Accidental Healer

Alex and Durkil followed closely behind enora. Alex graciously offered to show Enora his spirit weapon faded as they walked further into the clearing.

I leaned back at the rough wooden table opening my arms up in a mock gesture. "Alright, so let's hear it."

Jared smiled and flipped to a new page in his notebook. "We just need to do some prioritizing."

Conversations rose and fell as news of the meeting spread.

"I take it you saw the system rewards?" Of course he had. Jared would be the recipient of the 200,000 UBC's as the steward of our faction. More than likely he was also alerted to the blueprints as well.

"That is correct." A system interface popped into existence. "I think we should review them quickly so we can be on the same page."

I shrugged. "Fair enough, where did you want to start?"

"First, the 200,000 UBC's. I think it's time we bite the bullet, you need to be able to communicate."

"There ar…." I started to object but Jared stopped me.

"Just stop with that. You know you need it." He was poking around on the screen pulling up the shop. Once he was at the page in question he tapped the screen, assigned my name to the purchase and selected purchase.

The screen asked. "Are you sure?" in big bold letters and Jared selected yes.

Wow. I could almost sense the system mocking me with its "ARE YOU SURE?." I'd almost forgotten that question existed.

My own status illuminated.

Status upgraded. Linguistic translator, Universal.

"It's done." Jared said, holding up his hands. "We can move on to other more important matters."

Normally I might be a little miffed that Jared ignored me, but in this case I knew he was right and any resistance was just for show anyway. Having the ability to speak to everyone that I encountered was a massive benefit.

Internally I was vibrating with excitement, externally I gave Jared a stern look and nodded for him to continue. Can't let him think he was getting away with insubordination.

He scoffed, seeing through my ruse. "Alright then."

A few more pokes and two images appeared on the screen.

"These are the new blueprints you unlocked." He pointed to the picture on the left. "Before we dive in, you should also be aware that there are three new anomalies in our territory. It's not urgent, they are all through portals and we have several weeks."

This was something that I wanted to look at later. For now, I just nodded and looked to where Jared pointed.

"This is the training facility." The building on the screen was tall with beautiful stone walls, a grand pillared entrance, and capped in an ornate bronze dome. For reference, a small version of Jared stood at the base of the large pillar.

"Jared, this building must be six stories high. And it looks like it's built of stone, or marble?"

Jared swiped at the image, and a new screen appeared.

Training facility (uncommon) - The foundation to any professional army. Building of a training facility unlocks new access to the system interface.

A training facility is a place where skills can be honed, and levels gained. Feed your facility with shards and items to create constructs that can be defeated for experience points. The quality of the facility determines the level and quality of constructs.

Be warned. Titles may be earned in training, the price is that training is life or death. Difficulty levels can be adjusted up to the quality of your facilities, challenging yourself is its own reward, but be prepared for the consequences of failure.

Below the description was a list of items.

"Granite, or Marble?"

"Among other things." Jared pursed his lips.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

He was right, the list of items required to build this training facility was exhaustive. Specific metals, high quality stone, enchanted wooden beams, the list went on and on.

Without a doubt it was an absolute must have. With this facility we wouldn't have to drag our lower leveled fighters into raids they weren't prepared for. It also meant I wouldn't have to babysit quite so much anymore.

And what would the new access to the interface be? My pulse spiked and my imagination ran wild.

"Is this even possible? That building is enormous, not to mention we don't have cranes, or power equipment or whatever else people use to build things like this."

"You'd be surprised at what we are able to do." Jared tapped his pen thoughtfully. "It's not the ability I'm worried about. It's the materials—we only have access to about half of it currently."

I frowned.

"The good news is that the rest of it is not far off. The granite—for example—is only two territories away, where you fought the undead."

That's right. I'd completely forgotten about the quarry.

"So we just need to clear a couple territories and we can start construction?" The dream was back alive.

"Yes…" Not masking his hesitation.

"What is it?" I prodded.

"I'm not sure it will be so simple. Logistically I mean." I waited for him to explain. "Have you ever wondered why you and Alex spent all that time before hauling and cutting wood?"

No, as a matter of fact I hadn't. "Because we were the strongest and it was easier for us?"

Jared nodded. "That's exactly right. But I'm guessing you never asked the question, why not just use dimensional bags?"

My brows scrunched up. "Now that you mention it, why don't you use dimensional bags?"

Honestly it hadn't even crossed my mind. Using bags would be so much easier, but yet they had us lugging the trees into huge piles.

"It would make sense, and we tried. Larger, unrefined resources won't enter the dimensional storages. Not even the chests."

That didn't seem right. I was about to correct him, when it hit me. The only raw resource I had ever stored was the chunks of iron ore that I'd given to Damon. They weren't large at all. Outside of that I hadn't even tried.

I started piecing it together. "And the teleporters?"

"First, they are too small for what we'd be hauling. And second, the ones we've been using are for people. It's similar to the dimensional bags." He thumbed through his notebook. "I've jotted down a list of challenges to consider. Transportation, protection for that transportation, guards around the quarry, building the paths, maintaining additional territories, and these are just what I thought of on my way over."

And all of that was after we completed the raids.

"Do we know anything about our neighbors?"

He shrugged. "Some. We can cover that later, the good news is we don't border any of the top five threats in our region."

I already knew that part. As far as numbers were concerned we were much stronger then our neighbors.

Or at least we assumed we were. It wasn't an exact science on how the scores worked.

We were getting closer to cracking it though. Our best guess was that each person under level 25 was a point. Once someone hit 25 they were assigned another point—titles also played a part and so did something else we hadn't figured out yet.

Before the dark elves joined there were just under 7,000 points, after it went up to 7,685.

Our map showed the other scores and not a single territory was higher than 2,000. Numbers didn't mean everything. I was living proof of that. One me, or Mischief could likely decimate a whole faction, despite their higher numbers if the situation was optimal.

Either way though, we were without a doubt the giant in the immediate region. The question on my mind was—how many would be willing to work with us and not against us? The thought of going on a murder spree just for more materials felt wrong. Maybe it didn't have to be that way?

I could talk with everyone now.

Still considering all the options my eyes drifted to the second building on the system interface.

The structure was an ornate open air pavilion of gilded archways and jutting buttresses. Six pillars, three on each side of the construction, with a final seventh pillar at its head. Each pillar with large glowing crystals with wide glowing rings floating unattached at the center. This was more like a temple.

Interfaction Teleporter (uncommon) - This building allows for the teleportation between other factions. This building is a staple in the multiverse. Opportunity for trade and commerce abound in these halls. Choose your allies wisely and be weary who you allow entrance into your lands.

This is the first step towards true wealth and power, but so too can it become the first step towards your downfall.

Upgrading this structure enhances the distance and quality of goods that can be transported through its gates.

Months ago sitting alone by a small fire with a mountain lion as my only friend in the world, I had made myself a promise.

A promise that one day, I would find a way to find my parents. To make my way back home and reunite with the people I loved.

My breath caught in my throat and I reread the words.

So much had happened since that promise. So many things that I regretted, and just as many that I would never change….

But I always felt that if I just kept moving forward, eventually I'd find my way.

Days had turned to weeks and slowly that promise faded into the back of my mind, driven to the ground by the weight of all those who relied on me here. But now?

That promise shoved its way right to the front.

My parents. This building was the next step.

And on the spires the crashing doom of hope coiled its inky claws around my heart.