Chapter 53: The Spider

Blake walked around his latest toy, running his hand along the chair. He could barely contain his excitement. He’d decided to spend some patron points, and though there were lots of options—ranging anywhere from entertainment to town defence—first things were first.

The ‘Neural Amplifier’ was so God damn Professor X and awesome he’d felt he had no choice. It was specifically designed for mental magic, and he expected it was available because of his class and status as patron. It technically ‘enhanced all mental magic’ powers, with an emphasis on range rather than power. All Blake knew is that he needed to try it out immediately.

Seul-ki stood beside him, ready if he needed extra power, or if something went terribly wrong. She wore her nearly ever-present neutral face, though he knew her well enough now he could see the concern and excitement in her beautiful green eyes.

He smiled and took her hand, kissing the soft skin on her knuckles before giving it a squeeze.

“I’ll be fine. It’s designed for someone like me. And I’ll stop before I run out of mana.”

Seul-ki smiled at him politely. She wasn’t exactly the trusting sort, and she knew Blake too well now to believe what he said rather than what he did. She knew very well a dose of power was usually too much for Blake to resist, so she was here to help pull him back. But then her ruthless pragmatism was one of the things he valued and admired.

The leather of the chair almost sighed as he slid into the seat. He closed his eyes and smelled it like a new car, running his fingers along the arm rests. He lifted the circlet connected to the chair with two plastic wires, taking a deep breath before he put it on his head.

“Here goes.”

He channeled mana into the crown, and his eyes instantly snapped shut. A cold sensation flooded his mind as if he’d dumped a bucket of ice water on himself. Then the world lit up with messages and options.

Little windows started popping open in the darkness of his mind’s eye, and he soon realized it was all the minds he’d touched with Mental Influence.

He could see them. All of them.

He could fly between every mind he’d touched like an invisible specter, seeing the world through their eyes as easily as if he stood beside them. He could see the town from above, from the outside, like his mind was made of movable cameras on drones. He heard himself laugh.

“Are you alright, Blake?” Seul-ki’s voice sounded distant.

“Yes,” his own voice sounded equally far away. “I’m more than alright. This thing is incredible.”

He moved his vision out further and further, probably miles into the forest away from Nassau. Then he saw the blue sphere of his mana draining fast, and he pulled back to the town.

So. He could scout, and watch around the town, but he couldn’t do it for long. Good to know.

For now he decided to focus on a few minds. He opened the window to Hank the fisherman and cook, and the window expanded until Blake found him sitting in the cookery with Billy the Brewer. They were laughing and drinking some new beer Billy was working on, the older man slapping the young on the shoulder in praise.

He swapped to the pretty new nurse Aila, caring for the wounded older player Phuong, a joyous smile on her face.

Then he was watching the other players of Nassau one by one. Garet, Alex, Jason—all guarding the walls or moving about Nassau with bored expressions. Tommaso…Blake grinned…currently balls deep in one of the new civilian girls. That cheeky Italian monkey.

Out of curiosity, Blake decided to activate Mental Influence through the window. He felt his fist grip in triumph as it worked.

He flooded Tommaso’s mind with lust, and the young man groaned as he rammed like a man possessed. Blake disconnected his mind with a laugh.

He was tempted to check in on Mason, but decided against it. At least for today.

His eyes blinked open as he released his mana from the amplifier, and the world of little windows and nearly infinite options vanished.

[Title gained. The Spider. You are the first player in the world to use a power through a Neural Amplifier. +1 to all mental statistics.]

Blake grinned, and pulled Seul-ki into his lap, kissing her soft lips roughly as he ran his hands up her back.

“So.” She grinned slightly. “You enjoyed your new toy?”

“Oh yes,” he laughed. “But it’s far more than a toy. We’re going to be spending a great deal of time in this chair.”

“Is that so?” Seul-ki grinned as she wiggled in his lap and kissed his ear.

Blake closed his eyes and enjoyed. But looking around Nassau had reminded him about the town’s biggest problem—the people living in it were far too idle. They needed tools and supplies to start working, improving their civilian classes, actually

producing

things besides alcohol and orgasms. They needed entertainment, more defense, more facilities both to produce things associated with their specialties, and things to help attract new civilians. It was time to spend some more patron points.

He pulled up the building list, which was massive, though all kinds of things weren’t currently obtainable. Most things had minimum requirements of a number of citizens and current number of structures. The easiest, most effective method to increase everything seemed to be to just recruit more players, especially civilians. Though Blake suspected there was other ways as well.

[Objective gained: increase loyal players to 5.]

[Objective gained: expand the effective borders of your settlement to include new towns or natural resources.]

Blake’s eyes widened slightly as the new objectives popped up. His reward for such things were nearly always more patron points.

“To him who has,” he quoted the bible, “more will be given.”

“Hmm?” Seul-ki whispered as she continued nibbling and trailing kisses down Blake’s neck.

“Nothing, my dear,” he rubbed her back. “Keep doing what you’re doing. I’m managing the town.”

As with his powers he was tempted to try and figure out the exact best things to choose and maximize his points, but what he needed was to solve immediate problems. The first choice seemed obvious. He expanded the list of defensive options, and chose the only thing available: automated defenses.

The image on his screen depicted something like murder holes on imaginary walls loosing arrows from built-in crossbows.

Next, a basic craftsman’s area—more like an open-market than a building, with various tools for smiths, tanners, ceramists and potters.

That should get the ball rolling

, he grinned. More specialized equipment would come later.

Finally, he opened entertainment, smiling at the thought of Hank and Billy’s friendship. The previous chief had already purchased the town a cookery, but it could be upgraded to a kind of ‘restaurant’. Blake also had control of design, and was able to attach buildings together if he wished. So he picked the ‘entertainment hall’ and attached it to the cookery before he upgraded it in the screen, watching a combined building fuse together in the display. The hall had pool tables and dart boards and some kind of sci-fi looking arcade. He grinned as he hit accept. It would be a huge morale boost and a great start to making people feel at home.

A loud, robotic voice echoed throughout the hall.

“Settlement modification will begin in one hour. Please stay in your homes or risk injury or death. Thank you.”

Seul-ki’s lips and hands stopped their path down towards Blake’s crotch, and he smiled and patted her hand.

“Later my dear. I’d best go calm the good people down.”

She took his hand, and they headed out towards the street together. Blake couldn’t help but smile as they walked, not bothered at all by the delayed gratification. His little town was starting to grow along with his power. Things were starting to move!

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