POV Raizen

We were currently walking home from the Dungeon. I’d say all in all in went well. They cleaned up all the little Goblins before I let them fight one of the big ones one at a time. They were extremely drained with aching muscles I’m sure, but they held on.

Brandon did a good job in command, talking way more than he usually does, but he appeared comfortable. I could tell he was in pain, but he powered through it, well he did until we collected the reward and exited the Dungeon, where he was now being flanked by Trent and Lance as they helped carry him.

Speaking of the reward, it was a bit of a surprise. We got 20 Bronze Coins, which I expected, but along with that came another necklace. It was pretty much the same as the first one, but I think the gem was a bit smaller. Does that mean its effects were less? I’ll have to ask Greja. Either way, if the effects were less or not meant practically nothing if we could get this necklace every time we cleared the Dungeon. That meant we could give everyone one.

Though that’s something to think about when more and more folks were in Qi Refinement. Anyway, this was a good trip, and once we made it back, I’d give them some time to rest before we proceeded with the upgrade. Richard should’ve been back before us so hopefully he and that team didn’t need any more rest.

Due to the fact we were walking, it took quite a while to get back and it was already dark when we got back to the Outpost. After greeting the guards on shift we learned through them that the others made it back a bit before us without anyone missing. That was good.

Brandon and the rest went off to wash up and what not while I headed straight for the shop. It didn’t take long for Greja to confirm that the necklace performed a similar functionality, it was still indeed different.

She mentioned that while the first one could tank at least one full powered blow from someone at the peak of Qi refinement, this one could likely only stall such a blow for moment. She mentioned it would still be able to tank a blow from someone in the middle of Qi Refinement though. The other difference was the fact it didn’t have a self-repair function, so once it broke it was just a regular necklace. Definitely not as good as the first one but if we truly get one every time we beat the Dungeon then quantity will easily make up for lack of quality.

Anyway, I thanked Greja for her assistance once again before heading over to Richard’s. As there was only one washroom here, some of the team members went to other houses to clean up, and after a couple extra minutes of waiting everyone was gathered.

Both teams took some time to go over both Dungeon runs. Richard talked about the fact that they took it a lot slower due to the fact I wasn’t there, and he had to fight a lot more compared to the past, but thankfully the members were very experienced in fighting Goblins by now and they made it through just fine. I didn’t really have much to explain, and Brandon did all the talking.

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Well, I didn’t have much to explain until they asked me about some explosion they heard. I’m guessing they were referring to the attack I used to destroy the gate. I knew I probably could’ve achieved a similar result without using my flames, but I wasn’t 100% certain and didn’t want to risk it in that situation so I just used my flames like I did for the first time.

Didn’t think they’d ask about it though. Which made me think about showing them or not. My flames weren’t exactly a secret, but at the same time it probably won’t hurt to have one or two things that I kept hidden.

I didn’t they anyone in this room would betray me or anything, at least not in the Tutorial…but life doesn’t end with the Tutorial and who knows what type of situations arise on Earth after all of this is over. It won’t hurt to be cautious.

So, I simply told them that I was strong. That went over well enough, and we moved on to other topics. Well, the only other topic for the night, the upgrade. After making sure everyone was ready we all left the house and began going from house to house to gather everyone. Thankfully no one was sleeping or confused as they had all been made aware of what’s happening.

Eventually, everyone was gathered near the gate and then I took the Outpost Upgrade Ticket and headed to the shop for the second time tonight.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, we would like to upgrade the Outpost.”

“Very well, please hand over the required amount.”

I gave her the money and watched as she tore the ticket in half.

Immediately after, a prompt was displayed before me.

An Outpost (G) you are a resident of is attempting to Upgrade.

Do you consent? Yes/No

I didn’t waste any time and confirmed.

Nothing happened for a few moments but before I could ask Greja about it, another prompt appeared.

Necessary acceptance levels have been met

Proceeding with Upgrade

All Tutorial Attendees please exit the Outpost and clear the immediate area

Oh, so it was just waiting on enough people to click yes I guess. Anyway, I gave Greja a small smile before making my way to the exit. Richard was standing there calmly ushering people out and after another minute or two we both exited.

Taking the warning literally we all kept walking until we were all a couple feet within the forest.

Almost immediately after that, the entire Outpost was shrouded in a large black dome. It painted quite an eerie picture as it blended with the night sky. People couldn’t help but talk about the situation, some were nervous, others excited and a few somewhere in between. All I could think about though was the fact I was glad we did this on the day before the next stage because protecting this many people in the forest for even just a few minutes would’ve brought headaches of our own.

Anyway.

It only took a minute or two for the shroud to come down, and well I didn’t know what to expect for an upgrade, but this is quite surprising.

There were a lot of changes.

In essence, the walls and the material the Outpost was made out of all seemed to be the same from the outside, but actual Outpost itself practically doubled in size. It took up most of the clearing now.

Not just that, but there were actual guard towers towering over the Outpost in all four corners. Along with that, came these wooden spike fence wall things. I’m not really sure what they were called, but they sat outside the Outpost pointing at the forest. There was a small opening in which we could walk to the gate, but everywhere else had one of the spike wall things sitting there. Waiting for an unfortunate Goblin to run into it.

Those were all the visible changes I could spot for now, so it was time to head inside and see what else the upgrade had in store for us.