strictlysupreme Chapter 2: The Architect
Chapter 2: The Architect
Late at night.
The three tattered tents were distributed to the elderly, women, and children.
The others sat around the campfire, lying on the ground.
Old Hall arranged for double the number of sentries; among those criminals, who knows if there might be another Bagher.
Ron sat alone on a large rock at the edge of the camp.
He needs to think things through.
His hand didn't tremble when he chopped off those three heads during the day.
It's not because he's not afraid; how bold can an architect in peacetime be?
Rather, it's because the original owner's memories contained far more terrifying things than killing.
Fire!
Blood!
The hand his mother used to push him into the secret passage!
Ron closed his eyes. The memories weren't his, but they were in his mind as if they had happened just yesterday.
Survive first!
We'll talk about the rest later!
The system panel appeared before my eyes.
【The Heart of a Craftsman: The Master Architect System】
[Host: Ron]
Territory Level: Wasteland (Level 0)
【Population: 447】
[Grain reserves: 19 days]
[Buildable Sample: None]
Ron stared at that number for a long time.
The system made no sound or alerts. Since the first alert appeared, he had to figure out how to use the other functions by trial and error.
But he didn't understand. He only knew about the Architectural Mage from his memories and didn't know its true function. But he couldn't ask, because that would expose his identity.
After thinking for a moment, he began to recall the architectural knowledge he had learned in his previous life, starting with the simplest adobe house, which was the first homework assignment his teacher gave him when he first entered the construction industry.
This memory is the clearest to him, until a complete architectural plan is formed in his mind.
The system now has an additional name for the buildable model house.
[Buildable Sample: Mud House]
Click on the adobe house sample.
[To build an adobe house, the materials needed per square meter are: 1 cubic meter of clay, 80 catties of plant fiber, 0.1 cubic meter of wood, 0.4 cubic meters of stone, and Magic 5.]
Ron's eyes suddenly lit up. These materials were not scarce in the wasteland and were easy to collect. He also wanted to test whether the system had any requirements, such as whether gravel could replace stone.
"Old Hall, have someone prepare 3200 catties of plant fiber, 4 cubic meters of timber, and 16 cubic meters of gravel for me."
Upon hearing Ron's order, Old Hall, being a building mage, naturally understood what his young master was about to do!
Without asking any questions, he immediately had someone make arrangements. Plant fibers were rather troublesome, but they could be replaced with straw or other plants. They still had large pieces of timber, but there were plenty of thorns around, which could be used to meet their timber needs.
In fact, these woods can be processed into plant fibers using simple processing spells. As for gravel, it's even simpler; you can just scoop up a lot of it from the ground.
Soon, the seventy-six criminals completed these preparations in less than two hours under the guards' gleaming swords.
Just as Ron was about to begin construction, a guard approached with a grim face.
"Young master, there's something wrong with those fibers."
Ron frowned and followed the guard over.
The pile of plant fibers on the ground was mixed with a large number of freshly cut thorn branches, wet and dripping, making them completely unusable as building materials.
Old Hall looked very grim.
"Who was responsible for the cutting?"
Several criminals were wheeled out, one of them grinning: "Sir, you only said to cut plants, you didn't say whether you wanted them dry or wet!"
Ron looked at him.
It wasn't a stray dog like Bagel; it was a mudfish.
Ron laughed too: "What's your name?"
The man's smile froze for a moment.
"Dil Silay!"
That smile was so eerie. This young master used that same smile when he killed people during the day, and I haven't seen him smile since.
When Ron reached the other man, he had already drawn his longsword.
Terrified, Dill knelt on the ground: "My lord, spare my life!"
Ron laughed and said, "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Tomorrow morning, I want to see all these wet thorns stripped into usable fibers. If you can't strip them all, I'll cut off your head tomorrow."
Dill nodded quickly in agreement, not daring to look at that smiling face.
I look forward to your performance!
Those wet thorns weighed over a hundred pounds, and stripping them all into fibers was no easy task.
"Hmph!" Ron's smile slowly faded as he returned to the mountain of building materials. Under Old Hall's expectant gaze, Ron chose to begin construction.
Building materials are disappearing rapidly.
[Master Craftsman's Heart - Architectural Master, Core Passive Craftsman's Divine Body Activated: The material and labor consumption of personally constructed buildings is reduced to one-tenth of the normal amount]
Ron's eyes lit up, and a square mud-brick house quickly appeared, taking shape to the astonishment of everyone around him.
Old Hall exclaimed with delight, "30 minutes! A house can be built in just 30 minutes! Young master, you truly deserve to be the heir to the Ashwood family!"
The moment the house was completed, Ron felt as if something had been emptied from his mind.
It wasn't pain, but a feeling of exhaustion surging from within the body.
His vision began to blur, and Old Hall's voice came from a great distance, as if he were speaking underwater.
"Young Master? Young Master?"
Ron wanted to answer, but his lips wouldn't move.
Before darkness engulfed him, the last thing he saw was the light on the surface of the mud-brick house slowly fading away, standing alone in the wasteland.
Then came endless darkness, from which appeared the silhouette of a woman, a long secret passage, and torches on the stone walls swaying in the wind.
The mother didn't turn around. "Live on! Don't come back!"
Old Hall checked Ron's body and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's alright! I just overused my magic power."
The next morning, Ron opened his eyes and saw a thatched roof, which made him realize that he had not been dreaming last night.
The 40-square-meter mud-brick house from last night has now become a storage room, and the place where he sleeps is a bed temporarily pieced together from wooden planks.
Ron didn't get up immediately, but instead lay in bed checking the system panel, and he actually found the personal attribute panel.
Ron Ashwood
Occupations: Apprentice Architect, Apprentice Knight
Physical condition: 15
Power: 12
Spirit: 9
Mana: 21
Ron's lips twitched. No wonder he fainted right after the construction was finished.
The magic power level is just right, even with a one-tenth reduction in consumption. If it were at normal consumption, it would take him ten days to build this house.
"It seems that using this to quickly build up territory will be quite difficult!"
As I came out of the mud-brick house, I saw Old Hall sketching and writing around the house with a pen and paper.
"Young Master, you're awake!"
Ron nodded expressionlessly: "Old Hall, what are you doing?"
Old Hall smiled and said, "Young master, I checked the building materials you collected last night. You only used one-tenth of them. Building this adobe house is really cost-effective. We can build a batch for your followers first, so that they can have time to supervise your people's work."
"Alright, you handle the arrangements!" Ron thought for a moment, then asked, "Old Hall, what's your total magic power?"
Old Hall immediately understood Ron's meaning and took out a crystal pillar about twenty centimeters long from his body.
"Young Master, we usually use this to calculate our magic power. Different colors of magic power represent different levels. White is the lowest level, which is the apprentice level. You are probably at this level. Then there is green, and green magic power is equivalent to ten times the total amount of white magic power."
Ron asked, "Old Hall, what color is your magic?"
Old Hall said awkwardly, "Young master, my magic is green."
"Show me how to use it!"
Ron stared intently at the crystal pillar, and Old Hall immediately activated it. It was indeed green magic, but the magic stopped halfway up the crystal pillar.
"Aren't there any numbers displayed on the crystal pillar?"
Ron's sudden question left old Hall both amused and exasperated.
"Young master, there are no numbers here. These are things that architectural masters have to judge based on their own years of experience building their own structures."
Ron nodded. Old Hall didn't see it, but he did.
Old Hall's magic power is 1540.
"Oh, I see!" Ron put the matter aside and looked at the busy crowd. Suddenly, two guards on guard duty rushed over.
"Young Master! A cavalry unit is approaching us from the front."