Town Builder - 77 - Rival (Patreon)

Chapter 77: Rival

The decimated undead army was picking itself up and reforming. Tanguin turned to me, “Four hundred six zombies, twenty-one knights remain. Most are injured. I could send the infantry to cleanup.”

As he talked to me, players leaped off the walls and ran to engage the undead. “It looks like they will not be needed.” My interface pinged with a message from Mad Dog as I watched dozens of players race to finish off the undead.

“Tallis, the players are going to loot the undead!” His message was short, and I could see his avatar among the rushing players. The first player, a swordsman in the low-level plate, reached the zombie soldiers. He made to strike down the warrior only to have his attack blocked easily by a shield and be cut down by an adjacent undead soldier. All across the field, similar overconfident players were being killed. At least with the Incursion event active, their respawns would be shorter. I could see Mad Dog and five of my guildmates pulling a single zombie from the group to fight.

I gave orders to my general. “Tanguin, secure the loot from the lesser lich and kill the elite knights. Let the players deal with the zombies.” The players could play with the undead infantry. With over four hundred of the level ten soldiers, they should get their fill of battle.

The gate opened, and two hundred giantkin infantry marched out in formation. They split into two groups of one hundred to flank the undead army. One mounted knight turned his horse and raced back to the portal. I had a bad feeling about it returning. “Can someone take down the deserter?” The range was over half a mile, and I didn’t know if any NPC had a range like Bella.

Tanguin was prepared as four dusk elves appeared from stealth near the portal. A few salvos from the scouts and the rider was falling from his mount. I guessed the other twelve dusk elves were hidden somewhere out on the battlefield as well.

It was comical to watch the players fight. The ones that operated solo or in pairs, were quickly slain after a few exchanges but minutes later were rushing out the gates to die again. Didn’t they care about the experience loss? There were no special rules for the Incursion that lessened the penalties.

Mad Dog and the others worked methodically, pulling one target at a time and whittling it down. There was a ranking for damage dealt in the defense for players that I could access. Depending on placement, the top ten damage dealers received extra reputation with Malcom and a few gold coins. The rewards were not coming from my coffers, so I ignored it. Mad Dog and Grinder were currently ranked first and fourth with other members of Silver Linings Playbook taking the seventh to tenth slots currently.

The giantkin infantry unhorsed the knights and made quick work of them. I was sad to see the mounts fade out of existence when the rider was killed. They looked ominous, and I had been hoping they could have been added to my calvary. The players took nearly an hour to kill all the zombies soldiers, and when I did, I got a system notification.

Your Town Has Successfully Defeated Its Incursion, earning 10,000 experience. The Time Bonus is 5,000 experience, and the Complete Kill Bonus is 5,000 experience.

Oh, of course, I received no experience. What was even more irritating was I would have received a percentage of the experience from the enemies my soldiers killed. So much lost opportunity. The giantkin had at least secured the lesser lich’s gear and most of the knights. Some enterprising players picked up a few things, and there was nothing I could do about it since the battle was outside of Malcum’s influence. The black rift collapsed on itself a few minutes after the last undead was defeated. If a player wanted to, they could have used that portal to enter the undead realm.

I left the mop-up duty to Tanguin’s army and went to have a drink with Mad Dog at the inn. He was already drinking when I arrived and saluted me with his frothy mug. “Free drinks for the those that fought.” We moved to a table in a private room to talk undisturbed. “We haven’t posted any video, but others have. Wanted to check with you before doing so, mate.”

“Do it! Make as much money as you can, just don’t put any of my secrets out there. Was Bella’s performance a hit?” Fareth placed a pot pie in front of each of us before retreating to her kitchen. Mad Dog took a few bites before answering.

“Oh, I missed this food! This game will put the top restaurants in the world out of business.” He took a swig of jungle brew. “Yeah, it is up on the forums. It's not the biggest light show there, but it’s definitely done by the cutest little mage.” He tapped on his screen, and I assumed he was letting the other guild members they could post videos.

I opened my interface to the side to see how the defense against the incursion was going. There were still hundreds of cities fighting. The larger cities had behemoth undead creatures, flying nightmares, and powerful mages they were dealing with. Some undead had breached some cities but most likely lacked the numbers to occupy the city. Like in the test incursion, once a rift invasion was defeated, the remnants could retreat through the portal or wander the land, causing havoc.

I scrolled to the videos with the top views. The top video was a dragon fighting an undead dragon above Dragon’s Tooth. Their battle was not only spectacular in the sky, but their attacks sometimes reached the buildings below; flames and explosions engulfed buildings, killing NPCs and players alike. Other top videos showed NPCs in desperate struggles to hold their walls. I found Malcum’s video of Bella’s lightning attack was the 33rd video in the list with two million views. That was impressive as it had occurred just thirty minutes ago. A player named Cowboy Queen had posted it.

I scanned the comments, and the biggest thread was speculating if the rabbitkin mage could teach the spell she used to decimate the undead ranks. Mad Dog got my attention. “Don’t go down that rabbit hole, mate. Watching highlights can be addicting. Focus on making highlights for others to watch. Are you going to stream?”

“I was thinking about it before my building plans were such a success. Now, I don’t know if it is necessary.” I brought up the auction items I had posted and sent the screen to Mag Dog.

“You should think on it. Lots of groupies out there, mate, ready to throw themselves at the top players. Will give ya something to look forward to when you are walking around again in the real world.” Mad Dog was serious, but I wasn’t sure if I was interested in groupies or fame.

To humor him, I looked at the streamer recording/editing interface. It had been updated. Anything you recorded, you could show different points of view like a movie director. You could even purchase a suite in-game with an AI to do all the editing work for you. It was advertised as a time saver and could make your combat with a bunny seem like a life-or-death fight for survival.

Mad Dog’s jaw didn’t work as he studied the list of twenty items I had sent him. “Tallis, you are printing gold. You don’t even need us,” he laughed jovially.

“No, I do need the Guild. I need help in managing Malcum. I can’t focus on everything!” I said, exasperated.

“We did say we would help,” the wolfkin smiled. “I was going to put it off till we reached level ten, but if you need help now, name it.”

I exhaled, relieved. “I need someone to manage my spy network, oversee shop pricing, and work out patrol routes both inside Malcum and without, someone to…” Mad Dog stopped me, laughing.

“Slow down, one problem at a time. Can you give me access to the town management interface? Just make it temporary, and we will work through your tabs.” I trusted Mad Dog. If he betrayed me at this point, then I would never be able to trust anyone in this game. It took a little time to figure out how to let Mad Dog view the dozens of tabs I had access to. Even he was overwhelmed by the extensive micro-management options. I waited nearly an hour for Mad Dog to look at everything and make some suggestions.

“Your NPC guard captain, Galana, is doing a good job. She has done a good job maximizing the guard spawning building. These Time Mage’s stats and spells are ridiculous! Too bad they cannot leave the town’s influence. Galana is even training up her non-spawning guards. She has steady level growth on thirty-three NPC guards. The only improvement would be to equip them with equipment that matches their level. Spawning guards can’t change equipment, but these thirty-three could use upgrades. Sunflower is focusing on smithing, and she would be a good person to manage this reequipping.”

I tapped away on my interface and slotted in Sunflower as Malcum’s Quartermaster, responsible for seeing all the soldiers equipped with gear. “She is going to be responsible for the army as well, is that okay?”

“I will tell her to focus on the town guards, but eventually, she can expand to the army NPCs. Now, your general has small issues with the patrol routes outside the gate. There are massive blind spots during the day. If we increase the frequency and range a little, it should reduce your chances of attracting a wandering monster.” Mad Dog said, tapping. “Blood Crisis was spec ops, he can help you there.” I set Blood Crisis to the General’s Aide. If he ever matched Tanguin in level, he could assume the role of General if he wanted it.

Mad Dog nodded as he pointed out my next problem. “Now you need someone to manage your relations with all the other nations. I might be the best for this role as I have decades of experience in diplomacy with other guilds.” I slid Mad Dog into the role of Minister of Diplomacy. He chuckled at the title but continued working.

“I think Black Beauty could handle the Rouge’s Gallery. She likes that kind of thing but these NPCs are ridiculous! That jack-of-all-trades ability would be useful for any class. With how few skills the regular NPCs usually get, it makes them extremely flexible. Don’t tell anyone about the Rouges Gallery beyond Black Beauty; losing that building bonus would be devastating.” I made Black Beauty my Spymaster. She sent me a humorous text a moment later, thinking it was a joke. That was before Mad Dog forwarded her available assets.

Black Beauty had a hundred questions that I didn’t have time for, so I gave her access to the Lord’s Manor so she could harass Zion. By giving Black Beauty the title of Spymaster, it took it away from Zion, which resulted in a reputation hit with him. I gave him the title of Rogue Trainer, and it rebounded slightly. Still, the damage was done, and his bonuses in the Rogues Gallery were slightly reduced. Hopefully, the bonuses will recover in time.

I explained my consternation to Mad Dog, “Look at the bright side. It is better to learn the lesson now than later. At least the NPC didn’t leave your service.”

“I guess. Still sucks. I would have liked to have the system give me a warning before it took his title away. What about Grinder? Is there a role he is suited for?” I asked, moving past my error.

“Grinder is good for killing monsters and eating. He will tank for one of our guild parties,” Mad Dog said. I shrugged and promoted Grinder to Royal Taste Tester.

“Is there anyone else who can help manage Malcum?” I asked, as we had been at this for nearly three game hours, and I could tell Mad Dog was fatigued. He had been pushing hard since the game started.

“A few, but nothing pressing. Reborn Apostle could liaison with your temple, Chaotic Heart could help with trade, Ghostly Mermaid wants to be a ship captain, and Golden Storm plans to focus on alchemy and enchanting.” Mad Dog stood. “I’m going to go log off in my guild room. I will see you in half a day, Tallis.”

It was late evening in Malcum when I left Fareth's Inn. The streets were still buzzing with players running about in the post-bliss of the major event. I stopped in the auction house to collect gold from the sale of all the plans. Like Mad Dog had advised, I tried not to waste my time in reading the chat threads from the plans. The most important sale was the archer tower, as I would have to draft another for Divine Deviants. 

It had sold for 155,000 gold to Disciples of the Horde, much higher than the other plans. A total of 1,289,500 gold was generated. It was a bit lower than I expected, but not by much. The reason was easy to find as someone else had posted building plans on the auction. He didn’t even hide his name, calling himself Legendary Architect. I had my first competition, and he was not shy or humble.

He had posted two building plans.

Legendary Architect’s Uncommon Beautiful Guild House (50), Health 200,000, Requires Masonry Structures 23, Woodcraft Structures 23 (Bonus +25% to all pool recovery, +10% experience gain for 8 hours if rested for 8 hours in guild house)

Legendary Architect’s Uncommon Perfect Alchemy Lab (1), Health 20,000, Requires Masonry Structures 23, Woodcraft Structures 23 (Skill Crafting Bonus to Alchemy: +5% to potion crafting speed and potency)

I frowned at seeing the names of the plans as I didn’t know you could edit the names of the plans. I checked, and you could add descriptors when the plans were completed. For instance, he had changed Uncommon Guild House into Legendary Architect’s Uncommon Beautiful Guild House.

The guild house was already up to 7,500 gold, and the alchemy lab was up to 6,000 gold. I watched as it ticked up in increments, and it kind of felt like this player was stealing from me. Should I travel to Stillwater and post three sets of my alchemy lab that had double his bonuses? Basic alchemy buildings sold by the NPCs only cost around ten gold for the plans.

I tried to edit the titles of my plans, but you could only do so when they were first drafted. I couldn’t let the challenge go unanswered, though. I communicated with Deific Savior for the 155,000 gold for a copy of the archer tower. I think there might have been slight buyer’s remorse at the price, as he asked for two days to pool the gold.

I went back to my Manor and drafted a copy of the plans for the transaction and then contemplated on how to put The Legendary Architect in his place. I pulled up my alchemy building plans.

Very Rare Alchemy Shop (4), Health 50,000, Requires Masonry Foundations 23, Masonry: Structures 23, Woodcraft: Carpentry 23 (Skill Crafting Bonus to Alchemy: +10% to potion crafting speed and potency)

It was a mix of a workshop, residence, and shop. It also did not have my ritual enchanting blended in or my bonus for being an eternal architect. I had a strong enough grasp of the drafting process that I could make an NPC alchemist spawn with the building. How much would guilds drool over having an automated potion factory?

I used my current alchemy plans as the basis for the new alchemy shop. Keeping four workstations would allow three players to work alongside the NPC and maybe teach him as well. I didn’t know if that would happen with the spawned NPC. I upgraded the foundation and improved the structure, added a few specialized alchemy storage closets, and an apprentice’s room on the first floor. Before I knew it, an entire day had passed.

Epic Alchemy School (5), Health 100,000, Requires Masonry Foundations 43, Masonry: Structures 23, Woodcraft: Carpentry 23, Ritual Enchanting 43 (Generates one level 50 NPC Expert Alchemist Instructor every 30 days, limit 2. Skill Crafting Bonus to Alchemy: +20% to potion crafting speed, and 10% to potency) Structure Regenerates 1% health every 24 hours (stacks with similar effects)

The plans were complete, but I could go into the description and change the title. I couldn’t erase any of the text already there, only add text, and I was limited to 100 characters. If I put these plans up for sale, it would probably cause a frenzy. The essences required to build the structure were intense, but the larger guilds would go be able to obtain them in the early game. I was sure I could sell them to Divine Deviants for a massive sum, but I was still irritated with The Legendary Architect.

I renamed the plans Eternal Alchemy College. Changing school to a synonym was apparently allowed, and I thought college sounded better. I would now stamp all my future plans by placing Eternal in front of them as my trademark. It had five stations, which meant it could train three players at a time. I liked the idea of causing a frenzy over the plans. The Legendary Architect’s plans had just passed 12,000 gold and had two days remaining for bidding.

Before traveling to Stillwater, I checked my messages. When I was at my drafting table, I tended to have blinders on. Danny was on her way back with her dwarven shipwrights and engineers. She had a lot of complaints about the quest’s complexity but seemed in good spirits. Mad Dog had reached level five, and most of the other members of Silver Linings Playbook had reached level four. The average level of new players was 2.3, so they were doing well.

Checking my town interface, Malcum now had three hundred and seven players in it! That didn’t include players outside the town’s influence doing quests. With this many players, I was worried my scaling dungeon might get discovered soon. It was in a higher-level area of the Cleardusk plains, but it wouldn’t be long before someone stumbled across it. My other concern was the population of the players might soon exceed my NPCs.

I spent the next five hours visiting my NPCs. My building projects were proceeding, and the Watchtower was extending into the sky. The Crescent Lake had been excavated and filled with water. I would have to find out how to create spawn sites for fish. Currently, Malcum’s NPC’s morale was high.

Galana was a little more stressed with the players. Very few players were stealing, but we only had holding cells for twelve people in all of Malcum. A player who was apprehended for a crime either had to give up all his possessions or go into one of the holding cells for a period of time based on the crime. For instance, stealing something valued at less than gold was an eight-hour game timeout. Getting caught also damaged a player’s reputation with everyone in town, which was probably a bigger detriment. So, Galana wanted me to build a larger dedicated jail. I told her I would work on it.

Neral, the Adventurer’s Guild Master, was having the most fun of any of the NPCs. I thought the Guild Hall had been suitably large—I was wrong. It was packed with players relaxing and picking quests. This had to be the biggest draw for low-level players. Hundreds of quests in one easy-to-access place. There was no running around and talking to NPCs to find them or being in a larger city where the quests were taken as quickly as they were posted. I caught the back of Simba sneaking out again. He was still only averaging a single quest a day. At least it was progress as I did not have the free time myself.

Kytalia said the crafters could not keep up with demand, especially for potions and weapons. Maybe I would have to add one of my new alchemy schools to Malcum as well. I checked my town management interface, and I did not lack gold. In fact, I had more gold than I could spend. I moved some gold into the quest rewards to entice players to harvest more ingredients for our town’s two alchemists.

Mad Dog found me as I was finishing up, “Tallis, mate. Things are looking good.”

“Congratulations on level five,” I replied.

“Gonna take a lot of work to catch up to the early start buggers, but we will. Your skill book hoarding helped the guild a lot. We owe you for that and more, mate. What are your plans for the day?” He asked friendly.

“Going to go stir up some trouble. Did you see I have some competition for the architect supreme?” I asked mischievously.

“Someone has reached your skill already?” Mad Dog said, shocked

“Well, no. But he is taunting me with naming his plans as Legendary.” I said to Mad Dog, laughing uproariously.

“Tallis, getting trolled is part of gaming. Only the best players can ignore it or put the bloody offenders in their place.”

“Count me in the latter group, then,” I replied. “I’m heading to Stillwater. Be back in an hour.”

Stillwater hadn’t changed much, but maybe slightly fewer players running about. I made my way to the auction house and found I had to wait an hour for a terminal room. When I finally sat down and posted the Alchemy College plans, I did what Mad Dog warned me not to do. I spent an hour reading the flow of stupefied comments as the price for the plans rose quickly.

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