Mark pressed YES and waited.
[Rank Advancement In Progress]Frontier Steward → Journeyman Frontier StewardPlease Wait◈ ◈ ◈
The group around him was still celebrating the completion of the Forgeworks, but Mark just held his breath. He had been waiting for this moment for weeks now.
[Level Up]Level: 11Stat Points: +5◈ ◈ ◈
[Level Up]Level: 12Stat Points: +5◈ ◈ ◈
[Level Up]Level: 13Stat Points: +5◈ ◈ ◈
He had almost forgotten about the level-up notice from the Forgeworks. But three levels? Maybe one was for the Forgeworks and the other two came with the rank advancement. He brought up his current stats screen.
[Stats]Strength: 12Agility: 12Vitality: 18Intelligence: 20Perception: 27◈ ◈ ◈
Before the Forgeworks rewards, his last level up had been from the Rootmaw Alpha fight. He never seemed to do the things that normally gave experience. It was a good thing the System forced it upon him with these big projects and missions it kept sending him on, or his level would never have gone up.
He still had fifteen stat points to spend. When he ran up to be here at the Forgeworks, he realized he was really lacking in some areas, so he decided to add three each to Strength and Agility to bring them both to 15. He added two to Vitality and then sat there looking at Intelligence.
[Stats]Strength: 15Agility: 15Vitality: 20Intelligence: 27Perception: 27◈ ◈ ◈
Mark was terrible at picking stats, but he figured some more smarts might help him with the tasks he kept getting sent on.
[Frontier Steward — Rank Advancement Complete]Previous Rank: Apprentice Frontier StewardNew Rank: Journeyman Frontier Steward
Demonstrated CapabilitiesEstablish settlementsCoordinate regional developmentSupport specialized professionsComplete major infrastructure projectsGuide frontier growth
Further Opportunities Available◈ ◈ ◈
Then the next screen showed up.
[New Steward Features Unlocked]Regional OpportunitiesInstitution RecognitionStrategic Overview◈ ◈ ◈
Mark opened Regional Opportunities first.
[Regional Opportunities]Identifies significant shortages, surpluses, and development opportunities within controlled regions
ExamplesResource shortagesStolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.Trade opportunitiesPopulation pressuresSettlement growth potentialInfrastructure requirements◈ ◈ ◈
These options were much more interesting than just the raw numbers he had before. Now he could figure out where and what needed his help. He could then figure out why things mattered.
[Institution Recognition]Recognized institutions may now be established
ExamplesLibrariesSchoolsInfirmariesTrade HubsHarborsAdditional institutions may be discovered
Recognized institutions may generateTasksRequestsDevelopment opportunitiesSpecialized profession growth◈ ◈ ◈
Mark thought about the new option screens he saw on the Forgeworks. They worked similarly to the outpost tasks, but rather than him creating them, the System created them. He then looked at Strategic Overview.
This option was different from the other two. It did not go to a description but instead brought up his map with a new tab labeled “Strategic Overview.” When he opened it, he could see the three zones he had control in. Each one had overlays. In the forest zone, there was a label that said “industry expansion” where the Forgeworks was and another labeled “herbalism expansion” down where the marsh was.
He briefly looked at the southern grainfield zone, and it had multiple labels. His future city was labeled “population growth.” There was one labeled “river trade” and another for “livestock growth,” along with a few smaller labels indicating shortages for various things.
Then he looked at the Lakeview area. There were a number of marked locations, including Northridge Village, which had “trade expansion,” along with more in locations he was not familiar with. This option would be helpful in the future. His System was no longer tracking settlements. It was now tracking civilization needs.
[Journeyman Frontier Steward]Settlement Survival No Longer Sole ResponsibilityRole Focus: Regional Development, Specialization, Infrastructure, Institutional Growth◈ ◈ ◈
Mark finally brought up the next rank requirements to see what he would need to do this time.
[Frontier Steward — Journeyman Rank]Advancement RequirementsEstablish 1 recognized village: 0 / 1Complete 3 regional infrastructure projects: 1 / 3Support a population of 500+ across connected settlements: 190 / 500Establish 3 recognized regional specializations: 0 / 3Maintain a collection of 15 recognized manuals: 10 / 15Establish 3 recognized institutions: 1 / 3Expand controlled territory influence to 7 connected regions: 3 / 7Discover and establish contact with 3 System-controlled regions: 1 / 3Potential Advancement: Master Frontier Steward◈ ◈ ◈
As he read through the list, he saw that some already had progress. The supported population was already at 190. That was probably the outposts in the forest zone, as the ones in the grain fields were not truly connected yet. Once they were, that number would jump a bunch. There were already way more than one hundred people down there between the farmers, fishermen, livestock handlers, and all the construction workers working on the village site and road network that Garrick insisted be completed before founding the initial outpost at the village location.
His village was all but done, and he got credit for the books they had gathered and the three zones he had already surveyed. Even the Forgeworks counted toward the infrastructure projects. But the last one—was it talking about the cave? That thing had caused half of Mark's troubles, and he needed to find two more like it?
Then another message showed up.
[Regional Opportunity Detected]Unknown Water-Controlled RegionLocation: SouthwestExploration Potential: HighRegional Assessment: IncompleteWarning: Environmental Conditions UnknownRecommendation: Establish Reconnaissance◈ ◈ ◈
Oh, Mark knew where it was. It had to be talking about the warning they received when they went west about something in the region south of there. He guessed the System already had his next task lined up.
It would just have to wait. He needed to finally get the new village going in the south. He still could not settle on a name for it, and he had a week left until Garrick said it would be ready.
Mark looked around at the party going on. It must be time to go eat some cake. Dale was all excited about it.
The System had already found another problem for him. Or opportunity. With the System, it was usually both.