"Okay. I understand."
"Still. I will not kill another player. It's completely against my principles," said Liliana.
Caleb agreed, it was not easy for someone to kill another player, especially in a world-like game like this.
They think their idealistic principles of kindness will benefit them, but it doesn't.
Those who were realistic and aware of the situation were the ones who won the game, no matter how bad their image was or how well they were treated.
For Caleb, the objective was to become the most powerful player on the Izoya continent. Once he controlled the continent, it would be easy for Caleb to invade other continents on the same server.
It was a long journey for Caleb. In fact, when Caleb won Season King of Lord of Empires, it took him at least six months to stand at the peak of his glory.
That reality drew a conclusion to Caleb. If the time it took to win that tournament in the PC game was six months, then this time, it would definitely take longer —years.
A notification panel appeared before Liliana's face, explaining that one of her buildings had been completed —Lumber.
Liliana said goodbye. She said she would soon build the Infantry Camp and create as many militia as possible.
"I promise. I will obey your word. I will also do my best to protect my town with everything I've got," Liliana declared as she raised her hands to shoulder height, vowing.
Caleb nodded, letting Liliana go and handle her own business. The man strode north alone, hoping no enemy forces would attack him.
After three hours of worry, Caleb's journey ended when he reached his town hall. He raised his head, looking up at the sky where the blue had turned orange.
"It's getting late. I'd better get some rest," Caleb muttered.
He turned around, seeing ten light swordsmen standing guard outside the town hall. Not only that, 5 heavy scouts were also on guard at the first TH, while the rest were at the second TH.
Caleb ordered the 10 infantry units to enter and take cover inside the town hall, with Commander Arash still inside.
10 units of light swordsman were inside the first TH, and 10 units of militia were in the second TH. As for the cavalry, they would stand guard outside.
[ENFORCEMENT INFO]
[Commander:]
[1. Leonidas (S Class)]
[2. Arash, The Archer (A Class)]
[Units:]
[26x Light Swordsman]
[10x Militia]
[10x Heavy Scout]
[Idle Stance -> Def Stance]
After adjusting the stance of all the troops, Caleb could finally lie comfortably on the bed.
The villagers were still working and reported their production results every hour. However, Caleb got another feature he thought could greatly help him.
[Set resource report display]
[Hour -> Day]
[Resources report set]
[Host can get the resources report per day]
[The resources report does not affect the hourly production of the workers]
Only the addition of resources is displayed daily, but the workers' production remains unchanged. Caleb could check the resources if he wanted to by looking at the resources info menu.
He opened the game map again, focusing his attention towards the east. There, his scout had been idle for several hours. He still stayed there undisturbed by anyone.
The total treasure caves in the southern and eastern areas were almost completely explored. Out of a total of 40 treasure caves in the Vision Fog area, Caleb had explored 28 treasure caves.
Caleb had already gotten the results, such as abundant resources, two commanders, and level 2 troops. That was more than enough.
'John got 10 scouts earlier. Did he also come to explore this treasure cave?' Caleb asked.
'If only I had 10 scouts, maybe the fog exploration could be faster than I thought,' said Caleb.
He ordered his scouts to start exploring in the north. There were 7 treasure caves in total; one of the seven caves was probably a high level.
The scout rode back to leave the place to the north, scouting every fog in the direction of the one treasure cave the scout was aiming for.
After about 20 minutes of riding through the fog, the scout found the cave.
[High-level treasure cave found!]
[Explore the Treasure Cave?]
[Yes] [No]
"Finally, I found a high-level treasure cave again."
Caleb confirmed the exploration order. The scout stepped inside and started exploring the treasure cave; a 30-minute time panel appeared above the treasure cave being explored.
While waiting, Caleb continued to look at his Vision Fog map. There were a total of six players whose locations were known.
The latest was player D_Destroyer, whose town hall location was north of Caleb.
Great_Dao was west of RustyAxe, Liliana_P was south, and CL_Ellise was south of Liliana. Now, Caleb didn't go to the other places at the north and west ends of his town hall.
At the western end, there was one town hall close to Great_Dao, while in the north, there was one town hall close to D_Destroyer and one close to CL_Ellise in the south.
Caleb opened the diplomacy menu. He was still curious about the names of the players he hadn't met yet.
[DIPLOMACY INFO]
[Alliance: -]
[Friend: 2]
[Neutral: 0]
[Enemy: 0]
[Server Name: Earth #212]
[Continent Name: Izoya]
[List Lord of Kingdom] [Kingdom Name]
[1. D_Destroyer] [#9845008]
[2. Rain_Forest] [Wuther_Look_Eye]
[3. Great_Dao] [_Demonic_sect_666]
[4. Caleb] [RustyAxe]
[5. Liliana_P] [RedLotus505]
[6. Jack_Hunter] [Jenisa_Great1]
[7. CL_Ellise] [_Apo_King]
[8. Lone_Wolf] Thunder_Sky]
'Rain_Forest, Jack_Hunter, and Lone_Wolf. I don't know how their town halls are progressing,' Caleb explained.
However, since the location of RustyAxe's town hall was in the center of the continent, it was risky to bring troops to those three places.
For now, Caleb would focus more on the town's defense, preventing threats from the two nearby town halls —including John.
He swiped the info diplomacy menu panel and brought up the Vision Fog map again. He waited until the exploration was entirely over.
Scout successfully explored the treasure cave. An incoming message arrived in Caleb's message inbox, the man opened it immediately without hesitation.
[DING! Congratulations, you got a Treasure Cave Chest]
[High-Level Treasure Cave Chest]
[Open the chest?]
[Yes] [No]
Caleb pressed the confirmation menu, another panel appeared before him, along with the items he managed to get from inside the high-level treasure cave chest.
[Cave chest opened]
[DING! Congratulations, you got a mystery reward]
[1 Speed-Up Construction 24h]
Shocked. He got up from sleeping on his back after noticing that speed-up items were available in this game.
Previously, speed-up items —construction, troop mobilization, or resources— were only available in PC games. And even then, they had to be purchased with money.
However, it was surprising for Caleb that his luck actually saved him. He got the 24-hour construction speed-up item, meaning that buildings under construction within less than 24 hours would be completed if he used the item.
"With this item, I can complete the town hall construction fast," Caleb explained.
Caleb checked the construction process of the town hall by pressing the building icon. A construction panel appeared before him.
[Town Hall upgrade approved]
[Level 2 -> level 3]
[Duration of renovation: ]
[00:14:25:08]
"14 hours to go. If I go to sleep now, the remaining time will be six hours," Caleb explained.
"I'd better save it. I might need it for another building."