Rest, a standard for those who live in peaceful times, was a supreme luxury for someone surviving the apocalypse. Day-by-day the situation grew worse, and yet somehow people managed to survive.

In one manor house near the river, several survivors did better than barely make it. They also began to plan for the future.

A long night's relatively peaceful slumber brought with it hope for the coming day. The first order of business for the group was bestowal of professional experience onto Frank. However, Scott noted something quite interesting when he awoke. On a nearby table sat a golden treasure chest.

"Wonder what that's about? If you're a man-eating mimic who's fallen in love with me, I'm gonna be a little pissed," said Scott. He thought better of it after a moment, "Unless you have a lot of storage space in that chest of yours."

He threw a shoe at it to see what would happen. Nothing strange occurred, so he risked opening the thing up. Inside he found a single small note that congratulated him on buying a premium quality home, and for generating a new faction, and for becoming an important figure in the world by choosing a unique class. Included was mention of a house warming gift.

As a bonus, the note also explained the way that he would receive mail. Packages would arrive either at dawn or dusk, depending on when they were purchased. Mail arrived at both dawn and dusk.

"Well, that was a fancy way to give me a tutorial message," said Scott with a grunt. The golden treasure chest did not disappear or anything, however.

"Maybe I can keep stuff in that thing?" he asked before putting his hand to the lid.

"Doesn't seem like there's a lot of room to store stuff—" he began, only to have the chest produce buzzing noise. A little screen popped up in front of it.

Warning: 'Stuff' is a vague term. Please use the proper term for the item that you wish to store.

OPTIONS

Store [Item]

Retrieve [Item]

Check Inventory

"Wait, this... Is this something I'm supposed to keep?" Scott stared at the possible house warming gift for a moment then opted to check it out. Hand still on the lid, he said, "Check inventory."

Inventory Space: 4/99

Maximum Item Stack: 4

Daemons: 0 [Pending Signature]

Domain Map

Inventory

Large Salvation Crystals: [4]

Large Bloodstone Crystals: [4]

Big Book of Professions: [4]

Writ of Noblesse Oblige

"This is awesome!" exclaimed Scott, a grin forming immediately in the process. He'd been granted a storage box that could hold a lot of stuff safely, and a few expensive seeming items as a house warming gift. If this situation was to be trusted, his faction just received a massive boon.

"What's this pending signature business, though?"

"Writ of Noblesse Oblige... Wonder what that's about?" he asked the air lightly. He knew what the concept was supposed to mean, but the concept and what a game-like item were supposed to be could be different things indeed.

"Retrieve Writ of Noblesse Oblige," said Scott. A dinging sound echoed from the chest and a sheet of paper appeared in the air before him. It glowed softly with a warm golden light. He read the words emblazoned on the front in bright red ink.

Pledge of the True Nobility – Noblesse Oblige

By the standards of my good name and actions heretofore, I do hereby make this pledge.

I will utilize my land, title, and powers for the betterment of not only myself and those under my banner, but also for those less fortunate whom need aid and succor in hours most dire. I will do so willingly, and without restraint for species or gender.

For the good of all, my word is law. My will is justice. My punishment of crime and villainous acts perpetrated against my people is both swift and fair. Let nothing sway me from this cause for the sake of the people whom give their lives into my care.

Signature: __________ [Optional]

Compensation: I will be granted true title of nobility, and have the right to claim land not as a merchant or usurper, but as a noble ruler. All powers of a ruler will become mine, so long as I keep to my pledge. However, should I fail to keep to these lofty goals my title and lands will be stripped away and my faction will be dissolved.

"So. What...? I pledge not to be an asshole and actually help people, and that will give me new authority?" Scott did not see much of a problem with that. The general requirements were something he did naturally anyway. The bit about how his good name and actions probably had a lot to do with this offer anyway. The system seemed to reward people who made life decisions and stuck with them.

He signed the sheet of paper, and it immediately burst into motes of light. Those motes of light flowed into his body, and he began to glow with a soft golden light of his own. "Whoa, cool..." said Scott while looking at the golden light that gently radiated from his hand. In an earlier time it would have saved quite the sum of money on flashlight batteries.

A new screen appeared in the air a moment later. Scott noted his new found abilities and made a sound reminiscent of a cash register opening. "Cha-ching!"

Right of Lords

Manifest Destiny

Land Tax Assessment

Improved Domain Development

Light of Nobility

Manifest Destiny allowed him to seize nearby buildings if they were uncontested. He'd need to install people to live there for at least thirty days, and not lose the land to monsters or invaders even once in the process. If he did so, he'd be able to claim the building without paying the system. As far as empty land went, he'd need to claim, or build, well-patrolled roads through the area and install an outpost. The larger the outpost, the more of the land he could acquire by his Right of Lords.

Controlled land also allowed automatic control of uncontested buildings in that area, so long as there was at least one faction unit per building that lived in that land for thirty days. Larger buildings required more units, however. Non-residential buildings needed at least one dedicated worker who worked there a minimum of forty hours per week.

Putting up an outpost would automatically draw attention from neighboring factions, notably monsters, as well. So, it was not something to be attempted at the moment due to the small size of his faction. Yet, he was keenly interested in the possibilities.

"That bit about roads is a little odd. Wouldn't most of the area have connecting roads already?" he asked.

"Interesting. I'll automatically gain five percent of the value of any land and property I own as a quarterly allowance..." said Scott after checking on what his land tax power actually did. Someone in charge of a large faction with a lot of manpower could control a massive section of land, and with that land would come a system generated monetary allowance once per season. Just holding onto, and upgrading, land would allow a faction to earn incredible amounts of money.

It was no wonder that the monsters contested so hotly for control of territory, he thought before asking aloud, "I wonder if they have their own shops..."

He skipped over domain development as it seemed somewhat obvious in regards to what it did. He wanted to check out the Light of Nobility perk first.

Scott scanned the information then blinked. "This..."

He slapped himself across the face once then shook his head. "No, this can't be real."

Light of Nobility – Level 1

The radiant power of a truly noble spirit can accomplish miracles. As the land grows, and the people who live upon it become more content with the lord's rule, the radiance of the ruler's Light of Nobility improves.

Succor

Once per week the lord may place his hand upon any of his subjects and completely cleanse them of disease, poison, persistent physical injuries, and afflictions that are mental or physical in nature.

Summon the Fallen

Once per month, the lord may call upon the essence of his nobility to call forth the soul of one slain in his service and return that individual to life. If said individual does indeed wish to return to this world.

Absolute Domain

Once per season, at the time of land taxation, the lord may choose to completely restore his lands to pristine shape by foregoing his accrual of seasonal tax.

Restoration of the Lost

A true lord may pay double the fee during recruitment drives, and choose a specific person from among the souls lost during the time of upheaval to reincarnate as their new subject. If said individual does indeed wish to return to this world, and they are not already players associated with the lord's faction.

"I can resurrect the dead?" asked Scott before a strange sensation swept over him. His knees buckled and he fell back onto the bed he'd just slept on earlier. Signing a piece of paper granted him the ability to do so much, and yet the only requirements were things he'd normally done anyway.

He ran his hand down his face, and to his surprise he found wetness in his palm when he finished. "Am I crying?" he asked softly.

It was too much. A moment ago this was just another fun little bit of oddness, but now he did not know what to think. Who was he to have such a power? So many people had died, and yet here he had to ability to resurrect, or even reincarnate those who'd been killed since the apocalypse started.

"Can I really do this? I mean, it's almost like I can just hit a reset button if I work hard enough," said Scott. "I can't bring everyone back, but... reclaim the town and bring back as many as possible..."

It was a sobering thought. He'd just been thinking of things like a game a moment ago, but now the possibility that the nightmare could end sometime in the future shook him to the core.

"As long as I act with Noblesse Oblige... this horror show can end? Is that what they're trying to tell me with this?" asked Scott softly. Just don't be a dick, work toward building the future, and help those whom you can... Was that literally all he needed to do in order to turn hell into a place where people could live happily once more?

A thought occurred to him, however. "Recruitment drives?"

The skill mentioned recruitment drives as a requirement. There was only one other option, the one he'd skipped over earlier. Scott checked the Improved Domain Development option and saw what he'd missed. He could upgrade his domain through the use of money, but without the need for going to the shopping arcade. Of course, any buildings or lands not within his domain would need to be claimed through conquest, or purchased at the store.

One of the buildings he now had access to was the recruitment office. If he spent twenty thousand daemons to upgrade a small building, he could use it to recruit people to his cause. They would be human by default, unless he unlocked recruitment through other races.

"So, that's how I recruit lizardmen if I raise my affinity with Eloa..." he said. Of course, he could still just invite living people to join his faction. That cost him nothing monetarily.

"Recruitment summons souls of those who died during the upheaval to reincarnate in this world via iron-clad loyalty agreements. If the soul allows itself to be reincarnated in this manner they will automatically die if they betray their lord to any great degree..." said Scott aloud.

He tilted his head to the side then made a curious noise. "Betrayal equals automatic death? Yeah, that'd work."

"Man, this is starting to sound awesome..." he said, before a wry smile slipped across his lips, "Too bad I'm as broke as a crackhead on Christmas."

Thoughts of his money shortage reminded him of something, however. "Hey, that storage box..."

Scott stood up and went over to the chest once more. The little section that showed stored daemons read zero previously, but next to it was the statement 'Pending Signature'. He'd just signed something, did it change anything?

He touched the chest lid and said, "Check inventory."

After a brief glance at the contents he blinked then shut the box lid. Scott turned his head to the side while his eyes went wide. His body unable to believe what those simple orbs had seen forced him into a fit of coughing. Briefly it seemed that he nearly choked on his disbelief.

Once he got his disbelieving body under control, he opened the lid and checked once more. Sitting in his newly granted house warming gift was an additional seventy thousand five hundred daemons. His land taxes had been collected for the season.

In an attempt to control how foolish he'd just looked Scott closed the chest's lid and nodded sagely. "And so... the stage is set for a new power to rise..."

His attempt at sober sincerity passed quickly as his eyes widened a little and a disturbingly happy sounding giggle escaped his lips. It was time for a recruitment drive!