Chapter 4: The Price of a Wall
The triumph of the foundation was short-lived. As the larger yellow sun dipped below the horizon, plunging the clearing into the deep, alien twilight of the red sun, the jungle came alive with new sounds. The whistles and chirps of the day were replaced by lower, guttural growls and the skittering of countless legs on bark. Eyes, glowing with faint phosphorescence, began to appear at the edge of the tree line.
The tribespeople instinctively drew closer together, their backs to the stone foundation, forming a tight, nervous circle. Thora stood at the front, her spear held ready, her gaze fixed on the encroaching darkness. The message was clear: the foundation offered no protection.
Alistair felt a cold knot of anxiety tighten in his stomach. His 60,000 credits were useless here. His admin powers were currently little more than a fancy rock-spike generator. He needed the palisade wall. Now.
He pulled up the construction blueprint.
CONSTRUCTION: BASIC PALISADE WALL (PERIMETER).
MATERIALS REQUIRED: 400 UNITS OF WOOD.
CONSTRUCT? Y/N
Four hundred units. They had used almost all the nearby, easily harvestable wood for the foundation. The pile they had gathered in the last hour of fading light was a fraction of what was needed.
"We need more wood. A lot more," Alistair said, his voice tight. He pointed at the trees, then made an expansive, encircling gesture around the foundation.
Thora understood the need for a barrier. Her people had likely built them before. But the scale he was implying, and the speed required, was impossible. She shook her head, a grim expression on her face, and pointed at the glowing eyes in the jungle, then mimed something large and clawed slashing through the air. The danger was too great to send her people out there to work slowly with their innate shaping.
A low, rumbling huff echoed from the darkness, followed by the sound of a heavy body pushing through the undergrowth. The tribespeople shuffled backward, their fear palpable.
Alistair's mind raced. He couldn't harvest fast enough. They couldn't harvest safely. But he was the Admin. He wasn't supposed to just do things himself; he was supposed to make the system work for him.
He opened the Planetary Marketplace. The interface glowed, a beacon of galactic commerce in the primitive night. He navigated away from the sell orders and found the buy section. He typed a search query with a thought: "Wood. Processed. Tier-1."
A list of sellers appeared. Most were offering exotic, magically-infused woods at astronomical prices. But one listing was simple and cheap.
[Interstellar Lumber & Supply] Selling: Standard Processed Timber (Tier-1). 1 Credit per 10 Units.
One credit for ten units of wood. Four hundred units would cost him forty credits. It was nothing. An insignificant rounding error on his new balance. He could have the wall now, instantly.
It felt like cheating. It felt… glorious.
He selected the listing and entered a quantity of 400 units. The cost was 40 credits. He confirmed the purchase.
A shimmering portal, a vertical rift in the air like a sheet of disturbed water, opened a few feet from the foundation. With a series of loud thuds, neat, meter-long stacks of perfectly cut and sanded timber spilled onto the grass, piling up in seconds. The portal winked out of existence.
The tribespeople stared, utterly bewildered. This was not magic they understood. This was not shaping or summoning from the earth. This was creation from nothingness, a divine act of provision.
Alistair didn't give them time to process it. He selected the construction prompt again. The materials requirement was now met.
CONSTRUCT PALISADE WALL? Y/N
"Yes," he whispered.
The hum returned, louder this time. The stacks of purchased timber dissolved into the blue swarm. The particles flowed outward, tracing the perimeter he had defined. Where they passed, solid, sharpened logs of dark wood slammed up from the ground, interlocking perfectly, forming a seamless wall twice a man's height. It encircled the entire foundation and a small yard around it, with a single, gated opening facing the river. The top of each log was carved to a wicked point.
CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE: BASIC PALISADE WALL.
QUEST PROGRESS: HEARTH AND HOME (2/3).
REWARD: +2% ADMINISTRATOR AUTHORITY.
The wave of power this time was stronger. His connection to the land deepened. He could feel the wall as an extension of his will, a defined boundary of his domain. The minimap updated, showing a solid, protective ring.
At that moment, a massive, bear-like creature with six eyes and tusks of glowing crystal burst from the treeline. It charged the new wall with a ground-shaking roar, slamming its bulk against the timber.
The wall shuddered but held firm. The logs didn't splinter. They didn't even groan.
Silence returned, heavier than before. The creature snorted, confused, and began to pace outside the barrier.
Inside the walls, a different silence reigned. Then, one of the tribespeople, a young man, let out a shaky laugh. Another joined in. The tension broke, replaced by a wave of relieved, incredulous chatter.
Thora walked to the wall and placed a hand on the impossibly smooth wood. She looked back at Alistair, and for the first time, she smiled. It was a small, fierce thing, but it held a universe of meaning. Safety. Trust.
Alistair leaned against the foundation, the adrenaline draining from him, leaving behind a profound exhaustion. He had spent a trivial amount of money to buy them a night of safety. It was the best investment he had ever made.
The final part of the quest, the Basic Hut, could wait for morning. For now, they were safe. He had turned credits into a fortress. The start-up had just secured its first major asset.