NOVEL NEXT Chapter 97: No.
Luka had a lot on his mind as he created. Material, loose dirt, rocks, and plenty of other things flew through the air around him like a choreographed dance routine. Metal mixed with metal, rust fell away, stone foundations found themselves suddenly impaled by support beams and fitted with walls. The Bestial Grove's creation was in full swing, magically, engineeringly, and creatively.
It was to be a place of whimsy and awe, a place for monsters, beasts, and animals to call home. There were open air zoo "exhibits" tailored to many different climates, terrains, and magical ambiance. Luka envisioned a first come first serve type of system for these homes. They were not true exhibits like those found on Earth, but rather free apartments for the many beasts during their stay.
For the low, low price of interacting with guests, beasts, monsters, and animals had free health care, a home tailored specially to them, and peace of mind under Ressen's pacifying aura. And if they did not wish to interact with guests, then there was plenty of space in Emberwood Forest to build their own homes.
Also included were the rides. Luka planned five down to the smallest detail. When the rest of the themed land was built, he would officially start on them. Unlike previous rides he had built, with everything planned out, it should be a quick process. No more all-nighters for him!
A small river trailed through the land, rushing under bridges and through many of the beasts' homes. Annie would need to come in and make everything more natural with her terraforming magic, then, in all likelihood, Luka would need to ask Jear to magically grow all the plants and make everything look even more natural.
At that thought, Luka pursed his lips. Mayor Tram had done as he asked and special ordered the import of several hundred different types of plants—magical and mundane. They were all safe varieties, the kinds that were exotic but wouldn't leave anyone needing medical attention if they pricked themselves on a thorn. Magically poisonous thorn bushes were a very real danger in some places in this world, apparently.
Unfortunately, only half the imported plants had arrived so far. And while there wasn't an expected opening day for Bestial Grove, Luka wanted it as soon as possible.
Maybe I should invent over-night shipping, Luka internally mused, bored out of his mind.
It was a sad fact for the man, but his magic, specifically the tedious foundation-building-and-wall-constructing magic, was boring. As crazy as that sounded, since he was still using magic, it was the end of projects that truly got his pulse racing.
The details, the small things like embedding subtle monster prints in the pathways that kids would no doubt notice or flaring a roof near a gift shop to create a spot of shade for people waiting on others to try on all the sizes of t-shirts to find the best fitting one, were what truly interested Luka. Sure, magic was awesome, and he would never dismiss that fact. But when the processes to get to the creative usages of his magic was tedious, it made him want to rush.
And he wasn't going to do that.
Luckily, foundations were set, buildings were made, and the river was routed. It was time to theme!
***
The sun was an hour or two away from disappearing beyond the horizon when Luka pulled himself from his craft. A few steps before him was a monster enclosure reminiscent of a desert. Masquerading as any other jungle enclosure, heating glyphs and air dehumidifying glyphs filled the area! Sand permeated the soil, and nice, big, flat rocks were the perfect sunning spots.
As Luka turned to leave for the night, he noticed a brown monstrous mouse sniffing a small oasis. It lapped up water before hopping in and taking a bath. It was a little guy but heralded by twin spikes of elemental earth. They followed it like guardian protectors, no doubt the creature's magical deterrence—or its hunting measure, Luka supposed.
Here under Ressen's pacifism, however, the twin spikes of moving ground and sand were nothing more than steppingstones for the mouse to jump on to reach the taller rocks. It plopped down onto the tallest of rocks in the desert enclosure, content with its territory. It looked at Luka, and he looked back. Then it yawned, and then he chuckled.
"Welcome to the park, little guy," he said.
The mouse blinked at him like a prudish house cat before rolling over and falling asleep.
Exiting the dark forest into the bright, loud, and radiantly expressive park, Luka smiled to himself. Families, friends, children, priests, adventurers, mages, mystics, shopkeepers, crime lords and about every race of people this world had to offer, walked around, enjoying their time. Some ate funnel cakes covered in a local berry syrup, others patiently waited in line, gawking at the hidden details within the queues.
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Luka bypassed all of this, his destination for the night set in stone. He paused outside the alchemy building, confused. The tank of liquid undeath was missing, illusionary enchantments and stick camouflage and all.
"That's not good…" he muttered to himself, opening the door.
Annie, Vlad, Eve, Franky, Tram, and Sol sat within, waiting for him. Already gathered, sorted, portioned, and waiting were fifty-odd groups of reagents—everything needed for potions of reincarnation, liquid undeath included. Luka spotted the tank in the corner, raised so the spigot was usable.
"Found that outside," Sol mumbled, "some idiot hid it behind a cluster of illusion glyphs instead of simply putting it inside the locked building."
Luka gave her an impish smile, turning to Tram. "Did you bring the—"
Tram interrupted by slamming a crate of random items on the table. "Did I ever. Took some getting, though. It's a weird request, asking families, orphans, and the moved-on to dredge up the possessions of the deceased."
"Hopefully they'll forgive the awkwardness soon enough." Luka turned to Franky. "No Alex?"
The bald orc shook his head. "I told her I had an important family thing I couldn't put off tonight, and that I'd see her later. She's having dinner with her uncle before he leaves to go back to the capital in the morning."
"Wish someone else would leave for the capital," Eve muttered under her breath.
Franky heard and looked at her. "Who?"
Thinking fast, she said, "The guards. Their armor is too shiny."
"Be nice, Evee," Annie said, leaning around her husband to look her in the eyes. On Annie's finger was a prismatic gem set in a silver ring. It pulsated with colorful light, like a rainbow caught in a kaleidoscope. "Alexandra is a nice girl."
Eve pursed her lips but conceded. She was just sad her brother's attention had been occupied so much lately. Franky, despite the exchange, was oblivious to what they were talking about.
Vlad drummed his fingers on the table. "Since we're all here, I would like to announce we picked out a wedding date. It took a little praying to my patron goddess for her to calculate the dates, but in two-ish months will be Annie and my one hundred and sixty-seventh anniversary. For most of those we were dead, so take that as you will."
"We thought it would be special to hold the wedding on the same day," Annie summarized. "September twenty-third."
Vladdy blinked. "Twenty-fourth."
Annie frowned. "No, it's the twenty-third."
A pause.
"No—I remember because my cousin Sofia had to miss the wedding because she refused to leave her house on even-numbered days."
Annie loudly sighed. "No, sweety she just hated family gatherings. She used an odd-day excuse to skip your aunt's funeral, remember?"
"But… that was her mother's funeral."
"And now you know why we stopped sending her Christmas cards."
"I thought we stopped because she moved."
"She did—and didn't tell anyone where."
Vlad blinked like a blind man suddenly seeing color. "Everything suddenly makes so much sense."
Annie gave him a soft pat on the thigh. "Anyway, the wedding is in two-ish months."
"Well congratulations," Mayor Tram said, shaking her head in disbelief. "That was some conversation you two just held."
"You know how it is with husbands."
"Don't I know it."
"Where is Ben?" Luka asked. "He said he wanted to be here."
"He did. But some of the kids wanted to play that hopscotch game you taught them. Ben said he wanted to as well…" She shook her head. "He'll be around later."
Sol's raven headdress cawed. Everyone looked at her. "Are we done yapping? I want to see my sister again!"
As if answering, a presence stirred in the room. "You will," Goddess Tippy said, standing in her mortal body, "and soon. I promise. But as you no doubt surmised, this is a big event in history. People will notice your loved ones returning."
Another presence appeared, this time an elderly man with a hat. "So, we devised a plan. World Walker Park has already made a spectacle of itself when Vale appeared and did… whatever she was doing—" Annie shivered. "Because of that, and how we gods all appeared to intervene, a mass of faithful marches toward the park to see the holy grounds."
"They will be here in two weeks, ready to celebrate," Tippy finished.
"Why haven't we heard about this?" Luka asked. He paused, then asked, "And why can't I get a haircut?"
Everyone other than the divine gave him a strange look. Tippy answered only the first question, "Because this world does not have high speed internet. Word travels slowly."
"That's not really an answer."
Neb sighed. "They want it to be a surprise."
"The 'mass of faithful?' How many are we talking?"
"As of this moment, fifty-one thousand. Give or take."
"Oh dear," Tram whispered.
"We don't have the space or amenities to cater to that many guests," Luka said.
"We know. But we will take care of that," Neb said. "They are here for the park, but because of us. They will be…" he grumbled the next few words like an old man, "our responsibility."
Tippy slapped him on the shoulder sternly before turning back to the mortals. "In addition to our help, we would like your village's help as well. Instead of using the potions of reincarnation right away, we ask you wait and turn it into a ceremony once the faithful are here—"
"Let me stop you right there. No," Luka said flatly, silencing the room, gods, and countless other gods watching from beyond the veil.