Riley woke to silence.

  No screaming. No pounding. No voices raised in panic. Just the quiet hum of morning settling over the tower. It took her a few seconds to realize what was missing, and when she did, a small breath of relief slipped out of her.

  The last two mornings pressed against her memory. Surprises. Shouting. Blood. Decisions made half awake and carried through on instinct. Today, none of that was waiting for her.

  She looked around for Thorne, but he must have left earlier that morning before she woke. Tension immediately left her body as she realized there would be no awkward one-on-one time with her new hero that morning. She didn’t have the capacity to deal with that conversation just yet. She knew she had to. Soon. But not today.

  As she stood up, she felt the lingering ache of days spent pushing too hard and sleeping too little. Burning the candle at both ends was catching up to her. She rolled her shoulders, then her neck, until the tightness eased enough for her to function.

  While the water for her morning tea boiled, she gave one last stretch and opened the HUD.

  The glow settled into place, calm and waiting. Riley scanned the morning timers, taking stock of what she had to work with before the day demanded more from her.

  Staring back at her were the reasons she hadn’t slept well.

  ? Resource Buildings

  ? Farm: Complete

  ? Sawmill: Complete

  ? Stone Quarry: Complete

  ? Ore Foundry: Complete

  ? Alchemist Hall: Complete

  She had woken multiple times throughout the night to start the buildings’ timers so they would be finished by morning. This was what her mother always liked to remind her nights had been like when she was a baby.

  For a moment, that thought sent Riley spiraling, thinking about what was happening back in her world. Was her body even physically missing? Were her parents worried sick about her? Or was this just some strange alternate universe her consciousness was trapped in instead? The lack of answers dragged her back to the unsettling early days of this world.

  “No looking back. Only moving forward,” she told herself. “Forward will get you home.”

  She swiped the screen right.

  The screen showed the report, dry and impersonal, confirming her cavalry was complete.

  Riley lowered her cup and smiled excitedly. She was eager to see her new men. If she listened closely, she could almost hear their horses in the distance. They represented a new type of attack style at her disposal. Cavalry meant speed, reach, and response; three things her settlement had lacked when the raiders struck.

  But first, she needed to finish her morning tasks. She had gone to bed the night before enumerating her to-do list for the following day, so setting timers this morning took little effort, but by no means did that mean it was effortless.

  ? Barrack Timer: Archers = 4 (4 hours)

  ? Academy Timer: Economy: Wood processing (8 hours)

  ? Forge: shovels, sickles, axes and saws, swords, shields, tools, helmets

  The forge was just more of the items she had already been working on, but she wasn’t going to waste a timer; she would continue to stockpile as much as she could.

  She moved through the menus with the ease of habit, sliding past troop counts and building queues until she reached the special personnel section. She had skimmed past the names before but now she was slow and deliberate.

  One entry caught her eye and held it.

  ? Chief Advisor

  Riley focused, and the description expanded.

  She read it once. Then again, more carefully.

  A chief advisor could act in a limited capacity for executive duties. Oversight. Coordination. Delegation.

  Riley considered that for a moment as she looked at the timers flickering in the corner of the HUD where they always lived, counting down, demanding attention. Barracks. Academy. Forge. Buildings. Every decision routed through her. It was exhausting and distracting. She thought about her interrupted sleep from the night prior and how handy having a Chief Advisor could have been then.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  If she could have someone else running the timers alone, that would change everything.

  She imagined waking up without needing to immediately sort through hours and priorities. A chief advisor could assign resources and track output. All things she had been micromanaging because there had been no one else to trust with them. She imagined being able to focus on strategy instead of constantly juggling execution.

  Ultimately, she would still be responsible, of course, but if she was going to grow her presence in this world, she needed to start delegating. Not all of it, not yet, but this would be a start.

  The description was clear about the limits. Access would start restricted. Tasks would need to be reviewed. Authority would be earned, not granted outright. She would still need to watch closely, especially at first.

  Riley took another sip of tea and stared at the option, letting the idea stretch out in her mind.

  If it worked, she could hand off the constant ticking and counting. She could think ahead instead of reacting. She could stop burning herself down just to keep everything moving.

  If it did not work, she would shut it down.

  Simple as that.

  Riley exhaled slowly but did not select it yet. She needed to finish with her archers and then later this afternoon, she would select this option.

  ***

  Outside the settlement was buzzing. The forge was producing steadily, its work was stacked nearby in neat, utilitarian piles. Construction tools waiting for hands to put them to work. There too, she saw her newest materials: all the mining tools, swords, shields and helmets that had been produced overnight.

  Nearby she heard a group of soldiers speaking in short, purposeful bursts. Loudest among them was Valrik. She waved them over.

  “Good morning, Warden.”

  “Good morning, Valrik. I saw the forge output over there.”

  “Yes Warden. Stacked and ready for your instruction.”

  “In time,” Riley reassured him. “For now, you have a new task,” she said gesturing toward the open ground near the treeline. “You’re building accommodations. Simple structures. Weather tight. Nothing fancy.”

  Valrik looked at her confused. “Another build outside the system? Like the mine?” he asked.

  “That’s right, this is a special project.”

  “But we have never built anything outside the system, Warden.”

  She understood his hesitation. They had only ever seen buildings materialize out of thin air. Never had they been asked to build anything. What he didn’t know was that this was a hack she was exploring. This wasn’t something she had been able to do at home in her games, but yesterday as she was looking out over the settlement, the thought had come to her. She now had twenty-five able-bodied men and who was to say that she had to use them strictly for system-related activities? If she deployed them properly, she could pull a few off for this side project.

  “Correct,” Riley confirmed without any explanation or elaboration. “The engineer can help you with measurements and placement. And now, you can use the tools we have been producing in the forge.”

  Unaware of her motives, but certain there was a purpose he was not privy to, Valrik issued his men instructions to begin stocking the site with equipment and supplies.

  Soldiers nodded and moved off. It felt strange, directing something that did not come with glowing menus or timers; it was more human.

  Valrik gestured over Riley’s shoulder. A man she had never met before stopped what he was doing and walked over to them.

  “You must be our new engineer,” Riley surmised.

  "Yes, Landryn," the man replied, extending an arm for a firm handshake.

  Riley met his grip despite her uneasiness. It was the same feeling one gets when arriving at a funeral. She was remembering Bramholt. She wondered what happened to system resources when they died before she shook the negative thought from her head. “This is a good morning, Riley, don’t ruin it,” she told herself.

  "I finished training with Valrik last night,” Landryn continued. “Thank you for allowing me the extra time with him so that I could familiarize myself with your operations. Valrik explained you have only recently begun building up this settlement. It is quite impressive. Even the mine was a big feat to undertake. But I understand you had a collapse at one point. I will make sure that doesn’t happen again and your assets are protected. We’ve been working on it already this morning.”

  “Impressive first impression,” Riley thought. She was going to like this man. “But hopefully not too much,” her mind trailed back to Bramholt despite her best efforts.

  "Would you like to help with anything other than the mine?" Landryn asked.

  Riley came crashing back to reality from her esoteric musing and looked at Landryn. “Yes, please split your time between the mine and this new project. We are building large accommodations to sleep possibly one hundred people,” she pointed to the clearing again. Construct as many bunk houses as needed. We have doubled our training output so we will be able to produce twice as many soldiers a day. Take as many as you need and make this a priority.”

  “Yes, Warden.”

  Landryn turned and quickly walked over to the construction activity while waving his hands at the soldiers who had already begun laying out materials.

  Pleased to see action already being taken, Riley turned her attention to the mine.

  “Warden.”

  Valrik’s voice cut in sharply, loud enough that it made her flinch.

  He held a bucket out toward her. It clinked softly when he shifted his grip.

  “From the mine,” he said. “Gold. First proper pull.”

  Riley took the bucket and weighed it in her hands. He watched her closely.

  “What do you want done with it?” Valrik asked.

  “Deposit it,” she said. “Let’s see what we get.”

  Valrik nodded and turned to carry out the order.

  Riley watched Valrik walk away with the gold and wondered how much the mine could produce in a day.

  Not just what it had yielded this morning, but its real capacity once the supports were finished. Gold was different from stone or ore. It did not build things. It unlocked research. Academy research would demand it in increasing amounts as levels climbed. She could already see it coming, the way costs always scaled faster than comfort.

  If she could stockpile gold now, while demand was still low, it could set her up for the future.

  Research would not stall waiting on coin. Decisions would not bottleneck on payment. Time itself would compress in her favor.

  The thought stayed with her as movement near the barracks drew her attention.

  The doors opened and new soldiers stepped out into the light, armor still stiff and unmarred. They looked around, taking in the settlement, the constructed walls, the mine, the forge. They straightened instinctively when they spotted Valrik. Then almost as if in unison, they glanced toward the tower.