"We're... we're done," one of them said, not sure what else to say. Ashton couldn't blame the reaction of these two either. You didn't have to take apart humanoid beings every single day, after all. Though... these guys probably would need to do so a lot more regularly from now on.
"Thanks," he took the bag and gave it to the Backpacker. By now, almost everything was taken care of here. Barricades were built, and the survivors from the other shops had also come out. The people that were physically strong were quickly equipped with bats and knives to act as rudimentary 'guards' who would keep watch of any potential monsters.
Meanwhile, all the people in leadership positions in these stores were gathering together to try and figure out the next steps. Ashton had told them a few things here and there, and what to focus on. Things like advising the survivors on what sort of rewards to pick from the quests, making sure they collect all magic stones they could, and properly moving the existing corpses to safe places. Right now, they didn't have the leisure of funerals, but the bodies had to be taken care of somehow anyway.
But Ashton left that to them to figure out. He had already done more than he was planning on. So, for the time being, he had to make his way to his own little campsite.
Being in the town centre, there were plenty of decently tall buildings here. Through the inside of one of them, he managed to get to the roof-level, and positioned himself on the roof closest to the mana well. Being inside would just block the flow of magic that he had access to.
For now, though, there was something else he had to figure out. A place to sleep. He had grabbed the rewards he was promised from the grocery store, and some of the other places decided to give him some things too if he wanted, but he really just needed food and cooking utensils for the time being. It was also good idea to keep a few 'favours' stocked up for when people got their classes and some magic items started circulating. Well, there was one small exception, since he got a small tent and sleeping bag from one of the stores.
This roof wasn't exactly the type of place you were 'supposed' to be on. It was just covered in gravel and vents, and a few knee-high railings for workers that had to come up here. The only way to get here was a ladder on the side of the building which you could only access from a balcony at the side of one of the top-floor offices. As long as Ashton blocked that ladder, it should be hard for monsters to ambush him while sleeping, if they even managed to get through the barricades downstairs on the road anyway.
He got out his dinner, one of the boxes of food that he prepared in the grocery store earlier, and started to eat. Looking around, there was, once again, a message that wouldn't disappear until Ashton claimed the reward. The 'Common Settlement Selection Box'.
Ashton tapped the system window and watched as a small white box dropped down onto his palm. This time, instead of a sword, it had the symbol of a campfire on its side.
[Common Settlement Selection Box]
+[Defence]
+[Farming]
+[Lifestyle]
+[Production]
+[Research]
+[Service]
Ashton raised a brow, staring at the screen. He unfolded each section and scrolled through. It was sort of unclear what sort of 'items' would be in here before now, but it was clear that this was actually a much more powerful reward than he would have thought.
The defence category had small sections of rudimentary wooden walls or spikes that could be set up in front of existing walls. The farming section had decently large planters perfectly set up for different types of crops. The lifestyle section had things that you needed in your day-to-day life. Small cooking stations, which were just pots hanging over campfire setups, beds, tables, tents, and things of that nature.
Within the production category, there were the 'core' parts that were needed for different production fields. Rudimentary looms, an old rusty anvil and forge, tanning racks. There weren't any 'tools', just the basic setup that could be placed into a settlement. Simple 'structures', basically.
The research and service categories were similar. They had small tables, shelves, or simple stalls of different sorts. Frankly, none of this was particularly helpful to Ashton, especially considering that he wasn't going to stay stationary. One of the research stations would've been useful. But well, he should probably save this one for later. After all, these were all 'lowest quality' structures.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
At the bottom of each section, there was a greyed-out small slot which read that 'more options will be unlocked with subsequent quests'. It said the same in the weapon selection box, but he really didn't care at the time. He had already found the perfect weapon for himself then, and doubted a better option would be unlocked. He had a rough idea of what would pop up, after all.
Either way, that being the case, Ashton gave the box to the Backpacker and set himself up on the rooftop. He pushed aside the gravel to give himself a flat surface and set up the tent, then put the sleeping bag inside.
He looked over at the place where the mana well was. The other one had run dry already, but that was probably because the summoning he did there caused an interruption in the already light magical flows. This one was strong enough to survive if he did something like that, plus, it would just get stronger over the next few days.
So... Ashton's choice was more than obvious. He took off his torn clothes, switching into his spares. Sleeping in these clothes might be a little uncomfortable, but at least he'd be ready for anything.
Though, the moment he dropped down into the sleeping bag and closed his eyes, the exhaustion from the day caught up to him, and Ashton fell asleep.
"There you are, you useless fool!" a familiar bunch of voices overlapped, yelling in anger. Ashton was awoken from his slumber, being pulled up by his arm by the giant figure before him.
"... Huh?" Ashton slowly opened his eyes, flinching when he looked into the porcelain face of the thing staring down at him.
"Who permitted you to sleep?! Did I not tell you to prepare an ounce of dragonewt ink?" the figure continued to yell. Ashton stared back at them, freezing up the moment he did.
The Summoner stared down at Ashton. The three eyes peeking out through the cracked, earthenware skin seemed to envelop a bottomless pit of knowledge that Ashton had no chance to ever hide from.
"Of-Of course, right away," Ashton stuttered out, his body moving almost on its own, as if he weren't really in control of himself.
"Watch your tongue, boy," the Summoner said, as their cloaked body sat down on a small chair at the edge of the chamber. It flicked its wrist, and a summoning circle appeared in the air, made of rotting, black magic. In its place, a hole appeared in the air, that something crawled out of. A spider-like being with dozens of legs instead of just the eight, which climbed onto the Summoner's back.
Ashton knew he wasn't supposed to watch, but he could never move his eyes away from their figure whenever they got ready. The spider's legs immediately began to move, rapidly 'operating' on the Summoner.
It let out a slight hum that was made up of hundreds of interwoven voices, and as the spider continued, the voices slowly became harmonious again, turning into just one.
The spider then began to peel off the cracked porcelain off the Summoner's face, replacing it with a new mask laying on the table before them. Ashton had never seen what its face looked like underneath that mask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, either. What followed next was the sound of bones popping and cracking, as if they were set back into place.
Ashton had to hurry up. If he wasn't done producing the ink before the Summoner's routine was over, he would be in trouble. He walked over to the shelf at the edge of the chamber, pulling open the drawers and collecting the needed materials.
He chopped and ground them down, he powdered and mixed them together, boiling them in the distilled blood of a dragonewt. After fishing out the things floating in the concoction, he added powdered treesap into the still-boiling liquid, watching as it became thicker and more viscous. At least dragonewt ink was one of the easier sort to make. So, by the time the Summoner came up to him, he could present a small vial of purple ink.
The Summoner's form was far more than before. Today, their body and behaviour was more masculine.
"Good. At least you're good for something," they took the vial from Ashton and snapped their finger, "But do not think that I forgot about sleeping without permission. From now on... do not sleep for the next eight cycles."
"... Yes, Master."
The Summoner stared back with its unsmiling mask, "Did you not hear what I just said? Do not sleep for the next eight cycles. Wake up when I tell you to."
Trying to catch his breath as if his life depended on it, Ashton shot up in the small, one-person tent. He was drenched in sweat, and he could feel his heart almost jumping out of his chest. But then, his mind slowly caught up to his situation again, and he sighed a breath of relief.
"It was just a nightmare... You're okay, Ashton, you're okay..." Ashton slowly wiped away the sweat from his brow, though as he moved he flinched as his whole body was in pain. He had bandaged himself up last night, and he would heal a bit faster with his stats increasing, but it wasn't at the point where he would recover with a little bit of sleep just yet.
Ashton slowly crawled out of the tent, turning his head east. But... the sun wasn't there. With a slight frown, Ashton looked around, finding that it was to his back.
"Wait, wasn't east... that way..?" he frowned lightly, looking down at his wrist. His watch read that it was 8'o'clock...
With a bad feeling, Ashton continued to stare at the sun. Though it was supposed to be rising, it was moving toward the horizon, and not away from it.
"... Okay. I slept for nineteen hours. That is... great," Ashton groaned loudly. That did explain the notifications beside him.
[You have completed the [Tutorial Quest - Survival]! Please pick your reward]
[Constellations may now reach out to you]
[You have a New Quest! [Main Quest 1 - A Show of Dedication]]
[Main Quest 1 - A Show of Dedication]
[You have survived and as such shown that you are ready to begin stepping down the path toward the next stage in your Civilization's existence! That being the case, there are still plenty amongst you that have not yet proven their dedication. And to those people - Fight.]
[Goal - Kill 5 Creatures in 24 Hours (0/5)]
[Reward - 100 Coins, Combat Item Choice]
[Failure - Death]
[Currently Available Milestones]
[+1 Chapter | 10 Reviews | 5/10]
[+1 Chapter | 25 Ratings | 12/25]
[+1 Chapter | 25 Favourites | 21/25]
[+1 Chapter | 250 Followers | 115/250]
[Current [Bonus Chapters] in queue... [0 Chapters]]
! There, you will find 15 Chapters ahead of Schedule!