Mayor Caleb Goss.
22nd of Ianua, 1492.
***
With a subtle nod from King Silas, I stepped into the center of the ringed table for perhaps the last time. After this day, we would be standing on ceilings and walking on walls like the Emperor, and there was little time before that happened. Thus, I dutifully turned to about to meet the eyes of each member before bowing. "Council in session."
As I suspected, the old witch was the first to speak. An aged human, she was, and both an alchemist and a Hearth Witch to boot, healing through spells, potions, and food. Thus, all took heed of the words of Myrtle Crowe. Especially in these circumstances.
"The ambient mana is on the rise." She declared, though it was something we all noticed. "It is currently at the density of water. As things stand, this is no issue. But if it rises to Slush, people will begin suffering from mana fatigue."
It was then that we were joined. Or rather, it was then that the invisible throne above me was occupied. Not by a doppelganger or even a physical body, but by countless motes of light, aggregating to make something solid. The Metaphysical form of our Divine Emperor, perceived through the minds of us, his faithful mortal royals.
"Through my blessings, you all will develop denser mana wells." The God-Emperor stated. Yet Myrtle Crowe had words of objection still.
"Declaring my fealty to you is one thing. Piety, however, is not me."
"Be that as it may, there are many ways of showing faith besides prayer and worship; such as trust." He smiled, and the act seemed to spawn a tiny shadow-shrouded star that drifted over to her and faded, leaving the same distinctive glow in her eyes that paved the way to platitude.
Indeed, it was the same light, or one of them, that befell the rest of us over the last two tendays. Silvers, golds, blues, and sea-greens. We all had something. And it made us all more.
Case in point.
"I am pleased to report there to be many couples engaged, newlywed, or with child." Yaramin Springwood, our Minister of Commerce, bounced in his high chair. "We are expecting a population boom! Just in time for the boom in infrastructure."
"Not quite." Ken, the dwarven chief engineer, slammed his meaty paw on the table. "We just perfected the grand forges. So we opted to keep 'em for the common metals and make new forges for adamantine, mithral, and any other high heat metals. They'll need to be tweaked differently, anyway. However long that'll take." He huffed, looking at the God-Emperor sitting above us on his inverted throne, chuckling as the dark clouds began appearing all around us. Laughing, just as I was.
Although Silas was graced by the God of Mana's blue-green arcana, others, like Myrtle Crowe, adopted the gilded darkness, as they were calling it. Many, like Yaramin, basked beneath the pale blue grace of Amun's light. Ken and several others gathered beneath the deep blue glow of the ArcaTech.
Having seen the God-Emperor's miracles and walked alongside his Metaphysical Form nearly every day since he first appeared, I chose no domain or favored energy, for I devoted myself to the God-Emperor wholly. All domains. All aspects. Through that, a single glance told me of all that'd been deposited on us, just as other methods informed the other members. And, like them, a mere thought- a prayer- saw me have the tools to organize them efficiently.
Before anyone else, Gio and Letta were the first to get two Creation Stations each; one for their homes, to be used for the legions; the other for their shops and businesses. Together, and with Ken, they explained their function to the rest of the Council, who only received one Station along with two wise rocks, infused with the essence of our God-Emperor. One for our residential districts and one for our occupations. And yet more Stations were given to them to be passed along to the other merchants, tycoons, and industrialists.
With the meeting adjourned, I did as always and walked through the town, gauging and analyzing what worked and what failed; what needed doing and what was done; what people loved and what people loathed. Recent events only made that pastime of mine all the better, for I could gaze upon our ever-growing empire and see people of all walks of life thriving.
I could see grand pieces of technology such as colossal drills that disappeared rock and turned them into elaborately enchanted tunnels in an instant. I could hear those of the Council, like Sir Giorno and Lady Letta, discussing the gentlemanly and child rearing themes of their districts to-be.
Most importantly, I could see everyone from the youngest babes to even Myrtle Crow walking with a representation of our Eternal Emperor. Cats and dogs, owls and snakes, machines; or, in my case, all the above.
***
Liam.
28th of Duotra, 1491.
***
"What's it been? A month and five, six days?"
"Yeah, and it still hasn't gotten old." My clone turned toward me, chuckling. "The first of Trescia is in a few days. I'd be surprised if it wasn't done by then."
A shift in the surrounding rock pulled my attention away before I could speak on it more. Not that I needed to. In the black and gray vision afforded by these goggles, I saw a massive millipede of steel and ceramics skittering forth on countless legs, supporting itself so two pairs of twin rails of metal could emerge from the darkness in its innards and lay across the floor beneath it.
Its body wasn't plated in chitin, but was coated in wide metal grates. Exposed to the elements so the metallic ribs could reach out and grasp curved slabs of stone and fit them into place against the walls and ceiling.
Rather than creep forward like a millipede, the thing charged forward like a bull. Right into the rock and rubble it went. And the material simply… vanished.
I knew now that it was transported to a timeless pocket dimension to be refined and processed into those metal rails or curved slabs before they were handed off to the steel ribs a moment later, locking them into place along the roof and walls of this vast tunnel while a final arm filled in the gaps with mortar or something.
Meanwhile, another, smaller millipede was far behind us, using its many ribs to lift and press the metal belts into the floor and ceiling and place enchantments along the walls in preset positions, illuminating it in some places and carving alcove-intersections in others.
It was the same thing seen for much of the last month. But, for only the fourth time in that same span of time, bright light illuminated the ensuing cloud of dust, impeding the undead gray dwarves in their cause to clear the rubble. But none were dismayed, for they all stopped, squinted through the light, and heartily smiled at the sight of rolling mountain peaks stretching between us and the vastest desert- the only desert- we'd ever seen.
Then, as one, we turned around and looked down the vast and absurdly wide tunnel. What would normally be the road and ceiling of such a structure were instead parallel rails on the top and bottom, glowing with a subtle blue energy.
Every second of every day of the last month, they'd been working nonstop with their strange growling metal beasts. And every minute of every hour, me or my clone was here, watching them work without end. Exploding rock. Disappearing rock. Fitting enchantments on the walls and ceilings; and repeat.
That wasn't the extent of my job, however. As Head of Reconnaissance, it was my job to survey and assess our expanding territories while my subordinates surveyed the mountainside above for resources, strategic locations, or other points of interest. And what a vast pocket of land this was.
After measuring the mountain from summit to base, the skeletons, machines, undead dwarves, and doppelgangers began snaking their way 15 kilometers down to sea level using their innate prowess at turning amorphous, making note of any ore veins or civilizations on the way down. The latter of which there were none.
They measured 15 kilometers to sea level, but went down another 485 before carving out the bedrock of the underground to form a hub around the immensely vast root nexus.
Still over 9,000 kilometers away from the Darkworld, the vast cavern was filled with oil refineries, manufacturing yards, fuel depots, garages, warehouses, and an array of other things that'd been constructed and shipped from Nonus over the past several months. And the work hadn't stopped since.
An almost perpetual ruckus had been ringing throughout the mountain range for months now as teams of undead took to each cardinal direction, and indeed above, blasting insurmountable tons of stone into the darkness in an effort to disconnect the mountain from the tree in its entirety.
Much to my surprise, that proved a surprisingly straightforward task, as nothing stuck to the tree's exotic bark. They simply fired off explosives and let the debris fall into the darkness below. And so, significant progress could be seen by the day. But that only increased my exacerbation. Seeing it on paper was one thing. Seeing it become real before by eyes was another thing entirely. And this was just the start of it.
Similar but different growling metallic beasts with strange names could be seen everywhere, making the horses we obtained obsolete in terms of beasts of burden and war. Many of the metal beasts- vehicles were put in the main cavern and industrial yards, allowing a single person to excavate entire mountain faces in hours, leaving the horses and oxes to be claimed by the citizens for recreational use. Though they still received a plethora of metallic beasts as well.
Among the citizens, the most beloved was the tractor. It could do the work of a dozen farmers on its own. Plus more. It could plow, sow, fertilize, and harvest acres in a day. Other machines felled and de-branched trees in minutes, while yet more carried hulking logs to the lumberyard to be carved into planks and beams. They alone increased our industrial capabilities by leaps and bounds.
Among the guards, the favored beast was the MEEP. Like many things Amun and Ed created, the name was an acronym. Its full designation was the Multi-Environment Expedition Phaeton, and even I considered acquiring one. They needn't food nor rest, only maintenance and a volatile liquid like pure alcohol. And, at least on a road, they could travel far faster than any horse and carry twice as much load to boot. The only downside was how loud they were. But that was easily fixed with enchantments.
That said, there were more ridiculous machines to choose from. And more came every day. Trains. Carriages that were pulled up the mountain on adamantine cables. More cables that we'd strap into and zip down the mountain. And there was word of more machines that could fly and explore the ocean depths coming to us soon. And here, in this vast expanse that had been carved out, they would be produced en mass.
"Let's go." My clone patted me on the back, then gave a last look at the open entrance, which was already being measured, trimmed, and prepared for huge adamantine blast doors. "Job's done. This phase is complete."