The essence had been split between them all, as they had all had a hand in dealing damage. The essence conversion was worse than if they had all been in a party together, but Sam did not fully trust the new captains yet. Claude was the one who seemed the least trustworthy. George seemed too innocent to betray him, and the two sisters looked to be honorable enough. If he had his way, Claude would have been replaced with Okita, but Lao had told him that it would be a bad idea to have a man who would eventually be responsible for the faction’s finances to be in such a position of power.
As Sam cleaned himself off, he realized something important. There was no way to get back up onto the wall. As a faction headquarter, the area was designed, and in fact intended, to be completely self sufficient. That meant that there were no gates or roads leading off from the area, and the top of the wall was curved outwards so that nobody could climb up. Instead, Sam and George had to wait as the others found a rope and dropped it over the side to them. Sam went up first, and then George. As the rope was pulled back up by Eduardo, Sam let out a sigh. The corpse of the bear was visible from where they were, and if it was not dealt with, then it would attract scavengers.
“I think it's time to buy some gates,” Sam said as they descended the stairs. Everyone else was in agreement, and as they walked back, they debated on where the best place to put them was. Eventually they reached a consensus which was that four gates, in a cardinal point orientation, would be best. One in the north, one in the south, one in the east and one in the west.
They walked into the city hall, and Sam made his way up to the war room. It was easier to get there than to the Metropolis Core, and he soon entered the defenses menu. Scrolling down, he saw that there was a secondary menu now that opened up next to the walls.
G Rank Concrete Walls
Modifications
+1 foot of height:10,000 Credits per 1000 feet of length
+1 foot of width:10,000 Credits per 100 feet of length
Gates:25,000 Credits per gate
Improved battlements:25,000 Credits per 100 feet of length
Water Moat:35,000 Credits per 1000 feet of length
Lava Moat:500,000 Credits per 1000 feet of length
All of the options were interesting, if quite expensive. What Sam was here for however was the gates, so he quickly purchased them, inputting where he wanted them to be. There were a few flashes of light from the walls, and then everything went silent again. It was done.
Sam left the city hall and ran off to survey the new gates. The rest of the captains all remained behind, to discuss the running of the faction over the next few days. Sam had learned that even though he was the faction leader, it was actually the captains who got most of the planning and organization done. He was supposed to be the last resort of the faction, someone who would come to the defense of the faction if it was in danger. As such, he was expected to strive to better himself as much as possible, and it was pretty hard to level up if you were stuck around a table for most of the day. In fact, Jeffrey had told him that most faction leaders did not even stay with their factions most of the time, instead going off to explore the Multiverse in order to level up. That was off limits for Sam, but he could still level up on Earth.
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He reached the wall a bit later, and made his way towards the closest gate. It was a grand affair, built out of white marble and solid looking iron. There was a small portcullis on it to see who was attempting to enter, and multiple iron bars crisscrossing the structure in order to keep it secure. Sam reached out and tried to pull on one of the bars. It did not budge an inch. Satisfied that it was secure, Sam took one step back, and opened it with his will. The gate was keyed to him as the leader of the faction, and he could control it with his mind. It slid up slowly and he heard a cry of alarm from the top of the wall. A man looked down, with his sword at the ready, and then saw Sam.
“Sorry, faction leader, I thought that you were an intruder.”
“No worries. I’m glad to see that you are being vigilant,” Sam replied.
The other man smiled and withdrew his head, returning to his post. As Sam exited the compound, he took a deep breath. It was time to prepare for the quest that would be starting soon.
He picked a random direction, and began running. He could see for miles around, the trees quite sparse in this region of the expansive forest, and what he saw did not engender any sort of happiness. Most of the ground was a blasted wasteland of scraggly bushes and scorched earth. The body parts of innumerable monsters littered the ground, and a few disconcertingly humanoid figures. They were most likely only gremlins, but it was still disturbing nonetheless. What was for certain was that there was nothing to fight around here. The killers of these creatures had since long disappeared, and Sam would have to go further afield to find them.
The growling of his stomach reminded him that he needed food, as he had not eaten in days, but it was not a pressing need. He then remembered that not everybody had his high level of physicality back in the faction headquarters, but he trusted his captains to build the necessary infrastructure for farming. It should not cost that much, and if they did not use their funds to buy one, which he was sure they would, then there would be a few words had in private, perhaps punctuated with something a bit more physical.
Sam was confident that he would be able to find something to eat within the next few days, and he did not turn back. He had about four days to explore, two to go out, and two to come back. He wanted to return with enough time to adequately prepare for the beginning of the next part of the quest, and he was going to make sure that he packed this time with as much value as possible.
Firstly, after reaching a decent distance from the compound, it was time to check his new gains from his recent level up as well as his new skill. He decided to start with the skill, as it would only require him to look at it rather than interact with it like his stat sheet would do.
You have gained the Dao skill [Girdings of the Arbiter:Mythical] In combining the stalwart energy of Earth and the wild but also virtuous energy of your Dao, you have created a powerful new ability. The power of Earth allows for the manual control of your body, taking it to heights beyond what you would normally be able to. The power of your Dao allows for the preservation of your body under the stress of using such a powerful ability. As Earth and Justice never falter in their endless cycle, neither will you.