Rick walked across the footbridge to stop in front of the stockpile. He stood there while trying to determine what type of troops he may need and how he would plan out this mission to the east. As he went over class combinations and the preparation of all the armor, weapons, and materials, he would require a notice appeared before his eyes.

  Oh? A new update is being implemented I hope it isn't simply a bug fix. I guess I should log off now I need to think this through anyway before I start randomly ordering troops.

  Rick walked over and sat down on a stack of stone blocks and disconnected from the game. He opened the laundry machine to transfer all the clean, damp wash into the dryer and turned it on. Feeling a little hungry, he prepared a couple sandwiches and ate them on the couch while watching TV. A few channel discussed the release of the new VR game Kingdoms Online and he even started seeing commercials advertising its release scheduled for tomorrow.

  After he finished eating, he put his dirty dish in the dishwasher with some dish detergent and started the cleaning cycle. Rick sat down at his computer and started to plan out a rough plan for his journey east on a text editor.

  I believe I will make a small elite team to travel across the island. When we eventually find the settlement I can open a gate to the tower and bring additional units and provisions to our staging point. I can plan for everything all day, but that can all change before we even make it there. The main thing that I need to decide on first is unit race and class combos. Then I will need weapons and armor to equip them for battle.

  I hope some of my friends join up with me soon I need a logistics officer, haha.

  When Rick was finished working out a few unit combos and possible needed supplies he checked the game status on the [KO] website and found that it had been already rebooted. After he shut down his computer he lay back down in the capsule to rejoin the game.

  Rick walked over to the workshop and took the finished beds and mattresses. He asked the furniture makers to make up tables, chairs and a few wardrobes now that they made a decent amount of beds. He passed the busy carpenters who were constructing a stable for his new Tigers and went looking for them

  I need to feed those big guys so they don't decide to start feeding on the sheep grazing on the north end of the island. I believe I may need a couple extra hands to assume care of the growing animal population around here as well.

  He found the Tigers sprawled out sleeping in the grass enjoying the sun near the privy. He spent a few minutes bonding with them, then he fed them the wolf meat he held in his inventory. Leaving the Tigers to return to their naps he walked into the tower and walked upstairs to the second floor and set the new beds around the room. He then went looking for the Wood Stainer and found him working on the fourth floor. He told him that he should start working on the workers' barracks when he had finished up on the last floor.

  When he walked down to the third floor, he brought out all his bedroom furniture and bookcases and arranged them like he had them originally on the second floor. He also decided to place the mattresses he had stitched up for the Tigers along the outside wall of his room.

  It may not be bad having the Tigers sleep up here at night, they would make the perfect watchdogs or watch cats?

  Once he had the bedroom furniture arranged he went down into the cellar and placed a few of his long iron ingots and the six Orichalcum ingots he had from the random ingots into the forge to begin heating them.He opened his inventory and removed some gold and tossed it into the smelting pot to cast coin blanks with later.

  Rick yelled out for Angelica to come downstairs and informed her that he was going into town to buy provisions and that he needed her to watch out for trouble while he was gone. He opened a portal to the weapons shop and made his way inside and went straight to buying. He bought hundreds of barbed iron tip arrows, then promptly paid for them and hiked over to Terra's small armor shop and purchased ten female scale mail armor outfits similar to the one he bought for Angelica there.

  Once he had paid and stored the armor away, he jogged through the streets to his blacksmith teacher's business and updated him on the attack. He explained how his workers had been attacked by a group of humans and that he needed some supplies for a counter-attack. Rick gathered up different types and sizes of anvils, hammers, and tongs that he paid for along with a good amount of iron and coal.

  "Would you still happen to have any chain mail that I could possibly buy from you like the last set I got here?" Rick asked.

  "Aye, I do, we have chainmail cuirass, chain mail leggings, iron plate pauldrons, and iron plate greaves in the back for an order that will need to be delivered next week, but I can sell them to you. I will just replace them before the order needs to be delivered." Hibal explained.

  "Perfect, I will take ten of each of them then. I appreciated your help it will save me loads of time." Rick Thanked him and left to jog toward the central plaza.

  Rick found a butcher that he bought a wide variety of different meats and sausages from, and a farmer that he procured baskets of fruits, vegetables, cheeses and eggs from. Rick quickly made a pass through the busy isles of vendor tables to seek out anything he may need. He came upon a wilderness outfitter that sold him bedrolls and backpacks that the trader called "packsacks".

  I really don't need camping supplies for the trip there, I will open a portal when we stop to bring my party back to the tower to eat and sleep. These bedrolls and backpacks may be useful at some point, so I'll buy them now that they are available.

  When Rick was clear of the crowd of shoppers swarming the plaza he ran toward the south gate and saluted the surprised guard that promptly saluted back as he was passing him by. Minutes later he arrived at the stables that they had found on their trip to the farms. Rick told the stable owner that he was looking for horses that could be used in battle. The owner showed him a group of large horses that he picked fifteen he liked from and had saddles, saddle bags, and reins that fit equipped on them. After Rick paid for the horses and thier tack gear, he activated his calm animal aura and brought them through the portal home.

  With the small herd of horses docily following along they were guided to the north side of the tower island near the sheep and left to graze. Rick deactivated his [charm animal] skill as he stepped over to the stoclpile.

  Bringing up the [Land Management Menu] he purchased a male human [Animal Trainer] and a male human [Shepard]. He had instructed the animal trainer that he would be watching over the horses and tigers from now on and had him remove the saddles and reigns from the horses.

  "Later on I will take you over to the Tigers and let them get to know you. I don't think they will attack you, but better safe than sorry." He explained the animal trainer.

  Rick turned to look at the Shepard. "I want you to take care of the sheep for now and try to keep them away from the Tigers." He said pointing toward the group of grazing sheep.

  Ok, now that the critters are all taken care of for now let's look through the units.

  Show Land Management Menu!

  Show buy units!

  "What the...? They added a magic selection now!" Rick excitedly yelled out.

  This wasn't here last time I bought units and I must of looked right past it when I spawned in the trainer and shepard. This must have been added in with the new update from earlier. This is a huge addition now I dont need to seek out magic users I can freely add them to my party.

  Show VIP create units Menu!

  This menu appears to be the same as it always was from what I can remember.

  Buy create a custom!

  Female!

  Wow, they added three new non-playable races and a new VIP race as well! That update must have contained content they have been holding back on until they were assured the system was stable. This changes my game plan now I need to review this newly added content before I make any decisions.

  Show Half-Giant Race!

  Spoiler: Half-Giant Race Menu

  Holy crap, these guys sound incredible. If I get a couple of them with heavy armor and give them a massive weapon they will wreak havoc on the battlefield.

  Show Half-Dryad Race!

  Spoiler: Half-Dryad Race Menu

  The Half-Dryad would make a good unit to use in forest battles. They can snipe from the trees and then use [tree stride] to hide in the tree trunks or travel from tree to tree. They are like big squirrels that use nature magic and Archery to fight. They could also be the perfect gardener with their connection to nature.

  Show Half-Angel Race!

  Spoiler: Half-Angel Race Menu

  The Half-Angels could make a great healers or warriors to counter evil creatures.

  Show Aquatine Race!

  Spoiler: Aquatine Race Menu

  This race sounds like a fantasy version of the Navy Seals they can breathe underwater and fight well under water and swim really fast. They also have Psionic powers to attack and protect themselves. I think they would also make a good mage class with that [Truth of Magic] ability. If I ever need to do underwater work or attack from water to land I will need to make good use of this race.

  Show Class Division Menu!

  All that they changed here is a Magic Class Division was added, but I still haven't looked at half these divisions to see what all is available yet. I should go through them so I can plan accordingly for the future.

  Show Government Division Menu!

  They even have a government controlled prostitutes available. That tavern I want to make may need a second floor, it could become a Tavern/Brothel. I won't have much use for most these other classes for quite some time since they seem to be used for an established town.

  Show Noble Division Menu!

  I suppose if the day my kingdom gets too big, I can divide it up and use these units to run the allocation of lands.

  Show Magic Division Menu!

  They don't have many choices right now, but I won't complain having magic user available now is a great option. I might be able to even learn some magic from these guys somehow or get some hints at least.

  Show Battle Mage class!

  This is an interesting class here, I wouldn't mind getting a dual combat/magic class like this one for myself.

  Show Soul weaver class!

  The Soul Weaver sounds like a necromancer variant raising dead and dealing out negative effects. I can't think of any reason to get a necro right now, I need crowd control magic mainly for battles and for hunting monsters I think the battle mage would work out well.

  Show Temptress class!

  The Temptress would make a great spy. Just like women spies of WW2 had found out men talk allot in bed. They may not be very useful in battle, but they can still be used for certain missions.

  Show Pyromancer Class!

  A fire mage class will make a great crowd control unit. I need to get a unit with this class. A fire mage might make it difficult to hunt with a small party. I just imagine they would set everything on fire around you while you tried to fight monsters you would also need to evade the flames as well. If you are going into a battle though that has groups of enemies charging you this is a great class to have on your side then. The enemy would find it a bit difficult to fight when they are on fire or see others around them running and screaming from the flames.

  Show Druid Class!

  Druids always have amazing and original spells. They are usually good with elemental affinities as well. I wouldn't even mind a Druid class for myself when I reach level ten.

  Show Religion Division Menu!

  Show Cleric Class!

  A healer class very nice, it seems that a cleric might be able to fight and heal. This is must have class for my party having a healer could save allot of lives in a fight. Well, I still haven't explored all the unit options and classes, but I think I have enough to work with for now.

  Rick sat down and took out a scrap of cloth and charcoal and began writing down available races and class combinations.

  I really need to invent a pencil or pen of some type, I really don't want to mess around with quills and ink bottles and sharpened charcoal isn't precise enough for anything other that writing rough notes.

  "I think I need help creating weapons, armor, and clothing for the new units or it will be days before we set out." He murmured to himself while examining his list.

  Rick then had four units spawn in a Dwarf [Weaponsmith/Artisian], a Dwarf [Armorer/Artisian], and two Human [Tailor/cobbler]. He decided to add the Artisan class as the second class for the dwarves so that any weapons and armors they create would not be only utilitarian, but a work of art when they leveled their skills up. Once they had all spawned in he escorted them to the tower cellar and showed them how the forged worked and where everything they may need was located. Rick arranged all the new anvils, tools, and extra grindstones for them to work with while instructing them to use the ingots in the forge he placed in there earlier.

  Rick had the weaponsmith start making dagger blades, dagger guards, and dagger pommels. He then took some quick measurements of his upper body and had the Armorsmith begin on a plate mail cuirass. Rick told him to use the Orichalcum ingots in the forge and also left him some leather for any straps he may need to make. Rick drew out an image of the USMC kevlar helmet and chin strap and told Armorer to make him a helm like the one in that drawing from the Orichalcum after he completed the torso armor cuirass.

  "I would like you to make full use of your artisan class on this armor. There is gold in the smelting pot and that stack of random ingots in the corner that you can also use. The ingots are all marked with symbols and the list on top of them tells what each symbol equates to in material type. I want you both to make these weapons and armors to be not only high quality but decorative as well." Rick explained to his new workers.

  He left the cellar to hike over to the workshop with the two Human [Tailor/Cobbler] and set them up at a neighboring workbench and supplied them with leather, rolls of cloth, laces, rolls of silks, leather working tools and sewing needles and thread. He gave him a set of dye pens and drew up a few things he wanted them to start on. He had them start making twenty-five red and black Tabards for now and handed them a drawing of what he wanted them to look like.

  While they looked over his pattern he quickly used his leather belt recipe and produced twenty-five belts. He took them out and placed them on the workbench and told them to dye them all black.

  "I will be back soon, for now, work on the tabards. When I return I will show you the other designs I will need to be done." Rick instructed.

  On his way to the [System Gate] located on the stock pile he pulled out his notes of units and class combinations

  He skimmed over his notes from earlier and began purchasing the listed units.

  I need to see what kind of skills and spells these new units can use so I know what I can and can not accomplish with them. Rick thought as he opened the class menus along with the spells or skills of that class.

  Spoiler: Unit Class Menus...

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  After Rick had reviewed the class menus he told them to follow him into the workshop to measure them all for clothes, weapons, and armor.When Rick had successfully written down everyone's measurements he told them to relax in the worker's barracks or in the tower for now while he had weapons, armor, and other gear prepared for them. While the party dispersed to await further instructions Rick also looked through their Status Menus and noticed a discrepancy between their levels and his.

  These new unit are all level nine and they are supposed to spawn the same level as me. He thought to himself.

  Rick then opened up his notices to review them and figure out what he missed from the start of the battle to now.

  Spoiler: Notices...

  Those attacking tribesmen must have been up near level 20 for me to level up this much from killing only four of them. I must have quite the surplus of unused points now, that need to be distributed. I should take care of that before we set off.

  Whoops, I took a -500 honor hit from this new title. My actions were a little extreme but I am not going to become a raid target for tribesmen to farm for resources and valuables like the Faith Temple worshipers. One day I can build a prison to put captured enemies in instead of killing them, but for now, I have to worry about security and do away with all threats.

  This is something I haven't seen yet I wonder if this is a new report system they added, or you only get these reports when fighting other races besides monsters. These battle experience points must have played a part in the sudden level increases as well.

  Show Status!

  Since I can't pick my first class until level 10 I will just spread my points around to boost my physical attacks. I will add 10 points to strength to improve my melee damage, 10 points to Agility will improve my movement speed at accuracy, 10 points to vitality can increase my hit points and make my body more robust against injuries. I have 10 points left still I suppose I can save them a little longer for now. My next level isn't too far off, once I find out what my class will be I can use them towards improving it. Alright, time to hand out more orders and get to work on this list of gear we need.

  Rick drew up a copy of the military boots he had once worn with a leather sole and heel since he did not have rubber to use. He also drew up designs for a red and black dress with thin leather strips sewn into them, that gave some protection in vital areas. He passed the designs and measurements for all the footwear and the two dresses to the tailor/cobblers and left them to continue their work. Walking outside of the workshop Rick made his way over to the blast furnace and dumped in iron then limestone and finally coal in repeating layers filling the furnace up half way. He placed his finger on the switch rune to start it up so that soon after it all melted down, he would be able to make more steel ingots.

  I need to take care of those two dead tigers now out by kiln house that died during the attack from our arrows.

  Rick hiked across the eastern footbridge to the Tiger carcasses and took out his knife, a rope, and a pulley. He tied the two Tigers up by their back legs and then tied the pulley to a thick tree branch.

  He fed the rope tied to the Tiger around the pulley to haul it up until it was freely hanging and tied the rope around the tree trunk. He first used his knife to make a cut in the Tiger's neck and drained it of blood into a few clay jugs he had in his inventory. After it was drained he used his knife to skin and butcher it, and then repeated the process for the second dead Tiger. In the end, he had two huge Tiger pelts a few hundred pounds of meat and some of the larger bones and teeth that he removed. He stored everything away and buried the cleaned carcasses to avoid having predators snooping around for a meal.

  He then walked over to the canal and washed his hands off in the cool river water. He made his way into the tower cellar and found the two dwarfs hard at work. He once again drew up a design of a huge one-handed battle axe with its measurements and gave it to the weaponsmith.

  "When you finish making all the dagger parts then start on this axe design, we need four of them in the sizes I wrote down here. You have free rein on how they will look, we have two half-giants who just joined us and those four axes will be their weapons."

  Then he handed the armorsmith measurements of the half-giants upper and lower body and instructed him to make two full plate mail sets in those sizes when he had finished his armor. Taking out his 1300 coin stone cast he poured gold into the casts and let them cool and repeated the process a few times and ran the coins through the coin press to restock his dwindling currency.

  Rick opened his inventory stored his new stock of gold coins and tossed a few more large iron ingots into the forge and pulled out one that was already hot with his tongs. He split off a small end of it and put the rest back on the forge. The small piece he cut off was then sectioned into thin pinky thick slices that he individually hammered into round cylinders about the size and shape of a pencil. Once he had them all shaped Rick used the hammer to make points on each end. When he made ten of these he received a recipe that he named "Throwing Darts".

  Next, he began on making a holding case for the new darts out of leather. He designed the case to resemble a cigarette pack with a flip up top. The darts were held inside twenty individual slots with a flap that would fold over the top of them so they could not bounce out when fighting or running. He then dyed the pouch black and sewed belt slots on the back so they could be carried on a weapons belt. With the new recipes, he made up forty throwing dart kits and stored them away.

  The dwarf weaponsmith had finished making all the dagger parts and went straight to work on the huge axes. Rick gathered up all the dagger parts and used his tap/die kit to thread the tang on the dagger blades and the inside of the dagger pommels to match. When the threads were finished Rick assembled all the daggers by placing the guard over the tang then the handle and last he threaded on the pommels to lock the pieces all together and stored them away.

  The armorsmith had finished Rick's armor and helmet by then and they both looked incredible. The Orichalcum metal the armor and helmet were made from is a gold color but he had added black pattern and designs to emphasize their contours and lines. The armorsmith used inlaying channels to pour black steel into that made the ornate black designs on the gold Orichalcum armor. He then engraved around his designs, rendering them an almost three-dimensional look as if the armor was designed to protrude out from the surface.

  He thanked him for the fantastic craftsmanship and stored the armor to go to his next work. Using the shaft recipe Rick made ten spear handles and left them in his inventory. He retrieved the ingot he took a slice from earlier to cut off a few more chunks from it and tossed it back into the forge. His next project was to make a few spears, but he decided to make a lance point spear tip. Rick had seen this particular spear tip online when he researched medieval weaponry and it was known to work well in piercing armors. It was basically a long thin pointed tip instead of a typical wide leaf blade that he has seen so far. They were easy to make he only had to hammer out the cuts of iron into one foot long round pointed end cylinders shapes. He then used a punch to make a cavity that the wood shaft could fit into and drilled a couple holes through the spear tip and shaft to pin them together. He received a recipe that he named "Lance Point Spear" that he used to make backups.

  Next, I want to try and make a bow recipe to arm some of the new units, Angelica, and me.

  Rick picked out a few Mithril Ingots from the randoms stack and put them in his inventory, except for two that he placed into the forge fire to heat up. Rick checked on the two dwarfs then sat down at his bench to draw up the pulley system for the bow while he thought it through on how they worked.

  I know that the two pulleys have a string that connects to each end of pulley axles that works like a block tackle, where both pulleys work together. Then the main bow string is wound around the outside radius of the pulleys that the arrow notches too.

  When he had an idea of how he wanted to proceed he grabbed a Mithril Ingot out of the forge flames with is tongs and sectioned it up into five sections. First, he started with the bow limbs, he hammered out a section of the metal into the shape of a long thin metal plank then cut it in half. On one end of each of the limbs, he split them to look like a tuning fork and used his drill to make a hole all the way through the side of the split ends. then on the opposite end, he drilled out two more holes. Using the forge he heated the center of each limb and carefully bent them over the anvil giving them a slight curve.

  He set the limbs aside and used another chunk of Mithril to start on the pulleys. He hammered the metal into two [quarter inch] thick round circle shapes and drilled out the center making the axle channel. Next, he removed some of the metal in the round metal around the axel channel making them look like spoked wheels. Now that he had the pulleys shaped he used a small metal file to make a groove around the outer lip of the pulley that the string would remain on the pulley.

  I have the limbs and pulleys finished I guess I can start on the frame next.

  Rick began hammering out another long thin rectangle section of metal and measured it out finding the center where he formed a small lip that was the arrow rest. The arrow rest is what held the end of the arrow straight while drawing it back to shoot. Underneath the arrow rest he hammered the frame into a rounder shape this was the frame grip where you hold the bow. When the arrow rest and grip looked good he began to shape the ends of the frame to have a forward bow that curved away from the shooter.

  I have all the main parts finished now I can make the hardware and assemble it.

  With the more of the same Mithril, he made two axels, four bolts, four nuts, and a sight post and used his tap/die kit to thread them all. He used the bolts to secure the limbs to the frame then pushed the axles into the axle channels through the frame and pulleys and cranked them in place with the nuts on the threaded ends. With the help of his drill, he then made a hole above the arrow rest and screwed the sight post into the frame.

  I need a way to flex this bow now while I string it.

  he made five thick wood pegs and screwed them to his workbench top. He placed two pegs to his right and left and one slightly forward between them. He squeezed one of the bow limbs between two pegs and wrapped the frame around the center wood peg and flex the last bow limb back toward him and popped it between the last two pegs holding the bow in a flexed position.

  Rick opened up his inventory and took out a spool of bowstring, glue, sewing supplies and a candle and cut off two lengths of bowstring to his measurements. One string he spliced a six-inch length of string with glue and thread on each end so that there was now two split ends that he attached tied around the outside of both pulley axles. The other longer length of bow string he wound around the outside radius of the pulleys and spliced the ends together. When the glue had dried on the thread wound around the bowstring splice he used a candle to wax the strings.

  This bow is only missing one small thing now, I need to make the peep sight.

  The peep sight was a small round piece of metal with a hole in the center that he made in a couple minutes. The used the needle and thread to sew it in place on the bowstring so that when you draw back the bow you look through the peep sight on the bowstring and line it up with the sight post that he attached above the arrow rest.

  There we go all finished now I think the strings are dry enough to release the flexed limbs now.

  He pulled the limbs out of the wood pegs and they jumped back to their original outstretched position taking up the slight slack in the strings to make them now taunt. Rick gripped the bow handle and drew the bow back to his cheek without releasing it just to feel the bow pull weight.

  This most defiantly has a stronger pull to it than my wood recurve bow, it should have some great power and accuracy to it.

  He stored the bow away then and named the recipe he received "Mithril Compound Bow" and used that recipe to make nine more bows with the Mithril Ingots he placed in his inventory before he started on the bow.

  His next project was to make a longsword with the steel ingots. With his tongs, he pulled out a glowing steel ingot to slice off a few different sized chunks. The first bigger piece he used to start the blade that he hammered out and tapered off both sides into an edge. He formed a point on the one end and hammered out a rectangular tang on the other end. He then shaped the end of the tang into a one inch bolt that he threaded. The next part he started to make was the guard hat he worked into the shape of spread Dragon wings and used his etching tools to add detail to the wings.

  The handle he shaped into an oblong cylinder and hollowed the core out to slide over the tang on assembly. The handle was also detailed to look like Dragon Scales that he etched out all around it giving it a good grip when he held it in his hand. Next, he made a round ball of steel and sat down to painstakingly sculpt out a Dragon head with its mouth open as if it would roar or breath fire.

  When he was satisfied with the Dragon head he drilled out a small hole underneath it and threaded it to the size of the tang's bolt. He picked up the guard that looked like wings and slid it over the tang then next came the handle that fit onto the tang and the piece was the Dragon head that was the pommel of the sword he screwed it onto the tang bolt tightly locking the guard and handle in place.

  Rick took the fully assembled longsword over to one of the grinding wheels and put a nice sharp edge on both sides of the blade and the point. He opened the recipe and named it "Flight of Fury" and used it to make five more of them with it. He then made scabbard to fit the longswords and used the recipe to make enough for them all

  Glancing at his list he decided to make a saber next. He used the same process as the longswords except the saber blade was curved with only one edge and he sculpted the pommel to look like an eagle's head from the gold colored Orichalcum. The guard he shaped and etched to look like eagle wings that folded back around the handle to protect the hand of whoever held it from being slashed. The handle he made out of Orichalcum as well and he etched detailed bird feathers around the entire handle. Once the parts were all completed he assembled the saber and put a sharp edge on it. He named the recipe "where Eagles Dare" and made two more with it. He the had to make a tricky curved scabbard for the sabers and used the recipe for the other one.

  When he had finished the two Dwarfs also finished a few minutes later. He stored the half-giants axes and armor away and had the weaponsmith start on a steel mace that he gave him free rain to design and create. The Armorsmith he instructed to use the steel ingots and make eight steel shields and left them to walk over to the blast furnace. He shut the furnace down and opened the valve on the slag pipe to drain out the impurities then opened the lid and dumped two jugs of the Tigers blood in with the molten steel. Removing his long stone ingot cast he began making more of steel ingots until he had poured out the last of the liquid steel. When they had cooled some he poped them out of the cast and put them all into his inventory.

  He walked into the workshop and found all the tabards the two dresses and most of the boots were completed so he stored them and walked over to an empty workbench. He took black thread, a sewing kit, scissors and a roll of cloth. Rick used the materials to make a black ninja outfit that would fit the female cat girl with a tail hole in the pants and ear holes in the hooded mask. While he was at it he decided to make undergarments for both genders. Then he remembered that he never made a sheath for the daggers and got to work making a thick leather sheath that he dyed black and used the recipe to make more them.

  He then took the time to dye everyones boots, belts, and Dart Kit Pouches Black, and then he thought about the leather gloves recipe he had and made gloves for everyone and dyed them also black.

  Rick opened his inventory and found a roll of red silk with white Dragon patters and another roll of solid white silk. Rick cut about five feet of the pattered red silk off the roll and used the solid white silk to make a one inch border around it. He cut a half circle out of one end of the red silk to fit around his neck and sewed leather straps with clip hooks he got from the tailor shop. He had made a nice red silk cape with white Dragon patterns and a white border. As he was storing everything away he became aware that his notice icon was flashing so he opened it to see what he learned.

  As he was reviewing his notices the tailor/cobblers finished the boots up so Rick told them to start making a couple sets clothes and dresses in the sizes of the new units to raise their skills.

  "Just go ahead make them however you want it is just for practice and so they have additional clothes to wear other than armor. When you finish that you can go around and take measurements of all the workers and yourself and make some extras for all them. I had bought some clothes from town but some might not find any to be a proper fit."

  He then walked over to the furniture makers and took the tables chairs and wardrobes they made and had them start on making more of the single beds and two custom beds that would fit and support the half-giants. He took the new furniture over to the worker's barracks and arranged most of it around for them and told the new units there to head over to the tower with the others.

  He then went to the tower the second floor and arranged the rest of the furniture up there. He decided that he would make the second floor for all the females to sleep and keep their things.

  When he was finished on the second floor he went down to the cellar and found the two dwarfs working together to finish the last of the steel shields. When they finished Rick took the shields and the steel mace that came out really well. He then handed them both two of the new five-foot long steel ingots infused with Tiger blood and told them to make whatever they wanted with them to help raise their skills. Rick was also curious to see what kind of bonuses the Tiger blood would add to weapons and armor.

  Alright, I think that we have the majority of everything we may need for the mission now. He thought as he walked upstairs and called Angelica down from the third floor. When she came down he then turned to address the new troops.

  "I would like to welcome you all to your new home though it is not much right now we will eventually build a city out on the plain. We were actually in the process of that until the surveyors came under attack by a human tribe raiding party from far to the east. I happen to learn this from one of the wounded attackers with a little...persuasion." Allot of them smiled and the two half-giants let out wicked laughs at the last part.

  "We now know where they came from and I also happened upon a very old map that has the location of their village if they haven't moved it. This is the reason why we haven't had time to properly welcome you all until now I have been busy making the weapons, armor, and gear we will need to take the fight to their homes and discourage them from even coming to this side of the island ever again. This here he gestured is Angelica She is the second in command and Sturm here will be your squad leader." He stood before Sturm to point him out.

  "Sturm is a General and a Hero Knight his General class will greatly aid you to fight stronger and smarter so he will lead you on the battlefield," Rick explained.

  He answered any questions they had and try to talk to each of them and get to know them. When everyone was settled in he took out his equipment list. He then began calling up the units to give them their new equipment that he read off his list and handed to them from his inventory.

  When he had handed out all the equipment he sent the men to the barracks and the women to the second floor to get changed. He followed the women upstairs and handed the stack of women's clothes over to Kanna and told her that she did not need to wear the ninja suit every day and could pick some clothes out and he would alter them for her. He then went to the fourth floor of the tower and built a couple basic weapons and armor racks and stocked the weapons racks with bows, spears, and swords and left a stack of arrows. The armor racks were then stocked with all the sets of armor he bought from his blacksmith teacher and Terra's female scalemail armors. He wanted to make sure that they had a way to defend themselves if someone of something attacked while they were gone.

  He then started equipping all his new gear to see how it all fit. He put on everything he had then clipped the cape to his armor and carried his shield and spear in hand.

  He walked downstairs and across the eastern bridge fully armed to get a feel for all his gear and seen Handil and his crew working along tower island shore digging out a trench a few feet deep and laying stone blocks in the trench. These were the orders he gave them to build a wall around the island and now they had a two-foot high wall around more than half the island. He walked over to quickly inform Handil that he had stocked the fourth floor with weapons and armors and how to bolt the steel tower door with the steal beams in the corner. He gave him an update on the new units around the settlement and their plans to leave shortly east to attack the tribesmen. Rick shook Handils hand and thanked him for the great work then left him to continue over to the kiln house.

  He went inside the kiln house and examined the clay pipes he made for the fresh water and drainage. This was the first time he saw them since when he fist paced them in here to fire dry.

  These pipes all had one end flanged so that the could connect together over a long distance. The workers just need to put a little cement on the thin end of the pipe and fit it into a flanged end of the next pipe to connect them all. He even had made the (T) shaped connectors and (L) shaped connectors to make turns and split pipes into two different directions with the (T) shapes.

  It's funny when I look at these pipes laying on the shelves they remind of a shoulder-fired rocket launcher. I wish, if I had a few of those it would make things much easier. He smiled as he thought to himself.

  This got him thinking about modern weapons and how he could make scaled down primitive version of some. Then an idea started to form for the use of the clay pipes. First, he measured the narrow ends inner ring and he also measured the inside of the pipes diameter. Using a stone paver from his inventory Rick chiseled it into a circle that would fit on the inside the narrow end of the pipe.

  Rick repeated the process making another stone circle a little smaller that fit on the inside of the pipe and chiseled out the center of it making it look like a big stone ring. The stone circle that was made to fit into the end, he engraved with copious amounts of wind runes all around the outer rim of it and the stone ring he carved fire runes around the entire outside. He took out his cement and applied it to the rim of each rune and cemented them into the pipe. When they dried he linked them to a switch rune on the pipe's side and received a recipe that he named "Flame Cannon".

  It was made on the same principle as his forge but with many more runes. When it was switched on the back wind runes would blow down the pipe and through the hole in the fire ring that shot the flames out the end of it.

  He walked outside the kiln house and near a hundred yards away from any of the building and used some stone blocks to make a small wall just big enough to stand behind. He placed the cannon on the other side of the wall a few feet away and turned it on and sprinted back behind the wall to peak around the corner at it. Rick wasn't sure if it would work or blow up like a huge clay gernade so he played it safty first.

  The runes kicked in almost instantly and shot out a column of fire for about forty feet and then started to creep across the ground like it wanted to take off like a rocket on its side. Rick quickly ran out to it and touched the rune switch turning it off.

  Well, this thing is a way to crazy to carry around and use as a flame thrower, but it would make a great stationary defense weapon. if we anchor them along are front lines any enemy who charged us would run into a wall of blasting flames.

  Rick stored the block wall and the flame cannon and went to find the animal trainer. He had him follow him to the tower and asked the four female elves with the second Druid class to come with him outside. He walked over to the Tigers with the elves and the animal trainer and ask one of them to translate what he says to the Tigers. The elf named Silandra stepped forward to help out and Rick asked her to tell them that the Animal trainer would be taking care of them sometimes and not to hurt him and also not to eat the other animals wandering the island. When they agreed to not hurt anyone Rick let everyone come over and pet them with him. After playing with the Tigers for a minute Rick told the animal tamer to get the horses saddled and ready to leave.

  He went back into the tower with the druids and started cooking everyone a meal before they set off. Rick Mixed up a dozen eggs in a bowl, then shred up some bread into small breadcrumbs in another bowl,and the last bowl he filled with flour. Rick turned the stove on and filled a skillet with cooking oil and placed it on the hot area to heat up. Taking out a few whole chickens from his inventory he quartered them up and dip them in flour then in the eggs and lastly into the breadcrumbs. When he covered them in a nice coating of crumbs he placed them in the oil and made a large batch of fried chicken like this. He then mashed a bunch of potatoes in a large pot and added some cheese to it while it cooked on the stove. While the potatoes simmered on the side he sliced and cooked up some mixed vegetables he placed them in a separate skillet and sauteed in wine, a little butter, and some spices. When it was all done he set it all out on the table with utensils and plates so that everyone could eat up before they took off on the journey east.

  When they finished eating Rick told the half-giants that they would have to stay here until they found the enemy village. He would then open a gate and bring them over since they did not have any mounts big enough for them to ride long distances. At first they seemed disappointed until they were assured they would not lose the battle. The Tigers were probably powerful enough to carry them, but he didn't want to take a chance and injure them when it wasn't necessary.

  Rick remembered to then explore the party creation options and discovered that it was possible to have a party of up to 20 people total.

  Just over two squads to a party not bad if this was a standard fantasy RPG we might get six to eight people a party. I think they are planning for large scale battles so the parties are much bigger.

  He sent all his new units and Handil invitations to join his party and was glad that they could join being AI and not players. When they joined the party they soon ascertained that they could somehow sense each other's direction to their location. Rick continued to play with the setting and options to find that there was a party chat system that worked like telepathy, they could all think what they wanted to be said to an individual persons or the entire party and that person or persons would hear it as a disembodied voice in their head.

  While they were growing accustomed to the [Party Chat] the animal trainer came in and told them the amount of horses they needed for the party were saddled and waiting near the eastern bridge. They all walked out to the horses together excited for the trip ahead and led their mounts across the footbridge they all climbed up into the saddle and turned their mounts east and set off.

  They were in no hurry so they spared their horses and trotted them across the ocean of green grass that spread out before them as far as the eye could see.