[Territory name: Barren Base
Level: 1 25/1000 XP
Land type: Barren
Sector: Nothing's Core
Weekly cost: 2000 Gold]
The stone in the middle is a control system that shows basic information. Having a base is costly, meant to be a money sink that brings benefits once upgraded and made get going. You can have more than 1, but the item to claim territory can only be bought and costs more each time.
And to pay? I just leave the money in the chest inside of the house. I place enough on it to allow for a whole month so I don't have to worry about it for a while.
Beside the money, I left the resources I have found in the last adventures. Some pelts, pieces of wood, scrap metal. I will need them for when we start building.
Lisa is still processing the information. I guess what I just did was akin to tell her that the whole apocalypsis chapter of her holy scriptures are real.
After all, the gates are there, two huge pillars, dormant since ancient times, marking the place where an old agreement and ritual was held to protect this world from that which lies beyond.
Supposedly, no one has ever confirmed their existence thanks to the monsters that go around this place, but I know about them because of my other playthroughs.
"I am glad this place is still here. I needed to make sure… and it seems no one has come." I say while I finish messing with the system.
"I am still processing that you managed to get here… just how strong were you when you got here?" Lisa asks.
"Weapons, clothes, scrolls and wands. You can get a lot going on for you if you just hoard them and use them smartly." I answer. "It was not easy… there are elder dragons roaming around."
"I don't feel safe here."
"I still insist I can kick the ass of every monster in here." Aurelia claims.
"Want me to take you to where the elder dragons are?" I ask her.
"You do that, I kill you!" She takes a step back.
I thought so. But I cannot blame her, even at my strongest everything here was giving me trouble.
"We are safe, just don't get too far away from the stone." I say to them. "It generates a field that protects from attacks from outside."
In the game at least it kept monsters away for the first couple of levels. But as it levels up it seems to attract them and invasions can happen. In exchange, you get a functioning place that gathers resources and helps with item crafting.
And now, for what I came here.
I check the stone once more and the interface opens.
[Base link
You have no other base/settlement built
You have no rights to link to a city]
The stone allows linking it with a city to return to it without using a return scroll, but I don't have any right now. I need to gain the trust of a town to get a permanent connection.
************************************************
Back in town, we decide to rest. Because the base is in no shape right now and I will have to buy resources to build (or hire someone). Better to take it slow for now.
Aurelia and Lisa seem to be happy about the choice.
We find a local inn and ask for a table. It is starting to get late already and we haven't had a full meal in weeks. Hell, I haven't sat on a table to eat since the occurrence in the palace, and I am not counting that because they tried to poison me.
We got food and a room for all of us. The rest of the day was relaxing.
Today's special is a piece of roasted Valley Rock Boar ribs, a sauce that I could compare to a honey mustard based condiment, and a vegetable soup. It was the best thing I have had since I got her, spicy, soft, juicy.
Aurelia went out to explore the city before the curfew hits, and I warn her to not cause any trouble. Lisa wants to go visit a temple in town.
Me? I need to rest. I want a warm bed.
But I cannot sleep.
The empty room we got for ourselves is dark. I can hear the people talking downstairs, celebrating hunts, quest completion, another birth, a job done…
My mind is still coming to terms with my reality, my new reality. Every night I still wonder if when I open my eyes I will wake up back on Earth, to my life.
Back to… whatever I did back there.
Huh…
I really cannot remember my name. Who I was before all of this.
Every memory in my head is fuzzy and distorting.
I had friends? I remember people, but their faces look like they are censored.
For some reason, the only thing I remember clearly is the time I spent playing the game. Leveling up each character, talking about it in the chat server set-up by the developer, interacting with the person that made the game.
Everything else is just a weird blur of disconnected images that I cannot even see clearly.
I lean against the window to see outside. The city is slowly falling silent. In the street that is right under me I cannot see anyone already.
"You better don't get into trouble, Aurelia." Hopefully she returns before the curfew or acts dumb enough as if she didn't know the hour.
"Amber." Karina says. "You look distressed."
Do I?
"Is nothing." I answer.
"Doesn't seem like nothing."
"Is just… everything… this is the first time I feel I can think about what is happening." I sigh. "But… I don't know… I feel a weird excitement…"
I am still hoping forward to the prospect of adventures. Going around, killing monsters, gaining loot, building a base to defend… is something I want, the game allowed me to live that fantasy and escape reality.
And now is reality.
My right ear twitches.
I hear a sound coming from the side of the inn, like a bag being dropped, and then steps.
My attention leaves my inner emotions and goes towards the noise. And then I see a hooded figure come out of between the buildings, observing around. Seems like a human.
To avoid being seen, I duck under the window. Karina goes out to observe.
After a few seconds, she talks.
"He left." She explains.
I smirk, and jump down the window while using [Feather Fall] to soften my landing.
Making sure I am not seen, I go into the same alleyway the hooded figure came out from.
It is a bit dark there except for a few lights… I see what seems to be a bag of fabric surrounded by several red candles… and is moving, something inside is alive.
I hold Bloodless and Karina moves forward first.
She looks inside of the bag from the top and gasps with both hands covering her mouth, her eyes widen.
I go closer. My reaction is the same.
Inside of the bag are 4 chickens, without feathers, legs broken, and with several injuries… alive and agonizing.