Chapter 30. Merchant Mayhem.

“I’m glad we could come to an understanding, Elder Lhass, but unless you need my help to escort the salvage operation, I think I’ll head back home,” Silas said.

“I think it would be best to let my warriors handle the escort. There will be some tension with the decision I just made, and it wouldn’t be wise to appear that we are relying too heavily upon you and not upon our own strength,” Elder Lhass said.

“Agreed, Talix over there doesn’t look too pleased to be here,” Silas said, gesturing over toward the surly naga war leader.

“He will come around in time. Talix wishes to see our people prosper and is loathe to accept that we need any assistance from outsiders. I wish you safe journey’s, Silas Ward, and hope to see you back soon. While you are gone, my people will continue their efforts to improve our defenses based on the plan you’ve set,” Elder Lhass said.

“Thank you as well, Lhass. Buster, let’s get back home,” Silas said. With a happy bark, Buster followed along behind Silas as they headed toward the portal platform.

Silas decided to activate the controls for the critical location before heading back to the marketplace. Once inside, he pulled up the construction options, hoping to see something new.

Critical location (unnamed).

1. Defenses: none.

2. Garrison: none.

3. Construction. Limited options are available.

Before he dug into the construction options, he realized that he still needed to name this place. Having to look at, Critical Location (unnamed), each time he accessed the place was going to bug him. Silas thought for a while before deciding on something that he felt fit the situation.

This critical location has been named Forward Operating Base Stoutfang, or FOB Stoutfang as designated by the being known as Silas Ward.

That was better. If this whole problem with the pit required a warband to deal with, he wanted to name them in a military manner. This was for all intents and purposes a forward operating base, so adding the Stoutfang name seemed like a good fit. In addition to naming it a FOB, he wouldn’t have minded a firebase with a battery of 155mm guns ready to drop the pain on command, but that wasn’t in the cards, at least not yet.

FOB Stoutfang.

1. Defenses.

2. Garrison.

3. Construction. Limited options are available.

Silas started with defenses, curious to see how the System would categorize things that were still under construction.

Defenses:

1. Simple Perimeter Fence. Under construction, 4% completed.

2. Simple traps. Active. Effective saturation, 15%.

His naga construction teams had been busy, but the fence was always going to be a much tougher project than the traps he had being placed out in the jungle and inside the clearing. The System had hinted at upgrades to his structures, so hopefully, when he completed the fence and reached 100% saturation with the traps, he’d have the System offer upgrades that he could order without having to study construction techniques for a decade.

His Garrison tab still showed nothing, though he hoped to change that soon with the naga living here. Next up was the construction tab.

Construction options.

Current labor teams: 0.

1. Simple perimeter fence. Under construction.

2. Command post. Using locally available materials, construct a command post structure that will unlock additional structure options.

3. Simple traps. Under construction.

The description of the headquarters building had changed a bit. Now it was showing that there was the possibility of new structures being unlocked once he finished it. That would be his next priority, once the basic defenses were ready. The naga would be tied up in their salvage operations for a while, so construction would probably take a while to complete. He’d check in again after returning home for a rest.

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While the System would probably allow him to stay here permanently, Silas wanted to keep his roots firmly back on Earth. As he neared the portal, the device powered itself up more quickly than before, allowing him to step through almost immediately. A System prompt appeared, and Silas waited in the void as new information was displayed.

This is the first time you have entered and returned from the Pit of Bhalkur after completing your tutorial. Each delve into the pit will be judged based on the progress you make in combating the forces of Bhalkur. Experience and rewards will be offered each time you return from the pit.

The amount of experience and the quality of the rewards granted to you is determined by your efforts, and not necessarily on the amount of time you spend inside. Should you neglect your duties inside the pit for an extended period of time, conditions may worsen, and you run the risk of enemies emerging into your world.

You have been awarded experience.

Silas Ward

Special Operations Commander.

Tier 0, Rank 1.

Experience/experience needed for next rank: 8/10.

Health: 57%.

That was interesting to Silas. The System wanted to keep him venturing inside the pit, but it also didn’t seem to want to force him there on a permanent basis. There was a danger if he stayed away too long, and he worried about what might happen to the naga if they were attacked by overwhelming forces again without his firepower to assist them.

The fact that the System warned specifically that his world could face incursions of Bhalkur’s minions, made it important for him not to linger too long back at home. Silas wondered how the System handled that, given there were other challengers in the pit besides Silas. Maybe his efforts were entirely linked to the pit’s connection to Earth, and Bhalkur could attack if his connection was weakened somehow.

Sadly, there was really nobody to ask about the details, so he’d just have to keep doing what he was doing. If he was honest with himself, despite the danger, Silas found that he was enjoying his life again. Defeating Bhalkur and saving Earth from attack had given him purpose again, which was something he didn’t anticipate having at his age.

With the announcements made, the System allowed him to complete his transition through the portal. Silas emerged back at the portal near the marketplace and heard loud arguing coming from just outside the portal room.

“The System allows both of us to set up our wares in this location, but it doesn’t say anything about saving a space for you just because you were here first,” an unknown voice argued as Silas stepped out of the portal room and into the main passageway.

“Just like a slimy human to…hey, there you are, Silas, welcome back!” Gritvart said, catching himself before he finished whatever insult to humans he had planned to unleash.

Things had changed while Silas had been away in the pit. The passageway had somehow widened, and now, instead of just Gritvart’s little shop, there was a whole row of them. All but two were empty, and the one nearest the portal room held several racks of goods, and had a cubby, middle-aged man in a white tunic running the place.

Each stall had a front counter and then several shelves behind the merchant, an expansion that allowed Gritvart and his competitor the space to hold several times the amount of goods that the gnome had been able to offer previously. Silas was curious to see what was now being offered for him to purchase.

It looked like the System was allowing some competition now, and not only that, but the human merchant had also snagged the prime location closest to the portal. Gritvart’s shop was right next to him, so Silas didn’t think it would make all that much difference. Still, whatever minor advantage the location granted seemed to be almost enough to bring the goblin and human merchants to blows.

“Are you not playing well with your new friend, Gritvart? If you had shown this much energy when those rabid gnomes attacked, you wouldn’t have needed my help,” Silas asked, more than a bit amused by the goblin’s anger at his rival.

“It’s just a misunderstanding between competitors. Nothing for a customer to worry themselves about, especially my best customer. Come on over, Silas, I got some great stuff that you’re going to love,” Gritvart said, the anger wiped from his face in an instant as he shifted back to shady salesman mode.

“Bah, don’t bother with the dross that the odious goblin offers, fellow human. Come over here, I’ll give you a deal better than anything a goblin can stomach. After all, we should take care of our own, shouldn’t we?” the human said. Silas didn’t know how it was possible, but the new guy seemed even more slimy than the goblin merchant. Trying to play on some kind of species bond wasn’t going to work on Silas.

“I’ll tell you both something. I’m going to head back to my headquarters and get my rewards. After that, I’ll check out both your shops and buy from whoever has the best deal on something that I can use. While I’m gone, get those best prices and items ready if you want a sale,” Silas said before walking back toward his headquarters.

He had a feeling that as soon as the door to his headquarters was closed, the pair would be back at each other’s throats. At least the competition should keep the pair a bit more honest in their pricing.

On his way back to the headquarters, Silas was surprised to see a third door placed in the passageway. It looked like he and the Laknaf had a new neighbor. Whether this new neighbor was a friend, foe, or neutral remained to be seen.