Callum woke just before dawn, his internal alarm clock working better than it had in the past. This was good, as he had a few things he needed to do, and several more that he wanted to do before noon. First on that list was the man he had carried back home.
Opening the door to his bonus room he found that the man was missing, and the note he had left him was gone. This didn’t conclusively mean he was gone for good, but Callum could understand the position he might be in. Waking up in a stranger's house, still covered in blood was not the best start to one’s day.
In the early light of dawn, Callum did some basic stretches, shaking out the remaining stiffness of sleep. He had never been one for light calisthenics like this, but some part of him recognized it as the influence of his Rapier skill.
Since the man had not been there when Callum had woken up, he searched around the burgeoning settlement. Unsurprisingly, he was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, Callum had not gotten the man’s name, but he had no regrets about helping him out. He had fought well, and if Callum saw him again, he would commend him for that.
With a decent chunk of the morning eaten by both his stretches and his search, Callum judged from the position of the sun that it was time he headed towards the meeting location to see if anyone would make it.
There was enough time before he needed to be there that he set off on a casual stroll, taking in the scenery. The city was taking on a new cast to it. Plant growth had been accelerated, and he could see where some vines were already beginning to creep up buildings that just a few days ago had been clear. Weeds were exploding through cracks in the sidewalk, and what few trees were planted had branches thick with leaves, creating plenty of shadows.
The silence was still pervasive within the city, but it was more serene now if Callum were to put words to it. He had never considered himself an outdoorsman, but there was a simple beauty in the way nature was reclaiming the city.
As he walked, he caught a flicker of movement in the shadow of a tree, and when he turned, saw just enough of Eliza to calm down. She was gone just as soon as he saw her, but the message was clear. She was here in case anything bad went down. He was thankful for that and for her restrained approach in trying not to scare him.
Normally, he did not startle easily, but times had changed. That was not considering Eliza’s ability to suddenly materialize next to him which bordered on supernatural, even considering how much things had changed.
Despite his slower pace, he arrived at the meeting point a bit early, or so he thought, as there was a distinct lack of people. He frowned a little at the prospect of a failed venture, but ultimately he couldn’t control what people did.
“Wondering why nobody’s here?” a voice came just as Callum was turning around. He paused and found the source of the voice. Standing behind a tree was a tall man, bordering on the lanky side, a bat wrapped in barbed wire in hand. “They know better than to get on the wrong side of the Vipers.”
Callum Identified the man, so he knew what he was dealing with.
[Warrior Level 5]
His level was pitifully low considering Callum’s but was probably above average for most people. The Vipers’ reputation preceded them, and Callum kept an eye out for others who were most likely there.
“What if I do want to get on the wrong side of the Vipers?” Callum asked, sticking his hands in his pockets so the Viper wouldn’t see his fists clenching.
“Ha, ha, ha. You’re already on the wrong side boy-o. You just got lucky that we had sent a couple dumbasses out that day. Now, you’re in for a good and proper beating.”
Callum took a few calming breaths. Something about this guy rubbed him the wrong way but he was determined to not waste this opportunity to get some information out of the guy.
“Oh, and what if kill you like I did those other guys? What will you high and might Vipers do then?” Callum did his best to maintain an even tone, but he was, admittedly, bad at this kind of thing.
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“Don’t make me laugh,” he said, entirely deadpan. Callum barely caught his eyes flick to some place behind him. Discerning Intent clued him in that he was looking for others to ambush, but they weren’t in place yet. “I know that skank of yours did the actual killing. Couldn’t dirty your own hands.”
Callum’s blood boiled. Before he realized what he was doing, his sword was in his hand, and through the heart of the man. That did nothing to sate his anger. The rest of the ambush popped out of the trees.
There was nothing refined or controlled about what happened next. The instant violence was so surprising that none of the Vipers had time to process what was happening. Only the last man out of eight had the opportunity to realize how woefully outmatched they were before facing oblivion.
Callum tried to breathe deep again, but it merely reduced the rage to a simmer. He stalked off in the direction of the apartment building. The Vipers would not terrorize those people anymore, and if they wanted somewhere safer to live, he would do what he could to have somewhere for them to stay.
He may have his own misguided beliefs on what the world should now look like, but he would not stoop to extortion or whatever hold the Vipers had on these people. A brief worry of if he was strong enough crossed his mind, but it was squashed quickly by anger.
Standing on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building, his old apartment building, a hand rested on his arm. For some reason, he didn’t swing straight for them, but when he saw who the hand was attached to, he calmed.
Eliza stood there, silent, but somehow understanding. It was enough to bring him from the brink of doing something dumb in a fit of rage. He had never been so mad in his whole life. Why had he flown off the handle like that?
She didn’t say anything, but that was enough for Callum. With a clearer head, he was able to approach this more rationally. What he had wanted to do was to post a letter on the door telling the Vipers to come and get him, but their true numbers were unknown. If they had stronger people waiting, it was only him and Eliza who were competent in a fight.
He settled for being more direct with his offer to join him. Up and down the dim hallways of the apartment building he went, knocking on every door and telling them they could get out of here and stay somewhere else.
Some came, but not all. Roughly half by his estimate, but it was a good crowd of forty people. It did mean that he would have to cut more trees for more homes, but it was a simple price to pay. He had some more gold now and he could purchase a few more axes, but he wanted to save some for weapons. There was still the matter of the training ground. If the Vipers found the town, which was a growing possibility, the people in the town would need to know how to fight.
These thoughts were like background noise as he gathered the people from the building. At some point, Eliza had slipped away again, but he had a feeling that she was close by. Now that the people were gathered, he led them back to the town hall.
Along the way, a few spoke up and asked about what it was like there. His description was a little lacking, but he did his best to express the safety away from the Vipers. The people were understandably hesitant as they hadn’t seen him fight. Still, roughly half the people from the building joining him were better than expected.
Once they were back at the town hall, he went through the process of having them register as citizens. Some were scratching their head after his brief explanation but didn’t ask any further questions. Callum moved on and showed the houses that were already built as proof that he could follow through on somewhere to live, at least. He didn’t explain the larger homes, because that would devalue his next question.
His final act of induction into the village was to ask if there were any willing to help cut down trees after a brief explanation of how the wood worked as a resource. Unsurprisingly, only two people volunteered. Two men, one stocky and short, and the other roughly the same build as him. That meant he would only need to build two more large homes. The trade-off was worth it, as the new woodcutters would soon produce more than it took to build the homes. He was still willing to leave it as a surprise, though.
He purchased the axes and led them off in the direction of the forest. They were silent the whole way there, which did not bother Callum. It was an odd set of circumstances they found themselves in and he had the events of the morning weighing down his mind. He hoped the work would settle some of that.
Two hours of hard work later, Callum finally felt he had worked out enough of his frustrations. He had carved a solid path into the forest and based on memory, they were nearing the forest that made up the next territory.
On his way back to his new home, he signaled the other woodcutters that they could take a break if they wanted to. All but Kirsti took him up on that offer. That impressed upon him the importance of getting a training ground built soon. If she threw herself into training for combat like she did woodcutting, there would be no stopping her. He resolved to ask her later if she had still been practicing with the axe as a weapon.
Back at the town hall, Ryan waved him over. Callum followed him back into the meeting room they had used as a combination meditation and bedroom.
“We didn’t finish that conversation from last night. There’s still a lot of things that need to be figured out about what we are doing here.”
Ryan’s serious tone caused Callum’s eyebrows to raise a little. The comment the night before had seemed like a passing statement. Callum sighed and settled in for the series of questions that he knew was coming. Despite working out the frustrations on some trees, he felt the tension creeping back into his shoulders.