With how close I got with the others over the last few days, the way communication was previously between me and them changed significantly. Instead of just talking to Richard, I could have this sort of discussion with any of them, and there were a couple of times we had group discussions like what we were having now.
Fighting with people with your life on the line had a way of bringing people together it seems.
Anyway, Lance was finally here so it was time to talk. We all grouped up in one of the rooms and began the discussion.
“I’ll start with the Dungeon. Once you accept the prompt to enter, you’ll find yourself in a forest similar to the one around us now, and off in the distance there’s a clearing with an Outpost very much similar to this one. We’ll get to that in a moment.
“The forest around the Outpost is mostly just a weird illusion, it looks vast and deep but if you walk too far into the forest, moving away from the Outpost, you’ll get teleported back to where you started. You don’t feel when it’s happening, one second you’re walking deeper into the forest, and the other you’re walking towards the Outpost.
“Despite that, the walkable path in the forest is still deep enough that you can circle the entire Outpost without getting spotted as long as you're careful.
“Now for the Outpost. It’s smaller than this one, but it won’t be easy to clear it with normal means. It’s a square, and there’s a guard tower in all four corners, and the Goblin sitting inside has a bow.
“The Outpost itself has two entrances, so they can leave from both. Speaking of ‘they’, there are about 60-ish Goblins located inside. Three of the big ones, and about 20 something normal, magic, and ones with bows with each of them.
“Their numbers and new weapons weren’t the problem though; it was their coordination. They behaved like a small army. Three big ones each a squad, and they were passing out orders. Speaking of the big ones, they didn’t chase after me the second they saw me. Instead, they tried to scout for other people before passing out instructions and then attacking me together.
“That’s a level of intelligence we have yet to see from the Goblins. They of course have done the whole bait thing, but this level of coordination from the big ones at least, was unlike them. This means we won’t really know how they’d behave if more people entered the Dungeon.
“That’s pretty much it. Questions?”
“Yeah, I got one, if you weren’t with us, how many of us do you think it would take to clear that Dungeon without anyone dying?”
Hmm, that’s actually a pretty easy question to answer.
“More than we have. One 2nd Cycle a bunch of 1stCycle cultivators simply isn’t enough to ensure no losses, at least not in a straight up battle. Maybe there’s some sort of plan you could cook up Richard, but straight up there’s no chance.
“These Goblins are different from the norm. It won’t be as simple as just throwing numbers at them if the goal is to make sure everyone survives.”
“So, it still boils down to just getting stronger huh.”
“It will only get worse from here I think, we all know Earth will likely be a lot different, and maybe it will be like living in the Tutorial all over again but on a much bigger scale and most likely without warning, or maybe it will be even worse, nobody knows, just gotta be ready.”
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“Stop making everyone all depressed Lance, we’ll be fine. Isn’t that right Raizen?”
“He’s right in a way, getting stronger is the only way to make sure you’ll survive any situation that comes your way.”
“Fine fine I hear you; I’ll work harder.”
She says that, but I really don’t think Cristine likes cultivating all that much. Well, she’s at least a part of a good group so she’ll probably be fine.
“Are there any more questions?”
“Yes, even with you there, are we ready to take on this Dungeon?”
“Yeah Brandon, I think we can do it. I have some plans I’d like to discuss with all of you regarding it, but there’ll be time for that later. Any more questions before I move on? This next topic is important.”
I looked around the room for a moment, and it didn’t seem like anyone else was going to speak up.
“Alright moving on. This is about one of the rewards I got from completing the Dungeon.”
After saying that I took out the Outpost Upgrade Ticket for them to see.
“This small ticket has extremely big implications. I spoke to the shopkeeper about everything it meant and it’s a lot, so hold all questions till the end please.”
It took maybe thirty minutes to an hour to fully explain everything Greja told me, mainly because although everyone was holding their questions back, I took my time to make sure everything was at least clearly heard, even repeating certain parts at times like for example the fact we need at least half of the folks here to agree to the upgrade.
That wasn’t a small number, and while I wasn’t worried about the people backing out, we still had to be sure that everyone was aware of what was happening and to click no on the prompt by accident or something.
Anyway, needless to say, there were a lot of questions.
“This danger increase…just how much more danger are we talking about? Is that something we’ll be ready for? What if something happens while you’re not here?”
“I don’t know Trent. I just know it will be more dangerous. And that’s the thing, what if I wasn’t here in the first place and a large attack happened? Then what? I am just one person, and what if something even I couldn’t handle showed up?
“Point is, I don’t plan on living in fear, and despite everything I just said, I’m confident we can handle almost anything that might attack this Outpost, so you shouldn’t live in fear either.”
“Well, when you put it like I can’t really say anything else can I.”
“Haha no you can’t Trent! You hear that everyone, Raizen said we have nothing to fear! And I believe him! Why would we fear anything if Raizen’s with us!”
I watched on with a slight smile as Lance was up to his usual antics and everyone, including Richard joined in with the laughter. I had no problems spending this Tutorial alone, but I didn’t mind this at all, it would probably be a good thing to build firm relationships in this new reality of ours.
The guarding of the Outpost is a prime example. People are guarding the Outpost night and day so that I can sleep soundly and explore without worry. Of course, I do my part as well such as solo clearing new Dungeons and babysitting them inside a Dungeon, but the point is having people that you can depend on for a few things goes a long way.
However, I’ll always make sure to get strong enough to only have to depend on myself. Getting help from others is nice, but personal strength and capability will always be more important.
“Alright alright, that’s enough. Based on everything Raizen just explained to us, do we all agree on getting the upgrade?”
After receiving various nods and confirmations from the people in the room, Richard looked towards me.
“Well, you heard them. When do you want to do it? We’ll help with the cost.”
“Good. We should do it on the last day of this stage which is day 20. Based on what’s happened previously, no monsters should bother us on that day, and with everyone having to get out of the Outpost, I think that’s the time to do that. We should use the next couple of days to let everyone else in the Outpost know what’s happening and that they should be ready to vacate for a moment in a couple of days.”
After finalizing that, we discussed some smaller details a bit more, before I finally left. I wasn’t all that tired physically, but mentally all of this was a bit draining. From the Dungeon this morning, then the talk with Greja, and finally the talk with Richard and the rest. It was taking a toll. Definitely looking forward to a much needed rest.