Rory needed a couple of seconds to just feel a bit giddy. This was working. It was actually possible, as Arelland had said, to create their own Settlement. Incredible.

He was a little surprised that the Sigil of Warding had worked, despite his Weaving’s restrictions, but then Truck had mentioned Weaving didn’t so much restrict other Sigils as it stopped him from using them externally. Maybe working with Sigils directly didn’t count as external use, or maybe any Sigil that involved handling Sigils themselves didn’t suffer from constraints. What Rory needed was more information.

For now, Rory noticed there was a [Status] option for the Settlement and focused on it.

[Settlement Status]

Belcourt Palace

Type: Camp

Leader: Rory McIlroy

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Stats

-

Components

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Well, that was a little underwhelming. Rory hadn’t expected anything spectacular, but it was both empty, and lacking any real direction. He hadn’t expected there to be so many components either.

If only there had been some sort of helper or guide. Rory supposed he could ask Truck for guidance, but he wasn’t how much an entertainment-seeking donkey would truly know about Settlements. Besides, he wanted to figure it out for himself.

New Achievement!

Settler! You’ve created your own Settlement. Look at you, too fancy to use the system-granted Settlements. Hope you’re prepared for what comes next.

Rewards

Sigil of Shelter

New Achievement!

Warder! You’ve Warded your first Sigil. Nothing will stop you from turning the whole world into a playground of Warded Sigils.

Rewards

Sigil of Warding has advanced Tiers from [Argent VIII] to [Argent IX]

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Shelter. Nothing beats having a roof over your head. Can’t go without this basic human right.

[Argent I] provides sheltered capacity for 2 people. Improves passively.

Stats

Type: Settlement

Rarity: Ordinary

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: High [58%]

Well, wasn’t that something. His Sigil of Warding had almost reached Cerulean already and he’d received another Sigil with the Settlement type. He was starting to think he could use them on the Settlement directly. Rory used his Warding and inserted the Sigil of Shelter into the same column that had swallowed the Sigil of Settlement.

When he checked the Settlement’s [Status] again, he found that one of the component slots had been taken up by the Sigil of Shelter. He smiled. His hypothesis had been right.

Next up, he inserted the Sigil of Finance in the same way with Warding. He checked the [Settlement Status] again properly this time.

[Settlement Status]

Belcourt Palace

Type: Camp

Leader: Rory McIlroy

Tier: Argent IV [0%]

Stats

Population: 13

Area of Influence: 10m2

Treasury: 12,000 Mana, 20 Credits

Components

Sigil of Shelter: Ordinary, [Argent I]

Sigil of Finance: Uncommon, [Argent VIII]

-

-

-

-

-

Oh, wow. He had granted the Settlement new stats, including a treasury that likely measured wealth in Mana for some reason. It was a lot of Mana. There was certainly not enough Mana in the indicated area of influence, so if it was indicating the amount of Mana in the whole vicinity, they needed to grab it all. Fast.

It also said they had thirteen people, when Rory had counted twelve. But of course, it must have counted Jerky as part of the population.

“You seem excited,” Viv said.

“Oh, hello.” Rory turned to her with a smile. “Just making progress with the Settlement thing.”

“Figured out how to turn this place into a Safe Zone yet?”

“Well, maybe not that much progress.”

Viv laughed. It tinkled somewhere in Rory’s heart where it squeezed delightfully.

“Think I can see?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, honestly.” Rory stepped away from the column. “I’m not even sure how I’ve been accessing it, though it might be because I’m the leader for some reason.”

“For some reason?” Viv tutted. “Husband dear, you’re the leader because you’re the one ostensibly leading us. Seems this system recognizes that too.”

Rory got that, but he was more curious—and concerned—how the system had decided he was actually leading everyone here. He didn’t air his concerns to Viv, though. Instead, he made space for her to place her palm against the column and focus on the Settlement.

“Oh, I can see!” she said. “Oh, nice, you’ve made a lot of progress already. But there’s not a lot of information about what exactly we can do, is there?”

Rory held back his sigh. “No, not really. But I think I’ve figured it out, sort of. The Sigil of Finance came from using my Weaving on the bank. If I can do the same for similar things, like a hospital, school, what have you, we might be able to fill it up with what it needs.”

“That’s a good idea,” Viv said. She pulled her hand back, slight concern trying to make her furrow her brows. “Which means Trish was right. We need to get a move on.”

“That’s correct.” Rory looked over and saw Sue and May going through food provisions, though most were snacks or drinks stolen. Just in their hands, there was enough to last through the next day, if they rationed carefully, and there might even be more in the palace. “But anyway, what have you guys found? Finished your rationing already?”

“No. Sue already has a good handle on it so I’m letting her make a list of everything we bought here. She’s pretty good at tallying. Point one for Dez bringing in all that stationery.”

“Don’t tell him that.”

Viv grinned, though it faded soon. “Not sure how long we can survive on crackers and fruit juice.”

Rory cringed at the idea too. “We’ll figure that out the next time we go out. Maybe we can raid a grocery store.”

Dez and Ned soon returned. They both looked tired and troubled, though apparently for different reasons. Ned made a beeline for the food around Sue, stole a packet of chips, then flew off like a mischievous sprite before Sue could catch him. Dez sighed at the antics and trudged over.

“You seem a bit down,” Viv noted. “Are you sure you’re not hungry too?”

“I look down?” Dez looked around as though there had to be a mirror he could consult. “Uh, no, not hungry. Anyway, I’ve made a makeshift barricade to get a feel for things. I’ve also marked out the best arrangement for more barricades and found a couple of vantage points. Come on. I’ll show you.”

Leaving Viv to take care of tallying their supplies with Sue and May, Rory followed Dez and a chips-munching Ned up the stairs to the next floor, which had to be at least twenty feet above the ground floor. It took them a while. Dez was taking them to one of the towers, though he didn’t know the exact way there.

“Follow me,” Ned said through a mouthful of chips.

“Can’t you eat later?” Dez asked.

“You should eat some.” Ned offered his packet to Dez, who pushed. “Come on, you look hangry.”

“Just lead the way, Navigator Ned.”

Ned grinned, then proceeded to do just that. Rory realized it wasn’t that Ned had explored the palace before. It had to be the Navigation stat he had that was allowing him to find his destination. In its own way, that was a powerful tool to have.

They eventually made it to the front of the floor, then took a left through a short passageway with large windows, climbed onto a set of spiralling stairs that finally deposited them to the top of a tower five storeys above ground floor. The windows were open here, letting in a chilly breeze. From this height, the last car Jerome and Mikey hadn’t moved yet looked like a toy.

“There’s another similar tower on the other side of the palace,” Dez said. “Both of these are perfect for mounting a long-ranged defence.”

The area was small, but not tiny. Someone could use it as a perfect vantage point. The windows displayed a view over the entire courtyard and all the woods to the west of the bank.

Rory looked up at Dez. “You’d be perfect here. You and Viv can use your powers from a distance.”

Before Dez could reply, Ned inserted himself into the conversation. “Actually, they’d be better up front.”

Everyone looked surprised at his input, but Dez nodded. “I agree. This isn’t the spot for me.”

“Why?” Rory asked with a frown.

“Basic party mechanics,” Ned said. “You don’t want your tank and short-range or no-range DPS to be cooped up behind a barrier. And both Dez and Viv are a weird tank and DPS mix, alongside having short-range capabilities.” He laughed a little. “Who knew real life would be too complicated to fit neatly into categories.”

It was starting to make sense, jogging the memories of his roleplaying days so long ago. From all that Rory had seen, Dez and Viv both liked to get close to their enemies and use their powers to their maximum effect. They were more than capable of handling close-up hits, even if they weren’t to the same degree as Trish and her steel.

“I get it,” Rory said. “You want to reserve these spots for people who can’t use their Sigils to defend themselves, only attack from a distance.”

“Exactly.”

Dez then proceeded to show him the layout of the barricades to Rory. He asked Ned to demonstrate, and after a moment’s hesitation, Ned jumped right out of the tower’s fifth floor window. Rory started in alarm, but the foolhardy fellow had already summoned his rocket-ended appendages, slowly floating down to the ground.

“Waste of good Mana,” Rory muttered.

Dez laughed. “Don’t worry about it man. Everyone needs to have some fun every once in a while. We’ll start rationing once we have a proper stockpile.”

Rory turned to look at him straight-on, noting the same bearing he’d seen since the moment he’d met Dez. “You’re experienced in this sort of thing, aren’t you?”

Dez froze. “What do you mean?”

“Were you part of the military, or Search and Rescue, or something like that?”

Dez loosed a breath that was half-laugh, half-sigh. “Yeah, military. I’m a veteran, used to live in Mirrorend. That’s how I know they’re well-equipped to deal with this kind of thing too.”

“But I’m guessing you moved here for college.”

“Yep. Wasn’t expecting an apocalypse to derail my plans like that, but what can you do?”

It was Rory’s turn to smile sardonically. “I feel that.” He clapped the bigger guy’s shoulder. “Lucky for you, you’ve got a professor right here.”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to take the classes I’m owed when we’re not in danger of dying.”

They laughed, despite the grim nature of it all. Once Ned reached the ground, Dez showed Rory the exact layout, yelling at Ned to move this way and that like a strange combination of drone and puppet. They were too far away to tell what sort of expression Ned had.

Rory didn’t get the whole picture of the barricades, but Dez seemed excited about it. He trusted the big guy to know what he was doing. That was good enough.

“I’ll leave the rest to you,” he said. “I have to take care of the Warding.”

“Warding?” Dez asked. “Oh, what happened with the Settlement thing?”

Rory explained both quickly, briefing Dez on what he had said to Viv. “Once you’re done setting up the barriers, I can use Warding on them to improve them, I think.”

“I’ll be sure to hit you up then.”

Rory climbed down the tower staircase slowly. He was getting tired again, which meant he needed food and some rest. But the slower pace also allowed him to take in all the suits of armour lining the palace’s walls, all the tapestries and paintings hung here and there. If they could light up the candelabras, this place would be utterly gorgeous.

As he reached the main hall, Rory was starting to realize just how much Weaving and Warding and other Sigil use he still needed to perform. Not just to make this palace a liveable, defensible base for them all, but also to get himself to Cerulean Tiers, when he could absorb his sixth Sigil. He was going to need to use Wielding at some point, just so he wasn’t defenceless on his own.

He was sunk in thought as he went down the main, wide staircase to the main hall. Wielding was for using Sigil-Warded item actively, or so Rory assumed.

Part of his thought process had been to Ward items for others as soon as he could, but what if they needed Wielding to make those Warded items work?

That shouldn’t be a problem if the Warded Sigils worked passively. Rory was just going to have figure out which Sigils could work that way. It would limit his selection, no doubt, but he was just going to have to work with what was available.

At the centre of the hall, Sue and Viv had made a lot of progress in separating out the salvage. There was a pile for electronics, a pile for furniture and wood, a stack of food, and more that he wasn’t able to identify from a distance. They’d been busy. Now, it was Rory’s turn.

Trish and Allen returned the same time that Rory did.

“Look what we found.” Trish’s loud voice bounced off the walls and columns.

She was walking with a suit of armour. It took Rory a second to realize that was Allen. Poor guy was having difficulty moving, the heavy plates clanking with his every step. But what really caught Rory’s attention was the head of the Gargoyle in Trish’s hand. Truck looked very satisfied, as though he had orchestrated the whole thing.

“I thought you were told no unnecessary engagements?” Viv asked, eyeing the head too.

Trish shrugged. “Easy kill.” She grinned at Rory. “And I thought you could use it too.”

Rory tried not to grimace at the grisly trophy when Trish placed it before him. He used his Weaving on the horned, demonic head, receiving a Sigil with the image of a statue. A Sigil he should have Woven into being the last time they’d fought a Gargoyle. Which was… yesterday.

That really bothered him.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of the Gargoyle. Turn into a demonic stony beast that can weather the very passage of time.

[Argent VIII] allows minor stony evolution for 65 seconds on 20% of your body.

Stats

Type: Evolution

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent VIII [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [39%]

“That’s mine, right?” Allen asked. The helmet on his head made his voice tinny.

“Actually, sure,” Rory said.

He handed the Sigil over, and Allen carefully peeled off the plates of armour, much to Trish’s chagrin. When he was once again free, he absorbed the new Sigil. A second later, his hand turned into solid stone.

“Sick!” Allen raised his hand in wonder. “I can actually punch things now, instead of shouting at everyone to do it for me.”

“I appreciate your shouting,” Trish said.

They laughed together.

The rest of the group returned before long. Evelyn brought in Miles, both of them saying they’d found nothing untoward, Dez and Ned returned after gathering the supplies they needed to get started on the barricades, and Jerome and Mikey said the cars were now all parked to perfection at the back.

“So far,” Rory said after everyone submitted their reports of where they’d been and what they’d found. “We’ve explored the courtyard, the main hall, the two front towers, some of the rooms on the second floor, and half of the left wing, and found only one Gargoyle. Not bad for a couple of hours.”

“We still need to case the rest of this joint,” Mikey said. Everyone turned to him, and a bead of sweat formed on his forehead. “Uh, figure of speech.”

“Yes, yes, we’ve all done good work.” Viv clapped for attention. “But let’s take a moment to enjoy a little breather and just eat.”

They all agreed. Rory had to admit it was nice not to have existential dread hanging over his head, so he decided to forget about everything so long as he still had food before him. The meal turned out to be quite delicious.