She continued to stare at him, making him feel like a child who insisted Santa Claus was real.  “It was your idea to come here.  You’re the highest level of any of us so far. And you’ve just brought us two weeks’ food and the means to cook and store it.”

When he didn’t respond, she turned and shouted down the tunnel, “Hey, guys!  Anybody get that message about making this place a stronghold?”

“What!?” Several voices echoed back down the tunnel.  Followed by footsteps.  A minute later most of the group joined them.   All but Nancy and Chloe, who volunteered to watch over the grilling.

Sam asked, “What’s this about a stronghold?”

Allistor filled them all in, reading the message that was still displayed on his interface.

Amanda jumped in as soon as he was done.  “He’s concerned that he’s not the one to claim it.  Doesn’t think he’s leader material.”

Meg snorted.  “Just do it, Allistor.  For one thing, I trust you.  I think everyone here does, too.  You took the time to save Nancy and Chloe, fighting monsters in a tunnel when you could have just kept running.  Coming here was your idea, and it was a good one.” She waited while heads nodded.  “You are the one teaching us how this new world works, and you’re the only one who got the message.  So clearly the system thinks you’ve done something to merit your own stronghold.”

Sam added, “It may be that we can create more strongholds in the days to come.  Or expand this one so that the whole town becomes one.  But for tonight, I’ll rest a lot better knowing no beasties are going to appear in my cell and murder me in my sleep.”

Allistor grinned, feeling better about the choice.  He mentally clicked “Yes” on his interface. Then all hell broke loose.

Horns sounded out of nowhere, scaring the pants off of everyone.  A golden glow surrounded them, the floors, walls, and ceiling all going nearly transparent.  Meg grabbed hold of Sam’s arm to steady herself as the others lifted their feet one at a time as if to reassure themselves the floor was still there.  Chloe’s squeal and Nancy’s voice echoed from the tunnel, “What the hell is happening?”

Meanwhile, Allistor’s interface was flooded with new information.  There was a screen with basic stronghold summary information.  Name – which was blank – rough size, number of people, and rough resource listing.  At the bottom were a bunch of tabs for detailed descriptions.

“Whoa!” Allistor said.  “This is like a guild management tab for guild leaders.  It’s asking me for all kinds of information.” He was mentally poking at tabs as he spoke.  The others looked at him, waiting for more information.

Meg bit her lip for about half a minute, then with a slightly snarky tone, asked, “I see. Anything in there about why this place is suddenly see-thru?”