Bab 2: Chapter 2: Red Fortress & Village Creation
"Sir Xavier, we have reached the foot of the Barren Mountains. It is time to drop off the exiled, please escort him out." The voice at the door resounded through the carriage. Liu Shen understood that they had finally arrived at their destination.
"Your Highness Lucian, it is in your best interest that you don't think of doing any funny business. You must follow our orders until we reach the Red Fortress where you will stay in exile, for the rest of your life. Now, get up and exit the carriage if you will." Spoke the knight as his sword gleamed, the blade facing Liu Shen at his chest.
"Understood." Liu Shen got up from his seat and slowly walked to the carriage door while the knight's sword was pointing at his back. He opened the carriage door and sunlight flashed on his face, stunning him for a while. After the shock of facing direct sunlight receded, he looked around to see two other knights in armor facing him with their swords drawn.
Liu Shen slowly got down from the carriage and saw two strong brown horses at the head of the carriage. Their muscles bulged with strength even after a long journey, looking as if they could take the long journey again. Then he saw the Red Fortress. It was truly red without any other colors, seemingly dyed with blood. It was also in slight ruins as the Fortress had signs of being not in use for a while.
'What a grand fortress! So this is where I'll be staying in this world. Hope they won't do anything to me so that I'll be forced to relocate using the talisman'
"That right there is your new home. It was once a fortress used to keep out the malicious beasts of the Barren Mountains away from our kingdom. But one day, no beast appeared for years so the king at the time decided to pull the soldiers away to deal with other matters and ever since never put any back. No beast since then has ever approached our kingdom from the Barren Mountains, which lead to the Red Fortress being abandoned. We have already surveyed the area so it is quite safe for now. After we leave, the fortress will be yours. My squires, go and place down our dear Highness's rations in the fortress."
"By your will, Sir Xavier!" The two knights, who were squires to the knight behind Liu Shen, picked up two sacks made from burlap and ran ahead into the building to place down their sacks. As they ran, their armor gleamed in the sun.
"Now, it is your turn to follow my squires into the Red Fortress. Don't try to run, else I'm afraid I'll have to explain to your uncle why my sword is stained with your blood." Liu Shen walked forward towards the fortress while Xavier kept his eyes and sword on him.
As they neared the entrance, Liu Shen saw the giant door split in the middle. One side of the door had a portrait of a ferocious beast that looked to be a tiger while the other side of the door had a portrait of another ferocious beast that looked to be a western dragon. The tiger was roaring at those who dared to enter while the dragon looked down on those entering. It seems that these images affected the mind as Liu Shen's head started to hurt the more he looked. It felt like there was something in his brain telling him to go away.
"These protection runes were crafted during the building of the fortress by a rank 2 Novice Magus. If supplied with mana, it'll activate a defense that attacks the mind of those who look towards it and bear ill will towards what the runes are protecting, in this case, the fortress. These runes allowed the kingdom to be able to cut down the number of soldiers garrisoned at the fortress. This is only the back side, at the forest-facing side there are two more. So as you can tell, it is quite safe for you as no wild beast will come into the vicinity of the runes. The runes have already been supplied with mana so don't worry. They'll last for a month. Now, as we have arrived and placed your rations in your fortress, it is time that I and my squires leave you be. Goodbye, Your Highness Lucian. Farewell, last of the Von Hafter royal family."
Liu Shen turned to face the knight who journeyed with him to the Barren Mountains as the latter said his farewells. The knight gave a simple nod, sheathed his sword, and called his squires to his side. They went on to exit the fortress, closing the door on their way out. As the door closed Liu Shen felt ecstatic as he could finally utilize the system without eyes being on him. He waited until he couldn't hear the sounds of the horses and carriage before looking through the door hole. The carriage was gone and so were the knights.
"Phew, that came too close for comfort. I thought I'll have to use the talisman and give up this amazing fortress as my base. Good thing the one called Xavier didn't do anything other than lead me here. It is time for the system."
'Hey, system, how do I take out the village creation token and use it?'
[First think about the item you want to take out of the inventory and stretch out your hand in a grabbing motion. Then the system will create a spatial opening where your hand is and you just have to pull the item out. For usage of the token, find a place that is clear of rubble and flat. Then think about creating a village and drop the token. The token will sink into the ground and transform the surrounding area into a village.]
'I see. So it'll probably come with some houses. I can't create it anywhere willy-nilly. I'll check the forest-facing side as that seems to be the best place for now. It is hidden from those coming to the Red Fortress as they'll have to have my permission to go through.'
Liu Shen started to walk towards the door facing the forest. As he walked, he saw two staircases that led to the second floor which should be the bedrooms. Then he saw a courtyard that had training dummies and wooden weapons lying around. Walking through the courtyard led him into the main hall where there layed two long tables seemingly capable of seating 300 people. Through the main hall, were two more staircases leading to the second floor and in front of them was the forest-facing door.
'Dang! This door is heavy. Phew, got to put more strength to push. Can't believe how easy it was for the squires to open the first door. Seems like they used battle qi to strengthen their bodies to open the door quickly.'
Liu Shen struggled for a while before opening the door and was able to see the outside. Before him layed a flat land covered in weed and far away he could see a dark forest with towering trees. Even further he could see the body of the Barren Mountains, the peaks covered by dark clouds.
'Oh right, I still have the talisman in my hands. I should put it away first. Let's see, open System Inventory.'
Liu Shen reached out his left hand holding the 100 miles teleporting talisman while thinking of opening the inventory. Suddenly a spark of lightning appeared before his hand before opening a hole in space and creating a small portal. Liu Shen put his hand into the portal and the image of what is inside appeared in his mind. He let go of the talisman and thought of the village creation token before a heavy weight dropped on his hand. He pulled out his hand from the portal and saw that he had pulled out a circular token. After he pulled his desired item out the portal closed by shrinking itself and once it couldn't be seen anymore, a sound of thunder appeared signaling the portal's closure.
Liu Shen opened his hands to observe the token. The token seemed to be made of Bronze giving it a heavy feel. On one side of the token, there was the word 'village' inscribed. On the back, there was the image of an eastern dragon coiling around a cloud.
'So this is what the token looks like. I'll have to use the token farther away from the fortress but not too far.'
Liu Shen started to walk further out into the open field. It was until the halfway point between the forest and the fortress that he decided to stop. He thought of creating a village and dropped the token from his raised hand. It fell onto the ground before it sank into it. For a while, nothing happened until suddenly the area around Liu Shen trembled and 9 buildings rose from the earth. After the buildings completely rose from the ground, the trembling stopped.
'Woah!! Didn't expect the effects of the token would be this big. So the token created 9 buildings for me? What kind of special buildings are they?'
[Village Creation complete. Beginner Quest complete. 150 System Points and 1 Normal rarity System Shop Voucher deposited in Inventory.]
[As the Host has reached the Barren Mountains and created his village, the Main Quest - Everlasting Empire is opened. As the village is created, please name the village seriously as this village will be your starting point into the World of Zergon. If the village is destroyed, the system will leave the host permanently.]
'What!? The system will leave if the village is destroyed!? Wait let's think this through. Since the main quest is called Everlasting Empire, the main objective of the system should be helping me create an empire using the warriors of the Three Kingdoms Era. So it makes sense in that part. It seems that I'll only have one village creation token since if this village is destroyed the system will leave instead of giving me another token to restart. Phew, gotta take this seriously and live this life to the fullest. Since I transmigrated into this world, I have been using my original name since I still had my naive mindset. If I want to survive in this world and create an empire, I'll harden my resolve and take the name of this body.'
'From now on I am Lucian Von Hafter. For the name of my village and future empire I'll call it the Rising Dragon Empire, symbolizing that it will be a powerful empire and will always rise above the rest. System, name the village the Rising Dragon Village.'
[Understood. Village named. Opening village stat page.]
[Village Name: Rising Dragon Village
Village Head: Lucian Von Hafter
Residents: 0/60
Fighting Force: 0/10
Number of buildings: 5 normal houses, 1 village head's house, 1 barrack, 1 storage warehouse, 1 well
Special effects: +10% Farming Speed, +10% Training Speed
Upgrade Conditions: Reach max residents and fighting force.]
'Hmm, I see. So I can only have 60 residents and 10 fighting forces before the village will upgrade. So it seems that the houses and the barrack can store 10 residents each. For the special effects, +10% Farming Speed and +10% Training Speed probably means that for farming the speed at which farming is done is increased by 10% and training the soldiers will take less time. System, what do the buildings do?'
[Normal houses - house with 2 floors that can store 10 residents each. Comes with farmland to plant food.
Village head's house - the house of the village head. Used to summon peasants who can become farmers, soldiers, strategists, etc. Can only summon 10 peasants per day.
Barrack - building capable of turning peasants into soldiers. Once turned, granted equipment from the barrack. Also, it can house 10 soldiers.
Storage warehouse - building used to store materials. The materials stored can be used to upgrade the village and create items. Uses spatial magic to hold items. Limit of 500 items.
Well - a well. Used to draw water from the ground. Can draw up to 10 gallons per day.]
'Looks pretty good. Can't wait to summon the 10 peasants into this world. After that I'll try my luck at the Warriors Summoning Platform in the system to summon a powerful warrior to lead my troops. Now let's get started with the peasants summoning!'
Lucian walked through his village taking in the sight of the buildings. The houses were 2 stories tall and seemed to be made of hardened earth with a straw roof. He walked into it and saw the first and second floor having 5 bedrooms each. On the first floor there was a main hall with a table and 10 wooden chairs. There was even an iron pot with a place for fire beneath it. There was a window beside them. Outside the house were some farmland.
Exiting he went to see the barrack and saw a long 2 story building. In front of it was a field for running and 10 training dummies. There was also a rack full of wooden weapons and training equipment. Entering the building, it looked the same as the houses.
After checking out the barrack, he came to the center of the village where there was the well. It looked as if it was a ordinary well with a big bucket on top and a pulley system attached to it. He looked into it and saw clear water.
Lucian continued to look around and saw a small warehouse. He opened the door and a spatial rift opened in front of him. He walked into it and saw an empty space. The area around him seemed to be warping but was stabilized. He walked out and finally reached the village head's house.
The village head's house looked regal and had the banner of the village's name on it. Inside the house were a bedroom and a cooking area. Next to the house was a platform. It seemed that this was where the summoning would happen. Lucian was excited to see the summoning in action.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone