Part 1 - Base Plan Expansion

Urist woke to a strong scent that invaded his sleep. His eyes quickly focused to see Herb Keeper Uroa hovering over him about to place a green paste on his chest.

Grabbing her hand Urist stopped her movements, “What are you doing?!”

Looking at him with pure eyes Uroa blushed and looked away. “I just wanted to treat your wounds boss I’m sorry for not telling you. On the watch last night I borrowed the medicine book and learned a recipe that’ll make a healing salve to hasten wound recovery. I made a batch just now and wanted to treat as quickly as possible, I should have woken you up boss, I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

Hearing Uroa explanation Urist calmed down and let go of her hand.

“I see, thank you very much for making them Uroa. Please apply it, I am sorry for grabbing you so suddenly. Though next time please wake me up first if this happens again, I’ll be in your care.”

“Understood. Then I shall apply it. Please stay still.”

Urist watched as Uroa with a beat red face turned serious as she smeared the healing salve on his chest in a professional manner. Despite only having less than two weeks of learning medicine she had shown a natural talent for the subject.

After she finished Urist got up and woke up the dwarfs to begin work today while he and Unicy headed to the back to check on the new arrivals. Urist had learned his lesson from Unicy to not receive the dwarfs alone anymore.

Although having that exact one that had just threatened his life the other day was another matter altogether. Walking deeper into the new well-lit tunnel Urist took stock of the crystals and noticed they had grown a quarter inch.

He had to take notes to remember to break these crystals every so often so they wouldn’t gain sentience. It wasn’t that hard of a job to do as at this stage they were easy enough to break, unlike the crystal wolf.

Reaching the back, Unicy followed behind Urist by a few steps very respectfully unlike the other day. Today two earth mages a female and a male named Elana, and Thar respectively. They had brown eyes and hair with one of them having a hair beard. He also saw that they had similar features and found out the two were actually twins.

Next, he talked with the female warrior named Dane had orange hair and blue eyes having a heroic aura about her with her cute face. She was eager to use a blade so he had Unicy take her for the exploration today.

And finally, there was the tall lanky fisherman called Mo. He had a dark tan, thick black hair, a majestic beard, and silver eyes. In his hands, he held a finely crafted fishing pole that had some quality line.

Urist talked with the dwarfs to understand them and found out they were quite eager to get to work. So he told Unicy to take Dane with her on the hunt after they set their skills. He gave Mo over to Rork and Rat so they could fish together.

With those two settled in, it left him two earth mages to handle. Talking with them he learned they could move earth, change the earth to mud, and use the earth to attack. The more he listened the more his eyes shone as if he was looking at golden eggs.

He got so excited that he called the Miner Roche and Carpenter Saera over to introduce their new team members. They came over pretty quick since they were already in the cave already planning out the tunnels. Now that the dwarfs were together, Urist talked with the two about the plans they did the other day.

They pulled out the map they were working on and showed Urist their current design. The cave walls would be smoothed out for safety reasons first. Then, in the middle of the hallway facing the cave entrance outside would be the dorm area for the dwarfs where they would sleep which was on second priority.

Thanks to the earth mages it wouldn’t be hard to start smoothing the walls by midday. They could also get one of the rooms dug out by the end of the day with the help of Roche and Saera. When they finished up about four rooms they would switch over to the left-wing. The left-wing would go down a hallway which would open into a T with the left side opening to a Workshop and Smith area.

With the right side opening into another T with water storage and treatment having their own rooms. To the right path, it would open back up into the main hallway but the side would have a large open room for all storage. There would be a small wall spitting between the storage and the main pathway to make a path for easy access.

They estimated that the expansion should only take about five days since the twins were confident that it wasn’t that hard to pull off. Urist approved of the plan and let the dwarfs get to work, he wanted to strike the earth with them if he wasn’t so injured.

Sulking, Urist left them to start carving and smoothing out the tunnel. Since he was injured he might as well look over the base and see how everyone was doing. He noticed that the garden that Yri handled had started sprouting up green leaves.

Also that the two fanatic dwarfs working experimenting with the iron in between smelting up the bronze and help to build the large brick fence. For their experiments, Urist made sure to tell them to use charcoal or they wouldn’t get any results with messing with iron. He made it a point later today to teach them how to make it. He wanted to see how the fishing was doing as well since it had been a while since he checked it over.

The more he thought the more he figured it still was going to be a busy day.

 

Part 2 - Farming and Smithing

 

Getting out of the cave Urist shielded his eyes from the sunlight and head over first to check at Yri’s work. She was currently caked in the dirt on her clothes with a smiling expression tilling the dirt by hand, seeing her work so hard Urist had the urge to buy a horse to help till the ground.

However he resisted the urge after seeing how happy she seemed, he walked over to her with a smile. She didn’t notice Urist coming up to her until she saw his shadow, she turned to greet him with a  bright smile.

“How goes the work Yri? Sorry, we haven’t talked much since you came here. If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask me.

The brown-haired girl smiled bashfully at Urist’s declaration and looked away from his eyes,  “I’m happy with what I’m doing right now boss. I don’t need anything as long as I have my hoe, food in my belly, and seeds to plant. Although I wouldn’t mind having a bath since the I've been getting caked in dirt… Uh! I don’t mean I need a bath it’s just I miss taking a shower after a long days work.”

Urist looked at her seriously, “So you have been regaining your memories?  Do you remember your true name?”

Yri shook her head, “I only get fragments here and there of my memories I don’t remember anything of my name or family.”

Hearing this Urist also felt bitter not remembering his memories. As they talked around the fire for their meal they all learned that they couldn’t remember much since coming here. Their names, their family members, and their old lives. The most they could remember was fragments of what they most loved in life and the skills of their old life. Unicy, Uria, and himself were the exception that could remember more than the others of their memories. 

Seeing the sad look on Uri’s face Urist patted her shoulder.

“I’m sorry for asking Yri. I’ll see if I can’t ask the exploration team to search for a place for you to take a bath. It won’t be a shower, but one day I’ll make one for you guys.”

Yri sad expression cheered up putting on a wide smile, “You’re the best boss thank you!”

They chatted a little more talking about how well the crops were doing before he headed off to see those two metal nut jobs. He walked over to see that the Hot was teaching Baikm about smithing bronze knives. 

This current knife they were making seemed to be a prototype, as they had asked Urist to borrow his bronze knife to study its design. Who knew that when he would get it back the handle was trashed. Although he was quite mad he had to make a new one, the two dwarfs promised to make Urist an even better knife if he gave them time.

Since they were trying their best and giving him sad looks he decided to forgive them. With a sigh, he decided to ask them to instead make a new knife. One that was a bit longer than the one he had by a few inches. With the mention of the order, the group’s sad expression turned to burning passion and got straight to work making the new knife.

They had worked fast since yesterday day and had already finished the blade, right now they were making the handle. Seeing them trying to choose the material Urist wanted to join in on the crafting, but he noticed that Uria was giving him the stink eye from afar so he held himself back.

Walking over to the two dwarfs in deep discussion, they didn’t him notice him until he had coughed loudly. This startled the two metal geeks who looked over to see their boss staring at the knife with amazed eyes.

“I know I asked for a knife but isn’t this almost more like a short sword then a knife?”

Hot replied, “Ah Boss you came. Sorry, we overdid it when making the knife and were excited so we made it out of more material. We decided to make the spine a bit thicker along the double edge, instead of removing material for weight reduction since you have the strength skill. 

“We’ll be done in the afternoon after making the handle out of some strong wood. Speaking of which, can we see your hand? We wanna take measurements so we can get the handle right.”

“Uh. Sure?”

Given permission, Urist lent out his hand letting the two dwarfs take measurements writing it down with charcoal on a black branch of wood. The wood came from the river. The wood had gotten stuck on the bamboo traps when Rork pulled it in. He was going to use it for firewood for the fire, but Saera picked it out of the firewood pile and told him if he ever found more don’t burn it. 

Using her skills she determined it to be a very good material for crafting handles or staves thanks to its weird properties. She had also found out that the wood would be soft to work with until salt was added to the wood. When salt made contact and soaked the wood it would become as strong as copper.

When the two metal geeks heard about it, it got their blood boiling wanting to work with the material. After saying a few more words. Urist noticed that the exploration team was heading out with Unicy heading out with a team of dwarfs.

He walked over to them before they left and ask Unicy if they found a nice stream waterfall to remember it. He wanted to use the place to allow the dwarfs to take a bath as a reward for all their hard work. Unicy gave him a nod and head out with the team that consisted of her, Dane, Tänzer, Reaver, Arben, and Briana.

Tänzer wanted to join the expedition since he wanted to be more useful than sitting at camp and making rope. He said he wanted more inspiration for his dances and wished to help carry objects back home.

Part 3 - Bamboo and Water Mages

 

Saying goodbye to them Urist headed over to the wall where the dwarfs were slowly constructing it in their spare time. By now eighty percent of the wall had been finished and should be ready by tomorrow since they just needed to add the gate. By estimation, they should also be done making preparations for perimeter defenses in time before the bamboo seeding event started.

Walking outside the wall he could see that Lun and Ormila were working together, digging trenches around the base. They were also placing marked traps to catch wandering prey 

 while making sure incoming predators wouldn’t endanger any lives.

Good thing they listened to mark the traps, otherwise it would be disastrous if someone died in such away. The markings consisted of cloth dipped in animal blood since colored cloth was expensive on the market.

They were doing a good job so Urist decided to go over and give his thanks. Seeing that they were working on a trap he decided to stay away and let them finish as to not spook them.

After all, it wasn't a smart idea to disturb someone while they are working on something that dangerous. He didn’t wait long as they finished up fast and were about to set the next one.

“I see you guys are doing a pretty good job, do you need anything Lun? Ormila?”

Hearing someone calling them the two dwarfs turned around and noticed it was their boss. 

“Boss what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“Instead of worrying about us you should worry about your health.”

Hearing the two worry about his health Urist gave a small chuckle and waved them off. By now they had climbed up the pit and were making their way to him. 

“You know me, I can’t sit without doing anything. But do you need anything?”

Lun put his fingers on his chin and thought hard about if he needed anything now and came up with something.

“The only thing I can think of is me and Ariel need some tools to better work the bamboo, something that could easily cut through it would be nice instead of using an axe.”

“Hmmm, it would have to be a saw then. I’ll check out how much it’s worth and back to you on that. How about you Ormila do you need anything?”

“Is there any way we can make rope easier? I mean I understand why we make so much Boss, but it’s hard on the hands to keep making it.”

For Ormila’s request, Urist thought about it for awhile trying to remember seeing the tool that made rope quickly. He remembered that even in the modern-day that there was a tool still in use to make rope and it was called the rope making machine.

It wasn’t the most original of names, but the device was a thing of beauty that every old farmer and string maker would now about. It was a great machine, only it had so many moving parts that he didn’t know if he had the points to buy it. It would be better to instead make the machine by hand since they had a forge.

“I know of a tool, but it’ll cost a lot most likely, it’ll take a bit but I think we can manage if the parts are copper. Still, I’ll have to check it over later today, I’ll get back to you on it tomorrow.”

“Thank you, boss. Everyone would love to have that since making long rope is quite tiring.”

Talking some more Urist left the two with their own devices and headed over to Urtia the water mage and her apprentice Rytar. After taking these few days to learn and under Urtia’s guidance the fledgling mage had gotten the basics down and learned the water drain spell.

Walking up to them Urist had noticed that Rytar once black hair now had streaks of blue running through it. He wondered why there was such a change, was it because he unlocked mana or because he learned how to water magic?

The two were taking a break after expending their mana, making some rope to pass the time. They noticed Urist walking up to them and stood up to face their boss.

“Morning Boss.”

“Hello, Boss. Is something wrong?”

“No, no everything's alright. I just doing some rounds to see how everyone is doing, on that note Rytar if you don’t mind me asking why is your hair now have blue streaks?”

With his hair was mentioned Rytar touched his hairs in bewilderment.

“I have blue hair?”

It was Urtia who spoke up and answered Urists question.

“It’s nothing Boss, it’s just Rytar’s body adjusting to using mana. But I’m quite surprised that you didn’t notice that your hair was also changing boss. And judging by how much it’s changed, you must have gathered quite a bit.”

“Eh? What color is it?”

Rytar beat Urtia’s reply, “It’s like an orange-brown blazing glow boss. It looks really cool.”

Qrtia gave Rytar a look of displeasure toward him for stealing her thunder and wanted to beat him. Feeling his master's gaze Rytar decided as a wise man to shut up and stay silent for now. Seeing them acting so cute together Urist felt better knowing that his hair wasn’t that big of a deal.

“As my apprentice was saying... It does look good so don’t worry about it, it’s just your body getting used to the excess mana. If you feel bothered about it I can teach you how to change your hair color back after it’s settled.”

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that when the time comes up, it doesn’t bother me to change it. Oh right. I came here to ask if you guys need anything?”

Putting a finger on her lips Urtia thought for a bit and then smiled at Urist, “Actually there's one thing I’d really want. It’s a little greedy, but can you buy me a water mana stone?”

Part 4 - Tongue Lashing 

 

Hearing such a foreign term Urist was bewildered trying to pull abstract game terms from his fuzzy brain. Barely able to get some idea of what Urtia was talking about he didn’t promise since he didn’t know the price of the material.

“One second let me look up the price.”

“Ok~”

Doing a quick search on the market turned up that a tier-one water magic crystal was pretty cheap only being one hundred points. Since it wasn’t that much Urist brought the crystal which appeared in a box in front of him.

Opening the box revealed a crystal the size of a fingertip, smooth to the touch, and the color was white blue vein running through the center. The crystal was cool to the touch and it made him feel a soothing calm when held for a short period of time.

After studying it for a bit Urist handed it over to Urtia whose eyes were sparkling looking at the mana crystal. She looked at it closely before giving a smile to Urist, “Thank you. With this, I can make a magic wand this. Although I prefer using a staff this will do for now.” 

“Cough.”

Rytar gave a fake cough waking Urita waking her up from her ramblings. 

“Oh yes. Thank you for the gift boss. With this, I and Rytar can make up to 20% more bricks.”

Urist was stunned and grabbed her hands in shock, “It has that effect?”

“Eh? Oh yes, I know how to make some basic staves and wands.”

“Can you make earth wands?”

“Well I never dealt with making earth wands, it shouldn’t be much different in making them.”

Without hesitation, Urist let go of the startled Urita and brought an earth magic crystal from the market for another 100 points. He handed the box over to Urita afterward to which she accepted the box.

“I’ll try getting the wands done by tomorrow, Luckily I’ve gathered enough wood for a couple of tries.”

The three of them talked for a bit, which Urist brought up that she could take a break from drying bricks to allow her to craft the wands.  Although it would lower production for today it wouldn’t be too bad since Rytar had learned how to drain.

Urist left them to their own devices and headed over to the fire where Uria sat stroking it occasionally. Other than that she was making rope out of boredom, he noticed that her hair was turning a faint orange in places.

She was focused on the rope mumbling under her breath if Urist had better hearing he could hear what she was saying.

“Stupid man, walking around like it’s nothing after taking such a wound. Who does he think is? Invincible? You can bleed out for all I care, idiot, he didn’t even visit me like the others. What am I not good enough? When I see him next I’m going t-”

“Hey, how's it going Uria?”

Urist voice startled Uria from her thoughts making her flustered.

“Urist! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Scratching his cheek he backed off when she raised her fist in the air about to hit him.

“Sorry sorry. I won’t do it again promise.”

“Humph, you better! So what is it you want?”

Seeing how firey she was acting he knew that he had to choose his words carefully.

“I was thinking after checking up with everyone that I spend the rest of the day with you. It’s been a while since we hung out since we’re always away from each other.”

With closed eyes, Uria gave Urist a piercing gaze.

“And whose fault is that?”

“Eh… That would be me… I’m sorry again. How about this we have Rytar watch over the fire from now on? I mean he did a good job when he was learning about magic.”

“Oh? Then what will I do?”

“You’ll be with me from now on whenever I go on an exploration and you will be my advisor from now on.”

“Fine. But my first advice would be that you don’t put your life endanger anymore.”

“You know I can’t ag-”

“You didn’t let me finish. You can’t endanger yourself until you learn to know how to fight properly. You said it yourself before your hands were useless until you came here meaning you never fought before.”

“But there is no one to teach me how can you-”

“What about the warriors that are in the group huh?”

“Ugh. But-”

“No buts. Until they say you're ready you will not get into a fight. That is final so promise me!”

Under Uria’s unyielding glare Urist could only back down under her brutal assault of words. He sighed taking Uria by the hands he looked her right in the eyes and declared.

“I promise until I learn how to fight I won’t endanger my life. Unless the situation is dire and we have no choice.”

Even after he made such a promise Uria didn’t still feel satisfied. She wanted to make him promise more things but the two noticed that the exploration team had come back with bright smiles on their faces.

They had killed another boar and caught more hares. All the dwarfs except for a few gathered around the exploration team and congratulated them on their hunt. Urist had a sigh of relief as the group had come at just the right time to break up the conversation between him in Uria.

Still, he knew that from now on he was going to have to train hard in the ways of fighting. So as he smiled at the exploration team a question popped in his head. 

What weapon should I learn how to use? I got all day to think about it, for now, it’s time to celebrate.

Bamboo Seeding timer activated 1 Day 12 Hours 1 Min

Rat Tide timer activated 8 Days 12 Hours 1 Min

Beast Swarm timer activated 16 Days 12 Hours 1 Min

Point Amount:  4177