Chapter 13 - Arrival

Harold arrived first.Stone pressed cold against his bare feet, gritty and real. Wind cut across open ground, carrying the smell of damp earth and distant water. The sky above was pale and unfamiliar, the sun just a shade too bright to be comfortable.He didn't move yet. He waited and felt the familiar sensation of mana fill him again. The integral part of this world. Its functions were role-based and ran through his old mana drills to calm himself.A heartbeat later, Sarah appeared beside him, stumbling half a step before catching herself. Her simple, rough-spun clothing clung awkwardly to her frame, starkly different from the sleek fencing gear she used to wear, its absence a vivid reminder of the life they'd left behind. Her wooden practice sword was also missing, leaving her hands empty and exposed. She looked down at her hands, then up at him."How come you have nice clothes?" she asked."'Cause I'm the Lord," Harold said. "Stay here."Beth arrived next. Then Josh. Then the brothers. Each arrival came with a brief flash of light and a sharp intake of breath as bodies adjusted to new gravity, new air, new rules.Then the rest began to pour in.As the atmosphere crackled with energy, people appeared in bursts and clusters, never all at once, yet close enough together to emphasize the importance of their connection. Harold's breath caught in his throat, a mix of terror and thrill washing over him as the sheer magnitude of the moment settled in. This was the point of no return, their shared destiny anchoring around him. Those who had been closest to Harold arrived sooner; those further out arrived a few seconds later. Families appeared tangled together. Friends reached out instinctively, hands grabbing sleeves that were no longer the same fabric they remembered.Voices rose. Questions were shouted."Where are we?""Is this it?""Don't let go—wait, it's already done."Harold stepped forward as the first dozen people regained their balance."Accountability," he called, voice steady and loud enough to carry. "Move to your assigned groups. If you don't know where you belong, stay where you are." Silence followed, though not without a hint of underlying tension. A sharp laugh cut through, and a sarcastic voice shouted out, "Yes, Lord!" Beth shot them a quick, sharp look, "I know that was you, Jeffries!"Crafters drifted together first, habit and inclination pulling them into loose knots. Adventurers followed, restless even now, scanning the terrain, counting sightlines without realizing it. Caldwell's people formed up with quiet efficiency, veterans defaulting into perimeter positions as if they'd rehearsed it.Beth and Josh were already moving, calling out names, checking faces against memory. Clipboards were gone, but the structure wasn't.Sarah hovered near Harold's side, eyes tracking movement, posture alert. "Everyone's here," she said after a moment. "I think."Harold scanned the growing settlement area. Grass flattened under bare feet. Nervous laughter breaking through fear. Children are clinging to adults who look just as lost."They'll sort themselves," he said. "We just guide it."A final cluster arrived in a shimmer of light, the last of the chain snapping into place. The air stilled, and there were no more arrivals.A panel appeared in front of Harold alone.STARTING LOCATION ESTABLISHED He dismissed it without reading further."Alright," Harold said, turning back to the crowd. "Listen up."The noise softened. Not silence, but attention. People leaned in without realizing they were doing it."We're exactly where we planned to be," Harold continued. "Everyone knows the priorities. Let me establish the village, then we have one more task before we can start working."He pointed toward the forest at the edge of the mountains, dark green against the pale grassland. Beyond it, a wide stream cut steadily through the land, fed by meltwater from the distant mountains. The trees were massive here. Almost to the same size the redwoods were. Everything here was bigger."We're moving there," he said. "Orderly. Stay with your groups."No arguments, no questions, but he could already see people starting to get restless.People were scared, but fear now had a direction, and direction mattered. Some moved faster than they should have. Others held hands longer than necessary. A few glanced back as if expecting something to chase them.Nothing did, and they walked.The forest grew closer, the ground firm beneath bare feet, the air cooling as shade took hold. When they reached the tree line, Harold stepped ahead of the group and stopped."This is it," he said.A panel appeared in front of him alone, unobtrusive and final.ESTABLISH VILLAGECONFIRM LOCATIONHe confirmed it.The ground shuddered once, subtle enough that some people didn't notice until the sound followed. Wood creaked where there had been none. Roots pulled back as if politely asked.A structure rose from the earth.A large wooden house took shape at the forest's edge, beams locking into place with practiced precision. Broad and solid. A central hall large enough to gather a crowd, flanked by smaller rooms that suggested privacy without excess. A home meant to function, not impress.Beside it, stone erupted upward in a clean, deliberate column.The village stele.It stood taller than the surrounding trees, surface smooth and unmarked, radiating a quiet sense of weight. The kind that didn't need decoration to be understood. The runes on its surface glowed softly blue.People stopped.Fear shifted into something else."This," Harold said, voice steady, "is home base."He turned, taking in the faces watching him. Five hundred people, suddenly anchored to a place that hadn't existed minutes ago.A pulse ran through the stele beneath his hand.A panel unfolded in front of him alone, brighter than the others had been. Older. Heavier.WORLD FIRST ACHIEVEMENTLEGENDARY-RANK VILLAGE ESTABLISHEDA second line followed immediately.LEGENDARY PERK AWARDEDText stacked downward, precise and unemotional.All Crafter Types:• +10% Production EfficiencyAll Adventurer Types:• +10% Defense• +10% Attack50% more spawn rate from village steleHarold read it once.Then again.Not because he didn't understand, but because he needed to confirm it was real.Ten percent didn't sound like much. It never did, on paper. But the entire time, he had never heard of perks that straight-up gave him 10% more wheat from a field. That meant ten extra loaves of bread on the table. 10% more iron ore from a mine translated to sturdier tools and extra fortifications, thickening the walls that might one day save lives. It was huge. The increase in the spawn rate was what he expected; the epic-level stone gave 25% more spawn rate. This one doubling that would let him expand faster than he expected.He let out a slow breath.That would matter in the first weeks. More people meant more production, but food would quickly become a priority. Luckily, the Lords' Hall would come with a large store of food.It would matter more in the first fight, so far so good, he murmured under his breath. The panel faded.Harold stood there for a moment longer, hand still resting against the stele, feeling the village settle around them. Movement had already accelerated. Groups forming. Tasks beginning. Momentum is taking hold.He stepped forward and raised his voice, not shouting, just enough to carry."I need everyone here," he said. A few other people repeated the command, and it was a command. Harold was the Lord.They gathered naturally, forming a loose ring around him and the stele. Adventurers on the edges shifted outward, not to watch the forest or scan for threats, but to make space. Attention turned inward, tightening like a drawn knot.Harold waited until the last murmurs died."Roles are set now," he said. "That means there are things I can no longer undo."Faces watched him closely. Fear was still there, but it had changed shape. "You all know I have knowledge of what's coming," Harold continued. "Some of you know more than others, but all of you know enough to understand this next part."He took a breath."That knowledge cannot leave this circle."A ripple moved through the crowd."No bragging," he said. "No hints. No stories told late at night to impress someone from another village. No 'I heard' or 'I think' or 'what if.'"He let his gaze sweep across them."If that information spreads, it changes things I can't predict. The butterfly effect is real. More importantly, it will put a target on our back."Silence followed."I'm asking for an oath," Harold said. "Here in this place, in Gravesend. If you make an oath to the land, it listens and enforces. If you break that oath, you lose all respawn protection and all perks you have."Someone shifted their weight. Another swallowed. In the silence, someone glanced sideways, eyes briefly meeting with another person who stood defensively in front of a younger sibling, an unspoken promise of protection hanging between them.Then a woman near the front spoke, her voice steady. "Even if it would help?"Harold looked over at the tall woman in the uncomfortable roughspun clothing. "Yes," Harold said kindly. "Even if it would help."Someone swallowed audibly.A man near the back muttered, "So… death is just death.""Yes," Harold said. "The final death."The ring tightened without anyone being told to move. People leaned inward, not away, drawn by the weight of the choice.Harold's gaze shifted deliberately to the edges of the gathering, to the handful who had already begun to angle their bodies away from the stele, calculating exits."If you decide not to take the oath," he said evenly, "I need you to understand what happens next."The words didn't rise. They didn't harden. That somehow made them worse."I'm sorry," he continued, "but they have orders to detain you. This information cannot leave this circle. Not once. Not by accident."Murmurs stirred, then died as he kept speaking."This is too important to gamble," Harold said. "I won't allow one person to endanger the best chance humanity has because they thought the rules didn't apply to them."He let that sit."No one here is being punished," he added. "You're being asked to choose. Stay with us under the same constraints as everyone else, or be removed before damage can be done."His eyes swept the crowd again, calm and unblinking."I don't need everyone," he said. "I need people I can trust to help this village and humanity."The stele pulsed once, faint and patient.Sarah moved first.She didn't look at anyone else when she did it. Just stepped forward out of the crowd, boots crunching softly against dirt that still smelled new, and stopped beside the stele. Her shoulders were squared, jaw set in the same way it had been before a hard match.Josh stepped up at the same moment.They glanced at each other, surprised, then shared a quick, crooked smile as they'd just shown up to the same bad idea independently.Harold felt something tight in his chest ease."Okay," Josh said lightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Guess we're doing this."Sarah shot him a look. "You were always going to.""Yeah," he admitted. "But it helps when you go first."Harold cleared his throat. The crowd had gone very quiet again, all eyes on the three of them now."I'll guide you through it," he said. "The wording matters. Don't improvise."Sarah nodded once. "Tell us."Harold took a breath and spoke slowly, deliberately."Place a hand on the stele," he said. "Then repeat after me."They did."I swear," Harold began."I swear," Sarah and Josh echoed."By this land, and by my continued existence within it—"They repeated it, voices steady."That I will not speak, write, signal, or otherwise transmit knowledge of foreknown events, future outcomes, or privileged information gained through Harold's foresight—"Josh winced slightly at the length of it but kept going."—to any person not bound by the same oath.""—to any person not bound by the same oath," they finished.Harold continued. "I accept that violation of this oath will result in the loss of all protections, perks, and respawn rights granted by this world."They said it.The air shifted.It wasn't dramatic. No thunder. No flash. Just a subtle pressure, like the moment before a storm breaks, followed by a faint sense of something clicking into place.Harold felt it.A clean, unmistakable snap, like a lock engaging.Sarah blinked. "Oh."Josh swallowed. "Yeah. That… did something."Harold nodded. "You're bound."They stepped aside without being told, moving to the right of the stele, faces pale but resolute.For a heartbeat, no one else moved.Then a woman from the construction group stepped forward. Then two engineers. Then one of the former bodyguards. A pair of students. A teacher.Harold repeated the oath again. And again. Coaching each group, correcting phrasing when nerves threatened to derail it.Each time, he felt it.Snap.Snap.Snap.Some voices shook. Some didn't. A few people hesitated halfway through, then finished anyway.No one walked away.By the time the last person stepped back from the stele, the air felt different. Heavier. Quieter. As if the land itself had leaned in to listen and decided it approved.Harold exhaled slowly. It was done.He looked at the group now gathered to his side, then back at the five hundred faces in front of him."Alright," he said, voice steady again. "Now we can actually start."And for the first time since arriving in Gravesend, he felt the future narrow into something he could hold.