Chapter 5: A Base Camp and A Sandwich
The island was a cliche sort of deserted island with palm trees dotted along an outer ring of gold, sheltering an inner circle of green. There was a mix of young hardwood trees in this woodland copse and a pond of fresh-water that came from a mysterious, but clean source. And now, amongst all of these treasures of nature, a man made structure stood. It was not that well built.
Eight branches with numerous hacked at nodules leaned together creating a circular (ish) based pyramid with excess material on top. The point where the eight branches met were tied together with vines, some of which still had leaves attached as they circled and wove about the branches. Vines then stretched downward a bit, supporting thinner, more flexible branches as they circled the frame in an attempt to give the whole structure stability. Large palm leaves were then tucked in here and there to create a not quite waterproof membrane wall.
If a group of children saw it in the woods, they'd likely knock it down and start again, perhaps even come up with something better.
Around the 'teepee', with the exception of the 'entrance', grass had been painstakingly removed by hand and by plastic spade to reveal the rich soil beneath. The creator of this… structure dug another hole within the dirt and dropped in the seeds, which were in abundance on practically every bush and vine. He covered the whole and patted the soil with the space.
"There," he said, somewhat satisfied. For a man that never really made anything that didn't involve a computer, he impressed himself. A loud chime echoed from the chest and the half-naked man hurried over.
Should be mentioned that while he was currently running around in linen 'boxers', his only set of clothes currently drying on the branches of a tree.
Opening the chest, he lifted out the heavy smart watch with two hands. Honestly, he felt it would have been better to purchase a bulky computer than this thing. He wondered how it stayed charged…
There was a number icon attached to the lower corner of the mission app. He placed the watch on top of the chest lid once closed and selected the option on its face.
[Mission - Build an initial base camp structure completed!]
[Mission Rating - C]
[Rewards - 50 points, teepee structure upgraded by 1, side missions unlocked (Please view new missions for details)]
"Hey, System?" Russell called out without taking his eyes off of the words covering the long, curved screen. The only other occupant of the island flew down from the palm tree in which it had been attempting to build a nest. It thought that it too ought to work hard!
"You called, Your Majesty?"
"What's this 'Mission Rating - C' mean?" He asked the bird.
"Oh, that is the evaluation result for the mission," the seagull told him, cheerfully. "It seems that you have been graded a C, meaning that your mission was completed with the minimum of requirements! If you'd earned an A or even a B, you could have received bonus rewards!"
Black lines marred Russell's forehead. Wasn't this just like in school when the bassline percentage for passing a test was 60 and you managed to scrape 61. He sighed, a pass was a pass after all. He scanned once more over the rewards, before tapping the screen to exit the mission page and then he searched down through the length of icons for the one labelled 'market'.
Not long afterwards, a brown cardboard box tied with string and attached to a small parachute fell from the sky. It landed in the golden sands with a soft thud. The seagull looked curious as it hopped after the man who went to pick it up. The string was removed, the box opened and a bright smile appeared on the man's face as he pulled out a prepackaged ham and cheese sandwich… without mayonnaise.
The seagull spluttered, flapping its wings in a frenzy! Things such as prepackaged and processed food from Earth were not cheap, there were huge import fees to pay! Those wasted points could have been spent on something much better such as seashells to decorate the beach (+1 to Kingdom Attractiveness) or fruit and vegetable seeds for a kitchen garden (+1 to Kingdom Development)!
The man didn't care about the seagull's opinion and ate the food with relish. Only, it would be better if he could wash it down with some fresh orange juice… alas, not enough points.
He sighed then paused outside his 'domicile' only to pause in surprise. The tee-pee with wonky skeleton frame and patchy leaf wall was suddenly a focal point of natural charm. It's outer walls were a mix of textures and shades of green. Ivies mingled with honeysuckle and a creeper with large leaves joined in the mix. Willow stretched upward before its thin branches wove around the initial structure adding more stability and covering. Inside, the palm leaves seemed to have moulded together into a seamless, green waterproof lining, yet when he looked more closely, he could still see the veins of each individual leaf. This lining also covered the otherwise barren entrance to the tee-pee. It seemed that the simple dwelling would keep out both wind and rain.
"System?" He questioned it without thought.
"Ah? Oh, this was part of the reward that the World gave you for completing the mission!" The Seagull told him, apparently forgetting that it was upset with his 'King' just a moment ago.
"The reward for building it was upgrading it?"
"Indeed! As you progress through the missions, many things will improve and develop! The Island will expand, you'll gain villages and citizens, develop farming and industry, create a government, learning institutions, an army…"
"That seems a bit… broken."
"No, it works quite well. Much better than relying on something silly like 'Evolution'! Who has hundreds of millions of years to rely on something so random!"
True, but if it was like this, why didn't he just build a small castle from the start. Then again, there didn't seem to be any stone bricks and he was no mason. Ah forget it. He finished off his sandwich rather than overthink it.
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Ebonsolaris
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