Excise: A Post-Apocalyptic LitRPG (Ether Collapse Book 2)
Page 40
To reach level three, create a Town Hall, reach a population of one hundred and ensure there is housing for fifty percent of your citizens.
Level 3 – Quaint Village
Upon reaching level two, you have unlocked the Leadership Class Etherience bar and Territory skill tree.
Rocky opened his character sheet to see if his Leadership class could finally be clicked on.
Rockland Barkclay Level 25
Class: Apprentice-Dark (Azrael) Revenant,
Level 1 Strategist
Class Skills: Dark Blade, Dark Mend, Soul Blade, Dark Cloak, Shadow Clone
Health Points = 290/290
Dark Ether Pool = 230/230
You have 0 stat points and 0 skill points to distribute.
Stamina – 29 (Strength of Body +8)
Strength – 35 (Strength of Arms +5) (Strength of Arms +16)
Agility – 41 (Speed of Arms +5)
Dexterity – 33
Intelligence – 23
Wisdom – 31
Charisma – 33
Luck – 10
Weak Skills
Non-Class Combat Skills: Combatant – 26 (+2), Ether Channels – 24 (+2), Ether Cleanse - 10, Ether Manipulation – 24
Common Skills: Barter – 8, Camouflage – 7, Endurance – 25, Tracker – 16, Trance Meditation – 19
Profession Skills: Actor – 5, Butcher – 23, Cook – 2, Herbalist – 19, Miner – 1, Skinner – 22, Teacher - 19 (+1), Trader – 5
Moderate Skills
Non-Class Combat Skills: Stealth – 13, Swordsmanship – 11 (+2)
Common Skills: Analyze – 14, Perception – 4, Sneak – 18
Profession Skills
To his delight, when he mentally clicked on his leadership class, a new screen, similar to his combat class screen, appeared.
Leadership Class
Strategist Level 1
Skill Tree
Current Skill Points to Assign: 1
Skills
Production
Production will increase the amount of material dropped by monsters who die inside your Territory Borders. In addition, this will slightly increase the rate that your profession skills increase.
0/5
More skill points increase effects. Five skill points needed to unlock subsequent skills in the tree.
Army
The army will increase the combat skill gains of individuals when you are leading large raids. This will also slightly increase the speed of your personal combat skill gains.
0/5
More skill points increase effects. Five skill points needed to unlock subsequent skills in the tree.
Enlightened
Enlightened will increase your popularity amongst the people for the good decisions you make. It will also slightly mitigate the anger towards you when you make bad decisions.
0/5
More skill points increase effects. Five skill points needed to unlock subsequent skills in the tree.
Adventurer
The adventurer will increase yours and your party’s Etherience gains slightly when you are fighting together. Inside Cardinal Dungeons, this effect is doubled. Inside other areas of interest or non-Cardinal Dungeons, this effect is increased by fifty percent.
0/5
More skill points increase effects. Five skill points needed to unlock subsequent skills in the tree.
Looking at his options, Rocky was stuck with a bit of a conundrum. He couldn’t increase his power for the upcoming fight. It seemed all he could do was plan to increase his strength in other categories that might greatly help him in the future.
Enlightened would increase his ability to be a competent leader, which he wasn’t sure applied to him if he wanted to hand that duty off to others. Army would increase his strength greatly when leading large groups of people, which could be absolutely necessary for the future, but currently, the group was often small that he led. Production would allow his Profession skills to really soar and could make him stronger because of his own crafting, however, again long term. Adventurer was easily the most versatile because more Etherience was something that was always going to be a huge bonus and could help him right away. Well, after he chose to rank up at least.
This also didn’t show him the next tier of skills. Each skill had a link to two additional skills in the fog of war, and he really wished he knew what they were. Sela beside him was studying his screen with hers open beside her. It would seem that they had different skills available because of their different leadership classes. Hers was much more reliant on her champion pet, which was very odd since she was her own champion. In truth, her first tier was all about an aura her champion—or she—would be giving off: Fear, Intimidation, Inspiration, or Calm.
Rocky read hers as she read his, and he considered her best options as well. Inspiration or Calm would have been what he leaned towards because people gaining confidence and working harder for Inspiration was an excellent effect to have on party members. Calm was also fantastic, as it seemed by the description to have an effect that would keep people working hard despite outside stresses and factors. Fear and Intimidation seemed to, unfortunately, be effects that would affect everyone around her, both allies and enemies and made them seem like instant dismissals for Rocky.
My mom always said make a good first impression, and I don’t think instantly causing fear or intimidation is going to do that.
Sela interrupted his internal musings by saying, “I think you should go with Enlightened. While your other options are all really good, I think having the people in the Grotto happier will be the fastest way for everyone to grow. You have already seen with Derik how counterproductive different opinions on things can be.”
Rocky was less sure about her snap decision. While it was definitely a good option, it implied that he would be making a unilateral decision for everyone in the Grotto, which he did not intend to do. Coming from a democratic world and society, he truly believed that a group making decisions could be used to create a better community where everyone had a chance to be represented. He understood that it could also become corrupt but intended to be the council's power check if it did.
He was leaning towards Adventurer or Production. From his point of view, a society which was rich in resources and produced goods would have more income. More income would lead to better luxuries, which in turn, would lead to better living conditions. As for Adventurer, that would be a much more personal reason for getting stronger faster. Currently, he needed to weigh how important it was to have a powerful group of fighters in the Territory versus a monetarily wealthy citizenry, which hopefully would lead to a happier populace.
Instead of answering, he asked Sela, “What do you think you will go with?”
“I need to find out if these auras can be controlled, turned off or on at will, or perhaps have lists of people exempt from their effects.” Sela made a motion at her screen. “They are all really effective but to be able to cause intimidation or fear effects will be very useful if I can turn it off or ensure it only affects people I wish it too.”
Rocky figured that was a part of her past life as a Justicar and a leader of armies. She probably could see many uses for such offensive and powerful abilities. He wondered if that spoke to an upbringing difference between them or just a difference of priorities. He did admit that those two were the more powerful abilities if they could be controlled but was wondering if a future surge of the population would make the inspiration and calm buffs viable.
Everything feels like a bit of a cheat, doesn’t it? How exactly do all these effects work on others?
To him, it meant that the system was manipulating people’s inner thoughts, just like the swearing that he tried not to think about. The fact that this Atlantean system was able to affect people’s moods, thoughts, and even change what they said was very disturbing. Rocky had been coping with that by trying not to think about it. Yet, now deciding on skills that would be doing that in his favor, he couldn’t
help but have the issue at the forefront of his mind.
Is that why I am leaning towards less intrusive skills?
He put that decision on hold for now because he wanted to look at the Territorial Skill Tree as well. It seemed like it would be best to see if any of the skills could stack with each other. That might make his decision a bit easier. Even if they didn’t, he hoped it would take his mind off of the invasion of his personal thoughts.
Territorial Skill Tree
Skill Points available: 10
All skills will affect any and all Territories owned by the same leaders. Skill points are awarded at 5 per level in most cases. To discover more, level up and capture additional Territories.
Skills
Stat Boost
While individuals reside within the boundary of this Territory, all stats will be increased by x. Where x is the number of skill points in this skill.
0 / 50
At fifty skill points, the skill will upgrade.
Resource Boost
Every resource that spawns within your Territory will give x% more when collected. Where x is the number of skill points in this skill.
0 / 50
At fifty skill points, the skill will upgrade.
Etherience Boost
All individuals who gain Etherience within your Territory will be awarded x% more. Where x is the number of skill points in this skill.
0 / 50
At fifty skill points, the skill will upgrade.
Growth Boost
All women will carry to full term faster by a factor of x%. All children will grow x% faster to maturity. Where x is the number of skill points in this skill.
0 / 50
At fifty skill points, the skill will upgrade.
Well, there was absolutely no way he was going to put any points in Growth Boost. It seemed like it would be extremely beneficial to him if this weren’t other people’s lives he was affecting. He couldn’t even imagine the uproar if people found out that he was fooling around with pregnancy rates and children’s growth. If this was a pure game, he probably would take that option. If you consider that you probably gained skill points for each Territory level and that every level would have a population requirement, then this skill was self-perpetuating.
Yeah, I think one rule carries past the apocalypse, and that’s don’t mess with a pregnant lady.
Stat Boost he could see being extremely effective currently but more so for fighters and, to a lesser degree, crafters or resource gatherers. Resource Boost was something that would benefit everyone equally and so would Etherience Boost. If he was honest, those two also seemed like they would stack with his leadership skills, more so for Resource Boost though; while Etherience Boost would stack, it would only stack for his party.
He asked a question as it came to him, “Will Resource Boost effect how much meat we get from animals, farmed goods from our orchard, as well as things like ore veins, and system loot?”
Sela put her hand on her chin and puffed out her cheeks as she considered, then responded, “I think so… To be honest, though, I really don’t know. While I am sure that these existed in all the Territories owned by Cathodiem, I was never consulted on point allocations. I can guarantee that they had points in all categories though!” She pointed at each one in turn. “New recruits were often power leveled through farming Territories we owned. They were stronger,” she pointed to Stat Boost, “they would gain more loot,” she pointed at Resource Boost, “and they could level faster.” She finished by pointing at Etherience boost.
She took a pause then pointed to the last one. “I have spoken with women of the Grotto who think they might currently be pregnant, and I was shocked to discover that they expected their pregnancy to last nine months.” Sela looked at Rocky with wide eyes. “When I was alive, women traditionally gave birth in three months, and children were fully grown and matured by the age of eight.”
That news of biological growth increases to maturity made Rocky stagger a bit. Add that to pregnancy term decreased, and he honestly felt dizzy, even a bit lightheaded. He knew that one of the groups most affected by the Apocalypse were children under the age of eight and the parents of those children as well. He had blamed that on the system not granting them access until they were eight years old. When he had first considered that age, he had been sure it was still too young but had thought it was chosen to reduce the mortality rates of young children in this world of monsters. Now, though…
You are telling me that they chose eight years of age because most children were fully grown by that time?
He sat down, blinking rapidly as he spoke in a muted voice, “How many Territories did guilds own, or how many did Cathodiem hold?”
“On Gaia? More than a hundred. Across the entire universe? Thousands, I guess. Again, I wasn’t really given exact numbers,” Sela responded, giving Rocky a concerned look.
With that final bombshell dropped, Rocky sat in silence, considering just how large this world was and how many guilds and Territories had fought for it in the past. Then the universe…
Shaking his head, he croaked, “It might be best to wait for all the buildings to finish construction before we begin the attack. Let’s try to take every advantage we can.”
Chapter Thirty
The Territory boost spell worked exactly as they hoped it would. By the time the barracks, Town Hall, and other buildings had all finished, they interviewed a few candidates who had wanted to take over the housing assignments. They had decided on Farrah, an extremely stern lady who had been in charge of dormitory assignments at the University of Ottawa before the collapse. Rocky hadn’t really loved how unemotional she was, but Sela had instantly backed the woman when she saw just how little bull crap she was willing to entertain.
Rocky flashed back for a moment to the conversation.
“I really think that having emotion involved in decisions on where people live is kind of important,” Rocky had responded to Farrah, thinking about how many times he had lived in bad areas in his life.
“If people are going to pay for premium rooms, I will give it consideration, but considering that everyone pays the same, which is to say they get it for free, I will be assigning based on gender to cut down on shenanigans, then age to cut down on neighbors who aggravate each other.” She paused for a moment, and Rocky began to open his mouth, but she cut him off, “If there are any troublemakers, cliques, or conflicting personalities, I plan to have their privileges removed after discovering who the offending party is.”
Blinking, Rocky had been about to politely dismiss the woman when Sela had chimed in excitedly, “You're hired!”
Thinking about it now, Rocky could only think that something about the woman must have reminded Sela of someone or something from her past. Farrah’s class was an Administrator, and Rocky had to wonder what sort of skill tree that came with. When he had brought up his curiosity about some of the class’s skill trees to Sela, she had punched him in the shoulder. “Umm, that’s a very private matter. When I lived, asking about skill trees and skill allocation was like asking a person you just met to see them naked.”
Then what is it like when you have access to others’ interfaces?
Regardless, Rocky had immediately converted eight of the Longhouses to dormitories and two to apartments. The remaining two he was going to keep in reserve until more people arrived and he saw the rate people upgraded to apartments. An issue with the apartments and dormitories became quickly apparent after a tour; they were unfurnished inside. The dormitories had a space for a bed, a chair, and a desk inside every room, but that was all. Whereas the apartment had three rooms that were much more spacious and one small room that was clearly meant to be a bathroom. The three rooms of the apartment were a kitchen, a living area, and a bedroom.
You could tell which room was meant to be the kitchen and bathroom because of the roughed in pipes for water, and the kitchen room had a lot more wall sockets. The fact that the sockets in the wall
were shaped entirely differently from anything he had seen before had been rather confusing at first, but once Sela had explained, he had realized another problem that they had. No electricity.
He had a single Ether converter that they had stolen from Corsair during his time in Ottawa, but according to Analyze, it was only good for powering one to two buildings, depending on loading size. Essentially, once they returned back from the invasion of the Dungeon in Chalk River, they would need to price out quite a bit of equipment from the shop. Rocky glanced at his total Crystallized Ether and sighed, knowing that it was going to be wiped out by upcoming purchases or damn near close.
There was one good thing that had come from their meeting with the rainbow Kobold and Garnell, though. They knew other Territories and groups were out there surviving. They needed to meet up with them and start working together if it was possible. Perhaps they could even capture more Territories as well since Sela had explained her guild had thousands.
It sounded like the people in Florida had captured a large refinery or something that still had stores of gasoline. Most gas stations at this point would have been reabsorbed or turned to golems, in his opinion. What made gas so expensive though in a universe that runs on Ether?
Another question for Sela when we have made this place safe!
They had given the current Ether Converter to the Mess Hall, considering that it was the only building that everyone would use. Even then it needed to be stocked with all the equipment, utensils, plates, bowls, and cups. Luckily, the common area had rather beautiful tables and benches in black scales.
Speaking of décor, the floor and interior walls of all the buildings were a beautiful, cream-colored wood that was somehow insulated from the Dragon scale exterior. The contrast this gave the black scale benches and tables made the Mess Hall seem much fancier than it truly was.