A quick navigation through his menu was all it took. Seconds later, Max was waving his hands in the air to position the giant hologram building made of stars right where he wanted it — far enough away from the river to hopefully avoid the risk of flooding, but close enough so that the building’s sphere of influence would reach well over the other side and up the cliff.

Max could feel the power radiating out from the hologramatical deity en-gram. A part of him that was intricately connected to this world as a Master Builder told him everything he needed to know.

He would only be able to place other village buildings within a certain range of the Commander’s residence. There were exceptions, like the watch tower, but he didn’t know how often he’d find them.

What he did know was that he wanted to control the river, and the high ground on the opposite bank.

With a final wave of his hand, he placed the building, and as he did so, another round of trumpets sounded.

— Trumpets! —

Congratulations, Master Builder!

You have established your capital settlement.

Your civilization menu has been updated.

What would you like to name your village?

Max thought about it for a second before declaring, “The village shall be called Swarm Central!”

Yet another round of trumpets.

— Trumpets —

The village of Swarm Central has been founded.

You are the eighty-sixth Master Builder to found their starting village.

Always remember, the march of time waits for no man.

Wasn’t that the truth?

There was a lot to be done before the village was even remotely worthy of the name. And they’d only just begun.

Deciding that he needed to get a better grip on just how these buildings worked, Max wandered over to the star-like hologram and tried to place a hand upon it. To his surprise, the 3-D diagram for how the building would eventually look felt far more solid than light and mist had any right to be. It felt like the fog that forced them forward in Malachite’s Ludo Narrative Echo Chamber.

To his wonder, a connection formed in his mind with the en-gram, and as a Master Builder, new options became available to him. He knew, instinctively, that he could assign residents to this building. These residents would gain special perks so long as they remained residents. Perks such as being able to level up skills that the building provided. They didn’t have to be physically present in the building all the time, but being absent for too long would start to affect the benefits.

Also, everyone could be resident in only one building. That meant that they’d have to choose what skills they wanted to level up carefully.

You wouldn’t lose the skills you’d been working on if you stopped being a resident, but neither would you be able to progress the skill any further.

Max could easily see how the careful administration of residences would be critical if he wanted any hope of winning the Trial.

But to even get to that point would require a lot more followers than just his current one — lovely though Wildflower was.

It just meant they had to get on with things.

Normally, becoming a resident wouldn’t be possible until after the building was complete, but a commander’s residence was an exception.

He quickly concentrated on the idea of giving both himself and Wildflower residency in the as yet unbuilt HQ building, and was greeted with yet another prompt.

— Bells! —

You are now the primary resident of Swarm Central’s commander’s residence. You have gained the following skill:

Construction: You now possess the knowing of the magical art of construction. Combine raw materials with deity-engrams and watch your creations rise to the heavens! Increasing this skill will increase the speed at which buildings can be built, decrease raw materials required, and grant special bonuses to future residents.

Current level: 1

The look of excitement on Wild Flower’s face told Max that she’d just received a similar prompt. But the trial wasn’t quite done yet.

— Ding Ding! —

By placing a commander’s residence you have automatically received two basic deity en-grams — Basic Residence (Spider Swarm Themed), Village Street (Spider Swarm Themed).

Max’s grin threatened to split his face.

And that was just the icing on the cake.

He looked around the meadow — at all the untapped potential of this little bit of paradise, surrounded by fruit and nut trees and bisected by crystal clear flowing water.

It was time to sketch out his new home. And he was going to do it with mists and stars.