“Yes! Iron!” Rhamiel cheered, immediately checking a part of the system he criminally neglected.

  Opening his Inventory, he saw a list of everything stored in his storage sheds. A few things immediately caught his eye.

  The Iron Ore was new and wanted, but he didn’t recognize the rest of the items in his storage. Cortania Clover? Star Peony? Tortured Witch Bush Seeds? What were these things, and why were they stored in his Sheds? Another question to add to his to-do list for later, hopefully when the fighting outside calmed a little, so he could ask Joselin why they were collected.

  Until then, Rhamiel looked at Lamar, who wore a pleased smile. “Thank you, I will be trying to build this immediately.”

  “Probably a few of them, Lord Rhamiel. We can probably get some of the less combat-inclined Citizens a skill in turret use with these, allowing for stronger defenses. You know, if you would like,” Lamar said, looking away from the Core Generator as if avoiding eye contact.

  “Okay,” Rhamiel agreed. “Definitely a good idea then. Good work, Lamar.”

  “Thank you again, My Lord,” he bowed. “I am trying my best, but when my Call of Inspiration strikes, I have to act and share it, or it may not strike for a while. Especially if I cannot build it alone.”

  “Call of Inspiration?” Rhamiel asked, recalling the information from his status back when they first met. His structured Mindset Skill showcases his perfect recollection. “One of your Perks, right?”

  Lamar nodded, “It is an unusual ability relying on unknown variables to trigger and help me make something out of the blue.” He grinned, “It does not trigger often, much like normal inspiration, it just happens and is usually helpful.”

  Rhamiel located Karrow, still digging in the tunnels beneath them and hacking at the rock with a reddish-brown hue. He was handing off whole chunks of rock to other citizens, who carried them up and out of the tunnels. It looked heavy; it would be a good idea to divert some of his drones to help him carry it out faster.

  ”Well, thank you, Lamar,” Rhamiel repeated. “I had better get to work. Let me know if you need something.”

  “Yes, My Lord,” Lamar beamed, happy as he went right back to his work table.

  Immediately, Rhamiel turned his perspective to look at Karrow in the dark underground and hovered for a few seconds, watching the man work. He somehow took his time and quickly attacked the Wall with his special pickaxe. Taking a second or two between swings to identify the point on the Wall he wished to hit, aim, then swing with incredible might. It was evident to the Core that the Miner was using several skills at once to enhance his work; the flow of magic and physical power around the man was intriguing, though the Core did not understand it.

  Wait, flows of magic? Was that what this new feeling was, this new perception that caught seemingly ghostly energy flowing around the man as he worked? Was this another benefit of his upgraded Domain? It was a reasonable conclusion since that was how he usually saw the world, through the passive mana within his Area of Influence.

  Yet another thing he had to figure out, and he added it to his list of projects.

  He waited until the Lead Miner had completed a swing before speaking in an effort to avoid the man missing his swing and hurting himself. “Hello, Karrow! I see that you have made me a very happy Core, finding us some I- whoa!” Rhamiel yelped as the point of the pick swung towards where his perspective was, passing in front of his vision and through it.

  “O’. O’ Mae Lor’ I ae’ sorrae ‘bout tha’, Rhamiel,” Karrow said, intentionally slowing down to speak his name correctly.

  “No worries,” Rhamiel said, a little surprised. “Not like it hurt me. Whew, but look at this! Iron! Yes, we can now actually continue to build!”

  “Eh, sor’ of.”

  “What? Why?” Rhamiel asked. “I know we need a blacksmith and a blacksmith workshop, but-”

  “I’s no’ jus that,” Karrow shook his head. “Tha main thing we nee’ is a smith. Dependin’ on ‘is skill levels, we coul’ nee’ a Bloomery Furnace as well as tha’ Smithy. Ya’ migh’ wanna think about findin’ som’ coal or making some charcoal to make steel instea’ o’ iron.”

  Rhamiel’s mind reeled at the sudden burst of new info. “Can you do this?”

  “Nah really,” Karrow scowled. “I’m a Miner, so ah coul’ prollaly do all of the bangin aroun’ tha’ they do. But I woul’ get no System hel’ at all, no’ tah mention tha’ I am no’ ‘rained on how tah do wha’ they do. I jus’ find an’ mine the stuff, workin’ it is someone elses job.”

  “Of course it is,” Rhamiel grumbled at the information. “Do we have a smith?”

  “Not tha’ ‘m aware ov,” Karrow shook his head. “Corinth or Joselin would probably know tho’, I don’ really like talkin’ tah mos’ people.”

  “Okay,” Rhamiel said, a little annoyed that his hopes were raised for a moment then brought crashing back down. “We’ll figure this out, just keep going, please.”

  “Oh, yah couldn’t have made me sthop,” Karrow smiled and returned back to his work.

  So, what now? Rhamiel had his growing to-do list, and he had to figure out either how to replace a blacksmith or find one. But where was he going to find…

  Oh, great. Rhamiel did remember that there was probably a blacksmith somewhere nearby, and Dad had already left to find them. According to Mom, his name was Marko, and he was part of the Hero of Fallen Udarov’s expedition; supposedly, he maintained their equipment. So he could either wait for Dad to find them or-

  Turning his attention to the Hero, who was still tied up in one of the abandoned basic dwellings that Rhamiel had built early on. His constant thrashing had caused the ropes to dig into his joints; his wrists, in particular, were red and flecked with blood. He figured the man may just need the right kind of convincing to help them see that they were really good people, and that he was not some crazy Spirit Core trying to kill these people.

  “No no no Rhamiel!” He chided himself. “You have already made a mess by accidentally summoning this horde to our walls. Let's not make it worse by involving the crazy person!”

  Now he was really starting to question his judgement. Sure, he was supposed to work with people, but that did not mean all people were friendly and willing to work with him. And trusting a mentally deranged man like him was not a wise idea.

  Instead, Rhamiel turned his attention to the next topic on his to-do list, upgrading the Core Power Cables going to the Architect’s Library.

  With his upgrade to the Mana Generator Perk, making it Tier One, he gained a more powerful version of the Core Power Cables. Refreshing his memory, The Core pulled up the item's description.

  With his review, Rhamiel observed the Core Power Cables he had already laid down towards the Altar in the Architect's Library. The majority of the Cables leading to the Architect’s Library were the original version. He considered how he would remove the cable, but then an instinctive thought told him he might not have to.

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  He simply set the cables to upgrade from Tier 0 to Tier 1. He was surprised by how quickly it began working and restructuring. He could feel the Core Crystalline structure becoming denser, more individual fibers blending together into the cable. This upgrade process was advancing faster than when he first placed the Tier 0 Cables. However, more importantly, it was still feeding mana into the Architect's Library.

  It would still be a while before they were upgraded, and he would then increase the mana going into the Architect's Library.

  Feeling a little proud of his work, Rhamiel turned to the next project and debated what he should work on.

  He checked the requirements for many of the buildings he wanted to build and found that he could begin a few. Primarily, the Rhamiel Inquiry Hall caught his eye due to its noticeable Civilization upgrades.

  But was that the right choice? Looking at everything else, he could build a few others that caught his attention, and he could at least begin on one other option. The Simple Home.

  It wasn’t a complicated blueprint, really just more refined than the Basic Dwellings that he had gotten initially. It still required iron, primarily for nails, but he could do the preparatory work to ensure he was ready when he got the nails.

  Then there was also the Blacksmith itself.

  Not complicated, and he had everything he needed to get the project going, even if he needed some clay for bricks in the furnace part of the building.

  After choosing a place for the Blacksmith Shop in a direction opposite the Eldritch Cathedral, he set his Drones to work on the Blueprint. It was a handy function that allowed them to work on a blueprint as soon as they fulfilled the requirements.

  Turning his attention back to the Cables, he watched as they continued to form. Entranced by the process of the ambient mana within his Domain condensing into the cable and altering their form while upgrading them to their Tier One version.

  Which is why it was interesting that Rhamiel got a new notification from the building he was upgrading.

  “This sounds good,” Rhamiel said, opening up the description.

  “And it is, yay!” Rhamiel cheered to himself as he checked the material requirements for the Structure. As the description said, it listed Stones that could be used for this construction. Granite, basalt, limestone, and even brick are options for this type of Wall, even though they are not natural Stone.

  More annoying was the other requirement of a spellcaster with a Runic Magic Skill of at least level four to complete the Structure.

  Double-checking the cable to ensure it was still moving, this new Blueprint only strengthened his need and love for the Architects' Library; he looked for Mom.

  He found her walking around the outside of the Wall, alone, about a mile away from Joselin. She was chewing on bright green leaves with turquoise veins spreading through the plant, and something about the action unsettled the Core, but he could not articulate it. It was just… kind of weird.

  Now he had another question to ask, so he connected to the communication Crystal inside one of her dress pockets with a string of mana and made it ring.

  Rhamiel saw a mildly pained expression as she pulled out the crystal, but, sighing, she pulled the leaf out of her mouth and tapped it. “Hello Rhamie, dear.”

  “Hi Mom, why are you here by yourself?”

  “I am one of the few people here at a good enough level to fight by myself. And we need to keep as many areas as we can clear. The beasts are still coming in force. I would have thought that they would have slowed down a little by now, but maybe there are just that many around here…” Mom trailed off, looking up while she thought. “Oh, never mind, I’m sure they will calm down soon from your massive expansion.”

  While he did not like being reminded of that blunder, he refocused on why he was here and returned to his cheerful voice. “Mom, what were you chewing on?”

  She furrowed her brows and raised up the bitten-through leaf. “This? This is a Mana Herb leaf, did you not know that? I thought you were growing them.”

  “Oh,” was all Rhamiel could say. He did recall seeing the MAna Herb Leaf on the list of items he looked at just a little earlier. Since beginning to grow them on the farms, he had not bothered to check in on them or even see what the Mana Herb looked like. Dividing his attention for a moment, Rhamiel looked at the Farms growing the herb, and indeed they did kind of look like that, though these were obviously at a much different stage of growth. The turquoise veins on the leaves of these still-growing plants were not as rich as the ones she was eating.

  He used Aspected Analysis.

  “Oh,” Rhamiel repeated, this time in astonishment. “That makes sense why you were chewing on it.” Then Ramiel had a thought. “I wonder if I can use this to power some things?” he wondered out loud.

  Mom shrugged, “Maybe, you are already doing things that I thought were impossible. Like your Cathedral, I did not know magic like that existed, let alone could be used like that. I have been enjoying cataloging it,” she smiled.

  “Good, happy to hear it. Hey, quick question, do you have the Runic Magic Skill?”

  “Yes,” Mom said slowly, raising an eyebrow. “Why?”

  Rhamiel quickly explained his new Wall Blueprint.

  “I have it at level five, so I could complete the Structure, but I would need to take a look at the Blueprint and research it to understand what I would need to do. Did it tell you about any other requirements?”

  “No,” Rhamiel said slowly, mimicking her. “Why?”

  “Runic Magic like this usually requires some kind of special catalyst to complete. Nothing hard or rare, just things like having the runes drawn with paint made from crushed mana herb, for example,” Mom explained. “Given that the self-repair is an automated function, I imagine that there will be something needed to- Oh, I guess I will have to wait and see,” Mom said with a grin. “I am due inside soon. I will take a look at it then.”

  “Alright, be safe,” Rhamiel told her before disconnecting from the Communication Crystal.

  Pulling out the Blueprint for the Runic Bastion Wall, Rhamiel activated it as if to place it for construction and began putting it all over, closer to the edge of his Domain. From there, he placed the sections of the Wall, piece by piece, until he had a giant circle all the way around his Domain, and he noted the material requirements the wireframe said it would take. It was quite a lot of Stone, but he knew it would be worth it. He took two of his Basic Drones off of the just barely begun Blacksmith project to start preparing the Stone for the Wall, one for mining and the other to shape the Stone.

  He doubted the Drones would get far before more experienced people took over. Hutch was good at assigning that kind of job, but at least it would get started.

  Now, what to pursue next?

  Right, Dad. He had gone off to find the camp where The Hero’s party should have been waiting for his return, the one where a good Blacksmith should be for them to use. Rhamiel would have taken in anyone who wanted to be in his city peacefully. Still, it would be nice to tick off a few of the required professions first.

  Since Dad was a citizen, Rhamiel was able to find him since he was still in his Domain. It was an easy enough action to focus on Dad and see him, slowly wading through the woods. He carefully moved around a trio of what the Core quickly identified as Hollow Shades and continued moving in a particular path.

  Rhamiel connected to his Communication Crystal and pushed a little bit of mana into it, causing the magic device to glow in his pocket.

  Dad flinched back against a tree, then rushed to his pocket and pulled out the device. Activating it, he pressed it close to his face and quickly hissed, “What, I’m kind of busy, Rhamiel?!”

  “I was just wondering how it's going?”

  Dad clenched his jaw, “It would be going better if the monsters weren’t going on a tare towards the settlement, but fine. I think I found them, I just need to get to them and hope they aren’t as far gone as the Hero.”

  “I don’t think they are,” Rhamiel said. “He seems to be the one to go in sword swinging; the others seem to mostly be his support network. I’m not saying they couldn’t fight, but I doubt they followed him into Udarov.”

  Dad relaxed a little, “Maybe.” He released a breath, “Maybe, look, since you are here, why don’t you try and be useful and scout ahead? I think there is a camp about a quarter mile that way,” he pointed in the direction he was going, due east. “Could you go look ahead and see if you find anyone there. I will keep going with stealth unless you tell me to hurry.”

  “Ohhhh, cool,” Rhamiel said, excited. “I haven’t done that before.”

  Dad pressed a button on the crystal, and the connection broke, the glow dying as the mana string snapped.

  Pulling back, Rhamiel looked in the direction that Dad had indicated and zoomed in on that area from above.

  Other than a large, thick swathe of forest, there was a small ruin of tall white stones set in what looked like a manufactured clearing. Grass and soil covered the loosely buried white stone tiles, which hampered natural growth. Nine tall white stones, each about twenty to twenty-five feet tall, stood around a small white altar in the center, topped with a small obsidian bowl.

  And within this clearing was a camp of heavy cloth tents and improvised crafting stations. Moving around these stations were five people just keeping busy, completing tasks, and looking in the direction of Rhamiel’s settlement as if they heard something.

  He took a moment to look around and confirm that nothing was trying to attack the camp, and he was pleasantly surprised to find that nothing was. Monsters roved around their campsite, but all moved on and towards the settlement.

  The Core relayed the information to Dad, and he nodded, “Five people? That isn’t great, but it's good that they’re there. That means that getting them should be easy. But it sounds like they made camp in some kind of Old Religious site,” Dad mused for a second, stroking his chin. “It’ll have to be something we look into more later, the dead gods sometimes leave things for us to find.”

  “Why can’t you look while you are there?”

  “I could,” Dad agreed. “But depending on what I find, we may need to try to bring it back. And we need to just focus on recruitment and getting them back alive. Not carting possible relics. We’ll see about coming back later and trying to find stuff to bring back.”

  Rhamiel agreed and was about to pull back when a familiar presence made itself known against his Domain.

  It was the same sensation he had felt while expanding his Domain when it stopped abruptly. The feeling of his Domain touching another.

  As that thought occurred, a high-pitched and unnatural scream broke through Rhamiel’s thoughts. It was reverberating, masculine, and filled with pain-filled rage.