"Morning, Brandon, just the man I was looking for."

He laughed heartily. "Well, then you got the wrong person because I'm not a man."

Louie smiled and shook his head at Brandon's humour.

He got what he always wanted.

"Sorry. Just the Centaur I was looking for, I have a gift for you." Still laughing, he started for the workshops.

"Aren't you going to grab breakfast?" He shook his head as his laughter cut off.

"Sadly, meat doesn't seem to agree with my constitution any more. Look like I'm 100% vegetarian now. I'm going to miss bacon." He started smiling again. "For some reason, I find a good salad very refreshing."

They laughed as they walked towards the blacksmithy.

Louie removed a chocolate sweet and offered one to Brandon.

"Damn, where did you find chocolate? I don't know if this will mess with my new body, but hell if I'm not going to try it." He poped it in his mouth and sighed with joy as he went down the ramp towards the blacksmithy.

"Thanks for the modifications in our new home and the bathrooms."

"No problem. And I found the sweets when we looted a store." Louie removed the stack of blueprints from his inventory as Brandon started to fire his forge.

"I got this, and I thought that you might find this handy." He handed him the prints.

"What is this?" He put it down on the anvil and took the first one to study.

It looked like a flexible light blue sheet of acrylic, 30 x 45 centimetres big, with a weapon schematic drawn on it, all the parts were named, and there was a short description of the piece and its function.

He had just started reading some of the writing when the sheet crumbled in his hand and turned to dust, which disappeared before it hit the ground.

His jaw nearly drops to his chest as he got that faraway look that tells you he is studying his status page.

"Shit, I now know how to make a single edge, one-handed short sword that will deal 25 damage if the person knows what he or she were doing." He had that faraway look in his eyes as he studied the knowledge he had just received. Slowly he lowered his gaze to the stack of blueprints. "With this, I can make system recognised weapons."

Louie placed the smelter he took from the Dungeon together with half of the ingots that they got as loot in the dungeon next to the forge.

"This might help."

"Shit, man, how can I ever repay you?" Louie shook his hand.

"Outfit our people. Make them strong."

"I will, man, I will."

"Good, before I go, there is one last one, but I don't think you would be able to make this for a while." Louie gave him the blueprint of the bolt gun.

"Bloody hell, yea, it says that I will have to reach level 25 in blacksmith and then choose manasmith and learn to engrave or get somebody to engrave the weapons."

"I would suggest that you take an apprentice and let him or her learn the engraving skill. Here take this book and kit. It will start your apprentice on the right path."

Loo left him with the stack of blueprints.

On his way to the wall, he ran into the sisters. He gave Francine the Hygieia's Kiss and told them to get something to eat. He also handed them each a BOT (Bag Of Tricks) pouch and told them to report to Lance Corporal Koen after they had breakfast for the march.

When they turned to the kitchen area, he motioned for BOB to stay with them visualising two stray puppies needing guarding. BOB just made a grunting noise as he followed the girls.

Louie went to the wall and asked one of the troops to accompany him and be his lookout while raising the new wall.

Luckily his had reached Tier 1, so he had more control over the earth he can shape, and it cost him less mana while his reach has gone up from 10 meters to 13 meters.

He began at the right-hand corner of the Fort and liquefied all the stone and earth that he had dumped there while making the storerooms.

He started by creating the moat while also forming a 3-meter high wall to move on, keeping him out of reach of any creatures that might storm him from the ruined houses.

He solidified the earth for ten meters on the inside of the wall and down into the ground. While on the outside, he created an 8meter wide 4meter deep moat filled with razor-sharp stone spikes.

He stacked the excess stone in blocks on the inside of the wall.

He kept on till he reached the remains of the street that was the boundary between the Shell Garage grounds and the houses of Worcester West.

There he turned left and looked at the ground where he must raise the wall. He needed to go 500meter in, but the problem is that the trees had taken over what should have been an empty plot.

"Hmm, this will take some creative thinking."

The recruit looked at him. "Sorry, Sir, what was that?"

Louie smiled as he waved at the recruit and hand him a Ferrero Rocher. "Don't worry. I'm just talking to myself."

Let's try this, first liquefy the earth around the tree, now as deep as I can go. Yip. Try to cut off the roots. See if it would topple.

There she blows.

The tree slowly started to fall to the side of the wall.

The private looked at the ball of chocolate and, giving a quick look around, popped it in his mouth.

Cleanup in aisle 7, haha. Let's try and clean the tree.

He closed his eyes and imagined the form he wanted the stone to take. Slowly the stone rose out of the ground and formed bands around the tree and started to form teeth like a saw blade, then the strips started to move. Faster and faster around the tree.

Slowly the stone saw moved up the trunk cutting off all the limbs till there was only a clean 23meter straight pine log lying next to the wall.

Louie slumped against the wall, his knees feeling like wet noodles. Jack, with his hammer, was back looking for gold again inside his skull.

He raised a stone seat and sat down.

Uugh, this will take me forever. Nice that went up, but I haven't got time for this now. I'm just going to raise the wall. Johan can send some people out to harvest the lumber.

After meditating for 10minutes, Louie was back to raising the wall.

It took him just over 3 hours to create the three enclosed areas around the Fort, creating a square with the Fort in the lower lefthand corner.

He also sunk a well in the top righthand corner of each enclosed square for future use and created stone gates and bridges through the back walls.

He saw Johan standing on the Fort wall, watching the new section as he walked up.

"Morning, sleep well?"

"'Huuuff,' you know as well as me that I had nearly no sleep." Then his face split in a grin. "Thanks for all the tin food and the walls."

Louie laughed. "No problem, man." He handed him a piece of chocolate and pointed to the openings between the top of the old and new walls.

"The trees are still pretty close to the walls, so I left gaps between the old and new walls, in case something inside the new space gets on top of the walls, they wouldn't be able to get on the fort wall."

"Thanks. I will get some people out there to start clearing the trees near the walls, should we call them courtyards or farms?"

Louie shrugged. "Whatever you want to call them are just fine. I would suggest clearing two, one for planting and one for livestock, or if you going to trade with the school, then do two farming."

"If I was going to stay here, then I would have tried to get a couple of those bunnies and released them in that back lot for farming. But that's all up to you. This is your baby now."

Louie slapped him on the shoulder. "I cleared out the room in the spire. You guys should move in there. It's got a great view."

Everybody was invited for brunch in a way to say thank you.

After brunch, Loo removed a couple of boxes of chocolate slabs from his inventory and started handing them out. "The last meal should have a nice dessert to make you guys remember us." They start laughing as they opened the slabs and start eating.

The troops all gathered at the gate.

Louie reminded Johan about the next set of troops arriving that evening, and they said their goodbyes and started towards Starter Town. There were 5 of the new survivors that joined them hoping to find their missing relatives there.

Everybody was alert as they moved down the road towards the Breede River.

They knew it was the site where they encountered the Otters and lost one of their own. As they neared the bridge, Louie was surprised that they haven't been attacked once since they left the Fort.

He called a break, and the troops formed a circle facing outwards, with the officers in the middle.

"Ok, everybody, keep a sharp eye out. Things are too quiet."

He turned to the corporal's and removed a handful of the chocolate balls from his inventory and handed them around. "I think we should cross the river again where we did last time."

Everybody but Leon started objecting.

Louie raised his hand. "Wait, hear me out."

"Nearly everybody has levelled up twice, some three times. We are not the bunch of noobs we were when we came this way before. And we know about the otters now. So we will be prepared for an ambush." He poped one of the Ferrero Roches in his mouth enjoying the taste

"I agree, but why not cross the bridge?" Leon wanted to know.

Louie shook his head. "There is still that anomaly that I saw on the bridge that worries me." He thought for a moment.

"I'll tell you guys what, we go to the bridge, and give me 30minutes to check everything out. If I'm satisfied, then we try to cross. If not, then we cross downriver from the bridge."

They agreed, and spreading the news, they all started moving.

Louie equipped his mask and helm as they approached the bridge at a slower than normal pace. They were about 10meters from the start of the bridge when Loo called them to a halt.

The bridge was over 500m long and about 8m wide.

Louie ordered them to stop as he moved slowly forwards. He was about to step on the bridge's roadway when BOB growled, and he saw the air ripple about 100m in.

It looked like a heatwave as the anomaly moved to the centre of the roadway.

"It's still here. Nobody move unless I say so."

After a couple of minutes of studying the anomaly, Loo grabbed BOBs scruff and waved the troops back as he and BOB retreated when the heatwave approached.

Strange, there is nothing that threatens us, but I still feel fear. Best not to take any chances.

He was sweating buckets when he stopped as it reached the end of the bridge about 15m from where he was standing.

Don't know what it is, but I haven't felt this afraid in a long time, this isn't rational, whatever this is that thing must be the cause, but that doesn't mean it not dangerous.

A blender is not threatening but can still kill you if you are stupid and climb in it while it's running. And BOB doesn't like it.

He took a slow step forwards, and suddenly there was a huge gorilla-like creature with long hair covering its whole body standing on the edge of the bridge.

Louie gulped, swallowing his chocolate ball and nearly choking.

He used and slowly backed away on trembling legs.

The moment he took a step back, he saw the heatwave cover the sniffing creature again.

Shit, Shit, What the fuck?

He equipped his weapons and softly told everybody to back away down the road.

BOB didn't like it, but he obeyed.

He looked at the report while keeping one eye on the heatwave.

Bridge Troll: Level ?????

HP: ????

MP: 50

The African Bridge Troll is a fairly intelligent omnivorous neutral creature that feeds on a wide range of food items. Still, it prefers a diet of the sweeter variety. Unlike other Trolls, Bridge Trolls have no weakness to fire. They have a passive invisibility trait and a high regeneration rate. They care for nothing but the protection of their family and their bridge. They are shorter than other trolls but are more nimble and faster. Bridge trolls seldom grow taller than 3 meters. Due to their thick fur, they have evolved to tolerate sunlight. Nobody knows why some bridges have trolls, and others don't.

Fear attack, passive.

Fist attack: Smash

Fist attack: Dismember

"Fuck me. That thing is the cause of my fear."

Everybody was on edge but looked at Loo inquiringly.

Shit, they couldn't see it.

Louie shared the report with the Corporals. A couple of shocked gasps as the corporals shared the report with the rest of the troops.

The gamers immediately recognised the danger and had to explain how dangerous Trolls are and how they could only be killed due to their weakness to fire.

This Troll, not having that weakness, together with its unknown high level, makes it very dangerous.

Leon spoke up. "Right, cross the river at the otter crossing."

They all start moving away as Louie stood re-reading the report.

Leon came walking back to him. "Everything ok, Sir?"

Louie remembered the Troll sniffing the air and sighed. "Go with them, wait for me at the river. I want to try something."

He gave a worried look at the bridge and then back at Louie. "Are you sure about this, Sir? That thing has a very high level."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to fight it. The report says that it's an intelligent neutral Bridge Troll, not a troll but an intelligent neutral Bridge Troll, that like sweets. So I'm going to try and bribe it."

Leon shook his head and decided to stay as he watched Louie slowly so slowly walked towards the bridge.

Gaea must have used a gorilla or one of the other great apes as a template. It's an intelligent creature, guarding its bridge. Got to fight the fear. I just hope the stories of paying toll to the trolls at the bridges are true.

Louie started to sweat again as he neared the anomaly and realised that it was the trolls fear effect threatening to turn his legs to jelly. He kept his eyes on the anomaly. What he now knows is an illusion.

Fuck.

The Troll stood on the bridge just across the expansion joint in the road, watching him.

I sure hope I'm right, or I'm dead. There is no way that I can fight and win this thing.

He took a slab of baking chocolate from his inventory and nearly dropped it on the ground.

Shit, calm down, it's doing it to you, you are not afraid. . . Fuck, maybe if I repeat it a couple of times, then I might start believing it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Troll flared its nostrils. He removed the plastic and placed it in the bowl, he hoped that the Troll we're smelling the chocolate and not the load in his pants.

He moved the bowl to the side of the road while he slowly moved to the other side.

The Troll slowly took a step over the expansion joint and recoiled as a small spark snapped at its foot.

Loo looked at the now frustrated Troll.

It cant step of the bridge.

He moved to the bowl, picked it up, and slowly moved the bowl to the bridge while he indicated that it must move back. Surprisingly it took a step back every time Louie took a step forward while still watching the bowl.

Louie raised a short stone pillar, he then fixed the bowl to the top of the pillar and indicated that Leon should call everybody back to the road.

He waited tensely as they all came back and stood next to Leon.

He spoke to them while keeping his eye on the fidgeting Troll.

"I want you all to walk to the other side of the road and approach the bridge one at a time, and no sudden movements, and don't cross the line till I say so. Understood?"

There was a couple of nervous gulps, and people clutched their weapons more tightly as they agreed.

"Good, first, Leon and BOB."

They moved slowly to the spot Louie indicated. And Louie called another 6 troops, one at a time, before the Troll shook himself and grunted.

"Stop." Everybody froze as Louie spoke.

The Troll walked out of the road and onto the pavement as it grunted again.

Louie looked at the Troll and then at the Corporal together with BOB. He shrugged.

"Slowly walk past and start walking across the bridge."

Leon spoke up. "Sir, this could be a trap, there could be more further up the bridge, and we will be trapped between them."

The Troll gave an impatient grunt.

"I know, but I don't think so. I have a gut feeling, trust me."

They slowly started to move past the Troll, who is now visible to them.

It looked at them and gave another impatient grunt.

Louie took another slab out and unwrapped it, holding it in the air to catch the trolls attention.

He waved at the next troops to come forwards and follow the others as he dropped the slab in the bowl and then took out one more.

The troops were now walking past the Troll, as far away from it as the bridge allowed. Some were visibly shaking, and others were being held upright.

Louie placed the last bar in the bowl and backed away from the Troll. He slowly walked backwards over the bridge keeping his eyes on the Troll.

He saw the Troll bend down, took one of the bars, and placed it into its mouth. It suddenly sat down in the middle of the road, humming softly, licking its lips before it took the other two bars and disappeared over the edge of the bridge.

Louie turned around and hurried towards the troops who had reached the other side and waited for him to finish crossing the bridge.

Upon stepping over the expansion joint, he received a BB, which he waved away as he sat down against a tree. His legs were shaking as the adrenaline left his body.

Leon collapsed next to him.

"Shit, that was intense. I nearly shat myself."

Louie shook his head. "I did." He sends Leon a BB.

Osanyin's under wrap This self-repair and self-cleaning underwear keep your privates dry and clean and also offers comfort. This underwear has a plethora of benefits –as it prevents any microbe or bacteria from accumulating and fester in and around the genitalia. This also helps in preventing any bad odour and itchiness. It also allows the skin to breathe and helps to absorb the moisture, sweat, or discharge better than any other underwear."

Leon still looked confused for a moment, and then it clicked. He started laughing. He laughed so hard that he was rolling on the ground with tears running down his face.

Everybody was looking at him.

BOB came over and sniffed him to see if he was ok before he huffed and went back to something interesting that he found.

When he stopped laughing, Louie took in all the shaken troops.

"Half-hour break. Eat and drink something but keep your eyes open. We are not in a safe place."

Louie opened his status and looked at the last BB he received.

Congratulations You have gone out of your way in creating an accord with a neutral species.

+50 reputation with Bridge Trolls.

+50% chance in penetrating illusions

You will have 50% more success in negotiating a crossing over bridge Troll homes.

He shook his head as he closed his status.

Removing another stainless steel bowl from his inventory, he stood up and walked to the edge of the bridge.

He reached down into the ground with and created a pedestal right next to the expansion joint and placed the bowl on it, sealing it to the stand.

He saw the heatwave on the bridge as if it was watching him.

He nodded and then turned around, went back to the troops and sat down against the tree again.

The half-hour was up, and everybody was gathered in the middle of the road.

Louie walked up to them and send BOB that he should stick to the Sisters and guard them during the march. BOB looked longingly at the trees before huffing and going to the sisters, who rewarded him with an ear scratch.

He called the Lance Corporals together. "I will be shadowing you guys through the trees. Keep to the road."

"I will let you know if I see something approaching. Keep your eyes open. We should meet up with another patrol in a couple of Kilometres."

They started down the road, and Louie moved into the woods.

Let's see if I can unlock a sneak skill.

He made sure that he was away from the road and crouched behind a big tree. Studying his surroundings, he noticed something strange.

Huh, that looks like a sequoia. That shouldn't be here. Look like Gaea don't bother with indigenous classification.

He studied the ground around him and slowly placed his right foot where there were no twigs and leaves, slowly he shifted his weight onto that foot and brought the left foot forward, searching for the next spot. Rolling his weight on his foot, he moved forwards. He carried on slowly, crossing to the next tree and then the next.

Yes, I can do this.

SNAP. He stepped on a hidden branch that snapped up and hit him in the eye.

"Fuck" he clutched his right eye.

He spun around as he heard soft laughter float through the trees.

Blinking the tears out of his eye, he tried to focus on the trees and where he thought the laughter came from. He had his ninjato in his hand as he studied the trees. Not seeing anything, he slowly made his way to the road.

He jogged after the troops till he saw them in the distance before slipping back into the trees. He found a game trail and followed it keeping his eyes open. He tried to be as quiet as possible while moving down the trail and had only travelled a short distance when he heard a load Croak.

He sneaked up on the tree to the left of the trail, placing his back against the tree. Moving slowly, he edged to his right and peeked around the tree. It looked like a moving rainbow.

Fuck me!

He used

Pixy Bullfrog Level 8

HP: 460

MP: 70

The African Bullfrog is one of the biggest African frogs and has sharp teeth to fight off predators and to chew big prey. Its large size and mouth with a detachable tongue give it a wide range of potential food. It also has very strong hind legs to dig holes to keep cool and to ambush its prey.

Tongue attack: Entangle

Light attack: Dazzle

Claw Attack: Slash

Damn, that's a big frog.

The frog was ripping what looked like some kind of deer apart.

He slowly moved back behind the tree, no need to kill it. It's not bothering me.

He retraced his steps and turned to the left to bypass the small clearing where the frog was.

Suddenly something big came crashing through the branches from above and nearly flattened him. Only his reflexes saved him as he moved the moment the first branch snaped. He was blinded by a bright flash as he tried to catch a glimpse of the attacker.

"Fuck!"

Something hit him on his chest and wrapped around his body, trapping his arms.

Shit shit!

He rolled to the side as he assumed to be a frog smashed down where he was lying a moment ago. He reached out to .

He created a spike where he thought the frog was, missing the frog by a mile and dropped himself into the liquid earth, creating a solid cocoon around himself.

Using his he felt the monster above where he had disappeared and send a bunch of spikes slamming up into the body of the frog, killing it.

He created a hook on the wall in front of him, hooked the tongue over it, and started to tear it apart. It was quite a struggle because it was some kind of detachable tongue that it shoots at its prey with a sticky coating that seems to bond to whatever it wraps around, even after it's been cut.

He removed a health potion and swallowed it down, and still, he could see nothing.

Shit, of course, I can't see anything. I'm under the bloody ground.

Using again to make sure that nobody was lurking around, he moved the earth away above him and got out of the hole filling it back in.

Louie cautiously moved in on the dead frog.

Ha, your 460HP didn't help you much when you get a spike through the brain.

He looted the frog and looked at it.

Screw this. Let's try.

He willed the frog into his bracelet, and it disappeared.

Cook's Pantry This bracelet is a favourite among Cooks for keeping produce fresh when they go shopping. It has a 99% weight reduction and 10sq Crono lock and can stack up to 99 of the same product.

Nice, now I must just see if I can harvest it when I bring it out.

Louie went back to the clearing and saw half the deer laying on the grass. It was a buck with a nice rack made from some kind of crystal.

He tried to loot it, but nothing happened, so he took his bowie knife and removed the head and stored it in his pantry.

He had just started to move past the spot where he was attacked when he received the notification.

Attention. You are now entering the settlement area of Starter Town.

Be advised that the spawn rate of monsters will decrease by 50%inside this area.

Be advised that monsters inside or entering the settlement area will have -25% to all stats.

He decided that it was time that he looked in on the troops again and started down the trail till he hit the road and start jogging. A

couple of kilometres later, he found them waiting for him in the middle of the road where they have met up with the relief troops for the Fort.

Leading them was a female Corporal that he did not recognise.

As Louie approached, he saw that there was a bit of tension between the two groups.

Leon turned to him and saluted with a right fist to the chest.

"Sir, can I mount the guard?"

"Proceed, Corporal." Louie saw the female Corporal snapped her head at Leon.

He gave another salute and turned around, shouting orders at the troops to form a square around everybody facing outward.

Quickly the square was formed, and all the troops stood with weapons ready. Louie turned to the Corporal.

"Good day to you, Corporal. . . ?"

"Corporal Denise Killian, Sir."

"Corporal Killian, are everything ok? How is the road to Town?"

They talked a bit about what's been going on in town while he was away, and he told her about the Troll.

"I would suggest that you don't cross the bridge going to the Fort but use the crossing further down the river. I have placed a pedestal at the bridge. Do not go past it. The Troll has a passive illusion that makes it invisible."

He shared the BB from the Troll with her. She blanched as she read it.

He gave her an OCD. "I'm going to talk to the captain tonight. I would like it if you and your troops stay at the Fort tomorrow and return the day after. Help around the Fort, search for survivors and loot a couple of stores."

"Unfortunately, I don't have any more BOTs to hand out. But I'm sure you guys can manage."

She smiled. "Yes, Sir, we went through the Dungeon yesterday. All the Corporals and the Sargeant went with Medic Musa, and we cleared it in a record time."

"Good to hear Corporal. Some of my people will be going through the Dungeon tomorrow."

They finished up and prepared to move out.

Louie gave her some final advice.

"Corporal, if you decide to cross the bridge on your way back, treat the Troll with respect, treat it like you would live ordinance. Don't fuck with it."

She gulped. "Yes, Sir"

Leon snapped out his orders, and the troops did a neat about-face and formed in four rows of 12 each with the civies in the centre and started on a light jog.

As Louie looked over his shoulders, he saw the other troops disappear in the distance, and Leon slowed the pace down to a brisk walk.

He saw how tense Leon's shoulders were.

"A bit of a history there, Corporal?"

Leon relaxed as he looked over his shoulder. "We were an item once, We both applied to the army gym, and I heard a rumour that it was decided that there were not enough female Corporals. She got to go, and I didn't."

"I told her about the rumour, and she got angry and said I was jealous. It might have been a bit."

"We argued it turned into a big fight, and we broke up. I got over it. When she got back, she had turned into a real bitch. She went out of her way to give me grief and rub my face into the fact that she was a Corporal and I wasn't."

"That's one of the reasons why I volunteered to go to Worcester and why I want to go with you when you leave. I can't stand the tension anymore. She doesn't get it. . . we are not military anymore. And sooner or later, I might do something that I might regret."

"Don't worry, we will go to the Dungeon tomorrow. It will take five days inside while one day outside, then Sunday off and Monday if everything goes well, we will set out."

Leon looked relieved. "Yes, Sir"

The rest of the trip was uneventful. They encountered a lone spider as they went past the transformed vineyards.

Brown Widow lvl 9

HP: 70

SP: 360

Spiders are found in and around grape vineyards. They prey on insect pests that are found associated with grapes. . . Some spiders can escape detection.

Web attack: Garotte

Poison attack: Spit

It was quickly despatched and looted as they set off again.

There were a couple more attacks by squirrels, but they didn't even bother to stop the march.

The troops that took the squirrels out were back, in formation, before the last troop went past them.

Everybody was relieved as they saw the wall and Gates of Starter Town.