As the sun rose above the eastern timber it bathed the fortress in its morning orange hues. The vigilant archers patrolling the walls scanned the tangerine stained vista for any signs of approaching or hidden dangers.
Upon the western road, a trail of shadows slowly crept eastward under the attentive gaze of the Elven archers. They relayed the discovery of someone traveling toward them to one another from the distance which still is beyond human sight.
Ben spent the night pushing the small caravan of carriages through the darkness. The early morning sun now rose in front of them and painted the fortress orange. As they closed the distance to their destination the fatigued passengers who anxiously wondered what their new home would be like were treated to a distant glimpse of the towering cement walls and towers.
These weakened villagers who had lived off of rationed crumbs of food for the past couple of months grew excited to glimpse the distant fortress which appeared to grow in size as they drew closer to it.
It wasn't long until they were passing the cemetery and under the walls that seemed to reach into the sky. Ben's lead carriage guided them up the narrow inclined road and the men who had spotted them long ago opened the drawbridge and steel plate portcullis to allow them to enter.
There was only one other person in the world who had a carriage made by their lord. When the archers could see the black and red horses pulling the distinctive glossy black carriages with their lord's crest they opened the way to welcome him home.
Ben asked the elf who was operating the Gatehouse controls to run over to the Barracks for him and have a group of at least twenty male soldiers meet him at the Hospital. Ben continued leading the carriages through the streets and stopped outside the Hospital entrance.
He climbed down and began to remove the rescue stretchers from his inventory and place them against the outer hospital wall. Ben then went from carriage to carriage and had the villagers remain seated for now. In their conditions and being tired from the long journey, there was no need to get up and walk around just yet.
A large group of men soon met up with them and helped Ben move the immobile villagers from the carriages into the hospital with the stretchers. They were carefully placed on the hospital beds inside where they would be taken care of until they recovered their strength.
As the villagers were placed on the beds a tube descended from a small port in the ceiling with a needle. The needle pierced the right arm of each villager and began to inject a clear solution in them. Athena explained that since these people could not be brought back to their optimal state by healing magic they were being given an intravenous drip of nutrition and hydration fluid.
For now, these people would need to remain here so Ben went back outside and explained the weakened villagers would he brought back to health here at the Hospital. He thanked the soldiers for helping him move the villagers and allowed them to return to the Barracks.
The carriages were now back on the move toward the new Small Homes Ben had constructed in hopes of the Obelisk bringing new people looking for a new life. A few of the homes had actually been filled during his absence in the Ciral kingdom and his journey through the other kingdoms to deliver his declaration of war.
Now that the southern road was opened to travel he expected even more people to make their way to the fortress. These first people who were drawn in had traveled from the remote towns of Aregard and Trareniel. Due to the borders being closed in the Trareniel Kingdom some people had to turn back or sneak around the guarded roads to make it here.
Ben jumped off his carriage and had the villagers exit as well. They were all in a mild state of culture shock as they looked around at the beautiful homes and towering walls.
Chancellor Rayner had heard the convoy of carriages passing his Large House Ben had gifted him as he ate breakfast. When he noticed they had entered the neighborhood of Small Houses he left his home to walk over and investigate.
As the villagers were disembarking the carriages and sorting out their luggage Rayner approached Ben.
Rayner smiled and said, "Good Morning my lord, I see we have a few new faces. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Ben looked at Rayner and said, "Ah, perfect timing Chancellor Rayner I discovered a remote village in the mountains and due to a chain of unfortunate circumstances these people had to leave their village to come live with us. I want them to be housed in the Small Houses and of course, they will need to be introduced to the Market and Restaurant Menus. For now though please assign them a home and allow them to sleep for a few hours. We have just ridden here through the night and many of them have been awake since yesterday morning. We also have some of them who are too weak to walk in the Hospital right now. I am about to go recruit a few people who can look after them who will also need to be housed and taught how things work around here."
"Alright, I actually have a couple of people who have begun to help me teach the new residents how to use the menus and to show them the facilities available around the settlement. I will go and get them and return in just a few minutes."
Rayner returned with a woman and a man. The woman name is Lysa, she was one of the slaves rescued from the bandits. She has straight brown hair, hazel colored and is wearing a pretty blue dress with white diamond patterns. The man name is Stefan, he was a guard who worked for the slave merchant alongside Rayner, he has blonde hair, green eyes and is wearing a white button-up shirt with black slacks.
The two of them looked like completely different people from when they were first brought here. If it wasn't for their grown in hair they could be placed into just about any office environment back on Earth and they would not stick out from the other employees.
Ben noticed even Rayners hair was longer and then he remembered there wasn't anywhere for them to cut their hair and they were probably relying on others around the settlement to cut it for them up until now. When Ben asked them about it they said that one of the ex-slave women had been cutting everyone's hair but she was quite busy with the growing population and it began to become difficult for her to keep up with everyone's requests.
Even Ben's hair had grown in since he arrived but due to the lack of mirrors in this world, he had not noticed it as much as he would've on Earth.
'It looks like we are in need of a few new places around here. I really don't have anywhere I need to be right now so I guess I should build a few more needed facilities.'
Before Ben left to begin building he opened his System Menu to view the available kingdom positions. He chose to give Lysa and Stefan the title of Great Officer. From the System description, a Great Officer would be equivalent to the other kingdoms Palace Officials. Ben also approved them to be moved to the Large House neighborhood where Rayner currently lived.
By awarding them a title and a new larger home he hoped to encourage others around the fortress settlement to work hard and step forward to fill in the needed background roles.
Lysa and Stefan were thrilled to have been promoted to an official position and given a better home. Lysa who was once a slave was elated she could only stand in place frozen with a huge smile plastered across her face.
Ben could only chuckle at their reactions. He congratulated both them and dismissed the stable hands. He let them know they could head back to the Stables and put the horses away.
He left the group of people to walk over to the guild area and began construction of a Physician Guild. When construction was complete he opened the recruitment menu and found quite a few choices
There were standard surgeons, doctors, and nurses but there also was an extensive list of specialist. Ben curiously clicked on the specialist tab and a long list was displayed.
He saw options to recruit Cardiologists, Dermatologists, Endocrinologists, Emergency Specialists, Gastroenterologists, Geriatric Specialists, Neurologist the list seemed to keep going on and on. He did not need anyone that specific right now so he closed the specialist tab before reading through the long list.
Ben went back to the standard options and recruited two level five Physicians and two level five nurses. He only wanted a few people who could work around the hospital and watch over the villagers as they recuperated.
He led the four of them over to the Hospital and explained he wanted them to work there. They would provide care for any patients who entered the Hospital from now on. They were left to watch over the villager patients until someone came by to show them around with the other villagers. Ben gave them a quick demonstration on how to open and use the Hospital Menu and left them to explore its functions. With two level five Physicians around these villagers would be provided exceptional care so Ben could move on without any worries.
'Athena if I were to deconstruct the keep would it affect my build zone in any way? I remember it was the first building I had to build to gain a build zone, so I'm worried I might screw something up if I remove it.'
*DING!* [It is perfectly fine to remove the Keep. It is only a prerequisite to the other building so that you will have a secure place to build your fortress from. You can remove it completely or make ten more of them if you wish. The only thing is once you do remove the keep you will have to pay 200g and provide the necessary resources if you wish to rebuild it later.]
'That works out perfect then. I know I put money and resources into remodeling it but I think it's an eyesore now. I really do not want a tall stone block building right on the main street.'
Ben went into the keep and removed all the items and furniture from the bedrooms, bathroom, and living room. When the place was stripped bare he deconstructed it leaving only a square dirt empty lot behind.
For now, he left the lot empty and walked over to the Gym. Just north of the Gym, he began construction of a [Hair Salon]. There was a smaller barber shop option available but he decided to go with the larger Hair Salon.
[Hair Salon]: This modernized Hair Salon has twenty styling stations, ten shampooing stations, two nails stations, two dying stations, and two pedicure stations. There is a large lobby with comfortable seating for people to wait on available hair stylists. [costs: 200g] [requires: wood, glass, stone, steel] [Locked until: Power Plant, Water Treatment, Waste Treatment, Dye Manufacture]
Ben recruited ten level five hair Stylists, one level five Manicurists, one level five Pedicurists, and one level five Colorists. This wasn't enough employees to fill every station in the Hair Salon. He wanted to leave open spots for anyone who may be interested in working there. Most of his people did not have anything to do during the day so he thought some of them might enjoy working here.
The Hair Salon employees were provided with the tools, shampoos, and dyes they would need. What Ben could not currently make he bought through the System Store for them. He told them someone would be by later to show them around and they were to explain what services they offered to them. This way Rayner, Lysa, and Stefan could inform the settlement residents about what the Hair Salon provided.
Directly next door to the Hair Salon Ben began the construction of a [Dentist].
[Dentist Office]: This Dentist office has five partitioned Dentist stations equipped with a chair, rinse sink, electric drill, overhead swing arm lamp, tool drawers, and vacuum suction lines. [costs: 200g] [requires: wood, glass, stone, steel] [Locked until: Power Plant, Water Treatment, Waste Treatment]
The new Dentist Office was employed with five level five Dentists and five level five Dental Nurses. Each of them was provided dental tools along with composite tooth filling materials. Just like the Hair Salon employees they were to stand by for someone to bring them around and to also explain what they offered to the public.
Ben walked over a couple streets to the Movie Theater and began a new construction of an Auditorium Hall. He had promised his people they would one day have the chance to attend live music performances. Now he had the money he decided to make good on his promise and provide another entertainment for them.
[Auditorium Hall]: An indoor place where people can sit and watch performers, speeches, and concerts live on stage. Seats five hundred people and has twenty VIP balcony box rooms. [Locked until: built recreation center] [costs: 200g]
He used the same system developed for his Goldcrest theater. He recruited theater managers, musicians, and performers to work together to rotate between plays and music performances. They were provided wardrobes, props, backdrops, and musical instruments.
Once he had the new performers caught up with where they would work and what he expected of them, Ben went back to the empty lot his keep was once on. He now knew what he wanted to build here.
Ben now had three court officials and was expecting more to join the ranks. Instead of having them work out of the offices of his massive Renaissance Castle on the far end of the plateau he was going to make a custom office building for them.
He used the custom building menu to design a six-story Modernism style office tower. There was an elevator and a staircase to gain access to the divided offices on each floor.
Each floor had a men's and women's restrooms, a drinking fountain, and ten decent sized offices. On the first floor, Ben furnished three offices and supplied them with writing instruments, typewriters, stacks of paper, and leather bound empty book ledgers.
When he had arranged their new offices for them he left a variety of supplies in the storage room along with additional typewriters and ribbons for future court employees.
Ben went off and brought Rayner, Lysa, and Stefan to the new offices and showed them around. They would not have much need for them right away but as time went on they would come in handy. He also showed them the new Hair Salon, Dentist, and Auditorium Hall.
He explained that they would need to find these people housing in the Small Houses neighborhood and show them around with the new villagers.
This trio had enough people to deal with for now so Ben quit building employee based facilities and walked over to the Weaponsmith. He looked through short javelin models available and made a copy of a three-foot-long Jarid Javelin. It has a wooden shaft, a long narrow pointed steel tip, and a rear counter-balance weight to provide stable flight.
He began mass producing the new Jarid Javelin and then walked to the Leather Products Manufacturer to design a leather javelin quiver which can be strapped to the horse saddles he was presently producing for the cavalry. The leather javelin quiver was designed to carry ten Jarid javelins in a side by side upright position.
Ben began production of five hundred Jarid javelin quivers and walked toward the Stables.
At the original Stables, his stable hands had already unhitched the horses and they were now putting away the leather carriage tack. He put the carriages into his inventory and thanked the stables hands. They had just gone through a long journey so he told them to head home and get some rest once they were done putting everything away.
There were two Cavalry Stables inside the fortress now and they were both fairly full when the horses were not being ridden. Ben wanted to purchase more horses so he built a third Cavalry Stables beside the second one.
When the third Stables was built he purchased one hundred horses. He planned to make a new cavalry division so he would need somewhere for the new recruits to live. He had built a Small Hotel Tower last time to house the large number of troops he recruited but it isn't cost efficient enough to do again.
Ben walked south of the training fields and decided to build a second Ground Forces Barracks. It only cost 1000g to build and it could house 960 troops.
Instead of waiting around for the Barracks to be built he went over to the military classrooms and arranged a couple of classrooms for his new cavalry division.
____________________________
[Javelin Cavalry Lessons Schedule]
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[Course one]:
Shield Fighting and Defence Techniques
Introduction To Horseback Riding
Light Armor Fighting
Javelin Proficiency
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[Course Two]:
Intermediate Horseback Riding
Advanced Javelin Techniques
Compass Land Navigation
Cavalry Formations
Cavalry Tactics
Hand to Hand Combat
Grappling
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[Course Three]:
Advanced Horseback Riding
Equestrianism
Reining
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The next cavalry division would be a [Javelin Cavalry Division]. Ben wanted a division he could use to harass the enemy. They could be used against an army who took up a defensive position or to chase down retreating troops.
Another idea he had was to hide Javelin Cavalry division on the enemies flanks and have them charge out and launch a volley of Javelins into their lines when they were unprepared.
By having diverse divisions of troops it would allow Ben more options when attacking or defending on the battlefield. With the equipment taken care of, he went to build a fifth general's house with a system-link chair next to the other four general's homes.
Inside the new Barracks recruiting room Ben purchased a dual type Human male Mounted Knight/General named Cassius and one hundred Light Cavalry Javelineer. He assigned them rooms within the new Barracks and walked over to the Training Field with his new General Cassius.
Ben introduced General Cassius to General Justinus who leads the Mounted Knights Division. Ben wanted General Justinus to use his recent experience to help General Cassius along.
The three of them walked over to the Armory and they began pulling out armor and weapons. They decided the Javelin Cavalry Division would wear a chainmail tunic. Chainmail leggings, and a chainmail coif. They would be equipped with a short sword, two daggers, a shield, and two quivers holding ten Javelins in each quiver.
The Javelin Cavalry Division would use the Mythril Alloy chainmail blanket to armor their horses and would be issued a saddle, bridle, reins, and stirrups for their mounts.
Ben explained that he had already arranged classrooms for the new Javelin Cavalry Division and asked General Justinus to have his men give them a brief demonstration on how to use the system-link chairs to the new recruits.
General Justinus would be responsible for showing General Cassius how everything in his new home worked and how to use the System-link chair to learn the General's lessons.
He still had to provide the rest of the gear for the new recruits so Ben went back to the Barracks and began filling military laundry bags with the clothes, footwear, items, and hygiene products the recruits would need.
Once he had everything separated and packed away he went from room to room like Santa Claus dropping off bags of gear for each of the new recruits. Ben also took a few of them through the Barracks and showed them the cafeteria, security room, laundry facility, and weight training room. The men he showed around would show the rest of the recruits everything after Ben left.
For now, he advised the new recruits to walk their dirty clothes over to the original barracks and have them washed there. Once there were more troops in the new Barracks they could think about making shifts for them to rotate between the laundry and the security room.
Outside of the new Barracks Ben opened the Building Menu and designed a large custom ten bedroom house with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, dining room, laundry room, and a personal classroom with ten system-link chairs. This house was designed with fifteen-foot ceilings and ten-foot tall door frames.
Ben had Athena give him the sizes for sofas, chairs, beds, toilets, showers, tables and counters for a person nine feet tall. The whole house would need to be custom built around ten Half-Giants he planned to recruit later.
At the Furniture Maker, he had to design the oversized heavy-duty furniture. He used Mythril beams and brackets along with Mythril nuts and bolts to build solid furniture frames that could withstand close to a half ton of weight. He even went so far as to build ten solid Mythril oversized toilets with the measurements provided by Athena's calculations.
The oversized house was being built as the custom-made as the heavy-duty furniture was being produced. With some time to kill Ben found Mythia on the map near the school so he went to pick her up and have dinner together.
She had been riding her bike all around the fortress settlement like a typical kid who loved to bike around. Ben told her about the new kids who had joined the settlement and she was excited to meet them. He explained they were really weak and in bad shape right now so it would take some time for them to recover before they were out and running around again.
There also may be a division of communication until they attended the schools, but there was no reason they could not hang around and play together.
When the two parted ways Ben went and arranged the huge sets of furniture in the new custom built home. He made a ten stall bathroom with ten ten-foot-tall shower compartments. He couldn't help but laugh as he walked around this house it made him feel like a little kid again.
He had to reach up to use the door handles and he couldn't see the top of the kitchen cupboards without jumping. When he sat on the couch his feet were dangling a good three feet from the floor.
Now that he had finished the custom house he went over to the Barracks to create a new template body. He had Athena use his d&d game races handbook to record the information on Half-Giants who is half-human and half-giant.
Their average size was between eight to eleven feet and they would weigh anywhere from 400lbs. To 900lbs. They are interested in cooperation and communication and have a general tendency towards kindness. They are quick to pick up the morals, customs, and habits of the areas in which they settle.
Half-giants are widely known for their physical abilities, and for their ability to deal heavy damage to foes during combat. They are proficient with melee weapons and improvised thrown weapons such as a large stones.
He created a Half-Giant template for a male standing nine feet tall and weighing seven hundred pounds. When the body size was generated it reminded him of the hulk. The body template had the muscle density but the overall size was scaled down from the comic book green monster.
Ben is six feet tall so he would have to crane his neck all the way up to talk with one of these Half-Giants. For now, though he only saved the template without recruiting them. He had Athena send the body measurements to all of the workshops in the fortress. He wanted to design all of the custom clothing and gear these huge guys would need before he attempted to recruit them.
For the remainder of the night, he went between the Goldcrest store and the fortress recreating the military clothing and gear in sizes to fit the Half-Giants. Ben also recreated the full body Mythril plate Armor along with enormous sized Mythril weapons.
He began producing one and two-handed battle axes, one handed and two handed longswords, and a gigantic shield. The clothing, gear, armor, and weapons being produced would be enough to outfit thirty Half-Giants when it was done, but he only planned to make ten Half-Giants, for now, to see how they would perform.
'I think I have everything the Half-Giants will need in production. Now I need to make a couple more building next to the Renaissance Castle.'
Ben walked across the settlement under the glow of the overhead streetlights with plans to build near his castle before the sunrise.