Chapter 1011 (1/2)

“Let me go North to Zone Eleven,” Helen said with a determined expression.

Randidly was honestly rather amused. “No. Let Alana have her own fight with a Dragon; how would you feel if someone came barging in to steal your prey?”

Helen was clearly grinding her teeth, but there was nothing she could say to that. With a snort, she walked away from Randidly’s assembly location, muttering something about assisting with the Rider’s training. Randidly prayed for his Riders, but let Helen go. The low clouds drifted in front of the sun, covering the surrounding area in a much-needed veil of shade.

It had been five days since Randidly had returned to Erickson Steel. During that time, Tatiana had found the initial deeds to the land that Randidly had originally obtained and realized that Erickson Steel had already expanded to a size that was significantly beyond the limit of the land that he owned. But no one had made use of the surrounding area, so it had never been a problem up to this point.

Of course, Tatiana took the news like ghost that had been blasted to oblivion by salt. She drifted around her office, pale and listless. But honestly, Randidly didn’t seem the problem. Since they were already past the limits, no need to act shy about it now.

Not that he particularly wanted to steal land from anyone, but he certainly needed space right now. And as talks were already underway with this Halloway character, might as well add a couple more demands to the request list. If the government of Zone 1 wanted to create an addition on Erickson Steel, a request for additional land seemed like an obvious choice.

But the Zone 1 government also had some rather annoying inspection demands. Which put operation moving city into a time crunch.

So Randidly was now handling the thankless task of moving the hundreds of tons of extracted raw materials he had obtained from the Dungeon and storing them in a vast warehouse that had been set up to the South of the Erickson Steel compound. Nearby, a crew was hastily assembling several workstations that Randidly and the other highly Skilled members of Erickson Steel would use to assemble parts over the next few weeks.

While all this was going on, there was another group that was responsible for sorting the materials that Randidly produced. Already, two of the assistants that Tatiana had given him were reduced to blubbering idiots as they inventoried the resources. Randidly just hoped they wouldn’t try and tell him how much it was all worth again. He was, after all, only halfway finished.

And god save me from the mental strain of moving the completed short legs through… Randidly shivered. Just the thought of it gave him a sympathy headache for his future self. At the very least, his Domain Skill was improving at a noticeable pace, currently reaching Skill Level 134. By this point, even Helen had to begrudgingly acknowledge his progress as she was finally able to utilize something close to her original strength.

Even though they were the “short” legs, these metal limbs were still fifteen meters long and as thick as a tree trunk. They would handle the bulk of the moving’s cities support and stabilization function, so they had been absolutely covered with Engravings done by Randidly or Lucretia personally. Due to their mass, the prospect of moving them out of the Alpha Cosmos was a daunting one.

Each pound that passed from within to without was a drain on Randidly. Inanimate objects were definitely easier than animated ones, but only by a little. Which was why Randidly had transferred a few over earlier, then ceased when his vision grew a little hazy.

Randidly didn’t exactly hide the finished legs from the clucking assistants, but he did store the thirty he had prepared so far underneath a tarp awning behind the warehouse. The poor assistants clearly weren’t ready for them yet. Which was fine for now, but it wasn’t like Randidly was going to slow down the rate of assembly just because it was inconvenient for these fools.

These shocks are what we need to reinvent the image that Erickson Steel has for itself, Randidly reflected. As long as they learn to accept that anything is possible… we can make some real progress. Which reminds me…

Randidly raised his head and looked West. Originally this had been a series of rolling hills, but one of the first things Randidly had done was level the area with Infinite Fingers of Yggdrasil. Half of the space went to him for the preparations for the moving city, while the other half went to the Order Ducis, so they could continue their training.

Apparently, Naffur took his request to recruit more individuals into the Order Ducis very seriously. He had arranged an entire six-month long camp in order to determine suitability for the Order and was closely recording the progress of all of the participants.

In a way, Randidly found that dedication inspiring. Rubbing his chin, he looked over toward the frantically training individuals. Perhaps its time for me to lend them a helping hand…

*****

“What’s this?” Vye whispered to Garrett.

The tall man shrugged. “I don’t know… but I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Good news everyone! We have an exciting surprise that we are pleased to share with you all.” Naffur said brightly. He stood in front of the assembled 36 individuals with his arms folded behind his back. Since they had arrived at Erickson Steel, several more individuals had trickled into the camp. Competition intensified. But also, the difficulty of their tasks spiked sharply upward, leading to a general decrease in optimism in hope across the board.

Which was why Vye grew suspicious at Naffur’s tone.

Naffur gestured to the three steles that were behind him. “Our leader, Randidly Ghosthound, has created three of these ‘Image Stones’ so you can familiarize yourself with them. Each stone has a unique image that it releases. If you proceed closer to the stone, you’ll have to endure a greater portion of the image released from it. The Ghosthound stated that they are relatively flawed products… so he will be forced to strengthen the image within the stones every few days. Starting next week, we will work these stones heavily into our training methods… so we recommend you familiarize yourself with them now.”

Among the crowd of 36 dirty and exhausted individual, most people looked side to side with the same question on their lips: You seriously want us to train even more…?

As if sensing the crowd’s reluctance, Naffur smiled slyly. “Of course… these aren’t just ways to torture you. After discussing the matter with the Ghosthound… there is also a reward for those that can get close enough to the Image Stones to touch them… you will be given a day off, usable whenever you wish.”

Silence. There was abrupt silence. No one amongst the crowd was even breathing.