Enter System, page 42
part #1 of Natural Laws Apocalypse Series
“Which I've got to go do now,” Natalie said, interrupting Marc. “When the groups took over guarding the recyclers, I started working with Conner instead.”
She leaned over to kiss her dad's cheek, then got up to go to work with a wave for her father, a smile on her face for the first time since Marc had met her.
“As I was saying,” Marc said. “So, even if I don't remember, I can ask her to show me the way. The other group I thought about pairing you up with was ours, but we don't have a regular schedule for going out like Ron does, too many other things we need to do here as well.”
“Okay then. You know where I'll be. Don't be surprised if she tries to play the crying game when you show up. I'm sure she'll try to keep me from going out again, but I think it's something I need to do, so...”
Marc nodded.
“I'll warn Ron also if he's with me,” Marc said.
“In that case, time for me to go face the music,” Bill said, standing and heading out.
“So, what are we going to do today?” Felicia asked.
“Well, we've got to check out our Wired Communications center, let Allan know he's got another field and an orchard, then after dark we can check out the wall lights. Plus, we haven't really looked over some of the other buildings, just turned them over to those who can use them. Also, Conner told me that my dad has a food stash at our house. We should probably go retrieve that today also.”
“That's right, I haven't given you a tour of my lab yet,” Felicia said. “You can check it out. I've got the formulas for three things so far, lesser potions all. There's healing, mana restoration, and stamina restoration. As soon as the ingredients are ready I'll be able to try to make them. I am going to need a bigger herb garden at some point though, if we want to make a decent quantity of potions. I've been trying to identify the ones we found with the ogres too, no luck yet though.”
For the moment they'd divided up the items from the ogres with Felicia taking the potions, Rob the ax, and Jeff the necklace and ring. If they ever managed to find out just what they were, then they'd assign ownership on a permanent basis.
* * *
By the end of the day Marc had investigated all of the buildings he'd already created. He'd heard from people that the greenhouses were growing their plants at ludicrous rates, but when he saw the plants put down mere days ago that were already sprouted and extending stems and vines almost a foot in length he realized they'd been understating things.
Even the fields were growing much faster than they should, according to Allan. The shoots in the original fields were several inches tall already and Allan had already gotten Field Hands to plant the newer fields. They were still working on the one Marc had put in the night before while Marc was on the tour and he discovered that Allan had chosen more challenging plants for the newer fields after seeing how well the first ones were doing.
The apartment building had residents already as well. Aside from the apartment he'd claimed for the guns, there were four others already claimed in there. When he looked inside an unoccupied one, paying more attention to the apartment than he had when he'd been dropping guns off inside of one, he discovered why.
They were very comfortable apartments, each with its own mini-kitchen and running water. There were outlets, odd looking ones that each contained one plug of the standard grounded type he knew and a second with four curved sockets and a round one in the middle forming almost a miniature bullseye.
That must be the plug for things you buy from the shop, he thought. Because I haven't seen a plug like it in my life that I can remember so it certainly isn't a common one.
Marc caught up to Ron at dinner, telling him about the new class that Natalie's father had and stressing that Bill thought he could use it to find more survivors, but that Marc wanted him to go with a group, not on his own.
Marc had hoped that Ron would volunteer and he wasn't disappointed. When Marc mentioned he was looking for a group, Ron started eating quicker. Once he'd finished his food, he asked to meet Bill so he could talk to him.
Bill had been right, and his wife was all teary eyed during the ensuing discussion, but in the end they decided that they'd try it out tomorrow and see if Bill was correct and he could locate the survivors. As he put it, there were a number of ways he could do it.
“I can look for fresh tracks of people, use Scavenge to hunt for things that they'd probably have, or for say... human hair, and that all assumes that I can't simply track the survivors with the skill itself. I mean, it says find valuables, and a living survivor would be valuable, right?”
Marc found that he simply wasn't all that tired again come dark, so he and Felicia toured the now lighted walls. The Phantom Guards were just that. Translucent figures that stood at attention, peering out into the night. They reacted not at all to Felicia and Marc as they passed by, continuing to stand guard, undistracted.
Felicia didn't want to walk the entire circuit and Marc didn't blame her. The Safe Zone was getting rather large and to walk all the way around the walls would be a good bit of exercise that they really didn't currently need. So they left the walls and settled down in Marc's room for another movie. He'd paused in the gym on the way back, and the popcorn was fresh and hot when he pulled it out of his inventory as the movie began.
* * *
Chapter Thirty-One
In the morning Marc watched as Bill headed out with Ron's group. He wasn't sure just what his own group was going to be doing today since they hadn't discussed it, but if they weren't going out he needed to check the material stores for the Safe Zone and see how long it would be until they could expand again.
It shouldn't be very long at all since I can claim the existing buildings for half their materials now and we're close enough to the downtown that there will be a lot of buildings in the new area I can claim. Wood definitely won't be a problem, Natalie's old recycling team has been working the forested area out back using the recycler on all the standing and fallen dead wood. That's added up quickly. I think stone and metal are the things I need to worry about, plus any of the non-standard materials I might need for buildings I choose.
He was up early again and had waited for the cafeteria to open before going down. Felicia was still asleep and that was reinforcing his idea that a higher Constitution meant he needed less sleep. Felicia hadn't put many points in Constitution yet, so she needed more if his theory was correct.
I'll have to ask Rob and any of the other tanks whose class is partially Constitution based. If I'm right then they won't be needing as much sleep either, Marc thought.
With that thought in mind he hung out in the cafeteria, approached the tank types as they entered, and quickly asked them about it. He was surprised to discover that they needed even less sleep than he did now, even the ones that were a level or two lower than him.
So, not just Constitution based? Maybe Strength as well since those are the two stats most of the tank types get each time they level? Wait, there's the Endurance stat also and that seems to go up with both Constitution and Strength. Maybe that's got something to do with it.
Worried about being a pest, Marc returned to the tanks while they were still eating, quickly asking each of them what their Endurance score was. After he'd received the answers, he thought he'd found his solution. The amount of sleep needed seemed to be based on the Endurance score. Also, the people with higher Endurance had found that they could force themselves to stay awake longer if it was necessary.
So that's what Endurance does. That was one of the stats fairly easy to train up before, I wonder if it still is? If it is, then maybe we can create some training for it? In case people would rather be doing more and sleeping less?
He shook his head.
Who am I kidding? Some people will, but I bet most of them would rather not. Rough physical training just so you don't have to sleep as much and can do more on a regular basis? The workaholics will go nuts over it and everyone else will want to keep their normal sleeping schedule. I can post a note about it anyhow, that way if anyone is interested they can try to train their Endurance up.
He did, however, share his findings with the tanks he'd asked about it and his own group when they showed up a little while later.
“So that's why you keep getting up so much earlier than me?” Felicia asked.
“I guess,” Marc replied. “I'm feeling well rested so I am getting enough sleep. How about you Rob?”
“Yeah, I don't need to sleep as much, but normally I just go back to sleep when I wake up early. I don't need it, but it's nice,” Rob said. “Feels like I get to sleep in every day and then still get a full day's worth of stuff done.”
“Speaking of which, what do we want to do today?” Marc asked.
“Game,” Jeff said. “Living in a game setup isn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be. I'd like to settle in with a decent game and just... Hell, I don't know. I don't think those games would be as much fun anymore either. Not that we have a computer or a console to game on anyways.”
“Heh,” Rob said. “Check the shop. I bet they have something like that.”
Jeff shook his head.
“Nah, I don't know what we should do. I think the area right around the Safe Zone is pretty well covered by the other groups, so we won't find anything to do there.”
“I had a thought,” Marc said.
“Uh-oh,” Jeff said, unable to resist.
Marc glared at him for a moment before continuing.
“The Lair core? For kobolds? Do we want to find a place to set that up for farming experience? We might not get a lot from them any more, but most of the other groups are lower level than us and they might? Plus if we get more people taking a combat class, we can train them up in there.”
Ella took on a thoughtful look.
“Does lower experience from a spawn mean less chance of increasing a skill on them? I'm just thinking that even the groups who don't get much exp from the kobolds might be able to level their skills up on them,” she said.
Jeff grinned.
“Now that's a half decent idea. Once we know how quickly they spawn we can assign a rotation for clearing it out to any groups that are interested. With both experience and skill levels available that way we'll probably get a bunch of takers.”
“So, should we head out today and try to find a spot for it outside of the Safe Zone?” Marc asked.
“A decent distance outside of the Safe Zone,” Felicia replied. “We don't know if they have surges in breeding rates for anything, or when they'd start heading out of their lair, or anything of the sort.”
“I was thinking I'd make that forest out back of the school a Wildlife Preserve,” Marc said, “but there's a lot more area than what I'd use back there and the spawns are prevented from killing the game in it. Although they admittedly might be a problem for the hunters and Game Warden.”
“So keep it a fair bit away from there as well,” Felicia said.
“I'm trying to remember the area. I don't think we want it too far out, we have to walk to it to farm it all the time.”
“Well then, that's what we ought to do today,” Felicia said. “Figure out where to set up an experience farm.”
* * *
They geared up and headed out. First they went through part of the area Marc wanted to use as a Wildlife Preserve. He needed to make sure that enough of it was forest to qualify. They turned at a right angle once he was satisfied that it was forested enough and soon found themselves out on the open plains.
Marc knew that there used to be a ranch out this way. It hadn't been operational in years, but the main house had still been there, albeit not in the best of shape.
I'm thinking that if we can actually find the place, even if it's fallen in on itself already, it might be a good area to set up the Lair core, he thought.
They spent about forty-five minutes just wandering around. There were a few houses out in this direction and the ones they saw weren't in very good condition any more. Marc headed to the road that led to those houses though, he thought the ranch was at the end of it.
“Out this way. Does anyone else remember the abandoned ranch? I thought that might be a good spot for the lair.”
“Or we could head that way,” Jeff said, gesturing towards the low hills right outside of town. “I'm sure there's a cave or something out there we could use.”
“Jeff, do you remember what else is out there?” Marc asked.
Jeff shrugged.
“Jeff, what are the most common crafter types in games?”
“Uh... Are we talking NPC or player?” Jeff asked.
“Call it between everyone,” Marc said.
“Then smith, farmer, miner...” Jeff trailed off.
“Oh yeah, there's the old mine in the hills isn't there?” he said.
The mine had been founded when a decent sized silver vein had been found more than a century ago, but it had been abandoned for decades by this point. Most of the boys that grew up in town, Marc, Rob, and Jeff included, had been in it at least once since it was the frequent destination for dares and other less reputable plans.
“Yes, and with the way the System is affecting everything else, I'm guessing that we might actually be able to get something out of the mine again, if we can ever get anyone willing to try mining,” Marc said. “So I thought the ranch would be good for this. It had a lot of buildings, the main house, the bunkhouse for its employees and a bunch of other smaller places that they used for who knew what.”
“You're right, the ranch works. Imagine if we can get a silver mine going again here. Gold would be better, but silver works for me.”
“Learn the mining skill and we'll escort you out to check and see if you find any,” Marc said. “Now come on, the ranch is only a little farther out this way.”
It was a little farther away from Safe Zone than Marc preferred, but they found the place. Despite the deterioration it still hadn't collapsed completely. Marc counted the house, the bunkhouse, two large barns and about seven other smaller buildings on the property. He knew there was a fence around the several thousand acres that compromised the ranch, although he wasn't sure if it would've decayed away by now or not. He could see the strands of barbed wire sticking up out of the weeds in a few areas though, so he thought it was probably still standing, or at least parts of it were.
“So, what do you think? I'm sure if we figure out the shortest route it'll be less than an hour from the Safe Zone if you go directly between the two,” he said.
“Closer would be better,” Jeff said.
“No, this is good,” Felicia replied. “It's far enough away that the kobolds won't find the Safe Zone unless they're incredibly lucky or we stop farming the place.”
“If we stop farming it, we'll try to come recover the core,” Marc said. “It's something we wouldn't want to just leave lying around on its own, you know?”
She nodded.
“So, where do we put it?” Rob asked.
“The largest building?” Ella asked. “They might expand to the others, probably will even, but if you start it in the largest one then they'll have the biggest opportunity to grow before they have to expand. If the intent is to get lots of them to farm, than I think that would be best.”
Marc nodded.
“Alright. I want to go in alone though. The place looks like it's about to fall apart and I'd rather not have it collapse on me. Bill heartily disrecommends that.”
“Should Jeff do it then?” Felicia asked. “He's the one with a focus on Agility.”
Marc slowly looked at Jeff, then turned back to Felicia then raised his eyebrows and gave her an expression of disbelief.
Felicia glanced over for a moment. Jeff was currently fidgeting, looking from Marc to Felicia and back.
“Oh yeah, never mind,” she said. “Forget I said anything.”
“I'll be careful,” Marc said, “I promise.”
The group went up to the edge of the porch and the rest of them stopped as Marc continued on. He gingerly made his way into the house, then down into the basement. The core had been buried before and he didn't know if that was necessary for it to work or not.
The floor of the first basement room he was in was concrete, old powdery concrete, but he still didn't want to risk beating on it with the rickety building over him. He checked the doors and was relieved to find that one led into a root cellar with a dirt floor.
A bit of digging with his shield gave him a hole. He considered the core and the potential for the kobolds themselves to get a hold of it, then dug down another foot. The packed dirt didn't really want to yield, but the sturdy construction of his shield combined with his strength got the hole as deep as he wanted it.
He took the core in hand and looked at it. Re-reading the description, he realized that they had no way of knowing how long it would take to start the lair.
Lair Core (kobold)
Item grade: uncommon
Item quality: common
When placed in an unoccupied area, this Core will began to accumulate mana. Once it has accumulated enough, kobolds will begin to appear and create a lair. The overall size of the lair, levels of the kobolds, and all other accouterments of the lair such as traps, treasure, and the like will increase with the duration of the Lair's existence.
He placed the core in the hole, then filled in the dirt he'd dug out of it, packing it down. The rocks he'd found when he'd dug the hole went in just before the last layer of dirt, so it would be easy to find the core again if they needed to do so. Just poke a couple inches down in the dirt and if you found a mass of rocks, that would be it.
Rather than make his way back through the house, he carefully climbed the steps leading out of the root cellar, swinging the door open gently as he climbed out. Then he closed it again, setting the latch back in place so it wouldn't blow open.
When he made it around front the rest of the group was staring at the front door.
