Chapter 6: Town Hall Rising

The moon was dim in the Arathi Highlands at night and apart from that, there are only a few scattered stars shining.

The group decided to camp in a small forest near the Alterac Mountains. Beside the bright campfire, Galen sat cross-legged, his chin resting on one hand, his eyes looking ahead, and his thoughts drifting.

Three guards were setting up the tent so that everyone could rest for the night. Varokar led the remaining two guards to hunt, and Omar was patrolling the area around the camp and setting up warning traps.

After Omar finished his patrol, he returned and saw Galen dazed by the campfire, so he asked, "Your Highness, what are you thinking about?"

Omar and Varokar have followed Galen for five years. They are loyal to Galen and have great respect for the diligent prince. Galen often practices martial arts with both of them, and they have a very close relationship as they spend a lot of time together.

"I'm thinking about our next trip. We've been here for two days and have explored the area thoroughly. There are no other dangers besides the highland velociraptors. I plan to stay for two more days and then go to the outskirts of Deadwood Village to the north to take a look."

In fact, Galen wanted to avoid his guards tonight and summon the Heart of Origin base. He couldn't wait.

"Then we will go and see how often the Witherbark trolls from the north come to this valley, and whether it will be beneficial for hiding the base."

If the base was in danger of being discovered, he would need Danath's help to create momentum at Goshek Farm and attract the attention of the Witherbark trolls.

"Your Highness, if we get close to Deadwood Village, we might be discovered by the troll hunters. This is too dangerous."

Obviously, Omar didn't want Galen to take any risks, as their team only had eight people, so he tried to stop him.

"Don't worry, I won't get too close to their border. I'll just go and see some abandoned mines in the east."

The mine that Galen mentioned was once owned by the royal family. Later, it was abandoned because it was far from the kingdom's defense line and too close to the sphere of influence of the trolls. In later generations, these mines were occupied by ogres of the Stonefist Clan and renamed Stonefist Halls.

Omar obviously knew that area. Omar and Varokar were members of the militia stationed at Goshek Farm. Later, they were recruited by Galen to become his guards. Before that, they had fought with troll scouts in the southeastern corner of the Arathi Highlands more than once and were very familiar with the situation in the eastern part of the kingdom.

So, when he heard Galen say that he would only be active near the mine, he thought Galen wanted to go on an adventure in the mine. The probability of trolls appearing there is not high, and as long as precautions are taken, there will be no major safety issues.

At this moment, Varokar returned from hunting with his guards. The guards were carrying a Highland Raptor, and Varokar held a hawk in his hand.

These two creatures are common in the Arathi Highlands, and the hawk, this brave creature of the highlands, was chosen as the symbol of Stromgarde and printed on the army's shirts.

It was almost midnight after everyone had enjoyed a hearty meal. Galen told Omar and Varokar to go to sleep early tonight, citing the hard work they had done over the past two days. Omar had already set up the trap, and Varokar had checked while hunting to see if there were any other large creatures nearby, so after arranging the night watch, they entered the tent to rest.

After waiting patiently for an hour, Galen quietly took out a scroll and opened it towards Omar and Varokar's tents. This was a soundproof scroll from Galen's collection. There are few mages in the kingdom, and Omar and Varokar are warriors. They shouldn't be able to detect the fluctuations of magic.

After setting up a soundproof magic circle, Galen carefully hid in the shadows of several tents and quietly sneaked out of the camp while the two guards on duty were not paying attention.

After walking a distance, Galen sped up and ran all the way south.

They arrived at a harbor they had discovered during the day, which was still an hour's journey from the strait. Galen arrived at the foot of the mountain, focused his attention, and the Heart of Origin emerged in his mind, shining with blue light, and silently issued an order: Summon the base.

Galen had tried the next scene many times. After giving the order to summon the base, Galen's perspective slowly rose, and the terrain within a radius of 5,000 yards centered on him appeared.

Galen had tried it once in the palace and could see the Tower of Arathor, five kilometers away from the palace, from his room.

In the center of the field of vision was a ball of light. He used his mind to automatically move the ball of light, avoiding the trees and rocks on the ground, until the 100×100 opening below the light ball turned completely green. Galen said silently: Deploy the base.

A bright light suddenly appeared in the open space in front of Galen, and a mechanical electronic sound echoed in his mind:

- Base Origin construction begins

- Host race detected as Vrykul ancestry.

- Host genes extracted

- Race selection: Human

- Host memory scanned

- Architectural style selected

- Town Hall begins generating

When the voice finished, Galen slowly opened his eyes, an excited look on his face. Town Hall, how familiar! This word evoked memories of games from Galen's previous life.

While Galen waited excitedly, the light in front of him slowly dimmed, and a building with a red roof and white walls appeared in front of Galen. On the left side of the building was a tall clock tower. There is also a stone wall more than one meter high around the building.

The architectural style is very similar to that of Stromgarde.

"The Town Hall has been built. Please, host, take a look."

At this moment, Galen was standing right in front of the building. He crossed the stone wall, entered the courtyard, and followed the stone path to the hall.

Galen took a quick look at the hall. There was a lobby and two rooms inside. The layout of the lobby was very similar to the meeting hall of Stromgarde. At the top was a desk for handling government affairs, and below was a large square table with more than a dozen seats. It was used for meetings with various people.

There were two doors on the side of the lobby. Galen went over to check. One of them was empty, with only rows of shelves against the wall, like a storage room. The other room was the core of the entire building, with a ball of light suspended in the center of the room.

Galen couldn't wait to enter. As soon as he entered the room, he felt his consciousness connect with the ball of light.

Town Hall: Can train farmers and receive collected resources. Can be upgraded to a main city to unlock more new buildings and units. Provides 12 food units.

Command 1: Train farmers, basic worker units that can collect gold and wood, build and repair buildings, and can be converted into militia.

Command 2: Upgrade to main city, not unlocked, barracks need to be built.

Command 3: Alarm bell, ring the alarm and call the surrounding farmers back to the hall for shelter.

Galen was a little ecstatic. This was exactly what he had guessed. As long as he had enough resources, he could build an army and advance.