Aggro Litrpg || Progression Fantasy

The hum from the Medical Hut, punctuated by the rhythmic thud of my two workers hitting trees, brought me back to consciousness. If anyone is wondering what it feels like to trade Health for a brief Worker Surge, I'm going to do my best to explain it.

Remember your biggest, baddest, most Ogrish school bully. Picture them running up to you and blooting you in the nads as hard as they possibly could. Then add in a massive crowd of anyone you've ever had a crush on standing around your mewling body, pointing and laughing and your squashed member.

That will give you an entry point to the soul level of pain I was currently in.

> [System Notification: Passive Healing Applied]

> +5 Health restored via proximity to [Medical Hut – Level 1]

I had no idea how long I had been unconscious, but it appeared that whatever boost Worker Surge had caused had finished, and I was back to my standard two Shadow Labourers hammering away on the trees. Considering the agony I was in, I wasn't sure the boost to productivity was really worth it.

I pulled open my Core Sheet: Health: 5/42.

That +5 from the Medical Hut was, literally, the only thing that had kept me breathing. And only then by the skin of my teeth. I sat there for a moment, rain dripping off my hood.

The Well of Ascension had tapped my Health like I was part of its fuel tank. Which meant that whatever the Accumulation Pool drew on to manifest the abilities it offered me wasn't pulling on an external energy source or village stockpiles. It had pulled from the nearest available reservoir of vitality. And that reservoir had been me.

Lesson learned. Probably.

I closed the window and pushed myself upright, slower this time, making sure everything still worked. 5 Health wasn't much, but it was enough for me not to choose to be lying on the wet ground for any longer than I needed to.

As I stood, I took in the piles of resources scattered around the clearing and did some quick mental maths. Technically, I had enough to throw up the Village Hall now. Practically, though, it would leave me with precious few resources left.

Okay. So it seemed that being a Warden wasn't just about killing whatever slithered through the cracks in the Veil. It also seemed to have an unexpected 'build your own doomed RTS outpost' flavour to it too. But do you know what? Fine. Compared to being a tank, this wasn't totally out of my wheelhouse. I'd wasted enough of my younger years in front of a CRT monitor, losing sleep and pocket money to the siren call of resource management games.

Except, the more I thought about it, the more it became obvious this wasn't just some weekend hobby with a restart button. Because the stakes were a bit higher than deciding at what point I'd switch on Cheat Mode and build Nukes.

I had Lia recovering in the Medical Hut. I had a quest linked to a debt with the Sablewyn Elders that would land her father in a shallow grave if it wasn't met. And I had two warring factions - the Empire and the Rebellion - with me somewhere in the no-man's-land in between—and after Balethor's little adventure, I doubted either side was exactly queuing up to send fruit baskets.

And then there was the Threshold . . .

The Well hummed at the centre of it all, that low, unsteady thrum, like it was waiting for me to make another stupid decision. Yeah. No thanks. I wasn't falling for that again. Not yet. Next time I touched that thing, I was going to be higher-level, better-prepared, and with Health to spare.

On the plus side, I had the resources. I had the tools. And I even had a plan forming. It was time to start building like I meant to stay.

Just to confirm the direction my brain was going, I scrolled through the village interface, examining what little I had to work with. The options were still pretty limited, but I sensed there were more exciting developments locked behind what seemed to be invisible barriers or requirements that I didn't fully understand.

The interface flickered again, prompting me to consider the available options. As I did so, my Health continued to tick up and with my receding aches and pains, so too did my clarity of thought improve. It seemed to me that I might as well commit the resources I had to make the Village Hall.

Worst case scenario, this was just the first of the pre-requisites I needed before I uncovered the cooler stuff. You know, rail-guns and the like. If so, no harm, no foul. You never know, I might even get lucky and it be the only prerequisite.

Yeah, because luck is really my middle name right now.

I concentrated on producing a schematic of a small building that appeared on the edge of the treeline, not unlike the longhouse we'd met Lia's contact in. It wasn't really all that much bigger than the Medical Hut, but the System had flagged it as more 'important' in some intangible way. Its outline was green, as I had just enough resources to cover the building costs, so I went for it.

[System Update: Construction Underway – Village Hall (Level 1)]

> Core Administrative Structure Activated.

> Anchor Node: [Well of Ascension] Linked.

> Settlement Stability: Partial (+10%)

> New Management Protocols Unlocked.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Village Hall – Level 1

Status: Active

Health: 500/500

Structural Integrity: 100%

Anchor Link: Stabilised (Threshold Affinity – Verified)

Village Hall Effects (Passive):

> • Resource Collection Efficiency: +10% (Wood, Stone, Food gains improved per cycle)

> • Worker Production Efficiency: +5% (Shadowborn units gather more efficiently)

> • Storage Capacity Increased: +500 Resource Units (Wood, Stone, Food)

[New Interface Branch Unlocked: Village Management Console]

Functions Available:

- Assign Tasks: Direct Workers toward resource gathering, construction, or defensive preparation. (Max 10 active assignments)

- Monitor Projects: Track real-time progress of structures under construction.

- Access Upgrade Tree: Future options to enhance Village Hall capabilities, defences, and auxiliary structures.

- Reputation Overview: Track relations with major Factions. (Updated periodically)

Current Worker Status:

> Total Workers: 2 (Shadowborn Labourers: 2)

> Assignable Projects:

Signal Cairn (Not Started)

Medical Hut (Complete)

Hunter's Lodge (Not Started)

Storage Shed (Not Started)

Fame and Reputation:

- Local Fame: +15 (Increased recognition)

- Empire Reputation: Hostile

- Rebellion Reputation: Hostile

> System Note: Infrastructure attracts notice.

> Future encounters with Empire or Rebellion agents now more likely.

Village Hall Upgrade Paths Available (Locked):

- Village Hall – Level 2:

- Resource Gathering Efficiency boosted to +20%

- Unlocks Advanced Construction Options: Barracks, Forge

- Mana Cost: 400 (Accumulation Pool must be charged)

- Defensive Perimeter:

- Reinforces perimeter; adds +200 Village Hall Health

- Stone Cost: 150

- Quest Board (Locked):

- Unlock mercenary contracts, civilian aid missions, and auxiliary defence initiatives.

- Requires Village Hall Level 2.

Passive Gains (Adjusted):

- Wood: +5 per cycle

- Stone: +4 per cycle

- Food: +3 per cycle

System Advisory:

You have taken the first real step from survival to sovereignty.

The land remembers who tries to shape it.

The forces beyond the Threshold will soon remember too.

Carry on, Warden.

My Shadowborn workers immediately stopped cutting wood and glided over toward the open patch where the Village Hall was set to rise. They flickered in and out of focus as they went, sometimes solid enough to cast a shadow, sometimes nothing but a suggestion of movement between the trees. I didn't seem to have any sort of direct control over them—not yet, anyway—but they seemed content to make a start on throwing up the Village Hall without any micromanagement from me.

The Bayteran sun was starting to rise behind the treetops, chasing away the long, warped shadows that the moon had cast across the clearing. The strange half-light made the whole place look even less real, as if I'd wandered into the painted backdrop of someone else's dream. How long had I been unconscious after activating the Well? Hours, clearly. Maybe more.

The workers moved in a slow, looping pattern, which was almost hypnotic under the lightening sky. I could hear the Well of Ascension behind me, still buzzing away with that same strange throb. Not angry. Not welcoming. Just... inevitable. Like the tide or Griff being irritated.

A soft chime sounded, and a translucent timer flickered into being high above the clearing.

> [Village Hall – Construction in Progress: 4:00:00 Remaining]

Four hours. Four hours until the Village Hall was complete. Because of course there was a countdown now. Of course there was a literal clock ticking over my head like the world's most passive-aggressive hourglass.

And yeah, four hours didn't sound terrible, if you had the luxury of sitting around sipping tea and making lists. But I didn't. Time wasn't just a resource here. It was the most valuable thing I had—and I was already spending it faster than I could earn it back.

I dropped my gaze from the timer, feeling that old, familiar tightness settle behind my ribs. No use complaining. No use wishing for more time. I had what I had. Four hours.

I sat back on a mossy outcrop and let myself breathe properly for the first time in what felt like days. The clearing around me, at least for the moment, was quiet. My health bar was crawling up at a stubborn rate thanks to the Medical Hut's passive healing.

I flicked my focus to the minimap in the top right of my vision. Just a quick check. Just to reassure myself that the clearing was, in fact, still clear.

Which is when I saw it.

A new dot had appeared at the edge of the radius—east by northeast. But unlike the smaller, twitchy threat markers from before, this one was bigger. Denser. The dot pulsed a deep, ugly red, almost black at the centre, with a darker circle of influence radiating outward from it.

It appeared to be just standing there.

Instinct, training, and the plain hardwired common sense that kept people like me alive all said the same thing: whatever that was, it hadn't come to admire my growing local architecture.

I stayed still for a moment. No point in rushing. My HP was still hanging low, and if the size of that threat marker meant anything, this wasn't going to be another quick exchange like the Shadows I'd chased away before. I sensed this was going to be a proper test.

I wiped the worst of the mud and broken moss off my ruined trousers and rolled my shoulders until the tightness cracked loose and the stiffness bled away a little. I wasn't fresh. Far from it. But I wasn't dead yet either.

Behind me, the Well began a slow drumbeat answering whatever it was out there. It felt like there was a connection forming. Or a warning. Four hours. Yeah. I wasn't betting on getting four uninterrupted hours.

I clenched my fists, feeling the rough pull of scabbed-over knuckles, and watched the threat marker on my minimap begin to creep closer.

I squared my stance, set my feet, and waited.