Frostbound

Chris

"Marcus, did you know about this?" I asked as we watched the Aliens receive a flood of requests.

The initial surprise had worn off and now I was just trying to wrap my head around real-life Aliens. Austin was more than excited to meet them, but I had him stay back in case something happened.

I didn't think it was likely, but it was best to be cautious.

The books we had access to in the tutorial told us a lot, but we had to know they were out there in the first place to buy them. We didn't know being sent Merchants was going to happen and I was taken off guard.

"No, I did not know Aliens were going to show up," Marcus answered measuredly.

Both of us were among the first to approach, but we stayed our distance while everyone else closed in after hearing they might hold the last piece to evolve.

If they'd broken out a stand and started showing wares, I might have been worried about first come first serve, but none of the Merchants were doing that. They were only answering questions for right now and going on about what they would eventually have available.

There was no active trading happening.

I had to evaluate how my time was best spent. I could, like the others, shout out parts that those in my Faction and Family might need, but we had a timer ticking that was more important in my opinion.

We had less than a day to finalize what we wanted as our Reward.

It's best to have Jonathan and the other Merchants feel out the Aliens. See what they have available so we don't waste precious Rewards from the System on something we could have bought anyway.

Merchant skills played off one another well and they were able to take stock of what was available a lot faster than anything I could do. They had specific skills for it like [Check Inventory] and [Exchange Wares].

I could tell Marcus wanted to get closer but I had other plans. "Marcus, I'm going back but can you come speak with me when you find the chance? It's not urgent, but before you pick your Reward."

"Yeah, I can." He said. It was clear his attention was mainly on the newcomers but his affirmation was enough for me.

Instead of joining in the crowd, I went back to our Camp. I was one of the few to leave.

Abigail and Austin were in the same position I had left them in and were obviously curious as to what was going on. While Austin had incredible eyesight, his hearing couldn't reach that far. At least not yet.

"Abigail, is Jonathan in good enough shape to do some work?" I asked. The last I saw the man he was unconscious with worse wounds than me. _{𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝘣.𝘤𝘰𝑚}

"He's not perfect, but Ashley saw him this morning to fight off the Blight. He's still wounded, but not too badly." She answered. It was clear she didn't want him walking around but he would have to anyway.

"Apparently, there are Merchants sent here from other Planets with aid from the System. I think this is its attempt to connect us to the outside Universe." I summarized.

"We need to make the best use out of this before our time runs out." Abigail instantly caught on to what I was thinking, "We can organize what we need most and check what we can buy from them instead of the System. That way we can make best use of our Contribution Points."

As soon as she caught on, she started planning out the next steps before I could get a word in edge-wise, "Grace and Sophia will need to help along with a few others. It'll take a few hours to get to everyone and come up with a prioritized list, but we should be done before the timer is up."

"Hold on there," Austin cut in. "I think you guys are forgetting something pretty important."

At Austin's mention of forgetting something, Abigail's face scrunched up as she went back over everything in her head but she didn't show any hint that she knew what he was talking about.

I didn't know what he was talking about either.

"Come on, think about it." Seeing how we were missing something he already knew, he had a small smile on his face, "We're given one day to pick or we lose the opportunity."

I caught on and so did Abigail.

"Which means in one day, everyone here will have something worth stealing." Austin finished.

"Oh shit."

It was going to be like when people first returned. Everyone had Rewards from the tutorial and fights broke out trying to steal anything valuable. There were still over a hundred thousand people crammed near the Obelisk. More living in the City across the River.

"Even if we could leave, we wouldn't make it very far in only one day," I said. We had too many wounded to move and not enough wagons to move them on. We had our Bison and Horses still, as they hadn't participated in the fighting, but we arrived by boat, not wagon.

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It would take more than a day to build everything needed to make traveling by land feasible. All of the Builders who fled survived and so did most that stayed behind to work the siege weapons.

Getting them started on wagons would take at least a few days with the amount we needed. Plus, we'd need workers to go log the wood required. We weren't going anywhere fast.

"Do you think anyone will try anything after witnessing what Chris could do? Won't they be wary?" Abigail questioned.

Austin scoffed, "You overestimate how smart people willing to steal are, but even if that were true, how many people do you think there are that saw him fight that still live? I lost sight of him barely an hour into the fight and I doubt anyone else was paying much attention when they were too busy trying not to die."

"The Great Lakes Alliance Faction Leader did," Abigail rebutted.

"Okay, there's one Faction that won't try it. What about the hundred others?"

"So what do we do?" I asked, "Hole up in camp and wait? We'll need to leave eventually and the longer we do, the more time it gives others to prepare ambushes. Everyone knows the direction we're leaving in."

Everyone knew we arrived with Marcus and that our Pylon was in the Far North. We would leave in only one direction.

"There'll be chaos, but not as bad as you're probably imagining," Austin remarked.

"What, so it won't dissolve into people killing each other for treasure?" I said.

"Oh, no, there will be that," Austin waved a hand, "But just not on the scale you're imagining. The number of people, let alone Factions, that pose a threat to us is small. Even if they don't know how strong you personally are, Chris, we have nearly 500 people with us and Marcus has over 600.

"With a group of over 1000 all traveling together, not many will try anything as there will be other, easier targets. Plus, you're forgetting that people will seek to protect what they already have before looking at what others possess. There will be a portion of people just looking to escape with the treasures they hand-picked from the Store rather than chancing losing it all on stealing something that might not help them."

"We will still have to make stronger preparations. Make the wagons studier and thicker just in case we are attacked." I said, "It will take a little longer but it will be worth it. Plus, more people on guard duty until we get far enough away."

"What about the Cities we'll go through to resupply? We will have to go to Storm City or Verdant Falls to make it back to Twin City. We won't make it all the way without resupplying somewhere." Abigail said.

Going to the Faction Capital of either The Heartlands Alliance or The Stormlands did not sound fun. Marcus wasn't technically at war with them, but they weren't friends and I doubted they'd allow him to resupply in one of their Cities.

The Stormlands sounded equally bad as Nick was a prick.

"There's nothing that says you have to meet him. We could send people in to buy what we need and get out. Less than a day and we'd be on our way again." Abigail read my face.

There were other, smaller Cities along the way but we doubted they'd have enough supplies to give any away to us. A thousand people needed a lot to survive, more than any small Village or Town could reasonably without being pillaged and left to starve.

"Okay, that's our plan for later. What about now?" I asked, "We still have the trenches and what's left of the Wall, I feel we're fine there. How many people could fight right now if it came to it?"

"I'm not sure. Sophia was in charge of those numbers. If I had to guess though, around 200." Abigail mused.

"I only got the one hand now but I'm still good for a scrap." Austin chimed in.

I felt comfortable being able to defend what we already had set up, it was being ambushed while we traveled that worried me more. The materials would be more spread out in a line making it easier to hit hard and fast before making off with whatever they took.

I and the rest of us would guard the most valuable goods, but we wouldn't be able to cover everything.

"Alright, with immediate security taken care of, we need to get started on our list." I said, "Abigail, get started with Grace and Sophia and give what you come up with to Jonathan. I'll talk to Marcus to see if he's interested."

"I'll handle Marcus," Austin said, "We haven't chatted in a while."

I paused, "Are you saying that because you want to do it or because he's currently talking to the Aliens and you want to see them?"

Austin hesitated, "Can the answer be both?"

"Fine," I sighed, "You talk to Marcus and see if he's on board."

Austin smiled for a moment before turning suspicious, "Wait, if I'm doing that, what are you gonna do?"

"Something I really don't want to." I said, "Talk to other Faction Leaders."

"What? Why?" Austin asked. "You won't be able to convince them to pool resources."

"I'm not going to ask that." I said, "I want to see what other people have already figured out. Tracy had people who figured out how to make a Messaging Stone or whatever she called it and now that the test is over, I need to see what other Factions have and are willing to sell."

"Ohh," Austin perked up, "How are you gonna get them to part with their secrets?"

"The scouting we had done wasn't just for show. We already know what some Factions have. All I have to do is convince them that sharing is in their best interest." I said.

"Can I come with you instead?" Austin asked, "Watching you beat them up sounds like more fun."

"I won't be beating anyone up." I sighed at his eagerness.

"But you said-"

"Yes, I know what I said, but I didn't mean through violence. With outside Merchants now available, coins will be more valuable than ever. And, we still have the Mana Crystals we brought along with us to trade. Not to mention from what the Scouts gathered, no one has anything worth burning that bridge over." I stated.

Taking anything by force was reserved as a last resort and only to be used if the thing was of vital importance.

With Tracy handing me a Messaging Stone, with some dedicated time and effort, I believed we'd be able to reproduce it. Miles also said he was close to figuring it out on his own, too.

Luckily, the man survived the blood bath but was in rather rough shape. He'd be fine by the time we got back to Frostheim, but he wouldn't be doing any Artificer work in the near future.

"Fine," Austin huffed, "I'm gonna go talk to some Aliens." And he was gone in a flash.

"Who are you going to approach first?" Abigail asked.

"I'm not sure," I said. We already made deals with Marcus so he was already out. "Jayla from Mountainside seemed reasonable, Marcus said that the Great Lakes Alliance was already interested, and Ashton with his new Prime Minister is also an option."

"You read the same reports I did," Abigail commented, "You know The Admiral has the most we stand to gain."

I did know that. Having the most people in his Faction allowed for a lot more advancements. Plus, nothing he'd done or said made it sound like he would be unwilling to come to an agreement, but I felt out of my depth when I pictured meeting with him.

Not power-wise, I was confident in myself now more than ever, but scheming and negotiation-wise.

"I'll build up to him," I said, "I'll start with the little fish first."