The trip back was uneventful, save for some wolf howls. But given the proximity to the Monster Ground, they chose not to investigate. Frank spent most of that time thinking about the stone trolls and how they could best the monsters, as well as contemplating whether he should get the Third Arm skill. He was still on the fence when the group returned to the base.

The group split up, each member having their own business to take care of. Frank’s first destination was the river, he needed to wash away the blood and gore that stained his clothing. Standing chest-deep in the cool water, he felt the current press at him, trying to pull him along. It felt both refreshing and relaxing, and he lost himself in the sensation for some time.

He snapped out of his reverie and looked around, while it was relatively safe near the base, staying vigilant was a good idea. After making sure that the surroundings were still peaceful, Frank splashed the water on his face, running his fingers over his cheeks and chin. I wonder if I can make a shaving razor? He thought as he repeated the motion, feeling the short beard that had grown since the System’s arrival.

Next, he examined his shirt, shaking his head dejectedly, he could only put it away. It was already quite torn up, but the bear’s claws and the troll’s death hug had turned it into a series of scraps, rather than an actual clothing item. His pants fared a little better, but between acid splashes, a few hits he took to the legs, and general wear, they were rapidly approaching the same state as the shirt.

Hmm, can I use Magical Crafting on a bunch of torn clothes to make a new piece? He wondered absentmindedly, as he moved toward the shore. Something to experiment with later, he decided and left the river. He was walking to his usual training spot when someone called out to him.

“Hey Frank, you don’t check your Chat at all, do you?”

Frank turned, recognizing Baj’s voice. “Oh, hi Baj,” Frank rubbed his chin as he considered the man’s words. “You’re right. The blinking was distracting, so I tried to make it stop and it worked. Then some stuff happened, and it totally slipped my mind.”

“That’s what I figured. Anyway, Ben’s group arrived at New Shanghai today, and Thomas wanted to get everyone’s thoughts on how to proceed. But since you didn’t respond, we had to make a decision without you,” Baj explained.

“I see. Give me a minute to get through the chat,” Frank said, then braced himself as he focused on the Battle Group Chat.

Half a day’s worth of conversations poured into his mind, causing him to wobble as his brain processed the information. He steadied himself, taking deep breaths until the dizziness went away.

“I wonder, can your head explode if you checked the chat after say a month?” Frank mused as he massaged his temples.

“That’s a scary proposition. So, what do you think?” Baj asked.

“The numbers are an issue, three to five thousand is enough for them to easily crush us. That said, they don’t appear hostile.”

“And our decision?”

“I agree with it. We don’t want to make it seem like we are snooping around, having Ben openly contact them is the way to go.”

“Too bad they’ve refused to let him visit that cave,” Baj said, a hint of regret in his voice.

“Chances are they are guarding it and he wouldn’t get inside anyway,” Frank said and waved his hand dismissively. “We’ve found an interesting cave as well,” he added before telling Baj about their adventure.

“Could be something, but too early to tell,” Baj said afterward. “Also, Thomas has called a meeting tonight at ten,” he added before leaving.

Frank rubbed his chin looking at the man’s back. That leaves me what? About five hours? Not enough, he thought. He made his way back to the base in order to find Steve. By now, the wall encircled more than half of the area, and Frank had to walk through double-sided wooden gates to get inside. Five yards high, with a narrow, one-yard rampart, the walls looked much more impressive than what they had before the System Settlement.

Frank found his target and made a beeline toward him. After exchanging greetings he got down to business.

“Any of your crafters can make a shirt? Mine’s turned into a pile of scraps,” Frank stated, gesturing at his bare chest. Although Vitality had certain rejuvenating effects, he still looked like an old man, with a bony complexion and sagging wrinkled skin. Not exactly the look he wished to parade.

“Yes, but only stuff made of leather,” Steve replied.

“I’ll take what I can get. What are my options?”

“Hmm, a poncho with a belt to keep it from flapping, a leather button-up vest, a fur-covered slip-on shirt,” Steve began listing.

“Leather button-up vest it is,” Frank chose what sounded like the choice with the best mobility.

“Alright, but she’s going to want to get paid for it, 2 SP.”

“Hm, can you get it for me? I’ll pay you back at the meeting.”

After an affirmative response, Frank bid the crafter goodbye and moved to his usual training spot. Gabriel and co had supplied him with plenty of wood, now he just needed to convert it all into SP. He lamented his low mana pool, as he ran dry after just a few items. Getting rid of Stamina took another few minutes before he plopped down on the ground and began Meditating.

He kept it up, choosing to forgo dinner to make sure he had enough SP to cover both his obligation to the IAG and the vest. It was dark when he finished the last item and heaved a sigh of relief, crafting was boring work. Worse yet, he had little to show for it, only gaining two levels in Mana Channeling and a single level in Magical Crafting and Meditation.

This rate of GP gain is just too slow, Frank lamented, as he made his way to the warehouse where he turned his pile of wooden spears, clubs, and arrows into SP. Sadly, the only solution seemed to be learning new skills and leveling them, and he had already learned all the magic ones that had been discovered. Even his pain training had slowed down compared to the results he got at first.

His head heavy with thoughts, Frank entered the core room of the Town Hall, greeting the others as he took a seat. Scanning the room, he noted that they were still waiting for Steve, Jordan, and Chon. He leaned back into the softness of the couch and massaged his eyelids. Suddenly, his attention was drawn to the sound of a spoon stirring inside a cup. The source of the sound was quickly located – Thomas was stirring some dark-red liquid in a glass mug.

“What’s that?” Frank asked curiously.

“Makeshift hot chocolate,” Thomas replied with a smile. Before Frank could inquire any further, Carol chimed in with an explanation.

“Do you remember those poisonous red berries? Some people from my group had been experimenting with cooking for the last few days, and they discovered that if you boil those berries, and then press them, they turn into a cream-like substance that tastes surprisingly similar to chocolate. Mix it with some milk, and you get our first original drink, red cocoa,” she finished proudly.

“How do I get my hands on it?” Frank asked, over a week of drinking plain water had left him wanting.

“Here you go,” Carol said as she produced a small stoppered vial filled with red goop, “good for five cups.” Frank got up and walked over, extending his hand to take the vial. “Two SP,” Carol said, stopping him in his tracks.

“Oh, come on! All of my SP went to Chon’s item group,” Frank bemoaned, all his crafting resulted in exactly 12 SP, which were already spoken for.

“That’s what happens when you try to live beyond your means,” Carol said, laughing. “Don’t give me that look. It takes time to process the berries, not to mention grow them,” Carol said before shifting to look at Thomas. “Speaking of growing, the forest is getting picked clean, and the stuff doesn’t regrow as quickly as we hoped. We’ve planted a whole bunch of things, but the growth is also slower than what we need, even with the Planting skill. Do you think we could get some of Growing Plots, once the Wall is completed?”

“Don’t they just give a five percent growth bonus? That’s pretty low,” Thomas said as he took a sip from his mug.

“Better than nothing. It also says that the ideal moisture and soil quality will be maintained, perhaps that will provide an additional boost,” Carol explained.

“Um, 10 SP, I guess we can consider it,” Thomas nodded after checking the cost.

A few minutes later Chon, Jordan, and Steve arrived, the latter handing Frank a leather vest. With everyone present, the meeting finally began.

“The main issue is the info Ben gave us regarding New Shanghai. Anyone have any thoughts?” Thomas asked.

“They don’t seem to be cohesive enough to attack other settlements effectively, not yet at least,” Baj offered.

“That was Ben’s assessment as well. While the ones in charge are several groups of Chinese navy, most of the people are a hodgepodge of random people. They aren’t likely to follow orders they disagree with,” Thomas said nodding.

“That said, there are two potential issues. The first is the cave they found. Ben said that most of the people he met were either planning to go there or had just returned from it, which would mean that the cave is enormous. Assuming the resources contained within match the size, we won’t be able to keep up. On that point, they set the daily tax to 2 SP. Three thousand people means they are collecting six thousand SP a day, and that’s being conservative. Along with the abundant resources, they might already be working on tier 2 buildings,” Baj said.

“Wouldn’t that reduce the likelihood of them attacking us?” Carol asked.

“Perhaps, but we would be left at their mercy, our only option to hope for the best,” Baj retorted.

“But what can we do? We could demand access to the cave, but they’ve already denied it when Ben tried to go. Any hostility is out as well. What’s left?” Kareem asked.

“We should continue with establishing friendly relations, maybe trade too, assuming there is something both sides need. That way we can keep tabs on their progress and general mood. In the meantime, we should look for allies,” Frank suggested.

“Sadly, only New Rome is close, at 318 miles. Tom, how much longer do you need to prepare?” Thomas asked, turning to face the pudgy man.

“Our training is going well, we should be ready in two days,” Tom replied.

“What about that USS Carl Vinson settlement? Although it’s further North beyond New Shanghai, they should be willing to help us, if it comes to war,” Carol mused.

“Not necessarily. We are five hundred miles away from them, so our battles aren’t really theirs. Also, see that Liaoning or whatever Settlement to the East of them? I’ve been talking to my guys, and we’re pretty sure it’s the Chinese carrier’s name,” Baj said in a gloomy voice.

“Assuming the two Settlements are allied, their power would increase even more,” Thomas mused.

“Still, we could send Ben’s group to the USS Carl Settlement, and see what’s going on there,” Carol suggested.

“It’s too far. That’s at least five days to get there, another ten to return, fifteen days with basically no training. Even if the monsters’ rate of power increase has slowed down, that’s still too long,” Frank said, shaking his head.

“I agree. Even if skill levels are harder to get at higher levels, such a protracted break from training would cause them to fall behind,” Kareem said.

“Then we’ll recall Ben’s group,” Thomas said after no one objected. “Anyone have anything else to discuss?”

“My group found a cave,” Frank began, telling the others about his findings. “Given the difficulty these monsters pose, I’d like for my group to be the one to explore the cave,” he concluded.

“Baj?” Thomas asked, shifting his gaze to the man.

“No objections, I doubt anyone would fare better than Frank’s initial attempt.”

Thomas nodded. “How long will you need to prepare?”

“I want to round up my group with another mage and healer, and I'm hoping you can help me put something up on the Notice Board. Then a day or two of training and we’ll be ready,” Frank replied.

“Alright. Anyone else?”

“I’ve got several reports of increased activity by the wolf Monster Ground, though no one ventured close enough to check it out,” Jordan said.

“Hm, it’d make sense for them to attack us soon unless there is a closer target,” Kareem said.

“We’d have to send out a large force to prevent the monsters from surrounding and killing a scouting team,” Frank suggested. He felt some bitterness rise inside of him as he spoke. It was precisely because they failed to do so when attacking the goblin Monster Ground that so many died.

“I suppose, though I’d like to get the wall finished first,” Thomas spoke up after some contemplation.

They went over a few other topics, including resource gathering, crafting, training, etc. Finally, the meeting came to an end, and everyone began to shuffle out of the building. Frank and Kareem walked out side by side, as Frank told him about the Pinnacle skills.

“I’ve got something for you too,” Kareem said after Frank finished. “Someone finished the Magic V grid and got the Magic Draw ability. It’s similar to the Skirmisher’s Draw, except you choose three magic schools, with the success chance being 100, 25, 5, and 1 percent depending on the level of the magic school. If the roll fails, you get a random low-level magic school instead.”

“Hmm, gives me some perspective on the relative value of the Grids I get,” Frank

“It’s strange that your Reading Ahead isn’t considered a Draw ability, maybe it’s the next reward.”

“Would be quite redundant though, since I wouldn’t have the GP for it anyway,” Frank said with a shrug.

“You’ll just need to work harder, set yourself on fire, or maybe freeze yourself?” Kareem suggested, a smirk on his face, as they parted.

How would I even go about doing that? Frank thought, caught up in the idea of getting some easy GP from cold and ice resistances. “Long day,” he mumbled, shaking his head after a while. Dinner had been served hours ago, so he had to settle for what he had in his Spatial Ring instead. While he ate, he browsed through the Shop’s selection. The unique item was already gone, likely purchased by Chon earlier, but Frank was happy to see the set of spices was there again.

He finished browsing and rolled out his sleeping bag. The thing was beginning to smell, his attempt to wash it in the river making it even worse, as it now gave off a moldy smell as well. He fired off three Clean spells, but couldn’t see any difference. Another spell I’ve been neglecting, he thought as he massaged his temples. He wanted to go to sleep, but there was still one more thing to do – deciding if he should get Third Arm.

Lying on his back, Frank stared into the dark, starry sky, before closing his eyes and going over the pros and cons of the skill. The cons were few: it would delay his completion of the Final Sprint grid by 500 GP, the skill’s cost was considerable at 30 mana, while the initial damage was a bit low, at just 25% of what a physical strike would do. The pros were numerous: facing armored or shield-bearing foes wouldn’t be an issue, the mana cost while hefty didn’t increase with level, but the damage did – at level 50, the skill would do 60% of a physical attack’s damage, which for a strike to the body was one to two hundred, by Frank’s estimation. Even higher for a head strike. On top of that, the skill would block similar skills, against which he would otherwise have no defense.

There was one more con that kept rolling around his head, though he was unwilling to vocalize it – he didn’t trust the System. Such a great skill appearing just when he needed it most, it just didn’t feel right. It was similar to playing poker where you knew the dealer was cheating but didn’t know what stage the cheating was at. A great hand could be a set up where the dealer had an even better hand, or it could be a way to sucker you in by letting you win. One almost had to discard what they saw and rely solely on their intuition instead.

Although the System believes I’ll die, it hasn’t actively tried to screw me, yet. Then, what repercussions could there be from picking up this skill? The reward for the Final Sprint could be amazing, and by delaying it I’d miss out on something, or worse, die. Another possibility is that an even better skill will appear next, but that’s less likely since I can just get that skill too. Although, doing so would delay the Final Sprint even more and play right into the warning in Reading Ahead’s description.

He agonized over a decision for over ten minutes, before finally selecting to get the Spirit Magic I grid. Dumping most of his GP into it, brought it to 70/500. Feeling relieved, he decided to go to sleep and deal with the attribute points in the morning.

***

Frank felt someone shake him awake, he tried to ignore it, but the person persisted. Tentatively, he opened his eyes only to see that it was still night time, shadows dancing everywhere in the deem torchlight.

“What’s going on?” Frank asked Gabriel, who was the one to wake him.

“Three hundred wolves are coming to attack us, they’ll be here in about half an hour.”

Frank snapped to attention and got up. All around them people were getting up and readying themselves for battle. The Settlement Chat was alight with conversations, as people tried to figure out what they should do. Frank told his group to stay put and walked over to the Observation Orb, where he found Baj and Thomas. The men greeted him, then turned back to the orb which displayed a fuzzy image of a large wolf pack on the move.

“Man, these guys are fast,” Baj said shaking his head.

“But we have enough time,” Thomas said. “We’ll organize everyone into a defensive line with the wall protecting us on three sides. Hm, do you think they can scale the wall?”

“They shouldn’t, not unless they stack up under it, making a human ladder… wolf ladder…” Baj replied with some uncertainty.

“Better safe than sorry, I guess. Let’s put some people up on the walls, and I want, say, fifty people to stay in reserve, including your group,” Thomas told him.

“What do you want me to do?” Frank asked, tearing his gaze away from the orb.

“Take your group to the front and act as you see fit. Wolves shouldn’t be too bad, we’ve got a good shield wall, plus the Healing Orb should keep everyone safe,” Thomas said. “I’ll stay here to keep an eye on the wolves. Pay attention to the Chat in case something changes.”

It took a while to organize everyone into a somewhat straight line that stretched over two hundred yards, melee fighters in front, ranged and healers behind them. Nervous excitement filled the air as they waited for the wolves to arrive. “Ten minutes away,” Thomas announced in the Chat. Five, two, one, finally, the pack arrived.

Howls and growling resounded non stop, but Frank couldn’t see anything in the darkness. He cast Flashlight, but the spell only extended to twenty yards before its light dissipated. He thought about using Flare, but the spell’s burst of light would likely act like a flashbang grenade, blinding them rather than illuminating the monsters.

“Just have to wait for them to attack,” he said to calm down those around him.

Tension rose as time passed slowly. After a minute or so, the howls were joined by the sounds of battle coming from the left flank.

“Chat says the wolves formed a column and are trying to break through the left flank,” Amy’s voice came from behind.

“Still can’t see jack,” Kim said, her voice filled with annoyance, as she lowered her bow.

“Don’t break ranks!” Frank shouted. It could be a diversion, he thought, damn this darkness. “Someone toss a torch into the field!”

In response to his order, a torch flew overhead, landing some thirty yards forward. More torches followed, flying further this time. There were no enemies in front of him, but as torches began to fly forward from the left side, the column of monsters became visible. The lighting was quite bad, and accurate shooting was out of the question, but with enough projectiles, it should be enough.

“Mages and archers, attack from here!” Frank shouted.

Taking his own advice, he shot a Lightning Bolt, the ball of electricity zipping away. It struck a target, but with none to take advantage of the stun, the monsters resumed its movement. Frank switched to Wooden Spike, the spell was nearly identical to Amy’s Icicle, but Frank thought it would be good to have a different element just in case. A foot-long spike formed in front of his palm before flying off into the distance. Arrows, spikes, and balls of magical energy flew toward the wolves from the line of defenders. Pained yelps filling the air in response.

“The reserve group is moving to reinforce the left flank,” Gabriel informed, as a melee fighter the current situation had left him quite bored.

“Well, I am done,” Frank said with a sigh as his mana nearly reached zero.

He looked on at Amy and Kim, who kept shooting at the dwindling column of beasts. After a while, Baj announced that the monsters had been dealt with and everyone but the guards could return to sleep.

“Talk about anticlimactic,” Benton said, shaking his head.

“Well, whatever, we’ve got a long day of training ahead of us, so let’s just get what sleep we can,” Frank said.

It was nice that they repelled the attack with no losses, but without a chance to fight, all the tension that built up inside of him during the wait had turned into annoyance. It can’t be helped, it’d be too dangerous not to get everyone, Frank reasoned as he retrieved his sleeping bag and tried to get what little rest he could before morning.