“Incredible,” the donkey said as Rory approached. “Your party grows! I would not have thought there were so many survivors.”

Rory wondered if the donkey was trying to avoid the newcomers’ attention by staying in the corner. “Where’d you go? And more importantly, why’d you come back?”

“I was simply surveying the area to see what sort of options were available to me.”

“Really? Because last time, you disappeared when Arelland came over.”

“The elf?” The donkey made a strange, dismissive sound in his throat, like a cut-off bray. “What could he have to do with me? Things simply turned a little boring for my exquisite tastes, so I attempted to find other offerings. The elf concerns me not at all.”

“Right…”

“Though I daresay, you should perhaps be warier of him than you seem to be. An Otherworlder in a human settlement? Quite a dangerous precedent. Most will never be this charitable, and in fact, will seek to end you before you can bolster the Homeworlder forces.”

“I’ve got no intention of participating in this weird war of theirs.”

“None ever do, yet war draws them in all the same.”

“We’ll see about that.” Rory leaned against the nearby wall to rest his weary legs a bit. “You know, I think you owe me a lot of answers. After all, we’ve been providing a lot of entertainment.”

“Do you feel so? Pray, ask what you will.”

Rory blinked. He had expected haggling. It took a moment to recollect all his questions.

“Alright, tell me about Settlements,” he said. “Have you been a part of one before?”

Truck stood up straighter, neck rigid as an iron rod. “Of course! There are few incidents I don’t own in my tapestry of experiences.”

“Great. Then you can tell me how’s it exactly supposed to help us. If we want to turn it into a Safe Zone, are we going to need to fill up all the Sigil slots?”

“It will help. But in truth, I believe it is a reward from reaching higher Settlement Tiers.”

“Which we raise how? It’s not like our Sigils which we can just use over and over and hope it increases its Tiers.”

Truck looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. “It will happen via the stats. You fulfill certain quotas, and the Sigils will rise in power, thus raising the Settlement’s Tier.”

Rory considered that for a moment. It sounded as though they needed to bring in more people. There was the population stat, along with stats for their treasury and their area of influence. That would explain how the Tier had risen so much between the two times he had checked the [Settlement Status].

“Will we be able to unlock more perks and stuff we can do as we raise Tiers?” Rory asked. “Other than just improving the stats?”

Truck brayed out a little laugh. “Oh, I doubt you’ve seen even a sliver of what a true Settlement can achieve.”

“Oh, really?” Rory smiled, thinking of all the possibilities. “What sort of stuff have you seen?”

“I will not be spoiling the surprise, my dear man. Find out for yourself.”

Rory grunted. What an annoyingly Truck thing to say.”

“Hey man,” Dez said, walking up with a sceptical eye on Truck. “You free?”

“Well, I’m not busy, I guess. But what’s up?”

“We need to—”

There was an explosion not far off. Rory started, but that was the extent of his reaction. He was getting used to the traps going off every so often, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Normalizing monster attacks wasn’t something to get used to.

“An invasion!” Truck said, long ears perking up in excitement.

“Don’t get too excited,” Rory said. “That was a trap going off. The monster is probably dead.”

“You have traps? Incredible.”

“That’s what I came to talk about,” Dez said. “We need to fix the ones that have gone off so far. They’re not going to work without Mana, right?”

“That’s true,” Rory said. “You’ve got some Mana with you? I can go around and sprinkle some on the traps.”

“All good, man. I should be able to find them and do it.”

Dez was taking pity on Rory. As much as he appreciated it, he couldn’t have the big guy taking care of every physical thing around the palace.

“No, no,” Rory said. “I’ll circuit around and replenish the Mana stores. I want you to start looking after the new people. Help them figure out how to defend themselves, fight monsters, use their Sigils, and all that. Counting on your experience.”

Dez snorted. “You’re puffing me up too much, Rory.”

“That’s because you deserve it.”

Dez grinned, but he agreed. He decided to help the newcomers, especially the young office workers, figure out how to best use their Sigils. Meanwhile, Rory took a pack of Mana crystals and flakes from him and started circuiting around the palace. Truck accompanied him, providing a running commentary about inane things like grass quality and strange odours.

Rory wasn’t paying much attention. He walked around slowly, pausing at every trap that had gone off. Some of those had monsters he had to Weave away to get a Sigil. A couple of Emberteeth and Thundershells gave Sigils of Lightning and Flarespike. There was even a Rockback that he Wove away for Sigil of the Rockback.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of the Rockback. Summon your inner bony, monstrous gorilla to tear the world asunder at the slightest slight it throws at you.

[Cerulean III] allows medium rippling strength evolution for 90 seconds on 25% of your body.

Stats

Type: Evolution

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Cerulean III [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [43%]

“How has your staff been?” Truck asked as Rory was replenishing Mana on a trap near the southeast corner of the palace grounds. “I see you’ve been channelling your inner lich.”

Rory laughed a little. “The staff’s been alright. I just need to get used to it. But good thing is that I can actually use it to defend myself now.”

“Ah yes, it must be irksome to have to depend on others for your wellbeing.”

“And to not be able to contribute directly to fights.”

“Oh? Will you be fighting now?”

There was a gleam in the donkey’s eyes when Rory stared at him. A dangerous glint that suggested he had found another fantastic source of entertainment.

Rory shrugged. “I mean, I don’t expect to run around dodging monster attacks and flinging spells like a wizard with a gun. My arthritis isn’t magically gone. But this just means I won’t be as… helpless as I used to be.”

“That’s certainly helpful.”

Rory wasn’t sure if Truck was making fun of him or not, so he decided to let the comment pass. They moved on. It was nice to see that most of the traps at the back were intact, and that Ned was still keeping a watch on their cars.

“Something has been baffling me for quite a while,” Truck said when they had reached the southwestern area. “Do you think you can create a Sigil of Entertainment?”

Rory almost fell over at the question. “What?”

“I have no restrictions on using Sigils, and the idea has been occurring to me that I wouldn’t need to be dependent on others for my entertainment if I could make my own. Makes sense, no?”

“What exactly am I supposed to Weave to make a Sigil of Entertainment?”

“If only I knew. I am but a mere Observer. You are the Weaver here, dear man. Pray, find something. My soul is famished, I say, famished.”

“Hmm, why don’t you help me figure out a problem then?”

“What problem? I am here to be entertained, not suffer through more tedium.”

“Of course. But you owe me, remember.”

Truck grumbled.

Rory smiled, then explained the new problem that his mind had cooked up while he’d been going around the palace, fixing the traps. They were the issue. All of them erupted out of the ground, killing any monsters that accidentally tread on them. But that left the sky too open. They hadn’t been attacked by another Detonetal or those flying raptors yet, but they had no protection against creatures that could take to the air.

“Then you must create a trap to focus on flying beasts,” Truck said.

Rory nodded. “Clearly. I just haven’t been able to figure out a solution to the problem just yet.”

They lapsed into contemplative silence. Of course, Rory was still trying to fix the traps. It had just turned into a rote action that allowed his mind to wander, thus arriving at the problem itself.

“Perhaps your staff will do the trick,” Truck said at some point.

“My staff?” Rory raised the skull-topped metal rod. “How…”

Rory recalled its specialty was ice. Ice could freeze. Somehow, the donkey was suggesting Rory figure out how to freeze any flying creatures, which would make them fall and thus trigger the killing traps on the ground.

That was actually an interesting idea. Though, as furiously as Rory’s mind worked, he wasn’t sure how he was going to go about making that a reality.

Options. He needed to keep his options in mind. Rory had Sigils of Lightning, Rending Blizzard, Ice. All of those could stop a flying monster in its tracks. He just needed to be sure of what he could do with it.

Well, nothing was going to be gained by just thinking. Rory retrieved his backpack from the hall—where the newcomers were receiving a joint lecture from Dez and Viv, which must have tickled her fancy to no end—and pulled out the required Sigils. There was one Sigil of Rending Blizzard with a dark brown circle around it, indicating Umber Tier, so he ignored that and used one that was in Cerulean. He was thankful for the lich’s powers.

Next, he Warded a Sigil of Lightning into the ground. As soon as it was inserted and Rory had dropped a few flakes of Mana on top, the Sigil sparked to life. Minuscule electric arcs shot into the air, rising no higher than his knee.

Hmm. That was weak. If Rory wanted the lightning to strike monsters out of the sky, he was going to have to make the Sigil stronger. Or…

As he put another flake of Mana on the Warded Sigil, and more lightning sparked out, Rory used his Weaving on the sparks of electricity. He couldn’t believe when the tiny lines of white light left him with a blue Sigil, its image depiction arcs of electricity waving in the air.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Electric Field. Bolts from the blue are so passe and overdone. Here’s a different shape for you—and ambiguous field in the air.

[Cerulean III] allows electric charge summoning in a 10-meter radius.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Uncommon

Tier: Cerulean III [0%]

Efficiency: Low [23%]

“They were right,” Rory said. “This is definitely a hack.”

“How is that?” Truck asked.

“Well, I just wove a Cerulean III Sigil from the effects of a Sigil that was Argent IV. All I had to pay was a little bit of Mana from it.”

Truck brayed in appreciation. Rory used his Weaving to remove the older Sigil of Lightning and replaced it with a Sigil of Electric Field. Another sprinkle of Mana caused sparks to fly several feet into the air, though these sparks were muted. Good enough.

Rory used his Weaving on it to get another Sigil of Electric Field. Summoning another blizzard, he used his Weaving to get more Sigils of Ice and Rending Blizzard. All that was left was making sure he had the other Sigils he’d need. Those included nothing more than the Sigils of Automation, Activation, and Monstrous Essence.

Weaving them all together, Rory received a grey-blue Sigil. Its image showed the picture of a cube of ice surrounded by electricity.

New Sigil!

You’ve obtained a Sigil of Frozen Lightning. Set a trap for your enemies with ice and lightning, shocking them in place.

[Cerulean IV] allows creation of minor 0.5-meter Frozen Lightning traps.

Stats

Type: Element

Rarity: Remarkable

Tier: Argent I [0%]

Efficiency: Medium [25%]

Rory Warded the Sigil nearby. He just needed to test it now. Good thing that the spikes thrown up by the Warded Sigils of Flarespike Mine didn’t disappear over time. Well, their fires slowly burned them out, leaving a pile of crumbly ash, but the spikes themselves didn’t disappear like other Sigils’ effects normally did after they’d fulfilled their purpose.

The spikes thrown up by recent monsters hadn’t completely burned away yet. Rory was able to scrounge up a flaming chunk. He put out the little fire by stabbing it into the ground. Then he threw it over the spot where he’d Warded the other Sigil.

Lighting flashed, ice bursting out immediately afterwards to freeze the Flarespike chunk almost seven feet up. A second later, the ice cracked and more lightning flashed, A crack of thunder blistering through the area.

Rory grinned, waving away the steam and the smell of stormy ozone. The new trap had worked.

Now, all he’d need to do was make sure he could recreate similar Sigils

He turned to Truck. “Are you not entertained?”

“Your ingenuity at your use oof your Weaving is certainly eye-catching,” the donkey said.

“You sound begrudging.”

“A slice-of-life can be nice entertainment every so often, but one ought to spice it up with a helping of life-slicing every now and then.”

“I’m going to refuse to comment on that.”

Rory used his Weaving to make a few more Sigils of Frozen Lightning. He was just starting to figure out where he could best Ward similar Sigils so as not to overlap with the existing traps when a shout came from the direction of the palace. He thought they were alarmed by the noise of the thunder, but it appeared the reason was quite different.

“You need to hear this,” Ned said. The urgency in his voice was a little frightening. “It’s Trish and Allen.”

Rory forgot all about Weaving and Warding and headed over to the palace as fast as his tired legs could carry him. He came to a huffing stop when they final reached the column where he had Warded a Sigil of Calling.

Trish’s voice crackled in all of a sudden. “Help!” Her voice tinny and distant. “Can you hear me? We need your help. Quickly, please!”