I ate a meal of mystery meat and vegetables. The kitchen indeed only stocked the actual quantity of the meat that was brought in from the outside, the small rodents only providing enough meat for a few meals. I filled my water containers and headed back out to the clearing in front of the old mine.

It was still a scene of carnage, but now only in my mind. The framework cleaned up its own mess, all the bodies from the survival event were gone. I walked over to the tree and studied the falcon's grave. I had etched the words in the tree while full of grief and emotion, they still felt right.

I looked up to try to see the top of the tree, it was a particularly massive one and must have reached hundreds of feet to the sky. There were no branches near the ground for this type of tree but it didn’t matter. I had received such massive stat increases over the last few days that I had no trouble holding my body weight and scaling the tree.

My new strength of 31 meant my arms weren’t even burning to hold my weight, even when only holding on with one arm. My stamina was now a resounding 60, I wondered how long I would have to work like this to even feel physical fatigue. My new health pool was up to 180, a far cry from someone like the crucian elite but so far from where i had started. My agility of 37 meant my movements were crisp and precise, I never missed my footing or slipped anymore, at least when one of my legs wasn’t broken.

I made it to the top of the tree and realized I was above the canopy line now. I looked around in awe at the massive forest surrounding me. For as far as I could see in any direction the forest spread out, had it always been this big? I remembered flying in my dream over the forest from high above, seeing all the beasts living deeper in. It would take a lifetime to explore the rest of it. I looked what I thought was west to see if I could see the plain where Etes sat and there was no break in the trees, I would have to walk many miles to see any difference at all. I scanned the branches near the top for the nest from the picture burned in my mind. I found it after a few seconds of searching, approaching it slowly and gingerly.

It was a simple nest a foot wide and long of straw and twigs with one large white egg with brown specks cradled in the middle. The egg was by itself and undisturbed. I contemplated leaving it and checking it every day so as to leave it in its natural habitat. The falcon had seemed insistent so I decided to trust it again and reached out to grab the egg, cradling it in my arms. I gently began to descend, taking much longer on the way down to ensure the egg’s safety.

Once back in the mine I placed the egg in a bundle of blankets balanced on the bed. I doubted any effects of the bed would apply to the bird but why not? I wanted it to be safe and secure.

I still had some notifications to go over, they were starting to seem like a chore rather than the exciting way they had felt at first. These were grouped in separate categories, town and global. I selected the town option first.

Congratulations! Old Mining Camp has completed its first Survival Event! Rewards distributed based on contribution and town performance. Percentage of population lost - 0%. Reward : Town level upgrade available. Contribution leaderboard.

Name

Contribution

Sylar

100%

Reward : 1000 Gold, 5000 town points, +20 town reputation.

I went over to the town interface and looked at the upgrade list. I was able to upgrade the town directly to level 2. Upgrading the town unlocked the second level of the dungeon and added a few more options to the layout and separate rooms. I had a new currency to spend, town points, that would allow me to purchase upgrades. Why they had previously cost gold and now cost town points made no sense to me. I would need to find other towns and ask what their experiences had been to compare. I also had more gold, I still didn’t have anyone to trade with but I had enough of the stuff to buy hundreds of thousands of meals, at least I wouldn't go hungry.

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I spent a few hours combing over the possible upgrades. I had a greedy natural tendency to want to save the points until I needed them. My experience of feeling helpless against the crucian had quickly sobered me to the necessity of being my best at all times. I decided to prioritize defense first. I had been caught by the bears in a situation where I couldn’t see outside of the mine before the door was broken.

There were a few options available for me to choose from ranging from thicker walls to the mine, which seemed unnecessary, to a thicker door made of stone. I decided to spend 1000 town points on a guard post that would integrate to the wall of the mine and give a view of the clearing in front of the entrance. I could access the post from the inside which meant I wouldn't be fighting blind ever again like what had happened with the cave bears. I hoped that the increased visibility would enable me to effectively defend the clearing without being at risk of taking damage.

I spent another 1500 points to create a boundary field around the mine. The boundary would stretch for half a mile in a large circle, any beast or human that was not a member of the town would trip an alarm that triggered inside the mine. That would give me enough time to make it to the outpost and survey the area and prepare. The boundary was upgradeable, it would double in size for every level the town gained. I had already spent half my points but it felt good, I needed more defensive abilities but upgrading the town at least set my mind at ease.

I spent another 1000 on an alchemy room upgrade that would increase the size of the room, quality and amount of tools. There were many options to upgrade the crafting hall, other specialities or commonly used areas. I didn’t know any other of the traditional crafting skills nor anyone to use them so I focused on my alchemy. I spent 500 on an upgraded alchemy pantry, giving me access to a huge number of supplies of increasing rarity. I had 1000 points left over after the upgrades to the mine defense and alchemy room. I looked over a few other options and decided to spend another 500 on a bed upgrade, it would increase the regeneration rate from 20% to 30%. Less time in bed healing meant more time practicing and exploring.

I spent my last 500 points to convert one of the dormitory rooms on the second level to a training room. The description said that it would allow me to train my skills and practice against opponents in a safe environment. As usual the guide was sparse on details. I walked over to inspect the outpost. It was a stairwell that had appeared built into the wall, it led up to a hatch that could be locked from the inside. I opened the hatch and climbed out to find myself on a flat slab of stone with a wooden railing at the edge, the entrance to the mine directly below. It was covered by a wooden roof and supported by four large wooden posts, protection from above and the elements.

Unintended when I purchased it but definitely appreciated was the nice view that came from being the extra 30 or so feet up. I could see well out in the forest, past the initial treeline that had previously been the limit of my sight. This would be helpful with my new expanded detonation range.

I checked out the training room next, it was a bare room with an interface off to one side. You could simulate different environments and summon different types of beasts you had fought to practice against. You had to manually populate the beasts by bringing a piece of them to the interface.

Same went for weapons, you could only practice with what you had used before and brought to the interface. I hoped this would be more helpful in the future than it was right now. I was limited to bushbears and my bow, I felt embarrassed at the waste of town points.

I went over to the alchemy room while bringing up my new recipe. It was for a major health potion that would heal 30 health points over 1 hour. That was a massive upgrade from the previous health potions I had been given, and the first time I would be able to craft. The ingredients and process seemed fairly simple with the new supplies and tools I had through the upgrades. I checked over my explosives guide from the framework and had new types of bombs available to craft. I had the recipe for everything up to a major bomb, and one new type, a fire bomb.

It would be an explosion plus a wave of fire that would be released, catching everything in the vicinity aflame. That seemed incredibly reckless for a forest but I knew that if the framework was giving it to me that I would need it eventually. This recipe required the essence of flame, which I didn’t have or know how to create, it seemed it would have to wait for the future, which I didn’t mind.

I spent a few more hours playing around with the alchemy lab and successfully crafted 10 major health potions. I was disappointed to find out that I couldn’t place crafted items in my inventory, I would need to use my pack. I hoped to acquire a potion style bandoleer to match my bomb one. I looked up and realized it was dark already, I had lost the day. It had been one of my best days in recent memory, no danger, no fighting, no dying. I ate a quick meal and hopped in the bed to rest, giving the egg a pat before closing my eyes.