It had been five days since the attack on Ascentown by our new tentative ally, Steel. I had been more than a little worried that the nighttime assault and then my own dramatics the day after would cause people to return to Newtown. While there were definitely those who saw the danger and returned to the “safety” offered elsewhere, I was honestly shocked to see how resilient people were. Instead of slowing down or giving up, a fire had been ignited within the bellies of the many who stayed.

The Outpost was busy, and nowhere more so than the guild hall of The Ascent. The heavy footsteps of ungainly Grade Ones, newly evolved and unused to their powers, was a little distracting. With my senses touching on Grade Two capabilities, their clodding steps were like an elephant’s down the hallways. Sitting in my office, flicking through System options and weighing up my choices, I sighed.

There were just so many things which a true town needed.

It was easy enough not to lose focus, though. My Will and Mental attributes had levelled out massively, which had not been my plan, but the effects were potent. Juggling multiple streams of thought at once had become fairly simple… but actually making decisions still wasn’t. There were so many options available to purchase, though many had a cost so high they were completely beyond the level of credits an Outpost could make. Perhaps if there were a million people all filling the coffers at once, but not currently.

Inventory

Gold Coins (Xaverion Minted) - 5192

Gold Coins (Standard Mint) - 13,118

Storm Arrows

Assorted Earth foods

Alternating Armament (Epic)

Various Furniture

Crown Of The Golem Prince (Rare)

Pinion Of The Firehawk Monarch (Rare)

Fang Of The Wood Drake (Rare)

Pelt Of The Valleycarver Beaver (Rare)

I had taken to offloading the crafting materials I gathered directly to the town’s inventory. While the credits we had gathered as a collective weren’t much, even compared to just my own personal stash, there was a respectable amount of materials within now. Each of the Claimant bosses had left behind one rare material which I kept as a trophy for now. There was promising headway being made with the crafting of equipment, but not so much that I trusted the burgeoning industries with the valuable items.

Ascentown Inventory

Gold Coins (Standard Mint) - 2,617

Alchemical Supplies

Leatherworking Supplies

Metalworking Supplies

Lumber

Stone

There were other sub-sections, such as food and equipment pages. Any items could be assigned to buildings or individuals, allowing them to simply remove them from the town’s collective inventory as simply as their own. Keep track of such a growing workflow was a scarier prospect than facing the Storm Dragon, honestly. Thankfully the administration of the city is what I was here to deal with.

“They’re here, want me to send them in?” Naea had decided she was my secretary once I described it as an administrative bodyguard. She was taking her job seriously. I shook my head at her antics but told her yes. The Ascent all joined me in my office. Aaron, Ellie, Harry, Luke and Tom. The ones who had found me in the dungeon. There was a clear awkward silence, and as no one wanted to break it, I took the time to analyse my Guildmates.

Physically, each of them were as fit as they had ever been. Mentally?

I had become familiar enough with mana, both my own energy as well as the currents which governed others. There was a practice in the old world called aura reading, which I couldn’t write off anymore. Perhaps those people had some tiny connection to the same abilities I now held. The ability was most useful in battle where it gave me advanced warning of attacks or allowed me to see things which would be otherwise invisible. Right now, I used it to get a read on the dispositions before me.

Aaron was slouched in his chair and I wouldn’t have had to look at his tepid aura to know he wasn’t interested in what I might say. He was a… weird guy. Okay, I conceded privately, he’s also just straight up annoying. However, he had his uses and for all the various faults I found in him, I didn’t want to exclude the guy just because he wasn’t my friend. He had remained mostly true to his style, which is to say he wore blue denim jeans, a black t-shirt and a leather jacket over the top.

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Luke was a steel shell protecting a fragile egg, same with Tom. The former had been through what might be the frontrunner for the most traumatic experience since the Shift. I had been controlled, myself, but from what I had been told, Steel’s methods were even more rough than the dragon’s which had taken my body for a ride. The fact that his energy was still recognisable as his own was a good enough sign for now.

Tom, on the other hand, was a powder keg. While Luke was still wearing what I considered recovery clothing, loose comfortable stuff meant to be lounged around in, Tom was in his full battle regalia, as it were. I had to wonder if there was a slight hit to his mental health each time he had to wake up and put on a literal wizard hat and robe, but no one would say he didn’t look impressive. It was just a lot for a meeting. At least his staff remained hidden in his inventory.

Harry and Ellie seemed happy enough though. While Harry had been a bit of a rock, surprisingly, Ellie had faced struggles finding a place within Ascentown’s changing structure. Her successful foray into alchemy was more specifically the blueprint I hoped I could encourage the others here to follow.

“Before we start I want to apologise. Don’t interrupt, you can all say something afterwards. I’m sorry. So. Fucking. Sorry. I didn’t mean to drag anyone into a crazier existence than they were already having. I can’t control the System, and I’m not saying I take blame, but I am sorry. Regardless, I’m not committing seppuku, I just want you to know that I know I’m not perfect, and I don’t want to treat myself or be treated by others that way.” By the harder set in everyone’s eyes and the nods of affirmation from everyone, I knew they heard my apology. Good.

I continued. “The rules have all changed. Survival of the fittest is the new normal. ‘Might makes right’ is going to become the norm. Whether I like it or not, I’m stronger than anyone here. I don’t hate it, because I wouldn’t trust most of you chucklefucks to handle it either, but it’s not easy.” I managed to get a few laughs and a general energy of concession came my way.

Harry often defaulted to speaking for the five of them, their one-time leader and still the popular one in their minds. He looked at the others, seeing something in each of their eyes that gave him confidence. His movie-star blue eyes met mine with serious, unblinking resolve. “You weren’t wrong. People are leaning on you, hoisting your banner in your name because they know that you’ve got some of these things figured out.”

“Some, but not all,” Aaron interjected.

The room got quiet as I turned to him. I flattened my aura as much as possible. I didn’t want to be intimidating here. “Go on?” I prompted.

Eyes widening with surprise, the younger man had a few false starts with his point. He stood up, clearly frustrated, before sitting back down. A few times. Finally, he began. “It’s just all go go go, all the time. Aaron, help me with this quest, Aaron what are levels and how do I do magic and why does my finger feel weird, Aaron. There’s so much that these people need to learn. Except, I didn’t figure those things out. I still don’t know those things. I only do what the System says or what you say. How did any of us become leaders of a town?”

I had to admit that Aaron’s point was completely fair. I think most people only moved to Ascentown because they didn’t know my age. Remembering that these five were even younger than my own twenty four years was important. There was something else worth reminding them of, though. “You got lucky. Because for all the work you might have to do, and things you might have to learn, being in charge is better, right?” I was learning more and more about how Dao works, and knew that Aaron managed to create a Dao Pool of Control. How could he not agree? Somewhat petulantly, with a big huff, he did.

“Luck got us here, but what now?” Ellie asked. Her long blonde hair had become much more cropped in the last few days. Working around flames and arguably dangerous chemicals had its risks, but she honestly looked beautiful. Before now, she had not had much uniqueness about her, but with the soot of a botched potion still on the end of her nose, and a face less hidden behind her straw coloured hair, she was quite striking. She had similar eyes to Harry, but if his eyes were the blue of a deep sea, hers was the seafoam atop it. Very pretty.

“Well! I had some ideas and I hoped they made sense. Aaron, I was going to give you entertainment. That doesn’t just mean more taverns, the ones we have right now don’t even have enough alcohol between them to be considered a speakeasy. It means making sure that the world isn’t just about quests and monsters. Plan a festival, that kind of thing. Obviously, you can always just leave as well if you’d like, and that goes for any of you.” I handed Aaron a notebook I had filled in with ideas about how this could work, as well as his budget. It was fairly thick. The advantages of a high Mental attribute and a desperate desire to not have to do this again.

“No… That… that actually sounds really nice.” Taking the book and reading the first page, I could see his eyes bulge a little. “That’s a lot of information…”

Leaving him to his personal journey of growth, I turned to the others. They looked at me expectantly after the first set of notes. I tossed out the next four quickly. “Ellie, you’re already becoming a great crafter and I was wondering if you wanted to sort of head whatever that department becomes. I pictured more than alchemy eventually but you’d honestly know more than me.”

“Absolutely,” she agreed, already engrossed in the prospective recipes I had jotted down. I wasn’t sure whether she was saying she would take the work, or that she knew more than me, but I could reconfirm that later when she came up for air from the notes.

“Harry, in charge of whatever becomes of the Fledglings, and defence of the town. With the System barrier, I don’t expect it, but what happened the other day can never happen again. You and I will go out with every one of them and give them a run around.” Like the soldiers he had emulated and was slowly turning into, Harry saluted. As the weight of the position settled over him, Harry’s eyes hardened and he nodded to himself. No more to be said there, I’d need to lead some of that process anyway.

“What about me?” Though he was looking at the floor, the brim of his wide hat covering most of his features, I knew what I would see in his eyes. Fear, anger and confusion, the same emotions which had been growing since we left the dungeon. Maybe they had been there from the first moment we met, actually. I sighed, causing those pained eyes to look up at me in confusion.

“You, Tom…”

Before I could get any further, he interrupted me while standing from his seat. “I’ve got a better idea. Follow me.”