Chapter 22

The next morning Alex awoke and he was feeling quite refreshed. Spartan stretched his arms and let out a loud yawn. His room was relatively dark but his night vision immediately activated and the room became like daytime. Alex got up out of the bed and walked over to his clothes. Alex dressed and used the flint stone to light the candles that were on all four walls of the room. The candles illuminated the room allowing him to see everything. The room was well furnished with hardwood floors and two large rugs. The two rugs were at the entry door and beneath the bed.

This place needs some windows so that we don’t have to use candlelight all the time. Well this is a medieval time so my place could be under attack at any time so if I do get windows they will need to have bars or something on them to prevent raiders from entering. Well I’ll think about that later.

“Good morning Alice. I should be completely healed now right?”

“Yes you are at 100% fighting strength. I also took the time to inject nanites into your new iron shield.”

“Thank you, I was going to ask you to do that today. Is it any different than it was before?”

“You should look for yourself.”

Alex pulled his shield out from his inventory and immediately noticed the first difference. The shield had changed its size. The shield was nearly 0.75 meters long but for its size it was light as a feather.

Is it my increase in physique making me feel stronger or did the nanite upgrade make it lighter. Maybe it was a combination of both the nanites and my increased strength.

I looked closely and then a screen appeared in front of me.

Nanite Enhanced Iron Round Shield

Durability: 1000/1000 [self-repair]

Defense: 80

Round shield covers the user from thigh to neck protecting against any and all physical attacks. It disperses heat instantly making it a perfect defense for fire based attacks. Shield’s ability to self-repair its durability does not mean it is indestructible.

Shield is vulnerable to lightning based attacks due to its nanite enhancement

That is definitely and improvement from my wooden shield now. I need to get a new armor preferably metal. Before I think of battle I really want to see the settlement and the people today.

Alex got dressed and walked out of the room as he entered the hallway, Alex saw Bella and Eve talking to someone. There was a man in a black tuxedo. Alex walked closer and he heard the tuxedo-wearing man speaking with a refined British accent. The man looked to be in his 50’s as his hair was short but it was a regal looking grey color. His face had some wrinkles around his eyes and forehead but other than that he looked to be perfectly fine. Alex walked up to the conversation between the three people.

“Good morning young master, would you like something to eat for breakfast”, said the man.

“Yes, but who might you be?”, Alex asked. "And why are you calling me young master?"

“Oh, my apologies sir. I am Bentley the head of the house servants. You are the young master because in comparison to me you are young and because you are the leader of this settlement”, replied Bentley.

“Head of the house servants? So that means there are more servants other than you?”, Alex asked.

“Jesus, Spartan you are so dense sometimes”, said Eve.

Bentley cleared his throat and said, “Yes there are six other servants in your home. There is a cook, two people who tend to your farm, one person to deal with laundry and linen, and two people to clean the house.”

“Wow! I guess it’s good to be the founder of the settlement”, said Bella. “Just don’t let it go to your big head.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about my big head”, I said with a lecherous smile.

“Bentley, I would like breakfast for seven people. If it is possible, please take some of this money and go to get the ladies who are in my room some clothes. When I found them they were naked and being held hostage.”, I handed Bentley 150 coins.

“Oh my sir, that was definitely a precarious situation. I will have the tailor come here with a few things so that we can preserve their dignity. I will let the cook know that breakfast will be for 7 people. Will that be all sir?”, said Bentley.

“Yes Bentley that will be all”, Alex replied.

Bentley bowed his head slightly and then left to complete his tasks.

“So what the hell is going on?”, asked Eve.

“What do you mean what the hell is going on? You live in a plush mansion from a dirty house and you are asking questions. Why not thank you or hey man I really appreciate this?”, Alex said.

“Sorry, you’re right I really do like this house better than the old one. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just surprised that everything was so different and I just wanted to know why”, replied Eve.

“Well I got a quest the first time I went into the goblin cave saying that I would get a reward if I wiped out the goblin colony. We killed the leader together but there were still more within the cave. The most powerful was still in the leader’s chamber. I almost died killing him. After I did that is was when I got the reward for the quest. The rewards were money, experience, and this settlement”, I said.

“Oh so you had a quest and all of this was your reward. That’s pretty cool. I want a quest too”, said Bella.

Alex and the two women all laughed and made their way down the stairs to the where the dining room was. They sat down at the large table with 8 chairs. Alex sat at the head of the table. Bella and Eve sat on opposite sides of him. Once they were seated the group began to chat. They filled Alex in on their surprise at the changes to this place when they came back. They told Alex of the things he already knew such as the blacksmith shop, alchemy shop, tailor and leatherworking shop, as well as the training center. He smiled and listened like he was hanging on their every word trying not to embarrass them with the fact that everything is built the way he wanted it to be. After about an hour of discussing various topics Bentley walked in with a man in a chef’s outfit along with three young women dressed in maids uniforms.

“Master Spartan, the young ladies have selected their clothes and they will be down momentarily”, Bentley said.

“Thank you Bentley”, Alex replied.

“Very good sir, now breakfast is served”, Bentley said as he clapped his hands twice.

The young ladies and the chef instantly jumped to action. They brought food to the table in silver dishes. When they finished there were nearly a dozen dishes on the table. Next, the young ladies filled their glasses with a brown liquid that appeared to be ice cold as well as something clear which Alex assumed was water. They all took a moment of silence before having the lids on the dishes removed. Alex's eyes became wide as saucers. There was so much food he could not even believe it. There were pancakes, French toast, crepes, bacon, sausage patties, eggs, and omelets. There was also fresh fruit like watermelon, strawberries, grapes, honey dew melon, cantaloupe, and pineapples cut up into bite-sized pieces. Alex's mouth was watering looking at the smorgasbord before him.

“This looks amazing Chef umm… I actually don’t know your name”, I said.

“Oh thank you master and my name is Angelo, Chef Angelo.”

“Alright Chef Angelo, this looks amazing and I bet it tastes even better. Thank you for preparing such an amazing meal!”, Alex said.

“Thank you Chef!”, Bella and Eve said simultaneously.

The group began eating immediately. Each bite seemed like heaven was crossing his lips. Alex had long since forgotten the taste of good food. After spending over two years in prison and then being in this place for nearly a month his taste buds were screaming for something like this and now they had been satisfied. Alex stacked pancakes, fresh fruit, and bacon so high that it began to fall off of my plate. As he began stuffing his face, the four ladies Alex had rescued, walked in.

“May we sit with you Spartan?”, A stunning red-haired girl with green eyes and freckles said quietly.

“Why of course. Please sit and eat. There is more than enough for all of you”, Alex replied.

The girls sat down in groups of two. Two sat by Bella and the other two sat by Eve.

“What are your names?”, asked Bella.

“You can call me Jessica”, the blonde one replied.

“I’m Rebecca”, the red head replied.

“I would like to be called Raven”, said the girl with long, straight black hair.

“I would like to be called Skye”, said the girl with a peculiar head of blue hair.

Hmm… two of them clearly made up their names. I wonder if they are players like us? I will check to see if they have stats like ours but first I want to see if they came into the world like us.

“Well nice to meet all of you”, said Bella.

“Now what happened to all of you?”

“I was the first to be captured”, started Raven. “I awoke in a small shack wearing nothing but a bra and panties. I was confused as to what was going on so I screamed out loud for a while but nothing changed. I got hungry so I went into the woods looking for water and food. When I did something hit me in the head and nearly knocked me unconscious. I tried to run but the blow made me dizzy and then it hit me again. When I woke up my clothes were gone and I was chained to the bed where Spartan found me. In that room…… that thing did…… I became his concubine for who knows how long.”

“That is the same thing that happened to me”, said Skye.

“I was taken from my home in a place west of here. The goblins came to my home a destroyed the few families that banded together to create a settlement much like this one. They came and pulled all of the young girls out and then killed everyone else. I was brought back here and put in the leader’s room and he used me for…..”, said Rebecca as she began crying.

“That is what happened to me too. My village which is 2 days south of here, was burned to the ground and the young girls were taken”, said Jessica with tears in her eyes.

“Bella and I almost ended up like that but this big lug over here stepped and saved us before we got transported to that cave”, said Eve.

Alex smiled a bit and started looking them all over.

“Alice, can you tell the difference between people like me who were brought here and those that are not?”

“Yes, those like you have a status that contains stats, skills, and abilities. Anyone else will have a status screen but you will see below their name that they are an NPC non player character.”

“Good to know”, Alex replied to Alice as he raised his glass and started to speak to the group. “Ladies let’s not dwell on the dark past. Raise your glass and let’s enjoy the day where we are free!”

Everyone lifted their glass and yelled, “Freedom!”

The rest of the group joined in and began eating. It was fun to see all of them smiling and laughing. Alex used this jovial time to assess the situation.

Name: Raven

Sex : Female

Physique: 2

Speed: 3

Reaction Speed: 3

Level: 1

Class: N/A

Mental Ability: 2

Strength: N/A

Weakness: N/A

Energy:N/A

Name: Skye

Sex : Female

Physique: 1

Speed: 2

Reaction Speed: 2

Level: 1

Class: N/A

Mental Ability: 5

Strength: N/A

Weakness: N/A

Energy Type: N/A

Name: Jessica

Sex : Female

NPC

Name: Rebecca

Sex : Female

NPC

Hmm… so Skye and Raven are players and Rebecca and Jessica are NPC’s. I need to find an excuse to dismiss Jessica and Rebecca and begin talking more with Skye and Raven.

Everyone continued eating and drinking until they had their fill. Once they all finished Bentley clapped his hands and the young ladies quickly removed the dirty plates and dishes from the table. He bowed and then left Alex and all six women in the room alone. He stood and patted his stomach showing how full he was.

“Alright now I need to go take a look around the town. Anyone fancy a stroll?”

All the girls immediately said, “Me!”

The entire group left the house and began walking around the town. When they walked past the first two homes there was a man and a woman playing with a small child on one side and the other had a woman on her knees planting some seeds.

“We didn’t rescue any children how the hell did that kid get here?”, Alex said aloud.

“Well we also didn’t build any of these houses right?”, said Eve.

“I guess you are right about that but…. Ah whatever! I should just stop being surprised by the things that I see because this is some kind of virtual reality. The programmers could have thought of everything”, Alex said as he smacked his forehead and slowly ran his hand down my face.

They continued to walk past the first homes as Alex looked through the last blue screen that I had.

Tier II medical triage center to Tier III medical facility

Tier II medical triage center is converted to a tier III medical facility. It is equipped with 2 doctors and 4 nurses. The upgraded facility gives any and all healing abilities a 40% increases. All medical procedures have a 25% increase to their probability of success.

Improvements:

Medical research area

Regeneration pods x 4

Operating rooms x 2

Cost: 15000 coins

Upgrade time 6 days 11 hours 59 mins

“Alice, what is a regeneration pod?”, I asked through our neural link?

“It is a stasis pod filled with enzymes that increase the body’s natural healing abilities. This will cut healing times down greatly and reduce the chance of those that are healing to get an infection.”

“That is amazing! No wonder it cost 15,000 coins. Purchase it immediately.”

There was a rumbling in the ground and then a two story structure began to rise out of the ground.

“What in the world is that?”, asked Raven.

“Oh um…. I just spent a good portion of my money on a medical facility and it is quite advanced”, I said.

“You are just full of surprises aren’t you”, said Skye.

“You don’t know half of it”, Alex said with a bit of a laugh.

After passing the first two sections of homes, the group found what Alex assumed was the market place. There were the 3 shops that he knew of and one more.

The sign above it read, “General Goods Store”.

Alex looked at all four stores for a moment.

I think I’ll go to the blacksmith first as I no longer wanted to wear leather armor.

“Oh before I forget”, Alex said pulling out the wand I took from the hobgoblin mage. “Here you go Eve. I think this is more your style than mine.”

“What? This is… it is… I can feel the mana running through it”, Eve said as she rushed towards me and hopped into my arms wrapping her legs around my waist and kissing me.

Everyone’s mouth was gaped wide open as they watched her emotional outburst. She quickly let go and tried to regain her composure.

“What are all of you looking at?!”, Eve said with an angry looked and walked away.

“I wasn’t expecting that”, Alex said.

“Well you sure didn’t stop her either”, said Bella with a slight laugh.

“Um do you think I could speak with the alchemist? My father was one back in our village and I would like to take up that trade”, asked Rebecca.

“Sure that is fine by me. If you need a place to stay you are welcome in my home”, Alex replied.

Jessica looked down at the ground and began playing with her fingers before saying, “I would like to see if the tailor accepts me as his apprentice. My mother was the village’s tailor before she was killed. She taught me some things when I was younger and I would like to learn more in honor of her memory.”

“How could I say no to that? You don’t have to ask me you may do as you wish and you are also welcome in my home.”

“What about you two?”, said Bella as she looked at Skye and Raven.

“I don’t want to work in a trade. I want to fight and kill anything that tries to make me into a slave again!”, said Skye as she clenched her hands into fists.

“Damn straight!”, said Raven.

I looked at both of them with a hard stare and said, “So what can you do? Can you fight?”

“What do you mean can we fight? Those things caught me by surprise. If not for that I would have killed them with my bare hands”, said Raven.

“Really?”, said Bella. “Why don’t you show me this ferocious killer that you are? Spartan let’s go see what these two have in the training center.”

“I’m game”, Alex said. “You should fight them as I don’t want to hurt them. I haven’t exactly gotten control of my new power yet.”

“What the fuck? What makes you think you are so strong? What you think those muscles you got makes you tough. I’ve kicked the ass of plenty of puffed-up jackasses in the past.”, asked Raven.

“First, I don’t think I’m strong I know I’m strong and it’s not just my muscles. Second, if you were so tough you could have gotten out of that cave on your own and lastly”, I said as I reached out my hand and grabbed her neck lifting her off the ground with one arm. “I could snap your neck like a twig if I wanted to. I just choose not to rule with an iron fist.”

Raven began kicking Alex and hitting his arm but it was useless with his strength and durability. It felt like raindrops falling on his arm. After she struggled for a moment and her eyes began bulging out of her head, he dropped her. She gasped for air breathing as deeply as she could. She tried to get the air back into her lungs. Alex looked closely at her and there was a purple handprint around her neck. Once she began breathing normally again she started rubbing her neck then looked up at me.

I looked down at her with and began to speak with venom in my voice, “Do you still need a demonstration of my strength? Or do you want to learn how to fight and survive in this world? That goes for both of you.”

Skye shook her head. Raven managed get back up on her feet and shook her head too.

“Yesterday, I saved you from being raped over and over again by that hobgoblin. Today I fed and clothed you. From this day forward you are free to do what you want, however, in this town, MY TOWN, you will earn you keep. If you don’t want to take up a trade, you will fight and protect this place. You know the horrors that lie outside of this small settlement, don’t make me kick you out to fend for yourself”, Alex said as he turned and walked towards the blacksmith shop.

“Listen closely you stupid bitches”, said Bella. “I had the same attitude when I first met him. I tried to act all high and mighty and he fucking threw me out into the forest on my own and said he would kill me if I came back. Trust me with those hot bodies something out there will quickly have their dicks in all of your holes. If you don’t want that it would be smart to just shut the fuck up and be part of the group. He may be a jerk sometimes but he will fight for you and keep you safe.”

“Why are you telling this to us?”, asked Raven.

“Because he is not the one you should worry about”, said Bella as she walked closer to the two women and pulled out both of her short swords. “If you so much as harm a hair on his head I’ll make you wish you were back in that hobgoblins bed having his dick rammed in you.”

Both of the women swallowed deeply as Bella had both of her blades at their throats before they could blink.

“Nod if you understand me!”, Bella said as she moved the blades so close to their throats that if they swallowed the blades would pierce their skin.

Both women nodded.

“Just one question if that is ok Bella?”, asked Raven.

“Go ahead”

“Why are you protecting him if he threw you out into the world?”, asked Raven.

“It is simple, I want out of this hell hole and he is the way. His strength has grown tremendously since I have met him and he has some twisted sense of honor that will not let him leave anyone behind. He will fight to the death to protect those around him. So if you fuck with that, I WILL KILL YOU!”

Raven and Skye backed away a step.

“We understand”, they said.

“Now come on. If you are going to fight to protect this place then you will need some skills and equipment. He is the one with all the money so maybe he is in a giving mood and he’ll get you some stuff to get you started.”

After their discussion, the four women came into the blacksmith shop where they met Alex. He was already looking at the equipment that was for sale all around the room. Alex currently had 2500 coins left to spend. He looked around until he found what he was looking for, a suit of armor.

“Alice can the nanites change the appearance of my armor once they enhance it?”

“Yes, to some extent.”

“Alice you can see my thoughts so if I visualize the way I want my armor to look can you make the nanites create it?”

“I will do my best Spartan.”

Alex walked up to the counter and a strong gentleman turned around. He was wearing a heavy apron and thick leather padded gloves. He was a huge man easily standing over 2 meters tall. His large muscles were even bigger than Alex's. His thick chest had numerous red hairs growing out of it which matched his thick red beard and long red hair that was braided into a pony tail.

“How may I help you today lad?”, asked the Blacksmith.

“I would like that suit of armor over there”, Alex said pointing at a silver, medieval suit of armor.

“Good choice it is strong and will prevent slashing damage from small swords and knives. Looking at you though I think it will reduce your mobility because of its weight.”

“I’m plenty strong. I think I’ll be ok. How much for the suit of armor?”, Alex asked.

“Hmm…. 750 coins for the entire thing”, he said stroking his beard.

Alex glared back at him and said, “500 coins.”

“Are you daft man?! I WON’T GO ANY LOWERE THAN 700!”

Alex smiled as he handed him the coins said, “Nice doing business with you. Oh by the way would you purchase old equipment?”

“Yeah if it worth a damn”, said the Blacksmith.

“Alright then take a look at these”, Alex said pulling out all of the weapons, armor, and shields that he looted from the goblins.

“This may take a few minutes as I need to inspect the quality of all of these. Do you have anything else you want to look at while you wait?”

“Not really, I’ll just wait for you.”

“Hey Spartan, would you mind getting the new girls some equipment?”, asked Bella.

“Yes sure why not. Tell them to select a weapon from the goblin loot and I’ll give them some coins to purchase some leather armor. By the way, don’t you need to upgrade your equipment?”

“No, my two swords are just fine. I do want to purchase a bow and some arrows but that is about it”, said Bella.

“Did you say bow and arrows?”, asked Raven.

“Yes, what about it?”, said Bella.

“In primary school I learned archery. I was pretty good at it. Would you mind if I got a bow and some arrows?”

“Sure why not”, Alex replied.

“Honestly I don’t know anything about combat. I was a doctor before I came here. Is there anything I can do with that?”, asked Skye.

“I don’t know anything about that but Eve uses magic maybe you can learn to use healing magic. That will be hugely beneficial to our group”, Alex said.

“Really?!”, she said.

“Yes. I have been hurt badly more times than I care to remember. You saw how badly wounded I was after fighting that hobgoblin mage. If I had a healer than I wouldn’t have been so bad off.”

“Ok than I would like a sword and shield to protect myself until I learn to use magic.”

We waited for a few minutes before the blacksmith came and offered me 850 coins for all of the pieces. I was not in the mood to haggle anymore so I just accepted it. He handed over the 850 coins.

“Hey, by the way Blacksmith, do you sell bows and arrows?”, Bella asked.

“No, I believe the guy at the general store might though.”

“Thanks”, Bella said as we turned and walked out of the door.

The group walked across the way to the general goods store and opened the door. There were several people buying things so we had to wait in line. This place had everything that you would need. There were farming tools, pots and pans, seeds for growing, musical instruments, and exactly what we were looking for, bows and arrows. Bella and Raven walked over and began looking at various bows. Bella picked up one that was made of a wood that was white almost like bone while raven picked up a plain bow with a quiver full of arrows. Bella picked up a quiver of arrows as well. They moved up in the line little by little.

Once they reached the front of the line Alex and the ladies met the person at the counter. She was a small older woman who looked to be in her 60’s. She wore a navy blue dress and had a grey apron over top of it. She had a pencil in her ear and a smile on her face. Her still jet black hair had some streaks of grey running through it.

“Welcome to the general goods store. I’m Lilly. How may I help you?”

“I want to purchase this bow and quiver full of arrows”, said Bella.

“That is a fine choice there. It is made of white ash wood. It will be difficult to pull back on string but if you can do it the arrows you shoot will travel farther and faster than those shot from a lesser bow. All three pieces will cost you 1,000 coins.”

“I’ll take them”, Bella said as she placed the coins on the table.

“It was nice doing business with you young lady. Next!”

“I’ll be paying for these pieces”, Alex said as Raven put the bow and quiver full of arrows on the counter.

“Ah, I see a young man paying for a young lady’s equipment. He’s a keeper young lady”, said Lilly with a wink. “The price both pieces and the 50 arrows is 200 coins.”

“Here you go”, Alex said giving her the coins.

“Thank you Spartan!”, she said as she put the quiver on her back and held the bow in her left hand.

“Call it an investment. You fighting in our group will help increase my chances of survival”, Alex said and turned to walk out of the door.

“I’m going to training center now to do some practicing. You can come if you want Bella. The two of you need to come so you can learn some combat skills. The upgraded practice facility has trainers to help you learn which should increase the speed and efficiency of your practice. I do not want to take you out into the field to hunt for food or battle monsters if you can’t fight.”

“I was planning on doing that anyway. I want to practice using this bow and now that there is someone to actually train me I should learn really quickly”, said Bella.

Then the group of them walked to the training facility where we would begin our training.