Welcome to Rhamiel, A Civilization Core LitRPG

“This… this is it?” the young Elf teen commented upon arriving at the clearing with the few standing buildings. “It looks almost like a ruin, but ruins are built with other stuff, you know?”

“It’s a work in progress!” Rhamiel defended himself. “I was born a few days ago and still have a way to go!”

“Calm down,” Dad scolded both of them. I warned all of you about this, so don’t worry too much. Rhamiel has a Perk that gives him workers who do not need to rest. It may take time, but we will have a settlement up in no time, mainly if we help, okay?” He looked a little more earnestly at the one principal commenter. “Okay, Moran?”

The young Elf, who was correctly identified, grunted, looked away from Corinth, and nodded.

“I doubt I have to get ascent from you, Rhamiel?” he asked, looking up at the sky.

“Nope, I one-hundred percent agree. My Drones are nice, but I need to work with people to reach the highest heights of my glory!” Rhamiel proudly declared.

“So, in other words, we’re doomed,” another unknown stated glumly. “I really wished that you had said so days ago, I would have liked to die with a full stomach and-”

“Nope!” shouted Dad, stopping the young man from continuing. “I will not have your doom talk on my watch. We will survive this, and our descendants, your descendants, will look back at you and be thankful.”

The young man shrugged, “I doubt it. I doubt we will survive this, I doubt my children will be grateful, and I doubt that I will stop my ‘doom talk.’ Sir,” he finished with a kind of tired respect. “I also doubt I will ever have children, but that is neither here nor there.”

“Yule Lohk,” Dad said with sympathy. “Come on, we had better get started. Maybe keeping busy is the best thing for all of us, eh?”

“Whatever,” Yule sighed.

It took Rhamiel a moment to search his memory and remember why that name was familiar. He quickly whispered to Dad as they entered the clearing, “Lohk? As in, one of the people we needed? Why?”

Dad rubbed at his temples, “Ah, I forgot you heard that. He’s needed because he was the apprentice to our alchemist, and he can make our potions, medicines, and many other things.”

“Oh, cool,” Rhamiel said excitedly. “I have no idea what that is, but I am excited to find out. What about the other guy, uh, Hutch?”

“He’s our builder, our main builder,” Dad nodded. “He’s the guy who trains other builders while building stuff himself. He’s useful for keeping around for building stuff and maintenance. I think you’ll like him a lot. I don’t know if he’ll like you, though.”

“What?” Rhamiel asked, shocked at this knowledge. “Why? I like building stuff; he builds stuff; that’ll be great!”

“You’ll see once he sees your Library,” Dad grimaced and shook his head.

“Dad!!” Joselin yelled happily as she saw him leading the group. She hurried over, moved into a sprint, and hugged him tightly. “I’m glad you survived the ordeal.”

He pulled away from her, looking at her with a smile. “I can see why your mother left them behind. It took all of my mental fortitude not to shoot the man myself. Would you like to do the honors, System Guide, or would you like to have Rhamiel do it?”

It took her long moments to understand what he meant by that. While her mind raced to understand, the people stared at the few buildings built around them. The single-standing storage shed and the two primary dwellings stood proudly as basic structures for them to observe. But most of them stared at the Architect’s Library, which was being built with incredible speed. The Builder Drones moved in an almost blur as they took the readied pieces and moved them into place.

“Well, someone needs to welcome them properly with a small speech, don’t they?” Dad told her. “Would you like to do it, or Rhamiel?”

“Oh, right,” Joselin said after long moments of not comprehending her father. “Ni, I think I better do it.”

“My advice is to give them hope, but not too much,” Dad said.

Rhamiel found that incredibly unhelpful, but Joselin nodded and stepped forward.

“Stand up straight,” Dad whispered, an action she quickly followed.

Everyone’s eyes turned to look at her as she became the most prominent person before them. Many seemed to recognize her, looking at her differently, while others seemed confused.

“Hello, everybody. I know most of you from Patrov, but for those who don’t, my name is Joselin Setalla. I was a Ranger in training before the Werejackal attack.”

There was a low murmuring from amongst the crowd. Joselin waited a few seconds before continuing. Rhamiel caught all of what was said and stuff about Joselin and wondered why she was up there.

“When the attack on our home happened, I was separated from my parents and forced to run into the wilds. I evaded many monsters along the way, like Great Bears, several hordes of Withered Wretches, and even a Berserker Molded Gel Boss,” she paused, murmurs running through the assembled crowd. Mom was standing outside the crowd, listening to her daughter’s words.

“All the while, the Werejackals never stopped chasing me. Three Werejackals pursued me all night, and I attacked back when I could, running my arrows out and breaking my dagger on the first two. The last one caught me not far from here, at the edge of an aperture nearly crevice that led into a cave system, where a new Core had fallen.”

She took a deep breath before continuing, which was an excellent place to pause, in Rhamiel’s opinion. “I was tired, wounded, almost ready to give up. We were fighting in the cavern’s darkness when, out of nowhere, a rock appeared and fell on the monster’s head, killing it. The rock appeared using Dungeon Core magic, and the Core used it to save me; it seemed confused when I asked why. It had no concept of why I thought it was going to kill me.’

“Seriously, what in the Madness is this tripe?!” asked an older man. The group parted enough that Joselin could see him.

He was stout but held a slight and perpetual hunch that was kept from going lower due to a tall piece of wood that looked uprooted recently; roots hung from the top of the item. The man was light-skinned and, unlike others, deathly pale. His clothes looked one size too big, torn, and dirty, and a thin strap held on his sandals. His graying hair was thinning a little, and his eyes looked slightly recessed, but his words still held life. “Are you telling me that a Spirit Core of any type would want to save us, to save you?”

Joselin hesitated but nodded, “Yes, I am. He saved me and became a type of Core that could save all of us—one that could build walls, houses, and anything else a civilization could need.”

“Why would you ever believe a Core?” he asked with blatant condescension. “We all have lost people in our lifetime. In the many lifetimes before us, my family stood against the Age of Decline, creating heroes who fought against the monsters and against the Bosses that plagued us. To no avail, they all inevitably gave up, died, or became something just as bad as the Bosses. And the Night of God’s Tears, the night that rained Cores upon our world, started it all. You, Core’s friends, started the slaughter of all of us! Why should we trust it or you when all of the rest of its kind are bloodthirsty abominations?”

Rhamiel noted the heavy silence that followed after his speech.

The silence was palpable, thick, and uncomfortable. Rhamiel debated whether to respond directly to these accusations; this man was besmirching his name. Before he could do that, Joselin folded her arms and stared at him with disdain.

“So, what can you do to secure the rest of our safety?” Joselin asked him, her tone sharpened with her ire. “I am seriously asking, Graham, how can you secure everyone’s safety? You know what? I’ll make it easier. Do you have any better ideas? Suggestions? Anything.”

Graham scowled, hunched over a little more as his entire form tensed. Rhamiel wished he knew what made the man like this—an unhinged shell of a man.

Curious, Rhamiel used Aspected Analysis to see what he could see.

Graham Tully

Species: Human. Aspects: Madness, Body, Holy.

Class: Sacred Fist Level 102

Attributes:Health:29. Mana:17. Stamina:27. Might:42. Dexterity:16. Mind:10. Spirit:30. Luck:11.

Skills: ???.

Perks: ???.

“Try not to get him too angry,” Rhamiel whispered to Joselin. His voice was low, trying to ensure no one else could hear his warning. “He’s over level one hundred, a Sacred Fist. Whatever that is. Seems a little crazy.”

“You sure?” Joselin whispered back. She did not break eye contact with the man, and her gaze was stern and challenging. “I didn’t know you could see people’s classes.”

“I listened to Mom and got a Perk. Just try not to rile him up too much, okay?” Rhamiel pushed, trying to be cautious with the man with Madness in his aspects list. He would have to ask Mom about people’s aspects and see what they might mean. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he had Madness and Holy Aspects; that sounded like a good combo.

“No, I don’t,” he said after almost half a minute of silence. “But that does not mean this idea is any good. Seriously, you are trusting a Core of all things. I would rather trust the Lord of Sundered Stars not to attack any of us on sight than any Core,” Graham stated defiantly. Looking around, I saw a small mutter amongst the crowd that seemed to agree with his statement.

“Who-” Rhamiel asked Joselin, who cut him off with a hiss.

“Later,” she told him as she gazed at the entire crowd for a long moment. “Then leave,” she told him. “Turino is a few days away from here; Anachron is closer if you can survive the monsters and the malady. Knowing you, Graham, you may do that. But we are here now. Rhamiel the Core is here now, and I trust him not to kill us all.”

There was a different mumbling through the crowd, this one of discontent. None of them wanted to return to the wilderness, nor did they want to face whatever a Butcher Fiend was again. One complained that they already got too close to Anachron and shook their head as if to clear away the memory.

“So, it sounds like you want us all to die to the monsters, then?” Graham lifted and slammed his staff into the ground. “How terrible of someone trying to have us all stay here. Would you have me and anyone else leave and risk death out there alone, without your parents?”

“What about mine?” Joselin asked, smirking now at the man’s confusion.

“What are you moaning about?” he accused, smirking as if he won the debate. “You were an apprentice ranger when you ran away. Young’un, there is no way you gained enough levels to matter in the scheme of things. Unless you managed to ‘Get Good’ and slew a World Boss in your escape attempt.”

“No, I didn’t. I gained a Subclass from the Core and a Perk that gave me Great Bane against creatures of…” She looked up the Perk in question. “Despair, Hate, or Fear, while all other forms of evil will take normal Bane Damage.”

“No way,” someone else said from within the crowd. Again, everyone parted from around the single person who spoke and revealed it to be Yule Lohk, the young man looking up at Joselin in surprise. “Can the Core give us powers like that?”

Joselin shrugged, “Maybe. I’ll admit that Rhamiel is still figuring out his capabilities. He did not get a System Guide automatically, which was the Subclass I gained. Who knows what the Core will be able to do next?”

“You know what I want to know!” A boisterous man shouted as he walked out of the crowd. He stood over six feet tall, had a heavily muscular build, and scratched at the stubble on his face as he looked past Joselin. He wore a heavy tunic, leather trousers, a leather vest, and a belt lined with tools that looked worn but taken care of. “What I want to know is what that giant shack is supposed to be?!”

“Shack?!” Rhamiel shouted indignantly. His voice rang out over the crowd as if he were thirty feet tall and all crouched for a long moment. “That is not a shack; it is a building that will be a cornerstone of my new civilization!”

“Cornerstone? That?” I saw better cornerstones buried underground for two hundred years and trampled on by giants. What is it supposed to be, a storehouse of some kind?”

“No, it is a building I got through a Perk. It is my architect’s Library, and it can generate building blueprints for me since they are in short supply. And who are you to judge the quality of my buildings?” Rhamiel asked, looking at the man’s profile.

Name: Hutch Teneruth

Species: Human. Aspects: Body, Mind, Craft.

Class: Craftsman Level 33.

Attributes: Health:15. Mana:10. Stamina:21. Might:21. Dexterity:18. Mind:11. Spirit:9. Luck:7.

Skills: Blueprint Proficiency 3, Hammer Proficiency 4, Construction 5, Tool Use 4.

Perks: Sure Grip, Accurate Grip, Eye For Details.

“Me? You can call me Hutch because it’s my name. But where are you? I want to look you in the face and explain what exactly is going on here and how you are doing ‘this’ wrong,” he waved a hand at the construction and squinted.

“That is none of your business; what is your business is that that building is-”

Congratulations, the Architect’s Library(Tier one) has been completed ahead of schedule due to your intervention. Extra experience has been awarded.

Rhamiel turned his attention away from Hutch and to his newest Building. The Architect’s Library was nothing special, and though he would not admit it, it did look like a bigger version of his Basic Dwellings. It was one hundred twenty feet wide, seventy-five feet long, and wholly built of wooden boards and rough bricks. On the inside, there were two stories. The lower floor was filled with bookshelves and large worktables, all made of the same wooden boards and bricks.

The second story was more interesting; the staircase led to a comprehensive open floor plan with more bookshelves covering the walls. More interesting was the stone altar standing in the middle of the floor; branching swirls and geometric lines formed a strange pattern along the space leading to each bookcase. Only one wall was not covered by a shelf and was covered with a rough carving directly into the wood. A design of a silhouette that had four arms with an item in each hand. A knife, a book, an orb, and a thorny wand, each held with delicate fingers.

“Whoa, Rhamiel, did the Library just finish?” Joselin asked, looking in front of her with a vacant stare. “Did you know this would be a Tier one building?”

“No, the Perk said nothing about that,” Rhamiel stated, looking closely at the details of the Building.

His focus was primarily on the image and the Altar on the second floor; it had been several minutes before he heard Hutch say, “So, are you going to allow us to look at it or not?”

“Depends,” Rhamiel stated, going silent again as he kept not purposefully looking at the rude Craftsman.

“On what?” Hutch groaned.

“If you are going to be nice,” Rhamiel told him seriously as he pulled up the building description.

Architects Library(Tier one). Perk Building. This is the lowest, easiest, and cheapest version of the Architects library that could be created without losing the Building’s main purpose, the ability to summon blueprints with magic. The Altar on the second floor, the many Eldritch symbols, and the image of Wisdom allow the magic to invoke blueprints stored within the System itself.

By channeling mana into the Altar, you create the chance for the Architect’s Library to summon the Blueprint of a random type of Building. The random aspect of the Blueprint includes magical properties, intended purpose, size, and requirements for the Building. Mana’s requirements for the Blueprint are unknown and random; it happens at the whims of Wisdom and Destiny.

Upgradeable, you have at least five blueprints in the Library, and when a forge, woodcutter, and stonecutter have been built.

Tier One of this Building grants the Citizen of Rhamiel with the Blueprint Proficiency Skill gain a free +1 Skill level while in this Building. Breaking the maximum Skill level while in the Building.

Rhamiel was both disappointed and excited about this new Building. He immediately began putting mana into the Altar and used his Structured Mindset Skill to focus part of his attention on channeling the mana. The other part of his attention was put towards Hutch, who took a deep breath.

“Fine, Core. I promise to be… nice,” Hutch promised with a heavy sigh.

“Okay, you can go inside. In fact, everybody, let’s go inside!” Rhamiel announced, though Joselin and Mom were already going inside.

Mom wildly hurried; something in her gaze was aimed toward the second floor even before she entered the Building. The floor beneath her boots creaked heavily as she rushed to the stairs immediately to the left of the entrance.

“Hey Mom! What’s wrong!” Joselin asked, hurrying after her.

She paused at the top of the stairs, looking over the Altar and the magical array with deep interest. She took a moment, extending a hand to cast spells that sent out clouds of colored sparks around them. If the spells did anything, then Rhamiel was not aware of it. She slowly walked around and observed the Altar, looking at the floor and loose stones that made up the Altar.

Then she froze as she saw the mural.

“Did you do that intentionally?” Mom whispered. She walked closer as if she expected the mural to attack her.

“No, the Drones did that automatically,” Rhamiel answered. “Why, is that bad?”

“Not necessarily,” Mom answered. “Just… be careful. Anything from the Outer Gods could be as much of a blessing as a curse, but some are better than others. This one depicts Wisdom, and Wisdom is probably the calmest of them.”

“That’s nice,” Rhamiel said, losing interest.

It turned its attention to decided to the groups on the first floor of the Library, listening to their conversations. People looked around with awe at the Building, a few making comments that seemed lukewarm but positive. They looked over the tables, the shelves, and the general room.

But Hutch, however, looked around with disdain. He knocked on every wood panel, looked over every piece of furniture, and pried at everything. He shook his head every few seconds and then moved on to the next item.

“No nails, no sealant, not even a single-” Hutch commented as Mom drew his attention.

“Are you already putting power into this Altar?” Mom asked, looking closely at the collection of stones in the middle of the array.

“Yeah, why?” he asked, a little concerned.

Mom furrowed her eyebrows, “it’s just… I can feel it. How much mana are you putting into it right now?”

Rhamiel took a moment to confirm, “Not much, just my passive Mana Recovery.”

Mom nodded, “Well, it’s not much, but be careful. If the wrong spell-user discovers this, they may try to steal the mana. Okay?”

The Core agreed, and Mom nodded in acknowledgment.

Returning his attention to Hutch, the man was taking notes in a small notebook when Rhamiel found him again. “So, uh, Hutch, Hutch the Builder Man, what do you think?”

The man let out a gruff sigh as he closed the notebook and spoke to the voice around him. “I think this… thing should not be standing. Without nails or screws, this thing should not be holding itself together. Without sealant, this thing is not weatherproof and will decay pretty quickly. And many first-year architecture students could have told you that you would need to reinforce these walls and that section of the second story,” Hutch pointed to the ceiling beneath where the Altar sat.

Taking a moment, Rhamiel could see why he was concerned. The floor beneath the Altar was flexing with the weight.

“Please tell me there is a but.”

He sighed deeply, “Yes, but something interesting about this Building is that I have been in buildings that have provided bonuses to people inside, but nothing like this. This is interesting.”

He went silent momentarily, turning around in a small circle and looking around the Building.

“And?”

“And I think I can work with this,” Hutch gruffed. “One of my perks says this is a Tier One Architects Library. Can it be upgraded?”

“Yes,” Rhamiel said, looking at the requirements. “When this Building has at least five blueprints, we have built a smithy, woodcutter, and a stonecutter. I can’t build any of those. I don’t have the blueprints,” the Core said, saddened at this news. “I guess I can wait until I unlock those blueprints through this place, but it’s random…”

“No, we can’t wait that long,” Hutch slammed a fist into one of the tables. “We have a lot of things to do here if we are going to survive here. Especially if we are to trust a Core to try and keep us safe,” he growled into the air. “With my Blueprint Proficiency Skill, I can draw up blueprints I know. Can I give them to you?”

“Yes, please do!” Rhamiel agreed happily. “I’ll take and build anything you can give me!”

“No,” Mom argued. “No, you won’t. There are some things we need here first before we start building. First, we need a wall. Do you know where Corinth is right now? He killed several Imps that would have gotten here otherwise, so we need to shore up our defenses first. Do you understand?!”

Rhamiel wished he had thought about that; he also wished he had noticed that Dad was fighting monsters, too. Turning his attention to one of his three only Citizens, he found him quickly enough. The man was using a knife to pry the teeth free from a small humanoid creature that looked sickly and wrong. Its limbs were too long, its teeth were misshapen, its skin was gritty and red-gray, and its eyes were too large and bleeding. It looked as different from anyone in his Domain as the Dryad-possessed goblin did from it, but worse.

Rotting Imp. Dead.

Rotting Imp. Dead.

Rotting Imp. Dead.

“Hey, uh, Dad, what’s going on?” Rhamiel asked, a little concerned that it had no idea that the fighting was going on.

He finished prying off several teeth, little bits of flesh sticking to the teeth. He tucked the teeth into the sack on his belt before commenting. “Keeping the group safe while Joselin introduced them. A group of Imps was roaming around, so I decided to kill them before they got too close. Luckily, Imp teeth make good ArrowCraft material. Why?”

“Oh, okay,” Rhamiel responded lamely. “Uh, Mom mentioned that you were fighting Imps. So I just wanted to come and check-in, I guess.”

Dad smiled, “Well, I can take care of these basic Imps easily enough. I’ll be fine if there is no Elite Imp with them. What’s going on right now that Elgeia would mention that I was fighting?” He said, smirking.

“Uh, we were discussing what we need to build first. Hutch suggested that we build a Smithy, Woodcutter, and Stonecutter. She said no and told us to build a Wall first. Is that a good idea?”

Dad nodded, “Yeah, it’s a good idea. We need some wall to help keep the monsters out. Why did you get a Wall Blueprint?”

“No, but Hutch was about to make me some Blueprints for those buildings and-”

“Get a Wall Blueprint first and then everything else,” Dad pushed immediately. “Until you build some defense, the few of us with Fighting Classes will have to work hard to keep monsters out. I mean, look, more monsters,” Dad pointed.

Out across the way, four Imps walked in and looked immediately towards the Library where everybody but him had congregated. The detail that confused him was that all three Imps looked precisely the same, with no variation in size or design. The only difference Rhamiel noticed was that their teeth and weapons differed. Each had different improvised weapons, dragging them through the dirt. One took a rusty machete, another a club, and the last an axe.

Dad withdrew an arrow from somewhere and aimed. “See what I mean. We need some defense before anything big or, Madness forbid, any Elites or Bosses come here.” He released the arrow, and it flew true; it whistled oddly through the air as it buried itself into its neck. A burst of blood hemorrhaged from the wound, and the Imp fell to the ground, dead from the first blow.

“I can take care of these Imps; just get to work, Rhamiel,” Dad instructed, readying the next arrow as he approached. The other two Imps squawked oddly as they zig-zagged toward Dad, swinging their weapons the whole way.

Rhamiel turned his attention back to Mom and found her looking over the Mural of Wisdom. “Alright,” he said, the sudden words making her jump. “I agree with your point of view. We need walls first.”

“Oh, great,” she nodded, irritation at being startled coloring her tone. “Then go talk to Hutch; I’ve had him working on some Blueprints for you since you went off to check on Corinth.”

“Oi, did I hear you mention my name?!” the man himself hollered from the first floor. Rhamiel followed the voice down and found the man with thick pieces of vellum, using a feather and what the Core assumed was ink to draw a schematic. “Seriously, Did the Core just come back? I’m unsure I can work with this Core if it will be this unfocused nuisance.”

“Really?” Rhamiel asked him, his displaced voice startling him, too. “Why? I’m a nice Core; we can get past that, right?”

“Ah!” he started, flinching back from Rhamiel’s voice and stepping away from the table. “Don’t do that. It’s unsettling,” he groaned.

“Oh, sorry,” Rhamiel said. He decided to move past his comments. He had been warned that not everybody would like him because he was a Core. He wanted to like Hutch, so he tried not to hold it against him. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, uh, fine. I mean, I was almost done with the Basic Wall blueprint. It won’t be pretty, and a stiff breeze will knock them down, but all we need is time, right?”

“Right!” Rhamiel agreed. He then asked, yelling, “Would you like to join my civilization?”

“Can you make more buildings like this one? Ones that give bonuses?” He asked bluntly.

“Probably. If I am being transparent, I had no idea this one would have that kind of bonus,” he admitted.

Joselin then decided to pop in from the crowd and proclaim, “They will! According to my System Guide, most buildings will have some special ability or usefulness within the living organism of Rhamiel’s City.”

That made sense; the primary Dwellings were where people slept, and the Basic Storage Shed was where materials were to be stored. He still had to build his Civil Center and figure out what a Remote Gathering Post should do, but he could believe they all had a specific or a Systemic use.

“Then I’m in!” shouted another voice from the crowd.

Yule Lohk stepped out of the crowd, his head held low, his back hunched, and his hands hid in his pockets. Everyone seemed to stare at the young man in surprise as he stood there for several long seconds in silence. “Ugh, what?”

Joselin blinked at Yule and leaned towards Mom, whispering, “he’s volunteering for something? I thought we would have to coerce him with food or something.”

Mom nodded, “Yule, Dear, do you understand what is happening here? You agree to live here in a Core’s… ahem, City. We don’t know when this place will come crashing down from a roaming Boss or, worse if it decides to eat us.”

“Then why are you here? Why did you join?” Yule asked. “Why are you warning me against this?”

“I… did I say I became a citizen?” Mom looked around, confusion painted across her face. “Joselin, did you tell them?”

“No. No one told us, but you just did. Not to mention that we all know you, Elgeia. If Joselin decided to become a citizen, then you would. It was guaranteed when Corinth told us about this whole citizen mechanic this Core has,” Yule explained, waving his hand dismissively at the mention of the citizen mechanic.

“Look,” he sighed. “Mother wanted me to complete her research, and this seems like the best way to do that. Then maybe I can move on guilt-free. Besides, we will all likely die from the Age of Decline. I would rather die in a city than on the road by some Bloodletter Vine.”

Silence followed his words, which seemed pensive.

“So, Core, can I become a Citizen?” Yule asked.

Yule Lohk has expressed an interest in joining your Settlement. Will you allow him to become a citizen in your Settlement? YES or NO?

Rhamiel mentally slammed on the yes option and was quickly met by another prompt.

You have gained a Citizen with a Tier 4 - Secret Rare Non-combat Class. Working to uplift certain exceptional Citizens can create unique synergies with you and allow the System to generate impressive and never-before-seen building designs.

Yule Lohk is a Specialized Alchemist derivative. Building him an alchemy lab would be an excellent way to begin.

And remember, Rhamiel, Together with your citizens, your potential is only limited by your understanding and level of limitations.

Curious, Rhamiel looked at Yule’s Profile.

Name: Yule Lohk

Species: Human. Aspects: Sorcery, Alchemy, Growth

Class: Alchemical Botanist level 23

Attributes:Health:10.Mana:18. Stamina:9. Might:8. Dexterity:12. Mind:20. Spirit:13. Luck:12.

Skills: AlchemyCraft Level 3, Nature Magic Level 2, PotionCraft Level 4, OilCraft Level 3, PoisonCraft Level 2, MedicalCraft Level 5, Harvesting Level 7.

Perks: Agile Mind, Innovating Spirit, Safety Procedures, Formula Book.

Rhamiel did not get to ask the thirty-ish questions it suddenly had, and very little on Yule’s profile made sense.

“Dammit, Yule!” Hutch barked. “Stealing my thunder, I was about to do that. Now, I will always be known for going second to you. That is unacceptable!”

Yule only stared disinterestedly at Hutch and his outburst.

Hutch Teneruth has expressed an interest in joining your Settlement. Will you allow him to become a citizen in your Settlement? YES or NO?

Rhamiel accepted him as a Citizen without a second thought. And just as quickly, another prompt appeared.

Hutch Teneruth meets the minimum requirements to gain a titled position of Authority in your City. He can become the Chief Builder for the City of Rhamiel! This position comes with the Title Perk Chief Builder, which would allow him to temporarily apply his Construction and Tool Use skills to Untrained Citizens who work for him. This also works as a quick learner skill, allowing those same Citizens to learn the skills faster.

Would you like to grant him the Titled position of Chief Builder? YES or NO?

Rhamiel could not select yes before over thirty notifications from everyone in his Architect’s Library wanted to join his Settlement. He was overwhelmed by the Prompts and the people in the crowd announcing themselves. The people and the prompts said variations on the same thing: Will you allow this person to join your Settlement?

Of course, the answer was yes, Rhamiel needed people. But the number of them caught him off guard, and the System helped him again. It blended all of the prompts into a single, concise Prompt.

Thirty-four people have expressed an interest in joining your Settlement. Will you allow them to become Citizens in your Settlement? YES or NO?

Rhamiel liked the adaptive System more and more. He selected yes every day, and two more prompts appeared.

Gaining a population of over ten people and twenty-five people has rewarded you with two new Blueprints! The Farm Blueprint and the Grainery Blueprint. The Next Population reward will arrive at fifty or more Citizens!

Your Citizenry has exploded in the course of mere moments, so the System has elected to send you and your System Guide this reminder. People need Food, Water, and Shelter to survive day to day. More advanced needs will present themselves as the days and weeks progress. Meet as many needs as possible, and your people will flourish!

Now, a new thought came into Rhamiel’s mind, and along with it came a spark of dread for his inadequate preparations.

“Joselin, I don’t know what to do now.”