A screen was suddenly projected by the bracer.
[Complete all missions to complete the Tutorial!]
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[First mission: Creating HQ!]
[( ) Select a place to setup your HQ by bringing the Seed of War(HQ) to it]
[( ) Activate the Seed of War(HQ)]
[Reward: 1 Seed of War(Lab).]
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"Hmm... all right, but what the hell is a seed of war?"
As if to answer my question, a metallic ball rolled out of the ship, stopping right in front of him.
The ball was of the same size as a basket ball, it's weight was over fifty kilograms and it had a single palm printed on one of it's sides.
"Riiiight... ok, I think I got it..."
Apollo tried to lift the S.o.W. but after feeling it's weight he gave up carrying it.
"This thing is fucking heavy! You know what, I will just do as a CivX noob and make the HQ on my starting place instead of wasting time!"
Pressing his right palm against the palm print, Apollo felt a little prick on his fingers and a second later the whole S.o.W. started shinnying.
"Whoa!! Beautiful!!"
.
..
...
And a few seconds later it stopped shinnying, going quiet again.
"What!? That's it?"
Then a part of it came out, and another and another. Apollo got surprised and retreated a few meters, to ensure he wouldn't get hit by the expelled parts. It started opening up at a seed so fast that made it look like magic. The parts that came out started expanding and contracting, taking for of different components, and in less than 1 minute the S.o.W. that before was just a metal basket ball was now a 50m³ room with a huge quantum computer inside.
"Wow! Incredible!!! So that's why it was so heavy! I was literally carrying a whole room!!"
As Apollo admired his newly created HQ, a voice sounded out of his bracer making him jump from the scare yet again.
[Mission Complete!]
[1 Lab Seed of War received!]
Another ball rolled out of the space ship, and the mission screen was projected again by the bracer.
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[Second mission: Create your first servant!]
[( ) Select a place to setup your Lab by bringing the Seed of War(Lab) to it]
[( ) Activate the Seed of War(Lab)]
[( ) Collect Native Material from your surroundings]
[( ) Design Servant Race]
[( ) Create your first Servant]
[Reward: 1 Seed of War(Barrack), 1 Seed of War(Palace).]
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(From where the hell are these coming from!?)
"Okay, let's look for another open space..."
Apollo started rolling the heavy ball up the hill.
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
(Somehow this makes me remember those survival programs on TV...)
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
(I really never thought I would end up in some unexplored planet without any tools or food...)
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
(Even as a joke, this is not something people should do to others without some warning and asking their consent...)
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
(When I get out of here, there is no doubt I will employ a lawyer and get a few millions back from whoever is behind this!)
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
(Or maybe not...If those guys have the money to do this to me, they will surely have the money to do worse if I try to fight them back...)
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
Puuuush!
(Fuck!....Being poor sucks!....)
Grabbing a big stone from the side of the trail, Apollo used it to stabilize the ball to allow him some rest.
"Haaa...haaa...haaa...I wish I could just command this thing to follow me."
[Understood!]
The sudden voice made Apollo jump again, though not as high as the last few times, and as his head was trying to make sense of the situation the SoW started shinnying again and slowly lifted off the ground.
Apollo stared at the floating ball in front of him for a few seconds, then looked at the path behind him all the way back to the base before screaming so loud that his voice could still be heard a kilometer away.
"Damn you! Why didn't you tell me I could do that sooner!?"
Apollo face palmed himself and tried to calm down.
Truth it is that he wanted to punch someone, but there was no one there to punch at all.
He though about punching a tree but that didn't look like a good idea.
Finally he gave up the thought and went back to walking up hill.
-
Back at the 5th Monitoring Station in Space, a scientist and his assistant watched the "players" through many screens.
"Oh! It seems like this one discover the follow functionality in his second SoW. That makes it 17!"
"Teacher, shouldn't we have informed them from the beginning? It's kinda painful to watch them acting like that..."
"Hahaha...Sigh... I also asked Master so, but he told me that was no fun, and that an adventure must be full of new discoveries...."
"That sounds just like Master...sign..."
"Well, at least the numbers are not that bad. 5 people discovered the function in their first SoW, 17 already discovered it in their second one. If the numbers keep growing, all the participants should discover this function by the end of the day..."
"Yeah, sure, but what about the other functions?"
"May God bless them with divine knowledge and luck..."
"That's not something a scientist should say!!!"
-
Back inside the Planet, Apollo had just finished climbing the hill, allowing him a better view of his surroundings.
"So, I finally reached here... now let's see..."
(Let's temporarily consider the direction the Sun rises as East, and the opposite West. This may be not true as I don't know the angle of this planet rotation, but it should do as a reference for now...)
Standing with his right hand toward the place the Sun rose from, and left hand where it went down, Apollo started to investigate.
"Considering that as true, to the North we have an Ocean...? Or maybe a huge lake...Anyway, we got water!"
Turning right, he saw the valley where he came from.
"So, we came from the East... and we cant see beyond the valley mountains from here..."
Turning right again...
"In the South we have some plains after going down the mountain and a river. Maybe I should have setup the HQ there. But now it's too late."
"And on West we got another huge mountain covered in forest..."
"Great, no sight of civilization no matter where I look. It seems like those people from GFT are truly fucking with us. How the hell is this a tournament!? Where are the rules? The objectives? The bathroom!?"
"Maybe it's a bit my fault since I didn't read the contract but this is...brutal!"
Taking a deep breath, Apollo used all his might to scream toward the sky.
"I! WANNA! GO! HOME!!!!"
A minute passed, then another and another and nothing happened.
"Ahhh, nothing will change no matter how much I complain, so let's try finishing this tutorial to see if we can get the hell out of this place..."
With that in mind, Apollo started to walk South, down the mountain.
.
..
...
A few hours later, as Apollo reached the river, he place his hand on the SoW to activate it. Apollo felt a little prick on his fingers and a second later the whole S.o.W. started shinnying.
.
..
...
[Error!]
[No HQ signal detected]
[Please move closer to the HQ]
"FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
After screaming in rage, Apollo gave up and started heading back, stopping every 20 or so minutes to try again. Unfortunately it seems like the range of the HQ was only inside the mountain valley where it was located as it only worked after entering it again.
On the bright side, Apollo discovered that the SoW would clean the area around it automatically when activated, freeing him from the work of cutting trees and removing rocks to make space.
With the Lab complete, Apollo took his time to take a look at the lab before continuing. Inside the lab there was a sole computer and 5 life tanks. The computer was turned on, and on its screen appeared 2 options: Design and Create.
Remembering there was still an item on the list before designing, Apollo stopped himself from clicking it, and turned on the bracer screen instead to see if he could find out more about the material he had to collect, but to his surprise, the material had already been collected.
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[Second mission: Create your first servant!]
[(X) Select a place to setup your Lab by bringing the Seed of War(Lab) to it]
[(X) Activate the Seed of War(Lab)]
[(X) Collect Native Material from your surroundings]
[( ) Design Servant Race]
[( ) Create your first Servant]
[Reward: 1 Seed of War(Barrack), 1 Seed of War(Palace).]
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(Hmm.... Did it collect the trees that disappeared when it was built?? If so, lucky! Less work for me! Now let's try that designing button!)