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Chapter 289 - Neighbors Visit
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 14:19:06 +0000 UTCAround one month has passed since I arrived at this mountain. Although nothing out of the norm happened, time passed really fast. During this time, I tried to be cautious in order to avoid being caught in the activation of the labyrinth, but that didn’t happen even after this much time and intervention. So, I decided to start the next phase of the plan.
I went deep in the labyrinth and fast as well to notice the differences, but after crossing what felt around fifty kilometers, the only changes that I noticed was that the ants became bigger… they came more resilient too and granted more experience and materials, but nothing aside from that.
‘At such distance, I would be around the third section of a labyrinth… their size doubled, but it isn’t the same equivalency.’
The labyrinth was making less and less sense as time passed. The deeper I went, the more the usual patterns of escalation seemed to be missing. Normally, the environment would change, and the creatures would become more dangerous. But here, everything remained strangely static. The ants had grown larger and tougher, but their presence didn’t signal a natural progression within the labyrinth. It felt like I was stuck in some sort of stagnant loop, where the usual rules didn’t apply. The walls, the floor, even the air seemed unchanging, creating an unnerving stillness that left me questioning what was truly happening beneath the surface.
Despite the confusion, the materials I collected continued to pile up, providing me with an abundant supply of resources. This was valuable, and I could still move forward with my plans, even if I didn’t fully understand the labyrinth’s behavior. The lack of change was unsettling, but as long as the resources kept flowing, I would continue to push ahead and see where this bizarre labyrinth would eventually lead.
‘In any case, it is time to put the plan into action.’
Before anything, I decided to load the remote cart that I made with some plates and then use the control to make the mechanical arms that I attached to it to unload the plates. The movements were simple since they were preset. Still, it worked… I made the cart go deeper in the dungeon and then I used the same commands. Then I went where the cart was and confirmed that it received them and worked properly.
‘I guess this confirms that I can control things from a distance with magic as well, even if my mana isn’t the one being used.’
My first idea was to use that to create a rail for the vehicle and make it expand itself day in and day out. I would just forget the rails. However, that would be filled to accomplish given that the corridors of the labyrinth had a curvature and I couldn’t count on that with precision. Besides, making all those rails and then take them back later would be a massive pain in the ass.
Since I confirmed that my plans of automation worked, I began to use and make more cogs to make the process of pulling the claws of the ants a lot faster. The only problem was that I couldn’t make the process of getting the mana cores as easier.
‘I guess I need to make those belts and then add the mechanical arms on the sides for them to do the same work… after that, I can focus on automating the forging process.’
It took me nearly two weeks to complete that phase, a process that should have been quicker but was delayed by several simple mistakes along the way. The mechanical arms, though functional, weren’t intelligent. Their movements had to be adjusted and corrected constantly, as they couldn’t adapt to unexpected situations on their own.
The constant fine-tuning became frustrating, and at times, it felt like a waste of time. But despite the setbacks, I knew that this knowledge was valuable. Each misstep was a lesson learned, and the foundation I was building would save me countless hours down the line. This phase, though tedious, was crucial. It would serve as the basis for automating future processes and would be applied to many other projects. I had to remind myself that the time spent now would pay off in the long run.
“Da-da! Da-da!”
While I was thinking about that, Alissandra began to slap the borders of her seat on Glacien's back. I thought that she would be fine there while Glacien walked around the base, but it looked like she was getting annoyed since I was starting to work more while she was awake.
“She is too energetic… well, that is a good thing. I suppose we can use this energy helping her learn how to walk.”
She already could crawl well, thanks to that, I couldn’t leave my stuff around or she would grab it. Maybe it was about time to try to reach the deepest parts of the labyrinth… even if it takes more than six hours to come and go.
I helped Alissandra get up a bit with her unsteady legs as I watched one of the mechanical arms pulling the body of a giant ant from a magic bag and then adding to the belt that was moving. Soon enough, other arms pulled the claws of the ant and then others stored the claws in another magic bag. The process bad been working fine for a couple of hours and it only required a mana core on each arm. I still didn’t know for how long they would last, so I should observe for a while longer.
‘I guess this indeed will save me a lot of time. I just need to adjust the arms to work the same way to different materials…’
“Wahhhh! Wahhhh!’
“Sorry, sorry. It won’t happen again.”
I let Alissandra fall… while I covered the ground with monster fur. It was still painful for her to fall. It took a bit to calm her down… she was becoming more sensible to irritability as late. Or maybe this was my fault for working too much.
I decided to help her walk around spending her energy faster, but her legs were still pretty unsteady for her to take more than a few steps, even while my hands were holding hers. Her physical parameters couldn’t be upgraded yet, so it made sense.
Speaking of upgrades, I had accumulated enough experience to double the value of my attack speed and I confirmed that also helped with my skill of using my hands out of combat. I could assemble some parts faster than before and without making mistakes. Writing faster was also one of the bonuses of having such attack speed… the only issue was my patience being tested for saving that much experience.
Eventually, Alissandra got tired and fell asleep. It was about time for me to resume my work, but it looked like something else would keep me busy.
“Grrr…”
Glacien began to growl while looking to the side…. that direction was the entrance of the labyrinth, so immediately raised my guard and got ready to use my hand crossbow.
“What is wrong, girl?”
Glacien rose without a sound. Her movements were sharp as she got up from where she had been sitting. Without a glance backward, she made her way toward the entrance of the labyrinth, the only sound her footsteps against the ground. Her expression was unreadable, and it seemed like she had noticed something. As she neared the entrance, she slowed down for a moment, as if considering her next move. Then, without a word, she turned sharply and passed by it, moving toward the opposite side of the summit instead.
I had already checked the other side of the mountain. There was only a forest there, but five hundred kilometers beyond it, there was the border of Felyndor with a country that is mainly covered in a desert…
“Was it about time for them to decide to take advantage of the situation?”
I didn’t know how the war was going on, but maybe it was about time for looters to start to show up from all directions. In any case, Roswald told me that the people of that country were similar to the beastkin, they even shared the land together in the past, but soon to some fallout, they split up and then got on bad terms… Thanks to the harsh conditions on their lands, it was pretty common for that land to be filled with bandit clans and it seemed that they were heading in my direction.
Roswald didn’t show up in a while, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t imagined that this wouldn’t happen. The chances that I would be found were still relatively small, but it looked like the enemies were planning to use the summit of the mountain as a vantage point.
“There are many ways that I can deal with this. I suppose disposing of them would be the best option since I would be able to keep doing what I want uninterrupted.”
In the distance and between some trees around the middle of the mountain, I was able to see some shadows moving. It was dark, so it would be hard to notice their approach, even with my eyes. I didn’t know how many of them were there, but I imagined that once a fight started, it wouldn’t stop with just a few attacks.
Just as I didn’t want people to find out about my hideout, they wouldn’t want people to know about their invasion, so they would want to silence me as well. They are probably aiming for the towns in the area that would have limited defenses, but the people there would still cause a lot more trouble if they knew that enemies were coming.
