Chapter Nineteen: A Settlement
The Apartment.
Sunlight speared directly into Quin's face.
He squinted, scrunched his nose, and turned his head with all the grace of a man being dragged from the depths of the abyss. A faint, rocky snore tickled his collarbone.
Something heavy was curled against his chest… small, dense, and vaguely warm, like someone had bundled a sack of stones in a heated blanket. Slowly, he cracked one eye open.
"Fuck."
The stone imp nestled in his arms shifted, talons clinging instinctively to the fabric of his shirt. Its pebbled skin flexed with each snore.
"…This isn't how I imagined waking up to someone in my bed," Quin muttered.
If anything, he expected that to be with a woman and not, well… the imp.
It snorted, letting out a tiny burp that reeked of decay.
He blinked the rest of the sleep from his eyes and took stock of the rest of the room.
The apartment still looked like someone had dragged half a scrapyard through it, then tried to apologize with a broom. A small assortment of dust canisters sat beside the fridge, while a single mug of water balanced precariously atop a stool next to the bed. The air still faintly smelled of ozone and rust.
And on the couch?
Revenant.
Sprawled sideways, one leg dangling off the armrest, her coat draped half over her face like a sleep mask. Her other arm hung limply toward the floor, fingers twitching faintly. One of the machetes sat within reach, because of course it did.
Guess she was an awkward sleeper... wait- she could sleep?
Quin gave a long, silent sigh.
"Right," he murmured, easing the imp aside gently. "Back on track..."
He swung his legs over the edge of the mattress, joints creaking slightly from yesterday's tortu- training session.
A deep ache still echoed through his limbs, though his cuts had mostly sealed. His pride, however, remained in critical condition.
The stone bastard rolled over with a grunt and immediately clutched the pillow Quin had abandoned. Revenant gave a faint, incoherent grumble and shifted to dangle half off the couch.
Quin stood, stretched, and yawned toward the ceiling.
Then he cracked his neck.
"…Alright, wakey-wakey," he said, half to himself, half to the plush sitting on the other side of the imp.
The Tactical Consultation Device remained resolutely inert.
"You're useless," Quin muttered, poking it in the stomach.
The plush made a squeaky sound in response.
Nothing special.
Just... squeaky.
He sighed and rubbed his face, padding barefoot across the floor toward the sink. Glancing at his reflection, he noticed gravel stuck in his hair, a streak of blood across his temple, and a nasty bruise on his chin that just didn't seem to heal right.
"Ain't I a charmer?"
Not quite.
Behind him, something thumped.
Revenant flopped fully off the couch and landed face-down on the floor, one arm still clutching the cushions like a lifeline.
Quin didn't even turn.
"You're awake," he said over his shoulder.
"…Barely." Her voice was muffled by the floorboards. "I think my neck's cracked…"
He shrugged and turned on the sink. "Should've called dibs on the bed."
"I'm good… it reeked of your failure," she groaned, slowly peeling herself upright.
He sipped directly from the faucet like a feral cat. "Good morning to you too."
Revenant staggered to her feet, hair mussed and eyes bleary- like a sleep-deprived raccoon who'd lost a knife fight. She glanced around, then gestured vaguely at the fridge.
"Do we have food?"
Quin blinked at her. "…You don't eat."
She paused, processing that, then gave a shrug. "Just trying to blend in."
"You look like a Barbie and sleep like a drunkard. Blending in is not on the table."
He meant… Penny didn't blend in either, so he didn't even know how Revenant would handle trying.
She considered that for a solid minute. "Fair."
"Glad we had this talk." He took another sip from the faucet and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Now go relax or whatever it is you do... I've got a date."
With the system.
"I pity the poor soul."
"Just shut up."
Quin raised a hand and flicked his fingers upward.
With a faint chime, blue light shimmered into view- his system overlay, projected just above his palm in lazy panels of angular glyphs and sleek digital architecture. The familiar voice chirped into existence half a second later, far too cheerful for the hour.
"Welcome back, User! Did you know that sacrificing a close companion increases your long-term survival odds by 0.03%? Consider the options!"
Revenant, halfway through brushing dust off her knees, gave him a curious look.
"Ignore it," Quin muttered, already navigating to the [Missions] tab.
He watched the glowing interface shift before his eyes, data rearranging itself like puzzle pieces clicking into place.
---
[ Missions ]
Foundations: Establish/Lead a Village with a population of 10 (10/10)
Soldier: Kill an Enemy with your own hands. (COMPLETE)
Delegation: Kill 10 Enemies using subjects. (COMPLETE)
[ NEW TAB UNLOCKED ]
[ Settlements ]
---
"Now you show up… took you long enough."
His hand flicked instinctively through the air.
A projection snapped into view, bright light flickering into existence directly over the cluttered living room. Holographic panels layered themselves in midair with a low hum, casting cold, sterile blue light over the walls.
But most notably?
A massive 3D map of Remnant shimmered into place, spinning slowly like a globe suspended in thought. Revenant blinked and leaned forward over it, hair still sticking up on one side.
Quin crossed his arms and stared.
The map was surprisingly detailed- with terrain, cities, even the oceans between them. Scattered across it were clusters of tiny golden dots, like fireflies frozen in place.
Two continents in particular were lit.
Five dots hovered at Vale's docks, clustered like spilled breadcrumbs.
"…That'd be the damn chicken," Quin muttered. "And probably the slimes."
Revenant's brows lifted, silently judging.
Then his eyes flicked to the nine lights nestled within Beacon's campus.
"…And those would be the soldiers," he said slowly. "Hopefully not getting Glynda mad-"
---
Beacon Academy
Goodwitch stood in the middle of an outdoor corridor, arms crossed, staring down at a group of soldiers lined neatly in formation. One was trying to mop the concrete. Another was badly playing the harmonica. A third used a stick to poke at a bush.
"Stop poking at everything!" she barked, voice echoing down the halls. "That includes students, vending machines, and birds!"
The harmonica abruptly stopped.
---
The Apartment.
"…They'll be fine, I think."
"And the last ones?" Revenant asked, squinting.
He pinched the map and dragged it west, zooming into Anima.
"Five dots, looks like they're in Western Anima... probably the servo-skulls."
"More undead?" Revenant asked quietly.
"Kind of? I mean, they're notable souls forced to work even after death-"
She just leaned back and let her head thump against the couch.
"Mhm, undead."
Not wrong, but...
Oh, whatever.
He turned back to the interface and swiped the map aside.
---
[ New Tab Unlocked ]
[ Settlements ]
[ 0 ]
[ Details ]
Sapient Population: 10
Total Population: 21
Morale: 78 ⟶ 77
Renown: -4
Group Title: "Troublemakers"
[ Create New Settlement? ]
---
He leaned in, brushing a finger through the projected panel, causing the numbers to ripple like water.
"Guess I'm going to be mayor now-"
"Mayor," Revenant scoffed. "That's generous, more like... weird cult leader."
He raised a brow. "You're literally in my cult."
"A lapse in judgment."
He ignored her and kept reading.
Still, morale only dropped by one overnight. That meant they were doing fine.
He thinks. Maybe. Probably.
"'Group of Misfits,' huh?" he muttered. "Not inaccurate."
His finger hovered over the new button.
"Alright," he murmured. "Let's see what this actually does."
The moment Quin tapped [Create New Settlement], the screen dimmed. A soft ripple echoed through the air, like a plucked string in another dimension. Blue light bled from the interface, spreading out in thin, spidery veins across the floor, walls, and ceiling. The temperature dropped slightly.
He blinked.
"…Did I just gentrify my own living room?"
A low chime sounded.
---
✦ New Settlement Established!
Name: [___]
Location: [Unit 101 – Industrial District, Vale]
Founding Lord: Quin Moreno
Territory Claimed: 30 square meters
Settlement Morale: 77
Renown: -4
Special Trait: "Improvised Construction" — Building speed increased, structural safety may vary.
---
Another message pinged in immediately
---
Notice: Territory too small for effective domain management.
Increase land holdings immediately.
This is a broom closet, not a kingdom.
---
"First of all, rude."
Revenant tilted her head to the side, letting her hair fall off her shoulders. "What'd you do?"
"Founded a civilization, oh and this thing called us poor."
She made a noise halfway between a groan and a snort. "We are."
The room had changed. It felt different. Lines of glowing blue light crawled along the walls, outlining shelves, the grimy floor- hells even the toaster. Every object was labeled in the corner of his vision.
[Bed] (1x), [Crate], [Sustenance Production Unit] (Fridge, 5% stocked), [Decorative Porcelain Guardian] (Toilet), [???] (Mordred)
(Wait, what was that last one?)
A holographic map floated in the air above his couch, showing a tiny square labeled HQ, with a dotted outline around the apartment's perimeter.
He sighed. "This is getting out of hand."
He reached out and opened the Settlement panel. A few new features were unlocked now that he had a base.
---
[Construct Building] (Space Limited)
Sleeping Spots
Curtain Wall (Requires window)
Storage Crate
Barricaded Door
Shrine to ??? (locked)
Workshop (Too small)
Command Post (Recommended but mildly depressing)
---
Revenant peeked up again. "Are you making blueprints for a fortress?"
He didn't answer right away, too busy dragging the virtual outline of a Command Post over his bed.
"…Quin," she said slowly, "did you just assign everyone to sleep in the cupboard?"
"It's technically listed as a 'strategic holdfast.'"
She stood up, looking around before turning back to him. "You've already outgrown this place…"
"I noticed," Quin muttered.
Not much he could do right now.
Another notice chimed, this time in bold
---
✦ Settlement Status: Cramped
This location is not suitable for expansion.
Recommended Action: Acquire additional territory.
Suggested Methods:
– Land purchase
– Squatter's rights
– Trial by combat
– Local bribery
---
Revenant just stared. "Your 'empire' is a house."
He gave her a crooked smile. "Everyone's gotta start somewhere."
He opened the map again and zoomed out. Outside the walls of his apartment, his district stretched like a grid of opportunity.
He could go the legal route, by asking Ozpin for land, or maybe head into the wilderness again.
But he had a better idea.
There were how many crime syndicates, families, and organizations in Vale?
The government probably wouldn't mind if he cleaned up a few.
And take their land in the process.
Quin's grin widened slightly.
"…I think it's time to expand."
His gaze drifted to the side.
Mordred sat in the corner, just barely within the map's glow. The plush was watching him with those perpetually stitched-on eyes.
"…And no, you're not being king," he muttered at it.
Silent as it may be, it still managed to look disappointed.
Quin exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck, pacing slowly across the room. The apartment still flickered faintly with system-etched lines of light, like veins tracing over a sleeping beast.
"Alright," he muttered, closing the settlement. "I'm not going to put anything down till we get set up."
He paused, thinking for a moment
Then snapped opened up his units tab, hitting resummon.
With a brief flash of pale blue, five pinpricks of light shimmered into view in the middle of the room. They twisted, forming tight spirals of script and circuitry, before each suddenly pulsed outward, mechanical plating folding into place midair with a burst of static, the smell of ozone, and a faint clinking of bone.
Servo-skulls.
All five hovered into position, their ocular lenses adjusting with tiny, whisper-clicks. Glowing blue optics scanned the room. One gave a slow, hollow chirrup. Another buzzed and rotated its syringe, awaiting orders.
Quin rolled his shoulders.
"Folks," he started, looking at the medicae hover its needle eerily close to his neck. "You've got a new Recon assignment... go out and look for the locations of local crime hideouts and storages."
The skulls immediately flitted outward, like crows let loose from a leash... two diving through the open window, another couple slipping through the ajar door, and the last one, the medic, hovered just above the couch.
Revenant squinted at it, then casually reached up and tapped it with her knuckle.
A sharp vrrm sounded from the skull's emitters.
"Energy Source Detected, Energy Unknown, Possible Warp-Touched, Recommended Action: Purge"
Quin's head snapped around almost instantly.
"Abort!"
The skull froze midcharge, the needle stopping instantly. The glowing core inside it dimmed slightly, backing off a few inches from Revenant's face. She stared at it without flinching, but her eyes narrowed just enough to make her thoughts clear.
"That thing just tried to attack me."
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"You're reading her wrong," he muttered. "She's... like a Psyker, one of ours."
The skull emitted a low, garbled tone of confusion, then hovered back toward the ceiling with a series of resigned beeps.
Revenant leaned back against the wall, arms crossed.
"Psyker, huh?"
"It's the closest comparison I've got."
She tilted her head. "That a compliment or an insult?"
"Depends how mad you are."
She hummed. "Guess you'll find out."
Quin sighed again and opened the map up again, it seems the Servo-Skulls are automatically connected with the map, and were actively shaping a new scan of the area. Dots appeared, outlines of buildings highlighted in red, yellow, or green based on occupancy.
All he had to do now was choose a target.
Revenant tapped the edge of the map with one finger. "So... which poor bastard loses their lease first?"
"Whoever seems the most annoying."
2330 Words
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Honestly, don't feel like this is a good enough solo chapter so I'll most likely be releasing another tonight.