Rewards And Upgrades

The journey back to the town was uneventful, surprisingly peaceful despite the bloodied appearance of all my golems. If someone saw them, they would surely be frightened. I assigned ten of them to guard the loot we left inside the cave, ensuring that no one would tamper with the hard-earned spoils.

As we approached the city, the sun began to set, casting a beautiful but melancholic glow on the scenery. The calming atmosphere didn't erase the vivid images of the carnage from my mind.

Amidst all the chaos, I found myself questioning the nature of the reputations I gained. "In all of this carnage, why did I receive more Tears than Blood? I should already be able to evolve into an Inquisitor," I pondered, glancing at my reputation levels.

[Blood 100/300] [Tears 200/300]

From my knowledge of the game, Tears were acquired through performing good actions, while Blood was gained through more ruthless deeds. Yet, despite the genocide of an entire encampment, I found myself with more Tears. Was it possible that I had unknowingly done something positive? The question lingered, and no reassurance could dispel the haunting feeling.

I clasped my shaking hands tightly, took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and looked up to see the town nearing. The thoughts of what rewards awaited me consumed my mind. "What I need are people and livestock; a city cannot develop without them, or I will end up creating a machine empire."

I quickened my pace to reach the front of the troop before giving my orders.

"Everyone, you've earned this moment of respite. Tonight and tomorrow, rest as much as you need. There will be no expedition for the next day," I informed the group, observing their expressions.

The two Praetorians whispered to each other before George replied, "But, my Lord, we don't need to rest. We are your soldiers; we just need to obey your commands." The rest of the group seemed to agree with his sentiment.

Puzzled by their refusal of a day of rest, I reminded myself that they were not modern individuals like me but people from a fantasy medieval world, and their views differed from mine.

"Please, everyone, to better serve me, I'll need soldiers who have had enough sleep and rest. This is an order," I added with firmness, hoping they would understand the importance of recovery.

"Then, if it is your order, my Lord, we should comply," replied George with a defeated tone as we neared the entrance to the town.

"I will be going to my workshop immediately. I have some experiments to do upon the idol that we took from the village," I said to the group as I started to depart from them, heading toward my workshop. Along the way, I looked at the dozen houses that were built during the night and our absence. The building speed was far faster than it was during medieval times; after all, golems didn't need to sleep or eat.

Before going to my workshop, I made a stop at the resources warehouse.The gold coins continued to appear due to Urgash's blessing, but I could see that the wood and stone stocks were dwindling at a fast rate. We would be out of stock if we continued to build at such a speed by next week.

"My workshop has been enlarged so much due to the stone I used to create the golems; I could place a literal army of golems in it," I mused, remembering how much stone I took from the mountain to create these war golems. I took some earth crystals lying in the entrepot before making my way toward my workshop.

While pacing toward it, I saw the group creating a bonfire, laughing and enjoying themselves, even Aurelia accompanied them. Seeing this brought a smile to my masked face before I reached the entrance of my workshop. I 'opened' the stone door before engulfing myself in the entrance.

Seeing the familiar light of the carving that I made using a gemstone, I opened the system as I sat on the slab that I used as a bed. I clicked on the reward for killing Rakalash.

[Do you wish to receive the rewards ?]

I promptly clicked on [Yes]. Another window appeared, detailing what I obtained from the kill.

[You killed a Spirit; you received x10 Sentinels, x5 Crossbowmen, and x5 Sisters.]

[You received 3400 XP]

[Level 2: 76/2000 -> Level 3: 1476/4000]

[You obtained 1 talent point]

[Magic Power +1]

[Destiny : +1]

[Mana : 100->150]

Seeing this, I bolted outside of my workshop. As I exited, I saw a new group of people appearing from a flash of light.

"We greet the Lord," they said in unison. I saw the shocked faces of my most ancient troops as they looked at this.

"I greet you too," I replied to the group, my eyes scanning the crowd. I saw the familiar troops and the new Sisters. They were all young women in their twenties, contrary to the game. Two of them were blond, while the three others were brunettes.

"Everyone, make yourselves comfortable and go to the first ones that were summoned to be briefed with the details of our situation," I ordered them. As I closed my mouth, they executed themselves swiftly, walking toward the bonfire that was created.

I opened the system again to claim the other reward.

[Do you wish to receive the reward?]

Once again, I clicked on [Yes].

[You destroyed another civilization.]

[You gained 5000 XP]

[Level 3: 1476/4000 -> Level 4: 2446/8000]

[Magic Power +1

Magic Defense +1

Talent Point +1

Mana 150->200]

[You received 2 random basic Haven buildings, a reward choice, and a random artifact.]

[Random Buildings: Marketplace, Priory]

[Random Artifact: Parchment of Storm Arrows]

[Reward Choice: You obtain fifty civilians aged between 20 and 30 years OR You obtain cattle: 10 cows, 10 sheep, and 50 chickens and a building to contain them.]

'This is a hard choice,' I thought, pondering about the choice reward. It was true that I needed a population, but how would I have enough food to feed about seventy people in total? I couldn't. For now, the fields didn't have this capacity. So, I clicked on the cattle reward.

[Choose where to place the buildings.]

I was then transferred to the sky view of the city to place the buildings.

'Let's place the marketplace near the town hall and the priory near the barracks. As for the building containing the cattle, let's place it a bit farther, where only my golems and I will go,' I decided. As I finished placing the buildings, three lights came from above and fell on the ground. They disappeared, and the three buildings were created. The animal's building was extremely huge compared to the other two.

In my hand appeared the spell's parchment. I sensed the magic in it, but this was perhaps one of the best things to give me. If I could reverse engineer the creation of this parchment, I could create a lot of them to distribute to my troops.

I looked at the marketplace to see informations

[Marketplace: A place where buyers and sellers meet, but for now, it seems that nobody is selling anything.]

[Stalls 0/10, Tax on each sale 0]

'So I need people to sell things to get money. Contrary to the games, this is far more realistic,' I thought sadly as I looked at the empty marketplace. Disappointed, I turned my attention to the priory.

[Priory]

[Uncommon]

[The building creating to form Sisters and Abbots]

[Can create 5 Sisters and 1 Abbot from the population per month]

[Prices 100 gold for each sister and 500 gold for an abbot]

'Another building that doesn't have any usage for now,' I sighed defeated. Still, the reinforcement of the new soldiers meant that I needed to create more fields, or we would all die of hunger.

So, I decided to dedicate my time this evening to the creation of more golems to establish more fields and then plant what remained of our last harvest to sow the fields for a new harvest.

Using my foreknowledge, I quickly created 100 shells for the new golems. These golems were tinier but bulkier than the ones I created before.

[Digging Golem]

[Uncommon]

[A golem made to dig huge chunks of earth using his enormous hands]

The part that took far longer was the creation of the gemstones. It was a delicate task, and I couldn't allow myself to be too hasty or it would have ruined the gemstones. I didn't know how much time had passed, but I finally finished the gemstones.

I animated each golem using the gemstones that I created, then I ordered them to dig huge fields around the town in the plains.

'The well that I created will probably not be enough for this many fields,' I thought. Despite all of my knowledge, I was not capable of coming to a helping conclusion. So, I started to create the harvester golem for the new installation that we made near the village that we destroyed.

I created one type of golem, resembling the golden golem that was given to me by the system, but instead of gold, they were made of stone. Then, I created tools like axes for the lumberjacks and pickaxes for the miners. This was an arduous task, as each golem was made to be of great craftsmanship compared to the digger ones.

[Harvester Golem]

[Rare]

[A Golem resembling an armor capable enough to wield tools and effectuate tasks]

I created twenties of such golem, their gems already sat, prepared to be inserted. As soon as I finished their craft, I promptly inserted the gems inside the golems, making them come to life.

I ordonned them to take their tools and go toward each one of their resource points, I ordonned some war golems to escort them toward their destination as I didn't want any surprises.

I sat on the slab, exhausted as I looked at the ceiling of my workshop, lost in thoughts about what will happen to us after that the system will disappear. The fact that the system will disappear means that I must obtain the most benefits from it.

My wandering eyes came into contact with the idol that we looted from the savages, now that I was alone with it, I could sense the malice emanating from it/

I took it with great precautions before tossing it on the table, I analyzed it with my magic senses and as I scanned it I found something frightening in it, it seemed that the souls of the savages were stocked inside of this totem, I could hear their screams for deliverance.

[Do you wish to purify the Idol?]

I clicked on the button [Yes] with lightning speed. I heard the souls cry one last time before an enormous light emanated from my hands, enveloping the idol in a hot, flaming glow.

[You saved the souls of 2547 primates.]

[You received 100 Tears reputation.]

[You can now become a Confessor; you have enough tears.]

[Information about the Ngaarion Tribe is available in the info section.]

'So many souls were contained inside this idol?' I was shocked. I had only killed about 350 savages, nearly not enough to account for that many souls. Did this mean that the Spirit took the souls of nearly seven tribes of that magnitude?

I clicked on the Info section, only to read a horrifying summary of the life of the Ngaarion Tribe.

[The Ngaarion Tribe was a tribe of hunters. One day, a shaman of this tribe discovered something hidden in a cave near their village. Even before he could protect himself, he was attacked by the immaterial beast. Losing the battle, the shaman was possessed by this beast. Returning to the tribe, the possessed shaman started to change the way the tribe worked as he assassinated all the other shamans or chiefs that were in his way. He organized a cult toward the Spirit that possessed him, Rakalash. This Spirit was not weak, far from it; he could use Nature Magic to create duplicates of himself to infect the psyche of the other inhabitants of the Tribe, controlling them.]

[Then, at the death of this shaman, the problem continued as the beast chose another shaman to be his host and continued the cycle of carnage inside the tribe. Each stranger that entered the woods was killed by these savages. Seeing that the tribe was dwindling at a fast rate due to the bloody ritual committed for the Spirit, the Spirit used his control over Nature magic to greatly enhance the growth of newborns, controlling them at the same time, ensuring total dominance over the tribe until you came and slaughtered him and the tribe.]

'What is this madness?' I read the text with growing disgust. I was once again reminded of the grim universe that I was in. If a single spirit could do that, how strong were beings like the Nathrezims or the Titans?

'But system, the information that you gave me said that the Tribe created the beast, but with this information, this is not the truth' I questioned the system, as it seemed that the information given before was not the absolute truth.

[The information that was given is true, the Spirit was created by the collective belief of the Tribe, the monster that attacked the shaman was not Rakalash, but a simple parasitic beast that took all the knowledge of his host to create the cult of Rakalash]

[The beast used the belief of the Tribe to strengthen himself] concluded the system in a last panel

'I see, sorry for doubting your information' I apologized to the system as I thought about the ramification of such a discovery

'Can I enhance myself like that ?' I thought excitedly but soon a window appeared in front of me

[Be careful, using the belief of people can be dangerous, your personality will change depending on how the people see you] the system reminded

'Ah' I exclaimed inwardly 'We'll be going toward the mage's way it seems' I thought as I didn't want my personality to change but I had an Ascendency to take

[Tears 300/250]

[You can become a Confessor, but be careful, this will block the Blood Ascendency completely]

'I don't want the blood Ascendency anyway, keeping my troop alive is far better than a little bit of light damage on each attack' I thought before clicked on [Yes], then a torrent of pure white energy came from above me, showering me, I sensed that I was being remodeled, I saw a million different light and as I closed my eyes I fell loudly on the ground of my workshop.

"Huff, huff" I was searching for breath, my body aching due to the change inside of it.

'Character sheet' I said as a white window appeared in front of me

[Character Sheet]

Lucas Aldaric

[Confessor]

Tears: 50/10000

Attributes:

Might Power: 0

Might Defense: 2

Magic Power: 4(+2)

Magic Defense: 3(+1)

Leadership: 2

Destiny: 2

Mana 42/200

Talents:

[Advanced Golemancer 165/5000, 0/1]

[Advanced Jeweler 160/2000, 0/1]

[Novice Enchanter 0/100, 0/1] *New*

(Unused skill points : 2)

Skills:

Urgash's Blessing(Mythical)

Earth Magic I(+50%)

Light Magic I

Elrath's Might(Epic) *New*

[Prime Magic I] *New*

Spells:

Regeneration

Earth Shield

Fire Mastery

Heal

Minerals Detection II(Temporary)

Resurrection *New*

Artifacts:

Pendant of Holiness

Enhanced Cleric Staff of the Earth

Parchment of Storm Arrows*New*

[Resurrection : Resurrect a dead troop with full capabilities (300 mana)]

[Elrath's Might : A benediction given to all Confessors, allow them to manipulate Light Magic and see this element more clearly]

'Jackpot' I thought excitedly, I knew that Confessor was the way to go, despite Inquisitor being an extremely good Ascendency I preferred the Confessor, being able to resurrect dead people is an extremely good magic

And [Elrath's Might] is a bonus as I never saw this in the game but this is a welcome surprise.

I looked at one of the crystals to see my reflection, stood in front of me a Confessor, my armor now fully white, an helmet adorning my head whereas before I had a mask, the staff didn't change as it was still my crafted one.

'I am stylish, though.' I loved this design; it was grandiose and inspired strictness. Perhaps I could craft this gear or enchant it. But for now, I'll leave it as the standard gear.

I exited the cave, staff in hand. As I saw the now far more numerous group sitting on benches made of stone near the now grand bonfire:

"My Lord, you became a Confessor!?" I heard the shocked voice of George as the whole group turned toward me, the Sisters with stars in their eyes, as if they saw the incarnation of Elrath himself.

"Yes, I had an opportunity and I took it," I responded to George as I sat on a bench, surrounded by two of the new sentinels.

"Does everyone have a place to sleep tonight?" I asked the group, and what greeted me was a general yes. "Perfect. So I have a question. Has anyone been a farmer in their last life?" Some people responded with a yes to the question—five people in total.

"So, can I ask you to take care of the cattle in the building there?" I pointed toward the structure. "I can provide you with food for the animals and buckets for the eggs and milk. I would like to have a functioning food production for the future inhabitants, so for now, we'll stop our expansion for one day and concentrate on food production," I instructed the group as I removed my helmet to eat the soup that was made.

"I already created some golems to dig the fields and I'll just need some people to plant the seeds then I'll use magic to grow the plots" I informed the group as I finished my soup.

"We'll need more water for the fields, so I'll try to find a solution tonight or tomorrow, but we'll see, as it didn't rain a single time for now" I continued as I stood up

"I bid you all a good night," I said to the group as I started to walk toward my workshop, not before making a detour toward the warehouse to take the crystals that the golems brought back from their daily errand.

'The stock of wood is getting replenished far more than the stones. I have three functioning sawmills but just one quarry,' I thought as I looked at the stone's stock. 'I will just create more quarries where the yield is not optimal,' I thought as I left with the crystals in hand toward my workshop.

Tonight, I will advance my carving to further the productivity of the fields, and perhaps I could find a spell that enhances the reproduction of beasts.

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Merry Christmas to everyone