As we leave, Colt extends out vines to grab the 2 gleams and the quartz core of the ground. It feels wrong to take it, but right now we might need the money to help an entire city worth of people.

Running through the remnants of the city proves to be difficult as everything is covered in mounds of crystal dust.

My heart sinks as I see far too many scenes that bring me back to our trip down to Portland. People are being slaughtered by the uncontrolled monsters everywhere we turn.

Looking to Colt, tears of both sadness and anger are running down his face, his fist is clenched so hard that I see green blood leaking from it.

Picking up the pace, we come across what appears to be a mother and father with their son and daughter. The parents are standing in between the children and three hawks whose feathers seem to be made of light beams.

Colt unleashes a field of piercing vines and stone, catching the hawks by surprise in the process. With them tangled up, stones pierce them, ending them before they even reach the family.

Colt immediately takes several doses of a mana potion, restoring some color to his skin.

“Colt, I’m upset too, but we can’t afford to waste that much mana on a single fight or we won’t be able to help many people.” He frowns but nods to me.

Thinking for a moment, I look back in the direction of the Construct Shop. “We’re gonna need a home base to keep these people safe. Let’s carve a path toward the shop so these people can get some weapons to defend themselves.” Colt and Becky nod, looking determined.

We approach the family to tell them to follow us, but the father starts screaming at us.

“It’s your fault that this is happening! The king kept us safe! We heard the rumors about someone using Skills. This is exactly what we knew would happen!” His eyes are bloodshot in rage.

Colt steps in, laying a hand on the small of my back. “I understand you’re upset right now, but your king was controlling you! Even if you hate us, your best bet of your family surviving is sticking with us. There are people dying out there, we can’t stay here because you’re angry.”

He turns away from the man, pulling me along with him. The man grumbles another string of curses, but the family ends up following us close enough to be protected but still clearly keeping their distance.

Our pace is slowed as a result, but it’s what has to happen. We’re just fortunate that the jail was on the side of the city closer to the Shop.

The ground rumbles as three star reaper moles come up from the earth, making a strange chittering noise. These ones are smaller than the one Colt and I encountered in the dungeon. The family behind us screams in terror, but the three of us mobilize.

Moving in quickly, I dodge several slashes from one of the moles, wary of losing a limb again. Finding an opening, I step inside its reach, slamming my anchor with a Devastating Impact directly into its starry nose.

A sickening crunch emits from the mole’s face as it collapses inward and blood spatters my face. It falls to the ground, shocking me that I killed it in a single hit.

Star Reaper Mole defeated! 147 XP awarded!

Star Reaper Mole dropped: 3 Sparks, 2 Glints.

The woman following us cries out in pain from behind us, causing me to turn. A herd of volley stags is slowly walking towards us, slinging stones at the family behind us. Colt raises a wall of earth to protect them as we shift from our kills.

Becky steps up. “I’ve got this, revenge time fuckers.” She pulls out a new pair of scissors which appear to be made of the same iridescent crystal of the star reaper mole’s claws.

Two more pairs of scissors float by her shoulders, launching out at the volley stags as she dashes in at high speed. She cleaves through the whole herd, jumping from deer to deer, slicing apart any projectiles fired at her.

Magical Locks extend out, wrapping up several of the deer’s legs, tripping them to the ground. In the end, Becky is left covered in blood. She uses her newfound Hydrokinesis to clear it off, however.

She spits on the ground that the volley stags were standing on and walks away, her hair collecting any spare coins. She hands a pile of volley stag meat and pelts to me, making me frown.

“Dinner for me for the next few weeks.” She grins malevolently at Colt as I store away the meats in my hold.

He looks at her, slightly fearful, but gulps and nods with a slight smile.

We move on, the family behind us staring on in complete shock. They seem to be thinking if it’s any safer with us than with the monsters.

“She uh, has some pent up aggression against volley stags.” The mother just holds her kids close and the father glares at me as I give them an awkward half-smile.

Turning back, I sigh. “This is going to take way too long, these people have no Stats!”

An idea strikes me and I take out the corrupt smoky quartz core. Pulling up my blueprints from Schematic Mind, I find the high-level golem gore I made for Lil P.

“Colt, Becky, keep them safe for a second, use long distance to help other people too, I have an idea.”

The nod to me and begin to fire off spell and scissor in the distance. Taking a deep breath, I sit down with the core in hand. Pulling my enchanting book out of my Hold, I quickly leaf through it and find all the runes I need for enhanced control.

I’ll need the control to prevent any kind of crystal corruption from occurring again. “...Magnum Opus.”

My mind becomes clearer than it has ever been before. Suddenly, the schematic I’m displaying and the runes I referenced all become clear to me. They mesh together perfectly into a new system of connections.

My hands fly across the surface of the smoky quartz orb, drawing lines, curves, and various geometric shapes. Within 5 minutes my MP has plummeted and the core is complete.

‘Inspect.’

Corrupt Smoky Quartz Golem Core

Quality: Excellent

Traits: Efficient mana flow, medium command capacity, safeguard control

Description: This golem core has been created by a Fledgling Enchanter under the effects of Magnum Opus, giving it the high quality that it is. The inscriptions allow for efficient flow of mana throughout the golem as well as 10 simple commands to be given. Further enchantments have been added to safeguard against a corrupting effect of the base core material.

Nodding, I turn to Colt. “Get me some clay please?” He inspects the core in my hand quickly, eyes showing surprise and pulls some clay up from the ground for me. He seems to understand what I want to do so he quickly shapes the clay into arms, legs, a body, and a head.

Pulling up the blueprints for the golem I made for Becky, I’m able to inscribe runes much faster. Within another two minutes, I’ve finished every piece.

The blueprints help in that I only need to trace lines over the surface. With my high stats, I’m able to move fast with enough precision to finish something like this with relative ease.

Putting all the pieces together, I insert the core, bringing the golem to life. The clay shifts before crystalizing, looking like a cheap version of the quartz soldiers that used to exist in this city.

‘Inspect.’

Smoky Quartz Carrier Golem

Traits: Mana efficiency, Swift, Reinforced Structure, Safeguard Control, High Endurance

Description: The efficient design of this golem decreases its mana costs considerably. Specific enchantments have been applied to the lower half of the golem to allow for heightened speeds. The corrupt quartz crystal core of this golem is contained in a way that the effects only extend to its own body. This golem can take 10 commands. The crystal that this golem is made out of makes it highly durable against physical and magical attacks.

Turning to Colt, he’s already made a makeshift wagon out of earth and vines. We load the family into the wagon after some tough convincing. The fact that the golem is made of the same brassy orange crystal as the soldiers assuages their worries, disturbing me somewhat.

Now that we’re able to move at high speed, we sprint across the landscape. Colt uses his Aeromancy to push crystal dust out of the way of our wagon.

Most of the monsters in this city appear to be lower level, possibly due to the crystals implanted in their heads. Colt told me about how the crystal pot sapped the effects out of the soup they made.

By the time we’re approaching the edge of the city, I’ve gained 1473 xp, 17 Sparks, 36 Glints, another aquifer ring, lightshaft crystals, another pair of Colt’s royal guard stag gauntlets, and dozens of people in our wagon.

Just then, a creature I recognize bursts out from a mound of crystal dust. The silk snake.

The people on the cart scream at the appearance of the snake, which they’ve also done at the appearance of every monster we’ve faced so far, much to the annoyance of the three of us.

“Do you all want more monsters to come here? No? Then stop making noise.” Becky’s icy glare shuts them up.

Strands of silk fire out from the snake’s scales toward us. Becky’s scissors cleave through them before they can reach us. Moving in, I quickly add a sharpness enchantment from Rapid Inscription to Argo, the normally smooth metal taking on a mystic, cutting gleam.

“Lucas! I am glaring at the enemy in an intimidating and sharp manner!”

I don’t have the heart to tell the cheery anchor that sharp isn’t an emotion, so I just smile and nod.

The energy of the enchantment cuts through the silk threads flying toward me as I spin my anchor around me. Jumping into the air, I swing at the snake, only for it to dodge out of the way and turn a tail strike at me.

My body is sent hurtling through the air before I crash into the ground in a plume of crystal dust. Coughing, I stand in a cloud of crystal particles, but that just gives me an idea.

Sprinting back towards the snake, I call out to Colt. “Use Aeromancy! Kick up a bunch of crystal dust around the snake!”

He nods to me and suddenly the entire area is filled with crystal dust. I can hear Becky complaining somewhere in the distance, but I activate my Primordial Perception and identify the snake’s location quickly.

In my senses, I can see the threads of silk pushing through the crystal dust. The particles of dust stick to the threads, weighing them down heavily, making them useless. As I sprint to the snake, it turns to me.

“Right. Infrared vision.” The snake’s tail snaps toward me once more, forcing me to dodge out of the way. A loud crack emanates out from where the snake struck at me. It hisses in frustration, still attempting to use its silk threads, but Colt keeps kicking up dust with his Aeromancy.

Vines burst out of the ground under the snake, surprising it. Like before, it tries to shift through the grasping plantlife, but Colt apparently accounted for this. The vines are coated in a sticky sap, latching on to the snake’s smooth body significantly more effectively.

With its movements now impaired, I jump into the air once more. “Devastating Impact!” Argo slams down into the snake’s head, crashing it to the ground.

Swinging Argo out, the pointed tip of one of his arms pierces into the snake’s head. I pull on the chain leading to my anchor and Plot a Course, bringing me back to the snake’s body once more at high speed.

“Devastating Impact!” My legs empower with the force of my Skill, causing a crunch to sound out from the snake’s head. It writhes in pain and a panicked tail swipe smashes me to the ground once more.

It shakes its head, causing the chain between me and Argo to pull me across the ground and into the air. Pulling the chain hard, I’m brought directly back to the frenzied snake’s head.

Forcing Argo out of its head, I fall. Spinning my body, I slam another empowered strike into the snake’s underside.

It strikes at me during my fall, long, pointed fangs aiming for my body.

“Trim!” Becky is suddenly next to the snake, her crystal scissors cutting through its neck, beheading the creature.

It’s not entirely done, however. The snake’s head clamps on to my body, its fangs piercing through me entirely.

“Lucas!” Colt shouts out and sprints over to me. I’m struggling to push the snake’s locked jaw off of my body. Blood leaks from my mouth and I cough up more.

Becky quickly cleaves away the fangs from the snake’s mouth and Colt pulls me out of its hold. He quickly takes out a healing potion, pressing it to my lips, tears in his eyes.

“Don’t you dare fucking die on me.” The potion helps bring some clarity to my mind. Fortunately, this snake doesn’t appear to be venomous. With the use of Promethean, I immediately begin to stop the bleeding.

Once I’m sure I’m out of the red, I indicate to Colt that he can pull the fangs out of me. More blood leaks out once he does, but with the rest of my healing potions as well as a couple mana potions, I’m able to bring my body back to a mostly recovered state.

Turning, we see the crowd of people on the wagon looking at us in shock. I awkwardly smile and wave to them. One man speaks up. “We… Can do that?”

My smile widens. “With The Construct, anything is possible.” Giving a light chuckle to calm my nerves, I begin to cough in pain.

“Ow. Not... fully healed.”

The look of the crowd shifts somewhat from the hateful expressions to ones of admiration. It seems they might finally be getting that we’re just trying to help.

Level up! For combining your Talents of the anchor with the Talents and skills of your group, your Talent: Adept Anchorist has reached (13/50)!

Skill level ups have occurred! Check the Skills menu for further details!

Level up! Piercing Resistance has reached (2/100)!

Silk Snake defeated! 4136 xp awarded!

Silk Snake dropped: 12 Sparks, 13 Glints, Silken Fangs x2.

Level up! You have achieved level 20, you are awarded 5 unallocated stat points, +80 MP, +0.8 HP regen, +2.7 MP regen, +32 Strength, +49 Endurance, +11 Dexterity, +30 Intelligence, +41 Attunement, +17 Willpower, +3 Charisma, and +19 Insight. 1178/6239 remaining until level 21.

For reaching your second stat milestone in Willpower, you have unlocked the ability to gain magical and mental resistances!

For reaching your second stat milestone in Insight, you have unlocked the Value section of Inspect. All Inspects of items will now include a selling value of approximately how much the item is worth in Construct Currency.

Frowning, I’m upset that part of the loot is simply the fangs that Becky cut off the snake. ‘How does that even count as a drop. That’s some bullshit. At least those stat milestone bonuses are a nice boost.’

Ignoring that for now, I indicate that we should begin our trek. Finally, we get moving once more and arrive at the Construct Shop.

“Oh my god, I was so worried!” A short, sprinting form crashes into the three of us, arms wide. I cry out in pain, but Adreanell is fussing over the three of us.

“I didn’t know what to do once I left, but apparently Cassandra knew some people in the city who were against the king, so we gathered them up. But then we had no idea where to go but one guy suggested the Shop and so here we are!” Adreanell’s eyes are tearing up, but she smiles at us.

“Right, we need to arm these people.” Turning to the crowd, I use a small bit of Geomancy to bring myself up on a platform of earth.

“Excuse me! Excuse me, please! Everyone! Attention here for a moment!” The crowd won’t quiet down, and various questions keep being yelled at me, the crowd is frantic.

A pulse of energy emanates out from Colt and the crowd immediately quiets down, some of them feeling at their mouths. I turn to Colt quickly. “Thanks, babe.” He blushes furiously and looks to the side.

Shaking my head, I turn back to the crowd. “Okay, raise of hands, who has already claimed a starter weapon from the Shop?” Only a small number of people in the crowd raise their hands, the rest keep them down.

“Okay, that’s actually really good, I’m assuming those that did have a starting weapon lost it by this point, it’s probably crystal dust by now?” The people nod to me.

“Okay, that’s fine, we have money. We can buy you some new weapons. I know a lot of you are upset at us, but your king was controlling you! Pay attention to it, doesn’t your head feel different now with that earring gone?”

A few people seem to acknowledge this and take it to heart, but I can still see the majority is full of doubtful expressions. ‘Change of tactics then.’

“We’ve all lost a lot here, I’m sure, but there are still people out there that need our help! Not everyone needs to go back and fight, but you should all arm yourselves and learn!”

At this point, I feel the Silence from Colt release over the crowd, he looks extremely strained.

Some people begin to complain about the same things the first family we saved said to us, but the people we brought over in the wagon turn to them, arguing what they saw on the trip here.

Paying attention to the size of the crowd, my back begins to sweat as I realize Adreanell rescued a lot more people out than we did. This crowd is huge.

Eventually, I’m able to convince the people to form a line and start taking items from the Shop. Adreanell takes two Gleams from me to fund the people who lost their weapons.

Once enough willing people have weapons, Colt, Becky, and I return to the city with them. Adreanell is staying behind and will join up later once a basic shelter has been constructed and everyone has weapons.

“There’s a lot of people to save, so let’s take back Portland!” Raising up Argo into the sky, people with all kinds of weapons raise them up in the air, cheering.