Town Builder - 92 - Treating With The Enemy (edit 3-9-25 +250 words)

Chapter 92: Treating With The Enemy

I was in a VR meeting room outside the game. Dr. Ishaan Chopra was discussing my current state of body. I felt cold chills as I saw my body for the first time—a scarred wreck compared to what I remembered it being when I was 20.

I was not really listening and just focused on the images. Black Beauty took my hand on one side and Mermaid on the other as I sat transfixed. The doctor perked up, “There is some good news. Your body was placed in cryogenic sleep for fifteen years. During this time, your body only aged about six months. The process…” He droned on with medical jargon well above me.

Finally, he got to the important information about what it would take to rebuild me. “My understanding is that you have been in your coma for twenty years. We have made amazing advancements in medical restoration science during that time. We can create a matrix and seed it with stem cells to regrow almost any organ. Reproductive organs are currently banned, but that ban should be lifted in a year or two. And, of course, brains as well, but a new brain without your memories wouldn’t be useful to you.” The dark-skinned doctor laughed at his joke.

“Now, you have three options for bone replacement. Compressed surrogate ossified material is the simplest and most affordable. We can also opt for full titanium, but using this much titanium may cause some issues with your other biosystems. The third option, which I recommend, is to print your replacements with black carbon and then seed them with your marrow. It is still experimental, and the success rate is about 60%.”

The presentation continued to cover tendons, muscles, skin, cartilage, nerves, blood vessel propagation, and even hair follicle seeding. Even after the body was assembled, there was a year of biofeedback monitoring to ensure all organs and glands were functioning properly. It took him a while to finish, but it was extremely thorough.

“So how much, Doc?” I asked abruptly. I was going to do this no matter the cost.

“Can you really put a price on being able to breathe real air again?” the doctor said, holding his arms open in what I guessed was a welcoming gesture, but I did not find it that way.

The screen behind him began to itemize my body rebuild with how much each option would cost. It was actually not as depressing as I thought it would be—still millions upon millions of dollars, but at least it did not seem out of reach, even having to repay the game development corporation.

The discussion shifted to the first step: choosing a skeletal material to replace my missing and shattered bones. I chose the costliest option: black carbon-printed bones seeded with my own marrow grown in the lab. By my conservative estimates, saving for this first phase would only take me about three months in the real world, or a year in the game.

Black Beauty helped me transfer funds to lock my restoration in Dr. Chopra’s queue. We shook hands, and then I shifted out of the meeting room and back to the game world. Realizing the first steps had been taken was surreal. When I finally logged off, I was primarily worried that the game world would feel more real than the real world.

Jaesmin greeted me as I appeared and hugged me reassuringly. I suspected the Matriarch knew about the meeting and had informed her. “Where is Joy?” I asked.

“She’s with the alchemist, Savannah. She’s really improved, you know. Maybe you should think about building her an alchemy store,” Jaesmin said, rubbing my back. We had an alchemy trainer structure and one alchemist building, but it was true that we couldn’t meet all the players’ needs. Jaesmin rarely offed suggestions to me, so I checked on Savannah in my NPC tab, and my jaw dropped. She was already a master alchemist and at level 26!

“I will make a copy of the plans tonight,” I said, looking up into Jaesmin’s eyes. They did appear real—alive—and had a depth to them. How did you program that? As an AI entity, she had been beyond supportive, and I had given her so little attention after the players arrived. “Are you ready to start leveling up?” I asked Jaesmin. She was level 17, and her skills focused on construction. Her earth magic was weak, but she could supervise projects requiring a 23 in woodcraft and masonry.

She bit her lip in worried thought. “If it will help you and the city, I will do it. Where will I be leveling?”

“I was going to have the Guild take you through the upper levels of the Crypt of the Phoenix King. The experience is fantastic, and you can also earn your own gear.” I told her. She was fully outfitted with lesser equipment that assisted her in construction, mostly stat enhancement.

Jaesmin frowned, “Aren't we going together?"

 “I don’t have the time, and I am nine levels higher than you. I would just be stealing your experience,” I explained to her dismay.

“If my level reaches yours, will we adventure together?” She asked softly.

“That is definitely a possibility. Maybe we can chaperon Joy once she learns a spell,” I replied enthusiastically. Joy was growing fast and had access to player-like advancement in the game. I was curious how it would affect her growth, having access to twenty-three skills instead of the capped number NPCs had based on their AI core.

Jaesmin looked determined, so I contacted Mad Dog to arrange for her to join the Guild's power-leveling crew every fourth day. There were minor issues since she was registered as my companion, which meant I had to accompany her into a dungeon. However, Mad Dog had a clever workaround he learned from the forums. I could assign Jaesmin the task of protecting another player. If that player entered the dungeon, she could go in, too. Mad Dog assured me it was his top power-leveling team and she would be safe.

I turned to my drafting. An alchemy shop for the young elf alchemist was at the top of my list. Grated Savannah preferred experimenting with making new potions rather than brewing the same thing repeatedly. She had leveled as an alchemist rather quickly due to creating new, unique recipes.

I decided to tweak the original plans to suit her ambitions and strengths. I compared the two plans.

Very Rare Alchemy Shop, Health 50,000, Requires Masonry Foundations 23, Masonry: Structures 23, Woodcraft: Carpentry 23 (Skill Crafting Bonus to Alchemy: +10% to potion crafting speed and potency)

“Eternal” Very Rare Alchemy Lab, Health 60,000, Requires Masonry Foundations 23, Masonry: Structures 23, Woodcraft: Carpentry 23 (Special Effect: Inspiration, Skill Crafting Bonus to Alchemy: +5% to potion crafting speed and potency) Bonus: Structure Regenerates 1% health every 24 hours (stacks with similar effects)

This version of the inspiration effect provided her with many opportunities to create new potions and improve existing recipes. Although the chance effect was relatively minor, for an alchemist who brewed hundreds of potions, she would still gain some benefit from it. The only downside was that the small shop on the first floor of the alchemy lab was much smaller. This meant she had less space to display and sell her potions.

Most of Savannah’s potions were useless to players in combat, but they had a significantly higher resale value in the larger NPC cities of the game. Effects like hair growth, wart removal, tanning agents, teeth blackeners, teeth whiteners, and other effects were not applicable in combat and were mostly cosmetic. Still, there was a market for enterprising players, and Silver Linings Playbook took full advantage.

The alchemy lab was not a complicated build, so I sent it to the construction general construction queue.

During the rest of the day, I mostly drafted plans to sell while monitoring the Duchy. The biggest news was the player guilds fighting outside the city in harvest zones. Due to the limited low-level resources around the Duchy, player guilds started fighting over them. Especially if they were needed for quests. The Shiverwood Forest (level 40-50) across the river was still too high a level for the players.

The majority of players were now over level ten, which meant they would be heading to the Valley of Azul (level 25-30) and the Broken Hills (level 20-25) to the south. Once players’ levels exceed those of the Duchy, they should begin migrating to higher-level NPC cities. If we opened the scaling dungeon, we could keep the players here, but for now, we would allocate our time by splitting it with Disciples of the Horde.

I walked through the Duchy to check on our projects. The soldier training facilities were constructed and functioning as planned, slowly grinding levels for small groups. My primary concern was our defenses for the upcoming Incursion. The only real threat during the draconic incursion was the general dragon prince.

We had finally encircled Malcum with stone walls. Although this might seem like a waste of resources, it was necessary and provided us with several defensive advantages against attacks. I headed across the crescent lake to assess our light industry. Players ran through the streets, delivering materials to complete quests.

I inspected the bookbinders and scribes. With the runic paper and the scribes, we had started producing novice skill books. These would be a huge commodity, as lazy players would need seven copies to learn and increase their skill to seven. Once our manufacturing started producing expert skill books, we would generate hundreds of gold from sales.

Mad Dog found me walking near the blacksmiths of Malcum. His serious look gave me pause, as I knew whatever it was not good news. “Tallis, Frost Siren had requested a meeting.”

I wasn't sure if I wanted to meet with Eternal Legacy’s leader. I didn’t know if I could keep my cool. “What does she want?”

“She wouldn’t tell me. If I had to guess, she wants access to the scaling dungeon. Or she could just be gloating about stealing the skyship and kidnapping your NPCs,” he said uncertainly.

“Should we meet with her?” I asked the experienced gamer. He had dealt with other guilds for over a decade in various games.

Mad Dog slowly nodded, “As long as you keep your shit, it wouldn't hurt to listen to her. I can get you the reports Black Beauty has on their operations, but she hasn’t found anything useful yet.”

The meeting was scheduled for the following evening. Jaesmin returned from her first delve that night, full of excitement. Not only had she gained a level, but she also acquired three pieces of unique gear. While not all of the gear was useful for her construction profession, it was still gear she had earned. She excitedly told me her role was as a tank for the party—guarding the healing mage. She was proud, and I was proud of her. Joy was listening, jealous, and wanted to join the next delve. Jaesmin liked her enthusiasm but tempered it. “When you get old enough to cast your first spell.”

“I can cast this!” Joy waved her arms, and a large ball of water appeared above Jaesmin’s head and splashed down, soaking all of us. Joy had a huge grin, thinking she had just earned herself a delve.

“That’s just mana manipulation, daughter,” a soaked Jaesmin laughed and grinned. I had read about mana manipulation after Jaesmin told me about it, and it could mimic many simple tier one spells. Joy had already demonstrated a mana dart and now the summon water spell.

I kneeled in the puddle, facing the young girl, “What level is your mana manipulation, Joy?”

“Twenty-four, but my water magic is only level eight,” she said with a hint of sadness. I quickly checked, and she was still at level 0. Not having a cap on skills was going to make her a monster. I also suspected she was receiving some learning bonus as a child because that skill growth was impressive, even for Malcum.

I looked back at Jaesmin, “When can she start to level?”

Jaesmin gave it some thought, “It should be 232 days from now.” I nodded and guessed it was a fixed amount of time for NPC children.

“Can I see your skills?” I asked my daughter. She went into her tabs and let me look at her skill list. She had already learned 23 skills?! She had 17 of the 27 magic skills! Six support magic skills: mana manipulation, mana cycling, mana sense, spellcraft, mana well, and mana resistance.

Most of her skills were only two or three points currently. But her mana manipulation was 24, and her mana well was 17. Mana well just gave a small percentage boost to her aether pool and granted her extra magic attribute points at prime levels. I rubbed her silky, dirty blonde hair, “You are amazing. Keep working hard.” I had a feeling the Matriarch had intervened here a little, but Joy could have learned all these skills in Malcum from other NPCs.

I had dinner with Jaesmin and Joy before sitting at the drafting table. I planned to copy plans tonight for sale. Since I was only receiving half the profits, I needed to generate more income for both the Duchy and my real-world body. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of players were now drafting plans, but very few could come close to matching my bonuses yet. The problem they were likely encountering was that their drafting skill capped out with their level, and leveling up was difficult.

I was immersed in my work until Mad Dog interrupted me. “The delegation from Eternal Legacy has arrived."

“Is Frost Siren with them?” I asked through chat.

“She is, and she’s level forty-one,” he said worriedly. I quickly checked the world leaderboard, and the highest-level player was only thirty-eight, but you could opt off the board if you wanted. I figured that since she was the leader of one of the largest guilds in the game, she had dozens of players helping her level up. The meeting was at Fareth’s Inn, and I joined Mad Dog and Grinder to walk over there.

It had already been decided that I would do all the talking. If I messed up too badly, Mad Dog would step in and try to patch things up. The inn was completely empty when I entered, except for one table with three players. A charismatic woman in a white robe that hung on her like icicles was seated in the center. My digital blood boiled as the vampire, Grey Weasel, sat to her left, and his level was 35. Mad Dog’s reassuring hand rested on my shoulder to calm me. The third member of the group was a dark-skinned human in black plate armor whose level read as 39, and his name was Devouring Moonlight. We walked into the room and sat across from the three.

Frost Siren smiled, “The Eternal Architect, I presume?” I just nodded, as there was no point in denying it at this point. The intelligence networks of the large guilds could find out anything if they pressed their resources to it. “You have done quite well for yourself in the middle of nowhere. A scaling dungeon. A number of powerful NPCs. And you are attracting quite the buzz on the forums.”

I noticed Fareth standing in the doorway to her kitchen. Having the 189-level NPC nearby was reassuring. I was pretty pleased with myself for not going off on the smug woman before me. “Why did you want to meet? To gloat about kidnapping some NPCs?” I sounded more calm than I was.

Frost Siren turned to an impassive Grey Weasel. “Yes, well, my vice-leaders have a lot of freedom to act on behalf of the guild. We are here to request plans for your obelisk.” My heart raced a little, and it was annoying that she had been able to identify the obelisk. Maybe she didn’t know the full extent of its capabilities, but if she was asking for the plans, she knew enough. The Watchtower Obelisk was the perfect defense for any player-controlled population.

I shook my head, and couldn’t help but laugh. “You invade my town, steal my skyship, and kidnap my NPCs, and you expect me to just deal with you?”

The heiress had on a charming smile. “Yes, well, everything can be bought for a price, even forgiveness.”

“Return my NPCs, and we can discuss your request,” I replied somewhat harshly, which made her frown. Mad Dog sent me an unnecessary warning text. I was in control, and even if she attacked me, I had Fareth nearby, while Mira and Tangin were outside the inn. I poked her a bit. “How is your game with your brother?” going?”

Annoyance flashed in her eyes. “Sinful Echo is an idiot.” The two siblings were using money from their family's worldwide food conglomerate to play the game. Frost Siren sat a little taller, “I will return your NPCs in exchange for the plans for the obelisk and a working skyship.”

I studied her. She must have realized how difficult it would be to build the skyship without a support network. Danny would want the shipwrights and engineers returned, but she would be angry at having to give away the first working skyship to them. It was only a modest transport, and we were already working on warships. The truth was I valued the NPCs more than the skyship and the obelisk. I could tell Frost Siren didn’t value NPCs at all.

Mad Dog warned me to be cautious of a trap via chat. Frost Siren had a reputation for taking rather than asking. He also doubted that Grey Weasel acted without getting her permission first. Frost Siren had bought out the entire guild and all the players answered to her unconditionally.

“The obelisk is more valuable than what you are offering. With it, you can easily control any town or city.” I calculated a fair offer. “Five hundred thousand gold in essences, my NPCs returned first. Then I will give you the plans for the obelisk. The skyship will be built in 300 game days.” I offered.

Frost Siren’s eyes worked, and I assumed she was communicating in her interface. “No. The skyship needs to be delivered in fifty days or no deal.”

Mad Dog was in my chat again, “She must need it to reach a location for a quest. There was a note of desperation in her tone.” I hadn’t detected any desperation, only a demand.

“We are a small guild,” Mad Dog interrupted when I hesitated to reply. “Surely you can’t expect us to pause our projects and concentrate on the skyship. You must understand how complicated it is.”

I nodded along with Mad Dog’s statement. “Seven hundred and fifty thousand gold in essences, with at least half being major essences to have the ship in fifty days.”

“You will not receive the essences until we receive the skyship,” she hissed unhappily.

“Half the essences now and half after the delivery.” I tried to close the negotiation, turning to Mad Dog, “Mad Dog, contract.”

His contract skill was not as advanced as the one held by the leader of Divine Deviants, but he was able to put a significant penalty in the contract. When the contract was signed, the Eternal Legacy group left quickly. After making sure they were gone, Mad Dog shook his head. “Something fishy, mate, and I’m not talking about Siren’s smell. You can be sure she is going to stab you in the back once she has what she wants.” That was the thing about contracts; once they were completed, there were no longer any penalties.

I nodded but quickly walked back to my lord’s manor to draft a copy of the Eternal Very Rare Watchtower Obelisk. Mad Dog had given me just enough time in the contract to replicate the plans. The exchange went smoothly, but I was slightly annoyed that the first half of the essences was all lesser. Major essences were extremely valuable and necessary for advanced enchanting. Danny and Mermaid embraced the dwarf engineers as they arrived at the portal stone. They had some work to restore their morale, but I didn’t think it would be a problem.

Grey Weasel soon delivered the stolen components of the skyship. He still seethed with anger, and I knew he would be a thorn in my side in the future. He had attacked me, and yet he grew irate when I defended my people and property. For all his charisma on the outside, he was a malicious individual on the inside. The vampire race suited him.

The NPC auction was set to close in four days, followed by another incursion. The game would keep progressing and you either kept up or got run over.

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