Zac was gobsmacked.
“You’re not here to help out permanently?” He inquired hesitantly. While it took some time getting used to talking to an eyeball, he was pretty unwilling to be stranded alone in the forest again. Besides, there were so many things he still didn’t understand about what was happening.
“Unfortunately, no. The system only summons an administrator such as myself for a short while when creating an outpost. Also, we only get summoned the first year after initiation. Something like an add-on Tutorial. But we got a bit side-tracked here, and need to hurry up with your outpost.” Abby explained, seeming a bit embarrassed she got sidetracked from her duty.
“Outposts will evolve into full-fledged towns if you complete certain missions. The difference between a system-sanctioned town and a normal mortal town is that the city leader of a system-sanctioned town can use the system to summon buildings, tax the population and connect to other city leaders for example. The difference between an outpost and a town is that an outpost is temporary. Either you manage to turn it into a town by completing your quest, or the incursion over there will stabilize and turn to a town owned by the invading general. By then A LOT more demons will spawn, and unless you’re already dead you will likely die then, titles or not.”
Zac nodded, a better picture of forming in his head. Remembering the 3-month deadline in his quests he realized that what Abby described would happen in roughly 3 months. Still, there were some things he was unsure about.
“But do I really need to care about creating an outpost? My goal is to find my family, I can just leave before the demons arrive.”
That question managed to elicit a full-body eye-roll from the eyeball.
“And go where? Couldn’t go to the tutorial town so you can’t learn skills or choose classes, making you quite weak compared to what you should be. There are monsters everywhere so you aren’t safe anywhere. An outpost can help you get stronger through its facilities, and having a town would be the most effective way to look for your family, compared to manually looking everywhere like a vagabond. Besides, being the first to create a town has amazing benefits, just like with the titles. The system likes the people in the forefront.” Abby one more went into lecturing mode.
“And if that’s not enough, I can also tell you that the system hates cowards. You only get one shot at creating your outpost, if you fail the system deems you unworthy to be a Lord in the future. If you not just fail, but even abandon the mission, the system will also punish you. It would range from crippling you to outright killing you depending on how bad it judges your performance.”
“WHAT?” Zac shouted aghast. “You mean I must complete this quest and kill all the other boss demons or the system might kill me?” The little goodwill Zac had been building towards the system during Abby’s explanations were thoroughly erased.
“Well yes. So I suggest you improve your outpost as much as possible in order to have a chance at survival.” Abby nonchalantly explained, as if risking life and limb fighting demons was completely normal.
“Well shit. So what do you suggest I build? ” Zac hoped to get some guidance in order to create a good foundation for the outpost.
“I’m sorry I am not allowed to guide your choices of buildings, building a proper base properly is also a test from the system. I am only allowed to provide information. The system doesn’t want to give too much direction or tips to newly initiated civilizations, as it wants to test their ingenuity. ”
“Yeah, the system is a real asshole, isn’t he?” Zac muttered. Abby’s pupil enlarged and looked around nervously. Apparently speaking ill of the system seemed like some sort of blasphemy, which Zac guessed made sense as the system essentially was a god. Maybe speaking ill of a being that could spawn portals which puked out demons was a bad idea after all he reflected and vowed to try to keep a lid on his mouth.
“Err... Anyway. If you imagine the words ‘Outpost base’ a menu will appear with your options. Most of the options are unavailable at the start, but more and more gets unlocked as your outpost grows into a town and further. You use the Nexus coins you have to buy the upgrades, and you can get more coins from various sources. Nexus coins are the official currency of the multi-verse, and the only one used when trading with the system.” Abby said, seemingly eager to change the subject.
This answered the question Zac had about the coins in his status screen. He still wasn’t sure why he had 5100 of them though.
"Wait, is there some connection between Nexus Coins and Nexus Crystals?" Zac asked, remembering the rewards from his quests.
"Not really. Nexus Crystals are a cultivation resource in the multi-verse. Both cultivators and mortals can absorb cosmic energy from them. The higher grade the more energy it contains, and the faster you can absorb it."
“Well at this time I would normally have time to answer some specific questions about the different buildings, but we’re out of time. Good luck Zac. If you somehow survive this remember me when you create your town!” It seemed the time for the outpost tutorial was coming to an end. Abby seemed to hesitate a bit but then apparently came to a decision.
“You… You should really try to complete the quests within a month, or at least within two months. That would…” She didn’t get any further before a heavy pressure suddenly bore down on the camp. Abby’s pupil dilated and red squirming veins appeared all over the eye. And suddenly she was gone.
Zac wasn’t sure, but it didn’t feel like this was how she was supposed to disappear, as she appeared completely without him noticing. He had been able to sense something that could almost be anger in the pressure that descended. Had Abby been punished for what she said at the end?
“Complete the quests within a month…” he mumbled, trying to glean any hidden meaning. Something obviously happened because of those sentences. If the system punished her for lying it could only mean Abby wanted him to run to his death like an idiot. But if it was for unduly helping it might be an important clue to help him stay alive. That meant something likely happened to the world or the incursion after a month had progressed. Something that was bad for him.
He just couldn’t figure out why the Stargazerwould just help him like that, even risking the wrath of the system, as she had already explained it didn’t like her giving undue guidance. Zac couldn’t figure out any real reason for that yet, and could only put it aside for now. Instead, he followed her instructions and mentally thought ‘Outpost base’.
Suddenly a new window popped up in front of him. But while it still had the blue background and white borders, it rather reminded him of a web store than an old school RPG game. There were multiple categories of buildings and add-ons to choose from to the left and a seemingly unending number of products in the main window.
Zac took a bottle of now tepid water from the cooler the demonling had been rummaging through earlier and retreated to the camper. The suns were starting to set, which was a relief to Zac, as it proved that at least the daily cycles remained in the world, giving some normalcy.
Unheeding of the bloody mess inside, he cracked open a tin of beans from the cupboard. Luckily they had stocked the camper well before the trip, as they had planned to spend a week on the road, and most of it was non-perishables. He still had food and water for at least two weeks unless he gorged himself.
He sat down at the small dinner-area, and while slowly eating his beans he started mentally browsing through the shop. Zac noticed that the prices were denominated in Nexus coins, which he had 10100 of now. He had gained 5000 coins during the day, likely from creating the outpost.
If he was going to survive in this new world, it seemed the first step was getting the most out of this outpost of his.