Kit turned his gaze to Mars and Twix. Kit could see the same look of excitement on their faces. Their eyes collided and all three let out joyous laughter.
“FUCK YES! We did it!” Mars received a slap on the back of his head from Grandpa at his outburst.
“Who taught you to speak like that? Do I need to wash that mouth out with soap?”
“Ahh, Grandpa I’m sorry it just slipped out. We have enough prestige points to promote the town now.” Mars’ face was flushed from receiving a reprimand from Grandpa.
Kit and Twix laughed harder at Mars’ uncomfortable face. Grandpas face changed from grumpy to astonished.
“Well, what are we waiting for then, let’s go promote the town. I will go and get the promotion token and meet you boys back at the town hall.”
Kit felt his heart jolt at Grandpa’s words. This was real! They were going to promote Spartan Fire from a hamlet to a small town! They could finally unlock the respawn arch. Kit would no longer have to be nervous about dying because he would respawn back in Spartan Fire.
Kit felt restless at this thought. His feet quickly took him to the town hall. He was not the only one unable to contain his enthusiasm. The three of them were laughing as they ran. They soon arrived at the entrance to the town hall.
When Kit reached the door to the town hall, he froze. The door to the town hall was closed and he could see a cat wearing a monocle carved into the surface. Kit sucked in a breath and eyed the door warily. The cat was very familiar to Kit.
As he stood frozen in place the eyes of the cat glared at him. Kit was worried that CAL would open its mouth and talk to him in front of his friends. Every time the AI talked to him it made him feel inferior and useless. He also was terrified he would somehow offend CAL each time they interacted.
Kit always felt that if he did, something bad would happen. He nervously glanced at Twix and Mars to see if they noticed the carving move its eyes. To his relief his friends were staring at him and not the door.
“What wrong Kit?” Twix inquired with a curious tone.
“Nothing, last time I entered the door was open, so I didn’t see the carving. I was just amazed at the detail on the door.”
“Ohh, this carving is standard for a town hall. It’s not really anything special. Those cats are seen on lots of buildings all over CAL. They are very cute, yes?”
Kit nervously replied to Twix. “Yes, the cat is very cute.”
Kit nervously stared at the door after calling CAL cute. He was happy to see that CAL had returned to normal and seemed to just be a regular carving once again. The movement of the cats’ eyes had scared him. He felt uncomfortable every time he had spoken to the AI. The fear of getting banned always played in the back of his mind each time the cat appeared.
Kit shook the fear away and pushed open the door. He felt a little weak in the knees, so he sat down on one of the chairs inside the room. It didn’t take Kit long to forget all about the carving on the door. Mars and Twix were still bouncing with excitement. Kit felt himself pulled back into an enlivened state and a smile soon spread wide.
“I wonder what the next promotion will entail.”
Kit could tell Mars mind was already ticking over with plan about the next phase of promoting Spartan Fire. Kit could only shake his head at his friend’s enthusiasm at building up the hamlet. As Kit was looking at Mars Grandpa hustled through the door.
“Got it. Alright which one of you is going to do the honours?”
Grandpa held a small golden token in his hand. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on the small token. Kit sucked in a breath at the sight.
“I think Mars should take the token. He has done the most work in the planning of the new areas. He was the one to come up with the idea to separate the market into sections and also planned out the improvements to all the structures. The rest of us just followed his ideas.”
Kit agreed with Twix suggestions. He had been too busy with the restaurant to really help with the town planning.
“Ok then, that’s settled.”
Grandpa handed the token to Mars. His friend’s hands trembled when he received the token. Kit smiled at the sight of a nervous Mars.
“How do I start the promotion?” Mars had a bewildered look on his face.
“No clue my boy. I have never done one before. Honestly, I didn’t think I would live to see Spartan Fire grow to a small village. I’m glad you two came to Spartan Fire so I could see my dream become reality.”
Grandpa had tears in his eyes as he spoke. Kit could only gape at the old man being moved to tears. He thought if they delayed any longer Grandpa would become a weeping mess.
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“Mars just say the words out loud. That should work right?”
Kit had a feeling that it would work. Mars shrugged then opened his mouth.
“Promote Spartan Fire.”
The token in Mars hand began to glow with a soft golden light. Soft tiny transparent threads of gold started to emerge from the token. As Kit watched in awe the threads bust out in a golden mass like water from a fountain.
The threads continued to flow until the whole room was filled in a golden flood of transparent threads. The golden glow from the threads started to increase in intensity until Kit could no longer keep his eyes open.
Kit heard a loud boom that frightened him into opening his eyes. The front door of the town hall had burst open and the threads were spilling out of the town hall into the air out side. Kit turned to look out the window.
The threads covered the entire plot of land that the town hall was built on. Kit squinted his eyes against the dazzling light. Through the cracks in his eye lids Kit watched as the golden threads started to swirl creating a large vortex.
He couldn’t see what was happening on the outside of the building. He could only see the threads swirling past the large glass window. Kit felt his heart start to thump. His heart increased with the swirling outside. When the threads reached a peak Kit thought his heat would leap out of his chest.
Suddenly the threads exploded. Golden glitter rained down outside. Kit sucked in a breath at the beautiful sight.
Ding!
[Spartan Fire promoted to small village]
Town hall can now be upgraded.
Please check Spartan Fire promotion information for new requirements.
Kits body erupted with joy it felt like his nerve endings were shot with electricity. Tingles swept across his whole body. Laughter burst forth from everyone in the room. Kit felt like the raining gold had infected everyone with a new virus that made one deliriously happy.
“O.M.G! WE DID IT!” Mars screech at the top of his lungs.
Kit couldn’t wait to see what changes had been made in the Spartan Fire tab. He quickly opened the menu.
Spartan Fire.
Size: Small village
Population: 52 residents
Spartan Fire Prestige: 75
Spartan Fire Points: 95,227
Daily income: 0
Blueprints unlocked: Mud Huts, Farm, Town Hall, market, Spartan Fire quest board, restaurant.
Kit’s eyes locked on the new size of Spartan Fire there in black and white was written their achievement. He quickly entered the blueprints tab to see if the respawn arch was available to purchase.
Upon opening the tab, he noticed that there had been a change to the layout of the blueprint screen. It now had tabs up the top to click on. It was sectioned out into housing, Spartan Fire government buildings/land, Spartan Fire defence, road infrastructure, industry, commerce, entertainment, environment, education, guilds, and Hidden buildings.
Kits eyes zoned in on the hidden buildings. He couldn’t help his finger jumping straight to the tab. He became enlivened at the prospect of a special building. He felt let down when he saw the empty screen underneath the tab. He wondered what he would have to do to get a hidden building.
The thought didn’t stay with him long as he soon went searching for the respawn arch. He found it under the Spartan Fire government buildings/land section. Kit felt a wave of excitement pass through himself until his eyes settled on the price.
“Squatting pumpkins! 100,000 Spartan Fire points to unlock.”
“Kit what the matter?”
Twix was standing at the window staring at the still raining golden glitter with a look of pure glee on his face.
“The respawn arch costs 100,000 points.”
“So much. I wasn’t expecting that. Don’t worry Kit we will prioritise the respawn arch. It is important for the village growth. Haha, I can say village now.”
Twix didn’t look at all dampened by the amount of points needed. Kit felt reassured by his nonchalant manner. It didn’t even register for Twix that they wouldn’t get the points needed to buy the blueprint. Kit felt elated once again.
They were close to the 100,000 points that they needed. With time they would get there. Kit just hoped he didn’t die before it happened. Now that the matter was confirmed to be prioritised Kit continued to see what else had been unlocked.
The buildings that they had available would be important to attracting new residents. Kit could only hope the new blueprints would be enough to entice people to permanently move to Spartan Fire. He opened the tab once again to see the new additions.
Basic buildings were now available to be unlocked under each tab. There was nothing special about the blueprints, but the village now had a wide variety of essential and simple structure to purchase. Kit felt relived at the sight.
Considering Spartan Fire was a small village Kit was happy with the options available. When he read each option he began to visualise what Spartan Fire would look like in the future. Kit was amazed he could actually imagine the village becoming prosperous.
When he first stepped foot into Spartan Fire and saw only three mud huts. Kit wouldn’t have believed that a week later they would promote the hamlet to a small village. With Mars passion to build the town, his own drive to gain more residents so he would have a stream of customers, and Twix knowledge of the area. Kit was positive his vision would one day become reality.
With thoughts swirling about upgrading the town, Kit decided to look at what the next promotion requirements were. He opened the information to see.
Spartan Fire Regional Promotion Requirements
Village
Village promotion token 0/1
Population 52/500
Cemetery 0/1
Blueprints unlocked 6/15
Spartan Fire Prestige 75/1000
Kit’s eye bulged at the jump in population and prestige needed to promote the small village to the next size. How long had Grandpa taken to get 50 permanent residents. Now the goal was 500 residents. Kit sighed, he really was going to have to do some research about town planning when he logged out.
He didn’t want to stay in his current clueless state. They would need to plan properly for the future, so streets didn’t become congested. He thought zones would be important too. So, planning early on for a prosperous town was critical for Spartan Fire development.
Kit closed the menu, he then looked to see if the other two had finished browsing the information. The pair still had a glazed look to their eyes. Kit sat back down on a chair to wait. Grandpa came over to him to talk while the other two were occupied.
“So come on spit it out. What is needed for the next Spartan Fire promotion?”
Kit laughed at the eager Grandpa. Kit quickly filled the old man in on what he had read. While they were talking Mars and Twix had exited their menus
Twix was the first one to speak out of the pair. “I’m starving. Let’s head over to the restaurant. I’m dying to try the new dishes. Then we can discuss everything over a meal.”
Grandpa and Mars quickly agreed with Twix.
The three hopeful gazes amused Kit. “Sure, sounds good.”
They left for the restaurant in a happy chatter.