A couple days later, we were getting closer to Burch Dukedom. This was going to be where our current adventuring mission of escorting Mariina would end, so we could go our separate ways. Or she could hire us for another job to take her to the capital, as that is where I’m planning to go next.
But that isn’t what is important at the moment. The important thing is something completely different. HomeBase. Factory tests are done. I have all of the magic stones that have Pitch-Black Power Stones installed in them. I have the flowers that have Magical Plant Mandragolas installed in them. Of course I have the Magical Citadel of Endymion, which will act as the field spell for this plan. And I have the SS-rank core of the world treant converted into a magic stone, which I will use as a false core for HomeBase.
Spoiler
[collapse]
In short, everything is ready and I can start the installation process at HomeBase. Just as soon as we get to the city, because I want to have Alice, Lua, Agunan and Ria there when we achieve lift off.
Well, it will still take at least all of today for us to reach the city, and I do have a lot to do, so after breakfast, I jumped into Gradius and flew over to HomeBase, so I could start the installs. And planting the flowers and all of that.
After a full day of work, I had the mana factory set up. The flowers were planted, and while it would take them about three days to grow to the point where they could make me Spell Counters, that isn’t bad at all. I probably wouldn’t have gotten all of them planted in just a day, but with Green Phantom King, Queen of Autumn Leaves, Prickle Fairy and Rose Spectre of Dunn helping me, we got it done.
Spoiler
[collapse]
The magic stones were buried under the soil where the flowers were, and of course, the area above HomeBase now had a big beautiful citadel, ready for our use. … okay, it actually isn’t ready at all, because the building is completely empty, but we can work on that later.
Now I’ll just have to wait the few days it will take for the flowers to grow, and then…
I’ll have a floating island.
The next three days were a lot more fun. In my opinion, at least. Because HomeBase was ready to go, well almost, my queue of extra work to do was suddenly basically empty. So back to being ‘regular’. Always feels good to not have extra work like that. Thank God I can at least sleep well, with both Lua and Alice being able to put me to sleep if I’m stressed out about my work. I think I might go insane if I don’t get enough sleep.
So yeah. With more time on my hands, I was able to once again focus more on training my skills. Mainly Space Magic, Draconic Magic, Spirit Magic and of course my sword skills.
For sword practice, I was actually doing a lot with Alice. She now had the skill for polearms, so it was actually quite a bit of fun having mock battles with her. I did have to hold back a bit, and I also used a different sword than my usual mithril sword, because if I used the mithril sword, there is a chance I’d just cut Alice’s swordstaff in half. I don’t really have the skills for that yet, but the first time I used the mithril sword against her swordstaff, I cut quite the groove into it. So instead I was now using just a mediocre iron sword. It wasn’t even steel, so it would get damaged by our matches, but thankfully not to the point where Storage cannot fix it.
To balance things out between Lua and Alice, I would also do my spirit training with Lua. Sure she cannot learn the Spirit Magic skill, as it is racial, but she could still improve her skills with the spirit synchro.
Then on the… how many days has it been? Well, three since I planted the flowers at HomeBase, so… five since we left Pekkers. Anyway, timelines aside. We reached our goal, the Burch Dukedom, or to be precise, Burch city.
It was a large city, easily double the size of Sawyer city. Sure it might not match up to The Hero’s country, but still a very nice large city. It was built close to a small fortified town, which had a large dungeon underneath it. That dungeon was a source of multiple valuable items, so this city was a place where adventurers would come and sell the stuff they wanted, and spend all the money they earned. The economy here was quite booming because of that.
As for why the dungeon isn’t inside the city. Well, that should be simple. While rare, if the dungeon does spawn too many monsters, there is a chance those monsters will rush out of the dungeon and invade the surface. And I don’t think I have to tell you that you don’t want that inside a large city.
Getting inside the city wasn’t too bad. Mainly because we could just skip the lines by using the entrance for nobles. Agunan was just a bit of a problem, but he had his guild card, so they let him in.
After getting inside the city, our group broke up. Well, more like Mariina’s group went their separate way from us. Unlike us, she had a place in a villa of some noble living in this town. Not Duke Burch, but some lesser noble. We could have tried ‘invading’ that place, but we don’t really need to. We have a HomeBase to get to, because tomorrow, it is time.
We would still spend the next night in the city though. We could also go on a massive shopping spree in the city, just so we could fill the citadel up with … well, whatever we want. Then tomorrow, fly to HomeBase and have it lift off.
“My Lord… that store… it is the one that… wanted me.” Wilma told me quietly as we walked past a decently large storefront.
“The ones that opened that second workshop in Pekkers? Alright. I guess we will be avoiding it.” I decided.
While I had no proof that this Blanken Trading Company was responsible for all the troubles we ran into in Pekkers, if they are the ones that drove Wilma into a corner, they are at least somewhat to blame. I won’t go marching in there, or anything like that, as it could just be some regional manager who actually attacked her. And even then, we have basically no proof, so there is no reason to confront them.
I did make sure to ask Einar and Eline about the store, but they didn’t recognize it, so the store likely wasn’t involved in the illegal slave mark mess. If they were, I’d have sent a letter to Mariina, asking her to look into this company. But as it still might be involved with Wilma, I should still ask one of the local nobles to look into it, if I have a chance to do so.
We ended up spending the night in a lovely inn at the outer edge of the city. It was a lot better for us than some high-class place, as our group is a bit all over the place.
… and the best high-class in of the city is owned by that Blanken company, and I don’t feel like giving them that much revenue. They might even try something funny, if they recognize Wilma.
I got us a total of three separate rooms. I was with Alice and Lua, obviously. Ria was with Wilma, and I left Agunan in charge of the catfolk. Sorry to push them on you, but they are good kids, so you should be fine.
The next morning, we enjoyed quite the lovely breakfast at the inn's dining hall, before heading back into the city. We still had a few things we were going to pick up, and then we’d be heading out.
We split up into three groups. Agunan, Lua and Wilma, Ria and Alice, and I was with the catfolk. The reason for this split was quite simple. The three of us that could use the System Support were in separate groups, so we could keep in contact. Alice, Lua and I can also all use storage, so that is a nice added benefit.
After we completed our shopping, we regrouped at a restaurant recommended to us by the inn we stayed at and enjoyed a good lunch.
After dinner, we headed out of the city. Then a short walk, well a carriage ride really, later, I summoned Big Core and we got everyone on board. Wilma and the catfolk had already ridden Crystal Core on our way back to Pekkers, so Big Core was just fine for them.
Now I know you think it might be a bit premature to bring Wilma and the catfolk to HomeBase, and honestly it might be, but I made the false core and everything, so they won’t learn the truth about what that place really is.
“Welcome to HomeBase. I think you three will end up spending quite a bit of time here, so please get familiar with it soon.” I introduced the three new people to the place.
“... I didn’t know there was a place like this in the Ever forest.” Wilma admitted. “I thought nobody would ever come here. Especially this deep.”
“Well, I’m not a nobody. I’m Brian, so I came here.” I joked a bit, even if the joke was bad. “Please take a seat.” I told them, as I set out some cheap-ish chairs I picked up from Burch city. I could have gotten something better, but this will work for now.
I left the others outside, inside the citadel area, but still outside the main building itself, while I entered the tower. Then I used the magic elevator to reach the control room, and the false dungeon core made from the world treant’s core.
“Alright. Endymion, the Master Magician. Come out here, I need your help.” I said, as I summoned my monster.
Spoiler
Yes. Endy can be normal summoned without the counters, so Brian can just call him out like he would any other monster.
[collapse]
All of the magic and the spells we would need were already set up in the false core, as well as backed up on the Chaos God Core, so we were all set to go. I just needed Endymion here, as quite a few things would be happening at the same time. Even with both Laura and me working on this, we might get overwhelmed, so better to have someone checking up on our work.
“Alright. Let’s activate the primary levitation spell.” I said, as I switched the spell on. One of the monitors showing security footage from outside showed a magic circle being drawn into the air.
Once it was fully complete, and Laura confirmed that it was the right one, I activated the other four spells we would need for flight. Technically we only needed one other one, but the other three could quickly become necessary. And my mana factory can more than keep up with these spells, so better to use them, than not to use them.
“Master. The initial spells have fully activated. We are ready to lift off.” Endymion told me.
“Good.” I said, as I picked up something akin to a microphone, which let me talk to the others sitting outside.
“... Ladies and Gentlemen. Dragons, dwarves, catfolk, dhampirs and magical girls. Welcome to the lift off of HomeBase. I recommend you hold onto your seats, because while this shouldn’t get too bumpy, I cannot guarantee a perfectly smooth ride. I shall soon commence the countdown.” I announced to the people outside. Lua, Alice, Agunan and Ria didn’t really react, as they are used to my usual antics by now, but Wilma and the catfolk kids did look around, as if trying to see where I’m talking to them from.
“Endy, monitor everything, thanks.” I told Endymion. Then I once again spoke into the mic. “We will lift off in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Lift OFF!” I called out, as I turned the spells to take-off power.
I felt a minor earthquake as the entire dungeon separated itself from the ground. I had already done a basic separation, but some parts were still just a bit attached, so the entire now floating island shook a bit, as those parts separated.
As soon as I noticed us being fully separate from the ground, I lowered the power of the main floatation spell. It was what would give us our altitude, but I didn’t want to go too high. My first goal was literally just to liberate HomeBase from the ground below, and I had achieved that. Now by ramping up the power of the main floatation spell, we could pick up altitude and lower ourselves back down. Then using one of the support spells, we could move in any direction we would want. The other three spells were for air, environmental control and defense. In case something went wrong, and we would have blasted off into the stratosphere or something, the air control spell could get us enough air so we could breath. The environmental control spell is necessary so that my flowers will stay in perfect health, no matter where I move this floating island to. And the defense. Well, that one should be obvious. Don’t want some strong flying monster attacking this place.
“Master. Mana values are as expected. We are set and floating.” Endymion told me.
“Good. Thanks, Endy. I’ll go outside and speak with the others. Please continue to monitor the mana levels, and if anything appears wrong, gently lower us down to the ground.”
“As you wish, Master.”
Leaving Endymion, the Master Magician in charge of the control room, I left the room, used the magic elevator to move to the ground floor, and headed outside where the others were sitting.
I wonder how they will react when they realize they are on a floating island?
nro_8 I'll admit. I did somewhat rush HomeBase into the air, but it has been something Brian has been working on in the background, and I just wanted it done, so here we are. Floating HomeBase. Now Brian and the crew will have a great place to always come back to after their day-trips. Or longer trips. Either way.
A couple days later, we were getting closer to Burch Dukedom. This was going to be where our current adventuring mission of escorting Mariina would end, so we could go our separate ways. Or she could hire us for another job to take her to the capital, as that is where I’m planning to go next.
But that isn’t what is important at the moment. The important thing is something completely different. HomeBase. Factory tests are done. I have all of the magic stones that have Pitch-Black Power Stones installed in them. I have the flowers that have Magical Plant Mandragolas installed in them. Of course I have the Magical Citadel of Endymion, which will act as the field spell for this plan. And I have the SS-rank core of the world treant converted into a magic stone, which I will use as a false core for HomeBase.
Spoiler
[collapse]
In short, everything is ready and I can start the installation process at HomeBase. Just as soon as we get to the city, because I want to have Alice, Lua, Agunan and Ria there when we achieve lift off.
Well, it will still take at least all of today for us to reach the city, and I do have a lot to do, so after breakfast, I jumped into Gradius and flew over to HomeBase, so I could start the installs. And planting the flowers and all of that.
After a full day of work, I had the mana factory set up. The flowers were planted, and while it would take them about three days to grow to the point where they could make me Spell Counters, that isn’t bad at all. I probably wouldn’t have gotten all of them planted in just a day, but with Green Phantom King, Queen of Autumn Leaves, Prickle Fairy and Rose Spectre of Dunn helping me, we got it done.
Spoiler
[collapse]
The magic stones were buried under the soil where the flowers were, and of course, the area above HomeBase now had a big beautiful citadel, ready for our use. … okay, it actually isn’t ready at all, because the building is completely empty, but we can work on that later.
Now I’ll just have to wait the few days it will take for the flowers to grow, and then…
I’ll have a floating island.
The next three days were a lot more fun. In my opinion, at least. Because HomeBase was ready to go, well almost, my queue of extra work to do was suddenly basically empty. So back to being ‘regular’. Always feels good to not have extra work like that. Thank God I can at least sleep well, with both Lua and Alice being able to put me to sleep if I’m stressed out about my work. I think I might go insane if I don’t get enough sleep.
So yeah. With more time on my hands, I was able to once again focus more on training my skills. Mainly Space Magic, Draconic Magic, Spirit Magic and of course my sword skills.
For sword practice, I was actually doing a lot with Alice. She now had the skill for polearms, so it was actually quite a bit of fun having mock battles with her. I did have to hold back a bit, and I also used a different sword than my usual mithril sword, because if I used the mithril sword, there is a chance I’d just cut Alice’s swordstaff in half. I don’t really have the skills for that yet, but the first time I used the mithril sword against her swordstaff, I cut quite the groove into it. So instead I was now using just a mediocre iron sword. It wasn’t even steel, so it would get damaged by our matches, but thankfully not to the point where Storage cannot fix it.
To balance things out between Lua and Alice, I would also do my spirit training with Lua. Sure she cannot learn the Spirit Magic skill, as it is racial, but she could still improve her skills with the spirit synchro.
Then on the… how many days has it been? Well, three since I planted the flowers at HomeBase, so… five since we left Pekkers. Anyway, timelines aside. We reached our goal, the Burch Dukedom, or to be precise, Burch city.
It was a large city, easily double the size of Sawyer city. Sure it might not match up to The Hero’s country, but still a very nice large city. It was built close to a small fortified town, which had a large dungeon underneath it. That dungeon was a source of multiple valuable items, so this city was a place where adventurers would come and sell the stuff they wanted, and spend all the money they earned. The economy here was quite booming because of that.
As for why the dungeon isn’t inside the city. Well, that should be simple. While rare, if the dungeon does spawn too many monsters, there is a chance those monsters will rush out of the dungeon and invade the surface. And I don’t think I have to tell you that you don’t want that inside a large city.
Getting inside the city wasn’t too bad. Mainly because we could just skip the lines by using the entrance for nobles. Agunan was just a bit of a problem, but he had his guild card, so they let him in.
After getting inside the city, our group broke up. Well, more like Mariina’s group went their separate way from us. Unlike us, she had a place in a villa of some noble living in this town. Not Duke Burch, but some lesser noble. We could have tried ‘invading’ that place, but we don’t really need to. We have a HomeBase to get to, because tomorrow, it is time.
We would still spend the next night in the city though. We could also go on a massive shopping spree in the city, just so we could fill the citadel up with … well, whatever we want. Then tomorrow, fly to HomeBase and have it lift off.
“My Lord… that store… it is the one that… wanted me.” Wilma told me quietly as we walked past a decently large storefront.
“The ones that opened that second workshop in Pekkers? Alright. I guess we will be avoiding it.” I decided.
While I had no proof that this Blanken Trading Company was responsible for all the troubles we ran into in Pekkers, if they are the ones that drove Wilma into a corner, they are at least somewhat to blame. I won’t go marching in there, or anything like that, as it could just be some regional manager who actually attacked her. And even then, we have basically no proof, so there is no reason to confront them.
I did make sure to ask Einar and Eline about the store, but they didn’t recognize it, so the store likely wasn’t involved in the illegal slave mark mess. If they were, I’d have sent a letter to Mariina, asking her to look into this company. But as it still might be involved with Wilma, I should still ask one of the local nobles to look into it, if I have a chance to do so.
We ended up spending the night in a lovely inn at the outer edge of the city. It was a lot better for us than some high-class place, as our group is a bit all over the place.
… and the best high-class in of the city is owned by that Blanken company, and I don’t feel like giving them that much revenue. They might even try something funny, if they recognize Wilma.
I got us a total of three separate rooms. I was with Alice and Lua, obviously. Ria was with Wilma, and I left Agunan in charge of the catfolk. Sorry to push them on you, but they are good kids, so you should be fine.
The next morning, we enjoyed quite the lovely breakfast at the inn's dining hall, before heading back into the city. We still had a few things we were going to pick up, and then we’d be heading out.
We split up into three groups. Agunan, Lua and Wilma, Ria and Alice, and I was with the catfolk. The reason for this split was quite simple. The three of us that could use the System Support were in separate groups, so we could keep in contact. Alice, Lua and I can also all use storage, so that is a nice added benefit.
After we completed our shopping, we regrouped at a restaurant recommended to us by the inn we stayed at and enjoyed a good lunch.
After dinner, we headed out of the city. Then a short walk, well a carriage ride really, later, I summoned Big Core and we got everyone on board. Wilma and the catfolk had already ridden Crystal Core on our way back to Pekkers, so Big Core was just fine for them.
Now I know you think it might be a bit premature to bring Wilma and the catfolk to HomeBase, and honestly it might be, but I made the false core and everything, so they won’t learn the truth about what that place really is.
“Welcome to HomeBase. I think you three will end up spending quite a bit of time here, so please get familiar with it soon.” I introduced the three new people to the place.
“... I didn’t know there was a place like this in the Ever forest.” Wilma admitted. “I thought nobody would ever come here. Especially this deep.”
“Well, I’m not a nobody. I’m Brian, so I came here.” I joked a bit, even if the joke was bad. “Please take a seat.” I told them, as I set out some cheap-ish chairs I picked up from Burch city. I could have gotten something better, but this will work for now.
I left the others outside, inside the citadel area, but still outside the main building itself, while I entered the tower. Then I used the magic elevator to reach the control room, and the false dungeon core made from the world treant’s core.
“Alright. Endymion, the Master Magician. Come out here, I need your help.” I said, as I summoned my monster.
Spoiler
Yes. Endy can be normal summoned without the counters, so Brian can just call him out like he would any other monster.
[collapse]
All of the magic and the spells we would need were already set up in the false core, as well as backed up on the Chaos God Core, so we were all set to go. I just needed Endymion here, as quite a few things would be happening at the same time. Even with both Laura and me working on this, we might get overwhelmed, so better to have someone checking up on our work.
“Alright. Let’s activate the primary levitation spell.” I said, as I switched the spell on. One of the monitors showing security footage from outside showed a magic circle being drawn into the air.
Once it was fully complete, and Laura confirmed that it was the right one, I activated the other four spells we would need for flight. Technically we only needed one other one, but the other three could quickly become necessary. And my mana factory can more than keep up with these spells, so better to use them, than not to use them.
“Master. The initial spells have fully activated. We are ready to lift off.” Endymion told me.
“Good.” I said, as I picked up something akin to a microphone, which let me talk to the others sitting outside.
“... Ladies and Gentlemen. Dragons, dwarves, catfolk, dhampirs and magical girls. Welcome to the lift off of HomeBase. I recommend you hold onto your seats, because while this shouldn’t get too bumpy, I cannot guarantee a perfectly smooth ride. I shall soon commence the countdown.” I announced to the people outside. Lua, Alice, Agunan and Ria didn’t really react, as they are used to my usual antics by now, but Wilma and the catfolk kids did look around, as if trying to see where I’m talking to them from.
“Endy, monitor everything, thanks.” I told Endymion. Then I once again spoke into the mic. “We will lift off in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Lift OFF!” I called out, as I turned the spells to take-off power.
I felt a minor earthquake as the entire dungeon separated itself from the ground. I had already done a basic separation, but some parts were still just a bit attached, so the entire now floating island shook a bit, as those parts separated.
As soon as I noticed us being fully separate from the ground, I lowered the power of the main floatation spell. It was what would give us our altitude, but I didn’t want to go too high. My first goal was literally just to liberate HomeBase from the ground below, and I had achieved that. Now by ramping up the power of the main floatation spell, we could pick up altitude and lower ourselves back down. Then using one of the support spells, we could move in any direction we would want. The other three spells were for air, environmental control and defense. In case something went wrong, and we would have blasted off into the stratosphere or something, the air control spell could get us enough air so we could breath. The environmental control spell is necessary so that my flowers will stay in perfect health, no matter where I move this floating island to. And the defense. Well, that one should be obvious. Don’t want some strong flying monster attacking this place.
“Master. Mana values are as expected. We are set and floating.” Endymion told me.
“Good. Thanks, Endy. I’ll go outside and speak with the others. Please continue to monitor the mana levels, and if anything appears wrong, gently lower us down to the ground.”
“As you wish, Master.”
Leaving Endymion, the Master Magician in charge of the control room, I left the room, used the magic elevator to move to the ground floor, and headed outside where the others were sitting.
I wonder how they will react when they realize they are on a floating island?
nro_8 I'll admit. I did somewhat rush HomeBase into the air, but it has been something Brian has been working on in the background, and I just wanted it done, so here we are. Floating HomeBase. Now Brian and the crew will have a great place to always come back to after their day-trips. Or longer trips. Either way.
