10: Preparing for visitors

[Year 12 Month 8: 3 months have passed]

The past three months have been busy.

When Osbert and the scouting party found the dungeon, he set the totem outside and proceeded in. Personally, I was concerned that he would push himself or the others too far. I also knew he was growing older, and the levels would keep him in his prime longer.

Didn’t mean I wasn’t relieved when they exited the dungeon in one piece.

To both help with the party’s recovery and establish a stronger, more permanent foothold, I summoned one of my Secondary Obelisks near the entrance. One thing that bothered me was that the mana upkeep had dramatically increased with distance.

With the Obelisk placed, I let Nobu know to set up a small camp at the dungeon entrance. I didn’t think the population could support much more than a small outpost, but I was positive that with the help of my wards, the number of guards needed would be minimal.

Speaking of wards, I had placed three Obelisks in Gorn Village, with my main body being in the village; most of the populated area was already covered. I did make sure it was completely hidden, though, as I wanted to separate the outpost from the village.

Considering the church’s attempted purging of the beast-kin, I felt that hiding was the best form of offense.

While the party that found the dungeon had been in the village, I doubted that after a year of travel, they would know the precise location.

Within a month of placing the Outpost obelisk, the Beast-kin had been able to construct some fortifications and basic structures.

When Astrid came to visit the new area, she immediately pointed out a flaw.

Looking around the small area that had been cleared for construction, she put her hands on her hips. “There isn’t enough space. Dungeons attract way more attention than you think. Especially a Tier 3”

According to her, a Tier 3 dungeon had several floors with a large variety of ‘summons.’ The first few floors were normally lower level, with the deeper floors rapidly increasing in difficulty, which means that groups of different experience and level could take on varying difficulties.

It was obvious she had more knowledge of commerce, and as such, I told Nobu she was to be in charge of the outpost. While Astrid protested at first, she quickly gave in and took over the construction process.

Within a week, she had the people the village could spare working to clear out the nearby trees for building materials. I did what I could to help, using totems to boost the workers’ energy and keeping them in tip-top shape for as long as possible.

Gotta love delegation.

Next on the agenda was a complaint that Sahil brought to my attention. She had quickly burned through available minerals, and while I had a little more stashed away, I had to place down a few more pillars dedicated to minerals.

Finally, I checked in on Salfi. Recently, she had been quite busy prepping for her class day and was trying to upgrade whatever skills she could get. Since the beast-kin arrived, she had been training with Osbert and the more skilled warriors.

Having optimized what I could, I marked the village chiefs and the trustworthy guards. While I had full faith that the beast-kin would keep pretty much any secret, with how negatively Astrid reacted, I felt it was best to keep it under wraps for now. Maybe later I could give out the marks more, but not now.

[Blessed: 345 -> 334]

[Marked: 1 -> 12]

[Year 12 Month 8: 3 months have passed]

[You have gained a level]

[You are level 21]

This was the first level that wasn’t caused by death. The few marked were the people most often in the dungeon, which meant that as they fought through the floors, I would slowly gain more experience.

A few of the beast-kin had also reached the level 25 mark, and for whatever reason, some had their classes evolve while others didn’t get offers. Systems weren’t equal. In my opinion, I believe their class hadn’t hit the proper requirements, instead of lacking anything. Most people on this planet didn’t seem to hit the level 25 mark anyway, so none of the beast-kin had more information on the topic.

Adventurers seem to be a bit higher-level on average. The group that found the dungeon was likely a recently assembled team, which would explain their lack of prowess or levels when in comparison to the chiefs.

[Blessed: 334 -> Blessed: 338]

With it being close to a year since the beast-kin resettled Gorn village, there were a few new residents that I made sure to have blessed as soon as possible.

Spring had arrived, and with it so did a few requests to place down more pillars that would boost production. They were preparing for an influx of demand, as the adventurer caravan was expected in about half a year. Even with the boosted agriculture speed

[Year 13 Month 0: 4 months have passed]

[You have gained 1 level]

[Sanctuary has upgraded]

[The range of the Sanctuary skill has expanded. May only be used by the Primary Obelisk.]

Astrid had done a lot of work on the outpost, which had been lovingly named Runehold, as the rune-covered obelisks emitted a slight glow at night. While she gained a couple of levels from the administration tasks, the [Shopkeeper] class didn’t have a ton of overlap with city management, which meant there was a loss of experience.

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It was unfortunate, but she had also told me she was aiming for an evolution more suited to her new life. Both her child and Penelope’s had also grown old enough that they didn’t need to be constantly around, and while they still spent most of their time with their children, the maintenance time had decreased.

Runehold had expanded quite a bit, and while it would certainly require more work to maintain a full society, it would be functional with Gorn village able to support it for now. Eventually, Astrid intended for Runehold to have its own farms, but without more farmers, it was going to have to wait.

Curiously, there was a trickle of people who had found ways to get there ahead of time. These were aspiring merchants who were looking to establish an advantage over those who would come later. When they arrived to find the entrance somewhat developed, many were surprised, but took the news in stride. It meant less work for them after all.

Astrid provided each merchant with a plot of land near the dungeon entrance, no monsters could exit the dungeons, and adventurers would naturally congregate, making the area prime for market stalls and commerce. Combining her knowledge of commerce and some help from the Beast-kin Chiefs, the outpost was quite organized.

I had wanted to see if I could also go into the dungeon, but anytime I had someone take a totem in it would immediately vanish.