by Dakota Krout
“I see.” She nodded. Joe added the paper to his storage ring, and they parted ways.
Joe still had a half hour until he needed to meet the others in the town square, so he went into a restaurant and ordered a coffee. He had a good view of the square from here and was surprised to see that the place was packed. From all the starting gear, he could tell that this had to be a part of the influx of new people joining the world. Joe had taken a few minutes to watch the President’s speech, but frankly, he was still shocked that so many people were taking it seriously, even though it was a serious situation. Most news channels had been screaming ‘hoax’.
“A problem for future Joe,” he said aloud, shaking his head and pulling out a blueprint. The paper was the lowest quality that he could find that would still be useful. He was going to try and see if his hunch about creating a magical blueprint was correct. As gently as he could manage, he began flooding the paper with mana. He felt it strain and press against his power and saw a few notifications appear in his view as the paper erupted into flames and burnt his hands and face.
Attempting to create magical blueprint… compiling data from all relevant skills. Spellbinder increases strength of paper by 63%. Magical Material Creation allows for a 9% increased density of mana matrix. Attempt to make blank magical blueprint… failed!
Exquisite Shell absorbs 129 mana and fire damage! Your Exquisite Shell has been destroyed! You have taken 24 magical fire damage!
Skill increase: Magical Material Creation (Apprentice 0). Congratulations!
Skill increase: Exquisite Shell (Novice V). Blow yourself up again! For… reasons! Great way to raise this skill!
You have healed 24 damage. Current health: 230/230
Joe shook his face to get the residual water off and tried to calm himself. He knew that he should have refreshed his shell after getting smacked around, but he hadn't thought it would matter so much in the city. Ignoring all the strange looks he was getting from the people around him eating lunch, he released his mana and formed a fresh shell around himself. Joe hadn't liked the snarky message, but there was a hint of good advice in there. Might as well use his failures to grow!
He sipped his now-tepid coffee and waited for his mana to regenerate. When he was back to full, he pulled out another paper and concentrated on it, ignoring the people scooting away from him at nearby tables. Joe kept a careful hold on his mana, smoothly applying a layer of the powerful energy to the paper and attempting to get it to sink into the blueprint. He felt something in his mind *click*, and he cut off the flow of power.
Attempting to create magical blueprint… compiling data from all relevant skills. Spellbinder increases strength of paper by 63%. Magical Material Creation allows for a 10% increased density of mana matrix. Attempt to make blank magical blueprint… Success!
Item gained: Blank Magical Blueprint (Uncommon). You have turned the mundane into the mystical by infusing this seemingly ordinary blueprint with mana! As an ‘Uncommon’ quality blueprint, it can store the information for a building at Uncommon quality or below!
“Nice!” Joe smiled and brought the paper to his lap, where it vanished into his codpiece. He tended to keep the rare and important things in there, as it was more likely that someone could steal his ring than his codpiece. Also, if they did steal his ring, they would think they got all of his valuables. A fresh paper appeared in his hands, and he started again. *Boom* Joe coughed a cloud of smoke, staring at his hands that should have been charred. His shell had taken the entirety of the damage, but he still had at least half of it remaining. He had gone into the process too excited, and the result spoke for itself.
Joe tried again, and once again, his shell took damage. As another paper appeared in his hand, the server came over and told him in no uncertain terms to leave. Joe checked the time, realized that he was already almost late, and agreed to go. Since he had already paid, he simply turned and hopped off the balcony. Joe landed perfectly in the square below… then fell to the ground. His stamina had failed him since he had needed to make so many adjustments as he fell so as to not crush someone. Whoops. He had forgotten about the new arrivals.
He got to his feet and brushed his butt off, then started walking to the agreed-upon spot to meet his friends. Joe found that moving through the crowd was difficult, and very few of the newbies seemed to know what they were doing or where to go. It was also loud, and a whole lot of people were calling for help or directions while the Kingdom’s people tried to direct them. There were also less-than-scrupulous people recruiting for guilds, and Joe made sure to remember their guild name for later, just in case.
“There he is! Joe! Yoo-hoo! Follow the sounds of the screams!” Jaxon’s voice called through the crowd, but Joe couldn't see from where. Then he heard the trumpeting of a T-rex, followed quickly by screams of fear from people who had T-rex head hands snapping at them. “Hi, Joe! Glad you found us! Nice new gear!”
“Hi, Jaxon.” Joe tried hard not to laugh, but seeing his friend smiling at him while T-rex heads snapped at empty air was too much for him.
Chapter Eleven
“Now I’m wondering where our guild got that building blueprint that they had me use to build that building,” Joe mumbled to himself. “Bleh, say that ten times fast. It was already on a magical blueprint, and I feel like that isn’t something they just found. Hmm. Do we have a rogue architect?”
“Joe!” Poppy snapped his fingers in front of Joe and made the man jump. This resulted in a backflip and stylish landing, but it was still unwelcome. “What did you want to show us before we left the city? Having all these people around me all the time is not comfy. I feel like there have to be at least a few dozen people in here that are leveling up thieving skills, and I want to be gone before they practice on me.”
“Right, sorry! We are almost there, promise!” Joe smiled and sped up, finding that the crowd thinned as they got closer to the guard’s areas. Maybe Poppy had a point about thieves…? Joe walked over to the Captain’s area and knocked on the door. It took a long moment, but then the door popped open, and a surprised face poked out.
“Joe? What is it? Is everything okay?” The Captain was concerned seeing a group waiting for him.
“Nothing new, Dad!” Joe responded with wide arms. “I just wanted to play catch with you, get a few hugs, and talk about when the wedding will be!”
Captain Blas went pale, and he started looking for an exit or a weapon to fend off the crazy man at his house. Joe chuckled and dropped his arms. “Just kidding. I wanted to ask permission to scan a barracks. I have a new spell that will allow me to make a copy of a building’s blueprint, and we need sleeping areas pretty badly over at the guild.”
The Captain dropped his arms and heaved a sigh of relief. “I can't see that being an issue, but I’ll come with just to get ahead of any problems. This is a safe process?”
“Pretty sure,” Joe promised, getting a look in return.
“Then I’m definitely coming along.” Blas shut the door and followed them to a barracks, watching in fascination as Joe had his now-grumbling team stand around him in an odd spacing, the four of them in a square around where Joe stood in the center.
Joe pulled out a circular metal disk, the only magical blueprint he had managed to create, and a mid-grade Rare Core. “Alright everyone, I made the diagram for this ritual, Architect’s Fury, ahead of time so we could hurry away here. You all ready? Here we go!”
He put a touch of mana into the disk to activate it, and lines of power wrapped around Joe and his team. Four magical circles appeared around them, but in a moment, two of the circles lifted off and joined together in midair. Then those two went to the building, ran along the walls, and seemed to swallow the entire structure. The power contained in the rings made it seem like the building was going to be burnt to a crisp, but there was no damage done as the rings drifted away from the barracks. The rings flew in front of Joe and shrank down and down… then into the blueprint paper he had supplied.
The paper shifted back and forth like a bear scratching its back on a tree, then settled on to Joe’s open palm. He looked around, noting that his team was on the ground panting. His own mana had touched zero a couple times, but he had come prepared. Joe stored the empty mana potion bottle in his ring, hoping that he would be able to get some other usage out of the high-quality glass later. Reuse and all that.
“Good job, everyone. We got the blueprint of an Uncommon-ranked barracks, and this means we can get the people relying on us a whole lot of sleeping space.” Joe pulled Bard to his feet, and the thick man swatted his hands away with a grumble. “Thank you all for your help, and yes, I am working on a way to keep you from having to do this again.”
Blas looked at the barracks and saw no damage, so he waved the group away and went off to do his own thing. Joe smiled as he looked at the barracks ritual diagram, and his team all started walking back to the square to teleport to the guild area again. Alexis caught her breath and looked at Joe critically. “No armor?”
“No, but this gives me fifteen percent increased mana regen,” Joe informed her. “That means that I can keep going in battle a lot longer and just get my shield back if it goes down. It also self-cleans and repairs over time.”
“Hmm.” Alexis kept walking, but Joe couldn't tell if she was approving or annoyed by his life and armor choices.
They teleported back to the demolished area the guild now owned and split up to take care of personal things before heading out. Joe went to find Aten, hoping to get some good brownie points in before asking for the next few things that he was going to need on his journey. After waiting in the line for a short while, he got into the main area where both Aten and Mike were slumped over their desks. Both were trying to focus on what was happening; both were trying to read the next thing that needed to be signed. Joe felt pity for them at that moment but reinforced his mindset while hardening his heart. There was a reason he hadn't wanted to start his own guild.
Joe slapped his hand on the desk, and both men jolted back. “Hey, guys! Listen, if you have the resources for it, I can get together with your people and get an Uncommon barracks set up now. I'm gonna need a lot of help, but we can get a few hundred people sleeping in shelter tonight if we work fast.”
“Sleep?” Mike blearily called out.
“Mike, he’s… Joe.” Aten shook his head and giggled. “That’s not a bed.”
“Wow, you guys need sleep.” Joe got the men on their feet and pulled them toward the quartermaster. “Here is a list. You need to get all these resources to wherever you want this monstrosity to go. Hop to it, people want to get inside.”
Aten made motions at the quartermaster, who nodded and got a few teams of people running supplies. Massive amounts of strength or access to spatial storage devices made quick work of the needed components, and the man pulled a Core out of a small vault and handed it to Joe with a frown. That was the real downside to this process. A Core was needed to create the blueprint; a Core was required to build the building.
The cost of these two items was nearly equivalent to erecting a couple buildings, especially Common ones. At least, two Cores was the cost if anyone else were using the ritual, so Joe simply kept whatever remained after using a Core in his rituals as partial payment for services rendered. Still, in terms of convenience, the use of so many expensive Cores was the best possible trade that could be made. Zap! Whoosh! A building appears!
Joe followed the others to where the barracks would be built, and a town planner had already zoned off an area. There were a lot of tents that had been in the area, but since it was only late afternoon, they were largely unoccupied. Joe looked around at the gathering crowd and had an idea. “I need volunteers to help with a spell! Ten minutes of work, and you get a spot in the building that’ll be built here!”
There were enough takers that Joe felt excited about his chances at keeping some mana. Twenty-nine people in total stood where Joe had directed them, and as he looked around for others, he saw Bard and Alexis laughing at the people that had stepped up. Hopefully, no one would notice them before it was too late. “Here we go!”
Joe held out the ritual that had inscribed itself on the blueprint, feeding mana into it and feeling the Core in his hand begin to drain. Since rituals cost sixty-seven percent less for him—thanks to his ritual magic skill—he only lost about a third of the Core and could make two more buildings if he needed to do so! Fun! The group of almost thirty lifted into the air on bands of power. The stacks of building material below them started to float alongside them, and then tiny bolts of power began dripping off the ritual and on to the material like rain falling on ruins.
The wood, stone, and metals began to arrange themselves, looking for all the world like a building being blown up in slow motion and in reverse. The building ‘toppled’ upward, the roof being built first, then the interior from the top down. Joe laughed when he saw that happen; it reminded him of old engineering jokes. As the foundation of the building settled in place, the group arrived on the ground with a swirl of air that tossed the surrounding dust and dirt into the air.
Ritual Blueprint loses 1 point of durability! Uses remaining: 2/3.
Class experience +100!
What? Did that mean that he could reuse this same ritual diagram two more times? It… yes, it looked like he could! Was that because he created the ritual by using a ritual? When he altered a blueprint directly, adding a ritual around it, the ritual was only single use. But… hmm. Then he could just scan it, right? Use a new building to make three more? Not a bad deal.
Joe started to congratulate the others, then realized that most of them were unconscious. Then he realized that the majority of them were fighter classes, and he had just forcefully unlocked their magic for them. Oops. Joe walked over to Aten and slapped him on the side. “Hey, Aten, all done here, buddy! Listen, there are a few things that I am going to need for my trip, and I was hoping you could help me out. Here’s a list.”
The two of them started to walk back to Aten’s office, but Joe paused and smiled brightly at Mike. “Hey! Mike!”
“Yes, Joe?” Mike looked away from the immaculate new building and at the Rituarchitect.
Joe pointed upward at the roof of the building. “This one has shingles.”
Chapter Twelve
“Everyone!” the voice boomed over the area, and Joe recognized it as Aten’s ‘serious’ voice. “I need you all to listen closely. If you can open your browser right now, I need you to do so. You are in a safe zone, so you should be able to do so. Look at the news. We will be having a meeting soon to discuss our next course of action.”
Joe sat up and followed instructions, opening the first news channel he could find and pressing play on the current stream. He blanched as he recognized San Francisco, specifically when he saw that the city was under attack and burning. Things were coming out of the ocean, and Joe winced as he saw a massive tentacle lift out of the sea and wrap around the Golden Gate Bridge. In moments, the bridge was whisked away with a shriek of tearing metal.
The newscaster, pale and disheveled, replaced the view and held a paper in shaking hands. “Attacks like this are happening worldwide, with the coastal areas taking the most initial damage. The military is… not taking action, as they and their families have all apparently vanished in the same manner as President Musk. Government officials are just… they’re gone! Police, medical… no one is coming. No one is out there to help or give instructions, and… I’m going too, as soon as I finish here. Reports are coming in now.”
He gulped from a glass that was on the desk next to him, and the color suggested that it wasn't water. “These… monsters aren’t moving all that quickly, and it is recommended that you move inland as fast as possible, running whenever the option presents itself. Just like Musk said, even with the slow pace, at this rate, there will be monsters everywhere within a month. Personally, I recommend that you take this Core, slap it to your head, and flee to safety!”
The anchorman vanished as soon as he had followed his own instructions, and the stream cut off with a ‘Technical Difficulties’ message. Joe stared at the screen, mortified by what he had seen. How many people would think that this was still a hoax? Would ignore the warnings? Probably too many. Even still… what was the population of Ardania? A few million? What would happen if even ten percent of people made it into the game? The population would jump to nearly a billion people, all starting their journey in Ardania. He hopped out of bed and started jogging toward the guild meeting, knowing that he would need to hear what was said.
Joe didn't have to wait long after he arrived. Aten walked out with Mike and a few other officers and started shouting over the noise to get their attention, “Listen up! This changes very little for us! We need to continue fortifying our location, secure resources, and prepare to fend off raiders. Let’s be realistic, people. We are in an enviable position right now, and there are going to be hungry people in the not-too-distant future. We are going to do everything that we can to help as many people as possible, but we all know that won’t be enough for some of them. There will be people that want to take what you have, by force. Be prepared, do your duty. Who comes for the Wanderers?”
“The Strongest! The Best! We kill all the rest!” the crowd called back to him, some more enthusiastically than others. It was easy to be highly motivated when you were only doing this for fun, less so when it was your life, and you could see your civilization getting destroyed.
“As a side note, we are halting all guild invitations or requests to join.” Aten’s words were met with silence. “We need to be very careful who we take on from now on, to ensure that we have the infrastructure to support them. Good luck with everything you are all doing, people.”
“Heh. The whole point is that we’d be overrun with not the strongest or the best, so that chant was really out of place. Maybe I should talk to him about rebranding the Guild?” Joe looked at the time and decided that it wasn't worth the effort of either discussing a point of semantics or trying to go back to bed.