Chapter 9 Minions For Survival

I decided to look in my inventory to see what to do.

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<Inventory> 571/900

[1x] Lesser Stone Axe (Durability 91%)

[213x] wood

[1x] apples

[291x] leaves

[12x] meat

[53x] rocks

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All of my Scout Minions were currently learning so there was nothing I could do with them. I decided to take out my axe and start chopping wood, it was the best thing I could do with my time. I also decided to have a quick look at the shop.

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<Shop> (Refreshes everyday)

[Archer Minion Recipe] - 19 Tokens

[+50 Inventory Slots] - 1 Token

[Minion Speed Boost Potion] - 1 Token

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There were some different items that I could buy, the only problem was that I didn't really want to sell any of my items for tokens just yet as I needed them for crafting.

Slowly, throughout the day, the number of resources in my inventory gradually increased. After a few hours, my Woodcutter had almost gathered enough wood for me to build a hut.

"Hey William," I suddenly heard Rosie speak to me.

"Yeah?"

"I got assigned some missions through my system, I need to collect some flowers and other plants so I need to explore the forest... um is it okay if you send one of your Minions with me so I can feel safer?"

I had a quick look at my Minion menu.

One of my Scout Minions had finished learning [Combat].

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<Learning (Stage 2)>

- [Archery]

- [Swordplay]

- [Magic]

- [Shield/Utility]

~

I was given options for a second stage of learning, I decided that it could wait and I would send it out with Rosie. I looked over at the plant beds and saw that some of the plants had already sprouted, much quicker than I expected them to.

"I'll send one of my Combat Scout Minions with you."

"Thank you~"

I gave it the command to learn [Swordplay] when it could but to prioritise protecting Rosie. It didn't spawn with a sword so I opened my crafting menu.

I could craft a [Basic Stone Sword] with 35 rocks and 50 wood. It was a significant cost but I decided that it was worth it. After doing so, I gave the sword to the Scout Minion and the two of them went off into the forest.

All of my other Scout Minions were still learning, although some of them managed to finish their stage one education and go onto stage two.

I decided to take out my axe and start chopping down some more trees.

[+9 wood]

[+11 wood]

[+9 wood]

[+9 wood]

[+7 wood]

…

After a few hours, it was past midday and my inventory was almost full. Throughout the day, I was forced to sell some of my leaves for tokens as I was running out of space.

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<Inventory> 809/900

[1x] Lesser Stone Axe (Durability 91%)

[433x] wood

[31x] apples

[200x] leaves

[43x] meat

[101x] rocks

[Token Balance]: 0.392

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At this point, I had quite a lot of resources.

The first thing I did was instantly craft Scout Minions with all the apples and meat I had. I was able to make 6 Scout Minions, spending 30 apples and 12 meat in total. With these new Scout Minions, I had a new plan for them.

I added two Scout Minions to my initial code for the learning of [Resource Gathering] however, I specialised them in [Hunting] instead.

I ordered the other four Scout Minions to scout the area, with a few lines of code.

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ON.

[Scout]

if [Entity Observed] -> [Group]

if [Health < 50%]

[Return]

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This way, I could get maximum scouting range but also maximise the safety of the Minions. The main thing I wanted to find was other people. I noticed that I could also code my Minions to say things.

I added another line of code.

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if [Person Detected]

say [are you looking to group up?]

then,

[return]

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The only problem was that I worried that I might lead some unpleasant people to myself. I needed to carefully gauge if they were a good candidate. I needed to think of what to do in the case I actually manage to find people.

For the time being, I think it was just good enough to Scout the area and get some more information I what I would be working with.

The next thing I needed to do was get the hut built. I crafted the blueprint but unlike all the other structures, it didn't immediately place it on the ground, instead, it informed me that I needed to give it to a Builder Minion. I called my Builder Minion over and passed it the blueprint. It observed the blue piece of paper for a little bit before it walked over to the area I wanted the hut built.

Slowly, it took resources and began constructing the hut, from the bottom up.

The crafting recipe specified that it would take an entire day to build so it was likely that I wouldn't be able to live in it tonight. Therefore, I would have to build more [Instant Temporary Shelters]. While I was there, I decided to look at the crafting recipe for a Builder Minion. It was 500 wood and 20 meat. Quite expensive.

The sun was starting to set once again. I recalled my Minions and waited for them to return. After a few moments, suddenly, several of my Scout Minions finished training, with that, I was shown the third stage of learning for [Resource Gathering] -> [Woodcutting].

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<Learning (Stage 3)>

- [Lumberer]

- [Tree Farmer]

- [Woodcutter]

~

I didn't really know what was specified by each of the different specifications but I decided that I would just use them to gather more resources for the time being.

Rosie still hadn't returned but the minion I sent with her was still alive and healthy. There was still an hour or so until it would really be getting dangerous.

I lit the fire, lighting the area with a rich orange flame.