*PING!*

Scan Complete

“I’ll never get used to that damn sound.” Drew muttered with a frown on his face.

“What sound?” Sindra asked.

“That freaking chime that The System uses for notifications. Everytime it goes off, I almost jump out of my skin.” Drew complained.

“You know you can just turn that off, right?” Sindra chuckled.

“What!? How?” Drew demanded.

“Just go through your notification settings and set it to mute. I assume the scan is finished now?” Sindra asked.

Drew combed through the menu and notification settings while he internally cursed The System for not giving people a proper tutorial. Eventually he found the option and disabled it by mentally smashing that fucking button. Hard.

“Thanks for telling me, otherwise I might have gone through life paranoid that the chime would end up getting me killed. Yeah, the scan finished a couple of seconds ago.” Drew replied.

“Good. Before you choose anything, let me know what the scan results said, I might be able to recommend more profitable ventures.” Sindra offered.

Drew nodded his head in reply. He lazily pulled up the scan results, knowing that it wouldn’t find anything valuable due to his state being practically worthless prior to the integration of The System.

Scan Results

Resource: Mana Infused Timber

Quality: Grade F

Quantity: Grade D

Building Options Unlocked: Forester’s Lodge, Lumber Mill, Storage Depot, Bower, Engineer’s Workshop, Carpenter’s Workshop

Resource: Domesticated Animals

Quality: Grade E

Quantity: Grade F

Building Options Unlocked: Husbandry Farm, Animal Processing Workshop, Butcher’s Shop, Tannery, Leatherworker’s Workshop, Dairy Workshop

Resource: Mana Infused Flora & Fungi

Quality: Grade E

Quantity: Grade E

Building Options Unlocked: Herbalist’s Lodge, Alchemist’s Workshop, Farm, Bakery, Poisoner’s Den

Resource: Mana Crystals

Quality: Grade C

Quantity: Grade B

Building Options Unlocked: Mana Crystal Mine, Mana Crystal Processing Workshop, Enchanting Workshop, Clothier’s Workshop, Tinkerer’s Workshop, Archivist’s Workshop

“Huh, I guess there are a few more options than I originally thought. So, how do these buildings work? Do I build them and The Baleful Lady sends me employees, or do we staff them ourselves? Plus, what’s the difference between summoning a building via The System, and just building one by ourselves?” Drew asked, questions rolling through his head.

“Whoa, slow down there. One at a time.” Sindra chuckled.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just excited that we even have options. I kinda figured that we’d be shit out of luck.” Drew apologized.

“The buildings are provided by The System itself, for a price. Your people are responsible for staffing them, however the buildings come with everything necessary for their operation. This includes all the tools, as well as manuals on how to operate said tools, and custom professions related to the buildings.” Sindra explained.

“Ah, so if we built them ourselves we wouldn’t receive the custom professions or tools, nor the manuals that teach the tool usage. That’s a kick in the balls, I’m guessing that making the tools ourselves and learning to use them would be a pain in the ass?” Drew asked her for clarification.

“Essentially, yes. Your people could get the professions over time with trial and error, but it would be a long process. Additionally, the buildings come with bonuses from The System that increase productivity. As for the tools, your Soulsmith might be capable of making some, but likely not all of them.” Sindra answered.

“Interesting, so there’s a definite upside to using The System’s stuff. What’s the price you were talking about?” Drew asked.

“It would depend on the building, and its function. Currently, you’re broke, and The Lady and I cannot just give handouts to a brand new settlement on a newly integrated world. If your force was already established and you were conquering a world, then you may be entitled to ask for assistance, but currently it comes out of the settlement’s, and your personal pockets.” Sindra explained.

“Well shit, nothing can be easy, can it? How am I supposed to purchase the buildings when I don’t have money?” Drew asked.

“Since your settlement and force is new, The System will offer the buildings to you, but you’re responsible for paying it back once they’re in operation.”

“So, it’s like a loan basically?” Drew asked.

“Yes, you could think of it that way. Although you make the payments over time, the total cost will be greater than if you purchased them outright.”

“The System charges interest?!” Drew said, almost blowing a blood vessel.

“Of course! Nothing is free in the Multiverse. That’s why I asked you to hold off on any purchases until you consulted with me. All buildings can be beneficial, but not every building will produce enough income to pay back your loans quickly enough. Trust me, you do not want to miss a payment to The System.”

“Fucking wonderful. Just when I thought our old world was gone, now our debtors are all-powerful, all-seeing, super AIs.” Drew sighed.

“Don’t fret, I’ll help you pick the best options. Plus, it’s not like you have a lot of citizens, so you shouldn’t buy too many buildings anyways. If you can’t staff them, you’d just be digging yourself into a hole.” Sindra offered.

“Alright, I appreciate your assistance. The last thing I need is debt. Oh, speaking of money, how does that work? How do we make income from selling the stuff we produce when none of us have money?” Drew suddenly wondered.

“You’ll purchase a Store from The System. Unlike other buildings, these come fully staffed, and they’re independently owned by merchants throughout the cosmos. Those merchants have the ability to import and export goods, and thus you earn money.” Sindra answered.

“Cool, that’ll make life a bit easier. If they can import stuff, that means we can get stuff that we can’t produce ourselves, which would be great since Sanctuary is so small.”

“That’s right. So, what did the scan come back with?” Sindra asked.

“Uh… let’s see, Timber…” Drew began.

“Just share the screen.” Sindra laughed.

“That’s a thing too?” Drew asked, clearly exasperated.

“Yes, I apologize for laughing, this type of stuff are things we teach children. Just mentally command the screen to appear for me.” Sindra said, trying hard not to smile.

Drew sighed. He wondered if this was what old people felt like with new technology like smartphones and smart-home fixtures. No wonder those old farts were always so grumpy… I guess I’m the old fart now though… Drew flipped the screen and shared it with Sindra, eagerly awaiting her advice.

The Valkyrie nodded that she’d gotten the screen, and Drew could see her begin to read through the options due to the movement of her eyes. He really hoped that there were a few good options so his settlement wouldn’t be in debt forever. He had enough to worry about as it was, between the incursions and him needing to go off training in The Lady’s realm for a while to boost his level.

He knew the town would be safe with the Valkyries watching over the defenses, but that didn’t mean shit when his people needed to go out leveling. His minions would be pretty useless as well, since he wouldn’t be around to give them commands. The birds had acted as scouts for so long, but now the citizens would have to start doing patrols again to look for incoming danger and scout for survivors.

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Additionally, they really needed to start reaching out to the other towns and cities nearby. If there were survivors, they might need rescuing. Drew hoped that his people wouldn’t encounter another group of people like the old town council, but part of him realized that it was incredibly likely that people had taken advantage of the chaos of The Descent.

Drew had been incredibly lucky to be chosen as a progenitor, and for his friends and family to work together to build and buy everything they had prior to The Descent. The chances of another progenitor being nearby, or even in Oklahoma at all was abysmally low. Even if there was another progenitor locally, who knew if they had the same moral compass. There was plenty of evil before The System, and now that people had magic powers and super-strength…

He didn’t want to be pessimistic about it, but he knew people could be real dickheads to other human beings, even without the powers and stats. He had no idea what was happening in the major cities across the globe, but his imagination could run wild with the possibilities. People out there wouldn’t have land to hunt or grow their own food, and with technology in the shitter, all logistics and food production would have stopped.

People were likely starving, dead, or formed into gangs or militias for protection. When supplies would start to run low, the people would likely turn on each other in order to survive. Drew grimaced at the thought and quickly turned his attention back to Sindra. She stood there with her mouth open, her finger pointed at the invisible screen. Her eyes were shooting back and forth quickly. Great, it’s even worse than I imagined. Maybe we should just focus on ourselves for awhile before fucking with The System’s stuff.

“You can say it, I know it’s bad.” Drew said to her.

Her eyes quickly shot up and focused on him.

“Bad? You’re rich! You’re richer than me and you’re still in E Grade and on a tiny dirtball!” Sindra practically screamed.

“Uh, come again?” Drew asked, clearly not hearing her correctly.

“The mana crystal mine! Do you have any idea how lucky you are? No, of course you don’t. You’re rich, rich, rich!” She said, her wings flapping hard enough to blow dust in the air as she began to hover.

“The mana crystal mine is that good?” Drew asked, getting slightly excited as well.

“Good? It’s fantastic! That’s a C Grade Deposit, and it’s in a newly integrated world! It’s only going to get better with time!” She yelled, hovering in mid-air.

“Okay, okay. Chill out, will ya? Explain it to me, we’re newly integrated, remember?” Drew said, trying to get his friend to calm down and clarify things.

Sindra suddenly realized she was flapping her wings and hovering in mid-air, kicking up dust and dirt. She looked to Drew and saw him covering his mouth and nose with his shirt so he didn’t cough from the dust again. Her wings stopped flapping and she landed on the ground with a *Thud*. She rubbed the back of her head, and her cheeks grew rosy in color.

“Ah, sorry about that.” She coughed into her hand.

“You’re good, just tell me what’s going on with the mana crystals or whatever.” Drew waved off her apology.

“Mana crystals are an incredibly important resource for any faction or force. They have a myriad of uses, and are fairly expensive. Lower grade crystals aren’t rare, but they’re always in high demand. Mid-grade crystals, like the mine that you have, are uncommon and very high in demand. To put it simply, you don’t have any money problems to worry about. Over time, the crystals below the earth may even rise to B Grade in quality, and A Grade in quantity.” Sindra said enthusiastically.

“No money problems, huh? That’s great news, what are these crystals good for?” Drew asked.

“Everything. They can make potions stronger, you can run defensive and offensive arrays on them, your homes can have mana-based power run through them, allowing for things like running water and plumbing and even television without using batteries. They can be used to enchant items with magical properties, they can be infused into various materials to increase their durability and magical attunements.” Sindra began.

“Archivists can use them to hold knowledge, information, and even sharable skills, classes, and professions once the Archivists become high enough leveled. The crystals can be used to passively level people, even though the effect is limited and slow.” Sindra finished, taking a deep breath.

“Holy crap, they really do all that? And they can level people?” Drew asked.

“Yes, a C Grade crystal can level a fresh level one F Grade to E Grade in two weeks if absorbed correctly! An E Grade can get to D Grade in three or four months.”

“Shit… that’s… good. Really good. No wonder you said these are so high in demand.” Drew said, a bit flabbergasted.

“It’s very good. You’ve hit the motherlode, you’re filthy rich. That deposit alone is worth more money than I’ve made in my lifetime, and I’m in B Grade. It’s enough money to properly fund a small C Grade faction.” Sindra said, her wings starting to flap again.

“Wow, so you’re saying I should buy the Farm and Dairy Workshop then?” Drew asked with a smile.

“What?! No! …Oh. You said that in jest.” Sindra sighed, giving Drew an evil look.

“I got you that time!” Drew chuckled.

“I will remember this in the future.” Sindra said, while Drew suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

“Right, so, I should build the Mana Crystal Mine, but should I bother with anything else?” Drew asked, quick to change the subject.

“Yes, I recommend the mine and the processing workshop. Processed crystals will sell for a much higher premium than unprocessed products.” Sindra said.

“Do I have enough people to run both of those?” Drew asked, trying to get a handle on the new industry.

“No, but it won’t matter. Even with twenty or thirty people running them, you should make your money back in several months at most, even with the interest The System charges, and that’s including a Shop. If you were running it at full capacity, you’d pay everything off in a couple days. Plus, with a mine and processing workshop, the Shops from the merchant factions will practically be clawing over each other to own a branch at your settlement. You won’t need to settle for some tiny, no-name merchant company.” Sindra said, explaining some of the benefits.

“I’m guessing that’s a good thing?” Drew asked.

“Yes. The bigger names will have access to more products, better prices, and they even offer certain services. Not to mention the bigger names come from a large, stable mercantile corporation. That means you won’t deal with any shady businesses, or people with low reputations. Overall, this is fantastic news, and The Lady will be thrilled.” Sindra said, nodding her head.

“Alright, I guess I’ll purchase them now. Can you show me how this works?” Drew asked.

***************************************************************

An hour or so later, the crystal mine and processing workshop were both summoned. The deposit ended up being in the wooded area to the west of Sanctuary, and as it turned out, it was likely the cause of the original horde of goblins that had spawned during The Descent. The excess mana from the deposit leaked into the environment and formed the goblins.

In a similar manner, most of the mana infused wood and wild herbs were located in that general area as well. Drew didn’t bother messing with the building required for those industries yet. Sanctuary didn’t have enough people to benefit from them, especially not with the mine and processing workshop already placed.

Sindra confirmed that she would let the citizens of Sanctuary know about the mine and workshop once Drew had left for The Lady’s realm. It was one less thing Drew would need to worry about while he was gone. Of course, Sanctuary still required a Shop so they could actually sell the processed mana crystals.

Sindra was currently helping Drew compose an advertisement to post in The System’s mercantile section. The System wouldn’t allow any exaggerations or white lies from a settlement, so most of the important information was automatically included. The info The System provided included the world, how long it had been integrated, its size and grade, and the settlement’s population and industry buildings.

The advertisement portion was an area where the settlement owner could provide specific information that any potential company would see. What made the settlement stand out, and what benefits the settlement could provide the company.

“You’re really sure we should use this as the advertisement?” Drew asked, unsure of his companion’s opinion.

“I’m positive. Trust me, this is a big deal to a lot of people in the Multiverse.” Sindra said.

“It’s just… it feels a bit scammy.” Drew said.

“How is it anything like a scam?” Sindra asked.

“The title literally says, ‘From the world that brought you The Lord of the Rings’, folks might think we’re from that fictional story. All that stuff was written as a book like fifty years ago, and it is one hundred percent fiction. We had no magic, no wizards, none of it was even remotely real. I’m just worried people will come here, and get super pissed that it was all made up.” Drew said.

“But it’s not a scam, it’s totally accurate. There are no lies in the title or the description.” Sindra defended her position.

Drew sighed.

“I just don’t want to piss people off. We just got integrated into a wider cosmos, humanity doesn’t need any enemies.” Drew said.

“You’re underestimating the importance of those movies. They’re currently the highest rated broadcast across the entire Multiverse. Do you know how many quintillions of beings have watched those, because I don’t. A company coming to this planet will make a huge name for themselves. Beings from all over will be interested in buying literally anything from the planet that made those movies. Not to mention all the other movies that came from here. To those companies, everything is about profit and reputation. Between the crystal mine, and those movies, this will be a huge boon to any company.” Sindra explained.

“I guess… but couldn’t we just put something like ‘Home to The Baleful Lady’s Champion’?” Drew asked.

“Sure, feel free to add it to the bottom. Trust me, the movies are an even bigger deal to those companies than any of the gods or primordials.” Sindra said in a whisper.

“Alright, fine. I’ll post the stupid thing…” Drew said.

*********************************************************************

Meanwhile, throughout the vast expanse of the Multiverse a new advertisement popped up via The System’s mercantile menu.

From the world that brought you The Lord of the Rings!

Yes, really! New Earth, a recently integrated world that’s home to many well known movies, such as Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Star Wars, and John Wick. Now, your company has a chance to make Multiversal history by doing business with New Earth. Relive the excitement and culture of this unique world, bring untold profits to your company’s coffers, and create a lasting relationship and reputation as the “Premier” company on New Earth. You may even have a chance to meet famous actors!

Also home to The Baleful Lady’s Champion.

Communication crystals short-circuited, Gates were swarmed with relentless activity creating several hour-long lines. Branch managers desperately attempted to get ahold of their CEO’s, and the Cosmos entered a period of utter chaos as company leaders furiously attempted to enter bids in response to the new advertisement.

All across the Multiverse, all eyes turned towards New Earth.