King George opened a box. In the box was a letter and key. George decided to read the letter before touching the key.
“My liege, we have reached the crystal city safely. The key in the package is the key to the estate for the royal estate in the crystal city and has the military permissions of a general in the city. Be warned that it will drain some mana when it binds to you.
Exploration of the city is going splendidly. The city is beautiful so much so that I am afraid that the capital is not a comparison. The gardens reach into the sky like the rest of the city.
There are eight districts in the city I will explain what we have found out about each of them later in the letter. The Dungeon under the city has 8 entrances. Next each entrance or dungeon hall there are 3 adventurer guild halls available. I am planning to later in the year when the city officially opens auction off all the noble estates and guild halls. Management of the rest of the city will be done with employees of the city as managers of the housing towers. Stores will be sold at a small price and will increase as the number of shops lowers.
First we have the commoner’s district, in the east. The whole district is giant towers a theme in the city. The gardens are simple and ready for children to play. The only concern is that the edges of the garden have fences that a child could climb over and fall to their deaths. The gardens have plenty of streams that fall from the higher levels down to the lower levels. A few trees on every level have long strong branches and there are fields of grass.
The housing in these towers are simple with a main room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms. The bathroom includes a tub which can be filled with water hot and cold. There is also a knob which changes the water from filling the tub from the rim to the height of a man. There are sinks and toilets in every bathroom. The sinks have hot and cold water as well. The toilet after using has a level which flushes shit and piss to god knows where. We have tried to figure it out, but to no avail.
The nobleman district, in the north, is more spacious with larger towers as estates with estate gardens as well as larger and more elegant gardens. The larger estates feel more open and pleasing to the eye. Multiple main rooms, bedrooms, clothing rooms, bathrooms. Each estate has large stall for horses and could fit some larger beast as well. The personal gardens offer privacy and refreshing site to the blue all around the city. The noble gardens have fish and beautiful flowers, it is beyond peaceful. There are places to be active, but the gardens are not meant for an extreme amount of rough play.
The military district, in the west is all about war and fighting. For those above common soldiers they have small private quarters. There are map rooms, armories, training fields, dueling rooms, and healing rooms. The healing rooms are the most unique, muscle pain recedes and minor injuries heal. In the Dueling rooms, sound is almost non-existent and for those watching it is crystal clear.
Trades districts, in the south, are a mix of homes and shops. Shops are on the lower level with housing above. The housing is in the style of the nobleman district but smaller. The shops are currently empty, but according to Jonathan the dungeon will supply what is needed once the shop has been bought and the materials needed have been given to the dungeon. I have already made the orders for almost every profession. There are gardens, but they instead of playing or elegant gardens, these gardens are for the sights and relaxation. Fountains, grass beds in the shade, flower lined up in displays.
The red light district, in the northwest of the city, is plainly put where the whores and drunkards go. It is a place of brothels and pubs. There are levels to the whorehouses however. The simplest is like the ones in the capital, simple and whorish. The next level is elegant and in the style of a party. The highest level is that of free woman servant helping a nobleman. There are gardens, but they are set as stages for musicians to play and dance. The pubs follow that thought pattern as well.
The garden’s district is in the southwest, and is large gardens with plentiful amounts of trees and water. The levels flow from high to low, beautiful waterfalls with the blue crystal make for an amazing view. Berry bushes and edible nut trees are common. I personally try and walk the gardens there at least once every three days.
The schooling district, in the southeast is for schooling of course. Pardon my joke. The schools are for everyone of the ages 4 to the age of 16, with another zone for specialized classes. The schools are divided by age and then academic level and not class. This will be a disaster but Jonathan assured me the dungeon set it up this way because it works.
Lastly is the coliseums in the northeast. The coliseums are towers for combat. Audiences sit up in the tower with better seats above. There are round tubes, that if you look through can see the stage at the bottom of the tower as though were you right there. The highest levels have large lobbies with giant tubes that let the whole room see the combat at once. We accidently had some combat while exploring this section. A scholar following directions had the dungeon create a bear that was unleashed onto the stage. On the stage were a mage and scholar looking for how to move in monsters, believing the dungeon wouldn’t create them. The bear mauled the scholar’s arm but the mage was able to slay it. The creation explaination won. After sometime the dungeon absorbed the body of the bear leading the mages and scholars to agree that the coliseums’ combat stages are part of the dungeon.
The dungeon halls are inns, a small market and exploration centers all in one. We plan on having city workers control the halls. The dungeon hall’s inn reaches up into the sky like the rest of the city. The guild halls are a mix of a noble tower estate and the military towers.
The inside of the wall are tunnels with sightings out. There are restrooms and dining halls for those on guard. Watch towers grow around giant trees the dungeon has left inside the walls.. Outside the inner walls are farmland currently filled with rare herbs. As soon as we can we plan to switch the herbs to wheat.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
There have been several incidents with trespassers. Some adventurers looking to go into the dungeon and some thieves looking to steal while the city is new. The adventurers have been pardoned and sent off with the news about the guild halls after a light tour. As for the thieves we plan on using them for the grand opening of the coliseums fighting monsters until they die.
Your humble cousin Nathaniel”
King George finished reading and reread it. Then gave it to his advisors who after reading it gave it to the generals in attendance and a few trusted nobles with ties to the crown.
After they had all read the letter, King George addressed them “What do you think?”
“No matter what, when Jonathan dies, make sure your family holds onto the key.” the short fat advisor told him
“That I need to save up to buy an estate after I send one of my children to inspect the city.” the nobleman Yahoo laughed out
“The military will be able to heavily recruit from the citizens once the city is up and running.” a retired old general, Adders said
“”That and move as many refugees into the city as possible. With them in a few years we will have a bunch of youths looking for revenge on the demons.” a slightly younger General Smithson responded.
“We need to claim farmland around the city to speed up the growth of the city and lower food cost in general” the thin tall advisor finished.
There were other murmurs from those that choose not to voice their words to the king.
“How much military presence will we need to add to the new city?” King George asked
Adders spoke up “At least a thousand, probably 3 thousand to be safe protecting the refugees coming to the city, protecting the new farmland and patrolling the city.”
“Can we afford it?” King George asked
“Yes and by using adventurers to clear out mutated animals before hand and by hunting monsters nearby periodically. That will let us protect the refugees with less soldiers and the farmland. Then if we recruit from the city guards we won’t need as many soldiers to patrol the streets. We can cut these few corners that will keep the treasury full and us from noble pressure.” the advisors said
“Then we have our solution” King George stated before touching the key and feeling the mana drain.
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The city was bustling. Over 5 thousand refugees had been moved into the city and today the city founding day. There were cheers as King George himself was visiting for this event. After the first part of the festival the auction of the noble estates and guild halls.
Leaders from every Adventurer's guild was there. Initial test on the dungeon showed a high density of mana, around 75 times the average. In the city the average was even higher at 150 times the density. There was concern about this leading to mutations, but was dispelled by further testing. The secondary test results were that the mana in the city actually promoted good health and killed mutations.
For the actual exploration four C ranked teams were presumed dead from getting lost. A B rank team was called in to explore the dungeon just in case and they brought a surveyor to help map the dungeon. The first exploration discovered an area filled with mushrooms and mushroom covered animals. It was a good first exploration and the party retreated. The second exploration almost lead to the entire party dying from their lust as they went into the mushroom area, aphrodisiac section. An actually death occurred from a scout going too far in the northern section of the mushrooms, filled with toxic mushrooms. The southern and western sections had no such dangers and were filled with medical and edible mushrooms.
The party found the dungeon incredibly easy other than the tunnels and potentially deadly mushrooms. The first floor was given the rank of F to E, because although it was mostly small animals there were some large animals throughout the first floor. The low difficulty from the initial reports led to some concern about the profits that could be gain. The final judgement on the dungeons worth waited until the party returned to the capital with the spoils.
Returning to the capital with only mushrooms and rare herbs was quite the let down compared to other life dungeons, until they were evaluated.
The aphrodisiac mushrooms or lustmushrooms, caused some stir amongst the noble community. The lustshrooms improved longevity of sex and increased chances of getting with child. Plus it was fun for both parties, but some had plans for a more nefarious use in mind. Medical mushrooms increased development of muscle and brain growth, making a stir in both the military and magic circles of the kingdom. The edible mushrooms were plain delicious for everyone. Deadly mushrooms were useful for some potions. With the rare herbs the dungeon as it, was evaluated as a small gold mine with potential for more as the dungeon grew.
With there being no second floor yet, it was not enough of a challenge for the higher rank parties of adventurers, but the forest was. Most guilds sent over a party to check out the guild halls from the stories that were being spread and the news surpassed them. All these factors made every one of 67 guilds in the kingdom want a guild hall.
The noble estates were something the large noble families wanted to show off the wealth. Before the auction began everyone was invited to go to the coliseums and watch a show.
The fights were tragic the thieves were slaughtered by bears and wolves. At first everyone was appealed but as the fights got more interesting they cheered. Commoners sometimes got close enough for blood to go up to the rows of people. Nobles were enjoying the private boxes taking small bets. It was a grand success. Afterwards free food was served in the Garden’s sections showing off more of the beauty of the city.
Man smaller nobles now wanted a piece of the city and were ready to compete. The auction started with the guild halls. The cheapest went for 200 large gold and the most expensive went for 4000 large gold. The estates went from 500 large gold to 7000 for the second best estate as the best estate was taken by the king. Many of the guilds cursed their ill preparedness and the large nobles were stunned at the pressure from the lower nobles.
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“It was a grand success.” Nathaniel told his secretaries, friends and Jonathan
While the rest of the small party was drinking, Jonathan was resting in the corner. He was tired and not into the events. He missed his simple life in the lower levels of the capital, and more importantly he miss his brother. He wasn’t allowed out without at least four bodyguards. There was plenty to eat and water to drink but life was boring. To add to the misery, the Black Tail Mercenaries left the kingdom and Isaac was nowhere to be found.
As the party kept going on a servant came into the room with a message for Nathaniel “My lord, the Lady of the land is here”
“What? Send them in. Who the hell is saying they are the lords of the land” Nathaniel spoke aloud
A girl of 8 years of age came into the room with an elderly man and a fat man. The girl with red hair down to her waist and green dress to her ankles. The elderly man was wearing a simple suit of black and white. The fat man had red hair and was wearing a large suit of white and brown.
“Who are you?” Nathaniel asked coming up to the group
“I am Whitney Stormheart, daughter of Earl Martin Stormheart and the ruler of these lands. These are my grandfathers. Baron Leon Stormheart and President of the White Horse trading company Mr. Walton Redmane.” the girl Whitney Stormheart stated
“Why are you here?” Nathaniel asked, stunned that the king hadn’t taken the land for himself
“Simple. You owe taxes. A simple 40% will do. We will also be needing a set of rooms no less than 10 in the ‘Mayor’s house’, a dozen store towers and a dozen housing towers. Tomorrow we can discuss the sales that legally should have been done with my approval.” Whitney said
Jonathan stared at her. To him it was a light in the world