Arkhan was indeed disappointed that the Uncharted Lands would not be usable as a buffer but was even more upset that many of his subordinated has been destroyed in the conflict. If his troops had left behind remains when they perished he would have gladly given them a proper burial with full honors, but whenever any of his summoned entities were destroyed they would turn into particles of light and fade away. He had lost roughly 2.3% of his over 10 Million troops in the ensuing struggle and had ultimately gained very little. The Uncharted Lands would slowly begin to stabilize, and whether that would have a positive or negative effect on the surrounding lands would not be known until much later. With an end to the chaotic shifting of the environment, the nations surrounding the now navigable ‘Uncharted Lands’ would begin to encroach upon this place. This would mean it would only be a matter of time before they would contact Arkhan and his forces, at which time things could either go poorly or well. Due to Arkhan’s experiences with nobles and people with power up to this point he was more inclined to believe that those who made first contact with him would be at least slightly, if not totally hostile.

Due to his inability to secure the Dungeon Core for himself, it would now be difficult to secure a safe place for himself and his forces. It would probably take years to build the appropriate structures and fortifications to permit his forces to hold out against everything this world could throw at them, not to mention that it would be much harder for him to get access to clean water and fresh food. While his forces did not need to eat or drink, he did, and his forces knew nothing about how to prepare food or water for consumption. Almost to spite him, all of the monsters that had attacked from the rear were edible, but due to the overwhelming firepower that his troops had unleashed their corpses were now unusable for both food and equipment. Arkhan had bet on being able to use the Dungeon Core to avoid running out of supplies and had lost. He was victorious in his effort to capture the dungeon but had failed in his primary objective of securing the dungeon as a home.

It had been long enough for the MSGs to make their way back up to the surface, although they had just hopped into the Hangar and then hopped back out onto the fields...

As he sat, rapping his fingers on his seat in the Gallop, Gihren approached him.

“Sir, we are all well aware that our effort to completely dominate the dungeon ended less than perfectly. However, it is not your fault. Who would have known that you of all people would be deemed ‘unworthy’? There is no one worthier than you, after all. As much as we want to raze this place to the bedrock for its relation to that foolish Core, perhaps we can use the land around us to out benefit? Don’t you agree?”

Gihren was right. He needed to stop moping and deal with the problem at hand. He couldn’t keep his forces on a never-ending march for multiple reasons. They needed a place to settle down and constant movement left no way to have a constant and ready supply of food and water. Thankfully, the fortress was close to several lakes and waterways as well as land where grains and vegetables could be grown. This was not to mention the ranching possibilities that could be useful for survival. It would take time, but if they all worked hard they could make something amazing here that would be able to stand up against anything that the other nations could throw at them. With the levels gained from the assault on the Dungeon Core and from the destruction of the Core itself, many new possibilities were likely to be available, but up until this moment Arkhan hadn’t checked his Status as he only ever did so after a battle or when preparing for one. Now, however, there was quiet, and the immediate threat of monster attacks had passed. The Core was broken and therefore no more monsters would spawn from nothing to assail him or his creations. Now he had both the time and reason to check his status.

The first thing that stood out to him was the fact that he had not gained nearly as much experience as he had thought he would have. This was likely due to the overall weakness of the monster faced and the highness of his level, so he could dismiss his lack of extreme leveling as due to these factors. The next thing that stood out to him was that he had several new skills and that at least one of his skills had split into two separate branches. Now instead of having access to only Zeon Mobile Suit Golems, equipment and ships he now had access to the Federation stuff as well. Both branches were at the same levels but what really caught his attention was a skill that would let him wear a Mobile Suit Golem like a suit of Power Armor. Arkhan could not wait to do so but stopped himself from trying it out due to the fact he was only a roughly 6-and-a-half-year-old child and would be unable to use the Mobile Suit Golem Armor in his current state. Besides, he had to fully investigate his other three completely new skills. One skill was called Stellar Engineering and the others were Stellar Ranching, Stellar Production and Stellar Hydroponics. Arkhan had a rough idea that the three ‘Stellar’ skills were meant to work together, and his Appraisal of them did not prove him wrong.

Stellar Engineering – Allows the construction of Gravity defying structures in atmosphere and those same structures in space. Structures whose construction was affected using this skill will generate both a Gravity Field for Land Only Suits to use as well as a Zero-Gravity Field for Atmospheric and Space Units.

Stellar Ranching – An addon to Stellar Engineering. Allows Animals and certain Monsters to acclimatize to and survive on the environments made with the effects of Stellar Engineering. Monsters that exist on said constructs have a high chance of changing into entirely new species after enough time and stimulus.

Stellar Hydroponics – An addon to Stellar Engineering. Allows Plants, Fungi, Mold and certain Monsters to acclimatize to and survive on the environments made with the effects of Stellar Engineering. Monsters that exist on said constructs have a high chance of changing into entirely new species after enough time and stimulus.

Stellar Production – An addon to Stellar Engineering. Allows the construction of facilities designed to process raw goods into other objects/ items. This includes comlex objects such as non-MRE food/ drinks, clothes, furniture, paints and paintings, bedding and any other commercial/ civilian/military systems/ equipment/ items/ objects not covered by other abilities.

With these new tools at his disposal, Arkhan began creating new Mobile Suit Golems and ordered the dismantling of the Core’s Fortress and the construction of a new base for them to operate out of. He would not dwell on the ground like the nobles and knights who had wronged him, he would dwell in a place they could only dream of being. He would rule his domain from the sky! He ordered the construction of a Sky Fortress that would be a Wonder of the World for all time; his future Sky Citadel, Arcadia, would be the capitol from which he would rule a new nation; The Arcadian Commonwealth!