(Outpost G Residents Only)
Defense Successful
Unlike yesterday, there wasn’t anything said about repairing the Outpost. Maybe I should let them damage the gate a little so I can see the repairs again. It was really cool to look at after all.
While standing there reminiscing about the gate repairs from yesterday, I heard the gate open, and Richard walked out.
“We got the notification. How was it?”
“It was fine, good training. Though I need a new shirt as you can see.”
“Well, it’s good that you’re alright. We got word to everyone in the Outpost regarding the beacon, some people were a little against it out of fear of the unknown, but most people seem to be on board. Even the doubters weren’t inherently against it, just a little nervous or scared.”
“Good, I’m going to grab a new shirt, and commission a new spear as well, I’ll meet you at the Shop in a bit.”
“Are you also planning on getting new armor? I noticed you haven’t been wearing it recently. I know your strong, but extra protection doesn’t hurt.”
Actually…I really just forgot about it. He makes a good point though; I shouldn’t let all these ‘easy’ victories get to my head.
“Ah you’re right, I’ll get some new armor too. My old set is still mostly fine, perhaps someone can fit it? I’ll give it to you later.”
“Sounds good.”
And with that, I headed home while he headed someplace else. I quickly grabbed my pouch of coins and a new shirt as well, before making my way towards the Blacksmith. Though I was stopped on my way there.
“Hi Raz.”
Irene just happened to see me as she exited the shop and said hi with a small smile.
“Hi Irene, how was training this morning?”
“It was good! And I think I’ll reach the 2nd Cycle really soon.”
“Oh, that does good. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Will you be entering the Dungeons again tonight?”
“Yes, the plan is to go after training, but the beacon may change things.”
“I see…well either way I’ll be ready, please come find me whenever you’re ready to go. Later Raz!”
She didn’t wait for a response and just smiled as she walked away.
I really do feel like prey.
Eh, I don’t mind it for right now though, all’s well that ends well.
Eventually I continued on my way to the Blacksmith and placed the necessary orders for both my armor and the spear. I’d have to come back tomorrow morning for the spear, but he assured me it would be ready before I needed to defend the Outpost.
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A few moments later, I was walking into the shop with a new set of armor on. It was empty inside, with the exception of Greja.
“Welcome in Raizen! Great job this morning.”
Of course, Greja greeted me with a smile as always, and she seemed to know about this morning. Which kind of got me thinking. I wonder if this is the first time she is seeing an Infernal fight. Probably not, right? She is from the wider Multiverse after all.
“Thank you for the welcome Greja. I have a quick question. Have you seen other Infernals fight before?”
The smile slowly left her face before she responded.
“No, you are the first.”
“That’s a bit surprising. Are Infernals not very common?”
“Most people would do their best to avoid fighting or seeing an Infernal fight.”
Hm, the mood kind of shifted so I’ll drop it here. I guess that’s not a topic she wants to talk about though. My only worry is that it sounds like we’re villains for real. I hope one of my new responsibilities isn’t to be a villainous bastard, because I don’t really plan on doing so.
Anyway, I thanked her for answering, and before the atmosphere could get too awkward, Richard walked in.
“Hey Raiz...uh Raz, it’s going to take some time to get used to that.”
“Raizen is fine too, you don’t actually have to say Raz.”
“Ahh…I’ll stick to Raizen then. Ready to start the beacon?”
“Let’s do it. We would like to turn the beacon on.”
“Great! The cost will be 2 Silver Coins, and just as a reminder, at least 30% of all Outpost G residents must agree to the notification to turn the beacon on. If you are okay with that requirement, please place the required coins on the counter.”
I placed 100 Bronze Coins, and Richard placed another 100 Bronze Coins. Now that I think about it, I wonder how they’re doing on money. The Goblins from the morning don’t drop cores. I’ll need to talk to him about that.
“Thank you, please step outside as the beacon will activate above the shop.”
Both of us walked out of the shop, and even took a few steps away from it for a better view.
We didn’t have to wait much longer before we heard a sound like something massive was starting up. Not quite like an engine, but maybe the sound you would expect to hear from a ‘particle accelerator’ starting up in a movie.
It really sounded crazy. But crazy in a way that you really enjoyed the sound.
It continued to rev up in speed, for around a minute before there was a small flash of light, kind of like a spark and then a massively large beam of light rose up from just slightly above the shop.
It truly was massive.
It stretched far into the sky and even now I couldn’t see its top. It was also about as thick as a light post. It would certainly be seen from extremely far distances.
“Wow…if there really is anyone out there then they will definitely see this. Though seeing it, and actually coming are two different things.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I’d actually choose to approach a random beam of light that sprang up out of nowhere.”
“Desperation may change that though.”
Richard had a point, when people became desperate, I’m sure they’d grab onto any small piece of hope they could find.
“By the way Richard, you all should probably start hitting Dungeons soon. That’s currently the best way to make money. We don’t know if the coins we earn here can be taken out of the Tutorial or if it will even be relevant, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
“Your right, we actually talked about it this morning. As of right now our current schedule will be training in the morning by ourselves, a short rest then straight into cultivating. Then we will do the official group training later followed by another short rest and then a Dungeon run.”
“Good.”
And so, time continued to pass.
We followed a pretty routine schedule for days.
I would defend the Outpost in the morning while the others trained, they would cultivate while I practiced with my flames in my room. Then came a grueling training session with the Outpost Leader, those were always fun.
Afterwards we would make Dungeon runs. Which also became kind of routine in a way since Richard finally reached 3rd Cycle. He led the team into the Goblin Outpost Dungeon by himself and I was just there to watch which kind of almost became a moot point since a few others reached 2nd Cycle as well. Though me watching wasn’t completely useless as I was still learning the art of commanding from Richard.
It wasn’t until day 6 of this new stage that something finally happened.
“Raizen come! Sean found someone in the forest! The person is heavily wounded!”
Sean was one of our scouts, and he really enjoyed it from what I understood. So, despite the added dangers of the forests these days, he still keep going out every day in search of anything at all. It seems today he finally found something.