Chapter 49

I sat in my house on my couch with Jaesmin in my arms. I started to review my notifications more thoroughly.

The experience I gained from upgrading my town got me two levels. I was now level 23. With the 12 unassigned stat points, I dropped them all into magic to get a boost to my magic pool. I banked the four skill points, bringing my total to 5 to use when I needed them.

The biggest thing that needed addressing was selecting a monster region to increase in difficulty. I had three regions around my town. The Cleardusk Plains: levels 5 to 15. The Shiverwood Forest: levels 40 to 50. And the Breakneck Mountains: levels 60 to 70. Each region had a range of 10 levels. I had to choose one region to increase the difficulty. The plains had been a great training ground for our low-level soldiers and a supply of hides. It would be a shame to lose that. The forest was too close to Malcum. So it left the northern mountains. I selected them and let the difficulty increase.

The Breakneck Mountains monsters have increased in difficulty. Monster levels have risen from 60 to 70. Monsters are now level 75 to 85.

I choked a little bit. A fifteen-level increase? I had hoped for just 10. Now I just had to hope we never got any wandering monsters from the mountains. Would this also affect the dwarf kingdom that was deep in the mountains? I might have just made someone very upset.

I skipped down to see what I needed for my next upgrade.

Requirements for upgrading Malcum to a Large Town

Population 2,500

100 Full-Time Soldiers

One Cultural Building

The other six requirements were already met. So, I needed to build a cultural building. What was that? A museum, library, school, or playhouse? We already had a school… I checked, and it didn’t meet the required size for a population of 2,500. To qualify, a school would need to be able to hold 100 students. So I just needed to draft a much larger school.

I decided to break for a moment. “Jaesmin, let’s head to the inn for a late dinner.”

She had fallen asleep, and we made our way over. The inn was still packed with people, even this late. Quite a few gnomes sat at the tables, and Fareth ran happily in and out of the kitchens with food. The waitresses were a mix of beastkin, humans, and gnomes. Fareth noticed us and came rushing to us after dropping off a pot of what I assumed was stew.

“Lord Tallis! Things have gotten lively! I do believe I owe you a reward. Give me some time, and I will prepare my epic dish for you. I think I have enough for a serving for you and your wife if that is ok?”

We waited, and people watched as Fareth prepared our meal. The meal was a massive bowl of chili that smelled spicy even at a distance. Fareth grinned as she placed the bowls in front of us, “In order to get the benefit, you need to finish the entire bowl. Just ignore the burn; it won't kill you.” She turned and left, hiding a smile.

Jaesmin looked at me and then started eating. She quickly started shoveling it into her mouth, “It’s great!” She said between mouthfuls.

I took my first bite, and my mouth burned. Maybe I could turn down my sensory settings to eat…the heat faded, and the savory meat coated my taste buds with thick sauce enhancing the flavor. It was good. No, it was great! The spicy kick rocked my taste buds but cleansed them so I could savor the meat, mushrooms, and everything else. I finished the entire bowl just after Jaesmin, who was holding her belly. Then it hit me.

We both had massive heartburn after the meal. It was so bad that we left the inn and lay down at home. It was over an hour of sweating in our bed and holding our burning bellies before it finally faded.

Epic Meal Complete, permanent +5 to charisma, an ability has been gained ‘Words of Influence: +20 to charisma for 60 seconds when talking with an NPC’, cooldown 30 days

It was an interesting ability. It was a very minor ability that would allow me to boost a single interaction with an NPC once every month—just in time to convince a new NPC from the auction to stay in Malcum. “Jaesmin, did you get an ability as well?” I asked.

“No, what ability did you get?” she asked, and I explained. Apparently, only players got an ability from epic dishes.

My stomach took some time before it settled, and I went down to the drafting table. Just like any good chili I ripped off some good farts while I worked. The first building I worked on was the bathhouse. It was a large building as I was planning for it to be able to handle a town population of upwards of 2500. The final building had two wings, one for each sex.

Uncommon Men and Women’s Bathhouse, 25,000 health, Requires Masonry Structures 23 (increase town hygiene by 25% and resistance to disease by 25%)

That was it? No morale bonus…just town hygiene disease resilience? The structure was very simple and shouldn’t take long to complete. I put the plans off to the side. My next project was going to be our military support buildings. A fair number of the new citizens were going to support our guards and army and be under the control of General Tanguin.

The massive warehouse was important, but the smaller support buildings would serve as housing and work spaces for families. I drafted four structures similar to the shop/ residences. The only difference was there was no retail shop on the first floor. The first floor was crafting and storing raw materials and finished goods.

I still had time before the workday began. Working through the night, I finished another set of plans for a schoolhouse.

Very Rare Schoolhouse, 100,000 health, Requires Masonry Structures 23, Woodcraft Structures 23 (Bonus +33% to learning speed, +33% to stamina pool recovery)

I drafted a very rare building! It was extremely large and a day or two project, but it could accommodate 200 students. We still needed to finish the fortified warehouse. The sun came up, and we returned to the building.

Breda selected the site, and the bathhouse was done by noon. A few stragglers came into town. Mad Dog had the last group a few hours away. We switched over to the four plans for the military support buildings. Homes for four more families were down by dark as Mad Dog and crew came riding into town with the last group of 154 refugees. It took a fair amount of the night to get them settled into temporary housing.

Breda came to me with the final numbers. We needed 19 more shops/ residences, 5 apartment buildings, and 6 more military support structures. A lot of work was still left to do, but the town was busy, and everyone sounded content so far.

Galana found me as the day was winding down, and I was walking home. “Lord Tallis, if you have a minute. I have a plan for the seven gnomes who want to join the town guard. I want to make them detectives. They can keep an eye on crime and investigate. It was Titus’ idea, but I think it will work.” Galana looked uncertain at the solution.

“No Galana. Well, yes and no. All the detectives can not be from the same race. You can hire eight detectives, but half can come from one race at most. You can have the balance of gnomes serve as bailiffs or do paperwork or something else,” I said. I didn’t want to put the gnomes in complete control of the detectives. Maybe I was thinking too narrowly in terms of potential favoritism or potential corruption.

Galana responded, “It will be as you say.” She was about to turn to leave, “Lord Tallis, I love the cloak.” She was wearing the Mane of the Lion King cloak that Mad Dog had gotten from the mini-raid boss.

Now that the difficulty of wandering monsters is increasing, we might have more opportunities for similar artifacts. I just hoped the beast didn’t come from the mountains.

The next four days, I drafted, and we built all the buildings we needed. It was Kytalia who was working the hardest, though. Somehow, she managed to keep all the new crafters occupied and get many of their family members to work productively. Food was an issue in town, and we did have to purchase some bulk food from the player auction house. We were building up a surplus of goods in town, so I expected the traders to have something to sell when I recruited them from the NPC auction.

We were putting on the final touches of the massive warehouse when the town alarm went off, and I raced to the gatehouse with everyone else. On top of the tower, there was a small column of riders. As they approached, it was easy to see they were soldiers and they were all human. Sixty-five in total. Galana stood next to me and said, “Level 40 mostly with the four in the front in the low 60s.”

It was a force that could do some real damage but not a severe threat. A pompous man looked at the gate, left and right at the earthen walls. “I am Captain Harold Hazelton. I am here to collect back taxes for the town contained within the border of our empire. Based on your current population, the taxes are in arrears for six platinum, 12 gold, and 92 silver.”

My garrison was due in just two days. If they were here I would tell them to fuck off. I was about to respond when Manto suddenly appeared at my side. In a soft voice, he said, “They are not here to collect taxes. They are here to see what threat your recent migration is to their kingdom.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t be overly aggressive with your statements.” I still stared at Manto, wondering where he came from, and he shrugged, “Invisibility spell.”

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That answered how it just appeared next to me. I focused my attention on Captain Harold. He looked haughty. I pulled my thoughts together, “My name is Lord Tallis. I am the sole ruling body of Malcum, and due to the fact the human kingdom has failed to protect and maintain any form of support for its citizens, we recognize ourselves as an independent.”

Captain Harold looked uncomfortable, “Be that as it may. We prefer to stay tonight in your inn after a long few days of riding.” A massive thunderbolt and clap rattled the air, and a mound of Earth erupted from the strike.

Manto was standing a few steps to my right. He shrugged, “I was getting impatient. I told you not to be aggressive, but I didn’t say the same of me.” My ears were still ringing.

The captain was starting to turn around with his men, clearly seeing they were overmatched. He looked back up the wall at me, “So be it.” He yelled. “We will return for further negotiations.” His calvary all thundered down the road.

Manto stood before me, “You have two weeks before they return.” He disappeared. I had wanted to ask him why he cast his massive lightning bolt. Manto was a very unusual NPC. He had been a war mage and now served as a healing magic instructor seeking the perfect ale in his quest to become a respectable drunk.

I pulled in my build team. I tasked Sanso with working on the city walls with his golems for the next two weeks. It would be more for show than anything else. The earthen wall was over two miles long. At best, he could get a quarter of the wall transitioned to stone in that time. Did a stone wall even matter in a game where magic was prevalent?

The rest of the build team would focus on the guild house. With luck, it could be done before the garrison of soldiers arrived. I was going to be responsible for summoning the stone for the building. My summon stone spell wasn’t as advanced as Sanso’s, but my magic pool was getting deeper and deeper.

Mad Dog, Grinder, and Black Beauty stopped by the building site. “Eh mate, how goes your work on the guild house!” Mad Dog yelled on approach.

“Sorry, we dropped the project for a bit. Now that things are settling down, I hope to have it completed in the next two days,” I said, taking a break from spamming my summon rock spell.

“No big deal, Tallis. We just came by to let you know the admins put timers in our interfaces. We have 52 days left of testing. Is there anything you want our help with before these avatars fade away?” Mad Dog said with gravity.

I opened my interface. The first thing I checked was the town’s treasury. With the garrison factored in, we had about 50 days’ worth of funds. “You have helped a ton. Just keep working on building the town’s economy. Kytalia is doing the balancing act, but I am still going to operate at a weekly loss of around 70 gold, and that doesn’t include adding in my next wave of NPCs from the auction. Or the next. I want to budget around 500 gold for each auction cycle.”

“What about putting your drafting plans up for sale? You should be able to make thousands of gold from that once the ball gets rolling and the big rollers arrive,” Grinder supplied.

“What about the lawyer?” Black Beauty asked. “Are you ready to start pursuing your emancipation?”

My portion of information sales of game information had, in fact, raised enough money to get me free and recognized as a person again, but I was still uncertain. “I think I am still afraid once I gain my freedom, they might disconnect me from the game in spite. Just continue to accumulate funds for me. When you think I have sufficient funds to refurbish my body and repay the corp, then we can proceed.”

Black Beauty almost said something but held back. Mad Dog spoke, “Sure thing, mate. Our crew is getting our immersion pods delivered soon for the game. We have enough funds to get all of us into the game in the pods.”

“You were a long way off just a few weeks ago. What changed?” I asked.

“Mad Dog sold our guild’s streaming rights to a channel. They will have access to our pod’s video feed to edit as they please on a 72-hour delay,” Grinder answered for him.

“Does that include me since I am in the guild?” I asked worriedly.

“No, no.” Mad Dog said. “Just six of our mates are on contract. It is just a one-year deal and was enough to get us 12 pods and 10% of gross ad revenue on top. We wanted to make sure everyone could enter the game as early as possible. A lot of mid-tier gamers are doing the same thing. I am sorry we didn’t ask you, mate. Malcum isn’t going to be a secret when the main game launch happens.” I nodded but felt slightly betrayed.

“Can I sell my streaming rights, too?” I asked.

Black Beauty, “Once you have your freedom and your identity back, you can.” That was the information she had wanted to say as her face looked like it was no longer holding a secret.

“Is there any news of the other hard-wired players in the game?” I asked.

“Not really, just rumors, but the game will connect to the internet at the end of the testing. So you should still be able to contact us when we leave. At least, we think so. You may even be able to go on the internet yourself. At least we hope so.” Mad Dog said uncertainly. We had talked about this before. The biggest hangups with the internet were ensuring the game’s AI could not transition out of the game and into the real world.

I looked over at Jaesmin, whose AI had been upgraded from my interactions with her. If I left this game, what would happen to her? I knew almost immediately after seeing her smile back at me that she was the reason I had dragged my feet. I was in fact in love with a computer program. How messed up in the head was I?

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate everything you have done for me. Talk to Kytalia and see what help she needs to keep all the NPCs happy. My next population goal is 2500. We are at 879 currently and are still getting a tickle of refugees. In two days, the garrison of 242 will arrive,” I said with a reassuring smile. I was counting on my army being my early game player deterrent.

“Sounds good, mate. We are making good coin from the elf girl alchemist, almost 100 gold a trip that we are reinvesting back into the town. So if you need quick coin, grab some potions from her…well you need to travel to some of the other big cities. Don’t forget to extend your portal network.” Mad Dog advised.

Ah shit, I had forgotten about that. I had only connected to one big city so far.

“Take the skyships between the cities,” Black Beauty suggested. “It only costs a few gold a trip, and they are fast. The only issue is they run on a schedule, so you need to time it.” I hadn’t seen a skyship up close yet. I nodded at Black Beauty. That was going to be my ticket to quickly expanding my network.

Soon, the group was off to find Kytalia. After some time, Kytalia came and found me. “Lord Tallis, how is your day going?” She asked conspiratorially.

“Well. I take it you came to see me for something?” I asked slowly.

“Yes. To be forward with you, I would like you to go and subjugate my old clan. Now that we are, in fact, a town, we can have two settlements under our control.” Kytalia said smirking.

I opened my interface, and my upgraded diplomacy options showed two black settlement options. Kytalia offered, “Usually, a settlement starts as a resource-gathering operation like a mine or lumber camp, but my old clan does raise horses, so I was hoping you could send your army when it arrives to subdue them.”

“Is this some sort of vengeance for you?” I asked since she had been forced to flee when a new khan took over the clan.

“Somewhat, yes,” Kytalia admitted. “But it will also add a fair amount of resources to Malcum, including a steady supply of horses for your army. High-quality horses like your mount Titan.”

I nodded in thought, “Go and talk with Tanguin. Inform him of this plan, and then you two can talk with me.” I returned to the building, and when we finished the day, I found Kytalia, Mira, Galana, and Tanguin ready to have a mini-war council with me.

Tanguin spoke first as we settled in the living room of my house, where Jaesmin prepared a meal in the adjacent kitchen. Her cooking was getting better. “Lord Tallis, I think Kytalia’s plan has some merit. The clan has between 100 and 150 members; half are women and children. If we march with our entire force, I think they will surrender without a fight. Well, at least Kytalia thinks so.”

Kytalia nodded and added, “If you send me, I can convince them to surrender to your rule. I still know many of the wives, and most are reasonable. The settlement bound to Malcum will give a boost to our population as well.”

Galana added, “The only downside is going to be that we will have to station a portion of our forces there and defend them.”

“Will they relocate closer? How far are we talking?” I asked as I opened my map. The clan location was there about 40 miles away.

Kytalia revealed they couldn’t be moved. “No, the location they are at receives bonuses to the quality of the mounts they are raising. We do not want to relocate them.”

“Do you want to return and rule the settlement after we take it over?” I asked Kytalia directly.

“I would prefer to remain here in Malcum if possible, Lord Tallis. I can be of much better use to you in your capital.” She had a look of pride on her face. Malcum would be a capital now?

“Ok, let’s do it then. The garrison is due tomorrow night.” We broke up the meeting and enjoyed Jaesmin’s food. It was a very weak buff, but it was tasty.

The next day, we finished the guild house. It was an attractive building and far outstripped my residence, so I considered moving into one of the rooms. Instead, I decided I would build my own house. I would draft it sometime later this evening. Right now, I was anticipating the arrival of our army.

I was in the very busy inn’s main room eating dinner with Sanso, Jaesmin, Elice, and Kytalia when the village alarm sounded. We all raced north to where the alarm sounded, the bridge to the logging camp. As we passed outside the walls with Galana, Tanguin, Mira, and four mounted soldiers, we encountered a mass of giants milling about in torn rags. The garrison had arrived and looked to be in a sorry state.

I was informed they had emerged from the forest not long ago. In the woods, I could see elves flitting among the trees. The mass of large bodies parted as we approached to reveal at its core a group of ten humans…no anglekin…in slightly less disheveled clothes.

One of them stepped forward, a woman with piercing blue eyes and straw-colored golden hair, “Lord Tallis of Malcum. My name is Hyraena, and I am here to petition you for sanctuary and employment.” She said with a slight bow.

Tanguin leaned into me and whispered, “Are you sure she is an angelkin. They usually have too much pride to bow.” He was trying to be funny.

I ignored my general, “You are welcome here in our city. We have been preparing for your arrival for quite some time. This man here,” I indicated to Tanguin, “Is my General, and he will help your forces get settled in their new home. We have food and clothes for all of you. When you are rested and comfortable, we will talk further.”

The parade of large and extremely smelly giants entered the Malcum. The angelkin captains held themselves tall, but they looked to have been beaten of their spirit slightly. The orcs came next across the bridge riding very skinny horses. I was sure my two elf stable masters would quickly recover the 16 horses’ health. The dusk elves were last. They broke from the trees and walked across the bridge with hard, alert eyes.

Well, my instant army smelled terrible, but I was thrilled that I had built the bathhouse. Tanguin and Galana stood on either side of me outside the gate as the last of them entered. Tanguin spoke, “I think it will take a week or so before we can march on the orc clan. They look like good soldiers, but their morale is low. Just give me a week, Lord Tallis.”

“Agreed. Mira…” I faced my demonkin Master of Scouts. “Get the elves settled and bring their leader to talk with me tomorrow at lunch. I have a few questions for him,” I said before heading home. Tonight, I was going to draft a new residence for myself, and tomorrow, I would start advancing some quests.