Civilization

We walked onwards for a while, keeping the grassland on our right as we headed toward ArchWizardo. I made the goblin scouts roam the grassland, keeping an eye out for any monsters that might come close, while having the wolves at the front. I also positioned the goblin archers at the back, along with the demi-human and human shield bearers. Everyone else was in the middle, with David and Gibing leading the way and Stellar and Gewari taking up the rear.

"Stellar, I was going to give you this earlier, but it didn't feel like the right timing." - Ian

I turn around and give Stellar The Moon's Ghost. While I could have kept it, I believe the mask would be used more effectively in Stellar's hands, after all, she was an assassin by nature. Pairing it with stealth, she would be able to become invisible for a long period, making it perfect for her role.

"Thank you, Ian. As we are on this note, I also have something to give to you." - Stellar

Reaching into the basket on her back, she takes out 2 golden boxes.

"Ancient ruins!" - Ian

I signal David and Gibing to take over the role of helping Kingston as I receive the ancient ruins for Stellar.

"We found the 2 of them buried underground after the earthquakes. Knowing that you collect them, we made sure to keep them safe until we could deliver them to you." - Gyumi

"Thank you, these might end up helping us." - Ian

I open the two boxes and, with a golden shine, they reveal two small tokens. The first token looked like a golden brown pillar, while the second looked like a wooden house with two pointy roofs.

[ Pillar Monument Token - Use this token to create a Pillar Monument. A Pillar Monument will generate Culture for the user. Make sure there is enough space for the Pillar Monument, both on the ground and in height. ]

[ Badge of the Russians - Use in an open space to create a Krepost. Make sure there are no obstructing objects when using the badge. Hint; use the badge away from the main base or village. ]

"What is this…?" - Ian

I didn't understand what a Pillar Monument was, but I did see the word Culture being used before on the forums. It was a brief post, but it said the unlocking Culture will in turn unlock the Social Policy Tree. The Social Policy Tree is further divided into 9 separate trees of the names Tradition, Liberty, Honor, Piety, Patronage, Commerce, Aesthetics, Rationalism, and Exploration. Unlocking the nodes within these trees will give various kinds of benefits but, they were unable to be shown according to the user that unlocked it first.

However, the person was able to tell the forum about the benefits of choosing a tree. Tradition focuses on building one major city with a few smaller cities. It's enhancing the effects of buildings that belong to the player when the player has a few villages or cities. Liberty is the opposite, where it focuses on players who prefer to create a lot of villages or cities. Expanding one's power by taking lots of space for their territory.

Honor is a tree benefiting Travelers that stay in a city or village. Travelers that pledge to stay within that city, gain a chance to increase their stats each time they kill monsters, as well as increase the culture count with each kill. Their stat gain and the chance of stat gain are dependent on the monster, and have a higher chance the stronger the monster.

Piety focuses on the faith gained by a city. Helping to increase the amount of faith that is gained as well as spreading religion once the civilization has a religion. I can only assume that religions will play a role in the grander scheme of things, but for now, I don't need to focus on that detail too much.

Patronage is said to increase the chances of NPCs preferring your village or city over another player. Going down, this tree will make NPCs believe that being under your leadership will bring them happiness and strength, increasing the chances of a golden age as well as NPCs staying in the village or city.

Commerce correlates to the resources gained by the village or city. It will increase the chances of finding nearby resources as well as increase the amount gained from resources. Furthermore, trading becomes easier and more profitable for your NPC traders, while other players' traders will find that they will need to pay more to sell their goods. However, the benefit is that other players' traders will become more friendly in your village or city, making them more likely to stay even if they need to pay more.

Aesthetics increase the cultural gain of a village or city, as well as promote happiness to a higher degree. 50% of happiness will be incorporated into the Culture gain and vice versa. Golden ages will also last longer and will have an increased effect.

Rationalism creates an environment where learning takes priority. NPCs will pick up on things faster, as well as innovate things themselves without needing help from the player. Furthering technological advancements and allowing themselves to become better people as time goes on.

Exploration relates to Travelers under the wing of a village or city. Travelers will have an increase in stats when away from the village or city, as well as a higher chance to find treasure.

This information becomes available to any player once they have unlocked Culture and is the basic premise of the different Social Policy Trees. However, what each node does, specifically, is unknown until a player unlocks it.

Moving on, the second item that came out of the ancient ruin was the Badge of the Russians. Russia was an old name for Rossiya and is now just a state of EuroNation. I don't know much about their history, but I have heard of the Krepost. It was originally a fortress in the snowy mountains of Russia and was a way for the Russians to house their army, protecting them from the cold, snow, and ice.

Understanding that, I believe when I do use the badge, I want to use it in a place where I would like to house troops. I should place it at either a choke point where it will become a defensive building or I could place it at a location as a rest point for my troops. While using it as a defensive building would be good, there isn't a place I would like it at other than down the canyon more or towards the cave where I first started, but I don't have enough troops to properly use the building.

On the other hand, I could place it near the exit of the forest overlooking the grassland as a place for my troops to rest as they gain experience training in the grassland. Thinking about it more, that does sound like a good decision, since training my troops will make them stronger and allow my goblins to evolve into hobgoblins.

A smile spreads across my face as that idea forms in my head. I mentally pat myself on the back as we keep walking onwards. After some time, the sun starts to set and a golden glow covers the sky. At the same time, the wolves howl into the sky. Celine translates the howl for us, and it brings good news.

"Ian, it seems like the wolves have found the person you were looking for, and they seem to be safe from what they can tell. No monsters are near, as well, so this is perfect." - Celine

"Thank you, Celine. Everyone! Let's pick up the pace." - Ian

"On it!" - Everyone

We pick up the pace as quickly as we can while taking into account Kingston's speed, and within a couple more minutes see two people in the distance with my Eye of the Roc. Waving her hand in the air aggressively with an enormous smile while holding up a person was ArchWizardo.

ArchWizardo was wearing a gray, tattered robe with a black undershirt and pants. She had a fiery red book with a 9 point star on the cover and golden writing along the edges slung around her shoulder. Her ruby red eyes shine in the golden rays of the setting sun.

Her friend, however, wasn't in the best condition. I could see her weakly smiling as sweat drips down her rose-colored cheeks. Similar to ArchWizardo, she wore a gray tattered robe with a black undershirt and pants, but instead of a fiery red book, it was an aquamarine blue book. Her gray robe had a dark red spot, and she was gripping the area with her bloody hand.

"Solar, quickly go over to them and cast a healing spell. I can see that one of them is injured." - Ian

"Alright. On it." - Solar

"I'll accompany her." - Stellar

"Everyone else, make haste." - Ian

Just from looking at both of them, I have a slight suspicion that they may be mages, which makes them even more interesting, after all, magic is still a very new subject. We quickly grouped up with the goblins standing guard in the grassland, making sure no enemies would bother us. Everyone else started to make camp before the sun truly sets. I walk over to ArchWizardo and her friend as they sit, resting their backs against a rock. Solar is kneeling next to the NPC healing her while Stellar stands with her arms crossed.

"Thank you so much, Ian." - ArchWizardo

"It's fine. Is your friend feeling better?" - Ian

"Yes, her HP is rising, and her complexion is getting better as well." - ArchWizardo

"That's good. I don't want to be rude, but is there a name you prefer to be called? Or is ArchWizardo the name you prefer?" - Ian

"Oh, umm, ArchWizardo is just a gaming name that I have used through the years. You can call me by my real name since I assume Ian is your real name as well?" - ArchWizardo

"Yep, Ian is my real name. I didn't change when I had the chance." - Ian

"Cool, it's nice to meet you, Ian. My name is Nina." - Nina