Scion of Humanity

Blake placed his armored forearm between himself and the incoming fireball. The spell engulfed his leather bracer, and singed the material, while his high Magic Resistance protected his body. The moment the fire vanished, he rushed forward, eager to close the gap before the Ursa was able to cast the spell again.

He thrust forward with his new spear, and the tip slid through the toughened hide. Just as the description stated, the metal vibrated at ultra-high frequency. The effect doubled its piercing power and allowed it to bypass most of the Ursa’s high Physical Resistance.

Blake released his spear, still lodged within the Ursa’s torso, and smoothly unsheathed his blade. A few cuts later, and the final Ursa died at his feet. He wiped the sweat from his brow and checked his status. When he saw his nano, he cheered audibly at the result.

“Finally!”

He had accumulated just over a billion unused nano, or as Rajesh liked to call it, a ‘giga-nano’, and now had enough to found a faction. The feat was something that normally took a large group of people months to accomplish.

And I did it all by myself.

Almost all factions were forced to combine their nano in order to afford the ruinous cost of creation. Starting factions would collect a daily donation of nano from hundreds of people, which would slowly add up until they finally held enough to make it official. By contrast, he had collected the entire amount alone, with no donations or taxes, in under two weeks.

He smiled to himself at the accomplishment, but then thought of the lonely hours he spent.

I miss the old group.

Out of habit, Blake quickly checked his map to ensure no Ursa were nearby. After he confirmed he was safe, he sent his companion out to follow the last two monsters and ordered Metal to alert him if one came near. Once that was done, he sat down and leaned his back against a tree while he focused on his interface.

Create faction.

Are you sure you would like to create a faction? One billion nano will be consumed for this process.

Yes.

What would you like to name your faction?

Over the last week, Blake had put a lot of thought into what he would name the faction. Originally, he intended to use his previous faction’s identity. However, while ‘Knight’s Honor’ sounded fine, he wanted something that would encompass all humans on the planet.

If he were successful with his plans, his faction would eventually be the only in existence on the planet and would encompass all of Earth. The human race would not be referred to by their species, but by their faction name to every member of the Collective.

Terran Alliance.

The name still sounded generic to his ears, but would aid him in his long-term goal, recruiting all survivors to his side. It would imply that countries like America or China no longer mattered and neither did races, only humans. He needed it to sound neutral enough that all could unite under it.

Unlike his last life, where humans splintered off into hundreds of warring factions, he hoped to bring every single person under the banner of his faction. Not because of some grandiose grab for power, but because he knew they must unite to survive. Blake knew the dream was unlikely to succeed, but he had to try.

As the owner of a faction, you have been awarded a title. - [Lord]

The [Lord] title increases your attributes by five percent and grants members of your faction one percent of your attributes. Raise your faction level to upgrade your title.

Shit. That might be a problem.

While Blake loved free attributes, each increase raised his metabolic rate, and he already had to eat four times the food of a normal human. Now, until he gained a combat classification, he would be forced to consume even more.

I should get dad to start buying me sticks of butter.

He shuddered at the thought. When he focused on his status, he snorted at his updated name.

Lord Blake Summers, Scion of Humanity

Every time he joined a party with someone, or chatted through the system, both titles would be shown. Like the Scion of Humanity title, the word Lord could not be removed. He would more than likely appear conceited to others that did not know the rules. Montgomery would have made fun of him without end. With a shake of his head, he dismissed his status and opened his next notification.

As the first of your species to form a faction, you have been awarded an achievement. - [Faction Pioneer]

The [Faction Pioneer] achievement awards you a free tier 1 building of your choice.

Nice.

Blake’s brows shot up as he considered the reward. His first instinct was to pick the most expensive building on the menu before him. However, as he scrolled through the list of options, he realized that would be a poor decision. It would do nothing to assist them now, when they needed the most help. Instead, he minimized the list and moved on to the next notification that appeared.

Ten achievements detected, Omni-classification unlocked.

“Finally,” Blake breathed out a sigh of relief.

In his first life, he had only unlocked the ability to dual-class before he chose Chi. Once a choice was made, it was permanent, and you could not add another energy type later. He dismissed the message and moved on.

You have gained 5m nano for completing a directive.

For Blake, the reward was not that great. He could receive twice that amount for killing a single level one Ursa. When he glanced at his list of directives, he saw another had been added to the list. The Architect wanted him to invite a person into his faction.

Easy enough.

He immediately contacted all three of his family members and opened a holo-chat. Within moments, his brother and parents were displayed. All three sat at the dining room table in their small apartment, with plates of half-eaten food before them.

Man, that looks good.

It had been a while since Blake had eaten anything of real substance. He was tired of existing on ready to eat meals or snack bars. Meanwhile, they were able to enjoy fried eggs, bacon, and hash browns. It caused his mouth to water, and he immediately retrieved a snack bar to sate his hunger.

“Good to see you, Blake. Everything okay with you?” his mother asked.

Oliver shook his head. “The invite called you a Lord.”

He then added wryly, “Does that mean we have to bow?”

“Only if you want to.” Blake smiled. “That’s the title I received for creating the faction.”

“You did it!” Peter said after he swallowed his eggs.

“Congratulations, Blake,” his mother added.

“Thanks. I’m going to send over invites to all three of you, and just wanted to give you a heads-up before I did it.”

He concentrated and invited all three people on his interface’s friends list to his faction. Once he confirmed the action, he saw his family immediately pause as they read through the text. A moment later, he had multiple notifications.

I’ll check it later.

Oliver was the first to react. “Terran Alliance? Really? That sounds ridiculous.”

His mother frowned and addressed her oldest son. “The name is perfectly fine.” She then turned back to Blake. “Although, I wish you would’ve asked us for advice first.”

Blake nodded in acknowledgement of her wish, however, he did not apologize. He had been the one to risk his life for the nano, and it was his right to name it any way he wished.

“Hey!” Oliver’s eyes lit up. “It says I just got two and a half million nano for completing an objective!”

Donna frowned. “It said I did as well.” After his father confirmed he received the reward as well, his mother asked, “Is this what we use to upgrade ourselves?”

Blake nodded. “Yeah, think of it like a currency. You can spend it on upgrades for yourself, or trade it to other people for something you want”

“What would we trade for?” Donna asked.

“Anything. Potions, armor, weapons, food, toilet paper.” He shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

“It says I don’t have enough nano to increase my Physical Power,” Oliver complained.

“Yeah, the cheapest thing you can buy from the interface are general skills, most are five million, but some are way more expensive. Attribute upgrades are ten million”

“Hey bro, can you spot me some nano?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “No. And if you do get enough, don’t spend any until you talk with me first. Every time you use nano, it's permanent. If you’re a fighter, you can completely screw up your future if you make the wrong choice.”

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna be a fighter, remember?”

He shook his head. “Then you don’t need the upgrade. Besides, you should already be getting higher attributes from joining the faction.”

Oliver wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, but it says I’m only getting point two Physical Power from it. Come on, you’ve got tons of nano, why not share a little?”

“Oliver, I risked my life over and over to get what I have, I’m not just going to give you some so you can show off some bigger muscles.” Blake admonished. “The entire world is at stake.”

After an uncomfortable silence, Peter changed the subject. “So, now that we have a faction and land, what’s the next step?”

“Well, the Architect looks like it’s going to guide us through the process. Just a second, let me check my interface.”

They resumed their meal while he opened his alerts. Oliver seemed aloof after the interchange, but Blake knew his brother would forgive him eventually.

He quickly skimmed through the first three, which confirmed his family joined the faction. The next informed him that he completed the invite directive and awarded him another five million nano. Finally, he checked his list of directives again.

Directives -

Purchase a Combat Classification.

Upgrade a skill.

Construct your faction hall

“So, it looks like the first step is to build a faction hall. It gave me a free building for being the first person to create a faction, but I’m not sure that I should use it yet.”

“Does it give you a list of options?” his father asked.

“Yeah, there are a ton of buildings I can choose from. Here, let me show you.” Blake shared the menu over holo-chat, and it became visible to the others.

“That’s a lot,” Peter admitted.

While his father shoveled fried eggs into his mouth, his mother asked, “How would we go about building a faction hall? Do we need to hire a contractor?”

Blake frowned. “I actually don’t know. I was never involved in building up a faction. I just killed things.”

“You don’t know a single thing about it?” his father blurted.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” his mother admonished.

Peter grinned sheepishly while Blake replied. “I wouldn’t say that. I probably picked up quite a bit, but I wasn’t in charge and wasn’t on the council.”

“Forming a council sounds like a good idea.” Donna said.

Blake nodded. “Yeah, once we get the faction hall, I can assign ranks and you guys can get your classes. I’ll make sure you guys can invite people to the faction without me as well.”

“How would we do that?” Donna asked.

“Well, first they have to join the Collective. That costs one million nano per person. Once they join, you just mentally invite them. The interface asks if you’re sure and that's it.”

“Should we invite people to join us now?” she asked.

“Only if you REALLY trust them.” Blake answered. “It’d be a waste of a million nano if we don’t invite them to the faction and let them know what’s going on. Once they find out about me, they might tell the police.”

“I know a few trustworthy people that’d be a big help. Jordan helped us remodel the restaurant and fixed all the issues we’ve had over the years. He always kept his word. If he promises not to tell anyone about you, he won’t,” she insisted.

“What are they going to tell the police anyway? I shook hands with someone, and now I have nano-bots in me?” Oliver laughed.

Blake smiled, glad his brother’s mood improved.

“You're right. Jordan sounds good to me,” Blake nodded. “I’ll let you guys finish your breakfast.”

“Brunch,” his brother interrupted.

Blake ignored him. “I need to finish this combat scenario. Then I’ll head over to our new property and see how building a town works.”

“We should join you,” Donna said.

His father nodded in agreement.

“Don’t you still have that cop following you around?” he asked.

“Yes,” his mother confirmed. “But, we could go hiking like we did last time. It’s only a few miles from the trailhead. We’d just have to go off trail and cross the main road. That way we can see you again.”

“Okay, that sounds great,” Blake agreed. “We can all meet at the field in a couple of hours, after I finish this scenario.”

Oliver sneered. “Hike in the cold for miles? No thanks. I’ll stay home and watch some Selftube.”

“You should get outside and get some exercise,” Peter encouraged.

“Why? I can just spend some nano and get stronger.”

“It’s fine.” Blake interrupted. “We’re probably just going to stand around going over the list of buildings anyway.”

“Okay,” his father said, disappointed.

After Blake said his goodbyes, he climbed to his feet and set off for the nearest Ursa. He needed to finish the scenario quickly so he could eat and then head to where they would build their faction town. Blake wanted to gain his combat class soon, but without knowing what all was involved in building a faction, he could make no plans.

I wish I would’ve asked my last faction how building the town worked.