325 Chapter 1: A month's worth of Preparations

Joshua found himself sitting on top of the wall that surrounded James Town. It was late at night and he could already see the stars in the sky. He was surprised how clear the view was now days. Before the first phase he couldn't even remember the last time he had seen such a clear night sky. It was probably during the last time he went to visit his grandparent's farm, but even then the view wasn't this dazzling. There were far more stars than he could count and he could even spot some constellations that he was only used to seeing in books. Although the evolution of the world had brought on a lot of challenges for everyone, moments like this really hit home for Joshua why things had to change.

The reason he was sitting outside on such a beautiful night instead of staying at home with his family in the hub city was because it was the last night that the system's protection of James Town would still be in effect. Once it struck midnight the protection of James Town would be all on Joshua's Guild, the Fenrir Guild. Luckily they were still considered a small guild so at the moment the only guilds that could even attempt to take down their territory were other small guilds.

As long as Joshua and the rest of his group were able to hold off the first small guild that came to challenge their territory then they'd have another entire month before anyone else would be able to attempt to take them on for James Town. The system didn't want constant mayhem between guilds so the rule was a territory could be attacked once per a month. If territories were allowed to be attacked anytime as often as possible then nobody would get anywhere. Fighting other humans didn't exactly give experience so territory wars were precisely just for gaining territories and guild points, nothing else.

Another thing that Joshua had learned about territory wars was the fact that it was actually impossible to die during one. People that were defeated in a territory war would just be kicked out of the territory until the war was over. The winning side would be the side with the most people remaining at the end of the war period which differed depending on the size of the guild. For small guilds they would only have two hours' worth of time for combat, mid-sized guilds would have six hours' worth of time, while large guilds would have an entire day. Joshua didn't know how much time would be given for territory wars between alliances, but it would probably be over a period of days considering the amount of people that would be involved.

The system's goal by making such rules was to keep as many people alive as possible. After all the system wanted its members to thrive and grow, not to kill each other off. The only time humans were actually allowed to kill each other for the moment was during dungeon dives or in wild environments. In those situations the system did not stand in the way. That could also be said for when people tried to claim wild territories, but that was a given at this point. There couldn't be a restriction to all danger after all or people would just treat life like a game. Joshua knew that treating life like it was just a game could end up causing troubles in the future. He could tell just from some of the looks he could pick up on from spending time with Thoren and Ysildea. They had lived with the system for millennia at this point. They had definitely seen things that Joshua had no idea about at this point.

While looking over the edge of the wall at the surroundings of James Town Joshua was starting to believe he might have just over prepared for the territory war a little bit. In the end they would be facing another small guild, whichever small guild was unfortunate enough to actually challenge them first, and a small guild could only have so many people in it. Small guilds could have a maximum of a hundred people at the moment, medium guilds could have up to five hundred, while large guilds could have up to a thousand. When it came to alliances the numbers grew even larger, but Joshua didn't know the exact amount for them at this point.

A hundred people didn't have a chance in hell of getting through the defenses that Joshua and the rest of his group had set up. First off they had the army of combat robots that were assigned to defend the wall and patrol the area. At the moment the robots were only level fifty since that was the maximum level for the town until they leveled it up again. They didn't level it at this point since that would make them considered a medium guild if they leveled it up any further.

Still having a hundred combat robots patrolling the walls that were all level fifty would already be a decent challenge for a small guild. When you added in the twelve turrets that were currently on the walls surrounding the town Joshua wasn't even sure if the enemy guild would be able to get close to the wall let alone the combat robots. Then you had one of the strongest defenses that any territory had at the moment…a bubbly young woman with the power to tame beast. Having Lilly around meant they had several beast on their side to protect the town. At the moment they could only have so many out at a time in the territory, but having a hundred level fifty beast out prepared to defend the territory was just another issue invaders would face.

Lilly had an assortment of all types of beast that they would have to get past. She had the packs of dogs that could easily work together and run circles around enemies while attacking them from all directions, she had the flying bats that could drop bombs from above and disorient the enemies with their screeching given the chance, she had the giant lizards that towered over everything in the area at nearly five stories tall. Those alone would be an issue for invaders to try to get past.

Even with all of that the biggest threat invaders would have to face if they were going to try to get past Lilly's pets would be her group of powerful Praying Mantises. They may have been restricted to level fifty at the moment, but they were still enormous creatures that were fast and heavily armored. They would have no trouble causing havoc in a group of a hundred small guild members.

From what Joshua knew of most other small guilds they usually consisted of one or two strong members which were usually the guild leaders and their right hand men. Strong in this case meant people that were around level sixty. These were people that were just ahead of the curve regarding to power that decided to try to form their own groups. Mid-sized guilds and large guilds were a different story entirely since they usually had top tier members that were around level seventy at this point, but small guilds didn't have that kind of strength.

If their opponents were able to somehow get passed all of those defenses then they would have to take on Joshua's guild members. That meant they'd have to get through Jayce's group and Joshua's group. Joshua, Adrian, Henry, Aito, Lilly, and Amy would all be eligible to fight in the territory war and all of them were well passed level seventy at this point. In fact Joshua wouldn't be surprised if he alone would be able to take on the approaching guild with the level difference and his unique job. It would be like setting loose a bull in a crowd of civilians. They most likely didn't have any means to break through his defenses well enough to cause him issues.

Joshua brought up his stats to have a look to see how much he had grown over the past month.

[Level 75

Job – Aura User

Soul Beast – Fenrir

Stats (parenthesis number is the bonus stats from levels and Job) [Bracket numbers are skill modifiers]

Strength: 2100 (204) = 2304 x [1.3] = 2995.2

Vitality: 2100 (204) = 2304 x [1.3] = 2995.2 (6451.2 with aura hardening)

Dexterity: 2100(204) = 2304 x [1.3] = 2995.2

Intelligence: 2100 (204) = 2304 x [1.3] = 2995.2

Wisdom: 2100 (204) = 2304 x [1.3] = 2995.2

Will: 3400 (334) = 3734 x [1.3] = 4854.2

Luck 109 (0) = 109]

Joshua had gained four more levels since they had claimed the large town as an alliance. This showed how much harder it was getting to gain levels going forward, but at the same time their goal during this period of time wasn't exactly to grind levels. They were already ahead of the curve in that regard. Instead they were out to gain resources instead by clearing the canyon dungeon over and over. By doing so Joshua was able to gain his trump card for defending James Town. They were also able to gain plenty of resources that could be useful in putting together the large town protected by the alliance over the coming months.

The main resource they gained from clearing the canyon dungeon over and over again was the core remains that they needed to create a town guardian. This was the trump card that Joshua wanted to have to protect James Town and all of the other territories that members of the alliance were going to need to protect going forward. Of course the town guardian was restricted to level fifty like everything else in James Town outside of the people, it was still a powerful boss creature that could hold of large groups of invaders on its own. It would grow stronger with the town and would be a priceless last line of defense.

Joshua wasn't worried about being able to protect his town with all of the things they had prepared for any invaders that were willing to try their hand in taking over the territory. If it really came down to it he and the rest of his group could take on the invaders on their own. Hell Lilly's personal beast partners could easily throttle such a small group especially with the level disparity. What Joshua was really looking to see was if James Town could be self-sufficient. In the future his guild would own several territories and there was no way he was going to be able to defend all of them on his own.

He didn't want to spread his guild to thin in the future so they were going to have to be able to create scenarios where the town defenses were going to be enough. That's what Joshua was looking forward to finding out in the morning. He turned back to looking towards the night sky as he thought about all of the possibilities that could occur once things got started. He didn't want to look past this otherwise he'd end up being a bit too arrogant for his taste. He'd like to avoid ending up like the members of the world government guild in the future.

While looking towards the sky Joshua suddenly saw a shooting star pass by. It was a beautiful sight that grabbed his attention for a while. It reminded him of how much he wanted to get back to the point where earth could be considered his home again. The hub city just didn't have the same feeling as living on his home planet. With one last look at the stars Joshua yawned a bit before making his way down the wall and back towards the center of town. He'd sleep in the office of the town's hall for the night so he'd be prepared for anything in the morning. He just hoped he wouldn't be too excited to get a good night of rest.