CHAPTER 67: THE NEW HOME AND THE EXHAUSTED ARCHITECT

The crimson sun set slowly over the black, impenetrable wall of the ancient forest, staining the high crowns of the oaks and the chiseled edges of the basalt stronghold a deep color of fresh blood. The air at the edge of the Upper City smelled of damp grass, pine resin, and fresh oak timber—a welcome, hygienic change from the perpetual, suffocating stench of burned fat and gutter waste from the Lower City slums. Our black, armored wagon stood parked on the shoulder of the road, and beside it, the ground was still littered with wood shavings, splinters, and gray basalt dust. The massive oak roof had snapped into place moments ago with a titanic click atop the two-story manor, perfectly sealing the entire compact structure. The last particles of stone suspension settled slowly in the evening breeze, and the newly erected, monumental fortress shimmered with a dark, velvety sheen in the dying rays of sunset.

I lowered my hands slowly, shoving them deep back into the pockets of my black leather coat. The passive combat pathways of my Vessel remained entirely untouched, and the sapphire reactor in my chest purred with stoic calm, but a quiet, dull ache throbbed deep within my skull. I hadn't torn my vital conduits, nor was I spitting blood, but rendering thousands of nails, tongue-and-groove joints, oak brackets, and precise foundation angles in three dimensions all at once—while maintaining total kinetic control over thousands of tons of raw material—had exhausted my mind to absolute zero. My will had accomplished its task, but my brain demanded an immediate quarantine and a hard, multi-hour reboot.

Shnee approached me with a slow, quiet, and dignified step. With a swift, tender movement, she pulled a clean linen handkerchief from the pocket of her leather armor and, with incredible, gentle care, began wiping the stone dust from my forehead, cheeks, and neck. Her blue pact thread pulsed in my mind with a soothing wave of pure relief. She leaned lightly into my side beneath my coat, resting her fair head, scented with frosty resin, against my shoulder.

"Your power has surpassed all limits once again, Dave," she whispered softly, her diamond eyes shining with boundless, possessive pride. "This house is more formidable and far cleaner than any fortress I saw along the dark path of the Crimson Trail. Your Vessel simply ignores the rigid rules of this world with complete ease."

"It's not a matter of magic, but pure engineering and pragmatic will, darling," I replied with my usual Brazen chill, adjusting my sleeve cuff. "When you know how to fit these blocks together in your imagination on simple logic, and you understand every trajectory of force, matter simply has to yield. But I'm sure as hell not a carpenter."

I ran my hand over the back of my neck, feeling a pleasant, heavy crunch in my tired muscles.

"There isn't a single table, chair, or bed inside," I continued with a relaxed smile, looking at the dark basalt gates of our new home. "The walls are up, the foundations are cemented, but tonight we're sleeping directly on the hard floorboards on trapper blankets. I just need to reset my head and let my processor rest after all that 3D rendering."

Karys and Luthia stood a few yards away on the grass, staring at the flawlessly finished basalt fortress with paralyzed, open-mouthed awe. Luthia, as a two-hundred-and-twenty-two-year-old analyst and veteran of the shadow underworld, tried to calculate the precision of this execution through cold logic. Her sharp yellow eyes scanned the seamless joints of the basalt, but her analytical mind helplessly rejected traditional concepts of architectural magic. Raising a two-story manor from solid stone in a single afternoon without a hundred masons and without burning a single thread from energy channels was an achievement from an entirely alien league.

"This simply defies all known rules, Dave," Luthia muttered, adjusting her glasses and nervously smoothing her corset. "Your will does not draw energy from the traditional conduits of this world. It is as if you write your own laws of physics on the fly and force matter into compliance."

Karys, on the other hand, didn't bother with accounting calculations. The wild wolf ears on her head twitched with excitement, and her bushy black tail moved nervously in the grass, betraying profound awe and reverent respect for my power. The young wolfgirl from the Black Fenrir tribe carefully observed the western flank of the manor. She saw how her raw, tactical room design—planned with surgical precision for survival, featuring a hidden window overlooking the property's blind spot, a direct escape exit into the forest shadows, and an oak platform for sharpening claws—had become a physical, indestructible reality in just a few hours.

"Well... the execution is remarkably solid," Karys muttered in her rough, husky voice, pulling the hood of her borrowed shirt lower to hide the scarlet blush brought on by my approval. "A flank like that provides complete field control and a zero-degree angle of approach for intruders."

Stolen novel; please report.

"I always listen to good tactical designs, kid," I smiled predatorily, and Karys caught another brief lag under my gaze.

We settled in the ground-floor dining room, where the raw oak floorboards still smelled of fresh polish and forest resin. Elena and Ria efficiently laid out thick wool trapper blankets from the wagon chests on the floor, while Mina pulled out supplies of bread, smoked bacon, and aromatic herbs. We ate a cold but highly caloric dinner in a cozy, tightly knit atmosphere, recharging the batteries drained during the day.

While Mina and Ria cleared the food remnants, Shnee moved closer to me on the blanket. With the possessive confidence of a partner, completely ignoring the presence of the rest of the group, she rested her hand on my knee and announced our spatial layout.

"Since our manor now has walls, it's time on simple logic to officially divide the quarters," Shnee began, adjusting a strand of her white hair and casting a cool, calm glance at Karys and Luthia. "According to my design from yesterday, Dave's bedroom on the upper floor connects directly through a door to my room. We are sharing this space permanently to ensure he has silent, round-the-clock physical protection at night."

Luthia and Elena nodded in absolute, dignified silence, showing not a single trace of petty jealousy. To them, the indestructible closeness of the First Pillar with the Leader was an entirely natural, cemented foundation of our structure. Karys swallowed a piece of bacon, looked at Shnee, and shrugged with a light, predatory smirk, feeling that her own quarters on the western flank provided her with the ideal sanctuary.

A deep, forest night wrapped our basalt fortress in complete peace. There was no bed in my upstairs bedroom yet—I lay on a wide, soft blanket spread directly on the oak floorboards. Through the narrow, high-mountain slits in the heavy shutters, the blue light of the moon filtered in, laying bright, geometric strips across the wood. The air in the room was crisp, scented with oak resin and Shnee's dormant ice magic, as she lay right beside me, resting her head on my shoulder and breathing quietly in time with my heart. My exhausted mind entered a phase of deep regeneration, while the sapphire reactor in my chest worked at minimal, velvety RPMs.

When the first rays of morning sun broke through the shutters at dawn, our entire family gathered on the ground floor. We sat on blankets in the dining room while Mina served hot herbal tea.

"Alright, girls, listen up," I began in a relaxed tone, leaning my back against the black basalt wall. "The house is standing, the foundations are immovable, but it's as empty in here as a brand-new developer's apartment. We're sleeping on the floor, which on simple logic is extremely unoptimized for our bodies and recovery in the long run. So today, we're doing a tactical division of labor."

The girls immediately perked up, absorbing my words with complete focus.

"Elena, you take the helm here," I commanded, sending her a brief, respectful nod. "Together with Luthia, Mina, and Ria, you'll manage and secure the manor from the inside. Luthia prepares the paperwork and inspects the local black market with Silas. Karys and Shnee are to guard the outer perimeter and the forest. Your predatory senses and Kaede's radar will easily pick up anyone attempting to approach our new plot. As for me, I'm heading into the city alone."

Karys froze for a second, analyzing my words with her tactical mind. She looked at the monumental manor behind us, then back at my relaxed stance.

"Ah, right... that makes sense," she muttered finally in her husky tone, correctly evaluating the perimeter defense trajectories. "No one gets close unspotted from the forest side."

"I need to scout the local Upper City market, stock the pantry with a supply of bold spices and high-calorie meat for Mina... and furnish our entire new place," I continued calmly, pulling my hands from my pockets. "Making furniture with telekinesis from scratch would be an extreme waste of my mind's energy and focus. I'll buy everything from the luxury carpenters' guild and have them haul it over on wagons immediately. I'll get it done quickly, cleanly, and on my own terms."

The sapphire gleam in my eyes settled into a predatory calm. The base under Crossgard was cemented, and our race for total dominance over the metropolis was officially entering its decisive phase.

Sitting over our simple meal spread on the trapper blankets, I felt a cool calm gradually fill the black basalt walls of our manor. The crimson glow of the setting sun finally faded behind the crowns of the ancient oaks, giving way to the deep, starry night of the Upper City. The scent of freshly polished oak floorboards mixed with the aroma of hot herbal tea, which Mina had meticulously brewed in a clay pot.

Ria and Mina spoke in quiet tones in the corner of the room, arranging supplies of dry rations and bold spices brought from Oakhaven on a linen cloth. Elena reviewed Silas's latest letters with dignified composure, while Luthia added her first notes to the estate's architectural sketches. Every single one of us felt that this raw building—still lacking furniture—had ceased to be merely a pile of arranged stone and timber. It had become a true, indestructible bastion for our small family in the heart of an alien metropolis.

I stretched slowly, allowing my tired neck muscles to fully relax. My mind, after hours of rendering three-dimensional planes in my imagination, was steadily regaining its razor-sharp focus, while the sapphire reactor in my chest purred with stoic, rhythmic power. We had established our base on our own non-negotiable terms—without paying guild markups, without yielding to bureaucratic extortion, and without a single unnecessary compromise.

When the girls retired to their respective quarters for the night, Shnee and I remained in the upstairs bedroom. The blue moonlight sliced through the darkness, laying bright, geometric stripes across the oak floor. Lying on the blanket beside the white-haired assassin, I knew that tomorrow's trip to the carpenters' guild would finalize the last technical phase of our manor's organization. Crossgard lay beneath our boots, and we had an absolutely pristine board ready for our next strategic moves.