When they arrived at the west gate, Lanek had a pretty good idea as to how he was going to set things up. First and foremost, he wanted to find a new home near the gate and was fairly confident that there would be a spot for him in the gatehouse. Would it be as nice as his former quarters in the monastery? No, but he could easily make the officer’s quarters fairly comfortable and there had been a private bathroom in there as well. Additionally, the gatehouse would give him easy access to the top of the walls and plenty of space inside once he took into account the guard barracks space and armory. Lanek was a bit worried about whether the plumbing system worked, but he was very confident that Ivan would be able to figure it out after the lothenae had spent so much time working on the systems in the monastery.
Once they had dismounted, Lanek started discussing his plans to Ivan. “Alright, I want your input on this. I want a large space of around two acres starting at the gate so I can plant the tree in the center and still leave room for a grove to grow if possible.”
Seeing Ivan’s look of confusion, Lanek realized that he had never discussed measurements since coming to this world and proceeded to explain. However, he was lucky in that the concept of meters seemed to translate fairly well and ended up sketching out an area that was a bit smaller than two acres but still as large as a football pitch back home.
“Okay, that does leave a lot of room for growth. Why do you want it near the gate, though?” Ivan asked curiously.
“Well, I’m hoping I can tie the tree and grove into the defenses of the city. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be able to acquire the means to create more groves in the future and I would like to eventually have one at each gate that is then connected to a stronghold-type structure, like the monastery. If I can tie that many groves to Eldros and to the city itself, I can restore a large chunk of his power and keep the city safe. Also, I’m hoping that having those groves will help keep the dungeon in check.”
“Sounds like a good idea, but how will you keep the grove itself safe this far from the monastery?” Ivan eyed the area skeptically.
“You know that shelter I made near Laethon? I can make them much larger provided I have enough mana and materials. I’m planning on enclosing this area in a wall using [Nature’s Rampart] and anchor it to the city wall. There will be four entrances to this grove, one on each side of the wall I create and the main gate. I spoke to Khurzag before the fight with the matriarchs and he told me that this area had been picked clean of anything useful aside from the building materials.”
“Taking all of that down is going to take a long time, even if I do blow it all up. Clearing the rubble afterwards is going to take weeks.” Ivan objected.
“I’m planing on running the wall down the streets so we don’t have to demolish the houses just yet. The wall should be able to break through the cobblestones fairly easily and we can just have Khurzag send some people to collect them. I would rather not explode the homes if we can help it since the bricks and blocks of stone would be useful for the building new homes later.”
“Nah, you shouldn’t worry about that. There is a budding earth mage back in the monastery that could help. If she can get enough experience and level up a bit, she can just reform the rubble back into usable shapes later.” Seeing Lanek’s skepticism, Ivan chuckled. “I forget that you didn’t have magic where you are from. An earth mage can melt stone down and reshape it like a blacksmith does with ore and ingots, but faster. When you are ready, just let me blow everything up and Glasha will take care of the rest. What you should worry about is what the wall will do to the sewers.”
“I’ve got that covered. By the time the city had spread out this far, the city had managed to develop to the point where it didn’t need sewer systems. From what Lira was able to tell me, the buildings in this area of the city were all using self-contained waste disposal and plumbing systems. Even the older sections of the city had moved on to those systems and the sewers were simply sealed off. Speaking of, before we get started on clearing ground, could you take a look at the systems in the officer’s quarters in the gatehouse? I would really like to move my stuff here tonight so I can keep an eye on the tree.” Ivan nodded excitedly, clearly looking forward to a new project and walked off toward the gates.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
With that out of the way, Lanek approached the center of the area he had designated for the future grove. I really hope this works. He thought to himself as he dropped a few seeds onto the ground, making a circle that was roughly 10 square meters. However, instead of simply dropping the seeds on the outer perimeter, he spaced them along the inside of the circle as well.
Abruptly, he felt his mana flowing out of him as he activated [Nature’s Rampart], but instead of making a large wall he urged the skill to make a low wall that was roughly shin-high but filled out the entirety of the circle. He pushed the roots down as far as he could with his mana pool, churning the earth as he did. Throughout the circle the cobblestones bucked and rolled before coming apart at the coming of the wall, tossed aside until only it remained. As soon as he was satisfied with the removal of the stones, he ordered his construct to dismantle itself, leaving only a circle of rich earth behind.
Smiling at the effectiveness of his plan, he dug into the soil with his bare hands, planting the acorn in the center of the circle before stepping back. Within minutes the roots had reached deep into the earth while the tree sprouted quickly, growing into a sapling just a bit taller than Lanek before slowing down. Marveling at the tree before him, he laid his hand on it and was rewarded with a System message.
Would you like to dedicate the [???] tree to Eldros?
Note: 10,000 mana required to dedicate the [???] tree.
Yikes, I don’t have that much mana! I only have 1,450. Lanek thought, thoroughly disappointed as he had hoped that he could get this done for Eldros now.
Mana can be provided gradually as long as the user stays within range of the tree.
Can you show me the range? And how long would it take to complete the process? Lanek waited, hoping that the System would be helpful and forthcoming with the information he needed. Frankly, he was surprised when it responded.
With user’s current mana pool and regeneration capabilities, the process will take 196 hours to complete.
So, a little over eight days, that’s not great but not too bad either. Lanek looked around and saw a faint outline in the distance that he assumed was the range he had to stay within. Alright, so I don’t have to remain glued to the tree but I can’t go back to the monastery either. Thankfully, it looks like it reaches just outside of the walls, so the gatehouse will be a good option.
Declining to dedicate the tree at the moment, Lanek called out to his furry companions and asked the three of them to watch over the tree for him while he made preparations. A quick walk to the gatehouse found Ivan funneling power into several runes he had carved into the walls of the private bathroom.
“Hey, Lanek. I’m just getting ready to restart the water purification and waste disposal systems. Don’t ask me how they work though, it’s completely different than how the monastery handles things. What I can say is that they were dormant and just need a bit of kick to start working again. Oh, and there is a small cellar that had a similar system to the monastery for food preservation, so that’s up and running already. Unfortunately, this place doesn’t have a heating or lighting system that I can find, so you’ll still need to figure that out yourself. Luckily, you have a hearth in your room. How did it go with the tree?”
“Thanks, it sounds like I can move in tonight. The tree is planted and the furballs are guarding it. It’s going to take a while to make it a domain of Eldros, though. It needs 10,000 mana that it can take over time, but it’ll still take eight days. I figured I would get my stuff from the monastery tonight, talk some things over with Talwarg, check in on Lira, and come back tonight to start the process.”
“Gods, that’s a shit ton of mana. Do you mind if I get my things and come back with you? There are five more of these private rooms out here. Two more on this side of the gate and three on the other side of the gate. This will let me be nearby for the demolition work and ready for whenever you need to head out on an adventure.”
Lanek grinned in response. “Of course, my friend. I’d be glad for the company.”