As usual, food production was the highest priority, but it was time to improve our construction capacity as well.
I browsed through the various food production related skills. Unfortunately, I couldn’t access the full description of each available skill, at least not until I actually had a goblin in the clan who possessed it, so I decided to experiment a little. I selected the Gatherer skill and summoned the worker.
After the ‘normal’ grunting and squeaking noises, a new goblin worker emerged from the Breeder’s Den. I Analyzed it.
Goblin worker
Level: 1 (0%)
HP: 14
P:1, M:0, S:0;
Skills: Haul 1, Gatherer 1
“Welcome to the GreenPiece clan,” I greeted him. “Do you require anything for your work?”
“Basket, Knife.”
I nodded, “Go to Guba; she’ll give you what you need, then go look for food. Don’t leave the valley, though,” I warned him.
“Yes, ‘Steamed Totem,” he replied and went to follow my orders.
I sighed. That ‘Steamed Totem’ bit was getting old. It was probably a standard scripted response for all new workers. I wanted to get a baseline on my workers’ efficiency, I decided to let the new guy work a full day and then analyze his productivity.
The next worker to summon was a much easier decision. I’d already decided to give Zuban another Builder. Although he’d only be able to put him to work after he got his Apprentice Constructor rank, hopefully by the end of the day, I could still train the worker up a bit to be more useful.
The Breeder’s Den once again complied with my order, consuming the 30 pieces of food and spitting out a freshly minted goblin.
Goblin worker
Level 1 (0%);
HP: 14
P:2, M:0, S:-1
Skills: Haul 1, Builder 1
My clan now had 18 members. At this rate I’d have my empire in no time.
I fumbled a bit more with the Settlement Interface, trying to postpone the inevitable.
I began exploring the user interface methodically, menu by menu, investigating more deeply.
I learned that the -10% of general efficiency was only partially related to morale. The lack of housing reduced morale, which had a negative impact on the overall efficiency, but it was not the only modifier. Seemed like using improvised tools and makeshift devices reduced efficiency as well. A Cook needed a kitchen, a miner required a mining hut and a fisherman needed a decent fishing rod! Just more things I would have to build around here in order to increase efficiency.
There wasn’t as much to the interface as I’d expected, it had very few customization options and little information available. I frowned.
“Vic, didn’t you say that there was a lot of information to translate for the Settlement interface?” I asked.
“Where is it all?”
“Now you’re telling me? I could have planned accordingly if I had known.”
I had to take his word for it.
Damn, with that done, I couldn’t procrastinate anymore. There was no helping it. I got up, took the axe and went toward the woodcutter’s place to settle some differences I had with a few trees.
I was soon hacking away at a tree. Woody was working right alongside me; the busy little beaver had also turned all the cut logs into a stack of timber while I was away on my hobgoblin sightseeing tour.
We felled one tree after another while my mind wandered, letting my body handle the endless repetitions of axe-swings.
It was past midday, and I was in a fugue state, mechanically cutting down the 10th tree of the day. I barely noticed the latest pop-up, informing me Mana Infusion had advanced to level 13... Suddenly:
New Building added to your settlement: Chief’s House
Existing Chief’s Hut controls overridden
Zuban has gained a new Construction rank: Apprentice
New buildings are available for construction
+500 reputation with GreenPiece Clan.
Current rank: Friendly. Points to next rank: 2350
Finally!
Throwing the axe at the tree, so that the edge sank all the way into the wood, I turned and ran toward the construction site. Doubly glad because I was escaping lumberjack duty for now.
I arrived at the site and gazed happily at my new home.
It was a sturdy log cabin design, with a proper wooden door, framed and reinforced with Metal Back Armadillo carapaces. It would take an ogre to break through, at the very least. A Cougar skull adorned the top of the door frame.
The cougar Vrick and Bek bagged on their hunt several days ago, I realized.
Zuban stood near the door, grinning at me expectantly.
“It is finished, Esteemed Totem!” He announced. Then he opened the door and beckoned me.
The cabin was a two-room dwelling, divided by an interior wooden partition and though not large, about 20 square meters, for a goblin it was more than adequate. The floor was wood covered with animal pelts adding an outlandish element to the place. There were pelts stretched across the walls as decorations along with a pair of crossed daggers and other trophies. Some shaped metal armadillo carapaces were hammered into one wall as shelves. The partition hid a small sleeping alcove, with my sleeping roll to serve as bedding.
“I wish I could have added a proper bed,” Zuban hurriedly explained in an apologetic tone, “Unfortunately, we need a proper Carpenter for that, there’s only so much my builders can accomplish.”
“That’s quite alright, Zuban” I replied, “You did a top-notch job. Everything looks great!”
His face brightened at the compliment, “That’s not all, come see.”
He led me to the back corner of the alcove. There, as long as a goblin and standing waist high was a sturdy wooden chest.
“Your very own treasure chest” he declared proudly, “I even managed to adapt a simple trap to it” He opened the lid carefully, showing me a couple of daggers that extended forward from the chest.
“Just open the lid carefully,” He cautioned, “If an intruder tries to yank it open, he’ll get a nasty cut from those daggers. You can poison them for extra effect, if you find some poison, that is.”
“Anyway,” he continued, “I’m sorry we couldn’t furnish it a bit more. A proper Chief’s House requires certain items; a good chair for the chief to receive visitors, a table or two. Stuff Like that, but as I already mentioned, we’ll need a Carpenter to handle that sort of thing. Luckily, I had a proper skull; you saw it, didn’t you? The one hanging above the doorway. It represents that you are both a Totem and a leader. Aside from that…” He gave a loving look to the structure, stroking one of the walls, “It’s a really well-made building. A masterpiece if you will, even if I do say so myself...” He added modestly.
His tone of voice hinted he had something more to say; I looked into his satisfied eyes.
“So…” I slowly realized something, “You gained your Apprentice rank?”
“Yes!” he exclaimed. “I understand how to build things that were incomprehensible to me before. Blacksmith’s forge! Lumber Mill! Various Crafting constructions, and much more!”
“That’s great news.” I complimented him warmly, “Does that mean you’re ready for your next job?” I asked in a challenging tone.
“Of course! But I need to tell you something else. Although I gained the understanding for building Apprentice level buildings, I only know the schematics for a few of them. There are probably more I could build, provided I had the blueprints”
“Ok,” I replied. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, t
ake the rest of the day off, you and your workers. You’ve been working nonstop since we got here, you all deserve a bit of rest. Tomorrow we’ll start a new project.”
He grinned even more broadly, “I think I might just do that.”
He moved toward the door and was halfway through when he suddenly stopped, looked back at me, and in a suggestive, tone said, “You know, that sleeping alcove can easily accommodate three goblins...” He finished with a wink, and then was gone.
I was left standing with my mouth open at the implication. Three goblins could sleep here! That meant the overall morale would go up a little, and that also meant one less lodging we’d have to build. Great news!
I looked around my new house. The entire thing had a sort of rough-outback-barbarian vibe to it. I rather liked it. In my previous life as Arladen, I had a whole castle, bought and paid for, but having built this cabin through my own efforts, made me feel much more attached to it. It felt comfortable, a home.
Then it hit me. Zuban actually meant something else entirely with his sleeping arrangement remark. I facepalmed at my own naivety.
I stayed for a while longer in my new home. The space was quite roomy for me, at my goblin size at least.
I opened my inventory and dumped all the gold I’d been carrying into the wooden chest. It was useless in my current situation, there were no merchants, nothing to buy. Besides, the next time I die, I would lose a portion of the gold I carried as a penalty, so it was better to leave it here.
I needed some furniture. At the very least a chair and a table, perhaps some pictures and some soft fur rugs. Hmmm…. My sleeping furs were already spread on the ground in the small sleeping chamber, but I definitely needed a proper bed. To get one, I have to summon a goblin who’s good at wood-work, but I didn’t see any workers like that on the list, which meant it was one of the higher-end types of goblin, and that meant higher-quality food was needed, and lots of it.
Once we had a stable and efficient supply chain for simple food, I’d have to figure out how to do the same for higher quality food.
Let’s see how that works, I thought, accessing the Settlement Interface.
My jaw dropped. The interface had changed! It had a lot more details and options, stuff that hadn’t even been hinted at before.
Settlement Interface
Energy: 525 (52 / day)
Settlement level: 1 (war camp)
Bosses: 1 (Main: Esteemed Totem)
Efficiency: -10% (morale: -2%, crude tools: -5%, mediocre support buildings: -3%)
Population: 18 (14 goblins, 1 hobgoblin, 3 dire apes)
Food Upkeep: 15
Buildings: 5 (chief’s hut, chief’s house, cemetery, breeder’s den, rabbit warren)
Fortifications: 0
Food production: 17 (4 fisherman, 14 forage, 13 rabbit)
Resource production: 20 (8 copper, 12 logs)
Crafting production: 0
So having a proper Chief’s House gave access to the more advanced options. There was also a level indicator for the settlement.
What is that energy thing? I wondered. I had never heard of energy being a settlement parameter before. There was also a boss tracking branch now, which only one boss listed of course, me.
My thoughts jumped to another, more important matter.
One of these new features must be the reason the house resisted the encroaching darkness in my vision! I thought with excitement.
I sat down, my back to the wall, and thoroughly studied the new options.
First, I clicked on Energy.
Energy Options
Available Energy: 540
Daily Gain: 54
Individuals contributing: 18 (lvl 1: 8, lvl 2: 3, Lvl 4: 1, lvl 5: 6, lvl 6: 1)
Upgrade options
Allocate options
Resurrections
Special
Hmm, it seemed the ‘energy’ was the sum of my clan-mates’ levels. Every day that sum, 54 as things were, was added to an Energy pool as Energy Points. The pool had probably been accumulating points since I built the first, decoy, Chief’s Hut. That would explain the over 500 Energy Points it had.
I eagerly clicked on Upgrade Options. That led to another screen where I saw a list of all my people, fully detailed with all their skills and abilities. Next to each parameter was a small ‘+’ icon. There was no extra data available, weird.
“Hi Vic, what are those plus sign in the interface?”
“No idea boss, you’ll have to try it first, then we’ll have some feedback from the system so we can figure out what it means.”
So, trial and error it is, I thought, and clicked one of the plus signs at random.
Tika. Skill increase: Bows 8, Cost: 18 energy Confirm? Yes/No
My heart thumped. I could upgrade my goblins’ abilities using this system and some energy!
For now, I selected no.
Next, I clicked the ‘+’ sign next to Tika’s character level.
Tika. Level increase: 4, XP required: 102, Cost: 15 energy. Confirm? Yes/No
That’s it? I had over 500 in reserve. 15 energy to level up Tika was a measly sum.
Well, I did want to give her something nice for leading us to the valley, so... Enjoy your new level Tika, I thought and clicked on ‘Yes’.
Nothing special happened, the individual energy calculation fields were updated by 1 point.
Curious, I clicked on level up again.
Tika. Level increase: 5, XP required: 900, Cost: 150 energy. Confirm? Yes/No
I clicked ‘no’. That was an exponential growth in cost. Then again, Tika had almost reached level 4 herself, so it didn’t cost much to ‘push’ her over.
But despite the potential costs, I was excited. This was the perfect solution for my goblin army problem! A level 1 warrior was little more than fodder, but at level 2 the unit’s effectiveness doubled. Buying the second level would be relatively inexpensive in terms of Energy points. This was an amazing ability!
“I think I got the formula for the energy cost boss.” Vic said suddenly. “Would you like to hear it?”
“Shoot.”
“The skill buy is simple; the cost is calculated as a base of 10 energy plus the skill level you’re trying to raise. So from 1 to 2 will cost 12 energy, from 10 to 11 will cost 21. After 11, Apprentice rank levels might have a different formula, you’ll have to do another dry run to test it.”
“And levels?”
“That’s a bit different, you don’t actually buy the levels, you buy the experience points required to reach the next level.
“From what I gather, at level 1 you receive 10 XP per 1 energy, level 2 gets you 9 XP per 1 energy, at level 3 that’s 8 per energy, and so forth, until level 10, where you’ll have to pay 1:1 ratio for each XP point.
“So you might want to use this function as a tool to raise the first few levels of your followers, otherwise you will run out of energy points quickly.”
I thought about it. So, if for example I summoned a new Builder, and I wanted to raise his skill to level 11 to maximize his productivity...that meant buying skill levels 2 through 11, that will cost, 12 + 13 + 14… I wrinkled my brow trying to do the math, a total of 165 points! Not so cheap in those terms.
I realized it made a lot of sense. Everyone knew that if you leave mob towns and dwellings long enough, they slowly raise in numbers and levels. And I was now looking at the very reason for that. The larger the settlement is, the more energy per day they gain, and the more points that can be spent on leveling up their members. But the energy points lost their value quickly as the levels rose, since the cost grew exponentially. So while you could reasonably raise everyone to level 2-4, it would take 10 times more energy to buy everyone another level or two. Hmm, that also explained why Bosses were always the highest-level mobs. they invested the majority of the EP, energy points, in themselves and their lieutenants, making the leadership the toughest members. Quite an ingenious approach actually.
That will help m
ake my army more dangerous, when I summon groups of warriors, I can instantly double their strength by raising them to level 2, for a relative pittance.
I decided not to use the excess energy right away, but continued browsing the new settlement options. I’d hate it if I saw something really cool, after spending all the energy on leveling up my goblins.
I looked at the Allocate Options, that one was more easily understood, now that I got the hang of the EP idea. Using Allocate I could assign a percentage of the daily gain to individuals. The current settings were all set to zero. The recommended setting was 50% to myself, 20% to Vrick, 20% to warriors, and 10% among all other goblins. I left everything at zero for now and continued browsing.
There was a Resurrections page!
Finally I’ll be able to figure out how the leader resurrection systems works! I clicked on it, but the list was empty. No VI controlled goblin had yet died, a testament to my efforts to preserve their lives. But I made a guess that some EP would be required to bring them back to life, probably a good chunk of EP too. which meant I should always keep some energy in reserve. I didn’t know how much EP would be required for a resurrection, so I decided I’d always keep a reserve of 200 EP.
I clicked on the next tab, titled Special, but it was empty.
I’ll probably find out what it is for later somehow.
All right! I rubbed my hands together, time to juice my goblins up with some Energy Points.
I had a pool of 525, so I could spend 325 right away, and keep the rest in reserve.
First, I checked my own options. I was only missing about 200 XP to next level and that meant 200 EP.
I decided not to use this system to increase my own levels. It just wasn’t the most efficient use of assets, more could be done, and with fewer points, for others. I could easily increase my levels via combat or solving quests.
Next, I checked my skills.
Life Reset: A LitRPG Novel (New Era Online Book 1) Page 35
