Akira woke up in his own bed and yawned as he squinted at the dawn light pouring in through the window.

Today was an important day for many reasons, so he could not stay in bed and rest even if he felt tired from all the fighting and the travel to and from the [Steps to Doom] dungeon.

As he threw the covers off and got out of bed he found that Mileena had laid out his royal dark blue clothing along with the furred cape with the royal crest on its back on a nearby chair. There were also matching shoes, socks, and leather gloves to go along with everything.

After quickly getting dressed, Akira exited the bedroom.

“You're finally up. With how deep you were sleeping, I was wondering if you were going to sleep through the whole day causing me even more embarrassment,” said Mileena as she fed Silvy.

“Yap!” said Fluffball as he rolled slightly to the side, away from his warm spot near the crackling fire so that he could look at Akira while stretching.

“No need to worry about that. I am sure you would come to wake me up,” said Akira as he grabbed a piece of buttered toast on the table.

“I will be with the little ones for now, so I won't be able to join you for the first event but I should be able to have some free time later today,” said Mileena.

“Don't overwork yourself. When you come out to play I'll have a surprise for you so you should look forward to it,” said Akira.

“I should be saying that to you,” said Mileena as she thought of all the traveling Akira had been doing lately. Almost the entirety of the warm months had been spent away from Kodria.

“You know I can't just stay here while things are happening around Kodria,” said Akira as he finished a second piece of toast and washed it down with some fresh milk.

“I have to go, see you later!” said Akira as he kissed Mileena and then the two babies on the cheek, before he left the living quarters along with a yawning Fluffball.

When he left the castle his usual royal guards joined him on his quiet walk through the inner city.

Akira stopped at Delgar's smithy which was busy as always. Several new dwarf apprentices were working inside.

When Delgar noticed Akira standing just inside the doorway he stopped his lesson and walked over to where Akira was waiting.

“What can I do for you today?” asked Delgar.

Akira reached into his bag and took out several armfuls of the new dark minerals that he had received from the dungeon and heaped them on the ground nearby. He also took out the old and now half-melted [Dark moon] armor set and placed it next to the pile.

Delgar, seeing the pile of minerals that he had never seen before, became intrigued but a second later his face turned into a deep frown as he saw the melted armor which he had worked on.

“What happened to this?” asked Delgar as he touched the scrap armor.

“The dungeon guardians' attacks were too much for it. This armor set lasted me a long time, but now I need a new set of armor with a shield and a sword. Do you think you could do this for me?” asked Akira. He knew that Delgar was swamped with all the orders coming in from Kodria and its citizens so there was little chance of him getting to it within the next month or so.

“I can do it right now!” said Delgar eagerly. This reply was not what Akira was expecting and was pleasantly surprised.

“What about your backlog of orders?”

“The apprentices can work on them, it's good work for them. All this repetition of making the same simple things over and over is driving me insane! I need something more challenging and this is perfect!” said Delgar.

“I also have these. I was hoping you could use it as material to create new weapons and armor for my guards,” said Akira pulling out the remaining broken demigod armor and weapons that he had been gathering for some time.

Delgar sifted through the pile of scrap inspecting them to see what materials had been used to create them.

“These are pretty decent. They were made with a lot of semi-rare minerals that are harder to find around here. I'm sure we can make some good armor and weapons out of them. I'll leave it to the senior apprentices since this is already scrap. What about your old armor? Do you want me to repair it or I can give it to them to create new armor and weapons?”

“Can you make a better armor set out of the new minerals?”

“Most definitely! I'll have to gather the old codgers to help me with the runes but the new set of armor, weapons, and shields I can make with it should be far stronger.”

“Then you can scrap the old armor set.”

“Is there any design or shape that you want the new armor set to look like?”

“Nothing in particular, you can surprise me.”

“Alright! I'll get to work on this right away! Everyone, gather around! There are new tasks for everyone!”

Akira left Delgar's smithy and headed to the docks where a flat ferry boat was waiting.

When he reached the docks near the outer city he was greeted by several dignitaries from nearby territories and allies. They had been waiting in the outer city for several days, some even weeks, just for this event. Klyn was also waiting next to the group as he had been in charge of gathering everyone and keeping them company. Next to him was the large Grarr who was silently grooming himself.

Today's special event, along with the harvest festival, had been postponed from their original date until today due to the pressing matter with the dungeon and rogue demigod guilds.

'How can I let you walk for such a big event? Get on my back!' said Grarr with his mental voice as he stood up.

The now expanded group of dignitaries and guards walked along with Akira to the opened front gates of the outer city.

Even though it was still early morning when most people were not out and about, the outer city was alive and roaring as crowds of civilians from all over Kodria as well as those from the different demon races from allied territories, cheered wildly upon seeing Akira arrive.

The inside of the city was completely packed with people who were here to celebrate. Only a few rows of guards held the crowd back to allow Akira and the dignitaries to squeeze past each of the newly built rings of city walls.

“GRAAWWW!” Grarr occasionally let out a happy roar towards the crowd who would cheer even louder.

Akira and the dignitaries continued to wave to the gathered crowds as they passed through the outer city heading to the very center of the city.

The parade-like procession took some time to get to their destination as they neither moved too fast nor too slow, but when they arrived, the waiting crowds of people were just as numerous if not even more jam-packed here.

At the very center of the city, there was a large square patch of dirt that had not been paved over with stone slabs or had any buildings on or near it. It had been blocked off by rope and had a small group of city guards surrounding it to keep the curious civilians back.

Next to the patch of dirt was a platform that Akira and the dignitaries silently climbed up onto.

Tuuu Tuuu Tutu!

A trumpet announced the start of the event and the roaring crowds slowly became quiet as Akira stepped forward.

“Citizens, Friends, and guests! I welcome you here to celebrate the completion of the outer city rebuild!” shouted Akira, his voice booming and echoing off the walls and buildings of the city.

The crowd cheered loudly.

“But that is not the only reason or even the main reason I have invited you all here! So why have I invited you here? It is to witness a historical event!” Akira reached inside his bag and pulled out a small round seed that was glowing green glowing and placed it on his outstretched palm showing it to the crowd that was quietly whispering among themselves.

“This is the seed of Legends and Myths! The [Child of the World Tree]!” said Akira, stepping off of the platform and onto the square patch of dirt.

“By planting this here today, I will consecrate the city with this legendary seed and you will all be able to see that the legends are true!”

With that said, Akira bent over and shoved the seed into the already small hole that had been dug.

He used his hands to shove the loose dirt over the hole and patted it down before grabbing a nearby metal watering can and pouring its contents over the patch of dirt.

When the water can was empty he quickly stepped back and walked up onto the stage again.

Everyone clapped after seeing this and were waiting for Akira to continue his speech, but they saw he was still staring at the place where the seed now rested so they all turned their full attention back to it and waited.

Not long after a slight tremble under their feet could be felt, it was almost like an earthquake. The next moment the shaking grew in intensity making the gathered crowds slightly fearful.

Fwoosh!

A thick green sapling sprouted out of the ground and shouted up into the air growing quickly. It was soon towering over the nearby buildings, only then did it start to slow down.

Ding!

Child of the World Tree:

When this seed is planted, the surrounding area in a 5-mile radius around the [child of world tree] will receive a permanent buff to the growth of all plants while also making the land more fertile and less susceptible to crop failure as long as the [Child of the World Tree] stays alive.

When fully sprouted and grown into a young sapling, the range of the buff extends to 10 miles. Side effects may appear during that time and cause an uptick of wild animals with a possibility of more monsters appearing due to the aura of the [Child of the World Tree].

When the [Child of world tree] has matured into an adult tree its effect range is extended to 100 miles.

Ding!

Kodria has become a 2nd tier Dukedom!