Chapter 20

“Now tell me what’s bothering you.”

Shocked by the sudden change in his uncle’s demeanor, Darius just stared at him for a moment. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Now, don’t give me none of that nonsense. I know you. You’ve been looking shifty ever since you got back. I know something's up, so spill.”

Darius let out a long breath. He considered diverting his uncle, but realized he actually wanted, no, needed, to talk about it. Giving in, he started talking. “I murdered someone today. I killed, again.” Darius then went on and explained everything that had happened ever since he’d left their little hamlet, leaving nothing out. “now, not only do I have this Conqueror title, I have another Warlord quest. Only this time, it wants me to conquer three more Settlements.”

Marcus hadn’t said anything in the entire time Darius had been talking, even when they migrated to a pair of seats, when Marcus’s hip had begun aching. “Before we go into the quests, tell me, how do you feel right now? About the five men killed today, I mean.”

Darius tried to find the words to express the complex feelings within him. He knew they were bad men, but they were people. It wasn’t like the monsters or the zombies he’d killed by the dozens. “I- I don’t know. I mean, they were people. Bad people, but people. Who am I to decide who should live or die?”

“Here’s how I see it,” Marcus said. “There hasn’t been any government response to the loss of an American city. Not a peep from the military, cops or anything. We all know the government has fallen. It’s worse than the wild west out there. There aint any law or order any more, only what we make ourselves. For all we know, we are the last bit of civilization for hundreds of miles. You are the leader here. I may have owned the campground before the world ended, but this is your town now. It’s like those old stories about kings and shit. You are the lord of this land, and it is your duty to see justice done. You didn’t murder anyone. You found men guilty of kidnapping, abuse, and, even worse, rape. Not only do we not have a prison to put them in, we don’t have the people or resources to hold people like that. Killing those men, saving the people they held, that was the right thing to do. It’s frontier justice, and we can't be as soft as we used to be.”

Darius nodded at his uncle’s words. While it didn’t entirely make the confusing emotions go away, it did ease them a little. “But what about the Warlord quest? I don’t want to conquer anyone.”

“Just because you got a quest, doesn’t mean you have to complete it. Besides, what if it’s another group of assholes like today? Getting rid of them might just be the best thing you can do. Because I can guarantee, if men like that find us here, they wouldn’t hesitate. They’d be doing everything they could to take us over. Remember, it doesn’t say you have to conquer every settlement. You can choose which ones to take and which ones to leave alone. Who knows, we might just find some friends out there, people like us who might even help with Albuquerque.”

Another weight seemed to fall off of Darius’s shoulders and he was finally able to relax for the first time since he’d taken off on his joyride earlier. “You know, I think you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. Don’t forget, I’m the smart one in the family. Best looking one too.” Both men had a good laugh and ended up spending some time reminiscing about Darius’s parents and the rest of the family they’d lost. It was just what He’d needed after everything that’d happened over the last week.

Sometime later, Darius began to feel the weight of time and the things he still had to get done. “thanks again uncle. You’ve no idea how much I needed that. But the day’s getting on, and there’s still a shit ton to get done. Our population almost doubled, were going to be back to two people a room again unless I figure out housing, and I need to see what I can do with this.” Darius pulled out the City Core he’d taken from the mansion and showed it to Marcus.

Marcus’s brow furrowed, and he stared at the orb for a long moment. “Is that the same thing you used to make all this?”

“Yeah. I got one of these form those Kobolds that grabbed me that first day. Ethan is pretty sure it can be used for other things, and I agree. I’m going to take it to our City Core and see what our options are. First though, I’m going to try to sort out homes for everyone. Can you make sure the newcomers are settled once I do? It shouldn’t take too long.”

“I’m glad to help. You know, your parents would be proud of you, with everything you’ve managed to do since the end of the world. You hit rock bottom and somehow managed to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and made a home for so many people. Hell, I’m proud of you too.”

The two men embraced, and Marcus gave Darius two solid pats on the back before they separated and Marcus left to help settle the new citizens in their little Hamlet.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Darius put away the new City Core for the moment, then placed his hand on the one for Zuri and pulled up the Settlement Interface.

Settlement name

Zuri

Settlement Tier

Tier 1 Hamlet

Settlement Type

Arcanum

Settlement Bonus

+20% Mana Regeneration, +10% Spell effect

Settlement Specialization

N/A

Settlement Owner

Darius Williams

Territory Area

300 Acres

Essence Generated

317

Essence Bank

6655

Essence Upkeep

35

Settlement Credits

c4,550

Population

39

Loyalty

Indifferent +10% (+10% Productivity)

Morale

Content +10% (+5% Productivity, +5% Population Growth)

Production

+16.8%

Subject Settlements

N/A

War Points

1,100

When Darius’s eyes fell on Essence Generated, he stared in shock for a minute. How in the hell did we go from a hundred thirty or so per day to over three hundred? I know we brought in some new folk, but not enough to more than double the Essence we get per day. Darius moved over to the population tab and found the reason for the huge jump. Each individual that had managed to advance on their Path of Power provided more Essence per day. The Settlement got five per day from each person at the base tier, but for people who reached their second rank of faith, they gave thirteen Essence while people who reached their advanced class provided seventeen. Combined with the thirty Essence from the area of influence, they were making a lot more per day.

With over six thousand Essence in the bank, plus more than twelve thousand credits between his personal balance and the Settlements, Darius set about creating more living areas for everyone. He clicked on the building tab and moved to his go to option, the small adobe huts. This time, instead of just making another row of ten back-to-back, he thought he would try to save on space by building up.

Error: Insufficient development.

Damm it, what the hell does that mean? Darius tried to dig in deeper and found some success. It turned out that the blueprints he was trying to use wouldn’t support multilevel building. He would have to work on upgrading those blueprints through research in order to be able to make a multi-story apartment complex. It wouldn’t be Ideal, but if some family members lived together, he could get away with doing one more row of huts, making thirty separate rooms that could sleep up to sixty people. People like Carlos and Javier would have to bunk together, but it should be fine, especially once all the furniture and bedding they’d managed to collect from the mansions were handed out.

He finalized the new hut row for c1,332 Essence. With that completed, Darius finally pulled the extra City Core back out of his bag of holding. With one hand still on the pedestal, he focused on the new core.

City Core Detected

A second City Core has been detected in close proximity to established City Core.

Would you like to:

Establish Hamlet

Requirements: 1 standing structure, 5 people.

Note: As the Headman of your Existing Hamlet, your current Settlement must be at Village Tier to use this option.

Break Down into Essence

Gain 10,000 Essence.

Research Boost

Obtain 1,000 Research Points.

Settlement Type Advancement

Enhance the bonuses provided by your Settlement type.

+10% Mana Regeneration, +5% Spell Effectiveness.

Expanded Storage

Increase storage capacity in the Administration building by 50 slots.

Expanded Area of Influence

Double the Area of Influence (Hamlet Tier).

Increase Resource Production Speed

Quadruple resource production speed for 90 days.

Choose wisely, Headman. Your decision will shape the future development of your Settlement.

That’s a shit ton of options. Damn, I wasn’t expecting that much. Which do I pick? Creating another Hamlet is out of the question for now. Not only do we not meet the requirements, but just handling this one seems like too much sometimes. More research points wouldn’t hurt. Hell, I could get that apartment version of the huts researched instantly, but then again, ten thousand Essence could get the Headman’s hut upgraded to a Village Hall, and probably build the Lord’s Manor too. Then all we’d need is for the crops to grow in, and bam! We’ll be at the Village tier. Resource production… could that be used to grow our food four times faster? But that one only lasts for three months… I think I would rather get something that wouldn’t just wear off after a little while. So, research points or Essence?

Darius opened the building section again and looked over his Hamlet’s layout. The common area he’d kept for people to gather and do stuff was already shrinking with the addition of the new row of huts. No matter the size of the Lord’s Manor, it would take a huge chunk of that courtyard area. Regardless of what choice he made, he would have to expand the walls yet again. There’s never enough damn space!

With a sigh, Darius went back and chose the Essence option. He knew he would need all the Essence he could get to build everything they would need, now and in the coming days.