Year 1568, summer.
The Santa Maria, as Jane had insisted the galleon be named, came in range of the coasts of Lalcqia. Everyone on deck shouted with excitation. For three months there had been nothing to see but the eternally blue expanses of the ocean and the very familiar scenes of the fleet of caravel that surrounded the capital ship. People who were not directly involved in the sailing of the ship got bored.
There was only so much time one could spend in Luca’s library before burning out. Crafters and adventurers took especially badly to the trip. The first ones because they had been prohibited from working during the duration of the journey so as to save the materials for when they arrived. And anyway, without their workplace set up, there wasn’t much they could do. On the other hand, adventurers were at first very much excited, that is, until they realized they were stuck living in cramped spaces without any action for months. See hazards such as monsters or magic storms had all been handled by the heroes and adventurers found themselves as little more than burdensome passengers.
To pass the time, Luca proposed to put the naming of their future colony to a vote. At first, he thought he would name it himself, but when Jane started referring to the future colony as “New Hope”, he knew something had to be done. Everyone had been taken by the game, spending days trying out new names and when Luca walked around on the desk he could hear all names such as “Heavendale”, “Magnesia” or “Eternal Glory” being passed around. He hoped the last one would not take.
As for him, the trip was by no means boring. He did what he liked best: planning, writing, and drafting blueprints. He had over five hundred rare blueprints ready for when they arrived though he would have to adapt most of them to the materials they would find. Their current plan was to arrive at the mouth of a river called the Luria, near the southern end of Lalcqia. That place had not been colonized by Lizardmen for it had been home to a pack of lv 100 Tyrants, a specie of monsters dinosaurs. But the other heroes were confident they could deal with the monsters and they hoped that the location would have been left alone by the demons.
The desk was getting crowded as everyone had been brought up by the cries of excitations and wanted to see the land themselves. Luca made his way to back the castle to join the captain of the ship. Captain Jon had been a good find of Jordi: the man was experienced, he had sailed the oceans for years and been to most continents. He knew the dangers of the sea and steered his ships with efficient caution. Over level 40, once he was presented with the opportunity to command an epic-grade ship he didn’t hesitate and jumped on the opportunity.
As he reached the captain, the man noticed him and smiled. “Well my good sir, it seems we have almost arrived. I’ve never had so smooth and safe a trip. That ship is heaven-blessed.” Captain Jon was always a bit too obsequious with Thirio and Luca, which contrasted with the aloof and authoritative attitude he kept with his crews and other passengers.
“It’s been a nice trip indeed, though I’m not sure everyone appreciates it enough. So where do you think we have arrived?”
“According to our calculations and the last time we checked our position with the stars, we should be in a one day-radius of Luria’s mouth. I’ll need to bring us closer to the coast to see if we can recognize any landmark but I’m confident we’ll be at our destination before tomorrow night.”
The captain was right as they found Luria’s mouth by the next morning. The ships furled their sails a few hundred meters away from the coast and they got ready to send the first adventurers on the land by putting pinnace into the water. But Jane must have felt it was a good moment to be melodramatic as she jumped into the air to land directly on the coast, easily crossing the distance with her extraordinary physical stats. She turned around to face the ships and in a booming yet mysterious voice started declaiming: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my sword beside the golden door!"
Luca felt so awkward at seeing that. Jane had done it again. Three months on the ship with her had been a tiring experience. She always had to act strange and do things differently. Iria, who was next to him, noticed how he felt.
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“You know, doing that is part of the requisite of her class. She doesn’t talk about it but she almost always makes everything appears either epic or dramatic. That’s how she gets her strength.”
“But why did she have to choose such an embarrassing class to start with,” Luca complained.
“Who knows? Maybe it helped her find her way in this world, maybe it helps her cope with it. Or maybe she just purely enjoys it. Anyway, it suits her well. She’s by far the strongest of us and could probably take Jordi, Helena, and me at the same time.”
Soon after, the first groups of adventurers reached the land. It had been decided that only adventurers and heroes would land for the time being to scout for demons and get rid of the local monsters. That didn’t please the crafters but they could do little more than grumble and complain. As for Luca, he had activated his [Project Roadmap] skill and asked groups of adventurers to mark the lay of the land for him. Even without setting foot on the continent, he could start planning his next moves.
It had been decided the vote to decide the name of the colony would be held as crafters landed in a few days and it would officially mark the beginning of the colonization.
The next day started uneventfully, up to the moment when a column of fire and magic rose from the jungle that occupied most of the coast after a few hundred meters. The energy emanating from it was terrifying, and so where the cry of rages that followed. The adventurers that were moving around on the coast immediately reacted by taking out their weapons and getting ready for whatever was coming. A few seconds later, trees were sent flying as a colossal dinosaur monster tramped through the jungle running for the coast. Hot on its trail was the party of the heroes, with Jordi firing arrows at the gigantic beast.
The monster was obviously fleeing from them as his body was already battered and bloody, but a wounded beast of this size and level was still very much a threat to the common adventuring parties which had been lounging around the coast. They were already trying to take cover but some were going to be trampled on if nothing was done.
That’s when Jane, who was running behind the Tyrant, jumped in the air and drew her sword while shouting: “[Drawing Technique: Blade of the Setting Sun] !”. For a moment, the whole world was illuminated and Luca’s vision was blinded. As it returned, the beast was dead, its head cleanly severed from its corpse and laying a few dozen meters before it. Well, I see why Iria said she was crazily powerful. After that, the crafters stopped complaining about having to wait to land. In the next days, occasional signs of fighting could be seen from the ships but no additional monsters reached the coast. A few [Butchers] and [Scavengers] had been allowed to land to help process the monsters’ corps into valuable resources but that was all. Then Jordi, Jane, Iria, and Helena came back with their parties informing them the region was clear for more than twenty kilometers and they could start to settle.
As the pinnace brought people and resources to the shore, they held the vote for the name. Sunset Landing’s ended up winning by a landslide, the name of Jane’s technique having obviously made an effect on all those who witnessed it.
Guess Jane still gets to name everything then, Luca pouted. But deep inside, he was glad she would be there to protect the colony. The encounter with the Tyrant had reminded him of how deadly the world they lived in was. And they had yet to encounter the demons.
Well, it’s time to use the [Virtual Management] skill, I’ve been holding onto it for quite some time as the limit of one organization meant there could be only one try but this is it. Luca activated the skills and got a system prompt.
[Do you wish to create an organization?]
He mentally answered “Yes”.
[Please name and define your organization.] Luca did as much.
[Processing your commands…]
[Congratulations, you have created the [Sunset’s colony] state, your organization currently holds one person and no lands, do you wish to invite people or claim land.]
A few seconds later, all the members of the expeditions had been invited to the [Sunset’s colony organization] and were then further processed into the Departments of the Adventurer Guilds. The land they were on was claimed.
Luca was smiling widely as he looked at the [Sunset’s colony] status.
[ Sunset colony.
Land: 20 square kilometers.
Population : 3169 human.
Ressources : …
Sub-organizations: Department of Resources, Department of Industry, Department of Civil Affairs, Department of Military Affairs, Adventurers Guild.
Special effects: Pioneers and settler, +10% skill rate acquisition and progress, increased chances of unlocking pioneer or settlers class.]
It was time to start establishing themselves, these numbers were only the beginning. And he had gotten to name the colony himself, though he didn’t think anyone would have any issue with his choice.