The fire, now burning brightly, offered warmth, and everyone simply enjoyed its comforting glow, sharing conversations about the day's work.
A few minutes later, those who slept in the shelter retired for the night, while Old Man Nors settled down outside. For the family, Lucan's new features promised much faster progress.
Tasks like building new shelters or any material-related work could now be done swiftly. With only one night's rest, a new shelter could be ready.
Lucan entered his shelter and sat on the makeshift bed of leaves he'd prepared. The screen shimmered to life before him.
[Daily Report – Day 3]
[Population: 6]
[Structures: 4]
[LP: 20]
[CP: 165]
[Threat Level: Low-Mid]
Lucan noticed what seemed like a discrepancy. He hadn't built anything, so how had he gained LP and CP? As he pondered this, the next text appeared.
[Unlocked Inventory: +3 LP]
[Chopped Some Trees: +40 CP]
Now, Lucan understood where these gains came from. If he performed work, he gained CP, and if a new feature was unlocked, he received LP.
The LP gain was new, as he hadn't received any LP from previous unlocks, but now he had.
Lucan thought about what he needed to do the next day. A few seconds later, lying on his bed, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Next Morning
Lucan woke to the sight of the shelter's ceiling. He stood up, eyes still sleepy, his hair a mess. Stepping outside, he observed the others already at work.
Kenny was diligently digging the area Lucan had marked, with Nors helping him. Daria and Alian, as usual, were gathering firewood. Evan, meanwhile, sat near the unlit firepit, simply observing.
Lucan surveyed the group, and as they noticed his gaze, they all greeted him. Evan, being the closest, greeted him first, followed by Daria and Alian.
Nors also spotted Lucan and offered a greeting. Kenny, however, was too focused on his work to notice Lucan emerging from his shelter.
Lucan greeted them all back, then went to find water. After finding it, he used it to clean his face and tidy his hair.
Now refreshed and ready to help, Lucan took a step, but a growl from his stomach stopped him. He was hungry.
He hadn't eaten fully since arriving, rationing his food to conserve supplies, and now the hunger gnawed at him. And he wasn't the only one; the five people before him were also hungry but were still working.
Though Daria and Alian managed to find some herbs and miraculously, some fruit trees that hadn't been destroyed, they couldn't gather all the food. If they became greedy, the available fruits would dwindle over time.
So, Lucan now urgently wanted to build the storage crate to store food. He had the inventory system, but what if it became full, and he needed to store more food? Where would he put it?
He could always take items out, but how many times would he have to do that? To avoid becoming overly reliant on one thing, he needed to build the crate.
Better safe than sorry. Lucan slowly walked towards Nors and Kenny, ignoring the protests from his stomach for now.
This time, Kenny noticed Lucan approaching and quickly greeted him, which Lucan returned. As Lucan got closer, Nors spoke, looking at him, "Lord, you've woken. As you know, Lord, we need to build the fence."
"Yeah, I know that... Kenny, how much area have you dug for the fencing?" Lucan asked Kenny after replying to Nors.
"Lord, after this section, it will be half of the area you marked," Kenny replied, continuing his digging. "I've dug the area on the side of the tree clusters zone. I think if there were any monsters, it would be helpful if we built this side first."
"Leaving that aside, where do you think we should make the cabin?" Lucan said, looking towards the area near the shelter. "We need a place where I can outline the area, and we will build it someday."
Kenny and Nors also looked towards the side of the shelter where Lucan was gazing. It made sense to have a cabin there—a designated workplace for Lucan, and in the future, a place for people to come and meet their lord.
As Lucan thought about it, he purchased the cabin's blueprint, now left with only a small amount of CP, which would likely be depleted in the near future.
[Cabin Blueprint purchased]
[CP: 65]
Lucan then positioned the ghostly outline of the structure where the cabin would eventually stand, directly over the spot he envisioned.
Now, it was only a matter of time before they could clear the area and make it suitable for the new cabin.
As Lucan placed the structure's outline, the screen popped up again in front of him, displaying new words. It appeared a new feature had been unlocked.
[System Feature Unlocked: Build Menu Expanded]
[New Feature: Project Queue]
[Queue Capacity: 3]
[Assign: Manual / Auto]
[Prioritize Resources: Yes / No]
[Unlocked Project Queue: +10 LP]
The screen materialized before Lucan. He was momentarily shocked by how each new unlock seemed to bring an even better feature.
He felt like someone receiving an abundance of good fortune. He wanted to tell someone to stop giving him so much, but to whom?
And it wasn't as if he didn't want these things; if they could help him, he would gladly take them. He even gained some CP back almost immediately.
Lucan didn't fully understand the new feature, only having an idea of its potential. Without confirmation, he decided to tap some structures to queue them.
[Fence > Storage Crate > Cabin]
He prioritized the fence, as it was crucial for protection against monsters, and now, with the inventory unlocked, he could significantly speed up its construction.
Next would be the storage crate for food, and finally, the cabin, since he lacked the necessary materials for it at present.
As Lucan queued the structures, he looked around the area, checking if anything new had happened. He found nothing, but as he was about to speak to Kenny and Nors, he noticed they were working much faster than before. While this was beneficial for Lucan, he decided to ask them about it.
"Kenny, Nors, why are you working so fast? Work at your usual pace," Lucan urged, his brow furrowing slightly. For a moment, there was no response. Then
Nors spoke, his hands still busy, "Lord, suddenly I felt that if we work faster, it would be better. I don't know what this feeling is, but it was like a voice telling me to work faster. So, I am doing it, and I'm even enjoying it. I'm not getting out of breath, but I also feel that if I stop, all the exhaustion will hit me at once."
Lucan watched him, thought for a moment, and then an idea clicked. This function must be like a lord issuing an order that must be fulfilled.
After the work was done, the person who had labored would experience exhaustion. This power, Lucan realized, was a double-edged sword.
If an injured person couldn't refuse its directive, they would be forced to work, potentially worsening their condition and even leading to their demise.
He also had to consider the potential burden on future settlers—this power could easily be abused, turning willing helpers into unwilling laborers. However, if
Lucan used it correctly, there would be no problem getting help from all the people and improving this land.
Lucan didn't want the old man to collapse from exhaustion, so he cancelled the selection for now. For
Lucan, he would only use this feature when he had enough people for the work. For now, only three people could actually work with tools, including himself.
Kenny was still a teenager, and Nors was getting old for his age, so they needed more energetic individuals.
Lucan continued helping Kenny and Nors, even as he pondered his next plan.
As he was thinking, he heard Nors's voice from beside him.
"Lord, why don't we go and chop some trees? Kenny can handle the digging here, and with your powers, we'll get more logs than before, Lord," Nors suggested, a glint in his eye. Kenny, working nearby, overheard their conversation.
His digging slowed, and he glanced up, a spark of curiosity igniting in his expression. "Lord has power?" he piped up, his voice low but audible. "What kind of power does Lord have?"
As he spoke, Nors looked at Kenny and began, "Lord has a mysterious pow—" His words were cut off by Lucan.
"Nors, we need to go there, right?" Lucan interjected, his face unyielding and his tone serious. "We'll have a time when we tell him. For now, why don't we go to the tree clusters?" Nors was taken aback by Lucan's sudden seriousness and his interruption.
Nors didn't know why Lucan was stopping him, but if the lord didn't want to talk, he wouldn't. So, Nors and
Lucan stood, retrieved their axes, and slowly began walking toward the stream. After crossing it and reaching the outer area of the trees, they began chopping. Nors then looked at Lucan and inquired,
"Lord, how many logs can you make disappear?"
Lucan was taken aback by Nors's sharp question. How could an old man possess such quick thinking? There was no easy answer.
Not wanting to create more misunderstandings for Nors, he mused aloud, "Hmm, I think I can store enough logs to build the wooden fence, and even after that, it probably won't fill up."
As Lucan spoke, Nors stopped chopping and looked towards Lucan. He felt an urge to playfully scold this young man who had somehow become his lord. If
Lucan had this much power, why didn't he use it yesterday? But Nors also had the answer to that question in his mind, the same answer Lucan had implied earlier.
So, he simply cheered up and started chopping trees again. They continued to converse casually as they chopped wood, and Lucan slowly stored the logs in his inventory.
Lucan also believed that, like all the screen's functions, this one too would have a hidden aspect, just waiting to be discovered.
Lucan and Nors continued this routine for two straight days—going to the shelter, sleeping, eating, then returning to work tirelessly.
In these two days, Kenny had also finished digging all the marked areas. Now, only the fence needed to be placed, and they also had more than enough logs, though not enough to fill Lucan's inventory completely.