Chapter 4
“Wow, this changes a lot,” Darius said. He was surprised at the rewards he’d been given for just letting the Library manifest in the Hamlet. While the loyalty and morale bonuses were great, and actually pushed those metrics into the positive for the first time, the free research points along with the Research Primers were what he was most interested at that moment.
“What? did something happen?” David asked.
“Yeah, the System seems to count all this as us having built a Tier four building and gave us some great rewards,” Darius answered.
“Nice. What did we get?”
Rather than answering, Darius just willed the screen to David and let him read it himself.
“Do you know what this means?” David asked. “We need to get inside and pick our research. This is too outstanding to put off.”
“Lead the way, Researcher,” Darius said with a smile.
They made their way to one of the research terminals. Darius was mildly surprised to see that it had access to the Research Primer menu from the Settlement Interface. That made things much easier. Darius did not want to have to run in and out of the Headman’s hut again that day.
“Which Primers are we going to get?” David asked.
Darius looked over the options on the screen.
Research Primer
Cost
Rarity
Agriculture
c300
Common
Alchemy
c300
Common
Brewing
c300
Common
Cobbling
c300
Common
Construction
c300
Common
Cooking
c300
Common
Enchantment
c500
Uncommon
Essence
c500
Uncommon
Fishing
c300
Common
Fletching
c300
Common
Fortifications
c300
Common
Glass blowing
c300
Common
Healing
c300
Common
Herbalism
c300
Common
Ki Formation
c500
Uncommon
Leatherworking
c300
Common
Logging
c300
Common
Masonry
c300
Common
Mining
c300
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Common
Pottery
c300
Common
Relic Creation
c500
Uncommon
Siege Weapons
c300
Common
Smithing
c300
Common
Training Equipment
c300
Common
Weaving
c300
Common
Woodworking
c300
Common
“There’s a bunch of options here. I forgot how cheap those Primers are.”
“Well, if we want the most bang for out buck,” David offered. “I say we get those Uncommon Research Primers. They all cost five hundred credits each. Using the free primers means we get two thousand credits' worth, then we can just buy the cheaper ones at need.”
Darius nodded and continued looking through the list. Of the Common primers, he was trying to figure out which ones they needed the most. “If we focus on what we need to both be more self-sufficient and what we need to advance to a Village, we need Agriculture. Aside from a couple buildings, we need to grow enough food to feed everyone for a month.”
“That’s a good point, and if buildings are needed, we can pick up the Construction Primer. Hey, didn’t we get a mess of Alchemy ingredients yesterday? If we want to get the best use out of them, we should grab Alchemy, too. I know two of the workshops have alchemy labs in them, so we can get good use out of them and make some potions and stuff.”
“That will only cost us nine hundred credits,” Darius said. “We still have plenty from the fight. I think we should get those seven for now and see how far four hundred research points gets us.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” David tried to click on the options, but he got an Access denied message, saying he did not have sufficient permissions to spend Settlement Credits. “Looks like you have to do the clicking.” He then moved to the side and let Darius take the seat.
As planned, he used the free primers on the four uncommon options: Enchantment, Essence, Ki formation, and Relic Creation. When he bought the Enchantment Primer, a window popped up with its description.
Research Primer: Enchantment
The Enchantment Research Primer is an invaluable guide for aspiring enchanters and seasoned mages alike, providing foundational knowledge and advanced techniques in the art of enchantment. As a ranked Uncommon research project, this primer delves into the intricate processes of imbuing objects with magical properties, enhancing both their effectiveness and efficiency.
Upon completing the first Tier of this research, practitioners gain a +5% bonus to enchantment potency. This means that every enchantment they perform is slightly stronger, more stable, and longer-lasting than those performed without this knowledge. This initial boost is just the beginning, as further Tiers unlock deeper secrets and more powerful techniques.
By studying the Research from the Enchantment Research Primer, enchanters will learn to refine their control over magical energies, understand the subtleties of various enchantment materials, and master the symbiotic relationship between the enchanter and the enchanted object. This primer is an essential resource for anyone looking to elevate their enchantment skills to the next level and create truly extraordinary magical items.
As your Research progresses, you may unlock the opportunity to unlock more specialized research in the Field of Enchantments. These Rare research opportunities will enable you to fully customize and enhance your enchanting potential.
Tier 1: 15 Research Points, +5% Enchantment Potency.
Tier 2: 35 Research Points, +10% Enchantment Potency.
Tier 3: 70 Research Points, +20% Enchantment Potency, -5% Mana Cost.
Tier 4: 140 Research Points, +30% Enchantment Potency, -10% Mana Cost.
Tier 5: 280 Research Points, +50% Enchantment Potency, -15% Mana Cost.
Tier 6: 500 Research Points, +75% Enchantment Potency, -20% Mana Cost
Tier 7: 750 Research Points, +100% Enchantment Potency, -30% Mana Cost.
Tier 8: 1,100 Research Points, +150% Enchantment Potency, -40% Mana Cost.
Tier 9: 1,500 Research Points, +200% Enchantment Potency, -50% Mana Cost.
Tier 10: 2,000 Research Points, +300% Enchantment Potency, -75% Mana Cost.
“That answers most of my questions about this system,” David said.
“What do you mean?” Darius asked.
“Well, the primers we have access to are rather limited, and just going off of our technology before the apocalypse, each type of technology had innumerable possible branches , directions it can be developed into. With this, it looks like we get a chance to unlock advanced research options as we progress. With Enchantments as an example, from what I learned while talking to Ethan, we might get a branch that increases Mana capacity, or enchantment slots, reduce Mana resistance, and who knows what all else. The possibilities are practically limitless.”
“I like the sound of that, though it does mean you have a lot of work ahead of you. The higher Tiers need a ridiculous amount of research points to unlock. How are you going to be able to do all that research yourself?”
“Actually, I’m hoping I won't be doing it all by myself. This library has four research terminals, probably because this is apparently a Tier four building. So, if I recruit three more people, we can get four times the amount of research done. The higher our skill gets, the more points we will generate, too. At rank ten, we will each generate two points per day. That means it would only take two days to get the first rank done, if it works like I think it will.”
“Makes sense. Here, let me buy the rest of the Primers, then we can spend our free points.” Darius then quickly bought the rest of the primers they had planned on, quickly skipping past the descriptions of each. If he was curious, he could look them up again later.
“Looks like the common Research only costs ten Research Points, unlike the fifteen from the uncommon. It's not a big difference at Tier one, but by the time it reaches Tier ten, that’s a fifteen hundred research point difference. I’d hate to see how much a Rare ranked research would cost.”
“Now we need to spend the research points.” Darius said. “Going in order, Agriculture increases our harvest yield. Starting at Tier three, it increases growth speed too. Alchemy increases potency, and at Tier three, increases batch yield. Construction increases build speed and then adds a durability bonus. Essence is interesting. It increases the Essence we get from our area of influence, and at Tier three, it starts increasing Essence gained from our population. Ki Formation and Relic Creation both do the same as Enchantment.”
“What was Relic Creation? You clicked away before I could get a good look at it.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. It looks like it’s basically enchanting for the Path of Faith, and Ki Formations are the same but for the Path of Ki.”
“Thanks, I’m not really surprised each Path would have their own Enchanting system. You know, if we can get all three of those research projects Tiered up, we could be known as the enhanced Item masters. Imagine how much we could make selling that stuff to other settlements once we find some, anyway. Add alchemy to that, and we could all be rich!”
“Before we can get rich,” Darius said. “We need to spend these points.”
“I think we should lean into our earlier strategy,” David said. “Using the points for the more expensive research, specifically Enchantment and Essence. The more essence we make each day, the more we can do and faster. We already have an enchantment workshop that gives incredible bonuses, doubling down on that could make dealing with the undead threat much easier.”
“I agree, and if we have enough points, we should invest in Agriculture and Alchemy. The kinds of potions Chad mentioned yesterday that we might be able to make with those undead parts could be the difference between life and death.”
“Let’s see what we can do,” David said as he pulled up a calculator function on the terminal. “The first three Tiers of Enchantment and Essence each cost a total of one hundred twenty points. So, if we push it that far, to get the second bonus, that will use two hundred and forty points. Agriculture and Alchemy will each cost eighty-five points to get there, too.” Chad punched the numbers in and then swore. “Damn, we’re only ten points short of getting all four to Tier three. So, which one should we push to Tier three? Alchemy or Agriculture?”
“Food is more important than alchemy, for now. Let’s do Tier three in Agriculture and Tier two in Alchemy. That leaves us with… forty points. I think we should get the first rank of Ki Formation. I know Chad’s been practicing so he can do his Ki enchanting thing to his bone swords.”
“If you want to do that, we can also get the first Rank of Construction and Relic Creation with five points left over. We can put those five points to the Research we want to conduct next.”
“Good idea, I think we will do that,” Darius said and put action to his words. Then, after thinking for a minute, he put the five remaining points into Ki Formation, leaving them with thirty research points needed to reach the second Tier.
“Alright, I will research Ki formation next. What’s that?” David was distracted by a flash of light that came from the bookshelves behind them. They both got up and went to investigate. On the top of the first shelf there were fourteen new books. Each had a simple name, like Agriculture I, Agriculture II, Agriculture III, Alchemy I, and the like. The first volume of each set was fairly thin, but they got thicker as the numbers got higher.
David pulled down the first volume of Enchantment and flipped through its pages for a moment. “I know what these are. They are the results of our free research. Each one is one of the Tiers we paid for. This means that anyone who wants to benefit from the bonuses will have to come in and study the books. So, it will take some time to get the results to everyone who needs them, but this can teach future generations.” David wiped a tear that had been gathering in the corner of his eye. “The first books in my own library.”