Well, I'm back from my unscheduled hiatus. I don't know why, but I just couldn't write anything for the last month or so. Again, I make no promises on how often I update.
XXX
"Unfricking believable"
Takehara muttered under his breath as he shut a book and placed it back on the shelf. After hearing that Sara had summoned some elven scouts, Takehara had decided to order an inventory done of their resources. Of particular note was the items in the library. The Celestial Wardens had a huge amount of mercenary monster data stored there. Currently, they only had enough gold to use a small fraction of it, but with the Cauldron of Abundance and an exchange box, they could create gold. Given enough time, they would eventually have enough to use all of the data.
However, that was not what was bothering Takehara right now.
While in the library, he decided to browse through the books to do a quick spot check of what they had. Everything was fine until he reached the uploaded books. Takehara knew that the members of the Celestial Wardens had uploaded a vast library of information to their guildbase. The text data was comparatively very small and didn't affect the guild adversely. Takehara knew for a fact that they had many digital documents including the entire Project Gutenberg library stored here less than a year before the server shut down.
However, now this section of the library was filled with various types of manga and comics.
"Dammit, WhiteSwordLight, I know it was you! Why in the name of all that is good did you have to do this? And you even chose pictures!" muttered Takehara.
There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case it could be even more. Depending on the quality of the picture, it can take an amount of data that could otherwise hold a large number of words. The library had a finite amount of data for uploaded material, so once that limit was hit, things had to be deleted to add new content.
'I know he couldn't have known this would happen, but I still wish he didn't delete all that information.' thought Takehara. 'Things would be so much easier with all that information, but no, he just had to upload his "personal image collection". I can't believe what he managed to slip past the censors. In any other situation I would find this impressive and hilarious.'
Takehara shook his head. There was nothing that could be done about it now. As he highly doubted that WhiteSwordLight could have reasonably predicted this situation, he really couldn't blame him.
Feeling a bit disappointed, Takehara gathered what he needed from the library and went to continue his task.
XXX
Saito looked at the six level 100 NPCs in front of him.
The first was Morg, an ancient mountain troll with a juggernaut build wielding a large club. He was built to have a huge amount of HP and soak up damage.
The second was Alex, a male human guardian with a fortress build, wielding a one handed sword and a large shield.
The third was Darius, a male dwarf dark knight with a armored bruiser build, wielding a two handed sword.
The fourth was Vash, a male human monk with a elemental fist build. He wielded metal claws attached to his fists and had high natural elemental defenses.
The fifth was Tess, a female human mage with an elementalist build, specializing in elemental damage. She wielded a golden staff with a blue crystal.
The sixth was Jaina, a female elf assassin with a shadowblade build. She had a pair of short swords.
These six NPCs were the main line of defense for Starcloak Cape. Any intruders would have to fight them to proceed deeper into the base. This was made more difficult by the fact that they were supported by eight healers and four attackers that could operate from a safe zone that could only be accessed once the six defenders fell. All in all, this was an efficient defense line. Starcloak Cape did have several other defenders, but these were mainly mercenary monster summons or rare super golems.
Saito had interacted with these six for over half an hour by now. He now knew several things about them.
All six of them were currently equipped in powerful divine class equipment made by the Celestial Wardens. Outfitting them in this equipment would have been prohibitively expensive if not for the Cauldron of Abundance. All of them were exceptionally skilled, somehow knowing how to use their abilities effectively, albeit not creatively. All of them were completely loyal to him and the other guildmembers.
All of them were also complete nerds.
"I will gladly obey any order you give, lord Saito, but I feel that I must inform you that your proposed action violates the prime directive." stated Tess.
"OK, first of all, Tess, the Prime Directive does not apply to us, and second, even if it did it's not feasible to enforce it." Saito said as he facepalmed.
"Don't worry, guys, I'm sure it will all work out. We must believe in ourselves. Our emotions will power our magic and courage will guide our blades." stated Vash.
'I'm not really looking to start a fight yet, gotta watch these guys for now' thought Saito.
"Eh, either way the lords gave me a purpose and power. I'll do whatever they order me to, man. After all, I believe in them and they believe in me." said Morg as he bashed his chest.
"Alright, then. I've already told you the plan. Since we're meeting humans, I figure I'd be best if our party is only comprised of humans, at least for now. So, I'll take Tess and Vash with me, along with Cana from the healing squad on this mission. The rest of you, continue defending this area. I've already asked Sara to assign shifts for you to keep watch. The first set of new gear should be ready by now, so we'll grab that and I'll have a quick meeting with the guild members before we head out. This mission could take anywhere from several hours to a few weeks, so be prepared." stated Saito.
The three remaining members of Celestial Wardens had realized that their new living NPCs might have needs that did not exist in YDDGRASIL. Fortunately there were many facilities in Starcloak cape such as bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens. Surprisingly, even though they were once only background images, they somehow all worked now.
"Very well, we shall wish all of you a safe journey. May the brilliance of your souls guide your path." stated Jaina.
"Thank you for your wishes. Until we meet again." replied Tess.
"And may the force be with you." said Alex.
Saito found it harder than he anticipated to keep a straight face.
XXX
"AHAHAHA, did he really say that!" laughed Reiko.
"Yes, yes he did. I'm surprised you get the reference." answered Saito.
"Ha, yeah, I know some of the classics. My dad was a big fan and we watched a few series together before he died, those were good memories." said Reiko.
"So, how did it go for you?" asked Saito.
"Not much to report. The crafters are working on the weak contact gear for now and have the first batch out. We have enough food coming in from the upper garden and central aquaculture zone to sustain us. There's fungi from the lower mines as well, but not nearly as much as the other production zones. Speaking of the lower mines, I talked to a few of the NPCs and it seems some of them with certain classes such as geomancer and mineral worker are not only able to harvest the mines, but also somehow replenish them. I have no idea how that works though." said Reiko.
Starcloak cape had many mercenary monster NPCs in it, but not all of them were in combat roles. There were mercenary NPCs that performed certain tasks. Some of these actually worked to reduce upkeep costs in YDDGRASIL, but most of them were effectively role-play NPCs. However, with the transition to the new world, some of these mercenary NPCs actually contributed to the base.
"Well, I got some bad news and some worse news. Which one would you lie to hear first?" asked Takehara.
"Wait, shouldn't it be good news and bad news?" mentioned Saito.
"Sorry, I'm all out of good news." said Takehara.
"Well, lets hear the bad news first." said Reiko.
"Well, it seems that we blew almost all of our funds in that last party before the shutdown. Our treasury is at less than 2 percent full and most of that is equipment. That said, this wasn't completely unexpected and all of the guilds spare powerful gear is still in the treasure vaults. Fortunately, with the cauldron and exchange box, we can generate more gold and materials over time, so this isn't a problem in the long term." said Takehara.
"Well, at least we won't be hurting for money." said Satio.
"That's assuming that the items the cauldron produces has value here. It's a reasonable assumption, but I'd prefer confirmation." pointed out Takehara.
"Alright, that's not a big issue, what's the other thing, Take?" asked Reiko.
"Well, I checked the library and it seems that someone, likely WhiteSwordLight, decided to upload a huge amount of data to our library. Unfortunately, in order to do so, several things had to be deleted. We did have several libraries worth of books, which would have been quite useful now, but they're gone now." said Takehara.
"Well, that's unfortunate. Did we lose all of it?" asked Reiko.
"Eh, I'm not sure. There might be some books left, but I don't know how much. I'll need to check more thoroughly later. Anyway, they're isn't much we can do about someone uploading their personal collection to our library, so we'll have to plan around it." said Takehara.
'Note to self: check library later' thought Saito.
"Anyway, that's about everything important I learned. does anyone else have anything to add?" asked Takehara.
Both Reiko and Saito shook their heads.
"Alright, then good luck out there, Saito. Don't forget to check in with us twice each day." said Takehara.
With that, the three players left the conference room. Takehara and Reiko went deeper into the base and Saito met with his team before embarking on a new mission.
XXX
I don't know why, but I just had to put the force line in there. I honestly had a hard time choosing that and 'may the shwartz be with you'.
Also, before you can ask about it, PervySageChuck, yes, the image collection is what you think it is. Probably, I can't read minds, but I can guess.