Mark touched the Rootmaw Alpha, and his loot awards were displayed.
[Unique Reward Generated]
Major Reward:
Territorial Essence: Rootmaw AlphaUnlocks Regional ManagementExpands regional awareness and stewardship functions
Skill / Knowledge Books
Structural Reinforcement Techniques
Foundations, supports, defensive construction
Trail Surveying and Route Planning
Roads, efficient routes, safer travel networks
Advanced Food Preservation Methods
Smokehouses, preservation, travel rations, storage
Wilderness Resource Extraction
Quarrying, gathering efficiency, identifying resource deposits
Basic Metal Forming Principles
Smelting basics, crude furnaces, ore identification, shaping simple metal
Remaining Reward
Additional crafting and food materials transferred to outpost storage.
◈ ◈ ◈
Mark stared at the rewards, then closed the message. The celebration continued around him, but he was exhausted. The loot and the system messages he had dismissed could wait until morning.
When he returned to camp, he discovered his A-frame had been moved for the next phase of Forest’s Rest’s rebuilding. The longhouse would be finished in a day or two, and the A-frames had been relocated to make room for three cabins.
Just as he was about to walk into the A-frame, he noticed the chicken coop and pen for the baby goats just outside the wall of the camp. In all the hustling over the last few days, he had forgotten all about them. Who was taking care of them and feeding them?
* * *
Mark woke up to the noise of the camp. It was after sunrise, which was not surprising after all the craziness of the last few days. He could hear voices talking about their levels and their rewards. It had to have been ten or more hours since the kill, judging by the height of the sun. He was surprised they let him sleep in so long, but he needed it.
He walked over to the table and sat down. His thoughts were on breakfast, but when Dale brought over lunch, he guessed he was not surprised. Someone Mark did not know sat down at the table and spoke. “That was crazy. I am a trail runner and only deliver messages and goods around the area, and I made out huge off that. Three levels, can you believe it? Crazy, right?”
Mark congratulated him and looked around. Crews were already hauling logs and moving stones. It was another workday, except for the memorial planned around Cave Camp’s fire that evening for those who had died.
One participant had received a healer class and was doing remarkable work with the wounded. Injuries were healing many times faster than normal, and scars faded as if more than a week had passed instead of twelve hours.
Tom was sitting at his bench holding the hide he got, looking at it from different angles and mumbling about what he could make with it. Elias and his son were discussing the skill books and farming equipment they had gotten for loot, and Finn was trying to tell his dad it would have been better to get a weapon or armor.
The camp was busy and full of activity. Mark, though, needed to just step away and go over the system messages blinking at him that he had been ignoring since the kill last night. Finally, he decided to just go for a walk. He headed east on the new trail heading that way and followed it until it came to a T going both north and south, and he took the south path.
Once he was far enough from all the activity, he stepped off the path, found a nice tree to lean against, sat down, and triggered the first message.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
[Level Up]
Character: Mark
Level: 9
◈ ◈ ◈
[Level Up]
Character: Mark
Level: 10
◈ ◈ ◈
Mark paused the messages and assigned his stat points so he would not forget. He added 2 to strength and 1 to agility. He then added 2 points to vitality, 2 to perception, and 3 to intelligence.
Strength: 14Agility: 13Vitality: 17Intelligence: 21Perception: 24
[Frontier Steward — Rank Advancement Complete]
Previous Rank: Novice Frontier Steward
New Rank: Apprentice Frontier Steward
◈ ◈ ◈
He paused the messages at that point. Two levels. That was incredible. He went almost two and a half days without sleeping more than an hour or two. Those were some really nice gains. He brought up the benefits for his new class level.
Expanded regional awarenessImproved task coordinationRegional management accessSettlement relationship trackingInfrastructure overview◈ ◈ ◈
That was interesting; they reminded him of the message on the primary reward from the Rootmaw Alpha. Territorial Essence: Unlocks Regional Management. He pulled the item out of his inventory and started to examine it.
[Territorial Essence]
Absorb and integrate regional authority?
Y / N
◈ ◈ ◈
He chose yes.
[Regional Management Unlocked]
But nothing else came up. So he opened his interface and started reading through the regional management screen he now had access to. There were so many options he did not know where to start. Then he found a tab labeled “Forest Region” and clicked on it.
[Regional Management — Forest Region]
Controlled Influence: 83%Connected Settlements: 2
Population OverviewForest’s Rest: 18 Residents, 5 Temporary VisitorsCave Camp: 13 Residents, 22 Temporary VisitorsCave Overflow Camp: 7 Residents, 11 Temporary Visitors
Regional Population: 76Average Regional Level: 7
Profession DistributionBuilders: 6Hunters: 12Scouts: 5Crafters: 8Cooks: 3Farmers: 4Laborers: 10Specialized Classes: 12Unassigned: 16
Regional StatusTravel Safety: ImprovingFood Security: ModerateHousing Pressure: HighConstruction Demand: CriticalPredator Activity: Reduced
InfrastructureActive Trails: 12
Major Construction Projects: 5Cave Overflow CampCave Camp OutpostForest’s Rest OutpostSouthern Migration RouteCave Defensive Perimeter
Trade Activity
Active Trade Agreements: 2Lakeside ExchangeCave Camp Supply Network
Resource Demand:LumberStoneIron Tools
Resource Surplus:LeatherPreserved FoodWheat
Regional AlertsHousing shortage increasingSkilled labor shortage detectedSouthern expansion viableWildlife migration destabilized after alpha removal
◈ ◈ ◈
Mark sat there and viewed the screen. It was a lot to unpack. While he was watching it, a few of the numbers went up; they were still having active migration to the area. Mark realized that this was no longer about just his camp. His outpost. This was a region, and he was now its steward. This was bigger than him. He was responsible for the 70+ individuals in this zone. And he had the feeling this was just the start.
Mark then brought up his class requirements for the next rank.
[Frontier Steward — Apprentice Rank]
Advancement Requirements:Maintain 3 functioning outposts (2 / 3)Establish an active regional trade network (1 / 1)Coordinate 3 successful regional operations (1 / 3)Support a population of 50+ across connected settlements (50 / 50)Develop 5 specialized professions within settlements (3 / 5)Expand controlled territory influence to 3 connected regions (1 / 3)Construct a permanent regional infrastructure project (0 / 1)
Potential Advancement: Journeyman Frontier Steward◈ ◈ ◈
The list looked daunting. A permanent regional infrastructure project sounded interesting, while expanding into two more regions would require travel. He had already passed the population requirement, and more outposts were planned. Mark stood. It was time to see where he was needed.
When he arrived back in camp, he saw two kids standing near the west gate. They looked lost as they glanced around. Mark walked over and said, “Hello, my name is Mark. I am the leader here at Forest’s Rest. Were you looking for someone?”
The girl answered, “Hello, I am Clara, and this is my little brother Ben. A group of nice people found us lost over that way.” She pointed west. “They said they were coming to see some cave, and we followed them there. Someone there pointed us this way and said you would know what to do.”
“I assume you have no family with you, correct?”
“No, sir, we were walking to school together, and next thing we knew, we were in a bunch of trees standing on a trail.”
“Yes, we know what to do.”
“We don’t want to be a bother; we can work for food.”
Mark laughed. “Don’t worry, we all work for food. I think we have just the thing for you.”
Mark then led them over to the table and had them sit down. Dale brought them some food, and they ate like they were starving. Dale dropped off a third plate in case they needed more than the first helping.
Mark led Dale aside and explained that a group traveling to the cave had found the children on a trail and sent them here because the people at Forest’s Rest would know what to do. Mark asked him if he could get them to tend to the animals, as they had the baby chicks, goats, and murder pigs that needed tending.
Dale said, “So you want me to be their babysitter? I don’t have time for that.” Then Dale walked over and picked up the kids’ dishes and had them come over to the sink and wash them.
Mark watched for the next half hour as Dale showed them around camp and got them an A-frame to stay in. If Mark was not wrong, Dale gave the kids his own A-frame and taught them how to feed the animals. During the exchange, Mark learned that the boy was nine and his sister was eleven.
Dale might have given him crap about looking after the kids, but Mark could tell from the way Dale treated them that he was going to enjoy their company. Maybe he could turn the kids into mini chefs.