Essence Wave 2 Chapter 8

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

So, I got a decent bit done this week, and I have next week off from my day job, so expect a post on Wednesday as well! I hope you all had a merry Christmas and wish everyone a happy New Year!

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

Everyone had already paired up and the first group to dump their Energy dropped to their knees. “On the count of three,” David yelled, then counted. On three, he pushed Energy out of his right hand and Mana out of his left, dumping fifteen hundred of each over the next sixty seconds. His arms burned a bit, his channels not happy with the poorly guided resources streaming through them, but he shook it off and stood.

Aly had sliced two tentacles off the Corruption that had tried to grab him. “Your turn,” he told her, recreating his sword with Metal Mana. It resisted a bit at first, and a quick look at his core had him realize he’d used most of the Metal Mana in it on the Corruption. “If you’ve got aspected Mana, try and see if there is a difference. We can do this!” Another burst of Energy flew off him, Invigorating Shout assisting everyone. That Skill is definitely going to get a workout. A Lord’s Presence as well, though I still haven’t figured out how to actively level that Skill. He stabbed forward, his sword dissolving a tiny hook that tried to grab Aly’s hand.

With a flick of his wrist, he sliced apart one heading for Liz. “Colin, Meditate to full, I’ll watch the girls,” David said. “In fact, everyone who is watching, see if you can cover two people and let another Meditate. We’re on a clock that might be hard to beat.” He yelled the last bit out.

Liz finished sending her resources to cleanse the Corruption and stood. “Now I’ll watch Aly, you Meditate,” she told him, only for Aly to finish up.

They alternated who was watching, and set up groups of four so that only three quarters of the group was vulnerable at any time. Three hours and millions of Mana and Energy were dumped into the Corruption. The radius had been dropped by almost two-thirds, and they’d had to split into two groups around the slime pond. A couple of Gremlins and a Grunt had spawned out of it, only to be obliterated before they could threaten anyone. After they crossed the three-quarters line, putting almost eight Million of Energy and Mana into the Corruption, it started to withdraw.

A chrysalis formed, and David sent a Mana Bolt into it. “Destroy it before it can fully form!” He commanded before rushing forward. A Vanguard’s Charge splattered a massive chunk off it, which fizzled and slithered towards the ball of goop. A Mana Grenade blew it apart and a Fireball burned what was left. David slammed his sword into the Corruption, immediately feeling the draw on his Mana, and he pushed every drop he had into the Sword. With Power Attack, he sliced upward, ripping apart the chrysalis and draining his Energy to the dregs.

A massive headache formed as his Mana approached zero, and exhaustion threatened to drop him to his knees, but he kept slashing at the rapidly forming Beast until his sword dissipated. Its Mana had run out, even with the boost from the hilt he’d created. A Shield Bash was followed by slamming the edge into the cracks he’d created over and over again, draining his Energy as fast as he was regenerating it.

After a minute, the chrysalis shattered, and a Daemon rhinoceros dropped out of it. Their efforts were rewarded, though, as it was already bleeding, with chunks ripped out of the thing’s legs and back. It bellowed in rage, only to have a sniper shot glowing a brilliant yellow rip its rearmost leg out from under it. The poor beast collapsed, and was pounced upon by the ranged fighters before Steve slammed his massive maul into the thing’s head. All struggles ceased, and it dissolved into a pile of Corruption.

“All right! Finish it off and let’s be done here!” David yelled, then dropped to his knees.

“Are you okay?” Aly asked, appearing next to him.

“Yeah, just used up the last of my resources on that Shout,” he laughed, then struggled to his feet.

“No, sit, recharge,” Aly said.

He nodded and collapsed, falling into his core cave and collapsing there too. “Huh, even my mental projection is exhausted,” he laughed to himself. “Just recharge,  no time to Focus on a Skill.” He mentally reached out, pulling as hard as he could, and concentrated on improving his regeneration rate. It took only a couple of realtime minutes before he popped out.

“Alright, my turn,” Aly said. The last bit of Mana and Essence still took them nearly half an hour to generate and use up. Craig finished up the last bit, leaving a field of green covering the area. The slime pit had dissolved into pure water at some point. The leftover ball of Corruption had been turned, and formed into a crystal half the size as the City Crystal back in Hope’s Refuge.

Congratulations! You have completed the City Quest: Destroy the Corruption! You stand tall in front of your City Lord peers.

Reward: 5 Town Build Points, 500 Essence, Outpost Crystals unlocked.

“Outpost Crystals?” David asked. Nothing answered, so he reached over to the floating gem.

Congratulations! You have found an Outpost Crystal.

Reward: Establish Outpost at current location or absorb for 1000 Essence.

“Hey, we could establish an Outpost here, or I could get a thousand Essence,” David said. “Any ideas on what an Outpost would be?”

“Well, this was a fishery,” Liz said. “Maybe we could revive it?”

“Would a thousand Essence give you another level?” Aly asked. David shook his head no. “Then I say to make an Outpost, if only to see what it does.”

“Okay,” David said, then decisively stabbed his finger forward. The crystal glimmered for a second, before the green carpet covering the ground around them rippled. Walls rose, making a circle fifty meters in diameter, covering two thirds of the clearing they’d been fighting in. The edges of the pond rose a meter off the ground, and plops sounded out as a couple of dozen fish appeared out of nowhere. Finally, a small three room building formed next to the pond.

Congratulations! Hope’s Refuge is the first Town to generate an Outpost!

Reward: Outpost walls, Fish Breeding Pond, Fisher’s House

“Anyone want to be a fish breeder?” David asked the group.

Matt stepped forward, “Uh, I love fishing. I’d be willing to help out with this,” he said, looking nervous.

“Sounds like a plan,” David said. “Investigate the house, see if there is any information on what you need to do. If you can’t find anything, we’ll buy you a manual.” He then picked another nine people to stay, with Spencer the paladin the only healer. “Do your best to hunt the area and keep it safe,” he directed.

“Cut some more trees down and give yourself a clearing around the walls. We’ll try to find more people to come maintain the area, and see if we can build you all a Farm or two as well,” Liz said, looking at David.

“I’ll check the crystal, see if there is anything we can buy here,” he said. “And Matt, you’ll get some purchase access at least.”

The fisherman smiled and nodded. “What will I be able to buy?” He asked.

“Uh, anything within reason,” David said. “I’m not sure what all you’ll be able to buy, so I don’t want to artificially limit you. Just, you know, don’t go overboard. If you’re going to spend more than a thousand credits, ask first? Unless it’s an emergency, anyway.”

“Let’s check what we can get,” Liz said, gesturing at the floating crystal.

David put his hand on the crystal again, pulling open a menu. “Uh, the only thing to do right now is move it to the house,” he laughed, then clicked ‘Yes.’ He felt a click, and the crystal dropped. “Ah!” He frantically grabbed it, stopping it from crashing to the ground. “I guess we’re moving it ourselves.”

“Too bad we can’t just move everything,” Colin said, looking over at the Fish Pond longingly. “Those looked delicious.”

“I’ll make sure we get a shipment to y’all as soon as we can,” Matt promised earnestly.

Colin and Matt started to talk about their favorite fish dishes, and David just shook his head before lugging the surprisingly heavy crystal to the farmhouse. The doorway led into a large open room, with two doors leading off the back. In the center, a glowing column of light indicated where he needed to drop the Outpost Crystal. It made a thrum that echoed throughout the Outpost, and the walls of the farmhouse glowed for a second.

David accessed the menu again, browsing to see what the options were. “Huh, these are almost the same as the city, though you can’t build a Researcher’s Hut. Ooh, Transport options, what’s that?”

Transportation Options:

• Gravel Road
• Paved Road
• Inscribed Road
• City Teleportation Pad

He unhesitatingly opened the teleportation option, then winced at the requirements. “So Hope’s Refuge has to be a City, and there are a couple of buildings we have to research before we can build the pad here,” David explained to the group after he had found it. “It also takes Inscribed Stone, Enchanted Iron, and Barksteel Wood, along with billions of Mana and Energy. Something to build towards.” He shook his head and laughed.

“So, what about the roads?” Colin asked.

He opened Inscribed Road, but it was still beyond their capability. Paved Road, though, was not. “So, if we spend four of the five Build Points we just got,” David said, “We can put a Paved Road between here and Hope’s Refuge. It gives a bonus to speed for citizens only and a reduction in Energy and stamina usage for moving on it for everyone.”

“Should we wait and discuss it with Josiah and Michelle?” Aly asked.

“We have two hours to decide,” David said, frowning at the menu. “Then it’ll go up to eight Town Build Points. We’re getting a discount to connect a newly built Outpost to the host City. It’s a standard reduction, I guess, since we didn’t get a message about it.”

“Go ahead,” Colin said. “We need to connect them anyway, and being able to go faster would be useful.”

“What about the Gravel Road?” Liz asked.

David checked. “No bonus to speed, a minuscule versus tiny reduction in Energy and stamina costs. Only three build points instead of four.” He frowned, “I’d rather spend the four.” The others voted on it and everyone basically agreed with him that it was worth an extra point to get a better road. “I just wish I knew how likely getting more TBP was,” he said, approving the Paved Road to be built with them.

“Well, we’ve gotten quite a bit so far,” Aly said. “Just keep going, though the more people we have, the less we’ll need them. With a hundred people building, it won’t take that long to make whatever we need to get made.”

“Yeah,” David said. “Ready to go back?” Nods and cries of assent met him. “Matt, take care. If something attacks that you don’t think you can deal with, leave. Got it? We can take the Outpost back if necessary.”

“Will do. We’ll flee at the first sign of opposition,” Matt said. David gave him a look. “I know, we’ll take care of the wildlife and Daemons around us. I’ll only order a retreat if we’re heavily outnumbered or outleveled.”

“Good,” David clasped his wrist. “Let’s move out!” Heh, I always wanted to say that. Now I just need to call Aly, Liz, Colin, and I the Avengers and I can yell assemble! Aly led the pack, jogging out the new wooden gate of the outpost to the Paved Road. Each paver was half a meter square, with the road being four meters, or eight pavers, wide. They stretched off into the distance, piercing through the trees and building remnants in their way. David lost sight as the road dipped down at a hill.

“You know,” Liz said, looking down at the road as they ran along it, “we could probably Inscribe each paver. It’d take a long time, but it's doable.”

“True,” David said. “Though I’m not sure what we’d Inscribe on them. Maybe something from Earth’s Unrelenting Motion, or Tireless since it’d be easier?”

“Sprint!” Colin said, “Or Hiking and Running.”

“Build a wall along the edge and Inscribe an alarm or shield,” Jennifer yelled from behind them.

“We could use Summer’s aura too,” Craig said. “Make everyone faster.”

Ideas flowed fast between everyone, starting off reasonable and becoming sillier over time. “So, if we can somehow get a Skill for changing color, we could have a rainbow effect as you run!” Summer joked at last, and everyone laughed.

David shook his head. “Okay, that’s enough of that,” he said. “Aly, Abby, can you scout ahead? Run forward a ways and explore off the sides of the road? I’ll stay at the front of the column, Jennifer, Craig in the middle. Colin, can you and Liz watch the rear?”

“Sure thing,” Craig said, letting up his speed a bit and moving to the right side of the road. Colin and Liz jogged off to the side and stopped, letting everyone else pass them by before running again.

They ran in formation, sorta anyway, for the next half hour. The speed boost of the Paved Road was instantly noticeable, and David thought, We need to get this set up throughout Refuge. At least to the bottom of the hill, let everyone who lives up top and works down at the bottom get there faster. Or throughout the bottom area, since Christine’s plans had it being huge. Eventually, anyway! David laughed softly, then sighed when he saw Abby Sprinting down the road towards them. “Anything wrong?” He yelled.

“No!” she yelled back. “Aly sent me back to say we’re almost there. Only another kilometer or so. She’s going to do a quick circuit of the city’s clearing, make sure there’s nothing around.”

“Got it,” David said. “Thanks.”

Abby nodded, the twelve year old looking too mature for her age, then she barged past him to jump into her mom’s arms. “Aly said I was a great scout,” she said excitedly.

“Good job honey,” Emily said, easily holding the girl up now that she’d leveled extensively. “Keep an eye out.”

The group rushed to the edge of the burgeoning city. “Huh,” David said as they ran past the new city boundaries, still on the road. “I thought this would have ended. Why are there crossroads?”

“Well, the road now extends all the way up the bluff,” Emily said, pointing.

“So it does,” David said. “Eh, saves us time. I was planning that anyway.”

The entire group ran to the bluff, waving at the farmers and builders working on a second Log House near the Farms as they passed. Everyone but Colin and Liz peeled off when they reached the top of the switchbacks, heading back to their bunks to rest for a while. Colin and Liz followed David to the Mayor’s Manor, where they met up with Josiah and Michelle.

“So, we have roads?” David asked them.

“Yes,” Josiah said. “The option showed up when you started the Outpost. I’m hoping that’s why you only had twenty two people return.”

“Yeah. No one died, and only a few minor injuries. Overwhelming firepower on top of tactical surprise worked wonders. Uh, I used four of the five Town Build Points to make the road from the Outpost to here. The System rebuilt the fishery, including providing live trout, I think,” David said with a grin. “Now we just need to figure out what to do next.”

“Well, we’ve got good news from south of us, and really bad news from north of us,” Josiah said with a grimace. “Which do you want first?”

“Uh, the good news,” David said.

“Clancy, a newer scout who went south, discovered a group of forty people near the Chaffee County Shooting Range and sent them up to us. They beat you by an hour, while he’s continuing south towards Salida. The twenty five kilometers it was is now at least seventy five, but the stretching seems to be slightly less north/south versus east/west. No one has any idea why.”

“That’s awesome, any high levels?” David asked.

“No,” Michelle said. “They are all either two or three. They did some hunting, but mostly hid. Some good shooters, though, so I’ve had them all run through the market to get weapons and armor.”

“Great,” David said.

“The bad news is the Daemons are expanding south, and they have a fortress of their own,” Josiah said. “The very bad news is Dylan saw what looked like human slaves working on a farm in a patch of Corruption, of which he found seven.”

“Slaves!” David exclaimed. “That’s both good and bad news. Them being in chains sucks, and we need to rescue them, but at least they’re not dead.”

“I’m more worried about why they need or want slaves,” Liz said. “Nothing we’ve yet seen suggests they would even be interested in anything but murdering us all. A change in behavior is disturbing.”

“We’ll have to get some more scouting done,” David said. “And try to plan a rescue.” David held back a massive yawn and shook his head.

“Later,” Josiah said. “You need a break, and we have more to do here.”

“I’m not tired, new Skill makes me the Energizer Bunny,” David said, again holding in the yawn.

“Okay, then take an hour to ponder what happened and use that Focus Skill of yours,” Josiah said. “Then I’ll have some more thoughts, and we can get better prepared here.”

David narrowed his eyes at Josiah, but then nodded sharply. “Okay, I can do that.”