We finally arrived at the spot Garth had mentioned. It was a pleasant, big, open valley, with a forest right next to us and a river 30 minutes away. I climbed a nearby mountain to get a lay of the land, and to be fair, it was gorgeous.
I set up some temporary shelter made out of dirt, and people got to work settling in. Once again, Garth took charge of being the chief. All the people listened more to him anyway.
I went out to scout out the land. With the best sensing and memory capabilities out of anyone, I was the obvious choice. I decided to bring along my horse, which I named Arion, the dog pack, and Rex, the baby dinosaur.
I named the baby Rex because it looked like a dinosaur and was growing as big as one. In the two days since it hatched, Rex grew to be the size of a dog. While smaller than the hunting pack dogs, Rex would soon catch up.
Part of my scouting was to find some food for Rex as well. He(I'd seen it) wasn't ready to hunt by himself yet. Rex was only a Red core. His core snowballed, but it'd still be at least a month until he was ready to hunt my type of game.
The valley's surroundings were pleasant, and the dogs and Arion got to go wild. To the west of where we came was a giant forest. It was around the same elevation as the valley but very hilly, especially towards the north.
To the east was an enormous mountain range. Most of the mountains pierced the clouds, and some bigger ones might have even breached the stratosphere. The mountain range wrapped around north, closing off the valley and meeting with the forest.
The plains we settled in expanded south and southeast, following the mountain range. The nearby river flowed down from the mountains in waterfalls before reaching a slow point across the plains and continuing west through the forest and out to sea.
If the "village" were to expand south, it would need to cross the river. I just used a shabby dirt bridge to scout south. Anything made out of magic would eventually disappear, so we couldn't rely on it.
The leader of the hunting dogs, which I named Greyhound for his silver grey coat, also found that a group of chimera eagles lived on the mountain ridge close to us. I hoped to talk with them later.
I wanted to try negotiation first. Despite what I seemed, I only ever killed for survival, whether it was the daemon in the Duchy, the dungeon, the slavers, or monsters for food.
After scouting everything in a three-kilometer radius, I inscribed a map for the upcoming village. I used a big sheet of paper found in the slavers' coach. It would fit a lot of detail, and considering the strongest people besides me and Garth were rank fours, they needed detail.
While not as high as in the dungeon, mana density in the heartlands was higher than anywhere else, which would help with cultivation.
A few wooden huts had already been set up when I returned at night. Most people were working adults, so we had a good proportion of workers compared to the whole population. There were only five people over 60 or their race equivalent. There were only three kids as well, all less than ten.
-----
Over the next week, I continued scouting and addressing threats while the rest of the village expanded. There was now enough living space for everyone, with homes for families and rooms for the rest.
Garth and I were in the so-called "Chief's home." It was just a regular room, but built onto it was a meeting room that stored that map and held strategic meetings.
This week, Garth also found out I was a boy. So far, I had just let him think I was a tomboyish girl, mainly because I couldn't be bothered to address it. As we bunked together, I had to tell Garth.
His reaction was hilarious.
-----
"You what mate?"
"I'm a boy."
"How?" He asked incredulously.
"Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much—"
"No, I meant how do you look so much like a girl?"
"Long hair?" I tied my hair into a ponytail to see if it made me any more masculine.
"Nope, still a girl."
"What about now?" I formed a scar across my face."
"More like a female general in war. Maybe it's your physique. You're slim, and wearing oversized clothes doesn't make it any better."
"I'm physically stronger than you."
"Not the point, and you have those nanomachines or whatever, it doesn't count."
"Well, this is how I look, so deal with it."
"I never said I had a problem, its just very confusing."
"Yeah, imagine the pain I went through." It was confusing for people around me, but it could sometimes be a little infuriating for me.
'Not to mention trying not to offend anyone's pronouns and get canceled.'
Get what now? Sometimes, random thoughts that I didn't know about appeared in my head.
-----
At present, almost everyone in the village should have figured out that I was a boy. This village was slowly becoming more and more built up. Everyone shared food and supplies, but we would need our civilization as the town expanded.
Today, we will take the first step by naming our town. Everyone was gathered in front of the town center, and Garth explained what was happening. I stood beside Garth, but my role was very minor.
"Today, we take the first step in our journey to a new civilization. We will name our town!" Everyone applauded Garth. In their eyes, Garth was like a blessing. He had come and saved them from the clutch of the slavers and led them here. I was more like a knight or traveling warrior.
"As the man who made this all possible, I think Alexander should be the one to decide the village name."
This was not what I expected. Garth cleared the way as I stepped up.
"Hello, everyone. I know you are all very excited for this moment, and that is why I have spent the last few days trying to think of a special name that will fit this town."
As all politicians do, I lied through my teeth, but now that I thought of it, I had a pretty good name.
"As such, I propose the name Greyhound Village! Not only does it encapsulate our run away from slavery into freedom, but the Greyhound is also a proud hunting dog like the ones we have here.
The Greyhound is also an exceptional animal to me, as my family's emblem is one of the proud Greyhounds." I handed over the stage to Garth
"Thank you, Alex, for that very thoughtful name. The village's name will be decided later today with a vote. If anyone has any other suggestions, please come up now."
Leaving Garth to do his things, I helped out around the village. A wall was currently being constructed to the north. The monsters would likely come from the north, which made it the most important place to defend. I helped move rocks over to build up the wall, and I would inscribe them to strengthen it.
To my surprise, Greyhound was chosen as the name at the end of the day, and Garth erected a little gate with Greyhound spelled out.
"That was a really good choice Alex, how did you come up with it?" Garth asked me as we got ready for bed.
"It just came to me. Also, you couldn't be bothered to tell me I was speaking before hand?"
"Well, it just came to me while I was speaking that you haven't had a lot of interaction speaking to everyone since you broke them out."
"You're the one doing everything."
"Still, I couldn't do this alone. I wouldn't want to do this alone." Garth sighed. He proposed the village, saying it would be fun, and without me, Garth would have had to do much more by himself.
"Shut up, you sappy old goof."
"We're the same age."
Garth was still a growing kid, so he went to bed early. My soul was still growing, but my body didn't need anything, so I stayed cultivating before heading to bed.
I didn't need to eat or drink anything, but when I did, my body still used it, so I needed to go to the bathroom. I also brushed my teeth because my hair, teeth, and nails were still organic enamel and proteins, even with all my modifications.
Eventually, when I mastered matter manipulation, I wouldn't need to do all this human stuff, but until then, I did it. Finishing up my bedtime routine, I went to sleep. Any intruders would be detected by my barriers or stopped, so I fell asleep with no worries.