Valia ran over that time, leaving Valanil to stay at the fire and fix the mess she’d made.
“Don’t go without me!”
“I wasn’t going to,” Tailyn replied just in case before wrapping her arms around his betrothed and leaping forward. Vargot had no problem with their weight, easing them gently down to the bottom of the shaft. At least, it would have been the bottom of the shaft if it hadn’t collapsed, leaving the three lixes hanging by ropes. After giving orders to pull up the diggers, Tailyn kept going. His scanner kicked in just as an enormous space opened out in front of the pair. Thick columns supported a soaring ceiling that had only caved in where the lixes had dug through. Alighting carefully on the ground, Tailyn didn’t really give a thought to traps. If they’d been set, the passing millennia reduced them to dust.
The pair took a few steps forward and found themselves face to face with the black cube. From a distance, it looked solid, but a closer inspection revealed that one side joined the other, almost as though...
“It’s a slab!” Valia exclaimed. “Help me push it off to the side!”
The young city heads gave the stone a heave, and a second later it relented. Unwillingly and putting up as much of a fight as it could, it eased away to reveal a passageway. One last effort widened the opening to the point that Tailyn and Valia could get through. But that apparently let the System in, as well, and it was quick to render its verdict.
You discovered the control post for an ancient city.
This device and a number of other items were marked for immediate disposal.
Compensation received for lost items in keeping with your position and the missions you currently have open:
Guard legendary card.
Builder legendary card.
Architect legendary card.
Metal Workshop blueprint.
Smithy blueprint.
Cafeteria blueprint.
Stationary Portal blueprint.
Virtual inventory with 50 slots (10).
***
You found the place where Vada Israg, a level 72 human, died.
Last Statement recording received.
Chapter 5
THIS LOOKS LIKE the end... My name is Vada Israg, operator for the Mean Truk control post...or what’s left of it. The wall is down. The steppe monsters are all over the city. I’m here in the bunker the Game can’t get into, Mark Derwin’s gift... They can’t find me here, I figured. And they didn’t. But they took out all the robots and our comms. There’s no getting out. I don’t have any food, no air, nothing... Probably won’t make it another three hours... If someone finds this, know that I manned my post to the end. What a terrible way to go... Over and out.
Guard. Description: a legendary magic card that summons a battle protector for the city. Summoned creature level: 150. Partial immunity to magic (80%), advanced speed, significantly reduced physical damage (80%). Not a companion. Linked to Mean Truk. Unlimited duration. Card comes with one use. Charges remaining: 1. Cannot be recharged.
Builder. Description: a legendary magic card that summons a level 150 builder golem to use blueprints to construct buildings. Not a battle creature. Not a companion. Linked to Mean Truk. Unlimited duration. Card comes with one use. Charges remaining: 1. Cannot be recharged.
Architect. Description: a legendary magic card that summons a level 150 architect golem to design cities and write blueprints for buildings. Not a battle creature. Not a companion. Linked to Mean Truk. Unlimited duration. Card comes with one use. Charges remaining: 1. Cannot be recharged.
***
You need to decide what to do with the card before you leave the control post.
“How much are they worth?” Valia asked, her heart stopping.
“Half a million coins each,” Tailyn replied after checking the store. “Way cheaper than my dragon, for some reason.”
“Probably because they’re just for our city. What are you thinking?”
“I say we activate them. From what it looks like, this command post was a pretty serious spot—that’s why the god deactivated it immediately and handed us a reward like this one. But at least we know what happened to the city now. It was destroyed by steppe monsters.”
“And there might not be any more of those squashed aristocrats,” Valia said with a sigh. “They were all eaten.”
You decided to activate the cards.
The cards are now linked to players Tailyn Vlashich and Valia Levor.
You cannot sell the cards.
***
Level +1 (16).
Protection +1 (2).
“I’m not getting crystals anymore,” Tailyn said after he checked his logs. “Protection is grabbing that free parameter point. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have accepted it. Bastard... Anyway, Raptor isn’t showing me anything else around here, so let’s head back up.”
The flight was easy enough, and half an hour later the enormous tent serving as the city palace was hosting a meeting. Deciding to show off what they’d found right away, the young city head told everyone to stay outside. Nobody argued. After everyone in the city leveled-up, talking back to him was the last thing on their mind. He’d definitely made the right move combining everyone into a single group.
“Here, one for everyone.” The boy pulled out the virtual inventories, and Motar’s eyes shone. In all his years of service at Culmart, he’d only ever heard of them, never even hoping to see one for himself. But there they were, and with fifty slots to boot. Six were handed out immediately—Forian, Ka-Do-Gir, Motar, Bar-Truk, and even the two sisters, who traded in their cheaper versions, all got one. Two more were set aside, and the rest, including Valanil and Valia’s old ones, were sold. Seventy thousand coins was a nice little haul.
“I accept his virtual inventory as payment for my service to the city,” Forian said before insisting the rest repeat after him. Tailyn checked his city management icon when it flashed, though he was disappointed to see the god had limited the pay the inventories covered to three months. It wasn’t about to make them work without pay any longer, apparently. But all the young city head could do was shrug—three months was better than nothing. With that taken care of, he continued.
“Okay, now the main part. Here’s what else we got.”
A murmur made its way around those present. Forian and Valanil didn’t take part, having already checked the logs to see that their students had picked up three mysterious legendary cards. But Motar, his fighters, and the crowd of numericals standing nearby stood with mouths agape as they stared at the golden sparks coming off rectangles in the boy’s hand. Only the lixes were unperturbed. Cards were cards—they’d seen things that were far more impressive.
You used Guard.
Mean Truk level +1 (2).
Updated mission: The Renaissance of Mean Truk. Description: your city reached level 2. The minimum criteria for completing the mission were changed: 5000 permanent residents, 1 temple, 1 palace, 10 trading stands, 5 workshops, 2 taverns, a protective wall, a stationary portal.
“Well, that’s a twist.” The heavy silence was broken by Forian’s dry voice. Right in front of him, an enormous living ball of tentacles arose and immediately began retreating for fear of accidentally harming someone.
“It’ll certainly do what it’s there for,” Valanil muttered. “As long as it doesn’t eat us in the process...”
“You don’t even have a smart comment about the city leveling-up?” Valia asked in surprise. “Who even knew the city had levels?”
“What does it matter how much we have to build?” Valanil had gotten over her initial shock and stepped right over to the guard. Placing a hand on it, she felt the hulk lurch, almost as though it had just taken a heavy blow. “It’s okay, baby. Nobody’s going to hurt you here... Valia! What are you just standing there for? Your guard is hungry—or did you think you could just summon a guard and have it fend for itself? No, sis, you now have one more mouth to feed.”
“More like a bottomless pit,” Fo
rian said. He’d also gotten past over his fear and gone over to the guard. “I never would have thought I’d have one of these...”
“Hey, get in line!” Valanil shot back indignantly. “This one’s mine. You can have the rest!”
“Are the other cards guards, too?” Motar pulled his gaze away from the death-dealing hulk to glance over at the boy’s hand. But with the boy too busy laying claim to his territory, he didn’t get an answer.
“It belongs to the city!”
“Sure, sure,” Valanil said with a dismissive wave as she continued stroking the guard with her other hand. The creature no longer jerked when she touched it. In fact, it had one tentacle wrapped gently around the girl’s arm. “My little baby. Don’t worry—we’ll get you fed, washed, and looking as good as new. It needs armor. The thing is completely naked! Tailyn, do you have anything for it?”
“You’re getting paid—why don’t you take care of it?” Tailyn mumbled in an admission of an albeit temporary defeat. The guard had appeared in his city management menu, so he, and not the crazy woman, was actually controlling it. Or rather, crazy girl—the change in her appearance was getting to the boy.
Deciding that the situation couldn’t get any worse, Tailyn activated the other cards. He wasn’t going to have to rebuild the capital, at least, no matter how the mission was modified.
You used Architect.
You used Builder.
Mean Truk level +1 (3).
Updated mission: The Renaissance of Mean Truk. Description: your city reached level 3. The minimum criteria for completing the mission were changed: 10000 permanent residents, 1 temple, 1 palace, 10 trading stands, 5 workshops, 2 taverns, a protective wall, a stationary portal, 3 warehouses, 1 treasury.
***
Your city’s promotion necessitates a Treasurer.
You have 24 hours to name one, otherwise the city level will be reduced. Architect and Builder will be destroyed.
Two metal cubes had appeared next to the tent, though nobody was paying them any attention. All eyes were on Valanil. Almost completely enveloped in the guard’s tentacles, the herbalist suddenly sensed the attention and went on the attack.
“Don’t even think about it—I’m not taking the job. Never! I spent twenty years sitting on my butt, and you want me to spend my second youth working with numbers? Not a chance. Forget about it!”
“Two advisors is a lot,” Valia couldn’t help but point out.
“So is two heads! Where have you seen a city governed by two people? Tailyn’s the head; Valia’s the treasurer. It’s perfect.”
“I’ll do it,” Forian said suddenly. “Valanil doesn’t work—you can’t let emotions get in the way when you’re working with coins. And there’s a reason the god brought me here, stripped me of my levels, and took away my abilities. Really, everything that was Forian Tarn is gone. But what the god didn’t take is my memory and experience, and that’s what’s most important. I understand finances and management all too well since I had to count every coin starting the moment my parents took my allowance away. As soon as you throw ideas like salary, shift schedules, taxes, financial planning, balances, and all that at your average person, they crumble on the spot. But not me. I was forced to learn all of it, and I can now see what the god has been preparing me for all this time. I’ll take the job, Tailyn Vlashich. You’re beyond what I can do for you as a mentor. And as soon as we build the temple, I’ll take charge of it, too. I think that would be the best use of my skills.”
Forian fell silent and stared in shock at the messages popping up in front of him. He'd completely forgotten about his unusual attribute, making it all the more surprising when it was boosted so quickly.
You demonstrated true devotion to the god and earned a reward.
Faith +50 (51).
The Faith attribute does not depend on your level.
Your spiritual title was changed to Priest.
Priest. Description: the second level of devotion to the god. Lets you give buffs and debuffs to other creatures as the abbot of a city temple. Title bonus: the parameters of all city residents are boosted by 10%, workshop production is increased by 10%, the cost of materials at the city store is reduced by 10%.
Note! You must become the abbot of the Mean Truk temple within one year (there is currently no such temple, so see to its construction).
“Forian Tarn! As head of the city, I name you the treasurer,” Tailyn announced. The god had already made its choice. Happily, the mage’s salary hadn’t changed, as he was earning the same 1,500 coins a week as treasurer that he had been as advisor.
Forian merely nodded as he focused on the two metal cubes. Noticing the new city property menu that had appeared in his interface, he quickly hit it to see what could be done about the problems the group was facing. There wasn’t much property to speak of, with the two golems at the top of the list.
“Current status?” Forian asked once he’d figured out the controls.
“Awaiting assignment,” the machines replied in unison without changing form in the slightest. Tailyn twitched when he heard their voices—they were the same as the way the god spoke in the temple, mechanical and emotionless.
“We only have one assignment: rebuild the city. There are restrictions on the budget and resources we have at our disposal as well as a list of critical buildings and a few blueprints. What we need is the optimum plan for how to achieve our objectives.”
“The city cannot be rebuilt without a master plan that takes into account all restrictions,” the architect replied. “There is a ninety-nine percent chance that if you construct buildings using the blueprints prior to developing a master plan, you will end up being forced to raze and rebuild them. The cost of developing a master plan covering the local environment and infrastructure is two hundred thousand coins. An advance of thirty percent is required.”
“What?!” Tailyn burst out.
“Will the master plan include building blueprints?” Forian asked, motioning for everyone else to be quiet.
“No. Blueprints will need to be developed separately, their cost ranging from twenty to one hundred thousand coins depending on the requirements and complexity. Any existing blueprints will be factored into the master plan.”
“The builder cannot begin work without blueprints, correct?” Forian asked. The answer was an affirmative. “You can begin. Tailyn, I need sixty thousand coins.”
“Just like that?” Tailyn was still having a hard time believing what was going on. “Sixty thousand for some piece of paper?”
“It isn’t ‘some piece of paper’; it’s a master plan,” Forian replied. “Basically, it’s your city, just in theory. It’s the only way forward.”
“And in two months, I’m going to have to come up with another hundred and twenty thousand...”
“As well as a hundred thousand for the temple blueprint,” Forian said. “But don’t worry, I have an idea for where we can come up with the funds. Hand me your intercom.”
“You decided to turn Tailyn in to the emperor?” Valanil said, though her joke fell flat.
After tapping a few buttons, a small shimmering circle appeared in front of Forian to look something like a mirror.
“Yes?”
Tailyn just about burrowed into the ground when he heard the voice. It was Sadil, the head of academy security. Regardless of the late hour, the scourge of all mage hunters was poring over paperwork in his office. He frowned when he saw who was calling. The face was a familiar one, only he hadn’t seen it in a good fifteen years.
“Okay, I don’t like the way you’re looking at me,” Forian said. “Let’s do it this way. As the god is my witness, my name is Forian Tarn, I’m your grandson, I’m speaking to you of my own free will, and no one is threatening either me or my friends or family in an effort to make me call you. Better?”
Forian was bathed in a white light, and Sadil replied dubiously.
“You’re looking younger, Forian. Much younger.”
&nbs
p; “That’s what happens when you’re resurrected—you can pick any age you want. And yes, I was killed. Don’t look at me like that. Berad Gor, the crystal fence, sent me over to the other side, and my student resurrected me, earning himself banishment from the empire.”
“Tailyn’s there? If you deliver him to the academy, the provost will hand you a big promotion,” Sadil said, immediately perking up.
“Yes, he’s here, but that’s not why I’m calling. Grandfather, I need your help. You have to sell all my property, take out all my savings, and convert the gold into coins within a month and a half.”
“You know, if you hadn’t just summoned the god to attest that you’re in your right mind, I would already have hung up. Go ahead—I turned on protection against eavesdroppers.”
Isr Kale's Journal (The Alchemist Book #4): LitRPG Series Page 8
