Chapter 20 - Rest

Paul rested, and the next day he planned to craft some swords and daggers, as his old ones were completely destroyed. He remembered the sword he had created using aura and decided to try again. With ease, two large swords materialized in his hands.

The swords resembled flames, and their shapes kept shifting wildly. Paul closed his eyes and visualized the desired shape of the flames in his mind. After a few hours of experimenting with different methods, he finally managed to control them effortlessly. He could now change their shape at will.

Once he achieved control, the aura no longer resembled flames. It solidified and maintained its shape. The following day, he focused on concentrating more aura into the blades and altering their color.

By the end of the day, he succeeded. The blades were nearly invisible and sharper than any conventional sword. The only drawback was that they consumed mana, but that wasn’t a problem for Paul, as he had more than enough.

After finishing with his weapons, Paul needed good armor. Unfortunately, the village had no tailors, and the only available armor was an old, uncomfortable soldier's suit, which he decided against. Instead, he wore simple clothes and no armor. After eating and sharing some of his food with others, he went to bed.

The next day, he left the village for the castle. Since he was faster, he reached the stone arch the old man had mentioned in a few minutes. From there, it took him an hour to reach the city. The city was vast, with many buildings of various shapes, but they were all run-down from time and weather. The castle, as he had heard, was on the edge of a cliff and in similar disrepair. It had a large wall surrounding it and a big gate.

He didn’t immediately enter the city; instead, he continued to train and refine his control. During his training, he noticed that some bandits lived in the city and some in the castle. Only a few bandits entered the castle, indicating a hierarchy among them.

After two days of training and observing the bandits, Paul decided to head towards the castle. He tried to avoid the bandits, but since he still couldn’t fully control his strength, he accidentally destroyed the wall of a house, causing it to collapse.

Several bandits came to investigate the noise and saw Paul standing near the rubble. They started swinging their swords at him, but he avoided all their attacks. Feeling confident, he used the situation as a training opportunity. As he dodged their strikes, he suddenly felt something on his back. The bandits stopped and jumped back.

Paul looked behind him and saw a bandit with a broken sword. Pieces of the sword were scattered on the ground. ‘Did he just try to stab me in the back? Wait… did that sword break? Is my skin that strong too?’

Observing the bandit and his broken sword, Paul saw that the bandit was pale and calling him a monster. The bandits attempted to escape, but to Paul, it was like they were moving in slow motion. Paul created a sword from his aura and, within seconds, all the bandits were dead. He continued killing bandits throughout the city, absorbing their items and guild points.

After clearing the city, Paul turned his attention to the castle. The gates were closed, but this posed no problem for him. With a single punch, he created a hole in the castle door. Inside, he was greeted by the sound of a bell and bandits surrounding the gate.

Without difficulty, he dispatched all the bandits in moments. He then proceeded to what appeared to be the throne room, where he saw a man seated on the throne. Next to the throne were three small tigers with horns in a cage. They looked sick and hungry, and one of them was already dead.

The man did not rise and simply asked, “Who are you?”

Paul responded, “Nobody.”

“So, nobody killed all my men that I gathered?”

“Seems so…”

“Do you know who I am?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man’s head slowly rolled to the ground with Paul standing beside him. Paul then looked at the small tigers. The two alive were licking the dead one, who seemed to have died recently. As Paul approached them, they retreated to the back of the cage, the furthest they could go.

Paul broke open the cage and released them. He took out some meat from his ring and gave it to them. The tigers eagerly devoured the meat, seemingly having been fed just enough to keep them alive. After finishing the meat, they remembered Paul and ran away again.

They couldn’t go far since the doors were closed, but they were still afraid. Paul sat on the throne to consider his next steps. As he did, a window appeared in front of him.

*This city has no ruler. Do you wish to become the new ruler?*

Paul accepted, and another window appeared.

*You have become the ruler of a city. You can change its name. Do you wish to change it?*

Paul nodded and said, “DOLN.”

*You have a command crystal. To use it, just place it anywhere in the city.*

He examined the window carefully since he didn’t remember receiving one. Focusing on his ring, he saw that one item had disappeared and another had appeared. The box he received from Jonathan was gone, replaced by a command crystal. He took it out; it resembled an egg.

He placed it on the ground, and tentacles made of earth emerged, lifting it to his chest. The tentacles hardened. Paul touched the crystal, and instantly he knew everything about the city—every secret door and detail.

He also discovered where the young people the bandits had taken were imprisoned: in a mine on the city's edge. Since they hadn’t heard the bell, they likely hadn’t heard anything else. He began relocating the crystal and himself, moving it as deep as possible. He set up the room with light crystals and oxygen-producing plants, created a door that could only be opened from inside, and constructed tunnels.

He dug a tunnel 3 meters wide and about 100 meters deep, followed by a long water-filled tunnel leading to an exit on the cliff edge. At the exit, it was completely dark. From there, he made stairs leading back up to the castle.

After completing these tasks, he found himself in the room he had envisioned. He created traps, placed poisonous plants, and constructed a maze. He ensured it was impossible to access from outside but easy to exit. He built several fake rooms with false crystals and reinforced the room containing the real crystal with a material strong enough to withstand even his strength.

He then focused on renovating the castle. He needed more crystal shards, so he extracted some and continued working. Each time he ran out, he retrieved more and kept improving.

He lifted the castle grounds and surrounded it with a river filled with dangerous fish, similar to piranhas. He renovated the houses closest to the castle, made the roads solid stone, and planted trees and plants to avoid a gray, lifeless appearance. He enhanced the city's defenses by adding multiple defense towers.

Next, he created a city center with a large well and several significant buildings: a large inn, a guild testing facility, a library, and a garrison for the guards. At the city entrance, he built essential market district structures, including shops. He added everything he thought a city needed.

There was only one way into the city: a path. At the city's edge, he constructed a wall with two large towers on either side and a tunnel with windows for guards to shoot arrows from. He built several tunnels leading to the arch and added similar buildings throughout the city.

He also created a park filled with trees and a large field with good soil for crops. Next to the mine, he built a large room inside the mountain with a 6-meter high ceiling to house all the livestock.

He constructed a large wall with gates around the city, separating it from the park and fields. He added towers along the wall to prevent anyone from bypassing it. Most people used the path Paul took since it was the shortest and safest route.

Satisfied, he completed the work and felt a slight earthquake. He exited the crystal room and was soon back outside the castle. Everything was as he had imagined.

“Amazing... I should probably be careful about who knows about the crystal,” he said.

He returned to the throne room, where the two tigers were still playing with each other. Paul fed them again and tried talking to them. One of them seemed to understand him. It was a white tiger with small black bumps on its head that might develop into horns. He told the tigers he needed to leave but would return soon. He left enough food to last them for two days and then departed.

He went to the mines and eliminated all the bandits before they realized what had happened. The young men and women, now safe, cheered as they exited the mines. They were dirty but smiling. Paul instructed them to wait while their families arrived and warned them not to enter the castle.

Using his speed, he reached the village in about two hours and delivered the news.

“The bandits are gone, and the men and women are safe.”

“Really? Where are they?”

“In the city.”

“Why didn’t they come with you?”

“Because I told them you were going there.”

“No, we are not... our whole lives are here, in the village.”

“Well then, I suppose next time bandits and creatures come, you can deal with them.”

The old man looked down and then at the others. “Who wants to stay and risk the bandits returning can stay. Who wants to live in the city under my rule can come anytime they wish. There are many

empty houses.”

Some people started packing, while others decided to stay. His companions also headed towards the city. Paul didn’t wait for everyone to decide and visited the other villages to inform them. Each village had a similar reaction: some wanted to stay, some wanted to leave. Paul simply relayed the offer and moved on.

It took him another two hours to return to the city. He found that some of the freed people had cleaned themselves up and started exploring the city. When Paul explained that some had chosen not to come, they were concerned but decided to wait and see who would arrive.

Upon entering the throne room, Paul saw the white tiger whimpering beside the body of its sibling. He realized that the other tiger was also sick. Paul tried to ask the tiger what happened, but without communication, the tiger simply looked at Paul and then at its dead sibling. Paul asked if it wanted to be his pet. The tiger looked confused, and then a window popped up.

*Smokey has become your pet.*

Paul attempted to view Smokey’s stats but couldn’t. Despite various commands, the stats remained inaccessible. As he left the throne room with the tiger’s brothers in his hands, he noticed Smokey following him. He took the bodies to the rift’s edge, and with a nod from Smokey, he threw the bodies into the rift.

For the next two days, people continued to arrive in the city. They occupied some of the houses and began rebuilding. Paul continued to train and refine his control. One night, some older men approached him.

“Excuse us. Can we talk?”