As Lucius continued toward the farmhouse, he got a better look at the surroundings. That’s when he noticed that a small portion of the northern forest had been logged. In fact, Maryanne’s father, David, was in the area at that moment, cutting down large trees with just a few swings of his axe.
A mixed group of soldiers and civilian men were rushing to collect the lumber David was producing, barely able to keep pace with the strong man’s impressive ability to fell trees. The group was moving the large logs toward the wall under construction.
When Lucius followed the movements of the group with his eyes, he noticed Patrick and Nicolai standing in front of the completed section of the wall. Patrick was in the process of adding an inscription to one of the logs that made up that section, while Nicolai sat on the ground nearby, scribbling furiously into a large notebook.
“Just who I wanted to find…”
After greeting the guards on duty, Lucius made his way across the property toward the two men. He stood silently beside Nicolai, gazing down at the young man’s work to make his presence known.
“How is the training going, Nicolai?”
Nicolai twitched so hard when Lucius spoke that he broke the tip of his pencil, ruining whatever it was he had been trying to draw. Looking up toward the noise, Nicolai let out a breath of relief and rested his hand over his chest.
“Ah. H-hello, Lucius! Uh, right. Well, I’ve just begun the training, but I feel confident that Patrick’s suspicions are correct.”
Lucius nodded casually as he waved his left hand, causing a large parchment scroll to appear in midair near Nicolai’s face. Nicolai’s eyes went wide as he began blinking rapidly, looking from the scroll back to Lucius in confusion.
Lucius gestured toward the scroll with one hand as he spoke.
“I got that from closing a C-Class anomaly and defeating a rather powerful summoner. Take a look at the system description.”
Nicolai’s already wide eyes opened even further as he carefully reached out for the scroll floating before him, taking it in his grasp. The item was unusually heavy, and the golden tassels seemed to float through the air in a way that defied normal physics.
Running his hand across the leathery parchment, Nicolai prompted the system for a description.
Multitudinous Insects Inscription Array - Instruction Scroll
This is a scroll containing the Runic Inscription pattern and instruction set for creating the Multitudinous Insects Inscription array, a defensive array primarily used for the defense of permanent fortifications due to its long inscription process.
As soon as Nicolai read the description, the rotund young man seemed to bounce up from the ground with superhuman grace as he rushed over to Patrick, not hesitating to disturb the man’s inscription process.
Patrick looked down at Nicolai with a heavy furrow across his brow, halting his inscription and wasting the effort he had put into it over the past twenty minutes. When he saw the strange scroll in Nicolai’s hand, he accepted it without speaking.
Lucius watched as Patrick’s face began to redden with excitement while he read the description of the item. Patrick rushed over to a small table beside the construction area, brushing off the items resting there as he placed down the scroll, unrolling it to examine its contents for the first time.
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“I take it you’re interested in this item, Patrick?”
Patrick didn’t look up from the scroll as he acknowledged Lucius’ observation.
“The luck of you receiving this item now is so fortuitous that I can’t help but feel like the system used you to deliver it to me. I was about to begin adding simple defensive inscriptions to this wall—an action that would require tremendous time and yield little benefit besides strengthening the materials used to build it. Now, with a bit more work, I can create an inscription array that can actually defend this place during an enemy attack.”
Lucius nodded as he listened to Patrick’s excited explanation.
“I assumed it was useful, but I wasn’t able to determine exactly how this array can defend an area. I was hoping you could tell me more.”
Patrick shook his head, his eyes still locked on the intricate symbols on the parchment.
“We won’t know that until the array has been laid out, but I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. The amount of magic power this array draws from the environment is shocking. It requires three days of charging for every hour of actual use.”
This time, it was Lucius’ turn to be surprised. He glanced down at the scroll with a newfound appreciation.
“Fine. I’ll leave the scroll with the two of you. It’s the only one we have, so be sure to keep it safe.”
Patrick finally looked up from the scroll to meet Lucius’ eyes as he responded.
“Of course! Thank you, Lucius. This item will likely save many lives in the future.”
Lucius smiled and gave Patrick a casual thumbs-up before letting the two men return to their work. He then headed toward Jack’s forge.
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Lucius remained within the camp over the course of the next week. He wanted to oversee the construction of the defenses and ensure everything was completed without any issues.
The only things he did to increase his power during this time were to allocate his twenty-four free attribute points to Dexterity and spend a few hours each night training his ability to use Whisper’s power.
The changes to the base were drastic, so much so that it was hard to think of the place as a farmhouse anymore. The tall wall made of tree trunks was completed, with only the moat outside left to be dug, and the tops of the trunks still needing to be carved into spikes to serve as more effective battlements.
Walkways were constructed along the inside of the walls, allowing men to reach the top and better defend against outside attackers. Four large towers were also erected at each corner of the property. The towers stood at least twice as tall as the wall, with enough space at their tops to accommodate five or six archers on each platform.
Jack and Mina put in tremendous effort to create a massive supply of weapons to be brought back to the base with Tiber. Jack outdid himself, crafting a full set of shields and spears while also finding the time to produce a dozen quality bows. However, he wasn’t able to supply arrows, leaving the soldiers to solve that problem on their own.
Today was the day Patrick had promised the Inscription Array would be finished. The process had gone smoothly, with Nicolai assisting, as the inscriptions for the array didn’t require inscription talent to be laid down.
Nevertheless, in the process Nicolai unlocked a talent related to Array construction and usage. This talent reduced the time required to lay inscriptions and increased the efficiency of the Array as long as Nicolai was the one operating it.
Everyone gathered along the walkway at the top of the wall, near the drawbridge at the front of the property. They watched with curiosity as Nicolai carved a series of symbols onto a specially crafted wooden panel. This panel, designed as the control interface for the entire array, had been attached to the wall at the last minute for this specific purpose.
As Nicolai carved the final rune, those with magic affinity felt a rush of energy, like a whirlpool flowing in one direction. A colorful golden glow spread across the entire wall structure, lasting only a few seconds but serving as proof that the array had been successfully activated.
Patrick and Nicolai cheered as the others looked on with anticipation.
When Patrick noticed that the crowd was still expecting a show, he scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Uh… That’s all there is to see for now. The array needs to gather power before we can use it for the first time. Sorry.”
Lucius, blending in with the crowd, loudly complained, “Boo! I want to see the array!”