Congratulations! You have secured and claimed an uncontested area establishing a seat of power! You are now the Baron of ‘chose name’ Barony, ruling over ‘chose name’ Town!

(Check map to view or change your current borders)

(New additional information added to the Management tab.)

Aiden was incredulous. ‘Baron? What the actual fuck... I feel like the system is screwing with me right now.’ Ignoring the first message for now, Aiden checked the new information. There was now a list of the town’s population as well as a taxation system.

One could set a tax for the townspeople and a % of their system credits earned would be added to the town bank section of the management tab, that he could use to build further upgrades or transfer to his own credits to do whatever he wished with really.

‘That’s kind of fucked up. Even with the system you could just take peoples money and do with it what you want.’ Aiden cringed a little and could only hope no one who claimed a town would take advantage of people like that. He next checked the border the message talked about.

It seemed he owned all the land in the immediate vicinity, which was a couple of miles in all directions. To secure more land he would need to build Outposts, Castles, or such further from his land in uncontested territory, then claim it as his own connecting it to his existing territory.

Once Aiden came out of his stupor he was also told that everyone received a message asking them if they wanted to become residents of ‘chose name’ Town in the ‘choose name’ Barony under the rule of Baron Aiden Winters. To say Aiden was embarrassed and confused was an understatement.

After people stopped laughing and teasing him about the title, they all voted on a town name which ended up being Eden which was recommended by Margaret and recieved the most votes.

Aiden then though a bit and decided to the name the Barony Fengaria, from the word fengari which meant moon in Greek. Once that was done he checked the interface again and noticed he now had 9 citizens. Aiden frowned and told everyone what his interface said. The non chosen weren’t very happy to be discriminated against like that by the system.

Aiden sighed and whistled getting everyone attention “Everyone this doesn’t really matter. I know it sucks that your all being ignored by the system but to me it changes nothing. As far as I’m concerned everyone here is now a citizen of Fengaria and will be treated as such. While me and the other ‘chosen’, actually you know what lets just scrap that term right here and now. I thinks its degrading to the rest of you.”

The others nodded along to that. “From now on everyone able to use Mana will be called... hmm let's see... that’s it! Guardians! Or better yet the Guardian Order! Because that’s essentially what we will be no?. You guys alright with that? You all wanna be the Guardian Order?” Aiden asked looking over at the other Mana awakened, laughing as the others joined and gave affirmative nods and cheers. The cheering was interrupted however when Aiden and the other awakened got yet another message.

Congratulations! World first bonus! You are the first on this world to set up a new organization! +1 permanent bonus to all stats. +2 to all stats to every member of your organization ‘Order Of The Guardians’ (Conditional on remaining within the organization.)

New Organizations tab unlocked in Menu:

Order Of The Guardians - lvl 1

Current Members: 9/50 - Increase Member Pool to increase order level.

lvl 1 Bonuses: +5% to all stats (Conditional on remaining the leader of the Organization.)

Aiden was now sure of it, the system was definitely fucking with him. He was quite happy with the rewards however as that was a huge bonus and not just for himself but for anyone joining apparently his new order. Especially that 5% stat bonus, it would be a huge help in the future.

If he was reading it right that 5% could even go up if he leveled up the Order. He checked his stats and noticed that His wisdom stat which was at 19 and the only stat he had under 20 didn’t increase so now he knew that the % bonus wouldn’t take affect unless it added a whole number. All his other stats increased by one from the 5% bonus.

Aiden’s theory that the system was watching and helping them also seemed to have more merit now and he didn’t know what to think about that. He still sent a silent thank you to the system for the help however. To think a spur of the moment comment from him would actually result in something like this. Aiden could only shake his head in bemusement.

Everyone else was pretty surprised as well since they all got messages detailing their increased stats and membership in the Order Of The Guardians. After some more cheering and congratulations were thrown around Aiden got back to his impromptu speech.

“Anyways where was I before all that... happened... oh right um we have the ability to protect the rest of you so we will work on getting stronger to protect you from the threats out there and I want you all to try and live your lives and help out in any way you can. There are many ways you can contribute to this new community we're starting in small ways, and who knows maybe there is or will be some way to give someone Mana affinity in the future. So please don’t let this discourage or get you down. The world changed on all of us and half the time I have no Idea what the hell is going on. Like what happened a minute ago. I know it’s hard but please, we're all human and we need to stick together against the unknown.”

Aidens impromptu speech and subsequent formation of the Guardian Order was well received by everyone there with a lot of cheering. Aiden was happy to see smiles on peoples faces. With the things most of the people here have been through the past few days it was good to see them happy about something.

Eventually people calmed down and Aiden turned the conversation to the tax system. All of the chosen wanted to contribute to the town, so a tax of 30% which was the maximum possible was eventually settled on for now. If their population ever grew in the future the tax would be lowered but for now everyone wanted to contribute to the growth of the town as much as they could.

Aiden then started a tour of the town. They went inside the Residences first and immediately a problem arose. They learned pretty quickly that since everything ran on Mana you needed to first have Mana in order to activate anything. Which resulted in even more grumbling from the majority of everyone there. “God damn it, this is just plain annoying. Hold on everyone lets see if there’s something we can do about it.”

Everyone scoured the system shop for a possible solution and Lily was able to find something. It was a ring that could be worn by anyone that could store ambient Mana. It would work for those without Mana as a sort of conduit to power Mana based devices.

The rings weren’t exactly cheap at 2000 system credits each, but all the newly minted Guardians pooled together their credits and 25 rings were bought for all the adults. The children would get the next batch once they had more system credits. This lifted the mood considerably for everyone there with everyone thanking the Guardians for their donations.

The tour continued, showing off the Crafting Hall next that had the Guardians excited at the prospect of learning a new trade and getting extra stats from doing something not as dangerous. All of them chose a supplementary class right away.

Aiden after reading the choices decided on Woodworking which gave a +1 to the skill stat per lvl. He asked Victoria what she chose which was Herbology and added +1 to int per level. Herbology would be useful and rather easy to level around here, with the numerous plants now undoubtedly growing in the surrounding area. Everyone had the knowledge of their new classes ‘downloaded’ into their head’s and had to wait a bit for the lightheaded feeling to pass but they eventually moved on.

Next he showed them the park for the kids to play in or just for the adults to relax in. There were benches around as well as trees for shade. The well with fresh water that would continuously refill itself was also highly appreciated. The farm was next and Aiden asked for volunteers from the non Guardians to work the fields once it was set up.

All the people that couldn't use Mana had already realized that there really wasn’t much else they could do to contribute to the town so a majority of them volunteered and some others asked if they could cook or help out around the Crafting Hall. They obviously couldn’t be paid for work right now or anytime soon with the lack of any stable credit income but that would hopefully come in the future.

Aiden moved the group onto the place he was dreading showing them. The Mansion. He explained that it was purchased with a free token and what it would have cost otherwise. He showed them the Golem Knights and explained their level’s and functions and that they would help protect the town from monsters.

He then led them to the war/meeting room letting them know that any important meetings will be held here in the future. He did get some jeering from Cassie and a few others that he just wanted a palace for him and his Baroness making them both blush, but they were just joking. Other then a few slightly envious looks from a few people however it wasn’t as bad as he was expecting.

He saved the best for last in his oppinion which was the Bathhouse. The residences didn’t have a place for people to wash themselves unfortunately, the bathrooms there did have toilets and sinks but no tubs or showers of any sort. Unfortunately the upgraded versions of residences were 100,000 credits each compared to the 45,000 each that these cost and they took up more space which was somewhat limited right now. He didn’t have the credits for them either which is why he purchased the bathhouse. And what a luxurious place it was.

It was separated into three sections. One for men, one for women and a mixed-sex one. Each section had a marble bath with hot water and seating. There was enough room for 30 people to bathe simultaneously in each section if they wanted. There were even various tinctures to wash your body with that came in Mana powered dispensers along a wall next to the standing showers people were to use before entering the bath area. Everyone was extremely happy for the purchase and a few people wanted to jump right in then and there.

Aiden convinced everyone to finish the tour first however so they headed back outside and into to a connected building which was the laundry facility? He didn’t know what to call it really but everyone was excited about the prospect of the magical washer/driers. There were six of them, they worked fast, were extremely easy to use, and each could hold a pretty large load.

With the tour complete and night quickly coming, everyone was told to grab their belongings and some food and water they could store inside for themselves and pick a residence. Before everyone left Aiden told them that each residential building had a key used to lock the doors and could be found hanging on a wall in each of the rooms.

Once everyone wandered off to do just that Aiden held back the Guardians and led them back to the Mansion. Before he heading inside, he instructed two of the Golem Knights to guard the entrance to the mansion and had the other two patrol the town. That done He showed them to the towers which he didn’t include in the original tour to save time, only showing off the the entrance hall and the war/meeting room.

Aiden let everyone know that the Mansion would now be the Headquarters of the Guardian Order and all members were welcome to stay on the premises and use all the places here for their own need, like the bathrooms and the storage in the basement.

He let everyone know that they could stay in these rooms if they wanted as they were isolated and quite private. He also gave them the choice to use the actual rooms in the mansion but they all refused saying this was more then fine for them. Well everyone except for Cassandra, who said she wanted a room in the mansion. Aiden easily agreed and said she could use one of the rooms on the second floor.

The Tower apartments which the others started calling them were larger and better furnished then the residential buildings. Each floor of the tower’s also had their own full bathroom and small kitchen and a dining / living room area with couches, tables, and chairs where everyone could enjoy a quiet meal or just relax, which they were all quite happy about.

Cassandra said reserved a room for herself in the mansion proper, but wanted to stay with her family for now. Aiden nodded in understanding and after a quick hug she left to go find them. Everyone else chose a room for themselves with the guys taking one tower and the girls taking the other.

Once everyone was settled in they all got the full tour of the place then settled down in the dining room to talk and eat. Plans were made to head out in the same party groups tomorrow and scout the area around the town and maybe hunt some animals for meat and skins.

Because of the danger of the unknown however they would be sticking together as one large group. Everyone said their good nights and headed off to get cleaned up and to bed. Victoria followed Aiden to the master suite on the third floor both of them holding hands.

Once upstairs they marveled from the doorway at the oppulance of the master suite, especially the large comfortable looking four poster bed that could probably fit six people and still have room. The room was 100 by 80 feet across. It had comfortable chairs, and sofas, a table with an expensive looking tea set, a vanity and mirror with various brushes and boxes.

The floor had luxurious rugs and they immediately took off their dirty shoes before stepping in. There weren’t any windows presumably for safety, but the lights were nice and bright and there was a fireplace that could be powered by Mana or used regularly by burning wood. There were three doors leading to a massive bathroom with amenities, a walk in closet filled with various luxurious looking day and night clothes, for both men and women that were enchanted to resize themselves to the wearer (learned upon using inspect) and a sitting room/study.

They both explored a bit then took turns taking a shower and once they were both clean and dressed and stripped down to undergarments they both slid happily in to bed. “Oh. My. God... So sooooft...” Aiden said and heard an affirmative content hum from beside him.

“I am so glad I bought this place. Good night Vic.” Victoria wrapped her hands around his middle and squeezed slightly. It took them both little time to fall asleep even with all that was on their minds. They were just so tired, and to finally be in a real bed and feeling clean and oh so comfortable they were both out in minutes.

Status:

Aiden Winters: Age 22

Race Human: Rank(f)

War Ranger: lvl 6 - Mana essence: 1952/7000

Skills:

Battle Aura - Lvl 1 (25%)

Class 2: None (Unlock at Class 1 lvl 25)

Woodworking: lvl 0

Health: 370/370

Stamina: 270/270

Mana: 190/190

Defense: 27(70)

Mana Defense: 19

Vitality - 32(37)

Endurance - 27

Strength - 33(38)

Agility - 33(38)

Dexterity - 24

Skill - 24

Intelligence - 22(26)

Wisdom - 19

System credits - 1,400

Victoria Leblanc: Age 21

Race Human: Rank(f)

Battle Healer: lvl 4 - Mana essence: 1820/5000

Spells:

Healing Wind - lvl 1 (30%)

Class 2: None (Unlock at Class 1 lvl 25)

Herbology: lvl 0

Health: 240/240

Stamina: 170/170

Mana: 220/220

Defense: 17(58)

Mana Defense: 22

Vitality - 19(24)

Endurance - 17

Strength - 23

Agility - 25

Dexterity - 19

Skill - 18

Intelligence - 19(24)

Wisdom - 18(23)

System credits - 12,195