City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Aston Harbor

The man with the staff looked out with a smile as the large ship without masts rose from the sea.

Water began to flow out of it like a fountain, and in a minute, all the water was out of the ship and his staff glowed with a spell.

If anyone could sense it. They would notice a big movement on the ship.

Inside the ship, the boxes begin to open one after another.

The skeletal heads begin to come out of one box, the legs come out of the other, and many other parts come out of the other boxes.

They begin to snap together. Forming complete skeletons at a rapid pace.

A few seconds later, the line of skeletons marched out through the ship's ramp and entered the port while the people watched.

Today is special, and it's why he showed the ship.

If it was not, it would have been docked underwater and emptied their cargo there, before leaving the port just as sneakily as it came, without anyone knowing.

"Our forces are steadily increasing," said the armored man.

"It's far from enough to capture the entire region," replied the man with the staff.

Ships like this came many times in the past months, bringing more and more undead and powerhouses. Increasing their numbers.

It is slow, but slow is fine.

It is much better than rushing and getting destroyed by the enemies like the last time.

A group of ships is easier to track. The intelligence about them spread much faster. On the other hand, it is much harder to track a single ship.

In these two months, the merchants and imperials had been able to destroy only three ships.

Little by little, their forces are increasing. It won't be long before they accumulate the required forces, and then there will be reckoning.

The entire continent will know the power of Vris'Alud.

…

Gagarin

I stepped into the tower, and it seemed to be even more crowded than before.

There are people everywhere, looking at everything, but most are captivated by the massive skeleton of the Wyrm.

It is really something.

Despite being dead for thousands of years, it fills the hearts of people with dread.

I glanced at it, before stepping into the elevator.

I stepped out onto the fourth floor. It is crowded with most of the people around my store.

"Guild master,"

Some people recognized me and greeted me. I nodded at them, but only spoke a few words before walking into the store.

Six people, including my daughter, are already working there.

Four of them are my disciples, while the fifth person is someone I hired. He is an engraver like my daughter, and we need them. My daughter and Baur aren't enough.

I nodded at them before walking deeper into the store, which was crowded like outside, with the lines at the two billing counters.

The goods are selling like hotcakes. Much faster than we had anticipated.

It made me happy, but also a little worried.

Click!

Soon, I reached the back of the store and opened the wooden door.

In the morning, there was not any space for a person like me to enter; there was so much stuff, but now, half of it had disappeared.

"We might not be able to last till the evening," said Mardes from behind me.

"Send the message to the Madam, when less than 10% remain," I replied. He nodded, and I closed the door.

Legacy makes a lot of things easier. There is a massive underground storeroom connected to the legacy where they had asked me to place our things.

Not me, but every store.

If our goods are sold, they will transfer the goods to the warehouse here directly. It happens instantly. Saving us a lot of time and effort.

I looked at the things before undressing. Carefully, putting the suit on the shelf. It cost me a lot, but it's a good thing, I bought it.

I need to wear nice clothes to look the part of a legacy store owner. I couldn't always wear worn-out soot-covered clothes.

The function at the central square had been good. I had met a lot of people, both unfamiliar and familiar, but now it was time for work.

For it, I need to change.

Lord Silver says, I am not just crafting things, but putting on a show for the people. I have to make it look good, and enthralling.

It is not the word anyone would associate with blacksmithing, but the one I had heard a lot, in the past few days.

Thankfully, I have a blacksmith's clothes, and they are comfortable. Though, if it were up to me; I would be fine, wearing only pants.

Once changed, I came out and walked to the workstation.

"How was the function?" asked Atil as I reached it and sat on my spot.

"Good, a lot of important people had come," I replied and placed the bar of metal into the furnace and activated Fast Red.

While the metal heated. I looked at my apprentices; they are my best people.

However, the ones coming to the interview are much better than them.

One seemed even better than me.

I am expanding my workshop in the city. For it, I have taken a loan. I had money, but the expansion was big, and I had brought a lot of fancy equipment.

I am also hiring new blacksmiths and apprentices from the schools and city. It is one of the conditions of Lord Silver.

I need to expand. It had become necessary.

Everything I had forged had been sold. Now, everything that is present in my store has been bought from the empire, merchant state, and some from the city.

The Lord wants 75% products I sell should be from the city and thus the expansion.

I am also opening a store in the city. Bigger than this one.

This store made me famous, not only in the city but also in the empire and merchant state. I need to capitalize on that.

It was Lord Silver who suggested that, and Atil agreed with it.

To me, it is an enormous risk, but I trust the lord and my daughter. If it were not for her, I would still be forging weapons in a soot-filled workshop.

The workshop will be ready in two weeks. I have till then to hire all the people.

I have been taking interviews every afternoon for the past three days.

Taking a break only today.

I am hiring quite a lot of people. Many are interested and they are coming, not only from empires and merchant states, but also from other countries.

Among those people, some would work with the mist, after the store closed.

Every space would be utilized, and we need to be smart about it. It is the same for the woman below, but she is still thinking about it.

There is a massive order I have to complete. Everything we are forging is going to the legacy, but there are still many things we have to forge to complete the order.

It is only the order of legacy we are trying to complete. There are other orders we have yet to take.

I have been contacted by hundreds of people. These are big merchants, willing to make big orders and ready to pay instantly.

Some offered to build me a bigger workshop with more expensive equipment.

Everybody wants the mist crafted goods and are willing to pay a tremendous price for them. Far more than what legacy is paying for them.

Some even hinted their willing to buy under the table. I shot down those proposals immediately.

I understand very well. What I have is because of legacy and Lord Silver could take it away just as easily as he had given it to me.

I am controlling my greed, but one of my apprentices couldn't.

I fired him, despite it only being a knife, that he tried to steal. I need to be harsh; I can not let anything happen, that will risk this place.

Finally, the metal bar is ready. I didn't even look at it; I know it through the Blacksmiths Sense.

I brought it out and put it on an anvil, before activating Malleable Metal. A moment later, I started hitting it with the hammer, activating Rapid Hammering.

With every strike, the mist covering the hammer thickly would flow inside the metal, little by little.

It is difficult, considering the more mist that enters inside the metal the harder it becomes to forge.

The first thing Miss Eva told me was to find the balance with the amount of mist I need to use.

If I use too much, I will end up tiring myself and the power of my skill, too quickly. Which is bad considering I forge for at least twelve hours every day.

I need myself and my skills to last that long.

I still remember how quickly I used to get tired. Even now, I still get tired, but I am learning to manage it.

I am forging the skewer rods. I have to give twenty-four of them to the legacy by the evening, along with many other things.

If only the seven of us worked, then it would take over a month to finish the order.

Though it will change with the new people.

Hours passed as hundreds watched us from the window. Some, if important enough, can watch from close up.

Like the four people are doing right now. I recognize one of them; he is a vice-guild master of the enchanter guild from Namdar.

I wonder if he will be the man. It is unlikely, given his position.

Lord Silver is hiring the enchanters. With enchantments, the mist-crafted goods would become even more effective and valuable.

Time passed, and I finished a skewer rod, one after another.

I hope to finish the order of the legacy as soon as possible and hire more people to finish other orders. So, I can do those things I am thinking about.

There is a particular type of forging I want to do. It is difficult and requires a lot of resources and training.

I could afford those resources now and someone promised me the guidance as her field of work intersects with it.

I had never thought this day would come, but it did, and now I want to start as soon as possible.

I only need to wait for a little more time before I can start it.

The thought put a smile on my face before I focused on the work.

Soon, it was five and a familiar woman appeared.

"Is it ready?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Atil, and handed her the box. It had the skewers they ordered, along with the other stuff we had crafted in the past few hours.

She checked the box and nodded before walking away, while I focused on work. I want to finish the knife before I go home to get ready for the party.

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