Aethelgard: The Survival Game (Chloe) novel Chapter 28

Chapter 28 The Umbrella Trade

Chapter 28 The Umbrella Trade

After unlocking the recipe, Chloe Bennett went straight to her Crafting Table and started production. She discovered that both the wood and the Plant Fiber slots offered choices.

For wood, beyond basic Wooden Logs, she could select Premium wood like Sycamore Wood. For Plant Fibers, beyond basic Plant Fibers, she could choose Fleece-Grass Fibers

Chloe had stockpiled quite a bit of Premium wood: Sycamore, Snow Cedar, with Sycamore making up the bulk of it

Each type of wood had its own distinct description and properties, yet strangely they all stacked in the same system slot. The specifics only appeared when she actually went to use them.

Sycamore Wood, for instance, came with a brief summary: [Sycamore Wood: A reddish tall deciduous tree capable of enduring highland environments. Age unknown.]

Crafting one umbrella required one Wooden Log and 10 Plant Fibers. Chloe felt the instinctive urge to hoard her materials, but she knew deep down that only the supplies she put to use were truly valuable.

Therefore, she didn’t let herself agonize over her mere ten bundles of Fleece-Grass Fibers. She used them immediately. Notification: [Expend 10 Fleece-Grass Fibers and 1 Sycamore Wood to craft one umbrella?

[Crafting time at Basic Crafting Table: 2 hours.]

Chloe confirmed. ‘It seems the Crafting Table does have a cooldown,’ she realized, ‘or at least a production time. That makes sense’

The night was still young. It was only the fourth day of her novice period, and she could already handle the nocturnal dangers with practiced ease. She’d cleared out the night’s monsters in under twenty minutes.

While she waited for the umbrella, she opened the Trading Post. The channel was an unrelenting stream of misery. Lantern: [Damn, it’s raining and my torches and wood keep getting snuffed out. The moment the fire dies, the monsters jump me.

[And I’ve got this serious illness debuff from the rain. My Energy’s been draining nonstop. Does anyone have Energy meds or a waterproof torch to trade?]

Player 28931: [Help. There are six monsters attacking me right now. Is it because upgraded my territory?]

JanuaryFirst: [I finally scraped together enough for a building blueprint today. It’s a watchtower. I haven’t even gathered the materials yet. Am I really going to die now?

[Is anyone willing to send me torches and medicine? I’ll pay you back with high-grade materials later, I swear.]

The combination of rain and nocturnal monsters was proving far too lethal for novice players.

Many had just managed to scrape together enough to build a single expansion facility, and now they had to endure both the sickening effects of the rain and relentless monster attacks. They were completely overwhelmed.

Not every player had the luck to start with a strong talent that gave them an edge from day one.

Amid the flood of desperate messages, a few particularly grating voices cut through.

BeautyEmbracer: [Well, I’ve already finished my expansion facility and my building, and I’ve successfully upgraded my territory. My territory’s Level 1 now.

[And once your territory hits Level 1, you can visualize a map of your land and see if any monsters are around. It’s like having radar. This rainy day is so cozy.]

An image was attached. The game allowed image sharing.

The picture showed a pair of hands holding a water cup, a stone table nearby, and a person sitting under a rain canopy. A campfire blazed beside them, and several animal traps were scattered around.

The canopy stood right at the edge of their territory, and a fishing rod was propped beneath it, its line cast out into the rain. To the eyes of players teetering on the brink of death, this was incredible comfort. Shelter, fire, hot water, and food were already the height of luxury.

BeautyEmbracer had broken the ice, and now others, utterly indifferent to the dying around them, clamored to own setups.

flaunt their

Successfully unlocked!

UnderMoonlight: [Honestly, it wasn’t that hard.

upgrade.] An image was attached.

StrawberriesAreYummy: [Oh wow, people have already hit Level 1? I thought I was going fast.]

Chapter 28 The Umbrella Trade

Sunken: [Upgrading territory isn’t hard to begin with. Eight square yards of soil, one building facility, two or three hundre units of basic materials.

[No big deal, right? It feels like a novice difficulty to me. The game’s clearly pushing people to level up fast and unlock the Lord functions.]

Player 2891: [Pro in the chat, can I ask what these Lord functions actually do?]

Sunken: [Nothing that can’t be shared. Radar detection, building upgrades, territory management. Basically, once you upgrade, you finally feel like an actual Lord. Before that, you’re just a squatter.]

ColdRemedy999: [Can we get back to trading? Anyone have weapons or bandages? I’ll trade Premium materials.]

As Chloe read through the Trading Post chatter, she realized that other players had different territory upgrade requirements than hers.

She also badly wanted the radar detection that came with being a Lord. Unfortunately, she still hadn’t gotten her Arcane Workbench. A sigh escaped her.

She scanned more of the desperate pleas on the channel. So many were begging for help, but she could only remain sileny Helping too freely might well put her in the same position next.

Then one particular cry for help caught her eye.

AllNightGamer: [Is anyone willing to send me waterproof gear and some defensive items? My talent is Alchemist’s Apprentice. I can turn special magical plants and raw ingredients into high-potency potions.

[If someone helps me, I’ll give half of every potion I ever make to the person who saves me. Is there anyone who’ll help me?] The player AllNightGamer’s messages flooded the Trading Post, but the relentless tide of other conversations quickly swallowed them. Her posts grew fewer and fewer.

Chloe wasn’t a particularly soft-hearted person, but her eyes locked onto the description of AllNightGamer’s talent. Perhaps because this player truly believed she was about to die, she’d spilled every scrap of information she had onto the Trading Post, though most had ignored it.

Information: [Player: AllNightGamer. Talent: Alchemist’s Apprentice (A-Rank).

[Talent Effect: After unlocking an Alchemical Forge, Talent Points can be expended to trigger Inspiration and acquire partial recipes for corresponding alchemical materials.

[Higher-grade materials require more Inspiration. Failed alchemical products have a chance to yield various magical raw materials.]

Chloe stared at this talent and found she couldn’t quite look away. Outside, the pitch-black rain poured down in sheets, as if the darkness itself had no end.

She supposed without mutual aid, surviving long in this alien game world would be nearly impossible. This talent was worth a gamble.

She sent a private message: [I have Energy-restoring items and defensive gear. Do you need them?]

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