62

Having been made into masters and servants the villagers probably thought that the event was coming to a close. However, I brought out even more surprises in the form of the weaponry I had made. With almost thirty young adults here I brought out almost thirty knives, swords, bows, and large metal quivers of heavy arrows for each individual.

To the people who were hunters I also gave a spear. As a sign of goodwill I divided up a few dozen spare knives for these people to carry back and give out. Then I had Sili drag out several thousand-pound blocks of shiny metallic keratin material.

Using the insect carapace blocks as reference material, I explained to everybody what I found while dungeon diving and the shorthand of how the snakes and I dealt with it. I emphasized the parts the serpents played in the affair. Then I used the creatures in the caves as the reason why I was sent here to make this shrine and help the ecosystems and economies boom.

With all of the big reveal and dramatic religious pressure, I told them about Templeton and its brief history with no regards toward the parts I actually played. Now the plan was to reinforce this location as a forward outpost or some shit to alert my private army in the event of insects reaching the surface.

They had technically just been drafted into the same private militia because the only options presented were either 'stay home and fight' or 'come stay at my militia'. These villagers deliberated for about twenty minutes before somebody finally brought up the money for the fish. I assured them the fish would be a part of militia work- ten fish a day from every raft- and the militia was currently offering three gold coins for every three months of temporary service.

Service included following a simple but strict workout regime three times a week broken up by two days a week of weapons drills. The remaining two days would be personal days for resting. They would, however, be supplied with enough daily vitamins to last them for two years and would be taken as part of their training.

Everybody had a lot of questions about training but I instead provided them with thin sheets of enchanted wood I used as paper to write down everything necessary. I told them that there was not only more of those for everyone but cheat-sheets for basic alchemy and magical skills as well. However, this basic training regime was for them to study overnight.

These hapless fools found themselves stuck here on the steppe gathered together near the altar wondering where on this planet they would be staying. A few short minutes later I transmuted for them three rows of fifteen small stone structures. These structures were basically single-bed rooms dug out into the granite and covered with low roofs.

Each hut had one twin-sized stone slab built into the far wall of the room with plenty of bare space to make use of. I then provided everybody with small light stones while my wisps furnished the bunkhouses with blessed and cleaned cave rat hides for bedding. Hopefully nobody tried to take the bedding with them, that would be awkward.

Not long after everybody had gone off to bed with their lights and pamphlets there was a sudden disturbance in both the air and mana surrounding the steppe. Just after I was wonder what had caused this, a large and familiar hand fell down on my shoulder. "Son," my father said from behind me, "we need to have another talk."

Fifteen minutes later I found myself seated around a small but warm fire with my parents and four other people. At first I was on the defensive and evasive when they asked questions about what was going on here. Eventually, though, I realized they just wanted to be done and over with and would accept anything solid that my parents could censor.

This changed everything. With their help kicking the problem out the backdoor I gave the Guild officials a brief rundown of the underground ecosystems and then the insects. My parents would interject now and then with how everything was currently contained and controlled in regards to several areas while advising the dropping of a familiar name and place once or twice.

After half an hour of this the officials asked to be given permission to enter the tunnels and I went so far as to give them Sili as a guide. Their goal was not to try visiting the hive at all but instead the middle dead-end tunnel between the hive and the warrens. Where I dealt with the first insects.

The group of them all had magically active auras that were at least slightly greater than my own and were lightly arms with personal armaments. They did not need a bigger escort than Sili if cave rats were the most they would run into. If I had an experienced team like theirs I might have been foolish enough to keep pushing forward after the ambush in the cavern of pillars.

Once they were out of hearing beyond the first wall my parents immediately turned on me and made me start revealing my armory for the village and shrine. Luckily, all of it was just crude stock of imbued weapons because if I had put my personal brands of magic on these weapons then I would be in serious trouble.

As much as I wanted to win against the hive even I could not give the entire world such unfair advantages. My parents actually eased up a bit when I explained that. I pressed the advantage and hurried to explain more about the village intentions.

If they actually maintained the magic training and candied every day until I got back, their natural hunting experiences would make them equal to C ranked mercenaries in the Guild. Partnered with magical snakes that will evolve with the constant flow of foreign mana and proper dieting, many will be closer to B ranked magic warriors with the reserves from their familiars.

However, their training would involve mastering only one spell, three weapon magics, and basic self-healing. Those with affinities elsewhere were advised to seek inspiration elsewhere. When it came down do it, they would come up short in overall firepower in the long wrong.

However, they only needed to hold out long enough for reinforcements such as Templeton to make a move. There would, of course, be first day response drills in the event of an insect breach from this day forth.

It took me the better part of an hour of going back over this or that step in my plans and preparations as well as the involvement of the bridge village. Finally, after I told them repeatedly that I had no plans for these people to actually enter the tunnels, they finally granted me their blessings to continue pursuing the matter. They did not care what happened to me at this point, just the future of the surrounding people.

Somehow, I felt that they were really higher ranked than everyone on the evaluation team and they were giving me more hell as a form of punishment.

For whatever reason, they spent the next hour until the evaluation team got back writing out better detailed pamphlets for group drills based on the defenses of the cavern. As well as defenses I would be forced to erect around the village. My mother even added some basic magic training based on the elements I originally covered.

Even with my cheat sheets for building their overall power, having the control exercises my mother provided would raise their rank. So to speak. With my father's military drills their overall cohesion would go up on top of having been born and raised together.

The stats of the hunters and lumberers were already nothing to laugh at in the way of Strength and Endurance.

Some of the older adults actually had stats already equal to non-magical C rank mercenaries. Levels played a large part in the strengths of this world. However, fundamental training and weaponry would now make up for what they previously lacked.

With more material to present to the village tomorrow, as well as more work, I was grateful to answer only a few more questions about the different scenes deeper in the caves before my parents and the officials left.

After spending a few minutes tying together dozens of packets of pamphlets with magic, I myself finally went to sleep. Only to wake up before the sun and start preparing a large magically enriched stew of wild vegetables and the few pounds of bird jerky that I had left. I had a militia to feed that was already at least half of the adults in the village.

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