Chapter 121: All for one.

The morning air in Valdris carried the smell of wet stone and freshly cut timber.

Kai walked through the main avenue of the First Floor city with no particular destination in mind, his shadow cloak trailing behind him like a living thing.

It was one of those rare moments where he had nothing that demanded his immediate attention, no reports, no emergencies, no scouts stumbling out of the treeline with bad news.

He had not planned the walk. He had woken up, sat on the throne for approximately four minutes, and then realized he had no idea what his own city actually looked like from street level.

’I have been staring at this place from the balcony and the throne room for weeks. I know every strategic position, every patrol route, every resource allocation. But I have never actually walked through it like a normal person. If I am going to call myself a ruler, I should at least know what I am ruling.’

The streets were busier than he expected.

Skeleton Knights marched in their usual formations, but between them moved other things. Goblins carrying bundles of lumber. Imps hauling sacks of ore toward the forging district. A pair of orc laborers were arguing over the placement of a stone slab near one of the half-finished market stalls, their voices loud enough to echo off the cavern walls.

And scattered among them, visible but still keeping to the edges, were the refugees.

It had been three days since the group of beastkin and demi-humans had been allowed through the gates. Most of them were still adjusting.

Kai could see it in the way they moved, cautious steps, eyes that darted toward any sudden noise, bodies that flinched when a skeleton walked too close.

But they were working.

Near the eastern courtyard, two of the carpenters from the refugee group were building what looked like a storage shed.

Their hands moved with the practiced ease of people who had done this kind of work their whole lives, and a group of imps had gathered nearby, watching with an interest that bordered on fascination.

’The imps are watching the carpenters like they are performing magic. To be fair, from an imp’s perspective, the concept of building something without being ordered to must seem revolutionary.’

A small beastkin child ran past Kai’s legs, chasing after what appeared to be a ball made of wrapped cloth. She stopped dead in her tracks the moment she realized whose cloak she had just brushed against.

Her eyes went wide. Her ears flattened. Every muscle in her tiny body locked up.

Kai looked down at her.

The child looked up at him.

’She is terrified. Of course she is. I am a seven-foot shadow monster with glowing eyes. To a child, I probably look like the thing their parents warned them about before bed.’

He said nothing. He simply stepped to the side, clearing her path.

The child stared at him for another two seconds, then bolted after her ball without looking back.

’Smart kid.’

He continued walking.

…

The forging district was louder than anywhere else in the city, which was saying something given that the goblins alone could generate enough noise to wake the dead. Though in Valdris, the dead were already awake and contributing to the workforce.

Teriam stood at the center of the district, his skeletal frame towering over the workstations he oversaw. The Great Forger had turned a section of the First Floor into something that resembled an industrial forge, complete with multiple furnaces, anvils, and cooling stations that ran with water channeled from the underground springs beneath the Second Floor.

When Teriam noticed Kai approaching, he dropped to one knee immediately.

“My Lord. I did not expect your presence.”

“Rise, Teriam. I am merely observing.”

Teriam stood, his hollow eye sockets tracking Kai’s gaze as it moved across the district.

“Production has increased by eighteen percent since the new ore veins were discovered on the Fourth Floor,” Teriam reported without being asked. “The Skeleton Smiths now operate in three shifts, allowing continuous output. Additionally, the blacksmith apprentice from the refugee group has proven surprisingly capable. I have assigned him to the auxiliary forge.”

Kai raised a brow.

“You are using the refugees already?”

“Only the one, my Lord. He requested the assignment himself. I tested his skill on a basic short sword. The result was acceptable.”

’Acceptable. Coming from Teriam, that might as well be a standing ovation.’

“Good. If he continues to perform, give him access to better materials.”

“Understood, my Lord.”

Kai left the forging district and headed south, toward the section of the city where the residential buildings were being constructed. The outer wall was still incomplete, but the inner structures were taking shape faster than he had anticipated.

Stone buildings lined both sides of the road, some finished, others still wrapped in scaffolding. The skeleton workers moved with mechanical precision, laying bricks and fitting beams without rest, without complaint, and without the union breaks that Kai’s modern sensibilities told him they probably deserved.

’If skeletons could talk, I wonder what they would say about their working conditions. Probably nothing. They are skeletons. They do not have opinions. Or lungs.’

He stopped at a corner where two roads met and looked up at the city from ground level.

It was not beautiful. Not yet. The buildings were functional, not decorative. The streets were packed earth, not cobblestone. The walls were thick and practical, designed to absorb siege damage, not to impress visitors.

But it was real. It was standing. And three months ago, none of it existed.

’I built this. Well, technically a thousand monsters built this while I sat on a throne and gave orders. But I built the framework. The vision. The reason for all of it to exist.’

A rare feeling stirred in his chest. Something that was not strategic calculation or paranoid analysis.

Pride.

He let himself feel it for exactly three seconds before his survival instincts kicked it back into its box.

’Do not get comfortable. Comfortable rulers lose kingdoms.’

…

He found Fhera on the Seventh Floor.

This was not surprising. The Seventh Floor was an open expanse of sand and rock, the designated sparring ground for the entire dungeon. If Fhera was not eating, sleeping, or guarding something, she was here. It was as predictable as sunrise.

What was slightly less predictable was the fact that she was fighting six skeleton soldiers at the same time and appeared to be winning handily.

The skeletons attacked in coordination, their movements sharp and synchronized, but Fhera moved between them like water through cracks in a wall. Her Tempest Blade cut through the air in tight arcs, deflecting strikes, redirecting momentum, and occasionally sending an entire skeleton flying across the sand in a shower of bones.

She had not noticed Kai yet.

One skeleton lunged at her from behind. Without turning, Fhera caught its spear with her tail, yanked it off balance, and drove her elbow into its ribcage. The skeleton collapsed into a pile of rattling bones.

“Too slow! Come on, you guys are supposed to be elites!”

Another skeleton swung a broadsword at her head. Fhera ducked, spun, and swept its legs out from under it. Before it hit the ground, she had already moved to the next target.

Kai watched from the entrance for a full minute before he spoke.

“You are holding back.”

Fhera froze mid-swing. The remaining skeletons, sensing the shift in the air, immediately stopped fighting and dropped to their knees.

Fhera turned, and the moment she saw Kai, her entire demeanor changed. The battle-hardened warrior vanished, replaced by the grinning, tail-wagging beastkin who looked like she had just been caught doing something fun.

“Boss! What are you doing down here?”

“Walking.”

“Walking? You? Down here?” She tilted her head, her lion ears twitching. “Are you okay? Are you sick? Did someone poison you?”

“I am fine, Fhera.”

“Because you never just walk around. You are always sitting on the throne or in the council room being all serious and scary. This is weird.”

“I appreciate the concern.”

Fhera sheathed her blade and jogged over to him, stopping a couple of paces away. Her tail was swaying behind her at a speed that suggested she was far more excited than her face was letting on.

“So,” she said, rocking on her heels. “Since you are here. And I am here. And neither of us is doing anything important right now.”

“I am doing something important. I am inspecting the city.”

“Right, right, sure. Inspecting.” She nodded rapidly. “But hypothetically, if you were done inspecting, would you maybe want to spar?”

Kai looked at her.

“Spar.”

“Yeah! You and me. One round. No titles, no Lord-and-Pillar stuff, just a clean fight.” Her eyes were practically glowing. “You have never fought me before, Boss. Not even once. I have been here since the beginning, and I do not even know what it feels like to go up against you.”

’She has been waiting to ask me this for months. I can see it in her posture. Her tail. The way her hand keeps drifting toward her blade like it has a mind of its own. This is not a casual request. This is Fhera’s version of asking for quality time.’

He considered it.

’I have a city to run, an empire breathing down my neck, an elder dragon sleeping under my dungeon, and a prince conspiring with my enemies. The responsible thing to do would be to decline and return to the throne room.’

He looked at Fhera’s face.

She was trying very hard to look casual about it, but the hope in her eyes was so obvious it might as well have been written on her forehead.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep