The following day, I woke up to my alarm, as is my developing habit, and headed to start my training. Upon completing the training, Laxreal received my full attention while I headed to the archery range. "Can you get the groups that want to go and take out the goblin encampment together? I want to clear it today so we no longer have to worry about it."

"As you wish, where would you like to meet everyone?"

"Send them to the gate; we should get everyone into some semblance of order before charging up there. I also want to have more information about the encampment. Can you get the scouts working on that to get a current estimate of the goblins? I want to see if their numbers have increased since Shadow last checked."

"I will have it done." He heads off, and I proceed to my archery training session. Over the last week, I managed to level up my swordsmanship and archery to level 3 each. This isn't very impressive compared to the other warriors or hunters, but considering that I was learning it as a mage gave me a bit more bragging rights.

Once I finished my archery training, I went to the gate. When I got there, I found the newcomers and a large group of everyone I had been seeing these last few weeks. As I approached, Draemish stepped out and gave me a warm welcome: "Good morning, Drake. I hope your training didn't drain you from what you gathered us for."

"I have plenty of energy. Don't you worry yourself over that," I replied happily. "How many people have joined us in this excursion?" I asked.

"There are a total of 43 people here. With this sort of small force, we should be able to deal with the goblins easily. Do you want to wait for the scout to return, or do you want to start heading in that direction and see if we can clean up this mess before lunchtime?"

"Let's go ahead and head out. We will run into the scout on our way. Plus, it has been a while since I was in that part of the territory."

With that, I turned and addressed the crowd. "I would like to thank all those who have volunteered to join us on this little excursion to the eastern part of the territory. I know many of you have been hearing about an encampment of goblins. While that is true, I would like to say that we will take care of that threat today. For those that are new, please be careful of your health. I can heal those that take damage, but I prefer that we don't have to do that." Smiling at everyone, I proceed to the gate and head out ahead of everyone else with Draemish by my side.

It doesn't take the group long before we reach the area we can use to climb up and head to the goblin encampment. When we reach the top, one of the scouts stops us, and we quickly gather. "What is the news of the goblins?" I asked.

"There are a couple more goblins since we last checked, but for the most part, we should be able to easily clear out the encampment if we set up well enough."

"Good, please lead the way." I gestured, and the scout took the lead. Not long after, we slowly made our way to the scouting point, and I found Shadow standing there giving instructions to the scouts.

He turns to us and acknowledges our presence, "Welcome, let's get this over with. There aren't many more than initially reported, and they are pretty lax in their guard duties. Several smaller groups have left the encampment to hunt; otherwise, they have been relatively calm."

"Good. When can we start?" I asked.

"We can start right away once everyone is in formation. The groups out hunting probably won't come back if they hear a battle going on, though that could change, so I will have a couple of scouts behind us to give warning if they decide to ambush."

With his affirmation of how quickly we can start the attack, those who have fought before get into formation, and those who haven't begin to hesitate. "Are you sure we will be safe?" One of the newcomers pipes up.

"You will be as safe as you can be. This will let you know what you are up against in the coming days." Draemish answers the question.

"But we have only been here for less than a day. Why are you thrusting us into combat so soon?" Another asks.

Thankfully, we are far enough away from the encampment that we don't attract any attention, but still, I can see Draemish getting antsy to get this attack started and back to the settlement. Instead of letting her handle this question, I directly answer, "Just because you have been here for less than a day doesn't mean you shouldn't learn what this world is like. I was the first person in the settlement. If you don't believe that, then go to Laxreal, and he can vouch for me. I had to fight by myself against any monster that was thrown my way. Thankfully, I was able to kill everything that was thrown at me, but still. I was by myself."

Hearing that, I feel more respect for myself from the veterans and the newcomers. Hearing no more questions, the entire group forms with the warriors in front, the mages in the middle, and the hunters in the back. Next to every veteran is a newcomer to help keep things organized. Smiling at this, we start to move towards the goblin encampment.

To say that the battle was hard would be a lie. It didn't take us long to approach, with the hunters taking out the guards. Once they were dead, everyone kept to their buddy, and the whole encampment was destroyed in less than 30 minutes. Several close calls of people taking more damage than they should have. It was a good thing that I tagged along for this expedition. Those wounded came up to get healed, and those amid the fighting were getting shields. Overall, the entire group didn't get that much experience due to the size difference of the groups. I say the group, but only those in their higher levels didn't get much experience.

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-Congratulations, you partook in exterminating a goblin encampment level 4. You have received 10 experience. -

Once all the goblins were dead, everyone quickly looked around to see if there was a chest or something they could take with them, and we found a couple of chests. Most are just small items presented to those who had their first kill. The others were settlement chests for profession materials.

Over time here, there haven't been many professional materials outside of wood, stone, and metal, which work for several professions. Items like herbs for alchemy, enchanting, inscription, healing, baking, and, in some cases, formations have been hard to come by. I had only seen small groups of materials, which seemed very personal in their distribution. Seeing such large chests for these materials, I can't help but be excited because my enchanting has stalled until I can gain practical experience.

With these chests in hand, we headed back to the settlement. As I had thought, we got back before noon, and on our way back, those with wounds would approach me, and I would heal them. With each person I healed, the more those around me showed respect. It inflated my ego, and that held until Laxreal came walking up to me.

"How was your little excursion?" He asked right away.

"It went well. The one 'threat' to the settlement has been taken care of, and now all that is left is some more managerial items before I can start working on my enchanting quest."

"So you did manage to get your profession up to level 10? I had a feeling since you have such an overpowered amount of mana, and based on what Eleanor has told me about enchanting in this world. What is your quest about?" He asked.

"I have to complete 12 different enchanting projects. Has anyone else gotten their profession up to level 10?"

"There are several people with high profession levels, and what has been holding them back isn't anything other than resources."

"Resources? This makes me curious because several professions don't need much in terms of materials, or at least unique materials." I ask out of curiosity.

"That's the thing: For someone like a blacksmith to progress, they not only have to create an item while using a specific blueprint but also have to exceed the quality of that blueprint. So, if they are making an item with a Tier 0 blueprint, they need to be able to make it into a Tier 1 item. There are several ways to do this, but the easiest way is through better materials. We haven't gotten any yet, but once we open these chests, we may get some of the items they need to progress their quests."

"That sounds pretty easy if you ask me," I commented.

"From what they told me, it is more complicated than anticipated. With PUN's strict blueprints, getting the items to Tier up is hard. One option someone has brought up is having someone enchant their items, and they might be able to exceed the limit of Tier 0 and reach Tier 1."

Hearing the hint in his voice, I can only think about my quest. While it would be worth it for someone to try, I haven't completed even one enchantment, and we don't know what happens if the enchantments fail. Everyone in the enchanting building has been working on the different sigils. "It would be worth trying, but I want to be able to complete some of the enchantments before we try it on an item that will be given. Does any of the blacksmiths have spare scrap weapons that aren't of good quality that I could practice with?"

Following my train of thought, Laxreal rubs his fingers on his chin, "I don't know, but let me ask. There should be some. If not, could you do the work on other works?"

"Other works?"

"Armor from a leather worker, or even the clothing from a tailor?"

"Those shouldn't be a problem either, but we should find someone on their promotion quest and work on getting their quest completed simultaneously."

"That would be the best use of materials." He agrees, "I am going to head out and find some people; if there are any questions, I will relay them to you at the manor."

Smiling at him, I nod, "Sounds like a plan. Thank you, Laxreal."

With a tip of his skull, he heads off. With nothing else on my plate, I head to the manor to gather my thoughts for the next part of my day. Once I get inside the manor, I head to the meeting room and pull up the information on the settlement.

- Settlement Information:

Name: Caelnova

Tier: 1 (Roadside Hovel)

Level: 9

Experience: 11182/1000

Population: 82

Territory Size: 1.8Km X 1.8Km

Tier 1

Wood - 1839 (+140 units per day)(Workers: +180)

Stone - 2040 (+140 units per day)(Workers: +180)

Metal - 3125 (+0 from Small Mine)

Food - 301

Tier 2

Wood - 166 (+14 units per day)(Workers: +18)

Stone 172 (+14 units per day)(Workers: +18)

Metal -

Food - 6 (+1 Per 5 days) -

Our food supplies are the one resource that I can see becoming an issue in the near future. I need to think of more ways to procure or produce more food. I haven't gotten plans for a farm or something along those lines, but I have the blueprint for a Small Cemetery Level 1, a Simple Garden Level 1, a Small Dock Level 1, and a Small Garden Level 1. Of these four options, the only one that has produced any food is the dock. Thinking about it, I haven't seen anyone working on those small items ever. We have all been running around trying to get more resources without dying.

It looks like I will need some volunteers to fish or work the gardens. If they do, I will need to build more of them and place them in their own space. Letting out a long sigh, I put my head in my hands and tried not to focus on it too much. That sounds like something I will need to do tomorrow.

It isn't long before there is a knock on the doors, and my head snaps out of my hands as I hear a familiar voice from the other side.