Tess didn't hesitate. "To arms!" She whirled round and reached for her Sword.

A pack of snarling creatures burst from the treeline.

Tess checked her [Battle Map]; there were at least twenty monsters incoming, but they all appeared to be Level 1.

The humanoid creatures were small and fast. Their jagged blades flashed in the sunlight, and their beady eyes gleamed with malice.

"Form up!" Tess barked. She made a series of hand gestures in the air as she manipulated her [Battle Map] and shared it with the entire group.

"Tanks to the front! Fighters and Healers . . . " Tess stopped shouting orders.

The workers were the definition of confusion: some screamed and ran; some froze; a few fumbled with unfamiliar weapons; one woman backed away and tripped over a boulder.

Most of these people hadn't fought a single monster yet. Most hadn't even practiced.

Even Tess's family and friends were slow to react—with the exception of Amber.

Tess growled. This was seriously pissing her off.

A thunderous belch ripped through the air. Tess turned to see Roger—his cheeks bulging—let loose a gout of noxious gas. A green cloud rolled toward the incoming monsters. Several Goblins staggered, retched, and clawed at their throats.

"That's right, ya nasties!" Roger roared, bits of half-digested fish spraying from his lips. "Choke on it!"

Tess shook her head, her eyes watering at the smell.

Oh, that's foul!

A bellow of rage snapped her attention back to the fight.

Steve the [Quarrier] had charged into the group without waiting on orders. He swung his massive club back and forth, his face purple with fury. "You little fuckers!" Each word was punctuated by a bone-crunching smash. Goblins crumpled before his onslaught.

Tess leaped to his aid. Her blade flashed in a whirlwind of precise strikes.

Her family fell into their familiar formation.

It was over in moments.

The last few Goblins fled back into the forest, trailing blood and howling in terror.

Tess was panting. Her Sword was slick and red.

"Everyone all right?" Bo called. "Anyone need healing?"

"Here! Help her!" A Latine woman held up one bloody hand. She leaned against a large boulder, barely staying upright. Blood ran from her abdomen and down her legs. At her feet lay a White woman, covered in long bloody gashes. Three dead Goblins were sprawled beside them.

"You heal first, Finn," Kate said to him. "I don't want to lick anyone if I don't have to."

The two of them rushed toward the injured couple, and Tess's peripheral vision glowed green.

Tess knelt beside Steve, who was gulping air like a landed fish. "You all right? That was brave, jumping in like that."

Steve prodded a nasty gash on his arm, and winced. "Fuck those things. They got my wife when this all started. To tell you the truth, I'd be happy if they visited me here every fucking day."

Wait . . . will they be attacked here every day?

There were a lot of Goblins. If their families hadn't been present, there would surely have been fatalities. How many packs of Goblins were prowling through Chloe's lands? How close was the next Dungeon? What if there had been Goblin Wolf Riders among them?

Tess caught her Dad's eye, hoping to see the same worry.

"We need to start training everyone." The words burst from her lips, unbidden. "The villagers, us, group two, everyone. They need to know how to fight, how to work together. We can't protect them all the time."

Bo opened his mouth, but Tess pushed on, an idea taking hold. "I can do it! Set up a rotation, take them in groups. Teach them formations and tactics. We have to—"

"Tess." Bo's voice was gentle, but firm. "We can't. There's too much to do, too much riding on getting this Quarry up and running. We don't have time for—"

"We have to make time!" Tess snapped, her frustration boiling over. "What good is a Quarry if everyone's dead?"

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Red started to creep up her father's neck, but his expression remained resolute. "I'm sorry, Tess. But my decision is final. We press on with construction as the main priority."

Tess spun and stormed away. It was all she could do to hold in a scream of pure frustration. Her knuckles turned white around her Sword hilt.

As the day wore on, the expedition made steady progress. Art and Sophia returned with a brace of rabbits and a few squirrels. Roger—his belly still swollen with fish gas—lounged by the river beside stringers of fish. He occasionally cast out a line with a contented belch. The [Quarriers] and [Miners] dashed around their time-dilated areas, hard at work.

But it was Jeannie who truly shone; she flitted from place to place, her keen eyes spotting veins of Copper that the other [Miners] had missed. She scrambled over boulders and squeezed into crevices, her Pickaxe ringing out in a steady rhythm.

"Over here!" she called, waving excitedly. "I found more! Some more, come mark this."

Charlie hurried over, his weathered face creasing into a smile at the rich seam of Copper. "You've got a nose for this!"

Jeannie beamed, but her smile faded as she worked her pick on the rock. She pulled something out. It glinted in the sunlight, translucent and shimmering.

"Look at this."

She held it out to Charlie, who took it with a low whistle.

Charlie held it up to show everyone, and a prompt appeared.

[Dusklight Quartz]

As the Sun began to dip, Tess made her way over to where Chloe sat on a fallen log. Chloe's brows were knitted together as she watched the [Miners] work, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Tess sat beside her and surveyed the area through her [Battle Map]. It seemed clear, but she was hyper-aware of every rustle in the woods.

Loo crawled past them, following a line of bugs scuttling across the forest floor.

What happens if more Goblins show up?

Tess did her best to formulate hypothetical formations and tactics; all the while, she wondered if anyone would even listen to her orders.

One way or another, she'd make her neighbors ready for the fight to come.

Even if she had to do it alone.

Jeannie approached them, and held out a handful of Quartz to Chloe. "Here you go. I have some type of mana infused prospecting interaction going on. I need to experiment with it more, but what I can tell for sure is that these are the only crystals and gems in this particular Mine. At least until we dig deeper."

Chloe blinked, startled out of her thoughts. She reached out, hesitated, then took the stones.

"I . . . " Chloe swallowed. "Thank you, Jeannie. That's-that's really good work today." She looked down at the Quartz, then back at Jeannie. A small smile tugged at her lips. She selected the largest stone and held it out. "Here, you keep this one. As payment for today."

"Thanks, Chloe," Jeannie said with wink.

Chloe handed over the rest to Tess's Dad. "You hold these. We'll figure out the 20 percent thing later."

Bo's eyes unfocused for a moment. "The system appears to be keeping track of it all. I'll see what Raintree can do with these." Bo put them in his pockets.

The light faded fast. The group started the long cold trek back to camp. They were tired, filthy, and sore, but there was a sense of accomplishment too. Many large Copper chunks clinked in their packs.

As Foundation came into view, the worry crept back in. The Goblin attack played over and over in Tess's mind; a constant reminder of how vulnerable they all were. If the Goblins could hit the Quarry, they could certainly walk a few more hours to hit the hill.

"We can't do this every day," she said, breaking the silence. "The walk, the work, the risk . . . it's too much."

"We'll figure it out," Bo said, but his voice was weary. "We have to."

"We need to be able to cover this ground much more quickly." Chloe's voice was hesitant. "What if we built roads? Wasn't that one of the perk's Caretaker History pointed out? You know, like the Romans used to? It would make the journey easier, and safer too. We actually have a dummies book for that, don't we?"

Charlie's eyes lit up. "Yes! The Romans were master road builders. They used to say 'all roads lead to Rome', and for good reason. How about 'all roads lead to Foundation'?"

As they walked, Charlie launched into a detailed history of Roman engineering, his hands waving animatedly. Tess was drawn in despite herself. Roads would make a big difference in each territory for the patrols.

"We'd need a rock crusher," Steve said. "Grind up the waste stone from the Quarry, and use it as a base."

Bo nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do."

As they entered the camp, Tess felt a surge of relief. No monsters had come while they were away. More housing had sprung up in their absence, and the construction crews were still hard at work.

Bo strode ahead, his arms laden with the day's haul of Copper.

"Chloe!" Bo called. "Come with me. This was from your land and is 80 percent yours." He beckoned her over. "We need to find a smelter to turn this into pure Copper bars, then someone who can turn the bars into Coins. And maybe a jeweler too, if we can. There are blueprints for Copper Rings and such. Focus on Coin first, though."

Chloe's face paled. "Ugh, are we going to have to talk to more people?"

Kate laid a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Chloe, you're going to have to get over this. I know it's scary, but this is part of being a leader. You'll get used to it, in time."

Chloe swallowed hard, and went even paler.

Tess made her way to the training field. She had left 'orders' with some of the other kids, telling them to practice while she was out on the expedition.

They hadn't let her down. The kids were still there, practicing their forms and sparring in pairs.

They had come so far in such a short time. Tess had more confidence in the kids' ability to defend themselves than in the adults. However, it wasn't enough. It would never be enough; not until everyone could defend themselves. As it was, the adults didn't even let the kids fight when the monsters came, so she wasn't even training the people who actually defended the town.

Tess's eyes fell on Amber, who had beaten her to the training field. She was in the midst of an intense duel with an older White boy. Even when Tess wasn't leading the training, Amber was always here; always pushing herself. If she wasn't sparring, she was practicing her flips, her balance, and her footwork. The girl was relentless.

"I wish I could get the adults to put in even a fraction of your effort," Tess said as Amber finished her match.

Amber stretched her leg muscles. "They'll come around. They have to." She grinned. "You want me to beat up a few adults to help persuade them?"

Tess chuckled and shook her head. "They might need it. We can't afford to be complacent. Not with the Goblins out there, and who knows what else lurking in the woods."

Tess threw herself into the training. She pushed the kids, and she pushed herself, until her muscles screamed and her lungs burned.

Even as exhaustion took hold, her mind wouldn't rest.

How can I make them understand?

But she wouldn't give up. She couldn't. For their own sakes, she had to find a way to get everyone on board.

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