[ Chaos demon has been unsummoned ]
" oh thank god that worked! " Julian sat down on a rock and took a moment to relax. He was still new to these powers so he was proud of himself for what he accomplished.
" guardian look after the caravan, make sure they are safe on their journey to Isvan City. "
The guardian teleported away and Julian raised his right hand up. The portal to his inner world opened and hundreds of work bots came flooding out and began to clear out the area. 20 of the Bots cleared a large 10ftby10ft square and began to build a matter converter. the process was quick and within 20 minutes a matter converter was created. with this the real work could begin.
" follow pre set design 24. "
{ Understood sir }
The bots received their orders and began to build up the foundations for this soon to be Mega fortress.
....
Julian teleported back to his room in Isvan City and plopped into his soft bed, He was very tired and had seen many bad things. He was terrified of the nightmares he would suffer but he was so, so tired. Without realizing it he fell asleep into a deep Dark sleep. Outside of his personal fortress the people of Isvan City were working diligently to get used to their new lives as citizens of the New Imperium of Man.
The sky was a dark grey and the winds were fast and cold, a young woman in her mid-twenties shuddered in her front yard as she sat in a chair painting a sign board. " Helen! what are you doing out here in the cold? get inside and lay under the cozy wool blankets the emperor provided us. " Helen sighed and dipped her paint brush back in the paint pin and continued to paint the signboard, The man was going to speak again when he was interrupted by Helen exclaiming in Joy. " its finally done! ". She pridefully held up the sign board and the man looked at it and read it aloud. " The golden Tiger inn? That's quite the name you got there Helen, Where's The tiger? " Helen looked at the man with an annoyed look but replied in a joyful tone. " I made a deal with the village chief, By tomorrow morning he will have a tiger skeleton coated in real gold delivered, and installed to the roof of my Inn." The man looked puzzled when he heard these words and a hint of worry could be seen across his face. " how exactly did you pay for it? don't tell me you sold..... " Gabe you piece of trash! what kind of woman do you think i am?? " Gabe looked at the floor and scratched his elbow nervously. " then how did you afford it? we both came here dirt poor on the back of that carriage with not a single coin to our names. " Helen scoffed at his words. " well maybe if you didn't sleep all day and night you would know that the village chief is giving out free help to all Isvan citizens. If you want to set up a business go find him and he will pay for all the start up fees and provide all the necessary materials and labor. you just have to do the annoying work like making a signboard and setting up the internal issues of the business. " but Helen you know i cant read and write, how am i supposed to do that. " Hearing his words Helen didn't even want to reply but she reluctantly did anyways. " like i said, if you didn't sleep all day you would know what to do right now. i Wont explain this to you anymore, go find The village chief and ask him yourself. " Gabe nodded and began to walk away when Helen dropped her signboard. " Uh Gabe before you go do you mind giving me a hand here? " He ignored her and kept walking, " go ask the village chief, not me. "
As he walked down the street Gabe sang a toon his mother taught him when he was little. The words were in a foreign language so the people walking down the street only heard gibberish from his mouth. Although one could not understand the words, the sounds he made was pleasant to The ears. The speed of the wind picked up and the cold became even more intense, Gabe rubbed his hands together and began to jog down the street. He passed by many open shops and even a couple of bars and restaurants, Thanks to The village chiefs hard work, and the emperors generosity. The people had plenty of food and had a bright outlook on the future, so they worked hard to turn this empty city into a thriving city full of life. There was several bad rumors floating around the city, brought in by the villagers of faraway villages. They told of demon hordes burning down cities and leaving nothing but death in their wakes. This did bring great fear and unease into the peoples hearts but after witnessing the power of the wall, they managed to calm down. The propaganda spread by Julian's faithful 39 original Soldiers helped a bit too.
The cold creaked into Gabe's body but he held fast and kept jogging down the road. His ears froze first and then his nose, Once his hands began to freeze as well he stopped and hurriedly pushed his way into a bar on left side of the street called The drunkard Barn.
* BANG*
His body collided with the door and it swung open, All the bar patrons within turned to look at him. He didn't give them any mind and hurried to the fire pit at the back of the bar. Seeing his blue face the bar patrons looked away and the bar lit up with chatter once again. The bartender saw the young boy burst in and a sad look fell upon his face. He grabbed a thick blanket and a thick winter sweater from the back room and walked up to the young man. " here you go son, Put these on for now, Ill be right back with something nice. " As the man walked away Gabe hurriedly put on the sweater and wrapped the blanket around his lower body. The fire Crackled loudly and the flame roared brightly. Gabe felt so comfortable he had the urge to fall asleep on the spot but the words of Helen echoed in his mind and he forced himself awake.
In the Kitchen the old bartender grabbed a small green stone from a large bag and placed it into a grinder. The stone was cracked into pieces and grinded into powder, Next the man poured the powder into a cup of hot water. He mixed the water with a metal rod and added a pinch of sugar. The old man looked at the drink with a happy expression and made his way out of the kitchen and into the bar. He walked slowly and carefully as the bar was packed and he did not want to spill any hot liquid on any of the patrons. Within a minute he arrived at the young man and placed the cup down on the floor in front of the fireplace. " what's this? " asked the man as he reached forwards for the cup. " Green stone Tea, be careful, its hot. " The old man stood up and walked away, The bar was packed and he was needed to serve more drinks.
Gabe held the cup with his right hand and raised the cup to his mouth. " it smells amazing " The fragrance of the tea was spectacular, a single whiff warmed his body up nicely. He took a sip and the warmth of the tea flooded inside of his body and he let out a quiet relaxed sigh. This was the first time in his life that he felt so comfortable. For the past week he was constantly paranoid and refused to leave the house he was given. Everything he had seen in the past week was so confusing and the large metal humans walking around terrified him. He saw them only once before when he first entered the city, he desperately wanted to ask what they were but was too scared to even speak of them so he buried his fear deep and slept everyday for a week.
Gabe finished drinking the delicious tea and placed the empty cup on a random table as he stood up. He began to make his way to the old man who had given him tea so that he could return the sweater and blanket. " excuse me sir, thank you for the help, here's your stuff back. " The old man looked at him and said one thing. " take it with you and go. " after he finished speaking the old man ignored Gabe and went to help the patrons asking for drinks. Gabe had a smile on his face and was grateful to the old man, never before had he been treated this kindly. As he walked out the door and made his way back down the road to the city plaza where the village chief was, he began to think of his past, The village he grew up in and the old man who raised him.
....
In a dark room an old mans voice could slightly be heard. " Gabe can you come here for a second?" a light and loud voice replied " Be right there Grandpa! " Gabe got out of his bed and grabbed his lantern before moving out of the room. When he arrived in his grand fathers room he saw something awful. The lantern fell from his hands and he rushed forwards to his grandpa. " who did this grandpa! " A longsword pierced right through his grandpas body and into the wooden bed below. " Shut up and listen to me boy! i don't have much time. Under my bed is a long box that holds our family heirloom. Take it and get out of this village, its not safe here anymore.
....
A sudden cold gust of wind shot down his sweater and he snapped back to reality. He looked up and he realized he had arrived at his destination. inside of the large plaza was a small building, its exterior was similar to that of a bank from his old world. Forward he walked until he arrived at the front door, due to the cold weather there were not many people in the area so it was quiet. The door was heavy and made a loud sound as it was opened. The cold wind rushed inside and blew the door fully open, Gabe fell forward and landed on his knees. As he began to get up a large burly man in a grey uniform closed the door and the warmth returned to the building. Once the doorways shut the burly man helped Gabe get up and then returned to his post. Another man with a skinny frame, black hair and a green uniform came up and greeted Gabe. " hello sir, are you here to speak the village chief about a business idea or are you looking for employment? " Gabe looked at the man in front of himself and spoke up. " employment? " The man in greed nodded and exclaimed loudly " great! follow me and i will find you a suitable job. " Gabe followed the kind man into a room and they sat down at a table across from one another. The man leaned to the right and opened a filing cabinet and browsed through. " so sir, what kind of job do you think you would be best at? Right now we have 3 high paying jobs and several other lower paying jobs available. " She looked up at Julian and slid 3 pieces of paper across the table. Gabe picked up the first paper and looked up at the man, " i cannot read ". " oh my! i am so sorry sir. " The employee grabbed the papers and read them aloud for Gabe to hear.
" This first one here is a farmer position, It pays 2 gold coins a month and has an 9 hour workday 5 days a week. If you pick this job you will have to go through agriculture school for 3 hours a day on top of your 9 hour shift for a total 12 hour work day. This job does not take any great talent or intelligence, you only need to be good at physical labor and good at following orders. This next one is a mechanic position. I understand you may not be familiar with the term ' mechanic ' so i shall give a quick and simple explanation for you. A mechanic is someone who takes care of machines, and machines are those big metal things that move all over the city, If you choose this position you will be sent to mechanic school for 2 years and then will be employed by the state for 3 gold coins a month where you will be in charge of taking care of certain machines. " This made Gabe think of the metal monsters he had seen and he froze, The man didn't notice this and continued onto the third job. " The final Job is a Soldier position. You will be paid 5 gold coins, 5 low quality spirit stones and 1 low grade natural soul stone a month. Upon conscription you will be sent to a military base where you will be for the next 10 years. There you will learn how to fight and how to cultivate. " The employee looked at Gabe's face and said in a panicked voice " are you ok sir? " Gabe looked at the man and put his hand on the mechanic paper. " I'll do this one " His heart was terrified but his mind was curious. he was too afraid to ask what they were so he figured the best answer would to be taught what they are.
...
Julian awoke in his bed and yelled into the room, " Ted! how long was i asleep! "
[ You have been asleep for 8 hours sir ]
Julian got up and looked around confused. He went to bed expecting horrific dreams but there was nothing. He didn't dream at all, he just time traveled 8 hours. Julian slowly got up and took off all of his heavy armor for some more comfortable clothing. After changing he walked to his balcony and looked out at the city, In the sky planes flew in and out, cranes and construction bots were everywhere. unlike yesterday the sky was clear and it was warm and sunny out.
Julian opened his stat window and noticed he had leveled up to stage 5 of the half immortal realm. His stats wildly increased as well. most of his stats were in the quadrillions but Julian had no idea what that meant. Never in his life had he seen a story where stats went this high. he tried to ask his system out load multiple times but he got no answer, not even the Ai replied to him. Being ignored like this made him a little angry so he teleported a far distance away from the city and landed in an open field. He took a deep breath and accessed a memory he had inherited from Mark, Julian slowly lifted his Right arm into the air and aimed at the ground in front of him. under the guidance of marks memories Julian's inner body power began to condense in this Right Fist. Each and every breath enhanced the power within his fist until his hand began to hurt. the limit of his body had been reached and he could no longer collect anymore of his internal power into his fist. " ahhh DAMMIT! " The pain coursed throughout his body and he cursed over and over as he continued to follow marks guidance. The collected power raged within His arm and He slowly worked to refine it and gain control over it. a minute in the power became too much and Julian was forced to release the energy, He swung his arm to the right and the energy blasted everything in its path for hundreds of meters. " Fuck! " Julian screamed out in pain, his entire right arm was burning red.
The pain was too much to handle and Julian fell to his knees while clutching his right arm and screaming. Nano particles flooded out of his left arm and covered his right arm whole. In that instant the pain stopped and the Nano particles receded back into his left arm. " woah! " his arm healed immediately and he stood up with a headache as well as a great notification.
[ Your body is too weak to access even a tenth of your internal energy. complete system generated quests to level up Body cultivation rank. ]
"oh so its like that then, ok system thanks for the help. "
While this answered one question it gave him many more. The most important one was ' how much power did i just use? 10%? 2% he had no idea. when he collected the energy under the guidance of marks memories it felt like he was drawing from an endless ocean.