In the morning of the 17th day on Midgard, or better put right now, 1st of September year 1, I gathered all the unit leaders and some others in the Town Hall after breakfast, for a meeting about the future of the camp. I figured it would be best if I can involve them as much as possible in the major decision-making, given how important that is for my peace of mind... also, in order to allow me to laze and venture around Midgard with no worries later on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for gathering here on such short notice! As you all know, the Chaos God gave us the option of seeing the status of our world through an interface similar to our own Status Page. You can think of it as the Status Page of Midgard..."

There were slight murmurs among the people gathered, which weren't just the leaders anymore, but some of the people which participated the most in the camp's improvement during the last week. I decided to do this on a weekly basis, case in which the extra people might change and allow others to participate in the decision-making, giving them an extra incentive to work even harder.

Anyway, after introducing everyone to what everything meant, I had Alexandra and Mia act as my co-presenters while I talked, with them brouging up the specific tabs (it felt like a joint power-point presentation in high-school…). Even Decarbia was stunned by the strange things she saw, saying how unprecedented it was that a civilization that had no knowledge of technology or magic at an advanced level, to have something as impressive as the Adventurer System was quite far fetched. Honestly, I had no way to refute that statement.

"Let's get started first of all with the list of materials available to us at the moment."

Materials available 5400 wood units 8600 stone units 12050 food units (food is estimated to last 4 additional months) Metals: 9790 units Others: 13030 units

"As you can see the list of materials we currently have increased exponentially and our goal is to prepare for the three months’ worth of winter. Obviously, we still have meat that we hunted, but we decreased the scope of that considerably in the last couple of days due to our gains in the dungeons, as well as the fact that we do not wish to overhunt and scare away the wildlife around the camp. Any questions so far? Yes, Andrea?"

[Including deer and boar, we also hunted pheasant and other types of birds, therefore our reserves are more than sufficient. Nevertheless, that is not even 10% of the current Granary capacity, while fish and lamb meat acquired through the dungeons occupy about 50% of the full storage. I am afraid that we have more meat than we need, but not enough fruits and vegetables. Not to mention that the spices big sister Mia keeps teaching me about, are far from sufficient in our area or inexistent...](Andrea)

"I had a similar conversation with her about this. Indeed the vegetables and fruits are far from enough around us and it might prove difficult to plant and grow them in the forest. Therefore, it is very likely that our Chaos God will bring over once more people on Midgard, we could start a second settlement, a distance away from the forest. Any thoughts on it."

A conversation sparked from that simple question, which in return helped us reach a consensus. The second camp will focus on farming heavily for things like wheat, vegetables and also animal husbandry. That brought us to another important tab. Research!

Research

Used to decide the technological advancement, it consists of multiple branching paths one can chose, each one belonging to a specific time.

Once a minimum of technologies have been researched, you can advance to the next era. Each era advancement will provide you with certain benefits.

Current technologies available for research:

Pottery – already researched

Animal Husbandry – 1800 RP (-20% discount due to title)

Archery – already researched

Mining – already researched

Metal Casting – already researched

Current Research Points available: 501

Current Research Points growth: 239/day (assign people to researching a specific field in order to increase growth)

"As you can see, the only thing left would be to either focus on this technology and complete it, or to move our attention to taming wildlife on our own and try to make another breakthrough. Stephanie, your squad had a trial with the bees and Mia helped out a bit as well. How is that going?"

[Very well! From what big sister said, is probable that we could already harvest honey, however if we do so, there might not be sufficient food for the bees to survive through the winter...](Stephanie)

"Is that so? In that case, it is better to wait. However, this signifies that if something as difficult as tending to bees was made possible, I am optimistic for other types as well. I think we should look for small birds, wild boars and deer. For other animals it might prove impossible for now..."

[For the small birds, do you have in mind placing them around the Farms?](Stephanie)

"In the farms actually. There should be sufficient people to handle that right now. There is no rush though, but you can give a try to capturing them alive, or their young and bring them back to camp. Consult with Mia regarding what sort of habitat to, in order to have them accommodate easier to our camp."

[Understood!](Stephanie)

"For the other resources we have available, like the wood and the stone, we will also delay the process of acquiring those for now. For the reason... is possible that wood will no longer be a requirement in the near future, therefore we will shift onto mining more vigorously. Especially copper and marble since they are better materials that our camp needs."

Everyone appeared agreeable and the topic finally moved onto the final topic to be breached. Social Policies!

"For the reform or policy next to be selected, we had an original plan. However, seeing that new options are made available each time we select and unlock a new reform, we aren't that certain anymore. Let's take a look at what the Military Reform unlocked for us first and we will decide together what the next one should be."

After hunting like lunatics continuously for one day (leading to the Eastern Water Dungeons to be locked down for over 24 hours and pushing it to the creation of the third floor) we captured a total of 73 Culture Points after continuous grinding, beside the daily points. With a new day in front of us and the option to grind even more, it was a guaranteed thing that the fourth policy can be selected... The question was, which one?

Military improves the effectiveness of one's army in a variety of ways.

Adopting Military gives a +25% combat bonus VS dungeon monsters, and notifications will be provided when new dungeon appears in the known territory. Gain Culture Points for the civilization from each dungeon floor cleared. Unlocks a random culture providing building after the Town Hall has been built!

Adopting all policies in the Honor tree will grant double Culture Points for each enemy dungeon floor cleared. It also allows the purchase of Great Generals with Faith starting in the Industrial Era.

Current branching social policies:

- Discipline;

- Military Caste;

- Military Tradition;

- Profesional Army;

- Warrior Code;

Cost for a new branching social policy: 104 Culture Points

Discipline

In a military structure, discipline refers to a soldier's willingness to follow legitimate orders, to respect superior officers, and to put their life in jeopardy or even die when required. Disciplined soldiers are expected to uphold the dignity of their uniform when off-duty and to protect the weak and helpless. Lapses in discipline may lead to military punishment or even courts-martial and discharge.

Benefits: +25% increase in basic attributes (STR, AGI, END, INT) when fighting under the leadership of a general or commander.

Cost: 104 Culture Points

Military Caste

In a society with a military caste, all members of the military are from a specific tribe, nationality, religion, or other socio-economic subgroup. Citizens who are not part of the caste are forbidden from joining the military and often from carrying any weapons at all, often because the military caste fears that the citizens might use the weapons against them. Much of feudal Japan was under a military caste system, as was ancient Sparta.

Benefits: +10% increase in Happiness for local population when the settlement has Barracks built; +2 Culture Points/day.

Cost: 104 Culture Points

Professional Army

A professional army is a full-time military organization that remains in being even when the country is at peace. Its soldiers are paid for their services by the state and spend their time training or performing public works when not at war. The earliest armies were not professional. When war was imminent, the country's leaders would issue a call and all able-bodied men would shoulder their weapons and march off to battle. These amateur soldiers usually didn't have much training and were often expected to supply their own weapons and armor, so their quality was not very high. They tended to desert when they had to tend to their crops, so battles were scheduled for the summer. If victory wasn't achieved by harvest, the war would often be called off for a year.

Benefits: +50% increase experience gained by the proffesions recognized publicly as soldiers of the civilization; 50% decrease in general cost of army related buildings;

Cost: 104 Culture Points

Warrior Code

The warrior code represents those military organizations in which the soldiers feel a stronger allegiance to the army and their fellow soldiers than to anything else. The soldier is willing - if not eager - to fight and die for the army. He'll follow orders without question, putting the good of the military ahead of his own personal welfare, or indeed the welfare of his nation as a whole. Such organizations can be very dangerous unless the nation's leaders keep an extremely tight grip on it. According to some historians, in pre-World War II Japan, the Imperial Army and Navy were almost entirely out of civilian control, and their militaristic actions dragged that country into the ultimately-disastrous confrontation with the United States.

Benefits: provides the civilization with a free Great General; decreases the amount of experience required for training Great Generals; increases Happiness of civilization;

Cost: 104 Culture Points

"So as you can see, these are the options available. Everyone, offer your opinion."

[Michael, I still think we should follow the original plan...](Mia)

[Indeed...](everyone else)

"..."

I was quite speechless seeing how an entire possible conversation was automatically shut down with a single sentence from Mia. Actually, exactly how much authority does this pretty AI has in our camp?

"I am pretty sure her authority is above mine at least..."

"Alright then... If nobody has any complaints, we will go with what was decided in the beginning. That means that for the next option, we will select...

[Warrior code!]

[Citizenship!]

[We should unlock Aesthetics!]

"..."

These people... Where is the unity from before!? Indeed though, it is quite difficult to decide based on the many options we have available. The best choice at the moment is to focus on a way to improve the gain of culture points per day, all in order to increase the future gain of policies in an easier manner. At the same time, it would be the best course of action to also focus on unlocking as many options as possible for social policies, given that there might be hidden gems in there just like for the first three reforms...

"I can understand why they are unsure... I am also hesitating in making a decision..."

"Alright! I have decided! We will postpone a decision until tonight. Everyone is to consider the option they want, but you had better prepare arguments as for why you think is the best option. Do not follow commands, I need you to use your head and help this camp move forward. Is that understood?"

[Yes sir!](everyone)

"..."

I wasn't exactly 100% sure if that was considered a command therefore I decided not to pay attention to it. Now, there was one last subject to be discussed and with it, all bases would be covered.

"Lastly, I have decided that we will focus on the buildings in the following order: today day 17 will be the Water Mill and the Bathhouse, day 18 will be the Barracks and day 19 will be the Ancestral Library. All these buildings are complicated and will require extra work and care, however they will prove extremely beneficial for our camp. Mia, regarding what I've asked you?"

[There isn't a problem. I was able to locate the underground spring and by using a canal we can re-direct the water near the forge and by creating an oven like chamber, the water passing through will be warmed up. Unfortunately is not possible to create a natural one due to the territory lacking a proper thermal spring...](Mia)

"It is true as there weren't any volcanoes in this area back then... It will have to work for now. We will improve it later. What about drainage?"

[After conducting some tests, we will place the Bathhouse under the World Tree. Its roots will be able to purify the water and by creating a cycle, while the canals will maintain a constant level of warmth and obviously the World Tree keeps the water clean all day long.](Mia)

"I see..."

I, once again, saw just how much of a cheat this World Tree was. I truly hoped that Eternity received just as much help as I got from it.

"Alright, that concludes this morning's meeting. We will come back here tonight after dinner, in order to decide the order of things. Everyone, thank you for participating!"

That way, the first true type of corporative meeting ended and another fun day started. Why fun? Because Laurence was already capable of leading the unit to clear up to the third floor of the Eastern Water Dungeon where Water Slimes were present, therefore we had him and the remaining people fight there, while myself, Mia and Decarbia ventured in the Southern Earth Dungeon. I was curious to see exactly how far we could go and what sort of monsters we could find in the lower levels.