Essence Wave Book 2 Chapter 1

*** AUTHOR'S NOTE ***

I'm just about done with chapter two of Essence Wave 2, the sequel to Mana Daemons. Not sure yet what I'm going to call it, and it kinda depends on how far we get in the story. I've laid out three to four books worth of general outline, but it can change based upon the characters and how in-depth I get to different parts. Some light city building here. I might add a bit where he goes over the quests again, or add a prologue with the details. Anyway, I'm going to finish chapter 2, and then start on Legacy of the M'zee, the sequel to Monster Island. That should be the chapter you get next week. 

Additionally, I'm going to put up a goal for the Patreon, though it'll be a while out (if ever). I've run the numbers, and if I can get up to 4k per month here, plus book sales, should be enough to let me leave my day job and write full time. Mostly that goes to the cost of healthcare for my two kids, both of whom have special needs. 

Anyway, enjoy!

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

David stumbled to the nearest chair. “Another invasion. Within two hundred kilometers. Before this apocalypse that could have been in another state, but now it's probably in Denver or C-Springs.”

“Not much we can do right now,” Josiah said. “You need to recover fully, then we need to spend those build points and improve our situation here. Eliminate the closest threats, starting with the weakened Corruption.”

David took a deep breath while Aly looked at him worriedly. He nodded sharply, “As always, Josiah, you are the voice of reason. I’m going to focus on my Minor Health Regeneration Skill, see if I can eke out another skill level while fixing my gut. Can you two get with Michelle, Colin, Liz, and the other leaders to get a recommendation on spending the ten Town Build Points we have now? Maybe think about what to do with the other five, once we defeat the Corruption.”

“You’ve got it, babe,” Aly said, leaning in to kiss the top of his head. He instinctively pulled the nanosuit armor they’d been given into his skin, letting her snuggle into his hair.

I can barely believe it’s only been a week since Al crashed his spaceship and the world ended, David thought, then shook his head. Melancholy later, skill now. He dove into his core cave using Inscribing Scholar’s Focus, which made time move four times faster than outside with its most recent upgrade. He found himself on the bottom of a spherical cave, two glowing balls hanging above his head. They were much larger than the last time he had been here, since he’d gained roughly a quarter more Mana and Energy after the battle with the Daemon Knight. A small cutout led to a room with two desks and dozens of sheets of paper, most covered with various runes and Mana Inscriptions he’d been tinkering with.

He turned away from the study room to more closely examine the dozens of incredibly intricate runes that described his Skills that hovered over the top of his cave. “Getting kinda tight up there,” he commented. “Not sure I want to find out what happens when I run out of space. Problem for future me, but maybe not that far in the future. Now, that one.” He lifted off the ground, able to move around anywhere inside this space with no effort, and headed to the rune depicting Minor Health Regeneration.

A large streamer of Energy flowed out from the yellow core into the intricate shape, and from there into the rest of his body. He could feel the edges of his wounds slowly closing together. “Some of the Energy is missing,” he reached out his hands and envisioned a tube connecting the rune to the core. Nothing happened at first, but he kept trying, mentally forcing the splitting Energy to flow properly.

It was working, but if he relaxed for a second the Energy spilled even harder. “Okay, that’s not the right way to fix this. Do I need to make a tube?” He tried to gather some of the spilt Energy into a tube to direct the rest, but the construct kept falling apart. “Nope. Okay, let’s just look at things for a bit.” He floated his imaginary body up close to the rune, and just watched the Energy running into it.

Twenty minutes passed as he studied, five minutes in the real world. He could vaguely hear others moving about in the map room, but he was barely conscious of them. “There, that area should be part of the rune,” he finally said, and concentrated on the Energy flowing in. With a mental effort, he extended the rune slightly, and twisted a piece to make a curly que. The Energy flowing in immediately grabbed onto the new spot and the efficiency of the Skill increased slightly.

Over the next half hour, he made a dozen little changes to the rune. After that, he thought, Not seeing anything else right now. There’s still something, but it’s beyond my understanding of runes and how Energy flows. Uh, let’s follow the Energy once it leaves, maybe I can figure out how to direct it better? His mental projection shot along the stream of Energy that moved from just below his heart to where his intestines were still damaged. There he found most of the Energy absorbing into the area that was injured, while a small amount dissipated across healthy tissue.

“Come on,” he said. “More inefficiencies?” He reached out and redirected the stream. At first, only seventy percent or so was rushing into the injuries, but with his mental nudges he got up to about ninety percent. Something seemed to click, and when he stopped focusing it stayed at that level. With a smile, he faded back to his core cave, and brought up his status to find a pop-up waiting for him.

Congratulations! You have successfully evolved the Skill Minor Health Regeneration (Beg 1) into Heath Regeneration (U) (Beg 1).

Health Regeneration (Uncommon)

Level: Beginner 1

Description: Spend Energy to increase the rate at which you heal by a small amount. Guiding the Energy will increase the effectiveness by skill level.

“Only two minutes now until my perforated intestines injury vanishes,” he laughed. “I’ve still got a dozen other injuries, but all they’ll do is make it suck to move around, instead of potentially causing death if I try to walk.”

He left his core cave and found the map room crowded with nine other people. Aly, Colin, Liz, Josiah and Michelle were having a quiet conversation next to his immobile body, while Eustice, Josiah, and two others he didn’t recognize were speaking quietly on the other side of the map projection.

"You ready?" Colin asked, noticing David's eyes opening up.

"Yeah," David stood and turned to the newcomers, holding in the wince as his abs signaled their displeasure with his movement. One was in her mid-twenties, brunette, with a serious look on her face. She was pretty in a severe way, and the scar down the left side of her face only accentuated that. The other was a large, forty or so year old man who was built like he used to be a linebacker then didn't maintain his fitness standards. "We haven't met. I'm David Black." He held out his hand to the young woman.

"Christine Swanson," she responded, her grip light but sure.

"I'm Duke Branson," the guy boomed, his voice as big as he was. "I was owner of the best supply stores in Buena Vista before all this crap came down, and was on the planning and zoning commission advisory board, so your assistants asked for my help."

"Glad to have you," David said, reaching over to shake his hand.

"I was a graduate student in Urban Planning," Christine added, “with a minor in history. I am fascinated by ancient cities, so Michelle brought me in."

"Excellent," he nodded. "My only training was in video-games, so I'll be leaning on you all just like I've been leaning on Michelle and Josiah. So, onto the recommendations." He stepped up to the map, blinking at the expanded view of the surrounding area.

"We have fifteen Town Build Points," Josiah said, his no nonsense drill sergeant voice laced with amusement. "You used three to turn the hill into a fortress.”

“It’s time to expand,” Michelle said. “Give people some privacy, so we’re turning this area into an apartment complex. By the river, we’ll put in a small dock, boatyard, and warehouse.” She pointed first at a spot near the road, almost to the first buildings leftover in Nathrop, then all the way across the empty clearing south of the hill Hope’s Refuge was built on. There was nearly five hundred meters in between the two areas.

“In the middle, we are going to relocate the Hunter’s Lodge and Forrester’s Hut. With a few helpers, I think we can turn this area into an orchard and wood lot,” Liz pointed even farther south.

“In between, and looping around everything else, the city needs a wall. We can put two gates in where highway 285 crosses the wall. Along the road, we’ll eventually put in stables and garages to assist with transport. The railway is in pretty good shape throughout the area, so we agreed to add some industry along it,” Josiah gestured at a spot near the northernmost parts of the semicircular wall, where the railway was only a few dozen meters away from the Arkansas River. “Another wall will go at the base of the hill, and the bottom level flattened even more, with a moat. Up top here will be for leadership, a few critical buildings, and a fallback point in case the city is invaded again.”

“Can we do all that?” David asked.

“Not yet,” Duke said with a frown. “The system limits what we can build based upon the city level.”

“But we can queue it up,” Christine said helpfully. “It will spend the points now, but as soon as we increase the city to the appropriate level, the queued structures will automatically build. It will save us hundreds of millions of resources that way, since there seems to be a discount to using Build Points this way.” She then turned her head away shyly, “and don’t disparage video game learning. SimCity 6 was a great learning tool in my classes.”

David grinned at her. “That all looks awesome. How many TBP are we reserving?”

“Ten will be reserved,” Michelle answered. “Three will be spent immediately to build two more Farms, and upgrade everything up here to the highest level they can, with two left over to meet any requirements we cannot see yet. A single Longhouse to eventually upgrade to an apartment building will be built. The secondary wall at the base of the hill will be built as well, though it will be smaller than the eventual goal. We are taking a morale penalty for the longhouses on the hill.” David gave her a questioning look. “If they were segmented for privacy, we didn’t have enough space for everyone to sleep. So just about everyone is sleeping in bunk beds right now. We upgraded all three along the Condensed path, and they are now two stories tall and sleep eighty people each.”

“I need you to update permissions on the City Crystal,” Josiah chided me when Michelle was finished. “I cannot even see the upgrade requirements.”

“Oh, sorry,” David smiled sheepishly at the older man. He touched the map, mentally activating its connection to the Crystal, and quickly scrolled through the tabs and pages. “Ah, here we are. Well, I can’t give you permission to make the changes, but you should be able to see the requirements now.” He pulled them up and shared the screen around.

Upgrade Hope’s Refuge to Outpost Tier Four
Population Required: 294/30

Buildings Required: 13/12

Wall Upgraded to Tier 3: Yes

Chieftain’s Hut Upgraded to Tier 3: No

Forge Built: Yes

All buildings upgraded to at least Tier 2: Yes

At least four upgrades researched: Yes

“Looks like all we need to do is upgrade the Chieftain’s Hut, and we can upgrade Hope’s tier,” David said.

“Then let’s get out of here and upgrade it!” Colin said.

David just looked at him, “We can upgrade it from in here. At least, it let me do that last time.”

“But that’s no fun,” he shook his head. “Come on.”

David shrugged, “Okay, fine.” Aly sidled up to him and put his arm over her shoulders. Together they limped down the stairs to the first floor. He found it empty, but that wasn’t too unusual. They walked out the door, and David stopped moving.

A crowd of at least a hundred people started to clap and cheer the instant they saw him, and he had to resist the urge to pull his helmet over his face. He put on an unsteady smile and waved, causing the crowd to redouble their cheers. “Thank you,” David tried to shout, but his body didn’t let him get it out loud enough to be heard.

“All right you layabouts,” Josiah bellowed with a smile on his face. “You’ve seen him, he’s up and about. You’ve all got work to be done, so go about it!”

The crowd dispersed slowly, and David saw Emily grab Abby and Adi’s hands to keep them from running over. They waved enthusiastically with their uncontrolled hands, so he smiled and nodded at them.

Once there were only a few looky-loos watching, they turned back towards the Chieftain’s Hut. David reached out and touched the side, pulling up the menu to upgrade. “Huh, back up a bit people,” he waved at the stragglers. He turned to Josiah, “I can upgrade straight to a Mayor’s Manor with the Build Points. Only Tier One, though.”

“Well, let’s see it,” Aly said.

David laughed, and dramatically gestured at the floating blue box in front of his face. The building in front of them shimmered, waves of Mana and Energy flowing over it. The structure expanded, growing backwards and sideways away from them. It stayed two stories, but there were now rooms with windows on either side of the entryway. “It got longer!” someone yelled from off to the side.

“Shall we go in?” Liz said.

“Can you upgrade from out here?” Michelle asked.

David nodded, “Sure. He pulled up the window and poked the button. A pulse of Essence shot across the whole outpost, and every building seemed a tiny bit stronger. A second flash occurred, and all of the buildings got slightly larger and sturdier. The System alert that came after let him know they were still in the lead. Not sure if I’m happy or sad about being first, David thought as he looked at the message, then pulled up the next requirements.

Congratulations: Hope’s Refuge is the first Outpost to advance to Tier 4!

Reward: 2000 credits to each Citizen! Every building in Hope’s Refuge receives a miniscule increase to durability! Continue to stand tall for your world!

Upgrade Hope’s Refuge to Village Tier 1

Population Required: 294/50

Buildings Required: 13/15

Wall Upgraded to Tier 4: Yes

Chieftain’s Hut Upgraded to Mayor’s Manor: Yes

Market Built: Yes

Production Buildings Required: 2/3

All buildings upgraded to at least Tier 3: No

Deciding to talk it over out loud, David read out the requirements to his council. “What counts as a production building?” Liz asked.

David and Josiah both poked at it a bit. David found the answer first. “The Forge and the Workroom count, so it wants finalized production, not resources.”

“The upgrade to Tier 4 opened up the Weaver’s Hut, Herbalist’s Hut, and Threadmaker’s Hut as build options,” Josiah said. “They are all marked as production buildings now.”

“Herbalist,” Liz blurted. Everyone looked at her. “What? I want to get into Alchemy and Herbology if I can. See if I can make Health Potions or Mana Potions.”

“Can we use a Build Point for more than one building?” Christine asked tentatively.

“No idea,” David shrugged. “Let’s try. Put down all three. Herbalist’s Hut behind the Log Houses near the Farm. The other two near the Workroom?” He looked at the others, but no one seemed to rant to chime in with disagreement. With a thought, he opened the build menu and plopped the new buildings down, then attempted to purchase them all with a Town Build Point. “Well, I can get either the Herbalist’s Hut, or the other two. Apparently there is a distance limitation.”

“Wish we’d have known that before we built them,” Michelle grumbled.

“Well, I can move the Herbalist’s Hut, I guess,” David swiped the screen, dispersing the unbuilt hologram and repositioning it closer to the other two. It took three tries before he got it close enough, putting it nearly directly between the Market and the Arena. “That a good spot, Liz, or should we just build it normally?”

“I think it’ll be fine,” she answered, a pensive look on her face.

“Okay. There goes one point, though it does let us immediately upgrade them to Tier Four. So there’s that,” David held his right hand up with the index finger extended then dramatically poked the screen in front of him. A flash off to his right let them know the buildings were ready. “And we can upgrade to Village Tier 1, so, boop.”

Congratulations: Hope’s Refuge is the first Outpost to be upgraded to a Village!

Reward: 2 Town Build Points. Production and Resource buildings receive a miniscule bonus to output. All Citizens receive 2000 credits, and the Village receives 10,000! Stand tall for your planet!

Upgrade Hope’s Refuge to Village Tier 2

Population Required: 294/100

Buildings Required: 16/18

Wall Upgraded to Level 2 Tier 1: No

Mayor’s Manor upgraded to Level 2 Tier 2: No

Farm food output equal to half required for population: No

Production Buildings Required: 5/5

All buildings upgraded to at least Level 1 Tier 4: No

“I thought we had to upgrade all the buildings?” Colin asked.

“They were all upgraded, except the Chieftain’s Hut, since David was recovering there,” Michelle explained. “So when he upgraded it to a Manor, we met the requirement. Looks like we just need to upgrade some buildings and build some more Farms.”

“The Village’s control radius extends to the plain below us,” Josiah said, manipulating his own screen. “Five Farms at Village Tier One fit in the radius of a Town Build Point and the cost. I could make six fit, but it cost two points. Five Farms built, four with expanded size, one with extra growth factor. We’ll get some wheat and barley into two of them at least.” He paused for a second, then pointed at one of the observers, “You, go to the Research building and see if we have the option of a brewery. Now!”

“Brewery?” David asked, amusement in his voice.

“I desperately need a beer,” Josiah said earnestly.

“Me too,” Michelle, David, and Duke echoed vehemently.

“Well, then you will be glad to know we sent a group to grab everything they could from the Nathrop houses, and they brought back a large quantity,” Liz laughed. “Colin and I don’t drink, so you all can have at it.”

“Party tonight?” Michelle asked.

“Party tonight,” David nodded.