Town Builder - 61 - Allies (Patreon)

Chapter 61: Ally

With Breda heading back to Malcum ahead of me, I walked the stables and watched the trainers work with our future cavalry horses.  Kytalia found me watching, and we talked about expanding operations.  Even in this game, horses were valuable.  She brought me to the orc trainer, who showed me the best horse in the current class.

Epic Warhorse, +50% movement speed (+1% per level), +200 defense to the rider (+10 per level), 10% damage negation

Even my current mount, Titan, couldn’t match this horse.  There were problems as the horse couldn’t be made a player mount until it completed special training, but this horse could be added to my cavalry.  It was only level 3, but if I understood everything, when the mount was assigned a rider in my army, it would rise instantly to the level of the rider and then level with them.  Once paired, the warhorse could no longer be a player’s mount.  

At level 40, the warhorse gave the rider 600 defense!  That was insane.  The warhorse would almost double the defense rating of its rider.  And that didn’t even include barding.  “How many epic horses can we generate?”  I asked a grinning Kytalia.

She returned my excitement, “Very rare mounts are common now. About 20 a month.  Epic mounts are only appearing once a month.  After we finish the upgrades and reach 500 population, we can be half and half, so ten epic and ten very rare mounts a month.  Once equipped, armed, and armored, level 50 riders could fight monsters up to level 80.” My eyes popped at this revelation.

I opened my interface, and we had three epic mounts so far.  I spent some time in the interface, moving the epic mounts into a special military force. Then, I ensured only the highest-level riders would be added to the unit. I set no upper limit for the size of the elite Calvary unit.  It would be stationed in Malcum, and the lesser Calvary units could be assigned to our outposts and serve as patrols.  Kytalia was still pushing hard with Breda for us to open the iron mining outpost, as we needed the crafters’ resources. 

I rode back to Malcum with Kytalia, and we talked about expanding Malcum and our two outposts.  We had a copper mine and the orc horse training outpost that was approaching town status.  Once it became a town, I would be recognized as a kingdom since I had two population centers.  I was still currently limited to two outposts.  I finally caved, “Okay, when this horse training outpost becomes a town, it will free up an outpost slot.  We can then move to secure the iron mine.”  

Kytalia handed me a list of things Breda had prepared.  I looked at it, and it listed 27 buildings.  She explained with an orcish grin, “Those are the building plans you need to draft in preparation for the iron outpost.”  She road ahead.  Who was in charge here? Me or the Breda and Kytalia? We started our ride back to Malcum.

When we reached the earthen works surrounding the town, Galana and Mira walked up to me as a pair.  Galana had a serious look, “Lord Tallis, there is a player at the inn.  She arrived with an elf a few hours ago.  She talked with Breda first.  She hasn’t caused any trouble, but Tanguin is keeping an eye on her.  She asked for you when she arrived.  She is level 124.”

My mind immediately understood this had to be a hard-wired player.  The test players were gone.  To my knowledge, the early-start players hadn’t joined the game yet.  Maybe Danny had arrived.  The level seemed correct.  “Ok, Galana.  You and Mira can accompany me to talk with her.”  Yeah, my level 39 was not going to impress her, but Tanguin, Galana, and Mira should be excellent backups.  “What level was the elf accompanying her?”  I asked, dismounting.  

Mira responded, “Level 118 water mage.  He seems to be the player’s companion.”  I nodded and walked toward Fareth’s inn.  I needed to impress her if this was Danny.  I needed allies against the tide of rich players coming.  I changed quickly out of my adventuring gear and went to the inn.

Tanguin was in the corner watching the two newcomers.  Danny was a human female and looked young.  I guessed she had chosen to look like she did before her accident, like I had.  The male elf beside her looked older and wise.  His deep blue clothing highlighted his water mage background.  Danny noticed me first.  Her eyes told me she was not impressed with me or my level.  I went and sat across from her, “Danny, I presume?  Black Beauty said you would visit.  So, what do you think of my town?”

She bit into a chicken thigh while maintaining eye contact.  “The food is good,” she offered calmly.  “And your subjects are extremely happy,” she placed the cleaned drumstick on the plate.  “How did you attract so many high-level skilled NPCs?” She said, narrowing her eyes some.

“Mostly the NPC auction. I got lucky and established governance here early in the testing period,” I said, smiling, trying to break her cold demeanor.  Which only caused her to frown.  

“And how did you get so many building plans? Most of the buildings here are new,” her teeth grated.

I wasn’t sure why she was upset.  I told her the truth and asked a question, “I designed them myself.  I was studying to be an architect before my accident. I am sorry, are you angry at me?”  I thought it might be jealousy, as Black Beauty said her town had trouble growing due to its location.  I had the perfect low-level location to start.

She softened her stare slightly and reclined in her chair, “We competed against each other for a few of the NPCs at the auction.”

“How do you know that?  Did you unlock a trait that lets you see the other bidders?”  I asked curiously.

“What? No, I just went around your town and identified people and met your town planner, Breda, who has the same name as the dwarf town planner I bid on.”  She said with a resigned sigh.

I few weeks ago I might have thought about offering Breda to Danny. But Breda has mellowed out quite a bit, and her knowledge and planning have made Malcum’s growth consistent.  I tried a new tact, “I would be willing to give you a few building plans to help you grow your town.”  

Danny said, exasperated, “I don’t need plans.  I need builders.” She produced a plan and placed it on the table between us, and I examined it.

Epic Archer’s Tower, 500,000 health, Requires Masonry Structures 43, Woodcraft Structures 23, Ritual Enchanting 23 (Bonus produces 200 magic arrows daily, Increases Safe Zone by 400 yards) (Effect: Elite Archers 16, Spawn Rate 1 every 24 hours, Level 75)

Wow.  This was an impressive structure.  She pulled it back after I studied it with a contented look.  I think she thought I couldn’t draft a similar building, but now, after seeing it, I think I could draft something similar.  I didn’t show it on my face.  I said, “Those are impressive plans.  I like that it increases the radius of safety for the town.  Would you be interested in a trade?”

Danny scoffed, “I need the archers the tower generates.  If I could build this tower, my entire town, facing the Desolation Lands, would be protected.”  

“I can build it for you.  But I will need help with something,” I offered.  Danny finally seemed to be relaxing and open to cooperating.  Her anger at me outbidding her from the auction may be behind us.

Danny asked cautiously, “What are you offering?”

I smiled, “I am trying to claim an iron mine as an outpost.  It has level 110 monsters spawning there, so it needs to be defended for twenty-four hours after we build the first building.  You and your companion do that, and I will travel to your town and build your archer’s tower for you.”  She seemed to consider my offer.  

“Will you assist?  Your level is low,” she sounded doubtful.

“That is a low blow, Danny.  I vested most of my energy in building this town and advancing my crafting skills to draft building plans.  I do have a few NPCs under my command that I will send with you.  A demonkin ranger over level 140.  A gnome hospitaler over level 140.  And a high priest of the Sullen God,” I said with a smile.

Her jaw dropped, “How?” She looked at my two giantkin behind me, who was level 70 and 78. Mira was standing in the corner, and it looked like she couldn’t read her level. I checked my interface, and Mira was now at level 143.

“Mostly from the NPC auction.  As I said, I got in early, so I was able to bid on some master-level NPCs.  I even have one grand master chef.  You are eating her food,” I spoke without sounding too pompous.  

“If you want to relocate your town. You can establish it at the iron mine,” I offered.  I was thinking that her town would be a nice buffer against the high-level mountains.  I was pretty sure she would reject the offer completely out of hand.  Instead, she seemed to be considering the offer while sipping her ale.

“I have lost over two hundred NPCs defending my town from the monsters from the Midnight Desolation Lands.  I thought about relocating a few times, but I invested so much in getting it to where it was.  I talked to other testers, who said town management was intended for guilds and clans—not individuals.  You need multiple people to manage and defend it.”  She sighed, “But here you have done it alone.”

I held up my hands. “Not true!  Black Beauty, who talked to you and invited you here, was a guild member.  It is a small guild, but the three of them are just as responsible for getting Malcum to where it is today.  We had a trade surplus now, but before we got there, it was Mad Dog, Grinder, and Black Beauty injecting thousands of gold into the economy and running quests to gather materials for crafters,” I admitted.  I figured I owed the Silver Linings Playbook Guild quite a bit. In my interface, I was now the only member.

Danny was contemplating what I had said.  My interface pinged, and so did hers as she went to check the message.

Game Launch In 24 Hours

I looked at Danny and saw her nervousness.  We only had one game day before the first wave of players arrived.  A second message appeared.  

Resetting Character Inventory

What?  We looked at each other and dove into our screens.  I watched in horror as my inventory vanished.  Dozens upon dozens of building plans I had stockpiled to sell were gone.  Thankfully, I only had a few dozen gold coins on me.  I checked, and the town treasury was secure.  

Danny had turned pale in abject horror that was slowly turning into anger.  I was trying to figure out what else I had lost.  I paged through my character sheet, and it looked like all my items were gone.  My property tab skill thankfully still showed my lordship over Malcum.  I asked, “Do you still control your town?”

A frantic Danny paged through her screens as she swore, “Yes.  Do you think they are going to take them away?”

Still paging through my tabs, “I don’t know.  My town treasury is still intact.  Let’s go to my manor and see if my personal items are still there or if it was just our inventory in our player bags.”  Danny joined me in our shared depression.  

When we reached the manor, she was impressed by the building and the elite guards.  It was gone.  Everything I left in the manor.  Basically, every item that I owned was gone.  We both now wore beginner clothes.  Danny was screaming at the admins in chat, trying to figure out why as we had no warning.  After four hours of fruitless angry insults sent at admin bots, we were sitting in my day room in my manor.  The answers that Danny had received did not please either of us.

The admins were letting us keep our characters and all the advancements the characters had made in the testing period.  We already knew they would kneecap our advancement. Still, they decided the gear we had accumulated in the testing period was too much of an advantage over the paying players with an early start.  If they had informed us of the change, we could have stashed our items on NPCs and retrieved them.  The only good news was our titles, lands, and buildings would remain in our control, but some factors of the economy would be reset.

Fortunately, I had transferred almost all my funds to the Malcum. Danny was not as lucky as she carried her wealth on her person. I laughed as I went into my pages.  My tariff tax with the southern human kingdom had been reset to zero.  They had set a 10% to 30% tax on my exports to try and starve my economy.  It hadn’t worked, and now the admins, in their haste, had given me a small boon.  

Danny wasn’t faring too well and looked terrible.  “Can I borrow a few platinum?” She asked.  I was confused, so she said, “I can’t use the portal stones.  I just have the starting funds for a new player.”  

“I can get you level 70 gear from the shops in town.  That is the highest-level gear my crafters have achieved.”  We walked to the shops in town, and Danny was shocked.  She hadn’t explored the town completely yet.  So, the quality and quantity offered surpassed her expectations, impressing her.

As Danny was refitted, she finally said, “I agree.  I will take over your mining operations and rebuild my town there.  I want trade agreements and fair prices in your shops.  I will go and bring my NPCs here.”

I was shocked.  I think she figured she had made too many mistakes and wanted to start over.  It was like a bad start in a strategy game.  Sometimes, fixing the mistakes took more effort than just starting completely over.  I thought about it.  I still didn’t have a great read on Danny.  She didn’t strike me as bad, but I felt she wasn’t good at this game outside of personal growth.  Her level was impressive, but now that her gear was gone, my town NPCs could take her easily. Then again, I needed allies.  And the closer those allies were, the better.

“Okay, Danny. I will give you ten platinum from my treasury. I will help you build some basic buildings to get your town started,” I said, commuting to help her.  She looked relieved and walked with me to retrieve the coins from the treasury vault. She was again impressed.  

“I should be back in two days or so. We should add each other to chat,” Danny requested.  After that, Danny was gone with her elf companion through the portal stone.

I was alone again.  It made sense to me why they had reset our personal property.  People were paying tens of thousands of dollars to play this game.  The hard-wired players had a fair early start advantage.  I was still rationalizing everything when my interface pinged again, and I reluctantly looked at the new message.

Video Capture Feature Now Active

Live Streaming Feature Now Active

In-Game Player Wiki Now Active

Portal Stones have been Reset

Shit. I went into my portal network, and all my locations were deleted.  Now I was pissed.  I immediately texted Danny.  She had made it two jumps toward home and was only about 500 miles away now but could utilize a skyship.  Well, I wasn’t starting from square one, but I was isolated again.  I wanted to make a trip to Dragon’s Tooth again as soon as possible to set the portal stone waypoint. After I redrafted all the plans I had just lost, it would be easiest to sell them there for the best price.  

The live streaming feature required me to set up an account on the outside world, so I couldn’t use it.  The players created the in-game wiki, so it is currently blank.  More setbacks.  I did the only thing I could.  I bought paper from the general store and started to copy my drafting plans again.