It took a week but the enemy eventually pulled back all of their forces from within the forest. They couldn’t afford to leave even spotters inside the draining field. At least not if they wanted to keep them alive. Even stealth-based classes were severely limited by the teleportation scrambler as it prevented skills like what Martin told me that catkin was capable of using.

The only reason Fiona was immune to this effect was due to her being spiritual. I had thought of coming up with a way to block spiritual entry but I liked having a way in again if shit hit the fan a second time. I knew it was only a matter of time until the Guild showed their face again. Now that the Guild knew we had a way to disable their main advantage they would be furiously trying to figure out how we did it. I suspected more infiltrators would be hired.

Martin had agreed with my assessment and was pushing hard on the two they captured to try and turn them to our side. I still didn’t like the idea of letting two former enemies roam free but I couldn’t deny how useful they might be. It was also why I wasn’t considering asking Fiona to accompany me back to Houston when that plan kicked off. She had the highest probability of stopping those two if things turned bad but she would also make for a great spy.

As for everything else, well, I adjusted Maria's route. She was still out on her current one and would only return in a few days. It was pure luck she had left only hours before the city was sieged. The other barge and captain had been stuck behind the forcefield like everyone else.

I didn’t even know the man's name and didn’t bother learning it. Charles was now in charge of running the operations there. When I got the third barge up and running I would simply hand him the activation key and he would hire someone on to train with one of the other captains. I had decided on this course of action for a few reasons. One I didn’t want to be bogged down running a business and I wasn’t willing to stick around all the time. With my upgrades to the city, it could now weather a siege, similar to the previous one, for months on end.

The reason for that was the ability for the shield to passively recharge by absorbing minute amounts of energy from any enchanted device within range. Before it had to have energy directed at the barrier to absorb it. It wasn’t perfect and it could be overwhelmed or depleted if enemies learned of the trick but it was certainly better than the previous iteration.

It also made me realize I really needed to upgrade the fortress. The thing had never been designed for assault, being more a safe home for me and my friends at the time. But it had suffered significant damage during more than one battle. I had to debate on whether or not to rebuild the original or start from scratch though.

Rebuilding it would certainly speed things up but I didn’t think it would be a significant improvement. In the end, I decided to start from scratch, not because I didn’t think the fortress could be repurposed but because what I wanted to build was simply so different that it would render most of the old components useless.

It would take weeks to strip the fortress of the mithril and resmelt it but that was fine. I also had to purchase more mithril from the city anyway. At least this way it would cost less overall. The cost would still be astronomical but I had recently learned that I was filthy stinking rich due to all the trade and building my employees had done while I was away.

I decided they all deserved a raise in pay so I simply doubled it. Martin had already contracted with the Earth mages that worked for me to build a second defensive wall around the first and to help rebuild the wall around the destroyed farming area.

That was fine with me, I guess in my absence Charles had found another three Earth mages to hire on. The company never really had a name so I left it to Charles to pick it. He chose S J contractors. I shrugged, one name was as good as another. I did get the option upon company creation to divvy up funding as I saw fit. I set it to fifty percent of the profit for myself and the rest for the company to spend as it saw fit.

I still had access to all expenditures via a new tab in my menu so stealing from the company was practically impossible. Not that I thought Charles would do that. He had the best of both worlds, good pay, and the ability to run the company as he saw fit. And none of the downsides like being liable as an owner.

“Hey, Charles, how are things?” I asked as I stepped inside the warehouse.

“Going good, I didn’t expect you today. Did you have a project for us?”

“Geez, am I that transparent?” I asked, chagrined.

“Sorta. But in a good way. Everyone knows what you’ve done for the city and you always bring some of the most interesting puzzles.”

“Alright, well nothing too fancy today. I just need a large quantity of high-grade metal.”

“Hmm,” the man said, rubbing his chin, “how much and what do you consider high grade?”

“I would love titanium if you can source enough but I will settle for high-grade steel used for boats.”

“… planning on building a ship?”

“Something like that,” I replied.

“Well, we're looking at tons of material then. If this was just Earth supplying the resources I might say you were SOL but with the Bazaars, it's much easier to source a large volume of either of those two. They aren’t exactly sought-after metals when you have things like mithril and other magical metals. Buying up that much might tip our hand in Nashville though. We are barely skirting around the Mohai as it is. They are getting suspicious of our activities in the area.”

“There is another Bazaar in Chicago, but if you go up that far, take precautions. There were scattered combatants in that area the last time I went through. If that doesn’t work out I have a Merchant friend that I trust. I can give you his contact information, he won’t turn down making a profit this large. He might even be able to get all of the metal for you.”

Charles whistled, “well, that will certainly make things quicker. When do you need it by and how many tons of material?”

“Let's try for one hundred tons. It’s more than I need but I have ideas for the additional materials.”

“Forgive me if I’m stepping out of line here but if you are building a vessel, why not just repurpose one of the docked ships in Houston?”

I had actually thought of doing that but I was sick of working around existing limitations plus an ocean-going ship would never work properly for what I had in mind.

“No, that’s a good question. I thought about doing that but it would take more work to retrofit them than starting from scratch. I will need more welders though so see if you get like another five. Make Timothy the foreman in charge of them. See if you can get the materials within a month by then I should have the design I have in mind finalized.”

“Alright, that sounds doable. We will need to purchase welding rod and other materials to construct this vessel. If you want a dry dock built we are going to need preliminary designs sooner rather than later.”

I nodded, “Put a wall up around the other warehouse lot, there should be enough space over there for what I have in mind.”

“Alright, I will have the two new guys get started on it right away.”

I left the building leaving the man to wonder at what I was planning to build. I didn’t entirely know myself. Sure I had a vague idea and a list of requirements floating around my head but getting them all down so a construction crew could build what I wanted would take some doing. I also had to strip the fortress. I decided to start on that first.

It would be sad to see the thing go as it had served quite well for what it was but it was no longer suitable for what I needed anymore. I needed a projection of strength to deter any that thought I or this new vessel were weak.

***

Ashlam remained kneeling below Lord Vik’ts throne. To say the man had been angry at his retreat was an understatement. Lord Vik’t hadn’t blown up or shown his displeasure so openly but he expressed his anger in other ways. One of those ways was going on at this very moment and Ashlam had remained in this position for four hours waiting for his lord to respond to his report.

There was a click as Lord Vik’t tapped on the arm of his throne. “You are certain that the city developed something to drain enchanted items?”

Ashlam raised his head, “Yes, we have multiple instances of items with the drained tag. Some were even outright broken by whatever our enemy used but that seemed to only affect lesser items. The higher-quality ones eventually recovered.”

“Hmm, still that news is disturbing in and of itself, but you also mentioned the cannons?”

“Yes, my Lord, the mages were having problems keeping the weapons fully charged. We could overcome this problem by having more mages per cannon but it was slowing down our rate of fire. They are also blanketing the area with a teleportation scrambler of a strength I have never witnessed. It forced us to travel beyond sight of the city in order to teleport.”

“Yes, another troubling development. What of their shields?”

“They aren’t ordinary shields, it seems they got ahold of siege shields. But they did drop them for a period of time. I believe this was when our main target returned to the city.”

“Oh, and why do you believe that?” Lord Vik’t asked.

“The timing is too close to be a coincidence. It was only a day after that incident that our items started having issues. Plus we managed to damage more infrastructure while the shield was down. There is no reason to risk something like that unless it was critical to their survival.”

“Hmm, I agree with you on that. Very well, keep long-distance watchers on the city for now. I will get approval to move forward with a strike team. I would prefer to capture this Paul Fuller alive if possible, his inventions are just too unique to let him go to waste.”

“And if that turns out to be impossible?”

Lord Vik’t shrugged, “nothing is impossible with enough funding behind it.”

***

I removed the last of the mithril pathways from the fortress and wiped the sweat from my forehead. The extensive deconstruction work had taken me two full days of back-breaking labor. I couldn’t ask anyone for help because everyone was still on alert in case the enemy forces decided to return.

I knew Fiona was out watching them from a distance and Ska was helping patrol near the city but other than that I was out of the loop. I’ll be honest, I much preferred that, to being in charge and having to make the life or death decisions for an entire town. I didn’t know how Martin did it. Speaking of Martin I spotted him walking down the dock toward the remaining hunk of stone that used to be a fortress.

“It’s kind of sad to see it in this state,” Martin said, looking at the remains of the fortress.

“We did have some interesting times in it. Hard to believe it was only a few months.”

“Yeah… things are changing so rapidly it’s hard to keep up sometimes. But I didn’t come to see you just to reminisce.”

“Oh?”

“What do you want, Paul?” Martin asked pointedly.

“… huh?” I asked in confusion.

“When we met, you had a goal to destroy the Black Dragon. You finally accomplished that goal and since then you have been kind of just meandering along with no real purpose. I found my purpose in helping run a city. Fiona found her purpose, protecting those she loves and starting a family. Hell, even Ska found a purpose by defending the innocent. But you haven’t. It makes us worry about you.”

I was silent for a minute, a bit shocked and a bit confused. Maybe a bit angry too. “To protect you guys?”

Martin shook his head. “Paul, we don’t need protection, not anymore. Sure we are thankful for everything you have done for us but that’s a goal that no longer exists either. The three of us are stronger than most people we have met. I would give even odds that Fiona or Ska could single-handedly fight off anyone in the Guild they choose to send our way. I may not be there yet but I can certainly hold my own.”

I realized he was right, I had been so focused on getting them stronger, making them safer, that I lost focus on what I wanted. I sat down on the ramp as I contemplated the question.

“Nobody is saying you have to leave or decide today,” Martin added quietly, “just think about it.”

“Did Fiona ask you to talk with me?”

“She brought it up but I saw the truth in her words.”

“I’m not like you or the others,” I said simply. “Staying in one place this long makes me antsy ever since I was a slave.”

Martin nodded. “There is a whole great big world out there to explore. Perhaps that is your calling?”

“But how can I just leave when there are enemies right here?”

“There are always going to be enemies, Paul. You can’t fight everyone.”