I spent the rest of the day talking to my constituents, letting them know that I was listening to everything they had to say and that my door was always open if they wanted to discuss any issues that might come up. Of course, there would never be a door leading to me that they could reach, but Aphrodite would be responsible for taking care of their suggestions. After all, that was part of what a good operations leader did.

My first stop was the lumberyard, where people were praising me for the fact that I always put their facilities at the forefront of our upgrades. They were even more ecstatic to hear that I considered their efforts a bedrock of our city, since resource gathering was the most important part of our guild.

But what made them happiest of all was when I told them that in a couple of days, they would be enjoying a two percent increase in their lumber yield, courtesy of the researchers that had just joined our ranks. I didn't, of course, tell them anything about the fact that the mining camp would be enjoying these benefits the very next day but that was just logistics. They were as satisfied as they had ever been by the time I left them.

I followed up my lumberyard visit with one to every single building in the valley, save for the farms and houses. The academics and research Institution finally looked lively, with people experimenting and studying inside of it, while the barracks were as noisy as ever, with soldiers of all levels getting their daily training there.

The warmage academy was still relatively empty, save for a few spellcasters who were practicing their aim or reading spellbooks in the vast but still-almost-empty library. I made a mental note to take better care of the building and perhaps search for some spellcasters that might be able to teach here or at least purchase a collection of books on magic and spells.

It did look like we had quite a few people that were interested in the arcane but we weren't doing them any favors with the less-than-averagely-equipped academy. This had to change if I wanted our fighting ranks to be balanced. Melee and ranged fighters were great, but it was buffers and damage-dealing spellcasters that really made the difference in wars and sieges.

Between stops, I made sure to greet the new people who had been admitted into our city, already working hard to build their houses. Some of them were still on the second level of their residences while others were more than halfway through level-three houses. All of them, without a single exception, were appreciative of the chance that had been given to them and were working their hardest to build their new homes.

The last stop for the day, just as the sun was setting, was at the now bustling blacksmith's workshop. The pygmies had made the place their own and they had already managed to move quite a large quantity of metals from the storage to the shop.

* * *

Name: Blacksmith's Workshop

Level: 2

Level-Up Requirement: Settlement Level 3 (Met)

Level-Up Cost: 200x Lumber Units (2,000 MP)

100x Iron Units (1,000 MP)

Level-Up Time: 240 minutes (144,000 MP)

Description: The blacksmith's workshop is what separates hamlets from organized village communities. Tools, weapons, and armor are only the beginning of what a smithy can offer to a settlement. Owning a blacksmith's workshop unlocks weapons and armor research, as well as crafting equipment and tools.

* * *

The Dark Energy information didn't mention anything about how many people could comfortably work in the building, and that worked to the advantage of the pygmies. The two furnaces were shining bright and some of them had already starting working on creating tools out of the resources they had access to.

Prongs, hammers, and everything else that their crafting profession could use were being created and stored on a large display filled with hooks, where all of them could access and make use of them. As great as it was to see them working so efficiently, I knew that there were only so many tools they'd need to craft before they’d ask for more direction.

I approached the master crafter, who was none other than Deimos Choron, the pygmy I had met earlier that day.

"What do you think of this, Master Zeus?" he asked, letting go of a metal hammer he was inspecting. "We'll soon be ready to start production on anything you might deem necessary."

"That's great to hear," I said, satisfied with their progress. "What can you start working on?"

"It really depends on what you're looking for, Master," he said, scratching his long beard. "Armor? Weapons? Tools?"

"Let's start with armor," I said. "What kind of armor types can you craft?"

"We can create any piece of equipment," he said thoughtfully. "Upper and lower or full-body armor, helmets and hats, boots and gloves. Heavy armor would be our specialty but we're fairly proficient with crafting leather or other types of light armor as well."

"What about robes?" I asked.

"That's tricky, because there's a small enchantment inherent to robes, so that they increase MP regeneration rate and maximum MP," the man explained. "I do have a couple of people who can do it, but not as fast as the other types of armor."

"It'll have to do, at least until we find more people. After all, we don't have that many spellcasters at the moment anyway," I told him. "What about weapons? Any restrictions there?"

"Absolutely none," the man said with pride. "As long as they're made with metal and wood, we can craft them. It would be best if we had a list of the weapons and armor pieces you would like us to craft first though."

"That will come in time," I replied. "You can start working on armor tomorrow. Split your people equally between heavy and light armor, not counting the two that will be making robes."

"It will be done, Master," the pygmy said and bowed lightly.

"I have another question for you. What grades can you craft?"

"Most of my people can do E grade. Some of them can do D grade too. One of my men and myself will be able to craft C grade soon as well. We only need one more level and to do our second class-upgrade quests."

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"Make sure that you do it as soon as possible," I said seriously, before cracking a smile, "and let me know if there's anything you might need to make your production faster."

"Actually, now that you mention it," he said slowly, "there is one thing. I couldn't help but notice that the house we will be living is level five."

"Is that not enough for you and your people?" I asked, trying to keep my sarcasm to a minimum.

"That is beyond anything we've called home so far," he rushed to explain. "However, I couldn't help but notice that the workshop is only level two."

"You're right about that," I said, only now remembering it. "Since we had nobody working in it, I didn't see any reason why we should upgrade it. If I give the order, can you put a couple of your people to work on it for four hours? That's how long it'll take to upgrade."

"With great pleasure, Master!" he replied excitedly.

"Alright," I said, and tapped his shoulder. "Come tomorrow, and we'll see what the next upgrade costs and decide if we should do another level."

Deimos did his best not to squeal in happiness, and I smiled at him before turning my back to the hammering sounds and following the path back home. The sun had almost set now and the last of today's administrative tasks was taken care of when I activated the workshop's upgrade. I heard the chief pygmy shout the order to his people to get working on it.

A perfectly busy day. A day of growing that was giving way to an evening of planning.

"Where are you, ladies?" I asked in the guild chat.

"I just got home," Artemis replied first. "We didn't go too deep into the mines today since we had some things to clear with our new blacksmiths."

"Everything okay with them?" I asked.

"Yes, just getting them to work well with the miners and then also make sure they have access to the mines if they want to dig in their free time."

"Alright, I'm coming home now too," I replied. "What about you, Aphrodite?"

"Almost done with all of the new citizens-to-be," she said. "I am beyond exhausted with these people. No matter how many we admit into our city, there are always more wanting to come in. I think, for the next round of citizenships, we'll need to set stricter criteria for admitting them."

"Okay, we can talk about that some other time," I said as I got closer to our house. "There is a more pressing issue I'd like to talk about tonight."

"Have the servants prepare dinner and I'll be there just in time for it," Aphrodite said.

"Alright, but hurry up," Artemis told her. "You know I don't like eating my food cold."

As planned, Aphrodite came home smelling like fresh flowers and the evening summer breeze, right as dinner was being served to us. The people taking care of our homestead, including our most recent addition Antinoos, promptly retreated to their chambers immediately after the dishes were down, leaving us to enjoy our dinner privately.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" Artemis asked.

"The new guy who's just joined our servant crew," I said.

"Yeah, I thought I hadn't seen him before," Artemis replied.

"He used to serve me when I lived on my father's mountain," I continued. "He arrived today with a proposal from my father."

"What?" Artemis dropped her fork. "Are we in danger?"

"We always are. But weirdly enough this time we're in much less than usual," I said. "Father wants a truce."

"And what do you want?" Artemis asked instantly.

"I want him dead," I said, without even thinking about it. "But right now, he's waiting for my answer, so it's the best time to go forward with our plans."

"Which part of our plans?" Aphrodite asked.

"We know that Ares is in Niflheim..." I started, but Artemis jumped up from her chair.

"That's what I'm talking about!" she exclaimed and flexed her muscles. "The monsters in the forests and the underbelly of Mount Olympus are great and all, but I've been hearing more and more stories about what exists in the Norse realms."

"We're not going on a hunting trip, darling," Aphrodite said, amused by Artemis's excitement.

"Aren't we though?" she said, her voice higher than before. "We're hunting your brother, the god of war. We're going to bring him back from a place filled with monsters and beings we've never even seen before."

"I've been to Niflheim before," I said, shrugging.

"So have I," Aphrodite added.

"Well, I haven't," Artemis said, her excitement not waning one bit. "When are we leaving? Right now?"

"Ares has been waging war there for months now," Aphrodite said. "He'll still be there tomorrow morning."

"Aphrodite, can your magical oyster travel through rivers?" I asked, with a plan already in mind.

"As long as it can fully submerge in them, yes."

"There are rivers that lead all the way to the northern lands, far beyond the Greek territories," I said. "If we start now, we can take turns maneuvering the oyster toward the portal leading to the Niflheim in the frozen north."

"What are we waiting for?" Artemis said, jumping up and sprinting to our room. "Pack your things!"

* * *

Within thirty minutes, we had prepared everything we would need for our trip to the icy lands of the north. Our inventories were filled with all the necessary provisions and several of the people in our city were informed of our planned absence.

It turned out that Aphrodite had been preparing for a multi-day excursion such as this, and she had a list of people who would need to be notified--namely, the mortals responsible for the visitors and merchants who arrived daily, and those that were responsible for overseeing the construction and upgrades of buildings, as well as the integration of new citizens. Artemis gave a short note to the servants of our house, the leader of the pygmies, and the heads of the mining camp and the lumberyard.

Now that everyone had clear instructions on how they should operate during our absence, we were ready to embark on our first journey away from the guildhall since we'd established our domain here.

I rarely took after-midnight walks so it came as a surprise when we set out to see how peaceful yet bright our valley was. Construction had stopped for the day, and only occasional sounds from the workshops at the other end of our city could be heard. The full moon illuminated the terraces and roofs of the houses, the farms, and the walls around our guildhall.

"Let's go, people," Artemis said, still pumped up at the prospect of fighting new and powerful monsters in a world she had never set foot in before.

I smiled at Aphrodite as Artemis rushed through the portal. We followed her and instantly appeared on its other side, in the outskirts of the town of Dion. The guards bowed their heads in salute to the goddess of the hunt and then bowed even lower when they saw Aphrodite.

Aphrodite came down here regularly to pick up exceptional guests, ambassadors, or merchants, and Artemis would occasionally come down here for hunting. But they hadn't seen me for quite a while and appeared to have been taken by surprise. As soon as the initial shock wore off, they fell on their knees, foreheads touching the ground.

I had completely forgotten the level of worship these people had for me. They had changed the name of their city in my honor, so it was on me that I hadn't visited them for so long. I touched their shoulders to let them know they could stand again and promised myself that I would be visiting my constituents much more often once I returned.

Aphrodite gave the guards a few instructions about not letting anyone new through the portal while we were away and then headed for the port. This time though, we didn't go right to the marina. Instead, we walked to the sandy beach a few hundred feet away from it.

The goddess of love waved her hand at the sea and a foaming wave rose up in the distance, heading our direction. The gigantic oyster emerged from the waves and opened up in front of us, revealing a set of stairs leading down into its magical interior.

"Is this safe?" Artemis asked. "It doesn't look safe."

"It is very safe." Aphrodite tried to calm her. "There is an extra-dimensional space in there that makes it impossible for water to get inside. We can stay underwater for months without any problems."

"That isn't very helpful," Artemis replied, taking a hesitant step toward the vessel.

"If it's space you're worried about," I said, understanding what the issue was, "it's very comfortable in there. You won't notice a thing. And we can make stops and come outside whenever we want."

She nodded and her shoulders relaxed a tiny bit. She was by no means afraid of closed spaces, especially since she led the underground mining expeditions, clearing tunnels of monsters while exploring. But she was in complete control there. Locking herself in a magical prison submerged underwater, was completely strange and new to her.

"We might need to make a few stops for air," she said, stepping onto the oyster and then starting down the stairs. "Oh, you were right about this place being spacious."

Aphrodite looked at me as Artemis continued to praise the size and design of the oyster.

"Do you always know exactly what to say?" she asked, and grabbed my arm, pulling me down the stairs.

"Um..." I said, pretending to be searching for a smart response

She pinched my arm playfully.