It didn't take me very long to find several dozen farming bundles in the CStore. It all came down to what kind of farms we needed, and how much I was willing to pay. More than anything I wanted some decent beef. There were three options available. An Eversong Dairy, a Varagian, and Stormhollow Cattle package. Diary sounded wonderful and I would have to come back for it later, but I craved a damned steak. Perhaps even a rack of ribs dripping with BBQ sauce. Ah, I was making myself hungry. Curses. Never go shopping when you are hungry.

I waffled for a moment and then I picked the Varagian Cattle. It was a blind choice that I hoped would pay out delicious dividends. Abruptly a wooden crate appeared, once again it followed the 2' cubed proportions. That made it a repeated pattern. Why were the boxes that specific size? I was 500 CPoints down, with 3300 CPoints left.

Next, I began flipping through the listings for staple crops. Potatoes, corn, rice, wheat, and various strains of beans. I settled on some Loch Modan Potatoes to start. Another crate appeared for another 400 CPoints stripped from my metaphysical wallet. I could skip buying any wheat since I knew there was already decent wheat out there somewhere. There was no need to waste CPoints, when I could obtain the crop another way. However, now I was torn. My mind struggled to decide between corn or rice. Both were very useful with lots of versatility. After a moment, I went with the Westfall corn for no particular reason. That was another 400 CPoints invested into food production. I had 2500 CPoints left.

Ah, that's right, we still needed feed for the cattle and probably rations for the people. I could have them just eat fruits and berries, perhaps even eggs too at this point. But I didn't want to tax the trees of the Valley too heavily. It would be a bad habit in the future when the population grew larger. So let's not make it an option now. The delightful fruits will stay as treats and rewards for my troops.

Interestingly enough, I'd found a subscription service for the animal feed. 200 CPoints a month for a daily crate of top quality feed, supposedly enough for up to 30 heads of cattle. The service was renewed automatically on a monthly cycle, unless I canceled it. I could have some Probes deliver the crates from here to the farm everyday. I'd soon also found another service for rations. 100 more CPoints for a similar deal. Yeah, I guessed 30 humans were cheaper to feed then 30 cows. The Lordaeronians should be left with plenty to store for later. I called over a few Probes to start hauling the crates out to the Town Hall, then headed over to the Forge to queue up some more bracelets.

The need for an assistant, or at least a gopher was rapidly becoming apparent. Maybe even more than one. I felt like I was doing a lot of unnecessary running around, which was beginning to rub my sense of efficiency raw.

Okay, my next order of business was levels. I pulled up my XP reading: 8362. Hmm. I wanted to add 3 levels of Warp-Smith, and 1 level of Druid of Renewal. Then I'd look at the Class options at the Town Hall, if I liked any of them, I should be able increase it to level 4 right away. My brain was tickled by the symmetry. I nodded as I stepped over to the Nexus and rest my hand against its eerily smooth side.

[ Warp-Smith has reached Level 4

You have gained the Psi Technique, Open Warp Portal

You have gained the Psi Technique, Power Psifield

You have gained the Psi Technique, Empower Constructs

You have gained +6 Psi Resonance

You have gained +3 Tech

You have gained +6 Free Points ]

Now, those were some interesting abilities. Open Warp Portal allowed me to link two separate points under the influence of a continuous Psifield for a number of seconds equal to my Psi Resonance plus the Techniques level. Not a solution to my getting to my Outposts undetected problems, but still a very interesting ability. Power Psifield allowed me to act as a Pylon for a number of minutes equal to my Psi Resonance. I'm sure there were absolutely no negative consequences to a living creature generating massive amounts of Psienergy. Empower Constructs allowed me to increase the abilities of anything I'd personally had a hand in designing or making for a number of minutes equal to my Psi Resonance. Meaning I could give all of my Robo-Buddies a quick boost before battle.

Of course, I once again spent several moments just convulsing on the ground in agony as several decades worth of knowledge on Khalai technology was unceremoniously shoved into my brainmeat. Was it as bad as the first time? No, nowhere near as bad, but I still wanted to claw my own eyes out, in the hopes it might briefly alleviate the pain.

Once I'd regained some semblance of control over myself, I went to Meadran's island and added another level in Druid of Renewal. My veins were filled with calm energy that seemed to massage every sore part of my body.

[ Druid of Renewal has reached Level 4

You have gained the spell, Nature's Blessing

You have gained +2 Spirit

You have gained +1 Will

You have gained +2 Free Points ]

Nature's Blessing was a long lasting spell designed to enhance all natural properties of a subject for a number of hours equal to my Spirit. Okay, why was it so soothing to get new spells, and the knowledge therein, but Psi Knowledge fucking hurt? Was there a way to fix that? Please, let there be a way.

After leveling up my Druid Class, I felt so much better. A quick shot of Regrowth, with a side of Cleanse, and then I cast Nature's Blessing on myself, and then on Meadran. Oh, that was nice, everything felt amazing. Like a shot of adrenaline laced coffee, without all the side effects. I could definitely get used to this.

'Ah, thank you, Young One. That makes my branches feel lighter, and my roots have stopped aching from the growth pains.' His chuckle of amusement was all the thanks I needed.

Yeah, I'm going to be casting this spell on all my friends, as often as I could manage. Everything felt so good, that I no longer minded the walk back to the Town Hall where I received yet another pleasant surprise.

Three farming compounds had already been built, and I didn't mean just framed out, they were fully finished. They had even been decorated already. How fast did these Lordaeron peasants work? One compound was designated as a ranch with little calves already running all around. There were feeding troughs, a pond and a barn structure next to the ranch house as well. The other two compounds had about 5 acres of green shoots already sprouting from the soil. I saw that there were two newly summoned farmers out weeding the fields, which after looking at the land for for a while, I noticed had irrigation channels dug out leading from the outflow troughs. Damn, that was scary fast.

By the Town Hall, the Builder and Laborer now had two new companions to help as they were putting up a Warehouse. All the while Probes carted over lumber and stone for them to use. Their hands moved with a creepy speed and supernatural accuracy. Nearby, Raynor and Dughan had summoned a group of ten peasants, which were being trained with simple wooden shields and really basic looking wooden swords. Thankfully, they'd had just enough bracelets to cover everyone from my first batch. I left a box with more of the accessories near the front door of the Town Hall.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Damn Jim, I didn't think I was gone that long." I was shocked, stunned, bamboozled even.

"You weren't, but things seem to work a mite bit faster here." He seemed slightly little less grim as he went back to yelling instruction at the trainees. Dughan saluted me as I passed by to touch the Town Hall. I selected Choose Class.

[ Mage of Transformation

+2 to Will

+1 to Cool

+2 to Intelligence

A Mage that specializes in transmutations.

Starting Spells: Change Color, Alter Minor Property ]

[ Paladin of Nature

+2 to Body

+1 to Cool

+2 to Spirit

Bring righteous fury upon those who would despoil Nature.

Starting Abilities: Smite, Aura of Thorns ]

[ Priest of Fertility

+3 to Spirit

+2 to Cool

A Priest that worships Growth in all its forms. Aids in keeping Humans balanced with Nature.

Starting Spells: Bless Crops, Bless Livestock ]

Now that was a conundrum, but I really wanted something to help keep me alive, to help me fight. Only one of these classes offered that.

[ Paladin of Nature has reached Level 4

You have gained the Prayer Smite

You have gained Aura of Thorns.

You have gained +5 Body

You have gained +4 Cool

You have gained +5 Spirit

You have gained +8 Free Points ]

The pain this time was much more physical. It felt as if every muscle was being torn apart, then rebuilt just to be torn to shreds all over again. I contorted and shook in spasms for several minutes. When I'd managed to snap out of it, everyone had gathered around me. Raynor was holding me still, after having rolled me on my side. I suppose it would have looked like an epileptic seizure.

"You alright there Hoss? You were flopping about like a landed fish there." Raynor a true master of finding humor in horrible things.

"Yeah, just give me a moment to figure this out." I gulped air for a moment.

Smite was a Prayer. It literally called the Wrath of Nature down upon enemies. The further from a natural path they strayed the more damage it would do. Aura of Thorns was an energy field I could call up around myself that would return a portion of damage dealt to me. Interesting.

I got up and stretched. "That hurt." I went with the deadpan delivery.

Raynor chuckled, "Looked like it."

"Do you need a priest, My Lord?" Dughan seemed very concerned. Not that you could tell by looking at him, no it was just a feeling.

"No, I'll be fine. I was just leveling up real quick." That statement got a bunch of blank stares, other than Raynor. Oh, can the rest of my troops not level. Only me and Heroes? No that didn't make sense. Meadran had mentioned levels and knew about leveling? Lumi and Alina as well.

Huh. Another set of issues to look into.

My time over the next few days, was largely spend doing what I'd found I loved doing the most, improving schematics. I'd made a ton of small adjustments to everything, from managing to improve Pylon power flows, or to streamlining the robots chassis, like the Sentries'. The new knowledge stuffed forcefully into my brain was proving very useful, such as already being able to make several improvement to the cloaking fields. For example, you no longer needed a bracelet to operate under the field provided you were designated friendly by one of the recognized authorities of the Valley. Plus, now I'd gotten the energy draw was down to a far more reasonable level.

I'd branched out into Khalai coding, so I could better understand and regulate the AIs governing my robots. At first an extremely difficult task, requiring constant support from Alina. However, now I was capable of scripting like a champ. The Probes had already shown remarkable improvement across all categories, and I even managed to include a few new tools in their latest redesign. Increased levels of lifting and pulling, along with expanded repair and upgrade features and especially in the baseline building construction programming. Now they could build any schematic from scratch rather than having to warp it in. How did this help? As I had learned from observing the Lordaeron builders it was significantly faster, and didn't emit anywhere near as much of an energy signature. Also, they could now perform many of the functions of a Forge on their own, just on a much smaller scale. Great for making new equipment.

Even the very minor additions to Alina's code, that I was capable of, were already paying dividends. Day to day needs and functions were being handled with increased precision. Alina was running the base expansions now, while needing only slight input from Meadran and Raynor. Although at this point, the Valley really had no room for anything else. So most new building projects were happening out in New Lordaeron, as we had all taken to calling it. I figured the name would be good for the morale of the people I'd summoned, something to remind them of their home.

I had taken to training with Jim and the recruits for a couple of hours every day. Getting used to my new physical improvements, which were substantial. I still hadn't spent my free points not understanding where I might benefit the most. My mind kept over processing the decision, without any clear idea of what any of it meant in the first place. Though Meadran and Jim both said I should do something about my agility. I mean a tree had told me I'd needed to do something about my agility, how demoralizing. Agility would be covered by the Reflex stat, right? Seemed to be the most likely candidate. but I wasn't sure so it was difficult to commit the points.

I took this training time, so I had an excuse to cast Nature's Blessing on everyone. Making the already ridiculously speedy construction of buildings that much faster, and the combat training that much smoother. During one training session I'd gotten, perhaps, my best idea yet. Raynor had been trying to get some of the Probes to cycle into the training, so the recruits would have something different to spar with. It wasn't going well, the Probes really didn't like being ordered by anyone but me. They were mostly just beeping angrily at him, but today Buzz was not having it. He rammed into Raynor and plinked off Raynor's armor. Raynor's powered armor.

Raynor had mentioned that mechanical enhancement being given to humans in The Confederacy was a rare event, and usually the very last ditch method to treat someone. They mostly enhanced people by genetically or chemically altering them. However, his power armor granting him a fairly large boost to strength and speed. Watching Buzz ram into Raynor again and again, I couldn't help but think that we could make more armor. Better armor. If my experiments with Khalai tech had taught me anything it was that human equipment was extremely easy to replicate and improve using the Forge.

"Buzz! Scan that armor." I pointed gleefully at Raynor's armor. "Raynor could you teach these guys how to operate that armor or some just like it?" Buzz hovered around Raynor, his scanners working on every little detail of the armor.

"Of course, they're dumb as rocks and mule stubborn, but that was all my boys back home. I can whip them into shape, but where are you... I get it." His eyes lit up with understanding. "That'll be something." Buzz beeped his completion.

"When this is done, the Probes will help with training. We can use it to enhance their battle algorithms. Right, Buzz?" Buzz gave me a sad beep. "Cheer up Buzz, it will help improve everyone. Isn't that good?"

I got a doubtful beep that meant, "Sure, but can you trust them?"

"Maybe not as well as you guys, but sure, I trust them." I nodded at the grumpy Probe. Buzz flew off to get back to his work.

"Is it just me or have they gotten more ornery lately?" Raynor asked gruffly.

"Yeah, probably a side effect of the infusion process. They developed an evolving personality and it gets even more pronounced when they get a name. Kind of like kids. But they are way better company now." I shrugged. "I'm going to get to work on the designs for Terran and Protoss fusion armor."

That was when I got a call. It was Sally. My face drained of blood. Oh fuck. I'd gotten too caught up in everything. I had forgotten to call them.

"Sally, are you alright?" I tried to keep my voice calm. What would I do if she was in trouble?

"Yeah, the Corp scopmunchers didn't really chase us. We think they just wanted to drive us off. A couple of the old vets kept eyes on them for a while after we scattered. They're still guarding the area, not letting anyone near. They barely even seemed interested in the remains of your buildings. Though they were very excited by the leftover water. They were real keen on that." That was a load off my mind. Though I still felt like shit for getting too distracted.

"Can you guys meet up? Hell bring everyone here if you want. I've come up with a solution for the Corpos watching us from above. We've got water and food and plenty of room. Better yet, new weapons and armor coming down the pipeline soon." I said the last part like you might say hot steamy sex.

"Ooo. That does sound like a good time. Alright, you talked me into it, you smooth devil. I'll talk to Amanda and we'll head that way shortly." The line went silent. She didn't seem upset, good. I guess I hadn't fucked up too badly.

Raynor chuckled, "I know that look. Wife?"

"Huh!? What!? No, we just met not that long ago. Still figuring all that out." I felt my face heat up. He gave me a stare, a you'd best wise up stare.

"Oh, son. Your goose is already cooked, you might as well make peace with the idea. Been there a time or two. Before you ask, no, it never gets easier."

Yeah. I was looking forward to their arrival, and dreading it all the same.