章 19: Feeding Time

The group from the excursion were soon gathered back at the Town Centre. Some of the Villagers that had been in the vicinity came to see if they could offer any help.

Hector was the worst injured, mainly covered in bruises and slight cuts from his fall. His biggest injury was mental as he had seen his death approaching and his shield was severely damaged.

"We can get you a new one." Paul commented, patting him on the shoulder. "I think I'll stick to guarding in the future."

"You don't understand." Homer commented, "A shield is a family relic, passed from father to son, true they do get damaged and replaced from time to time but we don't have the facilities currently to repair it."

The front of Hector's shield once had the painted image of a naked woman, who from waist down had a long snakes tail, her hair also replaced by small snakes. Now, the image was almost gone, with just the slight dash of green here and there.

"It's fine." Hector replied, in a stern tone, "This is a fresh start, so I'll start my own legacy."

The biggest attention was given to the three large Sabre Tooth Tiger Cubs that were currently nestled under a very confused sheep that was feeding them. One of the Shepherds and a female Villager were looking after them.

"They are an interesting find." Lucius commented to Dom and Tomyris. "I'm not sure what to do with them, but if they grow as big as you mentioned, they can be very dangerous. It will be interesting to see if we can tame them as they grow."

"I agree, it's a risk but it will be worthwhile." Tomyris replied, "We don't have any specialised beast tamers, but I think the Shepherds will have some luck. I have also tasked the Hoplite Gregorios in supporting them. If they aren't able go be tamed, he's strong enough to get rid of them."

"I'm happy as long as the risk is contained." Lucius replied, "But we need to find a home for them. We don't have a stables or spare housing available currently."

"They can stay here for now." Dom commented, looking at the large hall in the Town Centre. "We'll need to find a solution when they get bigger though."

Subutai soon joined them after having everyone return to their original tasks and the Hoplites he had earlier spent time with, were now tasked with guarding near the Lumber Camp in case the bear returned. They discussed the care of the Tiger Cubs before discussing what had transpired on their excursion.

The sun was slowly dropping as the day continued, the outlines of some new housing structures had been put together, and a steady stream of wood was carried from the Lumber Camp to the housing locations.

Some initial plot lines had also been drawn to the east of the Village on the flatlands, as directed earlier by Lucius and the Farmer family heads. They didn't have much in regards to tools currently, and were planning their approach.

"Gan Ning is due back soon." Subutai commented looking at the sky. They were sat on the floor outside the Town Centre, his Eagle circling the skies above. They had been discussing with Tomyris and Alexander some strategies about the Hoplite.

"Hopefully he has had success in his searches." Dom commented. "How many more Hoplite do you think we need to have success with a small scale incursion?"

"Ideally, listening to Alexander, two units of 16 would be ideal. At this current rate of arrival, that would be another 5 days before we are at the adequate level." Subutai replied.

"That's too long." Tomyris commented, "If we are to wait 5 days, then we could be falling behind with our potential growth as planned."

"If we do find a local Village, we could conquer it but we couldn't hold it yet either, so 5 days gives us time to get the military numbers required." Alexander responded.

"We may get some Villagers with military experience, that could also help." Dom added, trying to be helpful.

"None of this matters if we don't find a Village anyway." Subutai commented. "We may find some easy pickings, we could be alone for hundreds of kilometres or we could have a walled fortress on our door step. We will make the final plans when we know, for now we are planning for a place similar sized to ours."

Dom slowly stood up, stretching after the long day, his body still sore from the earlier duel against the One eyed Bear.

"I have something that I need to check." Dom said, "Come get me when Gan Ning returns."

He stood and made his way in to the Town Centre, he passed the Shepherd, Gregorios and one of the Bakers daughters who were over seeing the Cubs. Gregorios had a stern face as he looked down at the creatures.

"They need to be fed every 2 hours." The Shepherd commented to Dom. "Ideally they'll be like this for the next two weeks, and then we'll introduce meat to them. We need to find a meat source as the Sheep are valuable for their wool."

The Cubs seemed restless and a cry sounded from one of them, which in turn woke the other Cubs.

"It's feeding time." The Shepherd acknowledged, before getting himself and the sheep he had with him prepared.

Dom nodded his head in acceptance as he headed further through the Hall and up the stairs to his large room. Someone had made them a bed as the fur covers were now neatly placed. He quite liked this luxury and wondered if he could get Andrew to clean for him in their Dorm.

He reached his private chest and pulled it open, revealing a rolled parchment inside. Which he quickly grabbed and rolled open.

[Mission Reward - Map Room

The schematics for a Map Room, to be added as an annex to the Town Centre. This will allow for a room to be built beside the Town Centre where a Map of the local area can be carved. The Map will be upgraded as more of the surrounding area is discovered, reducing the fog of war. Further Upgrades are possible through Town Centre advancement.

Construction time - 12 hours

Resource needed - Local Wood and Craftsmen]

"A handy building!" Dom exclaimed happily, it wasn't a new building type, so couldn't be used to advance his Village upgrade quest, but it would allow them to plan effectively and not have to rely on the scouts reports for the key terrain.

Dom excitedly left the building, approaching the seated Subutai, Tomyris and Alexander who were still deep in discussion about tactics.

"I have received a schematic for a Map Room." Dom started, "It will allow us better plan and view our surroundings. Ideally we need to get this built as soon as possible."

"I agree." Subutai said as he stood up and commanded, "You, come here!"

Duncan, who was patrolling the area and helping the Villagers carry wood was walking past when he was shouted over by the intimidating Subutai.

"Take this to the Lumberjacks and ask them to start construction first thing tomorrow." Subutai ordered. Duncan grabbed the roll, bowing slightly in acknowledgment, before turning and heading off towards the Lumber Camp.

The sun was now starting to fade on the Village and people were finishing their tasks for the day, exhausted after what seemed to be an exhausting but rewarding and productive day. With clear skeletons of houses appearing beside the others.

Gan Ning and his group soon returned, smiling and jovial. They soon reached the Town Centre, spotting the towns leadership gathered together. Lucius having recently joined the group after hearing of the Map Rooms schematics.

"You look happy." Dom said, happy to see his people were in good spirits.

"As will you be!" Gan Ning replied. "To the west is a small town. They don't seem to be in much of a rush and are building up slowly. They had some unique buildings and their architecture style was strange."

"That's one potential target then." Subutai commented. "Did they have many Warriors?"

"Some, they dressed strangely with animal patterns on them, with clubs and throwing spears. There couldn't have been more than 10 of them that we saw." Gan Ning replied.

"We need to keep an eye on them, one scout at all points with a rotation. How many kilometres away?" Subutai asked.

"No more than 5, they'll find us sooner or later if we don't strike first." Gan Ning replied.

Whilst this conversation was going on, Dom received a notification.

[30minutes until alarm]

"Damn." Dom exclaimed to himself, realistically he would miss a day in the game by waking and going to class, but it was a game and he could pick it up later.

"System, what happens when I log out?" He asked.

[You will disappear from the game, but the time will continue to flow]

"So time flows here continuously? So someone else playing can enter whilst I'm away?" Dom queried.

[Correct, the world continues, with or without you]

"Does that also mean my Villager Spawns, Hero Spawns and Warrior Spawns will build up whilst I am absent?" He queried.

[Yes, but you can set auto spawn, or delegate the task to a member of your Village. Only Hero Spawns can not be delegated or set to auto spawn]

"Very well, please give spawn rights to Lucius, whilst I am absent." Dom requested politely.

[Spawn rights have been given to Character Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Lucius suddenly looked at Dom with a questioning look as if he'd just been spoken a secret message from an ethereal being.

"Soon I will disappear for a day, in the meantime please follow my orders." Dom commanded. "In my absence, Lucius is in overall command and will continue with the administration of tasks and the welcoming of new Villagers. Subutai is in charge of planning our response to the new Village, Gan Ning and Tomyris, please follow his leadership. Overall decisions on attacking will fall on me when I return. Any questions?"

There was surprisingly a lot of questions, mainly on how long he would be gone for, what if he was delayed and there was a good opportunity to attack.

Dom had responded saying he was unsure and he had trust in Lucius and Subutai to make the correct decisions in his absence. Personally he felt they would make better decisions anyway, as he had a lot to learn. He was also excited to log off and share his experiences with Andrew, Alice and Kai.

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