Arriving back at the stronghold, he was escorted inside by Amanda who directed him straight to the infirmary.  Ramon and Michael followed along, both having some injuries that needed tending.   By the time she finished bandaging and splinting Allistor’s wounds, the two men were both sound asleep.   After two full days of fighting and dodging that monster, nobody blamed them.

Allistor sat at the table by the fountain, going through his notifications.   The experience from the kill had bumped him up to level five.  He’d picked up skill levels in Piercing Weapon, as well as Blunt Weapon and Improvisation for his use of the pole weapon.   The fame points had been awarded by several different factions, hence the multiple golden numbers that had crossed his interface.  He’d never heard of any of the factions, but nine of them had awarded him fame points.  He wondered if that meant they were watching him.  Or just that anyone who killed a void titan was okay in their book.

The notification he was most excited about was an award of system points.  Since the titan had entered the perimeter of their sensor net and attacked Stronghold citizens, killing it had counted as a successful defense of the Stronghold.  Which had been awarded eighteen thousand system points!  They now had enough to get both electricity and the crafting hall, with several thousand points left over.

Since they’d all agreed the night before, he went ahead and opened his Stronghold interface and spent points on electricity and a crafting hall.  Once again the golden light filled the cavern, and the changes were complete.  The hall formed next to the infirmary, a two-story structure with a double-door front entry.

Taking some jerky from his bag, he began to munch on it.  He’d rested for a good while, but he needed food and drink to speed up the healing on his elbow.  Amanda had promised to search the market for magic bandages or other instant heal options.  Apparently, there were variants to healing in the new world.  Lost blood could be regenerated quickly – a matter of minutes if you rested and ate.   Superficial wounds could be closed instantly if, for example, you leveled up.  But more serious injuries like broken bones or lost digits would take more time to heal.

Regardless, it would happen much faster than it would have two weeks ago on old earth.  Already the pain was dulling and the swelling had gone down some.  Allistor waited for the others to emerge from the infirmary, and they all walked together back outside for the funeral.

The funeral pyre was built, and the bodies resting atop it by the time Allistor and the others emerged from the Stronghold.  The body of the titan was nowhere to be seen.  Allistor looked at Sam, the obvious question apparent on his face.