Mike was far from the only one who was getting stronger, and people all over the camp had begun evolving. If one was to look at a list of those who evolved, they would quickly find a pattern that encompassed all except Mike. Each and every one of the people who had evolved had only evolved their profession. Mike hadn't even realized that was an option, as he had just evolved both his class and profession, just like his first evolution.
Apparently, after reaching level 25 in their profession, people could cast aside their class and focus wholly on their craft. They no longer received stats from a class, instead gaining double the stats for their professions. Everyone who had evolved also reported that leveling became significantly more difficult after the fact, and none had yet been able to level up again after their evolutions.
Mike had experimented more with his skills, trying to make new items and weapons. Making a set of epic ranked armor proved to be more challenging than it had been to create his weapon, as there were a lot more parts to a set of armor than just his hammer. He had practiced making full sets of Tarantula armor, each of which was a rare rarity. After three days, and two levels in his profession, he felt he was finally familiar enough with the material to make an epic ranked set.
He had killed quite a few brood mothers by this point, and had at least a dozen broken down corpses which he used arcane fusion to combine into just one. He had still needed to break down the one spider into several pieces, but he had brought a few warriors to assist him in carrying the parts.
He had slaved away in his workshop for an entire day, making each piece of armor as close to perfect as he could. He’d needed to use the immense weight of his hammer a few times to flatten out some pieces, and had accidentally broken some of the more fragile sections, but in the end he’d had just enough materials to finish the armor set.
It was still only rare rarity, but Mike could feel how close it was to breaking through to epic. He infused fragments he had gotten from the brood mothers into each of the pieces, giving them the last kick they had needed to upgrade.
*Profession level up x2! Prodigious Artisan of the Arcane (level 31)*
Tarantula War Armor (Epic) (Synergy)
A masterfully crafted set of armor made from combined carapace of several Tarantula brood mothers. Gives a minor resistance to slashing damage. A weak poison is stored within the armor, and can be released through the palms, feet, and helmet. Due to being infused with the fragments of Tarantula brood mothers, poison potency is increased. Due to having a full set of Tarantula War Armor, durability, mana conductivity, and poison potency are all increased.
Mike put on the armor, ditching the old set that he had long out-leveled. Frankly, at this point his fortitude likely made his skin tougher than the old set anyways. He stepped outside, letting out a drop of this new poison onto the ground. From the description of the armor set, the poison sounded like it would be quite effective, and as the drop he had released hit the ground, he was certainly not disappointed. A patch of grass about half an inch in diameter wilted and turned black instantly, as the acidic properties of the poison ate a few centimeters into the ground. The liquid had seemed very similar to the blood of the spiders, if just a bit weaker in effect.
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Mike suddenly felt very uncomfortable in the armor, wary of all the dangerous liquid that must be stored up in his protection. He just had to hope if the armor ever got damaged, it wouldn't spray him with the stuff. He walked through town, seeing several people wearing the armor that he had been making to practice for his new set. The town was getting more cheerful than it had been in the early days where the weight of the situation had weighed down so heavily on many.
There were a few who still hadn't come to accept the reality of it all, but Mike was sure they would come around soon enough. He gazed outwards to the walls, which now were about half way complete. It had been a much more ambitious project than he had expected, and it looked like the walls were going to be at least a mile long.
If it weren't for the new abilities and strength of the construction workers, then this would have been a task that would take at least a year, even before the system had come around. Instead, it looked like it would only be taking another couple weeks or so to finish. Mike threw his free points from his past couple levels into strength, and threw a glare at the foreman, who even from a quarter mile away, Mike swore looked back at him, grinning.
His next stop was to go to the mess hall that had been erected, which had at least a hundred people either eating or trying to get food. Mike entered through the back door, walking straight into the kitchen, which looked surprisingly modern with the polished stone floors. He spotted Otto among the dozen chefs darting back and forth across the kitchen, and identified him, already knowing what to expect.
Human (Level 25)
The head chef of the village had actually been the first to evolve out of any who had specialized, and was stuck at this level due to needing to always focus on cooking en masse as opposed to improving his skills. Mike met the tired eyes of the man, who only paused for a moment to give him a nod and a wave, before giving out more orders to the other chefs. Mike wanted to go and speak with the man, but he was busy, and Mike was getting some looks from the chefs that clearly meant he was not welcome in the kitchen, and so Mike left.
He wanted to find someone, anyone he knew who might be available to hangout, but almost everyone he knew was either busy, out fighting, or just generally unavailable. He hadn’t been able to find Lucas, and when he went to talk with Jonas, the man had looked even more tired and overworked than Otto had.
Running a camp this size couldn't be easy, and Mike hoped that soon the management of the town could be broken up a bit more so he wouldn't need to carry the burden alone. He was about to go and find a group of people to go hunt some spiders with, even if just for fun, when a notification appeared in front of everyone, the noises of craftsmen and conversation pausing for a few seconds.
*[Encampment Notification] This Encampment has reached the required population to become a Settlement. As a settlement, nightly monster raids no longer occur. Instead, as the ambient mana within the settlement grows, a large and dangerous wave will occur, and will be spaced at least 10 days apart.*
Mike could have sworn he saw each and every one of the fighters sigh in happiness, no longer needing to fight a wave of monsters each and every night. It really hadn't been easy on most, and the missed sleep had made quite a few people grumpy. Mike walked over to the entry gate, which was still in construction. He passed through, and began heading in the direction of the spider cave. It was time to truly see just how big this thing was.