Chapter 322: What Its For (1/2)

The scarred farmer pointed at the hole in the wall, ”Uhm...Can you fix it? You look stout enough.”

I scoffed, ”When I'm done with this place, fixing this wall will be the least of your worries.”

Their faces paled, each of them terrified of what I might do. I spread the Rise of Eden over them once more while raising a fist,

”You'll never be forced to fight an eldritch again.”

The villagers trembled despite the aura's stat raise, some cowering away. I raised my eyebrow at them while opening my dimensional storage. Pulling out several dozen rings, I hovered them over my palm while stating,

”Everyone put these rings on. You know, if you want to.”

The citizens backed away, some of them shaking and others getting angry. The scarred farmer pointed at me and murmured with an edge of panic, ”You, what are you here for? What do you want from us?”

I peered around, inspecting the scenery, ”I'm here to get you guys on your feet, honestly.”

I grabbed and tossed him a ring. The farmer caught it, but it dragged his hand down. He almost fell over, the poor guy exhausted from the fighting. He gasped, ”What is this made of?”

I raised a palm, ”It's a secret. Now, everybody, I'm going to be building you all a fortress, giving you system tips, and getting you guys reasonable weaponry. I'll be leaving protectors as well, so you'll be able to level at your own pace.”

A few villagers whispered to each other, which was pointless. Each voice rang out like a blaring alarm to me, and they couldn't disguise what they said, not this close to me anyway. Taking every opinion in at once, the general sentiment came across as a strange intermingling of fear and hope. Most seemed skeptical, and others wondered about conditions or strings attached.

Before their minds spiraled further into paranoia, I tilted my head to the scared farmer, ”Yo, put that ring on. You'll be the demonstration of what it does.”

The farmer peered at the heavy band of dimensional fabric. He turned back up to me, ”I...You're not going to hurt me, are you?”

The guy looked like he enjoyed common sense, so I said, ”You saw what I did to the bears, right? Hurting you all could've already happened. I just saved you from a painful death. You all should trust me enough to put a ring on.”

The farmer's lips turned into a thin line, ”Will...Will this take my mind away?”

I laughed, ”What? No, It'll do the opposite.”

He blinked, staring at the ring. After taking a few breaths, he put the band onto his middle finger, and after making complete contact, the individual took a few steps back. He pressed himself against one of the piled-up cars, and barbed wire pierced his shirt and gouged his back. One of the other villagers came up, shouting at him,

”Fred, are you ok?”

Fred gasped, his scars fading and a layer of muscle forming within him. From thin and lanky to lean and mean, he pulled himself from the twisted wires. His back healed in seconds, and he gasped, ”What is this? I feel...better. Much better.”

I pointed at my rings, ”These are your tickets out of the rat race and into the big leagues.” I spiraled the circles around me, ”Anyone else wants one? They're free.”

Most people stayed skeptical, but a few opportunists ran up, each of them wanting one. I pointed towards the grassy opening beside us,

”Line up. You'll all be allowed to get one if you choose to take it.”

Random villagers put on the rings, their benefits palpable. These villagers sat between levels one and two hundred. For them, these rings offered enormous amounts of health, regeneration, stamina, willpower, endurance, and sizeable pieces of strength and constitution. They dwarfed even rare artifacts from a stat value standpoint, giving each person a tremendous leg up.

More joined in on the ensuing frenzy, a mob forming for the enormous benefits the rings offered. I kept them in order, each person getting one. Despite the tremendous help, a good portion of people chose not to take the bands. They kept their eyes narrowed, each person unwilling to accept the free boost. It was their loss, and I wasn't about to beg them to take it.

After handing out fifty rings, I spread out my hands towards their car wall. I turned my head and shouted, ”Everyone, back up.”

By now, people got the picture and listened. I melted down the cars, the steel turning into a glowing bubble. The citizens of this place gawked in slack-jawed wonder while I created a wall of steel around their entire perimeter. I bolstered their poor defenses, making the walls taller, covering it in spikes, adding pillars into the ground, and establishing watch posts at even intervals.

These towers offered vantage points for their defense, making it more efficient. After handling that, I erected a column at the center of their small town, the pillar made of my dimensional fabric. The heat of my molding fabric set nearby grass on fire, people wondering at my creation. Once I etched the cipher in, I moved to the walls.

Handling the enchantments on the outskirts of their barricade, I sat down and charged up. As I did, people walked up. More precisely, children did. They gawked in wonder at me, but I did the same to them. These were some of the only kids I'd seen since Schema's systemization. Compared to our pre-system era, these children lived isolated, small lives here, each of them stuck in the town's walls.

Even from casual conversations with Torix, I learned systemization occurred after or near total growth. Experience and whatnot flooded in after that. Unfortunately, humans grew slow, meaning we needed lots of time and investment for maturation. As these kids stepped up, I gathered a lot about them by how they bounced off the ground or moved the wind.

To me, each of them was as soft as the air around them. A brave one took the initiative and spoke first,

”Uhm...Hello.”

Impressed by her courage, I smiled at the young girl, ”What's up?”

She stared, her clothes old and sewn in many places. The patchwork showed a diligent tailor working hard to keep clothes on her back. This six or seven-year-old took one of my rings, the weight of it challenging to bear. She kept it on while murmuring, ”So...Are you an alien?”

I pointed at my face, ”Nope. I'm a human.”

Her eyes popped open wide. Her lips made an O, ”What? For real?”

I gave her a nod, ”Absolutely.”

”So you're like my dad?”

I raised a brow, ”Who's he?”

She pointed at Fred, the farmer helping everybody get sorted after the battle. I tilted my head up, ”Wow, he defends the town. Impressive, I must say...You must be proud of him.”

The little girl stood tall, ”Yeah, he's best. He tells me stories all the time.”

A warmth came over me, and I smiled, ”He's keeping you safe. Make sure you work hard and learn a lot for him, alright?”

The little girl nodded her head with force, ”Yes. I will.”

She stood twenty-plus feet away, my body glowing and burning up debris nearby. I paneled a layer of cold between us, preventing her and the camp from incinerating. The girl sat in the cold for a while, the difference in temperature novel to her. She got the other kids playing with her in the field, and I watched them enjoy the bit of magic. It brought an irrepressible grin to my face before I finished the cipheric sigils.

Yeah, this was a good idea.