Mountain of the Immortals

Waking up the next morning proved to be significantly harder than I'd thought, courtesy of sixteen hours XPing and the bottle of Egyptian underworld wine. Regardless, we only had to train for eight hours that day and though we didn't speak much for the better part of it, we managed to finish before sunset.

I spent the rest of the day overseeing the big projects we had going on, despite the fact that there was nothing I wanted more than to go home and rest. It didn't seem right for me to do so, when my fellow guild members had continued with their tasks after we had finished our daily XP session. Sleep came even more easily at the end of the day this way though.

On the second day, waking up and training was a little easier and I could see that we were slowly getting the hang of it. Not only was our AoE XP strategy executed to perfection but we also started chatting and even making jokes while we fought. This cheerful attitude didn't last for the whole eight hours, but it was a good sign nonetheless.

After training finished and I'd taken care of some of my daily tasks, I sat in my favorite spot at the top of the hill and waited to see the Sky Harbor's progress percentage creep up from ninety-nine to completion. As soon as the number ticked over and construction was finished, a massive purple glow enveloped every pier and pillar, every facet of the harbor.

With a blinding flash, the whole structure started floating up and slightly toward the cliff. It was a marvelous sight to see. Like me, many of the mortals had stopped what they were doing to watch the flying dock. In a matter of a few minutes, the construction had reached a couple of hundred feet in altitude and stabilized itself in the air. I kept my eyes on it for a while longer, waiting to see if it would move any more but it stayed perfectly still, even when a few brave birds landed on top of it.

* * *

Name: Sky Harbor

Level: 5

Level-Up Requirement: Settlement Level 6

Level-Up Cost: 72,000x Lumber Units (720,000 MP)

24,000x Aluminum Units (240,000 MP)

Level-Up Time: 16,000 minutes (9,600,000 MP)

Description: A floating harbor that can hold up to 4 flying ships. The dock and a building for processing flying vessels are permanently enchanted to float a constant distance above the surface the harbor is bound to. Individuals can access the harbor by any non-magical means that connect it to the ground.

* * *

I was pleased to see that the harbor was upgradable, which would probably mean space for more vessels to dock there eventually. I was even more satisfied to see that upgrading it didn't require another massive flow of mana. The initial one hundred million MP were enough to keep everything afloat indefinitely.

Some of the most courageous men and women in our city headed straight for the long rope ladders hanging from its sides and started pinning them to the ground. Of course more steady solutions would have to be constructed eventually in order to secure passage up to the flying harbor, but that certainly wasn't stopping them for now. Some of these people were already scaling their way up.

Even though I had full confidence in the fact that the mana I'd spent to make the harbor float wouldn't betray us, I did feel a bit of relief when the first people reached the top and started walking around the platforms, looking at the view, and generally enjoying being the first ones up there. The views would probably change once airships were docked up there but I bet the news of our floating harbor, along with the enthusiasm it brought, would soon spread over the whole city.

Our XP session on the third day was even smoother, with Ares finally getting the hang of our party dynamics and fighting completely in sync with us. This was an advantage of training together that I hadn't considered before. All four of us were gods with extensive experience in combat but fighting in synergy with one's party members was a different thing altogether.

It took quite a few battles for Aphrodite and I to become proficient at complementing each other's strengths and covering the weaknesses. The same was true when Artemis joined us. Whether it was because Ares was more used to fighting or because he had already XPed quite a lot alongside his sister, he caught up much faster, and I was already confident that he would have my back when the time for the dungeon raid finally arrived.

On the afternoon of the same day, I visited the blacksmith's workshop to see the upgraded version and how our pygmy crafters were making use of it.

* * *

Name: Blacksmith's Workshop

Level: 5

Level-Up Requirement: Settlement Level 6

Level-Up Cost: 6,400x Lumber Units (64,000 MP)

3,200x Iron Units (32,000 MP)

1,600x Stone Units (16,000 MP)

Level-Up Time: 7,680 minutes (4,608,000 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. At the current level, the blacksmith's workshop is able to produce large-sized machines of war and employ 2 spellcasters. These individuals can instill minor enchantments into items or break them down with the chance of creating a core that holds an existing enchantment.

* * *

The upgrades weren't particularly groundbreaking. If anything, it was exactly what I was expecting to see. The workshop could now build large war machines instead of medium-sized ones, and an additional spellcaster could now work in it.

As tame as the upgrades looked in the description, however, the building itself had changed quite significantly. There were more chimneys, more forges, and more anvils and workbenches than before. The workshop didn't have a limit on the number of people who would be able to work in it, but by the looks of it quite a bit of extra space had just opened up.

As expected, the pygmies were more than excited to see the upgrade finish, and their leader promised me that this development would significantly increase the rate at which they put out equipment, as well as how much time the construction of the artificial lake would take. He didn't give me an exact timeline, but he could already show me his people were crafting new tools that would help them in the process.

After that, I headed to the altar to see what magic items that had been generated over the past three days. I had ultimately decided it would be best if Aphrodite was responsible for this task as well since she handled the merchants and knew better than me what we might need and what we would want to sell.

So instead of picking them up myself and then explaining to her what we had or showing the items to her, I was planning to tell her she should be taking the responsibility herself. I would do it that same night, but first I wanted to make one last walk-by.

All three of the magic items were still lying on the altar--two rings and a furled-up scroll. I picked up the first ring and examined the shiny red metal.

* * *

Name: Flame Ring

Type: Ring

Rarity: E Grade

Magic Defense: 12

Durability: 90/90

Weight: 6st.

Description: A ring created from a weakened efreetium and iron alloy. The single efreetium property that remains in this ring is the ability to produce small flames at the wearer's command. This ability can be used three times per day.

* * *

This looked like a standard ring that most cooks would use to light their fires easily and get their grills going. I doubted we would have any trouble selling it or finding someone who would want to use it, but I also had no doubts it wouldn't fetch a great price either. The second ring had a couple of triangles and lines etched into it and a small black pearl on top.

* * *

Name: Ring of Leveling

Type: Ring

Rarity: E Grade

Magic Defense: 7

Durability: 75/75

Weight: 6st.

Description: This ring can emit a series of straight lines of light according to the direction the pearl faces. It is a very useful tool for making sure structures and constructions are level, and will always produce a straight line of light.

* * *

When I first absorbed its name, I thought that this was going to be one of those mythical accessories that provided a small boost to the XP earned while fighting. To my disappointment, the description took away my enthusiasm pretty quickly. This was just another ring that would be useful to crafters and builders. I had no doubt it might be a valuable tool for their job and enable them to produce better results and faster. But it was not the leveling ring I would have wanted.

I sighed as I put both of them into my inventory and picked up the scroll.

* * *

Item: Nearly Infinite Scroll

Type: Magic Item

Durability: 60/60

Grade: E Grade

Weight: 4st.

Description: This empty scroll keeps growing at a rate of one square foot per day. Its maximum size is one hundred square feet. As long the scroll is not burned or otherwise destroyed, it will keep growing until it reaches its limits, at which point it will pause until cut. Once cut, only the original portion of the parchment will continue to grow.

* * *

Yet another weird magic item I had no use for at all. At this point, I had absolutely no regrets about the idea of passing the task over to Aphrodite. I wasn't sure what I was expecting from E-grade magic items, but I couldn't wait until we upgraded the altar and were perhaps able to get better ones.

The very last task of my day was to visit the magic thunder coil defenses that had just upgraded to level five. I sighed as I left our home again. If I had remembered I wanted to check them on my way home, I could have already been done now. I wasn't going to check all four of them, but wanted to see at least one up close, so I headed to the east of the city where the one closest to our house was located.

* * *

Name: Magic Thunder Coil Defenses #1

Level: 5

Level-Up Requirement: Settlement Level 6

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

300,000x Copper Units (3,000,000 MP)

300,000x Iron Units (3,000,000 MP)

Level-Up Time: 7,680 minutes (4,608,000 MP)

Description: A gigantic metal coil-like structure that has the unique ability to condense the mana in the atmosphere and release it in burst of energy against enemies. The coils built in the guildhall of Mount Olympus use the element of their patron deity, the thunderbolt. Additionally, the coils can be retracted and completely hidden underground.

* * *

The size of the tower had increased significantly, with each coil now large enough to hold several people on top of it. Of course, this would be the last thing they would want to climb on in case the magic defense activated. There was no way a mortal would be able to withstand such force, unless they were very high level or had resistance to lightning.

The last part of the description was particularly interesting. As big as the coils were now, their size would make our city stand out from miles away. That was if there were any creatures brave enough to break through the blizzards around the mountain trying to fly over it. Not to mention that the coils looked ugly compared to the rest of our buildings.

I tried looking into the menu for the cities defenses and found the option that would retract them into the ground. As soon as I selected it, the coil started retreating into the earth below it. It wasn't terribly fast but at least it was quiet, which I was happy about, as I hadn't even considered the noise before commanding the four gigantic towers to bury themselves.

The speed at which they retreated was not going to cut it if someone attacked us and took us by surprise, but the alarms system we had in place should be enough to make sure this would never be an issue. If there were ever someone stupid enough to attack us, we would have ample warning to man the walls and prepare all of our defenses.

Satisfied that I had successfully hit all of my daily targets, I headed home. There was a gentle cool breeze in the air.

I decided to sleep with the windows open tonight.