Book 2 Ch. 19

After taking care of the Forgeborn incursion, Drew had returned home. He had to make a stop to see Mark and let him know that the tin cans were taken out for recycling, and that Sanctuary should be expecting a large influx of new minions and soulflames in short order. With the necessities out of the way, Drew did what he’d been looking forward to in many, many years… he slept in his own bed.

His body didn’t need more than a few hours of rest now, and he could easily push himself for almost ten days without taking the time to sleep, but it was a luxury that he’d missed dearly, and even after waking up, he decided to just sit in bed and do absolutely nothing for the first time in recent memory. There would always be things he needed to do, chores and errands that required his presence, but Drew took a full eight hours to just sleep and relax in his room, unbothered by the outside world. It was a short and simple vacation from responsibility, and he cherished every moment of it.

Sanctuary had Robert back, and the reborn man was officially taking over most of Drew’s domestic duties. As a Warden, Robert would be able to perform [The Rites of Passage], and he’d received a massive education in running settlements and cities, so Drew was more than happy to shrug off all those worries as he relaxed.

Drew eventually pried himself from his comfortable room, took a bath and grabbed some food before heading to find Mark. Several harvests from the farms had come in during Drew’s time away, and he was overjoyed to find fresh baked bread, BBQ beans and even some mediocre chilled beer available. Sanctuary now had a few cyromancers, or mages that specialized in ice magic, and it looked like they were being put to use in keeping food fresh, and beer cold. It was a small development that brought a big smile to his face.

While heading to find Mark, Drew saw his wife lounging in a new hammock under a small grouping of trees. Good, she’s relaxing as well. She deserves it after being stuck with me for nine years straight. Spock was seen as Drew neared Mark’s house, the eccentric man was in the nearby pasture, riding a Dicken around like a cowboy would with a horse. The giant bird trotted around in an almost prancing-like manner as Spock had a giant smile on his face. It was a day of rest for everyone.

Mark was home, and Drew invited his friend out. His friend was happy to learn that the nature of Drew’s visit wasn’t work related, but rather he wanted to catch up and relax for a bit. The world was being invaded, and people needed saving, but for Drew’s own mental and emotional well being, taking a day to himself for once, wouldn’t mean much in the long run.

“I can’t remember the last time we just hung out. Honestly, I’m not sure what we can do, it’s not like movie theaters, bars, or gaming stores are still around.” Drew chuckled, as the two men walked around the settlement.

“They exist again man, you’ve just gotta know the right people.” Mark smiled deviously, and pulled Drew to a new direction.

Drew soon found himself in what appeared to be a house near the center of the settlement, it was anything but a normal post-apocalyptic house. The building had been sectioned off into several small rooms, each the size of a small bedroom, and inside each was a large flatscreen TV, a couch, and several chairs.

“What is this?” Drew asked, looking around the room.

“Your movie theater, my lord.” Mark laughed.

“You’re shitting me… how?”

“While you were gone everyone in town began looking to me to solve their problems. Eventually The System recognized me as the temporary leader of Sanctuary and gave me some minor control over the settlement. One of the first things I did was use some of our excess income from the crystal mine to purchase these.” Mark said, motioning to the TV with his hand.

“Demonic TVs? Where did you get them?” Drew questioned, having figured out how the TVs could work.

“Junior. That little Garden Gnome has helped us out a ton. He found us some good deals on older models and I picked up enough to make this little theater. Folks here needed something other than work, they needed some semblance of their old lives back, if only for a couple hours at a time. I set this up so people could come watch their favorites when they had time to relax, and it really boosted morale.” Mark shrugged, smiling at his friend’s shocked expression.

“Wow. That’s awesome man. I’m honestly at a loss for words.” Drew said, still shocked to see real TVs that would work.

“Let’s watch something! I haven’t had a day off in forever, it’ll be cool to kick it with ya.” Mark added, smiling.

The two friends spent the late morning and early afternoon watching some of the classic favorites. Demonic TV had over a hundred dedicated channels to Earth’s productions, whether it was old stuff like “I Love Lucy”, or modern superhero movies, it was easy to find something to watch. They eventually left the building and went to the new tavern that had sprouted up in Drew’s absence.

They found a booth near a corner, and sat down to order some food and drinks. Drew was surprised when their server turned out to be Amber’s sister. After taking their order, she left and Drew was left with questions.

“You know that’s Amber’s sister right?” Drew asked, nodding to the retreating waitress.

“Oh yeah, I know her well by this point.” Mark laughed.

“What do you mean?” Drew asked, curious at the way Mark had worded his reply.

“Before you left, you set up a contribution system via Junior’s shop. When The System gave me temporary leadership, I was able to make some tweaks and changes. She wasn’t too happy with my changes and became a frequent flier on complainer airlines.” Mark chuckled, waving his hand.

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“What type of changes and tweaks did you do?” Drew asked.

“Nothing major, I kept everything close to your ideals and morals. Everything local is purchased with contribution points now, including food and clothing. If people don’t contribute… well that’s on them. Even the elderly folks have pitched in, although they get a small allowance so they don’t need to work as many hours for basic needs.” Mark answered, leaning back in the booth.

“So, she didn’t want to work for her stuff?” Drew guessed.

“Yup, that’s pretty much the gist of it. She tried everything to get out of it. Her having two kids to take care of, being a homemaker, you name it, she tried it. The woman just didn’t want to earn her own living. Do you know she’s still F Grade? She’s never lifted a finger to get stronger, even though evolving gives you a massively increased lifespan and less reliance on sleep.” Mark said passionately.

“That… doesn’t surprise me. Well, the working part. I kinda figured she’d want a longer life, and it’s not difficult to get to E Grade…” Drew started.

“I know, trust me I know. I’ve had the same conversation with her several times. Things changed when she refused to work, and her kids started to go hungry. She tried mooching off other people, playing the pity party game. Eventually, I was forced to step in and send people to take her kids so they were fed, and given a basic education in the new schooling system. Even then, she didn’t work. Her neighbor’s got tired of her shit, and stopped helping her, and her husband wasn’t able to cover all the food and other crap… so now she works here.” Mark said, interrupting Drew.

“Are my nieces okay now?” Drew asked, concerned for the kiddos.

“Yeah, they’re much better now. They love their teachers, and are doing well with their subjects. Both of them have taken up interests in professions as well. They’re both healthy, and well fed.” Mark answered.

“Good, that’s good. Are they back with their mom now?”

“Gods no. I set up a home for kids like them. Kids who’ve lost their parents, that sort of thing. They have a dorm mother that watches over them. Nice lady, elderly woman with lots of funny stories.” Mark said.

Drew sighed. He knew Amber’s sister was difficult, but he had hoped that The Descent would have changed her priorities around enough that she changed for the better. It seemed she hadn’t.

“I appreciate you looking out for them, and for forcing her to do something productive.” Drew said, rubbing his face.

“Don’t be surprised if she tries to talk to you about weaseling her way out of it. She tried throwing you and Amber’s names around to get her way, saying you’d make sure we were punished or thrown out. I knew it was bullshit, but just a heads up for the future.” Mark warned.

Sure enough, when their food came, she sat down at the booth with them and tried to push all the drama on Drew.

“No. Mark had my permission to make those changes. If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” Drew said for the fourth time.

“But…” She started.

“Look, I don’t give a fuck, okay? The only reason you’re even here is because Amber couldn’t stand the thought of monsters killing our nieces while you were in Florida. Nothing is changing, I don’t care what you have to say. If you want someone to bitch to, go tell Amber. She’ll laugh at you and tell you to suck it up and act like a fucking adult.” Drew interrupted her, losing his patience.

“You’re a piece of shit, and…”

Drew had enough, he released his aura in a controlled, but anger-filled manner, and directed it straight towards his sister-in-law. The woman’s head hit the table with a loud thud and she immediately blacked out. Drew retracted his aura, and ever so gently, stood up and lovingly shoved her out of the booth. When she hit the floor, he finally got to his grilled cheese sandwich with curly fries and the chocolate milkshake.

“My damn fries are cold now.” Drew muttered, shoving several into his mouth.

“Sorry man, I didn’t think she’d do that here.” Mark apologized.

“No worries man, it’s on her, not you. Let’s just enjoy our meal.” Drew waved his friend’s apology off.

The two friends spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing in a newly-built swimming pool. Or rather, the hot tub attached to the main pool. Just like with the TVs, Mark had purchased a running water upgrade for a small section of the settlement. It wasn’t in homes yet, as the crystal mine’s income was mostly being used to pay off the loan used to build it. But running water was available in the center of town, which included the tavern, pool, and a couple of places that were either public service, medical, food, or profession workshops.

The pool was built to be enjoyed by both adults and kids, and as summer was coming to a close, and it was easily over a hundred degrees, the place was packed. The guys alternated between the hot tub and the pool itself, but kept to themselves, often just shooting the shit, and catching up. Drew shared stories from his years in the dungeon, and Mark filled him in on all the crap that happened in Sanctuary, and all the stress he went through. Drew’s friend was incredibly happy to hear that Robert was back and taking charge of everything.

Eventually Mark and Drew parted ways, giving each other a hug and a solid pat on the back. Drew was happy to be back home, and he was glad he got a full day to kick back and relax, because now it was time to get serious and go back to work. He had people to save and recruit, and incursions to shut down.

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“I’ve swapped around your labor force. The people that were working in the mines are now free to pursue other goals as I’ve put minions to work down there. You had an extreme excess of minions, especially given that you’ve taken care of the Forgeborn. Rather than relying on the living, I’ve swapped them out with the dead. It’s menial labor for the most part, and the mine will be operating at full capacity now.” Robert said, sorting through paperwork as he spoke.

Drew had taken the rest of the day and night and spent it with Amber, having a romantic date night, and the following morning went straight to work by visiting Robert and seeing where things stood and where Drew was needed. They were now going over reports and changes.

“I’ve put your new soulflames to work scouting nearby areas. They are working in conjunction with our new Goblin and Dark Elf allies to find human towns and cities and assess their conditions. We do have a large number of soulflames sitting on standby for the moment. Once the income from the mines starts coming in, I’ll be ordering the construction of several buildings via the pillar of civilization to exploit local resources and open proper workshops for new professions.” Robert reported, going off the notes in his hands.

“Will we have enough money for all that? With the loan…” Drew started.

“The loan for the mine will be paid off very soon. Again, the mine is now fully staffed by minions. They don’t sleep, eat, or need constant micromanagement due to your increased skills and abilities. It’s important that we get these professions up and running quickly. With our scouts looking for survivors, we should expect a major influx of new citizens shortly once they learn that we offer safety, and we will have modern features throughout the homes soon, like running water. We need our professions to be up and running by the time that influx happens, or we’ll be overrun with issues that pop up.” Robert answered.

“I see. As long as you don’t think we’ll default on the loan, then it should be fine. With the mine maxed out with minions, how does our militia look? I’m assuming it’s lacking numbers now?” Drew asked.

“No, the numbers look good overall. Their strength is another question however, they’d deal with human threats well enough, but they’d take serious losses against D Grade enemies. Our other issue is the lack of necromancers to control them when you’re not issuing them orders directly. Right now, Sanctuary has five necromancers besides yourself, but they don’t have the same willpower stat you do, so they can only handle a handful of minions at a time. I do believe using some of the soulflames as necromancers would be wise, at least until we receive a new influx of citizens. Overall, I have few concerns regarding our security.”

Drew leaned back in his chair, pondering the soulflames briefly. Robert patiently waited for Drew to work things out in his mind.

“If the soulflames were previously our enemies, like the Forgeborn, then ya, go ahead and order them to do whatever. But if they were originally human, let them make their own decisions with class and professions. You can promote the necromancer class if you want, but we need to offer people something to encourage more folks to go in that direction.” Drew said, after some thought.

“I agree. I was hoping to ask The Lady to loan us some necromancer teachers. If we have an education system in place, more people will gain access to the class and have better results if they’re given an education of the class itself. As much as we’re no longer affected by them, most people don’t want to work with the undead. People find it creepy, or they think regular minions still have souls. With a proper foundation, the stigma may be reduced.” Robert explained.

“That makes sense, go ahead and make the request. Worst case, I’ll have to put in some time to teach people myself. Have you gotten any reports back on nearby towns and cities?” Drew asked.

“Yes, here’s what I’ve found out…” Robert said, leaning forward as he steepled his hands.