Ragnar promoted Niki from architect to chief architect. In practice, that wouldn’t change her role in the guild as Ragnarok was still in its early days. However, it was a sign of appreciation for her outstanding work planning the new Iron Bears’ Refuge.

  Atop the Ceremonial Plateau, Ragnar’s gaze was no longer limited to the sanctuary. His eyes were now drifting to all of its surroundings, to all the lands encompassing his future baronate.

  The Baronate of Ragnar sprawled over 61,000 square meters (6.1 hectares or 15 acres), not counting the Refuge. It was a large piece of land for even a max-level player. It covered most of the horizon from where he stood. But that was still nothing compared to the largest farms across Brazil.

  “Should I use the sanctuary design for your baronate?” Niki asked.

  “No. The sanctuary is a place for peace, meditation, and contemplation of nature’s gifts. Our baronate will be its own thing. A place destined for greatness, capable of leaving even our worst enemies in awe.”

  “The duality between sanctuary and baronate sounds contradictory. Isn’t that bad?”

  “Not at all. Each one is its own thing. Still. Just to be sure, we'll keep a buffer zone along the sanctuary’s surroundings. There’ll be only farms and small buildings there. That way, the Refuge won’t be surrounded by a greenless, bustling city with tons of tall buildings spitting smoke.”

  “Good idea. Do you have any architectural choice in mind?”

  “I'd like to fit the Viking theme because of our guild’s name, but I also like the Italian design. Especially Renaissance and Post-Renaissance. I’m no expert in this stuff, so I’ll ask: can we… kinda… combine them?”

  “Sure. I’ll see what I can do. I’ll send you the first draft as soon as I finish it. But first we have to plan the damn… village? City?”

  “It’ll start as a small town, but it must be ready to expand ASAP.”

  Niki nodded, and the conversation kept going for hours atop the Ceremonial Plateau. They discussed almost everything, from where the farms should be built, where the mills should be placed, where the workshops should be located, and where the main hub should begin construction.

  But for all that to happen, a road had to be built. To do that, they needed to open a path in the dense forest surrounding his lands.

  A kilometer to the east, dotting the inner edge of that forest, dozens of players were axing and nine bears were pounding the trees in their way.

  The planning went on, with Ragnar and Niki discussing and pointing out where places should be terraformed, structures should be built, and such.

  Close to dusk, with the skies tainted in crimson, Ragnar snapped his fingers before saying, “We have to plan the sewer system. I can count on one hand how many big guilds have planned their sewage system from the ground up. It’s always an afterthought, and they’ve always paid the price for it.”

  Ragnar caught Niki chuckling.

  “It’s no joke. Niki, I can’t even count the amount of cities I’ve conquered exploiting the gaps caused by shitty sewers, pun intended. Because if you build them after your city has grown, you end up compromising a lot of the city's structural integrity. It’s an architect's nightmare.”

  “I know. That’s also a problem in the real world. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

  “Then we’re done here. Ready to get back and reunite with our blue-collar friends?”

  She nodded and the journey back began. The descent from the sanctuary's highest ground was done in complete silence. Despite the hours talking non-stop, it was comforting just walking with her in that soothing quietness.

  The rest of the journey was punctuated with small talk. They left the sanctuary and began to traverse the fields leading to the forest where the rest of the guild was working.

  “What’s your plan after you graduate from college?” Ragnar asked.

  She turned to him, then answered, “I’m probably gonna work at some firm. Maybe one of those that I’ve worked part-time.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you’re asking me about the game, right?”

  Ragnar just smiled back. Niki continued, “I’ll keep playing with you guys whenever I can.”

  Soon they arrived at the logging site, and to Ragnar’s dismay, the place was a mess. Every member was cutting a tree by themselves. Most of them were handling the axe like a weapon, swinging it like a clueless anime protagonist.

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  “You,” Ragnar yelled in a commanding tone to a female mage wearing a brown robe. “Your arms must be screaming in pain by now. Put your back on each swing. Start slow, then apply force to build momentum until it turns into a powerful hack.”

  She nodded in quick and nervous succession, took a deep breath, and raised her axe in a slow arc. The axe’s head stood in its apex trajectory for a brief moment, then fell, producing a powerful thud.

  The mage turned to Ragnar and Niki with bright eyes and a grateful nod. The Iron Druid nodded back and resumed the walk.

  “Please tell me you also have a background in lumberjacking,” Niki said.

  “I’m just baffled by how many people don’t know how to handle tools these days,” he shot back, closing in on the heart of the logging site.

  Soon, the ringing of armor caught his attention, announcing Artic’s approach from his right. The knight was breathless. He said, making brief pauses to catch his breath, “It’s taking longer… than I expected. But we made… good progress today.”

  “Good.” It was all Ragnar had to say. He had put Artic in charge to evaluate his skills in a management position. However, the results were not great. Each one was working by themselves instead of as a team. There was no plan. No division of labor or any sign of organization.

  He was just making sure everyone was working, Ragnar thought.

  By the look of it, they had opened one quarter of the path even with the help of the Iron Bears. With the right leadership, they could have surpassed the halfway mark. There was no reason to be sad or disappointed. That was a test which Artic did not pass, but Ragnar still nurtured hope for him.

  Despite that, the day had been as productive as it could be regarding the planning of his future baronate. Niki had proved to be a great asset. Now all he had to do was get things in order.

  “Thank you for keeping an eye on everyone, Artic,” Ragnar said, following with a loud whistle that caught everyone’s attention. With all eyes on him, Ragnar raised his hand and called everyone to him.

  The players put away their axes and the Iron Bears stopped pounding the trees. A few of them were too far away to hear the calling, but a few good-hearted players went out to fetch them.

  Mikken was the first to arrive. He came in a hurry and nuzzled the Druid’s hand, which in return patted his head. The happy face Mikken made ended up warming the Iron Druid’s heart. Despite not being a cute cub anymore, he was still a fluffy ball of fur in his own way.

  It took a few minutes, but the whole guild was in front of its leader. Ragnar prefaced by thanking all of them for the effort, then said that he would be leading the logging effort until it was done, and ended promising a welcoming party as great and memorable as the last one. That comment hyped up especially the old guard and the Black Paw five.

  As it was getting late, most of the newcomers logged out to have a good night's sleep.

  “Skiff, do you have anything planned for the rest of the night?”

  “No, why?”

  “I want to develop something using your leatherworking skill.”

  To Ragnar’s surprise, Skiff’s eye fired up when he said, “All right; let’s do it!”

  ***

  On the next day, when Ragnar logged back into the game, he spawned into a logging site working at full steam. Despite most of them still handling their axes the wrong way, some progress was made.

  A full line of trees had been cut since the day before, and Artic was there, walking among the players, and giving them encouraging words before choosing the next target for his axe. The knight stopped, rested his axe over his shoulder, and took a good look at a tree.

  He has initiative, I can’t deny that, Ragnar thought, before gathering up everyone once again. He was cut and dry. “We’ll be doing things a bit different from now on. I want you all working in pairs and cutting the same tree. But for the love of all the gods, keep some distance between your strikes so you don’t hit your colleague’s axe.”

  Pairing them was a way to keep them entertained during such a long and tiresome working session. Keeping them apart could increase productivity in a short span of time. However, the situation required almost the opposite: a good amount of work done during a long period of time. That way, they wouldn’t burn out, especially the newcomers. Their stay was a sensitive matter. Anything could make them leave in the early days.

  “For the Iron Bears, today we’ll try something different. I was busy last night with my good friend Skiff. We spent a few hours creating a sort of Tree-Puller.”

  “What the hell is that?” Artic asked.

  “I’ll show you.” Ragnar looked around, chose the first four bears that he saw and asked them to test his latest invention. To his surprise, they all agreed and even got excited to be a part of that, something that would never happen to the Iron Bears of old.

  Before starting the show, Ragnar led them to a tree still standing in the center. It was a grim experience to walk among so many stumps while being a druid. Ragnar felt awful, dirty, almost ashamed of what he was doing.

  It’s just a game, he had to remind himself.

  With everyone's attention drawn back to him, Ragnar produced a thick chain from his inventory. With the help of Skiff, they wrapped the chain around the tree in two loops, and then dragged it by its tips to where the four bears were waiting.

  Ragnar opened his inventory, selected his invention, and deployed it in front of him. A leather monstrosity popped into the air. Dozens of straps, buckles, hooks, ropes, and chains ringed and fluttered the moment Ragnar and Skiff grabbed the contraption.

  Dozens of confused pairs of eyes tried to make sense of what that brown leather thing was, but it was impossible because of the way its parts were entangled. Artic stepped forward, followed by Havoc and Niki.

  They approached and tried to help. Malorn and Allen were about to go too, but Xian intervened, “Stay. We’ll just get in their way.”

  Six minutes later, the Tree-Puller was ready to go. It was four reinforced bear harnesses strung together by a long, heavy-duty steel connection where the thick chain would be attached, locked, and tethered to six different mechanisms to ensure maximum sturdiness.

  “I get it. It’s a bear-dozer,” Niki joked, cracking a few laughs from her guildmates.

  “Good one,” Ragnar said. “It’s time to put this baby to work.”

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