When the Tent’s construction was complete, Elena opened the system pane for the Tent.
----------------------------------------
TENT
A simple tent with wooden poles containing some blankets. Provides a place for citizens to rest. Can house four people at a time.
Low-Grade
Durability: 10/10
Shield: 1
FACILITIES
Bed Lvl 1
A large blanket for Citizens to rest under.
Cost: 1 Pelt
0/4 Built
UPGRADE
A large tent with wooden poles containing cots, small lockers, and a table. Provides a place for citizens to rest and relax. Can house ten people at a time.
Durability
20
Shield
2
Cost
35/20 Wood
95/10 Pelts
Build Time
40 minutes
----------------------------------------
Having already discussed the next few steps with Malik, Elena promptly pressed the “upgrade” button for the Tent and instructed Maria to commence construction. Once the Tent reached Standard-Grade, it was possible to turn it into a specialized building, such as the Command Center. Elena continued to gather wood with Malik while waiting for the upgrade to finish and opened the system pane back up when it was.
----------------------------------------
TENT
A large tent with wooden poles containing cots, small lockers, and a table. Provides a place for citizens to rest and relax. Can house ten people at a time.
Standard-Grade
Durability: 20/20
Shield: 2
FACILITIES
Bed Lvl 1
A large blanket for Citizens to rest under.
Cost: 1 Pelt
0/10 Built
SPECIALIZATIONS
Command Center
A large tent with a desk for the Lord and a large command table filled with maps. All territory activities can be directed from the command center.
Durability
50
Shield
5
Cost
67/20 Wood
85/10 Pelts
Build Time
120 minutes
Canteen
A large tent with cooking equipment and a single large table. Turns food Resources into Meals.
Durability
40
Shield
4
Cost
67/10 Wood
0/1 Iron
Build Time
80 minutes
Infirmary
A large tent filled with cots and medical equipment. Injured citizens can receive first aid here to stabilize an injury.
Durability
40
Shield
4
Cost
85/10 Pelts
67/10 Wood
0/2 Iron
Build Time
80 minutes
Storehouse
An extra spacious tent filled with racks and boxes. Can store up to 10,000 Resources. Resources in the Storehouse are automatically transferred to build sites and do not degrade.
Durability
40
Shield
4
Cost
67/40 Wood
Build Time
80 minutes
UPGRADE
A massive tent with multiple segmented rooms supported by sturdy pillars. Contains multiple bunk-beds, lockers, and tables as well as a bathroom and a common area. Provides a place for citizens to rest and relax. Can house fifty people at a time.
Durability
50
Shield
5
Cost
85/100 Pelts
67/20 Wood
0/5 Stone
0/1 Iron
Build Time
120 minutes
----------------------------------------
As soon as she was able, Elena started construction on the Command Center specialization. Participating in construction consumed one Stamina per minute. Consequently, Maria had to take multiple breaks to complete the building of the Command Center. Unfortunately, Malik couldn't assist, as only civilians were eligible for construction.
The time it took between initiating construction on the Low-Grade Tent and completing the Command Center stretched to over four hours. During this period, Elena and Malik had thoroughly cleared the area under the Novice Barrier of any available wood. To acquire more, they would either need to leave the barrier or find tools suitable for chopping down trees.
Once the construction was finished, Elena opened the Command Center system pane.
----------------------------------------
COMMAND CENTER
A large tent with a desk for the Lord and a large command table filled with maps. All territory activities can be directed from the Command Center.
Low-Grade Command Tent
Durability: 50/50
Shield: 5
FACILITIES
Commander’s Desk Lvl 1
A desk where the commander can review their citizen’s information.
Cost: 3 Wood
0/1 Built
Commander Table Lvl 1
A table covered in maps that allows a Lord to develop their territory and provides one point of interest each day.
Cost: 5 Wood and 1 Pelt
0/1 Built
UNLOCKED BUILDINGS
Training Field (Low-Grade)
A large field surrounded by a wooden fence. It contains the facilities necessary to train an individual’s Survivability and Lethality. Can train up to twenty-five individuals at once.
Durability
100
Shield
1
Cost
150 Pelts
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
100 Wood
50 Grain
Build Time
5 hours
UPGRADE
A massive tent with a desk for the Lord and a large command table filled with maps. There are also desks for two Administrators. All territory activities can be directed from the Command Center.
Durability
100
Shield
10
Cost
84/20 Wood
75/20 Pelts
0/5 Iron
Build Time
4 hours
----------------------------------------
After perusing the information, Elena built both of the Command Center’s Facilities. Unlike Buildings, Facilities were built immediately after paying the cost and didn’t need a Civilian to work on them.
Once she did, Elena walked into the Command Center, and true to its description, the interior featured a large table covered in maps, with a desk at the end. Elena first walked over to the desk and ued it to check her Citizens information.
----------------------------------------
CITIZENS
Champions
Name
Species
Class
Loyalty
S
L
A
D
E
Malik Khan
Human
Ranger
75
2/7
2/11
0/6
4/6
2/5
Artisans
[None]
Soldiers
[None]
Civilians
Name
Species
Loyalty
Employment
Maria Rodriguez
Human
49
None
----------------------------------------
Elena nodded then turned her attention to the table covered in maps. Most of the maps were blank, except for the one in the middle displaying a bird’s eye view of her territory. It showed a blue circle with the Arch of Champions, represented as a miniature, at the center. Next to it was a miniature tent that clearly represented the Command Center and a small toy soldier. Further away, on one of the blank maps, was another miniature — a small flag.
“Malik,” Elena called out to her champion. “What do the soldier and the flag tokens represent?”
“The soldier is myself,” Malik replied. “Champions are special and, unlike your other citizens, can be tracked from the map. As for the flag, that is a point of interest revealed for your daily intelligence report.”
Elena nodded, recalling the information from the system pane. She estimated that the point of interest was a little under four kilometers away.
“Do you know what we’ll find there?”
“I don’t know specifically, but in the first stage of the tutorial, there are only a few possibilities. Another Lord’s territory, a monster camp, a dungeon, a wandering boss, a Resource mine, or a resource cache,” Malik explained. “If it were a wandering boss, the flag would be moving, so we can rule that out. We can also eliminate the possibility of it being another Lord’s territory, a monster camp, or a mine, as those would be farther from us. So, it must be either a dungeon or a resource cache.”
“What does that mean for us?” Elena asked. “Should we make that point of interest our next target? Are the benefits worth the risk of leaving the Novice Barrier?”
“Right now, there’s not much risk of leaving the Novice Barrier,” Malik said with a shake of his head. “Monsters only spawn at night, so there are only beasts to worry about, and most will be weak. As for your first question, it depends. A resource cache would give us a Daily Draw Token, allowing you to make another draw on the Arch of Champions. If it's a dungeon, there are numerous benefits it could provide. On top of being a place to hunt monsters for Loot Tokens, we can occupy a dungeon and exploit the resources and facilities there.”
“Since the benefits are substantial, go take a look for me,” Elena said with a grin. “If it's a resource cache, grab the token; if it's a dungeon, come back here.”
----------------------------------------
Malik held a small map showing both his position and the point of interest as he moved toward it. This was another benefit of the Command Center and was vital for moving around outside one’s territory if you didn’t have someone with the Navigation skill.
Although the terrain in the tutorial was mostly randomly generated, Malik navigated the area with ease. What terrain hadn’t he seen in the countless years he’d roamed the tutorial as a champion for myriad Lords?
Malik first died a long time ago, nearly two thousand years ago. As a Lord, he’d managed to clear the tutorial but was killed only a year after entering his first leaf on the world tree. He’d become relatively powerful, allowing him to become a summonable champion, however, he was only the lowest level of champion — available in the tutorial and only in the early stages at that.
Lords could strengthen their citizens, including their champions, raising not only their levels but their potential. However, the resources needed to do so were very rare in the tutorial, and most Lords would use them on themselves instead. As such, Malik had stagnated for hundreds of years.
Moreover, not a single Lord he’d served had passed the tutorial. At least not with him still alive. Some failed at the monster tide stage. They neglected to properly prepare despite his warning or were simply unlucky and didn’t have the strength necessary to survive when the time came. Most, however, failed at one of the two group stages.
When a Lord first enters the tutorial, they arrive on a piece of land shaped like a triangle. Two sides are rivers, and the last is mountains. Within this sector, there will always be two Lords. After the monster tide, a bridge will appear where the two rivers meet, allowing the Lords to cross over to the next stage of the tutorial and fight to enter a root of the world tree.
However, the bridge will only allow passage if one of the two Lords is dead. If you were lucky, your opponent would die in the beast tide, giving you a head start in reaching the world tree’s root. If you were truly unlucky, you would defeat your opponent in a pyrrhic victory, then quickly get overwhelmed in the second group stage.
In the second group stage, there will always be six Lords — those that were victorious in the first group stage. Of these, only two can enter the root of the world tree. The first group stage would usually last between a week and a month depending on how cautious the two Lords were. The second stage, however, could last over a year. Sometimes multiple years.
The typical strategy in the second group stage was to monopolize the resources in your area after blockading the bridge that provided the only passage over. The dungeons, the Resource mines, and everything else. Then you would hole up in your fortress and try to defeat other Lords in theirs.
It was rare for a single Lord to be powerful enough to overpower another in plain combat, so the second stage was marked by intense political intrigue. Political intrigue that Malik had no talent in. As such, he was usually used as cannon fodder. Here he would either die or fail to protect his Lord.
Malik pushed past some tall grass as he looked down at the map in his hands, staring at the spot marking the territory of his newest Lord. She confused him, but at the same time, inspired hope for the first time in centuries that he might advance past his current rank. He knew better than to get his hopes up, especially so early in the tutorial, but he couldn’t help it.
Not only did she follow his advice closely, allowing the territory to quickly develop, she had the most crucial value any Lord could have: Luck! She’d had an almost perfect first draw that allowed her to advance at the quickest rate possible. He’d seen dozens of Lords that drew a champion on their first day, but for most, it was less useful than just drawing a civilian since champions couldn’t be used to build things.
A sudden jolt pulled Malik out of his thoughts as he felt the ground give way beneath him. Reacting quickly, he twisted his spine like a cobra, allowing him to dart back onto solid ground.
Below him, a hole had opened up, revealing a set of stairs leading to a pair of double doors—the unmistakable entrance to a dungeon. Glancing down at the map, Malik confirmed his suspicion: this was not the point of interest he was heading towards.
Malik grinned. Perhaps this new Lord’s luck was even better than he’d thought.
----------------------------------------
Elena was meditating in the seat of the Lord’s desk in the Command Center. She was not a naturally patient person, but being an assassin required a great deal of it, so she had learned techniques to ensure her lack of patience would never be a problem.
Even so, it was hard to suppress the nervous energy inside her. She’d been watching Malik’s soldier token move around on the map since he’d left. The map would get partially filled in everywhere he walked, and about halfway to his destination, a miniature stone gate had appeared. Malik’s token had then continued to the point of interest, which had changed from a flag to a star-shaped token before disappearing altogether. That had been twenty minutes ago, and now Malik’s soldier token was rapidly moving towards the Command Center.
“I’m back, my Lord.” Malik pushed open the flap of the tent and greeted Elena. “I successfully retrieved a Daily Draw Token from the marked location.”
“I noticed a new token appear on the map.” Elena replied, ignoring the cheeky grin on Malik’s face. “What did you find?”
“That would be a beginner dungeon, my Lord.” Malik replied while flipping the Daily Draw Token to Elena. “It’s a five-person dungeon named Gnarth’s Domain. Don’t worry about that for now, my Lord. We don’t have the power needed to clear it.”
Elena caught the Daily Draw Token. It was the size of a coaster and made of solid metal. One side had an image of the Arch of Champions, but clearly one of a much higher level. On the other side, was an inverted tree.
“Then let's try my luck.” Elena said with a grin. “If we get a few more citizens, we may be able to challenge the dungeon.”
Elena left the Command Center with Malik in tow and walked over to the Arch of Champions. Maria, who was outside building another Tent, looked up to watch the scene with cautious eyes. Elena tossed the coin through the arch, causing it to dissolve into blue particles which quickly filled the entire arch with a bright glow. When the glow disappeared, there were three people and two crates under the arch.
The boxes both contained Wood, a hundred and ten units in total. As for the people, two were civilians and the last was a soldier.
----------------------------------------
CARMEN DELGADO (SOLDIER)
I’ve finally been summoned again. I hate being in the abyss...
Loyalty: 75
Class
Discipline
HP
AC
SP
None
None
15/15
2
125/125
Survivability
Lethality
Awareness
Dungeoneering
Exploration
0/2
1/2
1/3
2/3
1/7
SKILLS
Basic Spearplay (Lvl 1)
Provide proficiency with spears, removing the untrained damage penalty.
White Common
GEAR
Spear (Two-Handed)
A spear.
Durability: ∞/∞
Damage
1d3+1
Type
Piercing
White Common
Leather Chestpiece (Body Armour)
A piece of leather armor that provides +1 Armor.
Durability: ∞/∞
White Common
Leather Helmet (Hat)
A piece of leather armor that provides +1 Armor.
Durability: ∞/∞
White Common
----------------------------------------
Elena wore a smug smile on her face as she glanced over at Malik expectantly. Wasn’t this just perfect? She needed a soldier, and now she had one. With this, wouldn’t it be possible to attempt to clear the dungeon if they used the new civilians to make up numbers?
Malik sighed when he saw that smile. His new Lord’s luck really was quite high.
“I know what you want to ask, my Lord, and I think it might be barely possible.” Malik stuck out a finger to stop Elena from responding. “However, there are four things you must know first. One, if you use a weapon without the corresponding skill, you will always deal the minimum damage so the civilians will not be very useful. Two, the boss of the dungeon will be very dangerous, and to ensure the safety of everyone involved, you will need to come with us and use your damage voucher to kill the boss instead of saving it. Three, as a Lord, you have a special privilege, you’ll gain proficiency in the first weapon you use. Think carefully whether you want to have Quarterstaff Fighting be your free skill. Four, anyone who falls below seventy-five percent of their max health will slowly bleed to death. Although we will likely find the Iron we need to build an Infirmary, if the injury is too severe, the individual will likely bleed to death before it is finished.”
When Malik finished, he crossed his arms and waited for Elena’s reply. In many ways, this was a good test for the new Lord. Would she choose caution and give up the chance to get ahead of the competition? A Lord without ambition would quickly die. In Malik’s evaluation, it wouldn’t be too hard to clear the dungeon so long as the Lord kept her wits about her and let him take the lead. Even if the soldier or one of the civilians died in the process, Malik had the confidence to protect both himself and the Lord.
“None of those are problems.” Elena responded without hesitation. “Clearing the dungeon is something we need to do, and if we have the power, I would rather do it now when there aren’t monsters running around that could attack us on our way back.”
Malik smiled approvingly.
“In that case, we should wait for construction to begin on a Standard-Grade Tent so that we can upgrade it to an Infirmary as soon as we return. After that, we can go out and clear the dungeon.”
Elena smiled then gestured to Maria who was already hard at work on a second Standard-Grade tent. She knew better than to leave assets idle and had been working her one civilian constantly.
Before leaving, Maria also queued up construction of four more Low-Grade Tents. Although she needed to be in the Territory to start construction or an upgrade, she could queue up worksites and have her civilians work automatically. Unfortunately, she could only have one civilian working on construction at a time until she appointed some Administrators. Otherwise, they would be able to work together and complete the building in a third of the time.