ASCENDANCY -- The Den -- 12 hours after initial spawn

  It was amazing how something as simple as some basic clothes could change your entire perspective. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like this was any kind of real armor. The fabric was about as thin as bedsheets: flexible, light, breathable. And honestly, because we were all wearing the exact same clothes, in different sizes, we almost looked like we were in some kind of cult or something. We were gonna have to come up with a real strategy. We needed a plan. As we sat around the fire, I couldn't help but feel like everybody kept looking to me for what we were supposed to do next.

  "Look, I know this is gonna be tedious as hell, but we gotta understand how this shit actually works: ARi's role, territory mechanics, all of it."

  Tim nodded. "You're right. That's probably a good place to start."

  ARi hopped up and headed for the wall. "Time for the mandatory tutorial level." She joked as she waved her hand, projecting her character sheet onto the stone. "At least you can skip the cutscene."

  "Good. The last thing I need is a replay of me running naked through the forest."

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] CHARACTER SHEET:

  Initial scan complete.

  ARi, 26-year-old Human Female, Level 1 System Guide.

  Experience: 26 out of 500 for Level 2.

  Health: 80 out of 80. Stamina: 80 out of 80.

  Energy Reserves: 80 out of 110. Control Points: 1 out of 3.

  Research Slots: 2 out of 3. Manufacturing Slots: 1 out of 3.

  Base Attributes:

  Strength: 7.

  Constitution: 6.

  Agility: 5.

  Willpower: 10.

  Intelligence: 12.

  Perception: 9.

  Charisma: 14.

  System Stats:

  Energy Generation Rate: .65 per minute.

  Territory Expansion: 1 yard per day.

  Territory Radius: 50 yards.

  "That's a lot to break down," Tanya said.

  Kyle stood and walked closer to the projection. "We need to focus on specific sections." He tapped the wall where the stat line appeared. "Take territory expansion, for example."

  ARi lifted her hand, and a smaller window unfolded beside the main sheet.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] TERRITORY PASSIVE EXPANSION

  Base Rate: 1 yard per day.

  Endurance (Constitution plus Willpower) provides a bonus to passive expansion speed. For every 5 points of Endurance above 20, an additional 5 yards per day is added to the expansion rate.

  Current endurance level is 18. There is no active bonus at this time.

  Kyle gestured toward the window. "This means our territory grows automatically. One yard a day. Slow, but steady. If ARi’s Endurance were twenty-five instead of eighteen, that rate would bump up to six yards per day. Doesn’t sound like much, but over weeks it adds up."

  Yumi leaned forward. "So if we want to push that number higher, ARi would need to boost her Endurance, which means investing in Constitution or Willpower, right?"

  "Exactly. Endurance is the stat that drives it. Raise her Endurance high enough, and the territory expands faster."

  I rubbed my temples. The gaming logic made sense, but living inside it felt strange.

  Yumi tilted her head. "That's passive. What about active growth? How do we actually move the boundary?"

  ARi turned back to the wall and a diagram popped up: a circle with a little tower in the middle. "Control-Nodes. We build them inside our territory. The node projects a field around itself, about a hundred yards in radius, with a tower of some kind at the center."

  Tim stood. "So if it's a hundred yards, we get a full hundred yards more, right?"

  "No." ARi shook her head. "The node projects a circular field one hundred yards across, fifty yards from the center in every direction. The center point has to be placed inside our existing territory. If you place the node inside your boundary, essentially on the edge, the Control-Node will expand our territory by roughly fifty yards."

  I tried to visualize it. "So we only gain fifty yards of new ground?"

  "Right. Any influence the node creates over our existing territory creates a defensive overlap." She paused, making sure we were following. "That overlap matters tactically. Overlapping nodes form layers. To reach inner nodes or the territory core, an attacker has to capture the outer nodes first. If two nodes overlap, both have to be taken sequentially before someone can push past that overlap toward the next node or to me."

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  Tanya's brow furrowed. "This is making my brain hurt. Can these nodes stop other teams from coming in here and killing you?"

  "No. It only stops another team's AI or constructs from getting in."

  "So other 'Champions' can walk right through?"

  "Yep."

  Tim rubbed his chin. "So the real question becomes: do we push for quick gains and more ground to harvest, or do we build tight, overlapping defenses?"

  Kyle crossed his arms. "I think we should focus on pushing for local resources."

  ARi waved a hand and a new window layered over the wall projections.

  [SYSTEM WINDOW] MATERIAL ABSORPTION SYSTEM

  Resource Collection:

  Living Biomass: +10 energy per unit (harvested from growing organic sources).

  Dead Biomass: +8 energy per unit (obtained from hunting or scavenging).

  Inert Matter: +4 energy per unit (geological and non-living materials).

  Kyle squinted at the list. "Living biomass gives the most energy; dead biomass gives a little less; ore gives you metal but less energy."

  I leaned back on the bench. "It's not free, though. Yeah, ARi gets energy when she absorbs matter, but that raw mass has to be converted into something we can actually use. She has to spend energy to reshape it into storable goods or craftables. There's no abstract inventory where shit sits."

  ARi nodded. "Right. I can't hold raw mass. When I absorb something, I have to spend energy immediately to turn it into bricks, materials, or whatever we need. At this point, the energy cost to convert nearly cancels out what I gained from absorbing it in the first place."

  ARi leaned against the wall. "To be clear, if I absorb raw stone, transmute it into bricks, and absorb those bricks again to place them into a wall, I'm burning energy twice. That's extremely inefficient."

  "It's much more efficient if I absorb the stone, spend energy to make bricks, and direct a construct to move and lay those bricks where we want them. The construct does the physical work. It doesn't cost me the extra energy that conversion plus construction would."

  Tim nodded slowly. "So constructs stretch your energy by doing the heavy lifting."

  Yumi leaned forward, her hands moving as she worked through it. "That's what all that control-point stuff is about, right? You need control points to run more constructs at once."

  "Exactly. Control points affect the number of constructs I can manage at any given time. Each construct consumes a portion of those points based on its size and complexity. A small, simple construct might only use a fraction of a point, which means I could run several under one control point. Larger or more complex constructs can consume a full point or even more than one."

  I looked up at ARi. "So my familiar uses one of those?"

  "It does. I received one bonus control point to link to Gavin's familiar. That point is reserved for that link specifically. No matter how much we upgrade the familiar, it'll always cost that one point. Gavin, you can issue direct commands or let me control the unit at any time. From what I'm reading, I can actually gain experience when I'm in direct control of it."

  Tanya's eyes widened. "Wait, so that means ARi can level up while we're out in the field? That's basically a cheat. Other teams won't necessarily get that."

  The implications hit me. "It turns ARi from a static base asset into an active member of the team." I leaned forward. "ARi, what exactly do we have to do to build the familiar?"

  "I've already started gathering the resources we need to spawn it. It's designed to be built from mostly common materials so we can upgrade it over time with more advanced components. There's one component that's not easily replaceable, though. The initial build and spawn of your familiar requires that tablet you received when you first spawned into this world. Those tablets might be required for specialized items like familiars. If so, they become extremely valuable. Any opportunity to salvage one should be a top priority. Those technologies could be game-changing, not only for us here, but for home."

  "How long before we have the familiar?"

  ARi grimaced. "Yeah, about that... gonna take a while. I'm still gathering resources."

  Tanya cut in, worry edging into her voice. "That sucks. I'd feel better if we already had it now. I'm worried about a creep rush."

  "What the hell is a creep rush?"

  "Look, this game plays like an RTS, at least in the beginning. One tactic is to rush another team as fast as possible. You use the weakest units you can produce. Sometimes you even rush with just yourselves at the start. Remember, there are only five of us. If other teams decide to use that strategy, they could start with a full roster. Not to mention, humans in general are pretty squishy. If some of those other species are more adapted to natural armor or offense, we could be in big trouble. They wouldn't even have to spawn creations or build weapons; they could find other teams as quickly as possible and murder them. If they knew where we were, they could come get us now."

  Shit. She was right. I'd always heard it called something else, but I knew exactly what she meant.

  "I've already started research in two of my available slots. ARi Said. "I had to research both the material I made your clothes out of and the clothes themselves to be able to craft them. That took twenty of my energy reserves. I absorbed all the organic plant matter I needed to create the material. This included the excess bundles against the wall. It gave me eight energy-reserve points back. But while we've been talking, I've been researching spears. And simple padded armor."

  She gestured toward the corner where my makeshift broken spear leaned against the wall. "The spear option became available for research thanks to Gavin's quick thinking when he made one next to that river. That type of weapon has already proved effective, and the spears I create from this research should be much more resilient. But I'm afraid I've used all of the available resources within my area of influence. I'll need you guys to bring some more to me in order to build my utility construct."

  Kyle shook his head. "I mean, of course we will, but that's kind of bullshit. So they give you the research for the utility construct, but you can't even build it without us going out to gather materials? What if you were here alone?"

  ARi nodded. "I think that's the point, Kyle. The system is designed so Guides need their teams. Every world has different resources. The utility construct's schematic lets me use whatever materials are locally available. But I can't gather them myself without putting myself at physical risk."

  "We'll go get what you need, ARi. But I don't think we should leave you here alone. Two of us should go retrieve the materials while the others stay."

  Tanya shook her head firmly. She already knew I intended to go. "Why should you go over any of the rest of us?"

  "Because I leveled up, I have another five attribute points to assign."

  ARi considered this. "If that's the case, Gavin, you and Tim should go. Out of all of you, if you put your new points into Strength, you and Tim will be able to carry more materials."

  "I have enough resources to build two spears. If we wait about fifteen minutes for the research to finish, they'll be of higher quality than your original spear, Gavin. I wouldn't call them amazing, but they'll hold up better than your sharp stick."

  Tim stood and stretched. "If that's the case, the rest of you need to sit down with ARi and finish going over all of this. We need a definitive plan for research. We also have to figure out our living situation. And of course, food. Water shouldn't be a problem down here."

  Thanks again for checking out The First Cradle. I've got other stories posted that you might enjoy as well. Feel free to check out my profile!

  Or check out other great stories right here on RoyalRoad! I’ve been digging Monsters — the opening chapters do a great job showing how fast things spiral once the world breaks, and the tension just keeps tightening from there. Check it out!