Hello everyone I'm back. Internet is still down at home so i couldn't wait any longer and am uploading this from an internet cafe near my home. Hope you enjoy.
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Being able to move individually, Kiefer and Sher shot off ahead of the carriage on Feir. While Isana, Rashael and Luna were having a casual ride in the carriage surrounded by the redundant high elven knight escorts, Fier had already stepped onto the nicely paved road that extended from the Port city.
Part of the road was still under construction, but it was already finished for the most part for a distance of about 5km from the port’s gates. The road was about as wide as a 4 lane highway on earth, accounting for the prospect of high traffic in the future. It cut through the dense forest leading to Arigan and was the only artificial structure in the plains that separated the forest and the meadow that the port city resided on.
Looking at how much the infrastructure had been built up, Kiefer could not help but be impressed at the speed of construction. Even as they ran past, Kiefer could see cart loads of stone, gravel and sand being transported to the construction site in the forest, coming from the port city. Feir just kept running, at speeds comparable to when Kiefer sprinted in the air. Within moments, Kiefer was already striding through the main street of the port city on his fearful ride.
At the town, he was greeted with a strange and unexpected sight. There were not only high elves wandering the streets, but also dwarves and spider ladies. The city itself was more populated than Arigan and it would seem that about 80% of Arigan’s residents had moved to this new city.
Strolling down the street on Feir, Kiefer took in the sights and the salty air of the sea. He could see the port situated within the cove and 2 tall watch towers flanking each wing of the cove. Ignoring the stares he attracted along the way, he made his way down to the white sandy beach which was riddled with stone bridges running all the way into the water. There were numerous ships docked in the port, but a particular group caught his attention.
7 ships in total, docked side by side right in the middle of the cove as if they were pieces of art on exhibition. They all had the same Red/gold paint job done on them as the Frigate he left to Alwin to commandeer. They just floated in the water like rocks placed in position, not even swaying with the waves. At first glance, most people would think the ships were just statues or even stationary buildings designed to look like ships, but on closer observation, Kiefer saw sailors loading the ships’ cargo holds with supplies.
Just as Kiefer was about to go down to inspect his Frigate, he was greeted by General Alwin on a Tarsus. It would seem that Alwin had made haste to the docks after hearing of a strange person in full clad armour riding on a monster. With a description as ambiguous and yet specific as that, only one person came to Alwin’s mind – Lord Kiefer. And so he rushed down to the docks to meet with the returning lord.
“Milord, I humbly welcome your arrival to this city. I’ve tried to build it as closely as possible to the schematics you have given us. I hope what you see here pleases you.” Alwin started the conversation while kneeling on one knee and his right hand balled up into a fist placed over his heart.
“Rise Alwin. Yes you have done a good job here. However, there are some issues I want to address and I hope you will implement these changes as soon as possible.” Kiefer replied while getting down from Feir.
Now standing face to face, Kiefer looked behind Alwin and carefully scruitnised the 2 new races that were standing at attention. One of them was a tall female spider lady while the other was a familiar faced dwarf. Recognising that dwarf, Kiefer smiled, and took off his horned helmet to reveal a handsome if a bit unshaven face.
“Hello Buffon. Nice to finally see you again after so long, my old friend.” Kiefer greeted his old friend heartily, smiling widely. Buffon was the first person to ever be nice to him, without threatening to attack him at first sight.
Buffon smiled equally wide, walked up in between Alwin and kiefer and shook Kiefer’s hand furiously. “Glad to see you made it so far, young man. We’ve got plenty to catch up on m’boy, but for now, I hear you want to make some changes to this city? Whatever it is, tell’em to my boys and I’m sure they will make it happen.”
As Kiefer was about to get lost in discussing city layout plans with Buffon, he noticed the spider lady looking at him curiously and taking a step forward. Not wanting to be rude, Kiefer briefly excused himself from Buffon and face the spider lady, while conjurings several mana platforms and stepping up so that he was eye level with her.
Extending his hand as a gesture of goodwill, Kiefer introduced himself first.
“Hello. I’m Kiefer, the lord of this new city. I’ve never seen your kind around anywhere on this continent before. Might I ask for your name?” Kiefer asked politely while putting up a business smile.
“Oh my… Handsome, powerful and polite. My name is Rina. I’m a representative of sorts for the Arachne girls. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lord Kiefer.” Rina replied, gently grasping his extended hand with her sharp carapaced fingers while slightly curtsying. “My girls and I were unique to the Grandu continent, until General Alwin’s boats arrived. We never had the chance to leave the continent because of our extreme sense of balance that leads to severe seasickness on boats.”
“I see. Well I thank you for the hard work your people have put into developing this beautiful port city. I would love to see more of your works but I have more serious matter to address.” Kiefer paused, taking a step back and addressing all 3 people who came to meet him. “I would like to hold a council meeting as soon as possible with regards to the city’s infrastructure, financial system and political system. I will be on the Eastern wing of the cove for now. Once Isana arrives along with King Ryul, please come quickly decide on a meeting and I will meet you all there. There is no need to come inform me as I will know where you will all be.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like to get going. Please make the preparations as soon as possible as time is of the essence.” Kiefer once again reminded while mounting Feir, before dashing off to the eastern wing’s Cliffside.
He estimated the others would arrive in a few hours, so he had plenty of time to do what he had planned. The eastern wing of the cove was covered in lush green meadow grass that abruptly stopped and fell off to a Cliffside that ended in the frothing sea waves bellows. Right at the tip of the wing was the watch tower, almost 5 storeys tall and made of grey stone that was starting to turn mossy at the bottom.
It was late summer, and the meadow was blooming with wild flowers. Feir seemed to have some sort of reaction to the flowers, sniffing and rolling in the grass like a cute enormous overgrown monstrous puppy. Kiefer hypothesised that the pollens or maybe the scent had a catnip-like effect on Feir and left Feir to its own while he worked on his project.
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Easily removing piles of earth, dirt and grass from a location close to the cliff, Kiefer began digging into the cliff to make room for a foundation and a basement. He was modelling it after his parent’s home on earth, the one place he truly felt at home.
Going down deep enough, Kiefer began breaking down the earth he dug out into their subatomic particles and rearranging them into iron and carbon atoms. It was a lengthy and slow process, but he managed to finish the minimum amount of steel wire mesh to lay down in the foundation just as Isana and the rest arrived 3 hours after he started.
With his mana pulse, he felt them gathering at the merchant guild building in the middle of the town and made his way across promptly, leaving Feir behind to guard his now unfinished home. With She flying alongside him, they took no more than 20 seconds to arrive at the entrance of the short 3 storey building located in the centre of the city.
As Kiefer opened the door, everyone gathered in the lobby turned to look at the new guy. Kiefer could see Isana smiling at him, her arms twitching constantly, fighting the urge to just rush over and cling to him like a little girl. After going cold turkey for 1 day thanks to Fiora, Isana was on the verge of attacking Kiefer and was barely holding herself back due to the presence of others and the need to keep up her image.
And, so the discussions for remodelling the city started as soon as the last cup of sweet smelling tea was set on the round table for the committee. Seated around the table were Kiefer, Isana, Rashael, King Ryul, General Alwin, Guildmaster Buffon, and Rina. The discussion went on for quite some time, almost seeming like an eternity for Sher who was bored out of her mind inside Kiefer’s Chestpiece, and an even longer time for Isana who kept glancing at Kiefer feverishly throughout the discussion.
The discussion covered a variety of topic, ranging from implementing Street lamps using Rashael’s technology, to changing the political system from one centred around royalty to a democratic party. All the changes suggested were revolutionary and yet so drastic it took Kiefer quite some time to convince the table.
The finalised plans included the construction of a brick making factory with the help of magic runes provided by a brief brainstorming session between Alwin, Kiefer and Rashael. This world already had the basics of cementing grasped since their stone buildings were made of large rocks of similar sizes held in place by an adhesive plaster type material that resembled cement. Kiefer simply gave the idea of grinding rocks, sand and limestone into powder in a series of progressively finer mills and then mixing with water before cutting and baking the slugs in a magic based kiln.
This way, the houses would be standardised and easier to build with bricks, making the construction of infrastructure go much faster. Roads and lamp posts were also upgraded and a basic city layout was planned to avoid mixing sectors of the country. Unlike all other countries in Aioa, This port city would be the first of its kind, run on a democratic system with no notion of nobility. Everybody is rewarded based on their contributions and skill set.
The current mayor of the city was decided to be General Alwin while King Ryul would be the minister mentor. Kiefer chose to remain as an honorary guest. The titan would still be, well, Titans and their social standing would still outrank everyone.
The talks eventually led to defensive capabilities and their army, where Kiefer offered to personally train them once the war with Drigor was over. For now, it would comprise only of the original army from Arigan, but Kiefer promised to provide them with military knowledge from his world such as tactics and strategies.
This then led to preparations required for the fight against Drigor and Kiefer made a list of materials he would need to outfit himself, his new pet, and the ships before heading out via sea to Drigor province.
The final discussion though, lasted the longest. It seemed Trivial and yet was the most important topic of the meeting – the name of this new city. Visitors had already started streaming in from Wanda and Shearwood provinces and the topic has come up many times since before Kiefer’s return. After a heated discussion, Kiefer finally decided on “Mutatis” which was a latin variation for ‘Change’, similar to the frigate.
Having concluded the meeting and assigned tasks to each member to carry out, Kiefer went straight back to his construction project. There was still a few hours till dusk and even then, he could still work with some illumination from Rashael’s absurdly bright lights posts. He went to the closest lumber mill and tossed 20 huge logs into his own PD, and left after paying for it. He did the same thing acquiring a small amount of large stone boulders from a quarry next to the lumber mill outside the city.
Working through the night, Kiefer envisioned his old home and kept building it, improvising where he could not achieve his desired effect. For example, his old home had a tiled kitchen floor and tiled bathroom walls. However, here, he made do with polished wooden planks that he shaved and shaped from the logs he bought. In his mind was a clear picture of his ideal home. One that was not too big like the various noble’s houses he’s been to on this world.
It had a basement, the lounge, dining room and kitchen on the ground floor and 3 rooms on the 2nd floor. On top of that, there would be the attic which had a hatch that opened to give access to the reddish brown tiled roof. The floors were carpeted except the kitchen, basement and the attic. The walls were concrete walls, but he made do with brick walls lined with polished mahogany wood on the interior. The corners of the walls were lined with light coloured maple wood to contrast the dark mahogany that was the main body of the wall.
The stairs were made of levelled and polished stones steps that were supported by wooden beams, guarded by an intricately designed metal railing with a floral pattern. The house was completed by day break the next morning, with only the furnishing left to do and setting up a back yard. Kiefer ate a quick breakfast alone in the nearby inn and then rested till midday in his new home.
After he woke, Kiefer made a waist high fence around the cliff’s perimeter to mark the boundary of his back yard. His front door faced the city down below the meadow while it’s back faced out into the open ocean. Excluding the watch towers, his new home was at the highest point in the cove, overlooking everything from the city to the port. Admiring his handiwork, Kiefer sighed.
“Finally, after almost a year stranded on this planet without warning, I have a place to call home. A place to look forward to return after the upcoming battle.”