Chapter 23: Beast Wave

Henry lifted the FIVR lid, stepped out, and walked to the kitchen to grab a package of spicy ramen. He filled a bowl with water, dumped in the package ingredients, opened the spice packet, and shoved the bowl into the microwave.

While the microwave counted down to zero, he clicked on the tv and scroll his remote to the online news channel. The anchors were going crazy predicting the winners and talking about the different beasts that would appear in various regions.

On the forum, people were praising the developers for the wave of EXP. Some players were cautious, but most were unbelievably excited and debated the contents of the treasure chest prizes.

But Thaddeus was curious to see if there was a settlement page created yet. It didn't take him long until he found the City Building subforum. The subforum had over 10 million views and 50,000 followers.

Both guild and individual settlement owners gave city-build tips. The number one piece of advice, purchase as many laborers and slaves as you can feed. Players bragged about spending millions of dollars to build their settlements.

The game update did two things, it allowed settlement building, and it allowed people to exchange their Dollars, Euros, and Pounds for gold. Wealthy players spent billions to upgrade the equipment, fund their guilds, and build their guild settlements.

But Thaddeus didn't care about any of that stuff. He enjoyed working on his farmstead and enjoyed building with his two hands. He didn't plan on competing to see whose settlement upgraded the fastest.

It seemed like building a keep, sawmill, and carpentry shops were the most difficult and time-consuming to construct. Followed by a blacksmith shop and bunkhouse. Bunkhouse surprised him. He'd never heard the term before, but it was simply a barrack-like place for laborers to sleep.

He also found it amusing that players were building keeps, no doubt they wanted to sit on their thrones as soon as possible. But…keeps did make for a good defensible building. If he built a fortress, on the hill overlooking his hamlet, he wondered if he could draw the beasts away.

Unfortunately, that was the best plan so far. But he still needed to research more. He wanted to know what other people were strategizing. The more he read, the more a persistent rumor kept appearing. The rumor said new settlements had a three-month protection period. Thus, a large group of people planned to log out and check on their territory in the morning.

Guild members were required to participate. Every guild wanted to earn a top spot in the Beast Wave rankings. Guilds were quick to purchase every weapon, armor, and potion they could get their hands on.

Finally, after scrolling for an hour, he found a second helpful piece of advice. One player announced she purchased a group of five adventurers to protect her territory for five gold. People warned her she was scammed, but she didn't listen. Paying 50,000 coppers to a group or 10,000 per adventurer to protect her farmstead was exuberant. But it was still a good idea. Instead of purchasing an adventurer, he'd ask Dhruvah for help.

He felt much better now that he had a beginning of an idea. When he returned to the game, he'd ask Alfred to run the numbers. If the success rate was high enough, he builds a fortress and recruit Dhruvah.

When the microwave timer hit zero it beeped, Thaddeus got up from his kitchen table pulled out the hot bowl, and slowly ate the meal as he scrolled through Forum's Popular subforum. He scrolled past the beast wave discussions and read a subforum about the first in-game auction.

Someone, whose parents worked at Buena Vista, said their parents told them, the first in-game player auction was scheduled for July 1. From what others posted, this player was the first to break the news about the beast wave.

Most VRMMORPG games had an auction within the first six months and one at the end of the year. Some games had an auction three times the first year. In the second year, there might be one or two, and then no more. If you missed your chance, too bad.

After eating, he took a shower and ran errands. He needed to purchase more nutrient capsules and groceries. He also paid his bills. Running out of nutrient capsules or having his FIVR shut down while in the game worried him. He didn't want to be ejected from the game in a mid-axe swing.

After the errands were finished and the bills were paid, he cleaned his FIVR and logged back into the game.

When he logged back in it was 3 am. But he was restless and couldn't sleep. He crawled out of his bed, down the loft, and outside. The morning was peaceful, no doubt the developer wanted to give players a free evening.

"Alfred, I want to build a fortress on top of the hill. What is the likelihood the animals will attack me and not Woodhaerst? Also, what's my likelihood of survival," Thaddeus said

"Yes, sir. From my calculations, your chance of survival is 89% and there is a 95% likelihood the beasts attack the fortress and not your hamlet," Alfred explained.

Thaddeus was happy his plan would protect his hamlet, but he wanted to know how to increase his survivability. "Alfred what can I do to increase my likelihood of survival?"

"Learn a short-range skill," Alfred suggested bluntly like Thaddeus was dumb for even asking.

"What if Dhruvah helps me?" Thaddeus asked feeling slightly offended.

"There's a 60% he's under the effect of the Blood Moon and kills you. If he's not, then your chance of survival is 99%." Alfred explained the gamble.

That was good enough for him. He ran over to the hill and used his skill in Architecture to design a simple small stone fortress, big enough to house a barrack, stable and small two-story keep. But all Thaddeus cared about were the walls. He designed the hill and got to work making the stone walls and parapets.

"Sir, without a keep or great hall, the likelihood of beasts attacking the hamlet increases by 20%," Alfred warned.

'I wonder why beasts' hate keeps?' Thaddeus thought.

"Sir keeps are where most lords reside. By attacking the keep, beasts or an invading army attack a territory's center of power and authority. You, sir, are the only settlement owner who lives in a yurt," he explained.

'Was it him or was that another passive-aggressive comment?' Thaddeus thought but chose to ignore the comment.

According to the translucent green 3D instructions he had to cast [Stone Wall] four times to make the 24-foot outer wall and battlements, as well as a 12-foot wooden door. For the sake of time, he made the door with boards he planned to use for the farmhouse.

The first wall was the tallest with crenellations. The other three walls would allow the guards space to walk as they patrolled the walls and landscape. By the time the walls were finished, it was 4 am, because Thaddeus had to rest and let his MP recover twice.

When he finished, he built a small grand hall, which consisted of three 10-foot stone walls and a stone roof. The back of the grand hall was against the castle's interior wall. To finish the grand hall, he'd need to build a 6-foot table, chairs, two chandeliers, and a door. But that was a problem for later down the road.

Next, he built the 36-foot keep outer walls and three floors, which was the minimum he could get away with. As long as the keep and great hall were sufficiently "under construction," the beasts would attack the keep first.

"Congratulations, sir. There is now a 96% chance the beast will leave your settlement alone until the keep and great hall are destroyed," Alfred said robotically.

By the time he finished, it was 7 am. He raced back to the yurt to let the animals out and do his chores. He was two hours behind his normal progress, but he didn't care. His first priority was to protect his settlement.

After he finished his chores, he ate. His character was already debuffed to hunger. He ate a three-heaping portion of bread and eggs before his hunger was satiated and the debuff went away. Big body, big appetite, and his tall 7-foot muscular frame ate food like a machine. Thaddeus looked at his tan skin and toned body. He looked stronger, but he added stat points to strength, nor had he leveled up in a long time.

"Alfred, what's going on with my character body?" Thaddeus asked confused.

"Due to your constant crafting work, your body has become stronger and leaner," he explained.

"Why didn't I receive notifications?" Thaddeus asked.

"This is not an achievement. Constant work will tone your body over time. Whether you swing a sword, axe, or hammer you tone your body in a variety of ways. Other players have noticed this," Alfred said pulling up the Combat Physical subforum.

Alfred was right, a group of body enthusiasts was the first to document their bodies getting stronger, learner, and more toned, from repeated exercise and weight lifting. Heaven's Gate was the first game to allow players to get stronger by working out, in addition to the normal combat kill level-ups.

Taking his shirt off, Thaddeus worked without stopping to finish two more houses. When he finished it was late afternoon. He sat down inside the house, ate some jerky he made, and looked up at the sky. The sun was setting over the mountain range. He didn't see the moon yet, but he did start to feel uneasy. After snaking on jerky and a slice of bread, he drank large gulps of water to wash it down. The food made him feel better and less anxious.