When the dungeon gave news of its 'nap', Arthur was confused, worried to be certain, but confused for the most part. Sure, dungeons have been seen to take periods of 'low activity' from time to time, but even then, they tend to last for years to decades, so when the message said that it'd be back in a few months, he became confused. Of course, when the dungeon explained later that whatever was going on was required, he acknowledged, he had no real choice in the matter. So, when the increasingly oppressive waves of mana being spewed out of the dungeon began to calm down for the first time, he felt relieved. The seemingly ever-increasing levels of mana were beginning to be a major concern for his camp, scouts were reporting more crazed wildlife, and the magic users amongst their number were fearing that mutants may even begin to form soon, and once those pop up then they'll never stop.

With this calming of the mana, that was unlikely to happen now, if it had continued any further, they might have had a real problem on their hands. But thankfully that meant that so long as his scouts dealt with mad animals, the work on the fortress could continue with impunity, and thankfully the strange automatons were still helping them quarry and cut stone when someone wasn't in the dungeon. Speaking of which, the dungeon had permitted them to continue training and harvesting in the dungeon so long as they were among the trusted and loyal few, namely himself, his brother Ed, the future champions who had recently left the dungeon, and a few others from around the camp. Speaking of the kids, or as he should say, the honorable third, fourth, a few fifths, and second sons and daughters of the Outer Court nobility, they seemed to be taking their lessons better than expected, especially the few that were more outspoken about their distaste for being trained by dungeon monsters of all things. It seemed though that something beat the disgust out of them, they were still far from ready, they had just started essentially, but they had taken a good first step, while exposing themselves to that much mana is dangerous, it is also valuable beyond words.

To make a champion, a person typically reaches their limits and then bathes in mana, allowing the mystical energy to transform their bodies so that they may achieve greater feats later. The approach of the kids was different, exposing themselves to pure dungeon mana while so young and developing meant that they would have an intuitive understanding of magic and how to more intelligently use mana to improve their bodies. It was a type of training that was famous with the Inner Court ever since the empire absorbed the former Kingdom of Loong, a nation far to the southeast. To see the dungeon having recreated that training was amusing to Arthur, these kids' inheriting siblings wouldn't have the capital or influence to try such a training method, but here they were just being handed it to them.

Still, it would be a long while before they became useful against the ones they were meant to fight, and as such Arthur needed to accelerate the building without making any mistakes. The first thing he needed to do was finish the fortress proper, an easy task with all the stone and metal they've accumulated thanks to the dungeon, as well as begin the creation of the districts. The purpose of the districts was simple, sizeable extensions of the main fort that would provide a service, similar to a city district but smaller, and more contained. The only issue was the placement of it all, the primary fortress was being built into the mountain itself for both time and resource-saving reasons, but due to the somewhat awkward design of the mountain, it would be difficult, maybe even impossible to connect them directly.

"Perhaps milord, we could do a staggered method?"

The suggestion came from a stone mage, a rather unassuming man with a lame leg. And his idea wasn't without merit, rather than bundling everything together, they could instead create several outposts that double as a service provider in some capacity. Hmmm, yes, he thinks he'll go with that.

"Good idea, eh, sir."

It would be embarrassing to not know his subordinate's names but now that he thought of it, he couldn't actually recall having a stone mage that looked like this one.

"Wait who are-"

But there was no one, just a gentle breeze, with the odd smell of metal and smoke, almost like a forge he'd say. Arthur put it out of his mind, maybe a trick of sleeplessness, regardless though, it wasn’t a bad idea. A staggered setup would give the primary fortress time to prepare and provide a funneled bottleneck his men could control. The biggest issue is that given the terrain there wouldn’t be very many people in the smaller settlements, maybe 100 or so at the maximum.

This size limitation would be a long-term issue to deal with and that wasn’t considering the necessary space for storage. Most likely he’d need to establish a regular supply system to keep everyone fed without tapping their long-term resources, assuming nothing went wrong. Looking over the mountain, the dungeon was situated near the apex of the smallest peak, impossible to scale from the sides, and difficult for large groups to ascend as the caravan experienced before. Below that was a slope that led to the forest his camp was currently, neighbored by the ogres, and below that was a series of rocky paths and flatter regions that did hold some potential for encampments or gates.

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Another consideration is that he’ll have to host several sects in and around the mountain, and as useful as it would be to bundle them up and throw them into some smelly valley nearby, he doubted they would go for that.

Hmmm.

Some of them could tolerate each other if the situation was right, perhaps he could group some of them up? Most expressed in some form or another that they expected him to provide for them some land they could use, an idea most others would be insulted by, and he was too, but with the situation as it was, Arthur would need to swallow his pride and move on. His idea centered on granting land that would place them against other sects, essentially, he’d use their greed against them.

How would this work though, well, the answer lies in the ground itself. Despite being rich in mana, the soil is incredibly tough and infertile, what few hamlets and villages there are around here are reliant on hunting and herding to survive. But those alone wouldn’t be enough, not if the dozen or so sects wanted permanent presences on Nightingale land.

What would be enough though, was how Arthur planned to help them, see, Arthur was raised a skeptic of the sects and the multitudes of smaller cults, not because he doubted the gods of the realm, but because he was taught to distrust the organizations that sprung up around them. What Arthur would do is offer help in the form of food and possibly even tools, but using the goodwill generated from that he would push them against their ‘neighbors’ while remaining in the clear as far as others knew. Of course, he’d be careful about it, it wouldn’t do to let it out what he was planning, it also didn’t help that he planned on continuing to use Hestra’s skill in manipulation, if only to a small degree.

Ed probably wouldn’t like it, he always hated using people and so did Arthur, but unlike his brother, Arthur knew that when the day came for his inheritance and his father’s intelligence network, he’d have to order things far worse than just a little trickery.

And so, two weeks after the dungeon fell silent, he sat across his brother’s familiar for another time.

“My, my, I’m starting to think you might just like me.”

” That’s enough creature, I have need of your services, and as your master’s kin and lord, you will do as I say.”

” Well it’s about time I’d say that little elf tart seemed like she could warm your bed, but I guess-”

Arthur quickly drew his blade at her throat, a face of anger written on his face.

” Be quiet demon, I have no time for your games.”

She pouted.

” Oh, very well, I’ll be a very good girl then.”

If the creature wasn’t his brother’s familiar then he’d swear against her, unfortunately, that was not the world he lived in.

“I need you to begin creating some form of liquid or gas that could spread your presence around.”

” Oh? And tell me why I should, my little Eddy gives me the blood and hearts of monsters and men, and while he never enjoyed my presence at night, he certainly let me enjoy others while he was with some hussy or other he knew.”

Arthur very much doubted that she meant he was with women for that reason, more likely than not they were academy friends or other adventurers he knew, Ed wasn’t that sort of man, which did make his rather odd relationship with the mage, Lily he thinks the name was, so odd.

“Perhaps you do get plenty from my brother, but in the coming days he will be busier with the dungeon, and just how much blood, how many hearts, and what lovers could you find in a dungeon of metal beasts and rat men?”

” Well…”

” Well, nothing, I am not asking you to break your oath to my brother, I just need you to prepare some materials for me so that I can make life easier for me and my brother, Ed doesn’t even need to know.”

” Hmm, I’m impressed lordling, truly, but I would be breaking certain terms of our pact by doing what you ask of me, and unlike the rabble of the lower class, I abide by my deals, even if others do not.”

“Then don’t, simply push your magic into some items or tools while you defend me.”

” Defend, from what?”

It was then that one of the worker machines that was lent to Arthur began to enter the tent, a rotating stone cutter was raised at the two.

” What is this Arthur, what did you do to it?”

” Just something I learned; I was never good at magic, but I was good with my hands.”

The machine lunged at Arthur, only to be blasted with infernal magic as it was mid-air. Hestra’s arm was reached out, the putrid scent of infernal magic still wafting from her hand. But the machine wasn’t done, its arm was in pieces, but it could still move on, and move forward with its other arm, extending a claw-like grip toward Arthur’s neck as the demons used a sludge-like water to crush more of its body. This continued until eventually there was little left of the thing, only magically infused pieces of metal.

“That wasn’t so hard now wasn’t it.”

Arthur began to pick up the pieces himself, storing them in a special chest he reserved for special items.

” You are playing a dangerous game mortal, one that has felled men and women far greater than you!”

” I know, I just don’t care, all that matters to me is my family, you may go now.”

” Hmph, I guess you have my magic then, I suppose I’ll just take my leave then, Eddy would at least entertain me.”

She began to walk out, only for Arthur to grab her arm.

” Also, never speak of my family so casually demon, or I’m going to have to do more than a simple trick if I want you to go raving mad.”

” Hmph…”

She left the tent, irritated, but that matters little to Arthur.

” Yes, this shall do nicely, soon I’ll have them eat out of my hand in one, and their trust as they rip each other apart in the other”

And so, he began to plan farther into the night, unaware or uncaring of the little blue box at the corner of his vision.

Infernal Attribute Unlock: 20%