The Bandit Raid Pt 2 (II)

With one last upgrade to her stats and skill before heading to Gold Pine, she added forty Attribute Points into Crafting Cost to up it to one hundred percent, as well as Steampunk Mechanical Engineering to one hundred percent. She had ninety Attribute Points left and one hundred twenty Skill Points left. She'd work on the perks a bit later as now that she had access to gunpowder, and for that matter special steampunk weapons, she'd need to completely redo the list. Along the way she'd craft some Skill Potions and Stat Potions if she remembered. The only reason she wasn't throwing more points into things was she just wanted to focus on enjoying the day. The remainder would get used right after.

As she rode Asterion into Gold Pine with the pups along for the ride in the wagon, not needing to run alongside the horse, she could see people doing their best to fix up their homes, nailing fences back together and in general cleaning or ripping down burnt parts of buildings. She could see Giles standing in front of his smithy, shaking his head with his hands on his waist. "Giles, morning." She dismounted and disconnected the wagon from Aster, letting the pups run around and play near her feet. "Blasted scavengers. My forge is destroyed. There's no reason to do that other than to be evil. You gave them a good thrashing, didn't you?" She nodded with a smirk on her mouth. "Oh yeah, they never knew what hit them, literally." The old smith sighed with a content look washing over his face. "Good. You wouldn't per chance have any spare stone in that wagon of yours would… actually, you've done enough for us so far, I'm pretty sure I-" She stuck her hand into her inventory portal and pulled out a small block of stone, which made Giles's eyes widen. "Well… that was… interesting… you can, you can store things like that?"

Selene nodded, worried she might have damaged her friendship with him. His eyebrows waggled as he tried to wrap his head around it. "I guess I'll just be calling you hero Selene instead of trader now eh? You burned those bandits with magical fire and brimstone?" She chuckled at that. "Not exactly magical, but I do have some when I need it. That's… only… well, my endless bags are only part of it." He nodded. "Would make runs to Silvinholm much easier if I didn't have to drive a wagon around, but then with you here there isn't a need to go to that city."

"I'll do my best, thanks. Now, where would you like a pile of spare stones and clay?" she asked with a grin on her face. "Right over there, thank you lass. I suppose you don't have a spare one of these in there would you?" he chuckled out as he elbowed her in her ribs playfully. "Would you like one?" she whispered, realizing it would fix the whole issue without needing to give him the materials. His face fell to a stone mask as he wondered if she could really do it. "Can you?" She crafted a forge instantly and picked up his old one into her inventory, then tried to place the new one down. The new one was a little finicky, as she had to place it in such a way that there was barely any space to move around it with the portal. There were far more features than his last one. "By the gods lass! This is an improvement over my old one! I… I can't repay you for this, I really can't. This a master craft forge you made." He ran his callused fingers over the sides and looked it over like a new born baby or a new toy.

"Don't worry about it, you kept me in business when I was first coming here, I was able to get some money out of it as well as decent information and advice. Besides, these people are going to need you to use that to get back up and running." He nodded twice hesitantly as his eyes didn't leave the brand-new forge. "Is this your secret to those ingots?" She scratched her chin and looked away from the smithy. "Um… actually… uh, that was still technique, sorry." The dev didn't want to tell him all the ingots were being crafted in her inventory, she didn't even tell him she built the forge right then and there instead of having a spare available.

"There she is, the Hero of Gold Pine!" Moira cheered as she came out of her burnt up inn and pulled a basket of charcoal with her. There were two drunkards lying next to the door, useless as always. Selene sighed. Some things never change. Villagers were clapping and cheering her on as she took a small curtsey and looked around. "Do you need help Moira? Looks… bad in there…" her eyes roamed the sides of the inn and the cross beams that had fallen. Two other villagers were trying to move one of the beams out of the bar area.

"Me? You've already done so much luv. No, don't be so worried. You're our honored guest, just relax, we'll all be getting a bonfire done tonight and some dancing, drinks should be on the house with a nice feast for all."

"You sure Moi? She might have a spare inn she can magic out" Giles laughed out. Selene felt immediately put on the spot as her eyes widened and her mouth clamped shut. Moira looked at Giles in confusion for a second before glancing at Selene. "What's that about? You're not telling me you can rebuild the village, can you? What, you have some spare buildings just lying around you can push into place?" she chuckled as she questioned the whole thing. "I… can't… I don't have any of that… but… I… uh…" the dev took a deep breath and tried to think up an explanation. "Magic. I can sort of help rebuild the inn, in a way…" Moira just looked blankly at her for a second before backing out of her way and telling the peasants inside the burnt-out husk to get out for a minute.

Way to go show off. Now I'm going to be fixing up the whole damn village. I just made work for myself. Next time… *sigh* next time I should try and be careful when I want to help people. Control that mouth of mine.

She focused on removing the inn entirely from its foundation into her inventory, meanwhile dismantling the old forge for spare resources. Once that was done, and Moira was done having a heart attack or fainting along with a lot of other people, she started to build the walls, the supports and second floor, with the roof no longer thatch but wood paneling and tar. Everyone just looked between the new inn and Selene. "She's no witch, she's a goddess come to save us." She heard whispered from one woman. "That was… an… impressive display there…" Moira tried to understand what just happened. The new inn was larger than the old one by double the size as Selene was going by a template she knew about from her Eras. The walls were reinforced and insulated, with a larger staircase going up to the second floor. None of them could see it, but there were four staircases, three to reach the fourth floor now instead of two floors for the old one, and one staircase to go into the basement with a small ramp to a spare cellar. The bar was larger with a full counter. There was no furniture yet, but that was at least saved by the innkeeper before they ran for the hills. There even two candle chandeliers, one for the bar room and one for the main hallway for the first staircase.

"Please, can you… can you fix everyone else's home? I'll… I don't know, I'll pay you" the mayor was right behind her and she didn't know it, watching the entire spectacle.

Fuck! Next time Selene, when you have a chance to boast and make yourself look amazing, just shut the fuck up!

While mentally chastising herself, she giggled nervously as she resigned herself to helping them. By the end of the day, the village was… upgraded. No more thatch roofs, better walls with stronger doors with latches and better locks with keys, fixed fences and cleaned up gardens. There were new torch sconces everywhere, even outside with lamp posts and places to put candles, brightening the place up significantly. She wasn't about to give them electricity, they'd flip out or really have heart attacks, potentially due to playing with the cabling. The last thing she wanted to see was some dumb kid attempting to do what kids do back on Earth, stick a fork in an electrical socket. She even updated the signs outside and made sure the cobblestone streets were repaired, which was very easy to do. Once she was done, she just walked into the inn and sat down in a specially set chair at the bar with music being played and people dancing. The bar area was now much larger, capable of supporting far more people to enjoy themselves. One of the drunks tried to grab Selene's butt, with a quick response elbow to the face flipping him end over end and landing unconscious on the ground, hopefully not with his nose smashed into his brain. Apparently Shield Bash worked without a shield. Instead of everyone being surprised about it, they were all laughing given the fact the drunkards didn't really do anything in the village beyond be a drain to it and be lechers.

"Here ye! Here ye! I'd like to propose a toast to our hero, Selene of… where do you hail from?" mayor Stafinson asked as he raised a glass in honor to her. She never named the fort, it was always just "fort." Boramar Mountains? Boramar Fortress? It was really just a place she lived, with no street address she could really add to it. It her was shield against things that could harm her, her aegis against the unknown waiting to take her life.

"Fortress of Solitude" she told him, blinking at how stupid that sounded coming out of her mouth. There was a slight pause as they all took that in. She lived in a fortress now. It was no longer just a little fort. That "home" of hers was capable of going toe to toe with some modern militaries, at least quite a few third world countries from Earth.

"Ah… so be it. I propose a toast to our hero, Selene of Fortress… of… Solitude, who has defeated the entirety of the bandit army that threatened our homes, our children, our very lives. Thank you for helping us rebuild our homes, they are beyond all expectations." "That name for my home may change in the future, just letting everyone know." They nodded.

Fortress of Solitude? REALLY?! That was the best I could come up with?! What, did I just grow balls and become Superman?!

One woman stood up. "I meant what I said. You're like a goddess incarnate miss. We've all seen wizards and magicians who weren't nearly as kind as you are. If a religion was started around you, I'd… I'd…" she tried to finish her sentence as she looked at everyone around her. "I'd join it" one man said, with other agreeing. "She might be a goddess come down that is hiding her true form." "Whoa whoa whoa! I'm not a goddess, please don't make a religion about me. Seriously, I'm fine. I'm just me, not godly, perfectly human. Pretty sure about that. Nothing weird about me at all." Selene was waving her hands open palmed defensively as Moira poured her a clean glass of the ale that the dev had snuck in for her. No one had to know it wasn't the alewife's brew, just that it was potent enough to kill the drunkards if they continued downing anymore. That might be a blessing in disguise.

"It's just that, miss, you've done more for our village than anyone has done, and… well, we barely really know you. We've seen you work with Giles, so that means your respectable and worth notice as a trader. We just… I'm just so grateful to have my home back, better than ever, with no fear of being attacked if I walk down the road to… oh no… Glass Dale is gone isn't it?" the woman finished. Her husband put his hands around her to give her a hug as they all bowed their heads in somber acknowledgement. "Our hero Selene has gained justice for those lost lives. Maybe their souls rest in peace knowing that" the mayor said as there was a moment of silence. "Can we… um… I mean not to break the mood and I understand we're paying respects to the dead, but… I've had enough of that for the past… I dunno, week? I'm pretty deathed out right now, with the mass grave I sort of built for the bandits and all." She was lying about the graves, but everyone acknowledged they needed to brighten things up. She hoped no one started a religion with her as the deity, because that was usually when the crazies came out and sacrificed people and creatures in her name for better harvests.

The music started to play with three men all working together for a great few songs, allowing families to dance and clap while they enjoyed the feast. There was pork stew, brown bread, some salmon from a river up North, a pottage of split pea soup, an entire wheel of cheese that was actually delicious for Selene, some salami that the man swore was just sausage slices and Selene did not want to argue, wine and ale, some hard liquor of assorted flavors, roasted chicken with herbs and surprisingly, a fresh salad. There were small pies of either mincemeat or apple, which the dev went for a slice of the apple one. Unfortunately for her, the crust itself was made with rather poor flour, which turned it into almost leather. The apple slices that were spiced were good though, even helping soften the crust.

"This is all thanks you luv. You made this all possible" Moira told her quietly as people danced and the innkeeper poured a glass of fine wine she had stashed away for the hero. "I just got stuck in a bad spot. I'm no hero, really. They came for my fortress, I fought back. I just happened to end the threat, that's all." Moira touched her arm. "And yet you came for us in the mountains to let us know we're safe, then helped rebuild our homes. That wasn't looking out for just you luv." Giles got up from his seat next to Abby and sat next to the auburn-haired woman at the counter. "You know, you're like one of those adventurers, going about and doing those… what are those…" he stopped to think. "Quests Giles, they're called quests" the innkeeper leaned on the counter and ruffled his long greasy hair. "That's it! Quests! They go out and do quests to help the people, getting treasures and rewards along the way lass. Who knows what's out there for you, just waiting to be gathered up? Hell, don't we know of one such place… oh… uh… wha… may not…" Giles teetered off on what he was explaining. "Giles, you daft git! You don't just start the story and end it without giving her a reason! She has no idea about that!"

Selene looked between both of them in confusion. "Am I missing something? What's the story?" she asked. Giles looked at Moira and sighed, who motioned towards the dev sitting next to him. "You need to tell her, even if it won't amount to much." He ran his fingers through his hair and looked her in the eye. "There's a story about a certain treasure that's supposedly hidden in these parts, near Boramar Mountains. For all I know, in some caves. The treasure, and this is the reason I didn't want to bother you with it lass, was called an Orb of Experiences. To those who were connected to it, it would transfer those experiences to one or another person, or even split it up to each person in the group, it didn't matter. The point is, there was a problem with it. Whatever experience that was given to others, it would take from one person or the rest, as if it never happened." Selene looked a little confused.

"Wait, let me see if I've got this right and you're using the right words." Giles and Moira leaned on the counter and listened. "This, this Orb of Experiences, it would take a memory or experience that someone had, whether how to fight a certain way or how to cook a certain way or whatever, and either give it to one other person, or evenly distribute it to a group? Like, each only got a portion of it? So… so if a legendary soldier knew how to swing a sword with no effort, and that experience was given to another in his party… they'd now know how to swing a sword just like he could?" she asked. They nodded. "The problem lies in that lass. Why would you give up something you know how to do without teaching it? That soldier would no longer be the best at what he does, another would have his skills."

"And he doesn't keep them? He loses all of that memory like, like going from an expert swordsman to just a simple farm boy?" Giles and Moira nodded. "It could be split amongst the group, yes, but he wouldn't be nearly as effective, potentially dooming them. That's why it's a useless treasure lass. There are better adventures for the likes of you." The dev sat thinking for a second as she looked back up at Giles and Moira. "How did it get lost out there?" Moira tapped the counter a few times with a finger. "That's the thing luv. It was previously carried by a group of adventurers. No one really knows what happened to them, but they're probably all dead now if it's hidden up in that there mountain range. I dunno if someone or something was willing to kill them for it, but chances are they realized their mistake and abandoned it right after."

Wait, so it transfers experience while the giver loses it? That seems a bit dumb. Seems a little useless as learning how to swing a sword for an archer that is ranged seems like a waste, but maybe… maybe I can use it for research purposes in the research station? I don't know, is this even worth doing? Maybe they're right. Could be a fun little bauble to store memories, or maybe copies of memories? I might be able to finagle the thing to do that. Like a snow globe that harnessed happy thoughts.

Her mind was flicking between go on her first adventure and ignore it. "As he said luv, better treasure out there for you than sapping your mind of everything you've learned for some nobody adventurer you join with. It would take a really good team to want to sacrifice of yourself for them. I'd be angry if someone stole memories of my life without giving anything back." Abby wanted to dance with Giles, who was happy to oblige as that couple enjoyed some time together. Selene just sat there thinking about that treasure and eating. Even her wolves were getting plenty of scraps given under tables, with lots of pats from the kids. Luckily, none of the children were young enough to attempt to pull on their tails, or they'd definitely get bitten.

Once the party was over, Selene said her goodbyes and headed back to her fort. It was already well past nightfall, with a light orb helping guide her way along with waypoints in her Hud. Just in case there happened to be any predators nearby, animal or even some lost bandits she hadn't ended which she was sure were all gone, she cast Sense Hostile for the area. The way home was mostly uneventful, with Aster allowed to meander his way there. Once they were within range of seeing the fort, the lights turned on as the gate opened, welcoming her. She now didn't even need to get off her steed, as the automatons could detect her easily, their creator and master. "Welcome back madam, would you like a bath and hot meal?" her butler asked.

"I'll take a bath, but no hot meal. I've eaten already." The butler bowed and went to start the hot water from the boilers. As she slipped into the bathtub and soaked herself, her mind kept running to other caves. She had only explored a tenth of the valley, with a huge amount still untouched. It was possible the treasure, Orb of Experiences, was just a myth to warn all adventurers there were things you just didn't do because it was a waste of time, but this seemed different. It was possible she was not understanding the reason behind it, but then there were joke items in games everywhere, Yggdrasil was no exception. It's possible it was just there to share memories of good times with people, so they would know where you come from and what you hold dear to your heart, a sort of time capsule.

Her blue eyes just stared up at the sky, at the stars as they twinkled.

Sheesh… well it could be something interesting to do, reverting to my routine seems a little boring now that I have automatons doing almost everything to tend to my every need. I can have hunter drones go out, Drillers, Woodcutters, nothing can sneak up on the fortress. If I do attempt this, I'm going to want to gear up a bit more, rework my perks a bit, potentially tech up to Advanced Steampunk before I start this. There's nothing rushing me right now, so I might as well do this right. I just don't want to get too relaxed and not improve, or I might never move up the tech tree just lying around being waited on hand and foot.

Selene started to plan out the details for this expedition. She'd need to explore the area, which will be easier with her ornithopters scouting around, followed by her inventory filled with spare consumables and newer weapons. There might be more than one cave opening connecting to the same place as well.

"The goblins!" she exclaimed as her eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. That could be where their nest was, staying around that treasure. If the previous ones were scouts, then maybe the next was well to the North. If that's the case, she was going to need an escort. Bringing automatons to guard the entrances seemed like a great idea, but she wanted to go a little further. Moving down tunnels with just drones seemed like it would be pretty quiet, but fairly boring. Most adventurers grouped up to tackle bigger things, but they also tended to get along well, becoming friends. The dev didn't exactly want to go in with some helpers beyond sending in a wave of Lights.

The dev opened her tech tree and checked for anything that might fit into that category. It was weird that maybe she might be able to build her own "friends" to group with. There was one schematic in Advanced Steampunk that allowed "Super" versions of a quality tier automaton, with a Light becoming a Super Light, effectively becoming a commander. They could be specialized and had a personality core installed, probably the equivalent of a mechanical soul. That was what she was looking for, something to talk to on the trek and still have utmost loyalty to her.

"Let's see… what kind of build up for a fireteam should I have…" she whispered to herself as she looked temporarily away from the tech tree. She'd need a "holy trinity" for the base of it, a tank to hold aggro with abilities to draw enemies to it, a healer to keep everyone healed and repaired, a damage dealer to kill the enemy before they could take down the tank. Was that all she needed? In her eyes there was no restriction to how big the team needed to be, with some games allowing only three players while others allowed up to ten before it turned into a raid. The middle ground seemed to be about six, with her as the sixth member. This would allow her to build a team that could also work without her if need be, potentially finding other treasure in the future for research. She could potentially have spares as well, bringing it up to ten members.

Selene started working on which position and "class" would work. Tank, healer, two dps, one support? The tank would have to be a medium tier at least, maybe not a heavy due to the cave entrance or multiple entrances; the healer… Very Light? Did it have to be a Very Light or could she make it a Light as well? The two damage dealers would have to be opposite of each other to balance things out, so one ranged and one melee combatant. The support would be a ranged with abilities to assist in buffing and debuffing the enemy, potentially with a combination of steampunk science and magic. So, maybe a knight medium tank, gunslinger ranged, potentially a general-purpose Light for melee and help with a little ranged? Healer would be generic, support… could it be an ornithopter? Maybe a modified steampunk helibot? She hadn't made one yet, which was a much bigger unit that the other auto flyers. It might fit the bill if it could fit through the cave entrances.

Given that she'd be the sixth member, she could act as the summoner for the group, given that she technically was doing that with drones. She could have a few spare auto turrets, some shaped charge spider mines crafting to not bring down the tunnels on their heads, an emergency pack of drones ready to drop from her inventory if need be, wall bracings to provide a defensible position with deployable barricades. Learning some summoning spells would help as well. If there were more than one entrance, she'd have to set up security blockades at each entrance, with maybe another fireteam of drones entering from another direction to meet up with them, like special forces teams might do back on Earth.

This whole thing hinged on getting to Advanced Steampunk Era though for the super autos, which shouldn't be that difficult, just take a few days given the panic has died down about the bandits. She now had autos doing everything, so it might be reasonable to build support frames for the mine and potentially build out a little more from her four-hectare fortress. She could also help at Gold Pine to add more farmland, that would speed up her actions build up. Exploring could help as well, with gaining free experience just from filling in her map, along with cataloging any new resources she missed or special creatures. She was sure she saw a gryphon before, which meant there could be more special creatures living further into the forest or the second Northern forest, even over in the East Gold Pine forest or lake, potentially just above the fortress. For all she knew, that damned fish, "Big Bastard" could be a special one. She hadn't thought of doing research on things just yet or raw materials. If it worked, she might get some new random schematic due to some unknown ingredient found from the material or animal. She would only experiment on dead creatures of course, and preferably ones that were already found dead if possible.

Maybe newer mixtures of alloys could be found by researching copper ore? Ingots? There's no telling what I could find out from algae if I put it in the research station… or stations. I need to make more of those if I'm going to rapidly catalog things. If there aren't new mixtures, maybe it increases the durability of anything using copper, or bronze or steel or whatever, adding a basic boost to strength and armor rating or something.

While the work done in the research stations wouldn't affect her action output, there were tools that directly connected to them that could be used by her while she was out and about that would increase the actions done, like a magnifying glass or writing observations in a research tome separate from the ones used in the research station. It was like assisting with a research paper, taking notes as she went. She could start with the type of grass on the ground, the soil mixture, the stone and hardness, move up to the ores and then ingots, tree types and seeds they drop, bushes and small animals, even test the water in the lake.

That was probably what the research station was for when I got it, as it's kind of been sitting there being a little useless. The Writing Desk does the spells and perks, the alchemy station makes consumable vials, I'd figure the research station would give some sort of edge.

A Light bulb bloomed in her mind. There were games that allowed researching organs and weapons from enemies to better allow accuracy or boosts in combat, natural upgrades that didn't require anything on her part beyond the research. If she dragged back at least one goblin corpse, a human corpse and other hostile creatures, she could get a bonus when fighting them. Maybe there were cumulative bonuses if she brought back multiple corpses. She realized her little issue of already getting rid of the bandit corpses that littered the battlefield before, but she wanted to make sure there was nothing for carrion birds to get at or ghosts and undead sprouting up due to restlessness. Maybe she could get a cadaver from some medical science academy? Do those even exist here? Do hospitals even exist here? Wizards can heal, if they were willing to help others, so what use was a doctor? They probably didn't even know how their bodies really worked, just knew blood came out when hurt, they needed to eat, sleep, defecate and urinate, procreate and maybe exercise and work.

De Vinci had to secretly dissect cadavers, even though it wasn't technically illegal at the time. No one has probably done that here.

The villagers even believed she was a goddess, which meant they were religiously fervent people, probably believing in eternal souls. She had no reason to bash on any religion, unless it involved her as the deity, due to not knowing if gods even existed here. For all she knew, a god brought her to this world. If she was going to reach tech tier fifty, that would mean she could exceed a god with ascendance, not even being part of this world anymore. Hell, beyond a certain tech tier, this world wouldn't even hold her down, with starships and galaxy spanning capability, universe spanning, dimension spanning even.

Selene looked at her fingers and saw them pruning. "Madam, it is not normally my place to say, but perhaps it would be best for you to finish your bath? I have your underwear and pajamas ready for you, a nice clean towel to dry with." She found the thought that the drone butler was trying to take care of her comforting, even if it was programmed a certain way to take care of her. That was probably the basis behind it, to make her feel at ease with it around and being helpful. The drones themselves had no self-awareness beyond the usage of first-person pronouns to better communicate with her, as well as self-preservation unless it involved harm to her or dismantling in her inventory. Beyond that, she hoped the new Super versions she would be able to make in Advanced Steampunk would have options for voices and attitudes given the fact they would have personality cores.

She stepped out of the bath and dried herself off, got dressed and went inside the cabin. The wolves were ready for bed, with two electric lamps installed on the walls with two switches, one near the door and one near the headboard so she wouldn't need to get up. The dev was even thinking of upgrading the toilet room to a real bathroom with sink and mirror, moving the bath inside and expanding the cabin even more with the fortress to have a real house built with two floors. It would make rainy days so much better to have a living room and kitchen. Though she dreamed of a castle, it was starting to look like she would want more steampunk built in, with flagstone no longer being the strongest her walls could be.

Selene yawned. Those improvements could be done in the next few days, preparing her for a tech up. Maybe she could hold off from the expedition for two tech ups, going through Advanced Steampunk all the way into Colonial Era, when people were using ships to sail the seas to new lands and colonized them, heavier cannons to merge with steampunk equipment, rapiers and maybe some newer clothes types made of cotton. It could take a week, maybe two depending on how fast the research improves actions. Right now, she just had no idea how fast or how slow it would be. There were a lot of things to do through.

She'd worry about all of that tomorrow, right now it was bedtime. The plan was in the works, to gain that treasure even if it might be useless, to test herself as an adventurer.