of worker involved. The previous kind of token differs from what I know since I hadn''t seen anything like that, let alone a specific requirement for a profession in a building. With these common tokens, we got them at a steal for 50, 51, 55, and 60. The only set that cost the most was the profession-level reduction token, which cost 258 gold. With all of our purchases, we came out far under budget compared to what we had been hoping for. We only spent 2,353 gold out of our 17,280. We are going to be going into the last set of the auction with a nice bankroll. We hope that more things come out of the next set before the next intermission starts. Chapter 86 Forced Responsibility With the start of the next intermission, Eleanor again went down to see if she could make any connections; this time, though, Narus went with her. Once they left the room, I thought of what the next part of the auction would have. Considering the second part was larger quantity sets per lot instead of the single-item sets, I looked forward to seeing if any items might have. Sitting in the box, I continue to order more drinks. When the attendant arrives, I ask, "Is it possible for me to pay for what I have already won and take a closer look at some of the items?" This stopped him briefly before he replied, "While it is possible if you intend to leave the auction house, we typically hold all winnings until the end to prevent any incidents in the lobby area or the gathering after the auction." "I guess an incident in the past caused the Golden Hammer Consortium to implement those rules?" Nodding, "Yes, there have been several incidents of people winning auctions only to be bullied into giving them up while still in the auction house. It hasn''t been that way for over a hundred years since the rule was implemented." Considering this information, I agree that this is the best option. I had read enough novels that people would get ambushed outside an auction house after winning an item they desperately needed because they outbid another party. "Are there any other questions you have for me, sir?" The attendant asks. "No, thank you for your time." With the dismissal, he closes the door and heads on to his next task. The time slowly ticks by as I wait for the auction to start again. It isn''t long before I get a notification. - Eleanor would like to invite a party up to your box, do you accept? Yes/No - I agree with the request about why Eleanor would want to bring someone up to the box. Not a moment later, Eleanor is standing inside the room with another woman standing next to her. "Hello, Drake. I want to introduce you to Koto. She was bidding against us during the first part of the auction. It seems like she has something she would like to discuss with you, and since you weren''t coming out of the room, she found Narus and asked her about meeting more privately." I look at the woman before me, trying to understand where she is coming from. She is pretty short, close to 1.5 meters tall. On her head, she has brown hair and pointed cat ears. A tail swishes back and forth behind her back. "Hello, I am Drake, as Eleanor has so kindly introduced. I am the leader, you could say, for the settlement that Narus and Eleanor are a part of. What can I do for you?" She responds with a light but authoritative voice, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Drake. I was curious as to why you wanted that token so much?" Thinking about why she would ask, I chuckle, "Isn''t it obvious? I plan on using it to help upgrade my settlement. I wouldn''t have fought for it if I didn''t need it." She thinks about something momentarily before asking another question: "Since you need it, could I take that when Narus said you could help me as something you plan to uphold?" Trying to think about how she would ask me about something like this, I look at her dumbfounded. "I don''t plan on neglecting any duties, but that doesn''t mean I will be a pushover. I would want to know what sort of help you would need. Also, it isn''t that I don''t want to provide you with any help, but my territory seems to be closed off from others at this time. So I don''t have any full capability to help." She ponders this information: "So, I take it you are new to the multiverse and don''t know everything that can happen." Scratching the back of my head, I look at Eleanor, who is sighing and shaking her head. "That wouldn''t be an incorrect statement." With a cat-like smile, she looks at me. "Well, this makes things so much easier." "Oh? And how is-" It isn''t long before I receive a system notification. - Koto has called upon the aid that your subordinate Narus has offered. Due to the offer to assist, you, as the settlement''s leader, have been given the quest in her stead. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Settlement Quest Received: A Helping Hand Due to an offer of assistance, Koto has called upon your aid. After the auction is over, you have the option to assist Koto in tiering up her settlement in the settlement trial. If you assist, Koto will offer to become an ally of yours. If you refuse to assist, your settlement will be known for ignoring requests for help that have been called upon. Words have power. Watch what you say or what your subordinates offer in your name. Tasks: Assist in the Tier-up trial for Koto''s settlement: 0/1 Rewards: Koto as an allied settlement Failure: Settlement Reputation: Promise Breaker: ?? Progress - I look at Koto with shock in my eyes. I can see her gleeful smile as if she had taken something from me. "Eleanor, did you know something like this is happening?" "No, what happened?" Explaining what happened, she turns to Koto and glares at her. "So, that was your plan, huh?" Turning to me, she bows low. "I am sorry. I didn''t realize that she could do something like that. I will talk with Narus so we don''t do anything like that in the future. I also want to inform her that we need to make sure not to offer assistance without first discussing it." Not a second has passed since she said that, and Narus arrives back at the box. Seeing Eleanor''s foul mood and my look of shock and disgust, she turns to the other person in our box. "What happened?" Once again, she describes what just happened and looks at Koto. "Hmmm. This is an interesting turn of events. I think it would be best if you were to leave, " her voice is stern. Still smiling devilishly, Koto turns and walks out of the door, leaving us. Once the door closed behind her completely, I finally let out a small breath. Eleanor smiles at me, and Narus sighs before looking down. "Well, that could have gone better." Eleanor is the first to start. "Yes, but I still think she could force the issue without me knowing anything through a quest. That irritates me." I responded, "Next time, we need to make sure that we don''t provide any leverage point, not to give someone the option to help them, and also to give us potential downsides. I am curious what the settlement titles would do, but I don''t want to risk it right now." "Understandable. Let''s step back and think about what we should do." Narus provides a neutral tone to the conversation. "What should we do?" Eleanor asks with hits of sarcasm. "Of course, we bring those willing to help and support them. We can use this opportunity to not only get in the good graces of another settlement but also allow our forces to get stronger without risking the settlement. There couldn''t be a better opportunity for us." She says while getting excited for the battles to come. "I agree with what Eleanor says. Let''s get a group of people together when we get back and finish this assistance. Another thing I would like to point out is there isn''t a time window. So, we might be able to drag it out for a little bit until we do some more training." Narus thinks about both of our thoughts on the matter and then nods. "That is reasonable. We should bring it up at the next meeting when we return." "Alright, let''s focus on what we have learned." I say, "Eleanor, other than with Koto, is there anything you found out while with the others?" "With the second portion of the auction ending, more of those in higher tier boxes did come down. There wasn''t much information provided before I had to leave with Koto, but I gathered that we should be looking forward to levels 10 and 25." "Why those levels in particular?" I asked. "Those are the levels that start the process of class evolution, I overheard." "Class evolution, I can only think that anything provided by something called that should be good." "I didn''t overhear much after the levels the evolutions happen at. We will figure that part out as people reach level 10." She answers. "Did you get anything while down in the lobby, Narus?" "No, I didn''t. I did see that woman and her ruler?" She says the last part is more of a question than a definitive answer. "They were talking with others. She was talking; he only ever stood by and was giving tacit approval toward her actions. It seems like the power dynamic is pretty strict on her side. He doesn''t want to talk with anyone or has delegated the entire task to her since she is more approachable." Hearing the word approachable in conjunction with that woman makes me want to vomit. "Did you notice anything that we should be concerned about?" Shaking her head, Narus responds, "I didn''t overhear what they were talking about. I did see lots of smiles directed their way, and they seem to have it out for Eleanor." "Yeah," Eleanor steps in. "Every time I went to talk to one person or another, she wouldn''t be more than a couple of steps behind me in talking with the same person. The entire time, she would slander me and you just because we are from the same settlement while also exciting herself and giving out promises left and right." Smiling at Eleanor, I asked, "She was giving out promises? Like what?" "Things like providing aid and making defensive pacts." Looking at her, my smile can''t help but climb higher on my face. "If that is the case and she doesn''t know the rules like we didn''t, don''t you think that her giving all those promises will end up biting her in the ass?" Seeing where I am coming from, she nods quickly and smiles along with me, "Oh, they are going to have a hard time once people start to call in those aid requests. We should be able to figure out what the ''Promise Breaker'' settlement title does once they get it." "True enough." Looking down at the stage, the next auctioneer has stepped out, and who would be shocked to know it is the first woman on the stage to run the last part of the auction? Chapter 87 Their First Move "Hello, and thank you, everyone, for your participation in the first two portions of the auction. My name is Brintilmus. Now, I know most of you won''t be too shocked to hear the next portion of the auction will contain some of the best pieces we have gathered since the last auction. Unlike how my compatriots have been hosting the auction, we will start from the lowest number, and when the quality reaches a certain point, we will move to the next category. If you have eyes on some of the later items, expect them to appear later." Giving an award-winning smile, she gestures, and the first item, lot number 201, appears on the stage. "For the first item, I present to you a brilliant weapon. It is a blade forged from Tier 2 metal and has been worked on by an adept blacksmith and enchanter. The weapon provides great slashing damage and provides a bonus for magical attacks. It is an uncommon blade for certain, being one that works for both a mage and a warrior. The starting price for the weapon is 100 gold with a minimum increase of 10 gold. Let''s begin!¡± Looking at my two compatriots, my eyes gleam, "This would be a perfect weapon for me to start. It is of a high enough tier that I shouldn''t out-pace it for a long time, and it provides a bonus for magical attacks. With my high mana pool, I should be able to showcase this best in the entire settlement." The two of them look at each other. "Getting a blade that could serve you well for a long time isn''t bad. I don''t want to have to worry about your protection. Also, you should get lessons in swordsmanship, and it should work well even if you run out of mana." Eleanor states. "Agreed, let''s get this blade." While we have been talking, the blade price has reached 200 gold. "210 gold." Narus puts in the first of our bids for it to be overshadowed quickly by a bid of 250 gold. Hearing a voice, I recognized participating in the auction for the first time; I saw that it was coming from the box that Gwilana was in. I can see a sneer on her face as she looks up towards where Narus'' voice came from. Thinking that it won''t matter anymore since she has figured out where my box is, I place a bid myself. "260 gold." Hearing my voice incises her, and before she can bid, someone else shouts out 280 gold. She raises the bid to 300 gold and looks back up in the general direction of my box. Thinking about how high the cost for this piece could go, I placed the next bid at 350 gold. She once again raised the price to 360 gold. No one else is bidding for this piece anymore, so we bid back and forth. She kept a sneer on her face the entire time. As the price was about to reach the 500 mark, I was about to raise the price again. Eleanor grabbed my hand and stopped me. "She is just trying to get you to waste money on one item. I bet we could make this piece sooner or later, so stop your stupidity and sit down. Let her have this one; it will force her to spend less on later bids." She scolds me. Looking at her, my face is scrunched in anger. "We could probably make this piece later, but I want it now." I hissed. Staring me dead in the eyes, Eleanor grips my arm harder. "Don''t take that tone. I am here to help you. Control yourself." Feeling another hand land on my shoulder, Narus'' voice comes to me. "Listen to her. There isn''t a reason for you to be angry at her. Calm down. We will find something else that you could win. In the worst-case scenario, we bid on things we don''t need and for higher prices when she is bidding. Plus, nothing says that we aren''t going to get that item later if we win the bet." Nodding along with what she said, I slowly calmed myself down. By the time I was fully calm, the item had been sold to that cursed woman. "For the next item, it''s a piece of armor. This armor is crafted with an elite spider''s silk and enchanted for greater spell damage. It is Tier 2 and was crafted by an adept tailor and enchanter. The price for this piece starts at 125 gold, with increments of 10 being the lowest at which it can be raised." Looking at my two companions again, they shake their heads, knowing that I want this piece but that we can make something similar if we don''t win it. I steel myself, thinking about how we already "lost" the other piece. "Let''s pass on this piece; if there are other items that you two want to bid on, we should do so. We might get lucky and walk out without rising prices." Both of them look at me and then nod. Sitting back in their chairs, they enjoy this refreshment while we wait for the other items to be presented. Lot 203 was a helm. Lot 204 was a set of daggers that we bid on and got 420 gold. Lot 205 was a set of bracers, 206 was a shield, 207 was a pair of shoulder pads, 208 was a staff, 209 was a bow, and finally, 210 was probably the highest initial priced item of the auction. It started at 200 gold, and the ending price was close to 700 gold. The piece was an amulet. It provided a small amount of spacial storage. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Moving onto the crafting items for the auction, there were sets of every profession''s tool for lots 231 to 233. We got a set of enchanter''s tools, some blacksmithing tools, and alchemist tools. These three sets of tools cost us 1840 gold. The next set of lots were all different items for the settlement, from higher-tier tokens, blueprints, and summoning scrolls. Skipping over any lots with summoning scrolls, we focused more on the building blueprints. There was a set of blueprints for different housing and improved crafting buildings. We couldn''t win any of the lots for crafting building blueprints. Through the first round of lots, we managed to force the price of several items up by a couple hundred gold each for that hideous woman. Once it reached lot number 280, Brintilmus wrapped around back to lot 211. This time, the items were still in the second Tier, but from what I can tell, their quality has increased by a step, which is evident based on the initial prices. Each lot between 211 and 220 started at 300 gold. We managed to snag a small blade for 940 gold and a magician''s wand for 1130. After doing some math, with all the purchases we have made so far, we have spent close to 7000 gold at this auction. Considering there aren''t many items left and we still have 10k gold, we started to be a bit looser in our bidding. We acquired two Tier 2 resource points for 3260 gold in the next round of crafting lots. We gathered a set of random Tier 2 crafting station blueprints for the settlement lots for 4750 gold. We didn''t have enough for any other items, but based on what we have been hearing from Gwilana, they have been increasing how much they have been purchasing, seeing that we have been winning more and more items. It takes another half hour before we reach the last couple of items for the auction. There is one item left for each of the three categories. We haven''t been able to get anything else with the remaining funds, or we have been holding off since we didn''t know what the last couple of items would be. "For the final lot in the weapon category, I present an oddity for such a low-level auction," slowly, Brintilmus turns around and pulls off a cloth on a large table; from it, a bow is displayed. "This bow has been graciously donated for the auction by one of the higher nobles in the audience tonight." She continues with a slight bow to the booths, none in particular, "This bow grants terrific range, and the damage from this bow can display varies from user to user. The enchanter created a pathway on it for the user to slowly infuse their mana and allow their mana type to augment the arrows as they were shot from it." Following these words, both auctioneers from the first two sections of the auction come to the stage together and draw the bow one at a time. The first displays a fiery blast from the arrow''s impact zone, while the latter disappears before light hits the target. There is no visible damage done, but my life affinity tingles. "For those that can''t tell what happened with the second arrow, let me explain. Hothtol has a rare mana affinity for holy magics. That means arrows that she infuses with her mana heal targets." She says with a wide grin as murmuring sounds out throughout the hall. Turning to look at the other two, I whisper, "This would be a wonderful item for me to use. With my quad-affinities, I could make great use of this bow." I can see that they are both thinking about what I could do with a bow like this one. They turn to each other and nod in agreement. "Considering we are down to the final three items, I think we can spare some time to try and get this bow for you," Eleanor comments. Returning to what Brintilmus is saying, we catch the starting price, "We will be starting the bidding at 750 gold with increases in price being no less than 50 gold." From the frantic bidding throughout the hall, I can tell that this will be a hard-won item. Quickly, the prices escalate to 1500 gold before the bidders start to fall off. I haven''t heard any bids from Gwilana for this item yet, but that doesn''t mean I won''t go after it. After another minute, the price reached 2000 gold; It has almost reached the cap for what we have for funds. Sighing, I look at my two companions, "I don''t think we will be able to get this piece either. We only have 2200 gold left." As I say, we hear a voice from above us for the first time. "Is this one of your works, Lyndis?" A stout voice says, deep like a bellow from the mountains. A light chuckle escapes from another box above us; it sounds like bells on the breeze: "I can never get my items past those eyes of yours, Xiphos." Everyone has stopped at the two voices, and it isn''t long before a third voice echoes through the room, but this one, I can tell, comes from even higher in the hall. "Now, the two of you, don''t start up; you''ll scare the kids below. If you don''t want to bid, please be quiet." Brintilmus bows at the sound of the third voice: "Thank you, hall-master. The last bid for this item is 2000 gold. Are there any more bids?" There is a couple of seconds pause. No one else has bid for the item, quietly so as no one else will hear from the hall where it comes from in hopes that she will hear me, I place one bid. "2200 gold." A small smile appears on Brintilmus''s lips before she calls, "Going once..." She looks around, seeing no one wanting to bid further, "Going twice..." Chapter 88 The Hall-Master "Going three times! And sold to..." Brintilmus starts to proclaim when my attention is pulled away from what she is saying by someone speaking into my mind. "Quite the intriguing young man you are. I want to let you know that since this is my auction house, all sales are final. So, I hope you can come through with the amount you have been spending today." Trying to figure out what he is saying, I hear an uproar in the hall. "What do you mean it went for a higher price?" "Who put this bid in? I didn''t hear anyone call it out!" "I demand that you honor my bid since I didn''t have the option to bid again!" A rather upset elf stands up and proclaims from a box across from me. "My dearest apologies, but it isn''t my fault if you couldn''t hear the bid and then try to bid again." There is laughter above me as I hear them conversing as well. "Just mentioning our names seems to have put the entire hall in a tizzy since they were conversing amongst themselves instead of bidding on your fine bow." "It would seem that way." There is a loud clap, and a well-dressed gentleman stands before Brintilmus, shielding her from the words that some of the more upset patrons are spewing her way. That is when I feel something I can only perceive as pressure on my entire body. It is relatively light, almost like someone has put a weighted blanket over me, but from what I can tell for some others, this weight seems to be substantially more. Half of the crowd has almost collapsed back into their seats. "I understand your frustrations, but let me put you all into your place. This is MY auction hall. These are MY people that I have painstakingly hired. If you have any problems with how they handled this item, you can certainly bring it up with me. Otherwise, you will respect her and the rest of my staff as they deserve." He says it in a charming tone, but I can tell from how pointed some of the words are that he isn''t playing around when it comes to his staff. "If that is the case, I would like to complain that she took an offer for the item that no one else heard." The pompous elf declares. "Oh? I heard it, and so did the two that started this debacle, if I am not mistaken." He retorts. "Yes, it was heard loud and clear to my ears." "I would have to agree with you, hall-master. While the bid was placed in a manner some would say deceptive, we are in an auction. If you can''t hear all the bids before the price is finalized, isn''t it your fault?" Xiphos declares. "But..." The elf is interrupted. "Mr. Sylaxrim, if you continue with this complaint, I will have no other option but to ask you to kindly pay for the items you have received and leave the premises. I will not have you questioning my employees any further." With that final statement, the hall-master vanishes from the stage when my mind is intruded again. "I want to speak with you before you head to the reception. So, at your earliest convenience, please come up to my box. I will allow you to bring your two companions, as it has been a while since I have seen another universe being brought into PUN." The tone is once again pleasant, and since we don''t have any money left, I inform the others that we have been requested above by the hall-master. It doesn''t take more than a couple of seconds before we all stand up and head to the door. When we arrive, we can go to another location. Seeing only one option available for us to select, we head up. Once we arrive, it doesn''t take me long to figure out that we have entered the hall master''s office. Inside the room are several bookshelves filled with books about different crafts, items, and settlement information based purely on the titles alone. There is an elegant desk, and behind the desk is a window that showcases the entire auction hall. Off to one side of the room is a set of sofas, a coffee table, and a couple of singular chairs positioned so that you can quickly get to the coffee table but would feel awkward trying to get out of any conversation. Seated in the two individual chairs is a drop-dead gorgeous elf maiden. Her green hair, olive-colored skin, and star-touched eyes appear mystical compared to Sylvasti back in the settlement. And across from her is a hulking figure with muscles that look like they could topple mountains, giving me an appreciative gaze. "Welcome new friends!" The hall-master says upon our arrival. "Come, let me introduce you to my fine companions." He gestures to the two figures in the chairs. "This hulking behemoth of a man is Xiphos, and the ever-beautiful elf sitting here is Lyndis. As for myself, I am the hall-master of this fair auction hall, and I go by the name of Kazuz. Now, if you wouldn''t mind introducing yourselves?" Nodding my head to the three figures in the chairs, I am about to speak up when Eleanor steps forward. "Hello, my name is Eleanor, and the Goliath beside me is Narus. Drake is the lord of the settlement we are a part of." As she introduced each of us, we smiled at them. "Wonderful," Xiphos declares. "It isn''t often that we see someone of your beauty or race, for that matter." Waving her hand at the side comment of her beauty, she focuses on the latter half of the statement, "What do you mean by race?" The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Forgive me, but you rarely see vampires in the wild. They are usually confined to their blood flights." Lyndis explains quickly, glaring at Xiphos. "He is a bit of an oaf but doesn''t mean any harm by the comment. You have our guarantee that we won''t hurt you or yours unless you start something first." She gives a small smile. "As for your friend, Narus, they are just as rare as your kind. Though they are more publicly accepted being part of the living factions." "Might I be impudent and ask a question?" Kazuz asks. Seeing him stare directly into my eyes, I start to get uncomfortable. "What do you want to ask?" "Are you, by chance, related to a dragon, or do you have the bloodline of a dragon?" Shock appears on my face, and he laughs before I mask it. "Oh my, would you look at that? Now, which one is it?" There is a flash of something in his eyes, and I can''t understand his intent. Hearing his comment, the other two stop conversing with Narus and Eleanor. Looking around like I have been trapped, I try to sidestep the question, "Would you be alright if we sit, or are you going to have us stand here for the entire conversation?" "Oh, where are my manners, please, please. Would you like any refreshments? I can get glasses of the drinks you were having below if that suits you." Thinking I got away with changing the subject, we sat down and agreed with him providing us with some drinks. It doesn''t take long before he asks his question once again. "So, which is it? Are you related, or do you have a dragon bloodline?" Sighing in defeat, I ask, "What makes you think I am either of those two options?" "You have a strong smell of dragons on your person. This doesn''t happen unless you have been close to a dragon for years or if you have the bloodline of one yourself." "Smell?" I give him a quizzical look. "What do you mean by that?" "Exactly what I mean, you smell like dragons. Those at lower tiers won''t be able to smell it clearly unless they have a bloodline, but those at higher tiers are more sensitive to these things." He responds with a chipper smile. "Could I ask what tier you are at?" "I wouldn''t worry myself too much about that for now. Just know that I am much stronger than everyone in the building." "Can you two smell it?" I ask the other two in the room. "No, but I can tell there is something different in you based on the mana fluctuations around you. You need to get your mana control under control; you are jutting tons of mana out of your body." Lyndis states. "Nothing I could notice right off-hand other than your being more irritable than most people. I just chalked that up to your personality." Xiphos says. Thinking about it for a second, I ask something that shocks all of them. "Why couldn''t it be both?" In unison, all three stand up in shock and shout, "BOTH?" "Yeah, though, I just awakened my bloodline not too long ago, so that might be the cause of my inability to control my mana as much as I would like to. And as for the smell, it would make sense since my father is a dragon." I shrug my shoulders. Shaking his head, Kazuz holds his hands up. "Drake, I am going to be honest with you. Never, and I mean never, disclose that you have a connection to a dragon and a dragon bloodline. You didn''t have much choice in this instance, but being part of a group of newcomers, you should be able to hide it pretty well in the coming years." "Why, in years to come, I thought I would see more of the world as I get stronger with my friends." "Because those that are freshly integrated will-" The rest of his words become blocked by a buzzing sound. Seeing that my face is showing confusion, he sighs. "Just know it will be a while before you worry about it. Consider it like a tutorial." "Alright. Why couldn''t I hear what you said in the last part of your sentence?" "It is a protective measure by PUN to make sure people that aren''t ready to hear about certain things don''t. This example is that what you would learn is too high for you to know, so it was blocked out." After affirming that I followed, he shrugged and changed the topic. "How long have you been initiated into PUN?" "I was integrated into the system for about fifteen days or so. Some people are less by a day or two, while the rest of the people in my settlement are still relatively fresh." "And you were able to get the wealth you currently have in those few days?" He asks, a bit skeptically. "Yes, a bunch of wealth bags were provided as a reward. I also got the invitation as a reward for completing a night battle that didn''t wasn''t at night because of our actions." Nodding along, he gestures for me to stop. "Sounds like you are well in hand. You bid on quite a few items, and I am happy to see you were able to win them. Just be cautious when it comes to the reception. Don''t go making promises that will come back to bite you." "That was the plan." Giving him a nod in acknowledgment, I ask one final question: "If you three are all up here, then what were the last two items for people to bid on?" "One was a section of a summoning portal, and the other was just some Tier 3 crafting equipment for an enchanter." "What section?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. I was a little sad to hear that there was a set of Tier 3 crafting equipment for enchanting. "It was the arch for the summoning portal; this is typically the hardest part to get, so we left it as the last item in the auction." "Well, by the looks of it, our time is running short. The auction is heading into its final stages, and the portal arch is about to be sold. I believe it is time for you to return to your box, young Drake." Ushering us towards the door, Kazuz waves goodbye as we return to our box. ------------------------- Kazuz''s POV Watching these new young initiates leave my office, I turn to Lyndis. "What mana did you feel fluctuating off of him?" My tone is stern and authoritative. "It was really odd, at times it reminded me of life, then nature. It was always light, like there wasn''t much of that specific mana affinity. I could only grasp it occasionally, but that isn''t the end of it, I also felt two other mana affinities." Looking at her, I gesture for her to continue. "He has corruption and death as well. I can understand having the four elements, or even having a light and darkness dual affinity but having four affinities seems like a lot for someone that is so new to the system." "Are you sure?" I asked my tone not changing. "I am about 80-90% sure of what I was feeling." Getting Xiphos'' attention, I state, "We must not let this information slip. Someone who is a bloodline holder of a dragon, has four affinities, ties with not just the unliving, but also a race that we have presumed to be almost lost to the system. We must make sure that we can let him grow. For the betterment of us all." They both nod their heads in agreement to me, just as a precaution, I have them sign an agreement with me making sure that none of this information is going to slip at least from our own mouths. Chapter 89 The Lists Upon returning to the box, Brintilmus says, "Thank you, everyone, for coming and participating in this wonderful auction. As a thank you, we will hold the reception in the ballroom. So, please come and join us!" With one final bow, she leaves the stage, and people slowly start to trickle out of the bottom floor through the provided doors. We just turn around and select the ballroom before we are transported next to an attendant. Turning to ask him if he has a list of the items, the amount, and the quality ready for us, they nod and hand us a list. - Total Tally of Items Purchased: Items: 1 X Tier 1 Settlement Advancement Token 2 X set of Tier 0 weapons 2 X set of Tier 1 weapons 3 X set Tier 0 armor 1 X set of Tier 1 armor 4 X sets of Tier 0 upgrade tokens 1 X set of Tier 0 generic outpost upgrade tokens 1 X set of Tier 0 lumbermill-specific outpost tokens 1 X set of Tier 0 mine outpost tokens 1 X set of Tier 0 quarry outpost tokens 1 X set of Tier 0 resource reduction tokens 3 X set of Tier 0 time reduction tokens 1 X set of Tier 0 Profession Level reduction tokens 1 X pair of Early Tier 2 Daggers 1 X set of Early Tier 2 Enchanter''s Tools 1 X set of Early Tier 2 Blacksmith''s Tools 1 X set of Early Tier 2 Alchemist''s tools 1 X Mid Tier 2 Small Blade 1 X Mid Tier 2 Magician''s Wand 2 X Tier 2 Resource Point 1 X set of random Tier 2 Crafting Building Blueprints 1 X Peak Tier 2 Variable Mana Affinity Bow Total Items Purchased: 32 Total Cost of Items: 16,893 Gold - Looking at the different items we purchased and doing some quick math, we bought just over 10% of the entire auction with the wealth we brought. Feeling ecstatic about the purchases, I hold my head high until I realize I must show this list to that witch of a woman, Gwilana. Turning to the attendant, I asked, "Is there any way you can adjust the list since I have to show this to someone else for a bet we had?" Smiling at me, they nod once more and provide another list, this one very similar but fundamentally different. - Total Tally of Items Purchased: Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Tier 0 - 18 Tier 1 - 4 Early Tier 2 - 5 Mid Tier 2 - 4 Upper Tier 2 - Peak Tier 2 - 1 Total Items Purchased: 32 Total Cost of Items: 16,893 Gold - Seeing a shift in how things are displayed after Tier 1, I asked one final question: "What do the different tiers mean, and why is there a separation once it comes to Tier 2 items and not before?" "Ah, the Hall-master thought you would have a question like that. He has provided a small booklet for you and the breakdown of the tiers once you get past Tier 1." Nodding my thanks as the attendant handed over the booklet, I shoved it into my pocket. While stepping away, Eleanor asks, "Can I see what we managed to win?" After handing over the attendant''s first list, I looked around the room. And what a room! It is extravagant in its decorations. There is gold all over the halls, from the chandeliers to the wall sconces and the handrail leading down a set of stairs. There are tables throughout the hall piled high with foods varying from traditional cuisine from my world to what I can only view as leeches in a bowl. Holding my breath as my gaze flashes past the buffet of bugs, I continue to let my eyes wander. I saw people trickling out of the auction hall and slowly entering the ballroom. Based on what Eleanor and Narus told me, they are starting to gather in groups. It is mostly in clumps of races, but there is a clear divide between those of the living races and those of the unliving. With us walking in as a group that has both living and unliving, we became the oddity for everyone in the room. Figuring it would be best if we tried to stick to one side or the other makes it hard since none of the groups appear to want to deal with us. That is until a burst of snide laughter reaches my ears. "Well, look at that; you didn''t try to leave while you could, probably knowing you couldn''t even if you wanted to." Gwilana walked up to us as they had just arrived in the hall. Behind her is who I can only presume is Throsdurgrash. His imposing stature put me a little off kilter as I didn''t know what to think of him. She waved a piece of paper in her hands in front of my face so fast that I could hardly make out what was on it; I wanted to slap her for being so frantic with her gestures. "As you can see, we have easily won our little bet, " she sneers. Eleanor steps forward and snatches the paper from her hands so we can see what is written on it. - Total Tally of Items Purchased: Items: Access has not been given. Total Items Purchased: Access has not been given. Total Cost of Items: Access has not been given. - Looking at each other, Eleanor and I give Gwilana a look. "We would like to see, but it says we don''t have access to the information, so maybe if you can cool your feathers, we might be able to resolve our bet," Eleanor states flatly. At this point, a small crowd was gathering around us. Looking up from the paper at them, I asked, "Is there an open space where we could conclude this with witnesses?" Laughter comes from the stairwell as Kazuz walks down with Xiphos and Lyndis. "What a splendid idea! I have just the thing." With a snap of his fingers, the tables around the edge of the room slowly float into the air, so the entire space is open, and there are no obstructions. Another snap and a small platform form in the center of the room, with Gwilana and me standing on it. I was shocked at what happened; even though I had been working on magic, I never anticipated seeing such a performance so soon. This display continues for a few minutes while he sets up stands so everyone can see what is happening on the stage. Sighing about the over-exaggeration that Kazuz is putting into this endeavor, I look across at Gwilana to see her hateful gaze glaring right at me. Turning around, I see that there is no one behind me. Instead, there are a couple of chairs on raised platforms alongside the stage that Eleanor and Narus are sitting on. Both shrug their shoulders, showing that everything is out of their hands. Grumbling under my breath about how they couldn''t help me directly, I turned to face the glaring woman. "It appears that it is just you and me now." She taunts. Feeling my rage bubble up again, I try to push it down to appear more appealing to those who might want to work with us after this farce is over. "Yes, it does appear to be just you and I. I am curious, as it is you and not your backer, Throsdurgrash, on stage." She retorts with a comically evil chuckle, "Of course, during the time we have been here, he has given me all the power to make the choices. That means I have the power and the responsibility for when we win." "How can you be so sure that you will win?" I ask her, trying to figure out where her confidence comes from. "That is easy. I have been working with Throsdurgrash for several months, and we have gathered lots of funding." That piece of information throws my brain for a loop. "What do you mean you have been here for several months?" "When I came into the world, I have been working directly with Throsdurgrash. There wasn''t much in the territory he controlled, but he could build quite a place in this lonely world once I came along. He told me that if I won this bet, I would be allowed the first pick of my spoils from the auction. Not only that, but he said that when we go to conquer your settlement, he will leave your mother to me to deal with. Still wrapping my head around her having been here longer, I snap back to myself at the mention of my mother, and I ask one more question through grit teeth, "And what if you don''t win?" "There is no way that we won''t win. I have made sure of it. And Drake, not one single being on this world, living, dead, or a combination of both, has ever liked you." She sneers at me as she pulls out the list the attendant provided. Chapter 90 A Fine Wine It doesn''t take much longer before the stage is set. Kazuz comes down and hovers in the air. "Now, for those who are interested, I would like to mention something fun for all of us! I''m going to set betting for this little show." Feeling that this is going too far, I look up at Kazuz and ask with a bit of anger laced in my tone, "Can we just get this over with? I want to finish this and head back to my settlement. I have things that need to be done, and I don''t have time to play with this ''woman.''" "Oh, now, my dear friend, we will get to the meat of the matter, but why not try and make some more money out of this encounter? Or maybe another item of slightly lesser value for letting us facilitate this ''farce'' as you call it. We are an institute of trade and betting." Kazuz projects into my head. Shaking my head, I think, "And what would you provide me to continue this?" "Let''s say that Xiphos has an item that would suit one of your people well." That is all the answers I was able to get. "If he does have such an item, then I don''t have any reason to say no." I drop the subject and instead turn my attention to the woman before me. Still sneering, she asks, "What, are you getting cold feet now that you must put up or shut up?" This stokes my anger, and my response shows that anger: "It''s not I who should have cold feet. But at this rate, I do have one concern." "And what is that concern, you unawakened trash?" Giving her a snide smile, "My concern is at this rate, you''ll age like a fine wine." She smiles when she hears this, but that smile drops when she hears the following sentence: "Abandoned in a dark cellar." Chuckles are listened to through the room at my comment. "You filth, you think that just because you are your father''s spawn, you have any sort of backing! I will show you what it means to have a powerful backer!" She starts to rage at me. Feeling a bit cathartic from my backhanded comment to her, I continue. "Too bad you don''t know any polymorph magic; if you did, you might be able to morph that horrible personality... Or maybe even your face." The laughter only gets louder as she sits there and has to take the insults without being able to do anything. Seething in rage, she shouts, "When will this start? I want to squash this insect." "Patience, dear lady." Kazuz says, "We are about to start in a few seconds." As he says this, he gets a signal from one of the attendants handling the betting and explains what happened. "For those who don''t know why this is happening, a little bet started before the auction. This bet involved the two parties before you. To further explain the bet, it goes a little something like this. The initiator of the bet," he gestures to Gwilana, "bet that they would beat the challenged," gestures to myself, "that they would be able to beat them in at least two of three different categories during the auction. These categories are as follows: Total Cost of the items, total quantity of items, and the quality of said items." Seeing looks of interest in people''s eyes, he explains: "The initial two categories are quite easy to determine, but it is the last category that would stump those who don''t have a point system in place for the items already!" Hearing there is already a point system for such bets, I can only shake my head. "Now, without waiting any further, as these two seem already at each other''s throats, let''s get the first category out of the way. This is the simplest of the three. The total cost of the goods they bought. Now, one at a time, I would like you to allow us access to your purchasing lists so we might display them for all to see!" A notification appeared asking if Kazuz had permission to display my list. When I went to select yes, I paused. Thinking in his general direction, I finally noticed a problem with how everything had been going. "Won''t people target us if we show what we spent and how many items we managed to acquire?" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. "Don''t worry about that because this is a whim of my own; I have taken it upon myself to mask your appearances so others won''t be able to tell who you are when this event is over. I have even changed what outfits you two are wearing through illusion magic. The only thing I couldn''t do was cover your personalities, so unless you explicitly tell people that you were on the stage, no one will believe you since I will have two attendants roaming the floor afterward to keep up the illusion." Going over the information he just gave me about what he has done for us so we can remain anonymous, I can only nod my head in appreciation. "Thank you," I send his way. "No need to thank me. Remember that you are my entertainment, so make it flashy when we get to the last part of this performance." Nodding once again, I allow the permission for my list to be displayed. When the lists appear above our heads, there are placeholder names so we can still use our own instead of worrying about using them later in the gathering. - The Challengers'' Total Cost of Items: 19,427 Gold The Challenged Total Cost of Items: 16,893 Gold - Looking at how much gold they were able to spend compared to myself gives me a bad feeling, which only reminds me that she has been here for longer, so they must have accumulated more wealth than my settlement could have in the time we had. "Interesting. That is one for the challengers. Let''s move on to the following category: the total number of items. Soon, the list pans down to the next portion. - The Challengers'' Total Amount of Items: 11 The Challenged Total Amount of Items: 32 - After this list portion is displayed, my gaze falls to Gwilana. From how she is tapping her foot, I can tell she isn''t as antsy about losing this portion of the auction as I was about how much they had spent. "With one win each, it makes me curious how that last part will pan out for the two of them," Kazuz says to the crowd. "Before we move on to the last part, let me explain how we will tally the points for the quality of the items. For those at Tier 0, they will be worth one point; those at Tier 1 will be at two points; Early Tier 2 will be worth 4 points; Mid Tier 2 will be worth 8; Upper Tier 2 will be worth 16, and finally; Peak Tier 2 will be 32 points." After this brief explanation, the lists slowly start to progress downward. Initially, we scored many points because they didn''t have any points from the Tier 0 or Tier 1 categories; that changes once the Early Tier 2 pieces come into place. While we still had more pieces in the Early Tier 2 than they did, they had more pieces left to be accounted for. My points after Early Tier 2 has been counted is 42, while their points hit 16. The Mid Tier 2 is shown; we had five pieces of Mid Tier 2, while they had four. The running totals are now at 82 and 48, respectively. On moving to the Upper Tier 2 pieces, they had two pieces, which brings their total to 80. Looking across the way, I can see that Gwilana is sneering at me, thinking that she has won. I can only sigh; it was close but only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. When the last category comes up, there is a roar from the other side of the platform. "HOW? HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO WIN A PEAK TIER 2 ITEM?" Thinking about the sneaky win, I can only smirk in her general direction. "It is easy when no one is paying attention to what is being bid," I scold. "SO IT WAS YOU WHO WON THAT PIECE!" The pieces visibly clicked in her mind. That wasn''t the end of it, though. Once the final item was added to both of our scores, the totals came out to 112 for Gwilana and 114 for myself. I was thrilled that we went for some of the lower items, even though I know it drained our funds for the later portion of the auction. With the final results tallied, even though this didn''t take long to facilitate, it was a decent show based on Gwilana''s reactions. Kazuz laughs, "It would seem that you aren''t happy with the final tally of the items. I can assure you that everything is as it seems." He turns to the crowd in the stands, "Now let me explain the last part of the bet these two individuals both agreed to. If either party were to win in two of the categories, then the other would have to pay for their items but hand them all over to the winner. This is a great strategy to win items from an enemy and drain their financing while acquiring the items they purchased in the auction. So let us congratulate the challenge on their victory." Looking up to Kazuz, I nod, and before leaving the stage, I pass by the seething Gwilana: "Thank you so much for such a wonderful gift; I am sure that my mother will be glad to hear about what you have provided for all of us." As I am almost off of the stage, I whisper so that only she can hear: "And by the way, I do have my bloodline." Before she can question me with her anger, I ask Kazuz, "Would you be willing to give me another illusion for the rest of the gathering? Could you also provide some for my two companions? I don''t want to run into her during the rest of the gathering." With a nearly imperceptible nod, my companions and I were teleported to another part of the room. We were wearing different illusionary outfits and small changes to our faces, so we weren''t easily recognized but could still be identified by our races. Chapter 91 Rage Like Never Before After we moved, I heard a sudden scream of rage from across the room. I was followed by incoherent cussing and insults directed at myself and my family. It seems like Kazuz told her she would pay for all the goods on her side before she was allowed to leave with the rest of her party. Chuckling to myself at her loss, I continue to walk forward, introducing myself as a settlement lord to those around the area. I don''t hesitate to go to both sides of the room, where the living and the unliving are. If anyone will listen to me and chat, it doesn''t hurt to have more connections. Most of the talks are minor, such as introductions and some basic information gathering. Most people don''t give much information since they don''t know much about themselves, especially those on the main floor of the auction hall. Figuring that they are individual adventurers makes me curious about what they would do here since it seemed like a higher-class auction. Feeling I should ask, but knowing that it could be perceived as rude, I stop myself from asking anyone. This continues for another hour before Kazuz stands above everyone once again. "Good evening, everyone; I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to those here. I would also like to thank you for joining in this decennial auction. Hopefully, we can see you again at the next auction. Sadly, I would like to inform you all that we have to send you back now that our time has run out, and it has been a wonder to host all of you!" He gives an award-winning smile and appears before one of the doors that head out to shake hands with those of higher status in the crowd. It doesn''t take long before Eleanor, Narus, and I are leaving the ballroom. Once we get to the doors, I am stopped by the attendant and am directed to head towards Kazuz. "As one who has spent so much time with us this evening, I think it would be bad manners if you didn''t come and find me, my dear friend." Kazuz happily says while giving my hand a warm shake. "I have made sure that all of your items have been packaged and are in this bag here," he said, handing me a bag. Looking at it, I saw nothing different than my storage bag. "Thank you for the wonderful time, Kazuz." I smile at him, knowing he won''t shortchange me on the items I am due since PUN was part of the wager between Gwilana and me. With mental communication, he continues, "I have also included the item for Xiphos in the bag. I hope to see you again, and as a small token of my gratitude, I have also included another invitation to a smaller auction we will be holding. It hasn''t been planned yet, but once there is a definitive date, your invitation will be sent to you at least a month in advance." Thanking him once again, though this time mentally, I ask one question. "We might want to include some items from my settlement for the next auction. Would it be possible to get them on the auction ticket?" He nods and agrees, "Yes, we only close item additions a week before or if we have 300 items as we had in this auction." Smiling, I continue through the doors, and it doesn''t take more than a moment before I return to my manor. It had just turned night when we arrived. Stretching my shoulders after sitting and waiting for the auction to be done for a long time, I went to find my parents. It didn''t take me long before I found all of them; my father was out behind the manor working on his swordsmanship, my mother happened to be right next to him working on her archery, and my sister was working out some bandaging and other tools for healing people without magic. Gathering each of them, I give them all a hug. They ask me questions, and I tell them we should wait until tomorrow before we do anything since I don''t want to tell the story multiple times. With that, they relent, and we go inside to prepare a meal together. They could tell that something was off when I gathered them, but no one questioned it since I had already told them I would tell them all they wanted to know in the morning. Not long after dinner, I head to bed. My day has been extended, and dealing with all those people has made me more exhausted than dealing with the waves of enemies. I fall asleep quickly, and in what feels like an instant, I hear banging on my door and a dry voice coming from the hall. "Drake, it is time for you to come downstairs. Many people are waiting to hear what has happened," Laxreal says. Groggily, I gather my bearings and call out to the door, "Why are you the one waking me up? I feel like there should be a way for me to wake up on my own in the system." "There is. You just forget about the small things with everything else running through your head. Just access your interface and set an alarm like everyone else, and you won''t have people coming to bang on your door every morning." He snarks back at me. Smacking myself on the forehead, I quickly look at the options in my interface and find a small section for the time and an option to set an alarm. - Would you like to set an alarm for 8 am? Yes/No Note: You can only set alarms when you are within your settlement or another settlement. You will not be able to set an alarm out in the wilds. - After selecting yes, I looked at the time: 9:43 a.m. No wonder everyone had gathered to wake me up. Springing out of bed, I gather before heading out of my bedroom to see Laxreal standing there. "Thank you, Laxreal; I appreciate your help, " I say sheepishly. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. We both head down the stairs and enter the meeting room. The same group of people was in the room yesterday; this time, a set of people from my world have joined them. Recognizing them from when I summoned the large group of people, I found Demetrius sitting in one of the seats. With all four of the new council members sitting at the table and my family also in the room since they can''t be asked to leave, as I had told them I would talk with them about what occurred during the auction, I rub my tired eyes and put on a smile. "Where to start," I off-handedly mention, placing my finger over my lips. I think for a second and then start from the beginning. Telling them all about how we arrived, getting to our box, the auction itself, and meeting Kazuz the Hall-master of the auction house we were in. I also brought up the amount of items we purchased during the auction and the cost of said items. Seeing everyone else''s shock, other than Draemish, Eleanor, Vranjaya, and Narus, the others ask why we got so many items. This causes me to sigh, and it doesn''t go unnoticed. "How did you get these items, Drake?" My father is the one to ask, this time more pointed than before. That is when I tell everyone about the encounter with Gwilana. The moment I mention her name, my father and mother both look at each other, and I can see the rage in their eyes when I say what she was doing the entire time I was having my different surgeries done. When I bring up the fact that she never fully healed me of my ailments, my father shattered the armrest of his chair, and my mother''s horns start to appear on her forehead, the rage palpable. Seeing the changes in my parents, I slowly stop talking about her. "Are you two alright?" I asked. They visibly try to calm themselves down, but I can tell that it isn''t working. They are having a hard time expressing their words. My mother takes a couple of deep breaths before she can finally utter even a semblance of an answer, but her voice has changed. It is deeper like it has touched upon the abyss; her eyes have become a deeper black than usual, and her hands have slowly developed claws into claws. "We will be fine. Please continue with what you were saying." Giving me a smile that I can only describe as something small children would view in their nightmares appears on her face, full of sharp teeth. I start my story from where I left off, and right as I get to the wager I placed with Gwilana, my father can''t take it anymore and stands up. Well, it''s not that he stood up; the chair gave way from underneath him, and wings flared out of his back, tearing his shirt apart. All I can hear from him is his repeated muttering, "She will pay. " He can''t calm down until Xelyphe approaches him and rests her hand on his shoulder. The others in the room are looking at me and giving gentle looks in our direction, knowing that it can be hard to hear about someone abusing helping someone just for the sadistic passion of tormenting someone else''s family. Laxreal puts his hand on my shoulder before asking, "What did you do when you heard of your family being disrespected in such a manner?" I could not think clearly about the answer, seeing the extent of the changes in both my father and mother. Eleanor answered, "I could tell he was getting angry; at one point, his anger did boil over, and he tried to lash out at her for her disrespect, but we stopped him." "Why?" This is the following question. "Rules dictated that we stop him; if he was able to harm her in any form physically, then we could have been kicked out of the auction." Nodding his understanding, he grasps my shoulder more firmly, bringing me out of my slight stupor. "Drake, what are your plans for this woman?" "Destruction, that is all she deserves." My father shouts out even before I can get a word out. "Death to those she loves," my mother, in a very uncharacteristic show, expounds on what he said. During this whole time, they have been exhibiting more signs of their bloodlines. Scales cover my father, and a dark leathery skin covers my mother; a tail has formed at some point, and her horns have grown larger. Nodding my head in agreement with what they have said, I turn to Laxreal, "That would be for the best; I don''t know if we are strong enough to take on the settlement that she is a part of. From what she told me, she had already been in either this world or another world for several months. I hope that she is on a different planet. I don''t want to worry about fighting her right now while trying to get everything settled around here." Feeling the hostility in the air from my mother and father towards this woman, I want them to calm down, but I don''t know how. That is when I hear Laxreal sigh, "I was hoping not to have to do this ever to someone, but it looks like it can''t be helped." With a snap of his fingers, chains appear in the room. They wrap around my parents and force them to the ground. "LAXREAL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" My father rages. "I am forcing you to sit still. I know you are angry at what has happened, but your state right now could harm someone in this room, your son included. With that, I have taken it upon myself to restrain you until you can calm down." Looking at the restraints, I become a bit worried, but then I think about all the damage they could cause if they were let loose now. I turn to Laxreal, "What if they can break from the constraints of the chains?" "They won''t." "How can you know that?¡± "Those chains won''t hold someone unwilling to be restrained. They know they could go out of control and have subconsciously given permission to be restrained so they can''t go out of control." Trusting him with his judgment, I continue my story, keeping an eye on my parents. As it progresses, they get more and more demonic or in the case of my father, draconic. Once I finally finish with everything that happened at the auction, I can barely recognize the humanoid figures that were once my parents. Sighing, I can only think of one thing that might pull them both from this state but also work on leveling us all up since we seem to be falling behind. "Mom, Dad, we should just have a family outing. Just the four of us, go out and maybe get some levels and just learn from each other about everything. Or you can teach me more about what it eans to have a bloodline.": Their eyes focus on me, and I can see that they like that idea from the smiles I get. Some of their features start to return to normal. "We first have to finish with what we have started here. " With that, I pulled out the bag that Kazuz gave me right before we left. Pulling one item after another out of the bag, most people were impressed with what some items represented for us as a settlement. The initial items I pull out are the blueprints and tools. These don''t get much response overall, but then I started to pull out the tokens, weapons, and armor. Chapter 92 Vast Array of Items Looking at the vast array of items in front of me, I briefly review their descriptions to give a general idea of what we have on hand to give to those who should have them. -1 X Tier 1 Settlement Advancement Token: This token allows the settlement leader to skip the trial the settlement must pass before upgrading from a Tier 0 Roadside Hovel to a Tier 1 Hamlet. 4 X Set of Tier 0 Upgrade Tokens: This token bundle includes a set of 5 Wood Resource Reduction Tokens, 5 Wood Time Reduction Tokens, 5 Wood Instant Completion Tokens, and 5 Iron Instant Level-up Tokens. 1 X Set of Tier 0 Generic Outpost Upgrade Tokens: This token bundle includes 3 Wood Production Increase Tokens and 3 Iron Instant Level-up Tokens. 1 X Set of Tier 0 Lumbermill-Specific Outpost Tokens: This token bundle includes 5 Wood Lumbermill Production Increase Tokens, 5 Wood Lumbermill Occupancy Increase Tokens, and 3 Iron Lumbermill Instant Level-up Tokens. 1 X Set of Tier 0 Mine-Specific Outpost Tokens: This token bundle includes 5 Wood Mine Production Increase Tokens, 5 Wood Mine Occupancy Increase Tokens, and 3 Iron Mine Instant Level-up Tokens. 1 X Set of Tier 0 Quarry-Specific Upgrade Tokens: This token bundle includes 5 Wood Quarry Production Increase Tokens, 5 Wood Quarry Occupancy Increase Tokens, and 3 Iron Quarry Instant Level-up Tokens. 1 X Set of Tier 0 Resource Reduction Tokens: This token bundle includes 15 Wood Resource Reduction Tokens and 5 Iron Resource Reduction Tokens. 3 X Set of Tier 0 Time Reduction Tokens: This token bundle includes 15 Wood Time Reduction Tokens and 5 Iron Time Reduction Tokens. 1 X Set of Tier 0 Profession Level Reduction Tokens: This token bundle includes 5 Wood Profession Reduction Tokens. - 1 X Set of Early Tier 2 Generic Settlement Tokens: This Token bundle includes 5 Wood Early Tier 2 Resource Reduction Tokens, 5 Wood Early Tier 2 Time Reduction Tokens, 5 Wood Tier 2 Instant Completion Tokens, and 5 Iron Early Tier 2 Instant Level-up Tokens. 2 X Tier 2 Resource Point: This token instantly creates a Tier 2 resource point at the specified location. - Going through the settlement tokens first was probably for the best; they were the most received in total, and it gave me a general understanding of what to expect soon. I am curious why the tokens follow the same general theme even when they are of a higher tier. I should read through the book Kazuz gave me about the difference in tiers once I get a chance. Next, I move to the crafting category of items. One thing I find interesting is that the blueprints won at the auction were under this category instead of the settlement category. - 1 X Set of Early Tier 2 Enchanter''s Tools: This set of Early Tier 2 Enchanter''s tools helps to increase the success rate of enchanting items with properties for Tier 0 enchantments by 20%, Tier 1 enchantments by 10%, and Early Tier 2 enchantments by 5%. 1 X Set of Early Tier 2 Blacksmith''s Tools: This set of Early Tier 2 Blacksmith''s tools helps to increase the success rate of enchanting items with properties for Tier 0 smithing by 20%, Tier 1 smithing by 10%, and Early Tier 2 smithing by 5%. 1 X Set of Early Tier 2 Alchemist''s Tools: This set of Early Tier 2 Alchemist''s tools helps to increase the success rate of enchanting items with properties for Tier 0 alchemy by 20%, Tier 1 alchemy by 10%, and Early Tier 2 alchemy by 5%. 1 X Set of Mid Tier 2 Carpenter''s Tools: This set of Early Tier 2 Enchanter''s tools helps to increase the success rate of enchanting items with properties for Tier 0 woodworking by 25%, Tier 1 woodworking by 12.5%, Early Tier 2 woodworking by 6.25%, and Mid Tier 2 woodworking by 3%. 1 X Set of Mid Tier 2 Inscriptions'' Tools: This set of Early Tier 2 Enchanter''s tools helps to increase the success rate of enchanting items with properties for Tier 0 inscriptions by 25%, Tier 1 inscriptions by 12.5%, Early Tier 2 inscriptions by 6.25%, and Mid Tier 2 inscriptions by 3%. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. 1 X Set of Random Early Tier 2 Crafting Building Blueprints: This blueprint bundle contains a random set of 6 Early Tier 2 Crafting Building Blueprints. 1 X Set of Random Tier 2 Gathering Building Blueprints: This blueprint bundle contains a random set of Tier 2 Gathering Building Blueprints. 1 X Summoning Portal Arch Blueprint: This is a one-time blueprint that allows positioning a summoning portal arch. It requires a Journeyman Foreman, a Journeyman Scribe, a Journeyman Enchanter, 400 Units of Tier 2 stone, 400 Units of Tier 2 metal, and 2 summoning portal towers.- Seeing the enchanter''s tools again makes me as excited as I was when they first went up for auction. I can''t wait to get my hands on them to start crafting enchantments on different items. I hope the gathering buildings will be able to help with the items we need so I don''t have to go out and gather them every time I want to create something. And finally, last but not least, I analyze the different weapons and armor in front of me. Some of them are still wrapped up in bundles. - 2 X Set of Tier 0 Weapons Bundle: This weapon bundle includes 3 sets of basic Tier 0 daggers, 3 Tier 0 short swords, 3 Tier 0 small buckler shields, 3 Tier 0 short bows, and 3 Tier 0 apprentice mage wands. 3 X Set of Tier 0 Armor Bundle: This armor bundle includes 3 complete sets of Tier 0 warrior''s attire, 3 complete sets of Tier 0 hunter''s attire, and 3 complete sets of Tier 0 initiate mage''s attire. 2 X Set of Tier 1 Weapons Bundle: This weapon bundle includes 3 sets of basic Tier 1 daggers, 3 Tier 1 swords, 3 Tier 1 buckler shields, 3 Tier 1 bows, and 3 Tier 1 mage wands. 1 X Set of Tier 1 Armor Bundle: This armor bundle includes 3 complete sets of Tier 1 warrior''s attire, 3 complete sets of Tier 1 hunter''s attire, and 3 complete sets of Tier 1 apprentice mage''s attire. 1 X Set of Early Tier 2 Daggers of Backstabbing: These daggers provide a +5 Dexterity and +3 to attacks when behind a target. Requires a minimum of 30 Dexterity and 15 Strength. 1 X Early Tier 2 Sword of Magic Slashing: This sword provides +3 Strength, +3 Intelligence, and +2 to magical attacks. Requires a minimum of 30 Strength and 15 Intelligence. 1 X Early Tier 2 Half-Plate of Protection: This armor provides +8 Defense against physical attacks and +4 Defense against magical attacks. Requires a minimum of 45 Strength. 1 X Mid Tier 2 Small Blade of Skinning: This small blade increases gathering speed from beasts and is likely to deliver a higher quality leather. Requires Leatherworking at Journeyman Tier. 1 X Mid Tier 2 Magician''s Wand of Death: This wand provides +12 Intelligence and +4 to magical attacks. Requires a minimum of 40 Intelligence, 20 Wisdom, and a Death Mana Affinity. 1 X Mid Tier 2 War Axe of Projection: This war axe provides +12 Strength and can unleash a short-range projection attack (Range: 5 Meters). Requires a minimum of 40 Strength, 20 Dexterity, and 10 Constitution 1 X Mid Tier 2 Elven Bow of Beast Slaying: This bow provides +9 Dexterity, +3 Strength, and +4 Damage to Beast-type targets. Requires a minimum of 40 Dexterity, 20 Strength, and 10 Wisdom 1 X Upper Tier 2 Plate Armor of Deflection: This armor provides +25 Defense against physical attacks, +12 Defense against magical attacks, and has a 10% chance to deflect projectiles. Requires a minimum of 90 Strength, 15 Dexterity, and 10 Wisdom. 1 X Upper Tier 2 Shield of Thorns: This shield provides +30 Defense against physical attacks and, on a successful block of a physical melee strike, will deal 10 points of physical damage to the attacker. Requires a minimum of 75 Strength, 25 Constitution, and 25 Dexterity. 1 X Peak Tier 2 Variable Mana Affinity Bow: This bow provides +5 Dexterity, +10 Intelligence, and +5 Wisdom and allows the channeling of any mana affinity into the bow; depending on the mana affinity channeled, an arrow of that mana type will generate and provide a general range of effects. Requires a minimum of 50 Dexterity, 80 Intelligence, and 50 Wisdom. - After a closer inspection of the items, I looked at what I could wear, and sadly, it wasn''t much at this time. Gathering my wits about myself, I look at the Tier 0 and Tier 1 weapons and armor. The Tier 0 mage''s attire is the same as what I have equipped currently. The Tier 1 mage''s attire has a couple of extra small bonuses, but it requires me to be Tier 1 before I can wear it. The wands are what intrigue me currently. While they don''t look like much, they provide +1 Intelligence and +2 to magical attacks. Taking one of the wands for myself, I finally have a weapon that gives me more than just a focus point to help me channel my spells. With this last addition, my status hasn''t changed much, but I have decided that with my free points, I will invest more into Dexterity to wield that bow once I reach the requirements. -Current Attributes Including Equipment: Strength 1 Intelligence 15 Wisdom 15 Charisma 6 Dexterity 2 Constitution: 8 - Chapter 93 Family Time After analyzing all the loot, I started on the next project while my parents started to calm down. Their anger reached such a height that they didn''t calm down quickly, but I didn''t need them to. Instead, I looked through the armor and weapons and grabbed Tier 0 gear for each of them, shoving them into my storage bag. Next, I see everyone slowly going through the rest of the gear. "I would like everyone here to at least have one set of gear on them since they are currently in the higher echelons of the settlement." There is enough armor for everyone, but we are short on some weapons. That isn''t a considerable concern right now in my eyes. Turning to Xelyphe, I ask them, "Are you ready to head out?" Giving a nod of affirmation, Xelyphe looks at Mom and Dad quizzically. "How are we supposed to get them out of the settlement when they are in that state?" Laxreal answers, "You can grab the chains that are binding them. They are spectral, but like I said before, they bind willing people. It will extend to a certain extent and won''t put any pressure on you when you are ''guiding'' them out of the settlement." We both look at each other and then grab one set of chains each. Before leaving the room, I ask the rest of the council, "Are there any tasks you wish me to do before I head out?" "Yes," Demetrius says. Could you please give someone in the room the rights to set up building queues and use tokens from the Lord''s Chest?" Thinking about why they hadn''t really built anything since I had left, I smacked my head again. "Yes, I will permit Laxreal to do as you said. If you run into any snags with the building and don''t know how to progress, please have a quick meeting. I don''t know how long we are going to be, but I hope that it is long enough for these two to vent some frustrations," I said while gesturing to my parents. They all nod in acknowledgment, and with no further questions, we head out of the manor. - Laxreal''s POV - With the permissions I now have, thanks to Drake, I am starting to put things together. First on my list is to figure out all of the tokens and then understand where we are with our resources. - Settlement Resources: Tier 1 Wood - 92 (+10 units Tier 1 Wood Stone - 695 (+10 daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - 2605 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 468 Tier 2 Wood - 10 (2 units of Tier 2 Wood) Stone 16 (+2 Daily Tiny Mining Outpost) Metal - Food - 4 (+1 Per 5 days Fishing Pier) Settlement Building Tokens: Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. 20 X Tier 0 Wood Instant Completion Token 6 X Tier 0 Iron Instant Completion Token 4 X Tier 0 Bronze Instant Completion Token 5 X Tier 0 Silver Instant Completion Token 3 X Tier 0 Gold Instant Completion Token 1 X Tier 0 Platinum Instant Completion Token 66 X Tier 0 Wood Time Reduction Token 34 X Tier 0 Iron Time Reduction Token 15 X Tier 0 Bronze Time Reduction Token 22 X Tier 0 Silver Time Reduction Token 1 X Tier 0 Gold Instant Completion Token 48 X Tier 0 Wood Resource Reduction Token 24 X Tier 0 Iron Resource Reduction Token 22 X Tier 0 Bronze Resource Reduction Token 24 X Tier 0 Silver Resource Reduction Token 1 X Tier 0 Gold Instant Completion Token 2 X Tier 0 Platinum Instant Completion Token 25 X Tier 0 Iron Instant Level Up Token 1 X Tier 0 Bronze Instant Level Up Token 5 X Tier 0 Silver Instant Level Up Token 1 X Tier 0 Gold Instant Completion Token 4 X Tier 0 Platinum Instant Completion Token 1 X Tier 1 Settlement Advancement Token 5 X Wood Profession Reduction Tokens: Lower the profession requirement level by one grade. 5 X Early Tier 2 Wood Resource Reduction Tokens 5 X Early Tier 2 Wood Time Reduction Tokens 5 X Early Tier 2 Wood Instant Completion Tokens 5 X Early Tier 2 Iron Instant Level-up Tokens Note: Tier 0 Tokens can be used in Tier 1 buildings but not higher tiers. Outpost Tokens: 2 X Outpost Upgrade Token: Increases the size of an outpost by one grade. 3 X Wood Production Increase Token: Select one outpost and increase the production by 10 daily units. 3 X Iron Instant Level-up Token (Outpost): Select an outpost and instantly increase it to level 2. 5 X Wood Lumbermill Production Increase Token: Increase the production of a lumbermill by 10 daily units. 5 X Wood Lumbermill Occupancy Increase Token: Increase the number of workers able to work in the outpost by 1. 3 X Iron Lumbermill Instant Level-up Token: Increase the level of a lumber mill to level 2. 5 X Wood Mine Production Increase Token: Increase mine production by 10 daily units. 5 X Wood Mine Occupancy Increase Token: Increase the number of workers able to work in the outpost by 1. 3 X Iron Mine Instant Level-up Token: Increase the level of a lumber mill to level 2. 5 X Wood Quarry Production Increase Token: Increase quarry production by 10 daily units. 5 X Wood Quarry Occupancy Increase Token: Increase the number of workers able to work in the outpost by 1. 3 X Iron Quarry Instant Level-up Token: Increase the level of a lumber mill to level 2. Resource Point Tokens: 2 X Tier 2 Resource Point: This token instantly creates a Tier 2 resource point at the specified location. - Seeing all the different tokens available to us, I slap my hands together, making a clicking sound. "Alright, let''s get this show started." I head upstairs with the bag that Drake left behind. I grab all the tokens I want and return to the meeting room. "Let''s get our resources figured out, shall we? "Thus, a new meeting begins, and with only one representative from the humans from Drake''s world, I decided to sit next to him and try to put my mind to what would be best based on their perspective. Thankfully, I have memories of when I became a skeleton, so it isn''t hard to do so. - Drake''s POV - After leaving the manor, parents in tow, we headed toward the edge of the settlement toward the fog wall. Considering the circumstances, it took a few extra minutes, but we made it before 10:30. Having arrived, I made sure to get everyone into the party, and then, going to touch the fog, I noticed someone else coming out of the fog. From its looks, it is one of the unliving soldiers under Draemish. They looked over at me and gave me a smile before heading back to the settlement. Curious about who came out of the fog but not curious enough to go and check on it, I proceed to touch the fog. - Would you like to proceed with your current party? Yes/No - Selecting yes, we proceed into the fog. Chapter 94 Following in Their Footsteps We are all teleported into a vast grassland. Only a few trees are spaced throughout the plain, but there is nothing to note right off-hand. The chains holding Mom and Dad from doing anything stupid disappeared as we were transported. From what I can tell, my father wants to take to the skies, while my mother has her head darting back and forth, trying to find something. Hearing a heavy flapping of wings, I see my father finally get his wings under control and take to the air. Not long after, Mother follows his shadow. Looking at Xelyphe and sighing, we both follow behind them. It appears my father is headed in a specific direction, and it doesn''t take long before Xelyphe points out a creature moving through the grasslands. As we approach where we see it, no trace of any creature is in the area. Continuing following our parents, we hear a jarring buzzing sound. It doesn''t take long before three giant wasps fly out of the ground and intercept Xelyphe and me. I took a moment to analyze them before they got too close and saw some basic details for the wasps. - Giant Wasp Level 5` HP: 16/16 - I quickly inform Xelyphe of this information as she stands before me, shield in one and hand sword at the ready. They approach us quickly, trying to hit one before they approach us, but my arcane shot goes wide. Cursing my bad luck at firing magic, I see Xelyphe swing at the wasps. The sword takes on a red hew as it cuts one of the legs off one of the wasps and bites into its carapace. Two of the wasps got their stingers into a position to swipe at Xelyphe. Blocking the incoming attack from the left, the right one stings Xelyphe''s side. Thankfully, the new armor protects them. Taking a moment to cast a shield on Xelyphe with a golden glow around them, I cast another arcane shot shortly after onto one of the wasps. My spell lands as one of the wasps is flying away, and it blasts the wasp into a green goo. Xelyphe was also able to get another swing off onto another. Clearing the wings of the next one and then following through to stab their sword into the head of the wasp, killing it. The third wasp that could sting Xelyphe flies in a large circle. On its return, we both tried to hit it again, failing to hit it as it passed. Using its stinger as a lance, it can charge into Xelyphe. Thankfully, with the shield on, the stinger can''t penetrate her armor. Quickly flying away from us, Xelyphe can get another slash, and with the red light surrounding the blade again, they clip the wings off of this wasp as well. It takes less than a second for the wasp to be killed and for us to receive a notification. - You have killed 3 X Giant Wasps Level 5. Experience awarded 2. - We look around to see if we can see our parents. Thankfully, we can see Dad flying in the sky. He is now much further away than we could have anticipated. Charging forward, we continue to chase after them. As we run, Xelyphe stops us. Instead of continuing our breakneck pace, they hold up their hand to get me to stop. It doesn''t take long for me to figure out what is happening. - Party Quest: The Folly of War You have stumbled upon an ancient war site and disturbed the inhabitants of this battleground. You must pick a side and help that side achieve victory. Tasks: Pick a side: 0/1 Kill all opposing parties: 0/1 Rewards:??? Failure: N/A - Seeing the quest pop up makes me curious about what we will be fighting for and against. That''s when my vision clouds over, and we are transported to another spot. We aren''t in a grassland anymore. Instead, we are on the outskirts of a small village. Ghostly corpses surround us; some appear to be wearing armor, and others have simple, ordinary clothing. The metal ringing sounds out from the distance, and as we approach the sounds, we see the two sides fighting. On one side is a group of 20 commoners; on the other is a group of 10 soldiers and what appears to be four mages in the background. They haven''t cast anything yet, but they are chanting. "Who do you think we should side with?" I asked. Giving me a look that says, "Are you stupid?" Xelyphe points to the group of commoners. "Of course, we are going to help the commoners. They obviously shouldn''t be the ones fighting, but it seems they are forced into this combat." "Why not the soldiers?" I ask more out of curiosity than anything else. "Look around, Drake. There aren''t that many of their corpses around in comparison to the soldiers. They must hide strength that could easily crush us if we join the soldiers. Also, I don''t like the way those mages are summoning. I feel like they are siphoning something off." Stolen story; please report. Following the trail of thought mentioned, I focus on my mana control to see if there is anything I can see from that. Slowly falling into a meditative stance, I can feel the flow of mana. And from those flows, I can feel the mana in the air heading toward the chanting mages. Most of the mana being pulled in is death mana. Popping out of the state, I turn to Xelyphe, "The mages are pulling in death mana. Nothing good will come based on the amount of mana being pulled in. We need to stop them before anything can happen." With that proclamation, we both head into the battlefield. As we get closer, our intent for which side we plan to fight with shows, and ghostly tendrils of mana start to wrap themselves around our bodies. Slowly, my mage robes and wand change into a simple set of clothing and a shepherd''s staff, while Xelyphe has the same dress the other ghosts wear. Their sword and shield remain similar, but a ghostly aura radiates. Approaching the front lines, Xelyphe heads straight into the battle, swinging her sword and removing the sword arm from one of the soldiers. The commoners slowly started getting the soldiers from their flanks with their superior numbers and hacked down two. As the bodies fall to the floor, they disappear. Casting my spells at the soldiers, I missed one by a hair''s breadth because I was aiming at their heads, and they could dodge out of the way. We continued to fight. I wanted to use Nature''s Grasp, but I was concerned that it would affect the battlefield too much and that my allies would run into it. In several instances, Xelyphe attacks one of the soldiers, and the blade phases through them. The soldiers continue to fall, but something feels wrong. I can see as one soldier falls, another appears near the mages. When the new soldier appears, some of the mana that has been gathering diminishes slightly. Calling out, "Xelyphe, we need to take out the mages. They keep summoning more of the soldiers!" They don''t hear me over the rest of the battle. Taking matters into my hands, I cast a Nature''s Grasp underneath the mages. They don''t seem to notice the brambles underneath them. Analyzing the mages, I find out why. - Ghost Mage Soldier (Elite) HP: 80/80 MP: 60/100 - My spell doesn''t seem to do any damage to them. Thinking about why that could be, I looked closer at the spell. - Nature''s Grasp: Creates a layer of rough brambles in a 5-meter area, causing enemies to take 1 - 4 + 5 damage while walking through them. - There are two options that I can think of that would be the reason for the lack of damage. The first is that they aren''t trying to move through the brambles. The second is that the damage dealt is physical and doesn''t affect them as it would someone else. Grumbling about the lack of effect, I changed my form of attack and instead went with arcane bolts. Hitting one of the mages, I looked at the damage dealt and saw that I managed to take out a quarter of the health from one of the mages. Wanting to keep piling on the damage to the mages, I keep casting at them. While I was doing this, Xelyphe and the commoners pushed the soldiers back to the point of their spawning. Sadly, during this process, they had lost several of their own, bringing their numbers down to 17. The amount of mana in the pool of death mana has taken a noticeable dent, but it is still not enough to stop the mages from chanting, and with every death of a commoner, the pool is bolstered by a considerable amount. It takes several arcane bolts before the first mage is slain. The moment they perish, the mana pool rapidly grows, but the edges of it also start to shake, and instead of maintaining the mana, the mana isn''t being collected anymore. And it is just being stabilized by the other three mages. The number of soldiers that appear after every death slowly dwindles; it takes a moment to realize, but the amount of soldiers has dropped from 10 to 8. With fewer soldiers, they continue to push them hard. Noticing the change in the battle tempo, I continue to focus on the mages. As I start casting my spells at them, instead of sitting and doing nothing, a barrier appears around them, preventing my arcane bolt from doing any damage. Casting the bolt several times, I saw that nothing was working. The barrier was the same pale blue color as my arcane bolts. I try to think of something that I can do to start damaging the mages again. Looking over my spell list, I begin to narrow down my options. If my arcane bolt won''t work and nature''s grasp is ineffective, only a few other options are available. I have Smite and Corrupting Bolt available, but I don''t have another spell type available to deal with a fourth type of damage. Shrugging my shoulders, I decide it is better to get started before we lose all the commoner ghosts we are fighting alongside. When I first start casting smite at another of the mages and want to try something else, I try to damage all of them before killing one more. It takes me three casts of the spell to get used to how it is projected. Unlike the other two bolt spells, the spell comes down like a sword strike from the heavens. Having no prior knowledge, the first of the casts gouged a small groove in the ground far from one of the mages. After learning how it looks when cast, the second cast ends up just above the head of the mage since I started the spell too high for it to hit before it dissipates. And just like the saying goes, the third time is the charm. It strikes the mage, and while it doesn''t do as much damage as my arcane bolt, I could at least hit the mage again. With that knowledge, I continued to cast while most of the spells hit; several instances were missing because I wasn''t concentrating enough on where the spell should start, or I had it start either in front of the mage or behind them as I misjudged the distance. When I get all three of the mages down to around ten health remaining, another three commoners have perished, further bolstering the spell the mages are chanting. I can see Xelyphe starting to tire of swinging their sword, so I try to hurry up and clear the mages. I start casting at the image with the least amount of health. My strike hits, and they fall to the ground. Once again, the spell becomes more unstable, but unlike what I was hoping for, the other two mages have fully replenished their health. Looking at all the damage I dealt, being instantly healed frustrates me. If I had known that, I wouldn''t have spent so much time trying to bring each mage down to a lower health threshold. In my frustration, I cast one more smite at one of the remaining mages, only for it to be absorbed into the barrier surrounding the two. Seeing that my theory for the shield is correct, I can''t help but be frustrated; I should have learned how to cast death or nature affinity spells. Putting those thoughts behind me for the time being, I see that after the second mage has died, the number of soldiers everyone faces has dwindled to five. This makes things easier for the remaining 14 commoners and Xelyphe. When they try to approach the barrier with the space they have now received, they cannot pass through it. Xelyphe looks back at me and smiles tiredly. "I can only deal with the soldiers; you must deal with the mages alone. I know you can do it, Drake." Hearing her praise bolsters my resolve to figure out a solution to the predicament that we will be in shortly after I use my corrupting bolt to take out one more of the mages. Looking at how much mana I have left, I sigh, knowing that if it were anyone else in our position, they wouldn''t be able to leave this situation alive. - MP: 196/300 - Chapter 95 Spell Creation is Easy Right? Taking a moment to gather myself, I cast corrupting bolts at the next mage in line. Once again, the bolt passes through the barrier, and I can damage one of the mages. It didn''t take long before I was able to kill it. With the collapse of the third mage, the mana gathering has started to slowly push away from where it was being gathered. The number of summoned soldiers again drops; now, only two are left on the field to deal with. Overall, the amount of mana hasn''t increased or decreased by much since the start of the combat. I am trying to figure out how to get one more mana type to finish off the remaining mage. Xelyphe approaches me and asks, "Do you think you can defeat the last mage?" "I don''t know," I answer honestly, "I need another type of ranged mana to damage it, but I am out of options currently." "Then try and figure out how to cast another type of mana!" They try to encourage me. Sighing, I instead focus on meditating, as Laxreal taught me the few times we could work on mana control. Thinking about how I made the corrupting bolt, I try to focus on one of the other two elements for which I don''t have a range option. Trying to remember what I did when I created the corrupting bolt, I find it easy to remember the scenario but hard to remember the feeling of making the spell. Instead of remembering how to create the corrupting bolt, I experimented with the different mana affinities to incorporate the different motes in my mana heart into the spell. It takes several attempts, but I can finally fuse an affinity with the arcane bolt. - Death Bolt 1000 MP Level 1: Cast a bolt of death affinity mana at the target, dealing 1 - 4 damage and having a 0.01% chance to kill the target instantly. It can instantly kill targets up to 2 tiers above the caster.- Looking at the spell I learned, I can only sigh. I could cast it, but the spell''s cost is inhibitive to what I need to do. Instead of draining my mana to cast it only 3 times, I focus on getting a spell from the nature side. It doesn''t take as long to get a nature affinity ranged spell after I had the immediate experience of getting the Death Bolt. - Nature''s Seed 3 MP Level 1: Summons and launches a seed at a target, dealing 1 - 10 damage nature damage. - With the new spell that will work, I start to cast it. It doesn''t take long before I have dealt enough damage to kill the final mage. With the final mage dying, the gathered mana entirely dissipated, and the soldiers who were still summoned also dissipated from the lack of mana. Not long after the last mage dies, I get a notification. - Congratulations, you have slain 4 X Ghost Mage Soldier Level 5 (Elite). You received 16 experience. - "Finally," Xelyphe cries out, and that is the moment they fall on their back from exhaustion. I guess they were drained. It doesn''t take long before I receive a notification. - Quest Complete: The Folly of War You have chosen the side of the commoners over the soldiers. During their lives, the Kingdom of Sharus declared war on their neighbors. Due to the excessive strength of the inhabitants, it took hundreds of soldiers to conquer one village. Because of this, the mages of Sharus came up with the idea to use the death-attuned mana surrounding these villages to summon undead soldiers to fight for them, creating a wave of unliving soldiers that could only be stopped by slaying all the mages. Having slain the mages in this ancient battle, you have prevented the continued torture of these souls, allowing them to move on to their next lives. Reward: Crystal of Death-attuned mana X 1, Chest of the Fog X 5, Large Bag of Experience X 2 Bonus: For saving more than 50% of the souls in this battle. Received 1 X Token of the Fog, 1 X Elixir of Strength. Note: These rewards have been sent to your Lord''s Chest. - If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. We noted that the rest of the souls disappeared after completing the quest. The small village we are next to has started to turn decrepit. Houses showed their actual collapse status; the dirt path leading to the forest was overgrown with weeds, and only a few rusty farming implements were left around us. Looking at Xelyphe, I asked, "Shall we look around? You never know what could be lying around a place like this!" "You mean dig through these houses to see if there is any additional loot?" They respond. "Yea...I mean, they aren''t going to need it, right?" I say with a bit of skepticism in my voice. I didn''t find anything worth finding among the wreckage, but Xelyphe did manage to find another chest in one of the buildings. There wasn''t much else we could see that would be worth bringing back with us. Figuring it would be best to continue our journey, we look around for any signs of our parents. After looking around, I found a trace of our mother''s clothing, and claw marks were on some trees. "It would appear that Mom and Dad went into the forest." Nodding in agreement, Xelyphe takes the lead and heads into the forest. It doesn''t take long before we stumble upon some plants that will work for my enchanting. - Acquired 3 X Shield Flowers Acquired 4 X Feathers - After I put these items into my bag, we continued to walk through the forest. Trees rustled around us as small animals scampered up trees and dived into their burrows. Continuing through the forest becomes more challenging the further we go in; the bushes and trees start to get more compact, and the ground becomes covered in roots. It takes us another 30 minutes before we finally see a clearing in front of us. Upon closer inspection of the clearing, I can see that the ground has been churned up like something large has come through here, and deep claw marks score the ground, making it difficult to traverse. Stepping into the clearing, we see a hint of a demon''s tail on the other side as we start crossing. Recognizing it as our mother''s, we decided to go for it. The ground is not only scored but pretty muddy, and it is challenging to keep our feet from slipping on all of the mud, which would explain the deep scores from claws. It took us a while, and by the time we had reached the halfway point, we heard a commotion from one of the other sides of the clearing. The foliage gives way as a deer with a huge rack jumps through, and not far behind it are 2 worgs. With the footing being hazardous, the deer slips, and the worgs pounce, killing it. Just as they start eating their fill, one of the two worgs puts their nose into the air and sniffs. Bringing its face down, it faces us directly. - Worg Level 5 (Elite) HP: 105/120 - - Worg Level 5 (Elite) HP: 102/120- Seeing the damage already done, I can only think that the deer could put up a small fight before trying to escape from them. "Looks like we can''t just wait for them to be done. We need to fight." Xelyphe states. "Obviously," I reply, casting Nature''s Grasp underneath the two worgs. Right away, I started to see their health go down from the spell, but they could quickly get out of the spell after a couple of seconds, enough time for Xelyphe to get in between us. With shield raised, Xelyphe steps closer to them, and I continue to cast spells. The next one I cast is a shield. I don''t want to see pain come to my sibling, so anything that I can do to help is for the best. Next, I start casting my corrupting bolts. They take more mana, but I figured the damage effect over time would be beneficial in this scenario. After the spells hit, I look at their health once again. - Worg Level 5 (Elite) HP: 68/120 Corrupted: 19 Seconds Remain Worg Level 5 (Elite) HP: 63/120 Corrupted: 20 Seconds Remain - With the damage done by those three spells, I have 152/300 mana remaining. Someone of my level shouldn''t have that much mana, but I have a much larger mana pool thanks to the mana heart, veins, and the four affinities. Going to my generic arcane shot to try and keep as much mana available as possible, I see the worgs health go down once again as they continue to make their way out of the brambles. This is the last time, as they were already close to leaving them after the first bound. When one of the worgs leaps again, as it lands, it ends up in a deep part of this muddy terrain, getting stuck and can''t move without it being a challenge. The other worg still makes its way toward us. Its speed has slowed down because of the mud. It has been about 5 seconds since the combat started, and purple veins have started to appear on the worg''s faces. They both took damage from the damage over time, and they took some more damage. With this damage, both of them have fallen to less than half-health. The one approaching us is now close enough for Xelyphe to attack with their blade. They are slashing at its face, powering up a heavy slash. Taking a heavy step forward and slashing directly down on the head of the warg, she takes a chunk out of the worg''s health pool. Due to the heaviness of the blow, the worg sinks into the mud a little, getting stuck just like its companion. With easy targets, I cast my spells without worrying about whether they will hit. It doesn''t take long for us to finish the battle when another notification comes up. - Congratulations, you have slain 2 X Worg Level 5 (Elite). You received 8 experience. - We looked around the clearing and did not see or hear anything else. We proceeded to get out of the mud as fast as we could. It took us several minutes to get through the mud, and by the time we arrived at the other side, we were covered with hardly any part of us, not at least a little bit muddy. After getting as much mud off of our bodies as we can so we aren''t weighed down, we continue the trek through the woods. We run into spider webs and get our clothes caught on different bushes or low-hanging tree branches. When we run into a wooden wall inside the forest, we are tired and frustrated with the whole scenario. Stopping to rest for a couple of minutes, I sit to meditate, not only to cool my head but to try and get some of the mana I have used so far back. With that, Xelyphe stands guard and waits with me, calming down as time passes. Wanting to be done with all this running around, it doesn''t take us long to go around the gate of this little fort. Chapter 96 The Smell of Blood The moment that we step in front of the gates, Xelyphe stops me. "Wh-" I will ask when they cover my mouth quickly. "Not so loud. I can smell blood, and it smells fresh." Seeing that their body posture has become more rigid, I wait for a second, and when there are no other sounds, we slowly creep forward. When we can get our heads around the front entry of the walls, we see it. There are piles of bodies of different species, their blood drained, and they appear drawn into a weird summoning ritual. And that is when I get a notification. - Party Quest: Gnoll Way Home You have stumbled upon a gnoll summoning ritual. This ritual will be completed when all the remaining captives'' blood has been spilled in the summoning circle. You will need to slay all the gnolls within the wooden fort to prevent it from being successful. Tasks: Gnolls Slain: 0/12 Gnoll Warriors Slain: 0/2 Gnoll Shaman Slain: 0/1 Gnoll Chieftain Slain: 0/1 Optional Task: Free the captives: 0/14 Rewards: ??? Failure: ??? - When all this information has been digested, I can see a captive being dragged to an altar at the center of the circle, where a much larger gnoll is not far behind. From where we are spying on the gnolls, I can analyze several of them to grasp what we are about to walk into. - Gnoll Level 5 HP: 50/50 Gnoll Warrior Level 6 (Elite) HP: 160/160 Gnoll Shaman Level 6 (Elite) HP: 120/120 MP: 40/40 Gnoll Chieftain Level 7 (Elite) HP: 200/200 - "Shit, shit, shit," I curse under my breath, "There is no way we are going to be able to complete this by ourselves; we need Mom and Dad; where are they?" Not being able to keep my calm, I start to panic. I noticed a patch of darkness deeper than the rest inside the fort near one of the warriors. Taking a deep breath, I steady myself, hoping my eyes are playing tricks on me. Not thinking about the consequences, I prepare myself for a hard fight. Noticing that most of the gnolls are on the far side, I try to figure out if I can pull a couple out without causing too much distraction over the screams of the captives. Seeing the gnolls with the captive are still far away from the ritual, I cast Nature''s Grasp in their path, hoping it won''t give away my position. The brambles spring upright as they are mid-step, the captive being dragged behind them, not reaching the patch yet. When the gnolls take the next step, one is so shocked by the sudden pain and lacerations on its leg that it lets go of the captive and howls while it starts to hop on its other paw. The other one also howls but manages to keep its grip on the captive. While the gnoll is still holding it and is in pain, the captive tries to wrestle their arm from it but can''t. The sudden howls of pain alerted the rest of the gnolls. The warriors huffed in amusement at the two in pain, and the shaman chuffed in frustration. Thankfully, none of the gnolls tried to find out where the brambles came from, but that doesn''t fully assuage my concerns about them trying to find us. After the first two and taking the step, I let my spell dissipate, and like it was never there, the brambles melted away. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. It doesn''t take long before another set of gnolls come over to take the captive from the other two; when they approach, I try to cast my spell in the exact location, but this time while the gnolls are further inside to maybe kill a couple, but I am unable to at this time. I can cast around the initial location but not on that exact location. There must be some cooldown for the land underneath, or maybe it has something to do with the nutrients in the land. I will have to check on this when I return to the settlement. I can''t be focused on these experiments when in a dangerous situation. Instead, I look at the two gnolls that were hurt by my spell. - Gnoll Level 5 HP: 36/50 Right Leg Severe Injury: Slowed Movement Speed Gnoll Level 5 HP: 38/50 - With none of the other gnolls checking on them, the other two went back to gather another captive. Slowed by the leg injury, they grab another captive. By the time they had caught another, I was ready to cast an arcane bolt at them. The bolt completely missed them, but they didn''t notice my minor mistake. Facepalming, Xelyphe looks at me, "How?" Shrugging, I try again and miss again. "I guess I am just bad at this, huh?" Gesturing at the limping gnoll, she gives me a look. "Just be glad no one has noticed that little light show, considering the amount of blood and whatever else in this fort." "Fair point," I state, and with one final attempt, I finally hit the gnoll before it got too far from us and too close to the other gnolls. Snarling at the pain, he turns his head to find us crouched by the entry but not sticking out too far for the others to see. With anger in its eyes, it drops the captive again and, this time charges toward us. Along with that one gnoll, another three follow behind it. Considering that only four are coming at us, I figured that would be the best solution. I cast nature''s grasp right in front of us. Once that spell was cast, I cast another shield onto Xelyphe since the last one had lapsed. With a front-line defender, we should be able to clear this group and pull the next one quickly. By the time the gnolls got to the summoned bramble patch, I had cast one more arcane shot at the leading gnoll. With this final arcane bolt, the gnoll drops with one final whimper before going still. I briefly noticed something strange happening, but I put my observation aside with the incoming threats for now. The gnolls had already approached, and by the time they had taken their second step into the bramble patch, they were already almost to Xelyphe. Reaching with their sword, Xelyphe thrusts forward to the next one in line and catches it as it slashes. Piercing it through the torse, it collapses forward onto them. With the sudden addition of weight, Xelyphe can''t hold onto her blade and loses her grip. The other two gnolls, now bleeding from cuts all over their legs, are finally in front of Xelyphe. They both slash, claws flared, striking Xelyphe with no way to defend the attack''s land immediately. My shield spell flares, blocking the damage, and tiny cracks spread throughout when the second attack slashes at it. Unable to get the blade since it has been run through and the hilt is pressed against the ground, I instead take the shield by both hands and slam it into one of the two gnolls'' chins, sending it stumbling backward onto its back inside of the brambles. The other gnoll is hit right in the gut with an arcane bolt. It swipes one more time at Xelyphe and manages to break through the shield and scrap its claws against the armor, making them both stumble. Looking past the two in melee, I see another three gnolls headed our way. Knowing that we might be in trouble should Xelyphe be unable to get their sword in time, I throw spells one after the other at the approaching gnolls, hoping to damage them before they approach closer. Trying to conserve mana and deal as much damage as possible, I focus entirely on casting arcane shots. It is my highest level with the highest guaranteed damage potential. Of the seven I cast, four landed on the gnolls in my frantic rush to deal damage, one getting hit in the leg right before the brambles, making it stumble into them. Xelyphe finished the last gnoll of the initial four pulled over, scrambling to get their sword out from underneath the run-through. It takes some time, and the other three gnolls are already upon us when they get up. Of the three gnolls, Xelyphe was able to avoid two of them. The third one was able to rake its claws along the armor, scoring a deep gash in it, and blood started to flow out from the wound. Continuing to cast my spells, I see more gnolls coming to help their brethren. At this time, the warrior with a darker shadow also starts to approach us. Wanting to help more, I keep casting, shield and barkskin for Xelyphe, and every time the shield drops quite quickly, I cast another. More attacks head Xelyphe''s way as more gnolls start to pile up. By the time the warrior reached us, we had downed another four gnolls. Raising its blade to slash down at Xelyphe, its arm is caught by a black-clawed hand. And that is when I hear the whisper, "Oh no, you mustn''t interrupt their fight. You will be fighting me." Seeing my mother''s abyssal eyes, I can''t help but let out a breath. I quickly look around and count how many more gnolls we must fight. With the initial four from the first pull and another four that joined in the battle shortly after, we have eight of the twelve gnolls slain. With four more normal gnolls, two warriors, the shaman, and the chieftain left, we should be able to get through the fight with minimal injuries. The only three gnolls who haven''t made their move are one of the warriors, the shaman, and the chieftain. The chieftain''s creepy smile makes me feel eerie about our situation. It takes Xelyphe, my mother, and myself another three minutes of battle before we can finish off the gnolls attacking us. Xelyphe has minor wounds from the exhausting fight right after the other fight we had earlier. My mother is covered in blood, especially her claws. I look at my own when asking where everyone is with their resources. - Drake: HP: 80/80 MP: 55/300 Xelyphe: HP: 60/100 MP: 0/0 Madoka: HP: 200/200 MP: 0/0 - With Mother''s health still full, we can take the last three gnolls down without hassle. As we approach the last gnolls, I notice that the bloody scent flowing through the camp has become more pungent, as if it is being concentrated. And that is when Xelyphe lets out a small groan. "What happened?" I asked, on guard for anything. "Noth-" cutting off their own words, and instead go wide-eyed at something, "Drake, Mom, we need to finish this quickly. I am somehow losing health still." Looking around, I quickly grasp what is going on. While the wounds Xelyphe has aren''t enough for it to be noticeable. Looking around at the remaining corpses surrounding us, the blood has been flowing into the ritual even without the sacrifices. And it is at that moment I receive a notification. - Quest Failed - Chapter 97 Adding the Kills Quest failed, that''s what that notification said. WHAT DO YOU MEAN QUEST FAILED? Sure, we haven''t killed all the gnolls yet, and we haven''t saved all those captured, but why did it fail? Looking around in frustration while grabbing my hair, I don''t notice anything else happening around me. Xelyphe is standing, ready to battle the rest of the gnolls, and my mother is being... well, scary from what I can tell right now. But what could have possibly happened that caused us to fail the quest? My frantic searching leads me back to what I noticed right before the quest failed¡ªthe blood. Carefully looking at where the blood is now, I can see it slowly drying in the summoning pattern. As it gets closer to the altar, the blood is still wet and, from what I can tell, flowing into it. On the altar is one body of the only captive we were unable to save; the remaining are behind us, either chained up still or running as the only other captive is doing currently. But how could the quest have failed still? Only one of the captives was killed; the only other thing that died... At that moment, I tried to remember how many gnolls we had killed during the summoning. There were the 12 normal gnolls and then one of the two warriors. So, there were only 13, but adding the sacrificed captive would have put the number up to 14. And how many captives did we need to save? 14... The mana around us swirls, and a blood-red vortex appears. It starts small but then snowballs as it absorbs more and more blood into it. "We need to stop this ritual," Xelyphe shouts over the increasing wind. "How?" I call back. "I don''t know that is supposed to be your thing. You do all of the magic and stuff!" Is the response. Thinking on my feet, I can only think of one thing currently. "We need to free the captives; they won''t help us right now and only become a hindrance. You do that while I work on figuring out this ritual." Sprinting off, Xelyphe starts to free the captives. "What would you like me to do, son?" That same whisper I heard as my mother grabbed the warrior before she slew him. "I... I don''t know. Find dad?" I ask almost pleadingly. "Oh, I know where he is. That dragon can''t escape from me." And off she sprints into the forest. "Damn," Looking over, I can see the warrior and shaman are still staying in their positions, waiting for whatever the result of this ritual is. That is when I see it: the chieftain is slowly growing. And as he grows, he starts shunting off mana. Feeling a similarity to one of my mana affinities, I try to feel it out more. Slowly, I can tell it is growing closer to one of them, and it couldn''t be any worse... Corruption. This summoning ritual feeds blood energy into the chieftain and converts it into corruption mana. I inspected the other two gnolls and noticed they were also slowly corrupted by the mana shunted off the chieftain. The shaman grows bark-like skin all over its body, replacing its fur. Meanwhile, the other has all of its fur fall off, and its appendages start to form blisters that pop and ooze down its arms and legs.\ I try casting a spell at one of the gnolls, only for a barrier to block my spell. I try one of each type, from neutral mana to life to death. The only man with any difference was the corrupting bolt that merged with the barrier, and nothing else happened. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Trying to think while all of this is happening, I can only think of one other option that might be able to help the situation, so I quickly fall to my knees inside the ritual circle and, without thinking, start to destroy parts of the circle that still have wet blood in them as best I can. The first thirty seconds go by with nothing happening, and the process all three of the gnolls go through continues to progress more and more. Now, howling comes from the warrior as its hands split open and turn into eyes. It isn''t until a minute passes that I finally hit a spot on the circle that something different happens. When I destroy a specific sigil, a more permanent barrier forms around them, swearing under my breath and breathing fast. I continue with my endeavor, and as time passes, I have to slowly get closer and closer to the altar because the blood is drying up. The next minute, I found another two sigils that caused different things to happen. One of the sigils starts to create a suction that slowly pulls the different gnolls inside it. While this isn''t a bad thing per se, the second sigil that is destroyed by the suction becomes more hazardous for the three gnolls inside. The warrior, unable to grasp anything in time, was slowly brought into the vortex and shredded by the powerful magics. Not long after, the shaman suffers the same fate. The only one left is the chieftain, who could grab hold of the altar and use its weight to prevent himself from being brought into the vortex. I continue to destroy sigil after sigil, and it isn''t until the third minute that I have managed to destroy enough sigils for the chieftain to be absorbed into the expanding vortex of blood and mana. Not even 10 seconds after I have finished with that task, Xelyphe walks up behind me, looking at my dirt and blood-covered hands; they ask, "Is that safe?" Pointing to the increasing blood vortex. "Probably?" I shrugged and looked for other things that might help us in this situation. And what I think is my imagination, a subtle thumping sound starts to come from the barrier. Returning my gaze to the barrier, my mood plummets even further. An abomination has begun to take form and is slowly pounding on the barrier. The entire vortex of blood and mana flows into the being, and this time, it isn''t shunting any of the mana off; it is collecting inside its body. "What is that thing?" Xelyphe cries out. When I try to analyze it, the description changes every couple of seconds; at first, it is a gnoll, then an abyssal creature, and then a tree of some kind; this change keeps happening repeatedly. "What did we miss?" I hear from behind us, and I am glad to see both of our parents standing there, though it looks like my father is being dragged by his horn and not gently. "Ummm," Unable to answer the question, we both point at the abomination inside the barrier. "Is it trapped in there?" "For now? I don''t know how long the barrier will last, considering that I have been destroying parts of the ritual to prevent something from happening, but it appears that my efforts were in vain, and I managed to make a more fearsome creature." After pulling our father in front of us, she lets go and then puts her claws on her hips, "Maybe this is exactly what we need, honey," she says while licking her lips, her abyssal eyes never leaving the abomination. A guttural, growling voice enters our ears, "I think you are right, darling. When he comes out, why don''t you take the first punch? You know what they say. Ladies first." While discussing who will do what, a new notification appears before all of us. - Party Quest: Black Thumb Your party has failed to stop the summoning ritual from starting. While you managed to prevent any more captives from being sacrificed, the death of the gnolls inside of the circle was just the ritual to start. With the final sacrifices completed, the ritual began to empower those who remained inside the fort and were part of the gnolls faction. Due to some tampering with the ritual, the three remaining members of the gnolls faction were sucked inside the vortex causing the three of them to fuse into a brand new monster! Congratulations, you have created something that should never exist on this plane of existence. It is up to you to destroy this abomination. Tasks: Slay the abomination: 0/1 Rewards: ??? Failure: The abomination will run rampant in the settlement until it has been slain. - Chapter 98 The Abomination Once the quest notification appears, I glance at the abomination. From the ''shoulders'' up is a tree monster''s face, the upper body is that of an abyssal, and the lower body is from the gnoll chieftain. Its final form is 5 meters tall, giving off an aura of oppression, nature, and the deep abyss simultaneously, but I can also feel that these auras are clashing with each other. - Abomination Level 7 (Journeyman Boss) HP: 700/700 MP: 100/100 - "Shit," that is the only thing that comes from my mouth. Xelyphe has the same look of fear on their face as I do. ''What are we going to do?'' is the only question that runs through my mind now. Thankfully, the barrier between us and it is still in place, but it is slowly battering at it, trying to free itself. "What''s the plan, Drake?" My family turns to me as my father asks the question with his guttural speech. "I don''t have much mana left; I only have 37 left in my pool. The best bet is for me to support and heal those who need it. Otherwise, I will just stand in the back and try not to get in the way." "Nothing else?" My father further prods. "I don''t know. I haven''t seen the full extent of your abilities as you are. Is there a limit? Should I be worried about you being weakened? What should I expect?" Taking one of his taloned hands, he gently scratches his chin, "That is a good point; we didn''t want to freak you out when we initially got here, so we have been hiding something from you, but since the waves, we have slowly been letting some of those secrets go. There is no point in keeping them if you are going to freak out every time something related to a bloodline happens around you." Scowling at him for jabbing me about going into a rage for being lied to for years, he continues, "Both your mother and I have high-level bloodlines, but that doesn''t mean we can use our abilities as we please. Most of the time, we need a trigger to take these forms. So, it is mostly of an unconscious decision that we transform." "Me talking about your ex-wife caused you to become like this," I gesture at him. Waving his hand back and forth in disagreement, "No, what she did to you and my wife caused me to go into a rage. I am very protective of those I call my own." At the end of this sentence, a growl enters his voice. "Having to deal with her is one thing, since I knew that Xelyphe was not of my blood, but knowing what she was doing to you, keeping you in a torturous state of needing multiple surgeries even though she could have fixed it was my trigger for my rage." My mother''s whisper reaches my ears. "How did you get control of yourselves then?" I asked, examining the barrier to ensure the abomination hadn''t broken through yet. "You''ve got to let off some steam now and then. We found some gnolls wandering this forest and took some of that anger out on them. It wasn''t even a fair fight. We don''t have long with our current selves, about another 5 minutes before it wears off." "When can you transform again?" I asked. "Probably not for another month or two. It takes a lot of energy to transform into these forms." They both explain. Right, as they say, cracks start to appear around the barrier. The abomination has been beating it with such abandon that bloody streaks have begun to creep down the sides of it where its ''hands'' strike. "What can you do in these forms?" I ask. They smile at me and jointly say, "Let us show you." It doesn''t take long before the barrier is destroyed, and the abomination is out. At that exact moment, my father let out a draconic roar at its face and then charged wings beating behind him to give him an extra burst of speed. As he is about to slam into the monster, Mother appears from behind it and starts to gouge out the eyes along its back. I am keen to see if there is any way that I can help the two of them at this moment. Seeing they have things under control, I rest, but right before I can lean against the wall, Xelyphe asks me a question. "Isn''t its health supposed to go down after all the attacks mom and dad throw at it?" Looking closely at the boss, I see damage accruing on its body, but it doesn''t take long for it to heal. - Abomination Level 7 (Journeyman Boss) HP: 675/700 MP: 100/100 - Looking one more time, a couple of seconds later, Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. - Abomination Level 7 (Journeyman Boss) HP: 685/700 MP: 100/100 - It''s healing itself somehow. Looking for the reason, I cast my gaze back at the ritual. From what I can see, the ritual still feeds mana into the abomination. "It must be using the remaining mana from the ritual to heal itself. We need to eradicate the ritual!" I inform them. "What do I need to do?" With a bit more enthusiasm than expected, I tell them what we need to do. Getting to work quickly, I take one side, and Xelyphe takes the other. Wherever we see wet blood, we step closer to the center and destroy the channels. Digging, scuffing, and just trying to wreck the channels are slowly working; the healing is slowing down, but it still isn''t enough to prevent my parents'' transformation time from lapsing. Continuing, I dig out one interestingly shaped rune. The moment it is disconnected from the rest of the ritual, there is a massive mana fluctuation, and the vortex shrinks by 20%. With that, the healing has drastically reduced, and the wounds take longer. It takes us another precious minute to shrink the vortex by another 10% of its initial volume, but that is when I see one more of the same runes I had just taken out that caused a drastic decrease. Quickly approaching it, I start to gouge it out from the earth. By the time that is completed, the vortex has shrunk so that more wounds appear on its body. Confused about why the vortex is still there, I look frantically around. A full minute and a half pass before I spot another one of the runes, and I dig that one out as soon as possible. With this final rune, the vortex dissipates, and no more energy is supplied to the abomination. During the entire time we have been working on destroying the runes, the abomination''s health has been going down with the removal of the first major rune I removed. - Abomination Level 7 (Journeyman Boss) HP: 584/700 MP: 100/100 - I ask Mom and Dad, "How much longer do you have on your transformations?" "A minute and a half," Mom replies, Thinking about how much damage we need to do in a minute and a half, I look at Xelyphe, "We need to get in there and start damaging it." My first thought is to cast nature''s grasp underneath its feet; following the idea, I look to see where Mom and Dad are. Dad is floating in front of it, barely off the ground, while Mom seems to be phasing in and out of the shadows while slashing with her claws. When she approaches the abomination on her passes, she isn''t touching the ground but, from what I can tell, appears to be flung out of the shadows like a slingshot. Smiling at the two of them, I quickly cast the spell and watched as lacerations started to carve their way along its legs. I made sure to cast it in a location where if Xelyphe wanted to, they could go and start slashing the back of the legs. The damage on its legs worsened as it moved forward and backward until most of the brambles around it had been trampled into the ground, preventing further damage from that section of brambles. By the time it stopped taking damage from the brambles, an additional 80 points of damage had been dealt to it from the brambles alone, including what everyone else was doing. The abomination''s health had dropped to below 200 points. - Abomination Level 7 (Journeyman Boss) HP: 144/700 MP: 100/100 - When the brambles were up, I didn''t cast any more spells just in case I needed to cast a shield or a healing spell on either Mom or Dad. I am glad I held back because the moment its health dropped to less than 20%, its mana plummeted to 0, and out of the two eyes in its palms, beams of light converged and slammed into Dad''s chest. And from that one hit, his health dropped to 124/500. The power of the beams launched him across the fort, with his back slamming into the wall. As he slumped down to the ground, his transformation faded. Seeing his transformation fade, I look at Mom and notice her is fading, but not as quickly as Dad''s. It probably has to do with the damage he took accelerating the pace. With that information, I focus more on what is to come. The abomination recognizes that one of its enemies is down and swings its meaty hands at Xelyphe. Helping by providing a shield, the hand slams into it, and not even a second later, the shield shatters; unable to dodge the blow, Xelyphe is hit with incredible force and is forced to take a dozen steps back, barely avoiding falling. Inspecting my party menu, I see that the amount of health lost was not much on their end, but the force still caused a larger opening for the abomination to move around in. Glancing around my surroundings, I find Mom off to one side. The transformation has taken its toll on her. Her hands are on her knees, and she is gasping for breath. Dad still hasn''t gotten up from where he was thrown, and Xelyphe is far enough away that the current closest target is me. Panicking momentarily, as the abomination turns its gaze toward myself, I cast the first spell that comes to mind at its giant body¡ªarcane shot. The bolt hits the dead center of its chest. And because it was in mid-step, it didn''t have its entire balance, causing it to take a lumbering step backward into a portion of brambles that hadn''t been ground down. Its legs are barely able to hold on after all the damage that has been inflicted on them. Lacerations cut bone deep from everyone''s attacks and might collapse if one more well-placed strike hits its legs. Sadly, I don''t know if I am accurate enough to hit its legs other than through pure luck. I continue casting my spells, though, hoping to deal enough damage to down the enemy or stall so someone else can kill it. I start to run backward away from the monster, and all the while, I am casting. After the initial backstep it took due to my spell, it regained its balance again and started to come towards me faster. I landed another two shots while running, bringing the abomination down another 40 points of health. - Abomination Level 7 (Journeyman Boss) HP: 76/700 MP: 100/100 - Looking at my remaining mana, I can only chafe. I am down to my last 18 mana. I could cast more arcane bolts at it, but it has been gaining on me this entire time. Looking around for something to use, I spot the sword of the warrior we had slain before this boss fight started. Considering my lack of skills in swordsmanship and the large abomination before me, I quickly picked up the sword. "All you have to do is hit its legs and dodge," I tell myself as it approaches closer and closer. As it gets within its striking range, I decide that instead of running away from it, I run towards it and through its legs. Not wanting to think what might be underneath the loincloth I am about to pass under, I barely manage to avoid its swiping hand. Ducking low, I was able to get behind the abomination. Instead of turning around, it falls onto its hands, fingers wrapped around the eyes to prevent them from being damaged with its weight against its hands. In a quick movement that I had the fortune of not being in front of, it had thrust one of its legs into a kick, sending dirt and viscera flying. Seeing an opening, I can only apologize in my head. I thrust forward with the sword. Chapter 99 A Lucky Shot With the sword piercing one of its tender places, its arms suddenly give way, causing it to fall face-first onto the ground. Looking at the sword and its mess, I don''t hesitate to drop the weapon and grab my wand again. Pointing it point blank at the abomination, I quickly cast my spells before it had time to get up. Aiming my first spell at it just to deal damage, I shot an arcane bolt right in the opening I had just used. While I couldn''t harm it with my lesser strength with the sword, the arcane bolt that proceeds to enter burns a hole straight inside it. I know this because the damage caused isn''t leaving my memory for now. The abominations twitch on the ground and start to howl in pain. They sound more like a bunch of trees groaning from the wind but far louder. Unable to get up, they continue to lay there. Xelyphe steps up, and instead of continuing to torture it via this method, it starts to hack at its legs, so even if it wants to get up, it won''t be able to. With its health dwindling to less than 2%, it thrashes about more viciously, trying to get us away from it. Taking one last look at Xelyphe, who has stepped back, I aim my wand at it and cast one more spell. Thankfully, that final spell finishes the abomination, and we can finally relax. - Congratulations, you have slain a Level 7 Abomination (Journeyman Boss). You have received ten experience. - Not two seconds later, my vision becomes clustered with skill level-up notifications. - Congratulations, your skill, Shield, has leveled up. Current level 7. Congratulations, your skill, Nature''s Grasp, has leveled up. Current level 7. Congratulations, your skill, Barkskin, has leveled up. Current level 4. Congratulations, your skill, Arcane Shot, has leveled up. Current level 10. - Another notification manifests with the level-up of my arcane shot to level 10. - Congratulations, your skill, Arcane Shot, is ready to evolve. Please proceed to a safe location before initiating skill evolution. - The quest was completed, and we didn''t have to worry about an abomination rampaging through the settlement. The one thing that piqued my interest now that the battle was over was that the failure of this quest was a rampaging abomination and not our deaths. But I figured that if we were to back out from fighting it here, it would appear at the settlement, and then we would have to fight it there. Granted, it would have been easier to fight it there, but based on the ritual, maybe it would have been a stronger monster. Looking over the quest and the rewards we have been given, I am interested in what they provide. - Party Quest: Black Thumb (Completed) Your party has failed to stop the summoning ritual from starting. While you managed to prevent any more captives from being sacrificed, the death of the gnolls inside the circle was just the ritual to start. With the final sacrifices completed, the ritual began to empower those who remained inside the fort and were part of the gnoll''s faction. Due to some tampering with the ritual, the three remaining members of the gnolls faction were sucked inside the vortex causing the three of them to fuse into a brand new monster! Congratulations, you have created something that should never exist on this plane of existence. It is up to you to destroy this abomination. Tasks: Slay the abomination: 1/1 Rewards: Crystal of Corruption-attuned mana X 1, Chest of the Fog X 10, Large Bag of Experience X 5 - With the quest completed, we gather as a family over where Dad was launched. Looking at his scorched chest, I pull out the healing potions I had brought with me and hand them over to him. They don''t heal for much, but by the time he has finished drinking them, he has most of his health back and doesn''t require any immediate medical attention. Xelyphe starts to wrap bandages they made around his torso and the other minor cuts he got from smashing into the wall. Looking at our final health and mana pools, I am shocked at how well we did. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. - Drake: HP: 80/80 MP: 14/300 Xelyphe: HP: 93/100 MP: 0/0 Madoka: HP: 40/40 MP: 0/0 Ilpheus: HP: 48/160 MP: 0/0 - I am happy that I checked everyone''s health. Dad is recovering but could use more healing, and Xelyphe is in the same position. Gathering my mana points, I start chugging them down individually. With seven potions, I could bring my mana back up 28 points. While I was doing that, Mom scolded Dad for being reckless for taking such a big hit from the monster and stubborn about not wanting to dodge it. "You''re giving Drake a bad example of what you can do!" She wanted to continue that train, but Dad put his hands up. "Enough, I get it. I need to be better, but this was a great example of something different," he grins up at her from his seated position. "I was able to show him how strong someone with a dragon bloodline can handle hits." "THAT''S NOT THE POINT." She shrieks, "I just had to talk with him not two days ago about not doing anything stupid, and now here you are, showing him exactly what he can do!" Dad looks at me grimly, shaking my head like he did to me a few days ago. I grab Xelyphe, and we walk away so I can start to heal their wounds. The look of betrayal he gives me makes me feel justified for what he did. I don''t plan on healing him until Mother is done with him, just in case there is a need for more healing. Starting healing, I brought Xelyphe to 93 health using only four casts of my minor healing spell. Another skill level-up notification appears after casting the spell for the fourth time. - Congratulations, your skill, Minor Healing, has leveled up. Current level 7. - Happy with all of my gains so far, I look over at my mother, who is still scolding my father but with less enthusiasm than she was, and more tears are involved. I approach, not wanting to intrude but knowing we must keep moving. "Mom, we need to either head back to the settlement now that we are gathered together or start looking around. I would like to look around to ensure there aren''t any chests to be had." Looking at me, she stares deeply into my eyes before giving a crisp, wet nod, "You are your father''s son." With that, she tried to help my father stand up. Before looking to loot, I ask Mom one more question, "Do you want me to heal Dad?" Looking at him, me, and then back to him, she shakes her head, "Nah, I think he will be fine right here." With that, I can see she increased the grip on his waist as she helped him move. Giving me a wide-eyed look, I can tell he is begging me to help him. Again, I just turned around and started to look for loot. They can''t be interrupted during their time together since they don''t get enough of it. Sprinting away so I don''t hear his pleas, I start looking around. There are a couple of buildings inside the fort that we never deemed to enter; now, with everyone either dead or having fled, we open the buildings one at a time. In the first building, there is a storeroom filled with different foods, and a chest is buried in one of the room''s corners. Quickly going to gather it, I find some fresh fruits and start eating one. While eating it, I can feel my mana filling up ever so slowly. Shrugging and thinking it is like the berriesI found when I arrived, I continue eating. Heading to the next building, there aren''t many chests to send back to the settlement, but I think some clothing would be worth grabbing so we don''t wear the same clothes in and out. Once I had gathered what clothing was available, I found the rest of my family just resting near the tree line, not wanting to be in that fort for a second longer. "Is there anything else you want to look for, or are you done with what you have come here for?" My mother asks. "I am done. There was only one chest in the two buildings inside the fort, but I grabbed a lot of clothing to have some spares when we returned to the settlement. Shall we leave then?" "Yes, please," Xelyphe is the first to volunteer so that we can leave. Pulling open my menus, I find options different from what I expected. - Would you like to exit the Dungeon? Yes/No - Seeing my confused face, Dad asks, "What is wrong, Drake?"The first building Scratching my head, trying to think of the reason for the difference, and being unable to think of anything, I reply, "It is asking if we want to leave the dungeon, not go back to the settlement." "Since that is the only option, you might as well select it. There''s nothing we can do about it now." He responds, knowing that we have no other choice. Selecting to exit the dungeon, we appear right in front of an archway to a fort that looks precisely like the fort we were just in. After arriving outside of the dungeon, I received a set of notifications. - Congratulations, you have completed your first dungeon. You will receive a 1 X Tier 1 Personal Evolution Box to complete your first dungeon. Congratulations, you have completed a dungeon with one less person than is recommended. For achieving this feat, you have been awarded 2 X Tier 1 Personal Evolution Box and 1 X Large Experience Bag. - "Did anyone else get Evolution boxes and a large bag of experience?" I asked the rest of my family. Nodding their heads, everyone knows what these boxes are, as one of them brought me back from the brink. The difference in tier might be the only difference. They might even get an achievement for having a different-tiered box, rewarding them with another box. When I turn around, there is a swirling red color. Upon closer inspection, I was able to find the name in a notification that appeared. - Would you like to enter the Sacrificial Gnoll Dungeon? Yes/No You are unable to enter this dungeon again today. Please try again later. - "We cannot enter the dungeon again today, even if we wanted to, which I don''t, so let us look around our surroundings. "No need, Drake," my father says, "I know where we are. I remember running into this place when I went exploring right before the event. There is a unique building that I would like to take a look at further if everyone is okay with that. Seeing no one else disagreeing with him, he leads the way from where we are currently. It doesn''t take long before we are in front of a flashy building. Chapter 100 Tower of Trials Upon looking at the building, I noticed that it stands at least 20 stories tall, uses gold and green colors to emphasize its status, and has dragons for handles. The front doors are at least 10 meters tall. The one thing that confused me was how much area it covered. I could easily walk around the building and not take more than 2 minutes. Approaching my father, I asked, "Dad, what is this building?" He smiles, gives me a thumbs up, looks at Xelyphe, and then opens the door, "It''s a wonder. That''s what it is." And in moments, I see him disappear from the entry. Further in, I don''t see anything other than a desk and some doors that probably lead to a set of stairs. Asking again, this time to someone who might help us, Xelyphe responds with a shake of their head. "I don''t know fully. I remember when Dad and I explored this area, and this tower was already here. He didn''t let me enter it then, so I don''t know, but from what I have heard, some trials benefit you if you complete them." "And why didn''t he tell us this before he went inside?" I asked. "Because, Dad," is the only thing they state before entering the tower. "Did you know about this tower?" I asked the only person left beside me. It doesn''t take long for her to answer, "I remember your father bringing me here, but I was so flustered with you running off by yourself that I didn''t pay much attention to what was happening around me." "Can you provide me with any more information?" "I know that you have to use skills to pass the trials, but beyond that, again, I can''t remember it too clearly. The only clear thing I remember is that your father and I developed our skills to transform inside." With that, she guides me to enter the tower. - Tower Attendant''s POV - Swishing my tail back and forth, I wonder who I will be helping. It has been years since I was assigned to the tower, and no one has been assigned to me. It doesn''t take long before someone arrives at my desk. Black hair, average height, young appearance, and piercing heterochromatic eyes that keep changing colors between pure white, green, purple, and black in alternating patterns. This is a typical phenomenon for people with different mana affinities in the tower, though this is the first time I have seen someone with four different affinities. I started to feel happy but kept my tone as neutral as possible, almost icy. "Hello, and welcome to the Tower of Trials." Getting a confused look from this young man, I continued, "The Tower of Trials is a wonderous place where you can learn new skills, advance current skills, and even evolve them past what a standard skills evolution would accomplish. To acquire these wonderful benefits, you must first complete different challenges using the skills you already have and even those you learn as you progress through the trials." Seeing his eyes light up at the fact the tower helps with skill evolution, I can guess that he has one skill at that point already. "Before you start taking your trials, some basic introductions must be made. To start, my name is Mika, and as you can see, I am a Kitsune. I will be your attendant during this trip to the tower. Should you have any questions regarding the tower, please direct them my way, and if I am able, I will answer them to the best of my ability." Registering that I had just made my introduction, this young gentleman introduced himself: "Hello. My name is Drake, and I have many questions." - Drake''s POV - After introducing myself to Mika, I asked, "What do you mean by helping with skill evolution? How can someone learn skills? Is skill creation during the trials easy or challenging? What should I expect from the trials? Am I going to be facing monsters? Will there be breaks between the trials, or must I complete them right after the other?" Hearing my flurry of questions, she sighs and starts to answer the questions one at a time in the icy tone of someone trying to explain something to an underling. "For your first question, items are sometimes required for skill evolutions or even goals that must be completed before the skill can evolve. For more straightforward skills, there aren''t that many requirements. The more complex the skill, the more standards it has before it can evolve. Next, while you typically can''t create a skill inside the challenge, it isn''t impossible. Most of the time, people develop the skills if they are already on the cusp of making something. Most of the time, you are awarded a skill you didn''t have based on the number of trials you completed. Your fourth question about what to expect from the trials varies from person to person. If someone of a warrior class comes in without their mana attuned to their affinity, they won''t be able to complete any trials that require mana. The same goes for a mage; if they don''t have any experience in swordsmanship, they won''t be thrust into a trial that involves developing that skill. There will be monsters for some trials, but I will leave that up to you to determine your likelihood of dying. There will be breaks in between trials as you dictate. Time will flow differently inside a trial, so don''t worry about how long you will be inside one trial, and just focus on completing it to the best of your ability." I can see in her eyes that these questions are standard, and their responses are just as standard. I only saw a vague interest in myself when I arrived inside the tower. This sparked a different curiosity, and I decided upon another set of questions I would like answered before attempting the trials. "What got your interest in me when I first arrived? From what I can tell, your job seems boring, introducing the tower to everyone who comes. Also, where were the companions that I arrived with? Shouldn''t that have been in this room with me? And one last question: what are the rules for returning to the tower after leaving it?" Looking at me, she answers again, still in her frosty voice. "The tower''s creator enchanted it so that people''s mana affinities show in their eyes; yours are interesting because they keep oscillating between four colors. It gives me a general idea of your capacity. Your companions are in different attendant rooms, each getting one person to help them. It allows a more ''personal'' touch for those about to take the trials. Also, as you complete more trials, the room will adjust to you. This means I get better office space as you complete more trials." She gestures around the relatively blank space. The only things in the room are a desk, a door, and a board attached to one of the walls. "As for the rules upon re-entry to the tower, I will be your Tower Attendant for as long as you or I live. Upon exiting the tower, all your completed trials will be reset to 0. And honestly, you will be back in space because the trials become more challenging as you complete them multiple times. This also prevents people from leaving and coming back quickly to receive rewards. However, this room will remain the same, so I can keep the amenities provided. You need to complete more so my space can improve. Also, the better you do, the more resources I get to further my progress." Her voice gives no hint of falsehood, and she seems intent on ensuring I do well. I don''t blame her either; I would hate to be in an office like this. "One last question before we start. Since I am here, are we allowed to choose the initial difficulty of the trial, or is it set to a default level?" "You are allowed to set the initial difficulty level of any singular trial, but note that once you put the difficulty level of that trial, you will be unable to lower it. So, completed or not, that trial will forever be at said difficulty. Difficulties are based on skill levels, so if you want to work on a specific level of skill, then you can select that level. If you want to try and force improvement on a skill, you can choose a higher initial difficulty level." Nodding along in understanding, I make my way toward the door. Seeing my actions, Mika stands up from her desk and follows me. Upon reaching the door, I want one more question: "How is it determined for a successful completion of a trial?" Understanding my question, Mika answers, "There is no defining factor for the completion of a trial, but to pass a trial, you must get a grade of at least B." Thinking momentarily, she snaps her fingers, "That''s right, I haven''t told you about the grading scheme of the tower yet. Grading starts with F and the lowest, the E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. If you get a grade about a B, then the next time, the challenge is increased by the grade you have completed. So, if you complete a trial with a B grade, the next time, it will only increase by one level, A for two levels, and so on to the max of a 5-level increase." "You forgot to tell me about the grading scheme?" My look of confusion must have clued her in. "To tell the truth, you are the first person the tower assigned to me. And to be clear, I haven''t had to explain this to anyone, so, naturally, I might forget something." She shrugs and then gestures for me to open the door. "Shall we look at what we are working with then?" Following her guidance, I opened the door. Behind it is a long hallway filled with different doors. There are also doors above the lower ones. Walking to the first, I find that it is for mana circulation, then external mana manipulation, and so forth for my current skills. Walking behind me, Mika looks at the 16 skills closest to us. Not wanting her to see too much, I grab her arm to stop her from looking closely, panic in my eyes; I don''t want her to share what skills I already have with others. Feeling my hand grasp her arm and seeing panic in my eyes, she became flustered. "What are you doing?" "I don''t want you to see those skills. They are personal to me." "Why not? How am I supposed to help you if you won''t let me see your skills." "Because if you know, you could give the information to someone else. And I was told not to tell anyone of certain aspects of my life." "Like how you have four mana affinities and a dragon''s bloodline?" About to open my mouth, I look at her in confusion. This feels like a running theme for me at this moment. "Of course, I can tell you have a dragon''s bloodline. The tower knew when you entered, and it informed me so I could best use both of our time." "Is there something that will prevent you from sharing that information with someone else? I don''t like others outside my settlement knowing about my predicaments." It would be better if Kazuz and the others didn''t share it, but I don''t have the power to ask that of them. "As an attendant to the tower, I am strictly prohibited from sharing your information with others. This is strictly enforced, so I have a soul contract with the tower that prevents me from leaving its domain. That doesn''t mean I can''t converse with people; for the last couple of years, I have been working with people assigned to others as a shadow." "What stops you from telling me about those people you had shadowed?" "I only know that I shadowed them, and any information about the person they were attending to was wiped from my memory completely. I just learned the requisite skills needed to help those along the path. And there is no official way to prove it through the tower, but I can swear to you on PUN''s name that what I have said is true." The hallway we are standing in shakes, and then it settles. "What was that?" "You don''t know?" "Nope," I answered. "If anyone is to swear in PUN''s name, it will hear and confirm what has been said. If you speak falsely, then you will be..." She presses her fingers on the bridge of her nose because of the next word, "PUN-ished. Whoever created PUN needs to get a better hobby." "And since you weren''t..." Looking at her, I don''t finish that sentence and move on, "It means you were telling the truth." "Correct. Now, can we please move on? I want to figure out what we should work on with you." "Before that, one last thing: you are talking about this like a training instructor, but you just have to help me with my questions, correct?" Sighing, she nods, "You are correct, but I am currently behind where I should be. My twin brother has already passed me up, and I need to catch up. And you," she says while pointing her finger at me, "are the only hope I have of catching up to him, so want to make sure you are as efficient in clearing these trials as possible and then I might be able to get more resources instead of the pittance I have been allocated." Mika walked in front of the 16 doors for the next few minutes, pondering something. A couple more minutes passed before she finally spoke to me again. "Okay, I have a general idea of what we should do to help you. But I will need more information about your skills because knowing the names doesn''t help me too much. I don''t need to describe the skills, as that doesn''t matter. The only important thing is the level." Figuring that it works well in my favor that she doesn''t know the skill description, even though I am sure she has been studying the different skills and what they do for a long time, I comply and share the requested information. - Skill List: General Skills: Analyze: 5 Neutral Mana Skills: Arcane Shot 10 Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Mana Circulation 8 Mana Control 6 Life Skills: Minor Healing 7 Shield Cost 7 Mend Cost 3 Smite Cost 3 Nature Skills: Nature''s Grasp 7 Barkskin 4 Nature''s Seed 1 Corruption Skills: Corrupting Bolt 2 Death Skills: Death Bolt 1 Leadership Skill: Leadership 5 Delegation 1 Heroic Stand 1 - With a complete list of the skills and their levels, she nods at me in appreciation. "Thank you. This will make it much easier for me to handle now. By the way, what is your mana pool like? I need a total and a current amount." Complying once again, I shared with her that I had 300 mana total and 18 mana current. "What do you mean you have a mana pool of 300? Aren''t you at a lower tier than I am? How can you possibly have more mana than 99% of others in their first tier?" Her cold facade has finally broken. "Mana Heart plus dragon bloodline" is all I share. Smacking herself, she murmurs, "That makes sense; I guess I will need to study more about this when he leaves." Turning back to me, she starts chattering. "Okay, with your mana levels being so low, there are a couple of trials that you can take that will cheese that number up a bit, so the other trials become more accomplishable since you won''t be able to generate much mana this time around without exploiting the mana circulation trial and the mana manipulation trials. The three leadership skills we can also do in the first five since you have plenty of growth in those areas." Pacing back and forth, she continues talking, but now it seems almost to herself. "If he can increase his levels in mana circulation and manipulation up high enough, he might get enough mana to make the other magic trials trivial. I know most mages take their time between trials to get as much out of the attempts as possible, but they also have been inside the tower multiple times, so their resting environment is much better. Starting from square one with a mage makes this hard, but I will prevail." Raising my hand to get her attention, I said, "I have also been working on getting some swordsmanship training and archery training because I have been given the nobleman class, and I didn''t want to be a mage when I ran out of mana, I can''t defend myself. Also, I am an enchanter, if that helps." I willingly gave up this information since it might help alleviate some of the stress she seems to be putting herself through. Hearing this, her eyes gleam, "You''re a noble as well! Great, great, great. Let''s do this then," pointing at a door not far away but further than what I can tell. "I was curious why some of these doors seemed to be near the mage''s area, but now it makes more sense; you must be close to getting skills in these areas." "I wouldn''t say I was close to getting the swordsmanship skill by any means," I offer up. I only started learning how to wield a sword a few days ago." "Time doesn''t matter. It''s if you have been instructed or are learning by yourself. If you were taught, the skill is more likely to become available, while those flailing about it have a harder time acquiring it. Unless it is through the Tower of Trials." Nodding along, I approach the door, "Where will you be when I am done with the trial?" "It won''t take long. These initial trials usually take only a few seconds for us attendants." She says while shooing me into the trial door. Opening the door and stepping through, I am immediately faced with a fighting arena. ''Didn''t she say that I got to pick the difficulty level of the skill I choose to work with?'' Cursing, thinking she forgot to mention something again, I looked around. On one side of the arena is a rack of weapons, all swords, and in the center is a training dummy. "I guess I need to get started," heading over to the rack, I grab one of the swords, and it doesn''t feel right in my grip; I continue to look for a sword that would fit well in my hands, and it doesn''t take much longer before I get one. Approaching the center of the arena, I take the stance Rognar taught me and then hit the training dummy. After 42 minutes of swinging at the dummy, my arms are sore and feel like they are about to fall off. I finally received the notification that I was hoping for. - Congratulations, you have learned the skill Basic Swordsmanship level 1. - Sighing with relief, I took a closer look at the skill. - Basic Swordsmanship Level 1: You have a basic understanding of how to swing a sword and the most basic of stances. Decreases stamina drain by swinging a single-handed sword by 1%. - I was only able to get a one-percent reduction out of the skill. This seems like a rip-off. Not wanting to continue, but knowing I won''t get much, I head back the way I came. There is a door present that I can open. Doing so places me right back in the hall that Mika was in. She looks up and smiles at me. "Good job, and thankfully, it took into consideration that you are a mage trying to learn the blade, which boosted your grade in this trial." Looking at the door, I can see the breakdown of how the skill is graded and what I need to do to get higher scores. - Trial of Basic Swordsmanship: Passed Initial Trial to Destroy Training Dummy: Passed Learned Basic Swordsmanship skills: Increase in Grade Learned as a Tier 0 Mage: Increase in Grade Total Grade: S - Looking back at Mika, I asked, "Is S the highest I can get currently? I thought there were two more grades above S." "There are two more grades above S, but to get those grades, you need to have the skill already, and instead of a training dummy, you would be pitted against some low-level monsters in a wave-style battle. Each wave you clear increases your grade, with each wave getting harder, and leveling up your skills while in the trial will also bump the grade up. Keep that in mind as you work on your other skills. Next is to work on your mana circulation. It will give you a break from all the heavy sword swinging you did." "How do you know that I was swinging a sword heavily?" I asked, a bit flummoxed. "Easy. When you complete a trial, I get a quick memory implant from the tower about what you did with the time inside the trial. It allows me to answer questions you might have more readily." "Isn''t this tower a bit of a cheat? If I can train in here, what is the purpose of the training buildings inside the settlement?" "Oh, that is easy. The tower moves. It is never in one spot for long, and people use several entrances to get inside. The entrance you used is about to disappear because it has been there for about a month. So get the time in while you can. Also, you don''t get any training bonuses when working on skills inside the tower. You just have the opportunity to learn the skills while in a more controlled environment. "I can see why you are antsy about me completing more trials. I would hate to have just a barren office if I knew someone else could help me get better amenities and resources." "I''m Glad you think that way. Let''s continue then, " she says with a bit more emotion. Like this, I was thrown into all skills possible, from archery to dagger master to even staff combat. Anything that prevented me from using mana I was shoved into. Thankfully, I could lean on some of the stances and attacks Rognar taught for swords with some of the other melee weapons. In some instances, I couldn''t complete the trial at all; I know I didn''t complete the trials because after an hour of my own time, the target dummies would disappear, and I would be shoved out of the trial. I got my archery, staff-wielding, and an essential blocking skill while using staves from the initial trials. There was an exciting change once I got the blocking skill. The staff-wielding and blocking skills fused, which wasn''t the end. When I looked at my swordsmanship skill, I noticed it would take less stamina to block attacks. When we finally moved on to some of the skills I already had, I managed to get two more S grades and one A grade. First, we started with mana circulation. When I first touched the door for this skill, I could select a difficulty ranging from 1 to 10. Not knowing the purpose of this, I stayed with the lowest difficulty level to see how the trial worked. This was an interesting skill to have a trial for. During the trial, there would be distractions all around me, and I had to learn how to ignore some of these distractions. With some work, in the hour that I was given to work on my mana circulation, I managed to accumulate eight mana for myself. I also managed to level the skill up to level 9. Because of the high skill level, I could blow the required amount of mana out of the water, which would have made me happy, except that the amount needed to pass the trial was trivial. - Trial of Mana Circulation: Replenished mana (8/1): Passed with an increase in grade Leveled up the skill: Increase in grade Total Grade: SSS - After finishing that trial, Mika gave me a bright smile. It seems getting a triple S on a trial is good for her. I wonder what her office will look like with all these completed trials. Moving onto the next trail, I had to control the mana in the room while different forces were trying to pull the mana away. Again, this was something that I wasn''t accustomed to, so I struggled with it for a while, but once I got into the flow of it, I could also increase my mana control level. This flow continued for the next couple of trials, with the leadership skills being the hardest to understand. Though I barely passed the trial standards, I could improve some skills. Leadership went up two levels, and my delegation and heroic stand skills increased by a level each. Though there wasn''t a significant increase in the skill levels, I still managed to get an A grade for the latter two and an SS grade for the leadership skill. Finally, it was onto the attack skills and healing skills. It feels awkward since I know I won''t have enough mana to do the different skill trials. Going with the thought of an evolution, we move on to the arcane bolt trial. By the time I started the arcane bolt trial, I had been running trials for 16 hours. The weirdest thing is that I don''t feel tired from all the different trials. It is like my physical exhaustion disappears, and while my mental state isn''t in the best spots, it is far from where it was when we started. I had managed to replenish a total of 38 mana points. This should put me in line for a high enough grade in one, maybe even two of the trials. This trial is very similar to the archery trial; the main difference is the range I have to work with. From where I am standing, there are several circles on the ground, each with a different point total, and the target at the far end of the room is stationary. The rules for this trial are similar to those for archery trials but have been reversed instead of aiming to hit a specific point on the target and getting points based on that. I have to stand at a specific point distance, and then I will earn points by the distance from the target I am. The further from the target you are, the more points you get. This is why they want to test arcane bolts: It doesn''t have the penetrating power an arrow would have; it deals surface damage, and the concussive force typically kills enemies. This is also what I lack in my spells. Accuracy. Looking to see how many shots I need to hit for a passing grade, I need to get at least two points, just the middle of the three circles. I have ten shots to get two points. That makes sense, considering I am currently doing my skills'' lowest level of trials. Getting it over with, I stand in the furthest circle and fire off my spell. It is a blessing that I hit the target in one shot. Not wanting to push my luck further, I leave the room, finishing the trial. - Trial of the Arcane Bolt: Reached a score of 2 points (3/2): Passed with an increase in grade Total shots fired (1/10): Increase in Grade Total Grade: SSS - Tallying another high grade in the books continued. The same trials as arcane bolts are corruption bolts, nature''s seed, and smite, with smite being different in how the spell hits the target also included. I quickly passed all three trials and received another three triple S grades. Looking at my mana to see how much I have left, I quickly calculate how many more trials I can attempt. - MP: 38/300 - Nature''s grasp''s trial was about placing the spell and causing the most damage to targets that purposefully walked over it. While my placement wasn''t the best, the fact that the spell was much higher than the trial meant I passed it quickly. That only left me with four more spells to do their trials: minor healing, mending, shield, and barkskin. No matter what I try, there is one spell I cannot complete because I don''t have the mana to cast the spell even once: death bolt. Minor healing and mending had very similar trials; it was a trial to test the healer''s ability, and there was a target that would be damaged while fighting an enemy. The goal was to heal the target so it could defeat the enemy. These spells took a lot of mana, but because of my high level of minor healing, it didn''t take more than two casts to clear the trial. Mending took three casts before the trial was completed. Both trials were passed with a triple S because the target receiving the healing didn''t fall below half health at any point, and I could time my healing so it would heal most efficiently. My mind skills also improved during the trial, which is a plus. With two more skill trials that needed to be completed, I wanted to continue, but I looked at my mana and saw that I didn''t have enough mana to cast even one spell. Sighing, I look at Mika with an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I couldn''t help out any further; if I had known this place existed, I would have saved more of my mana since we came here right after a boss fight in a dungeon." "Don''t wor-" She cuts herself off, "What do you mean you came here directly from a boss fight? I thought you had just been training your spells, and that was why your mana was almost depleted." Shaking my head, I disagree. "No, we finished a dungeon, and then my father, recognizing where we were, decided to bring us straight here." "Is he stupid?" She asks. "No, he is quite the intelligent man." I rebuff. "Are you sure?" She insists. "Quite," not wanting to argue over my father''s poor choices, I ask her, "Will this at least get me a decent item when I leave the tower?" "More than enough; I wouldn''t be shocked if you got a lot of supplemental materials for upgrading your spell. You can access all your rewards once we return to my office." Gesturing for her to lead the way, we headed back inside. Some things changed the moment we entered the room. First, there were a bunch of grades on the board. Next, there was an additional chair in the room, and finally, the room did feel a little bit bigger. Turning back to the door, I find Mika standing there, ready to head to her desk. "How can I access the rewards?" "Just go to your menu, and a new option should be available, " she says with a slightly distant voice. Once you are ready to leave the tower, the option is there, too. I recommend you stay for a second and review your rewards." Nodding, I go to the rewards section of my interface and look to see what I acquired. - Tower of Trial Rewards: 1 X Skill Evolution Token 5 X Skill Level-up Token 3 X Skill Fusion Token 2 X Random Skill Book - Looking at the new items, I immediately grab the skill evolution token and am prepared to use it when Mika stops me. "While trying and evolving a skill while you are still inside the tower isn''t wrong, I recommend waiting until you get back to your settlement. You will want to make some choices, and as a noble, it is best if you were in the settlement to make those choices. Nodding, I put the tokens and skill books into my storage pouch. "Do you have any other questions for me, Drake?" She asks. Knowing it will be a while before I return to this tower, I have one other question. "Are there any other ways that I can come back sooner?" "There are ways, but as of right now, your settlement is at a low level to be able to build a gateway. So, either look for a ticket or keep focusing on leveling up. We will meet again sooner than you expect." With that, she again gestured to the same door we had just entered. "This door will take you outside. It was a pleasure to meet you, Drake." She says this while holding her hand out for me to shake. "The pleasure is mine." Shaking her hand, I go to the door and leave. Once outside, I am greeted by my mother, my father, and someone who looks very similar to my sibling, but I don''t know if it''s true. Chapter 101 Once Again I Return Chapter 101 Once Again I Return Looking at the person who resembles Xelyphe, I throw my head through a loop. I am asking my parents, "Who is this?" I want to clarify who I am talking to because Xelyphe''s appearance was very androgynous before and is now more feminine. "Drake, we need to discuss this when we get back to the settlement; we shouldn''t speak in-depth about it out here. You never know when a monster might come out to attack." My father reprimands me lightly. "Says the man who just entered a tower without telling me what it was about with a thumbs up and vague description." I retort back. "You were fine, weren''t you, so what''s the harm? And also, your mother knew about this tower, so it''s not like you went in without any knowledge." He looks at his wife expectantly. Smacking my face, I glare at him, "No, Dad, she didn''t know. She was not in the best state to pay close attention to what was happening. And since you want to head back to the settlement to get things handled there, let''s go." Working through my menus, I quickly pull up the option to bring us back to the settlement. Upon pressing yes, we were quickly whisked away from our location and arrived on the other side of the fog wall. Making our way to the manor, we pass by many people working on different projects and returning from the fog. Hearing a flutter of wings, I see Ritotorous leaving his perch on one of the tombs to return to the manor. He probably has something to talk about, but that makes me curious: Why hadn''t I seen him in the past day? As we proceed through the settlement, I see more people opening chests in the open since they don''t have houses yet. Thankfully, we haven''t had any other weather but sunny days. I will need to fix that soon, but from what I can see, Laxreal has taken the time over the day to get some of the buildings in order. I can see at least five different projects being worked on as we speak, and one more thing I paid attention to was the settlement''s resources. While we were gone, their values changed. - Tier 1 Wood - 28 (+140 units per day) Stone - 375 (+140 units per day) Metal - 2605 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 582 Tier 2 Wood - 10 (+14 units per day) Stone 16 (+14 units per day) Metal - Food - 4 (+1 Per 5 days) - I see two more huts having been built while we were away and another ten tombs being constructed. Some stones are used to make a stone slab road heading from the manor and going in a straight line down each cardinal direction. One of the directions was correct at the gate we walked through. The road construction is ongoing, and I can see it slowly taking shape. I check one last thing before we manage to get to the manor. - Small Mining Outpost Level 2 X 1 (+140 units Tier 1 Stone, per worker (MAX: 6): 30 units of Tier 1 Stone, and 3 units of Tier 2 stone, and an additional 10% chance to harvest Tier 2 metal) Small Lumber Outpost Level 2 X 1 (+140 units Tier 1 Wood, per worker (MAX: 6): 30 units of Tier 1 Wood, and 3 units of Tier 2 Wood, and an additional 10% chance to harvest Tier 2 Food) - Interestingly, we don''t have an amount based on the workers showing in the interface, so I asked if anyone is willing to work in these areas to help keep things moving faster. I arrived at the manor and immediately headed to the kitchen because I was hungry. The rest of the family followed me. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Shall we talk about what has happened?" I say while gesturing at the person who looks like Xelyphe''s direction. "Sure, since you know about bloodlines, this will make it much easier to explain." My father starts, "You know how in mythos a phoenix can reconstitute its body and raise itself from the ashes of its former self?" I nod along, understanding what he is saying so far. "Well, this is that, but there is a little misnomer that people forget about. A phoenix can reconstitute itself from the ashes of its death and become the person it believes that should be at that time." "So, you are saying that during the reconstruction of their bodies, after death, they can become someone that they have wanted?" Rocking his hand back and forth, he tries to explain it but can''t find the words, and Xelyphe steps in at this point. "For me, I have wanted to have more feminine features, but due to the low level of my bloodline, I only awakened a part of the healing capacity that a phoenix should have. There was no means for me to revive after death fully, but here, I was able to learn the ability through countless life and death experiences during the Tower of Trials. My bloodline could still be further refined, but at this time, there is a cooldown for how often I can use this skill. Right now, the cooldown is 50 years, requiring me to give up at least two tiers of experience even to facilitate the rebirth." "So you are now..." I look a bit confused. "I am now a woman, but if in the future I want to and have the option to, there is potential I could become my androgynous form again, or even a male form." She says bluntly. "Okay, so what does that mean for me?" I ask, still confused. "Nothing. The only thing that has changed is that I can bear children now and could, in the future, become a man if I choose." "Oh...That''s it?" "Yup." Sighing and shrugging my shoulders, I continue to look at my family. "Stupid bloodline crap." There is so much I still have to learn about bloodlines, and my parents haven''t been the best help yet; maybe they will finally get the hint and start helping me learn about bloodlines. However, now that I think about it, most of what they know about bloodlines doesn''t work in this world other than the physical characteristics that will be true anywhere. Still, I need to learn the baseline before I can build up from there. From this point, we discuss how bloodlines worked more in my home world. It was a big thing that needed to be kept under wraps. For what reason, no one knows. But I can make some guesses based on my father''s information. It probably involved someone who didn''t have their bloodline awakened getting hurt over the fact that there were these beings doing feats of strength and, in some instances, defying basic physics and developing a weapon that could break, if not kill them. As part of a ''truce,'' people started to keep it under wraps, which led to an increase in the technology level on the planet, which was developing to the point we were at. Sighing and explaining my guesses to my father, he thinks about it, and from what he remembers, it sounds about right. Those that later awakened their bloodlines were brought under him and several other trainers and used as soldiers against the harder-to-handle monsters of the world. For the most part, those who were able to control their bloodlines were sent back to society with a contract stating they weren''t allowed to disclose any information about bloodlines or face the death penalty. That seems harsh as punishment for just talking about bloodlines, but the government was exceedingly cautious about spreading the word. I am glad that we aren''t in a world like that anymore and instead are in this beautiful, danger-filled, death-threatening world; I can only sigh. Having finished our discussion, I grab the food we have been making and bring it to the table, where we all sit and eat. Wanting to finish the meal in peace, a gentle knock on the door sounds like bones hitting wood. Pressing my hands into my face, with my elbows on the table, I call out, "What is it, Laxreal?" "I am sorry, sir, but I am not him." With a gentle push of the doors, another undead from under Draemish walks into the room. "I have a message from Lich-Laxreal, though." Looking up, I see an undead of the zombie variety. Thankfully, there isn''t a putrid smell. One of his hands is only left with bone, while the rest of his body looks a bit worse for wear than a typical human. There are patches of dead skin and some puncture wounds on his arms and legs armor, and his eyes are like a dark lake, with no sclera. But other than that, he would appear like any other human. "Lich-Laxreal?" I asked. "Yes, sir, Lich being his title, sir." He is speaking to me very formally, and it feels uncomfortable. Wanting to get on with whatever message Laxreal sent me, I asked for him to deliver the message. "Lich-Laxreal would like to see you at sir''s earliest convenience in the mage tower." Running my hand down my face, I look at him. "Couldn''t he have just come here, and we could have discussed what he wanted?" At this comment, the undead looks at me and smiles with his grey teeth, "Lich-Laxreal said that you would ask that, and he said, and I quote, ''I don''t want to leave my experiments, and he is late for his lessons.''" Trying to remember what he meant by lessons, my face blanches. I had promised Rognar and Sylvasti that I would practice my swordsmanship and archery under their tutelage, and Laxreal said he would work with me on my spellcraft. Quickly checking the time, I see it is only 3 pm. Getting up in a hurry, I sprint out of the manor and head to the mage tower first. Chapter 102 A Bone To Pick It takes a couple of minutes to reach the tower, but the door is already open when I do. Entering inside and climbing the stairs, I find myself eye-to-socket with Laxreal. "Hey, Laxreal, how are you doing?" I say, trying to ease into the conversation. "Drake," he starts, his voice neutral, "I know you are a young man and like to go off on adventures, and I know today was a... Different circumstances, but you can''t run off without telling people your instructions." "You did fine," I compliment. "I know I did because I asked people to help me and to get a set of priorities. Something you should have done. It''s not like they couldn''t have waited any longer. Their volition bound them, meaning they wouldn''t have moved from the room until someone grabbed hold and brought them out, something you and your now sister took great interest in." "It wasn''t like that," I try to play the situation down. "Drake. You had the biggest smile, knowing you got to explore with your family. Not that I can complain and scold you for wanting to do it, but there was a place and a time. YOU. HAVE. RESPONSIBILITIES." With the last three words, he takes one of his fingers and jabs my chest to enunciate. "I know, but-" "NO. BUTS. You are the lord of this settlement whether you want this position. That means you have responsibilities to all the people in this settlement. If you don''t feel up to the task, then TOO BAD. The more you do these stupid shenanigans, the less people will want to hear you out when you have plans for the future." "I need to get stronger!" I try to defend myself. "Yes, you do, but you rush to get stronger and aren''t paying attention to the details around you. Where is Ritotorous? Where are the other commanders? What have you been doing recently that has made a difference in the settlement? Did you know there was a goblin encampment in the hill region of our settlement? A full goblin encampment, there are 50 of the blighters. They haven''t approached us for some reason but are just sitting there, and at any moment, they could attack us." Raising my finger to answer, I realize I can''t answer one of his questions. Slumping my shoulders forward, I know I am over my head. "How do we know about the goblins, and what action can we take?" "One of the scouts was bored waiting around today and decided to look around in the south. After climbing the cliff the stone outpost was at, he quickly spotted the camp. They are about 200 meters from the cliff face, so it isn''t easy to see them. And they never use fires, so there was no way to know until someone went scouting." "Thank goodness they haven''t attacked. Though I don''t think they will be an issue." Thinking about the towers we have in the settlement for our protection." "That''s not the point of me bringing it up, Drake. You need to do better." With those words, the anger in his voice has subsided. "What can I do to improve?" I asked. "Talk more with your subordinates. Ask questions, be willing to listen, and, for the love of all things undead, be more available than you have been. Either you are rushing into one battle after another or neck deep in your enchanting. As your advisor, I recommend that you stay in the settlement for the next week to get things organized." Thinking about his words, I can''t help but agree with him. Since I arrived, I haven''t had much time to stop and think things over. If it wasn''t the wave event, it was me in my command center; if not there, I was delving into enchanting wonders or at an auction. A lot has happened to me in the last half-month, and it isn''t all for the best. I guess the fear of not being able to do much from my past went away because there was a reason for my ailments, and from the moment I entered this world, my ailments were alleviated. Taking a deep breath, "Okay, where do we start? "First, we start with you fulfilling your promises to your three trainers. Rognar and Sylvasti have been waiting for you to train. I can only hope you show them something to ease their minds." Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Smiling a little, knowing I would surprise them, I head out of the mage tower and to the training grounds. It''s time to show them the skills I acquired in the Tower of Trials. When I arrived at the training grounds, I met with Sylvasti and Rognar. I apologized for my tardiness and showed them my new swordsmanship and archery skills. They were shocked when they saw the skills, but an evil smile creased Rognar''s lips. Seeing that smile, a feeling of unease rose in my chest. For the next hour, he had me battered up and down the training field while trying to avoid his blows or strike back when I could if I could. And in that one hour, I was battered so much I had to consider healing myself the moment I had enough mana to cast the spell. Once that torture was over, I had another hour of shooting different targets that Sylvasti had set up. Physically exhausted from all the running around and the physical beating I took in the training yard, I returned to the tower for my lesson with Laxreal. Slumping into a chair when I entered the room, I asked, "What is on the agenda for us today?" "We will be continuing our etiquette lessons, and they start now. Sit straight, heels shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, and head up." He started correcting my sitting posture. Wanting to complain, I start to speak and then remember that I need to improve, not just for myself but for everyone in the settlement. Sucking up my complaints, I decided to focus on my posture in hopes that it allows my brain to avoid the pain that is coursing through my body. I felt like I was sitting for hours as Laxreal instructed me on the different things I needed to be aware of as a simple lord. He wants me to improve my natural aura. When I show people I am confident in what I am talking about, they are likelier to listen. When walking into a room, being mindful of how groups of people congregate can make it easier for me to approach and interact with them. During the lesson, he walked around me, adjusting my posture as he saw fit. He did not let a slight hunch go without a forced adjustment to get my body used to the position so I could fall into it naturally. There was so much information that I didn''t retain all of it, but I can tell he also knows this. Finally, I stand up when he finishes his lesson, but he stops me before I get halfway up. "Drake, I know you have had a rough afternoon, but know we are all doing this for your own sake and the sake of the settlement. You are our lord, and even if people don''t find that attractive or they find fault in you, it is not your place to satisfy everyone. You must find the path of least resistance and take it. In some cases, it might lead to people disliking you; in others, it might lead to the opposite. Just know that I will be there to advise you, and so will your commanders and council." Nodding in understanding, I stand up fully, "Thank you, Laxreal. I have lots of work to do, and I hope you are by my side as we grow together." "As you wish, sire." "By the way, what is this Lich-Laxreal that I heard earlier?" "You know how I came back to life?" "Yes, what does that have to do with this?" "It has everything to do, and it is because of what I became after returning." "You mean the reward from the quest hinting at a guardian?" "Correct, the guardian part of that reward was more on the nose than you think. My race changed to that of a Guardian-Lich. Usually, I would become just a normal Lich in certain circumstances, but this time, it was different. As a Guardian-Lich, I have restrictions, but I also have more power regarding the confines of the settlement." "What sort of restrictions?" I asked, trying to remember he had already mentioned if there was a restriction when he came back. "I am unable to leave the settlement. As my soul is bound to the settlement, I have become a permanent fixture of the settlement. I can still gain levels, but only through quests and monsters that have come into the settlement''s territory. I will lose most of my stronger powers if not within the settlement''s walls." Remembering the discussion at the mention of his powers growing stronger in the walls and that he will be unable to leave the settlement, I smack my head. "Crap, I forgot that you had already mentioned this. So, that means you will be unable to join the group in expeditions outside the settlement." "Correct, you will have to take someone else," he answers flatly, "Do know it was my choice to become what I am. I thought I would only become a normal Lich, but these have more benefits. I have more power to research and can''t die unless the entire settlement is destroyed." Then I ask about the guards, "Do you have your own guards, then?" "Draemish is setting up guards for those in important positions; right now, it is on a volunteer basis. That soldier I sent to you wants to learn something from me, but he hasn''t had the nerve to ask yet." Chuckling to himself, he shoos me off. "We have lots of work to do this next week, so ensure you get enough rest. I don''t think you will have as much time to yourself as you would think. And don''t forget to set an alarm; I expect you to be in the training yard with Rognar by 7 am sharp." With another cackle that only a skeleton could do, he turns around and heads into the instructor''s room. Chapter 103 One Week Passes I head back to the manor to get some rest, and then I plan to level up and work on being a better lord for the settlement. And that is exactly what I do; for the next week, I follow Laxreal''s advice and set the alarm for 6 am so I can be ready to go down to the training yard by 7 am. The moment I step into the training yard, Rognar has me running for two kilometers, and then we are sparring back and forth between him and Haroth. While he only asked for an hour of my time in the morning, I decided to do a bit more. I want to increase my skills as much as possible since I am not running around doing adventures for now. Off to one side, Laxreal has papers ready to discuss the day''s actions while I have a small break between sword training and archery. After half an hour, I head to the archery range and practice shooting; as I get better, Sylvasti has me adjust my ranges and take easier stances than just standing and shooting. After an hour of training, my body is exhausted. I go to the mage tower, where I have more lessons with Laxreal. Once all the training for the day has been completed, it is 9:30 a.m., and next is to get some food and continue working on the settlement with Laxreal. By 10 a.m., all the commanders and the council come in for a group discussion. This large group discussion happens only on the first day; after that, they hold off unless they have questions. The week passed in this manner: We asked around and found people willing to work the two outposts so we could complete their places of living sooner. With increased lumber and stone production, we quickly built three houses on the first day and another ten tombs. This immediately eased some people''s living situations, but we need to build even more homes and upgrade our huts into houses to go further. On the second day, lumber increased from 140 a day to 320, all due to the six people who volunteered for the job. With the increase in lumber, we built another seven houses. While these houses can accommodate more people, they make for a cramped space. The road from the manor to the gate is also finished on this day. It makes it easier for people to get outside of the settlement now. From here, I work with some people to get more minor cobblestone roads throughout the settlement. This will take a lot of stone, but it should pay off as people can move around more easily on the roads, increasing their speed even if they don''t realize it. The third through fourth day progresses similarly, but there are more people with houses at this point, and it becomes less of an issue. We build the last of the houses on the third day, and with the extra materials, we start building a couple of additional dwellings and tombs for those we are about to summon. I also ensured we created a couple of sleeping ponds for both Vranjaya and Muiress, with much complaining from Vranjaya that she wasn''t sharing a pond with him. Rognar comes stomping into the manor on the fourth day with Narus not far behind him and tells me that I need to make him and Narus their sleeping quarters because they cannot fit into the initially provided huts. Laxreal lightly cuffed the back of my head, forgetting since I had almost forgotten about them, so I immediately put their huts on the list of things to build that day. Finishing up the different houses, I looked around the settlement and saw the vast improvement in the housing situation. With the section for housing getting closer to being filled, it is time to focus on some of the other areas. Next on the list was to make more professional buildings so people don''t have to take turns in the different buildings. So, over the next few days, I worked with Laxreal, and we created enough other buildings that weren''t as long of a line. Officially, there are three sections to the settlement. The first is the housing, which is against the back of the settlement, along with the section for the different professions.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Finally, after a week, I can relax a little. I felt like I pushed through a wringer. I am mentally exhausted and ready to do nothing for the next few days. Sitting down in the meeting room and looking at the time, I see it is early afternoon, a week after the initial start of trying to become a better lord. After a couple of minutes, the council of the settlement, the commanders of the volunteer force, and Laxreal enter the room. Once everyone has taken their seats, I start the meeting. "Thank you, everyone, for your hard work this last week; we have made wonderful progress on the settlement in no small part to all of you. I know I haven''t been the best at times, but I hope to continue to improve as I have been so we can not just survive but thrive. Let''s start with the military commanders. What do you have to report?" Draemish, being the commander of the knights, stands first. "The training for everyone has been working wonderfully with the three instructors in place. Thankfully, the magic side of things doesn''t need specific instructions at this time since everyone who is a mage has, at one point or another, been working with magic in their home worlds, so we don''t have to worry about Laxreal''s absence while he is helping you in a more one-on-one manner." Retaking her seat, Shadow stands next. "We have been gathering as much information from the goblins as possible. As some might think it irresponsible, I took it upon myself to go into their camp and see if anything could be learned in that manner." Draemish glares at him, "Did you learn anything from being able to turn into one of them?" Seeing this open hostility, I can''t say I entirely blame her since he is a shapeshifter, but it isn''t his fault what happened in her past. "Draemish, that is enough; let him off; he used his abilities to improve the settlement." Huffing at my admonishment, she folds her arms while Shadow continues, "There are more than we initially scouted. A total of about 75 goblins are inside of the camp. They have some scouting groups, but they aren''t that vigilant, so we were easily able to spot them and avoid them." Hearing the new number, I am glad that Shadow used his racial abilities in our favor. "Is there any other information that you can provide for us?" Eleanor asks. "Most of the goblins eat simultaneously; typically, it is just whatever the hunters can catch. For the most part, it wasn''t appetizing, but it wasn''t the worst I had eaten, thankfully." He shudders at the thought of the food. "We might be able to poison them or even catch them off-guard when they are eating, making it easier for us." "Both are valid options; what do you have to report, Vranjaya?" I asked, not wanting to delve deeper into that topic until we had all the reports. "Asss Draemish sssaid most of the training is going well. We," she gestures to the other commanders, "have made a rotation for people to go into the fog. There isssn''t anything in place to prevent them from holding onto all the loot, and we weren''t about to implement sssomething sssince we didn''t know what to expect yet and were thinking that the better-equipped everyone wasss, the better sssecurity they had the fog and back in the sssettlement." "Good, I am glad that we have started a rotation for going to explore. Has anyone else found the Tower of Trails or gotten anything related to it?" I asked. "Nothing asss of yet," She answers. Sighing, hoping we would chance upon one of the tickets within this week. I press my hands into my head for a second before turning my attention to the council members. "And is there anything to report on your ends?" Seeing the other councilors shaking their heads, I turn to Laxreal. "Shall we move on to the next matter at hand?" Nodding in agreement, I grab some summoning scrolls from my pouch and smile. Chapter 104 Digging Through Chests Before handing out the scrolls to summon the different populations, I looked at the settlement tasks to see how far we were from completing the next task. - Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 70 (62/70) Have 5 settlers at level 6 or higher (9/5) Optional Tasks: Have 10 settlers with professions at level 5 (32/10) - The only thing holding us back is the total population. I feel at ease, though it makes me curious about who is leveling up, so I ask everyone in the room: "Have we figured out who initially had a higher level than all of us?" "From what I have dug up, one of the scouts has been particularly active when exploring. It is one of the undead, but he always brings someone from your world. So I can only think that maybe the two of them have formed a party and are using that to their advantage to level up quickly." Shadow offers. "Is this something I should be concerned about?" I asked. "I wouldn''t be concerned about it for the time being. It isn''t like they are hurting us by being at a higher level. I would say that it would be prudent to give you more experience, though. So, if you have experience bags, I would use them." Draemish says. Nodding in agreement, I move on. "We are eight persons short of leveling the settlement to the next level. With the houses completed, we should be able to summon more people into the settlement without worrying about housing. So, I will hand these off to you, and you can summon them later." Handing out the scrolls, each person received five; while this will cause a housing shortage again, we have the resources to deal with it now, so it isn''t a rush. "Next, I want to discuss the goblin encampment near our settlement. How do you propose we handle this matter?" The first to answer is Draemish: "We need to destroy them before they can get too powerful. Right now, they are a pile of loose sand, but we never know when these creatures will be able to gather more of their kind and launch an attack on us." "How would you go about doing that?" Narus asks. "We would want to take a set of volunteers up there to wipe them out. They don''t have any major defenses, and we can clear them and fall back if needed." "How many volunteers?" Zul''Zara asks. "At least 20 to 30 would be enough to clear the goblins. With our levels, that doesn''t seem too far-fetched." Draemish continues to answer. "Do we have that many people that would want to participate?" I asked. "If we put the word out, people will join. If we don''t want to do that, we could always take those willing and bring the newly summoned people out with us." She says while shrugging. "That doesn''t seem like the best idea," I respond. "It isn''t any less dangerous than when we summoned people to participate in the defensive battle we had just recently. So, I don''t see your point." I can only concede the point by raising my finger and lowering it. "Ok, so what are you thinking?"Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "My thoughts on the matter was to bring the newly summoned population with us to clear out the goblins. This would let them quickly realize that they must join our settlement for safety and that we can defend ourselves." Everyone around the room starts nodding along in agreement. "Plus, this might lead to more support for people going out and exploring. Right now, a couple of groups go out actively every day to explore, but that is only around ten people, depending on the day. Some are staying back to guard, but they don''t want to leave the safety of the settlement. Not to say what they are doing isn''t right, but they could be more active in our protection." Again, there isn''t anything wrong with what she is saying. "So, what you are saying is that we should start to form a difference between the guard group and those actively exploring?" "That would be a reasonable request." I think about all the different ways we could classify the groups, and then I think of something else. I had several different chests from the two quests and the dungeon exploration. I should open those, and then maybe I could get a general idea of what to expect. "Can we hold off on the clarification until I dig deeper into the rewards I received a week ago? There might be something in there that could be useful in this situation." Seeing agreement in everyone''s eyes, I asked the room, "Is there anything else we should be aware of?" With a chorus of ''No''s,'' I ask everyone to stay while we open the chests in case something of use to the settlement becomes available. It doesn''t take long, with everyone''s help, to gather the chests in the main hall, and then I start to open them. Thirty-three chests need to be opened; 17 of them are from my most recent trip into the fog, and the other 16 are from the defensive battle that took place. They hadn''t been opened yet, so I smacked my head for forgetting to do so. We quickly go through the chests and are glad we finally get to some of the other rewards. The things worth noting in the batch of chests from the dungeon. There are 12 Race-Specific Population scrolls and some more building blueprint tokens. There aren''t any more full blueprints from these chests. Proceeding to the 16 chests from almost two weeks ago, I look at them. - Selectable Chest: Please select one of the following resources for this chest to become. It will transform into a medium chest of that type of resource. Population Resource Token Blueprint - At this point, I want the most blueprint chests; I select ten chests for blueprints and the other for resources. You can never have too many resources. Thankfully, my luck is much better this time around. I was able to get one of the blueprints that I had thought of and another special blueprint. - Adventurer''s Guild Tier 1 Level 1: Provides a place to give out quests generated by PUN or the settlement lord. 200 Units of Tier 1 wood, 100 Units of Tier 1 stone, 100 Units of Tier 1 metal. It requires an Apprentice Foreman, Woodworker, Blacksmith, Tailor, Enchanter, and Scribe. Abernathy''s Tavern Early Tier 2: This tavern is connected to a small side tavern of Abernathy''s Universal Pub Crawl. It allows for exchanging information and gossip from different parts of PUN. Requires 500 Units of Tier 2 wood, 200 Units of Tier 2 stone, and 100 Units of Tier 2 metal. Requires a Journeyman Foreman, Enchanter, Carpenter, and Mason. This blueprint can only be used once. - Raising my fist triumphantly, I look around, "I have the solution; it will take some time to figure out if we have the requisite professional levels." The smile never escaped my lips. "How do either of these help us?" Demetrius asks. Looking at him like a fool, I answer, "Like in video games or novels, where people go to the adventurer''s guild to get quests, this can incentivize going out and exploring. It can also help with smaller items as I could have worked the different outposts of a quest, so when they complete the quest, there is a certain amount of experience received." A look of clarity comes into his eyes, "Ohhh." Looking again at Demetrius, I can tell he hasn''t played many games and wasn''t into reading the fantasy side. He seems more like someone who works in a research lab. Not someone who is specifically a researcher but more on the side of dealing with trying to get grants and the like for the researchers. It is probably why they had him become the spokesperson for our world. Thankfully, everyone else here seems to be aware of the concept of an adventurer''s guild. Continuing on, I look at the tavern blueprint and am curious about what it means in its description, but considering we don''t have the materials to build it at this time anyway. I put it off to the side. Feeling the meeting is ready to wrap up, I look at everyone and give them a heartfelt thanks, "Thank you, everyone; without your help, I couldn''t have figured out what to do this last week. Let''s keep working together to form a better settlement for everyone here!" And with those final words, I finally got a notification that I had been expecting but didn''t know when it was coming. Chapter 105 Leveling Up - Congratulations, you have received the skill, Motivating Speech. - With this final skill, I finally completed the one quest I have had for the longest time. - Noble Class Quest: You have entered a unique instance for a nobleman. This instance will save your progress after finishing the initial series of battles. During these battles, you will learn about leadership, cunning, people management, delegation, and other minor skills any nobleman must possess. Tasks: Learn 6 Noble Class Skills (6/6) Complete the initial series of battles (10/10) Rewards: 1 X Small Chest of Wealth, 1 X Noble''s Garb Failure: N/A Note: Rewards have been lowered due to the lack of skills learned during the trial. Rewards will continue to be reduced based on how long it takes to complete the quest. Due to completing the battles, failure of this task is no longer an option. Time Taken: 12 Days 0 Hours 22 Minutes 23 Seconds - Looking at how long it has taken me, I can only sigh in dissatisfaction at myself for not being able to complete it sooner. Pushing the notifications off to the side, I am grateful to finish that ticking quest finally. The rewards were sent to the Lord''s Chest, and I focused on the gathering before me. "Let''s summon the population and then level up the settlement." Saying this, we stepped outside, and the councilors opened the summoning scrolls in front of the manor. Out of the 20 people that stepped through the portals, we got a solid mix of people. The lowest count is from Laxreal''s world of Thelatera, where only three figures walked out. Culhara had four figures, and Usa''Nov and Troberia had six and seven, respectively. With everyone there to welcome them into the settlement, we informed them briefly about our current situation and hoped they would help us with our goals. There were some jeers about how young I was and how they were fine in their worlds. Most people are skeptical and don''t settle in immediately, which is to be expected. Not wanting to handle these people but needing to, I stand by the side as the four councilors and my three commanders talk and keep trying to settle the people. It doesn''t take long before some of the other settlers come up and start to separate them into groups that would be manageable by those already here¡ªsighing at how exhausting it is to do this. I head back inside and look at leveling up the settlement and myself. - Settlement Tasks: Have a population of 70 (82/70) Have 5 settlers at level 6 or higher (12/5) Optional Tasks: Have 10 settlers with professions at level 5 (30/10) Would you like to level up the settlement? Yes/No - Selecting ''Yes,'' I look at the next set of settlement tasks. - Settlement Tasks: Have a total population of 100 (82/100) Have at least one settler complete their class or profession upgrade (0/1) Note: These tasks can not be skipped. Upon completion, the settlement will receive an advancement quest to progress to the next settlement tier. - I can''t be happier that we are at the point of advancing the settlement. I want to inform everyone about this pleasant news, but knowing I have more things to do, I will hold off and tell them at the next meeting. If I run into them, I will keep an eye out for those getting close to level 10. Heading upstairs, I gather the bags of experience I received from the dungeon and two additional bags that have been doing nothing. Once I have them in hand, I closely examine them. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. - Bag of Experience: Contains 50 experience provided to the user''s class. Large Bag of Experience: A rare bag that contains 200 experience provided to the user''s class. - Using all the experience bags has boosted my level by two. - Status: Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Bloodline: Life Nurturing, Death Corrupting Dragon Awakened: 0.01% Class: Mage Class Level: 7 Experience 270/700 Affinity: Life, Nature, Death, Corruption Attributes: Strength 1 Intelligence 17 Wisdom 19 Charisma 6 Dexterity 2 Constitution: 10 Free Points: 2 - Watching my stats increase with my levels always makes me happy. Considering the problem with the goblins, I quickly reacted to their presence in the settlement. Considering they are only goblins, and Shadow doesn''t seem overly concerned about them, I figured after another day of rest for me, giving the newcomers time to adapt to the settlement. We could get to work on clearing them out. I will go about my business for the afternoon, set up new houses for everyone who just arrived, and then head to the enchanting building for the first time in at least a week. I focus on my enchanting. After a couple of hours, I finally managed to get the last of the different sigils through their initial pattern. With the finalization of the pattern, I will give the various paths it can take to progress and receive 100 experiences as an enchanter. - Tool Paths: Path of the Failure Path of the Skillful Path of the Efficient - With all of the different sigils completed, I get another notification similar to my initial one when it comes to choosing whether to pick the paths or if I want more options. - Congratulations, you have completed the basic sigils for eight enchanting sigils. Would you like to generate more basic sigils? Yes/No - Once again, I select ''Yes,'' and the following four sets of sigils appear. -Congratulations, you have received the basic sigil for: Auxiliary Building Habitation Building Profession Building Furnishing - Looking at these four sets, I can only guess what they would provide. So, instead of thinking, I focus on completing them as quickly as possible. It doesn''t take me long to complete the elemental sigils due to my experience with the other eight and my high mana pool. - Auxiliary Building: Path of Spatial Expansion Path of Communication Path of Durability Habitation Building: Path of Resistance Path of Spatial Expansion Path of Comfort Profession Building: Path of Focus Path of Regeneration Path of Illusions Furnishing: Path of Comfort Path of Repair Path of Resistance - Looking at the time, I noticed it was 7 pm, and I needed to head back so I could eat. Another thing that caught my attention was the new notification I got when I completed the ''Furnishing'' enchantment sigil. - Congratulations, you have completed all four of the basic sigils. Please expand your sigil library by discovering more sigils on your own or following the paths of the sigils you have completed. Reward: You can now access your sigil library from your menus. - Curious that I didn''t have access to this option from the start, I looked at the menus, and it makes me glad that I spent the time to get all of these sigils at 100%. The menu looks like a spiderweb with the different sigils I have completed in the middle glowing, and from the glowing sigils, there are lines headed to the different paths I can take. Each node has three paths, and those with a similar path, like the ''Path of Durability,'' are all near each other but aren''t connected. This makes me curious if I must continue the path several times now compared to what I thought earlier. The only way to find out is to complete the path with one of the sets of sigils. Finishing those four sigils and the experience they gave pushed my level up to ten. Then, I received a notification. - Congratulations, you have reached the level cap for a novice enchanter. Profession Quest: Practice Makes Perfect You have leveled up your enchanting through the theory of creating the different sigils. To progress in your enchanting, it is time for you to practice. Preparing items, engraving the sigils on those items, and then fusing the corresponding materials to create your finished product. Tasks: Successfully create 12 different items: (0/12) Reward: Title of Apprentice Enchanter. Continue leveling your profession - Stepping out of the enchanting hut, I head back to my manor to rest for the evening. Chapter 106 Gathering Materials The following day, I woke up to my alarm, as is my developing habit, and headed to start my training. Upon completing the training, Laxreal received my full attention while I headed to the archery range. "Can you get the groups that want to go and take out the goblin encampment together? I want to clear it today so we no longer have to worry about it." "As you wish, where would you like to meet everyone?" "Send them to the gate; we should get everyone into some semblance of order before charging up there. I also want to have more information about the encampment. Can you get the scouts working on that to get a current estimate of the goblins? I want to see if their numbers have increased since Shadow last checked." "I will have it done." He heads off, and I proceed to my archery training session. Over the last week, I managed to level up my swordsmanship and archery to level 3 each. This isn''t very impressive compared to the other warriors or hunters, but considering that I was learning it as a mage gave me a bit more bragging rights. Once I finished my archery training, I went to the gate. When I got there, I found the newcomers and a large group of everyone I had been seeing these last few weeks. As I approached, Draemish stepped out and gave me a warm welcome: "Good morning, Drake. I hope your training didn''t drain you from what you gathered us for." "I have plenty of energy. Don''t you worry yourself over that," I replied happily. "How many people have joined us in this excursion?" I asked. "There are a total of 43 people here. With this sort of small force, we should be able to deal with the goblins easily. Do you want to wait for the scout to return, or do you want to start heading in that direction and see if we can clean up this mess before lunchtime?" "Let''s go ahead and head out. We will run into the scout on our way. Plus, it has been a while since I was in that part of the territory." With that, I turned and addressed the crowd. "I would like to thank all those who have volunteered to join us on this little excursion to the eastern part of the territory. I know many of you have been hearing about an encampment of goblins. While that is true, I would like to say that we will take care of that threat today. For those that are new, please be careful of your health. I can heal those that take damage, but I prefer that we don''t have to do that." Smiling at everyone, I proceed to the gate and head out ahead of everyone else with Draemish by my side. It doesn''t take the group long before we reach the area we can use to climb up and head to the goblin encampment. When we reach the top, one of the scouts stops us, and we quickly gather. "What is the news of the goblins?" I asked. "There are a couple more goblins since we last checked, but for the most part, we should be able to easily clear out the encampment if we set up well enough." "Good, please lead the way." I gestured, and the scout took the lead. Not long after, we slowly made our way to the scouting point, and I found Shadow standing there giving instructions to the scouts. He turns to us and acknowledges our presence, "Welcome, let''s get this over with. There aren''t many more than initially reported, and they are pretty lax in their guard duties. Several smaller groups have left the encampment to hunt; otherwise, they have been relatively calm." "Good. When can we start?" I asked. "We can start right away once everyone is in formation. The groups out hunting probably won''t come back if they hear a battle going on, though that could change, so I will have a couple of scouts behind us to give warning if they decide to ambush." With his affirmation of how quickly we can start the attack, those who have fought before get into formation, and those who haven''t begin to hesitate. "Are you sure we will be safe?" One of the newcomers pipes up. "You will be as safe as you can be. This will let you know what you are up against in the coming days." Draemish answers the question. "But we have only been here for less than a day. Why are you thrusting us into combat so soon?" Another asks. Thankfully, we are far enough away from the encampment that we don''t attract any attention, but still, I can see Draemish getting antsy to get this attack started and back to the settlement. Instead of letting her handle this question, I directly answer, "Just because you have been here for less than a day doesn''t mean you shouldn''t learn what this world is like. I was the first person in the settlement. If you don''t believe that, then go to Laxreal, and he can vouch for me. I had to fight by myself against any monster that was thrown my way. Thankfully, I was able to kill everything that was thrown at me, but still. I was by myself." Hearing that, I feel more respect for myself from the veterans and the newcomers. Hearing no more questions, the entire group forms with the warriors in front, the mages in the middle, and the hunters in the back. Next to every veteran is a newcomer to help keep things organized. Smiling at this, we start to move towards the goblin encampment. To say that the battle was hard would be a lie. It didn''t take us long to approach, with the hunters taking out the guards. Once they were dead, everyone kept to their buddy, and the whole encampment was destroyed in less than 30 minutes. Several close calls of people taking more damage than they should have. It was a good thing that I tagged along for this expedition. Those wounded came up to get healed, and those amid the fighting were getting shields. Overall, the entire group didn''t get that much experience due to the size difference of the groups. I say the group, but only those in their higher levels didn''t get much experience.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. -Congratulations, you partook in exterminating a goblin encampment level 4. You have received 10 experience. - Once all the goblins were dead, everyone quickly looked around to see if there was a chest or something they could take with them, and we found a couple of chests. Most are just small items presented to those who had their first kill. The others were settlement chests for profession materials. Over time here, there haven''t been many professional materials outside of wood, stone, and metal, which work for several professions. Items like herbs for alchemy, enchanting, inscription, healing, baking, and, in some cases, formations have been hard to come by. I had only seen small groups of materials, which seemed very personal in their distribution. Seeing such large chests for these materials, I can''t help but be excited because my enchanting has stalled until I can gain practical experience. With these chests in hand, we headed back to the settlement. As I had thought, we got back before noon, and on our way back, those with wounds would approach me, and I would heal them. With each person I healed, the more those around me showed respect. It inflated my ego, and that held until Laxreal came walking up to me. "How was your little excursion?" He asked right away. "It went well. The one ''threat'' to the settlement has been taken care of, and now all that is left is some more managerial items before I can start working on my enchanting quest." "So you did manage to get your profession up to level 10? I had a feeling since you have such an overpowered amount of mana, and based on what Eleanor has told me about enchanting in this world. What is your quest about?" He asked. "I have to complete 12 different enchanting projects. Has anyone else gotten their profession up to level 10?" "There are several people with high profession levels, and what has been holding them back isn''t anything other than resources." "Resources? This makes me curious because several professions don''t need much in terms of materials, or at least unique materials." I ask out of curiosity. "That''s the thing: For someone like a blacksmith to progress, they not only have to create an item while using a specific blueprint but also have to exceed the quality of that blueprint. So, if they are making an item with a Tier 0 blueprint, they need to be able to make it into a Tier 1 item. There are several ways to do this, but the easiest way is through better materials. We haven''t gotten any yet, but once we open these chests, we may get some of the items they need to progress their quests." "That sounds pretty easy if you ask me," I commented. "From what they told me, it is more complicated than anticipated. With PUN''s strict blueprints, getting the items to Tier up is hard. One option someone has brought up is having someone enchant their items, and they might be able to exceed the limit of Tier 0 and reach Tier 1." Hearing the hint in his voice, I can only think about my quest. While it would be worth it for someone to try, I haven''t completed even one enchantment, and we don''t know what happens if the enchantments fail. Everyone in the enchanting building has been working on the different sigils. "It would be worth trying, but I want to be able to complete some of the enchantments before we try it on an item that will be given. Does any of the blacksmiths have spare scrap weapons that aren''t of good quality that I could practice with?" Following my train of thought, Laxreal rubs his fingers on his chin, "I don''t know, but let me ask. There should be some. If not, could you do the work on other works?" "Other works?" "Armor from a leather worker, or even the clothing from a tailor?" "Those shouldn''t be a problem either, but we should find someone on their promotion quest and work on getting their quest completed simultaneously." "That would be the best use of materials." He agrees, "I am going to head out and find some people; if there are any questions, I will relay them to you at the manor." Smiling at him, I nod, "Sounds like a plan. Thank you, Laxreal." With a tip of his skull, he heads off. With nothing else on my plate, I head to the manor to gather my thoughts for the next part of my day. Once I get inside the manor, I head to the meeting room and pull up the information on the settlement. - Settlement Information: Name: Caelnova Tier: 1 (Roadside Hovel) Level: 9 Experience: 11182/1000 Population: 82 Territory Size: 1.8Km X 1.8Km Tier 1 Wood - 1839 (+140 units per day)(Workers: +180) Stone - 2040 (+140 units per day)(Workers: +180) Metal - 3125 (+0 from Small Mine) Food - 301 Tier 2 Wood - 166 (+14 units per day)(Workers: +18) Stone 172 (+14 units per day)(Workers: +18) Metal - Food - 6 (+1 Per 5 days) - Our food supplies are the one resource that I can see becoming an issue in the near future. I need to think of more ways to procure or produce more food. I haven''t gotten plans for a farm or something along those lines, but I have the blueprint for a Small Cemetery Level 1, a Simple Garden Level 1, a Small Dock Level 1, and a Small Garden Level 1. Of these four options, the only one that has produced any food is the dock. Thinking about it, I haven''t seen anyone working on those small items ever. We have all been running around trying to get more resources without dying. It looks like I will need some volunteers to fish or work the gardens. If they do, I will need to build more of them and place them in their own space. Letting out a long sigh, I put my head in my hands and tried not to focus on it too much. That sounds like something I will need to do tomorrow. It isn''t long before there is a knock on the doors, and my head snaps out of my hands as I hear a familiar voice from the other side. Chapter 107 Finger Painting Heading over to the door and opening it, I saw Uxa standing there sheepishly. I welcomed him inside. "How are you doing, Uxa?" I asked him. "Honestly, this is like a dream for me¡ªthis whole world. When I first came here, I was frantically trying to find a solution to the problems of my world, but with everything starting to settle down, I also saw that people from my world were coming in. It makes me happy knowing that we are in a much safer environment than we were used to." "Wonderful," I exclaim, hearing how he finally settled in. "What brings you to my door?" I decided to ask right off the bat. "Well, Laxreal approached me and asked me about my profession and its current level, " he starts. Narrowing my eyes, I waited for him to finish seeing where this was going before he got to the end. "Once I told him I was looking for someone to help me with my blacksmithing like some other smiths, he told me to head here." "You''re saying you aren''t the only smith looking to increase their profession?" "Correct. Several of us are looking for someone to help us. There aren''t many options since materials have been in short supply." Smiling at him, I ask, "Do you have any spare armor or weapons I could practice on?" "Plenty of failure pieces in the smithy haven''t been melted down for spare materials. If that is what you mean." "Perfect," I declare loudly. "Why do you need those items? I know you are an¡ª" he cuts himself off. You need to advance your profession, don''t you?" "That I do, my friend. I need to have 12 successful enchantments. Before I start ruining high-quality products, I thought I would get some scraps of different kinds to work on increasing my success rate of enchantments." A smile reaches his eyes, "Wonderful. Then let me go and get those items and bring them to the enchanter''s hut. I know you will want to work on them as soon as possible." Nodding in appreciation, I asked, "How are things going for you? You just told me how much better it is here, but how about you? What have you been up to?" Scratching the back of his head, he looks at me sheepishly, "I have been working my wings off in the smithy. Ramona sparred with me one day, and we started talking. When I mentioned that I was a blacksmith, she asked me why she hadn''t seen me in the smithy. I responded that I wanted to fight since it was the only thing I knew from the time in my home world. She dragged me into the smithy and taught me how to use the forge. At first, I was atrocious, but as I got experience and with her guidance, I was able to start making small blades. They aren''t the best even now, but I received so much experience that it boosted my level up to 10 quickly. That was a couple of days ago; since then, I have been trying to get more out of the materials I have used, but nothing has worked." "So you haven''t gone back to training?" "Honestly, it''s embarrassing to say, but Ramona told me that while I can be a warrior, it doesn''t seem to be my calling and to focus on smithing for now. Maybe in the future, when I have more experience with the training grounds, I should start leveling up my warrior class." "For someone with so much experience fighting, I am shocked she said that." "It is mostly true," he shrugs his shoulders. "There wasn''t much training to be had due to the infestation. Most training was done on the run or when you were in the middle of combat. Otherwise, it was mostly just whatever you had on hand and learning how to defend yourself." Looking at Uxa, I can tell he is happier where he is currently. "Then it seems that it was an excellent choice to have you work on your smithing. I am sure your sister appreciates you not taking risks outside the settlement for right now." "Very much so," he agrees.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Shall we get to the project at hand so we can make some awesome gear for some people?" I asked with enthusiasm. He quickly agrees and heads out to collect the scrap weapons and armor. Seeing him leave so energetically boosts my energy for the day. Once he is gone, I open the material chests placed in their respective buildings. All the materials I needed for my enchanting came in bundles of 100; there is a wide variety of ores, woods, fabric, and other herbs for healing and alchemy. Each chest provides the same amount. By the end of it, I could acquire 300 bundles for the enchanter''s hut. After that, I head out to the enchanter''s hut. Not long after, Uxa arrives with the items and sits them near one of the work benches. "Let me know if you need anything else, and I will see about getting it to you." Giving him my thanks, I buckle down to do some enchanting. Grabbing one of the pieces of material that looked like it was being pounded into a breastplate, I grab my engraving tool and the sigil for armor from my shelf. Looking at the sigil, I contemplate how to make this easier for my first attempt. Not thinking of anything off-hand, I free-hand the pattern onto the breastplate. Now, I am not the best of artists, and with my free-handing of the pattern, it immediately looks like something that came out of a 4th grader''s art project. Now, this isn''t a good 4th-grader artist. This is that kid who thinks he knows what he is doing with the directions provided. Instead of the gorgeous scenic picture he had wanted to paint, it is a picture with the sun in the corner and the house with square windows, a triangle roof, and a single step into the rectangle door. What I did was just terrible. Sighing, seeing this will be more challenging than anticipated, I once again try to look around for ways to increase my chances of success. It doesn''t take long before I look back and see Muiress working on a piece. What he is doing is something I should have thought of but don''t know how to do. He takes the sigil and places it on a piece, then slowly traces his finger over it. When he removes the sigil, the piece he is working on has a ghostly print of the sigil. Walking up to him, I asked him how he did that. "It is easy once you know the method. Just use your skills in mana circulations and mana control. With those skills, you can circulate your mana into your finger, and from there, you can trace items. However, you must manipulate mana to keep the mana in the spots you have traced." Hearing his explanation, I asked him, "What level is your enchanting?" "I am only at level 8 currently. I''m hoping to get to level 9 today, though." "Only level 8; I would have thought, with your experience, you would already be level 10 and working on increasing your profession rank." "Are you level 10 in your profession?" He asks me, a look of disbelief on his face. "Yes." "I guess that can make sense in one form. Because I know more, I don''t get as much experience learning the sigils in the early stages, but I have a higher success rate when it comes to crafting items because I have the skills I had before." His face returns to normal once he thinks along these lines. Taking out another piece of material, he shows me again with one of the sigils. This time, looking closely at his finger, I can see it glowing as he traces the lines. It doesn''t take long for him to finish tracing once again; this time, there isn''t a ghost outline like before. Looking up at me, he smiles, "Is there anything else you want to see before you try it?" Shaking my head, I thank him and then head back to my worktable. Doing what he did, I took my sigil for enchanting armor and placed it over the workpiece. Circulating my mana, I try to get it into my finger. It takes me twenty minutes to get the mana to flow to my index finger; in my excitement for completing this step, I almost lose focus, and my finger slowly loses some of the mana flowing into it. Focusing back on my task, I put my finger on the sigil and traced the pattern. It took me a few minutes as I was unfamiliar with the procedure and how the mana flows. When I remove the sigil, I find no lines on the piece. Smacking my forehead, I remember I also needed to use my mana control skill to hold the mana circulating through my finger and onto the workpiece. Sighing at my failed attempt, I again place the sigil pattern on the piece. It only takes me fifteen minutes to get the mana circulating into my finger this time. Thinking that holding the entire sigil at once would be too complicated, I decided to work on one section at a time. I trace the first line, and as the mana leaves my body, I can feel it with mana control, and I try to grab hold of it and keep it in place. Focusing on these two tasks starts pushing my two skills to their limits. When I pull the sigil off the piece, I can feel my focus failing at holding all the mana in place. My efforts do pay off differently, though. - Congratulations, your skill, Mana Circulation, has reached level 10. Congratulations, your skill, Mana Control, has reached level 7. Congratulations, your skill, Mana Circulation, is ready to evolve. Please proceed to a safe location before initiating skill evolution. - I am glad to see at least some of my skills are progressing; I continue for the rest of the afternoon by trying to get more and more lines traced onto the workpiece. By the time I had to stop for the day, I could get 68% of the sigil traced and held in place before my focus started to waver. Due to this grueling task, I could level my mana control skill to 9. Hopefully, I can level it up with one more day of hard work Chapter 108 Engraving The next day, I woke up and did my usual training. Then, I headed back to the manor for any updates people might have. After waiting 15 minutes, I got bored and went to the enchanter''s hut. Before leaving the manor, I ensured that Laxreal knew where I was going so he could send people my way. Once I got to the enchanter''s hut, I started my work. It didn''t take long to pick up where I left off. And before two hours had passed, I had already gotten to the point that I could hold the traced mana completely. Starting the next step, I grabbed the engraving tool and took a deep breath. Still focused on holding the mana in place, I started engraving the metal in front of me. It doesn''t take much to leave a small mark on the piece, but I have to start using more force if I want to leave any deeper etchings. This exhausts my strength quickly, and my lines can''t follow the sigil flow as they should. I stop and think for a moment. There should be an easier way to etch metal and other materials for the final steps. Considering I could use my mana circulation to direct the mana flow into my finger to trace patterns, I try doing the same thing but instead have it flow through the tool. It takes me a couple of attempts to have the mana flow into the tool, and once it does, faint blue lines start to appear on it. These lines flow in a circular pattern and end at the point of the engraver before evaporating into the air. Seeing it work, I press the engraver onto the workpiece again. Immediately, the difference is shown; the engraver glides over the material while leaving a groove in the piece. Continuing to follow the sigil, I almost completed it before my focus faltered and the outline faded. That is when I feel a tap on my shoulder. "Drake, why were you holding the entire pattern as you engraved? Wouldn''t it have been better to slowly let the pattern fall as you traced those portions of the sigil you have already engraved?" Eleanor asks me. Turning my head to look at her, I asked, a bit clipped since I had just failed at this step right as I was about to succeed, "Wouldn''t it be useful to teach people all they need to know before doing something completely new to them." Stepping back, she looks at me before answering with a stern edge creeping into her voice, "I didn''t mean to step on your tail; I just was asking out of curiosity." Realizing I had just screwed up and was now attributing that anger to Eleanor, I take a deep breath, "Sorry, it was frustrating almost to finish before the pattern was complete." "I get that, and I can understand that frustration well. There are a couple of things that you could do to help with your focus, but I think practice is the best option for you. Before you engrave another piece, I would recommend practicing slowly releasing your hold of certain parts of the sigil. Then, maybe your next attempt won''t be so much of a struggle. One tip I will give is that the engraver doesn''t just leave lines in metal." I nodded, a little confused by her tip. I focused on what she recommended, and for the next couple of hours, I practiced letting specific portions of the sigil fall. I started with the lines I traced and then moved on to the portions of lines that intersect each other without losing the pattern of the disconnected parts. Once I can do that without too much difficulty, I focus on the tip she gave me. Considering the obvious, it would work on wood, leather, stone, and other materials. But that wasn''t her point. Thinking harder about it, I consider something else. Could the engraver cut my metaphysical connection to holding the traced mana? Thinking along that line, I try again, but this time, I focus more on the engraver. The vapor pouring off the end of the engraver flows at a higher rate. Smiling, I try once again to engrave the sigil. I''m not as slow as I used to be, and since this is such a simple pattern, I could trace out the design quickly with practice. Focusing on the next part, I start engraving. As it follows the lines again, I feel something trying to happen to my overlay. It''s like something wants to pull it apart as the engraver passes. This confuses me for a second. Why didn''t it feel like this the first time I was engraving? Following that thought, I consider my improvement since the first attempt today. For one, I have a better flow of mana to the engraver. I am more focused on the piece because it didn''t take as long for me to trace the pattern, and lastly, I have a slightly lighter touch when it comes to controlling the mana above the sigil, giving me a lot more capability to focus on other tasks. The only thing that would make sense is that my control is more fine-tuned, so it''s not like I am holding the mana in a stranglehold. This is probably the reason I feel this tugging. The best comparison I have is trying to pull two different materials apart. One is a cinderblock, while the other is a fine thread. While it is possible to pull a cinderblock apart, the amount of effort is significantly higher than trying to pull a thread apart. And that is the difference: I am now holding the mana with a finer touch, allowing me to feel the pulling force from the engraver.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Allowing that force to work on the hold of mana I had, I watch as those portions slowly fade, leaving the rest of the pattern untouched. Smiling at my success, I continue. It doesn''t take me more than five minutes to complete this sigil. And for the final step which is probably the easiest. I have to grind the herbs used for this enchantment while soaking them in water to make them into a paint-like paste. I achieved the texture described in the guide with just a little time. Once completed, I slowly poured the mixture into the engraving, at first, to ensure that none of it spilled. It quickly filled the engraving, with some going over the top, making it leak slightly. Considering this step successful, I moved on to the last step, infusing mana into the workpiece''s sigil and the mixture inside the sigil. I quickly fill the entire thing with the amount of mana. Not long after, my first enchantment starts to glow. Smiling at my success, I check my quest. - Practice Makes Perfect You have leveled up your enchanting through the theory of creating the different sigils. To progress in your enchanting, it is time for you to practice. Preparing items, engraving the sigils on those items, and then fusing the corresponding materials to create your finished product. Tasks: Successfully create 12 different items: (0/12) Reward: Title of Apprentice Enchanter. Continue leveling your profession - Confused about why there is no progress on my quest, I look closer at the enchanted piece of armor, and a notification comes into view. - Enchantment: Failed. - - Armor: +2 Physical Defense - Seeing there hasn''t been any increase in its value, I look again at the enchantment. While it is glowing, I inspect the spots where the mixture leaked out. From those portions, I can see a small leak in the mana. Also, it feels like there is another problem with the enchantment. Wanting to get a closer look at why that could be the case, I try to control the mana to tear apart the barrier and protect the enchantment. Something I have noticed with enchanting is that, in this instance, I could easily pierce the enchantment''s barrier. The enchanter''s residual mana protected the other item''s enchantments; while I could have tried to brute force my way through them, I feared destroying them. Again, once the barrier to the enchantment was cleared away, I scrapped out the dried herb mixture and looked at the engraving. When I looked closely, I found spots where the lines didn''t connect quite well enough, and there were sections of the sigil that were shallower than others. Sighing at these little mistakes, I again try to do the same enchantment on the piece of armor. Taking my time while engraving this time, I try to get the depth the same for each of the lines. Completing that step again, I pour another mixture of herbs into the engraving; there is still some leaking from the edges of the sigil. Sighing, knowing that this might also fail, I continue anyway. I want to experience failing to enchant if anything else. Once again, I get another notification after the mana has saturated the sigil and paste. - Enchantment: Failed. - - Armor: +2 Physical Defense. (Unable to make further enchanting attempts.) - While looking at this notification, I get confused. Why could I repeat the enchantment once, but now I cannot? While inspecting the piece, I removed the enchantment barrier again and scraped out the paste. Once I look inside the engraving, I see cracks running through it and into the piece. These minute cracks spark with some remanent mana and are slowly starting to expand. Curious as to what is happening, I am quickly thrust to the side as Eleanor pushes me away from the piece. Grabbing it quickly, she runs out of the enchanting hut and the settlement with as much speed as possible. Watching her leave hurriedly, I followed along to find out why she was bolting for the nearest exit. As she gets closer to the gates, the piece I was working on starts to spark more and more. Not long after, she leaves the gate, throws the piece as far as she can, and promptly tries to shut the gates. Struggling at first, the gates finally closed after a couple of seconds. "What is going on?" I ask while panting from following her dash through the settlement. And it doesn''t take long for me to understand as a loud ''Boom'' echoes out from beyond the walls. Hearing that noise, I can only think of one thing that could have happened. The piece had exploded. Turning to Eleanor, I ask, looking at her pale face, "What could have caused that?" Staring at me, she answers, panting just as hard as I was. "That was a failed enchantment. There are a couple of causes for something like that to happen. First, the enchantment that was placed on the item was too much for the item to handle. Thus, the only way for the mana encapsulated in the enchantment to escape is to explode, or the other option is someone put too many of the same enchantments on the same piece successfully or not, and the residual mana in the initial enchantments built up enough that they once again needed to release causing an explosion." It doesn''t take long for her to catch her breath after taking a moment. "Drake, from now on, only put one enchantment per item just to make sure we don''t have a similar situation of it potentially exploding." "That sounds like the best plan." I agree, and we both head back to the enchanter''s hut while talking about different things for enchanting. During this talk, I also learned that I could control mana to form a barrier ahead of time to prevent the mixtures from spilling out of the sigil. I am ready to complete my first enchantment. Chapter 109 Success I immediately start my next enchantment upon returning to the enchanter''s hut. As I continue to work on my engraving, I am slowly able to get the lines smoother, and the connection points are getting more refined. It takes less than 15 minutes before I am up to the end of putting in the paste-like mixture. This time, trying my best to pour it in and prevent it from leaking out, I tried what Eleanor suggested. As I poured it in, I placed a small field of mana over the sigil, like with the tracing, but I put more mana into it to become more solidified. Once the mixture is in place, I decide to keep the miniature mana barrier I created in its location and feed mana through it. Once again, the mana and the sigil are absorbed into the mixture. It doesn''t take long to start glowing like the previous enchantments. This time, the glow dissipates after a few seconds, and the mixture is absorbed into the metal. Inspecting the item, I can''t help but hold back a grin. - Enchantment: Successful Quality: Inferior (-80% Stats) Experience granted: 5 - - Tier 0 Armor: +3 Physical Defense - Seeing the final enchantment, my mood sours a little bit. Why is it of poor quality? Nothing went wrong this time. Looking closely, I find a couple of spots on the piece that could be better, but it still makes me wonder if there are any other issues. Maybe the mixture wasn''t at the correct consistency since there are still remnants of the herbs throughout the sigil. I sighed, knowing that even though I was successful, I still had a long way to go. One good news came from this work: my mana control skill was finally achieved at level 10. Now, with three skills ready to evolve, I should evolve them with the tokens received from the tower. I will get to those later. Now, I want to focus on completing my quest and helping Uxa. Like that, the rest of the day continues. I primarily focus on enchanting armor pieces to get used to the sigil and learn how to make a better product from my mistakes. It takes several pieces to get a quality higher than ''Inferior,'' and by several, I mean 19 more pieces of armor. The next step in quality is ''Poor.'' - Enchantment: Successful Quality: Poor (-40% Stats) Experience granted: 10 - - Tier 0 Armor: +5 Physical Defense - Looking at the stats provided by the piece, I can''t help but think of some things brought out in the auction. If we consider the amount of defense I can enchant onto an item, wouldn''t this armor have a physical defense of +7? Compared to the half-plate we won at the auction, it provided a +8 in physical defense and a +4 for magical defense. This puts this item almost on par with those. Does that mean the pieces I paid thousands of gold for are inferior products? Scratching my head in frustration, I can only critique myself for my lack of knowledge of enchanting before going into the auction. I knew what boons I could provide, but now, knowing what the effect of a low-quality enchantment can do makes me curious about who enchanted these items. Also, why were they up for sale in the first place? Not wanting to think too far on that issue and wanting to continue creating pieces, I look at my quest to gauge where I am at. - Tasks: Successfully create 12 different items: (2/12) - Seeing I have only completed two of the twelve items, I can guess that it implies that inferior and poor products are represented differently. Looking at the different items in Uxa''s pile, I can see swords, daggers, and other weaponry piled up. There aren''t many of each, but there is enough for me to keep making some progress. Taking a moment, I look at the pile of armor that has dwindled since I began to enchant. Now, only a couple of pieces of metal armor can be enchanted. Grabbing another piece of armor, I keep working on my armor sigil first. Once I run out of them, I will move on to weapons. Practice is the practice in the long run. Several more hours pass, and by the time I need to call it a night, a small pile of weapons and armor splayed around my workspace. It had taken me several attempts to get the engraving right for the weapons sigil, but once I did, the rest of the process proceeded similarly to the armor pieces.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Overall, there are 23 pieces of armor, 20 with an inferior enchantment and 3 with a poor enchantment. For weapons, there is a significant difference in quantity. A total of 78 pieces were brought to me. Of these pieces, I have enchanted only 17, 10 being of inferior quality and the other seven poor. This is a far better rate than the armor enchantments, but considering I had the initial experience from all the armor pieces, it doesn''t surprise me too much. In total, I have received 250 experience from all my crafting today. If I hadn''t been locked into my quest, I would have been able to level up my profession to the next level, but I''m stuck with needing to craft at least eight more different items. At this rate, I think it counts the items as enchanted with a different or higher-quality sigil. Sighing in defeat that I won''t be able to complete my quest today, I head back home and get ready for another day of enchanting tomorrow. Again, my morning routine continues the same as before. Once we get close to the afternoon, one thing changes. There aren''t many buildings being built currently; for the last couple of days, it has been quiet. Considering that I want to get the settlement to tier up as quickly as possible, I am considering bringing in more people. Thinking about bringing that up in the next five-day weekly meeting makes me think of other issues plaguing the settlement. Getting volunteers to work the gardens and docks, my only hope for something like that would be the newcomers. It would bring them up to speed on preparing to fight and allow the settlement to gather food. Not thinking about that anymore, I ask Laxreal if there is anything that I need to know, and he shakes his head. "As of right now, there isn''t anyone that would need your help. Is there anything that you need?" He replies. "After yesterday, I am finding a need to get different items to enchant. The quest description made me think I only needed to enchant 12 items, but it said I needed to enchant 12 items with different sigils. I have four of my twelve done, and that is through another slightly different option of causing the enchantment quality to increase. It considers an increase in the quality of a new item as well. What I need is at least four other types of items. They can be bags, furniture, accessories, or tools. With my base, I should be able to complete all of them. I would say some other items, but from what I can tell, I will need to go and individually enchant different buildings." Nodding his head toward me, he heads out the meeting room doors. Not wanting to say here any longer myself, I head to the enchanter''s hut. I can only think for one more day, and it should be done. Moving quickly, I find myself quickly delving into my work. It doesn''t take long before I receive the items from Laxreal, and when I do, I immediately start working on them. There haven''t been that many pieces of jewelry, so I have to be extra cautious when engraving them, but like I was thinking, it doesn''t take long to finish the quest. While the quest is finished, I haven''t accepted the reward for it quite yet. Instead, I look at what I did in the last crafting stint. Twenty inferior products from all the different categories; the most inferior quality items were for the tools sigil. Another 20 were spaced between the four categories that I told Laxreal. I was more surprised that I didn''t have many inferior accessory items. This is an excellent boon for the settlement as this will give more people options; also, with my enchanting ability to be of poor quality regularly, I was thinking of going and helping Uxa with his quest. Taking a moment, I head to the smithy, and once I arrive, I am welcomed by the immense heat of the forges. Uxa is standing next to one with a piece of metal in a set of tongs, heating it slowly. Wanting to help him, I walk over and am about to call out when he whirls around with the hot metal and makes his way to an anvil. As he pounds on the piece, he looks up, gives me a brief smile, finishes what he was hammering on it, and then puts it back into the forge. "How can I help you, Drake?" He asks. "I have a high success rate in completing my enchanting sigils. Do you want to work on a project together?" "Of course I do, but do you know what you must do to help me with my project?" "I just have to enchant the piece you worked on after it is done, right?" "Wrong," he looks at me, "If you were to work on the completed piece, there is a high likelihood that it won''t increase in grade, but if you can enchant it while in the middle of forging, then we have a chance to increase its item tier." "How do you know that?" "Easy, it is in the guidebook I received for being a novice blacksmith." Thinking about it, I didn''t read much of my guidebook, or at least I didn''t retain much of the information. I am sure the tips others gave me came from that booklet. Smacking my head, Uxa comments, "You forgot about your guidebook, didn''t you?" "I wouldn''t say I forgot. I just didn''t remember some initial lessons that could have made my life easier. Eleanor saved me in a couple of instances from bashing my head against the wall." Casting a flat look my way, he shakes his head. "You forgot, got it." "Because I need to enchant it in the middle of forging, doesn''t that make it dangerous?" "Not as much as you think. I will need you to be here during the whole process to make sure that when I am ready for you to start enchanting, we can get it done as quickly as possible. It might take a couple of attempts to get it right." Considering this information, I can''t help but agree that it will take a couple of attempts to get the timing right. Without delay, I head back to my workspace and grab the tools that I will need. Not more than five minutes pass before I am back in the smithy, ready to help where I can. Seeing that he has the same piece of metal as before, it has started to take the shape of a small dagger. Using a smaller item for this makes sense since we don''t know how much metal we will use in this process. Slowly, I started to get the ore ready for its mixture. It takes me only a few minutes to get the mix to an acceptable consistency. By the time I finish that, Uxa looks at me, and the piece is almost done. "Are you ready?¡± Chapter 110 Quenching and Evolution Walking up from where I was resting, I looked at the blade before me. From what I can tell, the metal has cooled just enough that it doesn''t have a red glow. This doesn''t make me feel any better about enchanting the workpiece being actively crafted, but some concerns need to be set to the side. It is my time to help out my friend. As I get closer to the blade, the heat from the forge makes me sweat. Once I''m in front of the piece, it is entirely different than back in the enchanting hut. There are sounds all around me; people are calling out, and the smell of molten metal fills my lungs. Doing my best to focus on my task, I quickly pulled out the sigil and traced the pattern like I had been practicing. I often lose focus because of the environment, but I quickly buckle down and focus harder on the task. The tracing is done slowly, within a few minutes, so as not to make a mistake. I can see Uxa holding the metal, shaking lightly from anticipation, or it might be because his arms are tired. Either way, I continue my work, grab the engraver, and start on that next. Again, the process takes a couple of minutes. Once that is through, I grab my pre-made mixture and pour it on like I had been practicing. Immediately, a sizzling sound comes from the blade as the paste-like mixture starts to rest in the groove I made. Once the mixture is in the groove, I start the mana infusion into the sigil. Quickly completing that, I step back. And not a second too soon. Uxa wrenches the piece from the anvil and places it back in the forge. Looking at him, I am curious about what is left to do. Seeing my curious gaze, Uxa shares, "After that, I need to heat the blade and then quench it in oil to harden it so it can be initially sharpened. Then I will need to heat the blade again to reduce stress in the metal, create the handle, and do one final sharpening of the blade." "There are a lot of steps to go before we know if the blade was successful," I commented. "While that is true, it means there are lots of points of failure, but just as many points to increase the tier of an item." Grasping his point, I can''t help but admire the positive perspective Uxa is showing. "I hope we succeed in this first attempt." "I highly doubt it, but we will see." After another 20 minutes, the semi-finished product is brought out of the quenching barrel. When I went to analyze the blade, I received the following. - Enchantment: Failed - With no other information, I can only sigh at the failure. Turning to Uxa, I shake my head. "Nothing?" He asked. "Nope, why does it show up now instead of when the final product is finished?" "It''s probably because it doesn''t need to be fully completed for the enchantment to take effect. The blade needs its final sharpening, and the handle doesn''t affect it much. It is possible for the final sharpening to cause the enchantment to fail due to grinding parts of the enchantment away, but this wouldn''t be the case in this situation." Understanding what he means, I ask another question, "Is it possible to get several pieces up to the point of creating the handles so I don''t have to sit and wait for the process to complete each time?" "Impatient?" He smirks at me. "Yes, I can start another piece and wait to finish this one. It means more work for me later when I want more completed products." "Thank you," I say. "How long till you need me back here for the next attempt?" I ask as an afterthought. "It shouldn''t be more than an hour before I need your help again." An hour gives me plenty of time to work on other minor things, such as improving my skills. - Would you like to evolve your skill Arcane Shot? Yes/No - Stepping out of the smithy and giving some space to the other buildings just in case something happens that could throw someone off when they are working, I select ''Yes.'' - Would you like to use a Skill Evolution Token or a Skill Fusion Token? Yes/No - Again, I select ''Yes.'' This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. - Which would you like to use: Skill Evolution Token Skill Fusion Token - Sighing for having to go through all of the different notifications, I select ''Skill Evolution Token.'' The moment I chose the ''Skill Evolution Token,'' a surge of power courses came through me. - How would you like your spell ''Arcane Shot'' to evolve? Multi-Arcane Shot Arcane Spear Arcane Push Seeking-Arcane Shot - Seeing the four options, I try to delve deeper and am rewarded with explanations for each evolution. - Multi-Arcane Shot - Fires multiple shots at once, the spell''s range is shortened, and the damage is spread between each shot. Arcane Spear - Increased base damage while maintaining the range of the spell. Arcane Push - Launches a wave of arcane force from your hands to push a nearby target. The target must be in the melee range for the push effect. Tracking-Arcane Shot - Fires a shot that tracks its target, dealing slightly less damage than a typical Arcane Shot. - I consider the options placed in front of me. My style will tend to be at a range, but it would be nice to have something to push those that get too close so that I can prepare myself for melee. Seeing the Tracking-Arcane Shot gives me many ideas, but the damage reduction is probably because it now tracks its targets. Wanting to know how much it tracks its targets is the only issue I have with that spell. If someone can avoid it and can''t make a 180-degree turn, it won''t be as valuable as pushing someone, having a spray of bolts, or even just increased damage for the spell. Immediately ruling out the pushing option leaves me with three other viable options. Between all of them, Seeking-Arcane Shot is the next one I cross off of my list of options. It''s not that it wouldn''t be helpful, but if I could substitute skill for lower damage, I would instead work on making it so my shots hit. There are only two options: I must decide whether I want multiple shots with spread or higher damage. After flipping back and forth between the two, I finally make up my mind, and the moment I select my option, another notification appears. - Congratulations, you have evolved your skill from ''Arcane Shot'' to ''Arcane Spear.'' By using a Skill Evolution Token, this skill has further evolved and has instead become ''Arcane Lance.'' - Shocked that evolving to ''Arcane Spear'' wasn''t the extent of the token, I looked into the skill I just received. - Arcane Lance Tier 2 Level 1: Launches a lance of arcane force at a target. This lance deals 8 - 16 (Neutral Damage) to a target within 60 meters. - Seeing this evolution makes me glad I took the option I did. Curious why it states that this spell is a Tier 2 spell and not just the level, I take another look at my skills and spell list. The one change in the list is now every spell and skill has an associated Tier next to it. Seeing that none of my abilities have a higher tier than Tier 2, courtesy of my new ''Arcane Lance'' spell, it only excites me to start tiering up my abilities. With a gleeful smile, I continue to evolve the other two skills on my list. I combined the two skills since I don''t have another evolution token. While having them separate is excellent, I wonder what would happen if they were fused. - Which skills would you like to fuse? Mana Meditation Mana Control - The one question I had about fusing skills gets answered in this notification. Since no other skills are selectable, I can only choose the two. Upon selecting them, I get the same evolution screen but with mana options instead. - How would you like your skills ''Mana Meditation'' and ''Mana Control'' to evolve? Lesser Mana Manipulation Lesser Mana Condensation Lesser Mana Deconstruction Lesser Mana Augmentation - Seeing something utterly different from what I am used to, I look closer at these various options. - Lesser Mana Manipulation: Allows for faster mana regeneration while allowing for a better grasp of mana internally and externally. Lesser Mana Condensation: Condense mana inside their body to allow for more potent spells. Lesser Mana Deconstruction: Focuses the mind and allows for deconstructing the enemy''s spells. Lesser Mana Augmentation: Helps to augment mana inside of the body. - When I consider these options, I can only think of one that would benefit me in my current situation. With the four options arrayed in front of me, I take a second to consider these options. The manipulation upgrade will potentially allow me to have an easier time with all of my spells and has the potential for creating new spells. Condensation will make my current spells more powerful. It could also increase the power of my enchantments because I can put more mana into them. Deconstruction, as the skill says, will let me destroy an enemy''s spell; while it doesn''t seem practical right now, once I work on the skill, I should be able to unravel spells thrown at myself or others. The only one of the four that eludes my understanding is augmentation. Would this allow me to have more heavily augmented mana? Or is it a skill that would allow someone to fully augment their mana to one type, causing it to be more potent? I do not want to take the risk since I have four different affinities that I would need to augment my mana with, so I choose to drop that as an option for now. Next, I don''t think having the ability to destroy incoming spells will be helpful for me in my current predicament. The amount of time I would need to practice it doesn''t seem to be coming, and I could use something more potent or control-focused. Weighing the pros and cons of which skill I should take takes longer than anticipated. Of the two options, mana manipulation is on my list. The increased mana regeneration and mana control internally and externally would be a great boon for me. My mana pool is relatively high for someone of my level and any increase could increase my staying power, which could lead to fewer deaths on our side. Making my choice, I select ''Lesser Mana Manipulation.'' - Congratulations! Your skills, ''Mana Control'' and ''Mana Circulation,'' have been fused together to create the skill ''Lesser Mana Manipulation.'' Lesser Mana Manipulation Tier 2 Level 1: Regenerates mana at a rate of 20 per hour while in meditation. Increases control of mana internally and externally by a slight amount. - Chapter 111 Apprentice Enchanter Taking a moment to let the feelings of power run through my body, I stay seated. It doesn''t take long before I am antsy to try out my new manipulation skill. Slowly, at first, I started to cycle my mana; from what I remember, it felt a lot smoother to pull the mana and run it through my body. There doesn''t appear to be any stuttering, and it follows my guidance till it is at the tip of my finger. Once it gets there, I start to make signs in the air with it. I am more easily able to hold the mana in place. To make a comparison, it feels about 75% less strenuous. I don''t think I could have another pattern yet, but it is a significant improvement. When I open my eyes, I can see people moving in the distance, and there is an open space of about five meters around me. I am curious about why, but I also know that something happened. I look more closely, and Laxreal walks up to me as I look. "And what, might I ask, was that?" He inquires. "I was just evolving a couple of my skills." "Evolving a couple of your skills doesn''t cause a mana fluctuation like you created. What happened?" He asks again. Sticking to my story, I tell him about the upgraded skill and spell. A small amount of shock enters his voice, "What do you mean you used a token? We didn''t have any tokens that would have provided that capability." Seeing where his confusion is coming from, I explain more about when my family went out on our adventure and some of the rewards we received. From the Skill Evolution Token to the Skill Fusion Tokens I possessed. "Interesting. Do you know when that tower will become available again?" He asks. "I don''t know personally. I was told that there are different ways to access the building, but at this time, we can''t build the building we need." "Alright, but from now on, can you at least let someone know what you will do? It was a bit of a shock to some people as they haven''t experienced what we have, which put them on edge." "That is a fair request to make. I still have two more fusion tokens that we can use. I also have some skill books and level-up tokens that I can use at some point." "Good. I think it is prudent that we increase your strength as much as possible in the short term. From what I can tell, we are at the point where we could easily upgrade the settlement to a tier. So, don''t dawdle, and let''s get going." He quickly turns around and starts to walk toward the manor. "Wait," I call after him. "What now, Drake?" He asks. There is a bit of irritation in his voice. "Aren''t you forgetting why I am in front of the smithy?" "You have your enchanting skill to the point that you could help with enchanting weapons to potentially increase their tier?" He asks. "Well, not quite," I answer while scratching the back of my head. "We have only had one attempt so far, and it was a failure. I was going to help with another attempt, but I have been waiting for him to get to the point where I can start the process again. So, while I was waiting, I came out here to evolve my skill and spell." "So you haven''t gotten your apprentice enchanting profession yet?" "Well," again, I am embarrassed because I could get my profession to upgrade at any point but have chosen not to yet. "The quest is complete. I just haven''t collected the rewards yet." "And why not?" He probes. "Because I wanted to help Uxa first before I upgraded it." "Drake," he takes care to say, "Don''t you think that you will be able to help him more if you were able to upgrade your profession to its highest ability? Maybe something will come with that, but we won''t know unless you upgrade it." Seeing his point, I look at my quest again. - Practice Makes Perfect You have leveled up your enchanting through the theory of creating the different sigils. To progress in your enchanting, it is time for you to practice. Preparing items, engraving the sigils on those items, and then fusing the corresponding materials to create your finished product. Tasks: Successfully create 12 different items: (12/12) Reward: Title of Apprentice Enchanter. Continue leveling your profession - Choosing to complete the quest, I immediately receive rewards, and my enchanting level increases by two levels. With the rise in my profession and the levels, there is a small feed of knowledge on how I should be engraving and how to make the engraving tool flow properly.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Curious, I continue to let the information flow through my mind. There are several areas that I learned I could improve on during the enchanting process. Some of the tricks I have already learned, but from the different ways to enchant items, I can see there was a long way for me to go before I mastered the knowledge provided to me. Sighing, I look at Laxreal and give him a sad smile. "Thank you for pushing me to complete my quest. With the quest''s completion, I learned more about how to lay enchantments properly and how to mix the materials so that they absorb into the enchantment better. I also learned that I wasn''t doing everything I could to prepare the enchantment materials properly. I could have been pouring mana into the material. That way, they will flow into the sigil when filling it." "Good. What are the odds of you completing the enchantment this time with a piece that Uxa gives you?" He asks me. "I would say that I have at least a 30-40% increase in the odds of completing the enchantment from the knowledge I received but also because of my skill fusion." "Good," he says while his eyes flicker with amusement, "Because it looks like you are needed." Pointing over my shoulder, I turn to see Ramona quickly trying to beckon me into the smithy. Rushing over, I can see Uxa is almost to the point where I can start enchanting the piece. Not wanting to fail this time, I immediately got to work on the mixture that would be poured into the sigil. It doesn''t take long before Uxa is ready for the second attempt to enchant the piece. I can quickly get everything to the same point as before, but every step of the way felt more fluid. The engraving started to flow more easily, the mixture was poured into the sigil more readily, and the injection of mana was completed in less than 10 minutes. Not wanting to waste more time, Uxa finishes the heat before quenching the blade again. I get a notification when he pulls the knife out of the oil. - Enchantment: Successful Quality: Below Average (-20%) Experience Gained: 5 - Nodding to Uxa, he looks at the piece and smiles. "Good, let''s see if I can improve its quality further. Thank you, Drake." Leaving the smithy, I approached Laxreal. "Alright, the enchantment was successful. Now we will have to wait to see if he can increase the quality of the final product." "Great, shall we," he gestures toward the manor, and I lead the way. "What are your thoughts on increasing my level before we tier the settlement?" I asked him. "What level are you at currently?" He asks. Looking at my status sheet, I was glad it was intuitive enough to show me a consolidated version. - Status: Name: Drake Taldrit Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Bloodline: LIFE NURTURING, DEATH CORRUPTING DRAGON Awakened: 0.01% Class: Mage Class Level: 7 Experience 280/700 Affinity: Life, Nature, Death, Corruption Special Class: Noble Level: 5 Oaths of Fealty: 62/75 Profession: Enchanter Profession Level: 12 Experience 47/375 - "Seven," I answer. "You are a couple of levels away from your next tier in class. Let''s put a group together specifically for you to level up. There aren''t always options for you to leave, but with how things are now. I would say we have things much more in hand than before. Why don''t we think about forming a more permanent party for you? So far, you have been just gathering people together at random." "I wouldn''t say at random." I countered. "Drake, the parties you have been involved in have involved either those you have initially summoned or your family. I didn''t count when we had the large group go out. Otherwise, you haven''t been to a party that is just there specifically for you." Thinking back on everything I have done since then, I would have to agree with him. There hasn''t been a specific party that I was involved with. Agreeing with him, I asked, "And who should we look to form my party? As it stands right now, I am a powerful spell caster, but with the lack of mana regenerative items, I become useless at parties once I run out of mana." "That is why you must also get a quiver and a bow. Not all battles need you to cast spells. And if you can deal damage without the need for spells, it would save time and potentially increase the amount of experience gathered in one trip. Right?" "True, and I have been working on my archery with Sylvasti." "Then I would say we send out a message that you are forming an official party, and those interested in joining should come to the manor." "That sounds wonderful. Should we schedule it for sometime tomorrow? That gives people plenty of time to hear about it and come forward?" "Yes, we will schedule something for tomorrow; until then, we should have a semblance of an idea of who should be included in your party." After that, we entered the manor and talked for several hours about what I wanted and needed in party members. Chapter 112 Choosing A Party Not long after we finished talking, Laxreal left the manor and started informing everyone to rally some interest. Considering there wasn''t much time left for the day, I stayed home and focused on my new skill, Lesser Mana Manipulation. The feeling of being able to manipulate my mana so quickly through my body was intoxicating, but being able to pull and manipulate the mana of the world even just a little bit more was also interesting. I would have thought that with the skill tiering up, I would have more refined control over the mana, but that doesn''t seem to be the case. The only way I can think of to increase the fine of control over mana is to start by tracing the sigils and progressively getting smaller. Taking out my sigil for weapon enchanting, I trace the pattern in the air. Once I had done that, I released the pattern after holding it for a minute before trying again. Over and over, I continue with this until I can''t control the sigils anymore and force myself to take a break. There''s a tapping on the doorframe, and my sister enters the room. "Are you Working on your enchanting?" she asks tentatively. "Yeah, but I am also working on my mana control. I don''t feel much of a challenge from holding the sigil together no matter how small I create it." "What is the purpose of you trying this, and what is the end goal?" She asked. "The primary purpose is to have finer control over mana, and I don''t know the end goal right now. I think that it would be to form sigils out of thin air without me needing to trace over something. From what I can tell, I don''t know if I am failing at what I want to do or if there is a better method to practice my mana control.¡± "I wish I could help you, but sadly, I don''t have access to mana," she tries to comfort me. Not used to her looking so feminine, I can only sigh and let the mana I held onto dissipate. "I was curious if there was a way to activate someone''s mana systems. It would be great for everyone in the settlement." I acknowledge this fact. "Have you tried working with Laxreal on it?" "No, I haven''t yet. He just left not long ago to start informing everyone that I am looking to create a party and looking for those that are interested." "When do we have to meet? Because I would like to be a part of your party. You are looking to do an interview process for those interested?" Nodding, I don''t deny that there is an interview process while telling her it is tomorrow. "Good, that gives me some time to talk with Mom and Dad, hopefully before Laxreal gets to them." Confused why she would want to talk with Mom and Dad, it takes only a second before it hits me. "If they know that I am going out and adventuring, they would be concerned, but if you were to go with me in the group, it could go one of two ways: either they will be less concerned, or they will be more. I don''t know if that is a good idea right now." "Of course, it is a good idea; who wouldn''t want their sister to come with them and have a helping hand with some more mundane healing so you don''t have to use your mana." She brought up a good point, and there is nothing I can do to deny it. "Then wait for tomorrow. We will have the interviews then, and then you can tell everyone why it would be a good idea for you to join the party." "Good." She says while there is a pep in her step. Looking at the time, I see it is just after 9 p.m. With everything that has happened today, I feel exhausted and ready to get some sleep. Waking up to the sound of the alarm I had set, I roll out of bed and start with my typical morning routine. Several more people are at the different training grounds than I am used to. Thinking nothing of it, I finish my instruction from all three buildings. Laxreal follows right behind me. "Hopefully, some more veteran settlers want to join your party." "That would be great. It would lead to more experience without going through the lower levels. Maybe we can find the person who has been leading the levels. Do we have any clue as to who it is?" I asked. "No, we haven''t figured it out, but it''s not like we can go and ask everyone about their levels. We did want them to have some form of autonomy. Their oath to you wasn''t the most strict regarding what they had to do."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. "True, but I didn''t want to forcefully put someone in the position that they had to obey orders from a tyrant." "Truly admirable considering the circumstances we were placed in. I am more shocked people haven''t been coming to you to alleviate them of their oaths." "Honestly, I think they might have forgotten. Or at least I hope they have. I don''t know. It would suck to de-level in my noble class if they were to rescind their oaths." There is a small gathering of people in front of the manor. Taking a brief look, I can see my mother and father at the front of the house, watching as the different groups of people split into various groups based on the worlds they were summoned from. Seeing the situation, I can only sigh. These people will eventually have to leave their comfort zones and intermingle. I can see some people crossing those boundaries, but there could be more. Not wanting to delay things further, I get to the front of the manor and proceed to enter, with Laxreal still following behind. Feeling like this will be a long day, I can only sigh while waiting for it to start. "Shall we get the ball rolling, Laxreal?" I asked him. I hear his finger tapping on his chin. "We are still waiting for a couple of people to get here. I decided that the commanders should be involved since they have a vested interest in the party." "How much of an interest could they possibly have?" "More than you think. You have to consider you are the lord of the settlement. We don''t know what will happen if you perish, and currently, the best bet for us to advance is to make sure you have the best team available." Not two seconds after he finishes that sentence, Draemish, Shadow, and Vranjaya enter the room. Standing to greet them, I gesture to the seats beside me. For this particular meeting, I made it feel like a typical interview process, with one long side of the table used for the five of us and the other for those being interviewed. Initially, I didn''t think it was worth interviewing people, but who am I to stop those from ensuring it is the appropriate team? Once everyone has gathered and is as comfortable as possible, Laxreal heads out of the room and brings the first person in, and to no one''s shock, it is Xelyphe. Smiling at all of us, I can only sigh as I get ready to hear what they have to ask her during the interview since I don''t have many requirements. With a slight flicker of amusement in his eyes, Laxreal starts the process off. "Hello, Xelyphe. We want to ask you some things to determine if you are an appropriate fit for the party we are making for Drake. First, what is your initial class, its level, and what profession are you working in?" Sighing at the question, I can only think that we are trying not to show any favoritism to anyone who is going through the interview process. I can almost answer the first question asked by Laxreal without him having to ask. In a good-natured response, she answers, "I am a warrior at level 6, and my profession is a healer who has reached level 7. There haven''t been many opportunities to use mundane healing since Drake has taken every possibility to heal since his return." Nodding along, everyone looks at her before Shadow asks the next question, though a bit awkward initially, "What are some of the skills you have that might be able to keep yourself and your party members alive?" Turning my gaze to him, I can see the hesitation in his question, thinking that it must be because he hasn''t ever had to interview someone like this before. I look at the other commanders and see the same thing from Vranjaya while Draemish is calm. "With my healing skills, it could be helpful in the manner of keeping Drake from having to use healing spells after a fight has finished, and with my abilities as a warrior, I would say that I have been working hard in the training ground to improve my swordplay while also improving my ability to defend overall." "What would your priority be in combat with a large group of enemies?" Draemish asks. "I would focus on keeping Drake safe as with any large group. Having a healer can increase the staying power of any group. I would also focus on getting us to a more advantageous location to either weather out the group or to find a location to hide in case there is the opportunity to avoid being in a long protracted battle." "How would you handle rest periods for the group?" Vranjaya asked. "It would depend on the type of rest required. We would continue if we could clear out the enemies quickly and efficiently with minimal energy usage. If it were a taxing battle or scenario, we would take a longer break if available." There was a small break in the flow of questions and responses, and finally, I asked my question: "Why do you want to be a part of this party?" "That''s a silly question. As part of your family, I want to ensure that you are protected, and if it is by someone you know, you are more likely to trust them to hold a position that I am willing to take. Also, one thing to consider is that I have a better general idea of what you can do. This doesn''t matter fully, but it does help get the group to a more cohesive unit." After hearing her responses, I can only nod; she would make a good party member, and maybe I wouldn''t have to worry too much about the others with her around. Before I can make any decisions, Laxreal announces, "Thank you, Xelyphe. We will let you know what we think after interviewing everyone." Seeing her nod, she leaves the room with him, and another person takes her place. This continues for about another hour before we have finished with everyone. I knew a couple of other people who were participating in the interview process: Strauvana, Gibnic Mikmack, Oria the Earth Elemental, and Muiress. Other than those four, the rest were from the people summoned during the settlement''s defense. Chapter 113 Final Selection As the last person leaves the room, escorted by Laxreal, we all discuss in depth who should be part of the party. "There weren''t that many mages that were here for this. The only two I saw come in were Gibnic and Oria," Shadow states off-handedly. "It makes sense that there wouldn''t be that many since they know Drake can be a damage dealer and a healer. They wouldn''t think that they would be necessary." Draemish responds. "That doesssn''t make it any lesss of a potential for them to be a part of the party." "Before delving too far into the nitty-gritty of who we should offer a place, why don''t we ask Drake what sort of party make-up he wants," Laxreal says as he walks back into the room. "Thank you, Laxreal. From what we have seen today, I can get a general gauge as to who we will be working with. My ideal party setup would be at least one front liner, another melee fighter, a physical ranged fighter, and a magician." There are nods of agreement from Laxreal and Draemish but confusion from Vranjaya and Shadow. "Why that setup?" He asks. "With the option for a ranged physical party member, we would have an option for those fights that ranged magic isn''t a final option. Having another mage never hurts; depending on how they advance in their spells, it would make what they develop fascinating. Having one melee fighter outside the front liner gives backup in case something happens to them and they must take the fallout. This can be a pro and a con since the front liner might become incapacitated, and then the melee fighter will have to deal with the damage from what they are attacking." "What you are describing is a very similar setup we did back in our world," Draemish gestures to Laxreal and herself. "If you proceed down that route, it will give you flexibility in many situations." "Hearing the well-thought-out answer, Shadow nods in understanding, "Should we be doing something like this for all the parties that leave the settlement then?" "I don''t think that is necessary. Those people leaving the settlement understand the risks of joining a smaller group. The reason we are building a particular party for Drake is because, at this point, he is the only magical healer in the entire settlement. I don''t believe we have the people with the skill necessary to enforce something like that." Laxreal says. "SSSo, ssshall we ssstart to talk about who ssshould be a part of Drake''sss party?" Everyone else nods, and we start discussing, "I think we should discuss the mage position since only two people came. Gibnic and Oria," Laxreal starts. "It was pretty average what he hoped to do, but I can see why he would be useful. He can deploy several formations during combat and rest periods, thanks to his being a formation master. This gives more credence since he has leveled up his profession to level 10. The only downside is that his mage class has fallen behind, almost like Drake, though it is not as bad with it being level 6. On the other hand, I don''t think that Oria was expecting to be picked. From a general understanding, it appears that he was coming to give Drake some backing. So, let''s remove him as an option." There is a round of agreement from everyone in the room before we discuss further about Gibnic. "With hisss professsion, it could alssso work well with Drake''sss abilitiesss. Also, Gibnic seemsss to be working on hisss mage classs abilitiesss and not the levelsss. There have been timesss that I have ssseen him at the mage tower casssting hisss ssspellsss, and they ssseem to be quite advanccced." "He has been doing a great job. I can see how he was a successful mage back home." Laxreal agrees. "My thoughts exactly. Shall we consider the magical ranged spot filled?" I ask. With a round of agreement about Gibnic joining the party, we move on to the next position. "Next, I think we should focus on the melee positions." "Should we consider trying to keep the different worlds having at least one representative in the party as well since we don''t want to appear to be biased towards one or another?" Shadow asks. "That was the plan," I answer quickly. "There will be a slight imbalance with you and one other party member being from the same world, but I think I have a way to get around that since there were only a couple of people that came from your world, to begin with," Draemish says.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "And what is your thought?" I asked. "Easy, just let your sister be your frontline. While that means you two have taken the healing and front-line position, there is a familial bond that they know you won''t leave your sister behind. With that, there is security in that knowledge," she answers. "That isss fair in my booksss," Vranjaya agrees. "Same with me," Shadow nods. "Ok, who would be best for a melee position?" I ask. Of the available options are four warriors and two melee-focused hunters. One of the hunters is Strauvana, and the other is a newly summoned individual from Usa''Nov, the same world Gibnic is from. So we can eliminate that one hunter, while the four warriors are a mix from Thelatera, Laxreal, and Draemish''s world, and Troberia, Uxa''s world. "I think we should focus on someone more focused on agility than strength for this position," Draemish says. "While that isss one option, why don''t we talk about the warriorsss firssst. There were four of them." Vranjaya interjects. Looking at Draemish, I see a flicker of discontent. That is when I started to think a bit more about why Draemish would want Strauvana to be a more permanent part of my party. It doesn''t take long to remember that both surnames are the same: Void. Trying to figure out why she would want someone from her family involved in the party is almost the same as having my sister be the frontline fighter. It also does help to know that Strauvana was trained to be a tracker and scout. "There is one question that I have for you, Draemish. What exactly was Strauvana trained in?" "Well, as part of my family, she was trained in multiple fields of scouting and tracking. However, there are some things that you should know. She is also trained to be more...underhanded if the need arises," she answers in an ambiguous tone. "Alright, before we choose her as the candidate, let''s discuss some others," Shadow interjects before a fight starts between Vranjaya and Draemish since I can see Vranjaya beginning to rear up. "Thanksss, Ssshadow. From the warriorsss, I would like to remove thosssse lower than level 5." "That isn''t a bad idea," Shadow states flatly. Trying to remember all those lower than level 5, it takes only a second before I can think of the two individuals who meet those requirements, both of whom are from Troberia. I''m sighing since it removed the people from Thelatera, but I don''t let that get to me since I know there are more who were interviewed, and they were mostly hunters. "Of the two, which one appealed the most to everyone?" Laxreal asks. We all take a second to think over the two interviewed people. One was a Tengu, like Uxa, while the other was a Naga. Of the two, I felt that the Naga was a better option. Those thoughts are because I know the Tengu had a hard time on the land, while from what I know, the Naga were having a bit of an easier time since they were more focused on the shorelines instead of inland. This led the Naga interviewee to have a higher baseline in combat knowledge with just a little less experience when it comes to combat experience. At the same time, it was reversed for the Tengu. I started the next part of the conversation without wanting to second-guess myself. "With the two candidates, I think the gentleman Azzar is better in combat theory. While Bokei has combat experience, he is more of a desperate measure fighter due to his experience with the corruption in his land." "That isss an assstute obssservation, and I would have to agree with you on your judgment. However, I wouldn''t dissscount the Tengu of my world. They have quite the experienccce with fighting in inopportune ssscenariosss." "Both are good options if we are looking for someone with a strength style since the Naga have greater strength than most of the undead, and the Tengu have the advantage of flight. But even after thinking about both options, I still think that having Strauvana as the melee candidate is the best option." Draemish says smugly. I do not want to start an argument between the two women, so I think it over again. Then it hits me: we can pick from another couple of people for the ranged position. I think this would work better for Vranjaya than trying to get a melee fighter. "Why don''t we do this then, I know Strauvana since she has been with us longer than the other two. What I would like to have for our ranged option is Muiress. That would give us a solid group of people, and they are all people I know as well, other than Gibnic, but for the most part, this is a solid group." I give a compromise for the situation that we are in. When Vranjaya hears that Muiress is the person I would like to have in the group, she doesn''t put up much more of an opposition. Shadow is The only person who isn''t fully happy that they don''t have anyone related or have some connection other than because they are from the same world. Vranjaya quickly jumped on the idea, "I agree with what you have sssaid, Drake. Pleassse take Muiress as part of your team!" She is practically bouncing with the knowledge that she might be able to see him more when we have party meetings. Nodding along with the thought, Draemish add, "That is probably for the best; it gives us a great scout, but also someone that has the enchanting profession with you, so you can talk about it more often and probably progress further in your enchanting." With an overall promising situation, we all agree with the options that we have picked. Once the selection has been finalized, a notification appears. - Lord''s Party: Front liner: Xelyphe Melee Damage: Strauvana Ranged Physical Damage: Muiress Ranged Magical Damage: Gibnic Healer/Support: Drake - Interesting, I think to myself. This will hopefully be fun. Chapter 114 Starting Tactic With the party figured out, we didn''t sit idly by; within a couple of minutes, we had called those we had chosen to form my party inside for a group meeting to ensure we knew what was expected of each other. Thankfully, we have all seen each other around the settlement. It would have been a pain if no one knew each other or knew of each other. From there, we started discussing some basic strategies that I remember from gaming. With the group I had requested, I think the best option for our excursions is for Strauvana to scout if possible and then hopefully open with Xelyphe charging into a group of people to get their attention right after I cast a shield on her. Gibnic would be in charge of casting his spells into the melee while doing his best to avoid hitting any party members, and Muiress would be doing the same. He will also help with scouting since he has some abilities in that field. It didn''t take long for us to agree that we should train in a field to align our coordination with our goals before we head out. The talk was good, but having experience with this group could have prevented potential slip-ups later. "Let''s head to the Infantry Training Yard and work on our coordination," I suggest to the group. There is a spattering of agreement, with only Gibnic proposing otherwise. "I think we will be fine; I remember what everyone is capable of during the defense of the settlement. We should be good with going out and dealing with minor threats with no problem." "But why would you want to risk something like that?" Xelyphe asks him. "Think about it; we have an overpowered healer that could cast spells for far longer than I could; he also knows the basics of archery and swordsmanship. He doesn''t need to cast any spells till he has to. While with the rest of us, we are some of the strongest people in the settlement, if I am not mistaken." Shaking her head, Xelyphe wants to retort, but I shake my head, signaling for her not to tell him as it isn''t our secret to share. "But it would be good to coordinate some of the tactics we have been working on," she continues to try to get him to understand our situation. "I do get that, but unless we can attack without worrying about killing each other, I think it would be best to go ahead and explore; if not through the fog, then around the settlement should be fine since there haven''t been any major sightings of monsters in the immediate area."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Thinking about it, I consider what he has said, "That isn''t a bad idea; I have one request, though, before we proceed with your recommendation." "What is that?" "I want to have Draemish with us; she was a high-ranking military officer in her home world and probably has some advice for us as we start to work together." "That wouldn''t be a bad thing considering that she was one of the people that was interviewing us." Once again, everyone else nodded in agreement with the plan. "Alright, let me go and find Draemish. She shouldn''t have gone far." Heading out, I go to find Draemish, and when I finally see her, she isn''t far from one of the tombs. There are several undead soldiers in front of it, and when I approach, they give me a warrior salute, banging their fists over their chests. With the loud clang that results from this, Draemish turns around and looks at me. "How can I help you, Drake?" "We have an idea for something to help build teamwork; we want to go out and kill things around the settlement. We would like you to come with us so you can give your insights on building the team better." "Why me, though?" "You have the military experience to help give us practical knowledge of what we are doing wrong and the like." "That is fair, but I want you to know I will only do this for you once. After this, I need to work on something on my own." "Wonderful. Let me get everyone, and we can meet you at the gate." "Yes," she answers. It doesn''t take long for us to arrive at the gate as a group. On the way there, I ensure everyone is in the same party. Once we get to the gate, Draemish walks behind us as we do some basic exploration. With Strauvana and Muiress out front to watch for threats, we head towards the hills, which house the goblins we cleared out the other day. Once we had arrived, we continued to explore this area; nothing popped out that was an issue for the group to handle. With a skeleton here and a zombie there, we cleared them out and proceeded, with everyone ready to try something more challenging. "Drake, I think you guys will be OK exploring the fog. Head back to the settlement first and grab some food before you head out. I don''t want you guys getting hungry out in the field." Draemish states, "I think you guys will be fine, though. Strauvana knows some more tactics if that is needed. Otherwise, I think just more experience together would be best." Nodding along, I decided that we should explore the fog. Informing the group, we headed back to the settlement, got supplies, and then proceeded to enter the fog. Chapter 115 Reinforcements The moment the fog pulled us away, there was a drastic shift in the environment, from what I expected of being in a wide-open area to somewhere monsters were ready to lunge at us. Instead, we found ourselves in what appears to be a manor like mine, in front of me in a weary cat-woman. From her garments, I can tell she has been through the wringer and needs a helping hand. That is when I hear her speak. "Thank all the Gods. I didn''t know how long we could have waited for your arrival." Koto says with great relief. There is blood running down her side, and behind her is an assortment of people. From what I can tell, they don''t seem very strong, and when I look past them, they have been holding the door behind them from bursting in. The windows to the first floor have been barred as best they can, and everyone seems just as ragged as Koto. Without having to say anything, Strauvana and Muiress head to the nearest staircase to see what is happening outside. "What is happening?" I ask Koto in a stern voice. "I thought I would have been brought over sooner or something like PUN pulling me from the settlement without my knowledge." "It can''t do that. And we didn''t need your help until I chose to summon you. But by then, we were already holed up in the manor. It was my foolishness and arrogance that led us into this position. I hope you are ready to fight because I don''t know how long we can hold on." "We are, but what are we facing Koto?" I ask a bit more sternly than necessary. "Honestly, it should just be a large group of monsters that are of a level most of the people here aren''t able to handle. I am surprised we have even been able to hold the doors from bursting this long." Looking at her in this state, I don''t see the same arrogant woman who entered my box at the auction house. "What happened to all of your fighters? You surely have several that should be able to hold off these monsters." "They have already perished. The one downside to my race is that we aren''t made for head-on fighting. We are better at ranged combat, so when we were practically ambushed from behind, we didn''t have much hope to hold back the monsters." Getting a general idea of the situation, I can''t help but feel like we have been thrown into a death trap. "What are your hopes then?" She wants to know what her hopes are for the situation. "Honestly, I just hope those still here can live. I don''t want this responsibility if we can fight back and survive. It''s too much for me." With that, I can tell she is on the verge of breaking down. "And how are you going to absolve yourself of that responsibility? From what I can see, you were sent as the leader of these people for a reason." I say this while looking past her at the people who look over their shoulders occasionally at her in hopes that she can work on a deal for our help. Hope still lingers in their eyes. Tears start to gather in the corners of her eyes, and she scoffs, "Pure nepotism. My father is the head of a noble house, and he sent all of his offspring off to settle planets that have been incorporated into PUN but don''t have high populations. These planets have a high potential for valuable resources. However, as a starting settlement like your own, we aren''t able to ship high-tier items into the settlements. PUN prohibits that, so we have to start from scratch. The only bonus is that we can choose where our initial settlement starts." Tears trickle down the sides of her face by the end of her little rant. Firming my gaze on her, I step in front of her and firmly press my finger into her shoulder. "So, what are you going to do about this?" I ask. Tears still flowing, she responds, "I don''t know; I know that if I am to die, then there isn''t much my father will do; he will just write off the loss along with the rest of my siblings who aren''t able to stand up to his high expectations." "Answer the question. What. Do. You. Want. To. Do. About. This?" Instead of poking her, I grab her shoulders and force her to look at those behind her with hope in their eyes.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Feeling my hands on her shoulders and my firm diction of the question, she can''t help but shudder. Now, faced with those who are left of her settlement, she faces a harsh reality. "Where do your people come from?" I asked, "What are they here for? Who are they looking towards for guidance and leadership?" My rapid-fire questions forced her shuddering to get more exaggerated. "What do you want me to do to help? What can I do to help?" The frustration in my voice came through, and it was at that moment that I heard footsteps coming from the stairs. "Drake, you need to look at this," Muiress announces. Nodding to him, I return my focus to Koto: "I am going to look outside and see what I can do other than get myself and my people killed. I need you to figure out what you will do with your people and what you want us to do to help." Stepping upstairs, I can hear my sister stepping forward and helping those she can with her healing profession. Gibnic also follows alongside Muiress and I. Once we get to the second floor and out of earshot, I sigh and head to the nearest window. From there, I see several things happening. First, there is a large group of monsters wandering around the settlement. The walls have been completely wrecked, and any houses standing look more like burned husks. I am curious why this one hasn''t been set aflame; I don''t consider it further as in the distance, there is one thing that is a much more significant threat. I can see billowing fog rolling in towards the settlement. "Doesn''t that fog look very similar to what we have surrounding our settlement?" I can''t help but to ask. "It does, and if you look at it, you can see it is slowly killing the land it is about to pass over." Paling a bit, I turn to those around me and ask, "What do you think the call is?" "There isn''t much we can do, Drake," Strauvana says, "The only thing we could do is try and get these people back to our settlement. How we would do that is anyone''s guess." I take another look outside, this time at the monsters swarming in the settlement, and analyze them. - Wolf Level 8 HP: 60/60 - - Wolf (Elite) Level 9 HP: 100/100 - - Ant Worker Level 4 HP: 20/20 - - Ant Soldier Level 6 HP: 50/50 - Ant Soldier (Elite) Level 6 HP: 90/90- Scores of different monsters exist, mostly of these two main groups. The ants and the wolves haven''t mingled much, but from what I can tell, they are adamant about taking out this settlement. One thing bothers me: Why haven''t the ants tried to climb up the walls of this building? Pushing that thought not to the back of my mind but not allowing it to stay in the front, I move my gaze again through the crowd of monsters. "Doesn''t this seem a bit too nice for us?" I asked. "What do you mean?" "Couldn''t we just cast spells from the windows and clear out monsters?" Thinking about what Koto has said, there must be a reason they haven''t tried doing so. Having taken note of the hundreds of monsters all over the settlement, I head back down, hoping to get more information from Koto about what happened. When I ask her the same question, though tears are streaking down her face, she answers. "The entire manor is in a formation created by one of the items my father was able to give me before I came to this planet. The formation works because it prevents all kinds of attacks from dealing with its total damage, but if we cast out of the formation, it would break it, and then we would have to deal with all the damage the monsters are coping with to the manor." "How much longer can the doors hold on under the formation?" "They should be able to hold for another couple of hours, but if we can get someone to reinforce the doors, they could keep for longer." "Is there any other way that we might be able to deal with the monsters outside without having to break the formation?" "There is one way, and that is to force them into the doorway and then slaughter them as they come through, but we don''t have enough people to keep the tide of monsters from just plowing through those that stand in the way." I kept trying to figure out my next steps, trying to think of other options that wouldn''t work for either myself or those who came with me. Struggling to figure anything out, I contemplate some of the alternatives. I have the settlement lord near me. Maybe there is one other option that I haven''t had the opportunity to use, but I don''t know if we can provide a path for those of this settlement toward safety. Looking deep into Koto''s eyes, I ask my next question, "Have you been able to think of anything that could help in this situation?" Chapter 116 Savior? Koto looks at me, almost pleadingly, "There are two ways this could go. One is that you kill all the monsters outside, or..." She doesn''t finish her statement because, from what I could tell, it doesn''t seem to be pleasant. Sighing, I asked her, "Have you decided what you wanted to do about the situation?" "Other than those two options I had thought of, there isn''t anything else I could think of." Pushing my fingers into my head and rubbing my temples, I looked for everyone else in my group. Gibnic was looking over something that he brought. Strauvana wasn''t around, either, as was Muiress, and Xelyphe was around the others from this settlement, healing those who needed it. Wanting to consider the issue further, I paced around the room. Monsters were outside, and there wasn''t any way we could clear out so many in a short time or even ensure that everyone else stayed alive, let alone our little group of five. Continuing to rub my temples, I looked around the room. If only there were a way that we could manage to conquer the settlement without dealing with the fallout of the monsters destroying everything. Not long after that thought, a notification appeared. - A Helping Hand (Update) Due to an offer of assistance, Koto has called upon your aid. After the auction is over, you have the option to assist Koto in tiering up her settlement in the settlement trial. Due to the late call for aid, Koto cannot maintain their settlement. The monsters from the Tier-up Trial have taken over the settlement, and now, as a last-ditch effort, Koto seeks some form of aid or asylum. Your following actions will determine what assistance is provided. Will you aid the last remnants of this settlement and lead them to a more forgiving home, or will you abandon them and lead your party home? Tasks: Assist Koto''s settlement to either seek asylum or aid in escaping their settlement: 0/1 Or Abandon Koto''s settlement to the monsters: 0/1 Rewards: ??? Or 1 X Small Chest of Wealth, 1 X Random Wooden Resource Box Failure: Death of your entire party Or Nothing - With the update to the quest I received during the auction, I looked at it more in-depth before deciding to gather everyone from my party to discuss the options. Gathering everyone upstairs isn''t hard, as they were mostly up there anyway. Sharing my quest screen with them, I kick off the discussion. "I don''t know how to feel about this. My first thought was to leave because there was no way we would be able to help in this situation. Look outside; if this is something that could have happened to our settlement, then I am glad we were able to get that token at the auction." Most people nod, and Xelyphe''s face looks troubled, but I can think of why, being that she was a doctor before being summoned. "Second, the way that we were called upon makes this hard to stomach because it was almost forced upon me, and due to you being in my party, it was thrust upon all of you as well. It is only fitting that I include everyone in this decision. The last thing I was thinking is that I don''t want to see the rest of these people slaughtered. I know it is counterintuitive, but I feel it would be worth our while to help these people." With that, I wait to see what everyone else says about being here. "What was the purpose of us coming out here?" Strauvana asked.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "It was to learn how to work better as a team and increase Drake''s levels." Muiress provides. "That''s right. There is something that makes me curious. Gibnic, have you been able to look at the formations well enough?" she asks. "I have. They are pretty interesting. Of all the formations I have worked with, these are some of the most curious." "Why?" "Oh, it''s because of how they were developed. When the formation master created this specific formation, they could have gone one of two routes. Either the overall damage reduction or they could have protected while allowing a hole to be attacked through or to attack through. It is quite fascinating. It allows for creating a natural choke point or creating a safer haven for those less militant in personality. Now, while the person creating the formation could choose one of the options, from what I could see, there was a hidden third option for this formation. That allowed the person who set up the formation to select the type they wanted." He is about to continue describing the formation''s setup when he is stopped. "What do you mean there were options for the formation? Is it possible to adjust the formation while it is active?" Strauvana asks. "Well, as I said, there were three options, and when they created this specific formation, I could determine that it was indeed the third hidden option that was selected for this particular setup, which is quite fascinating in and of itself." We don''t want him to go off on too much of a tangent, so we press for the answer to the second question. "Oh, okay; as for whether we can adjust the formation set up to the other form available, while I want to say yes, there is a catch. During the time that the formation is being swapped, there is a sort of refresh time. During that time, the entire manor will be vulnerable to attacks. So, for this to proceed smoothly, we must defend it from all the monsters outside. The doors are nice and durable, but they won''t hold for as long as we need the formation to swap and refresh. The same goes for the walls and windows. We will need to clear out portions of the monsters or get them to focus on specific parts so they don''t overwhelm us." He finishes. "So there is our option to help everyone. We create a choke point and force the monsters to come through that point. I know we have done something similar to this in the past, but with just the five of us, we will have a hard time preventing the monsters from coming through the walls. Especially with the ants out there." "I should be able to focus the monsters in one general direction, but I will need to focus a lot on keeping myself safe." Xelyphe offers up. "That wouldn''t be bad as long we can keep the monsters from swarming you. We should ask our ''Hosts'' if they could help us clear the monsters as well." Muiress suggests lacking any enthusiasm for what we are doing. Since everyone seems to be planning to reset the formation, I left our little meeting to talk with Koto. "So we have a couple of options. We can either reset the formation and leave a gap, giving us the option to clear out some of the monsters and maybe even clear them, though with how many there are. We don''t think we can clear them all before retreating." "Is there any other way?" She asks again, tears streaks running down her face. "There is one other option, but it is only for my group. We can leave, but you won''t have any help now. If you had called on your favor earlier, we could have prevented this, but the system deems it appropriate that we aren''t harmed because of someone else''s mistakes. So my settlement won''t be penalized for your mistake." I have very little empathy. "You will stay and at least try to help us, right?" She asks, her tone once again pleadingly. "We have, as a group, decided to help you with your problem for as long as we can; if there is another option, it will have to come as we are working, but for right now, it is either aiding you or, as PUN stated, providing you asylum. I don''t know how we could provide you with asylum, considering we are on a different planet, but that was technically one of our options." Nodding her head like a chicken, she agrees with our plan of resetting the formation. "What do we need to do?" She asks me. "Get your people away from the doors is a good first step; we don''t want them to accidentally be attacked by a monster as they come through them. The other thing is to get them up to the second floor. Until the reset is complete, we can fire out of the upper windows. Hopefully, we can provide some form of chaos in the middle of the packs to prevent them from bursting through the first opportunity they get." Nodding, she directs her people, all 20 left of the initial unknown number. Everyone who is ranged capable upstairs, Xelyphe, Gibnic, and I stay downstairs with Koto. "What do you need to change the formation from its current form?" I asked Gibnic. "Just the formation controller, which I would presume is in the hands of Koto." He answers, and it doesn''t take long for her to pull out a small orb. On the orb is a bunch of symbols that I can''t make heads or tails of. Handing it off to Gibnic, Koto looks at me. "I know I can''t do much, but if we succeed in surviving, I will-" Before she could even finish that statement, I cut her off: "Don''t say anything else. I don''t need you jinxing this whole situation. Take care of your people and direct them as best you can. Hopefully, you will be able to get through this together, but I will not be putting my life or the lives of those in my group on the line to make sure that we clear things. Do you understand?" Nodding her head in as much thanks as possible, she quickly goes to organize her people. With just the three of us down on the main floor, I look at Gibnic: "How long do you think it will take to change and reset the formation?" "If everything goes correctly, we are looking at 12 to 15 minutes before everything is said and done. If things don''t go well, we could be looking at upwards of 40 minutes, " he said after some thought. "What would make the time take longer?" I asked, knowing that the moment we started, we wouldn''t have time to talk while we were in the middle of the fight. "If anything gets near me, it could cause me to make mistakes, or if there are many monsters near the controller. While we can use the control, we can only do so from this first floor from the feel of it, so the best way to make sure we are going to be ok is to make sure that I don''t have to worry about something coming to attack me for a little while, while I set up the formation that we want." "So, the plan is to keep you safe and uninterrupted?" "Correct." "Alright, whenever you are ready, let''s get this show on the road." I declare loud enough that everyone in the building can hear me. Chapter 117 Corpse Wall The moment I tell him to start the process, Gibnic starts. There is a feeling around us like the air has been pulled into the formation controller before there was nothing. We wait near the door, not wanting to overthink what could have been and hoping that Gibnic knows what he is doing. From all over, we can hear claws scuttling on the walls outside the windows, but nothing so far has started to get through the barriers that were hammered into place. Upstairs, I can hear people shouting while shooting their bows. I can also hear Koto''s voice ring out now and then. Most of the time, it calls for Strauvana or Muiress to help with a larger group of ants that enter the window. From what I can hear, there haven''t been any issues yet. I am hoping that they can hold on for longer. It doesn''t take more than a minute before a loud crash as the front door finally can''t hold on anymore. In front of us is a small group of wolves mixed with ants. Xelyphe steps into the doorway momentarily, blocking everything but the smaller ants. While she was standing there, I cast Nature''s Grasp since it was the best area-of-effect spell I had on hand. I also cast a shield of Xelyphe so she can withstand more damage. Seeing that many lesser monsters are being either outright killed or heavily injured by my first spell. I cast one more defensive spell onto Xelyphe. It hasn''t gotten much use other than for some basic fights, but it seems like a good choice for the amount of mana consumed compared to the effect. Casting Barkskin on her gives her some more damage mitigation for two minutes. With the shields I can cast and regular frequency, I should be able to prevent the vast majority of the damage done to her. Wanting to go and check on the upstairs but knowing that now isn''t the right time, I continue to cast my spells as I watch her hack away at the monsters in front of her. - 10 Minutes until Formation Reset - After a couple of minutes, there is a pile of bodies in front of the door. A couple of monsters could get past her, but nothing that I couldn''t handle on my own with my spells. Looking at Gibnic, I can see he is still tinkering with the formation controller. "How long until you can get the formation to start its reset?" I call out. "It is more complex than I thought. It will take a few extra minutes, so keep up the good work." He responds with a bit of glee in his voice. Hearing more voices from upstairs, I can tell that more monsters are coming in through the windows, and some are even appearing on the main floor where we are. They are just smaller ants, so there is nothing to worry about, as my area-of-effect spells block most of the paths to our location. I quickly refresh my Barkskin buff on Xelyphe and look at the growing carnage in the doorway. Due to the bodies, the wolves can''t come at Xelyphe as a pack. Instead, it is either one or two that appear at a time. The side doors are also congested because the lower-level ants are dying due to Nature''s Grasp. - 13 Minutes until Formation Reset - Another minute passes before I hear steps coming from upstairs. I see Koto peering over and down at me from the edge of the staircase. "Drake, we aren''t able to shoot the monsters anymore; we are out of arrows." Her voice is frantic due to this problem "And what do you want me to do about it?" I snap back while gesturing to the three sides of the entry we are holding with just the two of us. I can hear her gulping. "Well, I was hoping you would be able to guide me." Casting another spell to hold off the waves of enemies Xelyphe is facing. I look at her, shocked that she is asking me such a thing with our current predicament. "What could you possibly think I could do as we are right now? I have my hands full. You would be better off asking someone else up there with more fighting experience than I do." My frustration is mounting at how incompetent Koto is turning out to be. As she blushes at the thought that I can''t help her anymore, I hear a call from upstairs. "Everyone, pull back to the hallways. Use the doors as another blockade. Hopefully, that can save us some time." Strauvana''s voice pierces through the din of battle. Hurrying to follow her command, the rest of the settlers quickly evacuated out of their rooms. Thankfully, no one has died from what I can hear, but it will be a close thing with more monsters getting inside the longer this goes on. While that is all good news, there is another crash as another doorway I can''t see is brought down. Turning my head to Koto, I dread the question I must ask.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Is there a doorway on the back of the manor?" Not wanting to answer the question but knowing there is no hiding it, she nods, "Yes, but it is a normal door, unlike the front door, so there shouldn''t be that many monsters coming through that one." Wanting to be more frustrated than I am at the current situation, I can only hope that there is only one path the monsters can take to get into the main lobby that Xelyphe and I are holding onto. Taking another moment to cast another shield on Xelyphe, I quickly go to close one of the side doors. It takes me a moment because the door keeps getting caught in the dead carcasses of ants, and the ants themselves are still coming through the windows. Finally, I could close the door, but not before I cast another Nature''s Grasp inside the room, hoping to alleviate the pressure on the door. As my luck would have it, the moment the door is shut, I hear the yipping of what I can only hope are the monsters coming from the back door. Rushing over to the other door, I once again struggle to get it shut and do the same thing I did with the other side: I cast Nature''s Grasp right before I closed it. This pattern holds out for another five minutes. - 8 Minutes until Formation Reset - I continue to cast Shields and Barkskin on Xelyphe as she holds the line at the front. Over the last few minutes, I have heard a couple of the doors upstairs break apart, and combat has resumed at a more sedate pace. A couple of those who can fight has come down to help where they can with their daggers, but from what I see; they are just standing around Gibnic, hoping that things finish sooner rather than later. It doesn''t take long for Xelyphe to finish off another wolf with my help, and with that wolf, the front door is almost entirely blocked by monster carcasses. I count at least 27 wolves having fallen to my spell and her blade. Taking a much-needed break, Xelyphe steps back and waits for the next round of fighting when the monsters finally can get through their fallen monsters. Taking a break myself, I check over my mana reserves. - MP: 240/380 - I''m glad I have such a high mana pool; I can only thank my lucky stars. They would have already run out of mana if it were any average mage. For my part, I head upstairs and cast a couple of defensive spells for those who are at the front line. It just so happens to be Muiress and Strauvana. There are minor wounds on their legs from the ants, but nothing serious. From what I can tell, they can hold off the ants until we get through the reset timer. No sooner had I thought that I had jinxed myself. There is a louder crash from one of the rooms, and then an ant at least twice as big as the current one appears. The ant soldiers have finally decided to enter the fray, and I can only dread the next several minutes as we fight these more brutal monsters. Rushing back down the stairs to see if there are any changes in the wall of corpses blocking the front entrance, I see the larger wolves pulling some of the dead out of the way so they can pounce over them. These wolves are smart. I can only think to myself before I know it. Xelyphe and I are back at killing the wolves as fast as possible, hoping for any respite. - 5 Minutes until Formation Reset - After several more minutes, those on the second floor started to come down to help us hold back the wolves'' tides. There wasn''t much that could be done, but from what I could feel in the flow of the combat, I knew something would change soon, either for the better or worse. It has been several minutes since the side doors on the main floor have been shut, and I can hear scratching at one of the doors. When the door finally opens, a small rush of ants burst through. At the exact moment they burst through, Gibnic finally calls out. "Just a couple more minutes, and the formation will be reset, and we can go to protecting one entry point." With that declaration, a burst of lightning bursts from his hands and into the incoming ants, arcing from one to the other, crisping them and clearing them out. - 2 Minutes until Formation Reset - With Gibnic''s help, we have pushed most of the monsters hard. The bodies have been piling on both sides of the main lobby to the point that we have been pushed back to the stairs. Defending that point, I look hard at the options left for my party. We can continue to go back as best we can, but that won''t help us, or we can withdraw from this battle. No one has died on our side yet, but I can see a couple of members from this settlement have been buried under the carpet of ants and wolves. "Gibnic, how much longer till we can finally not deal with enemies from all sides?" Strauvana asked. She is sporting several wounds from the ants upstairs. Currently, I am trying to heal her as quickly as possible while also ensuring that Xelyphe stays topped off. "It shouldn''t be long before the formation starts, I would say another couple of minutes tops." He is still casting his spells, which have helped tremendously as larger groups of enemies have come together. He will cast his lightning spells, either outright killing them or paralyzing them enough for someone else to finish them quickly. As Xelyphe finishes thrusting through another wolf''s throat, there is a sudden shake in the mana surrounding the manor, and all at once, it feels like a breath of fresh air. Upstairs, those still able to fight on clearing the remaining ants while we can push the wolves back slowly from our position on the stairs. The floor is slick with blood and ichor from all the death. Not wanting to waste our effort, the settlers quickly cleared out the upstairs so they could help us in the lobby. Seeing a brief break in the fighting, I recheck my mana for what feels like an entire hour. - MP: 46/380 - Concerned with how low mana I am at, I look around and find that Xelyphe has finally been able to take a break. The settlers have pushed the beasts back as much as they can and are holding them off at the doorway once again, using the bodies of their fallen to create a choke point at the main doors. "What do you think, Xelyphe? Do you think we will be able to pull through?" I asked. "I don''t know. From the way these monsters keep coming, it feels like they will never end," is the reply she can provide after taking several deep breaths to get her breathing under control after the rough fighting. While we pause slightly, I hear another call from Muiress upstairs. Chapter 118 Only Option Rushing up the stairs to see what is happening, I find Strauvana and Muiress by one of the busted-through windows. "Take a look, Drake," Strauvana offers her space by the window. When I look out into the wrecked settlement, I see that there hasn''t been much change in the monsters flooding into the area. There hasn''t even been a dent in the monsters. It looks the same as when we initially looked out. Thinking about how much fighting we have already done and all the fighting we will probably have to do if we continue to help, I sigh in resignation. "You agree then. We need to pull out and head back home. There is no way we can take on this quantity of monsters with what few people we have." Muiress grasps my shoulder, blood covering his hand as he had been holding a bandage on his side. Taking a closer look, I can see Strauvana is just as wounded, black ichor dripping from wounds that haven''t been covered or healed yet. "We need to leave. From what I can see, there is no helping them. They don''t have any options left to them; we have only delayed the inevitable," I can''t help but state in defeat. Turning back to head downstairs to get Gibnic and Xelyphe, I start walking. On my way down, I pass by Koto. I can tell that she has been appraised of the situation, and her face only shows sadness, knowing there isn''t anything we can do. "Thank you," she says while holding her hand out to me. "I know we didn''t start on the friendliest of terms, but still, thank you for coming and giving what little hope you could to me and my own." I grasp her hand and shake it, "I just wished we could do more." "While there isn''t anything you can do to help us further, there is one thing you could do to help yourself. I know you will get a small reward for at least retreating from this lost battle, but I want to give you something you can only have once you meet other settlements." Curious about what she wants to give, she takes a token that seems to materialize from her chest. "What are you doing?" I asked. "When you meet other settlements on your planet, there are two options you can choose. One is to work together through alliances, non-aggression pacts, or trade agreements. The second is to go to war, and once either side wins said war, you will either get resources from that settlement, you can conquer that settlement, or you can completely raze the settlement and take everything. Each of those three options varies depending on how the war ends." That is when a notification appears. - The settlement of Starbreak has declared war on your settlement, Caelnova. - Another message appears, wanting to become angry with Koto. I will take a look at the new notification before I burst. - Starbreak has surrendered to Caelnova, and the leader, Koto, has offered Starbreak to Drake. You may take this settlement as your own, or you can raze the settlement to the ground and take what resources are available in the settlement''s coffers. Conqueror or Raze the settlement? - "Why?" is all I can ask her. "Because you helped when you could have retreated. No one here isn''t grateful for what you have done. Please take it, " she says, holding the token out for me to grab. Grabbing the token, I am again prompted to conquer or raze the settlement. I become indecisive, not wanting to raze it but not knowing what conquering a settlement might do. Looking around for someone to help me with the decision, I don''t get much time before I hear cries of pain coming from the lobby. I can see that Xelyphe is now facing off against a giant wolf. Several settlers are lying sprawled on the ground with grievous wounds. "What does razing the settlement do?" I ask quickly while heading to the doors. "Like I said, you get all the resources." "What is classified as a resource? Are the manor''s dead beasts classified or just in the inventory?" I cast shields on Xelyphe while Strauvana and Muiress joined her to contain the beasts trying to squeeze past the enormous wolf. "I don''t know the exact details. My father never told me what it means to raze a settlement. I know there are a lot of resources you can get from razing one." Taking the briefest moments, I try to consider whether what I was thinking was possible. I would never know unless I tried, but my concern was if it would immediately teleport us out of this situation. If it did, we didn''t need to worry about what happens now and would be safe-ish. But if it doesn''t let us leave immediately, then we could be royally screwed with how my mana reserves are panning out.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. "Ok. One last question: how are people who previously inhabited a settlement classified under the laws of razing a settlement?" Seeing a look of shock in her eyes and a flicker of hope for survival, she says confidently. "I don''t know, but I do know that there were several groups of marauders that would always have similar numbers every time my father faced them. It was to the point they seemed like an infestation that would keep growing if not checked regularly. I can only think that maybe it had something to do with razing settlements since they never left anything behind." There is a cry as one more of the settlers is clawed through his mid-section. Trying to think if my idea would work, I can only hope. I select to raze the settlement and then quickly shout. "Everyone, to me, we are leaving!" It doesn''t take more than a moment for Strauvana, Muiress, and Gibnic to appear by my side; they are still doing what they can. Soon to follow are those who are not in the battle directly. Seeing that Xelyphe isn''t leaving the doorway, I shout at her. "Xelyphe, get over here. I think I figured it out. We can save them, but we need to leave now!" Seeing everyone else has gathered at the bottom of the steps, she slowly backs towards us, all the while trying to keep from being overwhelmed by the wolf in front of her. It works as she enters the two-meter mark for gathering so I can activate the retreat function. A timer starts to count down. We need to hold off the beasties for ten more seconds. Once we do that, we are home free. As the clock ticks down, we keep pushing the enemies as much as possible while getting as close together to get as many people near me as possible. Casting the last of my spells, I got a shield off on Xelyphe before she took a massive swipe from the wolf''s claws. The force of the blow knocks her into everyone behind her, who helps to steady her on the stairs. As the last couple of seconds pass, there is a bright light and a look in the wolf''s eyes. They gleam before they leap up and enter the same light we are all in. As the light dims around us, we appear back at the edge of the settlement like we would with any other exploration. The only difference is those around us. Hearing a massive thud from one of the sides, I see the wolf standing in front of us, ready for another pounce, but this time, there isn''t anyone who can stand in front of it to protect those behind me. Seeing that it is in a different environment throws the wolf off for a second, but it takes a look at us and starts to lick its lips. I quickly analyze the monster and am terrified of what I see. - Alpha Dire Wolf Level 11 (Boss) HP: 2358/2400 - The scariest thing about this wolf isn''t the health pool but the intelligence behind its eyes. It isn''t looking at our group but the fog wall behind us. Not knowing what it is thinking, I see it leap once more and directly enter the fog, disappearing from our sight. "That can''t be good," Gibnic says. "No, it can''t at all," I agree. Looking behind me, I can see that everyone who could surround me had successfully teleported to our settlement. That is the moment a slew of notifications hits me. Not knowing what to do for a second, I can only imagine what everyone would be concerned with. Is everyone here okay with being moved back to the settlement? I need to go through these notifications, but I want to do so with Laxreal nearby so he can help me where I might stumble. I should also get Ritotorous back around. He should have been with me since he is familiar, but I haven''t seen a beak or feather of him for over a week. It makes me curious what he is up to. Looking around, I can see several people on the ground holding wounds that are bleeding profusely. Xelyphe isn''t doing well, but she is in a far better condition than those people. When she sees what is happening, she immediately goes into doctor mode and works on the wounds. I look at Muiress and Strauvana, "We need one of you two to head back to the settlement at the fastest speed. We need to bring these people back, but the only way is if we have some of the supplies back there. Get as many people that are willing to help as you can." Hearing the urgency in my voice, Strauvana quickly runs off, still holding her side. I quickly get to help as best as I can. After a few seconds, there is a nudge on my shoulder, and Koto stands there. And there now seems to be some connection between the two of us. I can feel it tickling my mind, along with the other 12 people we brought with us. I can see the concern in her eyes, but I can''t think of what could be concerning her other than the state of her people. After several minutes of Xelyphe and I administering what healing we can to those in front of us, Strauvana returns with a group of people and some supplies that will allow us to move those who aren''t in any state yet. When we get them situated to be pushed back to the settlement, a large group of people surrounds us. I can see that Laxreal, Rognar, and Sylvasti have arrived. It was weird not to see my mother join the group, but I figured I would understand when we returned. "What is going on, Laxreal? Why are there so many people here?" I asked. "Isn''t it obvious? We wanted to make sure that if that beast came back, we would at least be able to put up a fight or at least help support your group, but seeing that there isn''t any beast around, the extra hands won''t hurt to escort everyone back to the settlement. I am curious why there are more people here than when you left. But I presume you will tell us about your brief adventure that has put all of you into such a ragged state. I am also curious about the notifications on our side about a war. I am quite perplexed as to how you resolved it so quickly." He continues that thought process for a second before rubbing his chin and leading us back to the settlement with our honor guards keeping an eye on monsters that might come near. It took longer to return to the settlement because of the injuries we were carrying, but once we got there, I could see that several more buildings had been built for those who had arrived. Or it might be in preparation for us to tier the settlement up to the next tier. As we move through the settlement those injured are placed in the houses provided, and then those that aren''t as wounded continue to follow up until the manor. When we are about to enter the manor, Koto and her group stop shot. They don''t enter, but an itch tells me they are there for a reason. "Please come in, but give me a couple of minutes so I can talk with my council. We need to figure out what happened exactly, and then we can work on solving some other issues that might have come with you surrendering and us razing your settlement." They nod and enter the manor but don''t do much other than find a spot to sit. Some of them finally start to break down after walking back. I can''t help them at this moment, but I will find out what happened and then work with Koto to work something out. Chapter 119 Achievements and Understanding The council followed us to the manor and, after seeing the state of the people who had been brought back, entered the meeting room. Grabbing our seats quickly, I gave the rundown of what happened and why it seemed like we had 13 new community members. I don''t know precisely what they are now since I haven''t had time to go through the notifications I have received. "Did I hear wrong? Or did I hear about a boss monster that is level 11 and running wild now?" Draemish asks her face a wall of unreadable emotions. "There is a monster out there that is level 11 and is a boss monster. I don''t know what that means since we were more worried about trying to defend from it than fight it. I am just glad it decided not to attack us. It might give us some more time to work on more defenses. I want to review my notifications, and we may have a general idea of what we are dealing with." I answer as best I can before I get curious about some of the notifications I received. Opening the first one, I am neither happy nor sad about what it provides. - A Helping Hand (Completed) Due to an offer of assistance, Koto has called upon your aid. After the auction is over, you have the option to assist Koto in tiering up her settlement in the settlement trial. Due to the late call for aid, Koto cannot maintain their settlement. The monsters from the Tier-up Trial have taken over the settlement, and now, as a last-ditch effort, Koto seeks some form of aid or asylum. Your following actions will determine what assistance is provided. Will you aid the last remnants of this settlement and lead them to a more forgiving home, or will you abandon them and lead your party home? Having decided to stay and help the settlement to the best of your abilities, you managed to keep the monster swarm from entirely overwhelming you. Sadly, there wasn''t much you could do to help further. Koto declared war on you in the final moments of your struggle and immediately surrendered. While this allowed you to conquer her settlement, you have instead decided to raze it to the ground. It appeared to be the correct decision as you could give them the asylum they were not expecting. Tasks: Assist Koto''s settlement in seeking a place of relative safety: 1/1 Rewards: 13 X Slaves, 5 X Large Bag of Experience AND 1 X Small Chest of Wealth, 1 X Gigantic Wooden Resource Box - Slaves... I had slaves... Something in my gut tells me it is wrong to think of those people in such a situation. I panic for a second before a skeletal hand rests on my shoulder. "What is it, Drake? We need to know what is going on." He says, his tone as calming as it can get. Pointing to the door, I tell them, "Those people out there, they are my slaves." The thought of owning another person makes my stomach lurch in a way that hasn''t since I was first told there was no way to fix my heart before I came to Corenthia. "If they are, what do you want to do about it, Drake? I don''t think you should dive into it too much for the time being. I am sure we can find a way for them to be here peacefully without being enslaved, but it will take time. So, until then, keep going through your notifications." Nodding my thanks, I get my mind under control and continue with my notifications. - Congratulations! Your settlement won its first war. While it was in a manner that would be called non-typical, you have managed to win this war. Reward: 1 X Small Iron Noble Chest for the leader of the settlement, 1 X Small Class Equipment Box for each member of your settlement Congratulations! Your settlement won a war in under a day. While it was in a manner that would be called non-typical, you have managed to win in under a day. Reward: 1 X Class Level-up token for each member of your settlement Congratulations! Your settlement has won a war without any casualties. While it was in a manner that would be called non-typical, you have managed to win this war with no casualties. Reward: 1 X Small Iron Specific Population Scroll Chest Congratulations! You have razed another settlement after winning a war. As this was your first settlement, you will receive a boost in the rewards the razing process has given you. - When I looked at those four notifications, everyone in the settlement received them simultaneously, including the rewards appearing before each one. I want to get all the notifications out of the way, so I continue. - Congratulations, your skill, Barkskin, has reached level 5. Congratulations, your skill, Minor Healing, has reached level 8. Congratulations, your skill, Shield, has reached level 10. Congratulations, your skill, Mend, has reached level 6. Congratulations, your skill, Nature''s Grasp, has reached level 5. Congratulations, your skill, Basic Staff-wielding, has reached level 2. Congratulations, your skill, Leadership, has reached level 8. Your group has slain 368 Ant Worker Level 4. Experience Received: 92 Your group has slain 256 Ant Worker Level 5. Experience Received: 128 Your group has slain 96 Ant Soldier Level 6. Experience Received: 72 Your group has slain 54 Ant Soldier (Elite) Level 6. Experience Received: 81 Your group has slain 30 Wolf Level 8. Experience Received: 60 Your group has slain 8 Wolf (Elite) Level 9. Experience Received: 64 - The experience from the monsters we managed to slaughter, added to my current knowledge, is enough to push me up to the next level. These notifications include two more. - Congratulations, you have razed a settlement. All available resources in the settlement have become your spoils of war. Received: 13 X Slaves Tier 1: 542 X Stone 1356 X Wood 347 X Metal 0 X Food - Sighing, I can only be thankful for the resources themselves. I know how hard it is to get wood, and with the overabundance we have now, I would be more than willing to splurge and build some more buildings and even extend the walls to include more area, but that is something we can deal with later. - Event has been triggered: Due to bringing back a boss monster, a monster swarm will arrive at your settlement once a week until the boss monster has been defeated. The swarm sizes will get increasingly difficult as the boss can rally more monsters under its claws. The first swarm will arrive in seven days. For each swarm, there will be an amount of monsters that need to be slain before they retreat to regroup. As this is a special event for your settlement, you will receive rewards based on how quickly you defeat the boss monster and how many swarms you defeat. The boss will increase in power the longer you wait to kill it. Good Luck Countdown till the first swarm: 6 Days, 23 Hours, 20 Minutes - Putting my head in my hands, I hope it isn''t like the settlement we just came from. Taking a deep breath, I address everyone gathered. "I have just gone over my notifications; as you can see, several were involved in the settlement even though most didn''t participate. I can only say it is their good luck that they received the boons from this without having to participate." Pushing my head up, I look at every one. "We have a little under a week to prepare for a swarm of monsters. I hope it isn''t too many, but who knows how things panned out for the other settlement."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "We should bring in the leader, Koto, and ask her why the situation got so out of hand for them." Shadow states while looking me dead in the eyes. Turning to Laxreal, I ask, "Could you get Koto and bring her in? I want to clarify things as soon as possible before we continue with our discussions." Nodding, he heads out and returns within a minute, Koto in tow. I gesture to the seat at the other end of the table for her to sit in. Once she gets to the end of the table to take the seat, she refuses, but instead, she looks at everyone in the room and bows to them. "Thank you, everyone, for the help; I know this doesn''t mean much, but I appreciate it. I looked, and I know my status, and I hope you are kind enough not to torment my people. Any punishment they would have placed on them, I would like to take in their stead." Her eyes show a determined look of one that knows she screwed up and is willing to make any amends for those that were under her care. "Koto," I start, but Zul''Zara interjects. "We be not wanting slaves. You be one out of fate, not willingness on our parts." She gets up and approaches the woman, lifting her so she can see all of our faces. "I may be speakin'' out of place, but we be a fair group of people. You be seeing the freedom you had before, it might just take some time." Zul''Zara looks at me. "What she says is the truth," I agree with her, "I didn''t want you to be a slave, but in this instance, it might have been the only way for you and the remaining people to survive. So, I apologize that you are in this situation, and as Zul''Zara said, we will look for a way for you to remove the enslavement you and your people have." Her eyes appear hopeful, "I would very much like that if it is of any help; I do know of a couple of ways for someone enslaved to redeem themselves. Most places that raze settlements typically aren''t so nice that they might give that option, forcing people to work till their deaths, but of the two options I know of, they are both very humane. The first is the enslaved could pay off their enslavement. The amount needed will vary based on what the lord of the settlement thinks of a minimum amount. The second is for the owner to have a high enough noble rank; you could buy annulment vouchers from the system." "That is good news. Where would I find the information about the amount you would need to ''redeem'' yourself? And what noble rank would I have to be to buy an annulment voucher?" "There should be an option when you focus on me. Being a lord, my minimum amount will be higher than someone who wasn''t. And for what rank would you need to be, at least a Viscount, to be specific? But I could be wrong; I haven''t seen many slaves, and those I did were in the darker sides of the world. They are an easy way for someone to level up their nobility class to a certain extent." "How does PUN register when you have enough funds?" I asked. "That is simple: I either have to have the funds already saved up or through selling goods or services. Typically, slaves have it rough because people will use them for the services." She says while shivering. "Once you have enough funds, though, as long as the owner of the slave accepts the money, then they are free to go." "Couldn''t I just give you the money so you would be able to get your freedom?" I asked. "You can, but it doesn''t seem worth it for most people; they would rather get the work out of us than let us go like that." Taking a moment, I do as she had said and look closer at her. - Koto (Enslaved to Drake) Level 6 Hunter/Level 13 Scribe/Ex-Lordress HP: 24/30 MP: 5/5 Cost to redeem: 20 Gold to 1 Platinum - Immediately setting the amount to the lowest it could go, then turning to Laxreal, "Can you go and get the gold we have left? Let''s deal with this so I don''t have to worry anymore." Nodding, he leaves to get the money. "One more thing," I ask, "With the amounts, I have seen gold, and now I have seen platinum, but what are the exact exchange rates?" Smiling, she looks at me, "It starts with copper, then silver, gold, platinum, and finally diamond. The exchange rates are 100 copper for silver, 100 silver for gold, 10,000 gold for platinum, and 10,000 platinum for diamond." "Why have I only seen gold then? None of the other lower denominations showed up." "Probably because you got them through coin pouches and were especially lucky that you did so. Typically, the pouch will choose one type of denomination and then base the amount on that." "Okay, thank you for the information," Laxreal says in my place as he walks back into the room with the funds while I contemplate the astronomical amount of wealth I spent at the auction. "Can we get to some of our other questions?" he asks her. "Please ask. I will do my best to help where possible." "Before that, you are here as an equal, so please sit," Draemish suggests. Her face is slightly more relaxed but still tight from the brief conversation about the boss monsters. Taking her seat, we ask questions about what happened with her settlement. "What happened that made you end up in the situation you were in?" Draemish asks. "Well, my community wasn''t heavy into the military. Most of the people from my settlement, in one way or another, were primarily crafters. This overwhelmed the few militant types when there weren''t enough people to deal damage to those monsters." "So, you ran into a situation where having more military might would have been better?" Draemish asked. "We should have had a primarily crafting-based trial since I was tiering the settlement based on my crafters. It shouldn''t have been the situation of us getting swarmed by monsters but instead having to craft a certain number of items of a certain quality to progress the settlement." "Do you know what could have caused the discrepancy?" Shadow asked. "One option is that there were items involved in the settlement that went against the rules for a startup; either someone brought in a higher quality item than they should have, or there happened to be more level 10 warriors than crafters, causing the trial to shift into that sort of direction." "Some of your people were withholding information from you, so you didn''t clearly understand where your settlement was." Laxreal succinctly summarizes. "That about sums it up; I also think that it is possible that my siblings put plants into my initial settlers and were under strict orders to do what they could to ruin my chances of tiering my settlement up before them.¡± At the mention of her siblings, I asked, "Why would they need to do that?" "Because, when it comes to who to invest in further, my father would look at the success of each of our settlements after two years. The fact that I could get to where I was is surprising. But I wanted to put my best foot forward; in the end, it looks like I couldn''t succeed in doing anything other than being a burden to someone else." Up to this point, one thing bothered me: I needed the question answered: "My settlement had an attack, and we needed to defend it. Did the same thing happen with your settlement?" Nodding, she looks around the table, "Yes, we did, but we didn''t progress past the tenth wave, and to be honest, even with my settlers primarily focused on crafting, most of us are either hunters or mages. So, we had many options to clear out the enemies without worrying about being overrun. I also only had about 20 people with me, so the most we had for enemies was about 50, and even then, they were easy enemies." Thinking about what she said, I can only think they had good luck with their waves and didn''t have to worry about being overrun. Maybe they had monsters that couldn''t climb, or their levels weren''t high enough to make it hard for them to get through the waves quickly. "What do you want to do here? I know that you had to give up your settlement even for the potential to survive, but what do you think you will be able to do?" I asked, more curious now that we have someone who has been incorporated into PUN for longer and would better understand the system than Ritotorous or me. "Honestly, I just want to work on my profession and get it to the higher tiers. Getting my class leveled up would be great, but it isn''t a requirement right now. Instead, I think everyone who was a part of my settlement would like some downtime to figure out what had happened. Also, I would like to ask. How far away are you from your tier-up?" I checked that information and quickly found the answer. - Settlement Tasks: Have a total population of 100 (95/100) Have at least one settler complete their class or profession upgrade (15/1) Note: These tasks can not be skipped. Upon completion, the settlement will receive an advancement quest to progress to the next settlement tier. - Looking for everyone''s support, they nod, "We are five populations from being able to tier up the settlement. I also have that token I won, so we shouldn''t have to deal with your tier-up trial." "True, but there is something that you need to know before you finalize the tier-up process. It would be best if you used that token. The process starts immediately, and if it doesn''t register that you have used that token, you will still have the trial, meaning that the token will sit there till it can be used again for another one of your settlements that you start on another world." "Which would make you losing your settlement that much more painful since the one item that would have let you continue to progress was just sitting doing nothing," Demetrius states, to which Koto nods. "Alright, it sounds like we should use that token right away, then." I turn to ask Laxreal if he can get it, but I am stopped. "Don''t use it right now. I will wait till you hit the population amount. You don''t have to tier up immediately, but when you use the token, you only have a day to start the process. It would be best to get the population and have them level up a bit to ensure they can handle the straggling monsters that come from time to time." Thinking about her recommendation, I have one thought that comes to mind. Looking around the table, I ask, "Why don''t we simultaneously use the monster swarms to help level up the settlement and everyone? We have been pretty split between those here for military purposes and those working more heavily in their professions. I wouldn''t doubt some easy levels would be against their thoughts." When she hears about monster swarms, Koto pales a little. "What do you mean monster swarms?" "An event was triggered because of that big boss monster that came through when we retreated. It will now lead a swarm of monsters every seven days to the settlement until we kill it. My only thought is that we should use it to level up those lower leveled and then work from there. We do have the advantage of having the materials for more defenses." She nods slowly, "Yes, but what are your average levels in the settlement?" "I don''t know. We haven''t done a census of that sort of information yet, though it wouldn''t be a bad thing to do soon. Laxreal," I turn to him. Would it be possible to get a quick tally of what our average level is?" "It shouldn''t be too hard; if we set up something that makes it so those that leave have a card or something that we can use to help keep track, that would be wonderful." That makes me think of adventure and mercenary guilds from my games. They had cards that helped to keep things in check, and certain cards gave specific bonuses. I wish we had a building like that to get this more organized. Coming back to the room, everyone is looking at me. "What?" "You had the, ''I am thinking about something from my world,'' look, what was it," Draemish asked. "I was just thinking about adventure guilds and the like; in the games and novels I had, these guilds would have a way to track that information and set up a system of quests for people to go out and complete for those in the town. I just wished we would get a building for something like that soon." "Drake," Vranjaya starts, "We have sssomething like that. We jussst haven''t been able to build it yet." I quickly looked at the building options and found the Adventurer''s Guild. I put it off because of one main factor. It requires an Apprentice Foreman, Woodworker, Blacksmith, Tailor, Enchanter, and Scribe. We didn''t have anyone at the apprentice level yet, so there was no way we could have built it without using some of the other tokens we had accumulated. We only have five Wood Profession Reduction Tokens, so using them all on one project didn''t seem like the best option, considering that I was able to become an Apprentice Enchanter. I am curious if we have enough people for the selected roles to be able to complete the building now. "Can someone check to see if we have an apprentice blacksmith, woodworker, tailor, and foreman on hand?" I asked the room. "Leave that to me," Eleanor offers. "Good. Is there anything else we want to ask Koto before I have her go and comfort her people about the situation?" I asked the gathering. I see everyone shake their heads and see that some people are ready to move on to some tasks. I stand up and thank them all for coming. The next thing on my plate is to get rid of these slaves as soon as I can. No one deserves to be a slave, and I plan on making that a point in my settlement. Chapter 120 Freedom And Catching Up As I left the room, I gestured for Koto to follow up and resolve this slave situation. Several people from Koto''s settlement rested outside the room when I stepped outside. Taking a moment, I look at each of their information pages. - Nariko (Enslaved to Drake) Level 4 Hunter/Level 9 Tailor HP: 14/20 MP: 5/5 Cost to redeem: 20 Silver to 2 Gold Leiko (Enslaved to Drake) Level 4 Mage/Level 12 Alchemist HP: 6/10 MP: 14/30 Cost to redeem: 1 Gold to 50 Gold Kyki (Enslaved to Drake) Level 3 Hunter/Level 8 Woodworker HP: 4/10 MP: 5/5 Cost to redeem: 15 Silver to 1.5 Gold Nyoko (Enslaved to Drake) Level 2 Mage/Level 7 Enchanter HP: 3/5 MP: 8/15 Cost to redeem: 10 Silver to 1 Gold - Seeing similar stat for the others ranging from level 2 to level 5, with not one of them being a warrior, I wasn''t too shocked that they couldn''t hold out for too long with their trial if they weren''t expecting it to be a fight. Setting everyone''s cost to the minimum, I then hand over the funds to return to me so they can be free again. If I didn''t have silver, I set the threshold to be in gold and then handed them the gold they needed. Once this had been worked on, I left the manor and found the remaining people. For those who are conscious, I did the same thing, and they were able to be free. Koto''s been following me this entire time. Once we finished the task for the time being, I asked Koto, "What should I expect out of you and your people? I know you didn''t mean what happened to your settlement to hurt them, but here we are." "Honestly, just like those who lived through that, I am glad we are here. I am sad that we brought trouble in the form of the boss monster, but I am glad we survived. I think we will work for you in whatever capacity we can. We have all learned that we should also work on our classes. None of us thought we would have this opportunity. But honestly, this is better than I could hope for." I give her a questioning look. "What do you mean?" "With this planet not fully integrated into PUN yet, it gives a lot more freedom to work on our settlements without the machinations of others. While I know I don''t have a settlement anymore, that doesn''t mean that everything is over for me. I have to find the spot that fits best for me, and what better way than with a new settlement that hasn''t been fully integrated?" "Quite the astute assessment, Ms. Koto. I want to speak with you separately if I could." Laxreal came up from behind us. This spooked Koto a bit, but she quickly nodded before she followed him; from what I could tell with the direction, they were headed to the undead residences. Wanting to find Ritotorous and ask him some questions, I reach out. It doesn''t take long before I feel he can hear me. "Hey, Ritotorous, I think it is time we talked. I haven''t seen you in a while."This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "Hello, Drake. I will be over with you shortly. Give me a few minutes." That''s all he responds before he stops talking. Shrugging my shoulders, what''s a few minutes? I can wait until he arrives before I can continue on my way. Thinking about what I should do next, I decided to focus on the rewards I had received from the various quests I had completed. I still had the crystal of death-attuned mana, a crystal of corruption-attuned mana, two wealth chests, a resource box, a couple of different noble chests, my experience bags, and a level-up token. Heading back to the manor, I get started on those things. - Laxreal''s POV - Bringing Koto to my tomb was quite the experience. The entire time, she was skittish about something. I can only think it was because she was heading to what the living would call their final resting place. When we finally entered my abode, we headed down the stairs, and inside my resting chambers, Ritotorous was there. I give him a slight bow and gesture to Koto. "I have brought her here, but I want to be privy to the conversation. I am Drake''s advisor, and I should have any information that you two might share as well. It would be a boon to both of you. He seems to think for a second before I feel a connection. "As you say, we must help that boy in many ways. How is he doing?" He asks me. "You haven''t seen him recently? I would have thought, being his familiar, you would be more in tune with how he has been." "He tends to let me do as I wish, which I think is foolish if I was a usual familiar. But I can''t say that I blame him for his willingness to give me the freedom to do what I want. I will go and talk with him after this is over." My eyes flicker with an untold emotion before bowing lightly again, "As you say." "What are you doing?" Koto asked. "I''ve heard of sentient familiars, but it isn''t normal for a low-ranked settlement to have an option for something like that." "Well, as you could guess, this is a sentient familiar; more than that, he started a group to become protectors for Drake and me," there is a clatter of armor behind me, and one of my guards comes forward to stand behind me. "While we don''t want to keep Drake in the dark about everything, we need some semblance of obscurity so he can still be the leader he is learning to be. And that is what we would like your help with. I have heard that you have more information about things than us." She nods at my statement, "Yes, I have more information, and why should I share it with you? If I keep hold of it, I could also get a position beside Drake." "Because," Ritotorous'' voice says, connecting to both of us, "While Laxreal will be in charge of Drake''s security and mental state, having someone more versed in the professional side of things with PUN could be worth more than you could think. While we have wonderful crafters, no one has specifically taken charge of the different responsibilities of a head crafter. We think you would be a good fit in this case since most of the people you brought with you are filling a gap we had. Dedicated crafters." I nod in agreement, "So, there isn''t a need for you to hold onto all the knowledge instead of working with us." Koto takes a deep breath and starts telling us everything she knows. - Drake''s POV - Entering my manor, I head upstairs to my room before opening my different rewards. The crystals sit off one side since I don''t know what to do with them in their current form. I know they have the mana attunements that would work for half of my current ones, but there is an itching feeling that I should wait for them before I try anything with them. Next, I will open the Noble Garb Chest and the Small Iron Noble Chest. When I open the first of the two chests, I find a set of finely made pieces of clothing. - Simple Nobleman''s Jacket Requires Noble class Provides no stat bonuses; this jacket will fit whoever is the first to put it on. Simple Nobleman''s Trousers Requires Noble class Provides no stat bonuses; this pair of trousers will fit whoever is the first to wear them. Simple Nobleman''s Shirt Requires Noble class Provides no stat bonuses; this shirt will fit whoever is the first to put it on. - After taking the garments out of the chest and placing them in my room''s closet, I opened the next chest. - Minor Nobleman''s Signet Ring Requires the user to be a Baron. This ring provides a +10 to Charisma when worn by someone of a noble class.- Considering this ring is for someone with a higher noble rank, I can''t help but be a little happy with the circumstances. Ten Charisma will more than double my current amount, and when I become a Baron, it should be just under half. Figuring I should use the experience bags and the level-up token, I quickly do so. When I use the experience bags, the provide me with more than the last large bags I received. - Large Bag of Experience: Provides 150 Experience to the user''s class. - Using all five of them gives me a total of 750, along with my remaining 77. It is enough to push my class level to 9, and by using the level-up token, I can finally get my class up to level 10. Chapter 121 Class Evolution Upon reaching level 10, a notification appeared. - Congratulations on reaching level 10. At this juncture, your class is ready to evolve. When you are ready, please select your newly evolved class. Apprentice Life Mage Tier 1: Few can fully grasp the affinity of life. Usually, they can only work with magics that involve healing and light. You have been blessed with a bloodline that has life as a natural affinity. This class offers increased damage to those who are undead, increases your healing arts efficiency, and shows how quickly you can learn spells with life affinity.
  • 2 Intelligence
  • 2 Wisdom
  • 1 Charisma
  • 2 Free Point
  • +25% Damage to Undead
  • +25% Life Healing/Support Spell modifier
  • +25% Learning speed for Life Spells
Note: Taking this class will give you the blessing of a stray Goddess of Life. These blessings vary from God to God. - The first option is interesting since it expands upon my life affinity. It is also interesting to note that a goddess has gifted me the opportunity for a higher-tier class even though I might not be able to utilize it fully. Wanting to see the rest of the options, I continue. - Apprentice Nature Mage Tier 1: You have been given this class option due to your bloodline having a natural affinity to nature magic and being blessed by the wilds. This class increases the damage to beings of corruption. Your nature magic spells have increased damage, healing/support, and learning speed.
  • 2 Intelligence
  • 2 Wisdom
  • 1 Dexterity
  • 2 Free Points
  • +25% Damage to Corrupted Beings
  • +25% Nature Healing/Support Spells
  • +25% Learning speed for Nature Spells
Note: Taking this class will give you the blessing of a Nature God. These blessings vary from God to God. - Another class involves the blessing of a God. I wasn''t surprised when I read the next option, but there is a theme for the classes available to me now. - Apprentice Corruption Mage Tier 1: Very few people can touch upon the magics of corruption without it affecting them. You have not only touched upon the magic but have also incorporated it into your body and bloodline. Due to this, you have received an affinity with corruption mana. This class offers knowledge of magic few can grasp, and few can remain unscathed. This class increases the damage done to those of nature. It increases corruption spell potency and increases the learning speed for corrupted spells.
  • 2 Intelligence
  • 2 Wisdom
  • 1 Strength
  • 2 Free Points
  • +25% Damage to Natural Beings
  • +25% Increased chance of spreading corrupting tendrils
  • +25% Increased speed of Corruption Spells
Note: There have been murmurs of a fallen God of Corruption rising. He has seen fit to bless those willing to walk the path of a corruptor. - An ominous undertone is stated in the note for that class. I don¡¯t know if I would want to be blessed by an entity of corruption. From what I can see, our world is saturated with so much corruption that it has been smothering the planet''s life. Shivering at the thought of picking that class, I move on to the second to last class available. - Apprentice Death Mage Tier 1: As a living being, you have not only accepted death into your life through those around you but also decided to take it a step further and walk the path of death. By incorporating Death mana into your bloodline, you have gained an affinity for Death magic. This class will increase the damage dealt to the living, increase the potency of Death magics/support spells, and improve the learning speed of said spell.
  • 2 Intelligence
  • 2 Wisdom
  • 1 Constitution
  • 2 Free Points
  • +25% Damage to Living creatures
  • +25% Death Necrotic/Support Spells
  • +25% Learning speed for Death Spells
Note: A God of Death has been seen in the area and is looking for someone to take up the mantle. Accepting this class will give you a blessing from the Death God. - A God of Death that has me thinking maybe Laxreal was onto something when he first came to this world. Perhaps I should dig deeper into who/what Ritotorous is or what it will become if I get a potential blessing from a God of Death. So far, with every single option, there has been the offer of a blessing from a God in one of the affinities. Some of them I can understand, like the God of Death, because of how I am situating my settlement to be open to all races. Or a God of Corruption taking notice of my affinity. It gives me the shivers to think about, but I know that if there wasn¡¯t one more option to look at, I could become an enemy to the other Gods that have offered up their blessings.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I take a deep breath and return to the notification and final option. - Apprentice Mage of the Cycle: While others slowly build up their affinities to other elements and eventually become mages of the cycle, you have been blessed with a different path by incorporating four affinities into your bloodline. This class provides bonuses to the spells and skills that match the affinity active in that level while being neutral for those non-antagonistic affinities and punishing opposing affinities. During each phase, you will learn the magic of the matching affinity faster, while it will be slower for opposing affinities.
  • 2 Intelligence
  • 2 Wisdom
  • 1 Charisma(Life), Dexterity(Nature), Strength(Corruption), or Constitution(Death)
  • 3 Free Points
  • +25% to current level affinity Damage to Undead/Living or Corrupted/Natural
  • +25% to current level affinity Life Healing/Support, Nature Healing/Support, Corruption increased chance of spreading corrupting tendrils, or Death Necrotic/Support
  • +25% to current level affinity learning speed to current level affinity spells
  • -25% to current level opposing affinity Damage to Undead/Living or Corrupted/Natural
  • -25% to current level opposing affinity Life Healing/Support, Nature Healing/Support, Corruption increased chance of spreading corrupting tendrils, or Death Necrotic/Support
  • -25% Learning speed to current level opposing affinity spells
Note: You can pick which affinity you want to start your cycle. Be careful of which is first. During the cycle, physical changes will occur depending on the affinity. - Upon seeing this last class, I can¡¯t help but be confused for a brief moment, muttering a couple of questions. What does it mean phases? A phase is probably the type of mana affinity active at the time, but I don¡¯t know exactly if that is the case. The description makes it seem that way. And does this mean that it will treat me like an apprentice mage of all four types? Initially, I can see that as the case, but the negatives involved with the class make it seem more profound. If I were to consider only one aspect of the classes, the stats provided for each class aren¡¯t too different. Dexterity would make it feel more like a druid or ranger class. Charisma seems like something for a preacher, but I don¡¯t feel it would be my style. Strength has me curious, but I guess I will figure it out. In comparison, Constitution for Death is intriguing. Another factor to consider is the bonus stats I receive from my bloodline and noble class. I get 1 Constitution, 1 Wisdom, 1 Charisma, and an additional free stat point per level. I am already ahead of people in the statistics department because of these bonuses alone. Well, at least I think I am ahead of others, considering my father and mother¡¯s bloodlines have been awakened for a while, and they must be getting more stats than I am getting. The initial confusion about the class aside, it best fits me. While the downsides could hurt my growth in those areas, the bonuses that are provided easily outweigh the cons. While I think about the different classes, there is a knock on my door. Pulling myself from my thoughts, I answer it. In front of me are Laxreal, Koto, and Ritotorous, ¡°Welcome, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?¡± Looking at my overly courteous greeting, Laxreal informs me, ¡°We would like your permission to make Koto the head of the crafting portion of the settlement.¡± Trying to pull my thoughts from my dilemma of which class to choose, I look at him, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better if we were to pull together a meeting and have a vote for who should be the head of the crafting section of the settlement?¡± Rubbing his skeletal hand to his chin, he agrees, ¡°You are right. I was a bit hasty when it came to the knowledge that we now have. We should gather everyone for the meeting since we aren¡¯t discussing a low position in the settlement.¡± Crossing my arms, I try to seem like someone who knows what he is doing, though I am still distracted by my options. ¡°Exactly, we should get everyone for a vote.¡± ¡°Great, I will start to gather everyone and hold a settlement-wide meeting in a couple of days, and then we can talk about potential candidates.¡± ¡°Yes, settlement-wide¡­¡± Finally hearing what he is suggesting, I stop myself from just nodding, ¡°You mean to pull the whole settlement together for this meeting.¡± ¡°Yes, the entire settlement. Each group had a say in who would represent them on the council, and since this is a similar position but more likely to affect everyone, it would be best to get their input.¡± Nodding subconsciously, I hope it doesn¡¯t take us too long, but who knows? I guess a couple of days to get to know each other and have more people level up their crafting wouldn¡¯t hurt. It will help to solidify the sense of community with everyone being involved. ¡°Alright, that makes sense. Let¡¯s get a consensus of who will want to be the ¡®Head-Crafter,¡¯ and then we can go from there.¡± All three of them nod, ¡°Now,¡± I straighten myself up and pull my shirt down to be more regal, ¡°I would like to gather the opinions of my familiar and advisor. I have an important decision to make.¡± ¡°Drake, that isn¡¯t a good look on you,¡± Laxreal says, rubbing his fingers over his temple. ¡°Not saying that you shouldn¡¯t try to be more¡­ noble, but honestly, among us, you should just be yourself like you always have. Learn but mimic an exacting detail. I know we have been working on etiquette, but still.¡± I smile at him, ¡°I know, I was just pulling your leg. I do have an important decision to make.¡± ¡°Is it about your class evolving?¡± Ritotorous chimes in my mind. ¡°Yes, I have to pick what class I want to evolve into.¡± Koto¡¯s ears perk up, hearing that I will be evolving my class, ¡°I know it isn¡¯t right for me to ask, but what are your options? I might be able to help since I have heard of many different classes before trying to start my settlement.¡± Sending a mental message to Ritotorous, I ask him, ¡°Should I trust her?¡± ¡°Yes, she is quite knowledgable, and it would behoove you to at least listen to what she has to say.¡± Seeing the look on his face, the best I can tell is he is a skeleton. I share my notifications with everyone so they can see which classes I can choose from. ¡°Seriously?¡± When she saw the options available to me, Koto gawked, ¡°Most people don¡¯t get more than three options, but you got the maximum number for your first tier of class evolution?¡± ¡°I am guessing that is good.¡± ¡°More than good! The more options, the more flexible you can be. It isn¡¯t the best to be overly flexible, but for a first-tier, it is better. It gives more potential than those with only one or two options.¡± ¡°Would you have any recommendations for someone new to this?¡± I asked while gesturing at the screen in front of me. ¡°Typically, the rule of thumb for the lower tier classes is to pick something that provides higher stats. In your instance, we have to be more careful. With the notes stating that different gods have taken notice of you.¡± ¡°I figured I wouldn¡¯t want to choose one over the others, so I leaned more towards the Apprentice Mage of the Cycle anyway.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a great option. I haven¡¯t seen many classes that have gone into detail so early about the negatives a class will give. It is even available to you in this instance, which is more shocking than anything.¡± ¡°What do you two think?¡± I asked Laxreal and Ritotorous. ¡°It is the best option since it has higher stats. And if I think about it, no blessings are involved with this class so you won¡¯t be picking sides. I don¡¯t know how long that will hold out, but we can consider that as you progress.¡± Laxreal offers. ¡°I agree with these two, while there are negatives to the class in more ways than a typical mage. At least you won¡¯t have to worry about the God issue for a bit.¡± Confirming that no one here thinks it''s a bad idea. I pick the class. - Congratulations, you have selected ¡®Apprentice Mage of the Cycle¡¯ as your Tier 1 class. Which of your mana affinities would you like to start your first cycle? Life Nature Corruption Death - Chapter 122 More Information I can think of ways to level up skills and spells by considering the four options. Initially, I thought about Death because I have Laxreal, who is right here and could easily walk through some of the easier spells and abilities I could use. Nature is another option because of Zul''Zara. With her being closer to that field, I could get information about how to develop spells from her. I don''t know anyone who has worked with corruption mana, so learning spells in that category will be a lot of trial and error. My last thought falls on Life. It has more uses to me right now than the other options, and while there isn''t anyone who is versed in spells of life, that doesn''t mean it is hopeless. I assume there might be someone with some form of healing affinity or even light that I could tap into to learn. Another thing that has been bothering me is the note provided by the class; what does it mean when it says there will be physical changes during the cycle? A couple of ways I can think of are the changes that occur for the entire cycle until the class evolves again or after every four levels. Will my appearance change when another affinity is the primary affinity, or will it stay with the affinity chosen at every level? If I think there will be significant changes to my physical appearance, I should stick to something that will cause the least apparent change, and I could only think of my life affinity. Maybe I won''t have anything significant happen, but I don''t know until I pick one. Turning to everyone in the room, I tell them, "I think I know what affinity I should start with, but I would like your opinion since they all have good potential. If I pick one of them, then it might be a while before I get to the next affinity." "Think of it this way," Koto starts, "As you level up, you will have a higher threshold to get to the next level. So, picking an affinity that might be useful to you now will take longer to get back to. While I have heard of people with classes like this one, they rarely receive them so early. Usually, they are in their sixth or seventh tier before they can pick up a class involving more than two affinities. So, you are an incredible oddity, and that makes you have a special circumstance." Confused about why she would call me an oddity with special circumstances, I hold onto that thought momentarily to ask about it in a little bit. "What do you think I should pick for my first affinity then? Life seems the best of the four currently since I have the most spells with it, and it would allow me to get those spells to a higher level and evolve quickly." "That is probably the best option; we can also see what physical traits are altered when you pick that affinity." Laxreal agrees, "It will also allow us to figure out what it means with the other portions of the class, and I don''t mean with the stats. I am talking more about the positive percentile increases and the negative percentile decreases." Ritotorous nods his beak, "I agree with him, Drake. You should proceed with your initial thought of Life being your first affinity." Seeing that Koto had nothing to add, I shrugged and selected Life as the start of my cycle. - Congratulations, your class is now Apprentice Mage of the Cycle (Life). Additional stats have been granted to you to finalize your class. +2 Intelligence +2 Wisdom +1 Charisma +3 Free Points Bonuses for your affinity have been applied: +25% Damage to Undead creatures +25% Potency to Life Healing/Support Spells +25% learning speed to Life Spells -25% Damage to Living creatures -25% Potency to Death Necrotic/Support Spells -25% Learning speed to Death Spells Note: Your body has been adjusted to your affinity. Since this is the first cycle, the physical changes done are minor. Note: Stats have been applied for Level 10 Cycle: Life 1 of 4. - Looking at what the class has given me, I can only sigh. It looks like I will have a more challenging time fighting any monsters that aren''t classified as being undead. The increase in the life spells will be a nice bonus for the first swarm of monsters, but I don''t know how it will affect the battle overall. Shrugging once again, I know I can''t do anything about it now that I have picked it, and I look to Laxreal and Koto. "So, now I know exactly what the class does for me. Do either of you notice anything different about me?" Laxreal looks at me and then walks around me. "There is one minor difference that I can see. Your eyes have changed color. They were brown, but now they are more golden brown. Other than that, I don''t see any other changes to your body. What about you, Koto?" He turns to her and finds her walking around me, "There was a slight shift in the sent that you put off. It is hard to place it, but I know the change exists." "Alright, if it is just those small things, then I don''t think we will have any issues for some of my future cycles until they are more prominent. There is something that I wanted to sync up on, though, and that is something that you said, Koto. What makes me special?" She looks at Laxreal and Ritotorous to see if she can speak her thoughts. I found that interesting. Something else that I might have to ask her in private. Laxreal answers in her stead. "Usually, classes in the first tier branch out from the primary classes. So, mages would get some form of lesser affinity mage or even something that is a combination of the two initial classes, depending on their training. For example, you have several leadership-based skills, but no classes came up for leadership. The only thing I can think of that would prevent that is because you have the Noble class. Then you also have skills like swordsmanship and archery. These would have combined to make a stronger version of the initial courses, like an all-rounded class leading to higher stats than the two classes combined. Your class combinations are odd because they are all affinity-based mage classes."This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Koto picks up from where he left off. "Affinity-based classes show up in the third and latest fourth tier of class evolution if you ever get to that point. And those with higher-tier affinities can acquire them earlier. The only reason I can see you would have any of the classes is due to the notes that have been provided with the classes. One God from each of the affinities has taken note of you. This can be both good and bad, but honestly, the best option for you was the last class. It didn''t offend any of the Gods, and honestly, I don''t think they even know about it." She gives Laxreal a small side-eye. Not seeing him comment on anything, she continues. "Stats for the first-tier classes usually only increase by a couple of points. You could say that the initial class is the tutorial for PUN, but it is rare due to how high the points you receive per level in your class. I would have expected your first-class evolution to be only a few points higher than normal. A normal first-tier class evolution would increase the stats gained per level by one or two points depending on what that person did. Three additional points are possible, but you had four classes that gave seven points as options, and the last one gave eight points." "The extra stat points will put you ahead of the curve, which can snowball into a huge advantage once you get into the higher tiers since your class will be head due to the higher foundation." Laxreal finishes. "And how would you know about the higher levels?" I ask him. "To be a better advisor, I asked Koto some questions and got her to reveal some information." "Is there anything more you can share with me now?" "Keep doing what you are doing, and by the time you get to your next evolution, you will be leaps and bounds ahead of most of the people here. We need also to start expanding the settlement as fast as we can. The closer we can get to becoming a small town. We should be near the point that you could be into your second tier, if not close to your third tier of class." Koto responds to my question. "How long before we get to that point?" "With you going for the next settlement tier soon, you will be at the Hamlet stage. During this stage, you are required to do some of the things for the settlement change. Instead of population amounts, you have to accomplish tasks. Typically, with those already a part of PUN, we can see what our tasks could be ahead of time due to not being blocked. For you, it is going to be a bit more complicated." "So we will need to wait until we upgrade the settlement before we can continue our tasks?" "Exactly. But with the token, you will have no issues doing just that." "I guess the next thing we can do is upgrade the settlement?" "Exactly, but to do so, we need to summon some more people into the settlement," Laxreal says. "Ok, let''s get that settled here in a bit. I want to look at my stats and see what has changed. - Status Name: Drake Taldrit Health: 130/130 Mana: 62/520 Race: Human (F) Gender: Male Planet of Origin: Culhara Bloodline: LIFE NURTURING, DEATH CORRUPTING DRAGON Awakened: 0.01% Class: Apprentice Mage of the Cycle: Life 1 of 4 Class Level: 10 Experience 27/2000 Affinity: Life, Nature, Death, Corruption Special Class: Noble Level: 6 Oaths of Fealty 75/100 Profession: Apprentice Enchanter Profession Level: 12 Experience 47/375 Attributes: Strength 1 Intelligence 21 Wisdom 26 Charisma 8 Dexterity 2 Constitution: 13 Free Points: 8 - Noticing the eight free points, I can only sigh at how stupid I have been since I haven''t spent them for a little while. With how quickly I can get stat points now, I can consider increasing my dexterity even further since I need at least 50 Dexterity to wield the bow we won at the auction. And with me having cycles, I might be able to use it further. Placing my points, I raised my Dexterity to 10. Only 40 more points to go. Looking around to see if there was anything else that I needed to do, I turned to the final items that needed to be opened: a couple of chests of wealth and the resource box. Wanting to wrap things up quickly, I opened the boxes. The resource box gave 200 Tier 1 Wood, Stone, and Metal and an additional 80 Tier 1 Food. The wealth chests gave 132 Gold, 4 Silver,, and 59 Copper. With everything opened that I wanted to open done, I move on to our next steps. Getting more people and then finally tiering up the settlement.