CC 11: Thunderplump ~ Twelve!

“Approximately two hundred hours since the start of the first wave until the twenty-fifth hits. That gives me about eight days in total to get these projects done before we’ll be completely overwhelmed.” Joe would’ve been far more concerned over the situation, were it not for the fact that he now had a Grandmaster and four Experts working for him.

The ritual towers in the distance were constantly lighting up the night sky now, ceaselessly firing into the crowds of monsters. Watching for a moment, the Ritualist decided he may have overestimated how much time he truly had. “If the size of the waves grows each time, it's not just that we're going to have a constant stream. We're eventually going to have multiple waves fighting for the right to hit us first. Then we’ll have a huge ocean of them surrounding us on all sides.”

Then he had a truly terrifying thought. “What if the monsters blocking the path count as an obstacle, and the others start going through the walls? Will Snow’s plan help mitigate that, or… no, I have to trust her. If I thought about that, the war council definitely has.”

For the moment, he was lost as to what he should be doing. The first of the Mana Battery Recharge Stations should be up and operational with only a couple dozen hours of work, and the next ones should come out even faster after all the kinks were worked out in the production process.

His individual combat skills weren’t particularly versatile against so many monsters, and Joe didn't want to climb the walls just to start picking off weak beasts. “Class quests? Yes. Let's do that. I really want to go back to the den of ice wraiths I kited along to help me destroy that Elven settlement, but I think if anyone sees me leaving Town, it might start a panic.”

He felt his gut clench as he thought about Havoc warning him against leaving. Joe repeated it incredulously. “‘The last time you vanished through your little shrine system, you took all of the ritual towers with you’. Abyss, don't these people understand extenuating circumstances?”

Trying to decide between additional training, working on creating an upgraded set of rituals, or checking on the class-change aspirants, Joe stepped back to clear his head for a minute. As he thought about what to do, he started casually checking in on the situation outside of the walls. Multiple relay stations had been set up—basically little ritual bubbles that allowed official messengers to know where to have a runner bring their information in order to get it to the next link in the chain as quickly as possible.

Popping into the bubble, the Ritualist was greeted with a salute, this particular gesture a version extended from a member of the military to a civilian leader. Joe responded in kind, motioning for the Dwarf with the markings of a Scout Lieutenant of the Legion to relax.

“I have wave reports from the eastern front.” She approached with a heavy scroll and unfurled it for Joe to look over as she spoke. “Between the first wave and now, we’re estimating that the number has doubled. We’re expecting back-to-back waves, like a fire sale on claws and frostbite.”

Joe scanned the numbers and blinked a few times before rubbing his temples. “Abyss. I never expected the upgrade to be anything like this. Seriously, why was there no… I don't know, intermediate step?”

The Lieutenant nodded at him, stroking her mustache in thought. “You’re talking about a ‘Special’ rank settlement. Those get shuffled to the side of the main upgrade options, and their upgrade paths are extremely limited or difficult to manage. For instance, you’re part of a guild. There's only a few paths your group could take if they decided they wanted to own an entire settlement. They could turn it into what’s essentially a massive factory, if they were a crafter’s guild. Or, if they’re all fighters and the like, it can turn into a mercenary town, pirate haven, or even a smuggler's den.”

“A Sect?” Joe hopefully offered, wondering if he was about to get the information he’d been seeking on how to upgrade his guild.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded. “At the Special rank, it would only be a minor Sect. I think the next step up from there is orthodox or demonic sect, depending on the majority of the alignment of your members.”

“Don't know what that means, but thanks!” Joe chipperly stated, his gaze going distant as he thought about the future. “I wonder where we’ll all end up? I don't know about you, but I think we should pull everything to a beach world. Set up some climate control around it and chill for a few decades. Or centuries.”

The Lieutenant looked at him strangely. “I'm almost positive that Jotunheim has no beaches you’d want to lounge on.”

“No, I mean, when we all leave here. After getting control of the bifrost?” His comment was met only with a blank expression and a shrug. Joe’s words were filled with disbelief. “You don't think you’re going to come along? I mean, whatever you want to do, I don't really know you. But it would be kind of hard to be here alone, don't you think?”

“Um. Master Joe, I think you may have some misconceptions. The Dwarven Oligarchy is planning on fully dominating this planet, and I don't think you’re going to be convincing any of my people to leave.” She tilted her head to the side slightly. “Why would we? There’s plenty of meat, enormous monsters to sharpen our blades on and test our new inventions. Not to mention all of the space. We can grow to our hearts’ content and choose a few thousand miles where we can dump all of our pollutants so we never have to think about them again. This world is a paradise for us.”

“But… the next world…?” For some reason, Joe simply couldn't understand the words this Lieutenant was spouting at him.

She gave him a formal salute and spoke in a clipped tone. “Master Joe, I truly believe I can speak for all of us when I say that this is the next world for us. As far as the Oligarchy is concerned, we’re staying. This is either our home forever or our final resting place.”

The Ritualist felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Internally, a part of him started screaming and cursing about wasting his best materials on buildings that he wouldn't be bringing along with him. All this time, he'd been throwing everything he had into every part of the settlement, assuming that this world was a stepping stone for them, just as it was for him. If what the Lieutenant said was true, that the Dwarves were digging into this soil and had no intention of uprooting themselves…

Dazedly saluting in return, Joe turned and walked away as he tried to absorb the shock he’d been given. He looked around at everything that had been built so far, structures that had been his responsibility to create. The Ritualist had literally given them away, assuming that he would forever have access to them. Instead, he realized that his choices were permanent. “I don’t have a blueprint for the observatory! I need to go scan that. What about the, no, I should…”

He blanched as he looked over at the Pyramid of Panacea, which was now owned by Jake the Alchemist. Joe’s voice came out as a whisper. “Surely Jake wants to go to the next world, right?”

Rushing over to the pyramid, he used the door knocker to get Jake's attention, eventually being let in after nearly five minutes of waiting. As soon as he saw who had allowed him access, Joe understood the delay. “Ah. Baumann. Glad to see you’re being as diligent as ever. Did Jake take you under his wing?”

“He did!” The Dwarf’s eyes were alight, and his smile was bright enough to blind a Penguin. “The venerable Sage started with teaching me Alchemical Lore, and when I reached the Beginner rank by the end of our conversation, he started teaching me in earnest. Please, come in! He's waiting for you but didn't want to allow you access because he thought you were perhaps coming to collect me.”

“But… I sent you here.” Joe shook his head and walked into the building. His thoughts were muddled at the moment, and he didn't trust himself to have an existential conversation on this level with someone he’d only just met. The words ‘the Oligarchy will never leave this world’ were bouncing around inside of his skull, echoing like a mental curse had been placed on him.

The moment he laid eyes on Jake, the Alchemist looked up at him and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. Instantly, the cauldron he was hovering next to started boiling over and the man cursed as he swept the falling liquid into glass tubes and buckets that had clearly been placed there for that purpose. “Joe, you have no idea how rare a Neophyte is. If you think I'm going to give him up before he has the most firm foundation in alchemy possible and has been completely convinced to advance my craft, you–”

“Jake, please. I'm not here about that.” The Ritualist slumped onto a three-legged stool, heaving a deep sigh. “I just found out that the Dwarves are planning to remain on Jotunheim. I don't understand it, but I need to know… when we open the bifrost, are you going to come with me and bring the Alchemy Hall with you?”

The Alchemist’s elated expression sank faster than lead precipitate in a cooling concoction. “Is it time for this conversation already? I thought you knew. There I was, thinking to myself: why else would he give me full ownership of this building? Short version, then. There are a multitude of reasons, but no, I will not be leaving this world. At least not with the pyramid.”

“But. Jake, I need to know those reasons.” Joe’s confusion was starting to shift into anger as he realized that all of his hard work was only going to benefit others, and almost none of it was going to have a lasting impact for him. “I don't want to have to start over, not again. I entered Midgard with nothing, then all of the gold I collected there was useful only as crafting material in Alfheim. The bucketloads of reputation I accrued on that world became worthless as soon as the Oligarchy fell, then we arrived here. I'm not going to do it again. I'm not going to another world and starting at the bottom again.”

“Well… then you should plan to stay on Jotunheim forever as well.” Jake stated calmly and cautiously. “Otherwise, the next step is going to be you once again at the bottom of the well as a frog, staring up at swan flesh and wishing for a taste. Eventually, you might become an extremely powerful, influential person on this world. But… no matter what you attain here, a new world is a new world. Do you even know what they use as currency on Vanaheim, for instance?”

‘No. How could I possi–”

“Cheese,” Jake informed him so seriously that Joe couldn't doubt him. “It is an endlessly renewable resource, but not so much there. There’s a secret cabal of penguins at the center of the world that collect tithes of cheese and use it in an attempt to rebuild the core of the planet. Now. Back to the issue at hand, the pyramid cannot survive another transfer in its current state. Too much of its material has been devoted to the magma drill. The walls are thin, and will take years—if not decades—to even out.”

Joe hadn’t even considered that aspect of this building, but of course the drill had to have material for its piping, and that had to come from somewhere. “But, someday? Would you continue onward?”

“The most I can say without putting a larger target on your back is that it is not an option for me. If I fly too close to the sun, I'll be noticed. This is as close as I can realistically shift, and even now, I am reliant on the cloud cover for, how to say… succor?”

Chewing on the information he’d just gained, the Ritualist stayed silent for a few minutes. “I'm not a Dwarf, Jake. I don't build cities to last until the end of time. I'm building so that I can have accomplishments to bring with me to higher worlds. Right now? I don't know if I want to keep investing my best resources. Not when I know it's a one-way transaction.”

Jake let out a deep sigh and reached out and patted the air, as if he were trying to console the human but didn't want to get his hands dirty by touching his actual back. “There, there. I believe that is your language's comfort words. Look. You never know. Perhaps your work here may echo into other realms in ways you can't yet imagine.”