Chapter 43 (2/2)

Daniel made a mental note to talk with the man they put in charge of farming, to see their yields. Sure, the crops grew fast, but Daniel wanted to save up some food for when the Newbie Zone dropped around them, in case monsters wouldn’t just attack the village. He already had consulted a few people about where to set up a defensible perimeter around the NCC area.

A group of Two Shoulder Pad warriors walked past, heaving huge logs like it was nothing, laughing all the while. The current class system in the village was simple, but he already spoke with Dozer and Donny about raising the criteria, now that there were so many people showing up. There was effectively a two day waiting period, provided you were seen participating in the nightly defense.

If you lived through your first night, you got the first shoulder pad. You lived through the second, and either Dozer, Decklan, Donny, or Daniel himself noticed you, you received a 2nd shoulder pad. Above that there was the tooth necklace level group, that was currently only Decklan, Donny, Dozer, and Sam. But there were plans in the works to make that the level of the squad leaders.

So one shoulder pads could be trusted, two shoulder pads were as close as they had to veterans, Necklace wearers had some authority and…. Daniel sighed.

Randidly didn’t really fit into any of the typical classification systems.

It was a rather loose hierarchy, but it worked. Daniel couldn’t help but wonder how long that would last. He already voiced his worries to Sam that someone would start stealing the items to signify higher status, but Sam just snorted.

“Maybe that would have worked a week ago, but now… without the strength to back it up, they would get seen through instantly. And it’s a mark of pride, earning it. Don’t treat it like just an item.”

There had been a growing number of thefts, but the community reacted strangely to it; rather than getting angry, they just shrugged and stole whatever else they found unattended. It was an open secret that basically everyone would take something of yours if you left it alone. And it worked currently because no one really had anything worth getting upset over.

But that would change. Daniel rubbed his eyes. They currently just exchanged things by bartering, which was another vote for getting the Basic Weapon Shop; most people had traded excess bodies into the Accessory shop, earning small amounts of bronze and silver coins that they were currently casual about. But once they could be used to purchase weapons…

The economy would come alive. Which would drive up crime, which is why they should really create a firmer hierarchy…

Looking up at the glowing pillar of light that broadcast their position to the world, Daniel sighed again.

Daniel went over to Nul and bought the Basic Weapon Shop, and then wandered past the group training area to a jutting pillar of stone that had sprung up next to the statue of Donny. In it was a large wooden door, covered in runes.

Their ‘kept’ dungeon.

Time was so accelerated for the people within that it basically didn’t pass. 10 people could go in at a time, however they would get kicked out after 24 hours if they didn’t complete the dungeon before that time. Completing the dungeon would earn a number of points equal to the level of the dungeon for the town. It was currently level 1, and Randidly had recommended raising it to 12 before leaving.

Daniel grimaced. Raising it to Lvl 2 cost 200 Sp, then Lvl 3 would be 300 Sp…

But Daniel supposed he wasn’t doing anything else with the SP. He directly raised the dungeon Lvl to 5, spending 1400 SP. Then Daniel went over to Dozer, who was throwing large boulders gathered by his crew, to raise the skill Herculean Strength.

“The Dungeon is up. Level 5. Don’t take anyone near that level in with you, alright? No casualties. If there is danger, just wait out the 24 hours.”

Dozer snorted and gestured, and 8 of his subordinates swaggered forward, heading towards the dungeon. Surprisingly, the 10th was Clarissa, the Weather Witch. Daniel supposed that Dozer wasn’t as dumb as he looked.

The whole party disappeared, walking through the door into a glowing portal of light.

But as soon as the door closed, it opened back up, the group trotting smartly out. They were all there, the only difference that Daniel could see was that Dozer was holding a large wooden club. Caressing it even.

“Loot?” Daniel asked excitedly, and Dozer nodded.

“Pah,” Clarissa spat. “God it smelled in there. Got some silver coins too. No wands though. Or Staffs. Or crystal balls…”

“I’ve got a pair of meaty balls right here, if you need them,” A man muttered, and the rest guffawed. Clarissa pointed at the speaker's feet, freezing them to the ground, then walked coolly away. The men around the guy laughed even louder as he struggled to break the ice.

“We have the weapon shop now, so the money has its uses. Although the cheapest weapons looked to be 30 silver…” Daniel said, but Dozer just grunted and went back to the dungeon pillar, touching the door.

“Bah. 24 hour cooldown. Alright, rest up you lot. Next big thing is the horde.” Dozer said, wandering away. His men dispersed, a few wandering towards the weapon shop, but most heading out to gather wood and build themselves some sort of houses. Sam had a few assistants with Architecture and construction background, and they were getting pretty effective at throwing shacks up.

But it would cost you something, whether it was labor, or money, or monsters.

Daniel looked down at the NCC village, which was mostly tents, and looked like it could blow over any moment. He wondered whether in a month, there would be something like an aristocracy here. Technically based on merit, Daniel supposed, but still. The world was changing.

But that didn’t mean there wasn’t work to do. Donny had informed him earlier that they had two interesting classes come up earlier, Brawler and Ranger, and Daniel wanted to ask them about their stat gains and skills.