Book 2: Chapter 20

Book 2: Chapter 20

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Kay! Kay!”

Kay glanced up from the gauntlets made of blood he’d solidified around his fingers when he heard someone shouting his name. He’d been refining his blood armor in the new training yard they’d made, which was really just a dirt yard a little ways away from anything.

“What’s up?” Kay asked as Leya ran up to him.

She stopped by his side and took a few deep breaths. “Darten found something when he was making that bunker you asked for, and Eleniah wants you to come look at it. She says come right now.”

Kay started walking towards the cliff. “What kind of something?” He picked up his pace and started jogging.

“He detected an open space behind where he was tunneling, so he asked Eleniah what to do since you were busy and she said open it while she was there, and it’s a tunnel!” She belted out as she ran next to him. “It looks like it’s going through the cliffs!”

“That...” A bunch of different possibilities ran through Kay’s head. “That could be a problem.”

They ran past the eating hall and the new “government building” that had been erected next to it and stopped at a tunnel heading inside the cliff. It was fifty or sixty feet away from the rest of the base and had some large rocks placed next to it. Almost everyone was gathered around the tunnel, staring into it.

“Kay’s here!” Someone called into the tunnel.

Eleniah stuck her head out. “Kay! Come look!”

Kay gingerly pushed his way through the small crowd of dwarves and stepped into the tunnel. It was pretty dark inside, the only light coming from a small crystal Darten was holding in his hand.

“What’s that?” Kay asked, staring at the crystal.

“This?” Darten glanced at it, “It’s a light crystal I made with a spell. I picked up that spell so that I’d always have light if I needed it.”

“How bright can they get?”

“Pretty bright; why?”

“Do they last awhile? We could use them for lighting things without using fire.”

“Well... They can last a while if I put some effort into making them, but they’re on all the time and-”

“Boys!”

They stepped into what Kay was starting to think of as his office, and Ahthia looked up from the paper she was writing on.

“How did it go?” Ahthia asked, “I heard there was another tunnel you ran into?”

“There was. It runs both directions through the cliff without any end we could see. There were signs of tool work in it, so I got Darten to block it off until we have the time and manpower to explore.”

She nodded in approval. “Smart.”

“Glad you approve.” Kay sat down in his chair at the end of the table. Devon had made quite a few pieces of furniture over the last couple of weeks and had gotten a good number of levels from it. He’d focused on tables and chairs to start with since they didn’t have all the materials needed to make good beds. “Now, my training time got cut short, so let’s jump back into planning.”

“Right.” Ahthia straightened her papers, and Eleniah took her seat, and they started discussing. “First off, the plans for a sewage system look good. With Darten and eventually Leya helping out, it won’t be too hard to replace the stone pipes we’ll use for now with metal ones once we can do so. The underground holding tank will also work as a stopgap until we can get a Sanitation Mage for the village.”

“Is Sanitation Mage on the recruitment list?” Kay asked.

Eleniah nodded.

“Good. Also, are we deciding to call it a village now for sure? We’ve been jumping around terms a lot.”

“Well,” Ahthia made a face, “Technically, until we get you a Noble Title, we’re an unrecognized settlement, so what we call ourselves in terms of village, town, city, whatever is usually dependent on size and population. Once we get you a Noble Title, we’ll be a settlement recognized by The World, so what we’re called will be based on your Title, size, population, and some other factors.”

“Should we go ahead and name the place to avoid any more confusion?”

“No, I’d wait until our new people arrive with Meten, let them feel part of the place by being part of naming it,” Eleniah suggested.

Kay tapped the table a few times as he had a quick internal debate. “That’s a good idea. Let’s just call ourselves a village for now, since our population will only be thirty or forty-something, and we’ll revisit the topic as necessary. What’s next?”

Ahthia flipped to the next page. “We should start preparing to have an economy sooner rather than later.”

“Kay and I have some money we can donate to the village coffers to get us started,” Eleniah said, holding up her spatial bag. “That should keep us going for a while.”

“We’d need places for people to spend their money.” Kay leaned his chair back and looked upward, “I don’t want to charge people for food until we’re absolutely ready for that. So what is there to spend on? We don’t have any luxuries for people to but yet, and to repeat myself, I don’t want us selling basic needs to people until we’re completely sure we’re stable and no one will suffer.”

Ahthia nodded. “I’m in complete agreement. I don’t think we’ll have a fully functioning economy set up for a while, even after Meten brings our new people back. I just want to keep your plan of planning ahead to prevent future problems going. If we have a plan set up before we need it, we can adjust it as necessary and get things going as smoothly as possible. Paying people isn’t something I want to scramble with.”

“Smart.” Kay took a breath to continue when Rhia burst into the room. “Giant birds are after my crops!”

Kay popped up from his chair. “Eleniah, with me, Ahthia, do whatever but keep safe.” He grabbed his halberd from where he’d propped it against the wall and started running towards the two fields they’d made for Rhia. “Today is problem day, huh?” He muttered as he ran.