Thorn flitted out the Tunnel, and was gone for some time, while Goldvine and I crafted some furniture and art pieces for their own apartment. I want my friends to feel at home, and comfortable in their apartment. Once finished Goldvine activated the sensory cutoff skill, and there was now a Void in my senses. I noticed it, but it could be easily ignored.
Once she emerged, Thorn returned. "Great one, we are in a lush jungle environment, and I noted several of the white tribe. They stick out from literally everything. They are malnourished as well, I suspect they can't do any farming or anything, due to raiding. Slavers tend to hunt those with white fur." At the mention of slavers, I felt a sense of rage, and both my friends shivered.
"Did you two feel that just now? If so, I apologize. The thought of Slavers is revolting to me. Sounds like we know who we're going to protect I guess. How tall are they on average,...if they're healthy that is." The two took a deep breath to calm their nerves.
"They are on average about six feet tall, usually slender and muscular. They are somewhat light sensitive, the brightest part of the day requires them to seek shade." I could tell that the word Goldvine said, didn't match the word I heard when she said Feet, but I assumed that was some Magic Translation at work, letting me hear what I needed to understand, and I assume the reverse was true.
Seemed like Human Standard measurements would work. 'can I get a fake core option, that will let me talk to my citizens? Something I can place in plain sight, and will self destruct if taken too far past my domain, so it can't be stolen.' My window flickered once more, and the option made itself known. 'I would also like a Slime variant that will digest sewage and make it clean water?' Again my window flickered, and a scavenger slime appeared in my monster summoning list. I then started building a tower similar to a light house, very tall, with a spiral stair wrapping around the tower. It topped off at 200 Feet, and at the top, I installed my fake core, with the real one directly below it, with a central shaft of open air allowing the Miasma to flow past the fake core, and funnel down to me.
Once the tower was complete, I felt exhausted, but only for a moment, as my area of influence had expanded, and my fake core acted as a Miasma magnet. From there, I spent time establishing the Sewer System laying it out for where I intended to have the buildings placed. I dug a trench to allow a small amount of water to flow through the whole system. Then I build a windmill powered water tower, and connected it with pipes to the river. As the wind hit the new water tower, the installed pump began pulling up water from the river.
While the tower filled, I spent time building a structure similar to an Inn, figuring that communal housing would suffice for starting out. The drain almost matched the income of Miasma. I attempted to create a field, but Thorn interrupted me. "Great one, six of the White ones are approaching your tower!"
Sure enough, when I switched my focus onto the people, the one who seemed to be their leader started to climb the stairs of the Tower itself, followed by a woman, much to his obvious displeasure. Presumably his wife, not listening as he tells her to stay where it's safe. Once he gave up, the two of them climbed the tower. They finally reached the top after ten minutes or so. "Greetings to you, and welcome, I hope Home! I'm only getting started, but there is a Structure for you all to share at the moment. I will build more as time progresses. My next thought was to create a farm field, but perhaps summoning some creature that can be slaughtered for food would be better just now?"
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
The two were stunned at my voice. "I thought this was a strange dungeon, what with the Miasma flowing here so strongly, but Dungeons don't talk."
I chuckled. "You're not entirely to blame for the misconception, and not entirely wrong either. I used to be a creature very similar to you, so when I was told I would become a Dungeon Core, I refused. Once i knew what a Core did, I suggested something new. A City Core, instead of challenging you, I will protect you. I will make a stronghold for your people, and ask you to protect me, the same as I will protect you. I would offer my name, but the name I had in my past life wouldn't work here. So when you decide on the name of the City, that will be my name as well, so please remember that when naming this place."
The man's wife being more practical, and less overwhelmed by the knowledge bombs I just dropped spoke next. "I am Nialda, headwoman of our group. Some sort of Prey would be greatly appreciated, but what do you mean by summoning?" In answer, having spotted a foul that would serve as a decent source of protein among my possible summons, I manifested it right in front of them, and on instinct the Man had his claws out, and passing through the neck of the bird before it could so much as cry out in surprise. The two sat stunned for a moment, before a grin spread across their faces.
"How many more of those do you need for today? I can summon them as soon as you reach the ground again."
The man straightened. "I am Myndin, Headman of our group. I thank you for this, but we have not eaten well for some time, this will suffice for today, as we will have to take out time eating it." Just then, the water had finally reached sufficient levels to activate a fountain I had placed at the foot of the tower. I had built a filtration system to ensure the water would be clean, and safe to drink no matter where it came from.
"You'll find that there are taps inside the building to provide hot and cold running water. Two large sinks in the Kitchen, one in the Laundry area connected to a large vat that can be heated to boiling to clean clothes, then in the restrooms so you can bathe, wash hands, or faces, and there are special fixtures to relieve yourselves in privacy and by pressing the silver looking handle, flush the mess away. I'll setup the farm field as I mentioned, but then I think a Tailor's Shop, cause your clothes are rather patch work at this point, so being able to craft new clothes probably would make everyone feel better. Do let me know if there's any specific foods, or materials I can possibly try and create, I'll do my best to help you all. Though setting up defensive walls is a high priority, don't want to lose anyone cause I wasn't ready for enemies."
The smiling couple took their bird, and bowed as they left to talk to their group. They had found stability at long last, a protector. I finished the field, with irrigation system setup, built the tailor's shop as promised, and provided some simple cloth, leather, and threads for their use, as well as the tools to work them. Then I decided to use a Six Point Star design for the Walls, with residential areas in the points, and a fortress at the actual point of each. The Gates were at the base of two points, and the walls themselves were lined with Ballista on swiveling mounts all with stacks of projectiles ready for use. It took nearly the whole night to finish the wall, but it was there, and ready to protect my new people. Including an inner Hexagonal wall that cut off the points from the center, requiring more gates, just in case the point was breached, there would be another wall in the way. The walls were sixty feet tall, and nearly twelve feet thick. Being built of Dungeon Stone, it was neigh indestructible, and in time, this city would be a force to be taken seriously. Just before Dawn, I summoned the Scavenger Slime into the septic pit in order to begin consuming the mess that resulted from having living people in an area. Doing this tapped out my Miasma bank, and rendered me dormant for some time.