Ch. 631..640

Chapter 631- Budget

A couple of hours later, the Isolation Barrier around the town was activated, and the important people were informed about an Archbeast that had been detected near the town.

The normal people could see that the Isolation Barrier had been activated, but they didn't know the specific reason. However, they could guess that it was probably an Archbeast.

The powerful people grew a bit worried.

The Magic Circle was indicating a Mid Archbeast. It wasn't super powerful, but it also wasn't weak.

Shang left his castle and flew towards the exit of the town.

Since only Archmages and very powerful Wind High Mages could fly, nearly everyone looked at him.

Usually, they were used to only seeing their Town Lord and his two Archmages fly around, but this time, they saw someone new.

Many of them still didn't know that Shang was the new Town Lord since only the elite had been informed of it.

Since Shang was the owner of the Isolation Barrier, he could pass through it without any issues.

Shang had already found the beast with his Spirit Sense.

SHING!

In the sky, Shang's body warped before it vanished.

The guards and powerful people in the town were surprised when they saw that.

Shang hadn't shown any indication of using Mana Step, but he had essentially vanished just as fast as when their old Town Lord had used Mana Step.

Their new Town Lord definitely wasn't slow.

The guards and elite looked at their shining stones with anticipation.

As soon as the beast died, the stones would stop glowing.

They waited.

And five seconds later, they stopped glowing.

Once more, the people were surprised.

That was really fast!

Their Town Lord had probably taken nearly five seconds just to get to the beast, and the entire fight, including the journey, had taken about five seconds.

This meant that their Town Lord had arrived near the beast and had killed it in an instant.

Even though it had only been a Mid Archbeast this time, the speed at which their Town Lord had won still demonstrated his power.

He could definitely also kill a Late Archbeast.

Peak Archbeast?

Possible, but they weren't sure yet.

But that wasn't so bad. In the worst-case scenario, the Town Lord could call the Security Agency for such a beast. They would still request the price for an Ancestral Beast, but their town could probably handle that.

This meant that their new Town Lord was most likely powerful enough to allow the town to survive.

"See? I told you," the old Town Lord said to the elite of the town.

The people released sighs of relief and thanked the old Town Lord again for staying.

The old Town Lord nodded and said his goodbyes. The people were no longer afraid of dying the next time an Archbeast attacked, and he could finally leave.

Shang returned some seconds later, and he met the old Town Lord on his way in.

The old Town Lord and the two Archmages said their goodbyes to Shang, and Shang reciprocated.

Then, the three of them left.

For a couple of seconds, Shang's Spirit Sense followed the three Archmages.

Then, he focused on his town.

There was not a single Archmage in there.

Since the town was rather close to the Natural Selection Company's territories, there weren't many opportunities for an independent Archmage to make a lot of money.

Sure, the other two Archmages managed to earn money, but they did that by leading large groups of High Mages.

Most natural treasures around were of the Third or Fourth Realm, and only very few were of the Fifth Realm.

It was just a small town.

In Earth terms, while compared to other towns and cities in this world, this town would count as an average village with a population of about 3,000.

One wouldn't find many or maybe even any high-end jobs that paid a lot of money in such a small village.

This wasn't a place for entrepreneurs that wanted to make it big.

Yet, the mayor of such a village would still get millions of bucks per month to reinvest in the village.

Lots of small things could create something big.

But the money wasn't the important thing.

The important thing was the location.

Due to the Pathfinder Magic Circle, the town was important enough for plenty of merchants to visit, allowing the town to purchase a lot of exotic goods.

Yet, since there were only High Mages and weaker here, the town also wasn't interesting to any bigger organizations. Because of that, most citizens were working for smaller, independent businesses.

This meant that Shang didn't have to negotiate favorable trade deals with big organizations.

But even more, this place was perfect for building something entirely new.

'The mortal district is horrible and dirty. By investing money into it, I will anger some of the more powerful Mages, but that doesn't matter.'

'A normal town is reliant on its strong citizens to bring in the money so that it may gain more taxes, but I don't care about the money.'

'I didn't receive this town to make money but to create a place where warriors can flourish.'

For the next couple of days, Shang just watched the town.

About every five days, a group of merchants arrived that stayed for some hours.

Every two days or so, an Archbeast appeared.

High Beasts appeared several times per day, but the adventurers and the guards dealt with them.

Eventually, the end of the month arrived, and it was time for Shang to look over the earnings and expenditures.

All in all, the internal expenditures for the month came up to about four Grade Six Mana Crystals. Luckily, there hadn't been an Ancestral Beast near the town this month, or the expenditure would be twice or thrice as high.

In terms of earnings, the town brought in about 28 Grade Six Mana Crystals.

This meant that the town made a surplus of 24 Grade Six Mana Crystals.

Sadly, Shang still had to pay for three other things.

First of all, he had to pay the standby rate for the Security Agency, which came to one Grade Six Mana Crystal per month.

Second, he had to pay the public bureau for inter-city communications. This bureau was the very thing that allowed the guards to contact the officials of other cities without any issues.

The bureau wanted around 500 Grade Five Mana Crystals per month.

And then came the last and biggest expenditure.

Territory tax to the Natural Selection Company.

Technically, the town was inside the Natural Selection Company's territory, and it wanted money every month.

Eight Grade Six Mana Crystals per month.

After deducting everything, Shang had around 15 Grade Six Mana Crystals left.

15 Grade Six Mana Crystals of tax-free profit for a month of doing nearly nothing.

That was insane.

However, while Shang owned that money, he didn't really "own" it.

The town belonged to the Temple of Blood, after all.

While Shang was allowed to run the town how he wanted, the Temple of Blood didn't want to see their investment get destroyed by a Town Lord that didn't invest enough money into it.

Shang had to inform the Temple of Blood every month about the financial situation of his town, and if he screwed up, he would find a new Town Lord on his doorstep just days later.

As Shang looked at the money, he thought about the best way to reinvest it.

He could theoretically keep it for himself, but that would be dumb in the long run.

After a while, Shang looked toward the north of the town.

That was where the mortal district was.

 

Chapter 632- Mortal District

Shang's Spirit Sense encompassed the mortal district.

It was essentially a lawless land.

Nearly no True Mages were there. There were plenty of Apprentices and a couple of Adepts, but they were only the weakest of their level.

The True Mages and High Mages would pick up the talented Apprentices and Adepts. There, they would be taught all about Magic.

Most normal people in this town only became Apprentices by blindly practicing and imitating other Apprentices. Of course, there were some people that actually sold textbooks for Apprentices, but these textbooks were expensive.

The normal people there lived in a poor state where they desperately tried to make money in any way they could.

They had nearly zero resources from outside the town, and they also couldn't easily exit the town since the mortal district was in the north and the exit was to the south.

Additionally, they were forbidden from living outside and building anything outside.

Why?

Because the powerful Mages thought it would look ugly if some dirty shacks surrounded the town.

That also meant that all the food the mortals desperately needed had to be farmed inside the town.

Sometimes, some leftovers from some beasts were thrown away by the True Mages and High Mages. Some of the braver people would venture to these places during the night and bring things back for the others.

But that was a dangerous job.

Any True Mage could kill an Apprentice or weaker if they so chose to. They just shouldn't kill too many of them at once.

The guards of the town mostly didn't care. First of all, the guards straight-up just didn't patrol in the north.

Second, they had grown used to these beggars.

Give money to one of them, and you will find five of them the next day, begging for more.

However, even in such a poor environment, some form of leadership would still emerge.

For the mortal district, this was the strong gangs.

There was a gang that essentially ruled over all the tiny farms in the mortal district, and their people defended the farms from any beggar that tried to steal some food.

There was a gang for prostitution, gambling, and other kinds of fun.

There was also a gang that focused on solving conflicts. Of course, the person with more money would win the conflict most of the time.

These three gangs were the rulers of the mortal district, and they were led by three weak True Mages, probably the only True Mages in the mortal district.

At least, that was how it had been in the past years.

A couple of months ago, a new gang was on the rise, and surprisingly enough, it wasn't led by a True Mage.

It was led by some kind of extremely powerful physical fighter.

This fighter had some weird power that transformed his surroundings into his desired Mana, making it easier to unleash complex attacks.

This was a Commander Stage warrior, but the mortals didn't know of the term.

Yes, there were also warriors in the mortal district, not only Apprentices and Adepts.

Wherever there were rocks and men, warriors would pop up eventually.

It wasn't very difficult to come up with the concept of hitting someone's head with a rock.

Of course, while the mortal district wasn't very rich or advanced, they weren't cavemen. The warriors there used spears, swords, and many different kinds of weapons.

Surprisingly, there were actually around five times as many warriors as Apprentices and Adepts.

The reason was that becoming a Mage was too difficult in the mortal district. Nobody had any idea how to practice Magic, and there were only very few that could afford the textbooks.

Sadly, due to the severe lack of resources, everyone was basically traveling through the warrior path blindly. Especially their weapons were not very good.

They also didn't have any armor since there was barely enough metal for the weapons and since they had no access to beasts.

The life of a mortal in this town was horrible, and worst of all, they couldn't leave.

Sure, they could leave the town, but then what?

A random Adept Beast or True Beast would kill them.

A mortal probably didn't have the Grade Six Mana Crystal necessary to request the Pathfinder Magic Circle.

Even more, could a mortal travel toward the next closest town, which was around 5,000 kilometers away?

The mortals in this town were doomed to live in poverty. The only two ways to live relatively decently were to either get accepted by a True Mage as an aspiring Mage or to become a strong warrior and get a good position in one of the gangs.

It was a shit life.

From his humongous castle, Shang was looking towards the north while rubbing his chin in thought.

Then, he looked through his Space Ring and looked at the detailed plans for the town. These were top secret since they also showed the cores of all the Magic Circles.

'50 meters, huh?' Shang thought as he looked at the wall to the north of the town.

The wall went 50 meters into the underground before it stopped.

Then, Shang looked past the wall and into the wilderness.

'About three kilometers of grass followed by a thick forest. The grass only has relatively peaceful Apprentice Beasts and Adept Beasts.'

'There's also some ore buried in several locations, but even the best ore is only in the Mid Third Realm.'

'Wood, wildlife, space, light, metal, fertility.'

'But we're missing water.'

'Well, that shouldn't be an issue.'

Shang looked north for a bit more before focusing on a High Mage in a rather large building.

"I want to change part of the town," Shang said.

"Of course, sir. What do you wish?" the High Mage asked politely.

He was the town planner, and he was responsible for the entire layout.

"I wish to expand the mortal district to the north. I want a tunnel to be built below the wall which leads outside."

The town planner was quite surprised when he heard about Shang's plans.

After a while, Shang told the town planner everything he had envisioned.

"Sir, several High Mages will not be happy with these changes," the town planner said carefully.

"That's not your problem," Shang answered. "I will deal with them."

The town planner looked a bit uncomfortable, but he eventually sighed.

"Alright. I'll create a plan and give you an estimate."

 

 

Chapter 633 - Finalizing Plans

The town planner took a couple of hours to come up with a plan. That seemed to be quite a long time, but it was actually frighteningly fast.

After all, he had to consider the stability of the wall, the composition of the earth, the Magic Circles, and many different things.

"Sir, I have finished a couple of plans. Please choose the one you would like to be implemented," the town planner told Shang.

Several plans were transmitted to Shang's mind.

The first one was simply a tunnel leading outside, and that was it.

The price was three Grade Six Mana Crystals.

At first glance, that seemed insane. After all, Shang could just dig one himself.

However, digging the tunnel was by far the cheapest part.

The expensive part was the people Shang had to hire to alter the Magic Circles.

If Shang wanted to control who could enter and who couldn't, all the Magic Circles would need to have an additional entrance added. This would require someone from the Magic Circle provider to come and alter the Magic Circles.

Of course, the first plan was the cheapest one since all of these changes would have to be made regardless of what Shang wanted to do.

The next plan included these things, but it also included an additional wall that would encompass another kilometer.

That would cost four Grade Six Mana Crystals in total.

The third plan included all of these things and an extension of the Magic Circle on top of that. This meant that the Magic Circles from the town would also encompass this addition.

The town planner estimated the price to be around 25 Grade Six Mana Crystals.

Those were the three main plans, but there were also a couple of additions Shang could choose from.

He could build houses.

He could build Magic Towers.

Lastly, Shang saw the options for water.

The first option was basically free since it was just a big vat that caught the rainwater.

The next one was an artificial lake, but Shang would need to hire several people to build a micro-ecosystem in the lake so that the water didn't become stagnant and dirty. The town planner had no idea how much that would cost, but he assumed it wasn't that expensive.

The most expensive option was going to the nearest river and digging a second branch that led through the outer town.

The closest river was around 200 kilometers away, and it wasn't that big. If Shang wanted a big river, he would need to reroute one from about 500 kilometers away.

Shang looked at these options for a while.

"I want the tunnel and the bigger river. That's it," Shang said.

The town planner felt a bit uncomfortable. "Sir, the Mages view the town's appearance with great importance. They will not be very happy about this."

"That's my problem, not yours," Shang said.

The town planner only sighed. "Yes, sir."

Shang nodded. "Please contact the necessary people."

"I will," the town planner said before leaving his office to contact all the necessary people.

After handling that matter, Shang contacted his general, a Peak High Mage that was responsible for all the matters of public security.

"I have plans for expansion, and I need more guards," Shang told him.

"What do you have in mind, sir?" the general asked respectfully.

"The mortal district to the north will receive a major upgrade soon. We will dig a tunnel towards the north, and we will allow the mortals to enter the wild, harvest resources, and use it to build their own district of the town."

"The mortal district will become more important in the foreseeable future, and a lot of money will be invested in it. Of course, I don't want these funds to be misappropriated, and I don't want the district to be ruled by some gangs."

"The mortal district will officially be part of the town now, and I expect it to be clean of organized crime," Shang transmitted.

The general remained silent for a while as he thought about the possible ramifications.

"Sir, I fear we will receive a major backlash from the town's elite," the general said. "The town's elite is only interested in things that make them more money. They will view the mortal district as a dirty pimple that will consume their money."

"That's not your problem, general," Shang answered. "If there are any complaints, they can directly contact me."

"Yes, sir," the general answered respectfully.

After that, Shang told the general all the details about how the mortal district should look and operate in the future.

The general eventually told Shang that about twenty True Mages and three Initial High Mages should be more than enough to handle everything.

Contracting these people would raise the monthly expenses for personnel by a couple of Grade Four Mana Crystals.

It was negligible.

They eventually settled on a plan, but the plan wouldn't be set into motion yet. After all, everything would need to be built first.

Some minutes later, Shang looked north at the mortal district.

Everything was still horrible there, but it wouldn't remain like this for long.

The main reason why the mortal district couldn't flourish was that they were cut off from any form of natural resource.

Nearly every mortal in the town hadn't even seen the outside.

They had been inside this town for their entire lives.

Mortal districts appeared in every town or city automatically.

True Mages or High Mages also had children. Of course, they would help their children and give them an education.

However, if the parents suddenly died or if they threw their child outside for any reason, the children would find themselves on the streets without anything to their name.

Eventually, they would meet each other, beg on the streets, maybe create their own broken-down houses, and so on.

Then, they would have children of their own, and those children would have children.

Eventually, so many beggars would gather in one place that the area wasn't that appealing for the Mages anymore, and they would move houses.

And that was how mortal districts just popped up.

Shang waited for a couple of hours, during which he had to kill another Archbeast.

"Sir, I have finalized the plan," the town planner contacted Shang.

"We can proceed whenever you wish."

 

Chapter 634 - Things Will Change

"Why did the prices increase?! One bag of grain was worth Mana Scraps last week! Why is it suddenly one and a half?!" a dirty and thin woman shouted to a tall and burly thug standing in front of her.

"That's the price. Pay or leave," the thug said with a sneer.

The woman gritted her fist in hatred and fear.

These bastards!

She could see how they extorted everyone and how they increased the prices for young and beautiful women so that they had no other choice but to pay with their bodies!

Just the thought of sleeping with this arrogant piece of shit disgusted her.

But what could she do?

She had a daughter at home!

She needed the grain!

BANG!

Suddenly, the woman was thrown to the side, hitting the ground.

"Move it!" a man from behind her shouted as he handed over a Mana Scrap to the ruffian.

The ruffian took out a bag of grain and handed it over.

How was she supposed to explain to her daughter that they couldn't eat today?

"Mage Guards!"

Everyone stopped moving and looked at the person that had just shouted.

Someone had just come running towards them in a panic.

"Mage Guards are coming!" the person shouted in horror.

Almost everyone became white in the face.

Mage Guards were terrifying!

Whenever a Mage Guard noticed someone stealing trash in the actual town, they would punish them by breaking one of their hands.

Mage Guards were terrifying existences to these people.

From time to time, the people here would dare to venture outside their little village and enter the Mage Town.

There, they would scrounge for little bits of solid Mana. Apparently, the gangs were interested in these bits of solid Mana.

In truth, these bits of solid Mana were just some random scrapings from some small Mana Crystals. They were so small and worthless that no True Mage would even look at them.

But these little Mana Scraps were the very things that decided if a person survived or died in this part of the town.

Yet, the Mage Guards were the very people that made such an excursion dangerous.

The Mage Guards were the most feared enemy of the people here.

And now, these Mage Guards were entering their homes?!

This had never happened before!

Everyone looked over, and sure enough, they saw six well-dressed people walking through the streets as everyone gave a wide berth to them.

The Mage Guards walked past them with grimaces.

These mortals smelled horrible!

The people looked with fear at the Mage Guards as they kept walking.

After a while, the people either followed them or hid in their homes.

Yet, even though there were many people following the Mage Guards, not even a single person begged.

They didn't dare to.

Eventually, the Mage Guards reached the huge wall.

A huge hill of dung greeted them.

The wall was the public toilet for the people here.

The leader of the Mage Guards looked with disgust at the wall and waved his arm.

SHING!

All the dung in the surrounding 50 meters vanished into thin air, and the people watched with shock.

They had seen some of these illustrious people making small things vanish, but they had never seen anyone making something that big vanish!

Then, the leader of the guards nodded to one of his people, who then summoned a beam of fire.

The guard burned and dried everything on that spot, and he also burned some of the stinking chemicals in the air.

After that, another guard stepped forward, and she summoned a powerful wind that shoved all the dust and dirt over the wall.

The leader of the guards looked at the wall and nodded.

It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

The people watched with fascination and nervousness.

What were they doing?

The guards just remained there and didn't move.

After some time, one person dared to step a bit closer.

BANG!

One of the guards flicked a finger, and the person was thrown back.

Luckily, the person wasn't injured.

That person had been the one and only one that dared to step forward.

Some minutes later, the people parted ways again as some new people arrived.

The guards parted ways and saluted respectfully to the new people.

The leader of these new people looked at the burned wall and stroked his beard.

"Alright, let's get to work," he said to the two people beside him.

These were the town planner's people, and they were High Mages.

CRRRRR!

The people watched in shock and horror as the earth near the wall started to levitate and vanish.

It was almost like it was turning into nothing!

Soon, a huge hole was created, but since it was supposed to be a tunnel, the hole essentially became wider and wider.

The guards kept shoving people away as the hole became wider and wider.

The deeper the hole became, the more the progress slowed down.

The High Mages had to be careful that they didn't touch the Magic Circles. Additionally, they had to be careful that parts of the wall didn't move since that might also interfere with the Magic Circles.

A couple of hours later, they stopped digging.

The town planner's people left, but the guards remained.

While all of this was going on, the gang leaders tried to find out what was going on.

Why were the guards suddenly here?!

As the hours passed, nothing changed.

Eventually, the people's normal desires took priority, and they returned to buying food and hunting for Mana Scraps.

Apparently, the Mage Guards were not here to hurt them. They just dug a big hole.

Then, nothing happened for three days.

But then, something big happened.

Two new people arrived, and the shocking thing was that they could fly!

The mortals had seen some flying humans from time to time, but none of them had seen one up close.

Why were these flying celestials here?

"I want this to be just like the main gates of the town," a person clothed in white with a white bandana around his eyes said.

The other person, a woman with violet hair, crossed her arms as she made some calculations in her head.

"I can do that," she said after a while. "I need around six hours, and it will cost you three Grade Six Mana Crystals and 250 Grade Five Mana Crystals."

The person in white nodded. "No problem."

The Ancestral Mage from the Magic Circle service nodded and began working right away. "The Magic Circles won't work for the next six hours. I hope that won't be a problem for you."

"No," the person in white answered neutrally.

The Ancestral Mage nodded, and she began working.

The person in white flew away again, and the people started watching the woman with violet hair do stuff in the hole.

After a while, the Ancestral Mage grew annoyed.

She snorted, and a purple barrier suddenly blocked the view of the hole.

Six hours later, a couple of lights shot across the barrier of the city.

This was the Ancestral Mage testing if everything worked.

Some seconds later, the purple barrier vanished, and the Ancestral Mage flew away again.

After around half an hour, the people from three days ago returned, and they continued digging in the hole.

Some hours later, they stepped out of the hole and left.

Eventually, more guards arrived, and the previous ones left.

Two of the guards walked into the hole, and two of them stopped beside the hole, one on each side.

The remainder gathered in the middle of the place.

In the middle of all the guards stood three people.

One was a young woman.

One was a young man.

One was an old man.

They were the three High Mages responsible for keeping the public order.

The older High Mage stepped forward, and everyone in the mortal district felt their attention drawn to him. They didn't know why, but for some reason, they just had to look at him.

The older man only smiled warmly.

"From today onwards, things will change," he announced with a friendly voice. "Maybe you won't like it in the short term, but you will thank us in the long run."

The people only watched with anxiety at the older man.

The older man only smiled.

Over the next couple of days, this smile would haunt the gangs.

 

Chapter 635 - Company ForEverything

Over the next couple of days, the mortals became acquainted with the outside world.

To them, it was literally like a new world had been made available to them.

There were rivers, trees, wild beasts, and many other things they had never seen before.

The grand openness of the outside world even intimidated them severely, but they also realized the great potential.

The water in the huge river was incredibly clean and plentiful. They would no longer need to purchase water from the people that owned big barrels!

Additionally, the abundance of space also made it possible to build more farms.

Would the scarcity of food finally end?

Yet, the mortals had no idea what they should actually do with all of this space.

Additionally, which plot of land belonged to whom?

Also, there were no walls, and it felt dangerous out here.

The guards watched the mortals, and over the next couple of days, the mortals became less fearful of the guards. Additionally, the guards also didn't kick every mortal that passed their way. After all, the mortals weren't breaking any laws right now.

Then, the guards were basically assaulted with second-hand embarrassment. The way the mortals handled the outside world was pathetic. They were just randomly claiming things and building things.

And the very things they were building definitely didn't look good.

Of course, Shang also noticed these things, and he was already working on a solution.

He hadn't expected the mortals to be that terrible at creating new homes.

But after a while, Shang realized why they were so incredibly bad at this.

The gangs, or more precisely, the lack of gangs.

The three High Mages had watched the gangs over the last couple of days with their Spirit Senses, and it hadn't been very difficult to make a list of all the gang members.

All the gang members had been executed already.

Yet, even though the gangs were a parasite on the mortals, they had also been their leaders.

While Shang was dealing with the problem, he was contacted by someone.

"Sir, the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild wants to talk to you," the town planner told Shang.

"Thanks," Shang said absentmindedly as his mind stretched to a beautiful woman with fiery red hair.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Shang asked.

The woman with fiery red hair was the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild, a very powerful person.

She was a Peak High Mage, and nearly all of the True Mages and High Mages that made their living by killing beasts were under her employ.

Although, it would be more fitting to say that they frequented the Adventurer's Guild and accepted the missions posted there. The Adventurers weren't exactly employees.

"Good evening, Town Lord," the Guild Master transmitted with a polite bow. "I wanted to talk with you about the town's expansions towards the north."

'Just as I've thought,' Shang thought.

"Yes?" Shang said.

"You see, I know that a flourishing mortal district is important for a town's long-term success, and I can understand why you decided to give the mortals more space."

Shang didn't answer yet.

"But," she said before waiting for a second, "I believe the expansion has been conducted too hastily."

"Okay," Shang said, "and how would you have done it?"

"The town must stand as one entity," the Guild Master transmitted. "It is important that everything must stay within the confines of the wall so that the traveling merchants won't think poorly of our town."

"Sir, I believe it would be in everyone's best interest to put a temporary halt on constructions outside the town walls and expand the wall itself. I believe moving the walls one or two kilometers further out wouldn't harm the mortals while also keeping the town's image. Of course, I understand that this will consume quite a substantial number of resources, but these are investments, not losses," the Guild Master explained.

'All of this sounds fancy and reasonable,' Shang thought.

'At least if you want to keep the current status quo and don't want to change anything.'

"No and no," Shang said. "Things will proceed as planned. Thank you for your feedback."

The Guild Master was taken aback by quite a bit and didn't answer for a while.

After some time, a cold gleam appeared in the Guild Master's eyes. "I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said.

And then, she walked away.

Of course, Shang knew that she wouldn't give up this easily.

The next time she returned, she would talk in a very different tone.

But Shang didn't care particularly much.

Instead, Shang talked some more with the town planner.

Eventually, after asking around for a bit outside the town, the town planner found a solution to the problems.

The solution was as simple as it was smart.

'Sure enough, where there's a need, there's money to be made.'

There was a company that focused on developing and improving mortal districts of towns and cities.

'There's really a company for everything, huh?'

"How expensive are they?" Shang asked.

"Their prices depend on the size of the town," the town planner said. "Since we are a small-to-average town and since we essentially need an entirely new mortal district, I would assume that they would ask for a couple of Grade Six Mana Crystals."

Shang nodded.

That was definitely far more expensive than necessary. After all, even True Mages could design and build something like this.

However, the customers of these kinds of companies were all cities and towns. They knew what they could ask for.

Additionally, their services were probably also top-notch since angering even one Town Lord or City Lord would put them under enormous pressure.

"Call them," Shang said. "I think it's worth the investment."

The town planner did just that, and a couple of hours later, a Mid Archmage arrived near the town.

Shang welcomed him in and talked with him about everything he had planned and what he wanted his mortal district to accomplish.

The agent nodded along, taking note of several things.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem surprised or shocked by anything.

"So essentially, you want a natural progression mortal district, right?" the agent said.

Shang was a bit surprised that what he wanted already had a name.

The agent explained to Shang what a natural progression mortal district was, and Shang nodded several times.

A natural progression mortal district was a mortal district that was either created outside the city, partially outside the city, or inside the city but with a simulated wilderness surrounding it.

The mortals would mostly be left to their own devices. They would only be defended by threats they couldn't possibly deal with on their own, but they had to defend themselves from everything else.

These kinds of mortal districts promoted natural talent and true strength above book smarts and theoretical power.

"Usually," the agent said, "Town Lords and City Lords wish for natural progression mortal districts to be completely separate from the main town or city."

"Most of the time, they simply create it about ten kilometers away from the town. This not only improves the appearance of the town, but it also increases the perceived feeling of danger for the mortals."

Shang told the agent that this wasn't what he wanted.

Shang had specific things in mind, and for that, he needed the mortals close to the town.

The agent listened and created a plan according to Shang's wishes.

He showed the plan to Shang, and Shang nodded.

But it was expensive.

Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals.

"Start the construction as soon as possible," Shang said. "I can pay you at the end of the month."

"No problem," the agent said with a smile.

 

Chapter 636 - Efficiency

The agent left to prepare everything, and he returned with several more people after a couple of hours.

As soon as they arrived, they immediately started, and when Shang saw what they did, he became impressed.

Sure enough, he had made the right call by getting a professional.

First, they distributed enchanted pieces of paper that entranced the mortals and beckoned them to look at them.

What did these papers do?

Well, within just one day, every mortal that wasn't a small child or younger learned to read.

After that, they built several huge stone tablets with rules on them.

The general confusion was reduced by a lot. With an encompassing set of rules, people stopped doing some things while doing other things more often.

Next, books with basic introductions to different jobs were distributed, and the people were encouraged to think about what kinds of jobs they would be most interested in.

While all of this was going on, other Mages were already building several important buildings.

Several big warehouses.

Several bars.

Designated farmland.

But the majority were residential houses.

However, there was one interesting thing about the residential houses.

They were very different from each other.

There were very big mansions, but there were also horrible shacks.

The Mages made it specifically like this to create a clear image of status and power.

More powerful people had to also look more powerful and live in a grander style.

This would motivate the weak ones to work harder on themselves.

As soon as most of the houses were finished, every mortal that still remained inside the town was essentially thrown out of the town.

The northern part of the town was no longer meant for mortals to live in but for mortals to learn and work in.

Marketplaces, smithies, and academies were created in this place after essentially burning everything to the ground that was already there.

All the mortals received prepared food from the Mages that would easily last them for the next couple of days.

Several Mages conducted interviews with the mortals to see what they would be good at and what they wanted to do.

Eventually, the mortals were separated into different groups, and each group got a basic introduction to their future jobs.

All of this took over two weeks, but that was already terrifyingly fast and efficient.

Eventually, all the classes stopped, and the mortals were required to purchase further lessons by showing results.

Hunters were required to hunt some weak beasts and hand them over to the Mages.

Smiths were required to create some basic weapons and armor.

And so on.

Of course, since everyone had only received the bare minimum, they were all essentially still blindly going forward.

The smiths only knew how to smelt ore, hammer it, and cool it.

That was it.

They had no idea how to create specific things.

But that was the very thing that the Mages wanted to encourage, a natural progression.

Of course, just like animals, the mortals were enticed to learn and grow by the potential payment and increase in status.

Also, it felt great to be better than a peer.

Shang watched the mortal district take shape with nearly no issues.

It was like everyone knew exactly what they should do.

Initially, Shang had been skeptical about the price, but now, he knew that the money was worth it.

While Shang was watching the mortal district take form, he was contacted by someone.

It was the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild, and this time, she wasn't alone.

Several more people accompanied her.

The Guild Master of the Merchant's Guild.

The Guild Master of the Crafter's Guild.

These three people represented the economy of the town.

The procurement of resources, refinement of resources, and selling of resources.

"Town Lord, we would like to talk to you," the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild said.

Shang made it clear with his Spirit Sense that he was paying attention to them, but he didn't say anything.

"We have talked amongst ourselves, and we all agree that an external mortal district will bring nothing but bad things to the town," the Guild Master explained. "We would ask you to reconsider."

"No," Shang answered. "I didn't purchase this town to keep making money but to transform it into something new."

"Sir," the Guild Master of the Merchant's Guild said, "with all due respect, we have been in this town for much longer than you, and we know how things work around here. Everything has been going well up to now, and it isn't very difficult to uphold the current status quo. You just don't need to change anything, and things will remain great."

"No," Shang said again. "As I've said, I'm not interested in how things are. This is my town, and I have purchased it with a specific goal in mind."

"And what, pray tell, is that goal?" the third Guild Master asked.

"Not your concern," Shang answered.

The three Guild Masters were shocked.

Not their concern?

They were the de-facto leaders of this town!

Everything inside this town was their concern!

The three Guild Masters looked at each other and nodded.

"Then we have no other choice but to stop operations in protest of your policies until they change," the Guild Master of the Adventurer's Guild said.

"Okay," Shang answered.

Silence.

Several seconds of silence.

The Guild Masters looked with annoyance and frustration at their Town Lord. "Do you not realize what consequences this will have for the town!?"

"I understand the consequences," Shang answered.

"I just don't care."

The eyes of the Guild Masters' widened in shock.

"The revenue of your three Guilds combined isn't even a quarter of what the Pathfinder Magic Circle pulls in. The entire town can stay in stasis indefinitely, and the town will still earn far more than it spends."

"You don't have the power you think you have, Guild Masters."

Of course, the Guild Masters immediately exploded and stopped being polite at that point.

But Shang didn't care.

They were just barking dogs.

Eventually, Shang started completely ignoring them.

But, very soon, the Guild Masters' showed their hand.

Shang was contacted by the Temple of Blood.

Someone had put up a mission for his assassination.

Apparently, he was worth three Grade Six Mana Crystals.

 

 

Chapter 637 - Problem Solved

'Three Grade Six Mana Crystals for a Town Lord? That's a bit small,' Shang thought.

"How will we proceed now?" Shang asked as he faced the special Communication Crystal for the Temple of Blood.

"We are going the official route," the Territory Lord told Shang via the Communication Crystal. "We are going to investigate your power. Then, we will find out that you are obviously so strong that we would need to send a Peak Archmage to take care of you. Additionally, they must be good enough to hide from all the surveillance."

"In the end, we will find out that the price is obviously not fitting for such a mission and decline the mission unless they are willing to pay vastly more. We'll see where we go from there."

"Alright," Shang answered. "Contact me again with updates."

"We will," the Territory Lord said before cutting the connection.

Over the next couple of days, the mortal district became bigger and bigger, and the mortals began to become quite orderly.

No one would have expected that these people had been aimless beggars just a couple of weeks ago.

Eventually, all the teaching stopped, and the mortals were now effectively free to do whatever they wanted.

Did they want to increase the proficiency of their craft to learn more?

Were they fine with just living like this?

Did they want to change?

Yet, the decision most people made surprised Shang quite a bit.

They didn't care.

Food was no longer an issue, and they could finally do whatever they wanted.

They no longer needed to fear the guards to hunt for Mana Scraps.

Water was also abundant, and they even had access to better houses than they ever had.

All the stress of their lives evaporated over the next couple of days, and the mortal district transformed from a small town into a site for a huge festival.

Most of the smiths stopped smithing.

Most of the farmers stopped farming.

​ Most of the hunters stopped hunting.

There were still a few individuals of each profession that continued doing their job, but over the next couple of days, over 80% of people stopped working and learning.

They were in paradise!

But that was how things were supposed to go.

The agent had told Shang what the plan looked like.

Shang only watched the mortal district.

By now, a month had passed, and Shang paid the agents for their work.

Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals was a lot, but the company had done an amazing job.

As of this moment, the mortals looked like warriors after a battle.

But this time, the partying came before the battle.

Suddenly, Shang's Spirit Sense noticed something, but he specifically didn't look at the thing he had noticed.

Instead, he waited.

And a couple of minutes later, Shang focused on the thing he had noticed earlier.

Shang saw a cloaked and ethereal person with his Spirit Sense, and as soon as he actually saw their appearance, the cloaked person summoned some kind of emblem.

BANG!

The emblem exploded, scattering clouds of chaotic Mana in the surroundings.

After a while, the clouds vanished…

And the person was gone.

Shang knew who that person had been.

This was a Scout, a member of the Temple of Blood that was responsible for gathering more information on mission targets.

'Seems like the next step of the plan has been completed,' Shang thought.

Shang had noticed the Scout pretty quickly, but he had specifically stopped himself from looking at them in the beginning. After all, if he did, the Scout would realize that Shang's Spirit Sense had a range of 250 kilometers, which was insane.

Sure, the Territory Lord knew about these things, but that didn't mean that the entire organization should know about the size of Shang's Spirit Sense.

A couple of minutes later, the Territory Lord contacted Shang again.

"The Scout has brought back information. According to him, you have a Spirit Sense with a range of roughly 150 kilometers, and you have a terrifying perception. Due to all these new pieces of information, I would judge that we need to send a Sweeper, not a Named Agent."

"Additionally, because of the Security Agency, your strong senses, and obvious talent, not every Sweeper can fulfill the mission."

"The new price for your head is 600 Grade Six Mana Crystals."

Shang snorted.

600 Grade Six Mana Crystals?

He doubted that the three Guild Masters had such funds.

"Then, the problem is resolved," Shang said.

"It most likely is," the Territory Lord answered.

Shang nodded. "Thanks."

Then, he cut the connection.

More days passed, and the Guild Masters returned to complaining to Shang.

Yet, it was like they were talking to a wall.

It was impossible to get through to Shang.

As days turned into weeks, the Guild Masters became quieter and quieter.

They were still grumbling occasionally, but their respective Guilds had also already resumed operations by now.

What were they supposed to do?

They couldn't kill him. He was too powerful, and the Temple of Blood asked for a ridiculous sum of money.

Should they leave and change towns?

No, that would mean that they would need to start from scratch again and rebuild their company from the ground up in unfamiliar territory.

Should they protest?

They were already doing that, and it brought them nothing but frustration.

Stop operations?

They would become homeless while the Town Lord would keep making money.

There was nothing they could do except bite the bullet and accept their new circumstances.

And the problem with the three Guild Masters was resolved just like that.

Shang hadn't even needed to do anything except look at a guy once and ignore all the protests.

The Guild Masters didn't even dare to do anything underhanded to the mortal district. If they did and were found out, the Town Lord would have justification to banish them from the town and its territories.

That would be a death sentence since they were just Peak High Mages.

More days passed, and eventually, it was time for the mortal district to wake up from their dream of partying.

 

Chapter 638 - Wake-Up Call

The Mages from the company left.

They had created the initial form of the mortal district, and it only needed to grow naturally by now.

As the Mages left, the food deliveries for the mortals stopped.

However, the farms they had created were already bearing fruit. Of course, just a couple of weeks would have never been enough to complete a crop cycle, but there were plenty of supportive Magic Circles that sped up the process.

Most of the mortals continued partying, but a few of them noticed that the farms weren't tended to.

Sure, they had food now, but what about in a couple of weeks?

Some people started complaining, but everyone just told them to shut up and mind their own business.

Nevertheless, the number of working mortals went up from 20% to about 30%. The ones that had joined the workers felt shame. They were asking the farmers to continue tending to their farms while they continued partying. Because of that, they also focused on working away.

Of course, most people still didn't care.

That was until one fateful day.

A pack of Peak Soldier Stage wolves.

Initially, when most people saw the pack on the horizon, they didn't care.

They were being protected by the Mage Guards.

Yet, the few people that perfectly remembered the set of rules became nervous.

They told everyone that the Mage Guards wouldn't protect them from threats in the First and Second Realm.

The people became a bit nervous, but they only laughed nervously.

The Mage Guards wouldn't just watch as some wolves killed everyone, right?

They were guards.

It was their job to protect people, right?

Right?

The pack of wolves noticed the settlement.

For a long while, the wolves looked at the Mage Guards.

They could feel that these Mage Guards were extremely dangerous.

Yet, the Mage Guards didn't attack them.

The wolves were very careful and scared.

Over the next couple of hours, they came back, looked at the settlement, and walked away again.

They were hungry.

They were a big family, and they needed a lot of food.

Every time they returned, they came a bit closer to the settlement.

The Mage Guards didn't do anything.

By the next day, the wolves came within twenty meters of the settlement.

Surprisingly, the majority of people had calmed down.

The wolves weren't dangerous.

They had grown used to the wolves' presence.

Then, a 16-year-old girl decided to step out of the settlement and slowly approached the wolves.

She didn't feel any ill will come from the wolves.

Maybe they could work together?

The wolves were about two meters high each, which was extremely imposing.

Yet, they were also fluffy, and their careful demeanor was endearing.

Of course, most people thought that this was a crazy idea, and they were right. It was a crazy idea.

But there were bound to be some crazy people in a group of thousands.

The wolves shied away from the girl, constantly eyeing the closest Mage Guard.

The Mage Guard didn't move.

The people were watching with interest.

Eventually, one of the wolves dared to approach the girl.

"Hey, you don't need to be afraid," the girl said with a smile. "We're nice."

She extended her arm to the wolf, and the wolf looked at it.

Then, it smelled the hand carefully while carefully eying the closest Mage Guard.

Slowly, the wolf's tongue extended, and it began to slowly and carefully lick the girl's hand.

The girl laughed and walked closer.

"Ow!" she suddenly shouted as she pulled her hand back.

The wolf's teeth had lightly clamped down on the girl's arm, but it had let go immediately after she shouted.

The wolf looked at the Mage Guard.

The Mage Guard didn't move.

"Don't do that again. That hurts!" the girl shouted while trying to sound friendly.

The girl slowly approached the wolf again, and the wolf turned to look at her after a while.

CRACK!

"AAAAAAHHH!"

The wolf bit down on the girl's arm, breaking it.

The girl screamed in pain and terror as she tried to pull her arm out of the wolf's mouth.

The wolf was looking at the closest Mage Guard.

The Mage Guard didn't move.

Then, the wolf pulled the girl forward with its teeth.

The girl fell forward, and the wolf's huge maw enveloped her torso.

CRSH!

Horrifying shrieks and gurgles came out of the girl's mouth as the wolf lifted her body in its mouth and ran away.

The mortals were terrified and looked at the Mage Guard in terror and panic.

The Mage Guard didn't move.

The other five wolves noticed that their partner hadn't been attacked, and they grew hungrier as they eyed the little settlement.

Then, they slowly approached.

And then, the settlement fell into hysteria.

Everyone screamed in panic and ran away.

The wolves slowly advanced, entering the settlement.

They were still afraid that the Mage Guards would do something.

Yet, the Mage Guards never did anything.

In a matter of minutes, the streets had been cleared as everyone had either fled or entered a building.

The wolves sniffed around, and they stopped near one of the buildings.

CRK! CRK!

One of them scratched on the door, leaving behind huge crevices.

Eventually, it created an opening and pulled the door apart with its teeth.

A family of four was inside the building.

The house was silent.

The house was loud.

The house was silent.

Another wolf found someone inside a shack.

A third one hunted someone down that was running in the distance.

Eventually, all the wolves found their victims and carried them away. It didn't matter whether they were dead or alive.

The wolves were still intimidated by the Mage Guards, and they didn't want to stay longer than necessary.

After a while, all the wolves vanished, and the humans slowly dared to exit their homes again.

Yet, the terror of what had happened today could still be felt.

This was terrifying!

This was worse than being hunted by the Mage Guards!

This was worse than being hunted by the gangs!

And then, the mortal district entered a period of infighting and blaming.

 

 

Chapter 639 - Status

The mortals immediately started panicking and blaming each other.

Why did the hunters not fight the monsters?! Weren't they supposed to kill stuff like that?!

How were the hunters supposed to fight?! They didn't even have any usable weapons?!

How were the smiths supposed to produce weapons when there were no materials?!

How were the gatherers supposed to gather materials when the hunters didn't keep the area safe?!

No one was taking responsibility, but after a while, the people all started to focus on the hunters.

Yes, the hunters didn't have weapons, but still, it was their job to kill these beasts.

All the different people gathered and started to blame the hunters collectively.

The hunters grew nervous and found one justification after the other, but the people kept shooting them down.

Eventually, some of them cracked under the pressure and confessed.

They were scared.

They had simply been too scared.

One had to remember that all of these people hadn't even seen a beast before in their life. They had lived inside the town for their entire life, and there were no beasts inside the town.

Suddenly coming face to face with a two-meter-tall wolf was terrifying for someone that hadn't even seen a beast before.

Many of the hunters were already well on their way at the Soldier Stage, and some of them were even at the General Stage.

But they had only fought humans before.

At this moment, everyone wished the gangs back.

The gangs had been horrible to the people, but at least they could survive under them.

Sadly, nearly all the powerful people had belonged to the gangs, and all these people had been executed by the Mage Guards.

There were barely a couple of General Stage warriors left.

Yet, even though they were supposed to be far more powerful than the wolves, they had simply been too scared to fight them.

At some point, the people demanded that some of the warriors form a kill squad to deal with the wolves if they returned.

Of course, most of the hunters tried to get out of fighting these scary beasts, but some of them were forced into the squad.

All five General Stage warriors were forced to join the kill squad with an additional 20 Peak Soldier Stage warriors.

After a while, they accepted their fate, but they also demanded some things.

First of all, they wanted good weapons.

Second of all, they wanted priority on food.

Third, they wanted the good homes.

Everyone except the smiths agreed, but the smiths were forced into compliance by the majority.

Of course, the smiths also demanded several things, but the people were not as compliant.

Sure, the smiths would get their food, but they wouldn't get the fancy houses unless they showed that their weapons were amazing.

Naturally, the smiths also wanted the gatherers to go out and gather ore.

Having seen what happened to the hunters and smiths, the gatherers agreed rather quickly. They only wanted to have their food and have priority over the houses.

Of course, there was still a great number of people that didn't work, but they had transformed from the majority into the minority.

The gatherers couldn't go outside to create a mine and wanted the hunters to secure the surroundings, but after the hunters told them two sentences, the gatherers couldn't argue with them anymore.

"There's ground right here. Create a mine here."

The hunters began to train with each other, and they created plans for fighting the wolves.

The smiths were preparing themselves and honing their craft. They had to be ready for when the metal would arrive.

The gatherers were unused to digging in the ground, but they kept working hard.

All of them worked for the entire day.

The pressure of the wolves gave them power they had never thought they had.

Yet, when they had to inevitably take a break, they saw something.

So many people were just sitting around.

Their district was in danger, but these fuckers were just lazing around!

Even more, the fields weren't being worked on!

Everyone that was working currently had been promised food, but the farmers weren't making food!

All the workers immediately protested, and the public forced the farmers to work.

Now, over 80% of people were working.

Over the next couple of days, the mine became huge, and a hill of stone had already formed.

The miners started to shout at the people around them that they didn't have time to get rid of all these stones. The smiths were still waiting for their metal, and they were already working their asses off.

So, the public looked at the people that were lazing around again.

Builders and crafters.

And they were sent to deal with the stones and other materials that had been found.

The builders were unsure what they should do with the stones, but the public demanded that they do something with them.

Eventually, they decided to use the stones to make roads.

Over 90% of people were working now.

"I can't take care of my children right now! I'm busy working! You take care of them!"

And like that, even the teachers and social workers had something to do.

Of course, there were still a few people that didn't do anything, but they were in the vast minority.

Over 97% of people were working in one way or another.

The beginnings were difficult.

Some hunters died in a practice excursion.

Smiths wasted materials and failed in smithing.

Farmers were ruining crops.

Gatherers still hadn't found anything valuable.

The roads that were being built were ruined due to the weather.

Children ran away and got injured.

It was brutal.

Nearly no one had been prepared for their job.

Nearly.

The very few that had realized that things couldn't possibly remain like this in the very beginning had had several days of practice over everyone else, and it showed.

They were the better smiths, gatherers, and so on.

And everyone in their surroundings noticed that.

People decided to interact more with the people that were good at doing their craft.

And with that, another hurdle had been crossed on the path of establishing a society.

Status.

 

Chapter 640 - Community

Four days later, the wolves returned.

They had avoided this place since the Mage Guards still scared them, but they had only found little food recently.

Their hunger brought them back to the settlement.

But before the wolves could reach the settlement, they stopped.

A group of 25 humans had come out of the village.

The wolves became nervous since the five people at the front felt very dangerous to them.

Yet, they had been able to run rampant in here the last time, and their hunger was egging them on.

Because of that, they didn't retreat.

The hunters were taking out their weapons.

Clubs made of wood and stone, wooden spears, big stones, and tomahawks.

Their weapons were primitive, but this was the best the smiths could do without metal.

Eventually, the wolves started to run toward the humans, and the hunters felt their hearts beat at insane speeds.

One of the General Stage hunters took a huge stone in his hands and pulled back.

Then, he threw.

BANG!

The huge stone hit the wolf's head, exploding into gravel.

The wolf screeched and fell over.

The other wolves immediately stopped their advance and looked at their companion.

The hurt wolf tried to stand up, but it immediately fell over again.

It tried its absolute best to run away and retreat, but it had nearly no control over its legs and constantly fell over.

Blood was leaking out of its nose and mouth.

That stone had severely injured it.

When the hunters saw the damage this single stone had caused, they almost couldn't believe it.

These wolves were over two meters tall!

They were terrifying!

Yet, a single stone had nearly killed one of them!

The wolves had completely stopped advancing.

And then, all the fear in the hunters' bodies was replaced with fury.

These wolves had killed their friends!

These wolves were the reason why they had trouble sleeping over the past few days!

The hunters shouted in fury and attacked the wolves.

It was like the hunters had gone insane!

The wolves immediately turned around and ran away, but several spears and stones stopped four of them in their tracks.

In the end, only a single wolf escaped.

The other five were attacked by the hunters with their weapons.

Yet, some of the hunters had still been injured during these last moments, and one of them had nearly died.

They had been careless, but in the end, the five wolves were killed.

When the people saw that, they exploded into cheers.

And the hunters felt something for the first time.

Success.

Pride.

Status.

Power.

Admiration.

The people were treating them like heroes, and everyone was thanking them profusely.

Many women were looking at them with desire.

Many people were bringing over their favorite dishes.

Kids were asking them how they could become as strong as them in the future.

For the next couple of hours, the people returned to partying.

But the next day, the hunters brought down the mood.

During their practice excursions, they saw even more powerful beasts.

There were actually many beasts out there, but most of them avoided this place.

However, some powerful beasts would inevitably find their way here again.

And they had to be ready for everything.

The fear returned, and the people began working again.

However, there was a new feeling in the air.

Community.

The hunters had used the smith's weapons.

The smiths had used the gatherer's materials.

Everyone walked on the builder's roads.

The children were talking about their favorite teacher.

Everything was interconnected.

This was a community now.

The wolves' corpses were left for the hunters and the most outstanding people of their craft.

For the first time, the people tasted beast meat.

And it tasted amazing.

The bones and hides were given to the crafters, who created weapons and coats for the hunters.

Stone was tough but brittle.

These bones were much better for prolonged use.

More days passed.

Eventually, the old food had been used up, and the missing days of the last crop cycle finally showed their effect.

There wasn't enough food for everyone left.

The hunters were the first that got their food.

The farmers got their food next.

Then, the gatherers got theirs.

The smiths got their food next.

The remainder was split between the remaining workers.

And the people that didn't work?

They got nothing.

Eventually, even these stubborn sloths were forced to work by their hunger.

Most of them decided to catch fish to deal with their hunger.

And some of them were quite successful at that, catching more than necessary.

The people noticed the fish and wanted to trade them for food, but the fishers said that these fish tasted way better than some grain and rice.

For one fish, they wanted more.

While this was going on, the hunters left the small village again to hunt.

They needed to get food for the people.

Just two weeks ago, they would have never done something like this.

But after being admired and praised by the entire village, they felt something new.

Responsibility.

Their people were looking up to them and betting on them.

They had to care for the people.

It was their duty.

It was their job.

More beasts attacked.

More people died.

But the community survived and pulled together.

The gatherers found metal.

The smiths created real weapons.

The farmers created plenty of food.

The teachers got the children in order.

Everyone was getting better.

Everything was improving.

The mortal district had finally taken form.

Now, it would only take a couple of months until it was ready for the warrior academy.

But before that, something happened.

WHOOOOOM!

"Everyone! Immediately take shelter in your houses!"

An insanely loud voice echoed throughout the mortal district, and its cadence had a bewitching effect on the mortals, making them follow the orders immediately.

At the same time, the Mage Guards' faces turned into expressions of fear as they fled into the town.

The barrier around the town turned red as it worked at maximum capacity.

The mortals had seen this phenomenon from inside the town, but they had no idea what this meant.

They weren't sure what was happening.

And then, they saw something.

Far to the east, some villagers spotted something.

It was a moving mountain!

The mountain was probably over five kilometers tall, moving with surprising speed towards the town.

The humans almost couldn't believe what they were seeing.

In a matter of seconds, the mountain stopped beside the town.

It was a humongous crab made of rock and stone.

Just its shears were over two kilometers long, and its weight shook the entire world.

The mountain was almost as big as the entire town!

The crab raised one of its shears.

BOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, a humongous lightning bolt hit the crab in the face, blasting it several kilometers away.

Gigantic portions of its body broke off, falling to the ground.

BOOOOM!

Another huge lightning bolt blew the crab apart, scattering it across the surrounding kilometers.

The mortals couldn't form a rational thought.

They couldn't understand what had just happened.

Some of them noticed a figure flying near the corpse, and they were quite certain it was a human with black robes and silver hair, their body still crackling with lightning.

Three seconds later, the gigantic corpse of the crab vanished, and the human entered the town.

This had been the first Ancestral Beast that had attacked the town ever since Shang took over.