Zeke stepped out of the mine and breathed in the cold mountain air. When he turned back toward the entrance, his brows furrowed.
After returning from the hunt, he had been delighted to hear that the mine owner was willing to sell. Moreover, the man had only demanded a fraction of what he had expected. However, he now knew the reason for the low price.
When Zeke thought of a mine, he pictured reinforced corridors and well-planned passages. However, what he found here was far from that. The village's condition didn't make it obvious, but the Icefang tribe seemed to lack skilled architects and craftsmen. Given the tribe's warlike nature, it shouldn't have surprised him, but the state of the mine still caught him off guard.
It was extremely primitive. Honestly, calling it a mine was already a stretch. It was blatantly obvious that not much thought or effort had been invested in this place. Aside from the gate, which was well-crafted, the inside of the mine resembled a natural cave more than a man-made structure. The walls were coarse and uneven, the corridors meandered to the left and right at random, and the supports were nonexistent.
The only positive surprise was that the place had not collapsed so far.
Behind him, the Chimeroi emerged from the mine, their expressions heavy. Ash, who had negotiated the deal for this place, seemed especially apprehensive. "Master, I… I didn't think it would be like this…"
Zeke took in his nervous expression and frowned. There was no reason for Ash to take responsibility for this. After all, Zeke had ordered him to buy this place no matter what. However, it seems that Ash still considered this to be his mistake.
Zeke shook his head. "Don't worry about it. The place might not be all that I had hoped for, but I never expected it to be perfect from the beginning."
Ash grimaced, not buying his words. "I could live with 'not perfect,' but… is this even usable?"
Zeke realized that a halfhearted attempt to placate Ash wouldn't work, so he decided to let them in on some of his plans. "You are right that the place is a mess. However, that only means that the renovations I have planned will have to be a bit more extensive."
"Renovations?" Ash asked, still skeptical.
Zeke nodded his head. "Even if the mine had been of excellent quality, it's still not a place for anyone to live. I always planned to rebuild it to suit our needs. Now, we just have a bit more work to do."
Ash's tense expression finally began to ease up a bit. Seeing this, Zeke decided to give him one more push. "Now that I think about it, this might even be a chance for us."
"What do you mean?"
Zeke smiled, seeing the Chimeroi paying close attention. "I've been thinking about ways to approach the people here. It likely wouldn't work if we blatantly offered them food to join our side. However, what if we offered them food in exchange for work?"
Vulcanos tilted his head. "How would that help us?"
Zeke lifted three fingers, bending them one at a time as he spoke. "First, it would help us promote our names. Currently, we are strangers to most of the citizens. That has to change."
The Chimeroi nodded.
"Second, it will establish a very important fact: We have food. This might end up painting a target on our backs, but the exchange is worth it."
Another nod.
"Third, and most important, I want to instill the notion that working for us is a privilege. I'll make it so that people will trip over themselves to get a chance to work for us."
This time, the Chimeroi didn't nod. Instead, they were looking at him with dubious expressions. "A privilege?" Gravitas asked doubtfully.
"You don't believe me?" Zeke asked playfully. "Let me prove it to you then. I want you to go to the marketplace right now and ask for volunteers for tomorrow."
Ash frowned. "What are we supposed to tell them?"
"Tell them that we will hire workers for a day at a time. Their job will be manual labor, and the pay will be their own weight in meat."
Ash nodded slowly but still looked confused. "Why for a day? Wouldn't it be easier to use the same people continuously? That way, we wouldn't have to explain the work every time."
Zeke shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. "That would ruin the whole scheme. I want you to hire exactly ten people and not a single one more, but make it clear that we will choose a new batch the next day around the same time at the same place."
"To what aim?" Ash asked.
Zeke smiled enigmatically. "You'll find out tomorrow. Now go."
After the Chimeroi left, Zeke turned back to face the mine, the smile slowly fading from his lips. "What did you find, Akasha?"
[Answer]
The walls are unstable in several parts of the mine and need reinforcement. There are no air circulation systems or vents, making the air toxic in the deeper sections. If humans had mined it, there would have been casualties long ago. It's likely the Icefang Tribe abandoned this place after their strong constitutions couldn't handle the health issues anymore.
Zeke nodded. This was about what he had expected. "Any good news?"
[Answer]
I've found rather large mineral deposits in the deeper parts of the mine. It is likely that the place never ran dry, but the tribe was merely unable to go any deeper.
Zeke raised a brow. "What did you find?"
[Answer]
I've found several large iron deposits, a vein of frost-steel, and a substantial amount of limestone.
Zeke rubbed his chin. That was an unexpected benefit, especially the frost-steel. However, they were still far from being able to take advantage of it. Before anything else, the space would need to be made inhabitable.
"Start calculating the optimal renovation plans."
While Akasha worked, Zeke made his way back to their current lodging. He didn't know how long they would be allowed to use the guest house, but he would take advantage of their hospitality for however long it lasted. Which was likely not that long. The fact that nobody had bothered providing them with food was already quite telling. The tribe likely expected them to leave once they ran out of supplies.
Zeke didn't blame them for the callous treatment. In a siege, every scrap of food was precious, and they couldn't afford to waste their resources on a bunch of uninvited guests. However, that also meant that he wouldn't feel a shred of remorse while taking full advantage of their current plight.
During their hour-long hunting expedition, Zeke, Vulcanos, and Gravitas had come across a small lake in a nearby forest. Judging by the various monster tracks, it was a local watering hole frequented by numerous wildlife. It had not even taken a handful of minutes before the first prey arrived.
Zeke had never seen a creature like it before. The four-legged monster was a large behemoth with three spear-like horns on his nose. Its dark gray skin was so tough that it could even shrug off Vulcanos' flames. However, it quickly collapsed under Gravitas' Magic.
The fight had been over in an instant, leaving their group with more meat than they could reasonably handle. They had to abandon most of the carcass after choosing only the best portions. Even so, after paying for the mine, they were still sitting on a substantial amount of meat.
Zeke arrived at their temporary residence and settled next to the fireplace, where only embers remained. However, the frigid temperature of the room no longer bothered him. Despite the dreadful experience the first time around, he couldn't wait to go through the second round of poison tempering.
After settling in, he entered the mental space of his [Mind's Library].
This place, once an empty white plain, had undergone several rounds of restructuring since Akasha took control of it. Zeke was always amazed by the changes each time he visited. Even so, despite preparing himself, he was still surprised by what he found.
The center of his mental space now featured two enormous holographic projections of the mine. The one on the left showed the mine in its current, dilapidated state. The other displayed the mine being rebuilt, with changes occurring in real time.
Yet, what shocked him wasn't the projection itself but the figures standing around it. Akasha's human form was that of a beautiful young woman with silver hair and a curvy body. For a long time, he had been flustered whenever they met face to face, especially since she had been quite upfront about modeling her appearance to suit his preferences perfectly.
Even so, over the past year, he had grown somewhat accustomed to seeing her. However, now there was not just one, but at least a dozen copies of her.
The moment Zeke appeared, their collective gazes turned toward him, halting their activities.
Even for him, this level of attention was somewhat stifling. "What's going on here...?" he asked to break the awkwardness of the moment.
Just then, another copy of Akasha materialized next to him while the others went back to their tasks.
"Welcome home," the new Akasha said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Zeke raised an eyebrow. Home? This place was a creation of his Mind affinity, which existed within his own body. Technically, he was always 'home.' He decided not to mention that, though, finding the gesture rather touching.
"Glad to be home," he said instead. "Care to tell me what you are doing?"
Akasha nodded dutifully, pointing at the large projection. "I'm in the process of experimenting with our options for the renovation project. The parameters are safety, availability, and time, ignoring the factors of cost and manpower."
Zeke nodded. As always, Akasha had quickly grasped his intentions without the need to clarify anything. However, that was not what he had been asking about.
"I was talking about them," he said, pointing at the clones.
"You don't have to pay them any mind," Akasha stated dryly. "They are mere representations of the different tasks I am currently performing." She pointed at one of her copies nearby. "This one is responsible for creating a list of all the resources available in this region." Her finger moved to the next one. "This one is responsible for compiling a list of building materials that can be created from those raw materials."
When she pointed at the next one, Zeke interrupted her before she could explain. "I understand the principle. But why are you doing this? Aren't they all just… you?"
Akasha tilted her head, struggling to answer. "I don't know," she said after a while.
Zeke was surprised. Usually, Akasha had a reason for everything she did. The fact that she couldn't explain her action was something he had not encountered before. Was it… that she was feeling lonely?
The thought pricked his conscience. After all, he rarely visited this place, and he was the only person she could even communicate with. He vowed to visit her more often from now on.
Zeke cleared his throat, brushing past the subject. "So, what do you have so far?"
Akasha led him to the second projection, which displayed the renovated version of the mine. Zeke saw that the floors, walls, and ceilings were all reinforced with smooth stone, and reinforced pillars extended toward the ceiling at regular intervals.
His brows shot up in surprise. He hadn't expected them to be able to create something like this, given his parameters and limited resources. The plans made the place look almost regal. "How do you plan to make the walls and ceilings this smooth?"
"It's a material called cement, a mixture of limestone, clay and sand."
Zeke frowned. Those were all common materials. Why hadn't he ever heard of this mixture?
Akasha seemed to read his thoughts as she explained right away. "Cement isn't commonly used because the mixing process requires very high temperatures. I am planning to make use of Vulcanos' and Gravitas' abilities to create large amounts of this material."
Zeke leaned forward, suddenly very interested in the renovation plans. "Tell me everything!"