Chapter: Division of tasks

Blaze reported that the people for Erik's crossbow production were ready, Erik okayed the plan and they started working on crossbows that very morning.

Rugrat had also passed over his fine arrow blueprint reluctantly.

"Get this put into production as soon as possible," Erik said to Blaze.

"This," Blaze said, taking the blueprint as if it was a newborn child.

"The crossbows by themselves won't be that strong, paired with arrows from this blueprint we'll be able to increase their lethality," Erik said.

"This is too precious," Blaze argued, prepared to give it back.

Erik pushed it back to him.

"We need to defend this town, if we're going to do so we need to use everything at our disposal," Erik said.

Blaze finally relented, looking at the two men with new eyes.

Next Erik went to the store and accessed the store interface once again.

He purchased several sound talismans and their additional consumable message scrolls.

It cleared out his remaining liquid cash, as he bought the two most expensive ones he could afford.

==========

Sound Talisman

==========

Allows one to send and receive messages over long distances.

Range: 1 km

For distances over 1km, you will need to use message scrolls in combination with the sound talisman.

==========

He met up with Rugrat in the main square as people were gathering from the surrounding farmlands.

Erik passed him a sound talisman and a number of message scrolls.

"Well, looks like this will solve the whole communication issue," Rugrat said. It looked like an armband and went on one's wrist.

"There are spells to communicate with one another but they only have a range of one kilometer," Erik said.

"What is with the damn metric system for everything?" Rugrat complained.

"Way of the world, and universe I guess," Erik shrugged, he was used to it.

The villagers and farmers were all looking at the small stage in the square where Blaze was standing, ready to talk to them.

He let out a whistle, the entire square becoming quiet.

"I have been keeping something from you all," Blaze said, everyone frowning and looking at him in question. "In a week and a half a beast horde will descend on our town Alva."

The crowd turned chaotic, starting to talk over one another as they began to panic.

A piercing whistle made them hold their heads and look to the stage once again.

"The surrounding towns and cities and towns are too far away, we will not be able to get to them in the time that we have left. Thankfully we are not alone!" Blaze pointed to Erik and Rugrat who were beside the stage. "Hearing our plight, Erik and Rugrat were sent to aid us in our time of need, they have a plan for our village and a way for us to remain safe."

Blaze looked around the crowd, they had calmed down a bit.

"I have stepped down my position as town leader and they have taken over to lead us through this time. Please let them explain their plan."

Blaze moved to the side as Erik and Rugrat moved up to the stage.

"The days ahead will not be easy, but if we work together and everyone plays their part then we will be able to weather the beast horde. Already we have seen what we are facing, we are making crossbows for our defenses and later today we will begin harvesting your fields so that we might have enough supplies to hold us through the siege. Everyone that is able to wield a weapon will be thought to do so. Rugrat here is in charge of taking groups out beyond the wall and training you in the use of the crossbow, he will be training the guards and then training all of you. I will be coordinating everything inside the town for its defense. If you have any questions, please see Blaze, this is not only a time of danger it is a time of opportunity, just look to the hunters in your ranks, have you noticed the increase in power? All of them have made it to level six or seven in just one day of working with Rugrat. It will be easy for all of you to do so as well. Alva town will come out stronger after this all than we did going into it," Erik paused looking to them all, they were just scared people, farmers and simple workers that built Alva with their hard work and sweat, looking to expand into the wilderness, now they found that the wilderness was coming for them in a terrifying manner.

"First, we must not let your crops go to waste, we will work to harvest everything that you've grown in the next few days, as this goes on Rugrat will be looking to form militia groups, no one is exempt!" Erik said.

"What if you're crippled or weak?" An old person yelled out in the crowd.

"If you are weak, then there will be food to help you gain strength, if you are wounded or hurt, I will be healing people, it will be mandatory for everyone to come and see me for a check up," Erik said.

A stunned noise went through the crowd and Blaze looked at Erik with surprise.

"Is he one of those famed alchemists or healers?"

"Why would someone skilled in healing come here to a doomed town?"

"I am a healer and a fighter," Erik said loudly, clearing up the small conversations. I will also be looking to train people in first aid, the art of healing people or making sure that they survive long enough for me to take a look at them. This will not require magic, but simple supplies that we have in town," Erik said.

This stunned people even more.

"Alright, everyone make a line, once you've been looked over by myself and Rugrat you are to meet with the guards who will assign you a group that you will work with and fight beside," Erik said, ending the speech.

He stepped down from the stage as Rugrat stepped forwards as well. Erik looked over the person in front of him, it was a middle-aged woman with a tired appearance. "First I'm going to see if you have any injuries, diagnose you so that I know if you will need to have anything healed," Erik said.

"O-okay," she said, Erik took her wrist and sent his organic scan through her body, checking her body.

"How long have you been pregnant for?" Erik asked as he examined her, the formation around his hand changed as he used focused heal on the woman's joints that were in bad condition and to her lower back where she had multiple issues from hard labor.

She let out a sigh as the small aches and pain from her body started to go away and she stood up straighter, a bit of the tiredness in her expression dimming.

"Pregnant?" She asked, confused.

Erik smiled.

"Well, it looks like Alva will be welcoming a new resident in six more months," Erik smiled, patting her hand. "Since your pregnant, you won't be placed on the front lines but we still need your help to make weapons and defenses," Erik said.

"Yes," the woman said as the man beside her moved closer.

"Is what you said real, sir Erik?" The man asked, he seemed to be stuck between shock and fear.

"It's just Erik and yes, it is, she'll be having a boy in six months," Erik said, looking at them both, it was clear that they were together.

"Dammit, Clevus," the woman said, tears in her eyes as she playfully hit her husband.

"Well, I can't do nothing but take responsibility," the man laughed as she hugged him.

The crowd congratulated the two and laughed with them.

With the shocking news from earlier, hearing something good raised their spirits.

Erik smiled on as he looked to his next patient, examining them. He winced as he saw the man's fingers on one hand were all nubs.

The man pulled his hand back, trying to hide it away, but Erik's grip was firm.

"You want little nibblets on your hand or would you like fingers?" Erik asked.

"Fingers?" The man looked to be in rough shape, in a farming community unless you could work and you had a complete body, you were useless.

"I'll take that as a yes, this won't be as easy to deal with, how are you with the sight of blood?" Erik asked, everyone was watching as Erik and Rugrat worked on people.

Rugrat healed a man with a nasty cough and then a woman with severe migraines.

"You want to deal the severe cases needing a rebuild I'll do triage and check them over?" Rugrat said, looking to simplify the process.

"Okay, I'll work on them in the town hall," Erik said.

"Works," Rugrat nodded. "Alright! line up in front of me, I'll quickly look you over, I'll either give you a clean bill of health and send you to the guards who will organize you and you'll be looked over later, or I'll send you to Erik in town hall for any intensive kind of healing. Once I've checked everyone, the remaining people I'll work to heal myself," Rugrat said.

Erik made the man with the missing fingers follow him into the town hall.

He took over an empty office and had the man lie on the desk.

"So what's your name?" Erik asked as he pulled out some wraith's touch salve, applying it to the man's hand.

"Storbon," the young man said simply.

"Okay, just look at the ceiling and I'm going to just work on your hand here," Erik said, pulling over a bucket and putting it under the man's hand as he took out a knife, studying the man's hand.

"Will we really be okay against the beast horde?" The man asked as Erik after a few moments.

"We will, if we work together," Erik checked Storbon's reaction as he slowly poked him with the knife. There was no reaction.

Erik went to work, first he put a tourniquet around Storbon's wrist, then he started to open the skin and then remove the infected or mangled remainder of the hand.

"Aren't the beasts really strong? I know my mom said that I should run away from the beasts in the mountain until I was stronger than them," Storbon said.

"Your mother sounds like a wise woman," Erik said, working quickly, not having to worry about the damage he was doing he quickly cut the hand back. Thankfully the enchanted blade was much better at cutting than any surgical blade he had used.

Using a sword to do surgery, oddity fact two hundred and thirty nine being in the Ten Realms. If it works, then it ain't stupid no more.

"How strong are the beasts?" Storbon asked.

"The weakest, around level six, but then they can reach level ten," Erik said calmly as the blade went back into his storage ring.

Storbon sunk into thought.

The tourniquet had slowed the bleeding down as Erik started to reform the missing bones in the hand as well as the tendons to hold them in place, he built up the hand finger by finger, then went backwards, focusing on regrowing the muscle overtop and finally the skin.

"I'm only level four, how can I fight against a creature level six," Storbon said.

"Levels isn't everything, trust in Rugrat, myself and the guards, you're a strong young lad, if you follow what we say then we can turn you into a soldier," Erik said wiping sweat off of his face, his hand covered in blood.

Storbon looked at Erik's hand in alarm and then at his own hand.

His face went white as a sheet as he saw a fully formed hand. Erik grinned and pulled off the tourniquet, adding in a minor wounds heal, the hand came alive as blood pumped into it and the tissues were revitalized.

"I can feel it, really feel it!" Storbon said as tears appeared in his eyes.

Erik sat there and smiled, when he lost his limbs he had been stuck in a pit of despair, but seeing Storbon fighting on, he felt bad for wallowing in his self pity, and he could understand the feelings that Storbon displayed.

Erik helped Storbon up and helped him to the door, already there was a guard there, helping people.

"Thank you mister Erik!" Storbon said, tears falling down his mud stained face.

Erik smiled and smacked the man on the back.

"You've fought this hard for most of your life already, I know there's a place for you in the Alva Militia, make sure you go report to the guards when the time comes I want to see you on the wall beside me," Erik said.

"I will do as you say!" Storbon said, pulling himself up.

Erik sent him on his way and looked at his next patient.

"Hello Misses?" Erik stretched out the word as a woman who was half bent over was waiting for him next, there was already a small line waiting for him.

"Louiez, Roska Louiez," the woman said in a hoarse voice.

Erik brought her into the room and looked over her injuries.

"How did this happen?" Erik asked, he looked at her body, the pain she must be in was incredible, she had multiple broken bones that had healed in the wrong way.

"Got kicked by a horse, left me all broken," she said.

Erik helped get her up onto the table and then looked through her body more thoroughly.

His eyebrows rose in shock as he found something hidden in her broken body.

She had nine open mana gates. This could explain how she had survived so far.

If her wounds could be healed, then her strength would surge upwards.

"Alright, I'm going to put you to sleep, but once you wake up you'll be much better," Erik said with a smile.

Roska looked up at him, there didn't seem to be much hope in her eyes, that had disappeared long ago.

She was a hard woman, unlike Storbon that had hope and optimism, that had been stripped from her long ago.

Erik pulled out another concoction he had used in Chonglu, Winter's sleep. He took out a drop and put it in Roska's mouth.

She swallowed it as Erik held her wrist, checking her pulse and examining what was happening inside her body, ready to act if anything went wrong with the drugs.

She lost consciousness, Erik saw that there was no complications and started to get to work.

He pulled out a blunt metal rod. He took out a blade, making sure that there was no reaction to being stabbed he healed the wound and put the blunt object to work, re-breaking the bone and putting it back into the correct position before fusing it together with focused heal.

***

Rugrat sat at the front of the line, he'd cleared out the worst cases, passing them to Erik, there were only four or five people that were in need of his care. A town out here in the middle of nowhere wasn't able to support many people that were heavily injured.

It was harsh, but a reality of being out here in the wilderness.

Colds and hidden issues were simple enough to heal with Rugrat's focused heal or Minor heal wounds. He simply poured in energy until the issue was resolved, it was simple but effective as Rugrat cycled through people, sending them to the guards, who organized people, sending some off to building groups that Blaze was organizing, to training groups that would be called up for training with crossbows in the coming days.

Most were grouped together but sent back to their farms to prepare to harvest their crops.

Rugrat finished healing those in his line and headed over to the barracks where the first three groups of people had begun training.

The groups were made up of ten people for a total of seventeen groups. Three had been sent to help in making crossbows, arrows or defensive instruments. Five had been dismissed back to their farms. Five were taken to the woods to gather wood, the last group had been released back to their roles as their jobs were necessary to the running or management of the town.

Each of the groups in training had three guards or hunters with them to show them how to use their crossbows.

Rugrat listened in on the lectures before grabbing onto his five man scouting party that was made from hunters and guards, they all had their own weapons thankfully.

Right now they had a total of twelve crossbows, including the seven that they had scrounged up from within the town.

"Alright, everyone get in nice and close," Rugrat showed them a map of the city and the surrounding area, he pointed out where he wanted to patrol together and his aim to scout out the enemy and slim down the number of boars in the area. There were two hunters from the last day, Rugrat found that they were willing to learn and take orders from him yesterday, seeing their potential he elected to bring them out again. One to bolster the number of people that could handle themselves and two to show off to the others how strong they could become if they listened and obeyed.

It seemed to have Rugrat's desired effect.

All of them paid attention before Rugrat checked their gear and then they headed off on their mission.

Rugrat looked over to the town hall as he was leaving. Erik was still working on the bad cases, but there were only three more people left to go.

It was time to build their foundation in Alva Town.