Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Lee's Back and Upgraded Base

The next few days for Lucas were pretty calm. He didn't go out searching for a fight or even bother himself with trying to improve the fort.

Instead, he just focused on taking a short break. It felt like he hadn't had a real break in... well... forever.

'I mean all I did before the apocalypse was work to survive and after I worked even harder since monsters were at every corner of the world,' Lucas thought to himself as he stared out over the rooftop of the Laundry Mat into the place they were calling home.

People roamed the streets and were always in motion. Not a single soul got a moment of reprieve except for those who were injured... and even then it wasn't really enjoying life like he got to right now.

His colony had a few hundred people in it so far. The number grew every day as scouting teams found more and more survivors.

Apparently, the typical survivor isn't out to kill people and usually ends up with garbage classes that turn up making them fodder for people who got decent skills.

Though it was different here. Everyone... no matter the class or origin was treated equally. Rich or poor, strong or weak, they all deserved to live. At least that is how Lucas and Lina saw it.

Lucas found himself sitting on a self-made lawn chair that was perfectly shaded by a lean-to that was hastily constructed by him. It wasn't fancy or anything but was still functional.

He let out a deep sigh of relief at the moment of relaxation he had the chance to enjoy.

His bat sat in his lap and his gauntlet was placed on his right hand as always. He was ready for combat at any moment. It just came naturally to him at this point.

'I need to help these people prosper. I need to protect those who would be harmed by others for their own gain,'

'And to do that... I need to focus on developing what I have. That means making good allies that have good hearts and developing my own strength,'

Lucas thought back on the connections he had already made and began to think that he had put a good foot forward.

There was the government... Though they couldn't be trusted in the long run they could be a strong ally for the beginning.

'I mean... Is any government pure? Only time will tell I suppose,'

Then there was Ryan... A freak who came in touch with a unique class by just a few lucky skill gains and the D-rank skill book he gifted the kid.

'Gavin shows promise too. An Ex-boxer in this world might lead to a road of strength... I just need to nurture him and he should become a good friend. He has pure intent from what I can see and is eager to please... though that isn't really a good thing,'

He kept thinking about possible people to nurture in the near future and planning on seeking out other settlements for himself to see if he could make allies. But something stopped him in his thoughts towards the future.

"It's beautiful isn't it kid?" A voice echoed from his shoulder.

Lucas almost about jumped out of his chair before realizing that it was just Lee.

"You scared the living shit out of me!"

Lee gave out a laugh that sounded almost like an old man coughing before he set his mousey eyes on the street below them.

"You got talent, Kid. Well... at least Lina does."

"That little fey of yours got's people skills out the wazoo,"

Lucas gave a short laugh at thinking of Lina seriously leading a group of people in building the future of their community.

"Long time no see, Lee,"

Lucas nodded at the mouse on his shoulder who seemed weightless after his addition into strength.

"Yeah... It's good to see ya kiddo. But I got something serious to talk about with you," Lee said before he furrowed his mouse eyebrows.

Lucas nodded and stopped smiling, as he gave his full attention to the conversation, completely pushing back the thoughts of expansion in his mind.

"Yeah? What's up?"

Lee took a shuddering breath before slowly taking his paws and rubbing at his face lightly. After a deep sigh, he finally began speaking.

"So... As my champion, you got to do some stuff for me every now and then,"

"I know, since I'm not a true god and all, that you don't get the full benefits of being a champion but you still signed the contract,"

"Though I did want to make sure that you knew of the only benefit you do get from being my champion before I ask you to do any tasks,"

"So... You remember when that filthy elemental put that curse on you?"

Lucas nodded at the question.

"Yeah, the dead one?"

Lee gave out a light laugh before nodding back.

"Well... I have a natural ability that lets me cancel out the effects of gods. That usually includes curses and blessings but can also include a shit ton of other things... Too long of a list to go on if I'm being honest,"

Lucas nodded in appreciation before speaking up.

"Lee... Why are you bringing this up now?"

"Well, I need you to go challenge a champion in a nearby settlement. His god has made a formal challenge towards us because I killed that bitch, Nyx, and broke some rules."

"Other gods want to challenge me and you too... but their champions are further away than this one,"

Lucas nodded as he accepted the fact and slowly began to think.

'So, a simple brawl.'

"Should be easy right?"

Lee nodded at the response and patted him on the head.

"I mean... as one of the strongest humans out there it should be pretty easy. But the thing is... this guy's not human,"

Lucas raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, there are only a few more races in Ironwrought than humans and one of them are the elves."

"There are only a few of them in a settlement at the other end of the city but they are pretty strong."

"Elves have got a high natural boost to the Power and Dexterity stat. This makes them incredibly powerful rangers, rogues, and mages,"

"The one you are looking to fight in particular is called 'Norman'. He is a champion of the god, Parax. He is a god of spirits and though not too powerful he is still a dangerous opponent due to the soul curses he gives his champions,"

"And sadly... I can't block champions' powers. Just their god's interventions,"

Lucas looked at Lee as if he was dumb before giving out a delirious chuckle.

"You know I am immune to soul effects right?"

Lee had a confused expression on his face before realization dawned on him.

"Indissolubilis... Does it make your soul indestructible?"

Lucas nodded in response.

"I didn't know the abilities of the famous weapon before but it seems it is truly worthy of its name,"

"... This fight should be a breeze for you then."

"Hop to it then," Lee said before disappearing in a puff of garbage smelling smoke.

"Uck!"

Lucas spent the next few minutes coughing before finally feeling the air cleanse itself.

"But where is the compound?" He asked to the empty roof that he was now standing on.

'Ugh... Looks like I will just have to rely on the map again,'

---

Lucas finished relaxing and headed down to prep but thought that he could spend one more day resting before setting out on his journey.

'I want to see if there are any scouted colonies on the way to the elves,' he thought before heading to find Gavin if he was even in the base at the time.

After checking the map, however, he realized that Gavin seemed to be heading back towards the base and should be there in a few hours.

'Maybe it's time to actually use my skill on the colony...'

Lucas had been holding out on using his <The Hammer of The gods> on the colony because he was trying to improve it as much as possible by himself... but seeing as he had already improved it by leaps and bounds it was about time he actually tried and improved it with his skill.

He looked out over the block that he had called home and took his bat out before gently tapping it on the ground and saying the activation words for <The Hammer of The gods>.

<Since the user has targeted a smaller area than the maximum coverage allowed by <The Hammer of The gods>, the user may select areas to focus the improvements on.>

'Defense first priority, Living conditions second, and an experience boost if that is possible,' Lucas answered after thinking for a while.

<Confirm?>

'Confirm,'

Lucas showed an expression of excitement at the thought of the training possibilities with the new experience boost addition.

'Right, I only named the entire city... Not the base,'

'How about 'The Mouse's Respite' after Lee?' Lucas pondered for a moment before nodding in confirmation.

'It might just please the old bastard...'

A grin appeared on his face as he waited for the system to upgrade the area around him.

---

<Resources>:

Metal-Based Materials:

-4 tons of scrap metal

-50 pounds of mana steel

-10 pounds of holy steel

Stone-Based Materials:

-1 ton of unrefined stone

-1 ton of demon stone

Wood-Based Materials:

-500 pounds of wood

Crystal-Based Materials:

-943 Crystal Uliblight

---

'Hmm... seems like we have collected quite the amount of materials while I have been resting and hunting,'

'Freely spend anything that we have a ton of or more. Use the rest sparingly and do not use all of the materials. Make sure there is enough for the base's general uses,'

<Confirmed~!>

---

Grade: C ---> B+

Defensive:

-General metal walls ---> (New)Mana Enhanced Walls

-(New)Demon Stone Bunkers(Divination Protected)

-(New) General Sensory Perimeter

Quality of Living:

-(New) Fully running water/Plumbing (Heavenly Purified)

-(New) Electricity in a large abundance.

-(New) Refined Living Spaces

Experience Bonuses:

-(New) +100% skill experience gained

-(New) +50% general experience gained

-(New) +25% chance to learn new skills quicker

---

"Hot Damn!"

Lucas immediately felt a wave of energy ripple out from where he struck the ceiling of the HQ and he could see visible change everywhere it went.

The streets became slightly more kept and the buildings became more furnished and reinforced.

The biggest change however was the walls. They had turned from small metal barriers that he had put up himself, into 15-foot tall blue steel constructions. Various terminals appeared on the main entry points that seemed to be where you inject mana into the walls as well as open the gates.

Lights came on in all the buildings and appliances became usable.

"Seems like this was worth it. Way better than doing it myself... for now at least," Lucas said with a hint of dissatisfaction in his voice.

'Time to explain to the people what has happened and the changes to the town,' Lucas thought before heading down to check in with Lina and explain to her what had happened first.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
maddaug

I hope you enjoyed the longer chap. It was nearing 2000 words so I decided to cut it short.

The next few chaps should be a fair bit of exploration of the city and the meetings of new people so that is gonna be fun for me to write.

Hope to get one more chap out today so that you all have more to read. I didn't write this morning because I woke up at 2 pm... So my fault I guess lol.

Also welcome to the 18 new readers that popped in today! That's the highest amount of people who have added my book to their library in a day so that is dope.

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