The Connected System

“I’d driven by a lot of course and been here a couple of times when my children had games but I never thought I’d be living here,” Jeremy said as they walked toward the wall and the school.

Loch’s people had moved ahead, their pace quickening when they’d rounded the corner and caught sight of the school, the log wall and the guards on patrol. Drew and Elora had stayed back, making sure to walk behind the newcomers, even Piper rushing forward with Cerie flying behind.

Jeremy’s people were spreading out, eyes looking over the school, the wall, the cracked and ruined pavement and the signs of battle that were everywhere. Loch could hear the guards on the wall shouting to the returning ones, asking questions and receiving answers. He recognized Susan Turner as she stepped out through the one opening in the wall. She was followed by two others, the newest Healers in the Clan. They’d received the Class during the gaunt fight, now Level Six. Both had Common Classes, but they were Healers which made them extremely important regardless of Level. The Clan now had five, but needed many more. Julia stopped to talk with Susan, pointing out who from the returning soldiers was more wounded and what the extent of injuries were. Together they entered the schoolyard, directing people where they wanted them to go.

“We were originally set up in the two churches further down the street but this was more defensible and had the Holdstone,” Loch explained to the newcomers.

He was glad they had moved even though the gaunts had breached the makeshift wall. The school had still proven to be better. He hated to think what would have happened if they had still been in the churches. The gaunts would have easily overrun them and killed everyone. The battle had taught them that they still weren’t safe enough.

Loch passed through the wall first, followed by Jeremy and the rest of their people. Josh was last, followed by Drew and Elora.

“Welcome back,” Darren Holmberg said, hand on the hilt of the sheathed sword at his waist as he watched the newcomers wearily.

“Thanks,” Loch replied, motioning to Jeremy and Josh. “Jeremy Heeler and Josh Hauser. They led this group down from Pittsfield. Darren is in charge of the guards,” Loch explained.

Darren and Josh locked eyes, the older man from Pittsfield sizing up the younger Darren. For his part, Darren didn’t back down, even smirking a little. Loch could imagine what Josh was thinking. Darren was only in his mid-twenties, didn’t look old enough to be in charge of anything, where Josh was mid-thirties and probably more life experience.

Loch let it happen. Josh was the first to back down.

“Looks like got some fighters,” Darren said.

“Yeah,” Josh replied.

“Good, we could use some more. Do we run them through Kristin first and then I get a pass?,” he asked Loch.

“Yeah,” he replied turning to the group. “Darren is going to lead you up to the school where you’ll meet Kristin Conway. She’s the Clan’s Administrator. We keep a census of everyone in the Clan and what skills you have, not just the ones from the Connection but ones you had prior that can translate. That includes any military experience.”

Loch stepped to the side as Darren led the Pittsfield people up the hill toward the school. There was enough of them that both Darren and Kristin would be busy for a couple of hours. Kristin had finally gotten her Support Class, Executor, which had given her Abilities that greatly enhanced her efficiency. She’d already been good at her job but was now so much better.

He waited until the group was further up the hill before following, angling toward the white building that contained the entrance to the Painted Caves Dungeon. He could see people walking out of the building, heading for the school. They were covered in blood, looking tired, worn and hurt.

They were also people he was not expecting to see looking that way. At least not coming out of the Dungeon.

“Roger,” Loch called out, making the man in front of the five people stiffen in surprise.

Roger Lewis was wearing his armor, which now consisted of an iron breastplate, shield and plates of iron strapped to his legs. Loch was sure those were new, and they looked it, not covered in anywhere near as much blood and gore as the rest of the Shieldbearer’s armor. They didn’t have any scratches or dents either.

Hearing Loch’s voice, Roger slowly turned, looking like he wanted to run. The rest of his adventuring group had the same expression, some like Mike Turner more than the others. Only Theodore Kincaid didn’t look nervous. He was pretty expressionless, just like normal.

Loch still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with Theodore. Something was. Loch didn’t think it was because of the creepy vibe the man gave off, there had to be more. But currently Theodore was a hero in the Clan. He’d stood with a small group of guards holding off a gaunt rush at the entrance to the school. His powers had turned the tide, keeping the gaunts from overwhelming the defenders. Those actions had changed how many in the Clan thought about him. Hero status trumped creepy.

“Lord Lochlan,” Roger said, which instantly told Loch that the man was guilty.

Roger toed the line of disrespect, getting as close to crossing as he could. Josh reminded Loch of a younger Roger, both stubborn about how things were done in the past and not wanting to adapt to a new way of living. Loch just hoped that Josh wouldn’t constantly give him a hard time like Roger did, who always acted like he was gunning for the Clanchief job.

Probably did want it, Loch thought.

“Did your team just finish the Dungeon,” he asked, keeping his voice calm.

Roger looked back at Theodore, seeming to look for support. Loch found that very odd. Roger was kind of a bully to his team members, especially Theodore. He was loud and brash, not one to look to others for advice. But now he was.

“We did,” Theodore said, calmly.

“It was our turn,” Mike Turner said, shrinking back as Loch glared at the teenager.

Mike was only a year older than Harper, the son of Ed and Susan Turner. The Bradys and Turners had spent a lot of time together as Loch’s wife and Susan had been really good friends. Mike had an obvious crush on Harper, which was not returned. Harper could barely stand the boy and that had only gotten worse with the Connection. Mike was always trying to find time to hang out with her, which she tried to avoid as much as possible. Loch had been surprised to learn that Mike had joined Roger’s team.

“And I had asked you to skip that turn,” Loch said, turning his gaze back to Roger who took a step back. “With myself and the others gone, your group were the strongest ones here and I had asked you to stay out of the Dungeon in case anything attacked the school.”

“It was our slot,” Roger said after another glance at Theodore. He seemed to get braver despite Loch’s obvious anger. “We’ve gotten good at running it, can do the whole thing in a day of Dungeon time.”

“Which is still six to eight hours of real time,” Loch said, letting a growl into his voice.

“Nothing happened,” Roger said, not sounding as confident as before.

“That’s not the point,” Loch growled out. “No dungeons or spawn fields for two rotations,” he said, glaring at Roger, waiting for the other to protest.

For once, Roger didn’t. He did glance back at Theodore, but didn’t say a word. Loch could tell that he wanted to. It was there in his posture, the tightening of his fist. But Roger was smart for once.

“Yes sir,” he ground out, turning and leaving.

Theodore and Mike Turner immediately followed. Malcolm and Eric, the healer and archer, were slower.

“Sorry,” Malcolm said quietly. “We didn’t want to but…”

Loch nodded, feeling bad for the two. They were getting punished for something the other members of their party pretty much forced them to do. But there was nothing Loch could do for them. The party had gone so the party had to get punished.

He made a mental note to tell Kristin to mark it in the rotation, and to tell the guards on duty at the Dungeon entrance. He sighed, watching the small party make its way to the school’s entrance. He could see Roger’s hands moving as he angrily talked to Mike. Not being loud, Roger was still smart about that, but he was letting his anger show.

Loch sighed. This was going to hurt the party’s advancement but it was also going to hurt the Clan as well. Roger’s party was the second strongest in the Clan, below the people that normally joined Loch. Not having them continue their advancement could hurt the Clan if their strength was needed.

But there was a benefit, having their dungeon and spawn field slots open meant others could get in more runs and Advance quicker. Drew was forming a party and would probably be equal to Roger’s in Level and strength soon if not right away. The newcomers from Pittsfield could form a group as well. They wouldn’t be that far behind. And one of the other Clan Brady Adventuring parties could catch up.

There weren’t that many people in the Clan that wanted to be Adventurers, forming permanent parties to work through the dungeons. Most of those that chose fighting Classes went with some kind of guard or defensive Class. They still ran through the Spawn Fields and the Dungeons, but the Dungeons would soon stop for them. Not everyone wanted the risk that came with Adventuring, which was the quickest path to Advancement but it was the most dangerous. Being a soldier or guard was dangerous but not anywhere near that as what the Connection called Adventurers.

Not enough people. Even with the amount of people in the Pittsfield group, there just wasn’t enough people. But if they got more people in the school, they were already out of room and were starting to build outside, even putting people in the closest houses which put them further from the school and safety. And there was the food issue. Just wasn’t enough of it. They could only grow so much and now that fall was approaching, the growing season would be ending. There was only so much food still good to eat in the surrounding homes and those were quickly being picked clean.

Clan Brady needed to expand past the school and the surrounding lands. But that had it’s own drawbacks. Putting people further out would mean a loss of safety. Even if more people became guards or adventurers, there would still be dangers. And wouldn’t that fracture the Clan? Those smaller groups could grow to become their own Clans, which could then threaten the remaining Clan Brady.

The Connected System had to have some kind of protection against that happening or no Clan would ever grow big. Something to ask Cerie and Elora about. Another thing added to his list. It never seemed to shrink, just grow bigger.

He walked up the hill toward the entrance to the Clanhold. He really needed to stop thinking of it as the school, even though that’s what it started out as. It was the Clanhold, the seat of Clan Brady’s power in the Northwood Territory. Nothing about it was a school anymore. The classrooms had been converted into barracks or rooms. The cafeteria was still an open space, the gym broken up into rooms and storage. The office was still the office, but it was where the council met and the Magister and Guard Captain had their offices. That was where Loch headed, knowing he would have to spend some time at his desk with Ed Turner and Kristin.

***

“With the amount of people running the dungeons now, two rotations won’t be that long,” Kristin said, looking through one of her many notebooks.

Since she had gotten her Class, the notebooks had taken on a magic-like aspect. They never seemed to fill up, but the number she had was increased. The way her Class Abilities worked, each notebook was specific for a certain function. The current one she had open was reserved for the Dungeon and Spawn Field schedules. There was a second one, that Kristin had linked to her original, that was in the possession of Kristin’s new assistant. Kathy Genness was out in the lobby working her way through the Pittsfield newcomers.

Kristin would glance down at another notebook that was held open on her desk, watching as lines appeared on the pages. Kathy had another linked book, one for the census of people, every new entry appearing in Krisitins master book.

They were recording a lot of information. Names, prior occupations, any current Class or Abilities, Levels, any previous skills that would be relevant, where their homes had been. It was a lot and took awhile to get, especially if some people were reluctant.

“Don’t really want to keep them out for longer,” Ed Turner said from where he stood in the doorway to his office.

He had taken over the former Dean’s office. Darren, as the head guard, had taken the vice-Deans office. Both had said Loch should have them but he’d declined. He didn’t even want the desk he had in the open area that had once belonged to the secretaries. Kristin’s desk was also there.

“Yeah,” Loch sighed. “But had to do something.”

“Agreed,” Ed said. “Are we ready to talk construction?”

Kristin closed the Dungeon notebook, pulling another one out of the desk drawer. She placed it on the table, flipping to a specific page. She held what looked to be a pencil, a piece of wood with a sharpened tip. Like Piper’s pens she used in her Class given sketchbooks, Kristin’s pencil was generated from Spirit and never needed to be sharpened.

“This is what we have as needs,” Kristin said, reading down a list. “The wall around the Clanhold. A wall to the east. Barracks and guardpost at the Mine with a waystation along the trail. Housing around the Clanhold. A waystation at the Lynxia Dungeon.”

“Barracks and improving the wall at the gaunts,” Loch said, Kristin writing it down. “I think moving it to the east side of where Main Street and Blake’s Hill would make more sense than where it’s at. If we keep it, we’d need to build one on Main Street and Olde Canterbury as well, and there’s woods in between.”

“That’s a good location,” Ed said. “There’s a large house still there that can be made into the barracks and didn’t you run into some kind of frog person in the swamp just off the road?”

“We can use some of what the gaunts did, get materials from the houses closer to the brewery,” Loch said as Kristin kept writing down notes. “That’ll save on some time and materials.”

“I think the mine should be next,” Ed said, moving away from the door to his office and taking one of the extra chairs next to Kristins. Even Adapted, he had kept some of his weight. He was much slimmer than before but unlike Loch, Ed was not turning away the extra food that his position as Clan Magister granted him. “We haven’t had any attacks from the east yet and with the Clan growing, we need anything we can get from the mine. The ores and any other materials will help us develop more Crafter Classes.”

“If we’re to build a forge there, we need to know how,” Kristin pointed out.

“I’ve been wanting to make an expedition to the Library, seems this might be a good time. There’s also the Hob mound that we need to check out, should see about sending a team through the Challenge Dungeon and there was some stuff at the old Dump and the Meadows that needed to be checked out.”

“Isn’t that cemetery next to where the school had been a spawn field?,” Ed asked.

“It wasn’t, but there’s a chance it could be now,” Loch replied.

“So who will you take?”

“I don’t know. Let’s figure it out over the next couple of days but first, we need someone to put in charge of the construction projects.”

Kristin set aside the notebook and took out the census one. She flipped through the pages quickly, eyes skimming the lines and lines of text. Loch wondered if it was an Ability of her Class to be able to read the magical notebooks quickly. She stopped midway through the book, finger on a line.

“Tim DeWolfe. He was a Project Manager for a mid-sized construction company before the Connection. Currently he’s working on building the barracks in the parking lot.”

“Perfect. Promote him,” Loch said standing up. “I’m hungry. I’ll be right back and then we can start in on the rest of the planning. Anyone want anything?”