The fortress took another two days to complete. Then I had to create a delivery device for the nerve gas. I thought about how the dwarves operated their stronghold and came up with a design. The football-sized device looked like a top. I tested it repeatedly, by dropping it from as high up as possible.

It worked perfectly, landing, tip down, and burrowing into a false tunnel I created below the ground. There it would stop and release its gas. Despite their size, this device was the most intricate thing I had ever produced. It had dozens of magical circuits running along thin mithril pathways.

They had a built-in levitator feature, that absorbed the impact of the fall, allowing the device to slowly penetrate the ground where it landed. With the stored mana, it could push up to five meters of dirt or rock out of the way before it ran out of juice. A sensor rune would cut the power when it detected a large void. This had been tricky to implement as it could not be activated until the device had already sunk into the ground where it landed. After a few tries, I had figured out the trick. I also implemented three rings on the device. These would have to be manipulated into the correct position to activate the item. Even then I included a separate activation rune, that like the door, could only be triggered by the corresponding tattoo.

I flew down and retrieved the prototype. Everything was intact and I stored it away. I sealed up the hole it made, then donned the hazmat suit and sealed up the entrance to this tunnel. I didn't want anyone accidentally stumbling upon it if I fucked up and released the gas.

Four devices appeared from my ring, sitting on stands around me. These were larger, about the size of a large watermelon. I rotated the rings on the first device until I heard a slight pop. I pushed the top-down and twisted until it came loose. The cavity had been designed to perfectly fit the warhead. I still had to finish modifying those.

I pulled out one of the warheads, inspecting it again. I only ever did this inside the tunnel, far from any living being. I placed the device on another stand and pulled out a ring. This ring would join the two systems together, allowing the device I built to activate it, instead of the missile programming.

Ever so carefully, I slipped the ring over the warhead. I lined up the connection points and clicked them into place. I sighed in relief when it didn't go off. While I had dabbled in electrical engineering before changing my major to information technology, I wasn't a hundred percent sure this would work. I wasn't a rocket scientist after all. I chalked the success up to my high intelligence again and my ability of almost perfect recall.

I lifted the warhead and slowly placed it within the chamber on my device. The ring could only be inserted in one way, a failsafe just in case. I gave it a good push and heard the connections click into place. I screwed the cap back on and rotated the rings to secure the device. I breathed out a sigh of relief and stored the device. Only three more to go.

***

It was launch day, the fact that I hadn't killed myself or anyone else while making those bombs was a miracle. It was also something I never wanted to have to do again. I was standing in the control room, three gems were embedded into a short wall, within easy reach of a swivel chair, bolted to the floor. The chair came from an RV and was way safer than being tossed around like before. I had included two other chairs for the others to secure themselves in just in case of turbulence or combat. All that remained was to test the remaining systems.

"Stealth field active," I spoke into the radio.

"Copy that, everything is good from the front door," a crackling reply came from Martin.

The radios had been cobbled together and only ran on a portable mana battery. Which wasn't much smaller than a mana generator. It wasn't ideal but it worked.

"Ska can no longer see the structure," he replied from within the crawlspace.

"Ok, Martin, see what happens when you open the door."

The exterior door worked with proximity, instead of direct contact like the interior door. All you needed to do was feed a tiny amount of mana into the tattoo and the door would swing open.

"Door is open, stealth field is still active. Hoo boy, it's weird seeing a floating entryway."

"Good to know it will still work when open, although it is drawing about four times the power."

"Ok, I'll close the door again."

After Martin sealed the door I moved onto the next item on the list.

"Next test is the shield."

I turned off the invisibility field, checking on the power. It had dropped to thirty-eight hundred from four thousand. With the door closed, it would last two hours, without being charged.

"Alright, Ska, move to the alcove, I'm going to activate the shield."

The alcove was just an area I had carved out around the outside of the crawlspace. It made it quicker to transition between one side and the other. It was functioning as a place for Ska to inspect the shield from now.

"I am in position," he said over the radio.

"Activating the shield in five!"

I counted down over the radio, turning the shield on after I hit one. The building vibrated as the shield came online. I had to adjust a few settings on the control panel until the fortress stopped shaking.

"Alright, how's it look from outside?"

"Looks ok but I think you broke the mooring points," Martin said, "the entrance shifted past the tunnel."

"Shit, alright. Ska, how's it look down there?"

"Martin is right, some of the posts have collapsed. The rest have been broken by the shield."

I was afraid something like this might happen. Not a big deal, it just meant I would have to set the house down on the landing gear.

"Ok, I'm going to try and rotate the house back. Ska, you are going to have to exit the crawl space as I am going to activate the landing gear."

"I am leaving the space now, I will let you know when I meet up with Martin."

It took a few minutes for Ska to climb through the emergency tunnel and out through the exit. The whole time I kept an eye on the crystal capacity. It had only dropped twenty-five points, remaining steady at thirty-nine hundred and seventy-five. Meanwhile, Fiona floated behind me and watched the whole thing.

"This is quite impressive," she murmured.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, just wait till we get in the air," I responded with a grin.

"Ska is with Martin," Ska replied over the radio.

"Roger, let me know when the door is in position again."

I turned off the shield, a grinding pop could be heard as the building settled. Before it broke the rest of the pillars, I activated the flight controls. They were at less than one percent power but even then the house slammed into the top of the dome covering the construction site.

"Whoops," I said, only Fiona around to hear my mistake.

I adjusted the output on a fine control knob, lowering the house. I couldn't see what I was doing as the remote viewing orb only showed the hill that still encased the house. I was relying on Martin and Ska to help with this bit.

"A little to the left," Martin said over the radio.

Rotation wasn't a high-priority feature so this was taking some time. After about ten minutes of fiddling, I got confirmation that the door was close enough that they could open it. I activated the landing struts. Six legs came out at an angle and were linked to a leveling system. With this, we could land on anything that had an incline of up to ten feet over the length of the building.

"Bring it down just a bit," Martin said.

I lowered the house another six inches before he confirmed it was good.

I turned off the control panel and headed towards the entrance.

The others were already entering through the inner door when I arrived.

"So everything was good?"

"Yes," they replied in unison.

"Fantastic! Are there any more provisions or items we need?"

"No, should be all set on that front. We have enough food stored in those rings you embedded into the wall to keep us going for months."

That was another little thing I implemented. The rings as he called them were a dozen storage rings, molded into the wall. If the worst should happen again and someone did manage to break in and steal everything, those would keep us going. They were hidden and could only be accessed by a panel on the second floor and by someone who had the tattoo. Martin still rubbed his hand occasionally, where the hidden tattoo had been added.

After the dwarven fiasco, he understood the need for better security. The air in the house wouldn't be too much of a problem. While the house was sealed, we had three air scrubbers. It would last for a week if need be. In the worst-case scenario, we could catalyze the water for more oxygen.

"Alright, get stuff secured. I'm going to go say bye to the Marshall."

***

The door to the police station opened and the bell above gave a ring, letting someone know I was here.

"Hey, Paul, what brings you by today?"

"Was hoping the Marshall was around, wanted to say goodbye."

"You're leaving? Sorry to hear that, you and your friends have been a great help and will be missed around here. The Marshall is here, let me go get him for ya."

The man returned with the Marshall in tow.

"Frank tells me you're leaving. Don't suppose I can convince you to stick around?"

"I would if I could," I reply, shaking the man's offered hand. "But I learned some news that my friends and I need to deal with.”

"Well, if you need any help, let us know. I will walk you back."

I nodded at the man, accepting his offer. I said goodbye to the other officer as we walked out.

"Will you be back this way anytime soon?"

"Not sure. It might be dangerous for this town if I do."

The man grunted. "I don't wish to pry into your past, hell knows I got my own skeletons."

I smiled sadly and told part of my story. "After the System came about, I made my way to my hometown. Unfortunately, I made some powerful enemies on the way there. I was captured and made into a slave. As you can see I escaped, but not before enacting my revenge on the people who perpetrated the heinous act. The news I got pertains to the leaders of that group. Apparently, I didn't get all of them. Now they are hunting for me."

The man stopped and looked at me. "Well, that's not what I expected to hear. So you think they might come here?"

"No, I know they are after me, so I plan to go deal with the issue myself."

"You're only three people, how do you plan to do that?"

I smiled again, only this time it wasn't sad. "Watch my hill from a distance and in a few minutes, you will see. Thanks for trusting us Marshall, and if I don't see you again, take care."

We shook hands again and I finished walking to the hill.

***

The Marshall sat on an abandoned car, while he smoked a cigarette.

"There you are Marshall, why you sitting out here?" one of his officers asked.

"Not quite sure to be honest, Paul told me to watch his hill so here I am."

The man opened his mouth to reply when the ground shook.

They both turned to the hill as dust rose around it. Rocks and trees tumbled off the sides as it shook ever more violently. The rising dust obscured everything until something rose above even that.

The Marshall stared agape, dropping his cigarette as the structure of rock and magic rose into the sky. It floated there in defiance of gravity as the remaining bits of rock fell away, then it disappeared.