Chapter 62 - Lordship

How has it come to this?

The people who were once staring at Rynold finally got back to what they were doing after his little "stunt" of provoking them. As the new "Lord," people shouldn't stare at him so brazenly, right? Well, as embarrassing as it was, it still happened.

Rynold continued his meal while the rest of the group manage to get back to what they were doing as well. Jack and Oliver managed to chat up Rynold but he still wasn't in the right mind to talk, let alone stay awake. With his half-hearted answers, Rynold seriously didn't have the energy to answer as he was technically still half-awake.

Besides, Rynold's thoughts were preoccupied.

How did his clothes get this disarrayed? This was what Rynold was currently thinking of as he shoved bite after bite into his mouth.

Considering what happened yesterday, his clothes should still be halfway presentable. Rynold thought that he must've had one of those bad dreams again during his sleep the night before. Usually, he slept pretty soundly with the occasional night terror and talking.

On the rare side, though, he had some very bad nights where he was fighting and screaming in his sleep. It was a seldom event but it provided Rynold with bruises and sleep deprivation the next day. Regardless, he still didn't think of it as a big deal.

But now that it had made his somewhat torn clothes into full-on nightwalker gear, Rynold seriously had to be more aware of his state at all times, especially being the newly appointed "Lord."

After he finished eating, Rynold decided to head back to his room but he had to at least cover up his pants first. A slit on the back of his pants and a spot on his groin was somewhat of a gamechanger, not that the rest of his appearance was a sight to behold.

Rynold asked Jack to hand him the coat that he was wearing. In spite of Rynold's current appearance, people with common sense would think that Jack would hand the coat with no problem. Logically, that made sense.

Jack, on the other hand, had a very different idea. He made it hard for Rynold by asking for some sort of incentive with Margareth. As greedy as it seems, this was human nature. Rynold, though, didn't have the patience to deal with his nonsense.

With a swift punch to the stomach, Rynold made Jack stop his bullshit.

"Coat, please," Rynold said in a threatening tone.

Jack held his stomach tightly before sitting down. He then removed his coat and handed it to Rynold.

"Thanks, I'll pay you back a little extra later," Rynold said while patting Jack's shoulder. He tied the coat by the sleeves over his waist to cover up the unfortunate spots on his pants.

Rynold turned around and started walking away from the table before doubling back.

Remembering something, Rynold said to the table, "oh yeah... meet me in the library in about an hour or so," he then shifted his gaze to the others who were sitting at the table. "You guys can come too. It's going to be worth your while," he said before walking away once more.

Rynold went straight back to his quarters, its grand and exquisite ambiance didn't suit his taste at all. Regardless, he went straight to the shower and cleaned himself up before donning some clothes that some of the staff had prepared beforehand.

Elven in nature, the clothes he wore were a bit iffy for him. He had to admit, though, it was better than anything he had at the moment. Even though it was adjusted to his size and overall style, the embroidery still stood out and the design still made him appear a bit more elegant than he originally was.

Anyway, Rynold wasn't the one to care for appearances in the slightest, as he constantly chose comfort over flash. As long as he looked decent, it was good enough.

Rynold headed out once more and stepped on his personal transport platform and headed to the library. In spite of his duties to "lead" the colony, he first had to actually know what his duties were. That being said, the best person to actually explain all that was Margareth.

He stepped off the platform and opened the grand doors to the library. It was arguably the biggest room in the entire Tree and the only place he knew where Margareth was.

From there, Rynold saw what the Librarian was doing. She had fallen asleep as a mountain of books were spotted at almost every corner of the room. At this point, the floor was more books than tiles.

Upon closer inspection, Rynold saw Margareth who had collapsed onto the table and was sleeping peacefully. He almost forgot that the girl was somewhat of a conniving and untrustworthy person because seeing her like this was a sight to behold.

Rynold forever engraved this into his memory as he grabbed a stack of books and dropped them onto the ground with a loud bang.

And, just like that, she woke up.

"Oh sorry, did I wake you?" Rynold said in a sarcastic tone. To which, Margareth simply responded with a glare. He then continued, "go get ready, there are people coming."

Rynold let Margareth do her thing and clean up the place. Well, she just used magic to tidy up, to be accurate.

Regardless, Rynold decided to check on some stuff before Oliver and the rest get here which shouldn't be long now. He opened his status window to check on the rewards for completing the trial. The first one up was the new title he had gotten.

[Lordship]

You have gained the lordship of a specific establishment and thus been granted this title. You now have control over the [Faction] Menu for the faction: The Tree of In-Between.

'Faction menu?' Rynold thought.

In most video games, factions tend to have bonuses when people of the same faction work together. There were also wars and other disputes whenever people of the same ideals form under one banner. This could eventually get messy.

What bothered Rynold though was that it was too soon for a faction to form. Although it was inevitable for groups to form, it was way too much for a single person to get so many followers in such a short period of time.

With a sigh and a feeling of not having a choice in the matter, Rynold opened the Faction Menu to see what it's all about.

===

Faction Menu

Faction: The Tree of In-Between

Role: Lord (Max)

Faction Quests Active:

<none>

Faction Members:

<none>

Faction Bonuses Active:

<none>

===

'Some menu,' Rynold thought as he closed the window that prompted him with a whole lot of nothingness. Time and time again, he was disappointed by this so-called "Lordship" that he had acquired, thinking that it wasn't worth his time to deal with all the trouble.

He thought that it would be for the best that he was the one in charge so his friends wouldn't suffer from the burden. In the end, however, he could only shake his head and admit defeat. There really was no way around this one.

Rynold instead tried to look forward to the next thing that he had gotten.

===

Resource Management Menu

Available Resources:

<Full List Available>

Current Construction Projects: (0/2)

<none>

Available Blueprints for Construction:

<Full List Available>

Resource Distribution and Allocation:

<Full List Available>

===

Base Building!

This was Rynold's favorite type of game to play when he was a kid and had grown out of it when he got admitted to Ark Academy. He could still remember the times when he spent hours into the night just playing the same game over and over.

Feeling excited, Rynold checked the available blueprints that he had and concluded it was a bit too much information for a single list. So much so that Rynold had to squint to see some of the descriptions that were in place.

One thing was for certain, though. This was the perfect opportunity for him to have fun!

Rynold chose the blueprint for a workshop to act as his personal own as a test run to see what would happen.

Next up was choosing the location. A two-dimensional schematic of the tree suddenly popped out as each floor level indicated what type of place it was. There were suburban places while some were for plantations and habitats. Overall, it was intricate to the touch.

He clicked the penthouse level and chose one unoccupied spot as the place where his workshop would be. After all, this might be the place where he would spend hours or, even, days in.

As soon as he clicked confirm, a shot of light came out from his index finger and directly went into the wall. It was as if the lines on the wall were mana channels, capable of shooting out messages to wherever in the tree. This particular one was meant for the construction dwarves he had met the day before.

The beam of light even managed to catch Margareth's attention and she looked at him strangely once it left the room. Rynold simply raised his shoulders as a response.