Julie spent the next several morning hours crafting makeshift benches and stools directly from a few logs she cut down. While certainly a great way to waste some time, her reason was actually so she and her fellow woodcutters could use them both for breaks and for alternating their postures during work. Unsurprisingly, working logs, debarking them and sawing all day was terrible for your back. The number one way to keep motivations high and production even higher, according to her family’s many years in the woodsmithing business, was to allow rest and a change of positions every now and then.

  While she did this, Theo and Wen took a look around the lake, which they had no idea what was even named despite naming their town partly from it. While circling it, Theo asked this of Wen, and he learned that this continent was pretty weird about stuff like this.

  Ercheat was the royal capital and there were a few other major cities and towns spread around. Most major hubs were placed along the coast, though, so quite a lot of the inland continent was made of smaller towns founded in very much the same way as Sigil Lake was. While towns could certainly grow and become true villages and even cities down the line, the Queen’s approval would have to be received in order for a town to be expanded into a full city. This was extremely rare, and she would only give her approval to cities that Ercheat itself could gain something from, be that resources, people or treasure. Why mostly around the coast? Because ships. It was easier to transport resources along the coast than it was to do so inland, where mountains, forests and slower traversal hindered them.

  The ocean wasn’t without its own dangers, supposedly, but monsters could be found all around. Close to the coast were only relatively weak monsters, however. A powerful force like that of the royal navy and their trade ships wouldn’t be deterred by what amounted to angry fish.

  There was one type of town that didn’t require the Queen’s approval, however. A town with a town deed from Arcana herself. It was how Ercheat had managed to become such a large, prosperous city without any royal interference. There were no royals to interfere yet. With a town deed from the goddess herself, the city was on its own, separate track the Queen could have no part of.

  Wen and Theo returned to the glistening woodcutter who had worked up a sheen of sweat in the midday sun. Her flameborne hair was ever so slightly moist and had started clumping together near her head, though further along its length it was normal and dry. A small group of new people had arrived at some point, who Julie was already talking to. Noticing Wen and Theo approaching, the woodcutter waved them over.

  “This is founding council members Wen and Theo,” she introduced them.

  “Hello, everyone,” Theo greeted with a welcoming smile. “It’s good to have you here in the middle of nowhere.”

  Wen greeted them similarly, if not a bit more skillfully. She was more used to the hosting thing, after all, which she managed to show.

  “Welcome to Sigil Town. Let’s all give it our best!”

  There were two women and two men among the newcomers. One was already a couple; the builders that were ordered as a set.

  Hank Hankersson was a striking figure of a middle-aged man, with all the right muscles in all the right places. He had a scruffy beard that added a sense of simple charm to his otherwise ruggedly handsome face, though both his hair and beard showed signs of gentle greying. His strong hand nearly crushed Theo’s much weaker one when they clashed in a manly handshake, though the only reason Theo survived the impact was due to the builder’s adept control of his own strength.

  His wife had hip-length, pitch black hair, was rather slim especially when standing beside her almost brutish husband, yet had the strength to compare. Her name was Bella Hankerssonwife.

  “Not often you meet someone with both a patronym and a wifonym,” Wen commented as they shook friendly hands.

  “Wifonym? That can’t be a thing,” Theo groaned.

  “Oh, it’s a thing,” Bella answered. “It’s pretty common where I come from, though we don’t usually have patronyms! Marrying someone with a father-name wasn’t likely, but here we are,” she beamed, looking up at her taller husband with loving eyes.

  “We’ve been talking about giving our kids a matronymic name!” Hank added with a thick laugh. “Consider meeting Hanky Hankerssonwifedaughter and Bell Hankerssonwifeson!”

  “We are not calling them Hanky and Bell!”

  Surprisingly, the first names were what Bella seemed the most outraged about. Her expression didn’t even slightly change from that happy, wide-eyed smile in her husband’s direction, though, making Theo think they were just flirting a bit with each other. It was nice to see.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Next there was Phoebe Phoebs, a skilled forager with short, brown hair. She was a rather petite woman, though she had wide hips and a bosom to match, meaning she was probably just short? Theo wasn’t about to try to define what ‘petite’ actually meant, but the bubbly late-teen in front of him simply gave him that feeling. She was nineteen, the youngest Theo and the rest had ordered. Having a Level Three skill at that age was nothing to scoff at, Theo had realised, which meant she was dedicated to her work.

  Then there was Moody. He didn’t make it clear whether that was a nickname or not, but it was also the mononym on his application, so it didn’t matter too much. He was a lumberworker with a Level three skill in Sawing. He was skinny, with long, thin arms and legs, though his lankiness didn’t stand a chance against Willam’s. He was 38 years old, but had aged finely, though he seemed to have quite a ‘moody’ face. He had barely smiled at all, but his tone had been pleasant enough,

  With another lumberyard worker ready for action, Julie was quick to take the leading position and ordered Moody to start sawing whatever she cut down. The position wasn’t exactly unchallenged, but Moody grabbed a saw and put himself to work. He had brought the three axes and a saw as requested, with the addition of his own saw to boot. It wasn’t anything special-seeming like Havoc, the Woodslayer that Julie brought, but it was a pretty decent saw nonetheless.

  If Theo had known these people would bring their own, far sturdier tools, he might not have bothered with all those backup tools. Oh well, they would probably be put to use before they got any kind of metal production going in either case. He could even use one and learn some woodcutting skills!

  Phoebe Phoebs, requiring only some lightweight baskets, scissors and a variety of small tools for her designated job, had been ordered to bring something extra for the farm. Sadly, she wasn’t the one who had any tools as part of her order, so she brought two bags of seeds. They were placed with the rest of the tools for now, but Willam asked if the first thing the builders could build was a seed store, or otherwise a rather temporary construction that prevented water and excess moisture from getting to them. Considering it was in essence just a small shed he was ordering, it wouldn’t be a problem or much of a setback to the skilled builders. The tools could wait a bit. It didn’t seem like it would be raining any time soon, but Theo agreed that protecting the tools and seeds was important.

  A few more hours passed by as the foresters worked and the builders started drawing up a blueprint for the shed as well as planning a barracks for later. The lumberyard was pretty self-sufficient and Moody was even starting to come around to Julie snatching the leader role as her skills had even started to impress him. The builders asked for all kinds of input, however. It wasn’t anything crucial as they knew their own work, but it was more related to a style of building, adornments and the like. Considering the buildings might only be temporary at best, Theo wanted them to show what they could do in various ways to showcase their work. Wen agreed wholeheartedly, as did Willam.

  Two more applicants arrived nearly at the same time, though they were coming from two separate directions. One introduced himself as Oakley, the woodcutter. He was twenty-one years of age and was pretty average both in build and looks. His Level Three skill was in woodcutting. Like Moody, he didn’t seem to have any surname, though ‘Oakley’ could fit equally well as both.

  Then there was Fischer. Theo then realised an error so big it was sure to irk him for years to come. Fischer… was a hunter. He had a long, raven black pony tail tied tight with a hairband. His face was bare, revealing nearly jagged cheekbones and a sharp chin. His eyes were almost as dark as his hair. He had a variety of arrows, short spears and knives all over his person and a bow firmly wrapped around his torso. He was a Level Three big-game hunter, though was nearly equally skilled in small game and tracking, making him an excellent addition to the team.

  The error soon revealed itself again when the final village applicant emerged from the echoing chops of the forest. The man gazed impressively at the chopping of trees and the skilled application of sawing techniques before he introduced himself to the rest.

  His name, much to Theo’s eternal chagrin, was Hunter. He was the fisherman. He wasn’t Fischer the fisherman, nor was he Hunter, the hunter. He was Fischer, the Hunter. No, he was hunter, the fisher. More correctly, he was Hunter, the fisherman.

  Where Fischer had black, long hair, Hunter had short, silvery hair, with nary a hair out of place. His face was also bare, though was more well-rounded than the hunter’s. Both were nearly the same age as well, one being thirty while the other thirty-one. Theo had already given up on the who’s who and he would never be able to remember the details of either and match it to a specific one. If anyone was paying any attention to him and his internal musings, they had been warned.

  With all the human trafficking victims in place, it was time for everyone to get to work! Willam had finally gotten some well-earned farming tools, though he seemed to have a problem leaving the improvised lumberyard behind. Eventually, he and Theo got to work, however. Starting a new field from scratch was an excellent way to learn farming-related skills, after all, so those skills Theo had already gained some experience in those days in Brook Town, he was hoping he’d get sooner rather than later.

  With another man in the lumberyard, Moody seemed a bit more resistant to Julie’s self-proclaimed leadership role, though the young Oakley didn’t seem all too bothered. Phoebe headed into the forest in search of wild fruits and berries she could potentially plant in a garden of her own one day, but which would have to be food for now. Hunter, who had brought along his own fancy fishing pole and wouldn’t even touch the stuff they had ordered as extra goods, started walking around the lake, though he hadn’t even prepared his fishing pole yet. Fischer also headed into the forest first, with clear instructions secretly provided by Theo before splitting up that any and all squirrels were ripe for the taking. Having vermin so close to the town would be bad, after all. Hank and his wife were loud talkers over the hammering of their tools, but their productivity was off the charts.

  This surely seemed to be quite the team of villagers uniting against the empty landscape in order to build themselves a new, welcoming home. The timer had already started. In two years, they would be subjected to their first ranking, after all. They had immunity until then, but as the ranking was global, they had founded the town in the most opportune time; right after the previous ranking. Two years to build. Two years to prosper.