They received quite the surprise the following day when a man came riding up to the town on a horse looking exhausted and frantically asking the guards to speak to whoever was in charge. Aiden quickly ran out from the crafting hall when he was informed of this, and met with the man while he was sitting down next to the east gate gulping down water. His name was Mark and he was a lvl 2 soldier. Looking like he’d seen better day’s, with a tired and haggard appearance and visible damage to his armor, he quickly told Aiden why he was there.

Apparently he was part of group of survivors from a town to the west that managed to establish a safe zone for themselves. He heard of the town before from a few people that came here from that direction. He was surprised to learn that there were over 3,600 of them just two days ago, and had the largest concentration of awakened he had ever encountered before with an almost 1:2 ratio of awakened to non awakened. He wondered why there were so many, but ignored that for now as he continued listening to the man.

They were suddenly attacked during the night by what he called ‘Ratling’s’ and lost nearly half of the residents fending them off. The Ratling’s came back the next day, but by then the residents had wised up and purchased a wooden wall around a small area of the town, and were better prepared. The fight wasn’t going well for them however, and as Mark told it they wouldn’t last much longer if they didn't get help.

Aiden learned that when the safe zone was formed it was claimed by who Mark called a ‘pompous idiot dictator’ who tried to declare himself their ruler along with two other men that were with him and spent the two free tokens that came with a zone on unnecessary things before anyone could stop him.

Specifically a luxurious home for himself and an opulent garden. He seemed to fancy himself as some sort of new world sultan, but completely neglected to construct any defenses. Suffice it to say the other awakened disposed of him and his two lackeys promptly after that.

They were slowly saving up for a wall that could stretch around the entire town, (which Aiden remembered would be quite expensive by Marks description of the towns actual size) and figured they would be protected by the safe zones natural defenses and patrols until they had enough. Unfortunately they had run out of time and were blindsided by an attack from the Ratling’s.

The Ratling’s were apparently intelligent monsters not unlike goblins and the repelling barrier around the town didn’t seem to work on them as intended. They were humanoid rats from what he described. With dark fur all over their bodies and standing no taller then 5 feet. They were bipedal but could run on four legs for faster speed and wielded mainly short spears as weapons. They had clawed hands and feet as well, and had used them to climb the wooden walls.

They kept loosing people and were down to less then 1,000 awakened with even fewer normal people after the first attack, so Mark and another two men were chosen to go and try to get help. The other two had died on the way being attacked by monsters.

The resident of their town had seen the walls of Eden in the distance but didn’t know exactly how far it was and what dangers lay in between the two locations. They began their journey early in the morning when the Ratling’s were in their burrows located in some of the surrounding hills, and Mark arrived here alone just two hours later. The Ratling’s apparently only attacked when it got dark so they still had plenty of time to get there today before another strike was launched against the town.

Aiden asked some questions about their defenses and general levels learning that Mark was one of the strongest people there with most still not even having unlocked a class yet. Aiden wonder how that was even possible as every single chosen in Eden had a class and were at least lvl 5 by now, with most of the Guardians above lvl 10.

When he asked about it he learned that the town was next to a river and sat on a hilly plain with the forest a few miles away in each direction. This helped a lot of people survive during the awakening since the changing landscape didn’t destroy the town leaving pretty much everyone alive to fend off the Mana beasts.

The terrain however was working against them now since the plains were mostly devoid of monsters. If they wanted to kill monsters in any large quantities they had to trek pretty far to get to the forest, and most people were content with the kills they got on the plains with many not even bothering. Hopefully this would serve as a wake-up call for most of them.

The story and plea for help he relayed had the Guardians quickly getting ready and assembling for their first official mission. All members were heading out to help. They chose to go on foot as they didn’t have enough horses for everyone yet and set out at once.

Before they left Aiden informed Teresa of the situation and she promised that they would keep the town safe while they were gone. Once they headed out of the gates all of the members of the Guardians received a new quest, with Aiden receiving an extra optional quest as well.

Quest: March to the rescue!

Description: A neighboring town is in trouble! Provide assistance in beating back the invaders and securing the town.

Objective: Kill all Ratling’s threatening the town.

Rewards: 50,000 Mana Essence / 100 High grade Mana stones

Optional Quest: Claim the neighboring town as part of your territory, either through diplomacy or force and expand your territory.

Rewards: 100 High grade Mana stones

The approximate 15 mile trip took them just under 3 hours. With most of the Guardians able to keep up on foot with the lvl 1 horse Mark was riding. Once they were on the plains and could see the town in the distance they slowed down their pace a little and Aiden looked around at the determined faces surrounding him, making him feel pride at how far they had all come in such a short time.

Over three weeks ago most of the people here were just ordinary people living their lives. Students, teachers, shop owners, laborers, accountants and whatever else. Now they looked like a war party heading for battle. He hoped they would all live through this and be even stronger for it.

Aiden was more right then he realized as that’s exactly what the people manning the walls of the town thought when they saw their group approaching. The defenders who wore basically rags with crappy weapons and patchwork armor, were all more then a little intimidated when they saw the well organized and equipped Guardians up close.

At one of the meetings it was brought up that the guardians and the Barony should have distinguishing symbols or flag’s. The flag they decided on for the Barony was simple, depicting a full moon with a wolf’s head covering its lower half, over a black border with a few small stars meant to represent the night sky. The guardians symbol was a little more intricate with a large tree standing in the middle of a walled of town atop a cliff with its branches stretching downward around it protectively.

Each of them now had an emblem for the Order of the Guardians proudly displayed on their various armors, with the symbol of Fengaria on their cloaks which were dyed in a dark forest green color which they all now wore. They now resembled a real fighting force.

Upon reaching their destination the Guardians halted in place a few dozen meters from the wall, and waited for Mark who had ridden out slightly ahead to come back with their unofficial leader. A man named William. While they waited, Aiden couldn’t help but notice the state of the wall’s, with claw marks and blood all over them, as well as the dirty, tired, and scared but hopeful face’s looking down on them from atop the walls. The people here looked like they were on their last legs.

He would have to revise his plans a bit. He was at first going to ask most of the fighters from the town to join them in taking the fight to their attackers, but that would have to be scrapped. Instead it would just be the Guardians going, along with a few volunteers from the town if they wanted to join.

Looking around he waved Bret over and quickly asked him to take his party and scout out the Ratling burrows. How many entrances the terrain and other things of note. Any details he could spot would be helpful. He nodded and took his party at a sprint further south.

Mark came back soon after with a few people in tow. From inspecting all of them he noticed they were the highest level people here that he could see, ranging from lvl 2-6. One of the people took the lead and approached Aiden along with Mark. This was presumably William. He looked no older then mid twenties and looked just as worn out as everyone else.

When William approached he had a relieved smile on his face and held out his hand in greeting which Aiden shook. “Thank you for coming to our aid. I don’t know how to thank you, another few days and there would be no one left to defend this place. There were even plans of abandoning the town but with so many people...” He shook his head sadly.

Aiden understood what he meant, trying to leave with so many people in tow and trekking through the forest that was full of danger was not a wise idea. He nodded and gave the man a reassuring smile. “Well, we're here to help with your situation. I already sent a scouting party towards the burrows, and once they come back the Guardians will head out and assault the Ratling’s in their home for once.” William gave a relieved nod and introduced the others with him. He already knew Mark, and the others consisted of two women and three men. They were all that was left of the town’s unofficial council of leaders.

The Guardians were invited inside the gates and headed in. Once inside, Aiden looked around and saw that the entire area was cramped with people wherever he looked. The conditions here were not great to say the least. He was led to what could only be called a small Palace where there were even more people taking up almost every inch of the place.

It looked like they only had enough system credits to build a wall around the Palace and a small area around it. He wondered why they didn’t sell off the Palace and the gardens and when he asked about it, was told that they tried but it would have been pointless, as you wouldn’t get anything back for selling anything received via a free building token.

He was led further inside to a meeting room bringing his girlfriend along with him. Once everyone was seated Aiden asked for more details on the monsters. How they fought, their average levels, what tactics they used, estimated numbers, and anything else they could pass on that was helpful. Once he was better informed he asked for volunteers to come with them. The seven leaders of the town all said they would join, wanting some payback. With that settled they discussed other things while waiting for Bret’s party to get back.

Aiden asked what they were planning to do after this was all over, assuming they managed to deal with the Ratling’s, asking if they wanted to relocate to Eden which was safer and in a better location. The leaders of the town weren’t sure what all their people wanted to do. Some would probably choose to stay here out of sheer stubbornness, as this was their home before the awakening, but many would probably want to relocate.

This would be a huge task as there were still over 1,700 people alive here, and protecting such a group on the way would be problematic. Even if some of them decided to stay, it would take the Guardians a couple of trips to safely transport those that wanted to come. They talked for a bit more with Aiden getting to know them and vice versa.

The five other leaders were Samuel (34), Carlos (27), Tanner(19), Myra (31), and Isabella (27), with both Mark and William being 25 years of age. There used to be five others in their group but two died on the trip to find help, and the rest fighting the Ratling’s on the first day.

They were what remained of the original group that disposed of the would be dictator that screwed them over. They took over running the town after that, trying to organize everything into some semblance of order. He could only imagine how tough that would have been with so many people here and everyone most likely panicking and not knowing what to do after their new reality settled in.

Aiden respected them for managing to keep their town running for as long as they did. Since he would need to delegate more now, especially with a soon to be large influx of people to Eden, he asked them to work for him as a sort of council that would be responsible for the day to day running of the town.

They would report to him or anyone else he designated if he wasn’t there. After they thought it over and discussed it between themselves they agreed. Although as before William said he would remain here if others chose to stay. Aiden said that was fine and said he could be in charge of this place for him. The details would be discussed at a later time.

After some more discussion, the town which he learned was called ‘Hardwick’ officially became a part of the Barony of Fengaria, with William handing over ownership. Aiden could now use his resources to build better defenses for anyone that chose to stay. He readily agreed to do so and they headed outside so he could improve and fortify the place.

With the bonus quest now completed and another 50,000 system credits to his name plus the 100,000 credits for claiming another territory (although after checking the interface he learned the territory was currently contested by another force) and all the money from the town coffers that had accumulated in the last few days he now had over 800,000 credits to work with.

After asking for everyone to get down from the walls he upgraded the wooden wall surrounding the small area to a stone one at 10 meters tall, expanding the previous perimeter slightly to encapsulate more area. This wall was one that was curved outward in a slight angle which would make it much harder for any monsters to find purchase and climb.

The Ratling’s only managed to do so because the wall was made of wood but better safe then sorry. He also added a small keep that could be used in emergency’s to take shelter in, and added a portcullis to serve as an entrance-way replacing the wooden one.

The keep jutted slightly outside the wall's and could be used to combat most enemies in relative safety. It had a dozen or so arrow-slits built into it so the defenders could fire on an attacking force and not be attacked in turn. It could also house two dozen people comfortably and be used as a small barracks.

Four towers were also added on to each of the four corners of the wall to supplement the keep. Defensive stakes were then placed around the walls for added defense against any monsters attacking the town. There wasn’t much else he could build right now, other than siege weapons like stone throwers or ballistae which were deemed unnecessary at this time. The defenses he chose should keep anything short of a really determined enemy out and would be sufficient for now.

The total cost came out to 725,000 credits and he clicked accept beginning the construction process. The perimeter of the walls was expanded by 50%, unfortunately forcing him to remove few houses outside the walls. He hoped no one would get on his case about removing their home’s later. Everyone was happy and relieved with the changes and the people looked less frighted. Satisfied, Aiden walked over towards the gate to join the rest of the Guardians and wait for his scouting party to return.