Now that they had rested for a few hours after the Misericord attack, they got busy trying to fix up their destroyed palace. Of course, they couldn’t rebuild the tower or take care of much of the structural damage that the Misericords had dealt. Thankfully, Rory had an idea for that.

“You were attacked by unkillable monsters?” Talvic asked.

Rory was about to nod, then realized the minelord wouldn’t be able to see it through his walky-talky. “They’re Misericords. They can’t be harmed by Sigils, but that doesn’t mean they’re unkillable.”

“What primitive methods did you employ to kill them then?”

Primitive methods? Rory shook his head. The dwarf had a point. “Whatever we had on hand. Assault rifles, spades and brooms, entire towers.”

“Towers?”

Rory laughed. “That’s why I’m calling, minelord. We’ve had to destroy our tower—alright, I destroyed the tower—to kill the Misericords. Unfortunately, we don’t have the skills or manpower to build it back up.”

“And you think we’re versed in human architecture and engineering?”

“Well… I wouldn’t mind a tower made of clouds.”

“Yes, yes you would. Misericords can rip through those with surprising ease.”

“Even with lightning repelling them?”

“The lightning is fuelled by Sigils. So yes, these new monsters of yours would tear through the clouds with consummate ease.”

“That is a problem.”

Talvic sighed through the walky-talky. “I can send Devrum and a few others who are versed in building. They may be able to assist or come up with ways you can help yourselves. However, I doubt it will be cheap.”

“I’ll hear the quote from your dwarf builders themselves, if you don’t mind.”

“As you will. In the meantime, as I am required to ask of all my business partners due to vested business interest, will you survive?”

Rory actually paused to consider the question. “Well, I certainly hope we will. I can’t be certain, of course. I doubt anyone can. But we’re taking precautions and making preparations for further attacks, so we won’t be unprepared at least.”

“That is something.”

“Yes.”

Talvic cut the call off soon after, promising he’d try to find out more about the Misericords from his end as well. Apparently, he didn’t know about them.

Not surprising, considering they hadn’t properly understood the mystery of their underground insanity. The dwarves didn’t seem to be a culture that focused much on gathering “extraneous” knowledge.

With that side of the issue taken care of, Rory headed back to the column where he had Warded the Sigil of Settlement. It was also where Viv was waiting for him.

“Dwarf dealt with?” she asked.

“Yes,” Rory said, explaining what Talvic had said and how they would be hosting dwarf visitors at some point, probably soon. “I could have left the call for later, you know.”

“Yes, but we’re growing old, dear. We might have forgotten.”

“Your memory is sharper than it ever was.” Rory thought for a second. “Think it’s your Sigil of Prime?”

Viv got a thoughtful look too. “Could be, now that I think about it.”

She stepped back from the column to give Rory some space to use his Warding. He pulled out the Sigil of Crafting Station. But before he plopped it in, he checked the [Settlement Status] again.

[Settlement Status]

Belcourt Palace

Type: Base

Leader: Rory McIlroy

Tier: Cerulean IX [14%]

Stats

Population: 53

Area of Influence: 125m2

Treasury: 24,620 Mana, 25 Credits

Defences [Selectable]

Passive Reconstruction [Major]

-

Components

Sigil of Shelter: Ordinary, [Teal II]

Sigil of Finance: Uncommon, [Cerulean V]

Sigil of Security: Remarkable, [Cerulean X]

Sigil of Produce: Exceptional, [Cerulean VIII]

Sigil of Healing: Remarkable, [Cerulean X]

Sigil of Learning: Exceptional, [Cerulean VII]

Sigil of Energy: Remarkable, [Teal II]

Rory tutted as he pulled himself out of the system’s interface. There were a few strange things he had noticed, things that had likely come about as a result of the Misericord’s vicious attack.

But the important point was that there was no extra slot in the components. No place he could put the Sigil of Crafting Station yet.

“Problem?” Viv asked.

“There’s no space to Ward in the Sigil of Crafting Station,” Rory said. “Though, the Settlement’s at Cerulean IX, so not far from reaching Teal.”

“At which point, it should get an extra slot?”

“Hopefully.”

“Hmm.” Viv put her hands under her chin as she considered. “Which of the Settlement Sigils are close to Teal?”

Rory looked at her. “Are you suggesting I should try to Weave in those Sigils and manually raise the Settlement’s Tier?”

“That would be the fastest, right?”

“True. Hmm, I wish we could use the extra Tiers we got from the Sigil of Quests.”

They decided to figure out how best they could brute-force the Settlement’s Tier to rise. The only way to obtain Settlement Sigils was by Weaving the appropriate structure. So, for Sigils of Shelter, Rory was going to need to Weave away houses and the like. Banks for Finance, Hospitals for Healing, Schools for Learning, and on and on.

The big problem for that was everything of the kind lay well outside the Safe Zone’s perimeter. With how dangerous it was outside, it would be a perilous journey to get the Sigils they needed, at best.

At worst, they wouldn’t be as lucky in their next encounters, and they’d all die.

“What if you tried Weaving the things here?” Viv asked. “The place we sleep for a Sigil of Shelter, maybe a part of the library to get another Sigil of Learning.”

“I thought about it, but it would likely Weave away enough of those areas to cause structural problems to the palace. Of course, I could be wrong, but I don’t want to take that chance. At least, not until we have a professional opinion.”

“Like from the dwarves?”

Rory nodded.

“Well, didn’t you only have to weave a small amount of the bank to get a Sigil of Finance.”

“Yes, but that was some low Argent Tier. That’s not going to be helpful here.”

“Fair.” Viv seemed to have relented the idea, but then her eyes sharpened. “But wait, we do have areas we can Weave without worrying about harming the palace.”

Rory’s eyes widened at the same time. “You mean the tower and the garden? That’s brilliant, Viv.”

She laughed. “You thought of it at the same time, too, dear. And don’t forget, you might be able to get the barricades too.”

He grinned. “Let’s go see if that actually works.”

They went outside, where most people had moved to. Almost everyone who had decided to begin working was busy trying to clear the debris and free up the courtyard.

Rory wondered what they were going to use it for. If their gardens and barricades were going to continue to be destroyed, the only point in rebuilding them in the courtyard was if they added some stronger protections for them.

Dez, Malcolm, April, and her family had gathered around the broken courtyard garden to try and make some space for themselves. They paused when they saw Rory coming over.

“Hello,” he said brightly. “I’m here to relieve you all of the difficult task of cleaning. Unless there’s something specific you wanted to salvage?”

April looked on morosely at the remains of the plants she had brought up. She looked as though someone had murdered her children. “I don’t think I can salvage anything that’s going to make those monsters pay for this, so no. Go ahead.”

Rory nodded, then activated his Weaving as the rest of them stepped back. He made sure to focus the white lines on the ruins of the garden—the dead plants, the pieces of wood used to help some of them grow and erect a short fence, the ruined earth, and everything else in the vicinity that made up the courtyard garden.

Amazingly, it worked. Rory was soon in possession of another Sigil of Produce. It was at Teal IV, just as he needed it to be, though it had made sure to leave nothing but a long and shallow rectangular crater in the patch of earth before them.

“You got it?” Viv was staring at his hand.

Rory showed her the Sigil. “I think we can get the other Sigils this way too.” He looked around, grimacing a little. “Well, the ones that are lying around here.”

“While you do that, I’ll start figuring out how to rebuild my garden,” April said.

Bo squeezed her shoulder while she looked on forlornly at what used to be her pride and joy. Sure, she had the rooftop garden to tend to as well, but it was obvious this had meant a lot.

“Don’t worry, April,” Rory said. “Next up is another Sigil of Security from the fallen tower. If I can get it to Teal, I think we can come up with something that’ll help in case… something like this happens again.”

She nodded, then steeled her expression, possibly realizing she was looking a little more devastated than she’d liked to have appeared. April began directing the others to get started. She didn’t spare anyone, save Rory and Viv, and none of them looked like they wanted to start taking a crash-course in gardening, but they couldn’t go against April either.

Rory smiled and left them to it. He and Viv went to where most of the tower had crashed down.

That was honestly half the entire courtyard. But after some observation, Rory and Viv decided that most of the debris was around the gate, so he began his Weaving there. Of course, Rory could spread the range of his Weaving much farther if necessary.

Everyone working on clearing up the courtyard was happy to pause and let Rory get to it. Some of them looked a little miffed at not having much to do, but they’d had their fill of being busy after they’d seen just how much effort was needed to properly clean the courtyard. Rory smiled and threw out his storm of white lines everywhere to catch all the broken rubble and masonry.

Soon enough, just as they had surmised, Rory had a Sigil of Security in his hand. He showed the gleaming crystal to Viv.

“I think these two might just be enough,” he said. “Teal IV both of them.”

Viv started walking towards the palace. “Let’s find out. Though, I wish your Weaving would start advancing faster.”

“Yeah…” He sighed. “Oh well, let’s focus on what we can advance for now.”

Back inside the main hall, Trish and Allen were trying to convince the Homeworlders to lend a hand in the palace clean-up. They all stared when Rory announced that he had taken care of most of the cleaning.

“What are we going to do, then?” Allen asked.

“Actually.” Viv’s eyes were on the Homeworlders with the kind of sharp glance that made some of them take a step back. “I want you guys to start sparring with some of our new friends. They have a lot of experience fighting monsters, maybe even more than us in some cases. I’m sure there’s a lot we can learn.”

The Homeworlders seemed unsure what to make of that. Allen’s eyes had narrowed at Viv’s emphasis, and Rory had to imagine she was trying to get the Homeworlders to reveal their powers, which Allen had picked up on.

Though, that also made him wonder what the real difference in their Sigils’ strength was. Those Homeworlders who had tried to abduct Rory, including Aaron, had been frighteningly strong.

“I can help once I’m done with the Settlement here,” Rory said.

Aaron stared at Rory for a while before nodding at his Homeworlder companions to follow. “We’ll see what we can do.”

As Aaron, Sylvia, and the other Homeworlders led Trish and Allen to the now-clear courtyard, Rory walked over to the column with the Sigil of Settlement Warded into it. He added the new Sigils of Security and Produce to it. A little excited, he popped in to check the [Settlement Status].

[Settlement Status]

Belcourt Palace

Type: Base

Leader: Rory McIlroy

Tier: Cerulean X [57%]

Stats

Population: 53

Area of Influence: 125m2

Treasury: 24,620 Mana, 25 Credits

Defences [Selectable]

Passive Reconstruction [Major]

-

Components

Sigil of Shelter: Ordinary, [Teal II]

Sigil of Finance: Uncommon, [Cerulean V]

Sigil of Security: Remarkable, [Teal IV]

Sigil of Produce: Exceptional, [Teal IV]

Sigil of Healing: Remarkable, [Cerulean X]

Sigil of Learning: Exceptional, [Cerulean VII]

Sigil of Energy: Remarkable, [Teal II]

Rory stared at the Cerulean X. (57%). So close.

“What’s wrong?” Viv asked, looking at his expression carefully.

“Forty-three percent, Viv.” Rory turned his disbelieving look to Viv. “We just need a couple more Sigils around the same level and we’ll have the Settlement itself at Teal.”

“The question is, where do we get more of the Sigils we need…”

That was the true question, one Rory didn’t have an easy answer. Well, not within the palace grounds.

But then, they didn’t really need the Sigils themselves so much as they needed to raise their Tiers. It was obvious from a glance at the [Settlement Status] that it was the Sigil of Finance holding them back.

Thankfully, Rory knew just the trick that could help elevate it.

He walked over and caught up to Sylvia before she had left with the rest of the Homeworlders to the rear of the palace, where Trish and Allen wanted to perform their sparring sessions.

“What’s up?” she asked, peering at him curiously.

“I want to form a deal,” Rory said.

“Oh? You know what, hold up a sec.” She suddenly jogged away from him before reappearing a few moments later with Aaron in tow. “Now, let’s talk.”

“Sylvia said something about a deal?” Aaron asked.

“Yep,” Rory said. He hadn’t wanted to reveal his intentions regarding the Crafting Station before figuring out he could incorporate it as part of his business, but now was as a good a time as any. “I’m thinking about building a crafting station, specifically making weapons that can kill monsters like the Misericords, on whom Sigils don’t seem to work.”

“That’s a pretty cool idea. Did you need our help to do that?”

“Technically, in a way, yes. All I need from you guys is to agree with this deal—in return for any weapon that you commission, I need some Mana in exchange. This is going to be both the Mana needed to operate the Crafting Station, and a small amount of profit Mana. Sound fair?”

“It does. Do you have any more details about what you’re offering or charging?”

“Not at the moment, sadly. I need to first figure out what I can make, and then decided what would be appropriate to charge for it. But for the purposes of this discussion, let’s make that to one weapon will require 100 Mana. Good enough, I hope?”

“Uh…”

“Fair enough to make a deal, I should say. It will be revised when I learn just how much Mana is needed to make different kinds of things. But for now…” Rory extended his hand to Aaron, who took it and gave it a strong squeeze as they shook. “Good deal, partner.”

Aaron lips gave a faint ghost of a smile. “Good deal.”

It was odd. Not long ago, Rory had been nearly abducted and forced to relinquish the strongest Sigil in his arsenal by this man. Well, his group, at least.

Internally, Rory still cringed a bit at the forming a deal with someone who, in an ideal situation, would much rather prefer to see behind bars. Definitely not anywhere near him. The fact that this apocalypse had twisted the scenario enough to make a deal like this a necessity… well, he could at least be proud that it was a win for his rational side.

“You don’t happen to have a camping bag or tent or something like that, do you?” Viv asked.

They all stared at her for a moment.

“Why is that… needed?” Rory asked. Then it clicked. “Oh, the Sigil of Shelter!”

Viv smiled broadly. “Yes!”

“What?” Aaron asked, looking between the two of them. “What’s this Sigil of Shelter?”

Rory quickly explained how his Sigil of Settlement provided multiple slots for him to insert more Sigils that could help customize his Settlement. It seemed that, despite their knowledge of Sigils, they didn’t know how Settlements worked.

But what they did know was that some of them had set out with supplies, some of which contained camping bedrolls, tents, tentpoles, and the like. That would suffice.

Sylvia led Rory to where they had stashed everything they had brought to the palace. It was in one of the side chambers in the palace’s left wing, and it was more than Rory had suspected. After she pulled out some camping paraphernalia, Rory used his Weaving and focused on the idea of the things providing shelter.

That worked too. Rory had a shiny, new Sigil of Shelter at Teal IV in his hand.

“You’re going to pay us for that, right?” Aaron asked.

Viv waved a dismissive hand. “Yeah, yeah.”

Rory was too busy hurrying back to the Sigil of Settlement. He Warded the new Sigil into the column, then quickly checked the [Settlement Status] one more time.

New Achievement!

Base Builder! You’ve taken your Settlement to yet another level. Amazing. Soon enough, you’ll be hopping between the stars in the comfort of your home.

Rewards

You have unlocked Colony advancement for your Base.

Rory laughed. “It worked. It all actually worked.”

He turned around and beamed at them all, and they beamed back.