NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91: Expansion
Luka and Mayor Tram were sitting together at Mr. Todd's Bar early the next morning, sipping jrum and talking analytics. The park was, for lack of a better term, doing amazingly—more so than either would have guessed. Expenditures were isolated to concession costs and personal salaries. Occasional shipments of raw materials were purchased, but there was still leftover material from God Neb.
"This week alone we've profited nine thousand gold," Tram said. "That's up by fourteen percent."
Luka checked the math—she was right. Which, when plotted to a trend… "We're scheduled to never run out of money ever!"
The elderly orc chuckled. "That is a way to look at it, I suppose. Which is also why I believe we should invest."
"In what?"
"Other ideas from your world."
His face crumbled. "I'm not sure I want to open anything else like the park. I'm already strung out enough as is."
Tram sipped her jrum. "I meant smaller things. Surely there's something from Earth you'd be interested in bringing here. What were those flying metal birds called?"
"Planes." Luka frowned, hard. He knew how to design and build a plane—and with magic, it would be significantly easier. But did he want to build something? No. Not really.
Reading his face, Tram said, "I can see I've overstepped."
Luka gave a tight smile. "Planes were something I made back on Earth. I… don't ever want to touch them again." No—his focus was on the park. Totally and unilaterally. Anything else was too much. He said as much to her.
"Then perhaps Annie or Vlad might be interested?" she asked. "They, after all, are World Walkers as well."
That made sense. If Luka, a single World Walker, had already succeeded so much with the park, what could the two others do? Annie created her own company back on Earth and Vlad was a named partner in a company he started to work for in the summers of high school. Between them both, there had to be a few ideas they could pillage from Earth, right?
"I'm sure they'd love to," Luka said, his tight smile gone and replaced with a genuine one. "But if not, I'm sure there's stuff we could invest in locally. What about extending the highway? We're bound to draw more foot traffic, so we might as well preemptively fix congestion issues."
Tram gave him a sly look. "I took care of that months ago. You're not the only one who can make a contract with the humans. Construction should start soonish, whenever the Sneerhome bureaucracy gets their heads out of their flimsy muscles."
Luka blinked. "'Flimsy muscles?' Orcs are just freakishly strong. No need to insult us. And besides, I'm plenty strong."
She laughed. "Boy, you couldn't beat me in an arm-wrestling contest, and I'm ancient!"
It was ten minutes later that Luka walked out of the bar with his pride crushed. Sometimes the little old woman could be brutal.
***
Bestial Grove was scheduled to open with five rides—and Luka had them all planned out… except in name. It was a harder notion than he expected, naming things. On the one hand, it was simple: just choose a name. On the other, it was a choice that highlighted his creative drive, his understanding of marketing, his understanding of the masses. It toyed with an aspect of the intelligent mind, griping them from the first utterance of the word or words. It breathed life into an emotion so unknown that the first time anyone might experience the ride, it could be ruined by a terrible name.
That was why Luka liked naming his blueprints "A," "B," "C," and so on. Such elegance. Such grace. Such simplicity. Sequential lettering was, by far, the best naming convention ever invented!
Luka exhaled—his love for something so inconsequentially benign to the issue. Names. He had to come up with names. He scanned his list. Overall, Bestial Grove's storyline was simple. Each ride was themed to a beast god, and every ride was an interaction with them. There was, of course, more nuance to it, but for simply naming the rides, it was all he needed.
The first ride he planned to build was a snaking white water rapids adventure through dense jungle to a spooky forest filled with dark beasts and brave heroes. He penciled the name "The Serpent's Rapids."
Truthfully, Luka felt the name lacked imagination. Where was the "lava," in other words? He smiled at the thought. When the park first opened, he overheard two teenagers guessing what a ride at the park would be. They guessed it would be lava themed. And while Luka had added lava to Whirlpool Plunge, it was the idea that real lava could be included at all that stuck out in his mind. The sky was the limit, in other words, of what could be.
He went to the next ride.
"Salamander's River Cruise," would be a slow ride through the twisting river that split Bestial Grove. A personal river captain took brave souls on a mystical journey through the heart of the salamander god's temple. Through the power of magic, kinship, and countless special effects, riders would face the being that was thought to lay dormant at the center of the temple.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Luka scratched his head, again not liking the name. He sighed and went to the next one, "The Titan's Nest."
It would be a spinning rollercoaster, often called a wild mouse coaster. Riders entered the behemoth's nest, a hive of the titanic bee god, where the scale of things has inverted. Oversized tunnels, honey vats as large as lakes, worker drones the size of elephants, all culminating in a fast-paced, sharp turning, spinning coaster.
So far, Luka liked this name the best—but not so much to lock it in.
"Pegasus Skywalk," would be a sky-line incline ride through the tall trees Luka was importing from out of the country. Taking guests around Bestial Grove from the perspective of the godly Pegasus, riders experiencing the thrills of free flight and the exhilarating views.
It was a simple ride, but it would likely be a crowd favorite. There was something magical about flight—a fact Luka knew more than most. Jet planes came to mind, which he quickly pushed away.
The last planned ride for opening day at Bestial Grove was the headliner, the ride guests would have to ride before leaving, "The Stag's Safari." Again, the name did little for him, but the ride sure would. It was time to bring Earthen cars to this world, specifically savanna land cruiser trucks.
Through the plains, savanna, a cut through the jungle, over the river, and Ressen, past the Salamander's Temple, a quick stop near the Titan's Nest, all the while watched from above by the pegasi fledglings. The ride would take guests on curated, guided tours to gaze upon beasts few had ever lay witness upon…
Well, that was the hope.
Jear had said over and over again that Ressen would draw monsters and beasts from all over. Hopefully, some beasties would gladly live on the safari.
Luka could imagine it now! They'd have a symbiotic relationship with the park, courtesy of Zora and her gang of veterinarians. Lazing around and looking cute, or menacing, was a low cost for free health care and food. He only hoped these monsters and beasts could understand such things—if not, then they'd have to figure something else out.
Some commotion drew Luka's attention from his naming lists.
Emerging from the underbrush like an explorer hacking down jungle vines, Ren, Nicole, and Princess Alexandra appeared. The trio was enthralled, each animatedly talking to one another, gesturing wildly with their hands, and—
They froze when they saw Luka staring back at them, their conversation forgotten.
Ren cleared his throat and took the initiative. "O-oh, hey Luka, what's up?"
Luka raised an eyebrow, folded his notes sheet, and pocketed it slowly—very slowly. Just what was going on here? From Ren to Nicole, the kids' collective expressions bordered on horror. They, if they failed to play it off, were going to be in trouble. It was a situation all children knew, the "I know I shouldn't be here, but I'm going to be here anyway" situation. The question was, however, why was Alex here? And where was Franky?
Alex, for her role as a princess, looked even more guilty than the kids! Luka almost wanted to let Ren and Nicole go free—whatever their crimes may be—just because they had to put their faith in Alex's poker face. It just wasn't fair.
It was then the treetops parted like an explorer hacking down hundred-meter-tall trees. Emerging from the leaves, Blomfum, the Guilds leader and gentle giant, froze like the kids and his non-blood-related niece upon spotting Luka.
Blomfum raised a meaty hand and scratched the back of his neck. He tried, not so subtly, to play off the encounter. "O-oh hey, World Walker, fancy seeing you here…"
Luka slowly looked between them. They were deep in the forest, far from the park and near the future sight of the Bestial Grove. Just a few steps away was the land Annie had flattened. So, in other words, there was literally no reason to be out here… except, somehow that statement felt wrong.
Luka's eyes honed in on Ren—suddenly there were countless reasons the others would be out here. The little orc flinched, guilt spilling from his pores.
For a third time, the brush parted and out stepped a newcomer. Luckily, this one made sense.
"Oh, hey Luka!" Franky yelled, with a wave, his fingers coated in melted butter and his other hand clutching a massive bucket of popcorn.
Luka exhaled, long and slow. "What are you guys doing out here?"
Ren and Nicole quickly looked away. Blomfum too, for whatever reason. Franky munched a fistful of popcorn, so he didn't answer. Which left Princess Alexandra.
"We, uh, well—" She just could not find the words. "So—so you see, what had happened was, my guard was trying to interfere with—"
"They were doing their job and protecting you?" Luka interrupted.
Alex smacked her lips. "Yeah, that. It was really annoying and well—so, that was when Uncle suggested we sneak away. And well, Ren and Nicole were talking about sneaking into the forest to see the new land anyway. You know, to, uh, look for new restaurants or something?"
Luka idly gestured around. There were some foundations, but nothing else. "As you can see, there's not much."
Alex opened her mouth, but at that moment the ground shook. Then it really shook. A crack splintered down the length of the forest, stretching from where they stood all the way to the opposite end of the lake. Emerging from the water like a leviathan coming up for air, a monster breached.
Water cascaded from the monster's head, multi-ton-per-second, spilling from its flat, wide head. Piercing eyes stared up at the group, along with a chill in the air. The wind around World Tree Ressen shook, pacifying the beasty.
Almost begrudgingly, the monster accepted the terms of living here, then slithered out of the water toward its new home. It was a snake. A giant one only dwarfed by Ressen herself.
It was then the brush parted for a fifth time? Luka lost count. Luckily, it was another person who was allowed to be out here… sort of.
Elven Consort Jear didn't so much as push away twigs and branches, but rather glided past them with a flare of magic. The emberwood trees bowed to her like royalty, and the ground she stepped on aided her travels. She stalked right up beside Luka, staring intently down at the snake.
"Oh, good. I was wondering when Ressen's protector was going to show up," she said casually. "About time."
Luka thought through her words, attempting to come up with an easy explanation. When it didn't come, he asked, "What?"
Jear crossed her arms and proudly stared at the snake as it shook itself free of lake water. "Where there's a tree, there's a snake guardian. I'm just surprised it took so long to form."
Again, he tried. "Form?"
"It's not everyday that the world creates a new lifeform. It takes a few business days."
There were so many things wrong with that statement that Luka didn't so much as try to understand it. Instead, he said, "Just make sure it doesn't shed near the park. I don't think guests will want to deal with a bunch of snakeskin."