The Empires Rise

With two new buildings in the queue and three more available, I am looking at the last options that would help soon. "Alright, we have just the gatehouse and the moat building right now. I considered building three different training buildings so everyone could get more efficient training for their classes. What does everyone else think?" I announce to the group.

"Again, Drake, I don't think anyone would have an issue with us having those buildings. I would be curious as to what else those buildings might offer. They seem a bit lackluster in their descriptions. Is there any way to get more information?" Dreamish asks.

"Let me check," I respond to her. Mentally sending my inquiry to PUN, I ask the same question. I don't get a response. Then I remembered Ritotorous might be able to help in this situation, so I asked him the same question.

"Well, Drake, these buildings offer little more than what they offer. I can tell you that most buildings have bonuses if the right circumstances happen." That is the response I get.

"Anything else you can tell me?"

"No, I can't tell you anything else as that would be against my role as a guide and just telling you what you need to do." He replies with a bit of snark.

"Fine," throwing my hands up in defeat once again. I relay the little information he has provided me to everyone else in the room.

"Hmm, that sounds interesting. I'm curious about the specific requirements for the training buildings," Dreamish ponders.

"I think I might have an idea, but I won't be able to see if it is right until the buildings are built," Laxreal says.

"Alright, I will get the rest of the buildings situated so we have a full roster of buildings in the queue," I announce. As I finish saying this, I go into the menus again and select all the training buildings. I choose the space near the walls. It is flat terrain and right next to the gatehouse, so we have easy access for defense when the attack does come.

Last but not least, I bring up the resource outpost. Where should we use it? I know we want to upgrade it with the other token that we have, but I don't know if it is wise to build it at this point."

"You are afraid that the attack might destroy it if it gets in the way, right?" Xelyphe asks.

"Correct, I don't know what we will be facing, and even if we get some defenses with the outpost, there is no guarantee that we will be able to hold onto it since we don't have many people currently." I acknowledge, "Even if we had enough people, splitting them now wouldn't be wise. Not many people have gone out to get more levels. Yes, there are the ones who joined us in the extermination missions, but we need them to also level up before tomorrow."

"Those are fair points, Drake. We can't account for everything that will pop up. We should wait to add the resource outpost until we know it is safer. As for right now, all we can do is hope everyone quickly grasps the opportunities to get stronger as fast as possible so we might all survive," Shadow says.

With nods all around at the idea of delaying the resource outpost positioning, I think it is time for everyone to get to their tasks in preparation, which I also announced to them.

Thinking of something, I head up to where the Lord's Chest is and proceed to pull out the last of the Wood Instant Completion Token and use it on the moat, as well as a Bronze Time Reduction Token to use on the gatehouse. This frees up Oria to be assigned to one of the other buildings and leaves only 1 hour and 55 minutes left for the gatehouse.

Putting Oria on the Infantry Training Yard reduces the time until completion by only 1%, but I feel that the experience needed to level up his profession is getting close. Thinking about this, I also get the wooden spike traps in the moat. While placing the spike traps, I quickly noticed I only had one piece of tier 1 wood left. This left me just over 99 meters of my moat without spike traps.

With a sigh, I head to my room to meditate on my veins again, hoping to clear more of them. Going up to my room, I sit down to start practicing my mana circulation and force more mana through my veins.

As it is running through, I can feel it reach my head with ease before continuing down my neck again and heading towards my arms again before getting stopped mid-way through my chest. Slowly, I start building up the mana in hopes that it will be able to push through and clear it out. For an hour, there is nothing but pain as the mana continues to build before finally, at the end of the second hour, it pushes through and, with a rush, it flows towards my right leg. I get a notification then.

- Mana Veins is 54% complete. -

With a heavy sigh, continue for another hour. While I can feel the mana building up like before, there isn't enough time to continue pushing forward. However, after finishing my third hour of Mana Circulation, I get another notification.

- Congratulations, your skill, Mana Circulation, has reached level 2. -

This puts a smile on my face. I get up and stretch my body. Going outside, I find that everything is progressing, but I do notice that at least a dozen people are missing. Walking around, I do find Muiress. "Where is everyone?"

"Well," He starts, "Based on what you all have discussed earlier, a couple of groups are headed out right now to explore more. And while they are out, those inside have been working on our professions. And by the way, when do you think I could get my abode? Vranjaya hasn't been able to give me a lick of rest since I have been stuck in the same building as her."

Looking closely, I can see dark bags under his eyes. "What, can't handle a little fan girl?"

"NO!" he hollers. It is more than that. She insists that we should 'Rebuild the population.' I can't even explain how she thinks we must do that."

"Has anyone told her you were all summoned and time has frozen on your planets?"

"Oh. I have tried repeatedly. But does that help? No. She still insists that we try anyway." He looks at me as if begging me to find a way to keep them separated.

Seeing this, I relent. "Okay, give me a couple of hours, and I will make sure that your abode is next on the list of things that need to be done."

"Thank you," he exclaims, "I can finally leave that nagging naga!"

"So...." I start again, "People are working on their professions, right?"

"Yes, and might I say, enchanting is different than I would have thought."

"How so? Isn't it just inscribing some runes or patterns onto equipment?"

"That's how it used to be for me. Now, there are all these new rules, and," he raises his hands and does air quotes, "mini-games."

"Mini-games? To enchant something?"

"It feels more like mazes and puzzles. That is why I-" He cuts himself off and starts running away.

Feeling quite confused, I look around to see the situation, only to see a blur of scales and hissing.

"Muiress, wait for me!" Vranjaya trails after him.

"And there goes my potential teacher." Huffing about the inconvenience, I proceed onto the enchanting hut.

Once I entered the industry side of the settlement, I looked around. I first noticed that every building had a sign hanging near or on the door. Quickly finding the building with the tool's design, I remembered, and I entered inside.

Looking around the room, I find a couple of tables for working and an empty shelf. Proceeding forward, I approach one of the tables. Nothing happens when I get there, but a notification appears when I set my hands on the table.

- Profession check: Passed

Available tools: None found

Unable to use Enchanting Table at this time. -

Thinking about it, I realize I did leave my enchanting items at the manor. I go back, grab my tools, and return. I find that Muiress has started working on one of the tables.

"So, you managed to lose her?" I asked.

"Yes," he pants, "Though no thanks to you."

I shrug my shoulders at him. "It's not like I could have done anything. You just took off without trying to hit at what was happening."

He gives me a death glare. "Context, Drake, context. What were we talking about before I had to run off?"

"Oh, well, sorry. I don't have the best idea as to why someone might run off because they have girl troubles." I say with as much sarcasm in my voice as I can muster. "It's not like I had any of those issues before coming here."

"I guess that makes sense." Giving me one last look, he asks, "Why are you only getting here now?"

"Well, you see, I might have forgotten to bring my tools along, so I had to run back and grab them."

"Couldn't you have used my tools?" He asks.

"No?" I give him a confused look, "When I entered, there wasn't anything on the tables."

Seeing my confusion, he asks one more question. "And what did you see on the shelves?"

Thinking I understood where he was coming from, I answered, "There was nothing there as well."

"So, in your own words, there was nothing on the table I am at currently and nothing on the shelves. How about now?"

"I see your tools now on the table. But I still don't see anything on the shelves."

"Interesting."

"Why is that interesting?"

"Well, Drake, when I came in the room, there wasn't anything on the tables like you, but I assumed that that was because no one had come in and placed their tools on the table. But from my observation, plenty of parchment is on the shelves."

"Wait, you're telling me something is on the shelves right now?"

"Yes."

"Why can't I see it then?"

"I have an idea about why that might be the case. It must be because you haven't been subject to enchanting from your home world. At least in any way that would correlate to how this world's enchanting works."

"But why could you see something when you were just as confused about how to enchant?"

"That is because some theories have transferred to this world. I have started to look for similarities, but nothing has stood out as of this moment other than how to use mana to enchant..." Then there is static. While I can see his mouth moving, I can't understand anything he is saying anymore. That is when I received my fourth notification today.

- As you are in the Enchanter's Hut, there is a time limit of how long parties might collaborate and how much knowledge can be shared between parties. This time will be reset after a week, or it can be extended by upgrading the building. Please experiment and further your studies of enchanting. -

Seeing I have stopped listening to him, Muiress stops talking. When he also receives his own notification, shaking his head, he continues with his studies.