Chapter One Thirty-Four Unusual Encounters (Patreon)

The new girl landed on the street, her talons digging deep furrows into the cobblestone streets, as she surveyed the damage. “You two seem to be having quite the brawl.”

Arrieta stood there for a moment, before shrinking into her frame. Looking around she could see they’d done a lot of damage. Off to the left something finally gave and the roof of a wrecked shop finally caved in with a clatter. Sheepishly she rubbed her cheek, “Sorry about that?”

Milith looked between them, “So what brings two... or would one and a half be more right?”

Lydia commented from the ground, “You’d have to ask her, she started it and I’d been having such a good day too!”

Before Milith could say anything Arrieta retorted, “Doing what? Skinning some five-year-old girls or were you crushing their bones?”

“Enjoying a new toy, well an old one that has new features. He turned into an adorable demon girl.”

Milith sighed, “Great I walked into a playground spat between a pair of Abyssals....

Somehow that statement made her feel very small and Milith wasn’t that large. Yet now she seemed to loom over her, as if she’d suddenly grown half a meter. It was a very odd feeling to have. “We aren’t kids!” she protested.

“Well you both sound like them,” said Milith then she shifted tones, “So what started this?”

Arrieta shifted on her feet awkwardly not sure where to begin. After a moment she answered, “Well some days back I ran into a man on his way home. I was leaving town for reasons that aren’t relevant, while I was at the guild I struck up a conversation with an older adventurer. He’d just come back with a few adventurers in tow, hopeless rookies that got turned into girls for failing a dungeon. While we were chatting he spoke about his daughter, but I heard things that... concerned me. Naturally once I was back in town, I decided to look him up, and investigate. I found this, a growing maneater nest in the capital. My goddess would never approve of this, so I was dealing with it.”

Milith gave her a look, “Your idea of dealing with it, is rather messy.” She gestured behind her at the patrol of guards entering the ruined street, “and I’m not the only one who noticed. I could see this from the church.”

Arrieta glanced over, and saw Lydia trying to slink away, her form already regenerating. She was certainly healing fast after taking a heavy hit like that. Milith followed the look.

“Oh, no you don’t,” said Milith as she casually cast a powerful ward spell. An electric field sprang up around them, as lightning bounced around, fierce and thunderous. Lydia probed it and cried out as another of her tentacles disintegrated despite the ward she’d cast.

Arrieta commented, “You do realize we are talking to a Starlord right? Even the weakest of them are equal to a young dragon, making her either high tier six or low tier seven.

Lydia gulped, “You’re, um, joking right.”

Arrieta grinned, “Nope, we are screwed, but at least I can die content knowing you won’t be harming any more girls.”

Milith laughed, “I wasn’t planning on killing either one of you. I hear the Abyss is pretty lovely this time of year, figured you two might enjoy the trip.”

Lydia paled, “Please don’t!”

Arrieta’s grin vanished, and she looked at her wide-eyed, “What!? No! How could I ever...”

Milith drew closer, while outside some guard was checking the ward. “Still, I do have a few questions.” She dropped lower, and Arrieta squirmed, her skin flushing as she was checked out. “Such as, how did an Abyssal get marked by a goddess?”

Arrieta looked away, “Um, well... It’s uh... long story.”

Milith tapped her taloned feet, “Well I’m listening.”

_______

Misaki surveyed the surroundings. There was so much on her mind, but at the moment she was thinking about the serpent she’d been told about it. With every passing moment it was drawing closer. Close enough that she was starting to get reports, there had been sightings and several villages near the border had... troubling reports to give. They were right in the path and if she didn’t miss her guess they had days before it would be here. Thankfully it was somewhat slow, almost methodical in its movement and quite predictable. Misaki was pretty sure she had enough time to get set before it arrived.

That was in part what had brought her out here. She wanted to get a ground-eye look of the area around the town before she started erecting dungeon towers. Bordertown was growing quickly, every day new residents were moving in to support the growing number of adventurers that were delving her halls. Many of the products they obtained going in were starting to fuel the local economy as well. First floor prizes were great for rookie adventurers, but the real prizes started showing up on the third floor where adventurers could find things like demon silk and harpy feathers. Carol, the local tailor, paid good money for both of them. Demon silk could be used to make high-quality clothing, but it was also useful for making padding for armor. The feathers were good for padding too, but they, like the silk, also had magical applications. Harpy feathers were also bought at a good price by the local fletcher as they made good fletching for his high-end arrows. He wasn’t any good with enchanting however, so he often dropped boxes of them off with the local enchanter who’d enchant them. Those enchanted arrows were then sold at high prices to local adventurers. Well, high for an arrow, and they typically sold quite well. In fact, they even had a local militia starting to form and they too had a demand for enchanted arrows.

With so many people and a thriving growing economy, it was time to really think about protecting this little plot of land more seriously than before. All they really had was a wooden fence to surround the town and a few guard posts. It was enough to deter low-level monsters, but anything stronger, like that serpent, would easily get past those defenses. In addition to monsters, she didn’t much trust the Theocracy, and Solkira did have bands of bandits out there. Some of the larger more successful bands might even consider raiding a settlement like this one. In other words, they were going to need proper defenses sooner or later. Preferably sooner, and that was where she came in.

An older man, grizzled and marked with scars and encased in an old but well-cared-for suit of plate-mail armor smiled. A rather pleasant grin as he looked over the defenses, “Not much to look at, but at least the view is nice.”

“There is something nice about it, but I was thinking it was about time we had some proper walls.”

“It does seem time, now I know you could erect something in a matter of moments, but I presume that is why you asked me here.”

She nodded, “I honestly don’t know much about city walls, I’ve read a couple of books but I figured having an expert to consult would be best.”

“Well you made the right call, now you might be tempted to erect a wall around the town and the fields, but you have to keep in mind the territory you can actually defend. Troops need to man the walls and patrol the area. Actually finding enough people to protect both the town center and the fields is often... difficult. Then again you are a dungeon, you could just summon the souls needed.”

“I’d rather not, besides Phyllis would want her town to be able to protect itself.”

“Well then, we have a good deal to talk about. Now some towns have only a single wall, while others have layered walls. Now Bordertown isn’t really big enough for double walls, but many frontier towns make use of palisades followed by a proper main wall. I think the same would be good for Bordertown. We could erect them around the fields with guard posts where they meet the roads and several watchtowers placed along the length. A few guards can man the towers to keep an eye out for threats, while a few patrols can help extend our vision. The main purpose of the palisade is to slow down attackers and buy time for the farmers to get behind the town walls, which means vision and a proper early warning system are most important.”

“I think I get the idea. Place a wall in their path, thick enough and sturdy enough to slow them down. It doesn’t need to be too substantial either since it’s not meant to hold for days. Right?”

He grinned, “You got it, palisades are used quite heavily to slow cavalry and fast monsters more than anything else. They are most dangerous to fleeing fieldhands and their families, or well pretty much anyone trying to reach the safety of the walls. The palisade won’t stop an army or any serious monster threat. But in the case of an army, they’ll need to stop to knock it down, or scale it.”

“Noted, I think those are usually made of wood.”

“Timber and plank walls thick enough to slow down an ogre, often with a ditch of sharpened spikes placed in front of it. Make enemies think twice about a reckless charge, and give the ogre something to think about before he tries bashing the wall down. Done right and you’ll have enough time to get the civilians behind the safety of the wall and man the defenses. Patrols can also help buy time, if needed. Now the main bulwark will be the town wall, where the costs start to stack up and the effort shows. You need them to be thick, not only do men need to stand on them, but they also need to withstand siege weapons. It’s not just a matter of stacking solid stone bricks either...”

She listened to him for a while as she walked around the perimeter, he was a real expert on walls. Giving her insights into the things the books hadn’t really gone into. Telling her alot about wall design, how thick they’d need to be, the materials that worked best, and even what enchantments he’d recommend for a town wall. The man also mentioned a few things on the optimal placement for the wall towers before going into details on the city keep. The keep was of course the central fortification, but also the center of the town’s government. Right now the closest thing they had to one was the Bordertown Adventurer’s Guild building. Just that it wasn’t really all that fortified, but Misaki could change that easily enough and she took what he said about keeps to heart.

The man also had a lot to say about proper food storage, and supply housing so that the troops would have the supplies to last in the event of a siege. In addition, the walls would need regularly placed armories stocked with weapons and ammunition so that the soldiers could easily grab what they need during a battle. Some weapons like bows and heavy ballistas needed a regular supply of projectiles. A good wall was also going to mount heavy weapons at key positions to support the soldiers. The towers he mentioned often had the larger weapons intended for use against large monsters like ogres but also against large flying beasts like wyverns. 

Having read her own traits, she knew they wouldn’t really need those weapons per say, but her fortified dungeon towers would allow them to be mounted. Misaki also took into account what he had to say about the lay of the land and how she’d need to take into account the existing roads.

As they came back to the start point, she turned her gaze back over to the fields and sat down, “Thanks for the insights, now if you’ll excuse me I’ll get to building those walls.”

She focused on the distance, the fields ran for kilometers past the perimeter of the town. Much of that land had once been home to the trees of the forest, but that lumber had gone into building the town itself, the farmhouses and kilometers of fencing. Even the current fence around the town itself had been made from timber taken from the forest. Logging had fallen off more recently, especially since they had stores of excess lumber to fuel further projects. The tent city they’d had before was largely gone, there were still people that camped out in tents, but there were a few inns to pick from as well.

Finding the perimeter of the fields, she began channeling her magic. In the distance, the air seemed to shimmer and glow with light, as timbers sprouted from the ground. Thick wooden walls started forming while in the same breath, a wide ditch began forming in front of it. Equally spaced along the length, she started building the watch towers out of reinforced timbers and stones. They were basically small fortifications complete with a local barracks, an armory, and food store. Allowing them to serve as a base for the patrols that would keep an eye out for dangerous monsters, bandits or invading armies. Additional tools she added included enchanted binocular posts and magical searchlights. Items that would help them in their main task of keeping an eye out, while also leaving them space to add other magical tools they might want in the towers.

It took time and the construction didn’t go without notice. Entire groups of people from adventurers to artisans gathered on the outskirts of town to watch the palisades and watchtower network go up. She had to alert those watchers when she moved closer, and started work on the town walls.

The walls took considerably longer and by the time she was done the sun was setting. Yet now the town had a network of fortified towers and a fortified bulwark of stone fifteen meters thick and twice that height. The towers along the walls, however, were considerably higher, reaching heights of fifty meters, and protected by magical shields. Similar protections were added to the walls, but the towers were more heavily shielded. Since they held the cores of the enchantment network. Which in turn drew its energy from her, but the cost was negligible. She’d get more energy from the town on a daily basis then the walls needed to function. That might change during an actual attack, but she’d thought of that. Each tower stored an energy core that would passively charge a stockpile when not being taxed. That would ensure the towers would have plenty of mana to use for the shields and the magical weapon they contained.

Stretching, she looked over her shoulder, “So how did I do?”

The man chuckled, “Well at first glance they look impressive. Give me a bit to look them over and organize the town guard and I’ll tell you if they are any good.”