The journey back to their encampment was slow going. Moving this many people had its challenges, especially when many of them were wholly unprepared for combat in this environment.
They formed up in an orderly fashion, positioning the strongest fighters on the flanks. Calvin, Amy, and Freya took point while Seth, Marshall, and Ian took the rear.
Seth used this opportunity to send his scouting drones in every direction. He had three now, aptly named Scout, Scout 1 and Scout 2. It was simplistic, and Marshall was sure that his suggestions were far better, but Marshall wasn’t the drone master now, was he?
There was a heavy worry hanging over the group regarding Knox. What was he up to? Something about the mountains seemed important enough for him to give up on his claim to these people and his camp. It was a worrying thought for Calvin. A person like Knox favored their ego above everything. For him to disengage like he did left an enormous pit of concern in Calvin’s stomach.
They finally arrived back at their encampment just after midday. The journey was mostly uneventful. A few enterprising packs of creatures assaulted them, and Calvin encouraged the fighters to engage and use the opportunity to get some experience. There were a few minor injuries, but nothing that Marshall couldn’t patch up in a jiffy.
Right now, they had a single building to house everyone in. It would not be the most comfortable from the outset, but Calvin had promised they would get additional structures built so that everyone could have their privacy. They had a laundry list of things to accomplish. There was housing and infrastructure to construct, and for that, Calvin tasked Marshall and Amy to work with Andy to categorize everyone. They needed to know how many families there were, what sorts of professions and classes everyone had, and what types of facilities they would need. They’d salvaged a bunch of materials in their destruction of Knox’s hell hole, so that would go a long way toward the upgrades.
Speaking of upgrades. Calvin summoned Andy over for a brief chat about the upgrade base upgrade token.
“Thanks for your help getting everyone sorted.” Calvin said.
“That is one of my primary functions as base administrator.” Andy replied.
“Well, thank you all the same. We took control of another base and I broke it down into this token. Are you able to tell me about it?”
Andy examined the token for just a moment and replied, “Yes. This token is a standard base upgrade token. When occupying another base, you will always have the opportunity to take control of it or dismantle it. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. This token would upgrade your base from a village to a town. A town carries several additional advantages over a village. Like your last upgrade, the rune will grow in size, the maximum population it can support will grow and you’ll gain access to the missive functionality.”
“What’s the missive functionality?”
“It’s similar to a quest system. The System as well as citizens and leaders of your town will be able to post missives. A town missive can be anything from slaying monsters to providing materials and the rewards are determined by the missive creators themselves. When a missive is created, the rewards are added to the town treasury and distributed upon confirmed completion. You will also gain access to the credit system, although it will be somewhat limited within the tutorial. Many system-generated missives will contain credit rewards. I highly suggest implementing taxation to build the town treasury. Upon leaving the tutorial, having established wealth will be beneficial to you and your citizens.”
Calvin sighed. “Everyone is going to love hearing they still need to pay taxes. That was a sore subject for us back on Earth. For future reference, what benefit would there have been to keep that base intact?”
“Immediately, none. Towns under the same ownership share a treasury, making trade between establishments easier. Transportation becomes easier as well once both towns are of the appropriate level. They also improve your ability to protect and control areas of interest. In the tutorial, focusing on a single settlement is wise.”
Calvin thought on it for a moment, then brought up the town management window.
BASE RUNE UPGRADE TOKEN ACKNOWLEDGED. DO YOU WISH TO UPGRADE YOUR BASE FROM MINOR VILLAGE TO TOWN? UPGRADE INCLUDES:
Max Population Support: 1000
Settlement Name
Missive Board
Treasury
Credit System Initialization: Initial deposit - 100,000 credits
Calvin confirmed the upgrade. The base rune pulsed with radiant energy and began etching itself further out into the forest. When it was finished, the rune had nearly quadrupled in size.
Upon opening the management window to view the upgrades, Calvin faced a new prompt.
PROVIDE SETTLEMENT NAME
That’s a lot of pressure, Calvin thought, but then he had an idea.
“Andy, could you help take a vote on the town name? Start making a list of everyone’s suggestions and let them vote. We’ll pick a name in 2 hours.” Calvin said.
“Understood. Should I let Marshall vote as well?”
Did Andy just make a joke?
Calvin chuckled. “Yeah, we’ll let Marshall vote.”
Calvin went about his business. First up, he needed to talk to Seth. If anyone was going to cook up a new hand for him, it would be Seth.
“How’s everything going?” Calvin asked as he approached Seth’s “workshop”
“Actually, not bad. We brought a ton of stuff back with us. I was sorting through the equipment, and there’s some good stuff there. Ian will organize it and can walk you through it once I’m finished.” Seth said.
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“Excellent! Everything from the fight, we should make use of. Anything we gathered from the camp, we should distribute or add to the treasury. I came by to ask if you had any ideas about my little situation.” Calvin said, holding up his stump.
Seth winced. “How is that by the way?”
“To be honest, it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as it should. I really do wish I had a hand though.”
“I spoke with Andy about it when we got back. Your situation isn’t really all that bad. Sounds like people get things chopped off a lot in the system. I should be able to cook up something to hold you over, but there are ways to regenerate limbs as well. Marshall might even be able to do it eventually. Back on Earth, getting a robot hand would be pretty cutting-edge. As Andy explained it to me though, our ability to control nanites makes it a much simpler prospect. Instead of having to interface with your nerves, we just interface with your nanite control. Can’t promise I’ll have anything soon, but it’s at the top of my list for sure.”
“Thanks Seth, do what you can, but don’t sacrifice on other priorities. I’ll talk with Andy and Marshall.”
Calvin was a mix of hope and despair after that. Of course, he’d hoped Seth already had an answer for him. That would be pretty damn convenient though. Hell, just the fact that he made it sound like an easily resolvable issue made him feel much better. Quick would be nice though, since the tutorial likely would not wait around for him to heal up.
Unfortunately, there was no time to dwell on his own problems. There was lots to do. Speaking of which, he popped over to check on Amy and Marshall.
“How’s it looking?” Calvin asked as he approached Amy. She was meeting with a man and woman with their two children who looked to be roughly around 10 and 15 years old.
“Pretty good. I was just wrapping up with the Lark family.” Amy said.
Calvin nodded in greeting. “Nice to meet you. I hope everything is to your satisfaction?”
“It’s wonderful. Thank you for everything. Amy here was just helping us get settled.” the man said.
“Glad to hear it. Please let us know if you need anything for now. We’ll be working to get everyone out of the temporary housing and into more private accommodations.” Calvin shook the man’s hand and stole Amy away to get an update.
“We have 15 individuals and 6 families. Of those, we have gathered everyone’s class and a list of their professions before the system. We have 20 combat-oriented classes, 10 artisan classes, and 14 children. 6 people have not chosen a class yet.” Amy ran down the list.
“Of the professions, it’s all over the place. There were a few tradesmen, plumbers and electricians, a pharmacist, several teachers, a few cooks, a pilot, and a software developer. The combat classes are all iron rank, many of them have expressed a desire to get out and level up quickly to get to the class evolution.”
“This is great Amy, thanks for putting this together. What’s Marshall up to?” Calvin asked.
“He’s walking the camp with Andy and some of the people with professions. There are two who have cooking-related classes, and the pharmacist ended up with a similar class. They’re planning out some of the infrastructure. I think they might also be working up a plan to get Seth into a proper shop. We’ve outgrown his junk heap.”
“Chefs. Now that’s something I didn’t realize I missed.” Calvin slipped into a short-lived dreamland of incorporating fine dining into their little town.
Amy reached out and placed her hand on Calvin’s forearm, looking directly into his eyes, “By the way, everyone here is extremely appreciative of you and everything you did for them. That includes me. You’ve given up a lot to help us all and keep the hope alive.”
"I'm just doing my part. We all play an equal role here," Calvin said. "We wouldn't have survived this long without you. Your skills out there are unmatched."
He rubbed his neck, letting his mind wander into his next words, "I'm lucky to fight alongside someone as talented and beautiful as you." The compliment slipped out before he could stop himself.
Amy smiled, detecting his hesitation. Rather than embarrass him further, she let her hand linger on his arm. "You're sweet. Come on, let's have Ian walk us through the stuff we picked up."
Calvin couldn't see Amy's cheeks blushing. He was just thankful for the extraction.
They met Ian at the rather impressive pile of goods. He’d been working on separating materials from equipment and then further organizing them into ordinary and attuned categories. Most everything was ordinary, and they’d get everyone together shortly for a short town meeting and get some of these things distributed. The fighters they’d brought back were in complete shambles in the gear department. Many of them didn’t even have appropriate weapons for their class.
Of the attuned variety of items, there was a nice stash of materials that would go to Seth for now until the other professions got set up. Almost all of the attuned equipment was picked up from the generals they’d defeated.
“Cal, Amy.” Ian said and nodded over to them. “Quite the haul. Most everything is pretty standard. Even with the attuned stuff. There’s self-repairing armor and robes, which we can get distributed. There are a few standout items though here.” Ian indicated a pile of weapons containing the hammer that Mauler had carried, a pair of swords, a pair of daggers, a bow, and a staff.
Calvin began inspecting them.
Whisperwind Hammer (Silver): Light and swift, this enchanted hammer hums with the wind. Its strikes increase the air pressure in its wake by a significant margin. This effect can generate low-damage, ranged attacks in addition to empowering melee strikes by a moderate amount. (Power +2)
Gravity Blade (Gold): Manipulating gravity, this sword can shift its weight and strike with unexpected force, pushing enemies back or pinning them to the ground. The air around the blade ripples with distortion, warning others of its otherworldly power. (Power +2, Speed +1)
Crimson Short sword (Silver): This brutal short sword thirsts for combat, growing hotter with each successful strike. Its burning edge sears flesh and metal, dealing additional damage as the blade is infused. (Power +1, Speed +1)
While much of the equipment wasn’t immediately useful for his party, Calvin would invite Sasha and Liam to take a look at the bow and swords. The hammer could be useful in Seth’s experiments. Otherwise, they would add these and the rest of the attuned equipment as missive rewards. They could just distribute them, but a little motivation for progress never hurt anyone.
Amy had already snatched one dagger for herself.
Shadowthorn dagger (Gold): This dagger is infused with the pollen of a shadowthorn rose. Upon successfully wounding a biological target, the toxin causes spontaneous growth of darkness-attuned thorns within the wound. The thorns, while being extremely painful, also emit a mild paralytic toxin. (Power +2, Speed +2)
She was already very strong in her own right with her Sonic Edge. Adding this to her arsenal was frankly disgusting.
Calvin gathered their group together to review to town plans with Andy. Looking at the proposed map, Calvin was truly impressed. Andy had shown off his true value as an administrator and helped plan the layout. They had marked areas for eateries that would be strategically located near the residential and crafting sections. The training grounds would receive an overhaul and would include facilities for combat instruction. There was an academy for the children to attend, a new shop for Seth, and a new pier down at the lake.
Calvin looked at the well-structured settlement on the map and then looked back at the town they stood in. This would be an incredible transformation.
The plans also included enhancements to their defenses. The walls would be upgraded to stone and expanded to the new borders of the rune. They would contain walkways and guard posts atop them for an established watch. Additionally, the town upgrade afforded them new construction options. Calvin and the group made a few minor changes to the plan and asked Andy to kick off the construction.
With that, the reconstruction of their humble little settlement began.