Chapter 3.3 - First Welcomed

Ephraim was running. Around him he could see all of the townsfolk were running. The calamity that was the Chasing Plague was a nightmare that came every hundred years. This time it had not been beaten back by the great empire's armies. Each time the chasing plague got worse and worse, and this last emperor was a complacent, thinking that a few new marvels of technology would solve what hundreds of thousands died to stop in previous generations. And although Ephraim's town was not the first to fall, he was not expecting the chasing plague to reach their town so soon. And it had come without notice, so there was no time to evacuate.

Ephraim felt himself slowing. He was carrying a small child on his back, a child newly orphaned he picked up along the way. He knew the child's parents were dead. They were picking mushrooms in the forests where the plague came from. Nothing that direction still lived.

Ephraim ran. Not because he thought he would survive, but simply because he had to try to protect the youngling on his back. No one survived the chasing plague. You just became another infected. As Ephraim ran he checked his knife. It was ready. They knew that should they become infected it was the honorable thing to cut the tendons of one's own legs. The infection carried one into unnatural life, so death was not an escape. But it did not heal wounds, so by severing the tendons, he would not become one of the sprinting infected and not add to future devastation.

But as he ran, he noticed that there were a few townsfolk running towards the orphanage, towards a strange light. Ephraim felt inside him that this was a chance to survive, his baser instincts were telling him this was his only chance, and with his racial ability, gave out his last burst of speed. Behind him he could hear the howls and screams of the plague runners. And in front, through narrowing vision, Ephraim saw a possible escape. There was a shining light that had created a portal from a fairytale. He was not sure what type of sorcery this was, but it seemed to be the best escape.

But the shimmering circle was closing. Ephraim ran as fast as he could. He pushed people in front through the gate. He could smell the breath of the plague runners. He knew they were close.

But just as he was sure the plagued ones would pull him in, he moved through the shimmering gate. On the other side, it was daytime, not evening. And Ephraim was greeted by 5 strangers. They spoke to him but he could not understand the language. He looked at them and pointed back "They are coming!"

That is when Ephraim looked at where he came from and the plague runners were pressed against the strange object like glass but could not pass through as he could. There were newly infected trying to pass, but were stopped. The magic of this escape prevented the plague from travelling through.

Ephraim saw this, and smiled. Then exhaustion took him.

***

Serin blinked. What came through was not human. He was aware that they looked human. But they were not human. The adults had strange ears, some had tails, some had almost animal fur in spots or lizard scales. And all of them, including the children, had eyes that resembled a beast of the land, golden with slit irises. And there were about 50 of them. Most of which were children. The children were crying. Other than the eyes, there was no way to tell one of these children apart from a human. Serin could not understand a single thing that they were saying.

Serin cycled through his spells, and activated a rare spell he acquired back in Ston, [comprehend languages]. Normally it was used to converse with members and traders from different nations as they spoke different languages that the Common that Serin was familiar with.

Realizing the situation was not combat, Serin then forced this spell on Allister and Rachel since both of them had ranked up enough to avoid brainbun. "Jericho go drink a brainburn potion then head back."

Serin then began speaking to the crowd. "Alright, everyone calm down, you are safe now." Serin realized they were still terrified, so he overcast an aura of [Calm] using high magic, a spell which removed negative emotional modifiers from friendly targets.

The thirty or so children stopped crying. They then looked confused. There was one woman that they looked to, and one spoke up. "Lady Eris, where are we?"

Lady Eris seemed wary of Serin, who was able to calm them all with a spell. But she was more wary of The numerous undead that were scattered about, moving stone.

Lady Eris then moved forward and spoke to Serin, "Lord Necromancer, we are not sure why you saved us but please, spare the children and we will gladly give you our lives." Most of the adults looked older, much past their prime. The children all looked too young to be plated.

Serin looked confused. So he pointed to Allister, "He is a Necromancer. I am just the leader of this town. You and your children are safe."

Lady Eris then blushed. Her mouth betrayed a wolfish grin, when added to the claws she had, made her quite intimidating. "I am the headmaster of the orphanage. None of these children are mine." Serin then breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea how to handle children. And there were over thirty by his count.

Serin then smiled, "It is getting late in the day. Lady Eris, We don't have enough beds for all the children and adults so the children will need to share. Please take them to the bath-house and have them cleaned. Rachel will show you where it is. Then have them put to bed. I will finish checking for the wounded and then I will want to meet back here to explain everything to the adults."

Lady Eris blinked. She had never heard of a house for bathing. Rachel led her and the children to the bathhouse.

***

Ephraim woke up to someone casting green and blue light over him. His exhaustion had completely left. He looked up to see a completely foreign looking person. They had blue eyes. With round pupils. Like those from the fairy tales. He bolted up and slid back and looked around. Around him were only twenty or so adults. There were a few paired adults, but mostly there were just those fast enough or were lucky enough to be near the orphanage when the gate opened.

Ephraim then saw that their future, the thirty or so children, were nowhere to be found. He bolted to his feet and bared his teeth, "Where are the children?!" he demanded toward the strange looking person.

A calm hand of one of the two surviving town elders laid his hand to rest.

"Calm Ephraim. The children are in the care of Lady Eris. They are being fed and bathed and put to bed."

At that moment Rachel returned and spoke to the other human, "the children were all fed and washed. They were given some tea to help sleep, and Lady Eris is with them. Tonight we will need to sleep in the storage rooms because even doubling up children to bunks there are not enough beds for everyone."

Ephraim was confused. These strangers have fed them, treated their injuries and also given up their beds to them? And their appearance was that of a grown child, but with the eyes of intelligence. They also had no demis to be seen. Ephraim asked, "where are your demis?"

Serin looked at him, "what's a 'demis'?"

***

Serin watched as this stunned person exclaimed, "What is demis?! All adults have a demis!" Serin's look of confusion seemed to perplex the stranger named Ephraim. "Ears of the wolf, Tail of the fox, claws of the panther, skin of the chameleon. All of these are variations of the demis. Each of us is granted a demis when we become adults."

Serin then smiled, "There are no species known to me or my people who have this trait. The dominant race here is humans."

Ephraim then looked extremely perplexed.

Serin then decided to explain. "You are in a new world. Every country, even ones as small as this one, is graced by the divines as a way to grow a civilization. The divines have blessed me with a way to build my nation without having to rely on others. And that is by helping those such as yourself."

Serin continued "When I meet the requirements, the divines determine which people are in the greatest need and rescue these refugees from their current plight."

Ephraim then asked, "What is your plan for us? Are we to be servants to you as a lord?"

Serin laughed, "Goodness no. You are free to leave this secluded realm of safety for the wider world. Or you are welcome to become a member of my nation and help me build a home for you here, far away from the strife and danger of the world."

Ephraim then looked, "How are you going to protect all of us? You cannot be a day past your rite?" Serin then laughed.

Serin knew he would have to show someone one day a bit of his power. So he called over, "Lord Koni?"

Ephraim paused, he felt a shiver. He knew it was his demis telling him to run from this terror. It was then at this instant he saw it. The polite looking servant of this person was, in fact, an elder Lich. The generals of the armies of undead that had destroyed Ephraim's world, and turned everything into the land of the dead. He had one as a servant.

Ephraim then understood. This elder lich was permanently bound to this small human. Ephraim then smirked. This human hid his power well.

Serin saw the effect that Lord Koni had. "Lord Koni, if you could bring a bit of the deer we cooked today on a large platter for our new guests."

Serin pointed at the fountain. "The water is clean for drinking, and if you wish to bathe you can. Those who wish to leave may do so as well. Tonight get some rest. Tomorrow we will admit those that wish to be citizens. And those that wish to leave may do so."

Running water? Hot baths? Meat? Ephraim realized none of his compatriots wished to leave. They had stumbled out of guaranteed death into paradise.

***

The next morning the adults sat with Serin. Lady Eris' duty to watch the children was taken over by Rachel, who took the children to the small safe clearing near the pumphouse to play some schoolyard games.

Serin sat with the new people. "What are your people called?" Lady Eris and Ephraim sat with Elder Merrin. The elder spoke. "We normally do not have a collective race. One's race is determined by their rite, when they leave childhood and gain a plate. Then their demis is revealed and they gain their race."

Serin looked, "So would I be considered among those races?" Ephraim giggled, "No you are alien to us".

Serin then smiled, "How you wish to differentiate among yourselves is fine, but to make life easier for us moving forward, it might be better to use the term Demis to refer to your people and Humans to refer to mine."

The elder smiled, "A top identifier for all our people? Smart." Serin smiled, "I have a feeling this nation might get a few more types of races." Serin then asked, "What is this rite when gaining a plate?"

Ephraim asked, "what do you mean? You have a plate." Serin then smiled, "Yes, but I have had this plate for a year.."

The three of them looked shocked. Serin then smiled, "For Humans we slowly grow our attributes by 1 each year until we are at our 16th year, then our plate, and our path in life, is determined by the skills we learned as children. And if we slack off, we never earn a plate, and become cursed."

Ephraim and Eris were shocked. Elder Merrin spoke, "How interesting. For us it is different. Children grow attributes depending on their environment and what skills they learn. And children will stay children until they reach roughly level 15 on their plate. Then in the matter of a few weeks they reach adults like Lady Eris or Ephraim, and age normally. I am roughly 30 winters older than those two."

Serin then looked confused, "How long does that take?" The elder then smiled, "about 10 to 12 years during peaceful times, however during times of hardship it can take months."

Serin then looked shocked. "So that is why you wanted to save the children. That is your future. How is your class determined?" Ephraim smiled, "A Demis knows from birth what skills call him, and we work towards those goals. Only in times of strife does that change. When we are forced to rite early, we are usually given classes to ensure the safety and continuation of the village. "

Serin then smiled. "You are all welcome to join my nation, and I promise you that your citizenship matters just as much as any human that joined."

Ephraim then smiled, "We all knew we would stay when we saw how you cared for our village's children. Most of which are orphans of our town. Many of our adults joined the empire's shock troops to stop our world's doom, but we failed. Now here we may have a fresh start."

Serin smiled, "Then I will mark all of you as citizens, and we can give you an introduction to the town and figure out how best to fit you in."

***

Serin had them come one at a time. There were only 17 adults among the 49 refugees saved. So the first naturalization process was rather quick. When it came to allocating available work, it was rather simple.

Two were a classed Tamers who specialized in controlling wild animals and turning them into familiars and allies. They were sent over to Rachel to take over on the animal domestication operation.

There was a strange gentleman with insect mandibles inside his mouth. Although terrifying to look at Serin realized he was a kind and gentle man. His name was Peter.

"Peter what do you do?" Peter smiled, "I was an archer for my two years of service. " Serin then furrowed his brow, "What is your class?" Peter smiled, "I am an entomancer. I control bugs, mostly." Serin perked up, "So you can assist with pollination efforts between plants?" Peter smiled, "Most assuredly. I can also work with bees to create domesticated hives for their honey. It is a sweet substance that is great in dessert recipes."

"Honey? Like the golden syrup that is found in their hives?" Serin perked up." Can you ensure that bees do not sting?"

Peter didn't understand but smiled, "of course. I can issue commands to not attack those that are of our town. [Naturalized] is the identifier I think you called it. Then after this command has been present long enough it will be bred into future generations, to ensure that even should I perish, their hives will remain."

Serin then smiled. Sugar and honey were extremely expensive goods almost impossible to acquire. Serin then called over. "Lord Koni?" The lich arrived. At first Peter was terrified. Serin then began to speak. "Your new priority is to ensure Peter has absolutely everything he needs to begin pollination and honey production as soon as possible. Ensure he receives his own domicile immediately, as well as all his meals prepared. All material usages are pre-approved. Anything Peter wants, to include private access to water lines prioritized is authorized."

Serin had hit a liquid gold mine.

Peter left and was excited to be treated like something other than a village outcast. Although pollination was important those that showed insectoid, or Ento Demis were often looked down upon by other Demis. But in this new world, he was immediately seen for his value and worth.

Serin was excited because of a few reasons. Entomancy did not exist as a class here. Controlling insects was always done with poison or in extreme cases, fire. Pollination by insects was always a known phenomena but never controlled. And Honey was called 'liquid gold' because it was so rare it was considered a delicacy in his home country. Mostly because bee stings were extremely deadly. Those without a high endurance would usually fall over dead. And although Serin could withstand the toxin, it was not recommended.

Serin continued with the [Naturalization] process and finding jobs for everyone. Lady Eris was serving as the headmistress for the children. Elder Merrin volunteered to work as an archivist and quartermaster. Serin knew that this basic skill was greatly lacking because most of their storage was a giant pile. Elder Merrin also wished to write a book cataloging who the Demis were, where they came from, and what happened to their world. Serin knew that when they spread out this would be an important addition to ensure Xenophobia didn't happen in their country.

As for the others, Ephraim was a blacksmith by trade, so he took over the metal crafting work from Serin. Serin handed him a dis-assembled bullet from his rifle, and showed him the materials that went into it. Whenever Ephraim had spare time, Serin asked that he produce these.

There were four Demis that were previously wildscouts. Serin knew this was like a ranger, but instead of life magic their magic allowed them to commune a bit with nature. Serin showed them the giant map he had produced, and asked them to map out the lands surrounding the valley for resources.

Serin sent the two farmers to work under Allister. The four weavers went to work with Jericho to help craft beds that were more comfortable.

That left one last adult. "What do you do?" The Demis smiled. Serin could see webbed fingers. "I am just a fish farmer. My class is Aquamancer"

Serin looked confused, "What is a fish farmer?"

The Demis explained. "I create a safe place for fish and various water life. After adult populations reproduce and pass a designated size, they are harvested. This ensures that the fish population stays healthy."

Serin had never heard of such a thing. "What about the creatures of the water. Those known to swallow men?"

The Demis smiled, "Nothing in that river is big enough to scare me."

Serin then smiled. And with that all the Demis were naturalized and his town had taken a pretty big step.

He also realized that Lord Koni was now assisting Peter, so he would have to focus on completing buildings that the designs were finished for. He definitely needed to work on additional housing.

***

Serin had thought about the best way to allocate living space to all of the new residents. What he didn't want was segregation by race. He then realized the best possible way to learn where everyone was to live was simply to ask them. So a meeting was held that night to discuss where everyone picked where they wanted to live.

Peter and the two farmers pointed out spots between the first greenhouse and the pumphouse. Rachel chose to live in the old growth forest, as well as the wild scouts. The trees there were massive, easily ten men in diameter. So building a treetop structure between them would have to be done with something lighter than basalt. The two tamers wanted a spot near the animals. Serin noted that they had made peculiar building requests. Something about sleeping in the same room as their bonded familiars. Serin had never seen this or heard of this. But when he remembered back to training his Tegu Ignis, he thought that if it was a corporeal being and not a summoned spirit, this would probably be a better plan. Ephraim and the weavers wanted to combine their work facilities with their home, So the picked areas closed to the slowly developing town center. Jericho said he would make a room for himself at the top of the tavern he was constructing. And Merrin wanted a spot near the storage in the main bunkhouse. He was getting late in years and never extended past lower middle tiers in ability.

Serin thought about what an archivist would need to continue, but he let it be. Some people preferred a quiet life, even if that meant it was shorter than that of a hero or champion.

No heroes or champions among them. Serin understood. These were refugees. Not combat personnel. They lived their life in relative safety. Terramancy had taught him that it takes pressure and time to turn rocks into gems. Rocks were useful in their own way, but gems were even more so.

Serin would have to hold a meeting to discuss how they wished to progress with their lives. He thought about it and would want to meet one on one with each person.

'If our population grows too much, it might not be possible to meet with everyone one on one.' Serin mused.

Serin realized he would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now he would make a plan to separate those that wished to grow in power from those that wished to live in relative peace.

For now, he would discuss with Lord Koni and Jericho and make a plan. After a few weeks he would discuss it with his people. Serin chuckled. My people. It really hits home when i say it that way.

***

It took two more weeks for Serin to complete housing for everyone. He was only responsible for the infrastructure, so he worked with Allister to make sure the buildings were built, windows installed, and water and sewage were run. Building the housing for Rachel and the wild scouts was a bit more difficult. He did figure out how to do it. Instead of wood, he used a spell called [Vine Growth] and overpowered it with powdered goblin ears. The vines it grew were quite massive, and even at such a low level he was able to control their growth. The Demis had brought with them knowledge of specific vines that were not native to their world, and when Serin used them the vines created were strong, light, and slow growing on their own. It had taken almost a week just to create housing for Rachel and the wild scouts, with enough rooms and buildings for autonomy and a bit of immediate expansion.

The issue that arose was that while reprioritizing buildings, he had run into a difficulty while reprioritizing. Serin built the school first and constructed an orphanage on additional floors. Serin realized that these children were the future, and he did not want them to feel disconnected with the people of this town. So he decided that no child would be without parentage. Instead of the orphans, they were simply called 'students' and after receiving buy in from the members of the town, he decided that these students would spend a bit of time each day with someone around the town. And should Demis find a calling, his first decree was that any citizen capable would take in an apprentice for their work. For now, the students would live in the dormitory, but a portion of their day each day would be spent with a member of the town to learn trades.

After completing the infrastructure for the weaver's workshop, blacksmith's foundry, the Aquamancer's cabana, housing for Peter the entomancer, housing for the farmers, and finishing the base infrastructure for Jericho's Tavern, Serin came to the realization that he had not constructed anything for himself. Serin realized he would just have to keep sleeping in the bunkhouse. Serin laughed, "We can use it as transient housing until people have permanent homes." he said to himself.

He had been building so much that he had acquired a skill called [Architecture]. The skill increased his ability to quickly mold and build infrastructure through various methods, and was a passive skill.

But then something unexpected happened.

After a few level ups, Serin suddenly felt as if he was going to pass out. Everything was moving slower, and he felt physically weak. Serin looked at his status page, and then his eyes grew wide. Unable to figure out how to deal with what he saw, he sent out a powered mental message to call Allister, Rachel and Jericho to help him.

Serin's message of Jericho, Rachel, and Allister,

[I need immediate assistance. This is an emergency!]

Had the desired effect.

Jericho was the first to arrive, in about 40 seconds. He had all his defenses activated and had dashed to the location. Weapon drawn he was ready. When he saw Serin alone he was initially confused. Then he looked at how Serin looked haggard, almost wasting away, and he quickly searched the room. Patches of hair were falling out and blood was dribbling from his nose.

Rachel arrived next running in a bath towel and bow in hand. Jericho, confirming no enemy presence, just laughed at Rachel.

Rachel blushed. Before she could answer the other door to the bunkhouse had blown open, and a horde of undead lead by Allister and Lord Koni came in.

Seeing the state of Serin, Jericho was the first to ask. "What happened? Were you attacked? You look like you are dying."

Serin grinned, and then coughed a bit of blood. "While working on the bunkhouse a bit, my Architecture skill leveled up, which due to high luck caused my Intelligence to pass 300"

Jericho rolled his eyes, "How is this an issue? Other than not knowing what to use the extra Mana on. How does that lead you to the state you are in now."

Jericho was adopting the slang term the Demis used for magical energy.

Lord Koni then answered, "He is in fact dying. It is a warning given to most mages when they pass their 75th level, as that is when it is expected. It is the reason why so many high mages end up dying or falling to lichdom."

Serin then showed the message effect that was listed in red on his status.

[Magical Overflow: Due to the caster's exceedingly high Intelligence and Magical Energy, the subject's body suffers from severe detriment. The subject will need daily transfusions of health or he will begin to die. This can be negated by negating the three below symptoms:

-Weakened Body: The User's Health will be halved. This is due to muscles and bones infused with mana being weaker than normal humans. This effect can be negated by bringing the User's Strength score to 100.

-Slowed Reactions: The User's movement speed and agility will be reduced by half. The increase in Magic is draining on the User's nervous system, and as Magic uses the same Nerve lines. This effect can be negated by bringing the User's Dexterity score to 100.

Organ Rejection: The User's Endurance skill is above 100, so this negative status is negated.]

Jericho then looked troubled. "Is there any benefit?"

Serin kinda chuckled. He then pointed to a line.

Mastery of Magic: Whenever the user would use more than his Magical energy pool on a spell, the additional required magic is pulled from the Ether. The user will still lose consciousness, but will never suffer negative effects overextending a spell.

Jericho blinked, "So you can use spells like [gate] or [bring to life] without the added cost. With no risk to dying?"

Serin smiled. " I guess so. But this detriment is serious. I have some unallocated points, but I was saving them for an emergency."

Jericho didn't even blink. "Serin, this is the sort of emergency that you save points for. Fix your health. It is worth a brutish body to not deal with dying."

Serin then smiled. "I can fix both but it's most of my level up points all at once."

Jericho just looked at him.

Serin then huffed, and allocated all of his remaining points. It was probably Luck, but he had enough points to cover 100 in each stat. The negative modifier went away and Serin fainted.

***

Serin woke up. The others were looking at him strangely. "Are you ok?" Serin nodded. He felt great. More importantly, he felt connected. He felt as if the world around him was more apt to answer his questions, and magic passed through him as easy as air.

Jericho kinda smiled. "So do you want the good news or the bad news?"

Serin cocked his head. Jericho continued. "The good news is you didn't gain the Strength 100 perk [Body of the Mountain]. So you are still the same size as before, albeit a bit more defined.

Serin was afraid of where this was continuing. Jericho continued. "The bad news is that we can't hide that you are special anymore." and with that Jericho held up a mirror.

Serin could barely recognize himself. His hair had turned light blonde almost grey. His eyes were now the brightest blue, the color of lightning magic. His skin was had a rose hue. But most shocking of all were the magical markings now covering his body. Blue tattoos had appeared on his chest, arms, and legs. And he seemed to radiate a faint glow. Serin saw that if he focused and waned his magic, they would grow bright or dull respectively.

Serin then pulled up his hood activating his grey man perk. Almost instantly it negated the effects. "At least I can still hide if needed. Best not to use it too often though."

Jericho then explained, "So how do we explain whatever this is to those who don't know about your ability?"

Serin then smiled, "We do so at the same time we form the basis of governance."

***

Serin gathered everyone for a town meeting. Most people were excited to come, as there was already prepared food.

Serin began the meeting. "I know I have changed in appearance. I will explain how that has come to pass. First I want everyone to know that in this town, this nation, you are free to live out a normal life. You can work your job, and when we have an established economy through an Adventurer's guild, you will be able to fully enjoy the fruits of your labor. All people within our nation shall be granted protection from the elements and if they are unable to appropriate food, they can travel to the city center and basic sustenance will be provided."

The Demis were confused, but not angered. They looked as if they were being given a gift. Serin continued. "The only basic requirement for every citizen is that they teach their craft to any that wish to learn. This is to ensure our community does not overly rely on single individuals for existence."

The people were ecstatic. From Elder Merrin, Serin had learned that the empire the Demis worked under before took half of their produced goods, and the remainder was used for basic sustenance. Any additional goods were then bartered and traded for.

Serin then continued. "Everyone here is a Citizen. They are born free and will die free. Slavery in all forms is outlawed. The remainder of laws are still being developed, but this shall always be true in this nation."

Ephraim then asked, "What about us? How do we ensure we are being represented in the future of this nation?"

Serin smiled, "That is the easy part. Each Race will choose three representatives. This will be used to form the counsel, to act as representatives of their people."

Ephraim then asked, "What about you? What if someone else wanted to be a leader."

Serin then grinned, "Right now I have established the requirement for becoming a sovereign in this country, and no Man or Demis in this world meets it. I will gladly share this information with any elected counsel. But it is for now a State Secret."

Lady Eris then posed a question. "What about defense of the town? Armies to take out threats? Who is going to do that while we work our cozy jobs in safety provided by their force of arms? Will you conscript our newly Rited, like the emperor?"

Serin shook his head. "It will be volunteer."

A few Demis laughed, "Who would volunteer to do that?"

Serin then smiled, "I received my plate about one and a half years ago. As did the two other young humans here."

Serin then showed his plate.

Serin Level: 62 Class: Boundless

Affiliations: Adventurer's Guild – Copper Member

Guild: Bone Arrow Guild

Strength: 100

Agility: 100

Endurance: 192

Intelligence: 300

Willpower: 136

Charisma: 70

Luck: 199

The Demis were speechless. They were aware that Serin was powerful, but this was beyond anything they had ever seen. Maybe Heroes of the empire were near this power but they had never seen a plate this powerful.

Serin continued, "Those that answer the call to defend the nation do so for life. It is not a fulltime position, nor is it a standing army. It requires training 2 days a week to ensure combat and support skills are practiced and maintained. It only requires fulltime work when the nation is threatened." Serin continued, "there is only one barrier for entry, and that is not impossible to overcome, but it is easier to attain at younger years. When that requirement is met and the contract is signed, you will be given the path to accelerated growth. We are currently constructing a large training guild, but it is not ready yet."

Lady Eris started to speak, "What is the barrier for entry?" Serin then smiled, "That is also a State Secret, so you will have to sign a magical contract just to learn."

Lady Eris smiled, "I volunteer. I will sign right now. I only plated three years ago and other than caring for the younglings, I haven't developed much, so I am still very low level."

Serin smiled, "We will make plans for it to happen. Thank you for your volunteering, and meet with us after. As for right now we have a few more topics to cover." Lady Eris nodded.

Serin then walked to where the Adventurer's Guild area was partitioned, right in front of the quest board.

"This board here is how we grow our town. I know everyone is still settling in and doing their best to improve their quality of life, but these quests are available to anyone. You must show your capability of your skill through merit, and that is where this comes in." Serin then pointed to a small box that had been installed next to the questboard. He had purchased it from his [Kingdom Points Store] "This will give you an individual quest based on your skills. If you accomplish this you become an Iron Member of the Adventurer's guild." Serin then pointed at all of the contracts, "then you can complete these. If you see a quest on this board that you are able to do, but do not like the rewards, come to me personally and we can adjust the reward with what I am capable of getting for you."

Serin smiled, "becoming an adventuring guild member is not a requirement for becoming contracted for our military, but it will definitely make that path easier."

Serin looked over at Jericho and Elder Merrin, they both had nods of approval.

Serin then smiled, "And with that, you are welcome to enjoy this food that was prepared well by Lord Koni."

****

Serin sat with Allister, Rachel, and Jericho. "Obviously I am electing you three to as the representation for Humans. They laughed it away. Allister looked a little worried.

"Serin, We are going to have a bit of a problem. My Intelligence is already 160. Rachels is near 100. If we continue learning spells at the rate we are, we will die."

They looked at Jericho, he shrugged. "I only need about 40 points to bring my strength and endurance up to 100 each. 8 increases in level should come naturally."

Serin then looked at them, "Alright. Allister, your waterworks are mostly set up. Maybe one or two days a week you will need to work to build. And Rachel, the tamers and wildscouts can handle your responsibilities. If you two set aside a few days a week to train with Jericho, you can quickly increase your physical stats. Foot Races, fights with different weapons, obstacle courses, road marches. Spend days doing this and you will increase. Rachel, you have a bigger buffer to intelligence, and a larger physical stat block. If you force feed Allister stamina, training can go longer."

Rachel then pipped up. "Practicing fighting with wooden swords only gets so far. I won't progress that way."

Serin smiled "Then don't use wooden swords. When you fight unarmed, fight for real. When you fight with weapons, fight for real. Just let me know when you are doing weapon fighting matches, so I can attend. That way i can keep anyone from dying."

Allister then furled his brow, "what happens if we do die?"

Serin laughed, "I can bring you back, remember? But try not to die. We don't know what the negative effects are."

***

In an effort to bridge the gap, Allister and Rachel started with Road Marches. [Encumbered movement] increased the Endurance skill, and the increased Stamina would help with further exercise.

Serin was surprised, but the first day of road march there were dozens of extra people in attendance. Lady Eris had volunteered for Contract to join the Protectorate. Serin told her the secret to start, which was to have 50 luck. Lady Eris didn't seem too surprised. She had figured it out when she saw that Luck was Serin's 2nd highest stat.

Lady Eris was there at the road march, and she had brought along all of her students. So while they did a "nice mountain hike" Allister seemed to be moving through the sheer power of Rachel constantly feeding him.

Serin, having Endurance being so high, had no trouble at all with this endeavor. The children took this time to ask questions of him.

"Hey Mister, what makes you so good at this? " "Why are you so pretty? "What is your Demis?" "How do I get marks like that?" "Are those marks your Demis?" "Where are you from?" "What do you do around town?"

Serin answered the questions as best he could, but soon enough he smiled as Lady Eris took over answering questions. Then one of them asked a question that Serin didn't know how to answer. "Mister Serin I just leveled up! What should I spend my points on?"

Lady Eris quickly answered. "You should place them in Luck youngling." "Why is that Lady Eris?" Serin looked at her. He knew that if she violated contract magic it could kill her. She smiled at Serin as she answered, "First, Luck helps out with everything else you do. If it is high enough it might also give small stat increases when you increase your skills. Second, there are no luck based skills, so leveling up is the only way to increase the skill. And third, our Leader Serin has very high luck and he is doing very well for himself."

Serin chuckled. She spoke the truth and did not break the contract. Serin knew that even if he didn't get many volunteers for becoming Contracted, the next generation of Demis would have many eligible people.

***

Serin looked at the requirements for upgrading his contract board to a full Adventurer's Guild.

Establish an Adventurer's Guild

Requirements:

Plotted space in town center: 1/1

Town Residents: 53/100

Registered Adventurers: 4/10

Current relationship with Divines: Good Standing

He would need to increase his town population. Until he did that he would only be getting quests related to building his nation or gaining admittance to a (currently non-existent) adventurer's guild. He had looked over the Kingdom Point (KP) store in his banking page, but most of the rewards were things to help build the nation and increase the happiness of his people. To get quests that allowed townsfolk to receive increased rank, he needed to complete the Adventurer's guild requirements. However this wasn't as easy as it sounds.

Other than starter seeds of known varieties for the farms and greenhouses, the one thing Serin purchased from the KP store was access to another page, called the [Advanced Kingdom Management] screen. From here he was able to review, in real time, the needs of his people, the health of the nation, and the supply and drain of various resources. By purchasing the advanced version he could drill down into each need and see what was affecting its status. It showed the requested variety of food, source of food, and additional items like spices and sweeteners, which were still non-existent. Peter would soon be producing honey, but until it was ready, it was an empty category.

He could also see the health and housing of his town. Within the health he saw it was a perfect score, as it had one person for every 100 capable of curing all normal ailments. It also received full marks for sanitation because of Allister's Waterworks. Under extras most were greyed out, but one had been revealed, which was that the Nation was capable of resurrection magic. Serin smiled. The health of his people would not be in question.

Housing was above adequate as well. There was enough room for growth, and Serin spent 2 days each week expanding housing in various areas.

Surprisingly, security was neutral. Serin was aware they had no standing army, but according to the system, there were no threats to the town.

So what we are lacking is food in variety and quantity. Serin went to see Allister, who was in the middle of a boxing match with Rachel.

****

Allister would lose, but it was more about how long he could last before she beat him to unconsciousness. Serin had made sure to teach Allister the [Endure Pain] skill. It was a passive skill that increased his pain tolerance over repeated use. Serin hadn't had much increase to it, as he had not been subject to serious wounds other than a bit of bruising. Allister however was forced to deal with devastating pain on almost a daily basis. He would need to upgrade his stats sooner rather than later. Even if Allister stopped casting spells as often as before, he was in constant command of undead, which was slowly increasing his [Command Undead] ability. Which in turn slowly raised his intelligence.

So Allister trained his body. When Serin arrived, Allister had just been knocked out. Serin looked at him. He was sure that without [regenerate] there would be permanent damage. So Serin looked at Rachel, who shrugged, "I was going to grab you in a bit to fix him up." Serin applied the spell and Allister quickly returned to normal looking. His health and stamina bars reached full and he shot up awake.

Serin started, "Allister, you need a short break from getting broken. I have questions on your greenhouses and Agriculture."

Allister sat up, drank some water from a leather pouch, and then said, "What is the question?"

Serin then smiled, "So first, what is the best way to increase how much food we produce?"

Allister chuckled, "I have been learning a bit from the Demis farmers. They have taught me about planting many different things together that grow together well. I have been practicing this and logging my results."

Serin then commented, "How long would it take to implement these practices and get this going in our greenhouses?"

Allister thought about it. "We can ask the farmers to use their [growth] spell to speed up the growth of the plants so they are mature, then plant them in place. I need about a week to confirm with them if these things grow together well."

Serin then asked, "with our current facilities, what is the expected yield increase when you cap out our current greenhouses?"

Allister looked. "We would produce about double."

Serin frowned, this would not be enough. "What about increasing it past that?"

Allister replied, "We only have so much space in the greenhouse. Increasing in land size is slow as it requires more and more glass."

Serin then had an idea, "What about growing up?

Allister chuckled, then thought about it, then smiled. "Then we can increase it much more, with not as high of a glass requirement.

Serin then worked with Allister to redesign his greenhouse, and by the end of the day, they had a plan.

***

"So at its current height it allows for only plants that grow no higher than 2 meters tall. Implementing this plan requires glass and metal, but with this modular method, it will increase its height by 3 meters each week."

The Demis grew excited. "We could plant trees!" Serin then grinned. Allister and Serin decided to leave the infrastructure to Serin, as he also knew how to create glass. Serin made this project his top priority. He was running low on metal to work with, but the project should be able to be completed before it became an issue.

He still had quite a few Kingdom points to spend, and one of the things he could purchase was a [Map] screen of his kingdom. Then he could purchase items like mineral deposit locators or known monster infestations. Serin decided he would purchase these after he brought in another group of refugees. For now though, he had to build a better greenhouse facility.

***

In two weeks, the vertical expansion to the greenhouse was complete. Serin had stopped spending time with other construction efforts and focused solely on working on the greenhouse. The Demis that ran the farms helped him select plants from his seeds he had procured, and also let Serin watch how they grew then using the [Growth] spell.

Using the example, Serin was able to very quickly mature the plants into vibrant specimens. Serin knew that he would not be able to expand this building, however he would be able to create more building modules. With this, he could work at changing the atmosphere to grow different plant types from the Kingdom Point (KP) store. He would hold off on this endeavor for now as he wanted to wait until Allister could take over.

But for now, he was happy with the positive abundance identifier on his food production. And with all of his Kingdom Status in the green, he was greeted with another message Titled "Refugee". Serin didn't open it yet, but instead held a town meeting for a meet and greet.

So the following evening, he had a feast prepared. The Demis had prepared spawned blankets and clothes as well. Serin, Allister, Jericho, and Rachel all had the [Comprehend Languages] spell active since they used it every day.

Serin called everyone together, "Our small community has exceeded expectations. I don't need to review my Kingdom screen to know that everyone here is happy. I can see it in the children who grow closer to adulthood. I can hear it in the happy conversations during the day and small gatherings at night. I can smell it on those special evenings when Lord Koni cooks a banquet such as this. But our town is not a treasure to be held to ourselves. It is a gift to be given."

Serin saw as the Demis grew quiet and content. "When I had met the needs of the humans who reside here, I was granted the privilege of accepting refugees. You all were in desperate need, and I was glad to provide you with the opportunity to continue your lives in a safe and pleasant town."

Serin then showed the message, "Today I have received another opportunity. The chance to help others who are in dire straits. Per the laws regarding this magic, I do not know anything about the refugees, other than they need our help."

Serin then asked, "Do you stand with me to help others the way I have helped you?"

There was a loud cheer, and with that Serin opened the message.

[Congratulations! You have met the prerequisites to accept a group of refugees into your nation.

Do you wish to do so at this time?]

Serin smiled as he accepted the request.

****