Dragon Team Barracks, A few years prior
It was night time and the military barracks laid in peaceful silence, now relatively empty as most soldiers were already preparing to rest.
One area, though, remained filled with activity. Continuous gunshots echoed across the semi-open air shooting range, particularly audible amongst the quiet fields surrounded by dense forests.
The one holding the gun had soft delicate hands, and she was supported from the recoil by strong arms flushed behind her. These same strong arms held up her supple arms, keeping them stable and in position.
After shooting, she narrowed her eyes at the target brought back by the carrier.
Her hit rates ranged from 6 to 8 points and she frowned. She had been here for so long, why was her accuracy so low?
She pouted and looked at the man behind her. "So bad?"
Garan chuckled and leaned down to kiss her head. "You are already doing very well, my love."
"Really?"
"Really."
Althea's mood turned up and she looked at the gun in her hand again. It felt really powerful, no wonder men loved it so much.
"Well, I hope you'd never have to use it." He said, leaning down to peck at her lips.
Althea smiled, closing her eyes to receive his chaste kiss.
"Hmmm. I know," she told him, "That's why you do your best at your job. So that I can study my plants with a peace of mind."
Garan chuckled, wrapping his strong arms around her and she relished in his warmth.
"Well, my wife is amazing."
She pinched his cheeks. "We're not married yet."
Gatan smiled kissing her naughty hand on his face. "Not for long."
________________
Altera Village, present.
After a short chat with the soldiers, Althea then proceeded to go to the newly minted weapons and armory factory, refurbished from one of the newly built buildings in the industrial area.
On paper, this factory was 'expropriated' by the 'territory' to be used as a weapons factory. It was located next to the Kiln and had better security compared to the others.
This area was where the weapons and armor would be mass-produced. After so long, Brenda and the others determined that, except for the productivity buff, they could do everything else in the factory, considering they had relatively advanced machines (for Xeno, anyway).
It functioned like a combined armory and weapons store, albeit focusing only on production.
All artisans and creators also had their own large workspaces, and they also added water wheels for their machines, as needed.
It could be said that the Territory invested a lot in this.
As an elder, she was one of the people with access to this area. The bike project was once again deferred, this time because Eugene had to help Brenda and Troy make some more weapons.
The Creator job was so rare because they could also function as weapons makers, armor makers, etc.
The catch was that there wouldn't be any skills given to them by the World Knowledge, just the basic passive skill of understanding underlying mechanisms, which meant that they had to study every skill by themselves.
Basically, unless one was really an inventor by profession, the job of Creator would not be available to them..
Fortunately, Eugene had long transferred the contents of Althea's tablet to his and he had all the reference that he needed.
Another passive that Eugene had recently developed was 'faster hands' in which his hand speed could do twice as much without reducing accuracy.
It was very cool to watch.
Further, Troy had also awakened the Weapons Master's occupation, and everyone knew it (he threw a party, making quite an announcement).
He was very smug at the fact that he could now make 'magic' crossbows that could do more damage against the monsters here than Terran guns.
She watched as the three tirelessly tinkered with various components splayed out on the table, and Eugene's hand was moving so fast that the Her before the apocalypse may have a hard time following his movements.
"We have created smaller crossbows that could be activated by a finger. Although its force is weak, it is lethal if accuracy is good."
"Very assassin-like," Althea said and Troy brightened at being 'acknowledged'.
"Indeed! Very cool! The enemies won't know what hit them!"
The group smiled and proceeded to discuss the other weapons developed during this time.
"Another one is the double-end axe. We used stone for the ends though…" The dark-skinned Eugene said, wiping sweat off his face with his new cotton towel. "It's a good weapon for a Level E with stronger durability and higher damage."
"We also developed a similar spear," Brenda said, "if you press this button, it will extend by a meter. It was amazing.
"There are limitations, however." Eugene said, "The durability was compromised because of this feature. It would work well if it's iron.."
"It would be great if we have some black stone… I mean, iron ores." Brenda said, "I feel my level is increasing, I may be able to handle black stone… er, iron tools soon."
Brenda had been stuck at level D for many years. She stayed here for less than a month and she already felt this barrier loosening. "Too bad the chances are so small, but goblins are too difficult to find in our situation."
"Well, let's just do what we can." Althea said, "I'll… recommend to send missions to find ores."
The other two brightened. Why didn't they think of it?
"Can we do it?" Troy asked, not wanting to be rude, but the territory was really accommodating right?
Althea nodded. "As long as the rationale is there, if it is good for the village, chances are it will be approved."
Troy brightened, looking very admiring. "How nice is our territory!"
Althea smiled, and so did the others. "I'm sure the territory would be glad to know your thoughts."
Later that day, she went to her room and opened the Lord panel, setting an announcement similar to the mass exodus from before. It was just that there was something a bit different this time.
Althea looked at the follow-up question on the floating screen in front of her.
[It has been detected that there are citizens outside the territory at this time. Would you like to send the mission to them for 14 gold?]
This damned money-grubber, charging 10 silver per person… still rounded up.
But what can she do? She didn't have the luxury of time on her hands. Besides, a little gold was not much with her current net worth.
[Yes]
.
.
That day, yet another mission calling for another Exodus sounded across the territory
[Territory Mission (A)
Find resource points for the territory! I.e. Metal ores, special plants, etc.
Requirements: None
Limits: Must contain resources for at least 100 people.
Rewards: 2000-10000 contribution points per team depending on scale and importance]
And like so, everyone in the territory gaped at each other, and the scores of people outside the territory flinched at the same time, looking in a direction with wide eyes.
It's only been a day! The territory's doing big things again!