A rather short chapter. Hey, there's Qrow!
Building up to something down the line.
Chapter 7: Modules & Reconstruction
A few districts are still badly damaged from the attack. This is where Farran had me step in. The system allows me to scavenge materials from the destroyed buildings and infrastructure and convert them into materials and drop them out of my inventory anywhere. This is a godsend to them as I had saved them time and effort by a large margin.
Removing and scavenging rubbles is tough work after all. Even with aura enhancing their physical abilities, they can't recklessly move things without risk hurting themselves. Then there's also the scavenging and recycling process to reuse the materials, which can be really tedious.
[Your assistance has increased the recovery rate of the {Kingdom of Hasiera} for this entire recovery cycle]
[You have gained 10,000 Reputations with Hasiera]
[Kingdom of Hasiera]
[Health: 84%]
Status: Recovering
Citizens: 435
Housing: 461
Policy:
[Elaborated Contingency Plans]
Increase the recovery rate for all parameters by 33% after a mid to high-level disaster has occurred
[Martial Tradition] {Attenuating}
Increases the training rate of militia by 25% and Huntsmen/Huntresses by 13%
Food Growth: +675
Food Consumption: -898
Food Surplus: 2421
Production: +372
Production Reserves: 1206
Maintenance Expenditure: -701
Buildings
Activity Notifications
Defenses
Details
Resources
[Important changes have been made to your Domain Management]
[Builder Mode for {Kingdom of Hasiera} has been implemented]
'Let's not make any changes without permission.'
After going around the entire town and converting all the fallen rubbles to materials, I offered to help them with some of the construction, but they said they are in the process of reevaluating the construction designs and plans for the fallen districts. Instead, I should consult with someone named Tuncay Atonal since he's in charge of construction and public works.
NEW CRITICAL QUEST ALERT!
CRITICAL OBJECTIVE
Meet with Tuncay Atonal
REWARD
Primary Objective: Unlocks more modules and grants access to Hasiera blueprints. Proceeds to the next critical quest.
"Enzo, was it? Please to meet you. I'm Tuncay. The others were telling me about you." Tuncay Atonal is a tanned man with a bearded mustache and brown hair. Tall and muscular, he serves as the foreman when he's on the field and is supposedly a capable fighter too.
Name: Tuncay Atonal
Level: 71
Age: 53
Affiliation: Kingdom of Hasiera
AP: 5018/5018
HP: 331/331
Perks
Stats
Details
Equipment
"Nice to meet you too." I shake his hand and nod politely. "And nothing bad, I hope?"
Tuncay threw his head back and laughs. "All praises! You did us a big favor for cleaning the rubbles." He pats a block of copper bars that I've scavenged and converted from several destroyed buildings. "Clearing the site is one thing. Extracting and sorting the materials is another. It's extremely difficult to move all this mess, sort them out, and break 'em down. We're in your debt."
[Primary Objective completed: You now have access to Hasiera's blueprints and new modules]
NEW CRITICAL QUEST ALERT!
CRITICAL OBJECTIVE
Construct a building
REWARD
Primary Objective: +42,000 Reputation with Tuncay Atonal and unlocks an extra Building module
"It was nothing. I'm happy to help out." Hasiera has been very welcoming to me. It's in my best interest to return the favor since I'll be staying here for a while now.
"We appreciate it. Excuse me while I move this." Tuncay bends down and effortlessly lifts the metal pallet containing all the copper bars.
An impressive display of strength, but I've watched players do some incredible things with their high-strength stat or semblance. Especially my fellow Estrian Aristocrat, Ainia with her sky-high STR stat and stat-boosting semblance. Getting into close combat with her is a fatal tactical error. It's like walking into the boss's instant death radius.
"You're quite strong." Remarking about his impressive physical strength. The way he lifted the entire pallet makes it seem like it was weightless.
The man smirks and sets the pallet down onto the transport. "My semblance lets me make things lighter. Can lift the biggest transport we have without a sweat."
[Insight on Tuncay Atonal has increased by +22]
[Tuncay Atonal's semblance has been revealed]
I showed some degree of surprise at this revelation. His semblance really complements his lead role in the construction and public works.
"That sounds very helpful in construction."
"I get that a lot. Sometimes, I take my semblance for granted." He secures the materials and wipes his hand onto his trousers. "The crew said you were offering to help with the construction, and not in the traditional method."
I nod, "I have an ability to build things with the given materials and blueprints. It's… Not a semblance."
"Mhm. Old man William was telling me how you help repair his heavy turret."
'That's right! I've completely forgotten about that. Wonder if it's working.'
Something about my face must have given away my thoughts as Tuncay immediately answered my internal question.
"It's working perfectly fine if you're worried. That old coot has been too busy getting things up and running on his end to others know. His age isn't helping his memories either." William is in his early nineties. One of the oldest people on this island that lived through the Great War, and actually participated in it. Despite his advanced age, the man is still physically and mentally capable.
"That's good." I breathed a sigh of relief. "So, about my offer to help out with the construction…"
Tuncay briefly thought about it before accepting my aid. "We'll be really thankful if you can help. Construction is a fickle thing, so let's start with something not too complex." He jumps onto the transport and motions me to hop on. "There's an observation tower on the north side that's been cleanly knocked over. Well… As cleanly as it can get. The internal structure is durable and not overly complex; easy to maintain and check for structural integrity and failure."
The transport closed its cargo compartment and begins to drive off with the two of us in the compartment. In real life, I'm certain that's a huge safety hazard. Considering all the crazy things we can do on Remnant: Online with our enhanced strengths and durability, the threat of getting crushed by heavy objects is kinda minor. It's an unpleasant feeling, let me tell you that.
"How long does it take on average to rebuild a single building?"
"On average? Hmmm… Hard to say. Not just the type of building, but the location of it can make a big difference." He glances at the passing residential buildings and points at them. "Those take about five months at best, maybe four months on high priority. That's if the architect already has the plans drawn up and revised. Can't be making the same mistakes. Improve at a given opportunity."
"That's surprisingly fast."
I believe the average construction for a house is seven to eleven months in the real world. Well, for the fancy ones at least. There have been technological improvements that made construction easier.
"What's the architecture like from where you're from?" He asks me back.
'That's actually a good question…' I've seen way too many buildings to even notice what they are. That includes the architectures of both video games and real life. "Oh, boy. Where do I even start? Can't even remember…" Something in my head clicks. "Wait, let me see if I can show you this."
[Alliance Buildings]
I opened up a list of alliance buildings we had designed and brought one up that's listed as [v4 Expedition Medium Headquarters, Tundra] and selected the [Preview] button to display the completed 3D structure. Tuncay isn't able to see the system display and raises an eyebrow, but remains silent to let me do my thing.
'Where's the [Show to All] button? There it is.'
A blue screen lit up in front of us. Tuncay's eyes widen and quickly recovers from his shock at the sudden popup. He studies the structure in front of him with interest.
"Amazing."
"This particular building is used for setting up a permanent headquarters in colder regions. We normally have a temporary headquarter first that we can take down quickly or discard, and if we find a suitable location. We begin constructing a permanent base."
"It looks well ventilated. What do you use to keep the inside at a suitable temperature?"
"Portable heating units. We have a basic ventilation system inside to have the heat flow throughout the building. All we need to do is hook up the heating generator and we're done."
"Similar to Mantle's heating grid then." Tuncay strokes his chin, "Hasiera doesn't suffer from the same cold climate like Mantle, but we use an identical heating and cooling system. With the tropical climate here, we use the cooling system for indoors or special areas."
[Insight on the former {Kingdom of Mantle} has increased by +14]
[Insight on the {Kingdom of Hasiera} has increased by +5]
It seems that adults from their late thirties and above have been to the outside world.
"You've been to Mantle?"
"I've stayed there for a few years to learn a few things. Very useful things."
[Insight on Tuncay Atonal has increased by +9]
"What's it like in Mantle?" This should be a good time to ask him about the outside world.
Tuncay breathes deeply and lets out a heavy sigh. "Last time I was there? Complicated."
/-/
Bloodcurdling screams. Terrifying beastly roars. Gunshots. Crackling fires.
All it did was fuel the hatred that burns deeply inside one particular Griffon. A Grimm with a nasty scar across its body. The negativity that its body is sensitive to, the people it ripped apart and consumed… It feeds into its bottomless pit. No matter how many times its beak pierced through flesh and shatter bones, no matter how many it has eaten, it would not fill this hunger.
A hunger for vengeance.
[Griffon Lv105 (NEMESIS)]
Type: Creature of Grimm
Status: Grudge (Enzo) [ERROR]
HP: 59221/59221
Each person it kills brings newfound energy to the Griffon. Newfound power. A power that can be used to kill that one human that dared harmed it.
Unbeknownst to the Griffon, red markings have begun sprouting from its scars and skull mask as it killed another hapless villager and another, and another. Its entire body is changing, becoming stronger, faster, and smarter.
[Condition has been met]
[ERROR. Verifying file integrity]
The Griffon ceased its rampage and stand alerted, feeling a shift in the air.
Someone was coming towards it. A shining blade in the form of a scythe cuts through the air and steers towards its neck.
The Griffon flick its tail at the attacker while throwing its entire body around. A human male with black hair and red eyes stood before it, tiny in size compared to its massive form. The human redoubles his effort, firing two rounds at the Griffon's head.
Pitiful caliber and meager kinetics. The bullets merely bounced off its skull mask dealing no damage.
With a powerful lunge, the Griffon tore through the area with calculated recklessness, causing debris to fly everywhere, hindering the scythe-wielding Huntsman. Yet the man skillfully held out, remaining on the constant move and baiting the Grimm to follow him. It did was that, pursuing its opponent. As the Griffon continued its pointless chase, it begins to realize that other Creatures of Grimm are being slaughtered by more Huntsmen and Huntresses arriving at the burning village.
A trap.
Anger courses throughout the Griffon's entire body. It will not be fooled again.
It will not die here.
And it will have its vengeance.
Vengeance against that one human whose name it somehow knows. A name that's constantly echoing in its twisted mind, fueling it with an unquenchable hatred: Enzo.
Enzo.
ENZO.
ENZO!
[S̷̮̘̥̰̣͒̃̐̆̅́ŷ̵̘͕͇̈͐́̎̈́͘ŝ̸̢̃̄ț̵̆̐e̵̡̢̢̨̯̻̯͗̍̀̂͋m̶͇͚̜̈́͝͠: File integrity has been successfully verified. Appropriate behavioral modules have been reinstated]
The Griffon lets out a hateful, ear-splitting screeched. Its entire body glows with red markings that caused its feathers and skin to crackle with dark, violent energy. It unfurls its wings to its fullest length and violently took to the skies with enough force to send the surrounding Huntsmen and Huntresses reeling.
[Perk granted: A Glimpse of Darkness]
[A Glimpse of Darkness – Permanently enhance all stats and grants the holder mythical powers. Upon taking Holy-based damage, the perk will be temporarily disabled and the holder will take double damage]
[Griffon Lv105 (NEMESIS)]
Type: Creature of Grimm
Status: Grudge (Enzo)
Perks: [A Glimpse of Darkness]
HP: 64814/64814
These beings that seek to hunt it are not worth its time.
Weak. Fragile. Pathetic.
Their souls shine so dully. Even when combined, their soul would not be as bright compared to its nemesis. It will not swoop so low to waste its time. It must grow stronger.
Only then will it seek its nemesis.
Enzo.
/-/
Qrow Branwen watched helplessly as the strange Griffon disappeared into the darkening skies.
That was not a normal Grimm. It was intelligent, powerful, and suddenly had a last-second change in its appearance. He already had a foreboding feeling about that Grimm. When the Griffon's entire body started crackling and red veins begin forming, Qrow knew that something very, very wrong.
Things have become complicated. Every single witness needs to be briefed and kept quiet least it'll bring fear into the population. Worse of all, this might be a sign of Salem making her move.
He needs to let Ozpin know, and a drink.
With a steady hand, Qrow went through his contact list and begins calling Ozpin.
"Qrow?"
"Yeah. Hey, Oz. What do you know about Grimm suddenly getting weird red markings all over their bodies?"
"… Tell me everything you saw."
/-/
I've gained another slot, or module for repairing and building structures after completing the critical quest. It went a lot quicker than I thought, probably because the observation tower was amazingly still in one piece for the most part. It looked like something big snapped off the tower, causing it to crumble over.
[Primary Objective completed: Second Building module unlocked]
[You gained 42,000 Reputation with Tuncay Atonal]
After the system finished constructing the observation tower and checked for structural integrity, everyone present couldn't help but throw me into the air to celebrate. While they were tempted to get all their infrastructures up and running again, they've still had to plan accordingly. There are the materials on hand to reconsider, and even infrastructures that are on the high priority list for reconstruction needs planning to ensure that they're not depriving materials of something crucial.
Excited and grateful the construction division might be, they're not going to take my abilities for granted. They'll speed up the preparation and planning, but they'll be doing it thoroughly. While I won't be constructing anything until Tuncay or Farran approves of it, the manpower and focus for the reconstruction process have been shifted.
I'll be the pivotal component for the reconstruction process, lessening the burden for those who are rotated into the construction duties.
'Time really flies by. I feel like everything went by like a blur.'
The shattered moon has already made itself at home high in the sky, blessing the town with its pale moonlight. Construction has been halted, everyone is off having dinner, sleeping, or patrolling. Hasiera remains active even at night, but it'll be a quiet affair, unlike daytime.
'I can gather materials nearby and build furniture for my place that I'd set up on the hills.' It's in desperate need of decorations. 'Speaking of my place, am I able to access my personal domain?'
I pulled up the menu and found that the My Domain icon has been grayed out with a loading symbol spinning at the center of the icon.
[Unable to connect to your personal domain]
[System recalibration progress… 82%]
[Impediment Adaptation System: Resolving connection issue]
'It hasn't moved up since last time.'
The system recalibration hasn't made any progress at all for a day or two already which is making me anxious for some reason. That said, if I can get access to my personal domain, I'll have a better place to crash and lay low while having access to some of my things that I had placed in there. Nothing important or useful outside of a few training devices like an aura display screen and an adjustable training arena.
'Actually, those would be very useful for training the trainees. I wonder if I can bring them into my personal domain.' My personal domain also serves as my training ground, and I can't forget the combat androids I have installed there.
There are also those battle trophies I collected from the Outlands. Weapons, armors, accessories from my enemies. I don't have an extensive trophy room, nor do I a lot of battle trophies compared to Niiya. That guy has over a thousand battle trophies on display in his personal domain. An entire massive building dedicated to his battle trophies. I always enjoy going through it like a museum.
Going off-topic and back to the outpost. I don't mind refitting my outposts out on the lonely hill, but if there's a place where I want to feel at home while I'm stuck on Remnant, it'll be in my personal domain.
'… I don't wanna go all the way back to my outpost.'
Might as well stick around and help out with the patrols for the night. Since there's some nightlife in Hasiera, it wouldn't hurt to explore what it's like.
