Azimuth: The Elden Throne

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/Crunk…/

/Crank…/

/DON…!/

As the gears began to shift, bringing life to the silent mechanisms, ancient pistons, and weights were forcibly awakened as they crushed and shattered whatever little thing stood in between their teeth.

Seconds turned into minutes, and eventually, the entire room became a cacophony of metallic sounds.

Throughout this process, the researchers did not stop paying attention to their machines, however, Dale knew of the tower's condition better than anyone, as long as he cleaned it enough, there shouldn't be any problem, at least in the early future.

/Don!/

/Don!/

Finally, as the mechanical energy reached its pinnacle, a massive bell at the very top of the tower was flung backward, being pushed back and forth as it began its song.

/DON!/

Its powerful chime echoed throughout the city, from its dead ruins to the emerging community close to the Southern Gate.

Everyone raised their heads as they heard the chime of the bell, confusion and strangeness filling their hearts as an unusual sense of familiarity rose from deep within their hearts.

A feeling ingrained in their bones, the sound of the bell that sang uninterrupted for centuries, its call made their very genes tremble.

And amidst them all, one was the most surprised of them all… Or by now, one should say two…

Two old people who still remembered how the bell used to be, neither have ever expected it to sing again.

In a sense, time had returned to Resko.

[DING]

A notification rang before many players, pulling their attention as they focused on what was about to be relayed:

[The Clocktower awakens! And with it, Time returns!]

[From now on, all players will be able to view the precise time for as long as they're within the confines of the Clocktower]

[While under the presence of the Clocktower, all activities will now be properly scheduled, greatly increasing their efficiency]

[Certain missions will now possess time frames to be completed, failure to reach its goal within the time limit may result in negative consequences]

[The bell tolls at 6 Am, starting the day as the sun rises, at noon, the middle of the day when the sun is at its highest, and 6 Pm, the end of the day when the moon takes over the sky with the stars]

[Most Villagers will follow a schedule they feel most comfortable with, opening shop and offering their services whenever they're ready]

[Certain monsters will now only appear at determined time frames, with a higher chance of their counterparts appearing on Fields during their active periods]

[Monsters will also begin to follow schedules, rising from their burrows to hunt and returning to them once their needs have been sated]

[To cope with these changes, extra short and medium-sized instances have been added to all Fields]

[Special Timed Events will now occur in all Fields directly connected to the Clocktower's location, similar events tied to specific times will also begin to occur]

[While under the presence of the Clocktower, the player's overall Recovery Speed is increased by 35% and Skill Cooldown refreshes at a 20% faster rate]

[The total time for all other player-related activities is reduced by 10%]

/DON!/

/Gasps…/

"Urg…"

While everyone watched in marvel as a constant stream of notifications played by their ears, Dale covered his ears as he grunted slightly.

Despite most of the rooms and the architecture of the Clocktower having been made to disperse the sound and insulate its chambers from the overbearing bell, Dale still felt quite some pain from its noise due to his sharp senses.

The researchers were still focused on their tasks, unbothered by the sound of the bell, which wasn't very loud thanks to the insulation, so Dale took this chance to see his own notifications.

Of course, that wasn't all there was to it, the players only saw a gamified explanation of what happened, Dale had a much broader and more detailed explanation a few pages long…

There wasn't any need for him to see it again as he had mostly memorized it, but he checked it since he wasn't in a hurry…

[The Clocktower awakens! And with it, Time returns!]

[...]

[The Clocktower severely lacks personnel, to resume all Extra activities, please procure to fill all missing positions]

[Clocktower Keeper 0/1

Engineers 0/10

Magitech Engineers 0/5

Mages 0/5

Bell Ringers 0/2

Janitors 0/5

…

]

[Related Class progression is now possible if all conditions are met]

[Engineer]

[Janitor]

[???]

…

[With an Ancient Relic serving as its heart, the Clocktower Mechanisms awaken]

[??? (Inactive)]

[Large Scale Pulley Net (Active)]

[??? (Inactive)]

[??? (Inactive)]

[??? (Inactive)]

[...]

With a long list of nuances at the end, Dale shook his head, focusing instead on the rest of the messages.

'This is what I wanted.'

'By itself, the clocktower's reactivation will bring a lot of "life" to the fields surrounding Resko.'

'We have a severe lack of anything here in the South, it's not solely because this place is desolate, it is also because people can't really go anywhere else they'd die.'

'There are some HardCore players in their 30s, but with their Stats and items, they can just about hunt in the shallow parts of the Horizon Woods forest, and even then there's a risk of death, it's not worth it.'

'Much less going out of their way to explore the desert for ancient ruins or to follow the forest's edges to the corners of the Continent and see what's there…'

'With the clocktower, a clear difference between Diurnal and Nocturnal creatures will be drawn, and some monsters will only be manifested during those periods, there will also be more "Instance" Dungeons, small-scale locations usually only a few rooms long where players can fight monsters in their nests, getting rewards in the process.'

'Seasonal events should begin appearing too, another thing we lack, although I didn't quite know we did until this notification appeared.'

'It made me realize that for the System, many natural settings for the players further North are not actually that natural as they're tied to specific milestones and buildings in their surrounding areas.'

'Anyhow, this doesn't affect me, as naturally, monsters exist and follow their habitats naturally, however, for the monsters that are manifested from nothing when a player is nearby, the creatures I call "Mobs", they will now be more organic, giving players a better feeling when hunting them.'

There is a clear distinction between natural Creatures and Mobs.

Mobs can be seen as monsters and other beings that only exist in the world when a player is nearby, their sole purpose being to die at the hands of Players for their growth and profit.

Monsters are merely animals or entities that already exist and will continue to exist regardless if a player is around them or not.

Of course, not everything is set in stone as the line entangles from time to time, and the definition that was so easy to be defined before, blurs.

'There are several things left for me to pay attention to before moving on…'

'First, I need to set a few workers to stay here, a Keeper and a few janitors should be enough for a start as putting engineers and mages here wouldn't do me any good as they're low in numbers.'

'Having this place running and clean should be enough for the next few months, as even if a problem does arise, it can be solved within little time.'

'And although people can have more than one job, I don't want to exploit these people.'

'I'll also need a Keeper if I want to distribute Classes, especially the Engineer Class, I'm sure some players will be interested in it.'

'Although it's not exactly a combat Class, many players would be interested in it, can't say the same to Janitor, but I'm sure someone will be stupid enough to try it, thinking there's some secret hidden in it.'

'There are several hidden Classes, one of them I imagine is the Magitech Engineer, but until the Clocktower is properly repaired and filled with people, those will remain hidden from my eyes.'

'As for the rest, I know what those are, the five great mechanisms the Tower supports, only one of them is active, and even then, it's only partially, I can't even say that's in working order.'

'There are many other mechanisms within the city, but those are called "Great" due to their scope and complexity.'

'Those Systems would be… The Defenses of the City… Directly tied to the Walls, there are many, both underground and above it, fixing them would be the simplest out of all remaining ones, but it would still take a lot of time and effort to do so.'

'The Pulley Net, a large array of spells that when in motion, gather great quantities of energy from the surroundings to power the City's inner mechanisms, like the Defenses, fixing it wouldn't be that hard.'

'The Great Spell Core, a large machine located underneath the Mayor's Manor.'

'Most of Resko's circuits converge there, it alone can, or at least could, interfere with many aspects of the city's environment, from something simple such as aiding construction in an area, helping with the infrastructure in a restaurant, such as manifesting a hologram of their menu, to something more complex such as manipulating the weather.'

'It could be seen as a Mechanical Wizard... Or Grimoire.'

'According to Qrubin, the Spell Core was the most impressive system out of everything here in Resko, as he praised it for its ingenuity despite the age of its conception, although he proudly said he made severe modifications in its "dated" design…'

'Following that would be the Northern Gate. A kind of transit road powered by magic.'

'It's hard to explain how it was meant to look since I never saw it, but Qrubin mentioned that the Northern Gate was a form of "floating river" that crossed the desert and led directly to the Imperial Outpost in the mountains.'

'Unfortunately, even if reactivated, the Northern Gate is now unusable since it's buried under the sand.'

'Resko was built at the edge of a plateau, it doesn't look like it because the sand in the desert is so high up it buried the plateau, but it is.'

'Although it wasn't that tall, it was still a city built atop a hill nonetheless, to use it, I would need to carve a path in the sandy desert leading all the way to the mountains on the far horizon… Not possible given their condition.'

'And finally, the Suppressive Array that worked to assist in the sealing of the creatures in the catacombs. Out of all Systems, it's by far the least needed given Qrubin already envisioned its deterioration, so it's not that having it would make a difference, but still, if I can repair it, the situation may not look as dire.'

/Clang!/

"..."

As he finished going over the notifications, he closed the interface, crossing his arms as he closed his eyes.

'Anyhow, I'm done here, what's next on the list…'

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Notes