Somewhat surprisingly, the next series of events went as smoothly as they could have gone. Nothing interrupted or stalled Jordan as he returned to the portal and then went across the mountain range. Even the snow going on the other side remained pretty stable, with no sudden full-blown blizzards or anything like that swooping in.

He went to the portal for the beach, and then drove to where the Crabs had been living. As expected, the four people waiting for him were still there without anything happening to them either. Jordan exchanged a bit of small while handing over their clothes to get changed, which they just needed a minute to spread out in and around the dome for privacy. After that, things remained pretty nice and peaceful as they all then traveled back to his base and what would also be their new home for the foreseeable future.

Now they were already back in the forest of giant trees, on their way there. And during the little while it’d taken for him to pick them up and come back, Jordan had been given plenty of time to think and sort through his thoughts. He was currently glad about his decision to hold off on which Boon to pick, because it’d allowed him to get past just the mess of initial thoughts that went through his head.

The Industrial Miner was just objectively the best choice.

For what he would want from it, the Communicator just needed too many “ifs” to work. If its range could be cheated by going through the portals. And either way, if it would go far enough to establish contact with wherever the next nearest Kingdoms were. Then if said Kingdoms would even be open to communication, whether they be Crabs or not. Finally, if there were even the slightest of chances that his friends and family would be findable through the inherently limited number of Kingdoms he’d be able to contact at first.

Even when removing the purely emotional aspect of his loved ones and instead being more pragmatic with the idea of just recruiting others to his Kingdom, Jordan wasn’t sure. Obviously, he could only contact other Kingdoms. Which he believed that it was less likely that they’d just hand over their Kingdoms to him, and far more likely that the best outcome would be that of an alliance.

Of course, the former still appeared to not even be possible until proven otherwise, for whether killing the Lord first was an absolute requirement. While Jordan still hoped it would be doable to allow the option for at least a relatively peaceful expansion of his Kingdom while pulling others under it, he couldn’t shake a deep feeling that death was the only option.

In any case, if he’d chosen the Communicator it would have been right after he saw it as a rash and purely emotionally driven decision. One that he would have likely regretted later as more rational thoughts gave him the almighty power of hindsight, but wouldn’t have mattered once the machine was already built. And in the absolute worst-case scenario, he might have just alerted hostile Kingdoms of Crabs or another Species to his presence and allowed them to start a war.

All things considered, the Miner was just the most logical choice. Even if the System weren’t kind enough to put good stuff to mind within its starting range, it would at least be more likely to find something useful as that range got upgraded.

This was unlike the Communicator, where even multiple range upgrades in a row still might not lead to anything desirable. Now if it’d said that he could establish contact with any Kingdom and Guild, that’d be an entirely different debate. And while that might have been possible with future Rank increases to Kingdom, that was still just another “if” to add to the pile.

Due to what was now almost just half the distance between the portal and the edge of his Kingdom’s territory, it didn’t long at all for them to cross the invisible boundary. Jordan was naturally riding a bit ahead of the others. Did it actually make any difference to do so? No, not really. When the land drones were already told the right way to go, there wasn’t any point in leading them. But it just felt natural enough that the question of why he’d done so anyway hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Yet just a couple of seconds after he crossed the border, he felt something. Four somethings in a row, to be precise. Jordan felt something that could only be described as an alert, one that happened directly inside his mind instead of being a System pop-up. But there was also more to it. The set of mental pings had also come with the distinct sensation that there actually wasn’t anything to worry about, but that he’d simply been informed for the general reason of simply knowing what’d happened.

Jordan glanced back at the four people riding right behind him. Their land drones appeared to be moving together as a straight line. At the very least, anyone watching from a distance would have sworn that they’d crossed the border at the same time. But not Jordan. As part of what the mental alert told him, he just knew that Sammy’s drone had been the first to cross, and then that Daniel was the last.

It was a difference of just a fraction of a second, but he still just knew. Jordan also knew the reason why the alert hadn’t been that… alerting, so to speak. It was because they were members of his Kingdom, so why would it be an issue if his own citizens entered the Kingdom’s territory? He did find it interesting that even then, the System apparently thought that it was something he still at least needed to be informed of.

Jordan didn’t inherently know if this also applied to animals, or just Initial Mergers. But from his own personal assumption, he imagined it might be the latter. Mostly because this feature would have been implemented for a while before he first came over to notice it. And in that entire time, he hadn’t once been alerted because some small critter or something crossed the borderline.

But even that much would already be incredibly useful. Since his Kingdom’s territory also went both a mile underground and into the air, surprising him would be difficult. Nobody would be able to fly in or dig a tunnel below the ground without him still being able to know that they were coming. Jordan did wonder if anyone with a Skill for stealth might be able to bypass that, however. Until the day that someone who was a Rogue or a similar Class came by to test it out, he should probably take the cautious mindset and assume they actually could just sneak in.

Even with that in mind, Jordan’s shoulders became relaxed for the short remainder of the drive. Between this new form of security and the fact that his drones would also still be patrolling the area past the border, he couldn’t help but feel a bit more secure. At least if an army of Crabs were to ever show up with the intent to avenge their slain kin, he’d have a bit of time to prepare as much as he realistically could.

But the group of drones soon came to a stop at the edge of the clearing that marked the location for the center of his Kingdom. Something that Jordan supposed could technically be considered a tactical disadvantage. As the lack of cover from the canopy of giant trees meant that anyone with the ability to fly or had any other means to get a bird’s eye view would be very easily able to spot the tall concrete building in the forest.

“Woah. You didn’t actually build this whole thing yourself in just the last few days, did you?” Daniel the Spear Master asked while disembarking from the land drone. Aside from Jordan himself, he did so in the least awkward manner, at least relative to his companions.

Jordan shook his head. “Nah, fully automatic from the System doing all the work. Like I said, there’s not exactly a ton in terms of furniture. But there’s plenty of space, and we can figure out a way for you to have your own fair share of privacy too. Plus it shouldn’t be that hard to separate the upper floors out into rooms, while leaving space for other people in the future.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Not all the space within the building was free, of course. Part of that was due to how the System had lined the walls with things like the cabinets and such. But the biggest reason would be the ground floor, which was why Jordan had specified the upper levels just now.

As the High Lord around here, he believed it wasn’t too selfish to basically claim it for himself. Especially as it’d be very inconvenient for him to have anything less than direct access to his Transmuter, and what would momentarily be the Miner as well. Though as far as people going up and down the ladder, or in and out the door while he was present, Jordan really didn’t think he’d mind. As long as they didn’t actively try to disrupt him as he worked for some benign reason, he could just mentally filter out them moving around.

Now did Jordan have a plan for what would happen, should one of his citizens unfortunately become an unwanted thorn in his side? Well… for now, he’d just have to cross that bridge when he got there. Though if he did intend to grow his Kingdom’s population in the coming weeks and months, that question likely would need an actual answer eventually. For the time being, he just hoped that it’d be a good and long while before he came across that bridge.

“So I think I should have already mentioned this earlier. But while it doesn’t have beds yet, the way the floor feels from the heating is just-” Jordan spoke as he led them to the front door. As they looked at the wooden door, he couldn’t help but feel a little amused at how it was almost hiding the cooler automatic door behind it. A concrete door that when he then revealed, Jordan couldn’t resist the temptation to just be a little childish.

“Ahem,” Jordan cleared his throat before he raised his arms out the side. “Open sesame!”

Naturally, the door responded to his mental will to swing open right as the words left his mouth. With a bit of a goofy smile, Jordan then turned back to see how the four behind him had reacted to this display of magical power.

Sadly, he seemed to be mainly working with a rather tough crowd. Antonio looked like he was already half-asleep while standing, Daniel was now giving him a rather skeptical look with one brow raised, and Sammy was also staring at the ground, slightly swaying in place.

Though, to be fair, even Daniel had bags under his that were deep enough to act as an alternative storage from the pocket space. Just the fact that they hadn’t all fallen asleep while waiting for Jordan to pick them up just now was probably a testament to their willpower to stay awake. He could only imagine that, like himself, they wouldn’t care about the floor being made from concrete and would just instantly pass out from how comforting the heating ground felt.

Meanwhile, Kelley the Enchanter’s eyes were wide and gleaming like an only child who just woke up to see a massive pile of Christmas presents under the tree. She took a few steps forward, seemingly in utter awe. And while Jordan had been the one to do the little trick, actual amazement was not the reaction he’d been honestly expecting.

“Woah…” Kelley muttered as she approached the concrete door. She raised a hand as if to touch it, but stopped herself just shy of its surface. Her eyes flickered, her gaze studying the whole thing from top to bottom.

Jordan tilted his head slightly, now more than just a little confused. What was it that she found to be so fascinating? This reaction was definitely due to more than just a magically opening door, right? Right before he could ask the question on his mind, Kelley was a second ahead of him to provide the answer.

“These enchantments are… insane. They’re just on a completely different level from our starting items.” She then inhaled, and her eyes only widened further as she breathed in the energizing air going past the open door. A little bit of the air also managed to hit the others before dispersing, causing them to blink from what could basically just be called better caffeine.

“I can barely even read any of it, but there’s just so many, and they’re all so powerful. This was all added by the System too, right” Kelley asked as she looked turned back toward Jordan. Who just nodded and then gestured for her to go on.

“There are enchantments for so many things, like… this one!” She pointed at what at least appeared to be a random part of the door. “I think it’s for something defensive? I'm not sure; all of this feels like it’s way beyond what my Skills can even explain to me. It just gives me a feeling that even if we tried our hardest, we wouldn’t be able to scratch it.”

“Interesting, what else can you notice?” Jordan asked as he squinted at the door, trying and failing to see what she saw. It clearly must have been a result of her Class.

From her being an Enchanter as a Trade Class, Jordan had naturally assumed that it’d be like enchantments in games that gave items special effects. Heck, all their starting items were still at E1, with no obvious ways to upgrade them yet. So he felt it was a safe bet that unless the System had another way to do so that he just didn’t know about yet, Kelley might be the key to upgrading the Grade of things like his Energy Pistol. Yet for her to inform him of about their being what seemed to be a ton of magical enchants on his base had been a surprise, but a welcome one.

As Jordan attentively listened to Kelley nerd out about her Class, they and the others all stepped inside building and allowed the door to close. Jordan wasn’t sure if the energizing air was limited, or something just being supplied in the same way as the lighting and heating now. But just in case, it was probably for the best not to just leave the door open too long and let it all leak out.

In just a short while, Jordan was alone as his first citizens had all gone upstairs. He’d only been able to learn so much from Kelley, but she had done her best to explain something that he couldn’t perceive. But he learned that the art of enchanting could basically be described as magical scripting. Where one wrote a sort of arcane code directly onto the surface of an object, infused it with energy, and then it would take effect. Kelley herself had given been a set of what she said the System called basic recipes, but still sounded pretty damn useful to Jordan. They were things like enchanting items to self-repair when damaged, make things more durable, improving the efficiency of their Charge usage, and… actually giving mundane things an effect that required a Charge.

About half of her recipes were for things that could be called passive effects, like self-repair, and then the active effects, like letting someone put their own Resource into a regular stick for a magical attack. These recipes apparently even had sub-types freely provided by the System, depending on the “attuned” Resource in question. So someone like Jordan, who used Tech Points, would get different effects than a Mage with Mana Points, for example. It was very fascinating stuff, and as soon as Kelley got her rest, Jordan looked forward to deep diving into it tomorrow.

And yes, she and the others would still get their chance to rest. When Jordan placed his hand on the machine that was both the Transmuter and central base of his Kingdom’s functions, he focused on the air that was keeping him wired and awake. He sensed that, like the heating and lights, it could just as easily be toggled and controlled.

Jordan could even leave it active only for the ground level, and make it so that the upper floors only got basic air. Despite the ladder keeping the space between them open for airflow, the inherently magical control he had allowed him to keep the types of air fully trapped in their designated space. He could even prevent the special air from leaking out when the door opened, which he obviously dead, while internally shaming the System for not making that the default.

This way, they would actually be able to get some restful sleep. After what happened to them recently, the mental reset of being asleep was probably the thing they needed most right now. But with that settled, there was just one other matter that could finally be addressed.

The Surveyor was interesting, and he had perhaps been a little too quick to dismiss it. Yet even after considering the merits that it could likely also do things like locate underground metals and such, the automatic extraction of the Miner would just make things so much easier.

Considering that Jordan’s goal was to make a push for the last few Levels until D Grade and unlock his Subclass to start manually building his own drones, the potential for automatic material gathering was just too fitting for his future plans for him to pass up.

So on that note, he walked over to the door, and quickly chose and finalized which Boon he wanted. And with it, a new pop-up quickly appeared in front of him.

Automatic construction will now begin!

Estimated time until completion: 10 minutes

It looked like he’d have to wait a bit longer, but soon enough, Jordan would get to find out the Miner’s capabilities.