Kaden’s frown disappeared upon hearing Frederic’s words. "Petronella? Is that true?" Kaden asked, his heart skipping a beat.
"Why yes, Mister Kaden, I'm gifted with planning and architecture. In fact, most of us here have a specialty given to us by our benevolent Lord Bardos," she said and kissed her index finger, pointing up at the sky upon saying Bardos’ name. He didn’t want them to think him an infidel, and went with the show for the sake of avoiding any possible issues.
"Please, plan this out for us," Kaden said, handing the woman the notebook and the pen. The woman sat down next to her husband and hummed a song. She drew for a few minutes, making some lines and circles. The end result was baffling. She had managed to make the most of the village layout and had thought far ahead, far more than he had. His immediate plan was to just make the longhouse, nothing else.
Kaden looked at the paper and smiled, going over it for the second time. The longhouse would be where Kaden had planned it, as it had enough space to grow. About ten metres down to the south of the longhouse was a sort of warehouse and market, drawn as one. To the east was a sawmill with two woodcutters just outside of the stockade. A structure was drawn over the stockade that would let them carry in the lumber for processing.
To the south of the longhouse would be what looked like the industrial quarter, with four small buildings drawn next to each other. From left to right were the blacksmith, the tailor, the carpenter and the stone mason. A small quarry had been drawn beside the eastern stockade, just like with the woodcutters and the sawmill, which were located just above the stone mason. To the west of the longhouse was a funny icon, which Kaden didn't recognize, so he had to ask.
"What is this here, Petronella?"
The woman seemed baffled by his question, but replied. "Why, that's a bathing house. I think that hygiene is very important."
Kaden almost slapped his forehead for the stupid mistake. Of course she was right, but what about the water? "Also, there is water between the longhouse and the bathing house, so we can get water to both buildings," she added, answering Kaden’s question for him.
"You sure have thought about everything, Petronella. You are a godsend, and you have no idea how happy I'm to have you here," Kaden said excitedly, and turned towards the rest of the villagers. "I'm happy to have all of you here, together with us, starting a new life."
He studied the paper further. To the east of the longhouse were the butcher, the mill and the bakery. To the north would stand a large farm with five different fields, and next to it was a breeder of sorts.
The smirk on Kaden’s face was so over the top that he was being stared at by everyone present. This brought him back to the times he had read about medieval communities and castles. Everything was contained within, so they almost never had to leave the village this way. There were only thirty villagers though, and he had doubts about how they would sustain themselves. What was more, they didn’t have the food, the seeds for farming and the stock that would be raised at the breeders. A headache started up as he thought about all of the problems that came with building up a community.
"I guess you have no seeds or any livestock hidden in your pockets?" Kaden asked.
"No, we do not," Frederic said, ‘But with some work we can gather them. The wild variants of what passes for wheat in your world can be found sometimes in forests, or out on meadows. Enough of those around here. When it comes to livestock, we have different kinds running freely all around us. Bring back one male and female of any given specimen, and let us take care of the rest.’ Suddenly, everything looked like it could work out after all.
"Very well then, Frederic and Petronella. How about you get everyone organized to plot out the land, then mark where which building will be located and start working."
"We will do just that, Mister Kaden. Are the tools free to be used?"
"Yes they are, Frederic. They belong to the village from now on. Make good use of them, please. Oh, and also, there is more where that came from. Take the rope, the anvil, the blacksmith tools and the metal bars. Also, I'll share twenty food packages with you, so spread them around until we have more food. My friends and I'll go and search for some livestock, and for the seeds that you need."
"Very well, Mister Kaden. We will all collectively start working on the project after we have eaten. As you can see, our stamina is very low. A few more days, and we would probably have started dying. Thank you for saving us for the second time."
Kaden didn’t reply, instead he focused on Frederic. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. Frustrated, he focused once more just like he did with the monsters and a pop up appeared.
After Frederic downed part of the food package, Kaden inspected him again. This time, his stamina was at 79 out of 99. He smiled inwardly and moved the information to the back of his mind, as he did not want his new friends to die. They might be Bardos’ creation to help him out, or whatever their purpose was, but that didn’t change the fact that they would be his friends.
"How long can you be without food now that you have eaten?" Kaden asked, not having the slightest idea himself. The villager smiled again, and actually looked younger and more vital after eating the food.
"We can go on for about three days without the need for food or water, Mister Kaden. Though water alone can sustain us for another seven days until there is a real need for food."
"So then we have about eight or nine days until we need food. Plenty of time to get a few animals, right? In the meantime, how many facilities can be completed?"
Fredric glanced around. "I think three or four might be doable since we already have half of the materials needed for the longhouse. After a good night’s rest, our stamina will further increase by twenty points as long as we are satiated. We will pull our weight, don’t you worry."
"Alright then. You have no idea how happy that makes me. We need this to work out, no matter what. Now, after all of the plots are dug up, you can first build the well and bath house, afterwards, food is our main priority. In the meantime, we are going out to do some hunting for food and livestock."
Chapter 16
The group sat in silence around a small fire eating some of the food packages. Pooky was up again and sat there quietly, sulking. Every now and then, he took a bite out of the flavourless food and chewed on it slowly. He had recovered fully, though his pride had taken a beating, that was sure.
The villagers sat and ate around a bigger fire, while some had already gone to sleep. The moon shone bright in the dark night, illuminating the area enough to keep working. In all honesty, they would have, but the sun had sapped most of their strength. They needed the rest, after which more work would follow. No one seemed worried however, their spirits were high. After all, Kaden had promised them more food and livestock. They were holding him to that promise.
The longhouse pit was already dug out, with all of the logs put in place. Three rows had been snared on top of each other with vines. Other groups of villagers had been erecting what would be the walls. They needed the well made for tomorrow, so half of the men would go and get stone, while half would work on the longhouse. The women would dig up the well and use the soil from the pit, as well as the soil from the previous day to make a garden around the longhouse.
"How do you feel?" Kaden asked, looking at Pooky. The small bear refused to meet his gaze, and instead looked into the fire.
"Fine, I guess. Sorry for causing all of you trouble," he replied weakly.
"Is your strength still not back?"
The bear kept gazing into the fire. "It is," he replied with a stronger, deeper voice. "I just don’t really know what to say, that’s all."
Kaden looked towards the group of villagers. They looked so unreal to him, different races sitting and eating together, talking about everything and nothing, a strange new world. He felt as much at home here as he had on Earth, but he no longer wanted to go back. Sure, there were dangers all over the place, but also new opportunities. What was more, Laney
was here, together with the unknown.
"What are you thinking about?" Laney whispered in his ear. He looked at her and smiled sheepishly.
"Nothing much, besides how I have adapted to this place already. I never would have believed them if someone had told me I would start to like this place. I mean, you can’t really like it, but it can grow on you when you see some of the things we have seen. We met new friends and allies, and battled for our lives many times over. The loss of everything doesn’t hurt so much as it did days ago. We can start over here, and build ourselves a new home, together."
His hand brushed Laney’s slightly, but she didn’t move it. Instead, she forced herself to think how she had to return his feelings. It would be wrong to leave him stranded here, all alone without his kind. Who are you kidding, the idiot is growing on you. Let it happen. You aren’t doing anything wrong, Laney thought.
"Tomorrow we might see a big difference. The first building could possibly be finished by the time we get back. I'm excited as much as you are, so please, share your feelings and happiness with me," she said, taking his hand. Kaden closed his eyes, hoping this moment would go on to eternity, but as with all good things it had to end.
"Yeah, let us hope that everything goes as planned. Speaking of which, we have no plan, other than to run around the village and try to subdue animals that look edible. Just how are we going to catch the things anyway? It's not like we can hurl a lasso around their neck and just pull them in," Kaden said after opening his eyes.
"Maybe ask the villagers tomorrow," Pooky said after a while. His voice wasn’t quite relaxed, but the sulking that had been present earlier was mostly gone. To some degree, Kaden felt happy about the sudden turn of events, but that just meant Pooky could go off again.
Kaden’s eyes shot up at the starry sky, imagining where earth might be. Berserker huh, he thought and exhaled, I sure could do without ever meeting that berserker. He would probably rip me a new one without much problems.
Morning came all too quickly as the group woke up to a ruckus. The villagers were all up and working full steam. Kaden looked at one, inspected them and frowned. Their stamina was at eighty-one. He checked another, her stamina was eighty-two. He checked a third one for good measure and found it to be seventy-eight.
"What in the-" he was about to say as Laney held her hand up. Kaden stopped, and looked in the direction Laney was pointing. Next to the partially finished longhouse, a small well had been erected. It was a far cry from finished, but it could be used nonetheless.
Mounds of soil were piled up all around the longhouse with what looked like flowers. A smile made way onto his lips and he grinned like a fool. The villagers seemed to be taking everything very seriously, what was more, they knew what they were doing.
Pooky and Eliana woke up moments later. Kaden looked at them and smiled as their expressions shifted from sleepy, to astonished.
"We need to treasure this. Everything in my guts is telling me that we need to do our best to protect what we have found here. Please, everyone, let’s make this work!" Kaden exclaimed passionately. They had different responses to the words that had come from his heart, but all seemed to agree on them.
"How about we split the village into four parts? We all can choose one part of the village of which we will be in charge. Let's say, the farming one, the resource one, the crafter one and general living one. All four of us will lead them together, so no one will bear any ill-will against the other," Laney proposed, stealing the words from Kaden’s mouth.
To the latest idea, Pooky’s eyebrows shot up like an arrow, and he seemed to enjoy the idea. Eliana and Laney chuckled at the two alpha dogs fighting over control of their pack. Just then, Frederic and Petronella walked over to the group and sat down with them, both smiling happily. They were dirty and sweaty, but looked like the happiest couple in the world.
"Hi there, other-worlders. I'm very sorry that we have awoken you, but we just work better when the sun isn’t sapping at our stamina. Anyway, how do you think we are coming along?" Frederic beamed with pride, and there was no way they would take it away from him. Instead, they all smiled and nodded, commenting on the process cheerfully. The group talked for a while longer as the first rays began to shine upon the village.
"Maybe it would be time for us to get it on?" Pooky said, hopping from one leg to the other. Before anyone could reply, Kaden pulled Frederic to the side.
"Do we have anyone who can make us a map of this world? I mean, is it even known how the world looks like?" Frederic beamed at the question, and nodded four times in succession.
"Yes, we have a cartographer. I'll get him to make you a map and write down all known locations we have for now."
"Thank you. I'll have a look at it once we are back from our hunt."
Upon leaving through the village gate, time seemed to freeze for a moment as all four of them couldn’t even do so much as breathe. Two lines, one green and the other red, appeared in front of them and seemed to encircle the village. Everything within the stockades became green, as everything outside of it became red.
Small groups of creatures started appearing as far as the eye could see. The nearest to them were yellow worms the size of horses, with sharp-looking teeth. A second looked like large rats: with sharp claws, protruding fangs and glowing, red eyes that darted around. Other creatures looked like walking skeletons.
Time started up again as if nothing had ever happened. All four looked at each other in surprise and backtracked towards the gate, not really knowing how to proceed. One moment there was nothing, then the fields were suddenly full of creatures.
"What the hell just happened?" Kaden asked, his hand raised in the air and prepared to attack at any moment. His other companions did the same, with Pooky preparing to cast some of his own spells and Eliana readying her bow with a notched arrow. Laney had buffed them over the last three seconds, bringing them up to full power.
"No idea, but how about we tackle this slowly. I do not wish to die," Pooky chimed in. His fur was changing color, which the others found very strange.
"Neither does anyone of us, Pooky," Laney added. Razor jumped off Kaden’s shoulder and grew to his usual self, a massive Blackbird, and took to the sky, circling around them. Moments later, he let Kaden know that there was nothing else besides the creatures in the near vicinity.
"Razor says that it’s just the ones near us. Let’s give it a try," Kaden whispered, afraid to alert the monsters.
The group advanced slowly upon the closest creatures, and stopped some twenty meters away from them and inspected them. The result was rather surprising.
"There is no way for me to kill them all at once," Kaden said, looking at Pooky. ‘What is your best area skill Pooky?’ he asked. The bear seemed to think about the question for a while.
"I can damage the area they are in for about eight hundred. I got three of those spells, but it takes a few seconds to cast, and about thirty to cast in between the spells."
"I see. So my Frozen Land combined with your spell should do the trick. But what if they don’t die, and instead we end up getting chased by those things? There are seven of them in total in the smallest group."
"Then we die and it’s game over," Eliana replied angrily. "We all know what will happen to us once our health bar is at zero, but we gotta suck it up and go at it."
"She’s telling the truth, however, unless we don’t want to stay here forever under the current conditions, we will have to do something. That something is taking care of these creatures," Laney added. Her heart was with Kaden, but her mind was with Eliana. She knew perfectly well that they needed to kill these things if they were to ever prosper.
"Alright. I'll cast my Frozen Land on the group, and hope to whoever is going to help us that they are at least slowed down. You ready Pooky?" Kaden asked, walking towards the worms. Pooky shrugged as walked after him. Raising his hand, he imagined the skill and looked at the area affected. It was precisely what he needed.
&nb
sp; [Frozen Land]
You have inflicted 417 damage to Ground Eater.
The soil underneath the worms started to harden, though they didn’t seem to notice until it was too late, and ice formed underneath their bodies. It crept up and stopped just shy of their mouths. A massive ice explosion ripped into the creatures, dropping their health bars down anywhere from a third to a half of their total health. Unfortunately, there was almost no shrapnel damage as they all survived. Their bodies seemed to strain at the ice and damage they had sustained, until everything started to grow hot.
A faint glow appeared around Pooky’s hand and transferred itself underneath the worms. Flames shot up from the circle, burning the worms steadily. Their health dropped by ten percent each second as they tried to move away from the fire, melting the ice from their damaged bodies. One by one, five of them died with two remaining, barely alive at a few health points each. An arrow whizzed past the two men and found its mark a second later, dealing enough damage to kill it a hundred times over.
Not bad, Kaden thought, smirking. A second arrow killed off the other Ground-eater, entering its mouth and coming out from its back. After a moment of bewilderment, the group started cheering and jumping around, hooting with joy. They had easily taken out a group of those things without sustaining even a bit of damage themselves.
"Wait, do you see that?" Eliana asked, her keen eyesight spotting something before them. She ran towards the dead corpses and knelt beside one as it evaporated into thin air. In the creature’s stead lay a few items.
"What the hell? They actually dropped something after they died!" Kaden said in disbelief.
"Things seem to be evolving as we move on. First the skills, health and now the items being dropped by the worms?" Laney commented incredulously.
He walked up to Eliana and examined the items. Kaden bent down and took them, one by one. Multiple messages appeared before him.
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