Imri trudged back into Celestia, the journey far more strenuous than normal, with his over-channeling causing fatigue. This was further exacerbated by the fact that he was using a large portion of his MP regeneration to heal his physical injuries, making the debilitating debuff last longer. It had been a while since all three of his resources had been drained simultaneously, and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation. Still, he was far from the worst off.
The next morning, he awoke feeling a bit sore and groggy, but no worse than that. Emelia was still sleeping, having exerted herself as much as he had. He moved slowly, using every stat point to be as subtle as possible so she wasn’t disturbed.
He entered the town hall, assuming there were ongoing meetings to discuss the situation. The sounds of argument confirmed his hypothesis. He quietly entered the large conference room that now served as the town meeting hall. Almost a dozen people were in the room, most representing the leadership of various working groups, the council, and Russ. They all looked slightly bedraggled, suggesting this had gone on all night. This was especially true for Russ and Major Harper, who both came from the battle.
“We defeated one of them, gaining levels and materials. We also learned of their weakness; surely it can’t be that bad?” Emery asked.
“Maybe Imri can handle them, but the rest of us were almost entirely useless. The men watching the cave entrance have strict orders to report and retreat. Anything else would be suicidal,” Major Harper explained. All the eyes in the room shifted toward Imri.
“I wouldn’t actually mind facing another one of those things,” Imri admitted as he thought about the levels and achievements he could gain from such a feat. “Though, I don’t think I would want to fight them in the narrow passages within the caves. While I don’t mind being the plan, it does make me a bit nervous that I’m the only one who can deal with these things,” he added.
“Could you construct more of those Dimensional Sabers? They at least seemed somewhat effective,” the major suggested. Imri considered the suggestion and then nodded.
“It wouldn’t be too difficult. The problem has always been the incredible amount of mana they go through. Our mana infrastructure is coming along, but I’ll need to enchant more Mana Absorption Panels to compensate for the increased demand,” Imri said. He internally sighed at the tedious work ahead of him. At least his Runic Engineer quest was coming along quite nicely, being just over 10% complete but increasing rapidly with the most recent panels he had added.
“Whatever you need,” Laura said.
“Can we revisit my earlier proposal?” Christoph asked.
“For context, with the continual influx of refugees, we’re nearing the next rank up for the settlement. We’re still short on both objectives, but we should meet both requirements within a week or two,” Steve explained.
“That’s why it would be foolish to divert so many resources to Christoph’s proposed project,” Laura objected.
“What project?” Imri asked.
“A temple of unrivaled majesty, a beacon of hope in these troubling times,” Christoph said in an almost theatric tone.
“Why is this so important to you?” Imri asked, ignoring the merchant’s antics.
“Faith-based classes gain bonus experience from worship. The greater the physical manifestation of their devotion, the faster the XP gains,” Christoph admitted.
“Isn’t that too pragmatic? Faith should be more sacred, not something for XP,” Laura said.
“My goddess is a bit more pragmatic than the pre-integration gods,” Christoph said with a shrug. A few people in the room blanched at having their religious beliefs categorized by its founding era. Several looked a bit more offended, visibly angry at the merchant.
“But to have such excess when most people sleep out of tents? That doesn’t seem right to me,” Laura argued.
“Would you feel the same way if this was a temple towards your god?” Christoph asked. Laura fumed, looking like she would physically attack the merchant.
Imri held up his hands, stopping the bickering before it became contentious. “I’m not going to start mandating what people have to work on; that is too close to something unconscionable. I’m also not going to say who gets the first place of worship or anything like that. We’re still a free market and a religious freedom state, so long as no one is worshiping Ulzo or a similarly dark god. However, there won’t be tax benefits for being a religious institution, not with tangible XP benefits as a primary motivator.”
No one looked particularly happy with that outcome, which was a sign that it was a good compromise.
“We are approaching three months, and the system sale bonus won’t last much longer. I suggest we offer some incentives to encourage people not to hoard their resources,” Christoph suggested, changing the topic.
“You are more than welcome to reduce your profit margins to encourage sales,” Laura said.
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“I was thinking more along the lines of a tax benefit,” Christoph said, getting irritated looks from the city councilors.
“How about we do both?” Imri asked, unsure how he had been thrust into the mediator role. “We should agree to a percentage, and both parties reduce their percentage by the same amount.”
There were some grumblings and some back-and-forth arguments before both sides decided on a 10% reduction for the remainder of the system event. This was significant with the vast amounts of wealth they had just accumulated from defeating the Troglodytes and the Sentinel.
“The next item on the agenda is the return of one of the explorers, the one who was tasked with reaching Celeste’s Rest. He returned yesterday after successfully reaching the summit and placing Imri’s item. He gained quite a few levels from accomplishing this feat. However, it's not all good news. He reported seeing quite a few of the evolved Drakes as he ascended and several larger varieties that he is calling Dragons,” Steve intoned.
“Dragons? Isn’t that a bit dramatic?” Emery asked.
“According to his description, it is the most apt word. He didn't see any of them up close, but he believes they are several times larger than the Drakes we have dealt with so far," Steve said.
There were murmurs at that. The idea that the stupid flying crocodile creature could evolve into something majestic and powerful was intriguing. It also made Imri wonder what people could become as they evolved; would their transformations be just as dramatic? If so, what would a tier 3 person become?
“How is the radio project progressing?” Imri asked.
“I’ve completed the radio and a small proof of concept steam engine. All that’s needed is a way to convert mana into heat to power the boiler,” Imogen said.
“Perfect. Major, your radio tower should be up and running by the end of the day,” Imri said with a wide grin.
“How? We haven’t even started the tower,” Major Harper said.
“I anchored the Spatial Beacon far above the object that was carried to the summit, about a radio tower’s height,” Imri hinted.
“Would you still need the equipment to be there?” the major asked, still confused. Imogen was smiling, having caught on to Imri’s trick.
“The whole point of the radio tower being so high is to prevent the radio waves from being obstructed. However, if there was a portal leading to the same position, it’s functionally the same thing as if the transmitter were at that point,” Imri explained.
“Very good,” the major said after people had a moment to digest the information.
“If there’s nothing else, I would like to complete this project before another Sentinel shows up,” Imri said, moving to leave despite being the newest arrival. A moment later, Imogen and Major Harper were following behind him.
Imogen led them to the setup she had built. It was built close to the lake with a pump to pull water into the boiler. Imri tasked Toby with constructing the leylines while he began work on the enchantment. After having completed a water heater, there was little he needed to adjust in his design apart from scaling up the heat rune. His work was done in less time than it took for Imogen to run through some final checks.
It was an inefficient chain, mainly due to how scaled down their components were, but they now had electricity. Imogen ran a few more tests before nodding and connecting the radio to the power source.
“Let me know when you are ready, Major Harper. I won’t be able to keep the portal open for too long for this initial test.”
The major nodded and began adjusting the channel to a specific frequency. Imri could see him mentally rehearsing what he was going to say. After a few moments, he nodded.
Imri began to open a portal. Unlike every other portal he had opened, this one curved around, enveloping the transmitter as completely as he could without destroying it. The distance to the summit was fairly significant, and even with his Spatial Beacon, his mana dropped precipitously. Fortunately, the drain subsided to a steady trickle once the portal was opened, as the actual surface area was far smaller than anything needed for people to traverse it.
“This is Major Owen Harper of the United States Army sending out an emergency transmission,” he said, followed by a string of numbers and letters to authenticate his identity. “I’m with a group of several hundred survivors in a mountain village about two hundred klicks south of Minneapolis.”
“Ten-four, Major Harper. This is Specialist Mills of the United States Army stationed in New Chicago,” a man said on the radio, giving his authentication code, which the major fastidiously recorded. The connection was a bit spotty, with much of the communication coming through with frequent crackles. “Please wait while I contact my commanding officer.”
“I won’t be able to keep the connection that long,” Imri said. While he had regained his mana fully, the over-channel debuff had only recently lapsed. If he pushed himself hard for a second day in a row, he wouldn’t have been able to help if the Sentinels had decided to show up.
“Negative, Specialist Mills. I can only keep this communication open for a minute due to the mage’s mana levels. We will try to be on this channel at the same time tomorrow,” Major Harper explained.
“Ten-four,” the specialist said. With the remaining time the major had at his disposal, he quickly explained the threat the Chixel and the Azala posed. He hadn’t gotten far when Imri was forced to release the spell as the over-channel debuff started up again.
“I had to drop the spell,” Imri stated. The major just nodded stoically and continued trying to reestablish communications despite everyone knowing it was futile. Despite this, the major continued attempting to contact New Chicago for several minutes.
“New Chicago, do you think they’re like us, survivors from Chicago that have banded together and built a new settlement?” Major Harper mused as they walked back to the town hall to let everyone know they had contacted another settlement.
“Maybe,” Imri said with a shrug. “It might be a good idea to search in the general direction Chicago would be in, which is almost straight east from here. This assumes the cities are in a relatively similar location to where they were before the integration, which was the case with Kansas City. They are just more dispersed, with different geographical features added in.”
The news of another settlement was met with enthusiasm. There was also much speculation about how New Chicago compared with Celestia. Imri felt a pang of guilt for only being able to keep the portal open for the brief window he had. His mind began racing as he thought of a more permanent solution to the communications issue.