Chapter 24 - Discussion

Chapter 24 - Discussion

"Hmm… We need to conquer many areas as fast as we can. The other settlements have too many people and their rate of conquering the area will be faster," Adrian mumbled.

"Still, we need to increase our strength first. We cannot conquer the area when we are weak," Valiant sighed.

Adrian and Valiant spoke for a bit more before he decided to continue with his mission. Solving the water supply problem was not an easy job. He needed to give his 100% focus on the mission. Thus, he could not take other missions at the moment.

"I need to go to the river to see if I can solve the problem with the water supply but I don't have any weapon I can use to protect myself in the wild. Do you have any weapons I can use? Preferably, farming tools," Adrian asked.

"Farming tools?" Valiant raised his eyebrow.

"One of my special stats is Farming Tools. Rather than using normal weapons, farming tools are more effective with this stat," Adrian replied.

"I do want to help you but unfortunately, we don't have any tools or weapons we can give to you. We do have someone with a smithing background but as you know, our power is reset and that person loses all of his skills too. Not only that but without any metals or minerals, he cannot forge anything for us," Valiant rubbed his forehead.

This was another big problem in the settlement. They have the right person for the job but they did not have the resources for it. Due to this, the man for the job did not have a method to gain his skill back, and thus, the development of tools and weapons was at a standstill.

"How about woods? Can he forge with woods?" Adrian asked.

"No, his special stat is not related to wood or plant. So, he is useless in forging something with woods," Valiant looked defeated.

"The weapon we currently have is something we had on use when Land Expansion happened. Because the area is too dangerous for everyone in this settlement, we cannot give our only weapons to the blacksmith to practice with."

"If you need to go to the river, my assistant can escort you there. Also, how about you wait for the other person? There are two of you that take this mission, right?" Valiant asked.

"Since I am a step ahead, I should do this first. I cannot stay idle while waiting for the other person," Adrian smiled.

"Good, good. I like your personality, Mr. Adrian. With a hardworking person like you here, this settlement can progress faster," Valiant was happy and he thought of something and asked, "How are you going to settle with the water supply problem?"

"The easiest one I can think of is by making a small lake in this settlement and digging a drain that is connected to the river. With this lake, we will have a close water supply," Adrian told Valiant about his idea.

"Hmm… That sounds possible but digging a lake and the drain will be hard work, right? Also, you need to think of the wild creature problem. They are not only on land but also in the water."

"If we make a drain and the lake, the creature can also come in and that will be dangerous to everyone in the settlement," Valiant told his concern.

"We can put a divider between the drain and the river to prevent them from getting in," Adrian told Valiant his solution to this. Also, Adrian was not worried about it much because the area they were in was only level 1 and there would be many people more than capable of dealing with the creatures.

Moreover, Valiant had told him that they would upgrade the area carefully so that it would not bite them back, and thus, he believed that it would not be a big problem.

Adrian and Valiant discussed this problem more. Valiant also asked if it would be better to dig a well. It was doable and they could collect the rainwater but relying on rainwater alone was not enough. Rainwater was cleaner too but they could not predict when the rain would fall.

Finding underground water was impossible because none of the people in the settlement based on Valiant's data can detect them. Digging aimlessly was a waste of time and energy too.

After discussing this problem for almost an hour, Valiant and Adrian decided to dig a lake and well. The well would be inside the settlement while the lake would be a bit farther from the settlement but not as far as the river.

Still, they found a new problem. Tools they could use to dig the well and the lake. If there was someone with the ground special stats, they could easily dig the lake and well using skill but from Valiant's data, no one was with the stat.

"I do have an idea on how we can solve the problem with the tool but I am not sure if it will work. Can we use stones? I am sure there will be a lot of stones at the river," Adrian gave his idea. He thought of this because he remembered the stone age.

"Oh! That's right! We can use river stone! Hahaha, why didn't I think of that?" Valiant approved of Adrian's idea.

"Is there anyone with a stone special stat?" Adrian asked.

"That blacksmith has a stone special stat!" Valiant was excited but then, he felt weird. "…this is easy but why has no one said this? Even the blacksmith never mentions this?"

'Possibly because Future set this up. He wants the players to help solve this problem…' thought Adrian. 'Maybe, the blacksmith will have no idea at all on how to shape stone to a tool or weapon to give the player the chance to solve this problem.'

"Oh! Adrian, I will go with you to the river," Valiant spoke.

"!" Adrian was surprised. "Isn't it better for you to stay here? You are the settlement's leader and there will be many Lost Humans who will come to get the system upgrade," Adrian spoke.

"They will not be able to learn the skill in an hour. They will need at least four days, so we have tons of time to visit the river. Kenneth and Jason are here, so the settlement will be safe too. The creatures around her are all level 1, they will not cause many problems to the duo." Valiant grinned.

"I need to see the stone and bring them here by myself. You are at level 1 and will not be able to bring all those stones back. So, it is better to have a strong man like me by your side!"

"…" Adrian was silent and a few seconds later, he replied, "Sure."

Since that was what Valiant wanted, Adrian could not stop him. Like Valiant had said, he was too weak and it was better if Valiant was with him.

Valiant told Kenneth and Jason about this and similar to Adrian, they disagreed with Valiant's decision but since Valiant wanted to do it, they could not do anything because their power was weaker.

Adrian and Valiant left the settlement to the river. Adrian went to solve the problem with the water supply but Valiant went to collect stones.