Chương 70: Chapter 69 - Waketown

"Nythera, can you shoot it with the cannon?" Dominic whispered from below.

"There's no space to summon the cannon, also it can't shoot straight up" she whispered back"What about that arm cannon?" The arm cannon? I suppose it could work, but I'm not sure I've recovered yet. She tried flexing her arm and found it functional. Holding her arm straight up, aimed at the bottom of the jaw of the serpent, Nythera winced when she tugged on the skill. And found no pain. Relaxing, she allowed the flux to concentrate in her outstretched arm, building into an point of power at her palm.

The scales shifted, sliding out.

"FIRE" She screamed. A shower of brain bits and blood cascaded on her. The coiled towered loosened, falling outwards. Dominic and Rowen pushed out the coils, clearing the serpentine monster from the depot entrance so it could slide shut. Nythera ripped the fangs from the flesh they were attached to, wiping it off on a tree. Could make some decent daggers, Borris will pay well for these.

"A shame, the scales would do well as armor, but we don't have the time to skin it and its way beyond what we can haul back" Dominic sighed, "Unless we can shove it in that spatial artifact of yours, milady" he said wistfully. She shook her head "I don't think it'll fit through the lid, and even if it did, I don't want animal guts all over my shit".

"Very well, a real shame to be wasting such a fine beast. I think its one of Myrravals native inhabitants, it lacks the typical hallmarks of a dungeon-made fluxspawn" Dominic said Nythera pulled out her map and marked the approximate spot she believed they were at, as well as the dungeon. That should do it, another new dungeon that we do not have the resources to utilize… yet. I bet the land around here would make exceedingly good farmland with all the life–flux.

The council will be pleased, which keeps them off my back. Which means I can keep exploring, everyone's happy.

"Which way is back?" Dominic leaned over her shoulder. She pointed off into the forest.

"By my estimate, we are several hours from the shore of the Mirrorwake" They departed through the woods, reinvigorated with the recent discoveries, and the excitement at getting to tell grand tales at Marco's over a beer. … The party broke through the treeline into a clearing of growth, several wagons wide, where the trees and foliage was considerably shorter than on either side. It extended to both the left and right.

"A timberjaw path, I suspect" Rowen said, jumping up to peer over the low foliage.

"The timberjaws clear forest so new trees can grow, God's Wrath doesn't hit the interior afterall" Dominic hacked a path straight through the dense grasses. It's been awhile since I checked on the domain populations, I wonder how the two are doing? With the immigrants I would expect a good spike, maybe close enough for Baron? Domain Cores (2/2): Myrraval Population: 2, 337 Mistvale Population: 1, 508 Or not…

I think it's 5, 000 people to baron, still a ways to go, though Myrraval is growing exceedingly fast, almost 100 new people already! Hours later, the trees thinned to pines and the mists of the Mirrowake obscured the woods. Right up until Rowen was stepping into the mud on its shores. Cartographer (lvl 10 > 12) Cartography (lvl 18 > 20)(Capped) Nythera pumped one fist. YES, Shelly wasn't kidding, fieldwork gives fantastic experience returns.

Though for a whole new dungeon and depot I was hoping for a bit more than two profession levels. Oh well. Dominic spat out onto the water.

"Where is our return ship?" Rowen asked.

"I have no fucking clue, Frank was supposed to be close enough to see from shore. FRANK WHERE ARE YOU?" Dominic bellowed across the waters. Waiting by the bank for thirty minutes, no matter how many times Dominic screamed across the water, no barge appeared.

"We got no choice, we are going to have to go around the lake till we reach Waketown" Dominic scowled. Setting out to cross the northside, where the rivers were thinnest, they forded through and over a dozen small creeks and rivers before arriving at an impossible wide obstacle. Oh, this must be the river I crossed when getting chased by that bear.

"There are two rivers, two giant rivers feeding into the Mirrorwake, and we can't cross either unless we venture deep inland" Dominic said with a grim look.

"FRANK IF YOU DO NOT GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE I WILL SKIN YOU AND FEED YOU TO HENRY" Dominic's voice was a desperate screech across the gentle waves of the lake.

"You blasted youngin' what you doing all the way over 'ere" Frank's grumbling came across the waters as a familiar raft drifted into view through the mists.

"Ya told me to wait over there, and I did, and you weren't there, now you want me here and you're threatening to feed me to muh dear companion? Ungrateful runt" Frank spat into the water, and stumbled against the railing, clearly drunk. Kennick leaped on the raft first, steadying it against the shoreline. Dominic was next, followed by Nythera and then Rowen.

"I ought to charge double, I'm giving my soul and heart so you rascals can go into the woods and die, poor old me" Frank fake sobbed and slumped against the gunwale. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Dominic gave him a gentle kick, "You try that again and I'll have Lawrence scrap this ship". As mist drifted past, Waketown came into view, first by the barges, half a dozen nestled up against the shore and a few ships moored to the budding dock.

The calls of dockworkers and the unloading of supplies could be heard clearly. Frank's raft pulled straight up to the end of the docks, keeping well away from the much larger barges "Those damn bastards hog all the river space, one touch to my little raft and we'll go under""Milady" "Your greatness" The dockworkers stopped briefly to greet Nythera as they departed. One saluted "Miss Queen" snapping to attention from his nap.

"Continue on men, good work as always. Let's get those logs up, the townhall won't build itself. Hop to it, we don't have time to waste. Oh homesteaders, fantastic, head up and take a left till you find a cabin with a lantern at an odd angle, my town planner will find you a spot." A short man with a long black coat and a thick mustache came striding down the dock, snapping his attention from one person to the next in a flurry. A huge man with axes followed behind him, a familiar face.

"Good day Dominic, nice to see you made it here at last, Hello Rowen, and you…" He stopped directly in front of her, matching her height. Cenric stood behind, looming over him. They nodded to each other.

"Nice to meet you, Milady" he bowed slightly and held out a hand. She took it and received a vigorous shaking.

"I'm Delita, appointed temporary mayor of Waketown until it is sufficiently established as a proper township of Myrraval" he bowed again.

"Nice to meet you" she replied.

"Yes, well we are a bit busy clearing farmland here and getting houses up, its a real pain barging in your entire food supply. But housing is even worse, we've got the lumber, but we need more settlers and we need more woodmancers. And now just to think, we got a damn hiccup in everything just this morning."

"And what would that be? Problems with fluxspawn?" Nythera asked.

"Nope, we just got reports from some of the hunters that there's iron in hills not far from town. What the Hel am I supposed to with iron? We don't even have houses and now I've got men begging me to set up forges here. Fuck" Delita spat out.

"There is iron near here? How close?" Nythera asked in a rush.

"Too close, the mines wouldn't have to be far from town at all. What do you think, Milady? Should we focus on mining the iron?" Delita asked, pushing himself up on his tippy-toes to appear a bit taller.

"That iron is a priority, if you have to get Lawrence to help, move quarrymen if you need to. We need that iron, the sooner forges here are bellowing the better" Nythera insisted, a look of pure glee on her face. They strode through the town, discussing the iron mining and the immigration plan.

"Yes, once you get enough housing, I'll start sending far more settlers your way." Nythera nodded, observing the two dozen cabins erected by wood mages in the center of town. The treeline was being pushed back by a team of lumberjacks and a handful of woodlancers. Several stumps were but smoldering husks.

"This land is not easy to clear, the trees are old and the soil, rich but rocky" Delita complained. She paused. She stared. WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING HERE? Working as if he's some innocent farmhand, the gall! Ren hacked away at a giant pine, each chop of the axe sent wood bits flying. A fellow lumberjack was slumped against a stump nearby. The flux around Nythera warped violently, her internal network straining against the ambient energy. Aether Cannon began to form on impulse.

Just one shot and he's no longer a problem. It could be the first step in my bloody path of revenge. The skeleton of the barrel had formed, angry flux ripping at the shape as it was forced into it. Delita took three steps back and eyes all around snapped towards her.

"Are you alright Milady?" fear dripped from his voice. Ren did not turn towards her, didn't so much as flinch, he just kept cutting away at the tree. The cannon dissipate into mist. You better work till you drop or I come for you. She called out "Make no mistake, I will come for you one day." He didn't turn to face her, just kept chopping.

"Milady, is this an acquaintance of yours?" Delita asked.

"I'm fine, let us proceed, I want to see how the farmland is developing" Nythera pulled her eyes from Ren. Killing him here, while he's working on the development of my own project would be a bad idea. But he should know I'm watching him. Nythera sauntered down the docks with a hum and a jump in her step not an hour later, not a thought of Ren left in her mind. Several plots ready to be farmed and fields being planted already! It's been days and they already did it!

She had bore witness to a Stonemancer clearing an entire field of rocks with two waves of the hand. Delita scrambled up behind her, struggling to keep pace.

"We'll be on our way back to Grandport, the work you are doing here is good, continue. Get that iron mined as soon as you can, but farms and housing take priority. Also please triple the size of the docks, these are the only docks in Myrraval that aren't hit by God's Wrath, so they will likely become a major port before long" Nythera jumped the gap and landed squarely on Frank's raft, Dominic pushed them off the dock. Delita bowed nonstop "Thank you for your visit, your eminence, please come again later".

The return pace was boosted by the river current, mists thinning as they passed the Halsbury docks, which had been largely repaired. Their fine vessel pulled into its usual berth "Get the fuck off my ship, I gotta fix everything you miscreants broke" Frank shambled across the deck, adjusting things at random. Henry scampered out of his warpath and up the sail.

"Rowen, we need another council meeting, unfortunately. It's still midday so we should have time for one today after some beer" Nythera said.

"How was your trip? You all look far worse than when you started" Lawrence chuckled.

"Lawrence, get the council together, are the mayors in town?"

"I'm not some damned errand boy, go find another Leo" He took a sip of something brown "Yes they are in town, matter of fact, all of them are in town. You're antics last time made Aldric pissed, he won't get out of Grandport till there's been a meeting, and Ollie and Felix are stuck 'ere with him" Lawrence downed the entire cup at once. Oh, so Aldric's in town? Good this will be the perfect chance to knee-cap his influence. Once he realizes we don't need Rustreach he might change his tune.

"Too bad, go get them ready or tell someone else to, I don't care. Council meeting tonight, I've got some big news" She didn't break her stride.

"I'm going to get booze, feel free to go home or whatever, I'm tired as shit" Dominic grumbled.

"Wait Nythera, you can't just offload shit onto me" Lawrence called back.

"I'm sure you'll handle it, you owe me after all the shit that little group put me through. Hold up Dominic, I want beer too" Nythera said, struggling to keep pace. Kennick was already gone.

"Nythera I am not letting you drink without supervision, we don't want a repeat of the token incident, do we?" Rowen said, running up behind her.

"Fine then come drink" Nythera didn't look back.

"Well, as your official liaison, it is my duty to go to every council meeting, so I should accompany you now as part of my duties" Rowen straightened his back and walked with purpose. Dominic pushed open the door to Forge of Wonder.

"Borris, I got some fresh shit you need to look at" he called out.

"You damn kids never know when to leave me alone" Borris was clad in a dusty blacksmithing apron, his face half black from soot.

"I've got something good this time so why don't you take a look, the lady also has something" Dominic slammed the mace down on the counter, the metal thorns dug into the wood.

"Don't be fucking up my damn counter" Borris' hands slammed down on the wood, denting it. Among them were a dozen similar dents. He picked up the mace with a frown.

"This is damn good, where'd you get it?"

"New dungeon our fine queen found in the interior, strata two." Dominic had a deeply smug look on his face.

"Again? Well I can hardly complain, this thing has lifesteal on it and offers a huge amount of constitution, a fine weapon" Borris cradled it, as if it were glass.

"Glad to hear it" Dominic took the mace back much to Borris' dismay. Nythera handed over the feathered circlet. Borris whistled.

"I haven't seen something like this in a long time"