The book had explained that to create a Refinement Centre, he needed two Collectors, two Refiners, and a single Worker, Scout, and Defender.

The Refiners were a type of Symbiote he had yet to create, but they were counted amongst the basic Symbiotes, just like the others. His Workers were able to do the job.

As he'd been considering, he had been carefully making his way through the central areas of the game, hunting through the fog, and eventually he found what he was looking for.

It was a defensible area, between two rocks and with plentiful resources around it. It was also in the portion of the game he'd identified as ideal for him to set down some early roots.

As all had started on the edges of the game, and the starting points were evently spaced, the players were arrayed around the centre. On one side, Hao was between Jinxiao and another Cultivator. On the other side, the bald Cultivator was between Nicolai's starting point and the final Cultivator.

Though at first Nicolai had moved away from this area, where he'd started out, now he'd come back towards it, and it wasn't too far from the bald Cultivator and his neighbour that Nicolai was setting up camp.

Nicolai wanted to be as far away from Hao as possible, and the bald Cultivator was the furthest from Hao. He and his neighbour were somewhat split off from the other three. Nicolai knew that Hao would soon become the strongest, as he used his command of the others to seize anything worth seizing. Hao was his greatest threat, but the others were each a significant threat, too. Together, the four Cultivators were a major problem.

If he could find his way to whittle the numbers down a little, his odds would be greatly improved.

For now, he would leave them be. He needed to get to work building better units, then start wrangling the wild Symbiotes.

With his Symbiotes all in the more protected area, he set his Collector to gathering, and his Workers began building two Refiners. Meanwhile, his Scouts patrolled around him. They moved as close as they could to the operations of his two closest neighbours, then returned. His chosen strategies was to continuously scout these areas and thus remove the fog, but not to post his Scouts as immobile sentries. They would be noticed by any patrols the Cultivators sent out, and there was no need for them to be there if the area was recently Scouted and cleared of fog.

After an hour of steady effort, he was ready. He now had a total of three Workers, four Collectors, two Refiners, three Defenders, and half-a-dozen Scouts.

He followed the books instructions to the letter. After preparing the large amount of required Resources, he gathered two Refiners, two Collectors, a Worker, Defender, and a Scout. His Soul, connected to them through the podium, flexed. Tiny chunks of gathered Oma crystal began to shift and fizz, releasing a fog of Oma that settled over them, hiding all from view. Construction-in-progress.

Alas, life was never easy. As the construction was beginning, he saw a pair of nearby Symbiotes react oddly. Two Green Shell Crabs turned and stared in the exact direction of his construction. They started to move toward it.

They sensed it, somehow. He hadn't anticipated this, the book had made no mention of it. And though Hao as well as the others had begun work on their own Refinement Centres, they had been receiving random attacks from wild ones already, and the attacks hadn't appeared to increase when they started work. He guessed it was because by then they'd cleared the area around them. Had he known, he would have taken care of these crabs earlier. A mistake he would now rectify.

He sent his two defenders out to meet them, but knew the pair weren't a match for the crabs. The crabs would be on par with a Tier 2 Defender.

It was time to test himself, see what he could accomplish with multiple Symbiotes working in harmony.

The crabs saw his defenders and lumbered at them, splitting with one going to meet each. As the combat started, Nicolas units shifted around.

First, Scouts appeared and began to nip at the crabs which weren't able to properly counterattack, too s,ow. Next the Black Ink Snake wound behind them. It spat acidic darkness near to one of them, so the crab ended up on the edge of the cloud—sparing his Defender. It performed the same move on the other crab, then flowed into the dark cloud, which it alone was immune to, and attacked with its sharp bite.

Nicolai observed the damages done. Overall, the blows of his Defenders, the nips from the Scouts, and the bites from the Snake, did very little damage. The crabs had very solid armour. Their return blows against his Defenders, on the other hand, did horrendous damage. Both Defenders were already badly injured.

But the cloud of boiling acid ink was much more effective. He could see how it was gradually eating away at their armour.

These opponents were difficult, but already he saw a way to achieve victory without suffering any losses. A way that called to him. The perfect route through the storm.

His Symbiotes danced. The Defenders stepped away, just as Scouts moved in and nipped at the crabs, drawing their attention. The Defenders kept on fleeing even as the Scouts nipped and dodged, and the irritated crabs chased after them—a chase that would never end. They were too slow to catch the Scouts.

But the crabs were too foolish to realise this. They kept dumbly pursuing, and as they did so the Black Ink Snake spat its clouds of darkness in front of them. Each time they ploughed blindly through the clouds, their armour started to melt away.

In only a few moments he had created a pleasing symmetry. The Black Ink Snake was in the centre, and orbiting it were the two crabs chasing the two Scouts. Spots of darkness were space around this circle. The Scouts, quick moving, darted around each cloud then waited on the other side, drawing the crabs through.

Though the Snake was the true source of their ills, its black clouds the only thing that truly damaged them, the crabs seemed unable to understand this. They appeared to attribute the clouds and the damage to the Scouts, the small beings that would die in one hit, if only they could get to them.

But they never would, they never did.

As the Crabs slowed, flagging, dying, Nicolai's Symbiotes moved in. He led them out of the clouds of darkness, and one was given a Scout to chase around another circle, while the other was ambushed by both his Defenders. But now the fight was more even, with their armour stripped away, and two on one.

The Defenders held the Crab still, and Nicolai focused his Soul through the console, through the Symbiotes. His spiritual will slammed into the weakened Symbiotes, and its own will broke. The Crab stopped resisting, and the Defenders let it go. His Crab now.

His gaze turned to the other Crab, and his Symbiotes followed. A minute later he'd claimed that one, too.

His Symbiotes returned to his base, where one Worker was spared to gradually heal them one-by-one, the other focused on completing the construction.

Not long later, it was complete. A flash of light and the Refinement Centre was finished. Nicolai eyed it thoughtfully. He felt it was oddly familiar. It looked like an organ. A kind of combination of heart and lungs, in his opinion. Odd. He was also confused by the Symbiotes needed to make it. Why had it needed a Defender and a Scout? And only one Worker, but two Collectors?

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It couldn't actually collect anything, it was immobile. And yet they were needed. The only ingredients that made sense were the Worker and Refiners, but if anything he'd had expected say, three Workers and three Refiners rather than one and two.

The Cultivators, making their own, were excited. Their voices had begun to raise.

'The refinement Symbiotes,' one of them was muttering.

'Indeed,' replied Hao, pleased. 'This Inheritance is more valuable than any of us realised.' He glanced up at them. 'If you perform well, perhaps you may keep what you earn here.' He gave a sly smile. 'Tier 2 is on the horizon.'

The Cultivators jabbered excitedly, and Nicolai's eyes widened imperceptibly. Tier 2? That was what all this related too?

He looked at the Refinement Centre he'd created with new eyes, saw once again how it resembled something organic, a pulsing combination of body parts. Two Collectors, it needed. These Symbiotes… he felt that a Collector would match quite well with his lung Nodes. And the Worker? Clearly that was meant for a heart Node. Thus, two and one. What of the Refiners? Two of them, which could only go to two other mirrored organs, organs which presumably were minor Nodes connected to the heart. That would be kidneys. Two Refiners, two kidneys, two Collectors, two lungs, one Worker, one heart. The Scout in the windpipe Node, then? There was no Node left for the Defender, the one remaining part of the puzzle, but overall the makeup of Symbiotes had gained a pleasing sense to them, a symmetry.

He couldn't help but smile faintly as he looked around at the Cultivators. He was glad they had shared this. Probably it didn't matter to them if he knew or not, or they assumed that it would be impossible for him to work out what they spoke of. Either way, he was grateful.

But grateful or not, enemies were enemies. His eyes fell, once again, upon the bald Cultivator's starting area. The man was struggling to recover from his earlier mishaps, and still did not possess the numerous Defenders of the others. He was working on a Refinement Centre but it was far from complete, proceeding slowly. His neighbour had already finished his.

Nicolai's Symbiotes were now mostly recovered, and with two Green Shell Crabs plus the Black Ink Snake, he could put some real pressure on.

His war party wound out, avoiding enemy scouts on the way, then arrived all at once.

The Bald Cultivator's eyes bulged. 'He-he's attacking me again! Help!'

The looks the others gave the man had a tinge of weariness, frowns of irritation.

'Wild Symbiotes!' gabbled the bald man, 'I can't fight them, I don't have near enough Defenders!' He glared at the Cultivator beside him. 'Help me!' he shrieked.

The man gave Hao a long-suffering look, a look that said, must I?

Hao's answering frown at the man, then at Nicolai, held a touch of concern. He could see Nicolai's Symbiotes, winding out of the fog and laying into the bald Cultivators.

'Help him,' he snapped at the neighbour, who shrugged and sent his contingent of five Defenders. Hao's eyes narrowed. 'That won't be enough,' he murmured. He shook his head. 'You, retreat. You two will form up and fight together.'

'Retreat?' blathered the bald Cultivator. 'Leave my starting point?'

'If you lose all your Symbiotes you are out of the game,' said Hao. He looked at those either side of him. 'We will send Symbiotes to assist them. The barbarian must be struck down.'

'Why me, barbarian?' snarled the bald Cultivator. 'Why won't you leave me alone!'

Nicolai smiled back at him. This seemed a good time to sow a little discord. 'Because you are weak,' he said in a ringing tone, attracting all their gazes. 'Your allies are all stronger, all more competent than you. You are the odd one out. The weak link in the chain. See how they have to support you, taking from their own efforts to save you—again?' He smiled. 'They should just let you fall.' He glanced at the rest of them. 'He only holds you back.'

From the uncertain glances exchanged, he saw that some agreed with his line of reasoning. Hao had a different view, however. 'Shut up, barbarian,' he snarled, to the surprise of them all. 'Ignore him. Move your Symbiotes!'

Soon they were all trundling around the edge of the board, once again. A mass of them, this time.

Nicolai had already finished sacking the bald man's starting point. His Symbiotes retreated into the fog, carrying bundles of loot.

After some muttering and sighing, Hao gave a new order. 'You two, come and set up closer to us. You are too far away.'

This shocked them all. 'Allow this barbarian to drive us out, lord?!' cried the bald man's neighbour. 'But, but, there is no need! We can handle him!'

At this very moment Nicolai's Symbiotes erupted from the fog once more, charging into the man's Symbiotes. His Symbiotes danced and wove. The Black Ink Snake spat perfectly aimed clouds of darkness. The Crabs, which should be so weighty and slow, floated like butterflies and stung like bees. His three Symbiotes, moving in perfect harmony, left a trail of broken Defenders behind them.

'Help us!' cried the pair, as the bald Cultivator's units had joined his neighbour.

'Retreat to us!' snarled Hao. 'You are too far!'

The two obeyed, grousing angrily about losing their start, but retreating and giving up their resources nonetheless. It was clear that they all considered this a loss, but in truth Hao had made the smart play. Nicolai had been gunning to destroy all the units of the bald man and his neighbour, and thus kick them out of the game entirely. Due to their retreat, he'd been unable to do so. Not long later, Nicolai's Symbiotes disappeared once more into the mist, taking their newest bundles of loot.

The Cultivators grew significantly more serious after that. They closed ranks, the other two forming new bases which were much closer to the others. Hao's voice snapped like a whip, commanding them and moving them like an army. They gradually spread from their side of the board, seizing wild Symbiotes, building outposts, sending higher-Tier scouts on looping patrols. Hunting for him.

Nicolai focused on killing those Scouts whenever he could, while having his own Scout in turn. He needed to preserve his vision advantage. They outnumbered him significantly, and until that changed he had to play this very carefully.

The rest of his focus was on growing his army. His Symbiotes collapsed on wild ones one at a time, beating them up then he'd break them in, without a loss. Most fell quite easily—many of the wild ones were actually quite weak. But some put up more of a fight.

One such, found near to the centre, were a group of four wild Symbiotes with an ability he hadn't seen before. They were strange worm-creatures with oddly shaped mouths. They leaned down, bit at the ground, dragged up a mouthful of soil. The soil would shift in their mouths, hardening and changing shape. Then they would pause and spit, and a spike of rock would be launched, dealing heavy damage to whatever they hit. The spikes didn't go far, but if something was close, it would be in trouble.

Nicolai's eyes widened when he saw these, and he pursued them with all he had. One of the Modules was especially excited about him seizing them. He lost a number of Scouts, a wild Symbiote and a Defender, before he worked out the proper strategy. He used the Green Shell Crabs as tanks, drawing their fire, while some recently gained faster units—Wolf Bugs—got behind them and attacked, catching them before they could flee, engaging them in close combat so they couldn't keep up their powerful ranged fire.

Fought close up, they fared much more poorly. Soon they were damaged enough to be broken-in, and Nicolai was quick to do so.

Nicolai quickly had them healed, then sent the Worm Spitters towards some wild Crabs. The Crabs always took him quite a long time to whittle down and break in, because the Black Ink Snakes acid clouds did slow though consistent damage.

This time the Crabs were taken down far more quickly. The Worm Spitters shuffled backwards, their speed slightly faster than the crabs lumbering after them. They would bite at the ground, then turn, stop moving for just a moment, and fire their earth spikes at the crabs. Spikes that did heavy damage, especially as Aiming aided him, ensuring the spikes were aimed at gaps and weak-points in the crabs armour.

Then the Worm Spitters would continue to shuffle away, turn and fire, shuffle away, turn and fire. Kiting the crabs, who were never able to get close enough to strike, and which only grew slower as the spikes were aimed at their legs.

His own Green Shell Crabs moved in, wrestled with the weakened ones, and he worked to break them in.

Only minutes after he'd done so, the Cultivators came in force. His time was up. Under Hao's directions they had formed a significant army of Symbiotes, even larger than Nicolai's ever-increasing mass of wild ones, and they moved in good order straight toward the centre.

'The greatest treasures must be there,' Hao was murmuring to them. 'So, it is where we will find him.'

The man wasn't wrong. Nicolai had also been gradually making his way toward the centre. He was looking for a specific Natural Resource—Golden Shardache—which would be required to make Tier 3 Refinement Centres, the highest level available in this game. Hao's starting point had contained a very small amount of this, thus the reason the man had seized it, and none other deposit had been found. Nicolai could have tried to be faster and get that starting point, but it wasn't possible to harvest the material without Tier 2 Collectors, and he'd known taking that point would just cause the others to collapse on him even faster and in greater might.

He couldn't let them seize whatever was at the centre without fighting back.

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