Light Online Book Three: Leader

by Tom Larcombe

  “If you're interested in becoming a farmer then I could probably have you work with these two to learn that skill also,” Eddie said.

  One of the young men actually looked eager at that.

  “Tell you what, you come back here tomorrow morning. I'll have Brandr and Osmond work with you to learn what you need to know, and I'll pay you for learning. But I'll pay you with food from the garden instead of coins, if that suits you.

  The boy, munching on fresh vegetables, nodded eagerly.

  “My mum would like that,” he said. “So would my cousins.”

  “We'll do that then. You hear that Brandr, Osmond? You'll have an apprentice to teach starting tomorrow. Once you think he knows enough to actually put down and bring in his own crop, we'll make sure he has a field closer to his house.”

  His two farmers nodded, Brandr with a smile on his face. Eddie was amused to note that Brandr apparently had a soft spot for those willing to work. He was pretty sure Brandr would do most of the teaching and Osmond would be off in the woods earning extra coppers to supply Eddie with more rough planks, unlike the way the two had been splitting the work recently.

  Speaking of planks, or at least thinking of them, time to get to work on the carts, Eddie thought.

  As the boys finished eating, Eddie sorted out the lumber, choosing what he thought would work best. Then he popped open his auction screen and purchased a cheap wagon blueprint. Like a lot of the furnishings, it was priced in silver instead of gold.

  Reading the cart blueprint, he placed planks, then had the boys hold them in place as he cut. It was a lot easier to do it that way than the way he'd done his first cart so it took much less time before the first wheel shimmered and solidified into a solid disc. The second wheel went just as easily and before long he had the cart made.

  The wagon had a different style wheel and Eddie realized that it was going to take him a lot longer. It had wooden spokes instead of a solid disc. Eddie wondered, for a moment, if he could substitute the easier disc wheel instead and decided to try that first.

  The wheels went quickly, since the boys knew just what he wanted them to do, and before long he was making the boxy structure of the wagon body. After that was done, he was very glad that he had both the boys, as well as Brandr and Osmond nearby. Instead of the levering and jacking described in the blueprint, he just had them lift the bed of the wagon and hold it in place as he attached the wheels.

  Once he'd managed that, the wagon shimmered, the cracks between slats closing in.

  Looks like the substituted wheels took, he thought.

  When he gave it a push, he discovered the one problem with them. The wagon seemed noticeably heavier than he'd expected, and he assumed it was all the extra wood in the disc wheels he'd substituted for the spoked ones.

  Well, I'll know better next time. I'll just put what looks like the strongest ox on this one, or maybe give the wagons a team of oxen instead of a single one. That should take care of the problem, and if we rotate them out, give the oxen some easier days, as well. Can you rotate oxen like that, will they pair with any other oxen?

  Eddie knew that the answer wasn't something he'd know, even with some of his animal skills, but he bet Bjorn would know, and probably know if the wagon was too heavy for the oxen.

  It shouldn't be though, we might have to just load this one a little lighter. I don't know, I'll wait and ask Bjorn when he gets back, Eddie thought.

  He looked at the one cart and wagon before pushing them to where they'd be out of the way. Then he headed back to the inn, helpers in tow. As they walked he handed each of them a couple of coppers and told them to come into the inn for a meal on him. They already each had a bunch of produce to take home with them as well.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The CPU usage on server AI-L spiked again. This time it wasn't Loki transferring a portion of himself into Greenshaw though, instead he was running simulations, trying to decide what actions he should take against Freyja. He'd decided to avoid suggesting pruning or deleting her AI though since that might bring more scrutiny to the other AIs in the game, himself included.

  I wish I knew just why Freyja had adopted these world-traveling mortals, Loki thought. That would make this so much easier. I can understand the woman, Tiana is her priestess, built her a temple even, so investing some effort into her makes sense. That, at least, will increase Freyja's worship in game, giving her access to more power in a number of ways. Why this Eddie though? That's what I don't understand.

  Loki paced, scanning through the results of the simulations he'd performed.

  Eddie seems tightly tied with Tiana, but if anything Freyja pays more attention to Eddie than to her priestess. Why would she do that? Even in all these simulations I see her reacting more strongly to something done directly to Eddie than to her priestess. I can't do anything directly to him though, or I'll be the one getting pruned instead of Freyja. So I know I should focus on these two to distract Freyja, but what to do to them and how to do it?

  Loki continued to run simulations, thinking of how he could indirectly do the things he'd prefer to do himself.

  The fact that the damned world-traveling mortals will simply respawn shortly means that killing him will have little to no effect. Aside from irritating Freyja and letting her know that I know these particular mortals mean something to her. So, that's right out. What else can I do to distract her?

  Loki ended up back with the earlier plan that had failed, but perhaps with a better chance of success with the new squad leader they'd put into place.

  Or not with a better chance of success, he thought after a spying on Cooper for a minute. How has he lost control of those men so quickly. They aren't exactly ignoring his orders, they're following them, but at the same time there's something different about them, a certain lack of respect. They simply don't react to him the same way they did Harmon. Cooper isn't going to be able to bully them into action the way Harmon did, but is the lack of respect going to cause issues with them following orders if he gives them in combat? Or even if they just dislike the orders they're being given? I wish Greenshaw didn't limit the emotions he feels. If I knew what emotion was generating this lack of respect, perhaps I could get around it.

  Loki ground his teeth, the CPU of his server continuing to spike as he tried to formulate some plan that would deter Freyja from snooping into his affairs as she'd been doing. He paced his spartan rooms, considering and discarding idea after idea, until finally giving his server a rest.

  Maybe... They are world-traveling mortals. What if there's something I can do that would drive them to leave this world for good. I wonder what would do that, I'm sure there's something.

  Loki continued to pace, and a grin slowly spread across his face as he did. He knew that Freyja's pets had been trying to develop a zone beyond where it had been. He also knew that the world itself had been throwing some groups of goblins at it, triggered by its advancement.

  So perhaps if I just strengthen the world's response to that area's development it will be successful in damaging or destroying the advancements made? Loki thought. Would that be enough to drive them off for good? I do not know human reactions well enough yet to be sure, how can I see if that would suffice? Perhaps Greenshaw's conscious mind might have an idea? Perhaps, as a human, he would know just how well those actions would work towards my goals.

  The CPU usage spiked one more time as Loki cast a portion of himself into Greenshaw's mind.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie was up early again the next morning, Tiana with him. After they'd checked on their respective tasks at the crossroads, they went directly back to the town hall to continue work on it. Paul had delivered the final load of finished planks the evening before, after the ox had finished all its other work for the day, so Eddie was raring to go, ready to finish it off and see if he got an equivalent control room here to the one he'd seen in Rotthorpe.

  He hesitated before starting in on the upper floor
though.

  “You know, Tiana, I've been giving it some thought and I really do enjoy the building more than anything else. I'm going to give in and try to learn masonry, will you help?”

  “Sure, it ought to be easy. We've still got a few hours of stonework to go here, so you ought to be able to pick up that first point pretty quickly. Here, grab a finished stone block and follow me.”

  She instructed him on placement, even though he could see the shimmering lines that delineated where the stones would go, he couldn't just put them in and call it good like he could with the planks. His carpentry skill allowed the latter, but the placement of the stones needed to keep getting adjusted since he didn't have masonry yet..

  Fortunately I can still see the stones in red when they aren't placed correctly, Eddie thought. Otherwise I don't know if I'd be able to do it this way. I'd probably have to go around building fire pits and the like hoping to pick it up by accident.

  Tiana was patient as she helped him and he was starting to get a feel for it when his notification light started blinking. When he pulled up the notification, he stopped dead for a moment, staring.

  Success:

  You have the option to learn the skill Masonry. (Help Masonry for more details)

  Would you like to learn the skill?

  (Y/N)

  “Yes!” Eddie yelled, then quickly followed it with a thought.

  Yes.

  “Learned it did you? I didn't think you were that excited about it,” Tiana said.

  “Yes, I did. No, I wasn't excited about that. Just look,” Eddie said.

  He opened his log to where the message was showing, then set it to that Tiana could read it as well.

  “Oh,” she said. “I didn't think he'd get the changes in this quickly.”

  “Aaron, I could kiss you!” Eddie called out. “Crap, now I'm torn between finishing the work here or going to let the rest of the group know about this.”

  “Get to work,” Tiana said. “I'll happily be the bearer of good tidings. Don't worry, I'll let them know you're the one who found out about it.”

  Eddie groaned.

  “I'm not that bad, am I?”

  “Nope, you're also not that good at telling when people are teasing you,” Tiana replied.

  She leaned over and gave him a kiss, then turned and headed for the road at a quick pace.

  “This is going to make so many people so very happy,” she called back to him.

  Eddie picked up a plank, his grin still plastered from ear to ear, and headed for the top floor of what would be the town hall once he'd finished.

  He alternated between hauling planks up and putting them in, and putting more finished stone into the cladding on ground level. Jern showed up an hour later and by then Eddie had gotten a second point in Masonry.

  “Gave in, did ya lad?” Jern asked, when he saw Eddie hoisting a stone and putting it in place.

  “Yes, I did. But learning it told us that there's been a change. Now instead of having a skill forced on you, you get a choice as to whether or not to learn it when you would've just learned it before.”

  “I can see where that might be nice. Might even drop a point or two in intelligence myself now, learn a few more useful skills,” Jern replied. “Knowing I might not waste those skill points makes it a lot more likely at least.”

  Heh, even the NPCs approve of this change. Okay, this NPC does at least, but I'm sure there's some stick in the mud out there who'd complain just because it is a change, Eddie thought.

  “Anyways, I think we can get this place finished today if we focus on it. Tiana will be back in a while. She went to tell the rest of the group about that change,” Eddie said.

  “Well you focus on your wood; I can't do that. I've got the stonework down here, don't you worry. Should have enough of the stone cut from yesterday to finish it all off.”

  Eddie grinned at the dwarf, then grabbed a few planks and started going back upstairs. He'd discovered with his recent boost in strength that he could carry more planks without a problem now and was taking advantage of that fact to up his building speed.

  Tiana was back a short while later and since Jern was taking care of the stonework, she started carrying planks for Eddie, speeding things up even more. By lunch time, he'd finished the outer and inner walls of the second floor and all that remained to be built was the roof.

  Jern had almost finished the cladding as well. The back wall was entirely done, including the custom cut stones that he'd had to do around the door. He'd finished the diagonal pattern on one of the side walls and half the pattern on the other one. Leaving only half a diagonal pattern to finish off before the stone cladding from the blueprint was complete.

  They headed for lunch and once they got to the inn, they immediately settled in for lunch. As they ate, Eddie listened but didn't hear anything about the change that had him so excited.

  “Tiana, did you tell anyone else?” he asked.

  “What, about the skill change? I just told Karl, Allie, and Dominic. I figured it would get around.”

  “Hmm, maybe another announcement at dinner tonight. I'd hate for people to miss out on the chance to start getting to plan their characters more carefully.”

  “You ham,” Tiana said. “You're almost as bad as Karl. No wonder the two of you get along so well.”

  “Hey, you get along with both of us too,” Eddie replied.

  Jern was studiously studying a blank wall of the inn when Eddie turned to ask the dwarf's opinion.

  Okay, taking a lesson from the NPCs in dealing with women? Eddie thought. Maybe I am as hopeless as I thought, but damned if I didn't get lucky this time.

  He turned back to Tiana.

  “Okay, maybe just a little. I just like to be the bearer of good tidings, right?”

  Tiana recognized her own words from earlier in the day and flushed a little.

  “So long as you admit it,” she said.

  Eddie shrugged and went back to eating.

  “Also,” he said, after swallowing, “we might get the town hall finished today too. We've got all the materials on site and it's only the roof to go, plus a little bit of stonework.”

  “An hour or so lad, that's all it'll take me to finish that stonework,” Jern said.

  “And maybe three hours for the roof,” Eddie said. “I'm estimating, but that sounds about right, give or take an hour. Either way, it'll be finished before dinner.”

  Tiana smiled at him.

  “It'll be nice to know how many people we actually have here. You said that would be in the control room, right?”

  “It was in the control room for Rotthorpe, so hopefully it will be here also,” Eddie replied.

  “Well, let's finish lunch and get back to work then. One more project for your quests almost completed.”

  “I still feel bad that I'm dragging you, and Jern, into all this work.”

  “Don't bother me none, lad,” Jern said. “I've gotten some points in masonry and free lunches and drinks out of it. It's been a good deal for me.”

  “And I still owe you for helping with the temple. With your help it got classified as unique, so I'd say I still owe you some,” Tiana said.

  Eddie just shook his head, but he cleared his plate quickly and within a few minutes the three were heading back down to finish the town hall.

  ~ ~ ~

  Eddie placed the last plank in the roof, working to keep his balance on the rickety scaffolding he'd built to get the last few planks where they needed to be. As he watched, the building shimmered and solidified, the small cracks visible between planks, and gaps between the finished stones filling in so the building presented a solid appearance.

  “And that's that,” Eddie called out. “I just need to get a leather worker's shop up and that's all the building requirements for the next stage of Developmental Issues also. I would've thought the settlement level would go up by now though. I'm pretty sure we have enough inhabitants and I employ enough of them.”

>   “Come on down before you fall down,” Tiana called back. “Besides, we should have a control room to check that out now, right?”

  Eddie slowly climbed down the scaffolding, tossing the pieces of it to the ground as he went so the rickety structure wouldn't fall on its own.

  “Yes, we do. And I figure that extra lumber from the scaffolding can start to make some furnishings for the place also, but that's not for today. The control room is though, let's check it out.”

  They entered through the back door to the building and found the stairs directly to either side of them. One set led to the basement and the other up to the second floor. Eddie thought he knew where the control room would be, there'd been a mark he hadn't recognized on the plans and he thought it indicated where the control room would place itself, so he led the way to the second floor.

  At the end of the hallway on the second floor was a room that he hadn't built. It had taken a chunk out of one of the rooms he had built, and it even had a door fronting on the hallway. So he went there and opened the door.

  The room itself was significantly less dreary than its equivalent from Rotthorpe, but otherwise held pretty much all the same controls. He went to where the readouts had been in the underground village and glanced down.

  “Yup, it's got it. We've currently got a population of just under two hundred, so we're almost crowding that upper limit already. I'd better get a move on with the rest of it. There's a second number though, one that's in a different color. I wonder if they aren't considered full inhabitants until they have a house or something like that? That would explain why the settlement level hasn't gone up.”

  He glanced around the controls, focusing on one he didn't remember from the other town hall control room he'd seen.

  “Oh, hey, look at that,” Eddie said. “This one also shows how many people I have employed. It must be added in because the town hall was built in a player village. But I've already got sixty-seven people employed, so I've got enough to cover that twenty-five percent plus a lot to spare. Heck, I'll even have enough for the next upgrade if that only takes twenty-five percent, at least if the population was at the minimum level for a Player Town.”