I couldn’t sleep at all that night due to one of my facets being locked onto my troll clone, still protectin’ the knuckleheads that chose to walk here. I busied myself by tinkerin’ with beast materials in my Bone Vault, tryin’ to create a three-person saddle for the drake. Using bones as a framework and hides which I dried into a functional leather I cobbled together something workable. The cinch straps would need fine tunin’ once my blood fairy returned with my drake, or as she referred to it, her ‘new ride’. I’d reinforced the cinch straps by surroundin’ them in segmented bone plates, allowin’ them to flex and hopefully not get sliced in two from rough landings or minor damage.
Everyone was awake by the crack of dawn, eager to watch the town construction. I activated the buildin’ plan, an overlay popped up similar to a video game on the land before me, conformin’ to the terrain automatically, showin’ green where the terrain would work for it, red where it would not and it moved accordin’ to my will. The town was much bigger than I’d imagined, probably a mile or so wide in its original circular configuration. I played with it for a bit, movin’ it one way or another and spinnin’ it in place. The overlay remained stationary if I wasn’t actively movin’ it, allowin’ me to walk around outside the fortified wall as well as inside to shift individual buildings around. I kinda thought the layout would be fixed but every buildin’ could be shifted to suit the terrain. Even the perimeter wall could be adjusted to be round, square or irregular in shape, but it did have a maximum circumference. The overlay buildings were featureless green blocks if well situated, or red if not, and I couldn’t modify the building's shapes or sizes.
A window had popped up upon activation allowin’ me to designate up to twelve other people to help get the layout sorted. I hadn’t interacted with enough people to know who would be good candidates so I asked Wallace for assistance. Once again he came to the rescue, callin’ forth enough people from our cluster to fill the slots.
I mentally selected them, grantin’ them the necessary permissions and gestured for them to approach. “I’ll set up the perimeter wall from the air. Wallace can come with me to help create an optimal layout and then we'll assign tasks once back. Sound good to yall?”
I received a chorus of assent and a few nods.
I called the blood fairy back and felt her mentally grumble, she’d just found a deep cavern, plenty wide enough for the drake to enter and full of a variety of ‘vermin’ she could eradicate. Nevertheless, she did turn around and start headin’ in my direction. I tapped into the clone with a spare Facet and observed the cavern as she left, on a distant wall I saw a ledge which appeared hewn into the rock, it led to an arching tunnel. I’d have to return here in person one day and explore this place.
Upon my clones return, the blood fairy released control of it and flew up to me, stoppin’ right in my face.
“Master McLain!” my blood fairy chirped happily. “Am I doing a good job? Are you pleased with me?”
"Excellent work, lil miss. Take your spot and let's get to work. We got a town to build."
She flew to my shoulder and grabbed my ear for support.
Wallace accompanied me on the drake and we flew slow circles around the overlay perimeter makin’ small adjustments here and there. A cliff rose up several hundred feet limitin’ us in one direction, a dry gully in the opposite, but there was a wide stretch of suitable land between them where the terrain was mostly flat with rocks, shrubs and stunted clusters of shrooms dotted about. Several large boulders had seemingly rolled from the cliffside and came to rest on our site but I didn’t think they’d be an issue.
“A rectangular shape fits this area best,” Wallace stated. “A circular or oval layout would push us into the cliff or gully. I don’t see any water though. Do you suppose the system will tap a well? I’d hate for us to build the town only to find out there are no nearby sources of water.”
Considerin’ his question, I shook my head. “The layout is mostly green. I doubt we could place it if there was no water for the bathhouses and other facilities to use.”
“That makes sense,” Wallace replied, scannin’ the layout below us. “It’s a good spot, but the cliff worries me. Anything that glides, climbs, or flies could use that as a launching point.”
It had crossed my mind as well. My tinkerin’ brain came up with a possible solution. What if we could build into the cliff… My curiosity risin’, I slid the overlay towards the cliff until half of it was inside it. It tried to flicker up to the top of the cliff but I mentally pushed it back down. My perception altered, allowin’ me to see the overlay within the cliff. From Wallace’s reaction, he could too. This side of the town layout contained the communal housin’ units, communal bathin’ units, the Lord’s Manor and the Teleportation Hall and all of these remained green. As a test I tried movin’ the Arena inside the cliff, it went red immediately and stayed red no matter where I moved it within the stone. It was the same with all the other large structures except the Communal Feasting Hall and Town Hall.
“Well that certainly changes things!” Wallace exclaimed.
“Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” I asked, raisin’ an eyebrow quizzically.
Wallace nodded, “It makes sense defensively to throw everything we can into the cliffside. That leaves the Arena, Adventurers Guild Hall, Marketplace, Barracks and Auction House outdoors as well as any shops, inns or other miscellaneous buildings that we wish to build. To maximize our outside space I suggest we cram the structures within the cliff together as tightly as possible. Hopefully the system will make it all workable with entries and exits.”
I snorted, “You were definitely thinkin’ more than I was, but along the same lines. How about you take the lead placin’ the buildings within the cliff and I’ll let you know if I see anything needin’ an adjustment.”
Wallace's face got all serious as he began movin’ the buildings around into various configurations. When he finally settled on one the intense look of concentration eased and he turned to me with a smile.
We discovered that the communal housin’ buildings could be stacked and were placed together in five rows, two buildings stacked and two buildings deep along the cliff. The buildings sorta snapped together when placed close enough and the system automatically added stairways and hallways that linked all the buildings together and entryways led outside at multiple points. It was as if the buildings were one structure. Left of that was the Communal Bathing Units, then the Communal Feasting Hall, the Town Hall, with the Lord’s Manor placed at the end.
“We done here?” I asked, seein’ nothin’ wrong with his work.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“If you’re happy with it I suppose so.”
We rejoined the others and apprised them of the free defensive upgrade we’d managed.
I’d had enough of town buildin’ so I left settin’ the remainin’ large structures up to Wallace and those he had selected. An impatient energy coursed within me; I craved a challenge, an opportunity to increase my strength in a meaningful way. Sure, my stats had risen and I had two strong clones, three once the Trojanus clone reconstituted itself, and one harpy scout, but some primal urge deep within me craved more. None of the recently slain lower tiered creatures had any worthwhile abilities and weren’t strong enough to use as blood clones. Perhaps the mana-field generated by the system’s construction of the town would lure in somethin’ of a challengin’ tier. And I wanted Rufus back damnit! Twelve hours protectin’ our new town and then our loved ones would be returned.
Sally approached and patted the blood fairy, who was still sittin’ on my shoulder, on the head. The blood fairy emitted a happy chirp, rubbin’ her head into Sally’s hand like a cat.
Sally looked at me closely, brushin’ her hand down my shoulder. “You seem distant. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Concerned about the town capacity though. The plan says it’s good for up to two-thousand people. We’re down to roughly seven-hundred now, and some of these people won’t have pets or kids, but what if we got stuck with a bunch of Mormons with thirty kids each or somethin?”
“We’ll make it work,” Sally said confidently. “Besides, it’s unfortunate but we may have more vacancies by the end of the construction period.”
“True. No tellin’ what might come out of the woodwork. I hope I’m wrong but even my strength may not get us through this. I’m strong for my rank, but I doubt I could do much against anything stronger than Trojanus.”
With my Life Sense flared, I sensed someone approachin’ from the woods behind us. I turned and eyed Wiesner trudgin’ out with one end of the corpse of a fifteen-feet long polka-dotted snake slung over his shoulder, the rest draggin’ behind him. Its severed head swung in Wiesner offhand as the man power walked over to me.
I inspected the snake.
[Bronze Rank D Beast: Canopy Dweller, corpse.]
“Hell yeah!” I yelled. “You get a title due to it bein’ a tier higher than you?”
A huge grin split Wiesner’s face, “I can’t slack off if I’m going to keep up with you. No title though.”
“I guess only minibosses or higher rarity grant the title.” I mused, givin’ him a thumbs up. “Don’t worry about levels though. Us Buds gotta stick together. I’ll powerlevel you if I have too, and the levels will fly when we enter the tower, assumin’ we both don’t die.”
Wiesner chortled, “Very reassurin’.”
“Want me to store that beastie for ya?” I asked.
Wiesner just nodded.
A short while later Wallace returned wearin’ a triumphant expression on his face. He filled us in on how settin’ up the rest of the layout went, but I was barely listenin’ to him. It was time for action and I.
Final activation of the Town Building Scroll was simple. I mentally selected the holographic Finalize icon which had been hoverin’ over the open scroll in my hand ever since I activated the layout feature and the scroll instantly burnt up in a flash of light.
Right away I could feel the mana start gatherin’ into an ever denser field coverin’ the holographic layout of our town, even spreadin’ into the surroundin’ areas.
Stone began to flow like thick mud out of the cliffside at many points.
The roar of some beastie out in the forest shook me awake. I couldn't stand here watchin’ the process. An attack could come at any minute. I summoned my Harpy lookalike clone and sent it into the sky to patrol, controllin’ it with a facet.
“Gonna go up on the drake and try to stomp out some threats preemptively. Y'all wanna stay here or?” I said to Wallace, Sally and Wiesner.
“I’m with you Master! We’re going to pulverize these bitches!” my blood fairy exclaimed, yankin’ my ear in her excitement.
Oww! Where had she learned that kind of talk? I grimaced, ear throbbin’, now that my hair was only stubble my ear seemed to be her official handlebar for ridin’ my shoulder and she had a grip like iron.
“I’ll stay in case Trojanus comes back,” Sally said. “He'll likely emerge near the greatest density of people. I'll be close as my Spatial Freeze has a limited effect range.”
I nodded.
“My place is here,” Wallace stated. “I’ll try to keep our people organized.”
Wiesner unsheathed his weapon, proppin’ it against his shoulder. “Your cheatin’ ass don’t need anymore firepower. I’ll stay.”
We laughed. Wiesner helped me quickly attach the new saddle onto the drake clone and cinch it up. I could see a few adjustments but that needed to be made but it seemed stable enough for now.
Through my harpy clone’s eyes, I spotted a disturbance in the distant forest, somethin’ huge headin’ toward our town, jostlin’ trees and massive shrooms like a dog partin’ tall grass in a field.
Pushin’ the drake clone to greater speed, I flew closer until I spotted the odd creature and used Identify on it.
[Silver Rank C Mini-Boss: Spore Spitter Armadillo.]
I spotted a small meadow along the Mini-Bosses trajectory and turned towards it to confront the beastie. I flared the drake’s wings out, driftin’ to a stop in the meadow facin’ the Mini-Boss and I waited, feelin’ like I was in a Godzilla movie, sittin’ on his back just before he clashed with another titan. My drake clone was Bronze Rank C. If it was a battle solely between the two it should be a close matchup, but this wasn’t a showdown between two titans. My assistance would drastically tilt the odds in our favor. My Aeonic Crown of Dominance, which I’d equipped with the ‘hidden’ function enabled, boosted my minions damage by 10% and their stats and damage mitigation by 10% as long as I was within 10 meters of them while decreasing enemy stats and mitigation by the same amount. It was unlikely to be a fair matchup.
The Spore Spitting Armadillo’s approach was far from silent. It charged out of the forest, saw us and came skiddin’ to a halt, armored scales bristled threateningly. The snarl pullin’ at its face revealed a vicious set of teeth. The beast stood taller at the shoulder than my drake clone and likely outweighed it by half again. It seemed to be waitin’ for us to make the first move.
Through the Harpy I noticed our cluster members battlin’ a few low tier beasties, but nothin’ they couldn’t handle. Lookin’ east, I spotted a horde of Goblins a couple hundred or so in number, they were runnin’ as if their lives depended on it. Lookin’ further afield, I figured out the reason why, a different enemy was runnin’ on top of the canopy of shrooms either towards them, or after them. A massive.. Rooster? The damned thing had to be twenty-feet tall. And it was fast.
[Gold Rank C Boss: Hell Cock, Devourer of Goblins.]
Eh? Was this a named Boss or is Hell Cock what the natives of Terra call giant roosters here? Is Devourer of Goblins a title? I wouldn’t think a Boss could even acquire one. In any case, the Boss caught up to the horde of fleein’ goblins.
Before beginnin’ the assault, Hell Cock asserted his dominance with a verbal display, "Buk buk buk buk ba-gawk!"
It was loud enough that even my Harpy-clone heard it from an elevation well above a thousand feet.
Hell Cock then started snatchin’ up goblins like kids snatch up candy under a freshly busted pinata, his head flashed out like a machine gun swallowin’ two or three goblins per second as the boss darted about chasin’ ‘em down. Utter chaos ensued with goblins fleein’ in all directions, but it wasn’t lookin’ good for ‘em. I think this chicken was dead set on goblin genocide.
Hell Cock possessed a tyrannical aura. Who would’ve guessed a giant chicken would be so strong? I hoped it would get its fill of goblin and head somewhere else. I wanted no part of it.
Meanwhile, the Armadillo seemed content with a standoff, occasionally posturin’ aggressively or emittin’ an odd hiss. I turned to the blood fairy, “Hey Fairy. Can Bosses gain titles?”
“That’s a good question Master!” she chirped, smilin’ at me guilelessly.
I shook my head. Useless. Completely useless. Although, she was a good clone pilot, and her active and passive abilities weren’t bad, and she was kinda cute… but she was dumb as a box of rocks.
I was tired of waitin’. More threats could show up at any time. I needed to either scare this armadillo off or kill it. I activated my clone’s Drake’s Breath with full power, sendin’ a jet of liquid flame arcin’ out towards my enemy. With surprising speed the Mini-Boss jumped aside. Of course the fight wouldn't be over that easily. I jumped off the drake clone and circled left. We’d try the ole hammer and anvil approach. I had a feelin’ this was goin’ to be a long 12 hours.