Town Builder - 102 - Father-Daughter Time

Chapter 102: Father-Daughter Time

When I was alone, I could finally examine my options in more detail.

This choice was a lot harder than I thought it would be after seeing what else the Divine Favor could do. Finishing a building instantly was a huge boon, but there were other possibilities as well. The one that was at the top of my list was an NPC auction token. It had to be used on a crafter NPC, but that was not a deal breaker for me. Getting another grand master player for just ten platinum would be a major boon.

Another possibility on the list was upgrading the rank of one recipe for any crafting profession. A third was a divine blessing that gave +10 to one skill and didn’t count against level caps. There were other amazing choices, but these stood out the most. I had so many good choices, and I earned three rewards.

Completing the Legendary Library initially seemed like a no-brainer, especially since it was already over half built and I had all the builders I needed to finish it. Perhaps if the Divine Favor didn’t require me to supply the resources, I would consider it more seriously.

I didn’t need to think about the auction token; first, I confirmed that it did what I thought it did before using my first favor on it. The question was whether I would use the other two favors for two more tokens.

The first thing I needed to know was if there was a rarity above legendary. For that, I asked Mad Dog through a voice chat. “Are you talking about the divine rank, mate? I think only the key fragments are that high. Maybe such items will be introduced further in the game, but I haven’t seen anything in the forums.”

“But there is a divine rank?” I asked urgently.

“Yeah. It’s SOP for these types of games. Always need some higher level to keep the bloody players playing,” Mad Dog laughed through the voice chat.

“Is there something higher than divine, then?” I asked.

Mad Dog chuckled, “Not for the likes of us lowly players if there is. That is End Game power levels.”

I almost wanted to tell Mad Dog about my Divine Favors, but I didn’t want to be influenced by an outside voice. I ended the call and contemplated what I should do with my last two favors.

Elevating the Legendary Library to Divine Rank would raise its construction costs, which were already high. It would also make Malcum a larger target for other guilds—not that a legendary library wouldn’t. I had to be realistic and recognize there was a strong chance I could lose my Duchy. Maybe I should explore other favors that impacted my avatar beyond the skill enhancement.

Then I started doing the math. I was level 47, which meant my current cap for drafting was 52. It was currently 51, so it was close and easily remedied by gaining a level and using my free skill points, if I hadn’t leveled it myself beforehand. The Grand Master rank for a skill was 67. I could possibly reach that after the next Incursion defense. How much could I gain from ten free points in the drafting skill?

Joy wandered into the room, looking lost. I closed all my screens and went to her. “Joy, she will be back in a week.”

“What do I do until then?” she asked innocently. The truth was, I knew very little about what Joy did during the day. Jaesmin always kept an eye on her. She looked to be in her pre-teens.

I thought about what my mother would do with my sisters if they were feeling blue. “How about we go shopping tomorrow?”

“For what?” She asked with interest.

“Adventuring gear. We never got to the dungeon, but we can still hunt some plains lions and giant porcupines,” I said consolingly.

“Okay, I want to use magic, so you will have to be my tank.” A smile slowly formed on her face in anticipation.

Joy meandered off to her bedroom to sleep. She needed to sleep a full eight hours in-game as an NPC to be rested. I returned to my selection. Every goal in the game for me revolved around my drafting skill: making gold, defending the Duchy, and supporting the NPCs. I selected the Divine Favor to raise my drafting by ten points, leaving me with one remaining. I would hold onto it until I had urgent need of it.

I settled into my drafting table to see what my 61 skill could do for me overnight. It took me seven hours to draft a new Lord’s Manor. We needed one built in Phoenix’s Rest to upgrade the town.

“Eternal” Epic Lord’s Manor, 2,000,000 health, Requires Masonry Structures 43, Woodcraft Structures 67, Masonry Foundation 23 (Bonus +25% to the productivity of subjects, +10% tax rate if morale over 100%) (Effect: Elite Palace Guards 24, Spawn Rate 1 every 24 hours, Level 100)

That was a massive jump from the original plans I based them on. The structure looked almost identical, but I added some runes and improved the manor’s barracks. I compared them to the original. The original took no essence, while this new version required a number of major essences.

Very Rare Lord’s Manor, 500,000 health, Requires Masonry Structures 43, Woodcraft Structures 23 (Bonus +10% to the productivity of subjects, +10% experience to subjects) (Effect: Palace Guards 6, Spawn Rate 1 every 12 hours, Level 50)

The health of the buildings was another significant result of my improved drafting proficiency. Even though the buildings looked identical, I knew that my enhanced drafting skills contributed to the improvements there. The better palace guards were mainly due to my ritual enchanting. Although their number had quadrupled, their spawn rate had halved. It was worth it because the level jump was significant. 

Joy knocked on the open door, grinning madly. My night was done, but now I had to try acting like the father figure. “Are you ready to hunt?”

Joy dragged me through the trade district, knowing exactly which shops she wanted to visit. She chose rare, soft black leather leggings with a slight bonus to speed; since she was technically level 0, she could only wear level 1 gear. After that, we found her boots that provided minimal reinforcement to her magic, snakeskin gloves that increased her casting speed by 1%, and a shadow cloak that lowered her chance of drawing attention in combat. Her most expensice acquisitions were a pair of epic daggers, one black and one white.

Epic fangs of the midnight moon serpent, paired set (1), +10% to all recoveries while in combat, +1 to all stats while in combat

Even though it was epic gear, it was only ten gold because it was for such low-level players. It might have some aesthetic value to a player if they wanted to put it on a mantle in their private room, but it ended up in this shop in Malcum. Perhaps at launch, it could have sold for a much higher price. Joy felt satisfied with the father-daughter shopping trip. Her gear suited her better than what she had been wearing for our dungeon delve. She truly looked like a miniature adventurer when she was finished. 

We were not going to go into the plains unguarded. Mira and six dusk elves tracked us from a distance, ready to respond to any threats. Since we were in my Duchy’s territory, I was able to see all unstealthed NPCs on my map.

We approached a level three plains cat, separated from its group. “Show me what you have,” I encouraged her. Joy smirked and launched a condensed mana bolt at the cat. She didn’t move as it began to charge and cast the same cantrip repeatedly. Angry burn marks appeared on the fur, but it had too much health for her to bring it down.

I stepped into its path and slammed the flat of my axe into it. I had only intended to draw its aggro, but accidentally killed it. “Oops, didn’t know my own strength,” I said apologetically.

Joy rolled her eyes and stomped off to the next plains cat, separated from the groups. It went as well as the first encounter. Even though she had mastered spells that mimicked level one spells by shaping aether, they couldn’t be leveled, so they weren’t very powerful.

We made our way through the plains, and when a few player groups got close, Mira interjected and turned them away. Our path was actually taking us toward Plains Rider—deliberately toward the town. I think I understood Joy’s objective and didn’t mind it. As the day wore on, my notifications backlog became too heavy, and I had to start replying to a few of them.

I kept my eye on Joy as I addressed the newest emergencies. Phoenix’s Rest was so saturated with players, it was hard to move around town. We couldn’t do much since all our builders were focused on the library and ancillary builders between the four population centers.

The next emergency involved Danny and Ghostly Mermaid posting their daily complaint in the guild chat about not receiving sufficient resources. They spent half their day grinding for resources and the other half working on the secret skyship inside the hidden base. The third emergency was a series of regional notifications about wandering monsters. The deadly boss monsters were starting to spawn with more frequency, but they also almost always offered incredible loot. A giant osprey was in the area of Goatyah, but most likely players would intercept it as it was only level twenty city boss.

Joy had switched to a flame dart spell, but was getting frustrated by her inability to whittle down the target before it reached her, forcing me to intervene. We reached the orc town of Plains Rider with Joy zero for twenty-nine. I was surprised by her massive grin. “Did you have fun?”

“It was amazing, I think I gained twenty total levels among my skills,” she said joyously.

“In just six hours?” I asked in disbelief, mostly because I knew she was already closing in on level twenty-three mastery in many of her skills.

“Combat accelerates skill growth,” she replied smugly. “Can I get a horse?”

Combat did accelerate skill growth, and Joy was not a normal NPC. If she had become the avatar for the Sullen God-Juana, how powerful would she have been? “You can get one of the foals,” I consented. Losing one horse from my cavalry would not be a big deal.

It didn’t take the ecstatic Joy long to pick out an ivory-colored foal with black stockings. It looked as if the horse had just walked through black mud, but that was its actual coloring. Onyx Foot was the name she chose. It wasn’t long before the two had bonded and ownership was transferred. I was slightly surprised that Onyx Foot was now registered as a level seven epic mount. Unfortunately, there was no level transfer to Joy like normal NPC cavalry.

With my parenting duties fulfilled for the day and possibly longer, we returned to Malcum under intense scrutiny. It was more due to the fact that I had a child and she had just walked into the stables and taken a mount. There was a monumental quest chain that would reward one of the prized mounts. I allowed the quest to continue because the resources we gained from the player chain quest vastly outweighed the cost of a mount.

Hopefully, Onyx Foot could keep Joy entertained until Jaesmin…I mean, Juana returned.

I had my token and skimmed through the grand masters in the NPC auction. There were even two legendary masters in this auction with a minimum bid of 100 platinum. Both already had bids over 500 platinum, and that number would continue to rise as they were the highest-level NPCs I had seen in the game to date. My best bet was to wait until the auction reset to use my token immediately on the best NPC craftsman. If there were a legendary master, I should make sure to have 100 platinum on hand to bid.

I was able to return to my drafting to make money for a new body. I spent time tweaking many old plans to improve building health and add my profession bonus for regeneration. With my enhanced drafting, I was able to keep the changes to a minimal level while still enhancing the plans' benefits. I was getting the best of both worlds with my insight, and my skill was only 62. How much better would it be when I reached the 67 grand master threshold?

I took Joy out hunting three more times, riding. I rode Titan, and she rode Onyx Foot. Once again, she was not getting any kills, just accelerating her monstrous, uncapped skill growth.

Jaesmin walked into the drafting room eight days after she left, wearing a confident smirk. I was taken aback because one thing Jaesmin was not, was confident. “Are you back for good?” I asked tentatively.

“ I—I will be focusing on my church in the Duchy for a time before sending out my adepts to spread the word,” she said, resolutely.

“Will you help defend us if other players attack?” I asked cautiously.

“Yes, of course. If my followers are threatened, I will act,” she said, smiling. I relaxed as I may have lost Jaesmin, and there was some pain even through the VR, but I had at least gained a powerful NPC. Joy came rushing into the room to hug Jaesmin, and her response was unnerving as she only patted Joy’s head instead of returning the fierce hug. “I see you have one of my favors remaining. Why have you not utilized it?”

“It needs to be leveraged for a significant advantage. When an opportunity arises, I will make use of it,” I replied. Jaesmin/Juana looked very skeptical, but accepted.

Joy had detached from her mother, perhaps sensing the change as well. “Shall we keep our sleeping arrangements?” The god avatar asked with an awkward smile.

I hesitated, not wanting to anger the infant god. “There are plenty of rooms in the manor. We are on different schedules, so perhaps it makes sense we sleep separately.” Juana’s expression went from puzzled to indifferent. She nodded in acceptance without fighting for us. I suppose that since she had been severed from my side, her loyalty and affection for me had also been severed. It was going to be just Joy and me in the future.

We still had a game week before the auction cycle closed. Juana did exactly what she said she would do. She moved among the people, blessing those of her faith and preaching to those who were not. Joy and I grew closer as she enhanced her skills and I continued to amass wealth so I could leave the game in a regenerated body.

I was really excited for the auction cycle to end so that the new cycle could begin. Who knew which top-tier NPC would be offered in the next cycle?

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