Chapter: New Quest

Erik fell on his ass hard while Rugrat stumbled around a bit before he got back on his feet.

He looked around, they were outside of a simple looking town, a one hundred meter area around the town had been cleared for farmland, the walls were simple, just two stories tall and made of mud with nothing much to them.

There were people moving into the city, talking to one another.

They didn't seem to find Rugrat and Erik's entrance out of the ordinary.

"For the next trial, you simply need to hold off five waves of beasts, as long as you both don't die then you will win," the door voice disappeared again.

"I don't know about you but I really want to know who's actually behind that voice," Erik said, wiping off the dirt from his ass as he got up.

Screens appeared in front of them both.

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Beast Mountain Trial

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You have made it past the first four trials of Beast Mountain. The trial ahead does not get easier. For this Quest you will be seen as Lords by the people of Alva and gain control over the town building interface.

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Requirements:

Survive the beast horde (5/5 Waves remaining)

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Rewards:

Dependent upon results

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"I feel like there's a lot not being said here," Erik said, looking at it all.

"You and me both, I thought that we were supposed to be fighting beasts every level?" Rugrat asked.

"Seems that we found the easter egg inside the trial?" Erik looked toward the town and then the ground around it.

"Well, we'd best go and meet the locals," Erik said, they started down the dirt road towards the town, passing farmers in their fields, working and talking to one another.

They got to the front gate a guard looked them over and stepped forwards.

"State your business," the guard asked.

"Beast horde?" Rugrat asked.

Erik closed his mouth, shooting a look at Rugrat.

The guard's eyes went wide as he looked around to see that no one had heard what they'd said.

"Are you the people sent to assist us in the defense of our town?" He asked in a low whisper.

Erik and Rugrat looked at one another before facing the guard.

"You could say that," Erik said.

"Please, please come and follow me," the guard quickly waved them forward and pulled them into the town.

The city seemed quiet and reserved, people greeted one another in the street, it seemed homely and easy as people went about their day.

"I have a feeling they haven't been told," Rugrat said.

Erik nodded, based on how the guard had reacted and their attitudes it didn't seem like they knew of the coming beast horde.

The ground was made from dirt, there wasn't any drainage, houses were made from a combination of wood and dirt with no stone buildings.

The guard led them to the largest building, it was two stories tall and looked over a square where people were looking to sell their wares.

They passed the guards that were standing outside of the building, passing people that were grouped together, bringing up their worries to the lord of the town.

They entered the private area of the residence reaching an office.

"Dani, these are the men sent to assist us against the beast horde," the guard said as he walked up to a secretary.

Her face was pale with the mention of the beast horde.

"I'll get chief Blaze immediately," she said, quickly moving to the office door and disappearing inside.

The door opened a few moments later, with a large rough looking man getting up from behind his desk.

"Please come in," he said, the Guard moved aside as Erik and Rugrat moved into the room.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, my name is Blaze," the man in the room said as he came around the desk, quickly shaking both of their hands.

He didn't look like he had been able to get much sleep recently based on his tired and broken appearance.

"It is no problem," Erik said.

"To defend the town, all of Alva's resources are at your disposal," he said without fanfare.

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Title: Acting Lord of Alva

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You've been given temporary command of Alva

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You have gained control of the town building interface.

Grade: Petty Mortal (Can be upgraded)

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Resources

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Food: 500 Units

Stone: 50 Units

Wood: 80 Units

Gold: 3

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Upkeep costs:

173 Units of Food per week

2 silver per week

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You have gained control of:

Store

Town Hall

Walls

Barracks

Granary

Smithy

Citizens: 181

Guards: 20

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"Alright we need to know what the hell we're facing first," Erik looked to Rugrat.

"I can scout the area, are there any hunters or people that know the surrounding forest," Rugrat looked to Blaze.

"I can get a few of the people that are hunters in their free time organized," Blaze nodded.

"See if you can't get us some more food while you're out, the first wave is coming in two weeks, we've got enough food for three if we contribute some of our food. Blaze, can we harvest soon?" Erik asked.

"Unfortunately not, it'll be a week before we can start," Blaze said.

"Alright I need to have a closer look at the town, try and get an idea of what is going on," Erik said.

"Got it, Blaze, those hunters?" Rugrat asked.

"Come with me," Blaze said, leading him out of the room.

Erik accessed his Land Holder interface, checking the map, at the center of the village was the village square, the city was broken up into four areas, to the north East there was the storage area, this was filled with the granary and sheds to hold the different materials that they had harvested. To the South east there was a store and workshop area. This area melded into the residential area to the south west. These were simple homes for the people of the village from the farmers to those that worked inside the walls.

To the North East was the barracks and smithy. Residential buildings also sprawled over this area as well.

Rough dirt roads went from the rough village square to the north, East, South and West Gates.

He walked out of the office, finding the guard that had led him there, waiting for him.

"Mister Blaze told me to wait for you," the guard said.

"Good, we can walk and talk on our way to the store, what's your name?" Erik asked as he walked towards the exit.

"I'm Niemm," the guard said, happy to be of assistance.

"Good to meet you, Niemm, I'm Erik, now, about your little town I have some questions."

As Erik talked to Niemm he got a rough idea of how strong the guards were in the little town, they were little more than hunters that had put on an emblem. They had some organization but it was more of a thrown together militia than a true policing or military force. Their smithy was of the Novice grade, spending most of his time repairing different tools and weapons for the guards.

Their water came from rain barrels and a large well off to the side of the town hall. A stream running nearby had been diverted to water the crops.

The nearest town was a week away and most people wouldn't want to leave. Erik reached the store finally, he moved the flap away and saw a woman putting away different goods.

The woman looked over at Erik a look of interest appearing in her eyes.

"Seems that something is wrong for someone so powerful to have entered our city," the woman said.

"Hello, I was wondering what things you have for sale?" Erik asked.

"I have a number of goods for sale personally, from grain to tools, you can use the sales interface to purchase auctioned items by other controlled towns and Dungeons, however you will need to pay a charge of five percent for each transaction," she pointed to the side.

Erik's eyes followed her hand finding a glowing formation at the side of the counter. He moved over to it, a screen appeared before him, broken up into different categories.

He moved through weapons and armor, there wasn't just Novice armor, he could buy Expert armor if he wanted to! Though Erik didn't even know what a Sky grade Mana stone was.

He lowered his sights and moved through the different tabs, there was alchemy ingredients but few recipes. The same went for smithing. The finished products were also much higher and while there was a buyout price most things had a timer telling when the item would come to an end and the last bids would be placed. The numbers were changing as people bid on different things.

There was a section of the store labelled as 'Blueprint'. People could buy blueprints for different buildings that they could create in their territories. It was like the fine arrow blueprint, someone could make it themself if they had the know how, or they could use the aid of the blueprint if they didn’t know how to make the item.

Erik moved into the training manuals and technique books area, breaking it down into just technique books and then hand to hand combat.

The high level books were rare, each one of them was a treasure and few were willing to let them go. Normal manuals and simple training technique books were easily available and cheaper, still Erik didn't buy them. He needed to concentrate on saving the town first.

He went into the spell section of technique books, with the gold and silver he had gained from the dead people he had found, Erik only slightly winced as he paid the 15 silver buyout price for the spell Plant Cultivation. With the 5% Erik spent another seventy five copper on the transfer fee.

The rune lit up and a flash of light appeared in front of Erik as a scroll appeared.

Erik grabbed it and rolled it open.

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Technique Book: Plant Cultivation

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Do you wish to activate this Technique book? Doing so will destroy this Technique book.

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YES/NO

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Yes. Runes appeared on the scroll as power was gathered together and focused, a ray of light shot out from the scroll and between Erik’s brows. He closed his eyes. The scroll disappeared, as if caught alight by an invisible flame.

Information appeared in his mind as he understood how to cast Plant Cultivation.

Erik's head was throbbing and he took his time he opening his eyes.

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Plant Cultivation

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Novice

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Speed up the growth of plants by aiding them with Mana.

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Consumption of Mana based on plant type and growth.

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Erik let out a breath, it had been incredibly hard for him to gain technique or information books in Chonglu, with the store here, it was like he was staring at a gold mine.

Erik opened the store up once again and started to put different things he didn't need onto the the store.

Having cleared out his storage rings of everything he felt wasn't important Erik dismissed the screen.

"I've received a notification of your items in the auction place, they'll be sold within two weeks or returned to you," the saleswoman said.

"Thank you, what's your name?" Erik asked.

"I'm Elise," she said with a small smile.

"Good to meet you, Elise, I'll probably be by around sooner rather than later."