Chapter 190: Operations (2/2)

I scoffed, ”Oh thank you so much for your compliment love.”

She looked up at me with a cheeky grin, ”Anytime.”

I pulled up my face mask to give her a kiss as we left. We split up after that, letting her hide for her messaging. I flew down the side of Rivaria's mountain. After a few minutes, I passed the stadium where the Honoring of Lehesion was held. Once at the bottom of the slope, trees came back into view.

I found a dense cluster of them, finding a rooted hallow under a massive, fan-leaf tree. The leaves of it looked like elephant ears, giving it a substantial reach compared to most plants. Top that off with the premade entrance for a cave base, and it was a winner winner chicken dinner in my book.

Terrible phrases aside, I burrowed beneath the hollow of roots, creating a staircase. As I did, I melted rock, reshaping it into steps. Before going more in-depth, I removed my gray disguise. I tore strips of my skin off, melting and shaping the metal into arcs. I used these as structural supports. I also embedded tall pillars of my darkened armor, reinforcing the dirt.

New Skill Gained! Construction(lvl 1) - You choose to reform nature to do your bidding. Enhances constructional integrity by 1%.

I appreciated the extra skill but forged onward. After fixing up a spacious hallway, I created a glowing ball of metal above me like a torch. Using its light, I etched a diagram planning out the rest of the rooms. With a plan in motion, I stood up and got to work.

Engineering(lvl 1) - By using your knowledge, you craft innovation into your creations. +1% to planning speed of structures. -1% to structural faults while creating structures.

The skill creation tree was still paying dividends. I got back to the job at hand, putting my skills to use. Turns out, gravity magic and heating magic were a potent combo for construction work. Who'd have guessed?

Fifteen minutes in, I already cleared out a room with high ceilings. I coated the insides with a layer of molten rock found nearby. I even let the rock cool slowly, making it stronger than if I chilled it quickly. Every time I ended up snap freezing the lava I made, it turned the stone into obsidian. While sharp, obsidian didn't make for useful building material. It was brittle, like glass.

So I let it cool over a few minutes, forming it into a crystalline granite. Combining the coating with my metal supports, and the base was more like a bomb shelter than a forest base. Considering Althea's complaints, I sculpted portions of the walls using Star Forger.

With the majority of the job finished, I figured I might as well enjoy the rest of the project. I ran through the forest, finding several kinds of stone. I carried them back, melting them into giant blobs of glowing lava. With those as my resource, I created pillars of marble, floors of glass, and decoration of shale.

In an hour, I constructed a building with actual depth, much better than our old room. It was fun making it and seeing just how much I could get done in that hour. I ended up sending the message for everyone to come back, but I kept working as they were coming. I wanted everyone to be impressed.

After all, I had the reputation of a complete brute. Shattering their expectations seemed more than a little satisfying. With that in mind, I finished the doorway by marking it with a few runic enchantments.

I did so for every room, even going so far as creating a barrier around the entire underground base. I charged the rune with mana, overdoing it quite a bit. I wasn't about to let someone come here after the bombings. I'd know they were here, and I'd grind up their limbs and choke them on the mush before I let them hurt Althea again.

Dark thoughts aside, I placed a few charged ambers around the base from my dimensional storage. They gave off a lovely golden light, putting me at ease as I walked in. I finished that last part just as Althea showed up. As she did, she walked up to the doorway with her shoulders slumped,

”Yup. Another base in the dirt.”

I shrugged, playing along, ”What else did you expect? I'm a fighter, not a base maker.”

She winced, ”Oh man, there's going to be creepy crawlies and roots on the roof, aren't there?”

I weighed a hand back and forth, ”Something like that.”

As we walked down the steps, her jaw went slack. She gawked at the artistry I managed to cobble together, a looked of glee in her eyes. She ran around the place, finding the same fixtures in all five of the bedrooms. Althea ended up running up to me and punching my shoulder.

I rubbed it, pretending it hurt as she put her hands on her hips, ”What the hell! Not a base maker, huh...”

I smirked, ”Oh really? I didn't think you'd be impressed with just this. I whipped this up real quick after all...And I heard someone was dreading a cave base again. I figured I could put some effort into it.”

She laughed, hugging me to her, ”I love you so much. Thank you.”

I hugged her back, ”You're welcome, and I love you too.”

My runic enchantments flared, warning me that someone was here. I skulked up the steps, looking around. Torix hovered over the base with Kessiah landing beside him. They found me at the entrance, Torix floating over,

”Ah, this location will suit us nicely. Hidden and relatively close to the tournament grounds.”

Kessiah walked up, her eyes glassy. I turned a palm to her,

”Hey, Kessiah...You alright?”

She sighed, ”Yeah. I couldn't believe another bomb went off though. Kind of...took me by surprise.”

I raised an eyebrow, ”Why? Seems pretty normal to me.”

She shivered, ”I'd have died if it almost killed Caprika.”

I tapped my teeth, tsking under my helmet. Kessiah wasn't the most practical person, but she was grounded when it counts. She realized how close to death she came. I waved my hands, ”Eh, you'd have been fine I'm sure. I wouldn't stress about it too much.”

Kessiah rolled her eyes, ”Yeah, coming from Mr. Immortal, that's easy to say.”

I frowned, ”Yeah, you're going to be just fine.”

Kessiah nodded, ”Yeah, I'll be alright. I just need to...rethink a few things. I mean for Schema's sake, Torix got a fucking class. I got to start moving before I'm left behind.”

Torix leaned to her, ”Left further behind.”

Kessiah rolled her eyes while Torix pointed at the entrance,

”Banter aside, would you mind showing us the inside? Time is of the essence.”

I turned and shuffled down the steps while waving them over, ”Come on in.”

They both walked down, Kessiah mumbling, ”Woah, I haven't even found a family of roaches yet. Yay.”

I waved a finger, ”You haven't seen anything yet.”

They walked down into the expanse, Kessiah whistling, ”Woah, you really outdid yourself with this one. This is almost as nice as the hotel room.”

I shook my head, ”No plumbing or electricity here though.”

Torix shrugged, ”It matters little. Basic investment into endurance and constitution makes us nigh immune to discomfort from the environment. Water will be the only issue, and I can solve that with a bit of origin magic.”

I pointed at the rooms, ”Cool. That's where you guys will be staying. The rooms are all the same besides Althea and mine. It's bigger since there's two of us.”

Kessiah propped her weight onto her hip, ”Is there anything to do out here?”

Torix patted her shoulder, ”I'm certain a cave-woman like you can entertain yourself with sticks, stones, and probably the mud as well.”

Kessiah crossed her arms, ”Hah, hah. Funny.”

Althea raised a hand, ”Hey, everybody.”

We turned to her. Althea pointed at the center of the room, ”So uh, Helios is going to be here soon.”

Torix raised an eyebrow, ”Could you contextualize soon for us. A day, a wee-”

A portal appeared at the center of the room. Helios walked out of it, his head almost scraping the ceiling. The amber glow brandished off his cape, his fur jutting out from around his neck. It gave his clothes a comfortable vibe, making them look hella comfy.

Helios glanced around, inspecting my handiwork. He nodded his head up and down slowly, ”Well...This isn't the shanty shack I expected. It far exceeds the provisions offered by the gialgathens here in fact. Did you make it, sorcerer?”

Torix shook his head and pointed at me. Helios scoffed, ”Multi-talented aren't you?”

I crossed my arms, ”You wanted to know about us, right?”

Helios raised a hand, a crackling sound spreading around us. As the air turned blue, he coalesced the atomic energy and snapped his fingers. From beneath him, azure spines of ice rose up and created a throne for him. He sat down on it, leaning onto a hand like he was a king,

”Tell me everything.”

I pressed the gray square over my armor, lying not an option here. As the disguise came off, Helios rose up off of his icy throne and laughed,

”Well, well, well...Do my eyes deceive me here? The killer of Yawm was right here under my nose all along...”

I spread out my arms, the gray square for cloaking me in hand,

”It's the Harbinger of Cataclysm in the flesh.”

Helios steepled his fingers and leaned forward,

”Interesting.”