****

Part of the old story, make sure to check out the remade Alteration here.

***

Blake was again in a lava chamber with two opened chests. He stood on a stone path that connected the entrances. Everything except that path was a huge lake of lava. The chests were opened but had still some content in them.

I took just the Antidote... I think. Lets check the rest out now.

Blake's hand reached out when he got swarmed by many windows.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Joined the Lava hedgehog faction

Rank: Leader

Inquire about gained content to a faction member. [br][/br][/col][/box]

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Reputation with Lava hedgehogs maxed out. [br][/br][/col][/box]

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Notoriety + 5000 when in Faction leader mode. [br][/br][/col][/box]

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Added Faction points window.

Added Faction quest list. [br][/br][/col][/box]

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Do you wish to proceed to Faction management window? [br][/br][/col][/box]

Blake closed the chest and sat on the floor leaning on them.

I can check the items out later, now I'll see how I can influence the faction.

Blake tapped yes and carefully started reading.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Residential options. Continue? [br][/br][/col][/box]

Might as well start here.

Blake tapped continue.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Scattered faction

Your faction will be spread across an area and patrol it. You will be able to have a Rank 15 settlement and have up to 10 items in your factions possession. Your faction members will have an item capacity of 2. This counts as personal possession and doesn't proc the faction possession limit. When killed, your members will respawn in 20 hours( game hours) at a random location near the place they died. You will receive 1 special statue which will give you bonus stats when near. It can be stolen by players, if that happens it will need to be recrafted again. [br][/br][/col][/box]

This sounds like the options goblins and trolls usually use in other games. I guess that the higher the rank the worse the settlement is. This is certainly out of the question.

Blake tapped next without a second look on the window.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Guardian faction

Your faction will be assigned to a cave or ruins and attack anyone who comes near it. You may build inside your guarded area rank D buildings, but only if it is far enough from the existing structures.

When someone loots 5 items from your guarded area you gain 15% more Strength and Fighting spirit. This effect gets a boost of 2% each next time the intruder loots 5 more items. The effect lasts until the intruder leaves and all the fallen faction members respawn.

After every in-game month you gain a piece of information from your guarded area which can give you various benefits and information. [br][/br][/col][/box]

Blake shook his head.

This sounds interesting, but it isn't what I'm looking for.

Blake tapped next again.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Neutral faction.

Your faction is able to build any kind of cities according to their budget. You may form alliances with other factions and are able to wage war if you want. The size and beauty of your city depends only on you and your budget. You may have everything in it if you can afford it (blacksmith, bakery, marketplaces, banks, courthouses ...).

You can decide nearly anything you want in your cities and even put a starting affection that the townsfolk will have when they meet adventurers. Fine tuning is up to you. [br][/br][/col][/box]

Neutral faction... This may be it. I can affect anything I want. Well, I'll check the other options out too. Either way I won't make a decision without consulting with Teruna. The problem in this option is the townsfolk though...We have just 15 faction members without including me... It would be a really small town so we'd have to quickly gather some people to attract visitors. But if we take just anyone the other factions might notice that the Lava hedgehog faction is trying to recover from the near extermination and even send some spys to infiltrate our city. I know that we are now protected with the game rules, but that just makes it harder for them to harm us, not impossible...

Blake was still in his thoughts but pressed next.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Dungeon faction

Your faction may acquire an uninhabited territory or conquer already inhabited areas and make them your own. You will then be able to make your own dungeon which can be in many forms like a cave, a fortress, a simple bordered area in the plains, a part of the sea and plenty other ones. Customisation is up to the player and his/her budget. Further information available when selected. [br][/br][/col][/box]

He clicked his tongue...

This sounds really fun, but I get the feeling like a lot of things are left out. Lik...

*FSSSSS*

His thoughts were stopped by bright spheres which appeared everywhere around him. He squinted but couldn't see anything around himself except the spheres. The floor under him started to shake while he futilely tried to stand back up. Every time he got back on his knees the strong shaking would disrupt him and make him fall. The lava lakes that were everywhere around him started to form waves. They got stronger and stronger. Each moving inch by inch closer to him. Blake didn't notice at first because the spheres were too bright but started panicking the moment he did. He glanced everywhere around him with eyes wide open from shock.

What is happening?! Is this an earthquake? What are these spheres?

A bit of lava reached his robe and he quickly took it off and got rid of it. Immediately afterwards it caught fire and burned out in a matter of seconds.

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Discarded Initial armor. [br][/br][/col][/box]

Like I care... I have no idea where I will respawn or if I will be able to return to this volcano. I mustn't die!

The chests caught his gaze.

This might work.

He climbed in one chest and tried to cover himself with it as much as possible. He couldn't see in what condition the rest of the path was so he decided to wait in the chest as much as needed. The waves now came all the way to the chest. He covered the lid of the chest as much as he could so that he could just barely see what is happening outside.

A moment later the rock floor stopped shacking and the waves receded. Blake still hid in the chest and slowly started to peek out of the chest. He still felt light tremors and the spheres started to gradually lose their brightness. After a minute it got dark enough for him to see normally and he got out of the chest and looked around himself.

He soon found the cause of the remaining light tremors. A huge lava hedgehog was on the floor lying and shacking uncontrollably while letting out fast squeaking noises. It started to calm down, looked at him for a second and then continued shacking.

Blake glared at the hedgehog and considered throwing a nearby rock at it.

Not like it will do much to help.. .

He walked with short and quick steps to the hedgehog and inquired with a irritated voice.

-''Entertained?''

The hedgehog started to shrink and with it the sounds it made got a bit deeper and quite more recognisable. A hearty laugh echoed in the cave and on the spot where the hedgehog stood appeared a tall, read headed woman which rolled on the floor laughing. Her hair got in a mess and the crimson eyes which disturbed him a few hours earlier were now half opened and teary. They weren't brownish as in his world but shone pure crimson. The armor she was in was the same colour as her hedgehog form. It was made of some leather or cloth because the scraping on the floor was barely audible. The cause of that might have also been the heartbeat that Blake still heard in his ears after the shock.

He stood now next to her and waited as her laughter got quieter. She finally managed to get up and looked at him with still tear-filled eyes.

-''Soryy. This was just too perfect of an opportunity to miss. Your reaction was hilarious.''

Her mouth curled again and she barely contained her laughter.

-''Your reaction was so priceless. First the falling and then you squeezed yourself in... How did you even do that? You are a tall guy! OH! But that face you made when you finally noticed the lava waves! That was what really cracked me up.''

She swayed from her laughter, but managed to stay on her feet. Her teary eyes cleared and she glanced at Blake. Her face reddened a bit.

-''Sorry for the armor though. Don't worry I'll get you a better one in no time. Give me a few minutes.''

She started walking away when Blake shouted.

-''Wait! Don't worry about it. I have a few spares from the tutorial.''

Blake rummaged through his bag and pulled out the armor he was wearing in the tutorial. It was a pure black leather armor with two dog like patterns on the shoulders. A smile crept on Blake's face.

I nearly forgot about this. It is comfortable and looks good. I totally forgot about the stats though. I should thoroughly examine everything when I get the chance.

Blake put the armor on and continued to talk to Teruna.

-''I discovered the Faction management window.''

Teruna looked at him confusedly.

-'' I can guess what that is but I don't know exactly what it does. I think that's also a new feature in this world because of your situation.''

Blake closed one chest and sat on it.

-'' Then I will tell you what it says. I didn't decide anything yet but I checked it a bit out. Don't be careless, these settings can make or break a faction.''

Teruna turned serious and nodded.

-''Very well. What shall we decide first?''

Blake opened the Faction management window.

-''We will decide everything now so it doesn't matter where we start. I already check Residential options out so I'll just inform you about it now.''

Blake read the faction types out loud and Teruna listened carefully before commenting.

-''I think that I will let you make the decisions. I am originally a warrior so I'm not that confident in making plans for the future, especially good ones. I'll give you advice but you will be the one who seals the deal.''

She took a deep breath.

-'' I cant't really decide between being a Neutral faction or a Dungeon faction. Both sounds good.''

She looked him in the eyes and nearly caused him to flinch with her shining eyes.

-''What will you pick leader.''

Blake closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He tried to think of every possible good and bad sides of the two options and weighted which would be more useful.

The Neutral faction seems safer and will help us regain power and influence but we will need to advertise. That way we lose the surprise factor, the enemy of our faction doesn't know what is happening and it would be best if it stays like that... Also we would need tons of gold to start it up and build the buildings, plus we need specific materials and food if we want to attract people...

He shook his head lightly.

The Dungeon faction could be concealed a bit better but not much. They could fight in their human form or somehow surprise attack from the lava and lob range attack at enemies. The problem is that we need to win all our fights and be ready to fight all day, every day. It is financially probably better but it doesn't open all the options that the Neutral faction does... Huh...

Blake lifted his head and slowly opened his eyes. His arms were folded and spoke up.

-''Custom faction!''

A window appeared before him and he laughed out.

-''Good news! We can make our own sort of faction.''

Teruna looked at him dumbfoundedly.

-''How did you know that this was an option?''

His smile shone brighter.

-''If this was an actual world then you aren't just limited to the obvious choices.''

Now Teruna smiled too.

-''Good thinking. Continue.''

-''Combine Dungeon faction features and Neutral faction features.''

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Error

Cannot combine all the features of two factions.

Use the Custom screen to make your own faction from various features.

WARNING Some features can't be combined. [br][/br][/col][/box]

Blake clicked his tongue.

Well, it would have been too easy...

He started concentrating and experimented with lots of possibilities. Half an hour passed until he was satisfied with the Custom faction.

*Ding*

[box border=1 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=3 width=80% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][col colspan=4 valign=top width=100% bordercolor=#7499c4 bgcolor=#d2e4f2][br][/br]Saved and activated Custom faction. [br][/br][/col][/box]

Blake finally relaxed and looked at Teruna.

-''It's done. I combined them, though I had to do it manually.''

She was waiting the entire time so she was eager to question him.

-''How did you mix it? What is your plan?''

Blake smirked.

-''It's a surprise.''

She walked up to him and smacked the back of his head.

-''Talk.''

Blake clutched his hurting head and laughed awkwardly.

-''Ok, ok... No need for violence.''

He regained his composure and continued.

-''As I said I combined the two options, though not directly. We will be able to have a dungeon and a city. I'll put very near each other so that I don't complicate things. We have nearly all the options of the Neutral faction side. We can build nearly anything we can afford, all sorts of shops are available to us. I didn't take the Auto-management perk because we can't afford such luxuries. We couldn't have all the Dungeon faction bonuses and objective boosts though. We can't have everything obviously.''

Teruna's eyes sparkled while she listened to the perks which Blake chose. After hearing that he had to compromise she clicked her tongue but stayed silent. He continued.

-''But because of my great planing skills I smuggled some Neutral faction perks in the Dungeon part. And I'll tell you this, under the right circumstances it will be absolutely great.''

Teruna looked at him suspiciously.

-''And under the wrong circumstances?''

He fidgeted.

-''It will be completely useless... But I'll make sure that the circumstances will be there!''

Teruna shook her head.

-''Tell me! What do you have in mind?''

Blake waved his hand.

-''That I won't tell. Also I won't give in no matter how many times you smack me.''

Teruna's eyes shone a bit brighter which made him shudder.

-''You tempt me to investigate the truth of your last statement.''

A second later her eyes reverted to their usual shining and she calmed down.

-''Well you are supposed to be our leader so I will let you off the hook. If you fail us I'll make sure that you give me written reports of everything that you plan to do one month in advance.''

Blake gulped.

She is smiling, but I doubt that she jokes...

He forced himself to calm down and smile again.

-''I won't fail your trust. Now, the problem with our hybrid is the money making. Neutral factions are like black holes regarding that. Dungeons can generate gold but you need to be very careful and strong because the prize for victorious raiders comes from your own pocket, the items are thankfully generated and not our own. This makes our new faction extremely risky.''

Blake made a pause to see how Teruna was taking it, but she had a bit confused look on her face.

-''I understand that it is inconvenient, but I wouldn't call it extremely risky...''

Blake sighed.

-''Our Neutral faction city mainly focuses on money. Without money we can't build anything and no one will come to buy something or stay here. Also that means that we will have to invest as much money as possible in our city to make it strong which means that we won't be able to invest as much in our armor, scrolls, potions and similar things. Not to mention that we will also have to invest in our dungeon to make up our lack of bonuses and objective boosts with the plan that I am keeping to myself. It will obviously need gold. And it gets really risky when we lose a dungeon run. We will lose money which will mean that we won't be able to invest it in the city or dungeon which will make us again weaker and make losing a dungeon run again more probable. I am talking now just about the faction in general. I didn't take how much a single person can contribute to the faction with his money, quests or something because I'm still new to the game.''

Teruna's face was pale.

-''We don't have any starting capital... How do you plan pull this off? Why would you do this kind of combination if it has such problems?''

-''They just seem huge because you don't use your imagination. There are a lot of things that we can bypass. Actually one of the things that I had to sacrifice to make this custom mix possible is something that is in our own interest to do.''

Her eyebrows rose.

-''And that would be what?''

-''In the first two months only faction members can work in our city as specialists. That means tailors, cooks, blacksmiths, herbalists and similar professions. Technically speaking they could get assistants but you probably understand that we need to keep as much secrecy as we can get.''

Teruna's gaze was rapidly switching between outrage and confusion.

-''There is so much wrong with what you said I don' even know where to start...''

He interrupted her.

-''Let me be a gentleman then and make this easier for you. You probably think that it doesn't make any sense that we are limiting ourselves to faction members for specialists, but you understand that we can't openly recruit either even if the restriction wasn't there. Also all our members except you and me are kids. I think that the only answer to that is us learning how to run this town on our own. The kids will soon learn how to do things and I'm sure that you have hidden talents for some jobs, plus I'm sure that if we keep them in line they will learn fast.''

Teruna swayed her head and nodded finally.

-''Lets accept that, but how do you...''

He interrupted her again with a cunning smile on his face.

-''How do I plan to found a city which wants to keep as much secrecy as possible? I have some ideas but I admit that it will be the trickiest thing of all. Also there might be a few restrictions that I put upon ourselves that play right into our hands.''

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