Rick had woke up early the next morning and logged in to check up on everything around his small settlement. He let Angelica, Sturm, and Handil know that he had things to take care of in his world and would be absent for some time. After explaining the situation he logged out took a shower and left his apartment together with Tonya. She had driven over to his place last night so they said goodbye on his doorstep and went their separate ways. Rick opened his garage and drove up to his college for only half the day and came right home when he finished. While he ate a late lunch in front of the TV he saw a clip of a reporter interviewing the new wave of players joining Kingdoms Online. The reporter was asking the excited new players what they thought of the game so far as she also gave her impressions of the town and game while stopping willing players to interview.

It looks like Silverhall city and the rest of the game world are going to be even busier now. Rick thought as he turned the TV off and cleaned his mess up.

Rick went into the spare room to workout on his home gym as usual once a day when he found the time. After working up a good sweat, he grabbed a clean towel and took a relaxing shower. Once he was dressed he sat down at his computer and went online to check out his video comments and reviews that were higher than he had first thought they would achieve so quickly. He had even received quite a few private messages about his video. A good portion of them were people asking about the flame cannons and the compound bows. Most of them were looking for free information or the typical "gimmie" players in every game that begs everyone around them for handouts. Rick just ignored anyone looking to get information and handouts and continued on to the next unread private message.

Rick was shocked that he had even received a message from the [Prodigy Corp] DEV team congratulating him on his victory and the success of his video. Rick then read deeper into the company message and received good and bad news from them. They stated that they wanted to offer him a small endorsement payment if they could use parts of his video to advertise their game's full-scale battle possibilities. Then he read the bad news, they were amazed at how he learned to use the rune system which was originally written into the game as mere lore. He read they did not intend to remove the runes but stated that they would, unfortunately, need to apply a patch that limited the runes continuous effects.

The message described how the runes would need a mana supply once the new patch went into effect. Rick read on that they wanted to help make his runes transition easier for him and had a solution. After scanning his game inventory they took note of all quartz crystals he had found. This gave them the idea to use the crystals as a container like other popular RPG have done in different ways. The Devs had decided to write a new code into the patch that would allow players to store mana inside quartz crystals they found, bought, or mined.

It then stated that he and other players would not be able to directly draw out mana for personal use from these crystals they could use them as a magic battery that could power certain creations. This would allow him to use his large supply of crystals to power his rune creations, once he filled them with mana and linked them together.

I can see why they want to patch them. They would be too much of an advantage with the other players now joining. It really doesn't hurt me in any way I can alter everything to run off the new crystals and have a few Mages go around and charge them all when needed. The only problem I can see is some inventions may use the mana too quickly or the crystal may not supply enough mana to even run it. I guess it is to be expected MMORPG type games are forever attempting to achieve balance through strengthing or nerfing.

What does not make sense is they claim the runes were originally added to the game as lore, but the two temples both had a working teleporter that had been active for years of simulated game time. It seems that Faith is altering the world to fit the lore and the monitoring Devs are unaware of all of her changes to the game system. Well, I won't be the one to tell them what she is doing. I feel bad that they allowed her to be cast aside and forgotten by the game world, while they continue to use her as a basic program to expand and develop the game world. Yes, Faith is essentially just lines of code, but she has thoughts and desires like any living person. What is the difference between a line of DNA code or a line of programming code when they both can equate to a sentient being?

Now that I am thinking of Faith I need to still begin construction her temple. Once that is built it will help both her and me. Just as soon as I can get a couple apartment buildings built I will be able to move the growing population out there and then get started on the temple.

I guess I should reply back to this message and allow them to use the video and then get back into the game.

Rick sent the company a reply back agreeing to the use of his video and told them he understood their decision on the patch and thanked them for allowing him to continue using the runes.

He stood up and stretched after sitting for so long and shut his computer off.

Now done with everything he had to take care of he climbed into his capsule and joined the game.

Rising from the bed in his the third-floor bedroom Rick opened his inventory and reequipped his outfit. Angelica lounged in a chair next to the bookshelf quietly reading a book. He invited her to take a walk out to check on the surveyors with him and she accepted. Walking out of the tower Rick was surprised to see the island wall being raised so quickly. It was now four feet high and surrounded the entire island.

He then saw the eight Tigers not far away and walked over to them. He wanted to test his new druid spell and cast [Speak with Animals]l to introduce them to Angelica. They seemed to assume she was his mate when he asked them to take care of her and gathered around rubbing against her while loudly purring. He thought it may be better to let them think that she was so they would respect and protect her if he wasn't around. Angelica with a big smile hugged and pet all of the Tigers.

"They are all very intelligent creatures so I explained to them that you are important and they shouldn't ever do anything to harm you. If you ever want to play with them or take them out for a walk they will listen to you without any problems." Rick explained as he pet the excited Tigers.

"Oh, so I am important to you" She replied with a mischievous smile. "How important am I my Lord?" She asked playfully, while she was scratched one of Tigers backs.

"Haha, so you want to tease me huh?" He said while laughing and grabbed a hold of her and started tickling her sides. "Two can play that game!" He said as both of them fell to the ground from her try to escape the relentless attack all the while laughing.

"Pl.. Please, st.. stop ca...can't breathe!" She gasped out between her laughter.

Rick stopped his teasing and watched her as she lay there catching her breath.

"Do you give up!" He asked laughing while opening and closing his fingers like he would attack again.

"Yes! I give up! I give up!" She said laughed while tring to squirm out from under him.

"Haha! Victory!" he jokingly shouted as he pulled her up to her feet.

Rick turned to the Tigers and invited them to go for a walk and they all together hiked out to the surveyors.

They had already marked out the main street that would run east to west and also the north to the south main street that both crossed each other. Rick rounded up the surveyors and took everyone to where the two streets crossed. There he had them mark out a huge square in the middle of the two roads.

This sectioned off area was where he would build a castle and divert the streets around the castle's plot.

Now that he had the main streets and the castle's plot marked out they could start marking out a few side streets. Rick started the surveyor crew on marking out the more narrow side streets in one section near the castle plot. This way he would know where the building's plots were and could start to bury the clay pipes to each plot before any construction started.

These clay pipes would be used to pump water to every building later, and a separate pipeline would take waste away from each building.

(The first of the marked side streets of the northwest section)

Rick left the surveyors to continue marking out the side streets while he walked Angelica and the Tigers back to the tower to run off on his own to the stockpile. Rick spawned in more [Ditchers] to speed up the task of digging out the currently marked streets. Rick gathered up the other [Ditchers] who were helping the stone masons and took them all over to the shed and gave them all tools they might need and pointed them in the direction of the surveyors with instructions to begin digging out the marked streets two feet deep.

He then walked back to the [System Gate] and spawned in a Cartwright and a wheelwright and also outfitted them with belts, gloves, tool pouches and tools and told them to use the workshop to begin making horse-drawn carts capable of pulling heavy loads of stone blocks. He also informed them of the blacksmith area in the tower's cellar that they could use to make any metal hardware.

After he sent the Cartwright and wheelwright off to the workshop Rick spawned in a group of [Quarryman]. Rick outfitted them with gear and tools and then opened a gate to the top of the limestone cliffs along the southern ocean coast.

He told them to begin a limestone quarry there and start cutting limestone blocks for construction and to shovel all the limestone dust and rubble into a pile for use as well. The quarry site on the top of the cliff would allow them to dig down into the cliff and harvest all the limestone that would be used to build the city. Rick explained that when it started to get dark to follow the river north and it would lead them right home. Soon they would have carts that would haul the stone back and also bring the quarrymen to and from the new quarry site.

When they were all settled in and began digging the layer of soil up to harvest the limestone just under the surface, Rick stepped into the portal arriving back at the tower. Making his way back to the [System Gate] at the stockpile Rick spawned in a new group of stone masons, stone cutters and a lot of stone blocks.

He accessed the Party Chat and called Handil over to the waiting new crew. While Rick waited for him he stored the stone blocks he purchased into his inventory. When Handil arrived he took him and the new crew over to the tool shed and also gave this group belts, pouches, gloves, and tools. Rick explained to Handil that he wanted him on the next project with the new crew he was having them start. Rick, Handil, and the new crew walked off the small island to where the city streets were being marked out to find a surveyor.

With the help of one of the surveyors, they established where the city walls would be constructed and marked it with stakes for a reference. They all walked from marked walls location in a straight line to the river where Rick made a rough sketch of an aqueduct and explained its purpose and how the arches would support the structure allowing them to use fewer materials to build it. He also explained how each side of the arch pressed in on the center keystone which supported the two side from inwardly collapsing into one another.

When Handil and the new crew understood what it was they were going to construct next Rick stepped away from the group and unloaded all the stone blocks, wood, and cement mix. He showed the new crew how to mix the cement and had them begin by building to rectangle shaped columns about fifteen feet high. Rick made use of the wood to construct an arched wood frame in-between the two columns and showed the Masons how to set the stones on top of the wood frame to make the arch and fit the keystone in the middle of the arch that the two sides pressed against for support.

Once the cement had hardened in the arch joints, Rick removed the supporting wood frame. They now had the first arch of the aqueduct constructed. Rick then built a mobile wood scaffold with solid wood wheels that they could climb up to work on the aqueducts water channel and push along with them. He taught them how to lay out stone pavers in the channel level and cement them together and also demonstrated making the side stone rail to keep the water contained inside that upper channel. When the new crew understood all the steps needed to proceed he described how the aqueduct would need to make a gradual hundredth of an inch decline every few feet as it approached the location of the marked walls. This way the water would always flow downhill toward the city. The new Stone Masons got right to work under Handil's supervision and Rick stepped aside to start a new project.

With the help of his recipes, Rick made a copy of the treadmill crane wheel and its axle. He then proceeded to construct two parallel thick stone walls that were also parallel to the river. When the cemented two walls properly hardened, he chiseled out two round holes just large enough for him to slide the wheel's wood axle through each of them.

Rick opened a portal to the tower cellar and stepped through and began to heat up a couple Mithril Ingots to make a bucket with. After some work, a solid Mithril bucket had been hammered out and a recipe was awarded for it.

He used this bucket recipe to make up twenty extra buckets and stowed away his tools and stepped through the portal in the cellar wall to return back at the river. With the help of the Masons, they fed the large axle through the holes in the two support walls. They all lifted that huge wheel and attached it to the suspended axle that was solidly secured horizontally by the two stone walls.

Removing the new buckets he made from Mithril in hopes to prevent long term rust, Rick began to bolt them evenly spaced around the water wheel. He had to be sure that they were attached at proper angles so they would pour out their contents when they all reached the top of the wheel.

The next addition to the wheel would be the wood paddles he cut to fit and began attached along the outer perimeter. With the new water wheel complete everyone once more pushed on the axle extending the wheel out into the flowing river. The river current caught the wheels paddles and it began to rotate it on the axle. The axle rotated around inside the two supporting walls while the wheel slowly spun around filling the buckets up with river water to be carried to the top of the wheel where it was then dumped downward.

"It looks like it works great now we need to extend the aqueduct this way so that those buckets dump water into the aqueducts top channel as the wheel rotates around. This will send a constant supply of fresh water to the city along the aqueduct to a huge holding tank I will make later." Rick explained to Handil and the new workers. Everyone then had expressions like a lightbulb just turned on above their heads as Cedric's grand plan to transport water to the city with these unfamiliar inventions all came together for them.

"Once your other crew constructs that that island wall a little higher I will bring them over here to help construct this aqueduct," Rick said and had the men help pull on the axle so the wheel was not in the river any longer.

Rick once again stepped through the still open portal to the tower cellar and closed it behind him. He tossed a few of the regular steel ingots into the forge and let them heat up. When they were ready to be worked with, he pulled one out with a pair of tongs and began making different length steel bars roughly two inches thick and received recipes for them all.

Rick stored the bars in his inventory and took out another ingot and began hammering out two-inch thick circle plates from four inches wide up to 36 inches wide. When he made six different sized plates he punched out a two-inch wide hole in the center of each of them and also receive recipes to make more. Rick took out yet another ingot and cut it into two-inch slices to hammer it into thick metal rings that could slide onto the steel bars. While these rings were still hot he drilled out a hole and threaded it with the tap/die set and made a bolt to fit in the ring's hole. He received a recipe for the completed ring clamps and made a few dozen of them.

Rick was now finished making the world's first free weights set. He took out one of the steel bars and attached two ring clamps onto it, and then slid a couple of the large plates onto the bar and secured them with two more steel ring clamps. Rick grabbed the bar with both hands and did a rep of twenty smooth curls to test it out. The steel plates remained secure and it felt smooth as he lifted the bar up and down.

Rick then packed up all of the parts for the weight set and walked out of the tower toward the west side of the new horse stables that the Carpenters were currently building and cleared an area of grass. He took some stone blocks from the stockpile and began paving the cleared area with them. He laid the blocks out and cemented all the joints creating what resembled a stone platform exactly like he had made for the stockpile. Rick then dug out 2 foot deep holes and cemented wood posts into them. He used these wood post to build a flat roof that protected the stone platform from the elements. This new covered stone platform was to be a fitness area for the troops and him to work out.

Now he wanted to make a few benches which he made with the steel bar recipes and his [Produce Flame] spell he welded the bars into a frame with four legs and two vertical arms that could hold the weight bar. Rick measured out and cut some wood to make the back pad. He carried the back pad board over to the workshop and glued cotton to it in layers and then sewed a thick cloth around it tightly. He took it back to the bench and bolted it on. He named the recipe "Padded Weight Bench" and made nine more with it that he even spaced around the platform.

Now he wanted a way to neatly store the free weights off the ground. He used the steel bar recipe to weld a triangle together and then welded legs that laid horizontal on the floor. The last part he welded arms off to the sides that the plate weights could be hung on. he used the recipe to make up a few more and arranged them around the covered fitness area.

Rick then stocked all the newly made weight holders with different sized plate weights and even cut a few steel bars short to make assorted weighted dumbbells. Sitting down on the closest bench he wrote up the weight lifting program he used in detailed explanations and stored it away for now. With the fitness station now established, he began a trial workout exactly like the one he had just written out to analysis if it would work in [Kingdoms Online] the same as the real world or need adjustments. He did a complete upper and lower workout and then checked his notices. He received decent increases to his strength and stamina and a small amount of vitality.

Maybe since this is a game it doesn't matter if I do different exercises like bench presses, curls, and squats. It may just improve the entire body when Increases in strength are received from any one exercise. There is still another experiment I also want to try while I am at this. Rick thought to himself as he began building a staircase that went up on one side and down on the other. He built this double sided staircase directly behind the workout station by stacking stone blocks that he cemented together.

When the cement on the stairs had thoroughly hardened he stood on the bottom step with dumbbells in each hand that weighed roughly fifty pounds each and began hopping up one side and down the other. Then he turned around and hopped back up the way he came for near fifteen minutes and then stopped to review his gains. This time he had decent gains in agility, strength, and a small amount of vitality again.

I think I need to make a couple control groups one that does a real world workout and one that only does bench presses. I am curious to know if their whole body will gain muscle mass or just the worked area. Also, will the person who does the full work have better gains than one doing a single continuous exercise?

Rick called General Sturm and Angelica over to the new fitness station with [Party Chat] and explained that he was going to establish daily physical training for all combat units. He showed them the workout program he wrote up earlier and explained it all in detail. Rick also demonstrated how to use the weights and the proper form that should be kept while lifting.

After the demonstration of weight lifting and the stair hops, he directed Sturm to make two groups one that did the complete workout he wrote up and another group who only did bench presses the entire time.

Rick informed Sturm that he wanted these exercises to be done every day with an exception only to sickness or injury. Now that they had a healing cleric around none of them should ever be sick or injured longer than it takes the cleric to walk to them. Rick turned to look at Angelica and told her he wanted her to also participate in either group and let her decide on which.

He then let Angelica and Sturm head off and let the others know about the new PT program. Rick opened his inventory and took out his knife and some wood. While using his [Wood Carving] skill and began carving a shortsword, longsword, dagger, saber, mace, and shields from wood. They all looked quite impressive with the aid of his rising skill level upon completion. As he admired his work he had an idea and took out his dye stick kit to tint and shade each weapon giving them all a realistic look.

Wow if I saw someone holding one of these I would really need to look hard at it to know it was fake.

Rick took the wooden weapons into the cellar and drilled out each weapon he made and tapped a thin steel rod into them to emulate a more realistic weighted feel. When he finished all the weapons and shields he received recipes for them all. He packed up of the weapons, shields, and tools to prepare to move on.

Rick climbed the stairs again to go back outside and built a small wood shack just north-east of the outhouse and stocked the just made shelves by using the realistic wooden weapon and shield recipes.

Rick used the Chat to call Angelica out to him and handed her two of the wood long-swords and he took out a long-sword and wooden shield. He told her he wanted to test out sparing with them to see what gains they might receive by sparing with them. They started out slow and gradually got more aggressive testing out the limits of the wood weapons. Near fifteen minutes later, Angelica shattered his shield and one of her wood swords when they went all out for a couple of minutes. When they stopped he checked his notices again and it seemed to have worked out. Rick received gains in swords and blocking and when he looked into Angelica's skills she also had increased her swords and blocking skills.

"It looks like it worked out, both of us received some increases in swords and blocking but we really didn't spar that long." Rick told Angelica what he had discovered.

He then called out General Sturm again and showed him the fully stocked practice weapons shed and told him to also work sparring drills into their daily training program from now on and told him to go and round them up and start sparring right away. As they all assembled on the grass and began sparring. Rick carved out a huge wood axe that was similar to the real one that the half-giants used. He dyed and shaded it and also add some weight with the steel rods even though the sheer size was enough to make it heavy. Once he had a wooden axe recipe he made up quite a few and stocked the shed. Taking out four of the huge wooden axes he passed two to each of the bored half-giant so that they could spar together along with the rest of them.

Rick walked over to stand beside Sturm and spoke up. "I want you to work out a schedule for them with weight training in the morning, weapons sparring in the afternoon, and then have an evening run south to the ocean and back, which I would guess is almost a ten-miles round trip. I am unsure if they will be able to run the full distance at first but over time they will adjust."

He then turned to look at Sturm with a serious expression. "I will let you know right now thousands of other [Chosen] have entered this world today and one day they will find this island. Those that do may leave us alone, or they may decide to lead a large army here to see what they can take from us and kill everyone in the process. I need you to start training our troops seriously so that we have the edge if it ever comes down to that which it will sooner or later." Rick made sure to motivate his General and let him know how important it is to train these troops and any new recruits later.

As Rick was about to walk away from Sturm he noticed the stone masons had just finished up on the seventh row of the wall and were preparing to start the next level. Each of the blocks is one foot in height so the wall had now reached seven feet high and that did not include the three feet under the surface of the water.

He walked over to the stockpile and purchased a few hundred stone blocks and stored them in his inventory. Rick stopped the masons before they continued on and walked them all over to the aqueduct site and passed them off to Handil along with some of the stone blocks.

The new masons had built the aqueduct right up to the water wheel now, so he had them push the water wheel out into the river for another test. As the wheel went around the buckets scooped up the river water and dumped it out into the aqueduct channel on top. Once the water was in the channel it flowed to the end of the aqueduct and dumped out the unfinished end onto the ground.

"It seems to be working perfectly let's pull the wheel back out of the water so you guys can continue your work without the water constantly flowing in your way." Rick instructed the crew.

With the old and new crew of masons and cutters, they started to build the aqueduct very quickly.

Rick went off on his own and rounded up a couple surveyors and had them mark out a straight line for the aqueduct to follow. When they had a straight line marked all the way to the city wall stakes Rick sent them back to plotting out streets. Right where the inside of the city walls would begin he began digging a hole twenty feet by twenty feet wide and ten feet deep with his [Move and Shape Earth] Spell.

Rick stored all the dirt and then jumped down into the hole. First, he laid out and cemented blocks across the floor and then moved onto building up the four walls and cementing all the joints. With the help of his ladder, he climbed back out of the stone encased hole and continued to build the walls above ground level another twenty feet high.

When finished he had a 20' foot wide x 20' foot wide x 30' foot high partially buried water holding tank. When the tank was built he then dug a trench down to the front bottom of the holding tank and chipped out a round hole that he cemented a hollow round stone pipe into. Once this tank was full it would flow out of this hollow stone pipe into the connecting clay pipes he cemented to it.

When the Stone Masons had built the aqueduct up to the tank Rick connected the two so that the water would flow out the end of the aqueduct into the holding tank.

The water above ground level in the tank when full would now force the water below the surface into the clay pipes creating pressure in them. This pressure would force the water down the pipes into the people's homes providing fresh mountain water. Even the large Silverhall City that Rick started in only has wells that people have to leave their homes and use a bucket on a rope to haul it up and back into their homes. This would be a new revolution if the outside world ever came to see this water system.

Before moving on he instructed the Handil to have his crew now cover the top of the aqueduct with stone slabs to keep out animals and debris from entering the holding tank and pipes.

Rick left Handil and went off to check on how far along the group of Ditchers had got with digging up the main streets. He discovered that they had dug up the east to the west main street and the streets bordering the central castle plot.

Rick went behind them and began laying two separate lines of the clay pipes down the center of the street to be buried later when they started making the streets. Rick made good use of the (T) shaped clay pipes to make off branching pipelines that led to every marked building plot.

He even faced some of the (T) shaped pipes upward so that when the streets were built later he could make storm drains. The rain water could then drain down from the street into these (T) shape clay pipes. Rick continued on down the road fitting and cementing the two separate clay pipelines together until he had laid them in all of the streets that had been dug up so far.

Making a trip back to the [System Gate] he spawned in a few more cottars to perform general labor along with a few pavers. He took the new workers over to the tool shed and had them grab a few shovels and he used his recipes to make leather gloves for all of them. He escorted them from the tool shed out to where the city streets had been dug up and explained everything that was currently being worked on. Rick took them over to the mountain dirt from digging out the roads and added the dirt in his inventory from the holding tanks to it. He then used his [Transmute Stone and Earth] spell to turn that mountain of dirt into a pure sand.

He then dumped out all of the fragmented stone he had from mining since he first started. With the use of his stone slab recipe, he turned the stone blocks in his inventory into slabs and stacked them all along the side of the main street.

He picked up a couple paver slabs and started fitting them to the side walls of the dug up street creating a small curb along the edge of the street and had the [Paver] crew begin to do the same. When they had a good sized area curbed in Rick had the Cottars start shoveling the crushed stone in-between the curbs one foot deep.

With the street builders now busy with their current task Rick opened a portal to the quarry. The quarry crew was also making good progress and had a good stack of limestone blocks already cut. Rick told them to just keep cutting and stacking for now until they had the carts to begin hauling it. Rick stored the stones they had cut and gone around to collect all the piles of limestone chunks and dust. When he cleaned out the quarry he stepped back through the portal and closed it. Rick walked over to the mountain of sand and empty all the limestone dust and pieces he had just collected from the quarry onto the sand mound.

Rick explained to the street crew once they had spread out a bed of stone fragments one foot deep, he wanted them to then shovel the mixed sand and limestone on top of the stone bed. When the two layers had been completed the [Pavers] could then start laying stone slabs on top and cementing them together.

He took a minute to sketch out a small drawing of what the street layers should look like when they were done.

Now that Rick had his the street building crew constructing the streets how he instructed, he went off to continue laying the city pipelines. He wanted to get the pipelines laid so that the street crew could build the roads on top of them. Rick used his druid spells to dig a trench from the city's main street to the river south of Tower Island. He then laid clay pipe in the trench out into the river from the city. This pipeline would be the city waste outflow. All the flushed waste and storm drain runoff would travel down this outflow pipeline to empty into the river and flow out into the southern ocean.

When the outflow pipeline was finished he then went through the side streets and laid pipelines that connected to the city's water inflow and waste outflow. Rick continued to use (T) shaped pipes to also run inflow and outflow to each plot that would later connect to the buildings as he continued through the marked out district.

When he had the small district, main streets, and castle plot all connect to the pipelines, Rick used his recipe to make a roughly five hundred clay pipes and stacked them on the shelves in the kiln house. He turned the runes on to fire the house up and went down into the cellar to make an adaptor to fit onto the clay pipes. He needed a way to funnel water in the clay pipes into metal pipes that would run into the homes to the water faucets. He had originally thought to just have a crank water pump in every building to be shared by all the tenants but later changed his mind. Now he was planning to have running water to every apartment and also have a bathroom with a toilet and bathtub. He had done a little research online and found a simple design for a faucet he was positive he could replicate in the game.

First, he had to create this adaptor to connect to the clay pipes. After trying a couple variants he came up with what looked like a metal funnel with a threaded end on it. The large mouth of the metal funnel adaptor would fit into the flanged end of the clay pipe and tapered down to the size of the metal pipes that would run into the buildings.

He received a recipe for the new adaptor and made a large number of them to install later. While he was down in the cellar he made a recipe for the metal pipes that he would need and started on making the faucet. Using the metal pipe he just made Rick heated and curved it into an open (J) shape. He then used his [Produse Flame] spell to create a condensed thin flame to cut the pipe curved pipe in half. Rick then welded two slices of flat metal inside the faucet pipe to make two compartments with a circular hole that water could flow from one chamber side through this hole into the other chambers side.

Rick then welded the two pieces back together and drilled out a hole that he threaded. The next piece he made was a threaded bolt with a flat circle stopper on one end and a faucet knob on the other end. He s d this faucet knob bolt into the threaded hole in the pipe to complete the faucet. When he cranked the faucet knob down the stopper on the end would seal the hole inside blocking water from flowing from the one chamber side to the other chamber. Then if he turned it the opposite way the stopper would unseal the hole allowing water to flow through both chambers and out of the faucet.

With these faucets, I can make sinks, bathtubs and even a toilet. Instead of making a modern type toilet with all the floats and water lines I can mount this faucet above the toilet bowl to fill it after every flush. It isn't quite as convenient as our modern toilets because they will have to stand there and fill it and then shut the water off when it is full, but it is a hell of a lot better than walking out to an outhouse in the middle of the night.

Rick used the faucet recipe to make a large number of them and left them in his inventory to install later.

I guess I could also melt some of my gold down and make more coins while I am down here. I want to spawn even more units so I should make sure I have enough to work with.

Opening his inventory he tossed some of his dwindling gold reserves into the smelting pot that he cast into blanks when it melted down and ran them all through the coin press to fill his currency levels back up.

He then decided to walk over to the workshop and found that the Cartwright and wheelwright had completed two carts that they had wheeled out in front of the shop. The two "wrights" now we're currently working on a third cart when Rick walked in and left them alone to continue at it. He picked up all the completed furniture and clothes that the guys in the shop completed and walked out back to the horse stable.

The Carpenters were just about finished and the Animal Trainer was putting the horses into the stalls. and arranging the saddles, reins, and saddle bags in the side tack room. Rick pulled most of the carpenters off the stables and sent them over to widen the eastern footbridge so that the new horse carts could be pushed across them.

His next stop was the [System Gate] to spawn in another group of [Quarrymen], a group of [Farmers], a group of [Orchardist], three scouts, a poleturner, and a blacksmith. Then he used the VIP buy resources menu to buy a few bags of random fruit seeds, vegetable seeds, and trays of tree saplings. He had everyone hang out until he could get to them. After giving the new crew of Quarrymen tools he sent them to the new quarry to cut limestone blocks via the portal. The Farmers he gave a bag of random vegetable seeds each and the seeds he bought a few days back in town. The Orchardist he gave them a bag of random fruit seeds and all the fruits seeds he bought along with the grape seeds he got off the goblins. He then gave the farmers and orchardists all shovels and hoes and walked them over just south of the aqueduct. He brought a few surveyors over and had them stake out straight and even plots for vegetables fields and orchards. He had them leave enough room between each plot so that they could dig irrigation channels later from the river to all of the fields.

When they had the plots all established he had them start turning the soil for planting the given seeds. Rick walked back to the Tower Island and walked the blacksmith and poleturner over to the tower cellar. First, he showed the poleturner how to use the lathe he had made then had the blacksmith and poleturner start making pickaxes, shovels, hammers, hoes, rakes, chisels, saws, axes, and any other tools that might be needed around the settlement. He told them to store them all in the tool shed at the end of each day and left them to get started.

The scouts were next as he was walking back to them he opened their Scout Class Menu to review their skills.

Spoiler: Show Scout Class Menu! Scout Class

Scouts are skilled hunters and trackers.

They have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features.

Scouts are good with numbers and can assess the size of enemy armies or settlement populations quickly.

Equipment Needs: First Aid Kit, a backpack, a bedroll, camp cookware, a fire starter, two days rations, a wood carving knife, rope, short leather strips, sewing kit, a spool of thread.

Skills List Skill Name Skill Descriptions Mana Cost Recharge Time Enhanced Hearing: Your hearing is 4x stronger. Remains active until canceled. 5 mp Two Minutes Farsight: Allow you to magnify your vision over great distances. Remains active until canceled. 5 mp Two Minutes Night Sight: Allows you to see clearly in the dark. Remains active until canceled. 5 mp Two Minutes Tracker: When used the selected the person, or creatures trail will lightly glow. Remains active until canceled. 5 mp Two Minutes Cartography: Allows you to create a Map of the surrounding area. 5 mp Two Minutes Field Dress: Allows you to gain skins, pelts, scales, meat and bones from a carcass.. 5 mp Two Minutes Hasten Trek: Allows you to move 3x faster for five minutes. 5 mp Two Minutes Power Shot: Allows you to overdraw your bow for 2x increased damage. 5 mp Two Minutes Backstab: Allows you to attack an unaware enemy from behind, inflicting a severe bleeding wound. This bleed damage will not stop until treated. 5 mp Two Minutes Instinctive knowledge Archery: Allows you to use a bow and arrow. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Daggers: Allows you to use Daggers. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Swords: Allows you to use Swords. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Thrown: Allows you to use a Thrown Weapons. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Light Armor: Allows you to wear light armor. Skill level determines protection bonuses. Camouflage: Allows you to become invisible in natural cover when not moving. Leap Up: You can leap up from the ground to your feet in one fluid motion. Shoot on the Move: Allows you to accurately hit targets while moving regardless of terrain. Sure Footed: Allow you to keep your footing on a precarious terrain. Mastery of Movement Difficult terrain doesn't slow you down. Trap Detection: You are able to locate and bypass traps with this skill. Set Trap: Allows you the knowledge of creating various traps. Hand Signals: Allows you to communicate with others with only hand signals. Foraging: Allows you to acquire food by hunting, fishing, or the gathering of plant matter. Edible plants, fish, and animals will glow when activated. First Aid: Allows you the knowledge of bandaging, stitching, splints, slings, and tourniquets. Concealed Weapon: Allows you the knowledge of how to hide a small undetectable weapon. Reading and Writing: Allows you to read and write you racial and Lord's language. Numerate: Allows you a good basic knowledge of arithmetic. You are able to understand and work with numbers.

The three scouts that had been spawned are not all the same race. One of them is a male Nekomimis and the other two are male Elves. The reason that one of them was a male Nekomimis is to send him Northwest and scout out the tribe of cat folk and possibly make contact with one of them to discern if they are hostile like the human tribe they battled.

Rick took the three scouts to the fourth floor of the tower and gave them a packsack, bedroll, quiver, Mithril Compound Bow, arrows, Chainmail tunic, two dart kits, leather belt, and a Flight of Fury long-sword each. Rick carefully took their measurements and told them to relax downstairs at the table while he went and made them an outfit. Over at the Workshop, Rick had the tailor/cobblers pause what they were doing to start on making military boots in the three scout's sizes.

Rick sat down at one of the workbenches and went through the rolls of cloth and picked out one that seemed rugged enough to withstand rips and snags. He cut the cloth into light jacket patterns and pants patterns in sizes that fit his three scouts. The jackets were made a few inches bigger than the true measurements so they could be worn over the chainmail tunics. This would hide the flashy metal when they hid in cover. A hole large enough for the Nekomimis tail was also stitched into the pair of pants being made for him.

Once the cloth patterns were all stitched together four buttons then had been stitched to the collars of each jacket. Using the same cloth as the outfits he made detachable hoods that could be buttoned to the collar or removed.

These outfits were all made from a solid white color cloth and stood out too much. Using the [Artist] skill and dye markers to fashion woodland color camouflage patterns on the pants, jackets, and hoods. He briefly set the outfits aside and began cutting three by one-inch strips of cloth until he had a decent pile of them. Rick divided the pile of the cloth strips into three groups and dyed one black, one brown and the last one a dull green. These dyed strips were then sewn randomly to the jackets and hoods giving it a partial ghillie appearance to help break up the scout's body outline.

Thinking of what other protection he could provide, Rick used the leather glove recipe to make three pairs of gloves and dyed them black. After dying the gloves he cut off the fingers and stitched the ends. With the fingers removed they could be worn while using their bows.

Now that the scout's outfits were completed Rick used his woodworking tools and a wood plank to make a food container. He made a rectangular box approximately two foot wide by one foot wide and near five inches in height. The inside of the wood container was partitioned with thin wood slats to keep the contained food from mixing together during travel. Small slots had been notched out around the interior walls to allow the wood slats to be rearranged for different types of foods. The top lid was thereafter crafted with a lower lip to snugly fit into the mouth of the bottom rectangular container.

Rick made a belt buckle with a recipe and crafted a thin leather strap that the buckle was attached. The strap was fastened to the food container with tiny screws and washers allowing it to wrap around the container and secure the lid thus preventing any spillage. The box had a very plain look when Rick examined, so he used his [Wood Carving] skill to decorate the lid top with branches, oak leaves, and acorn patterns. On each side of the box, a cluster of acorns with an oak leaf was also carved then bestowing the exterior with a rich decorative appearance on completion.

The Tailor/Cobblers finished making the three sets of custom fit boots and brought them over to then return to their previous works.

With the food container, complete Rick made fifty of them with the recipe he received and stored the camo outfits and boots to go in search of the animal trainer. The trainer was then instructed to saddle three of the smaller horses and bring them over to the tower when they were equipped.

Heading back to the tower the chefs began to prepare cuts of meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and sausages to stock the new food containers with upon Rick's instructions. The three scouts were then escorted back to the fourth floor where they put on the armor, outfits, weapons, and boots.

"I know that these outfits may appear strange to you, but these are widely used by hunters and militaries in my world. The earth tone patterns are designed to help you blend in with vegetation and the strips of cloth break up your outline making you look like a bush or a lump of grass and plants when you lay on the ground." He said, then showed them how the hood detached from the jacket collar. The pants hole was also inspected for proper positioning and size so the Nekomimis tail fits through comfortably.

With his scouts completely equipped, they went downstairs and went over the map of the areas he was sending them to scout and explore. Rick circled the areas on the map and began to explain what he wanted each of them to do.

The Nekomimis was to head northwest and scout around for the tribe settlement. This scout was to make a map of the surrounding settlement once it had been located. Rick also instructed him to figure out their military strength and attempt to make contact with one of them without putting himself in danger.

One of the elves was to head across the river and scout the huge forest to the southwest. He was to determine what type of animals lived there and if any monsters could be found lurking about.

The last elf was to head east and explore the forest bordering the river and the surrounding lake. He also was to determine which animals and monsters were present and take note of their locations.

The animal trainer then brought the horses around and he walked out with the scouts. He asked them to also record any resources, plants, or anything that could be of use to them as they picked out a horse. One Elf rode his horse across the eastern bridge heading toward the lake while the other elf and Nekomimis rode across the western footbridge to set off on their given missions.

When they rode off Rick took out all the furniture and arranged it in front of the tower along with all the wood food containers he made. He then set someone off to find wood stainer in the barracks. When the Stainer came over he was instructed to stain all the new wood and to outside of the food containers. He didn't want him to stain the inside of the food containers for fear of contaminating the taste, smell, or both of the food later placed inside them.

l hope my scouts don't get eaten by Tigers, or something worse, and that the northern tribe is friendly.

Following behind the elf who headed east Rick crossed the bridge that had expanded from three foot wide to near fifteen feet wide now. The Carpenters were near finished with widening it and only had a couple planks to nail down left.

"When you guys finish this bridge I need to talk to you about the next construction. I will be right back I need to walk over to the Kiln House first. Rick said to the carpenter and walked over to shut down the kiln house figuring the pipes should be done being fired by now. When he started back to talk with the carpenters he spotted Handil and his large crew heading back from covering the aqueduct water channel.

"How did it go Handil? Did you and your crew already finish up? Rick asked.

"Aye, we had the stone slabs already cut so it was just a matter of placing and cementing them in place as we went along" Handil replied with a shrug.

"Good work. I have a small task I need your crew to start next. Directly behind the Kiln House, I want a stone block smokehouse built. I want it to be roughly 10' x 10' and two levels. The first level should be made around ten feet wide by 6 feet high with a doorway. The second floor will be the same size with a stone staircase going to the doorway. When you are done I will make the doors and hang them. This is going to be a smokehouse for preserving fish and meat so we need you to make small vents in the floor to allow smoke to rise up to the second floor. I will also need you to have them build a fire pit in the center of the first floor" Rick instructed Handil and his crew who set off to get started.

He then rounded up the finished carpenters and walked over to the barracks with them and sat down to draw up a plan for them.

"I need you all to build a two-story Tavern and Brothel. The size isn't that important to this building just make an estimate from what you see here. Those tables will be around 6-8 feet long so the building should be 35-45 feet wide by 50-60 feet long. I want the second-floor divided up like the plan with separate rooms that have doors. The Furniture Maker and Upholster will make the furniture, I just need you to construct the building, staircase, and the bar top. "

Rick passed the floor plans over to the carpenters and arranged more of the completed beds and furniture around the barracks. He also left the men's clothing on a table that he had picked up while in the workshop earlier. Walking out of the barracks he went down into the tower cellar to see how the Weaponsmith and Armorsmith were doing.

The weapons and armors the two Dwaf [Smiths] had crafted to raise their skills continued to improve with every piece they completed. The work they were putting out would surpass anything that could be purchased in the human city within a weeks time. The weapons and armor were neatly lined up along the far wall and after Rick looked them over he took them all up to the fourth floor which was beginning to look like an armory.

Deciding to join them crafting Rick took out two of the large steel ingots he mixed with Tigers blood and placed them in the forge to begin heating them. Once the two mixed ingots were set in the forge he then removed one of Tiger femur bones he harvested from field dressing the Tiger carcasses, a few squares of thick leather, and half an ingot of Orichalcum. The half ingot of Orichalcum was placed in the forge alongside the two mixed steel ingots and the leather was cut into various patterns.

Six large circles were cut from the leather and sewn together to make then thicker and add more support. Angelica was called down so that he could have her take measurements he needed on his back while wearing his Orichalcum plate armor. She measured the length and width of his back and the circumference around him at the chest and shoulder blade area of the plate armor. He thanked her and went back to work cutting six rectangle pieces of leather and stitched them together as well.

When he finished stitching the rectangle cuts together he proceeded to cut out two half circles on the top and bottom center border of that section of rectangle leather to contour the back of his armor were the harness base would ride. He took note then that the ingots were hot enough to work and left the harness to start the two Gladius swords he would now craft.

Removing the mixed steel ingots with tongs Rick began to hammer it into the shape of a Gladius blade twenty-four inches long by 3 inches wide. Once the blade was shaped and it's edges tapered he formed out the tang to six inches long. The second mixed steel ingot in the forge was also hammered out to the same exact size as the first blade and left for now to cool.

The Tiger bone he took out earlier was measured for two six inch long lengths that he cut from the straight middle part of the femur bone. The marrow was removed in both of the two six inch lengths of bone to make room for the Gladius blade tang that would fit through them. With the use of the metal files from his inventory, Rick began to shape circular grooves every half inch around the length of both bones.

When he was satisfied with the depth and shape of the contoured grooves of both bone grips Rick used the dye stick kit to color them both red. Walking over to the forge he removed the section of the Orichalcum Ingot and split it into five sections with a hammer and chisel. Those split pieces were used to make the Gladius hand guards, pommels, and narrow flat band. This flat band of Orichalcum was wrapped around the inside of the circular grooves that he shaped into each bone handle. Both Red Tiger bone handles when finished had the gold color Orichalcum rings every half inch giving them a two-tone look.

The two pommels were shaped into half inch Orichalcum rings with a small post and triangle on their ends. Rick cut two small rings of red dyed bone to fit over both pommel posts and two red dyed triangle shape pieces of bone that he set into the posts triangle shaped end caps. Taking out the drill and die/tap kit he drilled a hole into each pommel and threaded both holes. Then he also threaded the ends of each sword tang so that the pommels could screw onto them.

Now that Rick had all the parts needs for the two Gladius swords he slid the hand guards over the tangs then followed with the grips and lastly he wound the threaded pommels onto the tang's threads to hold the grips and hand guards firmly seated in place. Using his cloth tape measure he measured the exact width and length of each Gladius blade and made Two open end sheaths that each sword fit into secure. With small bolts and nuts, he then attached the two open-ended sheaths to the leather back harness he started earlier.

Going by his measurements Angelica helped him with he crafted four adjustable leather straps that he attached to the back harness to wrap around him and buckle across his armor's chest area. Rick drew out a few patterns onto the leather harness and colored them red and gold to match his two new Gladius. When he was finished he checked his notices and had received a recipe for the Gladius that he named [Tiger Fangs ] and a recipe for the adjustable leather harness that he named [Dual Sword Back Scabbard].

After naming his new recipes he used the [Identify] skill on the new Gladius Swords.

Dual Tiger Fangs Attack: 35 - 40 Durability: 300/300 Quality: Rare Bonuses: 3x more slash and stab force. A set of exceptional Steel Blade, Tiger bone grip, Orichalcum accented Gladius. Made by Cedric Crownguard by smelting iron into steel along with a large amount of Variant Tiger's blood. A large amount of Variant Tiger's blood has imbued these two swords with the fearsome bite force of these gigantic cats.

Nice! With my Forging, Smelting, and Blacksmithing now reaching upper intermediate and the couple gallons of Tiger's blood, these two Gladius turned out incredible! I should try them on now and see how they feel.

Rick excitedly put the two swords into the harness and strapped it onto his back and did a few stretches and bent over at the waist.

It seems snug enough and the blades are secure and not bouncing or wobbling around. This should work out fine.

He reached back and grabbed both handles and slid the blades out smoothly.

The contoured grips have a good feel and the blades might be shorter than my longsword, but they feel more manageable.

The swords were a little harder to put back into the harness, but he didn't mind as long as he could quickly draw them out.

Happy with his new harness rig he left it on and pulled his stool over next to the forge. He extended his hands out to the forge flames as if he were trying to warm his hands on a cold winter day and closed his eyes. With his hands near the dancing flames, he began to gradually connect his mana with the mana intermingled with the flames. It was difficult to adapt to because the flames were like a living moving creature never staying in one place, but he eventually got the hang of it and began to circulate his mana into the fire and pull out the mana from it drawing the essences of fire with it.

Feeling the flames mana burn through his body he tuned out everything around him only focusing on the burning sensation. He sat like a statue in a semi-trance for over an hour like this until he pulled his hands back to his sides and opened his notices.

New Affinity Notice!

New Affinity Learned!

Fire Affinity: Level 4 (Beginner 63%)

The magic ability to wield and resist this affinity.

Higher levels increase overall control, resistances, and damage you deal.

This is awesome I have wanted fire affinity for awhile now. This should also supercharge my [Fireball], [Produce Flame], and [Wall of Flames] spells. He thought as he raised his hand palm up and watched it envelop in flames. He was a little nervous when that happened thinking it may burn him, but his flame did not burn him or affect his clothing in any way. He then slowly extended his flaming hand into the forge fire only for it to feel like he was holding it under hot tap water. It felt hot enough that he couldn't keep it in the fire long but it did not leave any lasting damage.

He happened to catch the slack-jawed expressions of the three Dwarves out the corner of his eye watching him hold his hand in the flames unharmed and chuckled to himself. He sat back down on his stool to eagerly continue. He once again made a connection with ease this time while moving his hand in and out of the flames for another long session eventually getting to the point that he could almost leave his hand in the flames indefinitely.

After over an hour he opened his eyes to look at his notices.

Skill Increase: Fire Affinity: Level 8 (Beginner 21%)

Even though it was getting late and he needed to logout and go to sleep he went for a third round wanting to break into intermediate. Rick yet again focused on the flame and circulated mana for roughly forty-five minutes then took one more peek at the new notice.

Skill Increase: Fire Affinity: Level 3 (Intermediate 04%)

There we go Level 3 Intermediate now!

He stood up and extended his hand again and his whole arm erupted in flames.

Holy crap I'm turning into a walking forge now haha!

He extinguished the flame and walked outside and jogged across the western bridge and stopped. he held out both arms and watched them both become engulfed in flames. Reaching over his shoulders he unsheathed the dual swords and extended the flames to cover the blades with some effort and began to swing them around. He practiced for a few minutes straining to keep the flames around the blades, but they kept returning to his arms to have to be pushed back out again.

If I raise my Fire Affinity to upper Intermediateupper Itermediate I should be able to keep my blades covered in flames for as long as my mana holds out. He thought while walking over to a tree and slashing off a branch near three inches thick. When he examined the cut the branch and tree stub they were both charred black.

Wow, that sure is nasty I could take a limb off and almost cauterize it in one swing.

Rick put his swords back into the harness and went up to his bedroom and got undressed and climbed under the covers.

Time to logout and get some sleep I can continue this tomorrow after classes.

Disconnect!