Greed God chapter 98

February 5th 2016 Gemworld 6:00 PM EDT

I  spread the rest of the farms out over the span of a few days. Rest or  not I didn't want Barbie knowing how much I could do in a single  afternoon. It also gave me time to search around for some more I ranked  materials, and even a few new H ranked  items. I was officially down to  fifteen thousand points even after the new additions though, a full ten  of the damn farms had seriously cut into my total.

Despite  that I wasn't upset about how things had gone. I'd worked with Zee to  find another ten life apples to use as bases. Despite how delicious the  moon berries were I realized I knew jack shit about what crops worked  here or how they functioned in the economy, and while having a signature  crop like the berries was a great call, the rest of the farms would  work better if I let the actual farmers pick what they were supposed to  be growing, albeit with some input. Plus Barbie had to do almost nothing  for the berry orchard, and the last thing I needed were a bunch of  fucking bored farmers getting underfoot.

Now that I'd  finished all the farms though, it was time to get to work on the rest of  the town. If I wanted to draw people in, a bunch of farms sitting in  the woods wasn't going to be enough. I needed an actual town, with  things like blacksmiths and tanners and butchers. In order to make room  we had to clear more forest, so I had Waylon and Sally tear up more  trees to make room. Luckily these weren't plots of farm land so I didn't  need to worry about tilling, Waylon just stomped the ground flat and  moved on.

Despite that, this was infinitely more complex  than the farm because of the lack of involved land. I needed to  individually tailor each building to its specific purpose and it needed  to be perfectly balanced. Since it was going to involve a bunch of  things being on fire and lighting things on fire seemed hard to screw up  I decided to go with the forge as my first specialized building in the  new village. Of course, if I had something at F rank and enough points I  could always merge the whole place into an E rank village and get all  that stuff added automatically, but I had neither of those things, so I  would have to make do.

The ability to merge a group or  large amount of something was an incredible one, and something I hadn't  even considered until recently, but most larger residential areas were  fairly high ranked by virtue of size and complexity, so you needed a  similarly high ranked artifact or area, which took its own chunk of  points to manage. Building the village one building at a time was harder  and more time consuming, but it was also cheaper, which was what we  needed at the moment. Not to mention it would bring in residents some of  who I could Brand or put to work for more points.

In  order to get started with this, the first thing I needed was to create  the same old shack. I merged the I rank trees as usual, leaving the  thing sitting on the flat packed earth. I didn't plan to merge them  together because the land under it wouldn't effect the forge. My second  step was to create the forge itself. Merging a metal box with some  flames was unlikely to be a viable path to that, so I dug specifically  went looking for some J ranked materials so I could have a few more  variables to work with. Luckily even this place had garbage mats if you  looked for them, and I was able to track down a few things I could use.

To  solve the issue I gathered together as many J ranked items as possible,  and tried to fashion a makeshift forge of my own to start with. A chunk  of metal I beat into an anvil shape with my bare hands, a pile of  broken sticks, and a box I made out of beaten rock to hold the flames  and build up heat. Then I merged the box of burning sticks and the anvil  together make a new item. After the light faded all that was left was a  large square furnace made of stacked bricks with a metal platform for  heating and pounding metal.

[Appraisal function  activated. Treasure detected. Rudimentary furnace- I rank. A stone  hearth for the heating and shaping of metal. Sturdy but basic.]

It  wasn't exactly beautiful, but it didn't need to be. I'd made it basic  so I could have more options. I searched my I rank materials until I  found a particularly interesting flower I'd picked up while I'd been out  searching the forests. It had seemed almost useless, but it was  absurdly pretty so I decided to bring it back with me, though its nature  made it a nightmare to transport.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Violetblaze  Lily- I rank. A purple flower that burns with an ever present purifying  flame. Despite the lack of usable functions the violetblaze lily is  famed for its beauty and symbolism, and is often given by lovers to  symbolize the enduring burn of their feelings for their partner.]

I  obviously wasn't planning to give it to one of my girls, though Barbie  did like purple. I didn't do random spontaneous gift giving. But this  particular item was the perfect addition to my new furnace. I focused  and merged the two objects together. There was a flash of light, and  when the glare faded the new furnace was there. The stone making it up  was black and shining, and the flame blazed up the same purple as the  lily had. The rocks had even restructured into a tower shape to create a  build in chimney.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Violetblaze  furnace- H rank. An ever burning furnace specialized in purifying raw  metals. In need of no fuel or stoking, the violetblaze furnace is a  marvel of mystical construction, presenting a perfect workstation for a  smith, be they an experienced hand or an untrained novice.]

That  sounded pretty promising, but I wouldn't see exactly how it would end  up until I tried again. I merged the furnace with the shack, happy with  the materials and psyched to see what came of it. The furnace and shack  once again vanished in a massive surge of light, recombining and  shifting together. The light expanded as usual and then faded away,  revealing a brand new building.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Forge  of the Violet Lily- G rank. A beautiful and elegant forge created for  the craftsman of Lord Village. Stocked with an ever burning furnace and a  series of tools made for smithing, this forge is made for either an  experienced master smith or a novice learning their craft. Metals worked  in the forge are fifty percent easier to work before cooling, and twice  as easy to purify.]

I  let out a low whistle as I opened the door, stepping inside to check  out what the new building was like. Aside from the furnace, there was a  high quality work bench made from black stone and metal. The floor was  set with hexagonal tiles made of the same black stone as the bench and  furnace, and tools hung on the wall, as well as a chest set in the  corner with a large stockpile of metal ingots. The chest seemed to only  open when I willed it to, and I didn't recognize the ingots, so I  decided to just go ahead and appraise them too, figuring they must at  least be decent.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Violetsteel  ingot- I. A mystical steel ingot purified with Forge of the Violet  Lily, and steeping in its magical flame. Violetsteel has be strengthened  and purified by the sorcerous fire, giving it an unusual degree of  magical conductivity, making it perfect for weapons or foci.]

There  was a hundred ingots of the stuff (two rows, ten bricks wide and five  tall) in the giant stone chest, which I assumed was going to be really  helpful and save us tons of time once we got a smith out here. The tools  were likewise I ranked, probably because of the quantity, but there  seemed to be variations of everything. I ranked was pretty decent mortal  quality anyway, so probably a bit better than your average peasant,  mystical or otherwise, ever got to work with. This place would  definitely draw in a hell of a smith.

I  stepped back outside, closing the door and noting the absolutely lack  of change in temperature. I hadn't noticed it, but the black stone of  the floors absorbed and dispersed the heat in the air, making every  surface pleasantly warm but not hot to touch, but leaving the air itself  with the same chill. I had the impression the blacksmith themself could  tweak that, heating the anvil or turning that feature off if needed. To  my surprise, the construction had drawn Waylon and Sally over. I  grinned at the pair. "Don't suppose one of you conveniently a master  smithing hobbyist?"

Waylon  shook his head. Sally seemed...contemplative. "No. But I feel like I  might be good at it? With someone to teach me. Once you get somebody  here I might give it a try. I think it might be a Titan thing." She was  staring raptly at the building, seeming fascinated if somewhat disturbed  by her own reaction before she physically shook the thought away.  "Anyway, nice digs boss, bet that will bring in someone talented. I  would think smithing would be a big deal here, given the whole medieval  world thing."

I  wasn't entirely sure this place WAS medieval, we'd only seen a bit of  it, but the forest was at least, based on the description I got from my  girls. She was right that this was going to be a big draw. Besides,  despite the lack of smithing acumen she was going to play a part. They  all were. "Once we get a blacksmith who can work the forge I'm going to  have you all set up a town guard. You're going to be responsible for  training them, given your advanced combat mastery. Barbie will help  where she can but she's going to be doing politics shit so it'll mostly  be on you. You good with that?"

To  my surprise she actually looked thrilled. "That sounds like a blast.  With how strong I am I'll have to hold back, and I might need to borrow  my man for battle demonstrations, but hell yeah I can work with that. I  have formal combat training I can pass on, though I don't really know  how to use weapons, so Barbie will need to work out a training routine  for that at least." I suspected she hadn't felt useful before now,  because she looked excited for the challenge, which worked out well for  me.

She  dragged Waylon away, chattering happily about practice drills, and I  added potential guards to the list of people we needed to pick up when  we finally made it to the village. I debated stopping by the moon berry  farm to let Barbie know about the progress, but I wasn't nearly done, so  I decided to just go take a nap. I could let her know what I ended up  with when I was finished.

I  headed back to the cottage, which I was definitely upgrading once I  started getting an income of points, and dropped down into the bed.  While I wasn't really tired given my immense stamina, I was mentally a  bit tuckered out from all the concentration. I closed my eyes, trying to  focus on calming my breathing so I would be able to sleep. As my  consciousness slipped away I considered my options for the hundredth  time, still torn on what to make. Maybe a bank where everyone could drop  off materials they found to increase my points. Yeah, that was going to  be next on the list.