Chapter 844 (2/2)

Sam reached over and placed his hand on Donny’s shoulder. Then he looked at the young man. Really looked at him.

Hells, Sam thought abruptly, looking at Donny’s red-rimmed eyes and tense shoulders. Even with Dungeon time, he’s probably not even twenty. And he’s been acting as figurehead and leader for a long time. I can hear the screws coming loose inside of him.

“Donny,” Sam said. “Would you like to come over to my house for dinner tonight? Mrs. Hamilton will be there.”

Donny opened his mouth, closed it, then nodded. His expression was still grim, but some of the tightness was gone from around his eyes. “...yea, alright.”

“Good,” Sam grunted. He walked back out to the crates of interchangeable swords, where two of Mrs. Hamilton’s aides were waiting.

“Take them to market, sell em cheap,” Sam said expansively, waving at the crates. “Keep ten back, offer to make an Interim Squad out of individuals who are proficient with the blades within a week- oh, and send one of the crates to Erickson Steel. They will want to look at the stuff. They like weird metals..”

The aides nodded, then loaded the crate onto the cart and headed back toward the market. Donny clearly wanted to say something about Sam’s decision, but Sam silenced the kid with a glare. Then the two began to walk South, heading toward Donnyton proper.

Donnyton was situated in a valley shaped like a stretched out 2. There was a high and curving range of mountains to the West, while the Eastern border of the valley was made up of low and rolling hills. The original Donnyton was built on a low hill at the center of the valley, which was where most of the general market stalls and the System Village buildings were currently located.

There, it was possible to get a Class, learn some basic Skills, buy a few Health potions and some basic equipment, and get everything you needed to start in the city. Even though Donny complained of the dwindling supply of refugees, that was largely because everyone who wanted to chase that dream was already here.

Donnyton was packed.

The System had been designed to allow seeds of settlements to develop, and then send increasing numbers of people from the previous world to those places. This was an easy way to fuel growth, although Sam often felt a strange mixture of pity and envy for the refugees that were frozen for almost two years before being released into the System.

After all, they didn’t have to ability to blaze a path forward under the influence of the System. The world was largely established by the time they joined. But they also did miss the worst of the System’s trials as well…

Sam shook his head and kept walking. No point in worrying.

Above the central hill, running north with the valley, were the barracks that housed the Squads of Donnyton, the pride and joy of the town. It was for those brave squads and their selfless patrols all across the different Zones that Donnyton was universally recognized and envied. It was those people who planted the seed of the dream of Donnyton.

A dream that would see Donnyton through these small troubles, Sam had no doubt.

Further North was a flooded quarry which was the location of Donnyton’s arena. And above that… well, that was where Donny and Sam currently were: the sprawling production district.

The two walked quickly, passing through columns of smoke, heated discussions about the relative importance of ingredients over process, and distributors haggling with artisans over material costs. The clang of metal filled the air, and around every corner was an individual in a leather apron carrying wood or ore or tools.

It was a sound and ambiance that Sam loved. Everyone had soot smudges on their face and clasped hands firmly after a successful deal.

Of all the places of Donnyton, this was Sam’s favorite. And it was his.

But apart from the Production District, there were three other “Districts” in Donnyton. These three were below the central hill that was Donnyton’s core and stretched into the grasslands beyond to the Southeast.

If you walked South from the central hill of Donnyton, you would arrive at the Materials District. Sam took some exception to this name, but he couldn’t deny that Mrs. Hamilton’s factories where she researched potions and mixtures and solutions were useful. It just seemed to him that materials was well and covered by the Production.

But this was an argument Sam had had with many a person.

And always lost.

To the East of the Materials District was the Farming District. This was by far the largest of the Districts and sprawled across a space that was about the size of the rest of Donnyton combined. For everyone that wanted to come to Donnyton to join a squad, there was usually a family that just wanted to pretend like the System’s arrival never happened.

Most of Donnyton’s NCC population was located here.

And nestled to the North of the Farming District was the Religious District. So-called for being the Headquarters of the growing Cults of Arbor, but it now also served as a place where all of the Orders had a headquarters in Donnyton. Even now, each of the Orders was struggling to finagle the way to rope in some of the more powerful squads of Donnyton to wear their symbol.

But none of these districts was the two’s destination; they headed west, up the mountain range. Due to one particular individual who possessed an extreme knack for digging, the mountains were covered in terraces, upon which rows of houses were built.

Upward they walked, past the relatively cheap houses, toward the most expensive real estate in Donnyton. The houses that were on the overlook above Donnyton.