[NR] Planning For The Future - Chapter 695

The hunting party makes it back to the settlement and it is only by the grace of the Deep Wilds that they arrived with enough meat. The beast restocking along the way saved them. Though only barely.

Except Woven Birch seemed extra excited about the outcome. “This is wonderful! I think this is the first such trip in over a year to actually come back with enough.”

It took a bit of work, but the group managed to dig it out of him that the goal was more of an aspirational thing than the actual requirement. In fact, even miles away from the current “front line” the beasts still aren’t quite viable. Though they don’t get replaced anymore.

Seems that depending on the place, how this is handled will vary. The local kingdom has gone with the slow and steady approach. That of allowing the beasts and monsters to just live, slowly becoming accommodated to NeoRealm through the generations. The other method being the slash and burn method. You kill everything and transplant stuff from the rest of your kingdom into the place.

Both methods have their uses and tend to be more of a spectrum. After all, some critters are just too disruptive and need to be removed. Others are normal enough and tedious enough to not bother with, like regular worms.

And all this interrogation took up the last few hours of the journey. After which, the trio heads over to Helina’s office with a bit of a beef.

Helina answers the door, “Ey! You’re back! Did you have a pleasant trip? How much meat did the group manage to gain?”

The three of them look at her (Lily just sits on Jason’s shoulder munching on some lettuce).

Helina rubs the back of her neck, “Did it not go well? You clearly made it back safely. If you didn’t manage to gather the requested amount, that’s fine! Long as you got a decent amount, all’s good.”

Jason shakes his head, “Oh no. We met the goal, completed the quest.”

Helina smiles, “Wonderful! That’ll restock the reserves, maybe even allow us to rotate out some of the stuff in there.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, “So, that’s fine and all, but we’re a bit. Hmm, how to put it? A bit peeved. Yes, a bit peeved at the task. It wasn’t quite how you explained it.”

Helina, “What wasn’t like what I explained? You went out with a group, hunted some beasts, and then came back.”

Courtney, “Well, for one, it took longer than would be reasonably expected. Though more important is how uneventful it was. Not that we want an eventful time, but it wasn’t even half a challenge.”

Helina, “Well, I guess we didn’t really go over the task that much, but it was a bit of a rush. The group was leaving, after all.”

Rosha sighs, “I like you and figure this was just miscommunication.”

Helina, “It isn’t the most exciting task, but we did basically go over that with how people prefer heading deeper.”

Jason, “Fair. I guess that should have been a warning. At least it gave us a chance to get used to our new levels from the defense.”

With that, they left Helina’s office. Not quite satisfied, but at least accepting of Helina’s explanation.

On the way back to their new inn, Rosha asks Jason, “So, did you at least get something out of the time? I know you went on about getting used to your levels, but we all know that’s a lie. You don’t get a power boost from levels.”

Jason shrugged, “Well, I got a lot of irl time to work on myself there. Being a small group they didn’t exactly trust us on night watch. Not that they needed to. That one group was from a guild or some such and had 16 to 18 people. Probably not the smartest to let them monopolize the night watch, but eh, we lived.”

Rosha shrugs, “Yeah, it was a thing. Anyway, how far along are you irl?”

Jason, “I’m close. Though I guess the better question would be, how far are you two?”

Courtney, “We have started. Though we’re taking our time choosing what energies to internalize.”

Jason nods, “I was quick because of my experience. With such a melange of choices? Take your time. With NeoRealm, you can at least think things over.”

Rosha, “So, since you’re close, how should we handle things? Is this the kind of thing that you can hardline to get through or do you still need a slow and steady approach?”

Jason, “Whatever we do, part of the plan will require us to head back to the clearing. If we aren’t there to defend it, we could lose it and all our progress. And to be honest, we should probably settle down there for a while.

“Sure, use our connections to bring in any supplies we need. But as it stands, we’re at a good point to go all hermit on things. Especially since I now have the money to not need to worry about irl expenses for a good while.”

Courtney, “I sort of agree with that. Besides, it isn’t like we would be giving up adventure. With how the Deep Wilds work, adventure will find us.

“Reminds me how the original reaction people had to the Deep Wilds. Back when everyone still thought the devs had control of things. The rumor was that the Deep Wilds were meant for players who wanted to build a place while still adventuring, all without needing the ability to recall home. What with the game’s general dislike of teleportation.”

Jason shrugs, “It basically is. The only problem is that you can’t choose to park your homestead when you don’t want to be moving around anymore. What good is a castle if you can’t settle down in it?”

Rosha, “Heh, if only the Deep Wilds didn’t have a habit of drawing any claim deeper in if it isn’t attached to a place. Even in my family alone, there are more than a couple fools who thought they knew a loophole. Only ever ended up in them losing everything. Especially since if a player gets deep enough, you’re just yanked out even if you didn’t actually die.”