As Ben walked up the steep road that led to the Gatehouse, which was the only way to gain entrance to the top of the plateau, he opened the notices that he had recently received.
[Notice] [You have advanced in cultivation! Cultivation Stage Four: Level Two!]
[Notice] [Technique: Whirlwind Maneuver has increased! Whirlwind Maneuver Level 10!]
[Notice] [Skill: Mercantile has increased! Mercantile Level 5!]
'I broke through once again last night and now I am earning +3 to each attribute, but if I can get a gym built then I should make even better gains to my strength.'
"Status!"
_____________________
[STATUS]
[Host]: Ben King
[System Level]: 4
[Health]: 540/540
[Strength]: 57
[Agility]: 48
[Stamina]: 65
[Intelligence]: 47
[Wisdom]: 46
[Vitality]: 54
[Charisma]: 48
_____________________
[SKILLS]
[Running: Level 8]
[Spriniting: Level 7]
[Enhanced Hearing: Level 13]
[Sword Proficiency: Level 6]
[Hand to Hand Combat: Level 1]
[Pain Suppression: Level 5]
[Chameleon: Level 8]
[Silent Walk: Level 9]
[Bowman Sniper: Level 3]
[Victus Zoologist: Level 4]
[Poison Resistance: Level 5]
[First Aid: Level 9]
[Analyze: Level 4]
[Echolocation: Level 6]
[Mercantile Skill: Level 5]
_____________________
[SPELLS]
[Mana Manipulation: Apprentice Level 4]
[Mana Ball: Apprentice Level 1]
[Mana Shield: Apprentice Level 1]
[Enhance Form: Apprentice Level 5]
_____________________
[CULTIVATION STAGE]
[Stage Four, Level Two]
[Current stage provides +3 to attributes per level]
_____________________
[CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES]
[Immortal Strengthening Technique: Stage 4: Level 2]
[Whirlwind Maneuver, Level 10]
_____________________
[PROFESSIONS]
[Sign Maker Level 1]
[Graphic Designer Level 1]
_____________________
'I can't get over how much these numbers have changed from when I was first looked at my status. I believe I my strength was originally at 14 and now it is 57! I am now four times stronger than I was on Earth! It's crazy how things turned out for me. I went from being a guy just out of high school with some construction experience to becoming a cultivator that can use magic who is currently building a fortress on another planet.'
'For the most part, I am having fun and can't say I am upset over being sent here. I miss my grandparents occasionally and wish I could let them know I am doing well.'
'If I had a choice to stay here or return to Earth I would stay here without a second thought. I have been given a chance to live a life other people dream about back on Earth and I want to make the most of it!'
Ben reminisced about Earth and everything that had happened since he arrived while thinking, he was currently happy and did not mind how things have turned out for him.
As the corners of his lips rose, Ben strolled through the Gatehouse and down the flat dirt road to his Keep in the distance.
He could see his people were staying busy while he had been gone. Three women were gathered around a fire pit cooking a large meal for everyone in front of the Keep while a few men stood nearby talking and laughing. Off to his right, there were people traveling to and from the Restrooms and Bathhouse on the street parallel to the one that he was walking on.
When everyone saw that Ben had finally returned from the city they all walked over to greet him. He was pleasantly surprised at the changes they had all gone through. When he had first rescued these slaves they were nothing but skin and bones. They had reminded him of the World War 2 photos of the Jewish people detained in concentration camps that, he was shown in his high school history classes.
They all still had a way to go, but for the most part, their skin color greatly improved and their hair even looked healthier. They were all clean and the dead hopeless look in their eyes was replaced with a spark of happiness.
Ben greeted everyone and told them about his trip and everything he had sold.
Rayner reported that everything had gone great and they had plenty of food being added daily to the Warehouse. As a matter of fact, they even had a decent surplus of food that continued to accumulate.
Once they had all caught up Ben walked over to the Bathhouse, placed his clothing in an open locker, took a hot shower, and then went to relax in one of the jacuzzis. Leaning back with his eyes closed he began to think about how he would proceed from here.
'The first thing I want to do is build homes for everyone. I am sure they don't mind living in the keep compared to how they used to live, but sooner or later I want to make the upper floors of the keep into my own personal quarters and maybe make some type of assembly room downstairs.'
'It would be nice to also build a place of entertainment for them. They do not have jobs or anything to do but sit around all day. Again since they were slaves who were worked to death day after day it must be a nice change, but still just sitting around will become boring real quick for them.'
Ben pulled up his Build Menu and began to look through what he wanted to build and what would be needed to unlock those structures. A half hour later he left the Bathhouse and walked south of the keep. He began by first making a stone paved road that ran from east to west across the center of the walled in plateau.
Now there was a main street that ran from north to south and east to west forming a cross at the exact center of the plateau where the keep was located.
Next, the north to south dirt road was replaced with a stone paver road to match the east to the west road.
While Ben had the road menu opened, he made an oblong stone-paved road that followed the circumference of the stone walls along with two more stone paved roads that ran from north to south behind the keep.
Now that he had enough roads built for now, Ben could begin to line them with the new structures he wanted to build.
The first structure, he chose, to begin with, was a [Power Plant]. He had the system build it just south of the keep.
[Power Plant]: Provides a power grid for ten miles in every direction at level one from where it is placed. Upgrading can further extend the grid's coverage.
[locked until: built Research Center]
Right next to the Power Plant, Ben built a [Steel Mill] that used the iron from the mine to make units of steel.
[Steel Mill]: Produces units of steel from iron ore and wood/coal.
[Locked until: built mine-lumber mill] [requires: stone, wood]
South of the Power Plant and Steel Mill, Ben built two more structures a [Sand Quarry] and a [Blacksmith].
Since the Sand Quarry did not need to be placed on sand he decided to build it inside the fortress where it was easier to defend.
[Sand Quarry]: Produces sand by absorbing earth elemental mana and converting it into grains of sand. [Locked until: built toolmaker]
[Does not need to be placed on sand, but if it is, it will produce far more sand per day.] [requires: stone, wood]
[Blacksmith]: Produces metal parts to be used by other workshops. It also has a custom design menu that allows you to custom design your own metal products.
[consumes: iron, steel, precious metals, wood, plastic, nylon, rubber, glass]
[requires: stone, wood] [Locked until: built toolmaker-mine]
When the system completed construction of the Sand Quarry and Blacksmith, Ben built a [Glassmaker] just south of the new Sand Quarry.
[Glassmaker]: Produces units of glass from sand and wood/coal.
[Locked until: built toolmaker-blacksmith] [consumes: sand-wood]
Instead of waiting on the Glassmaker to produce glass, Ben made another structure which was needed called a [Trash Incinerator].
[Trash Incinerator]: The trash incinerator is directly linked to all trash disposal units in its radius. Every 12 hours the incinerator will collect trash from the nearby disposal units and burn it inside a pocket dimension like the Waste Treatment structure.
[Auto_Notice] [The system has advanced a level! System Level five!]
When there was finally glass being added to the Warehouse and the Trash Incinerator was built, Ben moved onto building homes for everyone. Even though there were homes ranging from wood shacks up to luxurious estates he decided to go with the [Small House] option for now.
He needed to make his money go as far as possible. Later on he could always build bigger homes for everyone but for now, the [Small House] sounded like a decent deal for the money.
On second stone paved road west of the keep he went down-the-line and placed twenty-four small houses.
[Small House]:
[2 bedrooms]: double beds, nightstands, lamps, closets
[Kitchen]: trash disposal unit, electric stove-top oven, hot/cold running sink, electric fridge, cabinets
[Bathroom]: flushing toilet, hot/cold running sink, bathtub, shower, mirror, towel closet
[Living Room]: sofa, coffee table, end tables, reading chair
[Dining Room]: dining table, four chairs, dining hutch
[Laundry Room]: electric washer machine, electric dryer, linen closet
[A small charming home that provides baseboard electric heating in every room]
[Locked until: built waste management- water treatment- power plant- glass maker- trash incinerator]
[requires wood-stone-glass] [costs: 50g]
[Auto_Notice] [The system has advanced a level! System Level six!]
[Auto_Notice] [The system has advanced a level! System Level seven!]