The descent from the Forbidden Mountain was silent. Elian led the way, his new black stone spear glowing with a faint silver light. Every time he stepped into a snowdrift, the snow simply evaporated. He looked back at his feet in wonder, realising he no longer felt the biting cold.
"Keep your eyes on the path, Elian," I said. My voice was calm, like a manager directing a site visit. "Focus on the objective. We aren't here for sightseeing."
"Yes, My Lord Arthur," he replied, standing taller.
As we reached the edge of the forest, the smell of smoke became thick. It wasn't the pleasant smell of a hearth; it was the sharp, bitter stench of burning thatch and treated wood. We stepped into the clearing of Kaelos, and my eyes narrowed.
The village was a mess. Three soldiers in heavy, rusted iron armour were laughing as they tossed torches onto the last standing granary. A group of about twenty villagers—men, women, and children—were huddling together near a muddy well. They were being guarded by a fourth soldier holding a jagged iron sword.
"Please!" an old man cried out, his hands trembling. "We have given everything! There is nothing left to take!"
"Then you are a waste!" the lead soldier barked. His armour was covered in crude spikes. "Valerius doesn't keep waste. If you cannot produce iron, you will produce ash!"
"Disgraceful," I thought. "This is a total lack of resource management."
"It's more than that, Artie," Nyx's voice whispered, her tone unusually sharp. "They're enjoying the destruction. They think they're untouchable because they work for the 'Big Boss' of the Lowlands."
I stepped out into the open. The mud didn't cling to my obsidian robes. The rain didn't dampen my silver hair.
"The business day is over," I said. My voice cut through the crackle of the flames like a cold wind. "You are relieved of your duties."
The soldiers froze. They turned, their iron visors glinting in the firelight. When they saw me—a man who looked like a walking star—they didn't pray. They drew their weapons.
"Who are you?" the leader demanded, stepping forward. "This is the property of the Iron God! Are you a priest of a dead religion?"
"My name is Arthur," I replied. I kept my hands behind my back, the ultimate posture of a man who isn't afraid. "And I am here to discuss a transfer of ownership. Your contract with this village has been terminated for gross misconduct."
The soldiers looked at each other and burst into laughter. "Terminated? Ownership? You talk like a madman! Kill him and take his clothes—they look expensive."
Two soldiers lunged at me. One swung a massive iron mace aimed at my skull. I didn't even blink.
CLANG!
The mace hit my temple and bounced off as if it had hit a mountain. The soldier's arms shook from the vibration, and the iron head of his mace cracked.
[Skill Active: Physical Attack Resistance.]
"Inefficient," I said.
I reached out and grabbed the soldier's helmet. I let the Thermal Mastery flare for just a microsecond. The iron didn't just get hot; it turned white. The soldier screamed for a split second before falling silent, his armour melting into a puddle of slag around him.
The other soldiers backed away, their laughter replaced by a choking fear.
"M-Monster!" the leader yelled, pointing his sword at me. "Stay back!"
"I am not a monster," I said, walking toward him. "I am the new management. And the first thing I do is renovate the office."
I ignored the soldier and turned toward the terrified villagers. I knelt and pressed my glowing silver palm into the mud.
"Nyx. Legacy Architect. Build them a Sanctuary. Now."
"On it, Boss! Let's show them what real construction looks like!"
[Unique Skill: Legacy Architect — Commencing Emergency Shelter.]
[Condition: Pierce Resistance and Heat Resistance applied to Foundation.]
The ground groaned. To the villagers' shock, the mud and stones of the village didn't just move; they transformed. In seconds, a massive dome of bone-white stone erupted from the earth, surrounding the huddling survivors. It wasn't a tent; it was a fortress, smooth as marble and strong as diamond.
The fire from the burning huts couldn't even leave a mark on its surface.
The remaining soldiers stared at the fortress, then back at me. They realised they weren't fighting a man. They were fighting a force of nature.
"Run," I said to the lead soldier. "Run back to Valerius. Tell him that the Ruined Reach has a new CEO. And tell him... I'm looking forward to our next meeting."
The soldiers didn't wait. They scrambled into the woods, dropping their heavy shields just to run faster.
I stood up and looked at the white stone dome. Inside, I could hear the villagers weeping—not with fear, but with relief.
"Not bad, Artie," Nyx purred, her presence wrapping around my mind like a warm hug. "You saved the staff, you built the office, and you scared the competition. I think you've earned a coffee break."
"We don't have time for breaks, Nyx," I thought, looking at the horizon where the smoke of the Iron Forge rose. "We have an empire to build. And I think it's time we checked the 'Competitor's' books."
Arthur watched the two soldiers disappear into the dark woods. He didn't chase them. In business, sometimes letting a competitor's staff run back with a "horror story" was the best form of free advertising.
"They're going to tell Valerius that a silver-haired ghost just melted their captain," Nyx giggled, her voice echoing like a playful melody in his head. "That's one way to handle a PR department, Artie."
"It's called 'Market Positioning', Nyx," Arthur thought back. "They need to know the old rules no longer apply."
He turned his attention to the white stone dome he had just created. With a flick of his fingers, a seamless door slid open. The villagers inside were huddled together, their faces pale, but as they saw Arthur standing there—not with a torch, but with a calm, steady gaze—the atmosphere shifted from terror to awe.
"Elian," Arthur called out.
The young shepherd stepped forward, his new black spear pulsing with silver light. "Yes, My Lord?"
"This village is strategically inefficient in its current state. The walk to the mountain takes too long, and the path is dangerous. If I am to protect these people, I need a direct line of logistics."
Arthur knelt again, pressing both palms to the muddy earth.
"Nyx. I need a Supply Road. Connect this Outpost to the Shattered Aeon. Use the 'Legacy Architect' to level the terrain and reinforce the path."
"Ooh, a civil engineering project! Finally, something with a 'Permanent' feel," Nyx chirped. "Brace yourself, Boss. This is going to take a lot of Ichor."
[Unique Skill: Legacy Architect — Commencing 'Great Reach Road'.]
[Target: 10 Kilometres of Reinforced Highway.]
[Condition: Glow-Stone markers for night-time visibility.]
The ground began to rumble. A low, rhythmic thumping started at the centre of the village and raced toward the mountain. The mud, the dead trees, and the jagged rocks simply parted. A flat, twelve-foot-wide path of white stone tore through the landscape, smooth and perfectly level.
To the villagers' disbelief, small lanterns of glowing silver crystal sprouted along the edges of the road every fifty feet.
"My Lord..." Elian gasped, looking at the road that now cut through the "impassable" forest like a white ribbon. "This journey used to take us a full day of climbing. Now... I could run to the castle in an hour."
"Efficiency is the soul of an Empire, Elian," Arthur said, standing up. He didn't look tired, though a faint silver mist drifted off his skin. "I have built the road. Now, your job is to move the 'assets'—the people—to the lower terraces of the castle. This village is no longer a target; it is a checkpoint."
The oldest man in the village, the one who had cried out earlier, stepped forward and fell to his knees. "Lord Arthur... we have nothing to pay you with. No gold, no iron."
Arthur looked at the man. He saw the "Same Old Junior" look, but he softened his voice just a fraction.
"I don't want your iron," Arthur said. "I want your labour. I want your loyalty. In my Reach, you do not pay with blood. You pay by building a world where the God of Iron is irrelevant."
[Notice: Village Loyalty increased to 'Devoted'.]
[ New Feature: 'Trade Route' is active. Passive Energy Income increased.]
"Look at you, Artie," Nyx whispered, her voice sounding oddly proud. "You're not just a God. You're a Founder. But look at the map... the 'God of Iron' is already moving his pieces. He doesn't like it when people build roads without his permission."
Arthur looked toward the horizon, where the red glow of the Iron Forge flickered.
"Let him move," Arthur thought. "I've already finished the first phase of the merger. Now, it's time to see who else wants to join the Board."