Building a house usually meant hard labor—laying foundations, pouring concrete, mixing cement, reinforcing walls with steel. That was how ordinary people did it.
But Luciel was no longer ordinary.
With the mighty rock tortoise as his companion, nearly ninety percent of the usual construction process had become unnecessary. The creature's colossal shell served as a perfect, unshakable foundation—more durable than any slab of stone. Its ability to manipulate and fuse rock eliminated the need for both cement and steel reinforcements. All Luciel and Mino had to do was shape and stack the stone bricks.
And even that task felt almost too easy.
"It's amazing," Mino murmured, placing another stone block carefully along the charcoal outline Luciel had drawn.
As soon as she let go, the new block merged seamlessly with the one below it. There was no gap, no visible joint—just a solid wall of smooth gray stone, as if it had been carved from a single boulder.
