Chapter 1385 (2/2)

And then there was the rather nasty realization that these issues weren’t simple ones. The reason that they came up this week was that they came up every week.

Still, as Tatiana’s final report summed up very succinctly, all of these issues could be solved relatively quickly with the growth of one resource: space. So Tatiana recommended that Randidly take action to push his plan to sell floating islands that mimicked his own as soon as possible.

Which, of course, was where Tatiana’s report ended. As he looked down at the papers in his hand, he had a thoughtful expression. Usually, Tatiana would include recommendations for how to proceed at the end of the reports. But in this case, she had left the problems completely at Randidly’s feet. Making more space was a solution, generally, but the devil was always in the details.

How to distribute the space, who it belonged to, were all open questions.

Randidly cracked the knuckles of his right hand. “I suppose it’s about time I act like the founder of Kharon, huh…?”

Of course, as Randidly started to think about the best way to address the problems plaguing Kharon by making additional floating islands, he came to a realization that made his heart freeze. His floating island, and the other islands that he was now planning to make, were Engraved using the principles of Nether. It was the reason that the spirits had transformed into moonlight spirits, which was less a descriptor and more just a passing resemblance that they possessed.

More poignantly, a Captain from the Xyrt Brigade had now assembled a rather luxurious looking tent in the center of an island that was flying due to Nether principles. Rather carefully, Randidly glanced toward the tent in question. The heavy maroon fabric gave the whole thing a slightly ominous feel, compounded by the small amount of smoke that was wafting out from under the tent flap.

Looks like I still have more to learn about creating an ominous, evil island atmosphere. That tent looks like it belongs here on this shadowy refuge… Randidly rolled his eyes and then focused on the problem of using Nether. From the fact that Captain Quill was now calmly sitting within his tent on top of the island, perhaps the Nether principles contained within the Engraving weren’t important. At this point, the actual energy had largely transformed into the moonlight energy anyway.

...or maybe that was why Captain Quill called the island interesting… Randidly chewed on his lip and then shrugged. Hard to tell what the smoky man was thinking; he seemed to possess two different personalities. Well anyway, for now Randidly could plan his expansion and wait for the Xyrt Brigade to leave before he created additional floating islands. Even if the problems were pressing, Randidly could tell from Tatiana’s report that they didn’t need to be dealt with immediately.

So Randidly began to think about how to address the subtleties of the problems that Tatiana had presented. To him, one stuck out as quite a bit more important than the others: the problem of obtaining talented instructors who could train Kharon’s youth. In terms of the long term growth of Kharon, nothing was more important than creating a reliable method of producing capable youths.

And honestly, Randidly’s first thought wasn’t especially creative, but he found it rather appropriate. That is, found a school. Or rather, in this case, the Kharon Academy.

It would likely require an extremely large island to house an entire Academy, especially because the hook that Randidly was planning to use to draw in teachers was the problem of housing. If a portion of the Academy was prestigious enough housing dedicated to the faculty, that would pull some of the more hesitant individuals into agreeing to teach.

Of course, what Randidly’s mind focused on, rather than addressing the economic thorns of such an issue, was what seemed fun to him; creating a vast, labyrinth-like jungle gym beneath the Kharon Academy. It would be an area where the kids could play and also hone their physical Skills.

As a child, Randidly had adored the play areas at fast food establishments, but they had quickly lost their appeal as he had grown larger and more capable. But if he could create an area worth climbing and exploring below the Academy…

All of the dormant talents that Randidly had earned from his days as an Engineering student slowly roused themselves as Randidly threw himself at the task. Plus, Randidly didn’t need to worry much about material constraints or electric wiring; he now had the benefit of Engraving to fuel his imagination. As long as he contacted Wendy and had her whip up a smaller power source for the island, Randidly could fill the interior with puzzles and traps that made the journey to the center of his vast jungle gym all but impossible.

Tatiana had the foresight to provide ample paper and pens in addition to her reports, and Randidly went to work with a deadly focus. Some part of him realized he wasn’t quite going about it in the most efficient manner, but Randidly already had the scent of an interesting project. The soothing sensation of a task worth doing buoyed Randidly away, causing him to completely lose track of time.

Without reservation, he threw himself into the designs for the first level of his underground puzzle. Randidly supposed that for the beginning, he should keep the puzzles rather basic. In addition, he made the first level tight and cramped so that kids wouldn’t want to hang around in it much. No, there needed to be a temptation to head deeper…

Congratulations! Your Skill Engineering Savvy (R) has grown to Level 155!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Experienced Creator’s Ingenuity (A) has grown to Level 108!

Congratulations! Your Skill Engineering Savvy (R) has grown to Level 174!

Randidly used up the paper Tatiana had provided much more quickly than he would have expected. But he supposed it was because he kept having a sudden burst of inspiration that forced him to redo the entirety of his earlier work, gradually enabling him to refine the shape of the first level.

But it only took a check of his Absolute Timing to realize he had worked for almost thirteen hours without even noticing the passage of time. His stomach rumbled.

Releasing a wry chuckle, Randidly promised to keep a better track of time in the future. He glanced over at the tent. Smoke continued to billow steadily outward. If he spent so much time working, likely the Xyrt Brigade’s cleanup was going well.

Which meant that he would have the chance to test his ideas soon. Randidly quickly got back to work.